Luca Turin: The science of scent

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Discuss this talk: The science of scent ( Luca Turin )
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Jeffrey Soreff November 8 2008
The explanation of the mechanism of smell seems somewhat implausible, but, yes, there are a variety of ways one could make a nanoscale IR spectrometer. Another option would be to look for resonant energy transfer, not between a tunnelling electron, but between a vibrational excitation in another molecule and the test molecule.
One skeptical note: I've handled heavy water, and never noticed an odor. If this theory is right, it should smell very different from the odorless background of normal water.
One application note: If the theory is right, there should be a huge range of deuterated compounds with distinct smells... and there would be a wide choice of very safe ones.
Tom Kraemer November 7 2008
What a wonderful explanation of scent and our sense of smell. Thank you for a profound insight. You've changed my understanding of my formerly least appreciated sense!
Rylan Grayston November 7 2008
I think some homeopathic practitioners are running into a very similar situation as you.
In that they get results that they cannot fully explain the workings of.
In the past I often found myself scoffing at the explanations I have heard. The use of words like energy flow to describe how a massage works has been
hard for me to respond too. I have discovered that when some one makes no scene at all they are often using a hole different set of definitions than I know of. For example my dictionary has 6 distinct definitions for plasma. How may dose yours have and which are you using?
Your story is a great example of how
-some one with an explanation that seems obvious and correct with no results
is of no more value than
-someone with concrete results that support a seemingly ridiculous explanation.
Its very entertaining to hear the later come together.
Thanks for explaining how the hard evidence implies that the human body can detect molecular vibration and interpret it as smell.
ps I laughed at the biologist vs physicist joke e mediately, common tedsters lighten up
that was elegantly place hummor!
cheers!
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About this talk
www.ted.com What's the science behind a sublime perfume? With charm and precision, biophysicist Luca Turin explains the molecular makeup -- and the art -- of a scent.

[@McDaidUSA]

Its great to hear a scientist actually be honest about the way the discovery is made instead of making up some story about how they were so smart and had it all figured out in advance by their brilliant calculations.

[@mulanfranken3669]

Listening to this have been the best 15 minutes in the college ever!

[@josueperalta321]

Wow, this super interesting! And Luca Turin is such a good speaker, you can easily understand what he is saying without being a biophysicist yourself and learn, while being entertained by his words and eventual jokes. Loved it!

[@danielsan3681]

I really love Luca! What a brilliant mind!

[@martian2lee]

“I’ve had what I consider to be the best job in the entire universe, which is to put my hobby -- which is, you know, fragrance and all the magnificent things -- plus a little bit of biophysics, a small amount of self-taught chemistry at the service of something that actually works.”

[@BeaLukas]

Wow! I am so glad this comes out now and can be watched on KZbin. Congratulations. It took a long time. I always was a fan of your research, wondering why this eventually would happen. Wish you all the best!

[@jonahansen]

jeez - my sentiments exactly. And it's not just the "music", it's the fact that it is so loud, I have to adjust the volume down while it plays, and then back up to hear the speaker. Excellent video :)

[@NathanHarrison7]

Excellent way of making the complex simple to understand. Models helped a lot. Thank you.

[@dutchhaze1]

Very interesting. TED, thanks for existing

[@igorkrupitsky]

Wow. I wonder it would be possible to create a smell detection device using nanotechnology and this theory. I heard that some dogs can smell a disease. It would be neat to use such a smell detection device for medical diagnosis.

[@SniperMr82]

Great talk. Thank you

[@Imperceptible_parachute]

Fascinating.

[@valupak]

He was great. I loved his dry comment about why people would think that our sense of smell couldn't use detection of atomic or molecular vibrations, after all, our eyes and ears don't (I recall this loosely).

[@justis101]

pretty cool theory

[@int3rl0per]

Where there is profit to be made, there will be innovation. Luca's findings certainly merit more thorough investigation. I should try talking my university chem department and grad students into using this for some research work. I might also just get laughed out and told I'm stupid for suggesting it, but then again, I'm a CS guy with only a rudimentary understanding of chemistry. Looks very proimising if even reasonably accurate, though.

[@ccmike123]

If you go on the fact that there is a continuous band of vibrational/rotational possibilities (combinations within a molecule), each molecule will have a unique scent. Even though they may smell similar, they are not exactly similar. So, I would believe that it would be more like colors in a rainbow (especially since we're talking about the electromagnetic spectrum).

[@blacksilkblacksilk]

In theory it is possible. We are (currently) lacking the engineering to so. The problem is not so much analyzing the signal or sending the signal. The true technological challenge is to reassemble the signal on the receiver end, so that the recepient can smell it. We woul either have to wire a chip into the brain, or we would have to assemble the original molecule that gives the scent. Both technologies are under way, but we are not there yet. Nanoassemby & Neural Chips. have a nice day silk;-)

[@pccalhoun]

The medium of transmission is phonons, but unlike in the case of sound they aren't being produced at a scale with an essentially continuous frequency distribution (pianos could theoretically be made with enough notes subdividing a fixed number of octaves that the shortest intervals are imperceptible to the ear). Perhaps a class of large molecules with easily manipulable vibrational modes will be created and backwards-applied to fill in the gaps between the notes in the small-molecule alphabet.

[@anitanyc]

So if a smell is basically an electromagnetic signal, I wonder why it wouldn't be possible to digitize it, send it through the ether via email and reconstitute it a the other end? I mean to literally send a smell across the ocean, for instance.

[@diegorusso2315]

in linea teorica infatti è possibile.

[@superguy7044]

Or make functional prosthetic noses, taste pallete repair. How do we record the scent and how to transmit that scent though?

[@robotpanda77]

Science kicks ass.

[@rmapcynan1039]

For a moment, I rather enjoyed the idea of the smell of 'violence'. Then I realised he said 'violets'. Not quite as dramatic.So, what would violence smell of?

[@thewickiwoo]

After hearing Turin's translations of molecules' stretch/vibrations to audible pitches (6:45), I'm wondering if that has any relationship to actual harmony, as in music. Do 'pleasant' molecule combinations, i.e. odors and fragrances, have certain harmonious vibration combinations?

[@indigosunset70]

PROB MORE TO DUE WITH NATURE ITSELF. THINGS THAT SMELL GOOD=EDIBLE. THINGS SMELL BAD=POISSONOUS. I KNOw bitter tastes like chocolate n coffee =poison. its just our ape descended bodies have developed to metabolize chocolates n cafe's poison into harmless. sorry my keyboard is damaged lol

[@desertknights5003]

@@indigosunset70 chocolate and coffee are not poison

[@caspareisermann]

anitanyc, this is possible. It would mean to construct a receiver (Turin did exactly this, it#s the electron tunneling spectrometer the Ford guys found), a storage (easy - a computer will do) and a transmitter (the missing piece). Then we will see (or better smell) an "iPod for Scents". It's not a question of engineering. It's simply a question of doing it. If you have spare-time to do so, feel free ;)

[@guitarzilla]

Class distinction in aroma! How profound! Is this something new?

[@anitanyc]

Is it just about the theory or also autobiographical? I would like to learn more about the man. What a great mind!

[@netrakadambi6830]

He has written a book called The Emperor of Scents

[@nerdxr]

unfortunately this isnt as easy as it sounds because especially the C-H bonds which are essentially present in all organic compounds produce a lot of noise in the lower regions of the spectrum (this is called the IR-Fingerprint). It's nearly impossible to get a molecule which only generates 1 certain note as there are many ways the atoms can vibrate and wiggle around.

[@madhulikarcchabi]

Lovely

[@superfisto]

Hmm. Smell is one of our oldest senses.

[@BGenerous]

4jonah: I would guess not. Each molecule has multiple peaks at different frequencies in the spectrogram. These would be analogous to overtones in sound. So the smell of each molecule should be analogous to the sound of a different musical instrument, rather than a different note on a piano.

[@canjian1783]

I wonder if such vibrational frequencies are behind the effectiveness of anaesthetics?

[@Paomnnehal]

I wish the costs would go down, it's easier to make and probably cheaper.

[@spikemarchant1467]

If you like this read "The Emperor of Scent" about L.T and his work.

[@marcinovski]

How new is this tech? Is this the accepted standard in modern perfumery/scent technology?

[@carbon1442]

When they say frequency, what type of frequency do they mean? Sound, light?

[@marythe00001]

Andrei Muresan vibration frequency of molecules? Not sure

[@anitanyc]

I've been looking to contact CS/IT people involved in molecular drug design for some cancer drug research. Know anybody?

[@KristoffDoe]

Wasn't this hypothesis invalidated when they found two isomeres with same spectrum but different smell?

[@andrew1haddad]

Carvone is one example of this.

[@SpontaneityJD]

Wasn’t the lock and key model “invalidated” when they found molecules of same shape but different smell? It is clear that there is more to the story. It is likely a combination of the two.

[@archaedemos]

wawesome

[@RoGeorgeRoGeorge]

If Coumarin was wanted by perfumers, I assume Coumarine is a pleasant smell. Is it? How come then, that Coumarinew is a carcinogenic? Aren't bad smells supposed to warn something is bad/toxic, and good smells supposed to be OK/beneficial?

[@Deathend]

A sense of smell isn't a superpower.

[@unoqualsivoglia3109]

in principle yes, but it can not be taken as a general rule. It is well known that the bitter taste serves to recognize potentially harmful substances. there are numerous receptors for the taste of bitter, just to capture a higher number of molecules. this is clearly a defense mechanism.

[@MichaelZP1]

He simplifies the problem to frequency, to make it more cacheable by our mind, but for me is interesting how it was rescaled to audible sound by octave? or different kinds scales?

[@danilova0685]

Жаль, что нет перевода субтитров

[@Hypatia4242]

Pythagoras was right, it's the music of the spheres!

[@objectivelense1006]

migjt be Davidoff Good Life scent :)

[@int3rl0per]

Nobody qualified who isn't already engaged in a similar project, sorry. Besides, I'm in Finland - but I'd be happy to put out a job advert at the university if you provide me with one. You should be ready to pay for trips and housing, though.

[@jensmith1291]

From reading his books I didn’t expect him to sound like a nervous wreck

[@anitanyc]

caspareisermann, you're far too glib. This is neither proven nor easily done. See research of Fr. physicist, Jacques Benveniste, Yolene Thomas et al on sending molecule traces in water via electronic signals over internet. Intriguing yet frustrating. Not just engineering. Pure science. Major implications on basic understanding of matter. Soon to be published theory in basic physics (Baltimore and Singapore) emerging -- explains many previously unaccepted observations & successful experiments.

[@kentandersen9526]

/ourguy/

[@indigosunset70]

i hope this guy isnt the guy that ruined the fragrance industry in 2009 with all the reformulations.

[@Creotosa]

Avisa que la wea esta en ingles 😭😭😭😭😭

[@vaporfarts]

lol semenlittergod

[@lawahedsultan2046]

ضش

[@chanomartelhernandez9059]

Lo siento mucho pero no lo entiendo soy español

[@DogmanCastroJ]

smell is subjective end of story

[@iam_ismell]

🧿🔥🔥

[@Xcelplus]

Does this have any relevance to homeopathy? Homeopaths are basically claiming they are altering the vibration of water... creating a memory effect. Or what effect does putting frequencies into the body have? None? Unlikely? What about microwaves? RF? ...and other EMF spectra? AC (inducing current)? This suggests both new ways of healing and creating disease (non thermal effects).

[@dirtypure2023]

Xcelplus Very insightful and interesting questions, to which I hope we soon have definitive answers. Proper application of such principles, if true and useful, would absolutely revolutionize healthcare. It would be like unveiling a free energy device in a world dominated by fossil fuels. Certainly there would be entities which would go to great lengths to prevent such revolutionary knowledge and technology from getting to the public.

[@theywalkinguptoyouand4060]

Xcelplus This has no relevance to homeopathy. Homeopathy is a joke. A basic understanding of chemistry or physics would show that water does not have "molecular memory". It is nonsense. A molecule cannot retain memories of other molecules. There are many things that are unexplained. But homeopathy has already been explained and proven to not work.

[@Paomnnehal]

That's because no one really cares :]