The human body is and has been an object of wonder, fascination and mystery for
mankind since the beginning of time. While many aspects of the human body and how it
functions remain a mystery, scientists and physicians have made a great deal of progress
in their quest to learn more about our bodies.
Here are ten fascinating facts about our bodies that researchers have uncovered
as part of their efforts to gain greater insight into the human body and how it works:
- Of the 206 bones in the human body, 1/4 are located in the feet.
- The human heart has to pump blood back and forth through the 70,000 miles of
blood vessels in the body once every minute.
- The stomach has 35 million digestive glands.
- Human hair is almost indestructible. It cannot be destroyed by cold, climactic
changes, water or other natural forces (except fire). It also can survive exposure to
many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.
- There are 45 miles of nerves in the human body.
- It is impossible for a person to keep their eyes open while sneezing.
- Human eyes are capable of seeing more than 1 million simultaneous visual
impressions and can distinguish between almost 8 million gradations of color.
- The amount of pigment melanin in a person's skin determines what color their skin will be. People with very little melanin have light colored skin, while people with large amounts of melanin have skin that is dark in color.
- The human body consists of nine systems: the skeletal system, the muscular
system, the nervous system, the hormonal system, the circulatory system, the
digestive system, the respiratory system, the immune system and the reproductive
system.
- The human body has 10 trillion cells living within it.
