Done and Done

Friday was my last day in the anatomy lab and this morning was our final anatomy exam. Trying to learn anatomy in 8 weeks was difficult, trying to remember any of it is going to be even tougher. I'm frustrated at the material I've already forgotten from the last test (only two weeks ago). However, the older students claim that we will see the material several more times in the next couple years, and the important stuff will start to stick. For now, let me share with you some interesting facts I've picked up in the last couple of months...

• When we're developing in the womb, our legs initially grow in "backwards", with the soles of the feet facing forward. Throughout development, they slowly rotate into what we know as the normal position.
• The prefix "sartor-" means "pertaining to a tailor". There is a muscle called the "sartorius" that flexes the knee and the hip, laterally rotates the thigh, and abducts the thigh. All these actions together place the outside of one ankle on the opposite knee, which was the common position for tailors back in the olden days. My dad sits this way, and now that I'm becoming my father, I do, too.
  
• Tears from your eye travel out a duct that ends in your nose. This is why you get sniffles when you cry. (To be fair, I knew this before anatomy but only because my father in law explained it to me while I was observing a surgery).
  
• Scalp wounds bleed a lot (as my mom can tell you from a number of my adventures). This is partially because there are a lot of arteries in a small area, but also because they are surrounded by a tight connective tissue that holds the vessels open when they're broken, especially in children.
  
• People who study dinosaur vocalizations believe that dinosaurs honked (as opposed to growling, etc.) For some reason I learned this during anatomy.
• Screws go in clockwise because most people are right-handed and the bicep allows for powerful clockwise rotation of the right forearm. Unfortunately, you don't get this boost from the bicep when you're unscrewing something. And this action only works when the elbow is bent, which is why it's so difficult to set a screw with your arm straight.
  

That should be enough to make you the life of any party.