› added 6 years ago

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TIL Semantic satiation (also semantic saturation) is a psychological phenomenon in which repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning for the listener, who then perceives the speech as repeated meaningless sounds.

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Z8n6Y TIL in the US, kitty litter is a $2 billion industry. Consuming five billion pounds (2.3 Mt) of mined clay annually.
69A5Y TIL if you hear gurgling coming from your kitchen sink, you may have a clogged vent and AFAIK, the only remedy is to get on the roof with a plumbing snake to clear it. I spent a year trying every other option, avoiding the climb up the ladder until today. Most plumbers won't go up there.
loyBG TIL King Minos of Crete was the first recorded user of a condom, made of sheep's bladder. This is because his semen was poisonous, he ejaculated "serpents and scorpions" that killed his wives and mistresses.
P10AJ TIL that woolly mammoth proteins were just recently directly imaged for the first time. A scientist used an electron microscope to image the collagen protein of mammoth bone at the molecular level.
00vR TIL In 1120 drunk sailors crashed a ship carrying the sole male heir to the English throne, leading to his untimely demise and inciting 20 years of civil war.