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1What your scent says about you
Have you ever wondered what your unique body odour says about you? Turns out, quite a lot! From your health to your genetics, we can learn a lot from taking a whiff of your odour. Your scent is a complex mix of information, and we humans are pretty good at reading it. So, what secrets are revealed from our scent, and why do we mostly choose to ignore them?
你有没有想过你独特的体味能说明什么？事实证明，有很多！从你的健康到你的基因，我们可以从你的体味中了解到很多信息。你的气味是一个复杂的信息混合体，而我们人类很擅长解读它。那么，我们的气味透露了哪些秘密，为什么我们大多选择忽视它们呢？
Researchers believe scent production is mostly determined by our genes. In a study published in Chem Senses by Craig Roberts and colleagues, participants had to match T-shirts that smelt the same after sniffing them. They matched the T-shirts of identical twins, meaning their scent was very similar, and those sniffing had quite an accurate sense of smell. Agnieszka Sorokowska, an expert in human olfaction, says this means "we might be able to detect genetic information about other people by smelling them."
研究人员认为，气味的产生主要取决于我们的基因。克雷格 · 罗伯茨及其同事发表在《化学感官》杂志上的一项研究表明，参与者必须在闻过 T 恤后，将闻起来一模一样的 T 恤匹配起来。他们找到了同卵双胞胎的 T 恤衫，这意味着他们的气味非常相似，而且嗅觉相当准确。人类嗅觉专家 阿格涅什卡·索罗科夫斯卡说，这意味着“我们可以通过嗅觉来检测其他人的遗传信息。”
But it's not all about your genes. In another twin study called 'The Discrimination of Human Odour by the Dog', a dog could distinguish the odour of identical twins living apart. So, your environment can change how you smell, but it might take a dog’s sensitive nose to detect it. Even your health can change how you smell. In a study called 'The Scent of Disease', the BO of someone with diabetes was associated with rotten apples, while those with scurvy had sweat described as 'putrid'. Odour research has also helped to train dogs to detect illnesses such as cancer by scent alone.
但这并不全是基因的问题。在另一项名为“狗对人类气味的辨别”的双胞胎研究中，狗可以分辨出分开生活的同卵双胞胎的气味。所以，你的环境可以改变你的嗅觉，但这可能需要狗灵敏的鼻子才能察觉到。甚至你的健康状况也会改变你的气味。在一项名为“疾病的气味”的研究中，糖尿病患者的BO与腐烂的苹果有关，而坏血病患者的汗水被描述为“腐烂的”。气味研究还帮助训练狗狗仅凭气味就能发现癌症等疾病。
Do humans use any of this information? King Louis XIV of France was known to douse his palace in fragrance, perhaps to mask the stench of poor personal hygiene. This trend continues today – many of us cover our natural body odour with sweet or floral-smelling perfumes, and in the process, we may be losing the opportunity to learn more about each other and the world. Maybe it's time to drop the deodorants and pleasant aroma of your favourite perfume and let your natural scent waft around, sending the signals that your body wants to emit.
人类是否利用了这些信息呢？众所周知，法国国王路易十四会在他的宫殿中弥漫芬芳，也许是为了掩盖个人卫生不良的恶臭。这种趋势今天仍在继续——我们中的许多人用甜美或花香的香水掩盖我们的自然体味，在这个过程中，我们可能会失去更多了解彼此和世界的机会。也许是时候放下你最喜欢的香水的除臭剂和怡人的香气，让你的自然香味飘散，发出你身体想要发出的信号了。
词汇表
body odour (BO) 体味，体臭
take a whiff 闻一闻
scent 气味
sniff 闻，嗅
sense of smell 嗅觉
olfaction 嗅觉
distinguish 分辨
putrid 腐烂的，腐坏的
douse 向…泼洒（液体）
fragrance 香水
stench 恶臭
personal hygiene 个人卫生
perfume 香水
deodorant 除臭剂，香体露
aroma 香味
waft （在空气中）飘荡
emit 发出，散发
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