The human body is like a super intricate machine. There are so many weird and cool facts about it that you probably haven’t heard. We’ve picked out some of the most interesting ones and some of them will totally surprise you.
There are other facts that are just as cool. Like, did you know that blowing on your thumb can actually help you? And guess what, your heart can squirt blood pretty far across a room!
This list has all sorts of stuff that might make you realize there’s a bunch about yourself that you didn’t know before.
Human teeth are as strong as shark teeth
Even though shark teeth are composed of a tougher mineral than human teeth, they still possess similar strength. This is mainly attributed to the presence of enamel covering them, which is quite alike in both species.
When you blush, so does your stomach lining
Both the stomach and the face turn red when blushing occurs. This happens because blushing makes all the tiny blood vessels in your body, called capillaries, get wider.
This extra blood flow is what makes the redness appear.
Your brain generates enough electricity to power a light bulb
A whole bunch of stuff is happening in your brain. It’s always sending electrical signals and messages between billions of tiny cells called neurons.
If you add up all these signals, they could generate enough power to light up a dim light bulb.
A broken heart does cause a heart condition
It’s known as “broken heart syndrome,” and it’s completely real. When you’re under a lot of emotional stress, it can lead to chest pain and feeling like you can’t breathe well, kind of like a heart attack.
Usually, this feeling goes away within a few days or weeks.
We can make up to 7,000 different facial expressions
Compared to our primate ancestors, we actually have a lot more muscles in our faces. Plus, not having hair on our faces makes it simpler to notice our expressions.
There are so many different ways our faces can show emotions, thousands of them!
There are those who hear the sound of an exploding bomb when falling asleep
This strange occurrence is called “exploding head syndrome.” It’s like hearing a really loud gunshot or explosion, and it usually occurs when you’re falling asleep or waking up.
It’s been suggested that around 10% of people might experience this phenomenon.
Human hair is near indestructible
Hair is pretty tough, with fire being one of the very few things that can actually harm it. Other than that, hair breaks down very, very slowly.
It’s even able to withstand different chemicals and acids without getting damaged easily.
There’s a syndrome where people are obsessed with fine dining
It’s known as Gourmand Syndrome. This occurs when there’s an injury to the front part of the right side of the brain.
After this happens, the person starts to really like eating and thinking about delicious and fancy foods.
Stomach acid is strong enough to burn a hole in your skin
Stomach acidity levels differ between individuals. Nevertheless, the hydrochloric acid that our bodies produce isn’t just powerful enough to digest food, but in some situations, it can even eat through a piece of wood.
Reduce stress by putting your thumb to your mouth and blowing
It might sound odd, but blowing on your thumb can actually help reduce stress. This works by cooling down the thumb and slowing down its pulse. As a result, your whole body starts to feel more relaxed.
All that bacteria in your mouth
Bacteria really enjoy warm and wet places. They flourish in such conditions.
In your mouth, there are at least 615 different kinds of bacteria that scientists have identified, and there could be billions of them living there.
Babies have more bones than adults do
When humans are born, they have around 300 or even more bones. Yet, as they grow, many of these bones gradually join together.
By the time a person becomes an adult, they end up with a total of 212 distinct bones.
If laid side by side, the length of blood vessels would circle the world more than twice
Inside the body, there’s a vast network of blood vessels, including arteries, veins, and capillaries. These tiny tubes weave throughout every part of your arms and legs.
If you were to lay them all out in a line, they would probably stretch somewhere between 60 to 100 thousand miles in total length.
Your eye can see at a resolution of 500 megapixels
This calculation considers your entire range of sight, which covers about 180 degrees. Achieving a similar perspective would require an exceptionally high-quality camera.
The human eye surpasses most devices in this aspect.
There’s ten times as much bacteria in the body as there are human cells
Bacteria outnumber our own cells by a significant margin. These vast communities of microorganisms play a crucial role in our health.
However, scientists have yet to fully explore and understand them.
Skin makes up around 16% of your body weight
In an average adult, that’s roughly 20 pounds or even more of skin alone. If you were to peel it off and lay it out, it would cover an area of about 22 square feet.
That’s definitely a whole lot of skin!
There are mites living on those eyelashes
They also affect other hair follicles. It’s a bit strange to ponder. These mites belong to the Demodex species, and there’s a possibility they might be linked to different skin issues.
The human skeleton regenerates itself every 10 years
Bones are constantly renewing themselves, working around the clock. There’s always a mix of older and newer bones present in the body.
This process keeps ongoing, although it does slow down as we get older.
Your heart can squirt blood up to 30 feet in distance
The heart is like a living pump that generates a lot of pressure, capable of sending blood shooting across a room. It’s really powerful.
In a single day, the heart pumps about 2000 gallons of blood.
The eyes are closed 10% of the time that we are awake
A significant portion of this time is taken up by blinking. Even though a blink happens very quickly, we do it frequently.
On average, a person blinks about 15 to 20 times every minute.
Once removed from the body, the heart has the ability to keep beating
This is the procedure employed in heart transplants, where medical professionals sustain the heart’s beating rhythm during its transfer to the recipient patient.
Globally, this process is carried out approximately 5,000 times annually.
Blood undergoes filtration by your kidneys a total of 25 times within a single day
This results in an approximate daily processing of 180 liters of blood. In comparison, the average human body holds a total of seven to eight liters.
The process of kidney filtration plays a vital role in maintaining the health of your blood.
A specific type of tumor can develop on teeth and hair
Typically, our thoughts gravitate towards tumors forming on the skin or within organs. Nevertheless, there exists a category of cysts referred to as teratomas, which encompass tissues such as bone, hair, and teeth.
These growths can be surgically extracted.
The pink corner in the human eye is reminiscent of similar features found in bird and reptile species
This pink corner in the human eye serves as an evolutionary vestige from the past. It was once akin to the inner eyelid observed in birds and reptiles.
Over millions of years of evolution, only traces of this structure remain.
You are shorter when you go to bed at night
Upon waking up in the morning, your height reaches its maximum due to the decompressed state of your spine. Throughout the day, the spine gradually undergoes compression.
The discs between your vertebrae, which contain a gel-like substance acting as a cushion, shift and move during sleep, contributing to this phenomenon.
Your liver possesses the ability to completely regenerate its size, even if up to 75% of it has been removed
If you were to remove three quarters of the liver, it can still sustain life. Over a gradual period, it will undergo a process of regrowth. Remarkably, the liver stands as the sole organ in the body with the remarkable ability to regenerate.
Approximately every decade after the age of 30, there is a gradual loss of about half an inch in height
As individuals age, a natural process unfolds wherein they tend to become shorter. This phenomenon arises due to the gradual flattening of the discs situated between the vertebrae.
This alteration occurs at a slow pace, often escaping noticeable observation.
The human heartbeat has the ability to synchronize with music.
The rhythm and tempo of the music you’re listening to can influence your heart rate, causing it to either accelerate or decelerate. Music with crescendos, for instance, can lead to the constriction of blood vessels within the cardiovascular system.
Around the age 60, you usually have about half the number of taste buds remaining
At the start, humans possess roughly 10,000 taste buds. Nevertheless, as time progresses, taste perception evolves with age.
Taste buds, in reality, have a lifespan of approximately ten days before undergoing change.
The enzymes that digest food also break down your body after death
Following death, enzymes initiate their action on the body. Microbial organisms can then consume fluids generated during autolysis, the postmortem process.
Kissing can aid in the prevention of cavities
Kissing prompts increased saliva production, which aids in washing away plaque. This reduction in plaque contributes to a decrease in cavities.
Humans are composed of stardust originating from billions of years ago
Approximately 97% of the atoms in the human body are shared with the galaxy we inhabit. Supernovas lead to star explosions, with the resultant dust forming new planets and eventually humans.
In fact, around 93% of the body’s mass is composed of stardust.
Humans glow in the dark
Our bodies possess bioluminescence, which implies that we emit light in the dark. However, the light is extremely faint and remains imperceptible to the human eye. Certain species like fireflies and certain jellyfish exhibit this property more prominently.
The heart manages to pump approximately 200 million liters of blood in a lifetime
The heart undergoes more than 100,000 contractions daily, consistently pumping blood. During exercise, it can accelerate up to six times its normal rate as well.
In the 1940’s, most people dreamed in black and white
Around three-quarters of Americans during that time period indicated that they rarely witnessed color in their dreams. This phenomenon is thought to be influenced by the prevalence of black and white television and films.
Presently, the proportion of individuals reporting such experiences is notably smaller.
The mouth generates approximately one to two liters of saliva a day
This quantity of saliva is sufficient to fill two to four water bottles. The mere thought of food can activate your salivary glands, and their activity intensifies during eating.
When submerged in water, your body initiates a physiological response known as the “diving reflex”
This reflex prompts specific bodily systems to shut down, conserving energy, and leads to tangible physiological alterations.
Research strongly suggests that humans have a significant aquatic history.
If you were to untwist all of your DNA, its length would be sufficient to span the solar system twice over
DNA consists of lengthy coils, and if these coils were to be unraveled, your DNA would extend from Earth to Pluto and back.
Remarkably, every single cell contains approximately 2 meters’ worth of DNA.
The composition of tears varies depending on whether they were shed due to sadness or happiness
The specific emotion that triggers tear formation is significant. There exist three distinct types of tears, each displaying distinct microscopic appearances.
The human body contains enough fat to produce ten bars of soap
The potential amount of soap that could be produced from a person’s body varies based on individual factors. The availability of fat reserves determines the quantity of soap that could potentially be derived.
Women’s brains shrink during pregnancy
Following childbirth, it can take around six months for the brain to regain its normal size. While not a significant alteration, it is noticeable. The reversal of these changes begins gradually after the baby is delivered.
The cornea of the eye lacks its own blood supply
It stands as the sole body part devoid of blood supply, as it doesn’t require it. The cornea obtains oxygen directly from the surrounding air it is exposed to.
The initial structure to form in a human embryo is the anus
One might expect the brain or any other organ to take precedence, but surprisingly, the first to develop is indeed the anus.
Following that, the mouth is the second structure to form, which does seem logical in a way.
Fingerprints in a human embryo begin to develop around the three-month mark
By the 17th week of pregnancy, fingerprints are largely established and remain constant throughout a person’s life. This uniqueness of fingerprints persists, and they never alter thereafter.
About a quarter of the bones in your body are located in your feet
In each foot and ankle, there are a total of 26 bones, along with 33 joints and over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This region constitutes an intricate and complex part of your skeletal system.
Astronauts can experience an increase in height of up to two inches while in space
Due to the absence of constant gravitational force, the body has the opportunity to elongate in space. Many astronauts return from space missions slightly taller than before, with some experiencing up to two inches of growth.
This effect is particularly pronounced in cases where an astronaut has spent an extended period, such as around a year, aboard a space station.
The length of the small intestine measures approximately 20 feet
Furthermore, the human large intestine is approximately five feet in length. When combined with the small intestine, these two organs would create a rope long enough to rappel down from a three-story building.
During starvation, the brain can initiate a process in which it starts to consume its own tissue
This condition can also arise from severe dieting and is referred to as autophagy in scientific terms. It involves cells within the body beginning to consume small portions of themselves.
Without oxygen, the brain can last around five to ten minutes before irreparable harm sets in
After one or two minutes without oxygen, you will lose consciousness. Nevertheless, your brain remains active for a short time after that.
Even if the heart stops, it takes roughly six additional minutes for brain death to ensue.
When you possess a duplicate organ, having only one is sufficient for sustaining life
For instance, losing one lung doesn’t impede normal life; it might limit strenuous exercise. The concept applies similarly to kidneys.
Simultaneously swallowing and breathing is not achievable
Many other animals possess this ability, unlike humans. The positioning of our voice box dictates that it’s a choice between swallowing or breathing; both actions cannot be performed simultaneously.
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