9. Your Nose Is Making Snot Right Now
In fact, it makes a new batch every 20 minutes. Gross, right? However, its integral to your nose protection (and were not talking hygiene masks here). Mucus, a.k.a snot, is the sticky liquid that coats the skin and hairs in your nose. It has a special bacteria-killing chemical, and it also keeps junk from reaching your lungs. And boogers (you know, those nasty things you used to eat as a kid) are actually dirt. The air is filled with dust, smoke, grit, bacteria, tiny fungi, pollen, soot, little metal pieces, ash, fuzz, sand, and even itty bitty meteorites. One job of the nose is to clean the stuff out. Fact: the nose-cleaning system is so effective that the nasal area is one of the cleanest parts of your body. Oh, and you swallow a quarter of a litre of snot a day on average.