› added 1 year ago

67

TIL that the Edwards aquifer in Texas is one of the most biodiverse subterranean systems in the world. Several species are only found in that area, with a species of blind catfish (curiously the only species in the genus Satan) coming out of wells 610m deep.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

dMgQ TIL that Blockbuster laughed in the face of the Netflix CEOs when they proposed their initial ideas. Ironically they are the ones that put them out of business.
D65p TIL that the first ransomware was the 1989 AIDS Trojan horse, developed by biologist Dr. Joseph Popp. He gave his patients infected floppy disks entitled “AIDS Information - Introductory Diskettes”. After remaining dormant for about 90 reboots, the Trojan would encrypt the PC until payment was made.
GYy51 TIL Tian Han, the man who wrote China's national anthem, died after two years of mistreatment and torture in a Chinese jail during the Cultural Revolution
Z8kGB TIL that the first westerners to discover Gorillas were Carthaginians who believed them to actually be primitive humans, and named them Gorillai. they referred to them as savages with "shaggy bodies". They then captured, killed and skinned some, taking the skins back home.
jNnJM TIL of the sunk cost fallacy. It is the general tendency for people to continue an endeavor, or continue consuming or pursuing an option, if they’ve invested time or money or some resource in it, which becomes a fallacy if it’s pushing you to do things that are making you unhappy or worse off.