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Watch What Happens When Scavengers Find a Several-Ton Carcass
Huge animals play outsized roles in their ecosystems—even in death.
Think Your Body Is Infested With Insects? You’re Not Alone.
More people are turning to entomologists to diagnose seemingly inexplicable sensations of parasites crawling on their bodies.
Fact or Fiction: Can You Really Sweat Out Toxins?
There are plenty of good reasons to work up a sweat. Detoxifying your body isn’t one of them.
Why You Shouldn’t Eat a Slug (In Case You Need Reasons)
Hint: A brain-infesting worm carried by gastropods is spreading around the world.
Parasitic Worms Found in a Woman’s Eye—First Case of Its Kind
An Oregon woman’s infection marks the first time on record that an eye worm species normally found in cattle has been seen in humans.
You Can Smell When Someone’s Sick—Here’s How
The curious case of a woman who can smell Parkinson’s reminds us our noses are our first defense against illness.
Welcome to the World’s Most Awesomely Awful Places
Take a tour of the most hellish and deadly natural wonders, from sulfur-choked pits to a bloody waterfall.
How Dog and Cat ‘Kisses’ Can Turn Deadly
A host of potential pathogens lurks in each slobbery or scratchy lick.
How ‘Talking’ Corpses Were Once Used to Solve Murders
For centuries, oozing wounds were seen as proof of guilt in court—but even in death, women’s testimony was considered less credible than men’s.
Homeless Cats Recruited to Fight Rising Tide of Rats
There’s a new sheriff in Washington D.C. alleys: adopted feral cats. But as rodent-killing machines, New York’s terriers are even better.
Huge Blobs of Fat and Trash Are Filling the World’s Sewers
Mountains of grease and debris known as fatbergs are blocking toilets, breaking pipes, and even being illicitly converted into cooking oil.
Watch: The Devil’s Fingers Fungus Will Haunt Your Dreams
Here’s why the slime-covered life-form is among the creepiest plants and fungi known to science.
Surreal Cases of Bodies Exhumed for Science
From presidents to outlaws, many types of people have been exhumed to answer questions about how they lived and died.
Would Your Dog Eat You if You Died? Get the Facts.
You might not look at your beloved Bella or Buddy the same way after reading this.
Cannibalism Study Finds People Are Not That Nutritious
While our ancient ancestors did practice cannibalism, eating other humans just couldn’t compare with taking down a mammoth.
World’s First ‘Menstrual Cycle in a Dish’ Simulates Female Body
After decades of drug testing on mostly men, a new device may help tailor treatments for different genders.
A Horrifying List of Creatures That Can Crawl Into Your Body
From roaches in noses to leeches in nether regions, here are the animals most likely to get under your skin.
Inside the Creepy Collections of an Oddities Museum
Take a peek (if you dare) at weird wonders from the Morbid Anatomy Museum, which just closed its doors for the last time.
Giant Roaches Can Grow Big Testicles When They Need Them
Madagascar hissing cockroaches can become lovers or fighters, but not both.
Bizarre-Looking Beetle Has an Even Weirder Sex Life
The trilobite beetle has kept scientists baffled for nearly 200 years.
The Real Reason Clowns Creep Us Out
The “creepy clown crisis” is a case study in the science of the heebie-jeebies.
How Human Violence Stacks Up Against Other Killer Animals
Humans get some of their knack for killing each other from the primate family tree, a new study says—but that doesn’t let us off the hook.
Peek Into Tiny Crime Scenes Hand-Built by an Obsessed Millionaire
At first glance, the miniatures in the Maryland medical examiner’s office look like ordinary dollhouses.
See the Ugly Beauty That Lives in a Toxic Cave
Lurking below the quaint ski town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, lies a cave belching deadly gases.
How Do Women Deal With Having a Period … in Space?
Women astronauts face the question: to menstruate or not?
Butterflies Behaving Badly: What They Don’t Want You to Know
Butterflies have had us fooled for centuries.
Flies Could Falsely Place Someone at a Crime Scene
This might be the grossest science experiment I’ve ever written about.
Amazing Video Reveals Why Roaches Are So Hard to Squish
Have you ever stomped a roach, just to have it skitter away unscathed?
Are These Crime Drama Clues Fact or Fiction?
How well can you separate CSI fact from fiction?
You’re Surrounded by Bacteria That Are Waiting for You to Die
What keeps them from decomposing you alive?
Bloodletting Is Still Happening, Despite Centuries of Harm
Thought bloodletting went out in the 19th century? Think again.
Oldest Decapitated Head in New World Found in ‘Vogue’ Pose
The skull belonged to a young man and was buried in Brazil about 9,000 years old, with severed hands covering its face in a mysterious pose
Do You Have a Face-Finding Superpower for Fighting Crime?
Scotland Yard has a team of super-recognizers.
Yes, Rats Can Swim Up Your Toilet. And It Gets Worse Than That.
“You have to think like the rat,” my new friend Gregg told me.
People Sometimes Like Stinky Things—Here’s Why
A corpse flower smells like a heady mix of rotten fish, sewage, and dead bodies.
The Week’s Most Eerily Fascinating Stories
I can’t look away. That’s the mark of an eerily fascinating story, and this week served up a pile of them.
Ever Wonder What a Neanderthal Considered a Delicacy?
To the extent you’ve ever thought about what they ate, you probably assumed it was, well, whatever they could get their dirty hands on.
Should You Put a Baby Bird Back in the Nest? Depends If It’s Cute
Some are adamant that if you handle a baby bird, its mother will reject it. Others say it’s fine; just put the bird back.
Surgeon Reveals Head Transplant Plan, But Patient Steals the Show
A man confirms that he would like to be the first person ever to have his head transplanted onto a new body.
Injecting Electronics Into Brain Not as Freaky as it Sounds
No need to wait for the cyborg future—it’s already here.
World’s Oldest Murder Mystery Was 430,000 Years in the Making
The first known murder was just as brutal as any other.
This Is What Happens When You Use Rat Poison: Flymageddon
The house was filled with giant flies.
Human Head Transplant Proposed—How Did We Get Here?
Yes, in case you haven’t heard, a doctor in Italy has announced plans to transplant a guy’s head onto a new body two years from now. Sound nuts?
Please Welcome Erika Engelhaupt to Phenomena!
Today, Phenomena gets a little spookier as we welcome Erika Engelhaupt to the salon.
Now We Know What It Feels Like to Be Invisible
First, Arvid Guterstam made himself invisible. When he looked down at his body, there was nothing there.