Top Ten (10) Things You Should Know About YOU!

The human body is a great, sweaty, fluid-filled machine, moving and mixing chemicals with precision and coordination, making everything from memories to mucus. Here we explore some of the complex, beautiful or just plain gross mysteries of how you function.

10. Your Stomach Releases Corrosive Acid

Your interior stomach cells secrete hydrochloric acid. This is compound is a highly corrosive compound used to treat metals int he industrial world. It can destroy steel, however the mucous lining of the stomach keeps this corrosive liquid safely inside the digestive system where its primary task is breaking down your food intake.

9. Body Position Influences Your Memory

Having trouble remembering where you were when you asked her to marry you? Try kneeling down on one knee. Studies show that memories are highly embodied in our senses. A sound or scent may evoke long forgotten memory from your childhood. The connections can be clear, a song makes you remember your 13th birthday party. A January 2007 story about cognition reports that events from the past are quickly and more easily remembered while in a body position that is similar to one during that event.

8. Bones Break Down to Balance Minerals

Bones serve a fundamental purpose of supporting the muscles and organs inside our body, however bones also help regulate calcium levels. Bones contain both calcium and phosphorous, the latter of which is needed by nerves and muscles. If Calcium is running low in our systems, a type of hormones will cause bones to break down, thereby increasing calcium levels in the body, until the correct concentration is reached.

7. The Brain Has Stringent Demands

The brain makes up about 2% of our body weight, however the brain requires 20% of the body's calories and oxygen. Three major arteries are consistently pumping in oxygen to the brain and a blockage or break in one of the three denies brain cells of the energy they require to function and in turn impairs the functions controlled by that region. This is the often cause of a stroke.

6. Thousands of Eggs Unused by Ovaries

When a woman reaches her late 40s or early 50s, the monthly menstrual cycle that controls her hormone levels and readies ova for insemination ceases. Her ovaries have been producing less and less estrogen, inciting physical and emotional changes across her body. Her underdeveloped egg follicles begin to fail to release ova as regularly as before. The average adolescent girl has 34,000 underdeveloped egg follicles, although only 350 or so mature during her life (at the rate of about one per month). The unused egg follicles then deteriorate. With no potential pregnancy on the horizon, the brain can stop managing the release of ova.

5. Puberty Reshapes Brain Structure, Makes for Missed Curfews

We know that hormone-fueled changes in the body are necessary to encourage growth and ready the body for reproduction. But why is adolescence so emotionally unpleasant? Hormones like testosterone actually influence the development of neurons in the brain, and the changes made to brain structure have many behavioral consequences. Expect emotional awkwardness, apathy and poor decision-making skills as regions in the frontal cortex mature.

4. Cell Hairs Move Mucus

Most cells in our bodies sport hair-like organelles called cilia that help out with a variety of functions, from digestion to hearing. In the nose, cilia help to drain mucus from the naval cavity down to the throat. Cold weather slows down the draining process, causing a mucus backup that can leave you with snotty sleeves. Swollen nasal membranes or condensation can also cause a stuffed schnozzle.

3. Big Brains Cause Cramped Mouths

Evolution isn't perfect. If it were, we might have wings instead of wisdom teeth. Sometimes useless features stick around in a species simply because they're not doing much harm. But wisdom teeth weren't always a cash crop for oral surgeons. Long ago, they served as a useful third set of meat-mashing molars. But as our brains grew our jawbone structure changed, leaving us with expensively overcrowded mouths.

2. The World Laughs with You

Just as watching someone yawn can induce the behavior in yourself, recent evidence suggests that laughter is a social cue for mimicry. Hearing a laugh actually stimulates the brain region associated with facial movements. Mimicry plays an important role in social interaction. Cues like sneezing, laughing, crying and yawning may be ways of creating strong social bonds within a group.

1. Your Skin Has Four Colors

All skin, without coloring, would appear creamy white. Near-surface blood vessels add a blush of red. A yellow pigment also tints the canvas. Lastly, sepia-toned melanin, created in response to ultraviolet rays, appears black in large amounts. These four hues mix in different proportions to create the skin colors of all the peoples of Earth.