fandomhigh | Advanced Astrophysics (and Arts & Crafts), Friday, 3rd Period

When class arrived, there was a small pile of popsicle sticks and good amount of yarn waiting for them. Someone had spent the night before, frantically trying to find an 'art and craft' for his students to do upon realizing just what the class title had been changed to.

There might have also been a long lecture about Respecting Science that Reed had the sinking suspicion didn't work to convince Johnny to stop.

"Hello, everyone," Reed said, clapping his hands together to get their attention. "My name is Dr. Reed Richards and I will be your teacher for the duration of this class,"

Wasn't that just wonderful, people?

"For those of you who are here for the arts and crafts portion, I apologize for the misunderstanding. There was some sort of paperwork error--" Johnny. "--but I'm sure we can enjoy both physics and art at the same time, right?" Feel free to groan at the enthusiasm of a first time teacher, children. Feel free. "If everyone would pick up a worksheet and some supplies, we can get started on the lecture!"

Oh, so you all thought you could escape that, didn't you?

"We will be discussing the big bang theory," he said brightly. "Now, the name 'big bang' as many of you know it is a misnomer," he added, passing out a chart to help explain the timeline. "It was actually given to the theory by an opponent who wanted to deride the possibility of a finite universe. If there is a beginning, logically, the idea of an ending must exist. This sis not sit well with a number of scientists when the theory was postulated, though now the idea is generally well accepted with a few issues still being settled on parts of it."

Which could be more than just a bit distressing for some to contemplate.

Reed fiddled with a machine of some sort that he must have brought with him, waiting for everyone to be finished taking their supplies before the classroom dimmed and a holographic image appeared in the middle of the room. Countless stars and systems filling the entire room, just above the heads of the students. "Approximately 13.7 billion years ago, our universe began in an unknown event. Just what that event was is unknown." Unless you had a handy time machine. Did you guys have a handy time machine? He thought not. "But we do know that before it happened, the universe was infinitely dense and hot. We can extrapolate this from the fact that the numerous galaxies with in the universe are moving apart and slowly cooling. The universe is getting larger with every moment," Reed said with far, far too much enthusiasm.

Man really liked his science.

"During those first few microseconds of time after the unknown event, there was a phase transition," he said. "A--a change of matter from one form to another that caused a rapid expansion outward from the center, causing the universe to grow exponentially larger than what it started as. In this time, the universe consisted of elementary particles which, as we all know, is the fundamental building block behind everything that we know today. Over millions and millions of years these particles were created and destroyed in the extreme heat and movement left over from the expansion, they started to cluster together. These clusters slowly started to become more dense, solid even! They started to form the universe that we know today."

Were brains melting? They were probably melting by now. You get used to it.

Reed smiled at the class, nodding encouragingly at them all. "Are there any questions?"

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Jim put up his hand... hands. His hands, which were tied together, which he'd be wanting help with, eventually.

Stupid yarn.

"Is there any way to get that hologram to display the names of the different celestial bodies? I'm not from around here."

Now there was a good question. Reed nodded, already typing commands into the device. "Of course, this isn't a complete list of all the bodies in the universe. That would be near impossible."

Jim wondered, momentarily, just where exactly Facebook would be, among all of those constellations.

When he discovered the terrible truth, he'd probably be horrified.

"Thanks," he replied, smiling slightly in spite of himself. He usually hated school. It was something that he did on principle, but this class already had him enthralled. With the exception of the yarn. Dammit. "Where in all of that are we, right now? You can't get everything, but you've got to at least have Earth in there, right?"

That yarn was a metaphor! A metaphor!

"We are in the," Reed said, causing the stars to blur past as the hologram zoomed in. "Milky Way galaxy and our particular solar system would be..."

More blurring before the image settled on one massive glowing star (http://www.naturenet.com/NatureNetNews/NNNews_graphics/solar_system_400.jpg) with a series of planets orbiting it.

"There we are!"

"Oooooh." Jim leaned forward a little, squinting, and then actually getting up to get a closer look. "Yeah, that looks nothing like anything I've seen before."

There was a moment's pause, and then he glanced back toward Reed.

"I don't suppose Montressor is anywhere on this map?"

Look, it was worth a shot.

[OOC: It wouldn't be, yay! :D]

"Montressor?" Reed repeated. "Do you know what systems are near it?"

Jim gave his shoulders a shrug, staring at the map long and hard before shaking his head a little.

"Probably not by the same name they'd call it on Earth, if it's on there at all," he admitted. "Montressor is located inside the Etherium, and people here keep telling me that space doesn't have atmosphere."

So, yes, that weirded him out. A lot.

WHY DID YOU BREAK SCIENCE WITH THIS TALK, JIM? WHY?

"What."

SUCK IT, SCIENCE.

"... See? Like that," Jim sighed, burying his face in his hand.

"How would that even work?" Reed asked, mostly himself rather than expecting poor Jim to know the answer to it.

Jim shrugged a little, trying to wriggle hand number two free of the yarn, now.

"It's just kind of always been that way. It's the 'complete vacuum' thing that doesn't make sense to me. Nature hates a vacuum. How does all of that empty space not pull the atmosphere away from the planets floating around out there?"

This was apparently the high school kind-of-alien steampunk kid equivalent of 'why is the sky blue? How does grass grow?'

"Well, it's not a perfect vacuum," Reed corrected like the nerd he was. "It is the closest thing possible, but not quite." Thank you, Reed Richards for that moment.

"Which still doesn't really explain how Earth's atmosphere hasn't all been sucked away," Jim sighed, sulking only a tiny bit.

Science here didn't make any sense.

"But I guess... since I'm here, I might as well try to figure it out."

Even if space without air in it was dumb.

Advanced Astrophysics (and Arts & Crafts), Friday, 3rd Period - 5/13

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