All Stories by Erika Engelhaupt
- Psychology
Attractiveness studies are hot, or not
Studies that link attractiveness to other traits are often misinterpreted, including recent studies of nose bacteria and of cycling ability.
- Genetics
What your earwax says about your ancestry
Both armpit and ear wax secretions are smellier in Caucasians than in Asians, thanks to a tiny genetic change that differs across ethnic groups.
- Science & Society
Alternatives needed to do-it-yourself feces swaps
Three researchers are calling for the FDA to regulate feces as a human tissue rather than a drug to make it easier for doctors to perform fecal transplants.
- Animals
Why was Marius, the euthanized giraffe, ever born?
The problem of ‘surplus’ zoo animals reveals a divide on animal contraceptives.
- Health & Medicine
Introducing the first bank of feces
A new nonprofit called OpenBiome is hoping to do for fecal transplants what blood banks have done for transfusions. It’s a kind of Brown Cross.
- Life
Some animals eat their moms, and other cannibalism facts
A new book surveys those who eat their own kind, revealing some surprises about who’s eating whom.
- Science & Society
In a nuclear attack, there’s no avoiding the brutal math
Knowing a few key numbers could help save your life if a nuclear bomb drops.
- Animals
Animals were the original twerkers
From black widow spiders to birds and bees, shaking that booty goes way back.
- Psychology
The most (and least) realistic movie psychopaths ever
A forensic psychologist spent three years watching 400 movies to trace portrayals of psychopaths.
- Microbes
Gut bacteria respect diets, not borders
Malawian and Guahibo gut microbiomes resembled those of herbivorous mammals, while American guts were more similar to carnivores’.
- Ecosystems
New Yorkers should relax about new roach species
Japanese roaches may be able to survive in the cold, but the added competition and their decreased allergic potential may mean the roaches’ arrival isn’t all bad.
- Animals
A gory 12 days of Christmas
Insects and spiders are among the biggest gift-givers, often as part of mating, and anything from cyanide to a wad of saliva can be a present.
