Volunteer Scientist Jaqui Neibauer at the Mass Spectrometer. The mass spectrometer cooks molecules until they explode. The molecular rubble shoots along a coiled glass pipe. Heavier molecules fly farther, and so the mass spectrometer neatly organizes molecules by molecular weight. Being of similar weight, cinnamon molecules pile up in one place. That pile of broken cinnamon molecules shows up as a peak on a kind of printout called a "chromatograph." (Joshua McNichols)

Pollution Smells Like Pumpkin Pie

Volunteer Scientist Jaqui Neibauer at the Mass Spectrometer. The mass spectrometer cooks molecules until they explode. The molecular rubble shoots along a coiled glass pipe. Heavier molecules fly farther, and so the mass spectrometer neatly organizes molecules by molecular weight. Being of similar weight, cinnamon molecules pile up in one place. That pile of broken cinnamon molecules shows up as a peak on a kind of printout called a "chromatograph."

Credit: Joshua McNichols