Word: krypton
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...submitted by the would-be buyer, a Colorado company that wanted to ship the device to West Germany. U.S. Customs in Washington confirmed that the document was a fake. Agents began watching the officers of the Denver concern, Norman Cormerford and Bruce Adamski, who had ordered a $54,000 krypton laser from another manufacturer. That device, used to etch computer microchips, was also bound for West Germany...
...distance between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar kept under controlled conditions near Paris. Still, even this measurement, accurate to one part in a million, was eventually adjudged unsatisfactory. In 1960 the meter was redefined as 1,650,763.73 wave lengths of the reddish-orange light emitted by krypton 86, a rare atmospheric...
Although the krypton meter was accurate to four parts per billion, it led to errors of up to 5 ft. in such experiments as measuring the distance from the earth to the moon-an irritant to scientists exploring the nuances of relativity or movements of continents. Now, by redefining the meter in terms of time, the scientists are using the most accurately known base measure. With its incredibly precise atomic clocks, the Bureau of Standards can measure the second to better than one part in 10 trillion. The new standard, to be sure, makes no significant difference for workaday tasks...
...comic books, on TV in the '50s and in two hugely successful movies (1978 and 1981), Superman has triumphed over nearly every species of injustice. The villains of Metropolis bang their clenched fists against his chest and go away whimpering. Preternatural varmints from the planet Krypton attempt to bend his will to theirs and end up with splitting headaches. But now, perhaps, the Man of Steel has finally met his match: his own rotten self. See Good battle Evil in a schizophrenic clash that makes for the most entertaining and affecting Superman...
...extras. Recalls Reeve: "My mother said, 'Call me if you convert.' That didn't happen, but I developed enormous respect for the ritual I was performing." Does this mean he has put away childish things like playing comic-book characters? Lois Lane and other fans of Krypton's finest surviving hunk can relax. Reeve will shortly pull on his red-and-blue undies and rev his wires for takeoff in Superman...