Red panda

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), also called lesser panda, red bear-cat, and red cat-bear, is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China that has been classified as endangered by the IUCN as its wild population is estimated at less than 10,000 mature individuals. The population continues to decline and is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and inbreeding depression, although red pandas are protected by national laws in their range countries.

The red panda is slightly larger than a domestic cat. It has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs. It feeds mainly on bamboo, but is omnivorous, and also eats eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals. It is a solitary animal, mainly active from dusk to dawn, and is largely sedentary during the day.

The red panda is the only living species of the genus Ailurus and the family Ailuridae. It has been previously placed in the raccoon and bear families, but results of phylogenetic research indicate strong support for its taxonomic classification in its own family Ailuridae, which along with the weasel, raccoon and skunk families is part of the superfamily Musteloidea. Two subspecies are recognized. It is not closely related to the giant panda.

Firefox (novel)

Firefox is a thriller novel written by Craig Thomas and published in 1977. The Cold War plot involves an attempt by the CIA and MI6 to steal a highly advanced experimental Soviet fighter aircraft. The chief protagonist is fighter pilot turned spy Mitchell Gant. The book was subject to a 1982 film adaptation produced and directed by Clint Eastwood who also played the role of Gant in the film.

Plot summary

The book focuses on a fictional MiG-31 aircraft developed by the USSR during the Cold War. The highly advanced fighter aircraft (given the NATO code name "Firefox") includes a form of stealth technology that makes it completely undetectable to radar and is capable of attaining hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 or more with a range in excess of 3,000 miles. Its weapons are controlled by the thought impulses of the pilot, allowing them to be very rapidly aimed and fired.

Faced with an aircraft which will give the Soviet Union the ability to completely dominate the skies, the CIA and MI6 launch a mission to steal one of the two Firefox prototype aircraft. The first section of the book details how fighter pilot Mitchell Gant covertly travels to Russia. Gant is ideally trained to steal Firefox, having already trained to fly in captured Russian planes. But he is also scarred by his experiences in Vietnam, including his capture by Viet Cong after being shot down, an ordeal exacerbated when the enemy guerrillas are wiped out almost immediately by napalm from an American air strike.

Firefox (video game)

Firefox is a single player arcade laserdisc game based on the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. It was produced by Atari, Inc. in 1984 and was Atari's only laserdisc game. Like Atari's previous first-person games Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, Firefox came as both an upright and sit down cabinet, and featured a yoke style controller.

To develop the laserdisc footage, two developers, Mike Hally and Moe Shore, sifted through miles of footage from the film, amounting to 20 to 30 hours' worth. Most of the resulting footage was first-person shots filmed from helicopters flying over Greenland and Scandinavia.

The title was the second laserdisc game to be added to MAME, with intermediate version 0.128u4.

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Spectrum (Steve Howe album)

Spectrum is an instrumental album released by Steve Howe in 2005. Howe's band includes his son Dylan on drums and Tony Levin (King Crimson) on bass guitar. The album has guitar-based instrumentals, showing many different genres that influence Howe.

Track listings

All tracks composed by Steve Howe.

Personnel

References

Spectrum (Jega album)

Spectrum is the debut album by electronic musician Jega, released in 1998 on Planet Mu.

Track listing

External links

Spectrum disorder

A spectrum disorder is a mental disorder that includes a range of linked conditions, sometimes also extending to include singular symptoms and traits. The different elements of a spectrum either have a similar appearance or are thought to be caused by the same underlying mechanism. In either case, a spectrum approach is taken because there appears to be "not a unitary disorder but rather a syndrome composed of subgroups". The spectrum may represent a range of severity, comprising relatively "severe" mental disorders through to relatively "mild and nonclinical deficits".

In some cases, a spectrum approach joins together conditions that were previously considered separately. A notable example of this trend is the autism spectrum, where conditions on this spectrum may now all be referred to as autism spectrum disorders. In other cases, what was treated as a single disorder comes to be seen (or seen once again) as comprising a range of types, a notable example being the bipolar spectrum. A spectrum approach may also expand the type or the severity of issues which are included, which may lessen the gap with other diagnoses or with what is considered "normal". Proponents of this approach argue that it is in line with evidence of gradations in the type or severity of symptoms in the general population, and helps reduce the stigma associated with a diagnosis. Critics, however, argue that it can take attention and resources away from the most serious conditions associated with the most disability, or on the other hand could unduly medicalize problems which are simply challenges people face in life.