› added 5 years ago

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TIL that the furthest detected individual star is 14.4 billion light years from Earth. We can detect it from so far away because gravity from objects between us and the star have warped its light, magnifying it 2000 times and focusing the star's light onto Earth for telescopes to pick up.

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9G9D TIL John Oliver’s comedic commentary has been credited with helping influence US culture by shedding light on issues otherwise ignored. This has been dubbed “The John Oliver effect.
X0mL6 TIL it's not possible to watch every film ever nominated for Best Picture. Only 2/3 of 1928's The Patriot still exists, and the only complete prints of 1931's East Lynne and 1934's The White Parade are in the UCLA film archive
rRlZy TIL About Ama, female Japanese pearl divers that start diving at the age of 12-13, and are well active into their 70s. They endure freezing conditions and great pressure from deep sea depths to get pearls. They have a unique technique in which they release air in a long whistle as they resurface.
lDxK TIL that only a very small percentage of people are thought to be gluten intolerant, but those and IBS symptoms might actually be related FODMAPS- a group of fermentable carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed by gut bacteria.
lQjV TIL that there was once a real-life replica of The Simpsons house, made for a contest. It was re-created from footage of more than 100 episodes of the show to get every facet of the house right. The winner, however, chose to accept a cash prize instead.