› added 8 years ago

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TIL in 1953 North and South Korea created the DMZ, a demilitarized zone, between their two countries to discourage fighting. Today the 150 mile long strip of land is home to 1600 rare plants, 300 rare fungi, and houses some of the most endangered animals in the world, such as the White-Naped Crane.

PxnJ TIL that scientists can read dreams using brain scans.
epO86 TIL American chocolate tastes like vomit or spoiled butter. Butyric acid was added to the Hershey “variety” as a preservative, and it’s still used today because many Americans are now accustomed to the vomit flavor.
b9GJa TIL about a species called the pied hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri). It has copied the appearance of a wasp but it’s white. They do this to fool their natural enemies into not eating them because wasp are poisonous. So if u ever see one, don't worry it's harmless. (See link for photo’s)
ANLva TIL that in 1947 a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison mutated Penicillium Roqueforti (blue cheese mold), accidentally creating a colorless "blue" cheese. The cheese made from this mutated mold was dubbed Nuworld cheese, and is still being produced for sale in small quantities.
4XAnX TIL that goosebumps are a vestigial reflex (a reflex that has lost its function / purpose through evolution), which would raise the hair of humans to both trap body heat and scare off predators by appearing larger than usual. It is due to this that we get goosebumps when cold or scared.