› added 3 hours ago

TIL there are more than 50 taxa (genera and species) of organisms that have been named after Sir David Attenborough.

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VMQJQ TIL Clara Peller, a retired manicurist, was hired at age 80 as a temp on a commercial set. Her voice and manner brought an acting contract, and she became rich and famous from Wendy's "Where's the beef" campaign and later roles during the last 5 years of her life.
OoLNa TIL in the 1930s a DuPont chemist found that crystals of a substance called PTC (phenylthiocarbamide) tasted very bitter to some but were tasteless to others (about 75% taste bitterness). Researchers found three variants in a gene called TAS2R38. Two copies of this variant make you non-taster.
ZEEB TIL Waterboys in the NFL make an average $53,000 salary
EvWV TIL that haikus are not simply 5-7-5 syllable poems, but also need to have a kigo – something of or relating to a season
EavV TIL barns are painted red because red paint is cheap. The paint is cheap because iron is plentiful, and iron is plentiful because it is the final element formed out of a star’s death.