In our ongoing quest for wonderful facts about all manner of things, we have put together this list (with thanks to the Reader’s Digest Book of Facts), a great list of amazing human facts. These are the fifteen most wonderful things about our bodies that, hopefully, are news to most of our readers! So, onwards:
1. The stomach’s digestive acids are strong enough to dissolve zinc. Fortunately for us, the cells in the stomach lining renew so quickly that the acids don’t have time to dissolve it.
2. The lungs contain over 300,000 million capillaries (tiny blood vessels). If they were laid end to end, they would stretch 2400km (1500 miles).
3. A mans testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells each day – enough that he could repopulate the entire planet in only 6 months!
4. Human bone is as strong as granite in supporting weight. A block of bone the size of a matchbox can support 9 tonnes – that is four times as much as concrete can support.
5. Each finger and toenail takes six months to grow from base to tip.
6. The largest organ in the body is the skin. In an adult man it covers about 1.9m2 (20sq ft). The skin constantly flakes away – in a lifetime each person sheds around 18kg (40 lb) of skin.
7. When you sleep, you grow by about 8mm (0.3in). The next day you shrink back to your former height. The reason is that your cartilage discs are squeezed like sponges by the force of gravity when you stand or sit.
8. The average person in the West eats 50 tonnes of food and drinks 50,000 liters (11,000 gallons) of liquid during his life.
9. Each kidney contains 1 million individual filters. They filter an average of around 1.3 liters (2.2 pints) of blood per minute, and expel up to 1.4 liters (2.5 pints) a day of urine.
10. The focusing muscles of the eyes move around 100,000 times a day. To give your leg muscles the same workout, you would need to walk 80km (50 miles) every day.
11. In 30 minutes, the average body gives off enough heat (combined) to bring a half gallon of water to boil.
12. A single human blood cell takes only 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body.
13. A foreskin, the size of a postage stamp, from circumcised babies take only 21 days to grow skin that can cover three (3) basketball courts. Amazing isn’t it. Thanks to science. The laboratory-grown skin is used in treating burn patients.
14. The eyes receive approximately 90 percent of all our information, making us basically visual creatures.
15. The female ovaries contain nearly half-a-million egg cells, yet only 400 or so will ever get the opportunity to create a new life.
Sources: Reader’s Digest Book of Facts
MPW: Michael. One of my favorite names. My son's middle name is Michael. Besides the fact that the name is pleasing to both the mouth and the ear, the meaning, "One like God", is powerful.
Yet I have come to know, and respect, you as MPW, so more likely than not I will continue to call you that.
My own nick, segue, was chosen on purpose. At this late date in my life, I am in a process of change, a segue, from one way of living to another.
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Tenebrae: As a woman who has carried three babies to term, I can verify that a pregnant body undergoes some incredible changes.
How's this for a mind-warping fact? In any other case, a foreign body part would require anti-rejection drugs for one's body to accept, rather than kill, the foreign cells. Yet a baby can grow inside the mothers womb, taking nutrients from the mother, even to the detriment of the mother, and yet the mother's body will not reject the foreign body (the fetus).
As a rule, the only time an embryo is rejected is when it is not viable, and is usually lost before a woman knows she's pregnant.
Unless you consider the Rh factor. If a woman is carrying a positive fetus and she's Rh negative, her body will treat the fetus as an invader and work to destroy it. That's why Rh negative women need to take the RhoGAM shot.
Only reason I even mentioned it is because I'm a bit pregnant now (again) and only just found the blood bit out.
Tenebrae, right you are!
I did not run into that particular problem, though I could have, so it slipped my mind.
Rh used to be a nasty little bugger. Now, at least, there is a solution.
#56 MPW: I am sure a tear or two slipped down my face as my injured toenail bed gushed blood… but I was too busy swearing up a blue streak to notice. The worst part is later that day after the aforementioned toe was clotted and bandaged…some dumb girl stepped on my toe!! IEEEEEEEE!!!
#120 Tenebrae – How can you be a little pregnant?
little kids always know when you are hurt
Kids are unbelievably perceptive. You simply can't lie to a child about emotions.
that is true segue but im talking about when you have a boo boo and little kids always hurt you while trying to love you.
for example if you have a broken arm and your little nephew or niece gives you hug but bumps your arm but you cant get mad even though it really really hurts:(
125. MPW
Absolutely!
When my kids were very young, 9mos, 19 mos, and 38 mos, I shattered my big toe and snapped the metatarsal. I was in a walking cast which left my toes exposed, though the big toe was bound. Well, just as things were really starting to knit, my youngest (who had been walking for a month and a half) came over and jumped on my feet to give my legs a hug.
WOWIE!
I heard the toe re-break. I nearly keeled over with the pain, and I know I saw stars for a moment, but what could I do? She wanted to hug me! She wanted to make me feel better!
So I gave her a kiss and have an unbendable big toe to this day.
Big deal.
Wow! It's another nice list by JFrater.
3. A man’s testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells each day – enough that he could repopulate the entire planet in only 6 months!~ good one! The man must have to do a lot of coition for that to happen.
My sister, a hygienist – her DDS is mine too & he told me that teeth continually slowly rise, that is they continue erupting from the gum & only stop when it hits resistance along your bite line. This is not just in youth but later in life. My lower incisors – the top edge had gotten uneven & I asked him to file it down slightly to look better. He said it would not work – the incisors are hitting reistance so if he filed down the left 2 incisors, they would eventually erupt slowly till they hit the bite line & look crooked again. He did suggest “invisiline”, a clear vinyl sort of braces behind the front lower teeth, to straighten them out since they’re just a little crooked. I had metal braces on them in the 1970s…
Also about the ovaries’ eggs – the most viable eggs a woman ever has is right at birth – perhaps a couple thousand. During her youth they die off so that when she hits childbearing age when she starts menstruating (now age 12 on the average!), only a couple hundred viable eggs are left. So when women like me wait till 32 to have their 1st kid, and start trying 2 years later for their 2nd, they encounter a lot of problems. Any remaining eggs at this point & up to early 40s have genetic problems, thus the higher chances of miscarriages, Downs & birth defects. If you’re close to 40 & able to concieve a healthy baby within 6 months with no miscarriage & no abnormailities, you are very very lucky. About 25% of all pregancies end in miscarriage, altho some are so early (5 weeks) many women do not realize. After a horrible ectopic & loss of a fallopian tube, I had to turn to a fertility doctor at age 36 & after 2 years & several attempts & miscarriages, I was fortunate to finally carry to term. I also had the help of acupuncture – it relaxed me so that my 3rd IVF finally worked. I do believe in the wonders of acupuncture now.
If you’re 43, a fertility dr will no longer use your own eggs, you have to rely on an anonymous younger egg donor. So when some celeb or famous person is in the media chatting up how she got a baby at age 45 or 51, SHE DID NOT USE HER OWN EGGS. Notice that with a few rare exceptions, she will not confess that she had to rely on IVF, nor that she had to rely on an anonymous donor or even surrogate mother who was paid many thousands of $$ for her service.
Why the secrecy? There is no shame in this. ‘FESS UP, CELEB MOMS IN YOUR 40s & 50s!!! Tell your real story to help other women who are trying to concieve in their 40s!!!!
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128. Denzell….The man must have to do a lot of coition for that to happen.
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LOL LOL LOL!!!
Show me one single healthy man who isn't willing to give that a try!
Guys!
I love you!
God really designed us cool
I'm game
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#130.funny
God really designed us cool
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And it took you how long to figure this out?
;-D
i am not a spammer. My wapsite has gone bad, i've done some mistakes in the html, that's why it shows warning. I am not a spammer. I am a 22 year old medical student sick of studies. Lol
avthedemon –
if by 'wapsite' you mean website. simply remove it from your sign on. just post your name and/or email. i'm not sure but you may need to re register.
Great list… to RUSHFAN (comment #15) Babies are in fact born with knee caps… my son was born 3 1/2 months premature… only 896 grams & he had knee caps, tiny as they were, they where there. I too was Rh negative, the rograhm shot is usually given @ 26 weeks, I, however, had mine @ 20 weeks due to complications.
To Segue comment #119: A mother's body can and will reject a baby in any stage. Not only due to the Rh factor but to imbalance of naturally ocurring bacteris, infection in the mother, and various other reasons… It is these reasons I have been given only 1 child and have lost so many.
Keep the great lists coming!
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135. TildaJ
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Tilda, my heart breaks for you, though I am sure that the birth of your son has been like a balm on the other open sores of loss.
Of course there are multiple reasons for a mothers body to reject an embryo, but my post # 119 had nothing to do with Rh, in fact, in one of my posts, I made the point that the Rh factor had never been a problem for me.
What I said, in #119, was "As a rule, the only time an embryo is rejected is when it is not viable, and is usually lost before a woman knows she’s pregnant."
Notice the modifiers "As a rule" and "usually".
I know this is *NOT* always the case. My oldest daughter lost her first pregnancy at two and a half months because the embryo was not viable. That didn't make it any less heartbreaking.
A friend went through a perfectly normal pregnancy until the fifth month, when an infection raced through her body and killed the baby.
These, as horrible as they are, are the exceptions.
I have no words to tell you just how sorry I am that you found yourself unable to carry to term. I can only hope that your son, and your family and friends, fill your life with so much love and joy you'll feel full to overflowing.
Interesting list!
Some of the facts were really interesting!
Tchyeah
Random question: I've heard the "we grow X centimeters every night when we sleep, but shrink back down in the morning when we stand/sit up…" before. But if this is true, how come coma patients don't grow to be like 10' tall from laying in bed for weeks/months/years?
140. Woooooolhouse: If you weren't joking I'd have *so* much fun with this!
I HATE BLOOD THE FIRST SITE I FAINT
142. emma strirs
1 – Stop yelling
2 – "sight"
people must be aware of thier surroundings , And it will
clearly show that there is SOMEONE behind. And he is GOD.
REMEMBER-God _ it may be your last chnce of "hidaya" before
u are dead ………….
did you know that i thought when i got bonner it was a bone because it was so hard
it is a cool web site
Amazing x x x x x x x x
Did you know that when you die your nailes and hair still groes
when you sleep your body grows 8mm when you wake up you srink back to your size.
Or rather, when you die your body shrivels up from a lack of water, which gives the illusion that the nails and hair still 'groes'.
Or rather, when you die your body shrivels up from a lack of water, which gives the illusion that the nails and hair still ‘groes’.
-Oops, nickname typo !
148. yo yo: and as to growing during sleep, and shrinking during the day; while you recline all night, your spine relaxes, allowing the spaces between the vertebrae to open fully. When you arise, your spine is now taking on the full weight of your body, causing the spine to contract slightly.
i truly belive that it is amazing . i have never noticed how interesting science is i wont be off the pc now i will be studying other cool facts
freaky list but its amazing you also helped with my homework fanks
how do u get this stuff???
what a list. thanks 4 ur info
I got contact lenses at age 8 (3rd grade). Gas permeable lenses, I was told, would slow the shape change of my corneas. Don't know if that's true but I was very responsible with mine.
i knew some of those but hey idk what i was about to say.
ps.read the among the hidden bookset everyone i am serios they are the best take advise from a 12 year old.
this is quite a good site. Me and my mates use this at scool 4 finding facts. keep the facts comming people! from NEWS! [my nick name not my real name]
plz reply 2 my comment people oh and shout out 2 alice [autally JR his nickname yes HIS!]
wow… what a great creation that my god Jesus had made thank god for that all glory be to him alone.
wow great collection,btw i want to share an amazing fact with u ppl,
if every single nerve of a single person is strecthed from one end to another it would circle around the world twice!!!!!
ITS AN LAW..!
@WarningDontReadThis (21):
Hello good morning and send me amazing pictures of natures
oh yeah
amezing
this is madddd i love it
facts i love it. just one thing i want to download them
wonderful
Hey I get more from here I love it.
tis rocks
asssssssol
dude tis rocks
The human body is disgusting. I can't see any beauty in blood and guts. Thankfully, the physical world is merely a spectacle of moving shadows in the quantum vacuum. It's the transcendental world that really matters.
Testicles are dodgy when describing to a child that is 6 and he just threw up on the setee. my friend just cant keep a straight face whaen i tell him the real name for testicles(penis).
Number five is just not true. Toenails grow three times slower than fingernails, first of all. And don't tell me that your biggest toenail and smallest toenail would take the same time to "grow from base to tip".
#3 is wrong. It's actually around 500 million new sperm a day.
I have a question? Where the 'f' does my toddler get all this energy to basically run in circles all day long, go to sleep at midnight be awake at 6 a.m and start all over. Only eating when I remind him, never complaining of being hungry or thirsty and sustaining painful injuries during these excursions only to jump back up and start the running-in-circle process again? Please tell how to shut it off!
i personally think that kids dont pay attention to those things lol haha yeah i am still a teen and i have a lil one of my own and i can barly do it with also balancing school work… i am sure you can do it!! good luck