10 important questions about the human body that we still don't know the answer

Science is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. From year to year, scientists from different corners of the globe make sensational new discoveries, to find the cure for deadly diseases and trying to do everything possible to human life has only gotten better. With their help, the quality of modern life has significantly improved and today we know about our own body is much more than a few decades ago. However, there are a number of seemingly simple questions relating to the human body, that science can not yet give an exact answer.





Why do we need fingerprints?

Despite the fact that the uniqueness of fingerprints of each person and its numerous applications for identification are widely known, science is still not know the answer to the question, why the nature has given each person unique fingerprints. Scientists have developed complex computer models to explain the formation of fingerprints, but still no closer to understanding the evolutionary reasons for the existence of a unique fingerprint each of us.
However, scientists are trying to find the answer to this question. So, it was identified the phenomenon of dermatoglifika – a rare genetic mutation present in only a few families in the world and leads to the absence of the individual fingerprint. In addition, people with this mutation are sweating a bit smaller than the rest, their health won't have anything different from the norm. The researchers hope that the study of these families and their genotype will help in the end to understand the evolutionary cause of fingerprints.

How they work probiotics?

If you ever see an ad for yogurt, you have probably heard the word "probiotics". Many yogurts are marketed as containing probiotic cultures designed to improve the overall health of the person. Advertising built like manufacturers of yogurt have opened and used something entirely new, but in fact, probiotics are a kind of useful intestinal microflora, and they have each person from birth. It is worth noting that the manufacturers did not say what exactly is the use of these crops for human health.

The reason is that people really don't know what exactly is the use of probiotics. Probiotics are used in foods to increase their shelf life, and not necessarily because of their health benefits. It is known that these bacteria do not cause harm, but scientists are still doing their first steps to understanding what exactly is their usefulness. There is an assumption that if we can understand the purpose of all kinds beneficial bacteria living in the human body, it will give answers to many other questions and allow you to heal many diseases. The solution to this problem will not be quick, because there are hundreds of different unknown types of probiotics.

Why are there different blood groups?

You probably are aware of the existence of different groups of human blood, and if you have ever donated blood, you most likely know its. It is important to know your blood group, because once her blood transfusion can save your life.
Blood appeared about 20 million years ago, and humanity has had enough time to study them. Despite the fact that we understand the differences between blood groups, we still do not know the evolutionary reason for their appearance.
Blood groups are classified according to various antigens contained in the blood cells of different groups. These antigens – signals antibodies that destroy foreign cells in the human body. The antibodies did not react to the antigens in my blood, but all the alien they attack, causing the rejection of the transfused blood of the wrong group, or a transplanted organ.
Despite great knowledge of the science of blood groups, we still do not know much. So, there are many more blood groups than the three widely known 0 (first), A (II) and B (the third). And, what is more important, we understand the importance of the antigens. There is a hypothesis that it has something to do with the disease, some interesting facts confirm this. Experts found, for example, that people with third blood group are more susceptible to E. coli, and people with blood groups do not contain the antigen, Duffy (named after the patient in whom it was first discovered) also known as Fy glycoprotein, have almost complete immunity to one form of malaria. The current state of science does not allow to say with certainty, but probably of blood group emerged as an evolutionary mechanism to fight infectious diseases.

If the brain continues to function after the amputation of the head?

Many urban legends, after cutting off the head, she was still for several minutes remains in the mind. In some stories, the head closes his eyes or makes some other movement, showing what else is in consciousness. It rather sounds like a fantastic story or a horror story for young children, but, actually, the truth is that we don't know how long the brain can stay conscious in this situation.

The processes occurring in the moment, it is difficult to investigate because scientists cannot do experiments and to cut off people's heads. During the revolutionary era in France, the guillotine was a major tool executions, so the documents of the era are unique sources of information on this issue. There is only one written source, which refers to the attempt of Dr. Gabriel Bures (Dr. Gabriel Beaurieux) to talk with a man who was beheaded. The person just cut off the head, repeatedly called by name, then several times he opened his eyes and tried to see who it is calling, and in the end he closed his eyes completely. The doctor came to the conclusion that some elementary functions remain active for 30 seconds after cutting off the head, but he couldn't tell whether the person is conscious.

Do people pheromones?

The use of pheromones, especially for procreation, has been studied in animals for a long period of time. For animal studies followed by human studies. The results of these studies, the scientists knocked off. While many studies have shown that odors affect human, mechanism of action of pheromones is more complicated.

Scientists for a long time were convinced that people have no vomeronasal body that has other animals and is intended for the detection of pheromones. In fact, we have such a body, but it is very small and it is not clear if he performs some function. It is scientifically proven that each person has a unique as fingerprints, odor, which depends on its genome. For example, young children can distinguish their mothers by smell, and a group of women can synchronize the menstrual cycle with the help of smell. However, there are still many white spots in the study of the influence of odors on the person.

What happens when you blow a person's zipper?

If you've been outside in a thunderstorm, especially near large metal objects, then you probably thought about the threat of lightning. A lightning strike in a person can lead to brain injury, burns or even death. However, despite the high probability of death, many victims do not just survive, but remain unharmed, that still does not have a full scientific explanation.

In order to understand the nature of these phenomena, the scientists went to South Africa, where thunderstorms occur most frequently and have the greatest effect. They examined the passage of the discharge through the human body lightning and pointed out that this process is characterized by a high capacity occurs over a very small period of time. Still a lot of questions in this area remain unanswered, but there is hope that many lives will be saved already in the near future, when people will better understand the nature of these phenomena.

How can a woman not know she is pregnant?

It seems strange, but there are cases that women are surprised when they start to pup and I assure you that over the past nine months did not notice any change in your body. This phenomenon is very rare, so it is difficult to investigate.
One of the reasons why a woman does not notice that pregnant, is weight. Weight gain due to pregnancy in this case is insignificant compared to previously received and can remain undetected. It may seem that breaking the loop is a clear criterion of pregnancy, but they are in many women, especially those who have excess weight. In such cases, the delay may last for months. There are also cases of bleeding during pregnancy. When such bleeding may be drawn the wrong conclusion about the preservation of normal cycle.
Although some women may have problems with health, the other part is completely healthy and do not notice any symptoms. One of the patients Dr. Sabrina Sukhan belongs to the second category. She had a normal weight and even was a medic, and thus knew all the signs of pregnancy, but also failed to detect her pregnancy until the birth. Doctors are at a loss to explain how this could happen.

How does the mitochondria?

Mitochondria are an integral part of our body. The function of these microscopic organelles is to obtain energy from food. For a long time, we knew almost nothing about mitochondria, but to date, science has made great strides in understanding these important organisms.

Recently, scientists learned how mitochondria transfer energy. They also learned that they consume calcium but its excessive consumption by mitochondria can cause problems. When excess of calcium, the cell can die, and can also develop diseases, such as diabetes mellitus of the 2nd type. Researchers believe that these diseases affect the process of signal transmission, by which the body tells the mitochondria how much calcium to take in or out. A group of scientists from Harvard University recently managed to compile a catalog of mitochondrial proteins, including those involved in the processes of consumption of calcium. Although we still do not have complete knowledge about the mitochondria, we hope that soon all of their mysteries will be revealed.

Why have three ear bones?

Hearing is one of the most studied of the senses that we take for granted. If you do not expose your ears strong deformation, they tend to function very well and normally do not require maintenance. Not all people perceive the ears as a given. For example, a researcher named Sunil Puria of Stanford University noted that reptiles and birds have only two ear bones, while mammals have three, and we have no answer to the question why.
According to Puria, hearing a person's functioning in several ways. The first is the most obvious – we hear the sound passing through our ears. We hear the vibrations of our vocal cords pass through the bones of the skull. When you speak you hear your voice differently than other people. This explains why very few people like to listen to your own voice in the recording.
The puriy believes that the lack of a third ear bones in humans can lead to decreased tissue in the ear canal, with the result that people have started to hear the distracting sounds that they normally do not perceive, for example, the beating of your own heart. Puria suggests that perhaps the third ear bone can minimize these effects, but science has no thorough understanding of the problem, and much remains to be explored.

What types of bacteria live in our tongue?

The human mouth is one of the most studied parts of the body. We know how the teeth, gums, taste buds. At first glance it may seem that the language we almost all know, but in fact it conceals still many mysteries. Many physicians would like to get their hands on all of the bacteria that live on the language in order to examine them to save more lives, but most bacteria found in human language, will not grow in a Petri dish. This represents a significant challenge for their study and classification.
The lack of knowledge about these bacteria is a major stumbling block in the treatment of such diseases of the gums, e.g. periodontitis. Doctors can not develop a simple method of treatment of this disease, because the processes in the mouth are involved many different species of bacteria, but our knowledge about them is limited. Researchers have only recently managed to learn a few fragments of DNA from one bacteria found in the mouth, and they hope that this will help them better understand how to deal with diseases of the oral cavity. However, many of the microorganisms that offends in our mouth, remain unexplored.

Source: 4tololo.ru