Cosmic

Cosmic is anything pertaining to the cosmos.

Cosmic may also refer to:

Media

Science

Other uses

See also

X (Kylie Minogue album)

X is the tenth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 21 November 2007 by Parlophone. It is her first release since the greatest hits compilation Ultimate Kylie (2004), and her first studio album since Body Language (2003). Work on the album began following Minogue's gradual recovery from breast cancer and subsequent radiotherapy treatment. Her cancer, which was diagnosed in May 2005, resulted in the postponement of Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour midway through its run. Minogue resumed the tour in late 2006, in the midst of recording X, and was completed later in the following year. The album introduced new American and European producers including Bloodshy & Avant, Guy Chambers, Calvin Harris and Freemasons.

X has received positive reviews from music commentators. Many critics had commended the production, Minogue's innovative writing and many believed that it was a true welcome back to the pop scene. However, upon release, some critics were divided whether the album was a 'comeback' album and some noted the fillers and theme inconsistency. Commercially, X was a success. In Minogue's native Australia, the album debuted at number one on the Australian Albums Chart, becoming her first number-one album since Body Language (2003) and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number four, being held off by artists Westlife, Shayne Ward (which was the highest debuting album that week) and Leona Lewis. It gained a higher position than her last record and was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The album achieved strong charting internationally, peaking inside the top 20 in countries including Austria, Germany, Ireland, Taiwan and France. X became her lowest selling studio album in the United States, peaking at a lowest 139 on the Billboard 200.

National Space Organization

The National Space Organization (NSPO; formerly known as the National Space Program Office) is the national civilian space agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the auspices of the Executive Yuan's National Science Council. NSPO is involved in the development of space exploration, satellite construction and development as well as related technologies and infrastructure (including the FORMOSAT series of Earth observation satellites) and related research in aerospace engineering, remote sensing, astrophysics, atmospheric science, information science, space weapons, a future Taiwanese manned space program and the deployment of space-based weapons for the defense of national security in the ROC.

NSPO headquarters and the main ground control station are in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Taiwanese rocket launch program

Indigenously developed suborbital launch vehicle based upon the Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile. Six to seven launches as of 2010.

Satellite launch vehicle program

Swastika

The Swastika (also known as the gammadion cross, cross cramponnée, or wanzi) (as a character: 卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious symbol that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross, with its four legs bent at 90 degrees. It is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and dates back to before 2nd century B.C.

It has been used as a decorative element in various cultures since at least the Neolithic. It is known most widely as an important symbol long used in Indian religions, denoting "auspiciousness."

It was adopted as such in pre-World War I-Europe and later, and most notably, by the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany prior to World War II. In many Western countries, the swastika has been highly stigmatized because of its use in and association with Nazism.

It continues to be commonly used as a religious symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Western literature's older term for the symbol, gammadion cross, derives mainly from its appearance, which is identical to four Greek gamma letters affixed to each other. The name swastika comes from the Sanskrit word svastika (Devanāgarī: स्वस्तिक), meaning "lucky or auspicious object".

Michael Slade

Michael Slade (born 1947, Lethbridge, Alberta) is the pen name of Canadian novelist Jay Clarke, a lawyer who has participated in more than 100 criminal cases and who specializes in criminal insanity. Before Clarke entered law school, his undergraduate studies focused on history. Clarke’s writing stems from his experience as a practicing lawyer and historian, as well as his extensive world travel. He works closely with police officers to ensure that his novels incorporate state-of-the-art police techniques. Writing as a team with a handful of other authors, Clarke has published a series of police procedurals about the fictional Special External Section (Special X) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. His novels describe Special X protagonists as they track down fugitives, typically deranged murderers. Four other authors have contributed under the name Michael Slade: John Banks, Lee Clarke, Rebecca Clarke, and Richard Covell. Despite the collaborative nature of the books, Jay Clarke is the predominant voice in their writing. Currently, Jay and his daughter Rebecca write under the Slade name.

Swastika (Germanic Iron Age)

The swastika design is known from artefacts of various cultures since the Neolithic, and it recurs with some frequency on artefacts dated to the Germanic Iron Age, i.e. the Migration period to Viking Age period in Scandinavia, including the Vendel era in Sweden, attested from as early as the 3rd century in Elder Futhark inscriptions and as late as the 9th century on Viking Age image stones.

In older literature, the symbol is known variously as gammadion, fylfot, crux gothica, flanged thwarts, or angled cross. English use of the Sanskritism swastika for the symbol dates to the 1870s, at first in the context of Hindu and Buddhist traditions, but from the 1890s also in cross-cultural comparison.

Examples include a 2nd-century funerary urn of the Przeworsk culture, the 3rd century Værløse Fibula from Zealand, Denmark, the Gothic spearhead from Brest-Litovsk, Russia, the 9th century Snoldelev Stone from Ramsø, Denmark, and numerous Migration Period bracteates. The swastika is drawn either left-facing or right-facing, sometimes with "feet" attached to its four legs.

Ait

An ait (pronounced /eɪt/, like "eight") or eyot (pronounced /aɪət/, /aɪt/, or /eɪt/) is a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England.

Aits are typically formed by the deposition of sediment in the water, which accumulates over a period of time. An ait is characteristically long and narrow, and may become a permanent island. However, aits may also be eroded: the resulting sediment is deposited further downstream and could result in another ait. A channel with numerous aits is called a braided channel.

References in literature

Although not common in 21st-century English, "ait" or "eyot" appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Charles Dickens' Bleak House, and Thackeray's Vanity Fair.

Joyce Cary used "eyot" in The Horse's Mouth – "Sun was in the bank. Streak of salmon below. Salmon trout above soaking into wash blue. River whirling along so fast that its skin was pulled into wrinkles like silk dragged over the floor. Shot silk. Fresh breeze off the eyot. Sharp as spring frost. Ruffling under the silk-like muscles in a nervous horse. Ruffling under my grief like ice and hot daggers."