› added 8 years ago

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TIL a journalist suffered a massive stroke, woke up completely paralyzed except for his left eyelid, and wrote his memoir over the course of ten months just by blinking. He died 10 days after the book was released to fantastic reviews.

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OGak7 TIL that over 30% of pediatric burns are from accidents involving instant ramen, according to a 10 year retrospective study at the University of Chicago Burn Center.
8aakL TIL in 1996 an instrument failure caused a plane to lose control and crash just after takeoff, killing 189 people. It was later determined that the device used to measure airspeed was blocked by a wasp nest
6Er9m TIL there is more sodium in a typical slice of bread than a serving of potato chips.
6Ej1X TIL that humans can regenerate some of their organs through a process called compensatory hypertrophy. When part of the liver is removed or destroyed, the remaining portion grows to the original size and allows the liver to function as it did before. Kidneys and lungs can also similarly compensate.
16avO TIL powdered corn cob is highly absorbent, which has given it applications to treat oil spills in water bodies, and as an environmentally friendly rodenticide, killing rats by dehydrating them.