Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
Feature Neuroscience

Year in review: The nose knows a trillion odors

Scent tests show precision of human olfactory power

nose

THE NOSE KNOWS Humans can suss out more than 1 trillion different smells, a 2014 study estimated.

Chiyacat/Shutterstock

By Bruce Bower

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Neuroscience

  1. longfin inshore squid
    Genetics

    Squid edit their genetic material in a uniquely weird place

    By Erin Garcia de Jesus
  2. artificial neural network illustration
    Artificial Intelligence

    An AI that mimics how mammals smell recognizes scents better than other AI

    By Maria Temming
  3. EEG electrodes on the heads of three different people
    Science & Society

    New electrodes can better capture brain waves of people with natural hair

    By Laura Sanders
  4. sheep
    Neuroscience

    Brain waves common during sleep also show up in awake sheep

    By Laura Sanders
  5. Cutting up live human brain tissue
    Neuroscience

    Living brain tissue experiments raise new kinds of ethical questions

    By Laura Sanders
  6. microglia and nerve cells
    Neuroscience

    Brain cells called microglia eat away mice’s memories

    By Laura Sanders
  7. illustration of blood vessels
    Neuroscience

    Injecting nanoparticles in the blood curbed brain swelling in mice

    By Laura Sanders
  8. patient receiving chemotherapy
    Neuroscience

    Psilocybin may help cancer patients with depression and anxiety for years

    By Laura Sanders

From the Nature Index

Paid Content