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Senses

This woman won't do justice to the smell of this peach when she describes it to a friend later.

New Study Suggests Lifestyle Shapes Our Ability to Name Odors

In the Malay Peninsula, researchers compared the vocabulary of the Semaq Beri hunter-gathering population and the Semelai, who are horticulturalists

In the Seeing gallery, decorated walls lit with an alternating series of colored lights reveal just how much a world bathed in white light can differ from one illuminated by blue, green or red.

See the World Through the Eyes of a Butterfly at a New Exhibit on the Senses

The American Museum of Natural History’s newest exhibition reveals how our brains make sense of the world around us

New Research

Even Without Ears, Oysters Can Hear Our Noise Pollution

Study shows that certain frequencies of noise cause oysters to clam up

New Research

Researchers Sniff Out the Genes Behind the Smell of the World’s Stinkiest Fruit

The DNA of the durian, it turns out, is very complex and optimized for producing a wretched stench

Everyone sees them all, but we don’t all give them the same distinct names.

The World Has Millions of Colors. Why Do We Only Name a Few?

Cognitive scientists suggest that we name the colors of things we want to talk about

A Scopali's shearwater skims the water's surface.

New Research

Seabirds Use Their Sense of Smell to Navigate Open Water

A new study suggests shearwaters follow their nose home

Aromatic New Museum Celebrates the Art and History of Perfume

From the ancient Egyptians to Elizabeth Taylor, the Grand Musée du Parfum tells the story of fragrance

You can't sit with us. You smell like poo.

New Research

Gut Check: Mandrills Sniff Poop to Avoid Peers With Parasites

Researchers have documented one of the first instances of social avoidance in a non-human animal

Heritage scientist Cecilia Bembibre captures the smell of a 18th-century bible at Knole House.

New Research

The Quest to Better Describe the Scent of Old Books

Describing a unique smell just got easier thanks to a pair of olfactory detectives

Nearly blind, Typhlomys cinereus thrives in the high forests of southeastern China and Vietnam—with a little help from another sense.

New Research

This Echolocating Dormouse Could Reveal the Origins of One of Nature’s Coolest Superpowers

Mice, moths and even humans use clicks and echoes to “see” the world around them

New Research

So Is ‘Mona Lisa’ Smiling? A New Study Says Yes

Compared to other similar images, the masterpiece’s mouth registered as happy to almost 100 percent of the participants

Psst--smell my feet.

New Research

Bumblebees May Smell Each Other’s Footprints to Keep Track of Flowers

In a new study, bumblebees were able to discriminate the foot odor left behind by their nestmates, strange bees and themselves

Synesthesia, or the entangling of the senses, may be much more common than once thought.

New Research

One in Five People May Be Able to “Hear” a Flash of Light

Once thought to be a rare condition, some forms of synesthesia may be fairly common

North Sense, about a square inch in size and enclosed in body-compatible silicone, can be anchored to the chest via titanium piercings.

This Artificial Sixth Sense Helps Humans Orient Themselves in the World

A London-based company is selling North Sense, a body-anchored device that vibrates when it faces magnetic north

Abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky, who may have been a synesthete, once said: "Color is the key. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically."

Art Meets Science

Feel the Music—Literally—With Some Help From New Synesthesia Research

How one artist created a show inspired by the neurological experience of synesthesia

Latrines in Bangladesh

New Research

This “Perfume” for Toilets Could Help Improve Sanitation Around the World

The odor-masking scent could help convince people to choose latrines and prevent pollution of waterways with waste

Adriaen van de Venne engraved this early depiction of a Dutch telescope. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

10 Bizarre, Vision-Enhancing Technologies From the Last 1,000 Years

Before Oculus Rift, there were lorgnettes, TV glasses and eyborgs

A new flavor wheel groups together different flavor attributes of coffee.

Cool Finds

Describe Your Coffee With Science

There’s an art—and a lot of science—to a consistent cup of coffee

Follow your nose, leopard shark.

New Research

Leopard Sharks Navigate With Their Noses

After being kidnapped and dropped off at sea, the sharks picked up on olfactory cues to find their way back home

Cool Finds

Adding Faint Scents to Healthy Food Could Make it Taste Better

Scents of salty food may be all it takes to make low-salt items delicious

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