1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (21 page)

130

FACT :
The 250,000 pores that exist on the soles of the feet secrete almost
¼ cup of sweat
every day.
Oh, is that all? No wonder they smell so good.

“Grossology Gross Facts,” Denver Museum of Natural Science,
www.dmns.org
.

131

FACT :
Continuous farting for
six years and nine months
would create energy equal to that of an atomic bomb.
I need to hook my child up with the Defense Department.

Mitchell Symons, That Book: . . . of Perfectly Useless Information (HarperCollins, 2004).

132

FACT :
Your body produces enough saliva during your lifetime to fill
two swimming pools
.
Luckily, most swimming pools are already filled with saliva, so yours isn’t needed.

Mary M. Bauer, The Truth About You: Things You Don’t Know You Know (VanderWyk & Burnham, 2006).

133

FACT :
An “Extreme Gulp” drink sold at 7-11 convenience stores
has twice as much liquid
as the average human stomach can hold.
Which is why no one holds it. And why I sit on the end of the row at the movies.

James Bevan, Handbook of Anatomy and Physiology (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978) 45.

Peter Strupp and Alan Dingman, Fat, Dumb, and Ugly: The Decline of the Average American (Simon & Schuster, 2004).

134

FACT :
The human liver performs no fewer than
500 different functions
. If a portion of it were removed, the liver would continue to work and would rapidly grow back to its normal size.
Well, depending on the size of the portion. Don’t go lopping off huge chunks of your liver to give away, okay?

Mary M. Bauer, The Truth About You: Things You Don’t Know You Know (VanderWyk &Burnham, 2006).

135

FACT :
The average human swallows about a
quart of snot
every day.
What’s really cool is when you can hear people sucking it out of their sinuses and swallowing. I love that sound, especially in restaurants.

“Grossology Gross Facts,” Denver Museum of Natural Science,
www.dmns.org
.

136

FACT :
Seventy percent of people admit to picking their nose; 30 percent of those confess to
eating what they picked
.
100 percent of people admit to puking when they read that.

“Grossology Gross Facts,” Denver Museum of Natural Science,
www.dmns.org
.

137

FACT :
People who live in big cities make
more ear wax
.
Ah, okay. No wonder big city folks never stop when I try to ask them for directions. They can’t hear me. Whew! I was starting to think maybe they were just assholes.

“Grossology Gross Facts,” Denver Museum of Natural Science,
www.dmns.org
.

138

FACT :
Believe it or not,
fresh urine is cleaner
than saliva or your facial skin. Healthy urine is sterile and contains little or no bacteria when it leaves your body.
Being cleaner than spit isn’t really a bragging point.

“Grossology Gross Facts,” Denver Museum of Natural Science,
www.dmns.org
.