› added 9 years ago

88

TIL Petrichor is the name given to that earthy smell that accompanies rainfall.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

V8Em TIL Stephen Hawking refuses to upgrade his voice program to a more natural sound because he considers it to be “his own personal voice”
16k7D TIL: The scent of freshly cut grass is actually a plant's distress signal. When damaged, grass releases "green leaf volatiles" (GLVs), which act as a cry for help. These chemicals attract insects that protect the plant by eating herbivores, making the familiar smell a signal of defense.
OGZyX TIL Neil Armstrong was filmed as he stepped on the moon with a $2.3 million upside-down camera. Westinghouse built for Apollo 11 a special model that the astronaut deployed by pulling a handle near the ladder he climbed down onto the lunar surface. NASA inverted the image for the TV audience.
1aQrW TIL that the Mexican government sent around 500 of it's elite soldiers to be trained as commandos at Ft. Bragg(USA), in order to better combat the rising drug violence in the country. After training, many of the soldiers returned to Mexico, only to start the brutally violent drug cartel: Los Zetas.
BgxDK TIL that Michael Jackson set a record in 1995 for the largest online chat with 20,000 fans.