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TIL Some trap jaw ants use their spring-loaded mandibles to literally hurl themselves away from danger. These ants use their lighting fast jaws not only to catch prey but also to engage in “ballistic jaw propulsion.” Video in the article.

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kxn4 TIL Edwin H. Armstrong the inventor of the FM radio committed suicide because he was spending 90% of his time on litigation against RCA who were trying to suppress the technology.
1aNg7 TIL it's illegal to let your donkey sleep in your bathtub in Arizona. In 1924, a merchant near the town of Kingman let his donkey sleep in an old bathtub when a local dam broke. The donkey was swept away in the tub and the locals spent a lot of manpower rescuing the animal. The donkey survived.
5PlD TIL the word ‘paparazzi’ is derived from the Italian term for a very large mosquito.
9LG6 TIL Alexis Ohanian said about Digg v4 “You chose to grow with venture capital… this new version of digg reeks of VC meddling. It’s cobbling together features from more popular sites and departing from the core of digg, which was to “give the power back to the people.”
QJp8M TIL that the Democrat's Donkey originated as a pejorative for Andrew "Jackass" Jackson, but was adopted by his party as a symbol of the working class.