[drewvolpe]

Smell is such an odd sense. For example, I found this part amazing:

> It is understood that certain chemicals block certain receptors, occupying their binding sites such that no other volatile molecules can reach them. These antagonists might have smells of their own—they activate other receptors—but, in principle, they will dampen or eliminate the smells that depend on the receptors they block. Such aromachemicals could be used not simply to cover up the stink of a latrine, but, in essence, to prevent it from being smelled at all.

[leemcd56]

I wonder if our senses prefer to smell the good and ignore the bad and that’s why the odor-blocking aroma chemicals work so well?

[dylan604]

Being able to smell the bad is helpful info in the evolution of the species though. If the water smells foul, don't drink it. That kind of thing. However, it does bring to mind animals sense of smell being so much more keen than humans. Watching where dogs smell, clearly they don't have a "gross" reaction as we do, at least not to the level our candied asses have reached. So the matrix has decided that the hoomans needed that but not the animals. Such on odd decision for a machine to make.

[h2odragon]

Dogs do find some smells repulsive; and some dogs are fascinated by that repulsion as some humans are fascinated by horror and gore.

Many animals have more nasal sensor than humans do; but even those with much less pay more attention to their sense of smell than almost any human can. The article mentions "realized I could smell a cigarette in the car in front of me" ... many humans have that sensitivity ant the biological level but have spent their lives learning to ignore, rather than interpret, those signals.

[MisterTea]

> Dogs do find some smells repulsive;

Growing up I had a dog that would eat anything. ANYTHING. He was a shop dog and lived with a few other dogs in my fathers shop (they came home on occasion). He would lick the stainless steel chips out of the milling machine trough and his poop would sparkle in the sun. He enjoyed chewing on razor sharp contiguous spiral steel chips from a stainless job we ran on a lathe. Loved eating leather work gloves, and chewing up buffing wheels and the buffing wax. He would find stray cat poops in the yard and merrily chew and play with them. Eat a dead squirrel carcass and stink like it for a day? no problem! Unclog the toilet and lick the poop off the plunger? Delish! My mother bought in the remains of a chicken dinner and he got a hold of the whole chicken skeleton when no one was looking and ate the thing in under 2 minutes, bones and all. He also once got into a bag of little balloons and was pooping out rainbows. He would let himself out (sneak out) and roam the neighborhood once eating the groceries of a neighbor who set them down on the porch to unlock her door. Never had to go to the vet for eating anything. He was a Shepard mix and died at 16 and a half. That dogs stomach was stronger than anything in that shop, truly a shop dog worthy of the title.

What didn't he eat? Anything you'd put Sweet and sour sauce on. Found that out after trying to give him leftover burger king nuggets. The one thing the dog wouldn't eat was actually something delicious. Probably the vinegar.

[ezconnect]

Dogs do react on odors that's not pleasant to them.

[is_true]

Maybe our conscious self prefers the good. Smelling the bad is/was a evolutionary advantage

[creeble]

I think ozone is one of those chemicals. Department stores in the 1950's used to pump it in to subtly mask mustiness or "store smell" so that the distinct smells of departments like perfume were more distinct.