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TIL Spy in The Wild, A PBS Miniseries, Uses an Animatronic Spy Cam To Get Close Up Shots Of Animals

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via reddit.com

8am1G TIL Nikola Tesla, widely known as the inventor of the AC power system, also installed the first hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls in 1896. It was around this time that Tesla also disavowed coal and oil in favor of renewable energy sources.
GYBlE TIL that it is not allowed to be buried in Svalbard. Due to the permafrost, the bodies do not decompose, and any viruses or diseases they are carrying are also preserved. If the permafrost melts, the bodies can be pushed out the ground, where it is possible to infect people again.
RJe1 TIL that the flaw that destroyed Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 almost occurred on another mission a year earlier. One of the astronauts on the 1985 flight was told that “you came within three-tenths of one second of dying.”
4XAab TIL The heart shaped seeds of the Silphium plant is why we associate hearts with romance. Besides being used in food and medicine, Silphium was one of the first genuinely effective birth control. It's believed the Romans drove it to extinction.
eN8D TIL that blowing smoke up your ass used to be a common cure for many ailments