Why Sweat Is A Human Superpower

Think sweat is gross?

"It could have been so much worse," says Sarah Everts, the author of a new book called The Joy of Sweat, that is all about, you guessed it, the science of sweating.

Turns out human sweat — our body's air conditioning system — is really pretty tame on the "yuck" scale of animal cooling methods.

Dogs drool to stay cool, while vultures will poop on their legs and seals urinate on their feet, she says. When you think about what evolution could have bequeathed us, Everts says, "sweat is arguably a million times better."

In fact, Everts tells NPR's, instead of thinking of sweat as gross, think of it as an "evolutionary marvel." She even calls it a human superpower and a highly efficient one at that. "We effectively dispatch water to our skin and, as it