› added 9 years ago

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TIL British gunboats were having problems being lit on fire during World War II, so they designed a special diesel engine with the cylinders in a DELTA configuration. The engine worked so well, it is still in service 70 years later, and is half the size of its competitors. But just a 5th the weight.

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VBGPZ TIL Nauru has the highest obesity rate in the world (94.5% overweight, 71.7% obese), caused by the rapid adoption of Western diets after the phosphate mining boom. Traditional diets of fresh fish and vegetables were replaced by processed foods—with devastating health effects.
GAkW4 TIL: The last official use of a Guillotine was in 1977
b9kWj TIL Shadow of War developer Michael Forgey who died from a brain tumor is immortalized as an in-game orc-slayer. Forgey played in a band called Orc Slayer and his character, Forthog Orc-Slayer, wields a guitar-shaped battle axe.
OWje TIL Japan has over 100 active volcanoes, about 10% of all the world’s active volcanoes.
5yYR TIL it costs $10,000 per pound for NASA to launch a payload into orbit. NASA’s Advanced Space Transportation Program is developing technologies to reduce this to $100 per pound by 2025.