› added 1 year ago

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TIL: Ionization smoke detectors, one of the two most common home smoke detectors, contain radioactive material (americium-241) to detect smoke. There is no health threat as long as the detector is used as directed and not damaged.

Read more epa.gov

via reddit.com

OXJ4 TIL Stephen Colbert’s father and two older brothers died in a plane crash because the cockpit crew became distracted from talking while landing the plane. A few years later, the FAA created the ‘Sterile Cockpit Rule,’ prohibiting staff from engaging in non-essential conversation once below 10,000 ft
PdxO TIL limpet teeth are the strongest biological material on the planet and are stronger then Kevlar .
OobML TIL JK Rowling wrote her first book at age 6, and at age 11, she wrote her first novel, about "seven cursed diamonds and the people who owned them."
gZXX TIL, a 400 year-old Bonsai tree had survived the United States’ atomic bomb on Hiroshima…then was later given to the United States as a national gift.
bobQ TIL there is not a single Walmart in NYC limits.