Comments on: A formidable smell http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:45:12 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Harold http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/comment-page-1/#comment-21908 Harold Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:26:53 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/#comment-21908 Sounds like something dear Dr. E.O. Wilson would find fascinating. We have a golden-brown ant here in Northeastern Pennsylvania that smells (in its unburned state) exactly like lemon furniture polish. I know concentrated hydrochloric acid smells like Froot Loops (at least it does when it is spilled on blotter paper), but does formic acid smell like lemon furniture polish? Sounds like something dear Dr. E.O. Wilson would find fascinating.

We have a golden-brown ant here in Northeastern Pennsylvania that smells (in its unburned state) exactly like lemon furniture polish. I know concentrated hydrochloric acid smells like Froot Loops (at least it does when it is spilled on blotter paper), but does formic acid smell like lemon furniture polish?

]]> By: sirjonsnow http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/comment-page-1/#comment-21909 sirjonsnow Wed, 11 Oct 2006 14:17:19 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/#comment-21909 "OK, so which one of you science nerds gets the title of this, eh?" Ants are in the Formicidae family “OK, so which one of you science nerds gets the title of this, eh?”

Ants are in the Formicidae family

]]> By: Aubri http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/comment-page-1/#comment-21910 Aubri Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:01:58 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/#comment-21910 I suspect that burning ants smells a lot like burning hair, since hair and exoskeletons are both made of keratin. Oh, and please don't inflict such puns on etymology nerds. It hurts. >_ I suspect that burning ants smells a lot like burning hair, since hair and exoskeletons are both made of keratin.

Oh, and please don’t inflict such puns on etymology nerds. It hurts. >_

]]> By: skeptigirl http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/comment-page-1/#comment-21904 skeptigirl Wed, 11 Oct 2006 01:53:55 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/#comment-21904 You wouldn't believe how many cockroaches can fit in a toaster oven. You wouldn’t believe how many cockroaches can fit in a toaster oven.

]]> By: Supernova http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/comment-page-1/#comment-21907 Supernova Tue, 10 Oct 2006 23:41:15 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/#comment-21907 Oh yes, I remember the Wisconsin ladybugs. I was the observatory resident at U. Wisconsin for four years and we got those invasions every year. The carcasses would pile up inside the lights in the dome and they'd be underfoot everywhere. Had kind of an acrid metallic smell. Yeccch. But the only actual bug we ever found in the telescope or computer equipment was a regular old fly in the ointment... er, spectrograph. Oh yes, I remember the Wisconsin ladybugs. I was the observatory resident at U. Wisconsin for four years and we got those invasions every year. The carcasses would pile up inside the lights in the dome and they’d be underfoot everywhere. Had kind of an acrid metallic smell. Yeccch. But the only actual bug we ever found in the telescope or computer equipment was a regular old fly in the ointment… er, spectrograph.

]]> By: Deacon Barry http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/comment-page-1/#comment-21906 Deacon Barry Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:20:30 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/#comment-21906 There was an old lady who swallowed a horse. She's dead. Of course. There was an old lady who swallowed a horse.
She’s dead.
Of course.

]]> By: bonnie-ann black http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/comment-page-1/#comment-21905 bonnie-ann black Tue, 10 Oct 2006 19:49:17 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/09/a-formidable-smell/#comment-21905 one of the most pungent insectoid smells i've ever encountered was a few years ago when the 17-year cicada cycle came around and invaded baltimore. i went to visit my cousin and the entire city smelled like crushed, fermenting and decaying cicadas. a bittersweet, acrid, smell that had weird top notes of citrus. not necessarily unpleasant but really, really noticeable. alas, i also was too late to prove that i got the joke. one of the most pungent insectoid smells i’ve ever encountered was a few years ago when the 17-year cicada cycle came around and invaded baltimore. i went to visit my cousin and the entire city smelled like crushed, fermenting and decaying cicadas. a bittersweet, acrid, smell that had weird top notes of citrus. not necessarily unpleasant but really, really noticeable.

alas, i also was too late to prove that i got the joke.

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