Bulletin Board

Fifteen nanoseconds of fame
Political Division

The Gram With a Thousand Rules remembers: “The first president I ever saw with my own eyes was FDR — and what do you know? He looked just like in the newsreels: His head was tipped back, his cigarette holder was clenched between his teeth, and he smiled that big smile of his right at me.

Now & Then
Astronomical Division

The Astronomer of Nininger writes: “Subject: Marvelous Fantastical Time Machine.

“Carl Sagan was known for saying that there are ‘billions and billions’ of stars out there. That’s a lot of stars.

“Our sun is one of those billions and billions of stars, itself in no way remarkable. Orbiting with it, quite far out, around the center of our galaxy, are eight tiny planets. (Get over it; Pluto is not a planet.) Other stars have planets, too. In fact, today we know with certainty about the existence of thousands of exosolar planets — those orbiting other stars. This may in fact be the norm. Searches for these mysterious planets have been nurtured by our search for life and the desire — or maybe, instead, the intimate need — to know whether other living beings inhabit them. Are we alone?

Continue reading “How might we better understand ourselves? Look as far into the past as we can?”

Dept. of Neat Stuff
Calendar Division

Gregory J. of Dayton’s Bluff: “Brown & Bigelow was well known for its calendars. Most of them were of the paper variety, with artwork covering every topic under the sun.

“B & B also made a variety of calendars for desktops. They were usually made of metal and were functional, but do not qualify as Neat Stuff — except for the Wheel of Fortune Desk Calendar.

Continue reading “What’s the date today? What day of the week is it? Spin the wheel and find out!”