National Library of Medicine (PMC)

32 facts cite this source

Human Body & Mind Genetics

A Baby's Cells Live in the Mother for Decades

55 sec read

Nature & Animals Plants & Fungi

A Fungus Turns Ants Into Zombies and Aims for Noon

55 sec read

Nature & Animals Microbes

A Microbe Hangs From Cave Ceilings as Living Battery Acid

50 sec read

Human Body & Mind Genetics

A Single Gene Decides If Broccoli Tastes Bitter

50 sec read

Nature & Animals Insects

The Beetle That Fires Boiling Chemical Spray

55 sec read

Nature & Animals Microbes

The Brainless Cell That Solves Mazes

50 sec read

Human Body & Mind Anatomy

Your Heart Has Its Own Little Brain

50 sec read

Human Body & Mind Genetics

About 8% of your DNA comes from ancient viruses

60 sec read

Nature & Animals Evolution

Nearly all life shares the same genetic code

80 sec read

Human Body & Mind Neuroscience

An iron rod through Phineas Gage's skull reshaped neuroscience

45 sec read

Food & Drink Food History

The potato, tomato and maize all crossed the Atlantic after 1492

80 sec read

Human Body & Mind Genetics

CRISPR gene editing was borrowed from bacteria

85 sec read

Human Body & Mind Medicine & Disease

Fleming discovered penicillin in a moldy dish

45 sec read

Nature & Animals Insects

A honeybee's waggle dance is a map drawn in the dark

75 sec read

Language & Communication Linguistics

The McGurk effect: what you see can change what you hear

85 sec read

Human Body & Mind Psychology

The placebo effect is real brain chemistry, not just imagination

90 sec read

Language & Communication Languages

Two deaf communities spontaneously invented brand-new sign languages from scratch

65 sec read

Food & Drink Cuisine

Umami, the fifth basic taste, was pinned down in 1908 from a bowl of kelp broth

80 sec read

Human Body & Mind Genetics

Watson and Crick crack the DNA double helix

50 sec read

Society & Economy Politics & Law

Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash

45 sec read

Human Body & Mind Neuroscience

The brain is 2% of your weight but burns 20% of your energy

45 sec read

Language & Communication Writing Systems

Chinese has ~40,000 characters; you need a tenth to read

40 sec read

Nature & Animals Microbes

One bacterium survives radiation that would kill a human thousands of times over

40 sec read

Human Body & Mind Psychology

Dunbar's number: can we really only juggle about 150 relationships?

50 sec read

Human Body & Mind Medicine & Disease

The first vaccine used cowpox to beat smallpox

35 sec read

Human Body & Mind Anatomy

The liver can rebuild itself after losing most of its mass

45 sec read

Science The Scientific Method

Modern medicine's gold-standard trial was born from sealed envelopes and random numbers

40 sec read

Food & Drink Agriculture

Farming began about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent

40 sec read

Human Body & Mind Neuroscience

Your brain files memories while you sleep

40 sec read

Human Body & Mind Anatomy

Your small intestine is folded to the size of a room

45 sec read

Nature & Animals Microbes

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth

40 sec read

Nature & Animals Microbes

You carry roughly as many bacterial cells as human cells

45 sec read