When my dogs are sniffing out a passing pup’s butt, I often try to alleviate the human awkwardness of the moment by commenting something like, “If only it were that easy for people to find friends.” I usually get at least a small ironic chuckle in response, but it turns out that it might actually be that easy. New research suggests that smell plays an important part in whether or not we bond with others — we literally sniff each other out.
The study, which was published this morning in the journal Science Advances, analyzed the similarities in body odor among friends. To do so, scientists conducted two experiments: In the first, they collected smell samples from “click friends” — literally people who “clicked” with each other right away — and analyzed them using an electronic nose. They found that people who liked each other immediately had similar smell profiles when compared to a control group. In other words, fast friends tended to smell alike.
