A 2025 study explored the common words to describe body odor across 17 countries

Americans spent $6.6 billion on body odor products in 2023

This high figure from Euromonitor, a research firm, suggests Americans spent more on deodorant than in any other country. Beyond deodorant, there's also growing interest in "whole body" deodorant designed to mask smells from various parts of the body beyond the armpit.

Sweat doesn't smell, but bacteria multiply in moist environments—and cause an odor

Body odor is associated with sweat, but odor actually arises from the bacteria that multiply in moist environments on your skin. Hormones, medications, food, and body hair can all affect body odor.

Explore the chemistry of undesired body odors

This graphic highlights some of the main compounds in different body odors, including halitosis (bad breath), flatulence, and foot odor.

'Sweat dating' is a dating approach where partners specifically select by body odor

With dedicated events in major cities around the world, "sweat dating" offers people the chance to judge if a potential partner's smell is a match. Participants show up for an event, do calisthenics, wipe themselves with a cotton pad, and then place the smelly pad in a numbered jar for potential partners to sniff.

Read a study documenting how 'old people' smell increases with age

Analysis of body odors from individuals aged 26 to 75 confirmed that 2-nonenal, an unsaturated aldehyde with an unpleasant, greasy, and grassy odor, was detected only in subjects aged 40 and older.

The most unique-smelling places on Earth

Have you ever picked a travel destination by smell? This Atlas Obscura piece cultivates a list of the most distinct-smelling spots in the world. Learn about these obscure scents to potentially book a trip to a spring that smells like rotten eggs, or a desert valley filled with frankincense trees.

Carboxylic acids are one reason teens are smelly

Scientists compared the smells of babies and teenagers and identified some of the compounds that make teens smelly. Carboxylic acids present in teens, they wrote, seemed to give off an "earthy, musty, or cheesy" scent. This 2024 research could help inform future odor-control products.

Corynebacterium species are particularly responsible for our funky smell

Myriad bacteria contribute to our body odor, but research suggests that Corynebacterium species are strongly associated with the bad smells emanating from adults. Staphylococcus and Cutibacterium genera may also play leading roles.

Most people with East Asian ancestry are genetically predisposed to be less smelly

A gene variant found in 80%-95% of individuals with East Asian ancestry reduces armpit bacteria and related odors. People with this nonfunctioning ABCC11 gene variant lack a protein that transports molecules, including sweat, across cellular membranes, so their armpits are starved of sweat that bacteria may have metabolized to help them multiply.

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.

Typhoid smells like freshly baked brown bread

Certain ailments are associated with documented scents, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and typhoid. The skin of people with yellow fever, for example, can smell like a "butcher shop."

The history of curse words

While profane language is frowned upon in many circumstances, it remains an important part of human expression. This article explores the history of taboo words, and how they eventually creeped more into the mainstream. From 19th century Irish folk-saying “bejabbers,” to the dirty language in comedy routines by Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, discover a brief history of the swear words that have now become more prevalent in society.

The five most common chemicals found in modern food

Most modern processed foods rely on a number of preservatives to stay fresh from production to our plates. The most common include citric acid (preservative and flavor), sodium benzoate (preservative), xanthan gum (thickening and stabilizing), carrageenan (thickening), and red dyes 3 and 4 (for color).

Fat is proposed as a candidate sixth basic taste

Oleogustus is Latin for "a taste for fat," and researchers proposed in 2015 that it should be accepted as the sixth basic taste. This article teases apart exactly what it would take to officially be considered the sixth taste and why researchers think the fat taste may be a strong candidate.

Genetics may account for nearly 67% of mosquito attractiveness

In a mosquito attraction study published in 2015, identical twins appeared equally attractive to mosquitoes in lab tests, whereas some nonidentical twins were far less likely to be bitten than their siblings. Other work related showed that body odor is also more similar between identical twins.

Google reveals the top searches of 2023

Google Search remains the world's most popular online search engine, and the tech behemoth reveals the most common searches from at the end of every year. See global as well as more local trends in most common searches for people, films, and more.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year

Analysts attribute Finland's joy factor to its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among factors. The results were based on answers from roughly 100,000 people in 140 countries and territories. Respondents were asked to rank their life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10. Finnish respondents gave an average life satisfaction score of 7.7; Afghans answered 1.4. The US, in 23rd place, reported an average score of 6.8.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

10 controversial World Cup moments

If you're expecting a staid back-and-forth, then you'll be surprised by the World Cup, which is often filled with high drama and even higher tensions. This list highlights how controversy has been a constant on soccer's biggest stage, influencing outcomes, sparking debates, and sometimes leading to rule changes.

China reports the highest prevalence of hearing loss and South Africa reports the lowest

This conclusion comes from research published in 2025 that analyzed self-reported hearing loss and hearing aid use from long-term studies that covered 28 countries. Its findings included that the countries with the greatest prevalence of hearing loss (China, South Korea, Mexico, and Brazil) also had the lowest levels of hearing aid use.

Words used in cannabis business names

As selling recreational cannabis becomes legal in many states across the US, cannabis dispensaries are increasingly common. While one might expect each of these dispensaries to have vastly different names, one study found that the names have some consistent similarities. Businesses with "beach vibes" or "green" in the name seem particularly common. Explore the full data visual here.

There were more than 20 reported cruise ship outbreaks in 2025

A cruise ship outbreak is officially considered an outbreak when 3% or more of the people aboard a ship report being sick with gastrointestinal illness. It happens often enough that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a whole program just related to tracking such foodborne illness outbreaks.

There are stigmas attached to tattoos

Although tattoos are fairly common in the US, some taboos remain. A 2017 study in the Journal of Social Psychology found discrimination against tattoos is alive and well, and that even individuals with tattoos associate them with negative stereotypes.

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.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Exactly who coined the term 'swimmer's ear' remains unknown

There is no record of anyone being the first person to call otitis externa by its most commonly known name, swimmer's ear. The earliest known use of the term was in a 1917 news article, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The article in Connecticut's The Day stated that the illness was appearing among swimmers and bathers that summer.

Alcohol use disorder is the most common addiction in the US

This comprehensive overview from the Addiction Center uses recent data from SAMHSA’s National Survey to examine the 10 most common substance dependencies in the United States. It ranks addictions from alcohol (affecting 28.3 million Americans) to barbiturates, while highlighting key trends, risks, and societal impacts.

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

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

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.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Ebola species have historically been named after where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents who live there, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

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

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

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

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.