› added 7 years ago

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TIL that one developer of the smash arcade hit NBA JAM deliberately coded the game in a way that if you were playing as the Bulls against his Pistons, your shooting percentage would be completely awry, especially near the end of a close game.

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XEewD TIL a 2013 BBC study found that 56% of pilots fell asleep while flying, and 29% had woken up to find the co-pilot also asleep.
Brylk TIL that rainforest canopies have their own soil that is completely distinct from the soil on the ground. This "canopy soil" forms on the tops of branches from the death of mosses and plants, and sustains a high richness of fungal species that regulate nitrogen and nutrients in the forest.
XEe8r TIL Mary Babnik Brown donated her hair during WWII and later received a personal letter of thanks from Ronald Reagan explaining that her hair had been the perfect fit for complex bombsight called a Norden sight. Both wire and spider silk had been used beforehand, and neither worked as well.
X7Bj TIL Erwin Rommel on being condemned to death for the July 20th plot against Adolf Hitler, chose an offer of suicide and took a cyanide pill, both to protect his staff and as a ‘blood guilt’ (Sippenhaft) law meant that his family would have been punished as well, and in this way both could be spared.
neKQY TIL there is a method of growing rhubarb known as "forcing" where the plant grows in complete darkness and is tended to in candlelight. It grows so quickly during this process that you can hear it grow.