The unmistakable (and hopeful) scent that emerges around springtime has long been traced to an organic source: the soil-based compound geosmin. Scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the John Innes Centre and Lund University have attributed the familiar yet often unplaceable smell—much like a rainy day or freshly turned earth—to a “symbiotic relationship between a six-legged worm, known as the springtail, and Streptomyces, …
The Organic Source of Spring’s Distinct Scent
