› added 7 months ago

24

TIL that, while it has no means of propulsion (which would risk distorting the results of its measuring instruments), the RV FLIP can sink partially vertically, to be submerged in the manner of a platform to study undersea sound waves. Its upright position suggested that it had sunk.

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XKNR TIL sliced bread was first sold in 1928, marketed as “The greatest thing since wrapped bread”
6kVY TIL about the “Demon Core’, a 6.2 kg subcritical mass of plutonium that briefly went critical during two separate experiments, killing two members of the Manhattan Project
XEkZk TIL that Gerard Butler's Irish accent in P.S. I Love You was so bad that he later apologized to Ireland for it.
X0E5P TIL: stereotypes about "stupid, lazy Southerners" in the US were caused by centuries of hookworm infection which causes lethargy, anemia and iron deficiency. These, in turn, negatively affect growth and intellectual development in children.
v17N7 TIL Walgreens grew dramatically (from 20 to 525 stores) during prohibition in the 1920s because they sold "prescription" alcohol (and milkshakes)