title: Rang De Basanti

text: While discussing typical Bollywood soundtracks, Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, a professor of music at Colorado College, noted that Rahman integrated traditional Punjabi cultural elements within his music for this soundtrack. Regionally defined elements such as a woman's prayer at the Sikh Gurdwara (Golden Temple) and the bhangra harvest dance are incorporated alongside more contemporary, global styles such as hard rock and hip hop to depict the cosmopolitan lifestyle of the youngsters in the film.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: "Rang De Basanti" received its world premiere on 20 January 2006, with high expectations that it would be a success with western audiences, though it also faced ire from several organisations because of certain controversial scenes. The film contained scenes of a MiG-21, a controversial aircraft in the Indian Air Force, which has a long history of fatal accidents in India. Promptly, the Indian Defence Ministry raised concerns, causing the Indian censor board to urge the filmmakers to seek clearance from the ministry. Accordingly, Khan and Mehra screened the film for the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee along with other top officials from the armed forces. One Air Force official reportedly said that it was "not a review, but a preview". After the special screening, the defence ministry did not insist on any cuts, but on their recommendation more names were added to the slide that dedicates the film to deceased MiG pilots. After this clearance, the Animal Welfare Board raised objections on the use of animals in the film. Although the filmmakers had obtained a No Objection Certificate from the board officials, Maneka Gandhi, a well-known animal rights activist and member of the welfare board, found flaws in this certificate. Subsequently, this certificate was revoked and with only a few days left for the world premiere, Mehra personally requested Gandhi to reconsider her objection. After another viewing, the board cleared their objection stating that the use of animals in the film was natural and justified. However, after they recommended the deletion of a 20-second scene that depicted a banned horse race conducted by the Nihang Sikhs, the filmmakers deleted this scene. Mrs. Kavita Gadgil whose son, late Flight Lieutenant Abhijeet Gadgil was killed when his MiG-21 fighter crashed, objected to the film's release because she believed that the film was loosely based on her son's life and the producers should have shown her the film. In response, Kamlesh Pandey, one of the writers of the film, said that the film was not inspired by Abhijeet Gadgil.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: The film was screened at several international film festivals. In 2006, it premiered in France with the Lyon Asiexpo Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival and the Morocco-based International Film Festival of Marrakech. As a part of the publicity, the cast, visited prominent University campuses in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune with an intention of interacting with the students. After hiring international experts for the film's publicity, the marketing expenditure for the film grew to 40 percent of the total production budget of . This expenditure was unprecedented in Bollywood because usually the Indian filmmakers spend only about five percent of their production budget on marketing. Out of the marketing campaign, a fifth of it came from the producers while the rest was obtained through brand tie-ups and partnering.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: There were high expectations from the soundtrack in the media. The soundtrack, first released commercially in early December 2005, generally received above average reviews. One of the songs, "Masti Ki Paatshaala" (translation: "Classroom of Fun"), was voted as the "Song of the year" for 2006 by leading Indian television channels, while two compositions were considered for an Academy Award nomination.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: Before its theatrical release, the producers tied up with several top brands to help in the marketing the film. An alliance was formed with The Coca-Cola Company by releasing special edition bottles to commemorate the film's release, a first of its kind in Bollywood. Besides this, the music CDs and cassettes were co-branded with the cola company along with the launch of the sale of collectibles from the film. Provogue, a well-known clothing retail chain in India, launched a special limited edition clothing merchandise targeting the youth of India. Besides these, the producers collaborated with LG Group, Berger Paints, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Petroleum. The producers tied up with several media partners such as MSN India, Channel V and Radio Mirchi to further enhance their marketing efforts. A video game launched by an Indian mobile content company was based on an adaptation of the film's plot.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: In India, "The Hindu" reported that with audiences from the metropolitan cities turning out in large numbers, "Rang De Basanti" was notching up record collections in its opening week. Accordingly, 55 percent of the film's revenues came from multiplexes in these cities. While the opening week box-office collections from Mumbai, the home of Bollywood, were reported to be over , theatres in New Delhi earned about half of Mumbai's revenue. Throughout the country, the cumulative collections in the first week was about . Overseas collections from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia were collectively put at over for the same week. Released in about 60 theatres in the United States, the film grossed in its opening weekend and earned within 10 weeks. With alone coming from the Indian territory, the film earned more than worldwide. Currently, the film holds the record for the highest-grossing film to be released in January.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: Within a week of the film's theatrical release, illegal copies of the film priced at were seized at an Indian airport. A report carried out by "The Times of India" highlighted copyright infringement on the Internet where movies like "Rang De Basanti" could be downloaded freely. The DVD release sold more than 70,000 copies over six months, and as a result the film was the highest selling title at the time of its release.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: "Rang De Basanti" was released on Blu-ray (plus steelbook edition) in May 2014. It is also available on Netflix.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: Critics gave the film an overwhelmingly positive response, in particular the ensemble cast's performance and credibility. Although "The Indian Express" spoke positively of the cinematography and the film's story, it noted that "the message that the film carries with it tends to get diluted towards the climax. Praising the film's cast for their performance and the cinematography of Binod Pradhan, Taran Ardash wrote that the film would be successful with the urban audiences. The "Hindustan Times" summarised the film as being a "well-scripted, skilfully crafted [and] thought-provoking entertainer". Saisuresh Sivaswamy of Rediff.com wrote that films like "Rang De Basanti" can easily get into "preachiness", but believed Mehra got his message across while avoiding this, also appreciating the music, cinematography, dialogues and art direction. "The Hindu" credited Kamlesh Pandey for writing a story that would have been a difficult film to make, but it added by saying that the transformation of the youngsters into heroes seemed poetic. Although the screenplay, direction and the cast were also well-appreciated, the reviewer felt that Rahman's soundtrack lacked pace.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: The film also received positive reviews from critics outside India. The review from the BBC gave it the highest possible five star rating and added that it was "an entertaining mix of romance, history and social commentary". The Bloomberg website wrote positively about "the raw energy of a young cast and A. R. Rahman's splendidly rousing soundtrack".


title: Rang De Basanti

text: Sight & Sound magazine conducts a poll every ten years of the world's finest film directors to find out the Ten Greatest Films of All Time. This poll has been going since 1992, and has become the most recognised poll of its kind in the world. In 2012 Cyrus Frisch voted for "Rang De Basanti". Frisch commented: "Corruption became the subject of fierce debate in India after the major success of this film among youngsters."


title: Rang De Basanti

text: The film was mentioned in critic and author Shubhra Gupta's book, "50 Films That Changed Bollywood, 1995–2015".


title: Rang De Basanti

text: A major point of criticism the film faced was regarding the possibility of the Indian Army attacking students in a radio station. When Rakeysh was questioned about the same in a scriptwriter's conference conducted by the Film Writers Association in the year 2008, he said the following, "So, in 2005, in Allahabad, a bunch of 4 students took the TV station there, and they were shot dead. Everything I did, it was kind of borrowed, as I said right here. Obviously, what I am also learning is the way I tell a story is not "real"; you can term it as "a-real". For maximum impact, for the message to go through, I felt—since the story was against the establishment—let the establishment do it. After all, the establishment did hang Bhagat Singh. After all, the establishment did come down on the innocent, innocent students in Mandal Commission. After all the establishment did come down on Tiananmen Square. After all the establishment did come down when the whole concept of Flower Power emerged in America. So it's all there. It's borrowed, maybe not as realistically, but it is definitely there in the society. During emergency, there are horror stories. If we have to go back to Kriplani and his movement in Bihar, the stories are absolutely horrific."


title: Rang De Basanti

text: Since the film "reflected contemporary Indian reality and had cinematic excellence", it was chosen as India's official entry for the 79th Academy Awards despite stiff competition from films such as "Krrish", "Omkara", "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" and "Lage Raho Munna Bhai". While discussing if the selection committee's choice was correct, critics felt that the Academy members could have better related with "Omkara", an adaptation of Shakespeare's play "Othello". Despite these qualms and Mehra's belief that his film did not stand a chance at the Oscars, the efforts to publicise the film in the United States began earnestly. Music composer A. R. Rahman performed several concerts across the East Coast to promote the film. Besides his efforts, producer Screwvala planned to use resources and expertise from his partners in 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Pictures for organising its publicity efforts. When the nominations in the foreign film category did not feature this film, it sparked off debates on whether the film should have been India's entry for the Oscars. In one such debate on a television channel that involved Screwvala, the selection committee was questioned about its knowledge of the requisite artistic criteria for such award ceremonies. While one outcome of the debate was on how "Omkara" would have been a better choice, the other discussed the West-centric sensibilities of the Academy members. However, results from a simultaneously conducted SMS poll indicated that 62 percent felt that the film was the right choice for the Oscars.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: The film was selected as India's official entry to the 79th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film but it was not Nominated.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: "Rang De Basanti" had a noticeable impact on Indian society. A study of bloggers behavioural patterns during the first month of the film's release revealed a significant increase in public ire towards government and politicians for constantly being mired in corruption and bureaucracy and their inefficiency in providing basic amenities. Intense political discussions spurred on by the film's influence were observed in these patterns. While commenting on this, writer D'Silva said that the film "has struck a chord somewhere". Besides instigating political thought and discussions, it evoked social awakening for many. Some discussions rallied on how citizens should support and contribute to non-governmental organisations and exercising simple citizen duties of paying taxes and voting, while the others contemplated on how to become more responsible towards the country. Unlike other Indian films with jingoistic overtones, many young Indians could relate well to the characters of this film.


title: Rang De Basanti

text: While such reactions were observed on the Internet, youth activism took to streets to protest on public interest issues. A direct impact was on the 1999 Jessica Lall Murder Case, one of the high-profile murder cases in India. A month after the film's release, a court acquitted the main accused because of inefficient prosecution and hostile witnesses. This sparked intense civil protests and media campaigns that sought his re-arrest. Taking cue from the scene in which the protagonists hold a silent, candlelight vigil at New Delhi's India Gate, one such group of demonstrators carried out a similar rally to voice their protest. Shortly thereafter, a survey was conducted to assess reasons for the sudden upsurge in people's social involvements. Eighteen percent of the respondents felt that movies like "Rang De Basanti" were the main reason behind it. Another such massive youth activism was seen in the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case where similar rallies were organised in India, United States and around the world. Following the release of the film, another social outcry was against the introduction of reservations for socially backward classes in educational institutions. Young doctors and engineers joined hands in peaceful rallies in major cities across India. Though the film was not released in the neighbouring Pakistan, it evoked similar reactions there. Inspired by the film, Pakistan's national newspaper, "Jang", launched a television channel that was to focus on citizens' issues and support public awakening. Reacting to these strong social reactions, actor Kunal Kapoor thought that the film was just a catalyst that presented "patriotism in a package that the youngsters understood and empathised with".


title: Rang De Basanti

text: In the Indian media, frequent referencing of the film was evident, with many brands using pictorials from the movie. In addition, the media also uses the terms "RDB" (abbreviated title of the movie) and "RDB effect" while referring to instances of public activism on matters of public interest. When the 2007 University of Delhi Student Elections focused more on the important issues facing the students than in the previous years, one student referred to this as the "RDB Syndrome". On similar lines, Kamal Sunavala wrote a play titled "Under the Influence" which focuses on a young Indian expatriate whose life changes after watching this film.


title: Mycenae

text: Mycenae ( ; or , "Mykē̂nai" or "Mykḗnē") is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. The site is inland from the Saronic Gulf and built upon a hill rising above sea level.


title: Mycenae

text: In the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece, Crete, the Cyclades and parts of southwest Anatolia. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares.


title: Mycenae

text: The first correct identification of Mycenae in modern literature was during a survey conducted by Francesco Grimani, commissioned by the Provveditore Generale of the Kingdom of the Morea in 1700, who used Pausanias's description of the Lion Gate to identify the ruins of Mycenae.


title: Mycenae

text: In 1999, the archeological site of Mycenae was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, along with the nearby site of Tiryns, because of its historical importance as the center of the Mycenaean civilization, its outstanding architecture, and its testimony to the development of Ancient Greek civilization.


title: Mycenae

text: For a variety of factors, this archaeological site satisfies the requirements for outstanding universal value (i,ii,iii,iv,vi). The Lions Gate, the Treasury of Atreus, and the walls of Tiryns are just a few examples of the amazing architecture found in Mycenae and Tiryns. These discoveries' structures and layouts are great instances of the human creative talent of the time. Greek architecture and urban planning have been significantly influenced by the Mycenaean civilization. Mycenae and Tiryn, which stand as the pinnacle of the early phases of Greek civilization, provided unique witness to political, social, and economic growth during the Mycenaean civilization. The accomplishments of the Mycenaean civilisation in art, architecture, and technology, which inspired European cultures, are also on display at both locations. As earlier stated, these sites are strongly connected to the Homeric epics. The earliest examples of the Greek language are also visible at Mycenae and Tiryn, preserved on linear B tablets. These achievements of the Mycenae and Tiryns demonstrate how this site satisfies the requirements for outstanding universal value.


title: Mycenae

text: A stringent legal framework was established to safeguard the integrity of the Mycenae and Tiryns sites against vandalism and other forms of damage and disturbance to the remains. The Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Education, and Religious Affairs keeps a close eye on the two archaeological sites. To maintain the quality and conditions of the Mycenaean and Tiryn sites, archaeological study is conducted methodically and systematically.


title: Mycenae

text: The Greek Antiquities Law No. 3028/2002, on the "Conservation of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in General," governs the preservation and protection of the sites. Ministerial Decree No. 2160 of 1964 created and safeguarded the limits of Mycenae in addition to the sites themselves. The Acropolis and the larger surrounding surroundings are also covered by this ministerial decree's extension of protection. Ministerial Decrees No. 102098/4753 of 1956 and 12613/696 of 1991 both provide protection for the Tiryns archaeological site.


title: Mycenae

text: The name "Mukanai" is thought not to be Greek but rather one of the many pre-Greek place names inherited by later Greek speakers. Legend has it that the name was connected to the Greek word "mykēs" (μύκης, "mushroom"). Thus, Pausanias ascribes the name to the legendary founder Perseus, who was said to have named it either after the cap ("mykēs") of the sheath of his sword, or after a mushroom he had plucked on the site. Homer connected the name to the nymph Mycene the daughter of the river god Inachos of Argos (Odyssey 2.120).


title: Mycenae

text: In the "Iliad", the name of the city spelled is "" (Μυκήνη). The later form (Μυκῆναι) was the result of a well-known sound change in Attic-Ionic which shifts some instances of "ā" to "ē".


title: Mycenae

text: Mycenae, an acropolis site, was built on a hill above sea level, some inland from the Gulf of Argolis. Situated in the north-east corner of the Argive plain, it easily overlooked the whole area and was ideally positioned to be a centre of power, especially as it commanded all easy routes to the Isthmus of Corinth. Besides its strong defensive and strategic position, it had good farmland and an adequate water supply. There are only faint traces of Neolithic settlement on the site although it was continuously occupied from the Early Neolithic (EN; c. 5000–c. 4000 BC) through the Early Helladic (EH; c. 3200–c. 2000 BC) and Middle Helladic (MH; c. 2000–c. 1550 BC) periods. EN Rainbow Ware constitutes the earliest ceramic evidence discovered so far.


title: Mycenae

text: The population had grown considerably by the Middle Helladic. As elsewhere, a dominant Cretan influence prevailed from c. 1600 BC, the first evidence of this coming from the shaft graves discovered in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann. Schliemann's shaft graves came to be known as Circle A to distinguish them from the Circle B graves which were found at a later date, although Circle B are the earlier graves dated c. 1650 BC to c. 1550 BC and entirely within MHIII. Circle A is dated to the sixteenth century BC including the transition from Middle to Late Helladic IA (LHIA; c. 1550 – c. 1500 BC). The contents of Circle B are less wealthy than those of Circle A.


title: Mycenae

text: Pottery material spanning the entire Early Helladic was discovered 1877 by Panagiotis Stamatakis at a low depth in the sixth shaft grave in Circle A. Further EH and MH material was found beneath the walls and floors of the palace, on the summit of the acropolis, and outside the Lion Gate in the area of the ancient cemetery. An EH–MH settlement was discovered near a fresh-water well on top of the Kalkani hill south-west of the acropolis. The first burials in pits or cist graves manifest in MHII (c. 1800 BC) on the west slope of the acropolis, which was at least partially enclosed by the earliest circuit wall.


title: Mycenae

text: In the absence of documents and objects that can be precisely dated, events at Mycenae can only be dated relatively within the constraints of Helladic chronology which relies on categorisation of stratified material objects, mainly pottery, within an agreed historical framework. Mycenae developed into a major power during LHI (c. 1550 – c. 1450 BC) and is believed to have become the main centre of Aegean civilisation through the fifteenth century to the extent that the two hundred years from c. 1400 BC to c. 1200 BC (encompassing LHIIIA and LHIIIB) are known as the Mycenaean Age. The Minoan hegemony was ended c. 1450 and there is evidence that Knossos was occupied by Mycenaeans until it too was destroyed c. 1370 BC. From then on, Mycenaean expansion throughout the Aegean was unhindered until the massive disruption of society in the first half of the twelfth century (LHIIIC) which ended Mycenaean civilisation and culminated in the destruction of Mycenae itself c. 1150 BC.


title: Mycenae

text: Outside the partial circuit wall, Grave Circle B, named for its enclosing wall, contained ten cist graves in Middle Helladic style and several shaft graves, sunk more deeply, with interments resting in cists. Richer grave goods mark the burials as possibly regal. Mounds over the top contained broken drinking vessels and bones from a repast, testifying to a more than ordinary farewell. Stelae surmounted the mounds.


title: Mycenae

text: A walled enclosure, Grave Circle A, included six more shaft graves, with nine female, eight male, and two juvenile interments. Grave goods were more costly than in Circle B. The presence of engraved and inlaid swords and daggers, with spear points and arrowheads, leave little doubt that warrior chieftains and their families were buried here. Some art objects obtained from the graves are the Silver Siege Rhyton, the Mask of Agamemnon, the Cup of Nestor, and weapons both votive and practical. The chemical compositions of the silver objects indicate that the silver was sourced from several locations.


title: Mycenae

text: Alan Wace divided the nine tholos tombs of Mycenae into three groups of three, each based on architecture. His earliest – the Cyclopean Tomb, Epano Phournos, and the Tomb of Aegisthus – are dated to LHIIA.


title: Mycenae

text: Burial in tholoi is seen as replacing burial in shaft graves. The care taken to preserve the shaft graves testifies that they were by then part of the royal heritage, the tombs of the ancestral heroes. Being more visible, the tholoi all had been plundered either in antiquity, or in later historic times.


title: Mycenae

text: At a conventional date of 1350 BC, the fortifications on the acropolis, and other surrounding hills, were rebuilt in a style known as Cyclopean because the blocks of stone used were so massive that they were thought in later ages to be the work of the one-eyed giants known as the Cyclopes. Within these walls, much of which can still be seen, successive monumental palaces were built. The final palace, remains of which are currently visible on the acropolis of Mycenae, dates to the start of LHIIIA:2. Earlier palaces must have existed, but they had been cleared away or built over.


title: Mycenae

text: The construction of palaces at that time with a similar architecture was general throughout southern Greece. They all featured a megaron, or throne room, with a raised central hearth under an opening in the roof, which was supported by four columns in a square around the hearth. A throne was placed against the center of a wall to the side of the hearth, allowing an unobstructed view of the ruler from the entrance. Frescos adorned the plaster walls and floor.


title: Mycenae

text: The room was accessed from a courtyard with a columned portico. A grand staircase led from a terrace below to the courtyard on the acropolis.


title: Mycenae

text: In the temple built within the citadel, a scarab of Queen Tiye of Egypt, who was married to Amenhotep III, was placed in the Room of the Idols alongside at least one statue of either LHIIIA:2 or B:1 type. Amenhotep III's relations with "m-w-k-i-n-u", *Mukana, have corroboration from the inscription at Kom al-Hetan - but Amenhotep's reign is thought to align with late LHIIIA:1. It is likely that Amenhotep's herald presented the scarab to an earlier generation, which then found the resources to rebuild the citadel as Cyclopean and then, to move the scarab here.


title: Mycenae

text: Wace's second group of tholoi are dated between LHIIA and LHIIIB: Kato Phournos, Panagia Tholos, and the Lion Tomb. The final group, Group III: the Treasury of Atreus, the Tomb of Clytemnestra and the Tomb of the Genii, are dated to LHIIIB by a sherd under the threshold of the Treasury of Atreus, the largest of the nine tombs. Like the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenus the tomb had been looted of its contents and its nature as funerary monument had been forgotten. The structure bore the traditional name of "Treasury".


title: Mycenae

text: The pottery phases on which the relative dating scheme is based (EH, MH, LH, etc.) do not allow very precise dating, even augmented by the few existing C-14 dates due to the tolerance inherent in these. The sequence of further construction at Mycenae is approximately as follows. In the middle of LHIIIB, around 1250 BC or so, the Cyclopean wall was extended on the west slope to include Grave Circle A. The main entrance through the circuit wall was made grand by the best known feature of Mycenae, the Lion Gate, through which passed a stepped ramp leading past circle A and up to the palace. The Lion Gate was constructed in the form of a "Relieving Triangle" in order to support the weight of the stones. An undecorated postern gate also was constructed through the north wall.


title: Mycenae

text: One of the few groups of excavated houses in the city outside the walls lies beyond Grave Circle B and belongs to the same period. The House of Shields, the House of the Oil Merchant, the House of the Sphinxes, and the West House. These may have been both residences and workshops.


title: Mycenae

text: The largest stones including the lintels and gate jambs weighed well over 20 tonnes; some may have been close to 100 tonnes.


title: Mycenae

text: Somewhat later, toward the end of LHIIIB around 1200 BC, another, final extension to the citadel was undertaken. The wall was extended again on the northeast, with a sally port and also a secret passage through and under the wall, of corbeled construction, leading downward by some 99 steps to a cistern carved out of rock 15 m below the surface. It was fed by a tunnel from a spring on more distant higher ground.


title: Mycenae

text: Already in LHIIIA:1, Egypt knew *Mukana by name as a capital city on the level of Thebes and Knossos. During LHIIIB, Mycenae's political, military and economic influence likely extended as far as Crete, Pylos in the western Peloponnese, and to Athens and Thebes.


title: Mycenae

text: Mycenae was among the numerous Aegean sites destroyed as part of the Bronze Age Collapse around 1200 BC. The causes of these destructions are unknown, but proposed explanations include enemy attack, internal strife, and natural disasters such as earthquakes. Unlike many other sites, Mycenae was partly rebuilt after this destruction, though it was no longer the center of a centralized literate bureacuracy. Pottery finds suggest that Postpalatial Mycenae eventually regained some its wealth, before burning once again. After this period, the site remained sparsely populated until the Hellenistic era.


title: Mycenae

text: A temple dedicated to Hera was built on the summit of the Mycenaean citadel during the Archaic Period. A Mycenaean contingent fought at Thermopylae and Plataea during the Persian Wars. In 468 BC, however, troops from Argos captured Mycenae, expelled the inhabitants and razed the fortifications.


title: Mycenae

text: Mycenae was briefly reoccupied in the Hellenistic period, when it could boast a theatre (located over the Tomb of Clytemnestra). The site was subsequently abandoned, and by the Roman period in Greece its ruins had become a tourist attraction. The Ministry of Culture, Education, and Religious Affairs is currently in charge of the site. In 1999, a scientific committee for Mycenae was created and numerous projects for the preservation, improvement, and stabilization of both archaeological sites have been completed by this scientific body. The committee also sought to improve visitor access to the monuments at the locations by laying out walkways and establishing informational stations. The ancient travel writer Pausanias, for example, visited the site and briefly described the prominent fortifications and the Lion Gate, still visible in his time, the second century AD. Pausanias also describes being led to the site by shepherds, showing that the surrounding area was never completely abandoned.


title: Mycenae

text: It appears that the Mycenaean state was ruled by kings identified by the title , "wa-na-ka" ("wanax') in the Linear B inscriptions at Knossos and Pylos. Wanax had the supreme authority and was represented by a number of officials. In the Homeric poems, the word form is "anax" (), often translated in English as "lord". Some inscriptions with a list of offerings indicate that the king was probably divine, but the term "for the king" is usually accompanied by another name. It is possible that a priest-king system was adopted from the East and the title probably indicates that his right to rule was given by the god. The term , "qa-si-re-u" (cf. , "basileús"), which was later used in Greece for "king", was apparently used for the "chief" of any group of people, or for a provincial official. (Homer mentions many "basilees" in Ithaca).


title: Mycenae

text: The land possessed by the king is usually called , "te-me-no" (, "témenos"), a word that survived in classical Greece (the "temenos" placed by Hephaestus on the shield of Achilles is called "royal"). In classical times the word has a religious connotation . Other important landowners were the , "ra-wa-ke-ta" ("lāwāgetas"), literally translated as "the leader of the people", and sometimes interpreted as a given kingdom's military leader, though this is not confirmed by the inscriptions. Alternatively, he may have been the crown prince or, if one follows the argument of a single Mycenaean state, a local king who was a vassal to the overarching wanax / Great King. Below these two elevated persons, Linear B texts situate the , "te-re-ta" ("telestai"), the officials. Leonard Robert Palmer suggests that the "telestai were the men of telos- the fief holders". The , "e-qe-ta" ("ekwetai", "companions" or "followers") were a group of nobles (aristocrats), who followed the king in peace and war. It seems that they were representatives of the king among military groups and religious personnel. There is also at least one instance of a person, Enkhelyawon at Pylos, who appears titleless in the written record but whom modern scholars regard as being probably a king.


title: Mycenae

text: From the existing evidence, it seems that the kingdom was further subdivided into sixteen districts. The , "ko-re-te" was the "governor of the district" and the , "po-ro-ko-re-te" was the "deputy". It is possible that these represent "koreter" and "prokoreter". The , "da-mo-ko-ro" ("damokoros") was an official appointment but his duties are not very clear. The communal land was held at the hands of , "da-mo" (literally, "people", cf. Attic δῆμος, "dễmos"), or "plot holders". It seems that the "da-mo" was a collective body of men, representing the local district and that it had certain power in public affairs. It is suggested that "qa-si-re-u" had a council of elders, a , "ke-ro-si-ja", (later "" "gerousia"), but Palmer believes that it was an organization of "bronze smiths". The land was held by the wanax, by the damos, and by individual land owners. It seems that people lived in small family groups or clans around the main cidadel. Occupying a lower rung of the social ladder were the slaves, "do-e-ro", (cf. , "doúlos"). These are recorded in the texts as working either for the palace or for specific deities.


title: Mycenae

text: Archaeological evidence supports the idea that the social hierarchy of Mycenae was a monarchy. The difference in the grave goods shows how the society was clearly separated by class. The king or the Wanax was at the top of the hierarchy, who lived in the palaces and made laws for the people. It is believed that the kings came into power not because of great leadership duties, but because of hereditary succession. Below the king was the Lawagetas, believed to be the leader of the army, based on Homer's works. The Lawagetas are thought to have gotten their power by owning the most land. Other opinions think Lawagetas were a sort of prince, having no military power. Under the Lawagetas are numerous craftsmen employed by the Lawagetas. Other groups commonly mentioned in landholding texts are the Telestas. Some think the Telestas are religious officials while others believe they were given land in return for services. Under the Telestas is believed to be the Hequetia, who are believed to be either military workers or warriors or companions of the king. Under the Hequetia are the general laborers which includes artisans, farmers, fisherman, and more. At the bottom of the social hierarchy slaves, which are commonly believed to be women. Even when women were not slaves it is believed they were never able to hold substantial roles of power in the civilizations. The particular positions held and responsibilities performed within Mycenae's social structure are not well understood.


title: Mycenae

text: According to the traditional view, Mycenae or any other palatial center of mainland Greece was not an empire, and the mainland consisted of independent city-states. This view has in recent years, however, been challenged by various specialists, such as Jorrit Kelder and, most recently, Birgitta Eder and Reinhard Jung. Kelder pointed out that a number of palaces and fortifications appear to be part of a wider kingdom. For instance, Gla, located in the region of Boeotia, belonged to the state of nearby Orchomenos. The palace of Mycenae probably ruled over a territory two to three times the size of the other palatial states in Bronze Age Greece. Its territory would have also included adjacent centers, including Tiryns and Nauplion, which could plausibly be ruled by a member of Mycenae's ruling dynasty. Certain archaeological features in the palatial centers like the architectural uniformity, the uniformity of the administrative system, the uniformity in pottery, the imperial language and some large scale projects (drainage systems, harbours, roads etc.) indicate that large parts of Greece may have fallen under the sway of a single king, with various degrees of control over local vassals: a situation not dissimilar from the contemporary Hittite world, although the archaeological evidence remains ambiguous. A loose confederacy of city-states under the king of Mycenae, Agamemnon, is mentioned by Homer in "Iliad".


title: Mycenae

text: Much of the Mycenaean religion survived into classical Greece in their pantheon of Greek deities, but it is not known to what extent Greek religious belief is Mycenaean, nor how much is a product of the Greek Dark Ages or later. Moses I. Finley detected only few authentic Mycenaean beliefs in the 8th-century Homeric world, but Nilsson suggested that the Mycenean religion was the mother of the Greek religion.


title: Mycenae

text: From the history traced by Nilsson and Guthrie, the Mycenaean pantheon consisted of Minoan deities, but also of gods and goddesses who appear under different names with similar functions in East and West. Many of these names appearing in the Linear B inscriptions can be found later in classical Greece like Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, Eileithyia and Dionysos, but the etymology is the only evidence of the cults.


title: Mycenae

text: There are several reasonable guesses that can be made, however. It seems that originally the Mycenaeans, like many Indo-Europeans, considered divine any object that inherited an internal power (anima). Certain religious beliefs were mixed with the beliefs of the local populations as it appears in the old cults of isolated Arcadia, which survived up to classical Greece. In these cults, Poseidon appears usually as a horse, representing the river spirit of the underworld as it usually happens in northern-European folklore. The precursor goddesses of Demeter and Persephone are closely related with the springs and the animals, and especially with Poseidon and Artemis who was the first nymph. Mycenaean religion was almost certainly polytheistic, and the Mycenaeans were actively syncretistic, adding foreign deities to their pantheon of deities with considerable ease. The Mycenaeans probably entered Greece with a pantheon of deities headed by some ruling sky-deity, which linguists speculate might have been called "*Dyeus" in early Indo-European. In Greek, this deity would become Zeus (pronounced "Zeus" or "Dias" in ancient Greek). Among the Hindus, this sky-deity becomes "Dyaus Pita". In Latin he becomes "deus pater" or Jupiter; we still encounter this word in the etymologies of the words "deity" and "divine".


title: Mycenae

text: Later in some cults, Zeus is united with the Aegean Great Goddess, who is represented by Hera in a "holy wedding" ("hieros gamos"). At some point in their cultural history, the Mycenaeans adopted some Minoan goddesses like Aphaea, Britomartis, Diktynna and associated them with their sky-god. Many of them were absorbed by more powerful divinities, and some like the vegetation goddesses Ariadne and Helen survived in Greek folklore together with the cult of the "divine child", who was probably the precursor of Dionysos. Athena and Hera survived and were tutelary goddesses, the guardians of the palaces and the cities. In general, later Greek religion distinguishes between two types of deities: the Olympian, or sky deities (including Zeus), which are now commonly known in some form or another; and, the chthonic deities, or deities of the earth. Walter Burkert warns: "To what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and Mycenaean religion is a question which has not yet found a conclusive answer." He suggests that useful parallels will be found in the relations between Etruscan and Archaic Greek culture and religion, or between Roman and Hellenistic culture.


title: Mycenae

text: The pantheon also included deities representing the powers of nature and wildlife, who appear with similar functions in the Mediterranean region. The "Mistress of the Animals" ("Potnia Theron"), later called Artemis, may be identified as the Minoan goddess Britomartis/Dictynna. Poseidon is the lord of the sea, and therefore of storms and earthquakes, (the "Earth shaker" in Linear B tablets). He may have functioned as a pre-Hellenic chthonic Zeus, the lord or spouse of the Earth goddess. Athena whose task was to protect the olive-trees is a civic Artemis. The powers of animal nature fostered a belief in nymphs whose existence was bound to the trees and the waters, and in gods with human forms and the heads or tails of animals who stood for primitive bodily instincts. In Arcadia were depicted animal-headed gods, indicating that in the remote past the gods were conceived as animals and birds, in a surrounding of animal-headed daemons. Later the gods were revealed in human forms with an animal as a companion or symbol. Some of the old gods survived in the cult of Dionysos (Satyrs) and Pan (the goat-god).


title: Mycenae

text: The Mycenaeans adopted probably from the east a priest-king system and the belief of a ruling deity in the hands of a theocratic society. At the end of the second millennium BC, when the Mycenaean palaces collapsed, it seems that Greek thought was gradually released from the idea that each man was a servant to the gods, and sought a "moral purpose". It is possible that this procedure started before the end of the Mycenaean age, but the idea is almost absent or vague in the Homeric poems, where the interference of the gods is not related to the rightness or wrongness of men's actions. Later, Hesiod uses a lot of eastern material in his cosmology and in the genealogical trees of the gods, and he introduces the idea of the existence of something else behind the gods, which was more powerful than they.


title: Mycenae

text: The Olympian Pantheon is an ordered system. The Greek divinities live with Zeus at the helm and each is concerned with a recognizable sphere. However, certain elements in some Greek cults indicate the survival of some older cults from a less rationalized world: old cults of the dead, agrarian magic, exorcism of evil spirits, peculiar sacrifices, and animal-headed gods. In the Homeric poems, the avenging Fate was probably originally a daemon acting in parallel with the gods. Later, the cult of Dionysos Zagreus indicates that life-blood of animals was needed to renew that of men. A similar belief may be guessed from the Mycenaean Hagia Triada sarcophagus (1400 BC), which combines features of Minoan civilization and Mycenaean style. It seems that the blood of a bull was used for the regeneration of the reappearing dead. Probably most of these cults existed in the Mycenaean period and survived by immemorial practice.


title: Mycenae

text: A secondary level of importance was the cult of the heroes, which seems to have started in the Mycenaean era. These were great men of the past who were exalted to honor after death, because of what they had done. According to an old Minoan belief, beyond the sea there was an island called Elysion, where the departed could have a different but happier existence. Later, the Greeks believed that there could live in human form only heroes and the beloved of the gods. The souls of the rest would drift unconsciously in the gloomy space of Hades. Gods and men had common origins, but there was an enormous gap between the immortal gods and mortal men. However, certain elements indicate that the Myceneans probably believed in a future existence. Two well-preserved bodies were found in Shaft Grave VI, and Wolfgang Helbig believed that an embalming preceded the burial. In the shaft graves discovered by Heinrich Schliemann, the corpses were lightly exposed to fire in order to preserve them.


title: Mycenae

text: Mycenaean religion certainly involved offerings and sacrifices to the deities, and some have speculated that their ceremonies involved human sacrifice based on textual evidence and bones found outside tombs. In the Homeric poems, there seems to be a lingering cultural memory of human sacrifice in King Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia; several of the stories of Trojan heroes involve tragic human sacrifice. In the far past, even human beings might be offered to placate inscrutable gods, especially in times of guilty fear. Later sacrifice became a feast at which oxen were slaughtered. Men kept the meat, and gave the gods the bones wrapped in fat.


title: Mycenae

text: Beyond this speculation we can go no further. Somewhere in the shades of the centuries between the fall of the Mycenaean civilization and the end of the Greek Dark Ages, the original Mycenaean religion persisted and adapted until it finally emerged in the stories of human devotion, apostasy, and divine capriciousness that exists in the two great epic poems of Homer.


title: Mycenae

text: Classical Greek myths assert that Mycenae was founded by Perseus, grandson of king Acrisius of Argos, son of Acrisius's daughter, Danaë and the god Zeus. Having killed his grandfather by accident, Perseus could not, or would not, inherit the throne of Argos. Instead he arranged an exchange of realms with his cousin, Megapenthes, and became king of Tiryns, Megapenthes taking Argos. After that, he founded Mycenae and ruled the kingdoms jointly from there.


title: Mycenae

text: Perseus married Andromeda and had many sons. His son, Electryon, became the second of the dynasty, but the succession was disputed by the Taphians under Pterelaos, another Perseid, who assaulted Mycenae, lost, and retreated with the cattle. The cattle were recovered by Amphitryon, a grandson of Perseus, but he killed his uncle by accident with a club in an unruly cattle incident and had to go into exile.


title: Mycenae

text: The throne went to Sthenelus, third in the dynasty, a son of Perseus. He set the stage for future greatness by marrying Nicippe, a daughter of King Pelops of Elis, the most powerful state of the region and the times. With her he had a son, Eurystheus, the fourth and last of the Perseid dynasty. When a son of Heracles, Hyllus, killed Sthenelus, Eurystheus became noted for his enmity to Heracles and for his ruthless persecution of the Heracleidae, the descendants of Heracles.


title: Mycenae

text: This is the first we hear in legend of those noted sons, who became a symbol of the Dorians. Heracles had been a Perseid. After his death, Eurystheus determined to annihilate these rivals for the throne of Mycenae, but they took refuge in Athens, and in the course of war, Eurystheus and all his sons were killed. The Perseid dynasty came to an end and the people of Mycenae placed Eurystheus's maternal uncle, Atreus, a Pelopid, on the throne.


title: Mycenae

text: The people of Mycenae had received advice from an oracle that they should choose a new king from among the Pelopids. The two contenders were Atreus and his brother, Thyestes. The latter was chosen at first. At this moment nature intervened and the sun appeared to reverse direction by setting in the east. Atreus argued that because the sun had reversed its path, the election of Thyestes should be reversed. The argument was heeded, and Atreus became king. His first move was to pursue Thyestes and all his family – that is, his own kin – but Thyestes managed to escape from Mycenae.


title: Mycenae

text: In legend, Atreus had two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, the Atreids. Aegisthus, the son of Thyestes, killed Atreus and restored Thyestes to the throne. With the help of King Tyndareus of Sparta, the Atreids drove Thyestes again into exile. Tyndareus had two ill-starred daughters, Helen and Clytemnestra, whom Menelaus and Agamemnon married, respectively. Agamemnon inherited Mycenae and Menelaus became king of Sparta.


title: Mycenae

text: Soon, Helen eloped with Paris of Troy. Agamemnon conducted a 10-year war against Troy to get her back for his brother. Because of lack of wind, the warships could not sail to Troy. In order to please the gods so that they might make the winds start to blow, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. According to some versions of the legend, the hunting goddess Artemis replaced her at the very last moment with a deer on the altar, and took Iphigenia to Tauris (see "Iphigenia in Tauris" by Euripides). The deities, having been satisfied by such a sacrifice, made the winds blow and the Greek fleet departed.


title: Mycenae

text: Legend tells us that the long and arduous Trojan War, although nominally a Greek victory, brought anarchy, piracy, and ruin; already before the Greek fleet set sail for Troy, the conflict had divided the gods as well, and this contributed to curses and acts of vengeance following many of the Greek heroes. After the war Agamemnon returned to Mycenae and was greeted royally with a red carpet rolled out for him. Shortly thereafter, he was slain by Clytemnestra, who hated him bitterly for having ordered the sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia in order to gain favorable winds to Troy. Clytemnestra was aided in her crime by Aegistheus, her lover, who reigned subsequently, but Orestes, her son by Agamemnon, was smuggled out to Phocis. He returned as an adult with his sister Electra to slay Clytemnestra and Aegistheus. He then fled to Athens to evade justice and a matricide, and became insane for a time. Meanwhile, the throne of Mycenae went to Aletes, son of Aegistheus, but not for long. Recovering, Orestes returned to Mycenae with Electra to kill Aletes and took the throne. This story is told in numerous plays, including the Oresteia, Sophocles' "Electra", and Euripides' "Electra".


title: Mycenae

text: Orestes then built a larger state in the Peloponnese, but he died in Arcadia from a snake bite. His son, Tisamenus, the last of the Atreid dynasty, was killed by the Heracleidae on their return to the Peloponnesus. They claimed the right of the Perseids to inherit the various kingdoms of the Peloponnese and cast lots for the dominion of them, thus leaving the Atreids as the final rulers of Legendary Mycenae.


title: Mycenae

text: One archaeologist obsessed over this area for discovery in particular, named Heinrich Schliemann. From the time Schliemann was a young boy, he had the dream to one day discover the city of Troy, also the site of the Trojan war. Schliemann’s obsession began as a very young boy when his father would read him passages from Homer's epics, The Iliad and Odyssey. As Schliemann grew older, his dreams became a reality, in 1871 Schliemann began his excavations on the hill Hissarlik, located in Turkey. Schliemann worked for over three years before finding deposits of gold and silver, which has since been referred to as “King Priam’s Treasure”. In 1876 Schliemann began excavating in Greece and soon discovered a gold mask that he labeled as “The Mask of Agamemnon”. Agamemnon was a very important figure in Greek mythology. It is believed that Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae and led the Greek army in the Trojan war. Although there is no historical evidence of a Myceanaean King called Agamemnon, it is supported by archaeological evidence.Years after the initial discovery of the mask, Schliemann’s claims were refuted because the mask that was originally believed to be “The Mask of Agamemnon” is dated up to 400 years before Agamemnon is even thought to have existed, as well as the chronological events of the Trojan war. Although Schliemann made monumental discoveries his works are criticized and some critics claim Schliemann destroyed more history than he uncovered. Others call Schliemann “the father of scientific archaeology”. Overall, opinions of Schliemann’s works are mixed.


title: Mycenae

text: Schliemann's prior claims of findings that have since been proven false are one reason why he is frequently questioned. The descriptions of Schliemann's initial discoveries of Troy in his own diaries are hazy, and the dates he gives for when they were made are sometimes incongruous. Following his work at Troy, Schliemann carried out excavations throughout Greece, which led to the discovery of Grave shaft A in Mycenae. The infamous "Mask of Agamemnon," according to many critics, wasn't truly discovered in these grave shafts. The two tomb shafts appear to include a wide variety of funeral masks in addition to the already debunked claims concerning the mask. In one form of mask, there were no smiles or facial hairs; in another, the mask had a more bowl-like shape and smiles were apparent; and in the last style, "The Mask of Agamemnon," there were smiles, facial hair, and detachable, intricate ears. Some critics contend that Schliemann smuggled additional artifacts into Mycenae and then falsely claimed to have discovered them. Schliemann was previously known to smuggle artifacts out of Hisarlik.


title: Mycenae

text: The first excavations at Mycenae were carried out by Greek archaeologist Kyriakos Pittakis in 1841 where he found and restored the Lion Gate. In 1874, Heinrich Schliemann excavated deep shafts all over the acropolis without permission; in August 1876, a complete excavation of the site by Schliemann commenced with the permission of the Archaeological Society of Athens (ASA) and the supervision of one of its members, Panayiotis Stamatakis. Schliemann believed in the historical truth of the Homeric stories and interpreted the site accordingly. He found the ancient shaft graves with their royal skeletons and spectacular grave goods. Upon discovering a human skull beneath a gold death mask in one of the tombs, he declared: "I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon".


title: Mycenae

text: Since Schliemann's day, more scientific excavations have taken place at Mycenae, mainly by Greek archaeologists but also by the British School at Athens. Christos Tsountas, another member of the ASA, cleared a significant portion of the citadel during his excavations of the site beginning in 1884 and ending in 1902. The Athens Archaeological Society is currently excavating the Mycenae Lower Town (), with support from Dickinson College and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory. Afterwards, Tsountas and the ASA gave permission to the British School of Archaeology (BSA) to excavate; the BSA conducted excavations from 1920 to 1955 under the supervision of Alan John Bayard Wace, assisted by Winifred Lamb. In 1951, workers discovered Grave Circle B. After Wace died in 1957, excavation work was finished by Lord William Taylour from 1958 to 1969, especially on the west slope of the citadel. The ASA continued excavation work on the site with efforts led by Ioannis Papadimitriou and Nicolas Verdelis in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as well as by George Mylonas from 1957 up until 1985. In 1985, excavation work was directed by Spyros Iakovidis who, , is still overseeing the ASA's research mission in both fieldwork and publication preparation.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: 2010: The Year We Make Contact (abbreviated on-screen as simply 2010) is a 1984 American science fiction film written, produced, shot and directed by Peter Hyams. It is a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "" and is based on Arthur C. Clarke's 1982 sequel novel, "". The film stars Roy Scheider, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban and John Lithgow, along with Keir Dullea and Douglas Rain of the cast of the previous film.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Nine years after the of the "Discovery One" mission to Jupiter in 2001, in which the crew of five including mission commander David Bowman were lost, an international dispute causes tension between the United States and the Soviet Union while both nations prepare space missions to determine what happened to the "Discovery". The Soviet spacecraft "Leonov" will be ready a year before the American "Discovery Two", but the Soviets need Americans to board the "Discovery" and reactivate the ship's sentient computer, HAL 9000, apparently responsible for the disaster. Upon learning that "Discovery" will crash into Jupiter's moon Io before the American mission can launch, Dr. Heywood Floyd, "Discovery" designer Walter Curnow, and HAL 9000's creator Dr. Chandra are permitted to join the Soviet mission.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Arriving at Jupiter, the crew detects organic molecules on Jupiter's icy moon Europa. A probe sent to investigate is destroyed by an energy burst, which the Soviets believe to be electrostatic build-up, but which Floyd suspects is a warning to stay away from Europa. Finding "Discovery" adrift in orbit over Io, Curnow reactivates the ship, and Chandra restarts HAL. Cosmonaut Max Brailovsky investigates the nearby giant Monolith at which Bowman disappeared while exploring, but the Monolith destroys his EVA pod with a burst of energy, killing him.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: On Earth, Dave Bowman, now an incorporeal being, appears through his former wife's television to say goodbye, telling her that "something wonderful" is going to happen. He then visits his comatose mother in a nursing home. She briefly awakens in delight at her son's presence, before dying peacefully.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Chandra discovers the reasons for HAL's malfunction: the National Security Council ordered HAL to conceal information about the Monolith from the "Discovery"s crew and programmed him to complete the mission alone; this conflicted with HAL's programming of open, accurate processing of information, causing the computer equivalent of a paranoid mental breakdown. When Bowman and copilot Frank Poole discussed deactivating the malfunctioning computer, HAL judged that the human crew was endangering the mission, and terminated them. Although the NSC's order bears his signature, Floyd angrily denies having known of it.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Back on Earth, the United States and the Soviet Union are on the brink of war. The Americans are ordered to leave the "Leonov" and move to the "Discovery", with no further communication between the crews. Both ships plan to leave Jupiter in several weeks' time, but Bowman appears to Floyd, and says that everyone must leave within two days. Floyd confers with the skeptical Soviet captain, Tanya Kirbuk. The crews agree to cooperate for an emergency departure when the Monolith suddenly disappears, and a growing black spot appears in Jupiter's atmosphere. Neither ship has the fuel to reach Earth if they leave ahead of schedule, so the ships are docked together, and placed under the control of HAL 9000. "Discovery"s remaining fuel will be burned to propel the "Leonov" away from Jupiter; then "Discovery" will be undocked and left behind.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: HAL determines that the spot is a vast group of Monoliths, multiplying exponentially and altering Jupiter's density and chemical composition. He suggests canceling the launch in order to study the changes occurring to Jupiter. Floyd worries that HAL will prioritize his mission over the humans' survival, but Chandra admits to the computer that there is a danger, and that "Discovery" may be destroyed. HAL thanks Chandra for telling him the truth, and ensures the "Leonov"s escape. Before "Discovery" is destroyed, Bowman asks HAL to transmit a priority message, assuring him that they will soon be together. The Monoliths engulf Jupiter, which undergoes nuclear fusion, becoming a new star. HAL transmits this message to Earth:


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: The "Leonov" survives the shockwave from Jupiter's ignition, and returns home. Floyd narrates how the new star's miraculous appearance, and the message from a mysterious alien power, inspire the American and Soviet leaders to seek peace. Under its infant sun, icy Europa transforms into a humid jungle, covered with life, and watched over by a Monolith.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: In addition, background crew members on the "Leonov" are played by Victor Steinbach and Jan Triska, while Herta Ware briefly appears as Bowman's mother. Candice Bergen, credited as "Olga Mallsnerd", voices the SAL 9000.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Arthur C. Clarke, author of the novels for "2001" and "2010", appears as a man on a park bench feeding pigeons outside the White House (visible in the letterboxed and widescreen versions). In addition, a "Time" magazine cover about the American–Soviet tension is briefly shown, in which the President of the United States is portrayed by Clarke and the Soviet Premier by the "2001" film's writer, producer and director, Stanley Kubrick.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: When Clarke published his novel "2010: Odyssey Two" in 1982, he telephoned Stanley Kubrick, and jokingly said, "Your job is to stop anybody [from] making it [into a movie] so I won't be bothered." Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer subsequently worked out a contract to make a film adaptation, but Kubrick had no interest in directing it. However, Peter Hyams was interested and contacted both Clarke and Kubrick for their blessings:


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: While he was writing the screenplay in 1983, Hyams (in Los Angeles) began communicating with Clarke (in Sri Lanka) via the then-pioneering medium of e-mail using Kaypro II computers and direct-dial modems. They discussed the planning and production of the film almost daily using this method, and their informal, often humorous correspondence was published in 1984 as "The Odyssey File". As it focuses on the screenwriting and pre-production process, the book terminates on February 7, 1984, just before the movie is about to start filming, though it does include 16 pages of behind-the-scenes photographs from the film.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Principal photography on the film began in February 1984 for a 71-day schedule. The majority of the film was shot on MGM's soundstages in Culver City, California, with the exception of a week of location work in Washington, D.C., Rancho Palos Verdes, California, and at the Very Large Array in New Mexico. Originally, Hyams had intended to film the opening scene at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, home of the world's largest radio telescope, but after visiting there in 1983, he told Clarke that the site was "truly filthy" and unsuitable for filming.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Initially, Tony Banks, keyboardist for the band Genesis, was commissioned to do the soundtrack for "2010: The Year We Make Contact". However, Banks' material was rejected and David Shire was then selected to compose the soundtrack, which he co-produced along with Craig Huxley. The soundtrack album was released by A&M Records.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Unlike many film soundtracks up until then, the soundtrack for "2010: The Year We Make Contact" was composed for and played mainly using digital synthesizers. These included the Synclavier by the New England Digital company and a Yamaha DX1. Only two compositions on the soundtrack album feature a symphony orchestra. Shire and Huxley were so impressed by the realistic sound of the Synclavier that they placed a disclaimer in the album's liner notes stating "No re-synthesis or sampling was employed on the Synclavier."


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Andy Summers, guitarist for the band The Police, performed a track entitled "2010", which was a modern new-wave pop version of Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (which had been the main theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey"). Though Summers' recording was included on the soundtrack album and released as a single, it was not used in the film. For the B-side to the single, Summers recorded another "2010"-based track entitled "To Hal and Back", though this appeared in neither the film nor the soundtrack album.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: "2010: The Year We Make Contact" debuted at number two at the North American box office, taking $7,393,361 for its opening weekend. It was held off from the top spot by "Beverly Hills Cop", which became that year's highest-grossing film in North America. During its second week, the film faced competition from two other new sci-fi films; John Carpenter's "Starman" and David Lynch's "Dune", but ultimately outgrossed both by the end of its domestic theatrical run. It finished with just over $40 million at the domestic box office and was the 17th-highest-grossing film in North America to be released in 1984.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: In 1984, Marvel Comics published a 48-page comic book adaptation of the film by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artists Joe Barney, Larry Hama and Tom Palmer. It was published both as a single volume in "Marvel Super Special" #37 and as a two-issue miniseries.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: "2010: The Year We Make Contact" was first released on home video and laserdisc in 1985, and on DVD (R1) in 1998 by MGM. It was re-issued (with different artwork) in September 2000. Both releases are presented with the soundtrack remastered in Dolby 5.1 surround sound and in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, though a packaging error appears on the 2000 Warner release, claiming that the film is presented in anamorphic widescreen when, in reality, it is simply 4:3 letterboxed and not anamorphic (the MGM version of the DVD makes no such claim). The R1 and R4 releases also include the film trailer and a 10-minute "behind-the-scenes" featurette "2010: The Odyssey Continues" (made at the time of the film's production), though this is not available in other regions.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: The film was released on Blu-ray Disc on April 7, 2009. It features a BD-25 single-layer presentation, now in high-definition 16:9 (2.40:1) widescreen with 1080p/VC-1 video and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio. In all regions, the disc also includes the film's original "making of" promotional featurette (as above) and theatrical trailer in standard definition as extras.


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Critical reaction to "2010: The Year We Make Contact" was generally positive. It holds a 66% "Fresh" rating with an average score of 5.78/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews. The critical consensus reads, ""2010" struggles to escape from the shadow of its monolithic predecessor, but offers brainy adventure in a more straightforward voyage through the cosmos." Roger Ebert gave "2010: The Year We Make Contact" three stars out of four, writing that "It doesn't match the poetry and the mystery of the original film, but it does continue the story, and it offers sound, pragmatic explanations for many of the strange and visionary things in "2001"." Ebert also wrote it "has an ending that is infuriating, not only in its simplicity, but in its inadequacy to fulfill the sense of anticipation, the sense of wonder we felt at the end of "2001"". He concluded, however: "And yet the truth must be told: This is a good movie. Once we've drawn our lines, once we've made it absolutely clear that "2001" continues to stand absolutely alone as one of the greatest movies ever made, once we have freed "2010" of the comparisons with Kubrick's masterpiece, what we are left with is a good-looking, sharp-edged, entertaining, exciting space opera".


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: James Berardinelli also gave the film three stars out of four, writing that ""2010" continues "2001" without ruining it. The greatest danger faced by filmmakers helming a sequel is that a bad installment will in some way sour the experience of watching the previous movie. This does not happen here. Almost paradoxically, "2010" may be unnecessary, but it is nevertheless a worthwhile effort." Vincent Canby gave "2010: The Year We Make Contact" a lukewarm review, calling it "a perfectly adequate though not really comparable sequel" that "is without wit, which is not to say that it is witless. A lot of care has gone into it, but it has no satirical substructure to match that of the Kubrick film, and which was eventually responsible for that film's continuing popularity."


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: Colin Greenland reviewed "2010" for "Imagine" magazine, calling it "a tense space drama with excellent performances from Helen Mirren and John Lithgow, and glorious special effects. For everyone who was mystified by "2001"."


title: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

text: The film was also nominated for three Saturn Awards; Best Science Fiction Film, Best Costumes (Patricia Norris), and Best Special Effects (Richard Edlund). It won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1985.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) (, "Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī"), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of association football in the Saudi Arabian league system. From 2013 to 2019, it was known as the Abdul Latif Jameel League, or Dawry Jameel, as it was sponsored by Abdul Latif Jameel.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: The first season of competition was the 1976–77 season. Al Hilal is the most successful team, holding 18 titles in its history and most recently winning the title in [[2021–22 Saudi Professional League|2021–22


title: Saudi Professional League

text: Up until the late 1950s, football in Saudi Arabia was organized on a regional basis, with the only nationwide tournament being the [[Kings Cup (Saudi Arabia)|King's Cup]]. In 1957, the first qualification process consolidated the regional tournaments of the Central, West, East and North regions. Clubs competed in their regional leagues to qualify for the King's Cup, which was the final stage of the competition. The winner of the King's Cup was not the league winner.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: 1976 saw the start of the first ever professional football league in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with eight teams, the following season the number of clubs increased to ten. The [[1981–82 Saudi Premier League|1981–82]] season saw the merger of both the [[Saudi Premier League]] and the [[Saudi First Division]] for that season exclusively to the concern of the [[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification]] process. Twenty teams were divided into two groups, A and B. The top two in each group would enter a semi-final stage to determine the overall champions. In the following season which reverted back to regular round robin competition, the number of first-division clubs was later increased to 12 in the [[1984–85 Saudi Premier League|1984–85]] season.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: In December 1990, the Saudi federation decided to merge the league with the king cup in one tournament, it was decided to revamp local competitions and to introduce professional football. A new league championship was formed called "The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques League Cup", which was a two-stage championship. The first stage was a regular double [[Round-robin tournament|round-robin]] league competition with the top 4 qualifying to the final knockout stage, called the golden box. Clubs were allowed to sign players on a professional basis making the league semi professional. This system lasted for seventeen seasons before reverting to a regular round robin competition.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: As of 2008, depending on the nation's coefficient, four teams from Saudi Arabia qualify for the [[AFC Champions League]] annually. This includes the top three positions of the league, together with the winner of the [[Kings Cup (Saudi Arabia)|King Cup]]. If the winner of the King Cup is also among the top three teams then the fourth-best team qualifies to the play-offs, and if the winner of the King Cup is not in the top three league positions in the league, the top two will qualify directly to the group stages while the third team will qualify for the [[AFC Champions League]] play-offs.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: There are 16 clubs in the Saudi Professional League. During the course of a season (usually from August to May) each club plays the other clubs twice (a double round-robin system, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for 30 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by position on the league table depending on points, then the head-to-head record between the tied teams is taken into consideration, and then goal difference.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Saudi Professional League and the [[Saudi First Division League]]. The three lowest placed teams in the Saudi Professional League are relegated to the First Division, and the top three teams from the First Division are promoted to the Saudi Professional League.


title: Saudi Professional League

text: "For details on the 2021–22 Saudi Professional League season, see [[2021–22 Saudi Professional League|here]]."


title: Claudia Kim

text: Kim Soo-hyun (born January 25, 1985), also known as Claudia Kim, is a South Korean actress and model. She has appeared in the television series "Queen of the Game" (2006–2007) and "Marco Polo" (2014–2016), as well as the films "" (2015), "The Dark Tower" (2017), and "" (2018).


title: Claudia Kim

text: Kim was born as Kim Soo-hyun in South Korea, on January 25, 1985. She spent six years of her childhood in the United States before returning to South Korea. Her dream in middle school was to become an international lawyer, and in high school she hoped to become a TV anchor. She was inspired by watching CNN's headline news anchor Karuna Shinsho in Asia. She completed her studies abroad to continue her dream of becoming an anchor and entered Ewha Womans University as an International Studies (DIS) major. While enrolled, she worked as a reporter and announcer for three years in the school's English-language newspaper, "Ewha Voice". She also worked as an intern reporter for The Korea Times and Arirang TV.


title: Claudia Kim

text: Kim's interests in music, film, and other entertainment led her to participate in a Korea-China modeling competition in 2005, which she won top prize in. Kim was the first winner of the award who had never worked as a model.


title: Claudia Kim

text: Producer Oh Se-kang saw Kim on a morning talk show, which led to her acting debut in the television series "Queen of the Game" (2006). Kim plays Park Joo-won, a friend of Lee Shin-jeon (Joo Jin-mo) and a law firm's international lawyer who loves him. For the drama, she won the New Star award at the 2006 SBS Awards for Acting.


title: Claudia Kim

text: Kim went on to appear in supporting roles in medical drama "Brain" (2011) and spy comedy "7th Grade Civil Servant" (2013), as well as a leading role in the sitcom "Standby" (2012). Kim gained international attention for her roles in "Marco Polo" (2014) and "" (2015).


title: Claudia Kim

text: In 2019, Italian fashion house Max Mara invited her to attend the annual "Women in Film Gala", which has advocated for women and gender equality in the entertainment industry since 1973. Hence, she became the first Korean actress to the attend that event.


title: Claudia Kim

text: In 2023, Kim will appear in the 1945 historical drama "Gyeongseong Creature", which will air on Netflix.


title: Claudia Kim

text: Kim married Korean-American businessman Cha Min-geun (also known as Matthew Shampine) on December 14, 2019, at the Hotel Shilla in Seoul.


title: Claudia Kim

text: In April 2020, she announced that she was expecting her first child, and was 15 weeks pregnant. On October 1, she gave birth to her daughter.


title: Guanciale

text: Guanciale () is an Italian cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from "guancia", the Italian word for 'cheek'.


title: Guanciale

text: Pork cheek is rubbed with salt and spices (typically ground black or red pepper, thyme or fennel, and sometimes garlic) and cured for three weeks or until it loses approximately 30% of its original weight. Its flavour is stronger than other pork products, such as pancetta, and its texture is more delicate. Upon cooking, the fat typically melts away.


title: Guanciale

text: Guanciale may be cut and eaten directly in small portions, but is often used as an ingredient in pasta dishes such as "spaghetti alla carbonara" and sauces like "sugo all'amatriciana".


title: Guanciale

text: It is a specialty of central Italy, particularly Umbria and Lazio. Pancetta, a cured Italian bacon which is normally not smoked, is sometimes used as a substitute when guanciale is not available.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Mimosa pudica (from "shy, bashful or shrinking"; also called sensitive plant, sleepy plant, action plant, touch-me-not, shameplant) is a creeping annual or perennial flowering plant of the pea/legume family Fabaceae. It is often grown for its curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched or shaken, defending themselves from harm, and re-open a few minutes later. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The species is native to the Caribbean and South and Central America, but is now a pantropical weed, and can now be found in the Southern United States, South Asia, East Asia, Micronesia, Australia, South Africa, and West Africa as well. It is not shade-tolerant and is primarily found on soils with low nutrient concentrations.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica" is well known for its rapid plant movement. Like a number of other plant species, it undergoes changes in leaf orientation termed "sleep" or nyctinastic movement. The foliage closes during darkness and reopens in light. This was first studied by French scientist Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan. Due to "Mimosa" unique response to touch, it became an ideal plant for many experiments regarding plant habituation and memory.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica" was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in "Species Plantarum" in 1753. The species epithet, "pudica", is Latin for "bashful" or "shrinking", alluding to its shrinking reaction to contact.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The species is known by numerous common names including sensitive plant, humble plant, shameplant, and touch-me-not.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The stem is erect in young plants but becomes creeping or trailing with age. It can hang very low and become floppy. The stem is slender, branching, and sparsely to densely prickly, growing to a length of . The erect height of "M. pudica" usually reaches around ~30cm (~1ft).


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The leaves are bipinnately compound, with one or two pinnae pairs, and 10–26 leaflets per pinna. The petioles are also prickly. Pedunculate (stalked) pale pink or purple flower heads arise from the leaf axils in mid-summer with more and more flowers as the plant gets older. A single flower survives for less than a day, and usually dies completely by the next day. Flowers of "M. pudica" are very brittle and soft. The globose to ovoid heads are in diameter (excluding the stamens). On close examination, it is seen that the floret petals are red in their upper part and the filaments are pink to lavender. Pollens are circular with approximately 8 microns in diameter.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The roots of "Mimosa pudica" create carbon disulfide, which prevents certain pathogenic and mycorrhizal fungi from growing within the plant's rhizosphere. This allows the formation of nodules on the roots of the plant that contain endosymbiotic diazotrophs, which fix atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into a form that is usable by the plant.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The leaflets also close when stimulated in other ways, such as touching, warming, blowing, and shaking, which are all encapsulated within mechanical or electrical stimulation. These types of movements have been termed seismonastic movements. This reflex may have evolved as a defense mechanism to disincentivize predators, or alternatively to shade the plant in order to reduce water loss due to evaporation. The main structure mechanistically responsible for the drooping of the leaves is the pulvinus. The stimulus is transmitted as an action potential from a stimulated leaflet to the leaflet's swollen base (pulvinus), and from there to the pulvini of the other leaflets, which run along the length of the leaf's rachis. The action potential then passes into the petiole, and finally to the large pulvinus at the end of the petiole, where the leaf attaches to the stem. The pulvini cells gain and lose turgor due to water moving in and out of these cells, and multiple ion concentrations play a role in the manipulation of water movement.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The Mimosa’s leaves, similar to Venus Fly Trap’s trigger hairs, are hypersensitive to touch. In line with the touch-sensing function used for tasks such as for defense or nutrient maintenance, these parts have mechanoreceptors linked to mechanosensitive channels that can conduct calcium ions and indirectly relative anions upon touch stimulation, giving rise to depolarization, the initiation of an action potential (AP). They also have voltage-sensitive potassium channels that promote hyperpolarization and turgor formation. Such sensitive plants fire all-or-nothing type APs similar to those seen in animals.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: This movement of folding inwards is energetically costly for the plant and also interferes with the process of photosynthesis.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica" is native to the tropical Americas. It can also be found in Asian countries such as Singapore, Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, and Sri Lanka. It has been introduced to many other regions and is regarded as an invasive species in Tanzania, South and Southeast Asia, and many Pacific islands. It is regarded as invasive in parts of Australia and is a declared weed in the Northern Territory, and Western Australia although not naturalized there. Control is recommended in Queensland.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: It has also been introduced to Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Seychelles, Mauritius and East Asia but is not regarded as invasive in those places. In the United States, it grows in Louisiana, Florida, Hawaii, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Puerto Rico, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, the territory of Guam, and the Virgin Islands.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica" has several natural predators, such as the spider mite and mimosa webworm. Both of these insects wrap the leaflets in webs that hinder the responsive closing. Webbed leaves are noticeable as they become brown fossilized remnants after an attack. The Mimosa webworm is composed of two generations that arise at different seasons. This makes prevention difficult and requires proper timing of insecticides to avoid aiding other predators. Once the larvae become steel-gray moths, they are harmless to the plant but lay more eggs.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The species can be a weed for tropical crops, particularly when fields are hand-cultivated. Crops it tends to affect are corn, coconuts, tomatoes, cotton, coffee, bananas, soybeans, papaya, and sugar cane. Dry thickets may become a fire hazard. In some cases it has become a forage plant although the variety in Hawaii is reported to be toxic to livestock.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: In addition, "Mimosa pudica" can change the physico-chemical properties of the soil it invades; total nitrogen and potassium, for example, have been seen to increase in significantly invaded areas.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Thirty-six native Thai plant species were tested to see which conducted the most phytoremediation of arsenic polluted soils caused by tin mines. "Mimosa pudica" was one of the four species that significantly extracted and bioaccumulated the pollutant into its leaves. Other studies have found that "Mimosa pudica" extracts heavy metals such as copper, lead, tin, and zinc from polluted soils. This allows for the soil to gradually return to less toxic compositions.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica" can form root nodules that are habitable by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The bacteria are able to convert atmospheric nitrogen, which plants cannot use, into a form that plants can use. This trait is common among plants in the family Fabaceae. Nitrogen is a vital element for both plant growth and reproduction. Nitrogen is also essential for plant photosynthesis because it is a component of chlorophyll. Nitrogen fixation contributes nitrogen to the plant and to the soil surrounding the plant's roots.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica"'s ability to fix nitrogen may have arisen in conjunction with the evolution of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Nitrogen fixation is an adaptive trait that has transformed the parasitic relationship between the bacteria and plants into a mutualistic relationship. The shifting dynamics of this relationship are demonstrated by the corresponding improvement of various symbiotic characteristics in both "Mimosa pudica" and bacteria. These traits include enhanced "competitive nodulation, nodule development, intracellular infection, and bacteroid persistence".


title: Mimosa pudica

text: As much as 60% of the nitrogen found in "Mimosa pudica" can be attributed to the fixation of N by bacteria. "Burkholderia" "phymatum" STM815 and "Cupriavidus" "taiwanensis" LMG19424 are beta-rhizobial strains of diazotrophs that are highly effective at fixing nitrogen when coupled with "M. pudica". "Burkholderia" is also shown to be a strong symbiont of "Mimosa pudica" in nitrogen-poor soils in regions like Cerrado and Caatinga.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: In cultivation, this plant is most often grown as an indoor annual, but is also grown for groundcover. Propagation is generally by seed. "Mimosa pudica" grows most effectively in nutrient poor soil that allows for substantial water drainage. However, this plant is also shown to grow in scalped and eroded subsoils. Typically, disrupted soil is necessary in order for "M. pudica" to become established in an area. Additionally, the plant is shade intolerant and frost-sensitive, meaning that it does not tolerate low levels of light or cold temperatures. "Mimosa pudica" does not compete for resources with larger foliage or forest canopy undergrowth.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica" contains the toxic alkaloid mimosine, which has been found to also have antiproliferative and apoptotic effects. The extracts of "Mimosa pudica" immobilize the filariform larvae of "Strongyloides stercoralis" in less than one hour. Aqueous extracts of the roots of the plant have shown significant neutralizing effects in the lethality of the venom of the monocled cobra ("Naja kaouthia"). It appears to inhibit the myotoxicity and enzyme activity of cobra venom.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: "Mimosa pudica" demonstrates both antioxidant and antibacterial properties. This plant has also been demonstrated to be non-toxic in brine shrimp lethality tests, which suggests that "M. pudica" has low levels of toxicity. Chemical analysis has shown that "Mimosa pudica" contains various compounds, including "alkaloids, flavonoid C-glycosides, sterols, terenoids, tannins, saponin and fatty acids". The roots of the plant have been shown to contain up to 10% tannin. A substance similar to adrenaline has been found within the plant's leaves. "Mimosa pudica"'s seeds produce mucilage made up of -glucuronic acid and -xylose. Additionally, extracts of "M. pudica" have been shown to contain crocetin-dimethylester, tubulin, and green-yellow fatty oils. A new class of phytohormone turgorines, which are derivatives of gallic acid 4-"O"-(β--glucopyranosyl-6'-sulfate), have been discovered within the plant.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The nitrogen-fixing properties of "Mimosa pudica" contribute to a high nitrogen content within the plant's leaves. The leaves of "M. pudica" also contain a wide range of carbon to mineral content, as well as a large variation in C values. The correlation between these two numbers suggests that significant ecological adaptation has occurred among the varieties of "M. pudica" in Brazil.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: The roots contain sac-like structures that release organic and organosulfur compounds including SO, methylsulfinic acid, pyruvic acid, lactic acid, ethanesulfinic acid, propane sulfinic acid, 2-mercaptoaniline, S-propyl propane 1-thiosulfinate, and thioformaldehyde, an elusive and highly unstable compound never before reported to be emitted by a plant.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Wilhelm Pfeffer, a German botanist during the 17th century, used "Mimosa" in one of the first experiments testing plant habituation. Further experimentation was done in 1965, when Holmes and Gruenberg discovered that "Mimosa" could distinguish between two stimuli, a water drop and a finger touch. Their findings also demonstrated that the habituated behavior was not due to fatigue since the leaf-folding response returned when another stimulus was presented.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Electrical signaling experiments were conducted on "Mimosa pudica", where 1.3–1.5 volts and 2–10 µC of charge acted as the threshold to induce closing of the leaves. This topic was further explored in 2017 by neuroscientist Greg Gage who connected "Mimosa pudica" to "Dionaea muscipula", better known as the Venus flytrap. Both plants had electrical wiring connecting them and were linked to an electrocardiogram. The results showed how causing an action potential in one plant led to an electrical response, causing both plants to respond.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Experiments were made on how anesthetics for animals could affect "Mimosa pudica". These experiments showed that anesthetics cause narcosis of the motor organs, which was observed by the application of volatile ether, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, formaldehyde, and other substances. In a preclinical study, methanolic extract of "Mimosa pudica" showed a significant antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic activities in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: In 2018, two research groups from the Universities of Palermo (Italy) and Lugano (Switzerland) demonstrated the feasibility of using such plant as a building block for creating plant-based controllable two-color displays, exploiting air jets instead of electrical or touch-based stimulation.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Plants that live in low light environments have less of an opportunity for photosynthesis compared to plants that live in high light environments where sunshine isn't a problem. When the "Mimosa" plant folds in its leaves as a defensive mechanism there is an energetic trade off, since folding its leaves reduces the amount of photosynthesis the "Mimosa" can perform during the closed period by 40%, but provides a rapid defensive mechanism against potentially harmful predators or external stimulation.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: In an experiment, researcher Monica Gagliano wanted to study if "Mimosa" plants in low light conditions would have a greater potential for learning than those grown in high light, since the low light plants were already in low energy environments and folding their leaves would be more energetically costly to the plant. The simplest form of learning is the ability of an organism to have a certain level of sensitivity to the environment that allows the organism to respond to potentially harmful stimuli as well as the capability to learn and filter out irrelevant stimuli (habituation) or increase the response due to a learned stimulus (sensitization).


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Researchers predicted the low light plants would have adapted to have faster habitual learning capabilities so they could filter out unharmful stimuli to increase their energy production. Plants were either grown in high light or low light conditions. The plants were stimulated by being dropped from 15 cm for either a single drop, or consecutive training sessions where the plants were repeatedly dropped. To test that the plants were suppressing their leaf folding reflex from habitual learning and not from exhaustion, the plants were shaken as a novel stimuli to see if the plants would fold their leaves (dishabituation test). The first group was tested to see if short term memory was enough for plants to modify their behaviour.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Regardless of what light group the plants were in, one drop was not enough for the plants to learn to ignore the stimulation. For the groups that were dropped repetitively, the plants stopped folding their leaves and were even fully open after a drop before the end of the trainings. The low light plants learned faster to ignore the dropping stimulation than the high light plants. When the plants were shaken, they responded immediately by folding their leaves, which suggests that the plants were not ignoring the dropping stimulation due to exhaustion. This research suggests that the "Mimosa" has the capability for habitual learning and memory storage and that "Mimosa" plants grown in low light conditions have faster learning mechanisms so they can reduce the amount of time their leaves are unnecessarily closed to optimize energy production.


title: Mimosa pudica

text: Given that plants lack a central nervous system, the means by which they send and store information is not obvious. There are two hypotheses for memory in "Mimosa," neither of which has yet been generally accepted. The first is that when the plant is stimulated, it releases a surge of calcium ions that are sensed by the protein calmodulin. The relationship between the ions and proteins are thought to stimulate voltage gated ion channels which cause electrical signals, which could be the base of plant long term memory. The other hypothesis is that plant cells act similarly to neural cells by creating electrical gradients by opening and closing ion channels and passing it along cell junctions. The information passed along can control which genes are turned on and which genes are turned off, which could be a mode for long term memory.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain (11 June 1980 – 17 August 1980) was a nine-week-old Australian baby girl who was killed by a dingo on the night of the 17 August 1980 during a family camping trip to Uluru in the Northern Territory. Her body was never found. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo. However, Lindy was tried for murder and spent more than three years in prison, despite there being "no body, no evidence of motive and no eyewitness evidence that even vaguely incriminated the Chamberlains" and that "it appears that none of these witnesses—campers, rangers, trackers, searchers or local police who initially attended the scene—doubted that the baby had been taken by a dingo". Michael was also put in jail for some time. Lindy was released only after Azaria's jacket was found near a dingo lair and new inquests were opened. In 2012, 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially supported by a coroner.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: An initial inquest held in Alice Springs supported the parents' claim and was highly critical of the police investigation. The findings of the inquest were broadcast live on television—a first in Australia. Subsequently, after a further investigation and a second inquest held in Darwin, Lindy was tried for murder, convicted on 29 October 1982 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Azaria's father, Michael, was convicted as an accessory after the fact and given a suspended sentence. The media focus for the trial was unusually intense and aroused accusations of sensationalism, while the trial itself was criticised for being unprofessional and biased. The Chamberlains made several unsuccessful appeals, including the final High Court appeal.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: After all legal options had been exhausted, the chance discovery in 1986 of Azaria's jacket in an area with numerous dingo lairs led to Lindy's release from prison. On 15 September 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously overturned all convictions against Lindy and Michael. A third inquest was conducted in 1995, which resulted in an "open" finding. At a fourth inquest held on 12 June 2012, Coroner Elizabeth Morris delivered her findings that Azaria Chamberlain had been taken and killed by a dingo. After being released, Lindy was paid $1.3 million for false imprisonment and an amended death certificate was issued.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: Numerous books have been written about the case, and there exist several pop culture references notably using some form of the phrase "A dingo ate my baby" or "A dingo took my baby". The story has been made into a television movie, a feature film entitled "Evil Angels" (released outside Australia and New Zealand as "A Cry in the Dark"), a television mini-series, a play, a concept album by Australian band The Paradise Motel, and an opera ("Lindy", by Moya Henderson).


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The initial coronial inquest into the disappearance was opened in Alice Springs on 15 December 1980 before magistrate Denis Barritt. On 20 February 1981, in the first live telecast of Australian court proceedings, Barritt ruled that the likely cause was a dingo attack. In addition to this finding, Barritt also concluded that, subsequent to the attack, "the body of Azaria was taken from the possession of the dingo, and disposed of by an unknown method, by a person or persons, name unknown".


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: The Northern Territory Police and prosecutors were dissatisfied with this finding. Investigations continued, leading to a second inquest in Darwin in September 1981. Based on ultraviolet photographs of Azaria's jumpsuit, James Cameron of the London Hospital Medical College alleged that "there was an incised wound around the neck of the jumpsuit—in other words, a cut throat" and that there was an imprint of the hand of a small adult on the jumpsuit, visible in the photographs. Their Yellow Holden Torana was also seized in Queensland and flown by military aircraft to Alice Springs. Following this and other findings, the Chamberlains were charged with Azaria's murder.


title: Death of Azaria Chamberlain

text: In 1995, a third inquest was conducted which failed to determine a cause of death, resulting in an "open" finding.