Human Face : Few interesting facts

5 September 2013

Post No: 3

The pocket Oxford dictionary defines the human face as “the front part of a person’s head from the forehead to the chin.” Mathematician studies actual dimensions and its relationship whereas artist looks it as a shape, form and proportion. Face is like kaleidoscope, every time it reveals different meaning.

Here are some interesting facts about human face

1. The hardest part of our body - teeth, softest and most flexible part - tongue and lips, the hardest bone in the human body - jawbone, most undulated surface - ears, long hirsute surface - scalp and most reflective parts - eyes, all find place in the face.
2. Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body.
3. You must lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it is apparent to anyone. You lose hundreds of hair a day but you’ll have to lose a lot more before you or anyone else will notice. Half of the hair on your pretty little head will have to disappear before our impending baldness will become obvious to all those around you.
4. Your teeth start growing 6 months before you are born. While few babies are born with teeth in place, the teeth that will eventually push through the gums of young children are formed long before the child even leaves the womb. At 9 to 12 weeks the fetus starts to form the teeth buds that will turn into baby teeth.
5. The tooth is the only part of the human body that can’t repair itself. If you've ever chipped a tooth you know just how sadly true this one is. The outer layer of the tooth is enamel which is not a living tissue. Since it’s not alive, it can’t repair itself, leaving our dentist to do the work instead.
6. The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone. The next time someone suggests you take it on the chin, you might be well advised to take their advice as the jawbone is one of the most durable and hard to break bones in the body.
7. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue. While you may not be able to bench press much with your tongue, it is in fact the strongest muscle in your body in proportion to its size. If you think about it, every time you eat, swallow or talk you use your tongue, ensuring it gets quite a workout throughout the day.
8. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. Unless you’re trying to give your face a bit of a workout, smiling is a much easier option for most of us. Anyone who’s ever scowled, squinted or frowned for a long period of time knows how it tires out the face which doesn't do a thing to improve your mood.
9. Bone is stronger than some steel. This doesn't mean your bones can’t break of course, as they are much less dense than steel. Bone has been found to have a tensile strength of 20,000 psi while steel is much higher at 70,000 psi. Steel is much heavier than bone, however, and pound for pound bone is the stronger material.
10. Humans are the only animals to produce emotional tears. In the animal world, humans are the biggest crybabies, being the only animals who cry because they've had a bad day, lost a loved one,  or just don’t feel good.
11. The indentation in the middle of the area between the nose and the upper lip has a name. It is called the philtrum. Scientists have yet to figure out what purpose this indentation serves, though the ancient Greeks thought it to be one of the most erogenous places on the body.