› added 5 years ago

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TIL about anacyclosis: the theory that every form of government (monarchy, aristocracy, democracy) is inherently flawed and will eventually degenerate (tiranny, oligarchy, oclocracy). The cycle between the six stages is inevitable

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6ZkZ TIL that one of the main hypothesis explaining the massive dislike of clowns is the “uncanny valley effect”. The term depicts a valley of negative emotional response caused by things that look human but “aren’t quite there”
d6Ar TIL Nixon gave Elvis a federal narcotics badge which Elvis thought would legally allow him to enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any drugs he wished!
mvry TIL Sunflowers can be used to clean up radioactive waste (they are able to extract pollutants, including radioactive metal contaminants, through their roots and store them in the stems and leaves. Making them the international symbol of nuclear disarmament).
kOyOW TIL that Americans spend around $72B in lottery tickets every year, with the chances of winning being less likely than getting attacked by a shark, being killed by a vending machine, being elected president, being struck by lightning, coming down with the plague, or being killed by a falling coconut
Me9l7 TIL that up until 2018, colored eggs were considered to be an avian innovation that had evolved in birds. However, a phylogenetic analysis published in nature found that colored eggs evolved deep within the dinosaur tree and long before the radiation of modern birds.