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GamesPosts Tagged: ‘smell’
I have yet to play the hit role-playing game “Skyrim,” but more than a few tales of gamer obsession leave me hesitant to test its waters. After all, do I really have time for a game that’s “better than real life?” And what am I to make of the gamer who filled his home with the beheaded female corpses?
I enjoy a good blood-soaked video game romp as well as the next guy, but stuff like this really makes me ponder the effects of violent video games on the human psyche. Just consider this recent Indiana University School of Medicine study, which suggests violent video games alter brain areas involved in inhibition and emotional modulation.
Blow Your Mind: Robotic Roomates and the Science of Smell
by Robert Lamb | November 17, 2011
So I think this bit of fan mail from our listener John sets up this week’s episodes rather nicely: “Listening to Robots podcast and y’all keep mentioning Roombas, and I know you are cat people. We on a Skeptical Listserve were discussing Roombas last month, and a participant mentioned that a friend of his had a Roomba and a Cat. The cat crapped on the carpet, and the Roomba not-so-helpfully tracked the feces all over the house.”
That Weird, Eggy Smell is Coming from the Quantum World
by Josh Clark | March 30, 2011
We’ve got a pretty good handle on exactly how we categorize smells and file them in neural networks in the brain. Research has shown that later interaction with any particular smell can lead to its refinement as any faulty former information is replaced and original, correct information is reinforced by the electrochemical stimulation of these neural networks through the sensation of smell.
Women’s Brains Can Sniff Out Sexy Sweat
by Cristen Conger | January 21, 2011
We know that smell is one of the most emotionally powerful senses, triggering vivid memories from even a wisp of a waft. On Stuff Mom Never Told You, Molly and I have discussed how people unconsciously “sniff out” biologically suitable mates with complementary gene pools. A 2009 psychology study from Rice University adds another compelling note to this complex perfume of humans’ conscious and unconscious smell responses.
Oh man, do we have a nose full of Stuff From the Science Lab for you this week! We depend on our sense of smell to process the world around us, and both of this weeks’ episodes get down to the science of both fragrant and noxious odors. It’s quite a journey, as we’ll take you from the perfume bottles of Paris to the strange atmospheres of the outer planets.
A couple of years ago, I caught a whiff of Chanel Chance, and it smelled like destiny. And like many relationships, Chance and I went through the glorious honeymoon phase when I never left the house without a spritz. Now, aside from a cursory squirt from time to time, Chance sits unnoticed on my vanity, the original romance all but evaporated.
But I’m also looking forward to getting back in fragrance market. Anyone who’s ever searches for perfume or cologne knows this isn’t the easiest or most pleasant task. Headache-inducing musk, patchouli and floral bouquets can quickly overwhelm even the most intrepid shopper. Not to mention perfume’s bedeviling way of smelling differently on any given arm.
Last week, I ran out of soap, so I dug up an old bar I stole from a beach condo a couple of summers ago. As soon as I lathered up in the shower, I was overcome by a really happy, carefree feeling. Why? Because the smell of the soap immediately took me back to that long weekend at the beach — not a cloud in the sky for four days straight, perfect sunbathing temperatures (hot, but not too hot), and all of my closest friends around me.
Artificial flavors imitate natural flavors and are found in many processed products. Learn more about the chemistry of flavors, both natural and artificial, in this episode of BrainStuff.
What’s that smell? Why, it’s the stench of morality!
by Josh Clark | October 27, 2009
Science doesn’t really have a good grasp on how a lot of things work. Like antidepressants. Neurologists can’t rightly say how they work, but psychiatrists know they do, so antidepressants get prescribed. I would imagine that if you’re suffering from crippling depression, you don’t really care how a pill can make everything seem sunnier, just as long as it does.
Much the same goes for our sense of smell. There are a number of competing theories out there on how we perceive the world through that sense, including one that covers quantum physics. Under this hypothesis, odorants unlock their designated receptors through the superposition of the quantum material that comprises them.
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