Bill Hansson

The world is full of smells: salmon swim to spawn in their natal river according to their scent, male moths are attracted to the scent of females, dogs use their sense of smell to hunt, seabirds use it to find suitable feeding grounds, plants use scents to warn of danger and smells also trigger certain reactions in humans. All these examples show that most living creatures are dependent on olfactory information in order to survive and reproduce. Because those who perceive the chemical environment can adapt to it. In his lecture, Bill Hansson takes us on his adventures and research trips around the world and tells amazing stories about fine moth noses, sweaty Neanderthals and the hole in the ozone layer.

The neuroethologist Prof. Dr. Bill Hansson, born in Sweden in 1959, is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena and Honorary Professor at the Friedrich Schiller University there. His research focuses on the question of how plants and insects communicate using scents.

Language: English

As part of the International Science Festival - Geist Heidelberg

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