Wake Up

WTF Fun Fact 13538 – The Power of Smelling Coffee

Do you perk up in the morning after smelling coffee? Maybe you start to feel it working even before you’ve had a sip. Or perhaps you do some of your best work at the coffee shop when you can smell those invigorating beans all day.

Well, that makes sense!

Coffee’s Olfactory Power

Many of us start our day with the intoxicating aroma of coffee. But there’s more to this scent than just an olfactory delight. In 2008, a group of researchers led by scientist Han-Seok Seo looked into the science behind this phenomenon. Their findings reveal that coffee’s aroma doesn’t just wake up the senses but might also rejuvenate the brain.

Smelling Coffee vs. Sleep Deprivation and Stress

Lack of sleep stresses the body and mind. Sleep-deprived individuals often grapple with cognitive and physical health challenges.

Given these effects, Seo’s team wondered if coffee’s aroma could counteract the negative impacts of sleep deprivation. Their subject of choice for this exploration? Laboratory rats.

The team exposed both well-rested and sleep-deprived rats to the scent of coffee. They then examined gene and protein expressions in the brains of these rats. The results were astonishing.

Rats exposed to the coffee aroma showed varied activity in 17 genes. Out of these, 13 exhibited different mRNA expressions when comparing the sleep-deprived group to the group that inhaled coffee while sleep-deprived.

Translating Science: What it Means for Us

In simple terms, inhaling coffee aroma seemed to recalibrate the brain’s workings. It potentially offsets the harmful impacts of sleep deprivation.

Among the impacted genes, some are linked to proteins with antioxidant properties. These antioxidants help protect nerve cells from stress-induced damage.

So, the smell of coffee might do more than just perk us up; it could protect our brain cells from stress-related harm.

The Power of Smelling Coffee Goes Beyond Coffee

Seo’s groundbreaking findings pave the way for more questions. If the aroma of coffee yields such benefits, what about other scents? Could the whiff of freshly baked bread or the scent of rain bring their own set of health benefits?

Next time the weight of sleeplessness bears down on you, remember the power of scent. As you pass a café or brew your morning cup, take a moment to inhale deeply. Behind that sense of alertness and the smile that follows lies a fascinating dance of molecules and biology.

— WTF fun facts

Source: “Coffee’s Aroma Kick-starts Genes In The Brain” — Science Daily

WTF Fun Fact 12960 – Knocker Uppers

No one enjoys an alarm clock. But just imagine not having one and relying on someone to stop by your home and bang on your window or door to get you out of bed in the morning. That’s what happened in industrial England before alarm clocks were invented. The human alarm clocks were known as “knocker uppers” or simply “knockers.”

Who were the knockers?

According to Snopes (cited below): “Before the average industrial worker in England had access to alarm clocks, someone needed to wake them up. This fell to the ‘knocker-ups,’ or ‘knocker-uppers,”’or simply ‘knockers’ who would go around working-class neighborhoods around Britain with sticks, pea-shooters, poles or anything else that would help them knock on doors and windows to get people up.”

Try hitting the snooze on that!

According to the BBC, they “were common in mill towns in northern Britain, or in London where dockers had unusual hours, and even with brewery workers in less industrial towns in Dorset.”

How did the knocker uppers come about?

A 2020 article in the Journal of Victorian Culture, “Knocker Ups: A Social History of Waking Up in Victorian Britain’s Industrial Towns” explains:  

“In pre-industrial societies, people organized their activities around diurnal and seasonal rhythms. Historians have argued that in contrast, industrialized societies became preoccupied with time and watching the clock. Time became money. Beginning work at factories at a fixed hour in the day became crucial for both factories and workers. In particular, wages of industrial workers became bound by time – if they failed to report to their duties on time they were fined. Within this context, knocker ups emerged in British industrial society to perform the vital duty of waking up industrial workers. Consequently, they became an integral part of the service industry created to cater to working-class clients. By waking up industrial hands on time, knocker ups contributed to industrial productivity. Usually, knocker ups went around industrial towns waking up clients with their innovative tools. Some used sticks and canes while others shot peas through pipes. Either way, the knocker ups used their creative ways to let their clients know it was time for them to wake up.”

We just wonder how the neighbors felt on the days they got to sleep in! — WTF fun facts

Source: “Who Were the Knocker-Uppers?” — Snopes