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AlteredEgo

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The shellac used as a protective sealant and coating for everything from hardwood floors to furniture to fresh produce to cosmetics to pills to dental wax is a secretion of the lac beetle.
It's also used in pastry design. If you see gold or silver icing, or really any high-gloss icing, it is likely food-grade shellac responsible for that gleam.
 

NCbear

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On a more serious note, I find it amazing that we live 93 million miles from a fusion reactor (the Sun) and that therefore a whole hell of a lot of cold, dark space is between it and us—but we feel its warmth from here.

That’s an unimaginable amount of energy.

NCbear (who liked writing—and, later, rhetoric—only just a bit more than science, back when I was choosing my college major)
 

Enid

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there's about as much time between the construction of gobekli tepe and of stonehenge as there was between the construction of stonehenge and today.

the white part of bird "poop" is actually equivalent to our pee: it's crystallized uric acid

crows are super brainy. they never forget a human face, have similar brain capabilities as primates, and have their own dialects within groups which they can mimic. they can even learn to "talk" like parrots. they sometimes will bring their favorite humans little trinkets and gifts.
 
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there's about as much time between the construction of gobekli tepe and of stonehenge as there was between the construction of stonehenge and today.

the white part of bird "poop" is actually equivalent to our pee: it's crystallized uric acid

crows are super brainy. they never forget a human face, have similar brain capabilities as primates, and have their own dialects within groups which they can mimic. they can even learn to "talk" like parrots. they sometimes will bring their favorite humans little trinkets and gifts.

Crows are amazing.
They put nuts on the road and wait for cars to drive over them to crack the shells.
And they can use tools in clever ways. I saw one video where a crow worked out how to use a short stick to get access to a longer one that could be used to get food.

And this one where they combined sticks:
Clever crows reveal window into the mind
 
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Pandora77

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there's about as much time between the construction of gobekli tepe and of stonehenge as there was between the construction of stonehenge and today.

the white part of bird "poop" is actually equivalent to our pee: it's crystallized uric acid

crows are super brainy. they never forget a human face, have similar brain capabilities as primates, and have their own dialects within groups which they can mimic. they can even learn to "talk" like parrots. they sometimes will bring their favorite humans little trinkets and gifts.

I know about the white part of bird poop, as I've owned birds all my life.
Every bird, no matter how small, has it's own tiny personality and things they like/dislike.

Crows, or well Ravens are super duper awesome, some of the smartest animals on this planet.
They are really hated on in many parts of Europe, including Germany.
Mainly because they can be a real plague, cause they eat seeds from the fields or the corn/etc and are not as easily chased away as other birds, cause they are way too smart for that.
Many people hunt them down and it's a real shame, as in some Mythologies (Norse and Celtic for example) they were greatly respected.

If you haven't read about Hugin and Munin yet, read their story:
Hugin and Munin - Norse Mythology for Smart People
 
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