The human nose and its ability to smell is an amazing thing. Each nose has around 400 scent receptors that are said to be able to detect around one trillion different odours.

人的鼻子及其嗅觉能力让人赞叹，人鼻有大约400个气味受体，能够检测大约一万亿种不同气味。

To replicate such a level of sensory expertise in scientific equipment is a daunting challenge. Yet thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), the latest electronic noses - high-tech sensors that can detect and report specific smells - are quickly improving their levels of speed and accuracy.

想要运用科学设备复制出“人鼻”从技术上而言是一项艰巨挑战。然而，人工智能不断发展，最新的电子鼻——可检测和报告特定气味的高科技传感器——正在迅速提高其速度和准确性。

Common types of potentially deadly foodborne bacteria are salmonella and E. Coli. Both of these have their own "electronic personality", says Prof Raz Jelinek, the co-developer of an e-nose called Sensifi, and a professor of chemistry at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel. "They have their own electrical signal."

沙门氏菌和大肠杆菌是常见的可能致命的食源性细菌。以色列内盖夫本古里安大学化学教授、一种名为Sensifi的电子鼻的联合开发者Raz Jelinek教授说，这两种细菌都有自己的“电子特征，有各自的电子信号。”

The e-noses made by the Israeli company of the same name contain electrodes that are coated with nanoparticles of carbon. They detect the smells or volatile organic compounds (VOC) given off by bacteria.

这家以色列同名公司制造的电子鼻含有涂有碳纳米颗粒的电极，可以检测细菌散发出的气味或挥发性有机化合物。

Food poisoning remains a serious problem around the world. In the US, 48 million people, or one in six, get sick every year from a foodborne illness. Of these, 128,000 are hospitalised, and 3,000 people die. In the UK, it is calculated that there are 2.4 million cases of food poisoning every year, and an estimated 180 deaths.

食物中毒仍然是世界各地的一个严重问题。在美国，每年有4800万人，即六分之一的人死于食源性疾病。其中12.8万人住院治疗，3000人死亡。据计算，英国每年有240万例食物中毒病例，估计有180人死亡。

"People would say that meat, poultry and fish are the main culprits," says Mr Peled. "But if you look at the biggest killer in the US food industry in the last five to 10 years, it is the romaine lettuce. "And the more the food market is being industrialised, the more it will be susceptible to pathogens."

Peled表示，人们往往认为肉类、家禽和鱼类是罪魁祸首，但如果你看看过去五到十年美国食品行业不难发现，莴苣才是头号杀手。食品市场越是工业化，就越容易受到病原体的影响。”

The idea is that NTT's e-nose can be used not just to sniff out any contagions, but also how fresh - or not - a foodstuff is. This will help enable supermarkets or cafes to know what to sell first when something doesn't come with best-before dates.

这个想法是，NTT的电子鼻不仅可以用来嗅出任何传染病，还可以用来检测食品的新鲜程度。这将有助于超市或咖啡馆知道，当一些东西没有最好的保质期时，应该先卖什么。

However, some AI experts say that while the latest e-noses work well, they are unlikely to see significant demand, because food firms are likely to be put off by the cost.

然而，一些人工智能专家表示，尽管最新的电子鼻效果良好，但他们不太可能看到显著的需求，因为食品公司可能会因为成本而推迟。

"If you're talking about deploying a worldwide network of small detectors, from the picking to storage, to delivery, you have to consider how that's going to impact the business model," says Vincent Peters, founder and chief designer of US-based AI research firm Inheritance AI.

美国人工智能研究公司Heritage AI的创始人兼首席设计师Vincent Peters表示：“如果你正在谈论部署一个全球小型探测器网络，从挑选到存储，再到交付，你必须考虑这将如何影响商业模式。”。

Meanwhile, fellow AI expert, Kjell Carlsson of San Francisco-based Domino Data Lab, says that the e-noses would need complicated fine tuning for each facility they were working at. "This is an extraordinarily difficult task in an industry not known for embracing new technologies," he says.

与此同时，另一位人工智能专家、旧金山Domino数据实验室的Kjell Carlsson表示，电子鼻需要对他们工作的每个设施进行复杂的微调。“在一个不以接受新技术而闻名的行业，这是一项非常艰巨的任务，”他说。

However, such scepticism is not discouraging some entrepreneurs. In New Zealand, a company called Scentian Bio, says it has copied the antennae of insects to develop its "biosensors". This has seen it replicate insect proteins, and include them in its scent sensors.

然而，这种怀疑并没有让一些企业家气馁。在新西兰，一家名为Scentian Bio的公司表示，他们已经复制了昆虫的触角来开发“生物传感器”。这使得它能够复制昆虫蛋白质，并将其包含在气味传感器中。

译：Gleen

材料来源：BBC*配图取自网络，仅供学习分享使用，侵删