Page 25 - 200812 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - December 2008

Top 10 Strangest Things In Universe 25 Top 10 Strangest Things In Universe 25 TOP 10 STRANGEST on solid ground. MORE ‘X’ TRIVIA... TOP 10 STRANGEST THINGS IN THE 2. Life - There were no ponies in the Pony Express. THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE - The Statue of Liberty’s mouth is only 3 feet UNIVERSE wide. Continued from Page 21 - A Dudley Do-Right lunch box and thermos Continued from Page 21 sold at auction for $2,200.00 US in 1992. 4. Planets - America’s first nudist organization was founded in 1929, by three men. - At the first professional baseball game, the umpire was fined 6 cents for swearing. - Welcome to the U.S.: 90% of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants. - On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year. - The world’s first animated TV ad was created E. coli bacteria. Image Credit: NIH by Dr. Seuss in 1949, for the Ford Motor Co. - In a 1990 preschool poll, Mr. Rogers was the Matter and energy abound in the first choice for president of the United States. universe, but only in a few places is the roll of - Most raindrops are round or donut shaped, not the cosmic dice perfect enough to result in life. “raindrop shaped.” The basic ingredients and conditions - Over-achievers: 21% of American high- Illustration of terrestrial, extrasolar planets. necessary for this strange phenomenon are school students say they want to be president of Image Credit: R. Hurt/NASA/JPL-Caltech better understood than ever before, thanks to the U.S. abundant access to life here on Earth. - July 22 is National Rat Catcher Days; It might sound strange because we live But the exact recipe -- or recipes -- to go November 19 is Have a Bad Day Day. on one, but planets are some of the more from the basic elements of carbon, hydrogen, - Heavy thought: There are 6 pounds of pennies mysterious members of the universe. nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur to an in the average American home. So far, no theory can fully explain how organism is a prevailing mystery. - Only one person survived the battle of the disks of gas and dust around stars form planets Scientists seek out new areas in the solar Alamo. -- particularly rocky ones. system where life could have thrived (or still - “I Love Lucy” was banned for years in some Not making matters easier is the fact that may, such as below the surface of watery Moslem countries, because Lucy “dominated” most of a planet is concealed beneath its moons), in hopes of arriving at a compelling Ricky. surface. Advanced gadgetry can offer clues of theory for life's origins. - Bowing to pressure from anti-smoking what lies beneath, but we have heavily explored groups, Hasbro took away Mr. Potato Head’s only a few planets in the solar system. 1. The Universe pipe in 1987. Only in 1999 was the first planet outside - Ken Wood founded the Kenwood stereo of our celestial neighborhood detected, and in company. November 2008 the first bona fide exoplanet - The average American first experiences images taken. “puppy” love at 13 and “real” love at 17. 3. Gravity More ‘X’ TRIVIA to come! In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada People Listen To People Listen To The ‘X’ Zone Radio Show The ‘X’ Zone Radio Show with with Rob McConnell Illustration showing the creation and expansion Rob McConnell of the universe. Image Credit: NASA on on AM 580 CFRA AM 580 CFRA The source of energy, matter and the universe itself is the ultimate mystery of, well, the universe. Artist depiction of gravity waves around Based on a widespread afterglow called merging black holes. Image Credit: NASA the cosmic microwave background (and other evidence), scientists think that the cosmos The force that helps stars ignite, planets formed from a "Big Bang" -- an stay together and objects orbit is one of the most incomprehensible expansion of energy from an pervasive yet weakest in the cosmos ultra-hot, ultra-dense state. Scientists have fine-tuned just about Describing time before the event, every equation and model to describe and however, may be impossible. predict gravity, yet its source within matter Still, atom smasher searches for remains a complete and utter mystery. particles that formed shortly after the Big Bang Some think infinitesimal particles called could shed new light on the universe's gravitons exude the force in all matter, but mysterious existence -- and make it a bit less whether or not they could ever be detected is strange than it is today. [] questionable. Still, a massive hunt is on for major THE ‘X’ ZONE RADIO & TV SHOW shake-ups in the universe called gravitational ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT waves. If detected (perhaps from a merger of iTUNES black holes), Albert Einstein's concept that the universe has a "fabric" of spacetime would be www.apple.com/itunes