Some scientific facts about what we don’t see – the micro world.
1 minute – Approximately 70 nerve cells die in the human brain. A newborn’s brain cortex consists of 14 billion cells, and no more are added afterward. One consolation: the level of IQ depends not on the number of neurons but on the number of connections between them.
Over 6 quintillion (a number with 18 zeros) electrons pass through any point of an electric current in 1 second with a current strength of 1 ampere. And no one sees it!
75 kilometers of nerves are hidden in the adult human body. Consider this when you’re about to reel them in for someone: the process might take a while.
Leukocytes live in the human body for 2-4 days. Red blood cells have it better; they wear out in 3-4 months despite their hard work: each red blood cell circulates the entire human body in 20 seconds in the systemic circulation and in 4-5 seconds in the pulmonary circulation.
Earth carries 5 nonillion (5 × 10^30) bacteria, weighing approximately 350–550 billion tons, according to scientists. By the way, “bacteria” and “bacillus” mean the same thing; the former is borrowed from the Greek language, while the latter is from Latin.
1676: The year when the Dutchman Antonie van Leeuwenhoek first observed bacteria under a microscope. He called them “animalcules.”
3000:1 – The magnification provided by the best optical telescope, allowing the observation of particles measuring 0.1–0.2 micrometers. Electron microscopes magnify objects by 750,000 times.
10 trillion bacteria inhabit the human gastrointestinal tract. They synthesize essential amino acids and vitamins, break down starch and proteins, and regulate the immune system. Overall, they do a lot of work, which is why there are 10 times more bacteria than cells in our bodies.
140 km/h – The speed at which the rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, travels. However, it only travels up to 4 meters. Nevertheless, it’s better to sneeze into a tissue because there are over a hundred known rhinoviruses according to science.
0.001 mm – The diameter of a platinum drop, from which the world’s smallest snowman is made, sculpted from tin micro-particles by David Cox, a researcher at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory. The snowman’s eyes and mouth are etched by an ion laser, and the width of its base sphere is 0.01 mm, several times thinner than a human hair.
