› added 3 years ago

95

TIL that you instinctively rub a body part after hitting it bc of the gate control theory of pain. Rubbing it creates non-painful input which closes the nerve "gates" to painful input, thereby preventing pain from traveling to the central nervous system.

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9wOg7 TIL that there's a species of ant called "Colobopsis explodens" that can explode on command to defend its colony. These "exploding ants" rupture their abdomens, releasing a sticky, toxic fluid to incapacitate threats
VBnRk TIL Captain Kirk never even said the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty"
aaXZ TIL when Shaka Zulu’s mother died in 1827, over 7,000 people were executed for being “insufficiently grief-stricken”. Cows were also slaughtered so that young calves would “know what it feels like to lose a mother.”
GA7X1 TIL Pouring super-glue onto cotton or wool can start a fire.
lo7Br TIL of Emad Salem, the FBI informant involved in the first WTC bombing whose offers to thwart the bombing was ignored by his FBI handlers