Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 16, 1994 TAG: 9405170021
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON RICHERT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sure, you've wondered. But the real question is, did you ever find out?
Discovering those answers to your most mindboggling questions is a huge payoff when you're really curious about something. Say, for instance, exactly what is a black hole?
Well, you figure, ``It's that thing that spaceships disappear into in the movies.''
But if you let yourself get curious enough to find out for sure, you learn that black holes are actually former stars that have collapsed because they are so dense. As the star's parts keep collapsing atop each other, the star's gravitational pull becomes so strong that not even the star's light can escape. That's why it's called a black hole. And, because nothing can travel faster than light, anything that falls into the hole will never come out.
Curiosity is the key word here. If you let yourself get curious about everything around you, you'll be surprised how easy - and fun - it is to find the answers.
These answers won't be hard to find if you know where to look. We learned about black holes from Reader's Digest's ``How the Universe Works.'' There's even a neat experiment in the colorful book that tells you how to make a black hole. Other places to search for experiments and answers are local libraries or book stores, science museums, and friends or classmates who know somebody who can answer your questions.
In case your wondering machine is temporarily stumped, we'll give you a head start. Consider these for your ``Did you ever wonder ... '' journal.
Which will hit the ground first if dropped from the same height? A penny or pack of 50 pennies?
Why are the colors in a rainbow arranged as they are?
Why is the day 24 hours?
How do spiders spin their webs?
by CNB