› added 1 year ago

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TIL that mice given injections of transporter viruses, loaded with telomerase genes, not only experience healthier aging with less disease, but also live 25% longer

Read more nature.com

via reddit.com

myXy TIL that Orcas Island, famous for its resident pods of orcas, was actually named after Horcasitas, the Viceroy of Mexico, who sponsored an expedition there in 1791. Whereas the animal name “orca” originated in Ancient Rome. So “Orcas Island” is probably the most coincidental place name on Earth.
R5dxa TIL - Jethro Tull (the band’s namesake) was an English agriculturist who sparked the British Agricultural Revolution by perfecting a horse-drawn drill in 1701, that sowed seeds in neat rows, for easier harvest
VMOLm TIL that the sound of the sand people in Star Wars, or Tusken Raiders was made by deepening and varying the speed of braying donkeys.
AMK4 TIL that there is a specific order to adjectives in English. This is why we say ‘big red teapot’ and not 'red big teapot.’
EMnX TIL the word “feminism” was created and first used by … a man. Charles Fourier translated the word into English from French in the 1800s to refer to women’s “emancipation”.