Because of so much testing is done at this circuit, Formula One drivers and mechanics are extremely familiar with it. This has led to criticism that drivers and mechanics are too familiar with Catalunya, reducing the amount of on-track action.
When the circuit opened, overtaking was frequent. Cars could closely follow each other through the last two corners. They would slipstream down the long straight for a pass. As aerodynamic balance became more important, this overtaking method became less effective. The cars were unable to follow each other as close. They would encounter turbulence created by the leading car. This made it hard for a car to get close enough to pass. In the next to the last corner was replaced with a chicane. This was an effort to improve passing. The redesign did not increase the amount of overtaking.
The Circuit de Catalunya also plays host to many other racing series, including Moto GP. The chicane which was put in for Formula 1 does not exist in the track layout for Moto GP, and there are at least five points on the track where riders are known to pass. As in Formula 1, turn one is the most popular place for overtaking.
Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician. He became the President of Colombia on 7 August 2010. Santos replaces Álvaro Uribe as president.
Santos has distanced himself from Uribe. Santos intends work on the social need of the country. He also wants to improve relations Colombia's neighbors.
Since winning the presidency in a June 20 landslide, Santos has marked distance between himself and Uribe, signaling the arrival of a leader who, unlike his predecessor, intends to focus on a social agenda and the country's frayed relations with its neighbors. During his inauguration speech, he said "I will preside over a government of national unity that will bring social prosperity for all Colombians... If we want to have economic and social development, we need to build unity among us."
Santos was schooled in the United States and is familiar with technology. He was a defense minister in the Uribe government. Santos has become well known around the world for trying to end the long conflict in Colombia. In 2016, after a lot of negotiations, he announced a peace deal with the FARC militia, which has been at war with the Colombian government since the 1960s. By June 2016, a peace deal had been reached, and some people have said Santos and the other negotiators may win a Nobel Peace Prize if the peace deal holds. Uribe is against the deal, which he thinks is too easy on FARC.
He is 65 years old, and is from one of the most politically influential families of Colombia. He is married to Maria and has three children.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016
He left office on 7 August 2018 and was replaced by conservative Iván Duque Márquez.
Ross Island
Ross Island is an island which was formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea, which can be found near the continent, Antarctica.
Because of the persistent presence of the ice sheet, the island is sometimes mistaken to be a part of Antarctica. Its area is 2,460 km² (950 sq mi); only a small portion of the island is free of ice and snow. The planet's southernmost active volcano, Erebus (3794 m), as well as the dormant volcano Terror (3230 m), are situated on the island. They were named by Ross after his ships HMS "Erebus" and HMS "Terror". The third highest peak is Mount Bird, and on its slopes are Shell Glacier and Endeavour Piedmont Glacier. Abbott Peak stands between Mount Erebus and Mount Bird.
Despite its relatively small size, Ross Island is the world's 6th highest island.
The island was discovered by Sir James Clark Ross in 1841, and it was later named in his honour by Robert F. Scott.
Ross Island was the base for many of the early expeditions to Antarctica. It was and still is the southernmost island reachable by sea. Huts built by Scott's and Shackleton's expeditions are still located on the island, preserved as historical sites.
Today Ross Island is home to New Zealand's Scott Base, and the largest Antarctic settlement, the U.S. Antarctic Program's McMurdo Station. Greenpeace established World Park Base on the island and it ran for five years, from 1987 to 1992.
Ross Island lies within the boundaries of Ross Dependency, which is claimed by New Zealand.
Ross Island supports a colony of about a half million (500 000) Adélie Penguins.
Excretion
Excretion is one of the most basic functions of life. It is the process of eliminating waste products of metabolism and other non-useful materials. It is an essential process in all forms of life. It contrasts with secretion, where the substance may have specific tasks after leaving the cell.
In single-celled organisms, waste products are discharged directly through the surface of the cell. Multicellular organisms use more complex methods. Higher plants eliminate gases through the stomata on the surface of leaves. Animals have special excretory organs.
In mammals, excretion is the formation of urine in the kidneys, and expelling carbon dioxide from the lungs. These waste products are eliminated by urination and breathing out respectively. If excretion does not occur in an organism, waste products accumulate, which eventually kill the organism.
Also, food waste is expelled through the anus. Other substances are secreted into the bile, and then eliminated in the faeces. The skin and lungs also have excretory functions: the skin eliminates metabolic wastes like urea and lactic acid through sweating, and the lungs expel carbon dioxide.
Aquatic animals usually excrete ammonia directly into the water, as this compound is soluble and there is ample water available for dilution. In terrestrial animals ammonia-like compounds are converted into other nitrogenous materials as there is less water in the environment, and ammonia itself is toxic.
Reptiles and birds excrete their nitrogenous wastes as uric acid in the form of a white paste. This allows efficient water retention and it can be stored more easily in the egg. Both uric acid and faeces are expelled through a common opening called the cloaca. Their waste is usually two-coloured: part white (uric acid) and part green or black (organic waste).
Many bird species, especially seabirds, can also excrete salt via specialized nasal salt glands, the saline solution leaving through nostrils in the beak.
Vibration isolation
Vibration isolation is a system of devices to decouple a mechanical or structural object from its vibrating supports.
For example, the handles of the saw presented in the right photo are separated from the engine and cutting bar to reduce shaking for the operator. Here, the spring mount is a part of this vibration isolation system.
When the targeted object is rather heavy (e.g. building, bridge or the like), vibration isolation may be called base isolation. Vibration isolation is a branch of protective techniques known as vibration control.
From the very beginning, the theory of vibration isolation, in general, and of base isolation, in particular, rested on two pillars: "heavy damping" and "frequency separation". Unfortunately, nobody paid any attention that the heavy damping was a sort of a strong connection between a "substructure" and "superstructure", and that the idea of decoupling them with the help of such connections was of no good.
Murder of Megan Kanka
Megan Nicole Kanka (December 7, 1986 – July 29, 1994) was an American child who was raped and murdered by her neighbor Jesse Timmendequas. It happened in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey by a convicted sex offender, when she was seven years old.