Top 10 Useless Limbs (& Other Vestigial Organs)

[inphlict]

I dunno why but I found this interesting

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ ... rgans.html

[tnf]

There are also molecular vestiges...we have some remnants of a now defunct vitamin c synthesis pathway in our DNA (hence the reason we need to get it in our diets, while many other mammals don't).

Or God just liked dogs more than humans.

[Guest]

Now why did you have to get all smart on us, tnf?

[tnf]

It's just my liberal slander.

[Guest]

What's slander?

[tnf]

If you are Ann Coulter, anything with a hint of truth is...

[Guest]

What?

[mjrpes]

There are also molecular vestiges...we have some remnants of a now defunct vitamin c synthesis pathway in our DNA (hence the reason we need to get it in our diets, while many other mammals don't).

Whoa, that's neat.

Here's a good joke to go along with a good fact like that:

Three sisters ages 92, 94 and 96 live in a house together.

One night the 96 year old draws a bath. She puts her foot in and pauses. She yells to the other sisters, "Was I getting in or out of the bath?"

The 94 year old yells back, "I don't know. I'll come up and see." She starts up the stairs and pauses. "Was I going up the stairs or down?"

The 92 year old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea listening to her sisters. She shakes her head and says, "I sure hope I never get that forgetful." She knocks on wood for good measure. She then yells, "I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door."

[Pext]

Wisdom Teeth in Humans

They need regular brushing.

really?

[Pext]

Male nipples are vestigial; they may perform a small role in sexual stimulation and a small number of men have been able to lactate. However, they are not fully functional and, because cancer can grow in male or female breast tissue, the tissue can be dangerous.

#1 - lactate?

#2 - only if you are fat

[SplishSplash]

There are also molecular vestiges...we have some remnants of a now defunct vitamin c synthesis pathway in our DNA (hence the reason we need to get it in our diets, while many other mammals don't).

Or God just liked dogs more than humans.

Thank you for answering a question that has puzzled me since I was 10:

Why don't Lions get scurvy?

[Massive Quasars]

There are also molecular vestiges...we have some remnants of a now defunct vitamin c synthesis pathway in our DNA (hence the reason we need to get it in our diets, while many other mammals don't).

Or God just liked dogs more than humans.

Yeah I heard about this, it came up in a discussion about Vit C somewhere else. I've heard that short term megadosing of Vit C helps regenerate gums.

ex. 2-3g/day of vitamin c for 1-2 weeks

[MKJ]

i wrote a book on the appendix once.
i even wrote the appendix but they took that out

[inphlict]

That's really interesting about the vitamin c fact, I also understand that high doses of vitamin c injected and not consumed can give you a really fast boost. Especially if your really sick. I remember what I had chicken pox last year I was reading about some of the ways that people have tried to deal with it while they had it and high doses of vitamin c prevented chicken pox from coming on to the skin for a short ammount of time.

[werldhed]

Heh... the erector pili thing always makes me laugh because of how it backfires so much. Since humans have such little body hair, getting goosebumps when you're cold actually makes you colder by drawing blood away from internal organs to the skin and also by increasing surface area.
Also, its odd that humans, being highly emotional mammals, would react to beautiful/profund moments with goosebumps, esentially engaging a fight/flight response to poetry.