The Worst Odor Of All Time
According to a scientist who’s fascinated with bad smells
“Today’s compound makes no noise and leaves no wreckage. It merely stinks. But it does so relentlessly and unbearably. It makes innocent downwind pedestrians stagger, clutch their stomachs, and flee in terror. It reeks to a degree that makes people suspect evil supernatural forces. It is thioacetone.”
— Dr. Derek Lowe, Science Journal
In his personal journal Meditations, the philosopher-king Marcus Aurelius kept level-headed by reminding himself the purple of his robes came from dead shellfish. Well, marine snails to be more exact. The city of Tyre turned capturing this precious color into a literal art form.
The snails were taken by the thousands and boiled in a led vat for days, producing a smell which was royal in no way. But at least you got something exotic out of it, like purple.
Thioacetone gives us nothing. According to scientist Dr. Derek Low, it just reeks to a degree not thought possible.
And the substance by its very nature almost doesn’t want to exist. It’s inherently unstable. The sulfurous compound turns into a polymer if temperatures rise above -20C (-4F). But real trouble begins when Thioacetone sticks around and someone tries to break it open.
