Thursday, April 21, 2016

R: A to Z Blogging Challenge

For my 2016 A to Z Challenge, I’m sharing three facts for each letter. The genres I write and love to read are mostly science fiction and high or epic fantasy. In fantasy, there is often magic associated with crystals or metals. They also used herbs both for medicine and for magical spells. Each day I will post a short description of an herb or a mineral you might find in medieval or fantasy writings. For the record, most of the herbal remedies I’ve investigated are not recommended by the FDA. Many are actually poisonous and dangerous. As tribute to my second love, I will post a scientific fact that may deal with physics, biology or health science. And because another name for a writer is wordsmith, each day I’ll share a strange word that I would probably never use in my writing, but that amuse me in some way. So enjoy my trio of quick facts. And don’t forget to visit the IWSG site where we’ll share a writer’s resource for every day of the challenge.

Rubicund: Ruddy as in complexion.

Raspberry is often used as in medicinal syrups to mask bad tastes. Herbalists may use it to ease coughs and respiratory infections.

Einstein's Theory of Relativity was made public in 1905. He theorized that that the acceleration of massive objects should create gravitational waves (ripples in the fabric of space-time). To make all that more exciting, on February 11th, 2016, LIGO heard two black holes colliding and proved that the theory is correct. If you didn't read about it two months ago, read now.

Know any rubicund people. Do you like raspberry flavor? So do you think we're getting closer to creating wormholes to travel to the far side of the universe?

"Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein's general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out."
Stephen Hawking

18 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

re: "Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein's general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out."

The government keeping secrets the way they do, it could be they've already done this. :)

I hope it happens in my lifetime anyway.

Jo said...

Can't think of anyone rubicund. I hadn't seen that Stephen Hawking quote before. I have a lot of faith in what he says and does.

messymimi said...

Red-headed Alec is very rubicund, and i am not scientist enough to understand much of Einstein's theory beyond the very basics.

M.J. Fifield said...

I've never been a fan of raspberry-flavor anything, but if it helps mask the taste of my cough syrup, I'll take it. :)

And I know nothing about time travel or wormholes, but I like that Stephen Hawking quote.

betty said...

I do like raspberries so I think I might like raspberry flavor? I can honestly say I don't think I know anyone that could be classified as a robicund.

Not sure about the time travel; it could be interesting though, but maybe not in my lifetime.

betty

Robin said...

The thing about time travel is this: even if someone had figured it out and was actively doing it and actively changing history... well, we'd never know. We'd just forget the history on the old timeline and accept the new facts as history.... and go on believing that it's possible, but not yet achievable. Now that's a pickle, isn't it?

Ann Bennett said...

I am rubicund. We have lots of redheads in my family to the point I can look at your red hair and tell your whether you have German red hair or Scottish red. The Scots has an orange pigment and the German has a pink pigment. But I had dark hair but the red skin. It looked a lot better when I was younger. But I think that is true for all of us. lol

Pat Hatt said...

I'm sure they are closer than we may think, but then again maybe not. Be interesting if it came to be though.

Nilanjana Bose said...

At school had to learn the basics of Einstein's theory, but it just turned my brain inside out, haven't gone within warping distance of it since then...seriously though, we probably are...and we'll be there sooner than anyone realises

cleemckenzie said...

I do not believe this, but today I know all of these words. I don't understand the Theory of Relativity as much as I'd like, but I at least recognize it.

J E Oneil said...

Hey, a word I actually know! And I heard about the black holes colliding. Space is so cool.

Sarah Foster said...

I like raspberry flavored things, but not a big fan of raspberries themselves. I think it's mostly because of the seeds. I've heard of the Theory of Relativity, of course, but I feel like I don't understand it at all.

Dan N Jaye said...

Wow - science nerd here and I missed the black holes colliding; we were traveling then and had limited internet. But I'm going to do some research on it right now!

Jaye from Life Afloat
http://lifeafloatarchives.blogspot.com/2016/04/blogging-from-to-z-q-is-for-quest-best.html

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of raspberries. The tiny seeds in them get stuck in my teeth and I hate that.

A Beer for the Shower said...

I had not heard about the black holes colliding, and I'm going to go read about that now. That's exciting stuff. I suppose I missed it because news feeds are too busy talking about things like the latest Kardashian selfie to report real scientific news. :(

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Susan - Raspberries would never get anywhere near being made into anything else! Einstein's Theory ... is constantly being looked at - so it is kept in our public psyche ... and there's been a lot recently ...

I hadn't heard of Rubicund ... not as easy as Ruddy! Cheers Hilary

Tasha Duncan-Drake said...

Many people have rubicund complexions after being out in the cold and it's decided to be cold again today! I like Raspberry flavour, but I am not a fan of the fruit - too many seeds. Now put it through a sieve and make raspberry coulis and yum :) I love the fact that Einstein fudged his own equation because it didn't quite fit the going theory and then unfudged it when the expanding universe was seen experimentally.
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

The Happy Whisk said...

Raspberry!!!!!!!!!! LOVE it!