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18 Science Facts We Didn't Know at The Start of 2017

May. 28th, 2017 at 6:19 AM

18 Science Facts We Didn't Know at The Start of 2017

...I must say, #1 is quite surprising:

1. Lungs don't just facilitate respiration - they also make blood. Mammalian lungs produce more than 10 million platelets (tiny blood cells) per hour, which equates to the majority of platelets circulating the body.

Tags: links, medicine, news, science

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oloriel.livejournal.com

May. 28th, 2017 05:19 pm (UTC)

I have to say I'm rather surprised by 11! Both because I've been reading for several years that the appendix isn't useless at all (so this is hardly something that "we didn't know at the start of 2017"), and because it implies that wisdom teeth are useless. Seriously? Assuming that humans didn't have dental care right from the start, I would've thought thought that these extra molars that come out at a time when several of the other teeth might already be rotting away would have quite an important biological function! Like, grinding food that you might otherwise no longer be able to eat, which does sound kinda useful... no?

med_cat

May. 28th, 2017 07:16 pm (UTC)

You're right re: #11, and in the link, it does say that the study has gone on since 2012, which makes sense--I, too, remember reading about it in the last few years.

As to the wisdom teeth, that is true, but I've had dentists tell me that they are usually not very strong teeth, so maybe that's why?

oloriel.livejournal.com

May. 29th, 2017 07:41 am (UTC)

Perhaps. Though they might be stronger if not relegated to the very end of the jaw? No idea! Of course, there's also that line of arguing that people aren't biologically meant to get much older than 30*, perhaps they wouldn't have to be super-strong teeth but only last for another couple of years... no idea! I am not a dentist. It just struck me as (at the very least) a very simplified statement.

*I know, I know, that's only an average - and with the high infant mortality rate of times past, an "average life expectancy of 30" actually means that there would be plenty of 60-year-olds around, since so many kids died within the first 24 months of their lives - that's the trouble with statistics, eh?

med_cat

May. 30th, 2017 11:47 am (UTC)

Perhaps? I'll have to ask the dentist, next time I see him, and will let you know if he has any further insight/info! :)

I agree with you about the statement being oversimplified, at the very least.

and yes re: life expectancy and statistics.