Firefly

The Lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles, and commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This chemically produced light from the lower abdomen may be yellow, green, or pale red, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers.

About 2,000 species of fireflies are found in temperate and tropical environments. Many are in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have abundant sources of food. Their larvae emit light and often are called "glowworms", in particular, in Eurasia. In the Americas, "glow worm" also refers to the related Phengodidae. In many species, both male and female fireflies have the ability to fly, but in some species, the females are flightless.

Biology

Fireflies tend to be brown and soft-bodied, often with the elytra, or front wings, more leathery than those of other beetles. Although the females of some species are similar in appearance to males, larviform females are found in many other firefly species. These females can often be distinguished from the larvae only because they have compound eyes. The most commonly known fireflies are nocturnal, although there are numerous species that are diurnal. Most diurnal species are not luminescent; however, some species that remain in shadowy areas may produce light.

Firefly (TNT album)

Firefly is the sixth studio album by the Norwegian hard rock band TNT. It was released in 1997.

The album was a comeback for TNT who split up in 1992 after the release of Realized Fantasies. It also marked a significant change in TNT's sound and is still heavily debated among the fans of the band. The music is more heavy and modern, reflecting the changes in the music business in the first half of the 1990s. It is also Tony Harnell's favorite album. New singer Tony Mills was told by Le Tekrø in 2007 to not even bother listening to it as they would not play anything from the album live.

The album was not as successful as some of TNT's previous albums, but still achieved some success in Norway and Japan. The band toured those countries in support of the album.

Track listing

The song "Soldier of the Light" was never meant for the album. It was a demo from the Realized Fantasies sessions and was put on Firefly because the Japanese record company liked it so much.

They opened their live shows with "Only the Thief" as an intro before launching into "Somebody Told You" with Tony Harnell doing the first lines of the songs lyrics before Le Tekrø opened with the song's riff.

Firefly (dinghy)

The Firefly is a two-sail, one design, wooden or GRP sailing dinghy with no spinnaker, designed by Uffa Fox in 1938. The first four boats from the production line were named Fe, Fi, Fo and Fum. Number one, Fe, is now owned by the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Although designed as a double hander, it was selected as the single handed class for the 1948 Olympics but was subsequently replaced by the Finn class. The class then became popular as a low cost, one design, double hander, as was originally intended, tolerating remarkably well combined weights of 16 to 25 stone (102 to 159 kg).

The Firefly class today has a thriving open events calendar in the UK. The national championships are always held at a sea venue and attracts a very high level of dinghy racing competitors in boats of all ages from all over the country and fleets of 60 entries plus. Away events are held at a number of the top end sailing clubs in the UK including Restonguet, Itchenor, West Kirby, Felixstowe Ferry, Southport, Budworth and Rickmansworth. It has become particularly successful as a team racing boat in the UK, thanks to its high manoeuvrability, easy handling, and low cost. Another benefit is the use of smaller mainsail which enables sailing in stronger winds. The class has become particularly popular for the British Universities Sailing Association team racing events and is used in similar BSDRA events, thus a large number of universities and schools that team race have a fleet of Fireflys, taking advantage of the benefits above.

Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks.

Types

The most common type of memorial is the gravestone or the memorial plaque. Also common are war memorials commemorating those who have died in wars. Memorials in the form of a cross are called intending crosses.

Online memorials and tributes are becoming increasingly popular especially with the increase in natural burial where the laying of gravestones, or memorial plaques, is often not permitted.

When somebody has died, the family may request that a memorial gift (usually money) be given to a designated charity, or that a tree be planted in memory of the person.

Sometimes, when a high school student has died, the memorials are placed in the form of a scholarship, to be awarded to high-achieving students in future years.

Examples of notable memorials

Memorial (Distorted album)

Memorial is the debut album of the Israeli oriental death/doom metal band Distorted, released in 2006.

Track listing

Release history

Memorial to the throne

A memorial to the throne (Chinese: 章表, zhāngbiǎo) was an official communication to the Emperor of China. They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. Submission of a memorial was a right theoretically available to everyone from the Crown Prince to a common farmer, but the court secretaries would read them aloud to the emperor and exercised considerable control over what was considered worthy of his time. They were used in imperial China as a means of regulating corrupt local officials who might otherwise have escaped oversight.

Han dynasty

Under the Han dynasty, generally, the reception of memorials was the responsibility of the Imperial Secretary tasked with overseeing provincial administration. He generally needed to present any formal memorials, but could reject them for improper formatting. Masters of Writing under the Minister Steward then copied and processed these prior to submission to the emperor. Under Emperor An, however, Zhang Heng was placed in charge of reception of the memorials as part of his post as Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages under the Ministry of Guards.