There is very little that makes an author's science fiction story feel  more realistic than accurate scientific terminology, if it is properly used. Like any literary spice these terms must be carefully judged and weighed for cooking. Too many can bog a story down and make it unreadable. While it is possible to write a science fiction story without scientific jargon it is a hard sell. One way is to write it from the perspective of a character of lesser intelligence or education but it is most often best to have some long fancy science words in there. Of course some terms are simply so striking that the beg to have a story written around them. 

Nephelometric Turbidity Units

Doesn't that sound like it deserves a story centered on it? 
Hint, it actually is related to the picture above! 

Many years ago Mr. Teacher brought a big box of supplies to school. The little children held their breaths in excitement as the glue, stiff paper, and wallpaper were laid out on the counter. It was time for a Project. Mr. Teacher always had the best projects.
The stack of supplies brought out today was destined to be transmuted into books. The stories that had been written yesterday were carefully formatted onto half pages and the pages were sewn together with the help of the strong hands of the older graders. The covers were affixed and glued down and titles were carefully written on the inner covers. 
"This is how books are made and bound," Mr. Teacher explained. 
Well even then the process was a bit more complex than that in the factories, but with the advent of the computer and the popularity of the lightness and compactness of the paperback, genuine book binding, as a marketable skill, is a thing of the past. Machines spit out even hard copies at fantastic rates and while a few, isolated craftsmen turn out leather bound tomes that particular skill set has gone the way of the dinosaurs. 
#ObsoleteJobSkills

"There are three kinds of men.
The one who learns by reading.
The few who learn by observation. 
The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."
Will Rogers

The art of storytelling has been linked to teaching from the beginning. The oldest fairy tales are not fun entertainment but rather gruesome cautionary tales; beware of strangers, don't blindly accept gifts, there are dangers out in the world at night, being clever is critical to survival. A wise author will tap into this. It doesn't necessarily have to be a moral but a good book should teach something. Or should inspire the reader to go out and learn something.
"To Build a Fire" a famous short by Jack London is a perfect example of this. 
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Back at Crater Lake for the "summer".
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This will at some point be a roofalanch. DO NOT stand under it. 

The aliens landed yesterday and what weird they didn't bring with them was there to meet them in the locals. 

Updates will be coming as the story progresses. 

Yes, this author spotted a genuine UFO hovering over the farmland outside of Mcminnville, OR last night. (5-11-2016)  At about 10:30 PST this author was driving home from McMinnville, OR when she spotted a light to high up to be a motor vehicle and too artificial and large to be a star. It was moving perpendicular to the highway a bit too slowly to be a plane but at first she thought nothing of it. It wasn't until she began to overtake the strange flying light that she realize that it was now hovering over the highway. The light coalesced into two searchlight like beacons, flanked on either side by green blinking lights. When she passed under the object (it was about fifty feet above her) it was clear that there was a triangle (approximately equilateral) of the green lights with the two white/yellow lights mounted on the side facing the direction the author had come from. The author immediately pulled over and grabbed her camera but the the object flew off over the opposite field. 
What was this strange flying object?
Why was it hovering over the highway?
Is it connected to the UFO festival that started the next afternoon? 
Why was it hovering so close to a billboard for a local winery? 
Do aliens come to earth for the alcohol? 
Is AUI (abducting under the influence) a ticketable offense? 
So many questions! The truth is out there, and this author will probably be looking for it next to the BBQ turkey leg truck at the festival today. 

Strange doings are afoot in McMinnville, OR. To those who are not in the know that is the site of the oldest, non-disproven UFO photo in the world. 
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If you believe the utterly respectable lady who took the photo this flying saucer was out buzzing her rabbit hutch in the mid-fifties. Several years ago the local town decided to cash in on this fame (apparently one turkey themed festival isn't enough) and started the Alien Daze festival and parade. 

It is a hoot and a half and Betty Adams will be there handing out business cards and selling books! 

When writing an alien world it is important to remember the details. For instance, does the ecosystem have the equivalent of locusts? While it is tempting to only focus on the "interesting" bits like who is in love with who and what the nobel in exile is doing depth of writing requires bits like the old peasant stepping out of its hut, squinting at the unnatural cloud gathering on the horizon, and proceeding to curse into the wind.  Alternatively there can be the equivalent of leaf hoppers. The young maid is striding through a field and pauses to twist her face into a grimace before violently shaking her feathers. Dozens of little blue-green specks fly out and she continues on her way. 

The scientific community is all in a twitter because of the heavenly expanse they poetically call the sky. Apparently a small black dot will pass across the much bigger orange spot in the sky. #mercurytransit 
This is an excellent example of how creativity and cold hard math can come together to bring a scientifically observable even to life when it might not otherwise be very interesting to a non-scientist. A physicist can describe exactly what Mercury will be doing and a skillful artist can come up with a fascinating description of what is happening on the planet.Otherwise it is just a tiny dot on the sun. Does anyone know of any good Mercury themed art  out there today? 

From Lady Wildcow Ninsun (the mother of Gilgamesh), to the beautiful (and usually dead) mothers of the Brothers Grimm, to Sarabi of Disney's "The Lion King" mother's have always, and continue to, play a major roll in fiction. Given how much of a character's self is dependent on a mother for formation it is nearly impossible to tell a novel length story about a protagonist without referencing the mother in one form or another. The presence of the mother is so pivotal to characters that their absence (especially at an early age) is often the single defining driver of the story. Or at least a powerful secondary character. 
So here's to all the mothers out there. On behalf of all writers I apologize for killing you off for dramatic effect (but really it was necessary for the plot). 
#MothersDay