› added 4 years ago

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TIL sea mussels use organometallic iron-based bonds in their cuticles. Simulating this feature in synthetic replicas increased tensile strength 58x, toughness 92x, resistance to being deformed elastically 770x, and increased the amount of stress required to permanently damage them 76x.

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YplaA TIL Splooting is a pose squirrels do in order to cool down by pressing their tummy onto a cool surface
p8eKp TIL that while colored diamonds get their color from chemical impurities absorbing light- such as yellow diamonds containing nitrogen and blue diamonds containing boron- pink diamonds have no traces of impurities, thus baffling scientists and geologists as to how they have a pink color.
W7k0L TIL John Wilkes Booth initially didn't plan to assassinate President Lincoln. The original plot involved 7 conspirators kidnapping him and taking him to the confederate capital of Richmond, VA
ZWKv TIL the largest stadium in the world is in North Korea and has a capacity of 150,000. It was build purely to outdo South Korea’s Seoul Olympic stadium which has a 70,000 capacity
lE0N TIL that Thomas Harris based his character Hannibal Lecter on a real person, a doctor who murdered and dismembered his victims and treated patients while in prison. He spent nearly 40 years in prison before being released in 2000. He went back to practicing medicine.