Sniff

Imagine if you could focus your nose, the way you focus your eyes. [Scientists:Programmers] now believe that animals with a highly developed sense of smell, like rats and dogs, do just that. Similar to the way we taste sweet, salty, sour and bitter on different parts of the tongue, animals detect various smells in different parts of the nose.Researchers at the University of Chicago [hypothesized:examined] that rats, by changing the way air flows across the insides of the nostrils, could direct the scent to the nasal region where it could be best detected.Turns out they were right. When presented with different odors, rats actually changed the way they sniffed. For example, long slow sniffs for hard-to-detect scents, or short fast ones for easy ones.Rats even sniffed [differently:commonly] while learning a new scent than when the smell was familiar. The study is in the Journal of Neuroscience.The researchers say the finding shows that there's more to a good sense of smell than [originally:recently] thought. A [sensitive:focused] nose is important, but so is how you use it.