› added 3 months ago

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TIL that in the 18th century English sailors aboard the HMS Dolphin stopped in Tahiti and discovered the women there would take iron in exchange for sex, resulting in the sailors removing nails from the ship and trading them in for their personal gratification.

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Wk79o From powering airplanes to replacing nuclear energy, algae has been touted as a green energy miracle. So if our waterways are already filled with the stuff, why isn’t it filling the world’s skies with biofueled planes? Algae is a tricky creature that presents a lot of challenges and misconceptions. Here’s why it’s difficult to harness—and why it could big a big payoff.
nvvG TIL A Finnish mathematician spends three month designing the “world’s most difficult Sudoku” and claims there’s only one answer; a 69 year old Chinese farmer solves it and provides a second answer in just 3 days
yQXoX TIL in the movie "There Will Be Blood", Paul Dano had originally been cast in the smaller role of Paul Sunday. Two weeks into filming, Dano replaced the actor playing Eli Sunday and only had four days to prepare for the much larger role.
ZpAGY TIL that over 23 people have survived stowing away in the wheel well of commercial airplanes, including a man who traveled from Tahiti to LA in a 747 at 38,000 feet and was discovered with a body temperature of 79˚F.
VM9k4 TIL the show VeggieTales focused on retelling Old Testament Bible stories because the creator's mom did not want to see Jesus as a vegetable.