The human body: An inspiring biological work of art? Or a meaty sack of germs and fluids? Either way, there’s still a lot we don’t know about what goes on in there — and scientists are constantly attempting to find out more. Here are some interesting things we found...
As much as cuticles might look like useless flaps of skin that should have been eliminated by evolution long, long ago, they actually protect our nails and fingers from serious infections. “Cuticles are like caulking in the bathtub,” explains dermatologist Adriana Schmidt of the Santa Monica Dermatology...
Rule 1: Ask at the Right Time The first step, as always, is figuring out what the other person wants, but when’s the best time to start asking? Psychosexual relationship specialist Jacqui Olliver recommends striking when the giftee looks relaxed. “The number one rule to become better...
If, as George Bernard Shaw once said, “whisky is liquid sunshine,” hangovers are a meteor straight to the face. But how exactly does too much of our favorite alcoholic beverage add up to a throbbing headache, dizzying nausea and draining fatigue? Dr. Aaron White, senior scientific advisor...
We’ve all drunk, at least once, to the point where the room starts to spin uncontrollably. Or rather, the point where it feels like the room is spinning uncontrollably, which begs the question: What is alcohol doing to us that makes it feel like we’re on a...
What is it about wintertime that turns our immune systems to mush? Even if you’re not in the depths of winter common colds can spread like the bubonic plague. Primary care physician Dr. Marc Leavey explains that the cold weather isn’t what’s making us sick—it’s what we...
You probably have a vague idea that your semen contains a few things besides sperm, but you might be shocked at the extent of that mysterious “other stuff” category. In fact, your special sauce contains a laundry list of ingredients, each with its own important function. The...
As you may have discovered during a relentless tickle attack, it’s really tough not to laugh, even when you hate it. According to Dr. Alan J. Fridlund, an expert on nonverbal communication and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University...
In a boring, homogeneous world, guys everywhere would have the same hair, the same body, the same penis. And every woman would have the same shape, and their vaginas would be the same size and colour. On the one hand, it’d be pretty utilitarian to know exactly...
Fingers Crossed There are 27 bones, 29 joints and at least 123 named ligaments in the human hand, but there are zero muscles: Tendons in our fingers are moved by the muscles of the forearm. Weirdly enough, if you were to lose one finger, the hand surgeons’...
It Can’t Be Beat Every minute, your heart pumps about eight pints of blood through a system of vessels that’s more than 60,000 miles long. All in all, that translates to a whopping total of about 2,000 gallons of blood each and every day. Take that, Big...
Joint Effort The human elbow is a hinge-joint system made up of three bones: The humerus, the radius and the ulna. The humerus starts at the shoulder socket, while the radius comes from the thumb-area of the wrist and the ulna from the little finger side. Those...
