Rub it in

Aaah! Ya smell too old, ya cow!

Grapefruit smell makes women seem younger, says the Smell and Taste Institute in Chicago. So Jimmy Cagney's public enemy was just trying to help Mae Clarke keep her youthful appearance through aromatherapy.

NEW YORK -- A study of smells shows that the scent of grapefruit on women make them seem about six years younger to men. However, grapefruit fragrance on men does nothing for them.

The study by the Smell and Taste Institute in Chicago was conducted by Institute director Alan Hirsch. Hirsch smeared several middle-aged woman with broccoli, banana, spearmint leaves, and lavender but none of those scents made a difference to the men.

But the scent of grapefruit changed men's perceptions. Hirsch said that when male volunteers were asked to write down how old the woman with grapefruit odor was, the age was considerably less than reality.

Life's a laff a minute when your computer works!