THE BODY

Does the ‘Hand in Warm Water’ Trick Really Make People Pee in Their Sleep?

Pranksters claim putting someone’s hand in warm water while they sleep will make them wet the bed. Does this actually work?

How loud a fart is depends on a couple of factors.

Why Are Some Farts Noisy?

Farts can make a lot of different noises. Some are high and squeaky, while others explode like a car backfiring—and some don’t make any noise at all.

Swimming is an all-body workout—bladder included.

The Reason Swimming Makes You Need to Pee

Going for a dip? You'll probably have a wee bit of trouble. Here's why.

Electrolytes are important, yes. But you don't necessarily need drinks full of them.

What Are Electrolytes, and Why Do We Need Them?

Sports drinks are full of them. But are they good for you, or just really expensive pee?

Flip through the dictionary and you'll find all sorts of words hiding their bodily origins.

10 Body Parts Hiding in the Dictionary

Some of our favorite words come from body parts. Scratch your 'caput' over the origins of these anatomically derived terms.

5 TV Stars You Probably Didn’t Know Were Missing a Finger

No, the Simpsons don’t count.

Why Does Squinting Help You See Better?

Why does using less of your eye help you see something more clearly? There's a pretty simple explanation.

Call a bout of spontaneous, uproarious, unrestrained laughter 'cachinnation.'

The Proper Names of 17 Bodily Functions

The next time you interrupt an important meeting with a ructus or a borborygmus, you’ll at least have the perfect word for it.

Could You Bite Off Someone’s Finger?

Where there’s a will, there's a way.

Why Do We Have Eyebrows?

Eyebrows are the Swiss Army knife of the human face.

Celine Dion performs in London's Hyde Park.

What Is Stiff-Person Syndrome?

Celine Dion recently announced that she has been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome (SPS), a rare and progressive neurological disorder that only affects about one or two out of every 1 million people.

Getting help for hearing loss is easier than ever.

Say What? You Can Now Buy Hearing Aids Over the Counter and Without a Prescription

The FDA has made the devices cheaper and more readily available to people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

10 Facts About Wisdom Teeth

Why do we even have them? Let's get to the root of the issue.

Yes, You Need to Clean Your Belly Button—Here’s the Best Way to Do It

People with outie belly buttons, rejoice—the cleaning process is easier for you.

An illustration of human skeletons from an 1851 encyclopedia.

How Many Bones Are There in the Human Body?

While there's a common answer to the number of bones contained within the human body, it's not exactly accurate.

10 Brilliant Facts About Teeth

The average adult human has 28 to 32 teeth, give or take a set of wisdom teeth. But besides the importance of brushing and flossing, how well do you know your chompers?

8 Misconceptions About Death

We'll exhume a few of them.

What’s the Smallest Bone in the Body?

The smallest bone in your body is one of a set of three whose collective name literally means ‘small bones.’

Is this Bloody Mary part of the problem or solution?

Can Drinking More Alcohol Cure a Hangover? The Truth Behind the Hair of the Dog

The hair of the dog is one of the oldest hangover cures still around today. But can it really save you from that pounding headache?

The look of fear when you realize someone's about to drop you, an eyeball, from a great height.

Watch: Scientists Discover What Happens When You Drop an Eyeball From a Five-Story Height

As the Institute of Human Anatomy demonstrates, it takes more than a long fall to make an eyeball go splat.

Rimma_Bondarenko/iStock via Getty Images

The Science Behind Our Pumpkin Spice Obsession

The scent of a pumpkin spice latte is the smell of autumn to many people, thanks to how the brain perceives odor.

Here's What Really Happens When You Swallow Gum

If you've managed to get this far in life without swallowing gum, you may ask yourself: Can ingesting gum really hurt you?

The Reason Heat Makes You So Tired

Why does heat make you so tired? Because even if you’re just lounging around, your body is working hard.

The Reason Coffee Makes Some People Sleepy

Saying “Coffee makes me sleepy” might earn you a few puzzled looks, but there’s a science behind the phenomenon.

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