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TIL that in 1996 a chemistry professor accidentally spilled a drop of organic mercury on her latex gloved hand. She died of mercury poisoning less than a year later.

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nedj9 TIL that ticks and mites can smell the breath of its target, e.g. human. Then they come out of their shelter to attack breathing target. Ticks have special unique organs (called olfactoreceptors) that can smell carbon dioxide that comes out when you're breathing.
nee79 TIL Marlon Brando was the last person to reject a winning Oscar award (1973 best actor for The Godfather). He did it to protest the film industry's poor treatment of Native Americans. When a young Native American woman gave her speech in Brando's place, part of the crowd booed.
a8klN TIL: A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus. Venus also rotates in the opposite direction (retrograde) compared to most other planets.
KYXDR TIL sound travels at 343 m/s in air, 1,481 m/s in water (almost 4.3 times as fast) and at 5,120 m/s in iron (almost 15 times as fast) and in diamond sound travels at 12,000 metres per second (39,000 ft/s),[2]— about 35 times its speed in air because of how exceptionally stiff diamond is.
d8e9r TIL that weighted blankets weren't designed as a sleep aid. They were first used as an alternative to physically restraining children with autism or pervasive developmental disabilities, as well as adults in acute-care psychiatric units.