THE BODY

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.

Why Do People Blush?

Blushing is an involuntary reaction that seems to serve no purpose beyond making an embarrassing situation even worse.

What Causes Morning Breath?

Possibly the only thing worse than morning breath is the alarm clock itself, but no amount of brushing, flossing, or stinging mouthwash rinsing the night before seem capable of saving you from the stinking scourge. What gives?

Why Is It So Easy to Slip Someone Antifreeze?

Ethylene glycol is syrupy, odorless, and sweet-tasting, which makes it easy to mix into coffee, tea, soda, and juice drinks undetected.

How Many Spiders Do You Really Swallow in Your Sleep?

Depending on who you ask, ingested creepy crawlies can vary from three, to eight, and even zero.

UPDATE: Does Being Cold Make You More Susceptible to Getting a Cold?

Last year, we talked about whether or not Grandma is right when she tells you to bundle up when you go outside, lest you catch a cold. We went over the fact that the cold and flu are caused by viruses, but that there was a little bit of evidence suggestin

What Are the Dangers of Blood Doping?

It worked for Lance, so why wouldn’t it work for you?

What Causes Late Night Snack Cravings?

What is it that makes a “midnight snack” so irresistible? Short answer: blame your ancestors.

Why Do We Tan?

Luckily for us, our bodies have procedures to counter the sun our bodies absorb.

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

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

Why Does Poop Stink?

Why Aren't You Supposed to Wake a Sleepwalker?

Despite urban legends claiming that waking a sleepwalker will send them into shock or give them a heart attack, it’s pretty much harmless. While you can wake them up, you probably shouldn’t, and that’s for both your benefit.

How Are Shrunken Heads Made?

Head shrinking is rumored to have occurred all over the world, but documented only among a few indigenous South American tribes living in Peru and Ecuador. How do you take a flesh-and-bone head and shrink it?

Why is the Flu Seasonal?

Are Pubic Lice Really Going Extinct?

Does Drinking Alcohol Really Keep You Warm When It's Cold Out?

Alcohol is a vasodilator. When you have a drink, the volume of blood brought to the skin’s surface increases, making you feel warm.

Can People Really Smell Fear?

Fictional characters, and even real-life folks, often talk about animals and people—particularly snarling dogs and knife-wielding lunatics—being able to “smell fear” on people. No one ever seems to be able to describe just what fear smells like, though.

Can Bacteria and Viruses Get Sick?

Tis the season to be getting the cold and flu. But is it possible for the bacteria and viruses that infect us so easily to get sick themselves?In 1917, a microbiologist working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris discovered what he described as an invisible

What Causes Morning Sickness?

Buckingham Palace has confirmed what the British tabloids have suspected for a while: The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting. Unfortunately, Kate has also been admitted to the hospital due to hyperemesis gravidarum, or acute morning sickness—so severe that

Why Does Skin Get Pruney in the Tub?

For a long time, scientists thought that pruning of the skin after spending time in the water was simply a matter of fingers being a little spongey. The outermost layer (the stratum corneum) of the outermost layer (the epidermis) of our skin is mostly mad

How Do Blood Pressure Tests Work, And What Do Those Numbers Mean?

Getting your blood pressure taken is a standard part of most visits to the doctor, but the details might seem mysterious—so read on.What It IsBlood pressure (BP) is the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of the arteries as it's pumped from th

What is Rubella?

Rubella Virus. Wikimedia CommonsAlmost everyone is familiar with the measles and mumps, but the 'R' in the MMR vaccine might not ring a bell. Here's the lowdown.Discovery and SymptomsRubella is a disease caused by a virus of the same name. It can be sprea

Why Is Cranberry Juice Good For UTIs?

A mental_floss staffer who shall remain nameless asks, “Why is cranberry juice good for treating UTIs? I will not tell you why this question had been on my mind.”Bacterial infections in the urinary tract and its organs are pretty common, especially in adu

How Do Tongue Twisters Twist The Tongue?

Try and say “she sells sea shells by the sea shore” three times very fast. The first time might go alright, but on the second or third go-round, chances are the words start to degrade as you’re saying them, falling apart in your mouth like a crumbling Jen

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