December 13, 2006
Rogue Theory of Smell
A controversial theory of how the sense of smell works, which claims that our fine ability to detect odors depends on quantum mechanics, has been given the thumbs up by a team of physicists. Contrary to the notion that our sense of smell depends on receptors in the nose detecting the shape of incoming molecules, which triggers a signal to the brain, this new theory asserts that we smell odor molecules by sensing their molecular vibrations.