› added 7 months ago

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TIL on January 25, 1979, Robert Williams became the first known robot fatality.

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wo57Y TIL that every Winter Solstice on December 21st, the inner chamber of Newgrange, an ancient Irish structure that predates Stonehenge, is illuminated for 17 minutes by the rising sun.
wPY1 TIL an MIT developed a wristband that can regulate your “thermal comfort,” possibly eliminating the need for central heating and cooling.
GY9d1 TIL that dolphins get high off puffer fish by holding the fish in their mouths and passing it around between them, causing the fish to release defense toxins which are euphoric in low doses. After they get high, they let the puffer fish go.
6EGlX TIL that in Inglorious Basterds, during the scene where Brad Pitt and his team pose as Italian film makers, the name Eli Roth’s character takes: Antonio Margheriti, is actually one of Quentin Tarantino’s favourite spaghetti Western director’s name.
XEOyX TIL the kilogram is currently defined as the mass of a platinum-iridium cylinder called the International Prototype Kilogram, which was made in 1879 and is stored in a special vault in France. There exist several dozen official replicas, also called prototypes.