Word: White Hole

 

white hole

noun

1. pigeonhole (def. 3).

2. Astronomy. a theoretical celestial object into which matter is funneled from a black hole.

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               “Ladies and gentlemen,” Dr Adams said as the crew looked out the viewport. “We have officially just discovered a scientific impossibility.”

               “If we discovered it, I’d say it isn’t impossible anymore.” Capt. Walters said. “But why don’t you enlighten us, doctor. Why is…that impossible.”

He pointed at the bright white sphere floating several hundred kilometers away. It looked like it was throwing out small chunks of stuff, and the energy coming out of it was beyond anything the ship could get a proper read of.

               “Of course, captain. That, my dear colleagues, is a white hole.” The doctor heard one of the crew members snicker quietly, but chose to ignore it. “It is, or was, a purely theoretical celestial body that, as the name suggests, is the opposite of a black hole. Hm, to put it in very simple terms, if a black hole is suck, than this one is blow. Also, before anyone says anything else, I would like to remind everyone here that we’re all adults, and should act like it.”

               Most of the crew turned to look at the man who they all knew was being indirectly addressed. The man, a security guard, looked like he was about to say something. Instead, he hung his head in shame.

               “And what’s that mean for us?” Adams asked.

               “It means we’re going to get all the readings we can, and go home as very famous people. It also means we should absolutely not get hit by anything coming out of the event horizon.”

               “Why?”

               “Because if my guess is correct, I’d say each of those objects has roughly the mass of a small star.”

               The crew was silent for a moment. “Ah.” The captain said. “Right then. No trying to collect samples?”

               “As much as it pains me to say, no. Not a chance. Even a thimbleful is probably heavier than this ship.”

               “Okay, good to know. Helm, get us some more distance between us and the…” He looked over at the shamed security guard before continuing, “hole.” The guard wisely chose not to comment. “Anything else we need to know?”

               “Well, you already have the readings of the energy it’s giving off. This could power an entire planet for years. Maybe even indefinitely. Since the other end of it is constantly absorbing more energy, it’s all coming out again here. Plus, with more study, we can learn far more about the universe than even I can dream about.” He paused and looked around. Only a few of the more academically minded crew members were interested. “But, since you probably don’t care about that, we can expect discoverer’s rights to anything involving the white hole. A minimum of one percent of the revenue of anything that comes from it.”

               The rest of the crew brightened up at that. Even if one percent was not a large amount, with the energy it was giving off, all of the crew members could guess how big it would be once people figured out how to use it.

               “Well then,” Capt. Adams said. “Let’s gather as much data as we can, and then head home. We’ve got history to make.”

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It's fun to think about what it would be like if all the theoretical stuff that scientists think might be out there, actually is. 

Word: Frondescence

 

frondescence

[ fron-des-uhns ]

 

noun

1. the process or period of putting forth leaves, as a tree, plant, or the like.

2. leafage; foliage.

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               Jeff watched as the recently appeared but opened into to leaf. The leaf was triangular with smooth edges. He had no idea what kind of plant it came from, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was where it had come from.

               “Uh, hey, Cass?” He called to his girlfriend. She looked up from the small hole she was digging. “You, uh, you’ve got…something on your hair.”

               “I do?” She checked, missing the offending object. “I don’t see anything. What is it?”

               “It’s, uh, it’s a leaf. But it’s not at the top.”

               She tilted her head to the side before taking part of her hair and looking at it. She kept doing that until she saw the leaf. The leaf that was growing out of the end of her hair.

               “Huh.” She said. “That shouldn’t be happening.”

               “No kidding.” Jeff said. “Any ideas?”

               “Hm, not really. I mean, I should have another five years before I blossom, so I don’t know why this one is early.” Another leaf started to form at another part of her hair, even as she spoke. She regarded it with mild curiosity.

               Jeff thought it was somewhat more important. “I’m sorry, what? Cassie, what’re you talking about?”

               “Oh, it’s just that it’s a little early for me to start flowering is all. But I guess I have been getting more outdoor time lately.”

               “Uh…flower? Blossom? You’ve lost me.”

               “What, didn’t I tell you?” Her face scrunched up in thought. “Oh, I guess I didn’t, did I? Jeff, I’m a quarter dryad.” She said, acting like it was no big deal.

               Jeff waited for her to elaborate, but she did not. “Come again?”

               “My grandma’s a dryad. You know, a tree spirit.”

               “You’re…joking, right?”

               She held up her hair right as a third leaf sprouted. She Just looked at it and grinned.

               “Okay, so you’re not kidding.” It went against everything he knew about reality, but the evidence was hard to ignore. “So, you, what, grow leaves sometimes?”

               “And flowers, yes. No fruit yet, but I am only a quarter, so that probably won’t happen. It’s supposed to be every ten years, but this is five years early. I’ll call mom and see what she says about it.”

               Jeff watched as another two leaves formed, this time in the middle of her hair instead of the ends.

               “So, uh, don’t dryads have to stick by a tree? Or…something?” He asked, not quite sure what else to say.

               “Oh sure. Grandma can’t get passed ten feet of her tree. But I’m a bit freer. I can go a few miles from mine.” She gestured to the lone tree in the middle of their back yard.

               “That’s your tree? Is that why you never let me trim it?”

               “Yup. Trimming off branches hurts. It’s like ripping off my fingernails.” As she said it, those nails started changing color. They started looking more like bark that matched that of the tree behind her. “Wow, it’s really going fast this year. It usually takes a few days for that to happen.”

               “Uh, I think I’m going to go inside and…think about this.”

               “Oh sure. I’ll be out here communing with nature.” She said as more leaves sprouted.

               Jeff wobbled into the house and sat. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.

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Sometimes I wonder how my brain spawns ideas like this. Is it normal to have a word that basically means growing leaves and come up with a dryad?  I guess my head is just full of that kind of stuff.

Word: Areology

 

areology

[ air-ee-ol-uh-jee ]

 

noun Astronomy.

the observation and study of the planet Mars.

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               Dr. Copland looked through the telescope at the familiar red planet. He had seen Mars hundreds of times over his career, and even more before he ever stepped foot in a proper observatory. He knew the Martian surface like the back of his hand. And so, as he looked through the powerful telescope again, he was trying to figure out why the familiar sight was less familiar than it should have been.

               It was not any one thing he could point to that was different. To his eye, everything looked the same as it always had. The same hills and valleys. The same craters and shadows. He took in a sharp breath. That was it. The shadows. They were wrong. Not by a lot, not enough to really tell with the naked eye. At least, not by anyone with less expertise than him.

               He rolled his office chair to the nearest computer and gave the order to take a picture. When it was done, he pulled it and several other pictures up onto the screen. All the photos were of Mars in the same position in its orbit, going back several years. Then he used his expert eyes, aided by digital accuracy, to compare them. And his thought was confirmed. The shadows were off by, what was on the surface, just a few centimeters. Not enough to be truly noticed, but enough to change the way the Martian landscape looked.

               Now he just had to figure out why. His mind raced through possibilities. It could be just a normal thing. After all, there were hundreds of variables that went into the size of a shadow. It could be as simple as the planet’s position relative to Earth, or it could be the result of something outside of Mars’ atmosphere.  He looked back at the rows of photos. Each one showed his old friend in slightly different ways. He tilted his head from side to side.

               There was something there. Like the shadows, it was nothing he could tell immediately. He again relied on computer precision to light his way. Each year, the planet seemed to be a tiny bit bigger than the year before. Not much, but the difference was there. It was like it was growing. Or getting closer. His breath caught in his throat.

               No, no that was ridiculous. Of course its orbit was stable. There was no way it was getting closer. But he could not deny the photo evidence, weak as it was. He had to know. He had to test it out. He was already thinking of everything he would need to do to properly test his budding hypothesis. A hypothesis that he desperately hoped was wrong.

               Because if Mars was indeed getting larger, than it meant problems for Earth. More than he could even think about without more study. But there was one question. One question that he dreaded the answer to.

               If Mars was indeed getting closer, what else was also getting closer? 

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So...sci-fi disaster story anyone? Maybe a serving of existential dread about the inevitability of death to go with it? Cheery stuff!