9 Interesting Quirks About the Human Body (4 of 5)

6. Papillae on your tongue warn you about potential harm

See those little bumps all across your tongue that sort of look mushroom-shaped? Those are called papillae, and on average we have around 300 of them. Each of them contains around 3 to 5 taste buds. But their function isn’t exclusively to tell you if something tastes good or not, they also alert you when there are changes in temperature and can even help you avoid pain. For instance, they can even detect smoke, sort of like, well, your own internal smoke detector but without the annoying high-pitched chirping sound.

7. Your brain still isn’t fully developed in early adulthood

A newborn baby’s brain is around 25% of the size that it will eventually grow to once it reaches adulthood. The growth is significant at first: by the time the baby is one, their brain will have doubled in size, will have reached 80% of its adult size by 3, and 90% by 5. But it still takes a subsequent 20 years before it is fully developed.