Perspiration

• They give clues about who we are, and how healthy we are.
• Since ancient Greek times, we’ve known that we smell differently when we are unwell.
• While we rely on blood analysis today, ancient Greek physicians used smell to diagnose maladies.
• This discovery has led to research programmes involving Joy Milner to identify the precise smell of this disease.

Where do VOCs come from?

• Sweating produces extra nutrients for these bacteria to metabolise which can result in particularly odorous VOCs.
• Odour from sweat only makes up a fraction of the scents from VOCs though.
• Scientists think skin VOCs can offer insights into how the microbiome’s bacteria and the human body work together to maintain our health and protect us from disease.
• We use mass spectrometry to see this as the average human nose is not sophisticated enough to detect these VOCs.

What has science shown about love pheromones?

• Mice for example have microbes which contribute to a particularly smelly compound called trimethylamine, which allows mice to verify the species of a potential mate.
• Scientists have yet to fully decode skin – or other VOCs that are released from our bodies.
• But evidence for human love pheromones so far is controversial at best.

Aoife Morrin receives funding from Science Foundation Ireland.

• As of last week, both are clients of Palantir Technologies, a US tech company “focused on creating the world’s best user experience for working with data”.
• In a three-year deal, Coles plans to deploy Palantir’s tools across more than 840 supermarkets to cut costs and “redefine how we think about our workforce”.

The Palantir process

• Typically, Palantir first sends out “forward-deployed engineers” to begin work with an organisation’s data, which is often messy, incomplete and fragmented.
• Then the data can be fed into Palantir’s platforms – in this case, customisable software called Foundry and the Artificial Intelligence Platform.
• In this sense, Palantir shifts from the visible to the operational, imperceptibly but powerfully shaping the lives and livelihoods of Australian supermarket employees and shoppers.

Optimising the workforce

• First, by inking this deal, Coles frames itself as future-forward and logistically driven.
• Groceries and grocery-store labour become more data, just like the hedge funds, healthcare, or immigrants that other Palantir clients coordinate.
• Food (and the labour needed to grow, pack and ship it) is transformed from a human need to an optimisation problem.

A walled garden

• As my own research found, Palantir clients tend to enjoy the all-encompassing data and new features but also become dependent on them.
• Much like Apple or Amazon, Palantir’s services excel at creating “vendor lock-in”, a perfect walled garden which clients find hard to leave.

A way of seeing

Finally, vision. What Palantir sells is fundamentally a way of seeing. Its dashboards promise a God’s eye view that can stretch across an entire organisation or zoom in to granular detail to locate that “needle in the haystack” insight. The claim is that this data-driven view is a shortcut to total knowledge, a way to map every operation, reveal every important element, and identify every inefficiency.

• The sweat of workers struggling to pack at pace, the belt-tightening of consumers struggling to make ends meet, and the struggle of farmers to survive unexpected climate impacts will go untracked.
• Such details never appear on the platform – and if they’re not data, they don’t matter.

Luke Munn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• According to the survey, one in seven Americans are unaware that the sun's UV rays are reflected by snow, water, and sand.
• "Many people don't realize that you need to use sun protection in the winter," said Dawn Davis, MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist and professor of dermatology at Mayo Clinic Rochester.
• Only 13% of Americans plan to use sun protection when going for walks or hikes in cold weather.
• "Sun protection is vitally important because ultraviolet (UV) rays are always present, regardless of the season or time of day," said Dr. Davis.

• MIAMI, Feb. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This February, Hotel Collection, known for elevated home fragrance and lifestyle goods, unveils the first-ever "Between The Sheets Report" including exclusive consumer findings to educate on sleep hygiene.
• The newly launched luxury-scented Hotel Collection Laundry Pods are available in two signature fragrances which are priced at $42.95 for a 30-pack and $65.95 for a 45-pack.
• Using customer data from November 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 and a national consumer survey* of ~900 Americans, we bring you – Between The Sheets, a first-of-its-kind study by Hotel Collection.
• Through this report, Hotel Collection uncovered (pun intended) more about trends, predictions and what's next for Americans between the sheets… from reading, to eating, to sleeping, to sex-ing.