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SUMMARY:Is smell a quantum phenomenon ? - Dr Luca Turin from Biomedical Sc
 iences Research Center Alexander Fleming\, Athens Greece
DTSTART:20130621T150000Z
DTEND:20130621T160000Z
UID:TALK45849@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Myriam Ouberai
DESCRIPTION:Our sense of smell is extraordinarily good at molecular recogn
 ition: we can identify tens of thousands of odorants unerringly over a wid
 e 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 revi
 ved a discredited theory that posits instead that the nose is a vibrationa
 l 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 lies a
 nd on humans that go some way towards settling the question.
LOCATION:Kapitza Building Seminar Room\, Cavendish Laboratory\, Department
  of Physics
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