There are various ways in which you can lose sense of smell. For instance, people can lose their sense of smell if they are allergic to something. These people can often regain it if the object they are allergic to is removed. In other people, events such as car accidents can cause a person to lose certain connections in their brains and stop being able to smell. It can sometimes come back after long period of time, but this usually depends on the type of accident the person was involved in.

 

It's still very controversial. We are not entirely sure whether 'the chemistry of love' even applies to humans. Even if we do send off pheromones, it might be hard to detect them under all the perfumes we use. Humans spend billions of pounds on aftershave and perfume each year.

 

Part of it might have been that pheromones were useful in the past when we didn't wash every day. It isn't clear whether by washing, we remove all these chemical cues. One of the main pheromone interactions is between men and women. No-one knows whether women are turned on by male pheromones or repulsed! Females may be repulsed at certain times of the month but attracted when it is particularly good to mate. Some research suggests that now many women are on the pill, they might be responding in a different way to pheromones, or even be desensitised.

 

One of the functions for the hair under our arms is to act as a wick. They soak up some of the smelly chemicals under our arms. These chemicals have been shown to influence the timing of the female menstrual cycle.

 

I've seen this once with a man who had funny stretch marks on his stomach. His wife was pregnant, and it seems he was showing sympathetic changes with the female body. We know women can affect other women, but the evidence that women can change men's behaviour is a bit controversial. It's certainly possible that the hormonal changes will affect the man, but we don't know if men can pick up the chemicals. Men and women are very different, so it's hard to see how such effects can happen. The answer is no-one really knows!

 

 

It's True - A recent study published in "Evolution and Human Behaviour" found that men who maximise their body space - by spreading their arms and legs in an ape-like fashion - were much more likely to score with the opposite sex. The study found that men who secured female attention made an average of 19 space-maximising moves, compared with only 10 made by their less-lovable counterparts. Taking up space demonstrates a male's status and prowess, which is why ladies apparently like it, whilst shifting politely to let others sit puts women off.

It's True - ambling around the house and the office takes you up to 4 miles a day.

It's True - someone sitting still uses about 60 calories an hour. A brisk walk burns off about 300, and strolling gently around the kitchen whilst you gossip burns off about 150.

It's False - it actually manages a highly fuel-efficient 6 INCHES!

It's True - The new device is on trial at terminal 4 and is intended to help staff to spot hidden weapons (!) or explosives. The filing-cabinet sized scanner produces black and white images of passengers, stripped of their clothes. If the trial is a success the scanner will be introduced at every airport in Britain.

It's False - We think life's hard for humans that are pregnant for 10 months, but for an elephant it's a whopping 22 to 23 months before they give birth.

It's False - Studies have shown that cats can produce over 100 different noises whilst dogs produce only about 10.

It's True - Traptek, a Colarado-based company, have found a way to apply odour-eating activated carbon particles to fabric using a modified photocopier. The carbon absorbs odours from even the whiffiest individuals !

It's True - it's dropped by around 10% over the last 150 years or so - at the current rate of decline it could disappear within 1500-2000 years. But this is not new - our magnetic field has been 'flipping' - reversing north to south - about every 200,000 years. Since the last one happened 800,000 years ago, we're well overdue for it to happen again now !

It's True - The 87 year old Frenchman's irrational fear of being buried alive stems from when he was 20 and his family had a coffin made for him, fearing he had been killed in a road accident. His designer model boasts an alarm that can be heard 500 metres away, food, and a minibar stocked with his favourite tipple - Ouzo !