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2569603

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obruchev%20%28crater%29

Obruchev (crater)

Obruchev is a disintegrating lunar impact crater that lies along the southern shore of Mare Ingenii, on the far side of the Moon. Less than three crater diameters to the south of Obruchev is the crater Chrétien, and about the same distance to the southeast lies Oresme. The outer rim of this crater has been heavily damaged and now forms an irregular, rugged ring about the interior. The crater partly overlies the satellite crater Obruchev M to the south, and there is a pair of smaller craters along the western rim and inner wall. The interior of Obruchev has some uneven edges, but it is relatively level and featureless nearer the center. Prior to formal naming in 1970 by the IAU, the crater was known as Crater 426. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Obruchev. References Impact craters on the Moon

2569611

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olcott%20%28crater%29

Olcott (crater)

Olcott is a relatively fresh crater on the far side of the Moon. It was named after American astronomer William Tyler Olcott. It lies to the south-southeast of the craters Seyfert and Polzunov, and to the north of Kostinskiy. This crater lacks any significant appearance of erosion from subsequent impacts, and its features are relatively well-defined. The rim edge is generally circular, with a slight outward bulge to the northeast and a larger bulge to the south. It has an outer rampart and some terraces and slumped edges along the inner wall. Several low ridges lie near the interior midpoint, with the western pair near the center and the eastern peaks offset towards the eastern rim. The satellite craters Olcott M and Olcott L form an overlapping pair along the southern outer rampart of Olcott, with the smaller member of the pair Olcott L overlapping Olcott M. The satellite crater Olcott E is partly overlain by the eastern rim of Olcott. Prior to naming in 1970 by the IAU, this crater was known as Crater 209. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Olcott. References External links Olcott at The Moon Wiki Impact craters on the Moon

2569628

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresme%20%28crater%29

Oresme (crater)

Oresme is a crater on the Moon's far side. It lies just to the west-northwest of the larger Von Kármán. To the southwest of Oresme is Chrétien, and to the northwest is the Mare Ingenii. This crater was believed to have formed during the Nectarian epoch, about 4 billion years ago. This crater has a considerably damaged outer rim that forms an uneven, irregular ring about the interior floor. By contrast, the floor of Oresme is a relatively level, featureless surface that is marked only by a few tiny craters and low topological features. The rim is cut across along the southeast by the satellite crater Oresme K, and a smaller crater lies along the northern rim. Prior to formal naming in 1970 by the IAU, the crater was known as Crater 430. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Oresme. References Impact craters on the Moon Nectarian

2573328

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siwash%20Rock

Siwash Rock

Siwash Rock is a rock outcropping in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada's Stanley Park. A legend among the Indigenous Squamish people surrounds the rock. It is between tall. It became known to mariners as Nine Pin Rock for its resemblance to a bowling pin. Geology About 32 million years ago, a volcanic dike formed in the sedimentary rock that forms the foundation of the park (sandstone and mudstone). Magma was forced to the surface through a fissure in the Earth's crust creating the basalt stack, which is more resistant to erosion than the softer sandstone cliffs. Siwash Rock is the only such sea stack in the Vancouver area. Name The Squamish name for the rock is Slhx̱i7lsh, or sometimes Lhilhx̱í7elsh. This name refers to the story of a man transformed by X̱ays. The hole in the rock is where Slhx̱i7lsh kept his fishing tackle, according to Andrew Paull. In Legends of Vancouver, poet Pauline Johnson relates a Squamish legend of how a man was transformed into Siwash Rock "as an indestructible monument to Clean Fatherhood." A plaque near the rock (pictured) states that it is "Skalsh the unselfish", who was transformed by "Q'uas the transformer" as a reward for unselfishness. There is some controversy over the name of the rock. "Siwash" is a Chinook Jargon word for a person of First Nations or Native American heritage. Though the word 'siwash' in the jargon did not necessarily have a negative connotation and was used by native peoples themselves, its etymology can be traced to the French word "sauvage", which means wild or undomesticated. The word is considered by some to be derisive, but remains in use in certain place names and other contexts without derogatory associations, as with Siwash Rock, Siwash Sweater, etc. History Up on the cliffs overlooking Siwash Rock is a lookout point off the Siwash hiking trail. While today it is an ideal spot for park users to admire the scenery, it was known as "Fort Siwash" during the wars. An artillery battery was mounted there in the First World War, as were searchlights in the next war. A runaway mountain goat, according to park board lore, lived free in this area for almost a year in the mid-1960s until he was hit by a car and died in another area in the park. Also residing in this area, until he was arrested shortly after the Second World War, was a man living in a nearby cave for a 17-year period interrupted only by his service overseas to fight in the war. The small Douglas fir atop Siwash Rock that helped make it such a distinctive landmark for the first generations of Vancouverites did not survive the exceptionally dry summer of 1965. An article on the tree's passing in the Vancouver Sun reads more like an obituary than news story, quoting former Vancouver Member of Parliament, H. H. Stevens as saying "I've known that tree for about 68 years now and I'm sorry the tree has died because it was one of our main attractions in Stanley Park." A park superintendent felt sure that it was "virtually impossible to establish another fir up on the rock from a young plant." Less than three years later, however, while park crews were still working to restore the park's forest from the devastation of Typhoon Freda, persistent efforts were rewarded when new saplings finally began taking root. In 2017, Vancouver Park Board commissioner Catherine Evans introduced a motion to change the rock's official name to Slhx̱í7lsh. As Siwash is derived etymologically from sauvage (the French word for savage), Evans said: "We shouldn't have a name for any part of our land that is derogatory to the Indigenous people of this land." Indigenous comedian JR Redwater quipped "They say 'Siwash Rock' has to be changed because it's from an Indian word, derived from a French word, that's kinda-sorta-but-not-really a racial slur. That's like black people being offended by the Rio Negro." See also History of the Squamish people References Clague, John J.; Alison Parkinson, Vancouver Natural History Society (2006). Wilderness on the Doorstep: Discovering Nature in Stanley Park. Vancouver: Harbour Publishing. Barman, Jean (2005). Stanley Park's Secret: The Forgotten Families of Whoi Whoi, Kanaka Ranch and Brockton Point. Vancouver: Harbour Publishing. Johnson, Pauline, Legends of Vancouver. Vancouver: Thompson Stationery Co., 1911. (Project Gutenberg) Steele, Mike (1993). Vancouver's Famous Stanley Park: The Year-Round Playground. Vancouver:Heritage House. . Footnotes External links Origin of the legend surrounding the rock Siwash Rock ~1912 (Rosetti Studio - Stanley Park Collection, UBC) Chinook Jargon place names History of Vancouver Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America Rock formations of Canada Stanley Park Squamish people Stacks of Canada

2573579

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar%20mount

Polar mount

A polar mount is a movable mount for satellite dishes that allows the dish to be pointed at many geostationary satellites by slewing around one axis. It works by having its slewing axis parallel, or almost parallel, to the Earth's polar axis so that the attached dish can follow, approximately, the geostationary orbit, which lies in the plane of the Earth's equator. Description Polar mounts are popular with home television receive-only (TVRO) satellite systems where they can be used to access the TV signals from many different geostationary satellites. They are also used in other types of installations such as TV, cable, and telecommunication Earth stations although those applications usually use more sophisticated altazimuth or fix angle dedicated mounts. Polar mounts can use a simplified one axis design because geostationary satellite are fixed in the sky relative to the observing dish and their equatorial orbits puts them all in a common line that can be accessed by swinging the satellite dish along a single arc approximately 90 degrees from the mount's polar axis. This also allows them to use a single positioner to move the antenna in the form of a "jackscrew" or horizon-to-horizon gear drive. Polar mounts work in a similar way to astronomical equatorial mounts in that they point at objects at fixed hour angles that follow the astronomical right ascension axis. Like equatorial mounts, polar mounts require polar alignment. They differ from equatorial mounts in that the objects (satellites) they point at are fixed in position and usually require no tracking, just accurate fixed aiming. Adjustments When observed from the equator, geostationary satellites follow exactly the imaginary line of the Earth's equatorial plane on the celestial sphere (i.e. they follow the celestial equator). But when observed from other latitudes the fact that geostationary satellites are at a fixed altitude of 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above the Earth's equator, and vary in distance from the satellite dish due to the dish's position in latitude and longitude, means polar mounts need further adjustments to allow one axis slewing: Declination angle The declination angle or just "declination", from the astronomical term declination for the vertical value (north/south) on the celestial sphere, is a "tipping down" of the dish on the mount to allow it to observe geostationary satellites. When observed from any latitude other than the equator the observer is actually looking "down" on the satellite making it look as if it is just below the celestial equator, an angle from the celestial equator that increases with latitude. Polar mounts have mechanisms that allow the dish to be tipped down in a permanently fixed angle to match the declination angle. Mounts may also have a variable declination control to allow them to point at geosynchronous satellites in inclined orbits since those satellites have a constantly changing declination. (Adding such a declination axis to a polar mount results in an equatorial mount). Declination offset Because satellites toward the Eastern and Western sky are further away from the observing antenna, there is a change in the declination angle: towards the eastern and western limits the satellites get closer to the celestial equator because they are further out along the lines of perspective. To aim at this apparent shift in the arc of geostationary satellites polar mounts incorporate a slight offset in the angle of their polar axis towards the equator, called a declination offset, to more closely follow this arc. Slewing around a fixed axis which is not parallel with the earth's rotation axis causes the dish to aim at a track in the equatorial plane which is (unless the dish is on the equator) an ellipse rather than a circle. Since the geostationary orbit is circular, the mount does not aim precisely at satellites at all longitudes. These slight differences in tracking have negligible effect on home C band and TVRO dishes since they have relatively wide-beam designs. See also Diseqc Equatorial mount References External links Explanation of satellite antenna polar mount GEOSTATIONARY ORBITS PART 4: SATELLITE ANTENNA MOUNTS Declination Angle Chart Index and Glossary of Terms Satellite broadcasting

2575334

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptian

Aptian

The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), approximately. The Aptian succeeds the Barremian and precedes the Albian, all part of the Lower/Early Cretaceous. The Aptian partly overlaps the upper part of the Western European Urgonian Stage. The Selli Event, also known as OAE1a, was one of two oceanic anoxic events in the Cretaceous Period, which occurred around 120 Ma and lasted approximately 1 to 1.3 million years, being marked by enhanced silicate weathering, as well as ocean acidification. The Aptian extinction was a minor extinction event hypothesized to have occurred around 116 to 117 Ma. Stratigraphic definitions The Aptian was named after the small city of Apt in the Provence region of France, which is also known for its crystallized fruits. The original type locality is in the vicinity of Apt. The Aptian was introduced in scientific literature by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1840. The base of the Aptian Stage is laid at magnetic anomaly M0r. A global reference profile for the base (a GSSP) had in 2009 not yet been appointed. The top of the Aptian (the base of the Albian) is at the first appearance of coccolithophore species Praediscosphaera columnata in the stratigraphic record. Subdivision In the Tethys domain, the Aptian contains eight ammonite biozones: zone of Hypacanthoplites jacobi zone of Nolaniceras nolani zone of Parahoplites melchioris zone of Epicheloniceras subnodosocostatum zone of Duffrenoyia furcata zone of Deshayesites deshayesi zone of Deshayesites weissi zone of Deshayesites oglanlensis Sometimes the Aptian is subdivided in three substages or subages: Bedoulian (early or lower), Gargasian (middle) and Clansayesian (late or upper). In modern formal chronostratigraphy the Aptian is divided into Lower and Upper sub-stages. The Lower Aptian is equivalent to the Bedoulian, and it includes the oglanensis to furcata Tethyan ammonite zones. The Upper Aptian is equivalent to the Gargasian and Clansayesian, it includes the subnodosocostatum to jacobi Tethyan ammonite zones (Gradstein et al. 2004). Lithostratigraphic units Examples of rock units formed during the Aptian are: Antlers Formation, Cedar Mountain Formation, Cloverly Formation, Elrhaz Formation, Jiufotang Formation, Little Atherfield, Mazong Shan, Potomac Formation, Santana Formation, Twin Mountains Formation, Xinminbao Group and Yixian Formation. See also Aptian extinction References Notes Literature ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. ; 1842: Paléontologie française: Terrains crétacés, vol. ii. External links GeoWhen Database - Aptian Mid-Cretaceous timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS Stratigraphic charts of the Lower Cretaceous: and , at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy 05 Geological ages Cretaceous geochronology

2575369

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquitanian%20%28stage%29

Aquitanian (stage)

The Aquitanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geologic timescale, the oldest age or lowest stage in the Miocene. It spans the time between 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma and 20.43 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago) during the Early Miocene. It was a dry, cooling period. The Aquitanian succeeds the Chattian (the youngest age of the Oligocene) and precedes the Burdigalian. The Aquitanian Age overlaps with the Harrisonian, Agenian, Pareora, Landon, Otaian, and Waitakian Ages from various regional timescales. Stratigraphic definition The Aquitanian Stage was named after the Aquitaine region in France and was introduced in scientific literature by Swiss stratigrapher Karl Mayer-Eymar in 1858. The base of the Aquitanian (also the base of the Miocene Series and the Neogene System) is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column at the first appearance of foram species Paragloborotalia kugleri, the extinction of calcareous nanoplankton species Reticulofenestra bisecta (which forms the base of nanoplankton biozone NN1), and the base of magnetic chronozone C6Cn.2n. The official GSSP for the Aquitanian Stage lies in the Lemme-Carrosio section near the small village of Carrosio (north of Genoa) in northern Italy. The top of the Aquitanian Stage (the base of the Burdigalian) is at the first appearance of foram species Globigerinoides altiaperturus and the top of magnetic chronozone C6An. References Footnotes Literature ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. ; 1858: Versuch einer neuen Klassifikation der Tertiär-Gebilde Europa’s, Verhandlungen der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 17–19 (August 1857), p. 70–71 & 165–199. ; 1997: The Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Neogene, Episodes 20(1), p. 23-28. External links GeoWhen Database - Aquitanian Neogene timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS Neogene timescale at the website of the Norwegian network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy 01 Miocene geochronology Geological ages

2575508

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajocian

Bajocian

In the geologic timescale, the Bajocian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 170.9 ±0.8 Ma to around 168.2 ±1.2 Ma (million years ago). The Bajocian Age succeeds the Aalenian Age and precedes the Bathonian Age. Stratigraphic definitions The Bajocian Stage takes its name from the Latin name (Bajocae) of the town of Bayeux, in the region of Normandy in France. The stage was named and introduced in scientific literature by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1842. The base of the Bajocian stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column where fossils of the ammonite genus Hyperlioceras first appear. A global reference profile (a GSSP) for the base is located at Murtinheira, close to Cabo Mondego in Portugal. The top of the Bajocian (the base of the Bathonian) is at the first appearance of ammonite species Parkinsonia convergens. Subdivision The Bajocian is often divided into Lower/Early and Upper/Late subages or substages. In the Tethys domain, the Bajocian contains seven ammonite biozones: zone of Parkinsonia parkinsoni zone of Garantiana garantiana zone of Strenoceras niortense zone of Stephanoceras humphriesianum zone of Sonninia propinquans zone of Witchellia laeviuscula zone of Hyperlioceras discites References Notes Literature ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. ; 1842: Paléontologie française. 1. Terrains oolitiques ou jurassiques, 642 pp., Bertrand, Paris. ; 1997: Definition of the Aalenian-Bajocian Stage boundary, Episodes, 20(1): pp 16–22. ; 2002: A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (entry on cephalopoda), Bulletins of American Paleontology 364, p 560. External links GeoWhen Database - Bajocian Jurassic-Cretaceous and Lower Jurassic timescales, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS Stratigraphic chart of the Upper Jurassic, at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy 02 Geological ages

2575606

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartonian

Bartonian

The Bartonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geologic time scale, a stage or age in the middle of the Eocene Epoch or Series. The Bartonian Age spans the time between . It is preceded by the Lutetian and is followed by the Priabonian Age. Stratigraphic definition The Bartonian Stage was introduced by Swiss stratigrapher Karl Mayer-Eymar in 1857. The name derives from the coastal village Barton-on-Sea (part of New Milton) in southern England. The Barton Group, a lithostratigraphic unit from the south English Hampshire Basin, is of Bartonian age. The distinction between group and stage was made in the second part of the 20th century, when stratigraphers saw the need to distinguish between litho- and chronostratigraphy. The base of the Bartonian is at the first appearance of the calcareous nanoplankton species Reticulofenestra reticulata. In 2009, an official reference profile (GSSP) for the base of the Bartonian had not yet been established. The top of the Bartonian Stage (the base of the Priabonian) is at the first appearance of calcareous nanoplankton species Chiasmolithus oamaruensis (which forms the base of nanoplankton biozone NP18). The Bartonian Stage overlaps part of the upper Robiacian European Land Mammal Mega Zone (it spans the Mammal Paleogene zone 16), the upper Uintan and Duchesnean North American Land Mammal Ages, part of the Divisaderan South American Land Mammal Age and is coeval with the Sharamururian Asian Land Mammal Age. The Auversian regional stage of France is coeval with the Bartonian and is therefore no longer used. References Footnotes Literature ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. ; 1857: Tableau synchronique des formations tertiaires d'Europe, 3rd ed., Zürich. External links GeoWhen Database – Bartonian Paleogene timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS Stratigraphic chart of the Paleogene, at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy Eocene geochronology Geological ages

2576027

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%20Euler

2002 Euler

2002 Euler is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 29 August 1973, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, and assigned the prov. designation . It was named after Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler. Orbit and characterization Euler is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,373 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. Naming This minor planet was named after Swiss mathematician, physicist and astronomer Leonhard Euler (1707–1783). His contributions to astronomy included two theories for the motion of the Moon. Euler spent much of his time in St. Petersburg and was associated with the Russian Academy of Sciences. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 15 October 1977 (). Physical characteristics Diameter and albedo According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Euler measures between 14.49 and 19.773 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0416 and 0.0839. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts Petr Pravec's revised WISE-data, that is, an albedo of 0.0375 and a diameter of 19.78 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.7. References External links Lightcurve Database Query (LCDB), at www.minorplanet.info Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Geneva Observatory, Raoul Behrend Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center 002002 Discoveries by Tamara Mikhaylovna Smirnova Named minor planets Leonhard Euler 19730829

2576454

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrogio%20Fogar

Ambrogio Fogar

Ambrogio Fogar (; 13 August 1941 – 24 August 2005) was an Italian sailor, writer, rally driver and all-round adventurer and television presenter. He was a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, gold medal for athletic value, gold medal for marine value, gold medal to memory and other. Biography His exploits included a number of successful long-distance sailing feats, such as becoming the first Italian to sail single-handedly from east to west around the world, starting and ending his journey in Castiglione della Pescaia, Tuscany. In 1978, after being capsized by orcas, he survived more than ten weeks in a life raft in the South Atlantic along with a friend, journalist Mauro Mancini, who died of pneumonia two days after the two were rescued. Another venture was Fogar's solo sled expedition to the North Pole. He competed several times in the Dakar Rally and in the Rallye des Pharaons. In 1992, Fogar was paralyzed from the neck down following a jeep accident while rallying in Turkmenistan. This did not end his adventurous spirit, and in 1997, in a wheelchair, he competed in a round-Italy yacht race. He died in 2005 of a heart attack and is buried at the Monumental Cemetery of Milan, Italy. Personal life Fogar was the father of Rachele and Francesca Fogar. Rachele Fogar was born in Milan on 31 July 1991 and Francesca Fogar was born in Tradate on 17 November 1975. Television Jonathan - Dimensione avventura (Canale 5, 1984–1986; Italia 1, 1986–1991) Antologia di Jonathan (Canale 5, 1984–1986; Italia 1, 1986–1991) Parliamone - talk of Buongiorno Italia (Canale 5, 1987–1988) Campo base - Il mondo dell'avventura (TV Koper-Capodistria/Canale 5, 1989–1991; TELE+2, 1990–1991) Speciale campo base (TV Koper-Capodistria/Canale 5, 1989–1991; TELE+2, 1990–1991) Radio documentary Poli Mirabilia - La marcia sul pack e altre meraviglie (Rai Radio 1, 1984) Documentary Ambrogio Fogar - il viaggio (Italia 1, 1998) Ambrogio Fogar, l'ultimo eroe (Rete 4, 2005) Books See also List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea Rachele Fogar References External links 1941 births 1970s missing person cases 2005 deaths 20th-century Italian writers 21st-century Italian writers Burials at the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano Circumnavigators of the globe Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Formerly missing people Italian explorers Italian male sailors (sport) Italian sailors Italian television presenters People from Milan People with tetraplegia Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Single-handed sailors Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore alumni Wheelchair users

2576912

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupununi%20savannah

Rupununi savannah

The Rupununi savannah is a savanna plain in Guyana, in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region. It is part of the Guianan savanna ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. Description The Rupununi Savannah is located between the Rupununi River and the border with Brazil and Venezuela. The Rupununi forms the southwestern wilderness territory of Guyana, a South American country situated on the Northeastern littoral of South America. The savannah is dissected by the Kanuku Mountains. The Rupununi Savannah encompasses 5000 square miles of virtually untouched grasslands, swamplands, rain-forested mountains. The region usually floods in the wet season (May to August). Early European explorers believed that the Rupununi floodplains were the legendary Lake Parime. Biodiversity The savannah is divided north from south, by the Kanuku Mountains, Guyana’s most biologically diverse region. According to Conservation International, the "area supports a large percentage of Guyana’s biodiversity", including 250 species of bird life, 18 of which are native "only to the lowland forests of the Guianas." The savannah is teeming with wildlife, including a large variety of bird species. The savannah is also home to the jaguar as well as the Harpy Eagle, the world’s most powerful bird of prey, an extremely rare and endangered species which once ranged the forests of South America and is found in the Rupununi/Kanuku mountain range. It doesn't have any population Wapishana, Macushi, Wai-Wai and Patamona peoples. In 2012, the population of Amerindians in the Rupununi was estimated at 20,808 people. The Wapishana live mainly in the south savannah, the Macushi in the north. Some 200 Wai-Wai live in near isolation in Kanashen, the remote southeastern region bordering Brazil virtually untouched by modern life. The major occupations or industries in the Rupununi Savannah are cattle ranching for beef, Balatá bleeding to extract latex; farming groundnuts, maize (corn), cassava, and vegetables; fishing and hunting; and craft work such as the manufacture of hammocks, leather articles, Nibbi furniture and beadwork). There are Amerindian villages dotted throughout the Rupununi Savannah, as well as many ranches worked by vaqueros (cowboys), some of whom are descendants of 19th century Scottish settlers. The main town is Lethem, located beside the Takutu River, on the border with Brazil. Owing to the savanna's remoteness from the rest of the country most trade is conducted with Brazil and most people speak Portuguese. In 1969 some ranchers started what has been referred to as the Rupununi Uprising. The revolt was quelled within a few days. Ecotourism The Rupununi region caters towards ecotourists. It is designated a "protected area" by the government of Guyana, housing some 80% of the mammals and 60% of the bird life found in Guyana’s tropical forests and savannahs. Several Lodges welcome guests, for example Dadanawa Ranch or Karanambu ranch. The Rupununi is accessible by small aircraft and helicopter flights regularly available from Guyana’s capital Georgetown on the Atlantic coast. In the dry season it is accessible by an unpaved "all-weather" road using trucks or 4x4 vehicles. It takes about 48 hours of tough driving. Heavy flooding makes this drive unpredictable and dangerous in the rainy season during the months of April to June. References Geography of Guyana Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Guianan savanna Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo

2577177

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%20photometer

Kepler photometer

The Kepler photometer is the main instrument on NASA's Kepler space telescope. It is a Schmidt telescope (95 cm clear aperture, 140 cm mirror) with an array of 42 2200x1024 CCDs in the focal plane; each CCD is flat, but they are mounted on a curved structure to account for the curved focal plane. The CCDs are not abutting, so the focal plane is not entirely covered, but since the mission's goal is to observe a sample of stars, this doesn't matter. References Kepler Mission: Photometer and Spacecraft Kepler space telescope Telescope instruments Spacecraft instruments

2577240

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathonian

Bathonian

In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age and stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.2 ±1.2 Ma to around 165.3 ±1.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds the Bajocian Age and precedes the Callovian Age. Stratigraphic definitions The Bathonian Stage takes its name from Bath, a spa town in England built on Jurassic limestone (the Latinized form of the town name is Bathonium). The name was introduced in scientific literature by Belgian geologist d'Omalius d'Halloy in 1843. The original type locality was located near Bath. The French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny was in 1852 the first to define the exact length of the stage. The base of the Bathonian is at the first appearance of ammonite species Parkinsonia (Gonolkites) convergens in the stratigraphic column. The global reference profile for the base of the Bathonian (a GSSP) was ratified as Ravin du Bès, Bas-Auran area, Alpes de Haute Provence, France in 2009. The top of the Bathonian (the base of the Callovian Stage) is at the first appearance of ammonite genus Kepplerites. In the Tethys domain, the Bathonian contains eight ammonite biozones: zone of Clydoniceras discus zone of Hecticoceras retrocostatum zone of Cadomites bremeri zone of Morrisiceras morrisi zone of Tulites subcontractus zone of Procerites progracilis zone of Procerites aurigerus zone of Zigzagiceras zigzag Rocks of Bathonian age are well developed in Europe: in the northwest and southwest oolite limestones are characteristically associated with coral-bearing, crinoidal and other varieties, and with some beds of clay. In the north and northeast, Russia, etc., clays, sandstones and ferruginous oolites prevail, some of the last being exploited for iron. They occur also in the extreme north of North America and in the Arctic regions, Greenland, Franz Josef Land, etc.; in Africa, Algeria, Tanzania, Madagascar and near the Cape of Good Hope (Enon Beds); in India, Rajputana and Gulf of Kutch, and in South America. The well-known Caen stone of Normandy and "Hauptrogenstein" of Swabia, as well as the "Eisenkalk" of northwest Germany, and "Klaus-Schichten" of the Austrian Alps, are of Bathonian age. References Notes Literature ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. ; 1843: Précis élémentaire de géologie, Bertrand, Paris. External links GeoWhen Database - Bathonian Jurassic-Cretaceous timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS Stratigraphic chart of the Upper Jurassic, at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy 03 Geological ages

2577287

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berriasian

Berriasian

In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age/stage of the Early/Lower Cretaceous. It is the oldest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It has been taken to span the time between 145.0 ± 4.0 Ma and 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma (million years ago). The Berriasian succeeds the Tithonian (part of the Jurassic) and precedes the Valanginian. Stratigraphic definition The Berriasian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by Henri Coquand in 1869. It is named after the village of Berrias in the Ardèche department of France. The largely non-marine English Purbeck Formation is in part of Berriasian age. The first rocks to be described of this age were the beds of the English Purbeck Formation, named as the Purbeckian by Alexandre Brongniart in 1829 following description by Henry De la Beche, William Buckland, Thomas Webster and William Henry Fitton. The base of the Berriasian, which is also the base of the Cretaceous System, has traditionally been placed at the first appearance of fossils of the ammonite species Berriasella jacobi. But this is a species that has a stratigraphically problematic and geographically limited distribution. A global reference profile (a GSSP) for the Berriasian has been under active consideration by the Berriasian Working Group (ISCS) of IUGS since 2010. A range of contender GSSP localities has been studied in detail by the Working Group including localities as far apart as Mexico, Ukraine, Tunisia, Iraq and the Russian Far East. Several markers have been employed to refine correlations and to work towards defining a base for the Berriasian Stage. These include calcareous microfossils, such as Nannoconus, calpionellids, ammonites, palynological data and magnetostratigraphy, notably magnetozone M19n. The calibration of these markers, especially Nannoconus steinmannii minor, N. kamptneri minor, and Calpionella alpina, within precisely fixed magnetozones give greater precision in trying to identify the best position for a boundary. In 2016, the Berriasian Working Group voted to adopt Calpionella alpina as the primary marker for the base of the Berriasian Stage. In 2019, a GSSP for the Berriasian was nominated by a vote of the Berriasian Working Group of the Cretaceous Subcommission (ISCS): it is the profile of Tré Maroua in the Vocontian Basin (Hautes Alpes, France). The GSSP was defined at the base of the Alpina Subzone in the middle of magnetozone M19n.2n. This site proposal, of Tré Maroua, was subsequently unsuccessful in a vote of the ISCS (8 votes for and 8 against: 4 not voting); a new working group was formed in 2021. In the western part of the ocean of Tethys, the Berriasian consists of four ammonite biozones, from top to bottom (latest to earliest): Thurmanniceras otopeta Subthurmannia boissieri Tirnovella occitanica Berriasella jacobi/Pseudosubplanites grandis The top of the Berriasian stage is defined by the base of the Valanginian, which is fixed at the first appearance of calpionellid species Calpionellites darderi. This is just a little below the first appearance of the ammonite species Thurmanniceras pertransiens. Regional terms used in Russia include "Volgian"(which spans perhaps the latest Kimmeridgian, all the Tithonian and an uncertain amount of the lower Berriasian) and the "Ryazanian" (?upper Berriasian) . References Notes Literature ; (2004): A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. External links GeoWhen Database - Berriasian Jurassic-Cretaceous timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS Stratigraphic chart of the Lower Cretaceous, at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy 01 Geological ages Cretaceous geochronology

2578754

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiriyama%20Prize

Kiriyama Prize

The Kiriyama Prize was an international literary award awarded to books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Its goal was to encourage greater understanding among the peoples and nations of the region. Established in 1996, the prize was last awarded in 2008. Winners include Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin, Luis Alberto Urrea, Piers Vitebsky, Nadeem Aslam, Suketu Mehta, Shan Sa, Inga Clendinnen, Pascal Khoo Thwe, Rohinton Mistry, Patricia Grace, Peter Hessler, Michael David Kwan, Michael Ondaatje, Cheng Ch'ing-wen, Andrew X. Pham, Ruth Ozeki, Patrick Smith, and Alan Brown. Prize The prize was worth $30,000, split evenly between a non-fiction and a fiction winner. It was awarded by Pacific Rim Voices, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. For its first three years, the prize was given only to one book, either fiction or non-fiction. To be eligible, a book had to significantly concern some aspect of life or culture in one of the four Pacific Rim subregions: the North Pacific; Southeast Asia and the South Pacific; the Americas; and the Indian subcontinent. Books could be written in or translated into English from another language. Books were submitted by publishers by late October each year and were judged by separate panels of five judges, one for fiction and one for non-fiction. The decisions were made between November and February. Finalists were announced at the end of February, and the prize itself was given at the end of March. Judges included Alan Cheuse, James D. Houston, Sally Ito, Gish Jen, Chalmers Johnson, Nicholas Jose, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ruthanne Lum McCunn, Lisa See, Linda Spalding, Robert Sullivan, Gail Tsukiyama, Kathleen Tyau, and Jade Snow Wong. Recipients 2008 Lloyd Jones — Mister Pip (fiction) Julia Whitty — The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific (nonfiction) 2007 The 2007 prize for fiction, awarded to Haruki Murakami, was declined by Murakami "for reasons of personal principle." Haruki Murakami — Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (fiction) Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin — Three Cups of Tea (nonfiction) 2006 Luís Alberto Urrea — The Hummingbird’s Daughter (fiction) Piers Vitebsky — The Reindeer People (nonfiction) 2005 Nadeem Aslam — Maps for Lost Lovers (fiction) Suketu Mehta — Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found (nonfiction) 2004 Shan Sa — The Girl Who Played Go (fiction) Inga Clendinnen — Dancing with Strangers (nonfiction) 2002 Rohinton Mistry — Family Matters (fiction) Pascal Khoo Thwe — From the Land of Green Ghosts (nonfiction) 2001 Patricia Grace — Dogside Story (fiction) Peter Hessler — River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (nonfiction) 2000 Michael Ondaatje — Anil's Ghost (fiction) Michael David Kwan — Things That Must Not Be Forgotten: A Childhood in Wartime China (nonfiction) 1999 Cheng Ch’ing-wen — Three-Legged Horse (fiction) Andrew X. Pham — Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Journey through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam (nonfiction) 1998 Ruth L. Ozeki — My Year of Meats (fiction)* 1997 Patrick Smith — Japan: A Reinterpretation (nonfiction)* 1996 Alan Brown — Audrey Hepburn's Neck (fiction)* (*) Note: Only one Kiriyama Prize, for fiction or nonfiction, was awarded in the first three years of the award: 1998, 1997, and 1996. See also List of literary awards References External links Pacific Ocean International literary awards Awards established in 1996 Awards disestablished in 2008 Books about Asia American non-fiction literary awards American fiction awards

2580132

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzelhoehe%20Solar%20Observatory

Kanzelhoehe Solar Observatory

The Kanzelhoehe Solar Observatory or KSO is an astronomical observatory affiliated with the Institute of Geophysics, Astrophysics and Meteorology out of the University of Graz. It is located near Villach on the southern border of Austria. Its Web page usually posts current images of the sun, especially in the hydrogen-alpha line that is the strongest visible-light line of hydrogen and that reveals the solar chromosphere. History Founded in 1941 by the German Luftwaffe to research the effects of the Sun on the Earth's ionosphere, the KSO focuses on multispectral synoptic observations of the sun using several telescope on the same mount. See also List of astronomical observatories References External links www.kso.ac.at/ Astronomical observatories in Austria Buildings and structures in Villach Space Situational Awareness Programme

2583036

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble%20Deep%20Field%20South

Hubble Deep Field South

The Hubble Deep Field South is a composite of several hundred individual images taken using the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 over 10 days in September and October 1998. It followed the great success of the original Hubble Deep Field in facilitating the study of extremely distant galaxies in early stages of their evolution. While the WFPC2 took very deep optical images, nearby fields were simultaneously imaged by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). Planning The rationale behind making another Deep Field image was to provide observatories in the southern hemisphere with a similarly deep optical image of the distant universe as had been provided to those in the northern hemisphere. The field chosen was in the constellation of Tucana at a right ascension of and declination of . As with the original Hubble Deep Field (referred to hereafter as the 'HDF-N'), the target area was selected to be far from the plane of the Milky Way's galactic disk, which contains a large amount of obscuring matter, and to contain as few galactic stars as possible. However the field is closer to the galactic plane than the HDF-N, meaning that it contains more galactic stars. It also has a nearby bright star, as well as a moderately strong radio source close by, but in both cases it was decided that these wouldn't compromise follow-up observations. As with the HDF-N, the field lies in Hubble's Continuous Viewing Zone (CVZ), this time in the south, allowing twice the normal observing time per orbit. At specific times of year, the HST can observe this zone continuously, without it being eclipsed by the Earth. Viewing this field, however, has some issues due to passages through the South Atlantic Anomaly and also with scattered earthshine during daylight hours; the latter can be avoided by using instruments with larger sources of noise, for example from the CCD reading process, at those times. The survey again used Director's Discretionary Time. The field was imaged briefly on October 30–31, 1997 to make sure that the guide stars in the field were acceptable; these guide stars would be required to keep the HST accurately pointing on the region during the observations proper. Observations The observing strategy for the HDF-S was similar to that of the HDF-N, with the same optical filters used for the WFPC2 images (isolating wavelengths at 300, 450, 606 and 814 nanometres), and similar total exposure times. The observations were made over 10 days in September and October 1998, a total of 150 orbits, and had a total exposure time of over 1.3 million seconds. While the WFPC2 took very deep optical images, the fields were simultaneously imaged by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). A number of flanking fields were also observed for shorter periods of time. The WFPC2 image is 5.3 square arcminutes, whilst the NICMOS and STIS images are only 0.7 square arcminutes. As with the HDF-N, the images were processed using a technique known as 'drizzling', in which the direction the telescope was aimed was changed by a very small amount between exposures, and the resulting images combined using sophisticated techniques to achieve a higher angular resolution than would otherwise be possible. Translational changes were fine during the imaging parts of the observation; however, the telescope had to be rotated by small amounts instead of repointed during the spectroscopic work, such that the centre of the STIS instrument was kept on the central quasar. The HDF-S final image had a pixel scale of 0.0398 arcseconds. Contents The cosmological principle states that at the largest scales, the universe is homogeneous and isotropic, meaning that it should look the same in any direction. The HDF-S would thus be expected to strongly resemble the HDF-N, and this was indeed the case, with large numbers of galaxies visible displaying a similar range of colours and morphologies to those seen in the HDF-N, and very similar numbers of galaxies in each of the fields. One difference with the HDF-N was that the HDF-S included a known quasar with a redshift value of 2.24, J2233-606, discovered during the search for the target field. The quasar provides a probe of the gas along the line of sight where the foreground objects are also observed, allowing an investigation into the association of galaxies with absorption features. Including a quasar in the field of view was originally considered for the HDF-N, but was decided against due to concerns about increased numbers of galaxies associated with the quasar might skew the galaxy number counts, and because there was not a favourably located quasar. For the Southern field, however, such a skewed count wasn't a concern due to the known counts from the HDF-N. Scientific results As with the HDF-N, the HDF-S provided rich pickings for cosmologists. Many studies of the HDF-S confirmed results found from the HDF-N, such as star formation rates over the lifetime of the universe. The HDF-S was also extensively used in studies of how galaxies evolve over time, both due to internal processes and encounters with other galaxies. Follow-up observations Following Hubble's observations of the HDF-S field, the field was also surveyed in the UV/optical/infrared frequency range by the Anglo-Australian Observatory, the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory and the European Southern Observatory. At mid-infrared it was observed by the Infrared Space Observatory, and radio observations were made by the Australia Telescope National Facility. See also List of deep fields References Bibliography External links Main Hubble Deep Field South website. Hubble Space Telescope images Physical cosmology Sky regions Tucana (constellation) Astronomy image articles 1998 works 1990s photographs Color photographs

2584140

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal%20of%20Oregon

Seal of Oregon

The Seal of the State of Oregon is the official seal of the U.S. state of Oregon. It was designed by Harvey Gordon in 1857, two years before Oregon was admitted to the Union. The seal was preceded by the Salmon Seal of the Provisional Government and the Seal of the Oregon Territory. The state seal is mandated by Article VI of the Oregon Constitution. History The first seal for Oregon was during the Provisional Government that ran from 1843 to 1849. That government used the Salmon Seal, a round seal featuring three sheaves of grain and a single salmon. The salmon was at the bottom, with Oregon along the top. The salmon was designed to symbolize the fishing industry and the grain to represent agriculture. Designed to be neutral concerning the Oregon Question and whether the U.S. or Britain would ultimately control the region, the seal was used until the Oregon Territory was created and the territorial government arrived in 1849. With the arrival of Governor Joseph Lane in 1849 the territorial government took control of the region. That year the government adopted a new seal featuring a motto and a variety of motifs. In the center was a sailing vessel used to represent commerce, and above that was a beaver to symbolize the fur trade that was prominent in Oregon's early recorded history. On the left of the ship was a Native American and on the right an eagle. Above the beaver on a banner was the Latin motto, Alis Volat Propriis, translated as "She flies with her own wings". Around the perimeter were five stars at the bottom and the words "Seal of the Territory of Oregon" along the top and sides. In 1857, the Oregon Constitutional Convention was held in the capital of Salem where the delegates drafted a constitution to prepare for statehood and adopted a new seal to be used once statehood was achieved. The convention appointed Benjamin F. Burch, LaFayette Grover, and James K. Kelly to design a new seal. A proposal for a seal from Harvey Gordon was used with the addition of an elk added by the committee. Usage began after Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1859, and the number of stars was increased to 33 from the original 32 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly (Minnesota became a state in 1858). Design Whereas the existence of an Oregon state seal is written into Oregon's state constitution, the design of the seal itself is dictated by Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) chapter 186. The statutes list two laws pertaining to design and usage of the seal. According to ORS 186.020, the seal consists of an outer ring with the text "State of Oregon", "1859". The inner circle contains an American eagle atop a shield. The shield depicts mountains, an elk, a covered wagon, and the Pacific Ocean. In the ocean, a British man-of-war is departing and an American steamer is arriving, symbolizing the end of British rule in the Oregon Country. The elk represents the plentiful game found in the state. The second quartering shows a sheaf, a plow, and a pickaxe. These symbolize mining and husbandry. The banner is inscribed "The Union". Thirty-three stars surrounding the shield represent the number of states upon Oregon's entry into the union in 1859. The seal appears on the obverse of the state flag of Oregon. References Further reading F.H.S., "Oregon Without a Seal of State," The Oregon Native Son [Portland], vol. 1, no. 1 (May 1899), pp. 23–27. External links The Seal of the State of Oregon Seal, State from the Oregon Almanac section of the Oregon Blue Book, online edition Oregon Symbols of Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon 1859 establishments in Oregon

2584198

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth%20steppe

Mammoth steppe

During the Last Glacial Maximum, the mammoth steppe, also known as steppe-tundra, was once the Earth's most extensive biome. It stretched east-to-west, from the Iberian Peninsula in the west of Europe, across Eurasia to North America, through Beringia (what is today Alaska) and Canada; from north-to-south, the steppe reached from the arctic islands southward to China. The mammoth steppe was cold and dry, and relatively featureless, though topography and geography varied considerably throughout. Some areas featured rivers which, through erosion, naturally created gorges, gulleys, or small glens. The continual glacial recession and advancement over millennia contributed more to the formation of larger valleys and different geographical features. Overall, however, the steppe is known to be flat and expansive grassland. The vegetation was dominated by palatable, high-productivity grasses, herbs and willow shrubs. The animal biomass was dominated by species such as reindeer, muskox, saiga antelope, steppe bison, horses, woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth. These herbivores, in turn, were followed and preyed upon by various carnivores, such as brown bears, Panthera spelaea (the cave or steppe-lion), scimitar cats, wolverines and wolves, among others. This ecosystem covered wide areas of the northern part of the globe, thrived for approximately 100,000 years without major changes, but then diminished to small regions around 12,000 years ago. Modern humans began to inhabit the biome following their expansion out of Africa, reaching the Arctic Circle in Northeast Siberia by about 32,000 years ago. Naming At the end of the 19th century, Alfred Nehring (1890) and Jan Czerski (Iwan Dementjewitsch Chersky, 1891) proposed that during the last glacial period a major part of northern Europe had been populated by large herbivores and that a steppe climate had prevailed there. In 1982, the scientist R. Dale Guthrie coined the term "mammoth steppe" for this paleoregion. Origin The last glacial period, commonly referred to as the 'Ice Age', spanned from 126,000 YBP–11,700 YBP and was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age which occurred during the last years of the Pleistocene epoch. This arctic environment was very cold and dry and probably dusty, resembling mountaintop environments (alpine tundra), and was very different from today's swampy tundra. It reached its peak during the last glacial maximum, when ice sheets commenced advancing from 33,000 years BP and reached their maximum positions 26,500 years BP. Deglaciation commenced in the Northern Hemisphere approximately 19,000 years BP, and in Antarctica approximately 14,500 years BP, which is consistent with evidence that it was the primary source for an abrupt rise in the sea level at that time. During the peak of the last glacial maximum, a vast mammoth steppe stretched from the Iberian Peninsula across Eurasia and over the Bering land bridge into Alaska and the Yukon where it was stopped by the Wisconsin glaciation. This land bridge existed because more of the planet's water was locked up in ice than now, hence sea levels were lower. When the sea levels began to rise this bridge was inundated around 11,000 years BP. During glacial periods, there is clear evidence for intense aridity due to water being held in glaciers and their associated effects on climate. The mammoth steppe was like a huge 'inner court' that was surrounded on all sides by moisture-blocking features: massive continental glaciers, high mountains, and frozen seas. These kept rainfall low and created more days with clear skies than are seen today, which increased evaporation in the summer leading to aridity, and radiation of warmth from the ground into the night sky in winter leading to cold. This is thought to have been caused by seven factors: The driving force for the core Asian steppe was an enormous and stable high-pressure system north of the Tibetan Plateau. Deflection of the larger portion of the Gulf Stream southward, past southern Spain onto the coast of Africa, reduced temperatures (hence moisture and cloud cover) that the North Atlantic Current brings to Western Europe. Growth of the Scandinavian ice sheet created a barrier to North Atlantic moisture. Icing over of the North Atlantic sea surface with reduced flow of moisture from the east. The winter (January) storm track seems to have swept across Eurasia on this axis. Lowered sea levels exposed a large continental shelf to the north and east producing a vast northern plain which increased the size of the continent to the north. North American glaciers shielded interior Alaska and the Yukon Territory from moisture flow. These physical barriers to moisture flow created a vast arid basin spanning three continents. Environment (or biota) Animal biomass and plant productivity of the mammoth steppe were similar to today's African savanna. There is no comparison to it today. Plants The paleo-environment changed across time, a proposal that is supported from mammoth dung samples found in northern Yakutia. During Pleniglacial interstadials, alder, birch, and pine trees survived in northern Siberia, however during the Last Glacial Maximum only a treeless steppe vegetation existed. At the onset of the Late Glacial Interstadial (15,000–11,000 BP), global warming resulted in shrub and dwarf birch in northeastern Siberia, which was then colonized by open woodland with birch and spruce during the Younger Dryas (12,900–11,700 YBP). By the Holocene (10,000 YBP), patches of closed larch and pine forests developed. Researchers had previously concluded that the mammoth steppe must have been very unproductive because they assumed that its soils had a very low carbon content; however, these soils (yedoma) were preserved in the permafrost of Siberia and Alaska and are the largest reservoir of organic carbon known. It was a highly productive environment. The vegetation was dominated by palatable high-productivity grasses, herbs and willow shrubs. The herbaceous flora included graminoids such as wild rye, bluegrass, junegrass, fescue, and sedge, and also diverse forbs such as fringed sagebrush, campion, rock-jasmine, cinquefoil, goosefoot, buttercup, and plantain. Herbs were far more widespread than they are today, and were the main food source of the large plant eating mammals. Animals Varying slightly by geographical location, the mammoth steppe was dominated (in biomass) primarily by giant deer, caribou, steppe bison, horses, woolly mammoth and yak, among other mammals, and was the center for the evolution of the Pleistocene “woolly” fauna. Woolly rhinoceros, moose, saiga antelope and musk ox also lived in different regions of the steppe. In what-is-today Siberia were the relatives of extant animals like the argali, snow sheep and the Mongolian gazelle. Not long before the last glacial maximum (roughly 40,000 years ago), an extinct paleospecies of argali (Ovis argaloides) also lived in Europe. Notable carnivores found across the whole range of the mammoth steppe included the cave lion (Panthera spelaea), the wolverine (Gulo gulo), wolves (Canis lupus) and the brown bear (Ursus arctos). While the cave hyena was a part of the mammoth steppe fauna in Europe, it did not range into the core high-latitude, northern Eurasian-Siberian reaches of the biome. Bird remains are rare because of their fragile structure, but there is some evidence for the snowy owl, willow ptarmigan, gyrfalcon, common raven and great bustard. Other bird species included the white-taikes and golden eagles. Vultures, like the griffon and cinereous vulture, are not known but they were likely common scavengers on the mammoth steppe, following the large herds and scavenging on predated or deceased animals. On Wrangel Island, the remains of woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, horse, bison and musk ox have been found. Reindeer (caribou) and smaller animal remains do not preserve well, but reindeer excrement has been found in sediment. However, small animals on the mammoth steppe included, for example, steppe pika, ground squirrels and alpine marmot. In the most arid regions of the mammoth steppe (that were to the south of Central Siberia and Mongolia), woolly rhinoceroses were common, while woolly mammoths were rare. Reindeer still live in the far north of Mongolia today and, historically, their southern boundary passed through Germany and along the steppes of eastern Europe, indicating they once covered much of the mammoth steppe. Mammoths survived on the Taimyr Peninsula until the Holocene. A small population of mammoths survived on St. Paul Island, Alaska, up until 3750 BC, and the small mammoths of Wrangel Island survived until 1650 BC. Bison in Alaska and the Yukon, and horses and muskox in northern Siberia, have survived the loss of the mammoth steppe. One study has proposed that a change of suitable climate caused a significant drop in the mammoth population size, which made them vulnerable to hunting from expanding human populations. The coincidence of both of these impacts in the Holocene most likely set the place and time for the extinction of the woolly mammoth. Decline of the mammoth steppe The mammoth steppe had a cold, dry climate. During the past interglacial warmings, forests of trees and shrubs expanded northward into the mammoth steppe, when northern Siberia, Alaska and the Yukon (Beringia) would have formed a mammoth steppe refugium. When the planet grew colder again, the mammoth steppe expanded. This ecosystem covered wide areas of the northern part of the globe, thrived for approximately 100,000 years without major changes, but then diminished to small regions around 12,000 years ago. There are two theories about the decline of the mammoth steppe. Climate change The Climatic Hypothesis assumes that the vast mammoth ecosystem could have only existed within a certain range of climatic parameters. At the beginning of the Holocene 10,000 years ago, mossy forests, tundra, lakes and wetlands displaced mammoth steppe. It has been assumed that in contrast to other previous interglacials the cold dry climate switched to a warmer wetter climate that, in turn, caused the disappearance of the grasslands and their dependent megafauna. The extinct steppe bison (Bison priscus) survived across the northern region of central eastern Siberia until 8000 years ago. A study of the frozen mummy of a steppe bison found in northern Yakutia indicated that it was a pasture grazer in a habitat that was becoming dominated by shrub and tundra vegetation. Higher temperature and rainfall led to a decrease in its previous habitat during the early Holocene, and this led to population fragmentation followed by extinction. The mammoth steppe was covered all winter with snow, which reflected sunlight into space and thus delayed the spring warming. With no more mammoths left to push trees down to get at their leaves to eat, the area became covered in tall forest sticking up above the snow all winter and catching the early sunlight and thus causing an early spring warming. In 2017 a study looked at the environmental conditions across Europe, Siberia and the Americas from 25,000 to 10,000 YBP. The study found that prolonged warming events leading to deglaciation and maximum rainfall occurred just before the transformation of the rangelands that supported megaherbivores into widespread wetlands that supported herbivore-resistant plants. The study proposes that moisture-driven environmental change led to the megafaunal extinctions, and that Africa's trans-equatorial position allowed rangeland to continue to exist between the deserts and the central forests; therefore fewer megafauna species became extinct there. Human predation The Ecosystem Hypothesis assumes that the vast mammoth ecosystem extended over a range of many regional climates and was not affected by climate fluctuations. Its highly productive grasslands were maintained by animals trampling any mosses and shrubs, and actively transpiring grasses and herbs dominated. At the beginning of the Holocene the rise in precipitation was accompanied by increased temperature, and so its climatic aridity did not change substantially. As a result of human hunting, the decreasing density of the mammoth ecosystem animals was not enough to stop forest from spreading over the grasslands, leading to an increase in forests, shrubs and mosses with further animal reduction due to loss of feed. The mammoth continued to exist on isolated Wrangel Island until a few thousand years ago, and some of the other megafauna from that time still exist today, which indicates that something other than climate change was responsible for megafaunal extinctions. Remains of mammoth that had been hunted by humans 45,000 YBP have been found at Yenisei Bay in the central Siberian Arctic. Two other sites in the Maksunuokha River valley to the south of the Shirokostan Peninsula, northeast Siberia, dated between 14,900 and 13,600 years ago showed the remains of mammoth hunting and the production of micro-blades similar to those found in northwest North America, suggesting a cultural connection. Last remnants During the Holocene, the arid-adapted species became extinct or were reduced to minor habitats. Cold and dry conditions similar to the last glacial period are found today in the eastern Altai-Sayan mountains of Central Eurasia, with no significant changes occurring between the cold phase of the Pleistocene and the Holocene. Recent paleo-biome reconstruction and pollen analysis suggest that some present-day Altai-Sayan areas could be considered the closest analogue to the mammoth steppe environment. The environment of this region is thought to have been stable for the past 40,000 years. The Eastern part of the Altai-Sayan region forms a Last Glacial refugium. In both the Last Glacial and modern times, the eastern Altai-Sayan region has supported large herbivore and predator species adapted to the steppe, desert and alpine biomes where these biomes have not been separated by forest belts. None of the surviving Pleistocene mammals live in temperate forest, taiga, or tundra biomes. The areas of Ukok-Sailiugem in the southern Altai Republic and Khar Us Nuur and Uvs Nuur (Ubsunur Hollow) in western Mongolia have supported reindeer and saiga antelope since the glacial period. See also Pleistocene megafauna Pleistocene Park – a project to restore a small part of what once was the mammoth steppe. Quaternary extinction event References Tundra Montane grasslands and shrublands Ecoregions Ice ages Last Glacial Maximum Paleoecology

2584212

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro%20Pitati

Pietro Pitati

Pietro Pitati (in Latin, Petrus Pitatus) (?-fl. ca. 1550) was an Italian astronomer and mathematician. Bernardino Baldi, in his Cronica de matematici (1707) calls Pitati a noble Veronese who was trained in mathematics by a Benedictine friar named Innocentio da Novara. It is known that he was the author of several astronomical works and almanacs. His Paschales atque nouiluniorum mensurni canones. De varia paschalis solemnitatis obseruatione...De Hebraica anni quantitate...Calendarium nouum cum noua aurei numeri positione, ortu quoque, & occasu stellarum fixarum (Venice, March 1537) is one of many sixteenth century attempts to reform the calendar, and establish, among other things, the correct day of Easter. This was his first work. Pitati also wrote another book bearing on the length of the solar and lunar year, the fixed stars, and calendar reform, entitled: Compendium . . . super annua solaris atque lunaris anni quantitate Paschalis item solennitatis juxta veteres ecclesiae canones recognitione Romanique calendarii instauratione deque vero Passionis Dominicae die ortu quoque et occasu stellarum fixarum, in tres divisum Tractatus. Pitati's proposal for calendar reform "pleaded for the rule whereby three out of four centennial years be ordinary (non leap-years). This is [now] the Gregorian rule." Pitati compiled ephemerides, to which he added supplements over the years, such as Almanach nouum...Superadditis annis quinque supra ... Ephemeridas 1551. ad futurum Christi annum 1556. Isagogica in coelestem Astronomicam disciplinam ... Tractatustres perbreues de Electionibus, Reuolutionibus annorum, & mutatione aeris. Item horariae tabulae per altitudinem solis in die, ac stellarum in nocte ad medium sexti climatis.''(Venice, 1542). The lunar crater Pitatus is named after him. The mathematician and astronomer Giovanni Padovani was a student of Pitati. Works References Sources Euromusicology Polybiblio Cronica de Matematici 1550 deaths Scientists from Verona 16th-century Italian astronomers 16th-century Italian mathematicians Year of birth unknown Gregorian calendar

2584909

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerprints%20of%20the%20Gods

Fingerprints of the Gods

Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization is a 1995 pseudoarcheology book by British writer Graham Hancock, which contends that an advanced civilization existed in prehistory, one which served as the common progenitor civilization to all subsequent known ancient historical ones. The author proposes that sometime around the end of the last ice age this civilization ended in cataclysm, but passed on to its inheritors profound knowledge of such things as astronomy, architecture and mathematics. The book was followed by Magicians of the Gods. Thesis Hancock argues for a civilisation centered on Antarctica (which lay farther from the South Pole than today) that supposedly left evidence (the "fingerprints" of the title) in Ancient Egypt and American civilisations such as the Olmec, Aztec and Maya. Hancock discusses: creation myths describing deities like: Osiris, Thoth (Egypt) Quetzalcoatl (Mesoamerica) Viracocha (Andes) a range of archaeological sites such as Tiwanaku in Bolivia. Tiwanaku was a planned city which, according to UNESCO, reached its peak between 400 AD and 900 AD, but is assigned an earlier date by Hancock. Tiwanaku is also featured in other works of "alternative archaeology", including Von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods?. Von Däniken suggested that it provides evidence of an extraterrestrial civilisation, whereas Hancock does not argue for "ancient astronauts"; he proposes Atlantis as the origin of a lost civilisation. Hancock suggests that in 10,450 BC, a major pole shift took place. Before then, Antarctica lay farther from the South Pole than today, and after then, it shifted to its present location. The pole-shift hypothesis hinges on Charles Hapgood's theory of Earth Crustal Displacement. Hapgood had a fascination with the story of Atlantis and suggested that crustal displacement may have caused its destruction. His theories have no supporters in the geological community, where the accepted model is plate tectonics, but they were adopted by Rand and Rose Flem-Ath's When the Sky Fell: in Search of Atlantis (1995/2009) in which they expand the evidence for Charles Hapgood's theory of earth-crust displacement and propose Antarctica as the site of Atlantis. Reception Members of the scholarly and scientific community have described the proposals put forward in the book as pseudoscience and pseudoarchaeology. Canadian author Heather Pringle has placed Fingerprints specifically within a pseudo-scientific tradition going back through the writings of H.S. Bellamy and Denis Saurat to the work of Heinrich Himmler's notorious racial research institute, the Ahnenerbe, and the "crackpot theories" of Nazi archaeologist Edmund Kiss. Pringle draws attention to Fingerprints''' "wild speculations" on the origins of Tiwanaku and describes Hancock as a "fabulist". Kenneth Feder said that the book reads like the "Victorian travelogue" of a writer untrained in archeology, who credits a mysterious white people for the achievements of the ancient civilizations he visits, Hancock notably referring to the Maya as "jungle-dwelling Indians" who could not possibly come up with a sophisticated calendar. Feder sees Hancock's synthesis of a variety of fringe writers such as Ignatius Donnelly, Charles Hapgood, Arthur Posnansky, Robert Bauval and Anthony West "very hard to swallow, indeed."Fingerprints of the Gods has been translated into 27 languages and is estimated to have sold five million copies around the world. Hancock responded to some of his critics with an updated edition of the book published in 2001 with a new introduction and new appendices, Fingerprints of the Gods: The Quest Continues. InfluenceFingerprints of the Gods was cited as an inspiration for the 2009 disaster film 2012. In a November 2009 interview with the London magazine Time Out, the film's director Roland Emmerich stated, "I always wanted to do a biblical flood movie, but I never felt I had the hook. I first read about the Earth's crust displacement theory in Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods." In the extras of the Blu-ray 10,000 BC'', the director Emmerich and his co-writer Harald Kloser said that they had found inspiration in the same book. References Works cited Further reading Comments on Hancock's views of geology presented in a series of articles. 1995 non-fiction books Books by Graham Hancock Catastrophism English-language books Pseudoarchaeological texts Prehistory of Antarctica Crown Publishing Group books

2585149

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashteroth%20Karnaim

Ashteroth Karnaim

Ashteroth Karnaim ( ʿAštərōṯ Qarnayīm), also rendered as Ashtaroth Karnaim, was a city in the land of Bashan east of the Jordan River. A distinction is to be made between two neighbouring cities: Ashtaroth, and northeast of it Karnaim, the latter annexing the name of the former after Ashtaroth's decline and becoming known as Ashteroth Karnaim. Ashteroth Karnaim was mentioned under this name in the Book of Genesis (), and in the Book of Joshua () where it is rendered simply as "Ashtaroth". Karnaim is also mentioned by the prophet Amos (Book of Amos 6:13) where those in Israel are boasting to have taken it by their own strength. Karnaim/Ashteroth Karnaim is considered to be the same with Hellenistic-period Karnein of 2 Maccabees 12:21, rendered in the King James Version as Carnion, and possibly as "Carnaim" in 1 Maccabees. Eusebius (c. 260/265–340) writes of Karneia/Karnaia, a large village in "Arabia", where a house of Job was identified by tradition. Ashteroth in the Assyrian relief Ashteroth (Tell Ashtara) is mentioned in the Assyrian relief in 730/727 BC, stored in the British Museum. It is a town where Levites lived. It is mentioned twice in the cuneiform Amarna letters from Tell el-Amarna in 1350 BC. The relief depicts the Assyrians removing the people from Ashteroth in 730–727 BC. The relief was excavated at Nimrud by Sir Austen Henry Layard in 1851. The name Ashteroth is inscribed in cuneiform script on the top of the relief. The king in the lower register is Tiglath-pileser III. This is the first exile of the people out of Israel into Assyria. This event is mentioned in the Bible in 2 Kings 15:29. (“In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.”) The Assyrians came back in 722/721 BC and removed the 10 tribes of Israel out of Israel and brought them to Assyria. This relief is hugely important because it shows the beginning of the exile of the 10 tribes of Israel. They never returned. You can see a mound below the town in the relief. That means there was a tell below the town. A tell is where the town is built on top of the previous demolished buildings and pottery etc. The floppy turbans and pointed shoes and the style of the cloaks are typical for Israel at that period. You can see that the same clothes are shown on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, which is very close to it in the Assyrian section of the British Museum in London. The Black Obelisk is dated to about 825 BC. It was also excavated at Nimrud by Sir Austen Henry Layard in 1848. It shows king Jehu of Israel (or his representative) offering tribute to Shalmaneser III on the second register down. The clothes are the same as on the Ashteroth relief. Etymology The name translates literally to "Astarte of the Horns"; Astarte was a fertility goddess in ancient Canaanite religion, and "horns" were symbolic of mountain peaks. Identification The identification of the two sites is not straightforward, but there is some degree of consensus. Ashtaroth Tell Ashtara, north of the River Yarmouk, is a site considered to be identical with Ashtaroth, a city mentioned in several Egyptian sources: the Execration texts, Amarna letters (mid-14th century BCE) and the campaign list of Ramesses III (r. 1186 to 1155 BCE). The city appears in Amarna letters EA 256 and EA 197 as Aš-tar-te/ti. In the Hebrew Bible it is mentioned as the capital of King Og of Bashan ( etc.) and as part of the territory of Manasseh (). Karnaim/Ashteroth Karnaim All sites identified by different scholars at different times as Karnaim/Ashteroth Karnaim lay in modern Syria in the area of Daraa. Al-Shaykh Saad is widely seen as the site of Ashteroth Karnaim Other possible sites proposed in the past are: Al Churak, a site proposed by 14th-century topographer and traveller Ishtori Haparchi, aka Astori Pharchi, being eight miles northeast of the ancient ruins known as 'Draä' Muzayrib, an ancient fortress town References Bibliography Canaanite cities Torah cities Book of Genesis Book of Joshua Book of Amos Books of the Maccabees Levitical cities Astarte

2585489

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trough%20%28meteorology%29

Trough (meteorology)

A trough is an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure without a closed isobaric contour that would define it as a low pressure area. Since low pressure implies a low height on a pressure surface, troughs and ridges refer to features in an identical sense as those on a topographic map. Troughs may be at the surface, or aloft. Near-surface troughs sometimes mark a weather front associated with clouds, showers, and a wind direction shift. Upper-level troughs in the jet stream (as shown in diagram) reflect cyclonic filaments of vorticity. Their motion induces upper-level wind divergence, lifting and cooling the air ahead (downstream) of the trough and helping to produce cloudy and rain conditions there. Unlike fronts, there is not a universal symbol for a trough on a surface weather analysis chart. The weather charts in some countries or regions mark troughs by a line. In the United States, a trough may be marked as a dashed line or bold line. In the UK, Hong Kong and Fiji, it is represented by a bold line extended from a low pressure center or between two low pressure centers; in Macau and Australia, it is a dashed line. If they are not marked, troughs may still be identified as an extension of isobars away from a low pressure center. Description A trough is an elongated area of lower air pressure. Since pressure is closely linked to wind, there are often changes in wind direction across a trough. If a trough forms in the mid-latitudes, a temperature difference at some distance between the two sides of the trough usually exists and the trough might become a weather front at some point. However, such a weather front is usually less convective than a trough in the tropics or subtropics (such as a tropical wave). Inversely, sometimes collapsed frontal systems will degenerate into troughs. Sometimes the region between two high pressure centers may also assume the character of a trough when there is a detectable wind shift noted at the surface. In the absence of a wind shift, the region is designated a col, akin to a geographic saddle between two mountain peaks. Formation A trough is the result of the movements of the air in the atmosphere. In regions where there is upward movement near the ground and divergence at altitude, there is a loss of mass. The pressure becomes lower at this point. At upper levels of the atmosphere, this occurs when there is a meeting of a mass of cold air and another hot one along a thin ribbon called a frontal baroclinic zone. We then have the creation of a jet stream that plunges the cold air towards the equator and hot air towards the poles, creating a ripple in the circulation that is called a Rossby wave. These undulations give the hollows and peaks of altitude. In general, absolute vorticity advection is positive between these two features, but closer to the ridge, whereas it is negative just behind a trough. At the surface, lifting air under positive vorticity advection is reflected by the formation of depressions and troughs. There will therefore be a slope between the barometric high altitude and that on the ground, this slope going towards the mass of cold air at high altitude (generally towards the Pole). Positively/negatively tilted Troughs have an orientation relative to the poles which is rarely North-South. In the Northern Hemisphere, positively tilted troughs will extend from the lowest pressure northeast to southwest while negatively tilted troughs have a northwest to southeast orientation. In the Southern Hemisphere, the positive tilt will be southeast to northwest and the negative one southwest to northeast. A trough will usually begin with a positive tilt as cold air moves toward the Equator. The trough will become neutral (North-South) and then negatively tilted as the energy carried by the cold air races east through the atmospheric circulation and distorts its shape. The positive tilt is thus the building phase of the trough and the negative tilt is the dissipation of its energy. Therefore, the clouds and precipitation will develop in the positive phase and the most severe weather will be in the negative phase. Types of trough In addition to standard troughs, some troughs may be described further with a qualifying term indicating a specific or a set of characteristics. Inverted trough An inverted trough is an atmospheric trough which is oriented opposite to most troughs of the mid-latitudes. Most (but not all) inverted troughs are tropical waves (also commonly called easterly waves). Most troughs of low pressure in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are characterized by decreasing atmospheric pressure from south to north while inverted troughs are characterized by decreasing pressure from north to south. This situation is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. Inverted troughs in both hemispheres move to the west from the east, while mid-latitude troughs generally move with the westerlies toward the east. Lee trough A lee trough, also known as a dynamic trough, is "A pressure trough formed on the lee side of a mountain range in situations where the wind is blowing with a substantial component across the mountain ridge; often seen on United States weather maps east of the Rocky Mountains, and sometimes east of the Appalachians, where it is less pronounced." It can be formed either as a result of the adiabatic compression of sinking air on the lee side of a mountain range, or through cyclogenesis resulting from "the horizontal convergence associated with vertical stretching of air columns passing over the ridge and descending the lee slope." Weather associated Convective cells may develop in the vicinity of troughs and give birth to a tropical cyclone. Some tropical or subtropical regions such as the Philippines or south China are greatly affected by convection cells along a trough. In the mid-latitude westerlies, upper level troughs and ridges often alternate in a high-amplitude pattern. For a trough in the westerlies, the region just west of the trough axis is typically an area of convergent winds and descending air – and hence high pressure –, while the region just east of the trough axis is an area of fast, divergent winds and low pressure. Tropical waves are a type of trough in easterly currents, a cyclonic northward deflection of the trade winds. See also Asiatic low Geopotential height Surface weather analysis References Atmospheric dynamics Atmospheric circulation Synoptic meteorology and weather fi:Matalan sola

2587422

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita%20%28orca%29

Lolita (orca)

Lolita (1964/1967 – August 18, 2023), also known as Tokitae, was a captive female orca from the southern resident orca community. She had been in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium in the United States since September 24, 1970. Lolita was the second-oldest orca in captivity after Corky at SeaWorld San Diego. The Seaquarium announced on March 30, 2023, that Lolita was expected to be returned to her natal waters in the Pacific Northwest and reside in a semi-wild sea-pen in the Salish Sea for the remainder of her life. However, on August 18, 2023, Miami Seaquarium announced that Lolita had died due to renal failure after exhibiting signs of distress over the prior two days. Life Lolita was a member of L Pod of the southern resident orcas. She was a close relative of L25 "Ocean Sun", who is the oldest member of the Southern Resident orca community. After Lolita's death, L25 "is the only living whale from the 1960s and 1970s capture era." Lolita was captured when she was an estimated three to six years old, on August 8, 1970, in the Penn Cove capture in Puget Sound, Washington. Lolita was one of seven young orcas sold to oceanariums and marine mammal parks around the world from a capture of over eighty whales conducted by Ted Griffin and Don Goldsberry, partners in an operation known as Namu, Inc. Miami Seaquarium veterinarian Jesse White purchased Lolita for about $20,000. Upon arrival at the Seaquarium, Lolita joined a male southern resident orca named Hugo, who was also captured from Puget Sound and had lived in the Seaquarium for two years before her arrival. The young orca was initially called "Tokitae," which in the Chinook language means "Bright day, pretty colors". However, given the age difference between the young female and Hugo, she was renamed Lolita after the heroine in Vladimir Nabokov's novel. The Lummi Nation of Washington refer to her as Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, or, a female orca from an ancestral site in the Penn Cove area of the Salish Sea bioregion. They view her as a member of their "qwe 'lhol mechen," which translates to 'our relative under the water,' according to former tribal chairman Jeremiah "Jay" Julius. Lolita and Hugo lived together for ten years in what was then known as the "Whale Bowl", a tank by deep. The pair mated many times (once to the point of suspending shows) but they never produced any offspring. Hugo appeared to suffer from a form of psychosis endemic in captive whales, and often rammed his head against the tank walls; he died in 1980 of a brain aneurysm. Lolita then shared the tank with a short-beaked common dolphin and a pilot whale during the 1980s and 1990s, and later with a pair of Pacific white-sided dolphins, Li'i and Loke. In 2017, "the Miami Beach Commission voted unanimously for a symbolic resolution" to return Lolita to the place of her capture. In August 2021, Cancun-based The Dolphin Company bought the Seaquarium. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection report released a month later listed multiple serious problems with the conditions in which Lolita was held. The USDA issued a new license that stipulated that neither Lolita nor her dolphin companion Li'i could be on public display or used for staged exhibition shows. The Dolphin Company announced that they would allow third-party veterinarians to examine Lolita. Planned return to natal waters On March 30, 2023, the Miami Seaquarium and its new owner, The Dolphin Company, announced a legally binding agreement with the Friends of Toki (formerly Friends of Lolita) non-profit organization to move her to an ocean sanctuary in her natal waters in the Pacific Northwest. In a joint official statement, the partners in the agreement declared, "Returning Lolita to her home waters does not mean releasing her into the open ocean. She is expected to remain under human care, in a protected habitat, for the rest of her life. Lolita will continue to receive enrichment, high-quality nutrition, medical care and love, all according to the approved plans by federal authorities." After being fed by humans for decades, it was questionable whether she could sustain a wild hunting lifestyle, according to scientific opinion. Lolita's trainers reiterated that she had become "dependent on people." The move to Washington could not have proceeded until permits were granted by several government agencies, including the US Department of Agriculture. Allowing Lolita to leave the protected sanctuary would not have been approved without additional government permits. Jason Colby, historian and author of a book on captured orcas, including Lolita, cautioned against unreasonable expectations for a release back into the wild after decades in captivity. Colby said that having her live out her remaining days in a sea pen in 'home waters' would be successful enough. "I fear that when people see that she's being brought home, people will imagine it's just going to be a sort of Free Willy moment where she swims over and connects with her family. I can't imagine that happening," he said. Motivated by his daughter, the CEO of The Dolphin Company, Eduardo Albor, said, "More than just moving Lolita to a place where she will be better, she will become a symbol for us and the future generations." The decision was made in cooperation with Miami-Dade County, and Indianapolis Colts owner and philanthropist Jim Irsay. The plan included acclimating and transporting Li'i and Loke, two Pacific white-sided dolphins who are her companions, with Lolita to the Salish Sea. Li'i remained with Lolita during the process, while Loke was instead transferred with her offspring Elelo to Shedd Aquarium in August 2023. When Lolita would have been moved, the transportation method would have been similar to the one used to move her to Miami in 1970. She was being trained to swim into a custom–made stretcher that a crane would lift into a container filled with ice water. The container would then have gone onto a plane to Bellingham, Washington, from where it would be loaded onto a barge to transport her over water to a sea pen at a private location for the rest of her life. She would have continued to "receive round-the-clock medical care, security and feedings." Initially, Lolita would be accommodated in an enclosure within the larger whale sanctuary before being allowed to swim in a netted area of about 15 acres (6 hectares). In the Friends of Toki plan, "Trainers and veterinarians would tend and feed Lolita from floating platforms and boats, and a 24-hour security along a wider netted perimeter would keep boats away." Much of the budget for the move would have been for her ongoing care in Washington state, particularly for the orca's huge gourmet appetite. Fresh local salmon, the southern resident orca diet, would have been her preferred food. In 2023, Lolita's daily care at the Miami Seaquarium cost over $200,000 per month, assured by Jim Irsay. The process of moving all three animals was expected to take between 18 and 24 months and cost an estimated $15–20 million, the majority of which would have been bankrolled by Irsay. Collaborating with The Dolphin Company, the multi-faceted Friends of Toki (formerly Friends of Lolita) organization includes marine mammal scientists Diana Reiss and Roger Payne, Lummi elder Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Morris), Charles Vinick of the Whale Sanctuary Project, and Florida Keys developer and philanthropist Pritam Singh. Albor said, "Regardless of different positions, we can make this extraordinary agreement happen." Health late in life As reported by the USDA in 2021, Lolita contracted a significant long-term illness before the Miami Seaquarium came under the management of The Dolphin Company, and she had a lesion on her lung. Lead veterinarian Tom Reidarson said she "nearly died of pneumonia" in October 2022. She received increased veterinary care in 2023. The monthly veterinary report of July 31, 2023, assessed that the pulmonary lesion was smaller. Bloodwork and chuff (blowhole exhalation samples) were unremarkable, with a very low white blood cell count in Lolita's chuff samples. In summary, the veterinarians were seeing incremental improvements in her health. Nonetheless, she was still fighting the chronic infection in her lung, and continued to receive daily Faropenem and antifungal medications. In addition to "feeding the highest quality salmon, herring, and capelin available on the market from 2023 catches," Lolita's care team had been introducing a small percentage of squid to her daily diet to benefit her gastrointestinal tract. Daily activity levels were steady. Trainers had been planning for Lolita's eventual move by shifting her activities away from performing tricks and stunts towards conditioning exercise to raise her fitness level. Improving water quality had been a focus for immediately improving Lolita's health and welfare. In May 2023, CEO Eduardo Albor said The Dolphin Company had invested more than $500,000 on upgrades to better filter the water and regulate water temperature. These include an ozone generator to replace chlorine. "New chillers can now get the temp down to mimic the waters of the Pacific Northwest, said trainer Michael Partica." With very high temperatures in the Biscayne Bay source water, the two large portable chiller units enabled Lolita's pool temperature "to remain in the upper 50s [around 14°C], despite air and source water temperatures hovering in the upper 90s [around 37°C]. Round-the-clock maintenance of life support and water quality is being well managed by staff," the independent vets reported. Death On August 18, 2023, Miami Seaquarium announced on their Facebook and Instagram that Lolita had died, apparently due to renal failure. They indicated that her health had been declining rapidly over the previous two days, and despite veterinarians' best efforts, she died that same afternoon. Later in the month, the Miami Seaquarium confirmed that, after the necropsy, Lolita's remains would be cremated and returned to her natal area, the Pacific Northwest. On September 25, 2023, Miami Seaquarium announced that Li’i, the remaining 40-year-old, male Pacific white-sided dolphin that was expected to be moved with Lolita, was relocated to SeaWorld San Antonio and reunited with family members and other Pacific white-sided dolphins to avoid remaining in solitary following Lolita's death. Necropsy On August 29th, the Miami Seaquarium released a statement regarding the necropsy process, which began with an examination on August 19th. Analyses "could take more than four weeks." The necropsy was done in compliance with USDA and NOAA regulations, a spokesperson for the Seaquarium noted. "More than 15 veterinarians were reportedly assigned to the necropsy." "The August 19th examination took about 10 hours, according to the August 29th release, with samples taken to different labs for independent review." Death from a renal condition could not yet be confirmed by the Seaquarium. Reactions to death Following her death, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk released a statement, saying "Lolita was denied even a minute of freedom from her grinding 53 years in captivity", urged "families to honor Lolita's memory by never visiting marine parks", and called for more marine parks to release dolphins into sea sanctuaries. Save Lolita, a group that had campaigned for the orca's release, stated that Lolita "will forever remind us of the urgent need to protect our oceans and the magnificent creatures that call them home." World Animal Protection US's executive director Lindsay Oliver released a statement, saying "She deserved the freedom of the open sea, not a life confined to a small tank. It's time for this industry to end, so no more animals have to suffer like this. Swim free, Tokitae." After Lolita's death, Ted Griffin, the man who captured her from the Puget Sound, said he had "no regrets" about capturing orcas, except those who died from being dropped by slings, overheating during transport, or injured in captivity. Activism and governmental actions Animal rights groups and anti-captivity activists asserted that Lolita was being subjected to cruelty. In 2003, she was the subject of the documentary Lolita: Slave to Entertainment, in which many anti-captivity activists, most notably Ric O'Barry (former Flipper dolphin trainer), argued against the conditions of her captivity and expressed a hope that she might be re-introduced to the wild. O'Barry had trained and performed with the orca Hugo at the Miami Seaquarium. Urged by Orca Network, in 2012, the Washington state government, which was sympathetic to the cause of returning her to her natal waters, named a new Washington state ferry under construction the after Lolita's earlier name. The name also maintained the Washington tradition of naming ferries with regional tribal words. The vessel runs between Clinton and Mukilteo, north of Seattle, across a passage where Lolita and her community were chased during her capture. On January 17, 2015, thousands of protesters from all over the world gathered outside the Miami Seaquarium to demand Lolita's release and asked other supporters worldwide to tweet "#FreeLolita" on Twitter. In 2017, a USDA audit found that Lolita's tank did not meet the legal size requirements per federal law. In 2018 the Lummi Nation traveled to the Seaquarium with a totem pole carved for (their name for Lolita), sang to her, and prayed that she would be returned to the Salish Sea. According to journalist Lynda Mapes, "The Seaquarium would not allow tribal members any closer than the public sidewalk outside the facility where the whale performs twice a day for food." Seaquarium Curator Emeritus Robert Rose responded to the Lummi's journey, saying that the Lummi Nation "should be ashamed of themselves, they don't care about Lolita, they don't care about her best interests, they don't really care whether she lives or dies. To them, she is nothing more than a vehicle by which they promote their name, their political agenda, to obtain money and to gain media attention. Shame on them." In response, environmental scholars and Julius argued that such statements are representative of a troubling pattern of discounting Native American knowledge and relationships, theft, and possession, which are "part and parcel of the possessive nature of settler colonialism." On September 24, 2020, the 50th anniversary of Lolita's arrival at the Seaquarium, tribal members of the Lummi Nation, joined by the local Seminole, traveled to Miami again, held a ceremony in support of , and demanded she be released to her native waters. The totem pole journey was ongoing as of 2021. Some, such as the director of the University of British Columbia's Marine Mammal Research Unit, Andrew Trites, argued that Lolita was too old for life in the wild and that reintroducing her to the ocean after over fifty years in captivity would be "unethical" and a "death sentence". However, other environmental scholars have posited that such arguments are representative of colonial conservation policies, stating that "The whales were killed and captured one at a time by settlers. If they can be killed or captured one at a time, there is no reason why the whales cannot be helped one at a time. Individual whales and pods can be cared for. 'Lolita' can be returned to her home waters." In March 2023, after the announcement of Lolita's move was decided, animal rights organizations, including PETA, World Animal Protection, and Animal Legal Defense Fund, openly supported the decision. Legal cases In November 2011, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), PETA, and three individuals filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to end the exclusion of Lolita from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of the Pacific Northwest's southern resident orcas. NMFS reviewed ALDF's joint petition and the thousands of comments submitted by the public and found the petition merited. In February 2015, the NOAA announced it would issue a rule to include Lolita under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Previous to this, although the orca population that she was taken from is listed as endangered, as a captive animal, Lolita was exempted from this classification. This change did not impact her captivity. On March 18, 2014, a judge dismissed ALDF's case challenging Miami Seaquarium's Animal Welfare Act license to display captive orcas. In June 2014, ALDF filed a notice of appeal of the District Court decision that found the USDA had not violated the law when it renewed Miami Seaquarium's AWA exhibitor license. See also List of captive orcas List of individual cetaceans Keiko (orca), the star of Free Willy, and the first captive orca released to the wild References External links Sacred Sea Lolita news from Lummi Nation conservation non-profit Lolita: Slave to Entertainment film listed on IMDb 1960s animal births 2023 animal deaths Animals in captivity Animal rights Individual orcas Oceanaria Southern resident orcas Tourist attractions in Miami Individual animals in the United States Deaths from kidney failure

2588472

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodaikanal%20Solar%20Observatory

Kodaikanal Solar Observatory

The Kodaikanal Solar Observatory is a solar observatory owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is on the southern tip of the Palani Hills from Kodaikanal. The Evershed effect was first detected at this observatory in January 1909. Solar data collected by the lab is the oldest continuous series of its kind in India. Precise observations of the equatorial electrojet are made here due to the unique geography of Kodaikanal. Ionospheric soundings, geomagnetic, F region vertical drift and surface observations are made here regularly. Summaries of the data obtained are sent to national (India Meteorological Department) and global (World Meteorological Organization, Global Atmosphere Watch) data centers. They have a full-time staff of two scientists and three technicians. History As early as 1881, Mr. Blanford, then Meteorological Reporter to the Government of India, recommended "the improvement of the work of solar observations in order to obtain accurate measures of the sun’s heating power at the earth’s surface and its periodic variations". In May 1882, the government astronomer at Madras, Norman Robert Pogson, proposed the need for photography and spectrography of the sun and the stars using a twenty-inch telescope, which could be at a hill station in South India. On 20 July 1893 following a famine in Madras Presidency, which underscored the need for a study of the sun to better understand monsoon patterns, a meeting of the U.K. Secretary of State, Indian Observatories Committee, chaired by Lord Kelvin, decided to establish a solar physics observatory at Kodaikanal, based on its southern, dust free, high altitude location. Michie Smith was selected to be superintendent. Starting in 1895 there was a rapid transfer of work and equipment from the Madras Observatory to Kodaikanal and the observatory was founded on 1 April 1899. The first observations were commenced at Kodaikanal in 1901. Partial List of Assistant Directors John Evershed 1906–1911 Thomas Royds 1911–1923 Anil Kumar Das 1937–1946 List of Directors Charles Michie Smith FRSE 1895–1911 John Evershed 1911–1923 Thomas Royds 1923–1937 A. L. Narayan 1937–1946 Anil Kumar Das 1946–1960 M. K. Vainu Bappu 1960–1982 J.C.Bhattacharya 1982-1990 Ramnath Cowsik 1992 - 2003 S.Siraj Hasan 2006 - 2012 P.Sreekumar 2013 - 2018 Annapurni Subramanian 2019–Present A 12 m solar tower with modern spectrograph was established in 1960 by Amil Kumar Das and used to perform some of the first ever helioseismology investigations. Measurements of vector magnetic fields were initiated during the 1960s. In 1977, many of the astronomers from Kodaikanal shifted to Bangalore and established the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Current activities Areas of current interest at the observatory are Observations and interpretation of the morphological changes in active regions and their role in occurrence of transients such as solar flares. Study of contributing factors to chromospheric calcium K indices. Measurement of vector magnetic fields. Photographs of ~ 117 years are being digitized for long-term studies of the last ten solar cycles, in an effort led by Dipankar Banerjee. Studies on the structure and dynamics of the equatorial ionosphere and its response to the solar and interplanetary variability are being carried out. Studies of the equatorial electrojet and of the structure and dynamics of the equatorial ionosphere and its response to solar and interplanetary variability are being made. Hourly observation of surface temperature, pressure and rainfall are made here and transmitted to the India Meteorological Department and the World Meteorological Organization for use in Weather forecasting and research in the atmospheric sciences. Public education about astronomy including tours of the facility, access to the astronomy library, nighttime telescopic sky viewing, and presentation of specialized university-level courses, seminars and workshops. Equipment Full disc imaging A 15 cm aperture English-mounted Heliostatic refractor by the French optical firm of Lerebours et Secretan of Paris, acquired in 1850 and remodeled to 20 cm by Grubb-Parsons in 1898 to serve as a photoheliograph, has been in use since the early 1900s to obtain daily 20 cm white light pictures of the sun, sky permitting. The 20 cm refractor is used occasionally for cometary and occultation observations and sometimes made available to visitors for night sky viewing. Twin spectroheliographs giving 6 cm diameter full disc photographs of the sun in K-alpha and H-alpha spectral lines are in regular use. A 46 cm diameter Foucault siderostat feeds light to a 30 cm aperture f/22, Cooke triplet lens. The two prism K-alpha spectroheliographs were acquired in 1904 and the H-alpha diffraction grating spectroheliograph was operational in 1911. Since 1912, prominent pictures over the full limb are being obtained in K by blocking the solar disc. These observations and the white light pictures are obtained around 200 days a year. Light from the 46 cm siderostat is diverted to a 15 cm Zeiss achromat objective which provides an f/15 beam and a 2 cm image. A prefilter and a daystar Ca K narrow band filter are used together with a Photometrix 1k x 1k CCD to record the K filtergram. Regular observations began in 1996. Besides synoptic observations, temporal sequences are being obtained on days of good to excellent seeing. Solar tunnel telescope A Grubb Parson 60 cm diameter two-mirror fused quartz coelostat mounted on 11 m tower platform directs sunlight via a flat mirror into a 60 m long underground horizontal 'tunnel'. A 38 cm aperture f/90 achromat forms a 34 cm diameter solar image at the focal plane. The telescope has an option to mount a 20 cm achromat, which provides an f/90 beam to form a 17 cm image. A Littrow-type spectrograph is the main instrument of the telescope. A 20 cm diameter, 18 m focal length achromat in conjunction with a 600 lines/mm grating gives 9 mm/A dispersion in the fifth order of the grating. Together with the 5.5 arcsec/mm spatial resolution of the image, it forms a high resolution set up for solar spectroscopy. Recording of the spectrum can be done photographically or with a Photometrix 1k x 1k CCD system. A large format CCD system is being procured to enhance the coverage of spectrum especially for the broad resonance lines and the nearby continuum. The converging solar beam from the objective can be diverted to a high dispersion spectroheliograph with Littrow arrangement using a 3.43 m achromat. The photographic camera behind the second slit is being replaced by a Raticon linear array and a data acquisition system. Ionosondes The lab is equipped for studying the ionospheric and geomagnetic effects of solar activity. A NBS C3 analogue ionosonde was installed in 1955, for vertical soundings of the ionosphere. Quarterly soundings were made round the clock. In 1993, a digital ionosonde model IPS 42/DBD43 was commissioned enabling five minute or better sounding rates. Other facilities A high frequency Doppler radar was built indigenously and made operational to study F-region Skywave dynamics. A lacour magnetometer and a Watson magnetometer were installed and have been used regularly at the observatory since the early 1900s. They also have a broadband seismograph, GPS receiver and magnetic variometers. The observatory has a popular astronomy museum on campus for the visitors. The displays are mainly pictorial, with a few models, a live solar image and the Fraunhofer spectrum also presented. The library is one of the observatory's proud possessions. It has a collection of astronomical literature, which is of archival value. The library maintains a skeletal collection of current literature in solar and solar terrestrial physics. The modern meeting and accommodation facilities are often used for national and international meetings, workshops and classes for up to 40 participants on subjects such as Kodaikanal Summer School in Physics, the Kodai-Trieste Workshop on Plasma Astrophysics and the Solar Physics Winter School. See also Kavasji Naegamvala List of astronomical observatories References External links Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Kodaikanal Observatory Subramanian, T.S. (1999) the Hindu, Volume 16-Issue 13, June 19. "Centenary of a solar observatory", retrieved 3/13/2007 Madras and Kodaikanal Observatories : A Brief History Cambridge University Library: Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, archive papers 1892-1963, retrieved 3/13/2007. Further reading: Antia H. M., Bhatnagar A., Ulmschneider P. (ed.s) (2006) Lectures on Solar Physics (Lecture Notes in Physics), Cambridge University Press, New York, 335 pages Excerpts, retrieved 3/13/2007 Astronomical observatories in India Astronomical observatories in Tamil Nadu Kodaikanal Astronomy Telescopes Solar telescopes Indian Institute of Astrophysics

2595216

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%20Siberian%20taiga

East Siberian taiga

The East Siberian taiga ecoregion, in the Taiga and boreal forests biome, is a very large biogeographic region in eastern Russia. Setting This vast ecoregion is located in the heart of Siberia, stretching over 20° of latitude and 50° of longitude (52° to 72° N, and 80° to 130° E). The climate in the East Siberian taiga is subarctic (the trees growing there are coniferous and deciduous) and displays high continentality, with extremes ranging from to and possibly lower. Winters are long and very cold, but dry, with little snowfall due to the effects of the Siberian anticyclone. Summers are short, but can be quite warm for the northerly location. Precipitation is low, ranging from , decreasing from east to west. The topography of this ecoregion is varied, consisting of wide, flat plains and areas of karst topography. In contrast to the neighbouring West Siberian taiga, large bogs and wetlands are conspicuously absent. Some trees also shed their leaves annually, a characteristic of deciduous forests. Flora Vegetation consists mainly of vast, dense forests of Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii), with Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and hybrids between the Dahurian and Siberian larches (Larix x czekanowskii) occurring as one moves to the west. Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) and bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) bushes dominate the understory. Throughout the ecoregion, smaller areas dominated by Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Siberian spruce (Picea obovata) and Siberian fir (Abies sibirica) can be found. Pine forests and deciduous forests composed of birch and poplar species become more common as one moves south, and at the headwaters of the Lena River and the Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, as well as in the Angara River basin, steppe and shrub-steppe communities can be found along with areas of forest-steppe. Fauna This region contains the highest number of brown bears (Ursus arctos collaris), Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus), moose (Alces alces) and wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Russia. Further south mammals in the East Siberian taiga include Siberian musk deer (Moschus moschiferus), Altai wapiti also known as Asian elk (Cervus canadensis sibiricus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). Birds of this ecoregion include the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia), Siberian grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis), black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), black-billed capercaillie (Tetrao parvirostris), willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), black stork (Ciconia nigra), hooded crane (Grus monacha), carrion crow (Corvus corone), the Siberian blue and rufous-tailed robins (Luscinia cyane and L. sibilans, respectively), the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), Pallas's rosefinch (Carpodacus roseus), Pacific swift (Apus pacificus), common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), smew (Mergellus albellus), king eider (Somateria spectabilis), spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri) and Baikal teal (Anas formosa). Conservation Status, threats and protected areas Although little of this ecoregion is protected, its conservation status is listed as "Relatively Stable/Intact". Protected areas in this ecoregion include: Stolby Nature Sanctuary Olyokma Nature Reserve Tunguska Nature Reserve Central Siberia Nature Reserve All are "Zapovedniks", (that is, strict ecological reserves). The main threats to this ecoregion's integrity are poaching and clear-cut logging in the southern and central portions of the region. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, came a new threat. There is little forest in China, and Chinese entrepreneurs (due to the lack of woods, and fuelled by strong economic growth), began to show interest in obtaining the woods from RF. High levels of corruption and some other reasons allowed them to achieve their goal. A new law adopted was Federal law 473-FZ, which protects the rights of foreign companies in RF, and Chinese lumberjacks began to destroy all the trees on the leased land (and far beyond too). There have been numerous attempts of deforestation in the protected floodplain of the rivers. Because of the large environmental damage, their activities caused protests by local residents and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The actions of the Chinese companies pose a threat to the native population of Siberia and the Far East (Evenks, Udege et al.), depriving them of their habitat and traditional ways of life. Total deforestation by Chinese companies creates an additional threat to rare and endangered species such as the Siberian tiger, Amur leopard, East Siberian brown bear, among others. See also Tunguska event Taiga References External links Taiga and boreal forests Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of Russia Geography of Siberia Natural history of Siberia Palearctic ecoregions

2596080

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukra

Shukra

Shukra (, IAST: ) is a Sanskrit word that means "clear" or "bright". It also has other meanings, such as the name of an ancient lineage of sages who counselled the asuras in Vedic mythology. In medieval mythology and Hindu astrology, the term refers to the planet Venus, one of the Navagrahas. Hinduism In Hinduism, Shukra is one of the sons of Bhrigu, of the third Manu, one of the saptarishis. He was the guru of Daityas and Asuras, and is also referred to as Shukracharya or Asuracharya in various Hindu texts. In another account found in the Mahabharata, Shukra divided himself into two, one half becoming the fount of knowledge for the devas (gods) and the other half being the knowledge source of the asuras (demons). Shukra, in the Puranas, is blessed by Shiva with Sanjeevini Vidhya after worshipping and impressing Shiva with his devotion. Sanjeevini Vidhya is the knowledge that raises the dead back to life, which he used from time to time to restore life to the asuras. Later, this knowledge was sought by the devatas and was ultimately gained by them. Shukra's mother was Kavyamata, whilst Shukra's wives were the goddesses Urjasvati, Jayanti, and Sataparva. Sometimes, Urjjasvati and Jayanti are considered to be one goddess. With her, Shukra produced many children including, Queen Devayani. Sataparva was childless. In the Mahabharata, Shukracharya is mentioned as one of the mentors of Bhishma, having taught him political science in his youth. Astrology In classical Vedic astrology or Jyotisha, Shukra is considered to be among the Navagrahas (Nine planets) that influence the pattern of life on earth. Shukra represents women, beauty, wealth, luxury, and sex. According to classical astrological texts, a powerfully placed Shukra, aspected by benefic planets such as Jupiter, and in favourable signs and houses in the birth chart, ensures material well-being. Its beej mantra is "Om Draam Dreem Draum Sah Shukraya Namaha". It is associated with Friday, and the gem diamond. The classical shastras ordain that the best method to attain the blessings of Shukra is to respect the women in one’s life. It is also popularly propitiated through Devi Aradhana or worshipping the goddess Lakshmi. Planet Shukra as a planet appears in various Hindu astronomical texts in Sanskrit, such as the 5th century Aryabhatiya by Aryabhatta, the 6th century Romaka by Latadeva and Panca Siddhantika by Varahamihira, the 7th century Khandakhadyaka by Brahmagupta and the 8th century Sisyadhivrddida by Lalla. These texts present Shukra as one of the planets and estimate the characteristics of the respective planetary motion. Other texts such as Surya Siddhanta dated to have been complete sometime between the 5th century and 10th century present their chapters on various planets with deity mythologies. The manuscripts of these texts exist in slightly different versions, present Shukra's motion in the skies, but vary in their data, suggesting that the text were open and revised over their lives. The 1st millennium CE Hindu scholars had estimated the time it took for sidereal revolutions of each planet including Shukra, from their astronomical studies, with slightly different results: Calendar and zodiac The weekday Shukravara in Hindu calendar, or Friday, has roots in Shukra (Venus). Shukravara is found in most Indian languages, and Shukra Graha is driven by the planet Venus in Hindu astrology. The word "Friday" in the Greco-Roman and other Indo-European calendars is also based on the planet Venus. Shukra is a part of the Navagraha in the Hindu zodiac system. The Navagraha developed from early works of astrology over time. Deifying planetary bodies and their astrological significance occurred as early as the Vedic period and was recorded in the Vedas. The classical planets, including Venus, were referenced in the Atharvaveda around 1000 BCE. The planet Venus was deified and referred to as Shukra in various Puranas. See also Varuna Ahura Mazda Venus (astrology) Venus (mythology) Navagraha List of Navagraha temples Nakshatra List of Natchathara temples Jyotisha Saptarishi List of Hindu deities Vishnu References Further reading External links Navagraha Venusian deities Rishis Danavas

2596739

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health%20geography

Health geography

Health geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care. Medical geography, a sub-discipline of or sister field of health geography, focuses on understanding spatial patterns of health and disease as related to the natural and social environment. Conventionally, there are two primary areas of research within medical geography: the first deals with the spatial distribution and determinants of morbidity and mortality, while the second deals with health planning, help-seeking behavior, and the provision of health services. Overview Medical geography The first area of study within medical geography has been described as geographical epidemiology or disease geography and is focused on the spatial patterns and processes of health and disease outcomes. This area of inquiry can be differentiated from the closely related discipline of epidemiology in that it uses concepts and methods from geography, allowing an ecologic perspective on health that considers how interactions between humans and the environment result in observed health outcomes. The second area of study focused on the planning and provision of health services, often with a focus on the spatial organization of health systems and exploration of how this arrangement affects accessibility of care. Health geography The study of health geography has been influenced by repositioning medical geography within the field of social geography due to a shift towards a social model in health care, rather than a medical model. This advocates for the redefinition of health and health care away from prevention and treatment of illness only to one of promoting well-being in general. Under this model, some previous illnesses (e.g., mental ill health) are recognized as behavior disturbances only, and other types of medicine (e.g., complementary or alternative medicine and traditional medicine) are studied by the medicine researchers, sometimes with the aid of health geographers without medical education. This shift changes the definition of care, no longer limiting it to spaces such as hospitals or doctor's offices. Also, the social model gives priority to the intimate encounters performed at non-traditional spaces of medicine and healthcare as well as to the individuals as health consumers. This alternative methodological approach means that medical geography is broadened to incorporate philosophies such as Marxian political economy, structuralism, social interactionism, humanism, feminism and queer theory. History Relationships between place and health have long been recognized throughout human history, predating modern health delivery systems and providing insights into the transmission of infectious agents, well before the germ theory paradigm shift in the late 1800s. Throughout history there have been many examples of place and location playing major roles in shaping perceptions of health and risk. The associations between geographical characteristics and health outcomes, which essentially form the foundation of modern medical geography, were recognized more than 2,000 years ago by Hippocrates in his treatise ’’On Airs, Waters, and Places’’ (ca. 400 BC). The industrial revolution in the 1700s brought with it a plethora of novel public health issues stemming from rapid urban development and poor sanitation, conditions which fueled the development of disease mapping, or medical cartography. A precursor to medical geography, medical cartography arose from the need to communicate spatial discrepancies in risk for diseases of unknown cause, particularly urban outbreaks of cholera and yellow fever. One of the most prominent figures in both epidemiology and medical geography is John Snow, the physician who correctly identified the source of exposure during the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak. Snow's famous 1854 map of the cholera outbreak graphically demonstrates that cases were clustered around the Broad Street pump, the source of contaminated water that fueled the epidemic. This map led Snow to identify the contaminated pump and conclude that cholera was a waterborne illness, a remarkable feat given that bacteria were unknown to science at the time. While Snow's contributions to medical geography and epidemiology are irrefutable, the role of the map in this particular investigation is somewhat overstated. Dot maps of cases produced during the industrial period were powerful tools in communicating the findings of traditional epidemiological measures of association, but their role as analytic tools were restricted due to technological limitations. Modern medical geography arose in the United States in the 1950s with the pioneering work of Jacques May, who worked as a surgeon in Thailand and Vietnam and noticed differences between the health experiences of his patients in these locations and in Europe. Although the notion that the environment could influence human health has been understood since Hippocrates, medical geography as envisioned by May built on this idea, describing medical geography as working to understand the nature of the relationships between pathogen transmission and geographical factors. May soon began mapping global distributions of disease and exploring the cultural and environmental factors that influenced these distributions. Areas of study Health geography is considered to be divided into two distinct elements. The first of which is focused on geographies of disease and ill health, involving descriptive research quantifying disease frequencies and distributions, and analytic research concerned with finding what characteristics make an individual or population susceptible to disease. This requires an understanding of epidemiology. The second component of health geography is the geography of health care, primarily facility location, accessibility, and utilization. This requires the use of spatial analysis and often borrows from behavioral economics. Geographies of disease and ill health Health geographers are concerned with the prevalence of different diseases along a range of spatial scales from a local to global view, and inspects the natural world, in all of its complexity, for correlations between diseases and locations. This situates health geography alongside other geographical sub-disciplines that trace human-environment relations. Health geographers use modern spatial analysis tools to map the dispersion of health, including various diseases, as individuals spread them amongst themselves, and across wider spaces as they migrate. Health geographers also consider all types of spaces as presenting health risks, from natural disasters, to interpersonal violence, stress, and other potential dangers. Geography of health care provision Although healthcare is a public good, it is not equally available to all individuals. Demand for public services is continuously increasing. People need advance knowledge and the latest prediction technology, that health geography offers. The latest example of such technology is Telemedicine. Many people in the United States are not able to access proper healthcare because of inequality in health insurance and the means to afford medical care. Mobility and Disease Tracking: With the advent of mobile technology and its spread, it is now possible to track individual mobility. By correlating the movement of individuals through tracking the devices using access towers or other tracking systems, it is now possible to determine and even control disease spread. While privacy laws question the legality of tracking individuals, the commercial mobile service providers are using covert techniques or obtaining government waivers to allow permission to track people. Methods Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used extensively in medical geography to visualize and analyze georeferenced health-related data. These spatial data can be vector (point, line, or polygon) or raster (continuous grid) format and are often presented in quantitative thematic maps. Disease outcomes and sociodemographic characteristics collected through surveillance systems and population censuses are frequently used as data sources in medical geography studies. In disease ecology studies, interpolated climate data, gridded land surveys, and remote sensing imagery are examples of data used to quantify the environmental characteristics of disease systems. Spatial statistics or analysis are applied to test hypotheses regarding patterns or relationships within these data, such as the property of spatial dependency (spatially closer entities are more similar or related than spatially distant entities) or spatial heterogeneity (locations are unique relative to other locations). Some examples of the spatial analyses used in medical geography include point pattern analysis, tests for spatial autocorrelation, geographically weighted regression (GWR), ecological niche modeling, spatial scan statistics, and network analysis. Health geographers Notable health geographers include: Sarah Curtis William C. Gorgas Kelvyn Jones John Snow Mei-Po Kwan Nadine Schuurman See also Cluster (epidemiology) Social model of disability Spatial epidemiology Tobler's first law of geography Tobler's second law of geography References External links Social and Spatial Inequalities GeoHealth Laboratory Human geography Global health Spatial epidemiology Disease ecology

2596746

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%20disc

Newton disc

The Newton disc, also known as the disappearing colour disc, is a well-known physics experiment with a rotating disc with segments in different colours (usually Newton's primary colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet or ROYGBIV) appearing as white (or off-white or grey) when it spun rapidy about its axis. This type of mix of light stimuli is called temporal optical mixing, a version of additive-averaging mixing. The concept that human visual perception cannot distinguish details of high-speed movements is popularly known as persistence of vision. The disc is named after Isaac Newton. Although he published a circular diagram with segments for the primary colours that he had discovered, it is uncertain whether he actually ever used a spinning disc to demonstrate the principles of light. Transparent variations for magic lantern projection have been produced. History Around 165 CE, Ptolemy described in his book Optics a rotating potter's wheel with different colours on it. He noted how the different colours of sectors mixed together into one colour and how dots appeared as circles when the wheel was spinning very fast. When lines are drawn across the axis of the disc they make the whole surface appear to be of a uniform colour. "The visual impression that is created in the first revolution is invariably followed by repeated instances that subsequently produce an identical impression. This also happens in the case of shooting stars, whose light seems distended on account of their speed of motion, all according to the amount of perceptible distance it passes along with the sensible impression that arises in the visual faculty." Porphyry ( – ) wrote in his commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonics how the senses are not stable but confused and inaccurate. Certain intervals between repeated impressions are not detected. A white or black spot on a spinning cone (or top) appears as a circle of that colour and a line on the top makes the whole surface appear in that colour. "Because of the swiftness of the movement we receive the impression of the line on every part of the cone as the line moves." In the 11th century Ibn al-Haytham, who was familiar with Ptolemy's writings, described how coloured lines on a spinning top could not be discerned as different colours but appeared as one new colour composed of all of the colours of the lines. He deducted that sight needs some time to discern a colour. al-Haytam also noted that the top appeared motionless when spun extremely quick "for none of its points remains fixed in the same spot for any perceptible time". After Ibn al-Haytham, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209) performed the spinning disk experiment, and like his predecessors he concluded that it shows an optical illusion. However, the astronomer-mathematician Nasir al-Din al-Tusi described al-Razi's text and arrived at a very different conclusion. Tusi introduced a common sense organ that forwards colour impressions to the soul. When colours change too fast, this organ can only pass on the mixed colour. One of Tusi's students was Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (d.1311), and together with his student Kamal al-Din al-Farisi he tried to explain the colours perceived in the experiment. Newton's primary colours On 16 February 1672 (6 February 1671 old style), Newton sent a paper to the Royal Society's journal Philosophical Transactions, about the experiments he had been conducting since 1666 with the refraction of light through glass prisms. He concluded that the different refracted rays of light – well parted from others – could not be changed by further refraction, nor by reflection or other means, except through mixture with other rays. He thus found the seven primary colours red, orange, yellow, green, blue, "a violet-purple" and indigo. When mixing the coloured rays from a prism, he found that "the most surprising and wonderful composition was that of whiteness" requiring all the primary colours "mixed in a due proportion". In reaction to Robert Hooke's criticism of the new theory of light, Newton published a letter in the Philosophical Transactions, with other experiments that proved how sunlight existed of rays with different colours. He described how the cogs or teeth of a gyrating wheel behind a prism can block part of the light so that all the colours would be projected successively if the wheel turns rather slow, but how all the colours will be mixed into white light if the wheel turn very fast. He also pointed out that rays of light that were reflected from multi-coloured bodies were weakened by the loss of many rays and that a mixture of those rays would not produce a pure white, but a grey or "dirty" colour. This could be seen in dust, which on close inspection would reveal that it consists of many coloured particles, or when mixing several colours of paint. He also referred to a child's top which would display a "dirty" colour if it was painted in several colours and made to spin fast by whipping it. After presenting his conclusions about dividing sunlight into primary colours and mixing them back together into white light, Newton presented a colour circle to illustrate the relations between these colours in his book Opticks (1704). Many modern sources state that Isaac Newton himself used a spinning disc with coloured sectors to demonstrate how white light was actually the compound of the primary colours. However, these do not reference any historical source. According to Joseph Plateau, the first to describe how a spinning disc with Newton's seven primary colours would show an (imperfect) white colour was Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1762. See also Benham's top References External links Isaac Newton Color

2598224

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal%20of%20South%20Dakota

Seal of South Dakota

The Great Seal of the State of South Dakota was designed while the area was a territory, in 1885. The outer ring of the seal contains the text "State of South Dakota" on the top and "Great Seal" on the bottom. Also, the year of statehood was 1889. Inside the inner circle of the seal contains the state motto "Under God the People Rule". The picture features hills, a river with a boat, a farmer, a mine, and cattle. The items in the image are to represent the state's commerce, agriculture, industry, and natural resources. Use of the South Dakota state seal is governed under South Dakota state law as follows: 1-6-3.1. Use of seal or facsimile without authorisation prohibited Violation as a misdemeanor. No person may reproduce, duplicate, or otherwise use the official seal of the State of South Dakota, or its facsimile, adopted and described in §§ 1-6-1 and 1-6-2 for any for-profit, commercial purpose without specific authorization from the secretary of state. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. 1-6-3.2. Sale of seal facsimile without authorisation prohibited Violation as misdemean ours. No person may sell or offer for sale a replica or facsimile of the official seal of the State of South Dakota, adopted and described in §§ 1-6-1 and 1-6-2, without specific authorization from the secretary of state. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. 1-6-3.3. Royalty for the use of seal—Educational purposes excepted. The secretary of state shall charge a royalty for the privilege of using the state seal. The secretary of state may not charge a royalty if the state seal is used for an educational purpose. All royalty fees collected according to this chapter shall be deposited in the state general fund. Many color representations of the South Dakota state seal on the Internet are not an accurate representation of the color seal for South Dakota, as the current representation of the state deal is designated in state law. 1-6-1. State seal adopted Reproductions. There is hereby adopted as the official coloured seal of the State of South Dakota, a reproduction of the seal, described in article XXI, section 1 of the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, and made in conformity in addition to that but whose proportions andcolouredd detail are set out specifically in accord with an original painting of the great seal produced by John G. Moisan of Fort Pierre and shall be the basis for all reproductions of the great seal of the State of South Dakota. The South Dakota Secretary of State is the designated custodian of the South Dakota State Seal. See also Flag of South Dakota References External links South Dakota Secretary of State The Great Seal of the State of South DakotaDakota Pierre South Dakota Symbols of South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota

2598295

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdigalian

Burdigalian

The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian, the Burdigalian was the first and longest warming period of the Miocene and is succeeded by the Langhian. Stratigraphic definition The name Burdigalian comes from Burdigala, the Latin name for the city of Bordeaux, France. The Burdigalian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by Charles Depéret in 1892. The base of the Burdigalian is at the first appearance of foram species Globigerinoides altiaperturus and the top of magnetic chronozone C6An. , an official GSSP for the Burdigalian had not yet been assigned. The top of the Burdigalian (the base of the Langhian) is defined by the first appearance of foram species Praeorbulina glomerosa and is also coeval with the top of magnetic chronozone C5Cn.1n. Paleontology Famous Burdigalian palaeontologic localities include the Turritellenplatte of Ermingen in Germany and the Dominican amber deposits of Hispaniola. Possible human evolutionary ancestors such as Victoriapithecus evolved during this time interval. References Footnotes Literature ; 1892: Note sur la classification et le parallélisme du Système miocène, Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 3(20), p. CXLV-CLVI. ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. External links GeoWhen Database - Burdigalian Neogene timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS Neogene timescale at the website of the Norwegian network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy 02 Miocene geochronology Geological ages

2600155

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard%20P.%20Binzel

Richard P. Binzel

Richard "Rick" P. Binzel (born 1958) is an American astronomer and professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a discoverer of minor planets, photometrist and the inventor of the Torino Scale, a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets. He is also a frequent trip leader for the MIT Alumni Association. Biography and honors Binzel was awarded the H. C. Urey Prize by the American Astronomical Society in 1991. He also was awarded a "MacVicar Faculty Fellowship" for teaching excellence at MIT in 1994. He is a co-investigator on the OSIRIS-REx mission. Binzel was on the "Planet Definition Committee" that developed the proposal to the International Astronomical Union's meeting in Prague in 2006 on whether Pluto should be considered a planet. Their proposal was revised during the meeting and Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. However, Richard Binzel has strong feelings contrary to this collective decision and would prefer for Pluto to still be classified as having full planet status. Binzel is an editor of the books Seventy-five years of Hirayama asteroid families : the role of collisions in the Solar System history and Asteroids II . He is General Editor of the University of Arizona Space Science Series. Richard Binzel assists his family in raising guide dog puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. His favorite dog was their fourth, Skyler. He is also a frequent leader with the MIT Alumni Association. The main-belt asteroid 2873 Binzel, discovered by Edward Bowell at Anderson Mesa Station, was named in his honor. References 1958 births 20th-century American astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Planetary scientists

2601211

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prandtl%20%28crater%29

Prandtl (crater)

Prandtl is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies across the southeastern outer rim of the huge walled plain Planck. This crater is roughly circular, but with an outward bulge to the south-southeast. The rim is worn but still retains a well-defined edge. Several small craterlets lie along the rim and inner wall, the most notable being a pair of small craters along the eastern side and a small, eroded crater intruding slightly along the south. The interior floor is generally level, with only a small rise to the south of the midpoint. There is a cluster of three small craterlets along the southern inner wall. References Impact craters on the Moon

2601237

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraskevopoulos%20%28crater%29

Paraskevopoulos (crater)

Paraskevopoulos is an old lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, in the higher northern latitudes. It lies just to the southwest of the younger and somewhat larger crater Carnot. To the southwest is the smaller crater Stoletov, and to the southeast lies Fowler. It is named after the astronomer John S. Paraskevopoulos. This is a well-eroded crater formation, with a rounded and uneven rim edge. The satellite crater Paraskevopoulos H lies across the eastern rim, and the smaller Paraskevopoulos E is located in the northeastern part of the interior floor. The rim edge is better defined along the northern and southern edges, and is nearly worn away along the west. The surviving interior floor is relatively level and featureless, with only a pair of small craterlets along the northwestern and southeastern edges. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Paraskevopoulos. References Impact craters on the Moon

2601262

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herc%27s%20Adventures

Herc's Adventures

Herc's Adventures is a video game released for the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn by LucasArts in 1997. The overhead, action-adventure format is similar to Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Up to two players each take on the role of one of three ancient Greek heroes: Herc (Hercules), Atlanta (Atalanta), or Jason, who are on a quest to defeat Hades and save the goddess of nature, Persephone. In 2014, it was released for PSN in North America. Herc's Adventures was originally announced as a Sega Saturn exclusive with a release date of December 1996, but delays pushed its release back to July 1997. The PlayStation version was released internationally, while the Saturn version was exclusive to North America. Virgin Interactive Entertainment had planned to release the Saturn version in Europe in September 1997, but it was dropped from the release schedule as part of Virgin's withdrawal of support for the Saturn. Gameplay The characters pick up various weapons and items, which include: pepper breath against bees and wasps, frost breath that freezes enemies, lightning which blasts a target with electrical energy, spears, boar traps, flaming spears (used against the Hydra to prevent its head from reforming), bombs, an evil Pandora's box which when opened releases rough weather, a shrink doll which miniaturizes any target and a laser gun. Items include Circe's potion which turned the player into a pig to fit into small crevices, Medusa and Minotaur's head, and the golden fleece (which opens the gates of Hades' underworld). Gyros increase the player's health bar, and each hero has a second strength bar that depletes whenever moving or picking up an object. Health and strength are increased by buying lessons from a strength trainer or finding red hearts. Every time the players die, they are sent down to the underworld and need to fight their way to the exit in order to continue. The more they die, the further back into the underworld they are sent, making it increasingly harder to fight their way out. Dying five times results in a game over. With the exception of the switch to and from the underworld section, the game world is presented as an open, singular map, without any loading screens or interstitials between areas. Voice cast Rachel Reenstra - Atlanta Lois Nettleton - Athena Cástulo Guerra - Hades Patty Parris - Hera Michael Gough - Hercules / Dionysus Tom Wyner - Zeus / Poseidon Wally Wingert - Jason / Bronze Guy / Big Soldier Pat Fraley - Minotaur / Helldog / Soldier Reception Herc's Adventures met with mostly positive reviews, as critics were overwhelmingly pleased with the graphics, offbeat humor, huge amount of lands to explore, and inclusion of three playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses that make an important difference in how the game plays. The more mixed reviews found some faults with the gameplay. Next Generation opined that the gameplay is too one-note and that the skewed perspective sometimes creates confusion about where the player character can go, though the reviewer still concluded that the game is fun enough and different enough to be enjoyable. IGN criticized only the fact that the game is not a polygon-based fighting game or racing game, remarking that it was exceptionally good for a game that did not fall into either of those genres. Most critical commentary on the gameplay was positive, however, with several critics commenting that the cooperative two-player mode is especially fun. Shawn Smith of Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that "the gameplay is flawless." Glenn Rubenstein of GameSpot summed up that "The graphics, gameplay, and humor make a unique mix that results in a truly fresh title unlike most of the other games on the market today." Major Mike gave the Saturn version a perfect 5.0 out of 5 in all four GamePro categories (graphics, sound, control, and funfactor), noting in particular the excellent incorporation of mythological figures. He gave the PlayStation version a 4.5 out of 5 in all four categories, but did not directly compare it to the Saturn version, and Rubenstein gave the two versions identical scores. References External links 1997 video games Action-adventure games Atalanta Cooperative video games Cultural depictions of Jason Hades LucasArts games Persephone PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games Sega Saturn games Video games about Heracles Video games based on Greek mythology Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Michael Land Video games scored by Peter McConnell Video games set in ancient Greece Video games set in antiquity

2601273

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkhurst%20%28crater%29

Parkhurst (crater)

Parkhurst is a heavily degraded lunar impact crater to the northeast of the Mare Australe on the far side of the Moon. To the north-northeast of Parkhurst is the crater Scaliger and to the southwest lies the dark-floored Gernsback. The small lunar mare named Lacus Solitudinis lies due north of Parkhurst. Little remains of this crater formation other than the uneven outline of the outer rim. Several satellite craters lie along the rim edge, with Parkhust D along the northeast, B to the north, and X along the northwest. The satellite crater Parkhurst Q pushes into the southwestern rim, distorting the edge shape. The interior floor of Parkhurst is pock-marked by small craterlets. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Parkhurst. References Impact craters on the Moon

2601293

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons%20%28crater%29

Parsons (crater)

Parsons is an impact crater on the battered far side of the Moon. It is located to the west-northwest of the crater Krylov, and to the east of Moore. Parsons is roughly circular in shape and the rim has undergone some erosion. There is a smaller, cup-shaped crater laid across the southeastern rim, and small craterlets along the northeastern and western rim edges. The interior is relatively featureless, with a floor that is about half the diameter of the crater. The International Astronomical Union named this crater in 1972 after the rocket engineer and occultist Jack Parsons, an important participant at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Parsons. References Impact craters on the Moon

2601301

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrie%20%28crater%29

Petrie (crater)

Petrie is a relatively small lunar impact crater that is located to the east of the much larger walled plain Fabry. To the east is the smaller crater Rayet. Most of the rim of Petrie is sharp-edged, with a deposit of scree along the base of the inner wall. There is an outward bulge to the rim along the southwest, where the surface has slumped into the interior. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Petrie. References Impact craters on the Moon

2601329

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petropavlovskiy%20%28crater%29

Petropavlovskiy (crater)

Petropavlovsky is a crater on the far side of the Moon. It is attached to the southern rim of the slightly larger crater Razumov, intruding slightly into the interior. Just to the west is the crater Frost, along the southern rim of the walled plain Landau. This is a moderately eroded feature, with a worn outer rim that is marked by several lesser impacts. A merged pair of small craters cuts across the northwestern rim and inner wall, and another craterlet lies along the southeast rim. The interior floor is relatively level, except for a double central peak formation at the midpoint. The crater was named after Boris Sergeevich Petropavlovsky, a Soviet rocket pioneer. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Petropavlovskiy. References Impact craters on the Moon

2601358

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzetti%20%28crater%29

Pizzetti (crater)

Pizzetti is a partly eroded lunar impact crater that lies in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It is located due north of the similar-dimensioned Clark, and to the southeast of the large walled plain Milne. Nearly attached to the western rim is the small Tyndall. The crater is named for the Italian astronomer and geodesist Paolo Pizzetti (1860-1918). This crater is generally circular in shape, with the south-southeastern portion of the rim bearing the greatest amount of erosion. There is a slumped shelf along the inner wall to the north and southwest. The interior floor is uneven in places and is marked by several small craterlets. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Pizzetti. References Impact craters on the Moon

2601440

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%20%28crater%29

Michelson (crater)

Michelson is a crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies along the northeastern outer rim of the huge walled plain Hertzsprung, and to the southwest of the crater Kolhörster. This is a heavily eroded crater formation with multiple impacts along the rim edge and within the interior. The rim is roughly circular, but has been rendered relatively uneven due to these smaller craters. There are small craters across the interior floor, including impacts along the north, west and southeastern edges. To the southeast of the outer rim is a crater chain that has been designated Catena Michelson. This feature is radial to the Mare Orientale impact basin, and passes near the outer rim of the crater Grachev. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Michelson. See also Catena Michelson References Impact craters on the Moon

2602561

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clurichaun

Clurichaun

The clurichaun () or clúrachán (from ) is a mischievous fairy in Irish folklore known for his great love of drinking and a tendency to haunt breweries, pubs and wine cellars. He is related to the leprechaun and has sometimes been conflated with him as a shoemaker and a guardian of hidden treasure. This has led some folklorists to suppose that the clurichaun is merely a leprechaun on a drinking spree, while others regard them as regional variations of the same being. Like the leprechaun, the clurichaun is a solitary fairy, encountered alone rather than in groups, as distinct from the trooping fairies. Folklore In the folktale "The Haunted Cellar", recorded by Thomas Crofton Croker in 1825, a clurichaun named Naggeneen haunts the wine cellar of an Irish lord, drinking everything in sight and playing frightening pranks on the servants. He is described as a little man measuring in height, with a face like a withered apple. He has twinkling eyes and a nose that is red and purple from heavy drinking. He wears a red nightcap, a short leather apron, light blue stockings, and shoes with large silver buckles. When he is discovered by the master of the house, Naggeneen talks him out of moving elsewhere by implying that he would simply move with him. Other descriptions have him wearing red like other solitary fairies. In another tale, "Master and Man", a young man named Billy Mac Daniel is on his way home one winter night when he is offered a glass of liquor by a clurichaun to warm himself. He takes the drink but when he refuses to pay for it he is compelled by the clurichaun to serve him for seven years and a day. Billy, however, is eventually able to break his servitude by invoking the blessing of God. In this story, the clurichaun is able to pass through keyholes to invade homes and wine cellars and can transform bog rushes into horses to be used as mounts. Clurichauns can also fly through the air on rushes similar to witches and their broomsticks. Thomas Keightley in his Fairy Mythology (1828) presents the story of a clurichaun named Little Wildbean who was more helpful than others of his kind, but also quick to anger and violence when slighted. He haunted the wine cellar of a Quaker gentleman named Harris, and if one of the servants was negligent enough to leave the beer barrel running then Little Wildbean would wedge himself inside to stop the flow until someone came to turn it off. His dinner was left for him in the cellar, but one night the cook left him nothing but part of a herring and some cold potatoes. At midnight Wildbean dragged the cook out of her bed and all the way down the hard cellar stairs, leaving her battered and bruised so that she was bedridden for three weeks. In a common folktale motif Mr. Harris tried to rid himself of Wildbean by moving elsewhere but decided to turn back when he discovered the clurichaun had moved with him. The folklorist Nicholas O'Kearney described the clurichaun in 1855 as follows: Katharine Briggs stated that he was "a kind of buttery spirit, feasting himself in the cellars of drunkards or scaring dishonest servants who steal the wine." He is also described as a trickster and practical joker, and a disturber of order and quietness in a household, making noise day and night. Despite his often troublesome nature, the clurichaun takes special care of the family to whom he has attached himself, endeavoring to protect their property and lives, provided he is not interfered with. This dual nature makes him similar to the domestic hobgoblin. Besides his love of drinking, the clurichaun also enjoys pipe smoking, and the small disposable clay pipes known as "fairy pipes" that are often found while digging or plowing are said to belong to him. He also knows the secret of making beer from heather. Alternate spellings include cluracan, cluracaun, cluricaun, and cluricaune. Clurichauns and leprechauns Though generally regarded as separate beings, certain characteristics of the leprechaun have sometimes been merged with those of the clurichaun, particularly as a shoemaker and treasure guardian. The clurichaun is sometimes portrayed carrying a jug of ale or wearing a leather apron with hammer in hand, whistling as he works. He also carries a magical purse (or sometimes a pewter beggars cup) with varying properties. It may contain a shilling (known as the "lucky shilling" or spre na skillenagh) that always returns to the purse no matter how often it is spent, or it may always be full of money, and for this reason mortals will often try to capture the clurichaun. Even if he is caught he has the power to vanish if he can make his captor look away even for an instant. He frequently carries two such purses, one containing the magic shilling and the other containing a normal copper coin, and if captured he will present the latter before vanishing. Like the leprechaun he is sometimes said to have knowledge of hidden treasure and can be forced to reveal its location. In such instances one of his tricks is to create the illusion of multiple treasure markers so that the seeker will not know its exact whereabouts. The clurichaun also shares many attributes with the biersal, a type of kobold stemming from Germanic mythology and surviving into modern times in German folklore. Literature A clurichaun named Kweequel is a prominent character in the first story of the book Four Different Faces by C.J. Cala. The clurichaun appears as a regular character (under the name Cluracan) in Neil Gaiman's acclaimed comic series The Sandman and its spin-off series The Dreaming. Cluracan continues the tradition of constant drunkenness but is portrayed as a tall, elegant blond fairy, although this is likely due to use of magic "glamour," such as that used by his sister, Nuala, and his true appearance would then be left unknown. The clurichaun Naggeneen ("a little drink") magically associates himself with "Mary's Place", the successor to Callahan's Bar in Spider Robinson's stories. The word is spelled 'cluricaune' there. 'Naggeneen' is used in place of his true name which is unwise for magical beings to reveal. Naggeneen saves the bar from bankruptcy through his ability to drink tremendous quantities of alcohol—and to pay for it honestly. The Fairyland series has a clurichaun named Gratchling Gourdborne Goldmouth, though he is completely unlike a typical clurichaun, being a massive and extremely violent savage. The comic strip "Arlo and Janis" for March 17, 2010 has a clurichaun at the couple's door. Arlo greets him with a grin: "Faith an' begorra! 'Tis St. Patrick's Day, and here comes a leprechaun!"The caller, about half Arlo's height and with comic-strip "bubbles" in front of his scowling face to denote drunkenness, answers: "Actually, I'm a clurichaun." Arlo: "A...what?"Clurichaun: "I'm like a leprechaun, but meaner... And given half a chance, I'll drink all your wine!"Arlo: "Oy vey! Even if I'm not Irish?!" In Dorothy Dunnett's novel Queens' Play, Lymond "erroneously" uses the name "O'Cluricaun" to intentionally insult Cormac O'Connor (see page 361). See also Far darrig Household deity Kobold Biersal References Aos Sí Dwarves (folklore) Fairies Fantasy creatures Irish folklore Irish legendary creatures Leprechaun Supernatural legends Tuatha Dé Danann Mythological tricksters

2604869

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tromsdalstinden

Tromsdalstinden

or is a mountain in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The tall mountain is located at the southern end of the Tromsdalen valley, just southeast of Tromsø. Snowfall varies from yearly, but the peak is usually snow free only for a few months in the summer. The mountain is easily spotted from the city centre of Tromsø. The summit is a popular hike, requiring nothing more than good shoes, average physical condition, and plenty to drink. Etymology The Norwegian name Tromsdalstinden means "the peak above Tromsdalen," while the Sami (or Sámi) name comprises Sálaš and Oaivi. The first word signifies a good hunting area; the second translates as "head," but when speaking of landscapes indicates a mountain that is rounded, i.e., does not have any jagged peaks. Skiing and hiking Hikers may summit Tromsdalstinden either from the suburb of Tromsdalen or Ramfjorden. The slopes up are relatively straightforward, though fog and rain can complicate the ascent for those unfamiliar with the terrain. When approaching the mountain from the southeast (Ramfjorden), though, hikers and skiers must at one point move over the southwestern or northwestern (city-facing) sides of the mountain as the mountain becomes too steep. The best season for hiking is May through September. Skiers usually take the Fjellheisen aerial tramway to Storsteinen and begin their ascent there. There are two main treks, the Winter and Summer treks. The Winter trek A ski trip that starts on the southwest side of the mountain (on the right in the pictures) is called Salen (the Saddle). When descending, skiers zig-zag down from the top until they reach the little lake Tromsdalsvannet (nor.) or Moskojávri (sám.) in the innermost part of the Tromsdalen valley. The Summer trek A hike that starts on the zig-zag trek used to descend when skiing. On the way back, hikers follow the narrow northeastern ridge of the mountain (left on the pictures). The descent route at one point takes you quite close to the steep drop behind the hill which may not be suitable for hikers prone to vertigo. For such hikers, returning the way they came is a better recommendation. Straight up Also, ascending from the northwest, i.e., straight up from the valley, is possible. Hikers then start at the Nerloftet (a low plateau above the Tromsdalen valley), proceed to the halfway stop, Loftet (a protruding part of the mountain facing the city), and then go straight up. When the mountain becomes too steep to keep going straight, you go upwards to the right until you're on the 'winter route' (the right slope). The names of these points mean, respectively, the Lower Attic and the Attic. This route is quite steep and thus demanding but safe - although some rocks may be slippery or loose, one should be careful. Controversy over Sámi cultural significance In 2003 Tromsø applied to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The proposal to the International Olympic Committee featured plans to build an alpine skiing facility on the mountain's slopes. This sparked immediate protests from some Sami activists who claimed that Tromsdaltinden had been a Sami sacred mountain since ancient times. A heated debate ensued over whether Tromsdalstinden could be considered "holy" or not. The Sami Parliament enacted a resolution declaring it a holy mountain in 2004, and the plans were discontinued. The Sámi Parliament has no formal authority to declare objects 'sacred.' Despite this, their resolution was listened to. Lawyers in the aftermath discussed the possibility of defining a mountain as a cultural relic according to the definition of "cultural relic" in the law. Professor Siv Ellen Kraft from the Department of Religious Studies, University of Tromsø wrote an article suggesting that Tromsdalstind was made a holy mountain in recent times as a part of Sami identity politics. However, the mountain is also reckoned by Sámi people in the region to have been sacred at one point, before Christianization. The mountain bears the significant feature of a traditional sacred mountain. I.e., it dominates the landscape due to shape or height. The conventional Sámi religion is dead, and only elements survive through local vestiges and neo-shamanism; a good case can be made that the mountain is no longer sacred to most Sámi in the traditional sense. Still, the level of commitment to the mountain shown by the Sámi - up to the point of having the Sámi parliament pronounce it sacred - quite effectively displays the intense cultural significance of the mountain to modern Sámi also, a value which is indeed rooted in the religious traditions of one's ancestors. Media gallery References External links Tromsdalstinden - pictures and information 370° Tromsdalstind panorama picture from the peak CC Harald Groven Mountains of Troms og Finnmark Sacred mountains Tromsø

2605074

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat%20swamp%20forest

Peat swamp forest

Peat swamp forests are tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Large areas of these forests are being logged at high rates. Peat swamp forests are typically surrounded by lowland rain forests on better-drained soils, and by brackish or salt-water mangrove forests near the coast. They are a kind of peatland, which store and accumulate vast amounts of carbon as soil organic matter - much more than forests on mineral soil (i.e. non-peatland) contain. Peat formation is a natural carbon sink; because the decomposition of the organic matter is slower than its production rate, the surplus accumulates as peat. Their stability has important implications for climate change; they are among the largest near-surface reserves of terrestrial organic carbon. Tropical peat swamp forests, which have ecological importance, are one of the most threatened, yet least studied and most poorly understood biotypes. Since the 1970s, tropical peat swamp forest deforestation and drainage have greatly increased in South East Asia. In addition, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) drought and large-scale fires are accelerating peatland devastation. Peat fires, drainage and deforestation enhances the decomposition of soil organic matter, increasing the release of stored carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Tropical peat swamp forests are home to thousands of animals and plants, including many rare and critically endangered species such as the orangutan and Sumatran tiger, whose habitats are threatened by peatland deforestation. Distribution Tropical peat ecosystem are found in three regions: Central America, Africa and South East Asia. About 62% of the world's tropical peat lands occur in the Indomalayan realm (80% in Indonesia, 11% in Malaysia, 6% in Papua New Guinea, and pockets in Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand). Peat in Indonesia is distributed over three islands, Sumatra (8.3 million ha), Kalimantan (6.3 million ha) and Papua (4.6 million ha). 36% of the world's tropical peat occurs in Africa's central Congo Basin. Formation Tropical peat forms on low-lying areas, such as river deltas, floodplains or shallow oxbow lakes. The formation process usually follows hydrosere successional steps, where the ponds or flooded area eutrophicated by water plants, then transform into waterlogged swamp with grasses or shrubs, and eventually formed a forest that continues to grow and accumulate. Peat located on the fringing areas of domes in between domes might form through lateral expansion. This peat accumulation often forms a convex shape called a dome, which could rise up to 4 m on coastal peat and up to 18 m on inland peat. At the beginning of its formation, peat is largely topogenous or minerotrophic, receiving high nutrient input from rivers or groundwaters. As the peat thickens and the dome becomes elevated, the top of the peat is no longer affected by the river or groundwater input, instead they are becoming ombrotrophic, exclusively obtaining water from the precipitation Input only from the rain causes a low nutrient and mineral content, especially calcium. The peat thus becomes highly acidic and only able to support low biodiversity and stunted forest. South East Asia Inland and coastal peat differ greatly in their age, where coastal peat formed during the mid Holocene, about 8000 years ago. Inland peat formed much earlier during the Late Pleistocene, more than 26000 BP. Coastal peat formation is highly affected by the sea level rise with strong accumulation around 8-4000 BP when El Nino is less intense. Because the Sunda Shelf is tectonically stable, the sea level change in this area is only affected by the eustatic sea level, and during the glacial period the Karimata Strait dried, causing Asian Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java to become connected. After the Last Glacial Maximum, this coastline moved inland as the ice sheet melted, and finally reached the level of modern coastline around 8500 BP. Thus, the oldest age of coastal peat in this region is less than 8500 years old. Inland peat formation is highly affected by climate with little or no effect of sea level rise because it located around 15–20 m above sea level, where the most recent record of higher sea level was during about 125000 BP when sea level was 6 m above the modern level. Peat cores from Sebangau, South Kalimantan show a slow growth of 0.04 mm/y around 13000 BP when the climate was colder, then accelerated to 2.55mm/y around 9900 BP in warmer Early Holocene, then slower again to 0.23-0.15 mm/y during intense El Nino. A similar pattern is observed in cores from Sentarum, West Kalimantan, where the peat shows slower growth around 28-16000 BP, 13-3000 BP and on 5-3000 BP. While the slower growth from 28 to 16000 BP and 5-3000 BP is explained by a drier climate during this period due to Heinrich Event I and the emergence of El Niño. Ecology Peat swamp forest are unusual ecosystems, with trees reaching as high in 70 m in South East Asian ecoregions - vastly different from the peatlands of the north temperate and boreal zones (which are dominated by Sphagnum mosses, grasses, sedges and shrubs). The spongy, unstable, waterlogged, anaerobic beds of peat can be up to 20 m deep with low pH (pH 2.9 – 4) and low nutrients, and the forest floor is seasonally flooded. The water is stained dark brown by the tannins that leach from the fallen leaves and peat – hence the name blackwater swamps. During the dry season, the peat remains waterlogged and pools remain among the trees. Water level on the peat is usually below the surface. however, during a severe El Nino, this water level might drop to below the surface and increase the risk of burning. Peat forest contains high amount of carbon due to its soil nature, categorized as histosols with characteristics of high organic material content (70-99%). This carbon pool is stabilized by the low temperature on temperate peat, and by the water logging on tropical peat. Disturbances that change the temperature or the water content of the peat will release this stored carbon into the atmosphere, exacerbating human-made climate change. Estimation of carbon content of tropical peat ranges from 50 Gt carbon to 88 Gt carbon. In Indonesia Peat swamp forests originally represented major ecosystems in Indonesia and ranged between 16.5 and 27 million hectares. In their original state, Indonesian peat swamp forests released between 0.01 and 0.03 Gt of carbon annually. In recent years, however, these important ecosystems have been reduced through deforestation, drainage, and conversion to agricultural lands and other activities. Their current status as carbon sequestering systems have thus also been reduced significantly. An understanding of the global importance of peat (and thus the urgency of maintaining peat swamp forests) and identifying alternative ways of making these areas productive in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner should have high priority among scientists and policy-makers alike. The problem Over the past decade, under the Mega Rice Project (MRP), the government of Indonesia has drained over 1 million hectares of the Borneo peat swamp forests for conversion to agricultural land. Between 1996 and 1998, more than 4,000 kilometers of drainage and irrigation channels were dug, and deforestation accelerated in part through legal and illegal logging and in part through burning. The water channels, and the roads and railways built for legal forestry, opened up the region to illegal forestry. In the MRP area, forest cover dropped from 64.8% in 1991 to 45.7% in 2000, and clearance has continued since then. It appears that almost all the marketable trees have now been removed from the areas covered by the MRP. What happened was not what had been expected: the channels drained the peat forests rather than irrigating them. Where the forests had often flooded up to 2 meters deep in the rainy season, now their surface is dry at all times of the year. The Indonesian government has now abandoned the MRP. A study for the European Space Agency found that up to 2.57 billion tons of carbon were released to the atmosphere in 1997 as a result of burning peat and vegetation in Indonesia. This is equivalent to 40% of the average annual global carbon emissions from fossil fuels, and contributed greatly to the largest annual increase in atmospheric concentration detected since records began in 1957. Additionally, the 2002-3 fires released between 200 million to 1 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Indonesia is currently the world's third largest carbon emitter, to a large extent due to the destruction of its ancient peat swamp forests. Indonesia contains 50% of tropical peat swamps and 10% of dry land in the world. They have the potential of playing an important role in mitigating global warming and climate change under the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scheme. Rather than reducing deforestation - in terms of claiming carbon credits from REDD initiatives - peatland conservation and rehabilitation are more efficient undertakings, due to the much larger reduced emissions achievable per unit area and the much lower opportunity costs involved. Conservation and preservation Attempts to preserve tropical peat swamp forests have been minimal in comparison to the widespread impact and devastation of commercial logging; in Sarawak, logging is ongoing and planned to intensify in Brunei. One plan by the environmental NGO Borneo Orangutan Survival is to preserve the peat swamp forest of Mawas using a combination of carbon finance and debt-for-nature-swap. About 6% of the original peat-forest area is contained within protected areas, the largest of which are Tanjung Puting and Sabangau National Parks. The main causes of deforestation in Indonesia continue to be palm oil business (see palm oil production in Indonesia) and illegal logging, ongoing in areas such as South Sumatra. A survey by the University of Muhammadiyah Palembang in 2008 estimated that in 25 years most of the natural forests will be depleted due to illegal logging. Projects by REDD are designed to tackle deforestation and protect forests from the encroachment of agriculture, benefitting biodiversity and improving the quality of the environment to surrounding villages. To counter the destruction of mangroves and unsustainable palm oil expansion in Indonesia's peatlands, organizations, such as Wetlands International, work with the Indonesian government to improve policies and spatial planning. They engage with the palm-oil industry, promoting best management practices in tropical peat swamp forests and ensuring the participation of local communities, who lack awareness about natural resource management. In the field, they work with communities to restore mangroves and peatlands. Habitat disturbance caused by logging was shown to affect orangutan density within a mixed swamp forest. The presence of a very large, self-sustaining orangutan population in this region emphasizes the urgency for greater protection of Kalimantan's peat swamp forests in light of recent and rapid habitat degradation. In Malaysia It has long been assumed that the peat underlying tropical peat swamp forests accumulates because the extreme conditions (waterlogged, nutrient poor, anaerobic and acidic) impede microbial activity. Studies in a tropical Malaysian peat swamp (North Selangor peat swamp forest) showed that although the sclerophyllous, toxic leaves of endemic peat-forest plants (Macaranga pruinosa, Campnosperma coriaceum, Pandanus atrocarpus, Stenochlaena palustris) were barely decomposed by bacteria and fungi, the leaves of M. tanarius, another plant species, were almost completely decomposed after one year. Thus it is intrinsic properties of the leaves (that are adaptations to deter herbivory in the nutrient poor environment) that impede microbial breakdown. Ecoregions Borneo peat swamp forests (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia) Eastern Congolian swamp forests (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo) Peninsular Malaysian peat swamp forests (Malaysia, Thailand) Ratargul Swamp Forest (Sylhet District, Bangladesh) Sumatran peat swamp forests (Indonesia) Tonle Sap-Mekong peat swamp forests (Cambodia, Vietnam) Brazil, Argentina (South America) See also References External links Envisat focuses on carbon-rich peat swamp forest fires (European Space Agency) Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Swamps Forestry in Indonesia Agriculture in Indonesia

2605145

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kileken

Kileken

Kileken (sometimes Kileghen) is the subject of a myth of the Maasai people concerning the planet Venus. In the myth, the planet Venus is called Kileken and visits the Earth in the form of a small boy. The boy befriends an old farmer and tends his cattle, the man agreeing not to pry into the boy's only secret: his origin. When the man betrays his trust and spies on Kileken, the boy vanishes in a bright light and returns to the heavens. The myth explains why the planet Venus is seen during the morning and evening. The oral tradition was captured in the book The Orphan Boy by the Tanzania-born author Tololwa M. Mollel. In common with other societies, the Maasai believed Venus to be two separate bodies when seen at morning and in the evening. Kileken was the appearance of the "morning star". When it could be seen and the men had not yet returned from the hunt, the women would pray for their safekeeping. The "evening star" was known as Leken and its appearance heralded the rising of the moon. References and further reading Maasai mythology Venus in culture

2610254

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offset%20dish%20antenna

Offset dish antenna

An offset dish antenna or off-axis dish antenna is a type of parabolic antenna. It is so called because the antenna feed is offset to the side of the reflector, in contrast to the common "front-feed" parabolic antenna where the feed antenna is suspended in front of the dish, on its axis. As in a front-fed parabolic dish, the feed is located at the focal point of the reflector, but the reflector is an asymmetric segment of a paraboloid, so the focus is located to the side. The purpose of this design is to move the feed antenna and its supports out of the path of the incoming radio waves. In an ordinary front-fed dish antenna, the feed structure and its supports are located in the path of the incoming beam of radio waves, partially obstructing them, casting a "shadow" on the dish, reducing the radio power received. In technical terms this reduces the aperture efficiency of the antenna, reducing its gain. In the offset design, the feed is positioned outside the area of the beam, usually below it on a boom sticking out from the bottom edge of the dish. The beam axis of the antenna, the axis of the incoming or outgoing radio waves, is skewed at an angle to the plane of the dish mouth. The design is most widely used for small parabolic antennas or "mini-dishes", such as common home satellite television dishes, where the feed structure is large enough in relation to the dish to block a significant proportion of the signal. Another application is on satellites, particularly the direct broadcast satellites which use parabolic dishes to beam television signals to homes on Earth. Because of the limited transmitter power provided by their solar cells, satellite antennas must function as efficiently as possible. The offset design is also widely used in radar antennas. These must collect as much signal as possible in order to detect faint return signals from faraway targets. Offset dish antennas are more difficult to design than front-fed antennas because the dish is an asymmetric segment of a paraboloid with different curvatures in the two axes. Before the 1970s offset designs were mostly limited to radar antennas, which required asymmetric reflectors anyway to create shaped beams. The advent in the 1970s of computer design tools which could easily calculate the radiation pattern of offset dishes has removed this limitation, and efficient offset designs are being used more and more widely in recent years. See also Axi-symmetric External links Offset-fed Parabolic Dish Antennas by Paul Wade Radio frequency antenna types Antennas (radio) Satellite broadcasting

2611033

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove%20forest

Mangrove forest

Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand freezing temperatures. There are about 80 different species of mangroves, all of which grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate. Many mangrove forests can be recognised by their dense tangle of prop roots that make the trees appear to be standing on stilts above the water. This tangle of roots allows the trees to handle the daily rise and fall of tides, as most mangroves get flooded at least twice per day. The roots slow the movement of tidal waters, causing sediments to settle out of the water and build up the muddy bottom. Mangrove forests stabilise the coastline, reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides. The intricate root system of mangroves also makes these forests attractive to fish and other organisms seeking food and shelter from predators. Mangrove forests live at the interface between the land, the ocean, and the atmosphere, and are centres for the flow of energy and matter between these systems. They have attracted much research interest because of the various ecological functions of the mangrove ecosystems, including runoff and flood prevention, storage and recycling of nutrients and wastes, cultivation and energy conversion. The forests are major blue carbon systems, storing considerable amounts of carbon in marine sediments, thus becoming important regulators of climate change. Marine microorganisms are key parts of these mangrove ecosystems. However, much remains to be discovered about how mangrove microbiomes contribute to high ecosystem productivity and efficient cycling of elements. Overview There are about 80 different species of mangrove trees. All of these trees grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate. Mangrove forests grow only at tropical and subtropical latitudes near the equator because they cannot withstand freezing temperatures. Many mangrove forests can be recognised by their dense tangle of prop roots that make the trees appear to be standing on stilts above the water. This tangle of roots allows the trees to handle the daily rise and fall of tides, which means that most mangroves get flooded at least twice per day. The roots slow the movement of tidal waters, causing sediments to settle out of the water and build up the muddy bottom. Mangrove forests stabilise the coastline, reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides. The intricate root system of mangroves makes these forests attractive to fishes and other organisms seeking food and shelter from predators. The main contribution of mangroves to the larger ecosystem comes from litter fall from the trees, which is then decomposed by primary consumers. Bacteria and protozoans colonise the plant litter and break it down chemically into organic compounds, minerals, carbon dioxide, and nitrogenous wastes. The intertidal existence to which these trees are adapted represents the major limitation to the number of species able to thrive in their habitat. High tide brings in salt water, and when the tide recedes, solar evaporation of the seawater in the soil leads to further increases in salinity. The return of tide can flush out these soils, bringing them back to salinity levels comparable to that of seawater. At low tide, organisms are exposed to increases in temperature and reduced moisture before being then cooled and flooded by the tide. Thus, for a plant to survive in this environment, it must tolerate broad ranges of salinity, temperature, and moisture, as well as several other key environmental factors—thus only a select few species make up the mangrove tree community. A mangrove swamp typically features only a small number of tree species. It is not uncommon for a mangrove forest in the Caribbean to feature only three or four tree species. For comparison, a tropical rainforest biome may contain thousands of tree species, but this is not to say mangrove forests lack diversity. Though the trees are few in species, the ecosystem that these trees create provides a habitat for a great variety of other species, including as many as 174 species of marine megafauna. Mangrove plants require a number of physiological adaptations to overcome the problems of low environmental oxygen levels, high salinity, and frequent tidal flooding. Each species has its own solutions to these problems; this may be the primary reason why, on some shorelines, mangrove tree species show distinct zonation. Small environmental variations within a mangal may lead to greatly differing methods for coping with the environment. Therefore, the mix of species is partly determined by the tolerances of individual species to physical conditions, such as tidal flooding and salinity, but may also be influenced by other factors, such as crabs preying on plant seedlings. Once established, mangrove roots provide an oyster habitat and slow water flow, thereby enhancing sediment deposition in areas where it is already occurring. The fine, anoxic sediments under mangroves act as sinks for a variety of heavy (trace) metals which colloidal particles in the sediments have concentrated from the water. Mangrove removal disturbs these underlying sediments, often creating problems of trace metal contamination of seawater and organisms of the area. Mangrove swamps protect coastal areas from erosion, storm surge (especially during tropical cyclones), and tsunamis. They limit high-energy wave erosion mainly during events such as storm surges and tsunamis. The mangroves' massive root systems are efficient at dissipating wave energy. Likewise, they slow down tidal water enough so that its sediment is deposited as the tide comes in, leaving all except fine particles when the tide ebbs. In this way, mangroves build their environments. Because of the uniqueness of mangrove ecosystems and the protection against erosion they provide, they are often the object of conservation programs, including national biodiversity action plans. Distribution Worldwide there are about 80 described species of mangroves that live along marine coasts. About 60 of these species are true mangroves which live only in the intertidal zone between high and low tides. "Mangroves once covered three-quarters of the world's tropical coastlines, with Southeast Asia hosting the greatest diversity. Only 12 species live in the Americas. Mangroves range in size from small bushes to the 60-meter giants found in Ecuador. Within a given mangrove forest, different species occupy distinct niches. Those that can handle tidal soakings grow in the open sea, in sheltered bays, and on fringe islands. Trees adapted to drier, less salty soil can be found farther from the shoreline. Some mangroves flourish along riverbanks far inland, as long as the freshwater current is met by ocean tides." Mangroves can be found in 118 countries and territories in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The largest percentage of mangroves is found between the 5° N and 5° S latitudes. Approximately 75% of world's mangroves are found in just 15 countries. Estimates of mangrove area based on remote sensing and global data tend to be lower than estimates based on literature and surveys for comparable periods. In 2018, the Global Mangrove Watch Initiative released a global baseline based on remote sensing and global data for 2010. They estimated the total mangrove forest area of the world as of 2010 at , spanning 118 countries and territories. Following the conventions for identifying geographic regions from the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, researchers reported that Asia has the largest share (38.7%) of the world's mangroves, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (20.3%), Africa (20.0%), Oceania (11.9%), and Northern America (8.4%). Sundarbans The largest mangrove forest in the world is in the Sundarbans. The Sundarban forest lies in the vast delta on the Bay of Bengal formed by the super confluence of the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers with distributaries of the Ganges. The seasonally flooded Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests lie inland from the mangrove forests on the coastal fringe. The forest covers of which about are in Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. The interconnected network of waterways makes almost every portion of the forest accessible by boat. The area is known as an important habitat for the endangered Bengal tiger, as well as numerous fauna including species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes. The fertile soils of the delta have been subject to intensive human use for centuries, and the ecoregion has been mostly converted to intensive agriculture, with few enclaves of forest remaining. Additionally, the Sundarbans serves a crucial function as a protective barrier for millions of inhabitants against floods that result from cyclones. Four protected areas in the Sundarbans are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Despite these protections, the Indian Sundarbans were assessed as endangered in 2020 under the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems framework. There is a consistent pattern of depleted biodiversity or loss of species and the ecological quality of the forest is declining. Ecosystem The unique ecosystem found in the intricate mesh of mangrove roots offers a quiet marine habitat for young organisms. In areas where roots are permanently submerged, the organisms they host include algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges, and bryozoa, which all require a hard surface for anchoring while they filter-feed. Shrimp and mud lobsters use the muddy bottoms as their home. Mangrove crabs eat the mangrove leaves, adding nutrients to the mangal mud for other bottom feeders. In at least some cases, the export of carbon fixed in mangroves is important in coastal food webs. Mangrove plantations host several commercially important species of fish and crustaceans. In Puerto Rico, the red, white, and black mangroves occupy different ecological niches and have slightly different chemical compositions, so the carbon content varies between the species, as well between the different tissues of the plant (e.g., leaf matter versus roots). There is a clear succession of these three trees from the lower elevations, which are dominated by red mangroves, to farther inland with a higher concentration of white mangroves. Mangrove forests are an important part of the cycling and storage of carbon in tropical coastal ecosystems. Knowing this, scientists seek to reconstruct the environment and investigate changes to the coastal ecosystem over thousands of years using sediment cores. However, an additional complication is the imported marine organic matter that also gets deposited in the sediment through the tidal flushing of mangrove forests. Mangrove forests can decay into peat deposits because of fungal and bacterial processes as well as by the action of termites. It becomes peat in good geochemical, sedimentary, and tectonic conditions. The nature of these deposits depends on the environment and the types of mangroves involved. Termites process fallen leaf litter, root systems and wood from mangroves into peat to build their nests. Termites stabilise the chemistry of this peat and represent approximately 2% of above ground carbon storage in mangroves. As the nests are buried over time this carbon is stored in the sediment, and the carbon cycle continues. Mangroves are an important source of blue carbon. Globally, mangroves stored of carbon in 2012. Two percent of global mangrove carbon was lost between 2000 and 2012, equivalent to a maximum potential of of CO2 emissions. Globally, mangroves have been shown to provide measurable economic protections to coastal communities affected by tropical storms. Biodiversity Birds Heterogeneity in landscape ecology is a measure of how different parts of a landscape are from one another. It can manifest in an ecosystem from the abiotic or biotic characteristics of the environment. For example, coastal mangrove forests are located at the land-sea interface, so their functioning is influenced by abiotic factors such as tides, as well as biotic factors such as the extent and configuration of adjacent vegetation. For forest birds, tidal inundation means that the availability of many mangrove resources fluctuates daily, suggesting foraging flexibility is likely to be important. Mangroves also offer estuarine prey items, such as mudskippers and crabs, that are not found in terrestrial forest types. Further, mangroves are often situated in a complex mosaic of adjacent vegetation types such as grasslands, saltmarshes, and woodlands, and this can mean that flexibility in foraging strategy and choice of foraging habitat may be advantageous for highly mobile forest birds. Relative to other forest types, mangroves support few bird species that are obligate habitat (mangrove) specialists and instead host many species with generalised foraging niches. Bird sanctuaries Mangrove forests are home and sanctuaries for many of aquatic bird species, including: Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary Pichavaram Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary Sundarbans National Park Fish The intricate root system of mangrove forests makes them attractive to adult fish seeking food and juvenile fish seeking shelter. Mangrove crab holobiont Mangrove forests are among the more productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet, despite limited nitrogen availability. Under such conditions, animal-microbe associations (holobionts) are often key to ecosystem functioning. An example is the role of fiddler crabs and their carapace-associated microbial biofilm as hotspots of microbial nitrogen transformations and sources of nitrogen within the mangrove ecosystem. Among coastal ecosystems, mangrove forests are of great importance as they account for three quarters of the tropical coastline and provide different ecosystem services. Mangrove ecosystems generally act as a net sink of carbon, although they release organic matter to the sea in the form of dissolved refractory macromolecules, leaves, branches and other debris. In pristine environments, mangroves are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, despite growing in tropical waters that are often nutrient depleted. The refractory nature of the organic matter produced and retained in mangroves can slow the recycling of nutrients, particularly of nitrogen. Nitrogen limitation in such systems may be overcome by microbial nitrogen fixation when combined with high rates of bioturbation by macrofauna, such as crabs and lobsters. Bioturbation by macrofauna affect nitrogen availability and multiple nitrogen related microbial processes through sediment reworking, burrow construction and bioirrigation, feeding and excretion. Macrofauna mix old and fresh organic matter, extend oxic–anoxic sediment interfaces, increase the availability of energy-yielding electron acceptors and increase nitrogen turnover via direct excretion. Thus, macrofauna may alleviate nitrogen limitation by priming the remineralisation of refractory nitrogen (that is, the nitrogen that can't be biologically decomposed), reducing plant-microbe competition. Such activity ultimately promotes nitrogen recycling, plant assimilation and high nitrogen retention, as well as favours its loss by stimulating coupled nitrification and denitrification. Mangrove sediments are highly bioturbated by decapods such as crabs. Crab populations continuously rework sediment by constructing burrows, creating new niches, transporting or selectively grazing on sediment microbial communities. In addition, crabs can affect organic matter turnover by assimilating leaves and producing finely fragmented faeces, or by carrying them into their burrows. Therefore, crabs are considered important ecosystem engineers shaping biogeochemical processes in intertidal muddy banks of mangroves. In contrast to burrowing polychaetes or amphipods, the abundant Ocipodid crabs, mainly represented by fiddler crabs, do not permanently ventilate their burrows. These crabs may temporarily leave their burrows for surface activities, or otherwise plug their burrow entrance during tidal inundation in order to trap air. A recent study showed that these crabs can be associated with a diverse microbial community, either on their carapace or in their gut. The exoskeleton of living animals, such as shells or carapaces, offers a habitat for microbial biofilms which are actively involved in different N-cycling pathways such as nitrification, denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Colonizing the carapace of crabs may be advantageous for specific bacteria, because of host activities such as respiration, excretion, feeding and horizontal and vertical migrations. However, the ecological interactions between fiddler crabs and bacteria, their regulation and significance as well as their implications at scales spanning from the single individual to the ecosystem are not well understood. Biogeochemistry Carbon cycle Mangrove forests are amongst the world's most productive marine ecosystems, with net primary productivity (NPP) in the order of 208 Tg C yr−1. Mangrove forests achieve a steady state once the forest reaches maximum biomass at around 20–30 years through a constant process of mortality and renewal so, assuming the living biomass is not becoming more carbon dense, then carbon has to be lost at a rate equal to the amount of carbon fixed as NPP. Hence this productivity is either retained within the mangrove forest, as a standing stock of live material such as wood, buried in sediments, or exported to neighbouring habitats as litter, particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC and DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), or lost to the atmosphere. The out-welling hypothesis argues that export of locally derived POC and DOC is an important ecosystem function of mangroves, which drives detrital based food webs in adjacent coastal habitats. Export of mangrove carbon has been estimated to make a significant trophic contribution to adjacent ecosystems. The theory of outwelling is supported by mass balance evaluations that show the amount of carbon fixed by mangroves normally greatly exceeds the amount stored within the forest, although the scale of outwelling varies considerably between forests, due to differences in coastal geomorphology, tidal regimes, freshwater flow and productivity. In the 1990s, global estimates could account for 48% of the total global mangrove primary production of 218 ± 72 million tons C yr−1 (see diagram on the right). By incorporating information on carbon burial, efflux and carbon outwelled as leaf litter, POC and DOC, the remaining 52% was thought outwelled as DIC, though there was insufficient data to confirm this. More recent assessments of DIC export at two sites in Australia supported the estimates of Bouillon et al. in 2008, although in 2014 Alongi suggested that only 40% of NPP was exported as DIC. Nitrogen assimilation Mangrove forests and coastal marshes are typically considered N-limited ecosystems because of their high primary production. Therefore, mangrove plants are highly efficient at utilising soil nitrogen, making them an important sink for excess nitrogen from upstream. However, different mangrove species may still utilise nitrogen at different efficiencies, even though they share similar nitrogen pathways (see diagram on right). Reported nitrogen assimilation rates in mangrove plants ranged from 2 to 8 μmol g−1 h−1 under ambient nitrogen conditions, and 19 to 251 μmol g−1 h−1 when the nitrogen supply was unlimited. In addition to species variation, different environmental conditions can also affect the nitrogen assimilation rates in mangrove plants. Because Cl− ions can reduce protein synthesis and nitrogen assimilation, soil pore water salinity appears to be a negative factor that significantly alters the nitrogen uptake rates of mangrove plants. Exploitation and conservation Adequate data is only available for about half of the global area of mangroves. However, of those areas for which data has been collected, it appears that 35% of the mangroves have been destroyed. Since the 1980s, around 2% of mangrove area is estimated to be lost each year. Assessments of global variation in mangrove loss indicates that national regulatory quality mediates how different drivers and pressures influence loss rates. Shrimp farming causes approximately a quarter of the destruction of mangrove forests. Likewise, the 2010 update of the World Mangrove Atlas indicated that approximately one fifth of the world's mangrove ecosystems have been lost since 1980, although this rapid loss rate appears to have decreased since 2000 with global losses estimated at between 0.16% and 0.39% annually between 2000 and 2012. Despite global loss rates decreasing since 2000, Southeast Asia remains an area of concern with loss rates between 3.6% and 8.1% between 2000 and 2012. By far the most damaging form of shrimp farming is when a closed ponds system (non-integrated multi-trophic aquaculture) is used, as these require destruction of a large part of the mangrove, and use antibiotics and disinfectants to suppress diseases that occur in this system, and which may also leak into the surrounding environment. Far less damage occurs when integrated mangrove-shrimp aquaculture is used, as this is connected to the sea and subjected to the tides, and less diseases occur, and as far less mangrove is destroyed for it. Grassroots efforts to protect mangroves from development and from citizens cutting down the mangroves for charcoal production, cooking, heating and as a building material are becoming more popular. Solar cookers are distributed by many non-government organizations as a low-cost alternative to wood and charcoal stoves. These may help in reducing the demand for charcoal. In Thailand, community management has been effective in restoring damaged mangroves. Also, production of mangrove honey is practiced, as a way to generate sustainable income for nearby people, keeping them from destroying the mangrove and generate a short-term revenue. In Madagascar, honey is also produced in mangroves as a source of (non-destructive) income generation. In addition, silk pods from endemic silkworm species are also collected in the Madagascar mangroves for wild silk production. In the Bahamas, for example, active efforts to save mangroves are occurring on the islands of Bimini and Great Guana Cay. In Trinidad and Tobago as well, efforts are underway to protect a mangrove threatened by the construction of a steel mill and a port. Within northern Ecuador, mangrove regrowth is reported in almost all estuaries and stems primarily from local actors responding to earlier periods of deforestation in the Esmeraldas region. Mangroves have been reported to be able to help buffer against tsunami, cyclones, and other storms, and as such may be considered a flagship system for ecosystem-based adaptation to the impacts of climate change. One village in Tamil Nadu was protected from tsunami destruction—the villagers in Naluvedapathy planted 80,244 saplings to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. This created a kilometre-wide belt of trees of various varieties. When the 2004 tsunami struck, much of the land around the village was flooded, but the village suffered minimal damage. Ocean deoxygenation Compared to seagrass meadows and coral reefs, hypoxia is more common on a regular basis in mangrove ecosystems, through ocean deoxygenation is compounding the negative effects by anthropogenic nutrient inputs and land use modification. Like seagrass, mangrove trees transport oxygen to roots of rhizomes, reduce sulfide concentrations, and alter microbial communities. Dissolved oxygen is more readily consumed in the interior of the mangrove forest. Anthropogenic inputs may push the limits of survival in many mangrove microhabitats. For example, shrimp ponds constructed in mangrove forests are considered the greatest anthropogenic threat to mangrove ecosystems. These shrimp ponds reduce estuary circulation and water quality which leads to the promotion of diel-cycling hypoxia. When the quality of the water degrades, the shrimp ponds are quickly abandoned leaving massive amounts of wastewater. This is a major source of water pollution that promotes ocean deoxygenation in the adjacent habitats. Due to these frequent hypoxic conditions, the water does not provide habitats to fish. When exposed to extreme hypoxia, ecosystem function can completely collapse. Extreme deoxygenation will affect the local fish populations, which are an essential food source. The environmental costs of shrimp farms in the mangrove forests grossly outweigh the economic benefits of them. Cessation of shrimp production and restoration of these areas reduce eutrophication and anthropogenic hypoxia. Reforestation In some areas, mangrove reforestation and mangrove restoration is also underway. Red mangroves are the most common choice for cultivation, used particularly in marine aquariums in a sump to reduce nitrates and other nutrients in the water. Mangroves also appear in home aquariums, and as ornamental plants, such as in Japan. The Manzanar Mangrove Initiative is an ongoing experiment in Arkiko, Eritrea, part of the Manzanar Project founded by Gordon H. Sato, establishing new mangrove plantations on the coastal mudflats. Initial plantings failed, but observation of the areas where mangroves did survive by themselves led to the conclusion that nutrients in water flow from inland were important to the health of the mangroves. Trials with the Eritrean Ministry of Fisheries followed, and a planting system was designed to provide the nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron missing from seawater. The propagules are planted inside a reused galvanized steel can with the bottom knocked out; a small piece of iron and a pierced plastic bag with fertilizer containing nitrogen and phosphorus are buried with the propagule. , after six years of planting, 700,000 mangroves are growing; providing stock feed for sheep and habitat for oysters, crabs, other bivalves, and fish. Another method of restoring mangroves is by using quadcopters (which are able to carry and deposit seed pods). According to Irina Fedorenko, an amount of work equivalent to weeks of planting using traditional methods can be done by a drone in days, and at a fraction of the cost. Seventy percent of mangrove forests have been lost in Java, Indonesia. Mangroves formerly protected the island's coastal land from flooding and erosion. Wetlands International, an NGC based in the Netherlands, in collaboration with nine villages in Demak where lands and homes had been flooded, began reviving mangrove forests in Java. Wetlands International introduced the idea of developing tropical versions of techniques traditionally used by the Dutch to catch sediment in North Sea coastal salt marshes. Originally, the villagers constructed a sea barrier by hammering two rows of vertical bamboo poles into the seabed and filling the gaps with brushwood held in place with netting. Later the bamboo was replaced by PVC pipes filled with concrete. As sediment gets deposited around the brushwood, it serves to catch floating mangrove seeds and provide them with a stable base to germinate, take root and regrow. This creates a green belt of protection around the islands. As the mangroves mature, more sediment is held in the catchment area; the process is repeated until a mangrove forest has been restored. Eventually the protective structures will not be needed. By late 2018, of brushwood barriers along the coastline had been completed. A concern over reforestation is that although it supports increases in mangrove area it may actually result in a decrease in global mangrove functionality and poor restoration processes may result in longer term depletion of the mangrove resource. National and international studies In terms of local and national studies of mangrove loss, the case of Belize's mangroves is illustrative in its contrast to the global picture. A recent, satellite-based study—funded by the World Wildlife Fund and conducted by the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC)—indicates Belize's mangrove cover declined by a mere 2% over a 30-year period. The study was born out of the need to verify the popular conception that mangrove clearing in Belize was rampant. Instead, the assessment showed, between 1980 and 2010, under of mangroves had been cleared, although clearing of mangroves near Belize's main coastal settlements (e.g. Belize City and San Pedro) was relatively high. The rate of loss of Belize's mangroves—at 0.07% per year between 1980 and 2010—was much lower than Belize's overall rate of forest clearing (0.6% per year in the same period). These findings can also be interpreted to indicate Belize's mangrove regulations (under the nation's) have largely been effective. Nevertheless, the need to protect Belize's mangroves is imperative, as a 2009 study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) indicates the ecosystems contribute to million per year to Belize's national economy. In May 2019, ORNL DAAC News announced that NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), using new satellite-based maps of global mangrove forests across 116 countries, had created a new dataset to characterize the "distribution, biomass, and canopy height of mangrove-forested wetlands". Mangrove forests move carbon dioxide "from the atmosphere into long-term storage" in greater quantities than other forests, making them "among the planet's best carbon scrubbers" according to a NASA-led study. See also Ecological values of mangroves Mangrove restoration Mangrove tree distribution Freshwater swamp forest References

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Old%20Windmill%2C%20Brisbane

The Old Windmill, Brisbane

The Old Windmill is a heritage-listed tower mill in Observatory Park adjacent to Wickham Park at 226 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built in the 1820s by convict labour in the Moreton Bay penal settlement and is the oldest surviving building in Queensland. It is also known as Brisbane Observatory and Windmill Tower. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. Today it is the centrepiece of Observatory Park and a lookout over parts of the Brisbane CBD. History The oldest convict-built structure surviving in Queensland, the windmill tower has accommodated a range of uses. Constructed in 1828 to process the wheat and corn crops of the Moreton Bay penal settlement, it had a treadmill attached for times when there was no wind but also as a tool for punishing convicts. The mill ceased grinding grain in 1845 and the treadmill was removed sometime before 1849. From 1855 the tower was reused as a signal station to communicate shipping news between the entrance of the Brisbane River and the town. Substantial renovations were made to it in 1861 including the installation of a time ball to assist in regulating clocks and watches. Twenty years later a cottage for the signalman was constructed to the immediate west of the tower, with a detached kitchen erected to the south two years after that. Both were later demolished. The windmill tower was used as a facility for early radio, telephony and television communications research from the 1920s and underwent substantial conservation work in the 1980s and 2009. Grain grinding In May 1825, after eight months of occupation at Redcliffe, the contingent of convicts, soldiers, administrators and their families comprising the Moreton Bay penal settlement relocated to the site of present-day Brisbane's central business district. The growing settlement was to be self-sufficient in feeding its residents by cultivating corn (also known as maize) and wheat crops at the government farm, which were then processed into meal and flour by hand mills. By 1827, with a substantial crop to process, the settlement storekeeper recommended a treadmill be erected to grind the crop into flour. Commandant Patrick Logan indicated at this time that such a device at Brisbane town would be of service and also provide an avenue for the punishment of convicts. There is little evidence confirming details of the windmill tower's planning and construction. In July 1828, Peter Beauclerk Spicer, the Superintendent of Convicts at the time, recorded in his diary that convicts were "clearing ground for foundations for the Mill" and proceeded to dig a circular trench that reached bedrock and had a circumference of approximately . Allan Cunningham noted soon after that construction was in progress. The mill was constructed on the highest point overlooking the settlement on what is now Wickham Terrace. By 31 October 1828 the first grain was being ground at the site by a mill gang; however it is supposed that this was done by a treadmill as the rotating cap and sails associated with the wind-powered operation of the mill were not brought to the site until November. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the wind-powered grinding of grain did not begin until December. There were two pairs of millstones inside the tower, each driven independently by the treadmill and sail mechanisms. The former was located outside the tower, a shaft connecting the treadwheel and the mill cogwheels inside. Two sketches from the early 1830s show the windmill tower and its sail stocks in place, while an 1839 description depicts a tower built from stone and brick, comprising four floors, a treadmill and windmill. From 1829 the windmill tower was said to be continually requiring repair, possibly because its equipment was all made from locally available timber rather than iron. The treadmill was an important component of the mill, for use as punishment without trial, and for times when there was no wind but the amounts of grain sufficient to sustain the settlement still required processing. No plans exist of the Brisbane treadmill; however, the Office of the Colonial Architect produced a standard Design for Tread Mill Adapted for Country Districts Average Estimate £120. Between 25 and 30 men worked at the mill at any one time. Sixteen operated the treadmill, although as there are no plans, it is uncertain whether it comprised a standard 16-place treadmill, or two 8-place sections connected to a common shaft. Each man would climb five steps to get onto the wheel, standing on the treads and holding on to the rail. The men would then work as though ascending steps to operate the treadmill. Some undertook this task while in leg irons, while the more able used one hand to hold on and the other to draw sketches of people, animals and scenes on the boards of the mill. The men would work from sunrise to sunset with three hours rest in the middle of the day in summer, and two hours in winter. The first casualty of the treadmill, which produced the first official record of its existence, occurred in September 1829 when prisoner Michael Collins lost his life after being entangled in the operating mechanism. Maps of 1840s Brisbane feature a rectangular structure attached to the outside of the tower, Robert Dixon's in particular showing a structure, probably the treadmill, located on ground that was to become Wickham Terrace. In February 1836 the windmill tower was struck by lightning, causing severe damage throughout, including to the treadmill. A convict millwright was brought from Sydney in June for the repairs, which amounted to a major rebuild of the structure that was not completed until May 1837. In April 1839, with the closure of the Moreton Bay penal settlement being planned, the windmill tower was one of the buildings recommended for transfer to the colony. This was approved in 1840-41 but it continued to sporadically process grain until 1845, when due to crop failure, a stagnant population and the availability of imported flour, it finally ceased being used. The penal settlement had officially closed in February 1842. The treadmill operated until 1845 and had been removed by October 1849. The windmill tower in Brisbane is the oldest of its type left standing in Australia and further distinguished by having been built by convict labour. The earliest standing stone windmill towers extant around the country date from the 1830s and include: one built in 1837 in South Perth, Western Australia; another built in the same year at Oatlands in Tasmania which operated until 1890; and another built at Mount Gilead near Campbelltown in New South Wales in 1836. Most were built to process grains into flour. Other surviving mill towers are the one built in 1842 by FR Nixon at Mount Barker in South Australia; Chapman's mill built around 1850 at Wonnerup in Western Australia, and another built at a similar time on an island in the Murray River near South Yunderup in Western Australia. None of the nineteen windmill towers that characterised the early settlement at Sydney have survived. Technological developments, most particularly steam power which was more dependable than wind power or that generated by convict labour at a treadmill, rendered wind-driven mills largely redundant. Surveying Indicative of the prominence of its physical position, the tower served as one of the stations for the trigonometrical survey of the Moreton Bay district conducted by Robert Dixon, Granville Stapylton and James Warner from May 1839 in preparation for the area being opened to free settlement. Land leases in the wider Brisbane area were issued under s.28 of the Regulations of 29 March 1848 and were nominally one mile square sections within a grid defined by (magnetic) north/south/east–west section lines. The grid had its origin at the convict-built windmill in Brisbane. Executions In July 1841 the Brisbane tower was reputedly the site of a public execution of two Aboriginal men who had been convicted in Sydney of the murder of Assistant Surveyor Granville Stapylton and one of his party near Mount Lindsay on 31 May 1840. The Aboriginal men were returned to Moreton Bay and hanged with about 100 Aboriginal people present; however it may be that the execution took place elsewhere on what was known as Windmill Hill. Landmark After the cessation of milling operations there were discussions about possible future use of Brisbane's windmill tower. In December 1849 the tower was put up for auction and bought by a government official who promptly sought tenders for removal of it and its machinery (the auction terms required it to be cleared away by three months after the sale). Ownership of the place quickly reverted to the Crown because of a legal problem with the sale, but not before some dismantling had occurred. In a January 1850 article the Moreton Bay Courier continued its appeal for the windmill not to be pulled down and secured by the town, arguing that aside from its landmark and picturesque qualities it was the "best fixed point for land measurement in the district". In this vein the site was the most accessible viewing point for the picturesque landscape of Brisbane and its environs. Despite earlier calls to erase evidence of Brisbane's convict past, "sentiment and pragmatism combined to override the detrimental taint of convictism" saving the tower from destruction. The sails were still in place in 1854 and appear in a painting of the windmill completed in 1855. Signal station and observatory By 1855 Brisbane was the leading Queensland port and it became important to establish signal stations to communicate shipping news between the entrance of the Brisbane River and the town, one of which was set up on Windmill Hill. This required modifications to the tower to include a semaphore station connected to the electric telegraph. Information on ships entering the river was converted to semaphore signals using flags hoisted on a mast erected on top of the tower. The renovations were undertaken by John Petrie in October 1861 to plans by colonial architect Charles Tiffin and included the removal of the windmill stocks or arms and wheels; the laying of floors on each storey; new doors and windows; a weatherproof floor on the top of the tower with an iron railing; a new winding staircase from bottom to top; repair of stone, brickwork and plastering; and the installation of a high flagstaff to fly signals. The tower's renovation at this time also fitted it out as a public observatory and it became known by that term. A cottage for the signalman was constructed in 1883 to the immediate west of the tower to plans prepared by Government Architect FDG Stanley and on part of the Waterworks reserve. Two years later a detached kitchen was also constructed behind it to the south of the tower. Use of the signal station was discontinued in 1921 by the state government, which then sought a new use for the structure and land. Despite this the flagstaff remained in place until 1949. From January 1893 the Fire Brigade implemented a nightly observation post from a specially constructed platform on top of the tower. This was used until around 1922. Museum On 20 January 1862, the Old Windmill became the first home of the newly founded Queensland Museum; serving this purpose until 1868 when other accommodation was provided in the old convict barracks or parliamentary building on Queen Street. Time keeping Petrie also installed a time ball on the tower to provide a reliable authority for regulating clocks and watches. It was dropped at one o'clock each day based on observations relayed by telegraph from Sydney. The time ball was replaced by a time gun in 1866, with an embankment and shed constructed to hold the gun in 1874. After 1882 the gun and shed were moved to the eastern section of the current reserve before the shed was demolished in 1908. The time gun proved useful to people as far away as Logan, Caboolture and Ipswich. The old gun was replaced in 1888 with another before a new electrically controlled time ball was installed in 1894. This was associated with the legislated implementation of a single time throughout the colony, being designated as ten hours earlier than the mean time at Greenwich. Adjustments were made to the tower at this time to accommodate the new time ball. The roof was lowered and the flagstaff pared down. After Federation, the Australian Government assumed responsibility for the site in 1901 but control reverted to the Queensland Government in 1908 when it was designated as an Observatory Reserve. In 1902 it had been connected to the Railway Telegraph Office at Roma Street so that the railways had the correct time for their operations. The evidence of historical photographs suggests that sometime between 1902 and 1912 the cabin at the top was increased in size. The time ball remained in operation until 1930. Towards the end of the 19th century, the tower was encased in a cement render to protect the brick and masonry from rainwater damage. The current render dates from a 1988 refurbishment, and is scored to imitate the stone blocks it covers. The site was placed under the trusteeship of the Brisbane City Council in 1922. The site of the cottage remained in the hands of the Waterworks Board and a boundary re-arrangement had to occur to allow its continued use in relation to the observatory. Radio and telephony research At this time the Queensland Institute of Radio Engineers began wireless radio and telephony research at the tower, and used the signalman's cottage to meet two nights a month. Apparatus to operate a wireless radio station was installed in 1926. The cottage was occupied on a more regular basis in order to reduce the risk of vandalism to the tower, but fell vacant. In 1926 the City Architect, AH Foster, proposed a plan for beautifying the observatory, which included removal of the cottage and adjacent sheds. The tender of Messrs Guyomar and Wright to remove the cottage, shed and outhouse for £60 was accepted. At this time the stone and wrought iron wall along Wickham Terrace was erected. It was intended to add "dignity to the historical reserve, and harmonise with the massive character of the Tower". From 1922 to 1926 the tower served the Institute of Radio Engineers for meetings and experiments, Gympie Radio Pioneer A. E. Dillon 4CH, was the first experimenter to conduct Medium Wave tests and transmissions from this tower in late 1921 or early 1922. The Tower was ideally suited for this purpose as it commanded a panoramic view from Moreton Bay in the east, to Darling Downs on the western horizon. Nearby he erected a mast and strung an antenna between it and the Tower - the most impressive configuration of its kind in Queensland at the time. From 1924 Thomas Elliott installed equipment in the tower to undertake cutting-edge television research; he and Allen Campbell giving a demonstration from the site in 1934 which constituted Queensland's first television broadcast. It was considered by many at the time as the most outstanding achievement thus far in the history of television in Australia. They gained a licence from the government and continued experimental broadcasting from the tower until about 1944. During the 1930s and 1940s the tower was the venue for pioneer television broadcasting. Tourist attraction From 1945 the Brisbane City Council was considering suitable action to preserve the tower, which had become a popular visitor attraction. Some restoration work was carried out in 1950 on the advice of Frank Costello (then Officer in Charge of Planning and Building with the City Council), which included removal of old render and re-rendering the entire structure. It was at this time that the flagstaff was removed in preparation for making the open ground of the reserve "a real park". Certainly these conservation efforts considered the heritage value of the place as well as the public's use of it. However, by 1962 the windmill tower was again in poor condition. Floodlighting to enhance its appearance for tourists was undertaken for the first time during the Warana Festival five years later. In the early 1970s the Council and the National Trust of Queensland undertook detailed investigations regarding restoration and transfer of trusteeship from the council to the trust (the latter were abandoned in 1976). None of the original plans or any of the original windmill machinery parts could be located at that time. Based on these findings the National Trust formed the opinion that the building should be preserved in its present form and not reconstructed to its windmill form. In 1982 City Council undertook some external maintenance work on the observation house or cabin, including replacement of deteriorated timber to the balcony and sills, and corrugated iron on the roof, and repair of the time ball and its mast (which was shortened by about to remove some part affected by dry rot). In 1987 a consortium of companies involved in the construction of the Central Plaza office building offered to assist the Brisbane City Council with the conservation of the Windmill Tower. To inform this work a conservation study was undertaken by Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle Architects, which also oversaw conservation work. Preliminary archaeological investigations undertaken at this time identified the remains of the original flagstaff base which was reinstated. The conserved Windmill Tower was opened by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Sallyanne Atkinson, on 3 November 1988. A further archaeological investigation was carried out at the site in 1989-90 by a University of Queensland team, revealing clear stratigraphic layers datable to each of the key phases of use of the site. In August 1993 further investigations of the fabric of the tower were undertaken to explore the extent of the footings and the nature of construction of the curb and cap frame. More conservation work was carried out in May 1996. In 2009 the Brisbane City Council received considerable funding to carry out restoration work of the windmill tower through the Queensland Government's Q150 Connecting Brisbane project. It was intended that the structure be publicly accessible to allow visitors to experience the view from its observation platform, a practice that has been commented on since the 1860s. In 2008–2009 the Brisbane CBD Archaeological Plan assessed the area of the observatory reserve and a length of Wickham Terrace associated with it as having exceptional archaeological research potential because of the combination of its association with the penal settlement and the low level of ground disturbance that has occurred there since. Hauntings Paranormal researcher Joe Nickell visited the windmill October 2015 after learning that local paranormal groups considered the site haunted. The stories relate to the deaths of two Aboriginal men who were hanged from the upper window. In his investigation Nickell confirmed these deaths happened, but it was impossible for the execution to have happened inside the tower as "ghost raconteurs" have suggested. An often reported "light in the window" story was found to be typical of ghostlore and according to Nickell, "a simple illusion". In all, the investigation resulted in Nickell stating that the stories of the Tower Mill hauntings are the work "of some percipient's faulty imagination or the creation of a writer of fakelore." Description Circular in plan, the windmill tower is largely made of rendered stone and brick. It tapers towards the top where it is surmounted by an observation platform with an iron railing, hexagonal timber cabin or observation house, and time ball and timber mast. At its base the tower is approximately in diameter, reducing to about at the top. Excluding the time ball and its mast, it stands at about in height on Wickham Terrace in Spring Hill, overlooking the modern office towers of Brisbane's central business district. The tower occupies the western end of the reserve, with the reconstructed flagstaff in its eastern half. Surrounding these is lawn. The boundary on Wickham Terrace is formed by a low stone wall with regular stone piers, between which are strung single chain guards, and a garden bed behind. About half way along its length is a decorative iron archway and stone stairs leading up to a concrete path to the entrance door of the tower. The rear reserve boundary marked by a hedge adjoins that of the Spring Hill Reservoirs, the three gable roofs of which nestle below the park lawn. These are places flanked by parks, Wickham Park to the west and King Edward Park to the east. Opposite the windmill tower is the cylindrical Tower Mill Hotel, opened in deliberately referencing its form. The tower sits on a circular sub-wall of Brisbane Tuff about thick, which is founded on bedrock. Standing on a plinth, the walls at the base are about thick, reducing at the top to about . To the ground and first floors the walls are stone (ashlar with lime mortar) with deep outer stone lintels above the door and window. This has been referred to as the reefing stage at about 3,190mm above ground. The reefing stage for a windmill is an exterior platform from where the miller can turn the cap via an endless chain hanging from the cap and access the sails. The earliest images of the windmill at Brisbane, those by Bowerman from the 1850s appear to show some kind of encircling platform at this reefing stage level. A photograph taken during restoration work undertaken in 1988 while the render was being replaced seems to show a series of slots that may have held supports for a reefing stage. Behind these were middle and inner hardwood lintels, the former having been replaced with steel hollow sections in 1996. From the second floor to the underside of the cantilevered balcony the walls are English bond clay brick except for a segment on part of the third floor (at about above ground) where the outer half of the wall is stone with brick inside. Some random stones run the full width of the wall here. Six narrow, regularly spaced windows open out of this wall segment. There are low rise brick arches above them and timber middle and inner lintels. In the brick above this segment, on the inside, there are curved hardwood plates (these appear to be the remains of the windmill's curb support, curb and cap frame cut down by Andrew Petrie in 1861 to provide clearance for the stairway). These timbers appear to have been locally sourced and comprise grey ironbark and spotted gum and yellow wood (Eucalyptus siderophloia, Eucalyptus maculata and Flindersia xanthoxya). The entire exterior surface is rendered in a mock ashlar finish (substantially renewed in 1988). However the brick section was not first rendered until the 1880s and the stone plinth not until circa 1900. A lip is created in the render surface at the first floor or reefing stage level. Above, below and around the upper ring of windows the render finish follows the simple stone frame. A single-level observation house and platform surmount the tower with a riveted copper time ball and painted hardwood mast projecting above it. On the windmill tower's interior the single volume spaces of each floor are punctuated by the hexagonal stair which connects the ground with the observatory house. The ground floor is a concrete slab while the upper floors are timber-framed with timber floor boards of hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii). The stair winds around a central newel and is lined with tongue-and-groove vertical boards. The treads were strengthened and protected from further wear during the 1988 conservation work. The bottom of the stair posts are founded in the ground floor concrete slab. The stair timbers are largely red cedar (Toona australis), expect for the boarding, which is hoop pine. The observation house is offset south of the tower's centreline and hexagonal in plan (the stairs are similarly offset). Its walls and five-faceted roof are timber-framed. Externally it is clad with chamferboards on the walls and metal sheeting on the roof. Internally it is lined with tongue-and-groove vertical boards. A door leads out to the circular balcony that surrounds it. The balustrade is wrought iron while the balcony floor is lined with flat copper sheets with timber duckboarding over. It is supported on the outside by closely spaced carved timber brackets. A round hardwood mast projects out of the roof of the cabin. It has a 160 square base, is lap-spliced inside the cabin to a 160 square post that carries down to the third floor. A riveted copper time-ball with central hole sits atop the cabin, with its hoisting rope running through top of the mast. As part of its function the time ball was raised to the top of the mast. The tower has five casement windows: two opposite the door, one above the other, another above the door and two more higher up facing north and south. The tiny windows that currently provide illumination for the top floor under the observation cabin are a unique aspect. The sliding windows in the lookout or observation house were installed in 1988 to resemble the originals. The timber double entrance door at the base of the tower has a stone drip mould over it, as do the casements. There is no clear sign of where the drive shaft from the external treadmill entered the tower, although the 1861 renovations may have disguised the entry point. The internal wall of the tower shows many signs of repair, any of which may be related to the treadmill operation. The ground floor wall of the tower shows a "closed-up opening" which may be the only surviving evidence of the location of the treadmill as the location where the shaft joining the two. The report does not give a location for this. Expert speculation about the format of the treadmill would suggest that the drive shaft connected to a short end of the treadmill. The grounds surrounding the tower are grassed and sparsely landscaped and although there are no visible surface remnants, are likely to contain subsurface archaeological evidence of the use of the site over its entire history. The sections of Wickham Terrace and Bartley Street included within the heritage boundary have exceptional potential to contain remains of the convict-era treadmill. The road infrastructure, including the road surface, lighting and signage, is not of cultural heritage significance. Heritage listing Windmill Tower was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Windmill Tower in Spring Hill is tangible evidence of the initial European occupation of the Moreton Bay area and important physical evidence of the development of it as a penal settlement, free settlement and separate colony. It is the oldest convict-built structure surviving in Queensland and the oldest extant windmill tower in Australia. The Windmill Tower is important in illustrating various key phases of the history of Brisbane. It has been used for a variety of purposes, including the grinding of grain and as a form of punishment for convicts, as a trigonometrical survey station, as a signal station for shipping, the Queensland Museum's first home, the official timekeeping device for the settlement, an observation tower, and as a site for wireless radio and telephony research and for early television research and broadcasting. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. The Windmill Tower is one of only two buildings to survive from the Moreton Bay penal settlement. It is distinctive amongst other early windmill towers around Australia in being the only surviving one built by convict labour. Other surviving towers, including the mill at South Perth in Western Australia (1837), the Callington Mill at Oatlands in Tasmania (1837), and the Mount Barker mill in South Australia (1842), were constructed by non-convict labour for free enterprise concerns. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. The Windmill Tower has potential to contribute new knowledge and a greater understanding of Queensland's early settlement and development. Potential exists for archaeological evidence relating to all phases of occupation and use, particularly the convict period and evidence of the external treadmill layout and design, and the later signalman's cottage. Archaeological investigations at the Windmill Tower have the potential to contribute important new information about actual treadmill design and construction techniques, early punishment practices employed in Moreton Bay, the domestic conditions of mid to late nineteenth century Brisbane through artefact analysis, as well other previously unknown or undocumented uses of the windmill tower site. Archaeological evidence of the treadmill would illustrate nineteenth century punishment practices and the necessity of technological solutions for the grinding of enough grain to feed the fledgling settlement. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. Being the oldest extant windmill tower in Australia, and Queensland's oldest stone building, the Windmill Tower in Brisbane is an exemplar of this class of cultural place. Its height and location on a central Brisbane hilltop are also important in demonstrating the characteristics of an early signal station, lookout and site for wireless radio, telephony and early television research. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The Windmill Tower has great aesthetic significance for its landmark quality, being situated on a prominent hilltop overlooking central Brisbane; a quality widely acknowledged from the beginnings of free settlement until the present day. The unusual and characteristic shape of the structure is distinctive even in the earliest pictorial representations of the Brisbane landscape. Despite subsequent city development obscuring or entirely obliterating the views to it from other parts of the area, the windmill tower is still strongly evocative and symbolic of Queensland's convict past, one of its key periods of significance. The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. The use of the Windmill Tower as a signal station from 1855 demonstrates an aspect of innovative technology to develop a system of communication linking semaphore and electric telegraph to relay shipping news to the settlement. The tower is also an important reflection of the management of timekeeping in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through the use of time balls and a time gun at the site from 1861 until 1930. The earliest research in Queensland into wireless radio and telephony was undertaken at the tower from 1922. Cutting edge television technology was also researched and demonstrated at the tower from 1924 until at least 1949. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The Windmill Tower has a special association with the Brisbane and Queensland communities, serving as an important landmark and being a tangible and symbolic representation of European settlement of the state. The tower was recognised as early as 1850 for its landmark and picturesque qualities in a swell of public support against its proposed demolition. This public interest has been ongoing, demonstrated in concerns voiced to the present day over renovation and restoration. In popular culture In 2015 at the Urbne Festival in Brisbane, digital artist Alinta Krauth created the artwork, "Wind blisters those who try to run" exploring the history of the windmill, which was projected on the windmill during the festival. See also Andrew Petrie John Petrie References Bibliography Shaw, Barry, 1947–; Brisbane History Group (2010), Brisbane : people and places of Ashgrove (1st ed.), Brisbane History Group, Attribution External links Peter Marquis-Kyle's account of the 1988 refurbishment History of Arthur Ernest Dillon 'The Gallows of the Old Windmill Tower' Tourist attractions in Brisbane Buildings and structures in Brisbane Windmills in Australia Tower mills Grinding mills in Australia Windmills completed in 1824 Meteorological observatories Queensland Heritage Register History of Brisbane Spring Hill, Queensland Time balls Industrial buildings in Queensland 1824 establishments in Australia Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Lookouts in Queensland Moreton Bay penal settlement

2614201

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popov%20%28crater%29

Popov (crater)

Popov is a crater on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the eastern limb. It measures approximately in diameter and is located along the very edge of the area of surface that is sometimes brought into view of the Earth during periods of favorable libration and illumination. However even at such times it is not prominent and can only be viewed edge-on. Description This crater lies due south of Dziewulski, and the crater chain designated Catena Dziewulski passes just to the northeast of Popov's outer rim. Just to the southeast of Popov lies Möbius, and the two are joined together by a smaller crater that lies along the south-southeast rim of Popov. To the southwest lies the crater Ginzel and Mare Marginis. Popov is a worn crater with a damaged outer rim that is little more than a circular, jumbled series of ridges in the surface. Several small craterlets lie along the rim and inner wall, particularly along the western side. The interior floor is otherwise relatively level and nearly without any features. It is named after Russian physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov, who is considered to be the inventor of radio in his homeland and eastern European countries. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Popov. See also 3074 Popov, asteroid References Impact craters on the Moon

2614218

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racah%20%28crater%29

Racah (crater)

Racah is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies almost due south of the larger crater Daedalus, and lies across lunar longitude 180°W, i.e. the longitude that is diametrically opposite to the Earth. To the west-southwest of Racah is the crater Aitken, and to the southeast lies De Vries. The rim of this crater is eroded and is not quite circular, having a prominent outward bulge along the west-northwest side. The edge is somewhat damaged along the southern rim, but no significant craters lie along the side. The interior floor is uneven in places with some small impacts. This feature is named after the Israeli physicist Giulio Racah. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Racah. References External links Link to Racah Crater on Google Moon Impact craters on the Moon

2614243

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raimond%20%28crater%29

Raimond (crater)

Raimond is a lunar impact crater that lies on the Moon's far side. Less than one crater diameter to the northeast is Bredikhin, and farther to the west is McMath. To the north-northwest lies the prominent crater Jackson, which is surrounded by a large ray system. Raimond is almost completely covered by this ray material, and a pair of prominent rays cross the northeastern and southwestern portions of the crater. This crater is slightly elongated along the east–west axis, giving is a slightly oblong appearance. The rim edge is moderately worn, although no significant impacts lie across the edge. The interior is relatively featureless, with only a few small craterlets and the ray material from Jackson crater to mark the surface. Raimond lies near the center of the Dirichlet-Jackson Basin. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Raimond. See also 1450 Raimonda, asteroid References Impact craters on the Moon

2614252

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsay%20%28crater%29

Ramsay (crater)

Ramsay is a lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side. It lies to the south-southwest of the larger crater Jules Verne, and is nearly in contact with the satellite crater Jules Verne P along the northern outer rim. To the southeast of Ramsay is the crater Koch, and to the west-southwest lies the overlapping pair of Roche and Pauli. This is a worn crater, although the rim retains a generally circular character and is marked only by tiny craterlets (except for a notch in the south-southeast). The interior floor is relatively featureless, with a low central rise near the midpoint. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Ramsay. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614261

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razumov%20%28crater%29

Razumov (crater)

Razumov is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon, beyond the northwestern limb as seen from the Earth. It lies along the southeastern outer rim of the walled plain Landau. Intruding slightly into the southern rim is the slightly smaller crater Petropavlovskiy. To the west-southwest lies Frost. This crater has a worn outer rim, with a small crater along the northwestern rim and outward bulges to the north-northeast and east-southeast. The interior floor has a small crater in the western half and small craterlets along the western and southern edges. It is otherwise marked only by a few tiny craterlets. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Razumov. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614290

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberts%20%28crater%29

Roberts (crater)

Roberts is a lunar impact crater that is located in the far northern latitudes on the far side of the Moon. It is located to the east-southeast of the crater Karpinskiy, and to the northwest of Sommerfeld. To the north is Thiessen. This is a heavily worn and eroded crater with a rounded outer rim that is incised and damaged by multiple smaller craters. Little of the original rim still remains besides a rounded and irregular ridge in the surface. The interior floor is also marked by a number of small craters, the most notable being a crater near the south-southeastern inner wall. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Roberts. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614339

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slocum%20%28crater%29

Slocum (crater)

Slocum is a small lunar impact crater in the southeastern part of the Mare Smythii. It lies near the eastern limb of the Moon, and from the Earth this section of the surface is viewed at a very oblique angle. This greatly limits the amount of detail that can be observed. In addition, libration of the Moon in its orbit can cause this area to be completely hidden from Earth. Nearby craters of note include Runge to the west-northwest, Warner to the west-southwest, and Swasey to the south-southeast. This is a roughly circular, bowl-shaped crater that is surrounded by lunar mare. It is not marked by any overlying craters of note. To the west and southwest of this crater is a rille in the surface of the mare. The crater's name was approved by the IAU in 1976. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614352

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0afa%C5%99%C3%ADk%20%28crater%29

Šafařík (crater)

Šafařík is a small lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies due north of the crater Tiselius and to the east-southeast of Sharonov. This is a worn and eroded crater with smaller impacts along the rim to the east and northwest. The remainder of the worn rim and the interior are relatively featureless. The crater was named by the IAU in 1970. The crater lies within the Freundlich-Sharonov Basin. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Šafařík. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614390

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarton%20%28crater%29

Sarton (crater)

Sarton is a lunar impact crater that lies beyond the northwestern limb of the Moon, on the far side from the Earth. It is located to the southwest of the crater Coulomb, to the north of the walled plain Landau. Nearly attached to the northwestern rim is the smaller Weber. Although roughly circular, this is a somewhat oddly shaped crater that is slightly elongated to the south. The western and eastern outer rims are slightly straightened, giving the crater a slightly hexagonal form. The inner wall is wider along the southern and southeastern sides than in the north. The crater is worn and its features have lost some definition. The interior floor is nearly level, with the exception of a double-peaked central rise. To the northwest of this ridge is a small, cup-shaped crater. Sarton lies within the Coulomb-Sarton Basin, a 530 km wide impact crater of Pre-Nectarian age. The craters Sarton Y and Sarton Z are closest to the center of the basin. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Sarton. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614433

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlesinger%20%28crater%29

Schlesinger (crater)

Schlesinger is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. The crater Esnault-Pelterie overlies the western part of the rim and the outer rampart of that crater has covered about half the interior floor, leaving a crescent-shaped feature. To the south-southwest of Schlesinger is the crater Von Zeipel and to the southeast lies Quetelet. In addition to the overlapping Esnault-Pelterie, the rim of Schlesinger is overlain by the satellite crater Schlesinger M along the southern rim and a small crater along the northern rim. The remaining rim is heavily worn and the features have been rounded. Only about half the interior floor remains uncovered, and this is relatively level and marked only by a few small craterlets. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Schlesinger. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614456

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneller%20%28crater%29

Schneller (crater)

Schneller is a lunar impact crater on the Moon's far side. It is located in the northern latitudes to the southwest of the crater Woltjer. This is a heavily worn and eroded crater that has a somewhat uneven rim with outward bulges to the southeast and northeast. The rim is nearly non-existent along the northwestern side. The interior of this crater is relatively featureless, with only a few small, indistinct craterlets. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Schneller. References Impact craters on the Moon

2614571

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanford%20%28crater%29

Sanford (crater)

Sanford is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern latitudes on the Moon's far side. It lies to the south-southeast of the crater Klute, and just to the west-northwest of Teisserenc. To the southwest lies Joule. This is a circular crater formation with a worn outer rim. A pair of small craterlets lies along the eastern rim, and the satellite crater Sanford C is attached to the outer edge along the north-northwest. Attached to the southern exterior is what may be the remains of a larger, unnamed crater that is now considerably eroded. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Sanford. References Impact craters on the Moon

2617516

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eloko

Eloko

Eloko (pl. Biloko) is a term in a Mongo-Nkundo language referring to a kind of dwarf-like creature that lives in the forests. They are believed to be the spirits of ancestors of the people living there. Characteristics Biloko live in the densest and darkest part of the rain forest in central Zaïre, jealously and ferociously guarding their treasures: the game and the rare fruits of the forest. Legend has it that they haunt the forest because they have some grudge to settle with the living and are generally quite vicious. The Biloko live in hollow trees and are dressed only in leaves. They have no hair; only grass grows on their bodies; they have piercing eyes, snouts with mouths that can be opened wide enough to admit a human body, alive or dead, and long, sharp claws. They possess little bells, which, in Central Africa are believed to be able to cast a spell on passers-by. Possessing an amulet or a fetish can offer protection from this type of magic. Mythology Only the most fearless hunters are believed to enter the depths of the forest and live to tell the tale. Hunters are said to have strong magic that allows them to endure. There are many tales about wives who insist upon joining their husbands in the forest only to faint as soon as they see their first Eloko. One Eloko tale, cited by Bantu linguist Jan Knappert, says: One day a hunter took his wife, at her insistence, into the forest, where he had a hut with a palisade around it. When he went out to inspect his traps, he told her: "When you hear a bell, do not move. If you do, you will die!" Soon after he had left, she heard the charming sound of a little bell coming closer, for the Eloko has a good nose for feminine flesh. Finally, a gentle voice asked to be let in to his room. It was like the voice of a child. The woman opened the door and there was an Eloko, smelling like the forest, looking small and innocent. She offered him banana mash with fried fish but he refused: "We eat only human meat. I have not eaten for a long time. Give me a piece of your arm." At last the woman consented, totally under the spell of the Eloko. That night, the husband found her bones. Popular culture In the 2021 novel Bacchanal by Veronica G. Henry, one of the minor characters is an eloko who is named Eloko. He is described as the last of his kind from Zaire and is always hungering for human flesh even though he has been forbidden from eating it. Bethany C. Morrow's 2021 novel, A Chorus Rises, has a main character, Naema, who is called an eloko but does not have the typical mythological characteristics of one. An Eloko serves as a major antagonist in the Dark Star trilogy by Marlon James and appears in both books Black Leopard, Red Wolf and Moon Witch, Spider King. References African folklore Central African legendary creatures Forest spirits Dwarves (folklore)

2617805

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burney%20Relief

Burney Relief

The Burney Relief (also known as the Queen of the Night relief) is a Mesopotamian terracotta plaque in high relief of the Isin-Larsa period or Old-Babylonian period, depicting a winged, nude, goddess-like figure with bird's talons, flanked by owls, and perched upon two lions. The relief is displayed in the British Museum in London, which has dated it between 1800 and 1750 BCE. It originates from southern Mesopotamia, but the exact find-site is unknown. Apart from its distinctive iconography, the piece is noted for its high relief and relatively large size making it a very rare survival from the period. The authenticity of the object has been questioned from its first appearance in the 1930s, but opinion has generally moved in its favour over the subsequent decades. Provenance Initially in the possession of a Syrian dealer, who may have acquired the plaque in southern Iraq in 1924, the relief was deposited at the British Museum in London and analysed by Dr. H.J. Plenderleith in 1933. However, the Museum declined to purchase it in 1935, whereupon the plaque passed to the London antique dealer Sidney Burney; it subsequently became known as the "Burney Relief". The relief was first brought to public attention with a full-page reproduction in The Illustrated London News, in 1936. From Burney, it passed to the collection of Norman Colville, after whose death it was acquired at auction by the Japanese collector Goro Sakamoto. British authorities, however, denied him an export licence. The piece was loaned to the British Museum for display between 1980 and 1991, and in 2003 the relief was purchased by the Museum for the sum of £1,500,000 as part of its 250th anniversary celebrations. The Museum also renamed the plaque the "Queen of the Night Relief". Since then, the object has toured museums around Britain. Its original provenance remains unknown. The relief was not archaeologically excavated, and thus there is no further information about where it came from, or in which context it was discovered. An interpretation of the relief thus relies on stylistic comparisons with other objects for which the date and place of origin have been established, on an analysis of the iconography, and on the interpretation of textual sources from Mesopotamian mythology and religion. Description Detailed descriptions were published by Henri Frankfort (1936), by Pauline Albenda (2005), and in a monograph by Dominique Collon, former curator at the British Museum, where the plaque is now housed. The composition as a whole is unique among works of art from Mesopotamia, even though many elements have interesting counterparts in other images from that time. Physical aspect The relief is a terracotta (fired clay) plaque, large, thick, with the head of the figure projecting from the surface. To manufacture the relief, clay with small calcareous inclusions was mixed with chaff; visible folds and fissures suggest the material was quite stiff when being worked. The British Museum's Department of Scientific Research reports, "it would seem likely that the whole plaque was moulded" with subsequent modelling of some details and addition of others, such as the rod-and-ring symbols, the tresses of hair and the eyes of the owls. The relief was then burnished and polished, and further details were incised with a pointed tool. Firing burned out the chaff, leaving characteristic voids and the pitted surface we see now; Curtis and Collon believe the surface would have appeared smoothed by ochre paint in antiquity. In its dimensions, the unique plaque is larger than the mass-produced terracotta plaques – popular art or devotional items – of which many were excavated in house ruins of the Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian periods. Overall, the relief is in excellent condition. It was originally received in three pieces and some fragments by the British Museum; after repair, some cracks are still apparent, in particular a triangular piece missing on the right edge, but the main features of the deity and the animals are intact. The figure's face has damage to its left side, the left side of the nose and the neck region. The headdress has some damage to its front and right hand side, but the overall shape can be inferred from symmetry. Half of the necklace is missing and the symbol of the figure held in her right hand; the owls' beaks are lost and a piece of a lion's tail. A comparison of images from 1936 and 2005 shows that some modern damage has been sustained as well: the right hand side of the crown has now lost its top tier, and at the lower left corner a piece of the mountain patterning has chipped off and the owl has lost its right-side toes. However, in all major aspects, the relief has survived intact for more than 3,500 years. Traces of red pigment still remain on the figure's body that was originally painted red overall. The feathers of her wings and the owls' feathers were also colored red, alternating with black and white. By Raman spectroscopy the red pigment is identified as red ochre, the black pigment, amorphous carbon ("lamp black") and the white pigment gypsum. Black pigment is also found on the background of the plaque, the hair and eyebrows, and on the lions' manes. The pubic triangle and the areola appear accentuated with red pigment but were not separately painted black. The lions' bodies were painted white. The British Museum curators assume that the horns of the headdress and part of the necklace were originally colored yellow, just as they are on a very similar clay figure from Ur. They surmise that the bracelets and rod-and-ring symbols might also have been painted yellow. However, no traces of yellow pigment now remain on the relief. The female figure The nude female figure is realistically sculpted in high-relief. Her eyes, beneath distinct, joined eyebrows, are hollow, presumably to accept some inlaying material – a feature common in stone, alabaster, and bronze sculptures of the time, but not seen in other Mesopotamian clay sculptures. Her full lips are slightly upturned at the corners. She is adorned with a four-tiered headdress of horns, topped by a disk. Her head is framed by two braids of hair, with the bulk of her hair in a bun in the back and two wedge-shaped braids extending onto her breasts. The stylized treatment of her hair could represent a ceremonial wig. She wears a single broad necklace, composed of squares that are structured with horizontal and vertical lines, possibly depicting beads, four to each square. This necklace is virtually identical to the necklace of the god found at Ur, except that the latter's necklace has three lines to a square. Around both wrists she wears bracelets which appear composed of three rings. Both hands are symmetrically lifted up, palms turned towards the viewer and detailed with visible life-, head- and heart lines, holding two rod-and-ring symbols of which only the one in the left hand is well preserved. Two wings with clearly defined, stylized feathers in three registers extend down from above her shoulders. The feathers in the top register are shown as overlapping scales (coverts), the lower two registers have long, staggered flight feathers that appear drawn with a ruler and end in a convex trailing edge. The feathers have smooth surfaces; no barbs were drawn. The wings are similar but not entirely symmetrical, differing both in the number of the flight feathers and in the details of the coloring scheme. Her wings are spread to a triangular shape but not fully extended. The breasts are full and high, but without separately modelled nipples. Her body has been sculpted with attention to naturalistic detail: the deep navel, structured abdomen, "softly modeled pubic area" the recurve of the outline of the hips beneath the iliac crest, and the bony structure of the legs with distinct knee caps all suggest "an artistic skill that is almost certainly derived from observed study". A spur-like protrusion, fold, or tuft extends from her calves just below the knee, which Collon interprets as dewclaws. Below the shin, the figure's legs change into those of a bird. The bird-feet are detailed, with three long, well-separated toes of approximately equal length. Lines have been scratched into the surface of the ankle and toes to depict the scutes, and all visible toes have prominent talons. Her toes are extended down, without perspective foreshortening; they do not appear to rest upon a ground line and thus give the figure an impression of being dissociated from the background, as if hovering. The animals and background The two lions have a male mane, patterned with dense, short lines; the manes continue beneath the body. Distinctly patterned tufts of hair grow from the lion's ears and on their shoulders, emanating from a central disk-shaped whorl. They lie prone; their heads are sculpted with attention to detail, but with a degree of artistic liberty in their form, e.g., regarding their rounded shapes. Both lions look towards the viewer, and both have their mouths closed. The owls shown are recognizable, but not sculpted naturalistically: the shape of the beak, the length of the legs, and details of plumage deviate from those of the owls that are indigenous to the region. Their plumage is colored like the deity's wings in red, black and white; it is bilaterally similar but not perfectly symmetrical. Both owls have one more feather on the right-hand side of their plumage than on the left-hand side. The legs, feet and talons are red. The group is placed on a pattern of scales, painted black. This is the way mountain ranges were commonly symbolized in Mesopotamian art. Context Date and place of origin Stylistic comparisons place the relief at the earliest into the Isin-Larsa period, or slightly later, to the beginning of the Old Babylonian period. Frankfort especially notes the stylistic similarity with the sculpted head of a male deity found at Ur, which Collon finds to be "so close to the Queen of the Night in quality, workmanship and iconographical details, that it could well have come from the same workshop." Therefore, Ur is one possible city of origin for the relief, but not the only one: Edith Porada points out the virtual identity in style that the lion's tufts of hair have with the same detail seen on two fragments of clay plaques excavated at Nippur. And Agnès Spycket reported on a similar necklace on a fragment found in Isin. Geopolitical context A creation date at the beginning of the second millennium BCE places the relief into a region and time in which the political situation was unsteady, marked by the waxing and waning influence of the city states of Isin and Larsa, an invasion by the Elamites, and finally the conquest by Hammurabi in the unification of the Babylonian empire in 1762 BCE. 300 to 500 years earlier, the population for the whole of Mesopotamia was at its all-time high of about 300,000. Elamite invaders then toppled the third Dynasty of Ur and the population declined to about 200,000; it had stabilized at that number at the time the relief was made. Cities like Nippur and Isin would have had on the order of 20,000 inhabitants and Larsa maybe 40,000; Hammurabi's Babylon grew to 60,000 by 1700 BCE. A well-developed infrastructure and complex division of labour is required to sustain cities of that size. The fabrication of religious imagery might have been done by specialized artisans: large numbers of smaller, devotional plaques have been excavated that were fabricated in molds. Even though the fertile crescent civilizations are considered the oldest in history, at the time the Burney Relief was made other late Bronze Age civilizations were equally in full bloom. Travel and cultural exchange were not commonplace, but nevertheless possible. To the east, Elam with its capital Susa was in frequent military conflict with Isin, Larsa and later Babylon. Even further, the Indus Valley civilization was already past its peak, and in China, the Erlitou culture blossomed. To the southwest, Egypt was ruled by the 12th dynasty; further to the west the Minoan civilization, centred on Crete with the Old Palace in Knossos, dominated the Mediterranean. To the north of Mesopotamia, the Anatolian Hittites were establishing their Old Kingdom over the Hattians; they brought an end to Babylon's empire with the sack of the city in 1531 BCE. Indeed, Collon mentions this raid as possibly being the reason for the damage to the right-hand side of the relief. Religion The size of the plaque suggests it would have belonged in a shrine, possibly as an object of worship; it was probably set into a mud-brick wall. Such a shrine might have been a dedicated space in a large private home or other house, but not the main focus of worship in one of the cities' temples, which would have contained representations of gods sculpted in the round. Mesopotamian temples at the time had a rectangular cella often with niches to both sides. According to Thorkild Jacobsen, that shrine could have been located inside a brothel. Art history Compared with how important religious practice was in Mesopotamia, and compared to the number of temples that existed, very few cult figures at all have been preserved. This is certainly not due to a lack of artistic skill: the "Ram in a Thicket" shows how elaborate such sculptures could have been, even 600 to 800 years earlier. It is also not due to a lack of interest in religious sculpture: deities and myths are ubiquitous on cylinder seals and the few steles, kudurrus, and reliefs that have been preserved. Rather, it seems plausible that the main figures of worship in temples and shrines were made of materials so valuable they could not escape looting during the many shifts of power that the region saw. The Burney Relief is comparatively plain, and so survived. In fact, the relief is one of only two existing large, figurative representations from the Old Babylonian period. The other one is the top part of the Code of Hammurabi, which was actually discovered in Elamite Susa, where it had been brought as booty. A static, frontal image is typical of religious images intended for worship. Symmetric compositions are common in Mesopotamian art when the context is not narrative. Many examples have been found on cylinder seals. Three-part arrangements of a god and two other figures are common, but five-part arrangements exist as well. In this respect, the relief follows established conventions. In terms of representation, the deity is sculpted with a naturalistic but "modest" nudity, reminiscent of Egyptian goddess sculptures, which are sculpted with a well-defined navel and pubic region but no details; there, the lower hemline of a dress indicates that some covering is intended, even if it does not conceal. In a typical statue of the genre, Pharaoh Menkaura and two goddesses, Hathor and Bat are shown in human form and sculpted naturalistically, just as in the Burney Relief; in fact, Hathor has been given the features of Queen Khamerernebty II. Depicting an anthropomorphic god as a naturalistic human is an innovative artistic idea that may well have diffused from Egypt to Mesopotamia, just like a number of concepts of religious rites, architecture, the "banquet plaques", and other artistic innovations previously. In this respect, the Burney Relief shows a clear departure from the schematic style of the worshiping men and women that were found in temples from periods about 500 years earlier. It is also distinct from the next major style in the region: Assyrian art, with its rigid, detailed representations, mostly of scenes of war and hunting. The extraordinary survival of the figure type, though interpretations and cult context shifted over the intervening centuries, is expressed by the cast terracotta funerary figure of the 1st century BCE, from Myrina on the coast of Mysia in Asia Minor, where it was excavated by the French School at Athens, 1883; the terracotta is conserved in the Musée du Louvre (illustrated left). Compared to visual artworks from the same time, the relief fits quite well with its style of representation and its rich iconography. The images below show earlier, contemporary, and somewhat later examples of woman and goddess depictions. Iconography Mesopotamian religion recognizes literally thousands of deities, and distinct iconographies have been identified for about a dozen. Less frequently, gods are identified by a written label or dedication; such labels would only have been intended for the literate elites. In creating a religious object, the sculptor was not free to create novel images: the representation of deities, their attributes and context were as much part of the religion as the rituals and the mythology. Indeed, innovation and deviation from an accepted canon could be considered a cultic offense. The large degree of similarity that is found in plaques and seals suggests that detailed iconographies could have been based on famous cult statues; they established the visual tradition for such derivative works but have now been lost. It appears, though, that the Burney Relief was the product of such a tradition, not its source, since its composition is unique. Frontal nudity The frontal presentation of the deity is appropriate for a plaque of worship, since it is not just a "pictorial reference to a god" but "a symbol of his presence". Since the relief is the only existing plaque intended for worship, we do not know whether this is generally true. But this particular depiction of a goddess represents a specific motif: a nude goddess with wings and bird's feet. Similar images have been found on a number of plaques, on a vase from Larsa, and on at least one cylinder seal; they are all from approximately the same time period. In all instances but one, the frontal view, nudity, wings, and the horned crown are features that occur together; thus, these images are iconographically linked in their representation of a particular goddess. Moreover, examples of this motif are the only existing examples of a nude god or goddess; all other representations of gods are clothed. The bird's feet have not always been well preserved, but there are no counter-examples of a nude, winged goddess with human feet. Horned crown The horned crown – usually four-tiered– is the most general symbol of a deity in Mesopotamian art. Male and female gods alike wear it. In some instances, "lesser" gods wear crowns with only one pair of horns, but the number of horns is not generally a symbol of "rank" or importance. The form we see here is a style popular in Neo-Sumerian times and later; earlier representations show horns projecting out from a conical headpiece. Wings Winged gods, other mythological creatures, and birds are frequently depicted on cylinder seals and steles from the 3rd millennium all the way to the Assyrians. Both two-winged and four-winged figures are known and the wings are most often extended to the side. Spread wings are part of one type of representation for Ishtar. However, the specific depiction of the hanging wings of the nude goddess may have evolved from what was originally a cape. Rod and ring symbol This symbol may depict the measuring tools of a builder or architect or a token representation of these tools. It is frequently depicted on cylinder seals and steles, where it is always held by a god – usually either Shamash, Ishtar, and in later Babylonian images also Marduk– and often extended to a king. Lions Lions are chiefly associated with Ishtar or with the male gods Shamash or Ningirsu. In Mesopotamian art, lions are nearly always depicted with open jaws. H. Frankfort suggests that The Burney Relief shows a modification of the normal canon that is due to the fact that the lions are turned towards the worshipper: the lions might appear inappropriately threatening if their mouths were open. Owls No other examples of owls in an iconographic context exist in Mesopotamian art, nor are there textual references that directly associate owls with a particular god or goddess. Mountains A god standing on or seated on a pattern of scales is a typical scenery for the depiction of a theophany. It is associated with gods who have some connection with mountains but not restricted to any one deity in particular. Identification The figure was initially identified as a depiction of Ishtar (Inanna) but almost immediately other arguments were put forward: Lilitu The identification of the relief as depicting "Lilith" has become a staple of popular writing on that subject. Raphael Patai (1990) believes the relief to be the only existent depiction of a Sumerian female demon called lilitu and thus to define lilitu's iconography. Citations regarding this assertion lead back to Henri Frankfort (1936). Frankfort himself based his interpretation of the deity as the demon Lilith on the presence of wings, the birds' feet and the representation of owls. He cites the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh as a source that such "creatures are inhabitants of the land of the dead". In that text Enkidu's appearance is partially changed to that of a feathered being, and he is led to the nether world where creatures dwell that are "birdlike, wearing a feather garment". This passage reflects the Sumerians' belief in the nether world, and Frankfort cites evidence that Nergal, the ruler of the underworld, is depicted with bird's feet and wrapped in a feathered gown. However Frankfort did not himself make the identification of the figure with Lilith; rather he cites Emil Kraeling (1937) instead. Kraeling believes that the figure "is a superhuman being of a lower order"; he does not explain exactly why. He then goes on to state "Wings [...] regularly suggest a demon associated with the wind" and "owls may well indicate the nocturnal habits of this female demon". He excludes Lamashtu and Pazuzu as candidate demons and states: "Perhaps we have here a third representation of a demon. If so, it must be Lilîtu [...] the demon of an evil wind", named ki-sikil-lil-la (literally "wind-maiden" or "phantom-maiden", not "beautiful maiden", as Kraeling asserts). This ki-sikil-lil is an antagonist of Inanna (Ishtar) in a brief episode of the epic of Gilgamesh, which is cited by both Kraeling and Frankfort as further evidence for the identification as Lilith, though this appendix too is now disputed. In this episode, Inanna's holy Huluppu tree is invaded by malevolent spirits. Frankfort quotes a preliminary translation by Gadd (1933): "in the midst Lilith had built a house, the shrieking maid, the joyful, the bright queen of Heaven". However modern translations have instead: "In its trunk, the phantom maid built herself a dwelling, the maid who laughs with a joyful heart. But holy Inanna cried." The earlier translation implies an association of the demon Lilith with a shrieking owl and at the same time asserts her god-like nature; the modern translation supports neither of these attributes. In fact, Cyril J. Gadd (1933), the first translator, writes: "ardat lili (kisikil-lil) is never associated with owls in Babylonian mythology" and "the Jewish traditions concerning Lilith in this form seem to be late and of no great authority". This single line of evidence being taken as virtual proof of the identification of the Burney Relief with "Lilith" may have been motivated by later associations of "Lilith" in later Jewish sources. The association of Lilith with owls in later Jewish literature such as the Songs of the Sage (1st century BCE) and Babylonian Talmud (5th century CE) is derived from a reference to a liliyth among a list of wilderness birds and animals in Isaiah (7th century BCE), though some scholars, such as Blair (2009) consider the pre-Talmudic Isaiah reference to be non-supernatural, and this is reflected in some modern Bible translations: Isaiah 34:13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. 14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird (lilit or lilith) settles and finds for herself a resting place. 15 There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. (ESV) Today, the identification of the Burney Relief with Lilith is questioned, and the figure is now generally identified as the goddess of love and war. Ishtar 50 years later, Thorkild Jacobsen substantially revised this interpretation and identified the figure as Inanna (Akkadian: Ishtar) in an analysis that is primarily based on textual evidence. According to Jacobsen: The hypothesis that this tablet was created for worship makes it unlikely that a demon was depicted. Demons had no cult in Mesopotamian religious practice since demons "know no food, know no drink, eat no flour offering and drink no libation." Therefore, "no relationship of giving and taking could be established with them"; The horned crown is a symbol of divinity, and the fact that it is four-tiered suggests one of the principal gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon; Inanna was the only goddess that was associated with lions. For example, a hymn by Enheduanna specifically mentions "Inanna, seated on crossed (or harnessed) lions" The goddess is depicted standing on mountains. According to text sources, Inanna's home was on Kur-mùsh, the mountain crests. Iconographically, other gods were depicted on mountain scales as well, but there are examples in which Inanna is shown on a mountain pattern and another god is not, i.e. the pattern was indeed sometimes used to identify Inanna. The rod-and-ring symbol, her necklace and her wig are all attributes that are explicitly referred to in the myth of Inanna's descent into the nether world. Jacobsen quotes textual evidence that the Akkadian word eššebu (owl) corresponds to the Sumerian word ninna, and that the Sumerian Dnin-ninna (Divine lady ninna) corresponds to the Akkadian Ishtar. The Sumerian ninna can also be translated as the Akkadian kilili, which is also a name or epithet for Ishtar. Inanna/Ishtar as harlot or goddess of harlots was a well known theme in Mesopotamian mythology and in one text, Inanna is called kar-kid (harlot) and ab-ba-[šú]-šú, which in Akkadian would be rendered kilili. Thus there appears to be a cluster of metaphors linking prostitute and owl and the goddess Inanna/Ishtar; this could match the most enigmatic component of the relief to a well known aspect of Ishtar. Jacobsen concludes that this link would be sufficient to explain talons and wings, and adds that nudity could indicate the relief was originally the house-altar of a bordello. Ereshkigal In contrast, the British Museum does acknowledge the possibility that the relief depicts either Lilith or Ishtar, but prefers a third identification: Ishtar's antagonist and sister Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld. This interpretation is based on the fact that the wings are not outspread and that the background of the relief was originally painted black. If this were the correct identification, it would make the relief (and by implication the smaller plaques of nude, winged goddesses) the only known figurative representations of Ereshkigal. Edith Porada, the first to propose this identification, associates hanging wings with demons and then states: "If the suggested provenience of the Burney Relief at Nippur proves to be correct, the imposing demonic figure depicted on it may have to be identified with the female ruler of the dead or with some other major figure of the Old Babylonian pantheon which was occasionally associated with death." No further supporting evidence was given by Porada, but another analysis published in 2002 comes to the same conclusion. E. von der Osten-Sacken describes evidence for a weakly developed but nevertheless existing cult for Ereshkigal; she cites aspects of similarity between the goddesses Ishtar and Ereshkigal from textual sources – for example they are called "sisters" in the myth of "Inanna's descent into the nether world" – and she finally explains the unique doubled rod-and-ring symbol in the following way: "Ereshkigal would be shown here at the peak of her power, when she had taken the divine symbols from her sister and perhaps also her identifying lions". Authenticity The 1936 London Illustrated News feature had "no doubt of the authenticity" of the object which had "been subjected to exhaustive chemical examination" and showed traces of bitumen "dried out in a way which is only possible in the course of many centuries". But stylistic doubts were published only a few months later by D. Opitz who noted the "absolutely unique" nature of the owls with no comparables in all of Babylonian figurative artefacts. In a back-to-back article, E. Douglas Van Buren examined examples of Sumerian art, which had been excavated and provenanced and she presented examples: Ishtar with two lions, the Louvre plaque (AO 6501) of a nude, bird-footed goddess standing on two Ibexes and similar plaques, and even a small haematite owl, although the owl is an isolated piece and not in an iconographical context. A year later Frankfort (1937) acknowledged Van Buren's examples, added some of his own and concluded "that the relief is genuine". Opitz (1937) concurred with this opinion, but reasserted that the iconography is not consistent with other examples, especially regarding the rod-and-ring symbol. These symbols were the focus of a communication by Pauline Albenda (1970) who again questioned the relief's authenticity. Subsequently, the British Museum performed thermoluminescence dating which was consistent with the relief being fired in antiquity; but the method is imprecise when samples of the surrounding soil are not available for estimation of background radiation levels. A rebuttal to Albenda by Curtis and Collon (1996) published the scientific analysis; the British Museum was sufficiently convinced of the relief to purchase it in 2003. The discourse continued however: in her extensive reanalysis of stylistic features, Albenda once again called the relief "a pastiche of artistic features" and "continue[d] to be unconvinced of its antiquity". Her arguments were rebutted in a rejoinder by Collon (2007), noting in particular that the whole relief was created in one unit, i.e. there is no possibility that a modern figure or parts of one might have been added to an antique background; she also reviewed the iconographic links to provenanced pieces. In concluding Collon states: "[Edith Porada] believed that, with time, a forgery would look worse and worse, whereas a genuine object would grow better and better. [...] Over the years [the Queen of the Night] has indeed grown better and better, and more and more interesting. For me she is a real work of art of the Old Babylonian period." In 2008/9 the relief was included in exhibitions on Babylon at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, the Louvre in Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. See also Religions of the ancient Near East Mesopotamian mythology History of Mesopotamia Lion of Babylon Notes References Bibliography "British Museum collection database" Queen of the Night/Burney Relief website page, accessed Feb 7, 2016 External links The Queen of The Night (ME 2003-7-18,1 at the British Museum) Nude Winged Goddess (AO 6501 at the Louvre) "Ishtar Vase" from Larsa (AO 17000 at the Louvre) 3-D model at SketchFab 18th-century BC works 1933 archaeological discoveries Babylonian art and architecture Sculpture of the Ancient Near East Ancient Near and Middle East clay objects Middle Eastern sculptures in the British Museum Terracotta sculptures in the United Kingdom Nude sculptures in the United Kingdom Reliefs in the United Kingdom Owls in art Lilith Forgery controversies Inanna Isin-Larsa period Sculptures of birds in the United Kingdom Animal sculptures in London Sculptures of lions

2621261

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkeland%20current

Birkeland current

A Birkeland current (also known as field-aligned current) is a set of electrical currents that flow along geomagnetic field lines connecting the Earth's magnetosphere to the Earth's high latitude ionosphere. In the Earth's magnetosphere, the currents are driven by the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field and by bulk motions of plasma through the magnetosphere (convection indirectly driven by the interplanetary environment). The strength of the Birkeland currents changes with activity in the magnetosphere (e.g. during substorms). Small scale variations in the upward current sheets (downward flowing electrons) accelerate magnetospheric electrons which, when they reach the upper atmosphere, create the Auroras Borealis and Australis. In the high latitude ionosphere (or auroral zones), the Birkeland currents close through the region of the auroral electrojet, which flows perpendicular to the local magnetic field in the ionosphere. The Birkeland currents occur in two pairs of field-aligned current sheets. One pair extends from noon through the dusk sector to the midnight sector. The other pair extends from noon through the dawn sector to the midnight sector. The sheet on the high latitude side of the auroral zone is referred to as the Region 1 current sheet and the sheet on the low latitude side is referred to as the Region 2 current sheet. The currents were predicted in 1908 by Norwegian explorer and physicist Kristian Birkeland, who undertook expeditions north of the Arctic Circle to study the aurora. He rediscovered, using simple magnetic field measurement instruments, that when the aurora appeared the needles of magnetometers changed direction, confirming the findings of Anders Celsius and assistant Olof Hjorter more than a century before. This could only imply that currents were flowing in the atmosphere above. He theorized that somehow the Sun emitted a cathode ray, and corpuscles from what is now known as a solar wind entered the Earth's magnetic field and created currents, thereby creating the aurora. This view was scorned by other researchers, but in 1967 a satellite, launched into the auroral region, showed that the currents posited by Birkeland existed. In honour of him and his theory these currents are named Birkeland currents. A good description of the discoveries by Birkeland is given in the book by Jago. Professor Emeritus of the Alfvén Laboratory in Sweden, Carl-Gunne Fälthammar wrote: "A reason why Birkeland currents are particularly interesting is that, in the plasma forced to carry them, they cause a number of plasma physical processes to occur (waves, instabilities, fine structure formation). These in turn lead to consequences such as acceleration of charged particles, both positive and negative, and element separation (such as preferential ejection of oxygen ions). Both of these classes of phenomena should have a general astrophysical interest far beyond that of understanding the space environment of our own Earth." Characteristics Auroral Birkeland currents carry about 100,000 amperes during quiet times and more than 1 million amperes during geomagnetically disturbed times. Birkeland had estimated currents "at heights of several hundred kilometres, and strengths of up to a million amperes" in 1908. The ionospheric currents that connect the field-aligned currents give rise to Joule heating in the upper atmosphere. The heat is transferred from the ionospheric plasma to the gas of the upper atmosphere, which consequently rises and increases drag on low-altitude satellites. Birkeland currents can also be created in the laboratory with multi-terawatt pulsed power generators. The resulting cross-section pattern indicates a hollow beam of electrons in the form of a circle of vortices, a formation called the diocotron instability (similar to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability), that subsequently leads to filamentation. Such vortices can be seen in aurora as "auroral curls". Birkeland currents are also one of a class of plasma phenomena called a z-pinch, so named because the azimuthal magnetic fields produced by the current pinches the current into a filamentary cable. This can also twist, producing a helical pinch that spirals like a twisted or braided rope, and this most closely corresponds to a Birkeland current. Pairs of parallel Birkeland currents will also interact due to Ampère's force law: parallel Birkeland currents moving in the same direction will attract each other with an electromagnetic force inversely proportional to their distance apart whilst parallel Birkeland currents moving in opposite directions will repel each other. There is also a short-range circular component to the force between two Birkeland currents that is opposite to the longer-range parallel forces. Electrons moving along a Birkeland current may be accelerated by a plasma double layer. If the resulting electrons approach the speed of light, they may subsequently produce a Bennett pinch, which in a magnetic field causes the electrons to spiral and emit synchrotron radiation that may include radio, visible light, x-rays, and gamma rays. Spatial Distribution and Responses to Solar Wind Disturbances Auroral Birkeland currents are constrained along the geomagnetic field. Therefore, the current’s distribution in 3-dimensional space could be largely described using the 2-dimensional distribution of the current’s footprints at a given altitude in the ionosphere, e.g., 110 km. A classical 2-dimensional description was summarized from satellite observations by Iijima and Potemra. The footprints of Auroral Birkeland currents exhibit ring-shaped structures. As the currents are driven by solar winds, their spatial distribution and intensity are also dynamically moderated by solar wind disturbances. Under intensive solar wind disturbances, the rings can quickly shift by 10 degrees in latitude in about 10 minutes. The latitudinal shift takes on average 20 minutes to respond to a solar wind change during the daytime but 70–90 minutes at night. History After Kristian Birkeland first suggested in 1908 that "currents there [in the aurora] are imagined as having come into existence mainly as a secondary effect of the electric corpuscles from the sun drawn in out of space," the story appears to have become mired in politics. Birkeland's ideas were generally ignored in favor of an alternative theory from British mathematician Sydney Chapman. In 1939, the Swedish Engineer and plasma physicist Hannes Alfvén promoted Birkeland's ideas in a paper published on the generation of the current from the Solar Wind. In 1964 one of Alfvén's colleagues, Rolf Boström, also used field-aligned currents in a new model of auroral electrojets. Proof of Birkeland's theory of the aurora only came after a probe was sent into space. The crucial results were obtained from U.S. Navy satellite 1963-38C, launched in 1963 and carrying a magnetometer above the ionosphere. In 1966 Alfred Zmuda, J.H. Martin, and F.T.Heuring analysed the satellite magnetometer results and reported their findings of magnetic disturbance in the aurora. In 1967 Alex Dessler and graduate student David Cummings wrote an article arguing that Zmuda et al. had detected field-aligned currents. Alfvén subsequently acknowledged that Dessler had "discovered the currents that Birkeland had predicted" and they should be called Birkeland-Dessler currents. 1967 is therefore taken as the date when Birkeland's theory was finally acknowledged to have been vindicated. In 1969 Milo Schield, Alex Dessler and John Freeman used the name "Birkeland currents" for the first time. In 1970 Zmuda, Armstrong and Heuring wrote another paper agreeing that their observations were compatible with field-aligned currents as suggested by Cummings and Dessler and by Boström. See also Electromagnetism Magnetohydrodynamics Bursty bulk flows another name for similar phenomena (discontinuous sudden flows as in Aurorae) Geomagnetic jerk (Secular geomagnetic variation impulse) Telluric currents induced ground currents or ground portion of Birkeland current List of plasma (physics) articles Plasma cosmology claims that Birkeland currents happen at galactic level and are important in the formation of galaxies References Further reading Books Egeland, Alv, Burke, William J.,(2005), Kristian Birkeland, The First Space Scientist, Springer pp. 221, Peratt, Anthony (1992), Physics of the Plasma Universe, Birkeland Currents in Cosmic Plasma (p. 43-92), Springer-Verlag, and Ohtani, Shin-ichi; Ryoichi Fujii, Michael Hesse and Robert Lysak, editors (2000), Magnetospheric Currents Systems, Am. Geophys. Union, Washington, D.C., . Journals Alfvén, Hannes, On the Filamentary Structure of the Solar Corona (1963) The Solar Corona; Proceedings of IAU Symposium no. 16 held at Cloudcroft, New Mexico, U.S.A. 28–30 August 1961. Edited by John Wainwright Evans. International Astronomical Union. Symposium no. 16, Academic Press, New York, 1963., p. 35 External links Plasma fibres and Walls Electric Currents and Transmission Lines in Space Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab. Global Birkeland Currents Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (Project AMPERE) Ionosphere Plasma physics

2621405

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra%201B

Astra 1B

Astra 1B was the second of the Astra communications satellites launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites) to add extra capacity to the satellite television (direct broadcasting) services from 19.2° East, serving Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Satcom K3 SES bought the satellite in 1989 from failed direct broadcast satellite (DBS) company Crimson Satellite Associates while still under construction by GE Astro Space (as Satcom K3). Twelve years later, in 2001, SES acquired GE Americom, which originally was to operate the Satcom K3 satellite (and was itself the result of General Electric's purchase of RCA Corporation in 1986) and renamed it "SES Americom". It was merged with SES New Skies to form SES World Skies before the company was merged into its parent company, SES S.A. in 2011. Mission On 4 June 1991, Astra 1B suffered an attitude control failure, causing minor drift in north–south direction, meaning that it became difficult to obtain a steady lock on the satellite. This was most notable on analogue transmissions where the picture would move from clear to carrying sparklies and back again. The failure was likely caused by recent solar winds which impacted the electronics on both the primary and the backup momentum wheels. In September 1991, SES dealt with the failure by permanently deactivating the automatic control mode for the attitude subsystem. Along with Astra 1C, Astra 1B was to be replaced in 2002 with Astra 1K, which failed to launch successfully, and as a result it continued to serve a longer life than expected, only falling from use when digital television on Astra 2A removed the majority of United Kingdom and Ireland targeted channels from 19.2° East. From 2005, SES claimed that the satellite was in use for VSAT services, however no transponders were powered, and the satellite drifted to around 19.5° East. One transponder was reactivated in October 2005, but was carrying only colour bars. Decommissioning On 16 June 2006, SES confirmed that Astra 1B would be decommissioned and de-orbited within weeks after Astra 1KR, the satellite which would replace Astra 1B and 1C, reached the operational orbital position of 19.2° East. It was officially end-of-lifed on 14 July 2006; close to four years after it had ceased carrying signals, ending SES's claims that the craft was operational. Transponders Astra 1B transponders were used in the following ways during the operational life of the satellite: See also SES satellite operator Astra satellite family Astra 19.2°E Astra 1A Astra 1C Astra 1D Astra 1E Astra 1K Astra 1KR References External links Official SES website SES fleet information and map SES Astra website SES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites (archived) Astra satellites Derelict satellites orbiting Earth 1991 in Luxembourg Satellites of Luxembourg Spacecraft launched in 1991

2621724

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schjellerup%20%28crater%29

Schjellerup (crater)

Schjellerup is a lunar impact crater that is located in the far northern latitudes on the Moon's far side. This crater lies to the southwest of the larger Karpinskiy, and to the northeast of Gamow. To the northwest of Schjellerup is the crater Seares and to the south-southeast lies Avogadro. This is a reasonably well-preserved crater that has undergone only a marginal degree of wear from subsequent impacts. The most notable overlapping impact is a cup-shaped crater along the north-northwestern inner wall. The crater is otherwise free from impacts of note. The rim edge is well-defined and the inner walls have terrace features. The interior floor is relatively level with the exception of some low hills clustered around the midpoint. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Schjellerup. References Impact craters on the Moon

2621755

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scobee%20%28crater%29

Scobee (crater)

Scobee is a lunar impact crater that lies within the northeastern part of the huge walled plain Apollo, just outside the inner mountain ring of that feature. Scobee is located due south of the crater Barringer, itself along the edge of the outer rim. Attached to the southwestern outer rim of Scobee is the smaller Smith. This is a worn and eroded crater formation. The rim has an outward bulge along the north-northwestern side. The interior floor is relatively featureless, except for some pitting from tiny craterlets. References Impact craters on the Moon

2621774

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharonov%20%28lunar%20crater%29

Sharonov (lunar crater)

Sharonov is a lunar impact crater that lies on the Moon's far side. It is located to the southeast of the crater Anderson, and to the southwest of the ray-covered Virtanen. To the south-southeast of Sharonov lies Valier. This crater is roughly circular, with a slight outward bulge along the southern rim. The rim edge is well-defined and has not been significantly degraded as a result of impact erosion. Sharonov partially overlays the smaller crater Sharonov X along the northwestern rim, which in turn connects to the southeastern outer rim of Anderson. The inner walls of Sharonov display some terraces, especially along the northern half. The interior is not marked by any significant impacts, but there are some ridges near the midpoint. Sharonov is probably part of the Eratosthenian System, but may be part of the Upper Imbrian System. The crater lies within the Freundlich-Sharonov Basin. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Sharonov. References External links Digital Lunar Orbiter Photo Number II-034-H1 Impact craters on the Moon Imbrian Eratosthenian

2621785

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatalov%20%28crater%29

Shatalov (crater)

Shatalov is a relatively small lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is located to the west-southwest of the Mare Moscoviense, one of the few lunar maria on the far side. To the east-southeast of Shatalov along the edge of the Mare Moscoviense is the larger crater Belyaev. This is a bowl-shaped crater with a circular outer rim, a fairly typical appearance for a lunar crater of this size. Attached to the outer rim along the northeastern side is a small, cup-shaped impact crater. The interior of Shatalov is not marked by any impacts of significance. References Impact craters on the Moon

2621850

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipher%20%28lunar%20crater%29

Slipher (lunar crater)

Slipher is a lunar impact crater, that is located in the northern latitudes on the far side of the Moon. The crater overlies the southwestern outer rim of the much larger walled plain D'Alembert, and it occupies a portion of the interior floor of D'Alembert. To the south-southeast is the crater Langevin. Because it overlies D'Alembert, Slipher is a younger formation and it has undergone much less erosion. The rim is circular but has a somewhat irregular edge. The rim is jumbled and irregular where it intersects D'Alembert. Overlapping the western rim and inner walls of Slipher is the smaller Slipher S, a fresh feature with a sharp-edged outer rim. The interior floor of Slipher is somewhat uneven except in the northeast, and there is a cluster of low central ridges near the midpoint. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Slipher. See also 1766 Slipher, main-belt asteroid References Impact craters on the Moon

2621883

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoluchowski%20%28crater%29

Smoluchowski (crater)

Smoluchowski is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies in the part of the lunar surface that is sometimes brought into view of the Earth during periods of favorable libration and illumination from sunlight, but at such times little detail can be seen as the crater is observed from the edge. Smoluchowski lies across the northern rim of the larger walled plain Poczobutt. Nearly attached to the north-northeastern outer rim of Smoluchowski is the smaller crater Paneth. This is a worn and eroded crater formation that has still managed to retain much of its original shape. The remains of a small crater lie across the southern floor and inner wall of Smoluchowski, protruding outwards slightly into Poczobutt. A smaller crater lies along the inner wall of the southwestern rim, and a small craterlet lies across the north-northwestern rim edge. Along the surface connecting Smoluchowski with Paneth is an elongated depression in the surface that overlies the rim edge and inner wall of Smoluchowski. There is also a narrow groove in the surface near that site running from east to west. Apart from the small crater rim in the southern floor, the interior surface of Smoluchowski is relatively level and featureless. A few small and tiny craterlets mark the floor, the most notable being a small craterlet along the eastern edge. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Smoluchowski. Smoluchowski H, to the southeast of Smoluchowski, is a relatively fresh crater, possibly of Eratosthenian age. References Impact craters on the Moon

2621901

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer%20Jones%20%28crater%29

Spencer Jones (crater)

Spencer Jones is a lunar impact crater on the Moon's far side. It is a roughly circular feature with a rim edge that is only moderately eroded. The inner wall of Spencer Jones is wider than elsewhere. The interior floor is relatively level with a low ridge offset to the south of the midpoint. Attached to the southwestern outer rim is the small satellite crater Spencer Jones Q. It is named after British astronomer Harold Spencer Jones. Just over 20 km from Spencer Jones is the slightly smaller crater Papaleksi to the south-southwest. To the northeast lies Anderson. The crater lies at the southwest margin of the Freundlich-Sharonov Basin. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Spencer Jones. References Impact craters on the Moon

2621951

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns%20%28crater%29

Stearns (crater)

Stearns is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. Unlike many lunar craters, this is a relatively fresh and well-defined impact feature with little appearance of erosion. The rim edge is sharp and roughly circular, with some unevenness. The inner walls are simple slopes down to piles of talus along the base. At the midpoint of the somewhat uneven interior floor is a central peak. This crater is located about midway between Appleton to the northwest and Nušl to the southeast. Just over one crater diameter to the south-southwest of Stearns is the smaller crater Steno. Stearns is a crater of Eratosthenian age. See also Asteroid 2035 Stearns References Impact craters on the Moon

2621975

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stein%20%28lunar%20crater%29

Stein (lunar crater)

Stein is an elongated impact crater formation that lies just to the east of the larger crater Tiselius, on the far side of the Moon. Farther to the east-southeast of Stein lies Krasovskiy. This crater has an asymmetrical shape with an outward bulge along the north-northeastern rim. The resulting crater is roughly egg-shaped, with a wide ledge along the north-northwestern floor. The remaining crater is a bowl-shaped feature with simple slopes along the inner walls and a nearly featureless interior floor. The outer rim has not been significantly eroded, and is marked only by a tiny craterlet along the southern edge. There are small craterlets along the base of the inner wall along the north-northwestern side. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Stein. References Impact craters on the Moon

2622075

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steno%20%28lunar%20crater%29

Steno (lunar crater)

Steno is a relatively small lunar impact crater that is located in the northern hemisphere on the Moon's far side. It lies to the south-southwest of the slightly larger crater Stearns, a much younger and less worn formation. Farther to the northwest of Steno is Appleton, and to the east is Nušl. The crater was named after the 17th century Danish astronomer Nicolas Steno. This is a worn crater formation that has a circular outer rim that remains relatively well-defined. The rim edge is marked only by a few tiny craterlets. The interior floor and inner walls are nearly featureless, except for a few faint groove marks and some tiny craterlets. It is otherwise an undistinguished formation. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Steno. References Impact craters on the Moon

2622111

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sternfeld%20%28crater%29

Sternfeld (crater)

Sternfeld is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the south-southwest of the crater Paschen, and to the east-southeast of the smaller Lodygin. This is a heavily eroded crater formation with an outer rim that has been considerably worn by subsequent impacts. As a result, the outer rim is irregular and poorly defined. Intruding slightly into the northwestern outer rim is the satellite crater Lodygin F. The northern part of the rim and interior floor are marked by a number of smaller impacts. There is a small crater in the southern part of the interior floor. It is named after Ary A. Sternfeld, Soviet spaceflight scientist. The name was adopted by IAU in 1991. References Impact craters on the Moon

2622175

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Str%C3%B6mgren%20%28crater%29

Strömgren (crater)

Strömgren is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It lies less than one crater diameter to the north-northeast of Von der Pahlen. Farther to the east is Gerasimovich, and to the north-northeast is Belopol'skiy. This is a worn and eroded crater formation, with several small craters along the rim edge. The outer rim is not quite circular, with outward bulges to the southeast, southwest, and north-northeast. A small crater is attached to the exterior along the east, and another overlies the inner wall to the northwest. Another small crater lies along the southern rim, and a cluster of small craters lies just outside the southern rim. The interior floor of Strömgren is somewhat uneven, with a low, curved ridge running northward from the southern edge. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Strömgren. References Impact craters on the Moon

2622206

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsinger%20%28crater%29

Tsinger (crater)

Tsinger is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern latitudes of the Moon's far side. This crater has a perimeter that is nearly circular, except for an outward bulge to the southwest. Attached to the northern outer rim is the relatively fresh satellite crater Tsinger Y, which, together with Tsinger, partly overlaps the much older crater Tsinger W. The features of Tsinger have escaped significant erosion from subsequent impacts, and the rim edge remains sharply defined. The interior floor is about half the diameter of the crater, and there is a small central peak at the midpoint. The inner walls have some ledge formation along the south, but are otherwise relatively featureless. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Tsinger. References Impact craters on the Moon

2622220

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsu%20Chung-Chi%20%28crater%29

Tsu Chung-Chi (crater)

Zu Chong-Zhi is also the name of asteroid 1964 VO1; see also 1888 Zu Chong-Zhi. Tsu Chung-Chi is a relatively small lunar impact crater on the Moon's far side. It lies to the west-southwest of the crater Leonov, and to the northeast of the large walled plain Mendeleev. To the north of Tsu Chung-Chi is the Mare Moscoviense, one of the few maria on the Moon's far side. This is a bowl-shaped crater formation that is slightly elongated to the northwest. It has undergone some erosion, with a small, cup-shaped crater intruding slightly into the southern rim and several tiny craterlets within the interior. The inner walls are simple slopes down to the interior floor. This crater is otherwise undistinguished. This feature - one of the about 500 features identified on the photographs of the far side of the Moon made by Luna 3 in 1959 - was named after the Chinese mathematician and astronomer Zu Chongzhi. According to the memoirs of Boris Chertok, who was closely involved with the Luna 3 mission, some fairly complicated politics was involved in picking the name: Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Tsu Chung-Chi. References Zu Chongzhi Impact craters on the Moon

2622237

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndall%20%28lunar%20crater%29

Tyndall (lunar crater)

Tyndall is a relatively small lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon, behind the southeastern limb. It is located very near the western outer rim of the larger crater Pizzetti, and the two are separated only by a few kilometers. To the southwest of Tyndall is the crater Bjerknes, and to the south lies Clark. This is a roughly circular, bowl-shaped crater with a slight outward bulge along the eastern face. The rim edge is not significantly eroded and remains well-defined. The inner wall has some patches of slightly higher albedo along the south and southwest faces. The remainder of the interior is relatively featureless, with only a few tiny craterlets to mark the surface. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Tyndall. References Impact craters on the Moon

2622611

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat%20of%20arms%20of%20Slovakia

Coat of arms of Slovakia

The coat of arms of the Slovak Republic consists of a red (gules) shield, in early Gothic style, charged with a silver (argent) double cross standing on the middle peak of a dark blue mountain consisting of three peaks. Extremities of the cross are amplified, and its ends are concaved. The double cross is a symbol of its Christian faith and the hills represent three symbolic mountain ranges: Tatra, Fatra (made up of the Veľká Fatra and Malá Fatra ranges), and Matra (in Hungary). Modern design history In 1990, the Slovak Interior Ministry tasked Ladislav Čisárik (a painter and heraldic artist) and Ladislav Vrtel (an expert in heraldry) with creating a new coat of arms and national flag in the aftermath of the Velvet Revolution. Čisárik and Vrtel based their designs for a modern coat of arms and flag on an existing 14th century Hungarian coat of arms, it was based on the seal of King Louis I of Hungary. However, Čisárik and Vrtel chose to enlarge the double cross three times to emphasize it as a national symbol. In addition to the national coat of arms and the national flag, the duo also designed a new presidential standard, which incorporates the double cross as well. Double cross One of the modern interpretations of the double cross is that it represents Slovakia as an heir and guardian of Christian tradition, brought to the region by St. Cyril and St. Methodius, two missionaries from the Byzantine Empire. The two-barred cross in the Slovak coat of arms originated in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire in the 9th century. Unlike the Christian cross, the symbolism and meaning of the double cross is not well understood. One interpretation is that the first horizontal line symbolized the secular power and the other horizontal line the ecclesiastic power of Byzantine emperors. Another that the first cross represents the death and the second cross the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Byzantine Empire of the 9th century, the double cross was a political symbol used by Byzantine clerks and missionaries. The double cross arrived in the territory of current-day Slovakia probably no later than during the 9th century mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia. Though used frequently in Great Moravia, it was not a state symbol at that time, because there were no state symbols in the modern sense in Europe at that time yet. By means of Zwentibold (the ruler of Lorraine, son of the German emperor Arnulf of Carinthia and godchild of the Great Moravian king Svatopluk I), this symbol got to Lorraine and is called the cross of Lorraine there. The double cross symbol appeared again in rudimentary features on the first coins that Stephen I, the first king of the Kingdom of Hungary (part of which now forms the territory of present-day Slovakia), had minted at an unknown place. Before he became king in 1000, he was the Grand Prince of the Principality of Hungary and was living there with his Bavarian wife Gisella. The frequent opinion that the double cross was a cross that the Pope granted to Stephen I. around 1000 is still disputed. The opinion arose only in the 15th century based on a legend from the 12th century, which in addition only says that Stephen received an apostolic cross (i.e. a normal, not a double cross). The direct predecessor of the current coat of arms of Slovakia can be found in the coat of arms used by Béla, the prince of the Hungarian Duchy (1046–1060) and later King of Hungary. Béla was a member of the house of Árpáds and was named after the Prague bishop Adalbert, who had baptized King Stephen, the cousin of Béla's father, some decades earlier. Béla conducted his own internal and international policy in his Nitrian frontier principality. The Byzantine emperor, involved in a quarrel with the Hungarian king, even sent Béla a prince's crown to Nitra. Furthermore, Béla had own coins minted in 1050 in Nitra, the capital of his principality – coins which deliberately differed from those of the Hungarian king and which bore the double cross symbol. The appearance of the double cross in coins before Béla III is highly disputed. According to recent view It is a simple misinterpretation of two normal crosses. It was only 100 years later, around 1189, that the double cross is known to have been used again – it was used during a crusade of the Hungarian king Béla III as his royal symbol. The three hills seen in the modern Slovak and Hungarian coats of arms were still not present in the standard. This time, the symbol was already used as a coat of arms, because coats of arms became fashionable in Europe at that time. He chose the symbol, because it was a Christian symbol and because it was the oldest symbol used in his kingdom. Béla's successors Emeric and Andrew II, however, did not use anymore the double cross, which was associated with the Nitrian frontier principality situated in the northern part of the kingdom and dissolved in 1107, as their symbol, but they used a red-and-white-stripes symbol associated with the House of Árpáds (see the coat of arms of Hungary for a picture). King Béla IV used the patriarchal cross again – the reasons for this decision are unknown. Some historians suggest that he simply copied Béla III, his ideal, though this is only an assumption. At the time of his rule, the patriarchal cross also became the symbol of the Pozsony (Prešporok, Bratislava or Pressburg) county, although in a slightly modified form. The last Árpád king, Andrew III (1290–1301), used only the patriarchal cross. During the throne struggles after 1301, Ladislaus used the double cross as his symbol (see chapter "Three hills" for details), while Charles Robert of Anjou (1307–1342) used a bipartite coat of arms consisting of the Angevin symbol and the above-mentioned stripes symbol of King Stephen V, whose daughter Maria Charles Robert had married. After the Mongol invasion in 1241–1242 many of the newly founded towns in the Kingdom of Hungary received the right to use the royal double cross as their coat of arms. The first, biggest and most towns of the kingdom arose in present-day Slovakia - the part of the kingdom that was characterized by German settlers, extensive mining activities and thus the most advanced economy at that time. It was probably partly due to this use in municipal coats of arm that the double cross became a clear symbol of the northern part of the kingdom again from the 15th century onwards and Upper Hungary from the 18th century. From the late 14th century onwards (according to other sources from the 13th century), the double cross symbol was used both as a symbol for northern parts of the Kingdom ("partes Danubii septentrionales, partes regni superiores", i.e. approximately the territory of present-day Slovakia and northeastern Hungary) and as a symbol of kings of the Kingdom of Hungary. For example, the state symbol of Louis the Great (1342–1382) was a quartered coat of arms containing among other symbols the symbol of Charles Robert of Anjou (containing in turn the stripes symbol) as the symbol for the southern parts of the kingdom ("partes regni inferiores") and the symbol for northern parts of the Kingdom (the double cross symbol). A good example of the double meaning of the double cross symbol is the great seal of King Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387–1437): This seal contains the double cross symbol in the middle, surrounded by a circle of smaller coats of arms of territories under his rule. These smaller coats of arms include the double cross symbol (for a second time!) as the symbol of what is today Slovakia and the stripes symbol as the symbol for Pannonia. Since 1526, when the Habsburgs became kings of the Kingdom of Hungary, the current "combined" coat of arms of Hungary including the double cross symbol and the stripes symbol was used as the symbol of the Kingdom of Hungary (except that the small crown below the double cross was added only in the 17th century). Three hills The triple peak represents the three mountain ranges Tatra, Matra and Fatra which symbolized the northern mountainous part of the Kingdom of Hungary. (The Tatra and the Fatra ranges are in present day Slovakia.) This interpretation is probably the oldest and most frequent one – it can be traced back to the 16th century, but stems probably from the 15th century. According to István Werbőczy's "Tripartitum" from 16th century, the heaps represent the mountains in this order. The three mountains below the double cross were used by King Ladislaus (1301–1305), who was crowned king of Hungary, but was a Czech from the house of the Přemyslids. Symbol of the Slovaks Origins and colours Not later than in the 16th century, the Slovaks started viewing the double cross also as a symbol of their nation. This fact manifested itself during the Revolution of 1848/1849, Slovaks were fighting along with the Austrians against the Hungarians (though many Slovaks chose to defend the Hungarian case). A "Slovak National Council" was established for this purpose in August 1848 in Vienna. The present-day coat of arms was used on the seal of this Slovak National Council for the first time officially as the national symbol of the Slovaks (instead of being the official symbol of Upper Hungary only). From that time onwards, the symbol has been used very frequently. As for the colors, the colors are supposed to be the three "Slavic" colors red-white-blue (Slavic tricolor). Since the Upper Hungary coat of arms was already part of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Hungary at that time, only the color of the three mountains had to be changed (it happened on the Slovak flag for the first time) from green to "blue" to receive the red-white-blue combination. As for the origin of the red color (in the Slovak and in the Hungarian coat of arms), the coat of arms has often had the red color as an almost inseparable attendant of the double cross in the coats of many Hungarian and Slovak towns since the Middle Ages. Also, the coat of arms of Béla III. is thought to have had red background. In general, red background color was used frequently for coats of arms in the late 12th and early 13th century in central Europe. One of the modern interpretations of the color is that it represents the bloody lining and symbolizes the Slovak 'martyrdom' during the time of Magyarisation (19th century). The color of the three mountains was originally green but in 1848 the Slovak National Council used it as blue in accordance with the Slavic tricolor. 20th century In 1918, Czechoslovak troops began occupying northern Hungary in accordance with the territorial promises that the Triple Entente made to Czechoslovak politicians during World War I. However, Slovakia (Upper Hungary) was occupied by Hungarian troops from the Hungarian Soviet Republic, who set up the Slovak Soviet Republic as a puppet regime. Its emblem was the red star, a symbol of communism. Following a brief war between Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Romania, Slovakia was incorporated into Czechoslovakia. In 1920 the Slovak coat of arms became part of the state coat of arms of Czechoslovakia. Between 1939 and 1945, it was the state symbol of the First Slovak Republic. In 1945, it became part of Czechoslovakia's coat of arms again. From 1960 to 1990 the symbol was officially forbidden, because it was interpreted by the Communists as the symbol of the fascist Slovak State. The old coat of arms was replaced in the Czechoslovak coat of arms by an artificial symbol consisting of Mt. Kriváň and three flames. The three flames were supposed to symbolize the Slovak National Uprising of 1944. On 1 March 1990, after the Velvet Revolution, the old coat of arms became the official symbol of the "Slovak Republic", which was still part of Czechoslovakia. Based on the Constitution of the Slovak Republic of September 3, 1992, the same coat of arms became the symbol of independent Slovakia, which arose on January 1, 1993. A law of February 18, 1993, precised the details of the coat of arms: for example, though not explicitly defined in the coat's blazon in the past, during the World War II era the cross mostly used to be depicted with convex endings of the stake and the bars; therefore the new description clearly reads to depict them as concave. The coat of arms is used by the Slovak Air Force as its roundel. Since 1992 the coat of arms is also placed on the Slovak flag. Part of other symbols In the 13th century King Béla III declared the double cross (ex post) a symbol of Saint Ladislaus (King Ladislaus I of Hungary). In 1386, it became part of the coat of arms of the house of Jagiello, because Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila took over the alleged coat of arms of Saint Ladislaus when being baptized as Ladislaus (Wladyslaw). By means of the Jagiellons, the symbol also got into the coat of arms of Lithuania. The President of Slovakia uses a banner of these arms. Historical coat of arms See also Coat of arms of Hungary Flag of Slovakia Slovak euro coins Armorial of sovereign states References External links Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Slovakia Slovakia National symbols of Slovakia Slovakia Slovakia

2623003

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humid%20Chaco

Humid Chaco

The Humid Chaco (Spanish: Chaco Húmedo or Chaco Oriental) is tropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in South America. It lies in the basin of the Paraná River, covering portions of central Paraguay and northern Argentina, and with a small portion of southwestern Brazil and northwestern Uruguay. The natural vegetation is a mosaic of grasslands, palm savanna, and forest. Geography The Humid Chaco lies in the lowlands of the Paraná river and its tributaries, including the Paraguay River. It is bounded on the west by the Dry Chaco, a semi-arid region of dry forests and savannas. The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests lie to the east, and the Cerrado grasslands to the northeast. It borders on some large flooded grasslands and savannas, including the Paraná flooded savanna along the lower Paraná and Paraguay rivers, the Pantanal to the north, and the Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna to the southeast between the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. The topography is generally flat or gently rising, and the soils are mostly fine alluvium deposited by the area's rivers. Asuncion, Paraguay's capital, lies in the ecoregion. Climate The climate is tropical, becoming subtropical towards the south. Average annual rainfall generally decreases towards the west, and ranges from 1,300 mm in the wetter eastern portions to 750 mm in the west near the transition to the Dry Chaco. Rainfall is highest in the summer months (January to April) and lowest in the winter months (June to August). Flora The flora is a mosaic of grassland, savanna, forests, and bogs. Grasslands and savannas are generally found on higher ground, and forests along streams and in river floodplains. Bogs form seasonally or year-round over impermeable soil layers. Grasslands are characterized by tall, coarse grass. Palm savannas are common, including the palm Copernicia alba. The most common trees in the forests are quebracho colorado (Schinopsis balansae) and quebracho blanco (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco), together with guayacán (Caesalpinia paraguariensis), espina corona (Gleditsia amorphoides), urunday (Myracrodruon balansae), viraró (Ruprechtia laxiflora), palo piedra (Diplokeleba floribunda), guayaibí (Patagonula americana), zapallo caspini (Pisonia zapallo), lapacho negro (Tabebuia ipe), palo borracho del flor rosada (Chorisia speciosa), and itin (Prosopis kuntzei). Fauna Native mammals include puma (Puma concolor), jaguar (Panthera onca), maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), red brocket (Mazama americana), gray brocket (Mazama gouazoubira), marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus), White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), giant anteater (Mymercophaga tridactyla), capybara (Hydrochaerys hydrochaeris), black howler monkey (Alouatta caraya), and Azara’s night monkey (Aotus azarae). Birds species include the greater rhea or ñandú (Rhea americana), undulated tinamou (Crypturellus undulatus), savanna hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis), and pale-crested woodpecker (Celeus lugubris). Protected areas A 2017 assessment found that 35,949 km², or 12%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include Chaco National Park, Río Pilcomayo National Park, and Mburucuyá National Park in Argentina, and Ypoá National Park in Paraguay. The Iberá Wetlands, located in the southeast of the ecoregion adjacent to the Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna, are protected by Argentina's Iberá Provincial Reserve and Iberá National Park. References External links La Plata basin Ecoregions of South America Ecoregions of Argentina Ecoregions of Brazil Ecoregions of Paraguay Neotropical ecoregions Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

2623027

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serengeti%20volcanic%20grasslands

Serengeti volcanic grasslands

The Serengeti volcanic grasslands is a tropical grassland ecoregion of Tanzania. The Serengeti volcanic grasslands are distinctive grasslands growing on deposits of volcanic ash in northern Tanzania. It includes the eastern portion of Serengeti National Park and areas south and east of the Ngorongoro Highlands. Topography The Serengeti volcanic grasslands are an edaphic plant community that grows on soils derived from volcanic ash. The eruption of the now-extinct Kerimasi volcano 150,000 years ago deposited huge amounts of fine whitish-grey ash. More recent eruptions of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano deepened the ash deposits. These ash deposits hardened with time, creating layers of calcareous tuff and calcitic hard-pan soil. The flat or slightly undulating plains are interrupted here and there by rocky kopjes, outcrops of the underlying Precambrian rocks. The terrain lies at a mean altitude of , rising to a maximum of . Climate The climate of the ecoregion is Oceanic climate, subtropical highland variety (Köppen climate classification (Cwb)). This climate has cool summers and cool, but not cold, winters. It is usually associated with coastal areas in mid-latitudes, but is also experienced at higher altitudes inland. Temperatures and precipitation are relatively even throughout the year, with no month averaging below , and no month averaging above . Flora and fauna The terrain is 52% herbaceous vegetation including grasses, 26% low shrubs, 11% cultivated agricultural land, and the remainder is open woodland and wetlands. Characteristic grass species include Andropogon greenwayi, Chloris gayana (Rhodes grass), Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass), Digitaria macroblephara, Eragrostis tenuifolia (Elastic grass), Eustachys paspaloides (Fan grass), Microchloa kunthii (Kunth's smallgrass), Panicum coloratum (Coloured Guinea grass), Pennisetum mezianum, Pennisetum stramineum, Sporobolus ioclados (Pan dropseed), and Themeda triandra (Red grass). Protected areas Approximately 86% of the ecoregion is under some form of protected area status, including: Serengeti National Park Lake Manyara National Park Ngorongoro Conservation Area References Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Tanzania Grasslands of Tanzania Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

2623043

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint%20Helena%20scrub%20and%20woodlands

Saint Helena scrub and woodlands

The Saint Helena scrub and woodlands ecoregion covers the volcanic island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. The island's remote location gave rise to many endemic species. First discovered and settled in the 1500s, the island has been degraded by human activities. Most of its native habitat has been destroyed, and many of its unique plants and animals are extinct or endangered. Geography Saint Helena is in the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,950 km west of the Angola on the African mainland. The island is approximately 122 km2 in area. It is the eroded summit of a composite volcano, first formed by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over 14 million years ago. Volcanic activity ceased about 6 million years ago. Millions of years of volcanic deposition and erosion have created coastal cliffs and dramatic landscape features. The island's year-round streams have eroded steep-sided valleys. Diana's Peak is the highest point on the island at 823 meters elevation. The island's capital and principal port is Jamestown. The island, together with Ascension Island to the northeast and Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island to the south, makes up the British Overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Climate The climate of the island is dry and subtropical. Average monthly temperatures range from 15 to 32 °C. Mean annual rainfall is 152 mm, and higher in the island's windward hills. Flora The island has about 45 species of native vascular plants. The genera Trochetiopsis, Nesohedyotis, Mellissia, Commidendrum, Melanodendron, Lachanodes, Pladaroxylon, and Petrobium are endemic. The middle elevations of the island were once covered with dry woodlands and forests. Principal trees included gumwood (Commidendrum robustum), bastard gumwood (Commidendrum rotundifolium), dwarf ebony (Trochetiopsis ebenus), and false gumwood (Commidendrum spurium). The Saint Helena olive (Nesiota elliptica) became extinct in the wild in 1994, and the last living specimen died in 2003. The native tree fern Dicksonia arborescens grows up to 3 metres high. The island is notable for native species in the composite family (Asteraceae). The composites are mostly herbaceous, but on St. Helena evolved woody into woody trees and shrubs. The native composite trees and shrubs include species of Pladaroxylon, Lachanodes, Commidendrum, Melanodendron, and Petrobium. Native plants are now limited to a few sheltered and inaccessible locations, including a small gumwood stand at Peak Dale. Prosperous Bay Plain is a 150-hectare semi-desert area which is home to the native shrub Suaeda fruticosa, the endemic annual plant Hydrodea cryptantha, most of the remaining habitat of the endemic barn fern (Asplenium haughtonii), along with many endemic invertebrates, some of which are known only from this location. A portion of the plain was destroyed to build Saint Helena Airport. The present-day vegetation of the island is mostly of naturalized non-native plants. Approximately 260 species of non-native plants are now naturalized on the island. Over half the island is covered by wasteland of bare soil and sparse scrub of mostly exotic plants. Other areas are covered with pasture and abandoned flax plantations. Regenerating shrubland and woodland includes many exotic species, with prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), common lantana (Lantana camara), Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolia), Chrysanthemoides monilifera, Bermuda cedar (Juniperus bermudiana), green-aloe (Furcraea gigantea), maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), cape cheesewood (Pittosporum viridiflorum), iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis), yellow trumpetbush (Tecoma stans), and wattle (Acacia longifolia) prominent. The Millennium Forest, on the east side of the island, is a 250-hectare reserve where thousands of native trees have been replanted. Fauna The Saint Helena plover or wirebird (Charadrius sanctaehelenae) is the island's sole surviving endemic bird species. It is found on interior pasturelands and the Prosperous Bay Plain's shrublands. Fossil and subfossil remains of several extinct land birds have been found on the island – the Saint Helena rail (Aphanocrex podarces), Saint Helena crake (Zapornia astrictocarpus), Saint Helena dove (Dysmoropelia dekarchikos), Saint Helena cuckoo (Nannococcyx psix), and Saint Helena hoopoe (Upupa antaios). Most are thought to have been present when the first human settlers arrived there. The islands have no known native mammals, amphibians, or terrestrial reptiles. There are many native and endemic invertebrates. 157 endemic beetles have been recorded, including the endangered ground beetle Aplothorax burchelli. The giant Saint Helena earwig (Labidura herculeana) is likely extinct. History The island was discovered by Portuguese navigator João da Nova in May 1502, close to the feast day for St. Helena. Goats were introduced soon afterwards to provide food for passing ships. In 1588 the English seacaptain Thomas Cavendish visited the island, and discovered large herds of goats. It soon became a port of call for vessels traveling between Europe and ports on the Indian Ocean. In 1659 the East India Company claimed control of the island and established a fort and settlement near the site of present-day Jamestown. The island's first inhabitants were English traders and settlers, along with slaves from South and Southeast Asia and Madagascar. In 1673 nearly half of the island's inhabitants were slaves. The island's slaves were emancipated between 1826 and 1836. In 1659 the woodlands were fragmented by overgrazing, although large wooded areas still remained, including the Great Wood on the northeastern corner of the island. Portions of the island were cleared for agriculture, including orchards and fields, and native woodlands harvested for timber and firewood. Pigs, sheep, and cattle were also introduced to the island. In 1709 Governor Roberts reported to the East India Company's Court of Directors that the island's native timber, notably the endemic Saint Helena ebony (Trochetiopsis ebenus) was rapidly disappearing, and recommended limiting the grazing of goats on the island. The Directors refused to order the goats' removal. Between 1723 and 1727 a stone wall was constructed around a remnant of the Great Wood to protect it from grazing cattle, goats, and timber harvesting. The Great Wood Wall enclosed 6 km2, but proved ineffective in protecting the wood. The wood was mostly cleared of trees, and maintenance of the wall was abandoned. Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena from 1815 to 1821. Other prisoners exiled there included Zulu warriors after the Anglo-Zulu War in the 1870s, and Boer prisoners during the Boer Wars at the end of the 19th century. By the 19th century the native woodlands had mostly disappeared. Plantations of New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) were established after 1900 to produce fiber for string and rope. Demand for flax fiber collapsed in the 1960s, and most of the flax plantations were abandoned. Conservation and threats Most of the wild habitat on the island has been lost to overgrazing, conversion to pasture and agriculture, and introduced species. Some interior areas are still covered in New Zealand flax. A portion of the Prosperous Bay Plain's native shrublands were displaced by construction of Saint Helena Airport between 2012 and 2016. Protected areas Peaks National Park was created in 1996, and protects 81 hectares on the central ridge of the island, including the island's three highest peaks, Diana's Peak, Cuckold Point, and Mount Actaeon. The park protects forests of black cabbage tree (Melanodendron integrifolium) and other native plants. The park has an endemic plant nursery that propagates island native plants. In 2000 the Millennium Forest project was initiated. It involves reforesting a denuded area on the eastern side of the island with native trees, to restore a portion of the Great Wood which once covered the middle of the island. About 250 hectares have been planted with thousands of gumwood and other native trees. See also Wildlife of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha External links References Afrotropical ecoregions Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Geography of Saint Helena Biota of Saint Helena

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael%20Maestlin

Michael Maestlin

Michael Maestlin (also Mästlin, Möstlin, or Moestlin) (30 September 1550 – 26 October 1631) was a German astronomer and mathematician, known for being the mentor of Johannes Kepler. He was a student of Philipp Apian and was known as the teacher who most influenced Kepler. Maestlin was considered to be one of the most significant astronomers between the time of Copernicus and Kepler. Early life and family Maestlin was born on September 30, 1550, in Göppingen, a small town in Southern Germany, about 50 kilometers east of Tübingen. The son of Jakob Maestlin and Dorothea Simon, Michael Maestlin was born into a Protestant family. Maestlin had an older sister named Elisabeth and a younger brother named Matthäus. The original family name of the Maestlin was Leckher or Legecker and they lived in the village of Boll, just a few kilometers south of Göppingen (Decker 103). In his autobiography, Maestlin recounts how the family name of Legecker became Mästlin. He claims that one of his ancestors was given this as a nickname when an old blind woman touched him and exclaimed "Wie bist du doch so mast und feist! Du bist ein rechter Mästlin!" This roughly translates to "How are you so large and plump? You rightly are a fatso!" Maestlin married Margarete Grüniger on 9 April 1577. There is little information on his children from this marriage. However, it is known that he had at least three sons, Ludwig, Michael and Johann Georg, and at least three daughters, Margareta, Dorothea Ursula and Anna Maria. In 1588, Margarete died at the age of 37, potentially due to complications from child birth. This untimely death left several children under Maestlin's care and could have influenced his decision to remarry the following year. In 1589, Maestlin married Margarete Burkhardt. Maestlin and Burkhardt had eight children together. In a 1589 letter to Johannes Kepler, Maestlin recounts how the death of his month-old son, August, deeply troubled him. Education In 1565, when Michael was around 15 years old, he was sent to the nearby Klosterschule in Königbronn. In 1567, Michael transferred to a similar school in Herrenalb. Upon finishing his education at Herrenalb, Maestlin enrolled in university, matriculating on 3 December 1568 at the University of Tübingen. When Maestlin entered the university in 1569 he did so as one of the beneficiaries of a scholarship from the duke of Württemberg. He studied theology at the Tübinger Stift, which was founded in 1536 by Duke Ulrich von Württemberg, and was regarded as an elite institution of education. He obtained his Baccalaureate in 1569 and his master's degree in 1571. After receiving his master's degree Maestlin remained at the university as a student in theology and as a tutor in the theological seminary church located in Württemberg. In letters sent to Maestlin regarding his qualifications, it was revealed that he graduated summa cum laude and ranked third in his graduating class of twenty. During the time he spent on earning his master's degree, Maestlin studied under Philipp Apian. It is not certain, but it is believed that Apian taught courses on Frisius's Arithmetic, Euclid's Elements, Proclus's Sphera, Peurbach's Theoricae Novae Planetarus, and the proper use of geodetic instruments. Apian's teachings evidently influenced Maestlin's paper on sundials as the contents of this essay involve elements of structured celestial globes and maps. In 1584, Maestlin was named Professor of Mathematics at Tübingen. He was elected Dean of the Arts Faculty for the following terms: 1588-89, 1594–95, 1600–01, 1607–09, 1610–11, 1615, 1623, and 1629. Maestlin taught trigonometry and astronomy. It was very likely that he used his book Epitome Astronomiae in his lectures. In 1576 Maestlin had been sent to be a deacon at the Lutheran church in Backnang, a town about 30 kilometers Northwest of Göppingen. While there, he observed a comet that appeared in 1577. Tycho Brahe in Denmark observed the same comet, and from observations of its parallax, both Tycho and Maestlin were able to determine that the comet must be above the Moon, contrary to the astronomical theories of both Aristotle and Ptolemy. Maestlin concluded that, in the Copernican system, the comet must lie in a region between the sphere of Venus and that of the Earth and Moon. Maestlin served as the Duke's chief scientific adviser from 1577–1580. Career Maestlin studied theology, mathematics, and astronomy/astrology at the University of Tübingen—the Tübinger Stift. (Tübingen was part of the Duchy of Württemberg.) He graduated as magister in 1571 and became in 1576 a Lutheran deacon in Backnang, continuing his studies there. In 1580 he became a professor of mathematics, first at the University of Heidelberg, then at the University of Tübingen, where he taught for 47 years from 1583. In 1582 Maestlin wrote a popular introduction to astronomy. While teaching at the university Maetslin tho a Copernican taught traditional Ptolemaic astronomy in his courses. However, Maestlin did present Copernican's heliocentric astronomy to his advanced students. Among his students was Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) who considered Maestlin not only a teacher, but also a lifelong mentor. Although he primarily taught the traditional geocentric Ptolemaic view of the Solar System, Maestlin was also one of the first to accept and teach the heliocentric Copernican view. Maestlin corresponded with Kepler frequently and played a sizable part in his adoption of the Copernican system. Galileo Galilei's adoption of heliocentrism was also attributed to Maestlin. The first known calculation of the (inverse) golden ratio as a decimal of "about 0.6180340" was written in 1597 by Maestlin on a letter he got from to Kepler about Kepler triangle Michael Maestlin was one of the very few astronomers of the sixteenth century that fully adopted the Copernican hypothesis, that proposed that the Earth was a planet and that it moved around the Sun. 1570 he acquired an edition of his main work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (his edition with many commentaries is in Schaffhausen). Maestlin reacted to the thought of distant stars spinning around a fixed Earth every 24 hours and taught everything that he could about Copernicus to Kepler. In November 1572 Maestlin and many others around the world witnessed a strange light in the sky that we now know was a galactic supernova. Maestlin attempted to explain this phenomenon in his tract entitled Demonstratio astronomica loci stellae novae, tum respectu centri mundi, tum respectu signiferi & aequinoctialis. This tract of Maestlin's was a short mathematical and astronomical appendix detailing the nova and was published in Tübingen in March or April of 1573. This nova was called the Nova of Cassiopeia and was the first galactic supernova to be observed in Europe. Maestlin's treatise attracted the attention of Tycho Brahe, who reproduced it in its entirety, along with his criticism, in one of the best known publications on the nova, in his posthumously printed Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata. Maestlin's treatise is available in manuscript format in Stuttgart and in Marburg. The programme of Maestlin's treatise of 1573 over the supernova was practically identical to that of Tycho Brahe's longer treatise De stella nova, which published in the same year two or three months later. Tycho's Progymnasmata, was also nearly identical to Maestlin's treaties, which was finished latter in 1592 but published only in 1602, a year after Tycho Brahe's death. Maestlin in following the copernicium Solar System believed that the "movement of commutation" (or "parallactic motion") of the superior planets, those being planets with a farther distance from the Sun compared to the Earth, and the lack of parallactic motion in the nova meant that the nova had to occur outside the planetary rings and in the ring of fixed stars. This nova occurring in the ring of fixed stars contradicted the previous understandings of Ptolemaic and Aristotelian. Maestlin also concluded that the nova helped to prove the heliocentric Solar System as he said unless people concede that comets can be placed in the stellar orb, whose altitude is immense and whose extension we do not know, to which also the distance between the Sun and the Earth is incomparable, as witnessed by Copernicus. In 1580, Maestlin observed another comet and began to gather up some ideas on how it formed. Nine years later in 1589, Maestlin shared his conclusions about the appearance of the comet with his friend the astrologer, Helisaeus Roeslin, who said that the Moon was located in front of the Great Comet of 1577, Also this same year, Maestlin published a dissertation on the fundamental principles of astronomy and the first edition of his book Epitome Astronomiae (Epitome of Astronomy). Epitome Astonomiae consisted of six editions and used works like Ptolemy's famous geocentric model to create his descriptions of astronomy. The preface in the 1596 republication of Rheticus' Narratio Prima was also written by Maestlin. This preface was an introduction to the work of Copernicus. Additionally, Maestlin made many contributions to tables and diagrams in Kepler's Mysterium Cosmographicum. Kepler's publication of Mysterium Cosmographicum was supervised by Maestlin, in which he added his own appendix to the publication over Copernican planetary theory with help from Erasmus Reinhold's Prutenic Tables. The information Maestlin used for his appendix from the Prutenic Tables, by Erasmus Reinhold, was used to help readers that were not well educated in astronomy to be able to read Johannes Kepler's Mysterium Cosmographicum as not much information over the basics was included. A discussion of the great sphere and the lunar sphere, as well as more discussion and conclusions to his descriptions of the Copernican planetary theory was also added by Maestlin in Kepler's book. Maestlin's appendix was written more than once, and in the final version he wrote the appendix in correspondence to "the needs of a hypothetical educated reader". However, Maestlin also answered the questions Kepler had while writing the Mysterium Cosmographicum in his appendix. Maestlin and Kepler communicated through a series of letters about Kepler's book the Mysterium Cosmographim in which Maestlin added his appendix "On the Dimensions of the Heavenly Circles and Spheres, according to the Prutenic tables after the theory of Nicolaus Copernicus" This appendix contained a set of planetary distances in addition to a method of deriving them from the Prutenic tables. Maestlin also added his own understanding of Nicolaus Copernicus' geometry to Kepler's book. When. Maestlin and Kepler were communicating through letters regarding Kepler's book they discussed such topics such as the inaccuracy of the values that Copernicus used when calculating the spheres of the cosmos. With the help of Maestlin in 1595, Kepler believed that he had discovered the relationship between the planets period and the distance from the Sun. He did so by first assuming equal velocity of each planet and then observing that the planets did not just revolve just according to the length of their radii. Kepler observed that the Sun exerted a force that was progressively attenuated as planets are farther and farther away from the Sun itself. Maestlin even provided the geometry to help visualize Kepler's theory of the Sun force and its effects of the other planets. While frequent in communication with Kepler through the form of letters during the years 1594 to 1600, Maestlin appeared to quit the dialogue with his former student. Kepler, eager to keep the conversation alive, wrote more letters to which he would receive no response. This lasted between the years of 1600 to 1605. It is said that Maestlin's period of silence ensued due to his fear that Kepler would publish their letters of correspondence. There have been other reasons speculated as to why Maestlin cut off communication with his disciple Kepler including a personal crisis in reaction to rumors of his own suicide. Kepler, frustrated with his teacher's refusal to continue their written communication, complained in a letter dated December 14, 1604, to respond about his thoughts on the nova recently discovered and highly discussed. To not write about this event would to Kepler make Maestlin guilty of "crime of deserting astronomy". Maestlin finally began talking again the month after this letter, around the end of January 1605. In this letter he accomplished several things. He first explained and gave reason to his silence as being because there was nothing more of use to add to the prior explanations concerning the questions Kepler had addressed to him. In regard to the nova, he deduced that it was in fact just a star that had previously not been discovered or noticed. Astronomy While Maestlin had many interests like calendar reform and mathematics, he was above all, an astronomer. He spent much time researching the Sun, Moon, and eclipses. His 1596 work, Disputatio de Eclipsibus is almost entirely about the Sun and the Moon and is often referred to in Kepler's 1604 work, Astronomiae pars optica . In 1587, Maestlin published a manuscript entitled Tabula Motus Horarii in which he gives the daily motion of the Sun in hours and minutes with its positions in two-minute intervals. There are a few other tables he published that gives equivalent information but in degrees, minutes, and seconds. Maestlin is also responsible for adding an appendix to Kepler's Mysterium and, based on correspondence with Kepler, which he had frequently, he is known to have been more involved in the editing process of its creation. Maestlin and his former student, Kepler, have been known to have had frequent correspondence via letters, however, there was a time when Maestlin stopped responding to Keplers messages. When he finally started responding to Kepler's letters again, he explained his silence in that he wouldn't have been able to add anything of meaning to Kepler's requests for help with his work, however, this Maestlin would prove his own statement wrong by being greatly involved in Kepler's work in the future. Maestlin was involved in Kepler's Mysterium in that he added diagrams of his views on the order of the planets and the spacing between them to clarify his point. This was the first time such a thing had been done. These very diagrams are what caused a misunderstanding that lasted over centuries. Maestlin did not make it clear whether the planets were supposed to be moving on the lines of the circles that were supposed to represent his planetary system, or whether they were meant to be moving within the spaces drawn by Maestlin. This led to many people believing that the planetary system suggested by Copernicus included a smaller number of modifications (such as epicycles) than that of Ptolemy, when the very opposite was the case. Despite the confusion these diagrams caused, Maestlin contributed greatly to Kepler's Mysterium, which even lead Kepler so far as to acknowledge Maestlin's co-authoring the book in a letter Maestlin. Maestlin's added appendix also contained more than just the set of planetary distances and their methods of derivation from the tables of corrections. On top of this, he included an assessment of the Copernican models, including his understanding of the geometry behind these models for the Earth, Moon, and other planets. In what would be the final form of the appendix Maestlin also discusses his student, Kepler, and the quality of his findings and knowledge on the subject of astronomy. Maestlin's treatise on the nova of 1572 featured many aspects extremely similar to Tycho de Brahe's much longer treatise on the same nova titled De Stella Nova. Both were published the same year, 1602, even though Maestlin's was thought to be written much earlier. In this treatise, Maestlin focused extensively on the mathematics behind the new star's exact location. In accordance to the Copernican view of the heavens, Johannes Kepler calculated there to be empty spaces between the planetary orbs of the heavens, and Maestlin suggested that these empty spaces might be where comets frequently occur. This sort of revelation was only possible under the assumption of a heliocentric universal organization. Maestlin is believed to have come to this heliocentric view after observing the path of a comet in 1577. When that comet appeared, Maestlin, along with the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe were the first people who actively tried to calculate its path in a more complex way than simply track its path in the sky. Tycho Brahe and Maestlin in tracking the comet deduced that the comet was not only travelling across the sky but it was going through Aristotle's and Ptolemy's solid geocentric orbs suggesting that the spheres of planets were not solid as previous astronomers believed. In 1604, Maestlin was one of the first astronomers able to observe the 1604 Supernova (later dubbed Kepler's Supernova) on 9 October 1604. He made his observations visually without instruments and took intense personal note of his observations, however, did not immediately publish them. Instead, he began working on a treatise, entitled Consideratio Astronomica inusitatae Novae et prodigiosae Stellae, superiori 1604 anno, sub initium Octobris, iuxta Eclipticam in signo Sagittarii vesperi exortae, et adhuc nunc eodem loco lumine corusco lucentis (Astronomical consideration of the extraordinary and prodigious new star that appeared near the ecliptic in the sign of Sagittarius one evening in early October in the preceding year 1604, and continues to shine in the same place with a tremulous light) with the intent to publish it in the coming years. He began seriously working on the treatise in 1606, however, it was never fully completed. In 1613, Maestlin obtained his first set of telescopes. In a letter to Kepler, Maestlin says he was unable to view the satellites of Saturn or the phases of Venus, however, he was able to see the moons of Jupiter. A conference was held in Tubingen (where Maestlin was a professor at the university) in 2000 on Maestlin and his life and works. From these, Gerhard Betsch produced a collective volume on their findings and breakdown of his works as well as a summary of Maestlin's nachlass, a german word meaning collection of manuscripts, notes, letters, correspondence, etc. left behind when a scholar passes. His nachlass had been kept and preserved among different library archives in both Germany and Austria. Betsch discussed many things in his dissertation including a treatise composed by Maestlin on the Comet of 1618-1619 written completely in German. An important work Betsch failed to mention was Maestlin's treatise on the Comet of 1604. This work, written completely in Latin this time, was titled "Consideratio Astronomica inusitatae Novae et prodigiosae Stellae, superiori 1604 anno, sub initium Octobris, iuxta Eclipticam in signo Sagittarii vesperi exortae, et adhuc nunc eodem loco lumine corusco lucentis". Or in english, "Astronomical consideration of the extraordinary and prodigious new star that appeared near the ecliptic in the sign of Sagittarius one evening in early October in the preceding year 1604, and continues to shine in the same place with a tremulous light". The work consisted of a view of his thoughts on the comet and extends just over 12 pages but is problematic to read. There are many cancellations and additions as well as notes and marks on words. The work is also unfinished which leads scholars to believe either Maestlin failed to finish or the final pages have been lost sometime in the past centuries. The best estimated date for his treatise has been noted as April 1605. Maestlin describes the months of February or March when the comet showed signs of decreasing intensity and brightness. He estimated its expiration or disappearance for May of the same year. His reasoning for this estimation came from the fact that the Sun would be in opposition with the nova at this point in time. He discusses extensively the intensity and magnitude of the nova and how it differs from the patterns seen in previous novas such as that of 1572. This comet of 1572 was first seen at a certain magnitude and like others before and after it, experienced a constant decreasing throughout its visibility. This comet of 1604 however, maintained a large magnitude for sometime as a first-magnitude star like that of Venus and the other brightest stars. Christianity During the days of Maestlin and Kepler, it could be considered dangerous business to be questioning God's responsibility for creating the world and all the creatures in it, because one might be accused of blasphemy. Maestlin saw things in a different light, however. He was a follower of the Lutheran church, and as such, he believed that studying the natural world and unraveling the laws that embody it will bring humanity closer to God. In Maestlin's opinion, understanding God's creations will enable his children to be closer to him and his divine plan. He further believed that finding out more about the natural world we live in will enrich the knowledge we have of God. Maestlin at one time had even been a Lutheran pastor. Michael Maestlin used his notability to project his religious and political views. In 1582, Maestlin voiced his view in treaties on the new Gregorian calendar and its creation. His arguments focused on mathematics perceptive and political perceptive. He agreed that Julian calendar was inaccurate and that it states a year to be 365 days and 6 hours long, but as Maestiling said, the year is "365 days, five hours, forty-nine minutes and 46 thirds long". Also, he discusses that the golden numbers are calculated wrong. While his argument with mathematics mostly supports the replacement of the Julian calendar, his argument for political reasons differ. Maestlin was against the adoption of the Gregorian calendar even though he believed there was a need for a new accurate calendar. He argues that the need for a new calendar was known for two hundred years, but nothing was done. He suggested that the reason that calendar was being adopted now was because the catholic church lost power, and the Pope wanted "to further his dominion". This stems from Maestlin's dislike of the position of the Pope, which is shown by his statement, the Pope does not direct "the movements of the sun and moon". Maestlin believed that the Pope was trying to project power into countries that rather recently rid the Pope's powers. Then he suggested that only educated people would notice the problems with the calendar. He believed the judgment day in the year 2000, which with the Julian calendar is an inaccuracy of three days. So he does not believe the correction is worth it. Notable astronomical observations Catalogued the Pleiades cluster on 24 December 1579. Eleven stars in the cluster were recorded by Maestlin, and possibly as many as fourteen were observed. Occultation of Mars by Venus on 13 October 1590, seen by Maestlin at Heidelberg. Observed the Supernova of 1604 (Kepler's Supernova) on 9 October 1604 but did not begin to publicly record the observation until 1606 Legacy Asteroid 11771 Maestlin, discovered in 1973 Lunar Crater: Maestlin Lunar Rille: Rimae Maestlin In Jules Verne's Cinq semaines en ballon (Five Weeks in a Balloon) the character of Joe, the manservant, is described as enjoying, "in common with Moestlin, Kepler's professor, the rare faculty of distinguishing the satellites of Jupiter with the naked eye, and of counting fourteen of the stars in the group of Pleiades, the remotest of them being only of the ninth magnitude." Michael Maestlin has more than one piece of art that is in memoriam to him. The first is a woodcut portrait that was solely made for Maestlin. The second one is part of a monument that was made for Johannes Kepler in Weil-der-Stadt, which was Kepler's hometown. Kepler's monument has four statues of those who deeply influenced his work in astronomy, and needless to say, one of them is of Michael Maestlin. The third art work of Maestlin is a plaque, which is also on Kepler's monument, that shows Maestlin teaching Kepler and his other students. Literature See also Golden ratio Johannes Kepler Copernican heliocentrism History of Mars observation References External links MacTutor Biography of Michael Mästlin Complete translated text of Five Weeks in a Balloon from Project Gutenberg (English) Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries High resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Michael Maestlin in .jpg and .tiff format. 1550 births 1631 deaths 16th-century German astronomers German astrologers 16th-century astrologers 17th-century astrologers 16th-century German mathematicians 17th-century German mathematicians Johannes Kepler 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers 17th-century German astronomers Academic staff of the University of Tübingen

2625258

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-arid%20Pampas

Semi-arid Pampas

The Semi-arid Pampas, also known as the Dry Pampas, is a temperate grassland ecoregion of central Argentina. Setting The Semi-arid Pampas cover an area of , including western Buenos Aires Province, southern Cordoba and San Luis Provinces and most of La Pampa Province. The area is, in all, home to no more than a million people, who generally enjoy some of the nation's lowest poverty rates. The Humid Pampas grassland lies to the east, while the drier Argentine Espinál (thorny) grassland lies to the west. The soil tends to be sandier in this region than to the east, though both regions are characterized by their mostly minimal incline and frequent finger lakes. Generally more similar than not, these two biomes are mostly distinguished by their contrasting rainfall quantities, soil quality and land use; this section of the pampas typically sees about a third less rainfall (700 mm, 27 in) than the humid pampas. Flora Not unlike the more humid pampas to the east, this area is characterized by its extensive grasslands. This groundcover, however, tends to be closer to long-grass varieties found in the world's steppes. Its landscape punctuated by relatively few trees (mostly imported ombúes, alders and Italian cypresses planted to provide wind breaks or landscaping), the region is home to intermittent shrublands, therein particularly carquejilla and caldén (prized for their medicinal qualities), as well as the shady algarrobo, common to much of Argentina. Fauna In part owing to its sparse landscape and unreliable rains, the area's fauna rather resembles much of neighboring Patagonia's. Perhaps the most common natural inhabitant to the region is the ñandú, or, Darwin's rhea. Nearly ubiquitous to the region in the early 19th century, vast herds were often observed at the time and, indeed, they and their eggs had for centuries provided the Puelches and the area's other indigenous peoples with much of their protein needs. Targeted during successive genocidal campaigns between 1830 and 1880, however, these inhabitants lost most ñandús to massacres by Argentine armies, who believed that in so doing, the indigenous tribes could be starved into surrender. Nearing extinction by the 1920s, the ñandú herds have recovered substantially and have since then, like the likewise then-nearly extinct pampas deer, been protected by law. Other common fowl include gray hawks, partridges, martins, coots and storks. The region is also home to pumas, pampas foxes, cavias, maras and other drought-resistant mammals, as well as some also common to North America, like skunks and opossums. Human use The arrival of British-financed railways to the region in the 1880s brought with it the area's first significant presence of white settlers, some of whom had served in the regiments involved in the Conquest of the Desert and were granted vast tracts of land. Much of the area was subsequently fenced into cattle and sheep ranches, which dominate the region's land use to the present day; area ranchers raise approximately four million cattle (a tenth of Argentina's). Since the 1940s, advances in agriculture and crop breeding have allowed for intensive wheat, sunflower, oats and alfalfa cultivation, as well. Conservation and threats Though many of the hydroelectric projects put into place since then have encouraged the development of a scattering of prosperous urban areas like Santa Rosa, La Pampa, some have had unintended consequences to the area's ecological balance. Dams along the Atuel River, for instance, are often allowed to release the rainy season's excess water with little regard to the area around rural Algarrobo del Aguila, La Pampa, causing avoidable inconvenience and disruption of nearby wetlands. Until recently, the region was the only one in Argentina lacking a national park or natural preserve. In 1971, descendants of La Pampa Province landowners Arminda Roca and Pedro Luro deeded 7,600 hectares (29 mi2) to the provincial government, which opened the park to the public five years later. Though the area would not be designated as fully protected until 1996, this was the first significant move to protect the biome. Today the Luro Park Natural Preserve is the most visited such area in the dry pampas region. In 1977, a 9,900 hectare (38 mi2) parcel in La Pampa Province's southern dry grasslands were set aside as Lihué Calel National Park. These accomplishments notwithstanding, the area's ecosystem has been under increasing pressure by grazing and irrigation activities, apart from population and economic growth themselves. See also Arid Forest Research Institute References External links Luro Park Natural Preserve Lihué Calel National Park Pampas Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Ecoregions of Argentina Grasslands of Argentina . Neotropical ecoregions

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western%20Gulf%20coastal%20grasslands

Western Gulf coastal grasslands

The Western Gulf coastal grasslands () are a subtropical grassland ecoregion of the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is known in Louisiana as the "Cajun Prairie", Texas as "Coastal Prairie," and as the Tamaulipan pastizal () in Mexico. Setting The ecoregion covers an area of , extending along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico from southeastern Louisiana (west of the Mississippi Delta) through Texas and into the Mexican state of Tamaulipas as far as the Laguna Madre. Specific areas include a number of barrier islands, and the resacas or natural levees of the Laguna Madre. The coast is vulnerable to tropical storms that can seriously damage habitats. This ecosystem, in part, has edaphic origins: the soils of this ecoregion are largely dominated by vertisol clays, the mechanical properties of which make it difficult for many tree species to grow and establish. As a result, extensive forest cover is precluded, allowing grasses and other herbaceous species to dominate. However, there are interspersed areas of higher sand and silt content that break up the otherwise heavy clay environment: these areas typically correspond to floodplain/riparian zones, and are more permissive of tree-growth, featuring galleries or even closed-canopy bottomland expanses. Climate From Southwest Louisiana west to the Upper Texas coast, the climate is wet humid subtropical, featuring significal annual precipitation. The climate becomes more arid farther south along the Texas coast into northeastern Mexico, though precipitation totals still remain high enough for the humid subtropical classification. Flora The natural habitat of the area is a mix of tallgrass prairie similar to those found in inland Texas, with Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) the primary tallgrass species that are typical of the coastal prairie, with several other shorter grasses and many herbaceous and woody species. Separating the grassier habitats are bottomland forests and woodlands, which are present within the floodplains of the region's many waterways. In the wetter climate covering the zone from Southwest Louisiana west through the upper Texas coast, these bottomlands contain many species typical in forests elsewhere across the Southern United States, such as the southern live oak, bald cypress, magnolia, loblolly pine, post oak, and southern hackberry. Farther south, from the lower one third of the Texas coast and through the Tamaulipan stretch, the drier climate supports shrubby areas of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), huisache (Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana), lime prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara), and Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana). Fauna This coast is rich in wildlife, and 700 species of birds, animals and reptiles have been counted here, although many are now threatened or endangered. This coast is a critical habitat for the Attwater's prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri), over one million of which inhabited the prairie in Texas and Louisiana in the 19th century, but extreme reduction of their habitat put them on the U.S. endangered species list in 1967. Another endangered bird of the coast is the whooping crane (Grus americana). Many species of wading birds, shorebirds, and other waterbirds are abundant. Birds in the Mexican part of the region include Morelet’s seedeater (Sporophila morelleti), red-billed pigeon (Columba flavirostris), brown jay (Cyanocorax morio), Neotropic cormorant, white-winged dove (Leptotila verrequxi) and Audubon's oriole (Icterus graduacauda). Mammals of the area include bobcats, collared peccary, white-tailed deer, eastern cottontails, with ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), Gulf Coast jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi cacomitli), southern yellow bat (Lasiurus ega), and Mexican spiny pocket mouse (Liomys irroratus) more abundant in Mexico. Rancho Nuevo beach in Tamaulipas and along the Texas coast are the only nesting sites in the world for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) while other herpetofauna of the southern part of the ecoregion include Río Grande chirping frog (Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides) and Mexican white-lipped frog (Leptodactylus fragilis). Threats and preservation Less than 1% of the ecoregion remains in pristine condition, almost entirely in Texas, while most of the coast has been converted to farmland, including rice paddies, grazing land, or urban areas including Houston, Texas. Estuaries and other coastal wetlands are better preserved than the prairie and indeed the protected areas of the coast are mainly sanctuaries for waterbirds. Gallery See also List of ecoregions in Mexico List of ecoregions in the United States (WWF) References Gulf Coast of Mexico Gulf Coast of the United States Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Ecoregions of Mexico Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands of the United States Ecoregions of the United States Grasslands of Mexico Grasslands of the United States Grasslands of Texas Natural history of Louisiana Natural history of Tamaulipas Natural history of Texas Nearctic ecoregions

2626040

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/703%20No%C3%ABmi

703 Noëmi

703 Noëmi, provisional designation , is a stony Florian asteroid and possible slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Vienna Observatory on 3 October 1910. The asteroid was likely named for Baroness Valentine Noémi von Springer (née von Rothschild; 1886–1968). Orbit and classification Noëmi is a member of the Flora family, the 3rd largest main-belt asteroid family with nearly 14,000 known members. This asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,171 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins at Vienna, 3 days after its official discovery observation. Physical characteristics Noëmi has been characterized as a common stony S-type asteroid based on its classification to the Flora family. Lightcurves In December 2016, a rotational lightcurve of Noëmi was obtained from photometric observations. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of hours with a brightness variation of 0.8 magnitude (), superseding a previous inconclusive observation by French amateur astronomer Pierre Antonini from February 2011. The lightcurve's large amplitude of 0.8 magnitude is typically indicative of a non-spheroidal shape (an elongated, irregular shape). As of July 2017, the asteroid is only a possible slow rotator as the lightcurve's quality has not been rated. Diameter and albedo According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Noëmi measures between 7.250 and 9.85 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.19 and 0.486. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its family – and calculates a diameter of 8.58 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.5. Naming According to A. Schnell, this minor planet was probably named for Baroness Valentine Noémi von Rothschild (1886–1969) to celebrate her engagement to Baron Sigismund von Springer (1873–1927). Baroness von Springer was the only daughter of Baron Albert von Rothschild, a banker, steam-railway pioneer, philanthropist, and astronomy enthusiast who had recently donated a stereocomparator to the Vienna Observatory and who, in 1885, had given the observatory 10,000 florins for purchase of its coudé-focus equatorial telescope. The baroness's property was "Aryanized" during the 1938 Anschluss. Baroness von Springer's niece, Baroness Bettina – named after Baroness Valentine Noémi de Rothschild's mother, Bettina – was mentioned in 1998 news stories, when Austria passed a law returning to Rothschild heirs such treasures as remained in Austrian museums. The naming of Noemi was published in Sirius journal in 1911 and in Astronomische Nachrichten in 1912 (). See also: 250 Bettina, 719 Albert. Baroness von Springer's niece, Baroness Bettina – named after Baroness Valentine Noémi de Rothschild's mother, Bettina – was mentioned in 1998 news stories, when Austria passed a law returning to Rothschild heirs any treasures Aryanized during the 1938 Anschluss remaining in Austrian museums. Notes References External links Photograph of 703 Noëmi by Associazione Tuscolana di Astronomia, 2017 Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info ) Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center 000703 Discoveries by Johann Palisa Named minor planets 000703 000703 19101003

2628947

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossby%20radius%20of%20deformation

Rossby radius of deformation

In atmospheric dynamics and physical oceanography, the Rossby radius of deformation is the length scale at which rotational effects become as important as buoyancy or gravity wave effects in the evolution of the flow about some disturbance. For a barotropic ocean, the Rossby radius is , where is the gravitational acceleration, is the water depth, and is the Coriolis parameter. For f = 1×10−4 s−1 appropriate to 45° latitude, g = 9.81 m/s2 and D = 4 km, LR ≈ 2000 km; using the same latitude and gravity but changing D to 40 m; LR ≈ 200 km. The nth baroclinic Rossby radius is: , where is the Brunt–Väisälä frequency, is the scale height, and n = 1, 2, .... In Earth's atmosphere, the ratio N/f0 is typically of order 100, so the Rossby radius is about 100 times the vertical scale height, H. For a vertical scale associated with the height of the tropopause, LR, 1 ≈ 1000 km, which is the predominant scale seen on weather charts for cyclones and anticyclones. This is commonly called the synoptic scale. In the ocean, the Rossby radius varies dramatically with latitude. Near the equator it is larger than 200 km, while in the high latitude regions it is less than 10 km. The size of ocean eddies varies similarly; in low latitude regions, near the equator, eddies are much larger than in high latitude regions. The associated dimensionless parameter is the Rossby number. Both are named in honor of Carl-Gustav Rossby. References Atmospheric dynamics Oceanography

2630316

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunt%E2%80%93V%C3%A4is%C3%A4l%C3%A4%20frequency

Brunt–Väisälä frequency

In atmospheric dynamics, oceanography, asteroseismology and geophysics, the Brunt–Väisälä frequency, or buoyancy frequency, is a measure of the stability of a fluid to vertical displacements such as those caused by convection. More precisely it is the frequency at which a vertically displaced parcel will oscillate within a statically stable environment. It is named after David Brunt and Vilho Väisälä. It can be used as a measure of atmospheric stratification. Derivation for a general fluid Consider a parcel of water or gas that has density . This parcel is in an environment of other water or gas particles where the density of the environment is a function of height: . If the parcel is displaced by a small vertical increment , and it maintains its original density, so that its volume does not change, it will be subject to an extra gravitational force against its surroundings of: where is the gravitational acceleration, and is defined to be positive. We make a linear approximation to , and move to the RHS: The above second-order differential equation has straightforward solutions of: where the Brunt–Väisälä frequency is: For negative , the displacement has oscillating solutions (and N gives our angular frequency). If it is positive, then there is run away growth – i.e. the fluid is statically unstable. In meteorology and astrophysics For a gas parcel, the density will only remain fixed as assumed in the previous derivation if the pressure, , is constant with height, which is not true in an atmosphere confined by gravity. Instead, the parcel will expand adiabatically as the pressure declines. Therefore a more general formulation used in meteorology is: , where is potential temperature, is the local acceleration of gravity, and is geometric height. Since , where is a constant reference pressure, for a perfect gas this expression is equivalent to: , where in the last form , the adiabatic index. Using the ideal gas law, we can eliminate the temperature to express in terms of pressure and density: . This version is in fact more general than the first, as it applies when the chemical composition of the gas varies with height, and also for imperfect gases with variable adiabatic index, in which case , i.e. the derivative is taken at constant entropy, . If a gas parcel is pushed up and , the air parcel will move up and down around the height where the density of the parcel matches the density of the surrounding air. If the air parcel is pushed up and , the air parcel will not move any further. If the air parcel is pushed up and , (i.e. the Brunt–Väisälä frequency is imaginary), then the air parcel will rise and rise unless becomes positive or zero again further up in the atmosphere. In practice this leads to convection, and hence the Schwarzschild criterion for stability against convection (or the Ledoux criterion if there is compositional stratification) is equivalent to the statement that should be positive. The Brunt–Väisälä frequency commonly appears in the thermodynamic equations for the atmosphere and in the structure of stars. In oceanography In the ocean where salinity is important, or in fresh water lakes near freezing, where density is not a linear function of temperature:where , the potential density, depends on both temperature and salinity. An example of Brunt–Väisälä oscillation in a density stratified liquid can be observed in the 'Magic Cork' movie here . Context The concept derives from Newton's Second Law when applied to a fluid parcel in the presence of a background stratification (in which the density changes in the vertical - i.e. the density can be said to have multiple vertical layers). The parcel, perturbed vertically from its starting position, experiences a vertical acceleration. If the acceleration is back towards the initial position, the stratification is said to be stable and the parcel oscillates vertically. In this case, and the angular frequency of oscillation is given . If the acceleration is away from the initial position (), the stratification is unstable. In this case, overturning or convection generally ensues. The Brunt–Väisälä frequency relates to internal gravity waves: it is the frequency when the waves propagate horizontally; and it provides a useful description of atmospheric and oceanic stability. See also Buoyancy Bénard cell References Atmospheric thermodynamics Atmospheric dynamics Fluid dynamics Oceanography Buoyancy

2631573

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum%20of%20Augustus

Mausoleum of Augustus

The Mausoleum of Augustus (; ) is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The mausoleum is located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, near the corner with Via di Ripetta as it runs along the Tiber. The grounds cover an area equivalent to a few city blocks nestled between the church of San Carlo al Corso and the Museum of the Ara Pacis. After being closed for fourteen years to perform restoration work, the mausoleum was reopened to the public in March 2021. Description The mausoleum was circular in plan, consisting of several concentric rings of earth and brick, faced with travertine on the exterior, and planted with cypresses on the top tier. The whole structure was capped (possibly, as reconstructions are unsure at best) by a conical roof and a huge bronze statue of Augustus. Vaults held up the roof and opened up the burial spaces below. Twin pink granite obelisks flanked the arched entryway; these have been removed; one now stands at the Piazza dell'Esquilino (on the north-west side of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore) and the other at the Quirinal fountain. The completed mausoleum measured 90 m (295 ft) in diameter by 42 m (137 ft) in height. A corridor ran from the entryway into the heart of the mausoleum, where there was a chamber with three niches to hold the golden urns enshrining the ashes of the Imperial Family. Two pillars flanking the entrance were mounted with bronze plaques inscribed with the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the document describing Augustus' accomplishments and victories. Surrounding the mausoleum was landscaped parkland akin to modern public parks, affording a place of retreat at the heart of Rome's heavily urbanized Campus Martius. History Ancient The mausoleum was one of the first projects initiated by Augustus in the city of Rome following his victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The traditional story is that in AD 410, during the sack of Rome by Alaric, the pillaging Visigoths rifled the vaults, stole the urns and scattered the ashes, without damaging the structure of the building. Platner and Ashby, however, posited that "The story of its plundering by Alaric in 410 has no historical foundation, and we know nothing of its destruction". Medieval By the end of the 10th century, the mausoleum had become largely buried under earth and overgrown with trees, to the point where it was referred to as the Mons Augustus. A legend of the time referred to a supposed decree by Augustus who ordered that a basketful of earth from every province of the empire was to be thrown upon his tomb, so that he could rest on the soil of the whole world over which he ruled. Atop the Mausoleum stood a chapel built to the Archangel Michael, while alongside was the Church of Santa Maria (or perhaps Martina) in Augusto (later transformed into San Giacomo degli Incurabili). By the 12th century, the tumulus was fortified as a castleas was the mausoleum of Hadrian, which was turned into the Castel Sant'Angeloand occupied by the Colonna family. After the disastrous defeat of the Commune of Rome at the hands of the Count of Tusculum in 1167, the Colonna were disgraced and banished, and their fortification in the Campo was dismantled. Throughout the Renaissance it passed through the ownership of several major Roman families, who used it as a garden. Modern At the beginning of the 19th century it was in use as a circus. In the early 20th century, the interior of the Mausoleum was used as a concert hall called the Augusteo, until Benito Mussolini ordered it closed in the 1930s and restored it to the status of an archaeological site. The restoration of the Mausoleum of Augustus to a place of prominence featured in Mussolini's ambitious reordering of the city of Rome which strove to connect the aspirations of Italian Fascism with the former glories of the Roman Empire. Mussolini viewed himself especially connected to the achievements of Augustus, seeing himself as a 'reborn Augustus' ready to usher in a new age of Italian dominance. Restoration The neglect of the Mausoleumclosed to the public, overgrown with vegetation, and used as a dumping ground for litterattracted criticism, especially after the opening of the Ara Pacis museum across the street in 2006. A plan to restore the mausoleum in time for the 2000th anniversary of Augustus's death in 2014 failed due to funding shortfalls. In January 2017, Italian authorities announced a €6 million grant from Telecom Italia for a comprehensive restoration of the Mausoleum of Augustus, allowing it to open to the public for the first time since the 1970s. The Mausoleum was slated for a full restoration incorporating a multimedia exhibition of modern and ancient Rome projected on the interior walls of the structure to be completed by April 2019. The schedule was not met, shifting the deadline to early 2021. The costs expanded to €11 million, although this was partially offset by additional grants from Telecom Italia's successor Gruppo TIM. The mausoleum opened to visitors in 2021, although additional restorationincluding the central cylinder housing Augustus' burial chamberwas left undone, scheduled for completion in 2022. Burials Included among those whose remains were laid inside the mausoleum before the death of Augustus were: Marcus Claudius Marcellus (son of Octavia Minor), who was the first to be buried there, in 23 BC Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (husband of Julia the Elder) Nero Claudius Drusus (son of Livia Drusilla; husband of Antonia Minor and father of Claudius) Octavia Minor (sister of Augustus) Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar (grandsons of Augustus) After the death of Augustus, the mausoleum hosted the remains of: Augustus Livia Drusilla (wife of Augustus) Tiberius Drusus Julius Caesar (son of Tiberius) Germanicus (son of Antonia Minor) Julia Livilla (daughter of Germanicus) Drusus Caesar (son of Germanicus) Caligula Julia Drusilla (daughter of Caligula) Antonia Minor (mother of Claudius) Britannicus (son of Claudius) Claudius Agrippina the Elder (daughter of Julia the Elder) Nero Julius Caesar (son of Agrippina the Elder) Nerva, the last emperor for whom the mausoleum was opened Legacy The Roman poet Martial wrote about the building: Pour me a double measure, of Falernian, Callistus,and you Alcimus, melt over it summer snows,let my sleek hair be soaked with excess of perfume,my brow be wearied beneath the sewn-on rose.The Mausoleum tells us to live, that one nearby,it teaches us that the gods themselves can die. See also Menologium Rusticum Colotianum, discovered near the mausoleum Ara Pacis & Solarium Augusti, nearby Pyramid of Cestius & Obelisks of Rome Pons Cestius Catacombs of Rome List of ancient monuments in Rome References External links Mausoleum Augusti at LacusCurtius Images of the Mausoleum of Augustus Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC Roman emperors' mausoleums Mausoleums in Rome Rome R. IV Campo Marzio Campus Martius Round buildings

2633476

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9lanie%20%28rocket%29

Mélanie (rocket)

Mélanie is a French solid rocket motor, 16 cm in diameter. The first version was used as first stage of the Monica rocket. It had a thrust increasing from 6.2 kN (Monica I) to 8.2 kN (Monica V) and a burn time of about five seconds. Melanie was later used in several ATEF and ONERA rockets. In the ONERA rockets, such as Daniel, Antares and Berenice, Melanie was placed inside a 22 cm diameter cylindrical housing. This version delivered a total impulse of 48 kN.s with about 22 kilograms of propellant. References External links Monica rockets ONERA rockets Melanie rocket engine Rockets and missiles

2637617

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACeS

ACeS

ACeS (PT Asia Cellular Satellite) was a regional satellite telecommunications company based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It offered GSM-like satellite telephony services to Asian market. The coverage area included Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China and India. The company operated the Garuda 1 satellite, launched on February 12, 2000. A second satellite (Garuda 2) was planned but never materialized. ACeS was formed by a joint venture of PT. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunication (LMGT), Jasmine International Overseas Ltd of Thailand and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). ACeS services were marketed by National Service Providers (NSPs) in six countries; PT. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara in Indonesia, ACeS Regional Services in Thailand, Smart ACeS in the Philippines, TMTouch/Celcom in Malaysia, AVCO in Nepal and Mobitel in Sri Lanka. The satellite started under GE Aerospace in East Winsor, New Jersey. In 1993, the group was sold to Martin Marietta, however in 1995 Martin Marietta merged with Lockheed to form Lockheed Martin. This moved work to Sunnyvale, California. The satellite and most network operations were controlled by ACeS Network Control Center in Batam Island, Indonesia. The NSPs operated ground stations which provided links to the terrestrial telephone networks. ACeS has been assigned the virtual country code +88220, an international networks code rather than a GMSS code as the system does not operate globally. The company currently supplies only one handset type, the Ericsson R190, which derived many components from GH688 model. R190 is a dual-mode Satellite/GSM phone which automatically switches to satellite mode when terrestrial GSM network is not available. It accepts standard GSM SIM cards, and since ACeS has international roaming agreements with many GSM networks worldwide, the phone can be used in virtually any country. The handset supports most standard services such as call forward and call waiting but does not support short message service (SMS) in satellite mode. The demise of Ericsson mobile phone business in 2001 has left ACeS with no other handset available to offer to its customers . As Ericsson left the mobile phone business, production of the R190 was then continued by ACeS and rebranded to be the ACeS R190. Additionally ACeS has developed a land phone version, the ACeS FR-190, that allowed many villages and rural areas throughout Asia access to basic telephony services. At its conception, ACeS network was designed to serve up to 2 million subscribers. It aimed for markets unserved by regular terrestrial cellular networks, such as rural areas, forestry, mining and marine industries. However, sales grew slowly and after five years of operation ACeS had fewer than 20,000 subscribers. The company failed to attract more customers, and eventually it was considered by many as a commercial failure. In 2014 ACeS ceased operation altogether. See also Mobile-satellite service Satellite phone GEO-Mobile Radio Interface O3b Networks References External links List of Communications Satellites Communications satellites Mobile phone companies of Indonesia Satellite telephony Indonesian brands

2640561

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean%20Pacific

Ocean Pacific

Ocean Pacific Apparel Corp. (Ocean Pacific or OP) is a clothing company based in Irvine, California, United States. It produces T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, and beverage mugs. History The first "Ocean Pacific" trademark brand was started by John Smith in the 1960s as a surfboard brand, which he sold out of his shop, North County Ding Repair. Later, Fred Ryan purchased North County Ding Repair from John Smith along with the Ocean Pacific surfboard label. The Ocean Pacific label was later sold to Don Hansen of Hansen Surf Shop. In 1972, Jim Jenks of San Diego wanted to create clothing and sportswear that met the demands of surfers in and out of the surf. He received the name from his then employer, Don Hansen, and the Ocean Pacific apparel line was created. Jenks' idea for clothing under the Ocean Pacific label quickly became popular with the surf culture with its instantly recognizable "OP" logo. OP's designs showed the visual aesthetic of each era through the years, from the primary color stripes of the 1970s to the bright neon and geometric shapes of the 1980s. Regarding the marketing strategies, unlike other surfing firms like Quiksilver or Billabong, OP established as a more general sportswear brand, commercializing its products in national store chains while other similar companies were restricted to independent surf shops. Moreover, OP also designed clothing for both adults and young people. The Ocean Pacific brand experienced financial trouble through the 1990s. Richard Baker's investment group Doyle & Boissiere bought Ocean Pacific in 1998. Baker stayed on as Warnaco acquired Ocean Pacific in 2003 and sold it to current owner Iconix Brand Group in 2006. Ad campaigns In the summer of 2008, an ad campaign to celebrate their 35-year anniversary was launched, featuring celebrities such as actress Rumer Willis, reality show star Kristin Cavallari, singer Christina Milian, musician and fashion designer Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Clandestine Industries, actor Wilmer Valderrama, actress and supermodel Josie Maran, and actor and singer Corbin Bleu. The Summer 2009 campaign ads featured Sophia Bush, Solange Knowles, and AnnaLynne McCord. Joining those in the Fall 2009 ads were actor Cody Linley, reality star Brody Jenner, and musician Joel Madden. OP also presented tours in 2009 which featured Boys Like Girls, The Maine and Cobra Starship. The 2010 spring team was announced with a special puzzle on OP's website. The puzzle featured a hidden picture of the team and everyday a few more pieces were revealed until the entire team was revealed. Members of Team OP for Spring 2010 were actor Cory Monteith, actress Jessica Szohr, actor and model Trevor Donovan, actress and singer Dianna Agron, singer Cassie, and actor Alex Meraz. The theme for Spring/Summer 2010 was "Rock Your Shine". Members of Team OP for Spring/Summer 2011 are Mark Salling, Chord Overstreet, Aly Michalka, Brenda Song, Katerina Graham, and Rob Kardashian. Iconix Brand Group signed an exclusive direct-to-retail license agreement with Walmart in August 2007. As of 2018, Iconix Brand Group has taken back control of the brand's distribution and will be re-launching Spring 2019. See also Surf culture Unsalted: A Great Lakes Experience, a documentary film featuring members of the 1995 Ocean Pacific surf team References External links 1972 establishments in California 1980s fashion Clothing brands of the United States Clothing companies established in 1972 Companies based in Irvine, California Surfwear brands Swimwear brands Iconix Brand Group 2006 mergers and acquisitions Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States

2646090

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblem%20of%20North%20Korea

Emblem of North Korea

The emblem of North Korea is a national symbol adopted in 1993 by the state. Its design is modified from the former version in use from the founding of North Korea in 1948. Prominent features on the emblem are a red star, a hydroelectric plant (the Sup'ung dam) and Mount Paektu. The design bears similarities to the emblem of the Soviet Union and other emblems of the socialist heraldic style. Prior to the establishment of the North Korean state, two former versions were in use from 1945 to 1947. History During the Liberation of Korea in 1945 by the Allies, Northern Korea had no emblem although the emblem of the People's Republic of Korea was used from 1945 to 1946. The first equivalent of an emblem appeared on January 1, 1946, printed below a speech of Kim Il-sung in the newspaper Chŏngro. It features the Korean Peninsula surrounded by a pattern of ribbons and wheat identical to that of the Soviet State Emblem. This was the only time it was ever used, and between 1946 and 1948 a simple outline of the peninsula was displayed in its place. This was intended to signal that the North and the South are one country. However, in July 1948 as the division of Korea loomed, North Korea adopted its first constitution. This constitution defined the North Korean emblem, but the emblem was in use for only two months. It features a furnace, as opposed to a hydroelectric plant on later designs. On September 9, 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was declared and a new emblem adopted. The chosen motif: the Sup'ung hydroelectric plant was built by the Imperial Japanese during their colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula, and as such could be not comfortable as symbol of national pride for nationalistic Koreans. However, North Korean sources claim that Kim Il-sung was behind the design. In 1993, the emblem was further amended to feature Mount Paektu. The mountain is an important symbol of power and legitimacy of the Kim family dynasty in North Korean propaganda, and is especially identified with Kim Jong-il because it is where official narratives place his birth. The adoption of that symbol testified to the rise of his status. Features The emblem features the Sup'ung dam under Mount Paektu and a power line as the escutcheon. The crest is a five-pointed red star. It is supported with ears of rice, bound with a red ribbon bearing the inscription "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in Chosongul characters. While the design of the hydroelectric plant is generic in appearance, its identity is given away by the fact that Sup'ung was the only power station of its kind at the time when the emblem was designed. Sup'ung was constructed by the Japanese and is located in what is today the border with the People's Republic of China. In spite of the uncomfortable reference to colonial infrastructure as well as foreign territory, the choice of the image is not incidental and carries positive connotations. In the late 1940s, the North produced most of the electricity in the country. The dam symbolizes self-sufficiency in electricity: in the spring of 1948 shortly before the hydroelectric plant was added to the emblem, North Korea cut off her power network from the South. The emblem, and all of its predecessors, follows the basic socialist heraldic design that was adopted in many other countries including, which clearly indicates the relations between the communist ideology and the foundation of the country at the onset of the Cold War. See also Flag of North Korea Emblem of South Korea References Further reading External links National Emblem of the DPRK at Naenara National symbols of North Korea Korea, North Korea, North North Korea North Korea North Korea North Korea Korean heraldry

2646107

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baetylus

Baetylus

Baetylus (also Baetyl, Bethel, or Betyl, from Semitic bet el "house of god"; compare Bethel, Beit El) are sacred stones which were supposedly endowed with life, or gave access to a deity. According to ancient sources, at least some of these objects of worship were meteorites, which were dedicated to the gods or revered as symbols of the gods themselves. Other accounts suggest contact with them could give access to epiphanic experiences of the deity. The baetyl has been described by Wendy Doniger as "the parent form for altars and iconic statuary". In general the baetyl was believed to have something inherent in its own nature which made it sacred, rather than becoming sacred by human intervention, such as carving it into a cult image. Some baetyls were left in their natural state, but others were worked on by sculptors. The exact definition of a baetyl, as opposed to other types of sacred stones, "cult stones" and so on, is rather vague both in ancient and modern sources. In some contexts, especially relating to Nabataean sites like Petra, the term is commonly used for shaped and carved stelae. They had a role in most regions of the ancient Near East and Greek and Roman religion, as well as other cultures. Examples With various other sites around the Mediterranean, they were a feature of the Neolithic temple site of Tas-Silġ and other sites on Malta and Gozo. The Hittites worshipped sacred stones called Huwasi stones. In the Hebrew Bible, Bethel (meaning "House of God"), is where Jacob had his vision of Jacob's ladder. Coming upon the place at nightfall, the Book of Genesis tells the reader that he laid his head on a stone, and had the vision while sleeping, then: In Minoan religion, it has been suggested that rubbing, lying, or sleeping on a baetyl could summon a vision of the god, an event which appears to be depicted on some gold Minoan seal rings, where the stones are large oval boulders. A small serpentinite boulder was excavated very close to the Palaikastro Kouros, the only known Minoan cult image, destroyed around 1450 BC; perhaps it was its baetyl. In the Phoenician mythology related by Sanchuniathon, one of the sons of Uranus was named Baetylus. The worship of baetyls was widespread in the Phoenician colonies, including Tyre, Sidon, and Carthage, even after the adoption of Christianity, and was denounced by Augustine of Hippo. A similar practice survives today with the Kaaba's Black Stone, which was sacred to the polytheists before Islam. Ancient Greece and Rome In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the term was specially applied to the Omphalos of Delphi ("navel"), the stone supposed to have been swallowed by Cronus (who feared misfortune from his own children) in mistake for his infant son Zeus, for whom it had been substituted by Gaea. This stone was carefully preserved at Delphi, anointed with oil every day and on festive occasions covered with raw wool. In Rome, there was the stone effigy of Cybele, called , that had been ceremoniously brought from Pessinus in Asia Minor in 204 BC. The emperor Elagabalus who reigned from 218 until 222 (and was probably a teenager for all his reign) came from Syria and was already the hereditary high priest of the cult of the god Elagabalus there. Once made emperor he brought the god's baetyl to Rome with great ceremony, and built the Elagabalium to house it. It seems to have been a conical meteorite. In some cases an attempt was made to give a more regular form to the original shapeless stone: thus Apollo Agyieus was represented by a conical pillar with a pointed end, Zeus Meilichius in the form of a pyramid. According to Tacitus, the simulacrum of the goddess at the temple of Aphrodite Paphia at her mythological birthplace at Paphos, on Cyprus, was a rounded object, approximately conical or shaped like a meta (a turning post on a Roman circus) but "the reason for this" he noted, "is obscure". Other famous baetylic idols were those in the temples of Zeus Casius at Seleucia Pieria, and of Zeus Teleios at Tegea. Even in the declining years of paganism, these idols still retained their significance, as is shown by the attacks upon them by ecclesiastical writers. See also Asherah pole, Canaanite sacred tree or pole honouring Asherah, consort of El Bema and bimah, elevated platform Bethel (god) Benben Black Stone, the venerated stone at Kaaba Ceremonial pole High place, raised place of worship List of Greek mythological figures Kami, central objects of worship for Shinto, some of which are natural phenomena and natural objects such as stones. Lingam, abstract representation of the Hindu deity Shiva Banalinga, stones naturally worn to ovoid shapes in river beds in India Pole worship Shaligram, river-bed fossils in India, considered holy Stele, stone or wooden slab erected as a monument Turbah, small clay or earthen slabs used by Twelver Muslims Notes References Further reading "Baetyl" Jona Lendering, Livius.org Uta Kron: "Heilige Steine", in: Kotinos. Festschrift für Erika Simon, Mainz 1992, S. 56–70, Greek mythology Middle Eastern mythology Meteorites in culture Sacred rocks

2646994

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhead%20Point

Blackhead Point

Blackhead Point (), also known as Tai Pau Mai () indigenously, or by the names Tsim Sha Tsui Point and Signal Hill (), was a cape before any land reclamation took place in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It currently remains a small hill near the coast. Signal Hill is about high and measures approximately from east to west, and from north to south. It is the site of Signal Hill Garden and features the Signal Hill Tower as well as remains of military structures. Etymology Blackhead Point was named after a German businessman in Hong Kong named Friedrich Johan Berthold Schwarzkopf, who naturalised as a British citizen and anglicised his name as 'Blackhead'. The name used by local residents for the Hill was Tai Pau Mai () because it was believed that the hill resembled a large bag of rice. Signal Hill Tower The Signal Hill Tower () was built in the Edwardian style in 1907 at the top of the hill. It was originally a three-storey building. The tower stood at 12.8 metres (42 feet) tall, with a red brick facade. Then, another storey was added to the structure in 1927 for clearer view of the tower from incoming vessels, this heightened it to 18.9 m (62 ft). The windows of the added storey features round windows whereas the original floors have square windows. Prior to the addition, the roof of the building was flat. A dome-shaped roof painted light green was built in replacement. There was a mast which used to contain the time ball atop the building. The purpose of the tower was to house a time ball apparatus of the Hong Kong Observatory previously located in the nearby Marine Police Headquarters Compound. The apparatus operated in the building from January 1908 to June 1933, dropping once daily from 1908 to 1920, and twice a day from 1920 to 1933. The dropping of the time ball ceased on 30 June 1933 as the building itself was in disrepair, short of staff, and the method used to check the marine chronometers had become obsolete, in comparison with radio-telegraphy and telephony. During World War II, Signal Hill Tower was used as a temporary ammunition store. The Urban Council restored the tower in the 1970s. The building was designated a Grade II historic building in 1981 and was upgraded to a Grade I historic building on 18 December 2009. On 23 October 2015, the tower was also declared a monument. Signal Hill Battery Anti-aircraft guns may have been located at the south side of the hill. Later, four British 25-pound cannons used for ceremonial salute were located in concrete gun emplacements facing Victoria Harbour. Today The site was allocated to the Urban Council in 1973 and made a park, called the Signal Hill Garden (), which was officially opened on 20 August 1974. Signal Hill Tower is still standing and is now a declared a monument. A small building in the park, now repurposed as a toilet, was where typhoon signals were hoisted in Hong Kong as it was located on the highest hill near the middle of Victoria Harbour. The entrance of the park is at Minden Row. The Signal Hill Garden is adjacent to the Middle Road Children's Playground. However, the two parks are not contiguous and one cannot walk to the other without first exiting to the street. Note that the opening hours (for 2019) for the Tower are: 9:00 am - 11:00 am and 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm daily. Gallery See also Middle Road, Hong Kong Mariner's Club References Further reading External links Antiquities Advisory Board. Heritage Appraisal of the Signal Tower. Blackhead Point (Tai Pau Mai), Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Cultural Heritage Structures, Sites and Objects on Signal Hill Tsim Sha Tsui Capes of Hong Kong Mountains, peaks and hills of Hong Kong Urban public parks and gardens in Hong Kong Time balls

2647820

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warka%20Vase

Warka Vase

The Warka Vase or Uruk vase is a slim carved alabaster vessel found in the temple complex of the Sumerian goddess Inanna in the ruins of the ancient city of Uruk, located in the modern Al Muthanna Governorate, in southern Iraq. Like the Uruk Trough and the Narmer Palette from Egypt, it is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture, dated to c. 3200–3000 BC. Simple relief sculpture is also known from much earlier periods, from the site of Göbekli Tepe, dating to circa 9000 BC. The bottom register displays naturalistic components of life, including water and plants, such as date palm, barley, and wheat. On the upper portion of the lowest register, alternating rams and ewes march in a single file. The middle register conveys naked men carrying baskets of foodstuffs symbolizing offerings. Lastly, the top register depicts the goddess Inanna accepting a votive offer. Inanna stands at the front portion of the gate surrounded by her richly filled shrine and storehouse (identifiable by two reed door poles with dangling banners). This scene may illustrate a reproduction of the ritual marriage between the goddess and Dumuzi, her consort that ensures Uruk's continued vitality. The vase depicts an example of hierarchy being a portion of nature, and, according to anthropologist Susan Pollock, shows that social and natural hierarchies were most likely akin to each other in ancient Mesopotamia. Discovery The vase was discovered as a collection of fragments by German Assyriologists in their sixth excavation season at Uruk in 1933/1934. The find was recorded as find number W14873 in the expedition's field book under an entry dated 2 January 1934, which read "Großes Gefäß aus Alabaster, ca. 96 cm hoch mit Flachrelief" ("large container of alabaster, circa 96 cm high with flat-reliefs"). It is named after the modern village of Warka – known as Uruk to the ancient Sumerians. A plaster cast was made of the original and this reproduction stood for many decades in room 5 of the Near-Eastern Museum in Berlin (Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin), Germany. Decoration The vase has three registers – or tiers – of carving. The bottom register depicts the vegetation in the Tigris and Euphrates delta, such as the natural reeds and cultivated grain. Above this vegetation is a procession of animals, such as ram and sheep presented in a strict profile view. The procession continues in the second register with nude males carrying bowls and jars of sacrificial elements, such as fruit and grain. The top register is a full scene, rather than a continuous pattern. In this register, the procession ends at the temple area. Inanna, one of the chief goddesses of Mesopotamia and later known as Ishtar in the Akkadian pantheon, stands, signified by two bundles of reeds behind her. She is being offered a bowl of fruit and grain by a nude figure. The en of Uruk dressed in a ceremonial kilt and long belt faces her leading the procession. Theft and restoration The Warka Vase was one of the thousands of artifacts which were looted from the National Museum of Iraq during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In April 2003, it was forcibly wrenched from the case where it was mounted, snapping at the base (the foot of the vase remaining attached to the base of the smashed display case. The vase was later returned during an amnesty to the Iraq Museum on 12 June 2003 by three unidentified men in their early twenties, driving a red Toyota vehicle. As reported by a correspondent for The Times newspaper, Soon after the vase's return, broken into 14 pieces, it was announced that the vase would be restored. A pair of comparison photographs, released by the Oriental Institute, Chicago, showed significant damage (as of the day of return, 12 June 2003) to the top and bottom of the vessel. The fully restored Warka Vase (museum number IM19606) is now on display in the Iraq Museum. See also Archaeological looting in Iraq Art of Mesopotamia Mask of Warka Blau Monuments Stele of Ushumgal References External links Lost Treasures from Iraq—Objects (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago) (pre-2003 b&w photo compared with colour photograph from 12 June 2003) The Warka Vase (ancientworlds.net) Fiona Curruthers, "Iraq Museum resembled 'emergency ward'", University of Sydney News, 19 September 2003. (Colour image of pre-war Warka Vase, as well as missing "Lady of Uruk (Warka)" stone head). The Iraq Museum Database (hosted by the Oriental Institute, Chicago) Objects in the National Museum of Iraq Sumerian art and architecture Sculpture of the Ancient Near East Archaeological theft Alabaster Stolen works of art 4th-millennium BC works Individual vases Uruk Inanna

2650673

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle%20of%20Simancas

Battle of Simancas

The Battle of Simancas (also called Alhandega or al-Khandaq) was a military battle that started on 19 July 939 in the Iberian Peninsula between the troops of the King of León Ramiro II and Cordovan caliph Abd al-Rahman III near the walls of the city of Simancas. The battle unfolded after the army of Abd al-Rahman III launched toward the northern Christian territories in 934. Abd al-Rahman III had gathered a large army of caliphal fighters, with the help of the Andalusian governor of Zaragoza, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Tujibi. The Leonese king Ramiro II led the counterattack with an army constituted of his own troops, those of Castile under Count Fernán González, and the Navarrese under García Sánchez I. Arab witnesses chronicle a spectacular eclipse of the sun that took place on the first day of the battle: As the army arrived near Simancas, there was an awful eclipse of the sun that covered the earth of a dark yellow amid the day and it filled us and the infidels with terror as neither had seen in their life such a thing as this. Two days passed without either side making any movement. The battle lasted some days, with the allied Christian troops emerging victorious and routing the Cordovan forces. Furtun ibn Muhammad al-Tawil, wali of Huesca, withheld his troops from the battle. He was hunted down near Calatayud by Salama ibn Ahmad ibn Salama, taken to Córdoba, and crucified in front of its Al-Qasr. References Bibliography Simancas Simancas Simancas 10th century in the Kingdom of León 939 Simancas History of the province of Valladolid Solar eclipses

2651480

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canceled%20Apollo%20missions

Canceled Apollo missions

Several planned missions of the Apollo crewed Moon landing program of the 1960s and 1970s were canceled, for reasons which included changes in technical direction, the Apollo 1 fire, hardware delays, and budget limitations. After the landing by Apollo 12, Apollo 20, which would have been the final crewed mission to the Moon, was canceled to allow Skylab to launch as a "dry workshop" (assembled on the ground in an unused S-IVB Saturn IB second stage). The next two missions, Apollos 18 and 19, were later canceled after the Apollo 13 incident and further budget cuts. Two Skylab missions also ended up being canceled. Two complete Saturn V rockets remained unused and were put on display in the United States. Planned missions prior to Apollo 1 fire In September 1962, NASA planned to make four crewed low-Earth-orbital test flights of partially equipped Block I Command/Service Modules (CSM) using the Saturn I launch vehicle, designated SA-11 through SA-14, in 1965 and 1966. However, the limited payload capacity of the Saturn I compared to the uprated Saturn IB would have severely limited the systems carried, and thus the testing value of these flights. Therefore, NASA canceled these flights in October 1963, and replaced them with two crewed Saturn IB missions, designated AS-204 and AS-205. These would be followed by the first uncrewed flight of the Lunar Module (LM) on AS-206, then the third crewed mission, designated AS-207/208, would use AS-207 to launch the crew in an improved Block II CSM, which would rendezvous and dock with the LM launched uncrewed on AS-208. The crew selected on March 21, 1966, for AS-204 consisted of Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger Chaffee, who named their mission Apollo 1. AS-205 was to be named Apollo 2, and AS-207/208 would be Apollo 3. The AS-205 crew were Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham. However, AS-205 was later deemed unnecessary and officially canceled on December 22, 1966. Schirra's crew then became the backup for Grissom's crew, and the crewed LM mission became the second crewed mission, redesignated AS-205/208 and crewed by the original backup for Grissom's crew: Command Pilot Jim McDivitt, CSM Pilot David Scott and LM Pilot Rusty Schweickart. They immediately began their training in the first Block II Command Module CM-101, as Grissom's crew were preparing for a February 1967 launch. Then, on January 27, 1967, Grissom, White, and Chaffee were killed in a flash fire in their spacecraft cabin during a test on the launch pad, interrupting the program for 21 months to identify and fix the root causes of numerous safety problems. This forced cancellation of plans to fly any crewed Block I spacecraft, and effectively forced a "reboot" of all crewed mission plans. Development missions after Apollo 1 fire In September 1967, NASA created a list of remaining mission types necessary to achieve the first crewed lunar landing, each designated by a letter A through G, where G would be the first crewed landing. This list was later extended through letter J to cover follow-on lunar missions. Two uncrewed Saturn V test launches (A missions) were flown as Apollo 4 and Apollo 6. A third test was planned but canceled as unnecessary. The first development Lunar Module, LM-1 was flown uncrewed (B mission) as Apollo 5. A second uncrewed test was planned using LM-2 but was canceled as unnecessary. LM-2 was retrofitted to look like a production LM which would land men on the Moon and was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where it is currently on display as a simulation of the Apollo 11 first landing. Schirra's crew would fly the C mission, first crewed CSM (Block II CSM-101, retrofitted with the cabin safety improvements) as Apollo 7 in October 1968. McDivitt's crew and mission were kept as the first crewed development LM flight (D mission); this was planned to be Apollo 8 in December 1968, now using a single Saturn V launch vehicle instead of two separate Saturn IB launches. The E mission was planned as an elliptical medium Earth orbit test of the operational LM with the CSM in a simulated lunar mission to an apogee of , to be commanded by Frank Borman in March 1969. Of all the components of the Apollo system, the LM had the most technical issues. It was behind schedule and when LM-3 was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in June 1968, over 101 separate defects were discovered. Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, which was the lead contractor for the LM predicted that the first man-rated LM, to be used for the D mission, would not be ready until at least February 1969, delaying the entire sequence. George Low, the manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, proposed a solution in August 1968. Since the CSM would be ready three months before the Lunar Module, they could fly a CSM-only mission in December 1968. But instead of just repeating the C mission that would fly the CSM in Earth orbit, they could send the CSM all the way to the Moon and maybe even enter into orbit. This mission was dubbed "C-Prime" (an imaginary letter between C and D). This new mission would allow NASA to practice procedures for a lunar flight that would otherwise have to wait until Apollo 10, the F mission. There were also concerns from the Central Intelligence Agency that the Soviet Union was planning their own circumlunar flight for December to upstage the Americans once again (see Zond program). McDivitt's crew—who had grown accustomed to working with LM-3 and preparing for its flight—was kept on the D mission which now became Apollo 9, while Borman's crew would fly the CSM lunar orbit mission on Apollo 8, and the E mission was canceled. The swap of crews was also decisive in who would be the first man to walk on the Moon. Pete Conrad was backup commander for McDivitt's crew, and by the process of crew rotation, would have been in line for commander of Apollo 11 three flights later. Neil Armstrong got this honor by virtue of being Borman's backup commander. Follow-on lunar missions NASA contracted to have 15 flight-worthy Saturn V rockets produced. Apollo 11 achieved the first landing with the sixth Saturn V, leaving nine for follow-on landings. The following landing sites were chosen for these missions, planned to occur at intervals of approximately four months through July 1972. Apollo 12 (H1) November 1969, Ocean of Storms (Surveyor 3 site) Apollo 13 (H2) April 1970, Fra Mauro highlands Apollo 14 (H3) Littrow crater Apollo 15 (H4) Censorinus crater The last five missions were J-class missions using the Extended Lunar Module, capable of three-day stays on the Moon and carrying the Lunar Roving Vehicle: Apollo 16 (J1) Descartes Highlands Apollo 17 (J2) Marius Hills Apollo 18 (J3) Copernicus crater Apollo 19 (J4) Hadley Rille Apollo 20 (J5) Tycho crater (Surveyor 7 site) As the later missions were up to three years out, little detailed planning was made, and a variety of landing sites were given for some flights. According to "NASA OMSF, Manned Space Flight Weekly Report" dated July 28, 1969, Apollo 18 would have landed at Schröter's Valley in February 1972, Apollo 19 in the Hyginus rille region in July 1972, and Apollo 20 in Copernicus crater in December 1972. Other proposed landing sites and schedules for the last three missions included Gassendi crater (Apollo 18, July 1973), Copernicus (Apollo 19, December 1973), and Marius Hills or Tycho crater (Apollo 20, July 1974). As a number of ambitious Apollo Applications Programs were planned, it was still hoped in 1969 that further Saturn V launch vehicles could be contracted, allowing for more ambitious lunar missions. In the NASA report "Scientific Rationale Summaries for Apollo Candidate Lunar Exploration Landing Sites" from March 11, 1970, Apollo 18 is targeted for Copernicus, and Apollo 19 is assigned Hadley rille (the eventual landing site of Apollo 15). The Apollo 20 mission had been canceled two months before, but the report still suggested its target, Hyginus rille, possibly as an alternative Apollo 19 landing site. Cancellations Harrison Schmitt was likely to be the first scientist to the Moon on Apollo 18 or 19, with Don L. Lind the second. On January 4, 1970, NASA announced the cancellation of Apollo 20 so that its Saturn V launch rocket could be used to launch the Skylab space station as a "dry workshop" (assembled on the ground), instead of constructing it as a "wet workshop" from a spent S-IVB upper stage of a Saturn IB launch vehicle. Also, budget restrictions had limited the Saturn V production to the original 15. After NASA Deputy Administrator George M. Low announced that the final three Moon landings were rescheduled for 1973 and 1974, following the three planned Skylab missions, Chief Astronaut Deke Slayton moved Lind to Apollo Applications, stating that "with the cancellation of 20, I could see I just wasn't going to have a flight for him". Another lunar landing was lost in April 1970 when Apollo 13 had in-flight failure, and the Fra Mauro landing site was reassigned to Apollo 14. Then on September 2, 1970, NASA announced it was canceling the H4 and J4 missions after more budget cuts. Skylab was postponed to 1973, and the final landing schedule became: Apollo 14 (H2) Littrow crater, February 1971 Apollo 15 (J1) Hadley–Apennine, July 1971 Apollo 16 (J2) Descartes Highlands, April 1972 Apollo 17 (J3) Taurus–Littrow valley, December 1972 At the time, 35 of NASA's 49 active astronauts were waiting for a mission. In the closing days of the program, Apollo 17 LMP Schmitt aggressively lobbied for a crewed landing on the far side of the Moon, targeting the far side Tsiolkovskiy crater. Schmitt's ambitious proposal included the launch into lunar orbit of special communications satellites based on the existing TIROS satellites to allow contact with the astronauts during their powered descent and lunar surface operations. NASA administrators rejected these plans because of lack of funding and added risk. In August 1971, President Richard Nixon proposed to cancel all remaining lunar landings (Apollo 16 and 17). His Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Caspar Weinberger was opposed to this and persuaded Nixon to keep the remaining Moon missions, but recommended that if such cancellation did happen, it should be "on the ground that Apollo 15 was so successful in gathering needed data that we can now shift, sooner than previously expected, to the Space Shuttle, Grand Tour, NERVA, etc". John Young, who flew on Apollo 10 and 16, believed that fear of losing astronauts was a reason why NASA canceled Apollo 18, 19, and 20. Crew assignments Slayton was the director of Flight Crew Operations and effectively chose the crews for the flights. He did not intend to give astronauts two lunar landing commands but, according to historian Michael Cassutt, as late as the summer of 1969—when 10 landings were still scheduled—Slayton planned to give Lunar Module pilots Fred Haise, Edgar Mitchell, and James Irwin the opportunity to walk again on the Moon as commanders. During the early Apollo missions he used a rotation system of assigning a crew as backup and then, three missions later, as the prime crew; however, by the later Apollo flights, this system was used less frequently as astronauts left the program, Slayton wanted to give rookies a chance, and astronauts did not want to take backup positions that no longer could lead to prime-crew spots. In the case of Apollo 18 the crew was probably the Apollo 15 backup crew: Richard F. Gordon Jr. (commander (CDR)) Vance D. Brand (Command Module pilot (CMP)) Harrison Schmitt (Lunar Module pilot (LMP)) When Apollo 18 was canceled, Schmitt was moved up to Apollo 17 under pressure from the scientific community, replacing Joe Engle. Schmitt, a geologist, became the only professional scientist and the twelfth man to walk on the Moon. Slayton's intention for the Apollo 19 crew was the original (prior to cancellation) Apollo 16 backup crew: Fred Haise (CDR) William R. Pogue (CMP) Gerald P. Carr (LMP) For Apollo 20 there is even more uncertainty. Based on normal crew rotation, the crew would likely have been: Stuart Roosa (CDR) (replacing Pete Conrad, already CDR on Apollo 12) Paul J. Weitz (CMP) Jack R. Lousma (LMP) Another possibility would have been: Stuart Roosa or Edgar Mitchell (CDR) Jack R. Lousma (CMP) Don L. Lind (LMP) Skylab Skylab Rescue One of the surplus CSMs, CSM-119, was modified to carry two additional crew and kept on standby for a potential rescue mission in case of issues on-board Skylab. During Skylab 3, a malfunction on the Apollo CSM docked to the station caused fears that the crew would not be able to return safely. CSM-119 was wheeled out to Launch Complex 39B on Saturn IB SA-209 during the mission and prepared for a possible launch. Two astronauts, Brand (commander) and Lind (Command Module pilot), would have flown the CSM to retrieve the three crew members. The problem was fixed without requiring a rescue flight. CSM-119 was returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building and remained on standby until the Skylab program ended. CSM-119 was also held as a backup CSM for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. Skylab 5 Skylab 5 would have been a short 20-day mission to conduct more scientific experiments and boost Skylab into a higher orbit. Brand, Lind, and William B. Lenoir (science pilot) would have been the crew. Surplus hardware Two complete Saturn V rockets went unused after the Apollo program, SA-514 and SA-515, as well as the third stage of the SA-513. SA-513 was the launch vehicle originally planned for the Apollo 18 mission, which was instead used (without its third stage) to launch Skylab. A Saturn V on display at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas is made up of the first stage of SA-514, the second stage of SA-515, and the third stage of SA-513. This display includes a production command/service module (CSM-115) which was never completed after funding was cut. A Saturn V on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Merritt Island, Florida is made up of static test stage S-IC-T and the second and third stages of SA-514. The command module associated with the KSC Saturn V display is a boilerplate, BP-30. The stack was originally displayed outdoors in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building and was a stop for tour buses. It was later restored and moved indoors to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The first stage from SA-515 resides at the INFINITY Science Center in Pearlington, Mississippi. The third stage was converted into a backup to the Skylab space station. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum. Several Saturn IBs also remained unused and in storage at the end of the Apollo program. Three (SA-206, SA-207 and SA-208) were used for the crewed launches of the Skylab program, and SA-210 was used for the crewed ASTP flight. The second stage of SA-212 was rebuilt as the launched Skylab. Of the remaining vehicles, two are on display, and the rest were scrapped. Any surplus Rocketdyne H-1 first stage engines were rebranded as the Rocketdyne RS-27 engine for usage on active launch vehicles of the time, such as those of the Delta 2000 Series in 1974. The last complete, unflown Saturn IB, SA-209, kept on standby for a possible Skylab Rescue mission, is on display outdoors in the Rocket Garden of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, topped by an Apollo boilerplate in place of the rescue spacecraft. One other surplus Saturn IB (SA-211) was displayed horizontally for a time, until the late 1970s, at the Marshall Spaceflight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama. The second stage of the vehicle (S-IVB-211) was later moved to be combined with the Neutral Buoyancy training components of Skylab at the US Space and Rocket center, minus its J-2 engine. The first stage of SA-211 (S-1B-11) is now displayed vertically at the welcome center off of Interstate I-65, near to Ardmore, Alabama. That vehicle hosts an older ground-test second stage (Battleship stage?) SLA adapter and boilerplate Apollo hardware. The first stage of SA-212 (S-IB-12) was the last stage to have been static test fired, but was later scrapped, since no further flights were planned. The second stage of SA-212 (S-IVB-212) was converted into the flown, prime Skylab space station. The remaining surplus Saturn IB first stages for SA-213 and SA-214 were built, but never static tested, and were also scrapped. No S-IVB second stages were ever built for these two vehicles. Likewise, the canceled flights' CSMs and LMs went either unused or were used for other missions: After Apollo 15's original H mission was canceled, there was a surplus H mission CSM and Lunar Module. CSM-111 was used for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. LM-9 is on display at the Kennedy Space Center (Apollo/Saturn V Center) Apollo 18's CSM and LM were used by Apollo 17. Apollo 19's CSM (#115) is displayed on the Saturn V located at the Johnson Space Center. Its LM (LM-13, originally assigned to Apollo 18) was only partially completed by Grumman, and was used as a prop for the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon in Moon exploration scenes. It is now on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on New York's Long Island. Apollo 20's CSM was never completed and was scrapped. The LM was also scrapped before completion, though there are some unconfirmed reports that some parts (in addition to parts from the LM test vehicle LTA-3) are included in the LM on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Skylab Rescue CSM-119 is on display at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Notes References Apollo 18, 19, 20, Skylab B and Skylab 5 at the Encyclopedia Astronautica CM-115 on display at Johnson Space Center. From A Field Guide to American Spacecraft. External links Astronautix Missions we Lost When Apollo was Cancelled Vintage Space (YouTube) Apollo program missions Apollo Apollo program ru:Скайлэб-спасатель