I was reading a paper, Facts About the Human Body, by Eric Bell. Here are a few things that I thought you might find interesting.

* Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour.

* Your brain uses 20 percent of the oxygen that enters the bloodstream.

* The brain is more active at night than during the day.

* Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body.

* Every day the average person loses 60–100 strands of hair.

* The life span of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average.

* The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.

* Fingernails grow nearly four times faster than toenails.

* The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels.

* The surface area of a human lung is equal to a tennis court.

* The aorta is nearly the diameter of a garden hose.

* Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for the heart.

* Sneeze emissions can exceed speeds of 100 mph. (And you can’t keep your eyes open.)

* Cough emissions can exceed speeds of 60 mph.

* After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp.

* By the age of 60, most people will have lost about half their taste buds.

* By 60 years of age, 60 percent of men and 40 percent of women will snore.

* Humans can make do longer without food than without sleep.

* It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.

* We are about 1 centimeter taller in the morning after sleeping than before going to bed.

* The feet account for one quarter of all the human body’s bones.

* It is not possible to tickle yourself.

And there you have it.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): One of life’s greatest mysteries is how the boy who wasn’t good enough to marry your daughter can be the father of one of the smartest grandchildren in the world. —Jewish proverb

Curious about something? Send your questions to Dr. Jerry D. Wilson, College of Science and Mathematics, Lander University, Greenwood, SC 29649, or for e-mail, www.curiosity-corner.net. Selected questions will appear in the Curiosity Corner. © JDW