Something to think about!! When a politician casually mentions a billion...

[merciasounds]

It's a figure that's hard to comprehend, but put like this.....


A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.

D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E.
A billion Pounds ago was only 13 hours and 12 minutes, the rate the last Labour government was spending it.!

[squarebear]

You have the wrong definition of billion. In money it is a thousand million, not a million million.

1000000000/60= 16666666.67 minutes
16666666.667/60= 277777.77 hours
277777.77/24= 11574.07 days
11574.07/365= 31.71 years

2008-31= 1977 (not 1959)

[squarebear]

One billion minutes ago Jesus walked the Earth
1,000,000,000/60= 16,666,666.67 hours
16,666,666.67/24= 694444.44 days
69444.44/365= 1902.59 years

2008-1902= 106AD (Jesus died at the latest around 36AD so he wasn't around then)

[squarebear]

One billion days ago no one on this Earth walked with two feet
1,000,000,000/365= 2,739,726.03 years

2,800,000 years ago (this era was known as the Pliocene epoch and reptiles, mammals and birds had all evolved by this time. The first hominids, our earliest ancestors, also appeared at this time. The first known biped is the bolosaurid Eudibamus whose fossils date from 290 million years ago. )


lol sorry. I know I'm a pedant.

[dr b]

^^^As long as we're being pedantic, isn't it 2010?

[Bbbananas]

Is there such a word as pendanticity?
Square bear - you have it!!!!

[ttfn]

Nevertheless mercia - your post has put things into more perspective for me. To think I have lived billions of seconds - good Lord, no wonder I am grey-haired (;-))

[bibblebub]

And there have been a billion nanoseconds in the last second.

Shame we don't use the proper English billion any more, there was already a word - milliard - for a thousand million.

[squarebear]

I guess you can guess it was an old website I copied and pasted from :-)

[merciasounds]

And here's me thinking you knew what you were talking about Squarebear!!

[squarebear]

Me, know what I am talking about? No chance :-)