leatherback sea turtle, (Dermochelys coriacea), species of sea turtle notable because it lacks scales and a hard shell. It sports a bony carapace covered with black or brown skin with a texture similar to leather, which gives the turtle its name. It is the only member of the turtle family

crustacean: Size range and diversity of structure: …10,000 species) that includes the American lobster, which can reach a weight of 20 kilograms (44 pounds), and the giant Japanese spider crab, which has legs that can span up to 3.7 metres (12 feet). At the other end of the scale, some of the water fleas (class Branchiopoda), such…

Colombia: Relief: …width, generally known as the Atlantic lowlands (also called the Caribbean coastal lowlands). Dotted with hills and with extensive tracts of seasonally flooded land along the lower Magdalena and the Sinú rivers, it surrounds the inland portion of the Santa Marta Mountains. A much narrower lowland apron extends along the…

Brazil: Coastal lowlands: The Atlantic lowlands, which comprise only a tiny part of Brazil’s territory, range up to 125 miles (200 km) wide in the North but become narrower in the Northeast and disappear in parts of the Southeast. Nevertheless, their features are widely varied, including level floodplains, swamps,…

mackerel: The common mackerel (Scomber scombrus) of the Atlantic Ocean is an abundant and economically important species that is sometimes found in huge schools. It averages about 30 cm (12 inches) in length and is blue-green above and silver-white below, with a series of wavy, dark, vertical…

manta ray: …(2 feet) across, but the Atlantic manta, or giant devil ray (Manta birostris), the largest of the family, may grow to more than 7 metres (23 feet) wide. The Atlantic manta is a well-known species, brown or black in colour and very powerful but inoffensive. It does not, old tales…

clupeiform: Growth and mortality: In the Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), a species that spawns in riverine environments, the newly hatched pelagic larvae first drift downriver between fresh and brackish water and shoreward from spawning areas and into estuarine nursery areas. Later, pelagic juveniles tend to move upstream as far as 50…

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), combination of surface and deep ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean that conveys warm surface water northward and cold deep water southward while also circulating nutrients. It is the Atlantic component of thermohaline circulation, and, as such,

The Atlantic, American journal of news, literature, and opinion that was founded in 1857 and is one of the oldest and most-respected magazines in the United States. Both a monthly magazine and a digital publication, it delivers both breaking news and long-form narratives, has won journalism’s most

climate change: Decadal variation: A similar oscillation, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), occurs in the North Atlantic and strongly influences precipitation patterns in eastern and central North America. A warm-phase AMO (relatively warm North Atlantic SSTs) is associated with relatively high rainfall in Florida and low rainfall in much of the Ohio Valley.…

equatorial current: The Atlantic North Equatorial Current is pushed westward by the Northeast Trade Winds between latitude 10° and 20° N. Fed in part by the South Atlantic Equatorial, it turns north as the Antilles, Caribbean, and Florida currents, which eventually become the Gulf Stream. Some of the…

nurse shark: …common Atlantic nurse shark (G. cirratum), the family includes the tawny nurse shark (N. ferrugineus) and the shorttail nurse shark (P. brevicaudatum). They are not related to the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus)—a type of sand shark inhabiting the waters above the continental shelves in most warm and temperate…

Atlantic Ocean, body of salt water covering approximately one-fifth of Earth’s surface and separating the continents of Europe and Africa to the east from those of North and South America to the west. The ocean’s name, derived from Greek mythology, means the “Sea of Atlas.” It is second in size to

Middle Passage, the forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. It was one leg of the triangular trade route that took goods (such as knives, guns, ammunition, cotton cloth, tools, and brass dishes) from Europe to Africa, Africans to work as slaves in the Americas

Tertiary Period: Sedimentary sequences: …Tertiary sediments occur on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains and extend around the margin of the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatán Peninsula, a distance of more than 5,000 km (about 3,100 miles). Seaward these deposits can be traced from the Atlantic Coastal Plain to the continental margin and…

poison oak: Atlantic poison oak (T. pubescens) is native to the southeastern United States and is commonly confused with poison ivy (T. radicans). These species contain urushiol, and contact with the leaves and sap can cause a severe, itchy, and painful inflammation of the skin. Like many…

puffin: …common, or Atlantic, puffin (Fratercula arctica) occurs on Atlantic coasts from the Arctic south to Brittany and Maine. It is about 30 cm (12 inches) long, black above, white below, with gray face plumage, red-orange feet, a blue-gray, yellow, and red bill, and horny plates of skin around the…

Textron Inc., American multi-industry company that pioneered the conglomerate concept. Its present-day core organization includes aircraft, automotive, and industrial manufacturing segments. The firm was established in 1923 as a textile maker and acquired its present name in 1956. Headquarters are

Formed in 1947 by jazz fans Ahmet Ertegun, son of a Turkish diplomat, and Herb Abramson, formerly the artists-and-repertoire director for National Records, Atlantic became the most consistently successful New York City-based independent label of the 1950s, with an incomparable roster including Joe

Atlantic Records: Formed in 1947 by jazz fans Ahmet Ertegun, son of a Turkish diplomat, and Herb Abramson, formerly the artists-and-repertoire director for National Records, Atlantic became the most consistently successful New York City-based independent label of the 1950s, with an incomparable roster including Joe Turner, Ruth…

mussel: The Atlantic ribbed mussel (Modiolus demissus), which has a thin, strong, yellowish brown shell, occurs from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico. The tulip mussel (Modiolus americanus), from North Carolina to the Caribbean Sea, attaches itself to broken shells and rocks; its smooth, thin shell…

Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), former American petroleum corporation that was headquartered in Los Angeles and was bought in 2000 by the giant BP Amoco (later BP PLC). The Atlantic Richfield Company was created in 1966 by the merger of Richfield Oil Corporation and Atlantic Refining Company.

sailfish: platypterus) and the Atlantic sailfish (I. albicans).

Atlantic salmon, (species Salmo salar), oceanic trout of the family Salmonidae, a highly prized game fish. It averages about 5.5 kg (12 pounds) and is marked with round or cross-shaped spots. Found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, it enters streams in the fall to spawn. After spawning, adults

sand flea: The long-horned sand flea (Americorchestia longicornis), which is found on the Atlantic coast of North America from New England to the Gulf of Mexico, is named for its antennae, which are as long as the body. The species, also known as the Atlantic sandhopper, grows to…

saury: …saury (Cololabis saira) and the Atlantic saury (Scomberesox saurus), found in the Atlantic and the seas near Australia.

Eastern Seaboard, region of the eastern United States, fronting the Atlantic Ocean and extending from Maine in the north to Florida in the south. Not merely a geographic term, the Eastern Seaboard is, historically, the part of the United States that was first settled by European immigrants and from

transatlantic slave trade, segment of the global slave trade that transported between 10 million and 12 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th century. It was the second of three stages of the so-called triangular trade, in which arms,

slipper shell: The common Atlantic slipper shell (C. fornicata), often called slipper limpet, is about 4 cm (1.5 inches) long and yellowish; it is abundant from Nova Scotia to Texas. In addition, C. fornicata has been introduced to the west coast of the United States, the coastal waters of…

equatorial current: The Atlantic South Equatorial Current is pushed westward by the Southeast Trade Winds (latitude 0°–20° S). Approaching Cape St. Roque, Brazil, it divides. One stream goes north as the Guiana Current, which in turn feeds the Caribbean Current, the equatorial countercurrents, and the Guinea Current. The…

spadefish: The Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) is a western Atlantic species that ranges from New England to Brazil. It feeds primarily on marine invertebrates, particularly crustaceans and ctenophores (comb jellies).

Europe: Climatic change: …the succeeding climatic optimum (the Atlantic phase), which was probably wetter and certainly somewhat warmer, mixed forests of oak, elm, common lime (linden), and elder spread northward. Only in the late Atlantic period did the beech and hornbeam spread into western and central Europe from the southeast.

chondrostean: Distribution: The common sturgeon (Acipenser sturio; also known as the Atlantic, or Baltic, sturgeon) is found along the European coast from Norway to the Mediterranean Sea. A closely related form (A. oxyrinchus) is found along the east coast of North America from the St. Lawrence River to…

tarpon: The Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus; alternate name Tarpon atlanticus) is found inshore in warm parts of the Atlantic, on the Pacific side of Central America, and sometimes in rivers. Also called silver king, grand écaille, and sabalo real, it habitually breaks water and gulps air. It…

electric ray: …the shocks of the species Torpedo nobiliana were used as a treatment for gout, headache, and other maladies.

fortification: German channel defenses: …English Channel; this was the Atlantic Wall. The line consisted primarily of pillboxes and gun emplacements embedded in cliffsides or placed on the waterfronts of seaside resorts and ports. Included were massive blockhouses with disappearing guns, newsreels of which the Germans sent out through neutral sources in an effort to…

walrus: There are two subspecies: the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) and the Pacific walrus (O. rosmarus divergens). Male Pacific walrus are slightly larger, with longer tusks.

wolffish: Species include the Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus), a vertically banded North Atlantic species; the spotted wolffish, or spotted catfish (A. minor), also of the North Atlantic; and the wolf-eel (Anarhichthys ocellatus), a black-spotted form found in the eastern Pacific.

Battle of the Atlantic, in World War II, a contest between the Western Allies and the Axis powers (particularly Germany) for the control of Atlantic sea routes. For the Allied powers, the battle had three objectives: blockade of the Axis powers in Europe, security of Allied sea movements, and

The Atlantic, American journal of news, literature, and opinion that was founded in 1857 and is one of the oldest and most-respected magazines in the United States. Both a monthly magazine and a digital publication, it delivers both breaking news and long-form narratives, has won journalism’s most

Swedish literature: The 17th century: He proposed this idea in Atland eller Manheim (1679–1702), which, translated into Latin as Atlantica, attained European fame.

Atlantis, a legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean, lying west of the Strait of Gibraltar. The principal sources for the legend are two of Plato’s dialogues, Timaeus and Critias. In the former, Plato describes how Egyptian priests, in conversation with the Athenian lawgiver Solon, described

Atlántico, departamento, northwestern Colombia, located on the Caribbean coastal plain and bounded east by the Magdalena River. The department was established in 1905. Although it is one of Colombia’s smallest departments, Atlántico’s position at the mouth of one of the continent’s major rivers is

Los Angeles Dodgers, American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles that plays in the National League (NL). The team has won eight World Series titles and 25 NL pennants. Founded in 1883, the Dodgers were originally based in Brooklyn, New York, and were known as the Atlantics. The team

surf music: …(“Surfside” [1963]) and, most prominently, the Atlantics (“Bombora” [1963]).

Franklin Chang-Díaz: Other shuttle flights included the Atlantis mission in October 1989, which deployed the Galileo spacecraft that explored Jupiter, and the June 2002 flight of Endeavour, during which he participated in three space walks to help repair the robotic arm of the International Space Station. Chang-Díaz was a visiting scientist (1983–93)…

Anya Taylor-Joy: Becoming a scream queen: …(2015) of the TV series Atlantis, a humanoid in the science-fiction feature Morgan (2016), and the college girlfriend of eventual U.S. president Barack Obama in the Netflix film Barry (2016). She was nonetheless soon branded as a “scream queen” thanks in part to The Witch and to roles in M.…

Atlantis, a legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean, lying west of the Strait of Gibraltar. The principal sources for the legend are two of Plato’s dialogues, Timaeus and Critias. In the former, Plato describes how Egyptian priests, in conversation with the Athenian lawgiver Solon, described

Ignatius Donnelly: …and most popular book was Atlantis (1882), which traced the origin of civilization to the legendary submerged continent of Atlantis. It was followed in 1883 by another work of speculation, Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel, which attempted to relate certain gravel and till deposits to an ancient near-collision…

Atlantis II Deep, submarine basin, the largest in the Red Sea, located at latitude 21°23′ N and longitude 38°04′ E. The Atlantis II Deep attains a maximum depth of 7,160 feet (2,170 metres) Atlantis II Deep is noteworthy because it is one of the areas containing hot brines, with water temperatures

ground squirrel: Nontropical ground squirrels: The Barbary ground squirrel (Atlantoxerus getulus) lives in rocky habitats from sea level to 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in the Atlas Mountains of northwestern Africa, and the four species of African ground squirrels (genus Xerus) inhabit savannas and rocky deserts in northern, eastern, and southern Africa.…

atlas, a collection of maps or charts, usually bound together. The name derives from a custom—initiated by Gerardus Mercator in the 16th century—of using the figure of the Titan Atlas, holding the globe on his shoulders, as a frontispiece for books of maps. In addition to maps and charts, atlases

Tom Kilburn: …most ambitious project, MUSE, renamed Atlas when Ferranti joined the project in 1959. In parallel with two similar projects in the United States (LARC and Stretch; see supercomputer) but largely independent of them, Atlas made the massive jump from running one program at a time to multiprogramming. With multiprogramming a…

Argonne National Laboratory: …Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS), the Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System (ATLAS), and the High-Voltage Electron Microscope- (HVEM-) Tandem Facility—have been designated official U.S. Department of Energy National User Facilities.

Atlas, series of American launch vehicles, designed originally as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), that have been in service since the late 1950s. The Atlas D, the first version deployed, became operational in 1959 as one of the first U.S. ICBMs. (Atlas A, B, and C were experimental

Gerardus Mercator: This Atlas—the term still used to indicate a collection of maps—was never fully realized.

skull: …the highest vertebra, called the atlas, permitting nodding motion. The atlas turns on the next-lower vertebra, the axis, to allow for side-to-side motion.

Saturn: Orbital and rotational dynamics: …of such inner moons as Atlas are puzzling, and they appear to support the idea that the current ring system is much younger than Saturn itself.

atlas, in architecture, male figure used as a column to support an entablature, balcony, or other projection, originating in the Classical architecture of antiquity. Such figures are posed as if supporting great weights (e.g., Atlas bearing the world). The related telamon of Roman architecture, the

Atlas, in Greek mythology, son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene (or Asia) and brother of Prometheus (creator of humankind). In Homer’s Odyssey, Book I, Atlas seems to have been a marine creature who supported the pillars that held heaven and earth apart. These were thought to rest in

Ellen Ochoa: …performed various experiments collectively called ATLAS-2 (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2) that studied the Sun and its interaction with Earth’s atmosphere. The crew also released the SPARTAN satellite, which studied the solar wind for two days before it was retrieved. She was part of the STS-66 Atlantis mission in…

rhinoceros beetle, (subfamily Dynastinae), any of numerous species of beetles, some of which are among the largest beetles on Earth, named for the impressive hornlike structures on the frontal portions of males. These beetles have rounded, convex backs, and their coloration varies from black to

cedar: The Atlas cedar (C. atlantica), the Cyprus cedar (C. brevifolia), the deodar (C. deodara), and the cedar of Lebanon (C. libani) are the true cedars. They are tall trees with large trunks and massive, irregular heads of spreading branches. Young trees are covered with smooth, dark-gray…

Marvel Comics, American media and entertainment company that was widely regarded as one of the “big two” publishers in the comic industry. Its parent company, Marvel Entertainment, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Disney Company. Its headquarters are in New York City. The precursor to Marvel

gazelle: African gazelles: The Atlas gazelle, also called Cuvier’s, or the edmi, gazelle (G. cuvieri), is found in the Atlas Mountains. The rhim, or slender-horned, gazelle (G. leptoceros) is the most desert-adapted African gazelle and lives in the Sahara’s great sand deserts (ergs) from Algeria to Egypt. The third…

Barbary lion, (subspecies Panthera leo leo), extinct lion population that once inhabited large areas of North Africa’s Maghreb region north of the Sahara from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco east to Egypt. Barbary lions were known for their size, and admiration for them dates back at least to the

saturniid moth: Major species: …silk-producing species is the large atlas moth (Attacus atlas), whose wingspread often exceeds 25 cm (10 inches). The caterpillar of the cynthia moth (Samia cynthia or walkeri), also known as the ailanthus silk moth, native to Asia and introduced into North America, feeds chiefly on leaves of the ailanthus tree…

Atlas Mountains, series of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, running generally southwest to northeast to form the geologic backbone of the countries of the Maghrib (the western region of the Arab world)—Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. They extend for more than 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometres),

Halton Christian Arp: …he had included in his Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies (1966) seemed to lie in the vicinity of quasars. Using photographic evidence, Arp tried to prove that the low-redshift galaxies and the high-redshift quasars not only appear close together but also actually are connected by gaseous bridges, an impossibility if the…

Florence Rena Sabin: In 1901 she published An Atlas of the Medulla and Midbrain, which became a popular medical text. In 1902, when Johns Hopkins finally abandoned its policy of not appointing women to its medical faculty, Sabin was named an assistant in anatomy, and she became in 1917 the school’s first…

colour: Colour atlases: …colour atlas such as the Munsell Book of Color is often used. In this system colours are matched to printed colour chips from a three-dimensional colour solid whose parameters are hue, value (corresponding to reflectance), and chroma (corresponding to purity, or saturation). These three parameters are illustrated schematically in the…

Saharan Atlas, part of the chain of Atlas Mountains, extending across northern Africa from Algeria into Tunisia. The principal ranges from west to east are the Ksour, Amour, Ouled-Naïl, Zab, Aurès, and Tébessa (Tabassah). Mount Chélia (7,638 feet [2,328 m]) is the highest point in northern Algeria,

Saharan Atlas, part of the chain of Atlas Mountains, extending across northern Africa from Algeria into Tunisia. The principal ranges from west to east are the Ksour, Amour, Ouled-Naïl, Zab, Aurès, and Tébessa (Tabassah). Mount Chélia (7,638 feet [2,328 m]) is the highest point in northern Algeria,

Atlas Shrugged, novel by Ayn Rand, published in 1957. The book’s female protagonist, Dagny Taggart, struggles to manage a transcontinental railroad amid the pressures and restrictions of massive bureaucracy. Her antagonistic reaction to a libertarian group seeking an end to government regulation is

Gerardus Mercator: This Atlas—the term still used to indicate a collection of maps—was never fully realized.

Tell Atlas, range of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, extending about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from eastern Morocco through Algeria to Tunisia. In Morocco, from Ceuta east to Melilla (150 miles [240 km]), the Er-Rif mountain range of the Tell Atlas faces the Mediterranean Sea, and there, as along

Tell Atlas, range of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, extending about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from eastern Morocco through Algeria to Tunisia. In Morocco, from Ceuta east to Melilla (150 miles [240 km]), the Er-Rif mountain range of the Tell Atlas faces the Mediterranean Sea, and there, as along

Charles Atlas was an Italian-born American bodybuilder and physical culturist who, with Frederick Tilney and Charles P. Roman, created and marketed a highly popular mail-order bodybuilding course. In 1904 Angelo Siciliano immigrated to the United States with his mother and settled in Brooklyn, New

Ellen Ochoa: STS-66 carried the ATLAS-3, which reflew experiments Ochoa had worked with on her previous flight. Another small satellite, CRISTA-SPAS, was released, which studied Earth’s atmosphere for eight days before being retrieved.

Atlas: The Atlas-Centaur rocket combined an Atlas first stage, which burned kerosene fuel, with a Centaur second stage, fueled with liquid hydrogen; it was the first rocket to use liquid hydrogen as fuel.

spear-thrower, a device for throwing a spear (or dart) usually consisting of a rod or board with a groove on the upper surface and a hook, thong, or projection at the rear end to hold the weapon in place until its release. Its purpose is to give greater velocity and force to the spear. In use from

bird stone, abstract stone carving, one of the most striking artifacts left by the prehistoric North American Indians who inhabited the area east of the Mississippi River in the United States and parts of eastern Canada. The stones resemble birds and rarely exceed 6 inches (15 cm) in length. The

Diego Forlán: Villarreal traded Forlán to Atlético Madrid in 2007, and he won the Pichichi again, in 2008–09, with 32 goals. In both 2004–05 and 2008–09, he earned the Golden Shoe as the top scorer in all of Europe. In 2010 Forlán scored the winning goal for Atlético Madrid in the…

Attila: …Nibelungenlied and under the name Atli in Icelandic sagas.

Lay of Atli, heroic poem in the Norse Poetic Edda (see Edda), an older variant of the tale of slaughter and revenge that is the subject of the German epic Nibelungenlied, from which it differs in several respects. In the Norse poem, Atli (the Hunnish king Attila) is the villain, who is slain by his

Yukon River: Physiography and hydrology: …Yukon River, however, flow from Atlin Lake and Tagish Lake in the vicinity of the border between British Columbia and the Yukon territory. About 50 miles (80 km) downstream the Yukon once rushed through the rocky walls of narrow Miles Canyon and tumbled over rock ledges at Whitehorse Rapids. These…

Plain of Sharon: …River and Mount Carmel, the Plain of ʿAtlit, or the Plain of Dor.

Atlixco, city, southwestern Puebla estado (state), south-central Mexico. It lies at 6,171 feet (1,881 metres) above sea level in a fertile valley irrigated by the Molinos River, which descends from the southeastern slopes of Iztaccíhuatl volcano. Founded in 1579 as Villa de Carrión, after its

money: Electronic money: …currency from their accounts using automated teller machines (ATMs). In this way an ATM withdrawal works like a debit card. ATMs also allow users to deposit checks into their accounts or repay bank loans. While they do not replace the assets used as money, ATMs make money more readily available…

standard atmosphere, unit of pressure, equal to the mean atmospheric pressure at sea level. It corresponds to the pressure exerted by a vertical column of mercury (as in a barometer) 760 mm (29.9213 inches) high. One standard atmosphere, which is also referred to as one atmosphere, is equivalent to

Lawrence Roberts: …produced networking equipment using the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) protocol. In 1993 he became president of ATM Systems. However, ATM was eventually supplanted by networking devices using Internet Protocol (IP), and he left ATM Systems in 1998.

If you’ve ever used an ATM at a convenience store or supermarket, you may have paid a fee—and perhaps not a small one, either. Expected or not, those fees can add up if you use an ATM regularly. But it’s easy to avoid ATM fees if you understand how you incur them, the different types of fees you

atman, one of the most basic concepts in Hinduism, the universal self, identical with the eternal core of the personality that after death either transmigrates to a new life or attains release (moksha) from the bonds of existence. While in the early Vedas it occurred mostly as a reflexive pronoun

Ātmārāmjī , important Jain reformer and revivalist monk. He was born a Hindu but as a child came under the influence of Sthānakavāsī Jain monks and was initiated as a Sthānakavāsī monk in 1854. He was renowned for his prodigious memory and intellectual skills. He pursued an independent study of

Atmore, city, Escambia county, southwestern Alabama, U.S. It lies just north of the Florida state line, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Mobile. The city was founded in 1866 by William Larkin Williams, who established a railroad supply stop that became known as Williams Station. Settlers were

atmosphere, the gas and aerosol envelope that extends from the ocean, land, and ice-covered surface of a planet outward into space. The density of the atmosphere decreases outward, because the gravitational attraction of the planet, which pulls the gases and aerosols (microscopic suspended

evolution of the atmosphere, the development of Earth’s atmosphere across geologic time. The process by which the current atmosphere arose from earlier conditions is complex; however, evidence related to the evolution of Earth’s atmosphere, though indirect, is abundant. Ancient sediments and rocks

climate: Circulation, currents, and ocean-atmosphere interaction: The circulation of the ocean is a key factor in air temperature distribution. Ocean currents that have a northward or southward component, such as the warm Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic or the cold Peru (Humboldt) Current off South America, effectively exchange…

Atmosphères, orchestral composition known for its dense texture and stasis by avant-garde Hungarian-born composer György Ligeti. It was commissioned by Southwest German Radio and premiered at the Festival of Contemporary Music in Donaueschingen, West Germany, on October 22, 1961. But the piece

telecommunications media: The free-space channel: Atmospheric absorption losses can be minimized by choosing transmission wavelengths that lie in one of the low-loss “windows” in the infrared, visible, or ultraviolet region. The atmosphere imposes high absorption losses as the optical wavelength approaches the resonant wavelengths of gaseous constituents such as oxygen…