Orbital

Orbital may refer to:

In chemistry and physics:

In astronomy and space flight:

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Orbital (The Culture)

In Iain M. Banks' fictional Culture universe, an Orbital (sometimes also simply called an O or a small ring) is a purpose-built space habitat forming a ring typically around 3 million km (1.9 million miles) in diameter. The rotation of the ring simulates both gravity and a day-night cycle comparable to a planetary body orbiting a star.

Its inhabitants, often numbering many billions, live on the inside of the ring, where continent-sized "plates" have been shaped to provide all sorts of natural environments and climates, often with the aim of producing especially spectacular results.

Construction

Structure

Banks has described Orbitals as looking like "a god's bracelet" hanging in outer space. Orbitals are ribbon-like hoops of a super-strong material (see also unobtainium) reinforced and joined with force fields. Each Orbital possesses a "hub", a station suspended at its rotational centre which houses the Orbital's governing Mind.

An Orbital is similar to a ringworld but is much smaller and does not enclose its primary star within itself, instead orbiting the star in a more conventional manner, making it much more intrinsically stable than a ringworld. Many different civilizations are known to use Orbitals sized according to the preferences of the builders; the Culture's Orbitals are approximately ten million kilometres in circumference, which, together with their rotational speed, creates gravity and day-night cycles to normal Culture standard. To put this another way, with a diameter of 3 million kilometres the orbital completes a full rotation once per standard Culture day to simulate normal Culture gravity via centrifugal force, and as the orbital is itself orbiting a star this in turn gives the day-night cycle. They have widths varying between one thousand and six thousand kilometres, giving them a surface area of between 20 and 120 times that of the Earth (but comprising significantly less mass).

Orbital (1991 album)

Orbital is the first album from Orbital, released in 1991. It is often referred to as the "Green Album", to differentiate it from the band's second album, titled Orbital 2 (known as the "Brown Album"), which bears only the band's name on the cover.

The album

The original European release includes live versions of "Chime" and "Midnight". Orbital was released in 1992 with a significantly different cover and track listing in the United States, incorporating remixes and non-album singles. All tracks on the U.S. release had also been remastered using the Bedini Audio Spectral Enhancer (B.A.S.E.) to enhance their stereophonic effects.

Samples

Espionage

Espionage or, casually, spying involves a spy ring, government and company/firm or individual obtaining information considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as it is by definition unwelcome and in many cases illegal and punishable by law. Espionage is a subset of "intelligence" gathering, which includes espionage as well as information gathering from public sources.

Espionage is often part of an institutional effort by a government or commercial concern. However, the term is generally associated with state spying on potential or actual enemies primarily for military purposes. Spying involving corporations is known as industrial espionage.

One of the most effective ways to gather data and information about the enemy (or potential enemy) is by infiltrating the enemy's ranks. This is the job of the spy (espionage agent). Spies can bring back all sorts of information concerning the size and strength of enemy forces. They can also find dissidents within the enemy's forces and influence them to defect. In times of crisis, spies can also be used to steal technology and to sabotage the enemy in various ways. Counterintelligence operatives can feed false information to enemy spies, protecting important domestic secrets, and preventing attempts at subversion. Nearly every country has very strict laws concerning espionage, and the penalty for being caught is often severe. However, the benefits that can be gained through espionage are generally great enough that most governments and many large corporations make use of it to varying degrees.

Spy (2015 film)

Spy is a 2015 American action spy comedy film written and directed by Paul Feig. Starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, and Jude Law, the film follows the transformation of desk-bound CIA analyst Susan Cooper (McCarthy) into a field agent who attempts to foil the black market sale of a suitcase nuke.

Produced by Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Feig and Jessie Henderson, the film was theatrically released on June 5, 2015. It received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing over $235 million worldwide against a $65 million budget. It was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for McCarthy.

Plot

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is a desk-bound CIA employee, remotely guiding her partner Agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) on a mission to Varna from a CIA office. Unbeknownst to Bradley, Susan secretly has a crush on him. During his mission, Fine accidentally kills Tihomir Boyanov without first finding a suitcase nuke whose location is known only to Boyanov.

Spy (Spy album)

Spy is the debut album by American indie rock group Spy. Recorded by Steve Albini, the album is a vinyl-only release, though it is available free on the band's website.

Track listing

External links

Sub

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See also