› added 6 years ago

254

Humpback whales are far better known for their bellowing "songs" that can travel up to six miles, but the animals also have quiet voices. Biologists have observed humpback calves “whispering” to their mothers in tones that can be heard only within 330 feet—a strategy to prevent predators, such as orcas, from eavesdropping. Calves also want to avoid adult male humpbacks, which may try to separate the calf from its mother to mate. This shortened time with its mom could ultimately weaken the calf, which needs to drink 50 gallons of milk a day to fuel up for its long migration.

Wkk89 TIL the Vatican City has the highest per capita wine consumption of any country in the world.
JYXlm TIL: Before electricity, theatrical groups would heat up calcium oxide, also known as quicklime, for stage lighting. This is where the expression “in the limelight” originates from. People use to literally be in the limelight.
Lk4Lv TIL E.Kelly, singer for Scottish band "The Vaselines" cites Nirvana as the only reason he ever made money from music royalties. The band was largely unknown outside of Scotland before K.Cobain, a fan of theirs, covered some of their songs and invited them to open high profile gigs for Nirvana
xDd5 TIL words and phrases that are often misspoken or misspelled in a certain way (e.g. “for all intensive purposes” instead of “for all intents and purposes”) are called eggcorns, with the term itself being an eggcorn for the word “acorn”.
9wpQr TIL that humans have the highest daytime visual acuity of any mammal, and among the highest of any animal (some birds of prey have much better). However, we have relatively poor night vision.