› added 4 years ago

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TIL descendants of Pablo Escobar's 4 pet hippopotami, aka "cocaine hippos" are an invasive species "rewilding" parts of the ecosystem. The hippos' diet & body size let them replay a role of similar extinct species like the giant llama, making northern Colombia more like the late Pleistocene Epoch.

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jyjp TIL that mammalian evolution has been fundamentally driven by viruses
b97GZ TIL a riddle from 1688 goes. "If a man born blind can feel the differences between shapes such as spheres and cubes, could he, if given the ability, distinguish those objects by sight alone?" In 2003 the riddle was solved when five people had their sight restored though surgery. They could not.
OGxve TIL about the 6th basic taste that's been discovered, adding to salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami. The 6th is ammonium chloride. This is a taste that can signal toxicity, but it's also part of a popular Scandinavian treat: salty licorice.
lojOa TIL Robert Rodriguez's 2010 exploitation film Machete is a spin off of his kids' film series Spy Kids. Isador Cortez (AKA Machete, played by Danny Trejo) appears in both films
j9vE TIL when a caterpillar is eating a tobacco plant, the plant sends out a chemical distress call that attracts predators of the caterpillar