› added 2 months ago

5

TIL that the most popularly-grown form of strawberry, the garden strawberry, is a hybrid of two other species, the Virginia strawberry and the Chilean strawberry

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

xLvD TIL that if you grow an apple tree from an apple seed, it is almost guaranteed to produce an apple entirely different than the one that produced the seed.
0g5y TIL that spacecraft designers have to contend with a poorly-understood phenomenon known as “cold welding” where clean metal surfaces can spontaneously weld themselves together in the vacuum of space.
XRJ6 TIL “Kleptocracy” is a government with corrupt rulers (kleptocrats) that use their power to exploit the people and natural resources of their own territory in order to extend their personal wealth and political power.
Y7yaP TIL of Tanis, a dinosaur fossil site in North Dakota. Although controversial over its private management by paleontologist Robert DePalma, it's regardless noteworthy for preserving in detail the immediate aftermath of the extinction-causing asteroid impact on dinosaurs in the area.
aeYJ TIL that pirates did actually follow a code of conduct (or “Articles of Agreement”), though specific rules varied between crews. Examples include democratic voting, no striking of another crew member while onboard, and specific sharing of “prizes” depending on rank.