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How Can AI, Brain Science Help Create Fragrances?

Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers
Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers
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How Can AI, Brain Science Help Create Fragrances?

Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers
Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers

Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers, according to a report by The Guardian.

Making perfume is an art that can be traced back to ancient Greece but now modern-day perfumiers are beginning to look beyond their noses to develop the scents most likely to appeal to us. They are, instead, turning to AI.

Perfumes can now be designed to trigger emotional responses using ingredients known as neuroscents – odors shown by biometric measures to arouse different positive feelings such as calm, euphoria or sleepiness. Hugo Ferreira, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering in Lisbon, is mapping brain activity and response to perfumes to build a database of neuroscents.

He says the sense of smell is fascinating. “With sight and hearing, you can imagine the face of a loved one or favorite tune. It’s hard to imagine a smell even though it can provoke a torrent of emotions and memories.”

Ferreira says this is due to the structure of the olfactory system. Messages from scent receptors are sent via the olfactory bulb to different brain areas that control everything from memory or thirst to stress reactions.

“Olfaction is the most diverse sense with many different receptors. It’s estimated that there are about 400 different olfactory receptor gene families. Among other things these various connections may explain how we can ‘smell fear’, or the smell of victory,” he added.

Many beauty brands have invested in neuroscent research and technology, as the possibilities of creating fragrances proven to make consumers feel good are obviously big. L’Oréal has partnered with neurotechnology company Emotiv to create a scent choice “experience”.

During 2023, shoppers at certain Yves Saint Laurent stores worldwide have used a headset to create an electroencephalogram – EEG – to discover which scents appealed to them. Results so far show that 95% of customers who used the headset found the right perfume.

Fashion and fragrance business Puig says it took 45 million brain readings from men aged 18-35 to finesse the cologne Phantom by Paco Rabanne, adding lavender and lemon to the formula as a result of its research.

Givenchy Irresistible eau de parfum – the latest iteration of the Very Irresistible range that has been a bestseller for 20 years – includes a rose extract dubbed “anti-morose”, chosen after biometric research.

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India Says It Has Contained Nipah Virus Outbreak as Some Asian Countries Ramp up Health Screenings

A handout photo released by Suvarnabhumi Airport shows Thai health officials wearing protective masks monitoring passengers from international flights arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 25 January 2026. (EPA/The Suvarnabhumi Airport Office Handout)
A handout photo released by Suvarnabhumi Airport shows Thai health officials wearing protective masks monitoring passengers from international flights arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 25 January 2026. (EPA/The Suvarnabhumi Airport Office Handout)
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India Says It Has Contained Nipah Virus Outbreak as Some Asian Countries Ramp up Health Screenings

A handout photo released by Suvarnabhumi Airport shows Thai health officials wearing protective masks monitoring passengers from international flights arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 25 January 2026. (EPA/The Suvarnabhumi Airport Office Handout)
A handout photo released by Suvarnabhumi Airport shows Thai health officials wearing protective masks monitoring passengers from international flights arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 25 January 2026. (EPA/The Suvarnabhumi Airport Office Handout)

Indian authorities said they had contained a Nipah virus outbreak after confirming two cases in the eastern state of West Bengal, as several Asian countries tightened health screenings and airport surveillance for travelers arriving from India.

India’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that two Nipah cases had been detected since December and that all identified contacts had been quarantined and tested. The ministry did not release details about the patients but said 196 contacts had been traced and all tested negative.

“The situation is under constant monitoring, and all necessary public health measures are in place,” the ministry said.

Nipah, a zoonotic virus first identified during a 1990s outbreak in Malaysia, spreads through fruit bats, pigs and human-to-human contact. There is no vaccine for the virus, which can cause raging fevers, convulsions and vomiting. The only treatment is supportive care to control complications and keep patients comfortable.

The virus has an estimated fatality rate of between 40% and 75%, according to the WHO, making it far more deadly than the coronavirus.

There were no reported cases of the virus outside India, but several Asian countries introduced or reinforced screening measures at airports as a precaution.

Indonesia and Thailand increased screening at major airports, with health declarations, temperature checks and visual monitoring for arriving passengers. Thailand’s Department of Disease Control said thermal scanners had been installed at arrival gates for direct flights from West Bengal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Myanmar’s Health Ministry advised against nonessential travel to West Bengal and urged travelers to seek immediate medical care if symptoms develop within 14 days of travel. It said fever surveillance introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic at airports has been intensified for passengers arriving from India, with laboratory testing capacity and medical supplies readied.

Vietnam’s Health Ministry on Tuesday urged strict food safety practices and directed local authorities to increase monitoring at border crossings, health facilities and communities, according to state media.

China said it was strengthening disease prevention measures in border areas. State media reported that health authorities had begun risk assessments and enhanced training for medical staff, while increasing monitoring and testing capabilities.

Earlier Nipah outbreaks were reported in West Bengal in 2001 and 2007, while recent cases have largely been detected in southern Kerala state. A major outbreak in 2018 killed at least 17 people in Kerala.

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75 Wildlife Species Released into King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve

With this release, the total number of wildlife species released by the NCW to date has exceeded 10,000 as part of its specialized programs - SPA
With this release, the total number of wildlife species released by the NCW to date has exceeded 10,000 as part of its specialized programs - SPA
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75 Wildlife Species Released into King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve

With this release, the total number of wildlife species released by the NCW to date has exceeded 10,000 as part of its specialized programs - SPA
With this release, the total number of wildlife species released by the NCW to date has exceeded 10,000 as part of its specialized programs - SPA

The National Center for Wildlife (NCW), in cooperation with the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority, today released 75 wildlife species into the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve.

With this release, the total number of wildlife species released by the NCW to date has exceeded 10,000 as part of its specialized programs.

The release included 50 Arabian sand gazelles and 25 Arabian oryxes, within the framework of breeding and reintroduction programs for endangered wildlife species into their natural habitats, supporting ecosystem sustainability and enhancing biodiversity, SPA reported.

Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mohammed Ali Qurban explained that field releases represent a core component of the center’s work, contributing to strengthening the presence of wildlife in natural habitats and supporting ecosystem stability, based on a scientific methodology that relies on prior planning and assessment.

He added that the center continues to enhance integration with relevant entities and support national partnerships in biodiversity conservation, contributing to unified efforts, improved planning and implementation efficiency, and long-term sustainable environmental impact.

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Astronomers Unveil Map of Dark Matter's Distribution in Universe

Artist's rendering of James Webb Space Telescope in space near Earth, in this image released on September 19, 2023. NASA/dima_zel/Handout via REUTERS
Artist's rendering of James Webb Space Telescope in space near Earth, in this image released on September 19, 2023. NASA/dima_zel/Handout via REUTERS
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Astronomers Unveil Map of Dark Matter's Distribution in Universe

Artist's rendering of James Webb Space Telescope in space near Earth, in this image released on September 19, 2023. NASA/dima_zel/Handout via REUTERS
Artist's rendering of James Webb Space Telescope in space near Earth, in this image released on September 19, 2023. NASA/dima_zel/Handout via REUTERS

Using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope in a patch of the sky covering almost three times the area of the full moon, scientists have created the most detailed cosmic map to date of the mysterious substance called dark matter that accounts for most of the stuff that populates the universe.

Ordinary matter makes up stars, planets, people and everything else we can see. But it represents only about 15% of all the matter in the cosmos. The rest is dark matter, which does not emit or reflect light, making it invisible to the human eye and to telescopes, Reuters reported.

Scientists infer its existence based on the gravitational effects it exerts on a large scale such as how quickly galaxies rotate, how galaxy clusters are held together and how light from distant objects bends as it passes through massive cosmic structures.

The new map of the distribution of dark matter was based on this phenomenon of light bending - causing subtle distortions in the shape of roughly 250,000 distant galaxies as observed by Webb - thanks to the gravitational effects of matter along the line of sight.

A previous map of dark matter was based on observations by the Hubble Space Telescope. The new map, powered by Webb's greater capabilities, offers double the resolution of the previous map, spans more parts of the cosmos and peers further back in time - effectively looking to roughly 8 to 10 billion years ago, a key period for galaxy formation.

"This allows us to resolve finer dark matter structures, detect mass concentrations that were previously unseen, and extend dark-matter mapping into earlier epochs of the universe," said observational cosmologist Diana Scognamiglio of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, lead author of the research published on Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, opens new tab.

The map reveals with unprecedented clarity new details of the macrostructure of the universe called the cosmic web - galaxy clusters, immense filaments built of dark matter along which galaxies and gas are distributed, as well as regions with less density of mass.

Webb, an infrared telescope possessing about six times the light-gathering power of Hubble, was launched in 2021 and became operational in 2022.

"The James Webb Space Telescope is like putting on a new pair of glasses for the universe," Scognamiglio said. "It sees fainter and more distant galaxies with much sharper detail than ever before. That effectively gives us a much denser grid of background galaxies to work with, which is exactly what you want for this kind of study. More galaxies and sharper images translate directly into a sharper map of dark matter."

The map covers a part of the sky called the Cosmic Evolution Survey, or COSMOS, located in the direction of the constellation Sextans. The map will facilitate future investigations of the universe in numerous ways, the researchers said.

"For example, a major question in astrophysics is how galaxies grow and evolve with time - how the universe went from an almost perfectly homogenous soup to the spectacular variety of galaxies we see today," said observational cosmologist and study co-author Jacqueline McCleary of Northeastern University in Boston.

"Dark matter halos - self-gravitating 'clouds' of dark matter - are the site of galaxy formation, the nurseries of galaxies, if you will. So knowing where the dark matter is, how much of it there is and connecting it to the population of galaxies inside the dark matter distribution places an important boundary condition on models of galaxy formation and evolution," McCleary said.

The method used by the researchers involving the bending of light revealed the distribution of dark and ordinary matter.

The researchers said their observations are in harmony with the leading cosmological model - called Lambda-CDM, or cold dark matter - that explains the universe's beginning with the Big Bang and its subsequent evolution and structure. The model sees a universe dominated by dark matter and the invisible cosmic force called dark energy that is responsible for its accelerating expansion.

"In this framework, dark matter provides the gravitational backbone on which galaxies, groups and clusters form, creating the large-scale cosmic web. Our map provides a much sharper observational view of this dark-matter scaffolding," Scognamiglio said.