› added 6 months ago

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TIL about the bunya pine, a coniferous tree from Queensland Australia. Its pinecones can grow up to 35cm and weigh 10kg. Bunya pinecone seeds are edible, the texture and flavor resembling chestnuts and potatoes.

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via reddit.com

R7J68 TIL: In 2005, because of a programming error, a virtual plague spread through World of Warcraft. The servers had to be shut down because NPCs and players killed off entire in-game cities. Researchers of disease analyzed and studied the event as a model for the spread of plague IRL.
LQyvP TIL that coffee was originally consumed as wine, when coffee beans were first discovered in Ethiopia, they were fermented and consumed as a type of wine. It wasn't until later that the practice of roasting and brewing the beans as we know it today emerged.
V1KD TIL some bombers such as B-52 Stratofortress are designed to “Fail deadly” meaning they are guaranteed to detonate their nuclear payload if they are hit and fall below a certain altitude to discourage the enemy from shooting them down in the first place
jb8R TIL that John F Kennedy ordered 1,200 Cuban cigars just hours before signing the trade embargo in 1962.
PGRg TIL that the reason almost all public restrooms have what are called open front toilet seats, (u-shaped), is to “allow women to wipe the perineal area after using the toilet without contacting the seat".