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TIL James West in 1962 invented the transducer microphone. His invention accounts for 90% of all microphones sold today. He also had over 250 patents to his name.

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rRDVx TIL about hypertumors, a type of tumor that forms on top of an existing tumor and kills it. This happens more on larger animals, which may explain why blue whales don't die of cancer often.
Br7RK TIL sperm whales seek out habitats with large communities of bioluminescent plankton, which are not part of the whale's diet. As the plankton's predators (fish) approach the plankton, their glowing alerts the whale. The whale eats the fish. The plankton then turn out their lights.
BL6d TIL a mysterious young woman known only as “Bionerd23” has spent the last couple of years wandering around the destroyed nuclear plant at Chernobyl, ignoring the radiation danger and occasionally eating radioactive apples. Despite her dozens of YouTube videos, no one seems to know who she is.
jNylj TIL the carpet shark, native to the northern Australian coast, is a long, slender shark that tends to be creamy or brown with variously-sized dark spots. They forage for food in tidal pools and risk being stranded, but they can survive for an hour without oxygen or simply walk back to the ocean.
bPdE TIL in 740 King Bulan, convened a debate between Christian, Jew and Muslim priests to decide a religion for the Khazar nomads. He asked all 3 sages: “which is the lesser evil from the other 2 faiths?” Based on Christian and Islam’s answers, he instantly converted to Judaism and circumcised himself.