The Strangest Facts About The Human Body

We all live in our bodies our entire lives, but how much do we really know about ourselves? No, not what makes us tick and the things that stress us out - the strangest facts about the human body. It turns out there's a lot more to these shells than meets the eye.

For one, there are 206 bones that make up our skeleton, with most people only able to name a few. Then there's the fact our brains were the things to name themselves and then spend years learning all about how they work. Humans really are a fascinating bunch when you think about it.

We are taller in the morning than we are at night

If you want to measure yourself - and get the highest point you'll reach - you might want to think about breaking out the tape measure in the morning. That's because we're actually taller in the mornings. That's because our bodies have relaxed and lengthened without the added pressure on our joints that comes naturally throughout the day. The pressure causes the cartilage in our spine to compress, meaning we can be a fraction of an inch shorter by the time the evening rolls around.

We get an entirely new skeleton every ten years

They say you only get one body and that we should look after it. While that might be true to a certain extent, that doesn't mean everything stays with us from the moment we're born until it's time to shuffle over to the other side. That's right; cells in our skeletal system are constantly regenerating, meaning that we averagely have a new body every ten years or so. This does slow down the older we get. In turn, the longer regeneration process means that our bones start to become thinner.

There are more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels in a human body

We're starting to wonder how everything can possibly fit inside our bodies at once. We're thinking about it even more now that we know there are over 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies. Even though blood vessels are incredibly small, the numbers quickly add up. That means that if you lined them all in a straight line - including your veins, capillaries, and arteries - they would stretch over 60,000 miles, aka more than twice around the world.

Our stomachs growl because they are filled with hot air

Want something that makes you embarrassed even though it's a completely normal part of life? In walks our growling stomach. Somehow, it knows when everyone else in the room is quiet, but it's not entirely because our stomach is empty. Instead, it's all about the digestive system, specifically our intestines. This is the part of our body in charge of moving food and drink along through contractions. However, those contractions don't stop when the food is gone, meaning our intestines move air around instead. Fun fact: those stomach rumbles are technically called borborygmus.

Every human makes two pools of saliva in their lives

Most of our mouths are constantly filled with salvia. Okay, maybe not filled, but there is certainly enough to keep them everyone's favorite word: moist. Have you ever thought about just how much salvia you produce in your lifetime? If you haven't, then someone else has as it turns out humans make more than 20,000 liters throughout their lives, which is enough to fill up two swimming pools of just saliva. We might not want to take a dip, but thankfully, it doesn't all come at once.

Our hair knows when we go to sleep

Our hair can tell a lot more about us than many people realize, but what about our sleep schedule? Yup, it turns out that's another thing to add to the list. Back in 2010, researchers working at Yamaguchi University performed a study that showed our hair follicles - where most of the cells in our hair are found - contained RNA that forms our "clock genes." "What are clock genes?" you might be asking? These are the things that tell scientists how much sleep we get and our sleep-wake cycle, meaning our hair could be the thing to rat us out if we're always getting late nights.

The strangest facts about the human body are just that: strange. Who knew there was so much more to these shells we call home than we learned in school? We might have started to pay attention a little more if things like this were on the curriculum.