Word: lilliputian
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...meld general relativity and quantum mechanics. This difficulty arose because space lacks smoothness below subatomic scales. When distances become unimaginably small, space bubbles and churns frenetically, an effect sometimes referred to as quantum foam. Pointlike particles, including the graviton, are likely to be tossed about by quantum foam, like Lilliputian boats to which ripples in the ocean loom as large waves. Strings, by contrast, are miniature ocean liners whose greater size lets them span many waves at once, making them impervious to such disturbances...
...those dreams in which I'm in fifth grade playing dodge ball--naked. At my kid's school, we parents wait our turn in the hallway, drinking decaf and trying to hide our anxiety behind our briefcases. When I'm ushered into the classroom, I wedge myself into a Lilliputian desk. Mrs. Widget smiles down with practiced patience. She begins. Nine minutes later, it's all over, and we're shaking hands. By the time I make it to the car, I have near complete amnesia about the experience...
...locale, these affairs can range from sumptuous to spartan. At some senior bars, I've been offered more free drinks than I could possibly consume over a semester; on Wednesday night's sparsely attended gathering at the Bow, not only did I have to shell out change for Lilliputian-sized packets of potato chips, but my roommates and I discovered that the gaming policy was strictly BYOD (bring your own darts). Who walks around Cambridge with his or her own case of steel-tipped darts? Not anyone I would want to meet at Senior...
Once at a restaurant, I thought I'd outsmart the staff and request no ice. The waitress asked me if I wanted her just to bring out the bottle. I leaped at the chance, and was flim-flammed again. The "bottle" was a Lilliputian eight ounces...
Members of Earth and Planetary Sciences gather for tea every day at 3 and for weekly seminars. Despite the department's Lilliputian size--faculty outnumber the students--it has its own library (Kummel). The syllabus for EPS 151 boasts an excursion to Hawaii. Oh, the jealousy...