1051
@qikipedia
A Spanish expression for daydreaming is ‘pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo’, which literally means ‘thinking about the immortality of the crab’.
1052
@qikipedia
Analysis of their earwax shows that World War II was stressful for whales.
1053
@qikipedia
The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota employs twelve mussels to monitor water quality.
If they come across something unpleasant in the water, they close, setting off an alert.
The mussels do not have names.
1054
@qikipedia
"Anyone who believes what a cat tells him deserves all he gets." NEIL GAIMAN
1055
@qikipedia
Even adults sleep better if gently rocked to sleep.
1056
@qikipedia
In 1964 Swedish art critics praised the debut of 'Pierre Brassau', whose paintings were later revealed to be the work of a chimpanzee.
1057
@qikipedia
The last vote needed to pass women's suffrage in the United States was that of Tennessee legislator Harry Burn.
While he was initially opposed to the amendment, his mother had told him to "be a good boy" and vote for it - so he did.
1058
@qikipedia
"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose, and a crooked mouth, and a double chin, and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely." ROALD DAHL
1059
@qikipedia
The average person is keeping 13 secrets right now.
1060
@qikipedia
In 1972 a talking statue of Abraham Lincoln was unveiled in Seattle. A malfunction caused the speakers inside it to play the Rolling Stones, so the statue was heard to announce, ‘I wanna get off, mamma’.
1061
@qikipedia
Cats are just as loyal to their owners as dogs are.
1062
@qikipedia
Even extroverts find socialising tiring.
1063
@qikipedia
"Ninety percent of most magic merely consists of knowing one extra fact." TERRY PRATCHETT
1064
@qikipedia
It would take around 3,000 years to count all the brain cells in a single human brain.
1065
@qikipedia
Word of the day: GRÜBELSUCHT - to obsessively question simple or obvious facts, literally ‘ponder mania’.
1066
@qikipedia
The Italian bank Credito Emiliano accepts wheels of Parmesan cheese as loan collateral.
1067
@qikipedia
In 2020 Mathdaniel Squirrel won Name of the Year, beating Courvoisier Dingle, Beanbag Amerika and mathematician Dr Reason Machete.
1068
@qikipedia
Crows can combine several lengths of stick to create a single tool – a skill only observed previously in humans and apes.
1069
@qikipedia
Because of wildfires – many of them started deliberately to clear land for agriculture - the Amazon rainforest now releases more carbon into the atmosphere than it is removes.
1070
@qikipedia
In Australian cities, escaped parrots sometimes teach wild flocks to chat and swear in English.
1071
@qikipedia
Lobsters communicate by peeing on each other out of their heads.
1072
@qikipedia
Cats can’t taste sugar.
1073
@qikipedia
In 2016, archeologists unearthed a mosaic from the 3rd century BC in Southern Turkey. Its slogan, written above a bread-lounging, wine-drinking skeleton, read: ‘be cheerful, live your life.’ (Image: Dosseman CC by SA 4.0)
1074
@qikipedia
To fund his PhD Neil DeGrasse Tyson almost became a stripper. After watching friends set fire to their asbestos-lined underwear at a show, he decided to teach instead.
1075
@qikipedia
The UK’s first national lottery in 1567 promised ‘get out of jail free cards’. To boost sales, ticket holders could avoid arrest for misdemeanour crimes.
@qikipedia
A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
linktr.ee/TheQIElves