Scientific Gossip (37-5a)
Contains 100% gossip from concentrate
Fruitcake Galaxies
Participants at the upcoming Barcelona conference on Space say they will propose new metaphors to describe the way in which stars, galaxies (collections of stars), and collections of galaxies appear to be grouped together in the cosmos. In recent years, astronomers have used the metaphors of a “wall” of galaxies and, alternatively, a “foam” consisting of “bubbles” of galaxies. The new proposed shapes include: double helix; fruitcake; sack of french fried potatoes; and the “Mandelbrot shape.”
Chercher La Femto
The international time standard, maintained by a cesium-based clock, may be slow by one femtosecond (an femtosecond is one millionth of a nanosecond — in other words, one times ten to the minus fifteenth of a second). The problem was first noticed by officials of the International Olympic Committee. They are concerned about the possible effects of this on athletic speed records for skiiing, swimming, track and field, bobsled and luge events.
Adopt-a-Rat Scam
A Los Angeles department store has stopped selling “adoption papers” for lab rats. The store had been charging children $45 per rat. Local police determined that the particular rats in question did not exist, except as creatures of the imagination. The store has also scrapped its previously announced plans to offer adoption papers for fruit flies and pigeons.
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