› added 1 year ago

39

TIL that around 1.7 billion years ago, natural nuclear fission reactors operated in Gabon, Africa, where uranium deposits spontaneously underwent self-sustained chain reactions.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

xo97 TIL there are hundreds of mysterious tiles placed all over the world, the ominous message unknown
R5b49 TIL that the most powerful supercomputer in the year 2000 (the IBM ASCI White) cost the 2022 equivalent of $189 million and ran at 7.226 teraflops. The 32-Core variant of the Macbook Pro in 2022 costs $3,499 and has a peak performance of 10.4 teraflops.
X0AZ8 TIL that medical bloodletting dates back to ancient Egypt and spread to Greece where the practice was rationalized as balancing the four “humors.” In 1163, the Church prohibited clergy healers from performing the procedure, calling it an abhorred practice, so barbers began to offer the service.
Bgwbk Today I learned that the figures in Philadelphia City Hall actually have meaning. Well, at least I learned about one group. Now to learn about the rest.
mE7o TIL a chimp in a Swedish zoo collected round disks of concrete, stockpiled them, and saved them until he could throw them at visitors. “Nothing like it has as yet been reported from the wild, nor from any captive chimpanzees”