Cosmic Rhody

Digging deep into the online archives to discover an unusual size of Rhode Island reference. In a 2003 article about the construction of a cosmic ray detector in Argentina, the author uses a timeworn unit of measurement to prove once again that Rhode Island is the Universe.

Scientific theory can account for the sources of low- and medium-energy cosmic rays, but the origin of these rare high-energy cosmic rays remains a mystery. To identify the cosmic mechanisms that produce microscopic particles at macroscopic energy, the Pierre Auger collaboration is installing an array that will ultimately comprise 1,600 surface detectors in an area of the Argentine Pampa Amarilla the size of Rhode Island...

Located about 600 miles west of Buenos Aires, the first detectors are already working their soon-to-be Rhode Island-sized magic. Said Nobel Prize winner Jim Cronin of the University of Chicago: "These highest-energy cosmic rays are messengers from the extreme universe. They represent a great opportunity for discoveries."

Our interstellar readers will soon find out what Earthlings already know: Universes don't come more extreme than Rhode Island. It's such a given that we don't even bother to put "Discover Rhode Island" on our license plates anymore.