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The Mysterious Case of the Porcelain GallbladderIn 2012, the University of Mississippi Medical Center discovered that there was a cemetery on their grounds, once part of the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum that had been closed since 1935. Since then, archaeologists have been researching, disinterring, and reburying the thousands who were laid to rest there. One grave yielded a surprise, though. In the middle of what was once a woman's torso, where composted soil normally lies between the bones, was a hard yet lightweight egg-shaped object. It was only two inches long and an inch wide, and stumped the bioarchaeologist crew. A surgeon identified it as a porcelain gallbladder, a condition that deceased developed before death, but not necessarily the reason she died. Never heard of a porcelain gallbladder? You could have one without even knowing it. Read about the condition and about the the Asylum Hill Project to document and move the cemetery at Atlas Obscura.(Image credit: Asylum Hill Project, University of Mississippi Medical Center)

Hoarding Disorder May Get Its Start in ChildhoodHoarding disorder wasn't included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until 2013. Even though we've all heard stories of people who were discovered to have houses full so full of stuff they couldn't get around, we didn't know it was a particular kind of psychological problem until television and the internet made us aware of the number of people affected. People often managed to hide this quirk until old age became an excuse for having too much stuff or being unable to clear things out. Recent research shows that it can be a lifelong problem, which may have started in childhood.Some folks who show hoarding behavior appear to have this disorder from early childhood, while others were triggered by trauma somewhere along the way. The disorder happens when people attribute inordinate importance to objects they acquire and also have trouble managing their lives. They see their things as important for having memories attached to them, or else see their possible future usefulness. People with the disorder can often think back to when it began to be a problem, even though no one else would know about it until decades later. We often consider psychological difference in people to be no real problem until it begins to affect one's ordinary life. Hoarders aren't identified as people who have a lot of possessions, because a lot of people do, and they manage just fine. Hoarding only becomes apparent when someone can't use their living spaces as intended because they are so full of possessions. However, the feelings and habits that led to the problem may have begun many years earlier, as far back as childhood. Read how hoarding disorder began for some people and what we might be able to do to head it off early at the Conversation. -via Damn Interesting (Image credit: Adam73) 

Frankenanimals, or Horizontal Gene TransferVertical gene transfer is the method of passing along DNA that we are familiar with, when two parents produce offspring that have a combination of their genes. But that's not the only way that organisms can gain new genes. Horizontal gene transfer is not as common, but it can lead to a lot of changes in a species. This is when bacteria, fungi, plants, animals, or any species incorporate genes from a different species into their genomes. Scientists are doing this in labs now, but nature has been doing it forever. We've long known that single-celled species incorporated other single-celled species which ended up becoming the more complex parts of the cell. Thinking about fish and insects and other higher animals doing it is a mind blower. Yeah, it's complicated, but nature is weird. If the new genes prove to be beneficial in some way, the species will keep these new alien genes until they are their own. That means that it goes on a lot more than we realize because only a small percentage of these natural gene transfers will be beneficial.

Mercury Could Have Once Been as Big as Our EarthThere are several problems with studying the planet Mercury. It's so close to the sun that space probes have to follow indirect routes in order to avoid being pulled by the sun's gravity. The journey also very hot, which requires very hardy spacecraft. So scientific probes are few and far between. But the data that we have about the tiny planet shows us that it may have once been much larger and much further from the sun than it is now. This is mainly evident in Mercury's core, which is unusually large for a small planet, covered with a small mantle and an extremely thin crust. Mercury's crust contains thorium, which should have been blown away by the heat of the early solar system -unless Mercury wasn't as close to the sun then as it is now. Scientists have been studying the composition and the relative mineral makeup of Mercury from both the data gleaned by probes and by rare analogue minerals found on earth that may have come here from an event in Mercury's history. The hypothesis is that Mercury was once a much larger planet, and was knocked off its orbit by some event like a collision, then settled in as a remnant of itself in its current orbit close to the sun. Read how the evidence points to this possibility at BBC Future. -via Damn Interesting(Image credit: A loose necktie) 

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Dental CavitiesDental cavities, or caries, is caused by lactic acid dissolving tooth enamel. The acid is produced by bacteria that thrive on the carbohydrates you eat, as some of it is left on your teeth after eating. This is why we brush our teeth, to deprive bacteria of anything to work with. But there's a lot about tooth decay that you probably don't know, like the name of the main bacteria responsible for causing caries, Streptococcus mutans. Once it takes hold in your mouth, this germ is part of your permanent biome, and you probably got it from your mother. Tooth decay didn't bother the dinosaurs. In fact, it doesn't show up in the fossil record of our ancestors until primates evolved. But it really took over when humans began cultivating and eating carbohydrates -grain, that is, and it got worse when we achieved unrestricted supplies of sugar. Brushing your teeth is the best way to prevent decay, but not for the reason you might think. Brushing doesn't really do much unless you have a toothpaste containing fluoride. You might be surprised at how many people never see a dentist, but it makes sense when you think of the expense, and regular health insurance doesn't cover it. Oh, but there's a lot more involved in the science of tooth decay. Read the research behind all the above facts and a lot more you should know about tooth decay at Cremieux Recueil. -via Damn Interesting (Image credit: Jonathan Rolande via Flickr) 

Why Drinking is More Dangerous for Older PeopleAs the Baby Boom generation us retiring, the US is seeing an uptick in injuries, illness, and deaths related to alcohol in people over age 65. A lot of that uptick is due to the fact that Boomers always drank more than their parents, in addition to using drugs. And the cohort is still huge. But there are extra dangers in drinking as an elderly person that you might not realize. The amount of alcohol required to become intoxicated is lower for older people, because their metabolisms are slowing down, and people over 65 retain less water in their bodies than they did when they were younger. Many common prescription medicines taken by older people can magnify the effects of drinking. And even at the same levels of intoxication, older people are more likely to fall down, with greater consequences because their bones are more brittle. Alcohol use is likely to depress one's immune system response as well. Retired people have more time on their hands, but that time shouldn't be filled with alcohol. The healthiest option would be to decrease the amount of alcohol consumed instead. Read more about the effects of aging on alcohol tolerance at CNN. -via Fark(Image credit: Matti Blume) 