title: Glen Taylor

text: Ranked as the richest person in Minnesota, Taylor is listed on the Forbes 400 and his company ranks on the Forbes list of America's Largest Private Companies. In 2020, his net worth was reported by Forbes to be $2.5 billion.


title: Glen Taylor

text: Taylor was born in Springfield, Minnesota, and grew up on a farm in Comfrey, Minnesota. He graduated from Comfrey High School in 1959, and received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, physics and social studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato, in 1962. In 1978 he received an executive MBA from Harvard Business School.


title: Glen Taylor

text: During and after college, Taylor worked at Carlson Wedding Service (later Carlson Craft), a Mankato print shop specializing in formal invitations. In 1975, company owner Bill Carlson wanted to retire, and Taylor offered to pay $2 million over the course of 10 years for the company. The purchase (which he paid off early) formed the basis for the Taylor Corporation, a privately held multinational printing and electronics company with more than 10,000 employees and based in North Mankato, Minnesota. Taylor continues to serve as chairman and CEO.


title: Glen Taylor

text: Taylor also owns Rembrandt Enterprises, a large egg producer, and several thousand acres of farmland across Minnesota and Iowa.


title: Glen Taylor

text: Taylor was a Republican Minnesota State Senator from 1981 to 1990, serving as assistant minority leader from 1983 to 1985 and Minority Leader from 1985 to 1988. He considered himself a member of the party's moderate wing. He resigned in 1990 citing his need to focus more on his business interests.


title: Glen Taylor

text: He strongly considered running for Governor of Minnesota in 1990, but he decided against it due to his divorce. He was appointed as a member of the Minnesota Commission on Reform and Efficiency by fellow Republican and Governor of Minnesota Arne Carlson a year after Taylor left office. He served in that role for three years.


title: Glen Taylor

text: Still an active member of the Republican Party, from 2016 to 2020 Taylor donated $119,100 to Republican candidates and causes.


title: Glen Taylor

text: Taylor purchased majority ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves NBA basketball team in 1994 for a reported $94 million. and purchased the Minnesota Lynx WNBA basketball team in 1999. Taylor was in talks to buy the Minnesota Twins but nothing came of it.


title: Glen Taylor

text: In 2000, he was banned for nearly a year for signing Joe Smith to a secret contract in violation of the league's salary cap rules. Before Donald Sterling, Glen Taylor was the only NBA owner to be suspended for more than a couple of games.


title: Glen Taylor

text: In 2015, Taylor had a falling out with NBA legend Kevin Garnett over a miscommunicated agreement. Garnett had been under the impression that after his retirement from the NBA he would be able to have a minority stake in the team, as he and coach Flip Saunders had talked about the idea when Saunders traded for Garnett; however, the death of Saunders apparently put an end to the idea, and Garnett retired in 2016 after a tense buyout negotiation with Taylor, who Garnett referred to as a "snake". Taylor and Garnett are no longer on speaking terms, and Garnett refuses to have his jersey retired by the Timberwolves after spending 14 seasons of his career there.


title: Glen Taylor

text: In 2017, Taylor purchased the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League (later called NBA G League) and renamed the team the Iowa Wolves as the developmental affiliate of the Timberwolves.


title: Glen Taylor

text: He is a past chairman of the board of governors for the NBA, serving two terms from 2008 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2017.


title: Glen Taylor

text: On April 10, 2021, it was announced that a sale of the Timberwolves was being finalized for approximately $1.5 billion, with former Major League Baseball player Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Marc Lore stepping in as new owners taking effect in 2023. Under the ownership of Taylor, the Wolves made the Conference Finals once but no further.


title: Glen Taylor

text: In 2014, he purchased the "Star Tribune" for about $100 million. He told "MinnPost" that the famously liberal "Star Tribune" would be decidedly less liberal under his watch, but noted that the paper had already been shifting more to the center in recent years.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: The , or nicknamed Nadeshiko Japan (なでしこジャパン), represents Japan in women's association football and is run by the Japan Football Association (JFA). It is the most successful women's national team from the Asian Football Confederation. Its highest ranking in the FIFA Women's World Rankings is 3rd, achieved in December 2011.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Nadeshiko Japan defeated the United States in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, thus claiming their first FIFA Women's World Cup title, becoming the first Asian team to do so and only the fourth women's world champions. It won silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, making it the only Asian team to have three combined medals from international championships. It also won gold medals at the 2014 and 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cups, the 2010 and 2018 Asian Games, and the 2008, 2010, and 2019 EAFF Football Championships.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: During the 1970s, the number of women football players and teams increased in Japan, and teams made up regional leagues in various parts of Japan. In 1977, the Japan team participated its first international tournament, 1977 AFC Women's Championship. But, this Japan team was not a national team, Japan Football Association dispatched club team, FC Jinnan as a Japan team. In 1980, "All-Japan Women's Football Championship" was held. In 1981, Japan Football Association formed first national team for 1981 AFC Women's Championship and Seiki Ichihara managed as first Japan national team manager. The first match against Chinese Taipei on 7 June at this tournament is the first match for Japan national team history. In 1984, national team was formed for the first time in three years for a China expedition, and Takao Orii managed national team.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: In January 1986, Ryohei Suzuki became first full-time manager for national team. In December, Japan won the 2nd place at 1986 AFC Women's Championship. In 1989, the "Japan Women's Football League" (abbreviated to "L. League") was established, and the women's national team qualified for the "1991 FIFA Women's World Cup" in China.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Japan women's national football team attended various championship tournaments such as the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup which had made the national team and the L.League very popular. However, in 1999, Japan failed to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics, and this helped to cause with economic stagnation (Lost Decade) the withdrawal of a series of teams from the L. League. Japanese women's football was on the verge of decline.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: In August 2002, the Japan Football Association appointed Eiji Ueda, who had been coach for the Macau national football team, as the new head coach. Officials expected a revitalization of women's football and planned a team reorganization, aiming for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The team at first went through a losing streak, but Ueda gradually improved the team, and it eventually gained wide support in Japan. In particular, a game against Korea DPR, which decided who would participate in the 2004 Olympics, not only made fans rush to the National Stadium but also was widely watched on TV.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Following the increase in public interest in women's football in Japan, the JFA organized a public contest to select a nickname for the team. "Nadeshiko Japan" was chosen from among about 2,700 entries and was announced on 7 July 2004. "Nadeshiko", a kind of dianthus, comes from the phrase "Yamato Nadeshiko" (大和撫子, "ideal Japanese woman").


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Japan was dropped with Germany, Canada and Argentina during 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. Beginning by a 6–0 thrash to newcomer Argentina, but later Japan fell on 0–3 loss to later champion Germany, and 1–3 to Canada, who later won 4th place.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Again, in 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup held in China, they again faced Germany, Argentina and England. They started with a 2–2 draw over England, before beating Argentina 1–0 after 90'. But a 0–2 loss over reigning champion Germany again eliminated Japan from the group stage. Japan's disappointing campaign through two decisive Women's World Cup would not have expected to lead to a 2011 triumph.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Japan qualified for the finals by finishing third in the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup. After finishing second in their group behind England, Japan beat two-time defending champion and host nation Germany 1–0 in the quarterfinals, before easily defeating Sweden 3–1 to reach the final.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: After the final game finished 2–2 after extra time, Japan beat the United States 3–1 in a penalty shootout, becoming the first Asian team to win the FIFA Women's World Cup, and the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA title. It came right after men's team won the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, marked their most successful year in Japanese football.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Japan qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics by finishing first in the Asian qualifier in September 2011, only 6 weeks after winning the Women's World Cup. At the Olympics, after finishing second in their group behind Sweden, "Nadeshiko Japan" defeated Brazil 2–0 in the quarterfinals, followed by a 2–1 victory over France, whom Nadeshiko had lost to in a friendly match right before the Olympics, to reach the final.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: In a rematch of the World Cup final, Japan was defeated in the Olympic final by a score of 1–2 against the United States, allowing two goals to Carli Lloyd in the 8th and 54th minutes. Yūki Ōgimi scored the lone goal for Japan.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Despite having won a FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011, Japan entered the 2014 Asian Cup having never previously won the tournament. They were drawn with Asia's Queen Australia, host Vietnam and newcomer Jordan. Their first match in the group stage of the tournament resulted in a 2–2 draw against the defending champion Australia. Also in the group stage, Japan upset host Vietnam by a 4–0 win before defeating Jordan with a 7–0 win to finish first with a higher goal difference.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: In the semi-final, Japan beat eight-time champions China 2–1 after 120'. In the final, they met Australia once again and successfully earned a 1–0 win with Azusa Iwashimizu's goal. This marked the first time for Japan to become "Queen of Asia". They became the first Asian team to subsequently win both the FIFA Women's World Cup and AFC Women's Asian Cup. Because of their top placement in the tournament, Japan, Australia, China, South Korea and newcomer Thailand secured their spot at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup to be played in Canada the following year.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Japan, then fourth in the world, was drawn into Group C for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, with tournament debutants Ecuador, Switzerland, and Cameroon. Japan won all three games, securing passage into the Round of 16, where they drew yet another tournament debutant in the Netherlands. Saori Ariyoshi and Mizuho Sakaguchi scored goals for Japan, and they ultimately survived a couple of nervy moments to get into the quarterfinals. Against Australia, Japan once again used their technical possession game to frustrate The Matildas and negate their speed. Mana Iwabuchi notched the only goal of the game three minutes from time to send Japan to the semifinals.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Against England in the semifinals, Nadeshiko Japan was able to survive against the tenacious Lionesses, as the two teams traded goals from the penalty spot (Aya Miyama for Japan, Fara Williams for England). Deadlocked from the 40th minute on, Japan got a truly fortunate break as English centre back Laura Bassett, in trying to clear out a Japan cross, ended up scoring an own-goal at the death. This set up a rematch with the United States from the 2011 Women's World Cup.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: Unfortunately for Japan, the Americans came out flying and scored four goals in the first 16 minutes of the match, with American midfielder Carli Lloyd scoring a hat trick in the process. Yuki Ogimi brought Japan one back in the 27th minute, and an own goal from Julie Johnston halved the American lead, but Tobin Heath put the final touch on the United States' third Women's World Cup victory.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: The following players were named to the squad for the friendlies against England and Spain, to be played on 11 and 15 November 2022, respectively.<ref name="Players/Staffs"></ref>


title: Japan women's national football team

text: The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and longest-running women's international football events and has been nicknamed the "Mini FIFA Women's World Cup."


title: Japan women's national football team

text: The SheBelieves Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's football hosted in the United States.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: The Tournament of Nations was a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's soccer in non-World Cup and non-Olympic years hosted by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in several American cities. The inaugural tournament was held in 2017.


title: Japan women's national football team

text: The 2021 edition would have been a pre-Olympics tournament due to the rescheduling of the Tokyo Olympics. On May 6, 2021, however, the USSF announced that it would no longer hold Tournament of Nations because recent changes in international windows by FIFA made a round-robin tournament unfeasible.


title: Milrinone

text: Milrinone, sold under the brand name Primacor, is a pulmonary vasodilator used in patients who have heart failure. It is a phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitor that works to increase the heart's contractility and decrease pulmonary vascular resistance. Milrinone also works to vasodilate which helps alleviate increased pressures (afterload) on the heart, thus improving its pumping action. While it has been used in people with heart failure for many years, studies suggest that milrinone may exhibit some negative side effects that have caused some debate about its use clinically.


title: Milrinone

text: Overall, milrinone supports ventricular functioning of the heart by decreasing the degradation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and thus increasing phosphorylation levels of many components in the heart that contribute to contractility and heart rate. Milrinone is used as a drug that causes positive inotropy and it will lead to an increased force of contraction. Milrinone use following cardiac surgery has been under some debate because of the potential increase risk of postoperative atrial arrhythmias. However, in the short term milrinone has been deemed beneficial to those experiencing heart failure and an effective therapy to maintain heart function following cardiac surgeries. There is no evidence of any long term beneficial effects on survival. In critically ill patients with evidence of cardiac dysfunction there is limited good quality evidence to recommend its use.


title: Milrinone

text: Milrinone is administered IV only and eliminated unchanged in the urine. Dose adjustment is required for patients with renal impairment.


title: Milrinone

text: People experiencing some forms of heart failure have a significant decrease in the contractile ability of muscle cells in the heart (cardiomyocytes). This impaired contractility occurs through a number of mechanisms. Some of the main problems associated with decreased contractility in those with heart failure are issues arising from imbalances in the concentration of calcium. Calcium permits myosin and actin to interact which allows initiation of contraction within the cardiomyocytes. In those with heart failure there may be a decreased amount of calcium within the cardiomyocytes reducing the available calcium to initiate contraction. When contractility is decreased the amount of blood being pumped out of the heart into circulation is decreased as well. This reduction in cardiac output can cause many systemic implications such as fatigue, syncope and other issues associated with decreased blood flow to peripheral tissues.


title: Milrinone

text: cAMP causes increased activation of protein kinase A (PKA). PKA is an enzyme that phosphorylates many elements of the contractile machinery within the heart cell. In the short term this leads to an increased force of contraction. Phosphodiesterases are enzymes responsible for the breakdown of cAMP. Therefore, when phosphodiesterases lower the level of cAMP in the cell they also lower the active fraction of PKA within the cell and reduce the force of contraction.


title: Milrinone

text: Milrinone is a phosphodiesterase-3 inhibitor. This drug inhibits the action of phosphodiesterase-3 and thus prevents degradation of cAMP. With increased cAMP levels there is an increase in the activation of PKA. This PKA will phosphorylate many components of the cardiomyocyte such as calcium channels and components of the myofilaments. Phosphorylation of calcium channels permits an increase in calcium influx into the cell. This increase in calcium influx results in increased contractility. PKA also phosphorylates potassium channels promoting their action. Potassium channels are responsible for repolarization of the cardiomyocytes therefore increasing the rate at which cells can depolarize and generate contraction. PKA also phosphorylates components on myofilaments allowing actin and myosin to interact more easily and thus increasing contractility and the inotropic state of the heart. Milrinone allows stimulation of cardiac function independently of β-adrenergic receptors which appear to be down-regulated in those with heart failure.


title: Milrinone

text: Milrinone is a commonly used therapy for severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), often in combination with other medications such as sildenafil.


title: Milrinone

text: Targeting PDE3 with optimal doses and timing, milrinone prevents allergic inflammation in HDM-driven models of allergic airway inflammation.


title: Milrinone

text: It can be used in cardiopulmonary bypass cases, as it increases the flow in saphenous grafts and has a beneficiary effect in Left Ventricle fanction.


title: Milrinone

text: Common adverse effects include ventricular arrhythmias (including ventricular ectopy and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia), supraventricular arrhythmias, hypotension, and headache.


title: Milrinone

text: The reaction between 4-methylpyridine and methyl acetate gives 4-pyridyl acetone (4-acetonylpyridine) [6304-16-1] (1). The Knoevenagel condensation type reaction between this and DMF-dimethylacetal [4637-24-5] (2) affords CID:3018775 (3). Then base catalyzed reaction of this with cyanoacetamide (4) completes the synthesis of milrinone (5).


title: DMM.com

text: DMM.com's core business areas include online shopping, rental service and video on demand service. Rental services cover products from CD/DVD to clothes and house wares. Another key business of the company, video on demand service, offers a selection of anime, movies, drama and other online streaming options. Other services provided include solar panel services, charity auctions, online games, online English education service, and 3D printing. Its subsidiary company DMM.com Securities provides forex service to individual investors.


title: Small Engine Repair (film)

text: Small Engine Repair is a 2021 American black comedy drama film written and directed by John Pollono based on Pollono's play of the same name.


title: Small Engine Repair (film)

text: The seemingly casual reunion of three old friends at an out-of-the-way repair shop masks a hidden agenda fueled by the arrival of a privileged young yuppie.


title: Small Engine Repair (film)

text: First announced in January 2019, a film adaptation of the play "Small Engine Repair" was produced early that year. Production began in February 2019 outside of New York City, namely in Yonkers and Tappan, New York. Although, some establishing shots were taken in Manchester, New Hampshire, the city where the film takes place.


title: Small Engine Repair (film)

text: The film was penned and directed by John Pollono and produced by Peter Abrams, Jon Bernthal, Rick Rosenthal, and Noah Rothman. Pollono and Bernthal reprise their roles from the original production and Shea Whigham and Spencer House portray Packie and Chad, respectively. Michael Redfield and Josh Helman, who both starred in the original production, are in the film as new characters. Additionally, Jennifer Pollono, the original costume designer, and Sophie Pollono, her daughter with John Pollono, also have roles in the film.


title: Small Engine Repair (film)

text: The adaptation was slated to premiere in March 2020 as part of the SXSW Festival's Narrative Spotlight. Following the cancellation of the festival that year, the premiere was put on hold. The film instead premiered on the 2020 SXSW Online Festival. "Small Engine Repair" was released in theaters by Vertical Entertainment on September 10, 2021.


title: Small Engine Repair (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 78% approval rating based on 49 reviews with an average rating of 7.2/10.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: The 1995 Okinawa rape incident () occurred on September 4, 1995, when three U.S. servicemen, U.S. Navy Seaman Marcus Gill and U.S. Marines Rodrico Harp and Kendrick Ledet, who were all serving at Camp Hansen on Okinawa, rented a van and kidnapped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl named . They beat her, duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut, and bound her hands. Gill and Harp then raped her, while Ledet claimed he only pretended to do so due to fear of Gill. The incident led to further debate over the continued presence of U.S. forces in Japan. The offenders were tried and convicted in Japanese court by Japanese law, in accordance with the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement. The incident later ignited surge of Anti-American sentiment among Okinawans as well as Japanese across the country.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: After the incident became known, public outrage began, especially over the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement, which gives the U.S. service members a certain measure of extraterritoriality (exemption from jurisdiction of local law) only as it relates to the place the suspects were detained. While the crime was committed away from a U.S. military base, the U.S. initially took the men into custody, on September 6. Although false rumors spread that the suspects were free to roam the base and had been seen eating hamburgers, the suspects were in fact held in a military brig until the Japanese officials charged them with the crime. Despite an immediate request by Japanese law enforcement for custody and eventual trial, the men were only transferred on September 29, after the Japanese had formally indicted them. This delay was in conformity with the Status of Forces agreement, which states, "The custody of an accused member of the United States armed forces or the civilian component over whom Japan is to exercise jurisdiction shall, if he is in the hands of the United States, remain with the United States until he is charged." Although the military drove the suspects to police headquarters in Naha for daily interrogations, the SOFA provision and the delay in transferring the suspects increased the outrage due to the attack, causing surge of Anti-American sentiment among Okinawans and Japanese in general.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution to protest against the actions of the U.S. military. On October 21, a rally was held in Ginowan City to protest the incident and the US military bases. About 85,000 residents participated in the rally, including the Governor of Okinawa Masahide Ota. This was the largest protest in Okinawa since the treaty was signed in 1960. The then governor of Okinawa Masahide Ota even refused to sign the documents required by the US military base.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: As a consequence of the protests regarding jurisdiction, the U.S. made concessions and agreed to consider transferring suspects to the Japanese before an indictment if the severity of the alleged crime warranted it. This agreement was decided at an emergency meeting between U.S. President Bill Clinton and Japanese Premier Ryutaro Hashimoto. The people of Okinawa also placed a full-page advertisement in "The New York Times" decrying the rape and other aspects of the U.S. bases in Okinawa. In 1996, the United States and Japan signed a bilateral agreement to reduce the amount of land on Okinawa covered by U.S. bases by 21 percent—the U.S. military had previously occupied 19 percent of the island.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: U.S. Navy Admiral Richard C. Macke was the commander of United States Pacific Command at the time of the attack. At a press conference during November 1995, Macke said of the men's actions: "I think it was absolutely stupid. I have said several times: for the price they paid to rent the car [used in the crime], they could have had a girl <nowiki>[</nowiki>prostitute<nowiki>]</nowiki>." These remarks were condemned as insensitive, and Macke was dismissed from his post and forced into early retirement. He was also reduced in rank to rear admiral (two-star) from full admiral (four-star), which reduced his pension from US$7,384/month to US$5,903/month.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: Gill pleaded guilty to the rape, and the other two men pleaded guilty to conspiracy. The trial concluded in March 1996.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentences for the men, 10 years each. The judge sentenced Gill and Harp to seven years' imprisonment; Ledet received six and a half years. Their families also paid monetary reparation to the family of the victim, a common practice in Japan.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: The three men served prison terms in Japanese prisons and were released during 2003 and then given Other Than Honorable discharge from the military. After release, Rodrico Harp decried prison conditions in Japan and said that the electronics assembly prison labor he was forced to do amounted to slave labor.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: Ledet, who had claimed he did not rape the girl, died in 2006 in an apparent murder–suicide in the United States. He was found in the third-floor apartment of Lauren Cooper, a junior Kennesaw State University student and acquaintance whom he had apparently raped and murdered by strangulation. He then ended his own life by using a knife to slice open his veins at the elbows.


title: 1995 Okinawa rape incident

text: During December 2011 then-Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa was the subject of a censure motion from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party for failing to know the details of the rape. This followed his subordinate Satoshi Tanaka speaking with reporters in a tavern and using euphemisms for rape to discuss relocating the US Futenma airbase. Satoshi Tanaka was terminated as director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, and in the cabinet reshuffle of January 13, 2012, Ichikawa was replaced by Naoki Tanaka.


The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was an 80/20 joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to construct and maintain an airborne observatory. NASA awarded the contract for the development of the aircraft, operation of the observatory and management of the American part of the project to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) in 1996. The DSI (Deutsches SOFIA Institut) managed the German parts of the project which were primarily science- and telescope-related. SOFIA's telescope saw first light on May 26, 2010. SOFIA was the successor to the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. During 10-hour, overnight flights, it observed celestial magnetic fields, star-forming regions, comets, nebulae, and the Galactic Center.


title: Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy

text: Science flights have now concluded, after the landing of the 921st and last flight in the early morning of September 29, 2022. The project will continue to work with legacy data for a few years. On December 8, 2022, NASA announced that both SOFIA and the Boeing 747SP used to carry the telescope will be preserved and put on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.


text: SOFIA was based on a Boeing 747SP wide-body aircraft that had been modified to include a large door in the aft fuselage that could be opened in flight to allow a diameter reflecting telescope access to the sky. This telescope was designed for infrared astronomy observations in the stratosphere at altitudes of about . SOFIA's flight capability allowed it to rise above almost all of the water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere, which blocks some infrared wavelengths from reaching the ground. At the aircraft's cruising altitude, 85% of the full infrared range was available. The aircraft could also travel above almost any point on the Earth's surface, allowing observation from the northern and southern hemispheres.


text: Observing flights were flown three or four nights a week. The SOFIA Observatory was based at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center at Palmdale Regional Airport, California, while the SOFIA Science Center was based in Ames Research Center, in Mountain View, California.


text: SOFIA uses a reflector telescope, which has an oversized, diameter primary mirror, as was common with most large infrared telescopes. The optical system uses a Cassegrain reflector design with a parabolic primary mirror and a remotely configurable hyperbolic secondary. In order to fit the telescope into the fuselage, the primary was shaped to an f-number as low as 1.3, while the resulting optical layout has an f-number of 19.7. A flat, tertiary, dichroic mirror was used to deflect the infrared part of the beam to the Nasmyth focus where it can be analyzed. An optical mirror located behind the tertiary mirror was used for a camera guidance system.


text: The telescope looks out of a large door in the port side of the fuselage near the airplane's tail, and initially carried nine instruments for infrared astronomy at wavelengths from 1–655 micrometres (μm) and high-speed optical astronomy at wavelengths from 0.3 to 1.1 μm. The main instruments were the FLITECAM, a near-infrared camera covering 1–5 μm; FORCAST, covering the mid-infrared range of 5–40 μm; and HAWC, which spans the far-infrared in the range 42–210 μm. The other four instruments include an optical photometer and infrared spectrometers with various spectral ranges. SOFIA's telescope was by far the largest ever to be placed in an aircraft. For each mission one interchangeable science instrument will be attached to the telescope. Two groups of general-purpose instruments were available. In addition, an investigator can also design and build a special purpose instrument. On April 17, 2012, two upgrades to HAWC were selected by NASA to increase the field of view with new transition edge sensor bolometer detector arrays and to add the capability of measuring the polarization of dust emission from celestial sources.


text: The open cavity housing the telescope will be exposed to high-speed turbulent winds. In addition, the vibrations and motions of the aircraft introduce observing difficulties. The telescope was designed to be very lightweight, with a honeycomb shape milled into the back of the mirror and polymer composite material used for the telescope assembly.


text: The mount includes a system of bearings in pressurized oil to isolate the instrument from vibration. Tracking was achieved through a system of gyroscopes, high-speed cameras, and magnetic torque motors to compensate for motion, including vibrations from airflow and the aircraft engines. The telescope cabin must be cooled prior to aircraft takeoff to ensure the telescope matches the external temperature to prevent thermally-induced shape changes. Prior to landing the compartment is flooded with nitrogen gas to prevent condensation of moisture on the chilled optics and instruments.


text: DLR was responsible for the entire telescope assembly and design, along with two of the nine scientific instruments used with the telescope; NASA was responsible for the aircraft. The manufacturing of the telescope was subcontracted to the European industry. The telescope was German-made; the primary mirror was cast by Schott AG in Mainz, Germany with lightweight improvements, with grinding and polishing completed by the French company SAGEM-REOSC. The secondary silicon carbide-based mirror mechanism was manufactured by the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM). A reflective surface was applied to the mirror at a facility in Louisiana but the consortium now maintains a mirror coating facility in Moffett Field, allowing for fast recoating of the primary mirror, a process that was expected to be required 1–2 times per year.


text: The SOFIA aircraft was a modified Boeing 747SP widebody (serial number 21441, line number 306; registration N747NA; callsign NASA747). Boeing developed the SP or "Special Performance" version of the 747 for ultra long range flights, modifying the design of the 747-100 by removing sections of the fuselage and heavily modifying others to reduce weight, thus allowing the 747SP to fly higher, faster and farther non-stop than any other 747 model of the time.


text: Boeing assigned serial number 21441 (line number 306) to the airframe that would eventually become SOFIA. The first flight of this aircraft was on April 25, 1977, and Boeing delivered the aircraft to Pan American World Airways on May 6, 1977. The aircraft received its first aircraft registration, N536PA and Pan American placed the aircraft into commercial passenger service. Shortly thereafter, Pan Am named this aircraft in honor of aviator Charles Lindbergh. At the invitation of Pan Am, Lindbergh's widow, Anne, christened the aircraft "Clipper Lindbergh" on May 20, 1977, the 50th anniversary of the beginning of her husband's historic flight from New York to Paris in 1927.


text: United Airlines purchased the plane on February 13, 1986, and the aircraft received a new aircraft registration, N145UA. The aircraft remained in service until December, 1995, when United Airlines placed the aircraft in storage near Las Vegas.


text: On April 30, 1997, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) purchased the aircraft for use as an airborne observatory. On October 27, 1997, NASA purchased the aircraft from USRA. NASA conducted a series of "baseline" flight tests that year, prior to any heavy modification of the aircraft by E-Systems (later Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems then L-3 Communications Integrated Systems of Waco, Texas). To ensure successful modification, Raytheon purchased a section from another 747SP, registration number N141UA, to use as a full-size mock-up.


text: Commencing work in 1998, Raytheon designed and installed a tall (arc length) by wide door in the aft left side of the aircraft's fuselage that can be opened in-flight to give the telescope access to the sky. The telescope was mounted in the aft end of the fuselage behind a pressurized bulkhead. The telescope's focal point is located at a science instruments suite in the pressurized, center section of the fuselage, requiring part of the telescope to pass through the pressure bulkhead. In the center of the aircraft was the mission control and science operations section, while the forward section hosts the education and public outreach area. The open fuselage has no significant influence on the aerodynamics and flight qualities of the airplane.


text: At NASA's invitation, Lindbergh's grandson, Erik Lindbergh, re-christened the aircraft as "Clipper Lindbergh", on May 21, 2007, the 80th anniversary of the completion of Charles Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight.


text: During December 2012 the aircraft received a glass cockpit flight-deck upgrade along with new avionics systems and software updates.


text: On April 28, 2022, the Project announced it was retiring the aircraft as of September 30, 2022. Its 921st and last mission was over the North Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, taking off from Palmdale Regional Airport (ICAO KPMD) and landing there 7 hours and 57 minutes later at 04:41 PDT (11:41 UTC).


text: The first use of an aircraft for performing infrared observations was in 1965 when Gerard P. Kuiper used a NASA Convair 990 to study Venus. Three years later, Frank Low used the Ames Learjet for observations of Jupiter and nebulae. In 1969, planning began for mounting a telescope on an airborne platform. The goal was to perform astronomy from the stratosphere, where there was a much lower optical depth from water-vapor-absorbed infrared radiation. This project, named the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, was dedicated on May 21, 1975. The telescope was instrumental in numerous scientific studies, including the discovery of the ring system around the planet Uranus.


text: The proposal for a larger aircraft-mounted telescope was officially presented in 1984 and called for a Boeing 747 to carry a three-meter telescope. The preliminary system concept was published in 1987 in a "Red Book". It was agreed that Germany would contribute 20% of the total cost and provide the telescope. However, the reunification of Germany and budget cuts at NASA led to a five-year slide in the project. NASA then contracted the work out to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), and in 1996, NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) signed a memorandum of understanding to build and operate SOFIA.


text: The SOFIA telescope's primary mirror was 2.5 meters in diameter and was manufactured of Zerodur, a glass-ceramic composite produced by Schott AG that has almost zero thermal expansion. REOSC, the optical department of the SAGEM Group in France, reduced the weight by milling honeycomb-shaped pockets out of the back. They finished polishing the mirror on December 14, 1999, achieving an accuracy of 8.5 nanometres (nm) over the optical surface. The hyperbola-shaped secondary mirror was made of silicon carbide,


text: During 2002, the main components of the telescope were assembled in Augsburg, Germany. These consisted of the primary mirror assembly, the main optical support and the suspension assembly. After successful integration tests were made to check the system, the components were shipped to Waco, Texas on board an Airbus Beluga aircraft. They arrived on September 4, 2002. SOFIA completed its first ground-based "on-sky" test on August 18–19, 2004 by taking an image of the star Polaris.


text: The project was further delayed in 2001 when three subcontractors tasked with development of the telescope door went out of business in succession. United Airlines also entered bankruptcy protection and withdrew from the project as operator of the aircraft. The telescope was transported from Germany to the United States where it was installed in the airframe in 2004 and initial observations were made from the ground.


text: NASA placed the project "under review" and suspended funding by removing the project from its budget. On June 15, 2006, SOFIA passed the review when NASA concluded that there were no insurmountable technical or programmatic challenges to the continued development of SOFIA.


text: The maiden flight of SOFIA took place on April 26, 2007, at the L-3 Integrated Systems' (L-3 IS) Waco, Texas facility. After a brief test program in Waco to partially expand the flight envelope and perform post-maintenance checks, the aircraft was moved on May 31, 2007, to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The first phase of loads and flight testing was used to check the aircraft characteristics with the external telescope cavity door closed. This phase was successfully completed by January,


text: On December 18, 2009, the SOFIA aircraft performed the first test flight in which the telescope door was fully opened. This phase lasted for two minutes of the 79-minute flight. SOFIA's telescope saw first light on May 26, 2010, returning images showing M82's core and heat from Jupiter's formation escaping through its cloud cover. Initial "routine" science observation flights began in December 2010 and the observatory was slated for full capability by 2014 with about 100 flights per year.


text: Since 2011, SOFIA missions were chosen amongst several proposals. Successful missions were scheduled according to yearly cycles, with the first cycle corresponding to 2013. During each cycle, the aircraft and instruments were shared between a few different missions.


text: The astrophysics decadal survey for the 2020's recommended that NASA end SOFIA operations by 2023. “The survey committee has significant concerns about SOFIA, given its high cost and modest scientific productivity,” the report stated.


text: The primary science objectives of SOFIA were to study the composition of planetary atmospheres and surfaces; to investigate the structure, evolution and composition of comets; to determine the physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium; and to explore the formation of stars and other stellar objects. While SOFIA aircraft operations were managed by NASA Dryden, NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, is home to the SOFIA Science Center which will manage mission planning for the program. On 29 June 2015, the dwarf planet Pluto passed between a distant star and the Earth producing a shadow on the Earth near New Zealand that allowed SOFIA to study the atmosphere of Pluto.


text: In early 2016, SOFIA detected atomic oxygen in the Atmosphere of Mars for the first time in 40 years. In early 2017, its observations of 1 Ceres in the mid-infrared helped determine the large asteroid/dwarf planet was coated with a layer of asteroid dust from other bodies.


text: In July 2017, SOFIA observed a star occultation of the distant Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth while ground based observatories failed this observation, preparing the probe New Horizons visiting this asteroid.


text: Sofia has been used also for Astrobiology missions, focusing amongst other goals on the observation of new planetary systems and the detection of complex molecules.


text: In October 2020, astronomers reported detecting molecular water on the sunlit surface of the moon by several independent spacecraft, including the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).


text: SOFIA was designed from the beginning to support a robust public education and outreach effort that can, during the planned 20-year mission lifetime, directly involve more than a thousand educators of all types — K-12 teachers, science museum and planetarium educators, and public outreach specialists — as partners with the scientist, and reach hundreds of thousands of people across the nation through these educators.


text: The "SOFIA Six" were the first set of educators selected in the United States to participate in SOFIA's AAA "Pilot" program, and flew during the summer of 2011. Germany has a separate application process, but also flew two teachers that summer. Educator teams plus alternates were selected in a highly competitive application process. NASA and DLR (German Space Agency) selected educators who came from a variety of backgrounds, and their institutions included a school for the deaf, an alternative education site (developmentally challenged), highly underserved student populations, rural schools, and a Native American school. Since the "Pilot" cycle the AAA program has flown over 20 teams and was now in its Cycle 5 phase.


title: Trinidad Moruga scorpion

text: The Trinidad Moruga scorpion ("Capsicum chinense") is a chili pepper native to the village of Moruga, Trinidad and Tobago. It is one of the spiciest chilies in the world. In 2012, New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute identified the Trinidad Moruga scorpion as the hottest chili at that time, with heat of 1.2 million Scoville heat units (SHUs). In 2017 according to "Guinness World Records", the hottest pepper was the Carolina Reaper, with 1.6 million SHU.


title: Trinidad Moruga scorpion

text: Paul Bosland, a chili pepper expert and director of the Chile Pepper Institute, said, "You take a bite. It doesn't seem so bad, and then it builds and it builds and it builds. So it is quite nasty."


title: Trinidad Moruga scorpion

text: Aside from the heat, the Trinidad Moruga scorpion has a tender fruit-like flavor, which makes it a sweet-hot combination. The pepper can be grown from seeds in most parts of the world. In North America, the growing season varies regionally from the last spring hard frost to the first fall hard frost. Freezing weather ends the growing season and kills the plant, but otherwise they are perennials which grow all year, slowing in colder weather.


title: California sea lion

text: The California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of California. California sea lions are sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and have a thicker neck, and a protruding sagittal crest. They mainly haul-out on sandy or rocky beaches, but they also frequent manmade environments such as marinas and wharves. California sea lions feed on a number of species of fish and squid, and are preyed on by orcas and great white sharks.


title: California sea lion

text: California sea lions have a polygynous breeding pattern. From May to August, males establish territories and try to attract females with which to mate. Females are free to move in between territories, and are not coerced by males. Mothers nurse their pups in between foraging trips. California sea lions communicate with numerous vocalizations, notably with barks and mother-pup contact calls. Outside their breeding season, California sea lions spend much of their time at sea, but they come to shore to molt.


title: California sea lion

text: California sea lions are particularly intelligent, can be trained to perform various tasks and display limited fear of humans if accustomed to them. Because of this, California sea lions are a popular choice for public display in zoos, circuses and oceanariums, and are trained by the United States Navy for certain military operations. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as Least Concern due to its abundance. To protect fish, the US states of Oregon and Washington engage in annual kill quotas of California sea lions.


title: California sea lion

text: The California sea lion was described by René Primevère Lesson, a French naturalist, in 1828. It is grouped with other sea lions and fur seals in the family Otariidae. Otariids, also known as eared seals, differ from true seals in having external ear flaps, and proportionately larger foreflippers and pectoral muscles. Along with the Galapagos sea lion and the extinct Japanese sea lion, the California sea lion belongs to the genus "Zalophus", which derives from the Greek words "za", meaning "intensive," and "lophus," meaning "crest." This refers to the protruding sagittal crest of the males, which distinguishes members of the genus.


title: California sea lion

text: Traditionally, the Galapagos sea lion and Japanese sea lion were classified as subspecies of the California sea lion. However, a genetic study in 2007 found that all three are in fact separate species. The lineages of the California and Japanese sea lion appear to have split off 2.2 million years ago during the Pliocene. The California sea lion differs from the Galapagos sea lion in its greater sexual dimorphism. The Steller sea lion is the closest extant relative of the "Zalophus" sea lions, being a sister taxon.


title: California sea lion

text: Being sexually dimorphic, California sea lions differ in size, shape, and coloration between the sexes. Males can grow up to long and weigh up to , while females are typically around and weigh up to . Females and juveniles have a tawny brown pelage, although they may be temporarily light gray or silver after molting. The pelage of adult males can be anywhere from light brown to black, but is typically dark brown. The face of adult males may also be light tan in some areas. Pups have a black or dark brown pelage at birth. Although the species has a slender build, adult males have robust necks, chests, and shoulders. Adult males also have a protruding crest which gives them a "high, domed forehead"; it is tufted with white hairs. They also have manes, which are less developed than those of adult male South American and Steller sea lions. Both sexes have long, narrow muzzles.


title: California sea lion

text: As an otariid, the California sea lion relies on its foreflippers to propel itself when swimming. This form of aquatic locomotion, along with its streamlined body, effectively reduces drag underwater. Its foreflipper movement is not continuous; the animal glides in between each stroke. The flexibility of its spine allows the California sea lion to bend its neck backwards far enough to reach its hindflippers. This allows the animal to make dorsal turns and maintain a streamlined posture. When moving on land, the California sea lion is able to turn its hindflippers forward and walk on all fours. It moves the foreflippers in a transverse, rather than a sagittal, fashion. In addition, it relies on movements of its head and neck more than its hindflippers for terrestrial locomotion. California sea lions may travel at speeds of around , and can dive at depths of and for up to 9.9 minutes, though most dives are typically and last less than 3 minutes.


title: California sea lion

text: California sea lions have color vision, though it is limited to the blue-green area of the color spectrum. This is likely an adaptation for living in marine coastal habitats. Sea lions have fairly acute underwater hearing, with a hearing range of 0.4–32 kHz. California sea lions rely on their whiskers or vibrissae for touch and detection of vibrations underwater. Compared to the harbor seal, the California sea lion's vibrissae are smoother and less specialized and thus perform less when following hydrodynamic trails, although they still perform well.


title: California sea lion

text: The California sea lion ranges along the western coast and islands of North America, from southeast Alaska to central Mexico. Mitochondrial DNA sequences in 2009 have identified five distinct California sea lion populations: the U.S. or Pacific Temperate stock, the Western Baja California or Pacific Tropical stock, and the Southern, Central, and Northern Gulf of California stocks. The U.S. stock breeds mainly in the Channel Islands, although some breeding sites may be established in northern California, and females are now commonly found there. The Western Baja California stock mainly breeds near Punta Eugenia and at Isla Santa Margarita. The above-mentioned stocks are separated by the Ensenada Front. The stocks of the Gulf of California live in the shallow waters of the north (Northern stock), the tidal islands near the center (Central stock), and the mouth of the bay (Southern stock). The stock status of the California sea lions at the deep waters of the central bay has not been analyzed.


title: California sea lion

text: Vagrants can reach western north pacific such as on Commander Islands. Although several otariinae have been recorded around the Japanese archipelago in recent years, their exact origins are unclear.


title: California sea lion

text: During the breeding season, California sea lions gather on both sandy and rocky shores. On warm days, they lie closer to the water. At night or in cool weather, they travel farther inland or to higher elevations. Non-breeding individuals may gather at marinas, wharves, or even navigational buoys. California sea lions can also live in fresh water for periods of time, such as near Bonneville Dam, nearly up the Columbia River. In 2004, a healthy California sea lion was found sitting on a road in Merced County, California, almost a hundred miles upstream from the San Francisco Bay and half a mile from the San Joaquin River.


title: California sea lion

text: California sea lions feed on a wide variety of seafood, mainly squid and fish, and sometimes clams. Commonly eaten fish and squid species include salmon, hake, Pacific whiting, anchovy, herring, rockfish, lamprey, dogfish, and market squid. They mostly forage near mainland coastlines, the continental shelf, and seamounts. They may also search along the ocean bottom. California sea lions may eat alone or in small to large groups, depending on the amount of food available. They sometimes cooperate with other predators, such as dolphins, porpoises, and seabirds, when hunting large schools of fish. California sea lions sometimes follow dolphins and exploit their hunting efforts. Adult females feed between from shore. Adult males may forage as far as from shore when water temperatures rise. They also have learned to feed on steelhead and salmon below fish ladders at Bonneville Dam and at other locations where fish must queue in order to pass through dams and locks that block their passage.


title: California sea lion

text: California sea lions are preyed on by orcas and large sharks. At Monterey Bay, California sea lions appear to be the more common food items for transient mammal-eating orcas pods. The California sea lions may respond to the dorsal fin of a killer whale and remain vigilant, even when encountering resident fish-eating pods. California sea lions are also common prey for great white sharks. They have been found with scars made by attacks from both great white sharks and shortfin mako sharks. Sharks attack California sea lions by ambushing them while they are resting at the surface. California sea lions that are attacked in the hindquarters are more likely to survive and make it to the shore.


title: California sea lion

text: California sea lions breed gregariously between May and August, when they arrive at their breeding rookeries. When establishing a territory, the males will try to increase their chances of reproducing by staying on the rookery for as long as possible. During this time, they will fast, relying on a thick layer of fat called blubber for energy. Size and patience allow a male to defend his territory more effectively; the bigger the male, the more blubber he can store and the longer he can wait. A male California sea lion usually keeps his territory for around 27 days. Females have long parturition intervals, and thus the males do not establish their territories until after the females give birth. Most fights occur during this time. After this, the males rely on ritualized displays (vocalizations, head-shaking, stares, bluff lunges, and so on) to maintain their territorial boundaries. Since temperatures can reach over during this time, males must include water within their territories. Some territories are underwater, particularly those near steep cliffs. California sea lions that fail to establish a territory are driven out to sea or gather at a nearby beach.


title: California sea lion

text: Before mating begins, females gather into "milling" groups of 2–20 individuals. The females in these groups will mount each other as well as the males. These groups begin to disintegrate as the females begin to mate. The territorial and mating system of the California sea lion has been described as similar to a lek system, as females appear to choose their mates while moving through different territories. They avoid males that are too aggressive or energetic. Males are usually unable to prevent females from leaving their territories, particularly in water. Mating may occur outside the rookeries, between non-territorial males and females, as the latter move to and from the mating site. In some rookeries, copulation may be monopolized by a few males, while at others, a single male may sire no more than four pups.


title: California sea lion

text: Female California sea lions have a 12-month reproductive cycle, consisting of a 9-month actual gestation and a 3-month delayed implantation of the fertilized egg before giving birth in June or July. Interbirth intervals are particularly long for this species, being 21 days for sea lions off California and more than 30 days for sea lions in the Gulf of California. Females remain with their pups onshore for 10 days and nurse them. After this, females will go on foraging trips lasting as long as three days, returning to nurse their pups for up to a day. Pups left onshore tend to gather in nurseries to socialize and play. When returning from a trip, females call their pups with distinctive calls to which the pups will reply in kind. A mother and pup can distinguish each other's calls from those of other mothers and pups. At first, reunions largely depend on the efforts of the mothers. However, as pups get older, they get more involved in reunions. Older pups may sometimes join their mothers during their foraging trips. Adult male California sea lions play no role in raising pups, but they do take more interest in them than adult males of other otariid species; they have even been observed to help shield swimming pups from predators. Pups are weaned by a year but can continue to suckle for another year.


title: California sea lion

text: California sea lions communicate with a range of vocalizations. The most commonly used one is their characteristic bark. Territorial males are the loudest and most continuous callers, and barks are produced constantly during the peak of the breeding season. California sea lions bark especially rapidly when excited. The barks of territorial and non-territorial males sound similar, although those of the former are deeper. Males may bark when threatening other males or during courtship. The only other vocalization made by territorial males is a "prolonged hoarse grunt sound" made when an individual is startled by a human. This vocalization is also made by groups of non-reproductive males.


title: California sea lion

text: Female California sea lions are less vocal. Their barks, high-pitched and shorter than those made by males, are used in aggressive situations. Other aggressive vocalizations given by females include the "squeal", the "belch", and the "growl". The sound a female California sea lion gives when calling her pups is called a "pup-attraction call", described as "loud" and "brawling". Pups respond with a "mother-response call", which is similar in structure. Pups will also bleat or bark when playing or in distress. California sea lions can produce vocalizations underwater. These include "whinny" sounds, barks, buzzings, and clicks.


title: California sea lion

text: Outside the breeding season, males migrate to the northern ends of the species range to feed, while females forage near the breeding rookeries. California sea lions can stay at sea for as long as two weeks at a time. They make continuous dives, returning to the surface to rest. California sea lions may travel alone or in groups while at sea and haul-out between each sea trip. Adult females and juveniles molt in autumn and winter; adult males molt in January and February. California sea lions in the Gulf of California do not migrate; they stay in the Gulf of California year-round.


title: California sea lion

text: Marine biologist Ronald J. Schusterman and his research associates have studied the California sea lions' cognitive ability. They have discovered that California sea lions are able to recognize relationships between stimuli based on similar functions or connections made with their peers, rather than only the stimuli's common features. California sea lions have demonstrated the ability to understand simple syntax and commands when taught an artificial sign language. However, California sea lions rarely used the signs semantically or logically. In 2011, a California sea lion named Ronan was recorded bobbing her head in synchronization to musical rhythms.


title: California sea lion

text: This "rhythmic entrainment" was previously seen only in humans, parrots and other birds possessing vocal mimicry.


title: California sea lion

text: Because of their intelligence and trainability, California sea lions have been used by circuses and marine mammal parks to perform various tricks such as throwing and catching balls on their noses, running up ladders, or honking horns in a musical fashion. Trainers reward their animals with fish, which motivates them to perform. For ball balancing, trainers toss a ball at a California sea lion so it may accidentally balance it or hold the ball on its nose, thereby gaining an understanding of what to do. A California sea lion may go through a year of training before performing a behavior for the public. However, its memory allows it to perform a behavior even after three months of resting. Some organizations, such as the Humane Society of the United States and World Animal Protection, object to using California sea lions and other marine mammals for entertainment, claiming the tricks are "exaggerated variations of their natural behaviors" and distract the audience from the animal's unnatural environment.


title: California sea lion

text: The California sea lion is used in military applications by the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, including detecting naval mines and enemy divers. In the Persian Gulf, the animals can swim behind divers approaching a US naval ship and attach a clamp with a rope to the diver's leg. Navy officials say California sea lions can do this in seconds, before the enemy realizes what happened. Organizations like PETA believe that such operations put the animals in danger. However, the Navy insists that California sea lions are removed once their mission is complete.


title: California sea lion

text: The IUCN lists the California sea lion as Least Concern due to "its large and increasing population size." The estimated population is 238,000–241,000 for the U.S. or Pacific Temperate stock, 75,000–85,000 for the Western Baja California or Pacific Tropical stock, and 31,393 for the population in the Gulf of California. Off the Pacific coast of the United States, California sea lions are so numerous that they are close to carrying capacity, while the Gulf of California population declined by 20% by 2008. California sea lions may be killed when in conflict with fishermen, by poaching, and by entanglements in man-made garbage. They are also threatened by pollutants like DDT and PCB which accumulate in the marine food chain.


title: California sea lion

text: In the United States, the California sea lion is protected on the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), passed in 1972, which outlaws hunting, killing, capture, and harassment of the animal. In 1994 an amendment to the Act allowed for the possibility of limited lethal removal of pinnipeds preying on endangered salmonids should the level of predation be documented to have a significant adverse impact on the decline or recovery of ESA-listed salmonids. Applications have been granted for removal of several individual California sea lions at Ballard Locks and at the Bonneville Dam, where up to 92 California sea lions can be killed each year for a 5-year period. Wildlife officials have unsuccessfully attempted to ward off the sea lions using bombs, rubber bullets and bean bags. Efforts to chase sea lions away from the area have also proven ineffective.


title: California sea lion

text: Critics have objected to the killing of the California sea lions, pointing out that the level of mortality permitted as a result of recreational and commercial fisheries in the river and as part of the operation of hydroelectric dams pose a greater threat to the salmon.


title: California sea lion

text: These animals exploit more man-made environments like docks for haul-out sites. Many docks are not designed to withstand the weight of several resting California sea lions which cause major tilting and other problems. Wildlife managers have used various methods to control the animals and some city officials have redesigned docks so they can better withstand them.


title: California sea lion

text: In January and February 2015, 1450 malnourished or sick California sea lion pups were found along stretches of the California coast, and estimations give a higher number of dead pups. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has pointed to unprecedentedly warm Pacific coastal waters, related to Pacific decadal oscillation and El Niño, as the likely cause. Elevated water temperatures reduced the abundance of anchovies, sardines and mackerel, principal components of the California sea lion pup diet during nursery season. This caused many California sea lion pups to starve, while others died when they took to open waters in search of food at too early an age.


title: California sea lion

text: Several months earlier, in the summer of 2014, a large number of Cassin's auklet chicks died during the fledging period due to similar circumstances brought about by elevated water temperatures.


title: California sea lion

text: In November 2018, the State of Oregon obtained a permit to kill 93 California sea lions per year below Willamette Falls. Under a similar program, Oregon and Washington had killed over 150 California sea lions on the Columbia River by January 2019.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. The author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and film narration, Ferlinghetti was best known for his second collection of poems, "A Coney Island of the Mind" (1958), which has been translated into nine languages and sold over a million copies. When Ferlinghetti turned 100 in March 2019, the city of San Francisco turned his birthday, March 24, into "Lawrence Ferlinghetti Day".


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Shortly before his birth, his father, Carlo, a native of Brescia, died of a heart attack; and his mother, Clemence Albertine (née Mendes-Monsanto), of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish descent, was committed to a mental hospital shortly after. He was raised by an aunt, and later by foster parents. He attended the Mount Hermon School for Boys (later Northfield Mount Hermon) graduating in 1937, then the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a B.A. in journalism in 1941. He began his journalism career by writing sports for "The Daily Tar Heel", and published his first short stories in "Carolina Magazine", for which Thomas Wolfe had written.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: He served in the U.S. Navy throughout World War II, as the captain of a submarine chaser in the Normandy invasion. In 1947, he earned an M.A. degree in English literature from Columbia University with a thesis on John Ruskin and the British painter J. M. W. Turner. From Columbia, he went to the University of Paris and earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature with a dissertation on Paris as a symbol in modern poetry.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti met his wife-to-be, Selden Kirby-Smith, the granddaughter of Edmund Kirby-Smith, in 1946 aboard a ship en route to France. They were both heading to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Kirby-Smith went by the name Kirby.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: He moved to San Francisco in 1951 and founded City Lights in North Beach in 1953, in partnership with Peter D. Martin, a student at San Francisco State University. They both invested $500. In 1955 Ferlinghetti bought Martin's share and established a publishing house with the same name. The first series he published was the Pocket Poets Series. He was arrested for publishing Allen Ginsberg's "Howl", resulting in a First Amendment trial in 1957, where Ferlinghetti was charged with publishing an obscene work—and acquitted.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti published many of the Beat poets and is considered by some as a Beat poet as well. Yet Ferlinghetti did not consider himself to be a Beat poet, as he said in the 2013 documentary "Ferlinghetti: Rebirth of Wonder": "Don't call me a Beat. I never was a Beat poet."


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti penned much of his early poetry in the vein of T. S. Eliot. Ferlinghetti told poet and critic Jack Foley, "Everything I wrote sounded just like him." Yet, even in his poems inspired by Eliot such as Ferlinghetti's "Constantly Risking Absurdity," Ferlinghetti is ever the populist as he compares the poet first to a trapeze artist in a circus and then to a "little charleychaplin man."


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Critics have noted that Ferlinghetti's poetry often takes on a highly visual dimension as befits this poet who was also a painter. As the poet and critic Jack Foley states, Ferlinghetti's poems "tell little stories, make 'pictures'." Ferlinghetti as a poet paints with his words pictures full of color capturing the average American experience as seen in his poem "In Golden Gate Park that Day: "In Golden Gate Park that day/ a man and his wife were coming along/ ... He was wearing green suspenders ... while his wife was carrying a bunch of grapes." In the first poem in "A Coney Island of the Mind" entitled, "In Goya's Greatest Scenes, We Seem To See," Ferlinghetti describes with words the "suffering humanity" that Goya portrayed by brush in his paintings. Ferlinghetti concludes his poem with the recognition that "suffering humanity" today might be painted as average Americans drowning in the materialism: "on a freeway fifty lanes wide/ a concrete continent/ spaced with bland billboards/ illustrating imbecile illusions of happiness."


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti took a distinctly populist approach to poetry, emphasizing throughout his work "that art should be accessible to all people, not just a handful of highly educated intellectuals." Larry Smith, an American author and editor, stated that Ferlinghetti is a poet, "of the people engaged conscientiously in the creation of new poetic and cultural forms." This perception of art as a broad socio-cultural force, as opposed to an elitist academic enterprise, is explicitly evident in Poem 9 from "Pictures of the Gone World", wherein the speaker states: Truth is not the secret of a few' / yet / you would maybe think so / the way some / librarians / and cultural ambassadors and / especially museum directors / act" (1–8). In addition to Ferlinghetti's aesthetic egalitarianism, this passage highlights two additional formal features of the poet's work, namely, his incorporation of a common American idiom as well as his experimental approach to line arrangement which, as Crale Hopkins notes, is inherited from the poetry of William Carlos Williams.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Reflecting his broad aesthetic concerns, Ferlinghetti's poetry often engages with several non-literary artistic forms, most notably jazz music and painting. William Lawlor asserts that much of Ferlinghetti's free verse attempts to capture the spontaneity and imaginative creativity of modern jazz; the poet is noted for having frequently incorporated jazz accompaniments into public readings of his work.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Soon after settling in San Francisco in 1951, Ferlinghetti met the poet Kenneth Rexroth, whose concepts of philosophical anarchism influenced his political development. He self-identified as a philosophical anarchist, regularly associated with other anarchists in North Beach, and sold Italian anarchist newspapers at the City Lights Bookstore. While Ferlinghetti said he was "an anarchist at heart", he conceded that the world would need to be populated by "saints" in order for pure anarchism to be lived practically. Hence he espoused what can be achieved by Scandinavian-style democratic socialism.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: On January 14, 1967, he was a featured presenter at the Gathering of the tribes "Human Be-In," which drew tens of thousands of people and launched San Francisco's "Summer of Love." In 1968, he signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: In 1998, in his inaugural address as Poet Laureate of San Francisco, Ferlinghetti urged San Franciscans to vote to remove a portion of the earthquake-damaged Central Freeway and replace it with a boulevard. "What destroys the poetry of a city? Automobiles destroy it, and they destroy more than the poetry. All over America, all over Europe in fact, cities and towns are under assault by the automobile, are being literally destroyed by car culture. But cities are gradually learning that they don't have to let it happen to them. Witness our beautiful new Embarcadero! And in San Francisco right now we have another chance to stop Autogeddon from happening here. Just a few blocks from here, the ugly Central Freeway can be brought down for good if you vote for Proposition E on the November ballot."


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Alongside his bookselling and publishing, Ferlinghetti painted for 60 years and much of his work was displayed in galleries and museums throughout the United States.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti painted "The beautiful Madonna of Sandusky Oh! hi! O! And friend" during a 1996 visit to an art co-op in Sandusky, Ohio, which was subsequently vandalized and censored by a janitor the night after it was painted. Ferlinghetti responded to this act by painting a humorous retort on areas of the canvas where censorship had occurred.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: In 2009, Ferlinghetti became a member of the Honour Committee of the Italian artistic literary movement IMMAGINE&POESIA, founded under the patronage of Aeronwy Thomas. A retrospective of Ferlinghetti's artwork, "60 Years of Painting", was staged in Rome and Reggio Calabria in 2010.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: In 1987, he was the initiator of the transformation of Jack Kerouac Alley, located at the side of his shop. He presented his idea to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors calling for repavement and renewal.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti died of interstitial lung disease on February 22, 2021, at his home in San Francisco at age 101.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti received numerous awards, including the "Los Angeles Times"' Robert Kirsch Award, the BABRA Award for Lifetime Achievement, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Award for Contribution to American Arts and Letters, and the ACLU Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. He won the Premio Taormina in 1973, and thereafter was awarded the Premio Camaiore, the Premio Flaiano, the Premio Cavour, among other honors in Italy. The "Career Award" was conferred on October 28, 2017 at the XIV edition of the "Premio di Arti Letterarie Metropoli di Torino" in Turin.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti was named San Francisco's Poet Laureate in August 1998 and served for two years. In 2003 he was awarded the Poetry Society of America's Frost Medal, the Author's Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The National Book Foundation honored him with the inaugural Literarian Award (2005), given for outstanding service to the American literary community. In 2007 he was named Commandeur, French Order of Arts and Letters. In 2008, Ferlinghetti was awarded the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry. This award is handed out by the National Italian American Foundation to honor the author who has made the greatest contribution to the writing of Italian American poetry.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: In 2012, Ferlinghetti was awarded the inaugural Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize from the Hungarian PEN Club. After learning that the government of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a partial sponsor of the prize, he declined to accept the award. In declining, Ferlinghetti cited his opposition to the "right-wing regime" of Prime Minister Orbán, and his opinion that the ruling Hungarian government under Mr. Orbán is curtailing civil liberties and freedom of speech for the people of Hungary.


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: Ferlinghetti recited the poem "Loud Prayer" at The Band's final performance; the concert was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as a documentary entitled "The Last Waltz", which included Ferlinghetti's recitation. Ferlinghetti was the subject of the 2013 Christopher Felver documentary "Lawrence Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder". Andrew Rogers played Ferlinghetti in the 2010 film "Howl". Christopher Felver made the 2013 documentary on Ferlinghetti "Lawrence Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder".


title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti

text: In 2011, Ferlinghetti contributed two of his poems to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, "Song of the Third World War" and "Old Italians Dying" inspired by the artists of the exhibition "Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Italy 150" held in Turin, Italy (May–June 2011). On the book of lithographs "The Sea Within Us" first published in Italy as "Il Mare Dentro" in 2012, Ferlinghetti collaborated with lithographer and abstract artist James Claussen. Julio Cortázar, in his "Rayuela" ("Hopscotch") (1963), references a poem from "A Coney Island of the Mind" in Chapter 121.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Impractical Jokers: The Movie is a 2020 American reality comedy film directed by Chris Henchy, based on the truTV television series "Impractical Jokers". The film stars Brian Quinn, James Murray, Sal Vulcano, and Joe Gatto, also known as The Tenderloins. It was theatrically released on February 21, 2020. The film received generally mixed reviews and was a box office success, grossing $10 million against a budget of $3 million.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: In 1994 Staten Island, a group of four teenage friends, Joe, Sal, Murr and Q sneak into a Paula Abdul concert disguised as security personnel. However, they accidentally ruin the concert after Joe jumps out on stage and poorly acts as a hype man. The outcome embarrasses them and angers Abdul, who delivers a clothesline blow to Sal and vows to get her revenge on the Jokers. However, the incident inspires them to do practical joke challenges as a comedy gimmick.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Twenty-five years later in 2019, the four have become famous celebrities as a result of their TV show, "Impractical Jokers", but are surprised to see Abdul at a Red Lobster. Abdul approaches but admits that she is a huge fan of the show, and invites them to a party in Miami. However, shortly after Paula leaves, the group realizes she gave them only three tickets instead of four, meaning that one person will not be able to go. In order to decide who will be left out, they decide to road trip to Miami using Q's Crown Vic. while competing with each other in hidden-camera challenges; the one who loses will not get the ticket.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Some of the major challenges include: reading a eulogy to folks outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and getting the listener's approval; on a boat ride near Myrtle Beach in the Carolina coast, convincing passengers not to pick up someone in distress; getting roadside assistance from strangers; and interviewing for a staff job with the Atlanta Hawks while being fed silly actions and lines by the others. Individual challenges and pranks also arise. Sal gets locked in a motel room with a chained white tiger. Q has to ride a horse while wearing a gladiator uniform to meet with the others. Murr visits a club with scantily-clad women only to be surprised with his family wishing him happy birthday behind a two way mirror. Joe dresses like a cave troll to surprise a tour group. Q gives a presentation at a social media conference but the videotape footage includes a bit of his real parents acting out lead-in scenes of softcore porn. Sal attends a fan party featuring Jaden Smith, dressed as Jaden's number-one fan. He shows off his tattoo of Smith from a previous season to him, but Smith has Sal get an updated one on his other thigh.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: When they arrive in Miami, Murr ends up being the loser, so he has to stay behind while the others go to the party, until Murr decides to sneak into the show using the same security disguise from 1994. This results in Abdul recognizing them from when they crashed her concert 25 years ago. Sal gets tasered but Joe acts as a hype man and sways the crowd to cheer for them. The next day, with Joey Fatone in the background at Miami Beach, Joe tells the Jokers that he received an offer to go on tour with Abdul as a hype man, but turned it down. Since Murr snuck into the party, the others decide to subject him to one last punishment. Joe, Q, and Sal fly back to Staten Island on a private jet, while Murr rides harnessed to the top wing of a stunt plane.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Kane Hodder plays Paula Abdul's bodyguard. Will Ferrell has a cameo as Miami Restaurant Guy #4. "Jokers" television producer Casey Jost portrays Sam as part of Abdul's entourage.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: The film was produced by The Tenderloins, Chris Henchy (who also served as the director), Buddy Enright and Funny or Die's Jim Ziegler. The film was executively produced by Mike Farah and Joe Farrell of Funny or Die, Marissa Ronca, Chris Linn & Jack Rovner. Henchy said that he had heard of the Tenderloins group as his daughters were watching the "Impractical Jokers" TV show, and was contacted by his agent about two weeks later with an offer to direct the film.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Principal photography for the film began in May 2018, in New York. The cinematographers used professional sound and video quality unlike the TV show to make the movie have a better aesthetic. Filming concluded on June 5, 2018.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: On September 20, 2019, it was announced that the film would be released in 2020 through WarnerMedia. In December, TruTV released a trailer and announced a February 21, 2020 release in select theaters.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Initially intended to be released digitally in late 2020, TruTV released the film on April 1, 2020, due to nationwide shutdown of theaters amid the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. The film has also become available on HBO Max since being released on the service on September 1, 2020.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: The film made $2.6 million from 357 theaters in its opening weekend. The film was added to 1,543 theaters in its second weekend and made $3.5 million, finishing seventh.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Mark Keizer of "Variety" called it "an undistinguished and unnecessary extension of a brand whose primary attributes are likability, authenticity and relative modesty (given the worst impulses of the genre)."


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: John DeFore of "The Hollywood Reporter" questioned why anyone "would get off the couch and spend money" to see this film.


title: Impractical Jokers: The Movie

text: Film critique Nick Allen gave the film a positive review rating it 3.5 stars out of 5, stating that "Comedies never get fair ratings. While the scripted plot seems pretty lame, the show itself is very funny and what I'd consider 3 1/2 star".


title: Kelen Coleman

text: Coleman grew up in Potomac, Maryland and graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her father is bluegrass musician T. Michael Coleman. Her mother is Jewish, her father is Christian.


title: Michelle Clunie

text: Michelle Renee Clunie (born November 7, 1969) is an American actress and former ballet dancer. A native of Portland, Oregon, Clunie studied ballet from an early age, earning a scholarship at the Academy of Professional Ballet. In 1992, she starred in a Los Angeles-based production of "A Comedy of Eros", for which she won a Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress, before making her film debut in the slasher film "" (1993).


title: Michelle Clunie

text: Clunie gained international attention for her portrayal of Melanie Marcus on Showtime's critically acclaimed series "Queer as Folk" (2000–2005). She later starred as Ellen Beals on "Make It or Break It" (2010–2011) and as Mrs. Finch on MTV’s "Teen Wolf" (2015–2017).


title: Michelle Clunie

text: Clunie was born November 7, 1969 in Portland, Oregon. As a child, she studied ballet, tap, jazz, and violin. Clunie attended Portland's David Douglas High School, graduating in 1987.


title: Michelle Clunie

text: She was awarded a scholarship to The Academy of Professional Ballet where she studied and apprenticed throughout her teenage years. At 19 years old she sold her violin for $200 and moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career.


title: Michelle Clunie

text: In 1992, Clunie made her Los Angeles stage debut in Dean Orion's "A Comedy of Eros" performed at the Skylight Theatre, which earned her a Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress.


title: Michelle Clunie

text: Additional stage highlights include her portrayal of Abby in Neil LaBute's West Coast premiere of "The Mercy Seat" at the Ford Theatre, for which she won the Backstage Readers Best Performance Award, and the world premiere and Off-Broadway production of "US", written and performed by Clunie at New York City's Lion Theatre at Theatre Row.


title: Michelle Clunie

text: In 1995, she was cast in the Academy Award-winning "The Usual Suspects" and shortly thereafter played a supporting role in "Lost & Found". She became a series regular on "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" and guest starred on "ER", "The Tony Danza Show", "House M.D., Without a Trace," "NCIS", among several others.


title: Michelle Clunie

text: She played Melanie Marcus in the US adaption of "Queer as Folk" and the biology teacher, Mrs. Finch, on MTV’s "Teen Wolf".


title: Michelle Clunie

text: In October 2014 it was announced Clunie was expecting a child with director Bryan Singer, and in January 2015 she gave birth to their son.


title: NHL 22

text: NHL 22 is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. It is the 31st installment in the "NHL" video game series and was released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on October 15, 2021. It is the first entry in the series to use the Frostbite engine, and utilizes the new game engine on all four platforms. The game features Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews as the cover athlete for the second time in the series, after being the North American cover athlete for "NHL 20".


title: NHL 22

text: New to "NHL 22" is a new game engine and a graphical overhaul. The "NHL" series jumps to the Frostbite engine, after using the Ignite engine for the previous 7 years. Additionally, it moves to the next generation consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. "NHL 22" also introduces Superstar X-Factors, which are abilities that makes superstar players unique, and differentiates them from other players. This also unlocks specific animations affecting their area of expertise.


title: NHL 22

text: "NHL 22" will be feature complete on all four platforms, with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions also moving to the Frostbite engine, while the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions won't be losing any features from the last generation counterpart. According to "NHL" producer Clement Kwong, the NHL team's priority this year was making sure everything will be carried over to the new Frostbite engine, as well as next generation versions so as to not repeat the same mistake with the previous console generation transition that was "NHL 15". In moving to the Frostbite Engine, the NHL team is rebuilding all the arenas around the new lighting engine, allowing for enhanced particle and visual effects on the ice and elsewhere, as well as the character models are also being redone.


title: NHL 22

text: "NHL 22" also introduces new gameplay animations, with new reverse hitting, new pass and shot blocks, new pickups, revamped puck protection, additional goalie saves/pokes, and more.


title: NHL 22

text: "NHL 22" also introduces the new expansion team Seattle Kraken, as they join the National Hockey League in the 2021–22 NHL season. In franchise mode, you can redo the Seattle Kraken expansion draft or do a 33rd NHL team expansion draft, and as requested by fans for several years, for the first time in the "NHL" series, in "NHL 22" you can now share your rosters and download community made roster files with the new roster sharing feature, which will be coming out in December.


title: NHL 22

text: On January 27, 2022, women's national hockey teams were added in "NHL 22" for the first time in the series.


title: NHL 22

text: In March 2022, publisher EA Sports announced that the Russia and Belarus national teams will be removed from "NHL 22" following the former country's invasion of Ukraine. The announcement comes following the International Ice Hockey Federation's announcement that they will expelled both Russia and Belarus from six tournaments by the federation in March to September 2022, along with the International Olympic Committee's announcement on banning both Russian and Belarusian athletes from all international competitions on March 1, 2022.


title: NHL 22

text: The "NHL 22" soundtrack was revealed on October 6, 2021, featuring artists such as Angels & Airwaves, Grouplove, Jxdn, KennyHoopla, Machine Gun Kelly and Volbeat, and also returning from previous "NHL" soundtracks: Arkells, Dropkick Murphys, Imagine Dragons, Johnossi, K.Flay, Royal Blood, the Strumbellas, and Twenty One Pilots. "NHL 22" has the largest soundtrack in the series to date, featuring 43 songs.


title: NHL 22

text: "NHL 22" received "mixed or average" reviews on PlayStation 5 and "generally favorable" reviews on Xbox Series X according to review aggregator Metacritic. Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer awarded the game a 7.25, and summed up her review by saying "NHL 22 relies on its superstar talent, and it’s not impressive enough to give the gameplay the new life it so desperately needs."


title: Matt Ridley

text: Matthew White Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, (born 7 February 1958), is a British science writer, journalist and businessman. He is known for his writings on science, the environment, and economics and has been a regular contributor to "The Times" newspaper. Ridley was chairman of the UK bank Northern Rock from 2004 to 2007, during which period it experienced the first run on a British bank in 130 years. He resigned, and the bank was bailed out by the UK government; this led to its nationalisation.


title: Matt Ridley

text: Ridley is a libertarian, and a staunch supporter of Brexit. He inherited the viscountcy in February 2012 and was a Conservative hereditary peer from February 2013, with an elected seat in the House of Lords, until his retirement in December 2021.


title: Matt Ridley

text: Ridley's parents were Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley (1925–2012), and Lady Anne Katharine Gabrielle Lumley (1928–2006), the daughter of Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough. He is the nephew of the late Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) and minister Nicholas Ridley and the great grandson of Edwin Lutyens.


title: Matt Ridley

text: Ridley attended Eton College from 1970 to 1975, and then went on to Magdalen College, Oxford, to study zoology. Obtaining a BA degree with first class honours, Ridley continued with research on the mating system of the common pheasant ("Phasianus colchicus") supervised by Chris Perrins for his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1983.


title: Matt Ridley

text: Ridley joined "The Economist" in 1984, first working as a science editor until 1987, then as Washington, D.C. correspondent from 1987 to 1989 and as American editor from 1990 to 1992. He was a columnist for "The Daily Telegraph" and "The Sunday Telegraph" and an editor of "The Best American Science Writing 2002".


title: Matt Ridley

text: From 2010 to 2013, Ridley wrote the weekly "Mind and Matter" column for "The Wall Street Journal", which "explores the science of human nature and its implications".


title: Matt Ridley

text: Since 2013, Ridley has written a weekly column for "The Times" on science, the environment, and economics.


title: Matt Ridley

text: Ridley wrote the majority of the main article of the August 2017 edition of "BBC Focus" magazine. The article explains his scepticism regarding resource depletion, challenging the widespread belief that resource depletion is an important issue. He cites various previous resource scares as his evidence.


title: Matt Ridley

text: In 1994, Ridley became a board member of the UK bank Northern Rock. His father had been a board member for 30 years, and chairman from 1987 to 1992. Ridley became chairman in 2004.


title: Matt Ridley

text: In September 2007, Northern Rock became the first British bank since 1878 to suffer a run on its finances, at the start of the financial crisis of 2007–2010. The bank applied to the Bank of England for emergency liquidity funding at the beginning of the financial crisis of 2007–08, but failed, and Northern Rock was nationalised. He resigned as chairman in October 2007. A parliamentary committee criticised Ridley for not recognising the risks of the bank's financial strategy and "harming the reputation of the British banking industry".


title: Matt Ridley

text: From 1996 to 2003, Ridley served as founding chairman of the International Centre for Life, which opened in 2000 as a non-profit science centre in Newcastle upon Tyne; and is now its honorary life president. From July 2000 to June 2008, he was a non-executive director of PA Holdings Limited, with Victor Halberstadt.


title: Matt Ridley

text: He had been a governor of the Ditchley Foundation, which organises conferences to further education and understanding of Britons and North Americans. He participated in a February 2000 Ditchley conference.


title: Matt Ridley

text: The Banks Group and Blagdon estate developed and sponsored the construction of Northumberlandia, or the Lady of the North, a huge land sculpture in the shape of a reclining female figure, which was part-commissioned and sponsored by Ridley. Now run by a charity group called the Land Trust, it is the largest landform in the world depicting the human form, and, through private funding, cost £3m to build. Attracting over 100,000 people per year, the Northumberland art project, tourism and cultural landmark has won a global landscape architecture award, and has been named 'Miss World'.


title: Matt Ridley

text: The Royal Agricultural Society of England awarded the Bledisloe Gold Medal in 2015 to Ridley for the work done on his Blagdon estate, saying that it "wanted to highlight the extensive environmental improvement work that has been undertaken across the land".


title: Matt Ridley

text: Although less well-known than his popular science books, Ridley's first book was "Warts and All: The Men Who Would Be Bush" (1989), which chronicled the evolution of George H. W. Bush's public image during the 1988 United States presidential election. In recent years, Ridley has described his first book as "bad" and has expressed gratitude that few people know about it. He no longer promotes the book on his personal website.


title: Matt Ridley

text: In 2006, Ridley contributed a chapter to "", a collection of essays in honour of his friend Richard Dawkins (edited by his near-namesake Mark Ridley).


title: Matt Ridley

text: Ridley's 2010 TED conference talk, "When Ideas Have Sex", received over 2 million views. Ridley argues that exchange and specialisation are the features of human society that lead to the development of new ideas, and that human society is therefore a "collective brain".


title: Matt Ridley

text: In a 2006 edition of the online magazine "Edge – the third culture", Ridley wrote a response to the question "What's your dangerous idea?" which was entitled "Government is the problem not the solution", in which he describes his attitude to government regulation: "In every age and at every time there have been people who say we need more regulation, more government. Sometimes, they say we need it to protect exchange from corruption, to set the standards and police the rules, in which case they have a point, though often they exaggerate it... The dangerous idea we all need to learn is that the more we limit the growth of government, the better off we will all be."


title: Matt Ridley

text: In 2007, the environmentalist George Monbiot wrote an article in "The Guardian" connecting Ridley's libertarian economic philosophy and the £27 billion failure of Northern Rock. On 1 June 2010 Monbiot followed up his previous article in the context of Matt Ridley's book "The Rational Optimist", which had just been published. Monbiot took the view that Ridley had failed to learn from the collapse of Northern Rock.