The QI Elves @qikipedia@tooot.im

Word of the day - TIDSOPTIMIST (Swedish): a person who's habitually late because they think they have more time than they actually do. Literally 'time optimist'.

A contronym is a single word with two definitions that are contradictory. For instance, dust can mean to cover with dust, but also to remove dust, and seed can mean to plant seeds, but also to remove seeds.

Jeff Bezos is funding a clock designed to run for 10,000 years that can be powered by the change in temperature between day and night.

Word of the day: EARTHSHINE. Sunlight reflected off the Earth's surface that lights up the dark side of the moon with a dull glow. (Image: Antonysamy Xavier) https://t.co/iWdWHitRe2

In 1997, 62 shipping containers full of 4.8 million LEGO pieces fell off a boat and have since been washing up on UK shores. Coincidentally, many of the lost LEGO were nautically themed.

A dog in a beekeeping suit has been trained to detect the smell of infected beehives: https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/beekeeping-dog-astronaut-suit-finds-infected-hives-smell.html

Female koalas are three times as likely to engage in lesbian sexual encounters than they are heterosexual ones. Sexual encounters have been known to involve up to five females and last twice as long as heterosexual ones.

“La genie du mal” is a cathedral sculpture of Lucifer made by Belgian artist Guillaume Geefs. His younger brother Joseph had previously made a sculpture of Lucifer that was removed after being deemed ‘too seductive’ (Image: Vassil. NB this photo is of the less sexy statue). https://t.co/UJrfLmp0wN

Semantic satiation is a psychological phenomenon in which repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning for the listener.

The first silicone breast implant surgery was performed on a dog named Esmeralda.

Using only mouth clicks, the most skilled human practitioners of echolocation are able to tell if an object two metres away is a car, lamppost or tree.

The Chinese police have started cloning particularly effective police dogs in the hope that it will reduce training times and costs.

According to the British Museum, the character in Edvard Munch's The Scream isn't actually screaming - they are trying to block out the piercing scream of nature. https://t.co/WFfvPmFnMb

Male fruit flies who have consumed alcohol are less picky about their sexual partners.

Mice can be trained to fear certain smells, a fear which they can then pass on to their children and grandchildren. https://t.co/j3oTOyjHBE

To counter writer’s block, Dan Brown puts on gravity boots and hangs upside down.

The last paragraph of Jane Austen’s favourite novel (‘Cecilia’ by Fanny Burney) uses the phrase ‘PRIDE and PREJUDICE’ three times.

Tonight at 10pm on @BBCTwo we'll be discussing PANIMALS with @sanditoksvig, @alandavies1, @prodnose, @jupitusphillip and @HatchingChange! #QI https://t.co/56nYP08bLG

Mice can be induced to fear certain smells, a fear which they can then pass on to their children and grandchildren. (Image: George Shuklin)

If you started counting the cells in your body, one by one, it would take you at least a million and a half years to complete the task.