(WYTV)-As we evolved and began to walk upright, our bodies had to change.
Hands became more important, vision became more important, but what about smell? Anthropologists believe that became less important.
Our noses were farther from the ground and it became less crucial that we be able to follow a trail with our faces pressed close to the dirt. From an evolutionary point of view we’ve been losing the ability to detect some smells.
We still have 12 million receptor cells in our nose to detect odors. But the bloodhound, has 4 billion, but the tops is the bear: 28 billion. National Geographic points out that many people can’t detect a certain smell that comes from pigs, and it’s not a good smell. It’s the sign of bad meat.
And that brings us to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Ben Cohen has a condition called anosmia, he can’t smell things so he and people with this condition favor foods with more texture than smell. After all, if you can’t smell, you can’t taste.
As a result, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has a lot of large chunks in it. That’s for Ben’s benefit.
Fun fact: Cilia are the tiny hairs that filter the air you breathe through your nose. But they don’t stop moving for almost a full day, 20 hours, after you die.
This can help some pathologists figure out the time of someone’s death.
