Noobink: Today I Learned

http://books.google.com/books?id=aOwWoZyvUV8C&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=%22In+my+midteen+innocence,+I+was+simply+reaching+out+to+the+universe.+As+for+nosy+neighbors+my+rooftop+activities+looked+to+them+as+though+I+were+a+heavily+armed+burglar,+ready+to+rappel+down+the+side+of+the+apartment+building+in+the+dark,+with+my+portable+assault+weapons+strapped+to+my+side.+One+out+of+tree+times+I+was+on+the+roof,+some+one+would+call+the+police&source=bl&ots=7qLGTS5uo9&sig=gi066NenDOscPfYRyimEboaovWw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cb10VLKTAYXmoAT_jYCoDA&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22In%20my%20midteen%20innocence%2C%20I%20was%20simply%20reaching%20out%20to%20the%20universe.%20As%20for%20nosy%20neighbors%20my%20rooftop%20activities%20looked%20to%20them%20as%20though%20I%20were%20a%20heavily%20armed%20burglar%2C%20ready%20to%20rappel%20down%20the%20side%20of%20the%20apartment%20building%20in%20the%20dark%2C%20with%20my%20portable%20assault%20weapons%20strapped%20to%20my%20side.%20One%20out%20of%20tree%20times%20I%20was%20on%20the%20roof%2C%20some%20one%20would%20call%20the%20police&f=false

Noobink

TIL that when the CEO of the Sesame Street Workshop was asked if Bert and Ernie are gay, he replied, "They are not gay, they are not straight, they are puppets. They don’t exist below the waist."

TIL a young Neil deGrasse Tyson's neighbors would call the cops on him 1 out of every 3 times he'd go up on his roof to stargaze with his telescope.

TIL in 1964, riots broke out in North Philadelphia over a false rumor that police beat a pregnant black woman to death. Over 200 businesses were looted or destroyed. Most of those businesses never returned, which lead to much of North Philadelphia turning into the crime-ridden slum we see today.

TIL a plague wiped out millions of Native Americans just before the pilgrims came, leaving the new settlers cleared land and fields already planted with corn

TIL a man bought a house for $10k, and found an Action Comics #1 with the first appearance of Superman stuffed inside a wall. Showing it to an in-law, she tried to take it, tearing the cover.

TIL: that the zipper company YKK produces everything in-house, including its zipper-manufacturing machines and shipping boxes.

TIL parts of Hudson Bay and the surrounding regions of Quebec are "missing" gravity. This area has the lowest gravity on Earth.

TIL Mosquitos have collectively killed more human beings throughout history than any other factor, including war

TIL there is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that has been pending ratification since 1810. It would strip the citizenship from any American who accepts a title of nobility from another country.

TIL Chinese sledgehammers have a flexible handle to increase strike velocity and reduce handle reverberation for the user.

TIL that the Church of Scientology has a "prison" that they keep underperforming members of the church in

TIL in North Korea women are not allowed to ride bikes, wedding ceremonies MUST be held before one of the 34,000 Kim-Il-Sung statues, and citizens must display in their homes a portrait of their leader.

TIL of high speed tape, an adhesive that closely resembles duct tape and is frequently used on planes as a temporary patch to any punctures, scrapes, or surface damage. It is FAA-approved and can withstand extreme temperatures and high speeds.

TIL mathematician Zachary Harris hacked into Google's email system and sent a e-mail phishing attack to Larry Page from Sergey Brin's e-mail account. All because he noticed a flaw in an e-mail sent from Google offering him a job and thought it was a test. It wasn't.

TIL Floating cities above the clouds of Venus may be our best bet for becoming a two-planet species. Conditions there are so similar to Earth a human wouldn't need a pressurized-suit, the gravity is similar and transit times are shorter than to Mars.

TIL Joe Arridy was named the happiest inmate on death row. He had an IQ of 46 and played with a toy train given to him by the prison Warden. Due to his lack of understanding, he smiled on the his way to the gas chamber

TIL In 17th century Italy conjoined twins were on trial for murder. Authorities arrested Lazarus after he stabbed a man for teasing his parasitic twin brother. Though he was sentenced to death the court let him go, finding that they could not execute him without killing his innocent conjoined twin.

TIL that Bill Gates is offering $100,000 to the scientist who creates a next generation condom that "significantly preserves or improves sexual pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use".

TIL the smallest muscle in your body, found in the middle ear, dampens the sound of your own voice when you speak. Recordings of your voice sound odd because the stapedius muscle isn't functioning then.

TIL that gamers, playing an online protein folding game, helped decipher the structure of an AIDS causing virus in 10 days; It had remained unsolved by scientists for 15 years. Using the same platform, gamers also helped redesign a widely used enzyme, increasing its activity by a factor of 18.

Pages