Do you ever think about what lies outside of our beautiful planet? I love all that astronomical and cosmological stuff (Many thanks to @ProfBrianCox and his wonderful TV programmes for that!) and I do think that sometimes looking outside of the world around us can help to give a better perspective on some of the small stuff that we all worry about in our lives.

“My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened”.  ~Michel de Montaigne

So here are 10 things about our amazing Universe to remind you of where fit in the grand scheme of things. Even if they don’t make your day feel any better I hope you learn something new to give you pause for thought.

There are estimated to be 10 billion, billion stars in the observable Universe, that’s just the bit we have been able to see so far! If you would like to see that in real numbers it’s 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Our nearest star is the Sun so the number of planets and moons is even larger than that. Kind of makes you feel small and insignificant really.

Our Solar System is located in the Milky Way galaxy, which has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years and contains about 200 billion stars. To put that distance into some sort of perspective a light year is the distance that light would travel in a vacuum in a year or approximately 6 Trillion miles so 100,000 light years is a long, long way.

You may feel quite still at the moment but depending where you are on Earth you could be travelling at anything up to 1,230 kilometers per hour with the rotation of the Earth, add on the 107,000 kilometers per hour as the Earth revolves around the Sun and you are fair whizzing along, hope I haven’t made you feel dizzy.

Imagine for a moment that the history of the Universe were squeezed into just one year. The first humans would have appeared at 11:39pm on the 31st of December, the Greek philosophers would have arrived 5 seconds before midnight and everything since the discovery of America by Columbus in the last second before midnight.

You could theoretically fit all of the human race in the volume of a sugar cube. That apparently is due to the fact that an atom has a lot of empty space into it so if all that was squeezed out there wouldn’t be much left. We are all just a load of fresh air really :-)

There could (again theoretically) be somewhere in the Universe where there is a copy of me writing this post and you reading it! I couldn’t begin to start explaining the quantum theory behind this but I recommend you read this excellent and entertaining article from Marcus Chown if you would like to learn more.

Recent research has shown that there about 10 billion stars with planets in our galaxy alone in the “habitable zone” – the distance from the star where solid planets can be found – many of which could in theory be capable of supporting life.

The farthest man made object in space is Voyager 1 which was launched in 1977 with a mission to study the outer Solar System. It’s flown past Jupiter and Saturn and is still going strong. Voyager 1 has so far travelled the equivalent of 119 journeys between the Earth and the Sun and is still sending back information to earth. It will need to fly for another 40,000 years before it reaches the nearest star system to our own.

Each Voyager space probe carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc in the event that either spacecraft is ever found by intelligent life-forms from other planetary systems. The discs carry photos of the Earth and its lifeforms, a range of scientific information, spoken greetings  and a medley, “Sounds of Earth”, that includes the sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore, and a collection of Earth music, including works by Mozart and Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode.

The disc also contains pictorial and mathematical instructions as to how to play it – that could be really handy if any of the ‘youth of today’ find it and wonder what to do with it in this digital age!

If an alien ever visits earth the respective strength of our gravity compared to their own planet might mean that they could leap amazing distances and heights, keep that in mind when you are watching the Olympics!

I know that all of this won’t pay the bills but I hope that sometimes thinking on a grander scale will make you smile at yourself when you are sweating on some of the trivial stuff that we concern ourselves with – it works for me!

“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow”.  ~Swedish Proverb

Perhaps the world would be a better place with less conflict, aggression and greed if the Human Race could take a look outside of our own small world and remember how lucky we are to exist in this vast Universe and in this brief moment in time.

Please do let me know what you think, are we sometimes just too insular and should we think on the larger scale sometimes?

Many thanks for visiting the Top 10 Blog, I hope you will share this post with the Universe if you have enjoyed it :-)

*Image credits

Earth man – Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sounds of earth Disc – Wikipedia

I am delighted to welcome back as a guest Shirley Osei-Mensah with her collection of pictures to inspire and motivate you.

You can find out more about Shirley, who has previously brought us Top 10 Places To Get Motivational And Inspirational Quotes on Twitter and Top 10 People To Follow On Twitter For Your Personal Development on Facebook at Shirleyzone and on Twitter at ShirleyOM.

This is a top 10 compilation of some of the pictures I find most inspiring. Hope you enjoy and love them all. Thanks!! :))

A peacock taking a flight through the trees.

Another peacock taking a flight through the great and beautiful yellowish-green bushes.

A family of monkeys sharing a great emotional moment with each other. Very very great and so so beautiful.

Two monkeys sharing a great emotional moment together. A very very great picture.

Dewy flowers. Very very beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Two wonderful and great dolphins taking a very wonderful dive. Very very great and beautiful scenery to behold.

A bird taking a drink with great gymnastic skills. This shows great perseverance and determination to achieve.

A very great and cute cardinal fauna cooling off in a water fountain.

Another cardinal fauna having its very own pass time in his own private space :).

An aerial view of rice terraces in China. A very very great view and picture as a whole :).

And a bonus for you all, is this video featuring very very beautiful roses with music from the Backstreet Boys playing alongside. The music playing alongside is called “The Perfect Fan”. It’s a song on the great jobs that mothers do and for mothers. Enjoy!! And hope you love it just like I did :)).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Many thanks to Shirley for her inspiring collection – I hope the images have put a smile on your face and a spring in your step!

Thank you for visiting the Top 10 Blog. If you have enjoyed this post I hope you will share it with the world. If you would like to see more like this you can Subscribe, Follow, Like and Add to your Circles using the options in the sidebar.

*All image supplied by Shirley Osei-Mensah – please click on the images to view the source.

This time last year I was delighted to bring you three great guest posts on a Halloween theme.

With that spooky time of year approaching again I thought it would be good to bring all three together to make sure that this years celebrations will be the best ever!

So with thanks to Sarah Gratton, Kat Caverly and Julie Spira here are all the essential Halloween songs, party games and make up tips you could ever need gathered together in one place.

Top 10 Party Games For Halloween

A fantastic compilation of Halloween party games for children and adults from @grattongirl.

10 Awesome Make-Up Artists On Twitter

A compilation of the most amazing make-up artists to connect with on Twitter with some great video tutorials from the experts by @Greetums.

Top 10 Halloween Songs

10 of the best ‘spooky tunes’ for Halloween compiled by @juliespira.

I hope you enjoy these posts and find loads of useful information to help you make sure your Halloween celebrations go with a bang! Do you have any tips to share, please do let me know.

If you have enjoyed this post I hope you will share it with the world. If you would like to see more like this please Subscribe, Follow, Like and Add to your Circles using the options at the top of the sidebar.

Many thanks for visiting The Top 10 Blog – I hope to see you again soon.

* Image Credits

Halloween Time – Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Nightmare – luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Halloween background – Sujin Jetkasettakorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Happy Halloween – Flickr pareeerica

Life being what it is you can guarantee that not everything will go the way you planned. There are bound to be challenges and disappointments but having the right attitude can help you to overcome them as you negotiate your way through the rich tapestry of life.  

So here are my 10 essential ingredients to help you to have a good day. Simple, free and within us all already – you just have to make sure you remember to use them.

A smile on your face

A twinkle in your eye

A spring in your step

See the beauty of nature around you

A helping hand for someone who needs it

The people you love around you (or in your heart!)

 A positive attitude

 A Random act of Kindness

An occasional (innocent) flirt

Laugh – often and loud!

Have a good day!

Thank you for visiting The Top 10 Blog. If you like what you see please share with the world and if you would like to see more you can Subscribe, Follow, Like and Add to your Circles using the buttons at the top of the sidebar.

*Image credits

Smile – photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Running Man – Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Monarch Butterfly – Rosemary Ratcliff / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Confused - renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Devil and Angel Hearts/Right sign/Human Eye – digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Love/ Red Gift Box – Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Baby – Free Digital Photos.net

Ever since the Mercedes S-Class starting introducing innovative and sometimes life-saving technology to its basic chassis set-up, the allure and demand of high-end technology in our cars has become something we can’t live without.

Twenty years ago, we’d have been happy with power steering, but now all we want is Bluetooth-compatible DVD players with 40inch touchscreen capabilities combined with an in-built fridge… that also cooks you some chicken.

We’ve become obsessed with grandeur and tech that makes life easier for us; so with that being said, here is a top 8 gadget list to get you salivating.

iPad 2

Apple is a company that has come from imminent failure, to the world’s coolest brand in about 15 years. The beginning of the whole computer revolution wasn’t too kind to Apple. They may have innovated loads of the computer tech we take for granted now; the mouse and keyboard, for example. But this wasn’t enough to create a dominance that would stop Microsoft.

And then Steve Jobs, who was fired by the board, came back into the picture and helped Apple create the iPod – one of the most successful products of the new millennium. Since then, it’s been plain sailing for Apple, and the new iPad 2 would be the perfect complement in your car.

It’s small enough to keep in the glove box, and is ideal to keep the kids entertained on long journeys. They aren’t cheap, but they’re so portable and clever, you’d be hard pushed not to be impressed.

Remote start

The Europeans are used to only receiving the latest tech a few months later than in the US  but when it comes to remote start, we are light-years behind. The Americans have had remote start capabilities for years, but we’ve been left in the dark ages because we’re so concerned with safety and other mundane innovations.

With that being said, though, what’s actually the point in remote start? Sure, you can impress your mates by starting your engine from 20ft away, but other than that, what use does it provide?

TomTom Sat-Nav

There are hundreds of sat-navs out there nowadays, so you’ve got a biblical amount of choice to compare. One brand, however, that continually sells more than the rest if TomTom. It’s now become so synonymous with satellite navigation that it’s the only sat nav that is properly trusted by the UK public. A TomTom won’t let you down.

Some Renaults now come with in-built TomToms, too, so you can look like you’ve spent a lot more on your car than you actually have. Brilliant.

Parrot Bluetooth

Parrot, like TomTom, has become a brand name that demands respect. It has become the standard for Bluetooth connectivity with mobile phones in cars. Now that the law states you can’t use your mobile phone in the car without using a hands-free Bluetooth system, it means if you do want to talk to your loved ones on the move, you need something reliable.

It’s a simple bit of tech that will work every single time and keep you out of trouble with the police.

Portable GPS

It may seem a little geeky to carry a portable GPS system with you when you’re driving, but it can be a bit of tech that saves you from the biggest epic fail of your life. Say you’re driving through a town you don’t know, you’re in a country you’re not familiar with and you’re on your own, then BANG, the sat-nav goes bust. What do you do?

You get out your portable GPS and find out your exact co-ordinates. Then you can ring a loved-one and they will be able to find and rescue you. Crisis over.

Manettino

Ok, so you might have to buy a £100,000 Ferrari to own and use this car gizmo, but trust us, it’s worth it. The famous Manettino switch that Ferrari developed with Michael Schumacher has been featured on every Ferrari since the F430.

It’s basically the best switch in the world. It can completely change the feel and characteristics of the car in milliseconds. From Comfort to Race, the Manettino is the ultimate gadget for any petrolhead.

TV Headrests

TV headrests can be mightily expensive. They usually cost about £1,000 extra in a high-end luxury car, so that kind of puts most people out of the reach of TV on the move. But thankfully, there is hope. You can now buy aftermarket TV headrests that just go over your standard headrests.

The result? The kids are happy, quiet and content, while you can get on with the job of driving. Oh, and one more thing… they come with headphones.

Satellite radio

Another bit of tech the Americans have and we can’t really utilise yet. The Satellite radio effectively lets you access any radio station in the world. It’s been fitted to some American cars recently and with great fanfare, too.

If you’re originally from the US but now live in the UK and miss your favourite radio show from L.A – no problem. It’s that easy!

This is a guest article written by Daniel over at Netcars.com, the used cars comparison website in the UK.

My thanks to Daniel for putting his compilation together. Which are the gadgets that you just can’t live without when you are on the road?

Many thanks for visiting The Top 10 Blog. If you like this post I hope you will share it with the world and if you would like to see more you can Subscribe, Follow, Like and Add to your Google+ Circles using the options in the sidebar.