Nov 042012

Popular super nerd  has returned to the web for his much anticipated weekly science lesson. For his latest video, he asks the very intriguing question, “Why Do We Have Two Nostrils?

Having two ears and two eyes serves very real purposes–mainly echo location and depth perception. But is there a scientific reason for why we, and so many other animals, have two nostrils?

Why not one big nostril, just like we have one mouth?


  • YenMooo

    In case one gets plugged up, we have an extra! Breathing is good!

  • Skip Nordenholz

    Because our ancestors used them for stereo smelling, the nostril that detects the smell first is closest to the source. Snakes have forked tongues to smell in stereo.

  • Greetings

    I like the stereo smelling.. :)

  • TheDude

    While what you have to say is interesting, It is more likely that we have two nostrils due to bilateral symmetry and the way mammals gestate, as opposed to some evolutionary advantage.