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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Aug 14

We are only studying perception in this study with modeling informed by past molecular studies that have shown wide-spread inhibition for odor mixtures. One version of that inhibition is competitive binding as you refer to. See this paper: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31000595/

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Aug 12

This isn’t just theory!
These models can replace slow, expensive “omission tests” in flavor chemistry to find the handful of molecules that actually matter in a food’s aroma.
For instance, what molecules really make coffee smell like coffee. ☕

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Aug 12

4/5
Using this information, we can predict perceived odor intensity from molecular structure + concentration with high accuracy for both:
• Single molecules (RMSE = 7.1 on a 100 point scale)
• Complex mixtures (RMSE ~ 7.5)

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Aug 12

3/5
Using a very cool bag system to tightly control the concentration, we measured:
• 62 molecules, each at ≥7 concentrations
• 260 mixtures (2–10 components)
• >7,000 intensity ratings from trained human panels

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Aug 12

2/5
It’s a trick question. At a lower concentration, acetophenone (left molecule, red, smells like urinal cake) is stronger than 2-heptanone (right molecule, green, smells like blue cheese). So concentration ≠ intensity. That’s been a major roadblock for neuroscience and fragrance / food industries

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Aug 12

1/5
Odor intensity isn’t just about concentration! We have a new preprint to prove it: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

In cahoots with @jmainland.bsky.social, @alexkoulakov.bsky.social, Rick Gerkin, Khristina Samoilova and others not on bluesky. 🧪

Which of these molecules smells stronger?

Chemical structure of acetophenone and 2-heptanone

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Aug 11

Hi, I'd like to be added to the feed to post a study:
scholar.google.com/citations?us...

work place: monell.org/robert-pelle...

scholar.google.com

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · Jul 25

New preprint!  

tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵

w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Computational Urban Ecology of New York City Rats

Urban rats are highly adaptable, thriving in the dynamic and often inhospitable conditions of modern cities. Despite substantial mitigation efforts, they remain an enduring presence in urban environme...

www.biorxiv.org

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Jun 26

Sometimes I forget that Todd Rundgren doesn't want to work but just wants to bang on the drum all day.

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Nature Reviews Psychology @natrevpsychol.nature.com · Jun 18

Distinguishing performance gains from learning when using generative AI

Comment by Lixiang Yan, Samuel Greiff, Jason M. Lodge & Dragan Gašević

go.nature.com/3FJqTq3

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · May 28

Large language models (LLMs) can mirror human thinking in vision and language, but can they smell and taste?

New study with @rbrainengineer.bsky.social show stochastic LLMs rate creative flavor pairings like humans, prioritizing novelty over taste. #AI #creativity #foodscience

Automating chemosensory creativity assessment with large language models

Chemosensory creativity, the ability to innovate using taste and smell, is a crucial yet understudied aspect of human ingenuity. This study explores t…

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

ACOG @acog.org · May 27

ACOG is deeply disappointed by HHS’s move to drop COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in pregnancy. The science is clear: COVID-19 remains dangerous in pregnancy and vaccination protects both patients and newborns. The vaccine is safe and protects families. Read our full statement: buff.ly/OGue7sO

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Steve Munger @stevenmunger.bsky.social · May 20

Regular smell and taste testing could aid early detection of impairments that negatively impact health, safety, and quality of life, and could also reveal underlying disease. But how do we get there? This new whitepaper is out today:

Towards Universal Chemosensory Testing: Needs, Barriers and Opportunities

doi.org

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · May 10

One of the few bands I’ve been listening to since the 90s and still putting out great stuff

Lust For Gold

YouTube video by Starflyer 59 - Topic

m.youtube.com

Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Joel Mainland @jmainland.bsky.social · May 7

With a contemporary smartphone, capturing, transmitting, and replicating sounds and visuals is a breeze, yet replicating scents remains elusive. If you want to change this, consider joining the 2025 DREAM Olfaction Challenge at www.synapse.org/Synapse:syn6....
@oldbap.bsky.social

DREAM Olfactory Mixtures Prediction Challenge 2025

'DREAM Olfactory Mixtures Prediction Challenge 2025' (Synapse ID: syn64743570) is a project on Synapse. Synapse is a platform for supporting scientific collaborations centered around shared biomed...

www.synapse.org

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Apr 14

Most people haven’t heard of this test, which is available in the US. It accurately predicts Alzheimer’s (not just if there’s a risk, but when). It is modulated by exercise and likely other lifestyle factors.
Here’s (almost) everything we know about it
erictopol.substack.com/p/the-breakt...

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Kadjita Asumbisa @kasumbisa.bsky.social · Apr 15

Excited to share the sequel to our 2022 paper! In this follow-up, we show that the stable head direction (HD) signals we reported in blind mice rely on stereo olfaction—that is, the comparison of odor info. between the two nostrils.

Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧵highlights below

Stereo olfaction underlies stable coding of head direction in blind mice - Nature Communications

Stereo olfaction involves comparing odor differences between the two nostrils. Here, using neuronal recordings and a behavioral test, the authors demonstrate that blind mice use stereo olfaction to fo...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · Mar 22

Very proud of this paper, which spans three decades of work. (1/17) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Piriform cortex is an ictogenic trigger zone in the primate brain

Objective Area tempestas, a functionally defined region in the anterior piriform cortex, was identified as a crucial ictogenic trigger zone in the rat brain in the 1980s. However, whether the primat...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Feb 12

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Mar 7

New video tracking suite for social behavior + large dataset to benchmark other tracking suites.

Mapping the landscape of social behavior

Computer vision and machine learning approaches map a multi-scale social behavioral landscape, revealing ASD signatures and establishing an atlas of rodent sociality.

www.cell.com

Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Feb 27

Today's @usatoday.com front page
First US death from measles in 10 years
First child to die from measles in 22 years in the US
All of this fully preventable

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Ben Young @benyoung.bsky.social · Jan 30

One more day to get your paper in.

Ben Young @benyoung.bsky.social · Jan 6

CFP: Olfactory Philosophy Workshop at UNR Lake Tahoe
philevents.org/event/show/1...
Please spread the CFP widely to PhD students and ECRs - the deadline is January 31

Olfactory Philosophy Workshop

Call For Papers: Olfactory Philosophy, April 30 - May 3, 2025 The Department of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Reno will be hosting a workshop on Olfactory Philosophy April 30 - May 3, 2025 a...

philevents.org

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Jan 30

Learning the language of life with A.I.
@science.org
In today's essay, I review the phenomenal progress in foundation models of DNA, RNA, proteins, ligands, cells, their interactions, the Virtual Lab, and the aspiration for the Virtual Cell
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Learning the language of life with AI

In 2021, a year before ChatGPT took the world by storm amid the excitement about generative artificial intelligence (AI), AlphaFold 2 cracked the 50-year-old protein-folding problem, predicting three-...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino

Dinu F Albeanu @dinanthos.bsky.social · Jan 14

Interested in understanding how things work? In particular the tools you use to study the brain? Join us at TENSS 2025 where we brainstorm ideas, build and debug microscopes, electrophysiology and behavior rigs amidst the picturesque Transylvanian hills! tenss.ro
Apply by: February 16th!

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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · Jan 26

Alexander Fjaeldstad and I have a new chapter in the book Smell, Taste, Eat: The Role of the Chemical Senses in Eating Behaviour, edited by @LorenzoDStafford. Lots of great insights here.

From our chapter, it’s clear that smell loss and its impact on ingestion remain vastly underexplored."

The Effect of Olfactory Disorder (and Other Chemosensory Disorders) on Perception, Acceptance, and Consumption of Food

People with changes in the overall sensory experience of food often complain of taste disturbances, although the problem is normally caused by the loss of aroma in the food (thus an olfactory disorder...

link.springer.com

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