00:00You know, when you have a stuffy nose and all you can think about are the nights you've
00:04taken smooth breathing for granted, our bodies do a lot of work to keep us comfortable every
00:09day.
00:10So, in the spirit of staying grateful, let's take a look at a couple of these amazing things
00:14the human body does every minute.
00:17Starting with our eyes, which are constantly relaying loads of visual info to the brain.
00:22The cornea acts like an entrance gate, skillfully bending light.
00:27The iris, or the colorful part, adjusts the light dose, and the lens focuses the rest
00:32onto the retina.
00:33This last one then transforms all that light into electrical signals that are sent to the
00:38brain for interpretation.
00:40Sounds like a lot of work, but it all gets done in milliseconds.
00:44This means that in just a single minute, our brain handles somewhere around 600 million
00:49bits of visual data.
00:54More than half our bodies are made of water – 55% if you're a lady and 65% if you're
01:00a gentleman to be precise.
01:02To make sure this water balance is always in check, our bodies come equipped with a
01:06hydration monitor.
01:07It's always looking into how much water we're losing through things like sweating
01:11or even breathing.
01:13If as little as 1% of the water quantity goes missing, we'll start to feel thirsty.
01:19We also wouldn't be here if it weren't for those hearts pumping in our chests.
01:23Well actually, just one heart per person.
01:26The speed at which it pumps can change depending on how fit you are, your feelings, your size,
01:31and even if you're doing a new yoga pose that requires a bit more effort.
01:36On average, doctors say adults have anywhere between 60 to 100 heartbeats per minute when
01:42they're resting.
01:43Now, the fitter you get, the less pressure you put on your heart, and you might even
01:47end up having a heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute.
01:51Each time this organ gets a little thump, it's pushing about 2.4 ounces of blood around
01:56your body.
01:57If your resting heart rate is 80 beats per minute, your heart's pushing 1.5 gallons
02:03of blood every 60 seconds.
02:07Ever wonder how fast your body bounces back after losing blood?
02:11We've got on average about 10 pints of it in our adult bodies.
02:15When one of them is lost, our bodies start working hard to replace it.
02:20But it's faster than you'd imagine.
02:22Within 24 hours, the volume loss is replaced, and within a few weeks, we're as good as
02:27new.
02:28That's because every second, our bodies make some 2 million fresh red blood cells.
02:33That's 120 million every minute.
02:36When it comes to white blood cells and platelets, the process is even faster.
02:41Our breathing mechanism is fascinating too.
02:44For grown-ups, the regular breath count is about 12 to 20 breaths per minute.
02:49Infants, however, have a faster rate of 30 to 60 breaths per minute.
02:54When you take in air, it requires the effort of an entire team.
02:58Your brain's command center sends signals down to your diaphragm, telling it to flatten
03:02out.
03:03Your ribs and abdominal muscles adjust to allow your chest to expand, pulling the air
03:08into your lungs.
03:10Breathing out is a bit easier.
03:11Your used-up air gets pushed out by your elastic lungs.
03:15But when you're putting in a bit more effort, that's when your abs help a bit more in
03:19the exhale process.
03:23Now when it comes to reading, our brains can amp up that skill, sometimes reaching up to
03:281,000 words per minute.
03:30If you do the math, it means your brain can read a 300-page book in just 2.5 hours.
03:36One interesting feature about how our brain processes reading is that it doesn't necessarily
03:41do it in a straight line.
03:43In fact, our eyes do these unique movements called saccades.
03:47They're quick jumps across the text, back and forth.
03:51Sometimes it's a big leap, other times, a tiny hop.
03:54They help us soak in tons of information fast, and they happen a bunch of times every second.
04:00How big or small the jump is depends on how good we are at reading and how familiar we
04:05are with the topic at hand.
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04:20Our skin is the largest organ we own, and it's perpetually shedding around 30,000 cells
04:26every 60 seconds.
04:28Most of the time we don't even notice, but our faces and bodies are constantly removing
04:32layers.
04:33Yep, a lot of that dust around your house is you.
04:37It's a month-long journey for those fresh skin cells to pop up to the surface, and that
04:41process speeds up or slows down with age.
04:45During our 60s, or even later, it can take up to 8 weeks for cell turnover, and that
04:50buildup of skin makes your complexions look a bit dull.
04:54Thankfully, there are a lot of products we can use these days to help with dry skin,
04:58like moisturizers and serums.
05:02You can't talk without your tongue.
05:04Well, you can, technically, but most people won't understand a word you're saying.
05:09On any day, our tongue teams up with our lips and teeth to turn throat sounds into
05:13words that make sense.
05:15The tongue itself is flexible and speedy, capable of letting out more than 90 words
05:20a minute using a variety of over 20 moves.
05:23While we can vocalize without using the tongue, we need it to pronounce consonants like T,
05:28D, L, and R. Or if you're a pirate, ARRR.
05:33This important organ is the same reason parrots can so easily imitate us, though most of them
05:38have no idea what they're saying.
05:41These birds have a thick tongue, and even though they've got fewer muscle moves, it
05:45helps them mimic human speech quite accurately.
05:48So be careful what you say around them!
05:53Humans also blink 15-20 times each minute.
05:56It might not sound like a lot, but it does mean we're spending about 10% of our awake
06:01time with our eyes shut.
06:03For many years, scientists believed that blinking served a single purpose – to keep our eyes
06:08moist.
06:09That's mostly why we produce tears, by the way.
06:12And with the help of our eyelids, this creates a little cover for the whole eyeball, preventing
06:17it from feeling itchy.
06:18However, blinking does more.
06:21A study from the past decade pointed out that when we blink, our brain hits a mini-reset
06:26button.
06:27It powers down some parts linked to vision and attention.
06:30And since attention messes with how we perceive time, blinks could be like these time-travel
06:36moments for our brains.
06:37Or mini-power naps, if you like.
06:42On average, people have around 35-48 thoughts per minute.
06:47It depends on a variety of things, like what we've been through, how we're feeling,
06:52and even where we are.
06:53When it comes to thought formation, we do know that brain cells can't communicate.
06:58But understanding exactly how our ideas pop up in our minds is still a bit of a mystery.
07:04Our brain features many neurons, these fascinating cells shooting out electrical charges to talk
07:10to each other.
07:11It's these neurons that spill out brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.
07:16Think of it as passing notes that create electric signals.
07:19And as these signals surf through thousands of neurons, like a wave, thoughts pop up in
07:24our heads.
07:28Now each time you munch on a snack, you're fueling up this power plant, which is your
07:33body.
07:34One single calorie from your food is around 4,200 energy units called joules.
07:41If you're eating 2,000 calories a day, you're transforming that into almost 6,000
07:45joules every minute.
07:47And here's how everything happens.
07:49After you eat, the food follows its journey through your mouth, down into your stomach,
07:54and makes its way into small pieces in your bloodstream.
07:58Imagine tiny delivery trucks, carrying oxygen and other useful substances to your cells.
08:03Once inside, these cells have many factories inside called mitochondria.
08:08They're responsible for turning those deliveries into adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.
08:14This is our cells' energy currency.
08:16It's used to make more cells, it helps us move, or even send messages through electrical
08:22impulses to other cells.
08:24Come to think of it, this sure makes me want to be nicer to my body for all it does.
08:29How about you?
08:34That's it for today!
08:36So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
08:40friends.
08:41Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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