› added 3 months ago

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TIL that the human body glows in visible light, but the glow is 1,000 times weaker than the human eye can detect. Scientists captured this faint bioluminescence using ultra-sensitive cameras and found that the glow fluctuates throughout the day, peaking in the late afternoon and lowest at night.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

AGow TIL that traditional naming customs of Iceland differ in that they follow no family lineage. Men are named after their father. I.e. If Jon has a son named Olaf, his name is Olaf Jonsson. If Olaf then has a son named Magnus, his name is Magnus Olafsson. Women are similar with the suffix ‘dottir’.
N7ynN TIL the majority of nukes ever detonated were done so outside Las Vegas -- over 1,000. You could see mushroom clouds from the hotels.
be79 TIL chickens were first domesticated not for the purpose of food or egg production but for cock fighting, and in fact it wasn’t until the 20th century that egg and meat production began to be stressed.
KgDQ TIL the Jamican bobsleigh team depicted in the movie “Cool runnings” was in two more olympic games. In the 1994 olympic they silenced many of their critics by finishing in 14th place, ahead of the United States, Russia, Australia and France. They where for a short while ranked 8th in the world.
R7gl TIL that the chainsaw was invented by doctors to perform surgery.