Boggles for your mind.
You have never seen a scale model of the solar
system.
If a model is small enough to see in its entirety,
the smallest planets are too small to see -- without a microscope. If it is
large enough to see the smallest planets, the model is too large to be seen
-- without a telescope. The latter is represented in the images below. The
scale is 1,000,000 miles to a foot and common objects are named for reference.
Pluto is two thirds of a mile from home plate.
The nearest star to our solar system is Alpha Centauri (actually a three star
system). Our Sun is at home plate in Chicago. On the scale depicted above,
Alpha Centauri is in London and our galaxy is about the size of Earth's orbit
around the sun.
What is eternity?
It is the length of time it would take an
ant to move the Sahara desert the distance to the moon one grain at a time.
8,500,000 grains of sand in one cubic inch.
780 inches average depth.
3,400,000 square mile area (sand area only).
One inch per second average speed of an ant.
239,000 miles average distance to the Moon.
8,500,000 x 780 = grains per square inch =
6,630,000,000.
x 144 = grains per square foot = 954,720,000,000.
x 27,878,400 = grains per square mile = 26,616,066,048,000,000,000.
x 3,400,000 = grains per Sahara desert = 90,494,624,563,200,000,000,000,000.
12 x 5,280 = inches per mile = 63,360.
x 239,000 = inches to the moon = 15,143,040,000.
x 2 = round trip to the moon in inches and seconds = 30,286,080,000.
÷ 3,600 = hours per round trip = 8,412,800.
÷ 8,766 = years per round trip = 959.7.
90,494,624,563,200,000,000,000,000 (grains
per Sahara desert) x 959.7 (years per grain) = eternity = 86,847,690,093,303,040,000,000,000,000
years.
The number reads as follows:
Eighty six octillion eight hundred forty seven septillion six hundred ninety
sextillion ninety three quintillion three hundred three quadrillion and forty
trillion.
That's 6,680,591,545,638,695,384 times the
age of the universe.
Extend your limitations.
The previous two scientific fiddly bits are
prime examples of the limitations of the human mind. Truly astronomical distances
and gigantic numbers are incomprehensible. The information loses its meaning
with nothing comparable in everyday life. But understanding our mental boundaries
is a step in the right direction.
Everything burns in the presence of pure oxygen
-- yes everything.
Given enough heat to start combustion: iron,
granite, asbestos, tungsten and concrete will burn. Diamonds ignite at the
surprisingly low temperature of about 1400°F (750°C).
The mystery of the universe.
Two fastball pitchers can each throw a ball
100 miles per hour. One pitcher is on a flat-car at the front of a train moving
at 100 miles per hour and the other is standing next to the tracks. They simultaneously
throw at the same instant the one on the train passes the one next to the
tracks. The ball thrown by the pitcher on the train will arrive at a given
point twice as fast as the other one. If instead of throwing a ball the pitchers
each turn on a light, then the light from the pitcher on the train should
arrive at a given point before the light from the pitcher next to the tracks
-- but it doesn't. The light from each pitcher will arrive at the same time
no matter how fast the train is moving. The speed of light is always the same.
But if it never changes, how do we account for it in our understanding of
the universe around us? This question was answered by Albert Einstein who
theorized that if the speed of light is constant then time and space must
not be. Numerous experiments many times repeated
have proven "Relativity" to be true. Time does not pass at the same
rate everywhere and space can be stretched, squeezed and bent. Here lies the
origin of modern physics
Amusing trivialities.
Which of these US cities is closest to London England:
Minneapolis Minnesota or Miami Florida? Obviously the obvious answer is too
obvious. Miami may be farther east but Minneapolis is much farther north --
and is the correct answer.
If you draw a line on a globe from Detroit Michigan
to the South Pole, which contents would it come in contact with? The answer
is North America and Antarctica. All of South America is East of that line.
If you pass through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic
to the Pacific you travel east not West.
There are three enclaved countries in the world; Lesotho,
San Marino and the Vatican City (also the smallest sovereign nation at .17
of a square mile). All completely surrounded by just one other country.
Alaska is the most northerly -- and westerly -- US
state. Which state is the second most northerly? It's the only other state
with territory north of the forty-ninth parallel. Minnesota.
The Earth is hit with 4 1/2 pounds of sunlight every
day.
Of all the matter in our solar system; the planets,
moons, asteroids, comets, the Kuiper belt, the ort cloud, everything other
than the sun, two thirds is Jupiter.
Except for the steel belts and reinforcing cords, a
tire is a single molecule of rubber.
A car's air bag doesn't fill with air. It is inflated
by the expanding gases of the explosive device it's attached to.
None of the rocket engines that lifted the Apollo astronauts
off the moon were tested. The fuel used for the lunar module's ascent stage
was so corrosive that the engine could only be fired once.
Humans landed on the moon just sixty-six years after
the first airplane took to the skies.
The Wright Brothers' first flight wasn't just the first
powered flight of a heavier than air craft. It was:
The first fully controlled flight.
The first aircraft to use wing warping -- far more
efficient than moving control surfaces.
The first catapult assisted takeoff.
The first aircraft to use contra rotating propellers
to eliminate torsional forces.
The first aircraft to use an engine cast from aluminum
-- in fact theirs was the first successful engine of any kind made of aluminum.
There are many more -- they were way ahead of the competition.
US presidential trivia.
Who was the youngest president? Although John F. Kennedy
at the age of 43 was the youngest person elected to the presidency he was
not the youngest president. Theodore Roosevelt holds that distinction. He
ascended to the presidency at the age of 42 after the assassination of William
McKinley in 1901.
James Madison served two terms as president. Both of
his vice presidents died in office.
James Monroe is the only president to have a foreign
country's capital named after him, that of Monrovia, Liberia.
The twenty year jinx (also known as "the curse
of Tippecanoe"). Eight presidents consecutively elected in years ending
in zero met with ill fate while in office.
William Henry Harrison, elected in 1840, died of natural
causes on the one-month anniversary of his inauguration. He was also the shortest
serving president.
Abraham Lincoln, elected in 1860, was assassinated
by John Wilkes Booth.
James Garfield, elected in 1880, was assassinated
by Charles Guiteau
William McKinley, reelected in 1900, was assassinated
by Leon Czolgosz.
Warren G. Harding, elected in 1920, died of natural
causes.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, reelected in 1940, died
of natural causes.
John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, was assassinated
by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Ronald Ragan, elected in 1980, nearly died after an
attempted assassination by John Hinckley Jr. Reagan would not have survived
without the efforts of the Secret Service and modern medicine.
George W. Bush, elected in 2000, survived an assassination
attempt because the grenade failed to explode.
Zachary Taylor, elected in 1848, died of natural causes.
He is the only exception to the pattern.
The US has only two nationally elected offices; that
of the presidency and vice presidency. Although Franklin Delano Roosevelt
served twelve years, one month and eight days as president, he is not the
record holder for nationally elected office. Richard Nixon served eight years
as vice president, five years, six months and twenty days as president for
a total of just over thirteen and one half years.
Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve nonconsecutive
terms making his both the twenty-second and twenty-fourth presidencies. He
is also one of only two bachelors to be elected (the other being James Buchanan
-- other unmarried presidents were widowers) and the only president to wed
in the White House. (John Tyler remarried while in office, but not in the
White House). He spent four years out of national office. The only other nonconsecutive
national office holder was out for eight years -- Richard Nixon.
Only two former vice presidents have ever been elected
to a first and second term as president; Thomas
Jefferson and Richard Nixon. Of course, Nixon didn't finish his second term
-- he resigned in disgrace.
Andrew Johnson ascended to the presidency after the
death of Abraham Lincoln. When the Civil War began Johnson was a senator from
Tennessee. He was the only senator from a Confederate state that did not resign
from the U.S. Congress. Following his presidency he was again elected to the
Senate making him the only former president to do so.
John Quincy Adams is the only former president to go
on to serve in the House of Reprisentatives.
John Tyler is the only sitting president to be expelled
from his party (Whig). The only other president with no party affiliation
is George Washington -- he disapproved of the party system.
Martin Van Buren is the first president born a US citizen.
He is also the only one for whom English was not his first language. He was
raised speaking Dutch.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same
day. The 4 July 1826 -- fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of
Independence (on July 2).
William Howard Taft is the only former president to
go on to serve as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. He is also the only
one to swear in a president; Herbert Hoover in 1929.
Calvin Coolidge is the only president sworn in by his
father -- a Justice of the Peace in Vermont. Coolidge was visiting his family
home when Warren G. Harding died. Coolidge retook the oath of office when
he returned to Washington to ensure due process.
Lyndon B. Johnson is the only president to be sworn
in by a woman. Sarah T. Hughes was a judge of the United States District Court
in Texas and the highest ranking member of the federal judiciary available
in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination.
The length of time a president can remain in office
is limited to ten years not eight. Because election to a third term would
exceed the ten year limit, eligibility can only be two terms. Lyndon B. Johnson
chose not to run for reelection in 1968, but he was eligible to do so. Had
he run, won and served the full term, his time in the White House would have
been a little over nine years.
Fascinating facts that are not true.
Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb. British
chemist Sir Humphrey Davy discovered oxygen and gave us most of the rest of
the elements known at that time on the not yet invented periodic table. He
was aware that other scientists working with electricity had figured out that
a thin wire attached to a battery would create light. Unfortunately it would
burn out very quickly. Davy knew that to deprive a flame of oxygen will prevent
its combustion. He suggested this in 1804. Joseph Swan invented the carbon
filament in the 1850s. The logic being that something which has already been
burned won't burn again. Edison's contribution was mass production and the
screw socket.
Teddy Roosevelt did not ride up San Juan Hill. Although
he led the cavalry regiment known as the "Rough Riders," in that
particular engagement they had no horses and attacked on foot.
The great Pyramids of Egypt were not built by Jewish
slaves. Judaism had not yet evolved, but more importantly modern archaeology
has shown that none of the great building projects of ancient Egypt were built
using slave labor. With a wealthy economy it was far more practical to simply
pay the workers. Of course there was slavery in ancient times, but they were
usually servants not mass labor.
Billy the Kid was not left-handed. The only known photograph
of him is a direct positive print called a tintype. This technique produces
an image which is reversed right to left.
The initials A D. do not mean after death. Unlike B.C.
(Before Christ) A.D. is not English. They stand for the Latin words "Anno
Domini" which mean "The year of the Lord..." and properly precede
the date, not follow it.
The modern definition of a "blue moon" is
not ancient. About one year in three has thirteen full moons -- most years
have twelve. Traditionally an "extra" full moon was always the third
full moon of a four full moon season. Cultures all over the world have their
own traditional names for this moon and "blue" is not known to be
among them. The term "blue moon" actually refers to a moon, full
or otherwise, that appears blue -- a rare phenomenon. No one thought much
about nor bothered to name the second full moon of a month until 1981. That
year a board game with a few questionable answers appeared -- Trivial Pursuit.
Danica Patrick did not win the Indianapolis 500. In
fact she did not finish the race. As is common in auto racing, her car suffered
mechanical failure.
