Why do bad smells smell bad?

Chemistry For Your Life

#030 Rebroadcast

Melissa and Jam continue to sniff out the chemistry of smell, focusing this week on bad smells. Why are we so good at smelling bad smells? Why do they haunt us at night? Why are some bad smells so strong and long lasting, while many great smells are subtle and temporary. What’s in a smell? "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." I think that quote applies here right?

References from this episode

1. Aerosol generation by raindrop impact on soil - Young Soo Joung & Cullen R. Buie, Nature Communications
2. 2 Americans Win Nobel for Demystifying Sense of Smell - Lawrence K. Altman, The New York Times
3. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2004 Press Release - Richard Axel & Linda B. Buck, The Nobel Prize
4. A Novel Multigene Family May Encode Odorant Receptors: A Molecular Basis for Odor Recognition - Buck and Axel
5. Chemists and bad smells (and sulfur): A productive pairing - Ashutosh Jogalekar, Scientific American

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