Time Marches on

A while back a friend asked me what snotty was in Spanish. Although I didn't know the context or the gender I answered "mocosa". Only later did I learn that the sobriquet was given to a pet kitten that just so happened to always have a runny nose with constant sneezing (maybe she was allergic to cats).

Martial law is directly derived from the ancient Roman God of War, Mars. Originally Mars was the Roman god of fertility and a protector of farmers. It was only later that Mars associated with battle as the growing Roman Empire began to expand, and he came to be identified with the Greek god Ares. Because seeds where sown in the Spring, the month of March was subsequently named after Mars.

Genesis is the the first part of the Old Testament. One story (Genesis 38) is of the second born Onan who was assigned the task of primogeniture upon death of his older brother. Understandably, Onan balked and "spilled his seed on the ground".

It's amazing how birds, whether they're pets in cages or free in the wild, are messy eaters, especially those that are sustained by seeds. Personally I think a good name for these these type of pets should be Onan.

The Star of Life goes wheeaa wheeaa

The "wand of Hermes", also referred to as a caduceus, was carried in the left hand by the ancient Greek God signifying Peace. Hermes, along with being the messenger of the gods, was the guide of the dead (psychopomp) and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars and thieves.

The caduceus is sometimes mistakely used as a symbol for medicine even though the symbol has no connection with Hippocrates. The error might have come from a printer's vignette that separated the chapters of a medical book by using a caduceus.

If one observes the logos of modern medical associations they will notice the correct usage of the Rod of Asclepius instead.

A cold long stare

Around the middle of August of each year the Earth travels through a spacial debris field and thus creates a meteor shower. This particular light show appears to come from the the constellation Perseus.

Perseus, in Greek mythology, killed the sea monster Ceto to save the princess Andromeda from certain death. In some versions he used the severed head of the only Gorgon sister that was mortal. Since Medussa could turn living objects into stone, her severed head was used to save Perseus' future wife, from the monster.

The Perseids upon reaching the Earth's protective atmosphere literally burn up, in an ablative manner, and yield an enjoyable show. Space debris "falls" from their orbit due to friction, but once traveling at high speeds in the atmosphere they burn because of pressure.

The question I have is; if they were immortal, where are the other Gorgon sisters?

Rock me gently, rock me slowly - Part 3

It is generally attributed that Homer wrote the epic poem "the Iliad". Basically, it's a story of the Trojan war, with its many heroes and their many exploits.

At Lagrangian points L₄ and L₅, in the Jupiter-Sun system, there exist groups of asteriods that are called the Jupiter Trojans. These asteroids are broken up into either of two camps; the Trojan camp (L₄) or the Greek camp (L₅).

One thing you notice going down the list of asteroids is the lack of names of heroines of the Trojan war, and there were many. I guess that it's that it's a continuation of "the Cassandra effect".

Rock me gently, rock me slowly

The gentle rocking back and forth of the moon, over a given time period, is called libration. Even though, the front of the Moon is tidally locked to always face towards Earth, this phenomena allows an observer on Earth to see close to 60% of the lunar surface.

The ancient Greek Deity for the moon was Selene; hence selenology, the study of the geology of the Moon. Whereas her brother, Helios, was the personification of the other celestial body, the Sun.

Since the the second lightest and the second most abundant element in the observable Universe was first discovered using a mass spectrometer on sunlight, it's only fitting that it would have the name Helium.

TE - Tempus fugit

This Latin expression is generally attributed to to the ancient Roman, Publius Vergilius Maro (Anglicized form - Virgil). Usually inscribed on the face of sundials, this adage is to remind the individual that "time flies" and is irrecoverable.
Virgil is also well known for his twelve books of the Aeneid, the adventures of Aeneas from Trojan war to the landing in modern day Italy. Many years later the legend of Romulus and Remus evolved. According to the story, these two brothers fought and Romulus was victorious. The question I have is if Remus had won the fight, Would the city be called Reme.