Francis Tsai (1968 – April 23, 2015) was an American comic book artist, illustrator, author and conceptual artist. He was of Taiwanese and Japanese ancestry. Tsai also contributes covers and interior art for Marvel Comics.
Tsai was from Honolulu, Hawaii.
Tsai provided interior artwork for a number of "Dungeons & Dragons" manuals for Wizards of the Coast, including "", "Monster Manual III", "d20 Future", "Races of Eberron", "Lost Empires of Faerûn", "Explorer's Handbook", "Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic", "Power of Faerûn", and "d20 Future Tech".
He also worked on movies such as "Sucker Punch" and "TMNT - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
In 2010, at the age of 42, Tsai was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He died April 23, 2015.
Robert P. Casey
Robert Patrick "Bob" Casey, Sr. (January 9, 1932 – May 30, 2000) was an American politician from Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He previously served as a state senator (1963–68) and Auditor General of Pennsylvania (1969–77).
Casey died at the age of 68 from a rare disease called amyloidosis in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American movie critic. He was one of several editors of "Time" magazine who focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He created the widely used term "Drop Dead Gorgeous" in 1985 when describing Michelle Pfeiffer's performance in the movie, "Into the Night".
Corliss died in New York City, New York from a stroke, aged 71.
Władysław Bartoszewski
Władysław Bartoszewski (February 19, 1922 in Warsaw – April 24, 2015 in Warsaw) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer, historian, former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, World War II Resistance fighter, Polish underground activist, participant of the Warsaw Uprising, twice the Minister of Foreign Affairs, chevalier of the Order of the White Eagle, and an honorary citizen of Israel and a member of the International Honorary Council of the European Academy of Diplomacy.
Peter Howell (actor)
Peter Howell (1919 – 20 April 2015) was an English actor. He was known for his appearances on "Emergency – Ward 10", "The Avengers", "The Prisoner", "Doctor Who", "The Lord of the Rings", and "Yes Minister".
Howell was born in London. He died after a short illness on 20 April 2015 in Northwood, aged 95/96.
Rex Robinson (actor)
Rex Robinson (1926 – April 2015) was a British actor. He was best known for appearing in three "Doctor Who" serials in the 1970s, all directed by Australian Lennie Mayne. He also appeared in television series such as "Z-Cars", "The Onedin Line", "Within These Walls", "Terry and June", "The Professionals", "Only Fools and Horses", and "Yes Minister". He also appeared in the movie "" (1987).
Robinson was born in Derby, Derbyshire. He was married to actress Patricia Prior until his death. He died in April 2015, aged 89.
Lennie Mayne
Leonard Edward "Lennie" Mayne (8 November 1927 – 20 May 1977) was an Australian television director. He was best known for directed four "Doctor Who" serials, "The Curse of Peladon" (1972), "The Three Doctors" (1972), "The Monster of Peladon" (1974) and "The Hand of Fear" (1976). He also worked on television series such as "Warship" and "The Onedin Line". He was married to actress Frances Pidgeon.
Mayne died after drowning in a sailing accident on the English Channel in May 1977.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a first-person shooter video game. The "Call of Duty" game was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. The game was announced on April 9, 2015 and was fully revealed on April 26, 2015. It was released on November 6, 2015 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows and also on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Titan arum
The titan arum, "Amorphophallus titanum", is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.
The titan arum's inflorescence is not as large as that of the talipot palm, "Corypha umbraculifera", but the inflorescence of the talipot palm is branched rather than unbranched.
Due to its odor, which is like the smell of a decomposing animal, the titan arum is called a 'carrion flower', or 'corpse flower', or 'corpse plant'. For the same reason, the name 'corpse flower' is also used for the genus "Rafflesia" which, like the titan arum, grows in the rainforests of Sumatra. The function of the smell is to attract insect pollinators.
Both male and female flowers grow in the same inflorescence. The female flowers open first, and only lasts (or is "receptive") about 12 to 24 hours. Then a day or two following, the male flowers open. This usually prevents the flower from self-pollinating.
The popular name "titan arum" was invented by the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough for his BBC series "The Private Life of Plants", in which the flowering and pollination of the plant were filmed for the first time. Attenborough felt that calling the plant "Amorphophallus" on a popular TV documentary would be inappropriate.
The record size is 3.1 m (10 ft 2.25 in) tall.
Talipot palm
Corypha umbraculifera, the talipot palm, is a species of palm native to eastern and southern India and Sri Lanka. It is also in Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and the Andaman Islands.
It is one of the largest palms in the world. Individuals have reached up to 25 m (82 ft) with stems up to 1.3 m (4.25 ft) in diameter. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with large leaves up to 5 m (16 ft) in diameter, with a leaf stem up to 4 m (13 ft), and up to 130 leaflets.
The talipot palm bears the largest inflorescence of any plant, 6-8 m (20-26 ft) long, consisting of one to several million small flowers borne on a branched stalk at the top of the trunk. The talipot palm flowers only once, when it is 30 to 80 years old. It takes about a year for the fruit to mature, producing thousands of round, yellow-green fruit 3-4 cm (1.2-1.6 in) in diameter, each containing a single seed. The plant dies after fruiting.
Stand by Me Doraemon
Stand by Me Doraemon is a 2014 Japanese 3D animated movie. This movie also known as Doraemon 3D. It is based on the popular manga and anime series Doraemon. The movie was released in Japan on 8 August 2014.
Uherský Brod shooting
On 24 February 2015, a mass shooting happened at the restaurant in the town of Uherský Brod, Czech Republic. The gunman, 63-year-old Zdeněk Kovář, killed eight people and injured another. He was in the restaurant for around two hours ( 12:30 p.m.–14:23 p.m.) before the tactical team went into the building. After they entered the building, the gunman committed suicide (killed himself).
P-type semiconductor
A p-type semiconductor is an extrinsic type of semiconductor. When a trivalent impurity (like Boron, Aluminum etc.) is added to an intrinsic or pure semiconductor (silicon or germanium), it is said to be a p-type semiconductor. Trivalent impurities such as boron (B), gallium (Ga), indium (In), aluminum (Al) etc. are called acceptor impurity. Ordinary semiconductors are made of materials that do not conduct (or carry) an electric current very well but are not highly resistant to doing so. They fall half way between conductors and insulators. An electric current occurs when electrons move through a material. In order to move, there must be an electron 'hole' in the material for the electron to move into. A p-type semiconductor has more holes than electrons. This allows the current to flow along the material from hole to hole but only in one direction.