There's actually some chemistry involved too. Bacteria, plants and even lightning can all play a role in the pleasant smell we experience after a thunderstorm; that of clean air and wet earth.

A mysterious odor and "small droplets" greeted cosmonauts on the ISS when they opened the hatch to a newly arrived cargo ...

Pleasantness of the smell, rated on a -7 to 7 scale. A rating of 0 meant the smell was neither pleasant or unpleasant. "Healthiness" of the smell, rated on a -4 to 4 scale. A rating of 0 meant the ...

Once there, it decides if that particular smell is pleasant, repulsive, or simply neutral. Somebody who knows a lot about that process is Professor Krishna Persaud from the University of Manchester.

Activation patterns in the amygdala in response to pleasant smells. (A to D) Brain scans showing activation patterns. Histograms showing Shapley values of experimental participants. (E ...

First, olfactory dysfunction and cognitive decline are linked to inflammation, and pleasant smells can reduce inflammation, possibly helping with memory and cognitive symptoms in neurological ...