A sudden appendectomy as a child made Heather Smith curious about what the appendix is for and why it gets inflamed. Now as an anatomy researcher,... Your appendix is not, in fact, useless. This ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. It’s the one organ we’ve been told is basically useless, and now it might actually be harboring a stealthy health risk. So ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. You may have heard that astronauts have their appendix removed before leaving Earth. After all, people say you can live without ...

As humans have evolved, some anatomical parts with functional roles in the body have become unfunctional and are often referred to as vestigial organs or structures. Some are believed to be a ...

It was the first day of spring break in 1992 in Phoenix, and 12-year-old Heather Smith was excited for her family's upcoming ski trip. But before Smith and her family had even packed their snow pants, ...

You may have heard that astronauts have their appendix removed before leaving Earth. After all, people say you can live without this organ because it serves no purpose, but how much truth is there in ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. It was the first day of spring break ...