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100 Weird Facts About the Human Body

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 5:23pm by admin

By Christina Laun

The human body is an incredibly complex and intricate system, one that still baffles doctors and researchers on

regular basis despite thousands of years of medical knowledge. As a result, it shouldnt be any surprise that eve

body parts and functions we deal with every day have bizarre or unexpected facts and explanations behind them

From sneezes to fingernail growth, here are 100 weird, wacky, and interesting facts about the human body.

The Brain

The human brain is the most complex and least understood part of the human anatomy. There may be a lot we

dont know, but here are a few interesting facts that weve got covered.

1. Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. Ever wonder how you ca

react so fast to things around you or why that stubbed toe hurts right away? Its due to the super-speedy

movement of nerve impulses from your brain to the rest of your body and vice versa, bringing reactions a

the speed of a high powered luxury sports car.

2. The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. The cartoon image of a light

bulb over your head when a great thought occurs isnt too far off the mark. Your brain generates as much

energy as a small light bulb even when youre sleeping.

3. The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica. Or an

other encyclopedia for that matter. Scientists have yet to settle on a definitive amount, but the storage

capacity of the brain in electronic terms is thought to be between 3 or even 1,000 terabytes. The Nationa

Archives of Britain, containing over 900 years of history, only takes up 70 terabytes, making your brains

memory power pretty darn impressive.

4. Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream. The brain only makes up about 2%

of our body mass, yet consumes more oxygen than any other organ in the body, making it extremely

susceptible to damage related to oxygen deprivation. So breathe deep to keep your brain happy and

swimming in oxygenated cells.

5. The brain is much more active at night than during the day. Logically, you would think that all the

moving around, complicated calculations and tasks and general interaction we do on a daily basis during

our working hours would take a lot more brain power than, say, lying in bed. Turns out, the opposite is tr

When you turn off your brain turns on. Scientists dont yet know why this is but you can thank the hard wo

of your brain while you sleep for all those pleasant dreams.

6. Scientists say the higher your I.Q. the more you dream. While this may be true, dont take it as a sign

youre mentally lacking if you cant recall your dreams. Most of us dont remember many of our dreams a

the average length of most dreams is only 2-3 secondsbarely long enough to register.

7. Neurons continue to grow throughout human life. For years scientists and doctors thought that brain

and neural tissue couldnt grow or regenerate. While it doesnt act in the same manner as tissues in man

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other parts of the body, neurons can and do grow throughout your life, adding a whole new dimension to

study of the brain and the illnesses that affect it.

8. Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all neurons are the sam

There are a few different types within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slo

as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.

9. The brain itself cannot feel pain. While the brain might be the pain center when you cut your finger or

burn yourself, the brain itself does not have pain receptors and cannot feel pain. That doesnt mean your

head cant hurt. The brain is surrounded by loads of tissues, nerves and blood vessels that are plenty

receptive to pain and can give you a pounding headache.

10. 80% of the brain is water. Your brain isnt the firm, gray mass youve seen on TV. Living brain tissue is

squishy, pink and jelly-like organ thanks to the loads of blood and high water content of the tissue. So the

next time youre feeling dehydrated get a drink to keep your brain hydrated.

Hair and Nails

While theyre not a living part of your body, most people spend a good amount of time caring for their hair and

nails. The next time youre heading in for a haircut or manicure, think of these facts.

11. Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body. If youve ever had a covering of stubble on

your face as youre clocking out at 5 oclock youre probably pretty familiar with this. In fact, if the average

man never shaved his beard it would grow to over 30 feet during his lifetime, longer than a killer whale.

12. Every day the average person loses 60-100 strands of hair. Unless youre already bald, chances are

good that youre shedding pretty heavily on a daily basis. Your hair loss will vary in accordance with the

season, pregnancy, illness, diet and age.

13. Womens hair is about half the diameter of mens hair. While it might sound strange, it shouldnt com

as too much of a surprise that mens hair should be coarser than that of women. Hair diameter also varie

on average between races, making hair plugs on some men look especially obvious.

14. One human hair can support 3.5 ounces. Thats about the weight of two full size candy bars, and with

hundreds of thousands of hairs on the human head, makes the tale of Rapunzel much more plausible.

15. The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger. And the nail on the middle finger of your dominant ha

will grow the fastest of all. Why is not entirely known, but nail growth is related to the length of the finger,

with the longest fingers growing nails the fastest and shortest the slowest.

16. There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee. Humans are not quite the

naked apes that were made out to be. We have lots of hair, but on most of us its not obvious as a major

of the hairs are too fine or light to be seen.

17. Blondes have more hair. Theyre said to have more fun, and they definitely have more hair. Hair color

determines how dense the hair on your head is. The average human has 100,000 hair follicles, each of

which is capable of producing 20 individual hairs during a persons lifetime. Blondes average 146,000

follicles while people with black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles. Those with brown hair fit the

average with 100,000 follicles and redheads have the least dense hair, with about 86,000 follicles.

18. Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails. If you notice that youre trimming your fingernails

much more frequently than your toenails youre not just imagining it. The nails that get the most exposure

and are used most frequently grow the fastest. On average, nails on both the toes and fingers grow abou

one-tenth of an inch each month.

19. The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average. While you quite a few hairs each day, your h

actually have a pretty long life providing they arent subject to any trauma. Your hairs will likely get to see

http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/sick/headache.htmlhttp://www.beards.org/http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080211-fairytales-science.htmlhttp://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080211-fairytales-science.htmlhttp://www.beards.org/http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/sick/headache.html


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several different haircuts, styles, and even possibly decades before they fall out on their own.

20. You must lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it is apparent to anyone. You lose hundreds of

hairs a day but youll have to lose a lot more before you or anyone else will notice. Half of the hairs on yo

pretty little head will have to disappear before your impending baldness will become obvious to all those

around you.

21. Human hair is virtually indestructible. Aside from its flammability, human hair decays at such a slow r

that it is practically non-disintegrative. If youve ever wondered how your how clogs up your pipes so qu

consider this: hair cannot be destroyed by cold, change of climate, water, or other natural forces and it is

resistant to many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.

Internal Organs

Though we may not give them much thought unless theyre bothering us, our internal organs are what allow us

go on eating, breathing and walking around. Here are some things to consider the next time you hear your

stomach growl.

22. The largest internal organ is the small intestine. Despite being called the smaller of the two intestines

your small intestine is actually four times as long as the average adult is tall. If it werent looped back and

forth upon itself it wouldnt fit inside the abdominal cavity.

23. The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet. No wonder you can feel your

heartbeat so easily. Pumping blood through your body quickly and efficiently takes quite a bit of pressure

resulting in the strong contractions of the heart and the thick walls of the ventricles which push blood to th

body.

24. The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. While you certainly shouldnt te

the fortitude of your stomach by eating a razorblade or any other metal object for that matter, the acids t

digest the food you eat arent to be taken lightly. Hydrochloric acid, the type found in your stomach, is not

only good at dissolving the pizza you had for dinner but can also eat through many types of metal.

25. The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels. To put that in perspective, the

distance around the earth is about 25,000 miles, making the distance your blood vessels could travel if la

end to end more than two times around the earth.

26. You get a new stomach lining every three to four days. The mucus-like cells lining the walls of the

stomach would soon dissolve due to the strong digestive acids in your stomach if they werent constantly

replaced. Those with ulcers know how painful it can be when stomach acid takes its toll on the lining of yo

stomach.

27. The surface area of a human lung is equal to a tennis court. In order to more efficiently oxygenate th

blood, the lungs are filled with thousands of branching bronchi and tiny, grape-like alveoli. These are fille

with microscopic capillaries which oxygen and carbon dioxide. The large amount of surface area makes i

easier for this exchange to take place, and makes sure you stay properly oxygenated at all times.

28. Womens hearts beat faster than mens.The main reason for this is simply that on average women ten

to be smaller than men and have less mass to pump blood to. But womens and mens hearts can actual

act quite differently, especially when experiencing trauma like a heart attack, and many treatments that

work for men must be adjusted or changed entirely to work for women.

29. Scientists have counted over 500 different liver functions. You may not think much about your liver

except after a long night of drinking, but the liver is one of the bodys hardest working, largest and busiest

organs. Some of the functions your liver performs are: production of bile, decomposition of red blood cell

plasma protein synthesis, and detoxification.

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30. The aorta is nearly the diameter of a garden hose. The average adult heart is about the size of two fis

making the size of the aorta quite impressive. The artery needs to be so large as it is the main supplier of

rich, oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

31. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart. For most people, if they

were asked to draw a picture of what the lungs look like they would draw both looking roughly the same

size. While the lungs are fairly similar in size, the human heart, though located fairly centrally, is tilted

slightly to the left making it take up more room on that side of the body and crowding out that poor left lun

32. You could remove a large part of your internal organs and survive. The human body may appear

fragile but its possible to survive even with the removal of the stomach, the spleen, 75 percent of the live

80 percent of the intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from the pelvic and groin are

You might not feel too great, but the missing organs wouldnt kill you.

33. The adrenal glands change size throughout life. The adrenal glands, lying right above the kidneys, a

responsible for releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. In the seventh month of a fetus

development, the glands are roughly the same size as the kidneys. At birth, the glands have shrunk sligh

and will continue to do so throughout life. In fact, by the time a person reaches old age, the glands are so

small they can hardly be seen.

Bodily Functions

We may not always like to talk about them, but everyone has to deal with bodily functions on a daily basis. Thes

are a few facts about the involuntary and sometimes unpleasant actions of our bodies.

34. Sneezes regularly exceed 100 mph. Theres a good reason why you cant keep your eyes open when y

sneezethat sneeze is rocketing out of your body at close to 100 mph. This is, of course, a good reason t

cover your mouth when you sneeze.

35. Coughs clock in at about 60 mph. Viruses and colds get spread around the office and the classroom

quickly during cold and flu season. With 60 mph coughs spraying germs far and wide, its no wonder.

36. Women blink twice as many times as men do. Thats a lot of blinking every day. The average person,

man or woman, blinks about 13 times a minute.

37. A full bladder is roughly the size of a soft ball. No wonder you have to run to bathroom when you feel

the call of the wild. The average bladder holds about 400-800 cc of fluid but most people will feel the urge

go long before that at 250 to 300 cc.

38. Approximately 75% of human waste is made of water. While we might typically think that urine is the

liquid part of human waste products, the truth is that what we consider solid waste is actually mostly wat

as well. You should be thankful that most waste is fairly water-filled, as drier harder stools are what cause

constipation and are much harder and sometimes painful to pass.

39. Feet have 500,000 sweat glands and can produce more than a pint of sweat a day. With that kind of

sweat-producing power its no wonder that your gym shoes have a stench that can peel paint. Additionall

men usually have much more active sweat glands than women.

40. During your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools. Saliva plays an

important part in beginning the digestive process and keeping the mouth lubricated, and your mouth

produces quite a bit of it on a daily basis.

41. The average person expels flatulence 14 times each day. Even if youd like to think youre too dignifie

to pass gas, the reality is that almost everyone will at least a few times a day. Digestion causes the body

release gases which can be painful if trapped in the abdomen and not released.

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42. Earwax production is necessary for good ear health. While many people find earwax to be disgusting

its actually a very important part of your ears defense system. It protects the delicate inner ear from

bacteria, fungus, dirt and even insects. It also cleans and lubricates the ear canal.

Sex and Reproduction

As taboo as it may be in some places, sex is an important part of human life as a facet of relationships and the

means to reproduce. Here are a few things you might not have known.

43. On any given day, sexual intercourse takes place 120 million times on earth. Humans are a quickly

proliferating species, and with about 4% of the worlds population having sex on any given day, its no

wonder that birth rates continue to increase in many places all over the world.

44. The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm. While yo

cant see skin cells or muscle cells, the ovum is typically large enough to be seen with the naked eye with

diameter of about a millimeter. The sperm cell, on the other hand, is tiny, consisting of little more than

nucleus.

45. The three things pregnant women dream most of during their first trimester are frogs, worms and

potted plants. Pregnancy hormones can cause mood swings, cravings and many other unexpected

changes. Oddly enough, hormones can often affect the types of dreams women have and their vividness

The most common are these three types, but many women also dream of water, giving birth or even hav

violent or sexually charged dreams.

46. Your teeth start growing 6 months before you are born. While few babies are born with teeth in place

the teeth that will eventually push through the gums of young children are formed long before the child ev

leaves the womb. At 9 to 12 weeks the fetus starts to form the teeth buds that will turn into baby teeth.

47. Babies are always born with blue eyes. The color of your eyes depends on the genes you get from you

parents, but at birth most babies appear to have blue eyes. The reason behind this is the pigment melani

The melanin in a newborns eyes often needs time after birth to be fully deposited or to be darkened by

exposure to ultraviolet light, later revealing the babys true eye color.

48. Babies are, pound for pound, stronger than an ox. While a baby certainly couldnt pull a covered wag

at its present size, if the child were the size of an oxen it just might very well be able to. Babies have

especially strong and powerful legs for such tiny creatures, so watch out for those kicks.

49. One out of every 2,000 newborn infants has a tooth when they are born. Nursing mothers may cring

at this fact. Sometimes the tooth is a regular baby tooth that has already erupted and sometimes it is an

extra tooth that will fall out before the other set of choppers comes in.

50. A fetus acquires fingerprints at the age of three months. When only a small fraction of the way throu

its development, a fetus will have already developed one of the most unique human traits: fingerprints. At

only 6-13 weeks of development, the whorls of what will be fingerprints have already developed. Oddly

enough, those fingerprints will not change throughout the persons life and will be one of the last things to

disappear after death.

51. Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell. All life has to begin somewhere, and even the

largest humans spent a short part of their lives as a single celled organism when sperm and egg cells firs

combine. Shortly afterward, the cells begin rapidly dividing and begin forming the components of a tiny

embryo.

52. Most men have erections every hour to hour and a half during sleep. Most peoples bodies and mind

are much more active when theyre sleeping than they think. The combination of blood circulation and

testosterone production can cause erections during sleep and theyre often a normal and necessary part

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_birth_ratehttp://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-fetal-development-indexhttp://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-fetal-development-indexhttp://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-fetal-development-indexhttp://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-fetal-development-indexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_birth_rate


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REM sleep.

Senses

The primary means by which we interact with the world around us is through our senses. Here are some

interesting facts about these five sensory abilities.

53. After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp. If youre heading to a concert or a musical after a b

meal you may be doing yourself a disservice. Try eating a smaller meal if you need to keep your hearing

pitch perfect.

54. About one third of the human race has 20-20 vision. Glasses and contact wearers are hardly alone in

world where two thirds of the population have less than perfect vision. The amount of people with perfect

vision decreases further as they age.

55. If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it. In order for foods, or anything else, to have

taste, chemicals from the substance must be dissolved by saliva. If you dont believe it, try drying off your

tongue before tasting something.

56. Women are born better smellers than men and remain better smellers over life. Studies have show

that women are more able to correctly pinpoint just what a smell is. Women were better able to identify

citrus, vanilla, cinnamon and coffee smells. While women are overall better smellers, there is an unfortun

2% of the population with no sense of smell at all.

57. Your nose can remember 50,000 different scents. While a bloodhounds nose may be a million times

more sensitive than a humans, that doesnt mean that the human sense of smell is useless. Humans can

identify a wide variety of scents and many are strongly tied to memories.

58. Even small noises cause the pupils of the eyes to dilate. It is believed that this is why surgeons,

watchmakers and others who perform delicate manual operations are so bothered by uninvited noise. Th

sound causes their pupils to change focus and blur their vision, making it harder to do their job well.

59. Everyone has a unique smell, except for identical twins. Newborns are able to recognize the smell of

their mothers and many of us can pinpoint the smell of our significant others and those we are close to. P

of that smell is determined by genetics, but its also largely do to environment, diet and personal hygiene

products that create a unique chemistry for each person.

Aging and Death

From the very young to the very old, aging is a necessary and unavoidable part of life. Learn about the process

with these interesting, if somewhat strange facts.

60. The ashes of a cremated person average about 9 pounds. A big part of what gives the human body

weight is the water trapped in our cells. Once cremated, that water and a majority of our tissues are

destroyed, leaving little behind.

61. Nails and hair do not continue to grow after we die. They do appear longer when we die, however, as

the skin dehydrates and pulls back from the nail beds and scalp.

62. By the age of 60, most people will have lost about half their taste buds. Perhaps you shouldnt trust

your grandmas cooking as much as you do. Older individuals tend to lose their ability to taste, and many

find that they need much more intense flavoring in order to be able to fully appreciate a dish.

63. Your eyes are always the same size from birth but your nose and ears never stop growing. When

babies look up at you with those big eyes, theyre the same size that theyll be carrying around in their

bodies for the rest of their lives. Their ears and nose, however, will grow throughout their lives and resear

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has shown that growth peaks in seven year cycles.

64. By 60 years of age, 60-percent of men and 40-percent of women will snore. If youve ever been kep

awake by a snoring loved one you know the sound can be deafening. Normal snores average around 60

decibels, the noise level of normal speech, intense snores can reach more than 80 decibels, the

approximate level caused by a jackhammer breaking up concrete.

65. A babys head is one-quarter of its total length, but by age 25 will only be one-eighth of its total

length. As it turns out, our adorably oversized baby heads wont change size as drastically as the rest of

our body. The legs and torso will lengthen, but the head wont get much longer.

Disease and Injury

Most of us will get injured or sick at some point in our lives. Here are some facts on how the human body reacts

the stresses and dangers from the outside world.

66. Monday is the day of the week when the risk of heart attack is greatest. Yet another reason to loath

Mondays! A ten year study in Scotland found that 20% more people die of heart attacks on Mondays tha

any other day of the week. Researchers theorize that its a combination of too much fun over the weeken

with the stress of going back to work that causes the increase.

67. Humans can make do longer without food than sleep. While you might feel better prepared to stay up

night partying than to give up eating, that feeling will be relatively short lived. 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 change

after only a few sleepless days. The longest recorded time anyone has ever gone without sleep is 11 day

at the end of which the experimenter was awake, but stumbled over words, hallucinated and frequently

forgot what he was doing.

68. A simple, moderately severe sunburn damages the blood vessels extensively. How extensively?

Studies have shown that it can take four to fifteen months for them to return to their normal condition.

Consider that the next time youre feeling too lazy to apply sunscreen before heading outside.

69. Over 90% of diseases are caused or complicated by stress. That high stress job you have could be

doing more than just wearing you down each day. It could also be increasing your chances of having a

variety of serious medical conditions like depression, high blood pressure and heart disease.

70. A human head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it is been decapitated. While it

might be gross to think about, the blood in the head may be enough to keep someone alive and consciou

for a few seconds after the head has been separated from the body, though reports as to the accuracy o

this are widely varying.

Muscles and Bones

Muscles and Bones provide the framework for our bodies and allow us to jump, run or just lie on the couch. Her

are a few facts to ponder the next time youre lying around.

71. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. Unless youre trying to give your face a bit of a workout,

smiling is a much easier option for most of us. Anyone whos ever scowled, squinted or frowned for a lon

period of time knows how it tires out the face which doesnt do a thing to improve your mood.

72. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood the number is reduced to 206. The reason for th

that many of the bones of children are composed of smaller component bones that are not yet fused lik

those in the skull. This makes it easier for the baby to pass through the birth canal. The bones harden an

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fuse as the children grow.

73. We are about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening. The cartilage between our bones gets

compressed by standing, sitting and other daily activities as the day goes on, making us just a little shorte

at the end of the day than at the beginning.

74. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue. While you may not be able to bench press

much with your tongue, it is in fact the strongest muscle in your body in proportion to its size. If you think

about it, every time you eat, swallow or talk you use your tongue, ensuring it gets quite a workout

throughout the day.

75. The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone. The next time someone suggests you take it on

the chin, you might be well advised to take their advice as the jawbone is one of the most durable and ha

to break bones in the body.

76. You use 200 muscles to take one step. Depending on how you divide up muscle groups, just to take a

single step you use somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 muscles. Thats a lot of work for the muscles

considering most of us take about 10,000 steps a day.

77. The tooth is the only part of the human body that cant repair itself. If youve ever chipped a tooth yo

know just how sadly true this one is. The outer layer of the tooth is enamel which is not a living tissue. Sin

its not alive, it cant repair itself, leaving your dentist to do the work instead.

78. It takes twice as long to lose new muscle if you stop working out than it did to gain it. Lazy people

out there shouldnt use this as motivation to not work out, however. Its relatively easy to build new muscl

tissue and get your muscles in shape, so if anything, this fact should be motivation to get off the couch an

get moving.

79. Bone is stronger than some steel. This doesnt mean your bones cant break of course, as they are mu

less dense than steel. Bone has been found to have a tensile strength of 20,000 psi while steel is much

higher at 70,000 psi. Steel is much heavier than bone, however, and pound for pound bone is the strong

material.

80. The feet account for one quarter of all the human bodys bones. You may not give your feet much

thought but they are home to more bones than any other part of your body. How many? Of the two hundr

or so bones in the body, the feet contain a whopping 52 of them.

Microscopic Level

Much of what takes place in our bodies happens at a level that we simply cant see with the naked eye. These

facts will show you that sometimes that might be for the best.

81. About 32 million bacteria call every inch of your skin home. Germaphobes dont need to worry

however, as a majority of these are entirely harmless and some are even helpful in maintaining a healthy

body.

82. Humans shed and regrow outer skin cells about every 27 days. Skin protects your delicate internal

organs from the elements and as such, dries and flakes off completely about once a month so that it can

maintain its strength. Chances are that last months skin is still hanging around your house in the form of

dust on your bookshelf or under the couch.

83. Three hundred million cells die in the human body every minute. While that sounds like a lot, its rea

just a small fraction of the cells that are in the human body. Estimates have placed the total number of c

in the body at 10-50 trillion so you can afford to lose a few hundred million without a hitch.

84. Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour. You may not think much about losing skin

yours isnt dry or flaky or peeling from a sunburn, but your skin is constantly renewing itself and shedding

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dead cells.

85. Every day an adult body produces 300 billion new cells. Your body not only needs energy to keep yo

organs up and running but also to constantly repair and build new cells to form the building blocks of you

body itself.

86. Every tongue print is unique. If youre planning on committing a crime, dont think youll get away with

leaving a tongue print behind. Each tongue is different and yours could be unique enough to finger you as

the culprit.

87. Your body has enough iron in it to make a nail 3 inches long. Anyone who has ever tasted blood knothat it has a slightly metallic taste. This is due to the high levels of iron in the blood. If you were to take all

this iron out of the body, youd have enough to make a small nail and very severe anemia.

88. The most common blood type in the world is Type O. Blood banks find it valuable as it can be given t

those with both type A and B blood. 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.

89. Human lips have a reddish color because of the great concentration of tiny capillaries just below

skin. The blood in these capillaries is normally highly oxygenated and therefore quite red. This explains w

the lips appear pale when a person is anemic or has lost a great deal of blood. It also explains why the lip

turn blue in very cold weather. Cold causes the capillaries to constrict, and the blood loses oxygen and

changes to a darker color.

Miscellaneous

Here are a few things you might not have known about all different parts of your anatomy.

90. The colder the room you sleep in, the better the chances are that youll have a bad dream. It isnt

entirely clear to scientists why this is the case, but if you are opposed to having nightmares you might wa

to keep yourself a little toastier at night.

91. Tears and mucus contain an enzyme (lysozyme) that breaks down the cell wall of many bacteria.

This is to your advantage, as the mucus that lines your nose and throat, as well as the tears that wet you

eyes are helping to prevent bacteria from infecting those areas and making you sick.

92. Your body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring half a gallon of water to a boil. If youve se

the Matrix you are aware of the energy potentially generated by the human body. Our bodies expend a la

amount of calories keeping us at a steady 98.6 degrees, enough to boil water or even cook pasta.

93. Your ears secrete more earwax when you are afraid than when you arent. The chemicals and

hormones released when you are afraid could be having unseen effects on your body in the form of earw

Studies have suggested that fear causes the ears to produce more of the sticky substance, though the

reasons are not yet clear.

94. It is not possible to tickle yourself. Even the most ticklish among us do not have the ability to tickle

ourselves. The reason behind this is that your brain predicts the tickle from information it already has, lik

how your fingers are moving. Because it knows and can feel where the tickle is coming from, your brain

doesnt respond in the same way as it would if someone else was doing the tickling.

95. The width of your armspan stretched out is the length of your whole body. While not exact down to

the last millimeter, your armspan is a pretty good estimator of your height.

96. Humans are the only animals to produce emotional tears. In the animal world, humans are the bigge

crybabies, being the only animals who cry because theyve had a bad day, lost a loved one, or just dont

good.

97. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do. This doesnt

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have a genetic basis, but is largely due to the fact that a majority of the machines and tools we use on a

daily basis are designed for those who are right handed, making them somewhat dangerous for lefties to

use and resulting in thousands of accidents and deaths each year.

98. Women burn fat more slowly than men, by a rate of about 50 calories a day. Most men have a much

easier time burning fat than women. Women, because of their reproductive role, generally require a highe

basic body fat proportion than men, and as a result their bodies dont get rid of excess fat at the same rat

as men.

99. Koalas and primates are the only animals with unique fingerprints. Humans, apes and koalas are

unique in the animal kingdom due to the tiny prints on the fingers of their hands. Studies on primates hav

suggested that even cloned individuals have unique fingerprints.

100. The indentation in the middle of the area between the nose and the upper lip has a name. It is calle

the philtrum. Scientists have yet to figure out what purpose this indentation serves, though the ancient

Greeks thought it to be one of the most erogenous places on the body.

Filed under: Resources

39 Comments 1. When you turn off your brain turns on. Scientists dont yet know why this is but you can thank the hard work of

brain while you sleep for all those pleasant dreams.Actually, this is pretty straightforward and is also the core reason why we sleep to begin with. It is to reinforcememories and make they long term.Every time a neuron fires, every neuron that stimulated it beforehand has that link strengthened. When you dreais caused by a huge electrical storm in your brain firing off neurons that were used throughout the day andreinforcing those links.Without this mechanism we would all have a very hard time remembering things that happened just a few days It is a crucial mechanism for retention.Coincidently there is a chemical responsible for triggering this rapid and easy firing of neurons. It was accidentadiscovered during clinical tests of a drug called Provigil.

Comment by infornography February 27, 2008 @11:33 pm

2. Very interesting site. Excellent work.Comment by Michael February 28, 2008 @12:39 am

3. The philtrum is the place where your skin on your face fuses during development.

Comment by rachel February 28, 2008 @12:45 am

4. very interesting good to know thank you

Comment by Tony February 28, 2008 @1:33 am

5. How about reading and re-reading this information. After glancing over two sections, Ive seen at least threegrammatical mistakes.

Comment by reader February 28, 2008 @2:47 am

6. Funny how e learn about most of these things in dental school. To the general public these things are taken forgranted. For health professionals most of these are common knowledge. I will get to posting about this in a few Very nice list.

Comment byBen February 28, 2008 @4:26 am

7. Good one! But isnt the strongest muscle is human hearth rather than tongue.

Comment by prashant February 28, 2008 @4:35 am

8. This is incredible! i love it! great work!

Comment by Mental-Origami February 28, 2008 @4:38 am

9. Just got a mental picture of the nasty clump of soggy hair I have to pull out of my bath tub drain every few mont

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Thanks for that hehe.

Comment byknife geek February 28, 2008 @8:11 am

10. Good research presented in an even better way.

Comment byAmiya Sarkar February 28, 2008 @1:12 pm

11. Great article.It must have quite a task putting this list together.My favorite is number 44:The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm.

This speaks volumes!

Comment byKaren February 28, 2008 @3:02 pm

12. good info cool.

Comment by Clark February 28, 2008 @5:09 pm

13. Really nice. It just shows how great God is. Imagine what unique facts there is in all other animals, plants,microorganisms or even the earth, sun, moon and stars WOW.

Comment by ][ February 28, 2008 @5:53 pm

14. If animals can get depressed, then how can we say they dont cry emotional tears. wheres the proof?.. im haa hard time believing that one

Comment by Lindsay February 28, 2008 @7:11 pm

15. very informative. .among those informations,Monday is the day of the week when the risk of heart attack is greatest really got mattention. .

Comment byArCe February 28, 2008 @9:04 pm

16. this is utterly fascinating. Also a good source to spark SF stories!

Comment byNancy Kress February 28, 2008 @9:12 pm

17. #97 is total crap. If this were true it would be more dangerous than smoking or running with scissors. This non fhas been published before only to be recanted later. Maybe 9 days. If this were true everyone would tie their kidarms behind them to make them live longer.

Comment by James P Mathes February 28, 2008 @10:06 pm

18. Another thought on #97. When was the last time you were asked on an insurance application if you were lefthanded?

Comment by James P Mathes February 28, 2008 @10:14 pm

19. Our Creator God is awesome to make us as he did. evolution is a hoax of the foolish. We wre created in His likand image. Praise the Lord

Comment by Joe Moench February 29, 2008 @5:00 am

20. #100 - the philtrum some suggest its like a landing strip for breastfeeding that mom can tickle to get baby to up. also all those feel-good sensations of having your lip curled back there reinforce proper breastfeeding style.theory is thats why i like my starbucks so much - warm milk served in a container that makes my upper lip curl

when i drink it

Comment by mezzaluna February 29, 2008 @5:07 am

21. If youve seen the Matrix you are aware of the energy potentially generated by the human body.The Matrix is a work of fiction.

Comment by Neo February 29, 2008 @8:27 am

22. you can tickle yourself. Try it on the roof of your mouth, really gently with the tip of your finger.

Comment by bluej123 February 29, 2008 @12:07 pm

23. I find the nine years difference for left- and right-handed people hard to believe, since, for example, if cancer ascause of death were to be totally eliminated, it would increase life expectancy by only 4 fours (or so I read).So this is saying that being being left handed has a profound difference in life expectancy.Maybe it does, but I cant believe it could be from accidents, which are not that common a cause of death.

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Comment by A. Nony Mouse February 29, 2008 @8:11 pm

24. Actually the strongest muscle is the lining uterus.

Comment by Amy March 1, 2008 @12:33 am

25. The tongue isnt the strongest muscle in the body, the masseter is. Thats your jaw muscle. It makes it possible humans to bite down with 200 psi.

Comment by Ashley March 1, 2008 @1:19 am

26. are you talking about nathan torrens from brisbane?? mike

Comment by abby March 1, 2008 @8:21 am

27. i never new u had a philtrum..i thought it was a car part..HAPPY BDAY COWPATTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by drewe/squeek March 1, 2008 @8:23 am

28. Cool! But:# It is not possible to tickle yourself.I am doing it right now, works great. If you look where your fingers are - it doesnt work. Try not knowing yourmovements and focus your eyes on something else.

Comment by 08 March 1, 2008 @8:45 am

29. Your brain generates as much energy as a small light bulb even when youre sleeping.Maybe it _consumes_ that much energy - it doesnt _generate_ any

Comment by Pierce R. Butler March 2, 2008 @3:46 am

30. Women blink twice as many times as men do. The average person, man or woman, blinks about 13 times aminute.If that one doesnt make you blink, then you - male or female - shouldnt be working in any field that requiresarithmetic (includes blogging).

Comment by Pierce R. Butler March 2, 2008 @3:56 am

31. Excellent research and very well presented. I am flabbergasted by the comments by some about God beingwonderful. The idea of God is fiction. Period!

Comment by Gianni March 2, 2008 @4:50 am

32. Very interesting site! Interesting how the religious types always seem to search out these types of sites so they

proselytize their faith. Please keep your religious thoughts to yourself, I believe this site to be secular and intendentertain and inform us about some natural or medical facts about our bodies.

Comment by Buddy March 2, 2008 @4:28 pm

33. CAN YOU SPOT THE ERRORIf youve ever wondered how your how clogs up your pipes so quick

Comment by k-la March 2, 2008 @8:02 pm

34. To Ben:Most of these facts and much more people learn about in elementary schoolor at least in eastern eurthey do. One shouldnt go to medical school if they don;t know this information.

Comment by Igor March 2, 2008 @9:48 pm

35. Wow, Thats really intersting

Comment byJames March 3, 2008 @12:42 am

36. isnt the hardest bone in the uman body the heel bone?the author said, its the jawbone

Comment by ribo March 3, 2008 @9:21 pm

37. Why does everything have to come down to evolution being a hoax?LoL

Comment by Matthew March 4, 2008 @1:57 am

38. Is it that animals cant cry, or we dont know why they are crying? Read the book, When Elephants Weep. It mjust change your mind.

Comment by Jason March 4, 2008 @3:09 am

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39. The largest human organ is the hepar, not the small intestine. However the small intestine(intestinum tenue) is longest internal organ with length of 6m.

Comment by anastasija March 4, 2008 @11:55 am

100 weird facts about your body

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