› added 6 years ago

109

TIL "dolphins in the ocean" can swim "more than 50 miles an hour" with "little power input." "Research . . . appears to show that the dolphins do this by twitching their skin in such a way as to discourage the formation of turbulent vortices and turbulence which leads to drag and power dissipation."

Read more apps.dtic.mil

via reddit.com

P1e1g TIL: birds exhibit very jerky movements mainly for depth perception — quickly switching which eye is looking at something enables comparison between viewpoints, much like humans constantly compare views from their two eyes which the brain uses to create a 3D picture.
oR8NR TIL a woman with a medical condition known as pica developed a blockage in her lower intestines the size of a grapefruit, caused by eating foam from a sofa. Strong laxatives given in the hospital were able to help her pass the blockage after six days, as medical staff got ready for surgery.
d8AAK TIL that in 1969, the University of Washington broke up a student protest by having some farmers "accidentally" release angry bees.
v9Ax TIL Pierre Boulle, author of “Planet of the Apes” and “The Bridge over the River Kwai”, won an Oscar for the later movie adaptation. Not speaking English and not having actually written the screenplay, Boulle gave the shortest acceptance speech in Academy Award history, the single word “Merci”.
a8gBA TIL the Buddhas of Bamiyan were built in 570 and 618 CE and were a holy site for buddhas along the Silk Road. They were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.