› added 4 years ago

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TIL that Nebraska community college student Katy Ayers grew a canoe out of mushroom roots (mycelium) to prove fungi is a bio-friendly building material. It floats with two passengers, but when it gets wet it fruits (sprouts mushrooms). Katy plans to get a Ph.D. in mycology then help save the planet.

Read more nbcnews.com

via reddit.com

bgX9 TIL that São Paulo, the world’s fourth largest metropolis, banned all outdoor advertising with no ill effect. “The law is now so popular that some companies that were able through legal action to maintain some outdoor presence chose not to, so as not to be seen as flying in the face of [it]”
R5kN8 TIL about the Zimmermann Telegram, a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico if the USA entered World War I against Germany. The telegram was intercepted by British intelligence.
ADP67 TIL A man rigged his house up with Indiana Jones style booby traps, including a hot tub which would roll at you if you tripped a wire, a fortified front door, and animal traps. An FBI agent was shot by a wheelchair, fitted with a fishing line and shotgun cartridges.
Z8dPR TIL Pelorus Jack was a dolphin that used to guide ships through a notoriously dangerous channel in New Zealand. In 1904 someone aboard the SS Penguin tried to shoot Jack with a rifle, he survived and continued to guide all ships except the SS Penguin.
rNKgx TIL: In 1977, George Lucas agreed to cut his pay by $500K in return for merchandising rights. He sold his rights to Disney in 2012 for over $4B.