NationStates Jolt Archive


%%% That metallic smell...

Sel Appa
03-02-2007, 03:41
Ever count your money or something and can't get that horrible "metallic" smell off your hands? Well, it turns out that it is a reaction catalyzed by the metal in coins of the oils excreted by your skin. This also occurs when blood is rubbed over skin and is likely hardwired into us so we can smell blood. More proof that humans are supposed to eat meat, but that's not the point.

Link (http://www.livescience.com/othernews/061024_metallic_smell.html)



Scientists have sniffed out the reason for the musty, "metallic" odor you smell after handling coins or touching metal objects.

A new study finds that the smell of iron is, ironically, a type of human body odor, created by the breakdown of oils in skin after touching objects that contain the element.

"That we are smelling the metal itself is actually an illusion," said study team member Dietmar Glindemann of the University of Leipzig in Germany.

In an experiment, seven test subjects reported smelling the metallic odor after their hands came into contact with iron. Researchers took gas samples from the subjects' skins and traced the smell to 1-octen-2-one, an organic molecule formed when certain oils in skin decompose.

Scientists think it works like this: When touching objects made of iron, perspiration from skin causes the iron atoms to gain two electrons. The doubly negative iron atoms react with oil in skin, causing them to decompose, forming 1-octen-2-one.

Because blood contains iron, rubbing blood over skin produces a similar metallic smell, the researchers said.

"That humans can 'smell' iron can be interpreted as a sense for the smell of blood," Glindemann said.
CthulhuFhtagn
03-02-2007, 03:44
Well that explains a lot.
Gartref
03-02-2007, 03:48
It's bloody ironic.
Pepe Dominguez
03-02-2007, 03:51
Neat. I've always wondered about that smell.
New Foxxinnia
03-02-2007, 04:28
Another everyday problem solved by science!
Callisdrun
03-02-2007, 04:35
I love the smell of blood.
Similization
03-02-2007, 04:41
... that horrible "metallic" smell ... More proof that humans are supposed to eat meat.Just out of curiousity, Sel Appa, do you also go out of your way to injure yourself?

I'm gonna have to second Gatref.
Rhaomi
03-02-2007, 06:28
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "blood money"! :D

...

I apologize for the awful pun.
Sel Appa
03-02-2007, 06:31
Just out of curiousity, Sel Appa, do you also go out of your way to injure yourself?

I'm gonna have to second Gatref.

Please elaborate.
Gartref
03-02-2007, 06:42
Please elaborate.

Anyone who agrees with me obviously didn't understand what I was saying.
Sel Appa
03-02-2007, 06:46
Anyone who agrees with me obviously didn't understand what I was saying.

I simply asked that you elaborate. That doesn't mean I didn;t understand. ;)
Gartref
03-02-2007, 06:47
I simply asked that you elaborate. That doesn't mean I didn;t understand. ;)

Exactly!
Boonytopia
03-02-2007, 06:48
It's bloody ironic.

Damn your black heart, you beat me to it.
The Lone Alliance
03-02-2007, 06:56
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "blood money"! :D

...

I apologize for the awful pun.
Off to pun jail with you!
Sel Appa
03-02-2007, 07:02
Exactly!

Nevermind...
New Xero Seven
03-02-2007, 07:12
Bloody good!
Snafturi
03-02-2007, 07:15
I like the taste of blood.
New Xero Seven
03-02-2007, 07:19
I like the taste of blood.

So what part of Romania are you from? ;)
Dryks Legacy
03-02-2007, 07:57
So that's why my blood tastes "metallic". I've always wondered about that.
Gartref
03-02-2007, 08:00
So that's why my blood tastes "metallic". I've always wondered about that.

I've also wondered why your blood tastes metallic.
Rhaomi
03-02-2007, 08:06
Off to pun jail with you!
You mean... the "pun"-itentiary? :D

Somebody please stop me...
Dryks Legacy
03-02-2007, 08:14
I've also wondered why your blood tastes metallic.

I didn't want to imply that I've tasted other people's blood.
Harlesburg
06-02-2007, 02:44
I never really cared to wonder why but figured metal smells, and blood smells and tastes good.
German Nightmare
06-02-2007, 03:16
Vhich lets me vonder how much blood ze scientists haff used during zeir eksperiments and vhy anyone vould sink of studying zat in ze first place. :p