Tag Archives: human body facts

Large Enough Quantities of Capsaicin (The Thing That Makes Peppers Hot) Can Turn Your Skin Blue

Large enough quantities of capsaicin may cause your skin to turn blue-ish, severely inhibit your breathing, cause convulsions, and possible eventual death.  However, the relatively small amount of capsaicin in peppers makes it unlikely you’d ever come in contact with enough of this to have this actually happen, unless someone sprayed a significant amount of law enforcement grade pepper spray […]

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You Can Survive Being Exposed to the Near Vacuum of Space for About 90 Seconds With No Longterm Damage

Myth: The instant you’re exposed to the near vacuum of space, you’ll lose consciousness, your blood will start to boil, and you’ll explode. (Other variations on this myth include you freezing near instantly from the extreme “cold” of space.) In fact, so long as you don’t try to hold your breath, which would result in your lungs rupturing and thus […]

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Redheads are Harder to Sedate Than Any Other Group

redhead facts

Redheads are harder to sedate than any other group. Using most common anesthetics, they require on average about 20% more anesthesia.  They also have a higher tolerance for pain than ‘normal’ people. This is because the Melancortin 1 Receptor mutation that gives them red hair also triggers the excess release of Pheomelanin, which among other things stimulates a brain receptor […]

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What Causes Hiccups

Today I found out what causes hiccups. In medical terms, a hiccup can be called a hiccough, a synchronous diaphragmatic flutter, or singlutus. Hiccups are classified into three categories: normal, protracted or persistent, and intractable. Protracted are those hiccups that last over 48 hours, but not more than one month.  Intractable hiccups continue for more than one month. If hiccups […]

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