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Human noses know more than 1 trillion odors

Smell played an underappreciated role in evolution

SMELL DETECTORS  A researcher whiffs a scent-containing vial used in experiments indicating that people can identify at least 1 trillion different odors.

Zach Veilleux/The Rockefeller Univ.

By Bruce Bower

Respect the nose. Humans use it to tell apart an average of more than 1 trillion odors, a new study finds.

That estimate of smell’s reach vastly exceeds the roughly several million colors and 340,000 tones a typical person can distinguish, reports a team led by geneticist Leslie Vosshall of Rockefeller University in New York City.