Hi, we're here from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.

I'm Cody Gough.

And I'm Ashley Hamer.

Today, you learn about why you can't really boost your immune system

and the benefits of some weird pupils you can find in the animal kingdom.

We'll also tell you about what we learned at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show,

when we were there last week in Las Vegas. What satisfied some curiosity on the award-winning Curiosity Daily.

Walk through a pharmacy and you'll probably see lots of products that say they'll boost your immune system.

There are a few problems with that though. First, it's not

really possible and even if it was you wouldn't like it. Here's why. Despite the way

it's portrayed, the immune system is not one thing.

It's a complex network that incorporates multiple cells, organs, and biological functions.

In the simplest terms, the immune system has two jobs, the innate response and the acquired response.

The innate response is what you notice when you get sick.

It attacks infection with mucus, fever, coughing, and in general

inflammation. What it lacks in specificity it makes up for in speed, but the innate response doesn't actually drive infection out of the body.

That's up to the acquired response, like the antibodies your system collects from past illnesses and vaccines. In fact, vaccinations could be considered

the exception to the immunity rule. They're the only known way to improve your immune system.

Still though, a vaccine can't boost the system's overall response,

just its ability to fight the bug it's designed for. Since over-the-counter

immunity boosters aren't vaccines, they must claim to boost the innate response,

as in the one that can't actually drive infection away but does cause inflammation, giving

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