"Humans contain an estimated 14,000 square meters of inner mitochondrial membrane, which is the approximate equivalent of three football fields in the United States." -"Biochemistry" (Berg, Tymoczko, Stryer).
There are a lot of other staggering biological statistics rising from really folded up systems, like the astronomical length of the DNA in a single body if it's all stretched out. The demand for surface area has caused the evolution of these systems of really, really folded stuff.
My somewhat related point is that people should then find manifold dimensions a little less staggering. A lot of people can't really imagine string theory (including me I suppose) because the idea of manifold dimensions is so alien. But if the cumulative effect of a bunch of really tiny organelles inside of me can cover three football fields, whose to say there can't be a dimension wrapped up in a space too small for us to find? It seems to at least follow the same logic as our own biological demands.
Okay I really must go now.
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