SAHAPADI

  An Eerie Afterglow 90 Years Later   It’s a fascinating, almost haunting reality: more than 90 years after her death, the body of renowned scientist Marie Curie is still emitting radiation. When she discovered radioactivity, she had no idea that her groundbreaking work would ultimately cost her her life. Today, that lingering radiation serves as an immortal, albeit dangerous, reminder of her immense contribution to science. The Lead-Lined Coffin at the Panthéon   Marie Curie rests in the Panthéon in Paris, a mausoleum reserved for France’s most distinguished citizens. She wasn't originally buried there; her remains were moved in 1995 to honor her legacy. When her coffin was opened during the transfer, officials detected remarkably high levels of radiation. As a precaution, she was reburied in a coffin lined with nearly an inch of solid lead. Yet, even through that heavy shielding, her tomb still emits about 0.24 microSieverts of radiation per hour. 3. Putting the Radiati...

     Step out of your house on a clear night and look up at the sky. You can see at least 2,500 stars. When you hear this, it might seem like a huge number, but you must understand how small this number is when compared to the size of the universe. The observable universe has a diameter of approximately 90 billion light-years. That means the distance from one end of the universe we have observed so far to the other is 90 billion light-years. There are at least 100 billion galaxies in it, and each galaxy contains anywhere from 100 billion to 1 trillion stars. Now, let's consider planets. Most stars have planets orbiting them. It is said that there are trillions of planets in the universe where life can exist. In our Milky Way galaxy alone, there are millions of planets with the potential to sustain life. If the universe is 13.8 billion years old, in such a vast universe and over such a long period, isn't there a possibility for other beings like humans—or even beings techn...