25 Weird Facts About the Human Body
Written by Nectarsleep editorial team
Fact checked
Last Updated on May 18, 2022
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Many secrets are hidden within our bodies. For example, we're sure you've wondered why people hiccup or how many mosquitos it takes to drink a single person's blood. A lot of these weird body facts have scientific backings.
Be it some unknown facts about your nails or some undiscovered studies about your skin, here are 25 weird facts about the human body that you probably didn't know about.
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Weird Facts About Human Nails
1. Fingernails grow faster than toenails
Fingernails develop faster because they are in the sunlight more often. In addition, the nails on your working hand grow faster than those on your non-working hand, and the middle finger always has the longest nail. Furthermore, the longer the finger's nails are, the bigger the finger, but no one understands why.
Weird Facts About Emotions
2. Botox deprives a person of emotion
Botox injections paralyze face muscles, which causes wrinkles to vanish. However, scientists recently discovered an intriguing side effect of these injections: the inability to feel emotion completely. The emotional state is directly affected by facial expression, so a person with limited ability to express emotions has fewer feelings than those who do not use botox.
3. Babies do not shed tears unless they are at least a month old
According to several health professionals, it is entirely normal for babies not to cry or cry without tears for one to three months after their birth because their tear ducts continue to develop even after birth.
Clogged tear ducts occur in certain newborns, meaning they can cry, but the tears don't discharge normally. However, a sticky yellow discharge from accumulated tears can be treated with drops or ointment suggested by your Pediatrician. They will also show you how to wipe your baby's eyes and, if required, also massage the tear duct.
Weird Facts About Bones and Muscle Mass
4. Men have approximately 50% more muscle mass than women
Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to assess skeletal muscle mass and distribution in a sample of 468 men and women in one of the older but more comprehensive investigations, published in a 1985 edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology. The research claimed that men had much larger muscle mass, and the gender difference was more pronounced in the upper body.
5. Your thigh bone can resist thousands of pounds of force
The femur bone, located in the upper leg, is the longest bone in your body. Because of this, it can endure hundreds of pounds of force and is incredibly difficult to break. Femurs can support 30 times your body weight! The majority of femur fractures occur due to catastrophic automotive collisions or falls from great heights, which can cause enough force to shatter the bone.
6. A baby is born with about 300 bones
A baby's body has roughly 300 bones at birth, but adults have only 206 bones. The baby's bones eventually fuse (grow together). Some of the baby's bones are entirely made of cartilage. Other bones in an infant are partially cartilage-covered.
Weird Facts About Skin
7. Tattoos don't live on your skin
Do you ever wonder why it is so difficult to remove permanent tattoos? Because they aren't on your skin. Instead, they are in your immune system. When lasers are used, they kill the cells, and macrophages arrive to consume the released ink and repair the injury caused by the laser. Because of this, the tattoo starts fading away after a few removal sessions.
8. Every minute you shed over 30,000 dead skin cells
You might be a little disgusted when you learn where those 30,000 dead skin cells go and how many you lose each day.
There are various layers to your skin. The epidermis is the visible layer of the skin. It is made up of keratin cells, which are the same ones that make up your hair and nails.
9. A skin's surface is replaced every month
The epidermis, or the top layer of skin, comprises cells that are continually replacing themselves. Exfoliation (shedding) of the epidermis is the basis of this rejuvenation process. However, the dermis, or deeper layers of skin, do not go through this cellular turnover and so do not replace themselves.
Weird Facts About Mouth
10. Your mom impacts the bacteria in your mouth
There are at least 700 different species of bacteria in your mouth, known as "the human oral microbiome."
The composition of a baby's oral microbiome at birth is mainly dictated by the mother's oral health, as any oral disorders she had (including gum disease) may have caused microorganisms to enter the mouth of the baby. The bulk of these bacteria, on the other hand, is beneficial to oral health.
11. Molecules bind to detect taste on your tongue
A taste receptor is a biological receptor that helps recognize the taste. For example, food and other chemicals interact with saliva and bind to taste receptors in the oral cavity and elsewhere when they enter the mouth. "Sapid" molecules are those that produce a taste experience.
12. A lifetime of saliva can fill 1 swimming pool
The few drops of saliva you make daily can add up to 20,000 liters, which is sufficient to fill up 500 bathtubs, or 2 full swimming pools. So every day, you can fill up to 6 cups with your saliva.
Weird Facts About Brain and Nerves
13. The Human Brain is capable of controlling emotions, memories, thoughts, breathing, and more
The brain is a three-pound organ that governs all body functions, interprets information from the outside world, and embodies the mind and soul's essence.
Our five senses – taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing – all provide information to the brain simultaneously. It assembles the messages in a fashion that makes sense to us and can store the data in our memory.
14. A neuron can connect up to 10,000 other neurons
When the membrane potential of the neurons exceeds a precisely set threshold voltage, the signal pulse (i.e., action potential) is triggered and passed to other neurons. A synapse is a structure in the nervous system that allows a neuron to send an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or the target effector cell.
15. Your eyes blink about 20 times a minute which makes up 10 million times a year
Blinking helps your eyes stay healthy by keeping them moist and oxygenated. It brings nutrients and other substances, keeping your eyes neat and clean. In addition, blinking prevents dry eyes, decreasing your risk of problems with your tear film.
16. Your brain can't feel pain
While the brain is the pain center, it lacks pain receptors and fails to perceive pain. Therefore, it doesn't rule out the possibility of a headache. In addition, the brain is surrounded by numerous nerves, tissues, and blood vessels, all of which are sensitive to discomfort and can cause a pounding headache.
17. 80% of the brain is water
Have you ever wondered how much of your brain is water? The answer is about 80%.
Water makes up around three-quarters of our brain. As a result, even mild dehydration can result in weariness, headaches, a loss of mental clarity, tension, and sleep problems. Given that water makes up 80% of our brain, it is self-evident that we must be hydrated.
Weird Facts About Blood
18. Up to 2 million mosquito bites might be required to kill you
Losing two liters of blood is life-threatening for the ordinary person. A mosquito bite absorbs 0.01 to 0.001 milliliters of blood on average. Therefore, it would take about 2,00,000 and 2 million mosquito bites to kill a human due to blood loss.
Weird Facts About Sleep
19. We spend one-third of our life sleeping
Since an average person sleeps for 8 hours per day, that person will sleep for 229,961 hours in their lifetime. This simplest around one-third of their existence. Surprising! Isn't it?
20. An average person dreams 4-6 times/night
According to the National Sleep Foundation, an average person dreams 4 to 6 times every night. You might spend as much as 2 hours in dreamland throughout a night's sleep, reports the National Institutes of Health.
Other General Facts About the Human Body
21. Humans and slugs have a lot in common
Humans and slugs share a lot more common characteristics than you might believe. Our DNA shares 70% of its sequence with that of slugs. All creatures, like plants, once shared a common ancestor: the DNA of a human and a banana is 50% the same. As a result, a human is 50% banana. To some extent, all living creatures on Earth are related — this just means that our evolution took a different path at one point in time.
22. Hiccups Protect Lungs From Gills That You Don't Have Anymore
Have you ever wondered why you get hiccups? The diaphragm spasms force you to suck in air, resulting in a gulping sound in your voicebox. Hiccups aren't valuable for today's world, yet they were highly useful 370 million years ago.
Scientists believe that our earliest ancestors had both gills and lungs and that water could aspirate into their lungs when they sucked it in via their gills. A well-timed hiccup would remove the water, preventing choking. Although we no longer have gills, we still enjoy the occasional glitch!
23. Most heart attacks happen on Mondays
On Mondays, the chance of suffering a heart attack increases by 20% for men and 15% for women. It's most likely due to the stress brought on by the need to return to work. However, scientists warn that alcohol taken over the weekend can increase the risk of a heart attack.
24. When your stomach growls, it's full of hot air
It's not your imagination when you get a grumbly, growly feeling because of hunger. But why is it growling after you've eaten? It's usually caused by heated air passing through the intestines. Air enters your digestive system through normal swallowing, especially if you're drinking while working out or chatting while eating. So your stomach could be clearing up particles of food from your last meal, causing the growling.
25. Unlike other parts, your teeth can't repair itself
Teeth, unlike any other part of your body, are incapable of self-repair. This is why you probably see a dentist for check-ups more frequently than a regular doctor. Fluoride in toothpaste and drinking water can assist in restoring enamel, but if a tooth begins to erode, it must be filled.
Conclusion
These were some of the weirdest and most fun facts about humans and their bodies. We're sure you didn't know of many of them. So do share this article with your friends to make them aware of these, too; it would be fun!
