Where does this come from, and can I check it?

A jelly-like nucleus pulposus sits inside rings of tough fibrous cartilage. The figure is taken from American Association of Neurological Surgeons, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a human body fact?

Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Each spinal disc has a soft gel centre

A jelly-like nucleus pulposus sits inside rings of tough fibrous cartilage The disc's inner core holds water-binding molecules that keep it plump and springy. Around it, the annulus fibrosus wraps in crossing layers of collagen like a tyre. Discs separate the vertebrae, allow bending and absorb shock, and together account for roughly a quarter of spinal length. It sits in Mondo's human body collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

American Association of Neurological Surgeons

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Science trivia

More facts like this

Joints glide on a film of slippery fluidSynovial fluid contains lubricin and hyaluronic acid that reduce friction Cartilage has no blood vessels or nervesNutrients reach cartilage only by diffusion, which slows its repair Humans are slightly taller in the morning than at nightGravitational compression squeezes fluid from spinal discs during daytime The spine starts with thirty-three separate bonesNine of them fuse during growth to form the sacrum and the coccyx Astronauts grow up to five centimetres taller while living in spaceMicrogravity allows spinal discs to expand without gravitational weight A baby's skull has soft gaps between the platesSix membranous fontanelles let the skull deform during birth and grow afterwards

Tags: spine, discs, cartilage

Each spinal disc has a soft gel centre: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: A jelly-like nucleus pulposus sits inside rings of tough fibrous cartilage. The figure is taken from American Association of Neurological Surgeons, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a human body fact?: Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.