A single sniff is enough to detect slight odor changes
The sniffs we take to identify a smell last from one to three seconds. But is it possible for us to detect odor changes in an even shorter time? Yes, a new study finds — far more quickly. A new device gives scientists precise control over odors. Using it, researchers showed that people can perceive odor changes in a fraction of a second. They reported their findings in the November 2024 Nature Human Behaviour. “Intuitively, each sniff feels like taking a long-exposure shot of the chemical environment,” says Wen Zhou. She’s a psychology researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. When we detect a smell, that odor may seem complete and whole in that moment, she says. But new work by her team reveals a different story. They designed a device that picks up on a sniff as it starts, sensing pressure changes in the nose. That triggers the device to send out two odors — one close to the nose and the other a short distance away. The team tested more than …
