Sources:
Reader’s Digest: rd.com/list/science-f…

TOKU-E Science Facts: toku-e.com/blog/weird-but…

German study on rat laughter (National Geographic coverage)

next time someone says "it's not that deep"

remember that scientists literally tickle rats for research

and the rats are having the time of their lives 🐀😂

but here's why this matters:

→ laughter = emotion = consciousness
→ if rats can laugh, they can feel joy
→ it changed how we think about animal emotions
→ tickling became a way to measure rat happiness in labs

this opened a whole field of study:

→ it's called Gelotology (the study of laughter)
→ laughter isn't just a human thing
→ at least 65 other species have their own form of laughter
→ includes primates, dogs, dolphins, and even some birds

the rats didn't just tolerate it...

→ they actively chased the researcher's hand
→ they'd return asking for more tickles
→ they showed "play behavior" just like human kids
→ the most ticklish spot? their belly and back of the neck

→ researchers in Germany tickled lab rats
→ the rats made high-pitched "chirping" sounds (ultrasonic)
→ humans can't hear it without special equipment
→ but it's their version of laughter

Today I Found Out 🧠

rats actually LAUGH when you tickle them...

and they come back for more

scientists proved this and it's adorable

here's what they discovered:

🧵👇

a town where the dead never rest and the living can't stay forever ❄️⚰️

but here's the wildest part:

→ you also can't be born there
→ pregnant women must leave 3 weeks before due date
→ the hospital has no maternity ward
→ nobody is allowed to begin OR end their life in Longyearbyen

so the town made a rule:

→ if you're terminally ill, you must leave
→ if you're about to die, you get flown to mainland Norway
→ the only graveyard stopped accepting bodies in 1950
→ there are only about 10 burials allowed per year (for accidental deaths)

the real problem:

→ in 1918, influenza victims were buried there
→ decades later, scientists found the virus was STILL ALIVE in the frozen bodies
→ the permafrost created a time capsule for deadly diseases
→ any future outbreak could reanimate from the graves

→ the permafrost never thaws
→ bodies buried there don't decompose
→ they stay perfectly preserved... forever
→ scientists discovered 75-year-old corpses looked like they died yesterday

→ Longyearbyen is the world's northernmost town
→ it sits 800 miles from the North Pole
→ and they literally banned dying there in 1950

why would anyone ban death?

Today I Found Out 🧠

there's a town in Norway where it's ILLEGAL to die...

and the reason why will blow your mind

here's the story:

🧵👇

biometric security has a fatal flaw:

→ you can change a password
→ you can't change your fingerprints

next time you flash a peace sign... think about what you're really sharing ✌️🔓

but it gets worse:

→ you post hand photos constantly (holding coffee, showing rings, waving)
→ criminals don't even need to be near you
→ they're building fingerprint databases from social media right now

this already happened:

→ 2014: hackers cloned a politician's fingerprint from press conference photos
→ 2017: researchers bypassed Samsung Galaxy S8 iris security
→ your thumbs-up selfie could unlock your bank app

the process is terrifyingly simple:

→ take a high-res photo of someone's hand
→ use software to enhance and map the fingerprint ridges
→ print it onto a mold or special film
→ boom... you can unlock their phone, laptop, or security system

→ researchers proved they can copy fingerprints from photos taken 10+ feet away
→ all they need is good lighting and a standard camera
→ peace signs and hand photos are a goldmine for hackers
→ your fingerprint never changes (unlike a password you can reset)

Today I Found Out 🧠

your fingerprints can be STOLEN from a photo...

and you're probably helping thieves do it right now

here's how scary this actually is:

🧵👇

but airplane mode stuck around anyway

because changing regulations is harder than keeping a 30-year-old rule ✈️📵

the myth about "crashing the plane"?

→ never actually happened
→ modern planes are shielded against interference
→ pilots use iPads in the cockpit during flight

so in the 1990s:

→ the FCC banned cell use on planes
→ not because of interference with flight systems
→ but to protect the ground-based phone networks

the problem:

→ your phone connects to dozens of towers per minute
→ each tower tries to hand off your signal to the next one
→ the system gets overloaded with tracking requests
→ airlines would get charged for all this network chaos

→ when your phone is on during a flight
→ it constantly searches for cell towers
→ at 500+ mph, it pings tower after tower after tower
→ this creates a "billing nightmare" for telecom compa

Today I Found Out 🧠

your phone's airplane mode wasn't created for safety...

it was created to save the airlines money

here's the real reason:

🧵👇

but airplane mode stuck around anyway

because changing regulations is harder than keeping a 30-year-old rule ✈️📵

the myth about "crashing the plane"?

→ never actually happened
→ modern planes are shielded against interference
→ pilots use iPads in the cockpit during flight

so in the 1990s:

→ the FCC banned cell use on planes
→ not because of interference with flight systems
→ but to protect the ground-based phone networks

→ when your phone is on during a flight
→ it constantly searches for cell towers
→ at 500+ mph, it pings tower after tower after tower
→ this creates a "billing nightmare" for telecom companies