Salamander

Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by a lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All present-day salamander families are grouped together under the scientific name Urodela. Salamander diversity is most abundant in the Northern Hemisphere and most species are found in the Holarctic ecozone, with some species present in the Neotropical zone.

Salamanders never have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, some take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults. Unique among vertebrates, they are capable of regenerating lost limbs, as well as other damaged parts of their bodies. Members of the family Salamandridae are mostly known as newts and lack the costal grooves along the sides of their bodies typical of other groups. The skin of some species contains the powerful poison tetrodotoxin and these salamanders tend to be slow-moving and have bright warning coloration to advertise their toxicity. Salamanders typically lay eggs in water and have aquatic larvae, but great variation occurs in their lifecycles. In some species and some harsh environments, salamanders reproduce while still in the larval state.

Elementals (DC Comics)

The Elementals are a fictional team of superheroes published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Super Friends #14 (October 1978), and were created by E. Nelson Bridwell and Ramona Fradon.

Team history

The Elementals first appear inside four giant translucent jewels located in four different cities: a ruby appeared near the Gotham City Police Department's central station, an emerald appeared atop Metropolis' Galaxy Communications Building, a diamond appeared outside New York City's United Nations building, and a sapphire appeared on a beach near the Aquacave, Aquaman's headquarters.

Superman fought a hooded man in brown who called himself the Gnome. Aquaman fought a woman in a green fishlike costume who called herself the Undine. Elsewhere Wonder Woman fought a blonde woman in blue who called herself the Sylph. Additionally, Batman fought a fiery woman in a red reptilian costume who called herself the Salamander. Strangely, their costumes proved to be ill-fitted for their powers; despite this, the Elementals put the heroes in grave danger.

Salamander (TV series)

Salamander is a Belgian drama television series that was first broadcast on Eén on December 30, 2012. The twelve-part series is produced by Skyline Entertainment and written by Ward Hulselmans.

Plot

Jonkhere is a small private bank in Brussels, Belgium. At the start of the series, 66 separate safe deposit boxes belonging to a number of the most prominent public figures in Belgium are robbed. The owners want to keep the thefts under wraps to avoid scandal, but an incorruptible, old-school police inspector Paul Gerardi (Filip Peeters) throws himself into the investigation. Gerardi discovers that the victims are members of a secret organisation called Salamander, a cabal made up of the country's industrial, financial, judicial and political elite, and the safe-deposit boxes contained their most intimate secrets – secrets which go back to World War II and could bring down the nation. As he becomes the target of both the criminals and the authorities, Gerardi - at great personal cost - must quickly find out what their agenda is and who is behind the thefts.

Hail

Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from sleet, though the two are often confused for one another. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Sleet falls generally in cold weather while hail growth is greatly inhibited during cold surface temperatures.

Unlike graupel, which is made of rime, and ice pellets, which are smaller and translucent, hailstones consist mostly of water ice and measure between 5 millimetres (0.2 in) and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter. The METAR reporting code for hail 5 mm (0.20 in) or greater is GR, while smaller hailstones and graupel are coded GS.

Hail is possible within most thunderstorms as it is produced by cumulonimbi, and within 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) of the parent storm. Hail formation requires environments of strong, upward motion of air with the parent thunderstorm (similar to tornadoes) and lowered heights of the freezing level. In the mid-latitudes, hail forms near the interiors of continents, while in the tropics, it tends to be confined to high elevations.

Hail (album)

Hail is the first LP album released in 1988 by New Zealand band, Straitjacket Fits. There were three releases of the album, a New Zealand release in 1988, a United Kingdom and United States release also in 1988 and an extended album in 1989. The UK/US release featured tracks which had earlier been released in New Zealand on the Life in One Chord EP; the 1989 release contained all the songs from both the New Zealand album and the earlier EP.

Most of the songs on the album were credited to Shayne Carter/Straitjacket Fits, the exceptions being "Sparkle That Shines", "Take From The Years" and "Fabulous Things" (all Andrew Brough/Straitjacket Fits), and a cover of Leonard Cohen's song "So Long, Marianne". This was the only cover version recorded on any of Straitjacket Fits' albums.

The album was well received, though the band were disappointed that the sound of the finished release failed to capture either their live sound or the intensity of their debut EP.Rip It Up described it as having "tidal waves of sweetly distorted guitar noise that spill over and around the vocal harmonies."

Hail (disambiguation)

Hail is a form of frozen precipitation. It may also refer to:

See also