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, ...

For decades, the appendix has been dismissed as a useless organ — a leftover from human evolution with no real function.

According to a new study by researchers at Midwestern University, the appendix might serve an important bodily function. According to the study, led by Heather F. Smith, an associate professor at ...

It has long been regarded as a potentially troublesome, redundant organ, but American researchers say they have discovered the true function of the appendix. The researchers say it acts as a safe ...

The human appendix, a narrow pouch that projects off the cecum in the digestive system, has a notorious reputation for its tendency to become inflamed (appendicitis), often resulting in surgical ...

The appendix has long had a reputation as a redundant organ with no real function. Doctors often remove it even in mild cases of appendicitis to prevent future infection and rupture, which may not ...

Creationists will have a field day with this one. Turns out that Charles Darwin was wrong about the appendix. Darwin believed the organ didn’t do anything useful, so it might have been vestigial — an ...

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say that the function of the frequently discarded appendix, an organ often credited with little importance and often dismissed as having no significant ...

Most of us are familiar with the appendix, that worm-shaped tube at the beginning of the large intestine, even if we can’t remember which side of the abdomen it resides. (Hint: It’s not the left side.