› added 5 days ago

8

TIL that wasps are actually just as good pollinators as bees are. A similar quantity of pollen grains stick to and fall off of paper wasps as with bumblebees

Read more resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

via reddit.com

V4vm TIL that while jet fuel cannot technically melt steel beams, it can burn hot enough to reduce the strength of steel by as much as 90%.
We8B TIL that diamonds are not forever because they are less thermodynamically stable than graphite, so over time (likely billions of years) all diamonds will eventually become graphite.
Yp1gr TIL there's a predator in Madagascar that looks like a feline, behaves like a feline, has vertical pupils, retractable claws, whiskers etc, but it's actually a mongoose. There are no felines in Madagascar, so mongooses evolved into feline-like animals to fulfill their role in the food chain.
OWy7 TIL During the WWII invasion of Normandy, a new Canadian tank gunner destroyed 3 tiger tanks with his first 5 shots in combat, including a famous German tank commander with over 130 kills. The Canadian tanker’s only prior experience was firing a half dozen tank rounds during training.
b9Ol9 TIL that the Imperial House of Japan is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. Some sources indicate that it existed as far back as 660 BCE.