Humans can sniff out gender
Study adds to controversy of whether people have pheromones
By Meghan Rosen
Just a whiff of a man’s armpit could reveal his gender — to people attracted to males, at least. And females’ urine could offer men and lesbians the telltale scent of a woman, according to a controversial new study of how bodily secretions tweak perceptions.
“Our findings argue for the existence of human sex pheromones,” says olfaction researcher Wen Zhou of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
Pheromones are chemical signals that some animals use to convey information about sex, health and predators. Their existence and effect on behavior are well documented in reptiles, rodents and other animals but not clear-cut in humans. People lack the sensory equipment other animals use to detect these cues.