title: Electronic voting

text: Electronic voting systems may use "electronic ballot" to store votes in computer memory. Systems which use them exclusively are called DRE voting systems. When electronic ballots are used there is no risk of exhausting the supply of ballots. Additionally, these electronic ballots remove the need for printing of paper ballots, a significant cost. When administering elections in which ballots are offered in multiple languages (in some areas of the United States, public elections are required by the National Voting Rights Act of 1965), electronic ballots can be programmed to provide ballots in multiple languages for a single machine. The advantage with respect to ballots in different languages appears to be unique to electronic voting. For example, King County, Washington's demographics require them under U.S. federal election law to provide ballot access in Chinese. With any type of paper ballot, the county has to decide how many Chinese-language ballots to print, how many to make available at each polling place, etc. Any strategy that can assure that Chinese-language ballots will be available at all polling places is certain, at the very least, to result in a significant number of wasted ballots. (The situation with lever machines would be even worse than with paper: the only apparent way to reliably meet the need would be to set up a Chinese-language lever machine at each polling place, few of which would be used at all.)


title: Electronic voting

text: Critics argue the need for extra ballots in any language can be mitigated by providing a process to print ballots at voting locations. They argue further, the cost of software validation, compiler trust validation, installation validation, delivery validation and validation of other steps related to electronic voting is complex and expensive, thus electronic ballots are not guaranteed to be less costly than printed ballots.


title: Electronic voting

text: Electronic voting machines can be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities. Punched card and optical scan machines are not fully accessible for the blind or visually impaired, and lever machines can be difficult for voters with limited mobility and strength. Electronic machines can use headphones, sip and puff, foot pedals, joy sticks and other adaptive technology to provide the necessary accessibility.


title: Electronic voting

text: Organizations such as the Verified Voting Foundation have criticized the accessibility of electronic voting machines and advocate alternatives. Some disabled voters (including the visually impaired) could use a tactile ballot, a ballot system using physical markers to indicate where a mark should be made, to vote a secret paper ballot. These ballots can be designed identically to those used by other voters. However, other disabled voters (including voters with dexterity disabilities) could be unable to use these ballots.


title: Electronic voting

text: The concept of election verifiability through cryptographic solutions has emerged in the academic literature to introduce transparency and trust in electronic voting systems. It allows voters and election observers to verify that votes have been recorded, tallied and declared correctly, in a manner independent from the hardware and software running the election. Three aspects of verifiability are considered: individual, universal, and eligibility. Individual verifiability allows a voter to check that her own vote is included in the election outcome, universal verifiability allows voters or election observers to check that the election outcome corresponds to the votes cast, and eligibility verifiability allows voters and observers to check that each vote in the election outcome was cast by a uniquely registered voter.


title: Electronic voting

text: Electronic voting machines are able to provide immediate feedback to the voter detecting such possible problems as undervoting and overvoting which may result in a spoiled ballot. This immediate feedback can be helpful in successfully determining voter intent.


title: Electronic voting

text: It has been alleged by groups such as the UK-based Open Rights Group that a lack of testing, inadequate audit procedures, and insufficient attention given to system or process design with electronic voting leaves "elections open to error and fraud".


title: Electronic voting

text: In 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany found that when using voting machines the "verification of the result must be possible by the citizen reliably and without any specialist knowledge of the subject." The DRE Nedap-computers used till then did not fulfill that requirement. The decision did not ban electronic voting as such, but requires all essential steps in elections to be subject to public examinability.


title: Electronic voting

text: In 2013, The California Association of Voting Officials was formed to maintain efforts toward publicly owned General Public License open source voting systems


title: Electronic voting

text: In 2013, researchers from Europe proposed that the electronic voting systems should be coercion evident. There should be a public evidence of the amount of coercion that took place in a particular elections. An internet voting system called "Caveat Coercitor" shows how coercion evidence in voting systems can be achieved.


title: Electronic voting

text: A fundamental challenge with any voting machine is to produce evidence that the votes were recorded as cast and tabulated as recorded. Election results produced by voting systems that rely on voter-marked paper ballots can be verified with manual hand counts (either valid sampling or full recounts). Paperless ballot voting systems must support auditability in different ways. An independently auditable system, sometimes called an Independent Verification, can be used in recounts or audits. These systems can include the ability for voters to verify how their votes were cast or enable officials to verify that votes were tabulated correctly.


title: Electronic voting

text: A discussion draft argued by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) states, "Simply put, the DRE architecture’s inability to provide for independent audits of its electronic records makes it a poor choice for an environment in which detecting errors and fraud is important." The report does not represent the official position of NIST, and misinterpretations of the report has led NIST to explain that "Some statements in the report have been misinterpreted. The draft report includes statements from election officials, voting system vendors, computer scientists and other experts in the field about what is potentially possible in terms of attacks on DREs. However, these statements are not report conclusions."


title: Electronic voting

text: Various technologies can be used to assure DRE voters that their votes were cast correctly, and allow officials to detect possible fraud or malfunction, and to provide a means to audit the tabulated results. Some systems include technologies such as cryptography (visual or mathematical), paper (kept by the voter or verified and left with election officials), audio verification, and dual recording or witness systems (other than with paper).


title: Electronic voting

text: Dr. Rebecca Mercuri, the creator of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) concept (as described in her Ph.D. dissertation in October 2000 on the basic voter verifiable ballot system), proposes to answer the auditability question by having the voting machine print a paper ballot or other paper facsimile that can be visually verified by the voter before being entered into a secure location. Subsequently, this is sometimes referred to as the "Mercuri method." To be truly "voter"-verified, the record itself must be verified by the voter and able to be done without assistance, such as visually or audibly. If the voter must use a bar-code scanner or other electronic device to verify, then the record is not truly voter-verifiable, since it is actually the electronic device that is verifying the record for the voter. VVPAT is the form of Independent Verification most commonly found in elections in the United States and other countries such as Venezuela.


title: Electronic voting

text: End-to-end auditable voting systems can provide the voter with a receipt that can be taken home. This receipt does not allow voters to prove to others how they voted, but it does allow them to verify that the system detected their vote correctly. End-to-end (E2E) systems include Punchscan, ThreeBallot and Prêt à Voter. Scantegrity is an add-on that extends current optical scan voting systems with an E2E layer. The city of Takoma Park, Maryland used Scantegrity II for its November, 2009 election.


title: Electronic voting

text: Systems that allow the voter to prove how they voted are never used in U.S. public elections, and are outlawed by most state constitutions. The primary concerns with this solution are voter intimidation and vote selling.


title: Electronic voting

text: An audit system can be used in measured random recounts to detect possible malfunction or fraud. With the VVPAT method, the paper ballot is often treated as the official ballot of record. In this scenario, the ballot is primary and the electronic records are used only for an initial count. In any subsequent recounts or challenges, the paper, not the electronic ballot, would be used for tabulation. Whenever a paper record serves as the legal ballot, that system will be subject to the same benefits and concerns as any paper ballot system.


title: Electronic voting

text: The solution was first demonstrated (New York City, March 2001) and used (Sacramento, California 2002) by AVANTE International Technology, Inc.. In 2004 Nevada was the first state to successfully implement a DRE voting system that printed an electronic record. The $9.3 million voting system provided by Sequoia Voting Systems included more than 2,600 AVC EDGE touchscreen DREs equipped with the VeriVote VVPAT component.


title: Electronic voting

text: Inadequately secured hardware can be subject to physical tampering. Some critics, such as the group "Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet" ("We do not trust voting machines"), charge that, for instance, foreign hardware could be inserted into the machine, or between the user and the central mechanism of the machine itself, using a man in the middle attack technique, and thus even sealing DRE machines may not be sufficient protection. This claim is countered by the position that review and testing procedures can detect fraudulent code or hardware, if such things are present, and that a thorough, verifiable chain of custody would prevent the insertion of such hardware or software. Security seals are commonly employed in an attempt to detect tampering, but testing by Argonne National Laboratory and others demonstrates that existing seals can usually be quickly defeated by a trained person using low-tech methods.


title: Electronic voting

text: Security experts, such as Bruce Schneier, have demanded that voting machine source code should be publicly available for inspection. Others have also suggested publishing voting machine software under a free software license as is done in Australia.


title: Electronic voting

text: One method to detect errors with voting machines is parallel testing, which are conducted on the Election Day with randomly picked machines. The ACM published a study showing that, to change the outcome of the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, only 2 votes in each precinct would have needed to be changed.


title: Electronic voting

text: Cost of having electronic machines receive the voter's choices, print a ballot and scan the ballots to tally results is higher than the cost of printing blank ballots, having voters mark them directly (with machine-marking only when voters want it) and scanning ballots to tally results, according to studies in Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania.


title: Electronic voting

text: In the 2006 film "Man of the Year" starring Robin Williams, the character played by Williams—a comedic host of political talk show—wins the election for President of the United States when a software error in the electronic voting machines produced by the fictional manufacturer Delacroy causes votes to be tallied inaccurately.


title: Electronic voting

text: In "Runoff", a 2007 novel by Mark Coggins, a surprising showing by the Green Party candidate in a San Francisco Mayoral election forces a runoff between him and the highly favored establishment candidate—a plot line that closely parallels the actual results of the 2003 election. When the private-eye protagonist of the book investigates at the behest of a powerful Chinatown businesswoman, he determines that the outcome was rigged by someone who defeated the security on the city's newly installed e-voting system.


title: Electronic voting

text: "Hacking Democracy" is a 2006 documentary film shown on HBO. Filmed over three years, it documents American citizens investigating anomalies and irregularities with electronic voting systems that occurred during America's 2000 and 2004 elections, especially in Volusia County, Florida. The film investigates the flawed integrity of electronic voting machines, particularly those made by Diebold Election Systems and culminates in the hacking of a Diebold election system in Leon County, Florida.


title: Electronic voting

text: The central conflict in the MMO video game Infantry resulted from the global institution of direct democracy through the use of personal voting devices sometime in the 22nd century AD. The practice gave rise to a 'voting class' of citizens composed mostly of homemakers and retirees who tended to be at home all day. Because they had the most free time to participate in voting, their opinions ultimately came to dominate politics.


title: Häxan

text: Häxan (, "The Witch"; Danish: Heksen; English: The Witches; released in the US in 1968 as Witchcraft Through the Ages) is a 1922 silent horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. Consisting partly of documentary-style storytelling as well as dramatized narrative sequences, the film charts the historical roots and superstitions surrounding witchcraft, beginning in the Middle Ages through the 20th century. Based partly on Christensen's own study of the "Malleus Maleficarum", a 15th-century German guide for inquisitors, "Häxan" proposes that such witch hunts may have stemmed from misunderstandings of mental or neurological disorders, triggering mass hysteria.


title: Häxan

text: "Häxan" is a Swedish film produced by AB Svensk Filmindustri, but shot in Denmark in 1920–1921. With Christensen's meticulous recreation of medieval scenes and its lengthy production period, the film was the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made at the time, costing nearly two million Swedish kronor. Although it received some positive reception in Denmark and Sweden, censors in countries such as Germany, France, and the United States objected to what were considered at that time graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion, as well as anti-clericalism.


title: Häxan

text: In 1968, Metro Pictures Corporation re-edited and re-released "Häxan" in the US under the title "Witchcraft Through the Ages". This version includes an English-language narration by William S. Burroughs. The original Swedish-language version of "Häxan" has undergone three restorations by the Swedish Film Institute, carried out in 1976, 2007 and 2016. Since its initial release, "Häxan" has received praise for its combination of documentary-style and narrative storytelling, as well as its visual imagery, and has been called Christensen's masterpiece.


title: Häxan

text: A scholarly dissertation on the appearances of demons and witches in primitive and medieval culture, the first segment of the film uses a number of photographs of statuary, paintings, and woodcuts as demonstrative pieces. In addition, several large scale models are employed to demonstrate medieval concepts of the structure of the Solar System and the commonly accepted depiction of Hell.


title: Häxan

text: The second segment of the film is a series of vignettes that theatrically demonstrate medieval superstition and beliefs concerning witchcraft, including Satan tempting a sleeping woman away from her husband's bed before terrorizing a group of monks. Also shown is a woman purchasing a love potion from a supposed witch named Karna in order to seduce a monk, and a supposed witch named Apelone dreaming of waking up in a castle, where Satan presents her with coins that she is unable to hold on to and festivities that she is unable to participate in.


title: Häxan

text: Set in the Middle Ages, this narrative is used to demonstrate the treatment of suspected witches by the religious authorities of the time. A printer named Jesper dies in bed, and his family consequently accuses an old woman, Maria the weaver, of causing his death through witchcraft. Jesper's wife Anna visits the residence of traveling Inquisition judges, grasping one of their arms in desperation and asking that they try Maria for witchcraft.


title: Häxan

text: Maria is arrested, and after being tortured by inquisitors, admits to involvement in witchcraft. She describes giving birth to children fathered by Satan, being smeared with witch ointment, and attending a Witches' Sabbath, where she claims witches and sorcerers desecrated a cross, feasted with demons, and kissed Satan's buttocks. She "names" other supposed witches, including two of the women in Jesper's household. Eventually, Anna is arrested as a witch when the inquisitor whose arm she grabbed accuses her of bewitching him. She is tricked into what is perceived as a confession, and is sentenced to be burned at the stake. Intertitles claim that over eight million women, men and children were burned as witches.


title: Häxan

text: The final segments of the film seek to demonstrate how the superstitions of old have become better understood. Christensen offers the threat of medieval torture methods as an explanation for why many supposed heretics confessed to being involved in witchcraft. Though he does not deny the existence of the Devil, Christensen claims that those accused of witchcraft may have been suffering from what are recognized in modern times as mental or neurological disorders. A nun named Sister Cecilia is depicted as being coerced by Satan into desecrating a consecrated host and stealing a statue of the baby Jesus. Her actions are then contrasted with vignettes about a somnambulist, a pyromaniac, and a kleptomaniac. It is suggested that such behaviors would have been thought of as demonically-influenced in medieval times, whereas modern societies recognize them as psychological ailments (referred to in the film as hysteria).


title: Häxan

text: Writer Chris Fujiwara notes the way in which the film "places together, on the same level of cinematic depiction, fact and fiction, objective reality and hallucination." He writes that "The realism with which the fantasy scenes are staged and acted hardly differs from the style of the workshop ones, which we have had no reason not to accept as taking place within reality", and that, as such, the audience is lead "into a space where the irrational is always ready to intrude, in lurid forms."


title: Häxan

text: Fujiwara highlights a moment in the film in which Christensen claims that actress Maren Pedersen, between takes, "raised her tired face to me and said: 'The devil is real. I have seen him sitting by my bedside. Fujiwara writes: "No doubt Christensen was conscious of the analogy between the character's confession to the inquisitors and the actor's confession to him, between their torture implements and his camera. By likening his own activity as a director to the deeds of the inquisitors, Christensen puts himself near the head of a self-critical tradition in cinema that would later include Jean-Luc Godard and Abbas Kiarostami."


title: Häxan

text: Academic Chloé Germaine Buckley referred to "Häxan"s examination of witchcraft as "quasi-feminist" in nature, writing: "Christensen focuses on the history of witchcraft in order to show the way that the oppression of women takes on different guises in different historical periods. Using ideas from the psychoanalytic theory that was emerging at the time, Christensen suggests a link between contemporary diagnoses of hysteria and the European witch hunts of the medieval and early modern eras. This connection casts the twentieth-century physician who would confine troubled young women in his clinic in the role of inquisitor." Buckley connects tropes of witchcraft referenced in "Häxan", such as witches consuming infants or transforming into animals, to a perceived "illegitimacy of female power", and that, as such, "the evil-witch stereotype has become such a convenient tool for the propagation of misogynistic ideas." She also notes that the film suggests "an intersection of gender and social class: witches are not only women, they are poor women."


title: Häxan

text: Regarding the scenes featuring Sister Cecilia being influenced by Satan in the film's final two segments, author Alain Silver asserts the presence of an underlying theme of sexual repression. He claims that the film has a "libertarian message", with demonic possession being a result of the "unnatural sexual continence that is demanded of the young nuns. The film therefore follows a broadly Freudian line in linking possession to hysteria. The basis of this idea is that repressed sexual desires are dynamic and, rather than lying dormant, actively find ways of being fulfilled in exaggerated and extreme ways."


title: Häxan

text: After finding a copy of the "Malleus Maleficarum" in a Berlin bookshop, Christensen spent two years—from 1919 to 1921—studying manuals, illustrations and treatises on witches and witch-hunting. He included a lengthy bibliography in the original playbill at the film's premiere. He intended to create an entirely new film rather than an adaptation of literary fiction, which was the case for films of that day. "In I am against these adaptations... I seek to find the way forward to original films."


title: Häxan

text: Christensen obtained funding from the large Swedish production company Svensk Filmindustri, preferring it over the local Danish film studios, so that he could maintain complete artistic freedom. He used the money to buy and refurbish the Astra film studio in Hellerup, Denmark. Filming then ran from February through October 1921. Christensen and cinematographer Johan Ankerstjerne filmed only at night or in a closed set to maintain the film's dark hue. Post-production required another year before the film premiered in late 1922. Total cost for Svensk Film, including refurbishing the Astra Film Studio, reached between 1.5 and 2 million kronor, making "Häxan" the most expensive Scandinavian silent film in history.


title: Häxan

text: The film makes use of a number of special effects techniques in its depictions of the occult, including puppetry and stop motion animation. Various demons are portrayed by actors wearing special-effects makeup; superimposition is used to depict witches flying over villages and having out-of-body experiences in their sleep, and reverse motion is used in one sequence to make coins appear to fly from a table into the air.


title: Häxan

text: "Häxan" has had numerous different live scores over the years. When it premiered in Sweden, its accompaniment was compiled from pre-existing compositions. Details of the selection, which met with the director's enthusiastic approval, have been lost, but it was probably the same documented music as for the Copenhagen premiere two months later. In Copenhagen, it was played by a 50-piece orchestra, and this score, combining pieces by Schubert, Gluck, and Beethoven, was restored and recorded with a smaller ensemble by arranger/conductor Gillian Anderson for the 2001 Criterion Collection DVD edition.


title: Häxan

text: The film premiered on 18 September 1922 in four Swedish cities — Stockholm, Helsingborg, Malmö, and Gothenburg—simultaneously, unusual for Sweden at the time. "Häxan" received its Danish premiere in Copenhagen on 7 November 1922, and was re-released in Denmark in 1931 with an extended introduction by Christensen. The intertitles were also changed in this version.


title: Häxan

text: In 1968, Metro Pictures Corporation re-edited and re-released "Häxan" in the United States as "Witchcraft Through the Ages", adding narration by William S. Burroughs and a jazz score by Daniel Humair, which was played by a quintet that included Jean-Luc Ponty on violin.


title: Häxan

text: "Häxan" received a somewhat lukewarm, but mostly positive, response from critics upon its original release. As academic James Kendrick wrote, initial reviewers of the film "were confounded by [its] boundary-crossing aesthetic." Its thematic content stirred controversy as well. A contemporary critic in "Variety", for example, praised the film's acting, production, and its many scenes of "unadulterated horror", but added that "wonderful though this picture is, it is absolutely unfit for public exhibition." A Copenhagen reviewer was likewise offended by "the satanic, perverted cruelty that blazes out of it, the cruelty we all know has stalked the ages like an evil shaggy beast, the chimera of mankind. But when it is captured, let it be locked up in a cell, either in a prison or a madhouse. Do not let it be presented with music by Wagner or Chopin, [...] to young men and women, who have entered the enchanted world of a movie theatre."


title: Häxan

text: Conversely, a critic for "The New York Times" wrote in 1929: "The picture is, for the most part, fantastically conceived and directed, holding the onlooker in a sort of medieval spell. Most of the characters seem to have stepped from primitive paintings." The film also came to acquire a cult following among surrealists, who greatly admired its subversion of cultural norms of the time.


title: Häxan

text: "Häxan" has become regarded by critics and scholars as Christensen's finest work. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 91% approval rating with an average rating of 7.5/10, based on 22 reviews. "Häxan" is listed in the film reference book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" by Steven Jay Scheider, who writes: "Part earnest academic exercise in correlating ancient fears with misunderstandings about mental illness and part salacious horror movie, "Häxan" is truly a unique work that still holds power to unnerve, even in today's jaded era." Author James J. Mulay praised the film's makeup effects, sets, costumes, and casting, as well as Christensen's "dynamic combination of both stage tricks and innovative camera techniques [...] [that he uses] to create his fantastical world."


title: Häxan

text: David Sanjek of "PopMatters" wrote: "The dazzling manner in which "Haxan" shifts from illustrated lecture to historical reenactment to special effects shots of witches on their broomsticks to modern-dress drama pointed to ways the documentary format could be used that others would not draw on until years into the future." Peter Cowie similarly argued in "Eighty Years of Cinema" that it established Christensen as "an auteur of uncommon imagination and with a pictorial flair far ahead of his time." "Time Out London" called it a "weird and rather wonderful brew of fiction, documentary and animation". Film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, lauding it as "visually stunning" and "genuinely scary". He additionally praised the director's performance as Satan.


title: Häxan

text: Dave Kehr of the "Chicago Reader" suggested that the film's "episodic, rhetorical structure [...] would have appealed to Jean-Luc Godard", and wrote that "Christensen apparently intended ["Häxan"] as a serious study of witchcraft (which he diagnoses, in an early pop-Freud conclusion, as female hysteria), but what he really has is a pretense for sadistic pornography. The film has acquired impact with age: instead of seeming quaint, the nude scenes and scatological references now have a crumbly, sinister quality—they seem the survivals of ancient, unhealthy imaginations."


title: Häxan

text: "Ghostwatch" screenwriter Stephen Volk regards the film as "a visceral experience disguised as an erudite thesis", and sets it in the same league as "Nosferatu" and "Vampyr".


title: Häxan

text: The 1976 restoration was released on DVD in the US and the United Kingdom in 2001 by the Criterion Collection and Tartan Video, along with "Witchcraft Through the Ages". The 2007 restoration was released on DVD in Sweden by Svenska Filminstitutet. In 2019, the Criterion Collection released the 2016 digital restoration exclusively on Blu-ray in US.


title: Brigandine

text: A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a garment typically made of heavy cloth, canvas, or leather, lined internally with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric, sometimes with a second layer of fabric on the inside.


title: Brigandine

text: Protective clothing and armour have been used by armies from earliest recorded history; the King James Version of the Bible (Jeremiah 46:4) translates the Hebrew סריון "ÇiRYON" or שריון "SiRYoN" "coat of mail" as "brigandine". Medieval brigandines were essentially a refinement of the earlier coat of plates, which developed in the late 12th century, typically of simpler construction with larger metal plates. This armour of Asian origin reached Europe after the Mongol invasion in 1240 that destroyed the Kievan Rus' and severely damaged the Kingdom of Hungary in 1241. The new armour became very popular first in Eastern Europe, especially in Hungary, towards the end of the 13th century and was adopted in western Europe several decades later.


title: Brigandine

text: Later brigandines appeared towards the end of the 14th century, but survived beyond this transitional period between mail and plate, and came into even wider use in the 15th century, continuing into the 16th century. 15th-century brigandines are generally front-opening garments with the rivets arranged in triangular groups of three, while 16th-century brigandines generally have smaller plates with the rivets arranged in rows.


title: Brigandine

text: The brigandine is sometimes confused with the haubergeon, while the name is often confused with the brigantine, a swift small sea vessel.


title: Brigandine

text: The form of the brigandine is essentially the same as the civilian doublet, though it is commonly sleeveless. However, depictions of brigandines with sleeves are known. The small armour plates were sometimes riveted between two layers of stout cloth, or just to an outer layer. Unlike armour for the torso made from large plates, the brigandine was flexible, with a degree of movement between each of the overlapping plates. Many brigandines appear to have had larger, somewhat L-shaped plates over the central chest area. The rivets attaching the plates to the fabric were often decorated, being gilt, or of latten, and sometimes embossed with a design. The rivets were also often grouped to produce a repeating decorative pattern. In more expensive brigandines the outer layer of cloth was usually of velvet. The contrast between a richly dyed velvet cloth and gilded rivet heads must have been impressive and, unsurprisingly, such armour was popular with high-status individuals.


title: Brigandine

text: A brigandine was commonly worn over a gambeson and mail shirt and it was not long before this form of protection was commonly used by soldiers ranging in rank from archers to knights. It was most commonly used by men-at-arms. These wore brigandines, along with plate armour arm and leg protection, as well as a helmet. Even with the gambeson and the mail shirt, a wearer was not as well-protected as when wearing a complete harness of plate armour, but the brigandine was less expensive and also gave the soldier a greater degree of mobility and flexibility. A brigandine was also simple enough in design for a soldier to make and repair his own armour without needing the services of an armourer.


title: Brigandine

text: A common myth is that brigandines were so-named because they were a popular choice of protection for bandits and outlaws. This is untrue. Originally the term "brigand" referred to a foot soldier, and a brigandine was simply a type of armour worn by a foot soldier. It had nothing to do with its alleged ability to be concealed by bandits. In fact, brigandines were highly fashionable and were ostentatiously displayed by wealthy aristocrats both in European and in Asian courts.


title: Brigandine

text: A similar type of armour was the "jack of plate", commonly referred to simply as a "jack" (although this could also refer to any outer garment). This type of armour was used by common medieval European soldiers and the rebel peasants known as Jacquerie.


title: Brigandine

text: Like the brigandine, the jack was made of small iron plates between layers of felt and canvas. The main difference is in the method of construction: a brigandine uses rivets to secure the plates, whereas the plates in a jack are sewn in place. Jacks were often made from recycled pieces of older plate armour, including damaged brigandines and cuirasses cut into small squares.


title: Brigandine

text: Jacks remained in use as late as the 16th century and were often worn by Border reivers. Although they were obsolete by the time of the English Civil War many were taken to the New World by English settlers as they provided excellent protection from Native American arrows; one dating back to 1607 was found at Jamestown in 2008.


title: Brigandine

text: The medieval Indian equivalent of the brigandine was the "chihal'ta hazar masha", or "coat of ten thousand nails", which was a padded leather jacket covered in velvet and containing steel plates which was used until the early 19th century. The skirt was split to the waist, allowing the soldier to ride a horse. Matching vambraces and boots containing metal plates were also used. It was derived from Islamic armour used by the Saracen armies. These were often elaborately decorated with gold lace, silk and satin and are highly prized by European collectors.


title: Brigandine

text: Tipu Sultan wore armour of this type during his wars against the East India Company. The Turks used similar armour during the Russo-Turkish Wars.


title: Brigandine

text: A type of armour very similar in design to brigandine, known as "dingjia" (Chinese: 釘甲; Pinyin: Dīng jiǎ), was used in medieval China. It consisted of rectangular metal plates riveted between the fabric layers with the rivet heads visible on the outside.


title: Brigandine

text: Russian orientalist and weapon expert Mikhail Gorelik states that it was invented in the 8th century as parade armour for the Emperor's guards by reinforcing a thick cloth robe with overlapping iron plates, but did not come into wide use until the 13th century, when it became widespread in the Mongol Empire under the name of "" ("robe which is as strong as iron"). He also argues that Eastern European and, supposedly, Western European brigandines originate from this armour.


title: Brigandine

text: "Dingjia" were still used in China as late as the Ming and Qing periods. It was favoured by officers for its rich, expensive look and protection. Later examples, however, often lacked iron plates and were merely a military uniform.


title: Brigandine

text: In Muscovy, there was a type of armour known as the "", believed to have Mongolian origins and analogous to Central Asian, Indian and Chinese brigandines. The word "kuyak" is itself a derivative from the Mongol , which means "armour" (of any type). No known intact examples of this type of armour survives, but historical depictions, textual descriptions and photos remain.


title: Brigandine

text: The descriptions, while not offering any in-depth details of the 's construction, suggest a textile body armour reinforced with iron plates, usually not specifying directly their placement, only mentioning the "nails" (rivets) which attached the plates to the cloth. This was often worn with faulds, pauldrons and arm protection (rerebraces and vambraces), sometimes covered in expensive textiles like sateen, velvet or damask and decorated with fur.


title: Brigandine

text: Some had large "mirror" plates or "shields" attached to the outside. Some descriptions also mention cotton wool padding.


title: Brigandine

text: There were also brigandine helmets called "kuyak hats" that used the same principle of construction as the body armour.


title: Brigandine

text: Clothes with sewn in pieces of metal, used by the Serbian revolutionaries in the uprising against the Ottoman rule (1804–1813, 1814, 1815–1817)


title: Brigandine

text: One of the famous leaders of the rising Uzun Mirko Apostolović wears the Toke in his famous portrait by Uroš Knežević


title: Brigandine

text: Kikko is the Japanese form of brigandine. Kikko are hexagonal plates made from iron or hardened leather and sewn to cloth. These plates were either hidden by a layer of cloth or left exposed. Kikko were used only relatively recently, during the 16th century.


title: Brigandine

text: Kikko comes in many forms including coats, vests, gloves, arm and thigh protectors, and helmet neck guards. Kikko armour was worn as a standalone defense or under other types of armour as additional protection.


title: Brigandine

text: The Korean Dujeong-gap is the Korean equivalent of brigandine worn by the Joseon Army and Navy. In the late Joseon dynasty, the Dujeong-gap became the primary form of Korean metallic armor and often reached below the knees when worn. The helmet assumes a conical shape and has three brigandine neck defenses attached to the sides and back of the helmet. The exterior fabric of the Dujeong-gap varied; however, examples from the 18th century onwards show the usage of red cotton flannel, red velvet, and yellow cotton (often used for less decorated armors worn by lower-ranking officers and soldiers). The plates used within the Dujeong-gap also varied and could be made of either iron, copper, or leather. Dujeong-gaps with metal plates were worn by the "Pengbaesu", and the "Gabsa," while Dujeong-gaps with leather plates were part of a set of leather armor worn by peasants called "pigabju."


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: The secretary of the Army (SA or SECARMY) is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications and financial management.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: The secretary of the Army is nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. The secretary is a non-Cabinet-level official, subordinate to the secretary of Defense. This position was created on September 18, 1947, replacing the secretary of war, when the Department of War was split into the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: On May 28, 2021, Christine Wormuth was sworn in as the 25th (and current) secretary of the Army, the first woman to serve in the role.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: The Army senior leadership consists of two civilians; the secretary of the Army and the under secretary of the Army—and two military officers of four-star rank—the chief of staff of the United States Army and the vice chief of staff.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: The secretary of the Army () is in effect the chief executive officer of the Department of the Army, and the chief of staff of the Army works directly for the secretary. The secretary presents and justifies Army policies, plans, programs, and budgets to the secretary of defense, other executive branch officials, and to the congressional Defense Committees. The secretary also communicates Army policies, plans, programs, capabilities, and accomplishments to the public. As necessary, the secretary convenes meetings with the senior leadership of the Army to debate issues, provide direction, and seek advice. The secretary is a member of the Defense Acquisition Board.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: The secretary of the Army has several responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including the authority to convene general courts-martial.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: The Office of the Secretary of the Army is composed of the under secretary of the Army, the assistant secretaries of the Army, the administrative assistant to the secretary, the general counsel of the Department of the Army, the inspector general of the Army, the chief of legislation, and the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee. Other offices may be established by law or by the secretary of the Army. No more than 1,900 Army officers on the active-duty list may be assigned or detailed to permanent duty in the Office of the Secretary of the Army and on the Army staff.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: Each civilian has a military counterpart, as shown in the diagram below. Thus, for example, the Army G-1 has a defined responsibility to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), the ASA (M&RA).


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: Kenneth Claiborne Royall, the last secretary of war, became the first secretary of the Army when the National Defense Act of 1947 took effect. Gordon Gray was the last Army secretary to hold the Cabinet status, which was henceforth assigned to the secretary of defense.


title: United States Secretary of the Army

text: Prior military service is not a requirement, but several have served in the United States armed forces. Secretary Stone (1989-1993) is the only holder to serve in the military outside of the United States.


title: Max Factor

text: Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz.


title: Max Factor

text: Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billion in 2017 dollars), Max Factor & Company was owned by several generations of the family, becoming an international company during that time. Procter & Gamble purchased it in 1991.


title: Max Factor

text: Max Factor was born Maksymilian Faktorowicz in Congress Poland, and later moved to Moscow where he was employed as a wig maker. After immigrating to the United States in 1904, Factor moved his family and business to Los Angeles, California, seeing an opportunity to provide made-to-order wigs and theatrical make-up to the growing film industry. Besides selling his own make-up products he soon became the West Coast distributor of both Leichner and Minor, two leading theatrical make-up manufacturers.


title: Max Factor

text: In the early years of movie-making, greasepaint in stick form, although the accepted make-up for use on the stage, could not be applied thinly enough, nor did the colors work satisfactorily on the screen. Factor began experimenting with various compounds in an effort to develop a suitable make-up for the new film medium. By 1914 he had perfected his first cosmetic product. With this major achievement to his credit, Max Factor became the authority on cosmetics in film-making. Soon movie stars were eager to sample his "flexible greasepaint".


title: Max Factor

text: In the early years of the business Factor personally applied his products to actors and actresses. He developed a reputation for being able to customize makeup to present actors and actresses in the best possible light on screen. Among his most notable clients were Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, Jean Harlow, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Lucille Ball and Judy Garland. As a result, virtually all of the major movie actresses were regular customers of the Max Factor beauty salon, located near Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1918 Max Factor completed development of his "Color Harmony" range of face powder which, due to its wide range of shades, allowed him to customize and provide more consistent make-up for each individual actor or actress. He created many appearances for these actresses, such as Clara Bow's heart-shaped/pierrot lips. Years later, he exaggerated Joan Crawford's naturally full lips to distinguish her from the many would-be stars copying the Clara Bow look he created. He also created shades specifically for them: Platinum (for Jean Harlow), Special Medium (for Joan Crawford), Dark (for Claudette Colbert) and Light Egyptian (for Lena Horne). For Rudolph Valentino he created makeup which complemented his complexion, and masked the darkness of his skin on screen.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1920 Max Factor gave in to his son Frank's suggestion and officially began referring to his products as "make-up" based on the verb phrase "to make up" (one's face). Until then the term "cosmetics" had been used; the term "make-up" was considered vulgar, to be used only by people in the theater or of dubious reputation and not something to be used in polite society.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1922 while on holiday in Europe with his wife, Factor visited the headquarters of Leichner in Germany. He was by then the biggest retailer of their theatrical stick greasepaint, yet he was snubbed and kept waiting at reception. Upset at this treatment he left and immediately cabled his sons to begin selling his own brand of greasepaint. Until then Factor had been making his own greasepaint for use on his clients, but had made no attempt to market it while he was representing other brands. Now he concentrated on his own products, which he offered in a collapsible tube, instead of in the stick form used by other producers. His tube greasepaint was not only more hygienic but also could be applied more thinly and evenly. Soon Max Factor's version was the leading brand.


title: Max Factor

text: By the 1920s his sons Davis and Frank were heavily involved in the business, with Davis the general manager and Frank assisting his father in the development of new products.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1925 the company received its biggest order to date when it had to complete a rush order to supply 600 gallons of light olive makeup to the set of the movie "Ben-Hur" to ensure that the skin color of the extras used in filming undertaken in America would match that of the darker skinned Italian extras in the scenes filmed in Italy.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1926 for the film "Mare Nostrum" Max and Frank Factor developed the first waterproof theatrical make-up.


title: Max Factor

text: By the 1920s Max Factor was becoming known outside of the film community, which led to the company in the early 1930s developing an in-house public relations department.


title: Max Factor

text: While Max Factor was perfectly happy for the company to remain a specialized supplier of products to the film community, his children were convinced that they could grow the company into a much larger enterprise. National distribution began in 1927 when Sales Builders, an established distribution company, obtained the rights to advertise, distribute and sell Factor's products.


title: Max Factor

text: Due to his strong connection with the film industry Max Factor was able to use celebrity endorsements in advertising its products. In return for a nominal payment of US$1 to the actress the advertising would also promote the star's latest film.


title: Max Factor

text: The introduction of sound-on-film led to the replacement of the old noisy carbon arc lights by tungsten lights, which were much hotter and created a softer light. At the same time the orthochromatic film, which until that time had been used by the industry, was replaced by super-sensitive faster Panchromatic film which noticeably darkened skin colors. These developments required six months of intensive development to create make-up compatible with the new environment. Because they had been designed for black and white film the existing products were unsuitable for everyday use. This new Panchromatic make-up was trademarked in October 1929.


title: Max Factor

text: The development of Technicolor film required the company to develop a new line of products as its existing Panchromatic make-up left a slight sheen on the skin which reflected surrounding colors. As a result of how bad they looked in color many actors and actresses refused to appear in color films. Because Max Factor was recovering from being hit by a delivery van at the time, Frank Factor took the lead in the two years it took to develop a suitable make-up, initially called the "T-D" and then renamed the "Pan-Cake" series. It was sold in a solid cake form and applied with a damp sponge which offered the advantage of concealing skin imperfections under a transparent matte finish. Its first appearance was in the film "Vogues of 1938". The Pan-Cake make-up was made for on-screen looks but was wearable for day-to-day looks.


title: Max Factor

text: It was an immediate hit and its advantages led to women stealing it from the film sets and using it privately. Its only disadvantage for everyday use was that it could not be used at night as it made the skin too dark under all but the powerful lights used in film studios. While Max Factor wanted to reserve the product for film use, Frank Factor was open to the commercial possibilities and began developing lighter shades. At the time the company was only able to produce enough to meet studio demand, which delayed commercial release until production could be increased. The company used the release of "Vogues of 1938" in August 1937 and five months later "The Goldwyn Follies", the second film to use the make-up, to commercially release Pan-Cake to the public, backed by a color-based national advertising campaign. It immediately became the fastest and largest selling single make-up item to date, as well as the standard make-up used in all Technicolor films.


title: Max Factor

text: In the 1930s, Factor helped to develop a mask-like device to measure the contours of subjects' faces. He called it the "Beauty Micrometer". Its purpose was to detect even barely-visible structural flaws, that might be magnified and more-noticeable on camera. A technician could then apply makeup to mask the problem.


title: Max Factor

text: After Max Factor's death in 1938, Frank Factor took the name Max Factor, Jr., and expanded the still private cosmetics firm, along with members of the immediate family including Sidney Factor, Louis Factor, Davis Factor and Max Firestein.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1939 Max Factor, Jr., began development of a smear-proof lipstick which would also both be non-irritating and not change color. A kissing machine was constructed to test the formula's resistance to fading. The result was released in 1940 as "Tru-Color" in six shades of red.


title: Max Factor

text: During World War II, Max Factor developed make-up shades for use by the US Marine Corps in camouflaging faces.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1947 after 26 months of development by Max Factor, Jr., the company released "Pan-Stik", a cream make-up supplied in stick form and designed to take advantage of the latest changes in studio lighting and film stock. This product was quick to apply as well as non-greasy. It was released to the public in 1948 and was immediately commercially successful.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1951 the company expanded their range to offer a range of male shampoo, aftershave lotion, deodorant and shaving foams.


title: Max Factor

text: The introduction of color television lead the company to develop Max Factor Color TV Make-up, which became the standard for use in color television.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1956 Max Factor inc. purchased Sales Builders, which had until that time handled all of their national sales and distribution. This led to a complete reorganization of the company's American markets, advertising, sales and distribution division.


title: Max Factor

text: By the 1960s, Max Factor, Jr., Max Firestein, and grandsons Donald Factor, Alfred Jay Firestein and Chester Lee Firestein were still involved. Under his leadership, in 1965 Max Factor, Jr., established "Geminesse", a line of makeup, skincare and perfume products that were sold only by uniformed clerks in department stores. The packaging and products were different; many of the containers were designed to resemble Greek sculptures.


title: Max Factor

text: The early 1960s saw the company become a public company and list its Class A stock on the New York Stock Exchange. This period also saw the third generation of the Factor family, Barbara Factor, Davis Jr. Factor, Donald Factor, Alfred Firestein, and Chester Firestein rising to senior positions within the company. His place of work is now a museum located in downtown Hollywood.


title: Max Factor

text: By the early 1970s Sidney Factor had retired from the board, and Barbara Factor, Donald Factor and Davis Jr. Factor from the third generation had also left the company to pursue other interests. As a result, there was decreasing family involvement. Davis Factor was still board chairman while Alfred Jay Firestein was president and CEO when in 1973 the company agreed to merge with Norton Simon. This event was marred weeks later by the sudden death of Alfred Jay Firestein at the age of 48. Chester Firestein succeeded him as president of the company, only to resign three years later in 1976, to devote his time to his personal interests; he was replaced by a non-family member. His departure, together with that of Max Factor, Jr., in the same year, meant that there were now no members of Max Factor's immediate family working for the company.


title: Max Factor

text: During Chester Firestein's time in charge the company expanded overseas and launched many new products including Musk For Men, UltaLucent Waterproof make-up and, in 1975, the successful Halston line of fragrances, which quickly became the second best-selling designer fragrance in the world, trailing Chanel No. 5.


title: Max Factor

text: It was under Norton Simon that Max Factor launched "Maxi", a line of makeup aimed at a younger, more savvy consumer. Maxi sold products aimed at adolescent tastes, such as lip gloss, color rubs and "mood" lipsticks. Maxi was priced to compete with market leaders Bonne Bell and CoverGirl. Neither Maxi, Geminesse, nor Max Factor were able to lift the company's declining profits and market share.


title: Max Factor

text: In 1983 Norton Simon was taken over by Esmark, by which time no one in the Factor family was involved in the company's day-to-day operations. A year later Esmark merged with Beatrice Foods, which lumped Max Factor into their Playtex beauty division and moved the Max Factor headquarters from Los Angeles to Stamford, Connecticut. In 1986, Ronald Perelman of Revlon bought the Playtex beauty division for $500 million. In 1991, Revlon sold Max Factor to Procter & Gamble for $1.5 billion.


title: Max Factor

text: By the first quarter of 2010, Procter & Gamble had discontinued Max Factor in the United States, instead focusing its marketing efforts on the more successful CoverGirl cosmetics line. Max Factor continued to be marketed overseas.


title: Max Factor

text: In June, 2015, Max Factor was one of a number of beauty brands purchased from P&G by Coty for $12 billion. Coty relaunched Max Factor in 2018.


title: Furman University

text: Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became a secular university in 1992, while keeping "Christo et Doctrinae" (For Christ and Learning) as its motto. It enrolls approximately 2,700 undergraduate students and 200 graduate students, representing 46 states and 53 foreign countries, on its campus.


title: Furman University

text: Furman Academy and Theological Institution was established by the South Carolina Baptist Convention and incorporated in December 1825 in Edgefield. With 10 students, it held its first classes January 15, 1828; although another source says it opened in January 1827. Through 1850, average enrollment was 10 students, and it constantly tottered on the edge of insolvency. From 1829 to 1834, it operated in the High Hills of the Santee (now Stateburg, South Carolina). Furman closed from 1834 to 1837. When the school reopened, at the urging of the Reverend Jonathan Davis, chairman of the Board of Agents, the school moved to his native Fairfield County, near Winnsboro.


title: Furman University

text: In 1850, the state legislature chartered Furman University. It was not until 1851 that South Carolina Baptists were able to raise the necessary funds for the removal of the school to Greenville, South Carolina.


title: Furman University

text: The university closed from 1861 to 1866, when "most students and several faculty members enlisted in the Confederate forces."


title: Furman University

text: The Furman Institution Faculty Residence serves as a visible reminder of the early history of Furman University and its brief establishment in Fairfield County.


title: Furman University

text: The first school building from the downtown Greenville campus was transported to the current campus, where it still stands. In 1933, students from the Greenville Women's College began attending classes with Furman students. Shortly thereafter, the two schools merged to form the present institution.


title: Furman University

text: In 1924, Furman was named one of four collegiate beneficiaries of the Duke Endowment. Through 2007, Furman has received $110 million from the endowment, which is now one of the nation's largest philanthropic foundations. Three other colleges—Duke, Davidson and Johnson C. Smith—also receive annual support and special grants from the endowment.


title: Furman University

text: In 1954, "Brown v. Board of Education" found the "separate but equal" policy to be unconstitutional, starting the lengthy process of desegregating public schools. As of that date, Furman, like most Southern colleges, did not accept African Americans as students. Some Furman students began to press for change. In 1955, some students wrote short stories and poems in "The Echo", a student literary magazine, in support of integration; school administrators destroyed all 1,500 printed copies. In 1953, Furman began construction on its new campus, north of downtown Greenville. Classes on the new campus began in 1958.


title: Furman University

text: By 1963, enough faculty were siding with the students over racial desegregation that Furman's board of trustees voted to admit Black students. Action on the trustees' decision was postponed and it was later overturned by South Carolina's Baptist Convention; desegregated admission was not implemented at Furman until its incoming president, Gordon Blackwell, a past president of Florida State University, made it a condition of his acceptance of the new position. In February 1965, Joe Vaughn, a graduate of Sterling High School, became Furman's first Black undergraduate.


title: Furman University

text: In 1992, Furman ended its affiliation with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and became a private, secular university, while keeping "Christo et Doctrinae" (For Christ and Learning) as the school's motto. Furman's "heritage is rooted in the non-creedal, free church Baptist tradition which has always valued particular religious commitments while insisting not only on the freedom of the individual to believe as he or she sees fit but also on respect for a diversity of religious perspectives, including the perspective of the non-religious person."


title: Furman University

text: The 2010s were transformative years for Furman through fundraising, resulting in new buildings, programs, and scholarships. The "Because Furman Matters" campaign began in 2004 and ended in 2013. The campaign was described as "the largest fundraising campaign ever among private colleges in South Carolina, and is also among the largest undertaken by any of the nation’s liberal arts colleges.". It exceeded its objective of raising $400 million, of which 62% went to the endowment (which was valued at $380 million when the campaign started and increased to $623 million when it ended) and 17% went to building projects. Several such buildings were supported by successful graduates from the university via naming gifts. In 2012, a new $6.4 million facility was built for continuing education. The Herring Center for Continuing Education was supported by Sarah and Gordon Herring, a leader in the television industry who served on committees with HBO and was one of the founders of the Weather Channel. In 2013, the student center went through a $7.75 million expansion and renovation. The alumnus and businessman David Trone, together with his wife June, participated through a $3.5 million gift resulting in the center being named the Trone Student Center.


title: Furman University

text: In addition to visible changes in campus buildings, significant donations have also enabled a new campus-wide program presented as "The Furman Advantage". The infrastructure and networks necessary to support "The Furman Advantage" were made possible when Furman received $47 million from The Duke Endowment. The new program, unveiled in 2016, seeks to increase and personalize the experiences of students beyond the classroom. This includes strengthening the university's engagement with the Greenville community, where students are provided with internships and opportunities for engaged learning. For instance, a new program in partnership with Greenville Health System, the Institute for the Advancement of Community Health, provides a conduit for students and faculty to contribute to the community. The Furman Advantage also provides more stipends for students to partake into faculty-mentored research. The growing interest and infrastructure for research at Furman can also be witnessed in the creation of the annual Faculty Scholarship Reception.


title: Furman University

text: While students and visitors are most likely to notice newer and renovated buildings, or experience campus wide programs, changes have also been more subtle in several other aspects. For instance, alumni have continued to fuel the development of scholarship funds for specific purposes. In 2017, a $2.2 million bequest from the late Mary Frances Edwards Garrett was dedicated to a fund for students seeking teaching and ministerial professions.


title: Furman University

text: In October 2018, a Task Force on Slavery and Justice, set up by Provost George Shields, issued a report, "Seeking Abraham", making recommendations "to acknowledge the role slavery and racism had in the school’s history." The task force is a response to the article, "Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation: What is the Furman Legacy?", published in October 2016 in the university newspaper, pointing out that Richard Furman, the university's namesake, and even more so his son James Clement Furman, Furman's first president, were not only slave owners but active defenders of slavery. "Abraham" is a reference to Abraham Sims, a slave at the house of James Furman.


title: Furman University

text: The task force issued 19 recommendations, which were unanimously accepted by Furman's board of trustees. James C. Furman Hall will be renamed Furman Hall, and a statue will be erected to honor Joseph Vaughn, "the first Black student to attend the school". A tour of the university, "Seeking Abraham", looks at campus "from the perspective of the native people who first called the campus home, the enslaved and laborers, the women who pushed against the Furmans' views, the eventual students and faculty who pushed desegregation forward, and the Baptists who eventually broke with their own Convention... Much of this history is 'hidden' in the current landscape."


title: Furman University

text: Leadership and guidance to the university is provided by a board of trustees, whose 36 members meet at least three times per academic year and are elected for three-year terms. Former board members may be designated as 'Trustees Emeriti'. These include former Governor and U.S. secretary of education Richard Riley. , current board members include Robert Blocker, dean of the school of Music at Yale University, and William Byrd Traxler Jr., Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals. Board members also come from private companies such as ExxonMobil Chemical Company (former president), AT&T (legal counsel), or Michelin (general counsel).


title: Furman University

text: Under the governance of the board of trustees, Furman is led by a President. Elizabeth Davis became Furman's president on July 1, 2014. She is the 12th president of the institution, or 16th when also counting interim presidents. Twelve senior administrators manage academic and administrative departments. These administrators are composed of a provost, four academic deans, and seven other members (e.g., Chief Diversity Officer, General Counsel).


title: Furman University

text: Furman offers majors and programs in 42 subjects. All students must complete general education requirements as part of the liberal arts curriculum. The general education requirements include mind and body wellness, textual analysis, two natural sciences, math/formal reasoning, two empirical studies of human behavior, history, ultimate question, foreign language, and world culture. Furman is not divided into colleges, but includes centers and four institutes. Furman's four institutes are the Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities, the Richard W. Riley Institute, the Institute for the Advancement of Community Health, and the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.


title: Furman University

text: Between 1996 and 2003, 308 Furman graduates received PhD degrees, the most by any Southern liberal arts college, according to a survey by the National Opinion Research Center. Furman has produced 20 Truman Scholars, as well as several Rhodes scholars and recipients of Goldwater, Fulbright and National Science Foundation Awards.


title: Furman University

text: In 2019, Furman University was the highest-ranked institution of higher learning in South Carolina and one of the best universities of the South of US by "Forbes", and the 5th best liberal arts college in the South by "U.S. News & World Report". For 2020, it was also ranked the 5th most innovative liberal arts college by "U.S. News". It is considered to be a "more selective" school. Furman is also featured in The Princeton Review's "Best 378 Colleges" list, where it is named a "Best Southeastern College" and ranked #9 in the impact schools category.


title: Furman University

text: Furman has also been mentioned in other specialized lists such as "The Daily Beast"s 2011 edition of "Most Rigorous Colleges in America", where it was ranked 2nd above Columbia, Harvard and Yale. It was also ranked 30th among U.S. colleges and universities in an NBER working paper based on the choice to enroll of the highest-achieving students in US.


title: Furman University

text: Over time, Furman has also been featured in specialized rankings such as the "Washington Monthly" rankings based on its production of valuable research to society and its commitment to national service, where it was ranked 15th in the nation. "Business Insider" also ranked Furman in 5th place on its list of universities committed to national service in 2016. Furman ties in 4th place among all liberal arts in the nation in number of Truman Scholars. Its undergraduate research program has been ranked as high as 4th in the U.S. News Best Undergraduate Research Programs along with Stanford, MIT and Michigan.


title: Furman University

text: Furman ranked 1st for number of undergraduates receiving PhDs among all liberal arts colleges in the South from 1996 to 2003 and 22nd among all liberal arts in the nation. From 2006 to 2015 Furman ranked 1st in the South and 26th among all liberal arts in the nation. Furman ranked 6th in percentage of graduates that went on to receive PHds from 2006 to 2017 among all the universities in the South, and 76th among all universities in the nation.


title: Furman University

text: Publications have taken notice of several aspects of the academic experience at Furman, as well as its environmental responsibility. The university's engaged learning academic program, which promotes problem-solving, project-oriented, experience-based education, has been mentioned in "The Princeton Review", "Peterson's Competitive Colleges", "The Fiske Guide to Colleges" and "The College Board College Handbook". The "Princeton Review" featured Furman in its "Guide to 286 Green Colleges," where it received a green rating of 98, with 99 being the highest possible score. Additionally, the Sierra Club included Furman in its list of the top 50 eco-friendly universities in America. Furman received a grade of "A−" from the Sustainable Endowments Institute on its College Sustainability Report Card in 2011. Furman takes part in the voluntary self-reporting Sustainability Tracking Assessment Ratings System (STARS), where it was one of 38 institutions to achieve a gold rating.


title: Furman University

text: Furman's campus has also received special attention in the rankings and is considered one of the most beautiful campuses in the world and the nation. The landscaping and attractiveness of the campus have been recognized for many years: in 1997, "Planning for Higher Education" named Furman as a benchmark campus for its landscaping, while The Princeton Review ranked Furman fifth in its list of beautiful campuses based on student ratings. In 2016, "USA Today" named Furman's campus as the 4th most beautiful campus in the nation and "Times Higher Education" named it as one of the ten most beautiful campuses in the nation in 2017. More recently, in 2019, "Travel + Leisure" listed Furman as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States. Another specific part of Furman mentioned in rankings is the James B. Duke Library, which scored favorably for several years (based on student assessment of library facilities), being ranked from 7 to 12 (in 2010) by The Princeton Review.


title: Furman University

text: Furman University's campus is located at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the upstate region of South Carolina. A lake is a highlight of the wooded campus. Paris Mountain State Park overlooks the lake and campus. Most buildings are of Georgian-style architecture. Many academic buildings and student residences stand around the lake, including the Bell Tower, which figures highly in school insignias and is a replica of the tower that once existed on the men's campus in downtown Greenville. Today, the campus is anchored by its newly expanded James B. Duke Library. Informally known as "The Country Club of the South," Furman was named one of the 362 most beautiful places in America by the American Society of Landscape Architects.


title: Furman University

text: Timmons Arena is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Greenville, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was built in 1997 at a cost of $10.9 million by Stanmar, Inc., and is home to the Furman University Paladins basketball team since its opening on December 30, 1997.


title: Furman University

text: On the north side of the lake are the four Greenbelt housing cabins, and the Cliffs Cottage. This "green" building designed by Scott Johnston is solar-powered using two panels, and features geothermal heating. Cliffs Cottage was the first sustainable showcase home for "Southern Living" magazine, which featured it in the article "Our Most Innovative House Ever", detailing how to create a house that requires less energy and generates power. The cottage now serves as home for the Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities.


title: Furman University

text: Most juniors and seniors live in North Village Apartments, located on the north side of the Cliffs Cottage. The North Village Apartments were build and most recently renovated in 2001. The remaining upperclassmen are either placed in dorm-style residence halls or enter a lottery to receive an apartment in The Vinings, an apartment complex next to campus owned by the university. There are two other residence complexes (called Clark Murphy Housing Complex and South Housing) which house freshmen and sophomores. The campus also includes an Asian Garden, the centerpiece of which is the Place of Peace, a Buddhist temple moved to the site from Japan and reconstructed by traditional carpenters. A replica of the cabin that Henry David Thoreau inhabited while writing "On Walden Pond" is located on the west side of the lake.


title: Furman University

text: Furman University sustainability efforts have been in keeping with national standards. Furman works to conserve, reduce, and recycle on campus, has constructed green buildings and provided students with alternative transportation. Furman has its own farm on campus. The Furman Farm is a quarter-acre garden located beside the Cliffs Cottage and the Furman Lake. A wide variety of produce is grown throughout the year using sustainable agricultural practices such as crop rotations, composting, drip lines, natural fertilizers, and integrated pest management. Furman also has installed a 6-acre solar farm with a 743 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) array near the campus entrance. The university hopes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2026.


title: Furman University

text: In Fall 2016, Furman's 2,731 students came from 46 states and more than 50 countries. When applying to Furman, the university computes the GPA on a scale of 4.0 based on core courses (e.g. excluding physical education). While Furman does not apply a GPA cut-off, the average unweighted GPA ranges from a 3.6 to 3.9.


title: Furman University

text: Almost 90% of the financial aid to students comes in the form of scholarships and grants, with loans accounting for less than 9%.


title: Furman University

text: Furman University Student Government Association (SGA) works under a semi-Presidential system. SGA is made up of the executive council: president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary. Each class elects four representatives. Upon election council members are assigned within one of six committees to specialize in a particular area of student needs.


title: Furman University

text: Furman University has five fraternities and six sororities. Fraternities on campus: Beta Theta Pi, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Nu. Sororities on campus: Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Zeta Tau Alpha. The school also has two music based fraternities including Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a men's social fraternity with emphasis in music, along with Sigma Alpha Iota, a primarily female professional music organization. The school has recently added chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi in 2021, two Black Greek-letter organizations.


title: Furman University

text: Furman University is also a host to a myriad of other organizations. Most notable are FUSAB (Furman University Student Activities Board), an organization that plans diverse and educational events on and off campus for students; Heller Service Corps, who complete service projects that directly benefit the Furman and Greenville community; and Shucker Leadership Institute, which focuses on shaping freshman and sophomore students into strong leaders on campus.


title: Furman University

text: Furman competes in NCAA Division I athletics, and at the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) level in football and is one of the smallest NCAA Division I schools in the nation. Furman fields seven men's teams and nine women's teams, as well as 16 club sports and many intramural teams. The university is a member of the Southern Conference.


title: Furman University

text: Furman is the only liberal arts college to be ranked in "Sports Illustrated" Top-100 America's Best Sports Colleges and has 32 former student-athletes competing at the professional level—the most of any Southern Conference member school.


title: Furman University

text: In 2018, Furman placed in the top 75 best colleges in the NACDA Directors' Cup Division I Final Standings, being the only liberal arts college in the US and only member of the Southern Conference to do so. In the 2019–2020 season, Furman finished in 32nd place in the NACDA Director's Cup Final Fall Standings. Despite its small size, Furman has had several of its sports teams ranked in the NCAA Div 1 Top 25 in the nation in recent times: men's football at #2 in NCAA-I-AA, men's soccer at #3 in the nation, women's golf at #8, men's cross country at #7, women's cross country at #9, men's basketball at #23 and women's tennis at #24.


title: Furman University

text: Furman ranks 77th in the nation among universities with most Olympic medals and ranks 2nd in the nation among liberal arts schools.


title: Furman University

text: The team nickname, the Paladins, was first used by a Greenville, South Carolina, sportswriter in the 1930s. For many years the name "Paladins" just referred to Furman's basketball team. Until 1961 the school's baseball teams were known as the "Hornets" and the football teams as the "Hurricanes". On September 15, of that year, the student body voted to make "Paladins" the official nickname of all of the university's intercollegiate athletic teams.


title: Furman University

text: Furman University is the alma mater to a head of government, a Nobel Prize laureate, winners of the Grammy Award, Emmy Award, Pulitzer Award and the Newbery Medal, as well as U.S. Senators, U.S. Congressmen, state governors, and other government officials, judges, business leaders, entertainers, and athletes. Notable alumni include:


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Thermal energy storage (TES) is achieved with widely different technologies. Depending on the specific technology, it allows excess thermal energy to be stored and used hours, days, months later, at scales ranging from the individual process, building, multiuser-building, district, town, or region. Usage examples are the balancing of energy demand between daytime and nighttime, storing summer heat for winter heating, or winter cold for summer air conditioning (Seasonal thermal energy storage). Storage media include water or ice-slush tanks, masses of native earth or bedrock accessed with heat exchangers by means of boreholes, deep aquifers contained between impermeable strata; shallow, lined pits filled with gravel and water and insulated at the top, as well as eutectic solutions and phase-change materials.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Other sources of thermal energy for storage include heat or cold produced with heat pumps from off-peak, lower cost electric power, a practice called peak shaving; heat from combined heat and power (CHP) power plants; heat produced by renewable electrical energy that exceeds grid demand and waste heat from industrial processes. Heat storage, both seasonal and short term, is considered an important means for cheaply balancing high shares of variable renewable electricity production and integration of electricity and heating sectors in energy systems almost or completely fed by renewable energy.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The different kinds of thermal energy storage can be divided into three separate categories: sensible heat, latent heat, and thermo-chemical heat storage. Each of these has different advantages and disadvantages that determine their applications.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Sensible heat storage (SHS) is the most straightforward method. It simply means the temperature of some medium is either increased or decreased. This type of storage is the most commercially available out of the three; other techniques are less developed.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The materials are generally inexpensive and safe. One of the cheapest, most commonly used options is a water tank, but materials such as molten salts or metals can be heated to higher temperatures and therefore offer a higher storage capacity. Energy can also be stored underground (UTES), either in an underground tank or in some kind of heat-transfer fluid (HTF) flowing through a system of pipes, either placed vertically in U-shapes (boreholes) or horizontally in trenches. Yet another system is known as a packed-bed (or pebble-bed) storage unit, in which some fluid, usually air, flows through a bed of loosely packed material (usually rock, pebbles or ceramic brick) to add or extract heat.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: A disadvantage of SHS is its dependence on the properties of the storage medium. Storage capacities are limited by the specific heat capacity of the storage material, and the system needs to be properly designed to ensure energy extraction at a constant temperature.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The sensible heat of molten salt is also used for storing solar energy at a high temperature. It’s termed molten-salt technology or molten salt energy storage (MSES). Molten salts can be employed as a thermal energy storage method to retain thermal energy. Presently, this is a commercially used technology to store the heat collected by concentrated solar power (e.g., from a solar tower or solar trough). The heat can later be converted into superheated steam to power conventional steam turbines and generate electricity at a later time. It was demonstrated in the Solar Two project from 1995–1999. Estimates in 2006 predicted an annual efficiency of 99%, a reference to the energy retained by storing heat before turning it into electricity, versus converting heat directly into electricity. Various eutectic mixtures of different salts are used (e.g., sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium nitrate). Experience with such systems exists in non-solar applications in the chemical and metals industries as a heat-transport fluid.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The salt melts at . It is kept liquid at in an insulated "cold" storage tank. The liquid salt is pumped through panels in a solar collector where the focused sun heats it to . It is then sent to a hot storage tank. With proper insulation of the tank the thermal energy can be usefully stored for up to a week. When electricity is needed, the hot molten salt is pumped to a conventional steam-generator to produce superheated steam for driving a conventional turbine/generator set as used in any coal, oil, or nuclear power plant. A 100-megawatt turbine would need a tank of about tall and in diameter to drive it for four hours by this design.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Single tank with divider plate to hold both cold and hot molten salt, is under development. It is more economical by achieving 100% more heat storage per unit volume over the dual tanks system as the molten-salt storage tank is costly due to its complicated construction. Phase Change Material (PCMs) are also used in molten-salt energy storage, while research on obtaining shape-stabilized PCMs using high porosity matrices is ongoing.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Most solar thermal power plants use this thermal energy storage concept. The Solana Generating Station in the U.S. can store 6 hours worth of generating capacity in molten salt. During the summer of 2013 the Gemasolar Thermosolar solar power-tower/molten-salt plant in Spain achieved a first by continuously producing electricity 24 hours per day for 36 days. The Cerro Dominador Solar Thermal Plant, inaugurated in June 2021, has 17.5 hours of heat storage.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: A steam accumulator consists of an insulated steel pressure tank containing hot water and steam under pressure. As a heat storage device, it is used to mediate heat production by a variable or steady source from a variable demand for heat. Steam accumulators may take on a significance for energy storage in solar thermal energy projects.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Large stores are widely used in Nordic countries to store heat for several days, to decouple heat and power production and to help meet peak demands. Interseasonal storage in caverns has been investigated and appears to be economical and plays a significant role in heating in Finland.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Helen Oy estimates an 11.6 GWh capacity and 120 MW thermal output for its water cistern under Mustikkamaa (fully charged or discharged in 4 days at capacity), operating from 2021 to offset days of peak production/demand; while the rock caverns under sea level in Kruunuvuorenranta (near Laajasalo) were designated in 2018 to store heat in summer from warm seawater and release it in winter for district heating.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Solid or molten silicon offers much higher storage temperatures than salts with consequent greater capacity and efficiency. It is being researched as a possible more energy efficient storage technology. Silicon is able to store more than 1 MWh of energy per cubic metre at 1400 °C. An additional advantage is the relative abundance of silicon when compared to the salts used for the same purpose.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Molten silicon thermal energy storage is currently being developed by the Australian company 1414 Degrees as a more energy efficient storage technology, with a combined heat and power (cogeneration) output.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Another medium that can store thermal energy is molten (recycled) aluminum. This technology was developed by the Swedish company Azelio. The material is heated to 600 degrees C. When needed, the energy is transported to a Stirling engine using a heat-transfer fluid.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Water has one of the highest thermal capacities at 4.2 kJ/(kg⋅K) whereas concrete has about one third of that. On the other hand, concrete can be heated to much higher temperatures (1200 °C) by for example electrical heating and therefore has a much higher overall volumetric capacity. Thus in the example below, an insulated cube of about would appear to provide sufficient storage for a single house to meet 50% of heating demand. This could, in principle, be used to store surplus wind or solar heat due to the ability of electrical heating to reach high temperatures. At the neighborhood level, the Wiggenhausen-Süd solar development at Friedrichshafen in southern Germany has received international attention. This features a () reinforced concrete thermal store linked to () of solar collectors, which will supply the 570 houses with around 50% of their heating and hot water. Siemens-Gamesa built a 130 MWh thermal storage near Hamburg with 750 °C in basalt and 1.5 MW electric output. A similar system is scheduled for Sorø, Denmark, with 41–58% of the stored 18 MWh heat returned for the town's district heating, and 30–41% returned as electricity.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: “Brick toaster” is a recently (august 2022) announced innovative heat reservoir operating at up to 1,500 °C (2,732 °F) that its maker, Titan Cement/Rondo claims should be able cut global CO2 output by 15% over 15 years.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Because Latent Heat Storage (LHS) is associated with a phase transition, the general term for the associated media is Phase-Change Material (PCM). During these transitions, heat can be added or extracted without affecting the material’s temperature, giving it an advantage over SHS-technologies. Storage capacities are often higher as well.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: There are a multitude of PCMs available, including but not limited to salts, polymers, gels, paraffin waxes and metal alloys, each with different properties. This allows for a more target-oriented system design. As the process is isothermal at the PCM’s melting point, the material can be picked to have the desired temperature range. Desirable qualities include high latent heat and thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the storage unit can be more compact if volume changes during the phase transition are small.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: PCMs are further subdivided into organic, inorganic and eutectic materials. Compared to organic PCMs, inorganic materials are less flammable, cheaper and more widely available. They also have higher storage capacity and thermal conductivity. Organic PCMs, on the other hand, are less corrosive and not as prone to phase-separation. Eutectic materials, as they are mixtures, are more easily adjusted to obtain specific properties, but have low latent and specific heat capacities.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Another important factor in LHS is the encapsulation of the PCM. Some materials are more prone to erosion and leakage than others. The system must be carefully designed in order to avoid unnecessary loss of heat.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Miscibility gap alloys rely on the phase change of a metallic material (see: latent heat) to store thermal energy.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Rather than pumping the liquid metal between tanks as in a molten-salt system, the metal is encapsulated in another metallic material that it cannot alloy with (immiscible). Depending on the two materials selected (the phase changing material and the encapsulating material) storage densities can be between 0.2 and 2 MJ/L.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: A working fluid, typically water or steam, is used to transfer the heat into and out of the system. Thermal conductivity of miscibility gap alloys is often higher (up to 400 W/(m⋅K)) than competing technologies which means quicker "charge" and "discharge" of the thermal storage is possible. The technology has not yet been implemented on a large scale.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Several applications are being developed where ice is produced during off-peak periods and used for cooling at a later time. For example, air conditioning can be provided more economically by using low-cost electricity at night to freeze water into ice, then using the cooling capacity of ice in the afternoon to reduce the electricity needed to handle air conditioning demands. Thermal energy storage using ice makes use of the large heat of fusion of water. Historically, ice was transported from mountains to cities for use as a coolant. One metric ton of water (= one cubic meter) can store 334 million joules (MJ) or 317,000 BTUs (93 kWh). A relatively small storage facility can hold enough ice to cool a large building for a day or a week.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: In addition to using ice in direct cooling applications, it is also being used in heat pump based heating systems. In these applications, the phase change energy provides a very significant layer of thermal capacity that is near the bottom range of temperature that water source heat pumps can operate in. This allows the system to ride out the heaviest heating load conditions and extends the timeframe by which the source energy elements can contribute heat back into the system.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: A pilot cryogenic energy system that uses liquid air as the energy store, and low-grade waste heat to drive the thermal re-expansion of the air, operated at a power station in Slough, UK in 2010.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Thermo-chemical heat storage (TCS) involves some kind of reversible exotherm/endotherm chemical reaction with thermo-chemical materials (TCM). Depending on the reactants, this method can allow for an even higher storage capacity than LHS.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: In one type of TCS, heat is applied to decompose certain molecules. The reaction products are then separated, and mixed again when required, resulting in a release of energy. Some examples are the decomposition of potassium oxide (over a range of 300-800 degrees C, with a heat decomposition of 2.1 MJ/kg), lead oxide (300-350 degrees C, 0.26 MJ/kg) and calcium hydroxide (above 450 degrees C, where the reaction rates can be increased by adding zinc or aluminum). The photochemical decomposition of nitrosyl chloride can also be used and, since it needs photons to occur, works especially well when paired with solar energy.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Adsorption processes also fall into this category. It can be used to not only store thermal energy, but also control air humidity. Zeolites (microporous crystalline alumina-silicates) and silica gels are well suited for this purpose. In hot, humid environments, this technology is often used in combination with lithium chloride to cool water.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The low cost ($200/ton) and high cycle rate (2,000X) of synthetic zeolites such as Linde 13X with water adsorbate has garnered much academic and commercial interest recently for use for thermal energy storage (TES), specifically of low-grade solar and waste heat. Several pilot projects have been funded in the EU from 2000 to the present (2020). The basic concept is to store solar thermal energy as chemical latent energy in the zeolite. Typically, hot dry air from flat plate solar collectors is made to flow through a bed of zeolite such that any water adsorbate present is driven off. Storage can be diurnal, weekly, monthly, or even seasonal depending on the volume of the zeolite and the area of the solar thermal panels. When heat is called for during the night, or sunless hours, or winter, humidified air flows through the zeolite. As the humidity is adsorbed by the zeolite, heat is released to the air and subsequently to the building space. This form of TES, with specific use of zeolites, was first taught by Guerra in 1978. Advantages over molten salts and other high temperature TES include that (1) the temperature required is only the stagnation temperature typical of a solar flat plate thermal collector, and (2) as long as the zeolite is kept dry, the energy is stored indefinitely. Because of the low temperature, and because the energy is stored as latent heat of adsorption, thus eliminating the insulation requirements of a molten salt storage system, costs are significantly lower.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: One example of an experimental storage system based on chemical reaction energy is the salt hydrate technology. The system uses the reaction energy created when salts are hydrated or dehydrated. It works by storing heat in a container containing 50% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. Heat (e.g. from using a solar collector) is stored by evaporating the water in an endothermic reaction. When water is added again, heat is released in an exothermic reaction at 50 °C (120 °F). Current systems operate at 60% efficiency. The system is especially advantageous for seasonal thermal energy storage, because the dried salt can be stored at room temperature for prolonged times, without energy loss. The containers with the dehydrated salt can even be transported to a different location. The system has a higher energy density than heat stored in water and the capacity of the system can be designed to store energy from a few months to years.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: In 2013 the Dutch technology developer TNO presented the results of the MERITS project to store heat in a salt container. The heat, which can be derived from a solar collector on a rooftop, expels the water contained in the salt. When the water is added again, the heat is released, with almost no energy losses. A container with a few cubic meters of salt could store enough of this thermochemical energy to heat a house throughout the winter. In a temperate climate like that of the Netherlands, an average low-energy household requires about 6.7 GJ/winter. To store this energy in water (at a temperature difference of 70 °C), 23 m insulated water storage would be needed, exceeding the storage abilities of most households. Using salt hydrate technology with a storage density of about 1 GJ/m, 4–8 m could be sufficient.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: As of 2016, researchers in several countries are conducting experiments to determine the best type of salt, or salt mixture. Low pressure within the container seems favourable for the energy transport. Especially promising are organic salts, so called ionic liquids. Compared to lithium halide based sorbents they are less problematic in terms of limited global resources, and compared to most other halides and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) they are less corrosive and not negatively affected by CO contaminations.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Storing energy in molecular bonds is being investigated. Energy densities equivalent to lithium-ion batteries have been achieved. This has been done by a DSPEC (dys-sensitized photoelectrosythesis cell). This is a cell that can store energy that has been acquired by solar panels during the day for night-time (or even later) use. It is designed by taking an indication from, well known, natural photosynthesis.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The DSPEC generates hydrogen fuel by making use of the acquired solar energy to split water molecules into its elements. As the result of this split, the hydrogen is isolated and the oxygen is released into the air. This sounds easier than it actually is. Four electrons of the water molecules need to be separated and transported elsewhere. Another difficult part is the process of merging the two separate hydrogen molecules.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The DSPEC consist out of two components: a molecule and a nanoparticle. The molecule is called a chromophore-catalyst assembly which absorbs sunlight and kick starts the catalyst. This catalyst separates the electrons and the water molecules. The nanoparticles are assembled into a thin layer and a single nanoparticle has many chromophore-catalyst on it. The function of this thin layer of nanoparticles is to transfer away the electrons which are separated from the water. This thin layer of nanoparticles is coated by a layer of titanium dioxide. With this coating, the electrons that come free can be transferred more quickly so that hydrogen could be made. This coating is, again, coated with a protective coating that strengthens the connection between the chromophore-catalyst and the nanoparticle.