STILL MORE OF WHAT'S NEW ABOUT THE ODD BODY & BRAIN

Men are six times more likely than women to be struck by lightning.

Americans choke to death on toothpicks more than on any other object.

The average adult has between 40 and 50 billion fat cells.

In the U.S., your chance of dying in a car accident is 1 in 88. Your chance of dying by being struck by lightning is 1 in 39,000. Your chance of dying by being caught in a tornado is 1 in 39,000. Your chance of dying in an airline accident is 1 in 40,000. Your chance of dying by falling out of bed is 1 in 2,000,000. Your chance of dying by being bitten by a snake is 1 in 3,000,000. Your chance of dying by being bitten by a shark is 1 in 3,700,000.

A single organ transplant donor can provide organs, bone, and tissue for 50 or more people.

According to the ARCHIVES OF GENERAL MEDICINE, coffee drinkers have sex more frequently and enjoy it more than non-coffee drinkers.

Named after the male genitalia is the orchid. Its botanical name, Orchidaceae, means "testicles" in Greek and may come from an early notion that the orchid possessed aphrodisiac powers. One punishment for an adulterous wife in medieval France was to make her chase a chicken through town naked.

11 per cent of adults around the world have never had sex. 4 per cent were drunk when they lost their virginity. 40 per cent of adults in India didn't make love until after they were married. 65 per cent say their big fantasy is to fool around with a famous person. 42 per cent of men dream of getting intimate with their best friend's partner, but only 25 per cent of women do. 54 per cent of men admit they've had at least one one-night stand, compared to 42 per cent of women.

Gorillas and cats sleep about 14 hours a day.

A study by researcher Frank Hu and the Harvard University School of Public Health found that women who snore are at an increased risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

The world's largest chest belonged to Robert Earl Hughes of Illinois. It spanned 10 feet, 4 inches, and he weighed a mammoth 1,067 pounds upon his death in 1958 at age 32. He was buried in a coffin the size of a piano crate.

The oldest authenticated pair of female twins was Kim Narita and Gin Kanie of Japan. They were born on 1 August 1892. Kim died of heart failure in January 2000 at 107 years of age.

"Scapulamancy" is the method of fortune telling involving the study of cracked shoulder bones.

Hoo Sateow of Chang Mai, Thailand has the longest head of hair in the world. His locks measure 16 feet, 11 inches. His brother Yee's head of hair is 16 feet long.

Men with moustaches may be allergic to their own lip hair. That's because moustaches can harbour airborne pollens that trigger allergies.

Leprosy is the world's oldest disease with documented cases dating back to 1350 B.C. Leprosy is now 100 per cent curable.

The world's shortest married couple was not "General and Mrs. Tom Thumb"--Charles and Lavinia Stratton of P.T. Barnum fame. They are a Brazilian couple--Douglas Maistre Brager de Silva and Claudia Pereira Rocha who were married on 26 October 1998 and measure 35 and 36 inches respectively.

The longest living triplets were Faith, Hope, and Charity who were born in Elm Mott, Texas on 18 May 1899. Faith was the first to die at age 95 in October 1994.

The world's oldest quadruplets were the Ottman siblings. Adolf, Anne-Marie, Emma, and Elisabeth. They were born on 5 May 1912. Adolf died first at age 79 in March 1992.

The man with the oldest known individual ancestor is British Professor Adrian Targett. DNA tests matched Professor Targett's with that of a 9,000-year-old skeleton found in Cheddar, England.

Sam Stacey, an 18-year-old from Stainforth, England, is reputedly the female with the longest pair of legs. Her legs measured from 49.75 inches from hip to heal in January 2001. This is the height of an average 10-year-old English child.

In certain parts of Romania, women with moustaches are the most sought after for wives because their hairy upper-lip is thought to be a symbol of fidelity and fertility.

If laid out in a straight line, the average adult's circulatory system would be nearly 60,000 miles long---enough to circle the Earth two and a half times.

The human heart beats about 70 times per minute. The shrew's 600 times per minute. The hummingbird's 1,300 times per minute. The blue whale 10 times per minute.

The average person is 1/4 inch taller at night.

Dwarfs and midgets almost always have normal sized children even if both parents are dwarfs or midgets.

Your heart will thump approximately 42,075,900 beats per year and about 3 billion times in an average lifetime, give or take a few million.

Does lightning strike a human twice? The only human to be struck seven times by lightning was Roy Sullivan, a park ranger from the U.S. state of Virginia. The strikes occurred between 1942 and 1977. Ironically, having survived these strikes, "the human lightning rod" took his own life in 1983, reputedly over a failed romance.

Hippocrates, the ancient Greek "Father of Medicine", believed that a flat chested woman could enlarge her bust by singing loudly and often.

Many know that Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, had six fingers on one hand. She used to wear special gloves to conceal the fact. Fewer know that she also had three breasts.

Strictly speaking, nobody is "buried" in Grant's Tomb. President Ulysses S. Grant and Mrs. Grant are "entombed" in New York City. A body is "buried" only when it is placed in the ground and covered with dirt.

An "ectrodactylyte" is the name for people who have lobster-like hands or feet. The most famous: John Merrick, "the Elephant Man".

In China, wealthy men used to grow their fingernails to astonishing lengths. Their nails would be so long that they were covered by a silk bag. This was done for reasons of status. A wealthy man could thus demonstrate that he had servants to do everything for him.

The knee is the most easily injured joint of the human body. In U.S. hospitals each year, 1.4 million patients are admitted with knee problems.

 

Complete News Archives: 2003 March: About Face February: Why we are all brothers and sisters January: The "Curse" That Won't Die 2002 December: Why is your face so red? November: How to be creative October: The Little Differences Between Men and Women September: The Mars Effect August: Weird mysteries of creative giants July: How many senses do we have? June: The Samson Syndrome May: Phantom Limb Syndrome April: Can we talk to the unborn? March: Movie Revelations February: Navel Secrets January: If Whales Can Do It? 2001 December: Body Odysseys of the Famous November: The Psychology of Smell October: Light, Colour and Music Therapy September: Three Brain Mysteries August: Baldness July News June: Laughing