Cloning the Smell of the Sea

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.

Comments

Smell of the sea?

[Fist! Of! Death!]

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!

Re:Smell of the sea?

[Anonymous Coward]

first thing i thought of when i saw the headline :) doesnt sound like an ideal perfume though:

"But we were misled, twice over. Firstly because that distinctive smell is not ozone, it is dimethyl sulphide. And secondly, because inhaling it is not necessarily good for you."

Another thing, from TFA:

DMS is also a remarkably effective food marker for ocean-going birds such as shearwaters and petrels. It acts as a homing scent like Brussels sprouts at the Christmas dinner table! - and the birds sniff out their plankton food in the lonely oceans at astonishingly low concentrations.

Could using it in a cologne lead to a real live production of Hitchcock's The Birds ?

The director also reportedly drew inspiration from a 1961 incident in which seabirds attacked the terrified residents of Monterey Bay. Recent research has shown that the birds were suffering the effects of ingesting contaminated plankton, but in 1961, the then-inexplicable "revolt of the birds" helped Hitchcock devise the simple but horrifying "what if" premise.

If so it might have some uses, anonymously given of course. The perfect gift for that deserving person.

cologne

[rg_pda]

Man, I just had a great idea for a new cologne. I gotta get a meeting with Calvin Klein.

Apparently they arent talking about New Jersey

[Karma Vampire]

I think it would take alot more than ONE substance to accurately reproduce the scent of the Jersey Shore..

Re:Apparently they arent talking about New Jersey

[thefirelane]

I think it would take alot more than ONE substance to accurately reproduce the scent of the Jersey Shore

I don't think so, most people say it just smells like shit.

zing

Press Release

[RMB2]

All your beach are belong to us

Re:intresting

[Ninwa]

What if I happen to enjoy the smell and want it present in a particular room of my house? I'll be having my sea-side air (freshener?) thank you!

Oh sure,

[Smuffe]

this is great NOW, but what about ten years from now when some sharp smell expert tries do duplicate the smell of fifty engineers in cubicles and it's YOUR socks they want?

Life imitates Seinfeld

[DreadfulGrape]

Kramer already did this

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

Re:intresting

[BrokenHalo]

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.

Older algae-derived sea scent - Calone

[jenik]

One 'marine' scent has been around for a while and is heavily used in common fragrances - Calone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calone

Re:intresting

[mlush]

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.

Chip shops!

[DaveCar]

Something about sea air makes fish and chips particularly appealing. Perhaps landlocked chip shops could blast out some synthetic sea air and make passers-by particularly hungry?

Dont forget Ambergris

[DaveCar]

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

Mmmm... DMS

[frazamatazzle]

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

At last!

[nmg196]

> dimethyl sulfide, in addition to smelling like the coast,
> also acts as a homing scent for birds

I always knew the scientists could come up with a pheromone which really does attract the birds.

Now I can smell like the sea AND get all the hot chicks.

Re:intresting

[EveLibertine]

I'm all for curiousity and discovering stuff, but this sounds really useless.

Obviously you don't have much of an imagination.

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.

1. Find a large flat cement wall
2. Paint a mural of a lake on it
3. Coat with dimethyl sulfide
4. Watch birds smash into it

Now if that isn't reason enough why this research should considered useful, then there is something wrong with this world.

Re:intresting

[rawn53]

I'm all for curiousity and discovering stuff, but this sounds really useless.

Result results results, eh? Science for the sake of science isn't good enough anymore?

Re:intresting

[FernandoBR]

Well, if we hope someday the holodecks of the Enterprise be possible, we must start solving this kind of problems now...

Re:intresting

[rjshields]

It's true, when you're constantly surrounded by a smell you can't smell it anymore. That's also the reason that most computer geeks don't realise they reek of BO.

Re:intresting

[MightyYar]

I know someone who never took apart their dad's tape recorder just to see how it worked...

Is It The High Tide Or Low Tide Aroma?

[SkyDude]

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.

Smell long available to brewers.....

[zymurgy_cat]

DMS in beer, from bacterial infection or inadequate boiling, is often described as smelling as cooked shellfish or seafood....

Re:intresting

[theguyfromsaturn]

Never forget that those who laid the foundation of discrete computing and many basic algorithms that today have proven useful lived in an era where computers were not even dreamed of. Their research could also have been called pointless. Because you cannot see the purpose of some bit of knowledge does not make it useless per se. It may one day prove to be that little tidbit that makes something **apparently** totally unrelated and wonderful be possible. Understanding the "WHY" of one thing makes possible the "WHAT IF..." of another thing.

Re:Double edged sword...

[Numbstruck]

But I have to pay a little man to beat off the sea birds who have come in search of plankton.

If I come in search of plankton will I get the same treatment?