Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

Due_Platypus_3913 t1_ja0pa1k wrote

Reply to TIL about the only double barrel cannon in the world. When it was its first tested during the American Civil War, the chain snapped immediately and one ball tore into a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney; the other spun off erratically and struck a nearby cow, killing it instantly. by ExpertPreference8481

In the modern era,military contractors would say”successful proof-of-concept” and the Pentagon would order 10,000 units at $75 million per.

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No-Owl9201 t1_ja0olnf wrote

Reply to comment by drygnfyre in TIL that Ben S. Cauley, Jr. was the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed singer Otis Redding & 6 other people in 1967. Cauley took off his seat belt shortly before the crash. He managed to cling to a seat cushion for 20 minutes, until a rescue boat pulled him from the freezing lake waters. by Paiger__

Yes indeed it would have been fascinating to see the further evolution of Elvis's career. I guess with his vocal style he could adapt to most musical genres. He worked with so many talented people it is hard not to see him as a huge success in whatever he did. Though being a Star is never easy or predictable so who really knows.

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laughingmeeses t1_ja0o8zm wrote

Reply to comment by SeiCalros in TIL: "Popcorn" is not simply a descriptive term, but also refers to a specific variety of corn which has the unique characteristic of being able to pop, while the other five varieties of corn do not have this capability. by greenappletree

Anyone who's spent any time at all around food, in this case corn, should be able to clearly differentiate what the heck they're looking at. It's a bit like someone looking at a red onion and assuming its the same as a white or yellow onion. It's not hard to be vaguely cognizant of how things are different.

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daviEnnis t1_ja0nvfh wrote

Reply to comment by dark_LUEshi in TIL that despite having brains the size of poppy seeds, bees are able to recognize and remember human faces. In a study, researchers paired images of human faces with sugar-laced water, and bees were able to recognize and remember the faces even when the reward was no longer present. by MaleficentTop6074

Because they're test method eliminated the possibility of scent screwing with their result.

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hesalivejim t1_ja0nlwg wrote

Reply to TIL about the only double barrel cannon in the world. When it was its first tested during the American Civil War, the chain snapped immediately and one ball tore into a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney; the other spun off erratically and struck a nearby cow, killing it instantly. by ExpertPreference8481

Dumb question - why not just load them each with ball / grape, light one (boom) light the next (boom) then reload both? In fact, why not have almost a chaingun-type contraption where you just keep firing the next in line until it's empty then reloading the lot at once? Surely that would have saved loads of time? The only issue I can think of is weight but these ones look tiny anyway.

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