Name: How do we smell?
Uploaded: 2019-02-22T18:56:14Z
Duration: 4 min 4 s
Description: An adult human can distinguish up to 10,000 odors. You use your nose to figure out what to eat, what to buy and even when it's time to take a shower. But how do the molecules in the air get translated into smells in your brain? Rose Eveleth charts the smelly journey through your olfactory epithelium and explains why scent can be so subjective. [Directed by Igor Coric, narrated by Rose Eveleth].

An adult human can distinguish up to 10,000 odors. You use your nose to figure out what to eat, what to buy and even when it's time to take a shower. But how do the molecules in the air get translated into smells in your brain? Rose Eveleth charts the smelly journey through your olfactory epithelium and explains why scent can be so subjective. [Directed by Igor Coric, narrated by Rose Eveleth].

Rose Eveleth: How do we smell?

How do we smell?

Your nose, with its 40 million olfactory neurons, unlocks a world of 10,000 smells, shaping memories, tastes, and emotions.

The olfactory epithelium, a small but mighty sensor, channels scents directly to the brain, bypassing relay centers unlike sight or sound.

Discover how a tiny patch of cells in your nose enables you to detect 10,000 distinct smells, shaping taste and memories.