WhiteSmog

Research
Understanding Olfaction
In order to understand what white noise means for
the sense of smell, it is important to know what
smell actually is.
There is no unambiguous, proven theory on the olfactory
sense, the two prime theories describe different
ways of receiving smell molecules.
The conventional theory [1] is based on the
molecules’ structure; the unique shape of a smellmolecule
fits one specific receptor, which then sends a
signal to the brain, where it is processed.
If we take molecule a, receptor A is able to lock molecule
a. The same for molecule b, with receptor B. So a
scent is a mixture of molecules locked on to receptors.
In abstract, a smell looks like: 5aA + 2bB + 4cC = specific
odor. So a specific smell is composed from different
smell molecules, spread in various ratios.
Quite recent, a new theory [2] was introduced
by Luca Turin, a biophysicist engaged in understanding
smell. His theory is based on the molecular vibration,
which is specific for each molecule, and differs
per isotope. According to Turin, receptors in the
nose are able to sense the frequency of molecules and
convert the vibrations to electrical signals via a process
called tunneling [3]. The interesting part of this theory
is that various isotopes of the same molecule can smell
completely different, since the virbrations differ from
each other.
Several question originated relevant to the
goal of the research: What is the difference caused
by fluctuation in ratio’s? What is the minimum
concentration of a smellmoolecule to be detected? Is
it possible to dissable certain receptors? What exactly
happens to smell when the ratio’s are disordered?
These questions are important if we want to be
able to create white smog; if we want to cancel out the
smells attracting mosquitoes, we need to know how
these behave.
6
Smell molecules are mainly built up from 6 basic atom