How to Make Game of Thrones Wildfire

How to Make Game of Thrones Wildfire Wildfire is the fictional green green substance used in  George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy world to immolate foes when dragon fire isnt handy and swords just arent enough. According to the HBO Game of Thrones series, the liquid burns in the presence of urine and burns so hot it melts  wood,  stone... even  steel... and, of course, flesh! Oh, and it burns with an emerald green flame. In the television series and Martins A Song of Ice and Fire novel, the secret of wildfire was pyromancer magic, but we all know the best magic is simply science that isnt well-understood, right? Martins fictional goo resembles modern napalm (except for the green color) and Greek fire, a real-life weapon used during the Byzantine era (also, probably not green). Make (a Safer) Wildfire This wildfire recipe wont be of much use if you want to melt stone, but it makes nice ambiance lighting when youre reading Martins books or need to find your way back to the kitchen for a snack during Game of Thrones. You end up with a green liquid that burns bright, vivid green. It spreads out nicely, like pyromancer wildfire, but it doesnt burn as long or as a brightly. Wildfire Materials Borax  Green Food ColoringMethanol (Methyl alcohol is available as Heet fuel treatment or as a lab chemical.)Hand Sanitizer Gel (The alcohol-based stuff is what you want. You only need this if youre making the gel.)Heat-safe container.   You can get a similar result using high proof grain alcohol or rubbing alcohol and copper(II) sulfate (usually sold as an algicide) if borax is unavailable. Its not as good as the borax-methanol mixture, though, so dont substitute if you dont have to do so. Lets Make Wildfire Pour a bit of methanol into your container. You dont need a lot. Dont taste it (youll get a headache or go blind if you drink enough) and dont splash around in it (its absorbed through your skin). There are warnings on the label youd do well to read. Oh, and its flammable, but thats kind of the whole point.Stir in a drop of green food coloring. Pretty right?Break up any clumps in your borax and stir a spoonful into the liquid. You dont need an exact measurement. It only takes a small amount to get green flames. If you add too much, youll have white sediment in the bottom of your container.Light your creation and admire the pretty green fire. If you do this indoors, be advised your smoke alarm likely will sound (mine did). Blow out the flames when youre sufficiently amused.Now, if you want to make a gel out of this, you can stir in hand sanitizer until you get the consistency you want. Hand sanitizer is a mixture of water and ethyl alcohol. Because there is ethanol in it, you can mix it in with the methanol without too much trouble. Adding the water also means you have a chance to add powdered copper(II) sulfate, which dissolves in water, but not so well in alcohol. You dont need to add copper sulfate... Im just throwing it out there as an option. Ignite the gel. Still green, but not quite as bright, right?If you want to try again, all you need to do is add more methanol. It is important you only add more fuel after the flames have been extinguished. Use common sense. You can blow out the flames. You can also extinguish the fire with water, but then you wont be able to re-light it. Safety Considerations Yes, this is a real fire. Yes, it can burn you or ignite your hair or clothing if you spill it while its lit, just like any other type of alcohol lamp. Responsible adult supervision is required. Responsible is the keyword. Dont play pyromancer. Wildfire, Greek Fire, and Burning on Water Although it wasnt green, Greek fire or sea fire was a real incendiary weapon used in naval battles from around 672 onward into the 12th century. Its formulation is unknown but may have included ingredients such as pine resin, calcium phosphide, naphtha, niter, quicklime, and sulfur. It was almost certainly a mixture based on bitumen, petroleum, or sulfur. While the mixture floated on water, its unclear whether or not it could actually be ignited by water. An Italian recipe from the 16th century that supposedly burns underwater is made from willow coal, sulfur, wool, camphor, incense, alcohol and some sort of burning salt and pergola. You can try to decipher the Italian text, or just rely on modern chemistry to ignite a green flame with a drop of water.

Patterns of Similarity in English and Spanish Vocabulary

Patterns of Similarity in English and Spanish Vocabulary One key to expanding your Spanish vocabulary quickly, especially when youre new to the language, is learning to recognize the word patterns seen in many English-Spanish cognates. In a sense, English and Spanish are cousins, as they have a common ancestor, known as Indo-European. And sometimes, English and Spanish can seem even closer than cousins, because English has adopted many words from French, a sister language to Spanish. As you learn the following word patterns, remember that in some cases the meanings of the words have changed over the centuries. Sometimes the English and Spanish meanings can overlap; for example, while a discusià ³n in Spanish can refer to a discussion, it often refers to an argument. But an argumento in Spanish can refer to the plot of the story. Words that are alike or similar in the two languages but have different meanings are known as false friends. As you learn Spanish, here are some of the more common patterns of similarity youll come across: Similarities in Word Endings nation, nacià ³nstation, estacià ³nfraction, fraccià ³nperforaction, perforacià ³npublication, publicacià ³n Words that end in -ty in English often end in -dad in Spanish: fidelity, fidelidadfelicity, felicidadfaculty, facultadliberty, libertadauthority, autoridad Names of occupations that end in -ist in English sometimes have a Spanish equivalent ending in -ista (although other endings also are used): dentist, dentistaartist, artistaorthopedist, ortopedistaphlebotomist, flebotomista Names of fields of study that end in -ology often have a Spanish cognate ending in -ologà ­a: geology, geologà ­aecology, ecologà ­aarchaeology, arqueologà ­a Adjectives that end in -ous may have a Spanish equivalent ending in -oso: famous, famosonervous, nerviosofibrous, fibrosoprecious, precioso Words ending in -cy often have an equivalent ending in -cia: democracy, democraciaredundancy, redundanciaclemency, clemencia English words ending in -ism often have an equivalent ending in -ismo: communism, comunismocapitalism, capitalismoatheism, ateà ­smohedonism, hedonismosolecism, solecismo English words ending in -ture often have an equivalent ending in -tura. caricature, caricaturaaperture, aperturaculture, culturarupture, ruptura English words ending in -is often have Spanish equivalents with the same ending. symbiosis, simbiosispelvis, pelviscrisis, crisis Similarities in Word Beginnings Nearly all the common prefixes are the same or similar in the two languages. Prefixes used in the following words make far from a complete list: antipathy, antipatà ­aautonomy, autonomà ­abilingual, bilingà ¼eexportation, exportacià ³ncounterattack, contraataquecontend, contenderdisobedience, desobedienciahomosexual, homosexualparamedic, paramà ©dicopolygamy, poligamiaprefix, prefijopseudoscience, seudoscienciasupermarket, supermercadounilateral, unilateral Some words that begin with an s followed by a consonant in English start with an es in Spanish: stereo, està ©reospecial, especialsnob, esnob Many words ending in ble in English have Spanish equivalents that are identical or very similar: applicable, aplicablecomparable, comparabledivisible, divisiblemalleable, maleableterrible, terrible Some English words that start with a silent letter omit that letter in the Spanish equivalent: psalm, salmoptomaine, tomaà ­napsychology, sicologà ­a Patterns in Spelling Many English words that have a ph in them have an f in the Spanish version: photo, fotometamorphosis, metamorfosisgraph, grfica A few words in English that have a th in them have a Spanish equivalent with a t: empathy, empatà ­atheater, teatrotheory, teorà ­a Some English words that have double letters have a Spanish equivalent without the letter doubled (although words with rr may have an rr equivalent in Spanish, as in correspond, corresponder): difficulty, dificultadessence, esenciacollaborate, colaborarcommon, comà ºn Some English words that have a ch pronounced as k have Spanish equivalents that use a qu or a c, depending on the letter that follows: architecture, arquitecturachemical, quà ­micocharisma, carismaecho, ecotechnology, tecnologà ­achaos, caos Other Word Patterns Adverbs that end in -ly in English sometimes have a Spanish equivalent ending in -mente: rapidly, rpidamenteprofusely, profusamenteprudently, prudentemente Final Advice Despite the numerous similarities between English and Spanish, youre probably best off to avoid coining Spanish words - not all words work in the above way, and you may find yourself in an embarrassing situation. Youre a bit safer following these patterns in reverse, however (because youll know if the resulting English word doesnt make sense), and using these patterns as a reminder. As you learn Spanish, youll also come across numerous other word patterns, some of them more subtle than those above.