#another comparison is literal sulfur

[starfacenix]

Working with Lucifer means accidentally walking through him and being overwhelmed by the overwhelming need to sneeze as your mouth and nose feel like you just inhaled cinnamon on fire and him laughing at my misery just to stand in front of me so I walk through him again.

[squiggly-mctwig]

This is your chance to infodump about space.

I LOVE SPACE SO MUCH TOO.

DID YOU KNOW BETELGEUSE MIGHT GO SUPERNOVA SOON???

Anyway take this chance and give us ALL OF THE SPACE THINGS.

I CRAVE THE KNOWLEDGE.

*distant crashing of glass as I run toward you

IF IT IS KNOWLEDGE YOU WANT IT IS KNOWLEDGE YOU GET AHAHAHAHAHH 🌌✨🌠🌟

I think I might've gotten too science-y and unhinged bc I'm an absolute nerd but HERE IS THE SPACEY SPACE EHE

Also YES I heard about Betelguese!! Exciting!! I sincerely hope I'll get to see it supernova in my lifetime (luckily it's far enough that the rays of its supernova wont obliterate us dont worry guys) but its highly unpredictable when itll go ka-blooey!! Today? A week? A thousand years? We dont know it's just SOON! That's what makes it exciting!

Anyway INTO THE INFODUMP!! Did you know that Neptune rains DIAMONDS, and that Venus rains sulfuric ACID? It might be painful to stand in but hot DAMN itd be a sight. Idk the idea of walking along a dark blue, ominous and empty path in a spacesuit and softly crunching diamonds into millions of glittery pieces as you look up at the stars is just,, (I know you'd have to absolutely stomp with the force of a ton worth of elephants to crunch diamonds but you get me)

Saturn is not the only planet with rings! Uranus and Jupiter have them as well! Uranus's rings are vertical bc of the planet being on its side, and Jupiter's rings are too small to see

Another fact, a meteor's color also depends on its chemical composition, for example blue/teal signifies magnesium, red is nitrogen or oxygen, purple is calcium, and so forth (I wonder if it's possible to mix their components to get a rainbow??). Mars' sunset also has a similiar fashion, its sunset is actually blue! Still onto the topic of colors, theres this real cool thing called redshift that happens when scientists observe distant celestial objects. Basically the farther a galaxy is, the more red it will appear. This is because of said redshift, which happens when the light waves approach to our eyes, but are actually stretched out on the way (which if you remember middle school science, red is the longest color wavelength on the visible spectrum)! This is believed to be caused by the rapid expansion of our universe and not the Doppler phenomenon (I think)

ALSO ALSO did you know scientists believe that there is a 9th planet in our solar system? AND ITS 10X LARGER THAN EARTH!? WOOOO! They have been able to detect gravitational pull and changes as well as a possible moon of the planet, just cant locate it. And speaking of planet location, Neptune was actually discovered by mathematics based on the occasional disturbance of Uranus' orbit! (I sound like a nerd rn but stay with me)

I would also like to bring on the fkn ENORMOUS size of space, like,, take the dwarf galaxy beside us as an example, The Small Megallanic Cloud. Apparently that "small" cloud has 3 BILLION STARS and 7 BILLION SOLAR MASSES like if THATS small then call me atom-fucking-woman. And those size comparison of the universe yt videos? M I N D B L O W I N G

And finally I just wanna gush about black holes,, like their event horizons are so cool looking,, they're on the border of a beautiful, peaceful horizon of a sunset yet a chaotic tidal force of bent light that could turn you into spaghetti 🍝🍝 (literally it's called spaghettification)

Anyway I'll go ahead and leave this infodump here, I definitely will have more space knowledge in the future but this post will take an entire hour for my slow phone to post lol

[isabellarosestudio6]

Week 6: Notes/Research

Vintage advertisements:

Raylon Fabric Promotional Film:

Phosperine Tonic Wine:

A 1911 journal article discussing the ingredients of the Phosperine tonic [water, alcohol, quinine, phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid]:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25285004

Another tonic, Buckfast tonic popular to Scotland/Ireland, is comprised of:

Fortified wine based aperitif, 15% v/v.

Sodium glycerophosphate, an emulsifier.

Dipotassium phosphate, a protein stabiliser

Disodium phosphate, a stabiliser and emulsifier.

Caffeine, 0.0375%w/v

Vanillin

"The drink has a very high caffeine content, with each 750 ml bottle containing 281 mg of caffeine, the equivalent of eight cans of cola."

Wikipedia [not scholarly]

TEXT:

Loeb, L. (2020). Desperate housewives: The rise and fall of the campaign against medicated wines in twentieth-century Britain. Pharmaceutical Historian, 50(1), 16-25. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/bshp/ph/2020/00000050/00000001/art00002?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf

"In contrast to the female orientation of the market for Edwardian medicated wines, some of the most popular medicated wines now have a distinctly masculine consumer base. For example, Buckfast Tonic Wine, a caffeinated wine with 15 percent alcohol from Devon – first marketed by Buckfast Abbey in 1880 and today sold by J. Chandler & Co. – is among the best-selling alcoholic beverages in Britain; it has a notorious linkage with violent male crime. In 2015 the Scottish prison service reported that over 43 per cent of inmates drank Buckfast Tonic Wine before their previous offence"

------

Further research:

TEXT to read:

Featherstone, M. (2010). Body, image and affect in consumer culture. Body & Society, 16, 193-221

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/1357034X09354357

- does my concept of self, of my "mirror-body" or body image, exist mainly through the collection of images and videos, as frequently posted to social media or stored to my phone? Is this my most familiar self? (Outside of my body-schema, or affectual body; being the felt senses, proprioception, and interception).

- my body, to my own understanding, exists through a recognition and association with a series of screen mediated images.

- "it has been argued that we do not see a movie or television in a purely visual way, but we relate to visual media in a manner involving other senses."

- "other bodies and images of other bodies in the media and consumer culture may literally move us, or make us feel moved, by affecting our bodies in ways that cannot be easily articulated... Affect points to the experience of intensities, to the way in which media images are felt through bodies."

-"the affective body points to unseen and unnoticed aspects of interpersonal interactions, which are more difficult to conceptualize and articulate, but this does not mean people are unaware of their force."

- "Images are often used to summon up and crystallize utopian and exotic desires. Images invite comparisons: reinforcing who we are not and who we would like to be." The likes of which consumer industries work on/prey on.

- Appearances are, "the constructed appearance of what one wants others to see, but also reflexively they provide an outward image which seeks confirmation in the returned glances of others, for the inner narrative of what one feels one should be." In western society, this most readily applies to women.

- Here Woman, is a form of theatre.

- does the theatre of woman, provide a form of escape in western life? The promise of indulgence, pleasure, beauty, care, love, status.

- what does the theatricality of woman, mean for the woman herself?

[lizhly-writes]

welp.  here’s another orv au i’m probably never going to continue

“Water, 35 liters; carbon, 20 kilograms; ammonia, 4 liters; lime, 1.5 kilograms—”

Jung Heewon’s never been good at school. She’s bad at books and bad at studying and she’s gotten failing grades all her life. She’s no one’s idea of a genius. She doesn’t have the resources or the smarts. What she does have is sufficient motivation and a blackmarket schematic, carefully traced out in chalk on the cement before her.

Don’t think about what it’s going to cost. Don’t think about what’s going to get handed over in exchange. It’s not important. It’s fine. It’s whatever. It’s barely anything at all.

“— salt, 250 grams; saltpeter, 100 grams; sulfur, 80 grams—”

Jung Heewon’s a big sister. Emphasis on big. The age difference is vast. Jung Sungho is fifteen years younger than her, and so, so small in comparison. Not that she’s bragging or anything, but Jung Heewon’s strong. It’s easy enough to hoist him over her shoulders and carry him around, even if he insists he’s too old and too big to be carried.

Of course, he never insists any such thing anymore. He’s not too big or heavy to be carried, and if things continue as they are now, he’s never going to be too big or too heavy to be carried, because, well, you know. Jung Sungho is fucking dead.

“—fluorine, 7.5; iron, 5; silicon, 3 grams—”

But she can do something about that. She’s no state alchemist, but she can try this, at the very least. She’s his big sister; it’s her job to keep him safe and failing that — absolutely she failed that — she can make up for it. The schematic was practically shoved in her hands; she has to try.

Jung Heewon sets down her list of ingredients and takes a deep breath. “Well,” she says to empty air, and places her hands on the transmutation circle.

[oncejaw]

𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 .

1. What does your muse smell like?

(thank you Puffin for already getting me to think about that one!) Marcel is one of those people who easily retain the smell of the soap or shampoo they are using. The ones they have available in Liberio are mostly basic and unscented, but still retain that particular, pleasant, almost homely fragrance of clean, plain soap. Marcel likes to wash in the morning, be it a proper shower or just a basin of cold water; if the Warriors have physical training during the day, he will shower back at the barracks too, so the scent of plain soap is almost inevitable on him. In both verses where he lives up to adulthood, he picks up mechanics, tinkering with clockworks and bikes, motorbikes and cars as a hobby, so there is also a touch of mechanical oil added to the mix.

After transforming back from titan form to human form, Marcel naturally emanates the same smell as his titan and his titan’s steam, especially if he literally just got out and is still regenerating from the process. Isayama has apparently stated that titans smell “like a hot springs town” - hot springs smell mostly like sulfur, which is often described as rotten eggs (yes, delightful). Considering how close to the ground and how much in direct contact the Jaw titan is with its victims, the smell of blood and possibly of viscera is, unfortunately, pretty much inevitable. The Warriors have probably grown insensitive to titan smell considering how much they spend inside their titans, but Marcel very distinctly remembers his brother and his parents flinching the first time he returned from a mission. Since then, he has made it a mandatory ritual to scrub the smell off of him as soon as he returns home from a mission.

2. What do your muse’s hands feel like?

For the most part, his hands are what you would expect of a child trained as a soldier: calloused by exercise and the handling of weapons, but not heavily calloused like you would expect from a manual labourer (farmer, carpenter, etc). They are clearly tried hands, working hands, not those of an academic or strictly an intellectual. Marcel being a playful child always ready to engage in games, scrapes and scratches are also common occurrence as a result. Adult Marcel grows to have hands that are a little larger than would be expected for a man his height; they have a strong feel to them, a solid, firm grip, meant for holding up, supporting, and building. Or at least he hopes so; he has noticed a few people looking uneasy upon sharing a handshake with him, and only then realised that there are times, especially when in a grim mood, that his grip may feel tighter than usual; go from comforting or reassuring to threatening and destructive. Whether or not this unconscious feel and behaviour may be the result of the Jaw’s telltale claws is completely up for speculation.

3. What does your muse usually eat in a day?

Marcel is not a picky eater - living conditions in Liberio are not the easiest to start with, and especially after meeting less fortunate children than he is like Pieck and Bertholdt, he counts his blessings and eats whatever it is the army provides for its Warriors and candidates. Whenever given the choice, however, for instance at home when trade has been good and their parents can afford their boys more options, Marcel will admit to a weakness towards anything made with eggs - scrambled eggs, poached eggs, eggs on toast, you name it. He does not have much of a sweet tooth, but his absolute favourite kind of food is fruit, especially apples and pears. If he can eat fruit once or several times in a day, he is a happy bunny. 

4. Does your muse have a good singing voice?

I will admit I have spent way more time than necessary thinking about Marcel’s voice, finally I can put it to use. So there is not much to play around with when it comes to Marcel’s voice because we hear him for literally one episode (plus a flashback to his death when he screams “it’s a titan, get out of the way”) but I’m taking the voice we hear in the anime as his adult voice, rather than his actual voice when he was 11 to 13 (I love Susumu Chiba and the other VAs but those voices are clearly not the voices of children, no matter how hard they try to make them sound young :’) here is an actual 13yo for comparison). I didn’t particularly think of Marcel having a good singing voice until I had a bout of nostalgia and found this live version of Somebody That I Used to Know, and decided that was 100% Marcel’s voice. It has the same somewhat airy quality with a very slight rasp, but he can also give it more body and make it sond fuller (like Marcel’s normal talking voice vs when he shouts). All of this to say - yes, Marcel can have a good singing voice, for literally no other reason than my own personal guilty pleasure of apparently making every single one of my muses adept musicians vjbhfvjb. Although that would probably be more applicable to a modern/reincarnation AU of sorts, since I doubt he gets many opportunities to practice in canon. 

5. Does your muse have any bad habits or nervous ticks?

Technically it’s not quite a tic, but past experimentations on his titan and his human body have left Marcel with long-lasting effects that include, among others, twitching, mostly in his hands. Most of the time, he can either suppress it, or hide it by burying his hands in his pockets or crossing them behind his back when the sensation becomes too uncomfortable. His nervosity also manifests through a shaky leg when sitting down and forgetting to keep it under control. As for bad habits, he is the kind of person who constantly forgets where he placed his keys/shoes/clothes/books mostly because he’s too busy remembering where Porco and the other Warrior candidates have placed their own things on their behalf. 

6. What does your muse usually look like / wear?

Most of the time, Marcel wears his standard Warrior candidate/Warrior uniform, mandatory armband with the corresponding colour included. When left to make his own choices as a child, he is not too fussy about what to wear, always happy to don something comfortable and relaxed - short-sleeved shirts in the summer, hoodies in winter. In verses where he gets to grow up, he is a little more conservative than his brother, but not enough to stick to buttoned-up shirts ad clean-pressed uniform pieces. His go-to choices in his wardrobe are turtleneck jumpers and hoodies, always worn under his uniform jacket or under a long coat. Should he ever need to opt for something more formal, he will either wear his ceremonial uniform or a three-piece suit. His preferred colours for his clothes err towards the neutral side, greys, muted greens and browns, beige. In a modern verse, his wardrobe would include more colourful pieces and a lot of denim. 

7. Is your muse affectionate?  How much?  How so?

Oh boy, little Marcel is a bundle of affection, and might as well be a human incarnation of a labrador. He is always keen to show his appreciation to the people he loves and certainly never shies away from giving or receiving hugs, hair tousling, leaning on someone or putting his hand(s) on their shoulders. Casual touches are common occurrence as long as he is certain not to overstep other people’s boundaries. If uncertain, or if he knows the other person to be uncomfortable with touch, he will use words or little attentions to make sure they know he likes them. 

8. What position does your muse sleep in?

More often than not, he sleeps on the side, with one arm folded under his pillow or under his head, and bundled up in his blankets to the point of almost disappearing under them. He doesn’t toss and turn too much in his sleep, except when subjected to nightmares or night terrors, or even regular but agitated dreams; when that happens, waking up literally trapped in a burrito of blankets has proved to be a problem more than once. 

9. Could you hear your muse in the hallway from another room?

That depends on the circumstances. If he is in official military buildings, no - he knows to make himself quiet and beyond reproach in the face of officials or anyone who might question his attitude. In more relaxed settings, he tends to be the discrete and quiet kind, unless of course he is playing or actively chatting with his friends. They are children, children can make noise. If he and his brother are up to mischief? They can be heard from the other side of the entire house. 

Tagged by: @viivyre (thank you, this was so cool!)

Tagging: @austerulous  @gerichteter @gepanzrt @jawlost / @dehducer @deuscaedo @desolyt @worstheir​ and whoever else who wants to do it!

[thealderking]

6-6

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the World he didn’t exist.”

   The smell was creeping. Dragging itself upon the floor in curling, vicious clouds, seemingly rolling toward her legs in offensive streams of sickly, creamy white billows like a needy parasite.

   Sulfur, it was undeniably sulfur.

   While it was a sickening odor pawing at her feet, it had taken seconds to waft up to her face with a single aggressive beat of Lucifer’s colossal wings to choke her. What was normally a bearable, but awful, stench carried within a windswept-hot distance out from the neighboring sulfur lakes was now a hateful stink that clamped her throat closed. Suffocating her, gently.

   If that had not momentarily satisfied the enraged eldest of the demon brothers, she could tell that the involuntary tears in her eyes did. It was terrible, this pride that swelled in the crypt. Like it could be observed, much like the odor, she glanced around the fire lit place breathlessly to find it but there was nothing in the old asylum that served to kill her quite like the monster in the middle.

   She had made a point not to look at him, not since he started talking down to her. It was one thing, after everything, to satisfy Lucifer’s cruelty but it was another to absolutely jump into that volcanic temptation like an animal. Was that what she was to them, to him; a sheep, daintily pillowed in domestication.

   “Out of the way, human!” Ah, he did. “Or, do you want to die here?!”

   She could hear how pointed each word was, but one word particularly reverberated in her brain.

   Manic, swimming in vermillion, she could hear Dante’s impression in her ear. Three faces; wrong. Frozen; wrong. Grotesque; wrong. Buried in a literal hole from banishment; wrong. But she could see the inkling, the shadow of that image in the sulfur madness around them. Maybe it was the pain, or the light robbed from the crypt, flames flickering in and out, but when she looked at beautiful Lucifer, she could imagine him bending over to squeeze his finger’s through her body as to lift her into his vacuous mouth, taking pieces in massive bites.

   She could not help it but she looked at the demon defiantly, disappointedly. Surely, he had seen that face before from someone much more important than the likes of her—a simple human. Maybe it was the right thing to do, to have stepped in to defend the superior beings behind her, but now it was something else. Something a little more bitter and a lot more furious. Who had the time to be scared when they were this disheartened.

   Like a dare, an angry one, she spread her arms.

   “Stop it!”

   “C’mon, this is serious! He’s gonna kill you for real!”

   How telling it was that none of them had or would do the same for her.

   To die here, over this; was that the folly of a demon, she wondered. Was this the sword any of them would fall on? He, Lucifer, pointing at the sagging black book like it was reason enough. What, who was he protecting? Because she knew, she knew exactly what she was defending as a fallen angel threatened her with the literal likes of Hell.

   “A human risking so much to defend a demon and angel…how very interesting.” No. It was not interesting at all, not in comparison to how absurd he was. “Well, if you want to be a hero, you’re going to have to choose one of them to save. Beelzebub or Luke. It’s one or the other. Make your choice!”

   Hero? Who gave a shit about heroes when a villain stood before him to ask the question: was God right?

   She meant to say: I’m sorry, I’ve made a mistake. But on the way out, it sounded like: “No.”

   There were breaks in the silence, words spoken behind her, but nothing registered when all she could acknowledge was a rumbling out of Lucifer that rattled her chest. She imagined her insides bouncing against its cage, the heart working violently to throw itself onto the spear of the rib-cage.

   “What’s that now? You want to save them both…? Do you actually think I’m going to allow a lowly human that choice?! That you can have whatever it is you want?!”

   What did he want that he couldn’t have?

   “NO…!”

   Hypocrite.

[piermanwalter]

Thief’s Apprentice: Facts About the Universe

The ancient people of Surenia kept detailed star charts and had precise calendars, but after the continent was overrun by revenants, all but the most basic knowledge was lost. Revenants can’t see light, so the sky is invisible and telescopes are useless to them. Revenants can see The Moon, for reasons I’ll explain later. Master Astronomer, Lensgrinding Astronomer, and Brownsmith Astronomer work closely with the living and have managed to put together a basic model of the known universe. Master Astronomer regularly destroys half of his soul by sending it up into space, aiming it at other planets to determine their sizes and compositions by how his soul breaks apart as it travels through them at constant speed. That’s right, revenants have SPACE TRAVEL (technically). He is totally helpless during his explorations and relies on his apprentices to time and record his observations. This usually takes 5 days, which is an optimal chance to loot the observatory. Master Astronomer would be a terrifying spy because he could see anywhere on The World but his interest is solely captured by space.

Because imaging technology is terrible but magic is superlative, Surenia has a very skewed understanding of the universe compared to other continents. It is known that space has no air, and most planets are composed of a hard stony layer on a core of metal. Since liquid hydrogen hasn’t been invented yet, there is nothing to compare the soul decay rate of farthest gas giants to, so Master Astronomer usually spends hours feeling his soul die in new and amazing ways, while struggling to explain how it feels. Soul sending is also literally hit-or-miss and oftentimes Master Astronomer reports nothing but vacuum. He is fairly sure planets orbit The Star, and believes that other stars are similar to The Star and only appear small because they are very far away, but has no way to prove this because his soul disappears completely after 50 billion miles, closer if it travelled through matter. The only thing preventing Master Astronomer from abandoning his body and sending his entire soul into space is inability to report his findings. Also the previous Master Astronomer sent her entire soul into The Star and the resulting explosion, the signal for confirming The Star is made of hot gas, caused a sunspot that lasted weeks. Even though his eye sockets are rotted out and empty, he is always looking up. 

Other countries know the planets by different names, but in Surenia, the observable planets, from closest to farthest from The Star are named Ash World, Silver World, Iron World, Sulfur World, The World (where everyone lives), Dark World, Dirt World, Ice World, Wood World, Beer World, and Storm World. Beyond that is a dense asteroid field, with more possible planets farther, as reported by the living looking through telescopes. The living and the dead don’t see the universe the same way, but they share their perceptions and knowledge expands. Master Astronomer is yet to confirm their existence, because he hasn’t timed his soul sending well enough to shoot between asteroids and hit a remote planet. His apprentices, who used to be the living working with his telescopes, are also training to send their souls. Lensgrinding Astronomer can send her soul as far as Ice World but the effort is so great that she can’t speak during the ordeal and for hours afterwards. Not very useful for reporting, but she is too stubborn to work less hard. Brownsmith Astronomer has given up on distance sending and instead devotes her soul to making a spectacularly detailed 3D map of the moons. Although all revenants instinctively know how to send their souls, the method for astronomy requires a single large piece of soul to be sustained for a long time outside the body. This is very unintuitive and most revenants see astronomers as great storytellers and/or insane. You can bribe the apprentice astronomers to use their soul sending to find buried objects and read letters without opening them.

Because The World is so far from The Star and has no seasons, the polar regions are gigantic in comparison to Earth. People tend to live near the equator, so the people near the poles must trade for food because their homeland can’t sustain agriculture, and people near Surenia can’t leave without starving. Reliance on trade for basic survival leads to rapid spread of plague. This climate is very good for revenants because those near the equator can dry out to become mummies and revenants near the poles can freeze solid and last forever that way. 

Humans did not evolve on The World naturally. Fossil records show the natural evolution of diverse magical creatures, such as dragons, gryphons, krakens, and unicorns. These are known to be magical because their fossils still hold power. The strata containing magical creature fossils stack normally, but then comes piles and piles of human-creature hybrids. Above this layer, there are no more magical creature fossils and human fossils start appearing. This pattern is consistent all across The World.

The most widely accepted hypothesis is The World used to be populated by magical creatures, but some kind of cataclysm caused them all to transform into humans in a short time frame, most dying from incomplete transformations. Some believe the cataclysm was a deity punishing magical creatures by trapping them in weak human bodies. Others believe the transformation was in response to a huge reduction in Ambient Magic: large powerful magical creatures were sustained by a combination of their own souls and Ambient Magic, and used the last of their magic to transform themselves into beings who could survive on their souls alone. This theory is supported by many magical creatures looking biologically impossible, the impossible creatures found in extremely rare areas of Ambient Magic today, and the sheer willpower of humans in comparison to most animals. In Surenia the most common belief is that a disease caused all the magical creatures to turn human, and people shouldn’t fear the plague because it’s another disease that brings them to an improved state of existence for better surviving on The World. Regardless, everywhere has rumors of angels, mermaids, centaurs, and other beings who survived their half-transformation, but there is no evidence they exist.

The World has two moons: The Moon and Flat Moon. The Moon is spherical, pale green, and perfect. Flat Moon has the dimensions of a sand dollar, is grey, and covered in dents. Flat Moon is also smaller than The Moon and orbits closer to The World. As Flat Moon spins, it and The World leave all sorts of interesting shadows on The Moon. Sometimes light hits Flat Moon head on and it shadows The Moon in a regular crescent. Sometimes both The World and Flat Moon shadow The Moon into an hourglass. Sometimes light hits the edge of Flat Moon and a line cuts The Moon in half. This a free method of timekeeping most revenants have access to, but the phases of the moon are so esoteric and unpredictable, especially since Flat Moon keeps getting hit by comets, most people only need to know if the moon change shape a lot it probably was a lot of time. 

Research from astronomers (not these ones, earlier ones) revealed the reason why revenants can see The Moon. Magical creatures once lived on The Moon, but as they turned into humans, they all suffocated and died. The residual souls left in the bones attract pieces of other souls like a black hole. Astronomers who sent large pieces of soul to the moon report the bones have melded into a single consciousness filled with hatred towards the beings that walk The World as it once did, devouring any souls that draw near to fuel its resurrection. Unfortunately, any astronomer souls powerful enough to reach the moon are also powerful enough to leave when they feel like, and the tiny fragments of souls sent up by regular revenants cost more energy to crush and control than gained from doing so. When this was first discovered, bones with souls littered the surface of the moon in an even layer, but by now the bones with souls have collected into one patch that always faces The World, rolling over thousands of miles as The Moon spins (The Moon is not tidally locked), ironing out any imperfections on the surface. The power of the bones steadily dissipates. You’d expect it to grow more powerful, since there are so many revenants sending their souls, but it costs too much energy to keep moving and draw in more soul fragments. It’s like eating pencil shavings while towering cakes float out of reach. It sucks to be The Moon bones. Some revenants petition feeding The Moon bones so they have enough energy to keep rolling and preserve The Moon’s beauty, but Veilheim legislature has more important things to worry about. You can leverage this non-issue to gain political clout.

Dark World has no mass or substance and a square orbit. This planet absorbs all forms of electromagnetic radiation, and when its orbit intersects with The World’s every 10 years or so, the planets are superimposed and The World goes dark. There is no light and radiant heat cannot be felt. Animals fly into blind panic and the living hide at home. Revenants carry on as usual because they don’t see and feel. This is a good time to steal animals that are usually too fast or aware to catch, and also to loot the living district without getting caught.

[chaoticspacefam]

OC Stats Meme!

Another fun tag from @rainofaugustsith​, thank you! :D Note that my dates/ages are likely off, I’m easily confused by the dating system in Star Wars so do feel free to correct me if they’re wrong hkjgdyugd. Note that my fanfic doesn’t stick rigidly to the canon re: Valkorion/Vitiate’s origins and takeover, though the dates are the same, the actual circumstances do differ for the sake of my narrative (cause it’s fanfiction and I can do what I want within reason and I wanted to do something “different” so yeah! don’t like that then my blog ain’t for youuuu sorry, you go do you and I’ll do me! :D) and I cannot elaborate further than that as of yet without giving spoilers. So yes, Saarai is “very old” in comparison (though not for a Pureblood, she’s still quite young for her species!)  and yes, it is on purpose ;) No pressure to do this, but if you want to great! :D I shall tag @swtorpadawan​ , @resol-nare​ , @koltosaber​ , @a-muirehen​

Name: Aria Saal-Shenly (Ari (to Vano only), Darth Canis, Commander Canis)  Face Claim: N/A, in-game face, though Aria has a streak of blonde dyed into her fringe on the left side which isn’t an option with the in-game customisation, and she also stops hiding the Sith tattoos on her face after the formation of the Alliance. You can see what those look like here in this lovely commission done for me by moonlitalien! :D)  Age: 38 in 3629 BBY if my math is correct (though physically looks about 24 because Force sensitivity and all)  Height: 5 ‘ 1″ or 1.54m  Species: Sith Human  Gender: Female  Birthday: 3667 BBY, I think. I’m awful at working out the dates and I have no idea how the months work in Star Wars but if it were in our universe her birthday would be July 14th and she’d be a Cancer  Residence: Odessen, formally her ship, the Seraphim. Small getaway apartment on Manaan which she shares with her wife.  Marital status/Love interest: Married and Force bonded to my Sith Warrior, Vano.  Good Drink: Aria is partial to alcoholic drinks of all sorts and isn’t particularly fussy, she’ll drink pretty much anything, though the stronger the better. Has a particular fondness for Corellian Whiskey and Arkanian Sweet Milk (on occasion)  Food/snacks: Meal-wise, Aria likes good, hearty food like stews or curries, whatever meat they would make it with in the Star Wars verse, I assume Uxibeast/Bantha and so on? hahaha), snack-wise, she’s partial to bantha jerky but will eat just about anything as long as it’s quick and isn’t too fiddly, the last thing she wants is to have to stop working to eat said snack ;)  Day or Night: Either, Aria doesn’t have a particular preference  Pet: Two Tuk’ata named Chwûq and Taral and a Varactyl (who I still need to find a fitting name for)  Colour: Gunmetal grey  Flower: Oleander, Peony, Snapdragon  Sexuality: Demiromantic pansexual  Body Type: Short, very stocky and extremely square in shape, not curvy at all.  Eye Colour: Dark side amber, naturally heterochromic (left is dark brown, right is grey)  Hair Colour: Raven black with a dyed blonde streak in her fringe

Name: Vano Saal-Shenly (Va (to Aria and Merak only), The Emperor’s Empire’s Wrath (formerly), Commander Shenly)  Face Claim: N/A, in-game face, though Vano is missing her left eye circa The Quinncident, that’s not an option in the in-game customiser so I did the best I could with the scar on her face :))  Age: 41 in 3629 BBY if my math is correct (though physically looks about 27 because Force sensitivity and all)  Height: 6 ‘ 2″ or 1.89m  Species: Mirialan  Gender: Female  Birthday: 3670 BBY, she’d be a Pisces, somewhere around March 7th is jumping out at me for her birthday for some reason. I’ll update these if I ever figure out the month system in SWTOR hahaha  Residence: Odessen, formally her ship, the Razor. Small getaway apartment on Manaan which she shares with her wife.  Marital status/Love interest: Married and Force bonded to my Jedi Consular, Aria. Briefly involved with Xerid Ferral (my Thana Vesh stand-in) in her younger years before being “apprenticed” to Baras  Good Drink: Green tea. Will drink alcohol, but nowhere near as much as Aria, tends to prefer light, fruity wines as opposed to the heavy hitters.  Food/snacks: Meal-wise is not particularly fussy, will eat just about anything as long as she knows it won’t kill her. XD Loves dried fruit (particularly peach and apple or whatever the Star Wars equivalents of those are, I need to look them up properly I admit, it’s been a while hahaha) as a snack  Day or Night: Day  Pet: A Varactyl (in addition to Aria’s, the two Varactyls are also a mated pair) who also also needs a name, technically Chwûq and Taral as well though they are more Aria’s than Vano’s, they do follow and protect Vano as well because they’re almost always together  Colour: Red  Flower: Edelweiss, Tulip, Violet  Sexuality: Bisexual  Body Type: Tall and muscular, but very lithe, about 80% leg and 20% everything else, looks like a sprint-runner.  Eye Colour: Dark brown, nearly black  Hair Colour:  Black

Name: Saarai Ahaszaai (Rai, Lord Rubrum, Empress Ahaszaai)  Face Claim: N/A, in-game face, though she does have a scar across her nose and another on her lip that I forgot to add because I put her through the character creator at like 4am when I should have been asleep and my brain was almost pudding. I will be getting her to the appearance designer on the fleet once she’s done Korriban to add as close of one in as I can XD  Age: 110 in 3629 BBY if my math is correct (which would be the equivalent of a human 25 - 26 year old according to my personal Pureblood lore/age ranges :))  Height: 6 ‘ 3″ or 1.92m  Species: Sith Pureblood  Gender: Female  Birthday: 3739 BBY, if I’m working these out correctly *keyboard smash* She’d be a Scorpio, with her birthday sometime in November  Residence: Odessen, formally Rishii and Dromund Kaas before that  Marital status/Love interest: Canonically married and Force bonded to my friend’s Nautolan Sash, but in the Subterfuge-verse is married to Lana Beniko  Good Drink: Sparkwine  Food/snacks: Bacon (or whatever the Star Wars equivalent is...exoboar fillet? XD), anything with meat in it. Like most Purebloods (in my verse), Saarai is a carnivore, though she can manage small amounts of fruits or veg she usually sticks to meat. Fond of native Korribani and Kaasian cuisine as it’s a reminder of Sith Space, where she has not set foot for many, many years  Day or Night: Night, especially if the sky is clear and she can see the stars  Pet: None  Colour: Dark blue  Flower: Anemone, Carnation, Lotus  Sexuality: Bisexual, but female-exclusive due to a bad past experience with her son’s father. She hasn’t been comfortable letting another man touch her since and never will be.  Body Type: Tall, broad-shouldered and muscular. Slight hourglass shape but very chunky and heavy-set. Literally a tank, not someone you want pelting towards you on the battlefield because she could (and will) run you over but good.  Eye Colour: Sulfur yellow  Hair Colour: Maroon

[womanoflettersinthebunker]

The first thing Sam was aware of was just how much pain he was in, he could barely move his limbs, feeling as if they were being pressed down by weights. There was also a pressure on his chest that made it hard to breathe and whatever breaths he took were rasped and rough. 

The second thing that he was aware of was the fact that he was moving up and down, almost regularly. It was strange enough to make a note of. 

The third was similar to the second, he could take in his surroundings and every breath he took in was accented with sulfur and brimstone, and a very different smell that he breathed in greedily as best as he could. 

Hellfire. Pure, destructive, annihilating hellfire. The smell of damnation, the smell of sin, the smell of the mere promise of years of pain. 

The smell of home. 

"You're finally awake." came a horribly familiar voice. He could remember peering out from behind the legs of whatever current vessel she was in, watching her perform magic, or just the simple observation of how she tortured certain souls. 

"Meg." he managed to mumble, coughing hard when it irritated his throat. Meg wasn't her real name, of course but it was the name of her vessel and she had gotten attached. 

"You and Dean disappear into the earth, no contact, nothing. Then all of a sudden you literally fall right into my lap with a Kurdish Knife lodged in your lung." Meg said, tugging at his hair. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Stuff." Sam got out, trying to force his eyes to open. They almost felt glued shut and he couldn't bring his hand up to rub at them.

"You really should be a bit more friendly with me Sammy, I just saved your life." Meg said, he could feel her hand on his chest. "So let's try again, what happened?"

Sam breathed out slowly, saved his life or not Meg wasn't exactly...the nicest demon. Her hand on his chest meant a lot of things right now. It meant that she saved him and therefore he was in her debt. It meant that without her and her help, he'd be dead.

It meant that if he didn't play nice and give her what she wanted she could easily press down right where her hand was and easily finish what the knife started. 

"We ran into hunters." Sam finally said. "One of them had the knife. He aimed for Dean and I jumped in front of him."

"So Dean sent you home to get all better." Meg mused. "Why didn't he come with?"

"I didn't even know he was doing it." Sam said, trying to sit up but stopping when Meg pressed down on him to keep him in place. Whatever he was laying on was still moving. "What am I on?"

"Take a guess."

Moving his hand as best as he could, he could feel the singeing fur that burned against his skin slightly and then realized it wasn't a weight on top of him but a paw. 

"Hellhound." Sam whispered, falling back onto it and smiling when he felt a nose press into the side of his face. 

"Juliet herself, straight from Crowley's side to yours, not that he's happy about it." Meg confirmed. "She caught your scent and immediately came here to you."

"Good girl, I've missed you too." Sam whispered to her, a small laugh escaping him when he felt the tip of her tongue licks his nose. 

A sharp pain got his attention again as Meg pressed down on the wound on his chest. "You're not done explaining what happened." she said in a sweet voice. 

Sam breathed out and licked his lips. "We found out that in the group of hunters was one called Winchester." he finally confessed. "So Dean and I wanted to make a trap and have some fun. We pretended that I was someone that lost someone to the supernatural and got into his group. Things went...bad."

"Clearly, seeing as you got stabbed." Meg said, her touch lessening over his chest until it was just the tips of her fingers. "And Dean?"

The thought of where his brother was made the stab wound hurt a lot less in comparison to the pain erupting in his heart. "Still there, surrounded by hunters."

"Oh dear, what a predicament." he could almost hear a slight bit of smugness in her voice and if it wasn't for what she did for him, he would've broken her arm already. "Sounds like he's trapped, doubt they'll let him do another opening of the gate."

Her hand left his chest at that but he didn't relax, trying to gather the strength to get up. "I need to go help him." he pressed. 

"You get up, all my hard work will be undone and you'll be dead." Meg told him, humming slightly. He could hear her scratching a rock against the hard ground. "And poor, poor Dean, all alone."

Sam gritted his teeth and tried to force himself up only to be shoved back down by Juliet's paw, pinning him down to her flask. Before he could say anything, Meg continued to speak.

"Why is his name so human, it would be much easier if it was like yours or mine." she complained, the scratching noise continuing against the ground. "But no, your mom had to go with Dean instead of, say, Dantalion, but it just makes the markings of his real name that much harder."

Realization of what she was doing, as well as the telltale sensation of magic pulsating and breaking through the walls of the realms, made him want to simultaneously hug her and almost tear up. There was a ripple between the worlds and this time Sam forced himself to sit up, forced his eyes to open, ignoring all the pain coursing through him.

Just in time to see his brother appear, answering the summoning that Meg had created to bring him back to hell as well. 

"Sammy!" Dean all but exclaimed, throwing himself at his brother. Sam reached for him as well, clinging as hard as he could and ignoring the pain that shot through him.

He didn’t care how much in debt they would be to Meg, they’d figure her out some other time. 

For now, he had his brother back at his side.

He didn’t need anything else.

[transcending-chaos]

I really enjoy your art and find your headcanons for the creatures both interesting and somehow fitting despite there not being a lot of information about them. But I am curious, do you have any headcanons for each tribe in general?

(I got this question a while ago; using it now because my hands hurt too much to draw right now. Thank you for your patience.)

UnderWorlders

Those that live in areas like UnderWorld City, the Lava Pond, or places where the air is largely filled with sulfur gas have less of a sense of smell and taste than most other UWs. Scent isn’t as viable in those regions because it’s largely masked by the gases that spout from the ground. However, because this means that those Creatures have stunted olfactory senses, this is why they typically spice the heck out of their food (and you can sort of smell it in the air once you get used to the sulfur). They can’t taste most things without it, especially sweet-things, so most of their cooking is often really strong -be it simple dishes, to feasts, to really hard alcohol. This lack of taste is especially true in the Creatures that breathe fire, as they have fewer nerves in their mouth and tongues as a whole due to the extreme temperatures their bodies have been made to withstand.

Related to that last point, it’s why their hygiene seems a little lacking in comparison to the other Tribes. While they can certainly feel grime, they don’t smell it as much, and besides, water is a very rare resource for them so they’re not going to waste it with superfluous bathing.

UnderWorlders are strangely possessive of their Humans. Though most don’t outwardly show it (because that broadcasts something that could be used against them), those that have ‘wards’ or connections to Players will absolutely destroy something in order to protect them. If given the opportunity, most UnderWorlders would leap at the chance to have someone study under them (kind of like how Grook did with Kaz), as training is usually a social behavior shared not only among students and teachers, but friendly sparing between family members is somewhat of a culturally sacred thing. However, most are aware that they’d likely kill a Player if this was attempted.

Von Bloot was never a respected leader; his army was made of conscripts and people forced into a situation where they had no other choice. That being said, most are also dissatisfied that Chaor took so long to do something about him, as well as the fact that he wasn’t the one who finally got Von Bloot in the end. There’s a bit of a power-vacuum in the southern UW after he’s gone. 

Some UnderWorlders would swear that they can feel Fire in a few Players. This is part of the reason Chaor has not outright wiped Tom from existence (the other part being that his human is too attached to him). 

Danians

Danians are surprisingly adept at playing music and making instruments. Because of their connection to each other, it’s easy for them to harmonize sounds together and create layered symphonies that are perfectly in time with one another. They specialize in percussion, be it stamping of the feet, steel drums, or humming to make a beat. Also, younger Danians have a tendency to chitter or hum without realizing it. It’s pretty common to find their designated part of the Hive thrumming with sound, even in the dead of night. It’s a calming noise for the soldiers who can’t sleep, as it sounds entirely of contentment, and those with insomnia have a small medical barracks next to it so that they can be lulled asleep.

While uncommon, some Danians crave physical affection. Most have a pretty steely demeanor, but those with softer sides are usually the ones you can find befriending Players. Their culture isn’t too big on affection as a whole, so when encountering Humans (who as a species are aggressively social), it was like striking gold. These Danians tend to favor younger Players, as they are commonly predisposed to protect those they know cannot help themselves. 

Most Battle-Masters have a (mostly) one-way connection to the Hive. They can send out orders, but it’s hard for them to receive messages unless it’s from the Queen or her personal entourage. This is because they often have to make choices that will end up costing lives, and they don’t have the sense of solidarity most other Danian classes do. While many Mandiblors will provide solace to one another because they feel the loss and rift that fallen left behind, Battle-Masters typically don’t. After all, who wants to mourn when you’re the reason that they’re gone? Instead, you need to focus on the next fight and prevent such a thing from happening again.

Needless to say, that last point is a huge contention between Muges in the Hive and the generals. One focusses mainly on how things are connected, while the other is fundamentally incapable of understanding it. 

They detest spiders. All of them. “Nothing holy would create something with that many eyes.”

Mipedians

Typically seen as the most wealthy of the Tribes, Mipedians are totally unmotivated by most commodities, but are very willing to trade for food. As they live in a literal desert, it’s hard for them to grow much of anything, even in the oasis areas. Cactuses are farmed in some places, but for the most part they rely solely on imports. The biggest provider is the OverWorld, and strangely enough, no matter how bad things get between the Tribes, this agreement is never threatened (Maxxor has never considered starving them, nor would he dare entertain the idea; he refuses to punish an entire nation because their leaders aren’t being reasonable) which is a contrast to how how the arrangements between the Mipedians and the other two Tribes. 

Wearing chimes is a very common practice among most ordinary citizens. Not only does the metal heat up nicely in the sun, but it’s a way for parents to hear where their kids are. Most families will have their chimes tuned to a certain chord. Markets and bazaars are not only an amazing experience for the eyes, as seeing glittering scales, silks, and fantastic wares, but also for the ears due to the pleasant clinking of jewelry.

Mipedians have community sunbathing sessions. Towns have them at different times and days from one another, but it’s usually the highlight of the week. Typically, it’s just after the highest point of sun in the sky until dusk (though officials and soldiers leave only after about an hour or two). After that there are campfires in the night and shared potluck styled banquets. It’s great for community morale, as well as a grounding measure for those working in their political structure to see their subjects as people and interact with them as such instead of just ‘subjects.’ If one’s in the desert at night and there’s no breeze, you might hear jovial laughter and smell food on the wind. 

This is also a way of helping guide lost travelers home. It has saved many poor wanderers of all Tribes, and is the one time outsiders won’t be taken into custody immediately. 

OverWorlders

They’re the only Tribe with multiple classes and schools of Muge: Naturalists, Hunes, Archivists, and war-Muges. Naturalists are typically those who rely on elemental abilities, study the connections of the natural world, and believe that everything has innate tethers to the Cothica (something that’s rejected by the other schools). Hunes are primarily scholars or political figures, often trying to find out the nature of Mugic itself, demystify it, as well as create their own sphere of influence in the public. Archivists are like Najarin, where they take a primarily historically and anthropological view of Mugic, the world, and how things have changed. War-Muges are just those who learn to cast in order to use it in battle.

They’re the only Tribe that has territory that has other sovereign nations within it. The Gherix, Zeorn, and a whole host of others all occupy pieces of land within the vast realm, and many have diplomats stationed in Kiru. Also, if the Frozen weren’t ever intended to be a Tribe, I think they were just a society of OW Creatures that lived up higher than Glacier Plains (however it seems like they were meant to be their own thing, but this is kind of what I default to when making AUs where there are other Tribes occupying the 6th and 7th spots).

The monarchy in the OverWorld isn’t a typical monarchy. When in times of war, the council will elect a monarch as a tie-breaking vote that can veto or agree to motions set before them by other groups. Maxxor didn’t get the position because of his father, and in fact, he’s a better politician and negotiator that his dad. His father was a better general and warrior though, and this is something older council members will use to needle him when unhappy with him. 

OverWorlders have a strange superstition when it comes to twins. Many see it as a single entity that was split in half because the whole was “too bright a light to burn on its own” meaning that it likely would have only led a brief life that, while prosperous and happy, would unravel rapidly and severely. Most consider twins a blessing because of this, as it’s seen as a way of sparing the family from having to bury a child earlier than expected. 

Most villages have ‘moon pendulums’, or a set of stones on chains that trace the orbit of the three moons over a huge pit of sand or gravel. It’s essentially a lunar calendar that helps them keep track of the holidays. Some have special stones of different colors or that glow in the dark, just as a way of making sure no one bumps into it at night. 

[sciencespies]

Cleaning up mining pollution in rivers

https://sciencespies.com/nature/cleaning-up-mining-pollution-in-rivers/

Cleaning up mining pollution in rivers

Mining involves moving a lot of rock, so some mess is expected. However, mining operations can continue to affect ecosystems long after activity has ended. Heavy metals and corrosive substances leach into the environment, preventing wildlife and vegetation from returning to the area.

Fortunately, this damage can be reversed. A team of scientists, including UC Santa Barbara’s Dave Herbst, investigated how river ecosystems respond to remediation efforts. The team combined decades of data from four watersheds polluted by abandoned mines. It took creative thinking to simplify the complex dynamics of nearly a dozen toxins on the myriad species in each river.

Ultimately, the team’s clever methodology showed that restoration can improve some of the biggest problems of mining contamination. Their findings, published in the journal Freshwater Science, revealed strategies that worked well as recovery patterns across the four waterways. The results also suggest that regulations need to consider all contaminants together, rather than establish standards on an individual basis.

“There is a big problem that we have with legacy mine sites, not only in the U.S. but worldwide,” said Herbst, a research biologist at the university’s Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL) in Mammoth Lakes. “They are widespread, persistent and long-lasting problems. But the good news is that, with the investment and effort of programs like CERCLA Superfund, we can fix those problems.”

Herbst’s work focused on Leviathan Creek, a Sierran stream 25 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe which is the site of a restoration effort under CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act), also known also as Superfund. The area was mined not for precious metals, but to extract sulfur for making sulfuric acid to process minerals from other sites. The presence of sulfur-bearing minerals made for water that was naturally a bit acidic, but open-pit mining exposed these minerals to the elements. The result was stronger acid that leached trace metals like aluminum, cobalt and iron from the rock into the environment. The combined effects of increased acidity and toxic metals devastated the local aquatic ecosystem.

Sorting out standards

Each mining site produces a unique blend of pollutants. What’s more, different rivers harbor different species of aquatic invertebrate, with hundreds of different types in each stream, Herbst said. This variability made comparisons a challenge.

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So the researchers set to work establishing standards and benchmarks. They decided to track the effect of pollution and remediation on mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies. These groups are critical to the aquatic food web and display a variety of tolerances to different toxins. Rather than compare closely related species, the scientists grouped together animals with shared characteristics — like physical traits and life histories.

Next the team had to make sense of all the pollutants. They quickly realized it wouldn’t be enough to track the toxicity of individual metals separately, as is often done in the lab. It’s the combined impact that actually affects the ecosystem. Furthermore, scientists often measure toxicity based on a lethal dosage. And yet pollution can devastate ecology at much lower concentrations, Herbst explained. Chronic effects, like reduced growth and reproduction, can eliminate species from an area over time without actually killing any individuals.

Given the variety of toxins, the researchers decided on another standard for toxicity: the criterion unit. They defined 1 criterion unit (CU) as the concentration of a toxin that produced adverse effects on growth and reproduction of test organisms. Although the variety of responses makes the CU an approximation, it proved to be a surprisingly robust metric.

The concentration in 1 CU varies from substance to substance. For instance, the researchers used a value of 7.1 micrograms of cobalt per liter of water as a toxic threshold for aquatic life. So, 7.1 ?g/L equals 1 CU of cobalt. Meanwhile, 150 ?g/L of arsenic kept invertebrates from living their best lives, so 150 ?g/L was set as 1 CU of arsenic.

This approach enabled the scientists to compare and combine the effects of completely different toxins, providing a validation of how total toxicity would be expected to occur in nature. So, 7.1 ?g/L of cobalt by itself, or 150 ?g/L of arsenic by itself, or even a combination of 3.55 ?g/L of cobalt plus 75 ?g/L of arsenic all produce a cumulative criteria unit (CCU) of 1, which spells similar problems for aquatic critters however it is reached.

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This combined effect proved critical to understanding the real-world implications of mining pollution because animals are exposed to many toxins at once. “You need to consider these metals together, not individually, when evaluating the toxicity threshold in a field setting,” Herbst said.

So despite the variety of metals at different locations, by expressing toxicity in cumulative criteria units, the scientists could compare across rivers. When total toxicity tops 1 CCU, invertebrate diversity unravels.

Judging their efforts

The team now had their subjects (aquatic invertebrates) and a simple way to measure pollution (the cumulative criteria unit). They also had over 20 years of field data from four watersheds where Superfund clean-ups have been underway. They used unpolluted streams near each river as a baseline to judge how well restoration was proceeding.

The authors found these projects were able to restore rivers to near natural conditions in 10 to 15 years. It was a wonderful surprise. “Regardless of the fact that there were different mining pollutants, different ways of remediating the problem and different sizes of stream, all the projects came to successful outcomes,” Herbst said.

Much of the recovery happened in the first few years of treatment, he added. Since conditions are at their worst in the beginning, even a small effort will make a big difference.

“The other surprising part was the degree of commonality in the responses despite differing contaminants and remediation practices,” Herbst said. The rate of recovery, order in which species returned (based on shared traits), and even the long-term timeframe was similar across all four rivers. These promising results and shared paths suggest that even daunting environmental problems can be solved with proper effort and investment.

Lessons and loose ends

Remediation at the four sites in California, Colorado, Idaho and Montana is ongoing. Many interventions, like treating acidic water with lime, require continuous attention. However, efforts like replacing contaminated soil, setting up microbial bioreactors and revegetating excavated and riparian areas will hopefully make remediation self-sustaining.

And a self-sustaining solution is the goal, because these sites can become inaccessible at certain times of year, leading to variable levels of pollution. For instance, snow prevents access to the Leviathan mine in winter, so remediation can occur only between spring and fall. The spring snowmelt also dissolves more metals, creating worse conditions than during drier times at the beginning of autumn.

Herbst plans to revisit the seasonal aspects of remediation in future research. As for now, he thinks that other abandoned mines should implement remediation and monitoring practices to evaluate the success of restoration.

These exciting discoveries would have been impossible without long-term monitoring at the four locations. “You seldom get monitoring studies of restoration projects that last more than a couple of years,” Herbst said, “which is really a shame because most of them don’t show any kind of response over that short a period of time.”

And the only reason Herbst and his colleagues had these datasets was because they invested the time and resources themselves. “A lot of it is due to the dedication of individual researchers to these projects,” he said. “There are other players that come and go along the way, but as long as there’s some dedicated researcher collecting this data then it will be there in the future for us to base decisions on.”

Aside from the importance of long-term monitoring, the message Herbst hopes the EPA and industry embrace is that we can’t apply water quality standards for toxic metals individually. “We must be applying them collectively according to how they’re acting together,” he said.

Even if individual contaminants are under the required limits, their combined effect could be well over what wildlife can handle. The concept of cumulative criteria units provides a really simple way to account for this: If eight toxins in a stream are all at half of their CU value, they still add up to 4 CCUs.

Bottom line: There is reason to celebrate. “We’re able to demonstrate through this research that these programs can be successful even for the biggest of problems,” Herbst said, “which is exactly what Superfund projects are intended to fix.”

#Nature

[shawnjaden-blog]

There are a few results that be rather pleasing

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[mastcomm]

20 Reds Under $20: Where the Values Live, for Now

The wine world looks a little different now than it did in September, when the last 20 Under $20 column was published, and further radical changes may be on the way.

That’s why this winter edition of 20 great values in red wine, all under $20 a bottle, may be a mural in watercolors, fated to fade quickly should an ill rain blow in.

The source of the volatility is tariffs placed by the United States on certain European wines. As of Oct. 18, the Trump administration put a 25 percent tax on wines under 14 percent alcohol from France, Spain and Germany, excluding sparkling wine. The tariff is a result of a dispute with the European Union over subsidies it gives to Airbus, its largest airplane manufacturer.

The administration has further threatened a 100 percent tariff on all wines from the European Union, as well as certain cheeses, spirits and other consumer goods, if the Airbus dispute is not resolved. Because of a French tax on big technology companies, a similar tariff has been threatened solely on Champagne. Though that one has been tabled, the wider tariff threat still looms.

The effects of the 25 percent tariff are already apparent, particularly on French wines. The value of wine imported from France dropped steeply after the tariff took effect, to roughly $57 million in November from about $130 million in October, according to the American Association of Wine Economists.

Producers, importers, distributors and retailers absorbed much of the price difference at first, and consumers did not see prices rise noticeably in the last quarter of 2019, the busiest time of the year for the wine trade.

In January, however, prices began to increase. What’s more, some importers have held off on new orders of wines, both in hopes that the first tariff would be resolved and out of fear that the next round might come midshipment.

I have long argued that the best values are found in the historic wine cultures of Europe. The astounding diversity of choices far exceeds what’s available in the United States, where a handful of grapes dominate. But this list includes only two wines from France, ordinarily a prime source for distinctive wine values.

Italy is still in the game with six bottles; that will change if the new tariff comes to pass. It will also affect selections from Spain, Portugal, Austria and Greece, which account for another six wines on the list.

Luckily, I found good bottles from Chile, Argentina and South Africa, all of which consumers may soon be exploring in greater depth. And I found three terrific wines from the United States.

The potential reduction in choices is a serious concern for consumers, but it pales next to the grievous harm such a tariff would do to jobs and businesses, including importers, distributors, retailers and restaurants, along with affiliated support workers, not to mention the wine producers themselves. If these companies that do so much to provide choices were to disappear, I’m not sure we would ever again see the wines they once procured.

Right now, however, the market is still full of options. These 20 bottles represent just a snapshot of what’s out there. If you don’t see these precise bottles, ask your merchant for similar choices, or you can consult previous 20 Under $20 columns.

You might see that prices for previous selections have risen. Nonetheless, they all remain pretty good values.

Matthiasson Tendu California Red Wine 2018 $19.99

Matthiasson is one of the most interesting California producers. Steve and Jill Klein Matthiasson understand the value of offering great, moderately priced bottles that are not simply cheap imitations. Tendu is Matthiasson’s value wine. It’s bright and lively, with balancing acidity and a little tannic grip, and it’s made without added sulfur dioxide, a stabilizer that is almost universally used throughout the wine world. The grapes — 47 percent aglianico, 42 percent montepulciano and 11 percent barbera — come from Dunnigan Hills in the northwest portion of the Central Valley.

Luyt Pipeño Carrizal Chile País Familia Ernesto Soto 2019 $18.99/1 Liter

Louis-Antoine Luyt is a French émigré who makes wine in Chile. In addition to his own wines, he works with a set of growers, including Ernesto Soto in the Maule Valley, who make Pipeño, a traditional, refreshing Chilean wine that goes back almost as far as the country itself. This one is made entirely from a very old vineyard of país, better known as mission, the grape brought to the New World by Spanish missionaries. It’s light, fresh and delicious, and goes down very easily. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)

TerraQuilia Falconero Zero I.G.P. Emilia-Romagna Sparkling Red Wine 2017 $18.99

Although it doesn’t carry the official appellation, this is a Lambrusco from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It’s dry, savory and earthy, made from the grasparossa grape, one of the classic Lambrusco varieties. Most Lambrusco is made using industrial methods, but this one is made like a pétillant naturel, the oldest method of sparkling wine production: Midway through fermentation, the juice is bottled, and as the fermentation finishes in the sealed container, the resulting carbon dioxide carbonates the wine. Drink with salumi or pizza. (T. Elenteny Imports, New York)

Poderi Colla Dolcetto d’Alba Pian Balbo 2017 $18.99

Beppe Colla of Prunotto was one of the pillars of the Barolo region. He eventually sold the estate and, with his family in 1994, set up Poderi Colla, which produces superb Barolos and Barbarescos, as well as this excellent Dolcetto d’Alba. It’s understated and elegant, with fragrant floral aromas and flavors of spicy dark fruit. Enjoy this with a good mushroom risotto. (Grand Cru Selections, New York)

Domaine Alary Cairanne La Brunote 2016 $19.99

Domaine Alary is a leading producer in the Southern Rhône commune of Cairanne, an area in the larger Côtes-du-Rhône that was deemed distinctive enough to use its own name rather than the regional appellation. This spicy red — a blend of grenache, mourvèdre and carignan — has plenty of body and character. It’s stylish, balanced and intriguing. (Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, Pa.)

Marietta Cellars North Coast Román Zinfandel 2016 $19.96

This zinfandel, with a little petite sirah and barbera in the mix, is brawny and rich. But like an old-school California zin, it turns spicy on the palate rather than sweet. With plenty of acidity, it’s balanced and refreshing despite its 14.9 percent alcohol scale. The wine is named after Román Cisneros, a longtime employee at Marietta.

Fattoria Rodáno Chianti Classico 2017 $17.96

This is a weighty, intense Chianti, rich and complicated, with a lot going on. It’s not the sort of focused wine that delivers sangiovese flavors with laserlike clarity, but instead is a fascinating collection of fruit, herbal and earthy sensations that nonetheless make for a delicious wine. (Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, N.Y.)

Meinklang Österreich Blaufränkisch 2018 $19.96

Meinklang, in eastern Austria near the Hungarian border, is a consistently excellent producer, and wine is just a part of what it does. The estate is a mixed environment, with animals, grains, fruits and vegetables, farmed biodynamically with an eye toward protecting the soil. The vines benefit from this sort of enlightened approach, as do the wines. This blaufränkisch feels alive in the glass and tastes of violets and plums. (Zev Rovine Selections/Fruit of the Vines, Long Island City, N.Y.)

Domaine de la Grosse Pierre Chiroubles “La Grosse Pierre” 2018 $19.96

Pauline Passot was working as a sommelier in Lyon when she decided that her real calling was to make wine. She returned to her family home in Chiroubles, one of the 10 crus of Beaujolais, and rented vineyard land from her parents. Her first vintage was 2016. The 2018 is so pretty I just wanted to inhale the floral aromas. It’s a gentle, delightful wine. (Weygandt-Metzler)

Viña Zorzal Navarra Garnacha 2017 $10.99

This fragrant, floral red, made from old-vine garnacha, is one of the best deals I have seen in a while. It’s lively and spicy, and while not especially complex, it’s fresh, juicy and offers unexpected nuances. Serve lightly chilled. (Bowler Wine, New York)

Ver Sacrum Uco Valley Garnacha Los Chacayes 2017 $19.99

Ver Sacrum specializes in wines made from Rhône varieties in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Argentine garnacha? This wine, from a high-altitude vineyard in the Uco Valley, will not remind anybody of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It’s not weighty, but light, bright, fresh and juicy. (Brazos Wine Imports, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Ampeleia I.G.P. Toscana Rosso Unlitro 2018 $19.99/1 liter

Ampeleia, on the coast of Tuscany, is a collaboration of three friends, including Elisabetta Foradori, the wonderful grower-producer from the Trentino region in northern Italy. The Unlitro is a liter of beautifully fragrant, graceful and light wine that is intense and full of flavor. It’s made from a blend of grapes: grenache, carignan, mourvèdre, alicante bouschet and sangiovese. Yes, it almost sounds like a blend from the south of France, yet this wine offers a distinctly Italian interpretation. (Bowler Wine)

Kokkinos Naoussa Xinomavro 2015 $19.99

Newcomers to the xinomavro grape, seeking reference points to describe its characteristics, will often point to the nebbiolo wines of northwestern Italy. This xinomavro from Naoussa in northern Greece suggests the comparison is apt. The dark tarlike fruit, acidity and firm tannins are reminiscent of nebbiolo, yet there’s also a brightness that is xinomavro’s own. Serve it with — what else? — lamb chops. (Verity Wine Partners, New York)

Mateus Nicolau de Almeida Trans Douro Express Douro Baixo Corgo 2018 $19.99

Mateus Nicolau de Almeida’s family once owned the Ramos Pinto port house, which was sold eventually to Louis Roederer. Mr. de Almeida turned to making dry, unfortified wines that would express the various terroirs of the Douro. This bottle comes from the western Douro, and is made from a blend of familiar port grapes like touriga nacional and touriga franca, among others. It’s fragrant and lively, with fresh, almost exotic fruit flavors grounded by a pleasing earthiness. (Bowler Wine)

Onabay Vineyards North Fork of Long Island Cabernet Franc Côt-Fermented 2016 $19.96

The name of this juicy, herbal, balanced wine, Côt-Fermented, is a pun that requires maybe more explanation than it’s worth, but here goes. It’s a blended wine, 90 percent cabernet franc and 10 percent malbec. The grapes are fermented together, or co-fermented. Côt, pronounced coe, is the local Loire Valley name for malbec, and this wine is made in a Loire style, lighter on its feet than many Bordeaux-style cab francs, not to mention North Fork renditions. Côt-fermented indeed.

Storm Point Swartland Red Blend 2018 $16.99

This wine from the Swartland region, northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, is a homage to the red blends of the south of France. It’s 56 percent cinsault, a workhorse grape that is getting more attention and care these days, with the remainder syrah and carignan. It’s fruity yet lithe, underlined with light tannins. (Vine Street Imports, Mount Laurel, N.J.)

Tiberio Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2017 $19.99

Tiberio has become one of my favorite producers in the Abruzzo region of southeastern Italy. The whites are superb, and so is this bright, vibrant entry-level red, with earthy minerality, a touch of welcome bitterness and a light tannic grip. (The Sorting Table, Napa, Calif.)

Ioppa Colline Novaresi Nebbiolo 2018 $17.99

Good nebbiolo doesn’t just come from the Langhe. All over the northern Piedmont, higher altitude nebbiolo wines, often easier to consume when young than those from the Langhe, come from areas like Ghemme, Gattinara and Colline Novaresi, just to name a few. This one — from Ioppa, a small, family operation based in Ghemme — is just plain delicious, emphasizing the easy-drinking, dark-fruited side of nebbiolo. (Grand Cru Selections)

Hermanos de Peciña Señorío de P. Peciña Rioja Cosecha 2018 $15.99

This is an entry-level bottle from one of my favorite Rioja producers. It’s made from the estate’s youngest vines, which are still around 25 years old, and unlike more ambitious Riojas, it is not aged in oak, which leaves it fresh, fruity and immediately accessible. It’s a balanced, refreshing expression of tempranillo from a good Rioja terroir. (Polaner Selections)

Monje Tenerife Tinto Tradicional 2016 $19.99

The scattering of volcanic islands just off the southwest coast of Morocco known as the Canary Islands produces wonderful wines that are often great values. This one comes from Monje, a good family estate on Tenerife, in the center of the chain. It’s made largely of the listán negro grape, blended with a little negramoll and some listán blanco, a white grape better known as palomino. It’s lovely and slightly exotic with the barest tannic grip. (Bowler Wine)

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[writinggeisha]

Reading a good book might seem as natural as breathing. Writing one? Not so much. Writers often labor over words, including breath and breathing.

Before proceeding, let’s look at the differences between breath and breathe.

Breath [noun—short ea as in wealth and soft th as in truth]: the air taken into or expelled from the lungs during respiration

Breathe [verb—long ea as in tease and hard th as in writhe]: to take air into and then expel from the lungs; to respire

If you have trouble keeping the words straight, remember that the verb breathe ends with an e, and verb contains an e.

Throughout this post, breath and breathing can often be interchanged.

Emotion Beats

The way characters breathe, or don’t breathe, shows their emotions.

Alarm, anxiety, concern, dread Holding one’s breath Shallow, fast breaths

Anger, rage Noisy breathing Loud speech with short breaths between sentences

Anguish, depression, despair Hyperventilation Shaky, shallow breaths

Annoyance Breath holding Berating someone else for breathing or chewing too loudly

Attraction, desire Breath holding Fast breaths

Calmness, patience, peacefulness, serenity Quiet, breathy voice Deep, relaxed breaths

Confidence Puffed-out chest Deep, relaxed breaths

Disbelief Short gasp Holding one’s breath for a moment

Emotional distress, pain Labored breathing Hyperventilation Envy, jealousy Breathing through clenched teeth Muttered insults under one’s breath

Fear, fright, terror Holding breath Shallow, rasping breaths

Frustration Holding breath Rapid expulsion of air

Guilt Deep breaths Uneven breathing

Happiness, satisfaction Breathy giggles Deep, relaxed breathing

Hatred Loud breathing Short, rapid breaths through flared nostrils

Hopefulness Deep breaths Breath holding

Impatience Releasing a pent-up breath Loud breathing

Infatuation, love Deep breaths Checking one’s breath behind a raised hand

Insecurity Slumped posture, shallow breathing Checking one’s breath behind a raised hand

Irritation Noisy inhalations through nostrils Pulling in a huge breath and holding it

Nervousness, worry Quick, shallow breaths Inhaling through nostrils and exhaling through pursed lips

Overwhelm Labored breathing, panic attack Loud exhalation accompanied by low moan

Paranoia Short, shallow breaths Holding one’s breath

Pride, self-satisfaction Deep breaths Puffed-out chest

Relief Sighing Releasing a large pent-up breath

Scorn Puffed-out chest Exhaling with a pfft sound Shock, surprise Breathless voice Sudden audible inhalation through mouth

Unease Humming under one’s breath Breathing that keeps time with a song playing in one’s mind

Adjectives

Labored? Effortless? Panic-stricken? An asthmatic’s breathing will differ from that of an athlete or a nervous job applicant.

As you peruse this list of descriptors, bear in mind that many are opinion adjectives.

A Abdominal, abortive, abrupt, absent, accidental, acrid, agonized, agonizing, alcoholic, angry, anguished, anticipatory, apathetic, apprehensive, aromatic, asthmatic, audible, automatic, autonomic

B Bad, bated, bibulous, bitter, blissful, blistering, bloody, blustery, boozy, brisk, brittle, bug-free, bug-infested

C Calculated, calm, carefree, careful, carnivorous, carrion, casual, cautious, chest-swelling, choking, clammy, clattery, cloying, condescending, confident, congested, conscious, constrained, contemptuous, convulsive, cool, crisp, croaky

D Dank, decisive, deep, deliberate, demonic, desperate, despondent, difficult, dispassionate, dispirited, dolorous, dramatic, drawn-out, dry

E Easy, effortless, emotionless, energizing, ephemeral, erratic, euphoric, exaggerated, exasperated, excruciating, exhilarating, expectant, experimental, explosive, extended, exuberant, exultant

F Faint, fainting, fearful, feeble, fervent, fetid, fiery, final, first, fitful, flaming, fleeting, foamy, forced, foul, fragmented, fragrant, frantic, frenzied, fresh, frigid, frosty, frothy, full, fusty, futile

G Gagging, gaseous, gasping, gentle, germy, ghastly, glottal, gratifying, greedy, grim, groaning, gulping, gusty, guttural

H Hacking, half-hearted, harsh, hasty, haunting, heady, heavy, histrionic, hoarse, hopeful, hot, humid, hurried, hushed, husky, hysterical

I Icy, impatient, impotent, inaudible, indifferent, indignant, indistinct, ineffectual, instinctive, intentional, intermittent, intoxicating, invigorating, involuntary, irregular

J to L Jerky, jittery, jubilant, labored, laborious, languid, last, lazy, lengthy, lethargic, light, lingering, liquor-laced, listless, long, long-suffering, loud, lusty, luxurious

M to O Malodorous, mechanical, meditative, melancholy, melodramatic, moaning, much-needed, mucousy, muffled, nasty, natural, nauseating, nervous, noiseless, noisy, noxious, obvious, odious, offensive, off-putting, ominous, optimistic

P Pained, pain-free, painful, painless, panicky, panic-stricken, panting, peaceful, pent-up, plaintive, pleasurable, polluted, portentous, potent, powerful, preliminary, premature, preparatory, prolonged, pronounced, protracted, pungent, purposeful, putrid

Q and R Quick, rabid, racking, ragged, rancid, rank, rapid, rapturous, rasping, raspy, rattling, raw, reflex, refreshing, regular, relaxed, repugnant, repulsive, resolute, restorative, resurgent, retching, reticent, revitalizing, revolting, rhythmic, robust, rotten, rousing, rueful, rushed

Sa to Sn Saccharine, salty, satisfying, self-confident, self-important, serene, shaky, shallow, sharp, shrill, sibilant, sickening, sickly, silent, slight, slow, sluggish, smoky, smooth, snobbish, snotty

So to Sy Sobbing, sober, soft, sonorous, sooty, sorrowful, sour, spasmodic, spicy, spiritless, sporadic, sputtering, squeaky, staccato, stale, steady, steadying, stealthy, stertorous, stinky, stomach-churning, subdued, sub-glottal, sudden, sullen, supercilious, sweet, syrupy

T Tense, tentative, terse, testy, theatrical, thin, throaty, tight, timid, timorous, tiny, torpid, torturous, toxic, tranquil, tremulous, turbulent

U Uncontrolled, uneasy, unenthusiastic, unfettered, unholy, unimpeded, unpleasant, unruffled, unsatisfying, unstable, unsteady, unworried, useless

V to W Vexed, vile, visible, vital, voluntary, walloping, warm, wary, weak, weary, welcome, whimpering, whooping, whopping, wintry, wistful, woozy

Friedrich inched toward the end of the dark tunnel, and pushed the cover with a tentative palm. Frischluft! Gott sei Dank! He swallowed his first breath of freedom in his new country.

Even if you don’t know a word of German, you’ll understand the analogy of freedom to fresh air.

Here are a few more idea-starters:

Cloyingly sweet, like honey mixed with maple syrup

Convulsive as a newborn’s first gulps of air

Crisp as a winter wind

Laborious as a mountain climber’s gasps at high altitude

Like a sofa cushion wheezing under the weight of a sumo wrestler

Like a tire hissing its way to pancake status

Like a whisp of morning mist

Like ill-tuned bagpipes

Like the puffs of an accelerating steam engine

Like the rhythmic whoosh and clunk of a blacksmith’s bellows

Noisy as a pressure-relief valve

Shrill as a dentist’s drill

Welcome as fresh air to a pearl diver breaking the surface of the sea

Wheezier than an asthmatic without an inhaler

With a snore that rumbles the rafters like an earthquake

Scents

Wordsmiths often include the scent of breath by making figurative comparisons. Just about anything a person eats, tongues, inhales, or stuffs in the mouth will transfer its scent.

This list contains a sampling of figurative and literal comparison starters.

A to C Acetone, another man, another woman, apples, an ashtray, an autopsy, a baby’s bellybutton, a bar, beef jerky, bratwurst, Brussels sprouts, bubblegum, cannabis, a cesspit, cherry pie, cigarette butts, compost, cough syrup

D to N Dead [fill in the blank], death, dirty bath towels, dog breath, espresso, an ex-girlfriend’s lipstick, expectorant, fish, glue, a horse’s butt, a hospital, kitty litter, limes, Mary Jane, meatballs with gravy, medicine, a moldy public shower, a nursing home, nutmeg

O to T Onions, oranges, oysters, pepper, rancid cheese, road kill, rotten meat, rotten socks, sauerkraut, snuff, something dead, sour milk, spice, strawberries, sulfur, tacos, tequila, a toilet

See also the Scents sections of 600+ Ways to Describe Beards and 800+ Ways to Describe Chins.

Verbs (1) Transitive

A patient’s shallow breathing could alarm her doctor or disquiet a visitor. A wounded soldier’s breath might seep through his teeth. The breath of a man in a snowstorm will warm his hands.

Commonality: each verb or verb phrase requires a direct object, as do those in the following list.

A to C Alarm, billow (across, into, over, through), blow (across, into, over, through), bubble (from, out of, over, through), burst (from, out of, through), caress, come in, concern

D to F Disquiet, distend, drift (from, out of, over, through), erupt (from, out of), explode (from, out of), flood, flow (from, out of, through), foam (out of, through), froth (from, out of, over, through)

I to W Intoxicate, puff (across, into, over, through), seep (from, out of, through), surge (from, out of), tickle, trickle (from, out of), unnerve, unsettle, waft (across, into, over, through), warm, weave (across, into, over, through), whoosh (across, into, over, through), worry

Verbs (2) Intransitive

When included in verb phrases, many intransitive verbs become transitive. For example: His breath rattled. In this sentence, rattled stands alone (intransitive). His breath rattled in his chest. What did his breath rattle in? It rattled in his chest. Rattled in is a transitive verb phrase.

A to W Bugle, burble, catch, cease, escape, fail, freeze, gurgle, halt, hitch, pause, quicken, rattle, reek, resume, smell, stink, stop, whistle

Verbs (3): Verbs that Take Breath or Breathing as an Object

These verbs and verb phrases represent what characters can do with or to their breath/breathing or that of others. For example: She fought for breath. The nurse listened to the baby’s breathing. The scarf muffled his breath. He suppressed his breathing.

B to L Block, catch, cease, check out, control, cover up, crave, draw (in), exhale, fight for, force out, freshen, gasp, gulp, heave, hinder, hold, huff, impede, inhale, let loose, let out, listen to, lose

M to T Monitor, muffle, muzzle, need, notice, obstruct, puff out, release, save, snuff out, spit out, squeeze (from, out of), stifle, stop, struggle for, suck in, suppress, take (away), trap

Nouns

Too many repetitions of breath and breathing in your WIP? Consider alternatives:

A to W Choke, exhalation, expiration, gasp, gulp, hiss, huff, hyperventilation, inhalation, lungful, morning miasma, mouthful of air, pant, puff, rattle, snore, snort, snuffle, splutter, wheeze, wind

Props

Try to develop a storyline or subplot with one or more of the following props.

# 911 call

A and B Aromatherapy, asbestos, aspiration, asthma inhaler, bad news, bee allergy, belching, bitter almond odor [evidence of cyanide poisoning], breath spray, breathalyzer, bronchitis, brown bag [for puffing into during hyperventilation attack], burglary

C to G Cayenne pepper, chest cold, choking, cold hands [blowing on them], COPD, corset, cough syrup, cystic fibrosis, decaying teeth [bad breath], dental braces, dental bridge, dental retainer, dentist, diaphragm, free diving, girdle, goldenrod

H to P Halitosis, haunted house, Heimlich maneuver, high-altitude training, hyperventilation, ketoacidosis [possible diabetes], lung cancer, lung transplant, marathon race, meditation, mountain climbing, mouse, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, muffler, organ donor, oxygen mask, panic attack, peanut allergy, plastic bag, plugged nose, pneumonia

R to Y Rescue breath, scarf, scuba mask, shortness of breath, ski mask, smog, snake, snorkel, spider, strep throat [bad breath], stressful situation, suffocation, tantrum, tax audit, tongue piercing, tonsillitis [bad breath], tuberculosis, Valsalva maneuver [scuba diving], ventilator, wasp allergy, yoga

See also the Nouns section of 600+ Ways to Describe Lips and Mouths.

Clichés and Idioms

A search for “living, breathing” and “living and breathing” at Google produces millions of search results—strong evidence that writers should avoid phrases such as the following:

A living and breathing culture

A living and breathing document

A living, breathing being

A living, breathing monster

Opt instead for descriptors such as alive, animate, aware, conscious, reactive, responsive, sentient, or vibrant.

Included way too often by some writers are characters releasing a breath they didn’t realize they had been holding. More than a couple of times per novel, and readers will notice.

Here are a few more overused phrases, with suggested replacements.

A breath of fresh air [adj.]: different, innovative, new, refreshing

Below one’s breath [adv.]: discreetly, softly, quietly

Breathe one’s last [verb]: die, expire, perish

Get one’s breath back [verb]: rally, rebound, recover

In the next breath [adv.]: immediately, next, then

In the same breath [adv.]: concurrently, instantaneously, simultaneously

Out of breath [adj.]: breathless, gasping, winded

Speak under one’s breath [verb]: mumble, murmur, mutter

Take a breather [verb]: chill, relax, rest

Take one’s breath away [verb]: astonish, awe, shock, surprise

Waste of breath [adj.]: futile, pointless, useless

With bated breath [adj.]: anxious, eager, excited

With every breath [adv.]: continuously, incessantly, nonstop

[amootiranian724-blog]

Urea Supplier

Urea Supplier

Nitrogen plays an important role in the protein development process of plants. Urea has the highest nitrogen content of all solid nitrogenous fertilizers in common use. It is widely used in fertilizers and is an important raw material for the chemical industry.

Fertilizer Urea:

Amoot Iranian Trading Company is well known as one of the prominent exporters of Iran Fertilizer Urea and supplier of Turkmenistan Urea to India and some African countries for more than one decade. Exporting over 500,000 MT of Urea fertilizers proves the reliability and validity of our company in this regard.

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Amoot Iranian is a customer-oriented company that does its best to gain credit through paying attention to all its customers’ needs and preferences in terms of shape (Prilled or Granular), packing (50kg bags, bulk or Jumbo/big bags. As Urea is an expensive essential and useful nutritious fertilizer for plants, it is popular in the agricultural industry and has a high rate of consumption worldwide. Amoot Iranian tries to make its customers’ gardens flourishing and increase their production efficiency by supplying the best quality Urea fertilizer along with delivering it with its initial quality maintained. With all the experience attained in Fertilizer Urea logistics including purchase, loading, shipping, discharging, packing and etc., Amoot Iranian staff are fully aware of the possible issues which may harm Urea quality since production until being delivered to the end user, hence Amoot Iranian considers and implements all the relative concerns to avoid them.

Urea with the chemical formula of CH4N2O has a white & solid appearance. The melting point of urea is 132 °C and its density is 1.33 g/cm³.

Urea fertilizer has no danger in normal conditions and is not categorized in dangerous goods. In case of temperature increase, Urea fertilizer may change to carbon dioxide and ammonia and if burnt burning it makes a little nitrogen oxide which is a toxic gas. Touching Urea fertilizer may be harmful to human body organs. The most significant problems urea may cause for human organs includes as follows:

Eyes: If Urea reaches the eyes, it makes them red and irritated but does not hurt the main part of the eye.

Skin: It may make the skin itchy and irritated.

Inhalation: makes irritation in nose and throat and cause respiratory problems.

Eating: cause the digestive system discomfort and usually makes nausea and vomiting.

The dosage of Urea fertilizer used must be carefully controlled, since applying an extra amount of urea may change the growth pattern of the plants and it may even have very negative effects on the plants and make them noxious. Urea is extremely soluble so if it pours in the sea in large scale, pollution of beach and sea is possible. Also, the dust made by moving urea may make air pollution. As a result, it is recommended to consider careful displacement and storing of urea in order to prevent subsequent air, soil, sea, and environmental pollution.

More than 90% of urea production in the world is used as nitrogen-containing chemical fertilizer. In its general usage, urea has the highest amount of Nitrogen among all the solid nitrogenous fertilizers (46.7%). Thereby applying urea is the most economically efficient.

Urea hydrolyzes to Ammonia and carbon dioxide in the soil. The Ammonia which is the result of this process oxidizes to Nitrate by the bacteria in soil and it is then absorbed by the plants. Urea in many cases is used in the multi-component formulation of solid fertilizers.

As urea is extremely soluble in water, it is appropriate to be used in fertilizer solutions )Such as combination with Ammonium Nitrate in form of UAN). Granular urea fertilizer can be distributed easier because of the small size of its particles so it is better than the Prilled Urea and this makes an advantage for the mechanical program. The most common impurity of Urea is biuret which reduces the plant growth.

The major problem with Urea fertilizer is that it may be washed by water easily as it is highly soluble in water, for example, if the plants receive more water than they need by rain or during irrigation, the urea may be washed and removed from the soil. Especially when the soil is sandy, the extra amount of water would wash the Urea fertilizer much more and easier. Therefore the receiving amount of water for the plants that have received Urea fertilizer should be thoroughly monitored.

Another type of common urea fertilizer is sulfur-coated urea. As Urea is highly soluble, the sulfur is applied to make a cover on Urea particles. This kind of fertilizer is less soluble and its nitrogen will be released gradually.  So if the sulfur-coated urea is exposed to a high amount of water, the Nitrogen cannot be washed easily. Sulfur-coated Urea is more expensive in comparison to Urea fertilizer. Hence it is often recommended for decorative flowers and plants, the plants which are exposed to a high amount of rain and water or those that would be economically reasonable.

Nitrogen is the most important nutritive element in nourishing of fruit trees which helps the trees to grow. Nitrogen is effective in growth, flowering, fruit forming, fruit ripening, and Physiology issues after harvesting of most of the gardening products. It plays an important role in making protein compounds, amino acids and carbohydrates. Also, the amount of Nitrogen affects the color of fruits. Since the young parts of fruit trees which are growing up needs Nitrogen a lot, Nitrogen in the plant is highly moving and transfers to the younger parts of the plant. It is very effective in flowering which leads to improvement in fruit formation and efficiency. Nitrogen is also very helpful in fruit ripening so if it is added more than the necessary amount it causes excessive fruit ripening and reduces the fruits storage lifetime. Nitrogen-rich manure increases the fruit size which is the indirect effect of Nitrogen on fruit volume.

It should be considered that extra amount of Nitrogen disturbs fruit color (especially in apple trees). Overuse of Nitrogen increases the weed growth in fruit gardens and reduces plant resistance against pests and diseases.

Some other effects of Nitrogen on plants may be specified as follows: production and expansion of starchy parts of the plant, improving growth of green parts of the plants like leaves, increasing the plant foliage, and enhancing the efficiency and product size.

Global experts report spraying Nitrogen solutions on fruit trees, especially citrus fruits is particularly efficient and beneficial. Some researches believe that spraying Urea in summer is more effective than applying Nitrogen to the soil as it increases the fruit formation, their size, and overall efficiency. Spraying Nitrogen on orange trees in Washington resulted in the increase in the number of produced oranges, brix, vitamin C and fruit size as well as the decrease of fallen fruits.  Also applying Urea fertilizer to them reduces the number of oranges that fall down from the tree.

When the reproduction period of the trees starts, activity and absorbed by the root of tree decreases it is recommended to compensate nutrients shortage with spraying such as Urea fertilizer to the soil or on the plant which helps the trees and provide all the necessary nutrients for them. The best temperature for the highest urea penetration in plant leaves is 19 to 28 degrees of centigrade. The permeability of citrus leaves depends on the age of the leaf. When leaves become 3 to 7 weeks old, Urea penetration reduces in comparison to the first week.

Whenever the plant’s root doesn’t absorb enough nutrients, spraying Urea solution on the leaves shall begin. When the tree doesn’t absorb enough nutrients, it may be due to the plant itself or the soil. Sometimes the effect of nutrients is more if they are sprayed as a solution on the plant rather than being applied directly to the soil.

Another important point is that before adding Urea fertilizer as the source of Nitrogen to the soil, it is better to measure the amount of Nitrate in groundwater. If the amount of Nitrate in groundwater exceeds the allowed amount, 45 milligrams per liter, it is not recommended to add Urea fertilizer to the soil because of consequent health issues which may occur.

According to an investigation conducted in California in order to compare the effect of spraying Nitrogen on the plants vs. applying it to the soil for finding out how they affect the amount of used fertilizer, the amount of water that moves to groundwater, and the function of the plants. The result demonstrated that spraying Nitrogen has the same effect on the plants that applying Urea fertilizer to the soil does. Sometimes even spraying the Urea on the plant is more effective than adding it to the soil. When Nitrogen is sprayed on the plant, there is less risk for the Nitrogen to be washed by water but enough amount of Nitrogen shall be used. Added Nitrogen to the soil may be washed easily by the extra amount of water.

It was reported that in Washington (1999), by just spraying Urea fertilizer (containing 160-gram Nitrogen for each tree) once in winter before the time of flowering, a great increase was observed in products’ size and number. Hence it even influences the size of oranges and makes them bigger.

Citrus leaves absorb more Urea in comparison to other sources of Nitrogen like Ammonium or Nitrate because non-polar molecules of Urea may be absorbed easier by the leaves in comparison with polar molecules. The result proves that absorption of Urea fertilizer through being sprayed on the plants is more than the absorption occurred through the soil. It was also observed that 40% to 70 % of the Urea is absorbed by the plant when it is sprayed on the tree. By adding Urea fertilizer to the soil, merely 28% of it is absorbed by the plant that is a low proportion.

Spraying Urea fertilizer during November to February is very effective. Reports state spraying Urea fertilizer in October and January increases the size of fruits.

The following symptoms may help you discover that your plants need more Nitrogen:

Any kind of pause or stop in plant growth, and decrease of produced fruits

Pale leaves (changing the color of them from green to yellow or pale green), especially when old leaves become pale

In case enough Nitrogen is not added to the plant, younger leaves also become pale, yellow and younger leaves stop growing and remain small. When there is a severe shortage of Nitrogen, old leaves fall down sooner, stems become very thin, dark, and strict. In this situation the fruits become pale, flowers do not grow and remain small or even fall. For instance, cucumbers get pale, curved with a narrow tip without receiving enough Nitrogen. Moreover, they become short either. Shortage of Nitrogen makes the root grow more than the stems and if this continues, the growth of root also stops, it turns brown and the plant dies. To solve overcome this issue, it is better to spray Urea fertilizer (200-500 gram in 100 liters of water) on the plants during sunset or sunrise once in two weeks.

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[yahooin-travel-inspirations]

Hike this active volcano before dawn to see its electric blue flames light up the sky

There’s beauty and madness in hiking in the dark: beauty because you are free from seeing, literally, the difficulty ahead — and madness because you can’t spot your foot let alone your next step. Yet, on a recent pitch-black morning, that’s the juxtaposition my husband and I faced as we scaled the side of Kawah Ijen, an active volcano in Indonesia’s East Java that soars some 9,100 feet into the air, with a crystal-blue sulfuric lake smack in the center of its 2,369-foot-wide crater.

As we started on the steep path from the parking lot, a single dim headlamp between us, I turned to my husband and whined, “This better be worth it.”

It was.

There were points along the path — which, by Indonesian standards, was quite safe — that I thought I might quit. That I needed to quit. I stumbled in the dark, and lost my breath more often than I caught it. I even begged my husband to go ahead of me to spare me the shame of struggling so much to ascend to the summit of this massive mountain that I couldn’t see.

Sulfur miners, who handily walk the same path every morning before sunrise to scour the lake for hunks of sulfur, passed me on their way down. Some pointed and laughed at my exhaustion. I considered turning around, embarrassed and at times questioning my sanity.

Then, the sunrise peeked out from behind two nearby mountains, and a pink line, straight as a ruler, reached out across their peaks. Above that line, the trees shimmered in fuchsia light; below it, they remained cast in complete darkness. It was the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen, and in that light I found my way to the top.

I rounded a bend and the thick clouds — paired with the pungent smell of sulfuric acid — hit me before I could make out the drop of the crater’s rim. But there it was: a jagged, 660-foot-deep pit, with a still pool of water the color of a White Walker’s ice-blue eyes. With a sulfuric acid concentration of 0.13, the lake is too treacherous to touch or to sail, but from above, perched uncomfortably on the edge of a white-washed, sandy rock, the lake looks serene, as if an idyllic afternoon could be spent on its calm waters, in the safety of a canoe.

A post shared by @armmycrazii on Jul 19, 2018 at 4:31am PDT

Related: 6 Hikes That Will Take You Around the World

In the light of the sun — or perhaps in the intoxication of the sulfur fumes — I came to see the trek not as treacherous but as thrilling.

Less than 24 hours before, my husband and I had ascended to the rim of another active volcano: Mount Bromo, a 7,641-foot-tall crater in the center of what the Indonesians call Lautan Pasir, or “Sea of Sand.” Indeed, the flat plain on which our jeep parked was a desert in the middle of the lush jungle that is Java, so gritty and windy it was almost alien-like. From there, we hiked up a feeble staircase to the top of the mountain, where a knee-high railing separated us from the black lava bubbling below. Mount Bromo last erupted in 2015, closing climbing; Ijen has remained quiet since 1999.

There, the path around the rim was, at some points, just a foot wide, with two-way traffic — eager Instagrammers angling for a shot among more experienced hikers — making the trail feel even thinner, more dangerous, despite the daylight. The railing protected us from the lava, but left us exposed to the backside of the rocky mountain, just a single misstep to a quick but surely painful death. Ijen, then, by comparison, was more much peaceful and calming.

Back on Ijen’s rim, I turned to my husband. “This was worth it,” I said. “It really, really was.”