NBC Philadelphia: Continuing Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Lauren Mayk from NBC 10 speaks to Monell's Dr. Stephanie Hunter on COVID-19 and the sense of smell. Watch the full interview here!...
26 July, 2022
Media Mentions
Wall Street Journal: How Does Spicy Food Work? Spiciness, Explained With Science
Chili peppers contain a chemical compound called capsaicin that activates pain receptors in your mouth. So why does your brain and body perceive spicy foods as hot? Watch WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez try foods seasoned with different types of hot peppers to explain the neuroscience behind...
20 July, 2022
Inverse: Can This One Trick Cure Brain Freeze?
You've probably had a case of sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia at some point in your life. Better known as brain freeze, this brief, intense headache typically follows the consumption of an extremely cold food or beverage — often ingested far too quickly. A supposed brain freeze panacea that...
09 July, 2022
Oprah Daily: How to Make a Fragrance Memory of a Place You Love
Experimental psychologist Pamela Dalton doesn’t remember the first time she smelled cilantro. If she had to associate the scent with something, or someplace, it would probably be the supermarket, where she sniffed it to confirm what it wasn’t: parsley. But that changed a few years...
08 July, 2022
Inverse: Why Does Spicy Food Make You Sweat?
One of Federica Genovese's fondest memories of spicy food is how her grandmother would eat a plate of pasta: with a fork in one hand and a Calabrian chili in the other, she would alterate bites of pasta and chili. Genovese believes that as her...
02 July, 2022
Nature: Sniffing Out Smell’s Effects on Human Behaviour
Scientists have historically deemed human olfaction an underdeveloped sense compared with smell in our fellow mammals — a primitive tool that fell by the wayside over the course of evolution. Most people generally pay it little heed, with scent coming to the fore only occasionally,...
22 June, 2022
The Takeout: Is Store-Bought Cold Brew as Good as a Coffee Shop’s?
Good cold brew is truly one of life’s great pleasures. The best versions are smooth, rich, and easy to enjoy black—and are arguably worth the price tag (typically around $4 for a 16 oz. cup). Cold brew is not, however, a niche product—at least not...
21 June, 2022
Refinery 29: Be Honest, Do I Smell?
There’s a scene from Mad Men that I think about a lot. Peggy Olson, the young copywriter, is confidently delivering a pitch to an important client. The client licks his teeth at her in what she reads as a crude but ignorable gesture. The meeting...
16 June, 2022
Design Lab: Designing Smell
What is the relationship between smell and memory? Can our sense of smell improve our emotional health? Should a smell check be a part of our regular check-ups? — Click here to listen to the full episode....
16 June, 2022
Pressure Cooker (Apple Podcasts): Can You Teach a Kid to Eat Vegetables?
Why isn’t my kid eating green beans or zucchini or, for that matter, any food that isn’t beige? It’s a headache for so many parents. One theory holds that, with the help of the right bribe, you can teach kids to like anything. And so...
15 June, 2022