› added 10 years ago

947

TIL that anyone in the US, UK or Canada can get their entire genome sequenced for free

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via reddit.com

jXBa TIL in 1986, when a five year old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure and lost consciousness, a large male gorilla named Jambo stood between the boy and the other gorillas in a protective gesture, even stroking the boy’s back. The incident helped create a positive public perception of gorillas.
J1KKl TIL that x86-based chips are slower and more wasteful in energy than their ARM counterparts, but Intel's dominance in PCs meant ARM chips never took off in that market. However, their advantages allowed them to dominate the nascent smartphone market.
9JyQ TIL there’s a experimental project in Stockholm, Sweden where you can sign up to recieve a SMS if there is a cardiac arrest nearby (500 m), so you can get there before the ambulance and perform CPR. 9500 people have signed up, and they reach the location faster in 54% of the cases.
ne7Lo TIL that American Civil War Union soldiers were issued 36 pounds of coffee a year and the word "coffee" appeared more in journal entries than "war," "bullet," "cannon," "slavery," "mother" or "Lincoln."
dljd TIL that in 2013, someone hacked the Emergency Alert System in Montana. They sent out an alert that the “dead bodies are rising from their graves and attacking the living.” Several people believed it and called 911.