Harvard professor David Edwards wrote a graphic novel envisioning a future world where people ingested their food by smelling, or “whiffing,” it. That vision begot Le Whif, the chocolate inhaler.
The Department of Homeland Security is planning a study to find out if human body odour can be used as a biometric identifier and/or a means of detecting a lie.
A Japanese site has found an odourous purpose for Google Maps–using it to track down weird and stinky smells they encounter in the Land of the Rising Sun. Get a whiff of something sour? Go to Nioibu.com and tell everyone.
Apart from remodelling their home, astronauts on board the International Space Station are installing a new piece of equipment that may save their lives one day. Or embarrass them. It can go either way: Containing 32 sensors in a device the size of a shoebox, the ENose–or electronic nose–will be able to detect even the most subtle inorganic and organic smells. Like Carl Walz, ISS astronaut and Director for NASA’s Advanced Capabilities puts it, “having experienced an air-quality event during my Expedition 4 mission on the space station, I wish I had the information that this ENose will provide future crews.” Yes Carl. Air-quality events are bad.
You, Sir, are an animal. Look at the state of your PC: There are breadcrumbs, coke stains and the glistening sheen of greasy fingers covering every inch of its surface. And that odour… it’s enough to make any normal person want to gag. You really should clean it all up, but instead, you could just mask the stench with this USB fragrance diffuser. Just plug it into the USB port of your Mac or PC, drip a couple of drops of fragrance oil (not included, sadly) into the end and suddenly life can come back to your immediate vicinity. Plus, it also includes 4GB worth of storage, so it’s not a complete waste of your $50…
As the Constellation program (kind of) goes forward, Nasa is asking itself some really weird questions that may affect the life of the astronauts as they advance towards their three-year mission to Mars. One of them has been commissioned to Steven Pearce, chemist and managing director of fragrance manufacturing company Omega Ingredients: What is life in the Orion spacecraft going to smell like?
A laptop that smells good: yep—that’s the new idea Asus has had to try to delineate its products in the marketplace. And I don’t mean that “Mmmmm… new plastic gadget” sensation either, this is a full-on scent. Floral, Cologne, Ocean and Grass to be exact, though I’m not sure how many people will go for the “smells like your front lawn” option. The PCs have patterned lids too, in pink, blue, green and black as well as a white carbon-fibre wrist wrest, which is a boon for those of you who regularly wear out your wrist rest (wait… what?) Apart from these features, they’re pretty standard 13.3-inch screen laptops, running Core 2 Duo processors, with 320GB drives, and a fingerprint reader, and they’re available on pre-order from Amazon for US$1,299. Press release below.
Looks like Asus is sniffing out the next big thing now that it’s found heaps of success with its EeePC concept, and has decided that what the world really needs is a notebook that can function both as a mid-range computer and an Air Wick. The Asus F6 boasts a 13.3 inch screen, an integrated webcam, an Intel Core2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of DRAM support, up to 320GB of HD space and comes in four scents – Floral Blossom, Musky Black, Morning Dew and Aqua Ocean. Asus doesn’t say how long the fragrance is supposed to last, or whether you can reapply it. But for a couple of days at least, when the patrons of your local coffee shop wrinkle up their noses and ask “What’s that smell?” you can proudly say “Me.” [Asus via Far East Gizmos]
