Sulfuric compounds are like the Adam Sandler of bad smells—the source of so many offensive releases. Rotten eggs. Room-clearing farts. And, you guessed it, the smell of asparagus in pee. We’ve discussed the implications of the color of your urine, but its aroma also provides clues to...
Gum can stick to many surfaces—the bottom of your shoes, the underside of your desk and the locks of your flowing body hair (in even the most private of areas). But your digestive tract isn’t one of them. As we’ve written before, some of the hygiene tips...
There are some gifts that can only be given from yourself, to yourself—like self-confidence, self-acceptance and self-love. And while you might not consider self-flatulence a gift, the truth is that if you’re going to be asphyxiated with a stinky fart, it’d better be your own stinky fart....
Regardless of whether you consider yourself someone who eats to live, lives to eat or avoids the choice altogether by taking the Soylent route, we all need to provide our bodies with the energy required to do the work that keeps us alive. We get that fuel by...
Like Goldilocks, the human body is always in search of a happy medium where everything is just right. While you’re probably not testing out porridge or bear beds in the pursuit of mental equilibrium, your body has many mechanisms to keep you balanced with regards to temperature,...
Like father, like son, right? Pretty much, it turns out—though it’s more accurate to say like parent, like child. There are many areas where children take after their parents, but only a few seem to be specific to gender: The presence of sex-controlled genes (as the scientists say)...
In the not-too-distant future, when you’re bred in labs for maximum efficiency and unparalleled servitude, it’s probably safe to rely on machines for data about how many calories you consume and burn off in any given period. Until then, however, it’s hard to say exactly how many...
The smell of sunscreen and charcoal in the air means that summer is finally here, shepherding in the familiar rites of the season—sunburns, hot dogs and another chance to finally resolve the Blizzard vs. McFlurry debate once-and-for-all. Be careful, though, how quickly you devour that Blizzard or...
To my friends who ran the marathon—you know who you are; actually, everyone knows who you are thanks to the Mylar blanket you wore long after you were warm again—I’d like to say, “Congratulations!” Not that I need to say it again since I screamed it at...
Getting swoll. Doing work. Pumping iron. No matter what you call it, exercising can be tough on your body. There’s a certain degree of pain or discomfort while you’re working out, but the real burn is often felt in the days after your initial trip to the...
Idle hands may be the devil’s playground, but a layabout towel is a back-to-back Coachella weekend for bacteria. To prevent germs (and their sidekick, rank odors) from proliferating in the fibers of your monogrammed L.L.Bean, towels should be washed every few days, or as soon as they...
One of life’s cruel ironies is that the occasions when we most desperately want to wash our hands—e.g., after shaking hands with a runny-nosed colleague after a meeting—water and soap are nowhere to be found. Hand-sanitizing gel is sometimes offered as a substitute, but can you really...