BeingHuman #01 | Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From ??

in science •  7 years ago 

You've fired up the grill, set up the volleyball net, are those dark clouds on the horizon? Don't ask your phone, your nose knows all....!    

(Credits) 

Hello everyone…welcome to my first official science episode in Steemit ! 

Hey guys, it’s been over a month of me joining steemit…but due to my hectic duties, I wasn’t able to give much time at this place. But since I’m free from now, I thought why not post a science post over here… So guys, moving towards the topic, have you ever wondered where does the smell of rain come from?? Well, if you are really wanting to know about this interesting topic, continue reading below…trust me, you won’t regret ! 

Did you know that our noses can sense up to a trillion different scents?? And many of them are deeply knotted to our memories and our emotions. Like your grandpa’s house, your first dog, or.....the smell of rain. Storm winds carry a collection of separate smells, but the earthy odor that comes before a storm can be traced to three chemical sources. Before a thunderstorm, you’re probably smelling ozone, which remarkably gets its name from the Greek word meaning “to smell”. The electrical charge of lightning high up in approaching storm clouds rips oxygen gas into separate atoms, some of those can reform into ozone. It’s swept ahead of the progressing storm by windy downdrafts, and down to your nose level. As rain begins to fall, a new smell emerges from the soil: the pleasingly pungent perfume we call “petrichor”.  

 (Credits) 

Petrichor gets half its name from the ethereal essence that flowed through the veins of Greek gods and half from the stones of the Earth, which very much captures both its science, and the powerful feels I get when I smell it. When decomposed organic material is blown airborne from dry soil, it lands on dirt or rocks, where it’s combined by minerals and the whole mixture is cooked into a magical medley of molecules. Falling raindrops then direct those chemicals airborne right into your nostalgic nostrils.

When there’s no rain around, those same chemicals remain in the soil, where they signal plants to pause their roots from growing or prevent seeds from germinating when there’s no water to drink. Petrichor: it’s for the plant that’s bored of waiting . . . to sprout. Bacteria in the soil also contribute to petrichor by liberating a chemical called Geosmin, that's the same compound that provides beets their earthy flavor.  

 (Credits)

There’s other purposes for petrichor in addition to showering us with emotion. It thought to attract camels to desert oases, who eat up and transfer the soil bacteria across the sands. Petrichor that’s washed into rivers and lakes also appears to indicate fish that it’s time to spawn. There’s nothing like a rainstorm to ignite a little romance, I guess. So next time you smell a summer storm a-coming, take a moment to think about what that rock over there is trying to tell you…! 



That’s all for today guys… 

Hope you enjoy the rain more from now onwards… 

…& please leave your feedback about this post 



References used : 

1) https://www.livescience.com/37648-good-smells-rain-petrichor.html 

2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor

 3) https://www.thoughtco.com/can-you-smell-rain-geosmin-and-petrichor-607587

 And yesss...I’m pretty new to this community…and I really need your support guys. So, if you liked my post this, please don’t forget to:    

 

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!
Sort Order:  

first science post ??!! it doesnt seem like that man...your way of expressing things is extremely beautiful !
And yesss, if you continue in the same way, you shall surely be one of the great whales someday !! ;) :)

thank you soooo much man...m just learning from everyone...keep loving n supporting !



Join us on #steemSTEM

Thank you for this very interesting article that we took a great pleasure to upvote. Please visit our chat channel for more interactions with us!

The steemSTEM project is a community-supported project aiming to increase the quality and the visibility of STEM (STEM is the acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) articles on Steemit.

thank you so much sir...it is unbelievable for me

Interesting first post; will be waiting for more of this type of content!

thank you sir...will be posting in a few days

Congratulations @beinghuman! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of upvotes received

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

Congratulations @beinghuman! You have received a personal award!

1 Year on Steemit
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.

Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
SteemitBoard World Cup Contest - The results, the winners and the prizes

Do you like SteemitBoard's project? Then Vote for its witness and get one more award!

Congratulations @beinghuman! You received a personal award!

Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!