To: mdittmar
Each light year is about 6 trillion miles.
Why do they have to explain what a light year is every time?
No other unit of measurement gets this special treatment.
What if they always wrote like this:
The accident happened about 5 miles outside Houston. A Mile is 5280 feet.
The temperature increased by 5.0 C (9.0 F) since yesterday. One degree Celsius is 1/100 of the temperature difference between water freezing and water boiling at sea level.
There were 11 people at the meeting. 11 is the number that comes between 10 and 12.
Gimme a break.
Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine.
15 posted on
10/24/2011 1:37:10 PM PDT by
BitWielder1
(Corporate Profits are better than Government Waste)
To: BitWielder1
Because people are scientifically illiterate? I would bet that half the people in the country think light year is a measure of time.
17 posted on
10/24/2011 1:55:45 PM PDT by
Straight Vermonter
(Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
To: BitWielder1
I agree. It’s not like “6 trillion” helps anyone get their minds around it. Maybe they should say, “each light year is 1 ObamaSpend”?
To: BitWielder1
The least they could do is to change the reference each time.
The first time, give the equivalent in miles, the next time in kilometers, the next time in versts, the next time in stades, the next time in British thermal units, the next time in kilograms, etc.
To: BitWielder1
No other unit of measurement gets this special treatment.
I've seen/heard a nanosecond quantified in distance.
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