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16 Unusual Facts about the Human Body

1: Tongue Print
Don't stick out your tongue if you want to hide your identity. Similar to fingerprints, everyone also has a unique tongue print!

2: Shedding
Your pet isn't the only one in the house with a shedding problem. Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour. That works out to about 1.5 pounds each year, so the average person will lose around 105 pounds of skin by age 70.

3: Bone Count
An adult has fewer bones than a baby. We start off life with 350 bones, but because bones fuse together during growth, we end up with only 206 as adults.

4: New Stomach
Did you know that you get a new stomach lining every three to four days? If you didn't, the strong acids your stomach uses to digest food would also digest your stomach.

5: Scent Remembering
Your nose is not as sensitive as a dog's, but it can remember 50,000 different scents.

6: Long Intestines
The small intestine is about four times as long as the average adult is tall. If it weren't looped back and forth upon itself, its length of 18 to 23 feet wouldn't fit into the abdominal cavity, making things rather messy.

7: Bacteria
This will really make your skin crawl: Every square inch of skin on the human body has about 32 million bacteria on it, but fortunately, the vast majority of them are harmless.

8: Source of Body Odor


The source of smelly feet, like smelly armpits, is sweat. And people sweat buckets from their feet. A pair of feet have 500,000 sweat glands and can produce more than a pint of sweat a day.

9: Sneeze Speed
The air from a human sneeze can travel at speeds of 100 miles per hour or more -- another good reason to cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze -- or duck when you hear one coming your way.

10: Blood Distance


Blood has a long road to travel: Laid end to end, there are about 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body. And the hardworking heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood through those vessels every day.

11: Saliva Quantity

You may not want to swim in your spit, but if you saved it all up, you could. In a lifetime, the average person produces about 25,000 quarts of saliva -- enough to fill two swimming pools!

12: Snore Loudness


By 60 years of age, 60-percent of men and 40-percent of women will snore. But the sound of a snore can seem deafening. While snores average around 60 decibels, the noise level of normal speech, they can reach more than 80 decibels. Eighty decibels is as loud as the sound of a pneumatic drill breaking up concrete. Noise levels over 85 decibels are considered hazardous to the human ear.

13: Hair Color and Count


Blondes may or may not have more fun, but they definitely have more hair. Hair color helps determine how dense the hair on your head is, and blondes (only natural ones, of course), top the list. The average human head has 100,000 hair follicles, each of which is capable of producing 20 individual hairs during a person's lifetime. Blondes average 146,000 follicles. People with black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles, while those with brown hair are right on target with 100,000 follicles. Redheads have the least dense hair, averaging about 86,000 follicles.

14: Nail Growth


If you're clipping your fingernails more often than your toenails, that's only natural. The nails that get the most exposure and are used most frequently grow the fastest. Fingernails grow fastest on the hand that you write with and on the longest fingers. On average, nails grow about one-tenth of an inch each month.

15: Head Weight


No wonder babies have such a hard time holding up their heads: The human head is one-quarter of our total length at birth but only one-eighth of our total length by the time we reach adulthood.

16: Need for Sleep


If you say that you're dying to get a good night's sleep, you could mean that literally. You can go without eating for weeks without succumbing, but eleven days is tops for going without sleep. After eleven days, you'll be asleep -- forever!

LINK: http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/parts/16-unusual-facts-aboutthe-human-body16.htm

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50 Incredibly Weird Facts About the Human Body

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

As long as we make efforts to take care of ourselves and live healthy, there is a good chance that our bodies will serve us well for a long time. Our bodies truly are amazing. You might be surprised at what your body is capable of after reading these 50 weird facts about the human body:

The Brain
Complex and poorly understood, the brain is what makes everything work properly. The body may be kept alive, but without the brain, a person cant truly live. Here are some interesting and weird facts about the brain.

1.

The brain doesnt feel pain: Even though the brain processes pain signals, the brain itself does not actually feel pain. 2. Your brain has huge oxygen needs: Your brain requires 20 percent of the oxygen and calories your body needs even though your brain only makes up two percent of your total body weight. 3. 80% of the brain is water: Instead of being relatively solid, your brain 80% water. This means that it is important that you remain properlyhydrated for the sake of your mind. 4. Your brain comes out to play at night: Youd think that your brain is more active during the day, when the rest of your body is. But its not. Your brain is more activewhen you sleep. 5. Your brain operates on 10 watts of power: Its true: The amazing computational power of your brain only requires about 10 watts of power to operate. 6. A higher I.Q. equals more dreams: The smarter you are, the more you dream. A high I.Q. can alsofight mental illness. Some people even believe they are smarter in their dreams than when they are awake. 7. The brain changes shapes during puberty: Your teenage years do more than just change how you feel; the very structure of your brain changes during the teen years, and it even affects impulsive, risky behavior. 8. Your brain can store everything: Technically, your brain has the capacity to store everything you experience, see, read or hear. However, the real issue is recall whether you can access that information. 9. Information in your brain travels at different speeds: The neurons in your brain are built differently, and information travels along them at different speeds. This is why sometimes you can recall information instantly, and sometimes it takes a little longer.

Your Senses
You might be surprised at the amazing things your various senses can accomplish.

10.

Your smell is unique: Your body odor is unique to you unless you have an identical twin. Even babies recognize the individual scents of their mothers. 11. Humans use echolocation: Humans can use sound to sense objects in their area using echolocation. It is thought that those who are blinddevelop this ability to heightened effectiveness. 12. Adrenaline gives you super strength: Yes, with the proper response in certain situations, you really can lift a car. 13. Women smell better than men: Women are better than men atidentifying smells. 14. Your nose remembers 50,000 scents: It is possible for your nose to identify and remember more than 50,000 smells. 15. Your hearing decreases when you overeat: When you eat too much food, it actually reduces your ability to hear. So consider eating healthy and only until you are full. 16. Your sense of time is in your head: How you experience time is all about your perception. Some speculate that stress can help you experience time dilation. Apparently, time manipulation isnt just for superheroes.

Reproduction
How we as a species reproduce offers all sorts of interesting weird facts. Here are some of the weirder things you might not know.

17.

Your teeth are growing before birth: Even though it takes months after you are born to see teeth, they start growing about six months before you are born. 18. Babies are stronger than oxen: On a pound for pound basis, that is. For their size, babies are quite powerful and strong. 19. Babies always have blue eyes when they are born: Melanin and exposure to ultraviolet light are needed to bring out the true color of babies eyes. Until then they all have blue eyes. 20. Women might be intrinsically bi: There are sex studies that indicate that women might bisexual intrinsically, no matter how they class themselves, while men are usually either gay or straight.

21.

Most men have regular erections while asleep: Every hour to hour and a half, sleeping men have erections though they may not be aware of it. 22. Sex can be a pain reliever: Even though the headache excuse is often used to avoid sex, the truth is that intercourse can provide pain relief. Sex can also help you reduce stress. 23. Chocolate is better than sex: In some studies, women claim they would rather have chocolate than sex. But does it really cause orgasm? Probably not on its own.

Body Functions
The things our bodies do are often strange and sometimes gross. Here are some weird facts about the way your body functions.

24.

Earwax is necessary: If you want healthy ears, you

need some earwax in there. 25. Your feet can produce a pint of sweat a day: There are 500,000 (250,000 for each) sweat glands in your feet, and that can mean a great deal of stinky sweat. 26. Throughout your life, the amount of saliva you have could fill two swimming pools: Since saliva is a vital part of digestion, it is little surprise that your mouth makes so much of it. 27. A full bladder is about the size of a soft ball: When your bladder is full, holding up to 800 cc of fluid, it is large enough to be noticeable. 28. You probably pass gas 14 times a day: On average, you will expel flatulence several times as part of digestion. 29. A sneeze can exceed 100 mph: When a sneeze leaves your body, it does so at high speeds so you should avoid suppressing it and causing damage to your body. 30. Coughs leave at 60 mph: A cough is much less dangerous, leaving the body at 60 mph. Thats still highway speed, though.

Musculoskeletal System
Find out what you didnt know about your muscles and bones.

31.

Bones can self-destruct: It is possible for your bones to destruct without enough calcium intake. 32. You are taller in the morning: Throughout the day, the cartilagebetween your bones is compressed, making you about 1 cm shorter by days end. 33. 1/4 of your bones are in your feet: There are 26 bones in each foot, meaning that the 52 bones in account for 25 percent of your bodys 206 bones. 34. It takes more muscles to frown than to smile: Scientists cant agree on the exact number, but more muscles are required to frown than to smile. 35. When you take a step, you are using up to 200 muscles: Walking uses a great deal of musclepower especially if you take your 10,000 steps. 36. Your tongue is the strongest muscle in your body: Compared to its size, the tongue is thestrongest muscle. But I doubt youll be lifting weights with it. 37. Bone can be stronger than steel: Once again, this is a pound for pound comparison, since steel is denser and has a higher tensile strength.

Unnecessary Body Parts


We have a number of body parts that are, well, useless. Here are some facts about the body parts we dont actually need.

38.

Coccyx: This collection of fused vertebrae have no purpose these days, although scientists believe its whats left of the mammal tail humans used to have. It may be useless, but when you break your coccyx, its still painful. 39. Pinkie toe: There is speculation that since we no longer have to run for our dinner, and we wear sneakers, the pinkie toes evolutionary purpose is disappearing and maybe the pinkie itself will go the way of the dodo. 40. Wisdom teeth: This third set of molars is largely useless, doing little beyond crowding the mouth and sometimes causing pain. 41. Vomeronasal organ: There are tiny (and useless) chemoreceptors lining the inside of the nose. 42. Most body hair: While facial hair serves some purposes, the hair found on the rest of body is practically useless and can be removed with few ill effects. 43. Female vas deferens: A cluster of dead end tubules near the ovaries are the remains of what could have turned into sperm ducts.

44.

Male Uterus: Yeah, men have one too sort of. The remains of this undeveloped female reproductive organ hangs on one side of the male prostate gland 45. Appendix: Yep, your appendix is basically useless. While it does produce some white blood cells, most people are fine with an appendectomy.

Random Weird Body Facts


Here are a few final weird facts about the human body.

46.

Your head creates inner noises: Its rare, but exploding head syndromeexists. 47. Memory is affected by body position: Where you are and how you are placed in your environment triggers memory. 48. You cant tickle yourself: Go ahead. Try to tickle yourself. 49. Being right-handed can prolong your life: If youre right-handed, you could live up to nine years longer than a lefty. 50. Only humans shed emotional tears: Every other animal that producestears has a physiological reason for doing so.

LINK: http://bsnprogram.com/2010/50-incredibly-weird-facts-about-the-human-body/

10 Craziest Facts About The Human Body


Posted by Phoebe on Friday, May 23rd 2008 Digg it Stumble it Email to friend

23 May
#1 Your Hand Can Have A Mind On Its Own

Remember Devon Sawas character in 1999s Idle Hands, a comedy / horror movie about a teen whose hand becomes possessed and goes on a killing spree? Apparently this movie has some truth in it. The idle hand which referred to as the Alien Hand Syndrome is an unusual neurological disorder in which the sufferers hand seems to take on a mind of its own. This is due to the damage in the medial motor frontal region of the brain and often occurs after a brain surgery, a stroke or an infection of the brain. The sufferer has no control over the movements of the alien hand nor will they have any conscience idea on what that hand is doing. The person suffering from this condition can often feel disconnected with their hand, and feel as if it was not part of their body. When the suffer is unaware the alien hand can sometime act out complex movements like unbuttoning clothing, using tools or even tearing pieces of clothing. There are no know treatments or cure for Alien Hand Syndrome however the best solution is to give this alien hand an object it can play with to keep it distracted from doing anything harmful to the sufferer. #2 You Could Remove A Large Part of Your Internal Organs and Survive

While the human body may appear fragile, your body is stronger than you could possibly imagine. It is possible for you to survive even after the removal of the spleen, the stomach, one kidney, one lung, 75% of the liver, 80% of the intestines, and almost every organ from the pelvic and groin area. #3 The Strong Contraction of Your Heart Creates Enough Pressure To Squirt Blood As Far As 30 Feet

#4 You Can Still Have An Erection After Death (sorry couldnt find a picture)

This is a death erection, which often being referred to as angel lust. It is a post-mortem erection that occurs when a male individual dies vertically or face-downside and as long as the body remains in this position, the effect will not subside. How It Could Possibly Happen? When a man is still alive, the heart pumps blood evenly around the body. When he dies, this mechanism stops and the blood acts by the force of gravity. As with any mass, the blood will settle at the lowest point of the body and cause swelling. So if a man dies vertically, the blood will settle in the legs and collect at the feet. The pressure will cause the blood vessels and tissues in the feet to swell up to accommodate as much blood as possible. As blood collects, it will fill up to the torso and the blood will attempt to move to a lower position due to gravity, which is the penis (the legs are full by now). The blood causes the penis, consisting of erectile tissue, to fill with blood and expand. #5 Heart Attacks Are More Likely To Happen On Monday

A 10-year study in Scotland found that 20% of people die of a heart attack on Mondays compare to any other day of the week. The study suggests that the Monday peak could be a result of massive drinking during the weekend and work related stress; you know the Monday blues. #6 Three Hundred Million Cells Die In Your Body Every Minute It does sounds like a lot but this is actually less than 0.0001% of the amount of cells being replaced in your body every day. (about 10-50 trillion cells are being replace in your body every day) #7 Babies Have More Bones Than You Do

When a baby is born, they have 300 bones in their body. When they reach adulthood they are left with only 206 bones. This is because the smaller bones eventually join together to form stronger single bones. #8 Your Hair Is Almost Indestructible

Apart from having it burnt, human hair decays at such a slow rate that it is almost impossible to get rid of. Do you remember those documentaries about Egypt, the pyramids and Mummies on Discovery Channel? Well the mummies are left with no flesh, practically nothing but bones and yes hair. It might look fragile but 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. #9 You Can Survive Without Food But Not Without Sleep

You need sleep as much as you need food. Many people neglect the importance of having enough sleep without knowing that humans can actually survive longer without food than without sleep. With water alone, an average person could survive a month to two without food (that also varies from an individuals body fat and other factors). But a few sleepless nights will cause the person to start experiencing radical personality and psychological changes. The longest recorded time anyone has ever gone without sleep is 264 hours. Randy Gardner at the end of which the experiment did not stumble or hallucinate but scientist has said that any more sleepless nights than that is dangerous. #10 You Have A Philtrum

The indentation in the middle of the area between the nose and the upper lip is called the philtrum. While scientists are yet to figure out the specific purpose of this indentation serves besides allowing humans to express a much larger range of lip motions, the ancient Greeks thought it to be one of the most arousing places on the body.

LINK: http://news.upickreviews.com/facts-about-the-human-body

100 Very Cool Facts About The Human Body


The human body is an incredibly complex and intricate system, one that still baffles doctors and researchers on a regular basis despite thousands of years of medical knowledge. As a result, it shouldnt be any surprise that even 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 can 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 at 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 any 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 National 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 true. When you turn off your brain turns on. Scientists dont yet know why this is but you can thank the hard work 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 and 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 many other parts of the body, neurons can and do grow

throughout your life, adding a whole new dimension to the 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 same. There are a few different types within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slow 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 poundingheadache. 10.80% of the brain is water. Your brain isnt the firm, gray mass youve seen on TV. Living brain tissue is a 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 come as too much of a surprise that mens hair should be coarser than that of women. Hair diameter also varies 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 hand 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 majority 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 about 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 hairs actually have a pretty long life providing they arent subject to any trauma. Your hairs will likely get to see 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 your 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 rate that it is practically non-disintegrative. If youve ever wondered how your how clogs up your pipesso quick 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 to 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 the body. 24.The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. While you certainly shouldnt test the fortitude of your stomach by eating a razorblade or any other metal object for that matter, the acids that 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 laid 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 your stomach.

27.The surface area of a human lung is equal to a tennis court. In order to more efficiently oxygenate the blood, the lungs are filled with thousands of branching bronchi and tiny, grape-like alveoli. These are filled with microscopic capillaries which oxygen and carbon dioxide. The large amount of surface area makes it 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 tend to be smaller than men and have less mass to pump blood to. But womens and mens hearts can actually 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 cells, plasma protein synthesis, and detoxification. 30.The aorta is nearly the diameter of a garden hose. The average adult heart is about the size of two fists, 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 lung. 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 liver, 80 percent of the intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from the pelvic and groin area. 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, are 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 slightly 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. These 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 you sneezethat sneeze is rocketing out of your body at close to 100 mph. This is, of course, a good reason to 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 to 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 water 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. Additionally, 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 dignified to pass gas, the reality is that almost everyone will at least a few times a day. Digestion causes the body to release gases which can be painful if trapped in the abdomen and not released. 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 thatbirth 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 you cant see skin cells or muscle cells, the ovum is typically large enough to be seen with the naked eye with a 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 have 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 even 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 your parents, but at birth most babies appear to have blue eyes. The reason behind this is the pigment melanin. 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 wagon 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 cringe 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 through 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 first 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 minds 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 of 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 big 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 a 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 a 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 shown 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 unfortunate 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. The 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. Part 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 research 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 kept 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 oneeighth 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 to 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 loathe Mondays! A ten year study in Scotland found that 20% more people die of heart attacks on Mondays than any other day of the week. Researchers theorize that its a combination of too much fun over the weekend 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 all 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 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. 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 ofserious 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 conscious for a few seconds after the head has been separated from the body, though reports as to the accuracy of 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. Here 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 long 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 this is that many of the bones of children are composed of smaller component bones that are not yet fused like those in the skull. This makes it easier for the baby to pass through the birth canal. The bones harden and 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 shorter 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 hard 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 you know just how sadly true this one is. The outer layer of the tooth is enamel which is not a living tissue. Since 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 muscle tissue and get your muscles in shape, so if anything, this fact should be motivation to get off the couch and get moving. 79.Bone is stronger than some steel. This doesnt mean your bones cant break of course, as they are much 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 stronger 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 hundred 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 the 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 really just a small fraction of the cells that are in the human body. Estimates have placed the total number of cells 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 if yours isnt dry or flaky or peeling from a sunburn, but your skin is constantly renewing itself and shedding dead cells. 85.Every day an adult body produces 300 billion new cells. Your body not only needs energy to keep your organs up and running but also to constantly repair and build new cells to form the building blocks of your 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 knows that it has a slightly metallic taste. This is due to the high levels of iron in the blood. If you were to take all of 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 to 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 the skin. The blood in these capillaries is normally highly oxygenated and therefore quite red. This explains why the lips appear pale when a person is anemic or has lost a great deal of blood. It also explains why the lips 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 want 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 your 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 seen the Matrix you are aware of the energy potentially generated by the human body. Our bodies expend a large 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 earwax. 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, like 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 biggest crybabies, being the only animals who cry because theyve had a bad day, lost a loved one, or just dont feel good. 97.Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do. This doesnt 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 higher basic body fat proportion than men, and as a result their bodies dont get rid of excess fat at the same rate 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 have 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 called 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 LINK: http://icantseeyou.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/10

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