I'm Only the Trombone Player

Wanna' Get Lost in Space?

Today is National Home Brew Day. Or, maybe yesterday was? No matter, I going off on a different tangent altogether.

On assignment to find and procure new sources of refreshment for "Invalid Item" , I stumbled upon this little tidbit of useless information.

Did you know there is a giant cloud of alcohol drifting in space? I mean a really giant cloud, 400 quintillion liters of huge.

quin·til·lion. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 18 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 30 zeros.

Great, another question. Why does Great Britain need more zeros? This is why I never get anything done!

Just to put that number in perspective; "everyone (Earth's total population) would need to consume 300 thousand liters of alcohol daily for a billion years."

Aside from the fact that much imbibing would be inherently unhealthy, said alcohol itself isn't really the pleasant drinking kind, more the anti-freeze, windshield washer fluid kind (methanol). Not to mention that the cloud it forms also contains other deadly chemicals.

You might ask, why is this even important? If we can't drink it, why did we even bother looking for it?

"Alcohol is also an organic substance, an integral part of living organisms. Barry Turner of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory claims that these alcohol clouds can “help us better understand how life can evolve in the universe”."

But the cloud also proves that the Universe has a sense of humor.

"The cloud contains ethyl formate, an ester that gives a raspberry flavor and, as astronomers say, it smells like rum. Therefore, it seems that these cosmic spirits may have a taste and aroma similar to raspberry rum."

So, I can't drink it, but it smells like I'd want to.