› added 11 years ago

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TIL Samuel L Jackson originally intended to be a marine biologist before switching his major.

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wokd7 TIL when insects shed Theo skin, they secrete compounds to protect themselves from infection as their new exoskeleton hardens. Researchers are investigating these compounds as a source of new antibiotics and immune stimulants.
akQ9 TIL that from 1946 to 1948, nearly 700 Guatemalans were deliberately infected by American doctors to study the effects of venereal disease. The US didn’t formally acknowledge the study or apologize till 2010.
KYKAa TIL that for centuries, tuberculosis was thought to be hereditary, or caused by malnutrition, harsh climate, etc. It wasn’t until 1865 that French military doctor Jean-Antoine Villemin proved that TB was an infectious disease by inoculating lab rabbits with material from infected humans and cattle
woKLM TIL that Copperheads sent mail containing venomous snakes to Washington D.C., when they declared for the Confederacy.
bYZN TIL the Bios Urn turns the ashes from a person’s cremation into a tree by using them as a nutrient source for a seed