The pancreas does play a significant role in digestion even though food never enters the organ. The pancreatic duct transports the pancreatic fluid it produces to the duodenum. Once in the digestive system, the fluid's enzymes aid in the breakdown of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It performs the role of an exocrine gland by releasing a substance into the body's ducts. It also serves as an endocrine gland, secreting two hormones into the bloodstream to help regulate blood sugar levels. Glucagon is released when you don't have enough sugar, and insulin is released when you do.

Long before renowned Muppeteer Frank Oz used animatronics and puppetry to create Yoda, the goal was to recruit an actual actor... a simian actor, that is. They planned to put up a real monkey in a Yoda suit and mask, according to The Making of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back. There are pictures of the monkey in training as well as a rather awful Yoda mask prototype. Fortunately, a crew member who had previously worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey pointed out that the monkeys used in that film's introduction were a major pain, which convinced Empire's creators to dismiss their Yoda monkey.

In his Poor Richard's Almanac, founding father Benjamin Franklin got one over on rival Titan Leeds, also an almanac writer, by "predicting" the exact date and time of his death. When Leeds obviously didn't die on the given date, Franklin kept the prank going, claiming that he actually had passed on and that an imposter was publishing his almanac.

 

A female chihuahua called Milly measured 9.65 cm (3.8 in) tall on 21 February 2013. 

She is owned by Vanesa Semler of Dorado, Puerto Rico. Born on 1 Dec 2011, Milly was so small that she could fit in a teaspoon, and had to be fed milk every two hours with an eye-dropper. 

She loves having her picture taken and often sticks out her tiny tongue for the camera.

Poland is the EU's top candle manufacturer as of 2018. All candles manufactured in the EU were worth €619 million to it, or 38% of the total. 10% of the value of candles produced in the EU in 2018 was produced by Germany, which comes in second, and Italy, which comes in third (source: Eurostat). 
Chinese, American, and Vietnamese candles were the most common imports from non-EU nations.

The waters surrounding Malta and Gozo are a stunning combination of blue and green. The most popular site on the Maltese islands is the Blue Lagoon on Comino Island.

In an interview with The Guardian, Teletubbies co-creator Anne Wood explained that the show's adorable and fluffy rabbits are not your typical pet bunnies. "They have to be enormous to match the scale," Wood explained. There was also an issue with their health. "The only ones we could discover that were acceptable had been bred on the continent to be eaten," Wood explained. "We provided them wonderful circumstances, ranging free across the Teletubby grasslands, but their breeding had given them enlarged hearts, and the animal trainer would greet me in grief practically weekly, telling me another had died."

Music can improve the way we exercise, according to a 2010 study led by sport psychologist C.I. Karageorghis. This can happen in two ways: it can make you feel less tired or it can increase the amount of time you spend working out. According to this study, music can result in “higher-than-expected levels of endurance, power, productivity, or strength.

Keeping things as Hollywood as possible, the Academy Awards are held at the impressive Dolby Theatre in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall every year. Located on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, the auditorium first opened in 2001 and has been the home of the Oscars since then. Originally known as the Kodack Theatre, Dolby Laboratories signed a 20-year naming deal in 2012.

When you arrive in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh, the first thing you'll notice is the enormous queue of tuk tuks at the airport and on practically every street corner. While the route might get your pulse racing (standard driving laws are ignored), it is a faster method to explore the cities. In addition, tuk tuks are more common in various places. But remember to haggle the price before entering!

Most people have heard of and are familiar with the Venus flytrap. However, few people are aware that Venus flytraps may produce flowers. Venus flytrap traps are not flowers; they have merely modified leaves that adapt to catch bugs. Venus flytraps develop multiple bloom stalks in the spring. Flower stems develop into flower bunches. The blooms are white with green veins that run across the petals. The blooms are unimpressive. Growers of Venus flytraps may still fertilise them and harvest their seeds.

Although we are accustomed to seeing spider silk in the form of webs, did you know that it is actually a liquid? When the silk is exposed to air, it hardens, allowing them to create and build their webs.

The World Happiness Report, which strives to "redefine the growth narrative to put people's well-being at the heart of government initiatives," ranks Finland first among 156 nations, followed by Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. According to the report, Madagascar is the 14th unhappiest country in the world. It's hardly surprising that it's one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita GDP of $1,554 (ranking 179th out of 187 nations) and an average life expectancy of only 65.5 (in the UK, it's 81.2).

Jorhat is a major city and district in upper Assam. It is widely referred to as the ‘Tea Capital of India’. It was the last capital of the Ahom dynasty and is home to some of the oldest historical monuments of Assam. Jorhat produces large quantities of tea which is exported to different countries.

Lao-Lao is a powerful rice whiskey produced in Laos that costs less than a dollar per liter! The spirit is the cheapest in the world and can be found in any corner store, a mom-and-pop business, or market across the country. However, before you get too thrilled, the extremely low price has its own set of consequences. It tastes like a bottle of Methylated Spirits, has caused blindness on extremely rare occasions, and is a sure bet that you won't recall the events of the previous night. Of course, this is all hearsay. Take this as a warning.

Due of their importance to the health of our seas, this marine mammal is both intriguing and unjustly underappreciated. Although there are still plenty of krill, the population is anticipated to suffer as a result of climate change as ice melts and elevates the level of water.

The family Mymaridae is more commonly referred to as fairyflies. These insects belong to the Chalcid wasp family.

The current global outbreak is being caused by the less severe West African clade (2022). So far, no one has perished as a result of this outbreak. However, monkeypox can cause complications such as pneumonia and infections in your brain (encephalitis) or eyes, which can be lethal.

Danielle Fernandes' formal name is Danielle Fernandes Fernande Dominique Schuelein-Steel, better known as Danielle Steel, is an American novelist who is the best-selling author alive today and the fourth-bestselling author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold.

Most Star Wars fans are already aware that Yoda's full name, at least in the original draught, was "Minch Yoda," before being condensed to something simpler to say. But here's an interesting statistic that may surprise you: Yoda's original name was—wait for it—Buffy in the very early phases of The Empire Strikes Back. Yes, Buffy, the name we associate with great young vampire slayers. If Yoda had been given this extremely un-Yoda-like name, the world would have been a very different place.

In the last 300 million years or so, several types of plants have evolved a tree form, or "arborescence." It's a tricky stage in plant evolution, requiring innovations like sturdy trunks to keep plants upright and strong vascular systems to pump water and nutrients up from the soil. The extra sunlight, on the other hand, is worth it, causing trees to evolve multiple times throughout history, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution.

Walt's personal favorite song was a ballad called "Feed the Birds," which is from the Mary Poppins movie and is one of the many upbeat hits from Disney films over the years. Richard Sherman, who wrote the song, claims that Walt frequently visited the Sherman brothers' office at Disney on Fridays and asked for a personal rendition of "Feed the Birds." Sherman recalled that the man "loved that song and knew it was the heartbeat of the whole movie."

St. David's in Pembrokeshire is the world's smallest cathedral city, with a population of only 2,000 people. It is also the only city in the United Kingdom that is totally surrounded by a national park.