- The universe is a big place. No, I am serious. It's quite large. I aint foolin around with you...the universe is really, really big! Its bigger than you can imagine, and I will even give you a few minutes to let your imagination try to grasp it. In fact, I lack the necessary vocabulary to adequately describe how enormous the universe really is. Let me simply state that the typical galaxy has over a hundred billion stars in it, and astronomers, so far, have found hundreds of billions of galaxies.

Most scientists believe that the universe formed during the "Big Bang" roughly 15 billion years ago. This means that we can only see galaxies that are within 15 billion light years of us. Any galaxies beyond that distance are sending out radiation (like light waves) that has yet to reach us. This means that the observable universe might be merely a small fraction of the entire universe! Perhaps there are quadrillions of galaxies? Perhaps there has been more than one Big Bang, happening at more than one time? Perhaps the universe is infinite? I like the idea of an infinite universe. It means you always have something to look forward to. Read the following article to learn more:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/universe/howbig.html

- I watched Sesame street as a child, and I loved the puppets Bert and Ernie. I am reminded of my brother and me every time I see them. Unfortunately, the persona of Bert is not what we are lead to believe. In the past several years it has been revealed, mainly due to the internet, that Bert is actually one of the most diabolical men in human history! He is behind many of the great crimes of the 20th century! Dont believe me? Follow this link, and you can see for yourself the heinous, unspeakable acts Bert has perpetrated. (By the way, Bert is Evil has been a long running gag on the internet. PBS sued several websites years ago, trying to keep them from claiming that Bert was some kind of criminal mastermind, but the lawsuits didnt accomplish anything. The gag lives on.)
http://www.bertisevil.tv/evidence.htm

- There is an urban legend which states that water flowing down a drain always spins counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. There is a kernel of truth to this myth, but it only applies to large scale occurences, like tornados and hurricanes. Its called the Coriolis effect, and the toilet in your bathroom is too small to be affected by this phenomenon. Even tornados dont always spin counter-clockwise. About 5% of all tornados in the northern hemisphere spin clockwise. The following link explains it much better than I can:
http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.htm

- Whether its e-mails, instant messaging, chat rooms, or online messageboards, everyone likes to use abbreviations to save time. Here is a list of the most common online abbreviations:
http://www.studentslackers.com/im.htm