Olfactory Cilia as Hydration-Microtubule Antennas: A Geometric-Temporal Interface Hypothesis Linking Water Clusters, Microtubule Ends, Mucus, Temperature, and Odorant Readability

This Zenodo preprint proposes a research-only geometric-temporal interface hypothesis: olfactory cilia may operate not merely as passive carriers of receptor proteins, but as hydration-microtubule antennas in which odorant molecules are first translated into local water-cluster, ion, mucus, and membrane states before the canonical electrical olfactory cascade is produced. The established biological layer is not rejected: odorants dissolve into nasal mucus, olfactory receptors are localized on the ciliary membrane of olfactory sensory neurons, and receptor activation initiates a cAMP/CNG/Ca²⁺/Cl⁻ transduction pathway. The new hypothesis is that an earlier perireceptor layer exists: the odorant is not read as a naked molecule, but as a hydrated odorant packet consisting of the odorant, its hydration shell, local ions, mucus proteins, and transient water-cluster motifs. The tip and shaft of the cilium, supported by a microtubule axoneme, may convert this hydration state into receptor gating, membrane organization, local field changes, proton/dipole dynamics, and finally neuronal output. The hypothesis is framed as a mechanism of possibility and a test program, not as a proven replacement for standard olfactory biology. It predicts that temperature, humidity, mucus thickness, water activity, ion composition, odorant solubility, ciliary integrity, and microtubule post-translational state should modulate odorant readability in systematic, experimentally testable ways.