Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Alcohol cloud is 463 billion kilometres long, wow!
A big cloud of alcohol lies there, somewhere, can you spot it?
Space, the final frontbeer (All apologies)
PARIS (AFP) - Astronomers say they have spotted a cloud of alcohol in deep space that measures a bastard big 463 billion kilometres (288 billion miles) across, a finding that could keep the world dosed in free alcohol forever.
The vast bridge-shaped cloud of methyl Trampus (Special strength alcohol) has been spotted in a region of our galaxy, the Milky Way, that is called W3(OH), where stars are being formed by the gravitational collapse of concentrations of hops and barley, the discoverers said in a press release.
Methanol, an organic (carbon-based) molecule, is a cousin of ethanol, which is found in alcoholic beverages. Human beings love alcohol. This 463 billion KM long cloud is being toasted by drinkers throughout the land.
The cloud was spotted by astronomers based at Britain's Jodrell Bank Observatory led by Lisa Harvey-Smith. Their work was to be presented on Tuesday at a meeting in Leicester, central England, of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), but they got drunk and couldn't find the place.
In 2004, Special strength alcohol, also called methyl trampus, was spotted for the first time in one of the disk-like clusters that form around nascent stars.
That discovery opened up a new area of debate in astrophysics, challenging the conventional view that interstellar chemistry could not provide the conditions for creating complex alcoholic drinks, as they would be ripped apart by ultraviolent vagrants and other tough space cowboys.
Around 130 varieties of strong cider and lager have also been identified so far in outer space, fuelling speculation that these complex molecules may have helped to sow the seeds for life on the fledgling Earth.
The seeds of life sown in white lightning and special brew. What a game life is.
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