Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains show they once occurred there and occasional vagrants are found. Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and species of the genus Diomedea (great albatrosses) have the longest wingspans of any extant birds, reaching up to . The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but disagreement exists over the number of species.

Albatrosses are highly efficient in the air, using dynamic soaring and slope soaring to cover great distances with little exertion. They feed on squid, fish, and krill by either scavenging, surface seizing, or diving. Albatrosses are colonial, nesting for the most part on remote oceanic islands, often with several species nesting together. Pair bonds between males and females form over several years, with the use of "ritualised dances", and last for the life of the pair. A breeding season can take over a year from laying to fledging, with a single egg laid in each breeding attempt. A Laysan albatross, named Wisdom, on Midway Island is the oldest-known wild bird in the world; she was first banded in 1956 by Chandler Robbins.

Of the 22 species of albatrosses recognised by the IUCN, 21 are listed as at some level of concern; two species are Critically Endangered, seven species are Endangered, six species are Vulnerable, and six species are Near Threatened. Numbers of albatrosses have declined in the past due to harvesting for feathers. Albatrosses are threatened by introduced species, such as rats and feral cats that attack eggs, chicks, and nesting adults; by pollution; by a serious decline in fish stocks in many regions largely due to overfishing; and by longline fishing. Longline fisheries pose the greatest threat, as feeding birds are attracted to the bait, become hooked on the lines, and drown. Identified stakeholders such as governments, conservation organisations, and people in the fishing industry are all working toward reducing this bycatch.

Description

Taxonomy and evolution
The "albatross" designation comprises between 13 and 24 species (the number is still a matter of some debate, with 21 being the most commonly accepted number) in four genera. These genera are the great albatrosses (Diomedea), the mollymawks (Thalassarche), the North Pacific albatrosses (Phoebastria), and the sooty albatrosses or sooties (Phoebetria). The North Pacific albatrosses are considered to be a sister taxon to the great albatrosses, while the sooty albatrosses are considered closer to the mollymawks.

The taxonomy of the albatross group has been a source of much debate. The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy places seabirds, birds of prey, and many others in a greatly enlarged order, the Ciconiiformes, whereas the ornithological organisations in North America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand retain the more traditional order Procellariiformes. The albatrosses can be separated from the other Procellariiformes both genetically and through morphological characteristics, size, their legs, and the arrangement of their nasal tubes (see below: Morphology and flight).

Within the family, the assignment of genera has been debated for over 100 years. Originally placed into a single genus, Diomedea, they were rearranged by Reichenbach into four different genera in 1852, then lumped back together and split apart again several times, acquiring 12 different genus names in total (though never more than eight at one time) by 1965 (Diomedea, Phoebastria, Thalassarche, Phoebetria, Thalassageron, Diomedella, Nealbatrus, Rhothonia, Julietata, Galapagornis, Laysanornis, and Penthirenia).

By 1965, in an attempt to bring some order back to the classification of albatrosses, they were lumped into two genera, Phoebetria (the sooty albatrosses, which most closely seemed to resemble the procellarids and were at the time considered "primitive" ) and Diomedea (the rest). Though a case was made for the simplification of the family (particularly the nomenclature), the classification was based on the morphological analysis by Elliott Coues in 1866, and paid little attention to more recent studies and even ignored some of Coues's suggestions.

Research by Gary Nunn of the American Museum of Natural History (1996) and other researchers around the world studied the mitochondrial DNA of all 14 accepted species, finding four, not two, monophyletic groups within the albatrosses. They proposed the resurrection of two of the old genus names, Phoebastria for the North Pacific albatrosses and Thalassarche for the mollymawks, with the great albatrosses retaining Diomedea and the sooty albatrosses staying in Phoebetria.

While some agree on the number of genera, fewer agree on the number of species. Historically, up to 80 different taxa have been described by different researchers; most of these were incorrectly identified juvenile birds.

Based on the work on albatross genera, Robertson and Nunn went on in 1998 to propose a revised taxonomy with 24 different species, compared to the 14 then accepted. This expanded taxonomy elevated many established subspecies to full species, but was criticised for not using, in every case, peer reviewed information to justify the splits. Since then, further studies have in some instances supported or disproved the splits; a 2004 paper analysing the mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites agreed with the conclusion that the Antipodean albatross and the Tristan albatross were distinct from the wandering albatross, per Robertson and Nunn, but found that the suggested Gibson's albatross, Diomedea gibsoni, was not distinct from the Antipodean albatross. For the most part, an interim taxonomy of 21 species is accepted by ITIS and many other researchers, though by no means all—in 2004 Penhallurick and Wink called for the number of species to be reduced to 13 (including the lumping of the Amsterdam albatross with the wandering albatross), although this paper was itself controversial.

Sibley and Ahlquist's molecular study of the evolution of the bird families has put the radiation of the Procellariiformes in the Oligocene period 35–30 million years ago (Mya), though this group probably originated earlier, with a fossil sometimes attributed to the order, a seabird known as Tytthostonyx, being found in late Cretaceous rocks (70 Mya). The molecular evidence suggests that the storm petrels were the first to diverge from the ancestral stock, and the albatrosses next, with the procellarids and diving petrels separating later. The earliest fossil albatrosses were found in Eocene to Oligocene rocks, although some of these are only tentatively assigned to the family and none appear to be particularly close to the living forms. They are Murunkus (Middle Eocene of Uzbekistan), Manu (early Oligocene of New Zealand), and an undescribed form from the Late Oligocene of South Carolina. The oldest widely accepted fossil albatross is Tydea septentrionalis from the early Oligocene of Belgium. Diomedavus knapptonensis is smaller than all extant albatrosses and was found in late Oligocene strata of Washington State, USA. Plotornis was formerly often considered a petrel but is now accepted as an albatross. It is from the Middle Miocene of France, a time when the split between the four modern genera was already underway as evidenced by Phoebastria californica and Diomedea milleri, both being mid-Miocene species from Sharktooth Hill, California. These show that the split between the great albatrosses and the North Pacific albatrosses occurred by 15 Mya. Similar fossil finds in the Southern Hemisphere put the split between the sooties and mollymawks at 10 Mya.

The fossil record of the albatrosses in the Northern Hemisphere is more complete than that of the Southern, and many fossil forms of albatross have been found in the North Atlantic, which today has no albatrosses. The remains of a colony of short-tailed albatrosses have been uncovered on the island of Bermuda, and the majority of fossil albatrosses from the North Atlantic have been of the genus Phoebastria (the North Pacific albatrosses); one, Phoebastria anglica, has been found in deposits in both North Carolina and England. Due to convergent evolution in particular of the leg and foot bones, remains of the prehistoric pseudotooth birds (Pelagornithidae) may be mistaken for those of extinct albatrosses; Manu may be such a case, and quite certainly the supposed giant albatross femur from the Early Pleistocene Dainichi Formation at Kakegawa, Japan, actually is from one of the last pseudotooth birds. Aldiomedes angustirostris was a uniquely narrow-beaked species from the Pliocene of New Zealand.

Morphology and flight

The albatrosses are a group of large to very large birds; they are the largest of the Procellariiformes. The bill is large, strong, and sharp-edged, with the upper mandible terminating in a large hook. This bill is composed of several horny plates, and along the sides are the two "tubes", long nostrils that give the order its former name (Tubinares, or tubenoses). The tubes of all albatrosses are along the sides of the bill, unlike the rest of the Procellariiformes, where the tubes run along the top of the bill. These tubes allow the albatrosses to measure the exact airspeed in flight; the nostrils are analogous to the pitot tubes in modern aircraft. The albatross needs accurate airspeed measurement to perform dynamic soaring. Like other Procellariiformes, they use their uniquely developed sense of smell to locate potential food sources, whereas most birds depend on eyesight. The feet have no hind toe and the three anterior toes are completely webbed. The legs are strong for the Procellariiformes, making them and the giant petrels the only members of that order that can walk well on land.

Albatrosses, along with all Procellariiformes, must excrete the salts they ingest in drinking sea water and eating marine invertebrates. All birds have an enlarged nasal gland at the base of the bill, above their eyes. This gland is inactive in species that do not require it, but in the Procellariiformes, it acts as a salt gland. Scientists are uncertain as to its exact processes, but do know in general terms that it removes salt by secreting a 5% saline solution that drips out of their noses or is forcibly ejected.

The adult plumage of most of the albatrosses is usually some variation of dark upper-wing and back with white undersides, often compared to that of a gull. The extent of colouration varies: the southern royal albatross is almost completely white except for the ends and trailing edges of the wings in fully mature males, while the Amsterdam albatross has an almost juvenile-like breeding plumage with a great deal of brown, particularly a strong brown band around the chest. Several species of mollymawks and North Pacific albatrosses have face markings like eye patches or have grey or yellow on the head and nape. Three albatross species, the black-footed albatross and the two sooty albatrosses, vary completely from the usual patterns and are almost entirely dark brown (or dark grey in places in the case of the light-mantled albatross). Albatrosses take several years to get their full adult breeding plumage.

The wingspans of the largest great albatrosses (genus Diomedea) are the largest of any bird, exceeding , although the other species' wingspans are considerably smaller at, down to . The wings are stiff and cambered, with thickened, streamlined leading edges. Albatrosses travel long distances with two techniques used by many long-winged seabirds - dynamic soaring and slope soaring. Dynamic soaring involves repeatedly rising into wind and descending downwind, thus gaining energy from the vertical wind gradient. The only effort expended is in the turns at the top and bottom of every such loop. This maneuver allows the bird to cover almost  without flapping its wings. Slope soaring uses the rising air on the windward side of large waves. Albatross have high glide ratios, around 22:1 to 23:1, meaning that for every metre they drop, they can travel forward . They are aided in soaring by a shoulder-lock, a sheet of tendon that locks the wing when fully extended, allowing the wing to be kept outstretched without any muscle expenditure, a morphological adaptation they share with the giant petrels.

Albatrosses combine these soaring techniques with the use of predictable weather systems; albatrosses in the Southern Hemisphere flying north from their colonies take a clockwise route, and those flying south fly counterclockwise. Albatrosses are so well adapted to this lifestyle that their heart rates while flying are close to their basal heart rate when resting. This efficiency is such that the most energetically demanding aspect of a foraging trip is not the distance covered, but the landings, take-offs and hunting they undertake having found a food source. A common assumption is that Albatrosses must be able to sleep in flight, although no direct evidence has ever been obtained.

This efficient long-distance travelling underlies the albatross's success as a long-distance forager, covering great distances and expending little energy looking for patchily distributed food sources. Their adaptation to gliding flight makes them dependent on wind and waves, but their long wings are ill-suited to powered flight and most species lack the muscles and energy to undertake sustained flapping flight. Albatrosses in calm seas rest on the ocean's surface until the wind picks up again, as using powered flight is not energetically worthwhile, though they are capable of flight to avoid danger. The North Pacific albatrosses can use a flight style known as flap-gliding, where the bird progresses by bursts of flapping followed by gliding. When taking off, albatrosses need to take a run up to allow enough air to move under the wing to provide lift.

The dynamic soaring of albatrosses is inspiring to airplane designers; German aerospace engineer Johannes Traugott and colleagues have charted the albatross's nuanced flight pattern and are looking for ways to apply this to aircraft, especially in the area of drones and unmanned aircraft.

Distribution and range at sea

Most albatrosses range in the Southern Hemisphere from Antarctica to Australia, South Africa, and South America. The exceptions to this are the four North Pacific albatrosses, of which three occur exclusively in the North Pacific, from Hawaii to Japan, California, and Alaska; and one, the waved albatross, breeds in the Galápagos Islands and feeds off the coast of South America. The need for wind to enable gliding is the reason albatrosses are for the most part confined to higher latitudes; being unsuited to sustained flapping flight makes crossing the doldrums extremely difficult. The exception, the waved albatross, is able to live in the equatorial waters around the Galápagos Islands because of the cool waters of the Humboldt Current and the resulting winds.

Why the albatrosses became extinct in the North Atlantic is unknown for certain, although rising sea levels due to an interglacial warming period are thought to have submerged the site of a short-tailed albatross colony that has been excavated in Bermuda. Some southern species have occasionally turned up as vagrants in the North Atlantic and can become exiled, remaining there for decades. One of these exiles, a black-browed albatross named Albert has been observed travelling to gannet colonies in Scotland for at least 50 years in an attempt to breed. Another black-browed albatross nicknamed Albie has been frequently observed across Northern Europe since 2014, and is also believed to be searching for a mate, having been recorded from Germany, Scandinavia and RSPB Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, England.

The use of satellite tracking is teaching scientists a great deal about the way albatrosses range across the ocean to find food. They undertake no annual migration, but disperse widely after breeding; Southern Hemisphere species often undertake circumpolar trips. Evidence also exists of separate ranges for different species at sea. A comparison of the foraging niches of two related species that breed on Campbell Island, the Campbell albatross and the grey-headed albatross, showed the Campbell albatross primarily fed over the Campbell Plateau, whereas the grey-headed albatross fed in more pelagic, oceanic waters. Wandering albatrosses also react strongly to bathymetry, feeding only in waters deeper than 1000 metres (3000 ft); so rigidly did the satellite plots match this contour that one scientist remarked, "It almost appears as if the birds notice and obey a 'No Entry' sign where the water shallows to less than 1000 [metres]" (3000'). Also, evidence shows different ranges for the two sexes of the same species; a study of Tristan albatrosses breeding on Gough Island showed that males foraged to the west of Gough and females to the east.

Diet

The albatross diet is predominantly cephalopods, fish, crustaceans, and offal (organ meat), although they also scavenge carrion and feed on other zooplankton. For most species, a comprehensive understanding of diet is known for only the breeding season, when the albatrosses regularly return to land and study is possible. The importance of each of these food sources varies from species to species, and even from population to population; some concentrate on squid alone, others take more krill or fish. Of the two albatross species found in Hawaii, one, the black-footed albatross, takes mostly fish, while the Laysan feeds on squid.

The use of data loggers at sea that record ingestion of water against time (providing a likely time of feeding) suggests that albatrosses predominantly feed during the day. Analysis of the squid beaks regurgitated by albatrosses has shown that many of the squid eaten are too large to have been caught alive, and include midwater species likely to be beyond the reach of albatross, suggesting that, for some species (like the wandering albatross), scavenged squid may be an important part of the diet. The source of these dead squid is a matter of debate; some certainly comes from squid fisheries, but in nature it primarily comes from the die-off that occurs after squid spawning and the vomit of squid-eating whales (sperm whales, pilot whales, and southern bottlenose whales). The diet of other species, like the black-browed albatross or the grey-headed albatross, is rich with smaller species of squid that tend to sink after death, and scavenging is not assumed to play a large role in their diet. The waved albatross has been observed practising kleptoparasitism, harassing boobies to steal their food, making it the only member of its order to do so regularly.

Until recently, albatrosses were thought to be predominantly surface feeders, swimming at the surface and snapping up squid and fish pushed to the surface by currents, predators, or death. The deployment of capillary depth recorders, which record the maximum dive depth undertaken by a bird, has shown that while some species, such as the wandering albatross, do not dive deeper than a metre, some species, such as the light-mantled albatross, have a mean diving depth of almost  and can dive as deep as . In addition to surface feeding and diving, they have also been observed plunge diving from the air to snatch prey.

Breeding and dancing

Albatrosses are colonial, usually nesting on isolated islands; where colonies are on larger landmasses, they are found on exposed headlands with good approaches from the sea in several directions, like the colony on the Otago Peninsula in Dunedin, New Zealand. Many Buller's albatrosses and black-footed albatrosses nest under trees in open forest. Colonies vary from the very dense aggregations favoured by the mollymawks (black-browed albatross colonies on the Falkland Islands have densities of 70 nests per 100 m2) to the much looser groups and widely spaced individual nests favoured by the sooty and great albatrosses. All albatross colonies are on islands that historically were free of land mammals. Albatrosses are highly philopatric, meaning they usually return to their natal colony to breed. This tendency is so strong that a study of Laysan albatrosses showed that the average distance between hatching site and the site where a bird established its own territory was .

Albatrosses live much longer than other birds; they delay breeding for longer and invest more effort into fewer young. Most species survive upwards of 50 years, the oldest recorded being a Laysan albatross named Wisdom that was ringed in 1956 as a mature adult and hatched another chick in February 2021, making her at least 70 years old. She is the oldest confirmed wild bird and the oldest banded bird in the world.

Albatrosses reach sexual maturity slowly, after about five years, but even once they have reached maturity, they do not begin to breed for another few years (even up to 10 years for some species). Young nonbreeders attend a colony prior to beginning to breed, spending many years practising the elaborate breeding rituals and "dances" for which the family is famous. Birds arriving back at the colony for the first time already have the stereotyped behaviours that compose albatross language, but can neither "read" that behaviour as exhibited by other birds nor respond appropriately.

The repertoire of behaviour involves synchronised performances of various actions such as preening, pointing, calling, bill clacking, staring, and combinations of such behaviours (such as the sky-call).

Albatrosses are held to undertake these elaborate and painstaking rituals to ensure that the appropriate partner has been chosen and to perfect partner recognition, as egg laying and chick rearing is a huge investment. Even species that can complete an egg-laying cycle in under a year seldom lay eggs in consecutive years. The great albatrosses (i.e. wandering albatross) take over a year to raise a chick from laying to fledging. Albatrosses lay a single subelliptical egg, white with reddish-brown spots, in a breeding season; if the egg is lost to predators or accidentally broken, then no further breeding attempts are made that year. The larger eggs weigh from . The "divorce" of a pair is a rare occurrence, due to the diminished lifetime reproductive success it causes, and usually happens only after several years of breeding failure.

All the southern albatrosses create large nests for their egg, using grass, shrubs, soil, peat, and even penguin feathers, whereas the three species in the North Pacific make more rudimentary nests. The waved albatross, though, makes no nest and even moves its egg around the pair's territory, as much as , sometimes causing it to lose the egg. In all albatross species, both parents incubate the egg in stints that last between one day and three weeks. Incubation lasts around 70 to 80 days (longer for the larger albatrosses), the longest incubation period of any bird. It can be an energetically demanding process, with the adult losing as much as  of body weight a day.

After hatching, the chick, which is semi-altricial, is brooded and guarded for three weeks until it is large enough to defend and thermoregulate itself. During this period, the parents feed the chick small meals when they relieve each other from duty. After the brooding period is over, the chick is fed in regular intervals by both parents. The parents adopt alternative patterns of short and long foraging trips, providing meals that weigh around 12% of their body weight (around 600 g, or 21 oz). The meals are composed of fresh squid, fish, and krill, as well as stomach oil, an energy-rich food that is lighter to carry than undigested prey items. This oil is created in a stomach organ known as a proventriculus from digested prey items by most Procellariiformes, and gives them their distinctive musty smell.

Albatross chicks take a long time to fledge. In the case of the great albatrosses, it can take up to 280 days; even for the smaller albatrosses, it takes between 140 and 170 days. Like many seabirds, albatross chicks will gain enough weight to be heavier than their parents, and prior to fledging, they use these reserves to build up body condition (particularly growing all their flight feathers), usually fledging at the same weight as their parents. Between 15 and 65% of those fledged survive to breed. Albatross chicks fledge on their own and receive no further help from their parents, which return to the nest after fledging, unaware their chick has left. Studies of juveniles dispersing at sea have suggested an innate migration behaviour, a genetically coded navigation route, which helps young birds when they are first out at sea.

Hybridization is rare in albatrosses, largely due to the low incidence of breeding-site vagrancy.

Etymology
The name "albatross" is derived from the Arabic al-qādūs or al-ḡaṭṭās (a pelican; literally, "the diver"), which travelled to English via the Portuguese form alcatraz ("gannet"), which is also the origin of the name of the former prison Alcatraz. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word alcatraz was originally applied to the frigatebird; the modification to albatross was perhaps influenced by Latin albus, meaning "white", in contrast to frigatebirds, which are black.
They were once commonly known as goonie birds or gooney birds, particularly those of the North Pacific. In the Southern Hemisphere, the name mollymawk is still well established in some areas, which is a corrupted form of malle-mugge, an old Dutch name for the northern fulmar. The name Diomedea, assigned to the albatrosses by Linnaeus, references the mythical metamorphosis of the companions of the Greek warrior Diomedes into birds. Finally, the name for the order, Procellariiformes, comes from the Latin word procella meaning "a violent wind" or "a storm".

In culture

Albatrosses have been described as "the most legendary of all birds". An albatross is the central emblem in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, representing the innocence and beauty of God's creation. The albatross metaphor is derived from this poem; someone bearing a burden or facing an obstacle is said to have "an albatross around his neck", the punishment given to the mariner who killed the albatross. A widespread myth holds that sailors believe shooting or harming an albatross is disastrous, due in part to the poem; in truth, sailors regularly killed and ate them, as reported by James Cook in 1772. However, other sailors reportedly caught the birds but let them free again, possibly believing that albatrosses were the souls of lost sailors, so killing them would bring bad luck. The head of an albatross being caught with a hook is used as the emblem of the Cape Horners, i.e. sailors who have rounded Cape Horn on freighters under sail; captains of such ships even received themselves the title "albatrosses" in the Cape Horners' organisation.

A captive albatross tormented by jeering sailors is also a metaphor for the social travails of the sensitive poète maudit in Charles Baudelaire's poem L'Albatros: Le Poète est semblable au prince des nuées

Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer;

Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées,

Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher.(Translation: The poet is like this prince of the clouds, who haunts the storm and mocks the archer; but exiled on earth surrounded by jeers, his giant wings make him helpless to walk.)

In golf, shooting three under par on a single hole has been termed scoring an "albatross", as a continuation on the birdie and eagle theme.

Non-European mythologies

The Māori used the wing bones of the albatross to carve flutes. In Hawaiian mythology, Laysan albatrosses are considered aumakua, being a sacred manifestation of the ancestors, and quite possibly also the sacred bird of Kāne. Japanese mythology, by contrast, refers to the short-tailed albatross as ahodori, "fool bird", due to its habit of disregarding terrestrial predators, making it easy prey for feather collectors.

Birdwatching
Albatrosses are popular birds for birdwatchers, and their colonies are popular destinations for ecotourists. Regular birdwatching trips are taken out of many coastal towns and cities, such as Monterey, Dunedin, Kaikōura, Wollongong, Sydney, Port Fairy, Hobart, and Cape Town, to see pelagic seabirds. Albatrosses are easily attracted to these sightseeing boats by the deployment of fish oil and burley into the sea. Visits to colonies can be very popular; the northern royal albatross colony at Taiaroa Head in Dunedin, New Zealand, attracts 40,000 visitors a year.

Threats and conservation

In spite of often being accorded legendary status, albatrosses have not escaped either indirect or direct pressure from humans. Early encounters with albatrosses by Polynesians and Aleuts resulted in hunting and in some cases extirpation from some islands (such as Easter Island). As Europeans began sailing the world, they, too, began to hunt albatross, "fishing" for them from boats to serve at the table or blasting them for sport. This sport reached its peak on emigration lines bound for Australia, and only died down when ships became too fast to fish from, and regulations forbade the discharge of weapons for safety reasons. In the 19th century, albatross colonies, particularly those in the North Pacific, were harvested for the feather trade, leading to the near-extinction of the short-tailed albatross.

Of the 22 albatross species recognised by IUCN on their Red List, 15 are threatened with extinction, that is, Critically Endangered (Tristan albatross and waved albatross), Endangered (7 species), or Vulnerable (6 species). Six further species are considered as Near Threatened and only one of Least Concern. One of the main threats is commercial longline fishing, as the albatrosses and other seabirds—which will readily feed on offal—are attracted to the set bait, become hooked on the lines and drown. An estimated 100,000 albatross per year are killed in this fashion. Unregulated pirate fisheries exacerbate the problem. A study showed that potentially illegal longline fishing activities are highly concentrated in areas of illegally-caught fish species, and the risk to bycatch albatrosses is significantly higher in areas where these illegal longline fishing vessels operate.

On Midway Atoll, collisions between Laysan albatrosses and aircraft have resulted in human and bird deaths, as well as severe disruptions in military flight operations. Studies were made in the late 1950s and early 1960s that examined the results of control methods such as the killing of birds, the levelling and clearing of land to eliminate updrafts, and the destruction of annual nesting sites. Tall structures such as traffic control and radio towers killed 3000 birds in flight collisions during 1964–1965 before the towers were taken down. Closure of Naval Air Facility Midway in 1993 eliminated the problem of collisions with military aircraft. By 2008, it was noted that reduction in human activity had helped reduce bird deaths, though lead paint pollution near military buildings continued to poison birds by ingestion. Albatross plumes were popular in the early 20th century. In 1909 alone, over 300,000 albatrosses were killed on Midway Island and Laysan Island for their plumes.

Another threat to albatrosses is introduced species, such as rats or feral cats, which directly attack albatrosses or their chicks and eggs. Albatrosses have evolved to breed on islands where land mammals are absent and have not developed defences against them. Even species as small as mice can be detrimental; on Gough Island, the chicks of Tristan albatrosses are attacked and eaten alive by introduced house mice. Introduced species can have other indirect effects; cattle overgrazed essential cover on Amsterdam Island, threatening the Amsterdam albatross; on other islands, introduced plants reduce potential nesting habitat.

Ingestion of plastic flotsam is another problem, one faced by many seabirds. The amount of plastic in the seas has increased dramatically since the first record in the 1960s, coming from waste discarded by ships, offshore dumping, litter on beaches, and waste washed to sea by rivers. It is impossible to digest and takes up space in the stomach or gizzard that should be used for food, or can cause an obstruction that starves the bird directly. Studies of birds in the North Pacific have shown that ingestion of plastics results in declining body weight and body condition. This plastic is sometimes regurgitated and fed to chicks; a study of Laysan albatross chicks on Midway Atoll showed large amounts of ingested plastic in naturally dead chicks compared to healthy chicks killed in accidents. While not the direct cause of death, this plastic causes physiological stress and causes the chick to feel full during feedings, reducing its food intake and the chances of survival.

Scientists and conservationists (most importantly BirdLife International and their partners, who run the Save the Albatross campaign) are working with governments and fishermen to find solutions to the threats albatrosses face. Techniques such as setting longline bait at night, dyeing the bait blue, setting the bait underwater, increasing the amount of weight on lines, and using bird scarers can all reduce the seabird bycatch. For example, a collaborative study between scientists and fishermen in New Zealand successfully tested an underwater setting device for longliners, which set the lines below the reach of vulnerable albatross species. The use of some of these techniques in the Patagonian toothfish fishery in the Falkland Islands is thought to have reduced the number of black-browed albatrosses taken by the fleet between 1994 and 2004. Conservationists have also worked on the field of island restoration, removing introduced species that threaten native wildlife, which protects albatrosses from introduced predators.

One important step towards protecting albatrosses and other seabirds is the 2001 treaty, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, which came into force in 2004 and has been ratified by thirteen countries, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. The treaty requires these countries to take specific actions to reduce bycatch, pollution and to remove introduced species from nesting islands.

Species
Since 1996, albatrosses have been divided into four genera. The number of species is a matter of debate. The IUCN and BirdLife International recognise 22 extant species (listed below), ITIS recognise 21 (the 22 below minus T. steadi), and a 2004 paper proposed a reduction to 13 (indicated in parentheses below), comprising the traditional 14 species minus D. amsterdamensis.

See also
 List of albatross breeding locations

Notes

References

External links

 HANZAB complete species list (Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds.)
 BirdLife International Save the Albatross campaign
 The Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)
 Albatross: Don Roberson's family page
 Tracking Ocean Wanderers.  The global distribution of albatrosses and petrels: Results from the Global Procellariiform Tracking Workshop, 1–5 September 2003, Gordon's Bay, South Africa. BirdLife International
 Albatross videos  on the Internet Bird Collection

Seabirds

Extant Oligocene first appearances
Taxa named by George Robert Gray

Albatross


William Edward China  (7 December 1895 – 17 September 1979) was an English entomologist who specialized in Hemiptera, the true bugs. He served as Keeper of Entomology at the British Museum (Natural History) from 1955 to 1960.

China was born in London and educated at Cambridge. His education was interrupted by the First World War, during which he served in the army in France and then in the Royal Air Force. He obtained a degree in zoology from Cambridge after the war and then joined the British Museum (Natural History) in 1922. At this time, he took charge of the Hemipteran collections, in addition to the Orthoptera and Neuropterida collections. He obtained a D.Sc. from Cambridge University in 1948.

He later succeeded Norman Denbigh Riley as Keeper of Entomology in 1955. He specialized in Hemipteran systematics, publishing nearly 265 papers, describing 98 genera and nearly 248 species. During World War II, he contributed to the movement of specimens out of London. He retired in 1966 to Cornwall after working in part-retirement from 1960.

References

Entomologists from London
1895 births
1979 deaths
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
20th-century British zoologists

William Edward China


The Sea Devil's Eye is a 2000 novel by Mel Odom set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. It is the last book in the Threat from the Sea Trilogy.

Plot summary
Iakhovas has caused more destruction than any force since the Time of Troubles, but his true objective has been a mystery until now.

Conception
Author Mel Odom intended the Threat from the Sea trilogy to have major implications for the Forgotten Realms setting: "Basically, an evil that has been buried for thousands of years has risen from the sea and turned against the surface world. A lot happens in these books, and the map of Toril will not be the same afterward. A lot of people are going to be shocked and amazed." Dungeons & Dragons game sourcebook tie-ins were planned to coincide with the novels, allowing players to follow the events of the trilogy in their own campaigns.

References

2000 American novels
Forgotten Realms novels
High fantasy novels
Novels by Mel Odom

The Sea Devil's Eye (novel)


The Pacification Sejm was a session of the Sejm in 1736 that concluded the War of the Polish Succession in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that erupted after the death of Augustus II the Strong in February 1733.  It confirmed the accession of Augustus III to the Polish throne, and gave Augustus the power to appoint as Duke of Courland a candidate who had the approval of Russia, Prussia, and the local nobility.  (This power was in effect a retroactive approval of Augustus' agreement with Anna of Russia that she could name her preferred candidate, Ernst Johann von Biron, to that post.)

References
 Lindsey, J. O. (ed). The Cambridge New Modern History, Volume 7.

1736 in Europe
1730s in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

pl:Sejm pacyfikacyjny (1736)

Pacification Sejm (1736)


John Dixon Bridgers II (January 13, 1922 – November 24, 2006) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Johns Hopkins University from 1953 to 1956 and at Baylor University from 1959 to 1968, compiling a career college football record of 59–74–2. Bridgers was the athletic director at Florida State University from 1973 to 1979 and at the University of New Mexico from 1979 to 1987. He also worked as an assistant coach in the National Football League with the Baltimore Colts (1957–1958) and Pittsburgh Steelers (1969).

Coaching career
Bridgers began his career as an assistant coach at the Sewanee: The University of the South (1947–1951), was head coach for the First Cavalry Division Artillery Team in Hokkaido, Japan in 1952 and was head football and track coach at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore from 1953 to 1956. In 1957 and 1958 he served as a coach/coordinator for the Baltimore Colts, where he developed their pro-style offense attack. He carried that style with him in 1959, coming to Baylor to replace the fired Sam Boyd.

During his Baylor tenure, he compiled a 49–53–1 (.481) record. In his first five seasons, he led the Bears to three bowl games, winning two of them. He installed the Colts' wide-open passing game at Baylor, helping make All-Americans of quarterback Don Trull and wide receiver Lawrence Elkins after a record-breaking 1963 season. In the Bears' 1966 season opener against Syracuse at Baylor Stadium, Bridgers sent in John Hill Westbrook, making the sophomore running back the first black athlete to play for a Southwest Conference school.

Bridgers spent a year on Chuck Noll's first Pittsburgh Steelers staff, where he urged the coach to consider drafting a player he tried to recruit for Baylor, a quarterback named Terry Bradshaw. After the Steelers took Bradshaw with the first overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft they won four Super Bowls in the next decade.

Administrative career
After Bridgers left Pittsburgh for an assistant's job at the University of South Carolina, he became athletic director at Florida State University in 1973. Despite inheriting a $1 million athletic deficit, he turned the program around with the single most important hire in school history, convincing another talented coach from Alabama, Hall of Famer Bobby Bowden to leave West Virginia for the Seminoles. Turning around another struggling athletic program, Bridgers left Florida State for the University of New Mexico in 1979, where his win brother Frank was a principal of a major engineering firm. He encountered a program where major NCAA infractions had surfaced in the basketball program under Norm Ellenberger, prompting an FBI investigation into transcript-rigging. Bridgers turned the scandal-ridden program around by hiring Gary Colson, and headed the athletic department as the football Lobos under Joe Morrison enjoyed a 10–1 season in 1982.

Death
Bridgers died in Albuquerque, New Mexico of congestive heart failure at the age of 84.

Head coaching record

References

1922 births
2006 deaths
Auburn Tigers football coaches
Baltimore Colts coaches
Baylor Bears athletic directors
Baylor Bears football coaches
Florida State Seminoles athletic directors
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays football coaches
New Mexico Lobos athletic directors
Pittsburgh Steelers coaches
Sewanee Tigers football coaches
South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches
College track and field coaches in the United States
Sportspeople from Birmingham, Alabama

John Bridgers


"Les Mots" (English: "The Words") is a 2001 song recorded as a duet by the French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer and the English soul singer Seal. It was the first single from her best of album, Les Mots, and was released on 13 November 2001. It was Farmer's third duet, after those with Jean-Louis Murat in 1991 and Khaled in 1997, and her first international duet. "Les Mots" is a bilingual song, containing verses in French (sung by Farmer) and in English (by Seal). In terms of sales, "Les Mots" is Farmer's fourth biggest success in France, behind "Désenchantée", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" and "Sans contrefaçon".

Background and writing
In October 2001, the release of the second single from the live album Mylenium Tour, "Regrets", was cancelled because sales of the previous live single "Dessine-moi un mouton" were disappointing (however, the video of "Regrets" was shown for one week on M6). But since the summer, various rumours were launched on the Internet about her next single. Some said that she would record a song as a duet with an international star, perhaps Bono (singer of U2) or Elton John, since they are close friends of the singer. Seal was eventually chosen to sing with Farmer and, on 10 October, the promotional CD single of "Les Mots" was sent to radio stations. In an interview, Seal explained that Farmer had proposed to record a single as a duet with him. He felt flattered, but as he knew nothing about Farmer, he watched her DVD and listened to her albums to see if their voices blended well. Cover photographs and the recording were made in Los Angeles while Farmer was visiting the city. However, Seal said in another interview that he did not want to record other duets of the same kind because, according to him, his fans did not appreciate "Les Mots" and have called this collaboration a "trick". Three new photos made by Isabel Snyder, showing a half-naked Farmer in Seal's arms, were used as cover for the single. The only official remix available on the media, the "strings's for soul mix", was directed by Laurent Boutonnat. Following the success of the song, a CD maxi was launched in Europe about one year after the release of the single, which contained as a third track the single version of Farmer's previous single, "L'Histoire d'une fée, c'est...".

Music and lyrics
This melancholy song has fairly simple lyrics. The journalist Benoît Cachin said that in this song, "Farmer pays tribute to the words which have enabled her to write her songs, which are also used to express her love". About the song, the French magazine Instant-mag made the following analysis: "On an air melody and worthy flights of Boutonnat, the two voices, paradoxical but complementary, tell us the difficulty communicating and the immense power of words. Where the beautiful voice of Farmer will force up to the break, that of Seal evokes a quiet and sensual strength". One of the verses of "Les Mots" ("And to lives that stoop to notice mine", sung by Seal) repeated the first verse of Farmer's song "Nous souviendrons-nous" ("Aux vies qui s'abaissent à voir la mienne") which is on her third studio album L'Autre.... The works of Emily Dickinson was also a source of inspiration for the song. Indeed, the phrase "I will tell you how the sun rose", sung by Seal, is the title of her poem No. 318.

Music video

Production and plot

The music video was filmed on 8 and 9 October and was directed by Laurent Boutonnat, Farmer's songwriting partner. It was a return by Boutonnat as Farmer's film director as her last video, "Beyond My Control", was directed by him in 1992. The screenplay was written by Boutonnat and Farmer, and it was a Requiem Publishing and Stuffed Monkey production. Shot over two days, it cost about 100,000 euros and it was the first time that Boutonnat used special effects in a Farmer video.

The two singers did not meet to shoot the video. According to some sources, because of the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks, Seal refused to take a plane to France. However, Seal told a French magazine that the true reason is that their schedules clashed. The images in which he appears were filmed separately in Los Angeles, while Farmer recorded her scenes at Arpajon Studios in Paris. When, in the video, a man is on the raft with Farmer, it is a body double. Seal said that Farmer had suffered from the very cold water used during the video's shooting. The sea was created in a studio in a large pool, using a machine for waves, rain and lightning. Nearly 50 technicians were involved. The video was first broadcast on M6 on 7 November 2001. There were two versions: one for television, the other for the collector DVD Les Mots.

The video shows the two singers in the middle of an ocean. Farmer, dressed in a short black skirt, and Seal, stripped to the waist, are on a wooden raft with a small sail and start to row. While Farmer stretches out on the raft, a storm begins to arrive, the wind picks up, the rain falls and lightning illuminates the sky. Seal, standing on the raft, loses his balance and falls into the water. Farmer tries to save, him giving him her hand, but without success. The night starts to fall and Farmer, now alone on the raft, lights a match and puts it out immediately.

Inspiration and analysis

The video contains some references to Shakespeare's Othello, but was mainly inspired by The Raft of the Medusa, a 1918 Théodore Géricault painting. Indeed, "the main colors of the video are similar to that in the painting: yellow, sunset, dark, warning of misfortunes. The anatomy of the two singers is filmed with realism and precision (details on the bodies' parts, focus on the grains of skin) and may refer to those of the shipwreckeds in the painting. Finally, the replicas of the raft and the sailing are very resembling".

According to Instant-Mag, "the video "Les Mots" – without real screenplay, but rather playing on the aesthetics of colors and the sensual bodies filmed – can be appreciated on two levels: the first, metaphorical (...), refers to the flow of life, its turmoil, its despair, its choices. The lovers are (...) in the "same boat", they "row". When Seal fell in the water, Mylène Farmer doesn't help or can't help him, all interpretations are free. The end of the video may also symbolize the grief, the loss and its ambivalence: Farmer lights a flame, then blows it out, master of her own destiny and emotions." The journalist Caroline Bee considers the video deals with "the world of dream, with the ocean as a metaphor for life: the turmoil and the fullness, the danger and the calm."

Critical reception
 Reviews
"Les Mots" was generally very well received by the public, but was moderately appreciated by Farmer's fans because of its lack of innovation. For example, the biographer Bernard Violet says that "Les Mots" appears to be a typical Farmer's ballad, with a dark romanticism. According to the author Erwan Chuberre, the song "does not shine by its originality" and recalls "Rêver" or "Il n'y a pas d'ailleurs", but "fortunately, the union of the crooner voice of Seal to the star's one works wonderfully". The song was nominated as the best duet in the 2002 NRJ Music Awards, but the prize was awarded to Garou and Céline Dion for their song "Sous le vent". Farmer, however, won for the third time the prize Francophone Female Artist of the Year.

 Chart performances
The song entered the French SNEP Singles Chart at number three on 17 November and remained for a total of 17 weeks in the top ten. On 26 January, after the performance on the show NRJ Music Award on TF1, the single reached a peak of number two but was unable to dethrone Star Academy's "La Musique (Angelica)" at the top of the chart. The single then dropped and totaled 23 weeks in the top 50 and 28 weeks in the top 100. Certified Gold by the SNEP one month after its release, "Les Mots" appeared respectively at number 32 and number 33 on the 2001 and 2002 French singles year end chart, as its chart trajectory overlapped the two years. As of August 2014, it is the 69th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 600,000 units sold.

On the Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratop 40 Singles Chart, the single went to number seven on 28 November and climbed to number two the next week, where it stayed for two weeks. It remained for 12 weeks in the top ten and 18 weeks in the top 40. Thus the single allowed Farmer to obtain one of her best chart performance in Belgium. The song was certified Gold and, as in France, it ranked in average positions on 2001 and 2002 Annual Singles Charts (respectively at number 36 and number 81), due to its release at the end of the year.

In March 2002, "Les Mots" was the most aired Francophone song in the world.

Live performances and cover versions
There was only one television performance, during the 2002 NRJ Music Awards, broadcast on TF1 on 19 November 2001. "Les Mots" was also performed each evening during Farmer's concerts in 2006, but the drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. replaced Seal to sing the English verses. Both singers were dressed in black and sang next to each other, and in the background of the stage, they were shown behind a light drizzle on giant screens. Initially, Seal had been due to be present at the 13 concerts to sing with Farmer, but he asked for a too much money and was replaced.

The song was performed on the Timeless tour in 2013 as a duet with Gary Jules.

In 2003, the song was covered by the Swedish singers Christer Björkman and Shirley Clamp on their Swedish CD maxi. Their version is similar to the original.

Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "Les Mots":

 CD single, 7" maxi

 CD maxi – Europe, Israel, Canada

 Digital download

 CD single – Promo / CD single – Promo – Luxurious edition

 VHS – Promo

Release history

Official versions

Credits and personnel
These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:
 Mylène Farmer – lyrics
 Laurent Boutonnat – music
 Requiem Publishing – editions
 Polydor – recording company
 Isabel Snyder / aRT miX the agency – photo
 Henry Neu / Com'N.B – design
 Made in the E.U.

Charts and sales

Peak positions

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

Notes

External links
  Mylène Farmer & Seal — "Les Mots" All about the song, on Mylene.net

2001 singles
Mylène Farmer songs
Seal (musician) songs
Songs with lyrics by Mylène Farmer
Songs with music by Laurent Boutonnat
Music videos directed by Laurent Boutonnat
Male–female vocal duets
Macaronic songs
2001 songs
Polydor Records singles

Les Mots (song)


In Mexican folklore, the onza is a legendary cat species.

Name
The Spanish name onza derives from the Latin lynx, lyncis, and is equivalent to the English word "ounce", originally applied to the lynx but now more commonly to the snow leopard (Panthera uncia).  There are old texts written by Spanish conquistadors about the onza, but they might refer to the jaguarundi, which is known as onza in many Mexican states.  Onça is the Brazilian Portuguese word for jaguar, Panthera onca, where a spotted jaguar is known as onça-pintada and a melanistic one as onça-preta. These are real animals, occurring as far north as Mexico and possibly into the southwest of the United States. Also, a cat some call the "puma" Puma concolor is known most often as onça-parda in some areas of Brazil (in others, it is known by the name that predates American cougar, suçuarana).

Legends from history
In one legend, after the Spaniards settled in Mexico, the animal was seen more often, and some unidentified group of people gave it the name onza. "It is not as timid as the [cougar]", wrote a Jesuit priest, Father Ignaz Pfefferkorn, in 1757, "and he who ventures to attack it must be well on his guard".  Another missionary, Father Johann Baegert, wrote that an "onza dared to invade my neighbor's mission when I was visiting, and attacked a 14-year-old boy in broad daylight ... A few years ago another killed the strongest and most respected soldier" in the area.

Twentieth century legends
As a more recent series of anecdotes goes, in 1938, and again in 1986, an unknown number of cougar-like animals shot in Sinaloa were identified as "onza" by some unknown parties.

One such story says that in 1938, hunters Dale and Clell Lee, with Indiana banker Joseph Shirk, shot what locals called an "onza" near La Silla Mountain in Sinaloa. Dale Lee was certain that the animal they shot was not a "puma". Although somewhat resembling what some think is a "puma" in coloration, its ears, legs, and body were longer, and it was built more lightly than a what they called a puma.

The Mysterious Mr. Vega
In this legend, the only viable specimen to have been examined was contributed by a rancher named Andres Murillo. In January 1986, he shot what he thought was a jaguar attacking him. Although there's no explanation of who proved it or how, the story goes on to say that it was proved not to be a jaguar. Murillo brought the specimen to a person identified only as "Vega", who was said to own a nearby ranch. There it was found to be a female weighing  and measuring  long without the  tail. The story claims the animals were much like cougars but had lighter frames with longer, striped legs, longer ears, and a longer tail. It also claimed this particular cat had the appearance of a cougar with a very long, thin body and long, thin, doglike legs. Deer had been found in its stomach, supposedly indicating that it had eaten recently. The ranch owner referred to as Vega told Murillo that the specimen greatly resembled what he called an "onza" that his father had shot in the 1970s, the skull of which he still had.

In another version of this legend, it wasn't Andres Murillo but two people named Rodriguez and Ricardo Zamora who were deer hunting at about 10:30 p.m. when they came across a large cat which seemed ready to charge. Fearing a jaguar attack, Rodriguez shot it. Seeing that it was not a jaguar or a puma, they took the body back to Rodriguez's ranch and Rodriguez contacted a Mr. Vega, who owned a nearby ranch and was an experienced hunter. This person known as Vega said that the cat was an onza and that it was nearly identical to one that his father had shot in the 1970s (the skull of the Vega animal had allegedly been preserved). Mr. Vega in turn contacted a Ricardo Urquijo, Jr., who suggested taking the animal's body to Mazatlán for examination. There, the cat was found to have a large wound on one of the rear legs which both Rodriguez and Mr. Vega believed to have been inflicted by a jaguar. It was also found to have been in good health with a fully functional reproductive system.

In another version of the Mr. Vega legend, it was actually the farmer Andres Murillo who owned the ranch in the San Ignacio District of Sinaloa and who killed an animal similar to the one shot by Dale and Clell Lee.

DNA testing confirmed that the Sinaloa specimen was a well-known subspecies of cougar and not an American cheetah or an unknown species.

In another legend, it was claimed that researchers from Texas Tech University examined a frozen onza corpse in the 1990s but concluded that it was most likely a genetic variant of the cougar and not a distinct species. The story says that DNA testing had shown the specimen to be another known, but unmentioned, cat species with no significant difference between it and any other cat of that species.

Identification legends
In Mexico the term onza refers to more than one species.  In some Mexican states the jaguarundi is also referred to as onza. Furthermore, there are also local legends claiming that there are two species of jaguarundi, one of which is usually called onza.

Bibliography
Neil B. Carmony. Onza! The Hunt for a Legendary Cat. High Lonesome Books (1995)
Robert E. Marshall. The Onza. The Story of the Search for the Mysterious Cat of the Mexican Highlands.  Exposition (1961)

References

Mythological felines
Mexican folklore
Purported mammals
Spanish-language Mesoamerican legendary creatures
Cat folklore

Onza


Dr Duško Knežević (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Душко Кнежевић) is the founder and president of the board of directors of Atlas Group Corporation (AGC), a financial group based in Montenegro consisting of companies with interests in banks in Serbia, Cyprus and Great Britain.

Last  five years Dr Duško Knežević has been living in London UK.

In addition to his business interests, he is the founder and president of the board of two business-oriented universities, in Montenegro and in Serbia. In April 2010, Knežević became a member of Clinton Global Initiative.

Knežević founded the Atlas Foundation in 2010. The mission of the Foundation is to support the creation of new societal values and economic empowerment of citizens through enhancement of business environment and corporate social responsible practices. Improving regional cooperation is one of the key goals of the Atlas Foundation. Knežević organised the Inaugural Conference "Balkan Networking for Social Empowerment of South-Eastern Europe" that was held in Budva in May 2011, under the auspices of the Government of Montenegro and Atlas Foundation, and in partnership with Clinton Global Initiative. The main objective of this event was to address pressing challenges facing South-Eastern Europe through developing cross-border and new models of cross-sector cooperation.

Personal life
Born 30 May 1959, Knežević completed elementary and high school in Titograd (now Podgorica). He obtained a bachelor's degree in Finance and Banking at the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, and a Master of Science in Banking and Finance, also at the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade.  After defending with merits his doctorate dissertation 'Legal and economic prerequisites of sustainability of pension insurance system' at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Duško Knežević was awarded a scientific degree Doctor of Legal and Economic Studies. He lectures in finance-related subjects at the UNION University.

Atlas Group
Knežević is President of the Atlas Group (AGC), which he founded 25 years ago in Yugoslavia. The AGC has grown into an internationally acknowledged company, consisting of 30 companies including banks, finance, real estate, construction, tourism, education, health and media. Strong business relationships and partnerships with, among others, Abu Dhabi Capital Group owned by Royal family from UAE, Bursa Istanbul, Mace London, Piraeus Bank, EBRD, Century 21 Real Estate and Turner Real Estate USA, have been developed.

Knežević founded and is President of the board of Mediterranean University (the first private university in Montenegro) and the Belgrade Banking Academy.

Recent Projects
FinInvest Montenegro, in collaboration with Capital Investments, a company owned by the royal family in Abu Dhabi, is completing a 180 million euro residential business complex investment in Podgorica. FinInvest Montenegro stands behind a major health-tourism project in Meljine, on Montenegro's Adriatic Coast.

Higher education
Knežević is the founder and president of the board of:
 University "Mediterranean" – the first private university in Montenegro
 Belgrade Banking Academy, the only institution of its kind in the region

2019 prosecution and political initiative
A video clip from 2016 surfaced in January which showed Dusko Knezevic appearing to hand the then mayor of Podgorica, Slavoljub Stijepovic, an envelope containing what Knezevic later said was $100,000, to fund a DPS election campaign. Knezevic, who is now in London, has told the media he had been providing secret cash to the DPS for the past 25 years. Some saw this as the first concrete confirmation of something that has long been an open secret in Montenegro. The DPS and Djukanovic have denied wrongdoing, insisting that all donations to the party are recorded in the party's financial records. The authorities have since gone after Knezevic, until recently close to the ruling elite, who now faces charges of money laundering. Another video that Knezevic released late in January and February showed a senior central bank official asking for a bribe not to send inspectors into one of Knezevic's banks. Knezevic has also released documents that he claims prove that he helped finance Djukanovic's lavish travels abroad in five-star hotels and covering his personal expenses.

In the February 2019 Montenegro has been rocked by a wave of street protests calling on the President and the DPS-led government to resign and accusing them of corruption. Knezevic's accusations against Djukanovic have been a driving force behind the street protests; he claims to have been a major illicit donor to the ruling DPS over the last 25 years. Opposition parties and civic groups behind the protests are divided, however, over Knezevic's role in the protest movement, with many wanting to keep a distance from him.

In order to fight for rule of law and against corruption, in the Spring 2019 Duško Knežević initiated DO SLOBODE movement and announced establishment of the political party.

Paper works, articles and books
 Fernando Diz, Hasan Hanić, Duško Knezević: "On the Black-Scholes Model and why Scholes and Merton won the Nobel Prize", work presented in the Symposium Financial Innovations, November 1997
 D. Knežević, "Selection of Strategic Partner for Atlas Bank", work presented at the Round Table  "Privatization of Banks in Serbia – four years later", Belgrade, 17 May 2005, printed for conference proceedings, Belgrade Banking Academy and Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade, pp. 131–33
 D. Knežević, "Credit Insurance", Belgrade Banking Academy Belgrade, 2007.
 D. Knežević, M. Jovović and I. Džaković, "Credit Insurance", Sixth International Symposium "New Products in Insurance Market", Association of Actuaries of Serbia and Faculty of Economics, Zlatibor 2008.
 S. Stefanović, D. Knežević, "Secondary Mortgage Markets and Instruments – Review of Experiences of European Union Countries," conference proceedings from international science convention Banking Products and Services Market in Serbia, Belgrade Banking Academy, Belgrade, 2008
 D. Knežević, "Businesses in the region must cooperate with foreign investors", World Finance Magazine, edition September–October 2010

References

Links
 Knežević interview, WorldFinance.tv

 Knežević's interview on Montenegro economics and investments at Analitika informative portal from Montenegro, portalanalitika.me
 Knežević's interview on Montenegro Stock Exchange, SEEbiz.eu
 Knežević's interview on Montenegro Stock Exchange unification at SEEbiz
  at RTS, June 2010 (video)
  at RTS, June 2010 (video)
 Turner International negotiations with Atlas Group in Montenegro, Atlas TV news report, September 2010 (video)
 , Budva, Montenegro, 22 May 2011 (video)
 RTS Upitnik: Duško Knežević - čovek sa crvene poternice Interpola,Mart 2019
 Duško Knežević intervju N1, Februar 2019
 NYT 'Balkan Spring' Turns to Summer, and Hopes for Change Dim
 Montenegro Protesters Demand President's Resignation
 Montenegrin political earthquake
 Ein unter Druck geratener Banker droht dem Regime in Montenegro, unsaubere Machenschaften auffliegen zu lassen
 A great protest against the corrupt regime of Milo Đukanović by the DO SLOBODE ("To Freedom") movement
 Dr Duško Knežević participated in the British Parliament at the panel on Western Balkans
 Politico:  Time for Europe's longest-serving ruler to go

1959 births
Living people
University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics alumni
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni
Montenegrin corporate directors
People from Podgorica
Montenegrin people in finance
Mediterranean University
Montenegrin businesspeople

Duško Knežević


The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism is a research institute at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

It is a resource for information, provides a forum for academic discussion, and fosters research on issues concerning antisemitic and racist theories and manifestations. The institute's principal focus is the social and political exploitation of these phenomena in the period since the end of World War II, and the influence of their historical background.

Details
The institute was founded as the Project for the Study of Anti-Semitism in the fall of 1991, and was headed by Prof. Dina Porat of Tel Aviv University until 2010. Since then, Dr. Scott Ury of Tel Aviv University's Department of Jewish History has been Director of the Roth Institute. The institute is situated within Tel Aviv University's Faculty of the Humanities and is associated with the Wiener Library for the Study of the Nazi Era and the Holocaust in Tel Aviv, home of one of the world's richest collections of documents related to fascist regimes and movements, and antisemitism. The Institute welcomes visitors and fosters cooperation with universities and research institutes outside Israel.

References

External links
 Homepage
 "Roth Institute Newsletter 2018,"
 "Roth Institute Newsletter 2017,"
 "Roth Institute Newsletter 2016,"
 "Fear of Neighbours: Graduate Student Workshop with Jan T. Gross," Tel Aviv University, April, 2012.
 "The Education of Barack Obama," Lecture at Tel Aviv University, Prof. Thomas Sugrue, The University of Pennsylvania, May, 2013.
 "Lucy S. Dawidowicz: An American in Vilna," Naomi Prawer Kadar Annual Lecture, Prof. Nancy Sinkoff, Rutgers University, June, 2013.
 "Jews and Race: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on Genetics, History and Culture," Tel Aviv University, January, 2014.
 "International Law, Antisemitism and Jewish Lawyering at the United Nations," Seminar at TAU's Law School, Prof. James Loeffler, The University of Virginia, March, 2014.
 "The Holocaust as Genocide: Integrated History and Scholarly Integrity," Lecture at TAU, Prof. Omer Bartov, Brown University, May, 2014.
 "Conversion: Between Antisemitism and Philo-Semitism," Workshop with Prof. David Nirenberg, The University of Chicago, Nov., 2014.
 "Holocaust and Genocide Studies in the Academic World," Lecture at TAU, Prof. Deborah Dwork, Clark University, Dec., 2014.
Jewish Rights, Minority Rights, Human Rights," Video of International Conference at TAU, March, 2015.
"The Assassination of Symon Petliura and the Trial of Sholom Schwartzbard, 1926-1927,"Lecture at TAU, Prof. David Engel, NYU, Dec. 2015.
"Images of Jews in the Early Age of Print," Lecture at Roth Institute, TAU, Prof. Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University, Jan., 2016.
"Theodor Herzl: Between Antisemitism, Race and Empire," Lecture at TAU, Prof. Derek Penslar, Oxford and Toronto, March, 2016. "Podcast".
"Philosemitism and Antisemitism in Biblical Criticism," Lecture at TAU, Prof. Hindy Najman, University of Oxford, November, 2017. "Podcast".
"A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling Over the Memory of Sand Creek," Lecture at TAU, Prof. Ari Kelman, University of California-Davis, March, 2018. The lecture is part of "Race & Racism in America," series.

Centers for the study of antisemitism
Religion and politics
History of antisemitism
Research institutes in Israel
Social science research institutes
Tel Aviv University
Israel based opposition to antisemitism

Stephen Roth Institute


Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development () is a state-led non-profit organization in Qatar, founded in 1995 by then-emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned. Qatar Foundation (QF), chaired by Moza bint Nasser, has spearheaded Qatar's endeavors to establish itself as a leader in education, science, and cultural development on both a regional and global scale.

According to the Qatar Foundation, its initiatives are oriented towards education, science and research, and community development. It has solicited a number of international universities to establish campuses in Qatar.

Education

K–12 education
In primary and secondary education, Qatar Foundation has several initiatives. Examples include establishing five Qatar Academy branches, opening Awsaj Academy, a school for children with learning difficulties, and opening Qatar Leadership Academy in collaboration with the Qatar Armed Forces. Furthermore, the foundation launched the Academic Bridge Program, a post-secondary school program that helps students transition from high school to university.

A major reform of the K–12 education system was embarked upon by Qatar Foundation in 2003, resulting in the formation of the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute and the subsequent publishing of the institute's assessment and recommendations in Education for a New Era: Design and Implementation of K-12 Education Reform in Qatar. As a response to declining standardized test scores, Qatar Foundation terminated its partnership with the RAND Corporation in 2013.

Higher education
In higher education, Qatar Foundation established branch campuses of eight international universities and one home-grown university at the main campus just outside Doha:
 1998 – Virginia Commonwealth University, with programs in art and design.
 2002 – Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar opened, offering a two-year pre-medical program and a four-year medical program leading to an MD.
 2003 – Texas A&M University at Qatar opened, offering programs in chemical, electrical, petroleum, and mechanical engineering. In 2018, Qatar Foundation lawyers filed a lawsuit to block Texas A&M from releasing records about the foundation's donations.
 2004 – Carnegie Mellon University Qatar opened, offering programs in computer science, business, biological sciences, computational biology, and information systems.
 2005 – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar opened, offering programs in international affairs. Nearly all of Georgetown University's foreign money donations stem from the Qatar Foundation.
 2008 – Northwestern University in Qatar opened, offering programs in journalism and communications.
2010 – Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) opened offering graduate programs in Islamic studies, humanities and social sciences, science and engineering, law, health and life sciences and public policy and undergraduate qualification in Computer engineering. HBKU is also the home of three national research institutes conducting mission driven research in energy and environment, computing, and biomedical.
 2011 – HEC Paris in Qatar launched the first EMBA in the country.
 2011 – 2020 University College London Qatar opened, offering postgraduate qualifications in museum studies, conservation, and archaeology in partnership with Qatar Museums Authority. UCL Qatar has closed its campus in Qatar after completing its contract with the Qatar Foundation in October 2020.

These centers sit alongside the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies which began its first graduate classes in the 2007–2008 academic year. It offers master's degrees in Islamic finance, contemporary Islamic studies and Islamic public policy.

US Education department investigated Georgetown University, Texas A&M, and Cornell and Rutgers over their funding from Qatar.

World Innovation Summit for Education
As part of the foundation's activities in education, it sponsors the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), which has been held in Doha since 2009. The 3-day WISE Summit is held every 2 years in Doha, Qatar.

WISE awards the WISE Prize for Education is an international prize that rewards an individual or a team for outstanding contributions to education. The inaugural edition was launched in 2011 with a monetary award of $500,000. WISE also provides awards for six projects that address global educational challenges. Winners receive a cash prize of $20,000. The first WISE Awards were handed out in 2009.

Science and research
A program known as the Qatar Science Leadership Program was initiated in 2008 in order to help develop aspiring applied science students. In 2014, the program's first PhD scholar graduated from university. The majority of the universities on Qatar Foundation's campus run their own research programs, often collaborating with QF's own applied research bodies. In addition to the university programs, QF has formed international partnerships, including with the Royal Society and the James Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

Stars of Science, a reality TV show was launched in 2009 in order to discover "young Arab innovators".

The Qatar Foundation organizes the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), which was established in 2006. The Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), a research and development hub, was inaugurated in March 2009. At an investment of more than $800 million by Qatar Foundation, it became Qatar's first free-trade zone. In 2010, the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) was founded as a vehicle to conduct multidisciplinary applied computing research. Research topics include Arabic language computer technologies, computer security and data analysis.

The Qatar Foundation founded the Qatar Green Building Council in 2009, and the Qatar Environmental & Energy Research Institute (QEERI).

The Qatar Foundation founded the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) and the Sidra Medical and Research Center (endowed with $7.9 billion). After several delays, Sidra's hospital officially opened on 14 January 2018. The Qatar Diabetes Association, founded in 1995, became a member of Qatar Foundation in 1999.

Community development
Qatar Foundation's community development initiatives are based on three primary pillars. The first pillar mandates the "fostering of a progressive society". Secondly, "enhancing cultural life and protecting Qatar's heritage" is enshrined in the foundation's community development policy. This goal is signified by the presence of the a sidra tree in the foundation's logo, a symbol associated with the Islamic Sidrat al-Muntaha and an evergreen tree, Ziziphus spina-christi, which is native to Qatar. The last pillar involves "addressing the community's immediate social needs". An example of an initiative designed to meet this goal is the Qatar Diabetes Association, which was incorporated in Qatar Foundation in order to raise public awareness of the rising rates of diabetes and assist in its management. Reuters has reported that the organization has made "commercial-looking investments."

Arts and culture initiatives

Al Shaqab, an equine education resource centre, became a member of Qatar Foundation in 2004. The institution is considered a testament to the historic role that horse racing and breeding played in Qatari culture. Facilities include a riding academy, an endurance training complex, and a centre for the breeding and showing of Arabian horses.

Al Jazeera Children's Channel (JCC) was launched in 2005 as a joint venture between Al Jazeera and Qatar Foundation with the aim of "preserving Arab cultural identity". With 90 percent of the channel being owned by Qatar Foundation, it broadcast from the foundation's Doha campus along with Baraem, the Arabic channel aimed at preschoolers. Al Jazeera announced in 2013 that it was in the process of acquiring full ownership of the channel.

In 2006, Qatar National Library (then known as Dar Al Kutub Library) became a member of Qatar Foundation. On November 19, 2012, Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation, announced plans for a new national library. Education City was chosen as the location of the new library. A notable attraction within the library is the Arab and Islamic Heritage section which contains a historic collection of books, periodicals, manuscripts, maps, and scientific instruments dating back to the 15th century. One of the largest online collections of historic records on the Persian Gulf countries was digitized in October 2014 and made available on the website of the Qatar Digital Library (QDL). The website was the culmination of a partnership established between Qatar Foundation, Qatar National Library, and the British Library in 2012.

The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 2007 at the behest of Qatar Foundation with an initial budget of $14 million.

Qatar Foundation opened Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in December 2010 in association with Qatar Museums Authority. The museum holds one of the largest collections of sculptures and paintings by Arab artists in the world, and has published an online encyclopedia of Arab artists.

Msheireb Properties (a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation) initiated a $5.5 billion commercial development project in Doha in January 2010. Originally called "Heart of Doha", the project was renamed "Msheireb Downtown Doha" in reference to the historical name of the area.

Community initiatives
The Social Development Center was established in 1996 by Moza bint Nasser to organize community programs for Qatari families. It promotes the building of stable and self-sufficient families by offering workplace training and providing courses in financial management. Another cardinal goal of the center involves promoting Islamic social values.

Qatar Foundation established Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) – a charity initiative focused on assisting community development projects in Asian countries – in 2005. ROTA campaigns for education in developing countries. The organization has carried out activities in countries such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Gaza.

In 2006, Moza bint Nasser founded The Doha International Family Institute (DIFI). The institute conducts research and promotes scholarship on the legal, sociological and scientific basis of the family as the fundamental unit of society. It has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC).

Events
The QatarDebate Center was established in 2007. In addition to organizing workshops and competitions with the intent of raising the standards of open discussion among Qatari students, the center also hosted the World Schools Debating Championship in 2010. Also launched in 2007 was the Qatar Career Fair (QCF), an annual event held at the Qatar National Convention Centre which showcases the range of career options available to Qatari students and graduates.

The Qatar National Convention Centre was inaugurated by QF in December 2011. It features a 2,300-seat auditorium.

Joint ventures
Joint ventures in the fields of science and research, education and social development are deemed essential to Qatar's transition from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, as outlined in the Qatar National Vision 2030. Thus, the foundation has set up a number of commercial joint ventures with global partners. Profits generated are shared by both parties, with Qatar Foundation's portion being distributed into its core nonprofit activities.

The Qatar Foundation also managed two children's channels: Al Jazeera Children's Channel (later renamed to JeemTV) and Baraem. Up until 2016, they were co-owned by Al Jazeera Media Network and since then were acquired by beIN Channels Network

Fitch Qatar is a joint venture design company that creates brands and develops corporate identities for businesses and other organizations. It was jointly created by QF with Fitch London. Some of the company's clientele include the National Health Authority, the Qatar Museums Authority, and Barwa Group.

Qatar MICE Development Institute (QMDI) is a joint venture created with Singex Global to manage conferences, conventions, and other events. It was formed in 2007. One of the company's main areas of focus is the QF's Qatar National Convention Centre.

Vodafone entered in a partnership with QF to establish Vodafone Qatar in 2008. It was granted a fixed telecommunications in September 2008, thereby becoming the second mobile network operator to be licensed in the country. It officially launched its services in Qatar in March 2009.

Launched in November 2008, MEEZA is a joint-venture IT service provider catering to businesses. It was established to support Qatar's ICT sector amidst the country's population boom and technological transition. A major agreement was reached by Meeza in December 2015 stipulating the management of Maersk Oil's IT operations in Qatar.

Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) is an alternative energy company created in 2010 as part of a partnership between Qatar Foundation, SolarWorld and Qatar Development Bank. In December 2011, QSTec announced that it would be constructing a production plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City with a planned initial capacity of 4,000 metric tons of polysilicon every year. In August 2017, SolarWorld founder Frank Asbeck and QSTec bought out SolarWorld in a joint venture deal and rebranded it as SolarWorld Industries.

Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP), launched in tandem with Bloomsbury Publishing, became the first publishing house to be established in Qatar in December 2008. It formerly published books in Arabic and English with the mission of promoting a culture of literacy throughout the region. It became defunct in December 2015 and all of its publications were incorporated in the newly established HBKU Press, a member of QF. At the time of BQFP's dissolution it had published over 200 books. Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ), an open access, peer review academic publisher, was also incorporated in HBKU Press. BQFJ began publishing journal research articles through its website Qscience.com in December 2010, during the 2010 Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum. The website maintained more than fifteen specialized and multidisciplinary journals in 2014.

Sponsorship
On 10 December 2010, FC Barcelona announced it had agreed a shirt sponsorship deal worth up to €170 million with Qatar Sports Investments to place Qatar Foundation's name on the front of the team's shirts, ending Barcelona's tradition of not accepting payment for sponsors displayed on its jersey. The deal included a clause allowing a switch in sponsor after the first two seasons, so Qatar Airways took over as the main sponsor in July 2013.

In October 2011, the Wikimedia Foundation announced a plan to work with the Qatar Foundation to support the growth of the Arabic Wikipedia. Later, the media reported that the Wikipedia page for the Qatar Foundation was allegedly edited by a public relations associate of the foundation, for which there was "strong, if circumstantial evidence". It was claimed by Qatar Foundation in November 2015 that the partnership had culminated in the creation of over 6,000 articles on the Arabic Wikipedia.

See also
Education City Stadium

References

External links

Educational organisations based in Qatar
Scientific organisations based in Qatar
Educational foundations
Organizations established in 1995
World Digital Library partners
1995 establishments in Qatar

Qatar Foundation


Joel Kovel (August 27, 1936 – April 30, 2018) was an American scholar and author.

Biography

From 1977 till 1983 he was Director of Residency Training, Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (where he was also Professor of Psychiatry from 1979–1986). From 1980 to 1985, he was an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the New School for Social Research and from 1986–7 a Visiting Professor of Political Science and Communications, University of California, San Diego.

Kovel's works include White Racism (1971)  (nominated for a National Book Award), A Complete Guide to Therapy (1979), The Age of Desire (1982), Against the State of Nuclear Terror (1982), In Nicaragua (1986), The Radical Spirit: Essays on Psychoanalysis and Society (1988), History and Spirit (1991), Red Hunting in the Promised Land (1994),  The Enemy of Nature (2002), and Overcoming Zionism (2007).

On May 1, 2018, it was announced that Kovel died in New York City on April 30 at the age of 81. No cause of death was given.

References

1936 births
2018 deaths
American environmentalists
American political writers
American political activists
Educators from New York City
Writers from New York City

Joel Kovel


Chris Anderson (born July 9, 1961) is an English-American author and entrepreneur. He was with The Economist for seven years before joining Wired magazine in 2001, where he was the editor-in-chief until 2012. He is known for his 2004 article entitled "The Long Tail", which he later expanded into the 2006 book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. He is the cofounder and current CEO of 3D Robotics, a drone manufacturing company.

Life and work

Early life
Anderson was born in London. His family moved to the United States, when he was five. He enrolled for a degree program in physics from George Washington University and went on to study quantum mechanics and science journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. He later did research at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Career
He began his career with a six-year period as editor at the two scientific journals, Nature and Science. He then joined The Economist in 1994, where he remained for seven years, during which time he was stationed in London, Hong Kong and New York City in various positions, ranging from Technology Editor to US Business Editor. He took over as editor of Wired in 2001.

His 2004 article "The Long Tail" in Wired was expanded into a book in 2006, titled, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. It appeared on The New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers list. The book argues that products in low demand or that have a low sales volume can collectively build a better market share than its rivals, or exceed the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, provided the store or distribution channel is large enough. The book earned Anderson the 2007 Gerald Loeb Award for Business Book.

His next book, entitled Free: The Future of a Radical Price (2009) examines the advantages of a strategy where products and services are initially given to customers for free, and how businesses can profit more in the long run. Anderson was accused of plagiarizing content from English Wikipedia for his book. Anderson responded that he had disagreements with the criticism, and reasoned that the mention of citations were avoided due to the changing nature of content in English Wikipedia. However, the whole episode led him to integrate footnotes into the text, and the digital editions of Free were corrected with the revision. Free debuted as #12 on The New York Times Best Seller list. It was also available as a free download for a limited time, and an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 digital copies were downloaded in the first two weeks. The unabridged audiobook remains free.

Anderson's third book, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution (2012), was based on his 2010 article, "Atoms Are the New Bits". The book describes how entrepreneurs are using open source design, and 3D printing as a platform for driving resurgence of American manufacturing. The ideas he portrayed; such as crowdsourcing of ideas, utilization of available lower-cost design and manufacturing tools, and reviewing options to outsource capital-intensive manufacturing were highlighted in the February 2012 Harvard Business Review article, "From Do It Yourself to Do It Together".

Anderson was featured and interviewed on The Amp Hour radio show in episode #105 – "An Interview with Chris Anderson – Deambulatory Daedal Drones", where he discusses his career, books, and the hardware and drone industry.

Around 2017, Chris started DIYRobocars, a community that builds and races scaled-down autonomous cars utilizing computer vision and deep learning.

In 2021 Chris Anderson made an appearance on the Gradient Dissent podcast to talk about his initiatives and ventures, including 3D Robotics and DIYRobocars.com. He spoke about his career journey coming from being a physicist and playing music in a band called R.E.M. to leading Wired magazine, getting into drones, robocars, and The Long Tail.

Ventures
In 2007, Anderson founded GeekDad, a do-it-yourself blog that later became part of Wired.com. He was the editor until the role was handed over to Ken Denmead, and he now serves as editor emeritus of GeekDad. The same year, Anderson founded Booktour.com, a free online service that connected authors on tour with audiences. In September 2011, Booktour.com folded.

In October 2007, Anderson, who has been described as an "aerial-reconnaissance enthusiast", flew a remote-controlled aircraft allegedly equipped with a camera over Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, causing security concerns when the aircraft crashed into a tree. The enthusiasm turned inspiration for co-founding 3D Robotics, a 2009 robotics manufacturing spin-off of the DIYdrones.com. 3D Robotics produces the Ardupilot series of autopilots, which are based on the Arduino platform.

In May 2007, Anderson was featured as one of the top 100 thinkers in Time magazine's annual list for 2007.

Personal life
Anderson currently lives in Orinda, California, with his wife and five children. He met his wife while working at the scientific journal, Nature. He has dual U.S.-U.K. citizenship.

Works

References

External links

 Biography, from O'Reilly
 Free: The Past and Future of a Radical Price Keynote speech at Nokia World 2007 in Amsterdam on December 5, 2007.

 Chris Anderson discussing DIY drones and his new book "Makers: The New Industrial Revolution" on The Amp Hour podcast

1961 births
Living people
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American bloggers
American business writers
American chief executives of manufacturing companies
American magazine editors
American male bloggers
American technology chief executives
American technology writers
Businesspeople from Berkeley, California
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Gerald Loeb Award winners for Business Books
People involved in plagiarism controversies
Wired (magazine) people
Writers from Berkeley, California

Chris Anderson (writer)


Sean Riley is a playwright from South Australia. His plays include The Sad Ballad of Penny Dreadful (presented by Windmill Performing Arts in January 2006), My Sister Violet (seen at the Urban Myth Theatre of Youth in 2005), The Last Acre (2003), The Time of Ashes (2001) and Beautiful Words. His play The Angel & the Red Priest was performed as part of the 2008 Adelaide Festival of Arts.

References

Australian dramatists and playwrights
Living people
1967 births

Sean Riley (playwright)