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Scientists Closer To Creating Artificial Noses

Posted by samzenpus on from the can-you-smell-me-now dept.

Scientists at MIT have moved closer to being able to create an artificial nose after finding a way to mass-produce smell receptors. The MIT RealNose project seeks to recreate the most complex and least-understood of the five senses: smell. The team plans to work with researchers around the world to develop a portable microfluidic device that can identify various smells, including diseases with unique odors, such as diabetes and certain cancers.

3 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Color me surprised by webheaded · · Score: 5, Funny

    And to think I was hoping to come in here to see an article about Michael Jackson...

    --
    "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - BenF
  2. People should still be careful by loftwyr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Most people don't realize just how important the olfactory senses are. They're responsible for taste, not just smell and people should be careful that they don't assume the new technology can replace it.

    In short: you only get one nose, don't blow it.

  3. Re:Who would want a nose that sensitive? by digitalchinky · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sort of related, I have no sense of smell, at all. I was probably close on 20 years old before that fact actually sunk in. I thought it was a sense that people learned to use, like learning to read and write, that I would figure it all out some time later in life. Not to be.

    From a perspective of never having known smell, the idea of being able to do so is intriguing. At the very least it would mean I could definitively know whether I need to spend more on deodorant or less :-)

    Oddly enough, I have had dreams where I can smell perfectly fine, I don't know how this state of mind compares with the real world experience though.