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The Jefferson Exchange

Hey Humans: We DO Have A Good Sense Of Smell

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DavidShankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2319940

Poor humans.  Such big noses, so little ability to smell. 

Even rats and mice get credit for better senses of smell than we have. 

But that could change with the work of John McGann at Rutgers University. 

The title of his recent publication pretty much hits the nail on the head: "Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth."  Is it possible we could sense smells as well as dogs do?  We'll ask.  
 

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Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.