Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

cjbman t1_je9jpfp wrote

Reply to comment by climbhigher420 in TIL that tularemia is an infectious disease that can be contracted by “inhaling particles from an infected rabbit ground up [by] a lawnmower”. by krisalyssa

This. Even if you have a big yard it's worth it trust me.

My father in law always told me a story about when he was young and went outside while his older brother was mowing the lawn. The lawnmower hit a rock and flew and hit my father in law in the face and knocked his eye out of his eye socket.

3

cindblank t1_je9in53 wrote

Reply to TIL that when former White House press secretary James Brady died in 2014, his death was ruled a homicide because it was ultimately caused by a gunshot wound he sustained in 1981, during the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by IAmTiborius

On a death certificate there is a Part 1 line for immediate cause of death and under that is "Due to as a consequence of" line. There is also a Part 2 section "Significant conditions contributing to death but not related to cause given in Part 1."

Most certainly the shooting did contribute to his untimely death, but I believe the determination by the coroner was made to be sure that maximum benefits could be awarded to the family.

Another example I know of was a war veteran that committed suicide. The conditions that contributed to his actions was his chronic pain and multiple surgeries he endured from injuries he received by serving during war. Without the second line, his widow would not have received monthly benefits.

64

Stigweird85 t1_je9gdx5 wrote

Reply to TIL a special law in the UK was created to ensure that the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital will forever be able to collect royalties from stage performances, audiobooks, book releases, etc. of Peter Pan in the UK. This is the only work with an 'exception' to copyright laws. by [deleted]

You can thank Disney for this - but not for good reason. Traditionally any versions of Peter Pan should pay a fee to GOSH but Disney being Disney argued that because JM Barrie didn't explicitly state that GOSH should benefit from media types that didn't exists at the time that they didn't have to pay.

−73

GoGaslightYerself t1_je9fsq5 wrote

Reply to comment by 8i66ie5ma115 in TIL that tularemia is an infectious disease that can be contracted by “inhaling particles from an infected rabbit ground up [by] a lawnmower”. by krisalyssa

> There’s a book called Biohazard by Ken Alibek

I read about him in a New Yorker article by Richard Preston entitled "The Bioweaponeers" where Alibek described leading the Russian germ-warfare lab Biopreparat (with 32,000 scientists and staff), trying to create "chimera" viruses combining the traits of anthrax, smallpox, ebola, etc. "Ebolapox" (one of the viruses Alibek believed they were working on) sounds devastating. Pretty chilling stuff and worthwhile reading.

Excerpt from that (1998) article:

> More recently, Alibek claims, the Vector researchers may have created a recombinant Ebola-smallpox chimera. One could call it Ebolapox. Ebola virus uses the molecule RNA for its genetic code, whereas smallpox uses DNA. Alibek believes that the Russian researchers made a DNA copy of the disease-causing parts of Ebola, then grafted them into smallpox. Alibek said he thinks that the Ebolapox virus is stable -- that is, that it will replicate successfully in a test tube or in animals -- which means that, once created, Ebolapox will live forever in a laboratory, and will not uncreate itself. Thus a new form of life may have been brought into the world.

> "The Ebolapox could produce the form of smallpox called blackpox," Alibek says. Blackpox, sometimes known as hemorrhagic smallpox, is the most severe type of smallpox disease. In a blackpox infection, the skin does not develop blisters. Instead, the skin becomes dark all over. Blood vessels leak, resulting in severe internal hemorrhaging. Blackpox is invariably fatal. "As a weapon, the Ebolapox would give the hemorrhages and high mortality rate of Ebola virus, which would give you a blackpox, plus the very high contagiousness of smallpox," Alibek said.

52