By Kristy McCaffrey
While
I love to write romance novels, my background is actually in science. I know
what you’re thinking—one day I must write a love story involving a female
scientist. Yes, it’s in the works. In the meantime, here’s some interesting
information that may wow you.
*The
moon is gradually receding from the Earth at a rate of about two centimeters
each year. As a result, the Earth’s rotation is slowing down by 17 milliseconds
each century. In fact, the day was closer to 22 hours back when dinosaurs still
roamed the Earth.
*Somewhere between 1.75 billion and 3.25 billion years
from now, Earth will travel out of the solar system’s habitable zone.
*A
unique Martian meteorite discovered in the Sahara Desert in 2011 came from the
Red Planet’s crust around 2.1 billion years ago, and contains around ten times
more water than other Martian meteorites. Known as “Black Beauty”, it may be
the first meteorite discovered from Mars’ surface.
*Humanity
has now officially reached interstellar space. It’s estimated that the
36-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft left the solar system on August 25th,
2012. Voyager 1—with a
23-watt transmitter, about the equivalent of a refrigerator light bulb—should keep
sending data until roughly 2025.
*More
than 1000 earths could fit inside Jupiter.
*Two
million years ago, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy was
100 million times more powerful than it is today. The supermassive black hole
at the center of the Milky Way last erupted two million years ago—and it will
again, scientists say.
*Astronomers
have discovered a galaxy 13.1 billion light-years from Earth, making it the
most distant object ever detected.
*It
takes light 100,000 years to travel from one end of the Milky Way galaxy to the
other.
On
a lighter note, I leave you with a joke, courtesy of Ellen DeGeneres and her
Twitter account.
How does NASA organize a birthday party?
They planet.
