Necrosis is the unplanned death of cells and the tissue they comprise

Cellular aging and deterioration leads to tissue (and overall) aging

Cells are the building blocks of life, forming tissues and organs that keep our bodies working. As we age, cellular changes have progressive consequences on both the structure and function of our organs. This article examines this complex relationship as it relates to the incremental changes associated with aging.

Programmed cell death drives leaves to fall from trees

All living things have innate mechanisms to prompt organized cell death, typically to protect the integrity of the living organism. Leaves fall from trees to allow the tree to preserve resources and bloom again in the future.

Red blood, skin, hair, and nail cells destroy their DNA upon maturing

To maximize the amount of oxygen they carry and more easily alter their shape to fit into narrow blood capillaries, red blood cells destroy their own nuclei. Cornified cells found in hair, nails, and the outermost layer of skin destroy their nuclei and other cellular contents to make room for keratin, which provides durability and structural support.

Why death is caused by a dearth of ATP

Though people die from many causes, this video makes the case that a lack of adenosine triphosphate production in the body is what kills almost all of us. Without ATP, physiological processes grind to a halt, and organs stop functioning.

What happens in a dying brain?

Near-death experiences usually happen during death or on the border of life and death when a person isn't understood to be conscious. This article details the science of what's going on with the brain during NDEs.

Sepsis is the leading cause of death in hospitals

Sepsis is the result of an overly aggressive immune system trying to combat infection, triggering inflammation throughout the body. After it begins, each passing hour increases the risk of death by 4% to 9%, and an estimated 350,000 people die from the condition in the US each year.

Thanatology is the study of death and dying

Watch this video exploring the evolution in how researchers are studying and understanding death in the context of recent scientific research. CPR to restart hearts, ventilators, and other discoveries have challenged the way we think of death and scientifically upended the idea of death as a single moment.

Accidental ingestion of batteries can be life-threatening

Tissue in the body can serve as a circuit path between the anode and cathode of a battery, resulting in electrical burns and gradual tissue erosion. Stomach acid can corrode a battery and cause its toxic contents to leak, making a person sick. Batteries for internal use, such as in pacemakers, require special designs.

Cells are categorized by the presence of contained genetic material and other organelles

While prokaryotes contain one or more cells with free-floating genetic material in a region called the nucleoid, eukaryotes possess a nucleus specialized for DNA storage. Plant cells possess cell walls—a reinforced structure surrounding their membrane—made of cellulose, while fungal cell walls contain chitin. Animal cells have lysosomes housing enzymes that break down biomolecules. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Sclerosis is the technical term for the lesions or plaques that form without myelin

In the absence of myelin, the body forms scar tissue called sclerosis. That scar tissue hampers nerve's abilities to transmit nerve impulses, essentially acting as a roadblock to speedy communication.

The disease no one survives (yet)

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is currently incurable and can cause one's death within months of symptoms appearing. It involves misfolded proteins that, for some reason yet unknown to science, aren't cleared by the brain as typical and instead trigger similar proteins to misfold. These malformed major prion proteins—prion being a portmanteau of protein and infection—clump inside nerve cells, blocking signals crucial to processes ranging from speaking to organ function.

Nanoplastics can bypass the blood-brain barrier and may harm the nervous system

Nanoplastics are formed from the breakdown of microplastics and can breach cells. Their large surface area relative to size allows them to carry higher concentrations of forever chemicals than the surrounding environment into sensitive organs.

Organ donation isn't usually logistically possible if you die at home

Since organs need to be well-preserved for organ donation, with oxygen flowing through the body, internal organs often aren't viable for organ donation if someone dies at home. But some tissues—like eye corneas and skin tissue—may still be donated since they remain usable for a longer period without oxygen flow.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Ebola infects and disables immune cells, triggering a cascade of events that leads to small blood clots throughout the body, weakening blood vessels and interrupting blood flow to key organs.

Autoimmunity is when the body attacks itself, causing inflammation

Inflammation is the body's way of healing itself, and acute inflammation saves our lives when we have injuries or infections. It increases blood flow to the affected areas to bring immune cells to fight off invaders. This often results in short-term swelling, redness, and pain.

Grief is defined as the anguish and physiological distress experienced after significant loss

It usually occurs following the death of a loved one, and symptoms may include confusion, apprehension about the future, separation anxiety, and ruminating on the past.

Cancer is runaway growth of abnormal, mutated cells

Cancer cells have mutations in their DNA that allow uncontrolled growth and division, dodge usual mechanisms of cell death, and can often spread throughout the body. This is, in part, why the disease is so difficult to treat, with a wide variety of mechanisms and types that poses unique challenges.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Nightmares are unpredictable, but are linked to stress, anxiety, trauma, and more

Nightmare comes from the terms "night" and "mare," an Old English word for evil, suffocating spirits. Nightmares are parasomnias, meaning they are undesirable events experienced during sleep, and may stem from building tensions in one's unconscious.

Freezer burn is the result of moisture leaving ice cream

The ice cream death knell occurs when water crystals melt and then refreeze on the surface of the treat, creating a crunchy (but far from delectable) shell. The best way to prevent this unfortunate outcome is by storing your ice cream in a freezer that’s colder than 0°F.

Strokes are caused by abrupt stoppage of blood flow to the brain

A stroke occurs when blood flow to part of the brain is suddenly interrupted, either by a blockage (ischemic stroke) or bleeding (hemorrhagic stroke). Each year, nearly 800,000 Americans experience a stroke, with around 85% of them being ischemic.

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.

Mosquito necroprinting uses an insect's mouthpart as the printer nozzle

Mosquitoes are abundant, and their nozzles are 32-100 times cheaper to harvest than to create from scratch out of metal or glass. By coating the organic nozzle to increase its strength, researchers are employing necroprinting to create tiny structures at better resolutions than commercial alternatives.

New evidence suggests the eruption's victims died as their blood boiled

While most Pompeii victims suffocated or were crushed, spectroscopic analysis of bones from a nearby town indicates something more extreme: exposure to superheated gas that instantly boiled blood and caused deadly internal trauma.

What is a sneeze? (And can it kill you?)

A sneeze is an important involuntary reflex to expel something that is irritating your nose. But can it kill you? No, say these silly video hosts. Although, the sneeze can expel air, saliva, and mucus at nearly 100 miles per hour in a five-foot radius. See them break it down with this quick, quirky video.

What happens when the gut microbiome is out of whack?

An imbalance in gut microbiome flora can lead to a condition known as dysbiosis. This condition is typically characterized by a drop in microbiota diversity and an increase in harmful unicellular and acellular organisms, such as viruses, that can negatively impact the host's immune system and overall health. Genetics, infections, dietary choices, antibiotics, food additives, artificial sweeteners, and other lifestyle and environmental factors can cause dysbiosis.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

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

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

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

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.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

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.

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.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Poison ivy's characteristic rash is caused by an allergic response to an oily compound in the plant called urushiol.