
Humans Navigate with Stereo Olfaction - edward
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/17/2004642117
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est31
I've thought that you are only breathing through one hole of your nose? Is
there still some minor airflow through the other hole to enable stereo
olfaction?

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gridspy
If one of your nostrils is permanently blocked, this is abnormal. Perhaps you
want to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist?

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din-9
They were referring to
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle)
I assume.

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est31
Indeed I was. E.g. check this figure:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5053491/figure/...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5053491/figure/pone.0162918.g011/?report=objectonly)

One nostril has basically no pressure changes while the other one does. How
can you smell that way in stereo?

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jessaustin
Presumably breathing has no effect on the diffusion of odors from far away to
the immediate vicinity of the nostrils. So, diffusion can also take odors from
the temporarily-inactive nostril deeper into the sinus.

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brudgers
another paper on the topic that does not require subscription,
[https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0129387)

~~~
traceroute
[https://sci-hub.tw/https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/0...](https://sci-
hub.tw/https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/17/2004642117)

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wizardforhire
Obligatory Feynman anecdote (quickest reference story I could find worth
linking to, rest of the article is relevant as well)

[https://www.salon.com/1999/07/28/smell/](https://www.salon.com/1999/07/28/smell/)

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boxfoxdox
Haha good article. I always smell things before I eat them by default. One
interesting thing I noticed is how much smell boosts taste. Some time ago I
lost my sense of smell completely and I distinctly remember how the food
tastes boring and plain with just texture and sweet and salt making any
difference. Smell adds so much to it that I was honestly surprised.

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feintruled
Yes, surely this must be the main use for human smell, to evaluate the safety
of food. I remember being laughed at in my youth because I would always sniff
a drink before drinking it (these were in my university days so a lot of odd
concotions were imbibed). Seemed to me that it gave some very crucial
information about what you were to expect!

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snarfy
My father-in-law was a produce inspector for 40+ years. He said that after a
while, all he ever did was smell it. He could be walking up to the truck or
rail car from across the parking lot and know if it was good or bad.

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aaron695
Another thing working remote can't do (not that I'm fully sold olfaction is
stereo)

Digital will not replace most human orientated things until it can directly
program the brain.

