Hey Answer Girl -

On 12th and 13th streets, there are those speed "things." Occasionally, I hear that there is a white flash, as if a flash bulb went off. Are they taking photos? And then what procedure do they use? Warnings? Tickets?

- Em

The speed things - fancy radar systems that let you know exactly how fast you're going - do not take photos or video of any kind.

Jolene Martinez of the city's public services department said the radar signs act as a blinking reminder to speeding drivers.

"We've had problems on 12th and 13th streets, and it's just a reminder of how fast you're going," Martinez said.

And while there is a light that looks mysteriously like a flash bulb, it's really just an extra push to make you slow down in those speed zones.

Hey Answer Girl n-

What's the longest word in the English language?

- Garrett in Lusk

The definition of a word is pretty technical. Does it have to be in the dictionary to be considered a word? Some "words" are made up just to be long.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the longest recorded word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis, a lung disease. It's 45 letters long, and probably the kind of word that only a kid wanting to impress his or her friends bothers to learn.

I know only because I was one of those kids. As an 8-year-old, I learned to spell pseudoantidisestablishmentarianism (34 letters) and walked around showing everyone how smart I was to know such a uselessly large word. I don't think it worked.

Other very large words n mostly scientific or medical in nature - found in the dictionary include:

pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters)

hepaticocholangiogastrostomy (28 letters)

radioimmunoelectrophoresis (26 letters)

psychophysicotherapeutics (25 letters)

immunoelectrophoretically (25 letters)

otorhinolaryngological (22 letters)

And hey, let's not forget supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This word was originally created by Richard and Robert Sherman for the movie "Mary Poppins." They wanted to use a nonsense word and, according to the movie, it's what you say when you don't know what else to say.

At a whopping 34 letters, it would certainly make Mary Poppins proud.

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589 or megan.lee@trib.com

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Answer Girl tackles your questions about Casper, the universe and everything else. Submit your questions by email to megan.lee@trib.com, or call Megan Lee at 266-0589. You can also write to Answer Girl, Box 80, 170 Star Lane, Casper, WY, 82602.