X-factor (astrophysics)

The X-factor in astrophysics, often labeled X_CO, is an empirically determined proportionality constant which converts carbon monoxide (CO) emission line brightness to molecular hydrogen (H₂) mass.

Origin

The term X-factor was coined in a 1983 paper titled "Gamma-rays from atomic and molecular gas in the first galactic quadrant" and published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Calibration

Calibrating X_CO requires an independent method of determining the amount of molecular hydrogen in a given astrophysical region. While direct emission from molecular hydrogen is difficult to observe, there are other ways of inferring molecular hydrogen mass, outlined below.

X-Factor (comics)

X-Factor is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is a spin-off from the popular X-Men franchise, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The series has been relaunched several times with different team rosters, most recently in X-Factor v. 3 as X-Factor Investigations.

X-Factor launched in 1986, featuring an eponymous team composed of the five original X-Men. In 1991, the founding members were incorporated back into the regular X-Men series, and X-Factor relaunched as a U.S. government-sponsored team incorporating many secondary characters from the X-Men mythos. The series was canceled in 1998.

In 2002 a four-part X-Factor mini-series detailed an investigation by the Mutant Civil Rights Task Force into an alleged conspiracy by hate-groups to commit murder against mutants. The series was written by Jeff Jensen with artwork by Arthur Ranson.

In 2005 a new X-Factor series was launched, following the mutant detective agency X-Factor Investigations. Written by Peter David, the series drew acclaim from Ain't It Cool News, as well as controversy for establishing a homosexual romantic relationship between Rictor and Shatterstar, a move criticized by Shatterstar's co-creator, Rob Liefeld. The series also won a 2011 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book. The series ended in 2013.

The X Factor (UK TV series)

The X Factor is a British reality television music competition to find new singing talent, contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. Created by Simon Cowell, the show began in 2004 and has since aired annually from August/September until December. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's Thames (previously Talkback Thames) and Cowell's production company Syco TV. It is broadcast on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and simulcast on TV3 in Ireland. The "X Factor" refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality.

The show is currently presented by Olly Murs and Caroline Flack. The series consists of auditions, bootcamp, judges' houses, several weeks of live shows, semi-finals and the final. After the show's success, it then became an international franchise following a similar format. The series has a spin-off behind-the-scenes show called The Xtra Factor, which airs directly after the main show on ITV2.

History

The X Factor was created by Sony Music A&R judge Simon Cowell as a replacement for Pop Idol. Cowell, who was a judge on Pop Idol, wished to launch a show to which he owned the television rights.Pop Idol's first series was massively successful, and while the second series was also successful, the viewing figures for its finale dropped. Some—including Cowell's fellow Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman— considered Michelle McManus an unworthy winner. In 2004, ITV announced a new show created by Cowell, with no involvement from Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller—The X Factor. The perceived similarity between the two shows later became the subject of a legal dispute.

So Big (1932 film)

So Big! is a 1932 American Pre-Code drama film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Barbara Stanwyck. The screenplay by J. Grubb Alexander and Robert Lord is based on the 1924 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title, without the exclamation point, by Edna Ferber.

So Big! was the second full-scale screen adaptation of the Ferber novel. The first was a 1924 silent film of the same name directed by Charles Brabin and starring Colleen Moore. A 1953 remake was directed by Robert Wise and starring Jane Wyman. The story was also made as a short in 1930, with Helen Jerome Eddy.

Plot

Following the death of her mother, Selina Peake (Barbara Stanwyck) and her father (Robert Warwick) move to Chicago, where she enrolls in finishing school. Her father is killed, leaving her penniless, and Selina's friend Julie Hemple (Mae Madison) helps her find a job as a schoolteacher in a small Dutch community. Selina moves in with the Poole family and tutors their son Roelf (George Brent). Selina eventually marries immigrant farmer Pervus De Jong (Earle Foxe) and gives birth to Dirk (Hardie Albright), nicknamed "So Big", who becomes the primary focus of her life. When Pervus dies, Selina struggles to keep the farm afloat so she can afford to finance her son's education, hoping he will become an architect.

So Big (1924 film)

So Big is a 1924 silent film based on Edna Ferber's novel of the same name. It was produced by independent producer Earl Hudson the film was distributed through Associated First National. Unseen for decades, it is considered a lost film. Only a trailer survives at the Library of Congress.

Cast

Reception

Colleen Moore's role in So Big quite different from her usual jazz baby/flapper parts. Because Moore's part in the film was so different from the roles she had become known for following Flaming Youth, there was an outcry against her. Forgotten was that prior to her success in Flaming Youth, the vast majority of her roles had been dramatic in character, a few even tragic. She had not only played mothers, but mothers who had lost children (Broken Chains) and mothers who died (Dinty). Still, her performance was generally well received. The film, however, was not so big a success as her previous few comedies, and so Sally was lined up to follow So Big. Moore wrote in Silent Star that upon meeting Edna Ferber some years after the film, the author gave her approval of Moore's performance.