As I understand it, it's not that it carries odors better, it's that your nose is more sensitive to odors carried in moist air.
(Mentioning this because I do at one point remember a gas chromatograph attachment with a nose shield connected directly to the column outlet, with a fan to circulate air slowly through it and a humidifier. Apparently the human nose is *the* most sensitive detector for certain chemicals like mercaptans, which can be detected in concentrations of single digit parts per billion .. but the sensitivity is very dependent on humidity.) No, Cowfield is not an odor one easily forgets. Although I've at times been able to smell the difference between healthy and not so healthy soil in freshly plowed fields, and *known* the healthy soil was healthy. That, and about a dozen or so industrial chemicals, were in my "odor library" for quite a while after the lab instrument job. :D On Dec 23, 2008, at 12:47 PM, Julia Thompson wrote: > Why does moister air carry odors better? > > (This question occurred to me as I was driving through the fairly > thin but > thicker-in-spots fog we have at the moment and in a thicker part of > it, > got the unmistakable odor of Cowfield. And when you've had gym class > downwind of a dairy farm, you can't mistake the odor of Cowfield for > at > least the next 25 years....) > > Julia _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
