Donations By Text Message

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, donations through Mobile Text Messages (see related news: Haiti Earthquake: Donations to Haiti Relief Efforts By Text Message - ABC News) has gone up significantly. They are indeed legitimate(though there might be some scams here & there) and the donations are reaching the right organization. It seems in the last few days millions of dollars has already been pledged for Haiti through Mobile Text Messages. Why are aid organizations like the RED CROSS going this route for donations now?

One of the primary reasons being stated is that donations through texting captures the "Impulsive Donors" segment, similar to the "Impulsive Buyers".

e.g., If you go grocery shopping while you are hungry you tend to buy more. The same logic applies here. When people are emotional, they tend to donate immediately. In the traditional way of Donation (through check), if one does not have the check book handy, then they put off donating for a few days. And by that time, such tragedies are not in the news headlines anymore. So, there is a chance that this person might not donate.

Infact according to a study done, it was observed that the donations to the charities are at the highest for the first 6 days after such tragedy/disaster occurs. So, donations through Mobile Text messages is an example of how technology is helping those in need.

Do you think Donations by Texting is here to stay or will it go away in few years?

BTW...did you know that Britain is planning to phase out the usage of check ("Cheque"---as spelled in some countries) books?

How old is our Universe?

Astronomers estimate the age of the Universe to be around 13.7 billion years or in other words the BIG BANG happened 13.7 billion years ago. Astronomers also believe that just a fraction of time after the BIG BANG, the debris (which form our Universe) expanded at a rate more than the speed of light and we know that the Universe is still expanding.

So, let us now imagine that after the BIG BANG, the universe is expanding.... in course of time Galaxies are formed and our Galaxy, the Milky Way is also formed. Some Galaxies would have formed before Milky Way and some after. And we do not know whether our Milky Way Galaxy is at the edge of the ever expanding Universe or closer to the Center of the Universe. Some Galaxies would have formed closer to the center of the Universe and Some very far off from the Center of the Universe (and also very further beyond our Milky Way).

If we could travel to another Galaxy at the edge of the Universe, far off from our Milky Way Galaxy, will the age of the Universe and the Time of BIG BANG be much more than 13.7 billion years?

So, the findings that BIG BANG happened 13.7 billion years ago (ie., Universe is 13.7 billions years old)...isn't that just relative to the earth?

Hope my question makes sense. I do not claim to be an expert on Astronomy or Astrophysics. I am just curious and someone interested in understanding the mysteries of our Universe.

I would appreciate if anyone can clarify me on this.

Also please feel free to share your thoughts or comments related to this topic or if you have any more questions that has been in your mind.

Updated on 28-Mar-2010: In the context of this topic and regarding the expansion of the Universe, I came across a news article titled "Universe expansion is speeding up". Here is the linnk to that article http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article305275.ece