E THEY BIG, SMALL, POINTY, FLAT, pendulous or upturned, noses are funny things. These holey protuberances are prone to drip, twitch, sniff, snort, whistle and sprout hair. And it doesn’t help that they are slap-bang in the middle of the face for all to see. They get pokedcalled the olfactory bulb, which registers the signal, integrates it with others and communicates with other brain centres, so that an animal can use the information to find food, choose mates, distinguish friends from enemies and avoid predators.
