› added 1 month ago

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TIL of Air Commodore Lionel Charlton, who resigned as the RAF Chief Staff Officer in Iraq because he objected to the bombing of Iraqi villages.

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YplWA TIL that the common ancestor of all fish had lungs, and that modern swim bladders in most fish are actually highly-derived lungs. In more oxygen-poor times hundreds of millions of years ago, being able to gulp down oxygen, which was more plentiful in air, was a huge evolutionary advantage.
9YDlm TIL that out at sea, a tsunami is only about a metre high, and could pass a boat without being noticed. As it approaches the shore, it’s the sudden deceleration from about 800km/h to 50km/h which creates the immense wave
oRwr8 TIL that some creatures such as frog embryos can change their DNA using sound. We are experimenting with using sound for DNA changes now and this may lead to human DNA alterations without splicing, cutting or intruding into the body manually.
jNXKn TIL wolves were historically a major threat in Europe, responsible for thousands of recorded killings. It is thought that the abundance of corpses due to Plague may have altered their behavior, causing them to actively seek humans as prey up until the 1700s. Hence the trope of the man-eating wolf.
neolG TIL about the alive and well easter tradition in slovakia for men to get day drunk, throw buckets of water on women, and spank them with willow whips.