Everyone’s pee smells. But you may have noticed it takes on a more pungent, kind of rotten-egg quality after you’ve munched on a few spears of asparagus.

This smell stems from the aptly named asparagusic acid, a chemical present only in asparagus. In the plant, this chemical is thought to act as a natural pesticide to protect the vegetable’s tender young shoots from attack by predatory parasites.

Curiously enough, some people never even notice.

Scientists have two theories to explain this olfactory antipathy. The first theory suggests that some people simply don’t produce any malodorous molecules when they digest asparagus.

A 2011 study by the Monell Chemical Sciences Center in Philadelphia suggests both possibilities are true.

The researchers asked 38 men and women to pee in a cup before and after noshing on grilled asparagus. Then they asked the study volunteers to come back for a smell-test of their own samples, as well as samples from the other donors. The study ran into a bit of trouble when several of the recruits dropped out due to “unanticipated aversions to urine.” Still, the researchers were able to gather enough data to show that 8 percent of people couldn’t produce the asparagus odorant and 6 percent of people failed to detect it.

Another study traced the latter olfactory disability to a single genetic change, amid a cluster of genes that code for the proteins that help process and identify smells.

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By Marla Vacek Broadfoot. Illustrated by Jaime Van Wart. 

Marla Vacek Broadfoot is a geneticist-turned science writer. She currently serves […]

Clownfish live in groups of two to six, but only the two largest in the group can breed.

Instead of fighting or kicking out their group members for dominance like wasps, chimps, and many other animals, clownfish patiently wait their turn to the top and call to each other to determine size, as well as to help find each other.

When they’re not sex switching or bubbling out babbles, they’re happily fertilizing their anemone homes with poop.

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By Roar. Illustrated by Christin Hardy.

Christin Hardy grew up in a teeny, tiny place called Seven Springs, North Carolina, where livestock outnumber people. Her father is a farmer and her mother is an artist, so naturally Christin turned out to be an artist who loves nature, infusing it into her work and life. Currently she works for the NCDOT designing posters, banners and brochures, but her heart lies in explaining science through illustrations and graphic design. You can find her on Instagram @c_creature, on Twitter @c_hristin or send her an email at c.creature.881@gmail.com.

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http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v424/n6945/abs/424145a.htmlm