Prompts: Spring Into Story Ideas
Spring is in the air! It seems like the winter was particularly long and brutal here on the East Coast, and now that the weather has finally turned, it is only natural to want to frolic a little in the great outdoors. But don’t let all the lawn lazing put a crimp in your writing, springtime should instead inspire a fresh wave of stories for the creative mind. Here are a few to get you started, pulled from real-life news items having to do with sun, surfing and flower power. So soak in the warmth and let it kick-start your creativity.
Solar experts detect waves in giant magnetic holes the size of the UK
Massive waves in giant magnetic holes on the surface of the Sun have been discovered for the first time by solar scientists from the University of Sheffield and Queen’s University Belfast, something that will bring experts a step closer to unlocking the secrets of the Sun.
Their research, which was published recently in Astrophysical Journal, has shown that the magnetic hole they observed, which is also known as a pore, is able to channel energy generated deep inside the Sun, along the magnetic field to the Sun’s upper atmosphere. The magnetic field emerging through the pore is over 1,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of the Earth.
The energy being transported is in the form of a very special form of waves, known as ‘sausage waves’ which the scientists were able to observe using a UK-built solar imager. This is the first direct observation of ‘sausage waves’ at the solar surface. The magnetic hole is seen to increase and decrease in size periodically which is a characteristic feature of the ‘sausage wave.’
The team of experts hopes these giant magnetic holes will play an important role in unveiling the longstanding secrets behind solar coronal heating. (Read more…)
Sausage waves on the sun? Far out. Maybe one day with the new imager, one of the scientists notices something new, tiny objects traveling along the waves. Though infinitesimal to the scale of the sun, the objects, roughly humanoid-shaped, are actually thousands of times larger than a person. With closer readings, the team finds that these aliens are metallic in origin and as they follow their paths, they can no longer deny their astonishing conclusion: the aliens are surfing the waves.
Who are these solar surfers? Where do they come from? They do not seem native to the sun, but the intensity and size of the energy in the magnetic hole seems to be changing and growing in response to the patterns they’re carving and shredding with wild abandon across the super-heated surface.
They are the ultimate big kahunas, surfing nonstop without rest. But what is their ultimate purpose? The research team has many theories, ranging from fun-seeking cosmic explorers to some deeper design. As they observe the surfers, though, they see more of them steadily appearing. Then alarming reports start coming in from around earth. Tiny magnetic holes—still as large as cities—are appearing around the globe, similar to the one on the sun. They begin to cause havoc to the earth’s field. The scientific team is dispersed to observe and take readings, but they all have a sinking feeling of inevitability, and their fears are confirmed as the first titanic surfer appears on earth. How do they stop these celestial hot dogs before the world is thrown catastrophically out of balance?
Missing chromium is clue to planet formation
Early in the formation of the Earth, some forms of the element chromium separated and disappeared deep into the planet’s core, a new study shows. The finding, published online by the journal Science, will help scientists understand the early stages of planet formation, said Qing-Zhu Yin, professor of geology at UC Davis.
Yin and colleagues at UCLA used specialized equipment to make very exact measurements of chromium isotopes in meteorites, compared to rocks from the Earth’s crust. They studied a class of meteorites called chondrites, which are leftovers from the formation of the solar system over four and half billion years ago. Chromium exists as four stable (non-radioactive) isotopes with atomic masses of 50, 52, 53 and 54.
By making very accurate measurements of chromium isotopes in the meteorites compared to Earth rocks, the researchers were able to show for the first time that the lighter isotopes preferentially go into the core. From this the team inferred that some 65 percent of the missing chromium is most likely in the Earth’s core.
Furthermore, the separation must have happened early in the planet building process, probably in the multiple smaller bodies that assembled into the Earth or when the Earth was still molten but smaller than today. (Read more…)
A glimpse into the early days of the earth, fascinating. Perhaps after more research, professor Yin discovers that the lighter chromium isotope, in combination with several other elements, can actually start the chain reaction that leads to world formation. Too bad all the major chromium deposits are in the center of the earth. But rumors spread about a corporate conglomerate that has obtained a sizeable sample of the lighter isotope from deep core drilling.
As one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, Professor Yin is eventually called in to consult on the project, located in a former Eastern Bloc country. After extensive security clearance procedures, Professor Yin is admitted to the inner vault, and sees the rare sample of precious chromium, no larger than an adult’s fist. He is overjoyed to take part in the research, but the more he learns, the more he is troubled.
It turns out the group is planning, with an injection of several other rare elements, to bring the chromium to critical mass and start a limited world-building reaction. But the energy released could destroy a one hundred-square mile area around the site of the experiment. Professor Yin argues against going forward, but the higher-ups ignore him: there’s big money to be made in building new worlds.
Unable to live with the cost, Professor Yin finally decides his only choice is to abort the mission himself, and late at night, he attempts to destroy the sample. But security catches up to him, and in a struggle, a terrible accident occurs. Inside the chromium vault, Professor Yin accidentally sets off the chain reaction, and he witnesses firsthand the dawn of a new world…
The University at Buffalo is a key partner in a $7.3 million, multi-institution collaboration to explore the origins of all flowers by sequencing the genome of Amborella, a unique species of shrub or small tree found in only one place on the planet: the Pacific islands of New Caledonia. The plant, a direct descendant of the common ancestor of all flowering plants, is the single known living species on the earliest branch of the genetic tree of life of flowering plants.
As such, Amborella is a molecular living fossil, said Professor Victor Albert, and the DNA of Amborella can help us learn about the evolution of all flowers, he said. Specifically, by comparing the genetic make-up of Amborella to that of newer species, biologists will be able to study a diverse range of plant characteristics, from how flowers resist drought and how fruits mature to how critical crops might respond to global warming.
The team plans to complete and publish a draft sequence of the Amborella genome this year, Albert said. (Read more…)
The genome common to all flowering plants is an important scientific goal. The genetic sequence of Amborella must date back millions of years. In their lab, Dr. Albert and his team will undoubtedly spend hours going over the endless series of base pairs that make up the genetic code. Perhaps in doing so, they unwittingly stumble across traits that have long been lost down the corridors of time.
The team sequences and grows new plants that express these traits to study them. Some are interesting from an evolutionary standpoint, different root structures, leaf size. Others, though, are less readily apparent. One plant strain, in particular, looks no different than any of the others, until a fly happens to buzz by the sample’s containment glass. To the scientists’ astonishment, the plant quickly wraps up the insect inside a leaf and sucks it dry of all bodily fluids. They realize the plant harkens back to a previous evolutionary age when the species had to be more aggressive to survive.
What they fail to realize, though, is that the species also features a hyperactive reproductive system, and despite being kept in isolation, a single spore escapes to germinate a nearby flower bed. Once that happens, rapid crossbreeding begins, and carnivorous plants start springing up all across the globe as scientists fight a losing battle to contain the spread. After all, flowering plants include up to 400,000 species on land and in water.
Soon mankind is forced indoors as carnivorous flowers and crops become the norm, and it becomes clear that in the fight for survival, it will be us or them…
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Spring is a time to enjoy the sunshine and shed the thick skins that have protected us for the past several bone-chilling months. So get out, enjoy the radiance, put on some lotion and lay out for a spell. But don’t let your brain accumulate rust from all the outdoor time when there’s good stories to be written. Just look around, there’s plenty under the sun to inspire you.
-Jason Kahn
Mad Scribblings From the Edge
The Dark InSpectre
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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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