› added 4 weeks ago

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TIL a 60cm Humboldt penguin escaped from Tokyo Sea Life Park by jumping over a rock wall twice its height before slipping through a gap in the fence that surrounded the park. Despite 30 confirmed sightings, the penguin eluded capture for 82 days before eventually being picked up near a river.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

Vj0G TIL that Russian scientists were able to revive an arctic flower, extinct for 32,000 years, from a seed that’s been borrowed by an ice age squirrel, buried in Siberian permafrost.
9YjdD TIL about Georgia Tann, a woman who stole about 5000 babies from poor parents.
VM1GB TIL that for 25 years, the Space Shuttle couldn't fly a mission over New Year's because the flight computers couldn't cope with the year changing. This was only fixed in 2007, four years before the fleet's retirement.
QJpdE TIL of the Guangxi Massacre in China, where local Communist Party offices sponsored mass cannibalism to promote political factions. Up to 150,000 people died, some bodies were retained as after-dinner snacks, and there was even a social hierarchy created of who was allowed to eat which body parts.
78YRZ TIL hearing sudden and loud bursts of noise while falling asleep or waking up is called Exploding Head Syndrome.