Around 1% of the world’s population are born with extra fingers or toes.
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Approximately 6% of people have an extra nipple.
Over the years and to this day, many health professionals have supported the theory that flat feet pose a major risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders.
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Having asymptomatic flat feet is not a problem and does not require treatment. It’s important to debunk this common myth.
A dinosaur eggshell cross section, as imaged under fluorescence microscopy.
Evan Saitta
Calcite, the material making up fossilized eggshells, may preserve amino acids better than bone.
A replica fossil of the titanosaur Patagotitan , one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered. It would have weighed about 70 tons (63.5 metric tons.)
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Some of these giant vegetarians were as tall as a 3-story building. Microscopic analysis of their teeth, bones and eggshells reveals how they grew, what they ate and even their body temperature.
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Small holes in baby dinosaur bones add to the growing mass of evidence that the ancient creatures were warm-blooded and highly active.
With NASA planning more missions to space in the future, scientists are studying how to mitigate health hazards that come with space flight.
AP Photo/John Raoux
Space can damage everything from your cardiovascular and nervous systems to your mental health – long voyages can feel isolating for many.
Dinosaurs once dominated Earth’s landscapes.
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Hollow bones were essential for dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex.
Skeletal reconstruction of the Langebaanweg sabertooth, with highlighted elements to indicate the bones examined in this study.
Adapted from Mauricio Antón (2013)
A closer look at these fossil bones revealed more than the suggestion of a previously undescribed species - it pointed to the individual animal having suffered with osteoarthritis.
If you made it past early childhood, your chances got better to see your golden years.
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Nasty, brutish – but not necessarily short. Here’s how archaeologists know plenty of people didn’t die young.
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No, you’re not imagining it. Your feet may be wider or longer and your shoes stiffer.
Cartilage makes this scalloped hammerhead shark’s body flexible.
NOAA NMFS
Hard and strong, or bendy and flexible? A cartilaginous skeleton provides advantages in the ocean, but wouldn’t stand up to life on land.
Specialized anatomy means flightless penguins are master swimmers.
Christopher Michel
How did penguins end up with so few bones – and become lightning-fast swimmers?
Today, teens are often seen as troublesome and difficult. Ancient Roman writers also described adolescence as a period of “hooliganism and debauchery.”
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Teens across millennia have yearned to explore, try new things and participate in risky behaviours. The key difference, however, seems to be the experience of a rebellion or restlessness.
Musculoskeletal injuries can cause severe pain and lead to greater problems.
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A biomedical engineer explains how human-made materials inserted in the body hold hope to repair painful injuries more efficiently than bone grafts.
Marcus Byrne/Unsplash
Conservation programs can give baby animals the best chance of surviving in the wild by feeding them tough foods, which studies of rats suggest makes their skull bones thicker and tougher.
Tyrannosaurus rex spanned all of ancient North America, and about 20,000 lived at once.
Roger Harris/Science Photo Library vie Getty Images
Using the incredible wealth of fossil data and a modern ecological theory, researchers estimated population density for the extinct apex predator.
The San associated elands with rain, and the power to influence game during a hunt.
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In several other parts of the world, people used the bones of animals that were important within their respective cultures to make tools.
John Minchillo/AP Photo/AAP
Once his leg fracture heals, his leg can potentially be just as straight and strong as it was before. But his foot and ankle are more of a worry.
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It’s not just older adults who get shorter. You start shrinking, the moment you get out of bed in the morning.
A cutting edge new research project is developing Lego-like bricks made from biomaterials to replace bone fragments in shattered limbs.