What you smell as you sleep has the power to influence your dreams, says new research presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Chicago, IL.

If you cook, you know. Chop an onion and you risk crying over your cutting board as a burning sensation overwhelms your eyes and nose. Scientists do not know why certain chemical odors, like onion, ammonia and paint thinner, are so highly irritating, but new research in mice has uncovered an unexpected role for specific nasal cavity cells.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that professional welders who work in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation may be at risk for loss of sense of smell. The study appears in Neurology.

What makes one smell pleasant and another odious? Is there something in the chemistry of a substance that can serve to predict how we will perceive its smell? Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the University of California at Berkeley have now discovered that there is, indeed, such a link, and knowing the molecular structure of a substance can help predict whether we will find its smell heavenly or malodorous.

Common physical symptoms such as fatigue, chest pain and lower back pain are related to the perception of everyday smells, University of Nottingham researchers will tell delegates at a health psychology conference on campus.