Egret

An egret /ˈiːɡrət/ is a bird that is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season.

Biology

Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology. The word "egret" comes from the French word "aigrette" that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season.

Several of the egrets have been reclassified from one genus to another in recent years: the great egret, for example, has been classified as a member of either Casmerodius, Egretta or Ardea.

In the 19th and early part of the 20th century, some of the world's egret species were endangered by relentless plume hunting, since hat makers in Europe and the United States demanded large numbers of egret plumes, leading to breeding birds being killed in many places around the world.

Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope

The Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) was one of four instruments outfitted on NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite. Since lower energy gamma rays cannot be accurately detected on Earth’s surface, EGRET was built to detect gamma rays while in space. EGRET was created for the purpose of detecting and collecting data on gamma rays ranging in energy level from 30 MeV to 30 GeV.

To accomplish its task, EGRET was equipped with a spark chamber, calorimeter, and plastic scintillator anti-coincidence dome. The spark chamber was used to induce a process called electron-positron pair production as a gamma ray entered the telescope. The calorimeter on the telescope was then used to record the data from the electron or positron. To reject other energy rays that would skew the data, scientists covered the telescope with a plastic scintillator anti-coincidence dome. The dome acted as a shield for the telescope and blocked out any unwanted energy rays.

Indian (card game)

Indian is a very simple card game that involves a surprising amount of strategy. The counter-intuitive gameplay and involved scoring lend for an interesting and strategic game, and experienced players will beat inexperienced players more often than not.

Gameplay

Deal

To begin a hand, the dealers deals each player exactly one card, which they may not look at. When the dealer indicates, all players turn the card towards the inside of table so that the back of the card is facing them; a player should be able to see all cards except his own.

Bidding

In each hand, play goes around in a circle, starting with the player to the left of the dealer with each player bidding. A bid can only have two values, in or out. A player that makes an in bid wishes to remain in the hand. A player that makes an out bid believes that he will not win the hand and is out of the round; to signal this he will flip his card so that he can see its value and all players still in the hand can tell he is out. A player who made an in bid may change to an out bid when it becomes his turn to bid again, but cannot change from an out bid to an in bid. Bidding ends when all remaining players wish to keep their most recent bid.