title: Michael Behe

abstract: Michael Joseph Behe is an American biochemist and an advocate of the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (ID). Behe serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. He advocates for the validity of the argument for irreducible complexity (IC), which claims that some biochemical structures are too complex to be explained by known evolutionary mechanisms and are therefore probably the result of intelligent design. Behe has testified in several court cases related to intelligent design, including the court case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, where his views were cited in the ruling that intelligent design is not science and is religious in nature. Behe's claims about the irreducible complexity of essential cellular structures have been rejected by the vast majority of the scientific community, and his own biology department at Lehigh University published a statement repudiating Behe's views and intelligent design.

text:
# Michael Behe

**Michael Joseph Behe** (/ˈbh/ *BEE-hee*; born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and an advocate of the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (ID).

Behe serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. He advocates for the validity of the argument for irreducible complexity (IC), which claims that some biochemical structures are too complex to be explained by known evolutionary mechanisms and are therefore probably the result of intelligent design. Behe has testified in several court cases related to intelligent design, including the court case *Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District*, where his views were cited in the ruling that intelligent design is not science and is religious in nature.

Behe's claims about the irreducible complexity of essential cellular structures have been rejected by the vast majority of the scientific community, and his own biology department at Lehigh University published a statement repudiating Behe's views and intelligent design.

## Early life and education

Behe was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Bishop McDevitt High School. He graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1974 with a B.S. in chemistry. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 for his dissertation research on sickle-cell disease.

From 1978 to 1982, he did postdoctoral work on DNA structure at the National Institutes of Health. From 1982 to 1985, he was assistant professor of chemistry at Queens College in New York City, where he met his wife, Celeste. In 1985, he moved to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he is currently a professor of biochemistry. From 2005 to 2024, Lehigh University's department of biological sciences exhibited a position statement on its website stating that its faculty reject Behe's views on evolution:

> The department faculty, then, are unequivocal in their support of evolutionary theory, which has its roots in the seminal work of Charles Darwin and has been supported by findings accumulated over 140 years. The sole dissenter from this position, Prof. Michael Behe, is a well-known proponent of "intelligent design." While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific.

As of 2024, his faculty webpage states: "My arguments about irreducible complexity and intelligent design are my own, and are not endorsed either by Lehigh University in general or by the Department of Biological Sciences in particular."

## Career

Behe says he once fully accepted the scientific theory of evolution, but that after reading *Evolution: A Theory in Crisis* (1985), by Michael Denton, he came to question evolution. Later, Behe came to believe that there was evidence, at a biochemical level, that some biological systems were "irreducibly complex". He thought that these systems could not, even in principle, have evolved by natural selection. He believed that the only possible alternative explanation for such complex structures was that they were created by an "intelligent designer". Irreducible complexity has been rejected by the scientific community.

The 1987 *Edwards v. Aguillard* U.S. Supreme Court decision barred the required teaching of creation science from public schools but allowed evolutionary theory on the grounds of scientific validity. After the decision, a later draft of the textbook *Of Pandas and People* (1989) systematically replaced each and every cognate of the word "creation" with the phrase "intelligent design" or similar ID terms. The books of lawyer Phillip E. Johnson on theistic realism dealt directly with criticism of evolutionary theory and its purported biased "materialist" science, and aimed to legitimize the teaching of creationism in schools. In March 1992, a conference at Southern Methodist University brought Behe together with other leading figures into what Johnson later called the "wedge strategy." In 1993, the "Johnson-Behe cadre of scholars" met at Pajaro Dunes, California, and Behe presented for the first time his idea of irreducibly complex molecular machinery. Following a summer 1995 conference, "The Death of Materialism and the Renewal of Culture," the group obtained funding through the Discovery Institute.

For the 1993 edition of *Pandas*, Behe wrote a chapter on blood clotting, presenting arguments which he later presented in very similar terms in a chapter in his 1996 book *Darwin's Black Box*. Behe later agreed that they were essentially the same when he defended intelligent design at the Dover trial.

In 1996, Behe became a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture, later renamed the Center for Science and Culture, an organization dedicated to promoting intelligent design.

### *Darwin's Black Box*

In 1996, Behe published his ideas on irreducible complexity in his book *Darwin's Black Box*. Behe's refusal to identify the nature of any proposed intelligent designer frustrates scientists, who see it as a move to avoid any possibility of testing the positive claims of ID while allowing him and the intelligent design movement to distance themselves from some of the more overtly religiously motivated critics of evolution.

As to the identity of the intelligent designer, Behe responds that if, deep in the woods, one were to come across a group of flowers that clearly spelled out the name "LEHIGH", one would have no doubt that the pattern was the result of intelligent design. Determining who the designer was, however, would not be nearly as easy.

In 1997, Russell Doolittle, on whose work Behe based much of the blood-clotting discussion in *Darwin's Black Box,* wrote a rebuttal to the statements about irreducible complexity of certain systems. In particular, Doolittle mentioned the issue of the blood clotting in his article, "A Delicate Balance." Later on, in 2003, Doolittle's lab published a paper in the peer-reviewed journal *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* which demonstrates that the pufferfish lacks at least three out of 26 blood clotting factors, yet still has a workable blood clotting system. According to Doolittle, this defeats a key claim in Behe's book, that blood clotting is irreducibly complex.

In reviewing a book by Robert T. Pennock, Behe took issue with the "intelligent design" group being associated with "creationism," saying readers would typically take that to mean biblical literalism and young Earth creationism (YEC). In 2001 Pennock responded that he had been careful to represent their views correctly, and that while several leaders of the intelligent design movement were young Earth creationists, others including Behe were "old-earthers" and "creationists in the core sense of the term, namely, that they reject the scientific, evolutionary account of the origin of species and want to replace it with a form of special creation."

### Behe and Snoke article

In 2004, Behe published a paper with David Snoke, in the scientific journal *Protein Science* that uses a simple mathematical model to simulate the rate of evolution of proteins by point mutation, which he states supports irreducible complexity, based on the calculation of the probability of mutations required for evolution to succeed. However, the paper does not mention intelligent design nor irreducible complexity, which were removed, according to Behe, at the behest of the reviewers. Nevertheless, the Discovery Institute lists it as one of the "Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design."

Michael Lynch authored a response, to which Behe and Snoke responded. *Protein Science* discussed the papers in an editorial.

Numerous scientists have debunked the work, pointing out that not only has it been shown that a supposedly irreducibly complex structure can evolve, but that it can do so within a reasonable time even subject to unrealistically harsh restrictions, and noting that Behe and Snoke's paper does not properly include natural selection and genetic redundancy. When the issue raised by Behe and Snoke is tested in the modern framework of evolutionary biology, numerous simple pathways to complexity have been shown. In their response, Behe and Snoke assumed that intermediate mutations are always damaging, where modern science allows for neutral or positive mutations. Some of the critics have also noted that the Discovery Institute continues to claim the paper as 'published evidence for design,' despite its offering no design theory nor attempting to model the design process, and therefore not providing an alternative to random chance.

Many of Behe's statements have been challenged by biologist Kenneth R. Miller in his book, *Finding Darwin's God* (1999). Behe has subsequently disputed Miller's points in an online essay.

### *The Edge of Evolution*

In 2007, Behe's book *The Edge of Evolution* was published arguing that while evolution can produce changes within species, there is a limit to the ability of evolution to generate diversity, and this limit (the "edge of evolution") is somewhere between species and orders.

In this book Behe's central assertion is that Darwinian evolution actually exists but plays only a limited role in the development and diversification of life on Earth. To this aim, he examines the genetic changes undergone by the malaria plasmodium genome and the human genome in response to each other's biological defenses, and identifies that "the situation resembles trench warfare, not an arms race", by considering the hemoglobin-destroying, protein pump-compromising as a "war by attrition". Starting from this example, he takes into account the number of mutations required to "travel" from one genetic state to another, as well as population size for the organism in question. Then, Behe calculates what he calls the "edge of evolution", i.e., the point at which Darwinian evolution would no longer be an efficacious agent of creative biological change, arguing that purposeful design plays a major role in the development of biological complexity, through the mechanism of producing "non-random mutations", which are then subjected to the sculpting hand of natural selection .

The book was reviewed, by prominent scientists in *The New York Times*, *The New Republic*, *The Globe and Mail*, *Science*, and *Nature* who were highly critical of the work noting that Behe appears to accept almost all of evolutionary theory, barring random mutation, which is replaced with guided mutation at the hand of an unnamed designer. The book earned Behe the Pigasus Award for the year 2007.

### *Darwin Devolves*

Behe also promotes intelligent design in his 2019 book, *Darwin Devolves* whose central premise is that the combination of random mutation and natural selection, apart from being incapable of generating novelty, is mainly a degradative force. Like his previous books, *Darwin Devolves* received negative reviews from the scientific community, including a scathing review in *Science* by Nathan H. Lents, Richard Lenski, and S. Joshua Swamidass, a harsh critique by Jerry Coyne in *The Washington Post*, and a scholarly rebuttal in *Evolution* from Gregory Lang and Amber Rice, Behe's colleagues at Lehigh University. Lents said of *Darwin Devolves* and *The Edge of Evolution*: "his \[ \] two books totally missed their marks and were easily dismissed by the scientific community."

Lang and Rice's assessment noted that while Behe rightfully acknowledges that organisms have common ancestry, it is posited that a designer is required for more distant relationships like at the family level, and that the presentation of degradative processes is exaggerated with evidence of beneficial adaptations dodged. The article also criticized the use of false analogies and neglecting evidence of new genetic raw material production for evolution ("Behe is correct that the loss of genetic information is an important mechanism. However, the opposing processes of gene duplication, horizontal gene transfer, and introgression balance out gene loss, providing a source of new genetic material"). They then concluded with examples of adaptation that contradict the book's conclusions and expound on the flaws of Irreducible Complexity, adding that "why evolution by natural selection is difficult for so many to accept is beyond the scope of this review; however, it is not for a lack of evidence."

### Publications

Behe has written for the *Boston Review*, *The American Spectator*, and *The New York Times.*

## Court cases

### Dover testimony

In *Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District,* the first direct challenge brought in United States federal courts to an attempt to mandate the teaching of intelligent design on First Amendment grounds, Behe was called as a primary witness for the defense and asked to support the idea that intelligent design was legitimate science. Some of the most crucial exchanges in the trial occurred during Behe's cross-examination, where his testimony would prove devastating to the defense. Behe was forced to concede that "there are no peer reviewed articles by anyone advocating for intelligent design supported by pertinent experiments or calculations which provide detailed rigorous accounts of how intelligent design of any biological system occurred" and that his definition of 'theory' as applied to intelligent design was so loose that astrology would also qualify. Earlier during his direct testimony, Behe had argued that a computer simulation of evolution he performed with Snoke shows that evolution is not likely to produce certain complex biochemical systems. Under cross examination however, Behe was forced to agree that "the number of prokaryotes in 1 ton of soil are 7 orders of magnitude higher than the population \[it would take\] to produce the disulfide bond" and that "it's entirely possible that something that couldn't be produced in the lab in two years... could be produced over three and half billion years."

Many of Behe's critics have pointed to these exchanges as examples they believe further undermine Behe's statements about irreducible complexity and intelligent design. John E. Jones III, the judge in the case, would ultimately rule that intelligent design is not scientific in his 139-page decision, citing Behe's testimony extensively as the basis for his findings:

* "Consider, to illustrate, that Professor Behe remarkably and unmistakably claims that the plausibility of the argument for ID depends upon the extent to which one believes in the existence of God."
* "As no evidence in the record indicates that any other scientific proposition's validity rests on belief in God, nor is the Court aware of any such scientific propositions, Professor Behe's assertion constitutes substantial evidence that in his view, as is commensurate with other prominent ID leaders, ID is a religious and not a scientific proposition."
* "First, defense expert Professor Fuller agreed that ID aspires to 'change the ground rules' of science and lead defense expert Professor Behe admitted that his broadened definition of science, which encompasses ID, would also embrace astrology. Moreover, defense expert Professor Minnich acknowledged that for ID to be considered science, the ground rules of science have to be broadened to allow consideration of supernatural forces."
* "What is more, defense experts concede that ID is not a theory as that term is defined by the NAS and admit that ID is at best 'fringe science' which has achieved no acceptance in the scientific community."
* "We therefore find that Professor Behe's claim for irreducible complexity has been refuted in peer-reviewed research papers and has been rejected by the scientific community at large."
* "ID proponents primarily argue for design through negative arguments against evolution, as illustrated by Professor Behe's argument that 'irreducibly complex' systems cannot be produced through Darwinian, or any natural, mechanisms. However, … arguments against evolution are not arguments for design. Expert testimony revealed that just because scientists cannot explain today how biological systems evolved does not mean that they cannot, and will not, be able to explain them tomorrow. As Dr. Padian aptly noted, 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.'… Irreducible complexity is a negative argument against evolution, not proof of design, a point conceded by defense expert Professor Minnich."
* "Professor Behe's concept of irreducible complexity depends on ignoring ways in which evolution is known to occur. Although Professor Behe is adamant in his definition of irreducible complexity when he says a precursor 'missing a part is by definition nonfunctional,' what he obviously means is that it will not function in the same way the system functions when all the parts are present. For example in the case of the bacterial flagellum, removal of a part may prevent it from acting as a rotary motor. However, Professor Behe excludes, by definition, the possibility that a precursor to the bacterial flagellum functioned not as a rotary motor, but in some other way, for example as a secretory system."
* "Professor Behe has applied the concept of irreducible complexity to only a few select systems: (1) the bacterial flagellum; (2) the blood-clotting cascade; and (3) the immune system. Contrary to Professor Behe's assertions with respect to these few biochemical systems among the myriad existing in nature, however, Dr. Miller presented evidence, based upon peer-reviewed studies, that they are not in fact irreducibly complex."
* "In fact, on cross-examination, Professor Behe was questioned concerning his 1996 claim that science would never find an evolutionary explanation for the immune system. He was presented with fifty-eight peer-reviewed publications, nine books, and several immunology textbook chapters about the evolution of the immune system; however, he simply insisted that this was still not sufficient evidence of evolution, and that it was not "good enough."
* "With ID, proponents assert that they refuse to propose hypotheses on the designer's identity, do not propose a mechanism, and the designer, he/she/it/they, has never been seen. ... In addition, Professor Behe agreed that for the design of human artifacts, we know the designer and its attributes and we have a baseline for human design that does not exist for design of biological systems. Professor Behe's only response to these seemingly insurmountable points of disanalogy was that the inference still works in science fiction movies."

Jones would later say that Eric Rothschild's cross examination of Behe was "as good a cross-examination of an expert witness as I have ever seen. It was textbook."

### *ACSI v. Roman Stearns*

Behe received $20,000 for testifying as an expert witness on behalf of the plaintiffs in *Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns.* The case was filed by Association of Christian Schools International, which argued that the University of California was being discriminatory by not recognizing science classes that use creationist books. The 2005 filing claimed that University of California's rejection of several of their courses was illegal "viewpoint discrimination and content regulation prohibited by the Free Speech Clause." In 2007, Behe's expert witness report claimed that the Christian textbooks, including William S. Pinkston, Jr.'s *Biology for Christian Schools* (1980; 2nd ed. 1994), are excellent works for high school students. He defended that view in a deposition.

In August 2008, Judge S. James Otero rejected Behe's claims, saying that Behe "submitted a declaration concluding that the BJU \[Bob Jones University Press\] text mentions standard scientific content. ... However, Professor Behe 'did not consider how much detail or depth' the texts gave to this standard content." Otero ruled in favor of the University of California's decision to reject courses using these books.

## Personal life

Behe is a Catholic. He is married to Celeste Behe and they have nine children who are homeschooled.

## Publications

### Books

### Journal articles

DNA structure Protein structure Evolution

### Media articles

### Film and video appearances

## InfoBox

| Michael Behe | |
| --- | --- |
| Behe in Mary 2008 | |
| Born | Michael Joseph Behe<br>(1952-01-18) January 18, 1952<br>Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Drexel University (BS)<br>University of Pennsylvania (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | Professor, Lehigh University |
| Known for | Irreducible complexity |
| **Scientific career** | |
| Fields | Biochemistry |
| Institutions | Lehigh University<br>Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture |
| Thesis | *Investigation of some physical chemical factors affecting the gelation of sickle cell hemoglobin* (1978) |
|  | |


title: Wawa language

abstract: Wawa is a Mambiloid language spoken in a region of Cameroon and just inside bordering Nigeria used by about 3,000 people in three main dialects. All speakers are bilingual, often in Fulfulde.

text:
# Wawa language

**Wawa** is a Mambiloid language spoken in a region of Cameroon and just inside bordering Nigeria used by about 3,000 people in three main dialects.

All speakers are bilingual, often in Fulfulde.

## InfoBox

| Wawa | |
| --- | --- |
| Native to | Cameroon |
| Region | Adamawa Province, Mayo-Banyo Division, Bankim Subdivision, west of Banyo, thirteen villages |
| Native speakers | (3,000 cited 1991) |
| Language family | Niger–Congo? |
| Dialects | * Gandua |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | `www` |
| *Glottolog* | `wawa1246` |
| ELP | Wawa |


title: Mobile signature

abstract: A mobile signature is a digital signature generated either on a mobile phone or on a SIM card on a mobile phone.

text:
# Mobile signature

A **mobile signature** is a digital signature generated either on a mobile phone or on a SIM card on a mobile phone.

## Origins of the term

### mSign

The term first appeared in articles introducing mSign (short for Mobile Electronic Signature Consortium). It was founded in 1999 and comprised 35 member companies. In October 2000, the consortium published an XML-interface defining a protocol allowing service providers to obtain a mobile (digital) signature from a mobile phone subscriber.

In 2001, mSign gained industry-wide coverage when it came apparent that Brokat (one of the founding companies) also obtained a process patent in Germany for using the mobile phone to generate digital signatures.

### ETSI-MSS standardization

The term was then used by Paul Gibson (G&D) and Romary Dupuis (France Telecom) in their standardisation work at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and published in ETSI Technical Report TR 102 203.

The ETSI-MSS specifications define a SOAP interface and mobile signature roaming for systems implementing mobile signature services. ETSI TS 102 204, and ETSI TS 102 207.

## Today

The mobile signature can have the legal equivalent of your own wet signature, hence the term "Mobile Ink", commercial term coined by Swiss Sicap. Other terms include "Mobile ID", "Mobile Certificate" by a circle of trust of 3 Finnish mobile network operators implementing a roaming mobile signature framework Mobiilivarmenne, etc.

According to the EU directives for electronic signatures the mobile signature can have the same level of protection as the handwritten signature if all components in the signature creation chain are appropriately certified. The governing standard for the mobile signature creation devices and equivalent of a handwritten signature is described in the Commission Decision 2003/511/EC of 14 July 2003 on the publication of reference numbers of generally recognised standards for electronic signature products in accordance with the Electronic Signatures Directive. If the signature solution is Common Criteria evaluated by an independent party and given the EAL4+ designation, the solution can produce what the EU directive and consequent clarifications are calling a qualified electronic signature. The current standard dates back to the year 2002/2003 and is in the process being renewed and published by the end of 2012. Most, if not all, mobile signature implementations to date generate what the EU Directive is calling advanced electronic signature.

The most successful mobile signature solutions can be found in Turkey, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland with millions of users.

Technically the mobile signature is created by a security module when a request for it reaches the device (SIM card) and after introducing the request to the user with a few explanation prompts, the device asks for a secret code that only the correct user should know. Usually, this is in form of a PIN. If the access control secret was entered correctly, the device is approved with access to secret data containing for example RSA private key, which is then used to do the signature or other operations that the request wanted.

The PKI system associates the public key counterpart of the secret key held at the secure device with a set of attributes contained in a structure called digital certificate. The choice of the registration procedure details during the definition of the attributes included in this digital certificate can be used to produce different levels of identity assurance. Anything from anonymous but specific to high-standard real-word identity. By doing a signature, the secure device owner can claim that identity.

Thus, the mobile signature is a unique feature for:

* Proving your real-world identity to third parties without face-to-face communications
* Making a legally-binding commitment by sending a confirmed message to another party
* Solve security problems of the online world with identity confirmation (an anonymous but specific identity is often equally good as a high-standards identity)

### Public services

#### Estonian Mobile-ID

See .

**ParsMSS in Iran**

Pars Mobile Signature Services Project (ParsMSS) has been designed and produced in Iran for the first time since 2011. Pars Mobile Signature Services (ParsMSS) can be provided in two ways: SIM-Based and SIM-less. Registration Authority (RA) connects to this service and issues the electronic certificate in person or remotely. With this service, financial transactions and documents can be signed digitally.

#### Mobile Ink (Finland)

Mobile Ink unites high security and user-friendly access to digital services which require strong authentication and authorization. Subscribers can get mobile signature access to m-banking or corporate applications for example. Mobile Ink is a commercial term associated with the mobile signature solution of Sicap building on Kiuru MSSP platform by Methics Oy.

The platform allows simultaneous existence of multiple keys and associated identities with distinct registration procedures. This is used for example as a replacement for RSA SecurID dongles with anonymous but specific identity in corporate access applications.

#### Mobiilivarmenne (Finland)

Mobile Certificate i.e. Mobiilivarmenne in Finnish is a term used in the Finnish market space to describe the roaming mobile signature solution deployed by the three mobile network operators Elisa, Sonera, and DNA.

This setup was developed in all three operators co-operation under national Telecom technology coordination group FiCom, and it is world's first system where a fully functional co-operating ETSI TS 102 207 roaming service mesh was established in multi-vendor software environment. Another national feature is that mobile phone numbers are portable across the operators, and thus the phone number prefix does not identify the operator. To make things easy for the Application Providers (see ETSI TS 102 204), they can purchase service from any one of the Acquiring Entity service providers (mobile network operators), and reach all users.

Part of the background was update of national laws allowing digital Person Identity Certificates (for Mobiilivarmenne use) to be issued also by other parties than official registration authorities via Police offices. Another part was co-operation agreement between the operators on the form of the certificates, and certification procedures and practices producing similar certificate contents with similar identity issuance traceability. All of these were reviewed and approved by the Finnish Communication Regulatory Authority which tasks include the oversight of the identity registration services also at government registries.

#### Mobile ID in Ukraine

In Ukraine, Mobile ID project started in 2015, and later declared as one of Government of Ukraine priorities supported by EU. At the beginning of 2018 Ukrainian cell operators are evaluating proposals and testing platforms from different local and foreign developers. Platform selection will be followed up by comprehensive certification process. List of cryptographic information protection tools (and manufacturers), that are legally allowed for use in Ukraine (as of February 19, 2018).

#### Moldavian Mobile-ID

MPass

#### Handy-Signatur in Austria

Austria started mobile signature by 2003, as a technology of *Bürgerkarte* (which includes electronic signing with SmartCards). It was provided bei mobilkom Austria, but ended in 2007. After a relaunch in 2009, named *Handy-Signatur*, it is well used, by 2014 over 300.000 people, 5% of the adult inhabitants, own a registered mobile signature. It is controlled by Austrian Government, National Bank and Graz University of Technology. It is based on a TAN sent bei SMS on request and confirmed with a private PIN. According to 1999/93/EG signing by Handy-Signature is completely equivalent to a handwritten autograph.

### Technology providers

#### Mobile ID

Valimo Wireless, a Gemalto company, was the first company in the world to introduce mobile signature solutions into the market and creating the term Mobile ID. The initial mobile signature solution in Turkey by Turkcell used Valimo technology to implement the very successful mobile signature solution. Currently Valimo Mobile ID is in use in several countries.

#### Kiuru MSSP

Methics Oy is a privately held Finnish technology company with strong expertise on PKI and MSSP services. The Kiuru MSSP product line is used directly and as OEM product by several service and solution providers.

#### ID HUB – Mobile ID

Mobile ID platform by Innovation Development HUB LLC is the only electronic identification and mobile signature solution, having already passed State certification in Ukraine. Uses both post-Soviet and European cryptography algorithms, which makes the platform suitable for CIS and EU PKI.

#### G&D SmartTrust

G&D SmartTrust is the original supplier of SIM card embedded WAP browsers with encryption plugins developed in late 1990es, it is called WIB (Wireless Internet Browser.) The WIB technology is licensed by the SmartTrust to many SIM card manufacturers, and the mobile network operators can choose to use cards with WIB capabilities in their normal user base immediately enabling them for use of the MSSP services. SmartTrust's MSSP offering is called SmartLicentio.

### Security issues

Authentication may still be vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks and trojan horses, depending on the scheme employed. Schemes like one-time-password-generators and two-factor authentication do not completely solve man-in-the-middle attacks on open networks like the Internet. However, supporting the authentication on the Internet with a parallel closed network like mobile/GSM and a digital signature enabled SIM card is the most secure method today against this type of attack. If the application provider provides a detailed explanation of the transaction to be signed both on its Internet site and signing request to mobile operator, the attack can easily be recognized by the individual when comparing both screens. Since mobile operators do not let applications send signing requests for free, the cost and technicality of intrusion between the application provider and the mobile operator make it an improbable attack target. Nonetheless, there have been evidence in multiple places where an attack has occurred.

## With on-board key generation

When a mobile user creates the sPIN (signing PIN) and secret key online within the secure SIM card during the registration process, this is known as "on-board key generation". This requires a bit more interaction on user's behalf while registering, but on the other hand it makes the security mode interaction process familiar and lets them practice service usage. Also when the user forgets/locks the PIN associated with generated key, it is simple to generate a new key and assign it a new sPIN destroying the previous versions using same process as with original registration, and most importantly: without need for replacement of the SIM card. In these systems there is commonly no secondary signing PIN unblocking code (sPUK) at all, because revelation of such a code has identical requirements for the requesting person's identity verification as was with original person's identity registration.

Compare this with older "factory generated keys" model for older technology SIM cards that had insufficient processing power to do on-board key generation. The SIM card factory ran key-generation with special hardware accelerator and stored the key material on card along with initial sPIN and sPUK codes. Sometimes actual generation happened within the SIM card that was running in special manufacturing mode. After the generation the capability of doing it at all was usually disabled by blowing a special control fuse. Delivery of in particular the sPUK codes creates considerable security information logistics problems, which can entirely be avoided with the use of on-board key generation.

Turkcell was the first provider to roll out a mobile signature service with "On Board Key Generation" functionality, which enables customers to create their signing and validation key pair, after they get the simcard. In this way GSM operators do not need to distribute signing PINs to customers. Customers can create their sPIN anew, on their own.

In introduction of the Finnish Mobiilivarmenne service in 2010, only one out of three operators chose to use this on-board key generation capability with user interaction. Cited reasons claimed it to be too hard for the user. Actual experience did show that those without it created easily non-functional registrations without any online indication of the status, while usage of on-board key generation always resulted in positive indication of success when the service became fully functional for the user. Also if a mobile phone version had issues with SIM Application Toolkit protocol, that became evident immediately during a registration process using on-board key generation.

## Sources for the origins of the term

* mSign: Announcement of MSign formation (in German only), 17.10.2000
* MoSign: Materna Monitor - company magazine, December 2004
* MoSign: International Herald Tribune tech brief, 26 March 2001
* MobilImza: Turkcell Mobil Imza 10.3.2008


title: Minnesota State Highway 21

abstract: Minnesota State Highway 21 (MN 21) is a 38.370-mile-long (61.751 km) highway in Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 60 in Faribault and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with U.S. Highway 169 in Jordan, southwest of Shakopee.

text:
# Minnesota State Highway 21

**Minnesota State Highway 21** (**MN 21**) is a 38.370-mile-long (61.751 km) highway in Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 60 in Faribault and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with U.S. Highway 169 in Jordan, southwest of Shakopee.

## Route description

State Highway 21 serves as a northsouth route between Faribault, Montgomery, New Prague, and Jordan.

Highway 21 is also known as:

The Lyndale Avenue portion in Faribault is built as a four-lane divided highway.

The southern terminus for Highway 21 is its intersection with State Highway 60 in Faribault. Highway 21 becomes *Rice County Road 48* upon crossing its intersection with Highway 60.

## History

State Highway 21 was authorized in 1920, running from Zumbrota to St. Peter. In 1934, the segment east of Faribault became State Highway 60, and the segment west of Shieldsville became State Highway 99. Highway 21 was then extended northwest to Highway 13 at Montgomery, then north through New Prague to Jordan.

The southernmost section of Highway 21 through Faribault is second-generation old U.S. Highway 65 (constructed in the late 1950s), which was connected to a divided highway coming off Interstate Highway 35 in the 1960s.

Highway 21 was paved north of State Highway 19 by 1940. The remainder of Highway 21 was paved in the late 1940s.

## Major intersections

| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rice | Faribault | 0.000 | 0.000 |

MN 60 (4th Street) / CSAH 48 / I-35 BL south / I-35 Alt. south Owatonna, Kenyon, Mankato | South end of Alt. I-35 and BL 35 overlap |
| | | 1.165 | 1.875 | MN 3 (20th Street Northwest) / Park Avenue Northfield |  |
| | | 1.884–
2.121 | 3.032–
3.413 |
I-35 / I-35 BL ends Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Albert Lea | Interchange; north end of BL 35 overlap |
| | Wells Township | 2.537 | 4.083 |

CSAH 46 / I-35 Alt. north | North end of Alt. I-35 overlap |
| | Erin Township | 9.153 | 14.730 | MN 99 Le Center |  |
| Le Sueur | Montgomery | 18.370 | 29.564 |
MN 13 south / CR 161 Waterville | South end of MN 13 concurrency |
| Le SueurScott
county line | New Prague | 26.407 | 42.498 |
MN 13 north / MN 19 to US 169 Northfield | North end of MN 13 concurrency |
| Scott | Jordan | 35.829 | 57.661 | MN 282 (2nd Street) |  |
| | | 36.673 | 59.019 | US 169 Shakopee |  |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
 | | | | | |

Template:Attached KML/Minnesota State Highway 21KML is from Wikidata

## InfoBox

| Trunk Highway 21 | |
| --- | --- |
| MN 21 highlighted in red | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by MnDOT | |
| Length | 38.370 mi (61.751 km) |
| Existed | 1920–present |
| Major junctions | |
| South end | MN 60 / CR 48 at Faribault |
| Major intersections | MN 3 at Faribault
I-35 at Faribault
MN 99 at Erin Township
MN 13 / MN 19 at New Prague
MN 282 at Jordan |
| North end | US 169 at Jordan |
|  | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Minnesota |
| Counties | Rice, Le Sueur, Scott |
|  | |
| Highway system | |
| * **Minnesota Trunk Highway System** | |
| MN 20   MN 22 | |


title: Mateja Kraljevic

abstract: Mateja Kraljevic is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Born in Menziken, Kraljevic represented Switzerland in a 2009 Fed Cup tie against Australia in Mildura, as a 15 year old. She appeared in both a singles and doubles match, which were both dead rubbers. In the singles she upset her much higher ranked opponent Jessica Moore in three sets, then partnered with Amra Sadiković in the doubles against Jelena Dokic and Rennae Stubbs, which was abandoned midway through the second set due to bad light. Kraljevic, a right-handed player, won her only ITF title in the doubles at Šibenik in 2011, which was her final year on tour. She gave up on tennis to complete her schooling and went on study medicine.

text:
# Mateja Kraljevic

**Mateja Kraljevic** (born 1 September 1993) is a Swiss former professional tennis player.

Born in Menziken, Kraljevic represented Switzerland in a 2009 Fed Cup tie against Australia in Mildura, as a 15 year old. She appeared in both a singles and doubles match, which were both dead rubbers. In the singles she upset her much higher ranked opponent Jessica Moore in three sets, then partnered with Amra Sadiković in the doubles against Jelena Dokic and Rennae Stubbs, which was abandoned midway through the second set due to bad light.

Kraljevic, a right-handed player, won her only ITF title in the doubles at Šibenik in 2011, which was her final year on tour. She gave up on tennis to complete her schooling and went on study medicine.

## ITF finals

### Doubles: 1 (1–0)

| Outcome | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Winner | 4 April 2011 | Šibenik, Croatia | Clay | Amra Sadiković | Simona Dobrá
Tereza Hladíková | 7–5, 6–3 |

## InfoBox

Mateja Kraljevic
| Country (sports) | Switzerland |
| --- | --- |
| Born | (1993-09-01) 1 September 1993
Menziken, Aargau, Switzerland |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No. 1206 (19 December 2011) |
| Doubles | |
| Career titles | 1 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 1050 (23 May 2011) |


title: Yeovil Scarplands

abstract: The Yeovil Scarplands are a natural region in southern England in the counties of Somerset and Dorset. The region is listed as National Character Area 140 by Natural England, the UK Government's advisor on the natural environment. It covers 78,579 hectares (303.40 sq mi) and runs from Chard in the southwest to Chesterblade and Upton Noble in the northeast. The town of Yeovil lies roughly in the centre of the area. To the west are the Blackdowns and the Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes, to the north are the Mid Somerset Hills and the Mendips, to the east are the Blackmoor Vale and Vale of Wardour and to the south, the Marshwood and Powerstock Vales and Dorset Downs. With a predominantly rural landscape, Yeovil and other urban areas occupying less than 5% of the area, about 85% is farmed and the remainder predominantly pastoral. The area is drained by several rivers including: River Axe, River Brue, River Cary, River Isle, River Parrett, River Yeo and the Whitelake River. The area includes Neolithic hill forts, remains of Roman villas and many listed buildings. The area also includes 9477 ha of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

text:
# Yeovil Scarplands

The **Yeovil Scarplands** are a natural region in southern England in the counties of Somerset and Dorset.

The region is listed as National Character Area 140 by Natural England, the UK Government's advisor on the natural environment. It covers 78,579 hectares (303.40 sq mi) and runs from Chard in the southwest to Chesterblade and Upton Noble in the northeast. The town of Yeovil lies roughly in the centre of the area. To the west are the Blackdowns and the Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes, to the north are the Mid Somerset Hills and the Mendips, to the east are the Blackmoor Vale and Vale of Wardour and to the south, the Marshwood and Powerstock Vales and Dorset Downs.

With a predominantly rural landscape, Yeovil and other urban areas occupying less than 5% of the area, about 85% is farmed and the remainder predominantly pastoral. The area is drained by several rivers including: River Axe, River Brue, River Cary, River Isle, River Parrett, River Yeo and the Whitelake River.

The area includes Neolithic hill forts, remains of Roman villas and many listed buildings. The area also includes 9477 ha of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

## Designated Areas and Listed Buildings

The NCA includes some or all of:


title: Yilan County, Heilongjiang

abstract: Yilan County is a county of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang. It is more than 240 kilometres (150 mi) to the east-northeast of central Harbin. Its county seat, which is also called Yilan, is located near the confluence of the Mudan River with the Sungari. The easternmost county-level division of Harbin City, it borders Fangzheng County to the southwest, Tonghe County to the west, as well as the prefecture-level cities of Yichun to the north, Jiamusi to the northeast, Qitaihe to the southeast, and Mudanjiang to the south.

text:
# Yilan County, Heilongjiang

**Yilan County** (simplified Chinese: 依兰; traditional Chinese: 依蘭; pinyin: *Yīlán Xiàn*; IPA: \[í.lǎn ɕjɛ̂n\]) is a county of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang. It is more than 240 kilometres (150 mi) to the east-northeast of central Harbin. Its county seat, which is also called Yilan (Yilan Town, *Yilan zhen*), is located near the confluence of the Mudan River (formerly known as the Hurka River) with the Sungari. The easternmost county-level division of Harbin City, it borders Fangzheng County to the southwest, Tonghe County to the west, as well as the prefecture-level cities of Yichun to the north, Jiamusi to the northeast, Qitaihe to the southeast, and Mudanjiang to the south.

## Transportation

Station on the Harbin-Jiamusi intercity railway is located in the Sijianfang district, 5 km from town center.

## History

During the rule of the Ming dynasty in China, Yilan, formerly known as **Sanxing** (三姓; Wade–Giles: **San-hsing**; historically also Romanized as **San Sing**), was one of the two important centers of the Jianzhou Jurchens of the Hurka River valley. (The other center was Ninguta in the upper reaches of the Hurka). Its Jurchen name was **Ilantumen**.

The town retained its importance into the Qing period, and in 1692 became the seat of a deputy lieutenant-general (副都統; *fù dūtǒng*). Subordinated to the governor general (*jiangjun*) in Jilin City. the Sanxing *fu dutong* was in control of the northeastern section of Jilin Province (which in those days was much larger than now) – a large region stretching northeast along the Sungari and the Amur to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1887, three British travelers – H. E. M. James, Francis Younghusband and Harry English Fulford – visited Sanxing on their tour of Manchuria. According to Fulford's account, the town had the population of around 10,000, trade in furs and fish (salmon and sturgeon) being its main industries.

Lu Houmin, who was the official photographer for the top Chinese leaders particularly Mao Zedong from 1950 to 1964 was born in Yilan.

## Climate

| Climate data for Yilan (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2010) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 2.0
(35.6) | 9.0
(48.2) | 20.2
(68.4) | 29.4
(84.9) | 34.3
(93.7) | 37.4
(99.3) | 37.8
(100.0) | 37.2
(99.0) | 30.6
(87.1) | 27.0
(80.6) | 16.3
(61.3) | 6.1
(43.0) | 37.8
(100.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −12.3
(9.9) | −6.5
(20.3) | 2.4
(36.3) | 13.1
(55.6) | 20.7
(69.3) | 25.4
(77.7) | 27.6
(81.7) | 25.9
(78.6) | 21.0
(69.8) | 11.9
(53.4) | −0.8
(30.6) | −10.8
(12.6) | 9.8
(49.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −17.2
(1.0) | −12.4
(9.7) | −3.5
(25.7) | 6.6
(43.9) | 14.3
(57.7) | 19.6
(67.3) | 22.6
(72.7) | 20.7
(69.3) | 14.5
(58.1) | 5.8
(42.4) | −5.5
(22.1) | −15.2
(4.6) | 4.2
(39.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −21.5
(−6.7) | −18.0
(−0.4) | −9.3
(15.3) | 0.4
(32.7) | 8.0
(46.4) | 14.3
(57.7) | 18.0
(64.4) | 16.3
(61.3) | 8.9
(48.0) | 0.5
(32.9) | −9.7
(14.5) | −19.1
(−2.4) | −0.9
(30.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −35.0
(−31.0) | −31.8
(−25.2) | −26.9
(−16.4) | −12.6
(9.3) | −4.1
(24.6) | 4.8
(40.6) | 10.6
(51.1) | 7.0
(44.6) | −3.0
(26.6) | −13.2
(8.2) | −25.7
(−14.3) | −32.9
(−27.2) | −35.0
(−31.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 4.8
(0.19) | 4.8
(0.19) | 14.5
(0.57) | 24.6
(0.97) | 56.9
(2.24) | 83.1
(3.27) | 138.3
(5.44) | 131.4
(5.17) | 61.7
(2.43) | 31.1
(1.22) | 15.3
(0.60) | 10.0
(0.39) | 576.5
(22.68) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 5.1 | 4.3 | 7.4 | 8.4 | 12.3 | 13.5 | 13.8 | 13.5 | 9.9 | 7.7 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 109.9 |
| Average snowy days | 7.2 | 5.9 | 8.1 | 3.2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 | 7.9 | 9.6 | 43.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 71 | 66 | 61 | 57 | 61 | 72 | 80 | 83 | 77 | 66 | 68 | 72 | 70 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 147.8 | 177.5 | 212.4 | 204.4 | 225.6 | 224.5 | 222.0 | 216.6 | 219.3 | 186.6 | 147.2 | 134.9 | 2,318.8 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 53 | 60 | 57 | 50 | 49 | 48 | 47 | 50 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 51 | 53 |
| Source 1: China Meteorological Administration | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Source 2: Weather China | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Administrative divisions

Yilan County is divided into 6 towns, 2 townships and 1 ethnic township.

6 towns 2 townships 1 ethnic township

## InfoBox

| Yilan County 依兰县I-lan | |
| --- | --- |
| County | |
| Location of Yilan in Harbin | |
| Harbin in Heilongjiang | |
| Coordinates: 46°19′01″N 129°33′43″E / 46.317°N 129.562°E / 46.317; 129.562 | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Heilongjiang |
| Sub-provincial city | Harbin |
| Area | |
| Total | 4,616.0 km2 (1,782.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 97 m (321 ft) |
| Population (2010) | |
| Total | 388,319 |
| Density | 84/km2 (220/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code | 1548XX |
| Website | hrbyl.gov.cn |


title: Yilan Brick Kiln

abstract: The Yilan Brick Kiln is a former brick manufacturing factory in Beijin Village, Yilan City, Yilan County, Taiwan.

text:
# Yilan Brick Kiln

The **Yilan Brick Kiln** (traditional Chinese: 宜蘭磚窯; simplified Chinese: 宜兰砖窑; pinyin: *Yílán Zhuānyáo*) is a former brick manufacturing factory in Beijin Village, Yilan City, Yilan County, Taiwan.

## History

In 1831, Yilan established its first own brick klin due to the discoveries of sites around Yilan which has high viscosity clay, which was suitable for bricks making. The Yilan Brick Kiln was originally established as **Chen He Cheng Kiln Factory**. It was later changed to **Yilan Brick Kiln** and ended its operation in the 1980s. In 1999, the Yilan County Government planned to build residential buildings within the area. However, after various oppositions from the local residents, the kiln was finally preserved.

## Architecture

The kiln building is a rectangular shaped with a series of individual kilns. Each kiln can fire its own product and operate separately with exhaust holes connecting to each other with a unified exhaust pipe at the end. The kiln has a brick domed roof and a brick floor. The kiln features a 37-meter tall chimney.

## Transportation

The building is accessible within walking distance north of Yilan Station of Taiwan Railways.

## InfoBox

| Yilan Brick Kiln<br>宜蘭磚窯 | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
|  | |
| Built | 1938 |
| Location | Yilan City, Yilan County, Taiwan |
| Coordinates | 22°38′30.9″N 120°17′06.0″E / 22.641917°N 120.285000°E / 22.641917; 120.285000 |
| Industry | manufacturing |
| Products | brick |
| Defunct | 1980s |


title: Myiodola brachyptera

abstract: Myiodola brachyptera is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae.

text:
# Myiodola brachyptera

***Myiodola brachyptera*** is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae.

## InfoBox

| *Myiodola brachyptera* | |
| --- | --- |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Family: | Cerambycidae |
| Genus: | ***Myiodola*** |
| Species: | ***M. brachyptera*** |
| Binomial name | |
| ***Myiodola brachyptera***<br> | |
|


title: Myiocavia

abstract: Myiocavia is a genus of flies in the family Stratiomyidae.

text:
# Myiocavia

***Myiocavia*** is a genus of flies in the family Stratiomyidae.

## Distribution

Brazil.

## Species

## InfoBox

| *Myiocavia* | |
| --- | --- |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Stratiomyidae |
| Subfamily: | Pachygastrinae |
| Genus: | *Myiocavia*
Lindner, 1949 |
|
| Type species | |
| *Myiocavia tomentosa*
Lindner, 1949 | |


abstract:
N-acetylglucosaminyldiphosphodolichol N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase is an enzyme with systematic name UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine:N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl-diphosphodolichol N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyltransferase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
  - UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine + N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl-diphosphodolichol ⇌ UDP + N,N'-diacetylchitobiosyl-diphosphodolichol

text:
# N-acetylglucosaminyldiphosphodolichol N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase

**N-acetylglucosaminyldiphosphodolichol N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase** (EC 2.4.1.141, *UDP-GlcNAc:dolichyl-pyrophosphoryl-GlcNAc GlcNAc transferase*, *uridine diphosphoacetylglucosamine-dolichylacetylglucosamine pyrophosphate acetylglucosaminyltransferase*, *N,N'-diacetylchitobiosylpyrophosphoryldolichol synthase*) is an enzyme with systematic name *UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine:N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl-diphosphodolichol N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyltransferase*. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction

UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine \+ N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl-diphosphodolichol $\rightleftharpoons $ UDP + N,N'-diacetylchitobiosyl-diphosphodolichol

## InfoBox

| N-acetylglucosaminyldiphosphodolichol N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase | |
| --- | --- |
| Identifiers | |
| EC no. | 2.4.1.141 |
| CAS no. | 75536-54-8 |
| Databases | |
| IntEnz | IntEnz view |
| BRENDA | BRENDA entry |
| ExPASy | NiceZyme view |
| KEGG | KEGG entry |
| MetaCyc | metabolic pathway |
| PRIAM | profile |
| PDB structures | RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum |
| Search  PMC articles  PubMed articles  NCBI proteins | |


abstract: The NAACP Image Award winners for Activist of the Year.

text:
# NAACP Image Award for Activist of the Year

The NAACP Image Award winners for **Activist of the Year**.

## List of recipients

| Year | Winner | Reference |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2024 | NAACP Image Award for Activist of the Year Was Not Awarded in 2024 |
| 2023 | Dr. Derrick L. Foward |  |
| 2022 | Scot X. Esdaile |  |
| 2021 | Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony |  |
| 2020 | Teresa Haley |  |


title: NA64 experiment

abstract: NA64 experiment is one of the several experiments at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) particle collider searching for dark sector particles. It is a fixed target experiment in which an electron beam of energy between 100-150 GeV, strikes fixed atomic nuclei. The primary goal of NA64 is to find unknown and hypothetical particles such as dark photons, axions, and axion-like particles. Secondarily this experiment will also use the muon beams from the SPS with the goal of finding particles that mainly interact with muons and hence could give valuable insights into muon's anomalous magnetic moment. Few other goals of NA64 include searching for invisible neutral kaon decays and meson decays, as well as the hunt of particles that could consist the mirror-type dark matter.

text:
# NA64 experiment

**NA64 experiment** is one of the several experiments at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) particle collider searching for dark sector particles. It is a fixed target experiment in which an electron beam of energy between 100-150 GeV, strikes fixed atomic nuclei. The primary goal of NA64 is to find unknown and hypothetical particles such as dark photons, axions, and axion-like particles.

Secondarily this experiment will also use the muon beams from the SPS with the goal of finding particles that mainly interact with muons and hence could give valuable insights into muon's anomalous magnetic moment. Few other goals of NA64 include searching for invisible neutral kaon decays and meson decays, as well as the hunt of particles that could consist the mirror-type dark matter.

1. Krasnikov, N. V. (2020). "The Search for Light Dark Matter at NA64 Experiment". *Physics of Particles and Nuclei*. **51** (4): 697–702. Bibcode:2020PPN....51..697K. doi:10.1134/S1063779620040449. ISSN 1063-7796.
2. Banerjee, Dipanwita; NA64 collaboration; Physics Beyond Colliders Conventional Beams Working Group (2019). "Search for Dark Sector Physics at the NA64 experiment in the context of the Physics Beyond Colliders Projects". *Proceedings of XXIX International Symposium on Lepton Photon Interactions at High Energies — PoS(LeptonPhoton2019)*. Vol. 367. p. 061. arXiv:1909.04363. Bibcode:2019lpih.confE..61B. doi:10.22323/1.367.0061. `{{cite book}}`: `|journal=` ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. Kirsanov, Mikhail (2019). "Search for Dark Sector Physics in Missing Energy Events in the NA64 Experiment". *Particle Physics at the Silver Jubilee of Lomonosov Conferences*. Moscow, Russia: World Scientific. pp. 353–369. doi:10.1142/9789811202339\_0066. ISBN 978-981-12-0232-2. S2CID 195550676.
4. "NA64". *CERN*. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
5. Dusaev, R. R.; Kirpichnikov, D. V.; Kirsanov, M. M. (2020). "Photoproduction of axionlike particles in the NA64 experiment". *Physical Review D*. **102** (5): 055018. arXiv:2004.04469. Bibcode:2020PhRvD.102e5018D. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.102.055018. ISSN 2470-0010.
6. Bernhard, J. (2020). "Status and Plans for the NA64 Experiment". *Journal of Physics: Conference Series*. **1468** (1): 012023. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1468/1/012023. ISSN 1742-6588.
7. Kirsanov, Mikhail (2019). Achasov, M.N.; Ignatov, F.V.; Krokovny, P.P. (eds.). "Recent results of the NA64 experiment at the CERN SPS". *EPJ Web of Conferences*. **212**: 06005. Bibcode:2019EPJWC.21206005K. doi:10.1051/epjconf/201921206005. ISSN 2100-014X.
8. Banerjee, D.; Bernhard, J.; Burtsev, V. E.; Chumakov, A. G.; Cooke, D.; Crivelli, P.; Depero, E.; Dermenev, A. V.; Donskov, S. V.; Dusaev, R. R.; Enik, T. (2020). "Search for Axionlike and Scalar Particles with the NA64 Experiment". *Physical Review Letters*. **125** (8): 081801. arXiv:2005.02710. Bibcode:2020PhRvL.125h1801B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.081801. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 32909809.
1. NA64 sets bounds on how much new X bosons could change the electron's magnetism
2. https://na64.web.cern.ch/node/10
3. NA64 explores gap in searches for axions and axion-like particles
4. NA64 casts light on dark photons
5. The plot thickens for a hypothetical "X17” particles


title: Ye Hai Reshmi

abstract: "Ye Hai Reshmi" is a Hindi song from the Indian film Mere Sanam (1965). It was composed by O. P. Nayyar and penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The song was sung by Asha Bhosle and picturised on Mumtaz. It went on to become one of the most popular Hindi songs. On Bhosle's 83rd birthday, DNA India declared it one of the best 7 songs she had performed.

text:
# Ye Hai Reshmi

"**Ye Hai Reshmi**" (English: "It's Silky") is a Hindi song from the Indian film *Mere Sanam* (1965). It was composed by O. P. Nayyar and penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The song was sung by Asha Bhosle and picturised on Mumtaz. It went on to become one of the most popular Hindi songs. On Bhosle's 83rd birthday, DNA India declared it one of the best 7 songs she had performed.

## InfoBox

| "Ye Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera" | |
| --- | --- |
| Song by Asha Bhosle | |
| from the album  *Mere Sanam* | |
| Language | Hindi |
| Genre | sensual |
| Composer(s) | O. P. Nayyar |
| Lyricist(s) | Majrooh Sultanpuri |


abstract: Yissachar Dov Rokeach is the fifth, and present, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Belz. He is the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray, the grandson of the third Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, and the nephew of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, who raised him. He has led Belz since 1966.

text:
# Yissachar Dov Rokeach (fifth Belzer rebbe)

**Yissachar Dov Rokeach** (born 19 January 1948) is the fifth, and present, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Belz. He is the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray (1902  1949), the grandson of the third Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, and the nephew of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, who raised him. He has led Belz since 1966.

## Family background

Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray and his half-brother (through his father), Rebbe Aharon, escaped Europe in a daring escape attempt and arrived in Palestine in 1944. Both lost their wives and families to the Nazis. Both remarried in Israel; Rabbi Mordechai's second wife was Miriam, the daughter of Rabbi Hershel Glick of Satmar. Only Rabbi Mordechai had a child, Yissachar Dov. In November 1949, Rabbi Mordechai died suddenly, and his son was raised by his uncle, Rebbe Aharon, who groomed him to be the next Rebbe in the dynasty. When the Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach passed away, Yissachar Dov was still a young child.

## Early life and education

For most of the year, Yissachar Dov lived near his uncle in Tel Aviv, and studied in the Belzer Talmud Torah there; he spent the summer months in Jerusalem, studying in the Satmar Talmud Torah.

When Rebbe Aharon died in 1957, Yissachar Dov was only nine years old. For the next nine years, Belz was effectively without an active rebbe, as Yissachor Dov, then called the "Yanuka" (Child) by his followers, was educated by a small circle of trusted advisors. A few years after Rebbe Aharon's death, Yissachar Dov entered the Belzer yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he was given two dormitory rooms  one which he shared with other students as a sleeping room, and a private room where he could study alone and with others. Every decision regarding the young boy was brought before Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Neiman, Rav of the Belzer community in Montreal and a relative of Yissachar Dov on his mother's side.

Yissachar Dov celebrated his bar mitzvah on 25 January 1961 (8 Shevat 5721) in the Tel Aviv beit medrash of Rebbe Aharon, where he sat by himself at the dais, greeting a few hundred guests. Back in yeshiva, he studied for many hours with private *chavrusas* (study partners), and prepared to receive rabbinic ordination. At the age of 15, he moved to an apartment which a group of Belzer Hasidim rented for him near the yeshiva, and began inviting other students to join him for Shabbat meals at which he delivered words of Torah and Hasidut.

At the age of 16, he was engaged to Sarah Hager, daughter of Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, then rosh yeshiva and *av beis din* (head of the rabbinical court) of Kiryat Vizhnitz, Bnei Brak (he succeeded his father as Vizhnitzer Rebbe in 1972). The wedding was held in February 1965 in Kiryat Vizhnitz, where the couple settled after their marriage. Shortly after their wedding, their home was burglarized and Sarah Hager's father cursed the culprit should he not return the stolen jewels. The thief's wife divorced him thereafter, the jewels were returned, and it is said the curses rained down on him.

In June 1966, a delegation of Belzer Hasidim approached Rokeach, and urged him to accept the mantle of leadership for the Belz Hasidim. Rokeach asked them to seek the opinion of other Torah leaders, whereupon they solicited the approval of the Klausenberger Rebbe and the Gerrer Rebbe. The new Rebbe became the fifth Belzer Rabbi in Jerusalem on 28 July 1966. Standing at the gravesite of his uncle, the previous Belzer Rav, Rokeach received his first *kvitel* from the Yavrover Rav, a descendant of the Belzer and Ropshitzer Rebbes, as is customary in Belz. He has led the dynasty ever since.

He and his wife have one son, Aharon Mordechai Rokeach, born on 12 October 1975. Aharon Mordechai married Sarah Leah Lemberger, daughter of Rabbi Shimon Lemberger, Makova Rebbe in Kiryat Ata, on August 3, 1993, in Kiryat Belz, Jerusalem, in the presence of 60,000 people. The couple has ten sons and three daughters. On 21 May 2013, their eldest son, Sholom Rokeach, married Hanna Batya Penet, in a ceremony at the Belz Great Synagogue that was attended by tens of thousands of guests and well-wishers. With the birth of the young couple's daughter on 4 May 2014, the Rebbe became an *elter zaida* (great-grandfather).

## The re-invention of Belz

The majority of Belzer Hasidim were killed in the Holocaust. Although some managed to immigrate to the United States and Israel, the post-war years saw the court of Belz's membership undergo a radical change, consisting largely of former members of other communities, or Haredim who had previously not belonged officially to any Hasidic group.

One of the new Rebbe's most important tasks was to take this diverse collection of followers and mold them into a unified community. He focused on building up Belz institutions, which were largely non-existent at the death of the previous Rebbe. As Belz slowly established an economic base, it began expanding its network of schools in Western Europe, North America, and Israel, as well as its yeshivas and its own Jerusalem enclave, Kiryat Belz. It also created its own newspaper, *HaMachaneh HaCharedi*, of which MK Yisrael Eichler is a former editor.

Under the Rebbe's leadership, the Belz Hasidut has grown from a few hundred families in 1966 to over 12,000 families, as of 2022. The Rebbe also oversees a global network of study halls, educational institutions, and chesed institutions.

The Rebbe has also invested heavily in Orthodox Jewish outreach, with the founding of Yeshivas Torah V'Emunah, a ba'al teshuva yeshiva for men, and the Tzohar outreach organization for secular Jews.

While preserving the traditions established by his forebears, the Rebbe has also introduced new protocols to fit modern times. He was the first to bring professionals into the Hasidic educational system, to diagnose and treat children with learning disabilities. He also encourages his Hasidim to develop their talents within the community, finding jobs for musicians, writers, managers, etc., within the hundreds of institutions and organizations that the Hasidut has established.

The Rebbe was adamant to build an enormous shul at great cost to replicate the building of the Belz shul in Belz. The legend had it that the Sar Shalom fasted for 40 days and nights and was visited by Eliijah the Prophet who directed him how to build the original synagogue. In midst of building the Jerusalem synagogue the Rebbe learned from his gabbai that his personal investments were lost. The money pressures mounted and when he went to gather water for making Pesach Matzos in 1990, the Rebbe was so distraught he threw his Shtreimel on the ground. After this, the chassidim world-wide, established a new fundraising round to complete the building of the synagogue.

## An independent Rebbe

The Belzer Rebbe has long had a reputation for being a maverick in the Israeli Haredi community. The early years following his appointment as Rebbe saw him carefully forging alliances with other Hasidic courts (such as Ger and Vizhnitz), as well as the Misnagdic communities, particularly Degel HaTorah. He quickly became known as a political moderate and pragmatist, eventually even breaking what had earlier been something of a taboo: accepting funding and subsidies from the Israeli government.

### Feud with the Edah HaChareidis

As Belz began to establish itself as an independent and successful group, it began to attract some negative attention, particularly after the Rebbe's decision to accept money from the State. One group, the Edah HaChareidis, a coalition of several movements known for its strictness and traditionalism even among Haredim, took particular offense at the "renegades'" disregard of what had earlier been a largely unchallenged status quo. This was compounded by the Rebbe's willingness to participate in Israeli politics by encouraging his followers to vote and sending emissaries to join Haredi political parties. These disagreements turned from mere hostilities into a full-blown feud, following the Rebbe's announcement in 1980 that Belz was going to split from the Edah HaCharedis.

Prior to the split, Belz had been the only non-Eidah member that accepted and supported the authority of the *Badatz*, the Edah's rabbinical court, whose authority touched all matters of everyday Haredi life, including kashrut certification. Early in the year, Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss, the head of the Edah HaChareidis, issued a decree forbidding followers from sending their children to schools funded by State money. This represented a serious threat to Belz's moderate approach, which benefited greatly from State assistance.

In response, the Belzer Rebbe decided to cut his community off from the Edah HaChareidis, and to establish his own system of religious services, including kashrut certification. While Belz maintained that it was only interested in certifying food for its own community, the move was met with rancor by the Edah HaCharedis, particularly the Satmar Hasidim, who were both outraged at the Belzer Rebbe's defiance and concerned about Belz as potential economic competition.

This led to a large delegitimization campaign against the Belzer Rebbe. Later in the year, when he visited the United States, he was assigned a security detail by the FBI, in response to multiple death threats. The conflict in Israel, initially confined to insulting posters, gradually escalated to a series of particularly offensive pranks, and, ultimately, to physically violent clashes between followers. Neither the Belzer Rebbe nor Rabbi Weiss were ever involved in any of these activities, which are largely considered to have been the work of radical activists within both camps. Despite the opposition, Belz persevered, and tempers gradually cooled. While Belz and the Edah HaCharedis remain distant and implicitly hostile towards each other, the feud has, for all intents and purposes, ended.

## Quotes

> Every Jew must firmly believe that inside him, there resides a pure soul. Regardless of what his situation may be, even if he has strayed from the right path, the inner essence of his soul  which is a portion of God  remains pure and unsullied. ... From this tiny center of the soul that has not been tainted by evil, the transgressor derives the strength to do *teshuvah* (repentance), make amends for all his failings, and soar to the loftiest spiritual heights. (1991)

> Everyone knows that the Arabs residing in *Eretz Yisrael* (the Land of Israel)  descendants of Ishmael  have only one aim: to drive the Jewish people out of Eretz Yisrael and to annihilate them. Now, when the Jewish people conduct themselves in the proper manner, the Arabs most certainly will have no power to harm them. To the contrary, the Arabs themselves will vanish from the scene. But even when Jews do not behave quite as they should, then the Holy One, Blessed be He, compares His nation with the nations of the world. And when viewed together, He finds that the Jewish people are the acme of perfection. ... For the Jewish people, when measured against the nations of the world, are absolutely flawless. In this merit, the Jewish people will defeat their enemies and crush them. (1990)

## Rebbes of Belz

1. Rabbi Sholom Rokeach (1779–1855)
2. Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach (1825–1894)
3. Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach (1854–1926)
4. Rabbi Aharon Rokeach (1877–1957)
5. Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach (b. 1948)

## Sources

* Samuel C. Heilman (1999). *Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry*. University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-22112-5
* Ehud Sprinzak (1999). *Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination*. Free Press, ISBN 0-684-85344-2

## InfoBox

| Yissachar Dov Rokeach | |
| --- | --- |
| Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach of Belz | |
| Title | Fifth Belzer Rebbe |
| Personal | |
| Born | Yissachar Dov Rokeach
(1948-01-18) January 18, 1948
Tel Aviv |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse | Sarah Hager |
| Children | Aharon Mordechai Rokeach |
| Parents |  |
| Jewish leader | |
| Predecessor | Aharon Rokeach |
|  | |
| Began | 1966 |
| Ended | present |
|  | |


title: Mériel

abstract: Mériel is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department and Île-de-France region of France. Mériel station has rail connections to Persan, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt and Paris.

text:
# Mériel

**Mériel** (French pronunciation: \[meʁjɛl\] ) is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department and Île-de-France region of France. Mériel station has rail connections to Persan, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt and Paris.

## Population

Historical population
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1968 | 2,436 |  |
| 1975 | 3,115 | +3.57% |
| 1982 | 3,351 | +1.05% |
| 1990 | 3,985 | +2.19% |
| 1999 | 4,062 | +0.21% |
| 2007 | 4,370 | +0.92% |
| 2012 | 4,765 | +1.75% |
| 2017 | 5,083 | +1.30% |
| Source: INSEE | | |

## Notable residents

* Jean Gabin, actor (1904–1976). Gabin spent his childhood in Mériel where a museum has been dedicated to his life and work.
* Fernand Braudel, historian (1902–1985).
* Pavlos Pavlidis, musician and poet (resided from 1980 to 1992). Famous for being the singer, lyricist and guitarist for the band Τα Ξύλινα Σπαθιά.

## Town twinning

Mériel is twinned with:

## InfoBox

| Mériel | |
| --- | --- |
| Commune | |
| The River Oise near Mériel | |
|  | |
| Location of Mériel | |
| MérielMériel | |
| Coordinates: 49°04′48″N 2°12′21″E / 49.0800°N 2.2058°E / 49.0800; 2.2058 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Île-de-France |
| Department | Val-d'Oise |
| Arrondissement | Pontoise |
| Canton | Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône |
| Intercommunality | Vallée de l'Oise et des Trois Forêts |
| Government | |
| Mayor (20202026) | Jérôme François |
| Area**1** | 5.31 km2 (2.05 sq mi) |
| Population (2021) | 5,213 |
| Density | 980/km2 (2,500/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 95392 /95630 |
| Elevation | 22–95 m (72–312 ft) |
| **1** French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers \> 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |


title: George Burford

abstract: George Henry Burford was an English-born American soccer coach. He was the second head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. He was at the helm for four games in 1924, winning two and losing two, and for two games in 1928, finishing with one loss and one tie. The first of those games was for the 1928 Summer Olympics, and saw the United States lose to Argentina 11-2, which eliminated the Americans from the Games. The second was a 3-3 draw against Poland. Burford was also the trainer of the aborted 1920 Polish Olympic team. Burford worked as a fitness coordinated for many organizations including the Pennsylvania Railroad YMCA and Boston public schools. Burford was born in Kidderminster, England on December 25, 1875. He died in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1931.

text:
# George Burford

**George Henry Burford** (December 25, 1875  1931) was an English-born American soccer coach. He was the second head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. He was at the helm for four games in 1924, winning two and losing two, and for two games in 1928, finishing with one loss and one tie. The first of those games was for the 1928 Summer Olympics, and saw the United States lose to Argentina 11-2, which eliminated the Americans from the Games. The second was a 3-3 draw against Poland. Burford was also the trainer of the aborted 1920 Polish Olympic team.

Burford worked as a fitness coordinated for many organizations including the Pennsylvania Railroad YMCA and Boston public schools.

Burford was born in Kidderminster, England on December 25, 1875. He died in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1931.


title: Geograph Ireland

abstract: Geograph Ireland is a web-based project, initiated in 2010, to create a freely accessible archive of geographically located photographs of the Republic of Ireland. It is a sister project to Geograph, which also includes Northern Ireland. Photographs in the Geograph collection are chosen to illustrate significant or typical features of each 1 km × 1 km (100 ha) grid square in the Ordnance Survey National Grid and the Irish national grid reference system. There are 331,920 such grid squares containing at least some land. Each page uses a Geo microformat. Geographs are being collected for all parts of Great Britain and Ireland. The Channel Islands fall outside Britain's grid system, but may be Geographed using their local UTM grid for another sister project, Geograph Channel Islands. The main Geograph project is sponsored by Ordnance Survey, and extracts from the OS Landranger 1:50,000 scale maps illustrate the grid square pages. Geograph Project Limited, is a Charity Registered in England and Wales, and the name Geograph is trademarked.

text:
# Geograph Ireland

**Geograph Ireland** is a web-based project, initiated in 2010, to create a freely accessible archive of geographically located photographs of the Republic of Ireland. It is a sister project to Geograph (launched in March 2005), which also includes Northern Ireland.

Photographs in the Geograph collection are chosen to illustrate significant or typical features of each 1 km × 1 km (100 ha) grid square in the Ordnance Survey National Grid (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and the Irish national grid reference system. There are 331,920 such grid squares containing at least some land (at low tide). Each page uses a Geo microformat.

Geographs are being collected for all parts of Great Britain and Ireland. The Channel Islands fall outside Britain's grid system, but may be Geographed using their local UTM grid for another sister project, Geograph Channel Islands.

The main Geograph project is sponsored by Ordnance Survey, and extracts from the OS Landranger 1:50,000 scale maps illustrate the grid square pages.

Geograph Project Limited, is a Charity Registered in England and Wales, and the name Geograph is trademarked.

## Contributions

Photographs can be contributed by any registered user, although they must be approved by a panel of moderators before appearing on the website. The main aim of moderation is to make the site 'classroom ready' so that inappropriate images are rejected. The activity of taking photographs for the project is known as *geographing*. All images are licensed by the contributors using the Creative Commons *cc-by-sa 2.0* licence which permits modification and redistribution of the images under certain conditions. Contributors should be aware that they are granting everyone an irrevocable licence to use their image(s); it is very difficult to get an image removed once it appears on the website. Photo resolution is a minimum of 640 by 480 pixels, with options for higher resolutions.

The entire archive of images with RDF metadata is being made available for download via BitTorrent.

As an incentive to increase coverage, participants are awarded a point each time they contribute the first photograph classified as a *geograph* to a grid square. There is, however, no limit to the number of images per square, and some squares have over 1000 images.

Some participants combine geographing with other outdoor location sports such as letterboxing, geocaching, trigpointing, benchmarking, and peak bagging.

## Types of image

Geograph images are classified by site moderators as:

* **Geograph** – an image which usefully illustrates or characterises the area in which it was taken;
* **Supplemental** – an image which adds useful information about a square but which does not meet the requirements of a geograph; this includes close-ups, interior, underground and aerial shots, and shots taken from outside the grid square;
* **Rejected** – an image that does not meet the requirements of the Geograph Project; these are retained by the system but are not visible to anyone other than the owner and the moderators.

There is a special classification of image that is known as **First Geograph** – the first image uploaded of a particular grid square which meets the requirements to be a geograph; this status is assigned automatically by the system and not by moderators. A new system of points where contributors can gain **Second**, **Third** and **Fourth** points has now been introduced. Similar to the first point system, this time a contributor with gain a point depending on how many other geographers have submitted to that square. For example, a square with one image by one contributor will have second, third and fourth points up for grabs. The same will apply if the first contributor has submitted 100 images in that square. The date the photo was taken makes no difference to the points system. So the next person to submit a geograph will gain a second visit point. The third person to submit will get a third and so on. This was introduced with feedback from members as well as a need to fill up squares will few images.

Some of the common themes for geograph photos include:

## Statistics

As of 5 February 2014, the main project had over 3.8million photographs contributed by almost 12,000 contributors, covering 96% of Great Britain and 39% of Ireland. On the Geograph Ireland site, 14,878 images were contributed.

## InfoBox

Geograph Ireland
| Type of site | Photography website |
| --- | --- |
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Geograph Project Limited |
| URL | http://www.geograph.ie/ |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Required for contributing photos |
| Users | 11,992 users contributors (including Great Britain and Northern Ireland) |
| Launched | 25 October 2010 (2010-10-25) |
| Current status | Active |
| Content license | CC-BY-SA |


title: Geographer (band)

abstract: Geographer is an American synth-pop/indie rock band founded in 2007 by Mike Deni in San Francisco, California, United States. Deni has described his sound as being "soulful music from outer space"; using analog, electronic and acoustic elements to craft dense layers and unique sound textures. As Geographer, Deni has released multiple albums, including Innocent Ghosts in 2008, Myth in 2012, and Ghost Modern in 2015; along with two EPs, Animal Shapes in 2010, Endless Motion in 2015; and a number of 7-inch singles including, "Kites" in 2010.

text:
# Geographer (band)

**Geographer** is an American synth-pop/indie rock band founded in 2007 by Mike Deni in San Francisco, California, United States.

Deni has described his sound as being "soulful music from outer space"; using analog, electronic and acoustic elements to craft dense layers and unique sound textures. As Geographer, Deni has released multiple albums, including *Innocent Ghosts* in 2008, *Myth* in 2012, and *Ghost Modern* in 2015; along with two EPs, *Animal Shapes* in 2010, *Endless Motion* in 2015; and a number of 7-inch singles including, "Kites" in 2010.

## Early history

Deni relocated to San Francisco from New Jersey in 2005. After finding a synthesizer on the street, he began to channel his experiences into the songs that would become *Innocent Ghosts*. He began playing his songs locally in San Francisco at open mic nights—most notably the Hotel Utah, where he met cellist Nathan Blaz and drummer Brian Ostreicher. Blaz and Ostreicher originally met while attending the Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts, before moving to San Francisco. After being introduced to Deni at an open mic night by mutual friend Kacey Johansing, the two would join Deni's live band.

On August 17, 2008, Deni released *Innocent Ghosts* independently and the band began playing around the San Francisco Bay Area. The release garnered local and national attention, with *Spin* magazine voting the band "*\[o\]*ne of the three undiscovered bands you need to hear now".

## Career

Deni signed with local Bay Area label Tricycle Records, and in December 2009, released a 7-inch single for the song "Kites" with a cover of the English rock band New Order's "Age of Consent" as the B-side.

In 2010, he followed up the single with the release of the six-song EP *Animal Shapes*. The digital-download version of the record also contained two bonus remixes of the songs "Kites" and "Paris" by fellow Bay Area artists Wallpaper and The Limousines. The album received favorable reviews, landing the band a "Best of" award by the *SF Weekly*. November 2010 marked the first major tour for the band, supporting Stars on dates across the United States beginning in the Bay Area and ending in Buffalo, NY.

In March 2011, the band signed with Modern Art Records, based in New York City, New York.

In December 2011, *Paste* magazine released the single "Life of Crime" from the forthcoming full-length album *Myth*, to be released by Modern Art Records.

O February 28, 2012, Deni released *Myth*. In March of the same year, the band embarked on a five-week U.S. tour with labelmate indie-pop band Miniature Tigers. On 11 August 2012, the band played a set on the Twin Peaks Stage at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, in San Francisco, the largest audience for which the band had thus far performed. The set featured new songs "Life of Crime," "Lover's Game" and "Kites".

In September 2012, the band announced that it would head out on a 21-date U.S. tour with indie-rock band Freelance Whales. The tour began 4 October at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, Illinois, and ended 3 November at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston.

The band embarked on their first headlining tour of the western United States in 2013 with the band On An On. The tour began 12 January at Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon, and ended 1 February at The Echo in Los Angeles, California. The tour was a success for the band, selling out venues across the U.S. including their homecoming show at the historic Fillmore West on 31 January. The band continued touring throughout 2013 in the U.S. and Canada with support from GRMLN and Royal Bangs.

The band announced on its website in March 2014 that they would be supporting Tokyo Police Club on their North American tour. On 20 January 2015 *Paste* magazine premiered the single "I'm Ready" and announced his forthcoming full-length LP *Ghost Modern* to be released in March 2015. Prior to the release of *Ghost Modern*, the band headlined a sold-out show at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California as part of the Noise Pop Festival. The show debuted new songs including "Need" and "I'm Ready" which would appear on the upcoming full-length album.

*Ghost Modern*, Deni's third album, was released on 23 March through Roll Call Records. The album featured the previously released single "I'm Ready" as well as recently released singles "Need" and "The Guest". Prior to the release of *Ghost Modern*, Blaz and Osteicher stepped down as the touring band to pursue other projects that prevented them from maintaining the band's rigorous touring schedule. Deni then recruited cellist Joyce Lee, guitarist and bass player Duncan Nielsen and drummer Cody Rhodes as his touring band, headlining shows throughout the United States and South by Southwest.

Deni released a cover of Paul Simon's "I Know What I Know" through *Billboard* on October 26, 2015, announcing the release of the covers EP *Endless Motion*, which features additional covers of Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting", New Order's "Age of Consent", Felix da Housecat's "Ready 2 Wear" and Arthur Russell's "This Is How We Walk on the Moon".

On December 16, 2016, Deni independently released the Geographer single "I Want It All".

In 2018, Deni moved away from San Francisco with plans to settle in Los Angeles.

## Live

In live performances, Deni is known to sample and loop his vocals, saxophone, and synthesizers using an Akai MIDI controller. During performances, the cellist uses an NS Designs electric cello, often combined with effects pedals to create unique sounds.

## Discography

### Albums

* *Innocent Ghosts* (2008), Geographer Music
* *Myth* (2012), Modern Art Records
* *Ghost Modern* (2015), Roll Call Records
* *Down and Out in the Garden of Earthly Delights* (2021)
* *A Mirror Brightly* (2024)

### Extended plays

* *Animal Shapes* (2010), Tricycle Records
* *Endless Motion: Vol. 1* (2015), Roll Call Records
* *Alone Time* (2018)
* *New Jersey* (2019)

### Singles

* "Kites" 7" (2010)
* "Life of Crime" (2012)
* "Lover's Game" (2012)
* "I'm Ready" (2015)
* "Need" (2015)
* "The Guest" (2015)
* "I Want It All" (2016)
* "Read My Mind" (2017)
* "So Low" (2017)
* "Summer of my Discontentment" (2019)
* "Love is Wasted in the Dark" (2019)
* "When Will I Belong" (2020)
* "Slave To The Rhythm" (2020)
* "Love Is Madness" (2020)
* "Alibi" (2020)
* "Keep Running" (2020)
* "The Other Side" (2020)
* "Kyoto" (2022)
* "The Reason" (2022)
* "When Will I Belong" (2022)
* "I Don't Remember It Starting" (2023)

## Song usage

## Remixes

* Waters - "Got to My Head" (2014)
* Vacationer - "Good As New" (2013)
* Blondefire - "Where The Kids Are" (2013)
* Bogan Via - "Kanye" (2013)
* Rubblebucket \- "Oversaturated" (2012)

## InfoBox

| Geographer | |
| --- | --- |
| Mike Deni and Geographer (2009) at Skylark Cafe | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Genres | Indie rock, dream pop, electronic rock |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Roll Call, Modern Art, Tricycle, Geographer Music |
|  | |
| Members | Mike Deni |
|  | |
| Past members | Nathan Blaz<br>Brian Ostreicher |
|  | |
| Website | www.geographermusic.com |