› added 10 years ago

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TIL that people without light stimulation from the sun (i.e. in a cave) tend to have a 48 hour sleep-wake cycle

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x6eW5 TIL that the Alf TV series ended with Alf kidnapped by the US government (which wanted to disect Alf). Originally a season finale cliffhanger, this ended up being the series finale.
PL5E TIL of a man who would inject himself with snake venom in an effort to build up an immunity. He lived to be 100, survived 172 snakebites, and donated his blood to snakebite victims.
7rvpZ TIL John Krasinski wore a wig in season 3 of The Office so he could film Leatherheads. Krasinski pitched the idea to the producer who rejected it because it would be too obvious. John, who was wearing the wig during the meeting, told him it wouldn't be, took off the wig, and was granted approval.
x6PNw TIL that Diet Soda began with the 1949 launch of La Casera in Madrid, Spain, using cyclamate. In 1969, an experiment at UW-Madison found that a cyclamate combination caused bladder cancer in laboratory rats, and was accepted by consumers and doctors as a cause of cancer in humans.
X0Xyr TIL The water boatman insect, which is 2mm long, sings at an amazing 99.2 decibels, which is the equivalent of standing by a hurtling freight train., making it the loudest animal for its size yet discovered. Even more impressive is that it makes this sound by rubbing its penis on its belly.