Invasion: Earth is a BBC science fiction TV series. It was made in collaboration with the Sci Fi Channel, and released in 1998 as six fifty-minute episodes.

Creation and production

Invasion: Earth is a dark science-fiction drama about the discovery of a planned invasion and conquest of Earth by a sinister race of inter-dimensional alien beings, and the efforts of a small NATO force who strive to counter the threat.

The series was conceived, written and co-produced by Jed Mercurio, a former physician who (under the pseudonym John MacUre) gained prominence in Britain the 1990s as the creator and writer of the offbeat medical drama series Cardiac Arrest.

The principal cast included Vincent Regan in his first starring TV role, Maggie O'Neill (who later co-starred in the acclaimed British comedy-drama series Shameless), veteran American character actor Fred Ward (Tremors) and Anton Lesser as alien abductee Lt Charles Tyrell.

Invasion: Earth was a co-production between BBC Scotland and the Sci-Fi Channel. It was shot on location in Scotland with considerable assistance from the British armed forces and is also notable as one of the first British TV series to feature extensive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Episode summary

Episode 1: "The Last War"
In 1944, during the height of The Blitz, an unidentified object crashes into an English suburb. A bomb disposal team, led by Lieutenant Charles Tyrell (Anton Lesser), arrive on the scene. The soldiers discover two of the crashed craft's occupants; one is shot dead by a soldier while attempting to flee, while the other, badly injured occupant falls out of the craft. It soon becomes apparent that the occupants are not human, with domed heads and speckled pale skin. Tyrell establishes a rapport with the survivor just as MI6 arrives.

Fifty-four years later, in the skies over the North Sea, RAF Flight Lieutenant Chris Drake (Vincent Regan) and his navigator, Flight Lieutenant Gerry Llewellyn (Stuart McQuarrie), intercept an unidentified craft. During the ensuing encounter, both the airfield and their Tornado interceptors are seemingly attacked by a weapon that shuts off electrical power, so Drake impulsively acts against orders and shoots down the craft. In the process, his own plane is damaged, and he and Llewellyn eject over the ocean. Drake is recovered alive, but Llewellyn suffers serious injuries during ejection and dies in the sea before he can be rescued. The guilt-ridden Drake is grounded as a result of his hasty actions. The UFO, meanwhile, crashes in Scotland.

During the UFO encounter, a local group of government-sponsored university students, who moonlight as amateur SETI watchers, pick up a strange transmission aimed at the far reaches of space. Led by Dr Amanda Tucker (Maggie O'Neill), the group comes to the conclusion that this is an extraterrestrial message. After hearing rumours of the UFO encounter, Tucker heads for Scotland, where she meets, and, after a fortuitous meeting, she joins forces with Drake. After uncovering some of the truth behind the recent events, they are reluctantly recruited by United States Air Force Major General David Reece (Fred Ward), who believes the transmission to be terrestrial rather than alien, to decipher its meaning.

Meanwhile, RAF personnel race to capture the downed UFO pilot and recover his craft. Equipped with alien technology, including a cloaking device, the pilot evades them (despite being wounded by pursuers) but finally stops a motorist, who takes him to hospital. Once located by the military and stripped of his strange garb and apparatus, the pilot is found to be none other than Tyrell, who refuses to communicate with his captors, even though they assume him to be a test pilot for a foreign nation's air force. Meanwhile, Tucker's associate, Nick Shay (Paul J. Medford), discovers that the signal sent by the alien craft has in fact been intercepted and jammed by another force, and suggests that they might be dealing with two distinct alien races who may be in conflict with each other.

Episode 2: "The Fourth Dimension"
As NATO attempts to analyse the alien landing pod, the danger that Tyrell poses to Earth becomes apparent when, during examination, he is found to have a tracking device in his tooth. Before it can be removed, a strange portal opens, apparently attempting to capture him. During the ensuing gunfire, a policeman is killed, although the gunfight also reveals that the invaders, which the NATO team dub "nDs", are physical entities who can be harmed. Thinking that the enemy power is trying to rescue him, Tucker rips out Tyrell's tooth, but this allows the portal to home in on her instead. She and a number of RAF personnel are drawn into another portal, vanishing into the beyond.

Tyrell is taken back to the airfield and interrogated, but reveals nothing. Reece is open-minded as to the pilot's reasons, while his second-in-command, Squadron Leader Helen Knox (Phyllis Logan), angry that he may have betrayed his country to a foreign power, orders his torture. The following day, Dr Tucker and the RAF personnel sucked into the portal are returned, suffering from terrible nightmares of being tortured by strange creatures. Attempts to press them further causes terrible seizures. During the night, the RAF personnel who were kidnapped by the nDs attempt to escape, killing their guards. All but one are recaptured, that being a NATO officer who is undergoing curious physiological changes, who manages to evade capture. Tucker, on the other hand, seems fine, although she's scratched the letters "nD" into her arm, leaving a wound that seems unable to heal.

Episode 3: "Only the Dead"
Drake and Tucker, having come to the conclusion that their enemy is now extraterrestrial in origin, and that the kidnapping aliens are part of a third force unrelated to Tyrell's faction, investigate further. They finally get Tyrell to tell his story: the alien survivor from 1944 was part of a peaceful race dubbed the "Echos", who have studied other planets. After being shot down during one of their surveys, the survivor was imprisoned in a mental hospital. Tended to and studied by Tyrell, Allied high command is adamant that the traveller is the test pilot of a V-2 rocket, chosen from the Nazi concentration camps due to his physical deformities. The Echo eventually dies from ill-treatment, but not before giving Tyrell a key to alert other Echos to his presence.

Tyrell, having lived with the Echos for more than fifty years, explains that the Echoes are locked in a life-or-death struggle with an alien species (the "nDs"), a race of inter-dimensional beings who harvest organic matter in order to absorb it into their machines. The nDs exist in multiple dimensions, using portals to manipulate and interact with our own reality, although they cannot survive long in normal Earth space. Tyrell helps the RAF activate his craft and send a distress signal to the Echos. In response, a lone Echo lands in Scotland, bringing a message that its entire species has committed self-genocide rather than allow the nDs to harvest their race for their malignant ends. As a coup de grâce, Tyrell kills the last surviving Echo and explains that Tucker was taken for a reason: she has been genetically changed in order to become half-human, half-nD, an overseer for the nDs' latest crop – humanity.

Episode 4: "The Fall of Man"
The previously escaped NATO officer is running amok in the countryside. He drives to a reservoir some miles away, cuts his brachial artery and throws himself into the dam, where he bleeds to death. Meanwhile, Tucker and the RAF team use a signal device from the Echo escape pod as a lure to attract and capture an nD, but the attempt goes disastrously wrong, with the nD easily escaping from confinement, killing several personnel and destroying much of their equipment.

Episode 5: "The Battle More Costly"
It becomes slowly apparent that the NATO officer found dead in the reservoir is part of a plan to infect a local town with an illness of alien origin. It also gradually becomes evident that the events in Scotland are part of a larger conspiracy designed by the nDs and only put in motion due to Tyrell's accidental landing on Earth. When the nDs again attempt to capture Tyrell, Drake is forced to shoot him as he is being dragged into the portal, to prevent him being taken alive.  As the disease spreads through the townsfolk, portal kidnappings become more frequent, and the station personnel – ignored by their superiors and lacking reinforcements – attempt to hold off the vanguard of the nD invasion, racing to develop an experimental toxin which they hope will kill the nDs.

Episode 6: "The Shatterer of Worlds"
The nDs are kidnapping the populace in order to use them as living batteries. An amorphous mountain of alien tentacles and design appears on the outskirts of Kirkhaven, and it begins expanding, swallowing up and absorbing all the surrounding organic matter and transporting it back to the nDs' home. The Earth forces attack the structure but soon discover that conventional weapons are powerless to damage or stop it. Wishing to atone for her earlier disbelief, Squadron Leader Knox flies a Tornado jet into the portal in order to carry out reconnaissance, but she does not return and she is presumably captured or killed. Aided by her growing self-awareness of the nD mindset, Amanda uses the data collected by Preston to discover a safe passage through the nD structure. With her guidance, Drake and Amanda fly into the structure to launch a missile directly into the portal, in the hope of causing a chain-reaction that will destroy it. The plan seems to work at first, and Drake's plane successfully escapes from the collapsing nD structure, but the joy of the Earth forces proves short-lived—within moments a new structure rises up in place of the first, expanding at an even greater rate. Amanda now realises that the plan has failed and that there are probably an infinite number of other nD structures which can be 'folded down' into normal space to replace any that are destroyed.

With Earth's future in the balance, and the world finally paying attention, it becomes clear that the only chance is the use of ultimate force, so the Prime Minister authorises the detonation of a thermonuclear bomb to destroy all the organic matter in a 50-mile radius around the portal, in hopes that this will starve the nDs of raw materials and stop the portal from growing any larger. The defenders resolve that same tactic must be used again and again whenever a new portal appears, anywhere in the world. As Dr Tucker's transformation continues unabated despite all efforts, she walks out to stand in the kill zone as the bomber approaches and releases its weapon. The screen blurs to white, accompanied by the rumbling roar of a detonation, as the final credits roll.

Cast
Vincent Regan as Flight Lieutenant Chris Drake
Maggie O'Neill as Dr Amanda Tucker
Fred Ward as Major General David Reece
Phyllis Logan as Squadron Leader Helen Knox
Anton Lesser as Lieutenant Charles Tyrell
Sara Kestelman as Group Captain Susan Preston
Paul Medford as Nick Shay (as Paul J. Medford)
Jonathan Dow as Flight Lieutenant Jim Radcliffe
Gerard Rooney as Sergeant Tuffley
Christopher Fairbank as Wing Commander Friday (as Chris Fairbank)
Nicola Buckingham as Echo
Diana Payan as Gran
Laura Harling as Emily Tucker
Bob Barrett as Flight Lieutenant Stewart

In other media

VHS
Invasion: Earth – Volume 1: Chapters 1–3 (The Last War/The Fourth Dimension/Only the Dead)
and
Invasion: Earth – Volume 2: Chapters 4–6 (The Fall of Man/The Battle More Costly/The Shatterer of Worlds)
 Label: BMG Video
 Release Date: 1998
 Catalogue №: 74321 576 823 (Volume 1), 74321 576833 (Volume 2)
 Availability: Deleted

Each tape also includes part of a two-part behind-the-scenes documentary called The Making of Invasion: Earth.

DVD
Invasion: Earth (2-disc Region 1 box set)
 Label: A&E Television Networks
 Release Date: 2005
 Catalogue №: AAE-71413 (Disc 1: AAE-71414, Disc 2: AAE-71415)
 Availability: Out now

DVD Features
 Production Notes
 History of Alien Invasion Films
 Cast Biographies

To date, Invasion: Earth has only been released on Region 1 DVD in the United States, and as far as is known there are currently no plans for a Region 2 release for the UK.

Tie-in publication
The Invasion: Earth Companion
 Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
 Year: 1998
 Author: Peter Haining
 Original Price: £9.99
 ISBN №: 0-7472-7622-6
 Availability: Out of print

A fully illustrated guide to Invasion: Earth, which includes a detailed look at the speculative science behind the fiction and exclusive interviews with the cast and crew. The book is no longer in print.

External links

Invasion Earth  review at SciFi.com.
Invasion Earth at SideReel.com.
Invasion Earth at TVShowsOnDVD.com.

British science fiction television shows
BBC television dramas
1998 British television series debuts
1998 British television series endings
Television series produced at Pinewood Studios
Alien invasions in television
BBC Scotland television shows
Television shows set in Scotland
1990s British television miniseries
1990s British science fiction television series

Invasion: Earth (TV series)


Ayalaan () is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language science fiction film written and directed by R. Ravikumar, and produced by Kotapadi J. Rajesh under KJR Studios. It stars Sivakarthikeyan, Rakul Preet Singh, Sharad Kelkar and Isha Koppikar.

The film was announced in October 2016 and principal photography took place from June 2018 to January 2021, with few reshoots in November 2022. It was predominantly shot in Chennai. The music is composed by A. R. Rahman and cinematography handled by Nirav Shah while editing is done by Ruben. The film has over 4500 visual effects shots, the most for an Indian film.

Ayalaan is scheduled to be released in January 2024, during Pongal.

Cast
Sivakarthikeyan
Rakul Preet Singh
Sharad Kelkar
Isha Koppikar as Eliza
Bhanupriya
Yogi Babu
Karunakaran
Bala Saravanan

Production

Development
On 16 October 2016, Sivakarthikeyan and his former manager-turned-producer R. D. Raja of 24AM Studios, announced their next project, which would be directed by R. Ravikumar, in his second directorial after Indru Netru Naalai (2015). Sivakarthikeyan stated, "It's going to be a very ambitious project. It needs to be made on a bigger scale, and hence, it will take time before it goes on floors". Ravikumar had to enhance the script of the science fiction film, which took more than a year, to finalise the pre-production works. Meanwhile, Sivakarthikeyan decided to concentrate on Velaikkaran and Seemaraja, both produced by Raja.

Post the completion of Velaikkaran, Sivakarthikeyan announced that he will officially collaborate with Ravikumar, for the project after completing the scripting works. It was reported that the project will be made on a lavish scale, with top technicians being brought in for the project. In mid-January 2018, Sivakarthikeyan further announced that he will start the shooting of the film only after completing the production works of Seemaraja. The project was reportedly produced by R. D. Raja via 24AM Studios. On 15 January 2018, it was announced that A. R. Rahman will compose music for the film, in his maiden collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan. Sivakarthikeyan described it as a "dream come true" moment, on associating with Rahman for the first time. The makers hired veteran cinematographer Nirav Shah as part of the technical crew.

In mid-July 2019, Raja decided to back out producing the film, and Sivakarthikeyan himself decided to lend financial support for the film, by producing it under his own banner Sivakarthikeyan Productions. However, when the project was revived in November, KJR Studios had decided to cash in the shares of Raja's productions, including this project. The company eventually went on to co-produced and distribute the film along with 24AM Studios, but 24AM Studios backed out later. The makers announced the film's title as Ayalaan on 3 February 2020.

Casting
Rakul Preet Singh was chosen for the female lead in February 2018, collaborating with Sivakarthikeyan for the first time. In April 2018, Yogi Babu and Karunakaran were reported to be a part of the film's cast. In August 2018, Sharad Kelkar was cast in a pivotal role, making his Tamil debut. In March 2019, Bollywood actress Isha Koppikar, was signed on, marking her return to Tamil cinema, a decade after her 2001 film Narasimha. She described her character Eliza as a femme fatale and assassin, inspired by the fictional character Lara Croft.

Filming
Principal photography began on 27 June 2018, preceded by a launch event in Chennai. Sivakarthikeyan and Singh attended the event, while Bhanupriya, Kothandam and Bala Saravanan, were present during the event with other cast and crew members. Following the launch, the film's team headed to Gokulam Studios for a brief schedule. Nirav Shah used the Alexa LF camera, making Ayalaan the first Indian film to be shot using this camera. Kopikkar joined the shooting sets in July 2018. Major portions of the film were shot in Chennai.

Filming was put on hold due to financial issues, as well as Sivakarthikeyan's commitments in other projects. On 18 February 2019, Sivakarthikeyan had resumed filming in Chennai. However, Sivakarthikeyan's involvement in the shooting of Mr. Local, Namma Veettu Pillai and Hero delayed the project further. Adding to these reasons was the financial issues, surrounding Raja's production house, 24AM Studios, which led Raja backing out of the project, and Sivakarthikeyan himself decided to lend financial support for the film, by producing it under his own banner.

The project was later revamped on 20 September 2019, after Sivakarthikeyan sorted out the financial issues surrounding between the producers and the financiers. He further decided to forgo his remuneration to complete the film's shoot. He initially revealed that 75% of the shooting had been completed and the remaining portions will be shot within 25–30 days. The shooting resumed on 29 January 2020. On 9 February 2020, a report claimed that the film's team worked for 15 hours to shoot the climax sequence.

The filming was further affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, the makers reported that Sivakarthikeyan will join the shooting after wrapping his commitments with Doctor (2021). Later, the makers commenced the final leg of the shoot on 26 November 2020, with minimal crew, adhering to the guidelines imposed by the government. A special team was designated, to observe the crew, including the director and the actor abiding to COVID-19 protocols. Koppikar and Kelkar arrived in Chennai, to join the film's shoot. The final schedule took place for two months to shoot. It was reported that the makers planned to shoot a special song in Chennai, featuring 600 dancers in background, which will mark the film's wrap after its completion. The makers planned to shoot the song within 10 days. On 24 January 2021, the makers announced that the shooting of the film has been wrapped. Reshoots took place in November 2022.

Visual effects
Unlike many American films and the Hindi film Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), where a human actor portrays an alien after wearing prosthetics, the alien in Ayalaan was created entirely through visual effects. During filming, the makers used a boy as a stand-in for the alien so that Sivakarthikeyan, whose character interacts with the alien in several scenes, would have a reference point. According to Ravikumar, it was a challenge to synchronise this on the visual effects screen. In January 2021, it was reported that the makers need more than 10 months to complete the visual effects, and the makers spent more than  crore on them. Ayalaan has over 4500 visual effects shots, the most for an Indian film.

Music
The film's soundtrack and background score are composed by A. R. Rahman, which marks his first collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan and R. Ravikumar. Rahman agreed to do the picture in late-2017 and eventually began the music sittings and composition in March 2018. Despite the delay in the film's shoot, Rahman had completed composing three songs for the film, apart from singing the intro song, after Sivakarthikeyan's request. On the occasion of Sivakarthikeyan's birthday (17 February 2021), the film's first single "Vera Level Sago" was released online and in the official YouTube channel of Sony Music South, which acquired the film's audio rights.

Release

Theatrical
As of December 2021, Ayalaan was facing uncertainty over its release due to 24AM Studios borrowing  from Tag Entertainment, and the Madras High Court granted a stay over its release till 3 January 2022 unless the sum was repaid. On 24 April 2023, it was announced that the film would be released during Diwali in November 2023. Later the film was delayed indefinitely to allow time for the visual effects and CGI work to be completed, before being scheduled for January 2024, during Pongal.

Home media
The film's broadcast rights were sold to Sun TV.

References

External links

2020s Tamil-language films
Alien visitations in films
Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Films about extraterrestrial life
Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Films scored by A. R. Rahman
Indian films with live action and animation
Indian science fiction films
Upcoming Tamil-language films

Ayalaan


A canvas print is the result of an image printed onto canvas which is often stretched, or gallery-wrapped, onto a frame and displayed. Canvas prints are used as the final output in an art piece, or as a way to reproduce other forms of art.

Printing methods
Reproductions of original artwork have been printed on canvas for many decades using offset printing. Since the 1990s, canvas print has also been associated with either dye sublimation or inkjet print processes (often referred to as repligraph or giclée respectively). The canvas print material is generally cotton or plastic based poly canvas, often used for the reproduction of photographic images.

Digital printers capable of  producing canvas prints range from small consumer printers owned by the artist or photographer themselves up to large format printing service printers capable of printing onto canvas rolls measuring  or more. Digital files of artwork, paintings, photograph, or drawings may be sent directly to printing companies or Internet based printing services.

Stretcher mounted

One of the display methods is to trim the canvas to size and then glue or staple it to traditional stretcher bars or a wooden panel and display it in a frame, or frame-less in a gallery wrap. The stretchers are sometimes constructed from solid pine and underpinned for added strength. A print that is designed to continue around the edges of a stretcher frame once gallery-wrapped is referred to as full-bleed.

Uses for prints

Canvas prints are used as final output for fine art pieces or for reproduction of other types of two dimensional art (drawings, paintings, photograph, etc.).

Canvas prints are often used as a cheaper alternative to framed artwork as there is no glazing required and the stretcher is not usually visible, so the prints do not need to be varnished or treated.

See also
 Shaped canvas
 Giclée
 Gallery wrap
 Watercolor paper
 Digital Printing

References

Printmaking
Photographic films

Canvas print


The Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union () is a mass organisation in Laos, dedicated to mobilising young people throughout the country with a view to contributing to national development. It is the youth wing of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the ruling party of Laos.

Originating in 1955 as the Youth Combatant Association and now comprising some 243,500 registered members (aged 15–35), the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union has a particular focus on the fields of information, media, entertainment, art and music. The LPRYU operates at central, provincial, municipal, district and village levels and co-operates with foreign countries and international organisations in a wide range of programme activities. LRPYU has a Print and Electronic Media Department which publishes Nok Hien Bin () magazine and the Noum Lao newspaper, while also making television and radio programmes for young people.

See also
Politics of Laos
History of Laos since 1945

References
Laos: Cultural Profile
humantrafficking.org

External links

Lao People's Revolutionary Party
Youth organizations based in Laos
Youth wings of communist parties
Youth organizations established in 1955
1955 establishments in Laos

Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union


Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by then-FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is also the current chairman of Formula E Holdings. The inaugural championship race was held in Beijing in September 2014. Since 2020, the series has FIA world championship status.

History

The proposal for a city-based, single-seater electric car motor racing championship was conceived by Jean Todt, the president of the world governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and presented to politicians Alejandro Agag and Antonio Tajani at a dinner at a small Italian restaurant in the French capital Paris on 3 March 2011. Tajani was concentrated on the electrification of the automobile industry, reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and introducing hybrid and electric systems. Agag supported Todt's proposal after the latter discussed the FIA opening up a tender to organise the series. Agag told Todt that he would take on the task because of his prior experience in negotiating contracts with television stations, sponsorship and marketing.

Since the 2020–21 season, Formula E is an FIA World Championship, making it the first single-seater racing series outside of Formula One to be given world championship status.

Regulations

The Formula E championship was contested by eleven teams with two drivers each in 2022. The sport features electric-powered race cars similar in style to the hybrid-drive cars of Formula One. Racing generally takes place on temporary city-centre street circuits,  long.

Race day format

A race day starts with two practice sessions: Two 30-minute sessions on Saturday morning (FP1 on Friday afternoon in some races). During these sessions, the drivers are free to use the full qualifying power output (currently 350 kW (475 bhp)), with a single 30 minute session on a double header Sunday. Beginning with season 8, all practice sessions were limited to 30 minutes.

The qualifying session typically takes place later in the day and lasts approximately one hour. Under the current format (introduced in season 8), the drivers are split into two groups based on their position in the championship, those in odd-numbered places go into group A, while those in even-numbered places go into group B. The exception is in the first race of the season, where each team can nominate one driver into each group. Each group gets a 10-minute session to set a fastest lap at 300kW, of which the top 4 of each group will advance to the "duels" stage, where drivers face off head-to-head at 350kW over a quarter-final, semi-final and final. The winner of the final then lines up in position 1, the loser of the final in position 2, the losers of the semi-final in positions 3 and 4, and the losers of the quarter-final in positions 5 through 8, in order of time set in their respective sessions. The rest of the drivers from the group stage are placed alternately from position 9, with the polesitter's group in the odd places, and the other group in the even places.

The first four seasons had a lap distance set, usually an odd number, with pit-stops to swap cars halfway through as the batteries lacked the capacity to last the whole race. During the second generation, the race was set to 45 minutes plus one lap, and the introduction of the Gen2 car meant pit stops are no longer necessary, as the battery now lasted for the full race. Since the all-weather tyres are designed to last for a whole race, pit stops are currently only needed to change a punctured tyre or to perform repairs on the car, however in Season 10, a feature called 'Attack Charge' is expected to debut, where the drivers will come into the pits to service a mandatory 30 second pit stop that will charge the batteries, and add 4kWh of power to them, which will also unlock 2 enhanced Attack Mode boosts. In race mode the maximum power is currently restricted to 300 kW (402 bhp). For the ninth season, laps will replace race time, and to maintain consistency with the transition from race time to laps, safety cars and FCY interventions will now be compensated with extra laps.

For season 6 and 7, each minute under safety car or FCY, 1 kW⋅h of energy is removed from the total usable energy, giving drivers and teams more energy management tactics. From season 8, added time was used, where every full minute under a safety car or full course yellow within the first 40 minutes, 45 seconds is added to the race time up to a maximum of 10 minutes.

Point scoring
Points are awarded to the top ten drivers using the standard FIA system (25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1). The driver securing the pole position is also awarded 3 points, while the driver setting the fastest lap (if they finish in the top ten) additionally receives 1 point (2 points during the first two seasons). In addition, for season six and seven (2019-21) the driver achieving the fastest lap during group qualifying was awarded 1 point. The championship consists of both a drivers' and teams' championship. A driver's end of season total is made up of a driver's best results. A team's total is made up by counting both drivers' scores throughout the season.

Fanboost
For each race in 2021, fans could vote for their favorite driver via the official website or app to potentially provide teams with an extra power boost which can be activated by pushing an overtake button. Voting starts 3 days before the event and closes after the opening 15 minutes of the race. The five winning Fanboost drivers each receive an extra power burst that could be used in a 5-second window during the second half of the race. Fanboost was discontinued for season 9.

Attack mode
With the fifth season, a feature called Attack Mode was introduced, in which drivers received an additional 25 kW in season 5 (35 kW in season 6 and 7)  of power after driving through a designated area of the circuit off the racing line. The duration of the boost mode and the number of boosts available are decided only shortly before each race by the FIA to reduce the time the teams have to find the optimal strategy. All attack modes must be activated at the end of the race, but do not need to be used up (i.e. if a final attack mode is activated in the penultimate lap, the driver is not penalized for having it still activated at the end of the race). If there is a full course yellow period or a safety car, attack mode is not allowed to be activated. The Attack Mode format was changed up for Season 9, as instead of a constantly changing number of times the drivers had to drive through the activation zone during the race, and also the changing amount of time that each Attack Mode period lasted, the drivers would now get a combined 4 minutes of Attack Mode to use, that would be used in 2 activation periods throughout the race. During the first activation period, drivers would have to choose their Attack Mode activation time 'strategy', where they could either pick from having 2 2-minute attack mode periods, 1 3-minute to start and then 1 1-minute, or vice versa. From the 2023 Jakarta E-Prix, it was lengthened to a combined 8 minutes that could be deployed in 2 minutes and then 6 minutes or vice versa or 2 4-minute periods.

Attack charge
In Season 9, a new feature was introduced that is  known as Attack Charge that was set to be introduced in a few races later in the season, however, due to the need to solve issues with the Gen3 car's new batteries, the production of the fast chargers were delayed, and as a result, after criticisms from the teams about shifting to a new race format midway through the season, Attack Charge will not debut until the 2023-24 season. In Attack Charge races, the teams will be required to do a mandatory 30 second stop to recharge the car's batteries, and the stop will unlock two enhanced attack mode boosts, while also giving the drivers an extra 4kWh of power to use throughout the rest of the race.

Cars

Spark-Renault SRT_01E

For the first four seasons, an electric racing car built by Spark Racing Technology, called the Spark-Renault SRT 01E, was used. The chassis was designed by Dallara, a battery system was created by Williams Advanced Engineering and a Hewland five-speed gearbox was used. Michelin was the official tyre supplier. For the first season, 42 electric cars were ordered by the series. 4 cars were made available to each of the 10 teams and 2 cars were kept for testing purposes.

This first Formula E car had a power of at least . The car was able to accelerate from  in 3 seconds, with a maximum speed of . The generators used to re-charge the batteries are powered by glycerine, a by-product of bio-diesel production.

In the first season, all teams used an electric motor developed by McLaren (the same as that used in its P1 supercar). But since the second season, powertrain manufacturers could build their own electric motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system although the chassis and battery stayed the same. There were nine manufacturers creating powertrains for the 2016–17 season: ABT Schaeffler, Andretti Technologies, DS-Virgin, Jaguar, Mahindra, NextEV TCR, Penske, Renault, and Venturi.

Spark SRT05e ("Gen2 car")

The second-generation ("Gen2") Formula E car was introduced in the 2018–19 season and featured significant technological advances over the previous Spark-Renault SRT 01E car – its 54 kWh battery and power output rising from 200 kW to 250 kW and top speed rising to around 280 km/h (174 mph). The arrival of the Gen2 car also saw an end to the series' mid-race car-swaps. They were equipped with Brembo braking systems, chosen by Spark Racing Technology as the sole supplier. The cars were also equipped with the halo, a T-shaped safety cage designed to protect the driver's head in crashes and by deflecting flying objects. Michelin remained as tyre manufacturer, supplying all-weather treaded tyres.

Gen3 car (from 2022)

The Gen3 Formula E car was unveiled to the public at the 2022 Monaco ePrix, for use in the ninth Formula E season (2022–23). Power levels for the car are 350 kW in qualifying and 300 kW in the race, while regeneration levels is allowed on both front (250 kW) and rear (350 kW) axles for a maximum of 600 kW recovery under braking. Regenerative braking could provide 40% of the total energy used within a race.

The estimated top speed is 322 km/h (200 mph). The battery is also designed to be able to handle "flash-charging" at rates of up to 600 kW, allowing pitstop recharging into the championship for the first time. The wheelbase has been reduced from 3100 mm to 2970 mm and the weight reduced to 760 kg. In July 2020, it was announced that Spark Racing Technology would build the chassis and supply the front axle MGU, Williams Advanced Engineering would supply the battery, and Hankook would supply all-weather tires incorporating bio-material and sustainable rubber.

Comparison

Safety car

During the first seven seasons, a BMW i8 plug-in hybrid was employed as the Formula E safety car. In the 2019–20 season and the 2020–21 season, two versions have been used: one with a roof and a roofless one.

During the 2020–21 season, a Mini Electric (called the Electric Pacesetter by JCW) was used as safety car for selected races.

From 2022, a Porsche Taycan has been used, with a livery sporting the colors of all 11 teams.

Seasons

Champions

2014–15

The calendar consisted of 11 races held in 10 different host cities: Beijing, Putrajaya, Punta del Este, Buenos Aires, Long Beach, Miami, Monte Carlo, Berlin, Moscow and finally London, where last two rounds of the championship took place.

The first Formula E race at the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit on 13 September 2014 was won by Lucas Di Grassi, after Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost crashed out on the final corner. In the course of the season, there were 7 different race winners: Sébastien Buemi (three times),
Sam Bird (twice), Nelson Piquet Jr. (twice), António Félix da Costa, Nicolas Prost, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Lucas Di Grassi.
The championship was decided with the last race in London, where Nelson Piquet Jr. became the first Formula E champion, only a single point ahead of Sébastien Buemi. Piquet, Buemi, and Di Grassi all had a theoretical chance at winning the title in the final round.  The team championship was decided on the second to last race, with e.dams Renault (232 points) winning ahead of Dragon Racing (171 points) who surpassed ABT in the final round of the championship.

2015–16

The second season of Formula E started in October 2015 and ended in early July 2016. The calendar consisted of 10 races in 9 different cities. For this season eight manufacturers were introduced, who were allowed to develop new powertrains. Sébastien Buemi won the championship with only 2 points more than Lucas di Grassi by claiming the fastest lap in the final race in London.

2016–17

The 2016–17 FIA Formula E season was the third season of the FIA Formula E championship. It started in October 2016 in Hong Kong and ended in July 2017 in Montreal. Lucas di Grassi won the championship in the last race of the season, 24 points ahead of Sébastien Buemi and 54 points ahead of third-placed rookie driver Felix Rosenqvist. The Renault e.Dams team successfully defended their team championship title.

2017–18

The 2017–18 FIA Formula E season was the fourth season of the FIA Formula E championship. It started in December 2017 in Hong Kong and ended in July 2018. Jean-Éric Vergne clinched the title with a race to spare in New York by finishing fifth while title rival Sam Bird failed to score enough points to keep the fight going into the final race of the season.

After a difficult first half of the season, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler improved in the second half and passed Techeetah at the final race to claim the teams' championship by two points.

2018–19

The Gen2 race car was introduced for season five with significantly improved power and range, thus eliminating the need to change cars and pit stops altogether except for damage. However, cars are still vulnerable to power exhaustions if red flags and safety cars lengthen races. Gen2 also saw the introduction of the halo driver protection system. The car was unveiled in January 2018.

BMW, Nissan and DS Automobiles would join Formula E as official manufacturers for the 2018–19 season, with Nissan replacing Renault, which had exited the championship to focus its resources on its Formula 1 team. The format of the races also changed from a set number of laps to 45 minutes plus one lap.

The 2019 Hong Kong ePrix was the 50th race of Formula E since its inception in 2014. Formula E raced in 20 cities, across five continents, seen 13 global manufactures commit to the series. Four drivers have started all 50 Formula E races: Lucas di Grassi, Sam Bird, Daniel Abt and Jérôme d'Ambrosio.

After the first race in New York City, Jean-Eric Vergne won his second Formula E championship, becoming the first driver to win more than 1 championship title, and a back-to-back championship title. Techeetah won their first constructor's championship.

2019–20

For the sixth season of Formula E, two more manufacturers joined the series: Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. A number of rule changes were introduced to the championship, most notably the deduction of usable energy under safety car and Full Course Yellow conditions, with drivers having energy subtracted at 1kW⋅h per minute. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the championship was suspended in March 2020 and all scheduled races were eventually cancelled. The season was completed in August with six races at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit in Berlin on three different layouts (a race on the reverse layout, a race on the normal layout, and a race with a new extended layout) with two races each.

The season's champion was António Félix da Costa who clinched his first title with two races left. DS Techeetah became team champions for the second time in a row.

2020–21

Starting with its seventh season, the Formula E Championship was granted FIA World Championship status, due to it having met the criteria of having four manufacturer competitors and races on three continents since the 2015–16 season. The facelift of the Spark Gen2 car called the Gen2 EVO, was originally scheduled to debut in this season, but was later delayed and eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In late 2020, Audi and BMW announced their withdrawal from Formula E after the 2020–21 season, although BMW allowed Andretti Autosport to also use their powertrain during the following season.

The season ended in August 2021 with 15 races. Nyck de Vries claimed his first world champion title after winning two races, while Mercedes-EQ won the teams' championship.

2021–22

The 2021–22 FIA Formula E season is the eighth season of the FIA Formula E World Championship and the final season of the "Gen2" car era. The season started in January 2022 in Diriyah.

Instead of removing usable energy from drivers under the safety car and FCY, there will be added time to the race. For every full minute the race is neutralized within the first 40 minutes, there is 45 seconds of added time. This can add up to a maximum of 10 minutes.

Race power was also increased to 220 kW and attack mode was increased to 250kW, matching the power from Fanboost.

Season 8 also introduced a new qualifying format, featuring 2 groups, A and B, where the top 4 in each would progress to duels.
Stoffel Vandoorne won the Drivers title, whilst Mercedes EQ won the teams championship for the second time in a row.

2022–23
The 2022-23 FIA Formula E season was the ninth season of the FIA Formula E World Championship, and the debut season of the Gen3 era. It saw Maserati and McLaren make their debuts in the series and the return of Abt Sportsline with the Spanish brand Cupra Racing.
Laps replaced timed races, and for every safety car or FCY intervention, there were added laps to compensate for missed racing laps.
Pit stops were originally also supposed to make a return to the series (in the form of Attack Charge) which was set to be trialed at select races, however the introduction of this race format was delayed to the 2023-24 season, after several issues with the new car's batteries came up before the season, which caused delays in the production of the fast chargers.
Originally also, in at least two races, each team would have to field a driver with no previous Formula E experience in the first practice session. However, after teams criticized this rule, the series then decided that instead as a compromise, they would hold two rookie test sessions, one being after the doubleheader Berlin E-Prix, and the other being before the doubleheader Rome E-Prix.

The drivers' championship was won by Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti Formula E), and the teams' championship was won by Envision Racing.

Esport series

In 2019, the Virtually Live Ghost Racing app was launched. It allows fans to virtually drive alongside the real drivers as the race is going on.

In 2020, during the season suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula E held an esport series called Race at Home Challenge.

In 2021, Formula E introduced a new series called Formula E: Accelerate using the online game rFactor 2. The first season of six races was held between January and March 2021. All Formula E teams participated in the series.

Support series

FE School Series
During the first season, the FE School Series for student teams that developed their own electric car took place as support races at selected events. The series was not continued during the second season.

Roborace

Roborace was developing the world's first autonomous and electrically powered racing car. The company planned to develop the first global championship for driverless cars. It held demonstrations at selected races during the 2016–17 Formula E season and 2017–18 Formula E season.

Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy

Formula E and Jaguar ran a production-based support series with Jaguar I-Pace battery electric SUVs. The series was called the I-Pace eTrophy and ran together with Formula E's fifth and sixth seasons (December 2018 to summer 2020). In May 2020, Jaguar announced the cancellation of the series, due to financial issues caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Media

Television

Formula E provides comprehensive live television coverage shown via major broadcasters around the globe (CBS Sports, Channel 4, CCTV-5, Eurosport, Canal+, J Sports, Ziggo Sport Totaal, SABC Sport, TV Cultura). Production is carried out by Aurora Media Worldwide.
Since the first season, up until Season 8, the world feed was presented frequently by Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti, with Nicki Shields acting as pit lane reporter. However, just before the 2023 Jakarta E-Prix, Nicholls was fired after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women, and Ben Edwards, who had already done motorsport commentary for 3 decades, replaced him in the commentary booth from Jakarta E-prix until Portland E-prix. While Tom Brooks known as "the Voice of Gran Turismo" become Commentator of Formula E from Rome E-Prix until London E-Prix. Dario Franchitti also reduced his commitments to Formula E before the season started, and as a result, there has been a constant rotation of analysts throughout the season, with Karun Chandhok, Allan McNish, and Oliver Askew all having been in that analyst role in the commentary booth throughout the season. West Gillett serves as the TV director.

Documentary
Directors Fisher Stevens and Malcolm Venville created a documentary movie about the 2017–18 season called And We Go Green. It highlights some of the innovations and challenges of Formula E and follows several drivers and rivalries throughout the season. The film was co-produced by Leonardo di Caprio and premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

Formula E debuted its own documentary series, called 'Unplugged' in 22 November 2021, which was similar to Formula 1's Netflix Drive to Survive series. The series gave a behind-the-scenes look on every driver's journey through the 2020–21 season. Unplugged was brought back for a second season, showcasing the 2021–22 season, which became available through Formula E's digital platforms in March 2023.

Marbula E

In April 2020, Envision Virgin Racing partnered with Jelle's Marble Runs to create Marbula E; a parody of the Formula E series using a series of marble runs based on real tracks from the 2020 Formula E season. Commentary was provided by official Formula E commentator Jack Nicholls and Jelle's Marble Racing commentator Greg Woods. By July 2020, Marbula E had attracted over 10 million views and over 70 million social media impressions across YouTube channels and Facebook pages for both Envision Virgin Racing and Jelle's Marble Runs.

See also
 List of Formula E ePrix
 List of Formula E drivers
 Electric motorsport

References

External links

  (Formula E Channel)

Formula racing series
One-make series
Green racing
Recurring sporting events established in 2014
Articles containing video clips
Open wheel racing

Formula E


Mukundraj (IAST: Mukundarāja) was one of the earliest Marathi literary figures poet. Some earlier scholars dated him to the 12th century.

Scholars do not have unanimity among them about the place where Mukundraj mostly lived. He was probably born at Pauni in Bhandara district. There is a samadhi (monument) of Mukundraj at Ambajogai in the Beed district of Maharashtra Marathwada.

Mukundraj belonged to the Nath sect, and was a follower of the Adi Shankaracharya's Advaita philosophy. He wrote the religious compositions Vivek Sindhu (IAST: Vivekasindhu) and Paramamrut (IAST: Paramamṛta). Some earlier scholars dated Vivekasindhu to 1188, and believed it to be the first work of literature in Marathi language. However, Mukundraj is now generally dated to 12th century or later: the Vivekasindhu was likely written after other Marathi works such as Lilacaritra and Dnyaneshwari.

References

Bibliography

Marathi-language poets
Marathi-language writers
14th-century Indian poets
People from Bhandara district
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
Indian male poets
Poets from Maharashtra

Mukundraj


The Australian golden whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) or golden whistler, is a species of bird found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north). Most populations are resident, but some in south-eastern Australia migrate north during the winter. Its taxonomy is highly complex and remains a matter of dispute, with some authorities including as many as 59 subspecies of the golden whistler (one of the highest numbers of subspecies in any bird), while others treat several of these as separate species.

Taxonomy and systematics
The Australian golden whistler was originally described in the genus Muscicapa by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801.

Subspecies
The taxonomy of the golden whistler complex is difficult, and remains a matter of dispute. Some authorities include a wide range of – often strikingly different – taxa from Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji as subspecies of P. pectoralis, in which case the combined species simply is known as the golden whistler (a common name sometimes also used exclusively for the Australian species).

Presently, six remaining subspecies are recognized:
 P. p. pectoralis - (Latham, 1801): Found in eastern Australia
 Norfolk golden whistler (P. p. xanthoprocta) - Gould, 1838: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Norfolk Island (Australia).
 Lord Howe golden whistler (P. p. contempta) - Hartert, 1898: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Lord Howe Island (Australia).
 P. p. youngi - Mathews, 1912: Found in south-eastern Australia
 P. p. glaucura - Gould, 1845: Originally described as a separate species. Found in Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands (Australia)
 P. p. fuliginosa - Vigors & Horsfield, 1827: Originally described as a separate species. Found in south-central Australia

Some authorities also consider the following related species as subspecies of the Australian golden whistler:
 Rusty-breasted (fulvous-tinted) whistler from south-western Wallacea, Bali and Java in Indonesia.
 Yellow-throated whistler from central and south-eastern Wallacea.
 Baliem whistler from west-central New Guinea.
 Black-chinned whistler from North Maluku in Indonesia.
 Bismarck whistler from the Bismarck and Louisiade Archipelagos in Papua New Guinea.
 Oriole whistler from the Solomons (except Santa Cruz Islands), and the islands of Bougainville and Buka in far eastern Papua New Guinea.
 Fiji whistler from central and northern islands in Fiji.
 White-throated whistler from southern islands in Fiji, and the central and northern Santa Cruz Islands in the Solomons.

Additionally, all except the nominate subspecies of the Melanesian whistler  are sometimes included as subspecies of P. pectoralis (in which case P. caledonica is known as the New Caledonian whistler). Historically even the New Caledonian, Tongan and Samoan whistler have been treated as subspecies of P. pectoralis. Strong published evidence in favour of either treatment is limited, and further study is warranted to resolve the situation.

Description

The male has a bright yellow underside and nape, olive-green back and wings, a black head and chest-band, and a white throat. A notable exception is the Norfolk golden whistler (P. p. xanthoprocta) where the plumage of the male is female-like. In Australia females are overall dull brownish-grey, though some have yellowish undertail coverts. Both sexes have a black bill, dark legs and red-brown eyes.

Australian golden whistlers have a strong, musical voice.

Distribution and habitat
The Australian golden whistler can be found in almost any wooded habitat, especially dense forests. It eats berries, insects, spiders, and other small arthropods. They usually feed alone and obtain food from the lower to middle tree level, or they may alternatively take part in mixed-species feeding flocks.

Behaviour
This species breeds between September and January. Male and female both work on the nest, which is a shallow bowl made of twigs, grass, and bark, and bound together with spider web. Only one brood is raised per season and both birds share incubation and care of young. Eggs hatch 15 days after they are laid and the young leave the nest after 12 days.

Status
The Australian golden whistler is considered to be of least concern, and it is generally described as common to fairly common.

The Norfolk golden whistler (P. p. xanthoprocta) declined for many years due to habitat loss and fragmentation and possibly also due to introduced predators such as the black rat. Most of the population is now restricted to the Norfolk Island National Park. This has resulted in it being listed as vulnerable by the Australian Government. Another island subspecies, the Lord Howe golden whistler (P. p. contempta) remains common, but was listed as vulnerable by the Australian Government due to its small range. It is not listed anymore.

References

External links

 Photos and audio of golden whistler on eBird
 Sonograms of golden whistler on xeno-canto
 Photos and calls of golden whistler by Graeme Chapman

Australian golden whistler
Australian golden whistler
Birds of the Maluku Islands
Birds of the Lesser Sunda Islands
Birds of Melanesia
Australian golden whistler
Articles containing video clips

Australian golden whistler


The Decapolis (Greek: ) was a group of ten Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. They formed a group because of their language, culture, religion, location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous city-state dependent on Rome. They are sometimes described as a league of cities, although some scholars believe that they were never formally organized as a political unit.

The Decapolis was a center of Hellenistic and Roman culture in a region which was otherwise populated by Jews, Nabataeans and Arameans. In the time of the Emperor Trajan, the cities were incorporated into the provinces of Syria and Arabia Petraea; several cities were later placed in Syria Palaestina and Palaestina Secunda. Most of the Decapolis region is located in modern-day Jordan, except Hippos and Scythopolis (in Israel), Canatha, probably Dion, Raphana and Damascus (in Syria).

Cities
The names of the traditional ten cities of the Decapolis come from Pliny's Natural History. They are:

Damascus was further north than the others and so is sometimes thought to have been an "honorary" member. Josephus stated that Scythopolis was the largest of the ten towns. Biblical commentator Edward Plumptre suggested that this is the reason why Damascus was not included in Josephus' list. According to other sources, there may have been as many as eighteen or nineteen Greco-Roman cities counted as part of the Decapolis.

History

Hellenistic period

Except for Scythopolis, Damascus and Canatha, the Decapolis cities were by and large founded during the Hellenistic period, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the Roman conquest of Coele-Syria, including Judea in 63 BC. Some were established under the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled Judea until 198 BC. Others were founded later, when the Seleucid Empire ruled the region. Some of the cities included "Antiochia" or "Seleucia" in their official names (Antiochia Hippos, for example), which attest to Seleucid origins. The cities were Greek from their founding, modeling themselves on the Greek polis.

The Decapolis was a region where two cultures interacted: the culture of the Greek colonists and the indigenous Jewish and Aramean cultures. There was some conflict. The Greek inhabitants were shocked by the Jewish practice of circumcision, which was regarded as a cruel and barbaric genital mutilation. Various elements of Jewish dissent towards the dominant and assimilative nature of Hellenic civilization arose gradually in the face of assimilation. At the same time, cultural blending and borrowing also occurred in the Decapolis region. The cities acted as centers for the diffusion of Hellenistic culture. Some local deities began to be called by the name Zeus, from the chief Greek god. Meanwhile, in some cities Greeks began worshipping these local "Zeus" deities alongside their own Zeus Olympios. There is evidence that the colonists adopted the worship of other Semitic gods, including Phoenician deities and the chief Nabatean god, Dushara (worshipped under his Hellenized name, Dusares). The worship of these Semitic gods is attested to in coins and inscriptions from the cities.

The Roman general Pompey conquered the eastern Mediterranean in 63 BC. The people of the Hellenized cities welcomed Pompey as a liberator from the Jewish Hasmonean Kingdom that had ruled much of the area. When Pompey reorganized the region, he awarded a group of these cities with autonomy under Roman protection; This was the origin of the Decapolis. For centuries the cities based their calendar era on this conquest: 63 BC was the epochal year of the Pompeian era, used to count the years throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Autonomy under Rome

Under Roman rule, the cities of the Decapolis were not included in the territory of the Herodian kingdom, its successor states of the Herodian tetrarchy, or the Roman province of Judea. Instead, the cities were allowed considerable political autonomy under Roman protection. Each city functioned as a polis or city-state, with jurisdiction over an area of the surrounding countryside. Each minted its own coins.  Many coins from Decapolis cities identify their city as "autonomous," "free," "sovereign," or "sacred," terms that imply some sort of self-governing status.

The Romans left their cultural stamp on all of the cities. Each one was eventually rebuilt with a Roman-style grid of streets based around a central cardo and/or decumanus. The Romans sponsored and built numerous temples and other public buildings. The imperial cult, the worship of the Roman emperor, was a very common practice throughout the Decapolis and was one of the features that linked the different cities. A small open-air temple or façade, called a kalybe, was unique to the region.

The cities may also have enjoyed strong commercial ties, fostered by a network of new Roman roads. This has led to their common identification today as a "federation" or "league". The Decapolis was probably never an official political or economic union; most likely it signified the collection of city-states which enjoyed special autonomy during early Roman rule.

The New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke mention that the Decapolis region was a location of the ministry of Jesus. According to  the Decapolis was one of the areas from which Jesus drew his multitude of disciples, attracted by His "healing all kinds of sickness". The Decapolis was one of the few regions where Jesus travelled in which Gentiles were in the majority: most of Jesus' ministry focused on teaching to Jews. Mark 5:1-10 emphasizes the Decapolis' gentile character when Jesus encounters a herd of pigs, an animal forbidden by Kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws. A demon-possessed man healed by Jesus in this passage asked to be included among the disciples who traveled with Jesus; but Jesus did not permit him, as he wanted him to tell his friends what the Lord had done and instructed him to remain in the Decapolis region.

Direct Roman rule

The Decapolis came under direct Roman rule in AD 106, when Arabia Petraea was annexed during the reign of the emperor Trajan. The cities were divided between the new province and the provinces of Syria and Judea. In the later Roman Empire, they were divided between Arabia and Palaestina Secunda, of which Scythopolis served as the provincial capital; while Damascus became part of Phoenice Libanensis. The cities continued to be distinct from their neighbors within their provinces, distinguished for example by their use of the Pompeian calendar era and their continuing Hellenistic identities. However, the Decapolis was no longer a unit of administration.

The Roman and Byzantine Decapolis region was influenced and gradually taken over by Christianity. Some cities were more receptive than others to the new religion. Pella was a base for some of the earliest church leaders (Eusebius reports that the apostles fled there to escape the First Jewish–Roman War). In other cities, paganism persisted long into the Byzantine era. Eventually, however, the region became almost entirely Christian, and most of the cities served as seats of bishops.

Most of the cities continued into the late Roman and Byzantine periods. Some were abandoned in the years following Palestine's conquest by the Umayyad Caliphate in 641, but other cities continued to be inhabited long into the Islamic period.

Evolution and excavation

Jerash (Gerasa) and Bet She'an (Scythopolis) survive as towns today, after periods of abandonment or serious decline. Damascus has never lost its prominent role throughout later history. Philadelphia was long abandoned, but was revived in the 19th century and has become the capital city of Jordan under the name Amman. Twentieth-century archaeology has identified most of the other cities on Pliny's list, and most have undergone or are undergoing considerable excavation.

See also
Heptapolis (meaning seven cities)
Doric hexapolis (six)
Pentapolis (five)
Tetrapolis (four)
Tripolis (three)

References

External links

 The Decapolis on BibArch
 The Decapolis on the Catholic Encyclopedia
 The Decapolis an short overview
 Scholarly review of a 2003 book, Kulte und Kultur der Dekapolis (Cults and Culture of the Decapolis).  The review contains information on the religious syncretism in the Hellenistic and Roman Decapolis.  Contains some passages in German.
 "New Inscriptions in Roman city in Israel shed personal light on early Christians", Ha'aretz, Nov. 22, 2022

States and territories disestablished in the 2nd century
Ptolemaic colonies
Roman towns and cities in Israel
Roman towns and cities in Jordan
Roman towns and cities in Syria
Seleucid colonies
Roman client kingdoms
1st century BC in the Roman Republic
1st century BC in the Roman Empire
1st century in the Roman Empire
2nd century in the Roman Empire
Jews and Judaism in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire
New Testament cities
64 BC
60s BC establishments

Decapolis


Albert Jakob Eschenmoser (5 August 1925 – 14 July 2023) was a Swiss organic chemist, best known for his work on the synthesis of complex heterocyclic natural compounds, most notably vitamin B12. In addition to his significant contributions to the field of organic synthesis, Eschenmoser pioneered work in the Origins of Life (OoL) field with work on the synthetic pathways of artificial nucleic acids. Before retiring in 2009, Eschenmoser held tenured teaching positions at the ETH Zurich and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California as well as visiting professorships at the University of Chicago, Cambridge University, and Harvard.

Early work and vitamin B12 synthesis
Eschenmoser began his scientific career as a graduate student in the laboratory of Leopold Ružička, at the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich. Ruzicka was a notable organic chemist himself having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939 for his work on the synthesis of androsterone and testosterone. Eschenmoser's early work on the cyclization of unsaturated, conjugated hydrocarbons directly contributed to advances in the field of terpene chemistry and provided insight into steroid biosynthesis.

 In the early 1960s, having become Professor of General Organic Chemistry at ETH, Eschenmoser began work on what was the most complex natural product synthesized at the time—vitamin B12. In a remarkable collaboration with his colleague Robert Burns Woodward at Harvard University, a team of almost one hundred students and postdoctoral workers worked for many years on the total synthesis of this molecule. At the time, a significant obstacle to the synthesis of vitamin B12 had been the difficulty in the final macrocyclic ring closure necessary to complete the corrin ring structure at the center of the molecule. Eschenmoser and his collaborators discovered methods under which such  bonds between corrin ring building blocks could be formed, including a novel photochemical process which established the final junction of rings A and D with a high degree of stereospecificity, the key step in what was dubbed the "A/D variant" of the syntheses. Both the Harvard/ETH "A/B variant" and the ETH "A/D variant" of the syntheses were jointly and concomitantly completed in 1972, and they marked a landmark in the history of organic chemistry.

The Eschenmoser fragmentation, the Eschenmoser sulfide contraction and Eschenmoser's salt are named after him.

Origins of Life (OoL) research
A particularly vexing question in the study of the chemical origins of life is the selection of ribose, which forms the backbone of the nucleic acids found in modern biological systems. Eschenmoser's work on a variant of the formose reaction that produces phosphorylated ribose in relatively significant concentrations has provided significant insight. Eschenmoser and colleagues demonstrated that phosphorylated glycolaldehyde when condensed with glyceraldehyde (a product of successive formaldehyde condensations) produces phosphorylated ribose differentially, providing a plausible explanation for the origin of both the sugar ribose, and the phosphate group required to polymerize monomeric nucleotides, in modern biochemistry.

TNA and artificial nucleic acids
Eschenmoser developed synthetic pathways for artificial nucleic acids, specifically modifying the sugar backbone of the polymer. Having developed a number of structural alternatives to the naturally occurring nucleic acids, Eschenmoser and his colleagues were able to contrast the properties of these synthetic nucleic acids with naturally occurring ones to effectively determine the properties of RNA and DNA vital to modern biochemical processes. This work demonstrated that hydrogen-bonding interactions between the base-paring surfaces of the nucleobases alone might not have provided sufficient selection pressure to lead to the eventual rise of ribose in the structure of modern nucleic acids. He determined that pentose sugars, particularly ribose, conform to a geometry that contributes significantly to the helical structure of DNA by optimizing base-pair stacking distances in naturally occurring oligonucleotides. These base-stacking interactions orient and stabilize the base-paring surfaces of the nucleobases (A, G, C, T or U in RNA) and give rise to the canonical Watson-Crick base-paring rules that are well understood today.

Threose nucleic acid is an artificial genetic polymer invented by Eschenmoser. TNA strings composed of repeating threose sugars linked together by phosphodiester bonds. Like DNA and RNA, the molecule TNA can store genetic information in strings of nucleotide sequences. John Chaput, a professor at UC Irvine, has theorized that issues concerning the prebiotic synthesis of ribose sugars and the non-enzymatic replication of RNA may provide circumstantial evidence of an earlier genetic system more readily produced under primitive earth conditions. TNA could have been an early pre-DNA genetic system.

Death
Eschenmoser died on 14 July 2023, at the age of 97.

Awards
Source:

 Kern Prize of the ETH Zurich (1949)
 Werner Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society (1956)
 Ruzicka Prize of the ETH Zurich (1958)
 Ernest Guenther Award (1966)
 Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art (1974)
 Welch Award (1974)
 Kirkwood Medal, Yale University (1976)
 Davy Medal (1978)
 Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry (1981)
 Arthur C. Cope Award (1984)
 Wolf Prize in Chemistry of the Wolf Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel (1986)
 Nakanishi Prize (1998)
 Oparin Medal (2002)
 Frank H. Westheimer Medal (Harvard University (2004)
 F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the American Chemical Society (2004)
 Paul Karrer Gold Medal (University of Zurich, 2008)
 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2008)

Honorary doctorates
Source:
 University of Fribourg (Switzerland, 1966)
 University of Chicago (US, 1966)
 University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom, 1979)
 University of Bologna (Italy, 1989)
 Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany, 1990)
 Louis Pasteur University (France, 1991)
 Harvard University (US, 1993)
 Scripps Research Institute (US, 2000)
 University of Innsbruck (Austria, 2010)

References

Further reading

External links

1925 births
2023 deaths
Swiss chemists
Organic chemists
Academic staff of ETH Zurich
Scripps Research faculty
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of Academia Europaea
Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates
People from the canton of Uri

Albert Eschenmoser


Marley's golden mole (Amblysomus marleyi) is a species of burrowing mammal in the golden mole family, Chrysochloridae. It is found in South Africa and possibly Eswatini. It has been separated from Amblysomus hottentotus by Bronner (1995b, 1996, 2000). Its natural habitat is indigenous forests and moist grassland, and also gardens. It is classified as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The main threats it faces are habitat degradation, either through overgrazing by cattle or the removal of vegetation for firewood, and urbanization.

Characteristics

Marley's golden mole has a compact, streamlined body, a wedge-shaped head, pointed muzzle and sleek, moisture repellent fur. The upper parts are a dark reddish-brown and the underparts range from dull brown to orange-brown. It has muscular shoulders with short powerful forelimbs and strong digging claws. The third claw is enlarged and there is no fifth digit and only a vestigial first and fourth digit. The hind limbs retain all five toes which are webbed to allow for efficient backward shoveling of soil that has been loosened by the forelimbs. It has no external ears or tail and the vestigial eyes are covered by hairy skin. The weight is 30 – 34 grams.

Biology

When burrowing and foraging near the surface, this mole creates raised ridges of soil that are visible above ground. There is also a system of deeper tunnels with chambers which are used for resting and for the rearing of young. The diet is not known precisely but earthworms, insect larvae and other invertebrates are likely to predominate. Golden moles have a low metabolic rate and are able to enter into a state of torpor in response to cold temperatures. This enables them to survive in areas where temperatures can be low and food scarce.

Range and habitat

This species is known from only two isolated localities on the eastern slopes of the Lebombo Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It may be more widespread than this as remains of the species have been identified in owl pellets 250 kilometres to the southwest of its known range. It is mainly found in indigenous forests and moist grassland but also sometimes in gardens. The main threats it faces are from habitat degradation.

References

Endemic fauna of South Africa
Afrosoricida
Mammals of South Africa
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Mammals described in 1931

Marley's golden mole


Upperville Meeting House is a historic Friends meeting house on New York State Route 80 in Upperville, Chenango County, New York. It was built in 1896 and is a one-story rectangular wood-frame building on a dressed stone foundation. It is built into a hillside.

Herbert Dixon, a congregational layman, had held Sabbath School for around 40 years in the school house at Upperville, and by his untiring efforts succeeded in raising funds toward building a chapel in Upperville. At last he bought the property and deeded it to the Friends on the condition that they hold services there for ten years. Walter Whitney of the Methodist Church in Smyrna conducted services there from 1935 to 1937. Eventually the congregation became so small that services were no longer held. In 1965 the Society voted to sell the building and it was bought by Mrs. John A. Leavitt of Glastonbury, Connecticut, whose daughter, Mrs. Robert Anderson, was a resident of Smyrna.

The meeting house became unused and passed through several private hands. It was purchased by Terrance Lindall in the mid-1980s and became the Greenwood Museum. Lindall purchased the rectory next to it and the house opposite intending to create a cultural and recreational facility. Exhibits included objects from  a Gothic chapel, quilts of Margit Echols, and French Empire furnishing. Events included wreath making and chess tournaments. He released the property to the Quakers in Hamilton, New York so it could once more be used for its intended purpose.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

References

Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Churches completed in 1896
19th-century Quaker meeting houses
Churches in Chenango County, New York
Quaker meeting houses in New York (state)
National Register of Historic Places in Chenango County, New York
Victorian architecture in New York (state)

Upperville Meeting House


Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is a 2021 American fantasy thriller film written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. It stars Kate Hudson, Jun Jong-seo, Ed Skrein, Evan Whitten, and Craig Robinson.

The film had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2021. It was released in the United States on September 30, 2022, by Saban Films.

Plot
Mona Lisa Lee is a patient in a mental institution near New Orleans. After silently enduring abusive treatment, she uses a telepathic power to escape, injuring several workers who stand in her way. Wandering the streets aimlessly at night, she encounters various strangers, some of them hostile or menacing. Her strange behavior brings her to the attention of a policeman, Officer Harold, who tries to arrest her. She uses her power to cause him to shoot himself in the knee.

Next, she saves a woman named Bonnie Belle who is losing a fistfight in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. Bonnie Belle, a stripper who is a single mother, befriends Mona Lisa and takes her home. Mona bonds with Bonnie's young son, Charlie.

Bonnie exploits Mona Lisa's power to rob a man at an ATM, and to extort unintended tips from the patrons of the nightclub where she dances. Mona Lisa's actions bring her to the attention of Officer Harold, as he continues to investigate. When he confronts the two women, Bonnie's actions cause Mona Lisa to see through her and she ends the friendship. Alone, Bonnie is attacked and badly beaten by a group of men she had defrauded earlier.

Mona Lisa decides to leave town and offers to take Charlie with her. Charlie accepts. When they are nearly apprehended by Officer Harold at the airport, Charlie creates a distraction so that Mona Lisa can escape.

Cast
 Kate Hudson as Bonnie "Bonnie Belle" Hunt
 Jun Jong-seo as Mona Lisa Lee
 Craig Robinson as Officer Harold
 Ed Skrein as Fuzz
 Evan Whitten as Charlie Hunt

Production
In October 2018, it was announced Kate Hudson, Craig Robinson, Altonio Jackson, and Zac Efron had joined the cast of the film, with Ana Lily Amirpour directing from a screenplay she wrote. John Lesher will serve as a producer under his Le Grisbi Productions banner. Black Bicycle Entertainment is producing in association with , Luke Rodgers will executive produce. In April 2019, Jun Jong-seo joined the cast of the film. In July 2019, it was announced Ed Skrein and Evan Whitten had joined the cast of the film, with Skrein replacing Efron.

Principal photography began in July 2019. Alongside original music by Daniele Luppi, the soundtrack includes several songs by Bottin. It was filmed on location in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Release
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2021. In March 2022, Saban Films acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States on September 30, 2022.

Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 65 critics, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon finds writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour spinning a stylishly lurid – if somewhat narratively undercooked – fantasy yarn." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Screen Rant has rated it 3.5 stars.

References

External links

2021 films
2021 fantasy films
2021 thriller films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
2020s fantasy thriller films
2020s supernatural thriller films
American fantasy thriller films
American supernatural thriller films
Films about mind control
Films directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
Films set in New Orleans
Films shot in New Orleans
Films produced by John Lesher (producer)

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon


Carlos Arturo Juárez (8 February 1916 – 3 July 2010) was an Argentine politician, Justicialist Party governor or ruler by proxy of Santiago del Estero Province over a 55-year period, leading to his description as a caudillo.

Early life and governmental career
Carlos Arturo Juárez was born in La Banda on 8 February 1916. He was first elected governor in 1948 during the presidency of Juan Perón, and served from 1949 to 1952, and from 1973 to 1976. Juárez was re-elected governor in 1983 following the restoration of democracy, and served three terms: 1983–1987, 1995–1998, and 1999–2001.

Juárez's wife, Mercedes Aragonés de Juárez, was a minister in his administration and became governor herself in 2002, serving until federal intervention removed her in 2004. Her removal came after allegations of involvement in corruption and murder. Aragonés had named her husband Justice Minister in an attempt to grant him immunity.

Murder investigation
In February 2003, a key investigation was launched into the murders of two young women, Leyla Nazar and Patricia Villalba. There were allegations that relatives of local political leaders were involved in the killings and other acts of violence, protected by Juárez. Former provincial intelligence chief Antonio Musa Azar was imprisoned, and his testimony implicated the Juárez family in connection with a number of crimes. In October 2003, investigators produced a report documenting more than 500 complaints of illegal acts and human rights violations, even against children as young as nine years old.

The report unleashed a further wave of accusations. Officials found files on around 40,000 political figures and others who were spied on and persecuted by the police and the local intelligence service. The couple were accused of involvement in the death of bishop Gerardo Sueldo (a critic of the Juárez regime), who died allegedly by accident in a car crash in 1998. The family of former governor César Iturre (1987–1991), who had been a Juárez ally but who later became opposed to Juarez, also accused the duo of involvement in his death in Paraguay.

Arrest
Aragonés and Juárez were placed under house arrest. She was charged with fiscal fraud and the murder of Iturre. He was charged with involvement in the disappearance of a national deputy in 1976. The Juárez hegemony over Santiago del Estero has apparently ended. Nevertheless, it was suggested that they helped the Radical Civic Union win the governorship of the Santiago del Estero Province for the first time in 2003, with Gerardo Zamora as the UCR candidate, and had also backed president Néstor Kirchner's bid for re-election in 2007.

References

External links
Argentina caretaker vows clean-up, BBC News

1916 births
2010 deaths
People from La Banda
Argentine people of Spanish descent
Governors of Santiago del Estero Province
Members of the Argentine Senate for Santiago del Estero
Justicialist Party politicians
Argentine prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of Argentina

Carlos Juárez (politician)


Mohammed Hamza az-Zubeidi (1938 – December 2, 2005) () was the Prime Minister of Iraq from 1991 to 1993. He is on the "Saddam's Dirty Dozen" list of people responsible for torture and murder in Iraq, playing a key role in Iraq's brutal suppression of the 1991 Iraqi uprisings. He was featured in Iraqi news film kicking and beating captured rebels.

Career
az-Zubeidi was a Ba'athist whose loyalty lay with his ethnicity (Arab) rather than his personal faith. He played a key part in the suppression of the multi-ethnic Shiite uprising in March 1991. After that, he became the country's prime minister in September and remained in this position for two years, until he was replaced by Ahmad Husayn Khudayir as-Samarrai in September 1993.

He was a member of the Revolutionary Command Council and the commander of the Central Euphrates military district, but had not been in power for two years.

He was the Queen of Spades in the deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards issued by the US government during the war in Iraq. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, he was captured on April 20, 2003 near the small city of Mahaweel.

He remained in American custody until his death of natural causes in a military hospital on December 2, 2005. On that day, an American spokesman revealed that someone had died in a military hospital but did not reveal his name. Two days later, Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti announced Zubeidi's death at his trial, complaining that they were both suffering from cancer and that he did not want to end up dead like Zubeidi because of what he claimed was poor medical treatment.

References

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/zubaydi.htm

Prime Ministers of Iraq
1938 births
2005 deaths
Iraqi people who died in prison custody
Members of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region
Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
Prisoners who died in United States military detention
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Iraq War prisoners of war
Iraqi prisoners of war

Iraqi mass murderers
War criminals

Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi


Laugharne Castle () is in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The castle, located on the estuary of the River Tâf, was originally established in 1116. It was rebuilt as a Norman stronghold. There have been many alterations since then, including becoming a Tudor fortified manor house in the sixteenth century. It changed hands twice during the English Civil War, being eventually captured by Parliamentary forces in 1644.

History

The original castle was established by 1116 as the castle of Robert Courtemain, who is recorded to have entrusted its care to the Welshman Bleddyn ap Cedifor. The castle was also the meeting place of Henry II of England and Rhys ap Gruffudd in 1171–1172, where they agreed a treaty of peace. When Henry II of England died in 1189 the castle, along with St Clears and Llansteffan, were seized by Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth in the same year. The castle may have been burnt down at that time. It was rebuilt by the Normans, and in 1215 was captured by Llywelyn the Great in his campaign across South Wales. By 1247 Laugharne was granted to the De Brian family. In 1257 Guy de Brian was captured at Laugharne Castle by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and the castle destroyed.

It was in Laugharne in 1403 that Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion stalled. Perhaps lulled into complacency, he was tricked by an ambush and lost 700 men. When a local soothsayer then warned him to leave the area or be captured, he retreated. After this the rebellion petered out under the weight of greater English numbers; and by 1415, Owain Glyndŵr had disappeared, fading into myth. In 1584, Queen Elizabeth granted Laugharne to Sir John Perrott (rumoured to have been an illegitimate son of Henry VIII) who was responsible for converting the castle from a fortification into a Tudor mansion.

During the Civil War, in 1644, Laugharne was captured by Royalists, but then attacked by the Parliamentary forces of Major-General Rowland Laugharne. After a week-long siege in which much of the castle was damaged by cannon fire, the Royalist garrison finally surrendered. The castle was slighted to prevent any further use. In about 1730 the new Castle House was built close by, the castle itself being left as a romantic ruin. Around the start of the 19th century the outer ward was laid out as formal gardens.

The author Richard Hughes leased Castle House in the 1930s and 1940s, and wrote his novel In Hazard (1938) working in the garden gazebo overlooking the river. Dylan Thomas stayed with Hughes and also worked in the gazebo on his Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog (1940).

Architecture

The ruins of the castle as seen now are the result of much development as the building graduated from an earthwork castle to a Tudor mansion. There is little trace of the original earthwork bank or the first stone hall, which may have been taken down in the twelfth century. The two robust round towers date from the rebuilding work done in the late thirteenth century. Some curtain walling from this time also survives. The north-west tower acted as a keep and also guarded the entry gate through the curtain wall to its south. This tower has a domed roof, but the other, three-storeyed tower has partially collapsed. The two extra storeys and the circular stairway were probably erected in the late thirteenth century, and a new hall was built at this time against the south of the curtain wall. The outer ward, with timber defences, may also date from this period. Further work done in the late thirteenth century includes an additional round tower at the south-west corner of the inner ward and a new, stronger gatehouse, and the defences of the outer ward were rebuilt in stone.

In the mid-fourteenth century, the height of the curtain walling at the south-western corner of the inner ward was increased, and the round tower and the inner gatehouse were also raised in height. This process is particularly noticeable because a greenish stone was used for the alterations that was significantly different in colour from the red sandstone used in the rest of the building. In the sixteenth century, the castle was remodelled into a substantial Tudor mansion with a more comfortable accommodation block and with mock battlements added to the curtain walls. Excavation has shown the remains of the Tudor cobbled courtyard, the presence of a pitched stone kitchen floor and the ground plans of the building at the different periods of its existence.

Preservation
The castle is a scheduled ancient monument and was designated as a Grade I listed building on 30 November 1966, being "amongst the most substantial castle remain in Wales" (sic). The park is registered at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The castle is under the care of Cadw and is open to the public from spring to autumn. Parking is a short distance away and access is available to wheelchair-users.

See also
List of castles in Wales
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland

References

Further reading

Castles in Carmarthenshire
Grade I listed buildings in Carmarthenshire
Castle ruins in Wales
Grade I listed castles in Wales
Scheduled monuments in Wales
Registered historic parks and gardens in Carmarthenshire
Laugharne

Laugharne Castle


The 46th Delaware General Assembly was a meeting of the legislative branch of the state government, consisting of the Delaware Senate and the Delaware House of Representatives. Elections were held the first Tuesday of October and terms began on the first Tuesday in January. It met in Dover, Delaware, convening January 1, 1822, two weeks before the beginning of the year of the administration of Governor John Collins. He died April 16, 1822, and Governor Caleb Rodney took administration.

The apportionment of seats was permanently assigned to three senators and seven representatives for each of the three counties. Population of the county did not effect the number of delegates. Both chambers had a Federalist majority.

Leadership

Senate
Caleb Rodney, Sussex County

House of Representatives
Alrichs Ryland, New Castle County

Members

Senate
Senators were elected by the public for a three-year term, one third posted each year.

House of Representatives
Representatives were elected by the public for a one-year term.

References

Places with more information
Delaware Historical Society; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

4 046
1822 in Delaware
1823 in Delaware

46th Delaware General Assembly