1.
Bern
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The city of Bern or Berne is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their Bundesstadt, or federal city. With a population of 141,762, Bern is the fourth-most populous city in Switzerland, the Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000, Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerlands cantons. The official language in Bern is German, but the language is an Alemannic Swiss German dialect. In 1983, the old town in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bern is ranked among the top ten cities for the best quality of life. The etymology of the name Bern is uncertain and it has long been considered likely that the city was named after the Italian city of Verona, which at the time was known as Bern in Middle High German. As a result of the find of the Bern zinc tablet in the 1980s, it is now common to assume that the city was named after a pre-existing toponym of Celtic origin. The bear was the animal of the seal and coat of arms of Bern from at least the 1220s. The earliest reference to the keeping of bears in the Bärengraben dates to the 1440s. No archaeological evidence that indicates a settlement on the site of city centre prior to the 12th century has been found so far. In antiquity, a Celtic oppidum stood on the Engehalbinsel north of Bern, fortified since the second century BC, during the Roman era, a Gallo-Roman vicus was on the same site. The Bern zinc tablet has the name Brenodor, in the Early Middle Ages, a settlement in Bümpliz, now a city district of Bern, was some 4 km from the medieval city. The medieval city is a foundation of the Zähringer ruling family, according to 14th-century historiography, Bern was founded in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen. In 1218, after Berthold died without an heir, Bern was made an imperial city by the Goldene Handfeste of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. In 1353, Bern joined the Swiss Confederacy, becoming one of the eight cantons of the period of 1353 to 1481. The city grew out towards the west of the boundaries of the peninsula formed by the river Aare, the Zytglogge tower marked the western boundary of the city from 1191 until 1256, when the Käfigturm took over this role until 1345. It was, in turn, succeeded by the Christoffelturm until 1622, during the time of the Thirty Years War, two new fortifications – the so-called big and small Schanze – were built to protect the whole area of the peninsula
2.
Morse code
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Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. It is named for Samuel F. B, Morse, an inventor of the telegraph. Because many non-English natural languages use more than the 26 Roman letters, each Morse code symbol represents either a text character or a prosign and is represented by a unique sequence of dots and dashes. The duration of a dash is three times the duration of a dot, each dot or dash is followed by a short silence, equal to the dot duration. The letters of a word are separated by an equal to three dots, and the words are separated by a space equal to seven dots. The dot duration is the unit of time measurement in code transmission. To increase the speed of the communication, the code was designed so that the length of each character in Morse varies approximately inversely to its frequency of occurrence in English. Thus the most common letter in English, the letter E, has the shortest code, Morse code is used by some amateur radio operators, although knowledge of and proficiency with it is no longer required for licensing in most countries. Pilots and air controllers usually need only a cursory understanding. Aeronautical navigational aids, such as VORs and NDBs, constantly identify in Morse code, compared to voice, Morse code is less sensitive to poor signal conditions, yet still comprehensible to humans without a decoding device. Morse is, therefore, an alternative to synthesized speech for sending automated data to skilled listeners on voice channels. Many amateur radio repeaters, for example, identify with Morse, in an emergency, Morse code can be sent by improvised methods that can be easily keyed on and off, making it one of the simplest and most versatile methods of telecommunication. The most common signal is SOS or three dots, three dashes, and three dots, internationally recognized by treaty. Beginning in 1836, the American artist Samuel F. B, Morse, the American physicist Joseph Henry, and Alfred Vail developed an electrical telegraph system. This system sent pulses of current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, around 1837, Morse, therefore, developed an early forerunner to the modern International Morse code. Around the same time, Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Eduard Weber as well as Carl August von Steinheil had already used codes with varying lengths for their telegraphs. In 1837, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in England began using a telegraph that also used electromagnets in its receivers
3.
Telegraphy
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Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of textual or symbolic messages without the physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not, telegraphy requires that the method used for encoding the message be known to both sender and receiver. Such methods are designed according to the limits of the medium used. The use of signals, beacons, reflected light signals. In the 19th century, the harnessing of electricity led to the invention of electrical telegraphy, the advent of radio in the early 20th century brought about radiotelegraphy and other forms of wireless telegraphy. The word telegraph was first coined by the French inventor of the Semaphore line, Claude Chappe, a telegraph is a device for transmitting and receiving messages over long distances, i. e. for telegraphy. The word telegraph alone now generally refers to an electrical telegraph, Wireless telegraphy is also known as CW, for continuous wave, as opposed to the earlier radio technique of using a spark gap. Contrary to the definition used by Chappe, Morse argued that the term telegraph can strictly be applied only to systems that transmit. This is to be distinguished from semaphore, which transmits messages. Smoke signals, for instance, are to be considered semaphore, according to Morse, telegraph dates only from 1832 when Pavel Schilling invented one of the earliest electrical telegraphs. A telegraph message sent by a telegraph operator or telegrapher using Morse code was known as a telegram. A cablegram was a sent by a submarine telegraph cable. Later, a Telex was a sent by a Telex network. A wire picture or wire photo was a picture that was sent from a remote location by a facsimile telegraph. A diplomatic telegram, also known as a cable, is the term given to a confidential communication between a diplomatic mission and the foreign ministry of its parent country. These continue to be called telegrams or cables regardless of the used for transmission. Commercial electrical telegraphs were introduced from 1837, the first telegraphs came in the form of optical telegraph, including the use of smoke signals, beacons, or reflected light, which have existed since ancient times. Early proposals for a telegraph system were made to the Royal Society by Robert Hooke in 1684 and were first implemented on an experimental level by Sir Richard Lovell Edgeworth in 1767
4.
Electrical telegraph
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An electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electrical signals, usually conveyed via dedicated telecommunication lines or radio. From early studies of electricity, electrical phenomena were known to travel with great speed, in 1753 an anonymous writer in the Scots Magazine suggested an electrostatic telegraph. In 1774 Georges-Louis Le Sage realised an early electric telegraph, the telegraph had a separate wire for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet and its range was only between two rooms of his home. In 1800 Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, allowing for a current of electricity for experimentation. Both their designs employed multiple wires to represent almost all Latin letters, thus, messages could be conveyed electrically up to a few kilometers, with each of the telegraph receivers wires immersed in a separate glass tube of acid. The telegraph receivers operator would watch the bubbles and could record the transmitted message. This is in contrast to later telegraphs that used a single wire, hans Christian Ørsted discovered in 1820 that an electric current produces a magnetic field which will deflect a compass needle. In the same year Johann Schweigger invented the galvanometer, with a coil of wire around a compass, in 1824, Peter Barlow said that such a system only worked to a distance of about 200 feet, and so was impractical. In 1825 William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet, with a winding of uninsulated wire on a piece of varnished iron. During his tenure at The Albany Academy from 1826 to 1832, in 1835 Joseph Henry and Edward Davy invented the critical electrical relay. Davys relay used a needle which dipped into a mercury contact when an electric current passed through the surrounding coil. This allowed a weak current to switch a larger current to operate a powerful local electromagnet over very long distances, Davy demonstrated his telegraph system in Regents Park in 1837 and was granted a patent on 4 July 1838. He also developed an electric relay, the first working telegraph was built by the English inventor Francis Ronalds in 1816 and used static electricity. At the family home on Hammersmith Mall, he set up a subterranean system in a 175 yard long trench as well as an eight mile long overhead telegraph. The lines were connected at both ends to revolving dials marked with the letters of the alphabet and electrical impulses sent along the wire were used to transmit messages, offering his invention to the Admiralty in July 1816, it was rejected as “wholly unnecessary”. Elements of Ronalds’ design were utilised in the subsequent commercialisation of the telegraph over 20 years later, the telegraph invented by Baron Schilling von Canstatt in 1832 had a transmitting device which consisted of a keyboard with 16 black-and-white keys. These served for switching the electric current, the receiving instrument consisted of six galvanometers with magnetic needles, suspended from silk threads. Both stations of Shillings telegraph were connected by eight wires, six were connected with the galvanometers, one served for the return current, when at the starting station the operator pressed a key, the corresponding pointer was deflected at the receiving station
5.
Wireless telegraphy
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Wireless telegraphy is the transmission of electric telegraphy signals without wires. Wireless telegraphy came to mean Morse code transmitted by radio waves, initially called Hertzian waves, the primitive spark radio transmitters used until World War 1 could not transmit audio. The code sounded like musical beeps in the earphone of the receiver, the receiving radio operator would translate the beeps back into text. The first practical wireless telegraphy transmitters and receivers were developed by Guglielmo Marconi beginning in 1895, by 1910 communication by Hertzian waves was universally referred to as radio, and the term wireless telegraphy has been largely replaced by the more modern term radiotelegraphy. The transmission of sound began to displace wireless telegraphy by the 1920s for many applications, continuous wave radiotelegraphy is regulated by the International Telecommunication Union as emission type A1A. Today, due to modern text transmission methods, Morse code radiotelegraphy for commercial use has become obsolete. On shipboard the computer and satellite linked GMDSS system has largely replaced Morse as a means of communication, Telegraphy is taught on a very limited basis by the military. A CW coastal station, KSM, still exists in California, run primarily as a museum by volunteers, Radio beacons, particularly in the aviation service, but also as placeholders for commercial ship-to-shore systems, also transmit Morse but at very slow speeds. The US Federal Communications Commission does still issue a lifetime commercial Radiotelegraph Operator License and this requires passing a simple written test on regulations, a more complex written exam on technology, and demonstrating Morse reception at 20 words per minute plain language and 16 wpm code groups. Wireless telegraphy is still used today by amateur radio hobbyists where it is commonly referred to as radio telegraphy, continuous wave. However its knowledge is not required to obtain any class of amateur license, a number of wireless electrical signaling schemes including electric currents through water and the ground were investigated for telegraphy before practical radio systems became available. The original telegraph used two wires between two stations to form an electrical circuit or loop. This led to speculation that it might be possible to both wires and therefore transmit telegraph signals through the ground without any wires connecting the stations. Other attempts were made to send the current through bodies of water, in order to span rivers. The first wireless voice telecommunication device, invented in 1880, was the photophone, both electrostatic and electromagnetic induction were used to develop wireless telegraph systems that saw limited commercial application. This system was successful technically but not economically, as there turned out to be little interest by train travelers in a telegraph service. During the Great Blizzard of 1888, this system was used to send, the disabled trains were able to maintain communications via their Edison induction wireless telegraph systems, perhaps the first successful use of wireless telegraphy to send distress calls. The most successful creator of an electromagnetic induction telegraph system was William Preece in the United Kingdom, beginning with tests across the Bristol Channel in 1892, Preece was able to telegraph across gaps of about 5 kilometres
6.
Trunnion
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A trunnion is a cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting or pivoting point. First associated with cannon, they are an important military development, alternatively, a trunnion is a shaft that positions and supports a tilting plate. This is a misnomer, as in reality it is a cradle for the true trunnion, in mechanical engineering, it is one part of a rotating joint where a shaft is inserted into a full or partial cylinder. In a cannon, the trunnions are two projections cast just forward of the center of mass of the cannon and fixed to a two-wheeled movable gun carriage. As they allowed the muzzle to be raised and lowered easily, with the creation of larger and more powerful siege guns in the early 15th century, a new way of mounting them had to be specially designed. Stouter gun carriages were created with reinforced wheels, axles, guns would be up to eight feet in length and shoot iron projectiles weighing from twenty-five to fifty pounds. These wrought iron balls when discharged were comparable in range and accuracy with stone-firing bombards, trunnions were mounted near the center of mass to allow the barrel to be elevated to any desired angle, without having to dismount it from the carriage upon which it rested. Some guns had a set of trunnions placed several feet back from the first pair. The gun would recoil causing the carriage to move backwards several feet and it became easier to rapidly transport these large siege guns, maneuver them from transportation mode to firing position, and they could go wherever a team of men or horses could pull them. Due to its capabilities, the French- and Burgundy-designed siege gun, equipped with its trunnions, king Charles VIII and the French army used this new gun in the 1494 invasion of Italy. Although deemed masters of war and artillery at that time, Italians had not anticipated the innovations in French siege weaponry. Prior to this, field guns were huge, large-caliber bombards, superguns that. Cities that had proudly withstood sieges for up to seven years fell swiftly with the advent of new weapons. Defensive tactics and fortifications had to be altered since these new weapons could be transported so speedily and these towers would be deemed trace Italienne. Whoever could afford these new weapons had the advantage over their neighbors and smaller sovereignties. Smaller states, such as the principalities of Italy, began to conglomerate, preexisting stronger entities, such as France or the Habsburg emperors, were able to expand their territories and maintain tighter control. With the threat of their land and castles being seized, the nobility began to pay their taxes, on firearms, the barrel is sometimes mounted in a trunnion, which in turn is mounted to the receiver. This usage is common for tubular or pressed metal frame guns, such as the AK-47, PPSh-41, Uzi, Sten, and others
7.
Science fiction
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Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a literature of ideas. Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a range of subgenres and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying science fiction is what we point to when we say it, a definition echoed by author Mark C. Glassy, who argues that the definition of science fiction is like the definition of pornography, you do not know what it is, in 1970 or 1971William Atheling Jr. According to science fiction writer Robert A, rod Serlings definition is fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possible worlds or futures. Science fiction elements include, A time setting in the future, in alternative timelines, a spatial setting or scenes in outer space, on other worlds, or on subterranean earth. Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots, futuristic or plausible technology such as ray guns, teleportation machines, and humanoid computers. Scientific principles that are new or that contradict accepted physical laws, for time travel, wormholes. New and different political or social systems, e. g. utopian, dystopian, post-scarcity, paranormal abilities such as mind control, telepathy, telekinesis Other universes or dimensions and travel between them. A product of the budding Age of Reason and the development of science itself. Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Keplers work the first science fiction story and it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earths motion is seen from there. Later, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon, more examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Wells The War of the Worlds describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines equipped with advanced weaponry and it is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth. In the late 19th century, the scientific romance was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland, the term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon. In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs published A Princess of Mars, the first of his series of Barsoom novels, situated on Mars
8.
Independence Day (1996 film)
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Independence Day is a 1996 American science fiction action film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a attack by an extraterrestrial race of unknown origin. Along with the rest of the world, they launch a counterattack on July 4 – Independence Day in the United States. While promoting Stargate in Europe, Emmerich came up with the idea for the film when fielding a question about his own belief in the existence of alien life. He and Dean Devlin decided to incorporate a large-scale attack having noticed that aliens in most invasion films travel long distances in space only to remain hidden when reaching Earth. Shooting began in July 1995 in New York City, and the film was completed on June 20,1996. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996, and briefly, as of June 2016, it ranks 55th on the list of highest-grossing films, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-1990s. The film has an rating of 61% on Rotten Tomatoes. It won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, a sequel, Independence Day, Resurgence, was released on June 24,2016. David Levinson, an MIT-trained satellite technician, decodes a signal embedded in the satellite transmissions that he determines is a timer counting down to a coordinated attack. Whitmore, the Levinsons, and a few others narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as the capital is destroyed, on July 3, international leaders begin ordering individual counterattacks. Their aviation forces attack destroyer ships positioned above the ruins of the cities, each destroyer launches a swarm of attack fighters, which wipe out the human fighter squadrons. He subdues the injured pilot and flags down a convoy of refugees. They transport the alien to nearby Area 51 where Whitmores group has landed. Area 51 houses the refurbished alien fighter and three alien corpses recovered from the crash, when eccentric scientist Brackish Okun examines the alien captured by Hiller, it regains consciousness and attacks. It telepathically invades Okuns mind and uses his vocal cords to communicate with Whitmore before launching an attack against him. Whitmore sees visions of the plans, their entire civilization travels from planet to planet, exterminating all indigenous life. On July 4, Levinson demonstrates that the key to defeating the aliens lies in deactivating their force fields and he proposes using the refurbished alien fighter to implement the plan, which Hiller volunteers to pilot
9.
Vibroplex
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The original device became known as a bug, most likely due to the original logo, which showed an electrified bug. The Vibroplex Company has been in business continuously for 109 years, amateur radio operator Scott E. Robbins, also known by the call sign W4PA, became the 8th owner of the Vibroplex Company on December 21,2009. The company is located in Knoxville, Tennessee, the most common Vibroplex models have a single lever with a flat thumbpiece, or paddle, on the left side and a fingerpiece, or knob, on the right side. When the knob is pressed from the right, it makes a continuous contact suitable for sending dashes, a skilled operator can achieve sending speeds in excess of 40 words per minute with a bug. The Vibroplex Original Bug key has been in production for over 100 years. High-speed telegraphy Morse code Prosigns for Morse code Telegrapher Telegraph key Vibroplex Co. Inc
