A Scottish woman named Joy Milne made headlines in 2015 for an unusual talent: her ability to sniff out people afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative illness that is estimated to affect nearly a million people in the U.S. alone. Since then a group of scientists in the U.K. has been working with Milne to pinpoint the molecules that give Parkinson’s its distinct olfactory signature. The team has now zeroed in on a set of molecules specific to the disease—and has created a simple skin-swab-based test to detect them.

— Read more in A Supersmeller Can Detect the Scent of Parkinson’s, Leading to an Experimental Test for the Illness at Scientific American.

And that presents quite the neuroscientific mystery: how can each randomly located, odor-detecting cell in the nose manage to send signals to just one specific glomerulus within the olfactory bulb? This feat is akin to, say, 50 friends who are originally separated in random places in a city making their way to the same apartment without initially having the address. Somehow they inherently all know where to go.

— Read more in Mental Landscapes: The Neural Cartography of Smell at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute.

Japanese electronics giant Sony has developed a device to measure an individual's sense of smell. The company hopes it will eventually be used at hospitals as olfactory measurement could help with the early detection of dementia.

Sony says the equipment can produce 40 different smells. It instantly emits a scent when the operator selects one from a dedicated app. Test subjects also use the app to indicate what they think the smell is.

— Read more in Sony develops machine to measure sense of smell at NHK World Japan.