› added 11 years ago

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TIL that the 27-year partner of Sally Ride, the first American woman and youngest American ever to travel in space, is denied benefits because of the Defense of Marriage Act

Read more takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com

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YpQ9Z TIL in 2012 the "average" car sold in the UK was a 5-year-old Vauxhall Corsa with 57,000 miles on the clock.
pyA4 TIL: Shell launched the biggest vessel ever put to sea in 2013. The Prelude FLNG platform is longer than Sears Tower is tall, costs ~$12 billion, will weigh 600,000 tonnes (5 times as much as an aircraft carrier) and withstand category 5 cyclones.
Z8Z6R TIL that Suzanne Simard tested a theory that trees could communicate with each other. She discovered that when a Douglas Fir tree was in the shade, a Birch tree shared its carbon with the other tree.
jo1N TIL the “Overton Window” is political shorthand for pitching an outrageous idea first in order to make a less radical idea seem more appealing
X0rQk TIL Steel boats are less prone to lightning strikes than fibreglass because the metal in contact with the water reduces the electrical potential