› added 9 years ago

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TIL that hydrophobia is a symptom of rabies likely because the infected animal’s ability to transmit the virus would reduce significantly if it could swallow saliva and water

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QJKeM TIL that gonorrhea is one of the strongest known organisms, capable of pulling with a force 100,000 times their own body weight, this is equivalent to a human pulling 10 million kilos.
p8DYb TIL In addition to the main smelly chemical of skunk spray (thiols), there's also another chemical called thioacetates. These chemicals don't stink, but they absorb into hair and fur, and react violently with water to rapidly produce thiols. This stops animals from removing the smell.
R5b9j TIL the largest living organism as of June 2022 is a specimen of "Posidonia australis" seagrass (aka Poseidon’s ribbon weed).Spawned from a single seed around 4500 years old and covering approximately 200 square kilometres (77 square miles), the entire plant is connected and shares the same DNA.
M7PPA TIL James Madison wrote Washington’s 1st inaugural address, then he wrote Congress’s response to that address, and then he wrote Washington’s reply to the response.
XJRj TIL in 1799 a boy found a 17lb. rock in a creek in North Carolina & used it as a doorstop. It was gold.