Steve's Science And Other Fun Stuff

Hi all, and thanks for stopping by. Stephen Tremp here. I post "Stephen's Science And Other Fun Stuff" here very first and third Thursday of each month .

I'm taking a break from my break for a power packed week. Then I'm go back to my Man Cave and finish my latest book Murcat Manor. So let's look at a few of the recent high lights of the latest and greatest regarding science and astronomy.

Hubble Team Unveils Telescope's Most Colorful Cosmic View: More than a decade after they started, scientists have finally filled out their view of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field on the ultraviolet side of the spectrum. The updated image, released Tuesday, incorporates all the colors that the Hubble Space Telescope can detect, visible and invisible. Oh yeah, a picture does tell a thousand words.

NASA Finds Mega - Earth: Scientists announced Monday that NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has spied an exoplanet that is 17 times larger than Earth. Kepler-10c has been described as a “Mega-Earth” because it is even too gargantuan to fit into the category of “Super-Earths,” which are about 10 times the size of Earth. 

Scientists didn’t even think an Earth-like planet this big could exist because it was believed that planets 10 times the mass of Earth would hold on to so much hydrogen gas they would become like Saturn or Jupiter. But Kepler-10c is a rocky, dense planet not enveloped in gas. This discovery suggests there is plenty of room for life to exist on other plus-sized planets.

Elon Musk's Space Capsule Is So Much Nicer Than The Competition: The Dragon V2, unveiled at SpaceX headquarters Thursday, can carry seven astronauts to the International Space Station.

SpaceX revealed on Thursday an updated version of its cargo-only-carrying Dragon spacecraft, showing off the new capsule's sleek interior with room to seat seven astronauts.

The Dragon V2 is much more spacious than the Russia Soyuz spacecraft, which fits three crew members and has been NASA's only way of sending American astronauts to space since the agency shut down its shuttle program in 2011.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli (right), pictured inside the Soyuz with Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, called the capsule "small but reliable" after returning to Earth from the space station in May 2011.

City of Tomorrow Might Already Be Here: Right now, 21st century challenges like greenhouse gases, crime and high energy costs — are being met worldwide with real innovation.

In the coming years communities will grow at an amazing pace. The United Nations predicts by 2030, 60% of the world will live in cities. Demand for clean air, water, energy — and convenience — will skyrocket.

Along with emerging innovations, increased connectivity via the Internet and smart devices promises to help solve many of these threats.

Imagine turning the ocean into drinking water, ending traffic jams, making policing smarter and creating buildings with zero carbon footprints.

NASA'S New Mega-Rocket On Track For Future Test: A new era of space exploration — supported by a history-making new mega-rocket and a spacecraft designed to deliver humans into deep space — could be on the horizon for NASA.

The space agency is gearing up to build the largest and most powerful rocket in history. The huge launcher, called the Space Launch System (SLS), will move a new spacecraft dubbed Orion, designed to send up to four astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before. A short list of destinations includes the moon, nearby asteroids and, eventually, Mars.

Everyone is looking forward to 2021, the year when the first manned launch will occur. But before that happens, the rocket and spacecraft will have to pass a number of tests. 

Back To My Man Cave: Okay, I need to return to my Man Cave and finish Murcat Manor. But I am thankful for my time out of the cave as I was able to have a lot of fun and meet some very interesting people. I'll share my pics with you. So enjoy and I'll see you all Thursday June 19th.

Okay, Back To My Man Cave. Where's My Lava Lamp???

You can visit me at my blog: 
References:

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/hubble-team-unveils-telescopes-most-colorful-cosmic-view-n121556

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/06/02/nasa-discovers-mega-earth.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/check-much-more-awesome-interior-180251721.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/05/specials/city-of-tomorrow/?sr=sharebar_twitter

http://news.yahoo.com/nasas-mega-rocket-orion-capsule-track-future-test-150706691.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

Storyteller's Perspective: Writing Trickster characters

Welcome back to the Storytelling Series! After introducing  some of the world's most popular trickster characters, and some of their modern counterparts in TV and film, today I'll be talking about writing Tricksters in your own work.
So, why have a Trickster in a story in the first place? If you ask me: Because out of all the possible characters a storyteller works with, none surpasses them in popularity. They have their own fan base. They exist in all cultures, past and present. They work with all ages, and they add color, humor and wit to any story they wander into. (In my guest post over at Damyanti's wonderful blog, I talked about writing mythic fiction. It is an increasingly popular genre, especially in the YA circuit, and the home turf of such characters. But Tricksters are not limited to mythic fiction, or even to the supernatural; an everyday human can be a Trickster too.)
One thing they are not: They are not easy to write. The following list of Tricksteristics is a quick-and-dirty guide to some of the typical aspects of a trickster character. Here we go.

1. Trickster is morally ambiguous.
Trickster can fill the role of hero or villain in a story, but really, they are neither. Most often, they are the laughing third party. They have their own code. They can and will play (and cheat) both sides.

2. Trickster is smart.
The main power of such a character is always their wits. Some of them are also very fast and very strong, but first an foremost, always clever.

3. Trickster is never infallible.
In direct contradiction with the previous point: Trickster makes mistakes, and gets into trouble for them. They are genius and foolish at the same time. They talk themselves into a hole, and then scramble to get out.

4. Trickster has a special relationship with food.
Tricksters eat a lot, and would do a lot of things for food. Other sensory pleasures are similarly important.

5. Trickster has a thing for the underdog.
Tricksters are smart, and some of them are really powerful, but they don't generally prey on the weak. It is very, very rare for a Trickster character to hurt a child, for example. They sometimes go out of their way to help out the helpless. Not always for free, mind you.

6. Trickster is extremely curious.
No explanation needed.

7. Trickster breaks rules because they are there.
Even if they know they will get into trouble for it, rules are just so very tempting. Tricksters love breaking them, most of the time just to see if they can get away with it.

8. Trickster can be male or female, but in either form, will not be contained.
Tricksters are not gender-specific; while male and female tricksters sometimes operate differently, they all have the same basic nature. They hate being restricted in any shape or form. They expect to be entertained, and they always do the unexpected.

This, obviously, doesn't mean every story needs a Trickster. But if you are so inclined, and decide to write one, I hope you find this list somewhat helpful.
See you in two weeks!

As usual, you can find Csenge (@TarkabarkaHolgy) at:
The Multicolored Diary - Adventures in Storytelling (this week: Books that should be more popular in the USA)
MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians... (this week: Crash course in creative cursing)

Here's an Idea!: Playing Favorites (#atozchallenge)

Blog Machine (Photo credit: digitalrob70)

Not Sure What to Blog About?

          One of the more common reasons bloggers offer for not participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is, "I don't know what to write about."   In fact that's a common complaint I hear about blogging period.  Personally I find that to be a rather curious excuse when topics to blog about are all around us.    Furthermore, if you have a theme in mind then the prompts for daily blogging can come even more easily if you let them flow.

        With this post I begin a series which I'm calling Here's An Idea!   I'll be offering some good suggestions that you might want to consider for the 2015 Challenge.  If my ideas don't quite work for you then maybe my brainstorming might start sparking some other ideas in your own mind.  Let's come up with some month long blogging themes!

People Love Lists

      One thematic approach that I've seen used in past Challenges is a series of lists from A to Z.  Lists can be favorites, worst, best, funniest, or most existential--or you name it.  Possibilities are endless when picking the approach you can take with this idea.

      Once you've decided on a general theme you can start the lists for each letter.  If you start now you can keep adding to your list over the next several months leading up to next April.  You can make the list as long or short as you like and expound upon it as much as you like.

        Coming up with a list is fun and usually easy.  When you get stumped you can always hit a search engine for other similar lists or ideas to inspire you.   Starting early will give you plenty of opportunity to go back to add new items to your list.

       An advantage to using lists on blog posts is that you can engage your audience more easily and stimulate their minds to interact with you.   Everyone has their own opinions about what should be on a list.  You can have fun creating yours and get the audience involved thinking about what would be on their own list.  The list offers a great opportunity to ask questions that lead to comments and blog post sharing on social networking sites.

         I used the list approach on my own blog Tossing It Out in 2013 when I offered examples of movies in various genres or with certain thematic ideas.  For example, A for Auto Accidents in film, V for Venice in film, and Z for movies about Zoos.    I had a great time coming up my lists and my readers seemed to be entertained as well.

         Think for a few minutes about the list concept for April and I'll bet your mind will run rampant with great ideas.   In fact you might want to start compiling your lists right now!

Focus on Favorites

         Rather than a list you might want to focus on favorites.   This can be anything, but it will work best when you are considering things about which you are passionate.  Excellent fields of examination are favorite films, books, songs, places, or foods.  Others have done these sorts of posts in past Challenges as well as in everyday blogging, but there's always room for your point of view.

          And when you're dealing with favorites no one can say you're wrong.   You can invite some debate if you like to get readers involved in discussion.  Or you can ask your readers about their own favorites.  Most people enjoy weighing in on a topic such as this if you've presented it the right way.

          At my blog Tossing It Out I'm currently doing a series about preferences and why people like what they like.  In this series I'm talking about some of my favorites or what might be considered "the best".  What I'm doing in my current series could easily be expanded into a month long A to Z theme.   Who knows?  Maybe I will go with this as a theme!   No reason why you couldn't do something similar as well.

          Most of us like to tell others about discoveries that grab our attention and things that we like.  This is a fun and easy topic that adapts itself so well to Blogging from A to Z.   Take a minute and give this some thought:   What are your favorite (fill in your own topic) and then start listing them.   You'll probably start coming up with so many that you could fill Aprils for years to come.

          Please take a look at my current series to see what you could do with something like this.   While you're there don't forget to answer my questions and leave your answers in the comment section.   The first post of the series is The Greatest Story Ever Written? and I'm still looking for opinions on this.  I hope you'll weigh in with your own.   Other posts in my series are about "Favorite Types of Music" and "Favorite Movie"(coming on Wednesday June 4th).   You can find and follow this series at Tossing It Out.

         Some brainstorming now might even help you with your everyday blogging if you are one of those who gets stumped for ideas at times.   The ideas are out there and they're easy to find.  Just start making a list!

         Do you ever find yourself unsure what to write about on your blog?    Do you enjoy reading through lists?    What kinds of lists have you used on your own blog?

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