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TIL In 2017, Canadian scientists recreated an extinct horse pox virus to demonstrate that the smallpox virus can be recreated in a small lab at a cost of about $100,000, by a team of scientists without specialist knowledge.

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rN4Xo TIL that some urban birds like finches and sparrows use cigarette butts as a form of pest control for their nests. The nicotine in the cigarettes helps keep parasites away.
mrQo TIL in 1971, a woman petitioned a Judge for permission to sterilize her “somewhat retarded” daughter. Without a hearing, evidence, or representation for the daughter, the judge granted permission. The daughter later tried to sue the judge, but the Supreme Court voted 5-3 to grant the judge immunity.
4XeB5 TIL about Mariya Oktyabrskaya. When her husband was killed in 1941, she paid for a tank, named it "Fighting Girlfriend," and distinguished herself as a fearless and deadly tank driver, often repairing her tank under heavy fire. After she died in March 1944, she was named a Hero of the Soviet Union.
v4OB TIL that we are less likely to be sexually attracted to people that we grew up with early in life, due to the Westermark effect. In other words, it could be nature’s way of preventing incest.
VBKbQ TIL a 2020 study found evidence that arrows fired from medieval longbows could cause injuries similar to modern gunshot wounds. One example is the analysis of a skull that revealed an arrow had left devastating entry and exit wounds that are similar to injuries caused by modern bullets.