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In 1848, Edgar Allen Poe published his final work, “Eureka,” which answered a cosmic riddle of his time: Why is the nighttime sky dark if there are an infinite number of stars in the sky? He theorized that the darkness represented stars too young for the light to have yet reached us, but he was wrong!
It’s actually the opposite, something called Olber’s Paradox. The reason, according to scientists, that the night sky is not filled with lights is that the stars are TOO OLD and their light has been redshifted out of the visible spectrum. It has to do with the metric expansion of space.
It would have been very hard to guess at this, however, for Poe, because he was guessing before the work of Edwin Hubble was completed. Relativity was not considered.
How to Fly: A Man Flew Flights Worth $21 MILLION on an Unlimited Flying Pass
In 1987, a guy bought a lifetime unlimited first class American Airlines ticket for $250,000. He flew over 10,000 flights costing the company $21,000,000. They terminated his ticket in 2008.
The man was one Steve Rothstein. It was a ticket supposed to be for unlimited lifetime travel.
Rothstein flew over 10,000 flights with the pass, for over 10 MILLION miles.
An interesting thing you might not think of doing right away, if you decide to buy a pass (although they’re not offered anymore). Rothstein flew strangers home.
That’s because he bought a second Companion Ticket for $150,000.
Rothstein’s ticket was taken back in 2008 when American Airlines accused the man of fraud, reportedly.
How Painter Salvador Dali Used To Get Out of Paying Restaurant Bills!
There are some interesting economics questions out there that go beyond the lessons of basic theory. What are the dynamics of economics where people get paid, yet no one pays?
Well, that’s not exactly it I guess. In this case (and if this story is true and actually true of Dali, and not Picasso or another artist — the story is connected to Dali the way it has been told recently) the surrealist painter used to pay with cheques at restaurants, but would draw on the backs of the checks, and who would cash a check with a Dali on the back?
Would you?
Wait a second though. Do restaurants accept personal cheques? Do they accept them in Spain or in the old days when Dali would have been dining?
