Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 2008

June 1

Ran is a 1985 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. The story is based on legends of the daimyo Mori Motonari, as well as on the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear. Ran was Kurosawa's last great epic. With a budget of $12 million, it was the most expensive Japanese film ever produced up to that time. Kurosawa directed three other films before he died, but none on so large a scale. The film was hailed for its powerful images and use of color – costume designer Emi Wada won an Academy Award for Costume Design for her work on Ran. The distinctive Gustav Mahler-inspired film score, written by Toru Takemitsu, plays in isolation with ambient sound muted. Kurosawa first got the idea that would become Ran in the mid-1970s, when he read a parable about Mori Motonari. Motonari was famous for having three sons, all incredibly loyal and talented in their own right. Kurosawa began imagining what would have happened had they been bad. (more...)

Recently featured: Bratislava – D. B. Cooper – Oil shale

June 2

Harold Innis was a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on Canadian economic history, media, and communication theory. In spite of his dense and difficult prose, Innis is considered by many scholars to have been one of Canada's most original thinkers. He helped develop the staples thesis, which holds that Canada's culture, political history and economy have been decisively influenced by the exploitation and export of a series of staples such as fur, fish, wood, wheat, mined metals and fossil fuels. Innis's communications writings explore the role of media in shaping the culture and development of civilizations. He warned however that Western civilization is now imperiled by powerful, advertising-driven media obsessed by "present-mindedness" and the "continuous, systematic, ruthless destruction of elements of permanence essential to cultural activity". Innis laid the basis for scholarship that looked at the social sciences from a distinctly Canadian point of view. Innis also tried to defend universities from political and economic pressures. He believed that independent universities, as centres of critical thought, were essential to the survival of Western civilization. (more...)

Recently featured: Ran – Bratislava – D. B. Cooper

June 3

The Confederate government of Kentucky was a shadow government established for the Commonwealth of Kentucky by a self-constituted group of Southern sympathizers during the American Civil War. The shadow government never replaced the elected government in Frankfort, which had strong Union sympathies. Neither did it gain the support of Kentucky's citizens; its jurisdiction extended only as far as Confederate battle lines in the Commonwealth. Nevertheless, the provisional government was recognized by the Confederate States of America, and Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861. Kentucky was represented by the central star on the Confederate battle flag. Bowling Green was designated the Confederate capital of Kentucky, but due to the military situation in the state, the provisional government was exiled and traveled with the Army of Tennessee for most of its existence. For a short time in the autumn of 1862, the Confederate Army controlled Frankfort, the only time a Union capital was captured by Confederate forces. During this occupation, General Braxton Bragg attempted to install the provisional government as the permanent authority in the Commonwealth. However, Union General Don Carlos Buell ambushed the inauguration ceremony and drove the provisional government from the state for the final time. From that point forward, the government existed primarily on paper, and was dissolved at the end of the war. (more...)

Recently featured: Harold Innis – Ran – Bratislava

June 4

The Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood is a fresco by Paolo Uccello, commemorating English condottiero John Hawkwood, commissioned in 1436 for the Florence Cathedral. The fresco is an important example of art commemorating a soldier-for-hire in the Italian peninsula and is a seminal work in the development of perspective. The politics of the commissioning and recommissioning of the fresco have been analyzed and debated by historians. The fresco is often cited as a form of "Florentine propaganda" for its appropriation of a foreign soldier of fortune as a Florentine hero and for its implied promise to other condottieri of the potential rewards of serving Florence. The fresco has also been interpreted as a product of internal political competition between the Albizzi and Medici factions in Renaissance Florence, due to the latter's modification of the work's symbolism and iconography during its recommissioning. The fresco is the oldest extant and authenticated work of Uccello, and from a relatively well-known aspect of his career compared to the periods before and after its creation. The fresco has been restored (once by Lorenzo di Credi, who added the frame) and is now detached from the wall; it has been repositioned twice in modern times. (more...)

Recently featured: Confederate government of Kentucky – Harold Innis – Ran

June 5

Émile Lemoine was a French civil engineer and mathematician, a geometer in particular. He was educated at a variety of institutions, including the Prytanée National Militaire and, most notably, the École Polytechnique. Lemoine taught as a private tutor for a short period after his graduation from the latter school. Lemoine is best known for his proof of the existence of the Lemoine point (or the symmedian point) of a triangle. Other mathematical work includes a system he called Géométrographie and a method which related algebraic expressions to geometric objects. He has been called a co-founder of modern triangle geometry, as many of its characteristics are present in his work. For most of his life, Lemoine was a professor of mathematics at the École Polytechnique. Later, he worked as a civil engineer in Paris, and took an amateur's interest in music. During his tenure at the École Polytechnique and as a civil engineer, Lemoine published several papers on mathematics, most of which are included in a fourteen-page section in Nathan Court's College Geometry. Additionally, he founded a mathematical journal: L'intermédiaire des mathématiciens. (more...)

Recently featured: Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood – Confederate government of Kentucky – Harold Innis

June 6

Sertraline (known under the trade names Zoloft and Lustral) is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class. It was introduced to the market by Pfizer in 1991. Sertraline is primarily used to treat clinical depression in adult outpatients as well as obsessive-compulsive, panic and social anxiety disorders in both adults and children. In 2007 it was the most prescribed antidepressant on the U.S. retail market. The efficacy of sertraline for depression is similar to that of older tricyclic antidepressants, but its side effects are much less pronounced. Differences with newer antidepressants are subtler and also mostly confined to side effects. Evidence suggests that sertraline may work better than fluoxetine (Prozac) for some subtypes of depression. Sertraline is highly effective for the treatment of panic disorder but is inferior to cognitive behavioral therapy when applied to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sertraline shares the common side effects and contraindications of other SSRIs, with high rates of nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, and sexual side effects; however, it does not cause weight gain, and its effects on cognition are mild. (more...)

Recently featured: Émile Lemoine – Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood – Confederate government of Kentucky

June 7

The formation and evolution of the Solar System began 4.6 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud. Most of the collapsing mass collected in the centre, forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disc out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and other small Solar System bodies formed. This widely accepted model, known as the nebular hypothesis, was first developed in the 18th century by Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre-Simon Laplace. Beginning with the initial formation, the Solar System has evolved considerably. Many moons formed from circling discs of gas and dust around their parent planets, while many other moons are believed to have been captured or (in the case of the Earth's Moon) to have resulted from a giant collision. Collisions between bodies have occurred continuously up to the present day and are central to the evolution of the system. The planets' positions often shifted outward or inward, and planets have switched places. This planetary migration is now believed to be responsible for much of the Solar System's early evolution. Just as the Sun and planets were born, they will eventually die. In roughly 5 billion years, the Sun will cool and bloat outward to many times its current diameter (becoming a red giant) before casting off its outer layers as a planetary nebula and leaving behind a stellar corpse known as a white dwarf. (more...)

Recently featured: Sertraline – Émile Lemoine – Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood

June 8

Wilco is an American rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1993 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure from that group. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt remaining from the original incarnation. The other current members are guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen, and drummer Glenn Kotche. Wilco has released six studio albums, a live double album, and three collaborations: two with Billy Bragg, and one with The Minus 5. Wilco's music has been inspired by a wide variety of artists and styles, including Bill Fay and Television, and has in turn influenced music by The National and Cherry Ghost. The band continued in the alternative country of Uncle Tupelo on its debut album A.M. (1995), but has since introduced more experimental aspects to their music. Wilco won two Grammy Awards for their fifth studio album, 2004's A Ghost Is Born, including Best Alternative Music Album. (more...)

Recently featured: Formation and evolution of the Solar System – Sertraline – Émile Lemoine

June 9

Jurassic Park is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. The film centers on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, where scientists have created an amusement park of cloned dinosaurs. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) invites a group of scientists, played by Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern, to visit the park. Sabotage sets the dinosaurs on the loose, and technicians and visitors attempt to escape the island. Spielberg acquired the rights to the novel before its publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired to adapt his novel. David Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novel's exposition and violence, and also made numerous changes to the characters. Spielberg hired Stan Winston Studios to create animatronics to portray the dinosaurs, shots of which were mixed with newly developed computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light and Magic. Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark in the usage of CGI effects and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the effects (though reaction to other elements of the picture, such as character development, was mixed). Jurassic Park spawned a franchise of films and other media, and was followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997 and by Jurassic Park III in 2001, with Jurassic Park IV currently in development. (more...)

Recently featured: Wilco – Formation and evolution of the Solar System – Sertraline

June 10

The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season was a fairly inactive Atlantic hurricane season compared to the 2005 season. The season officially started on June 1, 2006, and officially ended on November 30, 2006, dates which by convention delimit the period of each year when the majority of tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. One system, Tropical Storm Zeta from the 2005 season, continued through early January, only the second time on record that had happened. Tropical Storm Alberto was responsible for two indirect deaths when it made landfall in Florida. Hurricane Ernesto caused heavy rainfall in Haiti, and directly killed at least seven in Haiti and the United States. Four more hurricanes formed after Ernesto, including the strongest storms of the season, Hurricanes Helene and Gordon. No tropical cyclones formed during October, for the first time since the 1994 season. While forecasts predicted that the 2006 season would be very active, a rapidly forming El Niño event in 2006, the presence of the Saharan Air Layer over the tropical Atlantic, and the steady presence of a robust secondary high pressure area to the Azores high centered around Bermuda contributed to a slow season. (more...)

Recently featured: Jurassic Park – Wilco – Formation and evolution of the Solar System

June 11

George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland, from 1 August 1714 until his death. At the age of 54, he ascended the British throne as the first monarch of the House of Hanover. Although many bore closer blood-relationships to the childless Queen Anne, the Act of Settlement 1701, which prohibits Catholics from inheriting the throne, designated her cousin, Sophia of Hanover, as heiress to the throne. Sophia was Anne's closest living Protestant relative but died a matter of weeks before Anne leaving the Protestant succession to her son, George. In reaction, the Jacobites attempted to depose George and replace him with Anne's Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart, but their attempts failed. During George's reign in Britain, the powers of the monarchy diminished and the modern system of Cabinet government led by a Prime Minister underwent development. Towards the end of his reign, actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole. George died on a trip to his native Hanover, where he was buried. (more...)

Recently featured: 2006 Atlantic hurricane season – Jurassic Park – Wilco

June 12

The durian is the fruit of trees of the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows and linden trees. Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits", the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale-yellow to red, depending on the species. The hard outer husk is covered with sharp, prickly thorns while the edible flesh within emits a distinctive odour, which is regarded as either fragrant or overpowering and offensive. The odour of the ripe fruit is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. The flesh can be consumed at various stages of ripeness and is used to flavour a wide variety of savoury and sweet edibles in Southeast Asian cuisines. The seeds can also be eaten when cooked. Many consumers express preferences for specific cultivars, which fetch higher prices in the market. (more...)

Recently featured: George I of Great Britain – 2006 Atlantic hurricane season – Jurassic Park

June 13

The Priestley Riots took place from 14 July to 17 July 1791 in Birmingham, England; the rioters' main targets were religious Dissenters, most notably the religious and political controversialist, Joseph Priestley. The riots started with an attack on a hotel that was the site of a banquet organized in sympathy with the French Revolution. Then, beginning with Priestley's church and home, the rioters attacked or burned four Dissenting chapels, twenty-seven houses, and several businesses. Many of them became intoxicated by liquor that they found while looting, or with which they were bribed to stop burning homes. A small core could not be bribed, however, and remained sober. They burned not only the homes and chapels of Dissenters, but also the homes of people they associated with Dissenters, such as members of the scientific Lunar Society. While the riots were not initiated by Prime Minister William Pitt's administration, the national government was slow to respond to the Dissenters' pleas for help. Local Birmingham officials seem to have been involved in the planning of the riots, and they were later reluctant to prosecute any ringleaders. Those who had been attacked gradually left, leaving Birmingham a more conservative city than it had been throughout the eighteenth century. (more...)

Recently featured: Durian – George I of Great Britain – 2006 Atlantic hurricane season

June 14

The Flag of Canada is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted to replace the Union Flag. The Canadian Red Ensign had been unofficially used since the 1890s and was approved by a 1945 Order-in-Council for use "wherever place or occasion may make it desirable to fly a distinctive Canadian flag". In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed a committee to resolve the issue, sparking a serious debate about a flag change. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George F. G. Stanley was chosen. The flag made its first appearance on February 15, 1965; the date is now celebrated annually as National Flag of Canada Day. Other flags have been created for use by Canadian officials, government bodies, and military forces. Most of these flags contain the maple leaf motif in some fashion, either by having the Canadian flag charged in the canton, or by including maple leaves in the design. The Royal Union Flag is also an official flag in Canada, used as a symbol of Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, and of its allegiance to the Crown. The Royal Union Flag forms a component of other Canadian flags, notably the provincial flags of Manitoba and Ontario. (more...)

Recently featured: Priestley Riots – Durian – George I of Great Britain

June 15

The World Without Us is a non-fiction book, written by American journalist Alan Weisman and published by St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books, about what would happen to the natural and built environment if humans suddenly disappeared. It is a book-length expansion of Weisman's own February 2005 Discover article "Earth Without People". Written largely as a thought experiment, it outlines, for example, how cities and houses would deteriorate, how long man-made artifacts would last, and how remaining lifeforms would evolve. Weisman concludes that residential neighborhoods would become forests within 500 years, and that radioactive waste, bronze statues, plastics, and Mount Rushmore will be among the longest lasting evidence of human presence on Earth. The author of four previous books and numerous articles for magazines, Weisman traveled around the world to interview academics, scientists and other authorities. He used quotes from these interviews to explain the effects of the natural environment and to substantiate predictions. The book has been translated and published in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain. It was successful in the U.S., reaching #6 on the New York Times Best Seller list. It ranked #1 on Time and Entertainment Weekly's top 10 non-fiction books of 2007. The book has received largely positive reviews, specifically for Weisman's journalistic and scientific writing style, but some have questioned the relevance of its subject matter. (more...)

Recently featured: Flag of Canada – Priestley Riots – Durian

June 16

The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union. The Commission operates in the method of cabinet government, with 27 Commissioners. There is one Commissioner per member state, however Commissioners are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 27 is the Commission President (currently José Manuel Barroso) appointed by the European Council with the approval of the European Parliament. The present Barroso Commission took office in late 2004 and is serving a five-year term. The term "Commission" can mean either the college of Commissioners mentioned above, or the larger institution; including the administrative body of about 25,000 European civil servants who are divided into departments called Directorates-General. It is primarily based in the Berlaymont building of Brussels and its internal working languages are English, French and German. (more...)

Recently featured: The World Without Us – Flag of Canada – Priestley Riots

June 17

The Common Treecreeper is a small passerine bird. It is very similar to other treecreepers, and has a curved bill, patterned brown upperparts, whitish underparts, and long stiff tail feathers which help it creep up tree trunks. It can be most easily distinguished from the very similar Short-toed Treecreeper, which shares much of its European range, by its different song. The Common Treecreeper has nine or more subspecies which breed in different parts of its range in temperate Eurasia. This species is found in woodlands of all kinds, but where it overlaps with the Short-toed Treecreeper in western Europe it is more likely to be found in coniferous forests or at higher altitudes. It nests in tree crevices or behind bark flakes, and favours introduced Giant Redwoods as nest sites where they are available. The female typically lays five or six pink-speckled white eggs in the lined nest, but eggs and chicks are vulnerable to attack by woodpeckers and mammals, including squirrels. The Common Treecreeper is insectivorous and climbs up tree trunks like a mouse, to search for insects which it picks from crevices in the bark with its fine curved bill. It then flies to the base of another tree with a distinctive erratic flight. This bird is solitary in winter, but may form communal roosts in cold weather. (more...)

Recently featured: European Commission – The World Without Us – Flag of Canada

June 18

The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois. It stands at 141 W. Jackson Boulevard at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon, in the Loop community area in Cook County, Illinois, United States. First designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4, 1977, the building was listed as a National Historic Landmark on June 2, 1978. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 16 1978. Originally built for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), it is now the primary trading venue for the CME Group, formed in 2007 by the merger of the CBOT and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The 141 W. Jackson address hosted the former tallest building in Chicago designed by William W. Boyington before the current Holabird & Root structure, which held the same title for over 35 years. The current structure is known for its art deco architecture, sculptures and large-scale stone carving, as well as large trading floors. A three-story art deco statue of Ceres, goddess of grain, caps the building. The building is a popular sightseeing attraction and location for shooting movies, and its owners and management have won awards for efforts to preserve the building and for office management. (more...)

Recently featured: Common Treecreeper – European Commission – The World Without Us

June 19

Age of Empires is a series of computer video games developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first title of the series was Age of Empires, released in 1997. Since then, seven titles and three spin-offs have been released. The titles are historical real-time strategy games, and their gameplay revolves around two main game modes: random map, and campaign. The games are set amidst historical events. The initial two games focused on events in Europe and Asia Minor, spanning from the Stone Age to the Classical period; one game explored the formation and expansion of the Roman Empire. The next two games also centered on Europe, but were set in the Middle Ages and the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The subsequent three games explored the early modern period, when Europe was colonizing the Americas and several Asian nations were on the rise. The Age of Empires series has been a commercial success, selling over 15 million copies. The popularity and quality of the games has earned Ensemble Studios a strong reputation in real-time strategy gaming. Ensemble collaborated with Big Huge Games on Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. Critics have credited part of the success of the series to its historical theme and fair play; the artificial intelligence (AI) players fight with less "cheating" than in many of the series' competitors. (more...)

Recently featured: Chicago Board of Trade Building – Common Treecreeper – European Commission

June 20

HMS Cardiff (D108) is a Type 42 destroyer, the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named in honour of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. She was built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and launched on 22 February, 1974. During her career, Cardiff served in the Falklands War, where she shot down the last Argentine aircraft of the conflict and accepted the surrender of a 700-strong garrison in the settlement of Port Howard. During the 1991 Gulf War, her Lynx helicopter sank two Iraqi minesweepers. She later participated in the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq as part of the Royal Navy's constant Armilla Patrol; Cardiff thwarted attempts to smuggle oil out of the country, but was not involved in the actual invasion. Cardiff was decommissioned in July 2005, having earned two battle honours for service in the Falklands and Gulf wars. She is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour, next to sister ship HMS Newcastle. Former servicemen have petitioned for her preservation as a museum ship and local tourist attraction at Cardiff, but her fate remains undecided. (more...)

Recently featured: Age of Empires – Chicago Board of Trade Building – Common Treecreeper

June 21

Phishing is the process of attempting to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. PayPal, eBay and online banks are common targets. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging, and often directs users to enter details at a website, although phone contact has also been used. Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users. Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical measures. A phishing technique was described in detail as early as 1987, while the first recorded use of the term "phishing" was made in 1996. The term is a variant of fishing, probably influenced by phreaking, and alludes to the use of increasingly sophisticated baits used in the hope of a "catch" of financial information and passwords. (more...)

Recently featured: HMS Cardiff (D108) – Age of Empires – Chicago Board of Trade Building

June 22

Judy Garland (1922–1969) was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in films, Grammy Awards and a Tony Award. After appearing in vaudeville with her sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made more than two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney, and the film with which she would be most identified, The Wizard of Oz (1939). After 15 years, Garland was released from the studio but gained renewed success through record-breaking concert appearances, including a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert, a well-regarded but short-lived television series and a return to film acting beginning with A Star Is Born (1954). Despite her professional triumphs, Garland battled personal problems throughout her life, and attempted suicide on a number of occasions. Garland died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of forty-seven, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed her among the ten greatest female stars in the history of American cinema. (more...)

Recently featured: Phishing – HMS Cardiff (D108) – Age of Empires

June 23

The Blue Iguana is a critically endangered species of lizard of the genus Cyclura endemic to the island of Grand Cayman. Previously listed as a subspecies of the Cuban Iguana, it was reclassified as a separate species in 2004 due to genetic differences discovered four years earlier. The Blue Iguana is one of the longest-living species of lizard (possibly up to 69 years) and is a national symbol of the Cayman Islands. It prefers rocky, sunlit, open areas in dry forests or near the shore, as females must dig holes in the sand to lay eggs in June and July. Their vegetarian diet includes plants, fruits, and flowers. Their coloration is tan to gray with a bluish cast that is more pronounced during the breeding season, and more so in males. They are large and heavy-bodied with a dorsal crest of short spines running from the base of the neck to the end of the tail. The fossil record indicates that the Blue Iguana was abundant before European colonization; but fewer than 15 animals remained in the wild by 2003, and this wild population was predicted to become extinct within the first decade of the 21st century. Since 2004, 219 captive-bred animals have been released into a preserve on Grand Cayman run by a partnership headed by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in an attempt to save the species. At least five non-profit organizations are working with the government of the Cayman Islands to ensure the survival of the Blue Iguana. (more...)

Recently featured: Judy Garland – Phishing – HMS Cardiff (D108)

June 24

Bradley Joseph (born 1965) is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestra, quartet, and solo piano, with his musical style ranging from "quietly pensive mood music to a rich orchestration of classical depth and breadth". Active since 1983, he played various instruments in rock bands throughout the Midwest until 1989 when Greek composer Yanni hired him for his next tour after hearing a tape of Joseph's compositions. He was a featured concert keyboardist with Yanni through six major tours and appears in the 1994 multi-platinum album and video, Yanni Live at the Acropolis. In 1994, Joseph's solo career began when he independently released Hear the Masses, featuring many of his Yanni bandmates. This debut was followed by Rapture, an instrumental album recorded with a 50-piece orchestra, in which Joseph wrote and conducted all of the scores. It was released on the Narada label and reached NAV's "Airwaves Top 30". He has produced 15 CDs/DVDs and numerous piano books under his own record label, Robbins Island Music. Two of these recordings, Christmas Around the World and One Deep Breath, also held positions on NAV’s Top 100 radio chart. His music is included in multiple various-artist compilation albums, most recently the 2008 release of The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II. (more...)

Recently featured: Blue Iguana – Judy Garland – Phishing

June 25

Tiridates I was king of Armenia beginning in 53 AD and the founder of the Arshakuni Dynasty, the Armenian line of the Arsacid Dynasty. His early reign was marked by a brief interruption towards the end of the year 54 and a much longer one from 58 to 63. In an agreement to resolve the Roman-Parthian conflict in and over Armenia, Tiridates (who was the brother of Vologases I of Parthia) was crowned king of Armenia by the Roman emperor Nero in 66 AD; in the future, the king of Armenia was to be a Parthian prince, but his appointment required approval from the Romans. Even though this made Armenia a client kingdom, various contemporary Roman sources thought that Nero had de facto ceded Armenia to Parthia. In addition to being a king, Tiridates was also a Zoroastrian priest and was accompanied by other magi with him on his journey to Rome in 66 AD. In the early 20th century, Franz Cumont speculated that Tiridates was instrumental in the development of Mithraism, which—in Cumont's view—was simply Romanized Zoroastrianism. This "continuity" theory has since been collectively refuted. (more...)

Recently featured: Bradley Joseph – Blue Iguana – Judy Garland

June 26

Cygnus X-1 is a strong X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux of 2.3×10⁻²³ Wm^-2Hz^-1. Cygnus X-1 belongs to a high-mass X-ray binary system about 6,000 light years from the Sun that includes a blue supergiant variable star designated HDE 226868. A stellar wind from the star provides material for an accretion disk around the X-ray source. Matter in the inner disk is heated to millions of Kelvin (K), generating the observed X-rays. This system may belong to a stellar association called Cygnus OB3, which would mean that Cygnus X-1 is about five million years old and formed from a progenitor star that had more than 40 solar masses. The majority of the star's mass was shed, most likely as a stellar wind. If this star had then exploded as a supernova, the resulting force would most likely have ejected the remnant from the system. Hence the star may have instead collapsed directly into a black hole. Cygnus X-1 was the subject of a friendly scientific wager between physicists Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne in 1974, with Professor Hawking betting that it was not a black hole. He conceded the bet in 1990 after observational data had strengthened the case for a gravitational singularity in the system. (more...)

Recently featured: Tiridates I of Armenia – Bradley Joseph – Blue Iguana

June 27

Moe Berg (1902–1972) was an American professional baseball player who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Although he spent 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, Berg was never more than an average player, and was better known for being "the brainiest guy in baseball" than for anything he accomplished in the game. The Bergs were never religiously observant, although being Jewish did contribute to Moe's sense of being an outsider in mid-twentieth century America. Casey Stengel once described Berg as "the strangest man ever to play baseball." A graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School, Berg spoke several languages and regularly read 10 newspapers a day. His reputation was fueled by his successful appearances as a contestant on the radio quiz show Information, Please!. Berg answered questions about the derivation of words and names from Greek and Latin, historical events in Europe and the Far East, and ongoing international conferences. As an agent of the United States government, Berg traveled to Yugoslavia to gather intelligence on resistance groups the government was considering supporting. He was then sent on a mission to Italy, where he interviewed various physicists concerning the German nuclear program. After the war, Berg was occasionally employed by the OSS's successor, the Central Intelligence Agency, but was unemployed by the mid-1950s. He spent the last two decades of his life without work, living with various siblings. (more...)

Recently featured: Cygnus X-1 – Tiridates I of Armenia – Bradley Joseph

June 28

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, its purpose was to achieve the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. The expedition failed entirely to accomplish this aim, but it remains memorable as an epic of heroism and survival. It required two ships; the Endurance would take Shackleton’s party to the Weddell Sea, and the Aurora, under Captain Aeneas Mackintosh, would take the Ross Sea party to McMurdo Sound. In the event, Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay. Despite efforts to free her, she drifted northward with the pack throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. Eventually, she was crushed in the ice and sank, stranding her 28-man complement on the ice and subjecting them to a series of harrowing episodes—months spent in makeshift camps on the ice, a journey in lifeboats to Elephant Island, an 800-mile (1,300 km) open boat journey in the James Caird, and the first crossing of South Georgia—that led eventually to their rescue with not a life lost. Meanwhile, the Ross Sea party overcame great hardships to fulfil its mission, after Aurora was blown from her moorings during a gale and could not return. (more...)

Recently featured: Moe Berg – Cygnus X-1 – Tiridates I of Armenia

June 29

The General in His Labyrinth is a novel by the Colombian writer and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez. It is a fictionalized account of the last days of Simón Bolívar, liberator and leader of Gran Colombia. First published in 1989, the book traces Bolívar's final journey from Bogotá to the Caribbean coastline of Colombia in his attempt to leave South America for exile in Europe. In this dictator novel about a continental hero, "despair, sickness, and death inevitably win out over love, health, and life". Breaking with the traditional heroic portrayal of Bolívar El Libertador, García Márquez depicts a pathetic protagonist, a prematurely aged man who is physically ill and mentally exhausted. The story explores the labyrinth of Bolívar's life through the narrative of his memories. Its mixture of genres makes The General in His Labyrinth difficult to classify, and commentators disagree over where it lies on the scale between novel and historical account. García Márquez's insertion of interpretive and fictionalized elements—some dealing with Bolívar's most intimate moments—caused outrage in parts of Latin America when the book was released. Many prominent Latin American figures believed that the novel damaged the reputation of one of the region's most important historic figures and portrayed a negative image to the outside world. (more...)

Recently featured: Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – Moe Berg – Cygnus X-1

June 30

Oxidative phosphorylation is a metabolic pathway that uses energy released by the oxidation of nutrients to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Although the many forms of life on Earth use a range of different nutrients, almost all carry out oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP, the molecule that supplies energy to metabolism. This pathway is probably so pervasive because it is a highly efficient way of releasing energy, compared to alternative fermentation processes such as glycolysis. During oxidative phosphorylation, electrons are transferred from electron donors to electron acceptors such as oxygen, in redox reactions. These redox reactions release energy, which is used to form ATP. In eukaryotes, these reactions are carried out by a series of protein complexes within mitochondria, whereas in prokaryotes, these proteins are in the cells' inner membranes. These linked sets of enzymes are called electron transport chains. Although oxidative phosphorylation is a vital part of metabolism, it produces reactive oxygen species such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxide and free radicals, damaging cells and contributing to aging and disease. The enzymes carrying out this metabolic pathway are also the target of many drugs and poisons that inhibit their activities. (more...)

Recently featured: The General in His Labyrinth – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – Moe Berg