Fragrance and perfume

[Michaelangelica]

Patrick Suskind's novel Perfume is an amazing, page turning, if gruesome, read.

Fragrance-science-wise it is spot on (Perhaps with one major exception).

I recommend the book to you.

It should be interesting to see what Hoffman does with the (very quirky, odd) role.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | How France makes sense of scents

 

How France makes sense of scents

By Caroline Wyatt

BBC News, Paris

 

Dustin Hoffman (left) in film Perfume

Dustin Hoffman (left) plays the troubled perfumer Baldini in the film

The film of Patrick Suskind's best-selling novel Perfume opens in the UK this week.

 

Its plot - about a Parisian perfume creator who turns to the dark side to create the ultimate scent - has proved a hit in France,

[cwes99_03]

Hope this doesn't discourage you, because I've done this too, but have you noticed you tend to post upon yourself a lot? Maybe it doesn't happen a lot, but I've seen you do it a fair number of times. Generally all good posts though.

[Michaelangelica]

Hope this doesn't discourage you, because I've done this too, but have you noticed you tend to post upon yourself a lot? Maybe it doesn't happen a lot, but I've seen you do it a fair number of times. Generally all good posts though.

It is the only way I can get a good conversation:)

 

Seriously though, do you think it is a problem? Should I stop? Maybe I should just start my own blogs and talk to myself that way? What do you think?

 

I was hoping that some threads like the Terra preta and perhaps even the Depression one might become a collected resouce for the whole web if a lot of good information is gathered together in the one spot. The Terra preta thread is, I think, the most comprehensive archive of opinion, articles, suggestions and experiments on Terra preta on the web.

I am certainly talking to myself in the DDT thread

The Obesity thread has few posts by others but is read by lots.

I don't know what to do. Am I being too obsessive? Does everone really read what you post anyway?

[cwes99_03]

That's why I said you make some really good posts despite replying to yourself.

 

It is also a way to give your post a bump. If you find it important to talk about, then by all means post away, IMO. Though I have to say, I didn't expect a thread about fragrance and perfume to turn into a discussion of alzheimer's or other diseases.

[Michaelangelica]

Though I have to say, I didn't expect a thread about fragrance and perfume to turn into a discussion of alzheimer's or other diseases.

Yes I like that 'quirkyness" about science.

I have worked a lot in fragrance and have a couple of friends in the industry.

 

You might find this even more amazing.

I heard about the research originally being done at Sydney University

Dogs Smell Cancer in Patients' Breath, Study Shows

Stefan Lovgren

for National Geographic News

January 12, 2006

 

Dogs can detect if someone has cancer just by sniffing the person's breath, a new study shows.

 

Ordinary household dogs with only a few weeks of basic "puppy training" learned to accurately distinguish between breath samples of lung- and breast-cancer patients and healthy subjects

Dogs Smell Cancer in Patients' Breath, Study Shows

 

You might like to google "Dogs Smell Cancer" it as it is all over the web at the moment

 

How about this?

Catalyst - ABC Video Program Sales

Can your nose smell the early signs of schizophrenia?

 

According to researchers at the University of Melbourne it can.

They’ve found that your ability to correctly identify smells on a scratch and sniff test can be an indicator of your risk of developing schizophrenia.

Zinc supliments some say help the sense of smell.

Does schizophrenia involve a lack of zinc?

also

Sex, smell and the contraceptive pill

 

 

Friday, 26 October 2001

 

pills

Italian scientists have found that the contraceptive pill makes a woman less sensitive to smell at ovulation time — and they're wondering whether this in turn may affect her libido.

 

Their study, involving 60 women aged 18 to 40, is published in today's issue of the journal Human Reproduction.

News in Science - Sex, smell and the contraceptive pill - 26/10/2001

It is well known that women who live together tend to eventually syncronise their ovulation. Is this done with smell?

 

You might be interested in these more general links too

The sense of smell is probably the very first sense to evolve in a living creature. Back in the early days of evolution when we began as single-celled creatures, our sense of "smell" told us what was safe to eat. All living creatures have a sense to detect chemicals in their immediate environment.

 

In the more complicated animals, the sense of smell is used for other aspects of behaviour such as finding a mate, synchronising menstrual cycles, and communicating with the other animals in your group. Women can tell (by the smell of swabs taken from the armpit) who has been watching happy or sad movies (men are not so good at this). A breast-feeding baby can differentiate the smell of his or her mother, from any other nursing mother. Dogs and horses can smell fear in humans.

 

In the past we’ve had very limited tools to predict whether someone is going to develop schizophrenia or not. All we’ve been able to use is family history and certain behaviour. Until now.

 

Researchers at the University of Melbourne have found that our sense of smell is turning out to be very useful in predicting the development of schizophrenia. Take a teenager already at risk of developing schizophrenia. The worse they score on the scratch and sniff test, the higher their likelihood of developing schizophrenia.

News in Science - Why humans lost their sense of smell - 03/04/2003

 

Summary: ... much of their sense of smell as they evolved to place a heavier emphasis on their sense of sight, according to a recent genetics study. ... Although they have the same number of genes for smell detection as other primates about 1, 000 in humans more than half these no longer function, scientists reported in the journal, Proceedings ... Email to a friend Why humans lost their sense of smell Thursday, 3 April 2003 Humans have lost the ability to fully ... News in Science - Why humans lost their sense of smell - 03/04/2003 - 23k - [ html ] - Cached - 3 Apr 2003

Great Moments in Science - 28/6/2001: Smell and Memory 1

 

Summary: ... Dogs and horses can smell fear in humans. We humans smell with a yellowish area in the roof of each nostril, just underneath and between the eyes. ... So now you have a bit of an understanding of how our sense of smell works, you're ready for hearing just how a smell such as baby powder, or chalk dust ... These chemicals in the mucus layer make sure that the incoming smell chemicals get presented or shown to the olfactory neurones. ... Great Moments in Science - Smell and Memory 1 - 18k - [ html ] - Cached - 28 Jun 2001

[Michaelangelica]

Christmas bad for frankincense trees

Helen Carter

ABC Science Online

 

 

Monday, 18 December 2006

 

Tapping the resin

Tapping Boswellia tree for frankincense in Eritrea (Image: Dr Woldeselassie Ogbazghi, Asmara, Eritrea)

If Jesus was born today, the three wise men might have had to substitute frankincense for another gift, according to new research suggesting that production of the fragrant substance is in trouble.

 

Frankincense, an aromatic hardened wood resin obtained by tapping Boswellia trees, has been an ingredient in perfumes and incense for thousands of years.

 

The Bible says that at Christmas, the magi brought gifts to Jesus of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

 

Now ecologists from the Netherlands and Eritrea warn that current rates of tapping frankincense from Boswellia trees are endangering sustained production of the aromatic resin.

News in Science - Christmas bad for frankincense trees - 18/12/2006

 

Anyone know where I can buy a tree; or seeds of a Frankincense Tree?

[InfiniteNow]

Anyone know where I can buy a tree; or seeds of a Frankincense Tree?

Wouldn't you want a Boswellia tree?

 

Frankincense, an aromatic hardened wood resin obtained by tapping Boswellia trees...

 

You can probably find one online or ask your local nursery... maybe even eBay... :P

[Michaelangelica]

Thanks Infinate Now

It is hard to import plants to OZ but I will look thanks for the tip

 

This finding surprised me:)

I am sending it to my daughters.:hihi:

Women attracted to men who smell like dad

21 January 2002

Women attracted to men who smell like dad - 21 January 2002 - New Scientist

[Michaelangelica]

Giant Field Rats have been trained to snif out and clear land mines in Mozambique by a Belgian company APOPO. The rats are too light to detonate the sensitive anti-personnel mines

Worldwide there are about 70 million landmines enough work for the rats for hundreds of years!

 

The New York Times > International > For Sniffing Out Land Mines ...

Mine-sniffing rats are the sole focus of Apopo, a Flemish acronym for "product ... for an animal with a dog's sense of smell, but none of its drawbacks. ...

The New York Times > International > For Sniffing Out Land Mines, a Platoon of Twitching Noses - Similar pages

Land mine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Because these rats have a high sense of smelling and are light, they are suited to detect landmines without being blown-up. Apopo - Why using rats? ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_mine - 64k - Cached - Similar pages

Giant rats to sniff out tuberculosis - 16 December 2003 - New ...

The rats have already been successfully used to detect land mines by their odour ... director of the rat programme at Apopo, a Belgian research organisation ...

Giant rats to sniff out tuberculosis - 16 December 2003 - New Scientist - 35k - Cached - Similar pages

Mario's Cyberspace Station: Animals of war

The test mine field consists of hundreds of real landmines (without detonator! ... Animals of war Mine-sniffing rats are the sole focus of Apopo, ...

mprofaca.cro.net/rats.html - 29k - Cached - Similar pages

[PDF]

For Sniffing Out Land Mines, a Platoon of Twitching Noses

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML

Mine-sniffing rats are the sole focus of Apopo, a Flemish acronym for "product ... dog's sense of smell, but none of its drawbacks. ...

http://www.gichd.ch/fileadmin/pdf/about_gichd/press/NYT_18May04.pdf - Similar pages

[PDF]

A nose for danger

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML

I thought: 'if rats can detect landmines, why not TB?'," says Weetjens. ... a rat does 150 in 20 minutes" - and that enabled APOPO to lever $165000 (£85000) ...

http://www.gichd.ch/fileadmin/pdf/about_gichd/press/The_Independent_10March05.pdf -

[Michaelangelica]

Rats and bees in the fight against terror-what next?

Interesting article.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Using Bees to Detect Bombs

 

Honeybees might one day join the front line of national security.

Entomologists have long known that honeybees can be trained to detect many scents, including the olfactory footprints of deadly explosives. This latest research reinforces those findings and suggests an approach that could prove useful for finding substances in populated areas.

Technology Review: Using Bees to Detect Bombs

. . .

Honeybees can also pick explosives out of more complicated bouquets--like the myriad scents that surround a typical human being. Trained bees can identify explosives whose odors were masked by "lotions, underarm deodorants, and tobacco products," Wingo says. "Much to our surprise, the bees are capable of picking out TNT in motor oil ... Even in the presence of insect repellent, we can train them to detect TNT."

[Michaelangelica]

From Cosmos

Lesbian and straight women react differently to sex hormones | COSMOS magazine

Lesbian and straight women react differently to sex hormones

 

... mainly stimulated their olfactory networks, or senses of smell. But in heterosexual women, the hormone stimulates the anterior ...

]

 

 

The syndrome that makes you smell like rotting fish

.

CHERYL Perkins has grown up feeling lonely and unloved. She was bullied at school, shunned by colleagues at work and is subjected to jeers and ridicule by strangers in the street.

 

The 30-year-old has no friends, struggles to hold down a job and, for the past 11 years, has endured humiliation and isolation on a daily basis.

 

For Cheryl, even buying groceries in her local store is a mortifying ordeal as other shoppers hold their noses and step three paces away from her.

 

And her suffering is all down to bizarre circumstances that are, sadly, beyond her control.

 

She has trimethylaminuria, a rare and incurable disorder which affects only 600 people world-wide and which causes them to smell like rotting fish and faeces.

Mirror.co.uk - Your Life - Health - I SMELL OF FISH - BUT MY TERRIBLE ODOUR IS NOT MY FAULT

[Michaelangelica]

SEXY !?

 

LAVENDER MAKES BOYS GROW 'MAN BOOBS' (News in Science, 1/2/07)

The lavender and tea tree oils found in some soaps, shampoos, hair gels and

body lotions can produce enlarged breasts in boys, researchers report.

News in Science - Lavender makes boys grow 'man boobs' - 01/02/2007

[InfiniteNow]

LAVENDER MAKES BOYS GROW 'MAN BOOBS' (News in Science, 1/2/07)

The lavender and tea tree oils found in some soaps, shampoos, hair gels and

body lotions can produce enlarged breasts in boys, researchers report.

News in Science - Lavender makes boys grow 'man boobs' - 01/02/2007

That's too wild... Moobs of the nicely scented variety. :lol:

 

I wonder if it works the same way with females... I remember lots of girls during pubescent times who would have paid money to increase their upper assets. :)

[Michaelangelica]

 

I wonder if it works the same way with females... I remember lots of girls during pubescent times who would have paid money to increase their upper assets.

Now there is a money-making idea!! :):money:

Can I help with the research?:doh:

[Michaelangelica]

:lol: Dog bites machine ;)

Breath test for cancer | COSMOS magazine

News

Breath test for cancer

Tuesday, 27 February 2007

Sarah Bartlett with AFP

Cosmos Online

Breath test for cancer

The tiny, inexpensive sensor used to detect lung cancer.

Image: Thorax

 

SYDNEY: A breath test can successfully pick up the early stages of lung cancer, according to a new U.S. study.

 

People with lung cancer breathe out a chemical signature - a unique pattern of volatile organic compounds caused by metabolic changes in cancer cells.

 

The sensor, which is about the size of a 10 cent piece, is made up of 36 spots of different chemically sensitive compounds impregnated on a disposable cartridge.

Scientists have been working on a breath test for cancer since 1985, using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. But machines using these technologies are particularly expensive and doctors require advanced training in their use.

 

At present, however, technology is being outperformed by canines, Mazzone says. In a 2006 study, dogs trained to distinguish the breath of patients with lung and breast cancer were found to be 99 per cent accurate.

[Michaelangelica]

Want a better memory? Stop and smell the roses

Fri Mar 9, 2007 2:32PM GMT

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By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who want to learn things might do better by simply stopping to smell the roses, researchers reported on Thursday.

 

German researchers found they could use odors to re-activate new memories in the brains of people while they slept -- and the volunteers remembered better later.

Photo

 

Writing in the journal Science, they said their study showed that memories are indeed consolidated during sleep, and show that smells and perhaps other stimuli can reinforce brain learning pathways.

 

Jan Born of the University of Lubeck in Germany and colleagues had 74 volunteers learn to play games similar to the game of "Concentration" in which they must find matched pairs of objects or cards by turning only one over at a time.

 

While doing this task, some of the volunteers inhaled the scent of roses. The volunteers then agreed to sleep inside an MRI tube. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to "watch" their brains while they slept.

 

Want a better memory? Stop and smell the roses | Science & Health | Reuters

[Michaelangelica]

Our sense of smell can be trained; but is the one sense that very rarely is.

 

Human Sense of Smell Nothing to Sniff At - Forbes.com

Human Sense of Smell Nothing to Sniff At

12.18.06, 12:00 AM ET

 

MONDAY, Dec. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Lost in the dark, without sight, sound, or clue? Follow your nose.

 

New olfactory research suggests that when it comes to tracking scent at ground-level on open terrain, the average human's sense of smell is stronger than most people believe.

 

"There's this general assumption that people have a bad sense of smell," said study lead author Jess Porter, a Ph.D. candidate in biophysics at the University of California at Berkeley. "But we found that people can certainly sniff their way accurately around a spatial context -- although less successfully and slower if they have only one nostril to work with."

 

The new American-Israeli study, published online Dec. 17 in Nature Neuroscience, reports that people can, in fact, be trained to rely exclusively on ground-level smelling to successfully navigate unknown territory. In fact, they instinctively mimic certain animal behaviors, including enlisting each nostril to independently identify distinct smells and "triangulate" a path.

 

Porter joined Berkeley psychology professor Noam Sobel and a team of colleagues. Together, they conducted five experiments aimed at assessing people's ability to track scents.