Human sense of smell is faster than previously thought, study suggests

In one experiment, participants were presented with an apple-like odour and a floral scent, one delivered about 120-180ms before the other. Photograph: Dani DG/Getty Images

The human sense of smell is nothing to turn one’s nose up at, research suggests, with scientists revealing we are far more sensitive to the order of odours captured by a sniff than previously thought.

Charles Darwin is among those who have cast aspersions on our sense of smell, suggesting it to be “of extremely slight service” to humans, while scientists have long thought our olfactory abilities rather sluggish.