Can we taste smells?

[kylieebrook]

side note: hank looks so good and healthy, he’s really rocking the new look

[SkulSmashre]

Hank’s transition to Walter White has gone beautifully

[akpsyche]

I find it interesting how while we have distinct senses of taste like sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami, we also get the majority of the sensation of flavor from the smells of whatever we're eating. You don't realize how big a role smell plays until it's gone, which a lot of people found out after getting Covid.

[moonhawk_]

Nerdy Jason Statham really knows his science

[Nivlamalama]

Hank Green is an illusion created in my mind

[TheJJluv]

What I love about Hank is that he can talk about something I already know the complete answer to, and I'll still enjoy watching him excitedly explain it.

[katjosephperez]

Shout out to the Amazon employee. We all love Hank. I adore him. At the same time, that Amazon worker deserves a freakin medal 👏

[taylorosgood]

Gosh that is so cool and the way you explain it allows for such a layman to understand at a glance it is just sooo coool!!! GOSH!!!

[ogi]

A small correction: you also need to have a direct contact with the chemical if you smell it. Otherwise, you wouldn't smell a thing :)
Stay safe and healthy!

[PlagueOfGripes]

You definitely didn't explain that well in the first half. Basically, if the particulate matter you're smelling also can get on your tongue and trigger a receptor, then you're also tasting it.

[positivelynegative]

But smelling is a physical touch. A piece of the smelled thing physically broke off, wafted through the air, and physically landed on receptors in the nose.

[MsMeggles]

I literally could just listen to you talk all day! You get so pumped about stuff and you get me all amped up to listen!!!

[samim]

Every time I get an IV, I experience the smell/ taste. The saline used to clear the line when injected is actually "smell released" into the olfactory system. This gives the patient the taste of saline. Another odd thing about this is that not everyone experiences this. I've tasted WAY too much saline. 😊😂

[TehBlob]

I agree that to smell something is to sense chemicals in the air. But, it's not that you're not in physical contact with the chemical. The volitile airborn chemical still needs to physically contact and bind to an olfactory nerve receptor (cell surface protein) to trigger the downstream signaling that generates the perceived sensation of smell.

Also, I assume many molecules we smell can also bind to a subset "taste" receptors, so you probably physically can taste "smells" in that sense. (Although, admittedly, I can't cite any data offhand to support my idea - sorry.)

Regardless, it's a good and enjoyable answer - nice video :)

We could spend hours discussing smell, taste, other sensations, perception of the world around us, and how it's all illusions created in our brains. But that won't fit into a YouTube short/tiktok format :(

[rheah]

For me, “All sensations are created in your mind” fits perfectly with “Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why should that mean it's not real?”

[aenithharper]

My food science friend explained that this is the difference between taste and flavor! He has a great time during his Covid infection when he lost his sense of smell. He got to really understand the taste of food (what you sense with your tongue alone). 😅

[jesseisstuckinside]

To simplify your answer, let's imagine a burger. You can smell the burger. You can taste the burger. They're pretty similar, and they work together in your mind to create the burger.
Now let's imagine some vanilla extract. You can smell the vanilla. But you taste it, and it's completely different.

[jenthedford]

I LOVE your channel. All your videos make my ADHD so happy because you speak like I think and I TOTALLY get it!!

[KariBear_]

Dude! As someone who has absolutely no sense of smell because of a TBI, I can verify that I can taste smells.... sometimes. It has to be an incredibly strong smell. Lol, our brains are freaking crazy!!!

[hajnalmini]

Depends on what you by 'direct contact'. When you smell something, it is I'm fact, volatile compounds entering your nose and they come in contact with the receptors.