› added 9 years ago

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TIL that NASA is creating an “interstellar internet”, called Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN). It can transmit information through solar storms, solar flares, and even past planets without losing any original data. It successfully sent images to a spacecraft located 20 million miles from earth.

Read more nasa.gov

via reddit.com

l7LZA TIL that a Sig Alert was developed in 1955 because the LAPD refused to notify radio stations of traffic disruptions, requiring stations to call in, thus tying up the phone lines and requiring officers to constantly repeat the same information.
Ex8P TIL George R.R. Martin has revealed the remaining major plot points of A Song of Ice and Fire to only the two producers of the HBO television series, in case he should die before Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are published.
M7krb TIL that the earliest generation with a formal name ("Arthurian Generation") is, coincidentally, Generation A by the informal lettered system. The only ones that DON'T from there are Q (often lumped in with P), X (the first to even get a letter), Z (names proposed but disputed), and α (too recent).
Px6g TIL that The actors in Planet of the Apes were so affected by the make-up that when not shooting, the actors would automatically segregate with the species they were portraying.
oyGY TIL There was an armed interceptor version of the SR-71 called the YF-12. It was the largest manned interceptor ever made, and held several world records for speed and altitude. It was cancelled after the secretary of defense held funding so it could be spent in the Vietnam war.