# Piper Cub has asked me to ask you guys about blood. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566 "2017-12-04T19:28:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566/1 "2017-12-04T19:28:39Z")
So the Cub has picked up that bone marrow produces blood cells. He asked me how the blood cells get from bone marrow into the circulation system. Are there veins that connect bones to the circulation system? I told him I did not know, but would ask my smart internet friends. He thought that was a good idea because [he thinks you guys are geniuses](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=814236)! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566/2 "2017-12-04T19:33:28Z")
Yes. At the microscopic level, bones are riddled with small passages for blood vessels and nerves. [Bone anatomy.](https://askabiologist.asu.edu/bone-anatomy) Types of bone include compact bone, spongy bone, and bone marrow. > [@](#): > > If you were to look at a piece of compact bone without the help of a microscope, it would seem to be completely solid all the way through. If you looked at it through a microscope, however, you would see that it’s actually filled with many very tiny passages, or canals, for nerves and blood vessels. > [@](#): > > Spongy bone is found mostly at the ends of bones and joints. About 20% of the bone in your body is spongy. Unlike compact bone that is mostly solid, spongy bone is full of open sections called pores. If you were to look at it in under a microscope, it would look a lot like your kitchen sponge. Pores are filled with marrow, nerves, and blood vessels that carry cells and nutrients in and out of the bone. > [@](#): > > The inside of your bones are filled with a soft tissue called marrow. There are two types of bone marrow: red and yellow. … Both yellow and red bone marrow have many small and large blood vessels and veins running through them to let nutrients and waste in and out of the bone. We tend to think of bones as inert minerals, but they are living tissues like other parts of the body. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566/3 "2017-12-04T20:25:45Z")
[Blood and nerve supply to bones](http://oerpub.github.io/epubjs-demo-book/content/m46281.xhtml#fig-ch06_03_09) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566/4 "2017-12-04T20:56:02Z")
You can actually show him the nutrient foramina by which blood enters if you get some [chicken bones.](https://pre00.deviantart.net/0538/th/pre/i/2009/109/8/e/chicken_bones_1_by_tpenttil.jpg) The holes you can see on the shafts are the nutrient foramina. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566/5 "2017-12-04T21:02:39Z")
I feel both dumb for never having thought of that question myself (way to go Piper Cub) and smart for hanging around here to learn things (thanks Colibri and Little Nemo). ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566/6 "2017-12-05T22:42:14Z")
I have a vague recollection of something I read once about new blood cell (white?) formation that requires a circuitous route after (bone marrow?) initiation. If IRC, it involves an intermediate resident time in some organ (liver?) before entering the bloodstream (again?) for their final destiny. This ring a bell with anyone? Sorry for all the parenthetics… I’m not a medical professional (and I’m half senile). ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piper-cub-has-asked-me-to-ask-you-guys-about-blood/803566/7 "2017-12-05T22:50:26Z")
Parentheses. (I told ya).