› added 5 years ago

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TIL a woodpeckers tongue is so long, it actually wraps around its skull providing further insulation to the brain in warding them from concussions

8a5eX TIL that sperms don't swim. We have been wrong for the last 350 years. Using 3D microscopy technology were able to mathematically reconstruct the rapid movement of the sperm. The sperm body spins at the same time that the tail rotates around the swimming direction. Sperm drills into the fluid.
OoXWg TIL in the year 2000, a Hawaiian dj unsuccessfully procured a promo album from MCA Records, so he he ended up downloading it off of Napster. He heard "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy on that album, loved it, played it a lot on the radio, and it blew up in Hawaii before anywhere else.
BgooW TIL about anting. Birds will lay on large amounts of insects, primarily ants, and allow them to crawl all over their feathers and skin. The ants emit formic acid which helps prevent infection and deter parasites.
xV8O5 TIL that capsaicin -- the compound that makes peppers hot -- only affects mammals, who would chew the seeds and destroy them. It doesn't affect birds, who swallow the seeds whole and help disperse them.
YpDZA TIL Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director of Amélie, was deeply opposed to the musical adaption of his movie, but eventually sold the rights of the film for the piece to donate money to the Mecenat Chirurgie Cardiaque (Cardiac Surgery Patronage), which sponsors operations for needy children around the world