Interesting Facts of Life

last SG · 2005-05-10T16:10:20+00:00

Strange but true The human brain makes up 2 percent of total body weight, but accounts for 25 percent of the body's energy consumption.

Gordonator SG

Idea Do you know?

Human blood travels at a speed of 100,000 kilometers per day. Wink

Gordonator SG

Idea Ever wonder why is it easier to remember faces than names?

When we see a face, we try to recognise it - establish whether or not it looks familiar - whereas when we see someone we do recognise and try to think of their name, we have to recall it.

Recall is generally more difficult than recognition because in order to reach the part of the brain where names are stored, we must process other information about how we know that person, such as, "She's an actress, I saw her on TV last week."

These extra steps are why we often find ourselves struggling to remember what someone is called, even though we do know who they are.

Gordonator SG

Idea What causes travel-sickness, and why doesn't everyone get it?

Fluid in the canals of the inner ear sloshes around when you're in motion, causing the tiny hair cells to send contradictory nerve impluses to the brain.

If you are reading or looking at the inside of the car, your eyes signal to your brain that you are not moving, whereas the inner ear tells it that you are. The disorientation can make you feel nauseous. Switching your vision between close and distant objects can help to prevent this feeling, which is why drivers are less often travel-sick than passengers.

Young People are more susceptible because as you get older, or becom a more sesoned traveller, the inner ear becomes less sensitive.

SBS3624G SG

I am still amazed with your energy, educating me.
Nvm, thank you for your efforts. Wish you best of luck.

Best Regards
SBS3624G

Gordonator SG

thank you. i enjoy and take pride in educating people with fun facts.

do come often. Wink

SGpork SG

Originally posted by Gordonator:
[b]Do you know?

Human blood travels at a speed of 100,000 kilometers per day. Wink

[/b]

thats fast

-mist- SG

Originally posted by Gordonator:
[b]What causes travel-sickness, and why doesn't everyone get it?

Fluid in the canals of the inner ear sloshes around when you're in motion, causing the tiny hair cells to send contradictory nerve impluses to the brain.

If you are reading or looking at the inside of the car, your eyes signal to your brain that you are not moving, whereas the inner ear tells it that you are. The disorientation can make you feel nauseous. Switching your vision between close and distant objects can help to prevent this feeling, which is why drivers are less often travel-sick than passengers.

Young People are more susceptible because as you get older, or becom a more sesoned traveller, the inner ear becomes less sensitive.[/b]

well i dun get it since young means im old inside? Mr. Green

Gordonator SG

Idea Why can't you tickle yourself?

The human brain can tell which sensations are caused by our own actions, and gives them low priority. That way, it can be more receptive to stimuli from outside sources that may be more urgent, such as the pain of buring your hand, or the sound of a crying child.

Being tickled by someone else can reduce you to a squirming jelly, but when you try to tickle yourself a message called the corollary discharge is sent around the brain, which anticipates your actions and dulls the sensation.

A recent study using magnetic resonance imaging scanner to map brain activity, suggests that the cerebellum - the part of the brain that controls movement - is involved in processing the corollary discharge.

Gordonator SG

Idea How come we don't feel the pain immediately when hit by serious injury?

Under conditions of extreme stress, such as serious injury, brain signals tell the body to produce endorphins and enkephalins, similar in chemical structure to morphine. The speed and shock of an attack can trigger production of enough of these chimicals to delay the pain.

poon cho tang SG

Originally posted by Gordonator:
[b]Do you know?

Human blood travels at a speed of 100,000 kilometers per day. Wink

[/b]

sure or not?

blood travels at a speed of 4,167 km/h? Laughing

Gordonator SG

100% plus guarantee plus warranty sure. see, you learnt something today. Wink

poon cho tang SG

dat's way faster than the speed of sound (1,246 km/h)

sure boh? Laughing

Gordonator SG

u don't trust gordon's world of facts ah? Laughing

poon cho tang SG

but this works agst my common sense Laughing

Gordonator SG

so be it. suit yourself. Laughing

nightzip SG

but traveling faster than speed of sound will cause shock waves to be generated leh....

like sonic boom? maybe becuz lack of air or surroundings in the blood vassels so thats why its possible ? Very Happy

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

Wow, why dosen't blood spurt out at mach 4 when I sustain a serious laceration.

Also, this means that blood travels much faster then nerve conducting velocity.

Hmm... I'm not sure about 100,000 km a day, but I do know that the combined length of all the blood vessels in our body exceeds that length. Maybe what he was trying to say is that our total volume of blood travels this length in a single day, not that the blood is travelling at 4,000+ kph, but that the entire volume of blood manages to total this distance per day, via means of concurent travel, but of course, the velocity of individual blood cells is way below that.

alexkusu SG

how fast oxygenated blood travel? like athelets training on top of mountains…etc

poon cho tang SG

yes...u solved it Laughing

SingaporeMacross SG

what if you slash someone’s artery open?