The skin is the largest organ in our body. It provides protection and thermoregulation. With the help of receptors in it, we are able to feel the world. We have been “dressed” in leather all our lives, but we don’t know many interesting things about it.
Largest organ
The skin is the largest organ in the human body. Its average surface area is 1.5 to 2 square meters. In different parts of the body, the skin has different thickness and sensitivity. The thickest skin on the feet and palms, the thinnest on the eyelids. At the same time, the sensitivity of the skin is not directly dependent on the thickness. So, on the fingers and palms the skin, although it is quite thick, can feel pressure from 20 milligrams, which corresponds to the average weight of a fly.
Skin that renews itself
The human skin is constantly renewed. This process is called regeneration. It happens like this: new skin cells are formed in the germ layer of the epidermis, for about 28-30 days they move to the surface and lose the cell nucleus. On the surface, with the help of the keratin contained in them, they form a stratum corneum of the skin, which gradually peels off when washed or in contact with clothes. Thus, the skin that we consider ours is constantly renewed. After a month, the composition of the human skin completely changes. In newborns, the regeneration process, like many other processes (for example, metabolism), proceeds faster. "Skin change" in babies takes three days - 72 hours.
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Goose pimples
When we are cold, scared, or when we listen to good music, so-called goose bumps can appear on our bodies. This is a rudimentary reaction of the organism, inherited by us as a "bonus" from our distant ancestors. Once she helped them warm up and made them more convincing in the eyes of the enemy. When necessary, tiny muscles throughout the body tense up and "raise the hair on end." With thick fur, this gives the hide good thermal insulation. For a modern person, this skill is useless.
The story of the "golden boy"
Many people know the story of the "golden boy". In 1496, a festival was held in the castle of the Duke of Milan, Lodovic Moreau, at which, as a symbol of the coming Golden Age, the naked son of a baker, painted with gold paint, appeared before the audience. Everything would be fine, but the performance had to be stopped due to the illness of the Duke's wife. The boy was simply forgotten. He sat in the castle all night. In the morning he was found by Leonardo da Vinci, but the baker's son could not be cured, on the fourth day he died.
This story is sometimes told with the following conclusion: the boy died from the fact that his skin could not "breathe", so he died. However, today it is already known that "skin breathing" is not dominant in oxygen saturation of the body, and the boy died due to impaired thermoregulation of the body, due to hypothermia, since the paint expanded the capillaries and they could not keep warm.
Conclusion: do not get too carried away with body painting.
Wrinkled fingers
Anyone who has ever taken a bath or just been in the water for a long time has noticed how wrinkled the skin on the fingers and toes. This phenomenon is directly related to the water permeability of our skin, which is provided by its outer layer. Its cells are in contact with each other and have a layer of fat on the outer surface. If we are in water for a long time, then the extracellular layer of fat becomes thinner, water gains access to skin cells and swells. This process does not represent anything critical for health.
Dust and albinos
It is a well-known fact that 2/3 of the dust in the premises consists of dead skin cells. Our body is losing up to 30,000 dead skin cells every minute. For life, each person loses at least one hundred kilograms of "old skin". Millions of tons of dead corneous cells in our epidermis are released into the atmosphere.
It is also interesting that white skin in humans appeared not so long ago, about 20-50 thousand years ago. This was due to the loss of part of the melanin pigment by people who migrated to the North. But until now, the percentage of people with white skin devoid of melanin (albinism) is extremely low. Only one in 110,000 people is albino.