Smell and Taste – The Chemical Senses

Podcast: Talking Science · Stavros kinnas

Opublikowano: 2026-09-13

Smell and taste are the body's chemical senses, detecting actual molecules rather than light or sound, and between them they quietly create most of what we experience as flavour. This episode explores how olfactory receptors work as molecular locks, why smell connects so directly to memory and emotion, the five basic tastes, and why chilli heat and mint's coolness are really pain and temperature signals in disguise. You'll come away understanding how smell and taste receptors actually detect molecules, why a single scent can trigger a vivid memory almost instantly, what the five basic tastes are and...