› added 9 years ago

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TIL researchers tweaked a computer’s learning system so that it would read the manual for Civilization and adjust its strategy according to the information. The machine won 79% of the games it played, compared to 46% for a machine that didn’t read the manual.

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via reddit.com

xVJN5 TIL that 'Nutbush City Limits' by Tina Turner is a banger in Australia and all the kids grew up learning to dance to it.
4Vyg TIL that traditional Japanese units of time were of unequal length, to accommodate the variation in daylight as the seasons changed. They also created mechanical clocks that varied in the same way.
mDkp TIL that Psycho was the first film ever to show a toilet flushing on screen
MeoGa TIL Artie Lange was paid $140k in one night to perform two shows at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week 2007, his highest paid stand up gig at that point. After gambling, hookers, and drugs, he spent $145k that trip.
wLeJ8 TIL New York's metropolitan transit authority dumped over 2,500 subway cars into the ocean to create reefs for fish to live in. The project was a success and has been shown off by photographer Stephen Mallon.