Microscopium is a minor constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, one of twelve created in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. The name is a Latinised form of the Greek word for microscope, its stars are hardly visible from most of the non-tropical Northern Hemisphere. The constellation's brightest star is Gamma Microscopii of apparent magnitude 4.68, a yellow giant 2.5 times the Sun's mass located 223 ± 8 light-years distant. It passed within 1.14 and 3.45 light-years of the Sun some 3.9 million years ago disturbing the outer Solar System. Two star systems—WASP-7 and HD 205739—have been determined to have planets, while two others—the young red dwarf star AU Microscopii and the sunlike HD 202628—have debris disks. AU Microscopii and the binary red dwarf system AT Microscopii are a wide triple system and members of the Beta Pictoris moving group. Nicknamed "Speedy Mic", BO Microscopii is a star with an fast rotation period of 9 hours, 7 minutes.

Microscopium is a small constellation bordered by Capricornus to the north, Piscis Austrinus and Grus to the east, Sagittarius to the west, Indus to the south, touching on Telescopium to the southwest. The recommended three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is "Mic"; the official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of four segments. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between 20h 27.3m and 21h 28.4m, while the declination coordinates are between −27.45° and −45.09°. The whole constellation is visible to observers south of latitude 45°N. Given that its brightest stars are of fifth magnitude, the constellation is invisible to the naked eye in areas with polluted skies. French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille charted and designated ten stars with the Bayer designations Alpha through to Iota in 1756. A star in neighbouring Indus that Lacaille had labelled Nu Indi turned out to be in Microscopium, so Gould renamed it Nu Microscopii.

Francis Baily considered Gamma and Epsilon Microscopii to belong to the neighbouring constellation Piscis Austrinus, but subsequent cartographers did not follow this. In his 1725 Catalogus Britannicus, John Flamsteed labelled the stars 1, 2, 3 and 4 Piscis Austrini, which became Gamma Microscopii, HR 8076, HR 8110 and Epsilon Microscopii respectively. Within the constellation's borders, there are 43 stars brighter than or equal to apparent magnitude 6.5. Depicting the eyepiece of the microscope is Gamma Microscopii, which—at magnitude of 4.68—is the brightest star in the constellation. Having spent much of its 620-million-year lifespan as a blue-white main sequence star, it has swollen and cooled to become a yellow giant of spectral type G6III, with a diameter ten times that of the Sun. Measurement of its parallax yields a distance of 223 ± 8 light years from Earth. At around 2.5 times the mass of the Sun, it passed within 1.14 and 3.45 light-years of the Sun some 3.9 million years ago massive enough and close enough to disturb the Oort cloud.

Alpha Microscopii is an ageing yellow giant star of spectral type G7III with an apparent magnitude of 4.90. Located 400 ± 30 light-years away from Earth, it has swollen to 17.5 times the diameter of the Sun. Alpha has a 10th magnitude companion, visible in 7.5 cm telescopes, though this is a coincidental closeness rather than a true binary system. Epsilon Microscopii lies 166 ± 5 light-years away, is a white star of apparent magnitude 4.7, spectral type A1V. Theta1 and Theta2 Microscopii make up a wide double whose components are splittable to the naked eye. Both are white A-class magnetic spectrum variable stars with strong metallic lines, similar to Cor Caroli, they mark the constellation's specimen slide. Many notable objects are too faint to be seen with the naked eye. AX Microscopii, better known as Lacaille 8760, is a red dwarf which lies only 12.9 light-years from the Solar System. At magnitude 6.68, it is the brightest red dwarf in the sky. BO Microscopii is a rotating star that has 80% the diameter of the Sun.

Nicknamed "Speedy Mic", it has a rotation period of 9 hours 7 minutes. An active star, it has prominent stellar flares that average 100 times stronger than those of the Sun, are emitting energy in the X-ray and ultraviolet bands of the spectrum, it lies 218 ± 4 light-years away from the Sun. AT Microscopii is both members of which are flare star red dwarfs; the system lies close to and may form a wide triple system with AU Microscopii, a young star which appears to be a planetary system in the making with a debris disk. The three stars are candidate members of the Beta Pictoris moving group, one of the nearest associations of stars that share a common motion through space; the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa in 2003 reported that observations of four of the Mira variables in Microscopium were urgently needed as data on their light curves was incomplete. Two of them—R and S Microscopii—are challenging stars for novice amateur astronomers, the other two, U and RY Microscopii, are more difficult still.

Another red giant, T Microscopii, is a semiregular variable that ranges between magnitudes 7.7 and 9.6 over 344 days. Of apparent magnitude 11, DD Microscopii is a symbiotic star system composed of an orange giant of spectral type K2III and white dwarf in close orbit, with the smaller star ionizing the stellar wind of the larger star; the system has a low metallicity. Combined with its high galactic latitude, this indicates that the star system has its origin in the galactic halo of the Milky Way. HD 205739 is a yellow-white main seque

Vertical Velocity is an inverted steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Manufactured by Intamin under the trade name "Twisted Impulse Coaster", this launched shuttle-style coaster, located in the Yankee Harbor section of the park, has been operating since May 18, 2001; the coaster's single seven-car train runs along a 200 m U-shaped track, incorporating two 185-foot vertical towers. The forward tower incorporates a twisted spiral and the rearward towering provides a straight freefall; the 20 m train, propelled by linear induction motors, is accelerated in less than four seconds to 70 mph toward the forward tower before dropping back down through the station house and up the rearward tower. A holding brake is incorporated on the rear straight tower and was able to suspend the train momentarily before dropping it back down to the station house. However, the holding brake has not been used since September 2008 due to maintenance issues; the train passes, at speed, through the station four times per 2,700-foot ride and is smoothly braked by eddy-current braking before being brought into final position at the station by the LIMs.

Vertical Velocity is similar to Steel Venom at Valleyfair and similar to Possessed at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom. 2001 – Construction completed. 2004 – Additional support was added on both towers to increase stability. 2008 – Holding brake on the back tower ceased operation. "Intamin - Pioneer of Amusement Rides - LIM Coaster: Twisted Impulse". Intaminworldwide.com. Retrieved 31 May 2009. "Press Release". Roller Coaster DataBase. Duane Marden. 1 Mar 2001. Retrieved 31 May 2009. "V2 Vertical Velocity Roller Coaster - Six Flags Great America". Ultimate Rollercoaster. Ultimate Rollercoaster, LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2009. "Vertical Velocity". Roller Coaster DataBase. Duane Marden. Retrieved 31 May 2009

Phanagoria was the largest ancient Greek city on the Taman peninsula, spread over two plateaus along the eastern shore of the Cimmerian Bosporus. The city was a large emporium for all the traffic between the coast of the Maeotian marshes and the countries on the southern side of the Caucasus, it was the eastern capital of the Bosporan Kingdom, with Panticapaeum being the western capital. Strabo described it as a noteworthy city, renowned for its trade. Shortly a Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese while a medieval Genoese colony under the name Matrega, it remains a Latin Catholic titular see. Today the site is located at a short distance to the west of Sennoy in Russia. Another ancient Greek city, lies 25 kilometres to the west, on the shoreline of modern Taman. Phanagoria was founded ca. 543 BC by the Teian colonists who had to flee Asia Minor in consequence of their conflict with Cyrus the Great. The city took its name after one of Phanagoras. "The unusual nature of the Taman peninsula near Phanagoria, with its ravines, crevices and low cones of active volcanoes, must have impressed the ancient colonists more than it impresses us today", Yulia Ustinova has observed.

In the 5th century BC, the town thrived on the trade with the Sindi. Located on an island in the ancient archipelago of Corocondamitis, between the Black Sea and the Palus Maeotis, Phanagoria covered an area of 75 hectares of which one third has been submerged by the sea. In the early 4th century BC the burgeoning Bosporan Kingdom subjugated much of Sindica, including the independent polis of Phanagoria; the town's importance increased with the decline of the old capital, situated on the opposite shore of the Bosporus. By the first centuries AD, Phanagoria had emerged as the main centre of the kingdom. During the Mithridatic Wars, the town allied with the Roman Republic and withstood a siege by the army of Pharnaces II of Pontus, it was at Phanagoria that the insurrection broke out against Mithridates VI of Pontus, shortly before his death. An inscription found during excavations testifies that Queen Dynamis honored Augustus as "the emperor, son of a god, the god Augustus, the overseer of every land and sea".

The loyalty to Rome allowed Phanagoria to maintain a dominant position in the region until the 4th century, when it was sacked and destroyed by the invading Huns. By the 7th century, the town had recovered from a century of barbarian invasions, it served as the capital of Old Great Bulgaria between 665 under Kubrat. Afterwards Phanagoria became a Byzantine dependency. A Khazar tudun was nonetheless present in the town and de facto control rested in Khazar hands until the defeat of Georgius Tzul in 1016. In 704, the deposed Byzantine emperor Justinian II settled in Phanagoria with his wife Theodora, a sister of the Khazar Khagan Busir Glavan, before returning to Constantinople by way of Bulgaria. In the 10th century, the town seems to have faced an invasion by the Rus. After that, Phanagoria could not compete in significance with neighboring Tmutarakan. In the late Middle Ages the town of Matrega was built on its ruins. During the 15th century, it was the center of de Ghisolfi dominions. Henceforth there has been no permanent settlement on the site.

The Genoese colony was canonically established on 1349.02.21 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Matriga. It was suppressed around 1400 AD. Recorded incumbent: Giovanni di Zechia, Friars Minor The diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric in 1928 under the name Matriga, changed in 1929 to Matrega, it is vacant, having had the following incumbents, all of the lowest rank: Titular Bishop Teofilius Matulionis, as Auxiliary Bishop of Mohilev. The location of Phanagoria was determined in the 18th century, when marble statue bases with dedications to Aphrodite were discovered there. Hecataeus and Strabo mention a local sanctuary of Aphrodite as the largest in the Pontic region. Archaeological exploration of the site started in 1822, when "soldiers dug into a large barrow, making rich discoveries of gold and silver objects, many unique, which they divided up between themselves". Apart from the ancient city itself, archaeologists have been interested in a vast necropolis, which spreads on three sides around Phanagoria.

There are thousands of burials, many with cypress or marble sarcophagi — an indication of the well-being of the ancient Phanagorians. Excavations conducted in the 19th century were for the most part amateurish; some of the most intriguing finds were unearthed in the 1860s at the Bolshaya Bliznitsa tumulus, classed by Michael Rostovtzeff as a feminine necropolis with three vaults. One of the royal kurgans near Phanagoria "has a stone stairway leading down to a rectangular passageway, the entrance to the burial chamber; these two areas are covered by an arch showing remains of painted decoration. The wall frescos imitate encrusted marble. On ei

Framing hammers, used for framing wooden houses, are heavy duty rip hammers with a straight claw. The hammer heads weigh from 20 to 32 ounces for steel heads, 12 to 16 ounces for titanium heads. Heavy heads, longer handles and milled faces allow for driving large nails into dimensional lumber; the head will be made of steel and the handle of wood. Light weight titanium heads with longer handles allow for increased velocity, resulting in greater energy delivery, while decreasing arm fatigue and risk of carpal tunnel syndrome; the milled face of the head consists of a waffle-like grid of small four sided pyramids. Nails used for framing have a grid of intersecting raised metal lines on the head of the nail; the raised marks on the head of the hammer grip this grid, which helps to prevent the hammer from sliding off the nail head when striking a nail. Since the frame will not be seen on the finished house, the inevitable marring of wood surfaces by the milled hammer face is not an issue. A hammer with a smooth striking surface is known as a finishing hammer and is used where marring of the wood is to be avoided for cosmetic reasons.

Some framing hammers have a magnetized slot along the top edge of the striking surface to hold a nail. This allows the nail to be placed and driven with just one hand; the straight claw serves the dual purpose of removing nails and acting as a crow bar to pry apart lumber. It does not have as much leverage for removing nails as a curved claw hammer when using the face of the claw as the fulcrum, but the handle can be pulled to the side to increase leverage by using a short fulcrum. For pulling nails, a wooden block can be placed under the head of the hammer close to the nail to increase leverage. Wooden handles are made of hickory, an tough wood, but can be broken if one misses the nail and hits the handle instead. Broken wooden handles can be replaced. Single piece steel hammers are available and are the most durable, but do not absorb the shock of the hammer blows well. Fiberglass is becoming a common handle material due to its increased durability and shock and vibration absorbing capabilities.

Steel and fiberglass handles have rubber or rubber-like grips for increased comfort and better grip. Low quality rubber handled hammers are known to separate from the hammer and cause injury to the user. Wooden hammers have little grip, which can allow the hammer to slide from the hand; some carpenters and other users prefer this, as they can begin a stroke by gripping the hammer towards the center of the handle, allow the handle to slide through their hand as they swing. This allows greater control during the beginning of the stroke, but increased leverage and more power when the hammer strikes the nail. Framing hammers have been replaced by nail guns for the majority of nails driven on a wood framed house. Norman Spaulding, a professor of civil law, has treated the framing hammer as a discursive metaphor for the Erie doctrine of United States law's reversal of the case Swift v. Tyson, which decided whether federal courts, when deciding matters not addressed by the state legislature, had the authority to develop a federal common law

The East Lamma Channel is a sea channel in Hong Kong. It lies between the western shores of Hong Kong Island and Ap Lei Chau, the east side of Lamma Island. To the north it leads into the Sulphur Channel and Victoria Harbour, to the south into the South China Sea; the East Lamma Channel is one of the areas in the world with the heaviest traffic with more than 150 deep water vessels of all kinds passing there every day. The eastern entrance to the channel is the pilot point for ships going to the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals and for ships passing the Ma Wan water way up to the eastern Pearl River Delta ports in Shenzhen and Guangzhou; the East Lamma Channel is the deepest water entrance to the Hong Kong water area and part of the traffic controlled Ma Wan water way used by nearly all bigger ships coming from the east. West Lamma Channel

HMS LST-408 was a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship, transferred to the Royal Navy during World War II. As with many of her class, the ship was never named. Instead, she was referred to by her hull designation. LST-408 was laid down on 9 September 1942, under Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 928, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Maryland. LST-408 saw no active service in the United States Navy; the tank landing ship was decommissioned and returned to United States Navy custody on 4 May 1946, struck from the Navy list on 19 June 1946. On 5 December 1947, LST-408 was sold to Bosey and subsequently scrapped. List of United States Navy LSTs Citations Photo gallery of LST-408 at NavSource Naval History