› added 5 years ago

69

TIL of the Invention Secrecy Act. The government has a program in place which specifically deals with inventions that are deemed to be "threats to national security" (open thread for choice quotes). There are currently 6102 inventions under lock and key, some of which "pertain to energy generation".

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

XENRj TIL that spiders eat 400–800 million tons of insects each year.
OoMQe TIL during the battle of Arnhem, Major Digby Tatham-Warter brought an umbrella and put it to good use, stopping an armoured car by poking the driver in the eyes with his umbrella. When a fellow soldier told him "that thing won't do you any good", he replied "Oh my goodness Pat, but what if it rains?
D107v TIL: British Navy officers play Britney Spears songs to scare off Somali pirates. The rationale of playing these songs is because, supposedly, Somali pirates have a strong dislike for western culture and music, which make Britney Spears’ songs a perfect fit to make them move on quickly.
p8lmG TIL that on the planet Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love, the northern continent is called Ishtar Terra, after Ishtar - the Babylonian goddess of love, and the southern continent is called Aphrodite Terra, after Aphrodite - the Greek goddess of love
e0ZRJ TIL that two men, Jinichi Kawakami and Masaaki Hatsumi, claim to be the last living descendants of authentic ninjutsu—in other words, they are the world’s last true ninjas. In 2012, both men stated they would not be choosing an heir, thus likely dooming the ninja to extinction