› added 5 years ago

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TIL of an newly discovered organism called Lithoredo abatanica that eats stone and excretes sand. It is a shipworm, a group of burrowing animals known for eating woods and related to clams, but so different from known examples that it is both a new species and genus.

Read more nytimes.com

via reddit.com

kAkW TIL that a plastic IV bag, which costs less than 50 cents to produce, costs more than 500 dollars for the sick patient using it.
6oEQ TIL that the “SEGA” chant at the beginning of Sonic the Hedgehog took up 1/8th of the memory on the cartridge.
KYbaQ TIL about Manhattan’s Book Row, where until the 60s, over 36 bookstores existed across just a few blocks
4QWw TIL that your brain stops time for up to half a second when switching focus, most commonly noticed looking at the second hand of a clock.
yQEOv TIL Jack the Giant-killer, Beanstalk-climber, of Lanterns and Frost fame, and often paired with Jill, is in fact an Archetypal Hero/Stock Character in Cornish and English folklore, and is believed to be the same person.