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TIL that chimney sweeps use to use live geese to sweep chimneys.

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mbMP TIL the tiny garish Crucifix Toad secretes a glue to catch insect prey that has been found to be the strongest non-toxic adhesive known, works irrespective of temperature or moisture while remaining flexible and porous, and has exciting new applications in medicine, as it is ‘highly biocompatible’.
RVj6 TIL that the actress who played B'Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager has directed episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Under the Dome, Treme, Heroes, Melrose Place, and Lost.
p8Ym8 Imagine you spent your entire childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood stuck inside a small closet. One day, after much of your life, has passed you by, you realize that you can just open up the door, change into some more appropriate clothes, and hit the town! Free at last, what would you do first? Maybe sing a bit? Go on a few dates? By the way, you have two to four weeks to live. Yikes. This is not unlike the situation most cicadas face, as they spend almost their entire lives underground. For example, many of the cicadas emerging in 2016 have been underground for 17 years! To put that in perspective, the last Star Wars movie these insects saw was literally a menace. Imagine waking up in a world without Smash Mouth and Sugar Ray! Come to think of it, things are really looking up since 1999. A cicada’s ear-piercing call is intended to attract a gal pal. Considering that these little creatures’ time above ground is so fleeting, they need to lock down a date as soon as possible. This could be why most cicadas are louder than the average fraternity pledge. Adult males are the ones making such a racket, and some species can register sounds louder 100 decibels when calling for a potential mate. In this week’s Today I Learned, National Geographic Emerging Explorer and filmmaker Sandesh Kadur explains how cicadas sing such a loud song.
PjNJ TIL a jealous wife in China chopped off her cheating husband’s penis as he slept, then snuck into his hospital room after he had it sewn back on — and hacked it off again and tossed it out the window.
1aa7O TIL that the Catholic Church specifically taught that indulgences do not affect whether or not a person goes to heaven. However, greedy "pardoners" lied about this and promised things like eternal salvation in return for money to increase donations. This led to Martin Luther's 95 Theses.