› added 8 years ago

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TIL when the Titanic wireless operator got a message from a nearby ship saying they were surrounded by ice … he responded “Shut up, shut up, I am busy …” … and hit the iceberg 45 minutes later

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ADNWa The human brain looks like a big, pinkish-gray, wrinkly walnut. There are so many folds in it that, if it could be unfolded, it could be a small tablecloth. Pinkish-gray might not match your decor, but it would be about the right size! This "tablecloth" is made up of the cerebral cortex and is the wrinkly outside layer of your brain. All those folds are responsible for abstract thought, language, and memory. Scientists believe the wrinkles exist as a way to increase the surface area of the cortex, allowing for increased brainpower in a smaller space. In this week’s Today I Learned, neuroscientist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Steve Ramirez shares some of his smarts on how your cortex is different from your pet hamster’s.
1a788 TIL: The oldest mummies in the world are turning into black slime. Over 100 Chinchorro mummies found near the Atacama Desert in Chile are turning gelatinous due to bacterial growth associated with increasing humidity. The mummies date to ~5000 BC
Rdn1 TIL that during the Nazi occupation of France, the Nazis didn’t remove the American flag flying over the Marquis de Lafayette’s grave
QJpRe TIL that consuming too much lean protein can cause symptoms similar to broad malnutrition in a condition known as protein poisoning, or more colloquially called "rabbit poisoning" due to the first observed cases in frontiersmen who ate nothing but wild rabbits over the winter and developed symptoms.
XEPR TIL- There is a disease nicknamed Ondine’s Curse which causes sufferers to die if they fall asleep.