It’s been a physiology-full 2016 on the I Spy Physiology blog! From exercise to respiration to heart health and beyond, we’ve explored how the bodies of humans and other animals work, adapt and react. Today, we take a look back at our 10 most read posts of the year.

Concussions among football players was headline news in 2016. Against this backdrop, our most popular post of the year looked at how woodpeckers can bang their heads roughly 12,000 times a day at a greater force than the average football hit without sustaining a head injury. Posts about the amazing endurance of Iditarod sled dogs and a researcher’s excellent explanation of what physiology is and why it’s important round out the top three. Check out this year’s top 10:

• Football Safety Tips from Birds? How Woodpeckers Avoid Concussions after Head Impact
• Running a Thousand Miles Can Be Exhausting. How Do Iditarod Sled Dogs Do It?
• What Is Physiology?…and Why You Should Care
• Why Do You Gasp for Air on a Cold Winter’s Day?
• To Play Better, Skip the Post-Game Drink
• Exercise: It Does a Body—No, Your Brain—Good!
• The Young Qualities of Old Muscle
• Capsaicin Causes Pain, No Gain
• Don’t Be Cold-Hearted: Understand and Protect Yourself from the Cardiovascular Risks of Cold Weather
• Physiology for the Armchair Scientist

If you’ve got a topic that you’d like us to cover in 2017, we’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments or send us an email.

Stacy Brooks is the former director of marketing and communications for the American Physiological Society (APS). One of her favorite things about working at APS was learning about the interesting and important research that physiologists do and finding ways to communicate their science to a wide variety of audiences who benefit from these research advances.