Real-Life Weirdness

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Anders

Can you make bullets from silver? Are they as effective as lead bullets?

https://www.mgsrefining.com/blog/201...bullet-part-1/

From the same site - gold formed from black holes. Meteoric iron, eat your heart out - what incredible enchantments might a spacefaring wizard be able to place upon gold formed by - and subsequently harvested from - a black hole?

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by Varyon

From the same site - gold formed from black holes. Meteoric iron, eat your heart out - what incredible enchantments might a spacefaring wizard be able to place upon gold formed by - and subsequently harvested from - a black hole?

The idea of nucleosynthesis in an accretion disk goes back aways. Orion's Arm has this page from 2001.

https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/464790d2497de

[agentdenton]

Originally Posted by Varyon

From the same site - gold formed from black holes. Meteoric iron, eat your heart out - what incredible enchantments might a spacefaring wizard be able to place upon gold formed by - and subsequently harvested from - a black hole?

HmmmmmMmmmm. An intriguing question. Now magic‘s not my forte' by any means, but your question triggered my creativity circuits.

Gold from a black hole…… What special properties might it have? Hmm hmm.

A black hole is grasping, devouring, consuming and destroying. Now suppose gold taken from one had these properties. Suppose gold taken from a black hole drew in the life of those possessing it. Hmmmm, interesting.

A wizard who hated a king might gather this gold, put bits of it in gold coins and give it to oppressed peasants to give the king's taxmen. As it accumulates in the king's coffers it starts to suck the life out of him more and more. Since it's an innate property of the gold due to its origin it's not 'cursed' so shows no sign of a curse.

Of course a wizard might leave a cache of these laying about for thieves to find and steal.

A beautiful crown could be made of it for those who sought to rule others.

[Daigoro]

It's a gold that sparkles and shines by sucking all the light and colour out of the vicinity? Everything around it appears dimmer and duller. This makes it desirable for jealous or vainglorious rulers.

[agentdenton]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

It's a gold that sparkles and shines by sucking all the light and colour out of the vicinity? Everything around it appears dimmer and duller. This makes it desirable for jealous or vainglorious rulers.

Combine my idea and yours, wipe out greedy monarchs pronto!

[L.J.Steele]

Adding to the weirdness that was Allied volunteer medical car in WWI, I stumbled on Auguste Charles Valadier, an French American dentist. And he retrofits his Rolls-Royce with a dental chair, and he literally drives it to the front under a hail of bullets. He works for free the entire war.

This is a side character in FitzHarris' The Facemaker about Harold Gillies and reconstructive facial surgery in WWI.

[Anders]

Scientists have turned dead spiders into gripping claws.

I love science. It elevates and ennobles mankind. But sometimes it's just effing creepy.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by L.J.Steele

Also a cool thread, and not what you think (get your mind out of that gutter!)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cutawayporn/

Some are game useful even!

Bookmarked that site!

[L.J.Steele]

Lucy Cooke's _Bitch_ -- a popular science book about evolution, sex, and how nature is far more varied than scientists have long believed. Lots of interesting details that could be stolen for alien or fantasy creatures or far future societies.

[Dr. Beckenstein]

A chess-playing robot broke the finger of his opponent. A seven year old boy.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/7-ye...-playing-robot

And so, it begins ...

(I always wanted to write this).

So, for adventure - rise of the machines? The robot was hacked by another player? Or an over-aspiring "chess mom"? Or the chess mafia because the boy did not lost as demanded?