› added 9 years ago

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TIL in “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”, child actor Haley Joel Osment suggested to Steven Spielberg that to portray an Android well he shouldn’t blink. Osment does not blink once during the entire film.

JnPl TIL 26% of American adults DO NOT know that the Earth orbits the sun, 49% think antibiotics kill viruses, 47% believe electrons are larger than atoms, 53% think Lasers work by focusing sound waves, according to a survey done by the National Science Board. Other figures and countries included. (PDF)
a8xm0 TIL when Dr. Dre survived 3 strokes over a 2-week period after being hospitalized for a brain aneurysm in 2021, it led to Eminem & Snoop Dogg ending their feud with each other. Because it helped them realize that it was "stupid as hell" for them "to be feuding right now". So they talked it out.
JY4Jv TIL About the UNIVAC which was the world's first commercially available computer. It weighed 16000 pounds, used 5000 vacuum tubes, and could perform about 1000 calculations per second.
e0476 TIL of Alcock & Brown, the first aviators to fly across the Atlantic non-stop. Despite the cloud only lifting three times during their journey, Brown had managed to navigate them to within 20 miles of their original target destination using just a sextant and calculus.
DJEp TIL that despite 3 different scientists returning a negative paternity test, Charlie Chaplin was forced to pay child support for 21 years because of a Jury decision of 11-1 that yes, he was the father.