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TIL that meteors blasting through earth's atmosphere can be used for long distance radio communications

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d8XRd TIL in 1941, the world's largest seed bank (created by botanist Nikolai Vavilov) was housed in Leningrad. As the Germans surrounded the city causing massive starvation, Vavilov's scientists refused to eat from the collection, slowly dying of hunger as they maintained 16 rooms of edible plants.
mndp TIL that panic grass grows in Yellowstone park at soil temperatures of 50C (125F). In order to do this, the plant needs the presence of a particular type of fungus. But the fungus in turns needs to be infected with a particular virus. All three are required to survive at this temperature.
nemGB TIL that the neurons in an octopus are not concentrated in the brain - 2/3 of them are located in the tentacles meaning that each individual tentacle acts autonomously and independently of the brain. However, an octopus can exert precise control over a tentacle when need be through eyesight alone.
n5kY TIL that it’s common to mention illnesses when offending someone in Dutch. Some translated examples include: “Get the cancer”, “Cancer mongoloid” and “Typhoid off”.
LQvB0 TIL Christian Slater and Bob Mortimer tried to get blueprints for a "reverse toilet", where you have a little shelf. Mortimer's anus is too high for regular toilets, so he needs to take his trousers off and sit on it backwards. It didn't go anywhere and they blew £700