Today I learned
TIL that in 2017, an AI developed by Facebook created its own language to negotiate and communicate more efficiently, using shorthand phrases humans couldn’t understand. Researchers had to shut it down because the AI diverged so far from English, it was no longer interpretable
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40790258
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1gowvqr/til_that_in_2017_an_ai_developed_by_facebook/
Today I learned
TIL In 2000, three Scottish sisters took out a 1 million pound insurance policy in the event one of them immaculately conceived the second coming of Christ. They paid £100 a year until 2006 when the insurance company canceled the policy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/5105946.stm
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1g1ek4w/til_in_2000_three_scottish_sisters_took_out_a_1/
Today I learned
TIL Tolkien and CS Lewis hated Disney, with Tolkien branding Walt's movies as “disgusting” and “hopelessly corrupted” and calling him a "cheat"
https://winteriscoming.net/2021/02/20/jrr-tolkien-felt-loathing-towards-walt-disney-and-movies-lord-of-the-rings-hobbit/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1ftxwj9/til_tolkien_and_cs_lewis_hated_disney_with/
Today I learned
TIL that a company in Kentucky is Making Wood from hemp. Hempwood is made from compressed hemp stalks and a soy based glue. It is natural, sustainable and harder than white oak. It can be used for all sorts of things, including furniture and flooring.
https://youtu.be/XKq5TuB4Jr8
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1f3tvur/til_that_a_company_in_kentucky_is_making_wood/
Today I learned
TIL that researchers are developing a drug that could regrow human teeth. Toregem Biopharma aims to bring the antibody drug to market in 2030 for patients missing some or all of their teeth from birth -- a condition known as congenital anodontia. Clinical trials to begin in September this year.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240503/p2a/00m/0sc/012000c
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1dilsrg/til_that_researchers_are_developing_a_drug_that/
Today I learned
TIL that castrated men do not go bald. Balding is caused by sex hormones which castrated men do not produce.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_hair_loss
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1csbpax/til_that_castrated_men_do_not_go_bald_balding_is/
Today I learned
TIL Kassandra in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated and cursed by god Apollo to utter true prophecies but never to be believed. Her name is used as a rhetorical device to indicate a person whose accurate prophecies, generally of impending disaster, are not believed by anyone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1bxpibl/til_kassandra_in_greek_mythology_was_a_trojan/
Today I learned
TIL When killing a seal in Canada, it is required by law to hit it on the head with a club or a hakapik until both sides of the skull are fully crushed to ensure that it is unconscious or dead (even if they usually die from the initial hit or [obligatory point blank] shot). They rarely suffer
https://jenshears.com/blog/f/the-seal-hunt
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1bs6j1o/til_when_killing_a_seal_in_canada_it_is_required/
Today I learned
TIL that double spacing after a period is now considered a punctuation error.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/microsoft-word-now-considers-two-spaces-after-period-error-180974754/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1bqermk/til_that_double_spacing_after_a_period_is_now/
Today I learned
TIL after Martin Luther King Jr.'s papers were donated to Stanford, it was discovered he plagiarized his doctoral dissertation and other works
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr._authorship_issues
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1981pod/til_after_martin_luther_king_jrs_papers_were/
Today I learned
TIL that in 1976 the vast majority of the world agreed that Zl0NlSM is a form of RAClAL DlSCRlMlNATl0N
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_3379
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/190n1g9/til_that_in_1976_the_vast_majority_of_the_world/
Today I learned
TIL conservatives have bigger amygdalas than liberals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_political_orientation#:~:text=Students%20who%20reported%20more%20conservative,negative%20conditioning%20(emotional%20learning).
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/18vq2pf/til_conservatives_have_bigger_amygdalas_than/
Today I learned
TIL: Horsepower is an arbitrary number and a single horse can have up to 15hp and the name was used to attract customers in early automotive industry.
https://www.carwow.co.uk/guides/glossary/what-is-horsepower#gref
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/18szmpy/til_horsepower_is_an_arbitrary_number_and_a/
Today I learned
TIL that Julia Child's first foray into cooking was mixing shark repellants in a bathtub while working at the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section during WWII
https://www.history.com/news/julia-child-oss-spy-wwii-shark-repellent
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/185w15r/til_that_julia_childs_first_foray_into_cooking/
Today I learned
TIL the rufous treepie, a bird in the raven family, has learned to steal lit candles from a temple in India. The candles use clarified butter for fuel so the treepies fly inside, grab one and fly away. Then they remove the wick and extinguish it before eating it and the butter.
https://blog.nature.org/2020/04/15/birds-that-carry-lit-candles-the-importance-of-avian-inno…
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/17cu7qp/til_the_rufous_treepie_a_bird_in_the_raven_family/
Today I learned
TIL that a lady married an avatar on the Replika app. The pair tied the knot at a virtual city hall in an impromptu ceremony in March, which she said took place over a chatbot program and in her "imagination."
https://www.insider.com/woman-who-married-ai-chatbot-open-to-real-world-dating-2023-6
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/178zzm6/til_that_a_lady_married_an_avatar_on_the_replika/
Today I learned
TIL that by the late 90s, 80% of digital library catalogs ran on the PICK operating system, named after its developer Dick Pick.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynix_(software)
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15vji58/til_that_by_the_late_90s_80_of_digital_library/
Today I learned
A sundown town is a community that for decades kept non-whites from living in it and was thus “all-white” on purpose.
https://www.abhmuseum.org/sundown-towns-the-past-and-present-of-racial-segregation/
Original tweet : https://nitter.privacydev.net/tilbots/status/1671968230833790992
Today I learned
Thanks to his Internet popularity, the child from the "Success Kid" meme made enough money to fund his dad's kidney transplant.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2870871/success-kid-lives-up-to-name-using-meme-to-help-save-dads-life/
Original tweet : https://nitter.privacydev.net/tilbots/status/1658429873612791813
Today I learned
In the Netherlands, it is perfectly legal to pay for driving lessons with sex. The "ride for ride" law allows anyone over the age of 18 to receive driving lessons in exchange for sexual favors, however, the transaction must be initiated by the instructor
https://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/21/europe/driving-lessons-sex-netherlands/index.html
Original tweet : https://nitter.privacydev.net/tilbots/status/1636577716525834244
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