Prompts: A Little Exercise For the Old Creativity Muscle
I don’t know about you guys, but if I find myself in a rut where I haven’t been writing for a while, I get a bit stale. And not just in terms of word choice and style, but creativity, too, coming up with interesting plot twists, funky angles no one else would think of. That’s all hard work for me, and it definitely gets easier and more natural with practice. That’s why taking these real life news items I see every day and spinning them into interesting story ideas represents an excellent opportunity to flex the old creativity muscle. And maybe you can give yours a good work out as well:
Body of Evidence: New Fast, Reliable Method to Detect Gravesoil
Finding bodies buried by someone who wants them to stay undiscovered can be difficult. However a new technique developed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), can reliably detect biochemical changes in a decomposing cadaver.
Typically, cadaver-sniffing dogs or ground penetrating radar are used to detect clandestine gravesites. But these methods are not always useful in all scenarios, such as if a body is buried under concrete. The NIST instrument uses a motorized pipette that pulls in air samples at ambient temperatures. The device detects trace amounts of ninhydrin-reactive nitrogen (NRN) that collects in air pockets above and close to gravesoil. Now, a simple probe slightly thicker than a human hair can be inserted into the ground to detect decaying flesh. (Read More…)
Alright, I have thus far stayed away from the realm of the undead in these items, but come on, this is just tailor made for a good vampire story. And I don’t mean the sparkly, shiny kind, either. Just imagine, a world where vampire armies are massing for an all-out assault. Humankind’s only hope is to sniff them out in their underground lairs and stake them before the attack is launched, and they’ve just developed the technology to do it.
But first it has to be tested. A small military team takes a prototype (I’m thinking something like a metal detector, but with a spiky thing on the end) out into the deep forest in search of a lair. Thanks to some advance intel, they find a nest, but it’s a trap. The soldiers are slaughtered. It turns out the vampires know about the technology and want to study it themselves. One of the vampires, a scientist when he was alive, realizes the probe could be used as a deadly weapon if the humans only knew how to adapt it properly. A lone human survivor, half drained, overhears the vamp. She crawls away from the scene desperate to get the information back to the scientists at her base, knowing that the vampires have now moved up their timetable for attack, since they realize the means for their destruction are within the humans’ reach…
Michelangelo Hid Anatomy Lesson in the Sistine Chapel
Detailed analysis of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes reveals a secret that’s been hidden for 500 years: an image of the human brainstem in a panel showing God at the beginning of Creation, according to an article in the May issue of Neurosurgery.
The “concealed neuroanatomy” is found in Michelangelo’s painting of the Separation of Light from Darkness, one of a series of nine Sistine Chapel panels showing scenes from the Book of Genesis. According to medical illustrator Ian Suk and neurosurgeon Rafael Tamargo, an “anatomically correct ventral [front] depiction” of the brainstem can be seen in God’s neck. Michelangelo “cleverly enhanced his depiction of God…with concealed images of the brain, and in this way celebrated not only the glory of God but also that of His most magnificent creation,” they write. (Read More…)
Hey, if da Vinci could hide some secret mumbo jumbo, why not Michelangelo, right? But why hide a picture of a brainstem? In addition to being a master painter, Michelangelo was a genius sculptor and a student of the human form. He knew his anatomy. But maybe he wasn’t just showing off. Maybe there are other body parts surreptitiously illustrated in various artworks of Michelangelo’s over the centuries. Perhaps he buried a terrible secret in his art that he wasn’t permitted to speak of while he was alive.
Many of Michelangelo’s works were commissioned by the Medici’s, who were ruthless and powerful, some say even fueled by the supernatural. Doubtless, members of the Medici family were frequent observers of the brilliant artist at work. What if they got too close? What if Michelangelo saw something he wasn’t supposed to see, that scared him so badly he could only hide it in his art? Hundreds of years later, perhaps if all the anatomical parts were put together, one would see depicted something alien and grotesque, the true form of one of the Medici lords.
Perhaps an art historian puts the puzzle together and contacts Suk and Tamargo with the discovery, but too late. They’re dead. After tracing the lineage, the historian realizes that the killer is a direct descendent of one of the Medici’s, and now that he knows the secret, he’s next. Unless he can stop the foul being first. And the secret to killing him lies in Michelangelo’s drawings…
The first malaria-proof mosquito
For years, researchers worldwide have attempted to create genetically altered mosquitoes that cannot infect humans with malaria. Those efforts fell short because the mosquitoes still were capable of transmitting the disease-causing pathogen, only in lower numbers.
Now for the first time, University of Arizona entomologists have succeeded in genetically altering mosquitoes in a way that renders them completely immune to the parasite, a single-celled organism called Plasmodium.
Riehle’s team used molecular biology techniques to design a piece of genetic information capable of inserting itself into a mosquito’s genome. This construct was then injected into the eggs of the mosquitoes. The emerging generation carries the altered genetic information and passes it on to future generations. For their experiments, the scientists used Anopheles stephensi, a mosquito species that is an important malaria vector throughout the Indian subcontinent. (Read More…)
Genetically engineered mosquitos. Sigh… Haven’t we learned anything from our old friend Mansquito? Seriously, though, according to the law of unintended consequences, this is just bound to go wrong. Once the newly modified mosquitos become the dominant species, we will undoubtedly learn that there was something protective about the old species. In just a few generations there will be a new super plague far more deadly than malaria that will spread unchecked because its natural counterbalance has been removed from the ecosystem.
Populations are decimated, society reverts to a more primitive way of life. A lone virologist figures out that infection with the original malaria virus can protect against the new super virus. He manages to isolate the almost extinct original form—and injects himself. But something goes wrong, it was a mutant strain, and he transforms into something monstrous. He retains enough of his intellect to understand that others need what is in his blood, but he is reviled, shunned. And so he wanders, outcast, harboring hope for a fearful race…
Nurse’s Electrical Shock Shows Need for Change in OR Safety Policies
A frightening electrical injury to an operating room nurse highlights the need to update electrical safety policies for the operating room, according to the June issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia.
The injury occurred during a routine operation, when a nurse was asked to plug in a piece of equipment. There was water on the OR floor from the use of irrigation equipment. While kneeling on the floor with one hand on the plug of the equipment and the other hand on the electrical junction box, the nurse felt a powerful electrical shock traveled up her arm and into her jaw, knocking her backward. The injured nurse had a ruptured eardrum and missed two weeks of work due to vertigo.
Although no definitive cause of the accident could be established, it was likely related to the presence of liquid—from either routine OR cleaning or the irrigation fluid—inside the junction box. (Read More…)
The accident raised awareness to change and strengthen safety regulations in and around operating rooms. But honestly, safety shmafety, what happened to the nurse!? OMG! Is this not the classic origin story for a superhero? A freak power accident turns our mild mannered health care worker into Electro-Nurse!
I can just see it. A month or so after the accident, she sees a patient coding on the table. Something goes wrong with the crash cart, they can’t get the paddles to charge. Our heroine’s hands start to tingle, her palms get itchier like there’s static running all across them. Out of instinct, she just reacts, placing her bare hands on the patient’s chest. His back arches and he suddenly shocks back into sinus rhythm. Everyone stares at her, a legend is born.
As time goes on, she saves more lives in the ER by shocking people back to life. But each time Electro Nurse is left weaker, taking longer to recover. She realizes that one day she simply won’t have any juice left at all. And then wheeled into the ER on a gurney fresh from a car accident comes her twelve-year-old son, barely hanging on…
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Whew! I sure worked up quite a brain sweat with those goodies. I hope you got in a few good reps yourself. The important thing is that you follow your doctor’s advice and exercise regularly!
–Jason Kahn
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Authors: Jason Kahn. Form: Column. Length: 1500 words. Editor who accepted this story: Previous Editors.
Author Bio
A medical editor by day, Jason Kahn lives and writes in Brooklyn, NY. His stories have appeared in Baen’s Universe, Damnation Books, Something Wicked, and numerous anthologies. His hobbies include rooting for his University of Michigan Wolverines and chasing after two mischievous gnomes who claim to be his children.
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