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Senses

Cool Finds

Eau de Death: Perfumer Develops Scents Based on Dead Loved Ones

A French perfumer is attempting to harness the emotional power of scent

Cool Finds

Men and Women See Things Differently (No, Literally)

Color perception may actually have something to do with gender

New Research

As We Get Older We Get More Tolerant of Discordant Music

Hearing loss isn’t the only thing that changes our music perception as we age

New Research

Here’s Why Your Eyes Seem to Be Wired ‘Backward’

Light has to pass through nerve cells to get to the rods and cones, but that order is no mistake

Cool Finds

Scientists Have Been Studying Two Fake Human Pheromones for Decades

Two chemicals provided by a perfume company appear in a 1991 research paper and side-track years of work on human pheromones

A Prado visitor touches a 3-D printed replica of a contemporaneous copy of the "Mona Lisa."

Please Touch the Art: 3-D Printing Helps Visually Impaired Appreciate Paintings

The new “Touching the Prado” exhibit in Madrid showcases 3-D replicas of paintings, so blind visitors can feel key works of art

Cool Finds

Meet the Man Who Can Taste Words

For some, taste mixes with other sense—a form of synesthesia that isn’t as common as experiencing the colors of words

Dabbling around for a meal.

Ducks Help Explain How We Feel All the Feels

Highly sensitive nerves in duck bills are offering clues to the way we experience the sense of touch

New Research

High-Speed Video Shows When The Smell of Rain Begins

Now we can see exactly how raindrops create petrichor, the name given to smells kicked up by light rain

Cool Finds

Meet The Culprits Behind Bright Lights And Strange Floaters in Your Vision

So-called entoptic phenomena remind us that what we see isn’t always a clear view of the world around us

Stretched over a prosthetic hand, this artificial skin acts more like the real thing than anything before it.

Artificial Skin Could Help Prosthesis Wearers Feel, For Real

A new polymer with a lattice of embedded sensors is sensitive to heat, humidity and pressure

New Research

We Choose Friends Who Are Genetically Similar to Us

On average, our friends are like the genetic equivalents of fourth cousins

New Research

The Human Nose Can Distinguish Between One Trillion Different Smells

New research says our olfactory system is far more sensitive than we thought

Sperm from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, magnified 50 times.

New Research

Mosquitoes’ Sperm Can Detect Smells

Mosquitoes’ individual sperm have scent-detecting sensors

Coming in the fall, the oPhone is primed to make the smartphone experience about smell, too.

Tech Watch

With an oPhone, You Can Send Scents to Friends

An inventor has come up with a system for embedding smells into movies, music and text messaging

The iOptik system pairs a set of unique contact lenses with eyeglasses designed to project digital imagery.

Tech Watch

Will These Augmented-Reality Contact Lenses Replace Your Smartphone?

A little known startup showcases a wearable technology that generates an interactive display right before your eyes

Art Meets Science

Traveling to Japan—Through a Symphony of Smells

A new performance, staged in Los Angeles this weekend, revives one man’s failed attempt to put on a smell and sound production more than a century ago

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The Education of a Bomb Dog

A top training academy works double time to meet skyrocketing demand for canines who can sniff out danger

The score for John Cage’s indeterminate composition “Fontana Mix”

5 1/2 Examples of Experimental Music Notation

In the 1950s progressive composers broke from the 5 line music staff to experiment with new, more expressive forms of graphic music notation

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What Happens When a Keyboard Goes From Tactile to Touchscreen?

There’s a word for that odd quirk of Apple iPads that hold on to design components of old keyboards

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