To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio

The American nostril is under assault. Aromas have been stuffed inside furniture and sprinkled on expensive evening gowns. Some airport carpets are lined with scent-releasing capsules, and soon your TV and computer may be fitted with odor synthesizers. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the smelly revolution in cyberspace. Also, the powerful link between our sense of smell and our memories. And, putting aromatherapy to the test.

Joel Bellenson and Dexster Smith are the founders of Digiscents in Oakland, CA. Together they've cooked up an odor synthesizer for the home computer. They tell Jim Fleming about their invention, which they call iSmell. Also, Debbie Bilder explores aromatherapy. She spritzes passersby and solicits their reactions to scents like "Energize" and ‘Euphoria" and talks with Kevin May of a fragrance boutique called The Soap Opera about the best ways to use aromatherapy.

Rachel Herz, a psychologist at the Monnell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, talks with Jim Fleming about the close connection between smell, memory and emotion. Also, Pat Michaelson, owner of a London Cheese Shop called "La Fromagerie," tells Jim Fleming that some French food purists are alarmed: the rankest French cheeses are being toned down while the gourmands believe the full stench is authentic and should be preserved.

National Geographic writer Cathy Newman talks with Steve Paulson about the history of perfume. She explains what fragrances people have used to make perfume and the uses they've found for it. Her book is "Perfume: The Art and Science of Scent."

Distribution dates:

• week of 01/09/2000 - hour 2