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191

TIL The American government (Among others) tried to deliver mail via missiles

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via reddit.com

PYDlw TIL There were lots of sketchy criticality accidents during the Manhattan Project and other early nuclear weapons research. E.g. One scientist died after dropping a Tungsten Carbide brick onto a Plutonium sphere which reflected more neutrons back onto it increasing the radiation
Egd6W TIL cicada wings shed water, dirt, and bacteria and are anti-reflective to avoid detection by predators using nanopillars 4000x thinner than human hair and waxy substances
VRNZ TIL that British scientist James Smithson donated his entire fortune to the United States (worth 1/66th of the entire US budget) to create the Smithsonian Institution despite never having visited the United States. He left no explanation of his motivation.
xo8k TIL H.R. Giger (designer for the ‘Alien’ series) has two bars in Europe with the same amazing biomechanical design he used in the Alien movies.
69bZX TIL that the NBA D (Developmental) league changed its name to the G league in 2017, with the G standing for Gatorade. This made it the first pro sports league named for an advertiser