› added 4 years ago

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TIL male platypus venom contains a hormone that promotes insulin release, called GLP-1; it's found in humans but degrades quickly. Platypuses make a long-lasting form of it, paving the way to new diabetes treatment; the platypus GLP-1 can be made in the lab so no platypuses will be needed for it.

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aDoZ TIL that the African king/queen parents in Coming to America are the same actor and actress as the African king/queen parents in The Lion King.
PYyMV TIL that during Vostok 4, Russian cosmonaut Pavel Popovich said that he was able to observe thunderstorms from his spacecraft. However, he forgot that the Russian word for thunderstorms was the agreed upon code word for extreme nausea requiring immediate landing, and his mission was cut short.
p8mEZ TIL In a medical first, a mother who received a uterus transplant from a dead donor gave birth to a healthy baby. After five months of the transplant, the uterus showed no sign of rejection, ultrasound scans were normal, and the woman was menstruating regularly. The fertilised eggs were implanted.
lWO1 TIL that Mark Twain blew the bulk of his book profits and his wife’s inheritance investing in the failed Paige typesetting machine, the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $8million USD, which lead him to file bankruptcy in 1894.
vByr TIL-We don’t sneeze in our sleep, because out “sneeze nerve” is sleeping as well.