› added 9 years ago

100

TIL a former governor of Alaska proposed building a pipeline from Alaska to California, to pump fresh water, not oil.

Read more governorwallyhickel.org

via reddit.com

VM5E8 TIL of Hypatia. She was a world-renowned female mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher of the 4th-century who was literally torn apart by oyster shells and set on fire by a mob of Christain zealots.
PY07E TIL in 1962, 7 years before America developed ARPANET Soviets were working on their version of internet called OGAS, the project was abbandoned in 1970 because Soviet Leaders feared it would undermine their control over the economy and country.
XEomQ TIL that there is now serious scientific study supporting the idea that trees thrive in interconnected communities, as they communicate toward mutual goals. Sharing sunlight, raising young, conserving resources. Mycorrhizal networks of tree roots and fungi may operate in similar manner as a brain.
1NaW TIL a study titled “Where Are They Now?” in 1978 followed up on 515 people who were prevented from attempting suicide using the Golden Gate Bridge from 1937 to 1971. About 90% were either alive or had died of natural causes, concluding “suicidal behavior is crisis-oriented” rather than inexorable.
JVRQ TIL of Planned obsolescence, a manufacturing decision by a company to make consumer products in such a way that they become out-of-date or useless within a known time period so that consumers are forced to buy a product multiple times rather than just once.