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Fun Facts About Hearing
Did you know that your outer ear never stops growing throughout your lifetime.
It can take just one single incident of exposure to loud noise above 85 decibels to damage your hearing.
Your ears can affect your sense of taste. This is because of the nerve and chorda tympani which connects your taste buds to your brain by navigating through the middle ear.
Did you know that you never stop hearing? Even while sleeping your ears actively listening for sounds. Luckily, the human brain learns to ignore the sounds so that you can sleep soundly.
Sound waves travel at 770 miles per hour, or at 1,130 feet per second!
Ears are self-cleaning. This means you don't need to clean out your ears, but excessive ear wax production should be cleaned by a professional.
The hardest bone in the human body is the temporal bone.
Did you know that anthropologists have been using ear wax to study and track the migratory patterns of humans.
The inner ear is very small, measuring to be no larger than the circumference of a pencil eraser
Did you know that parrots were kept on the Eiffel Tower in World War I because of their remarkable sense of hearing?
When the parrots heard enemy aircraft, they warned everyone of the approaching danger long before any human ear would detect it.
Every year you get a "new" ear canal. This is due to the skin in the ear canal which grows roughly 3cm each year, pushing out the old skin and replacing it.
Hearing loss is a threat to everyone. It is important to care for your ears as hearing loss can occur in people under the age of 65.
Ears aren't just for hearing! They also play a key role in balance.
Did you know that your hearing can get damaged if you're exposed to sound over 120 decibels within 7.5 minutes.
Without hairs in your ears, you wouldn't be able to hear! Your ability to hear relies on tiny hairs that are located deep in the ear.
Did you know that the middle ear is connected to the throat by the Eustachian tube? This tube is responsible for maintaining the balance between the atmospheric pressure and body pressure.
The smallest bones in the body are found in the middle ear. These bones are the staples (or stirrup/anvil/ hammer), incus and malleus.
The malleus, incus, and staples , when put together, are no bigger than a 5c coin!
The ear contains more than 20,000 hair cells!
Some people when they have damage to their ears experience a change in taste.
This is because there are nerves, called the Chorda Tympani, which run from the taste buds at the front of the tongue, through the middle ear, and all the way to the brain where they carry taste messages. Sometimes when there is damage to the ear it can affect these nerves and the perception of taste.
Ear wax protects sensitive ears from dust and dirt, acting as the security guards to your ears.
The human ear can pick up sound waves as low as 20 Hz, and as high as 20,000 Hz
Did you know that dogs can hear much higher sound frequencies than humans?
The middle ear is roughly the same size as an M&M.
Not all living creatures hear with ears. Snakes use jawbones, fish respond to pressure changes, and male mosquitoes use antennae.
References: https://star-protocols.cell.com/protocols/1465,
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