2020-04-02_Science_Illustrated

WILDLIFE Many animals
have an impressive sense of
smell, but scientists cannot
identify one specific animal as
having the king of noses. That’s
because the sensitivity of the
nose to different substances
varies from species to species,
and typically animals can best
recognise specific smells to find
water, or a mate, for example.
They are not necessarily good at
smelling everything. So while we
generally consider dogs to have a
far better sense of smell than
humans, we are actually better
than carnivorous dogs at
smelling some types of fruit,
whereas dogs are much better at
smelling their prey.

ANIMAL SENSE OF SMELL

A silkmoth

can spot the

scent of a partner

from more than

10km distance.

A brown bear

can smell a

carcass from a

distance of

25km.

A polar bear

can sniff out a

seal from a

distance of 2km.

An elephant

can smell water

from a distance

of 18km.

A dog can make

out a 24-hour-old

scent of a human

among hundreds

of others.

An elephant’s sense of smell

can be critical for finding

water in a large area. It can

smell water from a distance

of more than 18km.

Which animal

has the best

sense of smell?

SPL

SHU

TTE

RST

OC

K

Particles in the glass

spheres provide lunar dust

with specific qualities.

It is extremely heat-insulating and

electrically charged, allowing it to

hover above the Moon’s surface.

The glass spheres probably

originated because mine-

rals from the Moon's crust

were crushed, melted, and quickly

hardened. The process could be

due to a meteor strike (see last

issue’s Dino Doomsday story).

The glass spheres were

discovered in lunar dust

using a method known as

synchrotron-based nanotomogra-

phy. An X-ray microscope scans

samples and produces a 3D image.

Lunar dust from the

Apollo 11 mission

under an X-ray

microscope reveals

tiny glass spheres.

WHAT IS THIS? · Tiny glass spheres in moon dust

24 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED

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