I’m taking Dr Rubidium’s advice: to avoid zombie attacks, wear a cologne that smells like rotting people. She recommends a mix of putrescine, cadaverine, skatole, and dimethyl trisulfide, which sounds delightful.
Unfortunately, lacking easy access to those compounds, I’m dousing myself with Axe Body Spray instead. Same thing, right, or close enough.
No, no, no – Axe Body Spray smells like incontinent cats have been sitting on your lap.
As for Dr. Rubidium’s advice – I used to work in a lab that studied polyamine (the class of chemicals containing Putrescine and Cadaverine) metabolism in Leishmania spp. I could probably get my hands on a few grams of those two for you, if you need them…
All out of Brut and Hai Karate, huh?
Axe Body Spray is a very effective brand of human repellent.
I was under the impression that Axe Body Spray was a male contraceptive, working by keeping all other people but particularly women away from the wearer. Or would it be classified as an anti-aphrosdisiac?
Yes. Axe is human repellent.
We had an Axe wearer living on our couch for a while. It was nice to get back to the scent of wet dogs.
He also smelled like Doritos. I was never a fan, but I am totally off Doritos now.
Menyambal:
Ugh, my sympathies. I don’t think I would have nice enough to refrain from 86ing the Axe.
Burn some nylon–it’s a polymer made up of six-unit polyamines. Putrescine and cadaverine are 4- and 5-unit ones, respectively, but burning nylon smells just the same.
Hey PZ,
I once was tasked with manufacturing some experimental purified fish diets that included putrescine, cadaverine, and others. My advice is to stock up on antihistamines, those compounds are some powerfully biogenic substances. DAHIK.
Cheers,
TMS
OMFG Axe is nasty, that’ll keep everything away!
Axe (marketed here as “Lynx”) has the unfortunate effect of revealing my hidden lizard skin in an orgy of furious itching and weeping inflammation.