The human body looks ordinary on the outside, but this collection of 50 strange facts shows just how bizarre it really is. From face mites having sex in your pores and phantom rectums that still feel the urge to poop, to birth control that slows caffeine breakdown, blind brains that turbocharge speech, and CPR that cracks ribs to save lives, Part 10 dives into the weird science hiding in your skin, nerves, organs, and even your DNA.
Missed the earlier editions? Catch up with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, and Part 9.
1 Birth Control Slows Caffeine Breakdown
Oral birth control extends the half-life of caffeine, so women taking birth control may have caffeine in their systems for about 4 hours longer than typical.
2 Gerardo Moctezuma Brain Tapeworm Case
After experiencing months of severe headaches, Gerardo Moctezuma from Austin, Texas, consulted doctors who performed an MRI and revealed a tapeworm lodged in the middle of his brain. Surgeons later removed the parasite in one piece during brain surgery and said it had probably been there for about a decade. Doctors believe he contracted the tapeworm more than 10 years earlier while living in Mexico, when he ate undercooked meat that allowed the parasite to enter his body and grow undetected. Moctezuma felt like his normal self again after the operation.
3 When Overhydration Kills Endurance Athletes
Between 2014 and 2024, there have been at least 15 cases of athletes dying from overhydration during sporting events. In these cases, they consumed so much fluid that it diluted the sodium in their blood. This dangerous dilution caused water to shift into tissues and led to swelling of the brain and lungs.
4 Sour Skittles That Peel Tongues
Eating too many Sour Skittles or other sour candies in one sitting can make your tongue shed a layer of skin. Sour candies contain high levels of acid that can erode the top layer of your tongue and leave it feeling sore, raw, or peeling. The peeling usually stops within a few days as the tongue heals itself.
5 You Breathe Out Most Fat
The lungs perform the vast majority of our body’s excretion, so most of the weight we lose each day actually leaves through our breath, not our butts. Exhaled carbon dioxide accounts for the primary route by which fat mass exits the body as it is metabolized. As triglycerides are broken down, the carbon in the fat combines with oxygen to form CO₂, which we then breathe out.
6 Stone Toolmaking Shares Musician Circuits
Chipping a stone ax the way early humans did in East Africa 1.8 million years ago activates the same large-scale brain network that modern trained pianists use when they play the piano. A research team found that Acheulian toolmaking recruited a widespread higher-order cognitive network across the cortex.
7 Hip Swing Signals Vaginal Orgasm
Scientists studied women’s gait and found that they could judge with 81.25% accuracy whether a woman had recently experienced a vaginal orgasm simply by observing the movement of her hips as she walked. In the 2008 study, researchers filmed women walking in a natural setting and then later assessed their orgasm history through interviews and questionnaires. They evaluated specific features of pelvic and upper-body movement in the walking patterns. When they compared those movement patterns with the women’s reported sexual histories, they found a clear association between certain relaxed, fluid gait characteristics and recent vaginal orgasm.
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8 Nipples Activate Genital Sensory Cortex
An fMRI study mapping the female genitals onto the sensory portion of the brain found that nipple self-stimulation activates the genital sensory cortex, the same area as clitoral, vaginal, and cervical self-stimulation.
9 Menopause Triples Female Facial Aging
Both men’s and women’s faces age at about the same rate until around age 50. At that point, the drop in estrogen that comes with menopause causes women’s faces to age at roughly three times the rate of men’s. The fall in estrogen also cuts the production of collagen, the protein that gives skin its elasticity and firmness. As collagen levels drop, women see faster sagging and wrinkling in their facial skin compared with men of the same age.
10 Why Shower Thoughts Feel Brilliant
Our brains give us our best ideas when we are relaxed, distracted, and flooded with dopamine, and all of these conditions often line up in the shower. Warm water, comfort, and routine tasks help release dopamine, which further boosts creative thinking. That mix of relaxation, mild distraction, and dopamine is why you often suddenly get “shower thoughts” that solve problems or spark new ideas.
RE: Fact #13 (Too Much Pure Oxygen Kills) – Little preemie babies who need ventilation or help breathing for quite a while can get ROP, which is retinopathy of prematurity. It’s caused by having too much oxygen. Because of that, medical staff usually aim to keep their oxygen saturation in the low 90s, not super close to 100%.
Turns out, this is the reason Stevie Wonder is blind.
RE: Fact #6 (Stone Toolmaking Shares Musician Circuits) – So that’s the whole reason guitars got the nickname ‘axes’.
Most of the time, when I’m jamming on my guitar, I’m kinda high and definitely have snacks nearby.
Take out the guitar, and yeah, that’s just a regular evening for me.
RE: Fact #5 (You Breathe Out Most Fat) – Animals, including us, are mainly water and carbon. We consume carbon, take in oxygen, and then release carbon dioxide as we breathe.
I’m on this new ‘low carbon’ diet, focusing heavily on foods packed with silicon. The great thing is I can eat as many computer chips as I want!
My absolute favorite has got to be Silicon Valley Ranch dressing!
RE: Fact #6 (Stone Toolmaking Shares Musician Circuits) – Turns out, that specific Acheulian brain network is the same one that kicks in when a really good pianist is playing. No, this doesn’t automatically mean early humans were performing Chopin. But what our study found might mean that the brain connections we rely on today for tough tasks needing various kinds of input – things like playing an instrument – were probably evolving around 1.8 million years ago. This was to help our ancestors make more advanced tools so they could access energy-packed foods.
RE: Fact #17 (Lifesaving CPR That Cracks Ribs) – I remember doing CPR on this guy at a hotel years back. Almost right away, I heard a quiet pop and realized I’d cracked a rib. I definitely winced but kept going. A few minutes later, a doctor showed up and took over, and she ended up breaking two more of his ribs.
RE: Fact #50 (Ancient Mutation Improved Alcohol Metabolism) – If carrots made you drunk, rabbits would be totally messed up — Mitch Hedberg
RE: Fact #17 (Lifesaving CPR That Cracks Ribs) – My instructor always said something like, ‘If you’re not hearing any ribs crack, you’re probably not doing CPR effectively.’ It sounds pretty harsh, I know, but it’s way better for someone to eventually wake up with some pain than for them to never wake up at all.
RE: Fact #14 (Why Heavy Drinkers Get Shakes) – Hangxiety is real. I actually had to quit drinking years ago because the anxiety and depression I’d feel the next day became unbearable. That fact really explains it well.
RE: Fact #5 (You Breathe Out Most Fat) – So, when your body burns fat, roughly eighty percent of that lost weight actually leaves your body as carbon dioxide, which you just breathe out. The other twenty percent gets expelled in sweat, pee, and poop.
Hey, I’m not being lazy, I’m just trying to keep my carbon footprint in check! 😉
Seriously, it feels like that 80/20 rule pops up in just about everything you look at these days.
Calling it ‘almost everything’ might be a bit much. I’d say it’s more like eighty percent.
RE: Fact #29 (Cold Climates Sculpted Narrow Nostrils) – Yeah that makes sense. Africans have wider nostrils, probably because of hot climates and needing to run long distances to chase down prey.
You’re kinda right, actually. Wider, shorter nostrils work better in their region because a) the air’s already warm and doesn’t need time to warm up, and b) since a lot of their land is at high elevation plateaus, they needed to take in more air to get enough oxygen. Source: not a scientist, just did a lot of research on what causes differences between races because it’s fascinating. Eye colors are cool too!
RE: Fact #23 (Striped Body Paint Deters Flies) – Aren’t these usually spread by vectors, instead of floating in the air?
RE: Fact #29 (Cold Climates Sculpted Narrow Nostrils) – I told my little brother we have big nostrils that help with athletic performance, kind of like a hood scoop on a Trans-Am for better airflow.
Just make sure he doesn’t go for nose stretches.
RE: Fact #8 (Nipples Activate Genital Sensory Cortex) – They should probably have a control group of women who are done breastfeeding. I’m not sure if that’s a usual thing, but it really changed a lot for my wife.
I’ve breastfed seven children. Now I can almost have an orgasm just from nipple play. My suggestion? Pinch harder.
It seems my wife isn’t really typical. Or perhaps you aren’t! We need a lot more data, for sure.
My ex-girlfriend could have nipple orgasms. That was pretty awesome.
RE: Fact #39 (Blind Athletes Prove Hardwired Expressions) – So what’s the deal with the show Lie To Me?
I can’t believe they canceled that show. I really loved it.
It’s kinda self-defeating. Once you start paying attention to microexpressions, you start seeing actors instead of the characters they’re supposed to be.
I was a huge fan of that show back in high school. I even tried to learn how to spot microexpressions. Cal Lightman is definitely the best.
RE: Fact #16 (Sunlight Makes Skin Produce Serotonin) – Seriously, I’m pretty much just a houseplant.
RE: Fact #34 (Strong Perfumes That Trigger Migraines) – I always end up walking into a Bath and Body Works and it’s like, I just can’t do it. I’m completely out of luck every time.
RE: Fact #1 (Birth Control Slows Caffeine Breakdown) – Okay, I just got done reading that article. Heads up, it’s just a review piece from 1990, written by one person. And get this, in that whole ten-page article, there’s literally only one sentence talking about oral contraceptives and caffeine, and it doesn’t even cite a source! It says something like, ‘Caffeine metabolism gets slowed down by a bunch of stuff, including alcohol, cimetidine, and oral contraceptives with estrogen.’ Honestly, I’m seeing a lot of wrong info flying around here, making it sound like caffeine and OCPs interact way more than they do. That article gives no reason to think this interaction really matters in a clinical setting. I’m gonna try to find some better sources. Oh, and thanks for the extra info someone shared later! From another article, it seems women on OCPs actually keep caffeine in their system much longer than those not using OCs.
Yeah, I totally get that. I did a quick search myself and it looks like a few other studies actually reached pretty similar findings. I found a couple of articles that looked into how caffeine and birth control interact, and how the body processes them. Also, there’s another paper that seems really solid, going into even more detail on how the body handles the drugs.
RE: Fact #10 (Why Shower Thoughts Feel Brilliant) – Huh, it’s funny how the shower is my go-to spot for imaginary arguments. I end up having all these angry talks with folks who will honestly never even know I’m annoyed at them.
Totally feel that. It’s also where I play out all sorts of future talks in my head – happy ones, sad ones, everything in between – that almost definitely won’t ever actually occur.
Maybe try taking a shower by yourself, for once?
Or better yet, shower with people you actually like and aren’t angry at.
RE: Fact #39 (Blind Athletes Prove Hardwired Expressions) – They definitely knew this before 2004, blind babies will smile.
RE: Fact #20 (Not Everyone Can Defocus Eyes) – Back in 7th grade biology, we were chatting about strange body tricks. I brought up being able to focus and unfocus my vision whenever I wanted. Right away, the whole class looked at me and shouted, “Everyone does that!” It’s pretty satisfying now to learn that’s actually not a thing everyone can do.
I totally just figured everybody could do it. If I’m bored, I’ll often just let my eyes go blurry, then clear them up again. Never imagined that would be anything special.
Same here. When I was a kid, playing ‘spot the difference’ games, I found it helped. It kind of blurs out all the extra stuff, making it simpler to find what isn’t there.
RE: Fact #19 (Diet Soda Pregnancy Overweight Babies) – Ugh, this whole ‘diet soda equals causation’ thing is just silly. People who are heavier tend to drink diet soda. And those heavier parents often have heavier kids. The soda itself isn’t what’s making the children bigger, though. You can adjust for a mom’s body mass index, sunspots, or even how many squirrels are around, but correlation still isn’t causation.
Besides just genetics, I really think we should consider what families eat daily. People who usually drink soda also tend to eat lots of other processed foods. This pattern of eating gets passed down to their families, which just makes the whole problem worse.
But for their first year, babies should pretty much only be on formula or breastmilk, with maybe a few solid foods. That’s it.
I drink diet soda myself because I want to keep drinking soda but I’m trying not to gain extra weight.
Seriously, why do folks get praised for just assuming scientists are totally stupid and never think about the super obvious reasons behind what they find? The effects they talked about weren’t explained by things like the mom’s BMI, or what she usually ate, or how many calories she had, or other common reasons for obesity. And get this, sugary drinks didn’t show similar connections at all.
RE: Fact #8 (Nipples Activate Genital Sensory Cortex) – Yeah, that’s pretty clear. I had a girlfriend in college who could almost orgasm just from nipple play. I definitely miss that.
My ex had that, but it was for her whole entire body. I had no fu*kin clue how that even worked, but it was pretty fun at the moment.
RE: Fact #7 (Hip Swing Signals Vaginal Orgasm) – Seriously, how come this field never got mentioned on career day back when I was a high school student?
Well, why on earth would somebody want to go around promoting all the truly great jobs?
RE: Fact #43 (Idle Brains Spin Up Earworms) – So I’m basically under “Low Cognitive Load” all the time. My brain just needs a better shuffle.
RE: Fact #33 (Vagus Nerve And Poo-Phoria) -Holding stool for days straight just to get high from passing a big chunk of poop? Maybe it’s time to talk to your kids about the newest drug they call “sh*t-holding.”
RE: Fact #16 (Sunlight Makes Skin Produce Serotonin) – Hmm, that actually might be why I’m feeling so fu*king down all the time.
I bet a lot of us totally get that we should be doing more of this, but then we’re just too bummed out to actually go outside, haha.
RE: Fact #20 (Not Everyone Can Defocus Eyes) – That’s easy for me. What really blows my mind is when I hear that some folks don’t have an inner voice talking to them while they’re thinking or reading or whatever.
My wife is actually one of them. My mouth literally fell open when she mentioned it. We were in a mindfulness session, and she just didn’t grasp the idea of listening to your own thoughts. That’s how we figured it out. Even now, my brain is still amazed by it.
RE: Fact #1 (Birth Control Slows Caffeine Breakdown) – Oh man, they seriously need to add this info to 5-hour energy drinks.
RE: Fact #16 (Sunlight Makes Skin Produce Serotonin) – Hey, you can actually snag some of those same perks just by letting more sunshine into your place. If getting out for a walk isn’t an option, just try throwing open those curtains or blinds.
The thing is, I’m on night shifts, so those blackout curtains are a total must-have for me.
Totally get that. I’m taking supplements, but I’m actually thinking about jumping into a sun bed for like four minutes each week. Yeah, I know it’s not great for you, but I just gotta figure out the trade-offs. After working nights for over four years, I swear I look like some weird mix of Gerard Way and Jack White.
RE: Fact #18 (Asparagus Helps Liver Handle Alcohol) – Just testing liver cells in a dish doesn’t really tell us much about eating asparagus with your drinks in real life. The whole point of clinical trials is that most things looking good in a lab often totally flop when tested on actual living things. I mean, sunlight can kill a ton of different viruses in a petri dish, and all sorts of chemicals easily take out cancer cells in vitro. But you’d never hear anyone sane suggesting sunlight to cure AIDS or bleach for lung cancer, would you?
Also, you can eat all the asparagus you want, but if you don’t drink enough water, you’ll still feel like sh*t. I used to get awful hangovers myself until I started downing two liters of water before hitting the hay after a night out. It really does the trick.
Sure, being dehydrated definitely plays a role in hangovers, but they also come from an inflammatory reaction set off by your immune system, plus your body makes more glutamine. Just drinking water isn’t going to solve all of that.
RE: Fact #20 (Not Everyone Can Defocus Eyes) – Wow so some people can make their eyes go blurry whenever they want?
I just learned not everyone can do the eye unfocusing trick. That also reminds me of finding out that not everybody can flex that tiny muscle deep inside their ear.
Whoa, I can both unfocus my vision and make that rumbling sound in my ears! Look at these special abilities I possess. So, I guess I’m a superhero now.
I’m not sure what the point of it is… but I’ve got nearly perfect eyesight, and I can switch my focus on and off super fast, like once every second.
When I can’t sleep, it feels like my eyes are just glued to the back of my lids. If I relax my gaze while they’re shut, it seems to help me drift off quicker. It’s a bit odd, but it works for me most of the time, probably 80%.
RE: Fact #14 (Why Heavy Drinkers Get Shakes) – Man, it’s rough. You get the shakes, start sweating, dry mouth, then your hands and feet just itch like crazy. Anxiety through the roof, tunnel vision, nausea, heart pounding, can’t sleep. If it gets really bad, we’re talking hallucinations and seizures. Once your hangovers hit those itchy, shaky sweats and you’re blacking out or having brownouts pretty regularly, you’re in deep trouble. I remember shaking and sweating in bed, hearing a TV blasting through the wall, someone flipping channels nonstop. A three-day waking nightmare, mixed with super intense, violent sleeping nightmares. If you can snag some free time and get some benzos, you might be able to manage the tapering/withdrawal at home. Otherwise, seriously, get to a hospital or a detox facility. This stuff isn’t a joke. Taper off really slowly, like cutting back just one or two drinks daily. Stock up on home entertainment, Pedialyte, and Pepto. Don’t go through it alone; have someone you can at least talk to, if not be there. Even after you successfully taper, all your old problems are still there. The only difference is you’ll be a little clearer-headed from being hydrated and actually sleeping. You’ll have a b*tch of a time avoiding the only thing that ever seemed to help, and life’s bullsh*t definitely doesn’t stop. You’ll probably think, ‘I got sober for this?!’ Relapse is likely, and next time, tapering will be even tougher and more dangerous. Alcohol does not play around.
That fact is spot on and super informative, but from my experience as a former medical detox EMT, I really want to stress this: alcohol is one of the riskiest substances to detox from. It’s right up there with benzos. It can totally kill you. Most of the time we had seizures or sent people to the hospital, it was because of alcohol withdrawal. If you’re dealing with alcohol dependence, please check out the medical help available near you. I get that everyone’s situation is unique and options differ, but seriously, looking into it could literally save your life.
Given all that, I’d guess it’s definitely smarter to slowly taper off instead of just quitting cold turkey.
Seriously, alcohol is no joke. That’s why I constantly question why it’s legal but weed isn’t. Alcohol can absolutely kill you if you just drink too much, and the withdrawals are super serious. You see bottles of poison everywhere, but heaven help you if you’re caught with cannabis in some places.
Prohibition actually caused organized crime to really take off. Trying to ban something that’s been a big part of human culture for ages, not just in America, is a really bad call. It just creates a huge backlash and a massive black market. But yeah, everyone pretty much agrees now that weed shouldn’t be illegal. I don’t smoke it, never have, and probably never will. I can’t stand being around constant smokers, and I think the smell is terrible, but even I’m all for legalizing it.
RE: Fact #40 (Blond Hair Northern Sunlight Adaptation) – So is Northern Europe darker in winter than central Asia? I’m not sure how clear the connection is because we already know from earlier news that Europeans come from three different genetic groups and only one of them was actually in Europe back then—the blue-eyed, brown-skinned folks with Y haplogroup C. Why can’t the blond hair just have come from the steppes of central Asia with tribe number three?
Yeah, the northernmost spot in Central Asia is roughly 3 to 5 degrees south of the southernmost point in Northern Europe. Central Asia’s average latitude’s about the same as Southern Europe’s.
RE: Fact #37 (Human Heart Hitting Six Hundred) – A Danish guy died laughing and his heart rate was estimated to be between 250 and 500 beats per minute. He was watching A Fish Called Wanda, by the way.
RE: Fact #31 (Chris Sands Hiccups Revealed Tumor) – Hey doc, I’ve lost my arm. British doc: nah, just a flesh wound, slap on a bandage and take this Tylenol.
We don’t use brand names here. I’d say that’s paracetamol?
RE: Fact #32 (Stroke To Insula Broke Addiction) – This happened to my grandma. She had a minor stroke, then got Alzheimer’s and forgot she smoked.
I didn’t expect a full-blown roller coaster.
Same timeline for my dad. My mom definitely wouldn’t have reminded him. He also totally forgot he was drinking a lot of coffee.
What if caffeine or nicotine withdrawal didn’t have any physical side effects?
RE: Fact #36 (Non-O Blood Types Raise Risk) – Man, I gotta be honest, no matter your blood type, the odds of dying one day are 100%.
Nah, not true. Historically, there’s been a little over 7 billion people alive who haven’t died, no matter what blood type they have. The evidence’s pretty solid.
So the total number of humans ever? Around 117 billion. Right now, about 7.88 billion are alive. So 6.735% of the people who ever lived are still around.
RE: Fact #25 (Aging Eyes Make Skies Grayer) – i used to be a nurse manager and some hospitals are actually doing a pretty cool thing. they’ve got special wards for older people with colors that are easier on the eyes. and they’re even removing lines on the floor because they can look like gaps and make people trip. it was a pretty interesting project i worked on
RE: Fact #43 (Idle Brains Spin Up Earworms) – It’s crazy how much of a song you can actually remember and hum without even realizing it.
My roommate got mad at me for humming Smells Like Teen Spirit a couple weeks ago and I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I also supposedly make weird, random noises out of nowhere, but I still don’t believe him.
RE: Fact #13 (Too Much Pure Oxygen Kills) – Just ’cause something’s super pure, that doesn’t mean it’s automatically better for you. Breathing pure oxygen is kinda like putting racing fuel into an everyday car.
RE: Fact #37 (Human Heart Hitting Six Hundred) – What about the finish guy who skied 250 miles on Nazi amphetamines.
So there was a guy in WWII who worked on ski patrol. He got separated from his squad and had to ski home alone. Luckily, he was in charge of the amphetamines, so he took the whole squad’s worth and skied all the way back.
RE: Fact #34 (Strong Perfumes That Trigger Migraines) – I used to get headaches when I was a kid every time we went to the mall. No one listened to me back then, but I was dead sure it was the perfume counters in those stores. I FUCKING KNEW IT MOM!
My skin’s a mess and I’ve got bad allergies. Essential oils and fragrances? Total nightmare. My dermatologist confirmed it. People act like it’s no big deal because they smell good and are “natural” — well, so are uranium and jellyfish. And those crystal and essential oil “balancing” nonsense? Total BS. Honestly, just get rid of all that demonic-scented stuff.
RE: Fact #32 (Stroke To Insula Broke Addiction) – I had a friend who quit after doing shrooms. My cousin stopped drinking for a few months and realized that was his trigger.
RE: Fact #39 (Blind Athletes Prove Hardwired Expressions) – Is this really surprising? There are so many infant smile videos out there. Always cute, no matter what language they’re in. Even dogs can tell if you’re down or not.
RE: Fact #19 (Diet Soda Pregnancy Overweight Babies) – So the idea here is that people drinking diet soda end up eating more food that’s packed with calories, right? My advice to everyone is just to keep track of your calories.
RE: Fact #33 (Vagus Nerve And Poo-Phoria) – I’ve never had poo-phoria, but did you know that if you strain too hard, it can put pressure on the vagus nerve and make you pass out or feel like you’re about to? I have IBS and I’ve felt that before. Not fun at all.
I passed out once because of that. I was having the worst gas pain ever and just sat down on the toilet. The next thing I knew, I was waking up face down on the bathroom floor. Needed nine stitches on my eyebrow, and the doctor said I “vasal vagaled.” Now every time I feel that kind of pain again, I’m freaking out and worried I’ll pass out again.
RE: Fact #50 (Ancient Mutation Improved Alcohol Metabolism) – Like, the way I’ve heard it explained is that way back, over 10 million years ago, Africa was super forested and there was always fruit and other food around, so people didn’t really need to eat rotting or overripe fruit unless they wanted to get high. Around 10 million years ago, the climate shifted and huge stretches of forest turned into savannas, which made food less available because trees were farther apart. That shift led to two big changes: the ability to walk upright and better skills for processing ethanol.
RE: Fact #24 (Phantom Rectum And Phantom Poops) – does emptying the poop bag make it better? cuz having to poop with no butt sounds like a nightmare
theres a sci fi story called i have no mouth and i must scream thats kinda like this
it reminds me of that black mirror episode where they remove everyones genitals and butt its a total nightmare
the poop bag just fills up on its own no pushing or anything. your intestines just keep pushing till its full. then you gotta empty it or itll just burst. i had an ostomy bag for 7 months and i got phantom rectum too. but then they fixed my intestines and now i can live pretty normally without a large intestine. all cuz of crohns disease
RE: Fact #33 (Vagus Nerve And Poo-Phoria) – That’s why sometimes the cat starts zooming around after going to the litter box.
RE: Fact #23 (Striped Body Paint Deters Flies) – Where my mom lives, it’s a total swamp. I’m giving this a go when I stop by this summer. I’ll let you know what happens.
RE: Fact #46 (Blind Brains Turbocharge Speech Processing) – Listen to YouTube at 2x and you can start building that skill too.
Yeah but if it’s using the visual cortex, your video resolution and fps will go down.
I’ve been listening to my morning radio and podcasts on 2x for two years now, and I’m starting to get bored around the 40-minute mark of a movie or 15 minutes into a TV show. Maybe I should just stop.
RE: Fact #25 (Aging Eyes Make Skies Grayer) – our hearing pretty much fades over time. i was out in the countryside one night and there were all these crickets and grasshoppers making a ton of noise. it was super loud but my dad, who was getting up there in age, couldn’t hear it no matter how hard he tried. i even recorded it and it was picking it up just fine but he still couldn’t hear it when i played it back
RE: Fact #25 (Aging Eyes Make Skies Grayer) – that’s pretty depressing
RE: Fact #26 (DNA Repair Protein Drives Sleep) – Didn’t know my brain was making so little PARP-1 — it’s kinda disturbing.
RE: Fact #17 (Lifesaving CPR That Cracks Ribs) – Yep, I can vouch for that. It’s almost like dealing with a rusty old gate; once you get it moving, it just swings smoothly. I’ve actually met three people I saved from cardiac arrest, and none of them ever brought up anything about broken bones.
RE: Fact #8 (Nipples Activate Genital Sensory Cortex) – Hold on a minute! Why and where did they find women willing to self-stimulate their cervix?
I’ve been with women who really enjoy it, and others who completely hate it. Some women react like they just got kicked in the nuts, but others actually push into it. It’s such a strange divide.
RE: Fact #9 (Menopause Triples Female Facial Aging) – Oh, I’m totally embracing this. I’ll keep my wild curly hair, let it go completely grey, and pretty much just live in hippie dresses. Then I’ll hand out tons of wise advice to everyone, making sure to tell folks I’m hitting seventy-something. That way, they’ll be so impressed with how good I look for my age.
As a dude, I’m totally stealing this plan.
RE: Fact #1 (Birth Control Slows Caffeine Breakdown) – Whoa, that sounds like a fairly big issue.
RE: Fact #48 (Fire Cooking And Bigger Brains) – So if we feed apes cooked food, we’re basically back to planet of the apes. Noted.
That’s probably not gonna happen, but dogs and cats… gotta keep an eye on those fu*kers.
RE: Fact #7 (Hip Swing Signals Vaginal Orgasm) – I’m watching my wife walk around, you know, totally flat-footed, just stomping, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Maybe I should start trying something new.’
That totally makes me think of the water glass scene from Jurassic Park right away.
RE: Fact #45 (Forty Minutes Of Functional Blindness) – A lot of what you see is actually built by your brain. Outside that tiny center spot in your eye, everything’s blurry and fuzzy, and there’s a big dead zone because the nerves pull out at the back of the eye. Your brain picks up the fast movements of your eyes and fills in all those gaps and fuzziness—kinda like how AI can clean up a low-quality photo. If you just connected an eye to a TV camera, the picture would be terrible.
so we’re just AI at the end of the day.
Except blind people. They’re the real deal.
RE: Fact #24 (Phantom Rectum And Phantom Poops) – i had no rectum for like 2.5 years now and its super annoying. docs say to sit on the toilet to trick my brain. it works cuz my brain thinks thats what i used to do when i had a rectum. luckily it happens less often over time. now i hardly ever get phantom rectum
if you have an ileostomy dont you just poop thru a hole in your stomach? so can you still get constipated? do laxatives even do anything
RE: Fact #47 (Ancient Bacteria Became Your Mitochondria) – Chloroplasts are in plants too.
RE: Fact #33 (Vagus Nerve And Poo-Phoria) – It can also go way too far. When I was a kid I held my poop in for over a week. A few minutes after I finally went, I started shivering like crazy. Called my mom right away and texted the pediatrician — apparently my body thought the poop brick was a water source and I was going into shock when it disappeared.
RE: Fact #43 (Idle Brains Spin Up Earworms) – It’s not doing a great job keeping me entertained.
RE: Fact #40 (Blond Hair Northern Sunlight Adaptation) – Native Melanesians are black people with naturally blonde hair. Scientists have traced it to a specific allele of the TYRP1 gene that’s unique to them, and it’s not the same gene that causes blond hair in Europeans.
RE: Fact #45 (Forty Minutes Of Functional Blindness) – There’s this horror sci-fi thing called Blindsight by Peter Watts, and the aliens are right beside us, living in these blind spots.
RE: Fact #31 (Chris Sands Hiccups Revealed Tumor) – I remember watching that. You can tell something’s off when the Japanese doctor walks out with the results and looks totally stunned. I’m sure I remember the boy and his sister are just laughing and joking, and the doctor walks out like, “umm, you might want to turn those cameras off.”
I really appreciate how humble the doctor is.