› added 3 weeks ago

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TIL that Robert Oppenheimer visited Japan as an honored guest of the Japan Committee for Intellectual Interchange in 1960

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WkMKd TIL of the Invention Secrecy Act. The government has a program in place which specifically deals with inventions that are deemed to be "threats to national security" (open thread for choice quotes). There are currently 6102 inventions under lock and key, some of which "pertain to energy generation".
GAW75 TIL Canberra, Australia's capital city, had a variety of suggested names including Kangaremu
VM0nG TIL Bill Gates once released a swarm of mosquitoes at a TED talk about malaria, saying that it shouldn’t be an experience only for poor people.
neA4b TIL there is a neurological condition called Witzelsucht that gives one an "uncontrollable tendency to pun"
D1A0r TIL that all mammals, from mice to whales, have roughly the same number of heartbeats in a lifetime: 1 billion.