When a cat takes a sniff, airflow is diverted into two different streams for breathing and smelling. The model showed that the animal’s nasal passages then direct the smelling stream through an extensive network of tightly coiled, sensor-studded channels called turbinates. The scientists hypothesize that this structure may function like a gas chromatograph—a sophisticated chemical device that separates different compounds based on their solubility. Scents that dissolve less easily in nasal mucus travel farther than more readily dissolved ones and therefore bind to more distant smell receptors.

— Read more in Cat Noses Contain Twisted Labyrinths That Help Them Separate Smells at Scientific American.