› added 7 months ago

24

TIL about 8% of our DNA comes from ancient viruses and now helps our immune system and placenta form.

Read more bbc.com

via reddit.com

j6xNn TIL about Alvin “Tex” Johnson, a test pilot for Boeing who barrel rolled the 707 passenger jet prototype in 1955 over Seattle without orders. When asked he simply said: “I’m selling airplanes”.
9w5yD TIL that “the beard second” is a unit of length, defined by the distance an average beard hair grows in one sec. Inspired by & parodying the light year, it’s generally considered to be five nanometers, as a “standard” beard grows about 15cm (6 in) per year.
69Q5X TIL that Dead Space originally started as System Shock 3
VX4G TIL that a real man named Walter White was arrested for trafficking and manufacturing of methamphetamine.
D1xyV TIL Douglas Adams came up with the title for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy while lying drunk in a field near Innsbruck with a copy of The Hitch-Hikers Guide to Europe. Looking up at the stars, he thought it would be a good idea for someone to write a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy as well.