Why is the spinal cord shorter than the vertebral column, and how can this be put to good use clinically?

How to explain spinal cord injury healing to nonmedical person?

What structure can be found in the dorsal (posterior) root of a spinal nerve, but not the ventral (anterior) root of a spinal nerve

An 18-year-old male is shot in the back and is taken to the emergency room. A neurological exam reveals a hemisection of the right half of the spinal cord extending from T8 to T12. Which of the following deficits will most likely result from this injury? Loss of pain and temperature sensation from the left arm and leg; loss of conscious proprioception from the right arm and leg; extreme weakness of right arm and leg O Loss of pain and temperature sensation from the right leg; loss of conscious proprioception from the left leg; extreme weakness of left leg O Loss of pain and temperature sensation from the left leg; loss of conscious proprioception from the right leg; extreme weakness of right leg Loss of pain and temperature sensation from the right arm; loss of conscious proprioception from the left arm; extreme weakness of left arm O Loss of pain and temperature sensation from the left arm; loss of conscious proprioception from the right arm; extreme weakness of right arm