› added 1 year ago

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TIL in the US only, the strength of the placebo effect is so high that drug companies have trouble getting new painkillers approved through clinical trials.

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XEmr TIL: A boomerang will still come back to you in a zero gravity pressurised environment
GY0n1 TIL Winston Churchill’s Historic “Fight Them on the Beaches” Speech Wasn’t Heard by the Public Until After WWII
XLdk TIL that the Humor Encryption Theory explains why people have different kinds of humor, and that humor is acquired with experience.
JY181 Did you wake up today with a craving for clay, or dirt? That’s called pica, an abnormal craving for substances other than typical food. If you went ahead and acted on your impulse, it's probably a good idea to head over to your doctor’s office. Research indicates that in most cases this craving is a result of a mineral or vitamin deficiency. This brings us to this week’s Today I Learned, as National Geographic Society grantee and ornithologist Luke Powell explains why macaws regularly munch on South American rain forest clay. Yummy! All animals (including humans) need salt to live. Animals that live in the Amazon rain forest face a curious predicament due to the way the Andes mountain range affects weather coming from the Pacific Ocean. This geography results in an extreme lack of salt in the Amazon and, consequentially, some unique behaviors and appetites.EDITOR: Laurence AlexanderSERIES PRODUCER: Chris Mattle
PA4O TIL That Warwick Davis was only 13 when he played the role of the Ewok ‘Wicket’ in Return of the Jedi, and 18 when playing the title role in Willow