Jesslyn Shields
Jesslyn Shields is a freelance science writer working out of Athens, Georgia. She writes about brand new research for HowStuffWorks. Since 2010, Jesslyn's written science news and content for educational videos, because she loves to always have something new to yammer on about at parties. You can find her online at www.jesslynshields.com
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Ninety percent of brown recluse bites don't have any effect at all — but the mythology around these creatures and their bites is legendary.
These adorable little rodents are popular as pets, but they require some special care.
Is the "banana spider" you're looking at the one that sits around harmlessly catching flies, or could its bite kill a small child? If we rely solely on common names, this question is complicated.
Alpacas are highly intelligent and they're not pets. They require a lot of research and specialized knowledge if you plan to bring a few home.
Is that a dolphin pancreas? Some extremely firm manatee vomit? Nope, it's sea pork!
Because most of what we know about honey badgers comes from a three-minute comedy video, there are a lot of misconceptions about these wily weasels.
The biggest land-dwelling arthropod can crack into everything from coconuts to carcasses, but they're also really vulnerable.
In her legendary 60-year career, Jane Goodall has made being an intrepid scientist, environmentalist, writer and teacher look easy.
The Mushroom Burial Suit is designed to give our dead bodies new life by breaking them down and nourishing the soil.
Rabbits sure are cute – they're smart, curious and crafty, but they definitely need some special care.
St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is an architectural oddball, but travel company RealRussia decided to imagine what it would look like in seven more conventional architectural styles.
These arachnids are aggressive, unbelievably fast and love to murder ants for no reason, but don't worry — they're harmless.
Wolf spiders might find their way into your house and can look threatening, but they're really harmless.
Poutine is just fries, gravy and squeaky cheese curds — how did it get to be Canada's national dish?
Sure, hedgehogs are cute as heck, but do you think one really wants to live in your house?
That hunk of glowing salt sure is pretty, but can it improve the health of my home?
It's called geophagy and it's a relatively common practice all over the world, but nobody's completely sure why.
One of the most famous buildings in the world has burned. What did it take to build it in the first place?
The blobfish is actually pretty average looking in its normal habitat.
Modern color theory got its start with, believe it or not, Sir Isaac Newton, who also discovered a little thing called gravity and invented calculus.
