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Heavenly Incense Science Kit Facts and Cool Details

The mystical science of incense making is almost as old as human history itself. In fact Myrrh, that incense of Biblical fame, was worth five times its weight in gold in Roman times. And Tutankhamen's most valuable burial gifts were incenses and perfumes. The Heavenly Incense kit contains natural perfumes, gums, and fragrant woods including pure powdered sandalwood. Making incense is both an art and a science. We are thrilled that Mr. Wong, a traditional incense maker of Taipei agreed to share his secrets with us. And we hope our WILD scientists will invent amazing wild incenses new even to Mr. Wong ... and the World.

The Biology

The best Sandalwood trees, pictured at right, grow in Indonesia and India where they are so valuable they may be guarded day and night for many, many years. The best wood is heartwood, or xylem, deep inside the tree. The heavy sandalwood oil collects in this heartwood.
Joss Powder (below, right) comes from the bark lining, or cambium, of the Boloi tree (below, left), a tree related to the Cinnamon tree. The cambium is the growing layer of the tree.
Certain perfumes and smells have a very powerful effect on mood and memory. We now know that long after learning information in a scented room, we can enhance our recall of that information by smelling the same scent. Our sense of smell has not been researched as much as our other senses. Scientists are still exploring the olfactory system although humans have used perfumes for thousands of years.

The Chemistry

Some of the heavy wood oils help in the burning process. Some evaporate so we smell them.
The essential oils are lighter and evaporate as the heat approaches. So they do not actually burn. This is the nice smelling part – not the smoke!
Joss powder is natural glue and also aids in burning when it is dry. A small spoon of this powder in a glass of warm water quickly becomes a paste.

A WILD Career!
Now, you may be thinking, "What does this have to do with real science?" Our answer: everything! The science of fragrances and their effects on mood and brain function is just beginning. It has huge implications for mental health and learning research. Some natural scent chemicals, such as pheromones, seem to have no detectable smell but work in an even more powerful way on our bodies. Again, the science of human pheromones is just beginning, and a career exploring the intricacies of the olfactory system could be exciting and useful to humanity. Smells like fun to me!

Additional Experiments

Try mixing new colors: yellow and blue make green; blue and red make purple; yellow, blue, and green make black.
Try marbled dough using two different colors.
Try making mood changing incense, for instance a study stick that invigorates and keeps you focused, then relaxes you so you're ready for bed.
Try making up your own essential oil blends. Kodo means "way of the fragrance" in Japanese, and is one of Japan's major classical art forms. Try making a Kodo-inspired scent from pine and sandalwood.

Please let us know about your own fabulous creations!

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