› added 4 years ago

60

TIL of a gene named 'mothers against decapentaplegic', parodying 'Mothers Against X'-type organizations

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KZEJ TIL Early 60s American astronauts had groupies as there were “plenty of pretty women who would give anything to sleep with an astronaut”
ADXb4 TIL there's such thing as a Quaking Bog, where bog vegetation builds up on top of water or very wet peat. Walking there can cause the ground to ripple and trees to sway.
LNop TIL there’s a giant hole called the Devil’s Kettle that swallows half a river and no one has any idea where it goes. Over the years, researchers and the curious have poured dye, pingpong balls, & logs into the kettle, then searched for any sign of their reappearance. So far none has ever been found.
Ook5L TIL the Danish government permits adults and children to kill dolphins and whales with knives and lances at a public event on the Faroe Islands each year called “grindadrap.” They kill about 1,000 annually, or 1 whale or dolphin for every 50 Faroese people.
epeRJ TIL of The Sawback Blade Bayonet. A German knife used in WW1 that would pull out the insides of it's victims and cause inevitable and painful death. They were recalled by the German military because British and French soldiers would torture and kill any soldiers caught with one, on principle.