Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' close relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six or seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the coscoroba swan, although this species is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.

Etymology and terminology

The English word 'swan', akin to the German Schwan, Dutch zwaan and Swedish svan, is derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing). Young swans are known as swanlings or as cygnets, from Greek κύκνος, kýknos and from the Latin word cygnus ("swan") and the Old French suffix -et ("little"). An adult male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group); an adult female is a pen.

Swan (manga)

Swan (スワン) is a shōjo manga by Kyoko Ariyoshi. The shōjo magazine Margaret serialized the story in Japan during the seventies. 21 volumes were released. In North America the story was published by CMX, but the series was abandoned after 15 volumes due to the closure of the imprint. The plot mostly follows a young girl, Masumi, as she struggles to become a ballerina.

Plot

The first volume begins with Masumi sneaking backstage after a Tokyo ballet performance in order to express her admiration for the lead dancers, Alexei Sergeiev and Maria Prisetskaya . However, when she meets the stars, Masumi becomes tongue-tied and clumsily begins to dance the Odile Variation from Swan Lake. Sergeiev and Prisetskaya graciously excuse her, saying that nothing could give them more happiness than her physical expression of appreciation, and Masumi returns home slightly embarrassed. Later, Masumi receives an invitation to enter a nationwide ballet competition. The competition is being held to discover the best ballet students in Japan, in order to invite them to an exclusive ballet school designed to improve the quality of Japanese ballet. Her impromptu dance for Sergeiev and Prisetskaya captured the attention of Sergeiev, and so Masumi goes to Tokyo in order to compete.

Swan (nuclear primary)

Swan was a U.S. test nuclear explosive, which was developed into the XW-45 warhead.

It was tested standalone on June 22, 1956 in shot Redwing Inca. It was tested again as the primary of a thermonuclear device on July 2, 1956 in shot Redwing Mohawk. Both tests were successful. It subsequently served as the primary in numerous thermonuclear devices during the 1950s.

Most subsequent U.S. primaries are Swan-derived, including the Robin, the Tsetse, the Python, and the much later (asymmetrical) ovoid (prolate) primaries.

Design features

The Swan device is the first design to incorporate a two-point hollow-pit air lens implosion assembly together with fusion boosting.

The Swan device had a yield of 15 kilotons, weighed 105 lb (47.6 kg), and had a (symmetrical) ovoid (non-prolate) shape with a diameter of 11.6 inches (29.5 cm) and a length of 22.8 inches (58 cm), a length to diameter ratio of 1.97.

The above schematic illustrates what were probably its essential features.

One-point safety

Rick

Rick is a masculine given name which may refer to:

People:

Happily N'Ever After

Happily N'Ever After is a 2007 American computer-animated ensemble family film directed by Paul J. Bolger, produced by John H. Williams, written by Rob Moreland and based on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. The title is the opposite of happily ever after. The film stars the voices of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Andy Dick, Wallace Shawn, Patrick Warburton, George Carlin, and Sigourney Weaver. The film was theatrically released on January 5, 2007 by Lionsgate, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 1, 2007 by Roadshow Entertainment. The film earned $38 million on a $47 million budget. A direct-to-video sequel, Happily N'Ever After 2: Snow White Another Bite @ the Apple, was released on March 24, 2009.

Plot

The story begins with the idea that the Wizard (George Carlin) controls all of the fairy tales and maintains the balance of good and evil in Fairy Tale Land. With the help of his assistants the uptight Munk (Wallace Shawn) and the decidedly goofy Mambo (Andy Dick), the Wizard is checking to make sure that all the fairy tales under his care are "on track" to have their traditional happy endings. As we meet him however, the Wizard is leaving for Scotland for a long-overdue vacation. He leaves the kingdom in the hands of Munk and Mambo.

Rick (disambiguation)

Rick is a masculine given name. It may also refer to:

See also