Here's an interesting stat. Sharks killed one human in 2007, while humans killed 38-million sharks.
Here's another one: There are at least 500-billion galaxies in the universe. And many of these galaxies contain billions of stars. Which translates to trillions of planets. Which translates to a heck of a lot of intelligent life, in my book.
The time it takes light (at 186,000 miles per second) to travel from our sun to the nearest star is approximately the same time it would take an ant to walk from Tampa Bay, Fla., to Seattle. Yet there are 40-billion suns in our Milky Way galaxy.
How about: Americans buy 2.7 billion packages of breakfast cereal each year. If laid end to end, the empty cereal boxes from one year's consumption would stretch to the moon and back. Is there enough milk for all that?
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About Me
- Jim Melvin
- Clemson, SC, United States
- I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. I graduated from the University of South Florida (Tampa) in 1979 with a B.A. in Journalism. I now live in South Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains, a pleasant setting for writing, to say the least. I was an award-winning journalist at the St. Petersburg Times for twenty-five years and I currently work at the Charlotte Observer. I am married with five daughters.
The author
Jim Melvin, a veteran journalist, debuts as novelist.
2 comments:
I can honestly say we don't eat breakfast cereal...or kill sharks. Poor sharks.
I love thinking about the universe. It makes me dizzy.
When I was a boy, I used to love Life cereal. I would fill up a bowl and then coat the top with sugar. Then I would eat just the top layer and then coat another layer with sugar, etc. The only thing I didn't do was drink the milk afterward. I never liked drinking the milk left at the bottom. As an adult, I rarely eat breakfast cereal, though on occasion I'll eat Frosted Flakes dry as a snack.
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