Phasmatodea

The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida or Phasmatoptera) are an order of insects, whose members are variously known as stick insects (in Europe and Australasia), stick-bugs or walking sticks (in the United States and Canada), phasmids, ghost insects and leaf insects (generally the family Phylliidae). The group's name is derived from the Ancient Greek φάσμα phasma, meaning an apparition or phantom, referring to the resemblance of many species to sticks or leaves. Their natural camouflage makes them difficult for predators to detect, but many species have a secondary line of defence in the form of startle displays, spines or toxic secretions. The genus Phobaeticus includes the world's longest insects.

Members of the order are found all over the world except for the Antarctic and Patagonia, but they are most abundant in the tropics and subtropics. They are herbivorous with many species living unobtrusively in the tree canopy. They have a hemimetabolous life cycle with three stages: eggs, nymphs and adults. Many phasmids are parthenogenic, and do not require fertilised eggs for female offspring to be produced. In hotter climates, they may breed all year round; in more temperate regions, the females lay eggs in the autumn before dying, and the new generation hatches out in the spring. Some species have wings and can disperse by flying, while others are more restricted.

Egg Banking

Egg is a former British internet bank headquartered in Derby, that is now a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society. Egg was born out of the UK banking arm of Prudential plc, Prudential Banking plc, which was established in 1996, and the Egg brand was launched in 1998.

It was only possible to operate an Egg account over the internet, or via their call centre. Egg specialised in savings and general insurance but no longer offers loans, credit cards or mortgage products. The credit card business was sold to Barclaycard, followed by the remaining savings and mortgage business to Yorkshire Building Society, which subsequently transferred all remaining customer accounts over from Egg.

Following the sale of its assets, Egg Banking plc, which remained under the ownership of Citigroup, was renamed Canada Square Operations Limited and continues to handle matters relating to certain Egg products from before the sale of assets and any assets that were not transferred to the new owners.

Egg (car)

Egg or Egg & Egli was a Swiss car made in business from 1896 to 1919. It was one of the more long-lived early Swiss car makes. It appeared at numerous auto shows and competed in France's annual smash-up derby.

History

Rudolf Egg, an automotive engineer, built a car for his own use in 1893. He later founded the namesake company in 1896 in Zürich with funds from a Swiss banker called Egli. In 1904, the company moved to Wollishofen, operating under the name Motorwagenfabrik Excelsior. Egg's company later produced some of the first Swiss aircraft engines. Financial difficulties after the war forced the closure of the business in 1919. Egg himself later became a Renault dealer.

Models

At the outset, all models were three-wheelers. Called Egg & Egli Tricycle before 1900, later three-wheelers were marketed as Egg & Egli Rapid. The first four-wheeled cars were produced in 1899, with a heavy resemblance to the Oldsmobile Curved Dash. Egg models were regarded as high-quality in Switzerland, and many Swiss companies produced them under license.

Dogū

Dogū (土偶)(meaning "clay figures") are small humanoid and animal figurines made during the late Jōmon period (14,000–400 BC) of prehistoric Japan. Dogū come exclusively from the Jōmon period. By the Yayoi period, which followed the Jōmon period, Dogū were no longer made. There are various styles of Dogū, depending on exhumation area and time period. According to the National Museum of Japanese History, the total number found throughout Japan is approximately 15,000. Dogū were made across all of Japan, except Okinawa. Most of the Dogū have been found in eastern Japan and it is rare to find one in western Japan. The purpose of the Dogū remains unknown and should not be confused with the clay haniwa funerary objects of the Kofun period (250 – 538).

Origins

Some scholars theorize the Dogū acted as effigies of people, that manifested some kind of sympathetic magic. For example, it may have been believed that illnesses could be transferred into the Dogū, then destroyed, clearing the illness, or any other misfortune.

Dog in Chinese mythology

Dogs are an important motif in Chinese mythology. These motifs include a particular dog which accompanies a hero, the dog as one of the twelve totem creatures for which years are named, a dog giving first provision of grain which allowed current agriculture, and claims of having a magical dog as an original ancestor in the case of certain ethnic groups.

Myth versus history

Chinese mythology is those myths found in the geographic area called China, which of course has evolved and changed throughout its history. These include myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups (of which fifty-six are officially recognized by the current administration of China). (Yang 2005:4)

In the study of historical Chinese culture, many of the stories that have been told regarding characters and events which have been written or told of the distant past have a double tradition: one which tradition which presents a more historicized and one which presents a more mythological version.(Yang 2005: 12-13) This is also true of some accounts related to mythological dogs in China.

D0g

D0g is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of video games, first introduced in Half-Life 2 in 2004. D0g is a hulking robot belonging to Alyx Vance, which was built by Alyx's father Eli to both provide companionship and protect his daughter; Alyx subsequently upgraded the robot into its current form. His character provides comic relief during the series; his battle sequences are often comically exaggerated, such as taking on small enemy squads by throwing cars and trucks at them. His appearance as the first character seen in Half-Life 2: Episode One was influenced by positive fan reception.

Character design

Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar states that D0g's design underwent "relatively few changes" from his very first concept sketch; Valve artists were inspired by "classic movie robots," citing Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.

In video games

D0g's role in Half-Life 2 is to aid the player in tutorials—in particular, training in the use of the gravity gun—and lifting heavy objects the player cannot manipulate without the gravity gun.

Beak (bivalve)

The beak is part of the shell of a bivalve mollusk, i.e. part of the shell of a saltwater or freshwater clam. The beak is the basal projection of the oldest part of the valve of the adult animal. The beak usually, but not always, coincides with the umbo, the highest and most prominent point on the valve. Because by definition, all bivalves have two valves, the shell of a bivalve has two umbones, and two beaks.

In many species of bivalves the beaks point towards one another. However, in some species of bivalves the beaks point posteriorly, in which case they are referred to as opisthogyrate; in others the beaks point forward, and are described as being prosogyrate.

If the beak is not eroded or worn down at all, it may still be capped with the prodissoconch, which is the larval shell of the animal.

References