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TIL about de Clérambault's Syndrome, a disorder where someone has delusions of another person being infatuated with them. One case involved a woman who believed King George V of England was communicating his love for her by moving the curtains at Buckingham Palace.

b9VjE TIL Caribbean sperm whales have a distinct culture. They are known to interact only with other whales with their own unique dialects and 'accents' which are variations of clicks unique to that area.
JYQWV TIL that after the initial discovery of penicillin, scientists scrambled for a fungus that could efficiently produce it. Mary Hunt, a lab assistant, came across a cantaloupe with a golden mold, P. chrysogenum. All penicillin is effectively descended from Mary Hunt’s cantaloupe.
yBA8 TIL that gagging when we see someone else vomiting is actually an evolved trait among primates. Humans would forage for food in groups. If any member of the group had an adverse reaction due to toxins in the food, it would be advantageous for the other members to take it out of their system too.
Qpn6 TIL of target fixation, when a person is concentrating so much on avoiding something that he increases the chances of hitting it. Racecar drivers, fighter pilots, mountain bikers, and others moving at high speed can experience the issue.
oRvK8 TIL that some species of flatworms fence with their dual headed penis to determine who becomes the female. The loser (the one that gets inseminated) becomes the female and preduces the eggs (costs a lot of energy)