Notices by Today I learned (todayilearned@noc.social), page 5

TIL chickens can count and even do some artihmetic

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19364746/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmoheh/til_chickens_can_count_and_even_do_some_artihmetic/

TIL: David Bowie didn’t have two different coloured eyes, and that it was just a result of an injury that damaged his pupil as a child.

https://www.savoirflair.com/article/celebrities-with-heterochromia/7058de60-4d03-4b4d-9264-86fd950d4128
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmmzhi/til_david_bowie_didnt_have_two_different_coloured/

TIL the black spots seen on white fur worn by royalty are actually stoat tails.

https://www.fur.org/the-royal-touch-ermine/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmmm5a/til_the_black_spots_seen_on_white_fur_worn_by/

TIL in the ABC song, the note for G is a G

https://www.kidsplaymusic.com/abc-song-piano/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmm6le/til_in_the_abc_song_the_note_for_g_is_a_g/

TIL in 1973 a British couple survived 117 days lost at sea on an inflatable raft after their boat sank when it was struck by a whale. They survived by "almost continually" bailing water out of their raft, while collecting rainwater & killing turtles, birds and fish with their bare hands for food.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/maurice-bayley-who-survived-117-days-lost-a…
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmluaf/til_in_1973_a_british_couple_survived_117_days/

TIL that city transportation maps with over 250 connections are too complex for most people to navigate. In fact, a staggering 80% of trips in New York already exceed this cognitive limit.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1500445
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmkldj/til_that_city_transportation_maps_with_over_250/

TIL that if you have hazel, blue, or green eyes, and blonde or red hair, you have a higher chance of developing skin cancer.

https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/who-is-at-increased-risk-for-skin-cancer.h00-159542112.html
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmkaxh/til_that_if_you_have_hazel_blue_or_green_eyes_and/

TIL the first business idea of Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs wasn't Apple but a business called Blue Box. Long distance calls in the 70s was very expensive so they made an illegal device that would trick phone companies into connecting you to phone numbers overseas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_box
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmjfbm/til_the_first_business_idea_of_steve_wozniak_and/

TIL Celine Dion only did one demo take for "My Heart Will Go On", which ended up being the final vocal used.

https://www.billboard.com/music/features/celine-dion-my-heart-will-go-on-oral-history-interview-7800213/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmjbxh/til_celine_dion_only_did_one_demo_take_for_my/

TIL the first astronaut suits were designed by Playtex. The bra and tampon company.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/what-did-playtex-have-to-do-with-neil-armstrong-16588944/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fmgh42/til_the_first_astronaut_suits_were_designed_by/

TIL Stonehenge as we know it today didn't look that way until after a series of major restorations were done beginning in 1880.

https://factstory.org/photographs-of-stonehenges-history-and-restoration/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fkw8fx/til_stonehenge_as_we_know_it_today_didnt_look/

TIL if you publish a book in Norway, the government will buy 1000 copies (1,500 if a children's book) and distribute them to libraries throughout the country.

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/04/why-norway-best-place-world-be-writer
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fjkeog/til_if_you_publish_a_book_in_norway_the/

TIL Joseph Bazalgette, the man who designed London's sewers in the 1860's, said 'Well, we're only going to do this once and there's always the unforeseen' and doubled the pipe diameter. If he had not done this, it would have overflowed in the 1960's (its still in use today).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bazalgette
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fiobm7/til_joseph_bazalgette_the_man_who_designed/

TIL The word "Emoji" does not derive from the word "Emotion", but is a combination of the Japanese words for "picture" (絵, pronounced "e") and "character" (文字, pronounced "moji")

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fh7ev6/til_the_word_emoji_does_not_derive_from_the_word/

TIL of Ripton, Massachusetts, a fictitious town created in 1985 by a professor at UMass-Amherst to protest the Boston-based state government's neglect of rural Western Mass towns. He applied and was approved for grants and funding from the state before the hoax was uncovered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripton_(fictitious_town)
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fh2vjd/til_of_ripton_massachusetts_a_fictitious_town/

TIL that in 1952, the USS Wisconsin received a single, direct-hit from a North Korean 155mm gun battery. Despite the damage being minimal, the Wisconsin responded by returning fire with all nine of her Mark 7 16-inch guns, prompting an escorting ship to signal the Wisconsin with "Temper, Temper."

https://navalhistoria.com/temper-temper-wisconsin/#Temper,-Temper
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fgo6vz/til_that_in_1952_the_uss_wisconsin_received_a/

TIL a study found that only 4% of women said that penetration is a reliable route to orgasm for them. The other 96% said their reliable route was clitoral stimulation, either alone or paired with penetration.

https://theconversation.com/the-orgasm-gap-and-why-women-climax-less-than-men-208614#:~:text=In%20my%20work%2C%20I%E2%80%99ve%20asked%20thousands%20of%20women%3A%2…
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fgw3im/til_a_study_found_that_only_4_of_women_said_that/

TIL that plants such as avocado and Kentucky Coffee Tree are known as evolutionary anachronism. They evolved adaptations, such as seed dispersal, best suited to coexist with extinct megafauna.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_anachronism#Australasian_realm
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fgv0zs/til_that_plants_such_as_avocado_and_kentucky/

TIL Victor Vescovo is the first person to complete the "Explorers' Extreme Trifecta" of land, sea & air by: summiting Mount Everest (the highest point on Earth), diving to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (the deepest point on Earth), & entering space (crossing the 100-km-high Kármán Line).

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/709910-first-person-to-comp…
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fgoo6c/til_victor_vescovo_is_the_first_person_to/

TIL Octopus can literally edit their RNA according to change in temperature of the surroundings.

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/octopuses-other-cephalopods-can-adjust-cold-editing-their-rna
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fgdhea/til_octopus_can_literally_edit_their_rna/