› added 8 years ago

259

TIL that pilots eat different meals to avoid food poisoning

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via ift.tt

dDm8B TIL the last elementary particle that we know to exist was discovered in 2012 at the CERN in Switzerland, using the Large Hadron Collider. It's called the Higgs boson and it's the particle responsible for "assigning" a mass to other elementary particles.
mxmex TIL Japan doesn't make execution dates public. "inmates in Japan are notified on the morning of their execution, usually about an hour before."
a8ERA TIL the smell of freshly cut grass is actually a distress signal. When grass blades are cut, they release green leaf volatiles (GLVs).It alerts the plant to damage so it can mobilize repair. GLVs are also airborne messages warning neighboring plants of danger.
ONKX TIL the appendix may not just be vestigial in humans; a 2007 study suggested that appendices serve as safe havens for “good bacteria” when illness flushes other bacteria from the intestines. Afterward, the useful bacteria can quickly repopulate the intestines.
4xNN TIL under secrecy, that the first jet powered aircraft flown in the US was piloted by Jack Woolams. Already confused by seeing a plane flying with no propeller, other pilots who spotted Woolams would then see him in the cockpit wearing a gorilla mask, a bowler hat, and smoking a cigar.