Contrary to the common view that smell is a subjective experience, researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute have findings that support the theory that there are universal laws governing the organization of smells.

The researchers have determined that the smell of almonds is closer to that of roses than it is to bananas by mapping the relative "distance" between various odors.

The findings may help scientists unravel the laws underlying our sense of smell, as well as enabling odors to be digitized and transferred via computer.

"We know the musical note 'do' is farther from 'la' than from 're'- not only because our ears tell us the distance is greater, but because their frequencies are farther apart," the Jerusalem Post reported. No such physical relationship had ever been discovered for smells.