› added 6 months ago

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TIL the homochirality of biological molecules is exclusively a feature of life on Earth. Extraterrestrial samples contain largely racemic compounds, and common organic syntheses always yield racemic mixtures. It is not known to science why that is the case.

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VMgx8 TIL that In 1965, a four-year-old nearly drowned at a beach, but was rescued by a woman named Alice Blaise. 9 years later, that boy saved a man at the same beach. That man was Alice's husband.
E1850 TIL Of Alfred Kroeber who studied a man he named Ishi, the last member of the Yahi tribe who walked into the modern world in 1911. In Ishi's culture, knowing ones name gives you power over them, so Ishi just means Man. This idea of magic in naming things influenced Kroeber's daughter Ursula Le Guin.
4XpD5 TIL that 90% of the plastic in the oceans come from just 10 rivers. 8 are in Asia and 2 are in Africa.There are the Yangtze, Indus, Yellow, Hai He, Ganges, Pearl, Amur and Mekong in Asia and the Nile and the Niger in Africa
J18X8 TIL that because EMTs routinely check the fridge/freezer during 911 calls, they are a recommended place to keep DNR papers
pYrDp TIL a Czech brewery employs crayfish to monitor water quality. The crayfish are fitted with high-tech sensors that monitor their movement and vitals. Any changes in the crayfish's condition or behavior alert the brewers to possible water issues.