The living machine

Apart from your fingers, which part of your body also has a unique print?

Image: MART PRODUCTION

The human body is an incredibly sophisticated machine, full of mysteries. Throughout history, science has revealed fascinating facts about how it works, yet lesser-known curiosities continue to surprise and challenge our understanding. Are you ready to discover 12 fascinating quirks about your body that will leave you speechless?

Image: Aakash Dhage

A person inhales and exhales over 2,000 gallons of air daily, taking roughly 21,000 breaths a day. We perform this action almost unconsciously, but it is vital to absorb oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.

Now, did you know the right lung is slightly larger than the left lung to make room for the heart? And that the lungs contain over 300 billion tiny blood vessels called capillaries that, if unfolded, would extend to 1,500 miles? Don't worry, you learn something new every day!

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The primary function of nails is to protect the fingertips, which contain a high concentration of nerve endings. In fact, this is one of the most sensitive areas of the human body.

Because they are more exposed, fingernails grow at a much faster rate than toenails. Fingernails grow about 1/8 inch per month, while toenails grow about half as much. Nail growth is also determined by factors such as weather, often speeding up during the summer. If you happen to lose a fingernail, it may take up to six months to grow back from base to tip.

Image: Aakash Dhage

The stomach is a fascinating organ with many peculiarities. For example, it produces hormones that influence appetite and sleep, and it can stretch to hold up to 50 ounces of food when we eat.

But perhaps its most incredible feature is its production of hydrochloric acid, which kills bacteria and aids digestion. This acid is so potent that it can even dissolve metals such as zinc. Fortunately for us, the stomach has a protective layer of mucus that is renewed every three to four days. If this lining weren’t continually replaced, it would dissolve. In other words, your stomach would digest itself.

Image: Surja Sen Das Raj

Your thigh bone, or femur, is the largest bone in your body, accounting for about a quarter of your total height. But did you know that human height can vary throughout the day and with age?

Every morning when you wake up, you are about 0.5 to 0.75 inches taller than when you go to bed at night. This is because the soft cartilage between your bones gets compressed by the force of gravity when you stand or sit. Starting in your forties or fifties, people gradually lose nearly half an inch of height per decade due to bone density loss, disc compression, and other age-related factors.

Image: Leighann Blackwood

On an average adult, skin covers an area of about 20 square feet and has multiple functions. The outer layer, called the epidermis, consists of dead cells that help regulate temperature and protect the body from dirt and germs. But did you know that your body is constantly losing and replacing these cells?

Every minute, you shed more than 30,000 dead skin cells. In fact, the entire surface of your skin is replaced every month, which, in other words, means that you will lose around 40 pounds of skin and have around 1,000 different skins in your lifetime.

Image: Nino Liverani

We all remember what we learned in school: the human body has 206 bones. However, at birth, humans have approximately 300 bones, many of which fuse as we grow, resulting in the 206 bones found in adults. More than half of these bones are located in the hands and feet, with 27 bones per hand and 26 per foot.

Another interesting fact about human bones is that they are as strong as granite. A small piece of bone can support up to 9 tons of weight!

Image: Vitalii Khodzinskyi

The eye is one of the most complex and fascinating organs of the human body. It can distinguish up to 10 million colors and adapts so quickly that it can adjust to extreme light conditions within seconds. Plus, your eyelids blink 15 to 20 times per minute, equivalent to roughly 10% of the time you spend awake!

If you have blue eyes, you are among the 8 to 10% of the world's population. Blue eyes result from a mutation that reduces pigment in the iris. Researchers believe this mutation first appeared in a person living in Europe 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, which means that all blue-eyed people living today share a common ancestor.

Image: Tony Litvyak

The human body needs food and water to survive. In fact, water makes up approximately 50% to 70% of body weight, depending on age, sex, and body composition. While the body can survive up to seven days without food, it can only last about two days without water.

Have you ever wondered how much food and drink we consume? Here's the answer: The average person eats roughly 55 tons of food and drinks about 11,000 gallons of liquid during a lifetime.

Image: Liana S

We know that factors such as age, diet, physical activity, illness, and the time of day can influence temperature. In fact, body temperature tends to be lower in the morning and higher in the evening.

But here's the most surprising fact about body temperature: in just 30 minutes, the human body produces enough heat to boil half a gallon of water. Now that’s a figure you probably didn’t expect!

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For its size and composition, the tongue is the strongest and most flexible muscle in the human body. It is covered with roughly 10,000 taste buds, each containing up to 100 cells that help you detect flavors ranging from sweet to spicy. As you age, some taste buds die and are not replaced, which is why younger people often have a more sensitive sense of taste than older individuals.

But here's a fact that will blow your mind: your tongue print is as unique as your fingerprints. From the impression of a tongue, it is possible to identify a human being with similar accuracy as with fingerprints or the iris of the eyes. Luckily, it’s not a technique commonly used by forensic police!

Image: Elīna Arāja

Did you know that the human body contains about 60,000 miles of blood vessels, enough to circle the Earth two and a half times? Additionally, an average adult has roughly 1.2 to 1.5 gallons of blood circulating through the body. So why do veins look blue?

If you look at your wrists, you can probably see blue veins under your skin. It may sound strange, but the reason for this is to do with the way your skin absorbs light and reflects it back to your eye. So, now you know, nobody has blue blood, not even royalty!

Image: Franco Antonio Giovanella

Your inner ear contains fluid that helps send information about balance and movement to your brain. This fluid is also the reason you sometimes get motion sickness. When you look out of a car window, your eyes signal to your brain that your body is moving, but because you are actually sitting still, your brain becomes confused, which can make you feel queasy.

Earwax is produced by your body to protect your ear canal from dirt, insects, and bacteria. Although we commonly call it "wax," it is actually a substance largely composed of dead skin cells and other secretions. By the time it reaches the outer ear, earwax has been inside your ear for about a month!

NAME ANCESTRY

14 Surprising Origin Stories Behind State Names In The USA

Image: Pin Adventure Map

Ever wondered where most US states’ names come from? From Native American roots to foreign or made-up words, the stories behind many of them are riddled with surprising historical references. Although the origin of some US states’ names is fairly obvious, many derive from unexpected people or places. The origin of names like Colorado, Montana, or Nevada are easy to infer —especially if you know a bit of Spanish— but many others have Native American origins with intriguing meanings. Some are even derived from fiction. If you ever wanted to know where names like Oregon, Connecticut, or Wisconsin come from, you are in the right place. Enjoy the surprising etymologies behind some of the names that make our country.

Image: Joshua Woroniecki

Interestingly, for a state whose main economic activity is agriculture, the word Alabama comes from the Choctaw language and can be translated as "plant-cutters" or "vegetation pickers", recalling the farming practices of the Native Americans that lived in this area.

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Alaska is a corruption of an Aleut word that means "mainland", but can be translated literally as "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed". This is one of those names that manage to bring poetry into a word as simple and down-to-earth as land.

Image: Vital Sinkevich

This one comes from… a Spanish adventure novel! Bet you didn’t expect that. In Las Sergas de Esplandin by Garcia Ordez de Montalvo, a book from the 1500s, there is a fictional place called the "Island of California". Even when the modern state of California is clearly not an island, some die-hard fanatic of the novel decided to bring the name to life here in the U.S.

Image: Juliette Dickens

Derived from the Algonquian word quinnehtukqut, which can be translated as "besides the long tidal river", in reference to the river Connecticut. If you are wondering what the "tidal" part means exactly, this is because the Connecticut River's flow and level are effectively influenced by tides along much of its course. Certainly some amazing insight into the rigorous knowledge of local hydrology that Native Americans managed to accrue over the centuries.

Image: Luke McKeown

Although the origin of this name is disputed, there are two main theories. One suggests that the islands may have been named after Hawaii Loa, their traditional discoverer. However, others have speculated that it is actually derived from the ancient Polynesian word hawaiki, meaning "place of the gods".

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Another crazy one. Although the name was first claimed to be derived from a Shoshone word that meant "Gem of the Mountains", it is highly likely that the word was fabricated by George M. Willing, and meant as a practical joke.

Image: Stéfano Girardelli

Quite literally, "land of Indians", using a Latin suffix. The word Indians originally referred to the ancient dwellers of the shores of the Indus River, in South and Central Asia.

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"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!" said Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz, right after a rampant tornado literally lifted her house in the air and took it to God knows where. Well, this US state’s fame for violent winds predates even the first settlers, since Kansas is a Native American word used by the Dakota, strongly related to the idea of "wind".

Image: Drew Beamer

This state owes its name to an Iroquoian word that means "land of tomorrow". Quite a blockbuster-worthy movie title, if you ask me.

Image: Mercedes Mehling

The origin story behind the name of "The Pine Tree State" is still disputed. However, there are some interesting theories. One states that it derives from "mainland", as a form of distinction from the many coastal islands in the vicinity. Other theories propose that it was named in honor of Henrietta Maria, queen of England, or after the province of Mayne in France.

Image: Anthony Cantin

To the Native Americans that lived in this region, Missouri meant "town of the large canoes", as the Missouri tribes were renowned for their skill in making dugout canoes.

Image: Ashley Levinson

A largely disputed one. Many suggest that the name has Spanish origins, being similar to other words like orejón (meaning "big ear") or orégano, in reference to a type of plant (similar to the Mediterranean oregano) that grows in the southern part of the state.

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This is the only state that has a part of its founder’s name in it. It is widely believed that Pennsylvania means "Penn’s Woodland", and was named as such in honor of Sir William Penn, father of its founder William Penn.

Image: Brydon McCluskey

This is probably a French corruption of a native Miami word that meant "it lies red" or "river running through a red place", in reference to the bed of the river Wisconsin.

If our quick dive into the peculiar world of US state names wasn’t enough to quench your curiosity, stay around! We will keep uploading more content related to language and the weird stories and etymologies behind many English and foreign words.