Odor

Having been domesticated many thousands of years ago, dogs have evolved to become highly attuned to human behavior, but a study from scientists at Queen's University Belfast has taken this concept into new terrain.

Researchers have discovered how some viruses can alter the smell of their host in order to attract mosquitoes. A study found dengue and Zika viruses can alter a host’s skin microbiome to enhance the volume of odor molecules that draw in mosquitoes.

A compelling new study suggests we tend to make friends with people who smell the same as us. Across a series of experiments the researchers found volunteers interacted more positively with strangers who shared similar body odor qualities.

A fascinating new study suggests trained ants could be an effective way to detect cancer in humans. The researchers demonstrated a certain species of ant can be quickly trained to detect cancerous cells with an accuracy equal to that seen in dogs.

By the time that Parkinson’s disease is causing observable symptoms, it's often advanced to the stage that it's difficult to treat. In an effort to detect the disease earlier, scientists have developed an "electronic nose" that sniffs it out.

If mosquitoes seem to love you but ignore the person sitting next to you, the color of your clothes might be to blame. New experiments reveal that certain colors attract hungry mosquitoes, which could be used to design new traps or repellents.

An intriguing new study has found a chemical excreted by babies can influence aggression in humans. The findings reveal curious sex-specific responses to the chemical, triggering aggression in women but blocking aggression in men.

Wastewater treatment plants generally aren't known for their nice smell, and they have to be monitored in order to ensure that they're not becoming too stinky. An experimental new system uses an "e-nose" and a drone to do the job better.

Our sense of smell seems to be the least understood. To help shed some light on the system, researchers at Rockefeller University have taken the first cryo-electron microscope images of an olfactory receptor at work in the simple system of an insect.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed an electronic nose that may be able to sniff out signs of cancer from blood plasma samples. In tests, the device was able to detect a range of cancer types with over 90 percent accuracy.

Although we've already heard about plants that mimic the smell of rotten meat in order to attract scavengers, botanists have now discovered that a certain plant focuses that concept – it mimics the smell of dead beetles, to draw in one type of fly.

No matter how good we humans have made something, chances are nature did it better. Rather than compete, scientists have now tapped into a natural sensor with the Smellicopter, a drone that uses an antenna from a live moth to sniff out its targets.