对人类而言,嗅觉长久以来一直被认为是一种“如果有,也仅仅具有非常微弱功能”的退化感官。在线刊登在《当代生物学》上的一项新研究则挑战了这一观点。该研究指出,人的鼻子通过嗅吸人体分泌物的气味,可以对性别加以辨别。研究人员将男女受试者分成不同的小组,让其分别嗅吸异性产生的化学物质,受试者则会相应地产生该气味更倾向于是男性还是女性的感觉。结果不仅取决于受试者的生物学性别,还取决于他们的性取向。 For humans, the sense of smell has long been considered a degenerating organ that “has only very weak functions, if any.” A new study published online in “Contemporary Biology” challenges this view. The study pointed out that the nose of a human can discriminate sex by sniffing the odor of human secretions. The researchers divided the male and female subjects into different groups, each sniffing for the opposite-sex chemical, and the subject then gave the impression that the odor tended to be more male or female. The results depend not only on the biological sex of the subject, but also on their sexual orientation.