› added 12 years ago

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TIL that there is a current scientific hypothesis that the sun has a companion which is currently about 1-1.5 light years away. It is believed that it has an elliptical orbit which, every 26 million years, sends matter towards the Earth causing mass extinction events. Its nickname, the “Death Star.”

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via reddit.com

1o4X TIL The earliest form of RAM stored data as sound waves. Bits would be ‘thumped’ into a tube filled with mercury, then read by sensor on the other end. The computer was free to do other things during the relative eternity it took the bits moving at the speed of sound rather than the speed of light.
wLKKY TIL 90% of the wild Tasmanian devil population has disappeared due to an infectious form of cancer
V8m4 TIL Wilhelm Brasse was an Auschwitz prisoner assigned to take thousands of photos for five years. After WW2, the portrait photographer tried to start taking photos but was so traumatized by the ‘ghosts’ of the 'dead’ that he was unable, later saying he would 'never take another photograph’.
wowDP TIL the samurai Yanagizawa Yoshisato helped his samurai clan pay off their debts by selling goldfish. He took his best goldfish breeders over to the town of Koriyama so they could use its plentiful waters for this. His clan made goldfish more available to the general public and not just the rich.
EgQEP TIL that a Phillies fan credits the Phillies' dollar dog nights for saving his life, as he ate too many hot dogs and went to the hospital for a stomachache, where they found out he had blood cancer