› added 5 months ago

14

TIL The Panará tribe lived mostly isolated from the rest of the world until 1973, when the Brazilian government had a highway built directly through their territory. Within a year, 70% of the tribe had died of newly introduced diseases.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

R5pn9 TIL that the Peacock Mantis Shrimp can deliver punches at speeds of up to 80 km/h
9Y5B7 TIL about Navy Seaman Charles Jackson French who, after his ship the USS Gregory was sunk in WWII, swam for 6-8 hours towing a raft of 15 survivors through shark-infested waters. He later received the Navy Cross.
dljd TIL that in 2013, someone hacked the Emergency Alert System in Montana. They sent out an alert that the “dead bodies are rising from their graves and attacking the living.” Several people believed it and called 911.
OG0eL TIL about Peter Niers who confessed to killing over 500 people after he was tortured and executed in 1581
0dAAA TIL telomerase is a naturally forming enzyme that helps maintain the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, thus preventing cells from dying. When mice were genetically engineered to produce 10 times the normal levels of telomerase, they lived 50% longer than normal mice.