Just when you think you know everything, you discover THIS!
They exist strange facts about our psyche, there are facts we wish we didn't know (e.g. fruit juices can contain one worm for every 250ml) and there are fun facts that are great conversation starters (e.g. May 29th is officially the day like putting a pillow on the fridge).
And in that spirit, here are some facts about our bodies that you might find interesting… and a little disgusting.
1. Our stomach would digest itself if it could, but it is prevented from being lined with mucus-producing epithelial cells
Mucus creates a barrier between the lining of the stomach and its contents so that it cannot digest itself. The enzymes produced by the stomach wall are inactive until they pass through the mucous barrier. They can then begin to digest the food. However, the stomach can begin to digest itself when the mucus barrier is damaged, causing stomach ulcers.
2. Men produce about 10 million new sperm every day...
… which is approx enough to repopulate the entire planet in 6 months. Men produce several million sperm daily, which is about 1,500 sperm per second. And there are about 280 million sperm in one ejaculation.
3. The average person produces enough saliva in their lifetime to fill two Olympic swimming pools
Our saliva is mostly recycled and not produced as much because we are constantly swallowing and absorbing it. But the flow of saliva is about 30 ml of saliva per hour, a little more when we eat, a little less when we sleep. That's a full bottle of wine every day or 20,000 liters in a lifetime.
4. If the skin of an adult person were stretched, it would cover 2 square meters
The skin is the largest organ in the human body. And it is very, very important. As well as its proper care. The skin represents otherwise 16 percent of a person's total weight. In most cases, the average adult man's skin weighs around 9 kilograms, but of course this also depends on whether you are thinner or fatter.
5. Our brain uses about 20 percent of the oxygen and calories we consume
At rest, the average adult's brain uses approx 20 percent of the body's energy. So the primary function of the brain – processing and transmitting information via electrical signals – is very, very expensive in terms of energy consumption.
In addition, it is said that the bigger your head, the smarter you are. Still, size alone doesn't tell the whole story. Research also shows that intelligence does not depend on how hard the brain works, but on how efficiently it works. Higher intelligence is therefore based on relatively efficient information processing, not high information processing. Larger brains have low neuronal density and low neuronal directional dispersion. This means that a larger brain has more neurons, but more importantly, it has fewer connections between them and therefore processes information more efficiently.
