Hear No Evil, Smell No Evil?

Because recently I heard a story and saw some gruesome photographs of a guy who got his ear almost completely torn off by a dog bite, I was drawn to this Slate article discussing the ability to hear or smell if your ears or nose is cut off. The situation, granted, was a little different...

On Saturday, Taliban guerrillas punished a group of Afghan truck drivers suspected of collaborating with U.S-led troops by chopping off their ears and noses.

but all in all, the same result. The consensus is that you are probably able to hear and smell, but it's just more difficult and probably not as well as before.

The most interesting part of the article, in my opinion, are the reconstructive surgeries available to fashion new ears and noses. Neither of them sound particularly pleasant, but I'm sure the results are amazing. In fact, if you're curious to see a prosthetic eye, ear, and nose, check them out here.

My thoughts are with you BP, hopefully your surgeries won't require any prosthetics or reconstruction.