Amazing Bone Facts

Amazing Bone Facts

Image source: "Human skeleton front en" by LadyofHats Mariana Ruiz Villarreal - Own work. Image renamed from File:Human skeleton front.svg. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human_skeleton_front_en.svg#/media/File:Human_skeleton_front_en.svg

What would happen if humans didn't have bones?
You'd be floppy like a beanbag. Could you stand up? Forget it. Could you walk? No way. Without bones you'd be just a puddle of skin and guts on the floor.

Bones have two purposes. Some, like your backbone, provide the structure which enables you to stand erect instead of lying like a puddle on the floor. Other bones protect the delicate, and sometimes soft, insides of your body. Your skull, a series of fused bones, acts like a hard protective helmet for your brain. The bones, or vertebrae, of your spinal column surround your spinal cord, a complex bundle of nerves. Imagine what could happen to your heart and lungs without the protective armor of your rib cage!

How many bones do humans have?
When you were born you had over 300 bones. As you grew, some of these bones began to fuse together. The result? An adult has only 206 bones!

How do my bones move?
With a lot of help. You need muscles to pull on bones so that you can move. Along with muscles and joints, bones are responsible for you being able to move. Your muscles are attached to bones. When muscles contract, the bones to which they are attached act as levers and cause various body parts to move.

You also need joints which provide flexible connections between these bones. Your body has different kinds of joints. Some, such as those in your knees, work like door hinges, enabling you to move back and forth. Those in your neck enable bones to pivot so you can turn your head. Still other joints like the shoulder enable you to move your arms 360 degrees like a shower head.

Are your bones alive?
Absolutely. Bones are made of a mix of hard stuff that gives them strength and tons of living cells which help them grow and repair themselves. Like other cells in your body, the bone cells rely on blood to keep them alive. Blood brings them food and oxygen and takes away waste.

If bones weren't made of living cells, things like broken toes or arms would never mend. But don't worry, they do. That's because your bone cells are busy growing and multiplying to repair the break! How? When you break your toe, blood clots form to close up the space between the broken segments. Then your body mobilizes bone cells to deposit more of the hard stuff to bridge the break.

What's bone marrow?
Many bones are hollow. Their hollowness makes bones strong and light. It' s in the center of many bones that bone marrow makes new red and white blood cells. Red blood cells ensure that oxygen is distributed to all parts of your body and white blood cells ensure you are able to fight germs and disease. Who would have thought that bones make blood!?!

Do all critters have a backbone?
Nope. In fact, some 97% of critters on earth don' t have a backbone or spine.Remarkably enough, of those that do have a backbone, there are lots of similarities: a skull surrounding a brain, a rib cage surrounding a heart, and a jawbone or mouth opening.

Factoids
1. The human hand has 27 bones; your face has 14!

2. The longest bone in your body? Your thigh bone, the femur- it' s about 1/4 of your height. The smallest is the stirrup bone in the ear which can measure 1/10 of an inch.

3. Did you know that humans and giraffes have the same number of bones in their necks? Giraffe neck vertebrae are just much, much longer!

4. You have over 230 moveable and semi-moveable joints in your body.

5. When you lift a glass of milk and take a sip, more than 30 joints move in your fingers, wrist, arm and shoulder.

6. Joints are where bones meet.

7. Throughout life, our bones are being remolded; old bone is broken down (resorption) and new born is formed (formation).

8. During childhood and teenage years, new bone is developed faster then old bone is removed, as a result, bones grow longer and denser.

9. Maximum bone density and strength is reached around age 30.

10. Maximum bone density and strength may never be reached if there is an inadequate amount of calcium in the body.

11. Calcium is not only needed for bone growth, calcium is also needed for other things such as nerve impulses, blood clotting, and muscle contraction.

12. Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones. If maximum bone density is not reached during the bone-building years, osteoporosis is more likely to develop later in life.

13. Osteoporosis can cause bones to become fragile, weak, and prone to fracture.

14. Environmental factors of osteoporosis are: Getting enough calcium, exercising, not smoking, and avoiding excessive alcohol consumption. These factors can be controlled and can help lessen the risk osteoporosis.

15. Genetic factors such as being female, small-boned, and having a family history of osteoporosis, cannot be controlled.

16. The most effective way to build bone mass is weight bearing exercises. Weight bearing exercises are exercises that cause muscles to work against gravity. Examples are: walking, running, dancing, racquet sports, basketball, and soccer.

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Interesting Facts About Carrots Part I

Interesting Facts About Carrots Part I

Source: "13-08-31-wien-redaktionstreffen-EuT-by-Bi-frie-037" by Bi-frie (talk) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:13-08-31-wien-redaktionstreffen-EuT-by-Bi-frie-037.jpg#/media/File:13-08-31-wien-redaktionstreffen-EuT-by-Bi-frie-037.jpg

1. Over 3000 years ago in Asia, carrots were first used for medicine.  These carrots were very different from the carrots we see now - they were purple and yellow!  It wasn’t until 900 BC when carrots were first grown for food in Afghanistan. Purple and yellow carrots didn’t make their way to Western Europe until the 1300’s.

2.  The orange carrot was developed in Holland as a tribute to William of Orange during the Dutch fight for independence.  However, its popularity was likely due to the fact that the new orange carrot was less bitter than the purple and red varieties.

3. To achieve a perfect orange color, carrots should be grown between 60-75°F weather.

4. Carrots are a type of root vegetable - meaning the edible portion of the plant is grown underground.

5. Carrots are related to celery, dill, fennel, parsley, and parsnip.

6. The flower called Queen Anne’s Lace is actually a wild carrot.

7. European ladies would wear lacy carrot flowers in their hair in the 15th century.

8. After the United States, China is the biggest producer of carrots.

9. Half a cup of carrots provides more than one day’s worth of vitamin A.

10. Raw carrots can be eaten plain as a snack or an appetizer, and sliced, chopped, or grated to add to salads. 

11. Slice carrots into carrot sticks and dip in low-fat dressing or other low-fat dip.

12. Carrots can be cooked using many different methods, such as boiling, steaming, roasting, or grilling, and can be eaten as a side dish on their own or cooked with other vegetables.

13. Carrots are the second most popular vegetable in the world after potatoes.

14. Carrots were first grown as a medicine, not for food! 

15. The first carrots were purple and yellow.

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25 Interesting Facts about Girls

25 Interesting Facts about Girls

1. The vagina is only as deep as your middle finger.

2. The vagina keeps itself clean and healthy by constantly producing mucus which turns white when it’s exposed to the air.Discharge also prevents the vagina from drying out. Discharge will begin to appear some time before your first period begins.

3. Females can ovulate before they have their period.

4. Cramps and painful periods may be caused by low calcium and magnesium levels.

5. The usual amount of blood lost during a period is between one and six tablespoons(120 ml blood and tissue).

6. Menstrual fluid is mostly made up of water.

7. A lot of girls’ hymen are broken through using a tampon or during active sports such as horse back riding or cycling. Masturbation, too, can break the hymen. There is an opening in the hymen that lets menstrual fluid flow out.

8. The fallopian tubes are about 10 cm long. The egg travels from the ovary to the uterus along these tubes.

9. Girls are born with about 300,000 eggs.

10. Ovary is about the size of a walnut/olive. The uterus is about the size of a pear/clenched fist.

11. The average woman has about 500 periods in her lifetime.

12. If a tampon has absorbed as much as it can and has to be changed within 4 hours, try a tampon with a higher absorbency. If a tampon still has lots of white patches showing when you take it out after about four hours, try a tampon with lower absorbency. Change your tampon every 4-8 hours.

13. PMS symptoms: breast tenderness, feeling swollen or bloated, change in appetite, headaches, acne or skin rash, constipation or diarrhea, abdominal cramps, feeling sad/tired/irritable or clumsy.

14. You get cramps when your uterus contracts (squeezes) slightly to help get rid of most of its lining.

15. If you are taking the birth control pill these five drugs may interfere with its effectiveness: antihistamines, alcohol, analgesics, antacids, antibiotics.

16. A pregnancy test only works 2 weeks after a suspected conception.

17.Girls’ primary school completion rates are below 50 per cent in most poor countries.

18.One in seven girls in developing countries is married before age 15, and 38 per cent are married before age 18.

19. In sub-Saharan Africa, more women than men are living with HIV, and young women 
aged 15–24  years are as much as eight times more likely than men to be HIV positive.

20. Both Barbie and Bratz dolls are so thin, they lack the internal proportions to have bodily organs like kidneys or large intestines; both would lack the 17-22% of body fat necessary for females to menstruate.

21. If Barbie were a real woman, she would be 7'2", weigh 101 pounds, and have a 19” waist and 39FF chest. A real woman with these proportions would be unable to support her upper body and stand up straight.

22. Female characters in children’s cartoon shows are five times more likely to be shown in revealing, skimpy clothing (even when they are animals) and three times more likely to be shown with physically-impossible tiny waists.

23. Eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia used to start in the “tweens” – doctors are now treating them in girls as young as five or six.

24. Three-quarters of female characters in TV situation comedies are underweight; only 1 in 20 is average size. Moreover, female characters that are heavier tend to get made fun of more often, and 80% of the time these negative comments are rewarded with audience laughter.

25. By the time they graduate high school, children will have spent more time watching TV than in the classroom or talking with their parents.

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Fun Facts about Hygiene

Fun Facts about Hygiene

1. Hygiea was a Greek goddess of health cleanliness and the moon. Ancient Greek gods apparently worked double shifts.

Hygeia is the personification of health. She was the daughter of Asclepius, the god of medicine, who was the son of Apollo.  Hygeia was associated with the cult of Asclepius.

Hygeia was often pictured holding a cup, (a kylix, or wine-cup), with a snake coiled about her body or arm.  The serpent is a symbol of resurrection; the cup, medicine.  Hygeia’s cup may have been an early inspiration for grail stories.

2. The human body is home to some 1,000 species of bacteria. There are more germs on your body than people in the United States.

3. Antibacterial soap is no more effective at preventing infection than regular soap. After studying over 11,000 children it was found that an overly hygienic environment increases the risk of skin conditions and asthma.

4. Monks in a small religious monastery in India are not allowed to bath any part of their bodies besides their hands and feet. Their religion believes it is wrong to kill any living creature even microorganisms.

5. The word soap comes from this mythological mountain.  When women washed their cloths in the Tiber River, the dirt on the shore was a mixture of fat and wood ash from animal sacrifices coming down from the mountain. They used this as a cleaning agent.

6. Ancient Egyptians and Aztecs rubbed urine on their skin to treat cuts and burns.  Urea is a key chemical in urine.  When urine is in the bladder it is free from fungi and bacteria, so it was possibly cleaner than the water they drank.

7. England’s medieval King Henry IV struck a blow for cleanliness when he required his knights to bath a least once in their lives during their ritual knighthood ceremonies.

8. During the 18th-century, London did not have a sewer system. Toilet water was just dumped out of the windows on to the streets, where it contaminated the city’s water supply.  They did not know at the time that boiling water would help make the water safer to drink. In 1854 there were 616 deaths related to the water supply in London alone. Because of this, is was a common practice to drink alcoholic beverages at every meal and in-between.

9. 5 SECOND RULE
If you drop something on the floor but pick it up in less than four seconds, it will be OK. False. There is no five-second rule when it comes to food on the ground. Bacteria needs no time at all to contaminate food.

10. The first toothbrush was invented in China in 1498. It was made of carved cattle-bone and pig bristles wired into it.  Brushing ones teeth did not become routine in the USA until it was enforced in 1940 on soldiers during World War ll.

11. In 1935, Northern Tissue proudly introduced “splinter-free” toilet paper.  Previous options included tundra moss in North America and  sea sponge from salt water for Romans. Here in the modern West corncobs were used.

12. In 1843, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. campaigned for basic sanitation in hospitals. But this clashed with social ideas of the time concerning upper class citizens like doctors. Charles Meigs, a prominent American physician, retorted, " Doctors are gentlemen, and our hands are always clean".

13. However, up to a quarter of all women giving birth in European and American hospitals in the 17th thru 19th centuries died of an infection spread by unhygienic nurses and doctors.

14. A study by the University of Arizona determined that the TV remote control in hospitals are the worst carriers of bacteria in hospital rooms; worse even than toilet handles. The remote can spread the infection MRSA, which contributes to over 90,000 deaths a year.

15. It is now believed President James Garfield did not die from the bullet fired by Charles Guiteau.

16. Some of the medical team that treated the President were also farmers with manure-stained hands. The wound developed a severe infection that killed him three months later.

17. Hygiene tips do not have to be complicated.  Everyone can practice good hygiene.

18. Soap and water are the simplest form of cleaning. Wash hands all day long, especially before exiting the bathroom, and before meals. When at all possible wash the TV remotes, mouses and keypads between users.

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Amazing Facts - Human Body

Amazing Facts - Human Body

1. A human being loses an average of 40 to 100 strands of hair a day. 

2. A cough releases an explosive charge of air that moves at speeds up to 60 mph. 

3. Every time you lick a stamp, you consume 1/10 of a calorie. 

4. A fetus acquires fingerprints at the age of three months. 

5. A sneeze can exceed the speed of 100 mph. 

6. Every person has a unique tongue print. 

7. According to German researchers, the risk of heart attack is higher on Monday than any other day of the week. 

8. After spending hours working at a computer display, look at a blank piece of white paper. It will probably appear pink. 

9. An average human drinks about 16,000 gallons of water in a lifetime. 

10. A fingernail or toenail takes about 6 months to grow from base to tip. 

11. An average human scalp has 100,000 hairs. 

12. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. 

13. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood, we only have 206 in our bodies. 

14. Beards are the fastest growing hairs on the human body. If the average man never trimmed his beard, it would grow to nearly 30 feet long in his lifetime. 

15. By age sixty, most people have lost half of their taste buds. 

16. By the time you turn 70, your heart will have beat some two-and-a-half billion times (figuring on an average of 70 beats per minute). 

17. Each square inch of human skin consists of twenty feet of blood vessels. 

18. Every human spent half an hour as a single cell. 

19. Every square inch of the human body has an average of 32 million bacteria on it. 

20. Fingernails grow faster than toenails. 

21. Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour-about 1.5 pounds a year. By 70 years of age, an average person will have lost 105 pounds of skin. 

22. At rest, a person breathes about 14 to 16 times per minute. After exercise it could increase to over 60 times per minute. 

23. New babies at rest breathe between 40 and 50 times per minute. By age five it decreases to around 25 times per minute. 

24. The total surface area of the alveoli (tiny air sacs in the lungs) is the size of a tennis court. 

25. The lungs are the only organ in the body that can float on water. 

26. The lungs produce a detergent-like substance which reduces the surface tension of the fluid lining, allowing air in. 

27. Your heart is about the same size as your fist. 

28. An average adult body contains about five quarts of blood. 

29. All the blood vessels in the body joined end to end would stretch 62,000 miles or two and a half times around the earth. 

30. The heart circulates the body's blood supply about 1,000 times each day.

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Fun Facts about Hygiene

Fun Facts about Hygiene

Personal hygiene may be described as the principle of maintaining cleanliness and grooming of the external body. Failure to keep up a standard of hygiene can have many implications. Not only is there an increased risk of getting an infection or illness, but there are many social and psychological aspects that can be affected. 

1. Hygiea was a Greek goddess of health cleanliness and the moon. Ancient Greek gods apparently worked double shifts.

2. The human body is home to some 1,000 species of bacteria. 

3. Antibacterial soap is no more effective at preventing infection than regular soap. After studying over 11,000 children it was found that an overly hygienic environment increases the risk of skin conditions and asthma.

4. Monks in a small religious monastery in India are not allowed to bath any part of their bodies besides their hands and feet.  Their religion believes it is wrong to kill any living creature even microorganisms.

5. The word soap comes from this mythological mountain called Sabo.

6. When women washed their cloths in the Tiber River, the dirt on the shore was a mixture of fat and wood ash from animal sacrifices coming down from the mountain. They used this as a cleaning agent.

7. Ancient Egyptians and Aztecs rubbed urine on their skin to treat cuts and burns. Urea is a key chemical in urine.  When urine is in the bladder it is free from fungi and bacteria, so it was possibly cleaner than the water they drank.

8. England’s medieval King Henry IV struck a blow for cleanliness when he required his knights to bath at least once in their lives-during their ritual knighthood ceremonies.

9. During the 18th-century, London did not have a sewer system. Toilet water was just dumped out of the windows on to the streets, where it contaminated the city’s water supply. They did not know at the time that boiling water would help make the water safer to drink.  In 1854 there were 616 deaths related to the water supply in London alone. Because of this, it was a common practice to drink alcoholic beverages at every meal and in-between.  

10. If you drop something on the floor but pick it up in less than four seconds, it will be OK. False. There is no five-second rule when it comes to food on the ground. Bacteria needs no time at all to contaminate food.
The first toothbrush was invented in China in 1498. It was made of carved cattle-bone and pig bristles wired into it.

11. Brushing ones teeth did not become routine in the USA until it was enforced in 1940 on soldiers during World War ll.

12. In 1935, Northern Tissue proudly introduced “splinter-free” toilet paper.

13. Previous options included tundra moss in North America and  sea sponge from salt water for Romans. Here in the modern West corncobs were used.

14. In 1843, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. campaigned for basic sanitation in hospitals. But this clashed with social ideas of the time concerning upper class citizens like doctors. Charles Meigs, a prominent American physician, retorted, “ Doctors are gentlemen, and our hands are always clean.”  However, up to a quarter of all women giving birth in European and American hospitals in the 17th thru 19th centuries died of an infection spread by unhygienic nurses and doctors.

15. A study by the University of Arizona determined that the TV remote control in hospitals are the worst carriers of bacteria in hospital rooms; worse even than toilet handles. The remote can spread the infection MRSA, which contributes to over 90,000 deaths a year.

16. It is now believed President James Garfield did not die from the bullet fired by Charles Guiteau. Some of the medical team that treated the President were also farmers with manure-stained hands. The wound developed a severe infection that killed him three months later.
Lastly.

17. Hygiene tips do not have to be complicated.
Everyone can practice good hygiene.
Soap and water are the simplest form of cleaning.
Wash hands all day long, especially before exiting the bathroom, and before meals.When at all possible wash the TV remotes, mouses and keypads between users.

18. Perspiration, or sweat, comes from sweat glands. Due to puberty, these glands not only become more active than before, but at the same time, they also begin to secrete different chemicals into the sweat that has a stronger smelling odor. 

19. Some places on the body that contribute to this odor is from the armpits,  the feet, and the private places.

20. The best way to keep clean is to bathe or shower every day, because this will help wash away any bacteria that contribute to the smells.

21. Brushing and flossing properly, along with regular dental checkups, can help prevent tooth decay and gum disease. 

22. To prevent cavities, you need to remove plaque, the transparent layer of bacteria that coats the teeth. 

23. Brushing also stimulates the gums, which helps to keep them healthy and prevent gum disease. 

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65 Amazing Facts About Human Body

65 Amazing Facts About Human Body

1. The nose has specialized smell - detecting cells with nerves taking information to the brain. Each nerve has up to 25 tiny micro - hairs that respond to minute odour particles.

2. The average 25 year old has up to 10,000 taste buds. After the age of 50, however, taste buds gradually die and a 70 - year - old may only have 5,000 taste buds left.

3. The average adult human being consumes 550 kilograms of food in a year.

4. At rest people breathe in and out 10 to 15 times each minute or an average of 20,000 each day.

5. More than 300 million alveoli in the lungs provide a huge surface area for taking in oxygen.

6. The human heart beats some 30 million times a year! 

7. At rest, each heartbeat pumps out around 80 millilitres of blood.

8. A tiny pinhead-sized drop of blood contains 5,000,000 red cells, 5,000 white cells, as well as 300,000 platelets. 

9. The body has more than 640 skeletal muscles.

10. There is no link between brain size and intelligence - Einstein’s brain weighed just 1.2 kilograms. 

11. Americans eat about 700 million pounds of peanut butter. 

12. Americans eat over 2 billion pounds of chocolate a year. 

13. In your lifetime, your digestive system may handle about 50 tons!! 

14. Your lungs contain almost 1500 miles of airways and over 300 million alveoli. 

15. Every minute you breathe in 13 pints of air. 

16. Plants are our partners in breathing. We breathe in air, use the oxygen in it, and release carbon dioxide. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Thank goodness! 

17. People tend to get more colds in the winter because we're indoors more often and in close proximity to other people. When people sneeze, cough and even breathe -germs go flying! 

18. The body of an adult contains over 60,000 miles of blood vessels! 

19. An adult's heart pumps nearly 4000 gallons of blood each day! 

20. The average three-year-old has two pints of blood in their body; the average adult at least five times more! 

21. A "heartbeat" is really the sound of the valves in the heart closing as they push blood through its chambers. 

22. You have over 30 facial muscles which create looks like surprise, happiness, sadness, and frowning. 

23. Eye muscles are the busiest muscles in the body. Scientists estimate they may move more than 100,000 times a day! 

24. The largest muscle in the body is the gluteus maximus muscle in the buttocks. 

25. The human hand has 27 bones; your face has 14! 

26. The longest bone in your body? Your thigh bone, the femur- it's about 1/4 of your height. 

27. The smallest is the stirrup bone in the ear which can measure 1/10 of an inch. 

28. Did you know that humans and giraffes have the same number of bones in their necks? Giraffe neck vertebrae are just much, much longer! 

29. You have over 230 moveable and semi-moveable joints in your body. 30. The endocrine system is under the control of the nervous system

31. You've got over 30 of these amazing hormones busily orchestrating and regulating such things as: 
-when you feel hungry or full
-how you sleepy
-our body temperature
 -how you break down and utilize the food you eat and whether you are fat or thin
-when you start puberty and how long it take
-show you handle stress-how much adrenaline you have in an emergency situation
-even how and when you grow
-It also makes you smelly, greasy, and gives you the ability to mother or father a child 

32. A weakened immune system is NOT a cause of the common cold.

33. The No. 1 way to boost your immune system is reducing stress

34. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

35. Vitamin C helps, too, if you don’t pee it out.

36. Over 90% of diseases are caused or complicated by stress.

37. People with higher number of moles tend to live longer than people with lesser number of moles.

38. The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger. And the nail on the middle finger of your dominant hand will grow the fastest of all. Why is not entirely known, but nail growth is related to the length of the finger, with the longest fingers growing nails the fastest and shortest the slowest.

39. Human hair is virtually indestructible. Aside from it’s flammability, human hair decays at such a slow rate that it is practically non-disintegrative. Hair cannot be destroyed by cold, change of climate, water, or other natural forces and it is resistant to many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.

40. The brain itself cannot feel pain. While the brain might be the pain center when you cut your finger or burn yourself, the brain itself does not have pain receptors and cannot feel pain.

41. The brain is much more active at night than during the day.

42. The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. The cartoon image of a light bulb over your head when a great thought occurs isn’t too far off the mark. Your brain generates as much energy as a small light bulb even when you’re sleeping.

43. Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.

44. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood the number is reduced to 206.

45. A woman never runs out of eggs.  At birth she has between 1 and 2 million potential eggs (follicles) and by puberty has 300,000 to 400,000 viable eggs (follicles) that can be fertilized.

46. The male scrotum hangs outside the body since the internal body temperature is too high and will kill the sperm.

47. About 500 million sperm mature every day in a healthy male.

48. Approximately 75% of human waste is made of water.

49. Earwax production is necessary for good ear health. While many people find earwax to be disgusting, it’s actually a very important part of your ear’s defense system. It protects the delicate inner ear from bacteria, fungus, dirt and even insects. It also cleans and lubricates the ear canal.

50. Tears and mucus contain an enzyme (lysozyme) that breaks down the cell wall of many bacteria.

51. There are 29 bones altogether in the skull and jaw. They make a box to protect the brain, eyes and ears.

52. The spine is made up of 24 individual small bones (called vertebrae). Your spine supports your head and body. Each of the bones are linked by small joints which can move a little. Lots of small movements add up and let your spine bend a lot.

53. The nerve network allows the brain to communicate with your body. Nerves help transport information from different areas of the body. Some nerves give information to the brain and the others allow us to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.

54. You should always get lots of rest so your eyes aren’t groggy. To keep your nose clean you should blow it often. If you are listening to music you shouldn’t have it too loud.

55. If you put your right knee on your left knee then hit your right knee cap with the side of your hand, your foot will jump. 

56. Your brain is made of nerves and tissue.  Your brain weighs 1,400 grams, that’s exactly 3 pounds. Your brain is made of your spinal cord and a huge network of nerves. Nerves are made of thin threads of nerve cells. Your nerves pass along messages to your brain.

57. At rest, the body takes in and breathes out about 10 liters of air each minute.

58. The right lung is slightly larger than the left.

59. The highest recorded "sneeze speed" is 165 km per hour.

60. The surface area of the lungs is roughly the same size as a tennis court.

61. The capillaries in the lungs would extend 1,600 kilometers if placed end to end.

62. We lose half a liter of water a day through breathing. This is the water vapor we see when we breathe onto glass.

63. A person at rest usually breathes between 12 and 15 times a minute.

64. The breathing rate is faster in children and women than in men.

65. A a typical male elephant’s rumble is around an average minimum of 12 Hz, a female's rumble around 13 Hz and a calf's around 22 Hz. 

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BLOOD FACTS

BLOOD FACTS

1.  Blood is the life-maintaining fluid that circulates through the body's heart, arteries, veins and capillaries.

2. Blood carries to the body nourishment, electrolytes, hormones, vitamins, antibodies, heat, and oxygen.

3. Blood carries away from the body waste matter and carbon dioxide.

4. Blood fights against infection and helps heal wounds, keeping you healthy.

5. Blood makes up about 7% of your body's weight.

6. A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in his or her body.

7. White blood cells are the body's primary defence against infection.

8. Granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, roll along blood vessel walls to search and destroy bacteria.

9. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body's organs and tissues.

10. There are about one billion red blood cells in two to three drops of blood.

11. Red blood cells live about 120 days in the circulatory system.

12. Blood platelets help clotting and give those with leukemia and other cancers a chance to live.

13. A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.

14. Type O-negative blood (red cells) can be transfused to patients of all blood types. It is always in great
demand and often in short supply.

15. Type AB-positive plasma can be transfused to patients of all other blood types. AB plasma is also usually in short supply.

16. If you began donating blood at age 18 and donated every 90 days until you reached 60, you would have donated 30 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 500 lives!

17. There are four main blood types: A, B, AB and O.In 1901, Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian physician, discovers the first three human blood groups. On his birthday i.e June 14th "World Blood Donors Day" celebrates. On October 1st ‘National Blood Donation Day’ celebrates in India.

18. Just three teaspoons of blood can be enough to save the life of a premature baby.

19. The first successful blood transfusion was carried out in 1665 between two animals.

20. The four different human blood groups were discovered in 1900 after people kept dying unexpectedly following a blood transfusion.

21. The World’s first blood bank was established in Leningrad in 1932.

22. 51% of the population have type O blood, this is the type needed with the most urgency

23. Popular legend states that your blood group, much like your star sign, can determine your personality.

24. Red cells, white cells and platelets are made in the marrow of bones, especially in the vertebrae, ribs, hips, skull and sternum.

25. Plasma is a pale yellow mixture of water, protein, and salts. One of its primary functions is to carry blood cells, nutrients, enzymes, hormones, certain gases and waste products.

26. Red cells are disk-shaped cells containing hemoglobin, a red protein that contains iron. Hemoglobin enables

the cells to pick up and deliver oxygen to all parts of the body. Red cells also take carbon dioxide to the lungs, where it is exhaled.

27. White cells are the body’s primary defense against infection. They have the ability to move out of the blood stream and reach tissue being invaded.

28. Platelets are small blood cells that control bleeding. They form clusters to plug holes in blood vessels and assist in the clotting process when the vessels are severely damaged.

29. HIV testing was introduced in 1984 and testing for hepatitis C was introduced in 1991.

30. Type O-negative blood is needed in emergencies before the patient's blood type is known and with newborns who need blood.

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Fascinating Facts About Human Body

Fascinating Facts About Human Body

1. The Skeletal System 
-  The largest bone is the pelvis, or hip bone. In fact it is made of six bones joined firmly together.
-  The longest bone is the 'femur', in the thigh. It makes up almost one quarter of the body's total height.
-  The smallest bone is the 'stirrup', deep in the ear. It is hardly larger than a grain of rice.
-  The ears and end of the nose do not have bones inside them. Their inner supports are cartilage or 'gristle', which is lighter and more flexible than bone. This is why the nose and ears can be bent.
-  After death, cartilage rots faster than bone. This is why the skulls of skeletons have no nose or ears.


2. The Muscular System
-  There are about 60 muscles in the face. Smiling is easier than frowning. It takes 20 muscles to smile and over 40 to frown.
-  The longest muscle in the body is the sartorius, from the outside of the hip, down and across to the inside of the knee. It rotates the thigh outwards and bends the knee.
-  The smallest muscle in the body is the stapedius, deep in the ear. It is only 5mm long and thinner than cotton thread. It is involved in hearing.
-  The biggest muscle in the body is the gluteus maximus, in the buttock. It pulls the leg backwards powerfully for walking, running and climbing steps.


3. The Circulatory System 
-  The heart beats around 3 billion times in the average person's life.
-  About 2 million blood cells die in the human body every second, and the same number are born each second.
-  Within a tiny droplet of blood, there are some 5 million red blood cells, 300,000 platelets and 10,000 white cells.
-  It takes about 1 minute for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.
-  Red blood cells make approximately 250,000 round trips of the body before returning to the bone marrow, where they were born, to die.
-  Red blood cells may live for about 4 months circulating throughout the body, feeding the 60 trillion other body cells.


4. The Nervous System 
-  The brain looks like a giant, wrinkled walnut.
-  Unlike other body cells, brain cells can not regenerate. Once brain cells are damaged they are not replaced.
-  The brain and spinal cord are surrounded and protected by cerebrospinal fluid.


5. The Immune System
-  The skin secretes antibacterial substances. These substances explain why you don't wake up in the morning with a layer of mold growing on your skin - most bacteria and spores that land on the skin die quickly.
-  Tears and mucus contain an enzyme (lysozyme) that breaks down the cell wall of many bacteria.
-  Lymph nodes contain filtering tissue and a large number of lymph cells. When fighting certain bacterial infections, the lymph nodes swell with bacteria and the cells fighting the bacteria, to the point where you can actually feel them. Swollen lymph nodes may therefore be a good indication that you have an infection of some sort.


6. The Digestive System 
-  Adults eat about 500 kg of food per year.
-  1.5 litres of saliva are produced each day.
-  The oesophagus is approximately 25cm long.
-  Muscles contract in waves to move the food down the oesophagus. This means that food would get to a person's stomach, even if they were standing on their head.
-  An adult’s stomach can hold approximately 1.5 litres of material.
-  Every day 11.5 litres of digested food, liquids and digestive juices flow through the digestive system, but only 100 mls of fluid are lost in faeces.
-  In the mouth, food is either cooled or warmed to a more suitable temperature.
-  We get two sets of teeth. Our 20 'Baby Teeth’ are replaced starting at around 6-7 years of age with our 32 ‘Adult Teeth’.


7. The Respiratory System
-  At rest, the adult body takes in and breathes out about 6 litres of air each minute.
-  The right lung is slightly larger than the left.
-  Hairs in the nose help to clean the air we breathe as well as warming it.
-  The highest recorded "sneeze speed" is 165 km per hour.
-  The surface area of the lungs is roughly the same size as a tennis court.
-  The capillaries in the lungs would extend 1,600 kilometres if placed end to end.
-  We lose half a litre of water a day through breathing. This is the water vapour we see when we breathe onto glass.
-  A person at rest usually breathes between 12 and 15 times a minute.
-  The breathing rate is faster in children and women than in men.

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Fast Facts about Human Genetics

Fast Facts about Human Genetics

1. DNA stands for Deoxy-ribo-Nucleic Acid.

2. On February 28, 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson figured out the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).  That structure, a 'double helix', can "unzip" (separate into two long strands) to make copies of itself.  This discovery confirmed suspicions that DNA carried an organism's hereditary information.

3. DNA molecules are linked, one after another, like pearls on a very long string.

4. DNA molecules are the "software" that direct cellular activity and determine everything about an organism - from what it looks like to how long it is likely to live. Genes are pieces of this DNA, and are the fundamental units of heredity.

5. The complete human genome consists of approximately 3 billion DNA molecules.

6. On average, each chromosome has about 65 million DNA molecules.

7. A gene is a stretch of DNA molecules (ranging in length from thousands to tens of thousands of DNA molecules, in some cases they may be even larger).

8. Between genes, along the length of a chromosome, there may be long stretches of DNA, which have no known function.

9. A chromosome contains about 1000 genes.

10. Humans have approximately 30,000 different genes spread out over the 46 chromosomes.

11. Humans get one complete set of genes from each parent.

12. In April 2003, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) celebrates the completion of the human genome sequence and the 50th anniversary of the description of the DNA double helix.

13. The nucleus, or control centre, of a cell, is where the DNA is coiled up into chromosomes. With the exception of reproductive cells, every cell has 46 chromosomes. Twenty-two pairs of the chromosomes are similar in terms of size, shape and genetic content. The twenty-third pair determines the sex of the individual, and is composed of either two x chromosomes (female) or an x and a y chromosome (male).

14. DNA molecules are incredibly long. If all of the DNA from all of your cells was stretched out into a single thread, it would extend to the moon and back about one million times!

15. It takes about eight hours for one of your cells to completely copy its DNA.

16. The human DNA code is made up of about three thousand million A,T, C, and Gs on each side of the DNA strand.

17. If you were to start reciting the order of the ATCGs in your DNA tomorrow morning, at a rate of 100 each minute, 57 years would pass before you reached the end (provided that you did not stop to eat, drink, sleep, use the bathroom etc.)

18. If you were to stretch out the DNA from those 46 chromosomes in one cell and lay it end to end, it would be over 2 yards in length.

19. If the total DNA in one person were laid in a straight line, it would stretch to the sun and back over 30 times (it’s 93 million miles from here to the sun).

20. You could fit one thousand nuclei across the period at the end of this sentence.

21. You could fit one million threads of DNA across the period at the end of this sentence.

22. Humans are 99.9% genetically identical - only 0.1% of our genetic make-up differs.

23. Information, and yet, all of it is contained inside the microscopic nucleus of a cell so tiny that it could easily fit on the head of a pin!

24. Our genes are remarkably similar to those of other life forms. For example, we share 98% of our genes with chimpanzees, 90% with mice, 85% with zebra fish, 21% with worms, and 7% with a simple bacterium such as E. coli.

25. Less than 2% of the total DNA carries instructions to make proteins. The rest is misleadingly called ‘junk’ DNA, because it is a hodge-podge of sequences that does not seem to code for anything.

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Pistachio Facts

Pistachio Facts

Pistachios -have been know to be “royalty”. Pistachios are happy and are called “the smiling nut” or “the happy nut” in some cultures. Most people love cracking and eating Pistachios, are intrigued by their color and may say it is their favorite nut. BUT, Pistachios aren’t really nuts! Pistachios are actually “seeds” of red or yellow plum-like fruits. However, everyone calls them nuts because they look like a nut.

So much goodness packed into something so small! Bite into this tasty nut and treat yourself to a highly satisfying, body loving snack. Indulgence with intelligence.

Nutrient dense 
1. Carotenoids
2. ONLY nut that contain significant amounts of the lutein and zeaxanthin, which has been associated with a reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in Americans over 65.
3. Highest fiber content (3 g/oz.). Provide 12% of Daily Value which puts it on par with oatmeal.
4. Highest protein compared with other nuts (6 gram/oz).
5. Excellent sources of copper, manganese and vitamin B6.
6. Copper is a major component of many important proteins and enzymes in the proper  development of connective tissues, nerve coverings and skin pigment.  Is also important in heart health.
7. Manganese is important for bone formation and nutrients metabolism.
8. Vitamin B6 plays an important role in the immune system, red blood cell metabolism and hemoglobin productions, and nerve cell communication.
9. Good source of phosphorus, thiamin.

Heart health 
A. No trans fat.
B. Very rich in  phytosterols (plant sterols  that compete with dietary cholesterol for absorption in the body). Plant sterols occur naturally in a variety of foods such as fruits, vegetables, grain products, vegetable oils and nuts such as pistachios.
C. According to a study from Harran University, Turkey, groups who replaced 20% of their calorie intake with pistachios for three weeks showed a decrease in total cholesterol, the  total cholesterol to HDL ratio, and the LDL to HDL ratio.

Antioxidants 
Provides 464 mg GAE (Gallic Acid Equivalents) of Phenolic in 1 ounce of pistachio nuts, which ranked second after pecans among all nuts. Phenolic is believed to account for a major portion of the antioxidant capacity of many plants foods.

Weight control and maintenance 
A research from University of California, Los Angeles showed that patients who  substitute pistachio  nuts for food such as candy bars, dairy products, microwave popcorn, buttered popcorn, and potato chips  with pistachios accounting for 20% of  total calories for three weeks, did not gain body weight.
Significant amount of protein, healthy fat and dietary fiber in pistachios promote feeling of fullness and help people maintain their weight by keeping hunger at bay.

Fun FActs
In America, pistachios were once dyed red to disguise shell imperfections and make the nuts stand out in vending machines.
February 26th is recognized by pistachio lovers as World Pistachio Day; a day to honor the historical nut.
Historically, they were considered a rare delicacy and a favorite of the Queen of Sheba.

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