› added 2 months ago

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TIL scientists renamed 27 human genes in 2020 because Microsoft Excel kept auto-converting their names into dates, causing widespread errors in published genetic research.

Read more theverge.com

via reddit.com

D1B6j TIL NYC’s first public WiFi kiosks had to shut off browser access because so many people were using them to watch porn.
R54bQ TIL that US Supreme Court IP Cases has doubled in 30 years; patent trolls companies exploit the system by litigating everyone and anyone in collusion with Big Media, costing $29 Billion annually, stifling innovation and equality.
xEgg TIL in 1976 the Mego Corporation rejected a deal to make Star Wars action figures, saying it that they would go bankrupt if they made toys of every “flash in the pan” sci-fi B movie that came along.
RAQj TIL in the 1960s South Korea secretly trained misfits plucked from prison or off the streets to sneak into North Korea and slit the throat of its leader, Kim Il-sung. When the mission was aborted, the men mutinied, killed their trainers and fought their way into Seoul before blowing themselves up.
jkgp TIL that The Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp acts like the medic of any saltwater aquarium. Many fish value its services so highly that they even allow the Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp to clean inside of their mouths without harming the shrimp.