A snowflake is either a single ice crystal or an aggregation of ice crystals which falls through the Earth's atmosphere. They begin as snow crystals which develop when microscopic supercooled cloud droplets freeze. Snowflakes come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Complex shapes emerge as the flake moves through differing temperature and humidity regions, such that individual snowflakes are almost always unique in structure. Snowflakes encapsulated in rime form balls known as graupel. Snowflakes appear white in color despite being made of clear ice. This is due to diffuse reflection of the whole spectrum of light by the small crystal facets.
In warmer clouds an aerosol particle or "ice nucleus" must be present in (or in contact with) the droplet to act as a nucleus. The particles that make ice nuclei are very rare compared to nuclei upon which liquid cloud droplets form; however, it is not understood what makes them efficient. Clays, desert dust and biological particles may be effective, although to what extent is unclear. Artificial nuclei include particles of silver iodide and dry ice, and these are used to stimulate precipitation in cloud seeding.
Snowflakes may refer to
Snowflakes is the fourth studio album and first Christmas album by American singer Toni Braxton, released on October 23, 2001 by Arista Records. Along with the traditional Christmas songs "The Christmas Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and a cover of Vince Guaraldi's 1962 song "Christmas Time Is Here", the album contains original songs which focus not only on Christmas, but also on love. Braxton was newly married and expecting her first child while making the album. In the United States, the album had sold 538,000 copies as of February 2012.
"Luca$" (pronounced "Luca-dollar") is the seventeenth episode of the 25th season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, and the 547th episode of the series. The episode was written by Carolyn Omine and aired on April 6, 2014, on Fox. In the episode, Marge thinks that Lisa is dating below her standards when she brings home a competitive eater-in-training named Lucas Bortner, so she enlists Homer to help Lisa explore other options. Meanwhile, Bart receives gifts from Snake Jailbird for helping him get out of a jam, but when a betrayal from Milhouse sends Snake back to prison, Bart hatches a plan to get him out.
The episode begins at a playground where Homer has fallen asleep while stuck in the jungle gym's giant metal spiral. Marge drops Bart and Lisa off at school, who are hiding in the back seat so they can preserve their reputations. Homer's story is shown in flashback form, and when he finishes, the jungle gym falls over into a puddle. Bart is later seen in Principal Skinner's office, giving an alibi on why he was tardy. Skinner decides to pursue corporal punishment, and while he's distracted with Groundskeeper Willie, Bart makes a run for it. Bart manages to escape Skinner, whose car accidentally reverses into the auto shop. Bart takes refuge in his treehouse, where he discovers that Snake Jailbird is hiding there. He reveals he is committing crimes to help his son Jeremy. Chief Wiggum arrives, thinking Snake is there, so Bart lies that Snake made it to the top of Mount Springfield. Back at school, Lisa sees a boy choking on pizza. She performs the Heimlich maneuver on him, reveals his name is Lucas Bortner and he's a competitive eater. She doesn't think that competitive eating is for him, and suddenly gets a crush on him. She then thinks about changing him. Meanwhile, Snake, grateful for Bart's actions, steals a PlayStadium 4 and leaves it in Bart's room.
Luca or LUCA may refer to:
Final Fantasy IV, a role-playing video game released by Square in 1991, revolves Cecil Harvey, a knight of Baron who embarks on a quest to defeat Golbez, a man that is controlling the king of Baron. During Cecil's quest, he is joined by his childhood friends Kain Highwind and Rosa Farrell, as well as other warriors from around the world who also seek to stop Golbez. The visuals of the characters were designed by Yoshitaka Amano. After its initial release, Final Fantasy IV was later ported to multiple consoles. In 2007, Square Enix released an enhanced remake for the Nintendo DS that added voice acting to both the Japanese and English versions.
The game's 2008 sequel, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is set seventeen years after Final Fantasy IV and includes most of the characters from the original game as well as introducing several new characters. The story of The After Years primarily revolves around Ceodore Harvey, the son of Cecil and Rosa. In 2011, a third game in the series was released. Set one year after Final Fantasy IV and sixteen years prior to The After Years, Final Fantasy IV Interlude, was released for the PlayStation Portable, and featured several of the original Final Fantasy IV protagonists.