› added 1 year ago

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TIL telomerase is a naturally forming enzyme that helps maintain the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, thus preventing cells from dying. When mice were genetically engineered to produce 10 times the normal levels of telomerase, they lived 50% longer than normal mice.

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QJ0k6 TIL that William Morris, famous for the arts and crafts movement in decor, manufactured wallpaper containing arsenic and dismissed anu claims that arsenic made people ill. He was also the owner of a major arsenic manufacturing plant.
QNaMa TIL: That the Beijing Weather Modification Office were enlisted by the Chinese government to ensure that the 2008 Summer Olympics were free of rain, by breaking up clouds headed towards the capital and forcing them to drop rain on outlying areas instead.
nYDo TIL: that during the black death, several French cities ran out of places to bury the dead, so Pope Clement VI had to consecrate the entire Rhone River so that it could be considered holy ground and bodies could be thrown into it.
QJlGp TIL when Robert E Lee and the Confederate army surrendered, Union soldiers saluted them and gave them rations (the confederate soldiers were starving). Normally victorious armies would taunt defeated ones, but Ulysses S Grant respected the Confederates too much and ordered that they be treated well.
a8MW0 TIL Pedongi, an Indian Army Service Corps mule, was captured by Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. She later defected back to Indian lines with a Pakistani MMG and two boxes of ammo and was later awarded Vir Chakra, India's third highest military award.