› added 5 years ago

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TIL scientists give funny names to genetically variant fruit flies; (Ken & Barbie): flies that fail to develop external genitalia, (Maggie): Flies that fail to develop past a certain stage & are named after Maggie from the Simpsons, (Cheap Date): A fly that expresses high sensitivity to alcohol.

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mxARM TIL Dr Pepper Was Once a Warm Drink
pY1XQ TIL a pigeon named Cher Ami became a war hero in WWI by flying 25 miles to deliver a life-saving message, despite being shot, blinded in one eye, and flying with one leg barely attached she saved 194 soldiers and was awarded a medal, buried with honors, and now rests in the Smithsonian.
X0w76 TIL that in 2018, an American half-pipe skier qualified for the Olympics despite minimal experience. Olympic requirements stated that an athlete needed to place in the top 30 at multiple events. She simply sought out events with fewer than 30 participants, showed up, and skied down without falling.
Br1Bx TIL Fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian Ireland, and had specific rules by which it could be used. It was often done on doorsteps, possibly because allowing a person to die at one’s doorstep, for a wrong of which one was accused, was considered a great dishonour.
E1X4V TIL that an almost entirely white animal might not be an albino but leucistic, which is a very different condition. Albinoism means a lack of melanin and results in pink eyes, whereas leucism is only a partial loss of pigment and the animal has normal eyes.