› added 7 months ago

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TIL that 90% of people that are struck by lightning survive

Read more pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

via reddit.com

KJnQ TIL An electron differs from a perfect sphere by less than 0.000000000000000000000000001 of a centimeter – so that “if the electron were magnified to the size of the solar system, it would still appear spherical within the width of a human hair.”
Lk18Q TIL a debate was held at a scientific conference as to whether the mammalian Y chromosome (required for males) is rapidly degrading. At the end of the debate, a vote resulted in a 50/50 split for/against the notion that the Y chromosome is degrading, with mostly females for it and males against it.
epxXn TIL The Canadian government sent the military (armed with rifles, bayonets, tanks, and IFV) to violently break up a First Nations protest over a golf course expansion onto their sacred burial grounds
9YMEM TIL that during the sea recovery of the bodies from the 1986 Challenger disaster, one of the bodies disappeared underwater and the search for it was called off. Fellow astronaut Robert Crippen rented a fishing boat and continued the search himself, eventually finding and returning the body.
VBJBB TIL: the book “fly fishing by J. R. Hartley” which featured in the 1983 yellow pages advert was not a real book and J. R. Hartley was not a real person. The book was published later under the pseudonym to catch the cult status the advert generated.