› added 5 years ago

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TIL the first words ever spoken on a telephone were "[Come here, Mr Watson,] I want to see you" – in these times of social distancing, it really made me think about all the huge technical efforts made just to fill our need to see others.

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XELM8 TIL Researchers have found that Inuit from northern Quebec are genetically distinct from any present-day population in the world. They compared the genetic profile of 170 Nunavik Inuit with "everyone possible" from Asians, Africans, and Europeans to North and South Americans
XRNj TIL that ultra fast boating is one of the most dangerous activities in which to set a world record, with about an 85% mortality rate among water speed competitors since 1940
OoQd7 TIL the 1st season of the kids show Courage the Cowardly Dog ended with the main character (Courage) becoming a puppeteer for his owners (the two main protagonists)'s lifeless bodies after they were turned into marionettes. He goes mentally insane from living alone after a while.
0wNV1 TIL in 2000 Portugal decriminalized ALL drugs. If police find someone w/a supply larger than 10 days worth of personal use they aren’t arrested but brought before a “dissuasion panel” made up of experts who evaluate the person & prescribe treatment. both HIV infections & deaths by OD have plummeted.
xvNb TIL there is a hallucinogen originating from Africa called Ibogaine that is highly successful in treating heroin addiction by minimising the effects of withdrawal but it is illegal in most of the western world.