Abstract :
On our best days-without head colds, for example-and with a time out between sniffs, we can note the presence of and distinguish among 10000 airborne molecules or molecular compounds, sometimes when they amount to only a few molecules per trillion. Here, the authors present a quick tour of the route from molecule to smell. They correlate many of the discrete physiological steps with engineering ones, ranging from sampling, signal processing and amplification all the way to neural net computation
Keywords :
brain; chemioception; computerised instrumentation; gas sensors; neural nets; neurophysiology; signal processing; signal sampling; airborne molecular compounds; airborne molecules; amplification; discrete physiological steps; engineering analogy; neural net computation; sampling; signal processing; smelling; Drugs; Electronic noses; Material storage; Monitoring; Pharmaceuticals; Sampling methods; Security; Sensor arrays; Sensor systems; System testing;
