› added 4 years ago

217

TIL that Juneau, Alaska and Iqaluit, Nunavut are unique among capital cities in North America as the only two without roads connecting to their state/provincial/territory.

8eMWa TIL The US attempted to engineer longer monsoon seasons in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War in order to 'ruin roads, jam rivers, and extend the amount of time swathes of Vietnam weren’t traversable.' After 5 years and millions of dollars spent, it's not clear if it accomplished anything.
vPj0x TIL Simply calmly treading the water in a rip tide can return you to shore in 3 minutes, because rip currents are really whirlpools, according to an oceanography professor's study that sensors to analyze the flow of wave water. (Source: nps.edu, 2010)
Wk7wY Microwaves can transform a frozen pizza into hot, melted goodness in four minutes flat, but they can't rescue your melted ice-cream sundae. To cook food, a microwave oven converts voltage into high-frequency electromagnetic microwaves. The molecules in food—especially water and fat—absorb this energy and wiggle at high speeds, causing them to heat rapidly and warm the surrounding food. Although quickly turning leftovers cold would be handy, this is a one-way operation, explains David Pozar, a professor and microwave expert at the University of Massachusetts.
awKy TIL that a number of Renaissance era artists depicted Jesus Christ after the crucifixion with a post-mortem erection.
Xger TIL in 1987 a former airline worker shot his boss mid-flight, causing the stewardess to tell the pilot “we have a problem”. The pilot asked “what kind of problem?”, and at that moment the man shot the stewardess dead and announced “I’m the problem” before murdering the pilots and crashing the plane