› added 6 years ago

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TIL four-legged herbivores such as cows and horses have "stay apparatus" in their legs -- tendons and ligaments that allow them to remain standing with minimal muscular effort. However, while this allows them to doze while standing, they can enter REM sleep and dream only while lying down.

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697pY TIL that, Dr. Wilhelm Reich claimed orgasms prevented mental illness and he fought droughts and UFOs with giant energy guns. In the 1950s, the government called him a fraud, burned his books, and busted up his lab in Rangeley.
8a5OP TIL "Trial by combat" has never been abolished in the United States and is still technically valid by US law
69p7 TIL that a Uranium deposit in Africa naturally developed criticality and produced fission power for hundreds of thousands of years. It was a “natural nuclear reactor”.
XEZ5R TIL a camel by the name of Douglas was killed by a Union sharpshooter at the Siege of Vicksburg. A team of six Confederate snipers was assembled and tasked with avenging his death.
EgD6V TIL DreamWorks hired 120 former NASA scientists to help them develop technology for films such as “Home,” “Rise of the Guardians,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” and “How To Train Your Dragon 2.”