› added 9 years ago

205

TIL of the Yamato 1, the first working prototype boat to use a Magnetohydrodynamic drive (MHD). Built by Mitsibishi, the ship’s drive electrifies sea water and utilizes magnetic fields to propel itself. The MHD uses no moving parts.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

78aO TIL the blind get a 50% discount on TV licenses in the UK
MYG8 TIL that in addition to limitations of the hours they can drive, New Jersey drivers under 21 must display a reflective sticker on the front and back license plates of any car they drive to instantly alert other drivers that a younger driver is behind the wheel.
1re8 TIL in 1968, two boys playing in a deserted and rat-infested tenement found the body of a 31yo drug addict, surrounded by religious pamphlets and empty beer bottles. Not until 19 months later was the body identified as that of child actor Bobby Driscoll, Academy Award winner and voice of Peter Pan
b9Xm9 TIL that it takes 243 Earth-days for Venus to rotate about its axis, yet it takes 225 Earth-days for Venus to orbit the sun. That means that, on Venus, a day takes longer than a year.
R50pa TIL George Lucas’s dog, an Alaskan malamute named Indiana, was often taken by the Lucases on car drives and called their ‘furry copilot’. He was an inspiration for Chewbacca and the source of Indiana Jones’ name.