Whatever, keep your ant-smelling superpower, I’m not jealous. At least cilantro doesn’t taste like soap to me! :P
Genes be crazy
Submitted 1 week ago by LadyButterfly@piefed.blahaj.zone to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://piefed.cdn.blahaj.zone/posts/j9/CU/j9CUX1D5EiEJwfQ.jpg
Comments
Lemminary@lemmy.world 5 days ago
kautau@lemmy.world 5 days ago
We need a study on if that’s the divide. If you can smell ants you also think cilantro tastes like soap
lengau@midwest.social 5 days ago
Cilantro: tastes like soap
Can smell ants: no
Sorry, I’m a counterpoint. I got the worst of both.
Monument@lemmy.sdf.org 5 days ago
I can’t smell ants, and cilantro tastes soapy. However, I do have dry earwax and my armpits don’t smell. (Which is just spurious information to your hypothesis.)
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 days ago
Can smell ants, love cilantro, can’t smell stinkbugs.
Wilco@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
Exactly! Cilantro tastes like soap to me, but my kids love it. That is so weird. Ant smell and probably snake smell are the same I bet. I have heard old people say they can smell a snake around.
ameancow@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I can smell ants strongly and have an aversion to them, and cilantro tastes wonderful to me.
bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
That’s the most useless censoring of the word “Fuck” I have ever seen 😅
bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 5 days ago
mysticalone@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Why did you censor a small mushroom?
Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 4 days ago
What’cha got there, m8?
Smoogs@lemmy.world 5 days ago
It looked like it was originally meant to censore word much smalller
TomAwsm@lemmy.world 5 days ago
What is this, censoring for ants!?
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
I had no idea it was a genetic thing that not everyone has. It’s pretty awesome that after fifty years slogging through life, I still run across cool new shit like this
Crazyslinkz@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Your part of the ten thousand…
FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Wow that’s really weird because i thought ants were supposed to be everywhere - at least in summertime when you go outside. If they smell that bad then it must be unbearable just walking around places in the city.
starik@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
I can only smell them if I sniff a crushed one up close. It’s been a long time - I don’t step on bugs on purpose.
ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 4 days ago
STOP FUCKING POSTING CENSORED SHIT
vivalapivo@lemmy.today 4 days ago
Yeah, right? As if they were censoring only the victims’ personal info
jaybone@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
I think I can hear ants. People probably think I’m crazy. Like if you bend down and get your face really close to their trail. It’s like a buzzing sound. Like static on an old TV. Creepy as fuck.
9blb@feddit.org 5 days ago
Could it just be the reflections of ambient noise you also get when you hold your ear close to any surface? The old “If you hold a seashell to your ear, you can hear the ocean” kind of thing.
Loui@feddit.org 4 days ago
I usually can’t but when hiking in fall we came to a big anthill and you could hear the leaves rustling below their little legs.
I was so exited as I had never heard that before.
swelter_spark@reddthat.com 5 days ago
Ants definitely produce sound when they walk. And why wouldn’t they?
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 5 days ago
You’re the first person I’ve ever heard say you can hear buzzing sound of ants. I don’t doubt you, because why would you lie about something like that, but I would like to hear more people agree they can hear this and I want to read a scientific study.
BoosBeau@lemmy.world 5 days ago
That person is a liar!! I listen to ants all the time and the only sound they make is smooth jazz.
jaybone@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
I’m also terrified of having insects inside of the house. So it’s possible this is some kind of psychological reaction (?) rather than actually hearing them? But to me it “sounds” as I describe in the above post. Maybe someone can find something more scientific, like a study, I too would be curious.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 days ago
Is it the formic acid?
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
Has to be, it’s got that same “bite” that other acids have, only a little more earthy
j5906@feddit.org 5 days ago
I cant smell ants but I can “smell” formic acid. Even diluted formic acid is so much more pungent and terrible then vinegar, so I doubt its that…
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 5 days ago
Yeah
AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Depends. With North American formica ants, it’s formic acid, but with Canadian odorous house ants, it’s a methyl ketone that smells a lot like blue cheese.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 days ago
smells a lot like blue cheese
Oh, so stinky feet smell?
childOfMagenta@jlai.lu 5 days ago
Are we talking formic acid from crushed ants or just there is an ant around and they can smell it?
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 4 days ago
Not just crushed ants, I smell it when they’re scared and running as well. Calm ants though, they don’t smell to me.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 5 days ago
I smell it either way but it’s stronger when they’re crushed.
kandoh@reddthat.com 4 days ago
That’s true of most animals
SethTaylor@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Sometimes science do be cruel like that
Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk 5 days ago
I never knew about this. Is this the same gene which makes people like/dislike bitter foods?
Years ago at a place I worked at, food manufacturers, the R&D team did a taste workshop. 5 cups of flavours, salt, bitter, water, umami, sweet. The bitter one just tasted of water to me. They called it “bitter blind”
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 5 days ago
Probably makes you easier to poison. I will keep that in mind.
ameancow@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I can smell ants and it’s a pretty weird smell, but I don’t get any of the bitter food problems that some people have with certain vegetables.
With the exception of mushrooms. For some reason mushrooms spark that same sensitivity to ant scents, it’s the same sickly scent and makes me think of decay and loamy undergrowth and is very unappetizing so I’ve never enjoyed mushrooms.
Klairabelle@lemmy.world 5 days ago
There’s a couple different chemical compounds that can activate your bitter receptors (caffeine for instance) but there are a few bitter chemicals like Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) or N-Propylthiouracil (PROP) that have been linked to variations in a specific gene (TAS2R38). Where I used to work we used PROP strips you’d just put on your tongue to categorize participants into tasters, non-tasters, and potential super-tasters. If it tasted like nothing, you didn’t have the genetic variant. If it tasted like bitterness, it could either be not that bad or, for example in my experience, it’s really really terrible and takes some effort to remove from the tongue.
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 5 days ago
It smells so weird and strong. I’m surprised not everyone can smell this. I wonder how common this is?
notthebees@reddthat.com 2 days ago
I’m not exactly sure. My sense of smell has been shot since I got covid. It feels so weird. Some smells don’t exist, some are much stronger, some remained the same.
One good example is burning anything while cooking.
I can just feel it though. If I’m itchy while in my kitchen, 9/10 it’s ants (ground floor old apartment)
BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 5 days ago
Now I need to know what I’m missing out on… I know the smell of formic acid, and can smell it if andts are really pissed off - but do they just smell?
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 5 days ago
I usually only smell it after they are agitated. I assume that’s what they meant? But usually when I’m smelling ants they are agitated.
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 5 days ago
Omg the ants are so smelly
tamal3@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Does everyone agree that ladybugs smell terrible??!
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 4 days ago
Yes, beetles in general don’t smell great to me. They leave a fecal-like scent on my fingers when I hold them (Which I’ve always assumed is some sort of musk and not actual feces). I can smell ants too, but it’s only when they’re scared: They seem to release a chemical that smells to me like Windex the moment they realize they’re possibly in danger. I didn’t know that made me special, but I do know that others might not be able to smell it as I’ve had conversations about this with people who didn’t know wtf I was talking about. I’ve heard that it might be formic acid? Not sure.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 4 days ago
Yes! I’m not super sensitive to them, but one time in school I had one land on me and curiosity got the better of me. Never again!
4shtonButcher@discuss.tchncs.de 4 days ago
Not all of them do. I always thought of them as “good” and “bad” ladybugs. The bad ones stink. I have a feeling it correlates with lighter color. More orange than red. But this is purely anecdotal 😋
toynbee@lemmy.world 4 days ago
This reminds me of when I chatted with someone who had synesthesia.
alt_xa_23@lemmy.world 4 days ago
If you live in the US, the orange ones may be Asian lady beetles, an invasive species. They don’t smell great.
The ones that come into your home in the winter are probably Asian lady beetles, as true ladybugs overwinter outside.
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz 5 days ago
Is this like how some people can smell if a dude jorked it that day?
radiouser@crazypeople.online 5 days ago
no wonder why people avoid me.
HurricaneLiz@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I know I should quit vaping, but I’m also so glad my nose isn’t sensitive enough to smell that from random guys walking by anymore. It was constant tmi
jaybone@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
jorked. ok
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Some people can smell ants. Some people can smell Parkinson’s disease.
I don’t think I can smell either of those but I can smell B.O.
sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
some ants when attacked do produce a small (probably by spraying chemicals that is supposed to paralyses/repel other small insects). that I can smell but I can’t smell an ant peacefully walking around.
tomjuggler@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I’ll bet you CAN taste ants though
bluegreenpurplepink@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I can smell earthworms when it rains. It’s gross.
Omnipitaph@reddthat.com 5 days ago
TIL I’m a mutant. X-men watch out!
JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz 5 days ago
Well, how do you know it isn’t just the smell of the enviroment? I always smell a distinctive smell around ants in the forest, but I don’t know if that’s actually just the smell of their hill (is it actually called a hill) or of ants.
Etterra@discuss.online 5 days ago
I’m not surprised to learn this, given that there are certain tastes that are generic. The “cilantro tastes like soap” mutation, and the “bitter vegetables are good actually” mutation come to mind.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
Called evolution. Yes, it’s still ongoing in humans. Btw, this is the reason that smaller populations have less survival chances.
I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 5 days ago
There is a type of ant that smells like rotten coconut when squished. Is that what they’re talking about?
texture@lemmy.world 4 days ago
i can smell fruit flies and i wish i couldnt
anon_8675309@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Homo Orycteropus.
unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 5 days ago
Ants will creep in. You will attempt your triumphant self sufficient middle of nowhere meal of rocks and soil. When your fire fails, Youll rip open your last remaining stash of nutritiuous gruel and stuff a handful in your mouth, and taste that acid.
notthebees@reddthat.com 5 days ago
I can’t smell it but I can feel it. I just get really itchy.
Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world 4 days ago
When an idea gets to tiktok, the lines are as written as any script.
cybervseas@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I’m tired of microblog screenshots that self-censor 😕
Also that’s cool. I’m pretty sure I cannot smell ants. But it’s also possible there are ants everywhere I go, so I can’t discern what part of the background smells are the ants.
LorIps@lemmy.world 5 days ago
FUCK
tetris11@feddit.uk 5 days ago
FUCK
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I was watching “deep dives” on Youtube yesterday and was getting confused by all the censoring. Even the word “sex” was censored, and like… what? Not just SA (which I understand censoring), but sex itself? In a video ostensibly designed for an adult (or at least teenage) audience?
It’s hard to follow a story when words get censored that you don’t expect to get censored. In my mind I think something much worse is being said, and have to pause and rewind to ensure I understood correctly. The best part is, the creator wasn’t even from the US, land of the puritans. I expect Europeans not to be afraid of sex, but I guess this is what Youtube is doing to the world.
XeroxCool@lemmy.world 5 days ago
That degree of censorship usually implies the content is dual posted to TikTok in my experience
ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
People complaining about the censorship is significantly more annoying than the actual tiny little blue on one single letter in one single word.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
Still not as annoying as the people who complain about the complaints.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 4 days ago
No smell has ever elevated when I near an ant colony, and I see wild ant colonies all the time. So I’m pretty sure I can’t.