› added 10 years ago

292

TIL that when doctors go on strike, the death rate stays level or drops.

Read more ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

via reddit.com

6EWpQ TIL that in 1966 after failing for 3 years to extinguish a gas well fire Soviet authorities decided to use a 30kt atomic bomb. It was detonated at a depth of 1,500m, crushing the well and extinguishing the flames in seconds. Following this success the same technique was use on 4 other well fires.
6EQ6Y TIL that exclusive sale rights of colchicine, a 2000-year-old treatment for gout, was given to a pharmaceutical company in 2009. They raised the price 50x, costing the government over $50 million/year.
l7Y1G TIL Doris Miller joined the Navy as a mess assistant, one option for a black man. During the Pearl Harbor attack he saved several lives and successfully manned an anti-aircraft gun with no training, until the ship started to sink. He was killed in 1943. An aircraft carrier is named in his honor.
YpaZA TIL that ants will heal other ants after raids and that mortally wounded ants will refuse treatment.
1aDNV TIL that birds in general and crows (because they’re black to us) have something called Ultraviolet Vision that makes them colorful to each other