AMAZING THINGS - media.ldscdn.org

Preview:

Citation preview

24 N e w E r a

Mos

t sac

red

of a

ll, ou

r bod

ies

have

the

powe

r to

proc

reat

e—to

crea

te lif

e.

Whe

n yo

u re

ceive

info

rmat

ion

thro

ugh

one

of yo

ur se

nses

, th

e sig

nal t

rave

ls fro

m yo

ur n

erve

s to

your

bra

in a

t ove

r 10

0 m

iles p

er h

our (

160

kph)

.

Whe

n yo

ur b

rain

is a

lerte

d to

dan

ger,

adre

nalin

e is

rele

ased

, whi

ch a

ccel

er-

ates

your

hea

rt ra

te, in

crea

ses b

reat

h-in

g, di

late

s the

pup

ils, a

nd sh

uts d

own

your

dig

estiv

e sy

stem

 to a

llow

othe

r m

uscle

s to

cont

ract

with

incr

edib

le

forc

e.

Your

imm

une

syst

em, u

sing

glan

ds lik

e yo

ur a

deno

ids a

nd o

rgan

s like

your

thym

us

and

sple

en, c

an p

rote

ct yo

u fro

m h

arm

ful

virus

es a

nd b

acte

ria.

The

hum

an h

eart

beat

s mor

e th

an

thre

e bi

llion

times

in

an a

vera

ge lif

espa

n.

That

’s m

ore

than

10

0,00

0 tim

es p

er

day.

Hear

ing

is th

e fa

stes

t hum

an se

nse.

You

r bra

in ca

n re

cogn

ize a

soun

d 10

tim

es fa

ster

than

the

blin

k of a

n ey

e, in

as l

ittle

as 0

.05

seco

nds.

Your

bra

in p

rodu

ces e

noug

h el

ectri

city t

o lig

ht a

smal

l ligh

t bul

b.

For b

lind

peop

le, t

he b

rain

’s vis

ual c

orte

x cha

nges

in

orde

r to

resp

ond

mor

e to

touc

h an

d he

arin

g.

Two

eyes

give

you

bino

cula

r vis

ion,

whi

ch h

elps

with

dep

th

perc

eptio

n. T

est i

t by c

losin

g on

e ey

e an

d try

ing

to to

uch

a sm

all

item

nea

r you

.

The

hum

an e

ye ca

n di

stin

guish

thou

sand

s of d

iffer

ent c

ol-

ors,

and

your

nos

e ca

n re

cogn

ize th

ousa

nds o

f diff

eren

t sc

ents

. Th

e m

ost e

xpen

sive

digi

tal c

amer

a to

day c

an ca

ptur

e 40

0 m

ega-

pixe

ls, b

ut th

e hu

man

eye

can

see 

576

meg

apixe

ls. Bloo

d di

strib

utes

nou

rishm

ent

from

your

dig

estiv

e sy

stem

.

Bloo

d ta

kes t

he b

ody’s

was

te to

th

e kid

neys

and

liver

to b

e so

rted

and

trash

ed.

From

hea

d to

toe,

you

r bod

y is

an

amaz

ing

cre-

atio

n. B

ecau

se o

f it,

you

can

pain

t, go

hik

ing,

pla

y fo

otba

ll,cro

chet

,playth

eflu

te,a

ndd

om

anyot

her

enjo

yabl

e ac

tiviti

es.

As th

e pr

ophe

t exp

lain

s on

pag

e 4,

“You

r bod

y, wha

teve

ritsn

atur

algift

s,is

am

agni

ficen

tcre

ation

ofG

od.. . .P

onde

rthe

mag

nific

ence

ofw

haty

ou

seewhe

nyo

ulook

inth

em

irror

. . .achi

ldo

fGod

,cr

eate

d by

Him

in H

is im

age.

“Our

phy

sical

bo

dy is

 the

inst

rum

ent o

f ou

r spi

rit.”

Pres

iden

t Boy

d K.

Pac

ker (

1924

–201

5),

Pres

iden

toft

heQ

uoru

mo

fthe

Tw

elve

Apo

stle

s, L

et N

ot Y

our H

eart

Be

Trou

bled

(199

1), 2

11.

The

liver

is re

spon

si-bl

e fo

r mor

e th

an 5

00

dist

inct

pro

cess

es. It

is

so im

porta

nt th

at if

a

pers

on h

as tw

o-th

irds o

f hi

s or h

er liv

er re

mov

ed

as a

resu

lt of

trau

ma

or

surg

ery,

it wi

ll gro

w ba

ck

to it

s orig

inal

size

in a

s lit

tle a

s fou

r wee

ks.

Your

skin

can

be g

rafte

d fro

m o

ne p

art o

f yo

ur b

ody t

o gr

ow o

n an

othe

r par

t. It

is th

e hu

man

bod

y’s la

rges

t org

an a

nd is

cons

tant

ly re

newi

ng it

self.

The

skin

secr

etes

ant

ibac

teria

l sub

stan

ces a

nd

serv

es a

s the

firs

t lay

er o

f def

ense

for i

nvad

ing

micr

oorg

anism

s. M

ost b

acte

ria th

at la

nd o

n th

e sk

in d

ie q

uick

ly.

Your

hea

rt pu

mps

5.5

liter

s of b

lood

per

m

inut

e. S

o, d

urin

g an

ave

rage

lifet

ime,

it w

ill pu

mp

near

ly 1.

5 m

illion

bar

rels

of b

lood

—en

ough

to fi

ll 200

trai

n ca

rs.

Brok

en b

ones

can

heal

.

Hum

an b

ones

are

stro

ng. Th

e 26

smal

l bon

es in

your

feet

ca

rry y

our b

ody w

eigh

t with

ev

ery s

tep

you

take

.

Bloo

d su

pplie

s oxy

gen

from

the

lung

s to

othe

r org

ans.

Bloo

d re

mov

es ca

rbon

dio

xide

to th

e lu

ngs t

o be

bre

athe

d ou

t.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY HUGO HERRERA

AMAZ

ING

THIN

GS the

B

ody

Can

Do

AMAZ

ING

THIN

GS