For promethia, lonewytch, janie_aire et al.

Petrichor is the scent of rain on dry earth. The word is constructed from Greek, petra, meaning stone + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.

The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature. In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas (1965) showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.

"Do you find it easy to get drunk on words?"
"So easy that, to tell you the truth, I am seldom perfectly sober. Which accounts for my talking so much."
Gaudy Night

The family watched The Doctor's Wife last night, and afterwards Darcy came up to me and began talking about what a neat word 'petrichor' was and where the meaning came from. I'm sure you can see why I had to share.

(Oh and I changed my banner, because... Well, you can't go wrong with a well-placed Princess Bride quote! *g* Spoilers for the DW S6 finale, I guess, although they're pretty vague.)

For promethia, lonewytch, janie_aire et al.

Petrichor is the scent of rain on dry earth. The word is constructed from Greek, petra, meaning stone + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.

The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature. In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas (1965) showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.

"Do you find it easy to get drunk on words?"
"So easy that, to tell you the truth, I am seldom perfectly sober. Which accounts for my talking so much."
Gaudy Night

The family watched The Doctor's Wife last night, and afterwards Darcy came up to me and began talking about what a neat word 'petrichor' was and where the meaning came from. I'm sure you can see why I had to share.

(Oh and I changed my banner, because... Well, you can't go wrong with a well-placed Princess Bride quote! *g* Spoilers for the DW S6 finale, I guess, although they're pretty vague.)

Fans. <3

Who is the greatest troll of them all? MOFFAT IS! *profound love* (Sort of Sherlock/Doctor Who crossover. Zero spoilers.)

(I think this is THE great divider between Joss/RTD and Moffat - the former love to lull people into a false sense of security and then STAB THEM IN THE BACK, whereas the Moff makes everything IMPOSSIBLE, and then solves it in the most ridiculous (but perfectly logical) manner possible, whilst clearly laughing his head off.)

And speaking of, well, fannishness, then you should all go read shadowkat67's post:

Being a Buffy Fan on the Internet - 1998-2012.

Lots of good thoughts about the evolution of Buffy fandom, and how things have changed, inspired by Mark Watches, and how he might be watching the same show, but he's not on the same journey that fandom was on back then. (I had a lot of thoughts - see the comments.)

Fans. <3

Who is the greatest troll of them all? MOFFAT IS! *profound love* (Sort of Sherlock/Doctor Who crossover. Zero spoilers.)

(I think this is THE great divider between Joss/RTD and Moffat - the former love to lull people into a false sense of security and then STAB THEM IN THE BACK, whereas the Moff makes everything IMPOSSIBLE, and then solves it in the most ridiculous (but perfectly logical) manner possible, whilst clearly laughing his head off.)

And speaking of, well, fannishness, then you should all go read shadowkat67's post:

Being a Buffy Fan on the Internet - 1998-2012.

Lots of good thoughts about the evolution of Buffy fandom, and how things have changed, inspired by Mark Watches, and how he might be watching the same show, but he's not on the same journey that fandom was on back then. (I had a lot of thoughts - see the comments.)