› added 9 years ago

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TIL That of the almost 900 genes we have related to smell, over 50% are ‘broken’ and do not translate into useful proteins.

Read more phenomena.nationalgeographic.com

via reddit.com

loLE1 TIL that Necrophoresis is a behavior found in social insects – such as ants, bees, wasps, and termites – in which they carry the dead bodies of members of their colony from the nest or hive area. This acts as a sanitary measure to prevent disease or infection from spreading throughout the colony.
QwAe TIL casu marzu, a Sardinian cheese, contains live maggots which can jump up to six inches. Squeamish consumers sometimes put the cheese in a sealed bag. Starved for oxygen, the maggots jump around creating “pitter-patter” sounds; once the sounds stop, the maggots are dead and the cheese is eaten.
EgWP0 TIL that the remains of over a dozen people were found buried in Benjamin Franklin’s basement.
wLgrE TIL On the list of celebrity plane crashes in the last 20 years, Harrison Ford is the only one who has been in more than one. He's been in 4.
rRynw TIL that in medievel England, eels were used and accepted , to an extent, as currency, mostly in rental agreements. Many rental agreements, where the landlord would stipulate the rent due in "eel currency" were found. 25 eels would be a "stick". 10 sticks a bind.