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woZvM TIL Fireflies produce light in special organs in their abdomens by combining a chemical called luciferin, enzymes called luciferases, oxygen and the fuel for cellular work, ATP. Entomologists think they control their flashing by regulating how much oxygen goes to their light-producing organs.
BgRoL TIL many of the American Indians Columbus met in the Caribbean were not actually native but were instead Caribs- cannibals that had conquered the islands 200 years before his arrival. Cannibalism was so prolific that the English word itself comes from the Spanish name for Carib people- Caníbal.
LQMDQ TIL the world's largest snowflake on record was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick? It fell in Montana in 1887 and remains the largest snowflake ever documented.