Fun and Interesting Facts About the Human Body

Humans are pretty awesome creatures. We are the only creatures with the 6th sense of self-awareness. We are capable of things no other species on this planet can possibly do. Understanding our complex body organisation and functions helps one appreciate the true beauty of nature itself. This article is to give you some unbelievably awesome and weird facts about this natural machinery of awesomeness. Let’s jump right in!

A Child Handling a Laptop

Let’s look into some amazing facts about our body in the following order, system-wise:

1. Brain, Spinal Cord, and Nerves

2. Special Senses (Comprises of eye, nose, ear, tongue)

3. Heart and Lungs

4. Stomach, Intestines, and Digestive Tract

5. Skin, Hair, and Nails

6. Blood, Blood Vessels, and Lymphatics

Brain, Spinal Cord, and Nerves

Also known as the central nervous system, this system fascinates us big time. The fact that you’re able to sense and realise your environment in a matter of milliseconds is a rather extraordinary phenomenon. Let’s look into some  of the amazing facts!

• The brain suspends in a special fluid known as the cerebrospinal fluid which produces a floating effect due to which we don't feel the complete weight of the brain on our neck. This special fluid also prevents the brain from shock and infections (what a magical fluid indeed!).

• The spinal cord is capable of a phenomenon known as “reflex” where the information does not reach the brain. Reflex occurs during emergency situations when the sensation and response come from the spinal cord (the next time you withdraw your hand from a very hot object without hurting yourself, you must thank the reflex action of the spinal cord).

• Nerves are made of super cool cells (neurons) that are capable of transmitting and receiving electrical impulses (little flow of electricity) due to which the brain is capable of its function.

Brain, Spinal Cord, and Nerve Cells

Special Senses

We would not be able to appreciate the beauty of existence without special senses. Our vision, hearing, taste, or smell without these important little organs.

• The eyes have special muscles called the iris, which control the amount of light entering the eye. Iris contracts and relaxes during dark and light environments respectively so the retina (a light-sensitive part present in the eye) is protected from damage

• The smallest bone in your body is placed in your ear, known as ‘Stapes’ it is around 3 mm in length. 

• The tongue has unique tongue prints just like fingerprints. Every human being possibly has a unique tongue print.

Special Senses

Heart and Lungs

• There’s a special type of electrical impulse that is generated in your heart which helps in the pumping action of the heart by producing a contracting action.

• The heart is responsible for pumping blood to every part of the body except the cornea of the eye

• Surviving with one lung is possible in place of the normal 2 lungs. Thus, in case of lung disease and removal of a lung, the person can survive with just one lung.

Stomach, Intestines, and Digestive Tract

• A person who has had a gastrectomy (complete removal of the stomach) can survive with smaller and frequent meals. These individuals have their oesophagus connected to their small intestine.

• Your intestines have a huge surface area that, if laid out flat, could cover two tennis courts. (Do you know how big is one tennis court?)

• As mentioned earlier, one can live without a stomach but not without intestines as they are the ‘sole point of food and water absorption’.

Stomach and Intestines

Skin, Hair, and Nails

• The dust you see around the house might actually be dead skin cells (we shed a lot of dead skin on a daily basis).

• Hair is the second fastest growing tissue in our body after the bone marrow.

• ‘Onychophagia’ is the proper medical name given to the biting of nails.

 Skin, Hair, and Nails

Blood, Blood Vessels, and Lymphatics

• A newborn baby is found to have only 1 cup of blood in circulation (around 240 mL).

• Your blood vessels are super long (around 60,000 miles in length) and could cover the globe a little more than twice if laid out flat end to end.

• The lymphatic system is an important circulatory system present in our body by circulating lymph (a clear tissue fluid). It is so widely spread that cancer cells often spread through this pathway.

Blood Vessels and Lymph Vessels

Summary

Let’s quickly summarise what we’ve discussed up until now.

Your body has various structures put together in the form of organ systems like the Nervous system (Brain, Spinal Cord, and nerves), Cardiovascular system (Heart, blood, and blood vessels), Lymphatic system (Lymphatic vessels, lymph, and lymph nodes), Digestive System (Stomach, intestines, and digestive tract), Respiratory system (Lungs and blood vessels), Integumentary system (skin, hair, and nails) so on and so forth.

These systems work together in fascinating ways to ensure the healthy functioning of the body.