Biological Brilliance: 47 Incredible Insights Into Your Body’s Mysteries – Part 2

Black Death resulted in a stronger and longer-living human population. Scientists examined the bones of those who died before and after the plague and determined that people who were born after were stronger and more fit.

27. Humans are the only primates without a penis bone, leaving us dependent on hydraulic pressure alone. The penis bone in other primates “aids sexual reproduction by maintaining sufficient stiffness during sexual penetration.”

28. Titanium is the most bio-compatible metal, and new bone tissue will bond with it at the atomic level.

29. There is a mutation that causes your bones to become super dense, filling life with inconveniences such as sinking like a rock and walking away from automobile accidents without a single fracture.

30. The first-known definitive case of a benign bone tumor was discovered in the rib of a 120,000 year old specimen of a young Neanderthal.

Camel bites can cause your bones to dissolve.

32. Doctors don’t bother lining up the bones when an infant breaks a bone. A bodily process called remodeling heals the bone in two weeks, and reshapes the bone back to normal in a couple of months.

33. The “ashes” you get after cremation is crushed bone, as the rest of the body (organic matter) vaporizes at high temperatures.

34. Osteogenesis imperfecta is a bone disorder in children that causes their bones to be extremely, easily broken, and parents are being sent to prison for child abuse because the disorder is very often overlooked or misdiagnosed.

35. Bone marrow transplant recipients often inherit the donor’s immunities and allergies.

There is a highway in Russia known as the Road of Bones, as the skeletons of the forced laborers who died during its construction were used in much of its foundations.

37. The word ‘bonfire’ was a Middle English word to describe a large fire of bones typically used for cremation during plagues or wars.

38. It's possible to be declared brain-dead falsely because most physicians look at the brain stem, which controls heart and lung functions, but not the cortex, which coordinates consciousness.

39. An adult gets a whole new skeleton every 10 years due to constant bone remodeling.

40. Matches used to be made with toxic white phosphorus. It was so toxic that workers often contracted "Phossy Jaw," causing their face to rot away and their bones to literally glow in the dark.

Astronauts lose on average 1% of their bone mass a month, most of which is excreted in their urine. They literally pee their skeleton out.

42. Gouverneur Morris, a signer of the United States Constitution, died while attempting to clear a urinary tract blockage using a piece of whale bone as a catheter.

43. Coca-Cola has been used effectively as a first line treatment for phytobezoars, a trapped mass in the stomach composed of indigestible plant material which can lead to serious symptoms. 93.1% cases were resolved.

44. Sword swallowing is not an illusion of any kind: the performer actually pushes the sword down their oesophagus and into their stomach. 29 deaths resulting from sword swallowing have been reported since 1880.

45. Gastrocolic reflex is what makes you want to poop after a meal, as your body senses stomach stretching and digestion as a cue to ramp up colon activity and make room for more food.

Abby & Brittany Hensel are extremely rare adult conjoined twins with two heads and one body. They can each feel and control the one arm and the leg on their side. They can write, run, play sports, drive a car, are social butterflies, and generally live normally.

47. Rabies causes hydrophobia, where just the thought of drinking water or seeing water, causes intense clench throat spasms, so the victim cannot swallow the frothy saliva forming in their mouth. The foam is infected heavily with the live virus which increases disease transmission through biting.