Prism

In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. At least two of the flat surfaces must have an angle between them. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use "prism" usually refers to this type. Some types of optical prism are not in fact in the shape of geometric prisms. Prisms can be made from any material that is transparent to the wavelengths for which they are designed. Typical materials include glass, plastic and fluorite.

A dispersive prism can be used to break light up into its constituent spectral colors (the colors of the rainbow). Furthermore, prisms can be used to reflect light, or to split light into components with different polarizations.

How prisms work

Light changes speed as it moves from one medium to another (for example, from air into the glass of the prism). This speed change causes the light to be refracted and to enter the new medium at a different angle (Huygens principle). The degree of bending of the light's path depends on the angle that the incident beam of light makes with the surface, and on the ratio between the refractive indices of the two media (Snell's law). The refractive index of many materials (such as glass) varies with the wavelength or color of the light used, a phenomenon known as dispersion. This causes light of different colors to be refracted differently and to leave the prism at different angles, creating an effect similar to a rainbow. This can be used to separate a beam of white light into its constituent spectrum of colors. Prisms will generally disperse light over a much larger frequency bandwidth than diffraction gratings, making them useful for broad-spectrum spectroscopy. Furthermore, prisms do not suffer from complications arising from overlapping spectral orders, which all gratings have.

List of Humanx Commonwealth planets

This is a list of the fictional planets in the Humanx Commonwealth series of novels by Alan Dean Foster.

Alaspin

Alaspin has large jungles surrounded by equally large savannas and river plains; its only notable celestial feature is two moons.

Currently the planet has no sentient race; the native race died out, possibly by racial suicide, over 75,000 years ago leaving behind hundreds of ancient, abandoned cities that have proved a source of fascination to modern xeno-archaeologists.

A variety of lifeforms currently live on Alaspin, most notably the Alaspinian minidrag.

Annubis

Annubis is most notable for the fictional Hyperion forests from which the fictional drug bloodhype is manufactured. In an attempt to eradicate the highly addictive and deadly drug, the trees were burned in 545 A.A. and are thought to be completely destroyed.

The planet first appeared in the novel Bloodhype.

Blasusarr

Blasusarr is the homeworld of the AAnn race and is often called the Imperial Home World. Climate is dry and hot, largely desert, the preferred atmospheric conditions of the AAnn. Beyond this, little is known about Blasusarr other than the fact that it is very well-protected by a detection and space defense network. Its capital city, also the capital of the AAnn Empire, is Krrassin.

Jeff Scott Soto

Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965) is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is most well known for being the lead singer for the group Talisman from 1990 till the end of Talisman in 2007, the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and the lead vocalist for Journey on their 2006–2007 tours after Steve Augeri had to leave the band because of an acute throat infection. His style ranges from Hard Rock to Heavy & Power Metal, but he is also influenced by classic soul music singers such as Sam Cooke as well as Journey vocalist Steve Perry, and Freddie Mercury from Queen.

Career

Soto came to prominence in the early 1980s via his involvement with several Yngwie Malmsteen records. The bands Soto has been involved in included Panther, Axel Rudi Pell, Eyes, Talisman, Takara, Humanimal, Human Clay, Kryst The Conqueror, Redlist, The Boogie Knights and Soul Sirkus.

Soto has sung background vocals on several albums by artists such as Lita Ford, Steelheart, Fergie Frederiksen, Glass Tiger, House Of Lords, Stryper, Saigon Kick, and many others.

Aubrey

Aubrey is an English given name. It is most commonly a female name, although historically its use has been masculine. The name is a Norman French derivation of the Germanic given name Alberic, which consists of the elements alf "elf" and ric "power", with the meaning of "Fair Ruler of the Little People." Before the Norman conquest, the Anglo-Saxons used the corresponding variant Ælf-rīc (see Ælfric).

An early female form is recorded as Aubrée and does not share the same etymology. It is instead derived from the Germanic Albereda or Alberada. It can be found in certain genealogies of the noble Norman families (See f. e. Aubrey of Buonalbergo).

The name is traditionally male, but is more commonly used as a feminine name in the United States. It was the 20th most popular name given to girls born in the United States in 2014. The variants Aubree and Aubrie were the 61st most and 428th most popular given names for girls respectively. It was last ranked among the top 1,000 most common names for boys in the United States in 2002. It was the 479th most common name for all males in the United States in the 1990 census.

Aubrey (song)

"Aubrey" is a song written and composed by David Gates, and originally recorded by the pop-rock group Bread, of which Gates was the leader and primary music producer. It appeared on Bread's 1972 album Guitar Man. The single lasted 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 15.

David Gates wrote the song after watching Breakfast at Tiffany's starring Audrey Hepburn.

This song swapped the assumed gender of the name Aubrey, nearly extinguishing its use as a male name and popularizing it as a female name up to the present. Actress Aubrey Plaza is named after the song, and Canadian rapper Drake (rapper)'s birth name is Aubrey

The main melody of the song was sampled by Vampire Weekend on their song "Step".

Musical structure and lyrics

The song features David Gates' solo voice, with no backup vocals or drumming. It relies on various melodic resources such as orchestral strings, acoustic guitar, celeste, and orchestra bells. In the lyrics, the singer talks about a longing for a girl named Aubrey for whom he had unrequited love ("the hearts that never played in tune"); perhaps a first love. It is also said to be a song about shyness ("I never knew her, but I loved her just the same"). It is regarded as one of Bread's most beautiful, yet melancholic, songs. The song was later recorded by Perry Como and released on his 1973 album And I Love You So.

Aubrey (The X-Files)

"Aubrey" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, and the thirty-sixth episode overall. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on January 6, 1995. It was written by Sara B. Charno and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Aubrey" received a Nielsen rating of 10.2 and was watched by 9.7 million households. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television critics.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In the episode, Mulder and Scully believe that a serial killer from the 1940s passed his genetic trait of violence to his grandchild after a detective, BJ Morrow (Deborah Strang) mysteriously uncovers the remains of an FBI agent who disappeared almost fifty years before while investigating a modern-day murder case similar to the older cold case.