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Knowledge is something that can always be improved. At the same time, it's also a thing that no matter how much effort you put in, you'll have some blind spots because it's impossible to know absolutely everything, isn't it? There are things that we are doomed to never learn about. But today's list isn't about them. Instead, it's about the things many people don't know but can learn about. And when is a better time to start than now?

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#1

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New If you want to stop and have a chat, you won't die if you move out of the walkway.

Grandson_of_0din , Cristina Gottardi Report

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#2

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Ctrl Backspace deletes the entire word.

Brueguard , Christin Hume Report

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#3

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New A burial plot is called a graveyard if it's part of a church lot. It's called a cemetery if separate.

Missusmidas , Mike Bird Report

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David
David
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

According to various definitions I'd rate this as 'mostly true. True in that graveyard is more commonly associated with a church, but untrue in that both words are technically correct whether or not a church grounds is involved. So not a great hill for the grammar nazis to die on (pun intended). --- "The word cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον 'sleeping place') implies that the land is specifically designated as a burial ground and originally applied to the Roman catacombs. The term graveyard is often used interchangeably with cemetery, but a graveyard primarily refers to a burial ground within a churchyard."

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Probably many of us have heard the saying that “knowledge is power” at least once in our lifetime. This phrase comes from the Latin aphorism "scientia potentia est" (the words can be placed slightly differently, but it doesn’t change the meaning). Commonly, it’s attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, former Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, as the expression "ipsa scientia potestas est" ('knowledge itself is power') occurred in his book “Meditationes Sacrae” (1597). 

As you can see, Francis Bacon didn’t use the exact aphorism that’s assigned to the “knowledge is power” saying. The first time this exact Latin phrase was written was in the 1668 version of “Leviathan” by Thomas Hobbes, an ex-secretary to F. Bacon. 

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#4

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The only difference between chemistry and biology is life. If it's alive, it's biology, if it's not its chemistry.

Jlbennett2001 , Nhia Moua Report

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Cosmikid
Cosmikid
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why- it's true! And, just incidentally, both chemistry and biology - are actually physics! Man, the Sophomores are taking over!

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#5

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Scuba is an acronym, standing for self contained underwater breathing apparatus.

JackCooper_7274 , Oleksandr P Report

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Spannidandoolar
Spannidandoolar
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I swear I learnt this from a TV show...I want to say Boy Meets World but I may be wrong, something of that era!

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#6

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New A company called Warner Chappell Music collected licensing fees for use of the song “Happy Birthday to You” all the way until 2015. That’s why characters in movies often sing other songs like “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and restaurant chains often have their own birthday songs they sing to customers.

ItsMeCourtney , cottonbro studio Report

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AtMostAFabulist
AtMostAFabulist
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Premium 7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I knew the song was still under copyright. Is it still, or did it go public domain in 2015?

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Yet, even though knowledge is power, everyone carries different levels of it. And this leads to the phenomenon of the “curse of knowledge” or “the curse of expertise.” It’s a cognitive bias where people incorrectly assume that everyone knows as much as they do on a certain topic. This makes it hard for them to imagine what it’s like to not have that knowledge.  

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One of the most interesting experiments done about this curse, which also quite easily explains the phenomenon, was conducted in 1990 by a Stanford University psychology graduate student Elizabeth Newton. She created a game, where people were assigned roles of “tapper” and “listener.” Tappers had to tap out the rhythm of a well-known song on a table, while the listeners had to guess the song. 

Out of 120 songs tapped out during the experiment, only 3 were guessed correctly. Yes, only 3! Apparently, when a tapper taps, they hear the tune in their mind along with the taps, while the listener only hears the uncoordinated tapping sounds. And due to the curse, the tappers couldn’t see why it was so hard for listeners to understand the tune. 
#7

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Irukandji jellyfish grow only to about 1 cubic cm in size, but have an incredibly painful sting. One symptom of the sting is a strong impending sense of doom. Victims have begged their doctor to be killed as they were certain they would die anyways.

NikkiRex , Magda Ehlers Report

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Libstak
Libstak
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And naturally they are found in northern Australian waters right?

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#8

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Bananas are berries, and Antarctica is a desert.

TNS_420 , Dom J Report

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#9

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Mammals pee an average of 22 seconds, no matter if mouse or elephant.

strangerinthebox , Pixabay Report

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Donkey boi
Donkey boi
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My wife pees for about 2 seconds (I'm not even joking, she pisses so hard that I worry she's gonna chip the porcelain), I pee for about 2 minutes. I think both of us are upsetting the average.

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This works with any other type of knowledge. Knowing some piece of information makes it hard to understand how others don’t know it, hence the curse in the phenomenon’s name. 

And it’s not the only thing that's so cursed about it. In fact, this phenomenon creates quite a few problems between people: 

  • Makes some teachers have difficulty understanding how their students can’t comprehend a topic;
  • Makes it difficult to communicate; 
  • Makes it hard to understand or justify your own past behavior;
  • Makes it hard to predict or understand the behavior of others.

So, be aware that as you learn new things from this list, you might fall for the curse of knowledge. After all, as the question that prompted this thread suggests, the majority of people don’t know these facts, so don’t forget that! 

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Also, maybe you know any other facts that not many others know that weren't mentioned in this list? Share it with us in the comments! And don't forget to upvote the most interesting facts you learned from this list!
#10

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Squirrels run faster up trees than on flat surfaces.

sstebbinss , Maddie Franz Report

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#11

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Font describes the variation in style in which something is written: size, italic, bold, all caps etc.

Typeface is the variation in the style of letters (Arial, Times New Roman, Comic Sans) that most people refer to as fonts.

gigglesmcsdinosaur , Brett Jordan Report

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Hey!
Hey!
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you're interested in fonts, read the book Font Psychology: Why Fonts Matter and How They Influence Consumer Behavior by Richard G. Lewis. Quite interesting.

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#12

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Most the people involved in the Hindenburg disaster lived.

CaligulaMoney , Biblioteca Valenciana Nicolau Primitiu Report

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Major Harris
Major Harris
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the last survivor of this disaster died 08 nov 2019, Werner Gustav Doehner. hr was 8 years old when he was on her.

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#13

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The Amazon River is over 4,000 miles long and doesn't have any bridges that cross it.

Fuzzy-Fox-215 , Nando Freitas Report

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Donkey boi
Donkey boi
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Technically, False. But also true. The Amazon river proper does not have any bridges. However, there are many small bridges crossing the distributaries, which are still part of the same river (as they leave and re-join the river). I know this for a fact because I have crossed them, just outside of Iquitos, Peru.

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#14

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New SONAR stands for SOund NAvigation and Ranging.

TinCanSailor987 , Matheus Guimarães Report

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Ai-Li Mae Sarvis
Ai-Li Mae Sarvis
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes. also RADAR means RAdio Detection And Ranging. LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

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#15

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The amount of [crimes] that happens on cruise ships. Most of them unresolved too.

PeacefulKillah , Sơn Bờm Report

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#16

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New An 18 inch pizza is more than two 12 inch pizzas.
And to do the math, the surface area of a circle is pi x r squared.
Pi is the constant. 18 in pizza has a 9 in radius, or r. 12 inch has
6. 9 squared is 81, 6 squared is 36. 36 x 2 is 72. 81 is greater than 72.

Who_Else_but_Macho , Pixabay Report

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Ace
Ace
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Many pizza menus don't take this into consideration, so, for example a 30cm pizza that costs chf20 is 7 cents per square cm, a 40cm at chf30 is only 5 cents per sq cm. (Prices from dominos.ch)

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#17

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Kysman95 said: 

When you get killed by army ants it's not the poison or biting that kills you. >!But the invasion of lungs!<.

IHateThisDamnWebsite explained: 

Ants crawl down your mouth and you suffocate as they get to your lungs.

Kysman95 , Salmen Bejaoui Report

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#18

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New If your nerve is broken in the wrong way, the nerve will send a pain signal to the brain and it won't stop.

RhiannonCrystalLady , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My!
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My!
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My best friend's daughter has extreme nerve damage in her stomach area, and is literally in constant pain. She's outlived doctor estimates from sheer cussedness.

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#19

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Centralia PA, Its a ghost town in Pennsylvania. Somehow they managed to set a coal mine on fire and its been burning since 1962. There are still a few people living there apparently but there are noxious fumes venting out of the ground so the government doesn't allow new people to go there.

Adorable-Chemistry64 , fireballsedai Report

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Cosmikid
Cosmikid
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"somehow they managed" - mine fires are an ancient problem - there's one in Australia they think is 6,000 years old.

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#20

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The difference between a million and a billion, is approximately a billion.

jonnyboyrebel , Markus Krisetya Report

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Tucker Cahooter
Tucker Cahooter
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Note that this is a metric billion (1000 million); imperial billions are 842 million (US) or 876 million (UK)

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#21

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The bow-wow theory of language (aka the onomatopoeic theory), which states that our imitation of natural sounds is the basis of language development.

no-recognition-1616 , Papa Yaw Report

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Beck
Beck
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always thought this was so interesting :) kind of reminds me of how multiple languages consider cats to say “meow” or some similar variation (“miao,” “mau,” etc)

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#22

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Everything is made of chemicals and every single one of them will kill you with a sufficient dose.

Insertsociallife , Polina Tankilevitch Report

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Cosmikid
Cosmikid
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All knowledge is made up of facts, and every single one of them can be warped into uselessness...

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#23

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Your eyes have a separate immune system from the rest of your body. If they get damaged in such a way that it affects anything other than your eyes, your regular immune system can attack the damage and will not recognize them, meaning your own body can permanently blind you.

What's worse, your body cannot tell the difference between either eye. If one of them gets infected or damaged, your immune system can attack your healthy eye and take away your sight entirely.

RhiannonCrystalLady , João Jesus Report

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#24

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Sharks predate trees.

External_Crazy_6568 , Chase Baker Report

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Major Harris
Major Harris
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7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

bull sharks are the only dangerous species of shark that can acclimate to fresh water. a bull shark was caught in 1995, 930 miles up the mississippi river near st. louis! and in australia, carbrooke golf course has a large water hazard/lake on the 14th hole that has several bull sharks that were swept into the lake from a river that overflowed its banks.

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#25

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The chances of a good recovery after CPR is abysmal.

Aswedfrog , RDNE Stock project Report

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ElfVibratorGlitter
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

CPR is to keep oxygen circulating until you can get actual medical help to restore a rhythm (if they even can). CPR alone isn't going to fix someone. Just keep someone's brain from dying from lack of oxygen.

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#26

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The only Spanish-speaking country in Africa is Equitorial Guinea. Its capital, Malabo, is on an island slightly northwest of the country’s mainland.

Dre_Lake , aboodi vesakaran Report

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#27

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The tip of a shoelace is called an aglet.

poker_face-_- , Mstudio Report

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#28

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Water doesn't conduct electricity.

Edit cuz I should probably explain; pure water doesn't conduct electricity. Getting water to that level of purity is relatively costly however.

Dexember69 , David Becker Report

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mysterious(all pronouns)
mysterious(all pronouns)
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Adding any salt (ionic compound) will make water conduct electricity. These salts are referred to as electrolytes.

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#29

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New If you get a tooth abscess on the maxillary (top arch) canine to canine. It needs to be taken care of ASAP. The area is called the triangle of death when it comes to abscess or infections.

Source: Dental Hygienist

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QuickenZ , Caroline LM Report

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AtMostAFabulist
AtMostAFabulist
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Premium 7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i honestly thought that mirror was actually a hook that was pulling the teeth up. Yikes

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#30

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New Migatte-no-Blakae said:

A broken clock is right twice a day, but a clock ticking in reverse is correct FOUR times a day.

peckx063 explained: 

Start one at midnight going forward and one backward. After six hours they'll both be at 6, after another six hours they'll both be at 12, after another six hours they'll both be at 6,after another six hours they'll both be at 12.

Migatte-no-Blakae , Krivec Ales Report

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#31

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New You can collapse your lungs from laughing.

ContentTask2032 , nappy Report

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Donkey boi
Donkey boi
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not quite right. People with certain conditions can suffer a form of attack as a result of laughing (such as an asthmatic having an asthma attack, and narcoleptics falling asleep), and smokers can have a phlegmatic attack which can cause blockages in the lungs and airways. The act of laughing forces air from the lungs (including stale air), which is why a good laughing session always includes a large intake of breath. The collapsing of a lung occurs when air gets trapped between the lung and chest wall, which would not occur when laughing. *Unless there was another force/injury, such as a broken rib, which is rare, but possible.

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#32

33 Facts That Might Teach Quite A Lot Of People Something New The human body has no means of sensing "wetness", and thus doesn't know what "wetness" is. It can only sense temperature and pressure. Put on a latex glove and submerge your hand in water, and it will feel wet.

The movie The Fifth Element is the only movie to reach general audiences, in which the protagonist and antagonist are never made aware of one another, let alone meet on screen.

Domestic cats have what's known as a "Non-Fatal Terminal Velocity". Which means that, provided they are of healthy age and weight, you could punt one out of a 747 at cruising altitude and it would hit the earth with no measurable damage.

To temporarily reduce, or remove entirely, the symptoms of tinnitus, cover your ears with your palms as hard as you can, and ensure you middle fingers are touching behind your head, then rapidly tap the entire length of your fingers against the base of your skull.

You may own your phone, as in the piece of hardware in your hand, but you own exactly none of the things it can do. Remember that when texting, taking pics, posting online, or anything else you do.

DakInBlak , Fatmanur Keles Report

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#33

Your immune system has at least 1 cell to combat every single infection that could ever exist. Your T-cells are cells that, when created, go through a sort of training phase in the thymus where they are allowed to change their genetic code at random, in order to be able to battle 1 random very specific disease. During this, the body also kills any T-cells that are accidentally adapted to kill human cells. Then the T-cells are sent to lymph nodes, to be found later by presenting an antigen (a part of a pathogen) to it. Basically you have something for everything in your body, the problem is just finding it, as it takes a good few days for your body to locate the specific one.

chipperland4471 Report

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Cosmikid
Cosmikid
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except - the first premise is flat not true. Wishful thinking. Your body does NOT "know" what to do with every possible- disease - totally novel diseases exist, and are not in your database.

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