Today I Learned:
1) There are people for whom "music stuck in their head" is actual auditory hallucination, which can be quite annoying and potentially problematic -- imagine trying to sleep with big band music constantly playing outside your window.
One line of theory on the effect is that it has something to do with failure of the neurons feeding back from the brain to the neurons of the ear, which is supported somewhat by the fact that many people with this condition later go deaf, and restoring hearing in these cases with cochlear implants can alleviate or completely remove the hallucinations.
This is one of these quirks of biology that must have caused considerable confusion to our pre-scientific ancestors. What are they to think when someone constantly hears, really *hears* music? I'll bet you at least one god, demigod, demon, spirit, sprite, or other supernatural being has been invented to explain musical auditory hallucinations.
2) Speaking of music, today I learned that cockateals can not only sing along to a song, but will dance to human music and match their moves to the beat, even changing to match the beat when the beat changes.
3) Yes, burning candles in my apartment *can* trigger the fire alarm. =(
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