Apollo Astronauts Life Insurance

July 28, 2010

How did the Astronauts of the Apollo missions get life insurance?

The answer was provided by NASA in the form of ‘Insurance Covers’, as seen here, a number of which were given to every crew member and subsequently signed by every astronaut involved, as close to launch as possible. Its value would instantly be high, but would no doubt sky-rocket (no pun intended) should the astronauts never return; the deceased’s surviving family then at least safe in the knowledge that in future they could cash-in their makeshift insurance policy if required.

via Ukinsurancenet | The Apollo Astronauts’ Fascinating Insurance Covers.

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The Biggest Stars in Space

July 28, 2010

Astronomers have discovered the most massive stars known, including one at more than 300 times the mass of our sun – double the size that scientists thought heavyweight stars could reach.

These colossal stars are millions of times brighter than the sun and shed mass through very powerful winds.

The stellar discovery, which represents the first time that these hulking stars were individually identified, could help astronomers understand the behavior of massive stars, and how large they can be at birth.

via SPACE.com — Heftiest Star Discovery Shatters Cosmic Record.

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BBC News – One in 13 people on the planet now use Facebook

Social network giant Facebook has announced that it has registered its 500 millionth member – one in 13 of the entire global population. The site, which launched in 2004, has gained around 100 million new users in the last six months alone. Facebook said the number was “an important milestone” and added that it was [...]

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Facts About the Declaration of Independence

To help you celebrate the Fourth of July a few years ago, we posted a list of 5 Obscure Facts About the Declaration of Independence. via 5 Neat Facts About The Declaration of Independence.

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A New Long Distance Shot Record

A new record has been set for the long distance shot at a distance of 1.52 miles. A British sniper set a world sharpshooting record by taking out two Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan from more than a mile and a half away — a distance so great, experts say the terrorists wouldnt have even heard [...]

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Pet Food Sucking Up U.S. Water

From National Geographic Researchers investigated the hidden costs of water use by estimating the amount of H20 consumed per U.S. dollar of end product by different industrial sectors, including agriculture.For instance, it takes about 270 gallons 1,022 liters of water to produce a dollar’s worth of sugar, about 200 gallons 757 liters to make a [...]

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What Is the Memory Capacity of the Human Brain?: Scientific American

The human brain consists of about one billion neurons. Each neuron forms about 1,000 connections to other neurons, amounting to more than a trillion connections. If each neuron could only help store a single memory, running out of space would be a problem. You might have only a few gigabytes of storage space, similar to [...]

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Earths core has its own pole and its at the equator

Modern research techniques allow us to not only study the surface of Earth and the heavens above it but also what lies in its depths. Jules Verne wrote about an area alive with mystery and wonder over 146 years ago; modern science indicates that the center of the Earth is a young dynamo powered by [...]

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