› added 11 years ago

194

TIL a cat purrs at the same rate as an idling diesel engine - roughly 26 cycles per second.

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W71pN TIL that Bill Lancaster, son of famous actor Burt Lancaster, wrote the screenplays for The Bad News Bears (1976) and John Carpenter's The Thing (1982).
MeRkm TIL that the University of Glasgow created an artificial tongue using gold and aluminum that can distinguish between whiskeys with 99% accuracy, with the goal of reducing counterfeit alcohol in circulation.
R7Gwj TIL Indian intelligence first confirmed Pakistani covert nuclear weapons program by collecting hair samples from the floors of local barber shops in Kahuta.
0d6ry TIL Ursula von der Leyen has seven children and was a housewife through much of the 90s.
oRWpr TIL In India zero-currency notes are paid in protest by angry citizens to government functionaries who solicit bribes in return for services which are supposed to be free. In 2007 a non-profit organization created the zero-currency note and thousands of notes are distributed every month.