› added 6 years ago

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TIL that Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were all nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

ADNWa The human brain looks like a big, pinkish-gray, wrinkly walnut. There are so many folds in it that, if it could be unfolded, it could be a small tablecloth. Pinkish-gray might not match your decor, but it would be about the right size! This "tablecloth" is made up of the cerebral cortex and is the wrinkly outside layer of your brain. All those folds are responsible for abstract thought, language, and memory. Scientists believe the wrinkles exist as a way to increase the surface area of the cortex, allowing for increased brainpower in a smaller space. In this week’s Today I Learned, neuroscientist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Steve Ramirez shares some of his smarts on how your cortex is different from your pet hamster’s.
N7QR1 TIL Mithridates VI was a king who in an attempt to protect himself from assassins built up an immunity to poison by dosing himself with them. After the Romans stormed his complex he tried to kill himself with poison but it failed and he had to get his bodyguard to do it for him.
l7pr5 TIL that this is what your neurons look like when you learn something new
b6PE7 TIL that Cologne's was originally called Oppidum Ubiorum by the Romans and got it's current name from the later name 'Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium', named after the wife of Emperor Claudius since she was born there.
jNjVM TIL that with at least 645 different meanings in the Oxford English Dictionary, the word 'Run' currently holds the record for having the most meanings for a word in the English language