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/ In the space of one hundred and         \
| seventy-six years the Mississippi has   |
| shortened itself two hundred and        |
| forty-two miles. Therefore ... in the   |
| Old Silurian Period the Mississippi     |
| River was upward of one million three   |
| hundred thousand miles long ... seven   |
| hundred and forty-two years from now    |
| the Mississippi will be only a mile and |
| three-quarters long. ... There is       |
| something fascinating about science.    |
| One gets such wholesome returns of      |
| conjecture out of such a trifling       |
| investment of fact.                     |
|                                         |
\ -- Mark Twain                           /
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        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
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