› added 11 years ago

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TIL Slovak agriculture scientists grew soy beans in the irradiated zone of Chernobyl to see how they would adapt. The plants adapted within a single generation, producing more protective proteins, including one that is known to help protect human blood from radiation.

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via reddit.com

E1bD7 TIL that Ray Bradbury said that Fahrenheit 451 is not about government censorship but about social censorship where the people are the culprit.
rjZM TIL Thioacetone. A chemical so stinky that a small amount (test tube amount) causes nausea a half mile away. A smell so bad it was described as “Fearful”
jpEa TIL that The Pokemon Company has registered over 700 domains for each type of Pokemon that, when a Pokemon’s name is typed in as a url, they will be brought to the official Pokedex entry for the Pokemon they entered as the url.
oB8G8 TIL of the "Law of Triviality" - AKA the "The Bike Shedding" effect. C. Northcote Parkinson's argument claims individuals or organizations spend a disproportionate amount of time on trivial, easy to grasp issues rather than far more important, difficult tasks.
nelOY TIL that Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air was the voice of Shredder in the original TMNT cartoons.