Your body is a brilliant, beautiful, and occasionally disgusting miracle, most of which we know almost nothing about.
Here are 12 amazing facts about your body that will leave you feeling grateful, proud and a little disturbed to be alive ÄŸŸ ¤
1. Your ears and your nose NEVER stop growing
Think your body’s done growing just because you’re done with puberty? Think again! Though your bones stop growing after puberty and your muscle and fat cells stop dividing, your cartilage- that’s the flimsy bone-like stuff in your ears and noses, continues to grow till you, eventually, die. In fact, not only does it grow, the earlobes also start to elongate due to gravity, making the ears look even larger! ÄŸŸ˜ ©ÄŸŸ‘‚
PS: That’s why old people seem to have big ears and nose!
2. You are taller in the morning when you first get up than when you go to bed
This is because throughout the day, the soft cartilage between your bones gets squashed, making you roughly 1 cm shorter by bedtime! When you sleep, your spine is no longer pressured by gravity and your body is able to stretch itself out and relax ÄŸŸ'”
3. The heart is the only muscle that never tires (sigh ÄŸŸ˜ ¢)
Your heart might be a muscle, but it doesn’t work the same way as your biceps or abs might. Unlike the rest, your heart doesn’t need to stop and take a break ÄŸŸ ¤ ·”â™‚ï ¸ It gets way more energy from your body than the rest of your muscles do, along with a steady supply of blood bringing it oxygen and other nutrients.
4. When you blush, your stomach does too!
Blushing usually happens when a surge of adrenaline caused by anxiety or embarrassment makes tiny blood vessels shoot through your body, increasing the blood flow. This becomes obvious in your cheeks and stomach lining because they’re closer to the surface ÄŸŸ˜ ³
5. Humans glow in the dark!
Ultra-sensitive cameras actually show that our bodies emit a tiny amount of light that are too weak for the human eye to detect. In fact, amazing pictures of “glowing” human bodies have also been released by Japanese scientists, who have managed to capture the first-ever images of human bioluminescence ÄŸŸ˜ ®
6. One in every 2000 babies is born with a tooth!
Yes, it does happen. And no, it’s usually not as creepy as it sounds. The timing of when a child’s baby teeth come in depends largely on his genetic blueprint. According to one study, 15% of babies with natal teeth, as it’s called, had parents, siblings or close relatives who had the same condition ÄŸŸ‘ ¶ Natal teeth may also be a result of certain medical conditions, like Pfieffer syndrome or Langerhans cell histiocytosis.
7. In cases of extreme starvation, your brain will begin to EAT itself!
That’s right! In cases of extreme starvation, the hypothalamus (i.e. the part of the brain that regulates sleep, body temperature, thirst, and hunger) starts eating its own organelles! All the more reasons not to diet, I guess ÄŸŸ ¤
8. When listening to music, your heartbeat sings along!
In a study conducted by Luciano Bernardi, a professor of medicine, and some of his colleagues, it has been discovered that listening to ‘rich’ music phrases that are at least 10 seconds long, causes your heart rate and other parts of the cardiovascular system to sync along with its rhythm! All participants of the study experienced this reaction, though musicians showed an even stronger response. Your heart really does skip skip skip skip skip skip a beat! ÄŸŸ ¼
9. Women’s brains shrink during pregnancy!
No, that does not mean they get dumber. A recent study in the journal Nature Neuroscience shows that pregnant women lose gray matter from the part of the brain that deals with people’s feelings and non-verbal signals ÄŸŸ ¤ ° However, instead of reducing the efficiency of this area of brain processing, it actually appears to make it MORE efficient! This makes it easier for new mothers to interpret their babies’ needs and emotions more accurately, and thus increasing their maternal attachment. However, due to the short time frame of the study, it hasn’t been confirmed whether the effects are temporary or permanent ÄŸŸ ¤ ·
10. While awake, your brain generates enough electricity to light up a light bulb!
Your brain contains over 100 billion microscopic cells called neurons. While you’re awake, tiny chemical and electrical signals keep racing between these neurons- this is why you’re able to dream, laugh, think, see or move ÄŸŸ˜ ¯ And while a single neuron only produces a very tiny amount of electricity, all your neurons together could actually produce enough to power a low wattage bulb!
11. There’s a good chance your body’s fought cancer!
CCancer cells are created when a mutation occurs in the DNA of any cell, this then divides dramatically and clumps together to form tumors. You might have heard of Zombie cells as well. So, what are zombie cells? They are basically damaged cells, which refuse to die and continue to function by generating energy via mitochondria and synthesizing the proteins necessary to maintain their cellular activity. These cells can act as a double-edged sword that can paradoxically prevent or promote the formation of tumors in the brain or other parts of the body, which might ultimately require radiotherapy (learn more about it at amethyst-radiotherapy.at) or other treatments to effectively destroy them. Now, when you consider the fact that your body has TRILLIONS of cells, and that these cells split every minute, and each time a cell splits, it has to copy 30,000 genes- it’s surprising that cancer isn’t a lot more common than it is today. This is because of the body’s amazing system to catch errors. 💪 When a cell splits, proofreading enzymes correct any mistakes that may error. If this doesn’t work either, then the cell itself detects that it’s ‘damaged’ and kills itself to prevent damaging the rest of the body! However, these cells can also zombify the immune cells, which can increase the chance of getting cancer. With proper lifestyle and health considerations, you might improve your immunity and reduce the probability of cancer to a large extent.
12. The human head can remain conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it’s been decapitated!
The concept was first discovered during the French revolution. On July 17th, 1793, a woman named Charlotte Corday was executed by a guillotine for the murder of Jean-Paul Marat. After the guillotine dropped and her head fell, one of the executioner’s assistants picked it up and slapped it. According to witness, Corday’s eyes turned to look at the man and her face changed to an expression of annoyance! ÄŸŸ˜ ±
Following this, the people executed by the guillotine were asked to blink afterward, and witnesses claim that the blinking occurred for up to 30 seconds after being decapitated!
Written and Researched by Najah Bashir
