Noam Sobel
Tag archives for Noam Sobel
What’s that Smell?
Posted by Weizmann Science Writer on November 22, 2012 Weizmann Institute scientists have created a “white smell.” Think about white light or white noise: Each mixes a bunch of different waves together from various parts of the visual or audible spectrum. Those wavelengths combine such that we perceive that unobtrusive light or sound we call “white.” How do smells fit into this scenario? Prof.…
While You Were Sleeping
Posted by Weizmann Science Writer on August 26, 2012 “Imagine that you wake up in the morning feeling nothing special, yet you find yourself inexplicably behaving just a bit differently during the day. For example, you take a sniff every time you hear a tone,” says Prof. Noam Sobel. Of course, the people this actually happened to knew they had volunteered for a sleep…
Every Smell Has Its Place
Posted by Weizmann Science Writer on September 26, 2011 The olfactory membranes in your nose are densely packed with smell receptors. These receptors come in some 400 different subtypes; complex odors like that of rose petals can waft around 175 distinct kinds of odor molecules in the direction of your nose. In other words, the number of discrete odors we can perceive runs to…
Women’s Tears a Turn-Off
Posted by Weizmann Science Writer on January 10, 2011 Did Israeli singer-songwriter Arik Einstein know something that scientists didn’t when he released the song “When You Cry You’re Not So Pretty” back in 1969? Prof. Noam Sobel and his team of the Weizmann Institute of Science have now shown that merely sniffing a woman’s tears – even when the crying woman is not present…
Sniff Once for “Yes”: New Neurobiology Papers
Posted by Weizmann Science Writer on July 27, 2010 Even severely paralyzed people on respirators can do it: They can sniff. That is, they can at least partially control the movement of air through their nostrils. And if they can sniff, they can use this action to write on a computer screen or steer a wheelchair. That’s the principle behind a new device developed…