4/15/2004: Solar prominence

[Torrere]

I think the reason they say that the Earth could fit in there is that it makes it sound really big, and it does give you some idea of the scale. If you say "fifty earths", then it sounds like data and eyes start to glaze over.

But the real reason I'm writing this post is that I want to post this quote from Neal Stephenson's book Zodiac:

Actually, the shit coming out of Basco's pipe was a hundred thousand times more concentrated than was legally allowed. The difference between pH 13 and pH 8 was five, which meant that pH 13 was ten to the fifth power-a hundred thousand times-more alkaline than pH 8. That kind of thing goes on all the time. But no matter how many diplomas are tacked to your wall, give people a figure like that and they'll pass you off as a flake. You can't get most people to believe how wildly the eco-laws get broken. But if I say "More than twice the legal limit," they get comfortably outraged.