› added 4 years ago

99

TIL there are robotic stuffed animals made specifically for senior citizens suffering from cognitive impairment and decline. Meant to reproduce many actions and sounds of real animals they provide comfort for those unable to care for real pets much less themselves.

Read more joyforall.com

via reddit.com

eyj4 TIL in 2012, the White House responded to a petition to have a Death Star built by stating that “the Administration does not support blowing up planets” and that it would not fund a weapon “with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship”.
WkwX TIL that in 2005 the Georgian President fired the entire traffic police force in an attempt to reduce corruption (xpost; original post did not gain visibility).
1NbO TIL I learned the popular phrase “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps” was originally created to highlight the impossibility of getting out of a bad situation on one’s own, regardless of how hard one works.
MN9a TIL that when a military drone crashed in Iran and the US government asked for it back, the Iranian government sent them a toy replica instead.
0ZD5 TIL in 1964, a high school student in San Diego stayed awake for eleven days, demonstrating that sleep deprivation has little effect, other than the mood changes associated with tiredness. He currently holds the scientifically documented record for the longest period a human has gone without sleep.