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Replicating the efforts of Stratford Depot, the GreaterAnglia 90 has been decorated with Union Flag, Silver Roof, and named 'Diamond Jubilee'.
Seen underneath the canopy at Liverpool Street, the formation will work the 12:00 to Norwich, with a Mk3b DVT on the far end.
The application of the Union Flag on the Great Eastern started with Stratford decorating two Class 47s for the Silver Jubilee (when I was only very young!!), and Anglia / CrownPoint continued the tradition with 86227 for the Golden Jubilee ( www.flickr.com/photos/steam60163/5554778131/in/set-721576... ).
At Biggin Hill Memorial Museum with a replicate of Spitfire QJ-K, the machine flown by Geoffrey Wellum in The Battle of Britain.
Geoffrey Wellum was born on 4th August 1921 and joined the RAF on a short service commission in August 1939. When his training was completed in May 1940 he was posted to No 92 (East India) Squadron, where his age and youthful looks earned him the nickname ‘Boy’.
During the Battle of Britain Geoffrey was officially credited with three enemy aircraft destroyed, four probably destroyed and several damaged.
He was awarded the DFC in July 1941 and in August was posted to 52 OTU, Aston Down, as an instructor. In March 1942 he became a Flight Commander with 65 Squadron at Debden and flew numerous fighter sweeps over enemy territory.
He was posted to Malta in August 1942, leading eight Spitfires off HMS Furious to Luqa. After arriving in Malta he suffered severe combat fatigue resulting in emotional and physical breakdown. He was still only 21 years old.
After returning to the UK and recovering, he became a test pilot at Gloster Aircraft, testing Hawker Typhoons, and later became a gunnery instructor until the end of the war. He retired from the RAF in 1961, as a Squadron Leader, to take up a position with a firm of commodity brokers in the City of London, until his retirement to Cornwall where he lived until his death, 18th July 2018.
“The Eye Moment photos by Nolan H. Rhodes”
“Theeyeofthemoment21@gmail.com”
“www.flickr.com/photos/the_eye_of_the_moment”
“Any users, found to replicate, reproduce, circulate, distribute, download, manipulate or otherwise use my images without my written consent will be in breach of copyright laws.”
Acrylic marker and ink on paper 4.75" x 6.75" March 6, 2025. www.saatchiart.com/en-jp/art/Drawing-Self-replicating-Sur...
Highsmith, Carol M.,, 1946-, photographer.
American photographer Carol M. Highsmith, replicating, as well as possible, a pose at Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming by pioneer photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston, who inspired Highsmith's career
2015-09-14.
1 photograph : digital, tiff file, color.
Notes:
Title, date and keywords based on information provided by the photographer.
Though best known for her images of antebellum mansions and other scenes of the American South, Johnston had visited Yellowstone Park, where where posed below a rock outcropping for a photo (see LC-USZ62-120449), likely taken by her chauffeur; Johnston never learned to drive. With the help of National Park Service rangers on her own photo expedition to the park in 2015, Highsmith found the exact spot of the Johnston portrait and, in tribute, stopped to replicate the photo beneath the same outcropping. The ledge on which Johnston had posed had long ago been removed to make room for the steep wooden staircase down to the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.
Credit line: Gates Frontiers Fund Wyoming Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Gift; Gates Frontiers Fund; 2015; (DLC/PP-2015:069).
Forms part of: Gates Frontiers Fund Wyoming Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.
Subjects:
America--Frances Benjamin Johnston
United States--Wyoming--Yellowstone National Park.
Format: Digital photographs--Color--2010-2020.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Part Of: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946- Carol M. Highsmith Archive. (DLC) 00650024
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.35394
Call Number: LC-DIG-highsm- 35394
In replicating this fifth-gen stealth fighter, I was aiming for:
– Smooth: nearly studless in form.
– Integrated: packing in a host of features.
– Fresh: incorporating new pieces and techniques.
and of course, purist! (at least, for now; I may experiment with designing some Marine Corps liveries on waterslide decals for mere aesthetic decoration that denotes the squadron affiliation…)
The 1:40 scale replica includes:
– Opening cockpit that holds pilot, control panel, and joystick
– Hidden weapon bays in fuselage for stealth missions
– Optional exterior loadout for air-to-ground attacks
– Retracting landing gear that supports the model
– Opening flaps, rotating fan blades, and tilting vector nozzle for VTOL
– Stable Technic display stand and brick-built name plaque.
This is the first MOC I’ve finished in about five years (during which I completed my university degree, got my full-time career job, moved out, got married, and a few other things), after working on it off-and-on for at least three years. [The real-life aircraft has suffered from its own extensive delays in design / production, so I guess it could be worse where my LEGO one is concerned. XD]
A big thank-you to everyone who has inspired me along the way, including special acknowledgements to AFOL friends like the Chiles family and Eli Willsea for helping rekindle my joy in the hobby; Brickmania, for showing me a few new hinge techniques that I incorporated during these last few months of the design process; and especially my lovely wife Natalie who, bless her heart, has allowed the dining room of our tiny apartment to serve as my building studio and encouraged me to use it more often as such!
Let me know what you guys think!
I was quite taken with a photo I took yesterday and decided to try to replicate it, even though I don't think this angle is quite my best. ;)
(article from the - Invermere Valley Echo newspaper, December 23, 2015) - Peterborough (now called Wilmer) quickly became a boom town as prospectors, eager to replicate Delphine’s success, flooded in and mines were established, with some lasting decades. The silver rush spread to other parts of the Kootenay region, creating other booms towns in Argenta, New Denver and, eventually the biggest find of all, the Sullivan Mine near Kimberley. The silver rush was at its height at about the same time the community changed its name, in 1902. Apparently having a small town called Peterborough in B.C. while at the same time having a larger town also called Peterborough in Ontario was cause for confusion in the Canadian postal system, so the postmistresses in Peterborough, B.C. was asked to come up with a new name for her community. At that time, everything, including the mail, came up-river from Golden on paddlewheel steamers. The mail got unloaded at Athalmer, which was called Salmon Flats then, and the postman would pick it up and bring it up to Peterborough. The postman’s name was Wilmer, so they would write Wilmer on all the mail going to Peterborough,” said Al. “So the postmistress decided just to rename the town Wilmer. That’s how Wilmer got its name. LINK to the complete article (Page A14 to A15) - issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20151223044552666 another version on why Wilmer was chosen - The settlement, originally Peterborough, was changed in 1902 to honour Wilmer Wells provincial Minister of Public Works.
(from - Wrigley's 1918 British Columbia Directory) - WILMER - a post office and mining town on west bank of Columbia River, 70 miles south of Golden, and 4 north of Windermere Lake, in Columbia Provincial Electoral District. It was named after Wilmer Cleveland Wells (1840-1933) a rancher and lumberman who founded the place in the late 1890's.
The highest temperature officially recorded in Canada was at Wilmer, British Columbia: 115º F on - 19 June 1911.
The "PETERBOROUGH" Post Office was established - 1 May 1900; name changed to "WILMER" Post Office - 1 May 1902, possibly as required by Post Office Department, to avoid duplication with the much larger community of Peterborough, Ontario. A 1907 Marriage Licence was issued at Peterborough (BC Archives), but by WW I the community was well known as Wilmer. The WILMER Post Office closed - 19 March 1969.
Distributing point - Cranbrook and Golden
LINK to a list of the Postmasters who served at the PETERBOROUGH and WILMER Post Offices - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/...;
- arrival - / PETERBOROUGH / JUL 24 / (0)1 / B.C. / - split ring arrival backstamp - this split ring hammer (A1-1) was not listed in the Proof Book - it was most likely proofed c. 1900 - (RF E - now is classified as RF E3).
Addressed to: R. R. Bruce Esqr. / Peterborough / East Kootenay / B.C. /
Robert Randolph Bruce, who had arrived in the valley in 1885, established the Columbia Valley Irrigated Fruitlands Co. in 1911, which drew hundreds of gentlemen farmers from England and Scotland to the area with offers of low land prices and swift immigration. It was also Bruce who lobbied the provincial and federal governments for a highway to connect the valley with the east. Bruce’s determination to see the highway finished was rewarded in 1923 when the Banff-Windermere Highway was completed; meanwhile, the Kootenay Central Railroad had begun operating a regularly scheduled train service between Golden and Cranbrook in 1915. LINK to the complete article - www.cvchamber.ca/valley-history/
Robert Randolph Bruce (b. July 16, 1861 in Lhanbryde, Scotland — d. February 21, 1942 at age 80 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) was the 13th Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia from 1926 to 1931. Bruce was born in Scotland and educated at the University of Glasgow where he studied engineering. He emigrated to the United States in 1887 before arriving shortly afterward in Canada to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway surveying various new railway lines across the country. LINK to an article about R.R. Bruce - tobycreekadventures.com/history-of-the-paradise-mine/deve...
His occupations - engineer, mining proprietor
His profession - Politician, Diplomat
This photograph shows part of the lovely hotel we stayed in on Boa Vista, Cape Verde on our recent holiday.
“The Eye Moment photos by Nolan H. Rhodes”
“Theeyeofthemoment21@gmail.com”
“www.flickr.com/photos/the_eye_of_the_moment”
“Any users, found to replicate, reproduce, circulate, distribute, download, manipulate or otherwise use my images without my written consent will be in breach of copyright laws.”
Juneau, Alaska.
ABOUT THE BUILDING
Monumental Art
At the Walter Soboleff Building, all three tribal groups of the region are represented in monumental art made by some of the best artists of our time.
It is the largest installation of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian art in the state.
The huge, 40-foot panels on the exterior were designed by
Haida artist Robert Davidson, an internationally-celebrated
master artist whose numerous totem poles stand in sites in Canada and the United States and whose art is in the collections of many major museums.
The installation was based on his original painting “Greatest Echo,” which the artist donated to SHI’s Tináa Art Auction, a fundraiser for the building.
The design represents a supernatural being called the “Greatest Echo”—a theme chosen by Davidson because Dr. Walter Soboleff, the building’s namesake, “echoed the past to bring it to the present,” Davidson said. The design was replicated in metal, a medium recommended by the institute’s Native Artist Committee.
A GUIDE TO THE WALTER SOBOLEFF BUILDING, p. 9.
Copyright © 2015 Sealaska Heritage Institute
All rights reserved.
SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE
105 S. Seward St., Suite 201
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907.463.4844
=======================================================
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a Native nonprofit founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.
Its goals are to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. Sealaska Heritage also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide.
The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.
We offer numerous programs promoting Southeast Alaskan Native culture, including language and art.
We maintain a substantial archive of Southeast Alaskan Native ethnographic material.
We partner with local schools to promote academics and cultural education.
Biennially, we produce Celebration, one of Alaska's largest Native gatherings. We own and operate the Sealaska Heritage Store and curate cultural exhibits on the first floor of our headquarters in Juneau's landmark Walter Soboleff Building.
In 1996, scientists in Southeast Alaska discovered ancient human remains in a cave on Prince of Wales Island. DNA analysis and other testing proved he was a Native male and that the remains were at least 10,000 years old.
We named him Shuká Kaa (Man Before Us). For more than 10,000 years, we have been guided by ancient values that allowed our people to adapt to rapid cultural changes and to survive as a distinct cultural group. Today, we are seeking to integrate our cultural values into the institutions that directly serve our people. The values in Tlingit are:
Haa Aaní: Our Land: Honoring & Utilizing our Land (Haida: Íitl’ Tlagáa; Tsimshian: Na Laxyuubm)
Our ancestors, who have lived in this land for more than 10,000 years, taught us that everything has a Spirit. When we utilize our resources, we must acknowledge the Spirits of the Land, Sea and Air and tell them the benefits that their use will bring to our People.
Our ancestors protected the ownership of our land for their children and grandchildren just as we must do for future generations. Watch a video short on Haa Aaní produced by students in SHI’s Voice on the Land Program.
Haa Latseení: Our Strength: Strength of Body, Mind, and Spirit (Haida: Íitl’ Dagwiigáay; Tsimshian: Na Gatlleedm)
The “Way of the Warriors’” path is to achieve physical and inner strength. Above all, young men and women are taught to protect and to care for their families and clans. They are taught to seek truth and knowledge and to adapt to changing times while maintaining the integrity of our ancient values.
Watch a video short on Haa Latseení produced by students in SHI’s Voice on the Land Program.
Haa Shuká: Past, Present, and Future Generations: Honoring our Ancestors and Future Generations (Haida: Íitl’ Kuníisii; Tsimshian: Na Łagigyetgm)
We maintain strong bonds with our ancestors whom we honor through our lives and in our ceremonies. We also have responsibilities to our future generations, and we must ensure that we protect our land and culture for our children and grandchildren and those who will follow them. Watch a video short on Haa Shuká produced by students in SHI’s Voice on the Land Program.
Wooch Yáx: Balance: Social and Spiritual Balance (Haida: Gu dlúu; Tsimshian: Ama Mackshm)
Wooch Yáx must be maintained to ensure social and spiritual harmony lest ill will goes wandering and causes harm. Wooch Yáx governs interrelationships between Eagle and Raven clans, interrelationships between the Tlingit and others, including tribes, nations and institutions
Wooch Yáx includes Kaa yaa awuné or Respect for Others and Át yaa awuné or Respect for All Things.
Wooch Yáx requires that our People and our organizations conduct business with Yán gaa doonéekw or “Dignity,” realizing that everything has its rightful place and that all action and business must be done with integrity.
Watch a video short on Wooch Yáx̱ produced by students in SHI’s Voice on the Land Program.
Our Founding
Sealaska Heritage was founded in 1980 by Sealaska after being conceived by clan leaders, traditional scholars and elders at the first Sealaska Elders Conference.
During that meeting, the Elders likened Native culture to a blanket. They told the new leaders that their hands were growing weary of holding onto the metaphorical blanket, this "container of wisdom."
They said they were transferring this responsibility to Sealaska, the regional Native corporation serving Southeast Alaska. In response, Sealaska founded Sealaska Heritage to operate cultural and educational programs.
The late George Davis (Kichnáalx—Lk’aanaaw) of Angoon spoke these memorable words:
"We don't want what you did here to only echo in the air, how our grandfathers used to do things... Yes. You have unwrapped it for us. That is why we will open again this container of wisdom left in our care."
Sealaska continues to provide an annual donation that has provided stability for SHI and has allowed the institute to leverage those funds in seeking additional support from both the private and public sectors.
Although SHI is a separate entity as a 501 ©(3), it maintains a strong relationship with Sealaska and two Sealaska directors sit on the institute’s board of trustees. Sealaska also supports SHI's biennial Celebration and made major contributions for the construction of the institute's Walter Soboleff Building and Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.
The Walter Soboleff Building
In May 2015, we dedicated The Walter Soboleff Building, our new iconic home in downtown Juneau. It is a special place for Southeast Alaskan Natives, and a place where everyone--Native and non-Native alike--can feel welcome and learn something about their heritage.
The Soboleff Building is like a traditional bentwood box in that it holds our at.óowu--our treasures.
In addition to housing our administrative offices, the building contains our climate-controlled archives, our classrooms, the Sealaska Heritage Store and our True Southeast experience.
A work of art in its own right, the building contains space for art demonstrations and exhibits, as well as a traditional clan house clad in hand-adzed cedar.
The clan house was given the name Shuká Hít (Ancestors' House) during the grand opening ceremony.
The Walter Soboleff Building features large-scale work by several prominent Native artists, including Robert Davidson, David Boxley, Preston Singletary, Steve Brown, and Wayne Price.
The building was designed by Juneau's MRV Architects. The booklet, A Guide to the Walter Soboleff Building, offers a comprehensive look at how this building came to be, what's inside, and how Sealaska Heritage incorporated traditional protocols into the grand opening ceremony, as does the program for the event.
The Walter Soboleff Building has conference rooms and a cedar clan house (Shuká Hít) that are used for meetings and special events.
About Walter Soboleff
Our building is named for Dr. Walter A. Soboleff, a Tlingit of the Raven, Dog Salmon clan. Dr. Soboleff was a spiritual leader who helped Native and non-Native people alike at a time when segregation was the norm. Throughout his life, he worked tirelessly to advance Native civil rights.
Dr. Soboleff's generosity of spirit and small acts of kindness made him a giant of a man to people across Alaska. He practiced our traditional Native values, especially the concept of haa shuká--honoring our past while preparing a better future for our children's children.
In 2011, Dr. Soboleff "walked into the forest" at age 102. But his accomplishments, and the people whose lives he touched, live on. The Walter Soboleff Building is a physical manifestation of haa shuká and the ideals Dr. Soboleff held dear. Read: Biographical Article by First Alaskans
BOARD OF
TRUSTEES
Our board is composed of Sealaska shareholders who provide both fiscal and programmatic oversight to ensure that we are effectively and responsibly carrying out our mission.
Since 1980, the Institute has worked to preserve and share Southeast Alaskan Native culture. Dig into our programs and resources for Native people and non-Native people alike.
EXPLORE INSTITUTE
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Sealaska Heritage
We perpetuate, enhance
and share Southeast Alaskan
Native culture through our
Institute, our store, and our
True Southeast visitor
experience.
A replication in metal sculpture. It was all covered in sand at the time, there was no grass. You can see the rail, which was there runway. Orville is flying the plane, lying on the lower wing.
Our land is different than yours. Your up is our right and your down is our left. Where time is told by the number of lives, not by the amount of hours in a day. Survival is only possible if you have the ability to replicate.
Through replication, you will survive.
Today had nothing about it that was right. I am not sure what happened to this photo.
But hey, it's been 7 days and I've not slipped. I guess that is an accomplishment? The two other concepts failed miserably. I looked like a Chippendale in one. Hopefully I will have a better idea for tomorrow.
Catherine’s Little Free Library in Old Northeast St. Pete, photographed in the company of an affectionate cat.
The Cloud Forest replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level, found in South-East Asia, Middle- and South America. It features a 42-metre (138 ft) "Cloud Mountain", accessible by an elevator, and visitors will be able to descend the mountain via a circular path where a 35-metre (115 ft) waterfall provides visitors with refreshing cool air.
The "cloud mountain" itself is an intricate structure completely clad in epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, peacock ferns, spike- and clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums. It consists of a number of levels, each with a different theme.
More generally, labyrinth might be applied to any extremely complicated maze-like structure. Herodotus, in Book II of his Histories, describes as a "labyrinth" a building complex in Egypt, "near the place called the City of Crocodiles," that he considered to surpass the pyramids:
It has twelve covered courts — six in a row facing north, six south — the gates of the one range exactly fronting the gates of the other. Inside, the building is of two storeys and contains three thousand rooms, of which half are underground, and the other half directly above them. I was taken through the rooms in the upper storey, so what I shall say of them is from my own observation, but the underground ones I can speak of only from report, because the Egyptians in charge refused to let me see them, as they contain the tombs of the kings who built the labyrinth, and also the tombs of the sacred crocodiles. The upper rooms, on the contrary, I did actually see, and it is hard to believe that they are the work of men; the baffling and intricate passages from room to room and from court to court were an endless wonder to me, as we passed from a courtyard into rooms, from rooms into galleries, from galleries into more rooms and thence into yet more courtyards. The roof of every chamber, courtyard, and gallery is, like the walls, of stone. The walls are covered with carved figures, and each court is exquisitely built of white marble and surrounded by a colonnade.
During the 19th century, the remains of this structure were discovered by Flinders Petrie at the foot of the pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara in the Faiyum Oasis. The Classical accounts of various authors (Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, among others) are not entirely consistent, perhaps due to degradation of the structure during Classical times. In origin, the structure was likely a collection of funerary temples such as are commonly found near Egyptian pyramids.
In 1898, the Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities described the structure as "the largest of all the temples of Egypt, the so-called Labyrinth, of which, however, only the foundation stones have been preserved."
Herodotus' description of the Egyptian Labyrinth inspired some central scenes in Bolesław Prus' 1895 historical novel, Pharaoh.
Although early Cretan coins occasionally exhibit branching (multicursal) patterns, the single-path (unicursal) seven-course "Classical" design without branching or dead ends became associated with the Labyrinth on coins as early as 430 BC, and similar non-branching patterns became widely used as visual representations of the Labyrinth – even though both logic and literary descriptions make it clear that the Minotaur was trapped in a complex branching maze. Even as the designs became more elaborate, visual depictions of the mythological Labyrinth from Roman times until the Renaissance are almost invariably unicursal. Branching mazes were reintroduced only when garden mazes became popular during the Renaissance.
In English, the term labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze. As a result of the long history of unicursal representation of the mythological Labyrinth, however, many contemporary scholars and enthusiasts observe a distinction between the two. In this specialized usage maze refers to a complex branching multicursal puzzle with choices of path and direction, while a unicursal labyrinth has only a single path to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and presents no navigational challenge.Labyrinth is a word of pre-Greek, Minoan origin, which the Greeks associated with the palace of Knossos in Crete. It is also widely associated with the Lydian word labrys ("double-edged axe"), and since the double axe motif appears in the ruins at Knossos, it has been suggested that the original labyrinth was the royal Minoan palace in Crete. This designation may not have been limited to Knossos, because the same symbols were discovered in other palaces in Crete.The first ever organized group to officially call themselves Gnostics had lived on the island of Crete Cretan_Labyrinthand many other lands around the world for thousands of years. They were said to have come to Crete from Egypt with their Phoenician Prince Cadmus. According to Herodotus and Strabo, these people were originally known as the Phoenicians who accompanied Cadmus out of Phoenicia.The meaning of Cadmus is “he who came from the East.” These ancient Gnostics were known by several names over this long-span of time; such as the Curetes, Telchines, Ophites, Hivites, the Priests of Pan, and the Sons of Mizraim (Hebrew), meaning “Sons of Egypt.” In the bible they are called the Nephilim, the Sons of God, Sons of Abraham, and Sons of Noah who are the original Phoenician Hebrews and Israelites that created the esoteric gnostic literature masterpieces known as the Old and New Testament Bibles.Their symbols are the serpent, the bull, the ram and horns (hippocampus or ammon’s horn). They were the followers of the”The Sacred Serpent,” “The Sacred Bull,” “The Sun in Taurus,” “The Soul of Osiris,” and “The Retiring of the Bull.” These gnostics were also the original builders of the city of the Ram that we know of as Rome (Rama), by its founder Romulus (Ram-ulus). An interesting note is that this is the year 2015, the year of the Ram. It makes sense that the Romans (Ram-ans) originally came from Egypt and then Crete because of their reverence for the obelisk of Ramses II, and Caesar’s needle.It was on Crete where the Gnostic Sons of Egypt had built the ancient city of Gnosis that today is called Knossos (/ˈnɒsəs/; also spelled Knossus, Cnossus, Greek Κνωσός, pronounced [knoˈsos] ). The word Knossos is derived from the etymology of the word Gnosis. A word that simply means “know, knowledge, knowledgeable, knowingly, etc.,” and are derived from the Old Latin words, ‘Gnosoo,’ where we get the modern Latin word ‘novi’ which is a noun that means “actual knowledge which is the result of past learning,” and ‘noscos’ which is the present use of the verb ‘novi,’ and it denotes “to learn.”In the city of Gnosis they had built the world’s most famous Gnostic Labyrinth of Initiation ever known.reverence for the obelisk of Ramses II, and Caesar’s needle.
Labrys was a cult-word that was probably introduced from Anatolia, where such symbols have been found in Çatal Höyük from the Neolithic age. In Labraunda of Caria the double-axe accompanies the storm-god Zeus Labraundos (Ζεὺς Λαβρανδεύς). It also accompanies the Hurrian god of sky and storm Teshub (his Hittite and Luwian name was Tarhun).
Labrys, however, comes from Lydian, not Minoan, and the association of labyrinth with labrys remains speculative.[15] The Linear B (Mycenaean) inscription on tablet ΚΝ Gg 702 is interpreted as da-pu2-ri-to-jo, po-ti-ni-ja (labyrinthoio potnia, "Mistress of the labyrinth). The word daburinthos (labyrinthos) may show the same equivocation between initial d- and l- as is found in the variation of the early Hittite royal name Tabarna / Labarna (where written t- may represent phonetic d-). The original Minoan word, which is attested in Linear A tablets, appears to refer to labyrinthine underground grottoes, such as seen at Gortyn.[18] Pliny the Elder's four examples of labyrinths are all complex underground structures, and this appears to have been the standard Classical understanding of the word.
By the 4th century BC, the Greeks also associated the Labyrinth with the familiar "Greek key" patterns of endlessly running meanders.[20] Coins from Knossos were struck with the labyrinth symbol in the 5th through 3rd centuries BC. The predominant labyrinth form during this period is the simple seven-circuit style known as the classical labyrinth, and over time the term labyrinth came to be applied to any unicursal maze, which were typically rendered as circular or rectangular patterns.Silver coin from Knossos representing the Labyrinth, 400 BC. In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (Greek: Λαβύρινθος labyrinthos) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely escape it after he built it.
It was on Crete where the Gnostic Sons of Egypt had built the ancient city of Gnosis that today is called Knossos (/ˈnɒsəs/; also spelled Knossus, Cnossus, Greek Κνωσός, pronounced [knoˈsos] ). The word Knossos is derived from the etymology of the word Gnosis. A word that simply means “know, knowledge, knowledgeable, knowingly, etc.,” and are derived from the Old Latin words, ‘Gnosoo,’ where we get the modern Latin word ‘novi’ which is a noun that means “actual knowledge which is the result of past learning,” and ‘noscos’ which is the present use of the verb ‘novi,’ and it denotes “to learn.”
In the city of Gnosis they had built the world’s most famous Gnostic Labyrinth of Initiation ever known.
It was here in the city of Knossos where Sir Arthur Evans had discovered evidence of Europe’s oldest merchant people whom he called the ‘Minoans.’ A name that means the “Children of Jupiter”, with their King Minos (Jupiter). It is in this City of Gnosis that Evans had discovered the famous, and mysterious structure called “the labyrinth.”
The great inventor Daedalus was said to have designed the labyrinth, and the gnostic kings of CreteLabyrinth kept the great half man and half bull Minotaur in it. Here is Sir Arthur Evans explanation of the story of the labyrinth; “and the fondness of the Cretans for bull fights as the foundation of the legend of the Minotaur, while the tribute of the Athenians indicates the widespread power of the Cretan kings which extended over the whole Egean region. This dominance rested wholly on sea-power and was so great that the palace at Knossos was without walls and fortifications. The strong defence of the island state was evidently its fleet, and practically the whole intercourse of these Mediterranean lands was carried on by the Cretan ships.”When the Bronze Age site at Knossos was excavated by explorer Arthur Evans, the complexity of the architecture prompted him to suggest that the palace had been the Labyrinth of Daedalus. Evans found various bull motifs, including an image of a man leaping over the horns of a bull, as well as depictions of a labrys carved into the walls. On the strength of a passage in the Iliad,[21] it has been suggested that the palace was the site of a dancing-ground made for Ariadne by the craftsman Daedalus, where young men and women, of the age of those sent to Crete as prey for the Minotaur, would dance together. By extension, in popular legend the palace is associated with the myth of the Minotaur.
In the 2000s, archaeologists explored other potential sites of the labyrinth. Oxford University geographer Nicholas Howarth believes that 'Evans's hypothesis that the palace of Knossos is also the Labyrinth must be treated sceptically.' Howarth and his team conducted a search of an underground complex known as the Skotino cave but concluded that it was formed naturally. Another contender is a series of underground tunnels at Gortyn, accessed by a narrow crack but expanding into interlinking caverns. Unlike the Skotino cave, these caverns have smooth walls and columns, and appear to have been at least partially man-made. This site corresponds to an unusual labyrinth symbol on a 16th-century map of Crete contained in a book of maps in the library of Christ Church, Oxford. A map of the caves themselves was produced by the French in 1821. The site was also used by German soldiers to store ammunition during the Second World War. Howarth's investigation was shown on a documentary[ produced for the National Geographic Channel.
The etymology of the word labyrinth (labyrinthine or labyrinthian) is made of the three words, lab, ryne and thian. The meaning of lab is a building, part of a building, or other place equipped to conduct scientific experiments, tests, investigations, or to manufacture. This gave rise to the current definition of laboratory, and labor. The meaning of the word ryn or ryne is a course, race, a course of years, watercourse (blood course) and life. The meaning of the word thine or thian is heaven.
One of the rituals was known as the “Mistress of the Labyrinth” which was said to be the Phoenician and Greek view a gnostic prison of the soul is which the initiate has to battle the dreaded Minotaur in order to find their ways out of the massive maze. Very few people were known to have escaped from the Labyrinth to find true gnosis. The one who killed the Minotaur was the founder-king of Athens, Theseus. His name means The Zeus or The Jupiter.
The labyrinth rituals were symbolic to the illusions of the lower world through which wanders the soul of man in its search for truth. The Minotaur symbolizes man who is part animal and part divine as he moves down his path of gnosis as he is entangled in the maze of worldly ignorance that seeks to destroy his soul. The labyrinth is the building or temple of our bodies and heads in which we make sense of spiritual motion of the soul in our blood. It is the gnostic path of manmade mazes to our pasts that we search the many false courses to that one path of truth inside each one of us known as heaven.
moe-sword. The city where this plan would help take form, would be on the island of Crete which happens to be named after the Greek word Kriti (Kri-ti), which means ‘creation.’The meaning of the English word Cre’ate, is “to form out of nothing, to creo, creatum – cause to exist.” Hence, FIAT LUX. An island named after creation that also happens to be the home of one of the original “Ancient City of Gnosis and that today is called, Knossos.”
This great Cretan Gnostic labyrinth built by the Sons of Mizraim who were also known as the Nephilim would become the blueprints for our modern world that we see today. The ancient secret gnostic rites and initiations to gnosis would then become the base teachings of world-wid Alchemy, religious orders such as the Rosicrucians, Illuminati and many other secret orders.
Carving showing the warrior Abhimanyu entering the chakravyuha – Hoysaleswara temple, Halebidu, India
A design essentially identical to the 7-course "classical" pattern appeared in Native American culture, the Tohono O'odham people labyrinth which features I'itoi, the "Man in the Maze." The Tonoho O'odham pattern has two distinct differences from the classical: it is radial in design, and the entrance is at the top, where traditional labyrinths have the entrance at the bottom (see below). The earliest appearances cannot be dated securely; the oldest is commonly dated to the 17th century.The Chakravyūha or Padmavyūha is a multi-tiered defensive formation that looks like a blooming lotus (पद्म padma) or disc (चक्र chakra) when viewed from above.[1] The warriors at each interleaving position would be in an increasingly tough position to fight. The formation was used in the battle of Kurukshetra by Dronacharya, who became commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army after the fall of Bhishma Pitamaha.
The various vyūhas (military formations) were studied by the Kauravas and Pandavas alike. Most of them can be beaten using a counter-measure targeted specifically against that formation. It is important to observe that in the form of battle described in the Mahabharata, it was important to place powerful fighters in positions where they could inflict maximum damage to the opposing force, or defend their own side. As per this military strategy, a specific stationary object or a moving object or person could be captured, surrounded and fully secured during battle.
The formation begins with two soldiers on both sides, with other soldiers following them at a distance of three hands, drawing up seven circles and culminating in the end which is the place where the captured person or object is to be kept. In order to form the Chakravyuha, the commander has to identify soldiers who will form this formation. The number of soldiers to be deployed and the size of the Chakravyuha is calculated as per the resistance estimated. Once drawn, the foremost soldiers come on either side of the opponent to be captured, engage briefly and then advance. Their place is taken up by the next soldiers on either side, who again engage the opponent briefly and then advance. In this fashion, a number of soldiers pass the enemy and proceed in a circular pattern. By the time the rear of the formation arrives, the oblivious enemy is surrounded on all sides by seven tiers of soldiers. The last soldiers of the formation give the signal of completing the Chakravyuha. On the signal, every soldier who so far has been facing outwards turns inwards to face the opponent. It is only then that the captured enemy realizes his captivity. The army maintains the circular formation and can lead away the captive as well.
A prehistoric petroglyph on a riverbank in Goa shows the same pattern and has been dated to circa 2500 BC.[33] Other examples have been found among cave art in northern India and on a dolmen shrine in the Nilgiri Mountains, but are difficult to date accurately. Early labyrinths in India typically follow the Classical pattern or a local variant of it; some have been described as plans of forts or cities.
Labyrinths appear in Indian manuscripts and Tantric texts from the 17th century onward. They are often called "Chakravyuha" in reference to an impregnable battle formation described in the ancient Mahabharata epic. Lanka, the capital city of mythic Rāvana, is described as a labyrinth in the 1910 translation of Al-Beruni's India (c. 1030 AD) p. 306 (with a diagram on the following page).
By the White Sea, notably on the Solovetsky Islands, there have been preserved more than 30 stone labyrinths. The most remarkable monument is the Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island - a group of 13–14 stone labyrinths on 0.4 km2 area of one small island. These labyrinths are thought to be 2,000–3,000 years old.
Today the magical labyrinth would represent this whole world as we know it. I don’t know about you but I have almost found my way out of the maze by fighting my own Minotaur beast of a self to reach a place of heaven called gnosis. Hopefully, the kings in charge of the labyrinth haven’t deemed us all unworthy, and marked for death by closing the exit.The labyrinth can be a powerful tool for inner enhancement and development. It is designed specifically for this purpose. When walking the labyrinth, we find our perspective constantly changing. Our vision and physical bodies are never facing the same direction for long. This is a technique to coax our inner knowing out from within.
Further, the spiraling inward motion is a physical replication of our spiritual tendency to seek within the highest truths in order to find eternal freedom. When we are moving outward from the source, it is an action that we have made the divine connection and now we are expressing our completeness outwardly – essentially sharing our highest good with all around us.Secondary security in case of prison break. They wanted to make it hard to wake up their worst enemies. The system lords did not trust each other, so the Labyrinth was created to prevent any system lord from gaining access their worst enemies. Hades was entrusted to watch over it and knew that if he decided to take advantage of it, all System Lords would come down on him. Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened.Persephone was Hades’ Queen. She ruled over his kingdom while he was away, but was unable to hold on to it. As it collapsed, she hid in the prison ship to escape Hades’ enemies. She used the prison ship as her Palace towards the end because it was so easy to hide in. She brought along her lover, Daedalus, a young Go’auld subservient to Persephone with his own plans.The ship travels on what seems to be a series of random jumps from world to world. Daedalus set the ship to do this to escape Persephone’s enemies. But over time, it has been damaged by attacks from random raiders, other system lords that might have stumbled on it. So now the pattern Daedalus has set up is random and stuck. It must be repaired and the ship stabilized.The ship makes regular stops to pick up “prisoners” – the teleport run – and pick up supplies – teleport water and food stuffs from preprogrammed worlds Daedalus found rich of those resources.The Clans sent their worst political enemies, the strongest opponents to uninifcation, and their war criminals to the Labyrinth ship. They have also sent their harshest criminals and insane. All the clans believed that the sentence was worse then death and had no idea the truth behind the Temple of Persephone. There is a sampling of all the clans on the ship, surviving on the hydroponics bays they were able to acquire throughout the ship.
It is important to note that walking the labyrinth (mentally or physically) is not intended to be overly challenging. There are no dead-ends with the labyrinth, only meandering waves of smooth lines designed to gently nudge us back to our destination.
This is where labyrinths are often confused with mazes. Big difference. Mazes are designed to challenge intellect and strategic skills. Whereas the labyrinth is an exercise in soul development.
Alias: The Reaper
Real Name: Walt Hanes
Origin: Walt Hanes worked at Lexcorp in the robotics division. He was an expert in robotics, hydraulics, electrical circuitry, and much more. He was an extremely fast thinker and a great multitasker and problem solver. He had no family, but he was generally a good man. His main main problem is that he was unpredictable, he and was known for having violent mood swings and tantrums.
Walt was working on a human-like drone that would be used overseas to fight in the war. The drone was supposed to be the worlds first robot that would have free will, and could function without an operator. The drone featured razor sharp toes and fingers and long arms for climbing and griping items, dual machine guns on its wrist, a complex H.U.D. that could scan an entire area, and map out specific points of interest. It also had two prongs on its head that resembled mandibles on a insect. The prongs could sense explosive devices, movements, and other technological devices. The drone could also send out strong EMP pulses to disable any electronic items in its proximity.
The only way for the drone to be given free will was by scanning a human brain, and programming the human functions to be replicated by the robot. Walt did not want to be the guinea pig for the test, but he was forced. This enraged Walt. He was strapped to a table and hooked into the device to scan his thoughts and actions into the drone. Something went wrong. The scan left Walts body useless. Walts thoughts, feelings, and memories were put into the drone by mistake. Now as the drone, Walt was furious. He went on a rampage, killing everyone near him, even his close friends that he had worked with for years. He ran thought the building, slicking and stabbing anyone in his way. Walt was able to escape the Lexcorp building, and he is still on the run. Using him robotic body to slaughter anyone in his way. He has been reported to be seen hiding in the sewers and back allies of Gotham, but nobody is certain where he resides. What is known about Walt, who was nicknamed The Reaper by the press due to his mass murders, is that he is extremely dangerous, unpredictable, and extremely intelligent and strong.
As always, comment if you favorite :)
the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS!!!!! Original director son
along with plotlines from first two will be replicated along with ECTO-1
trailer.................
consequenceofsound.net/2019/01/ecto-1-ghostbusters-teaser...
In replicating this fifth-gen stealth fighter, I was aiming for:
– Smooth: nearly studless in form.
– Integrated: packing in a host of features.
– Fresh: incorporating new pieces and techniques.
and of course, purist! (at least, for now; I may experiment with designing some Marine Corps liveries on waterslide decals for mere aesthetic decoration that denotes the squadron affiliation…)
The 1:40 scale replica includes:
– Opening cockpit that holds pilot, control panel, and joystick
– Hidden weapon bays in fuselage for stealth missions
– Optional exterior loadout for air-to-ground attacks
– Retracting landing gear that supports the model
– Opening flaps, rotating fan blades, and tilting vector nozzle for VTOL
– Stable Technic display stand and brick-built name plaque.
This is the first MOC I’ve finished in about five years (during which I completed my university degree, got my full-time career job, moved out, got married, and a few other things), after working on it off-and-on for at least three years. [The real-life aircraft has suffered from its own extensive delays in design / production, so I guess it could be worse where my LEGO one is concerned. XD]
A big thank-you to everyone who has inspired me along the way, including special acknowledgements to AFOL friends like the Chiles family and Eli Willsea for helping rekindle my joy in the hobby; Brickmania, for showing me a few new hinge techniques that I incorporated during these last few months of the design process; and especially my lovely wife Natalie who, bless her heart, has allowed the dining room of our tiny apartment to serve as my building studio and encouraged me to use it more often as such!
Let me know what you guys think!
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Operator: Cavite Batangas Transport Service Cooperative
Fleet No.: 8317
Type of Service: Public Utility Bus - Provincial Operation
Route: Alfonso - Manila
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ENGINE
Maker: Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
Model: 6D22
CHASSIS
Maker: Hyundai Motor Co.
Model: KMJTA18VPY
COACH
Coachbuilder:
Model: "FX212"
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captured at Plaza Lawton, Manila
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NOTE: Errors may be evident with this description. Corrections will be done once verified.
Replicating Batman from the 90s cartoon is a bit more difficult than you'd think because of his colors. I mean, sometimes his cape and cowl are black, sometimes they have dark blue highlights. The inside lining of his cape is definably blue, though. This pic shows the weirdness of his colors. So, would this minifig here make the best BTAS Batman, or should it just stay all blue?
All images are © D.Parra Photography, All Rights Reserved. You may not use, replicate, manipulate, redistribute, or modify this image without my written consent.
Replicating a scene from the 1990s, LSL's 87002 'Royal Sovereign' leads a full Intercity Mk3 set over Docker Viaduct, working 1Z87 London Euston - Glasgow Central 'The Electric Scot'. DVT 82139 was on the rear.
From The Archives.
This photo was taken early January 2010 in Öxarfjörður located in the northern part of Iceland.
© All rights reserved.
This image is copyrighted to Kristinn R. Kristinsson; Any users, found to replicate, reproduce, circulate, distribute, download, manipulate or otherwise use my images without my written consent will be in breach of copyright laws. Please contact me at kristinnr@simnet.is for express permission to use any of my photographs.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the group of viruses. For the disease involved in the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, see Coronavirus disease 2019. For the virus that causes this disease, see Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
Orthocoronavirinae
Coronaviruses 004 lores.jpg
Transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of avian infectious bronchitis virus
SARS-CoV-2 without background.png
Illustration of the morphology of coronaviruses; the club-shaped viral spike peplomers, colored red, create the look of a corona surrounding the virion when observed with an electron microscope.
Virus classification e
(unranked):Virus
Realm:Riboviria
Phylum:incertae sedis
Order:Nidovirales
Family:Coronaviridae
Subfamily:Orthocoronavirinae
Genera[1]
Alphacoronavirus
Betacoronavirus
Gammacoronavirus
Deltacoronavirus
Synonyms[2][3][4]
Coronavirinae
Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses include some cases of the common cold (which has other possible causes, predominantly rhinoviruses), while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Symptoms in other species vary: in chickens, they cause an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and pigs they cause diarrhea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections.
Coronaviruses constitute the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae, in the family Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales, and realm Riboviria.[5][6] They are enveloped viruses with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and a nucleocapsid of helical symmetry. The genome size of coronaviruses ranges from approximately 26 to 32 kilobases, one of the largest among RNA viruses.[7] They have characteristic club-shaped spikes that project from their surface, which in electron micrographs create an image reminiscent of the solar corona from which their name derives.[8]
Contents
1Discovery
2Etymology
3Morphology
4Genome
5Life cycle
5.1Entry
5.2Replication
5.3Release
6Transmission
7Taxonomy
8Evolution
9Human coronaviruses
10Outbreaks of coronavirus diseases
10.1Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
10.2Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
10.3Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
11Other animals
11.1Diseases caused
11.2Domestic animals
12Genomic cis-acting elements
13Genome packaging
14See also
15References
16Further reading
Discovery
Coronaviruses were first discovered in the 1930s when an acute respiratory infection of domesticated chickens was shown to be caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). In the 1940s, two more animal coronaviruses, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), were isolated.[9]
Human coronaviruses were discovered in the 1960s.[10] The earliest ones studied were from human patients with the common cold, which were later named human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43.[11] Other human coronaviruses have since been identified, including SARS-CoV in 2003, HCoV NL63 in 2004, HKU1 in 2005, MERS-CoV in 2012, and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Most of these have involved serious respiratory tract infections.
Etymology
The name "coronavirus" is derived from Latin corona, meaning "crown" or "wreath", itself a borrowing from Greek κορώνη korṓnē, "garland, wreath". The name refers to the characteristic appearance of virions (the infective form of the virus) by electron microscopy, which have a fringe of large, bulbous surface projections creating an image reminiscent of a crown or of a solar corona. This morphology is created by the viral spike peplomers, which are proteins on the surface of the virus.[8][12]
Morphology
Cross-sectional model of a coronavirus
Cross-sectional model of a coronavirus
Coronaviruses are large pleomorphic spherical particles with bulbous surface projections.[13] The average diameter of the virus particles is around 120 nm (.12 μm). The diameter of the envelope is ~80 nm (.08 μm) and the spikes are ~20 nm (.02 μm) long. The envelope of the virus in electron micrographs appears as a distinct pair of electron dense shells.[14][15]
The viral envelope consists of a lipid bilayer where the membrane (M), envelope (E) and spike (S) structural proteins are anchored.[16] A subset of coronaviruses (specifically the members of betacoronavirus subgroup A) also have a shorter spike-like surface protein called hemagglutinin esterase (HE).[5]
Inside the envelope, there is the nucleocapsid, which is formed from multiple copies of the nucleocapsid (N) protein, which are bound to the positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome in a continuous beads-on-a-string type conformation.[15][17] The lipid bilayer envelope, membrane proteins, and nucleocapsid protect the virus when it is outside the host cell.[18]
Genome
See also: Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus § Genome
Schematic representation of the genome organization and functional domains of S protein for SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV
Coronaviruses contain a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA genome. The genome size for coronaviruses ranges from 26.4 to 31.7 kilobases.[7] The genome size is one of the largest among RNA viruses. The genome has a 5′ methylated cap and a 3′ polyadenylated tail.[15]
The genome organization for a coronavirus is 5′-leader-UTR-replicase/transcriptase-spike (S)-envelope (E)-membrane (M)-nucleocapsid (N)-3′UTR-poly (A) tail. The open reading frames 1a and 1b, which occupy the first two-thirds of the genome, encode the replicase/transcriptase polyprotein. The replicase/transcriptase polyprotein self cleaves to form nonstructural proteins.[15]
The later reading frames encode the four major structural proteins: spike, envelope, membrane, and nucleocapsid.[19] Interspersed between these reading frames are the reading frames for the accessory proteins. The number of accessory proteins and their function is unique depending on the specific coronavirus.[15]
Life cycle
Entry
The life cycle of a coronavirus
Infection begins when the viral spike (S) glycoprotein attaches to its complementary host cell receptor. After attachment, a protease of the host cell cleaves and activates the receptor-attached spike protein. Depending on the host cell protease available, cleavage and activation allows the virus to enter the host cell by endocytosis or direct fusion of the viral envelop with the host membrane.[20]
On entry into the host cell, the virus particle is uncoated, and its genome enters the cell cytoplasm.[15] The coronavirus RNA genome has a 5′ methylated cap and a 3′ polyadenylated tail, which allows the RNA to attach to the host cell's ribosome for translation.[15] The host ribosome translates the initial overlapping open reading frame of the virus genome and forms a long polyprotein. The polyprotein has its own proteases which cleave the polyprotein into multiple nonstructural proteins.[15]
Replication
A number of the nonstructural proteins coalesce to form a multi-protein replicase-transcriptase complex (RTC). The main replicase-transcriptase protein is the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). It is directly involved in the replication and transcription of RNA from an RNA strand. The other nonstructural proteins in the complex assist in the replication and transcription process. The exoribonuclease nonstructural protein, for instance, provides extra fidelity to replication by providing a proofreading function which the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase lacks.[21]
One of the main functions of the complex is to replicate the viral genome. RdRp directly mediates the synthesis of negative-sense genomic RNA from the positive-sense genomic RNA. This is followed by the replication of positive-sense genomic RNA from the negative-sense genomic RNA.[15] The other important function of the complex is to transcribe the viral genome. RdRp directly mediates the synthesis of negative-sense subgenomic RNA molecules from the positive-sense genomic RNA. This is followed by the transcription of these negative-sense subgenomic RNA molecules to their corresponding positive-sense mRNAs.[15]
Release
The replicated positive-sense genomic RNA becomes the genome of the progeny viruses. The mRNAs are gene transcripts of the last third of the virus genome after the initial overlapping reading frame. These mRNAs are translated by the host's ribosomes into the structural proteins and a number of accessory proteins.[15] RNA translation occurs inside the endoplasmic reticulum. The viral structural proteins S, E, and M move along the secretory pathway into the Golgi intermediate compartment. There, the M proteins direct most protein-protein interactions required for assembly of viruses following its binding to the nucleocapsid.[22] Progeny viruses are then released from the host cell by exocytosis through secretory vesicles.[22]
Transmission
The interaction of the coronavirus spike protein with its complement host cell receptor is central in determining the tissue tropism, infectivity, and species range of the virus.[23][24] The SARS coronavirus, for example, infects human cells by attaching to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor.[25]
Taxonomy
For a more detailed list of members, see Coronaviridae.
Phylogenetic tree of coronaviruses
The scientific name for coronavirus is Orthocoronavirinae or Coronavirinae.[2][3][4] Coronavirus belongs to the family of Coronaviridae.
Genus: Alphacoronavirus
Species: Human coronavirus 229E, Human coronavirus NL63, Miniopterus bat coronavirus 1, Miniopterus bat coronavirus HKU8, Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, Rhinolophus bat coronavirus HKU2, Scotophilus bat coronavirus 512
Genus Betacoronavirus; type species: Murine coronavirus
Species: Betacoronavirus 1 (Human coronavirus OC43), Human coronavirus HKU1, Murine coronavirus, Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5, Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9, Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2), Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4, Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, Hedgehog coronavirus 1 (EriCoV)
Genus Gammacoronavirus; type species: Infectious bronchitis virus
Species: Beluga whale coronavirus SW1, Infectious bronchitis virus
Genus Deltacoronavirus; type species: Bulbul coronavirus HKU11
Species: Bulbul coronavirus HKU11, Porcine coronavirus HKU15
Evolution
The most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all coronaviruses has been estimated to have existed as recently as 8000 BCE, though some models place the MRCA as far back as 55 million years or more, implying long term coevolution with bats.[26] The MRCAs of the alphacoronavirus line has been placed at about 2400 BCE, the betacoronavirus line at 3300 BCE, the gammacoronavirus line at 2800 BCE, and the deltacoronavirus line at about 3000 BCE. It appears that bats and birds, as warm-blooded flying vertebrates, are ideal hosts for the coronavirus gene source (with bats for alphacoronavirus and betacoronavirus, and birds for gammacoronavirus and deltacoronavirus) to fuel coronavirus evolution and dissemination.[27]
Bovine coronavirus and canine respiratory coronaviruses diverged from a common ancestor recently (~ 1950).[28] Bovine coronavirus and human coronavirus OC43 diverged around the 1890s. Bovine coronavirus diverged from the equine coronavirus species at the end of the 18th century.[29]
The MRCA of human coronavirus OC43 has been dated to the 1950s.[30]
MERS-CoV, although related to several bat coronavirus species, appears to have diverged from these several centuries ago.[31] The human coronavirus NL63 and a bat coronavirus shared an MRCA 563–822 years ago.[32]
The most closely related bat coronavirus and SARS-CoV diverged in 1986.[33] A path of evolution of the SARS virus and keen relationship with bats have been proposed. The authors suggest that the coronaviruses have been coevolved with bats for a long time and the ancestors of SARS-CoV first infected the species of the genus Hipposideridae, subsequently spread to species of the Rhinolophidae and then to civets, and finally to humans.[34][35]
Alpaca coronavirus and human coronavirus 229E diverged before 1960.[36]
Human coronaviruses
Illustration of SARSr-CoV virion
Coronaviruses vary significantly in risk factor. Some can kill more than 30% of those infected (such as MERS-CoV), and some are relatively harmless, such as the common cold.[15] Coronaviruses cause colds with major symptoms, such as fever, and a sore throat from swollen adenoids, occurring primarily in the winter and early spring seasons.[37] Coronaviruses can cause pneumonia (either direct viral pneumonia or secondary bacterial pneumonia) and bronchitis (either direct viral bronchitis or secondary bacterial bronchitis).[38] The human coronavirus discovered in 2003, SARS-CoV, which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), has a unique pathogenesis because it causes both upper and lower respiratory tract infections.[38]
Six species of human coronaviruses are known, with one species subdivided into two different strains, making seven strains of human coronaviruses altogether. Four of these strains produce the generally mild symptoms of the common cold:
Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43), of the genus β-CoV
Human coronavirus HKU1 (HCoV-HKU1), β-CoV, its genome has 75% similarity to OC43[39]
Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E), α-CoV
Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63), α-CoV
Three strains (two species) produce symptoms that are potentially severe; all three of these are β-CoV strains:
Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
The coronaviruses HCoV-229E, -NL63, -OC43, and -HKU1 continually circulate in the human population and cause respiratory infections in adults and children worldwide.[40]
Outbreaks of coronavirus diseases
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
Main article: Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Characteristics of human coronavirus strains
MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2,
and related diseases
MERS-CoVSARS-CoVSARS-CoV-2
DiseaseMERSSARSCOVID-19
Outbreaks2012, 2015,
20182002–20042019–2020
pandemic
Epidemiology
Date of first
identified caseJune
2012November
2002December
2019[41]
Location of first
identified caseJeddah,
Saudi ArabiaShunde,
ChinaWuhan,
China
Age average5644[42][a]56[43]
Sex ratio3.3:10.8:1[44]1.6:1[43]
Confirmed cases24948096[45]1,601,018[46][b]
Deaths858774[45]95,718[46][b]
Case fatality rate37%9.2%6.0%[46]
Symptoms
Fever98%99–100%87.9%[47]
Dry cough47%29–75%67.7%[47]
Dyspnea72%40–42%18.6%[47]
Diarrhea26%20–25%3.7%[47]
Sore throat21%13–25%13.9%[47]
Ventilatory support24.5%[48]14–20%4.1%[49]
Notes
^ Based on data from Hong Kong.
^ Jump up to: a b Data as of 10 April 2020.
vte
In 2003, following the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which had begun the prior year in Asia, and secondary cases elsewhere in the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a press release stating that a novel coronavirus identified by a number of laboratories was the causative agent for SARS. The virus was officially named the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). More than 8,000 people were infected, about ten percent of whom died.[25]
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
Main article: Middle East respiratory syndrome
In September 2012, a new type of coronavirus was identified, initially called Novel Coronavirus 2012, and now officially named Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).[50][51] The World Health Organization issued a global alert soon after.[52] The WHO update on 28 September 2012 said the virus did not seem to pass easily from person to person.[53] However, on 12 May 2013, a case of human-to-human transmission in France was confirmed by the French Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.[54] In addition, cases of human-to-human transmission were reported by the Ministry of Health in Tunisia. Two confirmed cases involved people who seemed to have caught the disease from their late father, who became ill after a visit to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Despite this, it appears the virus had trouble spreading from human to human, as most individuals who are infected do not transmit the virus.[55] By 30 October 2013, there were 124 cases and 52 deaths in Saudi Arabia.[56]
After the Dutch Erasmus Medical Centre sequenced the virus, the virus was given a new name, Human Coronavirus—Erasmus Medical Centre (HCoV-EMC). The final name for the virus is Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The only U.S. cases (both survived) were recorded in May 2014.[57]
In May 2015, an outbreak of MERS-CoV occurred in the Republic of Korea, when a man who had traveled to the Middle East, visited four hospitals in the Seoul area to treat his illness. This caused one of the largest outbreaks of MERS-CoV outside the Middle East.[58] As of December 2019, 2,468 cases of MERS-CoV infection had been confirmed by laboratory tests, 851 of which were fatal, a mortality rate of approximately 34.5%.[59]
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Main article: Coronavirus disease 2019
In December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak was reported in Wuhan, China.[60] On 31 December 2019, the outbreak was traced to a novel strain of coronavirus,[61] which was given the interim name 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization (WHO),[62][63][64] later renamed SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Some researchers have suggested the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market may not be the original source of viral transmission to humans.[65][66]
As of 10 April 2020, there have been at least 95,718[46] confirmed deaths and more than 1,601,018[46] confirmed cases in the coronavirus pneumonia pandemic. The Wuhan strain has been identified as a new strain of Betacoronavirus from group 2B with approximately 70% genetic similarity to the SARS-CoV.[67] The virus has a 96% similarity to a bat coronavirus, so it is widely suspected to originate from bats as well.[65][68] The pandemic has resulted in travel restrictions and nationwide lockdowns in several countries.
Other animals
Coronaviruses have been recognized as causing pathological conditions in veterinary medicine since the 1930s.[9] Except for avian infectious bronchitis, the major related diseases have mainly an intestinal location.[69]
Diseases caused
Coronaviruses primarily infect the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tract of mammals and birds. They also cause a range of diseases in farm animals and domesticated pets, some of which can be serious and are a threat to the farming industry. In chickens, the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), a coronavirus, targets not only the respiratory tract but also the urogenital tract. The virus can spread to different organs throughout the chicken.[70] Economically significant coronaviruses of farm animals include porcine coronavirus (transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus, TGE) and bovine coronavirus, which both result in diarrhea in young animals. Feline coronavirus: two forms, feline enteric coronavirus is a pathogen of minor clinical significance, but spontaneous mutation of this virus can result in feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a disease associated with high mortality. Similarly, there are two types of coronavirus that infect ferrets: Ferret enteric coronavirus causes a gastrointestinal syndrome known as epizootic catarrhal enteritis (ECE), and a more lethal systemic version of the virus (like FIP in cats) known as ferret systemic coronavirus (FSC).[71] There are two types of canine coronavirus (CCoV), one that causes mild gastrointestinal disease and one that has been found to cause respiratory disease. Mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) is a coronavirus that causes an epidemic murine illness with high mortality, especially among colonies of laboratory mice.[72] Sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV) is highly infectious coronavirus of laboratory rats, which can be transmitted between individuals by direct contact and indirectly by aerosol. Acute infections have high morbidity and tropism for the salivary, lachrymal and harderian glands.[73]
A HKU2-related bat coronavirus called swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) causes diarrhea in pigs.[74]
Prior to the discovery of SARS-CoV, MHV had been the best-studied coronavirus both in vivo and in vitro as well as at the molecular level. Some strains of MHV cause a progressive demyelinating encephalitis in mice which has been used as a murine model for multiple sclerosis. Significant research efforts have been focused on elucidating the viral pathogenesis of these animal coronaviruses, especially by virologists interested in veterinary and zoonotic diseases.[75]
Domestic animals
Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) causes avian infectious bronchitis.
Porcine coronavirus (transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus of pigs, TGEV).[76][77]
Bovine coronavirus (BCV), responsible for severe profuse enteritis in of young calves.
Feline coronavirus (FCoV) causes mild enteritis in cats as well as severe Feline infectious peritonitis (other variants of the same virus).
the two types of canine coronavirus (CCoV) (one causing enteritis, the other found in respiratory diseases).
Turkey coronavirus (TCV) causes enteritis in turkeys.
Ferret enteric coronavirus causes epizootic catarrhal enteritis in ferrets.
Ferret systemic coronavirus causes FIP-like systemic syndrome in ferrets.[78]
Pantropic canine coronavirus.
Rabbit enteric coronavirus causes acute gastrointestinal disease and diarrhea in young European rabbits. Mortality rates are high.[79]
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PED or PEDV), has emerged around the world.[80]
Genomic cis-acting elements
In common with the genomes of all other RNA viruses, coronavirus genomes contain cis-acting RNA elements that ensure the specific replication of viral RNA by a virally encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The embedded cis-acting elements devoted to coronavirus replication constitute a small fraction of the total genome, but this is presumed to be a reflection of the fact that coronaviruses have the largest genomes of all RNA viruses. The boundaries of cis-acting elements essential to replication are fairly well-defined, and the RNA secondary structures of these regions are understood. However, how these cis-acting structures and sequences interact with the viral replicase and host cell components to allow RNA synthesis is not well understood.[81][5]
Genome packaging
The assembly of infectious coronavirus particles requires the selection of viral genomic RNA from a cellular pool that contains an abundant excess of non-viral and viral RNAs. Among the seven to ten specific viral mRNAs synthesized in virus-infected cells, only the full-length genomic RNA is packaged efficiently into coronavirus particles. Studies have revealed cis-acting elements and trans-acting viral factors involved in the coronavirus genome encapsidation and packaging. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of genome selection and packaging is critical for developing antiviral strategies and viral expression vectors based on the coronavirus genome.[81][5]
Is the correct number of stones to collect from the river. And they should attempt to replicate the colours of the rainbow. That bit is trickier.
For 2019P52 Week 36 Odd Numbers
Entropy, as expressed by the Second Law of Thermodynamics, is an all pervasive natural force, similar in importance to gravity or electro- magnetism. Its attributes involve the flow of what we call "time". It shows why time travel is impossible and why water only runs downhill. Entropy permeates all aspects of human existence. Entropy explains why it is easy to lose money and difficult to make money. Entropy is the force behind Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong, must go wrong. Is time-travel impossible? Why does water only run downhill? Why is it easy to lose money but difficult to acquire it? The answer to these and many other puzzling questions rests in the Second Law of Thermodynamics, in Entropy. The so-called Second Law relates closely to the term Entropy. An understanding of this fundamental law of nature and its ramification provides great insights in the way the world really works. Entropy, as expressed by the Second Law, is the ultimate Natural Law because it determines the flow of what we call "time". Thus, entropy deals with the very existence of the universe. The term entropy describes phenomena that have the most profound effect on all events in human existence, including our ability to achieve happiness by aligning ourselves with Objective Reality.
The Second Law holds a unique position in science because it has never evolved from a theory such as the Theory of Relativity or the Theory of Quantum Mechanics. The Second Law is empirical. There is no fully satisfactory theoretical proof for the Second Law, although there are some connections to Quantum Mechanics, Probability and Relativity. Once a Unified Field Theory, the Theory of Everything, is developed, it will and must account for Entropy. Many scientists, who claimed that this Law is paradoxical in nature, have tried to attack it. However, in all instances the alleged paradoxes were due to faulty reasoning. The Second Law has prevailed and has established itself as the most fundamental of all Natural Laws.
The profound nature of the Second Law manifests itself in every aspect of human existence. It covers questions pertaining to the obscure beginnings of the universe to the way we pour milk in our coffee. I remember my high school teacher posing the question: You have a cup of very hot coffee that you would like to drink as soon as possible, let us say, within 5 minutes. Should you first add the desired quantity of cold milk to the coffee and then let the coffee sit for 5 minutes? Alternatively, do you let the coffee sit for 5 minutes and then add the same quantity of milk?
The answer is not intuitive but it is simple, if we are familiar with the Second Law: The rate of heat exchange between the hot coffee and the ambient air depends on their temperature differential. The higher the temperature differential, the faster will be the rate of exchange. Within the 5-minute waiting period, heat transfers to the air at a higher rate if we do not add the cold milk initially to the coffee. If we add the milk at the beginning, instead of at the end of the 5 minutes, the energy transfer will slow down and the coffee will be markedly hotter at the end of 5 minutes.
This revelation does not appear to be a momentous event. It was only intended to indicate the pervasiveness of the Second Law, especially in view of the fact that most people are seemingly ignorant of it. The point is, the Second Law is not intuitive. We have to acquire the relevant knowledge by a rational thought process in order to take advantage of it. The cup of coffee is not important but the principle behind the cup permeates all of our existence: In order to optimize the effectiveness of our actions it is helpful to understand the implications of Entropy.
Entropy describes the degradation of energy to perform work. What is energy? On the high school level, we simply defined energy as the capacity to do work. However, the real question is, What factor, precisely, is doing this work? Why does energy have the capacity to perform work? The HOWs in life are easy, the WHYs are the tough ones.
Energy is the raw material of the universe. At the time of the Big Bang, about 13.7 billion years ago, there was nothing but raw energy. There was no mass with a physical attribute. It was only much later in the nascent universe that this primal energy transformed itself into physical mass, stars, nebula and black holes. Stars, and particularly supernovas, are the factories of the elements, such as iron, from which human beings are formed.
As we know from Einstein's famous formula E = m c^2, mass and energy are freely convertible into each other. The Hydrogen Bomb demonstrates this conversion in a spectacular fashion. Most of the energy it generates is due to the conversion of matter into energy. Such conversion of matter into energy, and vice-versa, is also a less spectacular event in everyday phenomena although it is usually so minuscule as to escape our attention: When we exercise vigorously, we convert chemical energy into radiated heat energy. All this radiated energy that leaves our body has mass, just as light has energy and weight, although it will not register on our bathroom scale.
In cognizance of these basic facts, we can stipulate that energy is the basic raw material that makes up the universe and all that is contained within it, including human beings. The essence of the universe is the unity of energy, time and space.
Energy is essentially a heat phenomenon. Heat and work are mechanisms by which systems exchange energy with one another. The mechanical equivalent of heat is called a Joule. 4.2 joules are the equivalent of one calorie, the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.
In order for energy to perform work, a difference must exist between energy at a high potential and energy at a more randomized, diluted, potential. The term entropy is a measure of the degree to which energy has lost the capacity to perform useful work. Entropy signifies the dilution, the randomization of energy. We may look at water in two lakes, connected by a canal. Unless the lakes are at a different level, unless they are at a different energy potential, there is plenty of water, but all this water has no potential energy and cannot perform any useful work because it cannot change levels. This ability or inability to perform useful work is an analogy to and is at the heart of the term entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Let us back up a little: This whole subject of Thermodynamics sounds like a very complicated affair. Indeed, it is both very simple and extremely complex. There are three Laws of Thermodynamics, but we need to concern ourselves only with the first two laws because they are closely interwoven and can actually be expressed in one sentence: The total energy content of the universe is constant and the total entropy, the non-usable energy, is constantly increasing. There you have it: The combination of the first and second law of thermodynamics.
Very interesting, but what does it mean? It means that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be transformed into mass, chemical energy, heat energy, latent energy and work, but it cannot be created and it cannot disappear. Energy is also in a constant, inevitable and irreversible process of becoming increasingly randomized. Salt crystals may be dissolved in a beaker of water without losing its identity as salt. The salt became more randomized when it dissolved in the water. The Law of Entropy decrees that it cannot reconvert itself to the less randomized, crystalline version. The salt cannot reconstitute itself as crystals, unless we introduce external energy to evaporate the water.
The amount of energy in the universe was established at the time of the Big Bang. At that point, energy was extremely concentrated and ordered. Since then, the universe has expanded vastly and energy has become more diluted and randomized. It is inherent in the nature of the universe that this process must and will continue. If it were to stop, the universe would cease to exist.
This increasing randomization of energy, entropy, is part of the structure of the universe. The energy dilemma does not involve the amount of energy that is available; it involves the form in which the energy is available. The universe is involved in a constant process of converting one form of energy into another form and in doing so, it inevitably must convert part of the original energy into more randomized, less usable, heat energy. Potential energy is organized energy whereas heat represents randomized, disorganized energy. Heat energy is irretrievable energy. Although the energy contained in heat is not destroyed, it has become unavailable for producing work. All forms of energy are degraded incessantly and irreversibly to an inferior, lower-quality, more-randomized form of energy: Heat.
By the same principle, the solar energy that pours out of the furnace of the sun travels on and on until it eventually becomes scattered throughout the universe: It becomes so randomized that it becomes unusable for the performance of work. Therefore, we must stipulate that entropy, as a measure of the randomness of energy in the universe, is always increasing.
The question arises, what will happen when all the usable energy in the universe is converted into randomized heat energy and is no longer capable of performing such work as expanding the universe. We refer to this condition as the Heat Death of the Universe: Once all the energy in the universe is converted to and randomized as heat, then the universe will be in a state of energy equilibrium, everything will be of the same temperature and entropy will remain constant. This is where science gets more complicated and involves the microwave background radiation consisting of photons near, but not quite at, absolute Zero. Scientists have recently detected this microwave background radiation and have thus confirmed the connectivity between Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics.
Before we go on to some practical manifestations of entropy, we need to be aware of a very important characteristic of entropy: The Laws of Thermodynamics pertain only to a system that we refer to as a closed system: An entity that does not exchange energy, information or mass with anything outside the system. The universe in its totality is a closed system because no new energy is injected into it. Therefore, all laws of Thermodynamics apply to the universe. Earth is not a closed system because our sun constantly injects it with new energy. This infusion of energy into the non-closed system of the earth makes it possible to comply with the Second Law while achieving an increase in the complexity of life forms, as necessitated by the process of evolution.
The laws of thermodynamics are among the very few laws of nature that describe phenomena that are an integral part of the origin of the universe, of the Big Bang. The other laws in this category are gravity, relativity, nuclear binding forces and electromagnetism. Human beings need not concern themselves with the effects of relativity or quantum mechanics. However, the phenomena of thermodynamics constantly and profoundly affect all human beings.
If there are any laws that have truly universal applicability and that also affect ordinary human affairs, they are the Laws of Thermodynamics. The following statement contains the essence of Entropy: In any transformation of energy from one form to another, useful energy is lost irreversibly. The German physicist Clausius first used the term Entropy in 1865 to describe the nature of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Even great physicists of that period, like James Maxwell, had trouble with a concept involving only negatives and dealing with the idea of measuring a state of disorder. Today we can condense the statement of Entropy by stating: Entropy in a closed system can never decrease. There are no exceptions to this statement.
The Second Law decrees that water can only flow downhill. Objects do not run uphill by themselves. If we wish to have water run uphill, we must supply outside energy to pump it up the hill.
A clock gradually runs down because the latent energy in its spring is used to run the clock and part of this energy is converted to irretrievable heat. Because the heat cannot be reconstituted into usable energy, this energy is lost irretrievably and the clock cannot rewind itself.
Even in the most complex energy transformations, there is a forward direction to the process because only an outside energy source can reverse a heat-process within a closed system. The burning of gasoline in a car creates mechanical energy and heat. However, no process in the universe will allow the exhaust gases to re-combine with the heat energy and reconstitute the original gasoline: The heat energy of the burning gasoline has achieved a higher and irreversible state of randomization: The entropy of the system, and the universe, is irreversibly increased, as required by the Second Law.
The close relationship of entropy to the statistical laws of probability becomes clear when we hold a stack of five coins in a hand and throw them on a flat surface. Instead of retaining their previous order and proximity, they scatter and increase their randomness. The fall of the coins generated and dissipated the tiniest little bit of heat and the lack of this heat prevented the coins from reforming in the same stack as before. Entropy always drives all transformation of energy in such a way as to increase irreversible randomness.
Ice must have a tendency to melt because H2O molecules in ice crystals are more orderly than in the form of water. Ice crystals tend to become randomized by changing from orderly ice crystals to a more disorderly state as a liquid.
Water must evaporate: A gaseous structure is more randomized than a liquid state.
Time can only flow in one direction: The arrow of time can only move from the dead past to the non-existing future. The Second Law is closely interwoven with the laws of probability. Therefore, the laws of entropy are statistical laws. If we apply statistical laws applicable to entropy to future events, they provide meaningful results; if we apply them to past events, they are meaningless. Therefore, time can flow only from the dead past toward the future, which does not yet exist. Time travel will always remain impossible: It is inherently impossible to move from one state of non-existence to other states of non-existence. The Second Law decrees that the universe would have to cease to exist in order to allow for time-travel.
The laws of thermodynamics are the descriptors of the universe and do not permit perpetual motion machines. We would only waste our time and money if we were to attempt building a machine that not only can run forever, but that could even produce excess energy while doing so.
Heat flows from a hot object to a cold object, never the other way around. When we drop a hot peace of metal in a container of cold water, the metal cools and the water heats up until their temperatures have equalized. During this process the entropy, the randomness of the system consisting of the water and the metal, increases and no further useful work can be performed because there is no longer a temperature differential between the water and the metal: The system has become randomized.
This manifestation of the Second Law can be stated quite simply: Heat energy will not flow from a cooler to a warmer body. It would be foolish to try to warm our hands on a block of ice although there is considerable heat in the ice. If we compare the heat of ice with the heat of liquid hydrogen, ice would appear to be very hot, indeed. It would be easy to build a machine that runs on the heat differential between the cold block of ice and the much colder liquid hydrogen. However, since the heat in the ice is at a much lower level than the heat in our body, heat cannot flow from the ice to our hands. We cannot warm our hands by immersing them in ice. We have always known this fact. Now we know why we cannot warm our hand by touching a block of ice.
Bridges and buildings will inevitably collapse, unless entropy is counteracted by the addition of new energy, such as money, energy, power or labor, to the system. If we do not paint the bridge, it will eventually, but inevitably, collapse.
Money is not energy but it represents energy. Therefore, money becomes randomized automatically, in compliance with the Second Law. As we only know too well, money has a distinct tendency to dissipate, to randomize. On the other hand, the creation of wealth requires an infusion of energy from a source outside the system, such as a competent strategy or the contribution of additional capital or labor.
We know empirically, that things do not organize themselves into artifacts that are more complex unless new energy is inserted from outside the system. This fact is obvious because a broken window will not repair itself. Without competent management, without the energy to organize and structure transactions, a business will fail, a victim of entropy.
Without new software, without the infusion of new energy from outside the computer system, a computer will never acquire new capabilities, but its hard-drive will fill up with defects and clutter due to the degeneration of the data it holds. A well known fact.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is closely interwoven with the future of the universe and with all life on earth. Sometimes people say that the existence of life on earth violates or contradicts the Second Law. However, this is not the case; we know of nothing in the universe that violates the Second Law.
The definition of life revolves around three prerequisites: The organism must be able to replicate itself, the organism must be capable of energy conversion and the organism must be subject to evolution. The essence of evolution is an increase in complexity, as is obvious when we consider the evolution of living organisms over eons of time.
An increase in complexity entails an increase in the orderliness of the organizational character of the organism: Life represents a decrease of entropy, a decrease of randomness. Such a decrease in randomization can only come about as a result of an infusion of energy from the outside of the closed system, from the outside of the organism. Therefore, the ability to utilize energy by converting it to a usable form, is the essence of all things that we call alive or living. In the case of life on earth, the outside energy is derived from the sun. No sunlight, no life on earth.
This is the chain of life on earth: No energy, no evolution. -- No evolution, no life -- No energy, no life
The discussion of energy is significant, because nothing happens in the universe without energy. The whole universe is a cauldron of energy conversions. As far as human beings are concerned, we need to remember that the standard of living of a person or a nation is determined primarily by the availability of usable energy sources, such as oil or nuclear energy. Without sources of energy to turn our wheels and to compensate for entropy, humanity would revert to the primeval existence of hunters and gatherers.
Many people have trouble understanding the principle of entropy because it is a concept of negatives, because it is a measure of the disorder, of the randomness of a closed system. Every biochemical function requires a decrease in entropy, which can only be achieved by the infusion of energy into a life-sustaining system.
Many people erroneously believe that everything that we use up can be recycled and reused if we only develop the appropriate technology. However, the Second Law makes it inherently impossible to achieve complete reconstitution or recycling. In order to recycle a used product, we must insert additional energy in the collecting, transportation and reprocessing of used materials and this energy expenditure contributes to the overall entropy, the randomness, of the environment. Thus, discards can be recycled only by the expenditure of additional energy and at the expense of increasing the entropy of the universe as a whole. On a light note: Every time someone lights a cigarette, he increases the entropy of the universe and contributes to the energy death of the universe.
Why is this discussion of entropy and the Second Law so important to us, to ordinary human beings? After all, most of us are more concerned with living a happy life, than the heat death of the universe. The problem is that the Second Law has a tendency to interfere with our happiness because it has a pervasive, pernicious effect on our lives. It is imperative that we are aware of the impairments caused by entropy in order to counteract them effectively.
If we encounter a problem in life, it is most important to be fully cognizant of the precise nature and cause of the problem. In trying to resolve the problem, it would be counter-productive to invoke the help of imagined superior beings, instead of dealing with the problem in a realistic, purposeful manner. Unless we understand the nature of entropy, we cannot resolve the deleterious effects that make it difficult to achieve desired results. Therefore, a profound knowledge of the Second Law is extremely important to our quest for happiness.
"Murphy's Law" is well known. After allowing for many humorous embellishments and variations on the basic theme, Mr. Murphy’s proposition states: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." A corollary version claims: "Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse".
We laugh about this aspect of life because we have all experienced the effect of Mr. Murphy's Law on many occasions. Rather than recognize Murphy's Law as a humorous version of a basic law of nature, we usually look upon it as a quirk of nature. Nothing could be further from the truth: When we look at the Second Law of Thermodynamics, we realize that Mr. Murphy's law is an inescapable consequence of the principle of Entropy.
Unless we constantly insert new energy into a house by maintaining it, painting it, repairing it, the structure will eventually but inevitably be leveled to the ground. Its molecules will move from a lower level of randomization, from structure, to a higher level of randomization, towards unstructured debris.
Entropy is the reason why paint peels, why hot coffee turns cold. Furthermore, entropy is the reason why investments have a preordained inclination to go sour -- unless we enhance success by inserting into the investment system additional energy in the form of strategy, work, calculated risk or other forms of energy. Entropy ensures that sugar, which becomes more randomized when it is dissolved in water, will not reconstitute itself in the crystalline form -- unless we apply heat energy from outside the system and evaporate the water.
Wherever we look, whatever we do, we must be acutely aware of the immutable laws of thermodynamics, especially the easily overlooked Second Law: Entropy. This fundamental law of physics ranks with other fundamental manifestations of the universe such as gravity, time and electromagnetism.
Anything that can go wrong not only will go wrong, it must go wrong, as decreed by the Second Law of Thermodynamics
The brick former Naval Offices at 3 Edward Street in Brisbane was constructed in 1900 - 1901 by the Queensland Department of Public Works as the first purpose-built headquarters for naval forces in Queensland. Built for the Queensland Marine Defence Force (QMDF), it was soon used by the Australian Commonwealth Navy (ACN). It was transferred to Commonwealth ownership in 1911 and was used by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
The former Naval Offices is located midway along the Town Reach (Petrie's Bight to Garden Point) of the Brisbane River, within a block bounded by Margaret, Edward, and Alice streets and the river. Over time this area was utilised by a number of Queensland Government entities dedicated to commercial shipping, including; the Government Shipping Office, Port Office, Marine Board Office, Harbours and Rivers Department, Hydraulic Engineers and Shipping Master's departments, Marine Department, and the Government Seamen's Saving Bank. A Reserve for the Harbour Master's Department of 1 rood and 30 perches (1771sqm) was surveyed in 1862 between the corner of Alice and Edward streets and the river, and a stone and brick building was erected that year. Later known as the (first) Port Office, it included offices on the ground floor and store rooms and a boatshed underneath. Prior to this date the Harbour Master was based in George Street.
Military use of the immediate area started in 1886, when the QMDF occupied the 1862 Port Office. The QMDF was created in 1885 in response to fears that Queensland's coastal settlements were vulnerable to Russian warships. In the late 1870s tensions between Britain and Russia had raised concerns regarding the defence of Britain's overseas colonies. Colonel Sir William Jervois of the Royal Engineers, assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Scratchley, toured the Australian colonies to make recommendations for defence arrangements and the pair visited Queensland in August 1877. In order to deal with the perceived Russian naval threat to Brisbane they recommended utilising small naval vessels to disrupt enemy landings, a coastal fort with submarine mines across the river at Lytton, and a mobile field force of infantry and engineers with artillery. A Naval Brigade and a Torpedo Corps was also required. When the Defence Act 1884 was gazetted on the 25th of February 1885, the existing Queensland Volunteer Force (land forces) became the Queensland Defence Force (QDF). The Queensland Defence (Marine) Force was gazetted on the 3rd of March 1885.
Lieutenant Walton Drake had taken command of the Naval Brigade from the 1st of January 1885, tasked with training volunteers. Two 50-strong companies of Brisbane naval volunteers were announced that month and additional naval brigades were later formed at other Queensland ports, including Townsville, Rockhampton, Maryborough, Cairns, Cooktown, Bundaberg, Thursday Island, and Mackay.
Naval vessels were also ordered as part of the proposed plan to defend Queensland. The first vessel of Queensland's new navy to be delivered was the steel, second-class spar torpedo boat ‘Mosquito', which arrived as deck cargo in Brisbane in October 1884. Prior to this the closest thing that Queensland had to a naval vessel was the Queensland Government schooner ‘Pearl', which conducted survey work and guarded the pearling fisheries in northern Queensland waters.
The main strength of the QMDF, the sister Alpha class gunboats ‘Gayundah' (meaning Thunder) and ‘Paluma' (Lightning), ordered from Britain in 1883 and launched in 1884, arrived in March 1885 and May 1885 respectively.
The ‘Gayundah' sailed to Queensland under Commander (later Captain) Henry Townley Wright, a retired Royal Navy officer. Wright was appointed as Senior Naval Officer (SNO) and Superintendent of the QMDF on the 30th of March 1885, as well as remaining in command of the ‘Gayundah'. Those of the crew who elected to remain in Queensland's service became the first permanent members of the QMDF. The ‘Gayundah' was used to train QMDF seamen, while the ‘Paluma' was used on survey work by the British Admiralty until being handed back to Queensland in 1895. The last regular vessel of the QMDF was the ‘Midge', a mahogany timber picquet boat/spar torpedo boat, which arrived in 1888.
Auxiliary vessels in the QMDF included a locally-built steamer ‘Miner', and the government steamer ‘Otter'. Five steam hopper barges of the Harbours and Rivers Department, the ‘Bonito', ‘Stingaree', ‘Dolphin', ‘Bream' and 'Pumba', could also be armed if required for port defence.
A Permanent Force, HMQS Gayundah, QDF (Marine), was established in February 1892, but most of its full-time crew were paid off in 1893 as part of cutbacks during the 1890s depression, as was the ‘Paluma's' crew after the ship had completed its survey work. For most of the 1890s the gunboats were used by naval brigade crews solely for training.
In and near Brisbane, a number of buildings were erected for the QMDF. The Naval Stores and a wharf were built at the base of the Kangaroo Point cliffs in 1886 - 1887, across the river from the QMDF headquarters on Edward Street. A sub-marine mining (naval mine) store was erected circa 1886 at Fort Lytton, and a sub-marine mining drill hall was later built at the west end of Alice Street in 1900.
By 1896, the old Port Office used by the QMDF was in a poor state and the foundations, inundated during the 1893 floods, were settling and causing wall cracks. On the 1st of August 1899 the QMDF's Staff Paymaster, Edward Vincent Pollock, also complained that the roof was leaking water onto his paperwork. Later that month £1500 was allocated by the Department of Public Works for the construction of new offices.
In May 1900 it was decided by Queensland's new Naval Commandant, Captain William Rooke Creswell, that the new offices would replace the cottage of the Marine Department's messenger/caretaker at the corner of Edward and Alice Streets. Tenders were invited in late August and the cottage was demolished.
Plans for the new Naval Offices were approved by AB Brady, the Government Architect within the Department of Public Works (DPW), on the 14th of September 1900, but since he was trained as an engineer it is unlikely to be his design. The DPW employed a number of accomplished architects at this time and the work could be attributed to Thomas Pye (First Assistant Architect from July 1899), John Smith Murdoch (Second Assistant Architect from the 1st of July 1899), or George David Payne (Temporary Draughtsman 1898 - 1901). Pye supervised larger works, while Murdoch took charge of the designing and drafting staff.
DPW was involved in the design and construction of Queensland's most important buildings and capital works following its formation in 1866. Employing a succession of highly-talented architects, DPW produced many fine buildings of high architectural merit. Prior to World War II these buildings were characterised by: highly-functional, rational plan arrangements that were commodious and accommodating; use of high-quality, durable materials, preferably sourced from Queensland; and a quality of civic dignity brought about through style, scaling, and form.
The tender of James Mason of Brisbane of £1845/17/6 for the Brisbane Naval Offices was accepted in October 1900, and the building was completed by late June 1901. ‘The Queenslander' reported on the 16th of November 1901 that the building's facing bricks were dark-brown, relieved with cement dressings and rough-cast work. The roof was covered with rolled galvanised iron. The Annual Report for DPW to the 30th of June 1901 (where the Naval Offices was listed under principal works completed during the year) mentioned internal fittings of pine and cedar. No other Australian colony built naval offices in this period, just prior to Federation and the transfer of defence assets. Queensland may have done so to ensure the continued use of Brisbane by the Commonwealth Navy.
As a naval headquarters, the building was designed with spaces for the senior naval officers and their administrative staff, along with a strong room for the Staff Paymaster. The original ground floor plan included an entry porch off Edward Street, with double doors leading north-west into a public space which was separated by a counter from the Clerk's office. There was also a set of double doors leading north-east into a vestibule between the front offices, and onwards into a central hall. To the rear of the Clerk's Office was the Paymaster's Office, which included a projecting strong room at the rear of the building. The right front (southern) office was for the Commandant, while the right rear (eastern) office was for the Officer of the Naval Corps. Each had a fireplace.
Behind the Naval Corp's office was the separate Brigade Entrance. From this entrance, the ground floor rear verandah could be accessed, as well as a stairway up to a landing from which people could either descend to the ground floor offices, or continue up to the first floor. The latter was a large open space used as an Orderly (Administrative) Room, with four fireplaces and a small lavatory and store at the right rear (eastern) corner. This space may have been later partitioned for sleeping quarters and offices. The 1900 plans do not show the ventilation fleche which was present on the roof when the building was finished. This fleche was removed by the mid 1980s, and was replicated in the 1990s.
Although the QMDF existed when the building was started, the first occupants were technically the Queensland components of a Commonwealth Navy. After the Australian Commonwealth was formed on the 1st of January 1901 the defence forces of the separate colonies were transferred to the new Federal Government in March. However, procedural delays meant arrangements were not completed until 1902.
At the time of Federation, Queensland's naval forces numbered 750 men of all ranks, and it was one of four states (including Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia) to contribute ships to the Australian Commonwealth Naval Force (ACNF), formed on the 1st of March 1901 - handing over the ‘Gayundah', ‘Paluma', ‘Mosquito' and ‘Midge'. Captain Creswell remained the Commandant of the Queensland-based flotilla of the ACN. In late 1904 Captain Creswell was appointed Director of Commonwealth Naval Forces, and his place as Queensland Naval Commandant was taken by Captain Frederick Tickell (to 1907). By 1904, 49% of Australia's serving naval officers had served in the QMDF.
Captain Creswell was a major advocate for an independent Australian navy. Australia had been a separate British Naval Station since 1859 and a squadron of the Royal Navy was maintained in Australian waters until 1913. After March 1901 the Royal Navy was still paid to provide blue water defence (a force projection capability beyond coastal defence), but Captain Creswell lobbied for an autonomous Australian blue water navy. The 1909 Imperial Conference agreed to form an Australian fleet, and the first ships of this fleet, the destroyers ‘Yarra' and ‘Parramatta', reached Australia in 1910. On the 10th of July 1911 King George V granted the title ‘Royal Australian Navy' to the ACN and in October 1913 formal control of these units was transferred to the Commonwealth Naval Board. Meanwhile, in 1911 district naval officers were appointed around Australia to replace the naval commandants.
Although the Commonwealth took control of Queensland's naval forces in 1901, the Naval Offices was not transferred to Commonwealth ownership until 1911. DPW was still maintaining the building in 1910 and it was still in Queensland ownership in June 1911.
A number of alterations were made to the Naval Offices during Commonwealth ownership. February 1933 plans included the addition of a first floor rear verandah with an enclosed laundry and new stairs from the side yard. At the same time, the first floor was converted into a residence for the Senior Naval Officer, and the large space was partitioned into domestic rooms. The internal stairway from the main ground floor hall was removed, so the upstairs residence could only be accessed from the old Brigade Entrance or the new rear verandah. Two sets of French doors plus a single door were installed between the verandah and the residence. A ‘typiste' (typists) room was added to the north west end of the original ground floor rear verandah, and a new lavatory was added behind the strong room. Further additions in late 1939 resulted in a new office, lavatory, and water closet (WC) being built behind the strong room, replacing the 1933 lavatory. Two other WCs were also built sometime between 1933 and 1939 on and adjacent to the rear verandah.
After Japan entered World War II in December 1941, Brisbane became an important supply and command centre and the resulting expansion of the Allied naval presence in the city meant larger Naval Staff Offices were urgently required. During 1942 - 1943 commercial buildings in Queen Street were requisitioned and occupied by the Australian and United States navies. Although the Operational Staff of the RAN's Naval Officer in Charge (NOIC), Queensland, was based in Queen Street, the District Naval Officer, Queensland, remained at the Edward Street Naval Offices with the Civil Secretariat and Accounts staffs. Other wartime RAN facilities in Brisbane were located at Colmslie and New Farm. The Smellie and Co. warehouse opposite the Naval Offices was used by the US Red Cross before becoming an Australian Comforts Fund hostel for the Royal Navy in 1945.
Further alterations were made to accommodate the extra staff at the Naval Offices. In 1944 a two-storey timber office extension was added behind the existing verandahs, the verandahs were enclosed as offices, and toilet arrangements were reconfigured. The stairway to the first floor 1933 verandah was removed, as was the first floor verandah laundry. The original steps up to the rear yard from Alice Street were removed and replaced with steps that climbed south west to the side yard.
By 1977 the former Naval Offices was vacant, its functions having been transferred to HMAS Moreton at New Farm (naval base, closed 1994). The Edward Street site was surplus to Commonwealth requirements but, as it was included on the Register of the National Estate by this time, a decision was made to lease the property for 99 years rather than sell it. This enabled conditions protecting the heritage values of the original section of the former Naval Offices to be written into the lease. The building was leased to Jakuma Limited in November 1981. The lease was transferred to Historic Holdings Pty Ltd in 1987, and to HSH Hotels (Australia) Limited in 2000.
From 1982 the former Naval Offices was used as Muddies Seafood Restaurant, and alterations were made including removing walls between the ground floor offices, constructing a new stair in the ground floor hall, removing internal partitions in the rear timber extensions on both levels, a new kitchen fit-out on the first floor, and adding a fire escape stair to the rear.
After the restaurant closed in 1989, the building was vacant for a period before being refurbished in the early 1990s. This refurbishment was designed by Bruce Buchanan Architects and saw the restoration of lost or obscured significant fabric. The 1944 office extensions to the rear of the building were demolished and the rear verandah was reconstructed. The ground floor toilets were upgraded, partitions were reinstated between the offices on the ground floor, and the first floor partitions were removed to make one large space. At some time after this work, the first floor was again partitioned into rooms although these walls do not reach the ceiling. A new kitchenette was built at the rear eastern corner of the first floor.
Behind the former Naval Offices, the Stamford Hotel, a large multi-storey building, was constructed in 1990 and a boardwalk was built behind the former Naval Offices along the river edge. However, a visual connection between the former Naval Offices and the river was maintained. The flagpole at the front of the building is not an original feature but was there by World War II; while the four flagpoles located near the rear northern corner of the building date from between 1974 and 1991. The building was returned to Queensland State Government ownership in 2011, and in 2012 the ground floor was occupied by a florist, while an architectural firm and a property developer sub-leased the first floor.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
"Replicate"
I seldom shoot reflection when shooting landscapes but when I saw this picturesque view, I quickly decided to set up my gears and shoot.
This is a replica of Cathedral Parish of St. Joseph and can be found inside Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan. The original church is standing still at Balanga, Bataan.
Bagac , Bataan
November | 2016
Taken using Fujifilm XT-10 and Fujinon XC 16-50mm
Mounted on Manfrotto 055V tripod
#LasCasasFilipinasDeAcuzar #Bagac #Balanga #Bataan #Tourism #Travel #Landscapes #Photography #EverydayPhilippines #PhilippineTourism #BataanTourism #Fujifilm #FujifilmPh #Xpph #mirrorlessrevolution #Manfrotto #BlueHour
Photographed at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan on March 1, 2012. This coach was built in 1925 - 1928 to replicate a Bangor and Aroostook Railroad coach from the 1855 to 1965 era. Bangor & Aroostook was a railway in the state of Maine.
Beyond the coach is a refrigerated boxcar.
View my collections on flickr here: Collections
Press "L" for a larger image on black.
Ink and acrylic marker on paper 6.75" x 9.75" 7.2025. www.saatchiart.com/art/Drawing-Self-replicating-Surface-P...
The former West’s Furniture Showroom, completed in early 1953, was commissioned by Laurence (Laurie) West (1918 - 2013) as a Modern, purpose-designed furniture showroom.
Located at the northeast end of Fortitude Valley, one of Brisbane’s busiest shopping centres at the time, it was designed by renowned architect Dr Karl Langer (1903 - 1969) to attract attention and provide a unique setting for West’s cutting-edge modern furniture. As the only Australian business licenced to make and sell Knoll furniture between 1956 and 1962, West’s Furniture Showroom supplied some of the country’s most prominent architects with modern furniture for their buildings and promoted Modern design both within the design community and to the general public. Sold by the West family in 1964, the building had several owners until its purchase by architect Robert Riddel, who in 2008 instigated and managed award-winning restoration and reconstruction works.
Fortitude Valley, located on the north side of the Brisbane central business district (CBD), developed over several stages to become one of Brisbane’s most successful shopping centres, concentrated in Ann, Brunswick, and Wickham Streets. A major building boom took place there in the 1880s, reflecting the widespread economic and population growth typical of the decade. Old timber buildings were replaced with larger, more impressive buildings, marking the growing sophistication, confidence and population of the suburb. Access was improved by the introduction of public transport in the form of horse-drawn trams (replaced by electric trams in the 1890s). By the close of the 1880s the Valley had become intensively settled and was beginning to grow rapidly as a secondary retail centre to the city centre. In 1891 the train line from the city was extended to Fortitude Valley, fuelling the growth of industry in the area, with large factories and warehouses established beyond the retail centre, close to workers’ dwellings.
It was during the 1880s and 1890s that three major retailers were established in the Valley – Overell’s drapery (est. 1883), T C Beirne’s Drapery (est. 1891), and McWhirters (est. 1898) – whose ongoing expansion reflected the wealth and optimism of Valley retailers, and attracted further activity and capital to the area.
Another building boom took place throughout Brisbane in the 1920s; and the Valley in particular, with its success as a commercial and industrial hub, expanded even further. Connection to the city was improved, and electric trams, which passed the busy corner of Brunswick and Wickham Streets, brought thousands of shoppers to the Valley. In 1949, the year that Fortitude Valley celebrated its centenary of European settlement, the turnover of Valley retailers alone was estimated at £15m each year, of which the three biggest firms, McWhirters, T C Beirne, and Overells, accounted for more than a third.
In the early 1950s the Valley underwent a facelift, with the investment of more than £1m in expanding and modernising buildings in order to compete with ‘uptown’ Queen Street, bringing a ‘modern slickness’ to the area. Old shop fronts were replaced with stainless steel and plate glass, dozens of shops were renovated inside and out, and larger stores were constructed, with new features such as escalators proving very popular with customers. Unlike Queen Street, the Valley had ample room for expansion and plenty of parking space, making it a desirable location for a ‘shopping centre of the future’.
In addition to the major stores, the Valley was home to hundreds of medium and small-scale businesses, including numerous furniture manufacturers and retailers. In the post-World War II (WWII) period, a growing percentage of goods sold in the Valley were coming from factories in close proximity to the main shopping centre, including printing, textiles, timber, domestic machinery, motor car assembly, hardware, and furniture factories. Fortitude Valley was one of the main hubs for furniture retailers in Brisbane, along with Woolloongabba, South Brisbane, and the Central Business District (CBD). The 1951 - 1952 Brisbane Metropolitan Trade and Business Directory lists 18 ‘furnishers and furniture dealers’ in the Valley, most concentrated at the southwest end of Wickham Street. The types of retailers ranged from the large department stores, to shops selling mass-produced furniture at affordable prices, to more specialist retailers who designed and/or made furniture to order.
The most important feature of furniture shops were their showrooms: large, flexible spaces where the furniture was displayed, often in room-like configurations so that customers could visualise the furniture in their own homes. Most furniture showrooms at that time were housed within a variety of commercial or warehouse-type buildings; many in older buildings adapted for display purposes. Showrooms also ranged in size, from single-storey shops to multi-storey complexes of adjoining buildings.
One of the Fortitude Valley furniture businesses was West’s Furniture Emporium (West’s) at 132-134 Wickham Street, established in 1937 by Frank Presnell West (father of Laurence West). Frank West had purchased the property in 1922 and in 1927 - 1928 a four-storey building was constructed on the site for Crafti & Co. Ltd, well-known furniture retailers. After Crafti & Co. experienced financial difficulties in the mid-1930s and moved out, the building was occupied by West’s. Advertisements from the 1930s and 1940s show that West’s sold a wide variety of furniture, in both ‘period’ and ‘modern’ styles, and their motto was ‘West’s for the Best’. Promoting themselves as a small family concern, their furniture was made in a chain of small factories, each specialising in varied classes of furniture.
By the early 1950s, Frank West’s son Laurence (Laurie) West had joined the family furniture business. Born in 1918, Laurie became well known in musical circles as a fine baritone singer, and performed in many concerts and singing competitions as a young man in the 1930s and 1940s. During WWII he served in the Australian Army, attaining the rank of sergeant. After his discharge in April 1946, he and his wife Mary (nee Quine, married in 1943) moved into their new, architect-designed residence at Fairfield. While still active in performing and musical circles, Laurie spent a short time studying architecture at the Brisbane Central Technical College. During his studies, Laurie was struck by the lack of local consideration given to the ‘world scene,’ especially in terms of interior design. Extending his own knowledge of this field through ‘extensive reading in libraries and [of] purchased books’ - including subscriptions to journals from America, Sweden, and Europe - and contact with like-minded individuals, including the architect Karl Langer in Brisbane and Harry Seidler in Sydney, Laurie developed a desire to supply Brisbane (and Australia) with modern furniture. This desire grew in ambition and scale, and in the early 1950s he began planning a new purpose-designed showroom for displaying and selling modern furniture.
The site chosen for the new showroom was at the northeast edge of Fortitude Valley, in a predominantly residential and industrial area. Frank West sold his property at 132-134 Wickham Street in 1951 and in the same year purchased 618 Wickham Street (now known as 620 Wickham Street). At the time, the property consisted of an old timber residence with a shop at the front, and had rear access from Knapp Street. In 1951, Laurie West himself drew up some concept plans for a modern showroom on the site, which included a fish pond inside the front display window, a side arcade and entrance, an open-plan showroom with regularly-spaced posts painted bright primary colours, and a flat roof with rooftop garden.
The architect engaged to design West’s new furniture showroom was Dr Karl Langer, who had designed Laurie and Mary West’s house at Fairfield. Born and educated in Vienna, Langer immigrated to Australia with his wife, artist and art critic Dr Gertrude Langer, in 1939; bringing direct experience of the European Modern Movement to Queensland. In addition to working as an architect, Langer lectured part-time in architecture and architectural design at the University of Queensland from 1940, publishing his influential booklet ‘Sub-Tropical Housing’ in 1944. From 1945 Langer was employed as an assistant town planner by Brisbane City Council and was also commissioned to work on a range of town planning projects around Australia. Concurrently, he completed a wide variety of architectural projects ranging from small, economical domestic work to large commercial and institutional work.
Langer had a pronounced impact upon the built environment of Australia and set new standards for design in Queensland until his death in 1969. His body of work is a clearly-distinguishable exploration of a sub-tropical Modernism and is important in the evolution of Queensland architecture. Langer’s designs were typified by modern, highly-functional spaces lit by high levels of natural daylight, naturally ventilated, and incorporated gardens and water features for the occupation and enjoyment of users. They were fit for purpose, while having a degree of flexibility of use. Other important examples of Langer’s architectural work include: the Langer residence at Saint Lucia (1950); Mackay Sugar Research Station (1953); Saint John's Lutheran Church, Bundaberg (1960); Saint Peter's Lutheran College Chapel, Indooroopilly (1968); and the Department of Main Roads Building, Spring Hill (1967).
Langer’s design for the new West’s showroom comprised a modern display area at the front of the site, with a workshop at the rear housed in the existing residence. This followed the pattern of a new type of small, combined showroom/industrial building which emerged in Queensland in the 1950s. Located in inner-city areas on small sites, and built up to the street alignment to match adjacent buildings, these showrooms were usually a single structure of two to three storeys, with large expanses of glazing to the front elevation acting as showcases. They had a clear division between public and private space, with the ground floor area fronting the street housing display and administration areas, while production and storage areas were located to the rear or on upper levels. Detailed attention was given to the design of entryways, as access to the building was directly off the footpath; and features such as controlled illumination levels, climatic control features and sheltered street frontages reflected a sense of responsibility to the public to provide a comfortable environment.
Completed in early 1953, West’s Furniture Showroom was ‘designed with the utmost economy in the contemporary manner’. The showroom comprised a rectangular 64’ by 34’ (19.51m by 10.36m) space with a cantilevered, upswept awning that extended over the Wickham Street footpath. The building was predominantly of masonry construction, with a glass shopfront, a concrete floor, and a shallow-pitched, asbestos- and bitumen-lined roof constructed from timber trusses. The roof-top was used as garden area for displaying outdoor furniture and some furniture assembly operations. The existing timber residence was relocated to the rear of the site and converted for use as a workshop for the assemblage and storage of furniture. The workshop enabled access to the rooftop display area, and was level with Knapp Street for the loading of goods to transport vehicles. Its ground floor consisted of a woodwork shop, and the upper floor was designated for polishing and inventory storage. Public access to the showroom was through a single timber door at the northeast end of the Wickham Street shopfront, adjacent to a random rubble stone wall. Projecting from the angled shopfront, the door frame was supported by glass, so that it appeared to float.
As the furniture showroom was located on the edge of the Fortitude Valley shopping area, the shopfront was designed to be dramatic and striking, to catch the attention of potential customers. Supported by timber beams, three floor-to-ceiling windows, measuring 11ft 6in high by 8ft wide (3.51m by 2.44m), angled in toward the interior at 60 degrees. They were designed to eliminate the reflections of traffic, adjacent buildings and the sky onto footpath pedestrians; while simultaneously attracting the eye of passing traffic by catching reflections of the sky. Along the southwest side of the building, vertical plate glass walls returned into the site and created a pedestrian arcade. This arcade, combined with the absence of a building at the front of the adjacent property, meant that West’s furniture collection was noticeably visible when approached from the city and the potential customer had a clear view of the showroom. A concrete-edged, serpentine fish pond meandered around the base of the angled windows and glass return. Supported below the water-line by concrete pads with rubber cushions, the glass appeared to float atop the pond. The pond was decorated with water-plants and fish; and, through its half-interior, half-exterior location, it conveyed the notion of easy access to the furniture inside.
The interior of the showroom comprised a large open space, with a steep set of concrete stairs in the centre of the rear wall through which furniture was transported from the workshop. Hardwood timber columns supported the ceiling – five of which stood in a row, exposed within the showroom and just outside the shopfront. The columns were supported on metal pin-joints, and their timber was crafted to hide cables that led to power outlets at their base. A 1953 article in the publication Architecture Building Engineering explains that there were no fixed partitions or obstructions within the showroom to allow complete flexibility in arranging the displays. Aquariums were planned to flank the rear staircase, set within the rear wall, although it is unclear whether these were ever constructed (new windows line the rear wall in 2015, of similar proportions to those shown in a 1952 plan). Despite the length of the showroom, it was designed to be lit by natural light during the day by three large, rectangular light-wells (featuring a curved southwest edge, and running the length of the showroom), as well as three oval-shaped ventilator-skylights (arranged parallel to the shopfront windows). Both the light-wells and the skylights were covered by corrugated, transparent plastic roofing. The deep roof trusses were designed to ventilate the ceiling space, and Laurence West recalls that the showroom was kept cool by air movement in the large space above the curved plaster ceiling (within the rectangular light-wells).
Construction work for West’s Furniture Showroom was carried out by Ajax Builders (concrete and brick works), H Packman (timber), and G McKinnon (skylights and fibrous plaster, ceiling work). West’s completed the timber joinery themselves. Installation of the glass within the sloping display windows proved to be a technical challenge. Ten men were required to ease each of the three panes out of their frames and into position, and two panes were broken in the process.
Both the design and function of the Showroom demonstrated the shifting tastes and values of post-war Queensland and the strong desire within the design community and beyond to move the state towards new and modern ways of living. Modernist architecture, which developed in pre-World War I Europe and gained popularity in Australia after WWII, was notable for rationalised planning and simplicity of form and detailing. Distinguished by their extensive use of steel, reinforced concrete and glass, Australian buildings in the Modern or ‘International’ style were heavily influenced by American and European examples. Characteristics included sleek, glossy, prismatic forms, cubiform shapes clad with curtain walls and selective expression of structural systems.
Sharing the ideals of the Modernist movement, both international and Australian furniture designers of the mid-20th Century sought to revolutionise the contemporary interior. Mid-century Modern furniture turned away from traditional, ornate and ‘over-stuffed’ designs that had previously been fashionable, and instead opted for pieces that were lightweight, practical, comfortable, easily rearranged, and scaled to fit within post-war houses. A 1954 article in Home Beautiful advocated that Modern furniture met the needs of the day and rejected the use of ornamentation.
Modern furniture was designed to be pared-back and sculptural, and was ideally suited to Modernist architecture.
Influenced by international furniture trends, Australian contemporary furniture designers of the post-war period also promoted a philosophy of innovative ‘good design’ that was both functional and beautiful. An influx of European immigrants introduced specialised skills and knowledge in fine furniture making to Australia; and production techniques developed in war-time manufacturing industries encouraged experimentation in furniture design. Post-war furniture designers, both in Australia and internationally, became innovative in their use of materials, due to an increased availability of some materials and a shortage of others. This experimentation led to the use of unconventional materials in furniture design, such as: curved plastics, fibreglass and aluminium; bent and laminated plywood; spot welding that joined timber to metal, rubber and plastics; sleek and narrow steel rods; cast aluminium; polyester resins; acrylics; and foam rubber. These materials were durable, lightweight, and maintenance-free, reducing the burden on everyday living. They were manipulated to create minimalist, clean lines and, following the Bauhaus principle of ‘form follows function’, framing elements were often showcased.
When the new West’s Furniture Showroom began operating in 1953 it stocked a wide variety of high-quality, designer Modern furniture, including those from prominent Australian designers: Douglas Snelling (architect, designer of the ‘Snelling Line’, which utilised parachute webbing), Clement Meadmore (industrial designer and sculptor, known for his simple and economical designs that used readily-available materials) and Grant Featherston (designer of the ‘Contour’ line that used bent plywood, which was moulded to the human form). The work of these designers was heavily featured in home-decorating magazines throughout the 1950s.
As well as stocking Australian designers, West’s was the first known retailer in Australia to obtain the licence to manufacture and sell the furniture of Knoll Associates (1938 - present). Established by Hans Knoll (1914 - 1955) in New York as the Hans G Knoll Furniture Company, the first Knoll furniture manufacturing plant was opened in Pennsylvania in 1941. Florence Schust (1917 - ), a space planner and designer who had befriended and studied under prominent Modernist architects Eliel Saarinen, Charles Eames, Walter Gropius, and Marcel Breuer, was employed by Knoll in 1943. In 1946 Hans and Florence married, and the company changed its name to Knoll Associates. A wide range of prominent architects, designers and artists were engaged to design furniture for their company, including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Harry Bertoia, Eero Saarinen, Jens Risom, and Marcel Breuer. Influenced by Bauhaus ideals, their furniture was technologically innovative, exceptionally designed, made of high-quality materials, and easily mass-produced.
In 1946, Florence established the Knoll Planning Unit – a revolutionary department which designed interior spaces for corporate clients; and later designed Knoll showrooms to allow the customer to experience their furniture and test potential purchases. The showrooms were distinctively modern, open-planned, and generally featured bright interiors of primary colours. The first Knoll showroom opened in New York in 1951 with a coloured ceiling grid, artificial pond, and open layout that allowed for a changing layout of products. As Knoll Associates continued to expand, showrooms were opened in eight other locations throughout America. A subsidiary of the company, Knoll International, was established in 1951 and set about opening Modernist showrooms around the globe in places such as Paris, Stuttgart, Stockholm, Madrid, and Milan. A 1956 index released by Knoll Associates lists West’s as the only retailer with a license to sell genuine Knoll furniture in Australia, and as one of only 13 stores selling Knoll furniture outside of America. West’s remained the only known licenced manufacturer and retailer of Knoll products in Australia until William Latchford and Sons, a Melbourne firm, obtained a licence in 1962.
Following its opening, West’s was featured in various periodicals, including a 1953 Cross Section article, a 1954 issue of Architecture (the Royal Australian Institute of Architect’s journal), and on the front cover of Queensland publication Architecture Building Engineering. The showroom was radically different to any other retail building in Brisbane at the time. It was described as having a striking street presence and it’s planning embraced unique solutions to display problems. Accounts from the West family recall the building being so eye-catching that tourist buses would regularly stop outside, and that the Duke of Edinburgh briefly stopped the Royal Cavalcade to view the building during the Queen’s visit in 1954. A few years later, the Queensland Art Gallery showcased furniture from the showroom in their contemporary living room display in the 1958 exhibition, Interiors Past and Present.
West’s was “…instrumental in introducing mass market designer furniture into Brisbane”, and sold high-quality furniture not available elsewhere in Australia to a range of prominent architects and well-known personalities. Notable clients included: architects Harry Seidler, Robin Gibson, James Birrell (for the Chermside and Annerley Libraries), Karl Langer (Broadbeach Hotel) and David Bell (Chevron Hotel); interior designer Langdon Badger; federal politician Harold Holt; and institutions including the Queensland Government, the Canadian Embassy, and the University of Queensland (Student Union Building). At the time, licencing restricted imports to a few sample pieces of furniture, so West’s organised a large group of skilled sub-contractors to make parts, which were assembled at the showroom workshop. High quality Australian wools and yarns were used to upholster the furniture made, including those from Ipswich manufacturer, Morrisons.
West’s operated from the building until the business closed in November 1963. This was due to a variety of factors, including the loss of its exclusive licence with Knoll in 1962. In 1964 the property was sold to Arthur Walter Barrs, who owned the adjacent building (then 620 Wickham Street, now 622 Wickham Street) from which he ran a car radio business. The former West’s showroom remained in the ownership of the Barrs family until the late 1970s, and was at one point leased to Philips Industries Holdings, an electrical products company. Between 1988 and 2008, Queensland Used Appliances, now Queensland Appliances, occupied the building (listing their address as 616 Wickham Street).
Over time, the Wickham Street facade of the showroom was converted into a more conventional shopfront – the sloping, front display windows were removed, and new vertical windows that spanned the full width of the site were installed. The pond was concreted in, the glass walls removed, a section of the front awning’s ceiling painted over and the light-wells roofed over (although their locations were still visible). The workshop at the rear was demolished between 1974 and 1986, and a skillion-roofed shed was constructed in its place.
In 2008, architect Robert Riddel purchased the building and carried out extensive renovations and conservation work. This was completed with the guidance of Laurence West himself, contemporary documentation, and the evidence provided by original fabric remaining within the building. Marks in the front stone wall and the ceiling lining enabled Riddel to reconstruct the front window at the original angle. A new front door was also installed, replicating the original design. The side pedestrian arcade was re-established with new glass walls, and a new wide glass door and metal ramp were added to the end of the arcade to provide a secondary entrance and equal access. Concrete that had filled the serpentine pond was removed, revealing some early edging and concrete pads. The pond was waterproofed, with the edging reconstructed, and it was once again filled with water. Light-wells were uncovered and re-glazed, with the original arched framing re-sheeted. Paint was removed from the hardwood timber posts and front awning’s soffit cladding, and the showroom ceiling was sheeted with new plasterboard. The shed at the rear of the site was gutted, re-lined and its roof was raised; and a new carport was added facing Knapp Street.
Construction was carried out by John Speare Builders and was completed in 2009. In early 2010, the building was converted for use as an office through the addition of lightweight partitions, and was occupied by Riddel Architecture until 2012.
Riddel’s restoration and reconstruction of West’s Furniture Showroom received both national and international praise and recognition. In 2009 it was awarded a Gold Medal award at the National Trust Heritage Awards, and in 2010 it received the Australian Institute of Architects State and National awards for Heritage. The Jury Citation for the National Award for Heritage praises the Showroom as ‘…a rare example of the restoration of a mid-century modernist commercial building’, and that the reinterpretation and rebuilding process was ‘…painstaking but practical and economical. The architects have helped to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of preservation over new build. This is not a museum frozen in time. The spirit is faithfully captured; details restored with rigour, energy, affection, and wit; and the building revitalized as viable commercial premises.’
The project also appeared in publications including IndesignLive (12th of August 2009), Brisbane Modern (Issue 3, 2009), Architecture Australia (vol. 99, Jan - Feb, 2010), Feminity (6th of August 2010) and Architecture and Urban Design in Brisbane (vol. 1, 2012). Brisbane Open House, an event launched in 2010 to promote the ‘hidden wealth of architecture, engineering, and history in buildings and places around Brisbane city’, featured West’s Furniture Showroom in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The building was also included in the 2014 exhibition Hot Modernism: Building Modern Queensland, 1945 - 1975 at the State Library of Queensland, along with furniture pieces from the Wests’ collection.
After a short period of vacancy, in September 2015 the former West’s Furniture Showroom was renovated for use as a retail tenancy, with the rear additions converted into living quarters.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.