How Do We Smell?

It's the first day of Spring! Take a deep breath. What do you smell? At that moment, millions of molecules are rushing into your nose and caressing the nerve endings of your brain's olfactory bulb. But how does your brain know what smell to assign each molecule? How many smells can the brain handle? Smell researcher and neuroscientist Leslie Vosshall explains how molecules drifting through the air become the aromatic world around us. Okay, now exhale.

Original Program Date: June 4, 2011

The World Science Festival gathers great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content that allows a broad general audience to engage with scientific discoveries. Our mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

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