› added 1 year ago

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TIL that human babies release hexadecanal, from their heads, which lowers aggression in males but increases aggression in females. This lowers male driven infanticide while making females/mothers more protective of their offspring.

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4QBb TIL Americans exchange diamond rings because in 1938 De Beers decided that they would like us to. This is due to a stunningly successful marketing campaign in 1938. Not only is the demand for diamonds a marketing invention, but diamonds aren’t actually that rare.
b9ZN9 TIL that a US federal law, still in existence, permits any US citizen to take possession of any unclaimed island, anywhere in the world — as long as the island has deposits of bird poop on it.
E1GrV TIL Macropinna microstoma or barreleye is a rather bizarre deep-water fish with a transparent fluid-filled head and tubular eyes located well inside the head and capped by bright green lenses which collect light. The two spots above the fish's mouth are not eyes; they are sensitive olfactory organs.
4kNxa TIL about Areca Nut (Betel Nut) - a widely consumed psychoactive substance in Southeast Asia and parts of the Pacific, with severe health risks affecting millions of people worldwide, and ongoing efforts to combat its addictive properties.
nekWP TIL 16% of all women 65 and over, are living at Poverty level. Marital status impacts whether an older woman is living in poverty. 26.1% of women who never married live in poverty compared 4.9% of married women. $12,490 is the poverty level, US poverty rate 13.9 percent.