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Whale vocalization

Whales use a variety of sounds for communication and sensation. The mechanisms used to produce sound vary from one family of cetaceans to another. Marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are much more dependent on sound than land mammals due to the limited effectiveness of other senses in water. Sight is less effective for marine mammals because of the way particulates in the ocean scatter light. Smell is also limited, as molecules diffuse more slowly in water than in air, which makes smelling less effective. However, the speed of sound is roughly four times greater in water than in the atmosphere at sea level. As sea mammals are so dependent on hearing to communicate and feed, environmentalists and cetologists are concerned that they are being harmed by the increased ambient noise in the world's oceans caused by ships, sonar and marine seismic surveys.

The word "song" is used to describe the pattern of regular and predictable sounds made by some species of whales, notably the humpback whale. This is included with or in comparison with music, and male humpback whales have been described as "inveterate composers" of songs that are "'strikingly similar' to human musical traditions". It has been suggested that humpback songs communicate male fitness to female whales.

Types and purpose of vocalization
While the complex sounds of the humpback whale (and some blue whales) are believed to be primarily used in sexual selection, there are simpler sounds that are created by other species of whales that have an alternative use and are used all year round. Whale watchers have watched mother whales lift their young towards the surface in a playful motion, while making a noise that resembles cooing in humans. This cooing-like noise made by whales seems designed to relax their young and is one of several distinct everyday noises whales are known to make. Unlike some fish such as sharks, a toothed whale's sense of smell is absent, causing them to rely heavily on echolocation, both for hunting prey and for navigating the ocean under darkness. This requires the whales to produce noise year round to ensure they are able to navigate around any obstacles they may face such as sunken ships or other animals.

It has also been proven that whales are extremely social creatures. The noises that are made throughout the entire year (the main sounds being whistles, clicks, and pulsed calls) are used to communicate with other members of their pod. Each sound a whale makes could mean something different. The clicking noises whales make are used for navigation.

The question of whether whales sometimes sing purely for aesthetic enjoyment, personal satisfaction, or 'for art's sake', is considered by some to be "an untestable question".

Song of the humpback whale
Interest in whale song was aroused by researchers Katy and Roger Payne as well as Scott McVay after the songs were brought to their attention by a Bermudian named Frank Watlington who was working for the US government at the SOFAR station listening for Russian submarines with underwater hydrophones off the coast of the island. The Paynes released the best-selling Songs of the Humpback Whale in 1970, and the whale songs were quickly incorporated into human music by, among others, singer Judy Collins, as well as George Crumb, Paul Winter, and David Rothenberg.

The humpback whale produces a series of repetitious sounds at varying frequencies known as whale song. Marine biologist Philip Clapham describes the song as "probably the most complex in the animal kingdom."

Male humpback whales perform these vocalizations often during the mating season, and so it was initially believed the purpose of songs is to aid mate selection. However, no evidence was found that links these songs to reprosexuality.

The songs follow a distinct hierarchical structure. The base units of the song (sometimes loosely called the "notes") are single uninterrupted emissions of sound that last up to a few seconds. These sounds vary in frequency from 20 Hz to upward of 24 kHz (the typical human range of hearing is 20 Hz to 20 kHz). The units may be frequency modulated (i.e., the pitch of the sound may go up, down, or stay the same during the note) or amplitude modulated (get louder or quieter). However, the adjustment of bandwidth on a spectrogram representation of the song reveals the essentially pulsed nature of the FM sounds.

A collection of four or six units is known as a sub-phrase, lasting perhaps ten seconds (see also phrase (music)). A collection of two sub-phrases is a phrase. A whale will typically repeat the same phrase over and over for two to four minutes. This is known as a theme. A collection of themes is known as a song. The whale song will last up to 30 or so minutes, and will be repeated over and over again over the course of hours or even days. This "Russian doll" hierarchy of sounds suggests a syntactic structure that is more human-like in its complexity than other forms of animal communication like bird songs, which have only linear structure.

All the whales in an area sing virtually the same song at any point in time and the song is constantly and slowly evolving over time. For example, over the course of a month a particular unit that started as an upsweep (increasing in frequency) might slowly flatten to become a constant note. Another unit may get steadily louder. The pace of evolution of a whale's song also changes—some years the song may change quite rapidly, whereas in other years little variation may be recorded.

Whales occupying the same geographical areas (which can be as large as entire ocean basins) tend to sing similar songs, with only slight variations. Whales from non-overlapping regions sing entirely different songs.

As the song evolves, it appears that old patterns are not revisited. An analysis of 19 years of whale songs found that while general patterns in song could be spotted, the same combination never recurred.

Humpback whales may also make stand-alone sounds that do not form part of a song, particularly during courtship rituals. Finally, humpbacks make a third class of sound called the feeding call. This is a long sound (5 to 10 s duration) of near constant frequency. Humpbacks generally feed cooperatively by gathering in groups, swimming underneath shoals of fish and all lunging up vertically through the fish and out of the water together. Prior to these lunges, whales make their feeding call. The exact purpose of the call is not known.

Some scientists have proposed that humpback whale songs may serve an echolocative purpose, but this has been subject to disagreement.

Other whale sounds
Humpback whales have also been found to make a range of other social sounds to communicate such as "grunts", "groans", "thwops", "snorts" and "barks".

In 2009, researchers found that blue whale song has been deepening in its tonal frequency since the 1960s. While noise pollution has increased ambient ocean noise by over 12 decibels since the mid-20th century, researcher Mark McDonald indicated that higher pitches would be expected if the whales were straining to be heard.

Killer whales have been observed to produce long range calls that are stereotyped and high frequency travelling distances from 10-16 km as well as short range calls that can travel distances from 5-9 km. Short range calls are reported during social and resting periods while long range are more commonly reported during foraging and feeding.

Most other whales and dolphins produce sounds of varying degrees of complexity. Of particular interest is the Beluga (the "sea canary") which produces an immense variety of whistles, clicks and pulses.

It was previously thought that most baleen whales make sounds at about 15–20 hertz. However, a team of marine biologists, led by Mary Ann Daher of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, reported in New Scientist in December 2004 that they had been tracking a whale in the North Pacific for 12 years that was "singing" at 52 Hz. Scientists have been unable to explain this phenomenon. 52 Hz is a very low sound, it is audible through human ears as a low moaning sound. It was not expected that this whale was a new species, more so this whale indicated that a currently known species potentially has a much wider vocal range than previously thought. There is disagreement in the scientific community regarding the uniqueness of the whale's vocalization and whether it is a member of a hybrid whale such as the well documented blue and fin whale hybrids.

Mechanisms of sound production
Humans produce voiced sounds by passing air through the larynx. Within the larynx, when the vocal cords are brought close together, the passing air will force them to alternately close and open, separating the continuous airstream into discrete pulses of air that are heard as a vibration. This vibration is further modified by speech organs in the oral and nasal cavities, creating sounds which are used in human speech.

Cetacean sound production differs markedly from this mechanism. The precise mechanism differs in the two suborders of cetaceans: the Odontoceti (toothed whales, including dolphins) and the Mysticeti (baleen whales, including the largest whales such as the blue whale).

Odontocete whales
Odontocetes produce rapid bursts of high-frequency clicks that are thought to be primarily for echolocation. Specialized organs in an odontocete produce collections of clicks and buzzes at frequencies from 0.2 to 150 kHz to obtain sonic information about its environment. Lower frequencies are used for distance echolocation, due to the fact that shorter wavelengths do not travel as far as longer wavelengths underwater. Higher frequencies are more effective at shorter distances, and can reveal more detailed information about a target. Echoes from clicks convey not only the distance to the target, but also the size, shape, speed, and vector of its movement. Additionally, echolocation allows the odontocete to easily discern the difference between objects that are different in material composition, even if visually identical, by their different densities. Individuals also appear to be able to isolate their own echoes during pod feeding activity without interference from other pod members' echolocations.

Whistles are used for communication. Four- to six-month-old calves develop unique sounds that they use most frequently throughout their lives. Such "signature whistles" are distinctive to the individual and may serve as a form of identification among other odontocetes. Though a large pod of dolphins will produce a wide range of different noises, very little is known about the meaning of the sound. Frankel quotes one researcher who says listening to a school of odontocetes is like listening to a group of children at a school playground.

The multiple sounds odontocetes make are produced by passing air through a structure in the head called the phonic lips. Biologically the structure is homologous to an upper lip located in the nasal cavity, but mechanistically the phonic lips act similarly to human vocal "cords" (vocal folds), which in humans are located in the larynx. As the air passes through this narrow passage, the phonic lip membranes are sucked together, causing the surrounding tissue to vibrate. These vibrations can, as with the vibrations in the human larynx, be consciously controlled with great sensitivity. The vibrations pass through the tissue of the head to the melon, which shapes and directs the sound into a beam of sound useful in echolocation. Every toothed whale except the sperm whale has two sets of phonic lips and is thus capable of making two sounds independently. Once the air has passed the phonic lips it enters the vestibular sac. From there, the air may be recycled back into the lower part of the nasal complex, ready to be used for sound creation again, or passed out through the blowhole.

The French name for phonic lips, museau de singe, translates literally as "monkey's muzzle", which the phonic lip structure is supposed to resemble in sperm whales. New cranial analysis using computed axial and single photon emission computed tomography scans in 2004 showed, at least in the case of bottlenose dolphins, that air might be supplied to the nasal complex from the lungs, enabling the sound creation process to continue for as long as the dolphin can add air from the lungs.

Sperm whale
The sperm whale's vocalizations are all based on clicking, described in four types: the usual echolocation, creaks, codas, and slow clicks. The most distinctive vocalizations are codas, which are short rhythmic sequences of clicks, mostly numbering 3–12 clicks, in stereotyped patterns. They are the result of vocal learning within a stable social group. Some codas express clan identity, and denote different patterns of travel, foraging, and socializing or avoidance among clans. As “arbitrary traits that function as reliable indicators of cultural group membership,” clan identity codas act as symbolic markers that modulate interactions between individuals.

Individual identity in sperm whale vocalizations is an ongoing scientific issue, however. A distinction needs to be made between cues and signals. Human acoustic tools can distinguish individual whales by analyzing micro-characteristics of their vocalizations, and the whales can probably do the same. This does not prove that the whales deliberately use some vocalizations to signal individual identity in the manner of the signature whistles that bottlenose dolphins use as individual labels.

Mysticete whales
Mysticetes do not have phonic lip structure. Instead, they have a larynx that appears to play a role in sound production, as it has vocal folds (vocal "cord") homologs in the U-shaped fold supported by arytenoid cartilages. Whales do not have to exhale in order to produce sound, as they capture the air in a laryngeal sac. It is likely that they recycle air from this sac back to the lungs for the next vocalization. They do not have bony cranial sinuses, but there is a pterygoid air sac. Its role in sound production is unclear (perhaps resonance?), but most likely it is for hearing, as it appears to preserve an airspace at depth around the ear ossicles.

Vocal plasticity and acoustic behavior
There are at least nine separate blue whale acoustic populations worldwide. Over the last 50 years blue whales have changed the way they are singing. Calls are progressively getting lower in frequency. For example, the Australian pygmy blue whales are decreasing their mean call frequency rate at approximately 0.35 Hz/year.

The migration patterns of blue whales remain unclear. Some populations appear to be resident in habitats of year-round high productivity in some years, while others undertake long migrations to high-latitude feeding grounds, but the extent of migrations and the components of the populations that undertake them are poorly known.

Sound levels
The frequency of baleen whale sounds ranges from 10 Hz to 31 kHz. A list of typical levels is shown in the table below.

Human interaction
Researchers use hydrophones (often adapted from their original military use in tracking submarines) to ascertain the exact location of the origin of whale noises. Their methods also allow them to detect how far through an ocean a sound travels. Research by Dr. Christopher Clark of Cornell University conducted using military data showed that whale noises travel for thousands of kilometres. As well as providing information about song production, the data allows researchers to follow the migratory path of whales throughout the "singing" (mating) season. An important finding is that whales, in a process called the Lombard effect, adjust their song to compensate for background noise pollution. Moreover, there is evidence that blue whales stop producing foraging D calls once a mid-frequency sonar is activated, even though the sonar frequency range (1–8 kHz) far exceeds their sound production range (25–100 Hz).

Research indicates that ambient noise from boats is doubling with each decade, reducing the range at which whale sounds can be heard. Prior to the introduction large-scale shipping, whale sounds may have traveled from one side of an ocean to the other. Environmentalists fear that such boat activity is putting undue stress on the animals as well as making it difficult to find a mate.

In the past decade, many effective automated methods, such as signal processing, data mining, and machine learning techniques have been developed to detect and classify whale vocalizations.

History
Whaling Captain Wm. H. Kelly was the first person known to recognize whale singing for what it was, while on the brig Eliza in the Sea of Japan in 1881.

After William E. Schevill became an Associate in Physical Oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts in 1943, his first work was under US Naval auspices investigating echolocation of U-boats. As he later wrote in 1962: "During World War II many people on both sides listened to underwater sounds for military reasons. Not only the wanted sounds (those made by enemy ships), but a bewildering variety of others were heard. Most of these were ascribed to animals living in the sea, usually as 'fish noises' ... Some were ascribed to whales, in part correctly, but without identification of the kind of whale; most military listeners were not biologists, and in any case the traditional naval sonar room is woefully deficient in windows." Schevill produced the first recordings of underwater whale sounds and extrapolated their purpose from these recordings. His groundbreaking work produced over fifty papers on whale phonation and thus provided the framework for “literally hundreds of scientific studies produced by other workers from the 1960s until the present day." However, it is worthy of note that his wife Barbara Lawrence, Curator of Mammals at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), often co-wrote these documents with him.

William E. Schevill's study of whales also at one point harked back to the U.S. Naval operations that first set him down this path. As noted upon his death by the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, "Bill helped defuse a tense moment between the USA and Soviet Union during the Cold War. The US military suspected that low frequency blips were being used by the Soviets to locate American submarines, whereas Bill showed these were produced by fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) hunting prey."

Selected discography

 * Songs of the Humpback Whale (SWR 118) was originally released in 1970 by CRM Records from recordings made by Roger Payne, Frank Watlington, and others. The LP was later re-released by Capitol Records, published in a flexible format in the National Geographic Society magazine, Volume 155, Number 1, in January 1979, re-released by Living Music/Windham Hill/BMG Records on CD in 1992, and remastered on CD by BGO-Beat Goes On in 2001.
 * Deep Voices: The Second Whale Record (Capitol/EMI Records 0777 7 11598 1 0) was released on LP in 1977 from additional recordings made by Roger Payne, and re-released on CD in 1995 by Living Music/Windham Hill/BMG Records. It includes recordings of humpbacks, blues, and rights.
 * Northern Whales (MGE 19) was released by Music Gallery Editions from recordings made by Pierre Ouellet, John Ford, and others affiliated with Interspecies Music and Communication Research. It includes recordings of belugas, narwhals, orca, and bearded seals.
 * Sounds of the Earth: Humpback Whales (Oreade Music) was released on CD in 1999.
 * Rapture of the Deep: Humpback Whale Singing (Compass Recordings) was released on CD in 2001.
 * Songlines: Songs of the East Australian Humpback whales. was released in 2009.

General references

 * Lone whale's song remains a mystery, New Scientist, issue number 2477, 11 December 2004
 * Helweg, D.A., Frankel, A.S., Mobley Jr, J.R. and Herman, L.M., "Humpback whale song: our current understanding," in Marine Mammal Sensory Systems, J. A. Thomas, R. A. Kastelein, and A. Y. Supin, Eds. New York: Plenum, 1992, pp. 459–483.
 * In search of impulse sound sources in odontocetes by Ted Cranford in Hearing by whales and dolphins (W. Lu, A. Popper and R. Fays eds.). Springer-Verlag (2000).
 * Progressive changes in the songs of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): a detailed analysis of two seasons in Hawaii by K.B.Payne, P. Tyack and R.S. Payne in Communication and behavior of whales. Westview Press (1983)
 * Progressive changes in the songs of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): a detailed analysis of two seasons in Hawaii by K.B.Payne, P. Tyack and R.S. Payne in Communication and behavior of whales. Westview Press (1983)

 * Tom Mustill: How to speak whale. A voyage into the future of animal communication, William Collins, 2022. ISBN 9780008363383

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Nashville Superspeedway

Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.330 mi tri-oval intermediate speedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. The track has held a variety of racing series since its opening in 2001, including NASCAR and the IndyCar Series. It has been owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) since 2021, with Matt Greci currently serving as the track's general manager. The track is served by Interstate 840 and Tennessee State Route 452.

The track has a current permanent seating capacity of 25,000, with potential to expand to 38,000 with temporary grandstands. Along with the main track, the track complex also features a 1.8 mi road course layout that uses parts of the main track along with an infield road course that is used to make a "roval". The complex initially planned to expand further to include a drag strip, short track, and a dedicated road course; however, these plans were scrapped.

Initial plans for the track were announced in 1997 by Dover Downs Entertainment (last known as Dover Motorsports) as part of a rise of popularity in stock car racing in the 1990s and with hopes to bring back the NASCAR Cup Series to the Nashville area. The track opened in 2001 to host IndyCar and the second-tier NASCAR Busch Series (now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series). However, a decade later, all major racing left the track due to poor attendance caused by the lack of a Cup Series race, and was essentially left desolate and abandoned for nearly a decade. In 2020, in a surprise move, Dover Motorsports announced the return of NASCAR racing; this time with the NASCAR Cup Series.

Configuration
The track in its current form is measured at 1.33 mi, with 14 degrees of banking in the track's turns, nine degrees of banking in the track's frontstretch, and six degrees of banking in the track's backstretch. Varying sanctioning bodies have disputed the length of the track; NASCAR's official measurement is at 1.33 mi, while IndyCar measures the track at 1.333 mi.

Along with the main track, an infield road course was built with the main track's construction. According to The Daily News Journal, the course measured 1.3 mi, and held its first races in July 2001.

Amenities
The track is served by Interstate 840 and Tennessee State Route 452. State Route 452 was built as part of a project by the Tennessee Department of Transportation in 2000 in order to accommodate traffic for the track. According to The Tennessean, as of 2021, the track has a permanent seating capacity of 25,000, with potential to increase to 40,000 for NASCAR races with temporary grandstands. In 2023, a capacity with the temporary grandstands was reported at 38,000. At its peak, the track had a reported capacity of 50,000, with hopes of expanding to 150,000 according to a 2001 report by The Daily News Journal.

Planning and construction
In the 1990s, a boom period of large-capacity and modern tracks that correlated with the rise of NASCAR occurred, with nationwide efforts being made to build tracks to lure a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race weekend. In November 1997, initial plans for a $25–30 million, 50,000-seat track to be built in the Nashville metropolitan area were made in a joint announcement between Dover Downs Entertainment (last known as Dover Motorsports) and Gaylord Entertainment (now known as Ryman Hospitality Properties), with hopes of the track hosting Winston Cup races. If successful, the track would be the first track to host Winston Cup races in Middle Tennessee since 1984, though the chance of success was met with heavy skepticism due to the track's small capacity. In the early planning stages, although track developers expressed desires to build the track and prioritize finding a location within Davidson County, they couldn't find a suitable 1,200-acre site, with developers getting suggestions to look outside Davidson County. Developers later stated that they planned to build an initial track that could hold 50,000, with potential to expand to 150,000 to 200,000 if needed.

Delays, opposition
By March 1998, although a location was not selected, developer Denis McGlynn stated that he was "confident" the track would be opened by 2000. The next month, McGlynn stated hopes of hosting various types of racing, including National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and IndyCar events. On May 21, while a site wasn't selected, developers stated that a final decision on the area was "three or four weeks away". Three days later, The Daily News Journal reported that McGlynn had narrowed down four potential sites, with speculation on where being placed in Rutherford County and Wilson County. By July, although construction had been scheduled to start by this point, nothing was done, with plans to announce a location being delayed by several weeks, putting the project in jeopardy. However, that same month, the News Journal reported that a 1,600-acre location that was owned by Harding University in northern Rutherford County was being considered, along with a second undisclosed location. By the end of the month, the company began to attempting to buy the land along with other smaller parcels.

The project saw mixed reception from property owners around the Rutherford County location, with some who were asked by Dover Downs Entertainment thinking of refusing to sell their property. To further compound problems, many local residents stated concerns of increased traffic and noise, with guarantees of a Winston Cup date still being thought of as a longshot. In August, Dover Downs announced plans to build a more extensive project, with hopes of building an industrial park; the budget for the track complex increased to $125 million, with Dover Downs having options to buy 2,600 to 2,700 acres of land. In October, Dover Downs opted to file a separate rezoning request for 1,600 acres of land along the Wilson County border, deciding to submit both plans; although the Rutherford County plot was preferred, the company considered moving the entire project solely to Wilson County due to about 230 acres of land not being sold by disinterested property owners. By mid-October, the Rutherford County plan saw increased criticism from residents, with holdouts still adamant on not selling. On October 20, the company announced that the project had moved entirely within the bounds of Wilson County due to the holdouts in the Rutherford County plan.

After a delay of two weeks was announced for Wilson County officials to scrutinize the rezoning plans, the rezoning request was approved to be heard on November 7; by this point, plans had expanded for the complex to include a drag strip, road course, dirt track, and a short track. A vote between Wilson County officials to approve the rezoning was scheduled for December 21; on the day of the vote, the rezoning was approved by a vote of 22–3. The track's approval led to fears of potential decline for the neighboring Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, which while scrutinized for its aging facilities, was regarded as a historic landmark in the Nashville area. In February 1999, a group that was against the track's construction, County Residents Against Racetrack Havoc (CRASH), filed a lawsuit against Wilson County, accusing the county of committing zoning regulation violations and leading to potential delays for the track's construction.

Construction
The local Wilson County Sports Authority, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and Dover Downs Entertainment agreed to raise $15 million for renovations concerning the track's infrastructure, which was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly in March 1999. Due to the delays, in April, the track announced that the opening year had been pushed back to 2001. By May, the track itself, which now had a budget of $47 million, was now in doubt if it could make a sufficient economic impact. That same month, developers announced a groundbreaking date in August or September 1999, with new plans to oversee a 1,000-acre plot of land for private development. In July, Gaylord Entertainment backed out of the partnership, but Dover Downs insisted that it would not affect the construction of the track; a groundbreaking date was later announced on August 12, to take place on the 26th of the same month. The track was officially named "Nashville Superspeedway" on the 25th.

Groundbreaking took place as scheduled. However, just before the groundbreaking ceremony, CRASH accused Dover Downs and Wilson County of "fail[ing] to follow its ordinances" and a lack of notice of intent to rezone, adding to their lawsuit. Three days after the ceremony, an analysis ran by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation found that building the 3,100-acre complex would seriously harm the habitat of the endangered Tennessee coneflower, with fears of destroying a major glade. As a result of this finding, CRASH attempted to tack on allegations of environmental destruction; the idea was repelled by track supporters, who claimed that the flower could survive the construction regardless and that CRASH paid no mind of the flowers until the finding was released. By January 2000, the NASCAR Busch Series (now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series) stated that in 2001, they would move from its race at the Fairgrounds to Nashville Superspeedway, along with the longstanding flagship race of the Fairgrounds, the All-American 400. Four months later, developers began to work on the foundations of the track, hoping to open in April 2001. That same month, in an abrupt transition, the track switched general managers; Cliff Hawks, the executive director of the Fairgrounds, replaced Joe Ernest.

With the additions of Chicagoland Speedway and Kansas Speedway to the Cup Series schedule, the chances of the track's hopes of getting a Cup Series date dwindled heavily despite McGlynn stating otherwise. In June, multiple developments were announced; construction of the road course began, the addition of an Indy Racing League (IRL) race, and the release of a new logo. The next month, although NASCAR stated they had no plans to hold a Cup Series race at the track, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) announced hopes to host events at the complex in 2002. Track paving was completed in early November, with tickets going on sale within the same month. By January 2001, the track announced additional suites from its initial 24 to accommodate higher demand. The track itself was completed the next month. The first test runs took place in early March, drawing positive reviews from testers Tim Steele and Shawna Robinson. Final approvals of zoning changes for the project were approved in the same month, essentially killing appeals made by CRASH. However, by this point, most development planned for the project hadn't started, putting the hopes of the track holding major events and economic growth for Wilson County businesses under doubt. At the end of its construction, Dover Downs was recorded to have spent $125 million on the initial phase of the project.

Early years
The track officially opened to the public on April 7, 2001, for an open house event. Five days later, after a short electrical worker pay dispute that lasted for three days, the track opened to drivers and teams for practice and qualifying sessions. It drew mixed reception from drivers of the NASCAR Busch Series; drivers such as Todd Bodine and Bobby Hamilton expressed concerns about a lack of grip, while others such as Kevin Harvick hoped that the track would gain grip as time progressed. The track held its first races on April 13 and 14, with Ken Schrader and Greg Biffle winning ARCA Re/Max Series and Busch Series events, respectively. As a result of the complaints of slickness, McGlynn opted to resurface a part of the track between the first and second turns. The facility held its first IRL race on July 21, with Buddy Lazier winning the event. Both weekends both did not see sellout crowds. Six days after the IRL event, NASCAR announced that the track was awarded a second Busch Series weekend starting in 2002. The next month, the track held its first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. In October 2009, as a result of the closure of the Dover Motorsports-owned Memphis Motorsports Park, Dover Motorsports opted to move their NASCAR Truck Series date from Memphis to Nashville, with Nashville now having two Truck Series races. The track became publicized in 2011 when Joe Nelms, pastor of the Family Baptist Church, gave a pre-race invocation that praised his family and NASCAR and its sponsors in an eccentric manner that later became an internet phenomenon. The prayer was met with mixed reception; it drew criticism from ESPN reporter David Newton for "put[ting] the spotlight on anybody but himself", while Bleacher Report writer Richard Langford praised it, stating that the invocation had "managed to produce something memorable without being disrespectful".

Era of disrepair and abandon
By 2011, the track faced a litany of issues. The track had a recorded $21 million in bond debt from a 1999 bond deal to extend sewer and water lines, lackluster attendance was prevalent, and the addition of Kentucky Speedway to the Cup Series schedule in 2011 essentially killed any hopes of the track winning rights to a Cup Series weekend; the very goal that Dover Entertainment set. On August 3, 2011, Dover Motorsports announced the track's closure for the 2012 season, with none of the projected projects, other than the tri-oval, being built. The company hoped to sell the track to another company. Although rumors were spread that the IndyCar Series would return in 2013, the closure continued into 2013 and 2014. In March 2014, Dover Motorsports representative Gary Camp stated that the only activities occurring at the facility was for testing.

Attempted sale to NeXovation
On May 30, 2014, Dover Motorsports announced that the company sold the facility to Nashville-based technology company NeXovation for $45.8 million, with the buyer hoping to renovate the track. According to journalist Larry Woody, speculation arose that the CEO of the company, Robert Sexton, had hopes of continuing original plans for the complex or to turn the track into a testing facility. In an interview with The Tennessean, Sexton stated that he wanted to make the facility run year-round, hosting both motorsports and technology-based events. However, the sale confirmation was delayed multiple times. In September, an extension was give until October 25 for NeXovation to further inspect the facility. In March 2015, after paying $400,000, the company was able to further extend their deadline. By the end of May, The Tennessean reported that the deadline had been extended a total of seven times, leading to increasing doubt on whether the facility would be renovated. In July, the company defaulted on their purchase, and by August, Dover Motorsports opted to reopen the sale of the track.

Partial sale to Panattoni
On August 25, 2016, Dover Motorsports announced the sale of the property to Panattoni, a California-based development company for $44.7 million. The company stated that they planned to redevelop the facility and rezone the area into a "logistics and distribution park", with the company initially retaining the track. However, by late 2017, the company sent concept plans to instead purchase the land in phases. In March, a parcel spanning approximately 147 acres was finalized for a price of $5.1 million, with hopes to build an industrial park. The next year, in July, Panattoni bought another parcel of around 132 acres for $6.37 million. By November of that year, the industrial park was opened as the Speedway Industrial Park. Discussion about the track being revitalized for racing was denied by Panattoni, with the decision to resume motorsports events at the track seen as highly unlikely. In December 2019, Woody reported that Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) CEO Marcus Smith initially displayed interest of buying the track, but instead decided to pursue the Fairgrounds.

Resurgence, Speedway Motorsports buyout
In early 2020, NASCAR Cup Series drivers, such as Clint Bowyer and Chase Elliott, began calling for the series' return to the Nashville area. However, they called for the series to race at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway due to its closeness to the Nashville metropolitan area compared to the Nashville Superspeedway. In June of that year, Dover Motorsports announced that the company planned to hold future NASCAR Cup Series races at the track by the next year, reopening the track. The decision was seen as a surprise by local Nashville media, as while the facility could be repaired within a year, the location of the track to the Nashville area made it less desirable than the Fairgrounds. However, due to simpler approval processes to resume racing at the Nashville Superspeedway, Dover Motorsports opted to choose it over the Fairgrounds. According to McGlynn, renovating the facility would cost an estimated $8–10 million. After an inspection that deemed the track in "phenomenal shape", in August, Dover Motorsports appointed Erik Moses to run the track. The facility was able to hold its first large-scale events in November, along with gaining confirmation of scheduled dates for its NASCAR events in 2021. The next month, Dover Motorsports rebranded the facility. The first Cup Series race was run at the track on June 20, with Kyle Larson winning the event.

In late 2021, track ownership changed hands when SMI bought out Dover Motorsports for a total of $131.5 million. The next year, on November 15, Moses stepped down from his position as general manager to become the CEO of the Fiesta Bowl. Two weeks later, the track appointed its vice president of events and operations, Matt Greci, to fill in the position. In 2023, during the 2023 Ally 400, the track drew complaints from driver Ryan Blaney, who crashed during the race, hitting the track's inside barrier in the accident. The inside barrier had no SAFER barrier, a safety addition added to track walls widely implemented after the death of Dale Earnhardt. He later described the impact as the "hardest [hit] of my life", advocating for the addition of a SAFER barrier. The accident caused renewed discussion over the safety of the Next Gen car NASCAR had been using since 2022, which had seen multiple injuries within its first year, along with further criticism from NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer for the lack of a proper barrier.

NASCAR
When the facility first opened in 2001, the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series held two races Tennessee Lottery 250 and Federated Auto Parts 300 while the NASCAR Truck Series held one race the Rackley Roofing 200 at the facility until the track's first closure in 2011. Both series returned to the facility during the track's reopening in 2021 with one race each.

The track also hosts the annual Ally 400, a NASCAR Cup Series event since 2021. The track had initially sought a Cup Series race since the track's planning, but was refused as the Cup Series schedule had grown to a point where adding another race was seen as unfeasible. On June 2, 2020, The Tennessean reported that Dover Motorsports was planning to host a Cup Series event for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, which would host the first Cup Series races for the Nashville area since 1984. The report was confirmed the next day, with Nashville replacing a Cup Series weekend at the Dover Motorsports-owned Dover International Speedway.

IndyCar
The track announced its first Indy Racing League (now known as the IndyCar Series) races in June 2000, with the inaugural iteration of the event taking place on July 21, 2001. The event lasted until 2008; although event organizers entered negotiations to renew for the 2009 season, by August 2008, negotiations had broken down, failing to renew their contract. In 2024, despite successful runnings of the Music City Grand Prix that took place on a street course in downtown Nashville since 2021, the IndyCar Series opted to change their location for the race to the Nashville Superspeedway after it was found that their course layout for 2024 would interfere with construction at the New Nissan Stadium, which was near the street course.

Lap records
As of June 2023, the fastest official race lap records at Nashville Superspeedway are listed as:

title: Nashville Superspeedway


text:
Péguilhan

Péguilhan is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France in the historical region of Gascony. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Lunax was merged into Péguilhan.

Péguilhan has far-reaching views towards the Pyrenees. It is surrounded by woodland and open countryside and a mixture of arable and livestock farming. Some houses in the area have been bought by British incomers, although the majority in recent times have been Dutch and German.

Personalities
It was possibly the birthplace of Aimeric de Peguilhan, a medieval troubadour, although this is debated.

Geography
The river Gesse flows northwards through the commune towards the market town of Boulogne-sur-Gesse; the Gimone forms most its western border.

Literature
Péguilhan is the setting for Martin Calder's travel memoir A Summer in Gascony, about life on a farm with a local Gascon family, centred on the inn at the end of the village. The book is set in the early 1990s and was published in 2008 by Nicholas Brealey publishing.

title: Péguilhan


text:
Xinxiang

Xinxiang (postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China.

It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its southeast, Hebi and Anyang to its north, Jiaozuo to its west, and the provinces of Shanxi and Shandong to its northwest and east respectively.

Its total population was 6,251,929 as of the 2020 Chinese Census. As of the 2018 estimation, 2,743,200 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 4 urban districts (Weibin, Hongqi, Muye, Fenquan), Yanjin county, Xinxiang county and Huixian City which are now being conurbated as the city is expanding very quickly.

Xinxiang is an industrial city in northern Henan, an important city on the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and a city in the Central Plains urban agglomeration, and was once one of the eight major towns in northern China. In ancient times, there were major events that influenced the course of Chinese history, such as the Battle of Mingtiao, the Battle of Muye, and the Chenqiao Mutiny. Modern Xinxiang is China's excellent tourist city, national health city, national garden city, national forest city, and one of the top 100 cities in China in terms of comprehensive urban competitiveness.

History
Xinxiang was the site of the Battle of Muye, where the Shang dynasty was overthrown by the armies of King Wu of Zhou. The region was first named Xinxiang in the 6th year of the Kaihuang era (586 AD) of the Sui dynasty, when Xinxiang county was established in the territories of southwestern Ji County (Henan) and eastern Huojia County. In 960 AD, Later Zhou forces loyal to Zhao Kuangyin mutinied against the rule of Guo Zongxun at Chenqiao Station, located in modern-day Fengqiu County, and declared Zhao emperor, marking the beginning of the Song dynasty.

Xinxiang served as the capital of the short-lived Pingyuan Province, which administered the neighboring cities of Anyang, Hebi, Puyang, Jiaozuo and Heze between 1949 and 1952. In July 2021, Xinxiang was harshly impacted by the flooding in Henan, which affected about 470,000 people and over 55000 hectare of cropland.

During the period of Yao and Shun, China was divided into nine prefectures, and the city's territory belonged to Jizhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou. At the end of the Xia Dynasty, Shang Tang attacked Xia Jie, and the Battle of Mingtiao took place between Fengqiu County and Changyuan County, resulting in the defeat of Jie and the death of Xia.

The Battle of Mu Ye, in which King Wu conquered the Shang, took place in the present-day Mu Ye district.It was owned by the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period.

In the Western Han Dynasty, Ji（汲） County was established, belonging to Henei Commandery, and today Xinxiang City is Xinzhong Township of Ji County. The Book of Han - Chronicle of Emperor Wu: In the sixth year of the Yuan Ding era (111 years before the Han Dynasty), Emperor Wu of Han  went to inspect Goushi（缑氏） County "to the township of Ji Xinzhong, where he got the head of Lv Jia, which he took as the county of Huojia". In the second year of Tai Shi (266) of the Western Jin Dynasty, Ji County was established, to which Huojia County belonged. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huojia County was abolished.The county of Huojia was abolished in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The Eastern Jin Dynasty abolished Huojia County. Northern Wei Taihe twenty-three years (499 years) reset to obtain Jia County, rule Xinle City, that is, the present Xinxiang city.In the seventh year of Tianbao of the Northern Qi Dynasty (556), Huojia County moved to rule Gongcheng (present-day Huixian City).Sui Kai emperor six years (586 years) analysis of Xiji and Huojia two counties set up Xinxiang County, the rule of the present Xinxiang city, belonging to Henan County.: It was named after Xinzhong Township in Ji County, which was shortened to Xinxiang.At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, it belonged to Yi(义) Prefecture, and later to Yin(殷)Prefecture.In the first year of Zhenguan (627), it was reclassified as Weizhou(卫州）.Northern Song Dynasty Xining six years (1073) abolished the county into a town.Xinxiang County was re-established in the second year of the reign of Yuanyou (1087) and belonged to Weizhou.

Geographic location
Xinxiang is located in the northern part of Henan Province, between 113 degrees 23 minutes and 114 degrees 59 minutes east longitude and 34 degrees 53 minutes and 35 degrees 50 minutes north latitude. It is 600 kilometers away from the capital Beijing and 80 kilometers away from the provincial capital Zhengzhou. It is connected to the oil city Puyang in the east and to the west of Luxi ；Bordering the Yellow River to the south, it is separated from Zhengzhou and Kaifeng by the river; to the west, it is connected to Jiaozuo and shares a border with Shanxi; To the north, it relies on the Taihang and is adjacent to Hebi and Anyang.

Pollution
According to a 2015 report by Greenpeace, Henan (Xinxiang's province) has the most severe air pollution of all the provinces in China, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 103.3 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter). The report found that Xinxiang has the 13th most polluted city air in China, with a PM2.5 concentration of 114.6 μg/m3 (over 11 times the safe limit established by the WHO) during the first quarter of 2015. Swiss firm IQAir reported that Xinxiang suffered from an average PM2.5 concentration of 51.5 μg/m3 in 2020, ranking 31st in China, and 89th in the world.

In 2015, environmental non-governmental organization Airman purchased wheat samples farmed in the town of Wangcun, in Xinxiang, near a battery factory, and found it had cadmium levels up to 17 times the national safe limit. The following year, the group again purchased wheat samples in the towns of and Wangcun, and found cadmium levels up to 34.1 times the national safe limit. Following this report, the Xinxiang municipal government launched a program to purchase contaminated wheat, and convert the farmland to other purposes. However, again in 2017, the group purchased additional wheat samples, and found them to have cadmium levels up to 18 times the national limit, with all samples purchased exceeding national safety limits. In response, government officials from the town of Dakuai met with the group, and pledged to further investigate the samples and stop growing wheat on contaminated farmland.

Religion
Xinjiang Roman Catholics are served by the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang (Sinsiang / Sinsiangen(sis)), which was established on July 7, 1936, on missionary territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Weihuifu (now Diocese of Jixian). It is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, which is exempt (i.e., directly subject to the Holy See and its missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), and not part of any ecclesiastical province.

It has had the following incumbent Apostolic Prefects of Xinxiang (Roman Rite) :
 * Father Thomas Megan (米干), Divine Word Missionaries S.V.D.) (born USA) (1936.07.07 – retired 1948), died 1951
 * Fr. Johannes Schütte (舒德), S.V.D. (born Germany) (1948 – death 1971.11.18), also Superior General of Society of the Divine Word (Divine Word Missionaries) (1958.03.28 – 1967.12.15) and Vice-Secretary of Pontifical Commission of Justice and Peace (1968–1971.11.18)
 * Joseph Zhang Wei-zhu (張維柱) (first Chinese and secular priest) (1992, with clandestine episcopal consecration)

Military
Xinxiang is the headquarters of the 83rd Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the three group armies that comprise the Jinan Military Region responsible for the defense of the Yellow River plain.

Administration
The prefecture-level city administers 4 districts, 3 county-level cities and 5 counties.

 * District:
 * Weibin District
 * Hongqi District
 * Muye District
 * Fengquan District
 * County-level city:
 * Huixian City
 * Weihui City
 * Changyuan City
 * County:
 * Xinxiang County
 * Huojia County
 * Yuanyang County
 * Yanjin County
 * Fengqiu County

population
By the end of 2022, the city's permanent population was 6.166 million, including 3.639 million urban residents and 2.527 million rural residents; The urbanization rate of permanent residents was 59.01%, an increase of 0.62 percentage points over the end of the previous year. 43,000 people were born, with a birth rate of 6.90 per thousand. 46,000 people died, with a mortality rate of 7.40 per thousand. The natural decrease of population was 0.3 million, and the natural growth rate was -0.5%.

According to the seventh National Census in 2020, as of 0:00 on November 1, 2020, the city's permanent population was 6,251,929. Among them, male population accounted for 50.23%; The female population is 49.77%. The sex ratio of the total population (100 females) was 100.91.

The population aged 0–14 accounted for 23.17%; The population aged 15–59 accounted for 59.15%; 17.68% of the population was 60 years of age or older, of which 13.04% were 65 years of age or older.

For every 100,000 population, 11,743 people had a university degree (college or above); The population with high school (including technical secondary school) education was 20163; 37,885 people with secondary education; The population with a primary education level is 20,994 (the above levels of education include graduates, associates and students of all types of schools).

Surnames from Xinxiang are: Major (including Gong, Hong, Gong, Duan) Zuo, Ning, Yan, etc.

Economy
Frestech, a major home appliance company, was located in Xinxiang prior to its liquidation in 2018. One of the business units spun off in Frestech's dissolution, Xinfei Electric Group, continues to operate in Xinxiang. Xinfei Electric Group, now a wholly-owned subsidy of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, produces refrigerated trucks, military vehicles, RVs, modular building structures, precision equipment, refrigerators, air conditioners, and environmental control equipment.

Other important enterprises located in Xinxiang include Golden Dragon Copper Group, Bailu Chemical Fibre, Henan Kelong Group, and AVIC XINHANG Industry Corporation.

Agriculture and textiles
Textiles and processed food are also major products of Xinxiang. As an old textiles base, the cotton industry is very developed in Xinxiang.

Transport
Xinxiang serves as a rail junction and industrial center at the head of navigation on the Wei River. The Wei River, made navigable for small vessels by river improvements in the 1950s, links the city with Tianjin.

Railways
Xinxiang is located at the junction of the Beijing-Guangzhou, Xinxiang-Yueshan, Xinxiang-Yanzhou, and Zhengzhou–Jinan Railways. The Xinxiang metro area has two major railway stations: Xinxiang Railway Station in Weibin and Xinxiang East Railway Station in Muye.

Expressways

 * China Expwy G4 sign with name.svg G4 Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau Expressway
 * China Expwy G3511 sign no name.svg G3511 Heze–Baoji Expressway
 * China Expwy G5512 sign no name.svg G5512 Jincheng–Xinxiang Expressway

National highways

 * Kokudou 107(China).svg China National Highway 107

Education and research
Xinxiang is a major city for research appearing among the top 200 cities in the world by scientific research outputs as of 2023, as tracked by the Nature Index.

There are several universities and colleges located in the prefecture-level city.
 * Henan Normal University
 * newly combined university located in the eastern part of Xinxiang, it has 21 faculties and 3 centers
 * Henan Institute of Science and Technology
 * Xinxiang Medical University
 * Henan Mechanical and Electrical Engineering College
 * Xinxiang Hygiene School

Sister cities

 * 🇧🇷 Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil
 * 🇯🇵 Kashiwara, Osaka, Japan

Sources and external links

 * Government website of Xinxiang
 * GCatholic - apostolic prefecture
 * Window on Xinxiang
 * Xinxiang University

title: Xinxiang


text:
Victor, New York

Victor is an incorporated town in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 15,969 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Claudius Victor Boughton, an American hero of the War of 1812.

The Town of Victor contains a village, also called Victor. The town is in the northwest corner of Ontario County and is southeast of Rochester. Victor is part of the Greater Rochester area; Victor's strategic location led to extensive suburban growth in the late 20th and early 21st century. Victor is the largest of Rochester's suburbs to be located outside of Monroe County, the home of more than two-thirds of the Greater Rochester population. The Village of Victor is 12 mi from the head of Canandaigua Lake, the fourth largest of the Finger Lakes.

History
An important Seneca village, known as Gannagaro or Ganondagan, was located within the area of this town. The tribe abandoned the village and the area about it after being severely attacked in 1687 by French invaders from Canada. They were trying to control the lucrative fur trade.

In 2015, New York opened a museum and cultural center on the grounds of the Ganondagan State Historic Site, established in 1987. The Seneca Art & Culture Center at Ganondagan will use art, history and education, drawn from oral history, written documents, and archeological evidence, to tell the story of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people, and specifically the Seneca nation. It is the only publicly funded state historic site devoted to the Haudenosaunee. It has both Haudenosaunee and Non-Native American staff and volunteers. It gives a prominent role to Jigonhsasee, the Iroquoian woman credited as one of the founders of the Confederacy.

The Seneca were the nation that lived the furthest west in New York, anchoring that approach. They occupied the Finger Lakes area and were one of Five Nations who first made up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. In 1722 the Haudenosaunee accepted the Tuscarora, another Iroquoian-speaking people who migrated from the Carolinas, and became the Six Nations.

Following the American Revolutionary War, the Phelps and Gorham Purchase from the Seneca included the territory of this town. Pioneer settlement by European Americans began around 1789. The Town of Victor was formed in 1812 from part of the Town of Bloomfield. The area was initially developed for agriculture.

The Jeremiah Cronkite House, Cobblestone Railroad Pumphouse, Felt Cobblestone General Store, Boughton Hill, Osborne House, and Valentown Hall are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.0 square miles (93.1 km2), of which 35.9 square miles (93.0 km2) is land and 0.01 square mile (0.1 km2) is water (0.03%). The western and northern town lines are the border of Monroe County (Perinton and Mendon).

The New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) passes across the northern part of the town and intersects Interstate 490 east of Fishers. New York State Route 96 is primarily an east-west highway, but turns north to the west of Victor village. New York State Route 251 connects the western part of Victor to Monroe County. New York State Route 444 runs south from Victor village.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,977 people, 3,685 households, and 2,741 families residing in the town. The population density was 277.6 PD/sqmi. There were 3,872 housing units at an average density of 41.6 persons/km2 (107.7 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the town was 96.34% White, 0.89% African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. 1.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,685 households, out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 6.0% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 25.6% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $59,349, and the median income for a family was $71,526. Males had a median income of $51,006 versus $35,208 for females. The per capita income for the town was $31,321. 3.0% of the population and 2.3% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 3.4% are under the age of 18 and 7.0% are 65 or older.

Communities and locations in the Town of Victor

 * Boughton Hill – A hamlet south of Victor village, on NY-444. This is one of the first communities to be settled in the town and was an important center until superseded by Victor village.
 * East Victor (formerly "Scudderville" and "Freedom") – A hamlet east of Victor village, on NY-96. It was an early rival with Victor village for prominence in the town.
 * Eastview Mall – A 1,300,000 ft2 shopping center located just off New York State Thruway Exit 45 on New York State Route 96 in the northwest part of town.
 * Former Fairport Reservoirs – Two adjacent reservoirs near the south town line. Now Boughton Park, a town park shared with East and West Bloomfield.
 * Fishers – A hamlet in the northwest part of the town.
 * Ganondagan State Historic Site – This historic Seneca village site is preserved as a state historical site. It is west of Boughton Hill.
 * Motts Corners – A hamlet in the northeast part of the town on County Road 9.
 * Railroad Mills – A location in the northwest part of the town.
 * Victor – NY-96 goes through The Village of Victor south of the Thruway.

Parks

 * Boughton – Shared with the towns of East and West Bloomfield. (Permit required, from town hall.)
 * Dryer Road – Athletic fields and a box sports rink; playground; multi-use trail system for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
 * Fishers – Hiking, baseball, tennis.
 * Ganondagan, State Historic Site.
 * Harlan Fisher Park – Small in village.
 * Lehigh Crossing – Hiking, fishing, biking.
 * Maryfrances Bluebird Haven – Passive and hiking.
 * Mead Square – In village.
 * Monkey Run – Hiking.
 * Paparone (undeveloped).
 * Victor Municipal – Hiking, fishing, playground.
 * Village on the Park – Playground

title: Victor, New York


text:
Talk:Index of articles related to motion pictures

Untitled
OAR is an acronym for Original Aspect Ratio. OAR has been getting a lot of talk of late in Home Theater circles, not sure I'm 100% on the bandwagon. The basic premise is always keeping the original aspect ratio of a film or video intact when released on DVD. Read more here.

what happened here?
A zillion entries up to letter H and then it nearly stops; did somebody lose interest? Jgm 02:05, 30 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Apparently, yes. See this series of edits from June 2005. -- Quiddity (talk) 07:07, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

dissimilarities
In tracking shot, the shot is known as "a tracking shot, also known as a dolly" but dolly zoom uses the alternate name given in tracking shot for its name. Huh? -Gohst (talk) 22:26, 10 May 2008 (UTC)


text:
Karen Jean Meech

Karen J. Meech (born 1959) is an American planetary astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) of the University of Hawaiʻi.

Career
Karen Meech specializes in planetary astronomy, in particular the study of distant comets and their relation to the early Solar System. She is also very active in professional-amateur collaboration and science teacher education and was the founder of the Towards Planetary Systems (TOPS) high-school teacher / student outreach program that helps educate science teachers in the Pacific islands. She received her PhD in Planetary Sciences in 1987 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BS from Rice University in Houston in 1981, and has received several awards in her career, including the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy in 1988 and the American Astronomical Society's H. C. Urey Prize in 1994.

She was a co-investigator on the Deep Impact mission and current co-investigator on the NASA Discovery missions EPOXI and Stardust-NExT. For all three of these missions she has coordinated the world's Earth-based and space-based observing programs. She is the primary investigator of the University of Hawaiʻi NASA Astrobiology Institute lead team which focuses its research on "Water and Habitable Worlds". She is currently the President of the International Astronomical Union Division III (Planetary Systems Science).

Honors
The outer main-belt asteroid 4367 Meech, discovered by Schelte Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory in 1981, is in her honor.

She was named a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2024, "for ground-breaking research on solar and extrasolar comets and water distribution in the solar system, organization of large international observing teams, development and management of planetary science programs for teachers, and many years of service to the astronomical community".

title: Karen Jean Meech


text:
Kender (Dragonlance)

Kender are a type of fantasy race first developed for the Dragonlance campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game published by TSR, Inc. in 1984. The first kender character was created by Harold Johnson as a player character in a series of role-playing adventures co-authored by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance shared world novels introduced the kender to readers and players alike, largely through the character Tasslehoff Burrfoot, who became one of the main protagonists in the series.

Tasslehoff first appeared in the Dragonlance adventure module DL1 Dragons of Despair, published in March 1984; later that year, the kender's first literary appearance was in the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight, published in November 1984. The kender are often compared to notable diminutive humanoid peoples in other fantasy fiction, such as the hobbits of Middle-earth or halflings featured in Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings.

Conception and development
In preparation for the Dragonlance setting, Tracy Hickman ran a series of Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Harold Johnson, one of those involved in the games, chose to play a halfling thief character whom he called Almar Tann. When Hickman, Johnson and others moved to the Dragonlance setting for their games, the character of Almar Tann went with them. It soon became clear to those involved, however, that halflings were unsuitable to the Dragonlance world. As Johnson described it, this was especially due to his character's possession of a ring of invisibility, so that "it all sounded too much like another story," referring to Bilbo Baggins and the One Ring. Halflings were then dropped from the campaign, and Johnson developed both the initial concept of the kender and the first representative of the fantasy race, Tasslehoff Burrfoot. To solidify the distinction, they were originally described as "thinner, more wiry, and more cunning and streetwise" than halflings, with mixed success: While Matt Barton and Shane Stacks assessed kender to be similar to Tolkien's hobbits, Daisy De Palmas Jauze considered them a novelty.

Roger E. Moore introduced the kender, and Tasslehoff Burrfoot, to the wider community through his short story A Stone's Throw Away, published in April 1984 in Dragon. While Hickman was involved in some of the development, he stated that it was Roger Moore who contributed the most in defining the kender's final iteration.

The original concept of the kender held that they were "savage, warrior children, ever curious, ever alert." This concept was altered dramatically when Janet Pack became involved in dramatic readings of the works, as Pack's personal characteristics had a strong impact on how those involved in the process viewed the kender. According to Jeff Grubb, she, "and as a result all kender since her, was cute. Extremely cute. Sweetly, lovably, frustratingly cute.... And it's hard, after seeing Janet play Tas, to imagine them any other way." Two of the other key characteristics of kender—their curiosity and kleptomania—were introduced by Hickman. Hickman was uncomfortable with the notion of a "race of thieves" in his games, but still wanted the skills typically associated with thieves, so he added their "innocent tendency to 'borrow' things for indeterminate periods of time."

Originally, kender were to be called "kinder", in reference to the German word for "children", but Hickman has reported that readers tended to read the name as "kind-er" rather than "kin-der" in print, leading to the decision to alter the spelling.

Shannon Appelcline noted that game designer John Wick commented in a 2009 podcast that: "Kender … they don't make sense. It doesn't make sense for a race of sociopathic kleptomaniacs to exist in a culture. So how do you put that in a culture to make it make sense?"

Fictional origin
The Dragonlance books present three conflicting accounts of how the kender were created. In Dragons of Summer Flame, the Irda state that kender descend from the gnomes. When the Greygem of Gargath was released, the gnomes present who desired the gem for greed were turned into dwarves, and those who wanted it for curiosity were turned into kender. In the Tales trilogy, however, the dwarves state that when the Greygem came to Krynn, its chaotic magic transformed a group of gnomes into both the first kender and the first dwarves. Still again, it has been stated that in the final battle for control of the Greygem at Gargath's tower, the chaotic power of the gem transformed part of the dwarven army into gnomes, and part of the elven army into kender.

Alternatively, in the novel The Forest King the Longwalker tells the story of his arrival in Krynn through a great cleft in the ground. The Longwalker states that a very clever girl named Fina decided to make a lodestone so powerful it would draw the gods down. All the people helped her until it was the size of a mountain. This drew down The Eye, which burned with such anger it melted the lodestone, and killed many of the people. They found a cleft and squeezed inside, going down through the earth to escape The Eye, traveling down for many generations. When they emerged on the other side they were smaller, and filled with wanderlust; they had become the kender. When asked if the story were true he replies, "How could it be?" This tale, however, is almost certainly the equivalent of a Krynnish folktale.

Appearance and traits

The kender are described in a review of DL1 Dragons of Despair, the adventure module where they first appeared, as: "wizened 14-year-olds and, unlike halflings, they wear shoes."

In Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Kender are described as "small boned" and rarely growing over more than 4 feet tall. Grubb adds to this, stating that the original intention was to depict them as being "wilder than halflings, fearless, sometimes cruel as only children can be". Things changed after Pack's dramatic readings, at which point they became "brave, fearless, taunting, and cute".

In Dragonlance Adventures, the kender are depicted with several qualities that make them stand out. They obtain a wizened appearance as they grow older, due to a fine network of lines that appears on their faces around age forty, and have pointed ears which gives them somewhat of a resemblance to elves. Kender tend to have a wide vocal range, enabling older individuals to perform impressive sound imitations. In addition, they are often depicted as rambling and speaking very quickly when excited, which can make them difficult to understand. Finally, they are described as having a distinctive topknot incorporated into their hairstyles, which is a source of pride.

When kender appeared in the computer game Champions of Krynn, released in 1990, they were described as "a diminutive and highly playful race that resembles Tolkien's hobbit".

Curiosity
Hickman's primary contributions to the development of the kender were their curiosity and their tendency to "borrow" objects. His desire for the skills of a thief, without the associated moral concerns raised by a "race of thieves", led to depicting kender as possessing a habit of finding things that have dropped into their pouches by accident, picking things up in the streets, finding "junk", and generally acquiring things that belong to other people. This habit was justified in Dragonlance Adventures through Hickman's decision to provide the kender with enormous natural curiosity, a character trait which is also employed to provide the characters with lock picking skills and a tendency to "listen in on other's conversations".

Kender are described as not believing that there is anything morally wrong with handling others' items, although the habit may land them in considerable trouble with the owner of an object. In addition, they do not tend to pocket things like money, gems, and the like, as they are depicted as having little concept of monetary value. Kender oppose actual thieving vehemently, and consider being called a thief a great insult to their dignity.

As a side effect of these characteristics, kender can be difficult to play within the role-playing game, as their lack of interest in monetary gain is "a virtual anathema" to the manner in which characters of many other races are typically portrayed. It was recommended in The Mists of Krynn that kender be employed as non-player characters, with their kleptomania providing a convenient means for those running the game to introduce objects at critical times.

Taunting
In Dragonlance Adventures, kender are described as masters at the art of insulting people, using a wide repertoire of taunts, sarcasm, rudeness, and insults. This is made possible due to the shocking insights into an individual's character flaws that a kender can gain through his or her intense curiosity. Kender are also described in Dragonlance Adventures as using this ability to taunt creatures, causing them to become irrational and attack wildly or fall into some kind of trap.

In the computer game Champions of Krynn, kender are portrayed as "the only race that can taunt enemies, driving them into a rage ... and forcing them to focus their attacks on kender". Hickman explained that this characteristic in the kender was created by the game group which was responsible for creating the original saga. Although they thought it was a simple feature, including it in subsequent books proved to be a long-term challenge.

Fearlessness
Margaret Weis stated in The Annotated Legends that "a problem with writing kender is that they are supposedly fearless. However, if a situation arises where an author wants to create fear in a reader, the author needs to do that through making a character feel fear ... thus we came up with the idea that Tas could feel fear for people he cared for, even if he did not feel fear himself. This also adds more depth to Tas's character and makes him more human".

Culture and society
Within the game world, kender names are chosen from a wide range of sources such as recent events, an existing relative, or from items found in kender pouches, such as Bearchase, Lockpick, and Fruitthrow. As children, they constantly ask questions and come to rely on family and friends for needs, and they begin to take part in community activities. As they age, kender children gain education by hearing stories, desiring to acquire new skills, and playing games. They also begin handling and wandering. As kender reach the adolescent and teen-aged years, they become more active participants in Kender Moots, social gatherings where the youth can show off their newly found skills in games and demonstrations. As they near adulthood, kender experience intense wanderlust and leave home.

Most kender spend their entire adult lives wandering around the world. Most of the population of Krynn has been exposed to the adult variety of kender, and as such have adapted the word kender to mean thief, rogue, or cutpurse. Kender take great offense to these epithets, especially the last. The Annotated Chronicles cites the Dragonlance Adventures, which states, "Most Kender are encountered during wanderlust, a particular phase in a kender's life that occurs for most kender during their early 20s. Wanderlust may happen for many years ... and is responsible for spreading kender communities across the continent of Ansalon."

A kender's natural lifespan is about 100 years. They age slowly, remaining childlike in comparison to other races even when their bodies slow down. Kender view death as the next great adventure, and do not linger long in sadness after the passing of a loved one.

Notable kender
Notable kender characters appearing in the Dragonlance novels include:
 * Tasslehoff Burrfoot, one of the series' primary characters and one of the Heroes of the Lance. Tasslehoff first appears in a short story in Dragon before appearing in the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight.
 * Uncle Trapspringer, a legendary hero to whom every other kender claims he or she is related. He appears in Kendermore and Tales of Uncle Trapspringer.
 * Kronin Thistleknot, who defeated the white Dragonarmy Highlord Toede during the War of the Lance. Kronin is first mentioned in Dragons of Winter Night.
 * Earwig Lockpicker, Tasslehoff's cousin and a brief companion of Caramon and Raistlin. He appears in Brothers Majere.
 * Damaris Metwinger, Tasslehoff's onetime fiancée, is featured in Kendermore.
 * Sindri Suncatcher, the only known kender wizard, is featured in Dragonlance: The New Adventures.
 * Koi Fearbreaker, who desires to learn to be afraid, is featured in Dragonlance: The New Adventures.
 * Nightshade Pricklypear, a kender nightstalker and companion to the monk Rhys, is featured in Amber and Ashes.
 * Chestal Thicketsway, is featured in Dragonlance: The Gates of Thorbardin.
 * Emilo Haversack, is featured in Fistandantilus Reborn. He also appears in a crossover novel with Forgotten Realms, in which he aids the Forgotten Realms priest Joel of Finder in a quest, as told in the novel Tymora's Luck by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak.
 * Gaeadrelle Goldring, a spacefaring kender is featured in the Spelljammer novel The Maelstrom's Eye by Roger E. Moore.
 * Razmous Pinchpocket, a seafaring kender is featured in the Age of Mortals novel Conundrum by Jeff Crook.
 * Raf Tanglemop, the first of the new heroes to die in the aftermath of the Chaos War is featured in The Dawning of a New Age by Jean Rabe.

title: Kender (Dragonlance)


text:
Secure operating system

Secure operating system may refer to:
 * Security-focused operating system
 * Security-evaluated operating system, operating systems that have achieved certification from an external security-auditing organization
 * Trusted operating system, an operating system that provides sufficient support for multilevel security and evidence of correctness to meet a particular set of requirements

title: Secure operating system


text:
Talk:List of Western fiction authors

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Deleted Otto Maria Carpeaux from this page since he is not a western fiction author but an author on "Western Civilization." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.177.168.79 (talk) 17:12, 27 May 2004 (UTC)

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Copied from List of Western authors:

This is a list of some notable authors in the western fiction genre.

Note that some writers listed below have also written in other genres.
 * Jack Ballas
 * S. Omar Barker
 * Max Brand (1892-1944), (Pseudonym of Frederick Schiller Faust)
 * Peter Brandvold
 * Matt Braun
 * Otto Maria Carpeaux
 * Walter van Tilburg Clark, (1909-1971)
 * Ralph Compton, (1934-1999)
 * James Fenimoore Cooper, (1789-1851)
 * Barry Cord
 * Ralph Cotton
 * William R. Cox
 * Peter Dawson (I), (Pseudonym of Jonathan Glidden)
 * J.T. Edson
 * Loren D. Estleman
 * Tabor Evans
 * Zane Grey, (1872-1939)
 * A.B. Guthrie, Jr., (1901-1991)
 * Will Henry
 * Roy Hogan
 * Terry C. Johnston, (1947-2001)
 * William W. Johnstone
 * E.Z.C. Judson (Pseudonym of Ned Buntline)
 * Elmer Kelton, (born 1924)
 * Elmore Leonard, (born 1925)
 * Louis L'Amour, (1908-1988)
 * Giles Lutz
 * Larry McMurtry, (born 1936)
 * Nelson Nye
 * T.V. Olsen, (1932-1993)
 * Lauran Paine
 * Conrad Richter, (1890-1968)
 * Jack Schaefer, (1907-1991)
 * Luke Short, (1908-1975)(Pseudonym of Frederick D. Glidden)
 * Charles G. West
 * Richard S. Wheeler, (born 1935)
 * Owen Wister, (1860-1938)
 * Cormac McCarthy, (born 1933) — Preceding unsigned comment added by EloraOntario (talk • contribs) 15:25, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Added Some 19th Century Authors
Project Gutenberg lists mainly 19th century Western authors on its specialized Western books page: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Western_%28Bookshelf%29 We did not have about half of these listed here. So, I went ahead and added the unlisted ones with the exception of Washington Irving. The work Irving is listed for (Astoria: Or, Anecdotes Of An Enterprise Beyond The Rocky Mountains) is indeed about the western frontier, but is history (and maybe also biography), not fiction. It's not even historical fiction. DanQuigley 18:20, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by DanQuigley (talk • contribs)

Elizabeth Butler link
The link to Elizabeth Butler is incorrect. --Jblykins (talk) 00:06, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

WorldCat Genres
Maximilianklein (talk) 00:02, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:List of Western subgenres which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 05:34, 12 July 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:List of Western fiction authors