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TIL: Lobsters don’t die of old age due to an enzyme called ‘telomerase’ that increases the number of divisions their cells can make, allowing them to repair their bodies and live extraordinarily long lives

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V6B0 TIL: In 2009, the President and Cabinet of the Maldives held a meeting underwater - in SCUBA gear - to sign a declaration calling for global cuts in carbon emissions. The Maldives is expected to disappear under rising seawater this century.
ZQVp TIL of the saluting trap. British army conscripts would form a large group, then one by one walk to an officer. Each would salute, forcing him to salute back. The goal was to force the officer to salute as many soldiers as possible as fast as possible to make his arm sore.
1aNQX TIL that Pluto is so cold that it's covered in frozen Nitrogen ice. About 800,000 years ago, it may have been warm enough to have liquid Nitrogen flowing across its surface in lakes and rivers.
VMkek TIL that the song 'Africa' by Toto is actually about a boy "trying to write a song on Africa, but since he's never been there, he can only tell what he's seen on TV or remembers in the past". This explains the apparently inaccurate line about Kilimanjaro rising above the Serengeti.
1ayXr TIL that there was a mysterious disease that existed in Guam. It was the leading cause of adult death between 1945 & 1956. Fruit bats were part of the local diet at the time & became extinct as a result of over hunting. A decline in fruit bat consumption led to a decline in incidence of the disease