› added 12 years ago

407

TIL “microbeads” used in exfoliating soaps are actually made of plastic (and they are a major pollution problem)

Read more cnn.com

via reddit.com

78Lxr TIL that Helium is the only element that is not a metal with the -ium suffix and it’s because Helium was named before -ium was used to indicate metals.
M7oka TIL of The Novgorod Codex. It is the oldest book of Kievan Rus', unearthed on 13 July 2000 in Novgorod. It is a palimpsest consisting of three bound wooden tablets containing four pages filled with wax, on which its former owner wrote down dozens, probably hundreds of texts.
KOBj6 TIL that eating too much spinach can lead to an excessive build-up of gas, bloating, and cramps. The culprit is the fact that spinach is high in fiber and has lots of oxalate, which can be harmful in large amounts.
5VyDB TIL: The Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, uses passive cooling in a design inspired by termite mounds. It uses 35% less energy than comparable buildings, saving approximately 10% of the building's capital costs.
WnWN TIL some slang words and phrases commonly used in the UK today originated 100 years ago in the trenches of WWI.