› added 6 months ago

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TIL that Neanderthals in Paleolithic Europe may have used Manganese Oxide powder as a fuel additive to add spark and heat to kindling for fires in the cold, subarctic climate of Central Europe. Manganese reduces the temperature needed to start a fire by 80-180 degrees Celsius.

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via reddit.com

mxPWp TIL: there is a Harry Potter fanfic that is so popular among Russian geeks, they published it as a paper book and distributed it among libraries. In the fanfic, Harry applies the scientific method to improve the Wizarding World
e0bW5 TIL humans have kneecaps in their hands and feet (sesamoid bones)
6a4X TIL Cicada song is so loud it repels the birds that would normally eat them.
QN76X TIL that 8% of our DNA comes from remnants of ancient viruses. And an additional 40% is made up of repetitive strings of DNA that's also thought to have viral origins. Almost half our DNA didn't come from us.
WmlB TIL Overall crime in NYC is down 80% since 1990