Human Body
Why Do Fingers Wrinkle in Water? Your Nervous System’s Surprising Trick
Why do fingertips prune after a long bath? It is not just skin soaking up water — it is your nervous system at work. Plus the debate over what wrinkles are for.
Human Body
The science behind the strange but sensible things our bodies do.
Human Body
Why Do We Yawn? The Science of Contagious Yawning
Do we yawn because we are tired, bored or low on oxygen? The brain-cooling theory and why seeing someone yawn makes you yawn too, explained with research.
Human Body
Why Does Hair Turn Grey? Stress, Genes and Stem Cells in the Follicle
Why does hair go grey, can stress really turn it white and can grey hair come back? The pigment cells in hair follicles and what new research has found.
Human Body
Why Are Fingerprints Unique? A Pattern That Begins in the Womb
How do fingerprints form, why do even identical twins have different prints, and what are fingerprints for? The 2023 discovery and the science behind them.
Human Body
What Causes Brain Freeze? The Secret of the Ice-Cream Headache
What is that sharp pain in your forehead when you eat something cold? How brain freeze happens, why you feel it in your forehead and how to make it stop.
Human Body
Why Does Your Stomach Growl? Hunger Noises and the Gut’s Cleaning Cycle
Why does your stomach rumble when you are hungry, and does it growl when you are full? Where gut sounds come from and the cleaning cycle of an empty gut.
Human Body
Why Do We Sneeze? The Sneeze Reflex, Sun Sneezing and the Risk of Holding It In
How does a sneeze happen, why do some people sneeze when they look at the sun, and is holding in a sneeze dangerous? The science of the nose’s defence reflex.
Human Body
Why Do We Hiccup? What Causes Hiccups and What Actually Helps
What causes hiccups, where does the “hic” sound come from and how do you stop them? Diaphragm spasms, evolutionary theories and remedies that have been tested.
Human Body
Why Do We Get Goosebumps? The Science of Chills
Why do we get goosebumps when we are cold, scared or listening to a favourite song? The evolutionary story of a tiny muscle at the base of every hair.