› added 7 months ago

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TIL about Pocho, a crocodile in Costa Rica who, after being found nearly dead from a gunshot, was nursed back to health by local fisherman Gilberto "Chito" Shedden. They developed an extraordinary friendship, swimming and performing together for two decades until Pocho's death in 2011.

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Yy5G TIL: The first new antibiotic (Teixobactin) in 30 years has been discovered. This discovery could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics because of the way it was discovered using an electronic chip to grow the microbes from the soil and then isolating their antibiotic chemical compounds.
ne5a7 TIL Gardeners have attempted to breed blue roses for centuries - without success. Researchers managed to give white roses a tint of blue but still cannot produce natural blue roses.
VMjkQ TIL that in Germany they have installed these "Stolpersteins" (stumbling blocks), that have the biographical information of the victims of the Nazis. Their intent is to remind people of the victims of their Nazi past in a manner that does not glorify those events.
P1k5w TIL about the Ship of People Incident in which Norman Macleod of the Isle of Skye kidnapped young men and girls to ship them to America and sell them as indentured servants. When the people were discovered, Norman Macleod claimed that he was shipping off convicts, a practice which was legal.
eplvE TIL in the Red Sea, giant moray eels have been observed hunting cooperatively with coral groupers. The grouper approaches an eel's hiding place and shakes its head rapidly to indicate that it wants to hunt. The eel recognizes the signal and accompanies it on the hunt where they work in tandem.