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TIL Suspended animation is a surgical technique in which the patient’s body temperature is lowered to about 55F (18C) causing breathing and blood flow to halt. At this point the surgeon has ~45min to operate before any brain damage occurs.

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vYjD TIL that the number 17 (XVII) was deemed ‘unlucky’ by the Romans and Italians because the Roman numeral was an anagram for VIXI, meaning 'I lived,’ a reference to one’s own death. Thus, Italian buildings do not have a 17th floor and so forth.
78A0M TIL that the "Leatherman" folding tool is named not because it was for working leather, or designed by a leatherworker, but rather takes its name from its founder's real name; Tim Leatherman.
89pG TIL Princess Leia’s iconic metal bikini was inspired by Fisher’s complaints that the loose-fitting outfits she wore in the Star Wars concealed her feminine physique.
VMOk4 TIL Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah has garnered acclaim as one of the greatest contemporary writers in the world. Farah was warned that the Somali government planned to arrest him, so he began a self-imposed exile that would last for 22 years
jr7M TIL that, due to the gender imbalance, by the year 2020, 24 million Chinese men will be unable to find a spouse.