THE CHATTER BOX

Now you 'Nose' by Spursfan on 7 May 2007 3:33pm

I apologise for the use of words in the quote that may upset some of our more staid posters:

"'Synthetic snot' breakthrough

Electronic noses used in the food industry and for sniffing out explosives can perform better with the addition of artificial "snot", scientists have discovered.

Researchers coated odour-detecting sensors in one of the devices with a mixture of chemicals mimicking the action of mucus in a real nose.

They found that the device operated more efficiently and could pick out a wider range of smells.

A natural nose has more than 100 million specialised odour receptors which work together to identify molecules in the air.

Electronic noses, used in a number of commercial settings including food quality control and security, are no match for nature and often have less than 50 sensors.

But scientists at Warwick and Leicester universities have been able to improve their performance by copying the way "snot" enhances our sense of smell.

In a real nose, the thin layer of mucus dissolves scents and separates out different odour molecules so they arrive at the receptors at different speeds and times.

The human brain is able to use this information to tell apart an incredibly diverse range of odours.

The scientists tried to duplicate this process with a 10 micron-thick layer of artificial mucus made from a material normally used to separate gases.

Tested on a variety of compounds, the "synthetic snot" substantially improved the performance of an electronic nose. For the first time it was able to distinguish smells such as milk and banana, which had previously been challenging."

Re: Now you 'Nose' by johnnythemonkey on 7 May 2007 6:33pm

Where did you pick that from ?

Re: Now you 'Nose' by Spursfan on 7 May 2007 7:28pm

Lol!

Re: Now you 'Nose' by Gollumit on 7 May 2007 7:46pm

Why are you talking to yourself?

Reply to this post:

INSTRUCTIONS

Select a discussion theme.
Register (or log in if you have not yet done so).

To start a new discussion topic:

Write the name of the topic in the 'Subject' box.
Type your message in the larger box to contribute.
Click 'Submit'.

To join a discussion topic:

Click on the discussion topic of your choice.
Type your message in the larger box to contribute.
Click 'Submit'.

To edit your message:

You can edit a message at any time after posting it as long as you're signed in.
Click on the 'Edit your message' link above the message.
Make your desired changes.
Click 'Submit'.

If you find you don't want to change the message after all, click on 'Return without changes'.

To set a chatmark:

Register (or log in if you have not yet done so).
Click on the "Set chatmark" link on the Chatter Box pages. This will set the time at which you have logged in.
Click on the "Go to chatmark" link to see all messages posted since you set your chatmark.

You can set your chatmark at any time and as often as you like.