› added 3 months ago

25

TIL that a hippo's sweat is pink and acts as sunscreen.

Read more nbcnews.com

via reddit.com

xVRb1 TIL In certain circumstances, hot water can freeze faster than cold water. This phenomenon was first observed by a 16-year old boy and has been named after him: the Mpemba effect.
b6mK9 TIL Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, a French entomologist, living in Medford, Mass. in the late 1800s, decided to create a cross-breed of caterpillars from native North American moths and European caterpillars Lymantria dispar, in order to start a competitive silk industry. (rest of the story in comment)
DLmp TIL the 2011 earthquake near Japan shortened the days by 1.8 microseconds.
N7o6b TIL although there are 2 billion English speaking people in the world, more of them speak it as their second language than are native speakers
b9Nm0 TIL old homes in Vermont have diagonal windows called Witch windows, meant to stop witches from flying in on their broomsticks.