› added 8 years ago

1069

TIL: A caterpillar basically turns into a soupy liquid while in the pupa state before it rearranges itself and turns into a butterfly. The butterfly also retain some of its memories of things learnt as a caterpillar.

WneB TIL every year at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, after the last plane has left for the winter, the remaining scientists hold a screening of John Carpenter’s “The Thing”, which is about a shape-shifting alien that terrorizes scientists trapped at an Antarctic research station.
V1M8 TIL that every unborn baby grows a moustache in the womb, which then spreads to cover the entire body. The baby then eats this fine hair, called lanugo, and excretes it after birth with their first bowel movement, which is a substance called meconium.
mJko TIL: A POW during the Vietnam War named James Stockdale said to survive in such arduous conditions you must renounce optimism for stoicism. His optimistic fellow captives all died. Having a blindly optimistic view worsens your chances of survival. This is called ‘The Stockdale Paradox’.
BrgoD TIL that Atari, using the Tengen, entered a partnershp with Nintendo to produce games. Atari proceeded to illegally get a copy of the Nintendo patent for the lock out chip, produced several unlicensed games, then attempted to sue Nintendo for monopolistic practices.
W7j8B TIL that the “longest flight” lasted for 64 days. It was called the Hacienda, and it was possible because of constant refueling