NPR

Learn To Sniff Like A Dog And Experience The World In A New Way

We humans think we don't have a very good sense of smell. But psychologist Alexandra Horowitz says dogs can show us how to train our noses so they give us a window into a secret world.
Researcher Alexandra Horowitz plays with her dogs Finnegan and Upton. She studies how dog's sense of smell influences their view of the world.

This week the podcast and show Invisibilia examines the nature of reality, with a Silicon Valley techie who created apps to randomize his life; a wildlife biologist who thinks bears aren't dangerous; and a psychologist who trains herself to experience the world like dogs do.

Noses are the unsung feature of the face, sunscreened or surgically fixed, but rarely exalted. And the sense they enable, smelling, is likewise uncelebrated. Regularly voted the "sense I'd be most willing to lose", olfaction is largely ignored — unless it brings word of something savory or foul nearby.

But we

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