› added 11 years ago

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TIL that all GPS units sold in the civilian market have to be programmed to deactivate themselves if they detect they are traveling faster than 1200 MPH or are above 60,000 feet in altitude to prevent them being used in intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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Oo94X TIL that about 85 percent of hospitals still use pagers because hospitals can be dead zones for cell service. In some hospital areas, the walls are built to keep X-rays from penetrating, but those heavy-duty designs also make it hard for a cell phone signal to make it through but not pagers.
KYOJE TIL that there is a major, large-scale recycling program for used Taco Bell sauce packets.
mxo1R TIL that cows have best friends. In a study to identify factors affecting milk yields, researchers noticed that cows form attachments to specific individuals in their herd. When these cows are together, indicators of stress in both noticeably reduce.
AlWw TIL there’s a man in England who, after reading a book about King Arthur, was astonished to see so many similarities between himself and the Arthur of the book, so decided to change his name to Arthur Uther Pendragon, and thinks of himself a reincarnation of the King.
d84Nr TIL that the name "white rhino" came from a miscommunication: Englishmen mistook the Dutch word "wijde" (wide) for white. White rhinos and black rhinos are actually the same color, grey.