title: Veronica Mars

text: Thomas, who said he "conceive[d] the show as a one-year mystery," decided that he needed to introduce and eliminate several characters to be able to create an "equally fascinating mystery" for the series' second season. Thomas felt that he could not bring back the Kanes and the Echolls and "have them all involved in a new mystery"; he needed "new blood". The second season saw the introduction of Tessa Thompson as Jackie Cook, a romantic interest of Wallace and daughter of a famous baseball player. Previous recurring characters Dick Casablancas and Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas were upgraded to series regulars. Dick, played by Ryan Hansen, was an 09er friend of Logan, a womanizer and former high-school bully turned frat boy. Kyle Gallner portrayed "Beaver," Dick's introverted younger brother. Dunn left the series midway through the season, although was credited as a main cast member throughout that season. Thomas explained that the Logan-Veronica-Duncan love triangle had run its course, and to keep the series fresh, there would need to be "other guys in her life." He attributed Dunn's removal to fan interest dominating the Logan-Veronica relationship, saying "it became clear that one suitor won out".


title: Veronica Mars

text: The third season introduced two new series regulars, Parker Lee and Stosh "Piz" Piznarski. Julie Gonzalo portrayed Parker, Mac's extroverted roommate and "everything that Mac is not." Piz, played by Chris Lowell, was Wallace's roommate and a music lover with his campus radio show. Piz was named after the director of the pilot, Mark Piznarski. The character gave Veronica another middle-class male friend. Thomas used the radio show as a narrative device to capture the mood of the university. Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie and Don Lamb, recurring characters in the first two seasons, were upgraded to series regulars. Mac, portrayed by Tina Majorino, was a computer expert befriended by Veronica. Lamb, portrayed by Michael Muhney, was the Balboa County Sheriff who won the office from Keith in the recall election.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Rob Thomas originally wrote "Veronica Mars" as a young adult novel for publishing company Simon & Schuster. Before his first television job on "Dawson's Creek", Thomas sold two novel ideas. One of these was provisionally titled "Untitled Rob Thomas Teen Detective Novel", which formed the series's basis. The novel had many elements similar to "Veronica Mars", though the protagonist was male. Thomas's father was a vice-principal at Westlake High School near Austin, Texas, and the main character attended a "thinly disguised version" of the school. As Thomas had begun writing for film and television, he did not resume his teen detective idea for several years. Writing a novel could take months for Thomas, whereas a television script only took several weeks. Knowing that television scripts paid more, Thomas wrote the teen detective project's television version as a spec script before it became a novel. Since no studio or network had asked him to write it, and he would not get paid unless it sold, Thomas said that "it was never a very pressing project for me." Tinkering with it from time to time, Thomas wrote project notes a year before writing the television script. Most of his original ideas made it into the script, but some changed drastically. Thomas wanted to use flashbacks, and he had to shorten the timeline so that the murder could happen in a recent time. Thomas changed the gender of the protagonist because he thought a noir piece told from a female point of view would be more interesting and unique.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Kristen Bell was chosen to play Veronica Mars from more than 500 women who auditioned for the role. Bell felt that it was "just luck" that Rob Thomas saw that "I have some sass to me, and that's exactly what he wanted." Bell thought that her cheerleader looks and an outsider's attitude set her apart from the other women who auditioned.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Jason Dohring, who played Logan, originally auditioned for the role of Duncan. Teddy Dunn originally auditioned for Logan, but ended up portraying Duncan. Dohring felt that his audition for Duncan "was a little dark", and he was told by the producers that it was "not really right". The producers asked Dohring to read for the role of Logan. Dohring acted one scene from the pilot, in which he shattered the headlights of a car with a crowbar. During the final auditions, Dohring read twice with Bell and met with the studio and the network. When reading with Bell, Dohring acted the whole scene as if he had raped her and tried to give the character an evil and fun feel. At the time of Dohring's audition for Logan, the character was only going to be a guest star in the pilot.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Percy Daggs III auditioned for Wallace Fennel's role twice and took three tests with studio and network executives. During his first audition, Daggs read four scenes from the pilot. Just before his studio test, Daggs read with Bell and had "a great conversation." He said that she "made me feel comfortable about auditioning" and was a big reason why he became more comfortable playing Wallace as the season went on.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Thomas described Amanda Seyfried, who portrayed the murdered Lilly Kane, as "the biggest surprise of the year." When casting a series regular, he was able to see all the best actors in town, mainly because they all wanted to be a series regular. When casting Lilly Kane, who would only appear from time-to-time as "the dead girl," Thomas did not receive the same level of actors. Thomas said that he had "never had a more cut and dried audition" than he did with Seyfried. He said that she was "about 100 times better than anyone else that we saw; she was just spectacular". He continued by saying that she ended up being so good in the series that he used her three or four more times than he initially planned.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Episodes have a distinct structure: Veronica investigates a different "case of the week" while trying to solve a larger mystery that spans several episodes or a whole season. The first two seasons of "Veronica Mars" have a season-long mystery arc, which is introduced in the first episode of the season and solved in the finale. The third season takes on a different format, focusing on two smaller mystery arcs that last the course of nine and six episodes respectively. The final five episodes of the season feature stand-alone mysteries.


title: Veronica Mars

text: During the first season, Thomas was unsure if the series's success was attributed to each episode's "case of the week" or the overarching story. He realized that fans were cool with the "case of the week" but returned for the ongoing mystery. Thomas felt that Bell had been overworked in the first season, and the mystery involving Logan and Weevil in the second season was an attempt to give her some time off. He said that the mystery arcs of the second season had "way too many suspects, way too many red herrings" and that the third season needed a change.


title: Veronica Mars

text: The third season was initially planned to include three separate mysteries that would be introduced and resolved in a series of non-overlapping story arcs. Thomas realized by talking to CW Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff that viewers got too confused by his original format, and the new format would allow new viewers to start watching at any point in the season. Inspired by the improvised thriller "Bubble", Thomas started laying "subtle" motives for the second mystery during the first one, so that fans would have "a theory on whodunit" when it occurred. The first mystery took place over the first nine episodes. Originally, the second mystery was to be seven episodes long, and the third mystery was to occur over the last six episodes of the season. This was changed when The CW ordered a 20 episode season instead of the usual 22 episodes. The second mystery arc was shortened from seven episodes to six, and the third mystery was first changed from a six-episode arc to a five-episode arc. After an eight-week hiatus for the series was announced, the final mystery was changed to five stand-alone episodes designed to be friendlier to new viewers. The final mystery was originally going to be "unlike any of the others we've done before." Previously, "nice characters" like Wallace and Mac had always been absent from the big mystery because no one was going to believe them as a suspect. For the third mystery, Thomas had wanted to present a situation where Wallace and Mac could be fully involved, "key players [with] really interesting stuff to do."


title: Veronica Mars

text: The original pilot was darker in tone than the one aired. Thomas intended to take the script to FX, HBO or Showtime, but gave UPN "credit" as they only wanted it a bit lighter to match their standards and practices. A lengthy debate considered whether Veronica could be a rape victim; UPN eventually consented. In the aired pilot, Lilly was found by the pool in the same spot where she was murdered. However, Thomas stated that Lilly's body was originally going to be found in the ocean, and he had a plan for events that led there. Thomas pitched the idea to UPN, but the network felt that it was "too dark and creepy" for Jake to dispose of his daughter's body to protect his son, and the idea was changed.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Many of the series' scenes were filmed at Stu Segall Productions in San Diego, California. Producer Paul Kurta said that most of the Neptune scenes were filmed in Oceanside, California. Kurta liked that it was "a seaside town that still feels like middle-class people live there [...] Most of the seaside towns feel resort driven." It was estimated that the series spent $44 million a year shooting each season in San Diego, comprising more than half of the revenue generated by film production there in 2006.


title: Veronica Mars

text: The Neptune High setting was also in Oceanside. The school, Oceanside High School, was paid $7,750 by Stu Segall Productions for the use of the campus and extras. The series' third season setting of Hearst College was mostly filmed on the campuses of San Diego State University, University of San Diego and the University of California, San Diego. Filming locations were chosen by the director and by production designer Alfred Sole. Sole reportedly "really liked the look and feel of the school", and San Diego State University invited the series with "open arms". Taping at the university led to financial and employment benefits for the university and its students. Alumni worked as crew members while students worked as actors; half of the third season extras were students from the university's film department.


title: Veronica Mars

text: "We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols was used as the series' theme song. Composer Josh Kramon was originally going to produce a noir version of a 1980s song for the theme. However, Rob Thomas was "pretty much set on finding a song," and "We Used to Be Friends" was chosen right from the beginning. TV critic Samantha Holloway considered this theme to be one of "the five most recognizable, sing-along-able, memorable and best theme songs." The theme song was remixed in a softer piano style with dark and vibrant electronic beats to reflect the more noir-influenced opening credits in the third season.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Kramon wrote the original background music to convey the film noir themes. For the pilot, Thomas wanted "a really atmospheric, kind of modern noir type of vibe," and Kramon used sounds similar to that of Air and Zero 7. Kramon used "traditional sounds" for the series but also processed and filtered them. Among the instruments used were piano, vibraphone, and guitar. When using an acoustic piano, Kramon would use compression to not sound like a traditional piano. Live bass and percussion were also used, as Kramon did not like to program them. The main instrument used was the guitar, but Kramon felt that the piano was "by far the most important instrument for working on TV shows, especially when you're doing everything yourself."


title: Veronica Mars

text: A week before choosing the sounds for the episodes, the crew had a "spotting session," where they would discuss with Thomas and the producers which type of music would be featured. Kramon did not decide the songs to be featured but composed and created the whole score. Since there was little orchestral music, and Kramon could play guitar, piano, bass, and drums, he played all parts without another musician. "Veronica Mars: Original Television Soundtrack", a song compilation from the series' first and second seasons, was released by Nettwerk Records on September 27, 2005. Thomas revealed that the primary goal for the soundtrack was to "get more publicity, which will in turn hopefully get more viewers for the show".


title: Veronica Mars

text: In January 2007, Dawn Ostroff announced that while she was pleased with the gradual ratings improvement of "Veronica Mars", the series would be put on hiatus after the February sweeps to air a new reality series, "". When the hiatus ended, the series returned for the last five episodes of the season. At the 2007 CW Upfront, Ostroff announced that "Veronica Mars" was not part of the new primetime lineup and was "not coming back". Thomas created a trailer that took place four years after the third-season finale, with the working title "Veronica in the FBI", and released it on the third season DVD. When asked if the FBI concept could happen, Ostroff said that the series was probably completely gone "in any form". Ostroff also said that Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas might collaborate on another project for the CW network. In June 2007, "TV Guide" writer Michael Ausiello confirmed that the cancellation of "Veronica Mars" was official.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Thomas stated that he was interested in writing a feature film based on the series to provide closure to the storylines and character arcs. In September 2008, Michael Ausiello, writing for "Entertainment Weekly", reported that Thomas had met with Bell to discuss the plot, which would likely involve Veronica solving crime in college rather than as an FBI agent. Thomas felt that the "FBI scenario was more of a 'What if...?'", aimed at getting a fourth season and that he "would want to bring back our key players, and it would be tough to believe that the FBI stationed Veronica in Neptune." Ausiello later reported that Enrico Colantoni would be involved in the project. Colantoni said that he was fully aware of the talks taking place, adding, "cult shows have translated well into the film arena. Nothing's official, but they're talking about it." In addition to the feature-film possibility, Thomas had a meeting with DC Comics to talk about a "Veronica Mars" comic book series.


title: Veronica Mars

text: In September 2008, Thomas told "Entertainment Weekly" that "I thought I had the idea broken, but I've hit a wall in the final act that I haven't quite figured out." Thomas explained that he had been very busy writing for "Cupid" and "Party Down", both of which he created. In January 2009, "TV Guide" reported that the film was Thomas' first priority after "Cupid". Thomas noted that as well as writing the script, someone would need to pay for the film, but indicated that producer Joel Silver was ready to green-light the film. In June 2009, Bell said "I don't think it will ever happen, and here's why: [Series creator] Rob Thomas and I had a powwow, and we were both 100 percent on board. We took our proposal to Warner Bros., and Joel Silver told us that there is no enthusiasm [there] to make a "Veronica Mars" movie, and that is, unfortunately, a roadblock we cannot compete with." At the 2010 TCA Winter Press Tour, Rob Thomas stated that the movie wouldn't be happening, "I would write it if anyone would finance it. If anyone's interested in making that movie, I am available, Kristen's [Bell] available. I would love to do it. I think the closest we came was Joel [Silver] pushing it at Warner Bros., and they didn't bite. It has sort of gone away." In April 2010, Thomas insisted, "it's not dead. I continue to want to do it [...] We're still looking into it." In June 2010, Silver was less optimistic about the film happening; "we analyzed all these areas about it. I talked to the home video people because a movie like that would be driven by video. The [season DVDs] didn't do that well... So they didn't feel there was a need or an audience."


title: Veronica Mars

text: On March 13, 2013, Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell launched a Kickstarter fundraiser in an attempt to get the film made, with the help of fans to reach the goal of $2 million. The campaign offered various incentives to those who donated more than $10. Thomas and Bell stated that they approached Warner Bros. with the idea and they approved and will be distributing the finished title. Bell, Thomas, Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen, and Jason Dohring appeared in a video promoting the campaign that was shot in February 2012. The goal was met within 10 hours of the start of the campaign. The project broke several Kickstarter records, becoming the site's largest successful film project. The campaign ended on April 13, with 91,585 donors raising $5,702,153. Production began in June 2013, with a projected early 2014 release. In December 2013, Thomas announced that the release date would be March 14, 2014, a year and a day after the start of the Kickstarter project.


title: Veronica Mars

text: On April 5, Thomas had completed the first draft of the script. Several casting announcements were made through April to June, with confirmation of several returning cast members, including Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Chris Lowell (Stosh "Piz" Piznarski), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas), and Tina Majorino (Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie), among several others.


title: Veronica Mars

text: The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival on March 8, 2014, and was released in theatres and through online platforms on March 14, 2014. The film grossed $3.5 million worldwide, and received positive reviews from critics, with a 79% approval rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 125 critics, with an average score of 6.7 out of 10.


title: Veronica Mars

text: In September 2018, Hulu officially confirmed the revival of "Veronica Mars", and announced it would consist of eight episodes, and series creator Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell were confirmed to return. The plot revolves around a serial killer murdering spring breakers. Other returning cast members include Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas), and several others. New cast members include Dawnn Lewis, Patton Oswalt, Clifton Collins Jr., and J. K. Simmons. It was originally scheduled for release on July 26, 2019; however, Hulu released the season one week early on July 19 shortly after the series' appearance at San Diego Comic-Con.


title: Veronica Mars

text: A series of novels, written by series creator Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham, continue the story after the events of the "Veronica Mars" film and also feature Logan, Mac, Wallace, and Dick. The first novel, "Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line", was released by Random House on March 25, 2014, as a Vintage Books trade paperback (), an eBook (), and an unabridged audiobook read by Kristen Bell (). It featured the return of Veronica's mother, Lianne Mars. The second novel, "Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell", also published by Vintage Books, was released on January 20, 2015. Thomas has said in interviews that the novels are canon, and would not be negated by a future film.


title: Veronica Mars

text: In January 2014, it was announced that a digital spin-off of "Veronica Mars" was in development with creator Rob Thomas. The metafictional concept features Ryan Hansen portraying himself in an attempt to make a spin-off based on his character Dick Casablancas. On August 13, 2014, it was announced that the web series, titled "Play It Again, Dick", would premiere on September 18, 2014 on The CW's digital content website, CW Seed in 8-episode installments with a length of 8–10 minutes per installment. Other cast members returning include Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, Percy Daggs III, Daran Norris, Francis Capra, Chris Lowell and Ken Marino, who portrayed their "Veronica Mars" characters as well as fictionalized versions of themselves.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Below, "rank" refers to how well "Veronica Mars" rated compared to other television series which aired during primetime hours of the corresponding television season. The television season begins in September of any given year and ends during the May of the following year. "Viewers" refers to the average number of viewers for all original episodes broadcast during the television season in the series' regular timeslot. "Rank" is shown with the total number of series airing on the six/five major English-language networks in a given season. The "season premiere" is the date that the first episode of the season aired. Similarly, the "season finale" is the date that the final episode of the season aired.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Although not a ratings success, the series was a critical success from its first season. Robert Abele of "LA Weekly" said "in this smart, engaging series about a former popular girl turned crime-solving high school outcast, the hard-boiled dialogue comes from its teen protagonist's mouth in a way that stabs any potential cutesiness in the heart with an ice pick." In her review, Paige Wiser of the "Chicago Sun Times" said that "on "Veronica Mars", wholesome is out; gritty reality is in. The show never soft-pedals the timeless, fundamental truth that high school is hell." Joyce Millman of "The Phoenix" felt that the series was "a character study masquerading as a high-school drama". Joy Press of "The Village Voice" saw the series as "a sharp teen noir in the making. Tinged with class resentment and nostalgia for Veronica's lost innocence, this series pulses with promise." Michael Abernethy of PopMatters said that "intrigue, drama, and humor, "Veronica Mars" is also a lesson book for the disenfranchised. Few TV series aim so high; even fewer succeed so well." James Poniewozik of "Time" labeled it as one of the six best dramas on television. He praised Bell as "a captivating star", and said that the series "uses its pulp premise to dramatize a universal teen experience: that growing up means sleuthing out the mystery of who you really are." Kay McFadden of "The Seattle Times" called the series an update to the "classic California film noir". She felt that "Veronica Mars" was the best new series on UPN, and that the title character was potentially "this season's most interesting character creation". McFadden described the series as ""Alias" in its attitude, Raymond Chandler in its writing and "The O.C." in its class-consciousness." Stephanie Zacharek of "Salon" praised the first-season finale for being "just the sort of satisfying capper you look for in a series that, week after week, keeps you asking questions."


title: Veronica Mars

text: "Veronica Mars" was also positively received by other writers. Joss Whedon, who made a guest appearance in the second-season episode "Rat Saw God", said that it was the "Best. Show. Ever. Seriously, I've never gotten more wrapped up in a show I wasn't making, and maybe even more than those [...] These guys know what they're doing on a level that intimidates me. It's the "Harry Potter" of shows." Kevin Smith, who guest starred in the episode "Driver Ed", said that "Veronica Mars" was "hands-down, the best show on television right now, and proof that TV can be far better than cinema." Stephen King described the series as "Nancy Drew meets Philip Marlowe, and the result is pure nitro. Why is "Veronica Mars" so good? It bears little resemblance to life as I know it, but I can't take my eyes off the damn thing." Ed Brubaker called it "the best mystery show ever made in America."


title: Veronica Mars

text: Despite being a critical success throughout its run, criticisms began to emerge in its third season. Keith McDuffee of TV Squad described the third season as "disappointing," mainly because the episodes offered nothing new: "most fans of "Veronica Mars" felt that season three was clearly its weakest." Eric Goldman of IGN said that the main issue was the shift in the overall tone, with a lighter feeling than the previous seasons. He felt that Logan had been most affected by the tone change, robbed of his darker aspects, and changed into an "increasingly extraneous character." Goldman felt that despite the concerns over the final five episodes, the series ended with "three very strong episodes, with lots of strong dialogue and Veronica proving again just how tough she can be, and what a strong character she is." Goldman concluded that although the third season "was very choppy," it still had "plenty of witty dialogue and a continually engaging performance by Kristen Bell as the title character." The "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" opined that "Veronica Mars" had taken a dive "creatively", from "the mopier version of its theme song to stalled storylines." The reviewer felt that "the arcing mysteries had grown less convincing and compelling as time went on and were too drawn out." Fox News Channel's Bridget Byrne pointed out that Veronica had "gone from punky to—dare we say—preppy" in the third season. Byrne further explained that "with her quick, bright wit and sharp eye for life's darker moments [Veronica] has left high school and is going to college, doffing her dark threads and spiked tresses for something a little more stylish."


title: Veronica Mars

text: The series, described as a "critical darling", appeared on a number of fall television best lists. In 2005, the series was featured on AFI's TV Programs of the Year, and on the lists of MSN TV, "The Village Voice", the "Chicago Tribune", "People Weekly" and the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". It was named the second best series by Ain't It Cool News, fourth best returning series by "Time", fifth best series by "Newsday", PopMatters and "San Jose Mercury-News", and sixth best by "Entertainment Weekly" and "USA Today". In 2006, the series was ranked number one on the lists of Ain't It Cool News and the "Chicago Sun-Times", and was ranked number six by Metacritic. In 2007, the series ranked number 18 on "TV Guide"s list of the "Top Cult Shows Ever". In 2008, AOL TV ranked "Veronica Mars" the 10th Best School Show of All Time. The same year, British film magazine "Empire" ranked it number 48 in their list of the "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". The magazine said that "smart storylines and witty riffs on pop culture pepper the scripts, while Kristen Bell lent ballsy charm to the title role and ensured that every episode of the show's three seasons was television gold. Its untimely cancellation was a slap in the face that still smarts to this day." "Empire" named "Not Pictured" the best episode of the series. In 2010, Kristin dos Santos of E! ranked "Veronica Mars" number 8 on her list, "Top 20 TV Series of the Past 20 Years". The A.V. Club named it the 15th best TV series of the 2000s (decade).


title: Veronica Mars

text: In 2012, "Entertainment Weekly" listed the show at #13 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", with the comments, "It's not easy telling the story of a girl's mission to solve her best friend's murder – while also investigating her own rape – but creator Rob Thomas' tough assignment was made easier by putting the tirelessly smart and snarky Veronica Mars on the case. Her wry one-liners injected much-needed lightness into sometimes grim mysteries."


title: Veronica Mars

text: In 2020, Briana Kranich of "Screen Rant" ranked "Veronica Mars" as the top contender of "The 10 Best TV Teen Heroines".


title: Veronica Mars

text: "Veronica Mars" has attracted a loyal and dedicated fan base. A group of fans calling themselves the "Cloud Watchers" organized several campaigns to bring more viewers to the series to ensure its continuation. The group hired a plane to fly over the CW offices, carrying a banner reading "Renew "Veronica Mars"." The group hired street teams in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago to distribute 30,000 fliers advertising the series' return after its midseason hiatus in the third season. The "Cloud Watchers" raised $50,000 in donations and through the sale of "Veronica Mars" clothing and tchotchkes. Upon the cancellation of the series, fans sent more than 10,000 Mars Bars to the CW, hoping that the network would reverse its decision and renew the series. Rob Thomas thanked the fans of the series for their efforts, saying, "I love those people, and they have been so good to me, but it's not going to happen." A feature film continuation was made possible in 2013 through a Kickstarter fund, in which 91,585 fans donated $5,702,153 to get the film made. Fans have also come to refer to themselves and be referred to as "Marshmallows" by media as well as the cast and crew of the series after a line delivered by Wallace (Percy Daggs III) in the pilot episode: "You're a marshmallow, Veronica Mars. A Twinkie." At the end of the same episode, Veronica in voiceover remarks "Well, you know what they say: 'Veronica Mars, she's a marshmallow.'" A reference to the term was also included in the fan-funded film.


title: Veronica Mars

text: The CTV Television Network began airing "Veronica Mars" in Canada as a mid-season replacement on May 30, 2005. CTV decided not to pick up the second season, which began broadcast by Sun TV on July 18, 2006. The third season was initially only available through American border stations. The fourth season premiered in Canada on the Crave streaming service (owned by the same company as CTV) within a few hours of its U.S. release on Hulu on July 19, 2019.


title: Veronica Mars

text: Subscription channel Living began showing the series in the United Kingdom in October 2005, averaging 50,000 viewers per episode for its first season. The channel began airing the second season on June 8, 2006, airing one episode per week rather than showing one every night as they did in the first season. Despite low ratings in the second season, Living decided to air the series' third season. It was syndicated through the Living TV Group platform, airing on the now defunct channel Trouble just before its closure. Free-to-air channel E4 began broadcasting the series from July 16, 2009.


title: Veronica Mars

text: "Veronica Mars" premiered in Australia by Network Ten on November 28, 2005, where the series saw erratic airings. TV2 began showing the series in New Zealand on July 15, 2005.


title: Veronica Mars

text: The first season of "Veronica Mars" was released in region 1 as a widescreen six-disc DVD box set on October 11, 2005. In addition to all the episodes that had been aired, DVD extras included an extended "Pilot" episode (through the inclusion of an unaired opening sequence) and over 20 minutes of unaired scenes. The same set was released on May 16, 2008 in Region 2, and on June 4, 2008 in Region 4.


title: Veronica Mars

text: The second season was released in region 1 as a widescreen six-disc DVD box set on August 22, 2006, Region 2 on August 15, 2008, and Region 4 on September 8, 2008. In addition to all the aired episodes, DVD extras included two featurettes: "A Day on the Set with Veronica Mars" and "Veronica Mars: Not Your Average Teen Detective", a gag reel, a promo trailer for the third season and additional scenes, including an alternate ending to "My Mother, the Fiend".


title: Veronica Mars

text: The third season was released in region 1 as a widescreen six-disc DVD box set on October 23, 2007, Region 2 on December 12, 2008, and Region 4 on February 11, 2009. In addition to all the aired episodes, DVD extras included "Pitching Season 4", an interview with Rob Thomas discussing a new direction for the series that picks up years later, with Veronica as a rookie FBI agent; "Going Undercover with Rob Thomas"; webisode gallery with cast interviews and various set tours; unaired scenes with introductions by Rob Thomas; and a gag reel.


title: Veronica Mars

text: In the United Kingdom, "Veronica Mars: The Complete Collection" was released on May 12, 2014. The set contains all three seasons and the film in an 18-disc set. This is the first time the series received a release in the UK, as the seasons were not released individually.


title: Veronica Mars

text: In July and August 2005, four episodes of the first season aired on CBS, UPN's sibling network, to gain more exposure for the series.


title: Savant syndrome

text: Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calculation, artistic ability, map making, or musical ability. Usually, only one exceptional skill is present.


title: Savant syndrome

text: Those with the condition generally have a neurodevelopmental disorder such as autism spectrum disorder or have a brain injury. About half of cases are associated with autism, and these individuals may be known as "autistic savants". While the condition usually becomes apparent in childhood, some cases develop later in life. It is not recognized as a mental disorder within the DSM-5.


title: Savant syndrome

text: Savant syndrome is estimated to affect around one in a million people. The condition affects more males than females, at a ratio of 6:1. The first medical account of the condition was in 1783. Among those with autism, 1 in 10 to 1 in 200 have savant syndrome to some degree. It is estimated that there are fewer than a hundred prodigious savants, with skills so extraordinary that they would be considered spectacular even for a non-impaired person, currently living.


title: Savant syndrome

text: Savant skills are usually found in one or more of five major areas: art, memory, arithmetic, musical abilities, and spatial skills. The most common kinds of savants are calendrical savants, "human calendars" who can calculate the day of the week for any given date with speed and accuracy, or recall personal memories from any given date. Advanced memory is the key "superpower" in savant abilities.


title: Savant syndrome

text: Approximately half of savants are autistic; the other half often have some form of central nervous system injury or disease. It is estimated that up to 10% of those with autism have some form of savant abilities.


title: Savant syndrome

text: A (or ) is someone who – despite having an intellectual disability – can name the day of the week of a date, or vice versa, on a limited range of decades or certain millennia. The rarity of human calendar calculators is possibly due to the lack of motivation to develop such skills among the general population, although mathematicians have developed formulas that allow them to obtain similar skills. Calendrical savants, on the other hand, may not be prone to invest in socially engaging skills.


title: Savant syndrome

text: No widely accepted cognitive theory explains savants' combination of talent and deficit. It has been suggested that individuals with autism are biased towards detail-focused processing and that this cognitive style predisposes individuals either with or without autism to savant talents. Another hypothesis is that savants hyper-systemize, thereby giving an impression of talent. Hyper-systemizing is an extreme state in the empathizing–systemizing theory that classifies people based on their skills in empathizing with others versus systemizing facts about the external world. Also, the attention to detail of savants is a consequence of enhanced perception or sensory hypersensitivity in these unique individuals. It has also been hypothesized that some savants operate by directly accessing deep, unfiltered information that exists in all human brains that is not normally available to conscious awareness.


title: Savant syndrome

text: In some cases, savant syndrome can be induced following severe head trauma to the left anterior temporal lobe. Savant syndrome has been artificially replicated using low-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation to temporarily disable this area of the brain.


title: Savant syndrome

text: There are no objectively definitive statistics about how many people have savant skills. The estimates range from "exceedingly rare" to one in ten people with autism having savant skills in varying degrees. A 2009 British study of 137 parents of autistic children found that 28% believe their children met the criteria for a savant skill, defined as a skill or power "at a level that would be unusual even for 'normal' people". As many as 50 cases of sudden or acquired savant syndrome have been reported.


title: Savant syndrome

text: Males with savant syndrome outnumber females by roughly 6:1 (in Finland), slightly higher than the sex ratio disparity for autism spectrum disorders of 4.3:1.


title: Savant syndrome

text: The term "idiot savant" (French for "learned idiot") was first used to describe the condition in 1887 by John Langdon Down, who is known for his description of Down syndrome. The term "idiot savant" was later described as a misnomer because not all reported cases fit the definition of idiot, originally used for a person with a very severe intellectual disability. The term "autistic savant" was also used as a description of the disorder. Like "idiot savant", the term came to be considered a misnomer because only half of those who were diagnosed with savant syndrome were autistic. Upon realization of the need for accuracy of diagnosis and dignity towards the individual, the term "savant syndrome" became widely accepted terminology.


title: Kremlin

text: The Kremlin () is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Russian citadels), and includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. In addition, within this complex is the Grand Kremlin Palace that was formerly the Tsar's Moscow residence. The complex now serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation and as a museum with almost 3 million visitors in 2017. The Kremlin overlooks the Moskva River to the south, Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and the Alexander Garden to the west.


title: Kremlin

text: The name ""Kremlin"" means "fortress inside a city", and is often also used metonymically to refer to the government of the Russian Federation. It previously referred to the government of the Soviet Union (1922–1991) and its highest members (such as general secretaries, premiers, presidents, ministers, and commissars). The term "Kremlinology" refers to the study of Soviet and Russian politics.


title: Kremlin

text: The Kremlin is open to the public and offers individual and group guided tours. Visible are the Armoury Chamber, Tsar Cannon, Tsar Bell, artillery pieces, and the exposition of Russian wooden sculpture and carvings.


title: Kremlin

text: The site had been continuously inhabited by Finnic peoples (especially the Meryans) since the 2nd century BC. The East Slavs occupied the south-western portion of Borovitsky Hill as early as the 11th century, as evidenced by a metropolitan seal from the 1090s which was unearthed by Soviet archaeologists in the area. The Vyatichi built a fortified structure (or "grad") on the hill where the Neglinnaya River flowed into the Moskva River.


title: Kremlin

text: Up to the 14th century, the site was known as the 'grad of Moscow'. The word "Kremlin" was first recorded in 1331 (though etymologist Max Vasmer mentions an earlier appearance in 1320). The grad was greatly extended by Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy in 1156, destroyed by the Mongols in 1237 and rebuilt in oak in 1339.


title: Kremlin

text: Dmitri Donskoi replaced the oak walls with a strong citadel of white limestone in 1366–1368 on the basic foundations of the current walls; this fortification withstood a siege by Khan Tokhtamysh. Dmitri's son Vasily I resumed construction of churches and cloisters in the Kremlin. The newly built Cathedral of the Annunciation was painted by Theophanes the Greek, Andrei Rublev, and Prokhor in 1406. The Chudov Monastery was founded by Dmitri's tutor, Metropolitan Alexis; while his widow, Eudoxia, established the Ascension Convent in 1397.


title: Kremlin

text: Grand Prince Ivan III organised the reconstruction of the Kremlin, inviting a number of skilled architects from Renaissance Italy, including Petrus Antonius Solarius, who designed the new Kremlin wall and its towers, and Marcus Ruffus who designed the new palace for the prince. It was during his reign that three extant cathedrals of the Kremlin, the Deposition Church, and the Palace of Facets were constructed. The highest building of the city and Muscovite Russia was the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, built in 1505–08 and augmented to its present height in 1600. The Kremlin walls as they now appear were built between 1485 and 1495. Spasskie gates of the wall still bear a dedication in Latin praising Petrus Antonius Solarius for the design.


title: Kremlin

text: After construction of the new kremlin walls and churches was complete, the monarch decreed that no structures should be built in the immediate vicinity of the citadel. The Kremlin was separated from the walled merchant town (Kitay-gorod) by a 30-meter-wide moat, over which Saint Basil's Cathedral was constructed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The same tsar also renovated some of his grandfather's palaces, added a new palace and cathedral for his sons, and endowed the Trinity metochion inside the Kremlin. The metochion was administrated by the Trinity Monastery, and contained the graceful tower church of St. Sergius, which was described by foreigners as one of the finest in the country.


title: Kremlin

text: During the Time of Troubles, the Kremlin was held by the Polish forces for two years, between 21 September 1610 and 26 October 1612. The Kremlin's liberation by the volunteer army of prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin paved the way for the election of Mikhail Romanov as the new tsar. During his reign and that of his son Alexis and grandson Feodor, the eleven-domed Upper Saviour Cathedral, Armorial Gate, Terem Palace, Amusement Palace and the palace of Patriarch Nikon were built. Following the death of Alexis's son, Feodor, and the Moscow Uprising of 1682, Tsar Peter escaped with much difficulty from the Kremlin and as a result developed a dislike for it. Three decades later, Peter abandoned the residence of his forefathers for his new capital, Saint Petersburg.


title: Kremlin

text: The Golden Hall, a throne room with murals painted probably after 1547, was destroyed to make place for the Kremlin Palace, commissioned by Elizabeth of Russia and designed by architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1752.


title: Kremlin

text: Although still used for coronation ceremonies, the Kremlin was abandoned and neglected until 1773, when Catherine the Great engaged Vasili Bazhenov to build her new residence there. Bazhenov produced a bombastic Neoclassical design on a heroic scale, which involved the demolition of several churches and palaces, as well as a portion of the Kremlin wall. After the preparations were over, construction was delayed due to lack of funds. Several years later the architect Matvey Kazakov supervised the reconstruction of the dismantled sections of the wall and of some structures of the Chudov Monastery, and built the spacious and luxurious Offices of the Senate, since adapted for use as the principal workplace of the President of Russia.


title: Kremlin

text: During the Imperial period, from the early 18th and until the late 19th century, the Kremlin walls were traditionally painted white, in accordance with fashion.


title: Kremlin

text: French forces occupied the Kremlin from 2 September to 11 October 1812, following the French invasion of Russia. When Napoleon retreated from Moscow, he ordered the whole Kremlin to be blown up. The Kremlin Arsenal, several portions of the Kremlin Wall and several wall towers were destroyed by explosions and the Faceted Chamber and other churches were damaged by fire. Explosions continued for three days, from 21 to 23 October 1812. However, rain damaged the fuses, and the damage was less severe than intended. Restoration works were undertaken in 1816–1819, supervised by Osip Bove. During the remainder of the reign of Alexander I, several ancient structures were renovated in a fanciful neo-Gothic style, but many others, including all the buildings of the Trinity metochion, were condemned as "disused" or "dilapidated" and were torn down.


title: Kremlin

text: On visiting Moscow for his coronation festivities, Tsar Nicholas I was not satisfied with the Grand Palace (alias Winter Palace), which had been erected in the 1750s to the design of Francesco Rastrelli. The elaborate Baroque structure was demolished, as was the nearby church of St. John the Precursor, built by Aloisio the New in 1508 in place of the first church constructed in Moscow. The architect Konstantin Thon was commissioned to replace them with the Grand Kremlin Palace, which was to rival the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in its dimensions and in the opulence of its interiors. The palace was constructed in 1839–1849, followed by the re-building of the Kremlin Armoury in 1851.


title: Kremlin

text: After 1851 the Kremlin changed little until the Russian Revolution of 1917. The only new features added during this period were the Monument to Alexander II and a stone cross marking the spot where in 1905 Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia was assassinated by Ivan Kalyayev. These monuments were destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.


title: Kremlin

text: The Soviet government moved from Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg) to Moscow on 12 March 1918. Vladimir Lenin selected the Kremlin Senate as his residence. Joseph Stalin also had his personal rooms in the Kremlin. He was eager to remove all the "relics of the tsarist regime" from his headquarters. Golden eagles on the towers were replaced by shining Kremlin stars, while the wall near Lenin's Mausoleum was turned into the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.


title: Kremlin

text: The Chudov Monastery and Ascension Convent, with their 16th-century cathedrals, were dismantled to make room for the military school. The Little Nicholas Palace and the old Saviour Cathedral were pulled down as well.


title: Kremlin

text: During the Second World War, in order to confuse the German pilots, the towers were repainted with different colors and covered with wooden tents. Every roof was painted rusty brown so as to make them indistinguishable from typical roofs in the city. The grounds, paved with cobblestone, were covered up with sand. Tents painted to look like roofs were stretched over the gardens, and the facades of the buildings were also painted.


title: Kremlin

text: The residence of the Soviet government was closed to tourists until 1955. It was not until the Khrushchev Thaw that the Kremlin was reopened to foreign visitors. The Kremlin Museums were established in 1961, and the complex was among the first Soviet patrimonies inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990.


title: Kremlin

text: Although the current director of the Kremlin Museums, Elena Gagarina (Yuri Gagarin's daughter), advocates a full-scale restoration of the destroyed cloisters, recent developments have been confined to expensive restoration of the original interiors of the Grand Kremlin Palace, which were altered during Stalin's rule.


title: Kremlin

text: The State Kremlin Palace (alias Kremlin Palace of Congresses), was commissioned by Nikita Khrushchev as a modern arena for Communist Party meetings, and was built within the Kremlin walls 1959–1961. Externally the palace is faced with white marble and the windows are tinted and reflective. The construction of a large modern public building in a historic neighborhood generated an uproar, especially since the building replaced several heritage buildings including the old neo-classical building of the State Armory and some of the rear parts of the Great Kremlin Palace. Although this was not the first time that the Soviet government had destroyed architectural heritage (notably the Chudov Monastery and Ascension Cloisters) in the Kremlin and in the country in general, by the mid 1950s laws were in place effectively considering all pre-Soviet constructions as historical monuments and preventing their demolition, in some ways making the construction illegal. Nevertheless, the Palace was integrated into the larger complex of the Great Kremlin Palace with walkways linking it to the Patriarchal Chambers and the Terem Palace.


title: Kremlin

text: The existing Kremlin walls and towers were built by Italian masters from 1485 to 1495. The irregular triangle of the Kremlin wall encloses an area of . Its overall length is , but the height ranges from , depending on the terrain. The wall's thickness is between .


title: Kremlin

text: Originally there were eighteen Kremlin towers, but their number increased to twenty in the 17th century. All but three of the towers are square in plan. The highest tower is the Troitskaya, which was built to its present height of in 1495. Most towers were originally crowned with wooden tents. The extant brick tents with strips of colored tiles date to the 1680s.


title: Kremlin

text: Cathedral Square is the heart of the Kremlin. It is surrounded by six buildings, including three cathedrals. The Cathedral of the Dormition was completed in 1479 to be the main church of Moscow and where all the Tsars were crowned. The massive limestone façade, capped with its five golden cupolas, was the design of Aristotele Fioravanti. Several important metropolitans and patriarchs are buried there, including Peter and Makarii. The gilded, three-domed Cathedral of the Annunciation was completed next in 1489, only to be reconstructed to a nine-domed design a century later. On the south-east of the square is the much larger Cathedral of the Archangel Michael (1508), where almost all the Muscovite monarchs from Ivan Kalita to Ivan V of Russia are interred. (Boris Godunov was originally buried there, but was moved to the Trinity Monastery.)


title: Kremlin

text: There are two domestic churches of the Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow, the Church of the Twelve Apostles (1653–1656) and the exquisite one-domed Church of the Deposition of the Virgin's Robe, built by Pskov artisans from 1484 to 1488 and featuring superb icons and frescoes from 1627 and 1644.


title: Kremlin

text: The other notable structure is the Ivan the Great Bell Tower on the north-east corner of the square, which is said to mark the exact center of Moscow and resemble a burning candle. Completed in 1600, it is high. Until the Russian Revolution, it was the tallest structure in the city, as construction of buildings taller than that was forbidden. Its 21 bells would sound the alarm if any enemy was approaching. The upper part of the structure was destroyed by the French during the Napoleonic Invasion and has been rebuilt. The Tsar bell, the largest bell in the world, stands on a pedestal next to the tower.


title: Kremlin

text: The oldest secular structure still standing is Ivan III's Palace of Facets (1491), which holds the imperial thrones. The next oldest is the first home of the royal family, the Terem Palace. The original Terem Palace was also commissioned by Ivan III, but most of the existing palace was built in the 17th century. The Terem Palace and the Palace of Facets are linked by the Grand Kremlin Palace. This was commissioned by Nicholas I in 1838. The largest structure in the Kremlin, it cost 11 million rubles to build and more than one billion dollars to renovate in the 1990s. It contains dazzling reception halls, a ceremonial red staircase, private apartments of the tsars, and the lower storey of the Resurrection of Lazarus church (1393), which is the oldest extant structure in the Kremlin and the whole of Moscow.


title: Kremlin

text: The northern corner of the Kremlin is occupied by the Arsenal, which was built for Peter the Great in 1701. The southwestern section of the Kremlin holds the Armoury building. Built in 1851 to a Renaissance Revival design, it is currently a museum housing Russian state Regalia and Diamond Fund.


title: Kremlin

text: The haloalkaliphilic methylotrophic bacterium "Methylophaga muralis" (first called "Methylophaga murata") was first isolated from deteriorating marble in the Kremlin.


title: Kremlin

text: To stop disruptions to traffic caused by motorcades, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the construction of a helipad in the Kremlin. The helipad was completed in May 2013. The Russian President will now commute back and forth to the Kremlin using a Mil Mi-8 helicopter. Careful consideration was taken in choosing the location of the helipad. The location chosen is said to be of no threat to the architecture of the Kremlin.


title: Kremlin

text: The nearest Moscow Metro stations to the Kremlin are: Okhotny Ryad and Biblioteka Imeni Lenina (Sokolnicheskaya Line), Teatralnaya (Zamoskvoretskaya Line), Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line), Arbatskaya (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line), Alexandrovsky Sad (Filyovskaya Line), and Borovitskaya (Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line).


title: President of France

text: The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the position is the highest office in France. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, in addition to their relation with the prime minister and Government of France, have over time differed with the various constitutional documents since the Second Republic.


title: President of France

text: The president of the French Republic is the "ex officio" co-prince of Andorra, grand master of the Legion of Honour and of the National Order of Merit. The officeholder is also honorary proto-canon of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, although some have rejected the title in the past.


title: President of France

text: The incumbent is Emmanuel Macron, who succeeded François Hollande on 14 May 2017, and was inaugurated for a second term on 7 May 2022.


title: President of France

text: The presidency of France was first publicly proposed during the July Revolution of 1830, when it was offered to the Marquis de Lafayette. He demurred in favour of Prince Louis Phillipe, who became King of the French. Eighteen years later, during the opening phases of the Second Republic, the title was created for a popularly elected head of state, the first of whom was Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of Emperor Napoleon. Bonaparte served in that role until he staged an auto coup against the republic, proclaiming himself Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. Under the Third Republic the president was at first quite powerful, mainly because the royalist party was strong when the constitutional laws of 1875 were established, and it was hoped that a member of one of the two branches of the royal family would be able to serve as president and turn France into a constitutional monarchy. However, the next legislature was dominated by Republicans, and after President Patrice de MacMahon had unsuccessfully tried to obtain a new royalist majority by dissolving the "Chambre des Députés", his successor Jules Grévy promised in 1879 that he would not use his presidential power of dissolution, and therefore lost his control over the legislature, effectively creating a parliamentary system that would be maintained for 80 years until 1959. Indeed, when the Fourth Republic was created, after the Second World War, it was a parliamentary system, in which the office of president of the Republic was a largely ceremonial and powerless one. The Constitution of the Fifth Republic, that replaced it in 1958, greatly increased the president's powers. A 1962 referendum changed the constitution, so that the president would be directly elected by universal suffrage and not by the electoral college established in 1958. In 2000, a referendum shortened the presidential term from seven years to five years. A maximum of two consecutive terms was imposed after the 2008 constitutional reform.


title: President of France

text: Since the 1962 presidential referendum, the officeholder has been directly elected by universal suffrage; they were previously elected by an electoral college. The length of the presidential term was reduced from seven years to five years following a 2000 referendum; the first election for a shorter term was held in 2002. Then-president Jacques Chirac was first elected in 1995 and again in 2002, and would have been able to run in 2007 had he chosen to, given the lack of term limits.


title: President of France

text: Following a further change, the constitutional law of 2008 on the modernization of the institutions of the Fifth Republic, a president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac were previously the only presidents to date who have served a full two terms (14 years for the former, 12 years for the latter). Incumbent Emmanuel Macron is the fourth president (after de Gaulle, Mitterrand, and Chirac) to win re-election following the 2022 presidential election.


title: President of France

text: French presidential elections are conducted using run-off voting, which ensures that the elected president always obtains a majority: if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of voting, the two highest-scoring candidates arrive at a run-off. After a new president is elected, they go through a solemn investiture ceremony called a ("handing over of powers").


title: President of France

text: In order to be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations (known as , for "sponsors") from more than 500 elected local officials, mostly mayors. These officials must be from at least 30 "départements" or overseas collectivities, and no more than 10% of them should be from the same "département" or collectivity. Furthermore, each official may nominate only one candidate.


title: President of France

text: There are exactly 45,543 elected officials, including 33,872 mayors. Spending and financing of campaigns and political parties are highly regulated. There is a cap on spending (at approximately €20 million) and government public financing of 50% of spending if the candidate scores more than 5%. If the candidate receives less than 5% of the vote, the government funds €8,000,000 to the party (€4,000,000 paid in advance). Advertising on TV is forbidden, but official time is given to candidates on public TV. An independent agency regulates election and party financing.


title: President of France

text: The French Fifth Republic is a semi-presidential system. Unlike other European presidents, the French president is quite powerful. Although the Prime Minister of France, through their government as well as Parliament, oversee much of the nation's actual day-to-day domestic affairs, the French president wields significant influence and authority, especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy. The president's greatest power is the ability to choose the prime minister. However, since it is the French National Assembly that has the sole power to dismiss the prime minister's government, the president is forced to name a prime minister who can command the support of a majority in the assembly. Since 2002, the legislative elections are held a few weeks after the presidential; a majority supporting the president's party or at the very least not oppose the president's choice is therefore very likely to be obtained. They have also the duty of arbitrating the functioning of governmental authorities for efficient service, as the head of state of France.


title: President of France

text: Since 2002, the mandate of the president and the Assembly are both five years, and the two elections are close to each other. Therefore, the likelihood of a is lower. Among the powers of the president:


title: President of France

text: All decisions of the president must be countersigned by the prime minister, except dissolving the National Assembly, choice of prime minister, and other dispositions referred to in Article 19.


title: President of France

text: The constitutional attributions of the president are defined in Title II of the Constitution of France.


title: President of France

text: Article 5: The president of the republic shall see that the Constitution is observed. He shall ensure, by his arbitration, the proper functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the State. He shall be the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and observance of treaties.


title: President of France

text: Article 8: The president of the republic shall appoint the prime minister. He shall terminate the appointment of the prime minister when the latter tenders the resignation of the Government. On the proposal of the prime minister, he shall appoint the other members of the Government and terminate their appointments.


title: President of France

text: Article 10: The president of the republic shall promulgate acts of parliament within fifteen days following the final adoption of an act and its transmission to the Government. He may, before the expiry of this time limit, ask Parliament to reconsider the act or sections of the Act. Reconsideration shall not be refused. "While the President has to sign all acts adopted by parliament into law, he cannot refuse to do so and exercise a kind of right of veto; his only power in that matter is to ask for a single reconsideration of the law by parliament and this power is subject to countersigning by the Prime minister."


title: President of France

text: Article 11: The president could submit laws to the people in a referendum with advice and consent of the cabinet.


title: President of France

text: Article 12: The president of the republic may, after consulting the prime minister and the presidents of the assemblies, declare the National Assembly dissolved. A general election shall take place not less than twenty days and not more than forty days after the dissolution. The National Assembly shall convene as of right on the second Thursday following its election. Should it so convene outside the period prescribed for the ordinary session, a session shall be called by right for a fifteen-day period. No further dissolution shall take place within a year following this election.


title: President of France

text: Article 13: The president of the republic shall sign the ordinances and decrees deliberated upon in the Council of Ministers. He shall make appointments to the civil and military posts of the State. [...]


title: President of France

text: Article 14: The president of the republic shall accredit ambassadors and envoys extraordinary to foreign powers; foreign ambassadors and envoys extraordinary shall be accredited to him.


title: President of France

text: Article 15: The president of the republic shall be commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He shall preside over the higher national defence councils and committees.


title: President of France

text: Article 16: Where the institutions of the republic, the independence of the nation, the integrity of its territory or the fulfilment of its international commitments are under serious and immediate threat, and where the proper functioning of the constitutional public authorities is interrupted, the president of the republic shall take the measures required by these circumstances, after formally consulting the prime minister, the presidents of the assemblies and the Constitutional Council. He shall inform the nation of these measures in a message. The measures must stem from the desire to provide the constitutional public authorities, in the shortest possible time, with the means to carry out their duties. The Constitutional Council shall be consulted with regard to such measures. Parliament shall convene as of right. The National Assembly shall not be dissolved during the exercise of the emergency powers.


title: President of France

text: "Article 16, allowing the president a limited form of rule by decree for a limited period of time in exceptional circumstance, has been used only once, by Charles de Gaulle during the Algerian War, from 23 April to 29 September 1961."


title: President of France

text: Article 18: The president of the republic shall communicate with the two assemblies of Parliament by means of messages, which he shall cause to be read and which shall not be the occasion for any debate. He can also give an address in front of the Congress of France in Versailles. Outside sessions, Parliament shall be convened especially for this purpose.


title: President of France

text: Article 19: Acts of the president of the republic, other than those provided for under articles 8 (first paragraph), 11, 12, 16, 18, 54, 56 and 61, shall be countersigned by the prime minister and, where required, by the appropriate ministers.


title: President of France

text: Before the 2008 constitutional reform forbidding them, there was a tradition of so-called "presidential amnesties", which are something of a misnomer: after the election of a president, and of a National Assembly of the same party, parliament would traditionally vote a law granting amnesty for some petty crimes (it was also a way of reducing jail overpopulation). This practice had been increasingly criticized, particularly because it was believed to inspire people to commit traffic offences in the months preceding the election. Such an amnesty law would also authorize the president to designate individuals who have committed certain categories of crimes to be offered amnesty, if certain conditions are met. Such individual measures have been criticized for the political patronage that they allow. The difference between an amnesty and a presidential pardon is that the former clears all subsequent effects of the sentencing, as though the crime had not been committed, while pardon simply relieves the sentenced individual from part or all of the remainder of the sentence.


title: President of France

text: Articles 67 and 68 organize the regime of criminal responsibility of the president. They were reformed by a 2007 constitutional act in order to clarify a situation that previously resulted in legal controversies. The president of the Republic enjoys immunity during their term: they cannot be requested to testify before any jurisdiction, they cannot be prosecuted, etc. However, the statute of limitation is suspended during their term, and enquiries and prosecutions can be restarted, at the latest one month after they leave office. The president is not deemed personally responsible for their actions in their official capacity, except where their actions are indicted before the International Criminal Court (France is a member of the ICC and the president is a French citizen as another following the Court's rules) or where impeachment is moved against them. Impeachment can be pronounced by the Republican High Court, a special court convened from both houses of Parliament on the proposal of either House, should the president have failed to discharge their duties in a way that evidently precludes the continuation of their term.


title: President of France

text: Upon the death in office, removal, or resignation of the president, the Senate's president takes over as acting president. Alain Poher is the only person to have served in this temporary position, and has done so twice: the first time in 1969 after Charles de Gaulle's resignation and a second time in 1974 after Georges Pompidou's death while in office. In this situation, the president of the Senate becomes Acting President of the Republic; they do not become the new president of the Republic as elected and therefore do not have to resign from their position as President of the Senate.


title: President of France

text: The first round of a new presidential election must be organized no sooner than twenty days and no later than thirty-five days following the vacancy of the presidency. Fifteen days can separate the first and second rounds of a presidential election; this means that the president of the Senate can only act as President of the Republic for a maximum period of fifty days.


title: President of France

text: During this interim period, acting presidents are not allowed to dismiss the national assembly, nor are they allowed to call for a referendum or initiate any constitutional changes. If there is no president of the Senate, the powers of the president of the republic are exercised by the , meaning the Cabinet. This has been interpreted by some constitutional academics as meaning first the prime minister and, if they are themselves not able to act, the members of the cabinet in the order of the list of the decree that nominated them. This is in fact unlikely to happen, because if the president of the Senate is not able to act, the Senate will normally name a new president of the Senate, who will act as President of the Republic.


title: President of France

text: During the Third French Republic the president of the Council of Ministers acted as president whenever the office was vacant. According to article 7 of the Constitution, if the presidency becomes vacant for any reason, or if the president becomes incapacitated, upon the request of the , the Constitutional Council may rule, by a majority vote, that the presidency is to be temporarily assumed by the president of the Senate. If the Council rules that the incapacity is permanent, the same procedure as for the resignation is applied, as described above. If the president cannot attend meetings, including meetings of the Council of Ministers, they can ask the prime minister to attend in their stead (Constitution, article 21). This clause has been applied by presidents travelling abroad, ill, or undergoing surgery. During the Second French Republic, there was a vice president. The only person to ever hold the position was Henri Georges Boulay de la Meurthe.


title: President of France

text: The president of the Republic is paid a salary according to a pay grade defined in comparison to the pay grades of the most senior members of the French Civil Service ("out of scale", "hors échelle", those whose pay grades are known as letters and not as numeric indices). In addition they are paid a residence stipend of 3%, and a function stipend of 25% on top of the salary and residence indemnity. This gross salary and these indemnities are the same as those of the prime minister, and are 50% higher than the highest paid to other members of the government, which is itself defined as twice the average of the highest (pay grade G) and the lowest (pay grade A1) salaries in the "out of scale" pay grades. Using the 2008 "out of scale" pay grades, it amounts to a monthly pay of 20,963 euros, which fits the 19,000 euros quoted to the press in early 2008. Using the pay grades starting from 1 July 2009, this amounts to a gross monthly pay of €21,131. The salary and the residence stipend are taxable for income tax. The official residence and office of the president is the Élysée Palace in Paris. Other presidential residences include:


title: President of France

text: According to French law, former presidents of the Republic have guaranteed lifetime pension defined according to the pay grade of the Councillors of State, a courtesy diplomatic passport, and, according to the French Constitution (Article 56), membership of the Constitutional Council. They also get personnel, an apartment and/or office, and other amenities, though the legal basis for these is disputed. The current system for providing personnel and other amenities to the former French presidents was devised in 1981 by Michel Charasse, then advisor to President François Mitterrand, in order to care for former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the widow of former President Georges Pompidou. In 2008, according to an answer by the services of the prime minister to a question from René Dosière, a member of the National Assembly, the facilities comprised: a security detail, a car with a chauffeur, first class train tickets and an office or housing space, as well as a two people who service the space. In addition, funds are available for seven permanent assistants. President Hollande announced a reform of the system in 2016. Former presidents of France will no longer receive a car with chauffeur and the personnel in their living space was cut as well. Additionally, the number of assistants available for their use has been reduced, but a state flat or house remains available for former officeholders. Train tickets are also available if the trip is justified by the office of the former officeholder as part of official business. The security personnel around former presidents of France remained unchanged.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (retroactively retitled Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in some later printings) is a dystopian science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968. The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, where Earth's life has been greatly damaged by a nuclear global war, leaving most animal species endangered or extinct. The main plot follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who is tasked with "retiring" (i.e. killing) six escaped Nexus-6 model androids, while a secondary plot follows John Isidore, a man of sub-par IQ who aids the fugitive androids.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: The book served as the primary basis for the 1982 film "Blade Runner", even though some aspects of the novel were changed, and many elements and themes from it were used in the film's 2017 sequel "Blade Runner 2049".


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: In 1992 (2021 in later editions) following a devastating global war called World War Terminus, the Earth's radioactively polluted atmosphere leads the United Nations to encourage mass emigrations to off-world colonies to preserve humanity's genetic integrity. Moving away from Earth comes with the incentive of free personal androids: robot servants identical to humans. The Rosen Association manufactures the androids on a colony on Mars, but some androids violently rebel and escape to Earth, where they hope to remain undetected. As a result, American and Soviet police departments remain vigilant and keep android bounty-hunting officers on duty.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: On Earth, owning real live animals has become a fashionable status symbol, both because mass extinctions have made authentic animals rare and because of the accompanying cultural push for greater empathy. However, poor people can only afford realistic-looking robot imitations of live animals. Rick Deckard, the novel's protagonist, for example, owns an electric black-faced sheep. The trend of increased empathy has coincidentally motivated a new technology-based religion called Mercerism, which uses "empathy boxes" to link users simultaneously to a virtual reality of collective suffering, centered on a martyr-like character, Wilbur Mercer, who eternally climbs up a hill while being hit with crashing stones. Acquiring high-status animal pets and linking in to empathy boxes appear to be the only two ways characters in the story strive for existential fulfillment.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter for the San Francisco Police Department, is assigned to "retire" (kill) six androids of the new and highly intelligent Nexus-6 model which have recently escaped from Mars and traveled to Earth. These androids are made of organic matter so similar to a human's that only a posthumous "bone marrow analysis" can independently prove the difference, making them almost impossible to distinguish from real people. Deckard hopes this mission will earn him enough bounty money to buy a live animal to replace his lone electric sheep to comfort his depressed wife Iran. Deckard visits the Rosen Association's headquarters in Seattle to confirm the accuracy of the latest empathy test meant to identify incognito androids. Deckard suspects the test may not be capable of distinguishing the latest Nexus-6 models from genuine human beings, and it appears to give a false positive on his host in Seattle, Rachael Rosen, meaning the police have potentially been executing human beings. The Rosen Association attempts to blackmail Deckard to get him to drop the case, but Deckard retests Rachael and determines that Rachael is, indeed, an android, which she ultimately admits.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Deckard soon meets a Soviet police contact who turns out to be one of the Nexus-6 renegades in disguise. Deckard kills the android, then flies off to kill his next target, an android living in disguise as an opera singer. Meeting her backstage, Deckard attempts to administer the empathy test but she calls the police. Failing to recognize Deckard as a bounty hunter, the cops arrest and detain him at a police station he has never heard of, filled with officers whom he is surprised to have never met. An official named Garland accuses Deckard himself of being an android with implanted memories. After a series of mysterious revelations at the station, Deckard ponders the ethical and philosophical questions his line of work raises regarding android intelligence, empathy and what it means to be human. Garland, pointing a gun at Deckard, then reveals that the entire station is a sham, claiming that both he and Phil Resch, the station's resident bounty hunter, are androids. Resch shoots Garland in the head, escaping with Deckard back to the opera singer, whom Resch brutally kills in cold blood when she alludes that he himself may be an android. Desperate to know the truth, Resch asks Deckard to administer the empathy test on him, which confirms that he is actually human, if a particularly ruthless one. Deckard then tests himself, confirming that he is human but has a sense of empathy for certain androids.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Deckard is now able to buy his wife Iran an authentic Nubian goat with his commission. Later, his supervisor insists that he visit an abandoned apartment building where the three remaining android fugitives are assumed to be hiding. Experiencing a vision of the prophet-like Mercer confusingly telling him to proceed, despite the immorality of the mission, Deckard calls on Rachael Rosen again since her knowledge of android psychology may aid his investigation. Rachael declines to help, but reluctantly agrees to meet Deckard at a hotel in exchange for him abandoning the case. At the hotel, she reveals that one of the fugitive androids is the same exact model as herself, meaning that he will have to shoot down an android that looks exactly like her. Despite having initial doubts by Rachael, Rachael and Deckard end up having sex, after which they confess their love for one another. Rachael reveals she has slept with many bounty hunters, having been programmed to do so in order to dissuade them from their missions. Deckard threatens to kill her but holds back at the last moment before he leaves for the abandoned apartment building.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Meanwhile, the three remaining Nexus-6 android fugitives plan how they can outwit Deckard. The building's only other inhabitant, John R. Isidore, a radioactively damaged and intellectually below-average human, attempts to befriend them, but is shocked when they callously torture and mutilate a rare spider he discovers. They all watch a television program which presents definitive evidence that the entire theology of Mercerism is a hoax. Deckard enters the building, experiencing strange, supernatural premonitions of Mercer notifying him of an ambush. When the androids attack him first, Deckard is legally justified as he shoots down all three without testing them beforehand. Isidore is devastated and Deckard is soon rewarded for a record number of Nexus-6 kills in a single day. When Deckard returns home, he finds Iran grieving because, while he was away, Rachael Rosen stopped by and killed their goat.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Deckard travels to an uninhabited, obliterated region of Oregon to reflect. He climbs a hill and is hit by falling rocks, when he realizes this is an experience eerily similar to Mercer's martyrdom. He stumbles abruptly upon what he thinks is a real toad (an animal thought to be extinct) but, when he returns home with it, he is crestfallen when Iran discovers it merely is a robot. As he goes to sleep, she prepares to care for the electric toad anyway.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Dick also intentionally imitates noir fiction styles of scene delivery, a hard-boiled investigator dealing coldly with a brutal world full of corruption and stupidity. Another influence on Dick was author Theodore Sturgeon, writer of "More Than Human", a surrealistic story of humanity broken into different tiers, one controlling another through telepathic means.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: A few years after the publication of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", the author spoke about man's animate creations in a 1972 famous speech: "The Android and the Human":


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: In the novel, the android antagonists are indeed more human than the human protagonist, intentionally. They are a mirror held up to human action, contrasted with a culture losing its own humanity.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" influenced generations of science fiction writers, becoming a founding document of the new wave science fiction movement as well as a basic model for its cyberpunk heirs. It influenced other genres such as SF-based metal from artists such as Rob Zombie and Powerman 5000.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Hampton Fancher and David Peoples wrote a loose cinematic adaptation that became the film "Blade Runner", released in 1982, featuring several of the novel's characters. It was directed by Ridley Scott. Following the international success of the film, the title "Blade Runner" was adopted for some later editions of the novel, although the term itself was not used in the original. This movie garnered a sequel in 2017 entitled "Blade Runner 2049" which retains many themes of the novel.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: As part of their "Dangerous Visions" dystopia series in 2014, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a two-part adaptation of the novel. It was produced and directed by Sasha Yevtushenko from an adaption by Jonathan Holloway. It stars James Purefoy as Rick Deckard and Jessica Raine as Rachael Rosen. The episodes were originally broadcast on Sunday 15 June and 22 June 2014.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: The novel has been released in audiobook form at least twice. A version was released in 1994 that featured Matthew Modine and Calista Flockhart.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: A new audiobook version was released in 2007 by Random House Audio to coincide with the release of "Blade Runner: The Final Cut". This version, read by Scott Brick, is unabridged and runs approximately 9.5 hours over eight CDs. This version is a tie-in, using the "Blade Runner: The Final Cut" film poster and "Blade Runner" title.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: A stage adaptation of the book, written by Edward Einhorn, ran from November 18 to December 10, 2010, at the 3LD Art & Technology Center in New York and made its West Coast Premiere on September 13, 2013, playing until October 10 at the Sacred Fools Theater Company in Los Angeles.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: BOOM! Studios published a 24-issue comic book limited series based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" containing the full text of the novel and illustrated by artist Tony Parker. The comic garnered a nomination for "Best New Series" from the 2010 Eisner Awards. In May 2010, BOOM! Studios began serializing an eight-issue prequel subtitled "Dust To Dust", written by Chris Roberson and drawn by Robert Adler. The story takes place in the days immediately after World War Terminus.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Three novels intended to serve as sequels to both "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "Blade Runner" have been published:


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: These official and authorized sequels were written by Dick's friend K. W. Jeter. They continue the story of Rick Deckard and attempt to reconcile many of the differences between the novel and the 1982 film.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Critical reception of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" has been overshadowed by the popularity of its 1982 film adaptation, "Blade Runner". Of those critics who focus on the novel, several nest it predominantly in the history of Philip K. Dick's body of work. In particular, Dick's 1972 speech "The Human and the Android" is cited in this connection. Jill Galvan calls attention to the correspondence between Dick's portrayal of the narrative's dystopian, polluted, man-made setting and the description Dick gives in his speech of the increasingly artificial and potentially sentient or "quasi-alive" environment of his present. Summarizing the essential point of Dick's speech, Galvan argues, "[o]nly by recognizing how [technology] has encroached upon our understanding of 'life' can we come to full terms with the technologies we have produced" (414). As a "bildungsroman of the cybernetic age", Galvan maintains, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" follows one person's gradual acceptance of the new reality. Christopher Palmer emphasizes Dick's speech to bring to attention the increasingly dangerous risk of humans becoming "mechanical". "Androids threaten reduction of what makes life valuable, yet promise expansion or redefinition of it, and so do aliens and gods". Gregg Rickman cites another, earlier, and lesser-known Dick novel that also deals with androids, "We Can Build You", asserting that "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" can be read as a sequel.


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: In a departure from the tendency among most critics to examine the novel in relation to Dick's other texts, Klaus Benesch examined "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" primarily in connection with Jacques Lacan's essay on the mirror stage. There, Lacan claims that the formation and reassurance of the self depends on the construction of an Other through imagery, beginning with a double as seen in the mirror. The androids, Benesch argues, perform a doubling function similar to the mirror image of the self, but they do this on a social, not individual, scale. Therefore, human anxiety about androids expresses uncertainty about human identity and society. Benesch draws on Kathleen Woodward's emphasis on the body to illustrate the shape of human anxiety about an android Other. Woodward asserts that the debate over distinctions between human and machine usually fails to acknowledge the presence of the body. "If machines are invariably contrived as technological prostheses that are designed to amplify the physical faculties of the body, they are also built, according to this logic, to outdo, to surpass the human in the sphere of physicality altogether".


title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

text: Sherryl Vint emphasizes the importance of animals for the novel’s exploration of the alienation of humans from their authentic being. In wrestling with his role as a bounty hunter who is supposedly defending society from those who lack empathy, Deckard comes to realize the artificiality of the distinctions that have been used in Western culture to exclude animals and "animalized" humans from ethical consideration. "The central role of animals in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and the issues of species being that they raise show the need to struggle for a different way of being in the world. This way resists commodification in our relations with one another and with nature to produce a better future, one in which humans might be fully human once again by repairing our social relations with animals and nature."


title: Palladium

text: Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas. Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals (PGMs). They have similar chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of them.


title: Palladium

text: More than half the supply of palladium and its congener platinum is used in catalytic converters, which convert as much as 90% of the harmful gases in automobile exhaust (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide) into nontoxic substances (nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor). Palladium is also used in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment, and jewelry. Palladium is a key component of fuel cells, in which hydrogen and oxygen react to produce electricity, heat, and water.


title: Palladium

text: Ore deposits of palladium and other PGMs are rare. The most extensive deposits have been found in the norite belt of the Bushveld Igneous Complex covering the Transvaal Basin in South Africa, the Stillwater Complex in Montana, United States; the Sudbury Basin and Thunder Bay District of Ontario, Canada, and the Norilsk Complex in Russia. Recycling is also a source, mostly from scrapped catalytic converters. The numerous applications and limited supply sources result in considerable investment interest.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium belongs to group 10 in the periodic table, but the configuration in the outermost electrons is in accordance with Hund's rule. Electrons that by the Madelung rule would be expected to occupy the 5"s" instead fill the 4"d" orbitals, as it is more energetically favorable to have a completely filled 4d shell instead of the 5s 4d configuration.


title: Palladium

text: This 5s configuration, unique in period 5, makes palladium the heaviest element having only "one" incomplete electron shell, with all shells above it empty.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium has the appearance of a soft silver-white metal that resembles platinum. It is the least dense and has the lowest melting point of the platinum group metals. It is soft and ductile when annealed and is greatly increased in strength and hardness when cold-worked. Palladium dissolves slowly in concentrated nitric acid, in hot, concentrated sulfuric acid, and when finely ground, in hydrochloric acid. It dissolves readily at room temperature in aqua regia.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium does not react with oxygen at standard temperature (and thus does not tarnish in air). Palladium heated to 800 °C will produce a layer of palladium(II) oxide (PdO). It may slowly develop a slight brownish coloration over time, likely due to the formation of a surface layer of its monoxide.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium films with defects produced by alpha particle bombardment at low temperature exhibit superconductivity having "T"=3.2 K.


title: Palladium

text: Naturally occurring palladium is composed of seven isotopes, six of which are stable. The most stable radioisotopes are Pd with a half-life of 6.5 million years (found in nature), Pd with 17 days, and Pd with 3.63 days. Eighteen other radioisotopes have been characterized with atomic weights ranging from 90.94948(64) u (Pd) to 122.93426(64) u (Pd). These have half-lives of less than thirty minutes, except Pd (half-life: 8.47 hours), Pd (half-life: 13.7 hours), and Pd (half-life: 21 hours).


title: Palladium

text: For isotopes with atomic mass unit values less than that of the most abundant stable isotope, Pd, the primary decay mode is electron capture with the primary decay product being rhodium. The primary mode of decay for those isotopes of Pd with atomic mass greater than 106 is beta decay with the primary product of this decay being silver.


title: Palladium

text: Radiogenic Ag is a decay product of Pd and was first discovered in 1978 in the Santa Clara meteorite of 1976. The discoverers suggest that the coalescence and differentiation of iron-cored small planets may have occurred 10 million years after a nucleosynthetic event. Pd versus Ag correlations observed in bodies, which have been melted since accretion of the Solar System, must reflect the presence of short-lived nuclides in the early Solar System. is also produced as a fission product in spontaneous or induced fission of . As it is not very mobile in the environment and has a relatively low decay energy, is usually considered to be among the less concerning of the long-lived fission products.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium compounds exist primarily in the 0 and +2 oxidation state. Other less common states are also recognized. Generally the compounds of palladium are more similar to those of platinum than those of any other element.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium(II) chloride is the principal starting material for other palladium compounds. It arises by the reaction of palladium with chlorine. It is used to prepare heterogeneous palladium catalysts such as palladium on barium sulfate, palladium on carbon, and palladium chloride on carbon. Solutions of PdCl in nitric acid react with acetic acid to give palladium(II) acetate, also a versatile reagent. PdCl reacts with ligands (L) to give square planar complexes of the type PdClL. One example of such complexes is the benzonitrile derivative PdX(PhCN).


title: Palladium

text: Palladium forms a range of zerovalent complexes with the formula PdL, PdL and PdL. For example, reduction of a mixture of PdCl(PPh) and PPh gives tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0):


title: Palladium

text: Another major palladium(0) complex, tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (Pd(dba)), is prepared by reducing sodium tetrachloropalladate in the presence of dibenzylideneacetone.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium(0), as well as palladium(II), are catalysts in coupling reactions, as has been recognized by the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, and Akira Suzuki. Such reactions are widely practiced for the synthesis of fine chemicals. Prominent coupling reactions include the Heck, Suzuki, Sonogashira coupling, Stille reactions, and the Kumada coupling. Palladium(II) acetate, tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (Pd(PPh), and tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (Pd(dba)) serve either as catalysts or precatalysts.


title: Palladium

text: Although Pd(IV) compounds are comparatively rare, one example is sodium hexachloropalladate(IV), Na[PdCl]. A few compounds of palladium(III) are also known. Palladium(VI) was claimed in 2002, but subsequently disproven.


title: Palladium

text: Mixed valence palladium complexes exist, e.g. Pd(CO)(OAc)Pd(acac) forms an infinite Pd chain structure, with alternatively interconnected Pd(CO)(OAc) and Pd(acac) units.


title: Palladium

text: When alloyed with a more electropositive element, palladium can acquire a negative charge. Such compounds are known as palladides, such as gallium palladide. Palladides with the stoichiometry RPd exist where R is scandium, yttrium, or any of the lanthanides.


title: Palladium

text: As overall mine production of palladium reached 208,000 kilograms in 2016, Russia was the top producer with 82,000 kilograms, followed by South Africa, Canada and the U.S. Russia's company Norilsk Nickel ranks first among the largest palladium producers globally, accounting for 39% of the world's production.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium can be found as a free metal alloyed with gold and other platinum-group metals in placer deposits of the Ural Mountains, Australia, Ethiopia, North and South America. For the production of palladium, these deposits play only a minor role. The most important commercial sources are nickel-copper deposits found in the Sudbury Basin, Ontario, and the Norilsk–Talnakh deposits in Siberia. The other large deposit is the Merensky Reef platinum group metals deposit within the Bushveld Igneous Complex South Africa. The Stillwater igneous complex of Montana and the Roby zone ore body of the Lac des Îles igneous complex of Ontario are the two other sources of palladium in Canada and the United States. Palladium is found in the rare minerals cooperite and polarite. Many more Pd minerals are known, but all of them are very rare.


title: Palladium

text: Palladium is also produced in nuclear fission reactors and can be extracted from spent nuclear fuel (see synthesis of precious metals), though this source for palladium is not used. None of the existing nuclear reprocessing facilities are equipped to extract palladium from the high-level radioactive waste. A complication for the recovery of Palladium in spent fuel is the presence of a slightly radioactive long-lived fission product. Depending on end use, the radioactivity contributed by the might make the recovered Palladium unusable without a costly step of isotope separation.


title: Palladium

text: The largest use of palladium today is in catalytic converters. Palladium is also used in jewelry, dentistry, watch making, blood sugar test strips, aircraft spark plugs, surgical instruments, and electrical contacts. Palladium is also used to make professional transverse (concert or classical) flutes. As a commodity, palladium bullion has ISO currency codes of XPD and 964. Palladium is one of only four metals to have such codes, the others being gold, silver and platinum. Because it adsorbs hydrogen, palladium was a key component of the controversial cold fusion experiments of the late 1980s.