› added 12 years ago

301

TIL That in The Matrix, Switch was originally planned to be played by androgynous actors. In the real world, it would be played by a male actor and in the Matrix be represented in a female form, hence the name “Switch”

Read more imdb.com

via bit.ly

BkWW TIL the actor that played Gimli in LOTR was a “radical leftist” until he went to heckle a young Margaret Thatcher. After witnessing her shoot down two other hecklers, he decided to “shut up and listen.” Now, he’s quite conservative.
lodb7 TIL researchers have developed an IVF-like process called IVG (in vitro gametogenesis) - The process uses skin cells to create human egg and sperm cells. It could allow sterile parents to conceive and same sex couples could eventually have children who are biologically related to both parents.
ADV8w TIL that the brushwork on Mona Lisa is so intricate that it literally requires x-rays to view the brush strokes. Apparently, Vinci used a well-known renaissance painting technique called 'sfumato', in which he added 30 layers of paint that still came out to be only 40 micrometers.
gMwdL TIL that after the Apollo 11 moonwalk, NASA was concerned about the volatility and possible fire or explosion of lunar dust after the LM was filled with oxygen. Armstrong and Aldwin spread out a sample in the LM before repressurizing and watched to see if it caught fire or smoldered. It did not.
8a7Zb TIL At 8 years old, during a chicken dinner with family,Jeffrey Dahmer expressed a curiosity to his father of how to bleach chicken bones. His chemist father was proud of his son’s scientific curiosity so he showed him how to safely bleach and preserve the bones, which he later used on his victims