I get that there are “receptors” in the nose that detect molecules in the air but there’s gotta be more to it than that. Like how tf are polar bears able to smell and locate seals underwater??
I get that there are “receptors” in the nose that detect molecules in the air but there’s gotta be more to it than that. Like how tf are polar bears able to smell and locate seals underwater??
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Molecules enter your nose, are detected, and send signals to the brain. Your brain interprets those as smells.
What makes you believe that bears “smell seals underwater” in the first place?
This is still something of a mystery. We know particles get trapped in the moist nasal passages, we know these are taken to scent cells, we know the cells somehow communicate that information to the brain – but the finer points of the process are still unknown.
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Inside your nose are smell receptors called olfactory nerves.
Particulate matter enters your nose, and some of them are shaped like neurotransmitters that carry messages through your brain.
When those neurotransmitter-shaped particles meet the dendrites of the cell bodies of your olfactory nerves in a certain specific weird sequence, the olfactory nerves transmit that information to your brain, and your brain works it out based on history and your learned knowledge of smells to figure out what it is.
A polar bear has a long snout and a lot more olfactory nerves than humans have, that can detect more subtle smells than humans can smell.
When seals fart underwater, the gas rises to the surface, and polar bears can smell it.
Polar bears know that seal farts mean seals.
Different molecules have different shapes.
Your nose has a bunch of receptors in various shapes.
When a molecule slots into the receptor it fits, you experience a “smell.” More molecules, stronger smell.
I also don’t understand. I have weed in two ziplock bags inside my night stand. It has sat undisturbed for about a week. How are there still particles in the air I can smell when I go near it?
Polar bears hunt seals by laying an ambush at a breathing hole. This all happens above the water.
They can’t smell under water. Polar bears don’t breath under water. They locate them using sight while under water.
Smell is really that simple. Smells are just certain chemicals in the air. They get in your nose, and they trigger receptors that tell your brain “hey, this exists.”
Some animals have more receptors that detect more chemicals than humans. Some have more receptors in general, letting them detect smells fainter than what we can. But that’s it.
May I also add a question. What’s going on or why is it that when we’re used to a smell that sometimes it seems that it’s not there but others can smell it?