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 (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

Swan (surname)

Swan is an American, Australian, Brazilian, Canadian, English, Finnish, and Irish surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Storm

A storm is any disturbed state of an environment or astronomical body's atmosphere especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), heavy precipitation (snowstorm, rainstorm), heavy freezing rain (ice storm), strong winds (tropical cyclone, windstorm), or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere as in a dust storm, blizzard, sandstorm, etc.

Storms generally lead to negative impacts on lives and property such as storm surge, heavy rain or snow (causing flooding or road impassibility), lightning, wildfires, and vertical wind shear; however, systems with significant rainfall can alleviate drought in places they move through. Heavy snowfall can allow special recreational activities to take place which would not be possible otherwise, such as skiing and snowmobiling.

The English word comes from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz meaning "noise, tumult".

Storm (1999 film)

Storm is a 1999 American science fiction thriller film starring Luke Perry and Martin Sheen. The story and screenplay were written by Harris Done. The story talks about the secret weather control experiment which goes awry.

Plot

The film begins on 23 August 1992 with the top-secret weather experiment led by Air Force General James Roberts (Martin Sheen) off the coast of Florida. The team uses a specially modified cargo plane to launch a special generator into the developing storm to enhance its power. As the plane is destroyed by a lightning strike, the control of the experiment is lost and within a few hours the storm develops into the hurricane Andrew which devastates Miami. The details about the experiments are buried after the disaster.

The story then moves to 1999 where Dr. Ron Young (Luke Perry) and his assistant Dr. Brian Newmeyer perform the experiment designed to steer the path of the storm with the generator towed by a small airplane. While the experiment is successful, Dr. Young's flight license is revoked because of the airspace violation which nearly causes the accident. His boss has enough of the risky experiments and decides to fire both Dr. Young and Dr. Newmeyer.

Storm (Malagasy band)

Storm is a Malagasy power metal band formed in 1998. They are one of the few Madagascar-based bands to play heavy metal and the first to play power metal. All of their lyrics are written in the Malagasy language. They released their self-titled debut album in 2005.

Members

Current

Former

Discography

Storm (2005)

External links