Chapter 8: Making Scents

From what I see so far, Shubin really loves puns.

What I loved, from this chapter, is how he tells us how easy it is to acquire DNA.

I did not know that DNA also involves our senses of smell, but I thought it only to be body parts and muscles and ligaments, etc. When I read how the brain and the nose work together to create smells, I was impressed. If "each receptor is tuned to a different kind of molecule," then we must have a huge number of receptors in our nasal passage. And if receptors were the size of marbles, I'm pretty sure we'd all look like big-headed geniuses.

I wonder if you can stimulate your receptors on trigger, so that you can combine different smells on purpose. Triggering pot roast and gravy and mashed potatoes and fried chicken and Korean beef all at once, my head would probably explode with flavors but it'd be worth it.
But then, how do fish smell? How do they extract odors from water?

The last thing Mr Shubin said shed light on disabled people. Just as how blind people can hear/smell better really emphasizes how we traded smell for sight. All our senses are in equilibrium, but when one fails the others take over.