› added 3 years ago

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TIL that there are many scientific names for water such as dihydrogen monoxide (subject of a famous hoax), oxidane, hydrohydroxic acid, hydric acid, hydrogen oxide, hydrol, and hydrogen hydroxide. Most of these names are not widely used, but are technically correct.

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KOvgE TIL pedestrianism was the biggest sport in America before the rise of modern spectator sports
VwmZ TIL that the pistol shrimp has a claw that when it snaps shut creates a pressure wave and momentarily reaches the temperature of the sun.
kJVWm TIL Garth Brooks once tried to donate part of his liver to Rodeo man and country singer Chris LeDoux upon LeDoux's diagnosis with primary sclerosing cholangitis
6ENXW TIL that the Germans thought that the shotgun was too inhuman a weapon, and lodged a complaint against the US.
v1WXK Flying a helicopter on Mars is so damn hard but NASA made it possible. For the first flight, the helicopter took off, climbed to about 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, hovered in the air briefly, completed a turn, and then landed. It was a major milestone: the very first powered flight in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars, and, in fact, the first such flight in any world beyond Earth. Being able to fly a helicopter or drone on Mars is very important as they can cover 24 kilometers in an hour. By the way, Curiosity took nine years to travel less than 25 kilometers.