The document provides 10 little known facts about the human body: 1) Your body measurements are proportionate to each other similar to Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. 2) You are tallest in the morning due to spinal disc decompression when lying down. 3) Your body is capable of generating enough heat to boil half a gallon of water in half an hour. 4) Bone is stronger than steel on an inch-for-inch basis and immediately begins repairing when broken.

1. Little known facts of human body
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編輯配樂：老編西歪
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2. Foreword
We don’t often think of all of the capabilities of the human body, but
there are actually many amazing things about it that are hardly ever
given a second thought.
Here are 10 amazing, but little-known, facts about the human body:
前言
通常我們不會想到人體的所有功能，但實際上有很多令人驚奇的事情
幾乎沒人細想過。
以下是關於人體的 10 項驚人但鮮為人知的事實：

3. Your body measurements equal each other
你的身體測量值彼此相等
You’re likely to have seen the Vetruvian Man, the famous sketch by Leonardo
da Vinci. It’s one of the earliest and best explorations of anthropometry, which
is the scientific study of the measurements and proportion of the human body.
你可能已看過 達•芬奇 的著名素描 維特魯威人。這是對人體測量學最早和最好
的探索之一，是對人體比例測量的科學研究。

4. Did you know, for instance, that your foot will fit neatly
into your forearm? Or that your height is equal to the
span of your arms when you stretch your legs out to
the side? What’s more is that your height is
approximately 10 times the length from your wrist to
the tip of your middle finger.
Anthropometric correlation is more than just a bit of
fun – anthropologists use it to determine how tall the
owner of a particular bone is.
你知道嗎？例如，你的腳掌長度與前臂相當、或者腿伸
展時，你的身高等於臂展。甚至於，你的身高大約是手
掌長度 (手腕到中指尖) 的10倍。
相關性的人體測量不僅是一種趣味性，人類學家用它來
確定特定骨頭主人的身高。
Your body measurements equal each other
你的身體測量值彼此相等

5. You’re tallest in the morning
早上時候你的身體最高
NASA astronauts can be as much as two inches taller in zero gravity, and that’s
because the absence of gravity prevents compression of the discs in the spine.
美國太空總署的太空人，在無重力狀況下，身高可以多出兩英寸，那是因為無重力
狀態下，脊柱中的椎間盤沒受到壓縮。

6. The effect isn’t nearly quite as pronounced here on
Earth as it is in space, however, our joints decompress
when we lie down because gravity isn’t literally pulling
us down.
As a result, we’re tallest when we wake up we get out
of bed in the morning.
這種重力影響，在地球上不像太空中那麼明顯，但是，
當我們躺下時關節會減壓，因為重力並沒有將我們垂直
往下拉。
因此，當我們早上起床時，我們的身體是最高的。
You’re tallest in the morning
早上時候你的身體最高

7. Your body is capable of boiling water
你的身體有煮開水的能力
The human body is capable of generating
enough heat in just half an hour to bring half
a gallon of water to the boil.
人體能夠在短短半小時內產生足夠的熱量，
將半加侖的水燒開。

8. With that being said, it regulates itself to keep itself
at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit in spite of all the
biochemical reactions that occur within it and give
off a lot of heat.
This same process also makes the body electric. In
fact, it gives off about 100 watts of electrical energy
when at rest, which is the same as your average
light bulb. A sprinting athlete can give off as much
as 2,000 watts.
話說回來，儘管內部發生「生化反應」散發出大量熱
能，但它會自我調節，將身體保持在 37 攝氏度
(98.6 華氏度)。
同樣的過程也會使身體帶電。事實上在靜止時，它會
發出大約 100 瓦的電能，這與普通燈泡的功率相同。
短跑運動員可以發出高達 2,000 瓦的功率。
Your body is capable of boiling water
你的身體有煮開水的能力

9. Your bones are stronger than steel
你的骨頭比鋼鐵還堅固
Inch for inch, human bones are stronger than steel. A cubic
inch of bone can withstand a weight of 19,000 pounds.
每一英寸人骨都比鋼鐵堅固。一立方英寸的骨頭可以承受
8,600 公斤的重量。

10. To give you an idea of how strong that is, helicopters,
small jet, and semi-trucks weight about 14,000 pounds,
whereas a large male elephant weighs in at about
15,000.
In addition, bone immediately begins to repair itself
when broken – steel doesn’t.
8,600 公斤的強度有多強？舉例讓你有個概念，直升機、
小型噴氣機和半卡車的重量約 6,300公斤，而一頭大型
雄象的重量約為 6,800 公斤。
此外，骨頭在斷裂時會立即開始自我修復，鋼鐵則不會。
Your bones are stronger than steel
你的骨頭比鋼鐵還堅固

11. Your hair is as durable as rope
你的頭髮像繩子一樣耐用
The story of Rapunzel allowing the prince to climb up the tower she was
imprisoned in using her tresses as a rope is far from implausible, and that’s
because a rope of hair can actually withstand the weight of several men.
長髮公主用她的長髮作為繩索，讓王子爬上她被囚禁塔樓 的故事，並非難以
置信，因為一根髮繩，實際上可以承受幾個男人的重量。

12. A single strand of human hair can bear about 3 ounces
of weight, but if you multiply that number by the
average number of human hairs on a woman’s head,
the hair would be capable of bearing a weight of 12
tons.
Furthermore, flammability aside, hair is virtually
indestructible.
一根人類頭髮可以承受大約 3 盎司的重量，但是如果用
這個數字，乘以女人頭上平均的頭髮數量，則頭髮能夠
承受 12 噸 的重量。
此外，撇開易燃性不談，頭髮實際上幾乎 堅不可摧。
Your hair is as durable as rope
你的頭髮像繩子一樣耐用

13. Your heart can regulate to music
你的心臟可以隨著音樂來調節
The human heart is deeply connected to music. The heart can be strengthened
by responding to music. Favorite music can make the heart beat faster.
人的心臟與音樂的聯繫非常之深，心臟可以通過對音樂的反應而得到加強，喜愛
的音樂 能讓心跳加速。

14. The various elite medical schools around the world are studying it in order to develop
new treatments for heart disease.
In essence, it mirrors the beat of the music you’re hearing, a Mozart concerto will slow
it down, whereas an electronic song will speed it up. The response is strongest when a
person is listening to the music that they really love.
為了開發心髒病的治療新方法，世界各地很多頂尖醫學院都在研究 心臟與音樂的關係。
本質上，心臟反映了你所聽到音樂的節拍，莫扎特協奏曲會讓它的速度減慢，而電子歌
曲則會加快它的速度。當一個人正在聆聽他喜愛的音樂時，這種反應最為強烈。

15. You can smell and see more than you think
你能「嗅到」和「看到」的 比你想像的要更多
It is said that the human nose can identify roughly 10,000 different smells, but study conducted
from Rockefeller University has shown that the figure is actually at least 1 trillion!
據說人的鼻子大約可以識別「1 萬種」不同的氣味，但洛克菲勒大學的研究表明，實際上至少可
識別「1 萬億種」氣味！

16. You can smell and see more than you think
你能「嗅到」和「看到」的 比你想像的要更多
This finding came from observing human eye
function. Despite the human eye having just three
color receptors, it can see up to 10 million colors.
In contrast, the nose has 400 olfactory receptors,
so the team thought the human nose was capable
of smelling far more different scents than previously
thought.
這個發現是來自觀察人眼功能。儘管人眼只有三個顏
色感受器，但它可以看到多達 1 千萬種顏色。
相比之下，鼻子有 400 個嗅覺感受器，所以該團隊認
為，人類鼻子能夠聞到的氣味，比想像的要多得多。

17. You see with your brain rather than your eyes
看東西是用你的大腦而不是眼睛
It’s actually your brain that’s responsible for seeing rather than your eyes. The human eye
collects information, which it then sends to the brain for processing.
事實上是你的大腦負責「看」，而不是眼睛。人眼收集信息，然後將之送到大腦進行處理。
視覺皮層
眼睛
視神經

18. You see with your brain rather than your eyes
看東西是用你的大腦而不是眼睛
Another example of such a sensory system is the tongue, which can actually be used
to reliably relay the same information to the brain as the eye would.
「感覺系統」的另一個例子是舌頭，實際上與眼睛一樣，味蕾將味覺信息傳遞到大腦。
味蕾細胞
神經
大腦

19. Sensory substitution was pioneered in the 1960s, and it enabled people that were born blind
to see well enough to recognize photos of then-supermodel, Twiggy.
This work was recently used to help Navy SEAL orient their bodies when they’re underwater
because the senses work differently when an individual is immersed in it.
「感官替代」是在 1960 年代開創的，可使「先天失明」的人看清楚，識別出當時 超模崔
姬 的照片。
這項工作，最近被用來幫助「海豹突擊隊」在水下定位他們的位置，因為當泡在水中時，
感官會有所不同。
You see with your brain rather than your eyes
看東西是用你的大腦而不是眼睛
視神經

20. Your mouth contains billions of bacteria
你的嘴裡有數十億細菌
The average human mouth contains about the same amount of bacteria as
there are humans on this planet.
人類平均口腔中含有的細菌數量，與地球上的人類數量 (近 80 億) 大致相同。

21. Your mouth contains billions of bacteria
你的嘴裡有數十億細菌
The bacteria form colonies and communities in mouth. For instance,
bacteria on the roof of your mouth is different from the bacteria that
resides underneath your tongue.
Kissing for a mere 10 seconds can transfer as many as 80 million
bacteria from one person’s mouth to another.
You don’t have to stop kissing, though – saliva contains powerful
antibacterial and antimicrobial compounds to kill off bad bacteria.
細
菌
在
口
腔
形
成
菌
落
和
群
落
。
例
如
，
口
腔
頂
部
的
細
菌
與
舌
頭
下
方
的
細
菌
不
同
。
僅
僅
10
秒
鐘
的
接
吻
，
就
可
以
將
多
達
8,000
萬
個
細
菌
，
從
一
個
人
嘴
裡
轉
移
到
另
一
個
人
的
嘴
裡
。
不
過
你
不
必
停
止
接
吻
，
唾
液
含
有
強
大
的
抗
菌
化
合
物
，
可
以
殺
死
有
害
細
菌
。

22. Your body operates like the solar system
你的身體像太陽系一樣運轉
天文學家 卡爾薩根 (Carl Sagan) 在 PBS 電視台 《宇宙》系列紀錄片節目中，有句名言：
「…宇宙就在我們體內。我們是由星塵組成的。」
儘管聽起來像是怪異的新時代概念，實際上科學研究和量子物理學已經證明了字面上的真相。
In his famous PBS series, Cosmos, astronomer Carl Sagan famously said: “…the cosmos is
within us. We are made of star stuff.”
Despite sounding like some fanciful new age notion, it’s actually the literal truth – scientific
research and quantum physics has proved it.

23. Your body operates like the solar system
你的身體像太陽系一樣運轉
血液中的鐵、牙齒中的鈣，甚至充滿肺部的氧氣，都是在新星和超新星爆炸並開始穿越太空時產生的。
實際上，你細胞中的一些物質，年齡可能超過了 40 億年。
是的，我們實際上是由星塵構成的。
The iron in the blood, the calcium in the teeth and even the oxygen that fills the lungs were all
created when novae and supernovae explode and began to travel through space.
In fact, some of the stuff in your cells may be more than 4 billion years old.
Yep – we’re actually made of stardust.