Posts Tagged Science
A fascinating article over at Bloomberg Businessweek gives an overview of the state of scent marketing and some of the latest scent-related developments. A few wildly different items of note:
- Research in France indicates scent may have a powerful role to play in helping people who are suffering from severe trauma.
- Scent is an integral part of a new transdisciplinary master’s program at the Parsons New School for Design in New York.
- Bloom grocery stores recently implemented the first scented billboard in North Carolina, using giant fans to blow a charbroiled scent over a highway.
Check it out over at Bloomberg Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_26/b4184085987358.htm
Add comment June 18, 2010
Prolitec Names Johns Hopkins Scientist to Lead Infection Control Effort
–New business unit will focus on systems to kill bacteria and viruses in healthcare facilities, schools & other spaces
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (6/10/10)–Prolitec Inc. today announced the appointment of Dr. Craig A. Kelly as Vice President and Director of Technology Development.
The veteran Johns Hopkins University scientist will also serve as chief of the company’s Aerobiology and Infection Control unit. In this role, Dr. Kelly will lead Prolitec’s research and development of airborne and surface antimicrobial systems designed to kill bacteria and viruses in healthcare facilities, schools, assisted living facilities, commercial aircraft, and other public spaces where the control of infection transmission is an important issue.
“We have long experience working with Dr. Kelly in some of his earlier assignments,” said Richard Weening, CEO of Prolitec. “He is exactly the right person to expand the R&D effort and transform the work into the practical infection control applications so urgently needed by the healthcare system.”
Prior to joining Prolitec, Dr. Kelly spent 10 years as a member of the Senior Professional Staff at Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Lab in Baltimore, where he worked on a wide range of projects, including chemical and biological warfare agent decontamination. Most recently, from 2009 to 2010, he served as Acting Program Manager for the laboratory’s Missile Defense Agency Sensors Directorate. He began at the laboratory in 1999, initially working on chemical sensor development.
Dr. Kelly has published 21 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has been awarded three patents. He holds a Ph.D. in Physical Inorganic Chemistry from Bowling Green State University and a B.S. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Geneseo. Additionally, he completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Chemistry Department, Johns Hopkins’ Department of Chemistry and Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory.
“Infection control is a serious challenge for healthcare, education and several other sectors where harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi pose a threat to humans,” Dr. Kelly noted. “Prolitec has developed new and promising technologies to address these issues. Our objective is to advance them into fully operational systems approved by the relevant regulatory agencies.”
About Prolitec
Prolitec (www.prolitec.com) develops and deploys air-treatment and air care technologies, including odor control, ambient scenting, aromatherapy and the use of scent as a medium of communication. Clients include assisted living facilities, hotels, casinos, retailers and other commercial facilities in the U.S. and 46 countries around the world. Prolitec’s Aerobiology and Infection Control unit is developing interior air and surface systems to inhibit disease transmission.
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Add comment June 9, 2010
Prolitec introduces programmable air sanitizer
New Programmable System is First to Continually Sanitize the Air in HVAC Ducts and Commercial, Medical and Residential Spaces
Prolitec’s ARIA(TM) formulation works with HVAC-based delivery system to kill airborne odor causing bacteria and mold, fungus and organisms
MILWAUKEE, WI, Jan. 19 — Aerosol sprays that kill odor-causing bacteria in the air — including mold and fungal spores — clearly are a hit with consumers. But these products treat enclosed rooms one at a time, and their effects are temporary. A new chemical formulation and delivery system created by Prolitec, Inc., can be programmed to sanitize the air continuously or during specific times of day throughout HVAC ducts and occupied enclosed spaces — with applications ranging from homes to medical facilities; doctor, dentist and veterinary offices; schools and classrooms; long-term care facilities, health clubs, bars, hotels, cruise ships, schools, theaters and gaming facilities.
The new air-sanitizing agent, called ARIA™, won EPA registration in November. It works in tandem with Prolitec’s existing family of Air/Q ambient-scenting and odor-control systems, which already are widely used in the hospitality, gaming and retail sectors. Moreover, ARIA will also be available for the home via a soon-to-be-announced, next-generation version of Air/Q that Prolitec custom-designed for residential use. Because of its ability to continually sanitize the air within enclosed spaces, ARIA is of keen interest to HVAC professionals for continuously cleaning the air in ducts and any type of indoor facility where airborne odor causing bacteria and mold may thrive.
“ARIA and an Air/Q appliance provide a simple-to-use, cost-effective system to continuously sanitize the air we breathe,” said Richard Weening, Chairman and CEO of the Milwaukee-based Prolitec. “This is a real first, and we believe it is reasonable to call it a breakthrough. What is more, the EPA registration verifies our claims about what ARIA can do.
“ARIA is effective in a wide range of spaces from very small to very large,” he continued. The product uses Prolitec’s HVAC-mounted system for homes and larger commercial spaces, while the company’s table-top, wall or ceiling mounted units can serve individual rooms up to 20,000 cubic feet. Available in odorless or scented versions, ARIA is invisible, leaving no surface deposits.
Prolitec’s computer-controlled system Air/Q system works by converting the ARIA formulation into non-toxic, micro-droplets less than 1/100th the diameter of a human hair to instantly create a sanitizing vapor throughout the enclosed space. ARIA is packaged in tamper-proof, recyclable cartridges that are easily inserted into the installed Air/Q appliance, and changed periodically by the user in the home or office, or by Prolitec service technicians in large commercial facilities.
Today’s consumers show a clear preference toward pleasant ambient-scent experiences, and they also are more concerned than ever about potentially harmful airborne odor-causing bacteria and mold in their home. Indeed, this concern has helped fuel growth of an entire industry focused on cleaning HVAC ducts. Some of these companies even try to sweep away vegetative mold spores. “The challenge is that, mold spores are typically 1/50th the diameter of a hair, which is less than a micron in diameter,” Weening said. “Trying to physically sweep or vacuum them up is really not possible. The ARIA approach, by contrast, kills airborne mold and fungal spores circulating within HVAC systems, and helps prevent them from spreading within the home or building.”
Prolitec, which has filed preliminary patent applications for ARIA’s key processes, will unveil the new formulation and delivery system on January 26 at the AHR Expo show in Chicago.
About Prolitec
Prolitec (www.prolitec.com) is a world leader in the development and deployment of innovative air-freshening technologies and solutions for aerobiology, indoor air quality and the use of scent as a medium of communication. Clients include retailers, hotels, casinos and other commercial organizations in the US and around the world.
Via MarketWatch
Add comment January 20, 2009
UK Ministry of Defence trains with scent
In an effort to prepare soldiers for life in a war zone, the UK’s Minstry of Defence is developing a video game training system that incorporates scent. According to the developers, troops reported arriving in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and being overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells. The sensory training aims to familiarize the soldiers’ senses with the authentic stimuli they’ll encounter when they’re deployed. The scent machine aspect includes smells like charred rubber, rotting vegetables, spices, sewage, and body odor, each released by the machine at the appropriate times in the video game simulation.
Read more at BBC News
Add comment November 9, 2008
London scent event Nov. 19
The Royal Institution of Great Britain presents:
“The science of scent: a feast for the nose.”
Location: 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS
The allure of perfume has existed for generations. Whilst many people may wear perfume, few probably know about the fascinating science inside the bottle.
This event will begin with an introductory talk in the theatre on olfactory science and perfume. How do we smell? Where do perfume ingredients come from and how has this changed throughout the ages, as science and technology have advanced? How many scented materials are there in the world and how many of them do we remember?
And what about the highly skilled people who concoct these amazing scents and potions? Are perfumers born with better noses than the rest of us?
Later on in the evening there will be an opportunity to sample different perfumery ingredients, accords and perfumes, experiencing first-hand their composition under the watchful guidance of an experienced perfumer.
The event includes odour evaluation, so please refrain from wearing strong scent
TIckets available via The Royal Institution’s web site
Add comment October 18, 2008
MIT scientists one step closer to artificial nose
MIT researchers report they’ve finally mass produced olfactory receptor proteins — molecules that can smell. Many researchers across the world have been working on e-noses, but the MIT research is based in the biology of the human nose. Previous efforts to make large numbers of artificial receptors have failed because the protein’s structure breaks down when it’s removed from the mucus membrane. The MIT team developed a protective detergent solution that allowed mass production of the molecules. Possible applications for artificial nose technology include sniffing for disease, environmental pollutants, and bacteria.
Read more in BBC
Add comment October 2, 2008
Dreams influenced by olfactory stimuli
German researchers have found that the emotional qualities of dreams are influenced by olfactory stimuli. According to the study presented at a recent Otolaryngology meeting, the smell of rotten eggs gave subjects bad dreams, while the smell of roses gave good dreams. The scents were dispersed while subjects slept, and the quality of the dreams was reported by the subjects upon waking. This study is the first of its kind, and researchers say it points to the possibility of therapy involving “nocturnal olfactory stimulation.”
Read more at Lab Spaces
Add comment September 26, 2008
