4 ms·
A long-lost perfume got a second life after 150 years underwater
- amelius 6y agoSince we don't yet have the means to objectively/scientifically record what the scent actually smells like, perhaps the bottle should stay closed?
- osamagirl69 6y agoThe GC/MC trace is an immutable record of the exact molecular composition (up to the capabilities of the GC/MS, some compounds may fall outside of its analysis range, but the Agilent 5975C shown in the images paired with the matching 7980A can measure pretty much anything you can smell), the trouble that these perfumers have is that you can no longer easily source the chemical compounds. Furthermore, from what I understand, only a few microliters were removed from the bottle and it was resealed, so it is not like the sample is lost to time, and it is probably better preserved now that it is being stored in a museum than sitting on the seafloor. I will be honest I am not thrilled that the contents are being kept a secret and used to sell overpriced perfume, but in general I am all for people reproducing relics if it means more people can be experience them!
- dirtyid 6y agoThis perfume is probably not even legal anymore. EU passed legislation to regulate fragrance materials 5 years ago, a bunch of materials got banned which forced major perfume houses to reformulate many classic scents with new materials for compliance. A keen "nose" can probably get something relatively close with synthetic alternatives.
- ThePowerOfFuet 6y agoIt's sad to see that Atlas Obscura still pushes their mandatory cookie wall.
- fluffernutter 6y agoJust in case Brian is smelling again.
- edge17 6y agoWhat is the tool that the person in the photo is using to blast the sand underwater? I don't dive or anything, but generally just curious about archeology and technology
- ta17711771 6y agoUsually an air line, or a fan.
- dfee 6y agoWhat’s most interesting to me is that we have a history of written records, in the 19th century gained audio recordings, and now (with the internet / data storage) an archive of image and video. There are 3 other sense, though. Would love to see an archive of smell, taste and touch over the ages (even if it’s only moving forward).
- qlk1123 6y agoChemical ones are way more difficult than physical ones, so I guess among the three, the archive of touch will show up earlier than others. Both smell and taste involves complicated bio-chemical process which thus involves hard engineering problems. Similar to this, movie theaters want to provides more detail of the film as a non-replaceable experience to customers. So far what they can do are no more than shaking chairs according to actions scenes.
- ianmcgowan 6y agoI would love to know what food tasted like 100 or 1,000 years ago. It was probably gross and horrible for most of humanity back then, so perhaps narrow the sample to whatever the 1% were eating. Though I probably don't really know what the 1% are eating now, so maybe it's comparing two impossible things..
- Jack000 6y agoAgrarian cultures probably ate a lot healthier than modern people, simply by virtue of not having heavily processed foods. Preindustrial societies also didn't have to deal with heavy metals in seafood or arsenic in rice.
- Jack000 6y agosurprised this is so controversial. Anyone mind explaining why you disagree?
- Baeocystin 6y agoThis is an excellent video on what English peasants ate during Medieval times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeVcey0Ng-w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeVcey0Ng-w The short of it is that they ate much better than most of us would have expected!
- prvc 6y agoDoes anyone have a detailed description of the scent of ambergris?
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoWell it comes out the other end, not spit up like a hair ball.
- anitil 6y agoArticles Of Interest (a 99 Percent Invisible spinoff podcast) had an episode where they smell ambergris and describe it. Avery Trufelman (the host) described it as 'like looking at a landscape through a pinhole' https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/perfume-articles-of-interest-9/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/perfume-articles-of-i... Edit: There's an even better description from Barbara Herman - "Some people say there’s tobacco notes. There’s obviously a very, animalic kind of fecal quality to it, but also slightly metallic and coumarin or hay-like, slightly sweet. It’s more of a feeling than it is a smell for me. It’s just like being enveloped in warmth."
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- sawmurai 6y agoI'm a bit confused. I searched for more details on that ship and all I can find is a ship called "Mary Celeste" (so, very similar or the same name) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste But its story does not really seem to fit. The Mary Celeste from Wikipedia was sank in an attempted insurance fraud, being fully loaded with cheap stuff. Guess I am confusing the ships here :)
- narag 6y agoIt seems it's not the same ship: Celeste <> Celestia. Both related to the sky, but not quite the same word. Not sure about English (both ships look like named in this language) but I associate celeste with the color (sky blue, light blue) and celestia with firmament or heavens.