the human brain -- 2/24/21
Today's selection -- from The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham & the Useless Information Society. Facts about the human brain:
"Although the average brain comprises 2 percent of a person's total body weight, it requires 25 percent of all oxygen used by the body.
"In one day, the human brain generates more electrical impulses than all the telephones in the world put together. These nerve impulses can travel up to 170 miles per hour.
"The human three-pound brain is the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter known in the universe.
"The brain is not sensitive to pain. Headache pain originates in the nerves, muscles, and tissues surrounding the skull, not from the brain.
"The human brain is grayish-pink in color and has a texture much like tofu.
"On average, a woman's brain makes up 2.5 percent of her body weight. A man's brain only contributes 2 percent of his body weight. Men's brains are less well formed and shrink at a faster rate than women's.
"The human brain continues to send out electrical wave signals for up to thirty-seven hours following death. ...
"A scientist condemned to death by guillotine in the 1700s supposedly told his assistant to watch his head after he was decapitated, as he would blink as many times as he could to prove that the head remains conscious about fifteen to twenty seconds after decapitation. The assistant reported counting fifteen to twenty blinks.
"The head of executed murderer Charlotte Corday supposedly blushed and looked indignant when the executioner slapped the cheek after decapitation.
"After two rivals were guillotined during the French Revolution and their heads were placed in one sack, one head supposedly bit the other so hard they couldn't be separated."
With all thanks to Uncle Peter.
COMMENTS (0)