Brain Folding 101

 If you're like me, you don't really think about your brain. Well, maybe when you see brain coral or a crazy brain-like cactus, but those are special occasions.

Did you know that just like the rest of your body, the brain starts out all smooth and pretty? Then, as it grows, it folds and refolds to accommodate all the connections and memories and brain stuff that needs to go in there. 

Also, scientists have noticed that the higher the intelligence an organism has, the more its brain is folded. [And before you ask, we don't have the most folded brain. Dolphins have more folds than humans. Of course they do! They get to swim and play all day long. No dolphin cubicles on the horizon.]

Anyway... Check out this super great explanation of brain folding by PhD Comics. My brain just folded a little more taking it all in. Go science!

Cool Science Factoids

1. There are 62,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body (end to end they would circle the earth 2.5 times)

2. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth (>2000 km long) 

3. The risk of a person being struck by a falling meteorite is one chance every 9,300 years

4. A thimbleful of a neutron star would weigh over 100 million tons

5. A typical hurricane produces the energy of 8,000 one megaton bombs

6. Blood sucking hookworms inhabit 700 million people worldwide.  Yuck!

7. The highest speed ever achieved on a bicycle is 166.94 mph, by Fred Rompelberg

8. We can produce laser light a million times brighter than sunshine

9. 65% of those with autism are left handed

10. The combined length of the roots of a Finnish pine tree is over 30 miles

Want more little know science facts to dazzle and annoy your friends? Go to Listverse for the rest of the list.