› added 9 years ago

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TIL that Nazi Germany stockpiled huge quantities of nerve gas during World War II. It was ultimately never used, since Hitler was told (incorrectly) that the Allies had their own supply of nerve agents.

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xVYeD TIL that Chinese science fiction writer Chen Qiufan published a short story using paragraphs automatically generated by AI, based on his own writing. That story won him a literary prize in a contest moderated by an AI judge, over Nobel laureate Mo Yan
d8wJB TIL about psychosocial dwarfism, a condition where a child can stop growing due to an extremely stressful environment. It can cause the body to completely stop growing but is generally temporary; regular growth will resume when the source of stress is removed.
X0AN8 TIL the population of vultures in South Asia has decreased by 99.95% since the 1990s. Researchers discovered the culprit to be an anti-inflammatory drug, Diclofenac, which was being commonly administered to livestock. This represents the sharpest rate of decline of any animal known to man.
WPRL TIL in addition to Buckshot and Bird shot there is also Rat shot. A small calliber bullet cartridge that can be loaded into handguns and rifles to be used as a low power shotgun round effective for killing small pests and birds without damaging buildings.
D15Ev Today I Learned that Prostate cancer has a higher mortality- and appearance -rate than breast cancer (at least in the UK). With a lack of awareness leading to less overall funding to further research efforts. Despite of it, there has been great strides none the less, with lowering in all rates.