› added 3 years ago

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TIL the silent P in the word "ptarmigan" has absolutely no reason to be there. The bird's name comes from the Gaelic "tàrmachan" ("croaker"), but in 1684 the Scottish naturalist Robert Sibbald decided to add a p in front to make the word look more Greek.

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RJjw TIL bats make up 25% of all mammal species
YNoB TIL Young elephants in Uganda ‘appear’ to have engaged in revenge attacks on villages, a study mentioned suggests 'a lack of older bulls to lead by example had created gangs of aggressive young males with a penchant for violence towards each other and other species’
D1RlP TIL metals permanently fuse when touching each other in outer space, an effect known as 'cold welding'
0aNy TIL post-war Germany established a Federal Agency to give rigorously non-partisan information to prospective voters and prevent any moves to re-establish a totalitarian regime. It now runs a highly respected, non-partisan ‘Who should I vote for?’ website.
a84wN TIL that you are not supposed to rinse your mouth with water after brushing teeth or using a mouthwash, because the fluoride coating on your teeth helps protect against cavities and rinsing your mouth after dilutes the fluoride, making it ineffective. Instead, you should wait, preferably 20 minutes.