Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a brittle metal at room temperature and has a blue-silvery appearance when oxidation is removed, it is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. In some respects, zinc is chemically similar to magnesium: both elements exhibit only one normal oxidation state, the Zn2+ and Mg2+ ions are of similar size. Zinc has five stable isotopes; the most common zinc ore is sphalerite, a zinc sulfide mineral. The largest workable lodes are in Australia and the United States. Zinc is refined by froth flotation of the ore and final extraction using electricity. Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc in various proportions, was used as early as the third millennium BC in the Aegean, the United Arab Emirates, Kalmykia and Georgia, the second millennium BC in West India, Iran, Syria and Israel/Palestine. Zinc metal was not produced on a large scale until the 12th century in India, though it was known to the ancient Romans and Greeks.

The mines of Rajasthan have given definite evidence of zinc production going back to the 6th century BC. To date, the oldest evidence of pure zinc comes from Zawar, in Rajasthan, as early as the 9th century AD when a distillation process was employed to make pure zinc. Alchemists burned zinc in air to form what they called "philosopher's wool" or "white snow"; the element was named by the alchemist Paracelsus after the German word Zinke. German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf is credited with discovering pure metallic zinc in 1746. Work by Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta uncovered the electrochemical properties of zinc by 1800. Corrosion-resistant zinc plating of iron is the major application for zinc. Other applications are in electrical batteries, small non-structural castings, alloys such as brass. A variety of zinc compounds are used, such as zinc carbonate and zinc gluconate, zinc chloride, zinc pyrithione, zinc sulfide, dimethylzinc or diethylzinc in the organic laboratory. Zinc is an essential mineral, including to postnatal development.

Zinc deficiency affects about two billion people in the developing world and is associated with many diseases. In children, deficiency causes growth retardation, delayed sexual maturation, infection susceptibility, diarrhea. Enzymes with a zinc atom in the reactive center are widespread in biochemistry, such as alcohol dehydrogenase in humans. Consumption of excess zinc may cause ataxia and copper deficiency. Zinc is a bluish-white, diamagnetic metal, though most common commercial grades of the metal have a dull finish, it is somewhat less dense than iron and has a hexagonal crystal structure, with a distorted form of hexagonal close packing, in which each atom has six nearest neighbors in its own plane and six others at a greater distance of 290.6 pm. The metal is hard and brittle at most temperatures but becomes malleable between 100 and 150 °C. Above 210 °C, the metal can be pulverized by beating. Zinc is a fair conductor of electricity. For a metal, zinc has low melting and boiling points; the melting point is the lowest of all the d-block metals aside from cadmium.

Many alloys contain zinc, including brass. Other metals long known to form binary alloys with zinc are aluminium, bismuth, iron, mercury, tin, cobalt, nickel and sodium. Although neither zinc nor zirconium are ferromagnetic, their alloy ZrZn2 exhibits ferromagnetism below 35 K. A bar of zinc generates a characteristic sound when bent, similar to tin cry. Zinc makes up about 75 ppm of Earth's crust. Soil contains zinc in 5–770 ppm with an average 64 ppm. Seawater has only 30 ppb and the atmosphere, 0.1–4 µg/m3. The element is found in association with other base metals such as copper and lead in ores. Zinc is a chalcophile, meaning the element is more to be found in minerals together with sulfur and other heavy chalcogens, rather than with the light chalcogen oxygen or with non-chalcogen electronegative elements such as the halogens. Sulfides formed as the crust solidified under the reducing conditions of the early Earth's atmosphere. Sphalerite, a form of zinc sulfide, is the most mined zinc-containing ore because its concentrate contains 60–62% zinc.

Other source minerals for zinc include smithsonite, hemimorphite and sometimes hydrozincite. With the exception of wurtzite, all these other minerals were formed by weathering of the primordial zinc sulfides. Identified world zinc resources total about 1.9–2.8 billion tonnes. Large deposits are in Australia and the United States, with the largest reserves in Iran; the most recent estimate of reserve base for zinc was made in 2009 and calculated to be 480 Mt. Zinc reserves, on the other hand, are geologically identified ore bodies whose suitability for recovery is economically based at the time of determination. Since exploration and mine development is an ongoing process, the amount of zinc reserves is not a fixed number and sustainability of zinc ore supplies cannot be judged by extrapolati

Syncopation is a 1929 American musical film directed by Bert Glennon and starring Barbara Bennett, Bobby Watson, Ian Hunter, although top billing went to Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians. This was the second film produced by RKO Radio Pictures, but the first released by the studio, as the company's first produced film, Street Girl, was not released until August 1929; the film was made at the company's New York City studios and is based on the novel Stepping High by Gene Markey. The film was marketed on its release, being the first film to be broadcast over the radio, as well as being RKO's first sound musical, was a significant success; this film was the first made in the RCA Photophone sound-on-film process, was an important test for Radio Corporation of America, which had invested in the newly created RKO. Benny and Flo are a husband and wife dance team and Darrel, traveling around the country as part of a revue; the revue gets to be on Broadway. However, it folds, the two are forced to look for other employment.

They find work in a nightclub, becoming famous. While performing at the nightclub, Flo becomes entranced by a young, sophisticated millionaire playboy, Winston. Swayed by his sweet words, Flo leaves Benny, finds another dancing partner, who she pairs with in another revue, this one financed by Winston. However, her new act is a flop, when Winston offers to take her to Europe, but is unwilling to marry her, she realizes the mistake she's made, she repents and returns to Benny, who takes her back and re-establishes their act, going back on the road. Barbara Bennett as Fleurette Bobby Watson as Benny Ian Hunter as Winston Morton Downey as Lew Osgood Perkins as Hummel Mackenzie Ward as Henry Verree Teasdale as Rita Dorothy Lee as Peggy; this was Lee's screen debut. Leon Barte as Artino Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians as Themselves. Although they had top billing and his Pennsylvanians only appeared in two scenes. Tom Brown as Bellboy "Jericho" – Leo Robin, Richard Myers "Mine Alone" – Herman Ruby, Richard Myers "Do Something" – Bud Green, Sammy Stept "I'll Always Be in Love With You" – Bud Green, Sammy Stept Syncopation was shot in New York City.

It was slated to be titled Stepping High. When the film opened at the New York Hippodrome, it had a run of two weeks, during which time it broke the records for that theater for a film. Barrios, Richard. A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film. Oxford University Press, 2010. Syncopation on IMDb Syncopation at the TCM Movie Database Syncopation at SilentEra Syncopation at AllMovie

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is a science fiction anime series produced by Gonzo. An adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, the 24-episode series aired on Japanese television between October 2004 and March 2005; the series was adapted into a CD drama, a trilogy of novels by screenwriter Shuichi Kouyama, a manga written and drawn by series creator Mahiro Maeda which ran from 2005 to 2008. Set in the year 5053, the series focuses on the impact of the titular Count: a sailor named Edmund Dantes, he was betrayed by his friends and imprisoned on false charges. Aided by a mysterious force dubbed "Gankutsuou", Dantes escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, determined to exact vengeance on those who wronged him; the series is told from the perspective of Viscount Albert de Morcerf, the son of one of the Count's enemies. While the series adapts much of the original storyline and carries over its theme of revenge, the plot and characters feature multiple differences. Intended as an adaptation of The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, the copyright holders' refusal to allow an adaptation led Maeda to instead use Dumas's novel, which had inspired Bester's story.

Maeda created the story and characters, collaborating on the former with Kouyama and the latter's designs with artist Hidenori Matsubara. The anime's artstyle blended Japanese Ukiyo-e styles. Fashion designer Anna Sui collaborated on costume designs. Original music was co-composed by Jean-Jacques Burnel of British band The Stranglers, who composed and sang the main themes; the series received multiple international accolades. Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is set in the year 5053. During a visit to the Moon-based city of Lune with his friend Baron Franz d'Epinay, Viscount Albert de Morcerf meets a mysterious self-made nobleman called the Count of Monte Cristo. After the Count helps Franz save Albert from a gang of kidnappers, Albert introduces the Count into the high society of Paris. Albert meets the Count's alien companion Haydée and the Marquis Andrea Cavalcanti, a flamboyant nobleman who replaces Albert as Eugénie's fiancee through the Count's influence. During the course of the story, the Count is revealed to be Edmund Dantes, a former sailor and Mercedes's first love.

Twenty years before, he was falsely implicated in a murder by Danglars and Fernand—Danglars due to his hatred of Edmund's honesty, Fernand to win Mercedes's hand. Edmund is imprisoned in the Château d'If by Villefort, who sought to protect himself due to being part of an associated political conspiracy. With the aid of a demonic being called Gankutsuou, lurking in the d'If, Edmund escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, committing himself to revenge against those who wronged him and orchestrating Albert's kidnapping to ingratiate himself with Parisian society; the Count's revenge against his enemies spans multiple fronts. With Danglars, the Count manipulates events to ruin him later confronts him when he tries to escape his creditors; this event is compounded by the exposing of Andrea as a fraud and murderer, having been set up by the Count as royalty as part of his revenge. Albert helps Eugénie escape Paris, with the two admitting their love for each other. With Villefort, the Count first arranges for Villefort's ambitious wife Héloïse to poison Valentine—although she is saved and removed to Marseilles by her soldier lover Maximilien Morrel with Franz's help—then has Héloïse poison herself, driving her insane.

Villefort is put on trial. Andrea appears and reveals himself as the illegitimate son of Villefort and Victoria poisons Villefort as revenge for his abandonment; the poison drives Villefort insane. Alongside these events, the Count ruins Fernand's name with help from Haydée, whose family was framed and murdered by Fernand as allies of the Eastern Empire, and, sold into slavery. Albert challenges the Count to a duel for his family's honor, but Franz takes his place and is killed. Fernand rallies his forces for a coup d'état in Paris, which results in the city being damaged and Andrea escaping prison; when Albert and Mercedes try to reason with Fernand after they learn the truth, he wounds them and confronts the Count, resulting in a stand-off where Fernand holds Haydée hostage. The Count becomes possessed by Gankutsuou and attempts to murder Albert, but Albert manages to banish Gankutsuou, free from its control Edmund dies. Albert and Haydée escape, while Fernand commits suicide in an act of redemption.

Five years peace is being established between Earth and the Eastern Empire. The anime is an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, a French adventure novel by Alexandre