1Lifespan of Our Brain & Lifestyle
Our brain chemistry is stable enough to last thousands of years if it is not diseased; it's the rest of the body that kills us. The neurons in our brain have the potential to outlive the rest of our body, but our own lifestyle choices can put an end to this possibility. Not getting enough sleep, drinking too much, and a few other things can quickly hurt our brains and make them age faster than the rest of our bodies.
2. The collarbone, also known as the clavicle, is the most frequently broken bone in your body, and that's because it's actually designed to break! Imagine your collar bone as a circuit breaker, absorbing the shock from impacts and preventing it from reaching your spine, which could cause paralysis. It's like your body's way of saying, "Better a broken bone than a broken back!"
3. When a pregnant woman experiences organ damage (such as a heart attack), her fetus sends stem cells to repair it! But why doesn't the body do this without a fetus? Well, it turns out that having an abundance of stem cells in the body increases the risk of cancer, and the most common cancers actually stem from organs with a high population of stem cells.
4. When you're feeling highly stressed, your blood thickens to encourage clotting in case of a physical attack. But beware—this is often why stress contributes to heart attacks. And to add to the weirdness, did you know that some people experience a phenomenon called "stress-induced tears," where tears can start flowing uncontrollably when feeling highly stressed?
5. The levator ani muscle, located in the pelvic area, is so strong that it has been documented to remain intact even in serious car accidents, even in cases where people have broken other bones. It is responsible for keeping our buttholes in place and aiding in the most important bodily function of all—pooping! It also makes your butthole pucker, and its name translates to "lift the anus."
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6Unbelievable Things Your Brain Automatically Filters Out
Your brain filters out an overwhelming amount of stimuli in order for you to function normally. It helps you wear clothes without feeling them on your skin, breathe without hearing or noticing it, and even swallow food with ease by controlling complex movements. Your nose is always in your vision, but your brain just ignores it, and your tongue constantly moves in your mouth without voluntary inputs.
7. The fluid in your joints is so slippery that it makes the stuff you use to grease up your bike chain look like sandpaper. It's called synovial fluid, and it is one of the most frictionless substances on the planet. It's more frictionless than Teflon. This amazing lubricant is crucial for smooth joint movement and is only surpassed by other man-made lubricants like perfluoropolyethers, silicone oils, and graphite. No wonder our joints can move so effortlessly!
8. Our body's urge to breathe is actually to get rid of carbon dioxide and not to intake oxygen! The presence of carbon dioxide triggers the sensation of breathing. This is why you would not suffer if you suffocated in nitrogen. This is what makes low oxygen levels so dangerous, as we may not realize it before it's too late. This is also why carbon monoxide is such a hazardous gas!
9. Having a bowel movement can temporarily alter your heart rhythm due to a vagus response and even lead to dire consequences like a heart attack or passing out. This is why EMTs will not let you use the bathroom before getting on the ambulance. The vagus nerve is also the one that causes "poo-phoria." This is when your bowel movement stimulates the vagus nerve, causing feelings of exhilaration, intense relaxation, and goose bumps, especially after passing "a large mass of stool."
10. Your heart can generate its own electrical impulses (i.e., action potentials) because it is constantly depolarizing. Therefore, it can beat even after it's removed from the body. heart Transplants are possible due to the fact that the heart only requires oxygenated blood supply to continue beating on its own. After transplants, surgeons don’t really reconnect the nervous system to the new heart and will just leave it working independently, and it will continue to work fine.
11Eyes Closed, Mind Open: The World of Closed-Eye Visuals
When your brain doesn't get enough stimulation, it will create its own! Colors you see before you fall asleep are a common but mild occurrence. In extreme classes of hallucinations, there are closed-eye visuals, caused by leaving your eyes closed for a long time; hypnagogia, which is caused by the onset of sleep; prisoners' cinema, which is caused by looking into a dark place for a long time; the ganzfeld effect, which is caused by blocking out all external stimuli; and Charles Bonnet Syndrome, caused by sight loss. Some of these can be whole imagined scenes or more abstract, fractal-like imagery.
12. The human body is home to some surprising cell size comparisons. While sperm may be the smallest cell in the body, with the naked eye, you can actually see human eggs (ovum), which are the largest visible cells in the body. Meanwhile, some neurons can be incredibly long, stretching up to several feet in length, they are still not visible without the help of a microscope.
13. Humans could theoretically breathe a liquid that's super saturated with oxygen. One such liquid is perfluorocarbon. The density of liquid, however, is so much higher than air that after 15 minutes or so, a person would be too fatigued to continue breathing, and the hardest part would be preventing pneumonia by getting all the liquid out of the lungs.
14. We each have a blind spot in the center of our eye, where the optic nerve is located, and it's bigger than we might think. It can be easily "seen" by doing a simple self-experiment with a pen and a napkin. Simply draw a cross and a dot on the napkin, hold it about an arm's length away from your face, and close one eye. Move the napkin closer to your face until the dot disappears behind the cross. The dot is actually in the blind spot of your eye, showing how our brains fill in the missing information to create a seamless image.
15. As many as 55% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, most often before a woman misses her menstrual period. They are expelled instead as a "heavy period," and most women don’t even realize that they miscarried. Also, more than 80% of miscarriages occur within the first three months of pregnancy, mostly caused by chromosomal abnormalities.
16Locked-In Syndrome: The Trapped Consciousness
If the brainstem, the part of the brain that controls most body movements, is damaged, a person can experience "locked-in" syndrome, where they are fully conscious but unable to move or speak, except for the muscles controlling eye movement. It can be caused by toxins, blockage of the basilar artery, or other brainstem damage.
17. There's a "second brain" surrounding our stomach that has more neurons than a cat's brain. It is capable of controlling digestion, autonomous reflexes, memories, and even senses, leading to the idea that our gut has evolved to handle the critical action of nutrition separately from the main brain. It's thought to have come about because of the blood-brain barrier and the main brain being locked away in the skull, away from the critical action of nutrition. This explains the existence of the "butterflies in the stomach" sensation.
18. Our bodies are home to a diverse community of microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses. In fact, for every human cell in our bodies, there are about 1.3 bacterial cells, and billions of bacteriophages (viruses) feed on these bacteria in our gut. This thriving ecosystem within us highlights the idea that we are not just one organism but rather a network of interconnected cells, some of which can even exit our bodies and become a part of someone else's microbiome.
19. There's a "right" and a "wrong" way to swallow food, and the way you learned to swallow as a baby may not be the right way! There's a difference between the "nursing" swallow, where you push your whole tongue forward, and the proper adult swallow, where you put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and roll the food back. Incorrect swallowing patterns can lead to a higher risk of choking, faster eating, dental problems, and even speech issues like a lisp.
20. Your scrotum (ballsacks) can act as a thermometer! If you have a fever, your testicles hang loose because high body temperatures can destroy sperm. Sperm is very temperature-sensitive, so when it gets cold outside, your testicles may contract. Testicles also hang at uneven heights so they don't damage each other when you're running or sitting.
21Hidden Physical Strength
Our internal mental lock prevents us from accessing 100% of our physical strength. That's why you can't rip off your own finger without some kind of outside assistance. But in extreme situations, such as when protecting a loved one, the primal part of our brain can override this limit and allow us to perform seemingly impossible feats of strength. The consequences of using 100% of our strength, on the other hand, can be physically damaging, as the primary goal of this lock is to prevent tearing your muscles, breaking your bones, and damaging your body in the process.
22. Despite having our vital organs protected by muscle walls and a rib cage, our spinal cord remains exposed and delicate, kind of like a precious gem lying in the open. This is despite the fact that it is one of the most important and fragile parts of our body. Even minor injuries to the back can lead to complete paralysis, regardless of a person's strength or muscle mass. Our back muscles give us cushioning and support, but they don't protect the spinal cord directly.
23. Cancer is not just a result of lifestyle choices, but often it's just due to bad luck. According to studies, there isn't much we can do to prevent the estimated 60% of cancers that are due to non-modifiable risk factors.
24. After any kind of surgery that involves moving the organs, the body might assume that organ is dead and stop its functioning for a day or two. That's why doctors wait for post-c-section patients to pass gas before letting them eat, to ensure their digestive system is back online. Eating too soon after abdominal surgery can result in a paralytic ileus, where the food just stays there until it gets thrown up.
25. Our bodies secrete mucus every few hours to protect us from the damaging effects of our own stomach acid. Salivating excessively before vomiting is also a self-defense mechanism to reduce the damage from the acid to the esophagus. This hydrochloric acid in our stomachs is so powerful that it can dissolve metal. It helps to break down food, and it also helps kill off any harmful bacteria and pathogens present in the food.
