› added 8 months ago

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TIL that there's a species of ant called "Colobopsis explodens" that can explode on command to defend its colony. These "exploding ants" rupture their abdomens, releasing a sticky, toxic fluid to incapacitate threats

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P11XL TIL there was an epidemic of bubonic plague in San Francisco in the early 20th century, but denial by city and state government, and racism, caused people to focus on Chinatown residents
MelDa TIL that creatures the size of Godzilla or King Kong cannot exist in real life. If you were to scale up an animal by 10x in each dimension, it would have 100x the muscle power, but 1000x the mass, likely crushing this creature to death. An animal this big would look very differnt.
GAKZQ TIL the wood panel film prop that Kate Winslet's Rose floats on (and Leonardo Dicaprio's Jack floats beside) to save her life towards the end of the movie Titanic was sold at auction for $718,750 (£567,561).
ADX64 TIL that Honeycrisp apples have much larger cells than other apples, giving them extra flavor and crunch.
wlWM TIL in 1992 an Israeli cargo plane crashed in Amsterdam killing 43 people. Israel claimed it was carrying flowers and perfume. It took 6yrs and a Dutch parliamentary inquiry before they admitted it was carrying DMMP, a key component for sarin nerve gas.