The science behind Petrichor and why the smell of rain is so deliciously comforting – Top News – Brinkwire

The smell of rain-soaked sidewalks often gives rise to intense feelings of euphoria and nostalgia caused by a specific molecule and type of bacteria.

The smell of rain-soaked pavements often gives rise to intense feelings. euphoria and nostalgia are caused by a specific molecule and the type of bacteria.

After an extended period of dry weather, the sound of thunder can elevate us, the smell of soaked rain-soaked sidewalks and comforting our frayed nerves. In 1965, a couple of Australian researchers introduced the term petrichor into the English lexicon, which is the name given to the pleasant smell. wetland after a long period of extremely dry weather, according to BBC . The word is derived from the Greek word petros, which can be roughly translated to the word "stone", with ichor describing "the fluid flowing in the veins of the gods." An appropriate name for the freedom that comes from the falling rain.

In fact, this earthy and nostalgic scent that revives our senses after it rains and produces a feeling of euphoria is actually created by bacteria, as explained by the molecular biologist, the Professor Mark Buttner

: "These critters abound in the soil. . So when you say that you feel a wet earth, in fact what you are feeling, it's a molecule made by some type of bacteria. "

Geosmin is precisely this molecule and Streptomyces is the bacterium.This bacterium can normally be found living in healthy soils, while the bacterium known as Streptomyces is commonly used in many different antibiotics.

the rain is falling on the ground, the geosmin is magically projected in the air, why it is so visible after a torrential downpour, and in fact, humans are not the only ones whose senses are exacerbated by l? smell of rain, according to Professor Buttner, who noted that "many animals are sensitive but humans are extremely sensitive to it."

Isabel Bear and RG Thomas, Australian researchers who gifted us with petrichor term, have discovered that in India, the smell was so appreciated by people that it was quickly put in a scent called "matti ka attar".

Interesting, according to the perfumer Mar Ina Barcenilla, geosmin is now quickly becoming a popular ingredient used in fragrances around the world, and this should not surprise people.

"It's a really powerful material and it smells like concrete when the rain hits it.There's something very primitive and very primitive about the smell." Even when you dilute it at parts per billion, humans can still detect it. "

Professor Jeppe Lund Nielsen, of Aalborg University in Denmark, thinks that it is highly likely that geosmin can from terpenes,

Professor Philip Stevenson, who conducts research at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, notes that rain can help bring out the very pleasant scent inherent in plants.

The pleasant smell is produced in the leaf hairs and the rain can damage them, releasing the compounds. Rain can also break up plant material drying chemicals in the same way as when you crush dried herbs – the smell becomes stronger. "

So the next time you find yourself in a sweltering heat, you'll want the pleasant smell of rain at happier places, consider Petrichor's science and how bacteria are the stuff that's responsible this feeling of warmth that you get after heavy rains finally cleared the air.