› added 9 years ago

99

TIL Contrary to popular belief, asphalt paving is the most recycled material in the United States. Despite its classification as industrial waste, up to 99% of reclaimed asphalt pavement is recycled into new paving

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wLr4Y TIL scientists interested in aging joined the circulatory system of two mice together—one young, the other old—and studied the effects. The old mouse experienced reversed aging in muscle and in the brain. Researchers are keen to start clinical trials in humans.
YpVVd TIL The Scunthorpe Problem. Automatic profanity filters on the Internet see banned words inside other words and create problems for users. It is named after an incident in 1996 in which AOL's filter prevented Scunthorpe residents from creating accounts due to the unfortunate substring it contains.
pYAP8 TIL the first Scram button on a nuclear reactor had its origins in 1942 where an actual control rod tied to a rope with a man with an axe stood next to it; cutting the rope would mean the rods would fall by gravity into the reactor core, shutting the reactor down.
EwRo TIL that All Star by Smash Mouth turns 18 this year.
ADBww TIL: In the 1800s, Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer set out to write an ambitious guide to all the nations on Earth. She had never set foot outside Shropshire. She was horribly misinformed about virtually every topic she turned her attention to. And she was prejudiced against foreigners.