title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The scientific centre of Total in Pau is one research centre for exploration and production of gas and oil in Europe, more than 2,000 people, including 900 doctors and engineers in the geosciences, resulting from the merger of ELF Aquitaine and Total. Research in the geosciences is also based on university partnerships/companies notably with the Federation of research applied to petroleum engineering (IPRA), consisting of teams of research CNRS/University of Pau and the Pays de l'Adour (UPPA) and Total (the IPRA represents 130 teachers, researchers and beneficiaries, an annual budget of 1.5 million euros and six scientific Masters). Research and engineering in the geosciences are also present through specialised companies (CGG, Paradigm Geophysical, TTI, VERITAS, etc.) implanted, for the most part, on the site of the Hélioparc technopole and specialised training centres (IFP Training, NExT-Schlumberger, Wellstaff, Baker Hughes, etc.).


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The area of Pau-Lacq is also geared towards fine chemicals (Acetex, now closed) and new materials. High-tech composite materials and nanomaterials have gradually been developed in Béarn with the Carbon Fibre Company (SOFICAR) and the GRL (Group of research of Lacq), one of the main centres of research of ARKEMA.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Industry has also developed recently around new energy investments and other energies: Bio-fuels (manufacturing site of bioethanol from the AB Bioenergy France Company, €150M investment), biomass (cellulose) and the production of electricity from gas (production site of SNET, investment of €400M). One driver of uptake and CO sequestration process is also underway (industrial investment of €100M).


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Ultimately, these activities for fine chemicals and specialties, will ensure the reconversion of the traditional activities of extraction from the Lacq area.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau is part of the global competitiveness cluster of Aerospace Valley, in the aerospace sector, with Toulouse and Bordeaux. The aviation industry is represented by major industrial groups (Safran, Turbomeca, Messier Dowty, Examéca, MAP, etc.), and a significant number of subcontractors. With Biarritz/Bayonne (Dassault) and Tarbes (EADS Socata, Tarmac), the area of the Pays de l'Adour is strongly oriented towards aeronautics (12,000 jobs). These firms are involved on the Airbus programmes of A380/A300/A330/A320 (landing gear, carbon fibre, welding, aerostructures), Eurocopter (engines, machining parts), Boeing (landing gear) and Embraer. Pau also hosts the service centre of the French Army (ALAT) Tiger helicopters. The airport area in particular (aeropole Pau Pyrénées) is expanding and includes aeronautical and automotive subcontractors.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The pharmaceutical sector is growing and is represented by Pierre Fabre, Boiron, Sanofi and Finorga companies. A bio-health centre grouping of industrial pharmacy and biology was created in 2006 around the Pierre Fabre and DBI enterprises.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The Pau economy is also based on the agri-food industry in the fields of maize, processed products (dairy products, canning, meat) and the wine industry (Group , Candia, Bongrain, 3A, Michaud and Miot). With 400 researchers, Pau is the first European research centre for maize-growing.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The electronics and electrical engineering sector also has several industrial sites in the Pau agglomeration (Legrand, Arelec, Aquitaine electronics, Siemens).


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau also concentrates the regional headquarters of many service companies as capital of the "Pays de l'Adour" region: The banking sector (CA Pyrénées Gascogne, Banque Pouyanne), insurance (MIF, MSA), construction (Groupe MAS, Cance) and business services (APR, YSA, Vitalicom).


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: ICT businesses have experienced an important development with the deployment of optical fibre in the agglomeration and the implantation of companies specialising in information technology, networks and image processing. The technopoles [technological hubs] of "Helioparc" (close to the University, 1,000 jobs), "Pau Cité Multimédia" (north of the town, 700 jobs) and the "@LLEES" (Villa Ridgway built in 1905, former headquarters of Elf) concentrate a large number of systems integration and computer engineering information technology consulting schools. Pau should, ultimately, be fully connected to a fibre optic network (Pau Broadband Country) of the agglomeration of Pau-Pyrénées communities which will allow a data transfer rate of 10 to 100 megabits per second (and 1 gigabit per second for some companies) and applications of types such as VoIP, online services and "webTV". Pau is the third city in Europe, after Stockholm and Milan, to have developed a very high-speed fibre optic network. The project has cost 30 million euros and has been spread over five years. This network has encouraged the location of French and foreign companies to Pau, which are specialised in imaging, services or design online.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau combines all the functions and administrative headquarters of a regional agglomeration: , Court of Appeal for the departments under the purview of Pau (Pyrenees Atlantiques, Landes and Gers), the regional hospital, , Chamber of Trade of Pyrénées Atlantiques, Chamber of Agriculture of Pyrénées Atlantiques, SDIS 64, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour. The Chamber of commerce and industry of Pau Béarn manages the Pau-Pyrénées airport, the Groupe ESC Pau, the consular hotel, the CNPC and the IPC de Pau.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: In 2006, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Pau Béarn had 11,000 industrial and commercial companies registered as headquartered in Pau.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau is also a city of congress, symposia and business travelers with infrastructure allowing it to host national and international events. The Congress Centre, a casino, a park of exhibitions and 4-star hotels (Parc Beaumont Hotel, Villa Navarre Hotel) all help to provide this infrastructure.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The town of Pau is home to many corps of the army. The (RHC), which was the first regiment of France to be equipped with the new Eurocopter Tiger, the school of airborne troops (ETAP), the staff of the special forces land brigade, its air component (DAOS), and the central military administrative archive () office. The defence sector represents a little more than 2,000 direct jobs in Pau.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The town of Pau is located 45 minutes from the Pyrenees and its ski resorts. It is a holiday resort for tourists to the Pyrenees (hiking, climbing, skiing) and Spain. Located near the Basque and Landes coasts (an hour's drive), it is possible to practice water sports (surfing, diving, sailing, etc.).


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau is the gateway to the five Béarnese valleys (the Ossau Valley, Vallée d'Aspe, , the and Vath-Vielha) that receives winter sports tourists (the ski resorts of Gourette, , and ), spas (Eaux-Bonnes and Eaux-Chaudes) and green tourism (white-water sports, cultural and gastronomic tourism).


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Its location at the foot of the Pyrenees gives Pau an exceptional panorama of the chain of the Pyrenees, in particular from the Boulevard des Pyrénées which is a long avenue of , facing the Pyrenees mountain range.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau, a former royal town and capital of Béarn, is also a city of cultural tourism and important business (Congress, conferences, notably in the ). The city, a former climatic health resort, also hosts a casino (the "Casino de Pau").


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The city is historically closely linked to the United Kingdom and remains popular with the British on holiday. The British discovered Pau and its climate, and left their imprint when Wellington left a garrison there in 1814. He defeated Marshal Soult at Orthez (some to the north-west) on his way into France from Spain towards the end of the Peninsular War. Vacationing British began arriving before the railway established the Boulevard des Pyrenées. The first full 18-hole golf course in Europe, created by people from Scotland, and in fact located at Billère, was laid out in 1856–1860 and is still in existence, and also a real tennis court. Spanish people are also very present in the city, as well as Portuguese and Moroccans (consulates of Spain and Portugal). The Germans and Dutch, attracted by the climate of Pau and its heritage, are also more and more numerous.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The railway station Gare de Pau offers connections to Bordeaux, Bayonne, Toulouse and Paris, and several regional destinations.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Two railway construction projects are under consideration: the extension and renovation of the line rail network France current online high-speed TGV from Bordeaux to Spain via the east of Landes (which would put Pau at about three hours from Paris) and the reopening of the cross-border link Pau-Canfranc (Spain) linking Pau to Zaragoza. La Croix du Prince station in the southern part of the town has rail connections to Oloron-Sainte-Marie and Bedous.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The international airport of Pau-Pyrénées, located to the north-west in the commune of Uzein, is connected directly to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle and Paris-Orly, as well as airports in Marseille, Lyon, London, Southampton and Amsterdam, among other destinations. In 2009, it recorded 690,000 passengers, a decrease of more than 15%, making it the third busiest airport in Aquitaine after Bordeaux and Biarritz airports.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The Funiculaire de Pau, opened in 1908, provides, free of charge, a link between the city centre and Boulevard des Pyrénées to the railway station in the valley. After a year of refurbishment to standard, service resumed on 25 November 2006. It carries an average of 500,000 passengers per year. It works every day and its hours are Monday to Saturday, from 6:45 am to 9:40 pm and Sunday from 1:30 pm to 8:50 pm.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The Société des Transports de agglomération Paloise (STAP) or IDELIS bus network, operates 13 urban bus routes, serving Pau and the adjoining communes of Billère, Jurançon, Gelos, Mazères-Lezons, Lescar, Lons, Bizanos, Gan, Ousse, Sendets, Lée, Idron, Artigueloutan, Uzein, Morlaàs, Serres-Castet and Aressy. A free shuttle bus service, Coxitis, circles the city centre at brief intervals from early morning to early evening.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The main stops are at "Pôle Bosquet" and also at the markets, the "Place de Verdun", the SNCF railway station and the Auchan shopping centre.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The connections between the departmental and regional routes are at the "Pôle Bosquet", since August 2006:


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The city is engaged in a "Bus à haut niveau de service" [Bus to high level of service] (BHNS) project for a first route, the railway station to the hospital. Work started towards the end of 2014.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau has a heritage which stretches from the 12th to the 21st century, which is represented through numerous sites and monuments, including the castle of Henri IV.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau has a Russian Orthodox Church, a mosque, a synagogue and a number of smaller churches such as St-Jean-Baptiste, Sainte-Bernadette and Sainte-Thérèse.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The Château de Pau dominates the Gave de Pau. Its two oldest towers date from the 12th century. The quadrangular tower of brick was raised by Sicard de Lordat in the 14th century. Thus constituted fortress was turned into a Renaissance palace by Marguerite d'Angoulême and then restored under Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III. In summary, the castle was fortress of the Viscounts of Béarn, Castle of Fébus, birthplace of the good King Henry IV ("Nouste Enric") and royal residence in the Renaissance.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: A first defensive tower desired below the castle by Gaston Fébus, then called the "Tour du Moulin" [tower of the mill] for a time, was built along a water channel operating the mill of the castle as early as the 15th century. The "Tour de la Monnaie" [Money Tower] was named according to Henri d'Albret who, in 1554, used it as a mint. Today containing a lift within, it was used for the coinage of money until the French Revolution.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Its small garden was tended by Marie Antoinette when she spent her summers in the city. Napoleon used it as a holiday home during his period in power. The château has been designated as a French historical monument and holds a collection of tapestries.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Close to the castle, the "Parlement de Navarre" [Parliament of Navarre], so named, saw its origins in the annexation of Béarn to the Crown of France under Louis XIII in 1620. Though, in fact, he established himself in a very old courthouse that had been built as early as 1585 in place of the house of the Bishop of Lescar. Burned down in 1716, it was rebuilt but quickly abandoned in favour of the current courthouse. The General Council settled there and it still holds its sessions.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Lycée Louis Barthou, originally a Jesuit college, was built in Louis XIII's appeal, probably between 1622 and 1645, for the restoration of Catholicism. It has illustrious alumni such as Lautréamont, Louis Barthou, Saint-John Perse, Pierre Bourdieu, Daniel Balavoine and Henri Emmanuelli.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The Birthplace of Bernadotte Museum is today of particular interest to Swedish tourists, it dates from the 18th century. Bernadotte was a French non-commissioned officer who was born in Pau and became a general of Napoleon and then King of Sweden under the name Charles XIV.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Former grand hotels of the Belle Époque which were in direct competition, the "Hotel de Gassion" and the "Hotel de France", are located on the "Boulevard des Pyrénées". The "Hotel de Gassion", located between the château and the Church of Saint-Martin, now houses apartments. The "Hotel de France", located to the east of the "Place Royale", now houses the services of the Communauté d'agglomération de Pau-Pyrénées and is the second decision-making centre in Pau.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The "Palais Beaumont", originally referred to as the "Palais d'Hiver" [Winter Palace], was created at the end of the 19th century. Mixing architectural styles, it was repeatedly altered and was renovated from 1996, after half a century of neglect. It hosts a casino but is primarily a convention centre, a space for events such as seminars and fairs.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The funicular, which joins with the upper town, the historic centre, has carried travellers to and from the railway station, since 1908.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Municipal services settled in the current premises of the town hall in 1878. The building, located north of the , is actually a former theatre dating from 1862. The project to erect the Church of Saint-Louis, on the site, launched in 1685 and revived in 1788, was never successful. The former use of the building explains the statue of Thalia, muse of comedy starring to the front, which adorns its pediment.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The climate tourism which took over in Pau has left a set of prestigious villas as a legacy. Rich English, American and Russian tourists built villas to facilitate their stay during the winter. These buildings, English-style, were mainly built at the end of the 19th century. These villas now have various uses such as a charming hotel (Villa Navarre, an Anglo-Norman Manor built between 1865 and 1870), a reception room (Villa Saint Basil's built in 1889), apartments (Palais Sorrento in 1888) and as a residence of the prefect (Villa Saint Helena) etc.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The current courthouse was built on the territory of the former convent of the Cordeliers. The "Place de la Libération" today participates in the majesty of a building whose façade is classically decorated with columns, themselves topped by a pediment in white marble. Its construction began in 1847.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: It was natural that a barracks was progressively built in Pau from 1825 to 1875, the prefectural town close to the border. The Bernadotte Barracks, which today contains the national archives of the army, thus welcomed two regiments as early as 1830. The current which has become parking and was formerly known as "Place Napoleon", was, in fact, an area of close exercises.


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: Pau is also a green city, having more than occupied by green areas, with many rare and exotic species. Pau has been classed "4 flowers" by the Competition of Flowery Cities and Villages. In some districts, for example Trespoey, the villas are bathed in vegetation. Pau is thus one of the European cities that have the most square meters of greenery per capita ( per capita):


title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

text: The notion of "Horizons Palois" refers to the desire to protect the major elements which structure the special view from Pau to its natural environment. The view from the heights of Pau includes the saligues of the Gave de Pau and the hillsides of Jurançon and finally the chain of the Pyrenees. Seventeen sites were registered in 1944 as "Horizons Palois", in order to protect them from any construction or alteration that may deteriorate the extraordinary panorama which is particularly visible from the Boulevard des Pyrénées and the château. The city of Pau has committed several years of reflection to a candidacy of the Horizons to UNESCO World Heritage. This would thus enhance the protection of the panorama, and also be an improvement with the renaming of this site to the general public.


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) was the official name used by the U.S. government for the mission succeeding Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in continuation of the War in Afghanistan as part of the larger Global War on Terrorism. Operation Freedom's Sentinel is part of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission, which began on January 1, 2015. OFS had two components: counterterrorism and working with allies as part of Resolute Support.


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: There were 16,551 NATO and non-NATO troops in Afghanistan around February 2020. Around June 2020, that number dropped to 15,937. In February 2021, there were 9,592 NATO and non-NATO troops in Afghanistan.


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: The self-reported strength of the Afghan National Security Forces consisted of more than 300,000 personnel during 2020. These forces surrendered or fled to neighbouring countries during the August phase of the 2021 Taliban offensive, leaving nearly all of the country under Taliban control.


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: Operation Freedom Sentinel was expected to formally end on August 31, 2021, but concluded with the final withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan on August 30.


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: After thirteen years of Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. military and NATO allies shifted focus from major military operations to a smaller role of NATO-led training and assistance. While the bulk of the new mission was under the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (RS), "a separate 'non-NATO' contingent of U.S. forces will participate in force protection, logistical support and counterterrorism activities."


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: An October 1, 2015, statement by Gen. John F. Campbell, commander, Resolute Support Mission, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan/ISAF, defined the U.S. military's objectives. "U.S. forces are now carrying out two well-defined missions: a Counter-Terrorism (CT) mission against the remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Resolute Support TAA mission in support of Afghan security forces. Our CT and TAA efforts are concurrent and complementary. While we continue to attack the remnants of Al-Qaeda, we are also building the ANDSF so that they can secure the Afghan people, win the peace, and contribute to stability throughout the region."


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: When OFS started U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan were at 9,800 troops. General Campbell requested an additional 1,000 troops while NATO troop levels were built up to a force of about 13,500. His request was granted. In 2019, U.S. troop levels were at 14,000 troops in combined support of NATO RS missions and OFS. By January 2021, the U.S. had reduced its force level to 2,500 troops. However, it was later revealed that U.S. has 1000 more troops, which include Special Operations forces, than it disclosed in Afghanistan.


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: Moreover, as of January 2021, there were still approximately 18,000 military contractors, of which a third were U.S. citizens, in Afghanistan President Biden stated on July 8, 2021, that the war in Afghanistan would officially conclude on August 31, 2021. American airstrikes on Taliban members were projected to continue, but ended with the fall of the Islamic Republic.


title: Operation Freedom's Sentinel

text: The Lead Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations (Lead IG) is responsible for submitting a quarterly report on OFS to Congress. The quarterly report describes activities in support of OFS, as well as the work of the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the United States Agency for International Development to promote the U.S. Government's policy goals in Afghanistan,


title: The Dude in Me

text: The Dude In Me () is a 2019 South Korean fantasy comedy film directed by Kang Hyo-jin, starring Jung Jin-young, Park Sung-woong and Ra Mi-ran. The film was released on January 9, 2019.


title: The Dude in Me

text: Jang Pan-soo is a well-known elite gangster and married to his boss' daughter. One day, a high school student, Dong-Hyun, falls off the roof by trying to retrieve a shoe and falls on Pang-Soo. Pang-Soo wakes up in a hospital and felt something was wrong since everyone called him 'student', and Dong-Hyun's father ran up to him calling him Dong-Hyun and embracing him. Confused he ran to the nearest mirror and realized that he is now inside Dong-Hyun's body. After failing several times to go back to his own body, which is still unconscious in the hospital, he accepts his fate and goes home with Dong-Hyun's father.


title: The Dude in Me

text: As time passes by, he realizes that Dong-Hyun is targeted by bullies at school, is overweight, and has really bad eyesight. One by one, he starts fighting back against the bullies until they stop harassing him and Dong-Hyun's friend.


title: The Dude in Me

text: During this time, one of his loyal subordinate, Man Chul, is guarding his unconscious body at the hospital and Pan-Soo convinces him that he switched bodies with a high school student and helps Pan-Soo gather intel and daily activities in the gang.


title: The Dude in Me

text: One day, Pan-Soo encounters Oh Hyun-Jung, a girl in his class who is also being targeted by bullies at school. He follows her home only to find out that her mom, Oh Mi-Sun, was his old ex-girlfriend. He has Man-Chul get a paternity test for him and finds out that Hyun-Jung is his daughter. Seeing how she is an easy target for bullies at school, he gets her to train with him under Man-Chul's supervision. After a few weeks, Pan-Soo loses all of his body fat, gaining back his fit body and Hyun-Jung learns how to defend herself from her bullies. Hyun-Jung starts to have feelings for Dong-Hyun, not knowing that it's actually her father inside his body.


title: The Dude in Me

text: During this time, Pan-Soo's rival, Boss Yang, conspires to frame Pan-Soo of embezzling money by using his wife to convince their boss, which is her own father.


title: The Dude in Me

text: Pan-Soo find this out from Man-Chul and writes a letter explaining the scandal to his boss. He later reveals to Mi-Sun that he is actually Pan-Soo, not Dong-Hyun, and she gets upset as she still has ill-feelings towards him for leaving her. Hyun-Jung stumbles upon them during this time and Pan-Soo expresses that he still loves her mother. This upsets Hyun-Jung, not knowing that it's actually her father saying this.


title: The Dude in Me

text: Dong-Hyun later wakes up in Pan-Soo's body and ends up at his home, shocked to see Pan-Soo there in his body. Later, Boss Yang visits Mi-Sun's restaurant and fights with Pan-Soo until Mi-Sun threatens everyone if they don't stop. Pan-Soo's wife visits her father and he reveals to her he knows that she is working with Boss Yang and has turned her back against her own family. He calls for Pan-Soo to clear things up with him. Pan-Soo sends Dong-Hyun to meet


title: The Dude in Me

text: his boss, telling him what to say through an ear piece. His boss unexpectedly announces that Pan-Soo will take over the business, much to his wife's dismay, and accuses Pan-Soo of infidelity and having a daughter from it.


title: The Dude in Me

text: Dong-Hyun convinces Pan-Soo's boss that family is important and he is willing to leave the business and inheritance for them.


title: The Dude in Me

text: The boss blesses Pan-Soo to leave the business and Pan-Soo embraces Dong-Hyun for being a better man than he is but is suddenly ran over by his estranged wife.


title: The Dude in Me

text: At the hospital, Pan-Soo faints at the hospital as well as Dong-Hyun. Six months later, Dong-Hyun goes back to school back in his own body and is surprised to see his classmates cheering him for kicking out the bullies, and seems that Hyun-Jung is going out with Dong-Hyun. They later go to Mi-Sun's new restaurant where Pan-Soo is working there as well as Man-Chul and people are rushing in to their new restaurant.


title: The Dude in Me

text: A press conference for the film was held on December 26, 2018. The film was released to the local cinemas on January 9, 2019.


title: The Dude in Me

text: In the first weekend of its release, "The Dude In Me" ranked second at the South Korean box office and sold 564,568 tickets at 1,041 screens. During the first five days since the release the film has sold a total of 770,000 tickets.


title: The Dude in Me

text: On the eighth day since the release movie surpassed 1 million ticket sales. At the end of 12 days since the movie premier, "The Dude In Me" had attracted a total of 1.6 million viewers passing the break-even point of 1.5 million.


title: Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

text: The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (, abbreviated: ), or Politburo () was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was founded in October 1917, and refounded in March 1919, at the 8th Congress of the Bolshevik Party. It was known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966. The existence of the Politburo ended in 1991 upon the breakup of the Soviet Union.


text: On August 18, 1917, the top Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, set up a political bureau—known first as Narrow composition, and after October 23, 1917, as Political bureau—specifically to direct the October Revolution, with only seven members (Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Joseph Stalin, Grigori Sokolnikov, and Andrei Bubnov), but this precursor did not outlast the event; the Central Committee continued with the political functions. However, due to practical reasons, usually fewer than half of the members attended the regular Central Committee meetings during this time, even though they decided all key questions.


text: The 8th Party Congress in 1919 formalized this reality and re-established what would later on become the true center of political power in the Soviet Union. It ordered the Central Committee to appoint a five-member Politburo to decide on questions too urgent to await full Central Committee deliberation. The original members of the Politburo were Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Kamenev, and Nikolai Krestinsky.


text: The Soviet system was based upon the system conceived by Lenin, often referred to as Leninism. Certain historians and political scientists credit Lenin for the evolution of the Soviet political system after his death. Others, such as Leonard Schapiro, argue that the system itself evolved from an inner-party democratic system to a monolithic one in 1921, with the establishment of the Control Commission, the ban on factions and the power of the Central Committee to expel members they deemed unqualified. These rules were implemented to strengthen party discipline. However, the party continued under Lenin and the early post-Lenin years to try to establish democratic procedures within the party. For instance, by 1929, leading party members began criticizing the party apparatus, represented by the Secretariat headed by Stalin, of having too much control over personnel decisions. Lenin addressed such questions in 1923, in his articles "How We Should Reorganize the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate" and "Better Fewer but Better". In these, Lenin wrote of his plan to turn the combined meetings of the Central Committee and the Control Commission into the party's "parliament". The combined meetings of these two would hold the Politburo responsible, while at the same time guard the Politburo from factionalism. Admitting that organizational barriers may be inadequate to safeguard the party from one-man dictatorship, Lenin recognized the importance of individuals. His testament tried to solve this crisis by reducing both Stalin's and Leon Trotsky's powers.


text: Although some of his contemporaries accused Lenin of creating a one-man dictatorship within the party, Lenin countered, stating that he, like any other, could only implement policies by persuading the party. This happened on several occasions, such as in 1917 when he threatened to leave the party if it did not go along with the October Revolution, when he persuaded the party to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, or with the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP). Lenin, a noted factionalist before the Bolshevik seizure of power, supported the promotion of people he had previously clashed with on important issues to the Politburo; Trotsky and Lenin had had several years of violent polemics between them, while Grigori Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev both opposed the Central Committee resolution that initiated the October Revolution.


text: From 1917 to the mid-1920s, congresses were held annually, the Central Committee was convened at least once a month and the Politburo met once a week. With Joseph Stalin's consolidation of power, the frequency of formal meetings declined. By the mid-1930s, the Central Committee met only once a month, and the Politburo convened at most once every third week. The Politburo was established, and worked within the framework of democratic centralism (that is a system in which higher bodies are responsible to lower bodies and where every member is subordinate to party decisions). The nature of democratic centralism had changed by 1929, and freedom of expression, which had been previously tolerated within the party, was replaced with monolithic unity. This was achieved with Stalin's defeat of rival factions such as the Left Opposition and the Right Opposition. It is generally believed that under Stalin the Politburo's powers were reduced compared to the General Secretary.


text: Stalin defeated the Left Opposition led by Trotsky by allying himself with the rightists within the Politburo; Nikolai Bukharin, Aleksey Rykov, and Mikhail Tomsky. After defeating the Left Opposition, Stalin began attacking the rightists (referred to as the Right Opposition) through his supporters in the Politburo, the Central Committee, and the Control Commission. Stalin and his companion supported an undemocratic interpretation of Lenin's "What Is to Be Done?". Throughout the late-1920s, Politburo member Lazar Kaganovich (a Stalin ally), wrote and campaigned for a party organisational by-law which reduced intra-party democracy in favour of hierarchy and centralism. With the defeat of the other factions, these interpretations became party law. To strengthen the system of centralised decision-making, Stalin appointed his allies to high offices outside the Politburo. For instance, Vyacheslav Molotov succeeded Rykov as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars in 1930, to reduce the chance of another independent locus of centralised power forming form which could threaten Stalin and the Politburo, Secretariat, and Orgburo.


text: During this period, the office of the General Secretary became paramount. The Politburo, which was nominally responsible to the Central Committee and the Party Congress, became responsible to the General Secretary. The General Secretary, the formal head of the Secretariat and the Orgburo, "came to exercise enormous weight in decision-making." The Secretariat and Orgburo were responsible for personnel appointments in the whole party, and so were used as a machine by Stalin and his allies to promote like-minded individuals. Molotov and Kaganovich played a key role in strengthening the role of the Secretariat and the Orgburo in Party affairs.


text: The 17th Politburo was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee, in the aftermath of the 17th Congress. Outwardly, the Politburo remained united, but on 4 February Grigory Ordzhonikidze, the People's Commissar for Heavy Industry, refused to acknowledge Stalin's projected economic growth targets, claiming that the majority in the Politburo supported his position. Sergey Kirov, who had turned down an offer to take Stalin's place as General Secretary before the 17th Congress, opposed many of Stalin's repressive policies, and tried throughout 1934 to moderate them. Several scholars have viewed Ordzhonikidze's and Kirov's outspokenness as the rise of a moderate Stalinist faction with the party. On 1 December 1934, Kirov was shot dead – whether he was the victim of a madman or killed on Stalin's orders remains unknown. Not long after, on 21 January 1935, Valerian Kuybyshev died of natural causes, and a month later, Anastas Mikoyan and Vlas Chubar were elected Politburo full members. Andrei Zhdanov, the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee and member of the Secretariat, and Robert Eikhe, the First Secretary of the Siberian and West-Siberian District Committee, were elected Politburo candidate members.


text: 1936 signaled the beginning of the Great Purge, a nationwide purge of what Stalin deemed as anti-socialist elements. The first victims of the purge were members and leaders of economic organizations. Not everyone in the Politburo agreed with the purges, or the scope of them. Ordzhonikidze ridiculed the purge, and tried to save officials working in the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry. Stalin expected that Ordzhonikidze would support the purges, at least officially, but instead he wrote a speech condemning them. On 18 February 1937, Ordzhonikidze was found dead in his house, having killed himself. At the Central Committee plenum in February 1937, Stalin, Molotov, Zhdanov and Nikolai Yezhov began accusing leading officials of anti-socialist behavior, but they met opposition. Pavel Postyshev, a Politburo candidate member and First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Branch, in response to them accusing a member of the Ukrainian Central Committee of being anti-socialist said; "I don't believe it." When Yezhov proposed killing Bukharin and Rykov, Postyshev along with Stanislav Kosior and Grigory Petrovsky, opposed such a measure, proposing instead of handing them over to the courts. Molotov and Kliment Voroshilov, supported a compromise brokered by Stalin, which handed over Bukharin and Rykov to the NKVD. Despite this opposition, Stalin and his closest associates began purging officials nationwide. In May 1937, Jānis Rudzutaks became the first Politburo member to be purged. In 1938, four other Politburo members were purged; Chubar, who personally telephoned Stalin crying trying to assure his innocence, Kosior, who confessed for anti-socialist crimes after his daughter was raped in front of him, Postyshev and Eikhe. Petrovsky in contrast, was rather lucky, instead of being purged he was not reelected to the Politburo at the 18th Congress. The purging of Rudzutaks, Eikhe, and Kosior testified to Stalin's growing power; the Politburo were not even notified of the decision. Postyshev was purged because "of too much zeal in persecuting people."


text: The Politburo was the highest organ of the party when the party Congress and the Central Committee were not in session. The Politburo, along with the Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (Orgburo) until 1952, was one of three permanent bodies of the party. The General Secretary, the party leader, served as "ex officio" chairman of the Politburo (however, no formal rule stipulated such activity). 28 politburos were elected throughout the existence of the USSR.


text: While nominally subordinate to the Central Committee and the Party Congress, in practice the Politburo was the true center of power in the CPSU, and its decisions "de facto" had the force of law.


text: Arkady Shevchenko, like many Soviet technical experts, once attended the part of a Politburo meeting that touched on his area of expertise, and he often prepared his boss Andrei Gromyko for meetings. He described the working style of the Politburo's weekly meeting during the Brezhnev era as "quiet, orderly, and methodical. Although an agenda is prepared, there is no quorum call or other form of parliamentary procedure." Shevchenko's memoir makes it clear that the tense political struggle that could often occur among Politburo members usually did not take place openly during its meetings, but rather behind the backs of one's rivals. In practice, Soviet Leninism's democratic centralism often followed a style of unanimous consent rather than majority vote. This style of consensus decision-making had roots not only in the era of the Great Terror, also known as the Yezhovshchina, but also in Brezhnev's carefully cultivated culture of collective decision-making. Shevchenko said, "While the Politburo considered the item for which I was responsible, I sat with Kuznetsov, Kornienko, and [Vasily] Makarov, behind Gromyko at the long table in the Kremlin. Brezhnev asked whether all members of the Politburo had received the draft U.S.-Soviet documents in time and if they had studied them. Most of the members nodded silent assent. 'Can I assume that the draft is approved?' Brezhnev asked. No one spoke. 'The draft is approved,' said Brezhnev after a few more moments of silence. Makarov put his hand on my shoulder, whispering, 'Okay, Arkady, that's it. You can go.'"


text: Nevertheless, there were times where the General Secretary would override all the other members by making his opinion clear and implying that dissent wouldn't be tolerated. Mikhail Smirtyukov, recalled one such Politburo meeting. While Brezhnev was on vacation, Mikhail Suslov, who hated the idea that in front of the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square there was a Department Store (GUM), attempted to turn GUM into an exhibition hall and museum showcasing Soviet and Communist history.


text: After the decision was drawn up, Brezhnev was immediately reported. When he returned from vacation, before the first meeting of the Politburo he said: "Some idiot here invented a plan to close GUM and open some kind of cabinet of curiosities there." After everyone sat down, he asks: "Well, has the GUM issue been resolved?" Everyone, including Suslov, nodded their heads. The problem was closed once and for all without discussion.


text: To be elected to the Politburo, a member had to serve on the Central Committee. The Central Committee formally elected the Politburo in the aftermath of a party Congress. Members of the Central Committee were given a predetermined list of candidates for the Politburo (having only one candidate for each seat); for this reason, the election of the Politburo was usually passed unanimously. The more power the CPSU General Secretary had, the stronger the chance was that the Politburo membership were passed without serious dissent.


text: Article 25 of the party Charter, said little to nothing on the actual relationship between the Politburo and the Central Committee. Until 1961, Article 25 stated (with several changes) that the Central Committee "forms" or "organizes" the Politburo. It was not until 1961, under Nikita Khrushchev, that the party Charter was amended; stating that the Politburo was appointed through "secret elections". The amended party Charter stated that at least one-third of the Politburo (as well as the Central Committee) had to step down at each election to the Politburo, and that no members could be elected for more than three terms. The initiator of these changes, Khrushchev, the CPSU General Secretary, had served in the Politburo for 22 years. Instead of stepping down, Khrushchev made a rule which stated that members "who enjoyed great authority and possessed exceptional ability" could serve more than three terms, if they received more than 75 percent approval votes from the Central Committee, upon elections. These amendments were removed from the party Charter under Leonid Brezhnev, and Article 25 now stated; "In the election of all party organs, from the primary party organization to the Central Committee of the CPSU, the principle of systematic replacement of personnel and the continuity of leadership is to be observed." The Brezhnev period saw, in complete contrast to Khrushchev's amendment, the greatest continuity in the Politburo in its history. Article 25 of the Charter remained unchanged under the successive leadership of Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko and Mikhail Gorbachev.


text: Between 1919 and 1990, 42 members who served as candidate members were not promoted to full member status of the Politburo. Similarly, 32 full members of the Politburo never served as candidate members. Six members who had served as full members were demoted to candidate status during the Politburo's existence.


text: Serving in the Politburo was a part-time function, and members served concurrently in either the party, state, trade union, security or military administrations (or all of them concurrently). Until the 1950s, most members served in state positions, but this changed at the 20th Congress (held in 1956) when 47% percent of Politburo members served in the central party apparatus while another 47% served in the state administration. From the 20th Congress until the 28th Congress, the share of Politburo members serving in the central party apparatus increased, while those serving in the state administration declined. The majority of Politburo members had leading central posts; the highest share of republican officials serving in the Politburo came at the 22nd Congress (held in 1961) when 50 percent of members held offices at the republican-level.


text: Security officials had historically had a low-profile on the Politburo. From 1953 until 1973, no officials representing the security sector served in the Politburo as full members; the last two being Lavrentiy Beria and Nikolay Ignatov. This tradition was put to an end with the elevation of Yuri Andropov, the KGB Chairman, to full membership (having served as a candidate member since 1967). Alexander Shelepin had served as KGB Chairman, but was elected to the Politburo through his work in the Komsomol, while Eduard Shevardnadze, who had served as the Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs until 1972, became a candidate member of the Politburo through his work as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. Similarly in 1973, the Minister of Defense Andrei Grechko was appointed to the Politburo. However, unlike the security sector, the military sector had had representatives in the Politburo since the 8th Politburo (in 1919). Defense ministers who had served in the Politburo are Leon Trotsky, Mikhail Frunze, Kliment Voroshilov, Nikolai Bulganin, Georgy Zhukov and Dmitry Ustinov among others. Similarly, several leading Politburo officials had participated in either the Russian Revolution, the Russian Civil War or World War II.


text: Ethnic Slavs dominated the Politburo from its establishment in 1919. This isn't surprising, since the three most populous republics within the Soviet Union were ethnic Slavic; Byelorussia, Ukraine and Russia. From 1919 until 1991, 89 members of the Politburo were Russians (which makes up 68 percent). In distant second were Ukrainians, who had 11 members in the Politburo, making up 8 percent. In third place are both ethnic Jews and Georgians, who had 4 members respectively. In general, in the first half of the Politburo's existence, there was a higher ethnic representation than the second half. It was not until the 28th Politburo that every republic had a representative at the Politburo. The Politburo never tried to fix the ethnic imbalance within the Politburo. Instead, the Soviet Union at the central level was mostly ruled by Russians.


text: Despite the ideological rhetoric about equality between the sexes, the Politburo came to be composed largely of men. Only four women ever served in the Politburo; Elena Stasova, Yekaterina Furtseva, Alexandra Biryukova and Galina Semenova. Furtseva, Biryukova and Semenova reached the Politburo under the leadership of reformist party leaders; Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev.


text: The average age of the Politburo was 39 in 1919, and the Politburo continued to age more-or-less consistently until 1985. The reason for this being that the Central Committee treated Politburo replenishment as the responsibility of the Politburo itself. Politburo members usually picked successors who were around the same age, the end result being the establishment of the gerontocracy of the Brezhnev Era. While the age steadily crept up during Khrushchev's leadership, members were replaced; for instance, 70 percent of the members elected to the Politburo in 1956 lost their seats in 1961. In contrast, all the Politburo members elected in 1966 were reelected in 1971. Even more worrisome, 12 out of 19 members elected in 1966 were reelected in 1981. By the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982, the median age of the politburo was 70. This age development was finally put to a halt under Gorbachev. From 1985 onwards, the age of Politburo members steadily declined.


text: Fifty-nine percent of Politburo members (both candidate and full) were of rural origins, while 41 percent were urban. The first members of the Politburo were predominantly from urban areas. For instance, on the 9th Politburo, two out of eight (Trotsky and Mikhail Kalinin) were born in rural areas. From the 1930s onwards, the majority of Politburo members had a father who worked either as a peasant or as a worker. This is strange, considering that one would assume a rise in representation of the intelligentsia as the Soviet Union became more advanced. From the 1960s onwards the majority of new members had workers' backgrounds, as expected. What is strange, however, is that from 1975 to 1981, a sudden increase of people of peasant background took place. When looking at first profession, the majority of members had worked as workers, but the majority of them had attended higher education later in their life (the majority of them choosing engineering). 43 percent of Politburo members attained higher education credentials during their life, while in a close second place, 32 percent of members earned an education in technical engineering.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating is the process of heating electrically conductive materials, namely metals or semi-conductors, by electromagnetic induction, through heat transfer passing through an induction coil that creates an electromagnetic field within the coil to heat up and possibly melt steel, copper, brass, graphite, gold, silver, aluminum, or carbide. An induction heater consists of an electromagnet and an electronic oscillator that passes a high-frequency alternating current (AC) through the electromagnet. The rapidly alternating magnetic field penetrates the object, generating electric currents inside the conductor called eddy currents. The eddy currents flow through the resistance of the material, and heat it by Joule heating. In ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials, such as iron, heat also is generated by magnetic hysteresis losses. The frequency of the electric current used for induction heating depends on the object size, material type, coupling (between the work coil and the object to be heated), and the penetration depth.


title: Induction heating

text: An important feature of the induction heating process is that the heat is generated inside the object itself, instead of by an external heat source via heat conduction. Thus objects can be heated very rapidly. In addition, there need not be any external contact, which can be important where contamination is an issue. Induction heating is used in many industrial processes, such as heat treatment in metallurgy, Czochralski crystal growth and zone refining used in the semiconductor industry, and to melt refractory metals that require very high temperatures. It is also used in induction cooktops.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating allows the targeted heating of an applicable item for applications including surface hardening, melting, brazing and soldering, and heating to fit. Due to their ferromagnetic nature, iron and its alloys respond best to induction heating. Eddy currents can, however, be generated in any conductor, and magnetic hysteresis can occur in any magnetic material. Induction heating has been used to heat liquid conductors (such as molten metals) and also gaseous conductors (such as a gas plasma—see Induction plasma technology). Induction heating is often used to heat graphite crucibles (containing other materials) and is used extensively in the semiconductor industry for the heating of silicon and other semiconductors. Utility frequency (50/60 Hz) induction heating is used for many lower-cost industrial applications as inverters are not required.


title: Induction heating

text: An induction furnace uses induction to heat metal to its melting point. Once molten, the high-frequency magnetic field can also be used to stir the hot metal, which is useful in ensuring that alloying additions are fully mixed into the melt. Most induction furnaces consist of a tube of water-cooled copper rings surrounding a container of refractory material. Induction furnaces are used in most modern foundries as a cleaner method of melting metals than a reverberatory furnace or a cupola. Sizes range from a kilogram of capacity to a hundred tonnes. Induction furnaces often emit a high-pitched whine or hum when they are running, depending on their operating frequency. Metals melted include iron and steel, copper, aluminium, and precious metals. Because it is a clean and non-contact process, it can be used in a vacuum or inert atmosphere. Vacuum furnaces use induction heating to produce specialty steels and other alloys that would oxidize if heated in the presence of air.


title: Induction heating

text: A similar, smaller-scale process is used for induction welding. Plastics may also be welded by induction, if they are either doped with ferromagnetic ceramics (where magnetic hysteresis of the particles provides the heat required) or by metallic particles.


title: Induction heating

text: Seams of tubes can be welded this way. Currents induced in a tube run along the open seam and heat the edges resulting in a temperature high enough for welding. At this point, the seam edges are forced together and the seam is welded. The RF current can also be conveyed to the tube by brushes, but the result is still the same—the current flows along the open seam, heating it.


title: Induction heating

text: In the Rapid Induction Printing metal additive printing process, a conductive wire feedstock and shielding gas is fed through a coiled nozzle, subjecting the feedstock to induction heating and ejection from the nozzle as a liquid, in order to refuse under shielding to form three-dimensional metal structures. The core benefit of the procedural use of induction heating in this process is significantly greater energy and material efficiency as well as a higher degree of safety when compared with other additive manufacturing methods, such as selective laser sintering, which deliver heat to the material using a powerful laser or electron beam.


title: Induction heating

text: In induction cooking, an induction coil inside the cooktop heats the iron base of cookware by magnetic induction. Using induction cookers produces safety, efficiency (the induction cooktop is not heated itself), and speed. Non-ferrous pans such as copper-bottomed pans and aluminium pans are generally unsuitable. By thermal conduction, the heat-induced in the base is transferred to the food inside.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction brazing is often used in higher production runs. It produces uniform results and is very repeatable. There are many types of industrial equipment where induction brazing is used. For instance, Induction is used for brazing carbide to a shaft.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating is used in "cap sealing" of containers in the food and pharmaceutical industries. A layer of aluminum foil is placed over the bottle or jar opening and heated by induction to fuse it to the container. This provides a tamper-resistant seal since altering the contents requires breaking the foil.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating is often used to heat an item causing it to expand before fitting or assembly. Bearings are routinely heated in this way using utility frequency (50/60 Hz) and a laminated steel transformer-type core passing through the centre of the bearing.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating is often used in the heat treatment of metal items. The most common applications are induction hardening of steel parts, induction soldering/brazing as a means of joining metal components, and induction annealing to selectively soften an area of a steel part.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating can produce high-power densities which allow short interaction times to reach the required temperature. This gives tight control of the heating pattern with the pattern following the applied magnetic field quite closely and allows reduced thermal distortion and damage.


title: Induction heating

text: This ability can be used in hardening to produce parts with varying properties. The most common hardening process is to produce a localised surface hardening of an area that needs wear resistance while retaining the toughness of the original structure as needed elsewhere. The depth of induction hardened patterns can be controlled through the choice of induction frequency, power density, and interaction time.


title: Induction heating

text: Limits to the flexibility of the process arise from the need to produce dedicated inductors for many applications. This is quite expensive and requires the marshalling of high-current densities in small copper inductors, which can require specialized engineering and "copper-fitting."


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating is used in plastic injection molding machines. Induction heating improves energy efficiency for injection and extrusion processes. Heat is directly generated in the barrel of the machine, reducing warm-up time and energy consumption. The induction coil can be placed outside thermal insulation, so it operates at low temperatures and has a long life. The frequency used ranges from 30 kHz down to 5 kHz, decreasing for thicker barrels. The reduction in the cost of inverter equipment has made induction heating increasingly popular. Induction heating can also be applied to molds, offering more even mold temperature and improved product quality.


title: Induction heating

text: Induction heating is used to obtain biochar in the pyrolysis of biomass. Heat is directly generated into shaker reactor walls, enabling the pyrolysis of the biomass with good mixing and temperature control.


title: Induction heating

text: The basic setup is an AC power supply that provides electricity with low voltage but very high current and high frequency. The workpiece to heat is placed inside an air coil driven by the power supply, usually in combination with a resonant tank capacitor to increase the reactive power. The alternating magnetic field induces eddy currents in the workpiece.


title: Induction heating

text: The frequency of the inductive current determines the depth that the induced eddy currents penetrate the workpiece. In the simplest case of a solid round bar, the induced current decreases exponentially from the surface. An "effective" depth of the current-carrying layers can be derived as formula_1, where formula_2 is the depth in centimeters, formula_3 is the resistivity of the workpiece in ohm-centimeters, formula_4 is the dimensionless relative magnetic permeability of the workpiece, and formula_5 is the frequency of the AC field in Hz. The AC field can be calculated using the formula formula_6. The equivalent resistance of the workpiece and thus the efficiency is a function of the workpiece diameter formula_7 over the reference depth formula_2, increasing rapidly up to about formula_9. Since the workpiece diameter is fixed by the application, the value of formula_10 is determined by the reference depth. Decreasing the reference depth requires increasing the frequency. Since the cost of induction power supplies increases with frequency, supplies are often optimized to achieve a critical frequency at which formula_9. If operated below the critical frequency, heating efficiency is reduced because eddy currents from either side of the workpiece impinge upon one another and cancel out. Increasing the frequency beyond the critical frequency creates minimal further improvement in heating efficiency, although it is used in applications that seek to heat treat only the surface of the workpiece.


title: Induction heating

text: Relative depth varies with temperature because resistivities and permeability vary with temperature. For steel, the relative permeability drops to 1 above the Curie temperature. Thus the reference depth can vary with temperature by a factor of 2–3 for nonmagnetic conductors and by as much as 20 for magnetic steels.


title: Induction heating

text: Magnetic materials improve the induction heat process because of hysteresis. Materials with high permeability (100–500) are easier to heat with induction heating. Hysteresis heating occurs below the Curie temperature, where materials retain their magnetic properties. High permeability below the Curie temperature in the workpiece is useful. Temperature difference, mass, and specific heat influence the workpiece heating.


title: Induction heating

text: The energy transfer of induction heating is affected by the distance between the coil and the workpiece. Energy losses occur through heat conduction from workpiece to fixture, natural convection, and thermal radiation.


title: Induction heating

text: The induction coil is usually made of copper tubing and fluid coolant. Diameter, shape, and number of turns influence the efficiency and field pattern.


title: Induction heating

text: The furnace consists of a circular hearth that contains the charge to be melted in the form of a ring. The metal ring is large in diameter and is magnetically interlinked with an electrical winding energized by an AC source. It is essentially a transformer where the charge to be heated forms a single-turn short circuit secondary and is magnetically coupled to the primary by an iron core.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Themyscira () is a fictional unitary sovereign city-state and archipelagic island nation appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Previously known as Paradise Island and the Amazon Isles, it first appeared in "All Star Comics" #8 (December 1941).


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Themyscira is a segregated nation of women governed by "Aphrodite's Law", which declared that the Amazons would be immortal as long as no man sets foot on their island. Men are banned from Themyscira under penalty of death. Themyscira's location is undisclosed; as a security measure, the island can shift its location over both land and time, remains undetectable from the perspective of any outside observer, and as soon as anyone leaves the island, they forget its location.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Themyscira is the theocracy and capital city that serves as the Amazonians' government and place of origin for Wonder Woman. The name for the entire archipelago became "The Paradise Islands", when the city was renamed "Themyscira" with the character's February 1987 relaunch in "Wonder Woman" (vol. 2) #1. Both the island and city are named after the mythological city of Themiscyra, the capital of the Amazons in Greek mythology.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Themiscyra made its cinematic debut in the 2017 films "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League", and appeared in the 2020 sequel "Wonder Woman 1984", set in the DC Extended Universe.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: When Wonder Woman's homeland is first introduced in 1941, it is referred to as Paradise Island, a secret and hidden island on Earth inhabited by the Amazons of myth. The Amazons were given a break from the hostilities and temptations of Man's World, and so were decreed to start a new life-improving themselves by sequestering themselves to this island away from ancient Greece, after being enslaved by Hercules. With the island blessed by the Olympian Gods, no man was allowed to physically set foot on it. When United States Army intelligence officer Steve Trevor's plane crashes there during World War II, he is nursed back to health just outside of the capital city by Princess Diana, daughter of the island's Queen Hippolyta. Diana later competes against other Amazons to become Wonder Woman, the emissary from Paradise Island who will accompany Steve back to "Man's World" and aid in the fight against the Axis powers. It was established that all Amazons are adept at a discipline called "bullets and bracelets" in which they can deflect bullets fired at them using the chain bands on their wrists.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: It was originally implied, but not yet fully confirmed, that Paradise Island was located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Then in the 1970s television incarnation (as portrayed by Lynda Carter), Paradise Island's location was set in the Bermuda Triangle. And the 2009 animated movie version had set it in the Aegean Sea.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Originally, there were three generations of Amazons living on the island, with Princess Diana being from the second.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: This basic back-story remains intact throughout the Golden Age and Silver Age of Comic Books, until the 1985–1986 "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline. Upon the conclusion of this limited series, most characters in the DC Comics universe underwent some revamp or retcon in their storyline history, and Wonder Woman was one of several characters whose entire continuity was rebooted.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: The 1987 relaunch of the "Wonder Woman" series establishes that the Amazons are the reincarnated souls of women slain throughout pre-history by men. Shaped from clay over 3,000 years previous and given new lives by five Olympian goddesses — Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hestia, and Aphrodite — the Amazons are granted immortality, great physical strength, highly acute senses, beauty, wisdom, and love for one another. They are tasked to teach the merits of virtue, love, and equality to the men of "Patriarch’s World". They have founded the city-state of Themyscira in ancient Greece – Modern day Turkey, which is ruled by sisters Hippolyta and Antiope. Ares, the God of War and a chief opponent of the Amazons, manipulates his half brother Heracles to gather forces and attack Themyscira. Heracles subdues and ravages Hippolyta, and his forces succeed in ransacking Themyscira and making the Amazons their slaves. Hippolyta pleads with the goddesses for help. Athena agrees to aid the Amazons, but only if they do not go against their purpose of creation by seeking revenge. When they agree to her terms, Athena frees the Amazons from their chains. Once freed, however, the Amazons proceed to slaughter most of their captors. Antiope leads a force of Amazons off into Greece, seeking vengeance on Heracles. As decreed by the goddesses, Hippolyta leads the remaining Amazons to a remote island where, as penance for their failures as teachers, they become guardians of Doom's Doorway, preventing the escape of the monsters beneath. Renaming the island paradise Themyscira after their fallen capital, the Amazons began their new lives, erecting buildings and monuments and perfecting their skills as artisans and warriors.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: For centuries, the Amazons of Themyscira live in a perfect state of harmony with their surroundings, under a theocracy. They know no racism, although many consider Antiope's Lost Tribe of Amazons as little more than savages. They do not think in terms of male gender; the word "policeman" is alien to them until Diana's departure into the outside world. Homosexuality is completely natural to them — while some Amazons are chaste, others have loving consorts. Their city is composed entirely of Greco-Roman architecture from 1200  BCE, and they wear Greek garb, togas, sandals, and period armor. The Amazons also all wear the Bracelets of Submission as constant reminders of their Enslavement and obedience to their patrons, although only Diana can deflect bullets with them. They are fervently religious, worshipping their gods as living deities. Artemis is their primary goddess, and they worship her with a sacrifice of a deer. The Amazons celebrate their creation each year in a Feast of Five, remembering the goddesses who brought them to life.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Occasionally, the Nereides bring to the shores of Themyscira young infants who would have otherwise drowned in accidents. To which the Amazons of Paradise Island would initiate a process called "send forth", where these infants are tutored spiritually in Amazonian ideals, and they are then sent back mystically to the place of their disappearance scant moments after being lost at sea. Julia Kapatelis, Diana's first friend in Patriarch's World, is one such infant.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Themyscira is presently located in the Bermuda Triangle but possesses the magical ability to teleport to any location or time period its inhabitants desire.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: In recent times, Hippolyta's daughter Diana, also known as Wonder Woman, has become an ambassador to the outside world. With Diana's help, the Amazons have opened the shores of Themyscira to dignitaries of "Patriarch’s World". The creatures beneath Doom's Doorway were defeated, and for a time the Amazons destroyed their battle armor as a testament to a new period of peace. The Amazons opened up their shores to dignitaries from Patriarch's world, female and male, but that exchange was almost destroyed by Eris, Goddess of Discord. The Amazons even conducted their own tour of the United States, where they were framed for the murders of several people by Antiope's descendants, the mercenary assassins of Bana-Mighdall, and Circe. It was during the War of the Gods that the Amazons recrafted their armory, vowing to again become warriors. Circe would transplant many of these mercenary women of Bana-Migdhall, called the "Lost Tribe", to Themyscira, where, after warring with the Amazons already there, the two factions joined forces to stop Circe herself. The two sects of Amazons forged an uneasy truce, living at opposite ends of the island.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Professor Julia Kapatelis, a close friend to Wonder Woman and the Amazons, was later presented with a grant by the National Geographic Society to locate the original Turkish city of Themyscira. Unfortunately Julia had to leave the excavation midway through the project once one of her daughter's friends committed suicide. Whether the original city of Themyscira has been fully excavated or not has not been shown.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Later still, Darkseid’s forces ravaged Themyscira during a search to locate the Greek gods, killing nearly half of the Amazons there in the process. As they began rebuilding, the Amazons found themselves reverting to stone. This was as a result of the gods’ departure from the mortal plane, and the Amazons’ connection to their creator beings so diminished as to revert their bodies to their primordial state. With the gods returned to Olympus, the Amazons were again transformed into their flesh and blood state. Yet more Amazons were killed in a confrontation with the demonic entity known as Neron.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: With Diana and Hippolyta adventuring in Patriarch's World as Wonder Woman for longer and longer periods of time, the Banas and the Themyscirans were manipulated into a bloody civil war at the hands of Magala, who had been possessed by the spirit of Antiope's murderer, Ariadne. Using the pre-existing disdain of the tribes against each other, Magala used allies among both Amazon cities to spark the vengeful conflict. The island was left in ruins, and the war was only stopped when Hippolyta abolished the royal family, renounced her throne.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Left at odds but on even political ground, the Bana Amazons and the Themyscirans joined forces against the alien forces of Imperiex. Themyscira, mystically moved into outer space, was destroyed, and hundreds of Amazons from both tribes died. When Wonder Woman led each tribe of Amazons into an ecumenical prayer, funneling power into the new god Darkseid, the warrior women helped destroy Imperiex and its ally Brainiac 13.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: After the island had been destroyed by Imperiex during the "Our Worlds at War" storyline, Themyscira was rebuilt and relocated, this time to the Bermuda Triangle. Designed by the likes of Julia Kapatelis, the Martian Manhunter, Steve Trevor, Canadian architect Jean Claude Tibet, and Amazon master designer Kaleeza Fashed, the new Themyscira was built with the help of alien technology. Adding to the re-creation of the islands, Themyscira was restored by the combined might of the Greek and Egyptian goddesses the Amazons worship. Transformed into a mighty series of floating islands dedicated to the free exchange of information and ideas, the new Themyscira was governed by members of both tribes of Amazons. After some time Themyscira was nearly destroyed in a jealous fit of rage by the goddess Hera. She was angry that Zeus was magically spying on the bathing form of Artemis via scrying the pool and kicked the pool itself. Because of her actions the islands ceased to float in mid-air under their own power and instead resumed being a cluster of traditional islands once more.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Recently, Themyscira was under attack by OMAC forces, as described in DC Comics's "Infinite Crisis". Due to this attack, as well as the many various other attacks the island has suffered through since Diana became Wonder Woman, it was decided that the Olympian and Bana-Mighdallian goddesses would transport the island and its inhabitants (sans Diana) to an undisclosed location to live in peace.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Under the direction of the writer Will Pfeifer, the Amazons attack Washington D.C. as retaliation for the attack on the island in a six-part mini-series titled "Amazons Attack". At the end of the series, the Amazons have their memories erased by Granny Goodness (posing as the goddess Athena) and are scattered throughout the world with false personas. Only Hippolyta and four of her original Royal Guard remain on Themyscira. The Queen is exiled to near-empty Themyscira (which had seemingly been sunk and restored during the battle) for her crimes of attacking Man's World, though her actions had been influenced by the evil Circe.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Later, Zeus then revives the Amazons' memories and provides transport for them to return to Themyscira.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: During the "" storyline, Themyscira was transformed into the new Hell where Wonder Woman became its warden who guarded the prisoners there. Gemworld became part of the transformed Themyscira.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: When the Wonder Woman comic book was first introduced, Paradise Island possessed horses, and creatures called Kangas – reminiscent of the island country Australia's kangaroos – that the Amazons both rode like mounts; the Kangas were probably a breed of kangaroos which were introduced into the island from Australia via coastal migration, which the Amazons bred them and where they originated from. Diana's Kanga was named Jumpa. There were also smaller rabbit-like creatures wandering Paradise Island.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: When the "Wonder Woman" comic book was revamped and started anew in the mid-1980s this was scrapped and the island only had common game animals such as antelopes, deer, wild boar, bears, lions, and fish, pets such as birds, cats, foxes, dogs, and monkeys, and livestock animals such as horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, water buffalo, sheep such as the European mouflon, goats such as the Kri-kri, and pigs (domesticated descendants of wild boar). The only exotic/mythological creatures on the island were more sinister in nature and existed in Doom's Doorway to the underworld, which the Amazons swore to keep trapped and never to escape. In the waters surrounding Themyscira also lived Naiads and in the forests Dryads who played most of their days away, occasionally with the Amazons.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: In 1999 when writer Eric Luke took over the Wonder Woman comic book, he had several lost mythical creatures from around the globe take asylum on Themyscira. These creatures consisted of: Chiron the centaur, a white pegasus, Ladon the dragon, a chimera, and a sphinx.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Then when writer Phil Jimenez wrote the title in the early 2000s, he had several dinosaurs from the land of Skartaris also take refuge on Themyscira in addition to the reappearance of Kangas on the island. To date, no Kangas has been seen as riding animals.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Writer Greg Rucka reintroduced a second Pegasus to serve as Wonder Woman's riding companion, this one black with red eyes. It is assumed he still lives on Themyscira.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: In 2003, a flashback story by Matt Wagner called "" has the island defended by sapient giant birds. They perish in the defense of the Amazons.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: The 2007 storyline "Amazons Attack!" depicted the Amazons as having creatures such as giant Stygen wasps and some domesticated winged horses, large amounts of saddled Chimeras, and three titan-sized ogres.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: Then in 2007/2008, the "Countdown to Final Crisis" storyline introduced the then-new revelation that the island is protected by a school of megalodons.


title: Themyscira (DC Comics)

text: When writer Gail Simone took over the title, she showed that Hippolyta cared for griffins in the royal stables. She also introduced the island of Thalarion, the home of Gargareans during the "Rise of the Olympian" storyline. The Gargareans possessed herds of winged horses similar to Themyscira but also possessed flocks of winged lions as well. Their leader Achilles also has a domesticated war elephant named Mysia who has two trunks, two mouths, three glowing eyes, an impenetrable hide, and the ability to walk on air. As the Gargareans incorporated themselves among the Amazons of Themyscira, it is safe to assume these creatures also reside there.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: The Atom (Raymond "Ray" Palmer) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by editor and co-plotter Julius Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox and penciler Gil Kane. The Atom was one of the first superheroes of the Silver Age of Comic Books and debuted in "Showcase" #34 (October 1961).


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: The Atom has been played in various TV series by Alfie Wise and John Kassir. He was played by Brandon Routh in "Legends of Tomorrow" in the shared DC Arrowverse on The CW. His character first appeared in the third season of "Arrow".


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: The Atom debuted in "Showcase" #34 (cover-dated Oct. 1961) from the DC Comics precursor, National Comics. Early comics-fandom pioneer Jerry Bails wrote to the National Comics editor Julius Schwartz in December 1960 outlining an updated version of Al Pratt, the company's 1940s Golden Age Atom. Bails and future Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas collaborated on a suggested version that incorporated elements of a Golden Age hero, Quality Comics' Doll Man. Eventual Atom writer Gardner Fox wrote Bails on January 1, 1961, stating that Schwartz passed along Bails' letter to him.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Schwartz wrote Bails on January 6 saying he had already been planning a new version of the Atom, in the vein of National's reimagined Golden Age superheroes the Flash and Green Lantern, and had already asked artist Gil Kane to sketch designs. Kane, unaware of Bails' suggestions, said he did "a series of drawings" on large illustration boards, including a depiction of the new Atom riding a German shepherd dog and another of a pistol firing at the Atom, who wore the costume he eventually would in his comic debut but without a belt. Kane, who lived in Jericho, New York, on Long Island, at the time, drove to the nearby Hicksville home of DC production person Tom Nicolosi, who colored the drawings using St. Martin's dyes. Schwartz, after seeing the drawings, had the belt added, a detail Kane said he disliked since "it broke up the costume lines." Schwartz said he had not wanted to reuse the Golden Age Atom, Al Pratt, and had read about dwarf stars and thought a fragment of one could power the new hero's miniaturization. He added that he and Fox together plotted the early stories of this new Silver Age Atom. Fox said in 1979, "I doubt that any feedback from Bails or Thomas had very much of an influence, though always kept their ideas in the back of our minds."


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Raymond "Ray" Palmer, is a physicist and professor at Ivy University in the fictional city of Ivy Town, somewhere in New England, specializing in matter compression as a means to fight overpopulation, famine and other world problems. Using a mass of white dwarf star matter he finds after it lands on Earth, Palmer fashions a lens that enables him to shrink any object to any degree he wishes. Compression destabilizes an object's molecular structure, however, causing it to explode.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: During a spelunking expedition, Palmer and his students, along with his girlfriend, lawyer Jean Loring, find themselves trapped in a cave. In desperation, Palmer secretly uses the lens he has carried with him to shrink himself to be able to climb through a small opening in the fallen rocks sealing the cave, knowing he will likely explode. Using a diamond engagement ring, Palmer enlarges the hole sufficiently and descends to the floor to try to alert the others of the escape route before dying. However, upon entering the lens' beam, he finds himself returned to normal size and without danger of exploding. As the lens is covered with cave moisture, Palmer believes this has altered the beam to allow this strange effect. When subsequent experiments still result in objects exploding, Palmer concludes some unknown force in his own body allows him to safely size-shift. He decides to use this effect to become a superhero. A retcon in "Brightest Day: The Atom Special" (July 2010) removes the influence of his exotic physical makeup, tying his survival instead to the discovery of a "compression matrix," a fabric able to spread the effects of the ray on the entire body, stabilizing it. The prototype matrix later became his costume.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Palmer creates a belt tool to control his miniaturization to subatomic size with an emergency backup mechanism in his gloves, and develops a costume that he can wear at most times that only becomes visible when he shrinks significantly. In addition, he develops equipment that allows him to decrease his weight in addition to his size, allowing him to glide on air currents on a low setting, while a high setting allows him to handle or strike objects with the equivalent strength of his normal size and build. A favorite travel method is to call some location on the telephone and when the phone is answered, Palmer can shrink enough to travel through the phone lines in seconds to emerge out the answering phone.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: He carries out the bulk of his early superheroic adventures in Ivy Town, where he often helps his girlfriend, Jean Loring, win her cases. Much later, he gains the innate equivalent powers within his own body.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Palmer has fought against several alien and supernatural threats, as well as having his own rogues gallery: his arch enemy is Chronos the Time Bandit, the menace of the Bug-Eyed Bandit, the dangerous eco-terrorist Floronic Man, and the miniature misguided Bat-Knights of Elvaran. He also had several time travel adventures by means of Professor Alpheus V. Hyatt's Time Pool. The Atom is a member of several incarnations of the Justice League, and the team is gracious enough to supply a special chair scaled to his default size which can elevate to whatever height needed so he can easily partake in team meetings without having to go out of costume. There, he meets Hawkman (Katar Hol pre-"Hawkworld", Carter Hall post-"Hawkworld"), one of his closest friends in the superhero community. Neither character achieved major popularity, and even in their heyday were mostly supporting characters, often with Palmer as a specialist in size alteration who was often needed to access extremely confined areas only he could access. Hawkman would manufacture prosthetic wings for a myna Ray saved, taking on the name Major Mynah and became the Atom's partner and steed.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: The Atom had one short-lived miniseries and three subsequent specials, all titled "Sword of the Atom", in which Palmer abandons civilization after divorcing his wife Jean, who had an affair with fellow lawyer Paul Hoben, and becomes the hero of a tribe of six-inch (152 mm) -tall yellow-skinned humanoid aliens called Morlaidhans in the jungles of South America. He also becomes consort to their princess, Laethwyn. Palmer bequeathes his size-changing belt and role as Ivy Town's protector to Jean's new husband, Hoben. During this time, Palmer's friend Norman Brawler pens the book "The Atom's Farewell", in which he reveals Palmer's identity as the Atom.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Eventually the colony is destroyed, despite Palmer's attempt to save it, by a group associated with the US Government acting as loggers. Palmer is forced to escape via the telephone to North America. In the attempt, he fails to anticipate that the connection will involve satellite relay and the unexpectedly arduous trip causes him to remain at approximately three feet high and without his costume's size changing equipment.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: With the help of a friend, Ray creates a new costume from the material of the white dwarf star. This time, instead of a belt, Palmer uses an encephalotronic grid in the costume's headpiece to control the costume. The grid is keyed to his unique brainwaves. This enables him to transfer his mass into an unknown dimension which allows him to alter his size and weight just by thinking about it. He can even make the new costume appear or disappear with a thought by shifting most of its atoms to or from the other dimension. This allows him to be in costume while at full height or to shrink without having to have his costume appear. He can even increase his weight while remaining six inches (152 mm) tall or reduce his weight while remaining at full size. Ray often does this and is then light enough to ride wind currents, where he actually appears to be flying to a limited degree. Palmer also develops a mental link with the white dwarf matter to which he has been regularly exposed. Most of the mass lies within another dimension. Ray can draw upon that mass and hit with a super-concussive force. He has been shown to punch through concrete walls, crush an exam table and break the axle of a car that is moving at high speed.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Palmer would learn of those behind the genocide of the Morlaidhans, namely five CIA operatives, part of a group called the Cabal. In a mission called Operation: Fireball, the tiny aliens were murdered in hopes Ray would return as the Atom and become a tool for the Cabal (as Ray worked for the CIA in his earlier years). Instead, Palmer shrank the five agents to six-inch height and the CIA would employ them as a group called Micro/Squad. The Atom would take on new enemies during this period, such as Humbug, a sentient robot in control of an army of duplicates of itself, and Strobe, a technological armor-clad crook. Micro/Squad would also return, attempting to murder Palmer for what he did to them. Instead, teammate Ginsburg dies in the explosion they set and Ray approaches Adam Cray about becoming the new Atom to bring the remaining Micro/Squad into the open. Cray agrees, steals Paul Hoben's size-changing belt, and joins the Suicide Squad. The plan works as the villains emerge and Palmer takes the place of operative Sting; but their leader, Blacksnake, kills Cray and takes the belt for himself, returning to normal height. Blacksnake murders the remaining members of his crew as Ray arrives, revealing himself, posing as Sting, and battles him. After Blacksnake is defeated, the Cabal employs Task Force X II to murder him to protect their secrets.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Later, during the events of "Zero Hour", Palmer is rejuvenated to a teenage state and develops the ability to grow in height in addition to his previous abilities, all of which he was capable of controlling innately without using his white dwarf star-based equipment. He becomes field leader of a new group of Teen Titans, composed of hybrids of human beings and the H'San Natall, after a chance meeting with Isaiah Crockett on his first day attending Ivy University. As a former member of the Justice League, Palmer viewed his affiliation with the Teen Titans as a step backward. The group primarily battled the Veil, an anti-alien organization that employed Deathstroke and Dark Nemesis, but it's revealed that their leader Pylon was actually a H'San Natall. They would also face Jugular (hired by the H'San Natall) and Loren Jupiter's son Jarrod, aka Haze. The Atom's new growth powers were instrumental in the battle against Sekhmet of the Millennium Giants. Ray subsequently regains his original age and memories and loses his new powers after he begins to rapidly age and Waverider has to use DNA taken prior to his rejuvenation to restore him to his original state. Palmer returns to his teaching job at Ivy University, but also becomes an associate and alternate member of the JLA. With his exit from the Teen Titans, the group disbands. One notable student under Palmer was Ronnie Raymond, who, without the knowledge of elements of Martin Stein, found difficulty in fully employing his abilities as Firestorm.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: In the 2004-05 limited series "Identity Crisis", Jean Loring kills Sue Dibny, the wife of the Elongated Man. After stealing some of the Atom's shrinking technology and his costume, she kills Sue in a misguided attempt to win Palmer back. She also arranges a hit on Tim Drake's father which is carried out by Captain Boomerang (Digger Harkness). The intent is for Jack Drake to kill some random attacker, but both manage to kill each other. After committing her to Arkham Asylum, Palmer shrinks himself to microscopic size and disappears.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Palmer eventually meets up with his old friend Carter Hall after microscopically traveling through phone lines. He warns Hall of the consequences of mindwiping Batman and of harassing criminals over a crime that is perpetrated by Jean, one of their own. Palmer explains he needs time away, and shrinks himself again after Hall agrees to keep the meeting secret.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: His legacy lived on, however. Ryan Choi, a student of physics in Hong Kong who corresponded with Ray Palmer via mail in the past, found a copy of his costume and shrinking device to become the current Atom. Around this same time, an unnamed teenager with powers similar to Palmer joins the Teen Titans under the name Molecule. After a brief tenure with the team, he is later killed during a confrontation with the Terror Titans.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: During the missing year, Palmer's technology is employed by Supernova to shrink and grow in size to enter and exit the bottle city of Kandor.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: DC Comics would not reveal Palmer's whereabouts since his disappearance at the end of "Identity Crisis". However, Palmer returned to play a very important role in the "Countdown" limited series. A Monitor asks the Source Wall what is the solution to "the great disaster," it answers "Ray Palmer". Subsequently, Kyle Rayner, Donna Troy and Jason Todd scour the Multiverse for the former Atom, who just might hold the key to saving reality from a crisis of unparalleled proportions."


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: In their travels, the quartet has found people marked with the Atom's familiar symbol. The group tracks Palmer to Earth-51, where he assumes the life of its native Palmer after his life is cut short during his studies of the Multiverse and discovery of the looming Crisis. Meeting the Jean of Earth-51 and the Justice League again for the first time, Palmer is found on a world where the heroes have been able to eradicate supercrime and create a utopian Earth (later revealed to have been the result of this reality's Batman murdering all of this world's super-criminals after the Joker killed Jason Todd). However, once Kyle, Donna, Jason and Bob the Monitor are able to track him down, Bob attempts to kill Palmer; with the Challengers' help, Palmer escapes and reveals to the Challengers that it was the Ray Palmer of Earth-51 who was meant to stop the Great Disaster and that he had been trying to carry on his work, to no avail.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: When the Challengers return to their own Earth, Jimmy Olsen is kidnapped by Mary Marvel, who has been corrupted by Darkseid. Palmer hitches a ride from within Jimmy. When Darkseid takes control of Jimmy's powers, Palmer locates and shuts down the control sphere inside Jimmy's brain, but is then swarmed by Apokoliptian antibodies. While escaping this onslaught, Palmer discovers the "battery" containing the New God spirit energies. Palmer removes it from Jimmy's head and shatters it, releasing the energies.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Palmer later (after much cajoling) joins Donna, Kyle, and Forager in their new mission as border guards to the Multiverse, realizing that there is nothing left for him on Earth anymore. However, Palmer returns home to New Earth one more time, upon realizing that his old nemesis Chronos had taken his identity to mislead a young pretender to his identity, Ryan Choi. After helping his successor to once again save Ivy Town, he returns to the Multiverse with a new sense of fulfillment, leaving his town in the hands of a new, capable hero.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: During the "Final Crisis", Palmer returns to New Earth and works with Choi again to aid in the efforts to evacuate the last free humans.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: In the "" mini-series, it has been confirmed that Palmer will become a member of Hal Jordan's new Justice League.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: On the night of the superhero's memorial day, Palmer asks Hawkman to visit Jean's grave to be honored as a fallen member of the community, but Hawkman refuses because of what she did in "Identity Crisis". Palmer is later shown speaking to Hawkman again, over the phone (unaware that his friend has been killed and reanimated as a Black Lantern). Atom is then invited to visit undead Hawkman to discuss his heartache over his wife. Palmer is later revealed to have shrunk into Hawkman's ring, escaping certain death. Joining the battle between Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, and the Black Lanterns, Palmer is set upon by Black Lanterns Ralph and Sue Dibny, who use his guilt over Jean's actions to try to feed on his compassion-filled heart. Palmer is saved from death by the Indigo Tribe, who combine their light with Hal's to destroy the Dibnys and their rings. During the crisis, Palmer was able to deduce with the heroes that the black rings are simulations taking the identities of the deceased and needing to feed. The Indigo Tribe take the heroes to the Hall of Justice, unceremoniously taking Hal Jordan and abandoning the rest when the Black Lanterns renew their attack.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Palmer helps the heroes escape via a phone line, and then brings them to the JSA, who were also being attacked by Black Lanterns. During the crisis, Palmer meets Damage, son of Al Pratt, the first hero to be called Atom. The two heroes briefly acquainted during the battle, and begin to develop a friendship. Palmer stopped the Black Lantern Al Pratt from killing Damage, but was unable to keep the reanimated Jean from finishing the job. Palmer made a futile attempt to stop one of the black rings from turning Damage's corpse into an undead before Jean used his own technology to shrink him, Mera, and herself into the fully transformed Damage's ring. As Palmer and Mera battle Jean inside the black ring, Jean reveals Nekron's plan along showing what is happening at Coast City, as deceased residents and revived heroes arise as Black Lanterns under the demon lord's commands. Deadman witnesses their battle and plans to rescue Palmer and Mera from Jean. Deadman saves Palmer and Mera by briefly possessing Jean, allowing them to escape and join the heroes against Nekron and his army. During the battle, Palmer is chosen as a deputy officer of the Indigo Tribe to be more effective against Nekron's forces. Although the Indigo Tribe eschews formal uniforms for tribal patterns over simple garments, Ray Palmer's costume is turned into a close approximation of the tattered "Sword of the Atom" clothings he had used in the past.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: Palmer's past is rehashed, showing that he never quite got over Jean, even during the days of "Sword of the Atom". Indigo-1 claims that she can teleport the armies of each Lantern Corps onto Earth, if given time to meditate. The responsibility falls to Palmer to protect her while she does so. Before she enters her trance, she reveals to Palmer that the indigo staff and his overwhelming compassion allows him to mimic the other powers of the Lantern Corps; she demonstrates this by temporarily becoming a Red Lantern and vomiting corrosive blood all over an attacking company of Black Lanterns. She then enters her trance, while Palmer fights off Black Lanterns Hawkman and Hawkgirl by temporarily becoming an Orange Lantern, loudly proclaiming "I want my friends back!" He then summons two orange energy duplicates of Khufu and Chay-Ara to help him fight off his and Indigo-1's attackers. He is briefly successful. But then Jean shows up to torment him, and she leaps into Indigo-1's ring. Palmer follows her. He ends up reliving Sue Dibny's death, and is then attacked by various Black Lantern Morlaidhans, the minuscule race he befriended during "Sword of the Atom". He fights them off and, summoning the powers of a Green Lantern, destroys Jean. Indigo-1 manages to summon the various armies and thanks Palmer for his help. He tells her to keep his involvement in the deployment of the troops a secret, and asks that she help him find a way to legitimately resurrect Hawkman and Hawkgirl.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: In the final battle, Palmer gets his wish when Hawkman and Hawkgirl are brought back to life by power of white light at the end of the "Blackest Night" series. Ray's involvement of secret resurrect remains unknown.


title: Atom (Ray Palmer)

text: In July 2010 Ray Palmer had a "Brightest Day" one-shot that led to a co-feature in "Adventure Comics". Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Mahmud Asrar, the co-feature focused on Ray Palmer's early life. For a brief three-issue tenure, Palmer was part of writer James Robinson's new Justice League line-up, but resigned to help his friend Martin Stein with some sort of project. At the start of the "Brightest Day" event, Ray and Stein are seen at the funeral of Gehenna, the girlfriend and partner of the second Firestorm, Jason Rusch. When Jason gets into a confrontation with Ronnie Raymond over Gehenna's death, Ray steps in and tries to stop it. Ray manages to separate Jason and Ronnie from Black Lantern constructs.