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Re: I need advice

From:Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>
Date:Wednesday, June 4, 2003, 11:23
How annoying it is to see a list like this, and find that there is exactly
_one_ term one does not understand! Aak! What is a "graser"?

My bookshelf sports a book I figure Sarah Marie might like for this - the
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Astronomy, which despite the name also covers
avionics and astronautics. If you can find it, it shouldn't be particularly
expensive - it says $12.95 on it (I go my ex for ~$6 at a special offer).

                                                           Andreas

PS I could, of course, supply more terms. Some that strikes me at the moment
are:

comet
galaxy
quasar
magnetar
quark star
meteor
meteorite
meteoroid
planet
gravity well
black dwarf (cooled former red or brown dwarf, also used of cooled white
dwarfs; there's also black (=cooled) neutron stars.)
binary star
pulsar
occlusive variable
cosmic background radiations
spiral arm (of spiral galaxy)
Seyfert galaxy
dark matter (comes in hot and cold varieties)
dark energy
nova
supernova
hypernova
recurrent nova
metallicity (percentage of non-hydrogen non-helium stuff in an object)


Quoting Wesley Parish <wes.parish@...>:

> // Space-ship stuff: > hull, body ( I doubt fuselage applies) > radiator > air-lock > pressure seals ( I know, IK, IK, you could use "Pressure Walruses", but > your > average reader isn't in on the joke ;) > thrust > rocket > solid fuel > liquid fuel > oxidizer > liquified oxygen ( a.k.a. LOX) > space drive > ionic drive > plasma drive > reactor core > pressure hull > orbit > radiation sickness > radiation pressure > ionizing radiation > x-radiation > gamma radiation > cosmic rays > escape velocity > re-entry > thermal blanket > braking thrust > ablation > plasma > laser > maser > graser > ionosphere > stratosphere > van allen belts > magnetic fields > solar wind > radiation shielding > solar sails > // stars > red giants (eg, Betelgeuse) > blue giants > main sequence > white giants (eg, Vega) > orange dwarfs ( eg, the Sun) > red dwarfs (eg, Proxima Centauri) > brown dwarfs > white dwarfs > neutron stars > black holes > // non-stellar bodies > asteroids > kuiper objects > gas giants > > You could probably also pop along to nasa.gov and have a look there for > a > glossary. I'm sure they've got one, though I've never looked for it. > > Dobre chut! > > Wesley Parish > On Wed, 04 Jun 2003 19:18, you wrote: > > I am going to write a story about insane auxlangers. Well, it's not > JUST > > about the auxlangers, but the auxlangers and their legacy are > featured > > prominently. I need to come up with two things: first, a > more-or-less > > universal alphabet that can represent more or less all of the sounds > in > > English, Chinese, Arabic, Hindu, and Russian (as well as 12 other > alien > > languages I haven't had time to really think through) and will be > extremely > > easy to read. Second, two lists of absolutely vital words (one for > > emergencies and really critical operations in an interstellar > commercial > > transportation environment, the other for really common words that > won't > > make it to the first list but will still be useful). I thought about > going > > to that auxlang list, but it sounds like a frightening place. Anyway, > I'm > > pretty sure that I can use the Basic English and universal concepts > word > > lists that have been talked about here and elsewhere, but I need some > kind > > of information about how to interpret th! ose crazy sound charts > > (X-SAMPA???) and what kinds of sounds exist, made by living beings, > that > > aren't quantifiable using those charts. I'm hoping that I'll need > less > > than 200 symbols for that part -- anyone care to dash my hopes early > enough > > in this game that I can come up with some other key plot point? Also, > for > > those who are into either space stuff or sci-fi stuff, is there a list > out > > there of the kinds of terms and parts-of-a-ship that are necessary for > a > > sci-fi author to know? I'm thinking "pitch," "yaw," "power core," > and > > "hull integrity" type terms... > > > > Sarah Marie Parker-Allen > > lloannna@surfside.net > > http://lloannna.blogspot.com > > http://www.geocities.com/lloannna.geo > > > > "The very young do not always do as they're told." -- > > 'Anteaus', Stargate SG-1 > > > > --- > > [This E-mail scanned for viruses by SURFSIDE INTERNET] > > -- > Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?" > You ask, "What is the most important thing?" > Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata." > I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people." >

Replies

Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
John Cowan <cowan@...>
Wesley Parish <wes.parish@...>