Mat Twassel: Blog

Today I'm posting "Time Out," another look at redefining the second. It's very short, probably take less than 20 seconds to read-unless you're on Mars.

Yesterday I recommended caution for the two stories I posted, both in the description and the story codes. I'm not sure it did much good. As I expected, those who voted expressed distaste. For "Tryst," scores of 1, 2, and 3 outpaced scores of 8, 9, and 10 by about 3 to 1, with the result that this is by far my lowest rated story.

They say April is the cruelest month, so it may be fitting that the two stories I'm posting on the last day of April, "Pretty" and "Tryst," are if nothing else cruel. Certainly they are not pretty. I think I've coded them with warning enough that those who can't stand unhappy tales will not read these. Even so, I expect to get some mail to the tune of "What a sick fuck you are! Your stories suck and so do you. I won't be reading anything by you again."
Last night I thought seriously of pulling them from the posting queue. Maybe I should. I don't remember the impetus for writing either of these. That's not unusual. I write what comes to mind; it's as simple as that. I'm happy that most of the time the darker themes stay away. And when they don't, writing has at least a bit of cathartic effect.

Before the end of the day I will also post another illustrated definition of the second, as suggested by an SOL friend. I happen to know that it too might be unsettling.

I've added another definition of a second as proposed by Wheel721. Illustrations.

I posted a little piece this morning illustrating some new definitions of the second. (See my previous Blog entry for some details.)

Also because swimsuit season is all but upon us (I hope), I've posted a couple of tiny swimsuit stories. I wonder if Sports Illustrated still comes out with a Swimsuit Issue. Back in my early teens I had three magazine subscriptions: Boys Life, Mad, and Sports Illustrated. Nowadays I have two magazine subscriptions: Science News and Wired. I have to admit, I rarely even open either of them. Back in the day, I read every word of Boys Life, Mad, and Sports Illustrated. Yes, those were the good old days.

We've all heard of a New York minute, but what about a Mars second?

I ask because at Desdmona's FishTank someone mentioned the recent landing of a spaceship on Mars, and someone else remarked:

And now NASA has flown its helicopter - "a Wright Brothers moment" on another planet. NASA's flight lasted 39.1 seconds - as long as the Wright Brother's first three flights combined.

So I asked if a Mars second was the same as an earth second.

I got this reply:

No. It was 1/86400 of the solar day, but apparently that kept changing, so the powers that be adopted the following:

The second is defined as being equal to the time duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the fundamental unperturbed ground-state of the caesium-133 atom.

I suppose that's clear enough. But is there casesium on Mars. And if not, does time stand still there?

In any event, I think we could use a more practical definition of a second. For instance: the time it takes Winnie, down at Red's, to deflect a conventioneer's straying hand from her scantily clad ass.

Can we have some other definitions?