Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94 • Hacker News Board

Post by ASalazarMX » Wed, Oct 26, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #90

ASalazarMX wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is the weather where you live? I can't imagine this working in a hot, humid tropical country. I know there's variability in human body odor, like most Asians not needing deodorant, but I'm skeptical because some people do have a strong body odor they can't smell. I've known a few.

I've lived all over the place, from dry to wet-towel-in-your-face humid, from -25c to 45c. Even after an hour long workout dripping with sweat I don't really smell like anything. The way to test your own body odor without asking other people is to take a deep whiff of yesterday's shirt when you wake up in the morning. Even better would be to walk around outside a bit before you smell your old shirt in order to keep a…

That's amazing if true, because that means your sweat is hostile to the kind of bacteria that produces the smell we associate with old sweat. It's impossible to sweat distilled water, but maybe it's possible to sweat salt water with low content of fats and proteins, I really don't know. Sloths, for example, are known for having no body odor, so it might be possible for some people.

I'd love to know the mechanism for inhibiting bacteria breeding in skin grease. PH level?