Eternity

Okay, so I know that I've already written a post for this blog cycle, and that I don't have to do another until the next cycle. That being said, there is one thing that I'd like to share before I forget, so here's Post #2 for this cycle.

But before you read the rest of the post, you should watch this video: 

So, what is that, exactly? What is that glowing blue ball? Surprisingly enough, it's actually the flame surrounding a lit droplet of fuel. The reason why it looks so bizarre - and unlike any flame you're probably ever seen before - is because that's what fire looks like in a microgravity scenario.

FLEX, or the Flame Extinguishment Experiment, is an experiment that was performed on the International Space Station (ISS) to observe the results of microgravity of flame, and to determine ways that could be used to extinguish these flames (hence the name). I wrote a report on this phenomenon for my most recent module for WISH, and although it's not directly related to aeronautical engineering, it's still pretty amazing.

Why does the flame look like this? The easiest explanation is that the Earth's gravity gives an Earth-based flame a sort of teardrop shape (like on a birthday candle). However, since the ISS operates in a microgravity environment, the effects of gravity on the flame are essentially nonexistent, and the flame can expand in all directions instead of just upward. The flame also burns more slowly than a fire on Earth would. In addition to the spherical flame, the ISS scientists have actually discovered another phenomenon, called "cool flame". In some of the several hundred experiments they've performed, the droplet of fuel has continued to decrease in size even after the flame has stopped burning - as if the droplet is still lit. While the theories behind the idea of cool flame are still fairly rudimentary, it's definitely an interesting aspect of microgravity combustion.

As for the reddish glow several second after the flame goes out in the video? I'm still not entirely sure what that is. I haven't found any solid explanation for it, but I do know that it isn't cool flame. (Actually, I did find one explanation once, but it was extremely vague and seemed to be generally regarded as inaccurate, so from my perspective, the glow is still unexplained.)

Maybe it's just me, but I thought that the effects of microgravity on a flame are really pretty interesting. Wouldn't it be cool if all fires were globes (ignoring the fact that fires are damaging enough as is, of course!)?



And to continue the idea of flame:

Eternity
Will you come with me to search for eternity?
Will you peek behind doors, duck into corners,
strike match after match to light up the darkness?
Will you help me tear down the thin boundaries
between reality and impossibility, help me open the world
to a new vortex of opportunities? And if we finally find it,
will you leave me behind in a corner, in the dark
without a candle or a match, or will you stay with me
by my side through life and through death,
through this newfound land of eternity?


~Becky Hill

Becoming Somebody

So I've been talking a lot about being an aeronautical engineer in the past posts, but (with the exception of the poems/stories I've been including at the end of each post) I haven't actually talked much about my other career goal: writing.

In my first post (Galaxy), I mentioned that I began writing basically as soon as I realized that the books in this world were written by real people and didn't just spontaneously burst into existence, and I never really stopped. My parents have never entirely understood where this artsy part of me came from, a fact they would admit almost proudly at social events (i.e. Person A comes over to me and asks me what I enjoy doing. I respond by eagerly explaining my most recent story idea. Person A looks questioningly at my parents over my head. My parents just shake their heads and say, "We have no idea where these artistic genes came from.").

But wherever my love of writing came from, I certainly didn't put it to waste. If you were to look at all of the Microsoft Word files on the desktop from which I'm writing this, you'd probably be searching through files for days. Poems, stories, first chapters of unfinished novels, a mere sentence which clearly was supposed to lead to some story idea but has since become meaningless - these are all commonplace, especially if you were to look at the earlier documents. I've become better at starting one idea and sticking to it, although by no means does that mean I never get distracted by a "better" novel idea.

Here's the thing: When I was young, I was absolutely convinced that I could make a living as a writer, and just write for the rest of my life. Since then, I've realized that this was an impractical idea for two reasons. First, my elementary-school self didn't understand that for every published author, there are dozens more hopefuls who may never get published. And among those published authors, there still aren't too many people who will genuinely make enough to comfortably support themselves. And unfortunate as it is, this is the case for many liberal arts - the jobs just don't pay well enough, or consistently enough.

The other issue? Writer's block. I haven't written anything in months, and even then the short story I did write was for a contest. I can only guess at the source of this writer's block, but I'm pretty sure it's because of the stress to which I've been subjecting myself in the past... well, years. If this kept up, I'd never have a job as an author. And so writing has taken a backseat to the major I'm very much interested in - and that will pay the bills: aeronautical engineering.

That's not to say I've completely eradicated writing from my life - far from it, in fact. There's journalism, of course, where I love working to produce the newspaper, even if not everyone bothers to read it. Perhaps more importantly to my current writing, however, is Westmont's Creative Writing Club. I'm one of the co-presidents (along with Sofia Braunstein) of this small club, and this year marks the second year that the two of us, as co-presidents and co-editors, are self-publishing a collection of stories and poems by members of the club. This year, the book is titled A Cup of Chaos and includes 21 stories and poems by 11 authors. By the next blog cycle, eleven Westmont students will have become published authors!



On that note, here's an excerpt from one of the stories I wrote that will be published in A Cup of Chaos, along with my poem Galaxy (my first post) and my short story Experimental (two blogs ago). This story is also one that was published in three parts in the Shield.

Becoming Somebody
         That day the rain was my red carpet into the school, the sheets of water forming shadows, my only companions. They whispered in their little rain-voices and guided me through the burnt ruins of the once-massive buildings. Ashes mixed in the puddles at my feet and painted my legs grey with every step.
         A starburst of lightning exploded over my head, the rumble of thunder following quickly. The sound broke the clouds’ last resolves and they began to cry relentlessly, drowning out nearly every sound except their mourning.
         “My sister and I, we called the thunder skyquakes.”
         The boy had been hiding among the rain-shadows, out in the field that served as my destination. His hair dripped water faster than the sky itself and he strained to speak loud enough to overwhelm the clouds.
         “Who are you?” he asked me.
         I am shattered windows and unwashed dishes and crushed soda cans. I am pain and brokenness and the personification of all things undeserving of the light of beauty that I see shining down around me even through the rain. “I’m nobody.”
         He smiled, his eyes casting a beam of something warm that spread over my whole body. “Well then, little nobody,” he said, taking my arm and turning me around to face the ash-world of the school once more, “let’s go make you somebody.”

If you want to read more of this story, you can do so here: http://figment.com/books/384558-Becoming-Somebody



~Becky