The White Noise of Smell

Frosty P. writes "Scientists have discovered a new smell, but you may have to go to a laboratory to experience it yourself. The smell is dubbed 'olfactory white,' because it is the nasal equivalent of white noise, researchers report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Just as white noise is a mixture of many different sound frequencies and white light is a mixture of many different wavelengths, olfactory white is a mixture of many different smells. In a series of experiments, they exposed participants to dozens of equally mixed smells, and what they discovered is that our brains treat smells as a single unit, not as a mixture of compounds to break down, analyze and put back together again."

Comments

not so sure about the sound analogy

[Trepidity]

White noise is actually not perceptually neutral noise. It's mathematically random noise, with a flat power spectrum, meaning that for example the sound energy between 25-75 Hz is the same as that between 15000-15050 Hz. But because the human ear's perceptual loudness curve is not flat, the perceptual frequency distribution of white noise is not actually flat. To produce perceptually neutral noise, you need to apply the inverse of the human ear's perceptual loudness curve to white noise, which results in grey noise.

But beyond that, it seems they actually mean something different, more like "perceived as indistinct background noise". That's a wider range of things, and has to do with being able to resolve specific, distracting components, not necessarily with mathematical definitions of noise.

Re:not so sure about the sound analogy

[Samantha Wright]

I'm guessing they got it confused with white light, which the authors mention in the abstract. (And hey, what's a normalization curve between friends?) But you're right, a paper on perceptual physiology should not have made that glaring a mistake.

Re:not so sure about the sound analogy

[elfprince13]

From the summary, I think they're talking about a random composition of smells. Perceptual neutrality is related to our brains ability to adjust to a shifting noise floor. As a Vermonter, I'm used to doing this with smell on an annual basis.

You can greatly reduce

[Jafafa Hots]

the amount of "white smell" if you use Dolby Nose Reduction.

Personally I think analog smells are way more realistic than digital.

Re:You can greatly reduce

[Sulphur]

the amount of "white smell" if you use Dolby Nose Reduction.

Personally I think analog smells are way more realistic than digital.

But you need vacuum tubes to properly reproduce it.

Smells as a "single unit"

[Kargan]

This is one of the differences between humans and animals, such as dogs, for instance. Dogs smell each component separately.

This is why they make such good detectors for things like explosives or drugs -- they are still capable of pulling the "bomb" smell out of a complex mix of smells or when the smell is deliberately being masked, thanks in part to their highly adapted vomeronasal organ, also called the Jacobson's organ.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_11/features/Canine-Sense-of-Smell_15668-1.html

Re:Smells as a "single unit"

[__aaltlg1547]

If they smelled each chemical individually they wouldn't be able to identify people by smell, which they can. Their sense of smell works the same as ours. They just have better resolution and sensitivity.

Re:Smells as a "single unit"

[adolf]

If they smelled each chemical individually they wouldn't be able to identify people by smell, which they can.

This is non sequitur, to say the least.

It is like saying "If they sorted the apples from the oranges individually they wouldn't be able to recognize a reindeer, which they can."

In other words: It doesn't make sense.

Please try again.

Re:Smells as a "single unit"

[fafalone]

Well this was just brought up in another thread, so I'll correct it again here. Dogs are terrible detectors for drugs, being wrong anywhere from 50% of the time to 85% of the time depending on the circumstances.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/radley-balko/supreme-court-considers-t_1_b_2063820.html

Although this is mainly attributable to them wanting to please their handler or picking up on the handlers body language. And personally I watched a dog search 32 jail cells once, it alerted in 8 of them, drugs were found in zero of those (and good lord did they ever tear them apart), and at least 3 cells the dog didn't alert to actually had drugs in them.

Hey

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking as someone with a seriously sensitive sense of smell... THE WORLD FUCKING STINKS!

Every person is walking around in a cloud of their own personal products. Aftershave, cologne, perfume, FUCK that god dammed axe shit, body lotions, makeups, hairsprays, nail polishes, air fresheners, smoke residue, food residue and sooooooo many other nasty smells because honestly most of you are not very dammed clean either. And you just try to cover that up.

And i call bullshit on this article. I can pick out individual smells in those massive clouds. And i don't like it. The natural world smells ok. Very low key. But the human world? Jebus wept...

Unfortunatly there doesn't seem to be an upside to this. Theres no job for human drug dog. Altho i suppose i won't ever accidentally eat bad food. Or die in a gas leak.

Re:Hey

[ryzvonusef]

Speaking as an Anosmiac, the world *stills* fucking stinks... only I can't use my nose to avoid the stink...

Count your blessings bro/sis because you have never experienced the other side...my eating habits are a total mess because what seems perfectly normal and delectable to others feels absolutely disgusting to eat for me... I never know when I am danger of gas leaks, and I have sat still with the gas leaking, only for a relative to come in and start a panic. My dreams of chemistry education dashed because I could never smell those darn chemicals (Once my beaker of H2S leaked, and here I was standing wondering what the hell is going on, while every one runs away from the lab....)I have been tricked into disgusting things, and once have been pranked by having been sprayed on by a stink-spray, and not realising I was walking around the school being as aromatically pleasing as Pepe le Peu...

Life sucks, so grin and bear it.

Re:Hey

[sjames]

Hear Hear!

The worst part is that the 'perfumes' they put in so many products smells FAR worse than the natural smell of the product. The artificial 'floral scents' smell NOTHING like the actual flowers to me. I can't even guess which flower they're supposed to smell like.

Re:Hey

[reboot246]

I agree with you. My sense of smell is extremely sensitive. Being around people in a social situation is a horrible experience. The chemicals people use to mask their smells are worse than what they're trying to cover up. Simple pure clean is much preferred, though that doesn't last long.

To me odors have texture and color. They can be smooth, rough, dusty, soft, bright yellow, dull red, etc..

A Question for Any Aspies Out There

[cervesaebraciator]

Just trying to understand how others experience the world, so please forgive me if I ask an obtuse question. I watched a video the other day which had been described by some with Asperger's as a very accurate depiction of their experience of a meltdown. What I noticed from the video, above all, was the way things that would have blended together as white noise for me demanded constant attention, as much as I wanted to ignore them.

So my question is this: if what I took from the video was in anyway accurate (if not, just let me know), does anything analogous happen with smells as well? I.e. as individual sights and sounds do not equalize to manageable or meaningful levels, do smells also each cry out for individual attention?

White Noise Smell

[PPH]

Also known as "locker room".

Re:It smells like Vanilla...

[spongman]

Vanilla isn't plain. IMO.

I want to test it....

[Lumpy]

Will "white nose" smell cause a bloodhound to not be able to follow the scent? This may be the holy grail of hunter scent masking.