THE UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE
By Rick Green
I know a lot of ADHD/ADD people. Whaddya expect, I work in show business. (And yes, I know, “You call that work?!”) One of my friends, Glenn, is a television writer, a pilot and he’s hugely interested in astronomy. He and his wife Michelle live up north and the number of stars they can see at night is breathtaking.
Now I actually took Astronomy in University, but you know how school tends to completely squeeze the joy and excitement out of things. So when Glenn told me the following stuff, I was amazed.
First of all, there are a lot of stars. I know that.
But Glenn explained that if you hold out a pin at arm’s length … in any direction, including down, it blocks out part of the sky. (If you hold it down, you have to imagine the earth isn’t there, and you’re blocking the sky on the other side of the planet, right? Okay, if you don’t get it, then just imagine holding it up at night so it’s at arms length.)
The pin blocks out a tiny bit of the sky, right?
Behind the head of that pin are roughly 50,000 Galaxies!
Not stars. Galaxies. Galaxies are collections of huge numbers of stars.
Each Galaxy contains an average of 100 Billion stars.
And remember, Our Sun is a star – just relatively close. (But you knew that.)
Our own Milky Way Galaxy is larger than average – approximately 200 Billion stars or suns. The Andromeda Galaxy is even bigger with – best guess – 300 Billion Star/Suns.
Current best guess for number of Galaxies in our known Universe (including Dwarf Galaxies) – One Trillion!
That’s a million, millions!
It’s such a big number it’s only used to describe atoms or national debts.
The majority of Star/Suns have “Worlds” in orbit around them … Planets … Moons … Asteroids … Comets … and various other refuse left over from our Solar System’s creation.
Counting Comets & Asteroids, there are well over a Billion “Worlds” in our Solar System alone. (Over 1,000 Pluto-like Worlds discovered in the past decade {including Eris, which is bigger than Pluto} and that number will only go up.)
Glenn had my head spinning. Like a planet does.
And you may have heard, astronomers just announced that they have found a planet that is earth’s twin in another solar system.
The point of all this… No wonder I feel like I’m overwhelmed all the time! It’s not my ADHD. There’s just too much happening!!!
I’m thinking of moving to an alternate universe.
Wanna come?
7 Responses to “THE UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to comment
Maybe the stork got lost and delivered us here instead of on one of those other Earthlike planets in another galaxy.
Ever think that maybe WE ARE the alternate universe? Too fast and too smart for the mere Normals here on earth. We make them nervous, so their only defense is to convince us that we are lesser beings. Boy are they going to be in for a surprise when the mother ship comes.
I’m still unconvinced that I’m not from another dimension!
if anyone has means of possibly returning home, I’m in!
I love astrology! The History Network has a couple great shows. “Wonders of the Universe” “How the Universe Works” and “The Universe” are all great shows. You literally have to check the date of the episode’s release, because the science is changing all the time. We live in a really exciting time of discovery.
Right on! I’m gonna have to rent that DVD, I won’t remember how it ends or much of the (what’s the word…..) oh yeah, plot! So I’ll enjoy it again. Don’t spoil it for me or the rest of the folks that’ll be wanting to see that ukay you guys? The hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy would be another great movie to go with it. That curly brunette gal is so dang beautiful!!! dang, she’s got the eyes of an angel… ohhhh boy…
I wonder why so many of us have our cats as our pictures here? Cat’s are nocturnal a lot, huh?. It’s cool to see a dog for a change though. Thanks Bisync. Yer right, I bet it’s more likely one of us would be on one of those first contact space missions too. Are I 1 of the only adventurous, risk taking sort of ADHDers in this camp?, I doubt it. Shoot man I’d want to ship out into space just for the acceleration! There’s no substitute for the adrenaline rush of those G force’s, accept for surfing of course. Surfing includes dropping into the “pit”, a grinding bottom turn, n getting airborne too if you’re lucky, I’d be looking for an ocean first when we got there.
What if I met another Robbo on “Super Earth” (the new planets name according to David Lettermen) I bet we’d have a ball making fun of each-other!.
What would you do if you met another you! on “Super Earth”? would they be able to get a word in edgewise?
Oh I know, we should have top 10 lists!, like David lettermen, only for ADHD folks, hehe.
That would be a great idea for another Blog topic Rick! sound fun?
Makes me think of the Monty Python “Galaxy Song”, from “The Meaning of Life”. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWVshkVF0SY ) Apparently, some of the lyrics are now out-of-date, in the light of more recent scientific discoveries.
Still, it’s a very clever song.
Like Tom Lehrer’s “The Elements” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPq3SEteEJc ) It was written in the early 1950s, but renders itself obsolescence-proof, with the lyrics, “Those are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard. And there may be many others, but they haven’t been discarvard.” And several others have indeed been “discarvard” since then.
I wonder if they have ADHD on other planets. The thought is intimidating, imagine to ADHD’s, one human, one alien, meeting for the first time. Be a whole lot of talking going on.
Okay!, ***butt wagging cuz I got no tail*** I’ve got my “ready bag” and I’m waiting for the call…
any time now rick…
I’m not all that patient ya know…
all be bok.