› added 11 months ago

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TIL pitcher plants can "taste" their prey and adjust their digestive juices. Sarracenia purpurea senses what it catches—like proteins or DNA—and tweaks the mix of enzymes it releases to digest it. This helps the plant save energy by only making what it needs.

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6EJdY TIL that most of the 9/11 hijackers had no idea that they were on a suicide mission. Evidence shows that the majority likely believed that they were taking the planes hostage as a means of leveraging the release of Al-Qaeda prisoners. Only the men trained to fly the planes knew the truth.
Z8YyG TIL that in the 1650s the Holy Roman Emperor allowed the Lutherans to build three churches. Petulantly, he stipulated that the churches be constructed in one year using only wood, straw and loam. In response, the Lutherans constructed the ornate Churches of Peace, now UNESCO world heritage sites.
XEZnQ TIL there's only one known person in the world who can draw perfect mathematical fractals, a skill he acquired after being attacked by muggers who kicked him in the head repeatedly.
AN8Bd TIL that of the five largest companies in the world by revenue, Saudi Aramco is the only one to have less than one million employees. In fact, it doesn't even have 100,000.
dlKd TIL Henry Winkler (‘The Fonz’) has dyslexia, has written an 18-book children’s series whose main character is dyslexic, and he plays the kid’s music teacher in a BBC TV adaptation. The teacher is based on the one person who provided him moral support in his own schooling.