› added 11 years ago

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TIL Vice investigated how easy it is to acquire nuclear weapons on the black market, and got as far as an exchange for acquiring a nuclear “Dirty bomb”

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EgxMX TIL that scientists managed to virtually reconstruct the destroyed planetary system of the star WD 1145+017 by analysing the debris field around the star. Giving birth to the field of astronomy dedicated to studying destroyed planets known as Necroplanetology.
P181V TIL about Saturday Night Palsy (named after partying on Saturday nights), which is when nerves are compressed and muscle function is lost due to sleeping in an unnatural position and being too drunk to adjust yourself. Severe cases have a low chance of full recovery.
e0rdb TIL In 1958 nuclear weapons were proposed as a tool for petroleum extraction. The plan was to detonate 100 nuclear bombs in the Alberta Oil Sands, thus adding heat and decreasing viscosity, the bitumen could then be easily pumped out. The project was put on hiatus due to risk of Soviet espionage.
7rPVp TIL that a man had his Twitter account suspended in 2017 after making a death threat towards a mosquito.
nwVb TIL During a nuclear scare in 1960, the President of France secretly went to the President of the United States and told him “I do not know what Khrushchev is going to do, nor what is going to happen, but whatever he does…. I want you to know that I am with you to the end.”