What a smell looks like

A lab at University of Colorado Boulder studies the fluid mechanics of fragrances, as part of a nationwide project to build a robot that can smell. Boulder smells of peppermint…and crisp snow. The frozen water smells pure, as if still trapped in the clouds hanging just overhead. The sun glints off the Rocky Mountains, their iron musk mixes with mountain pine. Before crossing the road to enter the University of Colorado Boulder, a truck dashes by, muffling these scents with sulfuric exhaust.