Your body may be a temple, but it's a very, very weird temple.
It's also pretty gross. Here are some of the most fascinating facts about the human body (some of which might seriously skeeve you out).
1. When you blush, your stomach also blushes.
Specifically, the inside of your stomach. This fact is equal parts strange and adorable. Fair warning: The rest of these aren't so adorable.2. You have mites living in your eyelashes.
You probably do, anyway. These tiny parasites (called Demodex) embed their heads into your hair follicles. They eat skin cells and oils your body produces.3. Splashing cold water on your face basically turns you into a diving superhero.
It's called the Mammalian Diving Reflex, and it's actually super cool. Basically, when you splash cold water on your face, your heart rate slows considerably. That means you use up less oxygen and can remain underwater for longer. Pretty cool, right?4. That stuff running out of your nose might not be snot...
...There's a chance it could be cerebral fluid. (But don't panic. Most of the time it's just snot.) There have been a few cases of people who thought they had a runny nose but were actually losing cerebral fluid through their nose. This is due to a condition known as CSF Rhinorrhea (and no, it has nothing to do with rhinoceroses or diarrhea). OK, let's move from the nose to your fingers. How many muscles do you think are in your fingers? You're most likely incorrect...5. There are no muscles in your fingers.
Weird, right? You can obviously move them, but there aren't muscles within the fingers themselves. Instead, the muscles that allow you to move your fingers are located in your palm and forearm.6. The bones in your forearm cross when you twist your wrist.
via: Twitter
There are two bones in your forearm (the ulna and the radius) that run parallel to one another. But rotating your arm causes the bones to cross one another. You might not think this is crazy, but go ahead and twist your arm a couple times and this will probably freak you out a bit.7. If you flick your nipple, it will become hard in roughly seven seconds.
Yes, this is really true. Probably not something to try at work, though.8. When a patient receives a kidney transplant, doctors leave the old kidney in place.
via: Getty
The new kidney is placed in the lower front part of the abdomen, in the pelvis. You already knew that each person has unique fingerprints, but that's not the only unique print on the human body!9. You have a unique tongue print.
This could open up so many possibilities for Touch ID on your phone! On second thought, that's probably a terrible idea.10. You shed a lot of skin cells.
How many is a lot, you ask? Well, every hour, you slough off between 30,000 and 40,000 cells. That adds up to more than eight pounds of dead skin cells every year. But don't worry. All the dust mites living in your house eat them.11. You glow in the dark.
Scientists have found that human bodies emit visible light! But don't start planning a rave just yet. Unfortunately, the light is 1,000 times less intense than what our naked eye can perceive. Still, pretty cool, right?12. You churn out between 1 and 2 liters of saliva every day.
(Probably more if you're constantly thinking about bacon or sour candies.) You could fill an entire bathtub with the amount of saliva you produce each year.13. A sunburn is the result of your cells committing suicide.
Contrary to popular belief, a sunburn isn't the direct result of your cells being damaged by the sun. Instead, your skin cells' DNA was damaged by the sun.14. If a pregnant mother suffers organ damage, the fetus sends stem cells out to repair it.
via: Getty
Of course, that same fetus sometimes tends to make life pretty unpleasant for the expectant mother...and just wait until they're actually born! Still, this is a lovely fact, no?15. Some people develop teratomas, which are tumors...but they're not just any ol' tumor.
via: Wikipedia
Teratomas can be found anywhere in the body, although they are most often found in the ovaries, testicles, or tailbone. What's extra creepy about teratomas is what can sometimes be found inside them.