› added 12 years ago

101

TIL That physicists won the Nobel prize in 2010 for peeling graphene off pencils with scotch tape

Read more nobelprize.org

via reddit.com

e0NlD TIL the original Mr. Potato Head didn't come with a plastic body. The pieces were meant to be put into an actual potato.
Y7Xvx TIL that dozens of African elephants are killed each day for their tusks and meat. The illegal ivory trade threatens the survival of these creatures and leaves hundreds of calves orphaned and almost certain to die.
1aQk8 TIL that the inspiration behind Crocodile Dundee, Rod Ansell, suffered a psychotic break due to amphetamines and went on a rampage, injuring two people and killing a policeman before being shot dead himself
6N1w TIL Amazon river dolphins have been observed to insert their penises into others’ blowholes, which makes this the only known example of “nasal sex”.
e07k6 TIL that many fire departments, including the San Francisco FD, still prefer wooden ladders because they are non-conductors of electricity, the best natural insulator against heat, and only burn on the outside while the centre of wood remains solid and strong.