Thursday, August 25, 2011

Thursday Thinking – “I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.” Walt Disney


I’m having a hard time thinking of anything but the smell of a dead mouse that is somewhere in our house.  I’m thinking it’s behind the kitchen cupboards since he nibbled on a Big Hunk candybar on top of the fridge before he . . . . before he began to smell . . . and he's not behind the fridge or the cupboard drawers.  

Here are a dozen or so interesting thoughts on the subject of smell to think about: 

  1. Humans are able to distinguish over 10,000 scents.
  2. Each person, except identical twins, has his or her individual smell.
  3. One in 1,000 people are insensitive to the smell of skunks.  (Calvin is one of them . . . oh, I shouldn’t say that is insensitive, he is highly sensitive . . . he loves the smell of skunks.  It reminds him of bow hunting.)
  4. Smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than taste.
  5. Ninety percent of what is perceived as taste is actually smell.
  6. Ninety percent of the women who were tested identified their newborns by smell after being exposed to them for only 10 minutes to 1 hour.  All of the women recognized their baby’s smell after they had been exposed longer than 1 hour.
  7. By as early as 3 days a baby can discriminate between his own breast-feeding mother and another lactating mother.
  8. Women, particularly women of reproductive age, have a more acute sense of smell than men.
  9. Dogs, horses, and women can detect the “scent of fear.”  (Female subjects wore underarm pads while watching a scary movie or a neutral movie.  The pads were presented to a panel of women who were able to discriminate between  fear and non-fear sweat pads.  How would you like to have been on that panel?)
  10.  We tend to prefer the smell of people who have different smells to our own and tend to be repelled by people whose smell is similar to our own.
  11. A Chicago lab found that the women in their study rated human odor more pleasant than common household odors.
  12. Around $24 billion is spent annually on scented products in the U.S.
  13. Experts believe that sperm may smell their way to the egg.
  14. People are very sensitive to the smell of green pepper.  It can be detected when it is mixed with air at only 0.5 parts per trillion.
(This information was compiled by Tim Jacob)

I think people are very sensitive to the smell of decaying mice, too.


But three smells that I do love are lilacs, bread baking, and Johnson's baby lotion.  How about you?  What are three smells you love?  

17 comments:

Cassidy said...

I love the smell of Tide laundry soap. I love the smell of my babies just after they've nursed. I love the smell of a freshly cut lawn.

Michelle said...

I think I may be an oddity. Ty is always pointing out smells that I can't detect, even when I'm smelling for them. And too bad that mouse got away back in December. Maybe that was him. I still hold that it was not MY fault. :)

Grace said...

Very interesting facts!!

I love the pumpkin spice candle my mom use to get every fall, the smell of fresh, clean laundry, and the way Abe smells after he is all showered and clean :)

Tyler - Danielle - Emree said...

I love the smell of vanilla, christmas trees, and sunscreen!

Cali said...

I like the smell of gasoline... just kidding... kind-of

I like the taste of peach pie, fettucini alfredo, and pineapple... so I guess that means there is a 90% chance it's the smell of them I actually like.

I'm a little nervous, though. I'm not sure I could pick Levin out of a line-up going by smell. I know what he smells like, but you know how it is. You start second guessing and pretty soon you've erased "C" and marked "B" instead.

I loved this post. Hope the mouse smell is gone soon

Cali

Deanna/Mimi said...

We must be identical twins. Those are my favorite scents too. Do you remember the smell of Baby Magic? Oh how I loved that. Our names sure don't denote that we are identical twins. You go ahead and keep your name Jane and I will start using my middle name of Jean and then we will definitely prove that we are twins. Bye for now Sis.

Deidra said...

Dead mouse, icky!

I love the smell of construction sites. They remind me of going out on jobs with my dad.

Now that I'm starting to get over my cold, the smell of baby lotion is even sweeter! Last night after her bath, I couldn't help but take deep breaths of sweet Millie! Mmm!

And Cassidy says she likes the smell of her babies after they've nursed. I don't know if I make garlic scented milk or what, but I do not like that smell. At the very beginning I would always get really concerned that I had BO, until I realized it was just Millie's breath. Strange.

SANDERSON / MCCONKIE FAMILY said...

I LOVE good smells! I live by a Bath and Body Works and I LOVE their spicy, fruity and evergreen scents. I am a recovering SNIFFER...I admit it...I have 2 wax melting pots in my home at all times. I have 2 daughters that sniff detergent. We all love the smell of Pinesol, Clean Linen and Downy!!! Love ya!!!!

Tiffany Fackrell said...

i love the smell of gasoline actually. and the smell of my kiddos right after they have gotten all sunscreened up!! MMMMMM!!! also I love the smell of David's deoderant on him. funny because I HATE the smell of women's deoderant but give me david's armpits after the shower...yeah he thinks i am totally a weirdo for that one!! HAHAHA!!!

i am sorta with cali and wondering if i would be able to smell out my baby...that one has me worried...hahaha!

patsy said...

This is so interesting & amazing!

I love the smell of popcorn popping! and baby magic-- ew I love that stuff.

michelle said...

Interesting indeed. Women can smell fear? Who knew? I would NOT have wanted to be on that panel.

We're repelled by people whose scent is similar to our own? So weird.

I love the smell of lemon verbena, limes, freshly baked bread and cookies, clean laundry, and my mom's perfume (although I don't like it as well on me!).

Brenda Goodrich said...

I love the smell of Pine-Sol, tropical suntan lotion, bacon, and gladiolas. Cali, I also LOVE the smell of gasoline and could practically tell I was pregnant if I wanted to drink it instead of smell it, and Tiffany, Ken's armpits are heavenly to smell after he's applied my favorite men's deodorant, Aramis. In fact, he's almost irresistable after he's applied his sunscreen and deodorant and has gas spilled on him:) The grit and dirt keep me from ravaging him, however.

MJ said...

I love your three smells. And also I love the smell of ironed cotton and perfectly yellow lemons and poplar trees.

My dau and I have been obsessed with smell this summer and have been reading things with titles like Whiff, The Emeror of Scent, The Nose Knows, The Scented Ape.

But dead mouse? That's got to be in my top three of worst smells. (Skunk's not so bad -- I almost almost like it.)

tina said...

Very interesting . . .

My son can tell which pillow is mine and which is my husband's by the smell.

I like vanilla, pineapple and green apple Scentsy.

I love fresh baked bread smell. I don't like the smell of fresh rain on concrete!

Kim Sue said...

any combination of tomato, basil, onion, garlic, olive oil - throw in some bacon and I'm done!

Becky said...

The smell of books, some fabric softeners, and my husband's body wash :)

Samantha said...

I LOVE the smell of skunk (it reminds me of home). I'll have to say homemade bread since it's fast Sunday and there is currently bread cooking in the oven. Yum. And aftershave on my husband.