Why Can't You Smell Your Own House?

Your house has a smell. Every guest notices it the second they walk in... and you're the only one who can't. 👃 Sunny's mom is coming over in 10 minutes, and he has to find a smell he can't smell. Then we find out what his nose was hiding the whole time: why smells fade, why your home comes back after a holiday, why you can't smell yourself, and the one time this trick can put you in danger. Chapters 0:00 Mom's coming in 10 minutes 0:25 The smell hunt 0:54 The call 1:13 Plan B (and Plan C) 2:04 Mom arrives 2:28 What your nose is hiding 3:09 Why the smell disappeared 3:51 Your home's secret smell 4:32 The one smell you never notice 5:08 When it's dangerous 5:49 How to smell your own house What does your mom's house smell like? Tell us in the comments! 💬 Subscribe for more funny "inside your body" science with Sunny! 🧠💛 The studies in this video 📌 Two weeks of air freshener in the bedroom: people became less sensitive to that smell for up to 2 weeks after, while getting better at detecting a different test smell. Dalton P, Wysocki CJ (1996). The nature and duration of adaptation following long-term odor exposure. Perception & Psychophysics 58(5):781–792. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213109 📌 Your home's microbes match your family; after a move, the new house looked like the old one in under a day. Lax S, et al. (2014). Longitudinal analysis of microbial interaction between humans and the indoor environment. Science 345(6200):1048–1052. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254529 📌 Your own body odour seems less disgusting than a stranger's. Stevenson RJ, Repacholi BM (2005). Does the source of an interpersonal odour affect disgust? A disease risk model and its alternatives. European Journal of Social Psychology 35(3):375–401. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.263 📌 Smells (even strong pyridine) didn't wake people from deep sleep, but a beep did. Carskadon MA, Herz RS (2004). Minimal olfactory perception during sleep: why odor alarms will not work for humans. Sleep 27(3):402–405. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/27.3.402 📌 Coffee beans between perfumes worked no better than plain air. Grosofsky A, Haupert ML, Versteeg SW (2011). An exploratory investigation of coffee and lemon scents and odor identification. Perceptual and Motor Skills 112(2):536–538. https://doi.org/10.2466/24.PMS.112.2.... 📌 About 400 kinds of smell receptors. Malnic B, Godfrey PA, Buck LB (2004). The human olfactory receptor gene family. PNAS 101(8):2584–2589. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0307882100 Buck L, Axel R (1991). A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors. Cell 65(1):175–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(91)... 📌 Smell cells keep being replaced throughout life. Brann JH, Firestein SJ (2014). A lifetime of neurogenesis in the olfactory system. Frontiers in Neuroscience 8:182. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00182 📌 Fresh sweat barely smells; skin bacteria make the odour. Natsch A, Emter R (2020). The specific biochemistry of human axilla odour formation viewed in an evolutionary context. Phil Trans R Soc B 375:20190269. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0269 📌 Smell-triggered memories feel extra emotional. Herz RS, Eliassen J, Beland S, Souza T (2004). Neuroimaging evidence for the emotional potency of odor-evoked memory. Neuropsychologia 42(3):371–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsycho... Educational content only, not medical or safety advice. If you smell gas (rotten eggs), leave first, don't use switches, and call your gas company or emergency number from outside. Make sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. #NoseBlind #ScienceExplained #HumanBody #Smell #FunnyScience #Animation #ScienceFacts #InsideYouExplained