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Frozen in time, Franz Josef Land is one of the last lingering remnants of the truly wild Arctic. The remote and nearly uninhabited 192-island archipelago is renowned for its biodiversity, which includes polar bears, walruses, bowhead whales, belugas, and narwhals. The intensifying impact of climate change, however, nearly turned this serene environment deadly for National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala and his crew.

69ARm TIL that during the state opening of parliament in 1845, the Duke of Argyll accidentally dropped the Imperial State Crown, causing £150 (23,000$ today) worth of damage. Of the accident, Queen Victoria wrote in her diary:" [The Crown] was all crushed and squashed, like a pudding that had set down."
9dGm TIL giraffes have been called “especially gay” for often engaging in homosexual behavior more than heterosexual sex
PK6J TIL that after banning the 3-finger Hunger Games salute as a symbol by activists opposing the coup that installed the military junta in Thailand in May, anti-coup activists decided to make sandwiches a symbol of protest. The military then arrested students for “possessing sandwiches with ill intent”
J5Jm TIL More than 10,000 people die every year when calling 911 from a cellphone because dispatchers can’t get quick and accurate information on them
7vKL TIL during WWII the US deployed scout dogs that were able to warn their handlers of the presence of Japanese forces at ranges up to 1,000 yards, allowing the Americans to avoid ambushes and gain the element of surprise.