› added 8 years ago

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TIL that lotuses are basically night clubs for beetles because they are able to keep their flowers at a constant 30-35°C even during cold nights. Beetles trapped “when the petals on these bowl-shaped blooms closed up for the night were indeed very active, spending the night mating and feeding”.

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n90W TIL an ad agency successfully defeated a Tea Party push to defund and close a public library by pretending to be a Tea Party-ish organization called Safeguarding American Families, that was throwing a “Book Burning Party” to celebrate the library’s closing
LQ6BQ TIL Of the letters of last resort. Each UK nuclear submarine has a safe which contains a letter written by the Prime Minister, with instructions on what to do in the case of nuclear war. They're only to be opened when the UK has been hit by nuclear weapons.
N7gDe TIL Adélie penguins have been observed to engage in necrophilia, as young males often cannot tell the difference between compliant and dead females. This was first observed in 1912 but was deemed too shocking, and so was only rediscovered in 2012.
e0yK6 TIL that last year a Japanese company launched a satellite into space that can artificially recreate a meteor shower. This spring it should reach the right position and the first test shower will be released over Hiroshima. They expect a colorful meteor shower visible in an area up to 200km wide.
N7O58 TIL that the will of Who bassist John Entwistle, who died in 2002 after taking cocaine with a stripper in a Las Vegas hotel, divided his estate between his mother, son and girlfriend. A month after receiving an inheritance of ca £1million, Lisa Pritchett-Johnson died of a suspected drug overdose.