5 ms·

"Sounds reasonable." No, it does not. Your eye has no receptors to detect a chair, a stone or a dog. They detect a spectrum. Why should the nose work different

"Sounds reasonable." No, it does not. Your eye has no receptors to detect a chair, a stone or a dog. They detect a spectrum. Why should the nose work different? "infrared theory of smell - a theory that the olfactory sense organ functions as an infrared spectrometer. It assumes that odorants each have a unique infrared absorption spectrum, which produces transient cooling of the cilia in the olfactory epithelium." This book will answer most of your questions: https://www.amazon.de/Sense-Smell-Robert-Hamilton-Wright/dp/0849352320 https://www.amazon.de/Sense-Smell-Robert-Hamilton-Wright/dp/... This is not bad either Luca Turin - A Method for the Calculation of Odor Character from Molecular Structure July 2002Journal of Theoretical Biology 216(3):367-85

Chris2048 5y ago
> Why should the nose work different? why would it? AFAIK a lot of proteins are specialised wrt the many bio-chemical reactions of the body.
- rumpelstilz18 5y ago
  Okay, I am wrong. Two famous scientists vs. an idiot on HN
periheli0n 5y ago
Turin's spectral theory of olfaction has been disproven. I think even Turin himself admits that "perhaps it's not exclusively spectral", which means a lot, when you know Luca ;)
- rumpelstilz18 5y ago
  1. There is no proof in science. But now there is disprove? Link please. 2. The other book, while very old, addresses most critique points. 3. The US military has successful applications of this theory in creating non explosives odors of explosive substances for training dogs.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - periheli0n 5y ago
    Ok, let's phrase it differently. In response to well-evidenced critique, raised after that 2002 book, the vibration theory of olfaction has been watered down so far that it is now arbitrary. The wikipedia entry for the vibration theory of olfaction has plenty of links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?... It didn't help the scientific debate that Turin's 2002 book contains some ad-hominem insults to scientists who had voiced challenges to his theory. If the vibration theory has ever succeeded to uncover structure-smell relationships (like in the application with the US military that you quote), the it is because the vibrational spectrum of a molecule encodes its shape and internal flexibility. It does not mean that all olfactory receptors perform spectroscopy, as Turin claimed (note the past tense).
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - periheli0n 5y ago
    Ok, let's phrase it differently. In response to well-evidenced critique, raised after that 2002 book, the vibration theory of olfaction has been watered down so far that it is now arbitrary. The wikipedia entry for the vibration theory of olfaction has plenty of links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?... It didn't help the scientific debate that Turin's 2002 book contains some ad-hominem insults to scientists who had voiced challenges to his theory. If the vibration theory has ever succeeded to uncover structure-smell relationships (like in the application with the US military that you quote), it is because the vibrational spectrum of a molecule encodes its shape and internal flexibility. It does not mean that all olfactory receptors perform spectroscopy, as Turin claimed (note the past tense - he stepped back from that claim at least 8 years ago).
    - rumpelstilz18 5y ago
      3.1 Isotope effects 3.2 Explaining differences in stereoisomer scents 3.3 The sulfurous smell of boranes Most of the critiques are debunked in the book from 1982 that I linked.

Chris2048 5y ago

> Why should the nose work different? why would it? AFAIK a lot of proteins are specialised wrt the many bio-chemical reactions of the body.

rumpelstilz18 5y ago
Okay, I am wrong. Two famous scientists vs. an idiot on HN

periheli0n 5y ago

Turin's spectral theory of olfaction has been disproven. I think even Turin himself admits that "perhaps it's not exclusively spectral", which means a lot, when you know Luca ;)

rumpelstilz18 5y ago
1. There is no proof in science. But now there is disprove? Link please. 2. The other book, while very old, addresses most critique points. 3. The US military has successful applications of this theory in creating non explosives odors of explosive substances for training dogs.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- periheli0n 5y ago
  Ok, let's phrase it differently. In response to well-evidenced critique, raised after that 2002 book, the vibration theory of olfaction has been watered down so far that it is now arbitrary. The wikipedia entry for the vibration theory of olfaction has plenty of links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?... It didn't help the scientific debate that Turin's 2002 book contains some ad-hominem insults to scientists who had voiced challenges to his theory. If the vibration theory has ever succeeded to uncover structure-smell relationships (like in the application with the US military that you quote), the it is because the vibrational spectrum of a molecule encodes its shape and internal flexibility. It does not mean that all olfactory receptors perform spectroscopy, as Turin claimed (note the past tense).
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- periheli0n 5y ago
  Ok, let's phrase it differently. In response to well-evidenced critique, raised after that 2002 book, the vibration theory of olfaction has been watered down so far that it is now arbitrary. The wikipedia entry for the vibration theory of olfaction has plenty of links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction?... It didn't help the scientific debate that Turin's 2002 book contains some ad-hominem insults to scientists who had voiced challenges to his theory. If the vibration theory has ever succeeded to uncover structure-smell relationships (like in the application with the US military that you quote), it is because the vibrational spectrum of a molecule encodes its shape and internal flexibility. It does not mean that all olfactory receptors perform spectroscopy, as Turin claimed (note the past tense - he stepped back from that claim at least 8 years ago).
  - rumpelstilz18 5y ago
    3.1 Isotope effects 3.2 Explaining differences in stereoisomer scents 3.3 The sulfurous smell of boranes Most of the critiques are debunked in the book from 1982 that I linked.