› added 9 years ago

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TIL that deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have plummeted 80% in the last decade

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E1ZAp TIL that monkeys display metacognitive abilities, which means that they are aware of their own thought process and knowledge, and seek to actively control it.
Gmrj TIL Human eyes have unusually small irises, which may help social communication by allowing people to see where others are looking
OLW7 TIL that Gonorrhea, the 3rd most common STD, is on the verge of becoming untreatable
459X TIL that despite being used to make balloons float and our voices squak, helium is a rare element (on Earth) which is only getting rarer due to the fact it floats out of our atmosphere. This is problematic, as it has useful scientific applications, and is currently essential in MRI technology.
691PY TIL about Hanns Scharff, a German Luftwaffe interrogator during the Second World War who is considered the "father of modern interrogation techniques". After the war he became a famous mosaic artisan who amongt other things created the 15-foot arched cinderella mosaic walls in Disneyland