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TIL that many scientists have suggested that complete eradication of mosquitoes would not have serious ecological consequences

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O1b1 TIL in a 2009 TED talk about Malaria, Bill Gates brought a jar of mosquitos onto the stage and released them into the crowd to frighten the audience into considering the dangers of Malaria closer to home.
69dMW TIL the famous Austrian athlete Felix Baumgartner set three world records, jumping with a parachute from a height of 38 km 710 m and developing a speed of 1173 km/h
e6kE TIL that once the Babylonians could predict when solar eclipses would occur, they would install a substitute king during this period. As they believed that these eclipses were an evil omen, this substitute king could be blamed. (He usually was killed after - of course making the omen true.)
p8KX8 TIL the “Death Zone” is what climbers call the highest part of Mount Everest (everything above 26,247ft). Due to its lack of oxygen, the body literally begins to die, cell by cell. This can result in health risks like impaired judgement, heart attack or stroke, and altitude sickness.
499b TIL that an acre of hemp produces more paper than an acre of trees.