6539???

__________________
Prelude to a shower
Private party
Making dinner
Untitled
ME
skip

--6541--

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

6542 *crossing my fingers*

__________________
Prelude to a shower
Private party
Making dinner
Untitled
ME
skip

--6543--
Fastest Humans
Relative to the planet Earth, the fastest speed humans have achieved was 24,791 miles per hour (39,914 km/hr), by the Apollo 10 astronauts, on their return trip from the moon in 1969.
But the universe is much bigger than the Earth-Moon system, and everything moves. If the Sun is taken as a fixed point, then all the humans on Earth are moving at about 66,660 miles per hour (107,320 km/hr) as the Earth follows its orbit.
If the center of the Milky Way galaxy is a fixed point, then the solar system is moving at about 500,000 miles per hour (800,000 km/hr) in its orbit around the galaxy.
From an even broader reference frame, our entire local group of galaxies is moving at about one million miles per hour toward another galaxy group called Virgo Cluster.

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6544--

Fastest Waves
The fastest ocean waves are also the rarest and the most dangerous. They are tsunamis, very long waves that move across the open sea at speeds approaching 500 miles per hour (800 kph).
A tsunami (sometimes incorrectly called a "tidal wave") is caused by a geological event like an earthquake, underwater landslide, or volcanic eruption. As it moves across the open sea it is only a few feet high, although it may be more than 100 miles long (160 kilometers). Ships do not notice its passage.
But when it reaches the shore, interaction with the bottom slows the wave down and all its energy is concentrated at the surface. A wall of water quickly builds up that can be as high as a multi-story building.

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6545--
Footbag Origins
The sport of footbag has been played for centuries by Asians and Native Americans, who used small, soft bags filled with nuts or pebbles. But it did not take off in the modern world until 1972, when a football player named John Stallberger made it into a popular hit.
Stallberger was recovering from a knee injury. His friend Mike Marshall suggested that he keep his legs flexible during his recovery by kicking around a small bag. They called it "hacking the sack."
Stallberger and Marshall began marketing their "hacky sacks" and were immediately successful. Today, footbag is an international sport with champions and competitive rules.
Note: Hacky Sack is a trademark of Wham-O, Inc.

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6546--

Meteor Showers
Most meteors are tiny flecks of cosmic dust that strike the Earth's atmosphere in random directions. But there are also collections of dust and grains of rock (meteoroids) that orbit in streams around the Sun. When the Earth's orbit crosses one of these streams, we might have a sudden meteor shower.
Meteoroid streams form along the orbits of comets, which release dust and debris as the Sun evaporates their ices. Some of them repeat every year at the same time. These are named according to the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate (the radiant of the swarm). We have the Leonids from Leo, the Orionids from Orion, and many others.
The most intense meteor showers are spectacular meteor storms, where dozens or even hundreds of meteors flash across the sky every minute.

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6547--

Micro-graffiti
If you have any electronic device that contains microchips, you may own some chip graffiti, the smallest form of public art.
For many years, chip designers have placed tiny, embossed drawings in unused spots on integrated circuit chips. The drawings are made out of the same silicon and other materials that form the circuits. The art is dying out because most chip designs these days are created by automatic software, but many devices still contain older chips that hold the drawings.
There is great variety among the designs, which include human figures, animals, buildings, vehicles, appliances, comic strip characters, and cultural icons like "Mr. T," the "happy face" and Pac Man.

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6548--

Seafood Fertilizer
During the 1700s and early 1800s, there were so many lobsters along the coast of New England that one could walk down the beach and pick them up off the sand. Lobsters were so abundant that native Americans used them as fertilizer, and colonists thought of them as food for poor people. Servants complained when they were forced to eat lobster more than three times in a week.
Today, of course, lobsters are prized as an expensive delicacy. They are hunted intensely by humans, and they are no longer so abundant. Today's wild lobsters are puny runts compared to the huge forty- pound, three-foot specimens (18 kg, 1 meter) that were once common along the New England coast.

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6549--

all done with those...

now some cool facts about birds (from the Cornell School of Ornithology)

___________

The smallest bird is the Bee Hummingbird at 2.24 in (5.7cm) and 0.056 oz (1.6g). (B)

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6550--

The largest birds are:

heaviest and tallest is the African Ostrich at 345 lb (156 kg) and 9 ft (2.7 m)

heaviest flying bird is the Great Bustard at ~46 lb (21 kg)

greatest wingspan is the Wandering Albatross at 11 ft 11 in (3.63 m)

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

-6551--

The bird with the longest feathers is the Onagadori, a domestic strain of Red Jungle Fowl, at 34.75 ft (10.59 m).

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6552--

The most abundant bird is thought to be the Red-billed Quelea at up to 10 billion

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

-6553--
The smallest egg is that of the Vervain Hummingbird, of Hispaniola and Jamaica at 0.39 in (10 mm) and 0.0132 oz (0.375 g).

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White

--6554--
The largest egg is that of the ostrich at 7 x 4.5 in (17.8 x 14 cm) (B) One ostrich egg makes the equivalent of a 16-egg omelet!

__________________
-Toast-
"It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit - but none to be offended by them." -- Johnny Hart ("BC", cartoonist, 2000)
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it and the frog generally dies as a result." -- E. B. White