TIL the Tully Monster was a small (8 to 30 cm) soft-bodied marine animal that lived over 300 million years ago. This creature had a mostly cigar-shaped body with a triangular tail fin, two long stalked eyes, and a proboscis tipped with a mouth-like appendage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tullimonstrum
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puumdp/til_the_tully_monster_was_a_small_8_to_30_cm/

TIL that the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, was the first major charity rock concert in history, raising awareness and funds for refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War, and it later inspired massive benefit concerts like Live Aid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_for_Bangladesh
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puts2w/til_that_the_concert_for_bangladesh_in_1971/

TIL Australia recently approved a chlamydia vaccine for koalas

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/14/nx-s1-5541358/australia-koala-chlamydia-vaccine
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puti3z/til_australia_recently_approved_a_chlamydia/

TIL that umami taste receptor gene mutations led to diet shifts in early primates from insects to leaves, resulting in larger body sizes and (eventually) humans

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/2015352/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1putb7s/til_that_umami_taste_receptor_gene_mutations_led/

TIL that umami taste receptor gene mutations led to early primate diet shifts from insects to leaves, larger body sizes, and eventually humans

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/2015352/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1put8uf/til_that_umami_taste_receptor_gene_mutations_led/

TIL mammals did not evolve from reptiles; instead synapsids (~mammals) and sauropsids (~reptiles and birds) branched off at the same time, some 300 million years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropsida
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puscsm/til_mammals_did_not_evolve_from_reptiles_instead/

TIL Jangmadang (장마당) are informal local markets in North Korea, crucial for survival since the 1990s famine, evolving from barter to thriving economic hubs for food, goods, and information, challenging state control and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit of young families but faced oppression

https://libertyinnorthkorea.org/learn-a-changing-north-korea
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pury7i/til_jangmadang_장마당_are_informal_local_markets_in/

I use the NextCloud rich text editor a lot, and it always bothered me that I couldn't easily launch it from the command line.

Then I discovered this:

echo "EDIT:$(realpath "$file")" | nc -U -q1 "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/Nextcloud/socket"

which will open $file in the NextCloud editor in a new browser window, if managed by NC.

#NextCloud #TIL

TIL the 1984 Chess Championship was abandoned for the health of the players, after the two competitors played 48 matches, with 40 of them ending in a draw. Suspicion was political reasons called for the abandonment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship_1984%E2%80%931985
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1purio2/til_the_1984_chess_championship_was_abandoned_for/

TIL that the CIA secretly owned and controlled the Swiss company Crypto AG, which sold weakened encryption devices to foreign governments for decades.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_AG
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1purfi4/til_that_the_cia_secretly_owned_and_controlled/

TIL among the longest pieces of fiction ever written is-among other things-a fanfic of The Loud House, with over thirty million words upon completion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FanFiction.Net#Site_content
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pup4w1/til_among_the_longest_pieces_of_fiction_ever/

TIL Jet Li turned down the role of Seraph, Guardian of the Oracle in The Matrix movie franchise because he didn’t want his moves recorded in CGI and lose the rights to those moves.

https://kottke.org/18/10/jet-li-turned-down-the-matrix-because-he-didnt-want-cgi-versions-of-his-moves
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pup38f/til_jet_li_turned_down_the_role_of_seraph/

TIL that decomposing bodies can expel nonviable fetuses through a process called postmortem fetal extrusion, also known as coffin birth.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rare-case-coffin-birth-seen-medieval-grave-180968612/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pup03b/til_that_decomposing_bodies_can_expel_nonviable/

TIL a Chinese princess told her brother the king that it wasn't fair that he had a big harem of concubines and she didn't have any, so he gave her 30 handsome men as her harem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Chuyu
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puozoc/til_a_chinese_princess_told_her_brother_the_king/

TIL about the weathering hypothesis, a concept in public health which hypothesizes that the prevalence of illnesses like hypertension in socioeconomically marginalized communities is caused, not by poor lifestyle choices, but by chronic stress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering_hypothesis
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puoyw1/til_about_the_weathering_hypothesis_a_concept_in/

TIL that ants don't have lungs; instead, they breathe through tiny hole on their bodies.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/how-do-ants-breathe
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puntp7/til_that_ants_dont_have_lungs_instead_they/

TIL Eartha Kitt, who sang Santa Baby, also voiced Yzma in The Emperors New Groove

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eartha_Kitt
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1punneb/til_eartha_kitt_who_sang_santa_baby_also_voiced/

TIL that North Korea runs schools in Japan

https://yris.yira.org/column/chongryon-schools-north-koreas-hidden-hand-in-japan/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1puni2v/til_that_north_korea_runs_schools_in_japan/

TIL about Kim Hyon hui, a North Korean intelligence agent responsible for the 1987 Korean Air Flight 858 bombing that killed 115 people. Sentenced to death in 1989, she was later pardoned. She later married, lives in South Korea, while her family in the North was sent to a labour camp.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Hyon-hui?wprov=sfti1#Aftermath
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pumqmc/til_about_kim_hyon_hui_a_north_korean/

TIL that during the production of Troy (2004), Christopher Nolan was attached to direct when Wolfgang Petersen briefly stepped away from the project. When Petersen returned to film, Nolan was given the opportunity to direct Batman Begins instead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_(film)#Production
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pum9zq/til_that_during_the_production_of_troy_2004/