Its reaction with the odour molecules changes a detector's electrical resistance, and this signal is fed into a neural net (the closest that computer technology has got to imitating the pattern-recognising abilities of networks of nerve cells) to work out what is being smelt.

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Eventually, sword makers started using iron, and when they discovered they could hammer carbon into the smelt, they'd make swords out of steel.

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When I first came across Accelera's yachts at a boat show in Hong Kong in May 2011, the vessels did not look out of place in the marina full of Italian and British-made yachts, but the interior smelt synthetic and compared poorly to the richly hued timber and buttery leather used by the European brands.

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