Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Where do phobias come from?

Scientists say phobias are extreme version of a primitive evolutionary mechanism that tells us when danger is near or we are in a dangerous situation. A number of brain regions work in concert to trigger flight or fight responses, and with some...

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone

19.2M Americans suffer from phobias, including extreme fears of spiders, snakes, heights, and flying.

Animal phobias are likely the most common type of phobias, followed by an extreme fear of heights.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

See 16 art pieces that were inspired by or evoke elements of top phobias

CBC News informally polled readers about their fears and then found works of art either inspired by or nodding to those topics.

Fear has a specific 'smell'—at least to machines

This excerpt from a Mythbusters episode takes on the smell-of-fear question, comparing the sweat composition of individuals exposed to snakes, rats, and scorpions with that of people exercising. Molecularly, the sweats are different to a gas chromatography machine, but to most noses would be indistinguishable.

There’s a psychological explanation for ‘FOMO,’ or the fear of missing out

This video breaks down FOMO—what it is, how it works, and why it happens—showing how social comparison and uncertainty trigger anxiety that pushes people toward risk-taking and constant checking behaviors.

When common sounds become disturbing

Misophonia causes certain sounds to feel violating, triggering a "very visceral kind of experience" filled with extremely unpleasant emotions, including annoyance, anger, and disgust. A 2017 study found that people with misophonia have elevated activity in the brain's anterior insula—a region associated with interoception, emotional processing, and behavioral responses—when exposed to trigger sounds. Ongoing research suggests trigger sound context affects the severity and manifestation of the condition.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Why patterns in art are so pleasing

Repeated visual cues like shapes or lines derive from the brain's innate compulsion to identify faces, places, bodies, and more. With repeated shapes, the brain seeks out resolution to the subtle variations between them. See examples in art and music.

Body horror is a subgenre that uses anxieties about appearance

Made popular in the 1980s through films like “The Fly,” the body horror subgenre focuses on physical transformation and violence. It gained significant attention in 2024, thanks to the critical attention “The Substance” received, including an Academy Award nomination for best picture.

Drusen are bumps under the retina that distort the vision of most macular degeneration patients

These yellow deposits are made up of proteins and lipids and come in a variety of sizes. They're common in people aged 50 and older, but amassing many of them is often a symptom of age-related macular degeneration—the most prevalent type of macular degeneration.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a mental health disorder, not a personality quirk

In popular culture OCD has been incorrectly overused to describe neatness or perfectionistic behaviors, but the disorder involves intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors that take over a person's actions.

Explore 3D models of some of the most dangerous viruses

Everyone has come in contact with common viruses—typically something like influenza (the common flu)—but sometimes they encounter more dangerous strains. While we're familiar with the symptoms that manifest, it wasn't until the advent of advanced microscopy that scientists could pin down the exact structure and behavior of various viruses.

Specific imperfections are needed to make Swiss cheese

Impurities in the milk are critical for the formation of holes in Emmental. The cleanliness at farms today could potentially eliminate the iconic characteristic, though cheesemakers are finding a solution to preserve the holes that help define the cheese.

Does our fear of Alzheimer's create stigma around its treatment?

Surveys suggest our fear of Alzheimer's as a disease outranks that of heart disease and cancer. This piece argues our fear of aging and the slipping away of our mental capacities make it more difficult to treat Alzheimer's compassionately.

Aphantasia involves a lack of mental images—but doesn't affect behavior

The condition, generally known about for over a century, first received its name in 2015 by researcher Adam Zeman. An estimated 4% of people lack this ability to perceive mental images, and research suggests this deficiency does not have any practical impact on behavior.

Meet Cystisoma, the 7-inch crustacean with eyes for a head

In deep midwater, roughly 1,000 feet below the water's surface, completely transparent Cystisoma hide in plain sight from predators. Their retinas are splayed out thin across their disproportionately large eyes to avoid detection, and their entire bodies are transparent, difficult to see even as they are held in the palm of your hand. Learn more about the creatures here.

Testing five common beliefs about bedbugs

Bedbugs are one of the most stigmatized pest infestations due to their resilience and tendency to dwell where humans are most unconscious for long periods of time: beds. A bedbug problem can lead to horror stories and intensive interventions to...

Natural toxins produced on plants or consumed by animals may cause food poisoning

When humans eat plants with certain natural toxins on them—including a family of toxins called aflatoxins that fungi produce on crops like peanuts and corn— they can become ill with food poisoning. Toxins can still harm humans even if animals or plants appear fine to the human eye. The World Health Organization advises that we should throw away moldy or discolored foods, refrain from eating wild plants or mushrooms that aren’t definitively nonpoisonous, and remember that just because something is “natural” it’s not always safe to eat.

Why our ancestors didn't have crooked teeth

The ancient human fossil record is filled with specimens with pretty nice teeth. So why do modern humans have dental problems? Scientists can't be certain, but one hypothesis suggests the evolutionary shrinking of the human jaw crowded our mouths,...

The collapse of gas bubbles in the joint synovial fluid causes 'cracking' knuckles

The human population can be divided into two categories: those who crack their knuckles and those who don't. Do you know the technical term for this phenomenon is "tribonucleation?" What actually happens inside a knuckle when it pops? This visual explainer breaks down finger joint popping in real time.

Breaking down various tongue disorders, from infections to genetics

Taste is one of our fundamental senses, but can be impeded by a wide variety of conditions including glossitis, angioedema, and black hairy tongue. Most are characterized by their color, shape, and sometimes change in function. Causes range from vitamin or mineral deficiencies to fluid accumulation, fungal infection, or more.

Long-term goose bumps are something to flag to your doctor

Although rarely a cause for concern, persistent goose bumps with no known cause could be a symptom of something to discuss with your doctor, including anxiety, a hair follicle blockage, or conditions that arise from an overreaction of the autonomic nervous system.

Fungal diseases cost the US around $19B annually

Estimates derived from health insurance claims, death certificates, and hospitalization data suggest that fungus is a significant medical issue. Each year, fungal diseases kill some 7,300 people—roughly the same number of deaths attributed to motor vehicles striking pedestrians. Around 130,000 people are hospitalized with fungal diseases, and the total national cost from fungal diseases is estimated to be about $19B—a figure that roughly matches Jamaica's entire gross domestic product.

Tetrachromacy allows humans to observe 10 times the normal amount of colors

Resulting from a mutation on the X chromosome, the rare genetic condition causes individuals to possess an additional type of photoreceptor cell, typically sensitive to the orange range, located between the standard red and green cones. This enables the perception of approximately 100 million colors.

Embracing poor hygiene in early life won't stave off allergies

The hygiene hypothesis, first proposed in 1989 by British immunologist David Strachan, suggests that early life exposure to microbes—like those from farm dust or pets—properly trains our immune systems to respond to threats. But sometimes the idea is misinterpreted: It doesn’t mean that poor hygiene—like failing to wash hands–will help ward off allergies; that type of behavior leads to infections and won’t help with allergy prevention.

The benefits of extreme pain rituals, explained

We naturally avoid pain and see it as a negative experience. But many traditional cultures incorporate extremely painful rituals into their religious ceremonies, claiming they, in fact, provide ample benefits. Researchers were able to observe boosts in happiness and a sense of belonging in a tribe of Mauritians after they undertook a rigorously painful religious ritual. Read about the study here.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

See images of medical cases of firework injuries shared on this 'Instagram for doctors.' (Warning: Graphic content)

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Ebola is a filovirus, meaning it resembles a thread under a microscope, though it sometimes twists and can resemble a bowl of spaghetti.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.