› added 6 years ago

183

TIL in 1999 Professor Bill Ditto made a simple calculator using the neurons taken out of leeches; word's first biological computer. It was aptly named the "leech-ulator".

Read more news.bbc.co.uk

via reddit.com

ZpPVQ TIL that contrary to popular belief, the Mesopotamian god Dagon has nothing to do with fish or the sea, and the portrayal of him as a fish god based entirely on the medieval belief that his name was derived from the Hebrew word for fish, "dāg", which was debunked in the 1920s
oRJeY TIL for every grain of sand on Earth there are 10,000 stars in the known universe, but the total number of stars in the known universe equals the number of molecules in just ten drops of water.
OoPwL TIL that when getting a lapdance in Ohio, the stripper is not allowed to touch you unless you are a family member.
1OR7 TIL that even though Vin Diesel’s part in Guardians of the Galaxy consists only of saying “I am Groot” repeatedly, Diesel had the director explain to him what his character was trying to express with each line. Diesel did multiple takes on each line until he was happy with it.
eR1k TIL Chinese is the third most-spoken language in the United States. In 1980, it was only the seventh most.