[TheForge][OT] Re: The Smell of Space - sorta OT

Fri Mar 14 08:03:12 EST 2008

Ok . . . and the number of molecules picked up by a space suit in space 
compared to what it picks up in the airlock  compared to a brazilianth of a 
dram of skunk voodoo is is what, exactly?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Albin Drzewianowski" <dski1045 at qis.net>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 8:19 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge][OT] Re: The Smell of Space - sorta OT

> The human nose can be trained to very high levels of discrimination. 
> Examples of such are  chefs, coffee roasters, people that mix and 
> developed perfumes.  There are probably many other jobs where the human 
> nose is trained to detect minute variations in odor.  The capability is 
> there, it just needs to be developed through use and training.
>
> D-ski
> Westminster, MD
> "The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne"
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rob Fertner" <rfertner at cox.net>
> To: "'Sponsored by ABANA'" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 7:59 AM
> Subject: RE: [TheForge][OT] Re: The Smell of Space - sorta OT
>
>
> I got this off of Healthline .com:
> Because of their humble abilities of olfaction, humans are called
> microsmatic, rather than macrosmatic. Still, the human nose is capable of
> detecting over 10,000 different odors, some in the range of parts per
> trillion of air; and many researchers suspect that smell plays a greater
> role in human behavior and biology than has been previously thought. For
> instance, research has shown that human mothers can smell the difference
> between a vest worn by their baby and one worn by another baby only days
> after the child's birth.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Rob Fertner
> Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 6:29 AM
> To: 'Sponsored by ABANA'
> Subject: RE: [TheForge][OT] Re: The Smell of Space - sorta OT
>
> The average human being is able to recognize approximately 10,000 
> different
> odors: Our sense of smell is so powerful that when you smell skunk, you 
> are
> smelling 0.000,000,000,000,071 of an ounce of scent.
> It is important to understand that throughout every day and night of our
> lives we smell a wide variety of odors without being aware of them at all:
> We go about our activities, breathing in and out, as an infinite number of
> chemical molecules interact subliminally with our odor receptors. Only 
> when
> an odor irritates or pleases us or acts as a sudden reminder of the past 
> do
> we pause to take notice.
> People recall smells with a 65% accuracy after a year, while the visual
> recall of photos sinks to about 50% after only three months: Our odor
> memories frequently have strong emotional qualities and are associated 
> with
> the good or bad experiences in which they occurred. Olfaction is handled 
> by
> the same part of the brain (the limbic system) that handles memories and
> emotions. Therefore, we often find that we can immediately recognize and
> respond to smells from childhood such as the smell of clean sheets, 
> cookies
> baking in the oven, the smell of new books or a musty room in Grandma's
> house. Very often we cannot put a name to these odors yet they have a 
> strong
> emotive association even if they cannot be specifically identified.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Peter Hirst
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:35 PM
> To: mspencer at tallships.ca; Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge][OT] Re: The Smell of Space - sorta OT
>
> Waaaall, I'm no Croecopia, but I'll bet itd take a lot more molecules than
> an average EVA collects from space, diluted by the re-press air and then 
> by
> the ambient air of the cabin, to register on the human olfactory receptors
> of a NSA scientist who reasons that since the smell came off the suit. I
> must have come from space rather than the airlock that the suit just 
> passed
> through.
>
> Keziah
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Spencer" <mspencer at tallships.ca>
> To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 12:01 AM
> Subject: [TheForge][OT] Re: The Smell of Space - sorta OT
>
>
>>
>>> Since the 'smell' is really molecules of something it leaves me
>>> wondering just how packed the vacuum of space is with molecules of
>>> things.
>>
>> I once sat in at a small seminar of heavyweight academics (how & why
>> is another story) at which someone remarked that it took a mere dozen
>> molecules of the female Coecropia moth's pheromone to trigger a
>> response in a male.  Jerry Lettvin, Elder Guru and Demigod of such
>> things replied, "Three is sufficient".
>>
>> I don't know if the human schnozz is as good as that of a moth that's
>> evolutionarily tuned to chemical courtship but it might not take very
>> many molecules of something unusual to light up our olfactory
>> switchboard.
>>
>> - Mike
>>
>> -- 
>> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
>>                                                           /V\
>> mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
>> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
>> _______________________________________________
>> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
>> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
>> theforge mail list group photo site is
>> http://www.photoaccess.com
>> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
>> password:  anvil
>> ___________
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
> 