ICAD 52: Mass Sieve

Mass Sieve

Matrices • fleur de lis
Anaconda • bonhomie
Supersaturation • Luv
Semipermeable Dove

As with many of these, it started with a pun. Massive became Mass Sieve. But a moment’s thought yielded the question: What IS a Mass Sieve? Mass is all the wavicular activity in matrices of the four forces of the non-apocalypse that brings everything to be. We could think of the sieve as that which is not mass but acts on it: gravity, the two nuclear forces, and electromagnetism.

My word choices came from a desire to have rhyme, reason and meter to them when read aloud. “Matrices” comes from a chapter in a math textbook: the chapter title was “Matrices and Determinants.” As I recall, it is a means of solving algebraic equations involving polymonials. A simplifying method, putting the coefficients in an array and doing…some calculations along the…diagonals? Geez, I used to KNOW all that stuff. Time humbles us.

“Fleur de lis” is to get the line to end with an S yet have the end-sound be a long e. Anaconda–I just love that word. It means a certain snake, and the word is long and rhythmic, just like a snake.

I love “bonhomie” too. It’s good luck that it fits.

“Supersaturation” is from chemistry class. Dissolve salt in water. The solution is saturated when no more salt will dissolve. But heat up the water and you can get more salt to commingle with the now-more-energetic molecules. SUPERsaturated! Put it in the fridge and crystals will form.

“Luv” is an alternative spelling of Love that came out of the late 60s of my youth. I had already discarded candidates like “Kiev” and “Asimov” because syllables. “Rev” and Vav” and “Lav” weren’t as good as “Luv” because a) fourth-line rhyme would be clunky b) the anachronistic aspect of “Luv” introduces the dimension of Time, and no cosmic force may act if it has zero time in which to act.

“Semipermeable Dove,” the final phrase, just feels magic. A Semi-Permeable Membrane is the mechanism for oxygen exchange and other vital functions, enabling life itself. The Dove is a worldwide symbol for Peace. Mass In; Peace Out! 🙂