Interdimensional Physics For Dummies

Tags

completed stories, fun stuff, original fiction, science, short stories

Writefury started it! X-D

Go check out her reply to the prompt. Right now. I command thee. 😛

Also, in this story, there’s a cameo. Anyone who can correctly identify the cameo may make a demand of me. However, I can’t promise deadlines at the moment, so let’s just say I’ll do it when I can. 😉

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Interdimensional Physics for Dummies

                Gerald walked into interdimensional physics class to find his idiot friend doodling on the chalkboard with RoseArts, his bag forgotten by his usual seat. He smacked Michael in the back of the head—rather gently, if he did say so himself. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. A few snickers came from the early-comers. They saw this drama enacted every day.

In fact, maybe that’s why they came to class so early…

“That doesn’t look like cursive to me,” Gerald informed Michael kindly. Michael ignored him, standing on tiptoes and stretching his skinny back to reach the top of the chalkboard. “So what is it?” Gerald asked, curiosity getting the better of him. He immediately regretted his indiscretion.

So Michael might be partly deaf, but that didn’t justify him ignoring people.

Michael finished part of his curve and stared at Gerald. “Oh, hi!” he said, sounding surprised. His nerdy glasses were slipping down over the bridge of his nose, making him look even more stupid than usual. Gerald kindly pushed them back up, and they immediately began to slide back down again.

He didn’t know why Michael wore them all the time. After all, he only needed them to read. He was farsighted, not blind!

“So what is it?” Gerald asked, gesturing at the board.

“It’s a probability machine diagram,” Michael explained. “And it looks good.”

Why was Gerald friends with this idiot again?

The door opened and the professor marched in, several minutes before the rest of the class would come straggling in. “Good morning, boys,” he said in a voice that was far too bright for this horrible hour. He squinted at the chalkboard.

“Is that the Carson-Leither probability engine you were talking about earlier, Michael?” he asked, pulling his nerdy glasses out of his suit pocket and sliding them up the bridge of his nose. As far as Gerald was concerned, while Michael might need glasses for things close to his face, the professor didn’t need them at all.

“Yes, sir,” Michael said, continuing to draw.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to erase part of it later,” the professor said apologetically, sounding bipolar.

“I can take a photo with my cell phone, sir,” Gerald said, making a squid face at Michael’s back.

“No need. It’s the principle of the thing, you see,” the Professor explained. Gerald didn’t see, but of course he was not going to say that.

The professor’s watch alarm went off, Gerald and Michael sat down, and class began.

Seven and a half minutes later, the rest of the class rushed breathlessly in, madly waving coffee cups, books, papers, pencils, pens, highlighters, and in one memorable case, a lizard.

The professor asked them what the blackboard drawing was. None of them had any idea.

After all, they were all very late.

Schrodinger’s Cat

Tags

completed stories, doctor who, fanfiction, science, short stories, thought experiments

Good morning, everyone!

Now this didn’t get much of a response on FanFiction, where I posted it on Iris‘s account… I’m hoping to get some solid feedback on it here. It’s a bit dark, I should warn you: It deals with the Doctor’s imagination running away with him and the series of events that leads to his regeneration in “The End of Time.” But I’d really like to get some feedback on it.

Enjoy! I hope…

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Schrodinger’s Cat

                “You set up a sealed box with a radioactive source and a flask of Zyklon B crystals that will spill out and form deadly hydrogen cyanide gas as soon as radiation is released. You then put a cat into the box and seal it. Is the cat dead or alive?”

                Is it dead or alive? Is it dead or alive?

The Doctor couldn’t control the muscle spasms that bent him backwards, agony sparking through his nervous system. Just like a cat in a locked box, being poisoned by Time’s irregularities, its unpredictable nature.

Dead or alive?

Wilfred was alive. He knew that. And he himself had been. Sweat beaded on his brow. He was going to start screaming now—he would scream and scream until the voice changed and another man walked away and he was dead.

Dead or alive? Dead or alive?

Were you mad to hear voices in your head, or did you keep them under a tight seal, Doctor, silencing them to pretend that you still had your sanity when you were really just the same as me? But instead of war drums you heard their screams—the screams you couldn’t stop—

His hearts were pounding. He could feel the radiation seeping into his bones, killing every cell one at a time. It would have been a painless death, but for the warning pain brought. Coming. Coming. Coming. It’s already begun. The change is coming.

He gasped for breath, sucking in poisoned air.

“The cat is both dead and alive,” Koschei announced proudly, his voice a death knell to the man who had thought he was his friend.

                The cat is both dead and alive.

Turn, Turn, Turn: A Doctor Who Nursery Rhyme

Tags

astronomy, because it's cool, doctor who, fanfiction, fictional cultures, science, science fiction, so i did this..., worldbuilding

Seeing that Time Lord culture is going to be so based on time and motion in the context of time, I thought this up, mostly during astronomy class. Basically, I was thinking about how the universe turns within itself: The Earth circles the Sun, the Moon circles the Earth, the whole Solar System circles the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Milky Way circles with other galaxies, and the whole universe spreads outwards into space… And it kind of made me think. While the whole clock/clockwork/pocket watch sort of steampunky aesthetic works very well in context, I thought that the order we see in the universe and the constant motion of heavenly bodies around their manifold centers would probably also figure very strongly in Time Lord culture, which might also explain why they also are so fixated on order, and that would come across very strongly, even in their nursery rhymes–a sort of indoctrination, if you will, if we’re thinking about the darker side of Gallifrey. Also, a sphere is an incredibly beautiful and quintessential form, and spheres within spheres, don’t even get me started.

ANYWHEN! So basically, this is what I came up with. I hope you all enjoy it!

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Turn, Turn, Turn

Turn, turn, turn away,

Each moves within its whirling wheel,

All the spheres come out to play,

All the perfect moments steal.

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Order rules both time and space,

As within their worlds we roam,

Every atom has its place,

Every second has its home.

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Wanderers that feel the turning,

Crossing on from sphere to sphere

Underneath each new sun’s burning

Wanderers that travel here.

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Music, laughter, joy and pain,

Hope and love and shivering fear,

The years turn round the worlds again,

And everything moves in its sphere.

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First the sun shines on the plains,

Sweet life within the nave of day,

And then the moon comes once again,

So turn, and turn, and turn, away.

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Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Theoretical Science: Nature vs. Nurture?

Tags

ahsoka tano, character design, character development, rebels, science, star wars, the clone wars, theoretical science

Back when Star Wars: The Clone Wars was still running, viewers who watched the supernatural-themed storyline known as “The Mortis Arc” to fans saw this version of Ahsoka:

Yet, in Star Wars: Rebels, we see this:

I think we can safely pass this off to a character redesign after Disney came in… or that version of Ahsoka on Mortis is still in the future… but seriously!? What gives?

It’s possible that the version of Ahsoka in the future we saw on Mortis was a version that belonged to a future where the Jedi Order was not destroyed and the Rebels version is the result of Anakin turning to the Dark Side.

Basically, Anakin’s turn destroyed the possibility of the future that that Ahsoka belonged to. (That theory is borne out by the appearance of Rebels Ahsoka: the shapes of her face are harsher and sharper, to fit a colder future.)

But if you look at Ahsoka, she really looks very different in between the two versions. Not only is the Rebels version less Shaak Ti, but her costume has changed as well; it now appears to be a close-fitting sheath dress with a chest piece and “kama”, or short kilt made of blast resistant fabric, as well as the central tabard that has remained a part of her look ever since the very beginning:

(That purple thing? That’s the tabard.)

You can see that they’ve been shifting towards a less-orange, more vital look for her skin, but her coloration seems paler in Rebels, even compared to the “Season Three Look”.

This leads me to think that Togruta (Ahsoka’s species) tend to grow as influenced by their outside surroundings, and that the Ahsoka we saw on Mortis belonged to a kinder future.

If you look closely at her, it’s clear she’s the same character, but her personality and appearance have been changed by the situations around her.

(Irisbloom5 has suggested that the Ahsokas we saw were at different points in their life span, which is hard to verify, since the vision version of Ahsoka has longer montrals (the blue and white part of her head; according to Wookiepedia, the montrals are a sensory organ that has to do with spatial awareness; a bit like echolocation, maybe an ultrasonic sense) but a body form that doesn’t look quite like an adult’s, unlike the Rebels version, which has shorter montrals, but a more adult body form. I’m not certain if this is true, though it is likely–Togruta are supposed to have a roughly 95-year life span, which is greater than the 72-year average for humans, so it’s possible that they age differently as well.)

Sorry this was less of a theoretical science post and more of a ramble on character design changes, but it made me curious. 😉 I’m a writer. My mind works like that. 😛

As always, thanks for reading, and God Bless!

You Know You Are An Author When…

Tags

authors, captain america: the first avenger, cyanide poisoning, forensic science, poison, science, toxicology, writing, you know you're an author when

…you pause a movie which you love to research if the way they portray a chemical poisoning is accurate. (True story–I just did it.)

I was watching Captain America: The First Avenger and paused it to look up cyanide poisoning and how it kills. The answer: Oxygen deprivation, which literally kills you because, while you may be able to keep breathing, it keeps your cells from performing oxygen intake, or something like that. (Please forgive the grossly inaccurate medical terminology.) It basically causes brain damage and cease of discernible activity in a very short space, via oxygen deprivation, and then “true” death shortly afterward.

Basically, the way they killed off the spy in The First Avenger is inaccurate.

I think they just hammed it up and threw in some instant rigor mortis to make the audience realize what was happening. Medical realism: Under the bus.

(On a side note, I also just spent a few minutes reading about cases of cyanide poisoning. And that is infinitely morbid, but I have an excuse–I’m a science geek fascinated by forensic science and toxicology. I am not likely to kill anyone. Ever. Unless you count killing off the nasties and bad guys in my novels. -_- In which case, I reserve the right to get creative, because I’ve been hating them and by extension myself for most of the book.)

#107 on the You Know You’re An Author When list. (See what I just did there? ;-P)

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

[EDIT: I was just looking at the toxicity for strychnine and it seems that Hydra may have been mixing it with the cyanide in their false-tooth L-pills, because those cause muscle spasms. Still looks a bit unlikely to me, though.]

Reasons Why I Loved “Captain America: The First Avenger”

Tags

authors, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, captain america, captain america: the first avenger, characters, confusing nonsense, cressida cowell, editor, how to train your dragon, marvel superheroes, movie reviews, movies, nazi germany, rambling musings, redwall, science, science fiction, small rants, star wars, story dynamics, theoretic science, world war II, writer, writing

Hello, dear readers, and sorry about the absence. I really shouldn’t have an excuse and if I do have one, it’s 1) college, 2) rough transfers, and 3) poor time management. So, really my fault this time, and I hope you enjoy the post.

Now, on to the point! I’ve probably told everyone about how I saw Captain America: The First Avenger on Sunday and absolutely loved it. I’ll probably review it once I have the chance to see it twice (I make it a rule not to review anything until the second watching, for obvious reasons; not that the second watch often changes my initial opinion), but for now I’m making a list of reasons why I loved it and why you should go see it if you haven’t yet. 😉 So, without further ado (and in no particular order):

1. Because underdogs. Everyone cheers for an underdog in a story, though it’s sometimes different in real life (because people in real life want to be on the winning side. Why else would Italy change sides halfway through WWII?) But more than just having an underdog-becomes-awesome story, The First Avenger also gives us a few reasons why it’s an underdog story. Because, as the nice scientist whose name I can’t remember states, a weak man appreciates what strength can do and, if his heart is in the right place, he won’t misuse it.
2. It has a good portrayal of hero vs. villain. Rather than having all Germans be the bad guys, it is a German scientist who didn’t agree with Hitler (they don’t mention anything about him being Jewish, which in my opinion adds to the character dynamic) and fled the country who first sees something in the young Steven Rogers. Also, to be historically accurate, there were cowardly followers and Nazis who were the spawn of darkness (because. They were.) If this movie lacked anything, it was the nice Goring brother. 😛 (Yes, Herman Goring had a brother who could not agree less with his philosophy! Look it up! 😉 )
3. Patriotism. And what’s more, a balanced portrayal of patriotism vs. nationalism. The Nazis were not patriotic. They were nationalistic. And the guys who repeatedly talk about killing Nazis? They’re nationalistic, too. Also ethnocentrist, but that’s occasionally justified. Steve just wants to get out there and fight for his country. And he’s not just fighting for his country, but he’s fighting for an ideal, which is basically what patriotism is and why patriotism is a Christian virtue. There have always been Americans who were also America-haters out there, but Steve puts these guys to shame. He’s not just fighting for his country. He’s fighting so that Nazi Germany can’t enslave more places (which is also technically ethnocentric, but this is one of ethnocentrism’s proper places, since the Nazi “ideal” was wholly evil.) He’s fighting for those back home. He’s fighting for those who can’t fight, too–especially since, at first, he was one of those.
4. This brings me to reason #4. Here we have a guy in the public spotlight after becoming a folk hero, being used as an advertising gimmick. Basically, he has attention, but he doesn’t want it. We know that he really hates this and only goes along with it because it’s for the war effort. He really wants to be over there with the soldiers who are fighting and dying. He’s a symbol, and he never particularly wanted to be one. He’s also bad at keeping up the troops’ morale (when he’s not on the field). Yet, when he gets the chance to fight, he’s not disobeying the people higher up until his friend’s life is at stake.
5. This movie is pretty darn funny! It’s great to watch, has humor, and can make you cry in places. It’s pretty well-balanced, in my opinion.
6. The protagonist feels pretty helpless around girls. 😛 I think it’s charming, and pretty funny, but it does lead to some awkward moments. Basically what I’m trying to say here is he’s not a flirt, which in my opinion is the bane of the new Spiderman movies.
7. Steve is really against violence. This is made, in my opinion, pretty clear when he makes the distinction between fighting for his country and killing Nazis. Not only is he against violence, but he also understands that sometimes–sometimes–violence is the only way to protect yourself, your friends, and your country. Also, in this occasion, he’s protecting others around the world from being overrun by Nazi Germany. (I believe C.S. Lewis made the point why he wasn’t a pacifist, and that’s what I’m talking about here.)
8. Last, but certainly not least, he has a shield. No, I’m not going to rave about superhero weaponry… okay. Maybe a little bit. Because you’ve got to admit, that buckler of his is pretty darn cool. It operates on a similar principle to a bulletproof vest, for goodness’ sake! Anyway, though a shield can be used as a weapon (thank you, Roughnut and Toughnut, for that marvelous exhibition), it’s primarily a defensive one. You use it to keep arrows, pikes, lances, and swords (and in this case, bullets and knives) from hitting you. Though it can be thrown like a discus, the edges aren’t sharp like the edges of Racketty Tam MacBurl’s buckler, so it’s mainly used to stun rather than to kill. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi choosing to use Soresu rather than Ataru later in life, Captain America’s fighting style and weaponry are the ultimate statement of his life philosophy. Be ready to defend yourself when necessary; do not attack when not provoked. As Obi-Wan puts it, “There are alternatives to fighting.”

(More about the shield. Apparently, rather than hardening up to absorb impacts, thus spreading the impact around a larger area, like a bulletproof vest or liquid armor do, vibranium actually absorbs the kinetic energy of anything coming at it, keeping shock waves running through the shield virtually nil. For instance, if the shield were somehow merely hard enough to stop bullets and other objects at high velocity from penetrating it, the vibrations throughout the shield would be enough to actually break the bones in Cap’s arm and hand. However, since vibranium actually absorbs those shock waves, this is not a problem at all. This is one incidence in which I will not question Marvel pseudo-science, because though this has not theoretically been proven possible yet, it pushes the boundaries and is innovative, like good science fiction should be. I will, however, question the portrayal–if vibranium really absorbs all the kinetic energy, then why do things make noise when they hit it? And why does Steve sometimes stagger backward upon an impact? I know this is to make it look realistic in the film, but it does call the physics into question a little bit, doesn’t it?!)

The one thing that I did not particularly care for was the wording that the scientist uses to describe what happens to the personalities of those who receive the serum he created. Though I suppose we could attribute it to English being (probably) his second language. 😛 I don’t think the serum actually changes someone’s personality, per se. It merely underscores, magnifies, or works on what is already there. It gives a good man the opportunity to do great things, and gives a bad man the power to do worse evil. I don’t think it changes people’s personalities. In my experience, most of the time it’s only time and circumstances to do that, and with the serum, time is a factor that doesn’t really play in, since the transformation is relatively quick.

So there you have it, a quick critique and a short post on theoretic science all in one. ;-P

That much said, go watch the movie! 😛

Two Stories (And A Spider)

Tags

college, extremely random posts, humor, insanity, life, rambling musings, real life, science, selay'uu (sort of), small rants, stories, yes this really happened

The title is in tribute to Professor V.J. Duke, who suggested that I post on this. It seemed only natural to make the title Punchy-ish, to me. 😉

Now, to get on to what I am really posting about.

I am sorry I have been so absent recently. It’s really a matter of college (which, I think, secretly wants to eat my soul, as I mentioned to the Professor earlier today.) But anyway, something that’s actually fit to print (or rather, two somethings, as the case proved) happened starting on Wednesday and ending on Friday.

On Friday morning, I had been innocently going about my business at my horticulture class, and I saw a daylily (hemercallis spp.) with an actual seed pod on it. Our daylilies at home look something like a cross between a regular lily and a firecracker. (Added to that, they’re a vibrant orange.) They actually have double petals, which is a hybrid thing, which is probably why I never saw them ever actually setting fruit.

Anyway, I thought that if I could get enough daylily seeds, maybe I could start them and grow some daylilies myself. The instructor did mention they would be easy to breed. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, as it turns out, I had a stowaway.

Hidden in one of the seedpods was a fat, round brown spider about the size of a large pea or a petite blueberry. And it must have been happy in my pocket–it was nice and warm, after all.

Anyway, I get home and I want to change after spilling something on my pants, so I take off my jeans and put on a skirt, and I go to take the daylily seeds out of my pocket, and while I’m at it, I feel something fuzzy and withdraw my hand. Oh look! It’s brown and a lot bigger than the other seeds… AUGH! It’s moving!

I jerked my hand away (I didn’t scream, though–you would be proud of me, beloved readers!) and picked up my jeans, holding them at arm’s length; took them to an area of the house with linoleum, and collected a clear plastic cup and a piece of card stock. Then, I move to flush the spider out of the pocket. However, by now the spider has moved to the waistband of the jeans, so I edge him off with the cup and onto the linoleum, trap him, slide my card stock under him, and my mother helps me take him outside.

Mission accomplished.

(Then I went back inside and did a bit of research to make sure I was not harboring a brown recluse *shudders* in my pocket, but that bit of the story is less glorious, so I’m leaving it out. 😉 )

The other story, which began on Wednesday, is a bit more puzzling, and it’s open ended to boot.

On Wednesday, my horticulture class was out and about, identifying plants for practice, and we had just gotten to the purple wintercreeper when I saw a pretty red berry in the foliage. I leaned down and picked it up. One of the boys from my class said, “Look, a snack!” I said, “I don’t think it is safe to eat,” and showed it to the instructor, who confirmed that it was probably from the nightshade family. The boy took it and offered it to me. “Enjoy.”

Two Days Later…

On Friday, I went back to the class and had a good time with some new friends I made. However, as we were all admiring the ‘Husker Red’ penstemon, the same boy offered me a mushroom of some unidentified type.

I think he’s making a habit of jokingly offering me things that may or may not be poisonous, but is he just being silly… or is he flirting?

What do you think?

Thanks for dropping by today, and God Bless!

Truly Geek Fandoms

Tags

controversy, fan stuff, fandoms, history, intellectualism, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, science, stereotypes, theoretical science

Erin is back for another rant about fandoms!

This is not actually about what you normally think when you hear the word “fandom”, though. It’s actually more of a closed-circuit phenomenon, really…

What am I talking about? (Have I lost my readers already? Oh, dear. Your pardon, readers all.)

Basically, this is the most stereotyped fandoms out there that I’m talking about. Drum roll, please–

I’m talking about fandoms that are better known as “school subjects,” “study projects,” and “general education courses.”

Now, I know you’re all thinking, “Whaaaat? is Erin nuts?” I can assure you… well, actually I can’t. 😛 But anyways, no, I do know what I’m talking about.

I’m passionate about theoretic science, partly through my interest in science fiction. (Which is why I think that vampires are lazy and if a zombie apocalypse does really happen, your biggest survival tool will be bug spray, you will need to take carefully-stored-and-preserved iodine supplements, and mosquitoes will be your biggest enemy. I may explain why in another post.)

Iris is passionate about American history. (So am I, for that matter. In fact, I’m passionate about most history!) And aren’t we all passionate about literature and media? Don’t we all get into arguments about bias in the media? And don’t most fandoms originate in books? We’re also passionate about culture, sociology, and psychology. Not to mention that Iris and I are advocates of algebra.

Basically, I’m saying that we need to redefine the word “fandom” and re-think the use of the word “geek.” Even someone who self-professedly “doesn’t like to think” can be a geek. Even someone who isn’t permanently heart-broken by the end of The Lord of the Rings can be in a fandom. All of us have the potential for intellectualism. Why don’t we delete the stereotypes surrounding it and just embrace it?

Just some thoughts for back to school. 😉

Turned Into Stone: Theoretic Science

Tags

c.s. lewis, j.r.r. tolkien, science, star wars, the chronicles of narnia, the forbidden kingdom, the lord of the rings, theory

Thank you all very much for attending the third webinar of ErinKenobi2893’s Theoretic Science: Fantasy and Sci-Fi edition series!
This time, we will be talking about what happens to the soul of someone who has been turned into stone. (For the purposes of this post, fantasy fans, agnostics, atheists, and various skeptics, we will just assume that humans and other sentient characters such as Elves, hobbits, dwarves and Ents have immortal souls; we will assume the same of talking animals, unicorns, pegasi, and fauns, other such mythological creatures, as we are operating largely from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.)
Apparently, many authors use turning characters into stone in lieu of killing them off, especially if they’re not supposed to stay dead. Why is this?
I can only assume that it’s because they think that a character in stone is not dead. Their soul is trapped in the stone, hibernating, so to speak, a la The Forbidden Kingdom (case in point: The Monkey King.)
Technically, I suppose all their internal organs are intact, and they’re not destroyed by being turned into stone—except that their molecular structure is now different, making the person technically dead. I mean, a stone heart can’t pump blood, most doctors will agree.
So, though they’re medically dead, their physical structure is intact, and most certainly not disintegrating. Decaying, which is what normally happens to an inert dead body. Is this intentional? I believe that the answer is, yes, very much so.
It’s hard to credit any rumor of a person who was dead returning to life, especially if their body has had a chance to decompose or freeze, since both of them destroy cell structure—at least, it is now, for us modern people, privy to the discoveries of science as we are. (That was supposed to be funny, by the way.) But with their bodies turned to stone, there was nothing missing, and provided there was a way to turn them back… hibernation. Carbon-freeze. Voila!

Also, I should note that you will never see a red-headed Elf in any of my works. Why? Because I think the humans have to have something special to them. (Besides, I just can’t see Elves as being red-headed, ginger, or whatever—and I don’t think Tolkien could, either. I think that the Rohirrim are the only ethnicity of Middle-Earth that has redheads, and it’s the only group of Men with blondes.)

Of Elves and Peredhel

Tags

j.r.r. tolkien, plot holes, science, story dynamics, the lord of the rings

Peredhel means half-Elven, in case you were wondering.

This post is dedicated to something that confused me in the Lord of the Rings movies. Try to keep up with me, please, if you will.

Elrond and his brother Elros were the sons of an elf and a human in the Elder Days. Due to the fact that they were half-and-half, each brother was given a choice between mortality and immortality; to walk the path of the Elves or the roads of men. Elros chose mortality, and is considered among the greatest kings of men. Elrond chose immortality, and is the greatest of lore-masters and the best healer in Middle-Earth by the end of the Third Age.

Arwen is the daughter of Elrond. As Elrond’s child, she was given the same choice as her father. She chose mortality, to be with Aragorn, the ranger. Their child could also be considered a half-elf.

We see the child in a few clips in the movie. The thing is that he and Elrond have nothing in common, in appearance at least.

I would assume that this is because of Arwen’s choice, but you’d expect all half-elves to have similar attributes, wouldn’t you?

I’m just a bit confused, is all…

Oh, and by the way. Uruk-hai are hybrids of orcs and men. Not orcs and goblins! Orcs and goblins are all the same species! Though, we do tend to think of Uruk-hai when we think of orcs, and the Misty Mountain/Moria breed when we say goblins. But they’re still the same species. So there.