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