A micrograph cross-section of some of the papillae on the surface of the tongue

Tastebuds are a combination of cells—basal cells, columnar (structural) cells, and between 10 and 50 taste receptor cells, which are renewed every 9-10 days. Some of these receptor cells contain proteins on their surfaces that bind to some of the chemicals from our food, while others have ion channels that are activated by different chemicals. Once the receptor has detected a particular chemical, this information is conveyed along a series of neural pathways to the brain, where taste is perceived.

The number of tastebuds people have can vary greatly. The average adult has between 2000 and 8000 tastebuds—some people have fewer, larger tastebuds while others have many more smaller tastebuds.

Despite what we may have learned in school, it’s not actually true there are certain areas of the tongue responsible for particular taste sensations. However, there are different types of taste receptors that are each activated by a different suite of chemicals to elicit the various taste sensations we perceive.

Your body is entirely your own - WRONG!

Here’s a creepy thought. About half the cells in your body are not human. The rogue agents are bacteria, fungi and archaea. Your body is teeming with these tiny intruders. Anywhere between 500 and 1,000 species have made a home within your folds, ducts, flaps and chambers, and they’re each present in their billions.

Even your human cells are not entirely your own. Many mothers retain cells from their babies in a process known as microchimerism. These cells function and divide alongside the mother’s native cells, yet remain genetically distinct.

Such remnants can be passed on to further babies, and even linger into the next generation. Cells from your grandmother might loiter in your abdomen; a tincture of your uncle may sequester in your spleen.

There are so many trees covering our planet that scientists had to figure out a new method to quantify them, and they’ve actually calculated that there are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way.

Scientists have determined that the number of stars in the Milky Way ranges from 100 billion to upwards of 400 billion, but there is an estimated amount of 3 trillion trees on Earth. That’s a lot of trees! Even with all those trees currently on Earth, it is still very important that we continue protecting our forests and planting more trees!

https://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/stories/nature-fun-facts

1. Average temperature of human body is not 98.6°F (It can be more or less as well as depends on environment/person/age/gender etc.)
2. One teaspoon of honey is equivalent to the entire life’s hard work of 12 bees!
3. We really don't know the real speed at which our Universe is expanding (it can be faster than the speed of light! Contradictory to what Einstein said!)
4. Egyptian Pharaoh Pepi II had an extreme dislike of flies and devised an ingenious method to keep them at bay. He would instruct his servants to cover themselves in honey, effectively luring the flies away from his presence. This unusual practice allowed the pharaoh to maintain a fly-free environment, demonstrating his attention to detail and concern for his own comfort.
5. Only female mosquitoes bite and that too because they need nutrients to nourish there eggs and to lay them!

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/well/live/fever-normal-body-temperature.html
2. https://www.beverlybees.com/honey-bee-facts/
3. A - https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/does-universe-expand-faster-than-light B- https://phys.org/news/2019-09-fast-universe-mystery.html
4. https://www.ancient-origins.net/weird-facts/pepi-ii-slaves-0016752
5. https://www.dupageforest.org/blog/mosquito-facts