Why is Horseshoe Crab Blood So Expensive?

Samhain is a pagan holiday -- celebrated between the fall equinox and winter solstice -- that helped form modern, secular Halloween celebrations. Learn about Samhain in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holid ...  Show more

After a tragic set of murders in 1974, the next residents at a grand old house in Amityville, New York, claimed the home was demonically haunted. Their story spawned a horror sensation. But was the whole thing a money-making hoax? Did the murderer really hear voices there? Learn ...  Show more

How does the blood of a 450-million-year-old arthropod help prevent lethal infections in humans? And could we exhaust the supply?  Zachary Crockett wades in.

For decades, humans have harvested the blood of horseshoe crabs, which is used to test whether many of our vaccines and medicines are contaminated with harmful bacterial toxins. But the horseshoe crab harvesting industry has few regulations and a lot of secrecy. NPR investigative ...  Show more

The horseshoe crab has endured for over 450 million years. It has survived several mass extinctions including the one that killed off the dinosaurs. One reason for their incredible resiliency is their ability to fend off bacterial infection. Their blood contains cells that clot a ...  Show more