POSTCARD FROM A PERPLEXING PLANET

Written by Theolonius McTavish


(c) Theolonius McTavish 2004. All rights reserved.

Seeking a spot of serenity somewhere inrepparttar universe, I recently booked a deep-discount dodgy berth onrepparttar 127649 ‘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 inrepparttar 127650 “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,repparttar 127651 Universe and Practically Everything Underrepparttar 127652 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…repparttar 127653 welcome notice that reads, “Cosmic Cowboys - Welcome torepparttar 127654 furthest unexplored outreaches ofrepparttar 127655 Galaxy … Home torepparttar 127656 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 wasrepparttar 127657 fact thatrepparttar 127658 inhabitants munch on green, biodegradable garbage bags just for fun. Lacking masticating capabilities,repparttar 127659 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 Work

Written by Mrs. Party... Gail Leino


How Glow Sticks Work...

Glow sticks are fun party supplies.  When sending out your party invitations, think ofrepparttar 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 uprepparttar 127648 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) byrepparttar 127649 object returning torepparttar 127650 ground state of energy.  The energy can be supplied in many ways, but in our particular case of glow sticksrepparttar 127651 energy is supplied by a chemical reaction (what makesrepparttar 127652 "chemi" in chemiluminescence).  Typical glow sticks as chemical reactants use a hydrogen peroxide solution (which is calledrepparttar 127653 "activator"), a solution of phenyl oxalate ester and a fluorescent dye (which makesrepparttar 127654 color).  The activator is stored in a thin glass capsule.  Whenrepparttar 127655 glass capsule is broken by flexing a

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