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

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: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.

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

[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.