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Maternity den The den is usually chosen at a place where there is raised ground so the red foxes can see all around. The main entrance will be approximately three feet wide, and the den will have one or two escape holes. The den is lined with grass and dry leaves. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20505600 |
Endcapping In chromatography, endcapping refers to the replacement of accessible silanol groups in a bonded stationary phase by trimethylsilyl groups. End-capped columns have much lower residual silanol group activity compared to non-endcapped columns. technology prevents the tailing of a polar compound's peak and shows very high durability even with an alkaline mobile phase because of the strong film covering the stationary phase surface. Endcapped columns show decreased retention for hydrogen bond acceptors, such as ionized bases, and increased retention for protonated bases. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20514516 |
Cedar hemlock douglas-fir forest is a vegetation association in California, United States. This is one of the Kuchler system forest types used to classify California plant communities. As the name implies, dominant tree types are Incense cedar, Western Hemlock and Douglas fir. The forest type is classified FRES20 in the Kuchler system. Understory flora associates include Toyon and Western poison oak. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20538774 |
Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov Interacting Galaxies are those included in the Atlas and Catalogue of Interacting Galaxies, by B.A. Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov, R.I. Noskova and V.P. Arkhipova. It was published by the Astronomical Council of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The atlas and catalogue contain 852 interacting systems. The first part published in 1959 contained 355 interacting galaxies numbered VV1 through VV355, and the second part published in the 1970s included those numbered VV356 through VV852. In 2001, an additional 1162 objects were added from the Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies by Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov et al. These objects have numbers ranging from VV853 to VV2014. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20549342 |
Energy functional In the energy methods of simulating the dynamics of complex structures, a state of the system is often described as an element of an appropriate function space. To be in this state, the system pays a certain cost in terms of energy required by the state. This energy is a scalar quantity, a function of the state, hence the term "functional". The system tends to develop from the state with higher energy (higher cost) to the state with lower energy, thus local minima of this functional are usually related to the stable stationary states. Studying such states is part of the optimization problems, where the terms "energy functional" or "cost functional" are often used to describe the objective function. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20560973 |
Ricardo Miledi (15 September, 1927 – 18 December, 2017) was a Mexican neuroscientist known for his work deciphering the role of calcium in neurotransmitter release. One of seven children, he received undergraduate and medical degrees at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). While in medical school, he decided that he would make a "terrible clinician", as "he imagined that he would end up seeing only one patient per week, because he would always be too interested in every unknown detail of the case, trying to work out how medicines might act." As a result, when required to perform social service as a component of his training in medical school, he chose a research fellowship at the "Instituto Nacional de Cardiología" under Arturo Rosenblueth. There, he studied the electrical origins of ventricular fibrillation and became skilled at delicate laboratory work. In 1955, he spent a summer at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood's Hole. There, he began his study of synapses in the common squid and began to see the importance of calcium in synaptic transmission. Around 1956/1957 Miledi conducted research in Canberra, Australia. In 1958, he met frequent collaborator, Noble Laureate Bernard Katz, who offered him a position in the Department of Biophysics at University College London. There, he studied the release of Acetylcholine (ACh) and the expression of its receptors. In the early 1960s, he again became interested in the role of calcium | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20572438 |
Ricardo Miledi He found that "in zero-Ca medium, the nerve impulse still fully invades the nerve terminal, but does not release any neurotransmitter. And then as soon as you give a little Ca , you get neurotransmitter release." He and Katz published a paper establishing the major role of Ca in ACh release. Further work with squid contributed to an even better understanding of the role of Ca in neurotransmitter release. Miledi was elected as a fellow to the British Royal Society in 1970. During the early 1970s Miledi was a frequent research scientist during the summer months at the Stazione Zooalogica in Naples, Italy ostensibly as the local squid made excellent research specimen. He is also one of the 42 founding fellows of The World Academy of Sciences in 1983, to recognize outstanding scientists from developing countries and honour their achievements in research and development. From the 1990s until his death he was Distinguished Professor at UNAM's Institute of Neurobiology, in Querétaro, Mexico. He also was a Distinguished Professor at University of California, Irvine; having joined the faculty in the early 1980s. His awards include the Royal Medal (1998), , the King Faisal International Prize for Science (1988), the Prince of Asturias Award (1999), and the Society for Neuroscience's Ralph W. Gerard Prize for outstanding contributions to the field (2010). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20572438 |
Fredrik Johan Wiik Fredrik Johan Wiik, also known as F.J. Wiik, (16 December 1839 in Helsinki – 15 June 1909 in Helsinki) was a Finnish geologist and mineralogist; in 1877, he was named the first professor of geology and mineralogy at the Imperial Alexander University of Finland, where his students included Jakob Sederholm and Wilhelm Ramsay. He was also the first scientist in Finland to use a petrographic microscope. Wiik died in 1909, on a geological expedition; his body was found clutching his geologist's hammer. The mineral wiikite is named for him. Wiik was the son of noted Finnish architect Jean Wik. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20582255 |
Myelopoiesis In hematology, myelopoiesis in the broadest sense of the term is the production of bone marrow and of all cells that arise from it, namely, all blood cells. In a narrower sense, myelopoiesis also refers specifically to the regulated formation of myeloid leukocytes (myelocytes), including eosinophilic granulocytes, basophilic granulocytes, neutrophilic granulocytes, and monocytes. The common myeloid progenitor can differentiate in the bone marrow into red blood cells and megakaryocytes (leading to platelets) as well as mast cells and myeloblasts, the latter leading to the myelocytic line (granulocytes) and to monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells of the innate immune system. The granulocytes, also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes because of their multilobed nuclei, are three short lived cell types including eosinophils, basophils, and neutrophils. A granulocyte differentiates into a distinct cell type by a process called granulopoiesis. In this process it first transforms from a common myeloblast (myeloid progenitor) to a common promyelocyte. This promyelocyte gives rise to a unique myelocyte that for the first time can be classified as an eosinophil, basophil, or neutrophil progenitor based on the histological staining affinity (eosinophilic, basophilic, or neutral granules). The unique myelocyte next differentiates into a metamyelocyte and then a band cell, with a "C" shaped nucleus, before becoming a mature eosinophil, basophil, or neutrophil | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20588935 |
Myelopoiesis Macrophages come from monoblast progenitors that differentiate into promonocytes, which mature into monocytes. Monocytes eventually enter the tissues and become macrophages. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20588935 |
Stumpff function In celestial mechanics, the Stumpff functions "c"("x"), developed by Karl Stumpff, are used for analyzing orbits using the universal variable formulation. They are defined by the formula: for formula_2 The series above converges absolutely for all real "x". By comparing the Taylor series expansion of the trigonometric functions sin and cos with "c"("x") and "c"("x"), a relationship can be found: Similarly, by comparing with the expansion of the hyperbolic functions sinh and cosh we find: The Stumpff functions satisfy the recurrence relation: The Stumpff functions can be expressed in terms of the Mittag-Leffler function: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20592261 |
True vapor pressure (TVP) is a common measure of the volatility of petroleum distillate fuels. It is defined as the equilibrium partial pressure exerted by a volatile organic liquid as a function of temperature as determined by the test method ASTM D 2879. The true vapor pressure (TVP) at 100 °F differs slightly from the Reid vapor pressure (RVP) (per definition also at 100 °F), as it excludes dissolved fixed gases such as air. Conversions between the two can be found here (p 7.1-54 and onwards) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20593858 |
Tetraphenylborate (IUPAC name: Tetraphenylboranuide) is an organoboron anion consisting of a central boron atom with four phenyl groups. Salts of tetraphenylborate uncouple oxidative phosphorylation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20596845 |
Weather and climate Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a particular place over a short period of time, whereas climate refers to the weather pattern, using statistical data, of a place over a long enough period to yield meaningful averages. Climatology studies climatic change, and is an atmospheric science. Climate is an important physical element because it indicates the atmospheric condition of heat, moisture and circulation; it plays a dominant role in shaping vegetation and soil; and it ultimately affects all forms of life, as a result of the very definition of the word, which is a scientific prediction, based on evidentiary statistics, sustained over a long period. There are many elements that make up both the weather and the climate of a geographical location. The most significant of these elements are temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, solar irradiance, humidity, precipitation, and topography. The greatest influence of climatic change is associated with not only natural, but also artificial factors, which can be measured in terms of both short-term and long-term climate change.In simple language it is the long time condition of any large area. The most important factors affecting climate are latitude, altitude, distance to the ocean or sea, orientation of mountain ranges toward prevailing winds, and the ocean current. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20609863 |
Frank Hannyngton (25 October 1874 – 1 April 1919, in Bombay was a civil servant and amateur entomologist in India. Frank was the youngest son of John Child Hannyngton, a judge and a Resident at Madras and later Travancore. His early education as at Trinity College, Dublin (where he was known as "Curly" and captain of the boats) and he then went to Wren's and passed the Indian Civil Service entrance in 1897. He began service in India from 30 January 1899 as an Assistant Collector and Magistrate in South Arcot (present day Tamil Nadu). His service locations included Tirunelveli, Malabar, Madras and Ooty. In 1912 he was appointed Commissioner of Coorg until 1918 when he moved to Bellary. During his time in Coorg he published a paper on the butterflies of Coorg in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. He also collected the exuvia of a large dragonfly which was named after him as "Heterogomphus hannyngtoni" by F.C. Fraser in 1924. He also held the position of Postmaster General of Bengal during which time he sent collectors into the Chumbi Valley. Here he found a new "Parnassius" which Andrey Avinoff named after him as "Parnassius hannyngtoni".(Trans. Ento. Soc. 1915, p. 351) He also made collections of the butterflies of Kumaon. He married Madeleine (Maisie), daughter of Colonel Willoughby Edward Gordon Forbes, in 1905. A member of the Bombay Natural History Society from 1908, he joined its executive committee in 1913 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20610468 |
Frank Hannyngton His father had a relationship with a Thiyya woman, and as a result his half-sister was the mother of notable Indian botanist Janaki Ammal. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20610468 |
Bioseparation of 1,3-propanediol is a biochemical process for production of 1,3-propanediol (PDO). PDO is an organic compound with many commercial applications. Conventionally, PDO is produced from crude oil products such as propylene or ethylene oxide. In recent years, however, companies such as DuPont are investing in the biological production of PDO using renewable feedstocks such as corn. In May 2004, DuPont and Tate & Lyle announced that they would start up a joint venture to build a facility that produces polymers from renewable feedstock instead of petrochemicals. In particular, their goal was to design a fermentation system that converts corn sugar into PDO (propanediol manufactured in this way is referred to in the media as "BioPDO"). They argue that using such a bioprocess is more energy efficient than conventional petrochemical processes (conversion of propylene into propanediol) because the bioprocess has four advantages over the conventional process: smaller environmental footprint, lower operating costs, smaller capital investment, and greater sustainability due to use of renewable corn feedstock. BioPDO can be made by the bacterial fermentation of glycerol. However, DuPont has managed to engineer a strain of "Escherichia coli" ("E. coli"),<ref name="Patent WO 2004/101479"></ref> a common bacterium, to allow industrial-scale production of 1,3-propanediol by fermentation of glucose. After the "E | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20611922 |
Bioseparation of 1,3-propanediol coli" produce sufficient BioPDO product, DuPont uses a method to separate the BioPDO from the cellular broth that comes out of the bioreactor consisting of four steps: microfiltration and ultrafiltration, ion exchange, flash evaporation, and distillation. The first of the two filtration steps, microfiltration, is used to remove the cells from the reactor broth. Ceramic filters are used because, although expensive, they can last for five to ten years. High temperatures have been found to increase the flux of liquid across the microfiltration membrane, so a minimum temperature of is specified. A series of three ultrafiltration membranes are used to filter out proteins with a molecular weight of 5,000 Daltons and higher. The feed pressure to the microfiltration membrane is typically 65 psia with a transmembrane pressure drop of 40 psia. The feed pressure to each ultrafiltration membrane is 60 psia. Using these feed pressures and temperatures, typical transmembrane liquid fluxes are 108 LMH (liters per hour per square meter) for the microfiltration membrane, and 26 LMH for the ultrafiltration membrane. The next step of the scheme, ion exchange, removes impurities that cause the downstream polymer product to turn yellow. Four ion exchange columns in series are used to remove these impurities, and they are arranged in the following order: The first cationic exchanger replaces the divalent cations in solution with hydrogen ions. The first anionic exchanger replaces the anions in solution with hydroxide ions | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20611922 |
Bioseparation of 1,3-propanediol The second cationic and anionic exchangers further reduce ion levels in solution. Note that hydrogen ions (H spontaneously react with hydroxide ions (OH) to form water (HO): After the ion exchange step, excess water is produced from the hydrogen and hydroxide ions, and that can dilute the product to less than 10% concentration by weight. By sending the dilute solution to an evaporation system under vacuum, water will flash out of the solution into low-pressure steam, leaving a propanediol solution with up to 80% propanediol by weight. The low-pressure steam is then compressed to a higher pressure and temperature, and afterward directed to the outer casing of the flash evaporation unit to heat the system. The final step of the scheme, distillation, comprises two distillation columns, and optionally four distillation columns. The three main types of chemicals in the fluid at this stage of the separation are water, BioPDO, and impurities such as glycerol, sugars, and proteins. Of the three chemicals water has the lowest boiling point (see the water, 1,3-propanediol, and glycerol articles for boiling point information), so it is removed as distillate in the first column. The bottoms of the first column is then sent to a second column, where BioPDO is removed as distillate because of its lower boiling point | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20611922 |
Bioseparation of 1,3-propanediol Both columns operate under low pressure (55 mm Hg in the first column; 20 mm Hg in the second column) to lower the boiling points of the distillate and bottoms streams, thereby using a lower pressure steam than that for atmospheric columns. At this point, the BioPDO stream has 99% purity. If the BioPDO is to be used for polymer production, however, then greater purity is required. To achieve greater purity, the BioPDO distillate of the second column is sent to a hydrogenation reactor to convert the remaining polymer-coloring impurities into non-coloring chemicals. The effluent of the reactor is then sent to a second set of two distillation columns that operate the same way as the first set of columns. The BioPDO distillate of the fourth distillation column has a purity of 99.97%, which is able to meet polymer- and fiber-grade standards. According to DuPont, the BioPDO process uses 40% less energy than conventional processes. DuPont also claims that the bioprocess reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, and that the production of one hundred million pounds of BioPDO annually "saves the energy equivalent of fifteen million gallons of gasoline per year". Because of DuPont and Tate & Lyle's success in developing a renewable BioPDO process, the American Chemical Society awarded the BioPDO research teams the "2007 Heroes of Chemistry" award. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20611922 |
Summing localization occurs when two or more coherent sound waves arrive within a limited time interval and only one sound sensation is perceived. If the time variations are smaller than 1 ms, the time and level variations of all sound sources contribute to the direction of the perceived sound. The resulting auditory event is called a phantom source. is the basis of stereophony. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20619194 |
Jeremejevite is a rare aluminium borate mineral with variable fluoride and hydroxide ions. Its chemical formula is AlBO(F,OH). It was first described in 1883 for an occurrence on Mt. Soktui, Nerschinsk district, Adun-Chilon Mountains, Siberia. It was named after Russian mineralogist Pavel Vladimirovich Eremeev (Jeremejev, German) (1830–1899). It occurs as a late hydrothermal phase in granitic pegmatites in association with albite, tourmaline, quartz and rarely gypsum. It has also been reported in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, Namibia and the Eifel district, Germany. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20621955 |
Friedrich Knauer (zoologist) Friedrich Carl Knauer (31 March 1850, Graz – 31 July 1926, Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist. Friedrich Knauer studied physics, chemistry and zoology at the University of Vienna from 1868 to 1872. In 1887, he became a director Vivarium in Vienna Prater. In 1893, he became the director of Vienna Zoo. Knauer wrote zoological books for schools and instruction in science as well as popular scientific works. After his death, Knauer's ashes were buried at Feuerhalle Simmering. In 1930, a street in Favoriten was named "Friedrich Knauer Gasse". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20626924 |
NGC 5890 is an unbarred lenticular galaxy in the constellation Libra. It was discovered in April 1785 by Ormond Stone. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634451 |
NGC 3561 NGC 3561, also known as Arp 105, is a pair of interacting galaxies NGC 3561A and NGC 3561B within the galaxy cluster Abell 1185 in Ursa Major. Its common name is "the Guitar" and contains a small tidal dwarf galaxy known as Ambartsumian's Knot that is believed to be the remnant of the extensive tidal tail pulled out of one of the galaxies. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634481 |
NGC 3550 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered in April 1785 by William Herschel. It is one of the brightest galaxies of the Abell 1185 galaxy cluster. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634511 |
NGC 3552 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered in April 1785 by William Herschel. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634537 |
NGC 3553 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered in March 1885 by Guillaume Bigourdan. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634579 |
NGC 3539 is a barred lenticular galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered in April 1831 by John Herschel. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634608 |
NGC 2552 is a Magellanic spiral galaxy located some 22 million light years away in the faint northern constellation of Lynx. This is a type of unbarred dwarf galaxy, usually with a single spiral arm. It is inclined by 41° to the line of sight from the Earth along a position angle of 229°. The measured velocity dispersion of the stars in is relatively low—a mere 19 ± 2 km/s. This galaxy forms part of a loose triplet that includes NGC 2541 and NGC 2500, which together belong to the NGC 2841 group. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634633 |
IC 1517 is an elliptical galaxy, of apparent magnitude +13.8, in the constellation Pisces. The galaxy is south and west of Gamma Piscium, just south of the ecliptic, and north of the constellation Aquarius. It has a redshift of 0.02449. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20634704 |
IC 1059 is a galaxy in the constellation Libra. It was discovered in 1893 by Stephane Javelle. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20647020 |
NGC 5750 is a barred spiral galaxy with an active galactic nucleus in the constellation Virgo. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20647046 |
NGC 5792 is a barred spiral galaxy about 83 million light-years away in the constellation Libra. There is a magnitude 9.6 star on the northwestern edge of the galaxy. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20647081 |
NGC 6566 is an elliptical galaxy within the constellation Draco. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20647116 |
Paralithic A paralithic horizon is a weathered layer of bedrock. The term comes from the Greek words "para", meaning "akin to", and "lithic", meaning "stony". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20649854 |
Superglass A superglass is a phase of matter which is characterized (at the same time) by superfluidity and a frozen amorphous structure. J.C. Séamus Davis theorised that frozen helium-4 (at 0.2 K and 50 Atm) may be a superglass. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20650838 |
Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical and chemical constitution of the Earth and its atmosphere. can be considered to be a branch of planetary science, but with a much older history. encompasses four main branches of study, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere, each of which is further broken down into more specialized fields. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences. It is also the study of Earth and its neighbors in space. Some Earth scientists use their knowledge of the planet to locate and develop energy and mineral resources. Others study the impact of human activity on Earth's environment, and design methods to protect the planet. Some use their knowledge about earth processes such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes to plan communities that will not expose people to these dangerous events. The Earth sciences can include the study of geology, the lithosphere, and the large-scale structure of the Earth's interior, as well as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Typically, Earth scientists use tools from geology, chronology, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, and mathematics to build a quantitative understanding of how the Earth works and evolves. affects our everyday lives. For example, meteorologists study the weather and watch for dangerous storms. Hydrologists study water and warn of floods | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20653168 |
Earth science Seismologists study earthquakes and try to understand where they will strike. Geologists study rocks and help to locate useful minerals. Earth scientists often work in the field—perhaps climbing mountains, exploring the seabed, crawling through caves, or wading in swamps. They measure and collect samples (such as rocks or river water), then they record their findings on charts and maps. The following fields of science are generally categorized within the Earth sciences: Plate tectonics, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes are geological phenomena that can be explained in terms of physical and chemical processes in the Earth's crust. Beneath the Earth's crust lies the mantle which is heated by the radioactive decay of heavy elements. The mantle is not quite solid and consists of magma which is in a state of semi-perpetual convection. This convection process causes the lithospheric plates to move, albeit slowly. The resulting process is known as plate tectonics. Plate tectonics might be thought of as the process by which the Earth is resurfaced. As the result of seafloor spreading, new crust and lithosphere is created by the flow of magma from the mantle to the near surface, through fissures, where it cools and solidifies. Through subduction, oceanic crust and lithosphere returns to the convecting mantle | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20653168 |
Earth science Areas of the crust where new crust is created are called "divergent boundaries", those where it is brought back into the Earth are "convergent boundaries" and those where plates slide past each other, but no new lithospheric material is created or destroyed, are referred to as transform (or conservative) boundaries Earthquakes result from the movement of the lithospheric plates, and they often occur near convergent boundaries where parts of the crust are forced into the earth as part of subduction. Volcanoes result primarily from the melting of subducted crust material. Crust material that is forced into the asthenosphere melts, and some portion of the melted material becomes light enough to rise to the surface—giving birth to volcanoes. The troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere are the five layers which make up Earth's atmosphere. 75% of the gases in the atmosphere are located within the troposphere, the lowest layer. In all, the atmosphere is made up of about 78.0% nitrogen, 20.9% oxygen, and 0.92% argon. In addition to the nitrogen, oxygen, and argon there are small amounts of other gases including CO and water vapor. Water vapor and CO allow the Earth's atmosphere to catch and hold the Sun's energy through a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect. This allows Earth's surface to be warm enough to have liquid water and support life | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20653168 |
Earth science In addition to storing heat, the atmosphere also protects living organisms by shielding the Earth's surface from cosmic rays—which are often incorrectly thought to be deflected by the magnetic field. The magnetic field—created by the internal motions of the core—produces the magnetosphere which protects Earth's atmosphere from the solar wind. As the Earth is 4.5 billion years old, it would have lost its atmosphere by now if there were no protective magnetosphere. An electromagnet is a magnet that is created by an electric current. The Earth has a solid iron inner core surrounded by a fluid outer core that convects; therefore, Earth is an electromagnet. The motion of fluid convection sustains the Earth's magnetic field. Methodologies vary depending on the nature of the subjects being studied. Studies typically fall into one of three categories: observational, experimental, or theoretical. Earth scientists often conduct sophisticated computer analysis or visit an interesting location to study earth phenomena (e.g. Antarctica or hot spot island chains). A foundational idea in is the notion of uniformitarianism, which states that "ancient geologic features are interpreted by understanding active processes that are readily observed." In other words, any geologic processes at work in the present have operated in the same ways throughout geologic time | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20653168 |
Earth science This enables those who study Earth's history to apply knowledge of how Earth processes operate in the present to gain insight into how the planet has evolved and changed throughout long history. generally recognizes four spheres, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere; these correspond to rocks, water, air and life. Also included by some are the cryosphere (corresponding to ice) as a distinct portion of the hydrosphere and the pedosphere (corresponding to soil) as an active and intermixed sphere. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20653168 |
Statocyte Statocytes are cells thought to be involved in gravitropic perception in plants, located in the cap tissue of the roots. They contain statoliths – starch-filled amyloplastic organelles – which sediment at the lowest part of the cells and initiate differential growth patterns, bending the root towards the vertical axis. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20670226 |
Pasteur point The is a level of oxygen (about 0.3% by volume which is less than 1% of Present Atmospheric Level or PAL) above which facultative aerobic microorganisms and facultative anaerobes adapt from fermentation to aerobic respiration. It is also used to mark the level of oxygen in the early atmosphere of the Earth that is believed to have led to major evolutionary changes. It is named after Louis Pasteur, the French microbiologist who studied anaerobic microbial fermentation, and is related to the Pasteur effect. As it was previously supposed, about 400 million years ago in the Cambrian period, the level of oxygen in the atmosphere rose from 0.1 to 1 percent of present atmospheric level. This led to many organisms adapting from fermentation to respiration, leading to organisms evolving photosynthesis and what is termed the Cambrian explosion of species. It has also been suggested that this increased oxygen level reduced the influence of Ultraviolet radiation. It is now well documented that oxygen level reached at least 10% of the present value 2.4 billion years ago (for details see Great Oxygenation Event). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20688321 |
Parastichy Parastichy, in phyllotaxy, is the spiral pattern of the areoles on some plants, such as cacti, sunflowers and pine cones. These spirals involve the insertion of a single primordium. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20698519 |
Polaris Partners is an investment firm that has partnered with entrepreneurs in the fields of healthcare and technology. The firm has partnered with enterprises in various stages of development. Polaris has offices in Boston, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. The firm has over $4 billion under management and has invested in more than 250 companies. was founded in 1995/1996 by Jon Flint, Terry McGuire, Steve Arnold, who were partners of Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. (BEDCO). Polaris was the first of four successors to Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. (BEDCO), one of the earliest bi-coastal venture capital firms in the US, which dissolved in 1996. The firm has roughly $4.0 billion under management, and is now making investments through its seventh fund. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20700053 |
Oskar Theodor (3 October 1898 – 1987) was an Israeli entomologist who specialised in Diptera. Born in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) he came to pre-Israel Palestine following a year's service as an orderly in the Imperial German Army in World War I. In 1921 he became an assistant in the Government of Palestine Department of Health, and in 1923 he transferred to the Malaria Research Unit in Haifa. In 1925 he became an assistant in the Department of Parasitology in the University of Jerusalem, where he remained for the rest of his career. In 1928, returned briefly to Königsberg to complete his Ph.D. in entomology at the University of Königsberg. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20708173 |
Destarch Destarching occurs in a plant when a part of a plant is "deprived of starch, as by translocation". It is also the process of eliminating starch reserves in a plant for experiments concerning photosynthesis. This is done by leaving the plant(s) in a dark place for a long period of time. Due to the lack of photosynthesis in this place, stored starch is used up, thus the plant is destarched. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20710642 |
Ice cloud An ice cloud is a colloid of ice particles dispersed in air. The term has been used to refer to clouds of both water ice and carbon dioxide ice on Mars. Clouds on Earth can contain ice particles. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20719072 |
Macrocyst A macrocyst is an aggregate of cells of Dictyostelids formed during sexual reproduction enclosed in a cellulose wall. If two amoebae of different mating types are present in a dark and wet environment, they can fuse during aggregation to form a giant cell. The giant cell will then engulf the other cells in the aggregate and encase the whole aggregate in a thick, cellulose wall to protect it. This is known as a macrocyst. Inside the macrocyst, the giant cell divides first through meiosis, then through mitosis to produce many haploid amoebae that will be released to feed as normal amoebae would. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20723111 |
Somatic fusion Somatic fusion, also called protoplast fusion, is a type of genetic modification in plants by which two distinct species of plants are fused together to form a new hybrid plant with the characteristics of both, a somatic hybrid. Hybrids have been produced either between different varieties of the same species (e.g. between non-flowering potato plants and flowering potato plants) or between two different species (e.g. between wheat "Triticum" and rye "Secale" to produce Triticale). Uses of somatic fusion include making potato plants resistant to potato leaf roll disease. Through somatic fusion, the crop potato plant "Solanum tuberosum" – the yield of which is severely reduced by a viral disease transmitted on by the aphid vector – is fused with the wild, non-tuber-bearing potato "Solanum brevidens", which is resistant to the disease. The resulting hybrid has the chromosomes of both plants and is thus similar to polyploid plants. Somatic hybridization was first introduced by Carlson et al. in "Nicotiana glauca". The somatic fusion process occurs in four steps: The procedure for seed plants describe above, fusion of moss protoplasts can be initiated without electric shock but by the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG). Further, moss protoplasts do not need phytohormones for regeneration, and they do not form a callus. Instead, regenerating moss protoplasts behave like germinating moss spores | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20727645 |
Somatic fusion Of further note sodium nitrate and calcium ion at high pH can be used, although results are variable depending on the organism. Somatic cells of different types can be fused to obtain hybrid cells. Hybrid cells are useful in a variety of ways, e.g., (i) to study the control of cell division and gene expression, (ii) to investigate malignant transformations, (iii) to obtain viral replication, (iv) for gene or chromosome mapping and for (v) production of monoclonal antibodies by producing hybridoma (hybrid cells between an immortalised cell and an antibody producing lymphocyte), etc. Chromosome mapping through somatic cell hybridization is essentially based on fusion of human and mouse somatic cells. Generally, human fibrocytes or leucocytes are fused with mouse continuous cell lines. When human and mouse cells (or cells of any two mammalian species or of the same species) are mixed, spontaneous cell fusion occurs at a very low rate (10-6). Cell fusion is enhanced 100 to 1000 times by the addition of ultraviolet inactivated Sendai (parainfluenza) virus or polyethylene glycol (PEG). These agents adhere to the plasma membranes of cells and alter their properties in such a way that facilitates their fusion. Fusion of two cells produces a heterokaryon, i.e., a single hybrid cell with two nuclei, one from each of the cells entering fusion. Subsequently, the two nuclei also fuse to yield a hybrid cell with a single nucleus. A generalized scheme for somatic cell hybridization may be described as follows | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20727645 |
Somatic fusion Appropriate human and mouse cells are selected and mixed together in the presence of inactivated Sendai virus or PEG to promote cell fusion. After a period of time, the cells (a mixture of man, mouse and 'hybrid' cells) are plated on a selective medium, e.g., HAT medium, which allows the multiplication of hybrid cells only. Several clones (each derived from a single hybrid cell) of the hybrid cells are thus isolated and subjected to both cytogenetic and appropriate biochemical analyses for the detection of enzyme/ protein/trait under investigation. An attempt is now made to correlate the presence and absence of the trait with the presence and absence of a human chromosome in the hybrid clones. If there is a perfect correlation between the presence and absence of a human chromosome and that of a trait in the hybrid clones, the gene governing the trait is taken to be located in the concerned chromosome. The HAT medium is one of the several selective media used for the selection of hybrid cells. This medium is supplemented with hypoxanthine, aminopterin and thymidine, hence the name HAT medium. Antimetabolite aminopterin blocks the cellular biosynthesis of purines and pyrimidines from simple sugars and amino acids. However, normal human and mouse cells can still multiply as they can utilize hypoxanthine and thymidine present in the medium through a salvage pathway, which ordinarily recycles the purines and pyrimidines produced from degradation of nucleic acids | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20727645 |
Somatic fusion Hypoxanthine is converted into guanine by the enzyme hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), while thymidine is phosphorylated by thymidine kinase (TK); both HGPRT and TK are enzymes of the salvage pathway. On a HAT medium, only those cells that have active HGPRT (HGPRT+) and TK (TK+) enzymes can proliferate, while those deficient in these enzymes (HGPRr- and/or TK-) can not divide (since they cannot produce purines and pyrimidines due to the aminopterin present in the HAT medium). For using HAT medium as a selective agent, human cells used for fusion must be deficient for either the enzyme HGPRT or TK, while mouse cells must be deficient for the other enzyme of this pair. Thus, one may fuse HGPRT deficient human cells (designated as TK+ HGPRr-) with TK deficient mouse cells (denoted as TK- HGPRT+). Their fusion products (hybrid cells) will be TK+ (due to the human gene) and HGPRT+ (due to the mouse gene) and will multiply on the HAT medium, while the man and mouse cells will fail to do so. Experiments with other selective media can be planned in a similar fashion. Table: Reference #5 Note: The table only lists a few examples, there are many more crosses. The possibilities of this technology are great; however, not all species are easily put into protoplast culture. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20727645 |
Lyonium ion In chemistry, a lyonium ion is the cation derived by the protonation of a solvent molecule. For example, a hydronium ion is formed by the protonation of water, and is the cation formed by the protonation of methanol. Its counterpart is a lyate ion, the anion formed by the deprotonation of a solvent molecule. Lyonium and lyate ions, resulting from molecular autoionization, contribute to the molar conductivity of protolytic solvents. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20731495 |
Lyate ion In chemistry, a lyate ion is the anion derived by the deprotonation of a solvent molecule. For example, a hydroxide ion is formed by the deprotonation of water, and methoxide (CHO) is the anion formed by the deprotonation of methanol. Its counterpart is a lyonium ion, the cation formed by the protonation of a solvent molecule. Lyonium and lyate ions, resulting from molecular autoionization, contribute to the molar conductivity of protolytic solvents. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20731635 |
Helen Magnus Dr. is the series protagonist and central character of the Canadian fantasy-science fiction television series "Sanctuary". She is portrayed by Amanda Tapping. In the series, Magnus is a biologist from Victorian era England, who currently runs the global Sanctuary Network, an organization tasked with finding a series of creatures called "abnormals", and later bring them to a Sanctuary base for refuge to protect them from the human population. The character is over two and a half centuries old, having been given her advanced longevity by injecting herself with vampire blood, as well as reliving the 20th century from time travel. After traveling back in time, Magnus had to avoid people so she isolated herself. In the season 4 finale "Sanctuary For None: Part 2" It was revealed that Magnus spent the 113 years creating a new Sanctuary. Tapping was offered a part in the original web series by series creator Damian Kindler and director Martin Wood. It became the actress' first regular role since playing Samantha Carter on "Stargate SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis" for eleven years. She initially had difficulty playing Magnus as her personality greatly differed from Carter. She also dyed her hair darker and spoke with an English accent throughout the run, as she herself was born in England. In addition, Tapping serves as the series executive producer and on some occasions, director | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus Magnus and Tapping's portrayal of the character received generally mixed reactions from critics, with the negative comments pointing toward's Tapping's accent. However, Tapping was nominated for four awards, one Gemini Award and three Leo Awards, for her role as Helen Magnus, winning a Leo Award for "Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series" in 2009 for the episode "Requiem". was born on August 27, 1850 to Gregory Magnus (Jim Byrnes) and Patricia Heathering. Her father was regarded as a controversial medical researcher of his time, and exposed his daughter to his profession when she was a child. Years later, she helped form a secret group known as "the Five", along with John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl), Nikola Tesla (Jonathon Young), James Watson (Peter Wingfield) and Nigel Griffin (Vincent Gale) at Oxford University. Each member voluntarily injected themselves with pure vampire blood, a species that had become extinct centuries before. This granted each member unique abilities. Magnus' ability was longevity, allowing her to live several times longer than any normal human. At this point she entered a relationship with Druitt, whose ability is personal teleportation. However, he became insane and murdered several prostitutes, thereby becoming Jack the Ripper. They did conceive a child, Magnus later took the embryo and froze it. By the turn of the 20th century, her research with the abnormal population went into full swing, and she founded the Sanctuary Network | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus To get the funding she needed, the Prime Minister reunited the Five to stop and kill Adam Worth (Ian Tracey), who was turned down as a sixth member and blamed the Five for the death of his daughter, from releasing a toxin in London. In the season two episode "Next Tuesday", Magnus states she was a passenger on the "RMS Titanic" in 1912. In July 1944, she worked with the French Resistance in Normandy to prevent the Nazis from controlling a fire elemental before D-Day. She then charged the head Sanctuary in Old City, a fictional city in the Pacific Northwest, during which she decided to use the embryo to bear her daughter, Ashley (Emilie Ullerup). On one of her expeditions, she saved a young Will Zimmerman from a dangerous abnormal, but failed to capture it before it killed his mother. In the first season of the show, Magnus appoints an adult Will (Robin Dunne), a forensic psychiatrist who worked for the Old City Police Department, to become her new protégé, which he eventually accepts. Druitt returns to the Sanctuary to ask Magnus to cure him from an unknown affliction; Magnus tricks him into injecting poison, though Druitt escapes. Later, in "The Five", it would be revealed Druitt survived, and Tesla was able to suppress his insanity. In "Fata Morgana", she becomes aware of an underground organization known as the Cabal, who plot to control all abnormals for their own gain, and in several episodes throughout the first season, will become her and her organization's primary focus | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus In "Requiem", Magnus becomes exposed to an aggressive parasite in the Bermuda Triangle when going with Will to see a group of mermaids who massacred each other because of the same parasite. To stop Magnus from killing Will and herself, Will locks her in a cabin in the submarine, and drains all the oxygen, killing her. She is later revived after Will captures the escaping parasite. In the two-part season finale "Revelations", the Cabal launch a bioweapon called "Lazarus", which causes any exposed abnormal to attack humans. To combat this, Magnus regroups the Five to Bhalasaam, a lost city, to recover the source blood (vampire blood). However, by the end Magnus is distressed to learn that the Cabal have turned Ashley against her and the team and steals the blood sample. The second season begins six weeks after the end of the first, where Magnus works hard to defeat the Cabal and save Ashley, whom the Cabal transformed to a vampire-hybrid superabnormal, one of six tasked to destroy the Sanctuary Network. When the superabnormals arrive at the Old City Sanctuary, Magnus is able to get through to Ashley, who recognises her in time to save her from another superabnormal, and then teleports. Because an electromagnetic field is active, it would mean whoever teleports inside would be vaporized. Despite this, Magnus believes Ashley's life energy may be in the electromagnetic field's buffer. When it does not, she is forced to accept that Ashley has died | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus Because of her death, and other loved ones because of her longevity, she tried to find a way to age at a normal rate again. She finds an elixir used by the Mayans in Honduras, but it has the side effect of turning humans into zombie-like creatures. After being shown the potential consequences of the elixir's release by an incorporeal guardian, she decides to leave it behind. Later on in the season, her leadership of the Sanctuary Network would be called into question by the other heads of house. In "Veritas", she sets up an elaborate scheme to apprehend a telepath named Emma (Erica Cerra), whom she suspects of working against the Network. In the scheme, Magnus forges a mental illness and fakes the murder of her butler, Bigfoot (Heyerdahl), and makes Emma believe she kept alive Big Bertha, the most dangerous abnormal on Earth, which Magnus was thought to have killed. However, it is revealed in the season finale "Kali", Magnus did indeed keep her alive in secrecy, but sedated, as she believes that killing Bertha would jeopardize the planet. When Big Bertha is being controlled by Edward Forsythe, Magnus attempts to sedate Big Bertha again, but by then, Terrence Wexford (Paul McGillion) overrides her authority and assumes control of the network. His attempt to kill Bertha only succeeds in angering her, and she launches a tsunami | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus The third season begins with Magnus forcing Wexford to step down as head of the Sanctuary Network, thereby putting herself back in command, while the rest of the team deal with the tsunami. Though they are not happy that Big Bertha is still alive, the other Sanctuary house heads decide to keep Magnus in charge, while also firing Wexford for breaking several protocols. She learns from Will that when he talked to Kali, the avatar manifestation of Big Bertha, into stopping the tsunami, he saw her father, who left her clues leading to a map leading to Hollow Earth, thought to be the home of every abnormal species on the planet. In "Breach" Magnus learns Adam Worth is still alive, and he also intends to find Hollow Earth, having been there before and resurrected. After finding an entrance to Hollow Earth in Tibet, she and the team venture to the underground city of Praxis, where leader Ranna (Polly Walker) executes her and her team for trespassing. However, they are later resurrected as she wants their help in saving the city, which is facing destruction because a hyperspecies abnormal is not controlling the city's geothermal energy. After saving it, Magnus and her team and Ranna part in good terms. It is also revealed Worth also came to the city to steal a power source with unlimited capabilities | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus Though it was assumed Druitt killed him before he could leave with it, it is later revealed in the season finale that Druitt kept him alive and that he is using the power source to create a time machine and cure his daughter's leukemia, which could cause untold consequences on the planet. His first failed attempt causes the destruction of Praxis, and a time dilation bubble in Carentan, France. Magnus fails to stop him from succeeding, but does follow him through a time portal to London in 1898. Magnus pursues Worth throughout London to stop him from curing his daughter Imogene, who is meant to die in the timeline. During the pursuit she tries to avoid her past self, but fails to stop encountering Watson, who quickly discovers she is from his future, but he promises to keep quiet for the sake of preserving the timeline. When Worth chases Magnus later he accidentally kills Imogene, restoring the timeline. After killing Worth, Magnus ends up in hiding for the next 113 years before she can resurface to help Will dealing with a mass of Abnormals invading the surface. In the season finale, it is revealed that Helen had been secretly working with several important figures of the 20th Century, including Albert Einstein and Buckminster Fuller amongst others, and had built a new underground Sanctuary. The Syfy website describes Magnus as "beautiful and enigmatic" who has "devoted her life to the practical research of cutting edge medicine and science". Her work is to explore the world of abnormals | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus While the rest of the world dismiss them as monstrous figments of their imaginations and elements of childhood nightmares, Magnus realizes that they are the world's triumphs and mistakes. Magnus hence becomes their protector, but in some cases, their captor. She is also described as "bold and straightforward, brave and no-nonsense, yet she remains proudly true to her formal Victorian English sensibilities". Portraying actress Amanda Tapping described Magnus as a "crazy character" who is "very eccentric and very sexy and very unapologetic". Magnus "adores her daughter Ashley, respecting her independence and self-reliance – but that doesn't preclude some occasional mother-daughter friction". Tapping has said that there is a "huge amount of respect" between the two characters, adding "Ashley knows that when her mother says she needs to do something then she says it for a reason. And Magnus has a huge amount of respect for Ashley because Ashley can do things that she can't." Magnus made a hard choice of having Ashley even though she does not have her mother's longevity, and Magnus would outlive her daughter. In the first season Magnus recruits Will as her protégé. When asked what Magnus thinks of Will, Tapping stated "I think Helen finds him fascinating. He's so idealistic, she sees in him all the qualities that she admires, but all the qualities that she knows will probably get beaten out of him over the course of time. His idealism and purity of thought and the way he analyses things .. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus she absolutely respects that, but I think she also realises that there's going to come a time when he's going to become a bit jaded ... There are a couple of episodes where there's been this bizarre sexual tension between the two of them ... but generally there's just a huge healthy respect." During a Blastr interview in 2011, Tapping further explains Magnus' relationship with Will; "I love how this relationship has developed. [...] "It's been a really organic transformation of Will's character and Magnus. To actually bring somebody on board who, initially, it's all about teaching him the ropes. And then as the seasons have gone on he's come into his own. He's come into his own as a scientist. He's come into his own in terms of his relationship with the people in the Sanctuary." Dunne meanwhile stated "there's a nice synchronicity that has formed between the two characters. And really, they're two people that depend on each other for survival. And therefore, that's where the respect comes out of." Series creator Damian Kindler conceived the idea of "Sanctuary" in 2001, many of his ideas were included in the final product, one of them being the English scientist Helen Magnus. A few years later, Kindler asked Martin Wood if there was a potential for a series. When Wood believed it would be, they both decided to approach Amanda Tapping to participate in the project, and she accepted. Kindler believed that casting Tapping was a "nice fit" to the character because the actress was born in England | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus Tapping, who played the regular character Samantha Carter in "Stargate SG-1" and sister show "Stargate Atlantis", did not know the future of her role in the show when she was approached to appear on "Sanctuary" in 2006. When the webseries started shooting in January 2007, it did not conflict with her commitments on "Stargate". After the fourth season of "Atlantis", Tapping was offered to return to the fifth season and she accepted. When "Sanctuary" was picked up to a television series, Tapping decided to turn down the "Atlantis" contract, having been encouraged by her husband to move on after playing Carter for eleven years. She went through a "weird disconnect" playing Magnus since "Sam Carter was so much a part of me". However, she was able to embrace playing a new character "pretty quickly". Nevertheless, Tapping found it a challenge to play a different character, as Carter and Magnus have differing personalities and points of view; "after playing a character like Sam Carter for so long where her physicality is so comfortable – Sam is so comfortable in her own skin and Helen is this very sexual, more mysterious being. She has a much darker edge to her and it was sort of finding that because Carter always looks on the bright side and Helen has been around so long, and has seen so much of the evil in human society if you will." Whilst filming the webisodes, Tapping wore a dark-haired wig, but when the television series was being shot, she dyed her hair to match the hair colour of the wig | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus Tapping spoke with an English accent throughout the run of the series. Although many of her relatives are from the United Kingdom and speak with British accents Tapping found the accent a challenge, as her character came from the Victorian era, which is a "very specific way of speaking. She clings to that eccentricity a bit, to that Britishness." The actress listened to several different voices, as she had to factor in the fact that Magnus lived all around the world. "Sanctuary" was mostly filmed on virtual green screen sets. Initially Tapping went through what she called "chroma key green headaches" because she had to stare at nothing but bright green walls for the first few days. When she got used to it, she likened filming on green screen to working in theatre. In the second season her daughter, Ashley was killed off. The producers, as well as the American and Canadian networks to give the character, including Magnus, a deep and most dramatic impact. They also wanted Magnus to feel more angry and vulnerable throughout the season, especially in the first three episodes. After playing Magnus in the series' third season, Tapping admitted that she still does not get Magnus because "there's so many things about the decisions that she makes that I still can't wrap my head around, and to me that's fascinating as an actor, to try to get inside somebody so complex and so kind of confusing | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus " In the episode "Normandy", Tapping wore a red-haired wig for Magnus during her time in the Second World War, as an homage to her late grandmother. For the fourth season, Tapping requested that Magnus would be given a new love interest. The request was granted in the form of a female virologist appearing early in the season (thus establishing Magnus's bisexuality). In addition to being an actor, Tapping was also an executive producer on the series. However, she did not get paid extra as that salary would go towards financing the show, which was not backed up by a studio. She also served as a director on certain days if other directors were unavailable, or called in sick. In the second season, she was allowed to direct "Veritas", the seventh episode. According to Mark Wilson of "About.com", Amanda Tapping was enthusiastic about creating a radically different character after eleven years playing Samantha Carter in "Stargate SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis", and expended tremendous effort to separate Helen from Carter as successfully as possible. Tapping was able to successfully portray a woman who's experienced a century and a half of isolation, strangeness, and relentless compassion. Rick Bentley from "McClatchy Newspapers" commented Tapping's role as Dr. Magnus was a way for the actor to make a name of herself outside the "Stargate" universe as Carter. Magnus is also described as a "non-glib, female Jack Harkness;" Jack Harkness being the main character from the British science fiction show "Torchwood" | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus Hilary Rothing of UGO said that "Dr. is intelligent, alluring and has one of those tasty British accents – Victorian era to be exact. That's because she's a 157 years old. But seriously, she doesn't look a day over 35." She also added that Tapping is "right at home" taking the lead for the show. Alex Walker of Den of Geek believed Magnus was "typical for an English character in an American TV show, with a liking for tea and a cut-glass elocution betraying no hint of a regional accent". has been listed number ten in "TV Squad'<nowiki>s</nowiki>" "Ten Most mysterious characters on television". Magnus's English accent was not well received by some critics. She was listed ninth in io9's "Worst Fake Accents From The Yanks (And Canucks) Of Science Fiction", with Meredith Woerner stating "I really want to like this new Sci Fi Channel show, especially since the monsters look amazing – but I'm worried Tapping's dreadful accent will get in the way. It sounds completely forced in all the clips I've seen so far, but I'll guess I'll have to wait until October 3 to make my full assessment." Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" wondered why Tapping decided to speak with an "iffy accent," but added she would be of interest by fans of Tapping's previous works, notably "Stargate". Rob Owen of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" called Tapping's English accent "unremarkable", whilst calling the show an "unremarkable series." Over the course of the series, Tapping's portrayal of Magnus resulted in several award nominations | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
Helen Magnus Tapping was nominated for a 2009 Gemini Award for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role," for her role in "Requiem", but lost out to "Being Erica's" Erin Karpluk In the same year, Tapping won the similar "Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series" Leo Award for the same episode. She was nominated for the same category again in 2010 for "Pavor Nocturnus", and in 2011 for "Breach", but lost out to Erin Karpluk and "Blackstone's" Carmen Moore, respectively. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20732820 |
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was an American oncology company, now part of Takeda Oncology, which was founded in 1991 by Harvey J. Berger, M.D. and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ARIAD engaged in the discovery, development, and commercialization of medicines for cancer patients. ARIAD’s most prominent drug discoveries include Iclusig, designed for patients with all forms of Philadelphia chromosome-positive [Ph+] chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are resistant to or unable to tolerate other tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and brigatinib, a lung cancer drug which has completed its registration trial in ALK fusion driven non-small cell lung cancer as of June 2016 and was approved in the U.S. in April 2017. In January 2017, Takeda announced it would acquire ARIAD for $5.2 billion, expanding the company's oncology and hematology business. On February 16, 2017, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. announced it had completed its acquisition of ARIAD and incorporated ARIAD into Takeda Oncology. ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Harvey J. Berger, M.D. ARIAD raised $46 million as its initial financing in 1992, making it the single highest round of funding in the biotechnology industry at that time. ARIAD filed for an initial public offering through NASDAQ in 1994. ARIAD established its European headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20737471 |
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals The company sells and markets its initial drug, Iclusig, through specialty pharmacies and specialty distributors in the United States. In 2016, ARIAD sold its European business and the distribution of Iclusig to Incyte Corp and now receives royalties and other payments from Incyte based on Iclusig sales in the EU. ARIAD also developed two small-molecule drugs, ridaforolimus and rimiducid, and licensed them to companies with complementary technologies. In July 2015, the company announced it was due to receive up to $200 million through a royalty financing deal with PDL BioPharma. ARIAD is obligated to repay the $200 mm and a predefined interest, with the note being guaranteed by future sales of ponatinib and in some cases, brigatinib. On February 21, 2014 announced the appointment of Sarissa Capital's Alexander J. Denner, Ph.D. to a two-year term on the company's Board of Directors and became ARIAD's second-largest shareholder. In 2016, ARIAD announced that Denner had become the chairman of the board and the company announced the termination of its shareholder's rights plan. In 2016, the company was ranked #3 on the Deloitte Fast 500 North America list. Berger retired as chairman and CEO of ARIAD in December 2015 and became Founder, chairman and CEO Emeritus as of January 2016. ARIAD developed Ponatinib (Iclusig), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive [Ph+] chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and acute lymphoblastic leukemia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20737471 |
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals On December 14, 2012 the FDA approved ARIAD's leukemia drug Ponatinib for patients with all forms of Ph+ CML or Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are resistant to or unable to tolerate other tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The drug was temporarily withdrawn from the U.S. market in November 2013 because of the risk of blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels. Ponatinib was returned to the market in the U.S. on December 20, 2013 with revised prescribing information, new warnings and a REMS. ARIAD had set up an emergency-access program for Ponatinib, which provided drugs to patients in need during this six-week period. Ponatinib remained on the market in all European countries and was subsequently approved in Japan. ARIAD’s product pipeline includes brigatinib, an inhibitor of anaplastic lymphoma kinase [ALK] for treating ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer. This drug reported results of its registration trial at ASCO, June 6, 2016, with encouraging results, leading to approval in the U.S. in April 2017. Brigatinib was designated a Breakthrough Medicine by the FDA. Ridaforolimus is an mTOR inhibitor being developed by Medinol Ltd for use in drug-eluting stents for patients with coronary artery disease. Medinol has completed two registrational trials in patients with coronary artery disease, which met its primary and secondary endpoints. In October 2017, Medinol’s EluNIR drug eluting stent, coated with ridaforolimus, received CE Mark in Europe. In November 2017, it was approved for marketing in the U.S | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20737471 |
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals by the FDA. Various company-sponsored and investigator-sponsored trials are ongoing in several indications, including first line and second line CML, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCR-ABL), acute myeloid leukemia (FLT3 inhibitor), non-small cell lung cancer (RET, FGFR), advanced biliary cancer with FGFR2 fusions and other cancers with activating mutations involving the following genes: FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, FGFR4, RET, and KIT. Rimiducid is an investigational chemical dimerizer being developed by partner, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and is in Phase 3 clinical trials. AP32788 is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of solid tumors with EGFR and HER2 activating mutation and began Phase 1/2 testing in the second quarter of 2016. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20737471 |
Jacqueline Priestman is a British woman from Manchester who became notable for frequently collecting an excess of static electricity on her body, resulting in various household electrical malfunctions (such as exploding electrical sockets). Her plight was remedied by eliminating the artificial fiber carpeting in her home and the application of static discharge devices. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20738416 |
Blazhko effect The Blazhko effect, which is sometimes called long-period modulation, is a variation in period and amplitude in RR Lyrae type variable stars. It was first observed by Sergey Blazhko in 1907 in the star RW Draconis. The physics behind the is currently still a matter of debate, with there being three primary hypotheses. In the first, referred to as the resonance model, the cause of the modulation is a non-linear resonance among either the fundamental or the first overtone pulsation mode of the star and a higher mode. The second, known as the magnetic model, assumes the variation to be caused by the magnetic field being inclined to the rotational axis, deforming the main radial mode. The magnetic model was ruled out in 2004 by high resolution spectro-polarimetric observations. The third model assumes that cycles in the convection cause the alternations and the modulations. Observational evidence based on Kepler observations indicates much of the Blazhko effect's two-cycle light curve modulation is due to simple period-doubling. Many RR Lyrae stars have a variability period of approximately 12 hours and ground-based astronomers typically make nightly observations about 24 hours apart; thus period-doubling results in brightness maximums during nightly observations that are significantly different than the daytime maximum. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20751475 |
RV Wecoma RV "Wecoma" is a research vessel owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University (OSU) as a member of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. It is based in Newport in the U.S. state of Oregon near OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center. Launched in 1975, it has a maximum displacement of . The ship is equipped with of laboratory space to support up to 18 scientists at sea. It has a variety of equipment permanently installed, and optional additional equipment available on request, to measure and analyze navigational data; surface atmospheric conditions; sea surface temperature, salinity, fluorescence; bottom depth; dissolved oxygen titration; solar radiation; GPS time; bioacoustics; and geological sampling. The range of depths of submerged equipment varies from . The vessel can support diving operations, radioactive isotope materials, and explosive materials. "Wecoma" made her last operational cruise November 2011 and was scheduled to be retired with the interim replacement ship being the former Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution operated R/V "Oceanus". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20754804 |
Cyborg A cyborg (), a contraction of "cybernetic organism", is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. The term cyborg is not the same thing as bionic, biorobot or android; it applies to an organism that has restored function or enhanced abilities due to the integration of some artificial component or technology that relies on some sort of feedback. While cyborgs are commonly thought of as mammals, including humans, they might also conceivably be any kind of organism. D. S. Halacy's "Cyborg: Evolution of the Superman" in 1965 featured an introduction which spoke of a "new frontier" that was "not merely space, but more profoundly the relationship between 'inner space' to 'outer space' – a bridge...between mind and matter." In science fiction, the most recognizable portrayal of a cyborg is a human being with visibly mechanical parts, such as the superhero from DC Comics or the Borg from "Star Trek". But cyborgs may also be portrayed as looking more like robots or more like ordinary humans. Cyborga may appear as humanoid robots, such as Robotman from DC's "Doom Patrol" or the Cybermen from "Doctor Who", or they may appear as non-humanoid robots, such as the Daleks in "Doctor Who" or some of the Motorball players in Battle Angel Alita. More human appearing cyborgs may cover up their mechanical parts with armor or clothing, such as Darth Vader from "Star Wars" or Misty Knight from Marvel Comics | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Cyborgs may even have mechanical parts or bodies that appear human. The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman had bionic parts that looked like the body parts they replaced. Motoko Kusanagi from "Ghost in the Shell" is a full-body cyborg whose body looks human. In the examples mentioned, as well as many more, it is common for cyborgs to have physical or mental abilities beyond what humans are capable of. They may have super strength, enhanced senses, computer-assisted brains, or built-in weaponry. According to some definitions of the term, the physical attachments humanity has with even the most basic technologies have already made them cyborgs. In a typical example, a human with an artificial cardiac pacemaker or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator would be considered a cyborg, since these devices measure voltage potentials in the body, perform signal processing, and can deliver electrical stimuli, using this synthetic feedback mechanism to keep that person alive. Implants, especially cochlear implants, that combine mechanical modification with any kind of feedback response are also cyborg enhancements. Some theorists cite such modifications as contact lenses, hearing aids, smart phone or intraocular lenses as examples of fitting humans with technology to enhance their biological capabilities. As cyborgs currently are on the rise some theorists argue there is a need to develop new definitions of aging and for instance a bio-techno-social definition of aging has been suggested | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg The term is also used to address human-technology mixtures in the abstract. This includes not only commonly used pieces of technology such as phones, computers, the Internet, etc. but also artifacts that may not popularly be considered technology; for example, pen and paper, and speech and language. When augmented with these technologies and connected in communication with people in other times and places, a person becomes capable of much more than they were before. An example is a computer, which gains power by using Internet protocols to connect with other computers. Another example, which is becoming more and more relevant is a bot-assisted human or human-assisted-bot, used to target social media with likes and shares. Cybernetic technologies include highways, pipes, electrical wiring, buildings, electrical plants, libraries, and other infrastructure that we hardly notice, but which are critical parts of the cybernetics that we work within. Bruce Sterling in his universe of Shaper/Mechanist suggested an idea of alternative cyborg called Lobster, which is made not by using internal implants, but by using an external shell (e.g. a Powered Exoskeleton). Unlike human cyborgs that appear human externally while being synthetic internally (e.g. the Bishop type in the Alien franchise), Lobster looks inhuman externally but contains a human internally (e.g. Elysium, RoboCop) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg The computer game "" prominently featured cyborgs called Omar, where "Omar" is a Russian translation of the word "Lobster" (since the Omar are of Russian origin in the game). The concept of a man-machine mixture was widespread in science fiction before World War II. As early as 1843, Edgar Allan Poe described a man with extensive prostheses in the short story "The Man That Was Used Up". In 1911, Jean de La Hire introduced the Nyctalope, a science fiction hero who was perhaps the first literary cyborg, in "Le Mystère des XV" (later translated as "The Nyctalope on Mars"). Edmond Hamilton presented space explorers with a mixture of organic and machine parts in his novel "The Comet Doom" in 1928. He later featured the talking, living brain of an old scientist, Simon Wright, floating around in a transparent case, in all the adventures of his famous hero, Captain Future. He uses the term explicitly in the 1962 short story, "After a Judgment Day," to describe the "mechanical analogs" called "Charlies," explaining that "[c]yborgs, they had been called from the first one in the 1960s...cybernetic organisms." In the short story "No Woman Born" in 1944, C. L. Moore wrote of Deirdre, a dancer, whose body was burned completely and whose brain was placed in a faceless but beautiful and supple mechanical body. The term was coined by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Kline in 1960 to refer to their conception of an enhanced human being who could survive in extraterrestrial environments: Their concept was the outcome of thinking about the need for an intimate relationship between human and machine as the new frontier of space exploration was beginning to open up. A designer of physiological instrumentation and electronic data-processing systems, Clynes was the chief research scientist in the Dynamic Simulation Laboratory at Rockland State Hospital in New York. The term first appears in print five months earlier when "The New York Times" reported on the Psychophysiological Aspects of Space Flight Symposium where Clynes and Kline first presented their paper. A book titled "Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer" was published by Doubleday in 2001. Some of the ideas in the book were incorporated into the 35 mm motion picture film "Cyberman". tissues structured with carbon nanotubes and plant or fungal cells have been used in artificial tissue engineering to produce new materials for mechanical and electrical uses. The work was presented by Di Giacomo and Maresca at MRS 2013 Spring conference on Apr, 3rd, talk number SS4.04. The cyborg obtained is inexpensive, light and has unique mechanical properties. It can also be shaped in the desired forms. Cells combined with MWCNTs co-precipitated as a specific aggregate of cells and nanotubes that formed a viscous material | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Likewise, dried cells still acted as a stable matrix for the MWCNT network. When observed by optical microscopy the material resembled an artificial "tissue" composed of highly packed cells. The effect of cell drying is manifested by their "ghost cell" appearance. A rather specific physical interaction between MWCNTs and cells was observed by electron microscopy suggesting that the cell wall (the most outer part of fungal and plant cells) may play a major active role in establishing a CNTs network and its stabilization. This novel material can be used in a wide range of electronic applications from heating to sensing and has the potential to open important new avenues to be exploited in electromagnetic shielding for radio frequency electronics and aerospace technology. In particular, using Candida albicans cells cyborg tissue materials with temperature sensing properties have been reported. In current prosthetic applications, the C-Leg system developed by Otto Bock HealthCare is used to replace a human leg that has been amputated because of injury or illness. The use of sensors in the artificial C-Leg aids in walking significantly by attempting to replicate the user's natural gait, as it would be prior to amputation. Prostheses like the C-Leg and the more advanced iLimb are considered by some to be the first real steps towards the next generation of real-world cyborg applications | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Additionally cochlear implants and magnetic implants which provide people with a sense that they would not otherwise have had can additionally be thought of as creating cyborgs. In vision science, direct brain implants have been used to treat non-congenital (acquired) blindness. One of the first scientists to come up with a working brain interface to restore sight was a private researcher William Dobelle. Dobelle's first prototype was implanted into "Jerry", a man blinded in adulthood, in 1978. A single-array BCI containing 68 electrodes was implanted onto Jerry's visual cortex and succeeded in producing phosphenes, the sensation of seeing light. The system included cameras mounted on glasses to send signals to the implant. Initially, the implant allowed Jerry to see shades of grey in a limited field of vision at a low frame-rate. This also required him to be hooked up to a two-ton mainframe, but shrinking electronics and faster computers made his artificial eye more portable and now enable him to perform simple tasks unassisted. In 1997, Philip Kennedy, a scientist and physician, created the world's first human cyborg from Johnny Ray, a Vietnam veteran who suffered a stroke. Ray's body, as doctors called it, was "locked in". Ray wanted his old life back so he agreed to Kennedy's experiment. Kennedy embedded an implant he designed (and named "neurotrophic electrode") near the part of Ray's brain so that Ray would be able to have some movement back in his body | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg The surgery went successfully, but in 2002, Johnny Ray died. In 2002, Canadian Jens Naumann, also blinded in adulthood, became the first in a series of 16 paying patients to receive Dobelle's second generation implant, marking one of the earliest commercial uses of BCIs. The second-generation device used a more sophisticated implant enabling better mapping of phosphenes into a coherent vision. Phosphenes are spread out across the visual field in what researchers call the starry-night effect. Immediately after his implant, Naumann was able to use his imperfectly restored vision to drive slowly around the parking area of the research institute. In contrast to replacement technologies, in 2002, under the heading Project Cyborg, a British scientist, Kevin Warwick, had an array of 100 electrodes fired into his nervous system in order to link his nervous system into the internet to investigate enhancement possibilities. With this in place, Warwick successfully carried out a series of experiments including extending his nervous system over the internet to control a robotic hand, also receiving feedback from the fingertips in order to control the hand's grip. This was a form of extended sensory input. Subsequently, he investigated ultrasonic input in order to remotely detect the distance to objects. Finally, with electrodes also implanted into his wife's nervous system, they conducted the first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans.<ref name="doi10.1001/archneur.60.10 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg 1369|noedit"></ref> Since 2004, British artist Neil Harbisson has had a cyborg antenna implanted in his head that allows him to extend his perception of colors beyond the human visual spectrum through vibrations in his skull. His antenna was included within his 2004 passport photograph which has been claimed to confirm his cyborg status. In 2012 at TEDGlobal, Harbisson explained that he started to feel cyborg when he noticed that the software and his brain had united and given him an extra sense. Neil Harbisson is a co-founder of the Foundation (2004) and cofounded the Transpecies Society in 2017, which is an association that empowers the individuals with non-human identities and supports them in their decisions to develop unique senses and new organs. Neil Harbisson is a global advocate for the rights of cyborgs. Rob Spence, a Toronto-based film-maker, who titles himself a real-life "Eyeborg", severely damaged his right eye in a shooting accident on his grandfather's farm as a child. Many years later, in 2005, he decided to have his ever-deteriorating and now technically blind eye surgically removed, whereafter he wore an eye patch for some time before he later, after having played for some time with the idea of installing a camera instead, contacted professor Steve Mann at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an expert in wearable computing and cyborg technology | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Under Mann's guidance, Spence, at age 36, created a prototype in the form of the miniature camera which could be fitted inside his prosthetic eye; an invention would come to be named by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of 2009. The bionic eye records everything he sees and contains a 1.5 mm-square, low-resolution video camera, a small round printed circuit board, a wireless video transmitter, which allows him to transmit what he is seeing in real-time to a computer, and a 3-voltage rechargeable Varta microbattery. The eye is not connected to his brain and has not restored his sense of vision. Additionally, Spence has also installed a laser-like LED light in one version of the prototype. Furthermore, many cyborgs with multifunctional microchips injected into their hand are known to exist. With the chips they are able to swipe cards, open or unlock doors, operate devices such as printers or, with some using a cryptocurrency, buy products, such as drinks, with a wave of the hand. bodyNET is an application of human-electronic interaction currently in development by researchers from Stanford University. The technology is based on stretchable semiconductor materials (Elastronic). According to their article in Nature, the technology is composed of smart devices, screens, and a network of sensors that can be implanted into the body, woven into the skin or worn as clothes. It has been suggested, that this platform can potentially replace the smartphone in the future | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg The US-based company Backyard Brains released what they refer to as "The world's first commercially available cyborg" called the RoboRoach. The project started as a University of Michigan biomedical engineering student senior design project in 2010 and was launched as an available beta product on 25 February 2011. The RoboRoach was officially released into production via a TED talk at the TED Global conference, and via the crowdsourcing website Kickstarter in 2013, the kit allows students to use microstimulation to momentarily control the movements of a walking cockroach (left and right) using a bluetooth-enabled smartphone as the controller. Other groups have developed cyborg insects, including researchers at North Carolina State University, UC Berkeley, and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, but the RoboRoach was the first kit available to the general public and was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health as a device to serve as a teaching aid to promote an interest in neuroscience. Several animal welfare organizations including the RSPCA and PETA have expressed concerns about the ethics and welfare of animals in this project. In the late 2010s, scientists have created cyborg jellyfish using a microelectronic prosthetic which propels the animal to swim almost three times faster while using just twice the metabolic energy of their unmodified peers. The prosthetics can be removed without harming the jellyfish | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg In medicine, there are two important and different types of cyborgs: the restorative and the enhanced. Restorative technologies "restore lost function, organs, and limbs". The key aspect of restorative cyborgization is the repair of broken or missing processes to revert to a healthy or average level of function. There is no enhancement to the original faculties and processes that were lost. On the contrary, the enhanced cyborg "follows a principle, and it is the principle of optimal performance: maximising output (the information or modifications obtained) and minimising input (the energy expended in the process)". Thus, the enhanced cyborg intends to exceed normal processes or even gain new functions that were not originally present. Although prostheses in general supplement lost or damaged body parts with the integration of a mechanical artifice, bionic implants in medicine allow model organs or body parts to mimic the original function more closely. Michael Chorost wrote a memoir of his experience with cochlear implants, or bionic ear, titled "Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human." Jesse Sullivan became one of the first people to operate a fully robotic limb through a nerve-muscle graft, enabling him a complex range of motions beyond that of previous prosthetics. By 2004, a fully functioning artificial heart was developed | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg The continued technological development of bionic and nanotechnologies begins to raise the question of enhancement, and of the future possibilities for cyborgs which surpass the original functionality of the biological model. The ethics and desirability of "enhancement prosthetics" have been debated; their proponents include the transhumanist movement, with its belief that new technologies can assist the human race in developing beyond its present, normative limitations such as aging and disease, as well as other, more general incapacities, such as limitations on speed, strength, endurance, and intelligence. Opponents of the concept describe what they believe to be biased which propel the development and acceptance of such technologies; namely, a bias towards functionality and efficiency that may compel assent to a view of human people which de-emphasizes as defining characteristics actual manifestations of humanity and personhood, in favor of definition in terms of upgrades, versions, and utility. A brain-computer interface, or BCI, provides a direct path of communication from the brain to an external device, effectively creating a cyborg. Research of Invasive BCIs, which utilize electrodes implanted directly into the grey matter of the brain, has focused on restoring damaged eyesight in the blind and providing functionality to paralyzed people, most notably those with severe cases, such as Locked-In syndrome | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg This technology could enable people who are missing a limb or are in a wheelchair the power to control the devices that aide them through neural signals sent from the brain implants directly to computers or the devices. It is possible that this technology will also eventually be used with healthy people. Deep brain stimulation is a neurological surgical procedure used for therapeutic purposes. This process has aided in treating patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Tourette syndrome, epilepsy, chronic headaches, and mental disorders. After the patient is unconscious, through anesthesia, brain pacemakers or electrodes, are implanted into the region of the brain where the cause of the disease is present. The region of the brain is then stimulated by bursts of electric current to disrupt the oncoming surge of seizures. Like all invasive procedures, deep brain stimulation may put the patient at a higher risk. However, there have been more improvements in recent years with deep brain stimulation than any available drug treatment. Retinal implants are another form of cyborgization in medicine. The theory behind retinal stimulation to restore vision to people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa and vision loss due to aging (conditions in which people have an abnormally low number of ganglion cells) is that the retinal implant and electrical stimulation would act as a substitute for the missing ganglion cells (cells which connect the eye to the brain | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg ) While work to perfect this technology is still being done, there have already been major advances in the use of electronic stimulation of the retina to allow the eye to sense patterns of light. A specialized camera is worn by the subject, such as on the frames of their glasses, which converts the image into a pattern of electrical stimulation. A chip located in the user's eye would then electrically stimulate the retina with this pattern by exciting certain nerve endings which transmit the image to the optic centers of the brain and the image would then appear to the user. If technological advances proceed as planned this technology may be used by thousands of blind people and restore vision to most of them. A similar process has been created to aid people who have lost their vocal cords. This experimental device would do away with previously used robotic sounding voice simulators. The transmission of sound would start with a surgery to redirect the nerve that controls the voice and sound production to a muscle in the neck, where a nearby sensor would be able to pick up its electrical signals. The signals would then move to a processor which would control the timing and pitch of a voice simulator. That simulator would then vibrate producing a multi-tonal sound which could be shaped into words by the mouth | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg An article published in "Nature Materials" in 2012 reported a research on "cyborg tissues" (engineered human tissues with embedded three-dimensional mesh of nanoscale wires), with possible medical implications. In 2014, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis had developed a device that could keep a heart beating endlessly. By using 3D printing and computer modeling these scientist developed an electronic membrane that could successfully replace pacemakers. The device utilizes a "spider-web like network of sensors and electrodes" to monitor and maintain a normal heart-rate with electrical stimuli. Unlike traditional pacemakers that are similar from patient to patient, the elastic heart glove is made custom by using high-resolution imaging technology. The first prototype was created to fit a rabbit's heart, operating the organ in an oxygen and nutrient-rich solution. The stretchable material and circuits of the apparatus were first constructed by Professor John A. Rogers in which the electrodes are arranged in a s-shape design to allow them to expand and bend without breaking. Although the device is only currently used as a research tool to study changes in heart rate, in the future the membrane may serve as a safeguard from heart attacks. The Artificial Pancreas is a substitute for lack of endogenous insulin production, most notably in Type 1 Diabetes | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Currently available systems combine a Continuous glucose monitor with an Insulin pump that can be remote controlled, forming a control loop that automatically adjusts the insulin dosage depending on the current blood glucose level. Examples of commercial systems that implement such a control loop are the MiniMed 670g from Medtronic and the t:slim x2 from Tandem Diabetes Care. Do-it-yourself artificial pancreas technologies also exist, though these are not verified or approved by any regulatory agency. Upcoming next-generation artificial pancreas technologies include automatic glucagon infusion in addition to insulin, to help prevent hypoglycemia and improve efficiency. One example of such a bi-hormonal system is the Beta Bionics iLet. Military organizations' research has recently focused on the utilization of cyborg animals for the purposes of a supposed tactical advantage. DARPA has announced its interest in developing "cyborg insects" to transmit data from sensors implanted into the insect during the pupa stage. The insect's motion would be controlled from a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) and could conceivably survey an environment or detect explosives and gas. Similarly, DARPA is developing a neural implant to remotely control the movement of sharks. The shark's unique senses would then be exploited to provide data feedback in relation to enemy ship movement or underwater explosives | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg In 2006, researchers at Cornell University invented a new surgical procedure to implant artificial structures into insects during their metamorphic development. The first insect cyborgs, moths with integrated electronics in their thorax, were demonstrated by the same researchers. The initial success of the techniques has resulted in increased research and the creation of a program called Hybrid-Insect-MEMS, HI-MEMS. Its goal, according to DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office, is to develop "tightly coupled machine-insect interfaces by placing micro-mechanical systems inside the insects during the early stages of metamorphosis". The use of neural implants has recently been attempted, with success, on cockroaches. Surgically applied electrodes were put on the insect, which were remotely controlled by a human. The results, although sometimes different, basically showed that the cockroach could be controlled by the impulses it received through the electrodes. DARPA is now funding this research because of its obvious beneficial applications to the military and other areas In 2009 at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Micro-electronic mechanical systems (MEMS) conference in Italy, researchers demonstrated the first "wireless" flying-beetle cyborg. Engineers at the University of California at Berkeley have pioneered the design of a "remote-controlled beetle", funded by the DARPA HI-MEMS Program. Filmed evidence of this can be viewed here | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg This was followed later that year by the demonstration of wireless control of a "lift-assisted" moth-cyborg. Eventually researchers plan to develop HI-MEMS for dragonflies, bees, rats and pigeons. For the HI-MEMS cybernetic bug to be considered a success, it must fly from a starting point, guided via computer into a controlled landing within of a specific end point. Once landed, the cybernetic bug must remain in place. In 2016 the first cyborg Olympics were celebrated in Zurich Switzerland. Cybathlon 2016 were the first Olympics for cyborgs and the first worldwide and official celebration of cyborg sports. In this event, 16 teams of people with disabilities used technological developments to turn themselves into cyborg athletes. There were six different events and its competitors used and controlled advanced technologies such as powered prosthetic legs and arms, robotic exoskeletons, bikes and motorized wheelchairs. If on one hand, this was already a remarkable improvement, as it allowed disabled people to compete and showed the several technological enhancements that are already making a difference, on the other hand, it showed that there is still a long way to go. For instance, the exoskeleton race still required its participants to stand up from a chair and sit down, navigate a slalom and other simple activities such as walk over stepping stones and climb up and downstairs. Despite the simplicity of these activities, 8 of the 16 teams that participated in the event drop off before the start | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Nonetheless, one of the main goals of this event and such simple activities is to show how technological enhancements and advanced prosthetic can make a difference in people's lives. The next Cybathlon is expected to occur in 2020 The concept of the cyborg is often associated with science fiction. However, many artists have tried to create public awareness of cybernetic organisms; these can range from paintings to installations. Some artists who create such works are Neil Harbisson, Moon Ribas, Patricia Piccinini, Steve Mann, Orlan, H. R. Giger, Lee Bul, Wafaa Bilal, Tim Hawkinson and Stelarc. Stelarc is a performance artist who has visually probed and acoustically amplified his body. He uses medical instruments, prosthetics, robotics, virtual reality systems, the Internet and biotechnology to explore alternate, intimate and involuntary interfaces with the body. He has made three films of the inside of his body and has performed with a third hand and a virtual arm. Between 1976–1988 he completed 25 body suspension performances with hooks into the skin. For 'Third Ear' he surgically constructed an extra ear within his arm that was internet-enabled, making it a publicly accessible acoustical organ for people in other places. He is presently performing as his avatar from his second life site. Tim Hawkinson promotes the idea that bodies and machines are coming together as one, where human features are combined with technology to create the Cyborg | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Hawkinson's piece "Emoter" presented how society is now dependent on technology. Wafaa Bilal is an Iraqi-American performance artist who had a small 10 megapixel digital camera surgically implanted into the back of his head, part of a project entitled 3rd I. For one year, beginning 15 December 2010, an image is captured once per minute 24 hours a day and streamed live to and the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. The site also displays Bilal's location via GPS. Bilal says that the reason why he put the camera in the back of the head was to make an "allegorical statement about the things we don't see and leave behind." As a professor at NYU, this project has raised privacy issues, and so Bilal has been asked to ensure that his camera does not take photographs in NYU buildings. Machines are becoming more ubiquitous in the artistic process itself, with computerized drawing pads replacing pen and paper, and drum machines becoming nearly as popular as human drummers. Composers such as Brian Eno have developed and utilized software which can build entire musical scores from a few basic mathematical parameters. Scott Draves is a generative artist whose work is explicitly described as a "cyborg mind". His Electric Sheep project generates abstract art by combining the work of many computers and people over the internet. Artists have explored the term cyborg from a perspective involving imagination | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg Some work to make an abstract idea of technological and human-bodily union apparent to reality in an art form utilizing varying mediums, from sculptures and drawings to digital renderings. Artists that seek to make cyborg-based fantasies a reality often call themselves cyborg artists, or may consider their artwork "cyborg". How an artist or their work may be considered cyborg will vary depending upon the interpreter's flexibility with the term. Scholars that rely upon a strict, technical description of a cyborg, often going by Norbert Wiener's cybernetic theory and Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline's first use of the term, would likely argue that most cyborg artists do not qualify to be considered cyborgs. Scholars considering a more flexible description of cyborgs may argue it incorporates more than cybernetics. Others may speak of defining subcategories, or specialized cyborg types, that qualify different levels of cyborg at which technology influences an individual. This may range from technological instruments being external, temporary, and removable to being fully integrated and permanent. Nonetheless, cyborg artists are artists. Being so, it can be expected for them to incorporate the cyborg idea rather than a strict, technical representation of the term, seeing how their work will sometimes revolve around other purposes outside of cyborgism. As medical technology becomes more advanced, some techniques and innovations are adopted by the body modification community | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
Cyborg While not yet cyborgs in the strict definition of Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline, technological developments like implantable silicon silk electronics, augmented reality and QR codes are bridging the disconnect between technology and the body. Hypothetical technologies such as digital tattoo interfaces would blend body modification aesthetics with interactivity and functionality, bringing a transhumanist way of life into present day reality. In addition, it is quite plausible for anxiety expression to manifest. Individuals may experience pre-implantation feelings of fear and nervousness. To this end, individuals may also embody feelings of uneasiness, particularly in a socialized setting, due to their post-operative, technologically augmented bodies, and mutual unfamiliarity with the mechanical insertion. Anxieties may be linked to notions of otherness or a cyborged identity. Cyborgs have become a well-known part of science fiction literature and other media. Although many of these characters may be technically androids, they are often referred to as cyborgs. Well-known examples from film and television include RoboCop, The Terminator, Evangelion, United States Air Force Colonel Steve Austin in both "Cyborg" and, as acted out by Lee Majors, "The Six Million Dollar Man," Replicants from "Blade Runner", Daleks and Cybermen from "Doctor Who," the Borg from "Star Trek," Darth Vader, Lobot, and General Grievous from "Star Wars", Inspector Gadget, and Cylons from the 2004 "Battlestar Galactica" series | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20756967 |
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