› added 7 months ago

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TIL about a tiny titanium pump weighing only 11 grams that can handle a blood flow of 1.5 liters a minute is smallest artificial heart.It was invented by an American, Doctor Robert Jarvik and used initially on animals. An artificial heart for adults weighs 900 grams.

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XZpQ TIL of the Skeleton Coast of Namibia, aka “The Gates of Hell”, a place so inhospitable that when the MV Dunedin went aground in 1942, passengers were only rescued after another ship ran aground, a big aircraft was damaged on landing, was repaired and crashed again, and several army trucks were lost.
OVwX TIL there are 15 surviving autographs from William Shakespeare. None are spelled the same and none are spelled the way we do today.
MeDv8 TIL large ships use sea water as ballast; the water contains all sorts of living organisms which when released, results in the spread of invasive species around the world. This has an economic impact of billions of dollars a year to the US alone.
J1mk TIL there is a bog here in Florida that was an ancient burial pond and contains human remains that were buried almost 2000 years before the first pyramids. The skeletal remains were preserved so well that they managed to collect soft brain tissue from the skulls.
EXJ0 TIL Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a 7mm revolver. He walked home, saw doctors but there was no surgeon to remove the bullet. The doctors left him alone smoking his pipe in his room. He died at 37 of infection two days later and his last words were “The sadness will last forever”