› added 4 years ago

175

TIL Cuckoo wasps, like their namesake the cuckoo bird, are kleptoparasitic, having evolved to lay their eggs in the nests of other species of wasps. Their brilliant metallic colors are produced by light refracting through open spaces between six layers of cuticle in the wasps’ exoskeletons.

Read more baynature.org

via reddit.com

e5XE TIL the English boy band Blue were in NYC on 9/11 and witnessed the attacks. Later, in an interview with a British tabloid, one member said that “This New York thing is being blown out of proportion” and “Animals need saving and that’s more important.” This caused them to lose a US record deal.
D1nEg TIL in 2017 it was demonstrated that pop songs are getting dumber and more repetitive by running the lyrics through a data compression algorithm
PYr8L TIL That the books / elements of Avatar The Last Aibender were inspired by a 17th century Japanese martial arts manual containing 5 chapters: The books of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void (spiritualism)
WLgd TIL RAS syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome) is when an acronym has a repeating word commonly placed after it. Eg: RAS syndrome
dBpj TIL the hoverboard was invented for real in April 2016. Powered by six compact jet engines totaling 1000 HP (equivalent to four automobile engines), and stabilized with Segway-like algorithmic balancing, it has a flight time of 10 minutes using a camelbak filled with jet fuel.