› added 13 years ago

242

TIL that a chemist in France unboiled an egg.

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via reddit.com

rayx TIL anti-personnel land mines are specifically designed NOT to kill enemy combatants, but to maim. Thus, increasing the logistical support needed to counter it.
xVxQg TIL 75% of mammoth fossils are male, because "male mammoths—young, reckless, foolhardy—were just more likely to get into some kind of trouble and die, from getting stuck in a pit to running afoul of hunting humans." The tar pits, bogs, crevices, and lakes preserved remains well.
b6No7 TIL that the ancient city of Edessa (modern-day Şanlıurfa, Turkey) was one of the earliest Christian pilgrimage sites. It was home to the "Mandylion," a sacred cloth believed to be imprinted with the face of Jesus, sent to heal King Abgar V—the first monarch to convert to Christianity.
YpQp7 TIL that at the 2008 Beijing games the Danish mixed 49er's mast broke 20 mins before the final race so they had to borrow the Croatians 49er that the Danes then used to win gold with. Afterward, the Croatians received a "Pierre de Coubertin medal" for lending there boat to the Danes.
lo44V TIL that tsetse flies, which carry the parasite responsible for African Sleeping Sickness, give live birth and lactate to provide milk for their young.