By Paige Greenfield

With recent research indicating that the appendix isn't just a ticking time bomb, we got thinking: what other body parts get an undeserved bad rap, and which ones can you live without? We found seven of the most maligned, misunderstood body parts and figured out their function (or total lack thereof). Find out the lowdown, from your uvula to your earlobes, after the jump.

by Cristina Goyanes

Mirrors can tell us lots of things: whether that hangover from last night is showing in our faces, whether we've finally tamed that cowlick, whether our butts really do look big in those pants. But they can also give us a telling glimpse into what's going on below the surface.

Science suggests some physical traits may indicate clues about our health. Last week, for instance, American and German researchers published a study showing that tall men (6'3" and over) were 40 percent more likely to get an aggressive form of prostate cancer than men of average (5'7") height . This finding illustrated what researchers had long suspected: a report published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention last year  found that men’s cancer risk increased by 6 percent for every additional 3.9-inch increase in height over the average, and that having longer legs increased the odds from 12 to 23 percent.

Thanks in part to plan B's complicated history, there are a lot ofmyths and misunderstandings about emergency contraception. And despitethe fact that the pill has been on the market since 1999, there's stillsome confusion about how it works.

First, don't confuse Plan B,which prevents pregnancy, with RU-486, the pill used in a medicalabortion.  “They’re entirely and absolutely different,” says JamesTrussell, who directs Princeton's Office of Population Research andruns Not-2-Late, a website and hotline devoted to emergency contraception.  RU-486 contains a synthetic steroid calledmifepristone, which interferes with the body’s production of progesterone necessary to sustain pregnancy. Plan B has nothing to do withprogesterone. Instead, it inhibits or delays ovulation. Plan B It is noteffective if the process of implantation has begun.

 Buteven sex-savvy women and men who have that fact down can get confusedabout the basics of Plan B. That's why we've put together a list ofsome hard facts about how it works, how it doesn't, and what you shouldknow.

Read more after the jump.

He started by Googling "hangnail." (Touchstone Pictures)

by Lisa Jones

It starts innocently. The big toe on your right toe doesn’t feel quite right—it’s kind of numb, a little tingly. Maybe I just tied my running shoes too tight at the gym, you think. It’s probably nothing.

But you’re curious. So soon you’re typing “numbness” and “tingly toe” into a search engine. And in no time you’re clicking on links about “Morton’s neuroma,” “transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke)” and “vitamin B deficiency.” Oh, no, you think. It’s a mini-stroke. You’re sure of it.

Sound familiar?

A 2008 study by Microsoft Research showed that Web search engines have the potential to cause an unfounded escalation of medical concerns, a.k.a. cyberchondria. This is because the Internet is designed for finding relevance—not capturing diagnostic factors like disease probability—so search engines link rare serious disorders and common symptoms (such as brain tumors and headaches), according to Eric Horvitz, one of the study researchers.

But if you look online for health information—61 percent of American adults do, according to a June report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project—you don’t have to end up in panic mode. Use the tips found after the jump to navigate through the mass of health and medical information without losing your perspective.

Researching a health condition online? Don't get sucked in by poorly run, out-of-date sites that might scare you with misinformation—or discourage you from proven treatment. Bookmark these pages for all your health and medical questions. Still have questions? Find these sites and more on the Medical Library Association's Top Ten List.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cleveland Clinic

American Academy of Family Physicians

Mayo Clinic

Medline Plus (from the National Institutes of Health)

—Lisa Jones

Photo: afiler

What is it about diet soda that seems so naughty? Maybe it’s because enjoying something without any calories leads people to feel like they’re going to have to pay one way or another-if not with their waistline now, then with ambiguous bad health later (a tumor? osteoporosis?). Maybe it’s because it takes an already unnatural beverage-there’s no such thing as a soda tree-and fills it with even more foreign substances. Either way, people often have a complex, love-hate relationship with diet soda, especially when you throw some caffeine into the mix.

But it’s not good to fear your food. And while as adults we can eat whatever we want, it’s also nice to know what it is we’re eating. With that in mind, we set out to find the truth behind the biggest diet-soda myths.