Decide Already! Mayflies Are Dying in Droves

By Amanda Bower, Val Castronovo, Steven Frank, Ling Minhua, Ellin Martens, Michele Orecklin, Julie Rawe, Sora Song and Josh Tyrangiel

Elections are like meals; most people prefer them done well rather than fast. But deciding who won the vote in 2000 has taken longer than a lot of other, almost equally important things:

--Four wars, combined: the 1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War (reportedly 45 minutes), the 1969 Soccer War between El Salvador and Honduras (four days), the Six-Day War and the U.S. invasion of Grenada (nine days)

--The creation of four works of art: Rob Nilsson's 1987 film Heat and Sunlight (60 hours), Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez's 1999 The Blair Witch Project (eight days), George A. Romero's 1968 Night of the Living Dead (six days) and Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 (49 hours)

--Two marriages: Cher and second husband Gregg Allman's (nine days) and Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman's (nine days)

--Three regimes: Theodore Medad Pomeroy's stint as Speaker of the U.S. House (one day) plus the combined reigns of English Queen Jane Grey (nine days) and Portugal's Dom Luis III (about 20 minutes)

--Many, many life cycles: the adult life of 120 mayflies (one hour each) plus the time it takes, from birth, for the female Scandinavian lemming to start breeding (14 days)