title: Aprilia

text: Aprilia entered the Superbike World Championship in 1999 using a homologation special version of their V-twin road bike RSV Mille. They were third in the riders' championship in 2000 with rider Troy Corser, and third in manufacturers' points and fourth in rider points both in 2001 with Corser and in 2002 with Noriyuki Haga. Aprilia retired from the series at the end of that season.


title: Aprilia

text: In February 2008, Aprilia debuted a V-4 superbike, the RSV4, for the 2009 Superbike World Championship.


title: Aprilia

text: Aprilia won its first Superbike world championship in 2010 with Max Biaggi, claiming both the riders and the manufacturers titles.


title: Aprilia

text: Aprilia debuted in the FIM Supermoto World Championship in 2004 and since then it has won many titles in both S1 and S2 classes.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe (July 2, 1898 – August 10, 1975) was a senior United States Army officer who earned fame as the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division defending Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. He is celebrated for his one-word reply to a German surrender ultimatum: "Nuts!"


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: After the battle, McAuliffe was promoted and given command of the 103rd Infantry Division, which he led from January 1945 to July 1945. In the post-war era, he was commander of United States Army Europe.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: McAuliffe was born in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1898. He attended West Virginia University from 1916 to 1917. He was a member of the West Virginia Beta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity during his time at West Virginia University. He enrolled at West Point in 1917. McAuliffe was part of an accelerated program and graduated shortly after the end of World War I, in November 1918.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: During this time, he visited Europe for a short time and toured several battlefields. Assigned to field artillery, he graduated from the Artillery School in 1920. For the next 16 years, McAuliffe carried out typical peacetime assignments. By 1935, he had been promoted to the rank of Captain. Later, he was chosen to attend the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. In June 1940, McAuliffe graduated from the United States Army War College. Just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was promoted again, temporarily becoming a lieutenant colonel with the Supply Division of the War Department General Staff. While in this position, McAuliffe supervised the development of such new technology as the bazooka and the jeep.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: Brigadier General McAuliffe commanded the division artillery of the 101st Airborne Division when he parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. He also landed by glider in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: In December 1944, the German army launched the surprise attack that became the Battle of the Bulge. Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, was attending a staff conference in the United States at the time. During Taylor's absence, McAuliffe commanded the 101st and its attached troops. At Bastogne, the 101st was besieged by a far larger force of Germans under the command of General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: On December 22, 1944, von Lüttwitz dispatched a party, consisting of a major, a lieutenant, and two enlisted men under a flag of truce to deliver an ultimatum. Entering the American lines southeast of Bastogne (occupied by Company F, 2nd Battalion, 327th Glider Infantry), the German party delivered the following to Gen. McAuliffe:


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: According to those present when McAuliffe received the German message, he read it, crumpled it into a ball, threw it in a wastepaper basket, and muttered, "Aw, nuts". The officers in McAuliffe's command post were trying to find suitable language for an official reply when Lt. Col. Harry Kinnard suggested that McAuliffe's first response summed up the situation pretty well, and the others agreed. The official reply was typed and delivered by Colonel Joseph Harper, commanding the 327th Glider Infantry, to the German delegation. It was as follows:


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: The German major appeared confused and asked Harper what the message meant. Harper said, "In plain English? Go to hell." The choice of "Nuts!" rather than something earthier was typical for McAuliffe. Captain Vincent Vicari, his personal aide at the time, recalled that "General Mac was the only general I ever knew who did not use profane language. 'Nuts' was part of his normal vocabulary."


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: The artillery fire did not materialize, although several infantry and tank assaults were directed at the positions of the 327th Glider Infantry. In addition, the German Luftwaffe attacked the town, bombing it nightly. The 101st held off the Germans until the 4th Armored Division arrived on December 26 to provide reinforcement.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: For his actions at Bastogne, McAuliffe was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Patton on December 30, 1944 with official orders processed on January 14, 1945. He later received the Army Distinguished Service Medal twice, the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: Immediately after Bastogne, McAuliffe was promoted to Major General and given command of the 103rd Infantry Division on January 15, 1945, his first divisional command assignment, which he retained until July 1945. Under McAuliffe, the 103rd reached the Rhine Valley, March 23, and engaged in mopping up operations in the plain west of the Rhine River. In April 1945, the division was assigned to occupational duties until April 20, when it resumed the offensive, pursuing a fleeing enemy through Stuttgart and taking Münsingen on April 24. On April 27, elements of the division entered Landsberg, where Kaufering concentration camp, a subcamp of Dachau, was liberated. The 103rd crossed the Danube River near Ulm on April 26. On May 3, 1945, the 103rd captured Innsbruck, Austria, with little to no fighting. It then seized the Brenner Pass and met the 88th Infantry Division of the U.S. Fifth Army at Vipiteno, Italy, thereby joining the Italian and Western European fronts.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: Following the war, McAuliffe held many positions, including Chief Chemical Officer of the Army Chemical Corps, and G-1, Head of Army Personnel. He returned to Europe as Commander of the Seventh Army in 1953, and Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army Europe in 1955. He was promoted to four-star general in 1955.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: While still in the service, McAuliffe attended the premiere of "Battleground" in Washington D.C. on November 9, 1949. The film did not depict McAuliffe directly, but did show a scene of the Germans presenting their surrender demands and their confusion on receiving McAuliffe's reply.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: In 1956, McAuliffe retired from the army. He worked for American Cyanamid Corporation from 1956 to 1963 as vice president for personnel. He began a program to teach employees to maintain contact with local politicians. The company subsequently required all branch managers to at least introduce themselves to local politicians. McAuliffe also served as chairman of the New York State Civil Defense Commission from 1960 to 1963.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: After his retirement from American Cyanamid in 1963, McAuliffe resided in Chevy Chase, Maryland, until his death on August 10, 1975, age 77. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: The central square of Bastogne, Belgium, is named Place Général McAuliffe. A Sherman tank, pierced by a German 88 mm shell, stands in one corner.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: A southern extension of Route 33 in eastern Northampton County, Pennsylvania, completed in 2002, was named the Gen. Anthony Clement McAuliffe 101st Airborne Memorial Highway.


title: Anthony McAuliffe

text: The new headquarters building for the 101st Airborne Division, which opened in 2009 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, is named McAuliffe Hall.


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: The Sparks Brothers is a 2021 documentary film directed by Edgar Wright. The film is about Ron and Russell Mael, members of the pop and rock duo Sparks.


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: The documentary features lengthy interviews with Ron Mael and Russell Mael, along with short interviews with musicians such as Beck, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert of Joy Division and New Order, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell of Erasure, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Nick Rhodes and John Taylor of Duran Duran. The documentary includes a snippet of an audio interview with Björk but she does not appear in the movie.


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: Wright interviewed record producers who collaborated with the band such as Todd Rundgren, Giorgio Moroder, Jane Wiedlin, and Tony Visconti. The film includes interviews with previous members of the group who worked with the Maels in the various Sparks line-ups from the early 1970s until the early 2020s, including Les Bohem and Christi Haydon. A number of fans are interviewed, including TV producer Jonathan Ross; rock journalist Paul Morley; authors Neil Gaiman and Tosh Berman, and actors such as Jason Schwartzman, Mark Gatiss, and Mike Myers.


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: The documentary includes several short animation sequences to reproduce apocryphal anecdotes between musicians with the participation of the comedians Simon Pegg (as the voice of John Lennon) and Nick Frost (as the voice of Ringo Starr).


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: In June 2018, it was announced Edgar Wright would direct an untitled documentary film revolving around the band Sparks, with MRC Non-Fiction and Complete Fiction Pictures producing the film.


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: Principal photography began in May 2018, with Jake Polonsky as cinematographer, beginning with covering the band's concert at the O Forum Kentish Town. In April 2020, Wright announced that the film was "nearly finished".


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021. Shortly after, Focus Features acquired domestic distribution rights, while Universal Pictures will distribute the film internationally. The film also screened at South by Southwest in March 2021, and was theatrically released in North America on June 18, 2021, by Focus Features. It was released in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021.


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: In the United States of America, the film made $107,225 on its opening Friday and $89,652 on its second weekend. The film was released internationally in territories including the United Kingdom ($334,184), Australia ($45,404), France ($80,267), Iceland ($477), Portugal ($346) and New Zealand ($9,499).


title: The Sparks Brothers

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 160 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Their albums may be cult favorites, but this Edgar Wright-directed documentary offers an introduction to "The Sparks Brothers" that has something for everyone." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Southern elephant seal

text: The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season. A bull southern elephant seal is about 40% heavier than a male northern elephant seal ("Mirounga angustirostris"), twice as heavy as a male walrus ("Odobenus rosmarus"), and 6–7 times heavier than the largest living mostly-terrestrial carnivoran, the polar bear ("Ursus maritimus") and the Kodiak bear ("Ursus arctos middendorffi").


title: Southern elephant seal

text: The southern elephant seal was one of the many species originally described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his "Systema Naturae", where it was given the binomial name of "Phoca leonina". John Edward Gray established the genus "Mirounga" in 1827.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: The southern elephant seal is distinguished from the northern elephant seal (which does not overlap in range with this species) by its greater body mass and a shorter proboscis. The southern males also appear taller when fighting, due to their tendency to bend their backs more strongly than the northern species. This species may also exhibit the greatest sexual dimorphism of any mammal in terms of mass ratio, with males typically five to six times heavier than females.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: On average female southern elephant seals weigh and measure long, whereas bulls can range from and grow to in length.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: For comparison, among the northern elephant seal and the sperm whale ("Physeter macrocephalus")—two other large marine mammals that are highly sexual dimorphic by size—males typically outweigh females by a factor of three to four.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Southern elephant seal size also varies regionally. Studies have indicated elephant seals from South Georgia are around 30% heavier and 10% longer on average than those from Macquarie Island. The record-sized bull, shot in Possession Bay, South Georgia, on 28 February 1913, measured long and was estimated to weigh , although it was only partially weighed piecemeal. The maximum size of a female is and .


title: Southern elephant seal

text: A southern elephant seal's eyes are large, round, and black. The width of the eyes, and a high concentration of low-light pigments, suggest sight plays an important role in the capture of prey. Like all seals, elephant seals have hind limbs whose ends form the tail and tail fin. Each of the "feet" can deploy five long, webbed fingers. This agile dual palm is used to propel water. The pectoral fins are used little while swimming. While their hind limbs are unfit for locomotion on land, elephant seals use their fins as support to propel their bodies. They are able to propel themselves quickly (as fast as ) in this way for short-distance travel, to return to water, to catch up with a female, or to chase an intruder.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Pups are born with fur and are completely black. Their coats are unsuited to water, but protect infants by insulating them from the cold air. The first moulting accompanies weaning. After moulting, the coats may turn grey and brown, depending on the thickness and moisture of hair. Among older males, the skin takes the form of a thick leather which is often scarred.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Like other seals, the vascular system of elephant seals is adapted to the cold; a mixture of small veins surround arteries, capturing heat from them. This structure is present in extremities such as the hind legs.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: The world population was estimated at 650,000 animals in the mid-1990s, and was estimated in 2005 at between 664,000 and 740,000 animals.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Studies have shown the existence of three geographic subpopulations, one in each of the three oceans.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Tracking studies have indicated the routes traveled by elephant seals, demonstrating their main feeding area is at the edge of the Antarctic continent. While elephant seals may come ashore in Antarctica occasionally to rest or to mate, they gather to breed in subantarctic locations.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: The largest subpopulation is in the South Atlantic, with more than 400,000 individuals, including about 113,000 breeding females on South Georgia;


title: Southern elephant seal

text: the other breeding colonies of the Atlantic subpopulation are located on the Falkland Islands and Valdes Peninsula in Argentina (the only continental breeding population).


title: Southern elephant seal

text: The second subpopulation, in the south Indian Ocean, consists of up to 200,000 individuals, three-quarters of which breed in the Kerguelen Islands and the rest in the Crozet Islands, Marion and Prince Edward Islands, and Heard Island. Some individuals also breed on Amsterdam Island.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: The third subpopulation of about 75,000 seals is found in the subantarctic islands of the Pacific Ocean south of Tasmania and New Zealand, mainly Macquarie Island.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Colonies once existed in Tasmania, Saint Helena, and the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile. Some individuals at the time of moulting have been found in South Africa, Australia or Uruguay. Lost animals have also been reported from time to time on the shores of Mauritius, with two reports from the Río Guayas estuary area in Ecuador and a beach in Lima, Peru. Reality of the creature so called "Manatee of Helena" had been pointed out as possible misidentification of elephant seals historically present on Saint Helena.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: After the end of large-scale seal hunting in the 19th century, the southern elephant seal recovered to a sizable population in the 1950s; since then, an unexplained decline in the subpopulations of the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean has occurred. The population now seems to be stable; the reasons for the fluctuation are unknown. Suggested explanations include a phenomenon of depression following a rapid demographic rebound that depletes vital resources, a change in climate, competition with other species whose numbers also varied, or even an adverse influence of scientific monitoring techniques.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Elephant seals are among the seals that can stay on land for the longest periods of time, as they can stay dry for several consecutive weeks each year. Males arrive in the colonies earlier than the females and fight for control of harems when they arrive. Large body size confers advantages in fighting, and the agonistic relationships of the bulls gives rise to a dominance hierarchy, with access to harems and activity within harems being determined by rank. The dominant bulls (“harem masters”) establish harems of several dozen females. The least successful males have no harems, but they may try to copulate with a harem male's females when the male is not looking. The majority of primiparous females and a significant proportion of multiparous females mate at sea with roaming males away from harems.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: An elephant seal must stay in his territory to defend it, which could mean months without eating, having to live on his blubber storage. Two fighting males use their weight and canine teeth against each other. The outcome is rarely fatal, and the defeated bull will flee; however, bulls can suffer severe tears and cuts. Some males can stay ashore for more than three months without food. Males commonly vocalize with a coughing roar that serves in both individual recognition and size assessment. Conflicts between high-ranking males are more often resolved with posturing and vocalizing than with physical contact.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Generally, pups are born rather quickly in the breeding season. After being born, a newborn will bark or yap and its mother will respond with a high-pitched moan. The newborn begins to suckle immediately. Lactation lasts an average of 23 days. Throughout this period, the female fasts. Newborns weigh about at birth, and reach by the time they are weaned. The mother loses significant weight during this time. Young weaned seals gather in nurseries until they lose their birth coats. They enter the water to practice swimming, generally starting their apprenticeship in estuaries or ponds. In summer, the elephant seals come ashore to moult. This sometimes happens directly after reproduction.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Satellite tracking revealed the seals spend very little time on the surface, usually a few minutes for breathing. They dive repeatedly, each time for more than 20 minutes, to hunt their prey—squid and fish—at depths of . They are the deepest diving air-breathing non-cetaceans and have been recorded at a maximum of in depth.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: As for the duration, depth and sequence of dives, the southern elephant seal is the best performing seal. In many regards, they exceed even most cetaceans. These capabilities result from nonstandard physiological adaptations, common to marine mammals, but particularly developed in elephant seals. The coping strategy is based on increased oxygen storage and reduced oxygen consumption.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: In the ocean, the seals apparently live alone. Most females dive in pelagic zones for foraging, while males dive in both pelagic and benthic zones. Individuals will return annually to the same hunting areas. Due to the inaccessibility of their deep-water foraging areas, no comprehensive information has been obtained about their dietary preferences, although some observation of hunting behavior and prey selection has occurred.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: While hunting in the dark depths, elephant seals seem to locate their prey, at least in part, using vision; the bioluminescence of some prey animals can facilitate their capture. Elephant seals do not have a developed system of echolocation in the manner of cetaceans, but their vibrissae (facial whiskers), which are sensitive to vibrations, are assumed to play a role in search of food. When at the subantarctic or Antarctic coasts, the seals forage largely on deep-sea cephalopod species such as "Psychroteuthis glacialis, Alluroteuthis" "antarcticus"", Histeoteuthis eltaninae, Onykia ingens, Gonatus antarcticus. Martialia hyadesi" and other molluscs, various fish species, including lanternfish (i.e. "Electrona" spp. and "Gymnoscopelus" spp.), nothothens (i.e. Genera "Lepidonotothen, Pleuragramma, Trematomus, Pagothenia,)," Channichthyidsae spp., Bathylagidae spp., krill (mostly "Euphausia" spp.) and other crustaceans, and even algae.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Weaned pups and juveniles may fall prey to orcas. Cases where weaned pups have been attacked and killed by leopard seals ("Hydrurga leptonyx") and New Zealand sea lions ("Phocarctos hookeri"), exclusively small pups in the latter case, have been recorded. Great white sharks ("Carcharodon carcharias") have hunted elephant seals near Campbell Island, while bite marks from a southern sleeper shark ("Somniosus antarcticus") have been found on surviving elephant seals in the Macquarie Islands.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: After their near extinction due to hunting in the 19th century, the total population was estimated at between 664,000 and 740,000 animals in 2005, but as of 2002, two of the three major populations were declining. The reasons for this are unclear, but are thought to be related to the distribution and declining levels of the seals' primary food sources. Most of their important breeding sites are now protected by international treaty, as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, or by national legislation.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Climate change likely has a wide-ranging and diverse impact on marine species such as southern elephant seals. As top predators in the Southern Ocean, southern elephant seals inhabit one of the most sensitive and vulnerable regions to rapid climate change. Global efforts such as the Southern elephant seals as oceanographic samplers and the Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole projects have led to the collection of a large suite of long-term coupled behavioural-oceanographic data. As part of these projects, satellite-relay data loggers were attached to southern elephant seals to collect physical and biological data. This simultaneous collection of behavioural and environmental data, spanning more than ten years, has enabled researchers to study the impact of climate change on southern elephant seals and the Antarctic ecosystem. This data provides information on how the Southern Ocean is changing in relation to climate change as well as how these species respond to changes.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: These projects focused on southern elephant seals because they are deep divers as well as a major predator in the Southern Ocean in terms of their population size and food consumption. As predators of the upper levels of the food-web, their foraging success and population dynamics impart valuable information about productivity at different trophic levels. The well-being of southern elephant seals therefore mirrors that of the whole Antarctic ecosystem.


title: Southern elephant seal

text: Southern elephant seals from different colonies frequent specific oceanographic regions to forage. They feed most successfully in areas with specific hydrographic properties, e.g. the upwelling regions of Circumpolar Deep Water within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In the Southern Ocean, southern elephant seals associate more frequently with southerly, higher‐latitude fronts and frontal zones. However, the foraging success in association with these regions varies strongly according to year, season and sex. Some of the seasonal and interannual variations in foraging success can be linked to climatic changes such as positional shifts in fronts and variability associated with frontal positions. Generally, southern elephant seals appear to be resilient against the apparent variability in the location and productivity of frontal systems.


title: Chobham armour

text: Chobham armour is the informal name of a composite armour developed in the 1960s at the British tank research centre on Chobham Common, Surrey. The name has since become the common generic term for composite ceramic vehicle armour. Other names informally given to Chobham armour include "Burlington" and "Dorchester". "Special armour" is a broader informal term referring to any armour arrangement comprising "sandwich" reactive plates, including Chobham armour.


title: Chobham armour

text: Although the construction details of the Chobham armour remain a secret, it has been described as being composed of ceramic tiles encased within a metal framework and bonded to a backing plate and several elastic layers. Owing to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against shaped charges such as high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators.


title: Chobham armour

text: The armour was first tested in the context of the development of a British prototype vehicle, the FV4211, and first applied on the preseries of the American M1. Only the M1 Abrams, Challenger 1, Challenger 2, K1 tanks have been disclosed as being thus armoured. The framework holding the ceramics is usually produced in large blocks, giving these tanks, and especially their turrets, a distinctive angled appearance.


title: Chobham armour

text: Due to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against a shaped charge jet and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators (KE-penetrators). The (pulverised) ceramic also strongly abrades any penetrator. Against lighter projectiles, the hardness of the tiles causes a "shatter gap" effect: a higher velocity will, within a certain velocity range (the "gap"), not lead to a deeper penetration but destroy the projectile instead.


title: Chobham armour

text: Because the ceramic is so brittle, the entrance channel of a shaped charge jet is not smooth—as it would be when penetrating a metal—but ragged, causing extreme asymmetric pressures which disturb the geometry of the jet (on which its penetrative capabilities are critically dependent) as its mass is relatively low. This initiates a vicious circle as the disturbed jet causes still greater irregularities in the ceramic, until in the end it is defeated. The newer composites, though tougher, optimise this effect as tiles made with them have a layered internal structure conducive to it, causing "crack deflection". This mechanism, using a jet's own energy against it, has caused the effects of Chobham to be compared to those of reactive armour.


title: Chobham armour

text: This should not be confused with the effect used in non-explosive reactive armour: that of sandwiching an inert but soft elastic material such as rubber, between two armour plates. The impact of either a shaped charge jet or armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) kinetic energy (KE) long rod penetrators, after the first layer has been perforated and while the rubber layer is being penetrated will cause the rubber to deform and expand, so deforming both the back and front plates. Both attack methods will suffer from obstruction to their expected paths, so experiencing a greater thickness of armour than there is nominally, thus lowering penetration. Also for rod penetrations, the transverse force experienced due to the deformation may cause the rod to shatter, bend, or only change its path, again lowering penetration.


title: Chobham armour

text: All versions of Chobham armour have incorporated a large volume of non-energetic reactive armour (NERA) plates, with added hard armour either ahead of the NERA (intended to protect the NERA elements and disrupt the penetrator before it encounters the NERA) and/or behind the NERA (intended to catch the fragments of long rods or HEAT jets after they have been fractured or disrupted by the front plate and NERA. This is another factor favouring a slab-sided or wedge-like turret: the amount of material the expanding plates push into the path of an attack increases as they are placed closer to parallel to the direction of that attack.


title: Chobham armour

text: To date, few Chobham armour-protected tanks have been defeated by enemy fire in combat; the relevance of individual cases of lost tanks for determining the protective qualities of Chobham armour is difficult to ascertain as the extent to which such tanks are protected by ceramic modules is undisclosed.


title: Chobham armour

text: During the second Iraq war in 2003, a Challenger 2 tank became stuck in a ditch while fighting in Basra against Iraqi forces. The crew remained safe inside for many hours, the Burlington LV2 composite armour protecting them from enemy fire, including multiple rocket propelled grenades.


title: Chobham armour

text: Ceramic tiles have a "multiple hit capability" problem in that they cannot sustain successive impacts without quickly losing much of their protective value. To minimise the effects of this the tiles are made as small as possible, but the matrix elements have a minimal practical thickness of about 25 mm (approximately one inch), and the ratio of coverage provided by tiles would become unfavourable, placing a practical limit at a diameter of about ten centimetres (approximately four inches). The small hexagonal or square ceramic tiles are encased within the matrix either by isostatically pressing them into the heated matrix, or by gluing them with an epoxy resin. Since the early nineties it has been known that holding the tiles under constant compression by their matrix greatly improves their resistance to kinetic penetrators, which is difficult to achieve when using glues.


title: Chobham armour

text: The matrix has to be backed by a plate, both to reinforce the ceramic tiles from behind and to prevent deformation of the metal matrix by a kinetic impact. Typically the backing plate has half of the mass of the composite matrix. The assemblage is again attached to elastic layers. These absorb impacts somewhat, but their main function is to prolong the service life of the composite matrix by protecting it against vibrations. Several assemblages can be stacked, depending on the available space; this way the armour can be made modular, to be replaceable, and more adaptable to varied tactical situations. The thickness of a typical assemblage is today about five to six centimetres. Earlier assemblagess, so-called "depth of penetration" (DOP) matrices, were thicker. The relative interface defeat component of the protective value of a ceramic is much larger than for steel armour. Using a number of thinner matrices again enlarges that component for the entire armour package, an effect analogous to the use of alternate layers of high hardness and softer steel, which is typical for the glacis of modern Soviet tanks.


title: Chobham armour

text: Ceramic tiles draw little or no advantage from sloped armour as they lack sufficient toughness to significantly deflect heavy penetrators. Indeed, because a single glancing shot could crack many tiles, the placement of the matrix is chosen so as to optimise the chance of a perpendicular hit, a reversal of the previous desired design feature for conventional armour. Ceramic armour normally even offers better protection for a given areal density when placed perpendicularly than when placed obliquely, because the cracking propagates along the surface normal of the plate. Instead of rounded forms, the turrets of tanks using Chobham armour typically have a slab-sided appearance.


title: Chobham armour

text: The backing plate reflects the impact energy back to the ceramic tile in a wider cone. This dissipates the energy, limiting the cracking of the ceramic, but also means a more extended area is damaged. Spalling caused by the reflected energy can be reduced by a malleable thin graphite layer on the face of the ceramic absorbing the energy without making it strongly rebound again as a metal face plate would.


title: Chobham armour

text: Tiles under compression suffer far less from impacts; in their case it can be advantageous to have a metal face plate bringing the tile also under perpendicular compression. The confined ceramic tile then reinforces the metal face plate, a reversal of the normal situation.


title: Chobham armour

text: A gradual technological development has taken place in ceramic armour: ceramic tiles, in themselves vulnerable to low energy impacts, were first reinforced by gluing them to a backplate; in the nineties their resistance was increased by bringing them under compression on two axes; in the final phase a third compression axis was added to optimise impact resistance. To confine the ceramic core several advanced techniques are used, supplementing the traditional machining and welding, including sintering the suspension material around the core; squeeze casting of molten metal around the core and spraying the molten metal onto the ceramic tile.


title: Chobham armour

text: The whole is placed within the shell formed by the outer and inner wall of the tank turret or hull, the inner wall being the thicker.


title: Chobham armour

text: Over the years newer and tougher composites have been developed, giving about five times the protection value of the original pure ceramics, the best of which were again about five times as effective as a steel plate of equal weight. These are often a mixture of several ceramic materials, or metal matrix composites which combine ceramic compounds within a metal matrix. The latest developments involve the use of carbon nanotubes to improve toughness even further. Commercially produced or researched ceramics for such type of armour include boron carbide, silicon carbide, aluminium oxide (sapphire or "alumina"), aluminium nitride, titanium boride and Syndite, a synthetic diamond composite. Of these boron carbide is the hardest and lightest, but also the most costly and brittle. Boron carbide composites are today favoured for ceramic plates protecting against smaller projectiles, such as used in body armour and armoured helicopters; this was, in the early sixties, the first general application of ceramic armour. Silicon carbide is better suited to protect against larger projectiles than boron carbide as the latter material suffers a phase collapse when impacted by a projectile travelling at a speed over 850 m/s. Silicon carbide was at that time only used in some prototype land vehicles, such as the MBT-70. The ceramics can be created by pressureless sintering or hot pressing. A high density is required, so residual porosity must be minimised in the final part.


title: Chobham armour

text: A matrix using a titanium alloy is very costly to produce but the metal is favoured for its lightness, strength, and resistance to corrosion, which is a constant problem.


title: Chobham armour

text: The backing plate can be made from steel, but, as its main function is to improve the stability and stiffness of the assemblage, aluminium is more weight-efficient in light armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) only to be protected against light anti-tank weapons. A deformable composite backing plate can combine the function of a metal backing plate and an elastic layer.


title: Chobham armour

text: The armour configuration of the first western tanks using Chobham armour was optimised to defeat shaped charges as guided missiles were seen as the greatest threat. In the eighties however they began to face the improved Soviet 3BM-32, then 3BM-42 kinetic energy penetrators which the ceramic layer was not particularly effective against: the original ceramics had a resistance against penetrators of about a third compared to that against HEAT rounds; for the newest composites it is about one-tenth. A typical example, the 3BM-42 is a segmented projectile which frontal segments are sacrificed in expanding the NERA plates in the front of the armour array, leaving a hole for the rear segment to strike the ceramic with full efficiency. For this reason many modern designs include added layers of heavy metals to add more density to the overall armour package.


title: Chobham armour

text: The introduction of more effective ceramic composite materials allows for a larger width of these metal layers within the armour shell: given a certain protection level provided by the composite matrix, it can be thinner. Because these metal layers are denser than the rest of the composite array, increasing their thickness requires reducing the armour thickness in non-critical areas of the vehicle. They typically form an inner layer placed below the much more costly matrix, to prevent extensive damage to it should the metal layer strongly deform but not defeat a penetrator. They can also be used as the backing plate for the matrix itself, but this compromises the modularity and thus tactical adaptability of the armour system: ceramic and metal modules can then no longer be replaced independently. Furthermore, due to their extreme hardness, they deform insufficiently and would reflect too much of the impact energy, and in a too wide cone, to the ceramic tile, damaging it even further. Metals used include a tungsten alloy for the Challenger 2 or, in the case of the M1A1HA (Heavy Armor) and later American tank variants, a depleted uranium alloy. Some companies offer titanium carbide modules.


title: Chobham armour

text: These metal modules function on the principle of perforated armour (typically employing perpendicular rods), with many expansion spaces reducing the weight by up to one third while keeping the protective qualities fairly constant. The depleted uranium alloy of the M1 has been described as "arranged in a type of armour matrix" and a single module as a "stainless-steel shell surrounding a layer (probably an inch or two thick) of depleted uranium, woven into a wire-mesh blanket".


title: Chobham armour

text: Such modules are also used by tanks not equipped with Chobham armour. The combination of a composite matrix and heavy metal modules is sometimes informally referred to as "second generation Chobham".


title: Chobham armour

text: The concept of ceramic armour goes back to 1918, when Major Neville Monroe Hopkins discovered that a plate of ballistic steel was much more resistant to penetration if covered with a thin (1–2 millimetres) layer of enamel. Further, the Germans experimented with ceramic armour in World War I.


title: Chobham armour

text: Since the early sixties there were, in the US, extensive research programmes ongoing aimed at investigating the prospects of employing composite ceramic materials as vehicle armour. This research mainly focused on the use of an aluminium metal matrix composite reinforced by silicon carbide whiskers, to be produced in the form of large sheets. The reinforced light metal sheets were to be sandwiched between steel layers. This arrangement had the advantage of having a good multiple-hit capability and of being able to be curved, allowing the main armour to benefit from a sloped armour effect. However, this composite with a high metal content was primarily intended to increase the protection against KE-penetrators for a given armour weight; its performance against shaped charge attack was mediocre and would have to be improved by means of a laminate spaced armour effect, as researched by the Germans within the joint MBT-70 project.


title: Chobham armour

text: An alternative technology developed in the US was based on the use of glass modules to be inserted into the main armour; although this arrangement offered a better shaped charge protection, its multiple hit capability was poor. A similar system using glass inserts in the main steel armour was from the late fifties researched for the Soviet "Obiekt 430" prototype of the T-64; this was later developed into the "Combination K" type, having a ceramic compound mixed with the silicon oxide inserts, which offered about 50% better protection against both shaped charge and KE-penetrator threats, relative to steel armour of the same weight. It was, later in several improved forms, incorporated into the glacis of many subsequent Soviet main battle tank designs. After an initial period of speculation in the West as to its true nature, the characteristics of this type were disclosed when the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the introduction of a market system forced the Russian industries to find new customers by highlighting its good qualities; it is today rarely referred to as Chobham armour. Special armour much more similar to Chobham appeared in 1983 under the name of BDD on the T-62M upgrade to the T-62, was first integrated to an armour array in 1986 on the T-72B, and has been a feature of every Soviet/Russian MBT since. In its original iteration, it is built directly into the cast steel turret of the T-72 and required lifting it to perform repairs.


title: Chobham armour

text: In the United Kingdom another line of ceramic armour development had been started in the early 1960s, meant to improve the existing cast turret configuration of the Chieftain that already offered excellent heavy penetrator protection; the research by a team headed by Gilbert Harvey of the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE), therefore was strongly oriented at optimising the ceramic composite system for defeating shaped charge attack. The British system consisted of a honeycomb matrix with ceramic tiles backed by ballistic nylon, placed on top of the cast main armour. In July 1973 an American delegation, in search of a new armour type for the XM815 tank prototype, now that the MBT-70 project had failed, visited Chobham Common to be informed about the British system, the development of which had then cost about £6,000,000; earlier information had already been divulged to the US in 1965 and 1968. It was very impressed by the excellent shaped-charge protection combined with the penetrator impact damage limitation, inherent to the principle of using tiles. The Ballistic Research Laboratory at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, which later became a part of the Army Research Laboratory, initiated the development of a version that year named "Burlington", adapted to the specific American situation, characterised by a much higher projected tank production run and the use of a thinner rolled steel main armour. The increased threat posed by a new generation of Soviet guided missiles armed with a shaped charge warhead, as demonstrated in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, when even older-generation missiles caused considerable tank losses on the Israeli side, made Burlington the preferred choice for the armour configuration of the XM1 (the renamed XM815) prototype.


title: Chobham armour

text: However, on 11 December 1974 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Federal Republic of Germany and the US about the common future production of a main battle tank; this made any application of Chobham armour dependent on the eventual choice for a tank type. Earlier in 1974 the Americans had asked the Germans to redesign the existing Leopard 2 prototypes, considered by them too lightly armoured, and had suggested adoption of "Burlington" for this purpose, of which type the Germans had already been informed in March 1970; the Germans however in response in 1974 initiated a new armour development programme of their own. Having already designed a system that in their opinion offered satisfactory protection against shaped charges, consisting of multiple-laminate spaced armour with the spaces filled with ceramic polystyrene foam as fitted to the Leopard 1A3, they put a clear emphasis on improving KE-penetrator protection, reworking the system into a perforated metal module armour. A version with added Burlington was considered, including ceramic inserts in the various spaces, but rejected as it would push vehicle weight well over sixty metric tonnes, a weight then seen as prohibitive by both armies. The US Army in the summer of 1974 faced the choice between the German system and their own Burlington, a decision made more difficult because Burlington offered, relative to steel armour, no weight advantage against KE-penetrators: the total armour system would have a RHA equivalence against them of about 350 mm (compared to about 700 mm against shaped charges). No consensus developing, General Creighton Abrams himself decided the issue in favour of Burlington. Eventually each army procured its own national tank design, the project of a common tank failing in 1976. In February 1978 the first tanks protected by Burlington left the factory when the first of eleven pilot M1 tanks were delivered by Chrysler Corporation to the US Army.


title: Chobham armour

text: Beside these state projects, private enterprise in the US during the seventies also developed ceramic armour types, like the Noroc armour made by the Protective Products Division of the Norton Company, consisting of boron carbide sheets backed by resin-bonded glass cloth.


title: Chobham armour

text: In the United Kingdom application of Chobham armour was delayed by the failure of several advanced tank projects: first that of a joint German-British main battle tank; then the purely British MBT-80 programme. A first directive to prepare Chobham armour technology for application in 1975 was already given in 1969. It was determined by a study of a possible Chobham-armour protected MICV that a completely new design using only Chobham armour for the most vulnerable front and side sectors (thus without an underlying steel main armour) could be 10% lighter for the same level of protection against KE-ammunition, but to limit costs it was decided to base the first design on the conventional Chieftain. The prototype, FV 4211 or the "Aluminium Chieftain", was fitted with a welded aluminium add-on armour, in essence a box on the front hull and front and side turret to contain the ceramic modules, of which box the fifty millimetre thick inner wall due to its relative softness could serve as their backing plate. The extra weight of the aluminium was limited to less than two tonnes and it was shown that it was not overly susceptible to cracking, as first feared. Ten test vehicles were ordered but only the original one had been built when the project was cancelled in favour of the more advanced programmes. However, the Iranian government ordered 1,225 vehicles of an upgraded Chieftain type, the "Shir-2" (FV 4030/3), using the same technology of adding Chobham armour to the main cast armour, bringing total weight to 62 metric tonnes. When this order was cancelled in February 1979 because of the Iranian Revolution, the British government, under pressure to modernise its tank fleet to maintain a qualitative superiority relative to the Soviet tank forces, decided to use the sudden surplus production capacity to procure a number of vehicles very close in design to the Shir-2, called the Challenger 1. On 12 April 1983 the first British tank protected by Chobham armour was delivered to the Royal Hussars.


title: Chobham armour

text: In France from 1966 GIAT Industries performed experiments aimed at developing a light vehicle ceramic armour, in 1970 resulting in the CERALU-system consisting of aluminium-backed alumina weldable to the vehicle, offering a 50% increase in weight-efficiency against ballistic threats compared to steel plate. An improved version was later applied in helicopter seats.


title: Chobham armour

text: The latest version of Chobham armour is used on the Challenger 2 (called "Dorchester armour"), and (though the composition most probably differs) the M1 Abrams series of tanks, which according to official sources is currently protected by silicon carbide tiles. Given the publicly stated protection level for the earliest M1: 350 mm steel equivalence against armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) kinetic energy (KE) penetrators, it seems to have been equipped with alumina tiles.


title: Chobham armour

text: Though it is often claimed to be otherwise, the original production model of the Leopard 2 did not use Chobham armour, but a combined spaced armour and perforated armour configuration, cheaper in terms of procurement, maintenance and replacement than a ceramic armour system. For many modern tanks, such the Italian Ariete, it is yet unknown which type is used. There was a general trend in the eighties away from ceramic armour towards perforated armour, but even many tanks from the seventies like the Leopard 1A3 and A4, the French AMX 32 and AMX 40 prototypes used the latter system; the Leclerc has an improved version.


title: Chobham armour

text: The first ceramic plates found application in the aerospace sector: in 1965, the helicopter UH-1 Huey was modified with hard-faced-composite (HFC) around the seats of pilot and copilot, protecting them against small arms fire. The plates were in boron carbide, which, though very costly, due to its superior lightness has remained the material of choice for aerospace applications. An example among many, the modern V-22 Osprey is protected similarly.


title: Chobham armour

text: Jeffrey J. Swab (Editor), Dongming Zhu (General Editor), Waltraud M. Kriven (General Editor); "Advances in Ceramic Armor: A Collection of Papers Presented at the 29th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, January 23–28, 2005, Cocoa Beach, Florida, Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings, Volume 26, Number 7";


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: Danielle Nicole Bisutti (born October 1, 1976) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Amanda Cantwell on the Nickelodeon television series "True Jackson, VP" and the Norse goddess Freya in the 2018 video game, "God of War", and its 2022 sequel, "God of War Ragnarök".


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: Bisutti was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Diana (née Ferrare) and Richard Bisutti. Her father was a set decorator in both film and television for 20 years. Her maternal aunt is model Cristina Ferrare. Bisutti is of Italian descent.


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: In high school, she explored several opportunities to realize her devotion for the entertainment business. She was involved in theatre, choir, dance, speech and debate, as well as athletic activities.


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: Born and raised in Los Angeles, Bisutti attended California State University, Fullerton, where she received a BA in Acting and Musical Theatre. While attending CSUF, she was nominated several times for Best Actress in the Irene Ryan Competition and took the runner-up position at The Lincoln Center Theatre in New York City. Michael Butler noticed Bisutti in the role of Sheila in a California production of "Hair" and brought the cast to Chicago to perform at the Democratic National Convention along with a five-week run at The New Athenaeum Theatre. Bisutti's other theatre credits include Reno Sweeney in "Anything Goes", Maggie in "Boy's Life", Yelena in "Uncle Vanya", Victoria/Jane in Noël Coward’s "Tonight at 8.30", Fastrada in "Pippin", and Ophelia in "Hamlet".


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: Bisutti has performed in television over the years, recurring on "Last Man Standing", "Parks & Recreation", "", "Without a Trace", "Raising the Bar" and "The O.C.", while also appearing on "NCIS", "Criminal Minds", "Castle", "Hot in Cleveland", "90210", "Private Practice", "Body of Proof", "Bones", "Cold Case", "Two and a Half Men" and "Boston Legal". She may best known for her starring role as Amanda Cantwell opposite Keke Palmer on the Nickelodeon series "True Jackson, VP" from 2008 to 2011.


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: Some of her film credits include "Venice Underground", "The Neighbor", and "No Greater Love". Bisutti co-produced the webseries "Hollywood Girl" and recurred on the series as Pasha Maneer. She had a leading role in Harland Williams's post-apocalyptic sci-fi webseries "The Australian", which was released in late November 2013.


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: In 2018, Bisutti provided the voice and motion capture for the Witch of the Woods, who is later revealed to be the goddess Freya, in "God of War". She received praise for her work and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Performance in a Video Game at the 15th British Academy Games Awards but lost to her co-star Jeremy Davies.


title: Danielle Bisutti

text: Songs originally written by her, such as "Venice Underground", "April Moon", and "In the Presence of", have been used in independent feature films. At the 2003 Los Angeles Music Awards, she won the award for "Best Female Singer-Songwriter". Also at this ceremony, her song "Glimmer" was nominated for "AAA Album of the Year," and her song "In Passing" received the Unanimous Choice Recipient Award for "Independent AC Single of the Year". In September 2004, Bisutti performed at the Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival, where "In Passing" was selected for the TVIFF's "Top Musical Artist Compilation CD" and "Music Connection Magazine" featured Bisutti in its 2004 "Hot 100 Unsigned Artists" list.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shaft (stylized as SHAFT; , Hepburn: ), also known as Shaft Animation Studio, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Suginami, Tokyo, and founded in 1975. Since 2004, the studio's productions have been broadly influenced by director Akiyuki Shinbo, whose visual style and avant-garde cinematography are featured in works including "Hidamari Sketch" (2007), "Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei" (2007), the "Monogatari" series (2009–2019), "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" (2011), "Nisekoi" (2014), and "March Comes In Like a Lion" (2016).


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shaft was founded as a yūgen-gaisha on September 1, 1975, by ex-Mushi Production employee Hiroshi Wakao. Much of the company's early work was sub-contracting work for larger animation studios, which includes credits to cel painting and color coordination work, such as with "Brave Raideen" (1975–76), and occasionally credits as an assistant production studio for projects including Pierrot's "" (1983). A large portion of the company's early painting work was contracted under Sunrise productions, including many directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino who, according to anime producer Seiji Suzuki, had been mentored by Wakao while at Mushi Production.


title: Shaft (company)

text: In 1984, Shaft was sub-contracted by studio Zuiyo to animate the "Elves of the Forest" television series, marking the company's first project as a primary animation studio. Not until 1987, however, with the release of the "Yume kara, Samenai" original video animation (OVA), did the studio release its first wholly-original production. In the same year, the studio produced the first episode of the "Taiman Blues: Naoto Shimizu-hen" OVA series.


title: Shaft (company)

text: For the next several years, the company returned to sub-contracting work based on animation production services rather than its painting services, such as with the Mushi Production film "Ushiro no Shoumen Daare" (1991). In 1995, the studio moved to producing full-length series, starting with "Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger". By this time, several directors and animators had joined the studio, such as Toshimasa Suzuki and Kenji Yasuda; however, one of the most important series in the company's early history was an outsourcing contract they took on in 1996: "Legend of Crystania: The Chaos Ring", which began the studio's relationship with director Ryūtarō Nakamura and studio Triangle Staff. The second episode of the OVA series was outsourced to Shaft, and both Nakamura and Triangle Staff's president (Yoshimi Asari) visited Shaft while delivering the episode's storyboard. Mitsutoshi Kubota, a studio color designer turned production manager at the time, met with the two, and from then they would collaborate on several more projects together, such as Shaft producing an episode of Nakamura and Triangle Staff's "Kino's Journey" television series, and Nakamura later directing a television series and "Kino's Journey" film at the studio.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shaft entered co-operations with studios Gainax and TNK around 2000. The first of the productions under these co-operations was "Mahoromatic" (2001) and its sequel "Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful" (2002–03), both with Gainax. 2002 was also the release of the studio's production with TNK, "G-On Riders". In 2003 and 2004, the studio produced an adaptation of the visual novel "Popotan", and later "This Ugly yet Beautiful World", an original series co-produced with Gainax.


title: Shaft (company)

text: In 2004, Wakao was succeeded as Shaft's representative director by Kubota, though he remained a chairman on the studio's board. After watching "The SoulTaker" (2001) and "Le Portrait de Petit Cossette" (2004), both works directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, Kubota decided that he wanted to work with Shinbo to create a uniquely identifiable brand for the studio. In October 2004, the studio animated its first production with Shinbo as director, "," and he began serving as an executive director and mentor to the studio's staff.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shaft's final co-production with Gainax came in 2005 with "He Is My Master". The same year saw the first animated production under the influence of "Team Shinbo", a director trio consisting of Shinbo, Shin Oonuma, and Tatsuya Oishi, who played a vital role in the studio's early stylistic decisions. Shinbo had invited both Oonuma and Oishi to direct episodes under him having seen their work under him on previous projects outside of Shaft. The next two years also saw the release of the "REC" (2006) and "Kino's Journey: Country of Illness -For You-" (2007), the aforementioned series directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura, which would be the last series produced by Shaft not to feature any involvement by Shinbo for more than a decade.


title: Shaft (company)

text: During the mid-to-late 2000s, the studio brought on a number of new directors and creators, including Ryouki Kamitsubo, Naoyuki Tatsuwa, Kenichi Ishikura, Yukihiro Miyamoto, Shinichi Omata, Tomoyuki Itamura, and Gekidan Inu Curry. Kamitsubo and Oonuma, however, left by the end of the decade, with the latter joining Silver Link where he established a similar role to Shinbo's.


title: Shaft (company)

text: In 2009, Shinbo and Oishi directed "Bakemonogatari", which was later characterized as a hallmark of the studio's unique aesthetics. It gained a cult-like following among fans in both Japan and the West for its narrative and "visually striking" animation and artistic qualities. Polygon named it as the series that "pushed studio Shaft into the spotlight", and the series was chosen as the "best anime series of 2009" by the Tokyo Anime Award Festival in 2017. Following "Bakemonogatari", the studio produced yet another critical and financial hit two years later with "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". "Madoka Magica" is regarded by several publications and critics as one of the greatest anime productions of all time, and the series' financial and critical success spawned a franchise consisting of several films, television series, and games produced in part or in whole by Shaft. Along with the "Monogatari" series, "Madoka Magica" is considered to be one of the most financially successful anime products in Japan, with both series maintaining the highest average sales of DVDs, Blu-Rays, and re-releases in Japan. In 2012, the studio returned to animating the "Monogatari" series with "Nisemonogatari", albeit with director Tomoyuki Itamura in place of Oishi. Itamura and Shinbo produced a subsequent "Monogatari" season every year up until "Zoku Owarimonogatari" (2018), which is the only "Monogatari" season to feature Shinbo as the sole director.


title: Shaft (company)

text: The early-to-mid 2010s brought more changes to the studio's creative staff and the studio itself. For one, 2015 was the year Shaft reorganized from a yūgen-gaisha to a kabushiki-gaisha. Several directors also ended up leaving around this time, such as Kenichi Ishikura after serving as assistant director on "Mahō Sensei Negima! Anime Final" in 2011, Shinichi Omata around 2012, and Naoyuki Tatsuwa after he directed "Gourmet Girl Graffiti" in 2015. A number of other notable directors were brought into the studio around this time, however, such as directors Yuki Yase, Kenjirou Okada, Hajime Ootani, and Midori Yoshizawa. Tatsuya Oishi disappeared from the public spotlight in the early 2010s after he began production on the "Kizumonogatari" film trilogy, which was released in 2016 and 2017. Shaft's animation work on the trilogy has been praised as being uniquely experimental with 2D and CG effects, which some reviewers described as not always mixing well, but has nonetheless been called "gorgeous."


title: Shaft (company)

text: In the late 2010s, a number of other creative staff left the studio. Yuki Yase left after directing "The Beheading Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense Bearer" (2016–17), taking production generalizer Kousuke Matsunaga with him to work on "Fire Force" at David Production; Tomoyuki Itamura, who had directed the rest of the "Monogatari" series after Oishi's commitment to "Kizumonogatari", left after the production of "Owarimonogatari II" (2017); Izumi Takizawa, a veteran color designer with the studio since "Pani Poni Dash!", followed Itamura.


title: Shaft (company)

text: In 2017, directors Kenjirou Okada and Nobuyuki Takeuchi directed their debuts as series/film directors with "March Comes In like a Lion" (2016–18) and "Fireworks" (2017), but the following year experienced a hiatus from the animation industry. The film version of "Zoku Owarimonogatari" was the studio's only original, non-continuing release that year, and its televised release was the studio's only main project the following year. The studio was, however, outsourced to for an episode of Tezuka Productions' adaptation of "The Quintessential Quintuplets" (2019). The entirety of the episode was produced at Shaft, with Midori Yoshizawa as episode director and a majority of the Shaft production team working on the episode, including the studio's colorists, animators, and photographers (the episode is also the only episode to feature a separate photography director, that being Shaft's Rei Egami). TBS producer Junichirou Tanaka stated that he had met CEO Kubota at a dinner party once and had asked on his knees for Shaft's help in producing the first half of the series' 11th episode, but during conversation Kubota noted that he knew of the issues with the production and decided that Shaft would be capable of producing the entire episode. Series director Satoshi Kuwabara drew the episode's storyboards but left the production of the episode entirely up to Yoshizawa and Shaft.


title: Shaft (company)

text: In 2020, Shaft returned to producing full-length series with "Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story", an adaptation of a spin-off mobile game series based on the studio's "Madoka Magica" franchise. It was the first series since 2007 not to be directed in part by Akiyuki Shinbo (although he served as an animation supervisor), and was instead directed by Doroinu of Gekidan Inu Curry, one of the original series' alternate space designers. Shaft's second and final project of the year, "Assault Lily Bouquet", was also the first time since 2007 that Shinbo had not been involved with one of the studio's main projects entirely. "Bouquet" was instead directed by former Gainax member Shouji Saeki and Shaft member Hajime Ootani.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shinbo returned to the director's chair in 2021 with his adaptation of "Pretty Boy Detective Club", which he co-directed alongside Ootani. The series served as the debut for Shaft's CGI animation division, as well as the Umegumi division. In 2022, the studio opened an office in Shizuoka.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Directors Akiyuki Shinbo, Shin Oonuma, and Tatsuya Oishi, who formed "Team Shinbo", are essentially responsible for defining Shaft's production culture and experimental stylistic visuals in the mid-to-late 2000s. They each brought separate stylistic strengths that contributed to the eventual "Shaft style" the studio embraced, despite the fact that neither Oonuma nor Oishi had much prior experience as directors. Oonuma and Oishi's success with the studio is in part due to the "mentorship" system created at Shaft, which was centered around Shinbo. The two former directors would work under Shinbo and the Shaft system as episode directors and storyboard artists until they were promoted to series directors with Shinbo maintaining a supervising role over them. In turn, they, too, could begin mentoring other directors; in particular, Oonuma mentored Yukihiro Miyamoto, Tomoyuki Itamura, and Naoyuki Tatsuwa, and Oishi's influence has been exerted across the Shaft studio as a whole (and most likely Itamura, who took over the "Monogatari" series from Oishi). Team Shinbo, Miyamoto, and Itamura's styles within Shaft as a whole tend to be more experimental in nature, whereas Tatsuwa was the sole director who took a more grounded approach to the series he was involved with (while still maintaining Shaft's style).


title: Shaft (company)

text: Several techniques that the studio's directors still employ were popularized by Team Shinbo, such as the usage of ostentatious or simple backgrounds and tones, unique editing cuts, flat color contrasts, the insertion of real-world objects into the animated medium, monochromatic color schemes, minimalistic and abstract backgrounds, extreme changes in background art, and sharp color contrasts. which are used to facilitate certain surrealistic narratives and imagery, but despite this, consistently exist through each of the studio's productions. Miyamoto brought to the studio sharp color contrasts and changing color palettes, which Itamura was stylistically influenced by; Itamura himself also created his own style defined by the usage of "chapter breaks" and paper cutouts. Tatsuwa, in contrast to the others, maintained series with less visual surrealism, albeit he continued to use several of the stylistic elements from the other directors. One of the studio's most well-known stylistic insertions, the so-called head-tilt, has also been acknowledged by Shinbo as one of the studio's staples.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Miyamoto brought to Shaft the art troupe Gekidan Inu Curry in 2008 during "(Zoku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sense", and the duo's style greatly influenced the studio's animation style as a whole, which later defined the "Madoka Magica" franchise that Miyamoto and Shinbo directed two years later.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shaft's work culture has also influenced the narrative writings of the studio's productions, which have been described as existing "somewhere between comedy and despair", which can be best seen through the works of director Miyamoto, who has headed some of the studio's most depressive series, and also their most comedic. The studio's works oftentimes also include unconventional characters and experimentation within the genre of the series the studio produces, while also diverging from the expectations of the audience.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Following Wakao's retirement in 2004, Kubota decided to restructure the studio's system itself. While the arrival of Shinbo, Oonuma, and Oishi was a part of this restructuring, Kubota also founded Shaft's in-house photography, painting, and visual effects division, which would move the already-existing painting team, in 2004. The division, named Digital@Shaft, made its first appearance on "Gakuen Alice" episode 4, which was outsourced to Shaft. In August 2020, Shaft posted a recruitment notice for 3DCG animation staff, and the Shaft CGI Animation Room (a division spun-off from Digital@Shaft) debuted in the studio's "Pretty Boy Detective Club" series the following year. The same series also debuted Shaft Umegumi, a division presumably headed by director Yasuomi Umetsu, who directed the series opening title animation. In 2021, Digital@Shaft formed a background art team as well. Kubota has also emphasized a particular focus on putting full studio effort into each of their works, and not increasing the number of productions purely to satiate demand.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shaft visual effects chief Hisato Shima stated that other studios commonly have animators and operators specializing in 3D (or certain aspects of the 3D process), but that Shaft artists tend to work in a more broad area and perform several tasks during anime production. Shaft's production pipeline often utilizes materials created during the normal production pipine (that is: layouts, key animation, in-between animation, finishing (painting/coloring), photography, editing) that work as temporary reference points for both 2D and 3D animators, and assist with camera angles, reference points, and other processes. Later in the production, these temporary materials are removed, and the final CG work is added. In order to counteract the issues that come with productions that have a mix of traditional/CG animation in regards to paper and digital canvas sizes, the studio developed a format that would be convenient for both processes by standardizing a 2156 x 1526 pixel screen size for the 3D artists.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Beyond the in-house culture the studio emphasizes in its works, Shaft has also emphasized using a common workflow from project to project to ease the transition from production to production. The purpose of such commonality between productions is to allow for consistency and the continuity of Shaft's style between productions. While this system allows for Shaft's style to manifest throughout each of their productions, it also allows for more creative freedoms across all individuals working with the studio, such as Shinbo's philosophy of "mix[ing] participating staffer’s feelings". "Madoka Magica" screenwriter Gen Urobuchi described the work environment as giving him a level of freedom he'd never had before, and that "I did not think I could have written this screenplay in any other place", and both original character designer Ume Aoki and alternate space designers Gekidan Inu Curry have expressed similar perspectives.


title: Shaft (company)

text: Shaft is also one of the only studios that manages an in-house online shop Shaft Ten which sells Blu-Rays, production materials, and other merchandise for series the company owns the rights to.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The Chevrolet (S-10) Blazer and its badge engineered GMC (S-15) Jimmy counterpart are compact/mid-size SUVs manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet and GMC from the 1983 through 2005 model years, over two generations – until the early 1990s alongside these brands' full-size SUVs with near identical nameplates, but lacking removable hardtops. From the 1992 model year, GMC's big Jimmy had become the 'Yukon', and so the S-15 prefix was dropped on the smaller GMC Jimmy. Starting with the 1995 second generation, the large Blazer was rebranded as the Chevrolet Tahoe, and these mid-size SUVs were simply launched as the 'all-new Chevrolet Blazer'.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: Upon launch, these models were shorter and narrower than the full-size K5 Blazer, sometimes leading to the nickname of" 'baby Blazer'." Like their full-sized counterparts, the S-series Blazer and Jimmy were originally offered only in a two-door body style. In 1991, four-door versions were added, with a 6.5 in (17 cm) longer wagon body.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The S-10 Blazer and S-15 Jimmy were based on the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15 pickup trucks, sharing many components. and were manufactured in Pontiac, Michigan; Linden, New Jersey; Moraine, Ohio; Shreveport, Louisiana; and São José dos Campos, Brazil.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: In the United States, retail sales of four-door Blazer models ended in 2004; though production of two- and four-door models for fleet sales continued into 2005. In the Canadian market, four-door models of the Blazer and Jimmy were sold until the 2004 model year and until the 2005 model year for the two-door models of both.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The Brazilian variant, based on the second-generation S-series, continues in production in Brazil with their own sheetmetal stampings as well as in Canada with the Brazilian, Indonesian and Russian sheetmetal stampings). In North America, the Moraine, Ohio plant produced only 4-door vehicles, with both 2- and 4-door models being produced at Linden, which was the main assembly plant after the switch (some time after 1995) from Pontiac, Michigan, which became a full-size truck plant.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: In 1982, General Motors introduced the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, and its rebadged GMC S-15 Jimmy variant, as 1983 models. They were based on, and co-developed, with the 1982 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck, introduced one year prior, to replace the Isuzu-based Chevrolet LUV truck.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The S-series Blazer and Jimmy did not feature removable hardtops, like their full-size K5 counterparts, and were for a long time, like them, only offered in a two-door bodystyle. Only in March 1990, four-door versions of the S-10 Blazer and Jimmy were introduced as 1991 models, with a greater wheelbase and length.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: Base power was provided by GM's 2.0 L OHV four-cylinder engine, producing . A 2.8 L, V6 was offered as an option (coincidentally this engine was also used in Jeep's competing Cherokee until 1987).


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: Due to emissions laws, a 1.9 L I4 gasoline engine built by Isuzu was offered as the base model engine in California in place of the 2.0 L engine, while an Isuzu 2.2 L diesel engine (also used in the S-series pickups) producing was offered as an option.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The 1.9 and 2.0 L gasoline fours and the 2.2 L diesel were dropped after 1985, replaced by the larger 2.5 L Iron Duke engine. The V6 was refitted with a throttle-body fuel injection system for 1986 in order to improve performance and fuel economy.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: In order for it to keep being competitive, the Blazer and Jimmy received a new V6 option for 1988 (also used with the Astro/Safari vans, short wheelbase G-series vans, and light duty C/K-1500 trucks), based on the Chevrolet Small-Block V8 engine, producing a respectable . Power output was increased to for 1989, while the four-cylinder engine was dropped. The 2.8 L V6 was discontinued after 1990, making the 4.3 L the sole available engine. A 5-speed manual transmission (Getrag 290/Hydramatic 290/5LM60, sourced from the GMT400) was added to the option list, replacing the Borg-Warner T-5.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: In March 1990, 4-door versions of the S-10 Blazer and Jimmy were introduced as a 1991 model; the 4-door had a 6.5 in longer wheelbase (2-doors had a 100.5 in wheelbase - six inches (152 mm) longer than the Ford Bronco II) and a one-piece front grille with a painted black insert (1990 2-door S-10 Blazers and Jimmys had the 3-piece grille). This new grille also did away with the separate metal filler panel under the grille, since the grille is taller and took its place. Early production models between March and August 1990 were initially available as a four-wheel drive only; 2WD versions commenced production around Summer 1990. This came just months ahead of the introduction of the Ford Explorer, which replaced the Bronco II; six-and-a-half years after the segment-leading Cherokee debuted with four doors.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The upscale Oldsmobile Bravada appeared later in the year featuring an All-Wheel-Drive package called "Smart-Trak" (using a BorgWarner 4472 transfer case, shared with the AWD Astro/Safari).


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: 1992 models were similar to 1991s - the only way to tell the difference is the rear back glass (the rear glass does not have any trim to which two black buttons serve as the back glass strut mounting points) and front grille (chrome shell with argent silver inserts). The interior was a carryover from 1991 with the exception of the center console and steering wheel (X-bar style similar to the one used in the GMT400 trucks). Also, the "S-15" name was dropped from the Jimmy. The S10 Blazer also introduced an upscale Tahoe and Sport trim packages, the Tahoe LT, which was rebadged as the LT in 1995 whilst the Tahoe package was renamed as the LS. The Tahoe LT had its own exterior décor with faded lower body lines on the lower rockers along with Tahoe LT badges - this also included an overhead console and keyless remote door locks). Sport package had bigger sway bars, slightly modified suspension and 30x9.5 or optional 31x10.5 tires. Body trim included also black plastic fender flares, front fog lights and spare tire carrier on the tailgate.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: 1992 was the first model year where the S10 Blazer and Jimmy offered an NP233 electronic transfer case for as a drivetrain option. This deleted the Manual gear range selector with a 3 position switch located to the left of the gauge cluster in the same location that the rear defrost button would be located on non-electronic transfer-case and 2WD model Blazers and Jimmies (when optioned with the electronic transfer case the defrost button assembly is positioned below the headlight switch). The electronic transfer-case added luxury however there was no neutral position with the electronic transfer case, so the owner's manual stated that the drive shaft had to be removed when the vehicle was being towed. The fuel lines, which were routed on the driver side frame rail to the TBI fuel injectors, were redesigned where the fuel inlets entered the rear of the engine (same as the GMT400). This was phased in because of the L35 option which used a similar fuel line setup. The serpentine accessory drive for the 4.3L motor was modified where the air pump was eliminated and further lightened.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: From at least 1991 onward, all S10 Blazers and Jimmies came with four-wheel anti-lock brakes as standard equipment. The first two years of the ABS system had axleshafts with pressed-on ABS toner rings, which were eliminated during the latter half of the 1993 model year (rear ABS control was now done via the vehicle speed sensor). A 5-speed manual transmission remained standard through 1994, but only with the TBI engine. Only the two engines were offered as options - the base TBI and the CPI (introduced in 1992 for the S-series and Chevrolet Astro minivans; the latter had the "Vortec" logo on the intake plenum).


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: 1993 had a few changes - the center console was raised (with a dual cup holder), and the 4L60E transmission replaced the 700r4. The grille (alongside the S-10 pickup) was revised (which was a chrome-plated version of the base work truck grille found on base S-10 pickups), along with the addition of optional 5-spoke alloy rims (for the 2WD model - basically a copy of the 3rd generation Camaro Z28 15" alloy rim).


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: Although the second generation S-series pickup debuted in 1994, the S-10 Blazer and Jimmy continued unchanged for that year, with the only significant changes being a third brake light and the discontinuation of the rear spoiler. 1994 was a transition year for many automakers when it came to switching from R-12 Freon to CFC-free R134a refrigerant. The redesigned 1994 S-10 and Sonoma pickups used R134a refrigerant. Despite being nearly identical to the 1993 models, the entire 1994 model year full-size pickup and SUV lineup (C/K, Sierra, Suburban, Yukon, etc.), also used R134a. The 1994 S-10 Blazer and Jimmy seem to have used R-12 until the end of their production run and subsequent replacement with redesigned 1995 models that looked like new-for-1994 pickups.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The all-new Blazer was introduced in 1994 as a 1995 model year. This time, it lost the S-10 prefix for simpler identification, as the full-size K5 Blazer was discontinued. (the GMT400-based Blazer was rebadged as the Tahoe; the Tahoe package which was the base trim for past S10s was redesignated as the LS.) Exterior and interior size were increased, bumping it up to a mid-sized SUV. The Blazer was "Playboy Magazine"'s Truck of the Year for 1995 and was also the unanimous winner of the Motor Trend 1995 Truck of the Year. The '95 Blazer was also awarded North American Truck of the Year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The second-generation Blazer was available with the 4.3 L V6 engine only, and most models featured four-wheel drive via an electronic transfer case; 1997 was the last year a manual transfer case (with floor-shifter) for four-wheel drive was offered. A drivers airbag came, but a passenger airbag was not immediately introduced.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: In 1998, the interior and exterior received some cosmetic changes. The makeover offered a new dashboard with larger buttons and more ergonomically correct driving controls, as well as larger door handles, and headrests for the rear bench. A passenger airbag is now standard. A front grille similar to the Chevrolet C/K pickup line's stacked-headlight system replaced the older single-headlight system, similar to the full-size GMT400 trucks. 4 wheel disc brakes became standard equipment, fitted with aluminum dual-piston calipers (the front disc brakes were redesigned with the dual-piston calipers and 11" diameter brake rotors (steering knuckles now have sealed hub assemblies) while the truck models retained the 1978-era single piston disc brakes originally sourced and shared from GM's G-body lineup). In 1999, new folding mirrors replaced the old folding mirrors. 2000 saw new front bumpers and the trim running along the sides and bumpers was removed. For the 2001 model year, the truck received a new center console.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: Another upscale model was the 1998 GMC Envoy. It used the same engines and had many of the same upgrades as the Bravada. The 1998 model Envoy featured an optional upgrade to High Intensity Discharge headlamps, and several other visual modifications. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Jimmy nameplate, the Jimmy Diamond Edition was launched. Not too different from the Envoy, it featured leather seats with a diamond pattern, special diamond logos, and an aluminum silver plate along lower sides of the SUV.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: In 1999, Chevrolet introduced a limited edition 'TrailBlazer' appearance package that was available as an upgrade to the LS and LT trims. The package featured gold-accented alloy rims and trim along with several interior/exterior modifications and upgrades and was marketed until the introduction of the GMT360 series for the 2002 model year. The Trailblazer's headlamps, which featured daytime running lamps, would be available on various Blazer models until production ended. Upon introduction of the 2002 Chevrolet TrailBlazer and the GMC Envoy, production continued after their successors came to the market, with the Jimmy being sold only in Canada and, in the 2005 model year, 4-door models sold to vehicle fleets.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: At the same time, a Blazer Xtreme (only on the 2-door model) was added to the lineup, based on the S10 Xtreme. This sub-model lasted until 2004.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The ZR2 package was only offered on the 2 door Blazer as the 2 door had the shorter wheelbase. It had a wider ladder-type frame which made its track approx. 3.9 inches wider. It also lifted the Blazer about 3 inches which made it be able to clear 31x10.5 tires on 15 inch wheels. An enhanced front (7.25" ring gear) and rear (8.5" ring gear) axles w/ 3.73:1 rear-axle ratio. Larger wheel and axle bearings. A front anti-sway bar, skid plates, Bilstein shocks, and a beefier rear axle. This package cost a little over $1000 and was first introduced on the S10 pickup in 1994 and carried over to the Blazer in 1996.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The right-hand drive Blazer has been assembled in Indonesia since 1995. In 1998, General Motors launched the right-hand drive version to be built in the United States for the export to the countries with left-hand rule of road. The S-10 Blazer destined for the Japanese market had some modifications to suit the Japanese people: turn-signal stalk moving closer to the steering wheel, external rear-view mirrors electrically folding in to fit through the narrow streets, brake pedal changing its angle for easier reach, larger wheel arches, and a few miscellaneous changes.


title: Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

text: The right-hand-drive dashboard was also used for Holden Suburban with the passenger (left) side stretched to fit the wider Suburban.


title: Mad Libs

text: Mad Libs is a phrasal template word game created by Leonard Stern and Roger Price. It consists of one player prompting others for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story before reading aloud. The game is frequently played as a party game or as a pastime.


title: Mad Libs

text: The game was invented in the United States, and more than 110 million copies of "Mad Libs" books have been sold since the series was first published in 1958.


title: Mad Libs

text: Mad Libs was invented in 1953 by Leonard Stern and Roger Price. Stern and Price created the game, but could not agree on a name for their invention. No name was chosen until five years later (1958), when Stern and Price were eating Eggs Benedict at a restaurant in New York City.


title: Mad Libs

text: While eating, the two overheard an argument at a neighboring table between a talent agent and an actor. According to Price and Stern, during the overheard argument, the actor said that he wanted to "ad-lib" an upcoming interview. The agent, who clearly disagreed with the actor's suggestion, retorted that ad-libbing an interview would be "mad". Stern and Price used that eavesdropped conversation to create, at length, the name "Mad Libs". In 1958, the duo released the first book of "Mad Libs", which resembled the earlier games of consequences and exquisite corpse.


title: Mad Libs

text: Stern was head writer and comedy director for "The Steve Allen Show", and suggested to the show's host that guests be introduced using Mad Libs completed by the audience. Four days after an episode introduced "our guest NOUN, Bob Hope", bookstores sold out of "Mad Libs" books.


title: Mad Libs

text: Stern and Price next partnered with Larry Sloan, a high school friend who was working as a publicist at the time, to continue publishing "Mad Libs". Together, the three founded the publishing firm Price Stern Sloan in the early 1960s as a way to release "Mad Libs". In addition to releasing more than 70 editions of "Mad Libs" under Sloan, the company also published 150 softcover books, including such notable titles as "How to Be a Jewish Mother", first released in 1964; "Droodles", which was also created by Roger Price; "The VIP Desk Diary"; and the series "World's Worst Jokes".


title: Mad Libs

text: Price died in 1990, and three years later, Sloan and Stern sold Price Stern Sloan, including "Mad Libs", to the former Putnam Berkley Group, which is now known as Penguin Random House. "Mad Libs" books are still published by Penguin Random House; however, all references to Price Stern Sloan have been removed from the company's official website. Stern died at age 88 on June 7, 2011, and Sloan on October 14, 2012.


title: Mad Libs

text: More than 110 million copies of "Mad Libs" have been sold since the game series was first published in 1958.


title: Mad Libs

text: It is unclear whether the creators of Mad Libs were aware of existing games and books similar to their own. One such game is "Revelations about my Friends", published anonymously by Fredrick A. Stokes Companies in New York in 1912. Like Mad Libs, the book invites the reader to choose words of different categories which then become part of a story. The nineteenth century parlor game "Consequences" and the surrealists' Exquisite Corpse game are also similar to Mad Libs.


title: Mad Libs

text: Mad Libs books contain short stories on each page with many key words replaced with blanks. Beneath each blank is specified a category, such as "noun", "verb", "place", "celebrity", "exclamation" or "part of the body". One player asks the other players, in turn, to contribute a word of the specified type for each blank, but without revealing the context for that word. Finally, the completed story is read aloud. The result is usually a sentence which is comical, surreal and/or takes on somewhat of a nonsensical tone.


title: Mad Libs

text: A game show called "Mad Libs", with some connections to the game, aired on the Disney Channel in 1998 and 1999.


title: Mad Libs

text: Several imitations of Mad Libs have been created, most of them on the Internet. Imitation Mad Libs are sometimes used in educational settings to help teach kids the parts of speech.


title: Mad Libs

text: Looney Labs released "Mad Libs: The Game", a card game, in 2016. There is also a Mad Libs mobile app.


title: R/K selection theory

text: In ecology, "r"/"K" selection theory relates to the selection of combinations of traits in an organism that trade off between quantity and quality of offspring. The focus on either an increased quantity of offspring at the expense of individual parental investment of "r"-strategists, or on a reduced quantity of offspring with a corresponding increased parental investment of "K"-strategists, varies widely, seemingly to promote success in particular environments. The concepts of quantity or quality offspring are sometimes referred to as "cheap" or "expensive", a comment on the expendable nature of the offspring and parental commitment made. The stability of the environment can predict if many expendable offspring are made or if fewer offspring of higher quality would lead to higher reproductive success. An unstable environment would encourage the parent to make many offspring, because the likelihood of all (or the majority) of them surviving to adulthood is slim. In contrast, more stable environments allow parents to confidently invest in one offspring because they are more likely to survive to adulthood.


title: R/K selection theory

text: The terminology of "r"/"K"-selection was coined by the ecologists Robert MacArthur and E. O. Wilson in 1967 based on their work on island biogeography; although the concept of the evolution of life history strategies has a longer history (see e.g. plant strategies).


title: R/K selection theory

text: The theory was popular in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was used as a heuristic device, but lost importance in the early 1990s, when it was criticized by several empirical studies. A life-history paradigm has replaced the "r"/"K" selection paradigm, but continues to incorporate its important themes as a subset of life history theory. Some scientists now prefer to use the terms "fast" versus "slow" life history as a replacement for, respectively, "r" versus "K" reproductive strategy.


title: R/K selection theory

text: In "r"/"K" selection theory, selective pressures are hypothesised to drive evolution in one of two generalized directions: "r"- or "K"-selection. These terms, "r" and "K", are drawn from standard ecological algebra as illustrated in the simplified of population dynamics:


title: R/K selection theory

text: where "N" is the population, "r" is the maximum growth rate, "K" is the carrying capacity of the local environment, and "dN/dt", the derivative of "N" with respect to time "t", is the rate of change in population with time. Thus, the equation relates the growth rate of the population "N" to the current population size, incorporating the effect of the two constant parameters "r" and "K".


title: R/K selection theory

text: (Note that decrease is negative growth.) The choice of the letter "K" came from the German "Kapazitätsgrenze" (capacity limit), while "r" came from "rate".


title: R/K selection theory

text: "r"-selected species are those that emphasize high growth rates, typically exploit less-crowded ecological niches, and produce many offspring, each of which has a relatively low probability of surviving to adulthood (i.e., high "r", low "K"). A typical "r" species is the dandelion (genus "Taraxacum").


title: R/K selection theory

text: In unstable or unpredictable environments, "r"-selection predominates due to the ability to reproduce rapidly. There is little advantage in adaptations that permit successful competition with other organisms, because the environment is likely to change again. Among the traits that are thought to characterize "r"-selection are high fecundity, small body size, early maturity onset, short generation time, and the ability to disperse offspring widely.


title: R/K selection theory

text: Organisms whose life history is subject to "r"-selection are often referred to as "r"-strategists or "r"-selected. Organisms that exhibit "r"-selected traits can range from bacteria and diatoms, to insects and grasses, to various semelparous cephalopods and small mammals, particularly rodents.


title: R/K selection theory

text: By contrast, "K"-selected species display traits associated with living at densities close to carrying capacity and typically are strong competitors in such crowded niches, that invest more heavily in fewer offspring, each of which has a relatively high probability of surviving to adulthood (i.e., low "r", high "K"). In scientific literature, "r"-selected species are occasionally referred to as "opportunistic" whereas "K"-selected species are described as "equilibrium".


title: R/K selection theory

text: In stable or predictable environments, "K"-selection predominates as the ability to compete successfully for limited resources is crucial and populations of "K"-selected organisms typically are very constant in number and close to the maximum that the environment can bear (unlike "r"-selected populations, where population sizes can change much more rapidly).


title: R/K selection theory

text: Traits that are thought to be characteristic of "K"-selection include large body size, long life expectancy, and the production of fewer offspring, which often require extensive parental care until they mature. Organisms whose life history is subject to "K"-selection are often referred to as "K"-strategists or "K"-selected. Organisms with "K"-selected traits include large organisms such as elephants, humans, and whales, but also smaller long-lived organisms such as Arctic terns, parrots and eagles.


title: R/K selection theory

text: Although some organisms are identified as primarily "r"- or "K"-strategists, the majority of organisms do not follow this pattern. For instance, trees have traits such as longevity and strong competitiveness that characterise them as "K"-strategists. In reproduction, however, trees typically produce thousands of offspring and disperse them widely, traits characteristic of "r"-strategists.


title: R/K selection theory

text: Similarly, reptiles such as sea turtles display both "r"- and "K"-traits: although sea turtles are large organisms with long lifespans (provided they reach adulthood), they produce large numbers of unnurtured offspring.


title: R/K selection theory

text: The "r"/"K" dichotomy can be re-expressed as a continuous spectrum using the economic concept of discounted future returns, with "r"-selection corresponding to large discount rates and "K"-selection corresponding to small discount rates.


title: R/K selection theory

text: In areas of major ecological disruption or sterilisation (such as after a major volcanic eruption, as at Krakatoa or Mount St. Helens), "r"- and "K"-strategists play distinct roles in the ecological succession that regenerates the ecosystem. Because of their higher reproductive rates and ecological opportunism, primary colonisers typically are "r"-strategists and they are followed by a succession of increasingly competitive flora and fauna. The ability of an environment to increase energetic content, through photosynthetic capture of solar energy, increases with the increase in complex biodiversity as "r" species proliferate to reach a peak possible with "K" strategies.