15 Things I Learned in September.

Ideas, Trivia, and knowledge I picked up this month by binging articles.

Niall Leah
3 min readSep 30, 2022

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pathdoc (Shutterstock standard usage rights.)

Sharing is caring. I hope you can find something new or interesting by checking out this list. Each item on the list has a link to the original article so you can learn more

Writing this is also a great way to review things I’ve read during the month and commit them to long-term memory.

Why not take a look?

  1. The world is now more covered with barbed wire than at any point in history. Forming a terrifying web around our planet, it has become one of the most utilized inventions in modern times.
  2. 232 is the medium number of hours required to complete a Pokédex in Pokémon go based on statistics calculated by this author. He estimated from his data it would take most between 500–700 hours to complete. The fastest time was 120 hours by an American called Nick Johnson but he was extremely lucky.
  3. Sometimes the Taliban also enjoy listening to music. Apparently, it’s good for them but not for everyone else.
  4. There is a type of joke that only people who have frontal lobe damage would find funny. A traumatic head injury can change brain chemistry and entirely shift a person’s personality.
  5. There is a disease that most people haven’t heard of that kills as many people as breast cancer in the US. It is called Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Despite its difficult treatment and rapid progression, public awareness is very low.
  6. Bill gates was not a fan of Clippy. This infuriating virtual assistant came with Microsoft word glaring at you through the screen while offering condescending advice. Bill’s nickname for Clippy was “The fucking clown.”
  7. There is still a company out there that primarily deals in floppy disks, and it’s a lucrative business. Even though floppy disks are no longer made, a lot of machinery still needs them to transfer information. It would be costly to update it, so this company is still finding demand.
  8. Trees communicate with one another more than I imagined. Trees will share information about invasive pests and animals munching on them to prevent the attack. Some older trees even feed younger ones…

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Niall Leah

An ex-pat from the UK living in Chengdu, China. I satisfy my endless curiosity about the incredible journey of humanity by reading, traveling, and writing.