What fascinates you?

I'm amazed by the human body and could probably make lists and lists of the things that amaze me about it. I'll narrow it to the top three though:

1. Conception actually being possible

The players involved in this process are TINY. After every hormone comes together and perfectly synchronizes, these itty bitty half cells are actually capable of not only finding each other, but knowing exactly what to do. Sperm! It's amazing! (Forgive me if my enthusiasm is coming across inappropriately!)

2. The ability of a breast to actually produce food

No, really, boobs. They certainly don't look like things with tangible superpowers, and yet, food! Such a complex ability!

3. The heart - it's just amazing in his complex it is and I'm blown away by it

First you have mechanical stuff. Then you also have chemical stuff. Electricity, too?! And if you look at the electricity, you can see if something is wrong. (Well, usually.) Some people aren't cardiology people, and I can see why. It goes beyond thinking 3-dimensionally. I'm a firm believer in evolution and it gets me so dorkishly giddy to imagine all that had to happen to create something as beautiful as the heart. Sure it has its weaknesses, but it's amazing!

So what about the body amazes you? (Feel free to be silly if fits the question. )
Conception, and how often everything goes RIGHT, blows my mind. I think that's part of why I want to pursue that area of nursing. The fact that two cells can come together, and everything just knows how to become the right parts to make a whole human being from just that, just, wow.Neurons are pretty amazing, too. I know logically how it all works, with electrical impulses and blah blah blah, but to be able to coordinate movements and have reasonably complex and abstract thinking is pretty incredible!

Quote from RunBabyRNConception, and how often everything goes RIGHT, blows my mind. I think that's part of why I want to pursue that area of nursing. The fact that two cells can come together, and everything just knows how to become the right parts to make a whole human being from just that, just, wow.Neurons are pretty amazing, too. I know logically how it all works, with electrical impulses and blah blah blah, but to be able to coordinate movements and have reasonably complex and abstract thinking is pretty incredible!

I am absolutely fascinated by the brain and the heart. It is amazing to me that when I was in nursing school we were taught that infants born with a septal defect never get beyond childhood. Yet, when I was doing cardiac testing in the late 90's we saw septal defects with ECHO Doppler studies on adults---like in their 30's!! And did you know that the heart also can re-model itself just like the brain can develop new pathways around a stroke area, the heart can re=model. I think that is just amazing!!! The human body is a miraculous thing!!!

Quote from firstinfamilyI am absolutely fascinated by the brain and the heart. It is amazing to me that when I was in nursing school we were taught that infants born with a septal defect never get beyond childhood. Yet, when I was doing cardiac testing in the late 90's we saw septal defects with ECHO Doppler studies on adults---like in their 30's!! And did you know that the heart also can re-model itself just like the brain can develop new pathways around a stroke area, the heart can re=model. I think that is just amazing!!! The human body is a miraculous thing!!!

Shiny objects. And the brain. But mostly shiny objects.

What fascinates me? The ability of the human liver to regenerate captivates me. I learned this tidbit a few years before I entered nursing school. My mother had end-stage liver disease and needed a liver transplantation to survive. That's when I learned that a person could donate a portion of his or her liver to someone in need.

Positive/negative feedback mechanisms. I remember in nursing school being utterly amazed that we are even alive! So many things can go wrong. However, the positive/negative feedback "machine" is constantly tweaking this and that at the molecular level to ensure life continues. Truly mind blowing stuff to me.

The heart for all of the reasons already stated. Something that can work without the brain??? Awesome. Something with multiple back-ups (pacemakers)??? Awesome.And how babies are made (no, not THAT)....I mean actually in the womb. How a lump of cells can differentiate and make eyes, ears, heart tissue, lung tissue, kidneys, bones....and it winds up in the right spot in the body. Seems like we should all just be random blobs of all of this tissue but somehow it all gets put together right.

The brain. 'Nuff said. The eye, so small yet with all its complexities to capture images, allow for the correct amount of light to enter, its ability to detect color and black/white... My dad is an amazing photographer, and once I was complaining to him about no matter how many different settings I try on my camera, I couldn't get this one shot of my kids to look true-to-life. In all his non-medical wisdom, he said "No matter how good the camera is or how good a photographer you are, the camera just doesn't have the perception abilities that the human eye has."And then the cranial nerves, with which the pupils can't react, the eyes can't move; and the brain without which the "pictures" can't be interpreted.The clotting process.Actually, the interconnectedness of the entire body blows my mind, how perfectly designed to work together. We have so many complex parts from organ systems down to individual cells, and if any part in the chain doesn't work, the systems don't work and in most cases the body can't live. For example... well again, the clotting process.Blood, vessels, heart, intrinsic conduction/pacemakers, baroreceptors to control BP, lungs for gas exchange.The breast, the hormones involved in lactation, the milk itself perfectly designed for the human infant, the baby's suckling instinct and ability to know exactly what to do with this appendage on his mother's body.

What amazes me about the human body is how much it can endure. I remember watching my first TKA surgery in nursing school. I was fascinated that the human body can endure all of that "hammering" and what not. The OR nurses were all saying to me "isn't the human body amazing!?" It really is.

I am fascinated by how well and quickly the body can heal itself. As in burns, I did my preceptorship many moons ago on a burn unit...I was utterly fascinated shift by shift at the stages/degrees of healing of human skin. (This probably contributed to me going into ER after passing NCLEX... blood, brains, bones, burns, breathing...It all amazes me!)

Ah, this post makes me feel at home. I'm only pre nursing taking A&P one and every class I'm like, woooooow that's how that works. We just started the male reproductive system and sperm and semen really are amazing. I am also amazed by the itty-bitty nephrons and all the work that goes on in them and how they are essential in maintaining balance in so many aspects. I constantly get looks of omg you are a nerd from my husband because I am thoroughly enjoying and amazed by this class and the body.