An example of figurative language used in popular science writing,
"…the struggle of the light against the expansion of space does show itself…in the reddening of the light.
…there must be intermediate cases where a galaxy is at such a distance that, so to speak, the light it emits neither gains ground nor loses it. In this case the path between us and the galaxy stretches at just such a rate as exactly compensates for the velocity of the light. The light gets lost on its way. It is a case, as the Red Queen remarked to Alice, of 'taking all the running you can do to keep in the same place'."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.)
In this situation the light continues to be transmitted through space, but just never reaches us – so getting lost is a form of metaphor.
Read about metaphor in science
Read about examples of science metaphors
Many examples of science metaphors are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
The Red Queen talking to Alice is a literary reference: Hoyle assumes readers will be familiar with the Lewis Caroll stories of Alice.
