Saturday, May 26, 2018

Petrichor - The smell of the rain.

The fresh smell of the rain is one of best scents I can think of.



It is called petrichor by Australian researchers in 1964, word constructed from Greek πέτρα meaning stone, and  ἰχώρ īchōr, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. It is described as a combination of plant oils and the chemical compound called geosmin, which are released from the soil when it rains.
A few years back, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) captured this event happening and here is a video which shows how the smell gets into the air.

High-speed cameras managed to capture how rain drops trap tiny air bubbles as they hit the ground, which shoot upwards and erupt into a fizz, producing extremely fine liquid droplets or solid particles that remain suspended in the air as fog or smoke, known as aerosols. The researchers also suspect that tiny particles can help spread bacteria and viruses stored in the soil. It is interesting that they foud more particles were produced by light or moderate rainfall compared with heavy downpours.

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