Do you know... Why heartbeats make a noise... Which is the most difficult food to digest... Why pinpricks on the fingertips are more painful than on the buttocks... The secrets and mysteries of the human body never cease to fascinate. Here below, we unravel a few...
Can a small child recognize its mother by smell?
Since human babies are born in hospitals and clinics, it has been possible to make some very interesting observations on their reactions. For many years it was thought that these crying, wriggling, red-faced parcels needed only milk, warmth and cleanliness and, as a very minor consideration, an infrequent tickle under the chin from the mother. This was measured by the strict discipline of these institutions. Now, experiments based on commonsense are under way, in order to overturn the rigidity of the established rules.
It is now known that a new-born child recognizes his mother's milk. If he is offered several teats impregnated with milk from various mothers, he will grope with his little mouth towards the one which has his mother's smell and taste.
A baby also reacts to his mother's voice. Whilst he is growing inside the womb, he hears her voice. But it sounds deeper in his warm, cosy world. After birth, he recognizes these sounds among all the others which now reach his tiny ear. For him they represent well-known, friendly signals in a strange world.
As for the mother's smell, children are aware of it for a very long time after birth. Up to the age of two years, they can recognize their mother's sweater from among others, practically every time. There are obviously odours which are so slight that adults appear not to notice them, but babies and children do.
We know that in herds consisting of hundreds of animals, mothers and young recognize each other. Why has it taken so long for humans to find out whether there are links between human mothers and babies based on taste, sound or smell - and whether this could be important for the balanced development of children? Maybe previously there were more urgent problems. Now, however, the field of research and observation is expanding, and, more importantly, experts in all areas are pooling their knowledge and working together.
Why does a child have to learn to walk on two feet?
It still seems curious that if a child is reared away from his natural surroundings, that is, far away from the company of people, he does not walk on two feet, but on all four like the animals around him. However, it is also true that the new-born child has a natural instinct for walking on two feet. Immediately after birth, doctors check a certain number of reflexes (involuntary actions), including the reflex for walking. When the baby is held so that his feet are on a firm surface, he straightens his legs as if to stand and lifts one leg as if to take a step. This is known as the 'step reflex'.
These reflexes disappear shortly after birth as the nervous system matures and learned movements become possible.
Why do heartbeats make noise?
It is impossible to put your ear to your chest to listen to your own heart beating. And not everybody has a stethoscope to listen to his neighbour's. However, films and documentaries have let you hear the very characteristic rhythmic beat, which modern composers have sometimes imitated in their music. It is the heart valves that produce the familiar double heart-beat sound, known to doctors as 'lub' and 'dup'. The first sound which lasts for approximately one-tenth of a second, is dull and muffled; the second, which follows fairly closely, is shorter and sharper. These two sounds are followed by a relative silence (approximately half a second for a person at rest). Sometimes a third sound is heard, one-tenth of a second after the second sound.
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