Human
Mysteries
The Human
Body is a treasure trove of mysteries, one that still confounds doctors and
scientists about the details of its working. It's not an overstatement to say
that every part of your body is a miracle. Here are fifty facts about your
body, some of which will leave you stunned...or...
1. It's
possible for your body to survive without a surprisingly large fraction of its
internal organs. Even if you lose your stomach, your spleen, 75% of your liver,
80% of your intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from
your pelvic and groin area, you wouldn't be very healthy, but you would live.
2. During
your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools.
Actually, Saliva is more important than you realize. If your saliva cannot
dissolve something, you cannot taste it.
3. The
largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male
sperm.
The egg is
actually the only cell in the body that is visible by the naked eye.
4. The
strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue and the hardest bone is the
jawbone.
5. Human
feet have 52 bones, accounting for one quarter of all the human body's bones.
6. Feet have
500,000 sweat glands and can produce more than a pint of sweat a day.
7. The acid
in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razor blades. The reason it
doesn't eat away at your stomach is that the cells of your stomach wall renew
themselves so frequently that you get a new stomach lining every three to four
days.
8. The human
lungs contain approximately 2,400 kilometers (1,500 mi) of airways and 300 to
500 million hollow cavities, having a total surface area of about 70 square
meters, roughly the same area as one side of a tennis court. Furthermore, if
all of the capillaries that surround the lung cavities were unwound and laid
end to end, they would extend for about 992 kilometers. Also, your left lung is
smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.
9. Sneezes
regularly exceed 100 mph, while coughs clock in at about 60 mph.
10. Your
body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring half a gallon of water to a
boil.
11. Your
body has enough iron in it to make a nail 3 inches long.
12. Earwax
production is necessary for good ear health. It protects the delicate inner ear
from bacteria, fungus, dirt and even insects. It also cleans and lubricates the
ear canal.
13. Everyone
has a unique smell, except for identical twins, who smell the same.
14. Your
teeth start growing 6 months before you are born. This is why one out of every
2,000 newborn infants has a tooth when they are born
15. A baby's
head is one-quarter of its total length, but by the age of 25 will only be
one-eighth of its total length. This is because people's heads grow at a much
slower rate than the rest of their bodies.
16. Babies
are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood the number is reduced to 206. Some of
the bones, like skull bones, get fused into each other, bringing down the total
number.
17. It's not
possible to tickle yourself. This is because when you attempt to tickle
yourself you are totally aware of the exact time and manner in which the
tickling will occur, unlike when someone else tickles you.
18. Less
than one third of the human race has 20-20 vision. This means that two out of
three people cannot see perfectly.
19. Your
nose can remember 50,000 different scents. But if you are a woman, you are a
better smeller than men, and will remain a better smeller throughout your life.
20. The
human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
21. The
three things pregnant women dream most of during their first trimester are
frogs, worms and potted plants. Scientists have no idea why this is so, but attribute
it to the growing imbalance of hormones in the body during pregnancy.
22. The life
span of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average. Every day the average person
loses 60-100 strands of hair. But don't worry, you must lose over 50% of your
scalp hairs before it is apparent to anyone.
23. The
human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as an encyclopedia.
Your brain
uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream, and is itself made up of
80% water. Though it interprets pain signals from the rest of the body, the
brain itself cannot feel pain.
24. The
tooth is the only part of the human body that can't repair itself.
25. Your
eyes are always the same size from birth but your nose and ears never stop
growing.
26. By 60
years of age, 60% of men and 40% of women will snore.
27. We are
about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening, because during normal
activities during the day, the cartilage in our knees and other areas slowly
compress.
28. The
brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb, even while
you are sleeping. In fact, the brain is much more active at night than during
the day.
29. Nerve
impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. Neurons
continue to grow throughout human life. Information travels at different speeds
within different types of neurons.
30. It is a
fact that people who dream more often and more vividly, on an average have a
higher Intelligence Quotient.
31. The
fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.
32. Facial
hair grows faster than any other hair on the body. This is true for men as well
as women.
33. There
are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee.
34. A human
fetus acquires fingerprints at the age of three months.
35. By the
age of 60, most people will have lost about half their taste buds.
36. About 32
million bacteria call every inch of your skin home. But don't worry, a majority
of these are harmless or even helpful bacteria.
37. The
colder the room you sleep in, the higher the chances are that you'll have a bad
dream.
38. Human
lips have a reddish color because of the great concentration of tiny
capillaries
just below
the skin.
39. Three
hundred million cells die in the human body every minute.
40. Like
fingerprints, every individual has an unique tongue print that can be used for
identification.
41. A human
head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it has been
decapitated.
42. It takes
17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.
43. Humans
can make do longer without food than sleep. Provided there is water, the
average human could survive a month to two months without food depending on
their body fat and other factors. Sleep deprived people, however, start
experiencing radical personality and psychological changes after only a few
sleepless days. The longest recorded time anyone has ever gone without sleep is
11 days, at the end of which the experimenter was awake, but stumbled over
words, hallucinated and frequently forgot what he was doing.
44. The most
common blood type in the world is Type O. The rarest blood type, A-H or Bombay
blood, due to the location of its discovery, has been found in less than
hundred people since it was discovered
45. Every
human spent about half an hour after being conceived, as a single cell. Shortly
afterward, the cells begin rapidly dividing and begin forming the components of
a tiny embryo.
46.
Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people
do.
47. Your
ears secrete more earwax when you are afraid than when you aren't.
48. Koalas
and primates are the only animals with unique fingerprints.
49. Humans
are the only animals to produce emotional tears.
50. The
human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet in the air.
