Fact or Fiction?
Just like last year, we’re providing some April Fool’s Day fun with Bob’s Bones! This issue presents four incredible facts about the human body – plus one thing we made up! So… Which four of these five things are true, and which one is total rubbish?!
The average person takes enough steps in their life to walk around the earth nearly five times: What nonsense! Or is it? You might be surprised to learn that you take between 8,000 and 10,000 steps a day. That’s the equivalent of up to five miles! And, of course, those miles all add up to around 115,000 miles in a lifetime. Now, assuming you walk round the world at its narrowest point – ‘Pole to Pole’ – that would be just under 25,000 miles! So suddenly this looks like it might just be true… Right?!
There are 250,000 miles of blood vessels in an average adult human: 250,000 miles… Sounds perfectly plausible. It’s not like that would get you to the moon or anything. Well – actually, it would! The moon’s about 238,000 miles away so the claim here starts to look a little wobbly… Until you picture all the millions of blood vessels carrying blood round every single part of your body; back and forth, back and forth! In that context, could it be true?!
You produce enough saliva in your lifetime to fill two swimming pools: Anyone who’s ever fallen asleep on public transport knows that the body produces an unholy amount of saliva! So this could easily be true, provided we’re not talking about an Olympic-sized pool… And we’re not. We’re talking about a decent-sized, dive-in-and-swim-a-length-for-your-health-kind-of pool. Could this be the lie? Maybe… Maybe not!
Your ears and nose get bigger in old age: Look at any adult of a certain age and rest assured: their facial protrusions used to be smaller! “How’s that now?” we hear you ask! It’s simple: gravity takes its toll! As we age, the things that make up the cartilage in our body parts – collagen and elastin fibers – start breaking down. Over time, that means gravity causes them to sag and stretch – so technically they’re bigger in old age than in youth! Now… Is that true or are our noses getting bigger, Pinocchio-like, because we’re telling such a big, fat lie?
People with blue eyes have a higher tolerance for alcohol: Two studies – one with prisoners, another with women – both suggest that those with light-coloured eyes are better able to handle drink! Unfortunately science shows us this but, alas, cannot yet explain it… So for now we can only tell you it is a fact but not why! Of course, that’s exactly what we’d say if we were making it up! So… Is it true?!
And there we have it… There you go. Five very plausible biological statements. Four are absolutely true… One is completely false! But which is which? Scroll down past the picture of Bob, below, to find out!
The April Fool here is the length of the blood vessels in your body! There are nowhere near 250,000 miles’ worth in the average adult human! In actual fact, it’s much closer to 100,000: not enough to get even halfway to the moon… And whilst 100,000 miles is still a very impressive amount of blood vessels to cram into ourselves, it nevertheless remains the April Fool!