en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhesus_macaque

  

The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), is one of the best-known species of Old World monkeys. It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and its tolerance of a broad range of habitats. Native to South, Central and Southeast Asia, troops of Macaca mulatta inhabit a great variety of habitats from grasslands to arid and forested areas, but also close to human settlements

  

Characteristics

  

The rhesus macaque is brown or grey in color and has a pink face, which is bereft of fur. Its tail is of medium length and averages between 20.7 and 22.9 cm (8.1 and 9.0 in). Adult males measure approximately 53 cm (21 in) on average and weigh about 7.7 kg (17 lb). Females are smaller, averaging 47 cm (19 in) in length and 5.3 kg (12 lb) in weight. Rhesus macaques have on average 50 vertebrae. Their intermembral index (ratio of arm length to leg length) is 89%. They have dorsal scapulae and a wide rib cage.

 

The rhesus macaque has 32 teeth with a dental formula of 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3 and bilophodont molars. The upper molars have four cusps: paracone, metacone, protocone and hypocone. The lower molars also have four cusps: metaconid, protoconid, hypoconid and entoconid.

  

Distribution and habitat

  

Rhesus macaques are native to northern India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Afghanistan, Vietnam, southern China, and some neighboring areas. They have the widest geographic ranges of any nonhuman primate, occupying a great diversity of altitudes throughout Central, South and Southeast Asia. Inhabiting arid, open areas, rhesus macaques may be found in grasslands, woodlands and in mountainous regions up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in elevation. They are regular swimmers. Babies as young as a few days old can swim, and adults are known to swim over a half mile between islands, but are often found drowned in small groups where their drinking waters lie. Rhesus macaques are noted for their tendency to move from rural to urban areas, coming to rely on handouts or refuse from humans.[3]

 

The southern and the northern distributional limits for rhesus and bonnet macaques, respectively, currently run parallel to each other in the western part of India, are separated by a large gap in the center, and converge on the eastern coast of the peninsula to form a distribution overlap zone. This overlap region is characterized by the presence of mixed-species troops, with pure troops of both species sometimes occurring even in close proximity to one another. The range extension of rhesus macaque – a natural process in some areas and a direct consequence of introduction by humans in other regions – poses grave implications for the endemic and declining populations of bonnet macaques in southern India.[4]

  

Distribution of subspecies and populations

  

The name "rhesus" is reminiscent of the Greek mythological king Rhesus. However, the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Audebert, who applied the name to the species, stated: "it has no meaning".[5]

 

According to Zimmermann’s first description of 1780, the rhesus macaque is distributed in eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, as far east as the Brahmaputra Valley in peninsular India, Nepal and northern Pakistan. Today, this is known as the Indian rhesus macaque M. m. mulatta, which includes the morphologically similar M. rhesus villosus described by True in 1894 from Kashmir and M. m. mcmahoni described by Pocock in 1932 from Kootai, Pakistan. Several Chinese subspecies of rhesus macaques have been described between 1867 and 1917. The molecular differences identified among populations, however, are alone not consistent enough to conclusively define any subspecies.[6]

The Chinese subspecies can be divided in:

 

M. m. mulatta is found in western and central China, in the south of Yunnan and southwest of Guangxi;[7]

M. m. lasiota (Gray, 1868), the west Chinese rhesus macaque, is distributed in the west of Sichuan, northwest of Yunnan, and southeast of Qinghai;[7] it is possibly synonymous with M. m. sanctijohannis (Swinhoe, 1867), if not with M. m. mulatta.[6]

M. m. tcheliensis (Milne-Edwards, 1870), the north Chinese rhesus macaque, lives in the north of Henan, south of Shanxi and near Beijing. Some consider it as the most endangered subspecies.[8] Others consider it possibly synonymous with M. m. sanctijohannis, if not with M. m. mulatta.[6]

M. m. vestita (Milne-Edwards, 1892), the Tibetan rhesus macaque, lives in the southeast of Tibet, northwest of Yunnan (Deqing), and perhaps including Yushu;[7] it is possibly synonymous with M. m. sanctijohannis, if not with M. m. mulatta.[6]

M. m. littoralis (Elliot, 1909), the south Chinese rhesus macaque, lives in Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, northwest of Guangdong, north of Guangxi, northeast of Yunnan, east of Sichuan and south of Shaanxi;[7] it is possibly synonymous with M. m. sanctijohannis, if not with M. m. mulatta.[6]

M. m. brevicaudus, also referred to as Pithecus brevicaudus (Elliot, 1913), lives on the Hainan Island and Wanshan Islands in Guangdong, and the islands near Hong Kong;[7] it may be synonymous with M. m. mulatta.[6]

M. m. siamica (Kloss, 1917), the Indochinese rhesus macaque, is distributed in Myanmar, in the north of Thailand and Vietnam, in Laos and in the Chinese provinces of Anhui, northwest Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, central and eastern Sichuan, and western and south-central Yunnan; possibly synonymous with M. m. sanctijohannis, if not with M. m. mulatta.[6]

Feral colonies in the United States[edit]

Main article: feral rhesus macaque

Around the spring of 1938, a colony of rhesus macaques called "the Nazuri's" was released in around Silver Springs in Florida by a tour boat operator known locally as "Colonel Tooey" to enhance his "Jungle Cruise". A traditional story that the monkeys were released for scenery enhancement in the Tarzan movies that were filmed at that location is false, as the only Tarzan movie filmed in the area, 1939's Tarzan Finds a Son! does not contain rhesus macaques.[9] In addition, various colonies of rhesus and other monkey species are speculated to be the result of zoos and wildlife parks destroyed in hurricanes, most notably Hurricane Andrew.[10]

 

A notable colony of rhesus macaques on Morgan Island, one of the Sea Islands in the South Carolina Lowcountry, was imported in the 1970s for use in local labs and are by all accounts thriving.[11]

  

Ecology and behavior

  

Although they are infamous as urban pests, which are quick to steal not only food, but also household items, it is not certain if the pair of jeans draped over the wall on the right is their handiwork.

Rhesus macaques are diurnal animals, and both arboreal and terrestrial. They are quadrupedal and, when on the ground, they walk digitigrade and plantigrade. They are mostly herbivorous, feeding on mainly fruit, but also eating seeds, roots, buds, bark, and cereals. They are estimated to consume around 99 different plant species in 46 families. During the monsoon season, they get much of their water from ripe and succulent fruit. Macaques living far from water sources lick dewdrops from leaves and drink rainwater accumulated in tree hollows.[12] They have also been observed eating termites, grasshoppers, ants and beetles.[13] When food is abundant, they are distributed in patches and forage throughout the day in their home ranges. They drink water when foraging and gather around streams and rivers.[14] Rhesus macaques have specialized pouch-like cheeks, allowing them to temporarily hoard their food.

 

In psychological research, rhesus macaques have demonstrated a variety of complex cognitive abilities, including the ability to make same-different judgments, understand simple rules, and monitor their own mental states.[15] [16] They have even been shown to demonstrate self-agency,[17] an important type of self-awareness.

  

Group structure

  

Like other macaques, rhesus troops comprise a mixture of 20–200 males and females.[18] Females may outnumber the males by a ratio of 4:1. Males and females both have separate hierarchies. Females have highly stable matrilineal hierarchies in which a female’s rank is dependent on the rank of her mother. In addition, a single group may have multiple matrilineal lines existing in a hierarchy, and a female outranks any unrelated females that rank lower than her mother.[19] Rhesus macaques are unusual in that the youngest females tend to outrank their older sisters.[20] This is likely because young females are more fit and fertile. Mothers seem to prevent the older daughters from forming coalitions against her. The youngest daughter is the most dependent on the mother, and would have nothing to gain from helping her siblings in overthrowing their mother. Since each daughter had a high rank in her early years, rebelling against her mother is discouraged.[21] Juvenile male macaques also exist in matrilineal lines, but once they reach four to five years of age, they are driven out of their natal groups by the dominant male. Thus, adult males gain dominance by age and experience.[14]

 

In the group, macaques position themselves based on rank. The "central male subgroup" contains the two or three oldest and most dominant males which are codominant, along with females, their infants and juveniles. This subgroup occupies the center of the group and determines the movements, foraging and other routines.[14] The females of this subgroup are also the most dominant of the entire group. The farther to the periphery a subgroup is, the less dominant it is. Subgroups on the periphery of the central group are run by one dominant male which ranks lower than the central males, and maintains order in the group and communicates messages between the central and peripheral males. A subgroup of subordinate, often subadult males occupy the very edge of the groups and have the responsibility of communicating with other macaque groups and making alarm calls.[22]

  

Communication

  

Rhesus macaques interact using a variety of facial expressive, vocalizations and body postures, and gestures. Perhaps the most common facial expression the macaque makes is the "silent bared teeth" face.[23] This is made between individuals of different social ranks with the lower ranking one giving the expression to its superior. A less dominant individual will also make a "fear grimace" accompanied by a scream to appease or redirect aggression.[24] Another submissive behavior is the "present rump", where an individual raises its tail and exposes its genitals to the dominant one.[23] A dominant individual will threaten another individual standing quadrupedally making a silent "open mouth stare" accompanied by the tail sticking straight.[25] During movements, macaques will make "coos" and "grunts". These are also made during affiliative interactions and approaches before grooming.[26] When they find rare food of high quality, macaques will emit "warbles," "harmonic arches", or "chirps." When in threatening situations, macaques will emit a single loud, high-pitched sound called a "shrill bark".[27] "Screeches," "screams", "squeaks", "pant-threats", "growls", and "barks" are used during aggressive interactions.[27] Infants "gecker" to attract their mother's attention.[28]

  

Reproduction

  

Adult male macaques try to maximize their reproductive success by entering into consort pairs with females, both in and outside the breeding period. Females prefer to mate with males that will increase the survival of their young. Thus, a consort male provides resources for his female and protects her from predators. Larger, more dominant males are more likely to provide for the females. The breeding period can last up to 11 days, and a female usually mates with four males during that time. Male rhesus macaques have not been observed to fight for access to sexually receptive females, although they suffer more wounds during the mating season.[29] Female macaques first breed when they are four years old, and reach menopause at around 25 years of age.[30] When mating, a male rhesus monkey usually ejaculates less than 15 seconds after sexual penetration.[31] Male macaques generally play no role in raising the young, but do have peaceful relationships with the offspring of their consort pairs.[14]

 

Mothers with one or more immature daughters in addition to their infants are in contact with their infants less than those with no older immature daughters, because the mothers may pass the parenting responsibilities to her daughters. High-ranking mothers with older immature daughters also reject their infants significantly more than those without older daughters, and tend to begin mating earlier in the mating season than expected based on their dates of parturition the preceding birth season.[32] Infants farther from the center of the groups are more vulnerable to infanticide from outside groups.[14] Some mothers abuse their infants, which is believed to be the result of controlling parenting styles.[33]

  

In science

  

The rhesus macaque is well known to science. Due to its relatively easy upkeep in captivity, wide availability and closeness to humans anatomically and physiologically, it has been used extensively in medical and biological research on human and animal health-related topics. It has given its name to the rhesus factor, one of the elements of a person's blood group, by the discoverers of the factor, Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener. The rhesus macaque was also used in the well-known experiments on maternal deprivation carried out in the 1950s by controversial comparative psychologist Harry Harlow. Other medical breakthroughs facilitated by the use of the rhesus macaque include:

 

development of the rabies, smallpox, and polio vaccines

creation of drugs to manage HIV/AIDS

understanding of the female reproductive cycle and development of the embryo and the propagation of embryonic stem cells.[34]

The U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and NASA launched rhesus macaques into outer space during the 1950s and 1960s, and the Soviet/Russian space program launched them into space as recently as 1997 on the Bion missions. One of these primates ("Able"), which was launched on a suborbital spaceflight in 1959, was one of the two first living beings (along with "Miss Baker" on the same mission) to travel in space and return alive.[citation needed]

 

On October 25, 1994, the rhesus macaque became the first cloned primate with the birth of Tetra. January 2001 saw the birth of ANDi, the first transgenic primate; ANDi carries foreign genes originally from a jellyfish.[citation needed]

 

Though most studies of the rhesus macaque are from various locations in northern India, some knowledge of the natural behavior of the species comes from studies carried out on a colony established by the Caribbean Primate Research Center of the University of Puerto Rico on the island of Cayo Santiago, off Puerto Rico.[citation needed] There are no predators on the island, and humans are not permitted to land except as part of the research programmes. The colony is provisioned to some extent, but about half of its food comes from natural foraging.

 

Rhesus macaques, like many macaques, carry the Herpes B virus. This virus does not typically harm the monkey but is very dangerous to humans in the rare event that it jumps species, for example in the 1997 death of Yerkes National Primate Research Center researcher Elizabeth Griffin.[35][36][37]

  

Sequencing the genome

  

Genomic information

NCBI genome ID 215

Ploidy diploid

Genome size 3,097.37 Mb

Number of chromosomes 21 pairs

Year of completion 2007

  

Work on the genome of the rhesus macaque was completed in 2007, making the species the second nonhuman primate to have its genome sequenced.[38] Humans and macaques apparently share about 93% of their DNA sequence and shared a common ancestor roughly 25 million years ago.[39] The rhesus macaque has 21 pairs of chromosomes.[40]

 

Comparison of rhesus macaques, chimpanzees and humans revealed the structure of ancestral primate genomes, positive selection pressure and lineage-specific expansions and contractions of gene families.

 

"The goal is to reconstruct the history of every gene in the human genome," said Evan Eichler, University of Washington, Seattle. DNA from different branches of the primate tree will allow us "to trace back the evolutionary changes that occurred at various time points, leading from the common ancestors of the primate clade to Homo sapiens," said Bruce Lahn, University of Chicago.[41]

 

After the human and chimpanzee genomes were sequenced and compared, it was usually impossible to tell whether differences were the result of the human or chimpanzee gene changing from the common ancestor. After the rhesus macaque genome was sequenced, three genes could be compared. If two genes were the same, they are presumed to be the original gene.[42]

 

The chimpanzee and human genome diverged 6 million years ago. They have 98% identity and many conserved regulatory regions. Comparing the macaque and human genomes, which diverged 25 million years ago and had 93% identity, further identified evolutionary pressure and gene function.

 

Like the chimpanzee, changes were on the level of gene rearrangements rather than single mutations. There were frequent insertions, deletions, changes in the order and number of genes, and segmental duplications near gaps, centromeres and telomeres. So macaque, chimpanzee, and human chromosomes are mosaics of each other.

 

Surprisingly, some normal gene sequences in healthy macaques and chimpanzees cause profound disease in humans. For example, the normal sequence of phenylalanine hydroxylase in macaques and chimpanzees is the mutated sequence responsible for phenylketonuria in humans. So humans must have been under evolutionary pressure to adopt a different mechanism.

 

Some gene families are conserved or under evolutionary pressure and expansion in all three primate species, while some are under expansion uniquely in human, chimpanzee or macaque.

 

For example, cholesterol pathways are conserved in all three species (and other primate species). In all three species, immune response genes are under positive selection, and genes of T cell-mediated immunity, signal transduction, cell adhesion, and membrane proteins generally. Genes for keratin, which produce hair shafts, were rapidly evolving in all three species, possibly because of climate change or mate selection. The X chromosome has three times more rearrangements than other chromosomes. The macaque gained 1,358 genes by duplication.

 

Triangulation of human, chimpanzee and macaque sequences showed expansion of gene families in each species.

 

The PKFP gene, important in sugar (fructose) metabolism, is expanded in macaques, possibly because of their high-fruit diet. So are genes for the olfactory receptor, cytochrome P450 (which degrades toxins), and CCL3L1-CCL4 (associated in humans with HIV susceptibility).

 

Immune genes are expanded in macaques, relative to all four great ape species. The macaque genome has 33 major histocompatibility genes, three times that of human. This has clinical significance because the macaque is used as an experimental model of the human immune system.

 

In humans, the preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) gene family is expanded. It is actively expressed in cancers, but normally is testis-specific, possibly involved in spermatogenesis. The PRAME family has 26 members on human chromosome 1. In the macaque, it has eight, and has been very simple and stable for millions of years. The PRAME family arose in translocations in the common mouse-primate ancestor 85 million years ago, and is expanded on mouse chromosome 4.

 

DNA microarrays are used in macaque research. For example, Michael Katze of University of Washington, Seattle, infected macaques with 1918 and modern influenzas. The DNA microarray showed the macaque genomic response to human influenza on a cellular level in each tissue. Both viruses stimulated innate immune system inflammation, but the 1918 flu stimulated stronger and more persistent inflammation, causing extensive tissue damage, and it did not stimulate the interferon-1 pathway. The DNA response showed a transition from innate to adaptive immune response over seven days.[43][44]

 

The full sequence and annotation of the Macaque genome is available on the Ensembl genome browser.

If you have a busy schedule and no time for the gym? Try these home workout routine in which combines of various exercises & fitness tips that will help you to get slim & trim body within 45 days and maximize your fitness level. To get more details visit here, www.mp45.com/women/

Reba likes to stretch out...

Tonye Cole, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sahara Group, Nigeria at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 19, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Christian Clavadetscher

Tuesday, May 17th, 2016

Fortune Brainstorm E

9:00 AM

 

THE ZERO ENERGY CITY

San Diego has become the first major American city to pass a law to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030. Other cities have ambitious programs to apply the Internet of things and big data to cut carbon, relieve traffic congestion and air pollution, and generally make our cities more livable. Tens of billions of devices and systems are connecting online, allowing revolutionary changes to how things are done, from improving traffic flows, to boosting building efficiency and maximizing water use, to mention just a few. Some say this is a trillion-dollar opportunity. Who will the players be, and which applications show the most promise? What works?

 

Glenn Lurie, President and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Operations

Bill Ritter, Founder and Director, Center for the New Energy Economy, Colorado State University

Eric Spiegel, President and CEO, Siemens USA

Moderator: Andrew Shapiro, Founder and Partner, Broadscale Group

 

Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune Brainstorm E

Spaceflight (or space flight) is ballistic flight into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft with or without humans on board. Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union was the first human to conduct a spaceflight. Examples of human spaceflight include the U.S. Apollo Moon landing and Space Shuttle programs and the Russian Soyuz program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station. Examples of unmanned spaceflight include space probes that leave Earth orbit, as well as satellites in orbit around Earth, such as communications satellites. These operate either by telerobotic control or are fully autonomous.

 

Spaceflight is used in space exploration, and also in commercial activities like space tourism and satellite telecommunications. Additional non-commercial uses of spaceflight include space observatories, reconnaissance satellites and other Earth observation satellites.

 

A spaceflight typically begins with a rocket launch, which provides the initial thrust to overcome the force of gravity and propels the spacecraft from the surface of the Earth. Once in space, the motion of a spacecraft – both when unpropelled and when under propulsion – is covered by the area of study called astrodynamics. Some spacecraft remain in space indefinitely, some disintegrate during atmospheric reentry, and others reach a planetary or lunar surface for landing or impact.

  

History

Main articles: History of spaceflight and Timeline of spaceflight

Tsiolkovsky, early space theorist

 

The first theoretical proposal of space travel using rockets was published by Scottish astronomer and mathematician William Leitch, in an 1861 essay "A Journey Through Space".[1] More well-known (though not widely outside Russia) is Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's work, "Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами" (The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices), published in 1903.

 

Spaceflight became an engineering possibility with the work of Robert H. Goddard's publication in 1919 of his paper A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. His application of the de Laval nozzle to liquid fuel rockets improved efficiency enough for interplanetary travel to become possible. He also proved in the laboratory that rockets would work in the vacuum of space;[specify] nonetheless, his work was not taken seriously by the public. His attempt to secure an Army contract for a rocket-propelled weapon in the first World War was defeated by the November 11, 1918 armistice with Germany. Working with private financial support, he was the first to launch a liquid-fueled rocket in 1926. Goddard's paper was highly influential on Hermann Oberth, who in turn influenced Wernher von Braun. Von Braun became the first to produce modern rockets as guided weapons, employed by Adolf Hitler. Von Braun's V-2 was the first rocket to reach space, at an altitude of 189 kilometers (102 nautical miles) on a June 1944 test flight.[2]

 

Tsiolkovsky's rocketry work was not fully appreciated in his lifetime, but he influenced Sergey Korolev, who became the Soviet Union's chief rocket designer under Joseph Stalin, to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles to carry nuclear weapons as a counter measure to United States bomber planes. Derivatives of Korolev's R-7 Semyorka missiles were used to launch the world's first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957, and later the first human to orbit the Earth, Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1, on April 12, 1961.[3]

 

At the end of World War II, von Braun and most of his rocket team surrendered to the United States, and were expatriated to work on American missiles at what became the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. This work on missiles such as Juno I and Atlas enabled launch of the first US satellite Explorer 1 on February 1, 1958, and the first American in orbit, John Glenn in Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962. As director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, Von Braun oversaw development of a larger class of rocket called Saturn, which allowed the US to send the first two humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, to the Moon and back on Apollo 11 in July 1969. Over the same period, the Soviet Union secretly tried but failed to develop the N1 rocket to give them the capability to land one person on the Moon.

Phases

Launch

Main article: Rocket launch

See also: List of space launch system designs

 

Rockets are the only means currently capable of reaching orbit or beyond. Other non-rocket spacelaunch technologies have yet to be built, or remain short of orbital speeds. A rocket launch for a spaceflight usually starts from a spaceport (cosmodrome), which may be equipped with launch complexes and launch pads for vertical rocket launches, and runways for takeoff and landing of carrier airplanes and winged spacecraft. Spaceports are situated well away from human habitation for noise and safety reasons. ICBMs have various special launching facilities.

 

A launch is often restricted to certain launch windows. These windows depend upon the position of celestial bodies and orbits relative to the launch site. The biggest influence is often the rotation of the Earth itself. Once launched, orbits are normally located within relatively constant flat planes at a fixed angle to the axis of the Earth, and the Earth rotates within this orbit.

 

A launch pad is a fixed structure designed to dispatch airborne vehicles. It generally consists of a launch tower and flame trench. It is surrounded by equipment used to erect, fuel, and maintain launch vehicles. Before launch, the rocket can weigh many hundreds of tonnes. The Space Shuttle Columbia, on STS-1, weighed 2,030 tonnes (4,480,000 lb) at take off.

Reaching space

 

The most commonly used definition of outer space is everything beyond the Kármán line, which is 100 kilometers (62 mi) above the Earth's surface. The United States sometimes defines outer space as everything beyond 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.

 

Rockets are the only currently practical means of reaching space. Conventional airplane engines cannot reach space due to the lack of oxygen. Rocket engines expel propellant to provide forward thrust that generates enough delta-v (change in velocity) to reach orbit.

 

For manned launch systems launch escape systems are frequently fitted to allow astronauts to escape in the case of emergency.

Alternatives

Main article: Non-rocket spacelaunch

 

Many ways to reach space other than rockets have been proposed. Ideas such as the space elevator, and momentum exchange tethers like rotovators or skyhooks require new materials much stronger than any currently known. Electromagnetic launchers such as launch loops might be feasible with current technology. Other ideas include rocket assisted aircraft/spaceplanes such as Reaction Engines Skylon (currently in early stage development), scramjet powered spaceplanes, and RBCC powered spaceplanes. Gun launch has been proposed for cargo.

Leaving orbit

 

This section possibly contains original research. Relevant discussion may be found on Talk:Spaceflight. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Main articles: Escape velocity and Parking orbit

Launched in 1959, Luna 1 was the first known man-made object to achieve escape velocity from the Earth.[4] (replica pictured)

 

Achieving a closed orbit is not essential to lunar and interplanetary voyages. Early Russian space vehicles successfully achieved very high altitudes without going into orbit. NASA considered launching Apollo missions directly into lunar trajectories but adopted the strategy of first entering a temporary parking orbit and then performing a separate burn several orbits later onto a lunar trajectory. This costs additional propellant because the parking orbit perigee must be high enough to prevent reentry while direct injection can have an arbitrarily low perigee because it will never be reached.

 

However, the parking orbit approach greatly simplified Apollo mission planning in several important ways. It substantially widened the allowable launch windows, increasing the chance of a successful launch despite minor technical problems during the countdown. The parking orbit was a stable "mission plateau" that gave the crew and controllers several hours to thoroughly check out the spacecraft after the stresses of launch before committing it to a long lunar flight; the crew could quickly return to Earth, if necessary, or an alternate Earth-orbital mission could be conducted. The parking orbit also enabled translunar trajectories that avoided the densest parts of the Van Allen radiation belts.

 

Apollo missions minimized the performance penalty of the parking orbit by keeping its altitude as low as possible. For example, Apollo 15 used an unusually low parking orbit (even for Apollo) of 92.5 nmi by 91.5 nmi (171 km by 169 km) where there was significant atmospheric drag. But it was partially overcome by continuous venting of hydrogen from the third stage of the Saturn V, and was in any event tolerable for the short stay.

 

Robotic missions do not require an abort capability or radiation minimization, and because modern launchers routinely meet "instantaneous" launch windows, space probes to the Moon and other planets generally use direct injection to maximize performance. Although some might coast briefly during the launch sequence, they do not complete one or more full parking orbits before the burn that injects them onto an Earth escape trajectory.

 

Note that the escape velocity from a celestial body decreases with altitude above that body. However, it is more fuel-efficient for a craft to burn its fuel as close to the ground as possible; see Oberth effect and reference.[5] This is another way to explain the performance penalty associated with establishing the safe perigee of a parking orbit.

 

Plans for future crewed interplanetary spaceflight missions often include final vehicle assembly in Earth orbit, such as NASA's Project Orion and Russia's Kliper/Parom tandem.

Astrodynamics

Main article: Orbital mechanics

 

Astrodynamics is the study of spacecraft trajectories, particularly as they relate to gravitational and propulsion effects. Astrodynamics allows for a spacecraft to arrive at its destination at the correct time without excessive propellant use. An orbital maneuvering system may be needed to maintain or change orbits.

 

Non-rocket orbital propulsion methods include solar sails, magnetic sails, plasma-bubble magnetic systems, and using gravitational slingshot effects.

Ionized gas trail from Shuttle reentry

Recovery of Discoverer 14 return capsule by a C-119 airplane

Transfer energy

 

The term "transfer energy" means the total amount of energy imparted by a rocket stage to its payload. This can be the energy imparted by a first stage of a launch vehicle to an upper stage plus payload, or by an upper stage or spacecraft kick motor to a spacecraft.[6][7]

Reentry

Main article: Atmospheric reentry

 

Vehicles in orbit have large amounts of kinetic energy. This energy must be discarded if the vehicle is to land safely without vaporizing in the atmosphere. Typically this process requires special methods to protect against aerodynamic heating. The theory behind reentry was developed by Harry Julian Allen. Based on this theory, reentry vehicles present blunt shapes to the atmosphere for reentry. Blunt shapes mean that less than 1% of the kinetic energy ends up as heat that reaches the vehicle, and the remainder heats up the atmosphere.

Landing

 

The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules all splashed down in the sea. These capsules were designed to land at relatively low speeds with the help of a parachute. Russian capsules for Soyuz make use of a big parachute and braking rockets to touch down on land. The Space Shuttle glided to a touchdown like a plane.

Recovery

 

After a successful landing the spacecraft, its occupants and cargo can be recovered. In some cases, recovery has occurred before landing: while a spacecraft is still descending on its parachute, it can be snagged by a specially designed aircraft. This mid-air retrieval technique was used to recover the film canisters from the Corona spy satellites.

Types

Uncrewed

See also: Uncrewed spacecraft and robotic spacecraft

Sojourner takes its Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measurement of Yogi Rock on Mars

The MESSENGER spacecraft at Mercury (artist's interpretation)

 

Uncrewed spaceflight (or unmanned) is all spaceflight activity without a necessary human presence in space. This includes all space probes, satellites and robotic spacecraft and missions. Uncrewed spaceflight is the opposite of manned spaceflight, which is usually called human spaceflight. Subcategories of uncrewed spaceflight are "robotic spacecraft" (objects) and "robotic space missions" (activities). A robotic spacecraft is an uncrewed spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe.

 

Uncrewed space missions use remote-controlled spacecraft. The first uncrewed space mission was Sputnik I, launched October 4, 1957 to orbit the Earth. Space missions where other animals but no humans are on-board are considered uncrewed missions.

Benefits

 

Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to lower cost and lower risk factors. In addition, some planetary destinations such as Venus or the vicinity of Jupiter are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology, so telerobotic probes are the only way to explore them. Telerobotics also allows exploration of regions that are vulnerable to contamination by Earth micro-organisms since spacecraft can be sterilized. Humans can not be sterilized in the same way as a spaceship, as they coexist with numerous micro-organisms, and these micro-organisms are also hard to contain within a spaceship or spacesuit.

Telepresence

 

Telerobotics becomes telepresence when the time delay is short enough to permit control of the spacecraft in close to real time by humans. Even the two seconds light speed delay for the Moon is too far away for telepresence exploration from Earth. The L1 and L2 positions permit 400-millisecond round trip delays, which is just close enough for telepresence operation. Telepresence has also been suggested as a way to repair satellites in Earth orbit from Earth. The Exploration Telerobotics Symposium in 2012 explored this and other topics.[8]

Human

Main article: Human spaceflight

ISS crew member stores samples

 

The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, on which cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin of the USSR made one orbit around the Earth. In official Soviet documents, there is no mention of the fact that Gagarin parachuted the final seven miles.[9] Currently, the only spacecraft regularly used for human spaceflight are the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft. The U.S. Space Shuttle fleet operated from April 1981 until July 2011. SpaceShipOne has conducted two human suborbital spaceflights.

Sub-orbital

Main article: Sub-orbital spaceflight

The International Space Station in Earth orbit after a visit from the crew of STS-119

 

On a sub-orbital spaceflight the spacecraft reaches space and then returns to the atmosphere after following a (primarily) ballistic trajectory. This is usually because of insufficient specific orbital energy, in which case a suborbital flight will last only a few minutes, but it is also possible for an object with enough energy for an orbit to have a trajectory that intersects the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes after many hours. Pioneer 1 was NASA's first space probe intended to reach the Moon. A partial failure caused it to instead follow a suborbital trajectory to an altitude of 113,854 kilometers (70,746 mi) before reentering the Earth's atmosphere 43 hours after launch.

 

The most generally recognized boundary of space is the Kármán line 100 km above sea level. (NASA alternatively defines an astronaut as someone who has flown more than 50 miles (80 km) above sea level.) It is not generally recognized by the public that the increase in potential energy required to pass the Kármán line is only about 3% of the orbital energy (potential plus kinetic energy) required by the lowest possible Earth orbit (a circular orbit just above the Kármán line.) In other words, it is far easier to reach space than to stay there. On May 17, 2004, Civilian Space eXploration Team launched the GoFast Rocket on a suborbital flight, the first amateur spaceflight. On June 21, 2004, SpaceShipOne was used for the first privately funded human spaceflight.

Point-to-point

 

Point-to-point is a category of sub-orbital spaceflight in which a spacecraft provides rapid transport between two terrestrial locations. Consider a conventional airline route between London and Sydney, a flight that normally lasts over twenty hours. With point-to-point suborbital travel the same route could be traversed in less than one hour.[10] While no company offers this type of transportation today, SpaceX has revealed plans to do so as early as the 2020s using its BFR vehicle.[11] Suborbital spaceflight over an intercontinental distance requires a vehicle velocity that is only a little lower than the velocity required to reach low Earth orbit.[12] If rockets are used, the size of the rocket relative to the payload is similar to an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Any intercontinental spaceflight has to surmount problems of heating during atmosphere re-entry that are nearly as large as those faced by orbital spaceflight.

Orbital

Main article: Orbital spaceflight

Apollo 6 heads into orbit

 

A minimal orbital spaceflight requires much higher velocities than a minimal sub-orbital flight, and so it is technologically much more challenging to achieve. To achieve orbital spaceflight, the tangential velocity around the Earth is as important as altitude. In order to perform a stable and lasting flight in space, the spacecraft must reach the minimal orbital speed required for a closed orbit.

Interplanetary

Main article: Interplanetary spaceflight

 

Interplanetary travel is travel between planets within a single planetary system. In practice, the use of the term is confined to travel between the planets of our Solar System.

Interstellar

Main article: Interstellar travel

 

Five spacecraft are currently leaving the Solar System on escape trajectories, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and New Horizons. The one farthest from the Sun is Voyager 1, which is more than 100 AU distant and is moving at 3.6 AU per year.[13] In comparison, Proxima Centauri, the closest star other than the Sun, is 267,000 AU distant. It will take Voyager 1 over 74,000 years to reach this distance. Vehicle designs using other techniques, such as nuclear pulse propulsion are likely to be able to reach the nearest star significantly faster. Another possibility that could allow for human interstellar spaceflight is to make use of time dilation, as this would make it possible for passengers in a fast-moving vehicle to travel further into the future while aging very little, in that their great speed slows down the rate of passage of on-board time. However, attaining such high speeds would still require the use of some new, advanced method of propulsion.

Intergalactic

Main article: Intergalactic travel

 

Intergalactic travel involves spaceflight between galaxies, and is considered much more technologically demanding than even interstellar travel and, by current engineering terms, is considered science fiction.

Spacecraft

Main article: Spacecraft

An Apollo Lunar Module on the lunar surface

 

Spacecraft are vehicles capable of controlling their trajectory through space.

 

The first 'true spacecraft' is sometimes said to be Apollo Lunar Module,[14] since this was the only manned vehicle to have been designed for, and operated only in space; and is notable for its non aerodynamic shape.

Propulsion

Main article: Spacecraft propulsion

 

Spacecraft today predominantly use rockets for propulsion, but other propulsion techniques such as ion drives are becoming more common, particularly for unmanned vehicles, and this can significantly reduce the vehicle's mass and increase its delta-v.

Launch systems

Main article: Launch vehicle

 

Launch systems are used to carry a payload from Earth's surface into outer space.

Expendable

Main article: Expendable launch system

 

Most current spaceflight uses multi-stage expendable launch systems to reach space.

 

Reusable

Main article: Reusable launch system

Ambox current red.svg

 

This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2019)

 

The first reusable spacecraft, the X-15, was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on July 19, 1963. The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, was launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, on April 12, 1981. During the Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which have flown in the atmosphere and five of which have flown in space. The Enterprise was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a Boeing 747 and gliding to deadstick landings at Edwards AFB, California. The first Space Shuttle to fly into space was the Columbia, followed by the Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The Endeavour was built to replace the Challenger, which was lost in January 1986. The Columbia broke up during reentry in February 2003.

 

The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition on mission STS-1

 

Columbia landing, concluding the STS-1 mission

 

Columbia launches again on STS-2

 

The first automatic partially reusable spacecraft was the Buran (Snowstorm), launched by the USSR on November 15, 1988, although it made only one flight. This spaceplane was designed for a crew and strongly resembled the US Space Shuttle, although its drop-off boosters used liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what would be the external tank in the American Shuttle. Lack of funding, complicated by the dissolution of the USSR, prevented any further flights of Buran.

 

Per the Vision for Space Exploration, the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 due mainly to its old age and high cost of the program reaching over a billion dollars per flight. The Shuttle's human transport role is to be replaced by the partially reusable Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) no later than 2021. The Shuttle's heavy cargo transport role is to be replaced by expendable rockets such as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) or a Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle.

 

Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne was a reusable suborbital spaceplane that carried pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the Ansari X Prize. The Spaceship Company has built its successor SpaceShipTwo. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by Virgin Galactic planned to begin reusable private spaceflight carrying paying passengers (space tourists) in 2008, but this was delayed due to an accident in the propulsion development.[15]

 

Challenges

Main article: Effect of spaceflight on the human body

Space disasters

Main article: Space accidents and incidents

 

All launch vehicles contain a huge amount of energy that is needed for some part of it to reach orbit. There is therefore some risk that this energy can be released prematurely and suddenly, with significant effects. When a Delta II rocket exploded 13 seconds after launch on January 17, 1997, there were reports of store windows 10 miles (16 km) away being broken by the blast.[16]

 

Space is a fairly predictable environment, but there are still risks of accidental depressurization and the potential failure of equipment, some of which may be very newly developed.

 

In 2004 the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety was established in the Netherlands to further international cooperation and scientific advancement in space systems safety.[17]

Weightlessness

Main article: Weightlessness

Astronauts on the ISS in weightless conditions. Michael Foale can be seen exercising in the foreground.

 

In a microgravity environment such as that provided by a spacecraft in orbit around the Earth, humans experience a sense of "weightlessness." Short-term exposure to microgravity causes space adaptation syndrome, a self-limiting nausea caused by derangement of the vestibular system. Long-term exposure causes multiple health issues. The most significant is bone loss, some of which is permanent, but microgravity also leads to significant deconditioning of muscular and cardiovascular tissues.

Radiation

 

Once above the atmosphere, radiation due to the Van Allen belts, solar radiation and cosmic radiation issues occur and increase. Further away from the Earth, solar flares can give a fatal radiation dose in minutes, and the health threat from cosmic radiation significantly increases the chances of cancer over a decade exposure or more.[18]

Life support

Main article: Life support system

 

In human spaceflight, the life support system is a group of devices that allow a human being to survive in outer space. NASA often uses the phrase Environmental Control and Life Support System or the acronym ECLSS when describing these systems for its human spaceflight missions.[19] The life support system may supply: air, water and food. It must also maintain the correct body temperature, an acceptable pressure on the body and deal with the body's waste products. Shielding against harmful external influences such as radiation and micro-meteorites may also be necessary. Components of the life support system are life-critical, and are designed and constructed using safety engineering techniques.

Space weather

Main article: Space weather

Aurora australis and Discovery, May 1991.

 

Space weather is the concept of changing environmental conditions in outer space. It is distinct from the concept of weather within a planetary atmosphere, and deals with phenomena involving ambient plasma, magnetic fields, radiation and other matter in space (generally close to Earth but also in interplanetary, and occasionally interstellar medium). "Space weather describes the conditions in space that affect Earth and its technological systems. Our space weather is a consequence of the behavior of the Sun, the nature of Earth's magnetic field, and our location in the Solar System."[20]

 

Space weather exerts a profound influence in several areas related to space exploration and development. Changing geomagnetic conditions can induce changes in atmospheric density causing the rapid degradation of spacecraft altitude in Low Earth orbit. Geomagnetic storms due to increased solar activity can potentially blind sensors aboard spacecraft, or interfere with on-board electronics. An understanding of space environmental conditions is also important in designing shielding and life support systems for manned spacecraft.

Environmental considerations

 

Rockets as a class are not inherently grossly polluting. However, some rockets use toxic propellants, and most vehicles use propellants that are not carbon neutral. Many solid rockets have chlorine in the form of perchlorate or other chemicals, and this can cause temporary local holes in the ozone layer. Re-entering spacecraft generate nitrates which also can temporarily impact the ozone layer. Most rockets are made of metals that can have an environmental impact during their construction.

 

In addition to the atmospheric effects there are effects on the near-Earth space environment. There is the possibility that orbit could become inaccessible for generations due to exponentially increasing space debris caused by spalling of satellites and vehicles (Kessler syndrome). Many launched vehicles today are therefore designed to be re-entered after use.

I must admit to initial surprise, and disappointment, on stepping into the exhibition room. The event was scheduled to open to the public at 9:00 a.m., and I was concerned that by arriving at 10:30 a.m. I would find the venue overcrowded.

 

My fears were unfounded. Instead, I found myself in a largely empty room with maybe a couple of dozen model cars arranged along a series of tables, leaving ample room to display each model to its fullest potential. At least, that's one way to look at it. Quite frankly, I was saddened to see such a scarcity of displays and an even lower number of visitors.

 

I had the distinct impression that I was perhaps the only person attending the event during the nearly two hours I lingered who was not either an exhibitor or a friend or family member of an exhibitor.

 

I failed to factor in "Hawaii time," however. Shortly after -- after -- my late arrival at 10:30 a.m. (remember, the event opened to the public at 9:00 a.m., and an hour earlier for exhibitors to set up), several more exhibitors showed up carrying cardboard boxes loaded with additional display pieces. Several of my favorite pieces in the show arrived nearly and hour after I showed up at the event as a mere spectator.

 

Having driven an hour from the North Shore to get here, I maximized my time by looking carefully at all the exhibits, and trying to take representative photographs of some of the modeling work. While the number of exhibits was smaller than expected, I must say that the quality of the workmanship exceeded my expectations. A number of different craftsmen (or women) had put together some impressively detailed model vehicles. There were fewer dioramas than I had hoped to see (in total: three), but they were each quite good. The military dioramas, in particular, were astonishingly detailed.

 

Photography was challenging due to the strongly greenish cast of the fluorescent lighting. Neither of the two "fluorescent" settings on my camera white balance were of much help in getting accurate lighting. I eventually settled on "auto white balance" and have attempted, with disappointing results, to color-correct after the fact.

 

I suppose Hawaii, with year-round good weather and expensive prices on hobby and craft supplies, is not the most conducive environment for scale modeling, whether it be kit building, railroading, or similar "indoor" pursuits. A local RC (radio control) club had a small display at this event. RC cars are popular in Hawaii as an outdoor hobby.

 

I was not entirely surprised by the age range of most of the participants. The "junior" category of displays was particularly sparse, with only two models on display when I arrived, and perhaps five by the time I left. Most of the attendees, other than a few kids running around and demonstrating practically no interest in the models, were between the ages of 30 and 70, I would estimate, with the most "interested" demographic appearing to fall between ages 35 and 60. Males outnumbered females easily ten to one or more, and the few women or girls in attendance appeared to be there with family members.

 

Is this age-group spread among scale modelers exclusive to Hawaii, or is model building in general falling out of favor with younger people? It has become an expensive hobby. It is a hobby which requires patience. It is a largely individual pursuit, unlike "Facebook-based" social networking activities or online gaming where interaction and immediate feedback are part of the experience. Some of the supplies, like glues and paints, have become so rampantly abused that they are kept under lock and key at the few shops which even bother to stock them anymore.

 

I found the entire experience both fascinating and ultimately somewhat depressing. It's sad to me that what should be a fun, lively event fails to attract interest or generate enthusiasm.

 

Despite the quiet, almost somber tone of the event, I found myself becoming quite excited, because among the models present, few though they were, I saw not one but two of my FAVORITE KITS OF ALL TIME on display at the show. First was a quasi-military model called "Rommel's Rod," which I built (badly) as a kid, and which as a kid I thought was the absolute coolest model car I had ever seen. Even more surprising and inspiring was seeing a Model-T Hot Rod called "The Black Widow." I remember "The Black Widow" as being the first model kit I ever saw. I remember watching my dad build that kit when I was perhaps five years old, far too young to build model cars myself. I talked to the guy who built "The Black Widow" that was on display at the show. He was the same guy who put together a beach scene diorama based on a modified "Beverly Hillbillies" jalopy.

 

This builder's enthusiasm inspired me, and that evening after returning home I spent some time online looking at model car kits. I was never much of a model car fan as a kid, preferring to build models of battleships, airplanes, and tanks. Still, I started looking at car kits, found a couple that looked like fun (at reasonable prices -- sorry, local vendors, but I can't pay $40 for a plastic model kit), and then... to my surprise, I was able to track down a model kit of "The Black Widow" online! I ordered one. We'll see if the enthusiasm lasts until it arrives.

 

I wonder where I can get plastic model cement?

 

Anyway, the display was small but interesting. Who knows, maybe I'll be a part of it next year, if it happens again.

 

Hawaii NNL Model Car Show, a non-competitive exhibition sponsored in part by Model Cars Magazine.

 

Ala Moana Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii.

13 March 2011

  

NNL, for the curious, stands for Nameless National Luminaries, and refers to scale-model car exhibitions which are non-juried and not judged. "Viewers' Choice" awards are sometimes offered. At the Hawaii show, attendees were invited to fill out a "non-ordered list" of ten favorite exhibits.

Maximize your green building potential!

#solar

#house #auspol

Maximize/full screen for better res.

name: Dawn Lagerstedt

school: Washington Elementary 4th and 5th Grade

town:Schiller Park

state: Illinois

Maximize your time, you don't have any to waste!

Maximize your return with Sole Source LLC. 20% annual return on investment. Check out: www.solesourcellc.biz/invest-now/

Maximize your browser window, then click the image to see it large.

 

Another Rotundiary Illusion. This image contains two diametrically-opposed polar panoramas.

 

A rotunda (round room) in a full 360x360-degrees.

Close-up of one of the two 200-year old Saguaros.

 

When Wild Burro Canyon was selected for the perfect hotel site, where balcony views of the Tortolita Mountains would be maximized, it was discovered that two majestic Saguaros, each estimated to be close to 200 years old, would have been lost. This was unacceptable to ownership. After three more months of analysis, the final solution was to simply shift the whole facility 25 feet. Today, as hotel guests behold the box canyon views from Ignite or CORE Kitchen and Wine Bar, they enjoy these two landmark cacti, which rise majestically overhead and stand in testament to the preservation of the High Sonoran Desert. “These cacti are sacred and add to our sense of place,” said Allan Federer, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain. “Guests gaze in awe and wonder at the desert’s version of a redwood, adding to the memories they will have of this beautiful property.”

-----------------------------------

 

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain

13900 North Dove Mountain Boulevard

Marana, Arizona

 

**In the Beginning**

 

In 1926, Missourian Eugene Cayton arrived in Tucson to improve his health. He acquired what was then known as Ruelas Canyon in the Tortolita Mountains and established the T Bench Bar Ranch. "Cush" Cayton built for his wife, Inez, a stone house atop one of the smaller peaks. The stone house is still there on top of the hill overlooking Dove Mountain Boulevard near the eighth and ninth holes of the Gallery Golf Club. The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain was developed by John MacMillan, majority owner of Palo Verde Partners and opened in 2003.

 

The Cayton’s ranched the land until 1984. In 1985 David Mehl’s Cottonwood Properties Inc. Acquired the 1,300 acres of desert land and thus began Mehl's vision of Dove Mountain as an upscale golf community. David Mehl and his late brother George founded Tucson-based Cottonwood Properties in 1972. Its purpose was to invest in and develop quality real estate in the Tucson, Arizona area. David Mehl graduated from the University of Arizona in 1972.

 

In the early 1980’s Cottonwood Properties was the master developer of the 790 acre Westin La Paloma resort community in the foothills of Tucson. The development consisted of the 487 room Westin La Paloma Resort & Hotel and the 27 hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. Cottonwood owned the hotel until 1988 when it sold the hotel to the Aoki Corp., the Japan-based construction company that owned Westin. Aoki spent $200 million to acquire 3 hotels - the Inter-Continental at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, the Inter-Continental at Buckhead in Atlanta, and an equity interest in the Westin La Paloma.

 

**Pygmy Owl**

 

In March 1997 the Pygmy Owl was added to the list of endangered species under federal law. In 1999 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service dealt a set-back to the development. Environmental protections for the ferruginous pygmy owl forced Cottonwood to scale back plans at Dove Mountain. The numbers of homes were scaled back from 13,000 to 6,500 and the numbers of proposed resorts were reduced to one from 3 or 4. Cottonwood also contributed several million dollars to a conservation fund managed by the federal agency.

 

In 1999 the Tucson Citizen quoted David Mehl ”By making density reductions, we are developing at a density compatible with the pygmy owl.. In areas where it’s not, then we’re offering to pay to make up for it.”

 

**The Development**

 

Cottonwood committed some twenty years of planning into making Dove Mountain a premiere golf resort community.

 

In the late 1990’s Cottonwood Properties partnered with Scottsdale-based Greenbrier Southwest Corp. and began planning a 500-room Hyatt resort hotel for Dove Mountain. The hotel was designed and the developers received a verbal commitment for the financing on Sept. 10, 2001. The next day, September 11, 2001, the world changed and the idea for the Hyatt Resort was shelved.

 

The principals of Greenbrier Southwest Corporation, Tim and Casey Bolinger, previously served with Woodbine Southwest Corporation in Phoenix from 1991-1998. They managed the planning, zoning, financing, development and marketing of the 730-acre Kierland master-planned community, including Kierland Commons and the Westin Kierland Resort.

 

Greenbrier Southwest developed a much smaller project – the Hidden Meadow Ranch in Greer, Arizona. Opened in 2002, the rustic ranch (transformed from a church youth camp) has 12 luxury cabins starting at $500 a night including meals.

 

In August 2007 a building permit was issued for a Ritz-Carlton resort and spa to be built in Dove Mountain in Marana. The building permit cost $309,643.10 and was applied for by Dove Mountain Hotel Co. LLC. Also, Tucson Water approved a water main extension, a 290,000-gallon reservoir and a booster station that would serve the proposed 250-room hotel.

 

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain and The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain were announced as the largest branded resort/residential community managed by the Ritz Carlton hotel company. The $160 million hotel will be the second Ritz-Carlton in Arizona, joining the The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix.

 

The Ritz Carlton press release announced that HKS Hill Glazier Architects of Palo Alto, California will design the hotel as a low-rise, four story building embracing the feel of the desert southwest. The main building of adobe block, straw-flecked stucco, clay tile and native stone will include 226 guest rooms and suites. Separate buildings nearby will feature 24 individual casita rooms and suites.

 

In addition a $60-million Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course with 27-holes was planned for a late 2008 opening. The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain now hosts the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship beginning in February 2009 (The PGA Tour has committed to The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain through the 2013 event). When George and David Mehl hired Nicklaus in 1983 to design the Westin La Polama Golf Course, it was Nicklaus’s 26th golf course on his design resume. With Dove Mountain completed Nicklaus has designed over 200 golf courses around the world.

 

**Grand Opening**

 

The Ritz Carlton’s pre-opening General Manager – Michael McMahon - aims to have the resort become the first in the Tucson area to achieve AAA's highest rating of five diamonds. Previously McMahon was General Manager The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples, Florida.

 

The hotel’s opening general manager was Allan Federer. In March 2011 Federer moved to the Ritz-Carlton Dubai as General Manager. Replacing Federer is Liam Doyle – who previously was general manager at the Sherbourne Dublin, Ireland and Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach.

 

The Ritz-Carlton Grand Opening Press Release reported that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was in attendance at the December 18, 2009 event. Speakers at the event included owner and developer David Mehl of Cottonwood Properties, senior vice president of operations for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., Hank Biddle, and The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain resort general manager, Allan Federer.

 

“This day is a landmark event not only for the town of Marana, but for the State of Arizona,” stated general manager Allan Federer. “Over twenty years ago, David and his brother George Mehl had a vision to build the finest resort in the country. All it took was the right partners and the perfect location. With the help of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. and co-developer Greenbrier Southwest Corporation, it became a reality. Now the world has the opportunity to visit a place like no other, The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain.”

 

Following the official ribbon-cutting seventy-two white doves were released symbolizing the property as the 72nd within The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. portfolio.

 

At full operation the hotel has 450 employees. It has 44,000 square feet of meeting space including a 9,000 square foot main ballroom.

 

The hotel’s opening Chef de Cuisine was Joel Harrington. Harrington previously was chef de cuisine of Fearing's at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. Harrington graduated from CIA in Hyde Park, NY and worked with Marcus Samuellson at Aquavit in NYC.

 

Replacing Harrington is Chef David Serus who previously served as Executive Sous-Chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay and Executive Chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. Serus’ role encompass all hotel culinary activities, including those at CORE Kitchen & Wine Bar, Cayton’s Restaurant, Ignite Lobby Lounge, Turquesa Latin Grill, To Go, In-Room Dining, banquets, and catering.

 

**Two Landmark 200 Year Old Saguaros**

 

When Wild Burro Canyon was selected for the perfect hotel site, where balcony views of the Tortolita Mountains would be maximized, it was discovered that two majestic Saguaros, each estimated to be close to 200 years old, would have been lost. This was unacceptable to ownership. After three more months of analysis, the final solution was to simply shift the whole facility 25 feet. Today, as hotel guests behold the box canyon views from Ignite or CORE Kitchen and Wine Bar, they enjoy these two landmark cacti, which rise majestically overhead and stand in testament to the preservation of the High Sonoran Desert. “These cacti are sacred and add to our sense of place,” said Allan Federer, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain. “Guests gaze in awe and wonder at the desert’s version of a redwood, adding to the memories they will have of this beautiful property.”

 

Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

March, 2012

 

A Sandia team is collaborating with Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national labs and Intel Federal LLC to optimize DRAM packages, pictured here and found in many consumer laptops, to increase compute platform performance.

 

Learn more at bit.ly/3H1R4Wv

 

Photo by Craig Fritz.

Maximize your location to tell the story.

Model : Nadine.

 

Often we forget to also incorporate the location by only focussing on the model. By "mixing" the two together and adding some props. You can really enhance the shot.

  

Saturday : July 14

Workshop fashion to the max.

www.fotografie-workshops.nl

Regional agreement on maritime piracy to broaden scope to other illicit activity

 

An international agreement that has been instrumental in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden is set to significantly broaden its scope.

 

Signatories to the Djibouti Code of Conduct have agreed to work towards extending its remit to address other illicit maritime activity that threatens safety and security in the region, such as marine terrorism, environmental crimes, human trafficking and Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

 

National focal points for the code, which was adopted under the auspices of the IMO in 2009,

have adopted a resolution expressing concern at the increasing risks from transnational organized crimes at sea and other threats to maritime safety and security in the region. They agreed to encourage information sharing on all illicit activities.

 

Training and other capacity-building activities implemented under the auspices of the Djibouti Code of Conduct have been credited with contributing to the reduction of piracy in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, alongside the efforts of merchant ships to implement IMO guidance and best management practices, naval forces continuing to deter and disrupt pirate activities and States continuing to prosecute suspected pirates and increasing their maritime law-enforcement capabilities.

 

But the focal points recognized that piracy in the region has merely been suppressed and its root causes have yet to be addressed. They agreed that, nonetheless, there is now a window of opportunity for IMO Member States in the region to implement capacity-building programmes to prevent a resurgence of piracy and to address wider maritime security issues, as a basis for sustainable development of the maritime sector.

 

The focal points were meeting this week (11-12 November) in the newly-completed Djibouti Regional Training Centre, which was formally opened by Mr. Moussa Ahmed Hassan, Djibouti’s Minister of Equipment and Transport, on Thursday 12 November. The Djibouti Regional Training Centre will play a key role in regional capacity-building initiatives under the Code of Conduct.

  

IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, speaking by video message during the ceremony, encouraged the Government of Djibouti to be imaginative in its use of the new building and to be proactive in maximizing its potential, for the benefit of the whole region. The centre could be used as a venue for wider port, maritime, law-enforcement or indeed any other training, conferences and meetings, as well as being a centre of excellence for regional maritime security training, he said.

 

“This impressive new centre will be a vital component in the provision of maritime security and other training in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean area and fully supports IMO’s 2015 World Maritime Day theme: “Maritime education and training”. It should be an asset to Djibouti and to the region for many years to come,” Mr. Sekimizu said.

 

The national focal points meeting also approved the 2016 plan for regional training for Djibouti Code of Conduct countries.

 

Construction of the Djibouti Regional Training Centre was funded by Japan, through the Djibouti Code Trust Fund, with equipment provided by Denmark and the Republic of Korea.

 

IMO continues to support Member States to implement the Djibouti Code of Conduct through its Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) and through the Djibouti Code Trust Fund. It also maintains a presence in the region, focussed on the code, with two staff members based in Nairobi, Kenya, whose primary role is training.

 

The opening ceremony was also attended by Mr. Chris Trelawny, Special Advisor to the IMO Secretary-General; His Excellency Tatsuo Arai, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Djibouti; His Excellency Joseph Silva, European Union Ambassador to Djibouti, Mr. Hassan Darar Houffaneh, Minister of Defence of Djibouti; Mr. Ali Mirah Chehem Daoud, Director of Maritime Affairs of Djibouti; Ms. Mina Houssein Doualeh, Director of the Djibouti Regional Training Centre; as well as senior government officials from Djibouti. Also present were representatives from Somalia and from Djibouti Code of Conduct signatories, donor countries and international training partners.

 

Djibouti code of conduct

The Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden (the Djibouti Code of Conduct) provides a framework for capacity building in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean to counter the threat of piracy. The Code was signed on 29 January 2009 by the representatives of: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Somalia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen. Comoros, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have since signed, bringing the total to 20 countries. Since its adoption, the Code has become the major focus for facilitating transnational communication, coordination and cooperation in its four thematic broad pillars: delivering national and regional training, enhancing national legislation, information sharing and building counter-piracy capacity.

 

Mitch Barns, Chief Executive Officer, Nielsen, USA and Tonye Cole, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sahara Group,.Nigeria and Ilene S. Gordon, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer,.Ingredion, USA and Peter T. Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg, USA and Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, USA at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 19, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Christian Clavadetscher

Tonye Cole, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sahara Group, Nigeria at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 19, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Christian Clavadetscher

Making the most of your floor area. Seurasaari, Helsinki

Maximize your investment in high-speed continuous digital color printing. The Zero Speed Roll 40 automatically changes input rolls, thus eliminating printer stoppages for roll changes and keeping your printer running at full speed and full productivity.

 

Printer stoppages due to roll changeover can last up to fifteen minutes. With today’s fast printers running through a roll as quickly as one hour, percentage downtime due to roll changes can approach 25%. With the Zero Speed Splicer Roll 40, this percentage drops to zero. Significantly, the Roll 40 also virtually eliminates the lengthy paper waste associated with printer stoppages due to roll depletion.

 

Zero Speed Splicer Roll 40 offers a high degree of flexibility to your operation, accommodating a broad variation in paper weights in successive rolls, and even accommodating variation in successive roll widths. The web may be justified to the left, right or center, allowing the Roll 40 to work with varying digital production printers.

 

www.tecnau.com/product/splicer-roll-40/

Model: Rebeca Florêncio

Cliente: Alysson Lorena Design

Beauty and Hair: Rosângela Augusta

Fotografia e tratamento: Jackson Carvalho

www.artedigitalstudio.com.br

Maximizing the allowable building envelope. At Larch Street near Kitsilano Secondary School.

Maximize/full screen for better res.

Tara Schwetz, Acting Principal Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health

 

Susan Monarez, Acting Deputy Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)

 

Howard Fillit, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation

The back cover of the new social media book Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing by Neal Schaffer.

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 480th Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany participate in a training sortie with F-22 Raptors Sept. 9, 2015, over the United Kingdom. The U.S Air Force has deployed four F-22 Raptors, one C-17 Globemaster III, approximately 60 Airmen and associated equipment to Spangdahlem. The deployment will occur from Aug. 28 to mid-Sept. 2015. The inaugural F-22 training deployment to Europe is funded by the European Reassurance Initiative. The F-22s are deployed from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla. While these aircraft and Airmen are in Europe, they will conduct air training with other Europe-based aircraft. The F-22s will also forward deploy from Germany to maximize training opportunities while demonstrating our commitment to NATO allies and the security of Europe. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)

Underneath the desk surface are a couple of slide out drawers, as well as shelves on either side of the workstation. This is where the CPU, router, etc. sits, as well as the flatbed scanner.

It is that age when a simple quick run to go touch the gate makes you happy

Some of the attendees of the job search workshop. Taken right before I gave my talk about www.howigotmyjob.com, which was actually captured in video by Amelia Pauley Louden and will be uploaded at that website.

Tonye Cole, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sahara Group, Nigeria at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 19, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Christian Clavadetscher

Built in 1935-1939, this Modern house, an example of Organic Architecture, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the family of department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr. to serve as a weekend retreat. The house was a catalyst for the revitalization of Frank Lloyd Wright’s career, who was in his mid-60s at the time, along with two other commissions around the same time, the Johnson Wax Headquarters and the Jacobs House I, which were critically acclaimed and explored a bold new direction of organic architecture that was heavily inspired from their natural surroundings, and were streamlined, dropping most of the ornamental pretenses of his earlier work. The house was built for department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., his wife, Liliane Kaufmann, and their only son, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., to serve as the family’s weekend retreat, with room to accommodate a small staff and guests alongside the family. The Kaufmann family became acquainted with the work of Wright through Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., who read Frank Lloyd Wright’s autobiography in 1934, and was so impressed that he decided to intern at the Taliesin Fellowship, where Edgar, Sr. and Liliane first met Wright while visiting Edgar, Jr. The family, at the time, resided in a traditional-style mansion in Fox Chapel, near Pittsburgh, and had a small rustic cabin overlooking the waterfall at the Fallingwater site. The cabins were falling into disrepair in the mid-1930s, which prompted the Kaufmann family to contact Wright to design a replacement structure. Wright visited and surveyed the area around Bear Run in 1934, but shelved the project while pursuing other work for the next few months, thinking through the design, before being surprised by a visit from Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr. in September 1935, which prompted Wright to quickly draw a concept for a house at Bear Run, producing the initial design drawings in two hours. Edgar, Sr., upon seeing the plans, was surprised to see the house soaring above the waterfall, as he had expected it to sit below the falls in order to view them from a distance, but Wright’s charisma convinced a skeptical Kaufmann to buy into the concept.

 

The house was designed by Wright with input from structural engineers Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters to feature large cantilevers, which allowed it to embrace the waterfall and topography below, while providing ample outdoor space and the desired number of bedrooms and living spaces within. A second wing was constructed above the main house, linked to it via a covered breezeway, which houses a carport, servants quarters, and a guest suite. The stone utilized in the house’s construction was quarried on the site, and it utilized reinforced concrete in its construction, a building technique with which Wright was inexperienced, but which the design would be impossible to implement without utilizing. Kaufmann was skeptical of Wright’s experience with the technique, as well as the cantilevered forms of the structure, and commissioned an engineering report, compiled by an engineering firm, which caused Wright to threaten to walk away from the incomplete project. Kaufmann relented in the face of Wright’s ultimatum, and had the documents buried. However, the contractor, feeling uneasy about the strength of Wright’s design, added extra reinforcement in secret, which was revealed during the building’s restoration. Other changes were made due to skepticism of the cantilevered design, but many of these were reversed, which proved the resiliency and strength of the design. The house came in far over budget, but despite these cost overruns and complications with the design, the Kaufmann family enjoyed it as a weekend retreat between 1937 and 1963. Liliane Kaufmann died in 1952, and Edgar Kaufmann, Sr. died in 1955, leaving the house to their son, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., who continued to utilize the house as a weekend retreat, with his life partner, Paul Mayén, becoming a regular visitor to the house as well. In 1963, Edgar, Jr. donated the property to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, along with the surrounding property, which was converted into a nature reserve, and the house was opened for public tours.

 

The house features multiple reinforced concrete cantilevers, wrap-around windows facing the falls and Bear Run, open, transparent corners on the side of the building facing the creek, stone cladding on the more opaque portions of the facade, large terraces on the cantilevered portions of the building, open tread staircases inside and outside the building, red metal trim, a suspended concrete canopy over the breezeway connecting the guest wing and carport with the main house, a swimming pool on the terrace outside the guest wing, rocks embedded into the floors of the interior of the house, a staircase from the living room down to Bear Run below, and red concrete floors inside. A driveway, following Bear Run, crosses a bridge next to the main wing of the house before following a narrow corridor between the main wing and an adjacent stone outcropping, before turning and arriving at the upper wing, which originally housed a four-bay carport on the lower floor. The interior of the house is very open to the exterior, with low furnishings that allow for maximization of the views out of the windows, and is home to art that was collected by Liliane, books collected by Edgar, Jr. and Paul, and furnishings collected by Edgar, Sr. The house’s kitchen features yellow-painted metal cabinets and appliances, and chrome handles, the living room features a fireplace with a spherical beverage warmer that is designed to swing over to the fireplace from its storage location next to the fireplace and coffered ceilings, and horizontal bands of trim, and various portions of the house feature built-in desks, cabinets, wooden slat screens, and bookshelves, simple beds featuring wooden headboards and nightstands in the bedrooms, and bathrooms with cork tiles, sunken bathtubs, ceiling-mounted shower heads, and toilets with wall-embedded tanks. The upper wing of the house has a carport and guest suite on the lower floor, with servants quarters above, and the main house features a living room, dining room, kitchen, terraces and lounge on the first floor, a primary suite and secondary bedroom and bathroom with large terraces on the second floor, and a suite intended for Edgar, Jr. on the third floor, which was later partially converted into an office. The house is very broad in the direction parallel to Bear Run and has a living room that cantilevers over the creek, but it is very thin, being rather thin, with primary interior spaces featuring windows that look out onto Bear Run below. The house, despite its size appearing massive due to its spatial arrangement, has only a small interior square footage, but the space is efficiently designed to offer maximum utility to the occupants, and allow a close connection with nature.

 

The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It was designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, in 2019. A visitor center was constructed on the property in 1977-1979, designed by Paul Mayen. The most visible modification to the house since it was opened to the public were the enclosure of three carport bays to house a museum and presentation space for visitors. The house underwent major alterations to its structural systems in 1995-2002, involving analyzing the performance of the cantilevers over time since the house’s construction, as the bold cantilevered forms had insufficient reinforcement and had deflected substantially, nearing their failure points. Additional steel supports and post-tensioning in the form of steel cables were added to the building to support the cantilevers, which has halted the progression of the deflection of the structure, though it is monitored by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in order to detect any further movement of the structure. The house today sees over one-hundred thousand visitors annually, and is one of the most well-known works of Wright, as well as being one of the best-known houses in the United States.

Participants in the Nairobi Summit: Maximizing Impact of Women, Peace and Security Policies in Africa at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. The symposium was organized by the Institute for Inclusive Security and the University of Nairobi. (Pete Muller for the Institute for Inclusive Security)

In this picture: Jahanara is being stimulated.

 

CEID (Center for Early Intervention on Deafness)

CEID is an inclusive program that provides a wide range of exemplary services and supports for families to maximize the communication potential of children, from birth through age five, who are deaf, hard of hearing, and/or have severe speech and language delays.

CEID's philosophy believe in a "Total Communication" approach, which combines spoken English, hearing aids, and Signing Exact English (S.E.E.).

Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) is a sign language system in which signs and finger spelling represent the word order, grammar, and vocabulary of spoken and written English. It’s different than ASL (American Sign Language), which has it’s own grammar and syntax, as all sing languages.

Local: Berkeley, USA

 

CEID (Centro de Intervenção Precoce em Surdez)

CEID é um programa inclusivo que oferece apoio e serviços para famílias no intuito de melhorar o potencial de comunicação de crianças, – desde seu nascimento até a idade de 5 anos – surdas, com perda auditiva e ou com grave atraso na linguagem e fala.

A filosofia do Centro acredita na “Comunicação Total”, que combina inglês falado, uso de aparelhos auditivos e SEE (Signing Exact English).

S.E.E. é um sistema de língua de sinais no qual sinais e soletração através dos dedos e mãos representam a ordem das palavras, a gramática e o vocabulário exato do inglês falado e escrito. É, portanto, diferente da Língua de Sinais Americana, que possui gramática e sintaxe própria, como toda língua de sinais.

CAMP ZAMA, Japan - Hundreds of Soldiers, Airmen, civilians and their families from the Camp Zama community kicked off Army Birthday Week with sports, games and tournaments designed to build camaraderie and esprit de corps throughout U.S. Army Japan Command. For five days dozens of units from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force will compete in various challenges to test their cumulative strength, speed, endurance and dexterity. From team sports, golf scrambles and swim relays to bowling tournaments, relay races and free throw competitions, the Army Birthday Week events offer a variety of team competitions and individual contests that maximize appeal across the entire sports spectrum.

 

The “Not in My Squad” challenge offered the most unique competition appearing in this week’s lineup. Nine representatives from Camp Zama’s Army and Air Force units endured a series of physically draining events spread along a three-mile route. The teams worked together to carry five-gallon cans of water to each event where they performed various exercises comprising hundreds of pushups, situps, pullups, tire flips and kettle bell curls. The challenge concluded with a role-play scenario that tested the teams’ cumulative knowledge about how to handle a sexual harassment incident.

 

A unit that wins first place in a specific event earns five points, while second and third place finishes earn three and two points respectively. Every unit that participates in an event earns one point.

 

As of June 15, 2016, U.S. Army Aviation Battalion maintains the lead with 35 points. The 441st Military Intelligence Battalion holds second place with 29 points and Medical Department Activity-Japan pulled into third place with 27 points. U.S. Army Japan (USARJ) remains in fourth place with 23 points. Since Monday USARJ has earned third place in the soccer tournament, second place in the "Not in My Squad" challenge, and first place in the swim relay.

 

On Friday, June 17, all teams will convene at the Camp Zama High School sports complex to compete to foot races and cheer on their comrades in the annual tug-of-war bout and soccer match between the JGSDF’s Central Readiness Force U.S. service members stationed Camp Zama.

 

U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. John L. Carkeet IV, U.S. Army Japan

 

Zero to sexy

Peter T. Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg, USA at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 19, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Christian Clavadetscher

Built in 1935-1939, this Modern house, an example of Organic Architecture, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the family of department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr. to serve as a weekend retreat. The house was a catalyst for the revitalization of Frank Lloyd Wright’s career, who was in his mid-60s at the time, along with two other commissions around the same time, the Johnson Wax Headquarters and the Jacobs House I, which were critically acclaimed and explored a bold new direction of organic architecture that was heavily inspired from their natural surroundings, and were streamlined, dropping most of the ornamental pretenses of his earlier work. The house was built for department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., his wife, Liliane Kaufmann, and their only son, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., to serve as the family’s weekend retreat, with room to accommodate a small staff and guests alongside the family. The Kaufmann family became acquainted with the work of Wright through Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., who read Frank Lloyd Wright’s autobiography in 1934, and was so impressed that he decided to intern at the Taliesin Fellowship, where Edgar, Sr. and Liliane first met Wright while visiting Edgar, Jr. The family, at the time, resided in a traditional-style mansion in Fox Chapel, near Pittsburgh, and had a small rustic cabin overlooking the waterfall at the Fallingwater site. The cabins were falling into disrepair in the mid-1930s, which prompted the Kaufmann family to contact Wright to design a replacement structure. Wright visited and surveyed the area around Bear Run in 1934, but shelved the project while pursuing other work for the next few months, thinking through the design, before being surprised by a visit from Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr. in September 1935, which prompted Wright to quickly draw a concept for a house at Bear Run, producing the initial design drawings in two hours. Edgar, Sr., upon seeing the plans, was surprised to see the house soaring above the waterfall, as he had expected it to sit below the falls in order to view them from a distance, but Wright’s charisma convinced a skeptical Kaufmann to buy into the concept.

 

The house was designed by Wright with input from structural engineers Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters to feature large cantilevers, which allowed it to embrace the waterfall and topography below, while providing ample outdoor space and the desired number of bedrooms and living spaces within. A second wing was constructed above the main house, linked to it via a covered breezeway, which houses a carport, servants quarters, and a guest suite. The stone utilized in the house’s construction was quarried on the site, and it utilized reinforced concrete in its construction, a building technique with which Wright was inexperienced, but which the design would be impossible to implement without utilizing. Kaufmann was skeptical of Wright’s experience with the technique, as well as the cantilevered forms of the structure, and commissioned an engineering report, compiled by an engineering firm, which caused Wright to threaten to walk away from the incomplete project. Kaufmann relented in the face of Wright’s ultimatum, and had the documents buried. However, the contractor, feeling uneasy about the strength of Wright’s design, added extra reinforcement in secret, which was revealed during the building’s restoration. Other changes were made due to skepticism of the cantilevered design, but many of these were reversed, which proved the resiliency and strength of the design. The house came in far over budget, but despite these cost overruns and complications with the design, the Kaufmann family enjoyed it as a weekend retreat between 1937 and 1963. Liliane Kaufmann died in 1952, and Edgar Kaufmann, Sr. died in 1955, leaving the house to their son, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., who continued to utilize the house as a weekend retreat, with his life partner, Paul Mayén, becoming a regular visitor to the house as well. In 1963, Edgar, Jr. donated the property to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, along with the surrounding property, which was converted into a nature reserve, and the house was opened for public tours.

 

The house features multiple reinforced concrete cantilevers, wrap-around windows facing the falls and Bear Run, open, transparent corners on the side of the building facing the creek, stone cladding on the more opaque portions of the facade, large terraces on the cantilevered portions of the building, open tread staircases inside and outside the building, red metal trim, a suspended concrete canopy over the breezeway connecting the guest wing and carport with the main house, a swimming pool on the terrace outside the guest wing, rocks embedded into the floors of the interior of the house, a staircase from the living room down to Bear Run below, and red concrete floors inside. A driveway, following Bear Run, crosses a bridge next to the main wing of the house before following a narrow corridor between the main wing and an adjacent stone outcropping, before turning and arriving at the upper wing, which originally housed a four-bay carport on the lower floor. The interior of the house is very open to the exterior, with low furnishings that allow for maximization of the views out of the windows, and is home to art that was collected by Liliane, books collected by Edgar, Jr. and Paul, and furnishings collected by Edgar, Sr. The house’s kitchen features yellow-painted metal cabinets and appliances, and chrome handles, the living room features a fireplace with a spherical beverage warmer that is designed to swing over to the fireplace from its storage location next to the fireplace and coffered ceilings, and horizontal bands of trim, and various portions of the house feature built-in desks, cabinets, wooden slat screens, and bookshelves, simple beds featuring wooden headboards and nightstands in the bedrooms, and bathrooms with cork tiles, sunken bathtubs, ceiling-mounted shower heads, and toilets with wall-embedded tanks. The upper wing of the house has a carport and guest suite on the lower floor, with servants quarters above, and the main house features a living room, dining room, kitchen, terraces and lounge on the first floor, a primary suite and secondary bedroom and bathroom with large terraces on the second floor, and a suite intended for Edgar, Jr. on the third floor, which was later partially converted into an office. The house is very broad in the direction parallel to Bear Run and has a living room that cantilevers over the creek, but it is very thin, being rather thin, with primary interior spaces featuring windows that look out onto Bear Run below. The house, despite its size appearing massive due to its spatial arrangement, has only a small interior square footage, but the space is efficiently designed to offer maximum utility to the occupants, and allow a close connection with nature.

 

The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It was designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, in 2019. A visitor center was constructed on the property in 1977-1979, designed by Paul Mayen. The most visible modification to the house since it was opened to the public were the enclosure of three carport bays to house a museum and presentation space for visitors. The house underwent major alterations to its structural systems in 1995-2002, involving analyzing the performance of the cantilevers over time since the house’s construction, as the bold cantilevered forms had insufficient reinforcement and had deflected substantially, nearing their failure points. Additional steel supports and post-tensioning in the form of steel cables were added to the building to support the cantilevers, which has halted the progression of the deflection of the structure, though it is monitored by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in order to detect any further movement of the structure. The house today sees over one-hundred thousand visitors annually, and is one of the most well-known works of Wright, as well as being one of the best-known houses in the United States.

Participants in the Nairobi Summit: Maximizing Impact of Women, Peace and Security Policies in Africa at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. The symposium was organized by the Institute for Inclusive Security and the University of Nairobi. (Pete Muller for the Institute for Inclusive Security)

Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, USA at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 19, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Christian Clavadetscher

Ehrlich Architects is one of the hottest young firms on the architectural scene in Southern California. Founded in 1979, the firm has received eight National AIA awards and the 'Firm of the Year' Award in 2003 from the AIA California Council.

 

The 700 Palms Residence is a showcase of Ehrlich design. The wood-and-steel frame structure is designed for flexible use; a roll-down 'scrim' maximizes both light and privacy and maximizes the indoor/outdoor lifestyle most suitable to the balmy climate.

Please do not use this image in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved.

Mr. K Yepa of Jemez Pueblo delivers U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) USDA Foods for the Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos, Inc. (Five Sandoval) to homebound tribal members to those in the five Pueblos of Cochiti, Jemez, Sandia, Santa Ana and Zia and its surrounding tribal and non-tribal communities, on September 10, 2019. Today he is driving from the Pueblo of Isleta Assisted Living Facility Elder Center to a home a few miles away in the Isleta Pueblo, NM

  

For almost 50 years, Five Sandoval has enhanced the lives of tribal members through the important and longstanding services. Five Sandoval does this by sustaining and evolving their services and programs by offering employment, education, human and health services. The services are provided in such a manner that the values of tribal sovereignty, traditional culture, and community integrity are respected and preserved. Five Sandoval is proud to be a primary resource to the communities and are committed to partnering with both, tribal and non-tribal entities to maximize the opportunities for the people served. For more information, please see: fsipinc.org/about-five-sandoval

 

The Five Sandoval Food Distribution Program is a federal program that provides USDA food assistance to Native American and non-Native American households living on a reservation and to households living in designated areas near a reservation that contain at least one person who is a member of a federally recognized tribe. For more information, please see fsipinc.org/food-distribution, and click on the brochure link.

 

The USDA Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) provides USDA Foods to income-eligible households living on Indian reservations and to Native American households residing in designated areas near reservations or in Oklahoma. USDA distributes both food and administrative funds to participating Indian Tribal Organizations and state agencies to operate FDPIR. These Indian Tribal Organizations and state agencies determine applicant eligibility, distribute the foods, and provide nutrition education to recipients. For more information, please see fns.usda.gov/fdpir/fdpir-fact-sheet.

 

The FNS mission is to increase food security and reduce hunger by providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet and nutrition education in a way that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence. For more information, please see: fns.usda.gov

 

USDA Photos by Lance Cheung with permission of Five Sandoval and Pueblo of Isleta.

 

A Brief History of the Middletown Library Service Center

Description: Find out the history of the Middletown Library Service Center which just celebrated its 50th birthday.

 

Author: Mary Engels

Publisher: Connecticut State Library

Date Posted: Nov 16, 2005

 

The Middletown Library Service Center (MLSC) came into being 8 minutes before the 1955 legislature adjourned when a bill introduced in the House by Representative Helen Norton of Durham and in the Senate by Senator Edward S. Opalacz of Middletown was passed as a result of nearly a decade of lobbying by the Connecticut Library Association. The Governor signed the measure in July 1955 and the Bureau of Library Services (State Dept. of Education) at once set about finding a location and securing staff. The General Assembly also voted an appropriation of $80,000 for a two-year pilot program.

 

On October 1, when funds became available, the Staddle Hill School in Middletown was leased from the Middletown School Board. By then furniture had been ordered, and John W. Parker, Public Library Specialist and Eleanor A. Ferguson, Director had been hired. Mary Chiles from the Hartford office of the Bureau was transferred to Middletown and Mary Kavanagh completed the staff as cataloger.

 

November 20, 1955 was set for the official opening and attended by over 200 librarians and friends of libraries. Dorothy S. Hutton, Chairman of the State Board of Education, presided over the ceremony. According to Mrs. Hutton "Libraries in the service area will share on a voluntary basis a common pool of eventually over 12,000 or more good books selected on the basis of requests from the participating schools and libraries; readily available professional consultant services in both children's and adult activities; and training workshops for librarians, library trustees, teachers and school officials as requested. This is the program which, as a pilot project, will be tested during the next two years as a solution to Connecticut's urgent library needs. Success of this pilot project can mean that similar programs of intensified supplementary service may be made available to all communities in Connecticut."

 

The aim of the pilot program was fourfold. It sought to demonstrate that:

--Library service to small towns can be as adequate as that enjoyed by larger towns

--No person in a service area needs to be beyond reach of library service adequate for their needs

--Such a program of library service could be carried out at a cost reasonable to the taxpayer and to the state

--It would not replace or infringe upon the autonomy of any libraries in the area but be a workable solution to their problem of giving better service to their communities

 

Delivery of materials to 26 public libraries began on January 18,1956 with each library receiving 40 titles evenly divided between adult and juvenile. Deliveries to public schools began on February 29, 1956 with 25 titles taken to each of 38 schools. At that time MLSC's service area was Middlesex County plus Berlin, Rocky Hill, Marlborough, Glastonbury, Colchester and Salem. About 100,000 people lived within this service area. It was chosen for the first Center because there was already a strong tradition of library cooperation here, based on the existence of a swap group that began in the 1930's.

 

In addition to consultant services, three workshops were held that first year: book repair, children's books and weeding.

 

In October of 1957 the Service Center successfully completed its two-year demonstration period and became a permanent part of the Department of Education.

 

In 1961 the Service Center Advisory Board began exploring the possibility of moving to new quarters and in December of 1964 the Center moved into a new building at 786 South Main St., a building that was designed and built to be the Service Center and where MLSC still resides.

 

After moving to this current location book deliveries were discontinued and local library staff visited the Center to borrow bulk loans, attend workshops and meetings and take advantage of consultant advice. In 1965 the Service Center along with the rest of the Division of Library Development (DLD) moved from the State Department of Education to the State Library.

 

Gradually the use of the building changed as other state library services moved into the Center. In October of 1979 the Connecticar delivery service began operating from the Center and remained here until the summer of 2003 enabling Center materials not borrowed in bulk to be efficiently delivered to libraries.

 

During the 1970's as it fostered the professional development of library staff and services MLSC worked closely with the Cooperating Library Service Unit for this area providing workshops and consulting assistance. That cooperation, as part of DLD, with library organizations like the Connecticut Library Consortium and Connecticut Library Association continues through this day. Many projects and programs are done jointly among the organizations to the benefit of the library community.

 

The State Library's Film and Video Service was housed at the Center from 1981 until it's closing in 1991. Film and video expanded the formats that were offered to libraries beyond books, LP's, audiotapes, art prints, realia, sculpture and other materials that were considered cutting edge at that time. Once again the development of collections that may be costly (large print, unabridged audio, book props, Bi-Folkal kits) and in multiple formats (CD's, MP3 CD's, DVD's,) continues at the center in order to give local libraries the opportunity to expand their offerings to their customers at no cost to their town.

 

In 1996 the Connecticut Digital Library, now iConn moved its offices to the Center. Having this critical and very visible State Library service housed at MLSC has enhanced the Center's visibility and given the State Library both a virtual and physical presence in the library community.

 

A technology training facility opened in 1998 enhancing our continuing education offerings to the library community and bringing library staff into the Center from all types of libraries throughout the entire state with many different professional interests. The training center has expanded the awareness of the Service Center in the library community and brought our training capabilities into the 21st century.

 

Like the rest of the library community, technology has had a tremendous impact on Service Center operations. Automated circulation and catalog has enabled better resource sharing of the Center's materials. Our WebJunction presence makes information on our services as well as resources more readily accessible to library staff from their desktops.

 

Although technology and other enhancements have changed the look and size of our collections (now over 65,000 items) and our operations, the foundation upon which we were established in 1955 still guides us today. Our current goals are very similar to the aims set out for the Center in 1955:

-- To support the professional growth of library staff, trustees and Friends in an environment that offers consulting, networking, professional resources, and training.

-- To foster quality library service in Connecticut by providing professional development opportunities and resources.

-- To aid public libraries in ensuring that every resident of Connecticut has access to necessary library resources.

-- To provide necessary library materials to Connecticut's schools so that students have the resources they need to succeed.

-- To maximize local library funding through resource sharing.

These goals have helped make the Center what it is today and will continue to inspire Service Center in the future.

 

THE HISTORY IS USED WITH PERMISSION.

COPYRIGHT BY THE MIDDLETOWN LIBRARY SERVICE CENTER

Brand: Hot Wheels

Series: 1999 McDonald's 10/16

Livery: N/A

Scale: 1/64

Base: Black plastic - ©1999 Mattel

Collector/casting number: N/A

Country of manufacture: China

Place/date of purchase: Value Village 2020

Condition: Play worn 6/10

 

Remarks/comments:

Green Expo 2026 Photography Competition

 

Earlier this year, I decided to have a go at entering the Green Expo 2026 Photography Competition in Chester.

I submitted five images across the themes of The Natural World's Resilience and Progress to Net Zero. It was a really enjoyable challenge, particularly as some of the photographs featured solar panels, which required special permission to access and photograph.

I'm delighted to share that I was awarded 2026 Professional Photographer of the Year in the Progress to Net Zero category.

It was a real honour to have the winning images from all of the categories displayed outside Chester Cathedral. It's always rewarding to see your work exhibited in such an iconic location.

A huge thank you to the organisers, the judges, and everyone involved in making the competition such a success.

The winning image was taken from the roof of Storyhouse, looking across its solar panels towards Chester Cathedral.

 

For more information about Green Expo see their site:

greenexpo.uk

#ChesterCulture

Copyright (c) 2026 Mark Carline

  

Category: Progress to Net Zero (Energy, Innovation, and Reducing Waste)

Please state the photo's relevance to the North West and North Wales. (No more than 200 word, e.g. Its location, or of an innovation that could apply or is being used here.).

 

This photograph is firmly rooted in the North West, taken from the rooftop of Storyhouse, Chester’s premier cultural hub. Storyhouse is widely recognized across the region as a pioneering model for sustainable community spaces. The building itself is an award-winning example of regional urban innovation: a major retrofitting project that successfully transformed a defunct, 1930s Art Deco Odeon cinema into a thriving modern theatre, library, and cinema. The vast solar infrastructure captured in this image represents a critical step forward for urban centres throughout the North West and North Wales. It proves that energy-intensive, public-facing cultural institutions can radically reduce their reliance on the regional grid. By demonstrating how a large-scale, 312-panel photovoltaic array can be seamlessly integrated into a dense conservation area—with the historic towers of Chester Cathedral visible in the distance—this location stands as a shining beacon of municipal progress toward net zero.

 

Please tell us why you think your photo is relevant to the category you have chosen and the story behind the photo (max 200 words).

 

This image directly aligns with "Progress to Net Zero" because it documents the industrial-scale adoption of renewable energy within a busy urban environment. The story behind the photo centres on the hidden sustainability of our favourite public spaces. While thousands of visitors utilize Storyhouse daily, this massive clean-energy operation works silently overhead. The photograph captures rows of densely packed solar arrays stretching across the flat roof, showcasing the creative optimization of limited city space to maximize solar capture. What makes this photo relevant to the category is its powerful visual contrast: the cutting-edge, geometric lines of the modern solar panels are framed by the traditional brick chimneys and tiled rooftops of the surrounding historic city. It tells a story of ecological evolution, showing that a community venue dedicated to stories can rewrite its own environmental narrative—slashing carbon emissions and proving that a sustainable future can be built directly on top of our cultural past.

 

MaXimiZed interior for everyone to gather in. If you have to wait to get behind this thing and ride, you better be comfortable.

Designed to maximize the day-to-day activities of players, coaches and staff, the new Allen N. Reeves Football Complex elevates the Clemson University football program, and promotes the recruitment, training and development of student athletes with likely the most functional facility of its type in college or pro football. The building, designed by GMC's sports group and HOK, adjoins the indoor practice facility and outdoor practice fields, consolidating football operations into one complex. Clemson staff visited 36 similar faciltiies across the country and took the best parts from each and made them better. The 142,500-square-foot complex is the largest and most programmatically inclusive football-specific training facility in the nation. Knowing that this facility will serve as a home away from home for many of the users, the project provides amenities that allow the student-athletes to train, study and unwind in the same place. Features include 1.5 acres of outdoor leisure and entertainment space, state-of-the-art hydrotherapy, training, weight equipment and technology, a steam room and recovery room and a Gatorade fuel bar. The design maximizes adjacencies and functionality, with a centralized player concourse that allows coaches and athletes to move efficiently through their routines and better utilize valuable practice and training time. The concourse is connected to the lobby through a slide, bringing Coach Swinney’s focus on fun to the forefront in the design. The multiple atriums in teh facility keep the coaches on the second floor in constant contact with players on the first floor. The complex also features miniature golf, bowling, a movie theater, gaming lounge and basketball, volleyball and bocce ball courts, giving players an opportunity for some friendly competition. Compelling graphics and displays throughout the facility celebrate the team’s storied history and reflect the Clemson spirit, including a scale replica of Memorial Stadium’s famous Hill and Howard’s Rock. Of course the home of the national champions would not be complete without a prominent spot to display their trophies including the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship trophy, which sits proudly in the main atrium. The project is targeting LEED Silver certification.

 

Goodwyn Mills Cawood

www.gmcnetwork.com

In many cases space is limited. Work with Tuff Shed to maximize the use of your building. In the pictured building not an inch went to waste in this wall. This building contains a full sealed partition allowing for linen storage on one side and chemical storage on the other.

The last 5 or 6 trucks have all used different hinge systems. I've slowly been experimenting to find better designs. The goal of this one was to maximize interior space, however it doesn't look great when the doors are open.