Health
Discover facts about health. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Health
A child's breathing pattern can be linked to facial growth
Studies associate habitual mouth breathing with differences in jaw and facial development. Airway problems, tongue posture, and growth interact, so the…
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The old 98.6°F benchmark is not a universal setting
A Stanford analysis of U.S. records found lower average temperatures in more recent generations. One proposed explanation is less background inflammation as…
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Why your eyes shut when you sneeze
A sneeze sets off an involuntary reflex that closes your eyelids along with the rest of the sneeze response. That’s why “just keep your eyes open” is not a…
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Blending fruit does not destroy its fiber
A blender chops the fruit and its fiber into smaller pieces; it doesn’t strain the fiber out. So a smoothie may feel smoother than whole fruit, but the fiber…
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Singing twice equals proper handwashing time
Soap loosens microbes and grime from your hands, while scrubbing helps lift them from the skin so rinsing can carry them away. About 20 seconds gives that…
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Boiled potatoes beat 37 foods in a fullness test
A 1995 study gave small groups equal-calorie portions of 38 foods, then tracked hunger for two hours. Boiled potatoes produced the highest fullness…
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Why a sudden noise makes you ready to fight or flee
A loud surprise prompts the brain to release adrenaline and shift the body toward action. Your heart may race and your attention sharpen before you know…
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Your body clock naturally runs longer than 24 hours
Without cues from sunlight or clocks, the body's roughly 24.2-hour rhythm slowly slips later against the 24-hour day. Morning light acts like a daily reset…
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Swallowing a watermelon seed will not cause a fruit to magically grow in your stomach
A seed needs the right conditions to germinate, and your stomach is not a nursery: its acidic environment and digestive activity do not provide them. A…
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Why insomnia makes time impossible to judge
Your sense of time depends partly on the memories your brain lays down as events happen. A restless night may leave few clear markers—just repeated stretches…
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Aortic aneurysms can grow silently for years
An aneurysm forms when pressure inside an artery pushes outward on a weakened section of its wall. The wall can stretch gradually without causing obvious…
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Oyster consumption always carries microscopic risks
An oyster’s filtering habit can concentrate food from its surroundings, but it can also leave harmful bacteria in the animal. That is why a raw oyster can…
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Why umami was dismissed for decades
In 1908, a Japanese chemist argued that the savory taste in foods such as kelp broth was its own basic taste and named it umami. Scientists outside Japan took…
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How trying to fail can ease performance anxiety
Trying to guarantee a flawless performance can keep your attention locked on what might go wrong. If you deliberately make room for the feared mistake, it…
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Brain cells pass messages across microscopic gaps
One brain cell can pass a message without bumping into the next. It releases chemical messengers into the tiny gap between them, and those molecules carry the…
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Your brain uses 20% of your oxygen
Neurons spend energy constantly maintaining the electrical signals that let them communicate, so the brain needs a steady supply of oxygen-rich blood. Though…
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Why volunteering can make everyday stress easier
Giving time to a cause can shift your attention away from the problems looping in your own head. That change in focus can make everyday stress feel more…
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Your reusable bottle may be a bacterial swamp
Bacteria can cling to a bottle’s inner wall and build a slimy community called a biofilm. A quick rinse may leave that layer behind, where it can affect the…
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That white nail spot can be an old injury growing out
The nail grows from a growth area at its base called the matrix, and a small bump there can leave a white mark in the nail as it forms. By the time that mark…
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Having a naturally wide waist circumference increases your statistical likelihood of developing type two diabetes
Abdominal fat is associated with a greater chance of insulin resistance than fat carried more around the hips and thighs. Insulin helps move sugar out of the…
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Water helps keep your bones from being brittle
Bone combines hard mineral with a collagen framework, and water is part of how those materials work together. Bound water helps the structure accommodate…
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An erratic sleep schedule may age your organs faster
Your body uses daily timing signals to coordinate jobs such as cellular repair. When bedtime keeps shifting, those internal clocks can fall out of sync,…
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Your spinal cord can order a retreat before pain registers
Your spinal cord can handle the first part of the escape: it receives the signal from your hand and sends a movement command back before your brain finishes…
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Why overthinking makes you forget your keys
Rumination crowds your mental workspace. You can be physically putting your keys down while your attention is busy with a stressful thought, leaving you with…
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