› added 5 years ago

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TIL: Somebody is using a retired 727 as a home outside Portland, OR

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via reddit.com

J1ODv TIL Army ants were used to close open wounds. When grasped just behind the head, the ants will open their mandibles wide. One mandible is placed on each side of the cut and the ant then clamps down. Its head is then snipped off while clamped onto the wound, acting like a staple.
0d9LL TIL that Scientology has a track in CA, where members run around in a circle for up to 12 hours.
ERNV TIL - All fire hydrant patents filed before 1836 were destroyed by a fire that burned the U.S. Patent Office to the ground
KOxy9 TIL you are about 20 times more likely to be intentionally murdered in the USA than in Japan, while someone in El Salvador is even 10 times likelier to be murdered than their American counterpart.
QN76X TIL that 8% of our DNA comes from remnants of ancient viruses. And an additional 40% is made up of repetitive strings of DNA that's also thought to have viral origins. Almost half our DNA didn't come from us.