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Smell, taste, and sensory biology

Olfaction, taste, chemical sensing, sensory perception, artificial noses, and the biology of sensory detection.

1,299 stories · 11 in 30 days · Updated Sep 28, 2026

The pace of conversation

Posts per month

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2020-012026-09

Posts per month · first and latest months may be partial.

01 / EXPLORE THROUGH TIME

Timeline

Start with the latest. Scroll back through time, or zoom in for more.

Year by yearUp to 5 stories per year
2026120 stories
Chewing gum restores dad's taste and smell years after Covid↗ discover.swns.com · HN · 106 comments · 193 points · May 21, 2026
The smelly baby problem↗ worksinprogress.news · HN · 145 comments · 215 points · Apr 29, 2026
Air is full of DNA↗ nature.com · HN · 64 comments · 187 points · Apr 18, 2026
Bored of eating your own dogfood? Try smelling your own farts↗ shkspr.mobi · HN · 214 comments · 368 points · Mar 22, 2026
Electronic nose for indoor mold detection and identification↗ advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com · HN · 124 comments · 210 points · Jan 07, 2026
2025182 stories
We Induced Smells With Ultrasound↗ writetobrain.com · HN · 184 comments · 676 points · Nov 21, 2025
Post office in France rolls out croissant-scented stamp↗ ctvnews.ca · HN · 93 comments · 181 points · Oct 09, 2025
Perfume reviews↗ gwern.net · HN · 183 comments · 325 points · Jul 17, 2025
The chemical secrets that help keep honey fresh for so long↗ bbc.com · HN · 167 comments · 227 points · Jul 04, 2025
Investigating the case of human nose shape and climate adaptation (2017)↗ journals.plos.org · HN · 86 comments · 139 points · Jan 30, 2025
2024165 stories
Scratch and Sniff Stickers and the Gas Panic of '87↗ hackaday.com · HN · 4 comments · 57 points · Dec 08, 2024
Rodents remotely move matter using sound to enhance their sense of smell: study↗ buffalo.edu · HN · 8 comments · 49 points · Oct 15, 2024
French post office releases scratch-and-sniff baguette stamp↗ theguardian.com · HN · 23 comments · 100 points · May 18, 2024
Presence and collection of DNA from air and air conditioner units↗ analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com · HN · 41 comments · 58 points · Apr 19, 2024
A woman who can smell Parkinson's is inspiring research into diagnosis (2020)↗ npr.org · HN · 75 comments · 244 points · Feb 13, 2024
2023205 stories
A chemical signal in human female tears lowers aggression in males↗ newatlas.com · HN · 65 comments · 66 points · Dec 23, 2023
A chemical signal in human female tears lowers aggression in males↗ journals.plos.org · HN · 8 comments · 29 points · Dec 22, 2023
Sniffing women's tears reduces aggressive behavior in men↗ medicalxpress.com · HN · 12 comments · 20 points · Dec 21, 2023
New pill helps Covid smell and taste loss fade quickly↗ nature.com · HN · 5 comments · 10 points · Oct 18, 2023
Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans↗ nature.com · HN · 16 comments · 22 points · Sep 04, 2023
2022226 stories
Scientists discover how mosquitoes can ‘sniff out’ humans↗ theguardian.com · HN · 125 comments · 136 points · Aug 19, 2022
Postmortem assessment of olfactory tissue degeneration in patients with Covid-19↗ jamanetwork.com · HN · 177 comments · 172 points · Apr 12, 2022
Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved (1991)↗ erowid.org · HN · 165 comments · 202 points · Mar 31, 2022
These are real compounds↗ science.org · HN · 26 comments · 196 points · Mar 23, 2022
A 13-year-old used my artificial nose to diagnose pneumonia↗ blog.benjamin-cabe.com · HN · 177 comments · 325 points · Feb 17, 2022
2021184 stories
Should a dog's sniff be enough to convict a person for murder?↗ science.org · HN · 157 comments · 140 points · Oct 28, 2021
Dogs distinguish human intentional and unintentional action↗ nature.com · HN · 152 comments · 376 points · Sep 05, 2021
Smell You Later: The Weird Science of How Sweat Attracts↗ thewalrus.ca · HN · 70 comments · 141 points · Jul 29, 2021
'New car smell' is the scent of carcinogens↗ sciencealert.com · HN · 376 comments · 502 points · Feb 16, 2021
Czech trainers teach dogs to sniff out Covid: 95-percent success rate↗ france24.com · HN · 73 comments · 165 points · Jan 24, 2021
2020217 stories
Loss of smell could be a 'highly reliable indicator' of Covid-19, research says↗ cnn.com · HN · 271 comments · 393 points · Oct 02, 2020
The fresh smell of ransomed coffee↗ decoded.avast.io · HN · 178 comments · 143 points · Sep 26, 2020
Some coronavirus patients haven't gotten their senses of smell or taste back yet↗ wsj.com · HN · 179 comments · 280 points · Jun 01, 2020
Chemical analysis and origin of the smell of line-dried laundry↗ publish.csiro.au · HN · 103 comments · 157 points · May 31, 2020
Loss of sense of smell a marker for Covid-19 infection↗ entuk.org · HN · 109 comments · 211 points · Mar 21, 2020
Scroll through time ↕

02 / CATCH UP

The conversation now

Popular stories, with attention fading over roughly two weeks.

'Old Person Smell'↗ theguardian.com · HN · 55 comments · 103 points · Sep 06, 2026
Bomb Sense (2021)↗ danboland.net · HN · 1 comments · 18 points · Sep 09, 2026
The Oddity of Your Sneezes↗ bodilyoddities.com · HN · 2 comments · 5 points · Sep 16, 2026
Decoding smell: Study reveals how odor signals shapeshift in the wind↗ colorado.edu · HN · 0 comments · 19 points · Aug 15, 2026
Dogs can tell when you're happy, sad or frustrated↗ washingtonpost.com · HN · 10 comments · 24 points · Aug 12, 2026

03 / GO DEEPER

Follow your curiosity

Find a particular story, revisit a year, or see what resonated.

Highest rated · the last 30 days

'Old Person Smell'↗ theguardian.com · HN · 55 comments · 103 points · Sep 06, 2026
Bomb Sense (2021)↗ danboland.net · HN · 1 comments · 18 points · Sep 09, 2026
The Oddity of Your Sneezes↗ bodilyoddities.com · HN · 2 comments · 5 points · Sep 16, 2026
Everyone Has a Distaste for the Artificial↗ emailstotheworld.com · HN · 0 comments · 4 points · Sep 07, 2026
AI as a Tool in Taste Research: decoding the taste of bitterness↗ leibniz-lsb.de · HN · 0 comments · 2 points · Sep 25, 2026
A Calendar of Smells↗ worldsensorium.com · HN · 0 comments · 2 points · Sep 22, 2026
A Calendar of Smells↗ worldsensorium.com · HN · 0 comments · 2 points · Sep 18, 2026
The Toothbrush Test↗ danromero.org · HN · 0 comments · 2 points · Sep 05, 2026
Gemini vs. Claude: Which AI Model created a better perfume?↗ youtube.com · HN · 1 comments · 2 points · Sep 04, 2026
The Toothbrush Test↗ danromero.org · HN · 0 comments · 2 points · Sep 02, 2026

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