› added 7 years ago

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Of all the bodies in our solar system, the sun is probably the one we want to give the widest berth. It gushes radiation, and even though its surface is the coolest part of the star, it burns at about 9,940°F, hot enough to incinerate just about any material. As such, there are no plans to send a manned mission in its direction anytime soon (Mars is much more interesting, anyway), but it can't hurt to figure out at what distance a person would want to turn back. You can get surprisingly close. The sun is about 93 million miles away from Earth, and if we think of that distance as a football field, a person starting at one end zone could get about 95 yards before burning up.

yV56e TIL about parasocial interactions or relationships. Commonly experienced by fans of a celebrity, the fan develops friend-like emotional bonds with the celebrity, while that celebrity doesn't know the fan at all. When these relationships end, the fan can experience a real sense of loss or suffering.
4XJlN TIL the US Air Force tested how cats react to being tossed in air in zero gravity. The experiment was documented in a 1947 bioastronautics research video which included slow-mo ejection-seat footage (of men, not cats). They also tested pigeons in zero gravity; some pigeons flew upside down.
OGexR TIL that Ronald Reagan likely had Alzheimer's for most of his two terms as president of the United States
78avX Today I learned that dandelion roots can be used to make a coffee-like beverage.
d0BB TIL that in 2011 researchers let 100 paper planes go 23 miles above Germany. Since then some have been found in Canada, USA, Australia and South Africa.