60 Surprising Body Facts For Self-Discovery

Bright Side

Prepare to embark on a journey of self-discovery like never before!  Dive into the captivating world of the human body with our collection of 60+ astonishing facts that will revolutionize how you perceive yourself. Join us as we unlock the secrets, unveil the mysteries, and reshape your self-image. Subscribe now for a fresh perspective on YOU! #BodyFacts #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD... Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.... Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of... Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-b...  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00 Almost all of our body is covered with hairs, even if we don't notice them.

00:05 They grow even in the belly button. Their purpose is to catch lint.

00:09 Check it out, see?

00:11 A single human hair can support 3.5 ounces of weight.

00:15 That's how much two candy bars weigh.

00:18 Our hair color is easily explained by genes.

00:22 There's not more than 2% of people with natural red hair.

00:26 They're followed by blondes and by all the varieties of brown shades.

00:31 The vast majority goes to black hair, including very dark brown.

00:36 Yeah, your hair can stop growing at a certain length.

00:39 A hair usually grows from 2 to 7, so usually it doesn't exceed 42 inches.

00:45 Well, tell that to this gal from China, who broke all the hair records with the longest hair ever.

00:51 In 2004, her hair was 18 feet, 5.5 inches long.

00:57 With age, your hair loses its natural color.

01:00 It happens because keratin receives less pigment.

01:03 As people grow older, the pigment cells in their hair follicles gradually vanish, and hair becomes gray.

01:10 Some time passes and no pigment is produced at all.

01:13 That's when hair turns white.

01:16 The only part of the human body that doesn't get any nutrients from blood is the cornea of the eye.

01:21 Instead, it's fed by tears and fluid in front of your eyes.

01:26 A human eye has some resemblances to a car engine.

01:29 They both need various liquids to perform properly.

01:33 An engine needs gasoline, and an eye needs tears.

01:37 In order to work well, the tears should be thoroughly distributed all over the eye.

01:42 That's why we blink up to 20,000 times a day.

01:46 So, a lid is a bit of a windshield washer.

01:50 We've got two really fast muscles.

01:53 They control the eyelid closing.

01:55 They're the fastest muscles in our body.

01:58 Eyes are fragile and need protection.

02:00 That's why when the reflex is triggered, these muscles shut the eyes within about 100 milliseconds.

02:06 No more than 0.1 seconds.

02:09 We recognize only purple-blue, green-yellow, and yellow-red colors.

02:14 Everything else is a combination of these three.

02:17 It's impossible to calculate how many of these combinations the human eye sees

02:22 because every single person has slight vision differences.

02:26 But it's about one millionth combinations on average.

02:29 You see?

02:30 The inability to distinguish colors, also known as color blindness,

02:35 affects around 8% of males and 0.5% of females.

02:40 But colors themselves aren't as stable and objective as they might seem.

02:45 Multiple tests have shown that people experience colors differently

02:49 depending on many factors such as geographical location, language, and gender, to name a few.

02:56 It means that you can enjoy the same sunset with your friend

02:59 and see completely different colors without even knowing it.

03:03 Just like fingerprints, your eye color is unique.

03:06 It can even affect the way you perceive light and make your vision one of a kind.

03:11 To understand how this is possible, you gotta figure out how the eye color is formed.

03:16 This is the iris, the colored part of the eyeball.

03:19 The iris contains pigmentation, and its content determines what eye color you have.

03:25 Every human has a slightly different amount of pigmentation.

03:29 That's why you won't find two people with identical eye colors.

03:34 Three specific genes in your body are responsible for melanin levels and determine pigmentation.

03:40 Blue and green-eyed people have less melanin in their iris,

03:44 and those who have more melanin have darker eye colors, like brown and hazel.

03:50 Some rare people have beautiful, deep black eyes,

03:53 but this is only an optical illusion caused by the abundance of melanin.

03:58 Pure black iris doesn't exist in nature.

04:01 Although these eyes look very dark, they're actually dark brown.

04:05 Studies have proved that eye pigmentation impacts your vision.

04:10 No matter how dark or light your eye color is,

04:13 people with lighter eye colors are more sensitive to light,

04:16 which may cause them to feel uncomfortable on sunny days.

04:20 If you have a light eye color and have to squint when you go outside,

04:25 don't forget to put on sunglasses.

04:27 Your irises contain less pigment that serves as protection from the sun's rays.

04:32 But since melanin acts like natural sunglasses,

04:35 you have better night vision compared to dark-eyed people.

04:38 On the contrary, if you have a darker eye color,

04:41 your eyes can cope with bright light better during the daytime.

04:45 Dark-eyed people should feel more confident while driving at night,

04:48 because they don't get blinded by car headlights that much.

04:53 Your peripheral vision is almost completely black and white.

04:57 It's because you have more color-detecting cones in the center of your retina than at the sides.

05:04 Women can distinguish more colors than men because they have two X chromosomes,

05:09 and men only have one.

05:12 Even if something is wrong with one of the chromosomes,

05:15 a woman can still see colors correctly.

05:18 That's why women are rarely colorblind.

05:21 There must be at least some photos where you have red eyes.

05:25 When the camera flash goes off, your eyes aren't prepared for such an influx of light.

05:30 Your pupils remain dilated,

05:32 which is why the light gets reflected off the red blood cells of the choroid.

05:36 This is a layer of tissue at the back of your eye that nourishes your retina.

05:42 The weird-looking flies you see right in front of your eyes every now and then are eye floaters.

05:48 You see them because of tiny structural imperfections in one particular part of the eye that gets in the way of light.

05:55 They get worse with age.

05:58 You spend 10% of the time when you're awake with your eyes closed.

06:02 It's all those times you're blinking.

06:05 Humans are capable of using echolocation like bats and dolphins.

06:10 With some training, you can find your way in complete darkness

06:13 analyzing the surroundings by sounds bouncing off objects.

06:17 Don't need to practice that.

06:20 About 6% of people can vibrate and rapidly shake their eyeballs back and forth.

06:26 It doesn't mean something's not right with their eyes.

06:28 It's just a unique trick they can perform.

06:32 The main purpose of eyelashes is to shield your eyes

06:35 and protect them from sand, moisture, dust, and debris in the air.

06:40 Your eyelashes sense when something comes up too close to your eyes,

06:43 like an insect flying towards you, and trigger your blink reflex.

06:48 Blinking also helps when you need to flush out some tiny particles or debris stuck in your puncta.

06:55 Those are small openings you have in your eyelids.

06:58 That's where the tears get pumped out.

07:00 Your eyebrows stop sweat from running directly into your eyes.

07:04 Your skin there and the shape of your bones also work together to direct the sweat towards the sides of your face.

07:11 Onions produce a special chemical irritant.

07:14 It stimulates special glands in your eyes, causing them to release tears.

07:20 The nose is probably one of the most underappreciated parts of the body.

07:24 We wouldn't even be able to enjoy eating without it.

07:28 About 80% of the taste of any food is thanks to the nose and its ability to recognize odors.

07:34 If you hold your nose while eating, you will taste almost nothing.

07:38 With no sense of smell, you're likely to recognize food mostly by texture,

07:42 so an onion might seem no different than a big, refreshing apple.

07:47 Scientists used to believe we could distinguish about 10,000 smells, but they were wrong.

07:53 Recent research showed that people are actually able to distinguish between more than a trillion smells.

07:59 We also remember them better than anything else.

08:02 And smells can even evoke some distant memories.

08:07 Your nose doesn't just help you breathe and catch odors.

08:10 It filters the air for sensitive throats and lungs.

08:14 If we inhale dry air, the nose moistens it, cools it, and heats it if necessary.

08:19 Also, the nose cleans the air of dirt.

08:23 Your nostrils don't work with the same efficiency all the time.

08:27 When you breathe, one nostril does most of the work, and they switch every couple of hours.

08:33 18% of people can move both ears at the same time, while 22% can move one ear at a time.

08:40 People who can do it use weak vestigial muscles we got from our ancestor humans,

08:45 who had this trait in common with cats.

08:48 Some people can produce a roaring noise in their heads.

08:52 All they have to do is tense their ears or jaws.

08:55 There's a small muscle in the ear.

08:58 It dampens loud sounds, like when you're chewing.

09:01 Some people can flex that muscle, and that creates an audible rumble.

09:05 Your teeth are the only part of your body that cannot heal itself.

09:11 Some people even see colors as letters and numbers, or hear them.

09:16 Those who live closer to the Arctic Circle can name different shades of snow,

09:20 because that's what they see all the time.

09:23 To others, it's just white.

09:25 Some languages only have general names for colors.

09:29 For example, dark stands for cool hues, like black, blue, and green.

09:34 Colors like white, red, orange, and yellow are all called warm.

09:38 Your eye processes more variations of warmer colors than cooler ones.

09:45 There's a tribe in Australia who describes texture, the function of an object,

09:50 and how it feels instead of its color.

09:53 They don't have any names for colors at all.

09:56 The Kandoshi, who live on the banks of the Amazon River in Peru,

10:01 don't have a word that would describe the very concept of color.

10:04 Instead, the name of some yellow bird will be used to describe the yellow color.

10:09 Any ripe fruit will stand for red, and unripe fruit for dark green.

10:16 A lot of people lose their ability to perceive some colors as they get older.

10:21 By around the age of 70, their eye lenses become yellowish.

10:24 This natural yellow filter they look through doesn't let them tell blue from purple and yellow from green.

10:32 Half of your brain is hardwired to process visual information.

10:36 A much smaller part is left to perceive flavor.

10:40 That's why the color of food or drink can boost or curb your appetite.

10:44 You'll always choose the reddest apple because your brain perceives it as the sweetest and ripest.

10:51 There are no naturally blue foods, so you're least attracted to them and can even fear them.

10:56 That's why installing a blue light in your fridge or eating from blue plates is a great way to eat less.

11:04 You'll always choose brighter foods and vegetables because they're associated with a richer flavor.

11:09 Eating them makes you feel healthier and happier.

11:12 Yellow can boost your appetite as you associate it with energy and excitement.

11:17 White can trick you into eating more and paying less attention to what you're munching on.

11:21 That's because white food seems more harmless in terms of calories.

11:25 If you eat from a white plate, you're more likely to overeat as it makes your food look brighter.

11:32 Your brain also remembers the color of food wrapping.

11:35 If you put salt and vinegar chips into a cheese and onion package,

11:39 you might not even notice the difference in flavor while snacking on them.

11:43 Food companies know that you'll eat more of whatever they're selling when it comes in different colors and flavors.

11:50 Red gives you courage and strength for physical work.

11:54 Yellow makes you happier and more productive and confident.

11:57 Green brings balance and harmony to the office environment.

12:01 Your eyes also love this color. They don't need time to adjust to it.

12:05 Orange gives you a sense of comfort and warmth, so it's perfect for an office lounge.

12:10 Birds, fish, and many mammals see the entire color spectrum in all its glory, just like humans.

12:18 For some animals, good color vision is crucial.

12:21 Without it, they won't tell ripe fruit from unripe green fruit.

12:25 Whenever we yawn, we use the muscles in our mouth and tongue,

12:30 and the contact can squeeze some of the saliva-producing glands.

12:34 As a result, we might squirt a tiny stream of saliva without even noticing it.

12:39 I had a friend in college who could do it at will. It was impressive.

12:43 It turns out that saliva is basically filtered blood.

12:47 Blood is processed thanks to special glands, and special cells absorb its properties.

12:52 After that, the blood becomes saliva.

12:55 People with red-colored hair are 1% of all people.

12:59 2% are natural blondes.

13:01 Yeah, most people you see with these hair colors have dyed hair.

13:04 Black is the most common hair color in the world.

13:08 Your memory is affected by your body position.

13:11 For example, you're much more likely to recall a situation where you waved to someone if you stand and wave again.

13:19 Most scientists agree that tears that appear out of emotion are a unique human feature.

13:25 No other animal is capable of crying because of sadness or joy.

13:30 The pupils narrow and expand in order to control the incoming light.

13:35 If there's a lot of light, they narrow the passage for light so as not to harm the vision.

13:40 In the dark, the pupils expand to capture as much light as possible.

13:45 The tongue has a lot of muscles, and some of them can strain only when you're learning a new language.

13:51 A human bite almost always becomes infected because of all the bacteria that live in our mouth.

13:57 In this sense, we're quite close to hyenas.

14:00 Your bones are designed to be used a lot daily, and some of them can absorb two or even three times your body weight.

14:07 That's impressive, but your teeth are even stronger.

14:11 Even if you brush your teeth twice a day and never forget about mouthwash, your mouth still stays one of the dirtiest parts of the human body.

14:20 Ugh! Millions of bacteria live inside it.

14:24 The good news is that most of these bacteria are good for the body and protect it from bad bacteria and viruses.

14:31 In the morning, you're taller than in the evening.

14:34 While sleeping, you're no longer affected by the force of gravity, and your spine stretches.

14:39 Too bad you become shorter by daytime, though.

14:42 A roller coaster actually tosses your organs around, so you feel like your stomach's falling down.

14:47 It's actually flipping inside your body.

14:50 You think your fingerprints are the only unique thing in your body?

14:54 Well, they're not.

14:55 Your tongue print and your smell are also one of a kind.

14:59 If anyone sniffs you, it's reason enough to get suspicious.

15:03 If all your blood vessels were stretched into a single line, boy, that would hurt, but it would go around the Earth more than twice.

15:10 An impressive feat that you wouldn't see because, well, you can't live without your blood vessels.

15:16 Toothache and headache are linked together thanks to the trigeminal nerve.

15:21 It goes through the jaw right to the head, so that when you feel tooth pain, it usually goes hand-in-hand with that in your head.

15:28 You lose calories doing literally anything.

15:31 A healthy 8-hour sleep, for example, makes you lose up to 800 calories.

15:36 And yes, you spend energy even while eating.

15:40 A person can go without food for more than 20 days.

15:43 However, if you don't sleep for 10 days, your body will simply stop functioning.

15:47 Talking about sleep, the average person forgets 90% of their dreams.

15:52 And maybe that's a good thing.

15:54 Otherwise, imagine how crazy the world would have been.

15:58 The color of your dreams is affected by the TV you watched as a kid.

16:02 If you're of an older generation that watched black and white TV, you'll see monochrome dreams more often than not.

16:08 If you're used to color television, your dreams will also be colorful.

16:14 Out of every 10,000 people on Earth, one person has their organs mirrored or reversed from their usual and customary positions.

16:22 That is, their liver would be larger on the left side and the kidney would be a bit superior to the left one.

16:29 People with light-colored eyes, blue or green, are better at tolerating pain than those with dark eyes.

16:35 Scientists think it might be related to melanin that affects the color of the eyes.

16:40 The length of your foot is similar to that of your forearm.

16:43 Don't believe me? Go check. I'll wait right here.

16:46 Nah.

16:48 We have seven major holes in our bodies.

16:51 Our mouths, our ears, nose, eyes, and our, you know, down under.

16:56 Hey, we're Australian. G'day, mate.

16:59 We're also a Taurus, if you dig geometry.

17:02 A human ring, a donut, a life buoy, or even a bagel.

17:07 Mmm, bagel. Don't forget the schmear.

17:11 Seriously, counting the pores in your skin and the rest, there'd be millions of holes, though.

17:16 Trillions, more likely. Holy cow, we're holy.

17:21 Bodies throw thermal radiation off as a tiny amount of light.

17:24 This light is 1,000 times less visible than normal light, so you're not a torch yet.

17:30 Breathe in deep through your nose. Air only goes up one nostril at a time.

17:34 And our nostrils take turns at it. Sharing is caring.

17:38 Our brains tell us when our bodies hurt, but they can't feel pain themselves.

17:42 There are no pain receptors in the brain.

17:46 That feeling of your stomach rising is what actually happens.

17:50 Hold on. Every human has a unique smell, except for identical twins.

17:54 They share the same DNA and the same smell.

17:58 Our fingerprints aren't just for identifying us to the police if we've done something wrong.

18:02 The ridges allow our skin to stretch to prevent damage and improve our sense of touch.

18:10 When you're scared, you can become a lot stronger than you were before.

18:14 Maybe not lift a car strong, but you won't feel pain or fatigue as quickly.

18:18 Hey, not to freak you out or anything, but every second, your body creates 25 million new cells.

18:25 I'll do the math for you. That means that in about 15 seconds,

18:29 you'll have produced more cells than there are people in the United States.

18:33 Think about that next time you feel you haven't been productive enough.

18:37 It may account for only 2% of our body mass, but our brains actually take up 20% of our blood supply and oxygen.

18:44 Our brains can also produce enough energy to supply a light bulb.

18:48 That is, when we're awake.

18:50 Ever thought about what the largest human organ is?

18:53 It's your skin, and it's thickest on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet.

18:58 I know, I know, I hate dusting too.

19:01 But you are particularly responsible for that layer of fluff on your TV screen, you know.

19:07 Every human being sheds about 600,000 particles of skin every hour,

19:12 and most of the dust around your house is actually composed of that.

19:15 So yes, we're all rather flaky.

19:18 These days, it's considered more of a beauty mark.

19:21 But the reason why people are born with a Cupid's bow is actually quite intriguing.

19:26 As our features start to develop before we're even born,

19:29 it appears that the Cupid's bow is actually the place where our face, well, zips up.

19:35 The right side of the face and the left side of the face, that is.

19:38 While in humans, it may not be that obvious.

19:41 If you look at your dog's nose, you'll see it has a straight vertical line just under the nostrils.

19:46 That's right, dogs have this zip too.

19:49 Did you know you were born with more bones than you have today?

19:53 At birth, we have somewhere around 300 bones.

19:56 But as we age, some of them fuse together.

19:59 That's why in adulthood, we end up having about 200 bones.

20:03 Although your teeth are technically part of your skeletal system, they're not actually bones.

20:08 They do look sort of similar and do share some characteristics,

20:12 like being the hardest element in your body.

20:14 Why the misconception though?

20:16 Well, it's mostly because both teeth and bones contain calcium.

20:20 To be a bit more specific, about 99% of the body's calcium is in your bones and teeth.

20:26 The remaining calcium is in your bloodstream.

20:28 So what makes them different, you might ask?

20:31 It's in how the bones and teeth heal and how you should take care of them.

20:35 While bones can repair and heal themselves, your teeth aren't able to do that.

20:40 That's why we have dentists.

20:42 We don't only have unique fingerprints.

20:44 Our tongues are one of a kind as well.

20:47 Research has shown that those approximately 10,000 taste buds on our tongues

20:52 are laid out in a unique pattern, specific for each one of us.

20:56 About 80% of what you believe is taste is actually smell.

21:00 The combination of taste and smell that we perceive is what we come to know as flavor.

21:06 That's probably because our sense of smell is around 10,000 times stronger than our sense of taste.

21:12 So, the next time you're tuning in your favorite song, try to pay some attention to your heartbeat.

21:18 Do you hear that?

21:19 Yep, that's right.

21:21 While listening to some music, your heartbeat will sync with the rhythm of the song.

21:25 And speaking of that healthy ticker of yours, just in case you're wondering,

21:29 it beats on average about 75 times per minute.

21:32 This means that in any given year, a human heart can pump enough blood to fill an Olympic-sized pool.

21:39 What's even more fascinating is that if you were to connect all your blood vessels end-to-end,

21:44 you'd be able to circle the Earth four times.

21:46 But that would really hurt, so don't try that.

21:50 We are the only species on this planet to have a chin.

21:53 There's still some debate around this subject in the scientific community,

21:57 but one of the reasons seems to be to make our jaws stronger.

22:01 As humans have continued to evolve, their teeth and the muscles in their jaws got smaller and smaller.

22:07 So they needed something to help with increased jaw resistance.

22:11 That transparent part of your eye is called the cornea, and it helps the light go through.

22:16 It's also the only part of your body that isn't connected to any blood supply.

22:21 Why? Because it's especially designed to get its oxygen straight from the surrounding atmosphere.

22:27 If you took out all the fat found in a healthy human body, it would be enough to make 7 bars of soap.

22:33 We also produce enough saliva in our lifetimes to fill two swimming pools.

22:37 Great expectorations!

22:40 Ever wondered how much we actually eat during our whole lifetimes?

22:44 I'll spare you the math.

22:46 An average-sized person eats nearly 66,000 pounds of food throughout the whole course of their lifetime.

22:52 How much is that for scale? About 6 elephants. And that ain't peanuts.

22:57 Each of us carries around 4 pounds of bacteria on average at any given time in our bodies.

23:03 But hey, don't go running to the doctor just yet.

23:06 Most of that bacteria is actually good and have specific functions in the human body,

23:11 like digestion and our immune systems.

23:14 If you want to have an accurate depiction of your height, make sure you measure yourself in the morning.

23:20 That's because you're about 0.4 inches taller right when you wake up.

23:25 Trust me, it isn't magic. It's merely because, throughout the day,

23:29 the soft cartilage between your spinal bones gets squashed down and compressed,

23:33 making you seem shorter by the time you go to bed.

23:37 We know that we have some sort of energy moving around our bodies,

23:41 so we actually do emit a tiny amount of light.

23:44 It's too weak for our own eyes to see, though, but if you think about it, you're actually glowing as we speak.

23:51 The humorist and author Mark Twain once said, "Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to."

23:58 How true. But not all humans can blush, and those that do blush to different degrees.

24:04 Is there some sort of evolutionary reason for why we blush? It seems so.

24:09 Blushing is a way for us to communicate without using any words,

24:13 just like dogs wag their tails when they're happy or excited.

24:16 So, basically, blushing can be translated to "I'm embarrassed," similar to how we shiver when we're cold.

24:23 If the human eye was a camera, it would have about 576 megapixels.

24:28 Our vision of the world changes throughout our lives.

24:31 As soon as we're born, we see the world upside down for a bit.

24:35 Our brain is programmed to show the inverted image formed on our retina by the convict's eye lens.

24:40 But that doesn't kick in immediately after birth.

24:44 Hey, I'm sure you enjoy that weekly cardio and weightlifting,

24:48 but the strongest muscle in the human body is definitely not the one you've been working on.

24:53 It's actually in your jaws. Your jaws are designed similarly to a nutcracker.

24:58 Why? So you can get powerful bites with as little energy as possible.

25:03 The fastest muscle is located in your eyes.

25:06 That's probably how we came up with the expression "in the blink of an eye" for when something happens really quickly.

25:13 Did you know that your nose comes with a built-in reset feature?

25:17 It happens when you sneeze.

25:19 Sneezing is basically your nose's way of getting rid of all the bad particles it has inhaled up to a certain point.

25:25 If you think that's bad, it's not.

25:28 Did you also think your pinky finger is something weak and pretty much useless?

25:33 Well, it actually packs up to 50% of the strength in your hand.

25:37 We still haven't figured out precisely why people yawn.

25:41 But the only creatures to do it, baboons, guinea pigs, and the Siamese fighting fish yawn to warn other animals to stay away.

25:48 Penguins seem to yawn during courtship rituals, and snakes yawn at times after a good meal.

25:53 Boy, there's a happy snake!

25:55 Some theories suggest it helps us get more oxygen in,

25:59 while others indicate that it helps with regulating our body temperatures.

26:03 Either way, we still don't know for sure.

26:06 Our ears and noses are the only organs that continue to grow throughout our lifetimes.

26:11 Our eyes stay more or less the same size as we grow up.

26:15 By the time we're three months old, our corneas should technically reach their full size.

26:20 That's it for today!

26:22 So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

26:27 Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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