A personal temporospatial claudication for Young Wizards fandom-related posts and general space nonsense.
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Latest Posts by outofambit - Page 5
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Space is so creepy and wonderful. Who the hell needs hell when there’s space.
Like there’s an old constellation called Eridanus that you can see in the southern sky, and its not a very interesting constellation. It’s a river. It’s actually the water that’s pouring out of Aquarius, so in the sky it’s kind of boring. It’s a path of stars.
But within Eridanus, in between the stars, there’s a place where the background radiation is unexplainably cold. Because after the Big Bang, there was all this light that scattered everywhere, and it’s the oldest light in the universe, but we can’t see it. It’s so dim that it only shows up as a glow of microwaves, so to us, it just looks like the blackness of the night.
But there’s this spot in Eridanus where that little glow of ancient microwaves isn’t what it should be. It’s cold and dark.
And it’s enormous. Like a billion light year across. Of mostly just emptiness. And we don’t know why. One theory is that it’s simply a huge void, like a place where there are no galaxies. Voids like that do exist. Most of them are smaller, but they’re a sort of predictable part of the structure of the universe. The cold spot in Eridanus, if it were a void, would be so enormous that it would change how we understand the universe.
But another theory is that this cold spot is actually the place where a parallel universe is tangled with our own.
so, I’ve taken up tailoring recently. and while I was working on a draping today, I got to thinking about entropy.
(drapings are those things where a tailor takes a blank section of cloth and sculpts a piece of clothing directly onto a model’s body. it ensures a perfect fit. entropy refers to the level of organization in a system. the less organization a system has, the greater its entropy. entropy can only be overcome with energy. it takes effort to organize a system. the natural state of the universe is one of complete entropy, i.e., the lowest energy state possible.)
A piece of broadcloth, before it’s used for a draping, is the cloth in its state of greatest entropy. it’s featureless. uniform. whatever small variations exist between one part of the cloth and another are random and will ease out over time. wrinkles. chalk markings. small snags.
a finished piece of clothing is the cloth at its lowest state of entropy, and by extension, its highest energy state. it is structured and organized. it has many features, all of which interact with each other in a coherent system. seams and darts and buttons and lining all cooperate to give the dress, or whatever it is, a fixed shape and function.
most things are like this. your body. the planet Earth. the Milky Way. they are systems made of organized parts which give them form and function.
(the difference between you and a few buckets of carbon and hydrogen and oxygen and a few other atoms combined into an inert slurry is the entropy of the system.)
but in order for those systems to become organized, they needed energy from an outside source. without energy, everything slides towards entropy. the energy that makes your body possible comes from the food you eat. the energy from your food comes, though a few middlemen like cows or cabbages or whatever, from the Sun. the Sun’s energy comes from the fusion of hydrogen into helium. A hydrogen atom is just a proton: maybe paired with an electron, if it bumps into one. And those component particles were created in the first few wild moments after the Big Bang.
All of the energy in the universe can be traced back to the Big Bang. every organized system owes its life to the Big Bang. we’re just sipping from its cup until we die.
(where did the energy that ignited the Big Bang come from? no one knows. there’s room to see God there, if you’re so inclined.)
but the energy of the Big Bang wasn’t infinite. we are, slowly, using it up. the universe is sinking to a lower and lower energy state, all the time. according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the energy of a system can only stay the same or decrease. entropy will win. people refer to this as the heat death of the universe. according to current science, it’s the most likely end point for everything.
so anyway, I got to thinking about this while I was tailoring today.
I spent all day on this project. I put a lot of energy into it. my energy, as mechanical energy, or the physical act of sewing, into the cloth, where it’s now stored as potential energy, which is the energy of positioning. I turned chemical energy (food) into motion and then into shape. each of these transitions is a step down the ladder. a little bit more of our universe’s inheritance, spent.
and I got really sad. that probably sounds ridiculous, right? but I think about this a lot. every time I spend energy, that’s energy the universe can’t get back. a sequin off the Big Bang is now a new dress on my ironing board. was that energy well-spent? should it have gone to something else? it doesn’t matter. it’s gone now. the universe is a little bit closer to death.
then I stopped being sad, and I just felt a deep responsibility to take care of that dress. because, mathematically speaking, there’s nothing superior about organization over entropy. the particles don’t care if they’re in a high or low energy state. your atoms don’t know who you are, and it doesn’t matter to them if you’re you, or a few buckets of slurry. the value of organization is subjective. systems are important because we believe they are. the universe’s life and death only matter if they matter to us.
I like tailoring. my new dress came out well. I’m looking forward to making another one. I’m sorry that someday there won’t be any more new dresses, or anything else.
maybe that’s good enough.
guys
guys
less than three months til the games wizard play release
Today’s Cards Against Errantry card!
Like this card? Wish you could use it in a real-life game with fellow cousins? Then make sure to get your badge (and reserve your room) for CrossingsCon 2016.
I think this one might be my favorite book in the series...
Chapter Titles: Deep Wizardry
SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD HEARNSSEN PUBLISHED BY PHOENIX PRESS 793.4
[click for bigger]
“I wonder how much trouble you get in for busting a worldgate.” // “How can I save her?”
A mix for Kit Rodriguez: Loyalty, Bravery, Empathy incarnate. He will cross time, space, and neighborhoods for those he loves and those he must protect.
Titanium by David Guetta // Sugar, We’re Going Down by Fall Out Boy // The Cave by Mumford and Sons // Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon // Boys Are Back in Town by The Hitters // and ten others
Listen (15 tracks, 55 mins)
Definitive list of whales, ranked.
Right Whale: It has an upside-down head — a bold move that pays off.
Sperm Whale: Has a silly name but really excels in all areas of being a whale: staying underwater, fighting squid, spraying sonar around the sea, looking like an ocean bus. Having teeth rather than baleen means not having to eat krill.
Narwhal: Sea unicorn that has ocean sword fights. Slightly less cool when you realize its horn is actually a big tooth, making it the whale version of this.
Orca: Doesn’t look anything like the other whales and hangs out around the Pacific Northwest, so it’s basically the hipster whale. Eats real food like seals rather than krill. Was in Free Willy, but, then again, was in Free Willy. Kind of an asshole, but you can’t argue with success. Secret shame: actually a dolphin.
Humpback Whale: Basic canonical whale. Has good press. Bit too mainstream, really.
Beluga Whale: Ongoing experiment in whether white privilege applies to cetaceans.
Blue Whale: Coasting on its size; must try harder.
Gray Whale: Blue whale that’s smaller and more boring.
Minke Whale: Kinda puny for a whale.
Fin Whale: Second biggest animal in the world, i.e. the first loser. Described by Roy Chapman Andrews as the “greyhound of the sea,” and we all know what Captain Hank Murphy of Sealab said about greyhounds. (”Too pointy.”)
Beaked whale: You are not a bird, please reconsider your choices.
Pilot Whale: Dolphin with ideas above its station.
Rónán (anglicized Ronan) is an Irish language male given namemeaning “little seal” (Rón meaning “seal”, and -án being a diminutive suffix). It may refer to: Legend tells of a seal who is warned never to stray too close to the land.
Powers help me I didn’t know his name meANT PRECIOUS BABBY SEAL
AAAAAAAHHHH
AAAAAHH
RONAN SO CUTE
AND THE WINGED DEFENDER WAS STUCK INTO BABY SEAL BOY
Space is so creepy and wonderful. Who the hell needs hell when there’s space.
Like there’s an old constellation called Eridanus that you can see in the southern sky, and its not a very interesting constellation. It’s a river. It’s actually the water that’s pouring out of Aquarius, so in the sky it’s kind of boring. It’s a path of stars.
But within Eridanus, in between the stars, there’s a place where the background radiation is unexplainably cold. Because after the Big Bang, there was all this light that scattered everywhere, and it’s the oldest light in the universe, but we can’t see it. It’s so dim that it only shows up as a glow of microwaves, so to us, it just looks like the blackness of the night.
But there’s this spot in Eridanus where that little glow of ancient microwaves isn’t what it should be. It’s cold and dark.
And it’s enormous. Like a billion light year across. Of mostly just emptiness. And we don’t know why. One theory is that it’s simply a huge void, like a place where there are no galaxies. Voids like that do exist. Most of them are smaller, but they’re a sort of predictable part of the structure of the universe. The cold spot in Eridanus, if it were a void, would be so enormous that it would change how we understand the universe.
But another theory is that this cold spot is actually the place where a parallel universe is tangled with our own.
You know, I think the biggest disappointment of my childhood was not failing to receive my Hogwart’s letter (or the American equivalent). I mean yes, there was a stretch the summer I was eleven where I was hopeful, but September first came around and I sort of shrugged and accepted it (possibly with some relief because I didn’t want to go so far away from Mama and Da).
No. The real disappointment was that the Wizard’s Oath from Diane Duane’s Young Wizards never took. I don’t know how many times I read that oath out loud and then held my breath and hoped. Hoped, hoped, hoped that I would wake up the next morning and the book wouldn’t just be Nita and Kit’s adventure, but would be in the Speech. It never was.
Keep reading
theres a giant burning orb in the sky and it can burn your flesh, it can give you diseases, it can kill you, looking directly at it causes physical pain, and we all think this is okay. we like this orb. we like to go outside and lie around on our backs when this orb is in the sky. children draw cute pictures of this levitating death orb with a smiley face on it. what is wrong with us
I’m pretty sure that “writing a strongly worded letter to the laws of thermodynamics” is my new favorite description of wizardry.
The Tinker Bell Triplet.
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered a stunning rare case of a triple merger of galaxies. This system, which astronomers have dubbed ‘The Bird’ - although it also bears resemblance with a cosmic Tinker Bell - is composed of two massive spiral galaxies and a third irregular galaxy.
Image Credit- ESO.
“But then she was a dancer. Dancers are tough.” -“The Wizard’s Dilemma,” Diane Duane, (x) (x) Dedicated to Betty Callahan.
This is awful. I just looked it up and Koi fish can live more than 200 years, the oldest on record being Hanako Fish who died at age 226.
Tom and Carl will die before them.
Still breathing hard from what she’d been through, Dairine turned away and walked back to the house, slowly, and went into her room and shut the door. And only then did she allow herself, somewhat later, the very smallest smile.
Here Are The Facts
Games Wizards Play will be 496 pages long. 496 wonderful pages.
And this is the cover art that popped up on Amazon when I went to “Hardcover”:
I mean, how awesome is that!?