Sixth Senses You Always Had But Never Noticed

If you have ever seen the 1999 mystery-thriller movie starring Bruce Willis, you would know how terrifyingly creepy it is to have a sixth sense. In this case, that is the ability to see ghosts.

However, actually, there is more to the so-called sixth sense that many people do not know about, and it is not always eerie. More so, they do not exist in just a few people, but in most of us. They are more like superpowers that we knew nothing about because we never paid enough attention.

In this video, you will find out that we are all super humans. Moreover, our senses can be used in more ways than we ever knew.

So sit back and relax as we help you discover some of the sixth senses you have always had but never noticed.

#5 — Our Skin Can Smell… And Heal Itself

From a very young age, we have been told that humans can smell through the nose. However, what most of us do not know is that the same olfactory receptors that allow our nose to smell is also present in other parts of our body, such as the liver, gut, heart, and yes, the skin.

In an experiment conducted by the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, they tested how the main skin cell type called keratinocytes would react to scents. They cloned this receptor and exposed it to various odors of Sandalwood, an ancient East Asian perfume and healing agent often used in aromatherapy.

Here, they found that instead of sending a message to the brain, like what usually happens with the nose, some of the scents prompted the keratinocytes to divide and migrate, as if they are healing themselves. One scent, in particular, the Sandalore, showed the most ability to heal. Researchers say that exposure to Sandalore radically increased the migration and proliferation of cells by 30%.

However, they also discovered that olfactory skin receptors are not as receptive as those from the nose. For the healing process to work, one would need to have the concentration of these scents to be a thousand times higher than the normal level.

Sadly, that would be too dangerous for our noses. Moreover, scientists have yet to find a workaround on the smelling and healing processes of our skin.

#4 — Know If Water is Hot or Cold by Listening to it

You probably never noticed this because you were paying attention to something else - perhaps the smoke that comes out of the cup as you fill it up with hot water, or the breezy feel as you pour cold water in a glass - but actually, you can know whether water is hot or cold even when your back is turned, just by listening to it.

In an experiment done by British Science presenter Steve Mould, he proved that there is a difference in the sound that cold and hot water make, and we are capable of identifying it.

Mould says heat energizes the molecules and changes the viscosity of liquids, causing a high-frequency sound when being poured. While the cold water's molecules, which are less energized, tend to stick together, causing a low pitched sound.

It all boils down to the difference in viscosity or the water's thickness. Moreover, subtle as they may be, our awesome brains have come to learn to distinguish these sounds after hearing them so often.

#3 — Humans Can Hear Better Underwater than Fish

On a daily basis, we are capable of hearing frequencies of only up to 20 kilohertz. Pitiful really, when compared to other mammals. Even dogs can hear up to 40 kilohertz, and bats at a whopping 110 kilohertz.

But worry not, we are not as pathetic underwater. U.S. Navy Researchers found that divers' hearing capability enhances once they take the plunge. Why? No, it is not because they are demigod children of Poseidon. But because they start hearing through their bones.

Most of the time, we humans hear through air conduction. In this process, sound waves travel through air, enter our ear canals, and go through our eardrums, which then causes vibration.

Next to the eardrum are three small, connected bones. One of which is the stapes, which, upon vibration, rocks back and forth, pushing the fluid-filled cochlea. It is hair-like structures then translate the pressure waves into nerve signals, which are sent to the brain and are interpreted as sounds.

But when underwater, the sound waves take a shortcut in a process called bone conduction.

According to the study, since there is no air to be disturbed, the sound skips most of the process and goes straight to the mastoid, or the bone behind our ear; enabling us to hear up to 200 kilohertz, 10 times more than we would on land.

Doubtful? Test this out on your next trip to the beach, and marvel at our body's super hearing powers.

#2 — You Can See Your Hands in the Dark

Have you ever been in a pitch-black room with nothing but your hands to guide you in the dark? Ever wondered why you could not see anything but your hands?

If not yet, would you mind trying that out now?

Go to a dark room, close your eyes, and wave your hands before them. Do you see anything? A shadow perhaps? Yes?

It is not ultra vision, but it is an amazing ability of our nervous systems.

A study conducted by a group of scientists from the Universities of Rochester and Vanderbilt shows that humans can see a shadow of their hands even when their eyes are covered, or it is too dark to see anything else.

They say this is caused by our nervous system's ability to establish connections.

You will not remember this from your childhood, but an observant parent would notice that their child would have a phase wherein they would continually move their hands in front of their face, wondering how this amazing structure came to be.

They would stop only once they get used to the hand's movement and realize that it is actually a part of their body. Through the years, the child will learn that he could use this hand to do various tasks, strengthening the visual imagery of the many hand processes.

So, for most individuals, the connection between the hand's movement and its image becomes so strong that they could see its visual image even with occluded eyes.  

Note though that this phenomenon happens only with your own hands. Try going back to that dark room and ask someone else to wave their hands in front of you.

Can you still see them? No? Obviously, your nervous system does not have an established connection with other people's hands. If you could still see a visual image of their hands, then congratulations, that would indeed be ultra vision.

#1 — You Can Still “See” After You Go Blind

Yes, you heard that right, a study shows that a blind person’s eyes could still see. In the research, a blind man was tasked to navigate a complex maze of boxes and chairs, and guess what? He was able to get out of it without crashing into any of the obstructions - an ability that scientists call blindsight.

Scientists say that in many cases, the eyes are not the main reason a person goes blind, but the brain – just like this man, who was blinded after a massive stroke damaged his visual cortex, the brain’s primary vision-processing center.

They explain that normally, the information passes through the retina into the visual cortex, which then relays the message to the brain. In the man’s case, his retina was working perfectly fine. But the visual cortex, which was supposed to process the information, was not.

With the main pathway to the brain blocked, the information would have passed through alternate routes to reach its destination, which then results to blindsight.

Interestingly, another study suggests that blind people can still see emotions, leading researchers to believe that it is empathy, not visual mimicry, that allows people to mirror the emotions of others.

You must have heard of emotional contagion or the phenomenon that triggers us to involuntarily imitate the emotions and behaviors that we see in other people. Best example? Yawning.

But a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that this could still happen even if the person cannot see.

In the experiment, blind people were shown images of faces showing various emotions like sad, happy, and angry.

Just like the man with blindsight, these people had fully functioning eyes, but damaged visual cortex. And amazingly, the participants were able to show blind empathy, appropriately responding to the emotions shown in the photos with similar body expressions.

This experiment further proved that even after going blind, a person could retain a sort of sixth sense of sight, which allows them to process colors, shapes, and expressions without consciously seeing them.

Indeed, our bodies are blessed with more senses than we know of, allowing us to adapt to different environments. And sometimes, helping us adjust when one of our five senses could not serve its purpose anymore.

Of course, these are only five of the many mysteries of our bodies. Even scientists agree that people have many superhuman strengths, if only we could unlock them.

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Sources:

Selman, XJ (Nov. 3, 2015). 6 Creepy Sixth Senses You have Always HAd and Never Noticed. Retrieved from http://www.cracked.com/article_23078_6-sixth-senses-you-never-knew-your-body-has.html

Devnath, Vinay (Dec. 29, 20015). 9 Sixth Sense Abilities You Have Always Had but Never Noticed Them. Retrieved from http://www.storypick.com/humans-sixth-sense-abilities/

Pettit, Harry (March 10, 2017). Can You Identify if Water is Hot or Cold by the Way it Sounds? Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4297086/Hot-cold-water-make-different-noises.html

Martinez-Conde, Susana (Nov. 4, 2013). Why You Can See in the Dark: It is Just a Bunch of Hand-Waving. Retrieved from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/why-you-can-see-in-the-dark-ite28099s-just-a-bunch-of-hand-waving/

Than, Ker (May 18, 2011). Superhuman Hearing Possible, Experiments Suggest. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/05/110516-people-hearing-aids-ears-science/

Roehr, Bob (July 8, 2014). Skin's Ability to "Smell" Seems to Help it Heal Itself. Retrieved from https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25865-skins-ability-to-smell-seems-to-help-it-heal-itself/

Nuwer, Rachel (July 11, 2014). Human Skin Can Detect Odors, Some of Which May Help Trigger Healing. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/human-skin-can-detect-odors-some-which-help-trigger-healing-180952006/

Balantyne, Coco (Dec. 24, 2008). Blind Man “Sees,” Cruising Through Obstacle Course Without a Hitch. Retrieved from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/blind-man-sees-cruising-through-obs-2008-12-24/

Stors, Carina (Oct. 14, 2009). Sight Unseen: People Blinded by Brain Damage Can Respond to Emotive Expressions. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/emotional-contagion-blindsight-mimcry-imitation-visual-cortex/

10 Nightmarish Diseases in History We Have Forgotten

Throughout human history, we have battled over a myriad of diseases that has threatened to wipe us off the face of the planet more than once.

In the days before modern science and medicine, diseases have been treated haphazardly that usually end up with disastrous results such as death or a pandemic.

Thankfully, as our understanding of the human body and medicine grew so too did our understanding of diseases that we were able to eliminate them to the point that many of history’s deadliest pandemics are now just a footnote in everyone’s memories.

However, that does not discount the fact that many of these historical pathogens are extinct. Many of them are lying dormant, patiently waiting for the right conditions to resurface. It also does not help that there is still a vast majority of regions around the world that does not have access to proper healthcare and medical assistance due to a variety of reasons that include poverty and conflict.

In this list, we are revisiting the 10 historical diseases that were the stuff of nightmares. Diseases that we have forgotten but may potentially return with a score to settle with humanity.

#10 — Smallpox

Making a debut to the world stage in the 16th Century, smallpox was an international epidemic that almost had the same scale as the Black Plague that preceded it.

A product of the variola virus, smallpox claimed the lives of more than 90 million Native Americans when the Europeans came to the shores of the Americas. It spread like wildfire in Europe, killing at least 400,000 people by the end of the 18th Century. Though a vaccine was finally formulated in 1796, the disease still spread and was only eliminated in the early years between the 19th and 20th Centuries.

However, while it may seem that smallpox is finally extinct, there have been recorded cases as recent as the 1960s when an outbreak swept the world, killing millions. The disease can easily be spotted by hallmark symptoms of body aches, high fever, and fluid-filled bumps that appear on the skin.

#9 — Polio

It was the disease that crippled Franklin D Roosevelt and placed him in a wheelchair throughout the Second World War until his death in 1945.

Polio was a disease that persists today in many countries, but it hit fever pitch in 1952 when it infected and paralyzed more than 57,000 people in the United States alone though the disease may have existed a thousand years beforehand.

Characterized by paralysis and the crippling of the lower extremities, polio is a disease targeting the human nervous system, and infection is by way of consuming contaminated food and water. Though a vaccine was developed in the 1950s, there is no cure for it. However, since polio only affects human beings, widespread vaccinations since the 50s has almost driven the disease to the point of extinction despite the fact that poverty-stricken countries are still plagued by it.

#8 — Cholera

Cholera was a disease that hovered over India for hundreds of years until it was introduced to the entire world in the 19th Century by way of European ships traveling to the country and back home. Mainly, infection is passed in through contaminated water and food. It exhibits flu-like symptoms that are accompanied by diarrhea and vomiting. Ultimately, a cholera patient dies due to severe dehydration.

Though diligent steps have been taken over the centuries to stop the disease from spreading, many countries still suffer from it to this day with the last recorded outbreak happening in Haiti after a deadly earthquake struck in 2010.

It has yet to be eliminated, and many health experts caution people on consuming food and water from unfamiliar places.

#7 — Leprosy

One of the oldest diseases, it has been referenced multiple times in history and the Bible as a punishment from the heavens.

This was a disease that attacks the skin and eats its way into a patient’s nerve cells. Caused by bacteria similar to that of tuberculosis, it is a disease that persists to this day across the globe. The United States, for one, has not been able to completely eradicate leprosy and many people struck by it usually get infected through armadillos – animals known to be infected with the disease – whether through eating it or keeping them on a farm where they are in constant contact.

The problem with eliminating the disease is that people most often get treatment during its later stages when it is much more difficult to manage. Though treatments are widely available, chances are, the extinction of leprosy is still too far off.

#6 — Typhus or Camp Fever

Practically non-existent today, Typhus or Camp Fever became an epidemic in the 17th Century and took the lives of 10 million soldiers during Europe’s Thirty Years War. Not only did it infect and kill many soldiers, but Typhus also spread in cramp and poverty-stricken areas in the continent.

The infection is caused by microbes and bacteria carried by lice thus making camps and overcrowded housings ground zero for the disease. Symptoms may be similar to the flu with fever and nausea at the top of the list. However, if left untreated, the disease can cause heat exhaustion in patients and, ultimately, complications that trigger organ failure.

The disease died out later on but saw a resurgence during the First World War causing millions of deaths in countries like Romania, Poland, and Russia.

#5 — Chlorosis

In the 18th Century, physicians and doctors were notorious for not being able to properly identify a disease which led to mistreatment and even the death of patients.

Such is the case with a bizarre disease called “chlorosis,” a sickness that targets women and affects their menstrual cycles, leaving them looking haggard and exhausted. Since doctors have little experience in treating women at that time, the 18th Century Medical Community was left baffled and at a loss for words.

Chlorosis persisted for two centuries until it died out. What is interesting to note about the disease, however, was that it was only an affliction that women in high society seemed to contract; no record of blue-collar women could be found infected with the mysterious illness.

Apart from exhaustion, patients would also fall into melancholy and their periods would completely stop. On top of that, the disease was easily detectable because it turned women, literally, a shade of green.

#4 — Spanish Flu

Also known as the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918, the Spanish Flu was short-lived, but in the year that it spread, it was able to claim the lives of about 100 million people worldwide.

This strain of the flu virus was brought home by troops at the end of the First World War, and it quickly became a global epidemic.

With symptoms similar to the common flu, it was the build-up of excessive amounts of fluid in the lungs that brought people to their deaths due to untreated complications.

#3 — Phossy Jaw

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century brought marvels to the civilized world as well as a collection of strange diseases.

One of them was a condition called Phossy Jaw; a condition that is caused by a specific line of profession.

Sufferers of the disease are mainly workers who spend long hours in a matchstick factory. Back then, matches were dipped in white phosphorus which allowed them to burn longer than their modern-day counterparts. The problem with white phosphorus is that it produces extremely toxic fumes.

Workers exposed to the chemical complained about chronic toothaches that eventually became infected and develop abscess.

In non-terminal cases, patients would just simply have the infected jaw amputated and allow the area to heal naturally. Unfortunately for people in the 19th Century, they would continue to work in the factories and repeatedly acquire the disease that potentially killed many of them in the end.
The condition was first identified in 1858, but despite this, the use of white phosphorus was not banned until 1906, about 50 years after hundreds of people have lost parts of their faces or their lives to the effects of the toxic chemical.

#2 — The Black Plague

Call it what you want: the Bubonic Plague, Black Death, or Black Plague. It is one of the most devastating epidemics the world has ever seen and has earned its chapter in many history books.

Known as the first true pandemic on earth, the Black Plague cleaned out half of the world’s population across Europe and Asia in the 14th Century.

While many point to the poor living conditions and rising pest population in Europe as the main cause of the disease, the strain of the plague is still being researched by experts today. However, thanks to developments and strides in modern medicine, what happened in the 14th Century is unlikely to happen again since treatments are readily available.

#1 — Plague of Athens

If we are to be worried about the next deadly pandemic, chances are it is going to be the Zika virus. However, the virus only equates to the common cold compared to the mysterious plague that decimated Athens, Greece during the early centuries of its civilization.

The unknown pestilence hit Athens in the early years of the first Olympic Games and reduced a great number of its population into a messy puddle of sweat, poop, and blood. A historian called Thucydides courageously described the victims of the plague as they suffered from inflammation in the eyes, convulsions, diarrhea, and the vomiting of blood. It was a terrible scene to behold and to imagine. The plague was so terrible that, during the Spartans’ siege of Athens, their armies turned and fled at the sight of the diseased citizens.

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Sources:
http://www.cracked.com/article_24245_exploding-teeth-6-scary-diseases-that-were-lost-to-history.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/story?id=8321392&page=1
http://www.healthcarebusinesstech.com/the-10-deadliest-epidemics-in-history/