Discover a new smell

Scientists have discovered a new smell, but you may have to go to the lab to feel the smell.

Dr. Noam Sobel and colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Scientific Research (Israel) have discovered a new odor named "white smell". Similar to white noise including a mixture of different frequencies of sound or white light is a mixture of all monochromatic light, white odor is a blend of many different odors.

In a series of experiments, the scientists gave volunteers to smell hundreds of different mixtures, including odor compounds containing only one ingredient and containing mixtures of up to 42 different odors. The volunteer team was then asked to compare the similarities and differences between odor combinations.

Scientists have discovered a new smell called "white smell".

Experimental results show that the more ingredients the odor mixture, the more difficult it is for volunteers to distinguish them. A 4-component odor mixture is more easily distinguishable than a mixture of 43 different odors when compared to those with a similar composition.

Later, the team conducted another experiment to see if there was a new flavor. First, they created 4 odor mixtures of 40 different ingredients. Next, 12 volunteers were divided into 4 groups and given 1 in 4 mixes. The volunteers who were told the smell they smell were called Laurax.

After 3 days of getting used to the smell of Laurax in the lab, the volunteers were given 4 new smells and 4 different labels including 1 label called Laurax. They were asked to stretch the labels to match the smell.

Scientists found that Laurax labels were affixed by smokers to smells that had more ingredients. Specifically, odor samples containing more than 40 ingredients selected by 57.1% of volunteers are the smell of Laurax.