On Earth it is very difficult to start nuclear fusion reactions that release more energy than is needed to start the reaction. The reason is that fusion reactions only happen at high temperature and pressure, like in the Sun, because both nuclei have a positive charge, and positive repels positive. The only way to stop the repulsion is to make the nuclei hit each other at very high speeds. They only do that at high pressure and temperature. The only successful approach so far has been in nuclear weapons. The hydrogen bomb uses an atomic (fission) bomb to start fusion reactions. Scientists and engineers have been trying for decades to find a safe and working way of controlling and containing fusion reactions to generate electricity. They still have many challenges to overcome before fusion power can be used as a clean source of energy.
Concertmaster
The Concertmaster (American English) or leader (British English) is the most important violinist in an orchestra. He or she will sit in the front seat, by the conductor's left. The word "concertmaster" comes from the German "Konzertmeister".
The leader will be the highest paid member of the orchestra. He has to decide how the violins will play the music and write in the bowing. He will decide where each member of the violins should sit. He will probably also interview them and offer them the job in the orchestra. He will talk to the conductor about anything the orchestra are not happy about (he may have to remind the conductor when it is time to stop the rehearsal!). If part of the music is marked "solo" then he will play it as a solo while the other violins stop playing.
In the United States it is usual for the concertmaster to be on the platform before the concert and to tell the orchestra to tune their instruments, playing on his A string to give them the correct pitch. In European orchestras it is usually the oboe that gives an A for tuning. In Britain the leader usually comes on stage after the orchestra have tuned, and gets an applause.
"of the past:"
"of today":
Mutual assured destruction
Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a military strategy in which two opposing military forces are powerful enough to completely destroy each other. It should help to avoid a nuclear war. This usually happens when both forces have nuclear weapons. If a state attacks another with nuclear weapons, the state attacked will potentially be able to attack back. The attacker must think that he will be destroyed with his victim if he attacks. The theory is that no state would start an attack if attacking its enemy means its own destruction.
The concept was discussed by Herman Kahn. It was part of the background to the film "Dr. Strangelove".
Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven was a 1971 song by Led Zeppelin. It was on the album Led Zeppelin IV.
Some listeners claim that by reversing the song, a hidden Satanic message is revealed. The message is:
Oh, here's to my sweet Satan<br>
The one whose little path would make me sad whose power is Satan<br>
He'll give, he'll give you 666<br>
There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band that started in Dublin in 1969. Up to 1984 the band were led by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott (1949-1986). The band's famous song "The Boys Are Back in Town" is still played a lot on classic rock radio stations. Since Lynott's death, other former members have carried on using the band name.
Phil Lynott wrote most of the band's songs. The band's music showed many musical styles including: country music, psychedelic rock, Celtic music and folk music which Lynott mixed with hard rock and heavy metal styles.
Thin Lizzy were listed at number 51 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".
Aziz al-Abub
Aziz al-Abub (a.k.a. Ibrahim al-Nadhir or al-Nahdhir) was a Lebanese Hezbollah psychiatrist and mind control expert.
Aziz was a disciple of Ewen Cameron and a graduate of the Soviet Union's that specialized in mind control techniques.
Aziz al-Abub used mind-control, drugs and physical torture in the infamous 444-day (1984-1985) torture and mental derangement of American in Beirut.
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional race in the Middle-earth world invented by J. R. R. Tolkien, also often called "halflings".
They appeared in the books "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". Several important main characters in those books are hobbits, such as Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins.
Hobbits (or similar beings) have become very popular and are now often used in fantasy fiction and (video) games.
Hobbits are like small humans between two and four foot tall (between 60 and 120 centimeters). They have hair/fur on the top side of their feet, leathery foot-soles, and slightly pointed ears. They tend to be stout and often have brown and curly hair. Male hobbits do not have beards. Hobbits live longer compared to humans, and many hobbits reach the age of 100.
Hobbits are a peaceful people and live a simple, pre-industrial life in the land which they call The Shire, and also in Bree-land.
A typical hobbit-house has a long hallway with rooms on both sides, and round doors and windows. Originally these were underground in hills, then the house was called a "smial"; but this architecture(style of building) is also used for 'normal' houses above ground.
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit from "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". He is a major protagonist of "The Hobbit" and a minor protagonist of "The Lord of the Rings".
Bilbo Baggins was greeted by Gandalf the Grey and a group of 13 Dwarves known as the Company of Thorin Oakenshield. He was offered to help them to take back Erebor from the dragon Smaug. At the Misty Mountain, he landed at a cave and met Gollum. He took Gollum's One Ring and went back to his Company. Decades after returning from Erebor, he celebrated his 111th birthday as well as his nephew Frodo's birthday. He wanted to keep the One Ring.
In Peter Jackson's movie adaptations of both books, Bilbo was played by Martin Freeman when he was younger and Ian Holm when he was older.
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is a fictional fantasy world invented by J. R. R. Tolkien. Several of his books take place there, such as "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". It is supposed to be a long gone mythological time of our earth.
Although Middle-earth is only one continent in Tolkien's world, it is often used for the whole fictional world and all stories Tolkien invented for it. Tolkien created and worked on Middle-earth through most of his life, and it is this creation for which he is most famous.
Middle-earth has its own geography, several different species and peoples (elves, dwarves, humans, hobbits), their languages, and a history that spans thousands of years. The stories of Middle-earth are also a kind of 'artificial myth'.
"Middle-earth" is called "Endor" (or "Endóre") and "Ennor" in the fictional Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin.
The oldest people of Middle-earth are the immortal Elves. Second were the Dwarves. After them came mortal Men. In the Third Age, there appeared another people, the Hobbits. There are also the tree-like Ents.
The history of the Middle-earth world is thousands of years long. Sometimes, when big historical events happen, a new "Age" is begun, which starts counting again with the year 1.
Arnold Rosé
Arnold Josef Rosé (October 24, 1863 – August 25, 1946) was a famous violinist. He was the leader (concertmaster) of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for 50 years.