MEDICINE

10 Medical Tools You’re Glad Only Exist in Museums

Breathe a sigh of relief that these gadgets are no longer in your M.D.'s arsenal.

11 Cardiac Facts to Take to Heart

Your heart isn't gold. It isn't sweet. And don't put in on your sleeve—you'll make a mess! Just in time for Valentine's Day, here are 11 scientific facts about your ticker.

Why is a Fake Doctor Called a Quack?

Quack, in the sense of a medical impostor, is a shortening of the old Dutch quacksalver (spelled kwakzalver in the modern Dutch), which originally meant a person who cures with home remedies, and then came to mean one using false cures or knowledge.

Why is the Flu Seasonal?

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.

The Puking Robot That Helps Scientists Study Infectious Noroviruses

Wikimedia Commons Norovirus might be the perfect human pathogen. It hacks our DNA to create new noroviruses, gives us diarrhea, makes us puke so that the virus can spread to new hosts—and it spreads like wildfire. More than 1.1 million people in Britain

Henrietta Lacks' Immortal Cells

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click

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

History's Grossest Medical Treatments

The historical medical uses for leeches (some of which are still being practiced today) are pretty well known. But being covered in blood suckers is still nowhere near as gross as many of the medical treatments of the past covered in this great article on

6 Pieces of Folksy Wisdom That Are Actually True

The holidays are here again. That means family, and family means listening to insane, ill-informed debates over every subject imaginable. But just because your relatives are old and probably a little crazy doesn’t mean everything they say is nonsense. Whe

Villagers dancing in a painting by Pieter Breugel the Elder.

The Strange Origins of 5 Historical Manias

Delve into the strange cases of dancing plagues, laughter epidemics, and other bizarre manias throughout history.

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

On The Table With One of History’s Most Infamous Surgeons

Imagine lying on a table in a old-school operating room. Faces stare down on you from the viewing galleries above and your leg throbs with pain from a broken bone and an infection just starting to set in. The door opens and three men in blood-stiffened a

Why Is the Sound of Nails on a Chalkboard So Unpleasant?

The act of scraping nails down a chalkboard creates a sound so awful that most people have an instantaneous reaction: A shiver runs up the spine, and they slap their hands over their ears. Anything to block out that noise! But why do unpleasant sounds af

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

11 Legendary Monsters of Africa

The legendary monsters series continues with some scary stories from Africa. There are so many nations and discrete communities in Africa that the problem here was not finding the legendary stories, but whittling down the list to a manageable number.1.

19 Wildly Dangerous Home Remedies From 100 Years Ago

It's hard to understand just how far medical science has progressed over the last hundred years ... until you look at what passed for standard, advisable treatment back then. Here are 19 doctor-approved ideas from Mother's Remedies: Over One Thousand Trie

Morbid Road Trip: Medical Oddities Around the World

In our last two macabre getaways, we planned an almost-cross-country trip to see various items tied to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and took in the best of America’s medical oddities. Today, we go worldwide in a quest for more cadavers, gore and anatom

Does Peeing on a Jellyfish Sting Actually Help?

Whatever the variables, a sting is never exactly pleasant. Urine is often no good. Sure, urine contains salts, but it's just too variable.

11 Items You'll No Longer Find in Medicine Cabinets

Medicines and medical practices have come a long way in a relatively short time. Here are some items that have vanished from medicine cabinets in the last few decades.1.

8 Old-School Diseases Making a Comeback

Humanity spent the last hundred years virtually eradicating some of the planet’s most unpleasant diseases. But some of them have started showing up again.

24 Vintage Pictures of Doctors At Work

In honor of National Doctor’s Day, here’s a look at all the ways the job has changed—but mostly stayed the same. Images all courtesy of The Library of Congress. Exams The long wait, examination bed, fluorescent lights, they're all the same today as they

26 Antique Pictures Celebrating the Red Cross

In many ways, the Red Cross is still largely the same as it was throughout the past 150 years, performing blood drives, delivering care packages to prisoners of war, helping victims of natural disasters, and rescuing those injured on the battlefield. In h

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