List of nearest exoplanets

There are known exoplanets, or planets outside the Solar System that orbit a star, as of ; only a small fraction of these are located in the vicinity of the Solar System. Within , there are 97 exoplanets listed as confirmed by the NASA Exoplanet Archive. Among the over 400 known stars within 10 parsecs, around 60 have been confirmed to have planetary systems; 51 stars in this range are visible to the naked eye, nine of which have planetary systems.
The first report of an exoplanet within this range was in 1998 for a planet orbiting around Gliese 876 (15.3 light-years (ly) away), and the latest as of 2020 is one around AU Microscopii (32 ly). The closest exoplanet found is Proxima Centauri b, which was confirmed in 2016 to orbit Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System (4.25 ly). HD 219134 (21.6 ly) has six exoplanets, the highest number discovered for any star within this range.
Most known nearby exoplanets orbit close to their stars. A majority are significantly larger than Earth, but a few have similar masses, including two planets (around YZ Ceti, 12 ly) which may be less massive than Earth. Several confirmed exoplanets are hypothesized to be potentially habitable, with Proxima Centauri b and Gliese 667 Cc (23.6 ly) considered among the most likely candidates. The International Astronomical Union took a public survey in 2015 to assign proper names to some known extrasolar bodies, including the planets around Epsilon Eridani (10.5 ly) and Fomalhaut.
Exoplanets within 10 parsecs.
Excluded objects.
Unlike for bodies within the Solar System, there is no clearly established method for officially recognizing an exoplanet. According to the International Astronomical Union, an exoplanet should be considered confirmed if it has not been disputed for five years after its discovery. There have been examples where the existence of exoplanets has been proposed, but even after follow-up studies their existence is still considered doubtful by some astronomers. Such cases include LHS 288 (15.6 ly, in 2007). There are also some instances where proposed exoplanets were later disproved by subsequent studies, including candidates around Alpha Centauri B (4.36 ly), Van Maanen 2 (13.9 ly), Groombridge 1618 (15.9 ly), AD Leonis (16.2 ly), Gliese 682 (16.6 ly), VB 10 (18.7 ly), and Fomalhaut (25.1 ly).
In 2021, a candidate planet was detected around Vega, though it has yet to be confirmed. Another candidate planet, Candidate 1, was directly imaged around Alpha Centauri A, though it may also be a clump of asteroids or an artifact of the discovery mechanism.
The Working Group on Extrasolar Planets of the International Astronomical Union adopted in 2003 a working definition on the upper limit for what constitutes a planet: not being massive enough to sustain thermonuclear fusion of deuterium. Some studies have calculated this to be somewhere around 13 times the mass of Jupiter, and therefore objects more massive than this are usually classified as brown dwarfs. Some proposed candidate exoplanets were later shown to be massive enough to fall above the threshold, and are likely brown dwarfs, as was the case for: SCR 1845-6357 B (12.6 ly), SDSS J1416+1348 B (29.7 ly), and WISE 1217+1626 B (30 ly).
Excluded from the current list are known examples of potential free-floating sub-brown dwarfs, or "rogue planets", which are bodies that are too small to undergo fusion yet they do not revolve around a star. Known such examples include: WISE 0855–0714 (7.3 ly), UGPS 0722-05, (13 ly) WISE 1541−2250 (18.6 ly), and SIMP J01365663+0933473 (20 ly).


Udaipur Solar Observatory

The Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO) is in Udaipur, Rajasthan in India on an island in the Fateh Sagar Lake. The sky conditions at Udaipur are quite favourable for solar observations. Since the observatory is situated amidst a large mass of water, air turbulence which occurs due to ground heating by sun's rays is decreased. This improves the image quality and accuracy (average between 1-2 arc seconds).
History.
The observatory was built in 1976 by Dr. Arvind Bhatnagar following the model of the Solar Observatory at Big Bear lake in Southern California. Later, he was joined by Dr. Ashok Ambastha in 1983 and subsequently by many others at different stages who have continued further contributing to the growth of this observatory.
Telescopes.
Utilizing a variety of telescopes, USO is known for its solar observations, which include high-resolution solar chromospheric, magnetic field, velocity, and spectral observations, for studies pertaining to solar flares, mass ejections, and the evolution of solar active regions. USO fills the large longitudinal gap between Australia and Spain, and provides a link for continuous solar coverage in international collaborative programs, including the Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG). Since 1981, USO has been managed by the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, for the Department of Space, Government of India.
Multi Application Solar Telescope (MAST).
The Multi Application Solar Telescope (MAST) was operationalised on 4 August 2015. MAST is an off-axis Gregorian-Coude telescope with a 50 cm aperture to be used to study the Sun's magnetic field.


Liquid apogee engine

A liquid apogee engine (LAE), or apogee engine, refers to a type of chemical rocket engine typically used as the main engine in a spacecraft.
The name "apogee engine" derives from the type of manoeuvre for which the engine is typically used, i.e. an in-space delta-"v" change made at the apogee of an elliptical orbit in order to circularise it. For geostationary satellites, this type of orbital manoeuvre is performed to transition from a geostationary transfer orbit and place the satellite on station in a circular geostationary orbit. Despite the name, an apogee engine can be used for a range of other manoeuvres, such as end-of-life deorbit, Earth orbit escape, planetary orbit insertion and planetary descent/ascent.
In some parts of the space industry an LAE is also referred to as a liquid apogee motor (LAM), a liquid apogee thruster (LAT) and, depending on the propellant, a dual-mode liquid apogee thruster (DMLAT). Despite the ambiguity with respect to the use of "engine" and "motor" in these names, all use liquid propellant. An apogee kick motor (AKM) or apogee boost motor (ABM) such as the Waxwing, however, uses solid propellant. These solid-propellant versions are not used on new-generation satellites.
History.
The apogee engine traces its origin to the early 1960s, when companies such as Aerojet, Rocketdyne, Reaction Motors, Bell Aerosystems, TRW Inc. and The Marquardt Company were all participants in developing engines for various satellites and spacecraft.
Derivatives of these original engines are still used today and are continually being evolved and adapted for new applications.
Layout.
A typical liquid apogee engine scheme could be defined as an engine with:
To protect the spacecraft from the radiant heat of the combustion chamber, these engines are generally installed together with a heat shield.
Propellant.
Apogee engines typically use one fuel and one oxidizer. This propellant is usually, but not restricted to, a hypergolic combination such as:
Hypergolic propellant combinations ignite upon contact within the engine combustion chamber and offer very high ignition reliability, as well as the ability for reignition.
In many instances mixed oxides of nitrogen (MON), such as MON-3 ( with 3 wt% ), is used as a substitute for pure .
The use of is under threat in Europe due to REACH regulations. In 2011 the REACH framework legislation added to its candidate list of "substances of very high concern". This step increases the risk that the use of will be prohibited or restricted in the near- to mid-term.
Exemptions are being sought to allow to be used for space applications, however to mitigate this risk, companies are investigating alternative propellants and engine designs. A change over to these alternative propellants is not straightforward, and issues such as performance, reliability and compatibility (e.g. satellite propulsion system and launch-site infrastructure) require investigation.
Performance.
The performance of an apogee engine is usually quoted in terms of vacuum specific impulse and vacuum thrust. However, there are many other details which influence performance:
A typical 500 N-class hypergolic liquid apogee engine has a vacuum specific impulse in the region of 320 s, with the practical limit estimated to be near 335 s.
Though marketed to deliver a particular nominal thrust and nominal specific impulse at nominal propellant feed conditions, these engines actually undergo rigorous testing where performance is mapped over a range of operating conditions before being deemed "flight-qualified". This means that a flight-qualified production engine can be tuned (within reason) by the manufacturer to meet particular mission requirements, such as higher thrust.
Operation.
Most apogee engines are operated in an on–off manner at a fixed thrust level. This is because the valves used only have two positions: open or closed.
The duration for which the engine is on, sometimes referred to as the "burn duration", depends both on the manoeuvre and the capability of the engine. Engines are qualified for a certain minimal and maximal single-burn duration.
Engines are also qualified to deliver a maximal cumulative burn duration, sometimes referred to as "cumulative propellant throughput". The useful life of an engine at a particular performance level is dictated by the useful life of the materials of construction, primarily those used for the combustion chamber.
Applications.
A simplified division can be made between apogee engines used for telecommunications and exploration missions:
The actual engine chosen for a mission is dependent on the technical details of the mission. More practical considerations such as cost, lead time and export restrictions (e.g. ITAR) also play a part in the decision.


927 Ratisbona

927 Ratisbona is a large and dark background asteroid, approximately in diameter, located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 16 February 1920, by astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid (CB) has a rotation period of 12.99 hours and is rather spherical in shape. It was named after the Bavarian city of Regensburg.
Orbit and classification.
"Ratisbona" is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.9–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 10 months (2,119 days; semi-major axis of 3.23 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 17 February 1920, the night after its official discovery observation.
Naming.
This minor planet was named after the Latin name of the German city of Regensburg in Bavaria, where astronomer Johannes Kepler died in 1630. The was mentioned in the astronomical journal "Astronomische Nachrichten" in 1930 ().
Physical characteristics.
In the Tholen classification, "Ratisbona" is most similar to a common, carbonaceous C-type asteroid, and somewhat similar to a brighter B-type asteroid, based on a nosy spectrum (CB:).
Rotation period.
Over the course of seven nights in January 2018, a rotational lightcurve of "Ratisbona" was obtained from photometric observations by Tom Polakis at the Command Module Observatory in Arizona. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of hours with a low brightness variation of magnitude, indicative of a regular, spherical shape (). The result supersedes a period of hours with an amplitude of magnitude determined by René Roy, Raoul Behrend, Pierre Antonini and Donn Starkey in October 2004 ().
Diameter and albedo.
According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the Japanese Akari satellite, "Ratisbona" measures (), () and () kilometers in diameter and its surface has a very low albedo of (), () and (), respectively.
The "Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link" adopts the results from IRAS, that is, a albedo of 0.0591 and a diameter of 67.57 km based on an absolute magnitude of 9.54. Further published mean-diameters and albedos by the WISE team include () and () and albedos of () and (). An asteroid occultation, observed on 13 September 2014, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of 78.0 × 78.0 kilometers. These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star. However the quality of the measurement is rated poorly.


Blick am Abend

Blick am Abend was a German free evening newspaper published in Switzerland and based in Zürich.
History and profile.
"Blick am Abend" was first published on 1 June 2008 as a successor to the afternoon free daily "Heute".
"Blick am Abend", based in Zürich, was a free newspaper owned by Ringier. It was an evening newspaper published in tabloid format. Peter Röthlisberger was the editor-in-chief of the daily. Its sister newspaper was "Blick", a leading daily in the country.
In 2008 "Blick am Abend" started a biweekly legal column which answers the reader questions. Until 2009 the daily had editions in Zurich, Berne and Basle. St. Gallen and Luzern/Zug editions were started in 2009. In December 2013 the paper launched its online edition.
The audited circulation of "Blick am Abend" in 2008 was 211,000 copies. The paper had a circulation of 225,226 copies in 2009. In 2010 its circulation was 329,418 copies and its 2010 readership was 604,000.
"Blick am Abend" was discontinued in December 2018.


950 Ahrensa

950 Ahrensa, provisional designation , is a stony Phocaea asteroid and slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 1 April 1921, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.
Description.
The S-type asteroid, classified as a Sa-subtype in the SMASS taxonomic scheme, is a member of the Phocaea family, a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,334 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.16 and is tilted by 23 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic.
A photometric lightcurve analysis at the U.S. Palmer Divide Observatory in 2009, showed that the body has an exceptionally long rotation period of 202 hours. According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and the U.S. Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the surface of the asteroid has an albedo in the range of 0.16 to 0.23, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an even higher value of 0.27 for the stony body.
The minor planet was named in honor of friends of the discoverer Karl Reinmuth, the Ahrens family, who helped him financially at the Heidelberg Observatory. Reinmuth also named the minor planet 909 Ulla after Ulla Ahrens, a member of this family.


Atomic spectroscopy

Atomic spectroscopy is the study of the electromagnetic radiation absorbed and emitted by atoms. Since unique elements have characteristic (signature) spectra, atomic spectroscopy, specifically the electromagnetic spectrum or mass spectrum, is applied for determination of elemental compositions. It can be divided by atomization source or by the type of spectroscopy used. In the latter case, the main division is between optical and mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry generally gives significantly better analytical performance, but is also significantly more complex. This complexity translates into higher purchase costs, higher operational costs, more operator training, and a greater number of components that can potentially fail. Because optical spectroscopy is often less expensive and has performance adequate for many tasks, it is far more common Atomic absorption spectrometers are one of the most commonly sold and used analytical devices.
Optical spectroscopy.
Electrons exist in energy levels (i.e. atomic orbitals) within an atom. Atomic orbitals are quantized, meaning they exist as defined values instead of being continuous (see: atomic orbitals). Electrons may move between orbitals, but in doing so they must absorb or emit energy equal to the energy difference between their atom's specific quantized orbital energy levels. In optical spectroscopy, energy absorbed to move an electron to a higher energy level (higher orbital) and/or the energy emitted as the electron moves to a lower energy level is absorbed or emitted in the form of photons (light particles). Because each element has a unique number of electrons, an atom will absorb/release energy in a pattern unique to its elemental identity (e.g. Ca, Na, etc.) and thus will absorb/emit photons in a correspondingly unique pattern. The type of atoms present in a sample, or the amount of atoms present in a sample can be deduced from measuring these changes in light wavelength and light intensity.
Optical spectroscopy is further divided into atomic absorption spectroscopy and atomic emission spectroscopy. In atomic absorption spectroscopy, light of a predetermined wavelength is passed through a collection of atoms. If the wavelength of the source light has energy corresponding to the energy difference between two energy levels in the atoms, a portion of the light will be absorbed. The difference between the intensity of the light emitted from the source (e.g., lamp) and the light collected by the detector yields an absorbance value. This absorbance value can then be used to determine the concentration of a given element (or atoms) within the sample. The relationship between the concentration of atoms, the distance the light travels through the collection of atoms, and the portion of the light absorbed is given by the Beer–Lambert law. In atomic emission spectroscopy, the intensity of the emitted light is directly proportional to the concentration of atoms.
Mass spectrometry.
Atomic mass spectrometry is similar to other types of mass spectrometry in that it consists of an ion source, a mass analyzer, and a detector. Atoms' identities are determined by their mass-to-charge ratio (via the mass analyzer) and their concentrations are determined by the number of ions detected. Although considerable research has gone into customizing mass spectrometers for atomic ion sources, it is the ion source that differs most from other forms of mass spectrometry. These ion sources must also atomize samples, or an atomization step must take place before ionization. Atomic ion sources are generally modifications of atomic optical spectroscopy atom sources.
Ion and atom sources.
Sources can be adapted in many ways, but the lists below give the general uses of a number of sources. Of these, flames are the most common due to their low cost and their simplicity. Although significantly less common, inductively-coupled plasmas, especially when used with mass spectrometers, are recognized for their outstanding analytical performance and their versatility.
For all atomic spectroscopy, a sample must be vaporized and atomized. For atomic mass spectrometry, a sample must also be ionized. Vaporization, atomization, and ionization are often, but not always, accomplished with a single source. Alternatively, one source may be used to vaporize a sample while another is used to atomize (and possibly ionize). An example of this is laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, where a laser is used to vaporize a solid sample and an inductively-coupled plasma is used to atomize the vapor.
With the exception of flames and graphite furnaces, which are most commonly used for atomic absorption spectroscopy, most sources are used for atomic emission spectroscopy.
Liquid-sampling sources include flames and sparks (atom source), inductively-coupled plasma (atom and ion source), graphite furnace (atom source), microwave plasma (atom and ion source), and direct-current plasma (atom and ion source). Solid-sampling sources include lasers (atom and vapor source), glow discharge (atom and ion source), arc (atom and ion source), spark (atom and ion source), and graphite furnace (atom and vapor source). Gas-sampling sources include flame (atom source), inductively-coupled plasma (atom and ion source), microwave plasma (atom and ion source), direct-current plasma (atom and ion source), and glow discharge (atom and ion source).


Areosynchronous orbit

The areosynchronous orbits (ASO) are the synchronous orbits for artificial satellites around the planet Mars. They are the martian equivalent of the geosynchronous orbits (GSO) on the Earth. The prefix "areo-" derives from Ares, the ancient Greek god of war and counterpart to the Roman god Mars, with whom the planet was identified. The modern Greek word for Mars is "Άρης" (Áris).
As with all synchronous orbits, an areosynchronous orbit has an orbital period equal in length to the primary's sidereal day. A satellite in areosynchronous orbit does "not" necessarily maintain a fixed position in the sky as seen by an observer on the surface of Mars; however, such a satellite will return to the same apparent position every Martian day.
The orbital altitude required to maintain an areosynchonous orbit is approximately . If a satellite in areosynchonous orbit were to be used as a communication relay link, it "would experience communications ranges of " to various points on the visible Martian surface.
An areosynchronous orbit that is equatorial (in the same plane as the equator of Mars), circular, and prograde (rotating about Mars's axis in the same direction as the planet's surface) is known as an areostationary orbit (AEO). To an observer on the surface of Mars, the position of a satellite in AEO would appear to be fixed in a constant position in the sky. The AEO is analogous to a geostationary orbit (GEO) about Earth.
Although no satellites currently occupy areosynchronous or areostationary orbits, some scientists foresee a future telecommunications network for the exploration of Mars.


Coles 4038

The Coles 4038 is a ribbon microphone produced by Coles Electroacoustics. The microphone was designed and patented by the BBC in the 1950s and was originally known as the STC 4038. The sound of the microphone has been described as "British" with a "BBC politeness", and its appearance has been likened to that of a waffle iron. It is used in both sound recording and radio broadcasting.
History.
The microphone was designed by the BBC in 1953 and the prototype was assigned the model number BBC PGS/1. It was designed as a result of the BBC's request for a strong and affordable microphone that was smaller than previous models (such as the Type A). The 4038 was an improvement on the Type A's frequency response, and was described as "less obtrusive".
The microphone was produced by Standard Telephones and Cables before their manufacturing was transferred to Coles in the mid-1970s. Since its design in the 1950s, the technical specifications of the 4038 have remained unchanged.
Use.
Recording.
In recording environments, the 4038 is often used as drum overheads and on brass instruments. The microphone became a favourite of British recording engineers in the 1950s and 60s, but did not receive widespread use in the United States. The microphone was described as recording sounds "bigger than
life" – such as drums or amplified guitars – some Beatles and Led Zeppelin recordings featured 4038s as overhead microphones on the drum kit.
In a 1994 interview, Steve Albini said that "if [he] owned one mic, this would be it". Albini has also commented that "really nothing beats them as an overhead on a drum kit".
Broadcast.
At one point, Bush House (home of the BBC World Service) used the 4038 almost exclusively.
Technical.
The 4038's frequency response is flat, with a range of approximately 30–15,000 Hz. The attenuation of high frequencies reduces sibilance on vocals, but also reduces detail.
The microphone uses a bi-directional polar pattern.
The microphone is connected using a Western Electric jack connector designated 4069, which adapts the microphone's 3-pin output to a standard XLR connector.


Countries in the International Organization for Standardization

There are, , 165 members of the International Organization for Standardization. Three types of membership status can be distinguished:


2509 Chukotka


2879 Shimizu


969 Leocadia

969 Leocadia ("prov. designation:" "or" ) is a very dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 5 November 1921, by Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The uncommon F-type asteroid (FX) has a rotation period of 6.9 hours and is likely regular in shape. Any reference of the asteroid's name to a person is .
Orbit and classification.
"Leocadia" is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,411 days; semi-major axis of 2.46 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins at Uccle Observatory in February 1933, more than a decade after its official discovery observation Simeiz Observatory on 5 November 1921.
Naming.
This minor planet is named after a Feminine Russian first name. Any reference of this name to a person or occurrence is unknown.
Unknown meaning.
Among the many thousands of named minor planets, "Leocadia" is one of 120 asteroids, for which no official naming citation has been published. All of these low-numbered asteroids have numbers between and and were discovered between 1876 and the 1930s, predominantly by astronomers Auguste Charlois, Johann Palisa, Max Wolf and Karl Reinmuth "(also see )".
Physical characteristics.
In the Tholen classification (FXU:), "Leocadia" is an uncommon and dark F-type asteroid, somewhat similar to that of an X-type, though with an unusual (U) and noisy (:) spectra.
Rotation period.
In December 2006, a rotational lightcurve of "Leocadia" was obtained from photometric observations by Italian amateur astronomers Roberto Crippa and Federico Manzini at the Sozzago Astronomical Station . Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of hours with a brightness amplitude of magnitude (), which is indicative of a rather spherical, non-irregular shape.
Diameter and albedo.
According to the surveys carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the Japanese Akari satellite, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, "Leocadia" measures , and kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a very low albedo of , and , respectively. Additional measurements by the WISE telescope were published giving a mean-diameter as low as . The "Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link" adopts the result from IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0435 and a diameter of 19.51 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.22.
An asteroid occultation on 19 August 2013, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of 19.0 × 19.0 kilometers. These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star. However the measurements for "Leocadia" were of poor quality.


Transmission Raman spectroscopy

Transmission Raman spectroscopy (TRS) is a variant of Raman spectroscopy which is advantageous in probing bulk content of diffusely scattering samples. Although it was demonstrated in the early days of Raman spectroscopy it was not exploited in practical settings until much later, probably due to limitations of technology at the time. It was rediscovered in 2006, where the authors showed that it was capable of allowing Raman spectroscopy through many millimetres of tabletted or powdered samples. In addition, this research has also identified several highly beneficial analytical properties of this approach, including the ability to probe bulk content of powders and tissue in the absence of subsampling and to reject Raman and fluorescence components originating from the surface of the sample.
Theory.
Transmission Raman is possible because light scatters through turbid materials that do not significantly absorb or block the light. By a similar mechanism to spatially offset Raman spectroscopy, the light in a diffusely scattering sample spreads through the object randomly (Transmission Raman can be regarded as an extreme example of SORS). As Raman photons can be created at all points that the light passes through the total scrambled Raman signal measured on the opposite face of the object is highly representative of the bulk of the material. This desirable property removes a problem with conventional, widely used back-scattering Raman spectroscopy where the signal tends to be representative of the surface and near-surface composition. Because Raman spectroscopy does not rely on absorption and the light spreads throughout the sample, a large thickness can be measured in the absence of photon absorption. This produces an analysis representative of the entire mixture and is typically insensitive to coatings, or thin containers.
Pharmaceutical applications.
Transmission Raman lends itself to rapid, non-invasive and non-destructive analysis of pharmaceutical dosage forms such as capsules and tablets. This addresses several limitations of traditional pharmaceutical assay techniques including limitations due to surface sensitivity (e.g., reflectance NIR), the presence of phase changes due to sample preparation (liquid chromatography) or sub-sampling (conventional Raman, NIR). Transmission Raman is largely insensitive to surface, requires no sample preparation, involves no phase change and is rapid. Transmission Raman spectroscopy of pharmaceutical tablets and capsules was first demonstrated by Matousek and Parker. Subsequent research established the technique’s accuracy and applicability to quantifying tablet and production-style capsule formulations.
Pharmaceutical tablets and capsules are typically composed of a combination of APIs and excipients, each of which will produce a Raman spectral component with a relative intensity proportional to the ingredient concentrations. Analysing Raman spectra to produce assay results requires a method to separate the individual spectral components and correlate their intensity contributions with a relative concentration measure. This is typically facilitated using chemometric analysis methods.
Transmission Raman spectroscopy can be used as a process analytical technology (PAT) tool for the detection of physical state of the API and for obtaining qualitative and quantitative information about the composition.
Medical applications.
The use of Raman spectroscopy in medical applications has been limited to depths of hundreds of micrometres (confocal Raman). Transmission Raman has been demonstrated as a potential diagnostic tool for lesions in breast tissue.


French submarine X

X was a steel single hull submarine built for the French Navy between 1904 and 1905. She was launched in November 1904 and commissioned in 1905. Gaston Romazzotti modified the design of to create an experimental submarine which was the first with twin shafts.
Design.
"X" was an experimental submarine designed by Gaston Romazzotti based on the previous . Steel was used to construct the single hull and she was the first submarine to have twin shafts. The submarine had a surfaced displacement of and a submerged displacement of . Her dimensions were long, with a beam of and a draught of . "X" had two shafts powered by two gasoline engines for surface running with a combined total of and two electric motors which together produced for submerged propulsion. Her maximum speed was on the surface and while submerged with a surfaced range of at and a submerged range of at . Her complement was 15 men.
Her armament comprised one bow torpedo tube, two Drzewiecki drop collar torpedo launchers and a external cradle for one torpedo. In total six torpedoes were carried.
Construction and career.
"X" was laid down in the Arsenal de Cherbourg, launched on 15 November 1904 and completed in 1905. The submarine received the pennant number Q 35 at her commissioning and cost just under half a million Francs.
On 13 February 1911, "X" was renamed "Dauphin". "Dauphin" served in the English Channel until 21 May 1914, when she was struck from the Navy List.


American Dream (comics)

American Dream (Shannon Carter) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been featured in Marvel Comics MC2 series "A-Next". Her costume is very similar to that of Captain America. Her initial weapons are throwing disks like Ricochet's but later obtains the trademark shield. She appeared as a civilian in "A-Next" #1, and was named as "Shannon" in "A-Next" #3; it was not until "A-Next" #4 that she appeared in costume as a prospective team member.
American Dream has since appeared in two mini-series, her own in May 2008 and a second in June 2011, "Captain America Corps".
Fictional character biography.
The niece of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter, Shannon Carter grew up idolizing Captain America. She was hired by Edwin Jarvis as a tour guide for the Avengers Headquarters, at that time functioning only as a museum. When the new Avengers team was formed, she was determined to join. She wears a costume based on Captain America's and carries on her arms disc weapons resembling miniature versions of his shield. Her strength and agility are honed by intensive physical training. After joining the team as the American Dream, Shannon soon proved herself to be an effective Avenger, and when the team saved the original Avengers from a dark parallel world, Captain America himself judged her worthy to wield the shield of the alternate Captain. She also proved to be an important character in defeating Galactus in the "Last Planet Standing" limited series. She, along with Stinger and Spider-Girl, took down Galactus from the inside. They survived the imminent explosion by shrinking to microscopic size.
Carter is the leader of the "Dream Team", consisting of herself, Bluestreak, Crimson Curse and Freebooter. All members of the Dream Team became members of the new Avengers team in "A-Next" #4. American Dream is also an ally of Spider-Girl, Earth Sentry, Blacklight, Coal Tiger, Argo and Captain America.
American Dream has fought against the Sons of the Serpent, Seth, the Revengers, Fatal Force and Loki. When Superia launched a cross-temporal attack to eliminate Steve Rogers' post-war career as Captain America and take his place herself, American Dream was one of five heirs to Rogers' legacy that were assembled by the Contemplator to thwart her plans, the others being Rogers early in his career, John Walker shortly after his own time as Cap, Bucky during his time as Captain America, and Commander A from the twenty-fifth century.
Powers and abilities.
Although a non-powered human, American Dream is in peak physical condition and is a skilled martial artist and an Olympic level athlete. She has disc weapons similar to Ricochet's and has a superb aim. She now also carries a version of Captain America's shield, which she uses both defensively and offensively to great effect. Her fighting skills are matched by her leadership ability.
Reception.
The first issue of the mini-series sold out.


Electric field proximity sensing

Electric Field Proximity Sensing or EFPS is a sensory system that relies on the fact that an electric field can be perturbed by the existence of a nearby object, provided it is at least slightly conductive. One type of EFPS is The People Detector. The People Detector is a micro-electronic based device that can detect the presence of both moving and stationary objects through solid materials. Its ability to operate through any non-conductive material permits complete invisibility. The sensor functions by detecting small changes in an ultra-low-power electromagnetic field generated between two remotely located antenna electrodes. Its range is adjustable from a few centimetres [inches] to 4 m [over 12 feet]. Electric field proximity detectors can detect partially conducting or conducting objects and does not depend on impedance to ground.
Advantages.
Because EF sensors provide comparatively low amounts of data, they have the potential to provide several advantages over optical systems. Electric field systems can be made smaller, lighter, and power efficient (valuable qualities in an age of ever shrinking electronics such as palm and watch based computers). Since EF sensors penetrate non-conducting materials, they can remain hidden allowing them to remain protected from weather. EFPS systems today are used in a wide variety of industrial and commercial applications, including automobile airbag systems (to determine where passengers are seated), in advanced robotic manipulators (to determine the properties of an object in the manipulator's grasp), and in home automation, to determine which rooms are occupied.
Electric fish.
This is the same sensing system that is used by the electric catfish to navigate through muddy waters. These fish make use of spectral changes and amplitude modulation to determine factors such shape, size, distance, velocity, and conductivity. The abilities of the electric fish to communicate and identify sex, age, and hierarchy within the species are also made possible through electric fields. EF gradients as low as 5nV/cm can be found in some saltwater weakly electric fish.
MIT prototype.
Researchers at MIT have created a prototype of a 3-dimensional EFPS called the "Fish". It can monitor objects in a 3-dimensional space. The People Detector operates in only 2-dimensions and does not have a microprocessor.
Technology review.
"Technology Review", a science and technology magazine published by MIT, featured EFPS in their September 2007 computing section. Intel had created a robotic arm that could distinguish between plastic bottles that had water present or not. The robotic arm did not have to touch the bottles to determine which ones had water inside. Researchers applied an oscillating voltage to an electrode, in the thumb of the robot for example, which created an electric field. As the field interacted with the water in the bottle, special sensors could determine the change in the electric field and then cause the robot to behave in certain ways.


Box plot

In descriptive statistics, a box plot or boxplot is a method for graphically depicting groups of numerical data through their quartiles. Box plots may also have lines extending from the boxes ("whiskers") indicating variability outside the upper and lower quartiles, hence the terms box-and-whisker plot and box-and-whisker diagram. Outliers may be plotted as individual points.
Box plots are non-parametric: they display variation in samples of a statistical population without making any assumptions of the underlying statistical distribution (though Tukey's boxplot assumes symmetry for the whiskers and normality for their length). The spacings between the different parts of the box indicate the degree of dispersion (spread) and skewness in the data, and show outliers. In addition to the points themselves, they allow one to visually estimate various L-estimators, notably the interquartile range, midhinge, range, mid-range, and trimean. Box plots can be drawn either horizontally or vertically. Box plots received their name from the box in the middle, and from the plot that they are.
History of the box plot.
The range-bar was introduced by Mary Eleanor Spear in 1952 and again in 1969. The box and whiskers plot was first introduced in 1970 by John Tukey, who later published on the subject in 1977.
Elements of a box plot.
A boxplot is a standardized way of displaying the dataset based on a five-number summary: the minimum, the maximum, the sample median, and the first and third quartiles.
Minimum ("Q"0 or 0th percentile): the lowest data point excluding any outliers.
Maximum ("Q"4 or 100th percentile): the largest data point excluding any outliers.
Median ("Q"2 or 50th percentile): the middle value of the dataset.
First quartile ("Q"1 or 25th percentile): also known as the "lower quartile" "q""n"(0.25), is the median of the lower half of the dataset.
Third quartile ("Q"3 or 75th percentile): also known as the "upper quartile" "q""n"(0.75), is the median of the upper half of the dataset.
An important element used to construct the box plot by determining the minimum and maximum data values feasible, but is not part of the aforementioned five-number summary, is the interquartile range or IQR denoted below:
Interquartile range (IQR) : is the distance between the upper and lower quartiles.
A boxplot is constructed of two parts, a box and a set of whiskers shown in Figure 2. The lowest point is the minimum of the data set and the highest point is the maximum of the data set. The box is drawn from "Q"1 to "Q"3 with a horizontal line drawn in the middle to denote the median.
The same data set can also be represented as a boxplot shown in Figure 3. From above the upper quartile, a distance of 1.5 times the IQR is measured out and a whisker is drawn up to the largest observed point from the dataset that falls within this distance. Similarly, a distance of 1.5 times the IQR is measured out below the lower quartile and a whisker is drawn up to the lower observed point from the dataset that falls within this distance. All other observed points are plotted as outliers.
However, the whiskers can represent several alternative values, among them:
Any data not included between the whiskers should be plotted as an outlier with a dot, small circle, or star, but occasionally this is not done.
Some box plots include an additional character to represent the mean of the data.
On some box plots a crosshatch is placed on each whisker, before the end of the whisker.
Rarely, box plots can be presented with no whiskers at all.
Because of this variability, it is appropriate to describe the convention being used for the whiskers and outliers in the caption for the plot.
The unusual percentiles 2%, 9%, 91%, 98% are sometimes used for whisker cross-hatches and whisker ends to show the seven-number summary. If the data are normally distributed, the locations of the seven marks on the box plot will be equally spaced.
Variations.
Since the mathematician John W. Tukey popularized this type of visual data display in 1969, several variations on the traditional box plot have been described. Two of the most common are variable width box plots and notched box plots (see Figure 4).
Variable width box plots illustrate the size of each group whose data is being plotted by making the width of the box proportional to the size of the group. A popular convention is to make the box width proportional to the square root of the size of the group.
Notched box plots apply a "notch" or narrowing of the box around the median. Notches are useful in offering a rough guide to significance of difference of medians; if the notches of two boxes do not overlap, this offers evidence of a statistically significant difference between the medians. The width of the notches is proportional to the interquartile range (IQR) of the sample and inversely proportional to the square root of the size of the sample. However, there is uncertainty about the most appropriate multiplier (as this may vary depending on the similarity of the variances of the samples). One convention is to use formula_2.
Adjusted box plots are intended for skew distributions. They rely on the medcouple statistic of skewness. For a medcouple value of MC, the lengths of the upper and lower whiskers are respectively defined to be
For symmetrical distributions, the medcouple will be zero, and this reduces to Tukey's boxplot with equal whisker lengths of formula_4 for both whiskers.
Other kinds of plots such as violin plots and bean plots can show the difference between single-modal and multimodal distributions, a difference that cannot be seen with the original boxplot.
Example(s).
Example without outliers.
A series of hourly temperatures were measured throughout the day in degrees Fahrenheit. The recorded values are listed in order as follows: 57, 57, 57, 58, 63, 66, 66, 67, 67, 68, 69, 70, 70, 70, 70, 72, 73, 75, 75, 76, 76, 78, 79, 81.
A box plot of the data can be generated by calculating five relevant values: minimum, maximum, median, first quartile, and third quartile.
The minimum is the smallest number of the set. In this case, the minimum day temperature is 57 °F.
The maximum is the largest number of the set. In this case, the maximum day temperature is 81 °F.
The median is the "middle" number of the ordered set. This means that there are exactly 50% of the elements less than the median and 50% of the elements greater than the median. The median of this ordered set is 70 °F.
The first quartile value is the number that marks one quarter of the ordered set. In other words, there are exactly 25% of the elements that are less than the first quartile and exactly 75% of the elements that are greater. The first quartile value can easily be determined by finding the "middle" number between the minimum and the median. For the hourly temperatures, the "middle" number between 57 °F and 70 °F is 66 °F.
The third quartile value is the number that marks three quarters of the ordered set. In other words, there are exactly 75% of the elements that are less than the third quartile and 25% of the elements that are greater. The third quartile value can be easily determined by finding the "middle" number between the median and the maximum. For the hourly temperatures, the "middle" number between 70 °F and 81 °F is 75 °F.
The interquartile range, or IQR, can be calculated:
Hence, formula_6
1.5 IQR above the third quartile is:
1.5IQR below the first quartile is:
The upper whisker of the box plot is the largest dataset number smaller than 1.5IQR above the third quartile. Here, 1.5IQR above the third quartile is 88.5 °F and the maximum is 81 °F. Therefore, the upper whisker is drawn at the value of the maximum, 81 °F.
Similarly, the lower whisker of the box plot is the smallest dataset number larger than 1.5IQR below the first quartile. Here, 1.5IQR below the first quartile is 52.5 °F and the minimum is 57 °F. Therefore, the lower whisker is drawn at the value of the minimum, 57 °F.
Example with outliers.
Above is an example without outliers. Here is a followup example with outliers:
The ordered set is: 52, 57, 57, 58, 63, 66, 66, 67, 67, 68, 69, 70, 70, 70, 70, 72, 73, 75, 75, 76, 76, 78, 79, 89.
In this example, only the first and the last number are changed. The median, third quartile, and first quartile remain the same.
In this case, the maximum is 89 °F and 1.5IQR above the third quartile is 88.5 °F. The maximum is greater than 1.5IQR plus the third quartile, so the maximum is an outlier. Therefore, the upper whisker is drawn at the greatest value smaller than 1.5IQR above the third quartile, which is 79 °F.
Similarly, the minimum is 52 °F and 1.5IQR below the first quartile is 52.5 °F. The minimum is smaller than 1.5IQR minus the first quartile, so the minimum is also an outlier. Therefore, the lower whisker is drawn at the smallest value greater than 1.5IQR below the first quartile, which is 57 °F.
In the case of large datasets.
General equation to compute empirical quantiles.
Using the example from above with 24 data points, meaning "n" = 24, one can also calculate the median, first and third quartile mathematically vs. visually.
Median : formula_11
First quartile : formula_12
Third quartile : formula_13
Visualization.
The box plot allows quick graphical examination of one or more data sets. Box plots may seem more primitive than a histogram or kernel density estimate but they do have some advantages. They take up less space and are therefore particularly useful for comparing distributions between several groups or sets of data (see Figure 1 for an example). Choice of number and width of bins techniques can heavily influence the appearance of a histogram, and choice of bandwidth can heavily influence the appearance of a kernel density estimate.
As looking at a statistical distribution is more commonplace than looking at a box plot, comparing the box plot against the probability density function (theoretical histogram) for a normal N(0,"σ"2) distribution may be a useful tool for understanding the box plot (Figure 7).


Penning ionization

Penning ionization is a form of chemi-ionization, an ionization process involving reactions between neutral atoms or molecules.
The Penning effect is put to practical use in applications such as gas-discharge neon lamps and fluorescent lamps, where the lamp is filled with a Penning mixture to improve the electrical characteristics of the lamps.
History.
The process is named after the Dutch physicist Frans Michel Penning who first reported it in 1927. Penning started to work at the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium at Eindhoven to continue the investigation of electric discharge on rare gases. Later, he started measurements on the liberation of electrons from metal surfaces by positive ions and metastable atoms, and especially on the effects related to ionization by metastable atoms.
Reaction.
Penning ionization refers to the interaction between an electronically excited gas-phase atom G* and a target molecule M. The collision results in the ionization of the molecule yielding a cation M+., an electron e−, and a neutral gas molecule, G, in the ground state. Penning ionization occurs via formation of a high energy collision complex, evolving toward the formation of a cationic species, by ejecting a high energy electron.
Penning ionization occurs when the target molecule has an ionization potential lower than the excited energy of the excited-state atom or molecule.
Variants.
When the total electron excitation energy of colliding particles is sufficient, then the bonding energy of two particles that bonded together can also be contributed into the associative penning ionization act.
Associative Penning ionization can also occur:
Surface Penning ionization (Auger Deexcitation) refers to the interaction of the excited-state gas with a surface S, resulting in the release of an electron:
The positive charge symbol <chem>S+</chem> that would appear to be required for charge conservation is omitted, because S is a macroscopic surface and the loss of one electron has a negligible effect.
Applications.
Electron spectroscopy.
Penning ionization has been applied to Penning ionization electron spectroscopy (PIES)for gas chromatography detector in glow discharge by using the reaction for He or Ne. The kinetic energy of electron ejected is analyzed by the collisions between target (gas or solid) and metastable atoms by scanning the retarding field in a flight tube of the analyzer in the presence of a weak magnetic field. The electron produced by reaction has a kinetic energy E determined by:
The Penning ionization electron energy does not depend on the conditions of the experiments or any other species since both E and IE are atomic or molecular constants of the energy of He and the ionization energy for the species. Penning ionization electron spectroscopy applied to organic solids. It enables the study of local electron distribution of individual molecular orbitals, which exposes to the outside of the outermost surface layers.
Mass spectrometry.
Multiple mass spectrometric techniques, including glow discharge mass spectrometry and direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry rely on Penning ionization.
Glow discharge mass spectrometry is the direct determination of trace element in solid samples. It occurs with two ionization mechanisms: the direct electron impact ionization and Penning ionization. Processes inherent to the glow discharge, namely cathodic sputtering coupled with Penning ionization, yield an ion
population from which semi-quantitative results can be directly obtained.


2306 Bauschinger


Temperament ordinaire

The phrase temperament ordinaire (French "tempérament ordinaire", meaning literally "ordinary temperament" or "usual temperament") is a term for musical intonation, particularly the tempered tuning of keyboard instruments. In modern usage, it usually refers to temperaments falling within the range (as understood broadly) of tunings
now known as "well-tempered".
The expression occurs primarily in French-language works of the 17th and 18th centuries concerning theory and practice of musical intonation with regard to keyboard instruments. It is discussed again, in the same or a similar musical application, in modern literature concerned with historical practices relating to keyboard instruments and performance.
17th-century usage and application.
One of the early historical documents in which the phrase was used is Christiaan Huygens' "Lettre touchant le cycle harmonique", ("Letter concerning the harmonic cycle") of 1691. This refers several times, in a comparative way, to "temperament ordinaire". The main purpose of Huygens' letter was to describe and discuss an unconventional 31-fold division of the octave. He did this by first recapitulating a conventional known temperament of his time, and then he compared that with his new scheme (which actually had been approximately conceived before, albeit without Huygens' mathematical precision); and he discussed the differences. Huygens' description of the conventional arrangement was quite precise, and it is clearly identifiable with what is now classified as (quarter-comma) meantone temperament.
Huygens referred to this conventional arrangement, variously, in the course of his comparisons, as "the Temperament that I have just explained", "the Temperament", "the ordinary Temperament" (temperament ordinaire), "the Ordinary Temperament" (with both words capitalized), and then by mentioning "the new Temperament" as contrasted with "the one that everyone uses".
Accordingly, it does appear that for Huygens in 1691, "temperament ordinaire" was a phrase denoting just the temperament in ordinary use, with no sign that he was using this expression as a proper or conventional name or label; and it also appears that for him, the one in ordinary use was (quarter-comma) meantone temperament.
18th century.
The term was later used in the "Encyclopédie" of Diderot and D'Alembert, published in Paris in 1751–1772, which contains an article on temperament written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The article discusses the contrasting merits of equal temperament and of an arrangement referred to as "temperament ordinaire", "temperament" (without qualifier), and also as "the common rule of temperament", and gives practical instructions how to tune a keyboard to this temperament.
In regard to the use of the expressions denoting the temperament in this article, it is noticeable that while all occurrences of the word 'temperament' in the original article stand italicized, the accompanying words, including 'ordinaire', never are. That seems to show that Rousseau was using the phrase just to denote descriptively what he regarded as usual, rather than as a proper name or conventional designatory label.
As for the nature and identity of the temperament that Rousseau called the common one, the content of the article (see instructions reproduced below) leaves it clear that it was a circulating temperament, rather than the quarter-comma meantone referred to by Huygens about 60 years previously.
It is relevant to reproduce here the actual instructions from the Encyclopedie (in translation) for tuning to "the common rule of temperament", so as to leave it clear where they are specific, and where they are vague:
"To do this: 1st, start with the middle C of the keyboard, and narrow the first four fifths going up, until the fourth, E, makes a very true major third with the first note C; this is called 'the proof'. 2nd, Continuing to tune by fifths, as soon as one has arrived at the sharp notes, one then widens the fifths – even though the thirds suffer by it – and one stops when one has arrived at G#. 3rd, Return to C and tune the fifths going down, that is, F, B flat, and so on, widening them all the time, until one has arrived at D flat, which – when taken as C# - ought to be in harmony as a fifth with the G# where one stopped before. The final fifths will be a little too wide, like the thirds. But the harshness will be tolerable if the tuning across the octaves is done properly, and besides, these fifths are so situated that they are rarely used."
Among the notable points of this description:
1: there is a possible misprint or similar thoughtless mistake, or else an instruction to cover some of the ground twice, in that the third-stage stopping point, D flat, would have been tuned already as C# before the G#, and so the expected stopping point of the third stage might more naturally be E flat/D#, to be checked against the G#. So D flat (re bemol) might have been a misprint etc. for E flat (mi bemol).
2: There might have been no need for the user to actually widen any of the fifths, if only the ones between CGDAE had been narrowed: things should have worked out if all the others had just been left pure. This highlights also that the instructions are not quite specific on what to do about the fifths E->B and B->F#: to narrow them like the earlier ones? (which would necessitate some widening further along the chain), or to leave them pure? (in which case all the rest could be pure too). And then, how to distribute the amounts of any widening of the remaining fifths?
3: According to the degree of any widening used, some of the thirds would actually be made worse than necessary. This point seems possibly to have escaped the originators and users of the method described here, as of other methods involving widening fifths.
Perhaps it is possible to be too precise about this kind of thing.
Maybe the intent of an 18th-century description, such as the one referenced and discussed above, was that complete precision was not sought at all, rather to give a guideline for completion in practice, according to the taste and ear of the individual musician.
The two scales, both referred to as temperament ordinaire by Huygens and by Rousseau/Encyclopedie, have in common the degree of tempering applied to the fifths CGDAE. The difference between them is that the 'wolf' error arising in the chain of fifths is either left whole in only one of those remaining fifths (meantone), or else divided up and distributed amongst them.
The two examples of usage given above do not seem to show any sign that the expression "temperament ordinaire" (in its 17th-18th-century French usages) was anything more than a descriptive or denotative phrase, denoting whatever was to be referred to as "the usual temperament": and the examples also make clear that other similar indicative words might equally be used instead, e.g. "the common rule", or "the one that everyone uses". Some of the modern literature might seem to apply "temperament ordinaire" as if it is (or might have been, in the 17th or 18th centuries) a kind of proper name or conventional label of some particular tuning arrangement(s). Perhaps it is an open question whether this was ever so. The status that the phrase actually had at that time is relevant in turn to the substantive question of what actual tuning (or range of tunings) the phrase was then used to refer to. The examples above show, at least, that the temperament so referred to was not uniquely identified.
In summary, it seems that once the 18th century had got well under way, the expression 'temperament ordinaire' could refer in the French literature to a circulating irregular keyboard temperament with some slightly widened fifths as well as some narrowed ones: and that in the late 17th century it could refer to what is now called quarter-comma mean-tone temperament. It seems not impossible that both usages might have been at some time concurrent.


5 nm process

In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems defines the 5 nm process as the MOSFET technology node following the 7 nm node. In 2020, Samsung and TSMC entered volume production of chips, manufactured for companies including Apple, Marvell, Huawei and Qualcomm.
The term "5 nanometer" has no relation to any actual physical feature (such as gate length, metal pitch or gate pitch) of the transistors. It is a commercial or marketing term used by the chip fabrication industry to refer to a new, improved generation of silicon semiconductor chips in terms of increased transistor density, increased speed and reduced power consumption.
History.
Background.
Quantum tunnelling effects through the gate oxide layer on 7 nm and 5 nm transistors become increasingly difficult to manage using existing semiconductor processes. Single-transistor devices below 7 nm were first demonstrated by researchers in the early 2000s. In 2002, an IBM research team including Bruce Doris, Omer Dokumaci, Meikei Ieong and Anda Mocuta fabricated a 6-nanometre silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOSFET.
In 2003, a Japanese research team at NEC, led by Hitoshi Wakabayashi and Shigeharu Yamagami, fabricated the first 5 nm MOSFET.
In 2015, IMEC and Cadence had fabricated 5 nm test chips. The fabricated test chips are not fully functional devices but rather are to evaluate patterning of interconnect layers.
In 2015, Intel described a lateral nanowire (or gate-all-around) FET concept for the 5 nm node.
In 2017, IBM revealed that they had created 5 nm silicon chips, using silicon nanosheets in a "gate-all-around" configuration (GAAFET), a break from the usual FinFET design. The GAAFET transistors used had 3 nanosheets stacked on top of each other, covered in their entirety by the same gate, just like FinFETs usually have several physical fins side by side that are electrically a single unit and are covered in their entirety by the same gate. IBM's chip measured 50 mm2 and had 600 million transistors per mm2.
Commercialization.
In April 2019, Samsung Electronics announced they had been offering their 5 nm process (5LPE) tools to their customers since 2018 Q4. In April 2019, TSMC announced that their 5 nm process (CLN5FF, N5) had begun risk production, and that full chip design specifications were now available to potential customers. The N5 process can use EUVL on up to 14 layers, compared to only 5 or 4 layers in N6 and N7++. For the expected 28 nm minimum metal pitch, SALELE is the proposed best patterning method.
For their 5nm process, Samsung started process defect mitigation by automated check and fix, due to occurrence of stochastic (random) defects in the metal and via layers.
In October 2019, TSMC started sampling 5nm A14 processors for Apple.
In December 2019, TSMC announced an average yield of ~80%, with a peak yield per wafer of >90% for their 5nm test chips with a die size of 17.92 mm2. In mid 2020 TSMC claimed its (N5) 5nm process offered 1.8x the density of its 7nm N7 process, with 15% speed improvement or 30% lower power consumption; an improved sub-version (N5P) was claimed to improve on N5 with +5% speed or -10% power.
On October 13, 2020, Apple announced a new iPhone 12 lineup using the A14, together with the Huawei Mate 40 lineup using the HiSilicon Kirin 9000, which were the first devices to be commercialized on TSMC's 5nm node. Later, on November 10, 2020, Apple also revealed three new Mac models using the Apple M1, another 5nm chip. According to Semianalysis, the A14 processor has a transistor density of 134 million transistors per mm2.
5 nm process nodes.
Transistor gate pitch is also referred to as CPP (contacted poly pitch) and interconnect pitch is also referred to as MMP (minimum metal pitch).
Beyond 5 nm.
"3 nm" (3-nanometer) is the usual term for the next node after 5 nm. , Intel, Samsung, and TSMC have plans to commercialize the 3 nm node.
3.5 nm has also been given as a name for the first node beyond 5 nm.


Metrication in Barbados

The process of metrication in Barbados started in the early 1970s with an initiative by the government to push for industrialisation of the economy. The process has progressed slowly but the metric system has now replaced the previous imperial units.
Although the metric system is the official system of weights and measures of the country, both metric and US customary units (similar to or identical with imperial units in many instances) must be used on commodity labels which are exported to the American market. The real estate industry may also tend to cater to most categories of home buyers and likewise may use both metric and imperial standards of measure. Beyond this distances are usually measured in metres or kilometres; mass in milligrams, grams or kilograms; and temperature in degrees Celsius.
History.
The establishment of a Barbados Industrial Development Corporation, stimulated the advent of a local Barbados National Standards Institute (BNSI) in 1972. The BNSI was a joint collaboration of the Government of Barbados along Mr. Davis and Mr. Gordon Watson from UNIDO. As part of the BNSI's approach, it sought to implement standards to replace the former Imperial Standards for Weights and Measures in Barbados.
Weights and Measures in Barbados were defined through the act of Parliament of the same name that dated back to 1891. It was by-and-large made up of former British Imperial units of measurement, save for local peculiarities. For example: The standard of liquid gallons in Barbados was measured at exactly 231 cu. ins. (a measure used in the United States of America), whereas the British unit of the same was about 277.419 cu.ins. Due to this and other complexities of the market, the government enacted in 1977 an Act of Parliament to switch Barbados to the International Standards of Units (SI). At that point of time, Barbados was one country out of thirteen across the globe which had not yet implemented a process for metrication and it was thought that Barbados needed to move in the direction of the global standards. The plan for the metrication of Barbados called for completion of the processes by 1979. The process was undertaken with the help of a Metrication Board established within BNSI.
BNSI.
The BNSI similarly was further spurred by the creation of the Caribbean Free Trade Association CARIFTA, and trade within this block and external markets created a realisation of benefits to be derived from a transition to metric.


905 Universitas

905 Universitas is an S-type asteroid orbiting in the Main belt as part of the Flora family. Its diameter is about 21 km and it has an albedo of 0.085. Its rotation period is approximately 14.2 hours.


Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge

Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (TEG) or "European Certificate in Irish " is a set of examinations for adult learners of Irish. TEG is linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001). It examines four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Examinations are currently available at five levels from Beginners 1 (A1) to Advanced 1 (C1) and are run internationally. In 2016 exams were held in Sydney, New York, Ottawa, and nationally in Ireland. There is the option for candidates at all levels to undertake the full examination (Lánchreidiúint) or just the oral examination (partial credit).
TEG is the first certification system for adult learners of Irish connected with the ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) examination system and the Council of Europe. Such a system had already been developed for most other European languages. This system helps learners to plan their studies and gain recognition for the progress they have made. Another advantage of the system is that it gives educational institutions and employers a guide to the language ability of candidates applying for courses, jobs or promotions. In Ireland this makes it of particular relevance to the provisions of the Official Languages Act 2003. The Language Centre in Maynooth is a member of ALTE and monitors the content and quality of TEG.


Eddy Merckx in the Vicinity of a Cup of Coffee

Eddy Merckx in the Vicinity of a Cup of Coffee (original title: "Eddy Merckx i nærheden af en kop kaffe") is a 1973 Danish experimental short film by Jørgen Leth. It was produced by Stig Crab Barfoed and Charlotte Strandgaard and is 29 minutes long.
Concept.
The film features Leth reading pieces of poetry in a TV studio, followed by footage from the 1970 Tour de France contest depicting cyclists Eddy Merckx and Walter Godefroot. The music is by Antonio Carlos Jobim.


GRIM test

The granularity-related inconsistency of means (GRIM) test is a simple statistical test used to identify inconsistencies in the analysis of data sets. The test relies on the fact that, given a dataset containing "N" integer values, the arithmetic mean (commonly called simply the average) is restricted to a few possible values: it must always be expressible as a fraction with an integer numerator and a denominator "N". If the reported mean does not fit this description, there must be an error somewhere; the preferred term for such errors is "inconsistencies", to emphasise that their origin is, on first discovery, typically unknown. GRIM inconsistencies can result from inadvertent data-entry or typographical errors or from scientific fraud. The GRIM test is most useful in fields such as psychology where researchers typically use small groups and measurements are often integers. The GRIM test was proposed by Nick Brown and James Heathers in 2016, following increased awareness of the replication crisis in some fields of science.
Procedure.
The GRIM test is straightforward to perform. For each reported mean in a paper, the sample size ("N") is found, and all fractions with denominator "N" are calculated. The mean is then checked against this list (being aware of the fact that values may be rounded inconsistently: depending on the context, a mean of 1.125 may be reported as 1.12 or 1.13). If the mean is not in this list, it is highlighted as mathematically impossible.
Example.
Consider an experiment in which a fair dice is rolled 20 times. Each roll will produce one whole number between 1 and 6, and the hypothesized mean value is 3.5. The results of the rolls are then averaged together, and the mean is reported as 3.48. This is close to the expected value, and appears to support the hypothesis. However, a GRIM test reveals that the reported mean is mathematically impossible: the result of dividing any whole number by 20, written to 2 decimal places, must be of the form X.X0 or X.X5; it is impossible to divide any integer by 20 and produce a result with an "8" in the second decimal place.
Interpretation and limitations.
Even if the data fails the GRIM test, this is not automatically a sign of manipulation. Errors in the mean can come about innocently as a result of an error on the part of the tester, typographical errors, calculation and programming mistakes, or improper reporting of the sample size. However, it can be a sign that some data has been improperly excluded or that the mean has been illegitimately fudged in order to make the results appear more significant. The location of failures can be indicative of the underlying cause: an isolated impossible mean may be caused by an error, multiple impossible values in the same row of a table indicate a poor response rate, and multiple impossible values in the same column indicate the given sample size is incorrect. Multiple errors scattered throughout a table can be a sign of deeper problems, and other statistical tests can be used to analyze the suspect data.
The GRIM test works best with data sets in which: the sample size is relatively small, the number of subcomponents in composite measures is also small, and the mean is reported to multiple decimal places. In some cases, a valid mean may appear to fail the test if the input data is not discretized as expected – for example, if people are asked how many slices of pizza they ate at a buffet, some people may respond with a fraction such as "three and a half" instead of a whole number as expected.
Applications.
Brown and Heathers applied the test to 260 articles published in "Psychological Science", "", and "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology". Of these articles, 71 were amenable to GRIM test analysis; 36 of these contained at least one impossible value and 16 contained multiple impossible values.
GRIM testing also played a significant role in uncovering errors in publications by Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab under Brian Wansink. GRIM testing revealed that a series of articles on the effect of price on consumption at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet contained many impossible means – deeper analysis of the raw data revealed that in many cases, sample sizes were incorrectly stated and values incorrectly calculated.


FINA World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships

The FINA World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships is an international, synchronized swimming event organized by FINA held every 2 years. It was first held in 1989, and 2012 saw its thirteenth edition.
The event features competition in the four synchro event (Solo, Duet, Team and Free Combination). (Note: Free Combination was added to the event beginning in 2002.)


Sandy Hook Proving Ground

The Sandy Hook Proving Ground was a military facility along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey established by the Secretary of War on August 7, 1874, to serve as the United States Army's first proving ground for the testing of ordnance and materiel. The facility was located at Sandy Hook, a narrow coastal spit of land, approximately in length and 0.5 miles (varying between 0.1 and 1 miles) wide, in Middletown Township in Monmouth County. The facility was operated in conjunction with the adjoining Fort Hancock. Essentially abandoned in 1919 for a larger facility, the area was left to degrade and most of the structures still remain today. The proving ground and parts of Fort Hancock are now property of the National Park Service and mostly closed to the public.
Background.
The Civil War, just ten years earlier, had introduced several new innovations in weaponry. Rifled cannon fired pointed-nosed projectiles farther and faster than cannonballs and ironclad warships with mounted guns that could destroy the walls of a traditional fort. The Army needed a place to test its own new weapons. The Sandy Hook Peninsula met the Army's needs for an experimental testing area for heavy ordnance and was on land that was already government owned, which provided flat and open areas for testing. Sandy Hook was distant enough to be far from towns but close enough to large cities and transportation by water. In 1874, most of Sandy Hook was covered with holly and cedar forests and tidal marshes which still cover a large percentage of it today. Most of the Federal development of the Hook was concentrated on the northern end. A huge granite five-bastioned fort near the northern end of the Hook dominated the area, even though it was still incomplete and was destined never to be completed. In addition to the fort, there was the Engineer's wharf, erected on the western shore in 1857, to accommodate the fort's construction, the Engineers' shop and quarters, and the Sandy Hook Life-Saving Station, established on the northeastern shore in 1854. It was decided to lay out the Proving Ground on the eastern margin of the Hook, just below the southeast bastion of a Civil War-era fort. The firing range was to extend southward along the beach with the facilities consisting of the wooden gun platforms of the proof battery, a bombproof, a frame instrument house, and sand butts on the firing range.
After its formal establishment in 1874, it was nearly two years before facilities were completed that allowed staffing and testing to reach its potential. Because of the period of time involved, the bulk of the weaponry designed, built and installed for coastal defense under both the Taft and Endicott Boards were tested at Sandy Hook. Over time, several red brick buildings, including structures used as maintenance buildings and an Officers Club, were built as part of the Proving Ground. When Fort Hancock was commissioned in 1895 as a Coast Artillery Post, it shared the peninsula with the Proving Ground.
Proof Battery.
The "Proof Battery," where new and converted guns would be fired, was built at the northeastern end of Sandy Hook along the ocean side. The firing range extended south along the beach and for long range test firing, guns would be aimed out to sea to provide the necessary distance. The first test firing took place in October 1874, when a Rodman smoothbore cannon, converted into an rifled gun, was fired. After firing 700 rounds, the Ordnance Board found the gun to still be "sound and serviceable."
To test the guns' striking power, armor-piercing projectiles were fired at large, thick iron plates, similar to those used in making warships. These tests proved that rifled Rodman guns could penetrate the armor but only at limited distances. In the 1880s, new high- powered, breech-loading rifled cannons made of steel were introduced. They had greater ranges and more striking power. When new models of guns and mortars passed their ordnance tests, they were mass-produced at gun foundries around the country and then sent to Sandy Hook for testing before being issued for use. Many new types of gunpowder, artillery shells, fuses and primers used to explode projectiles were also tested.
In 1900, Proof Battery was relocated because of Fort Hancock's need for the location to build a gun battery. The new Battery was built southeast of its old location. The eastern end of the new Proof Battery was designed for test firing machine guns, field and siege guns, and howitzers – larger guns like a caliber – were test fired at the west end of the battery. In the middle were mounted a variety of guns from caliber. When a gun was fired, the gun crew stood behind thick concrete walls in the niches in case the gun blew up during testing and personnel could watch from atop a observation tower behind the traverses.
Base railroad.
In 1889, a narrow gauge railroad was constructed to bring equipment and guns from the docks to the proof battery. In 1893, a standard gauge railroad was completed to the mainland and connected with commercial railroad lines that were originally built to allow civilians from steamships to travel down the shore. It is believed that the New Jersey Southern Railroad had a dock in Horseshoe Cove. The train would then take the tourists that came from New York City to destinations including Long Branch.
When Fort Hancock did not want civilians near its facilities, the civilian railroad was moved to a dock in the Spermaceti Cove vicinity and later removed altogether. Later, the Sandy Hook Proving Ground took over the railroad on the Hook, and utilized it for passenger, troop train, and railway gun movements. This also allowed for interchange with Class 1 railroads at Highlands, New Jersey. The Sandy Hook Proving Ground's engine was named "General Rodman". When they left circa 1920, the railroad operation was transferred to the engineer unit at Fort Hancock.
Final years.
Sandy Hook Proving Ground became a permanent installation in 1903 and continued to test weapons through World War I. During the war, the site was commanded by Colden Ruggles, who later served as the Army's Chief of Ordnance. A dual military command existed with the Sandy Hook Proving Ground – contained within the site of Fort Hancock – continuing to test ordnance equipment while the Coast Artillery Corps exercised the harbor defense mission for New York Harbor. However, as guns could hit targets further and further away, Sandy Hook lacked enough space to test new long-range guns. In 1919, when Sandy Hook could no longer contain the ever-increasing range of larger and more powerful weapons, testing was moved to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland.