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TIL When the space shuttle was in operation, it could launch a payload of 27,500 kg for $1.5 billion, or $54,500/kg. For a SpaceX Falcon 9, the rocket used to access the ISS, the cost is just $2,720/kg. SpaceX’s technical advances and cost reductions have changed the direction of U.S. space policy.

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b6eWE TIL that in 2008 a proposed forensic technique suggested analyzing antibodies. It was said to be faster than DNA though wasn’t intended to replace it.
m15XY TIL there is a species of mushroom that infects and zombifies carpenter ants. The mushroom slowly takes control of the ant’s motor functions and leads them away from the colony to die in a place ideal for growing. Then the mushroom grows out of the ant’s head.
8eLmL TIL While noodles were popularized by Thailand’s government in the 1940s as part of an effort to save rice after a major flood, the first mention of Pad Thai in a cookbook only occurred in the 1960s.
KYlLR TIL people who were born blind use their visual cortex to solve math problems
4xgo TIL New Zealand has an official Wizard appointed by the prime minister.