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TIL Isaac Asimov refused the invitation to visit friend and famed A.I. pioneer Marvin Minsky’s lab at MIT in the 1960s because he was “Writing about really intelligent robots of the future and was sure that if he came and saw the clumsy ones that we were making it would spoil his imagination.”

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R7X6a TIL that birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the mass extinction, because they were small enough to burrow, had beaks and were smarter than other small beaked dinosaurs.
E1QyW TIL in 1981 Dr. Michael Shannon, a pediatrician back then, saved the life of a 3.2 pounds new-born Chris Trokey, who had a 50/50 chance at surviving. In 2011, Trokey returned the favor as a paramedic when he helped saving a seriously injured Dr. Shannon from a car accident.
wLGNJ TIL "Spotlight effect" is a feeling in which you overthink that you are being continuously observed, noticed, and judged by others (like walking into a room full of people or participating in a meeting discussion). The effect arises from being extremely self-conscious about what others may think.
W8yX TIL there’s a service that routes telemarketing calls to a bot that wastes as much time as possible engaging in conversation
VMJd4 TIL of the Man in the Iron Mask. An unidentified prisoner held for 34 years, until his death in 1703, who was forced to wear a mask to ensure no one knew his true identity. His cell had multiple doors so no one could listen; if he spoke of anything other than his immediate needs he would be killed.