1. The Brain Feels No Pai: There are no pain receptors in the brain. That's why surgeons can perform brain surgery
on a patient why they are still awake. This helps them ensure that the
delicate procedure doesn't screw up any vision or motor control
functions – and also it looks really freaky. Why do we feel pain?
Because a nociceptor, a sensory receptor, sends signals to the spinal
cord and brain alerting us to danger.
2. 100,000 Miles of Blood Vessels in the Brain: There are also a hundred billion neurons that comprise the brain – as
many as in the entire galaxy – all in a squishy mass about the size
of a cantaloupe. Using about 17% of your body's energy and 20% of its
oxygen, while only containing 2% of its mass, the brain produces between
10-23 watts of power when awake -- enough to light a bulb. Made of 75%
water, your noodle has over 100 trillion synapses that connect those
neurons and enough “space” to hold the entire Enclyclopedia Britannica
fivefold, or 1,000 terrabytes of information. And the Cheech and Chong
myth isn't true; you do use your entire brain, even when high.
3. They Saved Einstein's Brain: When Albert Einstein died in 1955, they didn't just save a lock of his
crazy white hair, they carved out his whole melon. Dr. Thomas Harvey
performed the brainectomy a mere seven-and-a-half hours after Einstein's
death, purportedly for scientific research. Then it vanished. It wasn't
until 1978 that an intrepid journalist named Steven Levy tracked down
Dr. Harvey in Wichita, Kansas, where the good doctor admitted he still had the brain, sliced in 240 pieces and bobbing in two mason jars filled with formaldehyde.
4. There Are Differences Between the Right and Left Brain: The brain is split up into two symmetrical hemispheres. While they do
work together, the left brain favors more rational, analytical thinking,
while the right is more visually and conceptually oriented. They also
work in opposites – you stub your left toe and the “pain” is processed
on the right side. And they put right-side-up whatever is upside-down –
the image in your eyes is actually received inverted and the brain
corrects it. But here's the REALLY weird thing – even if you were to
lose one-half of your brain, you would be able to survive without it.
Well, maybe that's not so weird – look at all those stupid politicians.
5. Sorry Ladies, Men's Brains are 10% Bigger:
So there you go – concrete proof that men are smarter than women. But
before you go patting yourselves on the back, dudes, note that although
women's brains are smaller, they have more nerve cells and connectors
and work more efficiently than men's. And, true to the stereotype, they
tend to process on the more “emotional” right side of the brain, while
men process on the “logical” left. Also, an area known as the straight
gyrus, responsible for nurturing, feminine traits, is proportionately
larger in women.
6. Your Brain is More Active When You Sleep: Night-time is the right time for your brain to process all the activity
that has occurred during the day – that's why scientists think we dream
(no one is really sure why). Some believe it's a way to process the
complex emotions and interactions of our daily lives, others think it's
just a way to zero-out information, much like a computer. A recent study
showed it may help us alleviate trauma. People with higher IQs tend to
dream more, and a nap during the day has proven to make people more
energized and focused on their work.
7. "Inception" is Real:
It turns out, there is something called Lucid Dreaming,
where a person could control the outcome of a dream while in a
sleep-like state. It has its roots in ancient Tibetian Buddhism, where
aspirants would practice “Dream Yoga” – doing incredible feats of
dexterity during sleep, reminding themselves of the illusory nature of
existence. The term was first coined by Frederik (Willem) van Eeden in
the 1880s, but the concept didn't take hold until the late 1960s.
Nowadays, Lucid Dreaming is all the rage, with plenty of resources
online to begin the training process. It has a lot of potential – not
only allowing you to conquer your nightmares but also finally have sex
with the Girl Next Door.
8. Why Do We Laugh? WE DON'T KNOW!: True laughter is involuntary – that's why the milk comes gushing out your nose. Only human beings
are born with this ability (a Laughing Hyena is not really laughing)
and babies begin giggling at 4 months old. And while true laughter is
contagious, it is also something not easily faked. But WHY do we laugh –
it's not because of jokes. Over a 10-year period, one doctor studied
2,000 laugh-inducing situations and discovered that most of the time a
guffaw was not the result of a punch line. Maybe someday we will
understand why we are ticklish, too.
9. Does Size Matter?: Research has been mixed on the subject of brain size and intelligence –
Albert Einstein's brain was only 1,230 grams, while the average adult
male brain weighs 1,400. (An unusually large amount of glial cells are
attributed to his smarts.) Another study shows that the bigger the
person's head, the smarter they are, while those with pointier heads
show less intelligence.
10. Highest IQ? Kim Ung-yong with 210:
Born March 8, 1972, Ung-young already understood algebra at 8 months
old. By the time he was 2, he was fluent in 4 languages. He began
attending university at 4, and graduated at 15. But Ung-young isn't just
a smarty-pants, he is also a gifted painter and poet. Nowadays he lives
in S. Korea and presumably has time to do all the things he never had a chance to do… like have a childhood.
1. The Brain Feels No Pai: There are no pain receptors in the brain. That's why surgeons can perform brain surgery
on a patient why they are still awake. This helps them ensure that the
delicate procedure doesn't screw up any vision or motor control
functions – and also it looks really freaky. Why do we feel pain?
Because a nociceptor, a sensory receptor, sends signals to the spinal
cord and brain alerting us to danger.
2. 100,000 Miles of Blood Vessels in the Brain: There are also a hundred billion neurons that comprise the brain – as
many as in the entire galaxy – all in a squishy mass about the size
of a cantaloupe. Using about 17% of your body's energy and 20% of its
oxygen, while only containing 2% of its mass, the brain produces between
10-23 watts of power when awake -- enough to light a bulb. Made of 75%
water, your noodle has over 100 trillion synapses that connect those
neurons and enough “space” to hold the entire Enclyclopedia Britannica
fivefold, or 1,000 terrabytes of information. And the Cheech and Chong
myth isn't true; you do use your entire brain, even when high.
3. They Saved Einstein's Brain: When Albert Einstein died in 1955, they didn't just save a lock of his
crazy white hair, they carved out his whole melon. Dr. Thomas Harvey
performed the brainectomy a mere seven-and-a-half hours after Einstein's
death, purportedly for scientific research. Then it vanished. It wasn't
until 1978 that an intrepid journalist named Steven Levy tracked down
Dr. Harvey in Wichita, Kansas, where the good doctor admitted he still had the brain, sliced in 240 pieces and bobbing in two mason jars filled with formaldehyde.
4. There Are Differences Between the Right and Left Brain: The brain is split up into two symmetrical hemispheres. While they do
work together, the left brain favors more rational, analytical thinking,
while the right is more visually and conceptually oriented. They also
work in opposites – you stub your left toe and the “pain” is processed
on the right side. And they put right-side-up whatever is upside-down –
the image in your eyes is actually received inverted and the brain
corrects it. But here's the REALLY weird thing – even if you were to
lose one-half of your brain, you would be able to survive without it.
Well, maybe that's not so weird – look at all those stupid politicians.
5. Sorry Ladies, Men's Brains are 10% Bigger:
So there you go – concrete proof that men are smarter than women. But
before you go patting yourselves on the back, dudes, note that although
women's brains are smaller, they have more nerve cells and connectors
and work more efficiently than men's. And, true to the stereotype, they
tend to process on the more “emotional” right side of the brain, while
men process on the “logical” left. Also, an area known as the straight
gyrus, responsible for nurturing, feminine traits, is proportionately
larger in women.
6. Your Brain is More Active When You Sleep: Night-time is the right time for your brain to process all the activity
that has occurred during the day – that's why scientists think we dream
(no one is really sure why). Some believe it's a way to process the
complex emotions and interactions of our daily lives, others think it's
just a way to zero-out information, much like a computer. A recent study
showed it may help us alleviate trauma. People with higher IQs tend to
dream more, and a nap during the day has proven to make people more
energized and focused on their work.
7. "Inception" is Real:
It turns out, there is something called Lucid Dreaming,
where a person could control the outcome of a dream while in a
sleep-like state. It has its roots in ancient Tibetian Buddhism, where
aspirants would practice “Dream Yoga” – doing incredible feats of
dexterity during sleep, reminding themselves of the illusory nature of
existence. The term was first coined by Frederik (Willem) van Eeden in
the 1880s, but the concept didn't take hold until the late 1960s.
Nowadays, Lucid Dreaming is all the rage, with plenty of resources
online to begin the training process. It has a lot of potential – not
only allowing you to conquer your nightmares but also finally have sex
with the Girl Next Door.
8. Why Do We Laugh? WE DON'T KNOW!: True laughter is involuntary – that's why the milk comes gushing out your nose. Only human beings
are born with this ability (a Laughing Hyena is not really laughing)
and babies begin giggling at 4 months old. And while true laughter is
contagious, it is also something not easily faked. But WHY do we laugh –
it's not because of jokes. Over a 10-year period, one doctor studied
2,000 laugh-inducing situations and discovered that most of the time a
guffaw was not the result of a punch line. Maybe someday we will
understand why we are ticklish, too.
9. Does Size Matter?: Research has been mixed on the subject of brain size and intelligence –
Albert Einstein's brain was only 1,230 grams, while the average adult
male brain weighs 1,400. (An unusually large amount of glial cells are
attributed to his smarts.) Another study shows that the bigger the
person's head, the smarter they are, while those with pointier heads
show less intelligence.
10. Highest IQ? Kim Ung-yong with 210:
Born March 8, 1972, Ung-young already understood algebra at 8 months
old. By the time he was 2, he was fluent in 4 languages. He began
attending university at 4, and graduated at 15. But Ung-young isn't just
a smarty-pants, he is also a gifted painter and poet. Nowadays he lives
in S. Korea and presumably has time to do all the things he never had a chance to do… like have a childhood.
3. They Saved Einstein's Brain: When Albert Einstein died in 1955, they didn't just save a lock of his
crazy white hair, they carved out his whole melon. Dr. Thomas Harvey
performed the brainectomy a mere seven-and-a-half hours after Einstein's
death, purportedly for scientific research. Then it vanished. It wasn't
until 1978 that an intrepid journalist named Steven Levy tracked down
Dr. Harvey in Wichita, Kansas, where the good doctor admitted he still had the brain, sliced in 240 pieces and bobbing in two mason jars filled with formaldehyde.
4. There Are Differences Between the Right and Left Brain: The brain is split up into two symmetrical hemispheres. While they do
work together, the left brain favors more rational, analytical thinking,
while the right is more visually and conceptually oriented. They also
work in opposites – you stub your left toe and the “pain” is processed
on the right side. And they put right-side-up whatever is upside-down –
the image in your eyes is actually received inverted and the brain
corrects it. But here's the REALLY weird thing – even if you were to
lose one-half of your brain, you would be able to survive without it.
Well, maybe that's not so weird – look at all those stupid politicians.
5. Sorry Ladies, Men's Brains are 10% Bigger:
So there you go – concrete proof that men are smarter than women. But
before you go patting yourselves on the back, dudes, note that although
women's brains are smaller, they have more nerve cells and connectors
and work more efficiently than men's. And, true to the stereotype, they
tend to process on the more “emotional” right side of the brain, while
men process on the “logical” left. Also, an area known as the straight
gyrus, responsible for nurturing, feminine traits, is proportionately
larger in women.
6. Your Brain is More Active When You Sleep: Night-time is the right time for your brain to process all the activity
that has occurred during the day – that's why scientists think we dream
(no one is really sure why). Some believe it's a way to process the
complex emotions and interactions of our daily lives, others think it's
just a way to zero-out information, much like a computer. A recent study
showed it may help us alleviate trauma. People with higher IQs tend to
dream more, and a nap during the day has proven to make people more
energized and focused on their work.
7. "Inception" is Real:
It turns out, there is something called Lucid Dreaming,
where a person could control the outcome of a dream while in a
sleep-like state. It has its roots in ancient Tibetian Buddhism, where
aspirants would practice “Dream Yoga” – doing incredible feats of
dexterity during sleep, reminding themselves of the illusory nature of
existence. The term was first coined by Frederik (Willem) van Eeden in
the 1880s, but the concept didn't take hold until the late 1960s.
Nowadays, Lucid Dreaming is all the rage, with plenty of resources
online to begin the training process. It has a lot of potential – not
only allowing you to conquer your nightmares but also finally have sex
with the Girl Next Door.
8. Why Do We Laugh? WE DON'T KNOW!: True laughter is involuntary – that's why the milk comes gushing out your nose. Only human beings
are born with this ability (a Laughing Hyena is not really laughing)
and babies begin giggling at 4 months old. And while true laughter is
contagious, it is also something not easily faked. But WHY do we laugh –
it's not because of jokes. Over a 10-year period, one doctor studied
2,000 laugh-inducing situations and discovered that most of the time a
guffaw was not the result of a punch line. Maybe someday we will
understand why we are ticklish, too.
9. Does Size Matter?: Research has been mixed on the subject of brain size and intelligence –
Albert Einstein's brain was only 1,230 grams, while the average adult
male brain weighs 1,400. (An unusually large amount of glial cells are
attributed to his smarts.) Another study shows that the bigger the
person's head, the smarter they are, while those with pointier heads
show less intelligence.
10. Highest IQ? Kim Ung-yong with 210:
Born March 8, 1972, Ung-young already understood algebra at 8 months
old. By the time he was 2, he was fluent in 4 languages. He began
attending university at 4, and graduated at 15. But Ung-young isn't just
a smarty-pants, he is also a gifted painter and poet. Nowadays he lives
in S. Korea and presumably has time to do all the things he never had a chance to do… like have a childhood.
4. There Are Differences Between the Right and Left Brain: The brain is split up into two symmetrical hemispheres. While they do
work together, the left brain favors more rational, analytical thinking,
while the right is more visually and conceptually oriented. They also
work in opposites – you stub your left toe and the “pain” is processed
on the right side. And they put right-side-up whatever is upside-down –
the image in your eyes is actually received inverted and the brain
corrects it. But here's the REALLY weird thing – even if you were to
lose one-half of your brain, you would be able to survive without it.
Well, maybe that's not so weird – look at all those stupid politicians.
5. Sorry Ladies, Men's Brains are 10% Bigger:
So there you go – concrete proof that men are smarter than women. But before you go patting yourselves on the back, dudes, note that although women's brains are smaller, they have more nerve cells and connectors and work more efficiently than men's. And, true to the stereotype, they tend to process on the more “emotional” right side of the brain, while men process on the “logical” left. Also, an area known as the straight gyrus, responsible for nurturing, feminine traits, is proportionately larger in women.
So there you go – concrete proof that men are smarter than women. But before you go patting yourselves on the back, dudes, note that although women's brains are smaller, they have more nerve cells and connectors and work more efficiently than men's. And, true to the stereotype, they tend to process on the more “emotional” right side of the brain, while men process on the “logical” left. Also, an area known as the straight gyrus, responsible for nurturing, feminine traits, is proportionately larger in women.
6. Your Brain is More Active When You Sleep: Night-time is the right time for your brain to process all the activity
that has occurred during the day – that's why scientists think we dream
(no one is really sure why). Some believe it's a way to process the
complex emotions and interactions of our daily lives, others think it's
just a way to zero-out information, much like a computer. A recent study
showed it may help us alleviate trauma. People with higher IQs tend to
dream more, and a nap during the day has proven to make people more
energized and focused on their work.
7. "Inception" is Real:
It turns out, there is something called Lucid Dreaming, where a person could control the outcome of a dream while in a sleep-like state. It has its roots in ancient Tibetian Buddhism, where aspirants would practice “Dream Yoga” – doing incredible feats of dexterity during sleep, reminding themselves of the illusory nature of existence. The term was first coined by Frederik (Willem) van Eeden in the 1880s, but the concept didn't take hold until the late 1960s. Nowadays, Lucid Dreaming is all the rage, with plenty of resources online to begin the training process. It has a lot of potential – not only allowing you to conquer your nightmares but also finally have sex with the Girl Next Door.
It turns out, there is something called Lucid Dreaming, where a person could control the outcome of a dream while in a sleep-like state. It has its roots in ancient Tibetian Buddhism, where aspirants would practice “Dream Yoga” – doing incredible feats of dexterity during sleep, reminding themselves of the illusory nature of existence. The term was first coined by Frederik (Willem) van Eeden in the 1880s, but the concept didn't take hold until the late 1960s. Nowadays, Lucid Dreaming is all the rage, with plenty of resources online to begin the training process. It has a lot of potential – not only allowing you to conquer your nightmares but also finally have sex with the Girl Next Door.
8. Why Do We Laugh? WE DON'T KNOW!: True laughter is involuntary – that's why the milk comes gushing out your nose. Only human beings
are born with this ability (a Laughing Hyena is not really laughing)
and babies begin giggling at 4 months old. And while true laughter is
contagious, it is also something not easily faked. But WHY do we laugh –
it's not because of jokes. Over a 10-year period, one doctor studied
2,000 laugh-inducing situations and discovered that most of the time a
guffaw was not the result of a punch line. Maybe someday we will
understand why we are ticklish, too.
9. Does Size Matter?: Research has been mixed on the subject of brain size and intelligence –
Albert Einstein's brain was only 1,230 grams, while the average adult
male brain weighs 1,400. (An unusually large amount of glial cells are
attributed to his smarts.) Another study shows that the bigger the
person's head, the smarter they are, while those with pointier heads
show less intelligence.
10. Highest IQ? Kim Ung-yong with 210:
Born March 8, 1972, Ung-young already understood algebra at 8 months
old. By the time he was 2, he was fluent in 4 languages. He began
attending university at 4, and graduated at 15. But Ung-young isn't just
a smarty-pants, he is also a gifted painter and poet. Nowadays he lives
in S. Korea and presumably has time to do all the things he never had a chance to do… like have a childhood.
10. Highest IQ? Kim Ung-yong with 210:
Born March 8, 1972, Ung-young already understood algebra at 8 months
old. By the time he was 2, he was fluent in 4 languages. He began
attending university at 4, and graduated at 15. But Ung-young isn't just
a smarty-pants, he is also a gifted painter and poet. Nowadays he lives
in S. Korea and presumably has time to do all the things he never had a chance to do… like have a childhood.
10. Highest IQ? Kim Ung-yong with 210:
Born March 8, 1972, Ung-young already understood algebra at 8 months old. By the time he was 2, he was fluent in 4 languages. He began attending university at 4, and graduated at 15. But Ung-young isn't just a smarty-pants, he is also a gifted painter and poet. Nowadays he lives in S. Korea and presumably has time to do all the things he never had a chance to do… like have a childhood.
Born March 8, 1972, Ung-young already understood algebra at 8 months old. By the time he was 2, he was fluent in 4 languages. He began attending university at 4, and graduated at 15. But Ung-young isn't just a smarty-pants, he is also a gifted painter and poet. Nowadays he lives in S. Korea and presumably has time to do all the things he never had a chance to do… like have a childhood.