If someone claims to be able to predict rain by smell, he is not in the hype. Different weather have different taste, smell sensitive person can distinguish these taste. People can use his nose to sniff drought, can smell super early summer thunderstorms - in fact, after the rain the drought more intense flavor than usual more.
Summer rain is exactly what flavor? Below, we carefully decomposition.
1 Oh, ozone
When the wind everywhere, rolling clouds, heavy rain is approaching, the first taste you might smell some sweet, some pungent. That is ozone (ozone) exudes a strong and fresh smell. Ozone and oxygen are allotropes, its name comes from the Greek "ozein", which means "Oh."
US National Center for Atmospheric Research (National Center for Atmospheric Research) research chemist troposphere Louisa Amos (Louisa Emmons) explains, fertilizers, pollutants and natural environment is the source of ozone in the air. Lightning charge can be atmospheric nitrogen, oxygen molecules into separate atoms. Wherein the nitric oxide formed after the reorganization of some of the atoms (the chemical formula is NO), and nitric oxide has reacted with other chemicals in the atmosphere occurs sometimes generates a molecule composed of three oxygen atoms, which is ozone. Ozone smell is a sign of a thunderstorm, because the strong thunderstorm downdrafts will bring high-altitude ozone near the ground.
2 Chao Soil oil mixture (petrichor potpourri)
Once the rainy season, while the other will follow to taste. Landing rain will disturb the ground near the odor molecules change their position, they are put into the air - is especially true when the ground was dry. If you're in the mountains, these odor molecules from the vegetation and trees. While urban residents, you smell the taste is derived from concrete and asphalt. Some aromatic flavor and pleasant, some unpleasant taste is dirty.
Typically, this kind of rainfall we will taste after referred to as "Chao Soil oil" (petrichor). Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) mineralogist Isabel Joy Bell (Isabel Joy Bear) and RG Thomas (RG Thomas) in 1964 first proposed the "tide earth oil" This new word.
By definition we can see that when animals and plants decompose molecules emit into the air, the wind or attached to the mineral soil surface, will produce oil Chao soil. In dry periods, these molecules and other components of the rock surface chemical reaction. When the rainy season comes, pleasant odor generated by the above process will be released - that is, fatty acids, alcohols and hydrocarbons mixed taste.
3 moist soil
After the storm, we smelt the aroma of damp earth. The smell comes from geosmin (geosmin), it is the actinomycetes, byproducts blue-green algae (blue-green algae) and other microbial metabolism. For those hard-working gardeners, geosmin taste very friendly, but if geosmin contaminated drinking water or wine, then it is not so "cute", because it will emit a steamy stench .
4 Why do we think the rain is "sweet"?
These chemicals are produced by the changes in the weather, it can convey specific information. Some biologists speculate that flow into waterways Chao Soil oil can be used as a signal of freshwater fish spawning time. British John Innes Centre (John Innes Center) microbiologist Keith Chait (Keith Chater) also proposed geosmin fragrance can be used as a beacon to help find camel desert oasis. In turn, generated geosmin microbes can use camels as a carrier, spread their spores.
However, the taste will be passed to humans helpful information? All along, the University of Queensland (University of Queensland) anthropologist Diane Young (Diana Young) in the study of Western Australian desert (Australia's Western Desert) indigenous traditions. The first rain before the start of the wet and cool summer, is a major event for the locals, the air mixed with wet gum, eucalyptus, animal dung and dust exudes sweet incense. This rainy season so that kangaroos and emus start up event, the end of the earth hungry days, this will be Western Australia's red desert into a verdant landscape plan. Yang said that the local residents, the taste of rain and green are closely related, she will this association called "cultural synesthesia" (cultural synesthesia). In fact, many indigenous plant and animal oils and fats will use its own manufacture of perfume, and then smear on the body. This is a natural physical and symbolic associations. It is believed that this scent has a protective effect and clean, contemporary people can connect with their ancestors.
Psychologist Pamela Dalton (Pamela Dalton) is a member of the Mo Naier Chemical Senses Center (Monell Chemical Senses Center) of. She found that although these human odors do not seem innate response, but we will these odors and our own experience together. Perhaps floods to always damp, musty impression left us, but the rain mostly clean, fresh taste, it can take continuous high temperature heat for us, so that people felt cool.
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