13 Cool Facts About Your Body

Our body is capable of producing aspirin
Findings from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry indicate that study participants who received benzoic acid, a natural substance in fruits and vegetables, could make their own salicylic acid, the key component that gives aspirin its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

Taking a nap at work is good for your boss
A 20-minute nap can improve your overall alertness, boost your mood, and increase productivity.

Every person has a unique tongue print
Just like fingerprints. The tongue is a unique organ in that it can be stuck out of mouth for inspection, and yet it is otherwise well protected in the mouth and is difficult to forge.

White skin has evolved over time
White skin was a result of humans moving away from the equator.

The foot is home to the body's thickest area of skin
The skin on the palms and the soles of the feet is 4 mm thick and the thickest skin in the body, the heel portions of the feet being the thickest portions.

The appendix isn't as useless as you think
Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix actually has a reason to be – as a “safe house” for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.

The body is taller in the morning than in the evening
(...)our bodies are on average about half an inch taller in the morning, thanks to excess fluid between our discs, which is replenished while we sleep.

Humans glow in the dark
It was revealed by ultra-sensitive cameras that our bodies emit tiny amounts of light that are too weak for the human eye to detect.

The stomach produces a new lining every 3 days to avoid digesting itself with its own acids
Your stomach cells secrete hydrochloric acid, a corrosive compound used to treat metals in the industrial world. It can pickle steel, but mucous lining the stomach wall keeps this poisonous liquid safely in the digestive system, breaking down your lunch but not your own stomach.

Body position affects your memory
An article in the January 2007 issue of Cognition reports that episodes from your past are remembered faster and better while in a body position similar to the pose struck during the event.

Big brains cause cramped mouths
Long ago, they served as a useful third set of meat-mashing molars. But as our brains grew our jawbone structure changed, leaving us with expensively overcrowded mouths.

Blondes have more hair
The average human has 100,000 hair follicles, each of which is capable of producing 20 individual hairs during a person's lifetime. Blondes average 146,000 follicles while people with black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles. Those with brown hair fit the average with 100,000 follicles and redheads have the least dense hair, with about 86,000 follicles.

The average person expels flatulence 14 times each day
(I always knew I was special).

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