Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

Ill-Manufacturer8654 t1_j6p5nmi wrote

Reply to TIL Most archaeologists now agree the Orion Correlation Theory — the idea that the pyramids specifically aligned with the three stars of Orion's Belt some 10,000 years ago — is a fringe idea. by clayt6

I mean, it's been discredited for a long time now.

For the most part, if you hear about some famous archaeological site aligning with such and such a constellation, it's almost certainly a load of crap. This sort of thing was popular with pseudoscientists back in the day, and it just sort of caught on.

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CrypticHandle t1_j6p5g34 wrote

Reply to comment by RandoCalrissian11 in TIL the "Minnow" from Gilligan's Island was named after the then chairman of the FCC famous for his criticism of (among other things) formulaic TV comedies by karl2025

And this answer is didactic. Common usage for much of the country is to use the title "Congress" to refer solely to the House of Representatives. Technically inaccurate, but so are terms like "hot water heater." But you knew that already 'cause you're so much smarter than the rest of us, right?

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Lordxeen t1_j6p5e11 wrote

Reply to comment by TLDReddit73 in TIL about cargo cults, where indigenous people of small tropical islands would perform elaborate rituals to mimic air traffic control and marching patterns after witnessing airplanes drop supplies on airforce bases during world war II. by sciencedit

Religion has been compared watching a rabbit run into a tree stump and break its neck… then spending the rest of your life looking at the stump waiting for it to happen again.

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Fkappa t1_j6p4qbi wrote

Reply to comment by Succulentmeditator in TIL Maria Sabina was an indigenous medicine woman who introduced the western world to psilocybin. Her community's rituals were appropriated for power and fame, and she died in poverty. by kerblooee

I know Schultes not so deeply, but IIRC Schultes' studies on spiritual use of psychedelics plants had a great impact on this banker, who was an amateur-level mycologist, Gordon Wasson. I don't know whether Schultes actually met Sabina.

Wasson of course did, he got to know Maria Sabina and attended her veladas, the ceremonies involving psychedelic mushrooms use. Through Wasson and his wife, mushrooms were sent to Albert Hofman in order to identify and then synthesize the shrooms alkaloids: psylocin, psylocibin and baeocistin. Hofman delivered.

Wasson visited Maria Sabina and gave her some tabs of lab made shrooms alkaloid and Sabina noted they were as functionally good as natural shrooms.

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Imissyourgirlfriend2 t1_j6p4l6o wrote

Reply to comment by Toy_Guy_in_MO in TIL The UK has been rabies-free since the beginning of the 20th century. by CaptainCorpse666

Then I won't link to the video that scared the shit out of me.

It was a medical film documenting an outbreak in Iran. From the look of the quality and the voice over, it looked to be quite old. And then, to add insult to infection, whoever put the damn thing up on the internet laid in some creepy background music.

Your fear is well deserved.

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samfreez t1_j6p3s6x wrote

Reply to comment by Jahobes in TIL China is bigger than the U.S. in terms of land area. The U.S. is also bigger than Canada in terms of land area. by Mewhenthe4

It would be interesting to see the real numbers there, because a lot of big cities have "reclaimed" massive tracts of land from the oceans they butt up against, in addition to things like docks and piers and things deliberately built over top of otherwise open water.

Then there are house boats and whatnot, and even entire towns in some countries (SE Asia has more than a couple floating towns IIRC, though I don't remember where exactly)

Edit: I also don't count a city/town built at the base of a mountain, because that's just normal land. I'm talking more about the inaccessible peaks themselves. Some countries like China do that a lot more often than you see in, for example, the US, but I suspect most of that would be a wash overall.

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Optimal-Grass-8989 t1_j6p3icz wrote

Reply to comment by jamesgelliott in TIL Most archaeologists now agree the Orion Correlation Theory — the idea that the pyramids specifically aligned with the three stars of Orion's Belt some 10,000 years ago — is a fringe idea. by clayt6

Maybe that was the point? An inverted expression to represent the constellation, mirroring the heavens on earth.

Haha, it’s easy to be either a dreamer or a denier. Much of archaeology is about speculation using what evidence you have available.

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Indifferencer t1_j6p3hz1 wrote

Reply to TIL that the third best selling album of all time, ahead of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, is the soundtrack for 1992 film The Bodyguard by Linguini_gang

The thing about these best-selling lists is that they often are just US sales, and sales data prior to Soundscan is more of a guess. Another thing is that on some lists, double albums are counted as two copies, which is why many lists show The Wall as outselling Dark Side or the white album outselling Abbey Road. Plus of course since we reached the streaming era, the whole notion of ranking titles by sales seems moot. And isn’t Eagles Greatest Vol 1 the top-selling album of all time in the US now? It’s possible nobody really knows because again, sales numbers prior to the 90s were usually only an estimate.

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