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Rogue theory of smell gets a boost 嗅觉的流氓理论得到推广 A controversial theory of how we smell, which claims that our fine sense of odour depends on quantum mechanics, has been given the thumbs up by a team of physicists. Odour n.气味，声誉 quantum 量子论mechanics力学；技术；机械学 核心：如何闻的理论已得到物理学家团队的赞同。 Calculations by researchers at University College London (UCL) show that the idea that we smell odour molecules by sensing their molecular vibrations makes sense in terms of the physics involved. molecules 分子 vibrations 震动，共鸣 核心：物理学家的观点是有道理的。 Thats still some way from proving that the theory, proposed in the mid-1990s by biophysicist Luca Turin, is correct. But it should make other scientists take the idea more seriously. 核心：其他科学家要严肃接受Turin以前学说的方法。 4. This is a big step forward, says Turin, who has now set up his own perfume company Flexitral in Virginia. He says that since he published his theory, it has been ignored rather than criticized. perfume n. 香水；香味 vt. 洒香水于…；使…带香味 核心：Turin开创的学说是一个巨大的进步。 5. Most scientists have assumed that our sense of smell depends on receptors in the nose detecting the shape of incoming molecules, which triggers a signal to the brain. This molecular lock and key process is thought to lie behind a wide range of the bodys detection systems: it is how some parts of the immune system recognise invaders, for example, and how the tongue recognizes some tastes. receptors 受体；接受器；神经末梢 核心：科学家的假设嗅觉取决于鼻子的探测器。 But Turin argued that smell doesnt seem to fit this picture very well. Molecules that look almost identical can smell very different — such as alcohols, which smell like spirits, and thiols, which smell like rotten eggs. And molecules with very different structures can smell similar. Most strikingly, some molecules can smell different — to animals, if not necessarily to humans — simply because they contain different isotopes (atoms that are chemically identical but have a different mass). identical n. 完全相同的事物 adj. 同一的；完全相同的 Spirits 烈酒 thiols 硫醇 rotten 腐烂