› added 5 years ago

277

TIL We touch our face so much because we are unconsciously sniffing our hands to gain information about the people and environment around us.

Read more discovermagazine.com

via reddit.com

WkxrL TIL the Japanese high-speed rail system has a network of seismometers that will stop their bullet trains in the event of an earthquake. This system was activated just 12 seconds before the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and as a result, only one bullet train on its test run derailed that day.
XEvYX TIL about Empress Wu - China’s one and only female ruler. Harshly demonized by her contemporary historians during the Tang Dynasty, she was an ambitious and steadfast leader who strived to allow women the same rights as men.
e06Zk TIL the Model T debuted in 1909 at $825 and had its price lowered numerous times because of increasing production efficiency. It bottomed out at $260- the equivalent of around $3600 today.
nWkK7 TIL that although we get a condition called hemorrhoids (or piles), we are already born with 3 hemorrhoids.
R7Nn4 TIL that in World War II, the Allies suspected the Nazis of using the Leaning Tower of Pisa as an observation post. A US Army General was sent to evaluate the scenario but was so impressed by the beauty of the campanile that he refused to order an artillery strike in order to preserve it.