› added 7 months ago

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TIL that Planets don't orbit exactly the sun's center — they orbit a common center of mass in between their and the sun's center called the barycenter. The barycenter of Jupiter and sun actually just outside the sun's surface!

Read more spaceplace.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

R7WPQ TIL that Germany has the only tree in the world with its own mailing address. It's known as the Bridegroom Oak, and it receives about 1000 letters per year from singles looking for love. Anyone can take letters from the tree and respond. They estimate that it's responsible for over 100 marriages.
DQdAr TIL Black Eyed Peas' Let's Get It Started wasn't an original song, but rather a clean version of a song called Let's Get Retarded, also made by them
6vB7 TIL: When Rialto police began wearing cameras there was an 88% decline in the number of complaints filed against officers, compared with the 12 months before the study. Officers also used force nearly 60 percent less often. Force used was twice as likely to have been by officers not wearing cameras.
N7V5Q TIL after NASA retrieved a stolen lunar sample collection bag from the 1969 apollo 11 moon mission, they inadvertently sold it at auction to a private collector for $995 in 2015. after going to court and losing their case & ownership, the collector sold the bag at auction for $1.8 million in 2017.
E1NdW TIL that in 1994, the pilot of a commercial airline allowed his 16-year-old son to sit at the plane's controls during a flight. The kid touched something he shouldn't have, inadvertently disengaged the autopilot and caused the plane to crash. Everyone onboard perished.