› added 9 years ago

120

TIL Eastern Russia has a “Valley of Death” where volanic hydrogen sulfide gasses displace all oxygen for a metre or so above ground level. This kills animals which attracts scavengers who are also killed in an endless chain of death.

Read more russia-ic.com

via reddit.com

dPbr TIL that Joseph Weizenbaum, one of the founding fathers of Artificial Intelligence, later became one of it’s leading critics when he found his secretary getting very emotionally involved with ELIZA, a chatbot that he himself programmed.
a8Npo TIL the Lenni Lenape, the Native American tribe indigenous to the area between CT & DE, played a sport where 2 teams: 1 all men & 1 all women try to get a ball into the other's goal. The women can carry/pass/kick the ball & tackle. The men couldn't tackle & could only kick/dislodge the ball.
1bQ7 TIL Female humans, pilot whales and killer whales are unique among animals: they are the only three mammals known to undergo menopause. This allows them to help their children survive into adulthood and—if they’re lucky—to act as grandmothers to the next generation.
9X9M TIL Inspired by The Empire Strikes Back, Richard Dailey killed his horse and crawled inside the carcass to survive an Idaho storm. He found it wonderful and warm at first but later claustrophobic and grotesque. Dailey said The Revenant was pretty accurate but wondered why DiCaprio got naked.
Ooa87 TIL that the term 'winging it' was originally a theatrical slang term for actors who didn't know their lines, and reviewed scripts in between scenes or received prompts from off stage in the 'wings'.