› added 4 years ago

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TIL Earth has a planetary protection officer, who is responsible for keeping invasive extraterrestrial species at bay

Read more astrobiology.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

JoG4 TIL that after Drew Barrymore posed nude in Playboy at age 19, her godfather, Steven Spielberg, sent her a quilt for her 20th birthday with a note that said “cover yourself up”. Enclosed were also the Playboy pictures, altered by his art department to make her appear fully clothed.
6rdX TIL a 61 year old potato farmer won the inaugural Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon, a distance of 875 kilometres (544 mi). Almost two days faster than the previous record for any run between Sydney and Melbourne.
69BVm TIL: In 1971, American Airlines had piano bars on their aircraft
QN7gL TIL that the U.S. developed “Operation Cherry Blossom,” a plan to spread plague-infected fleas in Japan during World War II. Although never executed, it highlighted the lengths nations would go for biological warfare and sparked discussions on bioethics.
RVo9 TIL that the fact that most dust is formed of dead skin cells is a myth. Most of it is just animal dander, sand, insect waste, flour, and of course lots of good, old-fashioned dirt.