The weather of 2011 was notable for a variety of extreme weather events across the globe. Some significant highlights include: 1. **Tornadoes in the United States**: One of the most devastating tornado seasons occurred in 2011, with an outbreak in April that included the Joplin tornado, which killed over 150 people and caused extensive damage.
The weather in 2012 varied greatly around the world, influenced by a mix of natural climate patterns, such as El Niño and La Niña, and human-induced factors. Here are some highlights of significant weather events and trends from that year: 1. **United States**: - The summer of 2012 was marked by one of the most severe droughts in the Midwest and Great Plains, impacting agriculture significantly.
Weather extremes refer to unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather conditions that deviate significantly from the average patterns expected in a given area. These extremes can have various forms, including: 1. **Heatwaves**: Prolonged periods of excessively hot weather, often with high humidity. Heatwaves can lead to health risks, droughts, and wildfires.
The Valid Time Event Code (VTEC) is a code used primarily by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States to indicate the validity period of specific weather warnings, watches, or advisories. It is part of a system to communicate critical weather information effectively, especially during severe weather events. The VTEC consists of a specific format that includes the phenomenon type (e.g., tornado, flood), the area affected, and the start and end times of the event.
"Weather whiplash" refers to rapid and extreme fluctuations in weather conditions over a relatively short period of time. This phenomenon can involve sudden transitions from extreme heat to extreme cold, heavy rainfall to drought, or vice versa. Such drastic changes can have significant impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, water supply, and infrastructure. The term is often discussed in the context of climate change, as increased variability in weather patterns is one of the expected consequences of shifting climate conditions.
The Hessdalen Lights are a series of unexplained lights that appear in the Hessdalen valley in Norway. They have been observed for several decades, with sightings dating back to the early 1980s. The lights are often described as bright, glowing orbs that can change color and move in unpredictable ways. They typically appear in various forms, including stationary lights, lights that move horizontally or vertically, and lights that seem to pulse or flicker.
Microcrystalline wax is a type of synthetic wax produced from the refining of crude oil. It is different from other forms of wax, such as paraffin wax, due to its finer crystalline structure and its characteristics of being more flexible, adhesive, and moisture-resistant. **Key properties of microcrystalline wax include:** 1. **Composition**: It consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and is typically more refined than paraffin wax.
Montan wax is a natural wax that is derived from lignite, a precursor to coal. It is primarily composed of long-chain fatty acids and alcohols. Montan wax is obtained by extracting and refining the lignite through processes such as solvent extraction and hydrolysis. This wax is known for its unique properties, including high melting points, resistance to heat and chemicals, and excellent gloss and hardness.
Mustache wax is a grooming product specifically designed to style and shape mustaches. It typically comes in a small tin or jar and is made from a blend of natural waxes, such as beeswax and lanolin, along with oils and sometimes fragrances. The primary purpose of mustache wax is to provide hold, allowing the user to mold the mustache into various styles—like curls, twists, or other shapes—while helping to tame unruly hairs.
Oiticica oil, also known as Oiticica oil or Oiticica nut oil, is a natural oil extracted from the seeds of the Oiticica tree (Licania rigida), which is native to Brazil and other parts of South America. The oil is known for its rich content of fatty acids, particularly oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid, which contribute to its emollient and moisturizing properties.
The term "Pseudo Stirling cycle" does not refer to a widely recognized thermodynamic cycle like the Stirling cycle itself. It is possible that it may refer to variations or specific adaptations of the Stirling cycle that are used in thermal engines or refrigeration systems, but such names are not standard in the literature.
Computation in the limit is a concept from theoretical computer science and formal language theory. It typically refers to processes or systems that are defined to converge to a result over time as they perform a computation. In the context of formal definitions, particularly in computability theory, computations can be framed in terms of sequences of steps that gradually approach a solution or a final outcome.
Computational semiotics is an interdisciplinary field that combines elements of semiotics—the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation—with computational methods and techniques. Essentially, it examines how meaning is generated, communicated, and understood through digital and computational systems. ### Key Aspects of Computational Semiotics: 1. **Semiotics Foundation**: At its core, semiotics involves understanding how signs (which can be words, images, sounds, etc.) convey meaning.
The Halting problem is a fundamental concept in computability theory, introduced by British mathematician and logician Alan Turing in 1936. It is a decision problem that can be stated as follows: Given a description of a program (or Turing machine) and an input, determine whether the program finishes running (halts) or continues to run indefinitely. Turing proved that there is no general algorithm that can solve the Halting problem for all possible program-input pairs.
The Church-Turing Thesis is a fundamental concept in computer science and mathematical logic, describing the nature of computable functions and the limits of what can be computed. The thesis arises from the independent work of two logicians: Alonzo Church and Alan Turing in the 1930s. ### Background - **Alonzo Church**: In 1936, Church introduced the concept of lambda calculus as a formal system to investigate functions and computation.
In computability theory, mortality refers to a specific property of a computational process, particularly in the context of Turing machines. A Turing machine is said to be "mortal" if it eventually enters a halting state after a finite number of steps for every input. In simpler terms, a mortal Turing machine will always stop (halt) when run on any given input.
A nomogram is a graphical calculating device, a two-dimensional diagram designed to allow the approximate graphical computation of a mathematical function. It consists of a series of scales that represent different variables. By aligning a ruler or a straight edge across the scales, users can visually calculate the values of various parameters, often in fields such as medicine, engineering, and statistics.
A *nondeterministic algorithm* is a theoretical model of computation that allows multiple possibilities for each decision point in its execution. In other words, rather than following a single, predetermined path to reach a solution, a nondeterministic algorithm can explore many different paths simultaneously or choose among various possibilities at each step.
In computability theory, **numbering** refers to a method of representing or encoding mathematical objects, such as sets, functions, or sequences, using natural numbers. This concept is important because it allows for the study of quantifiable structures and their properties using the tools of arithmetic and formal logic. A numbering is a way to create a bijective correspondence between elements of a certain set and natural numbers.
In computer science, "scale factor" can refer to several concepts depending on the context in which it is used, but generally, it relates to the dimensionless ratio that indicates how much a system can be scaled or how the performance of a system changes based on changes in size or quantity. Here are some common applications of the term: 1. **Scaling in Databases**: In the context of databases, scale factor refers to the size of the dataset used for benchmarking.