› added 7 months ago

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TIL of the concept of agnoiology - the study of ignorance

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via reddit.com

OobBg TIL of Thalidomide, a "safe" drug made by the german pharmaceutical company Grunenthal, that deformed thousands of babies around the world because it was sold as safe for pregnant women, when it was not. The company never made up for it, and today's FDA rules were created in response to this drug.
XERER TIL, the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb, Sarah Josepha Hale, is most responsible for the creation of Thanksgiving being a national holiday.
A6Kg TIL in a test of cognitive dissonance, researchers paid participants either $1 or $20 before completing a boring 1-hour task. Afterwards, those who were paid $1 said the study was stimulating while those paid $20 said they hated it; the low-paid people had to rationalize doing the task for only $1.
4Q8o TIL that in 2018 the city of Chicago is implementing a surveillance system, called Array Of Things, which monitors climate, traffic, pedestrians, and other urban features.
m1v0x TIL that desert truffles, cousins of the better known European varieties, are associated with lightning. This delicacy grows under the sands of the Middle East and North Africa and frequently appear after thunderstorms which form nitrogen compounds beneficial to the fungus.