› added 1 month ago

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TIL: Scientists are finding that problems with mitochondria contributes to autism.

Read more nature.com

via reddit.com

rlre TIL that one theory on why we are ticklish is that it serves as a mechanism for developing combat skills. Most often practiced from parent to child, tickling activates vulnerable areas on the body that develop a defensive reaction while producing laughter that encourages the ‘attacker’ to continue.
W9mY TIL that after the French Revolution, France used a simplified decimal time and calendar system for 13 years which had 10 hours a day, 100 minutes per hour, and 100 seconds per minute.
BrgVr It’s happened before. In 1982, Angela Cavallo lifted a 1964 Chevy Impala off her teenage son, Tony, who was working on the car’s suspension when the jacks failed and the car fell on him.
dGX8 TIL that non-violent attempts to escape Mexican prisons are not punished as ‘it’s human nature to want freedom’
j6GxM TIL about the Great British Dog and Cat Massacre of 1939. In which Londoners, to prepare for war with Nazi Germany, voluntarily killed over 400,000 of their home pets in a one month period so as to ease the strain on resources. The deaths were found to be mostly unnecessary.