› added 6 years ago

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TIL that US Navy periscope operators now use Xbox controllers, as the original control stick was deemed too complicated and a lot more expensive. Xbox controllers are so widely used that the learning time is hugely reduced, and they cost $37,980 less.

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via reddit.com

kJ5km TIL second breakfast is an actual thing, not an invention of Tolkein. It's a traditional meal in parts of central Europe, namely Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bavaria and typically consists of meats and pastries, with coffee to drink.
9YbKm TIL: The "overview effect" is a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from outer space. It is the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space.
Me7AA National Geographic Emerging Explorer Leslie Dewan is helping to revolutionize the nuclear power industry by designing a safer, more efficient alternative to today’s reactors.Conventional nuclear reactors only use about 3 to 4 percent of uranium’s accessible energy. The energy left behind is what makes conventional nuclear waste—radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years—so dangerous. Extracting more of the available energy reduces the radioactive lifetime of the waste. To this end, Dewan is helping to develop techniques that extract 96 percent of the available energy.
NxPP TIL There was a time when AMD and Intel CPUs used the same socket, and could run on the same motherboard.
VMJQD TIL that nobody can find or verify the existence of Hitoshi Akamatsu, the original creator of the castlevania series.