Decaying turtle or vulture vomit? Here are the worst smells in the world, according to scientists

Scientists on Twitter have been working long and hard to answer one of the universe’s million-dollar questions: what is the worst smell in the world?

The fierce Twitter debate was fueled by reptile and amphibian expert David Steen. In March, he suggested that researchers “RT if you’re a field biologist and you’ve ever asked yourself, ‘Why do I smell bad?’” One of his Twitter followers refreshed the subject recently, asking: “What’s the worst thing you’ve smelled in the course of your work?”

We at Verge Science are very familiar with terrible smells — like the cheese-tinged death-stench unleashed by science editor Liz Lopatto’s cyst. In fact, there’s a vast world of malodors out there, but the online discussion revealed a few clear...

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