Blob

Blob may refer to:

In science

In computing

In entertainment

Film and television

Gaming

The blob (Chukchi Sea algae)

The blob is a large mass of algae that was first spotted floating in the Chukchi Sea between the Alaskan cities of Wainwright and Barrow in July 2009. Its length is at least 19 km (12 mi).

The algae are colored black, which is considered to be unusual. Early examiners of the algae were unable to determine its species.

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Blob (visual system)

Blobs are sections of the visual cortex where groups of neurons that are sensitive to color assemble in cylindrical shapes. They were first identified in 1979 by Margaret Wong-Riley when she used a cytochrome oxidase stain, from which they get their name. These areas receive input from parvocellular cells in layer 4Cβ of the primary visual cortex and output to the thin stripes of area V2. Interblobs are areas between blobs which receive the same input, but are sensitive to orientation instead of color. They output to the pale stripes of area V2.

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Keep

A keep (from the Middle English kype) is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the castle fall to an adversary. The first keeps were made of timber and formed a key part of the motte-and-bailey castles that emerged in Normandy and Anjou during the 10th century; the design spread to England as a result of the Norman invasion of 1066, and in turn spread into Wales during the second half of the 11th century and into Ireland in the 1170s. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to build stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries; these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design, and circular shell keeps. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up to a decade to build.

Keep (surname)

Keep is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Arrakis

Arrakis (/əˈrækᵻs/;Arabic: الراقص‎, ar-rāqiṣ, "the dancer") — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is sometimes cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history.

In Dune, the planet is the home of the Fremen (Zensunni wanderers), and subsequently is the Imperial Capital of the Atreides Empire. Arrakis is the third planet orbiting the star Canopus, and it in turn is orbited by two moons, one of which has the image of the desert kangaroo mouse, Muad'Dib, on it; the other moon possesses the image of a human hand.

Environment and the spice

A desert planet with no natural precipitation, in Dune it is established that Arrakis had been "His Imperial Majesty's Desert Botanical Testing Station" before the discovery of melange, for which it is the only natural source in the universe. Melange (or, "the spice") is the most essential and valuable commodity in the universe, as it extends life and makes safe interstellar travel possible (among other uses). The planet has no surface water bodies, but open canals called qanats are used "for carrying irrigation water under controlled conditions" through the desert. The Fremen collect water in underground reservoirs to fulfill their dream of someday terraforming the planet, and pay the Spacing Guild exorbitant fees in melange to keep the skies over Arrakis free of any satellites which might observe their efforts. As indicated by its large salt flats, Arrakis once had lakes and oceans; Lady Jessica also notes in Dune that wells drilled in the sinks and basins initially produce a "trickle" of water which soon stops, as if "something plugs it."