Word: inch
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...billionth of a second. Yet it can be measured with the help of atomic clocks and computers. Once the difference in the signal's arrival time is known, the distance between the two antennas as well as their elevation can be calculated with an accuracy of an inch, or even less.* If subsequent measurements months or years later reveal changes in the established distance between the antennas or their altitudes, it will be a sure sign of movement in the earth's crust...
Buried under nearly two miles of water, the huge valley probed by the subs is the place where the Americas began to part from Europe and Africa some 180 million years ago. The continents are still drifting away from one another at a snail's pace of one inch or so a year...
...actual undersea eruption of lava, the expedition was not without its excitement-or perils. Frequent landslides along the walls of the valley were a constant threat to the three ships; if their shells had been ruptured by tumbling rock, the crushing pressure of the water (two tons a square inch) would have meant quick death for the crews. All three submersibles were also bothered by minor mechanical difficulties; Alvin's final two dives had to be scrubbed because of an electrical problem. Even so, the performance of the little subs and their crews more than met the expectations...
...slim nonbook titled The Best. Compiled by two Columbia professors, Peter Passell and Leonard Ross, The Best is neither the Reader's Digest version of The Best and the Brightest nor a capsule Social Register. The Best is, at bottom-which is just three-quarters of an inch from the top-a shallow smattering of opinion and data based on a surfeit of snobbism and a poverty of research. The professors treat their audience like a class of life's freshmen. They offer no criteria, arbitrarily choosing the Best Book of the Bible (Job), the World...
...inexhaustible sense of humor, a special brand of English and an omnipresent cigar that he smokes, or chews, even in the shower. Red Sox teammates used to douse Tiant's glowing stogies in the whirlpool bath; currently, they are more respectful. "Now that Luis buys those expensive 8-inch Colombians," reports Outfielder Tommy Harper, "we can't dunk 'em like we used...