Weekly Snapshot: Cheese and Stinky Feet

Welcome to LNGenZ’s round up of the week’s top news stories.

Sniffing Out the Truth About Smells

The sense of smell is much more than it seems.

Pleasant smells like food cooking in the kitchen and scented candles burning in your home will capture a person’s attention. Likewise, horrid odors like rotting food or smelly feet will do the same. But why do we label some smells good or bad? Why do we enjoy some and despise others? A study by scientists at the University of Oxford might be able to answer some of these questions.

Researchers took 235 people and split them into nine groups. Each group came from a different part of the world and had a unique lifestyle. The scientists wanted to learn if people from different cultures would agree on the best and worst smells, or have different opinions. The groups were asked to label scents as pleasant or unpleasant after taking a whiff.

So what were the most liked and disliked smells? The results showed that most prefer the scent of vanilla and peaches over everything else. Cheese was ranked as the worst smell, followed by soy milk and sweaty feet. Read more…

Shanghai Under Strict Lockdown in ‘Zero-COVID’ China

Shanghai’s severe lockdown is making headlines around the world.

As the United States moves on from the COVID-19 pandemic, one of China’s biggest cities is under a strict lockdown. Shanghai has imposed severe coronavirus rules as China tries to keep a “Zero-COVID” policy. The idea is to prevent even a single case of the virus from existing in the country. As other nations learn to live with the virus, is “Zero-COVID” worth the high price?

Despite the strict measures, infections have risen, with China experiencing its highest number of cases since the beginning of the outbreak in 2019.

Around 25 million Shanghai residents are stuck at home. The Chinese government reported 29,411 new cases on Thursday, but only about 3,000 of those showed symptoms. That means, in most cases where people have caught the COVID virus, they have not shown any signs, such as trouble breathing. No official deaths have been reported. Even though the virus does not seem to be affecting people’s health severely, there is no clear date to end the lockdown. Read more…

Are Roundabouts a Good or Bad Addition to US Cities?

Has the time of traffic lights come to an end?

In the United States, people drive on the right-hand side of the road – but did you know that in some places, like Britain, people drive on the left? That’s not the only difference in how roads work around the world. Roundabouts, also known as traffic circles, are common in countries like the UK, France, and Australia, but they are a new concept in the US.

The state of Indiana currently has the most roundabouts in America, but other states are starting to use them. There are some benefits to replacing stop signs with traffic circles, but the switch is still confusing to some. Are the benefits enough for Americans to welcome this form of roadway, or is the change just too complicated?

A roundabout is a road intersection without lights or signals, but a circular area that cars can enter and exit. Drivers travel counterclockwise around a center island. Read more…