HEALTH

When Did Women Start Shaving Their Pits?

Earlier this week, Ethan Trex taught us the history of shaving. Several readers left comments inquiring about when women started shaving their legs and underarms, so we cracked open the mental_floss book In the Beginning: The Origins of Everything. Here's

How Does the Treadmill Know How Many Calories I've Burned?

How do they measure the calorie content of food? When you lose weight, where does it go? Matt Soniak has the answers to these questions and more. How does the treadmill know how many calories I've

Dietribes: Milk It for All It's Worth

"¢ Milk must do a body good since it's the first thing any of us drink! But let's learn more about this dairy delight by which we also get cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, ice cream, and most especially, cheese. "¢ Milk's history mixes with alcohol on more

Why I Sneeze in Sunlight

Growing up in Florida, I had a weird allergy: the sun. Walking outside, coming from from a typically cool, dark indoor place, I'd invariably sneeze -- sometimes twice. It happened to my father too, causing a strange family multi-sneeze spectacle whenev

Why Sisters Are Scientifically Better Than Brothers (and Other Important Discoveries)

If you're keeping tabs on the score between robots and humans, you've probably heard about the robot named Adam who made a scientific discovery back in April without any human assistance. Well, sort of. He made the discovery after some human scientists ga

Is Texting Ruining Our Children?

Monday's New York Times included an article on the purported dangers of texting (or text-message-sending, for you grumpy older folks). Entitled Texting May Be Taking a Toll, the article strikes me as bizarrely alarmist, and recalls social panics of my yo

Catching Up With 6 Exercise Gurus

Last month, the Broadway community hosted its 23rd Annual Easter Bonnet Competition to raise funds for AIDS research. One of the celebrity performers was 71-year-old Jane Fonda clad in 1980s-era workout togs. Even though Ms. Jane was not all she appeared

Fried Lettuce, Slug Entrails and Other Insomnia Cures

Today's insomnia cures are slightly more scientific than the back in the day. But they're also less interesting, which is why we've rounded up some of the weirder insomnia treatments handed down through the ages. From what to rub on your feet, to what to

Notable Moments in Limb and Face Transplant History

In 2008, surgeons completed two procedures that could forever change transplant surgery. In August, doctors in Munich announced that a farmer was recovering from a double-arm transplant—the first double-arm transplant in the world. In December, the

A Brief History of Dubious Dieting

Most of the world seems to think that America invented obesity sometime in the last century, but the truth is, fat has always been a part of life (witness Hatshepsut, one of the great ancient Egyptian queens who reigned in the 15th century BC—despit

10 iPhone Apps to Help You Survive the Holidays

As you settle down with family and friends this holiday season, be prepared: load up your iPhone (or iPod Touch) with applications to get through common holiday disasters. We've got a complete roundup here -- from fun photo moments to actual medical eme

My Sleep Apnea: CPAP

In previous entries, I've talked about my initial adventure with sleep apnea and my subsequent sleep study. The gist of those entries is that I was diagnosed with "severe" obstructive sleep apnea, with an AHI (Apnea-Hypopnea Index) of 48. This number me

My Sleep Apnea: The Sleep Study

In last week's article I talked about my initial experience with sleep apnea: going to a sleep disorders clinic and being evaluated for risk factors. After going through that process, I was prescribed a one-night sleep study operated by a local universi

My Sleep Apnea: The Beginning

It's time for a new occasional feature! Rejoice! In this column, I'll talk about my personal experience being diagnosed with sleep apnea, what treatments are available, the science behind the condition, and (hopefully) my miraculous improvement after be

Do people sneeze in their sleep without waking up?

My old man was a snorer. His snoring was like the plot of a good action movie, with plenty of rising action. About 15 minutes after he'd fall asleep, it would sound like there was a heard of buffalo racing bulldozers and juggling chainsaws in my parents'

Why Do I Shiver When I Pee?

Regular Floss readers know that scientists around the world study some pretty silly things. A few weeks ago, I wanted to know why spaghetti doesn't break in half. A simple Google search gave me an in-depth study of the phenomena by two physicists and plen

The Power of Itch

In the most recent issue of The New Yorker, Dr. Atul Gawande delves into the mystery of itch, that most curious of sensations that rides the boundary between pain and nuisance. Following the story of an anonymous chronic itch sufferer (referred to as "M.

How You Put Yourself To Sleep

I think we all have nights where sleep won't come -- despite flipping the pillow and persistent rolling over, it just doesn't happen. What do you do when this happens? Personally, I've developed only one good way to get to sleep: audiobooks. Now, I lo

Signs your HGH injections might be fake

From Paul Byrd and Rick Ankiel to the upcoming Mitchell Report, accusations of HGH are flying around baseball. But Human Growth Hormone use is also on the rise outside of sports; plenty of people looking to get bigger are injecting themselves. So, let's s

Obesity, Global Trade and Beer Prices: Why the Farm Bill is actually cool

As is usually the case with bills in Congress, I had a lot of trouble believing that the 2007 Farm Bill was applicable to me. After all, the last time I even remember going to a farm was on a kindergarten field trip, when I got goat's milk squirted direct

Question of the Day: Can Spicy Foods Kill You?

I'm learning how to cook, which has been an adventure. The other night, after an encounter with some particularly spicy Italian sausage combined with even spicier barbecue sauce, my roommates and I found ourselves wondering if eating spicy foods could kil

Mr. Yuk

I have fond memories of Mr. Yuk from my childhood. My parents placed the green-yucky-face stickers on various items under the kitchen sink, and sure enough, I never drank drain cleaner. But where did Mr. Yuk come from? According to Wikipedia, Mr. Yuk i

Scott Adams and Spasmodic Dysphonia

Dilbert creator Scott Adams was stricken in 2005 with a rare condition called Spasmodic Dysphonia, which prevented him from speaking in a normal voice. The condition is somewhat bizarre, because sufferers can sometimes sing or speak in unusual circumstan

World's 10 largest nations will see Parkinson's cases double in 25 years

While there's certainly been significant progress in the fight against infectious disease around the globe, a study recently published in Neurology points out another category of diseaseÂ that many developing nations are notÂ prepared to fight - non-commu

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