› added 4 years ago

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TIL why many birds have "whiskers" on their faces. The very long and highly sensitive so-called "rictal bristles" around the beaks of most birds are essential in helping maintain the birds' speed and orientation in the air as they fly speedily around small branches or going after prey in a field.

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5VrpP TIL Sammy Davis Jr lost his left eye in a car accident when he was just 29
neOwG TIL that the Standard Kilogram, a cylinder of platinum that used to be the definition of a kilogram, has been mysteriously getting lighter
QJ7Ae TIL that human cells make up only 43% of the body's total cell count.
OvO7 TIL in 2002 a Croatian diver got lost in an underwater cave and stabbed himself in the chest to avoid the agony of drowning. It was the first case of someone committing suicide while diving.
wDrJ TIL Jupiter is a “cosmic vacuum cleaner.” Its gravitational influence causes comets and asteroids to collide with it. The rate of impacts on Jupiter is about 2000-8000X higher than the rate on Earth. Without Jupiter, the probability of asteroid impacts with the inner planets would be much greater.