› added 12 years ago

119

TIL that, as a way to detect nighttime predators, many species of animals (ducks, dolphins, whales, iguanas) will sleep with one eye open. One hemisphere of their brain is asleep while the other one is awake.

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yGPv TIL The word “echo” comes from Greek Mythology - Hera was so annoyed she punished Echo by taking away her voice, except in repetition of another’s shouted words. Thus, all Echo could do was repeat the voice of another.
x619w TIL statistically 1/22 people who own a Dodge RAM have a DUI and they are the most common vehicle involved in a DUI accident.
rNlg1 TIL that pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest English word published in Oxford Dictionaries, which defines it as "an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust".
vPGNr TIL one big obstacle standing in the way of clean energy in California is the lack of high tension power lines that can move the electricity. Developing the new grid to accommodate solar farms may take a decade.
1aOEW TIL in nautical terms, the chain that attaches to the corner of a sail is known as a "sheet". The expression "three sheets to the wind", which implies that someone is inebriated, refers to those chains being loose, allowing the sail to wave around wildly in the wind like a drunk.