Name: Why your belly button is amazing | BBC Ideas
Uploaded: 2020-06-22T02:38:52.000Z
Duration: 4 min 22 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

It's likely to be the first scar you ever get.

transferring oxygen and nutrients to you in the womb.

And although you probably don't pay it much attention

in fact it's just about impossible to be born without one.

Omphalophobics beware, we're talking about belly buttons.

Available in two varieties, innie or outie,

I said nearly, I'm looking at you duck-billed platypus -

we'd need a whole other video for what you've got going on.

other mammals tend to just gnaw their umbilical cords off

and therefore they have flatter scars that are more difficult to see.

Now even if we humans didn't snip our umbilical cord

it would just go a bit dried and horrible

and fall off after three to 10 days anyway.

Some celebrities have even kept the withered remains

and used it to make art  - which is, you know, very normal and fine.

is one of the first things about you that develops in the womb,

way before the brain or the lungs or anything, really.

It's the very foundation of what you are.

It connects directly to your umbilical cord

which is made up of a vein and two arteries.

The umbilical cord keeps us alive in the womb -

a squishy motorway carrying oxygen and nutrients

and transporting waste products back the other way.

That cord is the most indispensable but disposable organ

It's a key part of what makes us mammals too.

The connection with our mothers before we're born

Your mother's belly button probably changed as you grew inside her too.

Many expectant mums go from having an innie to an outie

in the second or third trimester of pregnancy.

When their expanding uterus puts enough pressure on the abdominal wall

Once you've made your grand entrance into the world

it may seem like your belly button has served its purpose

especially if you ever need abdominal keyhole surgery.

The belly button is the ideal entry point,

The navel has fascinated various cultures throughout history,

from Greek myths suggesting our scars are a reminder from the gods

"Can't go to war sorry, my belly button says so."

To Japan, where children are warned that during a storm

the demonic, three-fingered god of lightning, Raijin,

in the seconds after a lightning flash. Scary.

Although we all have them, subject to Raijin's mercy,

belly buttons were taboo until fairly recently.

Not so long ago, they were deemed too hot for TV in the US

and were banned from appearing on screen in 1934.

By the 50s, female stars were skirting the line

by covering their navels with jewellery so they could belly dance

who was the first to slip by the American censors.

going boldly where no TV show had gone before in 1967.

While some others claim it was Cher herself

but to clear that one up, we might have to 'Turn Back Time'.

The next logical step for belly button enthusiasts is of course...

Turns out that the unique bacteria nestled in some navels

leading to what might be the weirdest brie you're likely to never sample.

Right, OK, that's enough about belly button cheese.

Whether you end up with an innie or an outie

has nothing to do with how the umbilical cord is cut.

dig out that crop top from the back of the wardrobe

Now let's face it, they're not much to look at

but they've fascinated us since we first gazed upon our own navel

confronted with the knowledge that we once had

a literal, physical connection with another person.

So take a minute to ponder the humble belly button.

And get that bit of fluff out of there while you're at it.