BIOLOGY

11 Weird (But Awesome) Things at the Mütter Museum

From the conjoined livers from a pair of Siamese twins to slides of Albert Einstein’s brain, Philadelphia's Mütter Museum houses dozens of strange artifacts from medical history.

Why Won’t These Bugs Cross This Line?

At this invisible line, two related species of millipedes meet, but don’t mix—and no one knows why.

Do Fetuses Go to the Bathroom in the Womb?

A couple of months into their development, fetuses begin peeing freely into the amniotic fluid that surrounds them in the womb.

What Does Marijuana Do to Spiders?

According to forest rangers who were led to a hilltop grow site by under-the-influence animals in Italy, deer who’ve consumed marijuana plants are “unusually frisky” and “abnormally high-spirited.” This got us wondering what kind of effect marijuana had o

Even Entomologists Are Scared of Spiders

Some entomologists, the scientists that study insects, have a work life that presents a challenge: they’ve devoted their careers to creepy-crawly animals, work with them every day, sometimes get up close and personal with them and are maybe even fond of t

11 Amazing Animal Births Caught on Video

Modern technology has given us plenty of gifts (and plenty of gifs), but few of them can compare to the awe-inspiring magic of watching wild animals give birth to their adorable offspring from the comfort of our very own homes.

This Wasp Turns Spiders Into Zombie Construction Workers

What Causes “Old Person Smell”?

If you ever noticed an odd smell when around your grandparents, you're not alone. Like other body odors, this “old person smell” is produced when chemicals from the skin glands get broken down into small odorous molecules that waft away into the air.

Your Vegetables Know What Time It Is

The fruits and veggies in your crisper right now might look pretty dead, but they’re actually still alive—and they’re keeping track of time.

Why Do Students Dissect Frogs?

There are many surgeons who say that they first discovered their life’s passion standing over a dissected frog in a middle or high school biology class. But, apart from inspiring the medical professionals of tomorrow, what is the purpose of dissection? An

Why Do We Feel Hot in Temperatures Lower Than Our Body Temp?

There's a major difference between your body and your environment.

Champa: The Bear Who Got Brain Surgery

While brain surgery has become a fairly common procedure with humans, it is still very rarely used on animal patients, who have drastically different anatomies than we do.

Why Don’t Big Dogs Live as Long as Small Dogs?

Large animals tend to live longer than smaller ones. But this isn't the case for most breeds of dog. What gives?

Meet the Tadpole with Teeth

In 2008, an international team of scientists was trudging through the forests of Vietnam’s Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park when they found a frog they didn’t recognize. Actually, no one recognized it, at least not formally. It was new to science and the speci

Painting Frogs, Licking Wounds & Other Adventures with Poisonous Animals

There are plenty of intrepid scientists doing strange-sounding field work. Here are two.

Meerkat Matriarchs Are Selfish Street Crossers

Why did the meerkat cross the road? To get to the other side. How did the meerkat cross the road? Like a chicken.