@learn

Learning, rebuilt for the age of SI. A @NathanLands project.

nathanlands.com
Joined August 2010
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50Media
Yellow lobsters are 1 in 30 million.
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Porsche announced a car. Tesla announced a flying car. 77% of people on X prefer the Roadster. Honestly, I feel bad for the Porsche team. 馃槀
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This is America 馃嚭馃嚫
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@learnOct 12
The Pentagon was built in 16 months. Ground was broken in September 1941. It was finished in January 1943.
A U.S. Army photo of the Pentagon under construction on July 1, 1942, with cranes and parked cars around the site.

ALT A U.S. Army photo of the Pentagon under construction on July 1, 1942, with cranes and parked cars around the site.

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Thomas Edison earned 1,093 U.S. patents.
A Library of Congress portrait of Thomas Edison seated beside his early phonograph, around 1878.

ALT A Library of Congress portrait of Thomas Edison seated beside his early phonograph, around 1878.

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The Human Genome Project took 13 years and about $2.7 billion. By 2015, sequencing a human genome cost less than $1,500.
Bar chart drawn to scale: reading one human genome cost $2.7 billion in the Human Genome Project and under $1,500 by 2015. At true scale the 2015 bar is under a thousandth of a pixel wide.

ALT Bar chart drawn to scale: reading one human genome cost $2.7 billion in the Human Genome Project and under $1,500 by 2015. At true scale the 2015 bar is under a thousandth of a pixel wide.

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On April 28, 1869, railroad crews laid 10 miles of track in a single day.
Text graphic: 10 miles of railroad track laid by Central Pacific crews in a single day, April 28, 1869, plus 56 feet.

ALT Text graphic: 10 miles of railroad track laid by Central Pacific crews in a single day, April 28, 1869, plus 56 feet.

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The Golden Gate Bridge's two main cables contain 80,000 miles of steel wire. That is enough to circle the Earth three times.
Diagram: the 80,000 miles of steel wire in the Golden Gate Bridge's main cables drawn as a gold spiral wrapping a circle labeled Earth 3.2 times.

ALT Diagram: the 80,000 miles of steel wire in the Golden Gate Bridge's main cables drawn as a gold spiral wrapping a circle labeled Earth 3.2 times.

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In 1976, solar panels cost $106 per watt. By 2019 they cost 38 cents. A drop of 99.6%.
Bar chart drawn to scale: solar panels cost $106 per watt in 1976 and 38 cents in 2019, a drop of 99.6 percent. The 2019 bar is a thin sliver.

ALT Bar chart drawn to scale: solar panels cost $106 per watt in 1976 and 38 cents in 2019, a drop of 99.6 percent. The 2019 bar is a thin sliver.

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The Pentagon was built in 16 months. Ground was broken in September 1941. It was finished in January 1943.
A U.S. Army photo of the Pentagon under construction on July 1, 1942, with cranes and parked cars around the site.

ALT A U.S. Army photo of the Pentagon under construction on July 1, 1942, with cranes and parked cars around the site.

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Norman Borlaug, a crop scientist from Iowa, is credited with saving more than a billion people from starvation.
Text graphic: 1 billion plus, the number of people Norman Borlaug, a crop scientist from Iowa, is credited with saving from starvation.

ALT Text graphic: 1 billion plus, the number of people Norman Borlaug, a crop scientist from Iowa, is credited with saving from starvation.

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In 1803, the United States doubled in size for about 4 cents an acre.
A 1905 map by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh showing the territory of the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 across the middle of the United States.

ALT A 1905 map by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh showing the territory of the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 across the middle of the United States.

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The concrete in Hoover Dam and its power plant could pave a highway from San Francisco to New York.
A 1932 Bureau of Reclamation photo of two high-scalers standing on the rocky canyon wall during construction of Hoover Dam.

ALT A 1932 Bureau of Reclamation photo of two high-scalers standing on the rocky canyon wall during construction of Hoover Dam.

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Twelve people have walked on the Moon. All twelve were Americans.
Neil Armstrong's photo of Buzz Aldrin standing on the Moon during Apollo 11, July 20, 1969.

ALT Neil Armstrong's photo of Buzz Aldrin standing on the Moon during Apollo 11, July 20, 1969.

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By March 1944, one American factory was finishing a B-24 bomber every 63 minutes.
A National Archives photo looking down one of the B-24 Liberator assembly lines at Ford's Willow Run plant in Michigan, around 1943.

ALT A National Archives photo looking down one of the B-24 Liberator assembly lines at Ford's Willow Run plant in Michigan, around 1943.

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GPS only works because engineers correct for Einstein. Satellite clocks run 38 microseconds a day fast. Left uncorrected, your location would drift about 6 miles every day.
Diagram drawn to scale: without relativity corrections, a GPS position would drift about 6 miles per day, reaching 30 miles after five days.

ALT Diagram drawn to scale: without relativity corrections, a GPS position would drift about 6 miles per day, reaching 30 miles after five days.

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Be VERY careful who you let on your cap table
Isaiah Taylor - making nuclear reactors
@isaiah_p_taylorOct 9

Valar Atomics and Day One Ventures

Article 路 @isaiah_p_taylor
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The Empire State Building was built in 410 days.
Lewis Hine's 1930 photo of a worker swinging on a cable high above Manhattan during construction of the Empire State Building.

ALT Lewis Hine's 1930 photo of a worker swinging on a cable high above Manhattan during construction of the Empire State Building.

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A piece of the Wright brothers' first airplane has been to the Moon. Another piece has flown on Mars.
John T. Daniels' photo of the Wright Flyer lifting off at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, with Wilbur Wright running alongside.

ALT John T. Daniels' photo of the Wright Flyer lifting off at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, with Wilbur Wright running alongside.

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The Wright brothers' first flight covered 120 feet. That is shorter than the wingspan of a Boeing 747.
Drawn to scale: a Boeing 747-8 seen from above with its 224 ft 7 in wingspan marked, and a gold line showing the Wright brothers' 1903 first flight of 120 feet, a little over half the wingspan.

ALT Drawn to scale: a Boeing 747-8 seen from above with its 224 ft 7 in wingspan marked, and a gold line showing the Wright brothers' 1903 first flight of 120 feet, a little over half the wingspan.

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The computer that guided Apollo 11 to the Moon had about 4 kilobytes of RAM.
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