› added 5 years ago

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TIL that a few weeks before the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, US scientists performed a safety test on the EBR-II reactor by disabling cooling pumps and automatic protection systems at full thermal power. The core passively cooled itself as designed without human intervention or damage.

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via reddit.com

YgR7 TIL Karl Pilkington’s brother was kicked out the Army for driving a tank down the high street to get some Cigarettes
A8XB TIL that a US Marine was hit in the leg by an RPG that did not explode. He was operated on outside of the hospital by a surgeon and an explosives disposal technician.
9Rap TIL that in 1963-6 a 120ft supergun fired over 200 projectiles weighing as much 180kg each as far as 180km into space from the Caribbean island of Barbados, setting an altitude record that has still not been broken - and the abandoned supergun is still in place on the island.
V19B TIL - The first webcam watched a coffee pot. It allowed researchers at Cambridge to monitor the coffee situation without leaving their desks.
J1NNv TIL about Ötzi the Iceman, a remarkably well-preserved natural mummy from around 3300 BCE found in the Alps. Discovered in 1991, Ötzi is from Copper Age and had tattoos carried a copper axe, last meal was deer and grains. And still has relatives in Europe!