双语科普：气味的秘密

What makes something smell good or bad?
是什么让东西闻起来好闻或者难闻呢？

Pee-yew! Your old socks smell soooo bad.

哎呀！你的旧袜子闻起来太臭啦。

But why?

但是为什么呢？

Maybe you've learned to dislike the smell. Maybe your socks are full of gross bacteria. Or maybe, it's both. Our team studies the brain and sense of smell –it's one of our favorite topics. But first, how do you smell?

也许你已经习惯了不喜欢这种味道。也许你的袜子里满是恶心的细菌。又或者，两者都有。我们的团队研究大脑和嗅觉——这是我们最喜欢的话题之一。但首先，你是怎么闻到气味的呢？

What is that smell?
那是什么味道呢？

The air is filled with many small odor molecules which are released from "smelly" things like perfume or food. Your nose has the astonishing ability to smell thousands of different scents because in your nose are millions of smell receptors –cells that can recognize odor molecules. When you sniff the air, these special cells are alerted.

空气中充满了许多微小的气味分子，这些分子是从香水或食物等“有气味的”东西中释放出来的。你的鼻子拥有惊人的能力，可以闻到数千种不同的气味，因为在你的鼻子里有数百万个嗅觉感受器——即能够识别气味分子的细胞。当你嗅空气时，这些特殊的细胞就会被激活。

These receptor cells then send a signal to your brain. Your brain recognizes many scents when different types of odors enter your nose. The smell of baking cookies, for instance, is composed of many odor molecules. Your brain can piece together all this information and let you know there are cookies baking in the oven.

然后这些受体细胞会向你的大脑发送一个信号。当不同类型的气味进入你的鼻子时，你的大脑会识别出许多气味。例如，烤饼干的味道是由许多气味分子组成的。你的大脑可以将所有这些信息拼凑起来，让你知道烤箱里正在烤饼干。

Smells that make memories
能唤起记忆的气味

Your brain is very good at memorizing good and bad experiences and associating particular smells with them. Scientists call these "olfaction-associated memories."

你的大脑非常善于记住好的和坏的经历，并将特定的气味与它们联系起来。科学家们把这些称为“与嗅觉相关的记忆”。

One example of this is when you smell a favorite meal. It might remind you of someone who makes it for you, which triggers your brain to release chemicals that make you feel good and comforted.

其中一个例子是，当你闻到一顿喜欢的饭菜的味道时。它可能会让你想起为你做这顿饭的人，这会触发你的大脑释放出让你感觉良好和舒适的化学物质。

Of course, smell can also be associated with unpleasant experiences. You have probably eaten some food that went bad, and you might find that you hate that food now. This is your brain associating getting sick with a certain smell, which stops you from eating something that could be bad for you. Memories linked to smells can form because of good and bad feelings.

当然，气味也可能与不愉快的经历联系在一起。你可能吃过一些变质的食物，然后你可能会发现你现在讨厌那种食物了。这是你的大脑将生病与某种气味联系起来，这会阻止你吃可能对你有害的东西。与气味相关的记忆可以因为好的和坏的感受而形成。

Smells to warn you
用来警示你的气味

But what about things that you know smell good or bad even if you've never experienced them? Scientists have found that although a lot of the smells people like come from past experiences, instincts play a big role.

但是，那些即使你从未经历过，你也知道闻起来好闻或难闻的东西呢？科学家们发现，尽管人们喜欢的很多气味都来自过去的经历，但本能也起着很大的作用。

Scent tells you a lot about your environment, and your instincts help to decide what is safe or dangerous. For example, blood has been shown to repel humans and many prey species, like deer, but attract predators, like wolves. This guides people away from predators that might want to eat us, but lets the predator get its meal.

气味能告诉你很多关于你所处环境的信息，而你的本能有助于判断什么是安全的，什么是危险的。例如，研究表明，血液会让人类和许多猎物物种（比如鹿）感到厌恶，但会吸引捕食者（比如狼）。这会引导人们远离可能想吃掉我们的捕食者，同时让捕食者获得它们的食物。

Smell can warn you when something could make you sick. When eggs rot, bacteria multiply like crazy inside them, breaking down proteins that release a toxic chemical called hydrogen sulfide. This produces a stench that makes you want to stay far away, stopping you from eating the egg and becoming ill.

当有东西可能会让你生病时，气味可以警示你。当鸡蛋腐烂时，细菌在里面疯狂繁殖，分解蛋白质，释放出一种叫做硫化氢的有毒化学物质。这会产生一种恶臭，让你想要离得远远的，从而阻止你吃这个鸡蛋并生病。

As for your socks… if they smell bad now, don't wait. Wash them with soap and water! The bacteria growing on your socks will be killed, which will stop that nasty smell.

至于你的袜子……如果它们现在闻起来很臭，别等了。用肥皂和水清洗它们！长在你袜子上的细菌会被杀死，这样就能消除那种难闻的气味了。

翻译：豆包

整理：2025年2月21日于D278宁洱段