Time in a Bottle :: Now Smell This

In the 1970s, the pop ballad “Time in a Bottle” sounded like a wistful love song. In 2026, it has become an olfactory mission statement.

Conservationists, perfumers and biotech engineers are separately making moves to bottle time in the form of fragrance. Their efforts respond to an uncomfortable truth: Unless we capture scents made by certain prized plants now, our beleaguered environment and consumption could put an end to them.

— Read more in From Endangered Plants Come Whiffs of Inspiration at The New York Times.