› added 4 months ago

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TIL: Short Sleeper Syndrome is a gene mutation discovered by the University of Pittsburgh in 2014. They can function normally with less than 6 hours of sleep and never need to "recover" from lack of sleep as opposed to people who purposefully limit sleep. The mutation was given to mice and worked.

Read more healthline.com

via reddit.com

aN49 TIL of an experiment called The Three Christs of Ypsilanti. Three schizophrenics claiming to be Jesus were brought together have their reactions documented. In the end, each came to the conclusion that the other two must have mental issues.
X5N6 TIL Germany mandates all drivers to come to the rescue of an accident victim unless there is already an ambulance present. “If there is an accident, a driver is obliged to stop and help, whenever and to the degree to which it is possible”
98r7 TIL in the first edition of “The Hobbit,” Gollum willingly bets his ring in the riddle game with Bilbo and the two part on good terms. Tolkien changed the story in the second edition to reflect the corruptive powers of the ring taking shape in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
kXRW TIL that the Honeyguide bird can guide African tribes to beehives after exchanging whistles with them. Once the humans have removed the honey, the bird can feed on the remaining beeswax and larvae
J11kQ TIL that Mr. Smithers on the Simpsons was originally a black man, but they decided to change him because they didn’t want a black man to be subservient to a rich white man.