These measurements are among the first to quantify the perception of odor mixtures, said Ann-Sophie Barwich, a philosopher of science at Columbia University who specializes in olfaction. "Most scientific studies concern individual molecules because it's easier and much more controllable," she said. But it's well known that an aroma is greater than the sum of its parts. There's "this emergent property in the brain that they can combine and make up a potato chip even though individually, they smell like toast and rotten cabbage."

— Read more at Do You Smell What I Smell? (the subtitle: A new study with potato chips suggests we all perceive scents differently, but culture tells us to agree when naming them) at Inside Science.