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Rogue theory of smell gets a boost
1.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.
2.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.
3.That's 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.
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."
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 body's detection systems: it is how some parts of the immune
system recognise invaders, for example, and how the tongue recognizes some
tastes.
6.But Turin argued that smell doesn't 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).
7.Turin's explanation for these smelly facts invokes the idea that the smell
signal in olfactory receptor proteins is triggered not by an odour molecule's
shape, but by its vibrations, which can enourage an electron to jump between two
parts of the receptor in a quantum-mechanical process called tunnelling.This
electron movement could initiate the smell signal being sent to the brain.
8.This would explain why isotopes can smell different: their vibration
frequencies are changed if the atoms are heavier.Turin's mechanism, says
Marshall Stoneham of the UCL team, is more like swipe-card identification than a
key fitting a lock.
9.Vibration-assisted electron tunnelling can undoubtedly occur — it is used
in an experimental technique for measuring molecular vibrations."The question is
whether this is possible in the nose," says Stoneham's colleague, Andrew
Horsfield.
10.Stoneham says that when he first heard about Turin's idea, while Turin was
himself based at UCL, "I didn't believe it".But, he adds, "because it was an
interesting idea, I thought I should prove it couldn't work.I did some simple
calculations, and only then began to feel Luca could be right." Now Stoneham and
his co-workers have done the job more thoroughly, in a paper soon to be
published in Physical Review Letters.
11.The UCL team calculated the rates of electron hopping in a nose receptor
that has an odorant molecule bound to it.This rate depends on various properties
of the biomolecular system that are not known, but the researchers could
estimate these parameters based on typical values for molecules of this
sort.
12.The key issue is whether the hopping rate with the odorant in place is
significantly greater than that without it.The calculations show that it is —
which means that odour identification in this way seems theoretically
possible.
13.But Horsfield stresses that that's different from a proof of Turin's
idea."So far things look plausible, but we need proper experimental
verification.We're beginning to think about what experiments could be
performed."
14.Meanwhile, Turin is pressing ahead with his hypothesis."At Flexitral we
have been designing odorants exclusively on the basis of their computed
vibrations," he says."Our success rate at odorant discovery is two orders of
magnitude better than the competition." At the very least, he is putting his
money where his nose is.
Questions 5-9
Complete the sentences below with words from the passage.Use NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS for each answer.
5.The hypothesis that we smell by sensing the molecular vibration was made by
______.
6.Turin's company is based in ______.
7.Most scientists believed that our nose works in the same way as our
______.
8.Different isotopes can smell different when ______ weigh differently.
9.According to Audrew Horsfield, it is still to be proved that ______ could
really occur in human nose.
Investing thousands of pounds in the recruitment and training of each new
graduate recruit may be just the beginning. Choosing the wrong candidate may
leave an organisation paying for years to come.
Few companies will have escaped all of the following failures: people who
panic at the first sight of stress; those with long impressive qualifications
who seem incapable of learning; hypochondriacs whose absentee record becomes
astonishing; and the unstable person later discovered to be a thief or
worse.
Less dramatic, but just as much a problem, is the person who simply does not
come up to expectations, who does not quite deliver; who never becomes a
high-flier or even a steady performer; the employee with a fine future behind
them.
The first point to bear in mind at the recruitment stage is that people don’t
change. Intelligence levels decline modestly, but change little over their
working life. The same is true of abilities, such as learning languages and
handling numbers.
Most people like to think that personality can change, particularly the more
negative features such as anxiety, low esteem, impulsiveness or a lack of
emotional warmth. But data collected over 50 years gives a clear message: still
stable after all these years. Extroverts become slightly less extroverted; the
acutely shy appear a little less so, but the fundamentals remain much the same.
Personal crises can affect the way we cope with things: we might take up or drop
drink, drugs, religion or relaxation techniques, which can be have pretty
dramatic effects. Skills can be improved, and new ones introduced, but at rather
different rates. People can be groomed for a job. Just as politicians are
carefully repackaged through dress, hairstyle and speech specialists, so people
can be sent on training courses, diplomas or experimental weekends. But there is
a cost to all this which may be more than the price of the course. Better to
select for what you actually see rather than attempt to change it.
( )1. The purpose of this passage is to give managers the advice that .
A. Employers should select candidates for their potential.
B. Employers should select candidates for what they are rather than for their
potential.
C. Employers should select the newly graduated and send them on training
courses, diplomas or experimental weekends.
D. Employers should select experienced candidates to avoid spending thousands
of pounds in training.
( )2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
.
A. Absolutely, People don’t change during their working lives.
B. Generally, people change to a large extent during their working lives.
C. Fundamentally, people stay the same during their working lives.
D. Normally, people don’t change at all during their working lives.
( )3. What does a fine future behind them (line 3 of paragraph 3) means?
.
A. Some people will certainly have a promising future though they are not
very competent in their present work.
B. Some people don’t have any potential for their work though they are
employed.
C. Some people can have a bright future though they can’t do their work
well.
D. Some people have potential when they are employed, but never realize that
potential.
( )4. According to the passage, people’s basic abilities like language
learning and numeracy .
A. change little over their working life.
B. never change over their working life.
C. change fundamentally over their working life.
D. change profoundly over their working life.
( )5. The word deliver (line 2 of paragraph 3) means .
A. to take goods to the places or people they are addressed to
B. to give a speech
C. to do what you promised to do
D. to help a woman to give birth to a baby.
