Xenon

Xenon is a chemical element with symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a colorless, dense, odorless noble gas, that occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, xenon can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the formation of xenon hexafluoroplatinate, the first noble gas compound to be synthesized.

Naturally occurring xenon consists of eight stable isotopes. There are also over 40 unstable isotopes that undergo radioactive decay. The isotope ratios of xenon are an important tool for studying the early history of the Solar System. Radioactive xenon-135 is produced by beta decay from iodine-135 (which is a product of nuclear fission), and it acts as the most significant neutron absorber in nuclear reactors.

Xenon is used in flash lamps and arc lamps, and as a general anesthetic. The first excimer laser design used a xenon dimer molecule (Xe₂) as its lasing medium, and the earliest laser designs used xenon flash lamps as pumps. Xenon is also being used to search for hypothetical weakly interacting massive particles and as the propellant for ion thrusters in spacecraft.

Xenon (program)

Xenon is software to perform covert Internet searches, presently in use by taxing authorities to investigate the possibilities of tax evasion by various revenue producing web sites (online shops, gambling sites, or pornography sites) and clients selling goods on on-line auction sites. The software uses time–controlled web spiders to avoid likely countermeasures by the webmasters of the targeted site.

References

Xenon (pinball)

Xenon is a 1980 pinball machine designed by Greg Kmiec and released by Bally. The game was not only the first talking pinball table by Bally, but also the first with a female voice.

Description

The voice for the female robot theme was provided by Suzanne Ciani who also composed the music of the game. The seductive voice is for example saying "Try Xeeeeenon" in attraction mode or responds to bumper hits with some "Oooh" and "Aaah" moaning sound effects.

Xenon consists of dominant blue artwork e.g. blue bumper caps, plastic posts and bluish light that gives the game a futuristic xenon theme.

The tube shot is the most prominent playfield feature and transports the ball from the upper-right side of the playfield to the middle-left side of the playfield. It consists of a clear acrylic tube with a string of small lights.

An episode of Omni: The New Frontier has a segment that talks about the creation of the game's audio.

Digital version

Xenon was chosen in a poll to be in the game The Pinball Arcade and is available for several platforms as a licensed table. Xenon was also included in the arcade game UltraPin.