Not to get into the weeds (or herbs), but cilantro leaves come from the same plant that makes coriander.

It is a cousin of cumin, also in the parsley family.

Herb = leafy part of plants

Spice = aromatic seeds, bark, flowers, and roots of plants that have been dried and crushed

So, depending on which part of the cumin plant you use, it could either be considered an herb or a spice.

Cumin is an annual plant of the parsley family.

Dried fruits of the cumin plant, which look more like seeds, are used as a spice in many different cuisines.

If it helps, the difference between an herb and a spice has to do with which part of the plant is used. 🧵⬇️

At the 1936 Olympics, Haiti and Liechtenstein discovered they essentially had the same flag.

To avoid future confusion, Haiti added its national crest, and Liechtenstein added a yellow crown. Both are really, really ridiculously good-looking.

Photograph of Catherine O'Hara smiling

While working at Toronto’s Second City Theater, Catherine O’Hara was made Gilda Radner’s understudy.

When Radner left in 1974, O’Hara became a member of the company, and her ability to imbue her comedic characters with depth and humanity launched a decades-long career.

An estimated one septillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) snowflakes fall worldwide every year.

We may have come close this week.

Greenland sharks are believed to be the longest-living vertebrates on Earth.

Researchers have determined that one female is around 400 years old.

That means she was alive during the Napoleonic Wars, the Boston Tea Party, Charles Darwin, and ABBA winning Eurovision.

Unfortunately, chloride is quite bad for the environment.

It can kill plants and aquatic animals, and alter soil composition, affecting future vegetation.

Chloride-free melting compounds do exist, but are usually much more expensive.

That’s why table salt can melt ice down to about -10°F, while calcium chloride can melt ice down to about -25° F.

The more ions produced, the more they can get in the way of rigid ice bonds.

Table salt (sodium chloride) will dissolve into two ions:
- 1 sodium ion
- 1 chloride ion

Calcium chloride (often used by cities) breaks down into three ions:
- 1 calcium ion
- 2 chloride ions

For no reason at all: how does salt melt ice?

There is a layer of water above ice, which allows salt to dissolve into ions. Ions make it harder for water molecules to bond together into ice crystals.

This is called 'freezing point depression,' and no, SAD lamps don't help.🧵⬇️

Turns out cows may have beauty and brains.

Aquarius zodiac sign with dates and a quote about Aquarians avoiding emotional closeness, accompanied by vintage lemon illustrations.

Aquarius’s representation as a man pouring a stream of water out of a jug may be because in ancient times, the rising of Aquarius coincided with a period of floods and rain in the Middle East.

Another conspiracy theory for them to consider.

Tweet showing a respectful comparison between popular 1994 Jim Carrey movies and Shakespeare's major works written between 1604 and 1606.

Happy 64th birthday, Jim Carrey.

There are other factors at play in the Brazil nut effect, including:
- particle density
- the shape of the container
- friction on the walls of the container

All of those work together to deliver… the Brazil nut.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to eat them.

We’re also dealing with granular convection, which is when particles rise in the middle and sink at the walls.

When particles are differently shaped, the larger particles rise to the middle, but are too big to fall back down the sides.

The first mechanism is called percolation.

When you shake the container, small pieces fall into the spaces left by the large pieces, creating a compact base for the large pieces (or nuts) to sit on.

The more you shake, the higher the big pieces rise.

When a container of mixed nuts is shaken, the largest nuts rise to the top.

This phenomenon is known as the ‘Brazil nut effect,’ and there are a couple of mechanisms at play.

Or: “Making physics fun with snacks.” 🧵⬇️

A chicken can be placed in a hypnotic-like trance called “tonic immobility” by holding its head to the ground and drawing a straight line in the dirt from the tip of its beak outward on the ground.

We don't know what to do with this information, either.

The current Iranian flag features green, white, and red stripes with the Islamic Republic emblem replacing the Lion and Sun symbol since 1979.

"Lion and Sun Flag of Iran" The Lion and Sun emblem on Iran's flag symbolizes power and royalty, with added imperial crown and wreath for naval use, set on green, white, and red stripes representing faith, peace, and valor.

Protestors are currently flying an old version of Iran’s flag, both in Tehran and worldwide as their movement gains momentum.

Here’s some information on the old flag, as well as Iran’s current one.

Pet Reptiles | Saving Earth | Encyclopedia Britannica "I want one!" you hear kids cry as they stroke the shells of tortoises sitting calmly in their laps inside the tortoise pen at the annual ReptileFest in Chicago. The gentle disposition and easygoing m...

For anyone considering making a reptile a part of the family:
explore.britannica.com/explore/savi...

If lizards had legs, they'd kick you.
(they do and they would)

The Mercator projection is widely used for navigation charts, but is less practical for world maps, because the scale is distorted and areas farther away from the Equator appear disproportionately large.

Map showing a plane arriving at Stewart Air National Guard Base near New York City on January 3 around 4:30 PM EST carrying Maduro and Flores.

Map showing a plane departing Guantánamo Bay on January 3 at 1:00 PM EST carrying Maduro and Flores.

Map showing a helicopter landing Maduro and Flores on the USS Iwo Jima in the Caribbean Sea on January 3 at 3:29 AM EST.

Map showing U.S. military operation targeting Caracas, Venezuela, with air strikes on January 2-3 and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro on January 3.

Map showing Mar-a-Lago in Florida with a note about Donald Trump ordering an attack on January 2 at 10:46 PM EST.

Map illustrating the timeline and locations of the U.S. military operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in early January 2026.

A timeline of the January 2nd U.S. military mission to arrest and remove Venezuelan Pres. Nicolás Maduro and his wife. 🧵⬇️