why can’t we transmit/broadcast smells?

Question

We are able to capture moving images and sound. Why can’t we capture smells and broadcast them through a television or phone for example?

In: 3

Answer 1

Light and sound are just different forms of energy. We pump energy into buildings in the form of electricity, and it’s not super difficult to transform it into different forms.

Smells are an actual physical thing. They’re physical molecules that enter your nose and interact with receptors. To recreate all sorts of different smells, you’d have to store all sorts of different molecules. And they’d get used up and need replacing. Assuming we even know the exact combination molecules for each particular smell.