› added 9 years ago

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TIL a group got instructions to sleep as long as they wanted, their cortisol started to rise at 8, and woke up at 9. Another group was said they’d wake up at 6, and their CRH and cortisol rose at 5. Just their expectations of waking time changed the behaviour of stress hormones.

l7b95 TIL that during the Revolutionary War, lower Westchester County, NY became a lawless "neutral ground" between British and American forces, where civilians endured constant raids and pillaging because neither side could maintain order. Amidst the chaos, residents "feared everybody whom they saw."
WknMY TIL Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (AD 973-1057) was a blind, vegan, antinatalist, rationalist poet and philosopher who criticized Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism and advocated for social justice while living an ascetic and secluded lifestyle.
YpJWx TIL that in WWII, John T. "Mike" Wolf joined the navy to become a pilot. Even though he had poor eyesight, he passed his physical when the doctor got distracted and forgot to give him the eye exam. Lt. Wolf went on to become a highly decorated fighter pilot ace, shooting down 7 Japanese planes.
e0Pgb TIL that the French writer and philosopher Georges Bataille founded a secret society called Acéphale to explore ritualism and human sacrifice, but apparently everyone volunteered to be the sacrificial victim and no one wanted to be the executioner so no sacrifice was ever carried out.
XEKvQ TIL "The Theme from New York, New York" was not nominated for an Academy Award. The winner was "You Light Up My Life". Also nominated was "Nobody Does It Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me. Originally performed by Liza Minnelli, it didn't become famous until Frank Sinatra covered it 3 years later.