› added 5 years ago

297

TIL "petface" dogs with puppy-like features have juvenile traits systematically built into their DNA through centuries of rigorous breeding. Many of the same traits that make these dogs "cute" give them a predisposition to respiratory disorders, skin conditions, reproductive issues and eye injuries

pYZwZ TIL North American cowbirds are brood parasites. They lay eggs in a different bird species nests without caring for the eggs themselves. They also practice what scientists call "mafia behavior." "If the host throws out the cowbird's egg, the cowbird will destroy the nest again and again.”
jNJka TIL about 20% of all classified mammal species can fly, because there’s over 1,200 species of bats.
xVer5 TIL John Travolta adapted L. Ron Hubbard's novel "Battlefield Earth" into a film directed by George Lucas' protégé. Travolta described it as "like Star Wars, only better!", however the film was a commercial and critical failure and grossed less than half its budget.
yZXJ TIL the same voice actor portrayed Chief Quimby in Inspector Gadget, Mr. Wilson and Ruff in Dennis the Menace, Egon Spengler, Destro, Pepe Le Pew in Space Jam, The Brain, Salem in Sabrina, the Narrator in Johnny Bravo, Master Fung in Xiaolin Showdown, Morbo + Kif in Futurama, and the King in Frozen.
rNaNW TIL about Chesterton’s Fence- the rule of thumb that says one shouldn’t alter, destroy, or remove something established and present- whether a physical object or structure, or something more abstract like laws, rules, and traditions- without first understanding why it’s there in the first place.