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TIL about The Great Tantra Challenge, a live event in which Sanal Edamaruku, an Indian skeptic, challenged a tantrik to kill him with only magic. After multiple failed attempts, the tantrik claimed Sanal was under the protection of a powerful god, to which Sanal replied that he was an atheist.

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6jXw TIL that when the studio behind ‘Star Trek’ received a letter from a builder asking how to make automatic sliding doors that opened and closed as fast as on the Enterprise, the reply explained that the doors were manually operated by an offstage crewman. If too late, cast would hit unopened doors.
BrE9x TIL author Michael Crichton felt one of his college writing professors was unfairly grading his essays C+. In what he described as a scientific experiment, Crichton submitted an essay by George Orwell under his own name and the professor gave him a B-.
ne8nB TIL there’s a laser procedure being developed that safely breaks up brown eye pigment (melanin) in the iris. Effectively changing one's eye color from brown to blue, since blue eyes exist under all brown eyes.
YyLZ TIL there is a town in Alaska where almost everyone lives and/or works under one roof. A single 14-story high-rise is home “to most of the town’s residents as well as its post office, grocery store, health clinic, laundromat and church.”
Makb TIL George II of GB died alone sitting on his toilet after drinking hot chocolate, but he lived longer than any of his predecessors