10 Amazing Body Facts That Made Me Go "Wow! I didn't know that!"

There are amazing things about the human body that are worthy of the "Wow! I didn't know that!" reaction. Here are some of the few:

1. Your forearm and your foot are the same length. Try measuring the length of your forearm (from the crook of your elbow to your wrist) and compare it with the length of your foot. You'll be surprised that they are the same length.

2. Our eyes see images upside down. The physics of light refraction causes the upside down impression on our retina. However, these sensory images travel through the optic nerve into the brain and flip the image to its actual upright position. The first time I learned about this, I had this crazy idea that the world is really upside down.

3. Dimples are anatomical defects.These facial depressions, visible when a person smiles, adds to a person's attractiveness. However, dimples are actually an anatomical defect, caused by shortened facial muscles that cause the depression ("dimple") when a person smiles.

4. We have our own unique tongue prints. Just like fingerprints, we have our own unique tongue print. From now on, I would refrain from sticking my tongue out to protect my identity.

5. Our wingspan is more or less equal to our height. More often than not, the length of our wingspan is equal to our height. There may be an inch or two difference but this is still an amazing discovery.

6. Babies see clearly at 8 months. Babies have poor vision at birth because their sense of sight is still in its developmental stage. At six months, they have clear vision at a distance of 12 inches. Their visual acuity reaches 20/20 at eight months.

7. We were born with about 300 bones in our body, and as we grow into adults, we will only have 206. We have more bones at birth than we have during our adult years. When we are born the bones in our head are not yet fused to enable us to traverse the birth canal. The bones in our wrists and ankles are the same. Complete fusion of the bones in the head are achieved at age 2, while the bones in the wrists and ankles are stable and completely fused at age 17. 

8. Our body is made up of 65% water. 
We need to maintain this amount of hydration for our bodies to function properly down to the cellular level. Once we lose 1% of our total body water, we start to have the sensation of thirstiness.

9. Of the 5 senses, the only one that does not totally dim out during sleep is the sense of hearing. Our ears continue to receive sound waves during sleep, however, we do not "hear" these sounds because the brain does not process it during certain sleep phases. But seeing as your ears are on the clock 24/7, they’re also the most likely of your senses to get damaged. Visit a local audiologist if you feel your hearing level isn’t quite what it was. 

10 . In a normal anatomical position, our true waist is on the same transverse line with the crook of our elbow. Waistlines are usually measured around the "narrowest" part of the body. However, this would be difficult for individuals who do not have an hour-glass figure. A better way is to use this method.

Are there any other body facts you can add to this list? Share in the comments below.