Have you ever thought about the limits of the human body? I know that I have. I used to watch athletics on the T.V. all the time as a young boy, my favourite event to watch was always the 100 metre sprint. I used to watch Linford Christie storm down the home straight and think to myself “That man can outrun a bus easily”, maybe this was me being naive, but if a young lad cannot be naive then who can? Another sport that I watched religiously was boxing, at that time Mike Tyson was the king of the ring, his special weapon being a deadly “good night” right, not that I’m saying his left was any weaker!
If you are anything like me then you will enjoy the following scientifically tested limits of the human body. The BBC magazine Focus carried out scientific testing and mathematical calculations using Olympic Committee rules, no drugs, gene therapy or bionic implants, to find the answers to questions that have bugged humans since the dawn of civilization. I discovered the article in a newspaper and have decided to blog it simply because the limits are fascinating as I’m sure you will agree.
Q How much blood can you lose and still survive?
A up to half. You will feel dizzy from 15 per cent loss. At 40 per cent blood pressure drops fatally.
Q How hard can a human punch before the arm bones would shatter?
A Theoretically 50 kilonewtons of force - equivalent to 5,000 kilos or 2,000 five pound bags of potatoes dropping to the ground. The arm muscles contribute half of the force of the punch so you would need a tricep of around 22ins circumference to do it.
Q How much electricity can pass through the body without killing you?
A Most humans cannot survive an electric shock of 20,000 volts on dry skin - on wet skin, a tenth of this would kill you.
Q How hard can you get struck by a car and live?
A when a car hits at 23mph there is an 87 per cent chance of survival. At 30mph that falls to 27 per cent. At speeds above 38mph it’s less than one per cent.
Q How much alcohol will kill you?
A Nine or 10 drinks an hour are enough - a blood alcohol level of 0.4 per cent.
Q How many bee stings can you survive?
A The greatest number of bee stings ever survived was 2,243. But suffer 600 stings and there’s a 50 per cent chance that it will be fatal.
Q What is the hottest curry you can stomach?
A The active ingredient in chillis is capsaicin. While capsaicin does not actually cause a chemical burn, the effect on the nervous system is similar to an allergic reaction, causing incredible pain, body spasms and severe breathing difficulties. More than 100 bowls of vindaloo and you risk a heart attack.
Q What is the lowest body temperature you can survive?
A Hypothermia sets in if body temperature, normally 37C, drops by even a small amount. At 32C most will collapse. At 20C the heart stops beating.
Q How loud is too loud?
A The loudest sound you can safely hear is 160 decibels before the eardrums rupture. A jet taking off 50 metres away is 125.
Q How fast can a human being run?
A Running faster than 26.9mph requires forces high enough to rupture the quadriceps tendon, which attaches the thigh muscle to the knee. 100m record holder Asafa Powell runs at 22.9 mph.
Note - no humans were harmed in the finding of these limits.
What are your thoughts on these limits? 2,243 bee stings has to hurt, not as much as 20,000 Volts though. The human body never ceases to amaze me.
One Comment
Great read! Those are pretty interesting stats on the human body.