PIRSA:17110043

Video URL

https://pirsa.org/17110043

Is smell a quantum phenomenon ?

Turin, L. (2017). Is smell a quantum phenomenon ?. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. https://pirsa.org/17110043

Turin, Luca. Is smell a quantum phenomenon ?. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Nov. 22, 2017, https://pirsa.org/17110043 

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:17110043,
            doi = {10.48660/17110043},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/17110043},
            author = {Turin, Luca},
            keywords = {Other Physics},
            language = {en},
            title = {Is smell a quantum phenomenon ?},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2017},
            month = {nov},
            note = {PIRSA:17110043 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/index.php/pirsa/17110043}}
          }

Luca Turin Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Centre

Talk numberPIRSA:17110043
DOI10.48660/17110043
Source RepositoryPIRSA
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

Our sense of smell is extraordinarily good at molecular recognition: we can identify tens of thousands of odorants unerringly over a wide concentration range. The mechanism by which this happens is still hotly debated. One view is that molecular shape governs smell, but this notion has turned out to have very little predictive power. Some years ago I revived a discredited theory that posits instead that the nose is a vibrational spectroscope, and proposed a possible underlying mechanism, inelastic electron tunneling. In my talk I will review the history and salient facts of this problem and describe some recent experiments, both on fruit flies and on humans, that go some way towards answering the question.