title: Humongous Entertainment

text: On July 11, 1996, Humongous Entertainment was purchased by GT Interactive for . In November 1997, Humongous Entertainment signed a five-year worldwide deal with Nickelodeon to develop games based on the Nick Jr. series, "Blue's Clues", making it the first and only time that Humongous has developed games based on a licensed character as opposed to its original characters. In November 1999, GT Interactive was acquired by Infogrames and renamed it Infogrames, Inc. In 2000, Humongous Entertainment released a "One-Stop Fun Shop" activity center game for each Junior Adventure series, with the exception of "Spy Fox". The co-founders tried to buy Humongous Entertainment back from Infogrames, Inc., using external funding, but the day of the planned purchase was the day of the dot-com collapse, wherefore the funding was pulled. The founders soon left Humongous, alongside many other key employees, and formed a new studio, Hulabee Entertainment, in 2001. In June 2001, Infogrames, Inc. laid off 82 personnel, over 40% of staff from Humongous Entertainment. In May 2003, after Infogrames, Inc. purchased Hasbro Interactive—which owned the rights to the Atari brand—the company was renamed Atari, Inc. In August 2005, facing financial struggles, Atari, Inc. sold Humongous Entertainment to majority stock holder Infogrames for , under the condition that all titles developed by Humongous Entertainment are released through March 31, 2006. No further game was completed by Humongous Entertainment in the given time, and the company was dissolved the day after.


title: Humongous Entertainment

text: Following the closure of the main Humongous company, Infogrames transitioned all assets and brands to a newly established company, Humongous, Inc., not bound to any agreement from Atari, Inc., which would go on to publish several titles under the Humongous name.


title: Humongous Entertainment

text: Around this time, Humongous signed a deal with Interactive Game Group, LLC., who then signed a US publishing deal with Majesco Entertainment in March 2008 to publish Wii ports of several Humongous titles. A similar publishing deal with Atari Europe was also put into place. Mistic Software developed ports of the first installments of each Junior Adventure series, except "Putt-Putt", taking advantage of the Wii Remote's point-and-click functionality. However, but their availability was greatly limited by a legal conflict concerning their development.


title: Humongous Entertainment

text: Atari continued to release games in the "Backyard Sports" series around this time, under license from Humongous.


title: Humongous Entertainment

text: Finding itself in a difficult financial situation, Infogrames (then renamed Atari, SA), filed bankruptcy for three of its American subsidiaries, Atari, Inc., Atari Interactive and Humongous, Inc. in 2013. As part of the resolution proceedings, the Humongous brand and most game assets were transferred to Tommo on July 19, 2013. Furthermore, the "Backyard Sports" series was acquired by The Evergreen Group, and "MoonBase Commander" by Rebellion Developments. Using the trademark, Tommo re-launched the Humongous.com website in January 2014, and, together with Night Dive Studios, went on to re-release several Humongous Entertainment titles under the Humongous Entertainment label into digital distribution channels such as Steam and port them to smartphones, between April 2014 and August 2015.


title: Humongous Entertainment

text: In 2019, late into the eighth generation of video games, Humongous announced plans to port Junior Adventure games once again to contemporary consoles within the same year, but the said ports never released during that timeframe.


title: Humongous Entertainment

text: On December 27, 2021, Humongous Entertainment announced that "Putt-Putt Travels Through Time" and "" would be released on the Nintendo Switch on January 3, 2022, followed by Switch releases of "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo", "", "", and "Spy Fox in "Dry Cereal"" on February 10. On November 3rd, 2022, PlayStation 4 versions of these games were released on the PlayStation Store.


title: Humongous Entertainment

text: Currently, the Humongous trademark is owned by Hong Kong based company Billionsoft, while Tommo owns the Humongous properties.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: "Heaven Sent" is the eleventh and penultimate episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series "Doctor Who". It was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 November 2015. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: In the episode, the alien time traveller the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) is imprisoned in a waterlocked castle by his people, the Time Lords. A shrouded creature (played by Jami Reid-Quarrell) pursues the Doctor in an attempt to interrogate truths from him. The episode received universal critical acclaim, with many labelling it one of the strongest episodes of the ninth series and of the show overall. Special attention was given to Capaldi's acting, Moffat's writing, and Talalay's direction.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: The Twelfth Doctor is teleported into a glass chamber within an empty castle in the sea. He is pursued by a cloaked veiled figure, which evokes the Doctor’s childhood fears. When the figure corners the Doctor, he admits he is afraid to die. The figure halts and the castle reconfigures itself. The Doctor jumps out of a window into the sea, finding many skulls under the water. The Doctor concludes that the castle is a torture chamber. He takes advantage of the figure's slow reaction time to explore the castle, finding several strange remnants of his predecessors, such as dry replacement clothes, a skull connected to the transportation chamber, and the word "bird" written in dust. The Doctor investigates clues left in the castle, directing him to find Room 12. He delays the figure by alleging knowledge of the Hybrid; the movement of the reconfiguring castle causes the skull to fall into the sea.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Inside Room 12, the Doctor discovers a wall of Azbantium, a mineral harder than diamond, behind which he theorises the TARDIS to be. He realises that "bird" refers to "", a fairytale by the Brothers Grimm in which a shepherd's boy says to an Emperor that a second of eternity will have passed when a bird chisels a diamond mountain down to nothing with its beak. The Doctor temporarily despairs following an epiphany: the prison was made solely for him, and thus the skulls were his own and he has been in the castle for 7000 years. Revitalised by a vision of his dead companion, Clara, the Doctor punches the wall while reciting the fable. The figure mortally injures the Doctor, disabling his regeneration. He crawls back to the teleportation chamber, and burns his body as a catalyst to restart the teleport, aware that due to the resetting rooms, a copy of himself is inside. He then falls to the ground, writes "bird" in the dust, and disintegrates, reduced to the skull which the Doctor had seen earlier. A new Doctor appears, starting the cycle anew.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: After many more cycles, the Doctor finally breaks through the wall. He finds himself outside the Capitol on Gallifrey; the castle was in his confession dial. The Doctor tells a young boy to tell the Time Lords that he is on his way and that he knows what they did. He then proclaims the Hybrid prophesied by the Time Lords is "Me".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: As he walks down the corridor, the Doctor says to his unseen adversary "the Doctor will see you now". The Eleventh Doctor shouts this same line to the Atraxi in "The Eleventh Hour" (2010).


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: The Doctor tells himself "Assume you're going to survive. Always assume that." This is what Clara says of the Doctor in "The Witch's Familiar": "he always assumes he's going to win. He always knows there's a way to survive".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: The Doctor confesses that he ran from Gallifrey because he was scared, and that the pretense of being bored was a lie. Originally, in "The War Games" (1969), the Second Doctor admitted to his companions that "Well, I was bored".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Once he arrives on Gallifrey, the Doctor tells the young boy to announce that he "came the long way around", finally finishing the objective set by the Eleventh Doctor in "The Day of the Doctor" (2013) saying that he was going "home, the long way around".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Throughout the episode, the Doctor mentions the "hybrid", echoing a prophecy related by Davros in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar" – two great warrior races, speculated to be the Time Lords and the Daleks, would merge to become a "hybrid". "Hell Bent" clarifies that the Doctor's declaration that the hybrid is "Me" expresses his belief that it is Ashildr, who became a human-Mire hybrid in "The Girl Who Died" and later adopted the name Me.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: This episode primarily features the Doctor, with the non-speaking Veil portrayed by movement artist Jami Reid-Quarrell (who also appeared as Colony Sarff in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar" earlier in the series). Former companion Clara (Jenna Coleman) and an uncredited Gallifreyan child also make brief appearances.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Before series 8 began, Moffat promised a cliffhanger for series 9, and teased in "Doctor Who Magazine" Issue 475, "I've figured out the cliffhanger to the penultimate episode of series 9. And it's a whopper. Ohh, I don't think you'll see this coming!"


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: The read through took place on 18 June 2015 and filming began on 24 June 2015. Filming for the castle interior scenes took place in Cardiff Castle and Caerphilly Castle, in addition to constructed sets.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: The episode was watched by 4.51 million viewers in the UK overnight, a 20.7% audience share; the consolidated figures were 6.19 million viewers with a 24.9% share. It received an Appreciation Index score of 80.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: "Heaven Sent" received universal critical acclaim, with the majority of critics declaring it the greatest episode of the ninth series, and possibly one of the greatest episodes in the show's run. Many instances of extremely high praise were aimed towards Steven Moffat's script and Rachel Talalay's direction. Peter Capaldi's performance received universal acclaim. The episode currently holds a score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 9.8, by far the highest average score of the series. The site's consensus reads "Peter Capaldi turns in a one-man command performance in this episode's exploration of grief, and a surprise turn of events sets up an explosive season finale".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Patrick Mulkern of "Radio Times" awarded the episode a perfect five star rating, saying that "Peter Capaldi's one-man show is an instant classic". He continued "This is Peter Capaldi's hour and he has earned it...but this brilliant, bold, extended episode is a one-man show – a tour de force from the magnificent Capaldi. This year he has made the role his own" and said that the episode's structure "works perfectly without ever seeming contrived". He further stated that "[Steven Moffat] has structured the narrative with his trademark intricacy. Capaldi plays it to perfection – in the moment, every moment. Rachel Talalay steeps the production in atmosphere and sustains the momentum right until the final revelations". Calling the episode a "mind-bending masterpiece", Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy stated that it was also "one of the most surreal episodes to date". He further stated "Writer Steven Moffat cleverly subverts the expectation that this'll be a low-budget escapade, with a surplus of Capaldi awkwardly expressing his inner thoughts aloud. There's plenty of the Doctor 'talking to himself', true enough, but there's always a reason", before closing his review by saying "'Heaven Sent' is brilliant, but it's also about as far from big, broad, family-friendly entertainment as you can get. The show's been obtuse and a little odd before, but nothing quite like this, and its rejection of the standard Doctor Who trappings might be too much for some. But if you're willing to see past that and embrace the weirdness, then you'll end up captivated. Because this is demanding and intelligent science-fiction, the likes of which BBC One should be commended for airing".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A', for the fifth time this season, writing "This season has been a remarkable achievement for the show, and, pending next week's finale, it's got a real chance to go down as the best season of the revival, topping even Matt Smith's debut in season five. And hey, maybe "Hell Bent" will be the perfect capper to this season, or maybe it won't. But the genius of the construction of this season's endgame is that "Hell Bent" could be an unmitigated disaster and it still wouldn't really undo the genius of "Heaven Sent" or "Face The Raven" before it." Mark Rozeman of "Paste Magazine" also awarded the episode a perfect score (10.0), labeling it "a masterpiece of the highest order", whilst Ian Berriman of "SFX Magazine" also awarded full marks, saying "Heaven Sent stands as the best episode of the season so far: madly surreal, ingeniously baffling, immensely creepy and downright gruelling in its latter stages, with a tremendously impactful payoff".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Awarding the episode a score of 9.5, deemed "amazing" and the highest of the series, Scott Collura of IGN particularly praised the episode's conclusion by saying "It's a thrilling, brilliant twist to this episode that sends the whole affair cascading into a barrage of images and sounds that won't soon be forgotten. The realization that the sea of skulls is actually a sea of Doctor skulls while the gentle guitar-driven score picks up and broadens beautifully is amazing". He further praised the "hybrid reveal" as well as Capaldi's performance, and closed his review by saying "A great episode of Doctor Who that serves to bring this mostly excellent season towards its finale, "Heaven Sent" features a breathtaking one-man show from Peter Capaldi and a twist-ending that makes this one of the best episodes of the modern series' run". Referring to it as "an epic one man show", Tim Liew of "Metro" also acclaimed the episode, saying that he "loved it". He particularly praised Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi, saying "Steven Moffat takes a bold step by stripping his story back to its bare bones and putting the burden squarely on Peter Capaldi's shoulders. And Capaldi delivers 100%, carrying every scene and showing every facet of his Doctor. It's a beautifully textured performance, underpinned by a superb new musical score from series composer Murray Gold. Many fans, myself included, had initial doubts over whether Capaldi could succeed as the Doctor. If there were any remaining concerns, this episode surely puts them to rest". He also praised the episode's structure, saying "As a story, the episode builds slowly, making a virtue of the Veil's slow-moving gait with a knowing wink about all those enemies who the Doctor is always outrunning. But it's only in the closing minutes that the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and the episode's epic scale is finally revealed".


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: In 2016 "Heaven Sent" received a nomination for Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form). "Heaven Sent" is also the first episode of "Doctor Who" to be submitted for nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award, due to BBC America being one of the series' co-producers. The episode was submitted to support Capaldi for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Moffat for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, and Talalay for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, in addition to several other Creative Arts Emmys.


title: Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

text: Selected pieces of score from this episode, as composed by Murray Gold, comprise the entire third disc of the ninth series' 4-CD soundtrack, which was released on 27 April 2018 by Silva Screen Records.


title: Hutsuls

text: The Hutsuls (sometimes the spelling variant: Gutsuls; ; ; ) are an ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). They have often been officially and administratively designated as a subgroup of Ukrainians and are largely regarded as constituting a broader Ukrainian ethnic group.


title: Hutsuls

text: The origin of the name "Hutsul" is uncertain. The most common derivations are from the Romanian word for "outlaw" (cf. Rom. "hoț"–"thief", "hoțul"–"the thief"), and the Slavic "kochul" (Ukr. "kochovyk"–"nomad") which is a reference to the semi-nomadic shepherd lifestyle or the inhabitants who fled into the mountains after the Mongol invasion. Other proposed derivations include from the Turkic tribe of the Utsians or Uzians, and even to the name of the Moravian Grand Duke Hetsyla, among others. As the name is first attested in 1816, it is considered to be of recent origin and as an exonym, used by neighboring groups and not Hutsuls themselves, although some have embraced it. The region inhabited by Hutsuls is named as Hutsulshchyna. Their name is also found in the name of Hutsul Alps, Hutsul Beskyd, Hutsulshchyna National Park, and National Museum of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttya Folk Art.


title: Hutsuls

text: Hutsuls inhabit areas situated between the south-east of those inhabited by the Boykos, down to the northern part of the Romanian segment of the Carpathians. Several hypotheses account for the origin of the Hutsuls, however, like all the Rusyns, they most probably have a diverse ethnogenetic origin. It is generally considered to be descendants of the White Croats, a Slavic tribe that inhabited the area, also Tivertsi, and possibly Ulichs who had to leave their previous home near the Southern Bug river under pressure from the Pechenegs. There is also considered a relation to Vlach shepherds who later immigrated from Transylvania, because of which some scholars like Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga argued that "huțuli" or "huțani" are denationalized Vlachs / Romanians.


title: Hutsuls

text: Hutsul is considered to be a dialect of Western Ukrainian (with some Polish influences) along with Pokuttia-Bukovina dialect and the dialects of the Lemkos and Boykos.


title: Hutsuls

text: Since the annexation of western Ukraine regions, including Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi oblast as well as Transcarpathia by the Soviet Union, compulsory education has been conducted only in standardized literary Ukrainian. In recent years there have been grassroots efforts to keep the traditional Hutsul dialect alive.


title: Hutsuls

text: Traditional Hutsul culture is often represented by the colorful and intricate craftsmanship of their clothing, sculpture, architecture, woodworking, metalworking (especially in brass), rug weaving, pottery, and egg decorating ("see pysanka"). Along with other Hutsul traditions, as well as their songs and dances, this culture is often celebrated and highlighted by the different countries that Hutsuls inhabit.


title: Hutsuls

text: Ukrainian Hutsul culture bears a resemblance to neighboring cultures of western and southwestern Ukraine, particularly Lemkos and Boykos. These groups also share similarities with other Slavic highlander peoples, such as the Gorals in Poland and Slovakia. Similarities have also been noted with some Vlach cultures such as the Moravian Wallachians in the Czech Republic, as well as some cultures in Romania. Most Hutsuls belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.


title: Hutsuls

text: Hutsul society was traditionally based on forestry and logging, as well as cattle and sheep breeding; the Hutsuls are credited with having created the breed of horse known as the Hucul pony. One of the main attributes of Hutsuls' is their Shepherd's axe (bartka), a small axe with a long handle that is still used to this day for chopping wood, as a cane, for fighting and traditional ceremonies. They would often be intricately decorated with traditional wood carving designs and passed on from generation to generation especially upon marriage. They use unique musical instruments, including the "trembita" "(trâmbiţa)", a type of alpenhorn, as well multiple varieties of the fife, or "sopilka", that are used to create unique folk melodies and rhythms. Also frequently used are the "duda" (bagpipe), the "drymba" (Jew's harp), and the "tsymbaly" (hammered dulcimer).


title: Hutsuls

text: The Hutsuls served as an inspiration for many artists, such as writers Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Vasyl Stefanyk, Marko Cheremshyna, Mihail Sadoveanu and Stanisław Vincenz, and painters such as Kazimierz Sichulski and Teodor Axentowicz—famous for his portraits and subtle scenes of Hutsul life—and Halyna Zubchenko. Sergei Parajanov's 1965 film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" ("Тіні забутих предків"), which is based on the book by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, portrays scenes of traditional Hutsul life. Composer Ludmila Anatolievna Yaroshevskaya composed a work for piano based on Hutsul folk music ("Fantasy on Hutsul Themes").


title: Hutsuls

text: Every summer, the village of Sheshory in Ukraine hosts a three-day international festival of folk music and art. Two Hutsul-related museums are located in Kolomyia, Ukraine: the Pysanky museum and the Museum of Hutsul and Pokuttya Folk Art. Traditional Hutsul sounds and moves were used by the Ukrainian winner of the 2004 Eurovision song contest, Ruslana Lyzhychko.


title: Lunar resources

text: The Moon bears substantial natural resources which could be exploited in the future. Potential lunar resources may encompass processable materials such as volatiles and minerals, along with geologic structures such as lava tubes that together, might enable lunar habitation. The use of resources on the Moon may provide a means of reducing the cost and risk of lunar exploration and beyond.


title: Lunar resources

text: Insights about lunar resources gained from orbit and sample-return missions have greatly enhanced the understanding of the potential for in situ resource utilization (ISRU) at the Moon, but that knowledge is not yet sufficient to fully justify the commitment of large financial resources to implement an ISRU-based campaign. The determination of resource availability will drive the selection of sites for human settlement.


title: Lunar resources

text: Lunar materials could facilitate continued exploration of the Moon itself, facilitate scientific and economic activity in the vicinity of both Earth and Moon (so-called cislunar space), or they could be imported to the Earth's surface where they would contribute directly to the global economy. Regolith (lunar soil) is the easiest product to obtain; it can provide radiation and micrometeoroid protection as well as construction and paving material by melting. Oxygen from lunar regolith oxides can be a source for metabolic oxygen and rocket propellant oxidizer. Water ice can provide water for radiation shielding, life-support, oxygen and rocket propellant feedstock. Volatiles from permanently shadowed craters may provide methane (), ammonia (), carbon dioxide () and carbon monoxide (CO). Metals and other elements for local industry may be obtained from the various minerals found in regolith.


title: Lunar resources

text: The Moon is known to be poor in carbon and nitrogen, and rich in metals and in atomic oxygen, but their distribution and concentrations are still unknown. Further lunar exploration will reveal additional concentrations of economically useful materials, and whether or not these will be economically exploitable will depend on the value placed on them and on the energy and infrastructure available to support their extraction. For in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to be applied successfully on the Moon, landing site selection is imperative, as well as identifying suitable surface operations and technologies.


title: Lunar resources

text: Scouting from lunar orbit by a few space agencies is ongoing, and landers and rovers are scouting resources and concentrations "in situ" (see: List of missions to the Moon).


title: Lunar resources

text: Solar power, oxygen, and metals are abundant resources on the Moon. Elements known to be present on the lunar surface include, among others, hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), silicon (Si), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), aluminium (Al), manganese (Mn) and titanium (Ti). Among the more abundant are oxygen, iron and silicon. The atomic oxygen content in the regolith is estimated at 45% by weight.


title: Lunar resources

text: Studies from Apollo 17’s Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment (LACE) show that the moon’s atmosphere contains trace amounts of hydrogen (H), helium (He), argon (Ar), and possibly ammonia (NH), carbon dioxide (CO), and methane (CH). Several processes can explain the presence of an atmosphere on the moon: high energy photons or solar winds reacting with materials on the lunar surface, evaporation of lunar regolith, material deposits from comets and meteoroids, and out-gassing from inside the moon. However, a low concentration of these gases means that the moon’s atmosphere is very thin. The total mass of the moon’s atmosphere is roughly with a surface pressure of 3×10 bar (2×10 torr).


title: Lunar resources

text: Daylight on the Moon lasts approximately two weeks, followed by approximately two weeks of night, while both lunar poles are illuminated almost constantly. The lunar south pole features a region with crater rims exposed to near constant solar illumination, yet the interior of the craters are permanently shaded from sunlight, and retain significant amounts of water ice in their interior. By locating a lunar resource processing facility near the lunar south pole, solar-generated electrical power would allow for nearly constant operation close to water ice sources.


title: Lunar resources

text: Solar cells could be fabricated directly on the lunar soil by a medium-size (~200 kg) rover with the capabilities for heating the regolith, evaporation of the appropriate semiconductor materials for the solar cell structure directly on the regolith substrate, and deposition of metallic contacts and interconnects to finish off a complete solar cell array directly on the ground. This process however requires the importation of potassium fluoride from Earth to purify the necessary materials from regolith.


title: Lunar resources

text: The Kilopower nuclear fission system is being developed for reliable electric power generation that could enable long-duration crewed bases on the Moon, Mars and destinations beyond. This system is ideal for locations on the Moon and Mars where power generation from sunlight is intermittent. Uranium and thorium are both present on the Moon, but due to the high energy density of nuclear fuels, it could be more economical to "import" suitable fuels from Earth rather than producing them "in situ".


title: Lunar resources

text: Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) are another form of nuclear power which use the natural decay of radioisotopes rather than their induced fission. They have been used in space—including on the Moon—for decades. The usual process is to source the suitable substance(s) from Earth, but plutonium-238 or strontium-90 could be produced on the Moon just as well if feedstocks such as spent nuclear fuel are present (either delivered from Earth for processing or produced by local fission reactors). Those RTGs could be used to deliver power independent of available sunlight, for both lunar and non-lunar applications. RTGs do contain harmful toxic and radioactive materials, and this leads to concerns of the unintentional distribution of those materials in the event of an accident. Protests by the general public therefore often focus on the phaseout of RTGs (instead recommending alternative power sources), due to an overestimation of the dangers of radiation.


title: Lunar resources

text: A more theoretical lunar resource are potential "fuels" for nuclear fusion. Helium-3 has received particular media attention as its abundance in lunar regolith is higher than on Earth. However, thus far nuclear fusion has not been employed by humans in a controlled fashion releasing net usable energy (devices like the fusor are net energy consumers while the hydrogen bomb is not a "controlled" fusion reaction). Furthermore, while helium-3 is required for one possible pathway of nuclear fusion, others instead rely on nuclides which are more easily obtained on Earth, such as tritium, lithium or deuterium.


title: Lunar resources

text: The elemental oxygen content in the regolith is estimated at 45% by weight. Oxygen is often found in iron-rich lunar minerals and glasses as iron oxide. Such lunar minerals and glass include ilmenite, olivine, pyroxene, impact glass, and volcanic glass. Various isotopes of oxygen are present on the Moon in the form of O, O, and O. The moon’s limited supply of oxygen may have come from the Earth’s atmosphere since the moon used to be closer to the Earth.


title: Lunar resources

text: At least twenty different possible processes for extracting oxygen from lunar regolith have been described, and all require high energy input: between 2-4 megawatt-years of energy (i.e. 6-12×10 J) to produce 1,000 tons of oxygen. While oxygen extraction from metal oxides also produces useful metals, using water as a feedstock does not. One possible method of producing oxygen from lunar soil requires two steps. The first step involves the reduction of iron oxide with hydrogen gas (H) to form elemental iron (Fe) and water (HO). Water can then be electrolyzed to produce oxygen which can be liquified at low temperatures and stored. The amount of oxygen released depends on the iron oxide abundance in lunar minerals and glass. Oxygen production from lunar soil is a relatively fast process, occurring in a few tens of minutes. In contrast, oxygen extraction from lunar glass requires several hours.


title: Lunar resources

text: Cumulative evidence from several orbiters strongly indicate that water ice is present on the surface at the Moon poles, but mostly on the south pole region. However, results from these datasets are not always correlated. It has been determined that the cumulative area of permanently shadowed lunar surface is 13,361 km in the northern hemisphere and 17,698 km in the southern hemisphere, giving a total area of 31,059 km. The extent to which any or all of these permanently shadowed areas contain water ice and other volatiles is not currently known, so more data is needed about lunar ice deposits, its distribution, concentration, quantity, disposition, depth, geotechnical properties and any other characteristics necessary to design and develop extraction and processing systems. The intentional impact of the LCROSS orbiter into the Cabeus crater was monitored to analyze the resulting debris plume, and it was concluded that the water ice must be in the form of small (< ~10 cm), discrete pieces of ice distributed throughout the regolith, or as thin coating on ice grains. This, coupled with monostatic radar observations, suggest that the water ice present in the permanently shadowed regions of lunar polar craters is unlikely to be present in the form of thick, pure ice deposits.


title: Lunar resources

text: Water may have been delivered to the Moon over geological timescales by the regular bombardment of water-bearing comets, asteroids and meteoroids or continuously produced "in situ" by the hydrogen ions (protons) of the solar wind impacting oxygen-bearing minerals.


title: Lunar resources

text: The lunar south pole features a region with crater rims exposed to near constant solar illumination, where the craters' interior are permanently shaded from sunlight, allowing for natural trapping and collection of water ice that could be mined in the future.


title: Lunar resources

text: Water molecules () can be broken down to its elements, namely hydrogen and oxygen, and form molecular hydrogen () and molecular oxygen () to be used as rocket bi-propellant or produce compounds for metallurgic and chemical production processes. Just the production of propellant, was estimated by a joint panel of industry, government and academic experts, identified a near-term annual demand of 450 metric tons of lunar-derived propellant equating to 2,450 metric tons of processed lunar water, generating US$2.4 billion of revenue annually.


title: Lunar resources

text: Slopes on the lunar surface that face the moon’s poles show a higher concentration of hydrogen. This is because pole facing slopes have less exposure to sunlight that will cause vaporization of hydrogen. Additionally, slopes closer to the moon’s poles show a higher concentration of hydrogen of about 45 ppmw. There are various theories to explain the presence of hydrogen on the moon. Water, which contains hydrogen, could have been deposited on the moon by comets and asteroids. Additionally, solar winds interacting with compounds on the lunar surface may have led to the formation of hydrogen-bearing compounds such as hydroxyl and water. The solar wind implants protons on the regolith, forming a protonated atom, which is a chemical compound of hydrogen (H). Although bound hydrogen is plentiful, questions remain about how much of it diffuses into the subsurface, escapes into space or diffuses into cold traps. Hydrogen would be needed for propellant production, and it has a multitude of industrial uses. For example, hydrogen can be used for the production of oxygen by hydrogen reduction of ilmenite.


title: Lunar resources

text: Iron (Fe) is abundant in all mare basalts (~14-17% per weight) but is mostly locked into silicate minerals (i.e. pyroxene and olivine) and into the oxide mineral ilmenite in the lowlands. Extraction would be quite energy-demanding, but some prominent lunar magnetic anomalies are suspected as being due to surviving Fe-rich meteoritic debris. Only further exploration "in situ" will determine whether or not this interpretation is correct, and how exploitable such meteoritic debris may be. Hematite, a mineral composed of ferric oxide (FeO), has been found on the moon. This mineral is a product of a reaction between iron, oxygen, and liquid water. Oxygen from the Earth’s atmosphere may cause this reaction as indicated by there being more hematite on the side of the moon facing the Earth.


title: Lunar resources

text: Free iron also exists in the regolith (0.5% by weight) naturally alloyed with nickel and cobalt and it can easily be extracted by simple magnets after grinding. This iron dust can be processed to make parts using powder metallurgy techniques, such as additive manufacturing, 3D printing, selective laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), and electron beam melting (EBM).


title: Lunar resources

text: Titanium (Ti) can be alloyed with iron, aluminium, vanadium, and molybdenum, among other elements, to produce strong, lightweight alloys for aerospace. It exists almost entirely in the mineral ilmenite (FeTiO) in the range of 5-8% by weight. Ilmenite minerals also trap hydrogen (protons) from the solar wind, so that processing of ilmenite will also produce hydrogen, a valuable element on the Moon. The vast flood basalts on the northwest nearside (Mare Tranquillitatis) possess some of the highest titanium contents on the Moon, harboring 10 times as much titanium as rocks on Earth do.


title: Lunar resources

text: Aluminum (Al) is found with a concentration in the range of 10-18% by weight, present in a mineral called anorthite (), the calcium endmember of the plagioclase feldspar mineral series. Aluminum is a good electrical conductor, and atomized aluminum powder also makes a good solid rocket fuel when burned with oxygen. Extraction of aluminum would also require breaking down plagioclase (CaAlSiO).


title: Lunar resources

text: Silicon (Si) is an abundant metalloid in all lunar material, with a concentration of about 20% by weight. It is of enormous importance to produce solar panel arrays for the conversion of sunlight into electricity, as well as glass, fiber glass, and a variety of useful ceramics. Achieving a very high purity for use as semi-conductor would be challenging, especially in the lunar environment.


title: Lunar resources

text: Calcium (Ca) is the fourth most abundant element in the lunar highlands, present in anorthite minerals (formula ). Calcium oxides and calcium silicates are not only useful for ceramics, but pure calcium metal is flexible and an excellent electrical conductor in the absence of oxygen. Anorthite is rare on the Earth but abundant on the Moon.


title: Lunar resources

text: Calcium can also be used to fabricate silicon-based solar cells, requiring lunar silicon, iron, titanium oxide, calcium and aluminum.


title: Lunar resources

text: Magnesium (Mg) is present in magmas and in the lunar minerals pyroxene and olivine, so it is suspected that magnesium is more abundant in the lower lunar crust. Magnesium has multiple uses as alloys for aerospace, automotive and electronics.


title: Lunar resources

text: Rare-earth elements are used to manufacture everything from electric or hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, electronic devices and clean energy technologies. Despite their name, rare-earth elements are – with the exception of promethium – relatively plentiful in Earth's crust. However, because of their geochemical properties, rare-earth elements are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated in rare-earth minerals; as a result, economically exploitable ore deposits are less common. Major reserves exist in China, California, India, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, and Malaysia, but China accounts for over 95% of the world's production of rare-earths. (See: Rare earth industry in China.)


title: Lunar resources

text: Although current evidence suggests rare-earth elements are less abundant on the Moon than on Earth, NASA views the mining of rare-earth minerals as a viable lunar resource because they exhibit a wide range of industrially important optical, electrical, magnetic and catalytic properties. KREEP are parts of the lunar surface richer in potassium (the "K" stands for the element symbol) rare earth elements and Phosphorus.


title: Lunar resources

text: By one estimate, the solar wind has deposited more than 1 million tons of helium-3 (He) to the Moon's surface. Materials on the Moon's surface contain helium-3 at concentrations estimated between 1.4 and 15 parts per billion (ppb) in sunlit areas, and may contain concentrations as much as 50 ppb in permanently shadowed regions. For comparison, helium-3 in the Earth's atmosphere occurs at 7.2 parts per trillion (ppt).


title: Lunar resources

text: A number of people since 1986 have proposed to exploit the lunar regolith and use the helium-3 for nuclear fusion. Although as of 2020 functioning experimental nuclear fusion reactors have existed for decades - none of them has yet provided electricity commercially. Because of the low concentrations of helium-3, any mining equipment would need to process extremely large amounts of regolith. By one estimate, over 150 tons of regolith must be processed to obtain of helium 3. China has begun the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program for exploring the Moon and is investigating the prospect of lunar mining, specifically looking for the isotope helium-3 for use as an energy source on Earth. Not all authors think the extraterrestrial extraction of helium-3 is feasible, and even if it was possible to extract helium-3 from the Moon, no fusion reactor design has produced more fusion power output than the electrical power input, defeating the purpose. Another downside is that it is a limited resource that can be exhausted once mined.


title: Lunar resources

text: Carbon (C) would be required for the production of lunar steel, but it is present in lunar regolith in trace amounts (82 ppm), contributed by the solar wind and micrometeorite impacts. Due to extremely low temperatures, permanently shadowed regions of the moon’s poles have cold traps which possibly contain solid carbon dioxide. The presence of carbon is mostly due to solar wind carbon implanted in bulk regolith. Carbon is present in carbon-bearing ices at the lunar poles in concentrations as high as 20% by weight. However, most carbon-bearing ices have a 0-3% by weight carbon concentration. Carbon-bearing compounds that could exist include carbon monoxide (CO), ethylene (CH), carbon dioxide (CO), methanol (CHOH), methane (CH), carbonyl sulfide (OCS), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and toluene (CH). These compounds form roughly 5000 ppm of elemental carbon in soil samples brought back from the moon. These polar regions contain C, H, and O which can serve as propellant sources for methalox spacecraft.


title: Lunar resources

text: Nitrogen (N) was measured from soil samples brought back to Earth, and it exists as trace amounts at less than 5 ppm. It was found as isotopes N, N, and N. As much as 87% of nitrogen found in lunar regolith may come from non-solar (not from the Sun) or from other planets. Comets and meteorites contribute less than ~10% of nitrogen from non-solar sources. Carbon and fixed nitrogen would be required for farming activities within a sealed biosphere.


title: Lunar resources

text: Developing a lunar economy will require a significant amount of infrastructure on the lunar surface, which will rely heavily on In situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies to develop. One of the primary requirements will be to provide construction materials to build habitats, storage bins, landing pads, roads and other infrastructure. Unprocessed lunar soil, also called regolith, may be turned into usable structural components, through techniques such as sintering, hot-pressing, liquification, the cast basalt method, and 3D printing. Glass and glass fiber are straightforward to process on the Moon, and it was found regolith material strengths can be drastically improved by using glass fiber, such as 70% basalt glass fiber and 30% PETG mixture. Successful tests have been performed on Earth using some lunar regolith simulants, including MLS-1 and MLS-2.


title: Lunar resources

text: The lunar soil, although it poses a problem for any mechanical moving parts, can be mixed with carbon nanotubes and epoxies in the construction of telescope mirrors up to 50 meters in diameter. Several craters near the poles are permanently dark and cold, a favorable environment for infrared telescopes.


title: Lunar resources

text: Some proposals suggest to build a lunar base on the surface using modules brought from Earth, and covering them with lunar soil. The lunar soil is composed of a blend of silica and iron-containing compounds that may be fused into a glass-like solid using microwave radiation.


title: Lunar resources

text: The European Space Agency working in 2013 with an independent architectural firm, tested a 3D-printed structure that could be constructed of lunar regolith for use as a Moon base. 3D-printed lunar soil would provide both "radiation and temperature insulation. Inside, a lightweight pressurized inflatable with the same dome shape would be the living environment for the first human Moon settlers."


title: Lunar resources

text: the "Contour Crafting" 3D printing technique. Potential applications of this technology include constructing lunar structures of a material that could consist of up to 90-percent lunar material with only ten percent of the material requiring transport from Earth. NASA is also looking at a different technique that would involve the sintering of lunar dust using low-power (1500 watt) microwave radiation. The lunar material would be bound by heating to , somewhat below the melting point, in order to fuse the nanoparticle dust into a solid block that is ceramic-like, and would not require the transport of a binder material from Earth.


title: Lunar resources

text: There are several models and proposals on how to exploit lunar resources, yet few of them consider sustainability. Long-term planning is required to achieve sustainability and ensure that future generations are not faced with a barren lunar wasteland by wanton practices. Lunar environmental sustainability must also adopt processes that do not use nor yield toxic material, and must minimize waste through recycling loops.


title: Lunar resources

text: Numerous orbiters have mapped the lunar surface composition, including "Clementine", Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), "Artemis" orbiter, SELENE, Lunar Prospector, Chandrayaan, and Chang'e, to name a few, while the Soviet Luna programme and Apollo Program brought lunar samples back to Earth for extensive analyses. As of 2019, a new "Moon race" is ongoing that features prospecting for lunar resources to support crewed bases.


title: Lunar resources

text: In the 21st century, China has taken the lead with the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, which is executing a step-wise approach to incremental technology development and scouting for resources for a crewed base, projected for the 2030s, according to Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency. India's Chandrayaan programme is focused in understanding the lunar water cycle first, and on mapping mineral location and concentrations from orbit and "in situ". Russia's Luna-Glob programme is planning and developing a series of landers, rovers and orbiters for prospecting and science exploration, and to eventually employ in situ resource utilization (ISRU) methods to construct and operate their own crewed lunar base in the 2030s.


title: Lunar resources

text: The US has been studying the Moon for decades, but in 2019 it started to implement the Commercial Lunar Payload Services to support the crewed Artemis program, both aimed at scouting and exploiting lunar resources to facilitate a long-term crewed base on the Moon, and depending on the lessons learned, then move on to a crewed mission to Mars. NASA's lunar "Resource Prospector" rover was planned to prospect for resources on a polar region of the Moon, and it was to be launched in 2022. The mission concept was still in its pre-formulation stage, and a prototype rover was being tested when it was cancelled in April 2018. Its science instruments will be flown instead on several commercial lander missions contracted by NASA's new Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, that aims to focus on testing various lunar ISRU processes by landing several payloads on multiple commercial robotic landers and rovers. The first payload contracts were awarded on February 21, 2019, and will fly on separate missions. The CLPS will inform and support NASA's Artemis program, leading to a crewed lunar outpost for extended stays.


title: Lunar resources

text: A European non-profit organization has called for a global synergistic collaboration between all space agencies and nations instead of a "Moon race"; this proposed collaborative concept is called the Moon Village. Moon Village seeks to create a vision where both international cooperation and the commercialization of space can thrive.


title: Lunar resources

text: Some early private companies like Shackleton Energy Company, Deep Space Industries, Planetoid Mines, Golden Spike Company, Planetary Resources, Astrobotic Technology, and Moon Express are planning private commercial scouting and mining ventures on the Moon.


title: Lunar resources

text: The extensive lunar maria are composed of basaltic lava flows. Their mineralogy is dominated by a combination of five minerals: anorthites (CaAlSiO), orthopyroxenes (), clinopyroxenes (), olivines (), and ilmenite (), all abundant on the Moon. It has been proposed that smelters could process the basaltic lava to break it down into pure calcium, aluminium, oxygen, iron, titanium, magnesium, and silica glass. Raw lunar anorthite could also be used for making fiberglass and other ceramic products. Another proposal envisions the use of fluorine brought from Earth as potassium fluoride to separate the raw materials from the lunar rocks.


title: Lunar resources

text: Although "Luna landers" scattered pennants of the Soviet Union on the Moon, and United States flags were symbolically planted at their landing sites by the Apollo astronauts, no nation claims ownership of any part of the Moon's surface, and the international legal status of mining space resources is unclear and controversial.


title: Lunar resources

text: The five treaties and agreements of international space law cover "non-appropriation of outer space by any one country, arms control, the freedom of exploration, liability for damage caused by space objects, the safety and rescue of spacecraft and astronauts, the prevention of harmful interference with space activities and the environment, the notification and registration of space activities, scientific investigation and the exploitation of natural resources in outer space and the settlement of disputes."


title: Lunar resources

text: Russia, China, and the United States are party to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST), which is the most widely adopted treaty, with 104 parties. The OST treaty offers imprecise guidelines to newer space activities such as lunar and asteroid mining, and it therefore remains under contention whether the extraction of resources falls within the prohibitive language of appropriation or whether the use encompasses the commercial use and exploitation. Although its applicability on exploiting natural resources remains in contention, leading experts generally agree with the position issued in 2015 by the International Institute of Space Law (ISSL) stating that, "in view of the absence of a clear prohibition of the taking of resources in the Outer Space Treaty, one can conclude that the use of space resources is permitted."


title: Lunar resources

text: The 1979 Moon Treaty is a proposed framework of laws to develop a regime of detailed rules and procedures for orderly resource exploitation. This treaty would regulate exploitation of resources if it is "governed by an international regime" of rules (Article 11.5), but there has been no consensus and the precise rules for commercial mining have not been established. The Moon Treaty was ratified by very few nations, and thus suggested to have little to no relevancy in international law. The last attempt to define acceptable detailed rules for exploitation, ended in June 2018, after S. Neil Hosenball, who is the NASA General Counsel and chief US negotiator for the Moon Treaty, decided that negotiation of the mining rules in the Moon Treaty should be delayed until the feasibility of exploitation of lunar resources has been established.


title: Lunar resources

text: Seeking clearer regulatory guidelines, private companies in the US prompted the US government, and legalized space mining in 2015 by introducing the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015. Similar national legislations legalizing extraterrestrial appropriation of resources are now being replicated by other nations, including Luxembourg, Japan, China, India and Russia. This has created an international legal controversy on mining rights for profit. A legal expert stated in 2011 that the international issues "would probably be settled during the normal course of space exploration." In April 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to support moon mining.


title: Cosmos (plant)

text: Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the sunflower family.


title: Cosmos (plant)

text: "Cosmos" are herbaceous perennial plants or annual plants growing tall. The leaves are simple, pinnate, or bipinnate, and arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are produced in a capitulum with a ring of broad ray florets and a center of disc florets; flower color varies noticeably between the different species. The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been selected and named.


title: Cosmos (plant)

text: "Cosmos" species are native to scrub and meadowland in Mexico where most of the species occur. In the United States, some varieties may be found as far north as the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, but the range also extends through Central America to South America as far south as Paraguay. One species, "C. bipinnatus", is naturalized across much of the eastern United States and eastern Canada.


title: Cosmos (plant)

text: It is also widespread over the high eastern plains of South Africa, where it was introduced via contaminated horsefeed during the Anglo-Boer War.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Hinduism is a minority religion in the United States of America, ranking fourth-largest after Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and constituting 1% of the population. The vast majority of American Hindus are immigrants from South Asia (mainly India, some from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, and a minority from Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). There are also Hindus from Southeast Asia (mainly Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia (especially Bali and Java), Canada, the Caribbean (mainly Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica), Oceania (mainly Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand), Africa (mainly Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Réunion, and Seychelles), Europe (mainly United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and France), and the Middle East (mainly the Gulf countries), and other countries and their descendants. Additionally, the United States has number of converts to Hinduism. There are also about 900 ethnic Cham people from Vietnam, one of the few remaining non-Indic Hindus in the world, living in America, 55% of whom are Hindus.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: While there were isolated sojourns by Hindus in the United States during the 19th century, Hindu presence in the United States was extremely limited until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Hindu-Americans hold the highest levels of educational attainment among all religious communities in the United States. This is mostly due to strong US immigration policies that favor educated and highly skilled migrants. Many concepts of Hinduism, such as meditation, karma, ayurveda, reincarnation, and yoga, have entered into mainstream American vernacular. According to Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey of 2009, 24% of Americans believe in reincarnation, a core concept of Hinduism. Furthermore, the Hindu values of vegetarianism and ahimsa are gaining in popularity. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month. Om is a widely chanted mantra across the United States, particularly among millennials and those who practice yoga and subscribe to the New Age philosophy.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: The United States Department of State's 2004 Religious Freedom Report found some 1.5 million adherents of Hinduism, corresponding to 0.50% of the total population. The Hindu population of USA is the world's eighth-largest; 10% of Asian Americans who together account for 5.8% of US population, are followers of the Hindu faith.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Most Hindus in America are immigrants (87%) and 9% are the children of immigrants and 10% of the Hindus are converts. In the 1990s, Buddhist Bhutan expelled or forced to leave most of its Hindu population, one-fifth of the country's population, demanding conformity in religion. More than 90,000 Hindu-Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in the United States.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Many of the Afghan Hindus have also settled in United States with their family, mainly after Soviet–Afghan War and rise of Taliban. Many of them immigrated to United States due to the discrimination faced by them in their homeland. Many of them reflects and influence the Culture of Afghanistan in United States.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: According to the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies newsletter published March 2017, Hindus were the largest minority religion in 92 counties out of the 3143 counties in the country. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Although Hinduism is practiced mainly by immigrants from India and Nepal, a sizable amount of Hindus in United States were converts to Hinduism. According to the Pew research estimates, 9% of the Hindus in United States belong to a non-Asian ethnicity – 4% of the Hindus in United States were White, 2% were Black, 1% Latino and 2% Mixed. Converts to Hinduism include Hollywood actress Julia Roberts, actor Russell Brand etc.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: American Hindus have the highest rates of educational attainment and highest rate of household income among all religious communities, and the lowest divorce rates. This is mostly due to strong US immigration policies that favor educated and highly skilled migrants only.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: According to the 2008 Pew Research, Of all the America adults who said they were raised as Hindus, 80 percent continued to adhere to Hinduism which is the highest retention rate for any religion in America.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Hindus also have relatively high acceptance of homosexuality. 71% of the Hindus in the United States believe that homosexuality should be accepted, which is higher than the general public which is 62%. About 68% of the Hindus supported same-sex marriage, while that of general public is 53%. Hindus in the United States also showed high support for abortion. About 68% of the Hindus supported abortion. About 69% of the Hindus supported strict laws and regulation for the protection of environment and nature.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: According to the Pew Research Center, only 15% of the Americans identified the Vedas as a Hindu religious text. Roughly half of Americans knew that yoga has roots in Hinduism. On the same survey when respondents were asked to rate how warmly they see religious groups on a "feeling thermometer"; Hindus were below Jews, Catholics, and Evangelical Christians; but were above Atheists, and Muslims. The Survey noted that on a scale of 0–100, Hindus had a thermometer reading at 55 compared to 63 for Jews, and Muslims at 49.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: According to a 2014 Pew Research survey, 88% of the American Hindu population believed in God (versus 89% of adults overall). However, only 26% believed that religion is very important in their life. About 51% of the Hindu population reported praying daily.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Though 88% of Hindus believe in God, that is low compared to the 99% of Evangelical Protestants, 96% of Catholics, 99% of Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Anandibai Joshi is believed to be the first Hindu woman to set foot on American soil, arriving in New York in June 1883 at the age of 19. She graduated with an MD from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania on March 11, 1886, becoming the first female of South Asian origin to graduate with a degree in Western medicine from the United States. Joshi returned to India in late 1886 but died within months of her return.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: One of the first major discussions of Hinduism in the United States was Swami Vivekananda's address to the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. He spent two years in the United States, and lectured in several cities including Detroit, Boston, and New York. In 1902 Swami Rama Tirtha visited the US for about two years lecturing on the philosophy of Vedanta. In 1920 Paramahansa Yogananda was India's delegate at the International Congress of Religious Liberals held in Boston.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Prior to 1965, Hindu immigration to the United States was minuscule and isolated, with fewer than fifty thousand Indians immigrating before 1965. It is worth noting that although most of these immigrants were Punjabi Sikhs, they were incorrectly referred to as "Hindoo" by many Americans, as well as in some official immigration documents. The Bellingham Riots in Bellingham, Washington on September 5, 1907, epitomized the low tolerance in the United States for Indians and Hindus. In the 1923 case "United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind", the Supreme Court ruled that Thind and other South Asians were not "free white persons" according to a 1790 federal law that stated that only white immigrants could apply for naturalized citizenship. The Immigration Act of 1924 prohibited the immigration of Asians such as Middle Easterners and Indians. This further prevented Hindus from immigrating to the United States. Despite such events, some people, including professionals, stayed and worked until the Immigration and Nationality Services (INS) Act of 1965 was passed. This opened the doors to Hindu immigrants who wished to work and start families in the United States. It included Hindu preachers as well, who spread awareness of the religion among the people who had little or no contact with it.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Also during the 1960s, Hindu teachers found resonance in the US counter-culture, leading to the formation of a number of Neo-Hindu movements such as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness founded by Swami Prabhupada. People involved in the counter-culture such as Ram Dass, George Harrison, and Allen Ginsberg were influential in the spread of Hinduism in the United States. Ram Dass was a Harvard professor known as Richard Alpert and after being fired from Harvard was receiving a lot of media coverage. He traveled to India and studied under Neem Karoli Baba and came back to the west as a Hindu teacher and changed his name to Ram Dass which means servant of Rama (one of the Hindu gods). A student of Ram Dass, Jeffery Kagel, devoted his life to Hinduism in the sixties and is now making many CDs chanting the sacred mantras or spiritual verses. He has been very successful and is considered the rock star of yoga. George Harrison was a member of The Beatles which in its peak of popularity was receiving more media coverage than any other band in the world. He became a devotee of Swami Prabhupada. George Harrison started to record songs with the words "Hari Krishna" in the lyrics and was widely responsible for popularizing Hinduism in America with the younger generation of the time. Allen Ginsberg, the author of Howl, became a figure in the sixties that was also heavily involved with Hinduism and it was said that he chanted "Om" at The Human Be-in of 1967 for hours on end. Other influential Indians of Hindu faith are Mata Amritanandamayi, Chinmoy and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: A joint session of the United States Congress was opened with a prayer in Sanskrit (with some Hindi and English added), read by Venkatachalapathi Samudrala, in September 2000, to honor the visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The historic gesture was an initiative by Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown who requested the US Congress House Chaplain to invite the Hindu priest from the Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple in Parma, Ohio. Another Hindu prayer was read in the United States Senate on July 12, 2007, by Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain from Nevada. His prayer was interrupted by a couple and their daughter who claimed to be "Christian patriots", which prompted a criticism of candidates in the upcoming presidential election for not criticizing the remarks. In October 2009, President Barack Obama lit a ceremonial Diwali lamp at the White House to symbolize victory of light over darkness. In April 2009, President Obama appointed the first Hindu American, Anju Bhargava, a management consultant and pioneer community builder, to serve as a member of his inaugural Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership. In collaboration with the White House Hindu American Seva Communities was formed to bring the Hindu seva voices to the forefront in the public arena and to bridge the gap between US government and Hindu and Dharmic people and places of worship.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Hindu Americans as well as Hindu Immigrants can be seen adapting their practice and places of worship in accordance with the world around them. Hindu temples in the United States tend to house more than one deity corresponding with a different tradition, unlike those in India which tend to house deities from a single tradition. Not only has yoga entered the American vernacular, but its meaning has shifted. While Hindus in the United States may refer to the practice as a form of meditation that has different forms ("i.e. karma yoga, bhakti yoga, kriya yoga"), it is used in reference to the physical aspect of the word.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: The Vedanta Society was responsible for building the earliest temples in the United States starting in 1905, with the Old Temple in San Francisco, but they were not considered formal temples. The earliest traditional Mandir in the United States is Shiva Murugan Temple in Concord, California and was built in 1957 known as Palanisamy Temple, it is one of the few temples that is run by the public by elected members. The Maha Vallabha Ganapathi Devastanam owned by the Hindu Temple Society of North America in Flushing, New York City was consecrated on July 4, 1977. This temple recently underwent significant expansion and renovation.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Today there are over 1450 Hindu Temples across the United States, spread across the country, with a majority of them situated on the east coast centered around the New York region which alone has over 1135 temples the next largest number being in Texas with 128 Temples and Massachusetts with 127 temples.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Other prominent temples include the Malibu Hindu Temple, built-in 1981 and located in Calabasas, is owned and operated by the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. The temple is near Malibu, California. Apart from these, Swaminarayan temples exist in several cities across the country with a sizable following.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: The oldest Hindu Temple in Texas is the Shree Raseshwari Radha Rani temple at Radha Madhav Dham, Austin. The temple, established by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj is one of the largest Hindu Temple complexes in the Western Hemisphere, and the largest in North America.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Parashakthi Temple in Pontiac, Michigan is a tirtha peetham in the west for Goddess "Shakthi" referred to as the "Great Divine Mother" in Hinduism. The Temple was envisioned by Dr. G Krishna Kumar in a deep meditative kundalini experience of "Adi Shakthi" in 1994.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey is one of the largest stone Hindu temples in the United States.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: The Indian American Cultural Center opened on March 9, 2002, in Merrillville, Northwest Indiana. It was in 2010 on June 18 that the temple was finalized and opened, The Bharatiya Temple of Northwest Indiana. This temple is adjacent to the Cultural Center. In the native way of Hinduism, one would never see different sectarian groups worship in one temple. The Bharatiya Temple is unique in its own way by allowing different sectarian groups to worship together. The Bharatiya Temple has four different Hindu groups as well as a Jain group.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: A Hindu Military Chaplaincy was launched in May 2011; Army Captain Pratima Dharm become the first Hindu to serve as a U.S. military chaplain.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Tulsi Gabbard became the first-ever Hindu to be elected to the US Congress in 2012; she is a Hawaiian of Samoan and European descent, the daughter of a Roman Catholic father and a Hindu mother. Later, in 2016 three more Hindus were elected to Congress: Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna (Rohit Khanna)all of Indian descent. American Hindus are now the third-largest Religious Group in Congress with four members. Among the lawmakers declining to state their religious affiliations were Indian-American Pramila Jayapal elected to the House of Representatives; since her mother is a Hindu, the Hindu American Foundation suggests that Jayapal is also Hindu. In 2019 Padma Kuppa, an Indian politician from Troy Michigan joined the House of Representatives.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: Several organizations have been made to combat discrimination against Hindus in the United States and make changes in the political scene. Some of these organizations include:


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: According to the 2000 census, there were more than 400 Hindus in the United States Virgin Islands (0.4% of the population). According to the 2011 census, there are 528 Hindus in the U.S. Virgin Islands representing 1.9% of the population. The majority reside in the Tortola Island (454) followed by the Virgin Gorda Island (69). Tortola and Virgin Gorda are part of the British Virgin Islands, to which these statistics refer, so are not applicable here. The majority of them are Sindhi Hindus with some Gujaratis.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: As of 2006, there were 3,482 Hindus in Puerto Rico making up 0.09% of the population, according to Religious Intelligence.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: In January 2019, Swaminarayan Temple in Kentucky was vandalized. They sprayed black paint on the deity and also sprayed 'Jesus is the only God' on the walls. The Christian cross was also spray painted on various walls. In February 2015, Hindu temples in Kent and the Seattle Metropolitan area were vandalized, and in April 2015, a Hindu temple in north Texas was vandalized with xenophobic images spray-painted on its walls. The Sri Venkateshwara temple in Pittsburgh was also vandalized and $15000 worth of jewelry was stolen.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: The first Hindu opening prayer offered in the U.S. Congress was by Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala, a priest of Shiva Hindu Temple in Parma, Ohio. This prompted criticism from the Family Research Council (FRC), a conservative Christian group, who protested against it in conservative media, in turn generating responses from their opponents and leading to serious discussions over the role of legislative chaplains in a pluralist society.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: There was controversy over the prayer by Rajan Zed, a Hindu cleric, in United States Senate. It was instigated by the conservative Christian group American Family Association, which cited the loss of the "Judeo-Christian foundations" of the United States as a motive.


title: Hinduism in the United States

text: A controversy in the US state of California concerning the portrayal of Hinduism in history textbooks began in 2005. The Texas-based Vedic Foundation and the American Hindu Education Foundation complained to California's Curriculum Commission, arguing that the coverage in sixth grade history textbooks of Indian history and Hinduism was biased against Hinduism. Points of contention included a textbook's portrayal of the caste system, the Indo-Aryan migration theory, and the status of women in Indian society.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Barrett Conrad Foa (born September 18, 1977) is an American bari-tenor singer, dancer, and actor, with over a decade in Broadway theatre shows. He has played many leading characters in off-Broadway and regional theatre productions. He has appeared in multiple Broadway shows, including "Mamma Mia!" and as Princeton and Rod in "Avenue Q". From 2009 to 2021, he portrayed Eric Beale on the military police procedural "".


title: Barrett Foa

text: Barrett Conrad Foa was born and raised in Manhattan, New York. He is the son of Conrad Foa, an international insurance broker, former musician and Army veteran, and mother Linda Rimanich, an executive, editor and author. Foa's parents are both Manhattan natives, community and civic activists, philanthropists, and organizers in the Democratic party.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Foa graduated from The Dalton School, a prestigious K-12 college preparatory school in New York City. His interest in musical theater developed during his high school years. He was involved with the arts—especially musical theater—as a hobby, “a fun, non-athletic, after-school activity that kept me busy and helped me get a little attention”. Foa's view of the performing arts expanded greatly when he attended Interlochen Center for the Arts—a Northern Michigan prestigious school for music, dance, writing, film, visual arts and theater—during his four summers of high school in the 1990s. According to Foa, his experience at Interlochen “instilled the passion and the drive that I feel toward my craft and my business. Finally, I was surrounded by people who were obsessed with something that no else back home even understood. I got excited and I got voracious. 'Other weirdos like me!' I still carry that hunger inside me to this day.” Over many summers, he had featured parts in plays, musicals, and operettas. Among other skills, he learned to sing in an operatic style for the play "Lend Me a Tenor." As an alumnus, he set up the Barrett Foa Musical Theatre Scholarship to be given annually to a high school camper studying musical theatre.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Foa received his first paid job at the New London Barn Playhouse, a summer stock theatre in New Hampshire, after an audition at StrawHat Audition in 1995, which he thinks was “instrumental in moving his career forward”. He was playing an effeminate version of evil Mordred in "Camelot". He attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (UMich), earning his bachelor in fine arts (BFA) in Musical Theatre in 1999. He kept doing summer stock through his college years and had earned his Equity card by the time he got his bachelor's degree. During his junior year, he studied acting and William Shakespeare for a semester at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. After graduating from college, he returned to New York City.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Foa is gay, and as of July 2020, single. In February 2019, Foa publicly came out as gay on social media.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Barrett's older brother by four years, Justin, is the fifth generation owner and CEO of Foa & Son, an international insurance brokerage firm established in 1861; and is married to Christian theologian and professor Candida Moss. Their mother, Linda, died of breast cancer in June 2016.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Barrett bought an “unconventional architectural” three-story, two bedrooms home in Silver Lake, Los Angeles in 2016, that was just built, for $1.4 million. He listed it for sale in September 2020 at $1.7 million. In May 2019, he bought another home, a newly rehabilitated 1950s single-story three bedroom ranch-style structure in the foothills above L.A.’s Beachwood Canyon for $2.09 million.


title: Barrett Foa

text: In addition to various workshops and readings, Foa donates his time and talents to community causes and non-profit theatre companies and organizations, including Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors' Fund.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Foa has played many leading roles in plays and musicals off-Broadway, and in regional theatre. His regional credits include "Sweet Charity", "The Music Man", "Camelot", "Pirates! The Musical", "The Lady in Question", "Much Ado About Nothing", and "The Fantasticks." His off-Broadway credits, , include "Buyer & Cellar", "The Drunken City", "Godspell", and "Tio Pepe" (aka "Somewhere").


title: Barrett Foa

text: Foa got his break playing Jesus in the 2000 off-Broadway revival of the musical "Godspell" for the 30th anniversary. He is on the cast album as well. His Broadway theatre debut was in 2001 as a cast member in the original production of "Mamma Mia!", a musical based on 22 pop songs of ABBA. After months with the show, Foa left to accept a three-month job at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California, where he created the lead role in a musical called "Kept" with music by Henry Kreiger and lyrics by Bill Russell.


title: Barrett Foa

text: After playing Matt in "The Fantasticks" at The Muny in St. Louis, Foa was picked to play Claudio in a dual production of "Much Ado About Nothing" at Hartford Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. In 2003 Foa was in the Cupid and Psyche-inspired four person, Off-broadway show of the same name which was also an updated Greek mythology and comedy. He was also in the musical "Camelot" as the evil Mordred portrayed with a thick Scottish burr who is a punk bastard.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Foa has performed on Broadway hundreds of times over a ten-year span; in the mid-2000s as Princeton and Rod in "Avenue Q", and then was offered the role of Leaf Coneybear in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". He was the first actor cast in "Avenue Q" who had not been a puppeteer first, “It was a bit of a scary experience going into a room full of puppeteers and saying: ‘I'm going to be your new lead.’ They put me into an intensive two-day course and I proved at the audition I could fit in with everyone else. I got to be the understudy for a year”. He took over a lead role in "Avenue Q" in 2005, and in 2006, a lead in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."


title: Barrett Foa

text: He played his last performance as Frederic in "Pirates!" an updated version of "The Pirates of Penzance", on July 8, 2007, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. He played Karel in "The Lady In Question", a play by and starring Charles Busch from August 14 through September 2, 2007.


title: Barrett Foa

text: From March 13 to April 20, 2008, he played Eddie in "The Drunken City" at Playwrights Horizons. He also played Tu-Ping in a workshop presentation of "The Nightingale" with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater at the New York Theatre Workshop directed by James Lapine.


title: Barrett Foa

text: In May 2008, he played Jordy in a workshop of "Giant", a new musical with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by Sybille Pearson, based on the Edna Ferber novel and the movie with Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean.


title: Barrett Foa

text: He had established himself on Broadway, and then took some friends’ advice and moved to Los Angeles in the late 2000s to pursue television work. He soon picked up cameo and supporting roles in "Numb3rs", "The Closer", and HBO's "Entourage".


title: Barrett Foa

text: From 2009 to 2021, Foa has portrayed Eric Beale, a computer, and technology “wizard” on the military police procedural show about the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, "". It was the first spin-off of "NCIS", at the time the second most popular show in the country. The show is a procedural crime drama, but coupled with a “kind of a workplace comedy going on”. He auditioned for an operational psychologist character but the producers wrote the Beale part for him instead. It was his first stable job in his life with a ten-months a year, 9-5p schedule. His recurring role in "NCIS: Los Angeles" was upgraded to a series regular in the middle of the first season after twelve episodes. In April 2011 his character, in a series first, switched from his station in the operations center—and his casual surf wear—to do field work including using a gun. In May 2021, after the season finale of "NCIS: LA", Foa announced that he is letting go from the series after twelve seasons.


title: Barrett Foa

text: Foa continues to do live performing in addition to his television work, “I'm used to having a live connection with an audience on a stage, and also after the show. ... There's more of an immediate personal touch.” In January 2011, Foa headlined the musical stage show "Sincerely, John Hughes", a tribute to the films and soundtracks of film director John Hughes. Foa is co-writer, producer and star of "For The Record: John Hughes," a live musical event featuring scenes and songs from the movies of the 1980s film director; it played multiple sold-out runs in LA and NYC.


title: Barrett Foa

text: In Summer 2012 he bought a $1.4 million two-bedroom “architectural residence” above the Sunset Strip, he sold it a year later for almost $1.7 million.


title: Barrett Foa

text: In July 2013, Foa played Harold Hill, the lead in the musical "The Music Man", staged by the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. From May to August 2014, Foa played the lead in Jonathan Tolins’ one-man off-Broadway comedy "Buyer & Cellar" about an actor who manages a basement mall in Barbra Streisand's home. Her Malibu home's basement has a mall of quaint shops, “purely for her own amusement” built to house her extensive collections.


title: Barrett Foa

text: For "NCIS: Los Angeles"’ (2015-6), Foa's character, usually seen at headquarters, is trained for field work, including weapons handling. In May 2016 Foa bought a three-story, two-bedroom contemporary home in Silver Lake for $1.35 million.


title: Barrett Foa

text: In early 2019, Foa did a guest-arc cameo on "Will & Grace" as Will's love interest—and fellow teacher. In May 2019 he bought a $2.1 million 1950s three-bedroom ranch-style home in the foothills above Beachwood Canyon.


title: Barrett Foa

text: In 2019 he was given a leave of absence from "NCIS" so he did not have to commute from St. Louis, Missouri where he was playing Prior Walter, the lead in Tony Kushner's two-act, seven-hour play "Angels in America". In February 2020 Foa led a cabaret benefit night, “Barrett Foa Has Friends!”, for the LA-based PAWS which aids people with chronic diseases care for their pets.


title: Sahasrara

text: Sahasrara (, IAST: , , with many alternative names and spellings) or the crown chakra is considered the seventh primary chakra in some yoga traditions.


title: Sahasrara

text: The Sahasrara is described in a few medieval hatha yoga texts including the "Śivasaṃhitā" and the "Tirumantiram", but not within the Paścimāmnāya and Nath traditions; the "Kubjikamatatantra" describes only the six lower chakras. The scriptures vary in the position of the Sahasrara; the "Siva Samhita" states that it is beyond the body, whereas others place it at the fontanelle or brahmarandhra on the top of the head where the soul leaves the body at death.


title: Sahasrara

text: The Sahasrara is described as a lotus flower with 1,000 petals of different colors. These are arranged in 20 layers, each with approximately 50 petals. The pericarp is golden and within it a circular moon region is inscribed with a luminous triangle, which can be either upward- or downward-pointing.


title: Sahasrara

text: Often referred to as a "thousand-petaled lotus", it is said to be the most subtle chakra in the system, relating to pure consciousness, and it is from this chakra that all the other chakras emanate. When a yogi is able to raise their kundalini (energy of consciousness) up to this point, the state of Nirvikalpa Samādhi is experienced.


title: Sahasrara

text: In some versions of the subtle body, there are actually several chakras, which are all closely related, at the top of the head. Rising from Ajna, we have the Manas chakra on the forehead, which is closely associated with Ajna. Above Manas there are Bindu Visarga at the back of the head; Mahanada; Nirvana, which is located on the crown; Guru; and the Sahasrara proper, located above the crown.


title: Sahasrara

text: The Bindu Visarga is at the back of the head, at the point where many Brahmins keep a tuft of hair. It is symbolized by a crescent moon on a moonlit night, with a point or bindu above it. This is the white bindu, with which yogis try to unite the red bindu below. It is said to be the point through which the soul enters the body, creating the chakras as it descends and terminating in the coiled kundalini energy at the base of the spine. It is often described as the source of the divine nectar, or amrita, though this is sometimes said to come from either ajña chakra or lalita chakra. This nectar falls down into the digestive fire (samana) where it is burnt up. The preservation of this nectar is known as "urdhva retas" (literally: upward semen). The white drop is associated with the essence of semen, while the red bindu is associated with menstrual fluid.


title: Sahasrara

text: This chakra is sometimes known as the Indu, Chandra, or Soma Chakra. In other descriptions, it is located on the forehead - white, with 16 petals - corresponding to the vrittis of mercy, gentleness, patience, non-attachment, control, excellent-qualities, joyous mood, deep spiritual love, humility, reflection, restfulness, seriousness, effort, controlled emotion, magnanimity and concentration.


title: Sahasrara

text: The name of this chakra means "Great Sound", and it is in the shape of a plough. It represents the primal sound from which emanates all of creation.


title: Sahasrara

text: This chakra is located on the crown of the head. It is white in color and possesses 100 white petals. It marks the end of the sushumna central channel. It is responsible for different levels of concentration: dharana, dhyana and savikalpa samadhi.


title: Sahasrara

text: The Guru Chakra is located above the head, just below Sahasrara proper. It is white, with 12 white petals, upon which is written "guru". It contains a circular moon region, within which is a downward pointing triangle containing a jeweled altar, with the crescent moon below and circular bindu above. Inside the bindu is the seat, near which are the gurus footstools, upon which are the gurus feet.


title: Sahasrara

text: This position is considered very important in Tibetan tantric practice of deity yoga, where the guru or deity is often visualized as above the crown, bestowing blessings below (for example in the Vajrasattva purification meditation).


title: Sahasrara

text: Within Sahasrara, there are yet more levels of organization. Within the triangle begins a series of ever higher levels of consciousness: Ama-Kala, the First Ring of Visarga, Nirvana-Kala, and Nirvana Shakti, which contains the Second Ring of Visarga. From here, Kundalini becomes Shankhini, with 3-and-a-half coils. The First Coil of Shankhini wraps around the Supreme Bindu, the Second Coil of Shankhini wraps around the Supreme Nada, the Third Coil of Shankhini wraps around Shakti, and the Half-Coil of Shankhini enters into Sakala Shiva, beyond which is Parama Shiva.


title: Sahasrara

text: Visarga is symbolized by two small rings, one of which is inside Ama-Kala, and the other of which is below Supreme Bindu, which represents the transition from samprajnata samadhi to the oneness of asamprajnata samadhi.


title: Sahasrara

text: Here Kundalini absorbs even the experience of samadhi, through the power of supreme control (Nirodhika-Fire).


title: Sahasrara

text: Here Kundalini passes into the supreme void, which is the experience of asamprajnata or nirvikalpa samadhi, and becomes Shankhini. Shankhini wraps around and absorbs the Supreme Bindu, which is the void; then the Supreme Nada; then Shakti; and then unites with and absorbs Sakala Shiva; before finally being absorbed into Parama Shiva, which is the final stage of nirvikalpa samadhi.


title: Sahasrara

text: Sahasrara or Sahastrar is related to the crown of the head. It is typically associated with the fontanelle and the intersection of the coronal and sagittal sutures of the skull. Various sources will relate it to the pineal gland, hypothalamus or the pituitary gland although these are often given instead as locations of Ajña Chakra.


title: Sahasrara

text: The crown wheel is important within the Anuttarayoga Tantra tradition of Buddhist Vajrayana. It is triangular, with 32 petals or channels that point downwards, and within it resides the white drop or white bodhicitta. Through meditation, the yogi attempts to unite this drop with the red bodhicitta in the navel, and to experience the union of emptiness and bliss.


title: Sahasrara

text: It is very important in the Tantric practice of Phowa, or consciousness transference. At the time of death, a yogi can direct his consciousness up the central channel and out of this wheel in order to be reborn in a Pure Land, where he can carry on his tantric practices, or transfer that consciousness into another body or a corpse, in order to extend life.


title: Sahasrara

text: In the West, it has been noted by many (such as Charles Ponce in his book "Kabbalah".) that Sahasrara expresses a similar archetypal idea to that of Kether, in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which rests at the head of the tree, and represents pure consciousness and union with God.


title: Sahasrara

text: Within the Sufi system of Lataif-e-sitta there is a Lataif called Akhfa, the "most arcane subtlety", which is located on the crown. It is the point of unity where beatific visions of Allah are directly revealed.


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: There has been only one player who has publicly come out as gay or bisexual while being an active player in the National Football League (NFL): Carl Nassib, who revealed himself as gay on June 21, 2021. Six former NFL players have come out publicly after they retired. Michael Sam was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft, and thus became the first publicly gay player drafted in the league, but was released before the start of the regular season. He became the first publicly gay player to play in the Canadian Football League in August 2015.


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: In college football, Division III player Conner Mertens came out as bisexual in January 2014, becoming the first active college football player at any level to publicly come out as bisexual or gay. In August 2014, Arizona State player Chip Sarafin became the first publicly out active Division I player when he came out as gay. In 2017, Scott Frantz publicly came out as gay, joining My-King Johnson as two of the first openly gay players in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Later that same year, Frantz became the first openly gay college football player to play in a game for an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision school. In 2018, Bradley Kim of the Air Force Academy came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay football player to play for any military academy in the United States; open homosexuality was forbidden in the U.S. Armed Forces until 2011. Also in 2018, Division II Wyatt Pertuset of Capital University became the first openly gay college player to score a touchdown. In 2022, Byron Perkins of Hampton University came out as gay, making him the first openly gay football player at any Historically Black College or University.


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: Years earlier in women's football in 2001, Philadelphia Liberty Belles player Alissa Wykes of the National Women's Football Association (NWFA) came out publicly as lesbian.


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: The generally masculine environment that exists in football, along with the hypermasculinity promoted by sportscasters, make it difficult for a player to come out. Heterosexuality is flaunted in NFL locker rooms with the passing of pornographic magazines and videos, and visits to strip clubs. Anti-gay slurs are sometimes used in the locker room. Fear of backlash from employers, teammates and fans has stopped players from coming out.


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: While Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi was known to treat his players roughly in practices and during games, he insisted on unconditional respect for gay players and front office staff. Demanding "Nothing But Acceptance" from players and coaches toward all people, Lombardi would fire a coach or release a player should they insult the sexual orientation of anyone. During his time in Washington, Lombardi's assistant general manager, David Slatterly, was gay, as was PR director Joe Blair, who was described as Lombardi's "right-hand man." According to son Vince Lombardi, Jr., "He saw everyone as equals, and I think having a gay brother (Hal) was a big factor in his approach...I think my father would've felt, 'I hope I've created an atmosphere in the locker room where this would not be an issue at all. And if you do have an issue, the problem will be yours because my locker room will tolerate nothing but acceptance." Upon his arrival in Washington, Lombardi was aware of tight end Jerry Smith's gay sexual orientation. "Lombardi protected and loved Jerry", said former teammate Dave Kopay. Lombardi brought Smith into his office and told him that his sexual orientation would never be an issue as long as he was coaching the Redskins; Smith would be judged solely on his on-the-field performance and contribution to the team's success. Under Lombardi's leadership Smith flourished, becoming an integral part of Lombardi's offense, and was voted a First Team All-Pro for the first time in his career, which was also Lombardi's only season as Redskin head coach. Lombardi invited other gay players to training camp, and would privately hope they would prove they could earn a spot on the team. At the Washington Redskins training camp in 1969, Ray McDonald was a gay player, with sub-par skills, who was trying to maintain his spot on the roster, but this time with Lombardi as the Redskins' new head coach. True to his word, Lombardi told running back coach, George Dickson, "I want you to get on McDonald and work on him and work on him – and if I hear "one" of you people make reference to his manhood, you'll be out of here before your ass hits the ground."


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: Prior to Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, San Francisco 49ers player Chris Culliver on media day during an interview with "The Artie Lange Show", was asked if he thought any gay players were on his team which he replied, "No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do ... Can't be with that sweet stuff." He also opined that any gay players should wait 10 years after retiring before coming out. Culliver received backlash for his comments. Then-Baltimore Ravens player Brendon Ayanbadejo, an advocate for same-sex marriage, estimated that 50 percent of the league agreed with Culliver, 25 percent disagreed, and 25 percent were accepting of everyone even if they were not in complete support of issues such as gay marriage. Culliver later apologized for his "ugly comments" that were "not what I feel in my heart".


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: The new NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2011 contained added protections banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2013, the NFL Rookie Symposium planned for the first time to have speakers on the issue of sexual orientation. That same year, NFL player Chris Kluwe was released by the Minnesota Vikings, which he believed was due to his being outspoken in support of same-sex marriage. He said that special teams coach Mike Priefer in 2012 made homophobic remarks and criticized the player for his views on same-sex marriage, a charge Priefer denied. Kluwe also alleged that head coach Leslie Frazier told him to stop speaking out on same-sex marriage. In December, former teammates on the 1993 Houston Oilers said that at least two key players on the roster were generally known by the team to be gay, and were accepted by the team. Teammate Bubba McDowell said showering with the gay teammates was "no big deal". In 2014, ESPN reported on Michael Sam's showering habits in the St. Louis Rams locker room, but later apologized that it "failed to meet the standards we have set in reporting on LGBT-related topics in sports."


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: NFL player Ryan O'Callaghan came out publicly as gay in 2017; he came out to then-Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli before his NFL career ended in 2011. In 2019 O'Callaghan said, "I think it's safe to say there's at least one on every team who is either gay or bisexual. A lot of guys still see it as potentially having a negative impact on their career."


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: In June of 2021, the NFL tweeted in support of the LGBTQ+ community by advocating for The Trevor Project and matching player Carl Nassib's donation of $100,000 while linking the website for fans to donate as well. Following Nassib officially came out, Morning Consult conducted a survey gaging the likelihood of watching the NFL. The survey was concluded with the result of 1 out of 3 LGBTQ+ adults are more interested in watching the NFL following Nassib coming out. This contributes to the general goal of the LGBTQ+ community of gaining more representation within sports so that more LGBTQ+ athletes feel comfortable to participate.


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: Ahead of Super Bowl LVI, the NFL partnered with GLAAD made history by hosting an event where associates of the NFL were able to mingle with supporters and officials of GLAAD. “LGBTQ athletes need to see more stories of athletes like them, who are supported by their teammates, because so many of them are accepted, just as they are,” GLAAD Deputy President and COO Darra Gordon said in her remarks. “I hope young LGBTQ athletes see posts from tonight and know that they have a rightful place to be out in the NFL, in football, in sports, and at any cultural milestone they aim for.”


title: Homosexuality in American football

text: After NWFA player Alissa Wykes came out as lesbian in the December/January 2002 edition of "Sports Illustrated for Women", the league's owner, Catherine Masters, condemned her for pursuing her own "personal agenda", stating that the league had received "hundreds of phone calls. Gay people were saying it was horrible. Straight people were saying it was great." In 2003, as a panel member at the first National Gay/Lesbian Athletics Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wykes joked that she felt "great empathy for the women on my team who are straight. I mean—a straight female football player?"