why do my armpits smell different?

Discussion in 'Biology & Genetics' started by sculptor, Jan 14, 2021.

  1. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    Why does the sweat under my left armpit have a sharper smell than the sweat under my right armpit?
     
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  3. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    You've got it backwards. Your left nostril is more sensitive than your right.
     
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  5. dumbest man on earth Real Eyes Realize Real Lies Valued Senior Member

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    Let me get this straight...are you saying your Left doesn't smell Right...or that your Left smells more Right?
     
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  7. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    right
    wrong
    ?
    just different
     
  8. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Sculptor has bilateral diaphoretic asymmetry.
     
  9. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    NO
    There does not seem to be a difference in the amount of sweat, just in the odor.

    I am reasonably certain that this has to do with a difference in the microbes living on the skin
    beyond that
    I am clueless.
     
  10. QuarkHead Remedial Math Student Valued Senior Member

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    Related but irrelevant comment. Years ago when I was a genetics student, our professor started a class experiment based on the everyday observation that after eating asparagus, some people smell it in their urine while others don't. Question: is the way they metabolize asparagus the genetic determinant, or is the determinant different smell receptors?

    The obvious experiment: eat asparagus, smell your urine than exchange urine samples and see the result. A clever set-up but one that caused a class-room rebellion.

    Unsurprisingly, of course. (Science falls to social niceties once again!)
     
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  11. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    The asymmetry in the diaphoresis is not the in quantity but in the olfactory emanation.
     
  12. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Which would imply that Sculptor is a genetic chimera.
     
  13. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    or.....................................
     
  14. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    This reminds me of one of my all-time favourite jokes:

     
  15. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Has anyone noticed a pattern in Sculptor's questions lately? I'm detecting symptoms of cabin fever.
     
  16. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    I'll bite
    pattern?
    WHY?
    Why do you think that?

    (probably difficult to see a pattern when you are in the middle of it?)
     
  17. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Maybe there isn't one. It's just an impression; maybe I'm imagining it. Look back over the past month and see whether you discern a suggestion of extreme boredom. Your own perception is all that really matters.
     
  18. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    as previously stated its difficult to see a pattern when you are in the middle of it
     
  19. Traverse Registered Member

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    I'm just new to this website (joined-up today), but I'll risk posting my first response on here here [any fans on here of Gertrude Stein's brilliant literary invention of repetition?].

    The great thing about Science is that in 'doing it' one starts out with the simplest explanation first; reaching it by working from First Principles & going forwards from there. So, does Sculptor have a significant difference in physical & chemical microenvironments (humidity, dioxygen level, temperature, saltiness, etc.) between his two pits, perhaps occasioned by his job-type (or hobby) leading to the preferential & regular squeezing of one armpit more than the other? Skin microbiota populations & cell densities & proteomes (e.g., respecting catabolic processes in particular) can easily be affected by tiny differences in local parameters.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2021

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