976
@qikipedia
Before her death in 1891, the wealthy French socialite Anne Goguet left 100,000 francs to be awarded for the first communication with another planet. Contact with Martians was not eligible, because the existence of life on Mars was ‘sufficiently well known’.
977
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Word of the day GRUNTLING, n. the old term for a young pig.
978
@qikipedia
Some restaurant owners in China have tried an unusual method to get customers to keep coming back.
At least 215 restaurants have been caught lacing their noodles with opiates to addict their customers.
979
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Earlier this year, an invisible sculpture was sold for $18,030. Artist Salvatore Garau says his work should ‘activate the power of the imagination’.
980
@qikipedia
Tardigrades – also known as water bears - have survived all five mass extinctions on Earth since they evolved over half a billion years ago.
Image: Schokraie E, Warnken U, Hotz-Wagenblatt A, Grohme MA, Hengherr S, et al. (2012), CC BY 2.5
981
@qikipedia
The most famous French pangram, a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet, is ‘portez ce vieux whisky au juge blond qui fume’ (‘Take this old whisky to the blond judge who is smoking’).
982
@qikipedia
Word of the day: STRUTHIOUS - ostrich-like, used to describe someone who keeps their head in the sand and whose only response to a problem is "problem? what problem?"
983
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Word of the Day: GIMCRACKERY — a collection of showy and useless things.
984
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Churchill’s wartime plan to raise public morale by importing a platypus (named ‘Winston’) was foiled by a German submarine strike – vibrations from the explosion are thought to have overwhelmed the electrosensors in the animal’s bill and it died.
985
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Word of the day: CAREMONGERING (neologism) - organised acts of kindness and the propagation of good news in the pandemic.
986
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Last year, human triphallia — having three penises — was reported for the first time in history.
987
@qikipedia
Each ear of corn always has an even number of rows.
988
@qikipedia
There is a three-way bridge in Michigan. It is called the "Tridge".
(Image: Phil Squattrito; CC BY.)
989
@qikipedia
Chinese people learning English often memorise the word ‘ambulance' by associating it with a Chinese phrase ‘An bung neng si’, which means ‘I can’t die’.
990
@qikipedia
In Georgian-era slang, ‘a gentleman of three outs’ was a man without manners, money, and wit. ‘A gentleman of three ins’ was a man in debt, in gaol, and in danger of remaining there for life.
991
@qikipedia
Crayfish become more adventurous on antidepressants.
992
@qikipedia
“Razors pain you,
Rivers are damp,
Acids stain you,
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful,
Nooses give,
Gas smells awful.
You might as well live.”
DOROTHY PARKER
993
@qikipedia
The human brain runs on 20 watts of electricity – enough to power a dim light bulb.
Image: KMJ / Edokter
994
@qikipedia
A collective noun for a group of ghostwriters is ‘a fright’.
995
@qikipedia
In 1949, a contest for a new term to replace ‘jazz’ featured such suggestions as ‘bix-e-bop’, ‘swixibop’, ‘ragtibop’, ‘schmoosic’, 'jarb' and ‘le hot’.
996
@qikipedia
Pimpmaker, slubber doffer and saggar maker’s bottom knocker were all once occupations. (Respectively; collecting firewood, replacing loom bobbins, and pottery.)
997
@qikipedia
Word of the Day: TERGIVERSATION - a slippery refusal to give a straight answer
998
@qikipedia
While adultery is generally illegal in Japan, it is legal as long as it's done for business purposes.
999
@qikipedia
By changing its colour and shape, the mimic octopus can impersonate more than 15 different species. It's not always obvious; one disguise was described by scientists as looking like ‘a furry turkey with human legs’.
1000
@qikipedia
John Harvey Kellogg, the co-creator of Corn Flakes, fostered 42 children but was so repelled by sex he never consummated his marriage.
@qikipedia
A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
linktr.ee/TheQIElves