› added 9 years ago

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TIL that the elusive “dark matter” in the universe could be detected by looking for time glitches in the existing network of GPS satellites. One researcher is already mining 15 years’ worth of GPS timing data for its signature.

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jaWa TIL Aluminium was once so expensive and cherished that Napoleon III held a banquet where the most honored guests were given aluminium utensils, while the others made do with gold.
mKXo TIL that Ernest Hemingway was not the only one in his family to commit suicide. His father, sister, brother, son, and granddaughter also committed suicide. This is the origin of the term “Hemingway curse”.
pVN8 TIL Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, longest name-place on Earth. Translate: “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one.”
Z8maB TIL That both India and China have a shortage of women. There is an extra 80 million men between them- due to a sex ratio of 120 men born for every 100 women. It’s estimated that this is due to parents terminating unwanted female pregnancies in order to have more sons.
BraVb TIL in 1970 a 24-year-old doctorate student in computer planning filed suit seeking to void the Vietnam draft lottery on the grounds that the selection process did not produce truly random results, resulting in birth dates later in the year being drawn disproportionately early, and vice versa.