› added 3 years ago

109

TIL about zombie taxa. A zombie taxon is a fossil specimen that somehow gets washed out and re-deposited into much younger rock, making it seem like the animal was walking around long after it had gone extinct.

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kJA6g TIL that some pirate codes forbid the crew from seducing a woman, sneaking her on board the ship and taking her out to sea. This offense was punishable by death.
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6EWl TIL In 1937 a pharmaceutical company marketed, without prior testing, an antibiotic made using a known poison as a solvent, causing the death of over 100 people and the birth of the FDA
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QJ5mE TIL It Rains Diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter