//BIGGIE Always wonderedNEVER ASKED BY CLAIRE DEPREE |
clairedepree@csdecatur.net but
Let’s discover some fun facts about bodily functions. Some of this may seem gross (burp), but others (goosebumps) show how advanced our bodies really are.
EYES When a person walks into a bright area, their pupils
(the black center of the eye) respond by contracting, or getting smaller. Tis limits the amount of light that enters the eye. Dilation has the opposite effect. When a person enters a dark area, their pupils widen, or dilate, to admit more light. “Eyes dilate because little ring muscles in your iris (the colored part of your eye) relax when the autonomic part of your brain tells them to,” Agnes Scott biology professor Lock Rogers said.
HAIR AND NAILS
Te rumor that hair and nails continue to grow after death isn’t true. “Cells must surely be alive for a few more minutes,” Rogers said. “But as fingernails and hair grow so slowly, it’s impossible that they grow in a measurable way.” Tis rumor likely began because a dead body dehydrates at death, and as its skin retracts, hair and nails look like they’ve grown.
HICCUPS Hiccups are simply a spasm in the diaphragm. Spicy
food can set off such a spasm as it passes down the esophagus. But how do you really get rid of hiccups? “Well, what works for me also makes some biologi- cal sense – I drink lots of tiny sips of water as fast as I can,” Rogers said. “Tis fatigues the swallowing muscles, and they run out of energy to contract and my hiccups stop.” On the other hand, nonsensical hiccup cures are
primarily for the enjoyment of the victim’s friends. Holding your breath won’t stop you from hiccuping any more than eating a spoonful of sugar, being scared or standing on your head will. It’s hard to treat hiccups because their cause isn’t completely understood.
BURPING Digestion causes gas in the stomach, and eating
or drinking really fast could pull air down into the stomach as well. “Once there’s some gas down there, it’s got to leave one way or the other,” Rogers said. As food leaves the stomach and enters the intestine, gas produced by digestion or by the bacteria that live in the stomach go out the other way.
32 CARPE DIEM • OCTOBER 2011
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