› added 9 years ago

152

TIL that there is no “garbage island” made up of floating plastic in the ocean. While there are particles of micro plastic, the island(s) as such is an urban myth.

Read more response.restoration.noaa.gov

via reddit.com

K91E TIL the 1998 war film “The Thin Red Line” was cut from an initial five hours to three and a half after over a year of editing. Performances by Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Sheen, Gary Oldman and other notable actors were cut entirely, while others like George Clooney’s were reduced to cameos.
aE6L TIL in the desert in Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, there are series of thousands ancient huge, wheel-shaped structures which can only be viewed from space, similar to Nazca lines in Peru
v1PO7 TIL that in 1986, The New Republic's most-boring-headline award went to The New York Times for "Worthwhile Canadian initiative."
5YxPP TIL that due to the positioning of their legs, Loons are nearly incapable of walking. They often confuse wet pavement for bodies of water and become stranded as they require a long stretch of open water to take off again.
xd8o TIL that to circumvent US laws banning the export of cryptography software as “ammunition”, PGP inventor Phill Zimmermann published the entire sourcecode in a hardcover book. The export of books is fully legal.