Luna Blackwood
Science & Oddities ReporterGrew up reading medical encyclopedias for fun. Now she writes about the beautiful, disgusting, terrifying machinery of the natural world.
Articles by Luna Blackwood
We've Been Wrong About Life. Scientists Just Found Entirely New Organisms Living Inside You.
Researchers discovered 'obelisks'—mysterious circular RNA loops with ~1kb genomes living in human gut bacteria—a previously unknown category of life hiding in data scientists had studied for years.
The Volcano That Kills You After It Stops Erupting
Mount Pinatubo's deadliest phase wasn't the eruption itself—it was what happened when people tried to clean up the ash. More than 300 died removing what the volcano left behind.
The Days You're Most Likely to Die Are Not Random—And It's Not Monday
CDC data reveals a startling weekly pattern: Tuesdays kill more people from disease, while weekends spike in violent deaths. Death is not evenly distributed across the calendar.
Your Heart Hates Mondays More Than You Do
Heart attacks spike 20-33% on Monday mornings, and it's not a coincidence. The culprit is a predictable physiological response to weekend disruption and returning stress.
You've Been Worrying About the Wrong Contact
Handshakes transmit twice as many germs as kisses. Your hands are filthy in ways your mouth simply isn't.
Your Body Ages in Sudden Jumps, Not Slowly
Aging isn't a gradual decline—it happens in dramatic leaps around ages 44 and 60, with multiple biological systems shifting simultaneously.
Your Eyelashes Are Home to Tiny Mites, and That's Probably Fine
About 4 in 10 people have microscopic mites living in their eyelash follicles right now. They're usually harmless, and you'll never notice.