COME 2004, life on the final frontier will be coming up roses, if a Japanese
cosmetics company has its way. The company has been commissioned by Japan鈥檚
National Space Development Agency (NASDA) to develop a flowery fragrance that
will help stressed astronauts chill out.
In three years鈥� time, NASDA hopes to hitch a research laboratory module to
the ever-expanding International Space Station. But space agency chiefs don鈥檛
want their space scientists getting jittery in the cramped quarters. Enter
cosmetics company Shiseido, which says it has isolated a substance in an unnamed
strain of rose that can reduce stress levels.
In tests on student volunteers, the company found that stress hormone levels
went down among those who breathed or tasted the substance, called
dimethoxymethylbenzene (DMMB), which has a 鈥渟picy, powdery scent鈥�. So NASDA has
asked Shiseido to investigate ways of packaging the substance, possibly in a
chewing gum, so that the molecules don鈥檛 get into the air and clog the station鈥檚
filters.
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