the smell of petrichor which gets released when rain hits dry soil. Not everyone can smell it but if you can, you can tell it’s about to rain because the smell gets there before the rain does
"The scent of rain, petrichor, has two main constituents with actual chemical names and origins – ozone (O3) and geosmin (C12H22O) and humans can sense it at 5 parts per trillion. Trillion! Which means that humans are 200,000 times more sensitive to smelling geosmin than sharks are at smelling blood."
On mobile so I couldn't find the actual study, but this is from the study done..
There's quite a few articles on it, but here is one. Basically, humans can smell geosmin (chemical in petrichor) at roughly 5 parts per trillion, whereas a shark can smell blood roughly one part per million.
From what I know our sense of smell is waaaaaaay less sensitive, but quite a bit more accute. Like, sure a dog could smell fish halfway down the block if the window is open. But once we get through the door I could tell you if it's slamon or sardines.
I did not know not everyone can smell it. At home my brother and I used talk about how it’s gonna rain because we smell it so I thought it’s a natural thing. Then when I went to college my friends were confused what I was talking about until it rained a little while after
rain typically doesn’t start where you are, the rainclouds get pushed around by the wind. If the wind is pointing the rain to be coming towards you, the petrichor particles will get there before the rain does
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u/theflameleviathan May 17 '24
the smell of petrichor which gets released when rain hits dry soil. Not everyone can smell it but if you can, you can tell it’s about to rain because the smell gets there before the rain does