Sonar (comics)

Sonar is a DC Comics supervillain. He first appeared in Green Lantern (2nd series) #14, July (1962), and was created by John Broome and Gil Kane.

Fictional character biography

Bito Wladon

Nestled in the mountains of south eastern Europe lies the tiny Balkan nation of Modora. With a population of four hundred, Modora was relatively unknown to the rest of the world, whose only product was the wool of a peculiar brown sheep found only in that small area. It was not even a member of the United Nations. Modora was sealed off from the rest of the world by Fando the Mad, a leader who believed Modora should be frozen in its past. He burned bridges and barricaded roads to the outside world while making all decisions for his countrymen. One man, Bito Wladon, was determined to change that.

Wladon's parents were deaf, which was a mark of Satan to the superstitious Modorans. By Modoran beliefs, they were not to be killed or hurt, they were to be shunned. Young Bito was a pariah as well, even though he could hear, he was the son of deaf parents. The cruel actions of his community built resentment towards his parents and the outside world. Bito Wladon would hide from the rest of the world in a barn, in which he one day discovered a cache of books, hidden by his peddler grandfather against the orders of Fando.

Fluridone

Fluridone is an aquatic herbicide often used to control invasive plants. It is sold under the names Sonar, Avast! and Whitecap and is used in the United States to control hydrilla and Eurasian watermilfoil among other species. It is a systemic herbicide that works by interfering with carotene formation which leads to chlorophyll degradation. Fluridone is sold as a liquid and as a slow release solid because the herbicide level must be maintained for several weeks.

The chemical was first reported as a possible herbicide for cotton fields in 1976. It was registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1986 and has low toxicity to animals with no restrictions on swimming or drinking in treated water bodies. Fluridone breaks downs in the environment over days or weeks with the major degradation product being N-methyl formamide. The half-life of fluridone in soils and sediments is nine months.

Pharmaceutical

Fluridone's main action to disrupt photosynthesis in plants is by preventing the secretion of abscisic acid. As higher Eukaryotes, such as humans, also rely on an abscisic acid pathway to create inflammation in normal physiological processes, fluridone can be used as an anti-inflammatory drug for humans.

Sonar (disambiguation)

Sonar or SONAR often refers to a technique that uses sound propagation under water.

Sonar may also refer to:

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Computing

Catalysis

Catalysis (/kəˈtælᵻsᵻs/) is the increase in the rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of an additional substance called a catalyst (/ˈkætəlᵻst/). With a catalyst, reactions occur faster and require less activation energy. Because catalysts are not consumed in the catalyzed reaction, they can continue to catalyze the reaction of further quantities of reactant. Often only tiny amounts are required.

Technical perspective

In the presence of a catalyst, less free energy is required to reach the transition state, but the total free energy from reactants to products does not change. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations. The effect of a catalyst may vary due to the presence of other substances known as inhibitors or poisons (which reduce the catalytic activity) or promoters (which increase the activity). The opposite of a catalyst, a substance that reduces the rate of a reaction, is an inhibitor.

Catalyzed reactions have a lower activation energy (rate-limiting free energy of activation) than the corresponding uncatalyzed reaction, resulting in a higher reaction rate at the same temperature and for the same reactant concentrations. However, the detailed mechanics of catalysis is complex. Catalysts may affect the reaction environment favorably, or bind to the reagents to polarize bonds, e.g. acid catalysts for reactions of carbonyl compounds, or form specific intermediates that are not produced naturally, such as osmate esters in osmium tetroxide-catalyzed dihydroxylation of alkenes, or cause dissociation of reagents to reactive forms, such as chemisorbed hydrogen in catalytic hydrogenation.

Catalyst (disambiguation)

A catalyst is a substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction.

Catalyst may also refer to:

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Literature and publications

Catalyst (TV program)

Catalyst is the ABC's primary science journalism television series and the only science show on primetime television in Australia. Launched in 2001, it replaced Quantum, which had ceased the previous year. Catalyst is regularly broadcast on ABC 1 at 8:00 pm on Tuesdays and at 11:30 am Saturdays. Also repeated on ABC News 24 on Saturdays at 4:30 pm.

Catalyst celebrated its tenth year of production in 2010.

Description

The show broadcasts stories on scientific themes, and in particular significant recent developments and discoveries. It focuses primarily on stories relevant to Australia, but the series covers international developments as well. It attempts to convey information in a way that is not only accurate but also interesting and informative to the general population, often discussing the ethical, political, and other implications of scientific discoveries and research as well as the discoveries themselves.

The show's website describes it as follows:

Each week Catalyst brings you stories from Australia and around the world.