The A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers; the number to be armoured was increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat. Following the appearance of the first British tanks on the Western Front, in September 1916, the German War Ministry formed a committee, under the auspices of its Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 Verkehrswesen, to investigate tank development; the project to design and build the first German tank was placed under the direction of Joseph Vollmer, one of Germany's foremost automobile designers. It was to weigh around 30 tons, be capable of crossing ditches up to 1.5 metres wide, have armament including a cannon at the front and rear as well as several machine-guns, reach a top speed of at least 12 kilometres per hour.

The running gear was based on the American Holt tractor, copied from examples loaned by the Austro-Hungarian Army. After initial plans were shared with the army in December 1916, the design was extended to be a universal chassis that could be used as a base for both a tank and unarmoured Überlandwagen cargo carriers; the first prototype was completed by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft at Berlin-Marienfelde and tested on 30 April 1917. A wooden mockup of a final version was completed in May 1917 and demonstrated in Mainz with 10 tons of ballast to simulate the weight of the armor. During final design, the rear-facing cannon was removed and the number of machine-guns was increased to six; the first pre-production A7V was produced in September 1917, followed by the first production model in October 1917. The tanks were given to Assault Tank Units 1 and 2, founded on 20 September 1917, each with five officers and 109 non-commissioned officers and soldiers; the tank's name was derived from that of its parent organization, Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7.

In German, the tank was called Sturmpanzerwagen. The A7V was 7.34 m long and 3 m wide, the maximum height was 3.3 m. The tank had 20 mm of 30 mm at the front and 10 mm for the roof, it was sufficient to stop rifle fire, but not larger calibre rounds. The crew consisted of at least 17 soldiers and one officer: commander, mechanic, mechanic/signaller, 12 infantrymen, two artillerymen. A7Vs went into action with as many as 25 men on board; the A7V was armed with six 7.92 mm MG08 machine guns and a 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon mounted at the front. Some of these cannons had been captured in Belgium early in the war; some A7Vs were built with two forward-facing machine guns instead of a 57 mm gun. Most were converted to carry a 57 mm before entering service. Number 501, took part in the action at St. Quentin before her 57 mm was fitted; the A7V carried between 40 and 60 cartridge belts for its machine guns, each of 250 rounds, giving it a total of 10,000 to 15,000 rounds. It carried 180 shells for the 57 mm gun, of which 90 were canister, 54 were armor-piercing, 36 were high-explosive.

Power came from two centrally mounted Daimler 4-cylinder petrol engines delivering 75 kW each. The top speed was 5 km/h across country; the 24 wheel suspension was individually sprung — an advantage over the unsprung British tanks. The A7V's power-to-weight ratio was 5.1 kW/ton, it could cross trenches up to 2.1 m wide, its ground clearance was 190 to 400 mm. Compared to that of other World War I tanks, the A7V's road speed was quite high, but the vehicle had poor off-road capability and a high centre of gravity, which made it prone to getting stuck or overturning on steep slopes; the large overhang at the front and the low ground clearance meant that trenches or muddy areas were impassable. The driver's view of the terrain directly in front of the tank was obscured by the vehicle's hull, which meant that there was a blind spot of about 10 metres. However, in open terrain, the A7V could be used to some success, offered more firepower than the armoured cars that were available; the A7V was first used in combat on 21 March 1918.

Five tanks of Abteilung I under the command of Hauptmann Greiff were deployed north of the St. Quentin Canal. Three of the A7Vs suffered mechanical failures. Three detachments of tanks were assigned to an attack at Villers-Bretonneux at the head of the four German divisions spread over a 6.4-kilometre front. Two tanks broke down en route, but the 13 that saw action achieved some success, the British recorded that their lines were broken by the tanks. A counter attack re-established the Allied line, by which time three A7Vs were out of action in No Man's Land or behind German lines. Nixe was badly damaged, a Ger

William R. Simpson is an American chemist, he is a pioneer in the field of snow chemistry. He is a current researcher at University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute and International Arctic Research Center and an associate professor in the chemistry department, he is the principal investigator of the atmospheric chemistry group and director of the university's NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program. He is known internationally for his research. Bill attained his B. A. in chemistry at Swarthmore College in 1988 and his Ph. D. in physical chemistry at Stanford University in 1995. CAREER Grant Award of the National Science Foundation 2001-2006 Research Innovation Award for cavity ring-down spectroscopy, Research Corporation 1999 Flavored Ice Award for revolutionary snow flavoring techniques Cavity ring-down spectroscopy Snowpack photochemistry Stratospheric ozone Simpson has more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Simpson, W. R. L. Alvarez-Aviles, T. A. Douglas, M. Sturm, F. Domine, Halogens in the coastal snow pack near Barrow, Alaska: Evidence for active bromine air-snow chemistry during springtime, Geophys.

Res. Lett. 32, L04811. Ayers, J. D. and W. R. Simpson, Measurements of N2O5 near Fairbanks, Alaska, J. Geophys. Res. 111, D14309. Ayers, J. D. R. L. Apodaca, W. R. Simpson, D. S. Baer, Off-axis cavity ringdown spectroscopy: application to atmospheric nitrate radical detection, Appl. Optics. 44, 7239-7242. Bill Simpson's Webpage at the UAF website. Bill Simpson's Webpage at the Geophysical Institute website. Bill Simpson's REU Program Webpage at the Geophysical Institute website

Children of the Black Sun is a studio album by Non, the primary project of musician Boyd Rice, released by Mute Records in 2002. Consists of seven tracks all of which are minimalist ambient noise compositions. One track, for instance, includes a French horn and a number of other instruments crescendoing while playing only one note, the result being a hypnotic and varied composition; the album includes both a standard CD version and a DVD version recorded in Dolby 5.1 channel sound. "Arka" "Black Sun" "Serpent of the Heavens" "Serpent of the Abyss" "The Underground Stream" "The Fountain of Fortune" "Son of the Sun" Boyd Rice Discography at BoydRice.com