New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Excretory system

The excretory system is the system of an organism's body that performs the function of excretion, the bodily process of discharging wastes. The Excretory system is responsible for the elimination of wastes produced by homeostasis. There are several parts of the body that are involved in this process, such as sweat glands, the liver, the lungs and the kidney system.

Every human has two kidneys. Each kidney is made up of three sections: the renal cortex, the renal medulla and the renal pelvis. The blood arrives at the kidney via the renal artery, which splits into many afferent arterioles. These arterioles go to the Bowman's Capsules of nephrons, where the wastes are taken out of the blood by pressure filtration. Peritubular capillaries also surround the nephron so substances can be taken in and out of the blood. The renal cortex is the outer layer of the kidney and the medulla is the inner layer of the kidney. The renal pelvis takes urine away from the kidney via the ureter. Both of the ureters lead the urine into the body's only urinary bladder, which expands and sends nerve impulses when full. From there, urine is expelled through the urethra and out of the body.

Related Stories
 


Health & Medicine News

January 26, 2026

Home fireplaces and wood stoves are quietly driving a large share of winter air pollution, even though only a small number of households rely on wood heat. Researchers found that wood smoke accounts for over one-fifth of Americans’ winter exposure ...
A 5,500-year-old skeleton from Colombia has revealed the oldest known genome of the bacterium linked to syphilis and related diseases. The ancient strain doesn’t fit neatly into modern categories, hinting at a forgotten form that split off early ...
Cancer doesn’t evolve by pure chaos. Scientists have developed a powerful new method that reveals the hidden rules guiding how cancer cells gain and lose whole chromosomes—massive genetic shifts that help tumors grow, adapt, and survive ...
Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the same receptor, triggering synapse loss. Surprisingly, ...
A newly uncovered immune chain reaction in the gut may explain why people with inflammatory bowel disease face a much higher risk of colorectal cancer. Researchers found that a powerful inflammatory signal flips on specialized gut immune cells, ...
Scientists are warning that a little-known group of microbes called free-living amoebae may pose a growing global health threat. Found in soil and water, some species can survive extreme heat, chlorine, and even modern water systems—conditions ...
Researchers have found that a natural aging-related molecule can repair key memory processes affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The compound improves communication between brain cells and restores early memory abilities that typically fade first. ...
Pancreatic cancer may evade the immune system using a clever molecular trick. Researchers found that the cancer-driving protein MYC also suppresses immune alarm signals, allowing tumors to grow unnoticed. When this immune-shielding ability was ...
Chronic inflammation may be quietly reshaping the colon and making it more vulnerable to early-onset colorectal cancer. Scientists found that colon tissue in younger patients was stiffer, even in areas that appeared healthy, suggesting these changes ...
Aging immune cells may be sabotaging the body from within. Researchers found that macrophages produce a protein that locks them into a chronic inflammatory state, making infections like sepsis more deadly in older adults. Turning off this signal ...
People with spinal cord injuries often lose movement even though their brains still send the right signals. Researchers tested whether EEG brain scans could capture those signals and reroute them to spinal stimulators. The system can detect when a ...
A large, decades-long study suggests that signs of ADHD in childhood may have consequences that extend well beyond school and behavior. Researchers followed nearly 11,000 people from childhood into midlife and found that those with strong ADHD ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET