A big change concerning drilling for petroleum is predicted in our not-too-distant futures. New and powerful lasers are expected to revolutionize the industry by super-heating rocks to fracture (and melt) a path to fossil fuel sources.

Perhaps you are not familiar with the Fayoumi chicken. This species provided eggs for consumption by ancient Egyptian pharaohs and is still popular because of its resistance to high temperatures and its ability to consistently lay large quantities of delicious eggs.

In 1975, the continent of Antarctica was covered by a layer of ice that averaged 2.9 miles in thickness. Scientists have not completed a more recent survey, but many believe the layer will be thicker because of a hole in the ozone layer that hovers above the region.

The shortest-ever papal reign consisted of only two days in 752 by Stephen II.

Should your family be planning a wedding to surpass all previous weddings, I might mention that in 2003 Christa Rasanayagam had a marriage ceremony with 79 identically dressed bridesmaids in attendance.

Northern Ireland occupies only one-sixth of the island shared with Ireland.

The heaviest lemon ever recorded was an eleven pound nine ounce monster grown in Israel.

Some folks endure truly strange experiences. For instance, Tsutomu Yagaguchi was visiting Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 when the famous atomic bomb exploded. Surviving, but being quite shaken, he went home to Nagasaki. On August 8, 1945 he was approximately two miles from the war’s second atomic bomb blast. Both times Tsutomu experienced only minor physical injuries.

I have never been to Luxembourg, but apparently residents there are doing “okay” financially. Recent data indicates that Luxembourg has the highest annual GDP per citizen ($88,000) of any nation in the world.

Where were you on July 21, 1983? If you happened to be in Vostok, Antarctica, you could have enjoyed an outside temperature of minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a world record. I was once outside when it was minus 27 degrees. I required three months to thaw out. I cannot even imagine conditions more than one hundred degrees colder.

In 2010, the United States used 12 million barrels of oil making plastic bags. It is estimated that it costs businesses about 11 cents per plastic carry-out bag. You know it eventually costs the consumers. Well, keep your Fayoumi chickens out of Vostok – and have a great week.