› added 8 years ago

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TIL the word ‘Retarded’ was once championed to more accurately describe the (now dubbed) intellectually disabled , and replace its then synonyms, which had all become colloquialisms for being stupid; but today it’s considered offensive after having fallen prey to the same fate.

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YpyPW TIL of Shibari, a term for erotic bondage inspired by Japanese aesthetics. This style of bondage involves tying a person up using visually intricate patterns with several pieces of thin rope, usually emphasizing the person’s physical features.
nO5d TIL: “Go fever” is a term used by NASA to describe a few of their major disasters (Apollo 1/Challenger/Columbia). It describes a culture that develops when costs have mounted, and dissent is suppressed or ignored (due to group members not wanting to be seen as committed to the team’s progress).
MevmV Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), the so-called "Korean artificial sun," fusion device has set a world record by maintaining plasma at over 100 million °C (180 million °F) for 20 seconds.
rN4E4 TIL: F-35 pilots must keep their hair in the same shape as a new haircut may cause their custom made helmets to not fit correctly.
bBGp TIL when Michele Bachmann appeared in Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots played a snippet from Fishbone’s 1985 song “Lying Ass Bitch” for her entrance.