POSTCARD FROM A PERPLEXING PLANETWritten by Theolonius McTavish
(c) Theolonius McTavish 2004. All rights reserved.Seeking a spot of serenity somewhere in universe, I recently booked a deep-discount dodgy berth on ‘White Elephant Express Space Shuttle’, to a little known place in a galaxy far, far away. “IT” (otherwise known as HD 36405.b) is not your average “oddball” exo-solar planet made of rock that wobbles on its end and zips around a nearby star in less than 2.46 days. Most linear thinkers have a great deal of difficulty even comprehending why on earth anyone in their “right mind” would be interested in visiting a planet called “IT”. Not being a linear thinker with an investment in “right” answer, I didn’t give a hoot. After all, what does one (who walks on water and listens to miffed mortals all day long) do for a frigging night off, now I ask you? If truth be told, (after reading random excerpts from “The Itty Bitty Bunkum Book About Life, Universe and Practically Everything Under Sun Not To Mention Stuff Going On In Remote Galaxies), I was simply delirious. According to its noted author, Dr. Jarn Leffer, “IT is a ’must-see’ for those with little time on their hands and a passionate interest in Innocuous Things.” As planets go, “IT” is a pretty ho-hum celestial pit-stop with perhaps one exception… welcome notice that reads, “Cosmic Cowboys - Welcome to furthest unexplored outreaches of Galaxy … Home to Flop Fairy and Oodles of Gadflies!” “IT” is populated by colonies of giggling, green grasshoppers . What else would you expect to inhabit a far-flung, fantasy-challenged hellhole like this? But, what made “IT” strictly speaking a strange place was fact that inhabitants munch on green, biodegradable garbage bags just for fun. Lacking masticating capabilities, gadflies process their food by vigorously jumping up and down on it. No wonder they have no need for fast-food franchises, strip malls or landfills!
| | How Glow Sticks WorkWritten by Mrs. Party... Gail Leino
How Glow Sticks Work...Glow sticks are fun party supplies. When sending out your party invitations, think of interesting Chemistry involved with your party favors. Glow sticks work by a chemical reaction called “chemiluminescence” which causes light to be generated. (That's a trivia question for some party games!) By breaking up word chemiluminescence into 2 parts, chemi and luminescence we can better understand. Luminescence is emission of light not caused by a rise in temperature (the object emitting light stays cold). The light is released by atoms returning from "excited" (charged) state to normal "ground" state. It means, an object which glows, first must absorb energy to get into "excited state." That energy will be released (in form of light) by object returning to ground state of energy. The energy can be supplied in many ways, but in our particular case of glow sticks energy is supplied by a chemical reaction (what makes "chemi" in chemiluminescence). Typical glow sticks as chemical reactants use a hydrogen peroxide solution (which is called "activator"), a solution of phenyl oxalate ester and a fluorescent dye (which makes color). The activator is stored in a thin glass capsule. When glass capsule is broken by flexing a
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