Love is… a natural deodorant?

New Scientist uncorks the peculiar way passion affects our scents, by blanketing would-be competitors with the smell of love:

In a series of trials, each woman was asked to pick out their lover’s or a friend’s T-shirt from three garments, two of which had been worn by strangers. The women’s scores on the Passionate Love Scale made no difference to their ability to recognise a lover’s shirt, or that worn by a female friend. But those who were more deeply in love were less good at distinguishing a male friend’s odour from those of strangers.

This backs a theory of romantic attraction known as “deflection”, which argues that being in love with someone entails a reduction in the amount of attention we give to other potential suitors.