Body Marvels

Your body is an extraordinary organism, an electrical, chemical, and mechanical marvel. Its trillions of individual cells array themselves in complex combinations to produce the physical wonder that is at once uniquely you and at the same time like every other human being. Bodies have more exciting bits and carry out more strenuous tasks than you’ve probably ever imagined. For instance, although you’ve not likely counted them, five million hairs sprout from the 36 to 60 square feet (3.3 to 5.6 m²) of durable, waterproof covering you know as skin. Beneath this living overcoat are three types of muscles, your “movers and shakers,” more than 600 in all, which connect to, and are supported by, the 206 bones forming your skeleton. This lightweight framework is not only flexible, but also incredibly strong. Your thigh bones, for example, are pound for pound stronger than reinforced concrete.

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