Sciency Words: Synodic Month

November 8, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ Leave a comment

Science fiction uses scientific language as a form of artistic expression. With that in mind, today’s post is part of a series here on Planet Pailly called Sciency Words. Every Friday, I’ll bring you a new and interesting scientific word to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies. Today’s word is:

SYNODIC MONTH

You’re probably aware of the fact that a month is approximately the amount of time it takes for the Moon to complete one full orbit around the Earth. But if we’re talking about science, “approximately” doesn’t cut it. That’s why we have the synodic month.

A synodic month is exactly the amount of time it takes the Moon to complete one full orbit around the Earth (keeping in mind that the Earth is also orbiting the Sun). It’s a bit easier to remember than the regular month. There’s nothing about February being shorter than June or June being shorter than July. Unfortunately, twelve synodic months don’t add up to a solar year, so we still have to keep using the calendars we already have.

The length of a synodic month is a little more than twenty-nine and a half days, give or take a fraction of a second. Over time, however, the synodic month will grow longer and longer. This is because the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth. One day, the gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon might balance out, and the synodic month will stabilize at roughly 47 days. Or perhaps, billions of years from now, the Moon might escape Earth’s gravity all together and fly off into space by itself.

So the next time you see the Moon glowing pale white in the sky, be sure to take a moment and appreciate it because it might not be there forever.

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Did you already know this word? If so, please share another sciency word in the comments below. That way, we can all keep expanding our sciency vocabularies together!

IWSG: Whisper Worm

November 6, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ 6 Comments

InsecureWritersSupportGroup Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. It’s a way for insecure writers like myself give each other advice and encouragement. Click here to see a full list of participating blogs.

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Today’s IWSG post might seem a bit strange at first, but please bear with me. I promise it is writing related.

Several nights ago, I had a dream. I was walking down a dark, empty hallway when I felt something touch my ankle. I looked down but couldn’t see anything there. I kept walking, but I felt it again, like a heavy weight crawling up my leg. When I looked again, some shadowy, indistinct shape was now halfway up my thigh.

In time, I could see better what it was: a fat, dark scaled snake. It wrapped itself around my torso, making it difficult to breath. Soon, I heard the snake’s voice, its tongue flicking my ear. It said things like, “For all the effort you’ve spent on your writing, you don’t seem to get many readers.” Or, “You know that thing you saw in the store today? You could afford to buy it if you went back to your old job.” Or, “Are you sure someone with your health issues should be pushing himself so hard?”

My pace slowed. I felt somewhat disconcerted, but, in my dream state, not nearly as terrified as I’d be in real life. After all, this creature¾the whisper worm, as I called it¾made a lot of sense. Even as it encircled and squeezed my neck, its soothing voice calmed me and made me realize what a terrible mistake I’d made trying to be a writer. Obviously, quitting now was the right decision. The sooner the better.

The whisper worm hissed a few final words of wisdom in my ear and unhinged its jaw so it could feed. I didn’t even realize I’d stopped walking forward.

Then a woman who I understood to be my muse appeared brandishing a sword. She ran toward me, her long hair streaming behind her, her dress magically luminous in the darkened hallway. Her eyes flashed with fury, though I couldn’t tell if she were angry at the whisper worm or at me for listening to it.

In one stroke, she lobbed off the worm’s head and then hacked its long body into bits. It was only then, as the monster dropped to the floor, that I realized how vile and treacherous this thing really was. Somehow, I could literally see the whisper worm had been full of lies (don’t ask how to visualize that¾it only made sense in the dream). These lies seemed to seep out of the squirming pieces like blood.

According to an article I read a few months back, scientists still don’t understand the purpose of dreaming. One new theory says that dreams are like training exercises. It’s a way for our brains to practice dealing with problems that the subconscious, for whatever reason, believes we may have to face.

I don’t know if my subconscious really thinks a talking snake is going to eat me, but it is true I’ve had more than a few discouraging thoughts since I left the regular job market to become a full time writer. The whisper worm only echoed things I’d already told myself. So maybe my subconscious is trying, in its own surreal way, to teach me how to recognize those thoughts for what they are: lies.

So this is my advice to all my fellow insecure writers: do not listen to the whisper worm. For many of us, writing is life, and this creature (or at least the lies it represents) really will try to strangle the life out of you.

Sciency Words: Philosophical Zombie

November 1, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ Leave a comment

PHILOSOPHICAL ZOMBIE

Philosophical zombies, or P-zombies for short, have nothing to do with undead monsters hungering for “BRRAAAIINNS!!!” They’re part of a thought experiment in the field of psychology. Imagine a creature that is a perfect simulation of a human being. It looks human, it acts human, and it even thinks like a human, but it lacks that inner essence that all humans have, what some might call a soul. Would it be possible to distinguish between a real human and this simulation?

Another way to think about this is to simply ask where does the “soul” come from? If all the physical parts are put together correctly, does the soul emerge from this assemblage of matter, or does it come from someplace else? Someplace beyond our current understanding of science?

This theme comes up frequently in Science Fiction. Does Frankenstein’s monster have a soul? What about Commander Data from Star Trek or Jane from the Ender’s Game series? All of these characters are articulate, intelligent, and often emotional beings. They are all philosophical zombies.

In real life, there’s chatterbot, a computer program that you can have a conversation with. Supposedly, chatterbot is so good at small talk that most people can’t tell the difference between it and a real person. If technology like that continues to develop, one-day computer intelligence and human intelligence really will be indistinguishable. So if we get to that point, how will we know if computers have souls or not? This won’t be a “philosophical” question forever.

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Did you already know this word? If so, please share another sciency word in the comments below. That way, we can all keep expanding our sciency vocabularies together!

Boycotting Ender’s Game

October 30, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ 4 Comments

Orson Scott Card is one of my roll models as an author, but not necessarily as anything beyond that. Specifically, I do not agree with his position against gay marriage, nor do I condone his vehement and sometimes hateful attempts to stop it. Now there’s a movie coming out based on his greatest book, Ender’s Game (I wrote a post on that yesterday), and there’s an effort to boycott the movie because of Card’s controversial political views.

Card’s views can be extreme, even to those who favor traditional marriage. According to the website skipendersgame.com, Card once said that people in the LGBT community “[…] cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within [a] society.” As a bookworm, especially a bookworm of Science Fiction books, this puts me in a difficult position. I love Ender’s Game, but I have far too many gay friends for me to be neutral, and even if that weren’t the case… really, you don’t think they should be citizens?

But Ender’s Game isn’t about this at all. It has nothing to do with marriage equality. In fact, it’s a book about learning to understand another person’s point of view, no matter how “alien” that person may seem to you. It’s about looking at someone you think of as an enemy and finding only a reflection of yourself. In other words, it’s about tolerance.

It’s strange to get this message of tolerance from a man who, by all appearances, is not very tolerant himself. So where should we draw the line between an author and the stories he writes? How much do the political views of writers, actors, artists, or musicians affect the way we perceive and enjoy their work?

Are You Excited for Ender’s Game?

October 29, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ 5 Comments

You’ll usually find Ender’s Game and Dune taking top spots on lists of the greatest Science Fiction or Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels of all time. On my own top ten list, they’re constantly battling over the #2 slot (for me, The Lord of the Rings is unquestionably #1). Now the movie version of one of those books (Ender’s Game) comes out in theatres this Friday.

But we all know what Hollywood sometimes does to popular books. Just look at what happened to Dune. The feature file version is… well… some people liked it, I guess. So as we approach the release date for Ender’s Game, I’ve been both excited and apprehensive. Will they ruin Orson Scott Card’s best and most provocative book?

So it was with a great sense of relief and reassurance that I read this interview with Gavin Hood, the director of Ender’s Game. This is a man who seems to understand what this story is about beyond the epic space battles and explosions and such. In the interview, he said, “There’s always a theme I’m drawn to, that we humans are not good or bad. We’re all a mixture of both. We can have great compassion or commit great violence.”

Ender’s Game is about a lot of things: war, space, childhood, video games… but in that statement, Gavin Hood has captured the soul of Orson Scott Card’s work. If he can do that in three sentences, I’m sure he can do it in a two-hour movie.

So this Friday, when I walk into the local movie theatre and give them $9.00 of my hard earned cash, I will feel confident that I’ll get to see the real Ender’s Game on the big screen, and not some Hollywood bastardization of the book I love.

Sciency Words: Georgium Sidis

October 25, 2013October 25, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ Leave a comment

GEORGIUM SIDIS

In the late 18^th Century, Sir William Herschel discovered a new planet. Up until that point, everyone assumed there were only six planets in the Solar System. When asked what to name this planet, Herschel called it the Georgium Sidis, meaning “George’s Star,” in honor of his patron, King George III of England.
Uranus 2003
Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), this name didn’t stick. Non-English scientists were offended and didn’t want our seventh planet named after an English king, so they re-named it Uranus after the ancient Greek god of the sky. This choice has worked out great for most of the world, but not for those of us who speak English. For us, the planet Uranus has become the victim of far too many astronomy jokes.

Incidentally, I named a character in one of my Tomorrow News Network stories George Sidis in honor of Uranus’s original name. Sidis is a secondary antagonist in “Children of the Swarm,” and yes, I’d describe him as kind of an ass.

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Did you already know this word? If so, please share another sciency word in the comments below. That way, we can all keep expanding our sciency vocabularies together!

P.S.: There’s a brand new short story on the Tomorrow News Network website. 3,000 years into the future, the Earth Empire has a new secret weapon: the brain of Albert Einstein. Click here to start reading “Einstein’s Clone.”

You Can’t Call It That – 3D Printers

October 22, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ 5 Comments

A few weeks ago, Sci Show did this segment on 3D printers, and it started me thinking.

It won’t be long before 3D printers become a truly ubiquitous part of our lives, just like televisions, cars, and smart phones. But the name “3D printer” just doesn’t sound right to me. It reminds me of “horseless carriage.” It’s a name that describes a thing by comparing it to another thing that is kind of similar but actually very different.

But just as the term “horseless carriage” was eventually replaced by “car,” I suspect “3D printer” will sooner or later be replaced with some new, more appropriate term. In Star Trek, they have a machine called a “replicator.” In the Mass Effect series, they sometimes refer to something called “micro-facturing.” Those seem like good possibilities.

So what do you think the 3D printer will be called once we get used to having them around?

P.S.: If you’re looking for good science news, there’s no better place than Sci Show. I often say that I don’t believe anything until I hear Hank Green say it.

Sciency Words: Syzygy

October 18, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ 4 Comments

SYZYGY

Syzygy: (noun) The word that proves that yes, “y” really is a sometimes vowel. Whenever three celestial bodies, like the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth, form a straight line, they are in a state of syzygy. This occurs whenever we have a solar or lunar eclipse, but it can happen in other circumstances as well. For example, if Venus, Mars, and Jupiter lined up perfectly, that would also be considered syzygy.

The word syzygy has a nice, exotic sound to it, which is appropriate for such a rare astronomical event. It’s unfortunate you don’t hear the word used more often whenever it actually occurs. In fact, the word is so obscure that I have never found a way to use it effectively. It’s almost impossible to make its meaning clear without explicitly giving the definition, which usually means it’s easier to just not use the word at all.

So I challenge you to find a way to fit this word into a story or a casual conversation. Bonus points to anyone who does it without having to explain what it means.

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Did you already know this word? If so, please share another sciency word in the comments below. That way, we can all keep expanding our sciency vocabularies together!

Einstein’s Brain

October 16, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ Leave a comment

When Albert Einstein died, his doctors removed his brain so it could be studied. They carefully dissected it, taking lots of photos, and preserved the pieces of jars. As disgusting as this may seem to us now, apparently it was common practice at the time whenever an especially intelligent person died. It also means we now have some idea as to why Einstein was such a genius.

Einstein_portrait

There’s a bundle of nerves called the corpus callosum which connects the right and left hemispheres of the human brain, but according to researchers Einstein had a larger and thicker corpus callosum than most of us. It’s like the two sides of his brain were connected by rope where the rest of us have only a few tangled strings.

You’ve probably heard about the difference between the left and right brains before. The left side is supposedly more creative while the right is more analytical. Left-brained people tend to be artists while right brainers make better scientists and engineers and accountants. You might assume a theoretical physicist like Einstein would be a right brain type of guy, but it seems he was one of those lucky few who could use both sides equally well.

Of course we already knew this about Einstein, not from the dissection of his brain but from the things he said and did when he was alive. He was a brilliant physicist, but he also played the violin. Whenever he was stuck on some vexing mathematical problem, he often wandered over to his piano, played for a few minutes, then went back to his physics with some new insight. And of course Einstein was most famous for his thought experiments, experiments he conducted not in a laboratory but in his own imagination.

My question I have is this: was Einstein born with his abnormally well wired brain, or is the brain more like a muscle, its parts growing and atrophying depending on how you use them? Whatever the answer, it seems clear that the key to true intelligence is to try as best as we can to use our whole brains, not just one side or the other.

P.S.: I’m nearing completion of a new Tomorrow News Network story, and this one happens to be about Albert Einstein, specifically his brain and what scientists might do with it in the distant future. Click here to read a preview scene from the upcoming short story “Einstein’s Clone.”

Sciency Words: Entropy

October 11, 2013October 11, 2013 ~ J.S. Pailly ~ Leave a comment

Science fiction uses scientific language as a form of artistic expression. With that in mind, today’s post is part of a new series here on Planet Pailly called Sciency Words. Every Friday, I’ll bring you a new and interesting scientific word to help us all expand our scientific vocabulary. Today’s word is:

ENTROPY

Entropy: (noun) A measurement of the amount of disorder in a mechanical system. This word comes to us courtesy of the second law of thermodynamics, which tells us that the entropy of any closed system will always increase.

Entropy is a term just begging to be used in art or literature. It has so much potential in our post-modern world. Imagine talking about the entropy of society or of the modern family or of the American political system. In a million different ways, the world seems to be increasingly disordered, and as thermodynamics predicts the trend doesn’t seem reversible.

But the second law of thermodynamics is not as absolute as it sounds. There is a chance—a very, very small chance—that entropy can spontaneously decrease. So perhaps it can also be said, no matter how entropic our world may appear, that there is always a little bit of hope.

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Did you already know this word? If so, please share another sciency word in the comments below. That way, we can all keep expanding our sciency vocabularies together!