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

Transa (album)

Transa is a 1972 album by Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso. Like its predecessor, it was recorded while the artist was exiled in London, though he returned to Brazil shortly after completing it.

Reception

Caetano calls it "one of my favorite records", feeling that it reaches a level of musicianship he was unable to achieve on previous albums. It also proved popular with the Brazilian public, due partly to its inclusion of a new version of the old samba "Mora na Filosofia", originally by Monsueto Menezes. It was listed by Rolling Stone Brazil as one of the 10 best Brazilian albums in history. Its success would set up the failure of the much more unconventional followup, Araçá Azul.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Caetano Veloso except where noted. 

Personnel

References