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Feb 2022
5m 37s

Why Didn't We Evolve to Smell Water?

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About this episode

OK, water is scentless, but lots of non-human animals track down sources of it with their noses. Learn why humans aren't so good at that in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/humans-smell-fresh-water-evolution.htm

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