title: Rare-earth element

text: The REE geochemical classification is usually done on the basis of their atomic weight. One of the most common classifications divides REE into 3 groups: light rare earths (LREE - from La to Nd), intermediate (MREE - from Sm to Ho) and heavy (HREE - from Er to Lu). REE usually appear as trivalent ions, except for Ce and Eu which can take the form of Ce and Eu depending on the redox conditions of the system.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Unlike Y, the lanthanides are characterized by the progressive filling of the 4"f" orbital. The latter is not the outermost orbital and therefore the electrons contained in it are not part of the valence electrons, which are instead represented by the 2 electrons in the 6"s" orbital and by the single electron in the 5"d" orbital. This electron behaviour is highlighted by the radial distribution function of the electrons around the nucleus of the lanthanides for the various external orbitals, from which it can be deduced that the function relative to the 4"f" orbital is closer to the nucleus of the element than those of the 6"s" and 5"d" orbitals. This does not apply to the Y since it does not have electrons in the 4"f" orbitals. Therefore, the external electron configuration is the same for all lanthanides, being [Xe]4f6s5d in the neutral form and [Xe]4f6s5d in the ionic form. Consequentially, REE are characterized by a substantial identity in their chemical reactivity, which results in a serial behaviour during geochemical processes rather than being characteristic of a single element of the series.


title: Rare-earth element

text: A distinguishing factor in the geochemical behaviour of the REE is linked to the so-called "lanthanide contraction" which represents a higher-than-expected decrease in the atomic/ionic radius of the elements along the series. This is determined by the variation of the shielding effect towards the nuclear charge due to the progressive filling of the 4"f" orbital which acts against the electrons of the 6"s" and 5"d" orbitals.The lanthanide contraction has a direct effect on the geochemistry of the lanthanides, which show a different behaviour depending on the systems and processes in which they are involved. The effect of the lanthanide contraction can be observed in the REE behaviour both in a CHARAC-type geochemical system (CHArge-and-RAdius-Controlled) where elements with similar charge and radius should show coherent geochemical behaviour, and in non-CHARAC systems, such as aqueous solutions, where the electron structure is also an important parameter to consider as the lanthanide contraction affects the ionic potential. A direct consequence is that, during the formation of coordination bonds, the REE behaviour gradually changes along the series. Furthermore, the lanthanide contraction causes the ionic radius of Ho (0.901 Å) to be almost identical to that of Y (0.9 Å), justifying the inclusion of the latter among the REE.


title: Rare-earth element

text: The application of rare-earth elements to geology is important to understanding the petrological processes of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rock formation. In geochemistry, rare-earth elements can be used to infer the petrological mechanisms that have affected a rock due to the subtle atomic size differences between the elements, which causes preferential fractionation of some rare earths relative to others depending on the processes at work.


title: Rare-earth element

text: The geochemical study of the REE is not carried out on absolute concentrations – as it is usually done with other chemical elements – but on normalized concentrations in order to observe their serial behaviour. In geochemistry, rare-earth elements are typically presented in normalized "spider" diagrams, in which concentration of rare-earth elements are normalized to a reference standard and are then expressed as the logarithm to the base 10 of the value.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Commonly, the rare-earth elements are normalized to chondritic meteorites, as these are believed to be the closest representation of unfractionated solar system material. However, other normalizing standards can be applied depending on the purpose of the study. Normalization to a standard reference value, especially of a material believed to be unfractionated, allows the observed abundances to be compared to initial abundances of the element. Normalization also removes the pronounced 'zig-zag' pattern caused by the differences in abundance between even and odd atomic numbers. Normalization is carried out by dividing the analytical concentrations of each element of the series by the concentration of the same element in a given standard, according to the equation:


title: Rare-earth element

text: where n indicates the normalized concentration, formula_2 the analytical concentration of element measured in the sample, and formula_3 the concentration of the same element in the reference material.


title: Rare-earth element

text: It is possible to observe the serial trend of the REE by reporting their normalized concentrations against the atomic number. The trends that are observed in "spider" diagrams are typically referred to as "patterns", which may be diagnostic of petrological processes that have affected the material of interest.


title: Rare-earth element

text: According to the general shape of the patterns or thanks to the presence (or absence) of so-called "anomalies", information regarding the system under examination and the occurring geochemical processes can be obtained. The anomalies represent enrichment (positive anomalies) or depletion (negative anomalies) of specific elements along the series and are graphically recognizable as positive or negative “peaks” along the REE patterns. The anomalies can be numerically quantified as the ratio between the normalized concentration of the element showing the anomaly and the predictable one based on the average of the normalized concentrations of the two elements in the previous and next position in the series, according to the equation:


title: Rare-earth element

text: where formula_5 is the normalized concentration of the element whose anomaly has to be calculated, formula_6 and formula_7 the normalized concentrations of the respectively previous and next elements along the series.


title: Rare-earth element

text: The rare-earth elements patterns observed in igneous rocks are primarily a function of the chemistry of the source where the rock came from, as well as the fractionation history the rock has undergone. Fractionation is in turn a function of the partition coefficients of each element. Partition coefficients are responsible for the fractionation of a trace elements (including rare-earth elements) into the liquid phase (the melt/magma) into the solid phase (the mineral). If an element preferentially remains in the solid phase it is termed ‘compatible’, and it preferentially partitions into the melt phase it is described as ‘incompatible’. Each element has a different partition coefficient, and therefore fractionates into solid and liquid phases distinctly. These concepts are also applicable to metamorphic and sedimentary petrology.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In igneous rocks, particularly in felsic melts, the following observations apply: anomalies in europium are dominated by the crystallization of feldspars. Hornblende, controls the enrichment of MREE compared to LREE and HREE. Depletion of LREE relative to HREE may be due to the crystallization of olivine, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene. On the other hand, depletion of HREE relative to LREE may be due to the presence of garnet, as garnet preferentially incorporates HREE into its crystal structure. The presence of zircon may also cause a similar effect.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In sedimentary rocks, rare-earth elements in clastic sediments are a representation provenance. The rare-earth element concentrations are not typically affected by sea and river waters, as rare-earth elements are insoluble and thus have very low concentrations in these fluids. As a result, when a sediment is transported, rare-earth element concentrations are unaffected by the fluid and instead the rock retains the rare-earth element concentration from its source.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Sea and river waters typically have low rare-earth element concentrations. However, aqueous geochemistry is still very important. In oceans, rare-earth elements reflect input from rivers, hydrothermal vents, and aeolian sources; this is important in the investigation of ocean mixing and circulation.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Rare-earth elements are also useful for dating rocks, as some radioactive isotopes display long half-lives. Of particular interest are the La-Ce, Sm-Nd, and Lu-Hf systems.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Until 1948, most of the world's rare earths were sourced from placer sand deposits in India and Brazil. Through the 1950s, South Africa was the world's rare-earth source, from a monazite-rich reef at the Steenkampskraal mine in Western Cape province. Through the 1960s until the 1980s, the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California made the United States the leading producer. Today, the Indian and South African deposits still produce some rare-earth concentrates, but they are dwarfed by the scale of Chinese production. In 2017, China produced 81% of the world's rare-earth supply, mostly in Inner Mongolia, although it had only 36.7% of reserves. Australia was the second and only other major producer with 15% of world production. All of the world's heavy rare earths (such as dysprosium) come from Chinese rare-earth sources such as the polymetallic Bayan Obo deposit. The Browns Range mine, located 160 km south east of Halls Creek in northern Western Australia, is currently under development and is positioned to become the first significant dysprosium producer outside of China.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Increased demand has strained supply, and there is growing concern that the world may soon face a shortage of the rare earths. In several years from 2009 worldwide demand for rare-earth elements is expected to exceed supply by 40,000 tonnes annually unless major new sources are developed. In 2013, it was stated that the demand for REEs would increase due to the dependence of the EU on these elements, the fact that rare earth elements cannot be substituted by other elements and that REEs have a low recycling rate. Furthermore, due to the increased demand and low supply, future prices are expected to increase and there is a chance that countries other than China will open REE mines. REE is increasing in demand due to the fact that they are essential for new and innovative technology that is being created. These new products that need REEs to be produced are high technology equipment such as smart phones, digital cameras, computer parts, semiconductors, etc. In addition, these elements are more prevalent in the following industries: renewable energy technology, military equipment, glass making, and metallurgy.


title: Rare-earth element

text: These concerns have intensified due to the actions of China, the predominant supplier. Specifically, China has announced regulations on exports and a crackdown on smuggling. On September 1, 2009, China announced plans to reduce its export quota to 35,000 tons per year in 2010–2015 to conserve scarce resources and protect the environment. On October 19, 2010, "China Daily", citing an unnamed Ministry of Commerce official, reported that China will "further reduce quotas for rare-earth exports by 30 percent at most next year to protect the precious metals from over-exploitation." The government in Beijing further increased its control by forcing smaller, independent miners to merge into state-owned corporations or face closure. At the end of 2010, China announced that the first round of export quotas in 2011 for rare earths would be 14,446 tons, which was a 35% decrease from the previous first round of quotas in 2010. China announced further export quotas on 14 July 2011 for the second half of the year with total allocation at 30,184 tons with total production capped at 93,800 tonnes. In September 2011, China announced the halt in production of three of its eight major rare-earth mines, responsible for almost 40% of China's total rare-earth production. In March 2012, the US, EU, and Japan confronted China at WTO about these export and production restrictions. China responded with claims that the restrictions had environmental protection in mind. In August 2012, China announced a further 20% reduction in production.


title: Rare-earth element

text: The United States, Japan, and the European Union filed a joint lawsuit with the World Trade Organization in 2012 against China, arguing that China should not be able to deny such important exports.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In response to the opening of new mines in other countries (Lynas in Australia and Molycorp in the United States), prices of rare earths dropped.


title: Rare-earth element

text: On August 29, 2014, the WTO ruled that China had broken free-trade agreements, and the WTO said in the summary of key findings that "the overall effect of the foreign and domestic restrictions is to encourage domestic extraction and secure preferential use of those materials by Chinese manufacturers." China declared that it would implement the ruling on September 26, 2014, but would need some time to do so. By January 5, 2015, China had lifted all quotas from the export of rare earths, but export licences will still be required.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In 2019, China supplied between 85% and 95% of the global demand for the 17 rare earth powders, half of them sourced from Myanmar. After the 2021 military coup in that country, future supplies of critical ores were possibly constrained. Additionally, it was speculated that the PRC could again reduce rare earth exports to counter-act economic sanctions imposed by the US and EU countries. Rare earth metals serve as crucial materials for EV-manufacturing and high-tech military applications.


title: Rare-earth element

text: As a result of the increased demand and tightening restrictions on exports of the metals from China, some countries are stockpiling rare-earth resources. Searches for alternative sources in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Tanzania, Greenland, and the United States are ongoing. Mines in these countries were closed when China undercut world prices in the 1990s, and it will take a few years to restart production as there are many barriers to entry. Significant sites under development outside China include Steenkampskraal in South Africa, the world's highest grade rare earths and thorium mine, closed in 1963, but has been gearing to go back into production. Over 80% of the infrastructure is already complete. Other mines include the Nolans Project in Central Australia, the Bokan Mountain project in Alaska, the remote Hoidas Lake project in northern Canada, and the Mount Weld project in Australia. The Hoidas Lake project has the potential to supply about 10% of the $1 billion of REE consumption that occurs in North America every year. Vietnam signed an agreement in October 2010 to supply Japan with rare earths from its northwestern Lai Châu Province.


title: Rare-earth element

text: The largest rare earth deposit in the U.S. is at Mountain Pass, California, sixty miles south of Las Vegas. Originally opened by Molycorp, the deposit has been mined, off and on, since 1951. A second large deposit of REEs at Elk Creek in southeast Nebraska is under consideration by NioCorp Development Ltd who hopes to open a niobium, scandium, and titanium mine there. That mine may be able to produce as much as 7200 tonnes of ferro niobium and 95 tonnes of scandium trioxide annually, although, as of 2022, financing is still in the works.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In the UK, Pensana have begun construction of their US$195 million rare earth processing plant which secured funding from the UK government's Automotive Transformation Fund. The plant will process ore from the Longonjo mine in Angola and other sources as they become available. The company are targeting production in late 2023, before ramping up to full capacity in 2024. Pensana aim to produce 12,500 metric tons of separated rare earths, including 4,500 tons of magnet metal rare earths.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Also under consideration for mining are sites such as Thor Lake in the Northwest Territories, and various locations in Vietnam. Additionally, in 2010, a large deposit of rare-earth minerals was discovered in Kvanefjeld in southern Greenland. Pre-feasibility drilling at this site has confirmed significant quantities of black lujavrite, which contains about 1% rare-earth oxides (REO). The European Union has urged Greenland to restrict Chinese development of rare-earth projects there, but as of early 2013, the government of Greenland has said that it has no plans to impose such restrictions. Many Danish politicians have expressed concerns that other nations, including China, could gain influence in thinly populated Greenland, given the number of foreign workers and investment that could come from Chinese companies in the near future because of the law passed December 2012.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In central Spain, Ciudad Real Province, the proposed rare-earth mining project 'Matamulas' may provide, according to its developers, up to 2,100 Tn/year (33% of the annual UE demand). However, this project has been suspended by regional authorities due to social and environmental concerns.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Adding to potential mine sites, ASX listed Peak Resources announced in February 2012, that their Tanzanian-based Ngualla project contained not only the 6th largest deposit by tonnage outside of China, but also the highest grade of rare-earth elements of the 6.


title: Rare-earth element

text: North Korea has been reported to have exported rare-earth ore to China, about US$1.88 million worth during May and June 2014.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In May 2012, researchers from two universities in Japan announced that they had discovered rare earths in Ehime Prefecture, Japan.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In early 2011, Australian mining company Lynas was reported to be "hurrying to finish" a US$230 million rare-earth refinery on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia's industrial port of Kuantan. The plant would refine ore — lanthanides concentrate from the Mount Weld mine in Australia. The ore would be trucked to Fremantle and transported by container ship to Kuantan. Within two years, Lynas was said to expect the refinery to be able to meet nearly a third of the world's demand for rare-earth materials, not counting China. The Kuantan development brought renewed attention to the Malaysian town of Bukit Merah in Perak, where a rare-earth mine operated by a Mitsubishi Chemical subsidiary, Asian Rare Earth, closed in 1994 and left continuing environmental and health concerns. In mid-2011, after protests, Malaysian government restrictions on the Lynas plant were announced. At that time, citing subscription-only "Dow Jones Newswire" reports, a "Barrons" report said the Lynas investment was $730 million, and the projected share of the global market it would fill put at "about a sixth." An independent review initiated by the Malaysian Government, and conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2011 to address concerns of radioactive hazards, found no non-compliance with international radiation safety standards.


title: Rare-earth element

text: However, the Malaysian authorities confirmed that as of October 2011, Lynas was not given any permit to import any rare-earth ore into Malaysia. On February 2, 2012, the Malaysian AELB (Atomic Energy Licensing Board) recommended that Lynas be issued a temporary operating license subject to meeting a number of conditions. On 2 September 2014, Lynas was issued a 2-year full operating stage license by the AELB.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Significant quantities of rare-earth oxides are found in tailings accumulated from 50 years of uranium ore, shale and loparite mining at Sillamäe, Estonia. Due to the rising prices of rare earths, extraction of these oxides has become economically viable. The country currently exports around 3,000 tonnes per year, representing around 2% of world production. Similar resources are suspected in the western United States, where gold rush-era mines are believed to have discarded large amounts of rare earths, because they had no value at the time.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In January 2013 a Japanese deep-sea research vessel obtained seven deep-sea mud core samples from the Pacific Ocean seafloor at 5,600 to 5,800 meters depth, approximately south of the island of Minami-Tori-Shima. The research team found a mud layer 2 to 4 meters beneath the seabed with concentrations of up to 0.66% rare-earth oxides. A potential deposit might compare in grade with the ion-absorption-type deposits in southern China that provide the bulk of Chinese REO mine production, which grade in the range of 0.05% to 0.5% REO.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Another recently developed source of rare earths is electronic waste and other wastes that have significant rare-earth components. Advances in recycling technology have made extraction of rare earths from these materials less expensive. Recycling plants operate in Japan, where an estimated 300,000 tons of rare earths are found in unused electronics. In France, the Rhodia group is setting up two factories, in La Rochelle and Saint-Fons, that will produce 200 tons of rare earths a year from used fluorescent lamps, magnets and batteries. Coal and coal by-products are a potential source of critical elements including rare earth elements (REE) with estimated amounts in the range of 50 million metric tons.


title: Rare-earth element

text: One study mixed fly ash with carbon black and then sent a 1-second current pulse through the mixture, heating it to . The fly ash contains microscopic bits of glass that encapsulate the metals. The heats shatters the glass, exposing the rare earths. Flash heating also converts phosphates into oxides, which are more soluble and extractable. Using hydrochloric acid at concentrations less than 1% of conventional methods, the process extracted twice as much material.


title: Rare-earth element

text: According to chemistry professor Andrea Sella, rare-earth elements differ from other elements, in that when looked at analytically, they are virtually inseparable, having almost the same chemical properties. However, in terms of their electronic and magnetic properties, each one occupies a unique technological niche that nothing else can. For example, "the rare-earth elements praseodymium (Pr) and neodymium (Nd) can both be embedded inside glass and they completely cut out the glare from the flame when one is doing glass-blowing."


title: Rare-earth element

text: The uses, applications, and demand for rare-earth elements has expanded over the years. Globally, most REEs are used for catalysts and magnets. In USA, more than half of REEs are used for catalysts, and ceramics, glass and polishing are also main uses.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Other important uses of rare-earth elements are applicable to the production of high-performance magnets, alloys, glasses, and electronics. Ce and La are important as catalysts, and are used for petroleum refining and as diesel additives. Nd is important in magnet production in traditional and low-carbon technologies. Rare-earth elements in this category are used in the electric motors of hybrid and electric vehicles, generators in wind turbines, hard disc drives, portable electronics, microphones, speakers.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Ce, La and Nd are important in alloy making, and in the production of fuel cells and nickel-metal hydride batteries. Ce, Ga and Nd are important in electronics and are used in the production of LCD and plasma screens, fiber optics, lasers, as well as in medical imaging. Additional uses for rare-earth elements are as tracers in medical applications, fertilizers, and in water treatment.


title: Rare-earth element

text: REEs have been used in agriculture to increase plant growth, productivity, and stress resistance seemingly without negative effects for human and animal consumption. REEs are used in agriculture through REE-enriched fertilizers which is a widely used practice in China. In addition, REEs are feed additives for livestock which has resulted in increased production such as larger animals and a higher production of eggs and dairy products. However, this practice has resulted in REE bio-accumulation within livestock and has impacted vegetation and algae growth in these agricultural areas. Additionally while no ill effects have been observed at current low concentrations the effects over the long term and with accumulation over time are unknown prompting some calls for more research into their possible effects.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Given the limited supply, industries directly compete with each other for resources, e.g. the electronics sector is in direct competition with renewable energy use in windfarms, solar panels and batteries.


title: Rare-earth element

text: REEs are naturally found in very low concentration in the environment. Mines are often in countries where environmental and social standards are very low, leading to human rights violations, deforestation and contamination of land and water.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Near mining and industrial sites, the concentrations of REEs can rise to many times the normal background levels. Once in the environment, REEs can leach into the soil where their transport is determined by numerous factors such as erosion, weathering, pH, precipitation, ground water, etc. Acting much like metals, they can speciate depending on the soil condition being either motile or adsorbed to soil particles. Depending on their bio-availability, REEs can be absorbed into plants and later consumed by humans and animals. The mining of REEs, use of REE-enriched fertilizers, and the production of phosphorus fertilizers all contribute to REE contamination. Furthermore, strong acids are used during the extraction process of REEs, which can then leach out in to the environment and be transported through water bodies and result in the acidification of aquatic environments. Another additive of REE mining that contributes to REE environmental contamination is cerium oxide (), which is produced during the combustion of diesel and released as exhaust, contributing heavily to soil and water contamination.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Mining, refining, and recycling of rare earths have serious environmental consequences if not properly managed. Low-level radioactive tailings resulting from the occurrence of thorium and uranium in rare-earth element ores present a potential hazard and improper handling of these substances can result in extensive environmental damage. In May 2010, China announced a major, five-month crackdown on illegal mining in order to protect the environment and its resources. This campaign is expected to be concentrated in the South, where mines – commonly small, rural, and illegal operations – are particularly prone to releasing toxic waste into the general water supply. However, even the major operation in Baotou, in Inner Mongolia, where much of the world's rare-earth supply is refined, has caused major environmental damage. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology estimated that cleanup costs in Jiangxi province at $5.5 billion.


title: Rare-earth element

text: It is, however, possible to filter out and recover any rare earth elements that flow out with the wastewater from mining facilities. However, such filtering and recovery equipment may not always be present on the outlets carrying the wastewater.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Literature published in 2004 suggests that, along with previously established pollution mitigation, a more circular supply chain would help mitigate some of the pollution at the extraction point. This means recycling and reusing REEs that are already in use or reaching the end of their life cycle. A study published in 2014 suggests a method to recycle REEs from waste nickel-metal hydride batteries, demonstrating a recovery rate of 95.16%. Rare-earth elements could also be recovered from industrial wastes with practical potential to reduce environmental and health impacts from mining, waste-generation and imports if known and experimental processes are scaled up. A study suggests that "fulfillment of the circular economy approach could reduce up to 200 times the impact in the climate change category and up to 70 times the cost due to the REE mining." In most of the reported studies reviewed by a scientific review, "secondary waste is subjected to chemical and or bioleaching followed by solvent extraction processes for clean separation of REEs."


title: Rare-earth element

text: The mining of REEs has caused the contamination of soil and water around production areas, which has impacted vegetation in these areas by decreasing chlorophyll production which affects photosynthesis and inhibits the growth of the plants. However, the impact of REE contamination on vegetation is dependent on the plants present in the contaminated environment: some plants retain and absorb REEs and some don't. Also, the ability for the vegetation to intake the REE is dependent on the type of REE present in the soil, hence there are a multitude of factors that influence this process. Agricultural plants are the main type of vegetation affected by REE contamination in the environment, the two plants with a higher chance of absorbing and storing REEs being apples and beets. Furthermore, there is a possibility that REEs can leach out into aquatic environments and be absorbed by aquatic vegetation, which can then bio-accumulate and potentially enter the human food-chain if livestock or humans choose to eat the vegetation. An example of this situation was the case of the water hyacinth ("Eichhornia crassipes)" in China, where the water was contaminated due to a REE-enriched fertilizer being used in a nearby agricultural area. The aquatic environment became contaminated with cerium and resulted in the water hyacinth becoming three times more concentrated in cerium than its surrounding water.


title: Rare-earth element

text: REEs are a large group with many different properties and levels in the environment. Because of this, and limited research, it has been difficult to determine safe levels of exposure for humans. A number of studies have focused on risk assessment based on routes of exposure and divergence from background levels related to nearby agriculture, mining, and industry. It has been demonstrated that numerous REEs have toxic properties and are present in the environment or in work places. Exposure to these can lead to a wide range of negative health outcomes such as cancer, respiratory issues, dental loss, and even death. However REEs are numerous and present in many different forms and at different levels of toxicity, making it difficult to give blanket warnings on cancer risk and toxicity as some of these are harmless while others pose a risk.


title: Rare-earth element

text: What toxicity is shown appears to be at very high levels of exposure through ingestion of contaminated food and water, through inhalation of dust/smoke particles either as an occupational hazard or due to proximity to contaminated sites such as mines and cities. Therefore, the main issues that these residents would face is bioaccumulation of REEs and the impact on their respiratory system but overall, there can be other possible short term and long-term health effects. It was found that people living near mines in China had many times the levels of REEs in their blood, urine, bone and hair compared to controls far from mining sites. This higher level was related to the high levels of REEs present in the vegetables they cultivated, the soil, and the water from the wells, indicating that the high levels were caused by the nearby mine. While REE levels varied between men and women, the group most at risk were children because REEs can impact the neurological development of children, affecting their IQ and potentially causing memory loss.


title: Rare-earth element

text: The rare earth mining and smelting process can release airborne fluoride which will associate with total suspended particles (TSP) to form aerosols that can enter human respiratory systems and cause damage and respiratory diseases. Research from Baotou, China shows that the fluoride concentration in air near REE mines is higher than the limit value from WHO, which can affect the surrounding environment and become a risk to those that live or work nearby.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Residents blamed a rare-earth refinery at Bukit Merah for birth defects and eight leukemia cases within five years in a community of 11,000 — after many years with no leukemia cases. Seven of the leukemia victims died. Osamu Shimizu, a director of Asian Rare Earth, said "the company might have sold a few bags of calcium phosphate fertilizer on a trial basis as it sought to market byproducts; calcium phosphate is not radioactive or dangerous" in reply to a former resident of Bukit Merah who said that "The cows that ate the grass [grown with the fertilizer] all died." Malaysia's Supreme Court ruled on 23 December 1993 that there was no evidence that the local chemical joint venture Asian Rare Earth was contaminating the local environment.


title: Rare-earth element

text: Experiments exposing rats to various cerium compounds have found accumulation primarily in the lungs and liver. This resulted in various negative health outcomes associated with those organs. REEs have been added to feed in livestock to increase their body mass and increase milk production. They are most commonly used to increase the body mass of pigs, and it was discovered that REEs increase the digestibility and nutrient use of pigs' digestive systems. Studies point to a dose response when considering toxicity versus positive effects. While small doses from the environment or with proper administration seem to have no ill effects, larger doses have been shown to have negative effects specifically in the organs where they accumulate. The process of mining REEs in China has resulted in soil and water contamination in certain areas, which when transported into aquatic bodies could potentially bio-accumulate within aquatic biota. Furthermore, in some cases animals that live in the REE-contaminated areas have been diagnosed with organ or system problems. REEs have been used in freshwater fish farming because it protects the fish from possible diseases. One main reason why they have been avidly used in animal livestock feeding is that they have had better results than inorganic livestock feed enhancers.


title: Rare-earth element

text: After the 1982 Bukit Merah radioactive pollution, the mine in Malaysia has been the focus of a US$100 million cleanup that is proceeding in 2011. After having accomplished the hilltop entombment of 11,000 truckloads of radioactively contaminated material, the project is expected to entail in summer, 2011, the removal of "more than 80,000 steel barrels of radioactive waste to the hilltop repository."


title: Rare-earth element

text: In May 2011, after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, widespread protests took place in Kuantan over the Lynas refinery and radioactive waste from it. The ore to be processed has very low levels of thorium, and Lynas founder and chief executive Nicholas Curtis said "There is absolutely no risk to public health." T. Jayabalan, a doctor who says he has been monitoring and treating patients affected by the Mitsubishi plant, "is wary of Lynas's assurances. The argument that low levels of thorium in the ore make it safer doesn't make sense, he says, because radiation exposure is cumulative." Construction of the facility has been halted until an independent United Nations IAEA panel investigation is completed, which is expected by the end of June 2011. New restrictions were announced by the Malaysian government in late June.


title: Rare-earth element

text: IAEA panel investigation is completed and no construction has been halted. Lynas is on budget and on schedule to start producing 2011. The IAEA report has concluded in a report issued on Thursday June 2011 said it did not find any instance of "any non-compliance with international radiation safety standards" in the project.


title: Rare-earth element

text: If the proper safety standards are followed, REE mining is relatively low impact. Molycorp (before going bankrupt) often exceeded environmental regulations to improve public image.


title: Rare-earth element

text: In Greenland there is a significant dispute on whether to start a new rare earth mine in Kvanefjeld due to environmental concerns.


title: Rare-earth element

text: China has officially cited resource depletion and environmental concerns as the reasons for a nationwide crackdown on its rare-earth mineral production sector. However, non-environmental motives have also been imputed to China's rare-earth policy. According to "The Economist", "Slashing their exports of rare-earth metals… is all about moving Chinese manufacturers up the supply chain, so they can sell valuable finished goods to the world rather than lowly raw materials." Furthermore, China currently has an effective monopoly on the world's REE Value Chain. (all the refineries and processing plants that transform the raw ore into valuable elements). In the words of Deng Xiaoping, a Chinese politician from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, "The Middle East has oil; we have rare earths ... it is of extremely important strategic significance; we must be sure to handle the rare earth issue properly and make the fullest use of our country's advantage in rare earth resources."


title: Rare-earth element

text: One possible example of market control is the division of General Motors that deals with miniaturized magnet research, which shut down its US office and moved its entire staff to China in 2006 (China's export quota only applies to the metal but not products made from these metals such as magnets).


title: Rare-earth element

text: It was reported, but officially denied, that China instituted an export ban on shipments of rare-earth oxides (but not alloys) to Japan on 22 September 2010, in response to the detainment of a Chinese fishing boat captain by the Japanese Coast Guard. On September 2, 2010, a few days before the fishing boat incident, "The Economist" reported that "China...in July announced the latest in a series of annual export reductions, this time by 40% to precisely 30,258 tonnes."


title: Rare-earth element

text: The United States Department of Energy in its 2010 Critical Materials Strategy report identified dysprosium as the element that was most critical in terms of import reliance.


title: Rare-earth element

text: A 2011 report "China's Rare-Earth Industry", issued by the US Geological Survey and US Department of the Interior, outlines industry trends within China and examines national policies that may guide the future of the country's production. The report notes that China's lead in the production of rare-earth minerals has accelerated over the past two decades. In 1990, China accounted for only 27% of such minerals. In 2009, world production was 132,000 metric tons; China produced 129,000 of those tons. According to the report, recent patterns suggest that China will slow the export of such materials to the world: "Owing to the increase in domestic demand, the Government has gradually reduced the export quota during the past several years." In 2006, China allowed 47 domestic rare-earth producers and traders and 12 Sino-foreign rare-earth producers to export. Controls have since tightened annually; by 2011, only 22 domestic rare-earth producers and traders and 9 Sino-foreign rare-earth producers were authorized. The government's future policies will likely keep in place strict controls: "According to China's draft rare-earth development plan, annual rare-earth production may be limited to between 130,000 and 140,000 [metric tons] during the period from 2009 to 2015. The export quota for rare-earth products may be about 35,000 [metric tons] and the Government may allow 20 domestic rare-earth producers and traders to export rare earths."


title: Rare-earth element

text: The United States Geological Survey is actively surveying southern Afghanistan for rare-earth deposits under the protection of United States military forces. Since 2009 the USGS has conducted remote sensing surveys as well as fieldwork to verify Soviet claims that volcanic rocks containing rare-earth metals exist in Helmand Province near the village of Khanashin. The USGS study team has located a sizable area of rocks in the center of an extinct volcano containing light rare-earth elements including cerium and neodymium. It has mapped 1.3 million metric tons of desirable rock, or about ten years of supply at current demand levels. The Pentagon has estimated its value at about $7.4 billion.


title: Rare-earth element

text: It has been argued that the geopolitical importance of rare earths has been exaggerated in the literature on the geopolitics of renewable energy, underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production. This especially concerns neodymium. Due to its role in permanent magnets used for wind turbines, it has been argued that neodymium will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy. But this perspective has been criticised for failing to recognise that most wind turbines have gears and do not use permanent magnets.


title: Rare-earth element

text: The Institute of Rare Earths Elements and Strategic Metals is an informal network in the international "raw metall market". The main interest of the institut's customers is the database, which is available on a subscription base with daily updatet prices: In addition with the eponymous "rare-earth elements", 900 pure metalls and 4,500 other metall products are listed there. The company's headquartesr are located in Lucerne, Switzerland.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist, screenwriter and political activist. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007, two of India's highest civilian honours.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Akhtar came to recognition in the duo Salim–Javed, and earned his breakthrough as a screenwriter with 1973's "Zanjeer". He went on to write the films "Deewar" and "Sholay", both released in 1975; they earned a cult following, and had a significant impact in popular culture. He later earned praise for his work as a lyricist, winning the National Film Award for Best Lyrics five times and the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist eight times.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Akhtar notably campaigned for the Communist Party of India (CPI) and their candidate in the 2019 Indian general election, and was a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha. For his work, he received the Richard Dawkins Award in 2020.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Javed Akhtar was born in 1945 in Gwalior. His father Jan Nisar Akhtar was a Bollywood film songwriter and Urdu poet. His paternal grandfather Muztar Khairabadi was a poet as was his grandfather's elder brother, Bismil Khairabadi, while his great great grandfather, Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, was a religious scholar of Islam who supported the First Independence Movement of India in 1857 for religious reasons. Javed Akhtar's original name was Jadoo, taken from a line in a poem written by his father: "Lamha, lamha kisi jadoo ka fasana hoga". He was given the official name of Javed since it was the closest to the word "jadoo". He spent most of his childhood and was schooled in Lucknow. He graduated from Saifiya College in Bhopal.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Initially, in the 1970s, there was generally no concept of having the same writer for the screenplay, story and dialogue, nor were the writers given any credits in the titles. Rajesh Khanna is credited with giving Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar their first chance to become screenplay writers by offering them work in "Haathi Mere Saathi". Javed Akhtar stated in an interview that one day, he went to Salimsaab and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow, Aashirwad. But the film was a remake and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory. "He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit."


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Their first big success was the script for "Andaz", followed by "Adhikar" (1971), "Haathi Mere Saathi" and "Seeta Aur Geeta" (1972). They also had hits with "Yaadon Ki Baaraat" (1973), "Zanjeer" (1973), "Haath Ki Safai" (1974), "Deewaar" (1975), "Sholay" (1975), "Chacha Bhatija" (1977), "Don" (1978), "Trishul" (1978), "Dostana" (1980), "Kranti" (1981), "Zamana" (1985) and "Mr. India" (1987). They have worked together in 24 films including two Kannada films – "Premada Kanike" and "Raja Nanna Raja".


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Of the 24 films they wrote, 20 were hits. The scripts they wrote, but which were not successful at box office include "Aakhri Dao" (1975), "Immaan Dharam" (1977), "Kaala Patthar" (1979) and "Shaan" (1980). Though they split in 1982, due to ego issues, some of the scripts they wrote were made into hit films later, such as "Zamana" and "Mr. India". Salim-Javed, many a time described as "the most successful scriptwriters of all-time", are also noted to be the first scriptwriters in Indian cinema to achieve star status.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Akhtar was married to Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar, a film actor, producer, director and Zoya Akhtar, a film writer, director and producer. The father-and-son duo have worked together in films such as "Dil Chahta Hai", "Lakshya", "Rock On!!" and "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" with Zoya. Farhan was married to Adhuna Akhtar, a hair stylist. Akhtar is an atheist, and brought up his children Farhan and Zoya Akhtar as atheists.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Akhtar married Shabana Azmi, the daughter of Urdu poet, Kaifi Azmi and later divorced Irani. Akhtar's uncle, Asrar-ul-Haq "Majaz" was also an Urdu poet. His uncle, Ansar Harvani, was a member of the Indian independence movement and an elected Member of Parliament. Akhtar's aunt, Hamida Salim, was an Indian author, economist and educator as well.


title: Javed Akhtar

text: Javed was awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1999, followed by the Padma Bhushan in 2007. In 2013, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu, India's second highest literary honour, for his poetry collection "Lava". In 2019, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Letters) by the Jamia Hamdard University. In 2020 he was awarded the Richard Dawkins Award for being a "powerful force for secularism, reason, and human rights, challenging superstition and intolerance through his work in poetry, screenwriting, and political activism".


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from input power interruptions, by supplying energy stored in batteries, supercapacitors, or flywheels. The on-battery run-time of most uninterruptible power sources is relatively short (only a few minutes) but sufficient to start a standby power source or properly shut down the protected equipment. It is a type of continual power system.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A UPS is typically used to protect hardware such as computers, data centers, telecommunication equipment or other electrical equipment where an unexpected power disruption could cause injuries, fatalities, serious business disruption or data loss. UPS units range in size from ones designed to protect a single computer without a video monitor (around 200 volt-ampere rating) to large units powering entire data centers or buildings. The world's largest UPS, the 46-megawatt Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), in Fairbanks, Alaska, powers the entire city and nearby rural communities during outages.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The primary role of any UPS is to provide short-term power when the input power source fails. However, most UPS units are also capable in varying degrees of correcting common utility power problems:


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Some manufacturers of UPS units categorize their products in accordance with the number of power-related problems they address.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A UPS unit may also introduce problems with electric power quality. To prevent this, a UPS should be selected not only by capacity, but also by the quality of power that is required by the equipment that is being supplied.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Most UPS below one kilovolt-ampere (1 kVA) are of the line-interactive or standby variety which are usually less expensive.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: For large power units, dynamic uninterruptible power supplies (DUPS) are sometimes used. A synchronous motor/alternator is connected on the mains via a choke. Energy is stored in a flywheel. When the mains power fails, an eddy-current regulation maintains the power on the load as long as the flywheel's energy is not exhausted. DUPS are sometimes combined or integrated with a diesel generator that is turned on after a brief delay, forming a diesel rotary uninterruptible power supply (DRUPS).


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A fuel cell UPS was developed by the company Hydrogenics using hydrogen and a fuel cell as a power source, potentially providing long run times in a small space.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The offline/standby UPS offers only the most basic features, providing surge protection and battery backup. The protected equipment is normally connected directly to incoming utility power. When the incoming voltage falls below or rises above a predetermined level the UPS turns on its internal DC-AC inverter circuitry, which is powered from an internal storage battery. The UPS then mechanically switches the connected equipment on to its DC-AC inverter output. The switch-over time can be as long as 25 milliseconds depending on the amount of time it takes the standby UPS to detect the lost utility voltage. The UPS will be designed to power certain equipment, such as a personal computer, without any objectionable dip or brownout to that device.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The line-interactive UPS is similar in operation to a standby UPS, but with the addition of a multi-tap variable-voltage autotransformer. This is a special type of transformer that can add or subtract powered coils of wire, thereby increasing or decreasing the magnetic field and the output voltage of the transformer. This may also be performed by a "buck–boost transformer" which is distinct from an autotransformer, since the former may be wired to provide galvanic isolation.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: This type of UPS is able to tolerate continuous undervoltage brownouts and overvoltage surges without consuming the limited reserve battery power. It instead compensates by automatically selecting different power taps on the autotransformer. Depending on the design, changing the autotransformer tap can cause a very brief output power disruption, which may cause UPSs equipped with a power-loss alarm to "chirp" for a moment.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: This has become popular even in the cheapest UPSes because it takes advantage of components already included. The main 50/60 Hz transformer used to convert between line voltage and battery voltage needs to provide two slightly different turns ratios: One to convert the battery output voltage (typically a multiple of 12 V) to line voltage, and a second one to convert the line voltage to a slightly higher battery charging voltage (such as a multiple of 14 V). The difference between the two voltages is because charging a battery requires a delta voltage (up to 13–14 V for charging a 12 V battery). Furthermore, it is easier to do the switching on the line-voltage side of the transformer because of the lower currents on that side.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: To gain the "buck/boost" feature, all that is required is two separate switches so that the AC input can be connected to one of the two primary taps, while the load is connected to the other, thus using the main transformer's primary windings as an autotransformer. The battery can still be charged while "bucking" an overvoltage, but while "boosting" an undervoltage, the transformer output is too low to charge the batteries.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Autotransformers can be engineered to cover a wide range of varying input voltages, but this requires more taps and increases complexity, as well as the expense of the UPS. It is common for the autotransformer to cover a range only from about 90 V to 140 V for 120 V power, and then switch to battery if the voltage goes much higher or lower than that range.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: In low-voltage conditions the UPS will use more current than normal, so it may need a higher current circuit than a normal device. For example, to power a 1000-W device at 120 V, the UPS will draw 8.33 A. If a brownout occurs and the voltage drops to 100 V, the UPS will draw 10 A to compensate. This also works in reverse, so that in an overvoltage condition, the UPS will need less current.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: In an online UPS, the batteries are always connected to the inverter, so that no power transfer switches are necessary. When power loss occurs, the rectifier simply drops out of the circuit and the batteries keep the power steady and unchanged. When power is restored, the rectifier resumes carrying most of the load and begins charging the batteries, though the charging current may be limited to prevent the high-power rectifier from damaging the batteries. The main advantage of an online UPS is its ability to provide an "electrical firewall" between the incoming utility power and sensitive electronic equipment.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The online UPS is ideal for environments where electrical isolation is necessary or for equipment that is very sensitive to power fluctuations. Although it was at one time reserved for very large installations of 10 kW or more, advances in technology have now permitted it to be available as a common consumer device, supplying 500 W or less. The online UPS may be necessary when the power environment is "noisy", when utility power sags, outages and other anomalies are frequent, when protection of sensitive IT equipment loads is required, or when operation from an extended-run backup generator is necessary.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The basic technology of the online UPS is the same as in a standby or line-interactive UPS. However it typically costs much more, due to it having a much greater current AC-to-DC battery-charger/rectifier, and with the rectifier and inverter designed to run continuously with improved cooling systems. It is called a "double-conversion" UPS due to the rectifier directly driving the inverter, even when powered from normal AC current.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: These hybrid rotary UPS designs do not have official designations, although one name used by UTL is "double conversion on demand". This style of UPS is targeted towards high-efficiency applications while still maintaining the features and protection level offered by double conversion.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A hybrid (double conversion on demand) UPS operates as an off-line/standby UPS when power conditions are within a certain preset window. This allows the UPS to achieve very high efficiency ratings. When the power conditions fluctuate outside of the predefined windows, the UPS switches to online/double-conversion operation. In double-conversion mode the UPS can adjust for voltage variations without having to use battery power, can filter out line noise and control frequency.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Ferroresonant units operate in the same way as a standby UPS unit; however, they are online with the exception that a ferroresonant transformer, is used to filter the output. This transformer is designed to hold energy long enough to cover the time between switching from line power to battery power and effectively eliminates the transfer time. Many ferroresonant UPSs are 82–88% efficient (AC/DC-AC) and offer excellent isolation.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The transformer has three windings, one for ordinary mains power, the second for rectified battery power, and the third for output AC power to the load.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: This once was the dominant type of UPS and is limited to around the range. These units are still mainly used in some industrial settings (oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical, utility, and heavy industry markets) due to the robust nature of the UPS. Many ferroresonant UPSs utilizing controlled ferro technology may interact with power-factor-correcting equipment. This will result in fluctuating output voltage of the UPS, but may be corrected by reducing the load levels, or adding other linear type loads.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A UPS designed for powering DC equipment is very similar to an online UPS, except that it does not need an output inverter. Also, if the UPS's battery voltage is matched with the voltage the device needs, the device's power supply will not be needed either. Since one or more power conversion steps are eliminated, this increases efficiency and run time.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Many systems used in telecommunications use an extra-low voltage "common battery" 48 V DC power, because it has less restrictive safety regulations, such as being installed in conduit and junction boxes. DC has typically been the dominant power source for telecommunications, and AC has typically been the dominant source for computers and servers.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: There has been much experimentation with 48 V DC power for computer servers, in the hope of reducing the likelihood of failure and the cost of equipment. However, to supply the same amount of power, the current would be higher than an equivalent 115 V or 230 V circuit; greater current requires larger conductors, or more energy lost as heat.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: High voltage DC (380 V) is finding use in some data center applications, and allows for small power conductors, but is subject to the more complex electrical code rules for safe containment of high voltages.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A rotary UPS uses the inertia of a high-mass spinning flywheel (flywheel energy storage) to provide short-term ride-through in the event of power loss. The flywheel also acts as a buffer against power spikes and sags, since such short-term power events are not able to appreciably affect the rotational speed of the high-mass flywheel. It is also one of the oldest designs, predating vacuum tubes and integrated circuits.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: It can be considered to be "on line" since it spins continuously under normal conditions. However, unlike a battery-based UPS, flywheel-based UPS systems typically provide 10 to 20 seconds of protection before the flywheel has slowed and power output stops. It is traditionally used in conjunction with standby generators, providing backup power only for the brief period of time the engine needs to start running and stabilize its output.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The rotary UPS is generally reserved for applications needing more than 10,000 W of protection, to justify the expense and benefit from the advantages rotary UPS systems bring. A larger flywheel or multiple flywheels operating in parallel will increase the reserve running time or capacity.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Because the flywheels are a mechanical power source, it is not necessary to use an electric motor or generator as an intermediary between it and a diesel engine designed to provide emergency power. By using a transmission gearbox, the rotational inertia of the flywheel can be used to directly start up a diesel engine, and once running, the diesel engine can be used to directly spin the flywheel. Multiple flywheels can likewise be connected in parallel through mechanical countershafts, without the need for separate motors and generators for each flywheel.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: They are normally designed to provide very high current output compared to a purely electronic UPS, and are better able to provide inrush current for inductive loads such as motor startup or compressor loads, as well as medical MRI and cath lab equipment. It is also able to tolerate short-circuit conditions up to 17 times larger than an electronic UPS, permitting one device to blow a fuse and fail while other devices still continue to be powered from the rotary UPS.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Its life cycle is usually far greater than a purely electronic UPS, up to 30 years or more. But they do require periodic downtime for mechanical maintenance, such as ball bearing replacement. In larger systems redundancy of the system ensures the availability of processes during this maintenance. Battery-based designs do not require downtime if the batteries can be hot-swapped, which is usually the case for larger units. Newer rotary units use technologies such as magnetic bearings and air-evacuated enclosures to increase standby efficiency and reduce maintenance to very low levels.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Typically, the high-mass flywheel is used in conjunction with a motor-generator system. These units can be configured as:


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: In case No. 3 the motor generator can be synchronous/synchronous or induction/synchronous. The motor side of the unit in case Nos. 2 and 3 can be driven directly by an AC power source (typically when in inverter bypass), a 6-step double-conversion motor drive, or a 6-pulse inverter. Case No. 1 uses an integrated flywheel as a short-term energy source instead of batteries to allow time for external, electrically coupled gensets to start and be brought online. Case Nos. 2 and 3 can use batteries or a free-standing electrically coupled flywheel as the short-term energy source.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Smaller UPS systems come in several different forms and sizes. However, the two most common forms are tower and rack-mount.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Tower models stand upright on the ground or on a desk or shelf, and are typically used in network workstations or desktop computer applications. Rack-mount models can be mounted in standard 19-inch rack enclosures and can require anywhere from 1U to 12U (rack units). They are typically used in server and networking applications. Some devices feature user interfaces that rotate 90°, allowing the devices to be mounted vertically on the ground or horizontally as would be found in a rack.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: In large business environments where reliability is of great importance, a single huge UPS can also be a single point of failure that can disrupt many other systems. To provide greater reliability, multiple smaller UPS modules and batteries can be integrated together to provide redundant power protection equivalent to one very large UPS. ""N" + 1" means that if the load can be supplied by "N" modules, the installation will contain "N" + 1 modules. In this way, failure of one module will not impact system operation.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Many computer servers offer the option of redundant power supplies, so that in the event of one power supply failing, one or more other power supplies are able to power the load. This is a critical point – each power supply must be able to power the entire server by itself.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Redundancy is further enhanced by plugging each power supply into a different circuit (i.e. to a different circuit breaker).


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Redundant protection can be extended further yet by connecting each power supply to its own UPS. This provides double protection from both a power supply failure and a UPS failure, so that continued operation is assured. This configuration is also referred to as 1 + 1 or 2"N" redundancy. If the budget does not allow for two identical UPS units then it is common practice to plug one power supply into mains power and the other into the UPS.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: When a UPS system is placed outdoors, it should have some specific features that guarantee that it can tolerate weather without any effects on performance. Factors such as temperature, humidity, rain, and snow among others should be considered by the manufacturer when designing an outdoor UPS system. Operating temperature ranges for outdoor UPS systems could be around −40 °C to +55 °C.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Outdoor UPS systems can either be pole, ground (pedestal), or host mounted. Outdoor environment could mean extreme cold, in which case the outdoor UPS system should include a battery heater mat, or extreme heat, in which case the outdoor UPS system should include a fan system or an air conditioning system.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A solar inverter, or PV inverter, or solar converter, converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid electrical network. It is a critical BOS–component in a photovoltaic system, allowing the use of ordinary AC-powered equipment. Solar inverters have special functions adapted for use with photovoltaic arrays, including maximum power point tracking and anti-islanding protection.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The output of some electronic UPSes can have a significant departure from an ideal sinusoidal waveform. This is especially true of inexpensive consumer-grade single-phase units designed for home and office use. These often utilize simple switching AC power supplies and the output resembles a square wave rich in harmonics. These harmonics can cause interference with other electronic devices including radio communication and some devices (e.g. inductive loads such as AC motors) may perform with reduced efficiency or not at all. More sophisticated (and expensive) UPS units can produce nearly pure sinusoidal AC power.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: A problem in the combination of a double-conversion UPS and a generator is the voltage distortion created by the UPS. The input of a double-conversion UPS is essentially a big rectifier. The current drawn by the UPS is non-sinusoidal. This can cause the voltage from the AC mains or a generator to also become non-sinusoidal. The voltage distortion then can cause problems in all electrical equipment connected to that power source, including the UPS itself. It will also cause more power to be lost in the wiring supplying power to the UPS due to the spikes in current flow. This level of "noise" is measured as a percentage of "total harmonic distortion of the current" (THD). Classic UPS rectifiers have a THD level of around 25%–30%. To reduce voltage distortion, this requires heavier mains wiring or generators more than twice as large as the UPS.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Classic solutions such as passive filters reduce THD to 5%–10% at full load. They are reliable, but big and only work at full load, and present their own problems when used in tandem with generators.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: An alternative solution is an active filter. Through the use of such a device, THD can drop to 5% over the full power range. The newest technology in double-conversion UPS units is a rectifier that does not use classic rectifier components (thyristors and diodes) but uses high-frequency components instead. A double-conversion UPS with an insulated-gate bipolar transistor rectifier and inductor can have a THD as small as 2%. This completely eliminates the need to oversize the generator (and transformers), without additional filters, investment cost, losses, or space.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The basic computer-to-UPS control methods are intended for one-to-one signaling from a single source to a single target. For example, a single UPS may connect to a single computer to provide status information about the UPS, and allow the computer to control the UPS. Similarly, the USB protocol is also intended to connect a single computer to multiple peripheral devices.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: In some situations it is useful for a single large UPS to be able to communicate with several protected devices. For traditional serial or USB control, a "signal replication" device may be used, which for example allows one UPS to connect to five computers using serial or USB connections. However, the splitting is typically only one direction from UPS to the devices to provide status information. Return control signals may only be permitted from one of the protected systems to the UPS.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: As Ethernet has increased in common use since the 1990s, control signals are now commonly sent between a single UPS and multiple computers using standard Ethernet data communication methods such as TCP/IP. The status and control information is typically encrypted so that, for example, an outside hacker can not gain control of the UPS and command it to shut down.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Distribution of UPS status and control data requires that all intermediary devices such as Ethernet switches or serial multiplexers be powered by one or more UPS systems, in order for the UPS alerts to reach the target systems during a power outage. To avoid the dependency on Ethernet infrastructure, the UPSs can be connected directly to main control server by using GSM/GPRS channel also. The SMS or GPRS data packets sent from UPSs trigger software to shut down the PCs to reduce the load.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: There are three main types of UPS batteries: Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA), Flooded Cell or VLA batteries, and Lithium Ion batteries.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The run-time for a battery-operated UPS depends on the type and size of batteries and rate of discharge, and the efficiency of the inverter. The total capacity of a lead–acid battery is a function of the rate at which it is discharged, which is described as Peukert's law.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Manufacturers supply run-time rating in minutes for packaged UPS systems. Larger systems (such as for data centers) require detailed calculation of the load, inverter efficiency, and battery characteristics to ensure the required endurance is attained.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: When a lead–acid battery is charged or discharged, this initially affects only the reacting chemicals, which are at the interface between the electrodes and the electrolyte. With time, the charge stored in the chemicals at the interface, often called "interface charge", spreads by diffusion of these chemicals throughout the volume of the active material.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: If a battery has been completely discharged (e.g. the car lights were left on overnight) and next is given a fast charge for only a few minutes, then during the short charging time it develops only a charge near the interface. The battery voltage may rise to be close to the charger voltage so that the charging current decreases significantly. After a few hours this interface charge will not spread to the volume of the electrode and electrolyte, leading to an interface charge so low that it may be insufficient to start a car.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Due to the interface charge, brief UPS "self-test" functions lasting only a few seconds may not accurately reflect the true runtime capacity of a UPS, and instead an extended "recalibration" or "rundown" test that deeply discharges the battery is needed.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The deep discharge testing is itself damaging to batteries due to the chemicals in the discharged battery starting to crystallize into highly stable molecular shapes that will not re-dissolve when the battery is recharged, permanently reducing charge capacity. In lead acid batteries this is known as sulfation but also affects other types such as nickel cadmium batteries and lithium batteries. Therefore, it is commonly recommended that rundown tests be performed infrequently, such as every six months to a year.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Multi-kilowatt commercial UPS systems with large and easily accessible battery banks are capable of isolating and testing individual cells within a "battery string", which consists of either combined-cell battery units (such as 12-V lead acid batteries) or individual chemical cells wired in series. Isolating a single cell and installing a jumper in place of it allows the one battery to be discharge-tested, while the rest of the battery string remains charged and available to provide protection.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: It is also possible to measure the electrical characteristics of individual cells in a battery string, using intermediate sensor wires that are installed at every cell-to-cell junction, and monitored both individually and collectively. Battery strings may also be wired as series-parallel, for example two sets of 20 cells. In such a situation it is also necessary to monitor current flow between parallel strings, as current may circulate between the strings to balance out the effects of weak cells, dead cells with high resistance, or shorted cells. For example, stronger strings can discharge through weaker strings until voltage imbalances are equalized, and this must be factored into the individual inter-cell measurements within each string.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Battery strings wired in series-parallel can develop unusual failure modes due to interactions between the multiple parallel strings. Defective batteries in one string can adversely affect the operation and lifespan of good or new batteries in other strings. These issues also apply to other situations where series-parallel strings are used, not just in UPS systems but also in electric vehicle applications.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: The only way to prevent these subtle series-parallel string interactions is by not using parallel strings at all and using separate charge controllers and inverters for individual series strings.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: Even just a single string of batteries wired in series can have adverse interactions if new batteries are mixed with old batteries. Older batteries tend to have reduced storage capacity, and so will both discharge faster than new batteries and also charge to their maximum capacity more rapidly than new batteries.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: As a mixed string of new and old batteries is depleted, the string voltage will drop, and when the old batteries are exhausted the new batteries still have charge available. The newer cells may continue to discharge through the rest of the string, but due to the low voltage this energy flow may not be useful, and may be wasted in the old cells as resistance heating.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: For cells that are supposed to operate within a specific discharge window, new cells with more capacity may cause the old cells in the series string to continue to discharge beyond the safe bottom limit of the discharge window, damaging the old cells.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: When recharged, the old cells recharge more rapidly, leading to a rapid rise of voltage to near the fully charged state, but before the new cells with more capacity have fully recharged. The charge controller detects the high voltage of a nearly fully charged string and reduces current flow. The new cells with more capacity now charge very slowly, so slowly that the chemicals may begin to crystallize before reaching the fully charged state, reducing new cell capacity over several charge/discharge cycles until their capacity more closely matches the old cells in the series string.


title: Uninterruptible power supply

text: For such reasons, some industrial UPS management systems recommend periodic replacement of entire battery arrays potentially using hundreds of expensive batteries, due to these damaging interactions between new batteries and old batteries, within and across series and parallel strings.


title: Moomins

text: The Moomins () are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of white, round fairy-tale characters with large snouts that make them resemble the hippopotamus. However, despite this resemblance, the Moomin family are trolls. The family live in their house in Moominvalley and have had many adventures with their various friends.


title: Moomins

text: In all, nine books were released in the series, together with five picture books and a comic strip being released between 1945 and 1993.


title: Moomins

text: The Moomins have since been the basis for numerous television series, films and even two theme parks: one called Moomin World in Naantali, Finland, and another Akebono Children's Forest Park in Hannō, Saitama, Japan.


title: Moomins

text: In a letter to Paul Ariste, an Estonian linguist, Jansson wrote in 1973 that she had created an artificial word which expresses something soft. She came up with an ad hoc Swedish word , because, in her opinion, the consonant sound of "m" in particular conveys a sensation of softness. As an artist, Jansson gave the Moomins a shape that also expresses softness, as opposed to flabbiness.


title: Moomins

text: The Moomin stories concern several eccentric and oddly-shaped characters, some of whom are related to each other. The central family consists of Moominpappa, Moominmamma and Moomintroll.


title: Moomins

text: Other characters, such as Hemulens, Sniff, the Snork Maiden, Snufkin and Little My are accepted into or attach themselves to the family group from time to time, generally living separate lives in the surrounding Moominvalley, where the series is set, and in which the Moomin family decides to live at the end of "The Moomins and the Great Flood".


title: Moomins

text: Critics have interpreted various Moomin characters as being inspired by real people, especially members of the author's family, and Tove Jansson spoke in interviews about the backgrounds of, and possible models for, her characters. The first two books about the Moomins were published in 1945 and 1946 respectively, and deal with natural disasters; they were influenced by the upheavals of war and Jansson's depression during the war years.


title: Moomins

text: Tove Jansson's life partner was the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä, whose personality inspired the character Too-Ticky in "Moominland Midwinter". Moomintroll and Little My have been seen as psychological self-portraits of the artist. The Moomins, generally speaking, relate strongly to Jansson's own family – they were bohemian, lived close to nature and were very tolerant towards diversity. Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as portraits of Jansson's parents Viktor Jansson and Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. Most of Jansson's characters are on the verge of melancholy, such as the always formal Hemulen, or the strange Hattifatteners, who travel in concerted, ominous groups. Jansson uses the differences between the characters' philosophies to provide a venue for her satirical impulses.


title: Moomins

text: All of the books in the main series except "The Moomins and the Great Flood" (Originally: "Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen") were translated and published in English during the 1960s and 70s. This first book would eventually be translated into English in 2005 by David McDuff and published by Schildts of Finland for the 60th anniversary of the series. A later 2012 version of the same translation, featuring Jansson's new preface to the 1991 Scandinavian printing, was published in Britain by Sort of Books, and was more widely distributed.


title: Moomins

text: The first official translation of "Villain in the Moominhouse" by Tove Jansson historian Ant O'Neill was premiered in a reading at the ArchWay With Words literary festival on 25 September 2017.


title: Moomins

text: The books and comic strips have been translated from their original Swedish and English respectively into many languages. The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My is the first Moomin book to be adapted for iPad.


title: Moomins

text: The Moomins also appeared in the form of comic strips. Their first appearance was in 1947 in the children's section of the "Ny Tid" newspaper, and they were introduced internationally to English readers in 1954 in the popular London newspaper "The Evening News". Tove Jansson drew and wrote all the strips until 1959. She shared the work load with her brother Lars Jansson until 1961; after that he took over the job until 1975 when the last strip was released.


title: Moomins

text: Drawn & Quarterly, a Canadian graphic novel publisher, released reprints of all "The Evening News" strips created by both Tove and Lars Jansson beginning in October 2006. The first five volumes, "Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip" have been published, whilst the sixth volume, published in May 2011, began "Moomin: The Complete Lars Jansson Comic Strip". The 2015 publication "Moomin: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition" collected all of Tove's work.


title: Moomins

text: In the 1990s, a comic book version of Moomin was produced in Scandinavia after Dennis Livson and Lars Jansson's animated series was shown on television. Neither Tove nor Lars Jansson had any involvement in these comic books; however, in the wake of the series, two new Moomin comic strips were launched under the artistic and content oversight of Lars and his daughter, Sophia Jansson-Zambra. Sophia now provides sole oversight for the strips.


title: Moomins

text: The story of the Moomins has been made into television series on many occasions by various groups, possibly the most well known of which is a Japanese–Dutch collaboration, that has also produced a feature-length film. However, there are also two Soviet serials, puppet animation "Mumi-troll" ("Moomintroll") and cutout animation "Shlyapa Volshebnika" ("Magician's Hat") of three parts each, and the Polish–Austrian puppet animation TV series, "The Moomins", which was broadcast and became popular in an edited form in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.


title: Moomins

text: Two feature films re-use the footage of the Polish-Austrian series: "Moomin and Midsummer Madness" had its release in 2008, and in 2010 the Moomins appear in the first Nordic 3-D film production, with the title song by Björk, in "Moomins and the Comet Chase". The animated film titled "Moomins on the Riviera" is based on Moomin comic strip story "Moomin on the Riviera" and was first released on 10 October 2014 in Finland and made its premiere on 11 October 2014 at BFI London Film Festival in United Kingdom. In an October 2014 blog article at Screendaily, Sophia Jansson states that the film's "artistic team has made an effort to be true to the original drawings and the original text".


title: Moomins

text: The Moomin novels describe the musical activities of the Moomins, particularly those of Snufkin, his harmonica with "trills" and "twiddles". All Moomin characters sing songs, often about their thoughts and themselves. The songs often serve as core statements of the characters' personalities.


title: Moomins

text: This music was heard outside Moominvalley after they went live on theater stage in Stockholm. Director Vivica Bandler told Jansson in 1959: "Listen, here the people want songs". The earlier version of the play was cast in Helsinki with no music.


title: Moomins

text: Helsinki based pianist and composer Erna Tauro was commissioned to write the songs to lyrics by Jansson. The first collection consisted of six Moomin Songs ("Sex muminvisor"): Moomintroll's Song ("Mumintrollets visa"), Little My's Song ("Lilla Mys visa"), Mrs. Fillyjonk's Song ("Fru Filifjonks sång"), Theater Rat Emma's Words of Wisdom ("Teaterråttan Emmas visdomsord"), Misabel's Lament ("Misans klagolåt") and Final Song ("Slutsång").


title: Moomins

text: More songs were published in the 1960s and 1970s, when Jansson and Lars Jansson produced a series of Moomin dramas for Swedish Television. The simple, yet effective melodies by Tauro were well received by the theater and TV audiences. The first songs were either sung unaccompanied or accompanied by a pianist. While the most famous Moomin songs in Scandinavia are undoubtedly "Moomintroll's Song" and "Little My's Song", they appear in no context in the novels.


title: Moomins

text: The original songs by Jansson and Tauro remained scattered after their initial release. The first recording of the complete collection was made in 2003 by composer and arranger Mika Pohjola on the "Moomin Voices" CD ("Muminröster" in Swedish), as a tribute to the late Tove Jansson. Tauro had died in June 1993 and some of Jansson's last lyrics were composed by Pohjola in cooperation with Jansson's heirs. Pohjola was also the arranger of all songs for a vocal ensemble and chamber orchestra. All voices were sung by Åland native vocalist, Johanna Grüssner. The same recording has been released in a Finnish version in 2005, "Muumilauluja". The Finnish lyrics were translated by Kirsi Kunnas and Vexi Salmi.


title: Moomins

text: The Swedish and Finnish recordings of Moomin Voices, and their respective musical scores, have been used as course material at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.


title: Moomins

text: The Moomin Voices Live Band (aka. "Muumilauluja-bändi") is dedicated to exclusively performing the original lyrics and unaltered stories by Tove Jansson. This band is led by Pohjola on piano, with vocalists Mirja Mäkelä and Eeppi Ursin.


title: Moomins

text: Independent musical interpretations of the Moomins have been made for the nineties anime, by Pierre Kartner, with translated versions being made including in Poland and the Nordic countries. Their lyrics, however, often contain simple slogans and the music is written in a children's pop music style and contrast sharply with the original Moomin novels and Jansson's pictorial and descriptive, yet rhyming lyricism, as well as Erna Tauro's Scandinavian-style songs ("visor"), which are occasionally influenced by Kurt Weill.


title: Moomins

text: A Moomin opera was written in 1974 by the Finnish composer Ilkka Kuusisto; Jansson designed the costumes.


title: Moomins

text: Musicscapes from Moominvalley is a four-part work based on the Moomin compositions of composer and producer Heikki Mäenpää. It was created on the basis of the original Moomin works for the Tampere Art Museum.


title: Moomins

text: Twenty new Moomin songs were produced in Finland by Timo Poijärvi and Ari Vainio in 2006. This Finnish album contains no original lyrics by Jansson. However, it is based on the novel, Comet in Moominland, and adheres to the original stories. The songs are performed by Samuli Edelmann, Sani, Tommi Läntinen, Susanna Haavisto and Jore Marjaranta and other established Finnish vocalists in the pop/entertainment genre. The same twenty compositions are also available as standalone multimedia CD postcards.


title: Moomins

text: The Icelandic singer Björk has composed and performed the title song (Comet Song) for the film Moomins and the Comet Chase (2010). The lyrics were written by the Icelandic writer Sjón.


title: Moomins

text: In 2010, Russian composer Lex Plotnikoff (founder of symphonic metal band Mechanical Poet) released a new-age music album "Hattifatteners: Stories from the Clay Shore", accompanied by photos of moomin characters models by photographer/sculptor Tisha Razumovsky. Due to copyright issues, the album was later re-released as "Mistland Prattlers", with references to Moomins removed.


title: Moomins

text: Several stage productions have been made from Jansson's Moomin series, including a number that Jansson herself was involved in.


title: Moomins

text: The earliest production was a 1949 theatrical version of "Comet in Moominland" performed at Åbo Svenska Teater.


title: Moomins

text: In the early 1950s, Jansson collaborated on Moomin-themed children's plays with Vivica Bandler. By 1958, Jansson began to become directly involved in theater as Lilla Teater produced "Troll i kulisserna" ("Troll in the wings"), a Moomin play with lyrics by Jansson and music composed by Erna Tauro. The production was a success, and later performances were held in Sweden and Norway, including recently at the Malmö Opera and Music Theatre in 2011.


title: Moomins

text: Mischief and Mystery in Moominvalley, a production created by Get Lost and Found which included puppetry and a giant pop-up book set, toured the UK from 2018, with runs at London's Southbank Centre, Kew Gardens and the Manchester Literature Festival. This production was written by Emma Edwards and Sophie Ellen Powell with puppets and set designed and made by Annie Brooks.


title: Moomins

text: In 2000, "Moomin's Tale", developed and published by Sunsoft, was released for Game Boy Color. The game is based on the 1990 TV series, and there are six different stories in the game, all of which are played by the Moomintroll.


title: Moomins

text: On November 3, 2021, the upcoming "Moomin" video game called "" was announced. The game would be played on Snufkin and is a music-themed adventure game. The game will be developed by Norwegian-based indie game company Hyper Games. The game will be released for PC and console in 2023.


title: Moomins

text: Moomin World ("Muumimaailma" in Finnish, "Muminvärlden" in Swedish) is the Moomin Theme Park especially for children. Moomin World is located on the island of Kailo beside the old town of Naantali, near the city of Turku in Western Finland.


title: Moomins

text: The blueberry-coloured Moomin House is the main attraction; tourists are allowed to freely visit all five stories. It is also possible to see the Hemulen's yellow house, Moominmama's kitchen, the Fire Station, Snufkin's Camp, Moominpappa's boat, etc. Visitors may also meet Moomin characters there. Moomin World opens for the Summer season.


title: Moomins

text: On December 26, 2020, the underground Moomin Ice Cave theme park was opened 30 meters underneath the Spa Hotel Vesileppis in Leppävirta ( south of Kuopio). The Moomin Ice Cave includes Moomin-themed ice sculptures, downhill skiing and other activities for families with children.


title: Moomins

text: The Moominvalley of the Tampere Art Museum is a museum devoted to the original works of Tove Jansson. It contains around 2,000 works. The museum is based on the Moomin books and has many original Moomin illustrations by Tove Jansson. The gem of the collection is a blue five-storey model of the Moominhouse, which had Tove Jansson as one of its builders. As a birthday present, the 20-year-old museum received a soundscape work based on the works of Tove Jansson, called Musicscapes from Moominvalley.


title: Moomins

text: An interactive playroom about the Moomins was located at Scandinavia House, New York City, from November 11, 2006, till March 31, 2007.


title: Moomins

text: , also called "Moomin Valley", is a Moomin themed park for children in Hannō, Saitama in Japan that opened in July, 1997. Tove Jansson had already in the 1970s given her personal permission to the city of Hannō to build a small Moomin-themed playground there.


title: Moomins

text: First announced in 2013, a new Moomin theme park was opened in March 2019 at Lake Miyazawa, Hannō. There are two zones: the free Metsä Village area, comprising lakefront restaurants and shops set among natural activities, and the Moomin-themed zone offering attractions like Moominhouse and an art museum.


title: Moomins

text: The theme park has become very popular, with more than one million visitors during the first three months in 2019.


title: Moomins

text: As of January 2019, there are 20 Moomin Shops around the world, offering an extensive range of Moomin-themed goods. Finland, home of the Moomins, has three stores. There are two stores in the UK, one in the US, six in Japan. China and Hong Kong each have one store. There are three in South Korea and three in Thailand.


title: Moomins

text: As of January 2018, there are 15 themed Moomin Cafes around the world – Finland, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan – allowing diners to immerse themselves in the Moomin world. Diners can enjoy Moomin-inspired meals sitting at tables with larger-than-life plush versions of Moomin characters.


title: Moomins

text: The Moomin Boom ( in Finnish) started in the 1990s, when Dennis Livson and Lars Jansson produced a 104-part animation series in Japan named "Tales from Moominvalley", which was followed by a full-length movie "Comet in Moominland". Moomin books had always been steady bestsellers in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but the animation started a new Moomin madness both in Finland and abroad, especially in Japan, where they are the official mascots of the Daiei chain of shopping centers. A large merchandising industry was built around the Moomin characters, covering everything from coffee cups and T-shirts to plastic models. Even the former Finnish President Tarja Halonen has been known to wear a Moomin watch. New Moomin comic books and comic strips were published. Moomins were used to advertise Finland abroad: the Helsinki–Vantaa International Airport was decorated with Moomin images and Finnair decorated its aircraft on routes to Japan with Moomin designs. The peak of the Moomin Boom was the opening of the Moomin World theme park in Naantali, Finland, which has become one of Finland's international tourist destinations.


title: Moomins

text: The Moomin Boom has been criticized for commercializing the Moomins. Friends of Tove Jansson and many old Moomin enthusiasts have stressed that the newer animations banalize the original and philosophical Moomin world to harmless family entertainment. An antithesis for the Disneyland-like Moomin World theme park is the Moomin Museum of Tampere, which exhibits the original illustrations and hand-made Moomin models by Tove Jansson.


title: Moomins

text: The Jansson family has kept the rights of Moomins and controlled the Moomin Boom. The artistic control is now in the hands of Lars Jansson's daughter, Sophia Jansson-Zambra. Wanting to keep the control over Moomins, the family has turned down offers from the Walt Disney Company.


title: Gladiator

text: A gladiator (, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death.


title: Gladiator

text: Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout the Roman world.


title: Gladiator

text: The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, and thereafter it rapidly became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Roman world. Its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games.


title: Gladiator

text: The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years, reaching their peak between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Christians disapproved of the games because they involved idolatrous pagan rituals, and the popularity of gladatorial contests declined in the fifth century, leading to their disappearance.


title: Gladiator

text: Early literary sources seldom agree on the origins of gladiators and the gladiator games. In the late 1st century BC, Nicolaus of Damascus believed they were Etruscan. A generation later, Livy wrote that they were first held in 310 BC by the Campanians in celebration of their victory over the Samnites. Long after the games had ceased, the 7th century AD writer Isidore of Seville derived Latin "lanista" (manager of gladiators) from the Etruscan word for "executioner", and the title of "Charon" (an official who accompanied the dead from the Roman gladiatorial arena) from Charun, psychopomp of the Etruscan underworld. This was accepted and repeated in most early modern, standard histories of the games.