On: Tasty Seaweed Reduces Cows’ Methane Emissions by 99%

[random_savv]

> Methane is a gas with a distinct and noticeable smell

Methane is odorless https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane

[jfindley → random_savv]

Interesting, thank you! I was surprised by this, as it's the major component of natural gas (as used widely for cooking here), and this has a distinct smell. I went looking however, and discovered that's actually because Ethyl Mercaptan is added specifically to make it detectable by humans. I never realised this, and does indeed explain why it's plausible no-one would have noticed such a large effect.

[brohee → jfindley]

We add mercaptan (an horrible smelling, innocuous gas) to natural gas (methane), so we get a chance to notice leaks before an explosion.