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Cloning the Smell of the Sea

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the more-than-just-dead-fish dept.

An anonymous reader wrote in with an article that opens: "Scientists from the University of East Anglia have discovered exactly what makes the seaside smell like the seaside — and bottled it. The age-old mystery was unlocked thanks to some novel bacteria plucked from the North Norfolk coast." The responsible substance, dimethyl sulfide, in addition to smelling like the coast, also acts as a homing scent for birds looking to feast on plankton.

7 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Smell of the sea? by Fist!+Of!+Death! · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is not a new discovery - Seinfeld's Kramer tried to bottle it under the monkier 'Beach'. Kalvin Clein howerver stiffed him and marketed it as 'Ocean'. I reckon they should employ fragrance lawyers NOW!

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    Nothing witty
  2. Life imitates Seinfeld by DreadfulGrape · · Score: 3, Informative

    Kramer already did this

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pick_(Seinfeld_ep isode)

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    sig has been sent away for a few small repairs...
  3. Re:intresting by BrokenHalo · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'll be having my sea-side air (freshener?) thank you!

    You didn't have to wait. It has been known that dimethyl sulfide is the main component of the smell for many years. I distinctly remember it being mentioned when I was in high school, and that was in the '70s.

  4. Re:intresting by mlush · · Score: 5, Informative

    Very intresting research but why do we need to find out why the seaside smells like the seaside? I'm all for curiousity and discovering stuff, but this sounds really useless. How about a different spin on the story

    New biosynthetic pathway for dimethyl sulphide discovered

    Dimethyl sulphide is used in petroleum refining, steel mills and as a feed stock for the important solvent dimethyl sulfoxide. It is hoped that these the new bacterial synthetic pathway can replace the current polluting industrial process with a cleaner greener biosynthetic process.

  5. Dont forget Ambergris by DaveCar · · Score: 3, Informative

    Mostly replaced by synthetics nowadays apparently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris

  6. Mmmm... DMS by frazamatazzle · · Score: 2, Informative

    Same compound that makes your beer smell like canned peas. Not a good quality.

  7. Is It The High Tide Or Low Tide Aroma? by SkyDude · · Score: 3, Informative

    Back in the day, after a night of pounding down many beers, one of my hard-drinkin' roommates would take a dump which left the distinct aroma of "low tide". If that's what they're trying to capture, it's already been done by Budweiser.

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    == First cross river, then insult alligator.