› added 13 years ago

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TIL that our sun loses 4 million metric tons of mass…every second.

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via reddit.com

v145L TIL of "Hammer" Simwinga, a Zambian man who has helped stop poaching in North Luangwa Nat'l Park. Most villages near the park relied on poaching for income. Simwinga eliminated the need for poaching for 35K+ people in 60 villages by teaching sunflower planting, beekeeping, & sustainable farming.
YpjgA TIL about the Ghost Moth of New Zealand that spends 5-6 years as a grub, making a burrow in a tree in the shape of a '7', but only spends a couple of days as an actual moth, as it has no mouthparts. If it's lucky enough to find a mate, it lays 2000 eggs before starving to death.
woXr1 TIL Airplane toilets are coated with teflon so your poop doesn't stick when it's vacuumed down the toilet. Minimal water is used.
G7Gg TIL Elvis Presley desired a Narcotics officer badge so he could travel country to country with as many guns and drugs as he wanted. He went to the White House to ask President Nixon for the badge and got it.
E1kko TIL of "The Tornado That Saved Washington". During the British sacking of 1814 a storm rolled in that doused most of the fires in the city (including the White House) and killed British soldiers with thrown debris