title: Wellesley College

text: The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) is one of the largest gender-focused social science research-and-action organizations in the United States. Located on and nearby the Wellesley College campus, WCW was established when the Center for Research on Women (founded 1974) and the Stone Center for Development Services and Studies at Wellesley College (founded 1981) merged into a single organization in 1995. It is home to several prominent American feminist scholars, including Jean Kilbourne and Peggy McIntosh. The current executive director of the Wellesley Centers for Women is Layli Maparyan. Since 1974, the Wellesley Centers for Women has produced over 200 scholarly articles and over 100 books.


title: Wellesley College

text: The Wellesley Centers for Women has five key areas of research — education, economic security, mental health, youth and adolescent development, and gender-based violence. WCW is also home to long-standing and highly successful action programs that engage in curriculum development and training, professional development, evaluation, field building, and theory building. Those programs include the National SEED Project, the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, Open Circle, the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, and "Women's Review of Books."


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley's average class size is between 17 and 20 students, with a student-faculty ratio of 8:1. More than 50 departmental and interdepartmental majors are offered.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley offers support to nontraditional aged students through the Elisabeth Kaiser Davis Degree Program, open to students over the age of 24. The program allows women who, for various reasons, were unable to start or complete a bachelor's degree at a younger age to attend Wellesley.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley offers dual degree programs with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Olin College of Engineering, enabling students to receive a Bachelor of Science at those schools in addition to a Bachelor of Arts at Wellesley. Wellesley also has a joint 5-year BA/MA program with Brandeis University's International Business School, which allows qualified Wellesley students to receive a Masters of Arts degree from the school as well as a Bachelor of Arts at Wellesley.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley College offers research collaborations and cross-registration programs with other Boston-area institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Babson College, Olin College, and Brandeis University.


title: Wellesley College

text: The 2020 annual ranking of "U.S. News & World Report" categorizes admission to Wellesley as "most selective". For the Class of 2023 (enrolling fall 2019), the middle 50% range of SAT scores was 680–750 for evidence-based reading and 680–780 for math, while the middle 50% range for the ACT composite score was 31–34 for enrolled first-year students. For the incoming class of 2026, Wellesley received a record number of applications, totaling over 8,700 applications, and 13% of applicants were offered admission.


title: Wellesley College

text: The college's admissions policy was updated in 2015 to allow trans women and non-binary people assigned female at birth to be considered for admittance. While transgender and non-binary students have attended the college since its inception, media outlets recognize that the first Wellesley students who applied as out transgender women enrolled in Fall 2017.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley began its program for non-traditional students in 1971 when the Continuing Education Program was launched. This program was renamed in 1991 for Elisabeth Kaiser Davis, a member of the Class of 1932. Wellesley allows applicants older than 24 who had begun but have not completed a bachelor's degree to apply to the Elizabeth Kaiser Davis Degree Program. Davis Scholars are fully integrated into the Wellesley community; they take the same classes as traditional students and can choose to live on campus. According to the Wellesley web site, Davis Scholars' "diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives enrich the lives of the whole student body."


title: Wellesley College

text: In its 2021 rankings of national liberal arts colleges in the U.S., "U.S. News & World Report" ranked Wellesley tied for fourth best overall, first for women's colleges, 13th for "best value", tied at 11th for "best undergraduate teaching", and tied at 63rd for "top performers on social mobility".


title: Wellesley College

text: In 2020, "Washington Monthly" ranked Wellesley 13th among 218 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.


title: Wellesley College

text: In addition, "Forbes"' 2019 "America's Top Colleges" ranked the institution 44th among 650 U.S. colleges, service academies and universities. Wellesley College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.


title: Wellesley College

text: Approximately 98% of students live on campus. Some cooperative housing is available, including a sustainable living co-op, a feminist co-op, and a French language house located slightly off-campus. Wellesley offers housing for Davis Scholars as well, though not for their children or spouses, which is a point of frequent debate on campus.


title: Wellesley College

text: The college has four dining halls, one each in Tower Court, Stone-Davis, and Bates Halls, and another in the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center. Additional food options on campus include a convenience store/coffee shop in the Campus Center, a bakery in Claflin Hall, Collins Café outside the movie theater, El Table, a student-run sandwich shop in Founders Hall (an academic building housing many of the humanities classes), and Café Hoop, a student-run cooperative cafe in the basement of the Campus Center that is known for its late hours and queer-friendly environment. Next to Café Hoop is the pub, Punch's Alley, which serves alcohol to those over 21.


title: Wellesley College

text: For more than 50 years, Wellesley has offered a cross-registration program with MIT. Students can participate in research at MIT through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). In recent years, cross-registration opportunities have expanded to include nearby Babson College, Brandeis University, and Olin College of Engineering. To facilitate cross-registration, the Wellesley College Senate bus connects Wellesley to the Harvard University and MIT campuses in Cambridge, Massachusetts; additionally, the college also operates a shuttle to the Babson College and Olin College campuses. It is also a member of a number of exchange programs with other small colleges, including opportunities for students to study a year at Amherst, Connecticut College, Dartmouth, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Trinity, Vassar, Wesleyan, and Wheaton.


title: Wellesley College

text: The college has approximately 180 student organizations, ranging from cultural and political organizations to community service, publications, campus radio, and club sports.


title: Wellesley College

text: WZLY is the college's campus radio station. It is entirely student-run and plays on 91.5 FM in the town of Wellesley and some surrounding areas. Founded in 1942, it holds claim to be the oldest still-running women's college radio station in the country. In the 80s, it earned the nickname "Electric Ladyland" after the Jimi Hendrix album of the same name.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley College does not have any fraternities or sororities; it does, however, have a number of societies centered around common academic interests. There are currently six active societies on campus: Alpha Kappa Chi (the "history" society), Alpha Phi Sigma (the "lecture" society), Tau Zeta Epsilon (the "art and music" society), Zeta Alpha (the "literature" society), Agora Society (the "political science" society), and Shakespeare Society. The societies sponsor many lectures and events on campus and contribute funding to events sponsored by other departments and organizations. They have an application process called "tea-ing", and organize on-campus parties. The majority of students are not members of a society.


title: Wellesley College

text: Publications on campus include "Counterpoint", the monthly journal of campus life; "The Wellesley News", the campus newspaper; "International Relations Council Journal," the internationally oriented campus publication; "The Wellesley Review", the literary magazine; and "W.Collective", the fashion and lifestyle magazine.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley fields 13 varsity sports teams – basketball, crew, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Wellesley does not have a mascot in the traditional sense – its sports teams are referred to both individually and collectively as "the Blue" (the school colors are royal blue and white). Wellesley's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is composed of representatives from the athletic and club teams.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley is a member of the NCAA NCAA Division III and the Eastern Conference Athletic Conference (ECAC) and competes primarily as a member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Additionally, the fencing team competes as a member of the Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC), and the golf team became an associate member of the Liberty League during the 2012–2013 school year. In 1951 Barbara Bruning won the women's individual intercollegiate golf championship (an event conducted by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS) — which later evolved into the current NCAA women's golf championship).


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley is also a member of the Seven Sisters consortium of women's colleges and participates in competitions in cross-country, volleyball, crew, swimming & diving, squash, and tennis.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley Athletics is headquartered out of the Keohane Sports Center (the KSC), named for the former college president Nannerl Keohane. Built in 1985, the KSC features a field house, a pool, squash and racquetball courts, a 200m track, a climbing wall, four indoor tennis courts, and various other exercising areas. It also houses administrative offices. The campus also has four outdoor playing fields and an outdoor track, as well as eight outdoor tennis courts and a boathouse.


title: Wellesley College

text: The Wellesley College Crew Team, affectionately known as "Blue Crew", was founded in 1970 and was the first women's intercollegiate rowing team in the country. In 2016, "Blue Crew" won the NCAA Division III Rowing Championship as a team for the first time in Wellesley history, with their first Varsity boat coming in first place and their second Varsity 8+ boat coming in second place. This historic win marked the first time a team from Wellesley College won a national championship, and also marked the first time a women's college won the NCAA Rowing Championships. In 2022, "Blue Crew" won the NCAA Division III Rowing Championship as a team for the second time in Wellesley history, with their first Varsity boat coming in second place and their second Varsity 8+ coming in second place.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley also fields club teams in archery, alpine & Nordic skiing, equestrian, ice hockey, rugby, sailing, squash, Ultimate Frisbee, and water polo. Squash was originally a varsity sport but was downgraded to a club sport status in 2017. In addition, there is a Quidditch team that competes with teams from other colleges and universities in the area.


title: Wellesley College

text: From 1943 to 1946, Judy Atterbury won multiple national intercollegiate women's tennis championships in both singles (1943, 1946) and doubles (1943, 1944). Nadine Netter won the Eastern Women's College Tournament in 1962, and was the Eastern Intercollegiate Champion and New England Intercollegiate women's Tennis Championship winner in 1965.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley has taken home two team national championships (Blue Crew's win at the NCAA Championships in 2016 and in 2022), three individual national champions, and one individual boat champion in its history. In 1991, Karyn Cooper was the NCAA Tennis Singles Champion. In 2011, Randelle Boots was the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Champion in the mile. In 2015, Maura Sticco-Ivins was the NCAA National Champion in the three-meter diving competition and runner-up in the one-meter diving competition. Sticco-Ivins was named the 2015 NCAA Division III Diver of The Meet. Wellesley College Diving Coach Zach Lichter was voted the 2015 NCAA Division III Female Diving Coach of The Year. In 2022, Ari Marks won the NCAA DIII 10,000 Meter National Championship and the 5000 Meter NCAA DII National Championship. Marks was also named the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track & Field National Track Athlete of the Year. In addition to these three individual champions, in 2016, Wellesley College's first Varsity 8+ boat became a national champion in its event at the NCAA Rowing Championships in Gold River, CA. Wellesley College Crew Team's head coach, Tessa Spillane, was voted the 2015-16 NCAA Division III Rowing Coach of The Year (after having also won the honor in 2010–2011). Additionally, Wellesley College Crew Team's coaching staff (Tessa Spillane, Hannah Woodruff, and Seth Hussey) received the 2015-16 Division III National Coaching Staff of the Year award. In 2022, Wellesley College Crew Team's coaching staff (Tessa Spillane, Emilie Muller, and Emilia Ball '19) were named the 2022 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division III National Coach and Coaching Staff of the Year.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley College has many traditions, some from the late nineteenth century. Some have been modified over time.


title: Wellesley College

text: Hoop rolling is an annual tradition at the college that dates to 1895. Each upperclasswoman has a wooden hoop, often passed down to her from her "big sister". Before graduation, the seniors, wearing their graduation robes, run a short race while rolling their hoops. In the early 20th century, the winner was said to be the first in her class to marry; in the 1980s, the winner was said to become the class's first CEO; and since the 1990 Commencement speech by then-First Lady Barbara Bush, the winner has been said to be the first to achieve success; however, she defines it. The winner is awarded flowers by the president of the college, and then tossed into Lake Waban by her classmates. The tossing of the winner into the lake began several decades ago when a Harvard University male, dressed as a Wellesley student, won the race. When, upon his victory, it was discovered that he wasn't a Wellesley student, he was thrown into the lake. The night before the race, many "little sisters" will camp out on the racecourse near the Library to save a good starting position for their "big sisters".


title: Wellesley College

text: Some other traditions include step-singing, dorm and class crew races, "Lake Day", "Spring Week", "Flower Sunday", and "Marathon Monday". Class trees are one of Wellesley's more visible traditions; each graduating class plants a tree during its sophomore year. Class trees, as they are called, can be found all over the campus, marked with each class year on a stone at the base of the tree. During sophomore year, students also design and purchase class sweatshirts.


title: Wellesley College

text: The Wellesley campus sits just before the halfway mark on the Boston Marathon course, and students come out to cheer runners in what has become known as the "Scream Tunnel". Student have been cheering on runners since the first running of the marathon. In 1966 the school heard word that a woman was running in the race and turned out in numbers in cheer her on. Bobbi Gibb claims to have heard them from half a mile away. The women ran out into the road and raised their arms to form a tunnel. Diana Chapman Walsh, who would later serve as Wellesley president from 1993 to 2007, was present for the 1966 race. “The word spread to all of us lining the route that a woman was running the course. We scanned face after face in breathless anticipation until a ripple of recognition shot through the lines and we cheered as we never had before. We let out a roar that day, sensing that this woman had done more than just break the gender barrier in a famous race.” Once women were officially allowed to register for the 1972 race, the campus cheer tradition became more popular. Students would form a tunnel from 5 to 8 feet wide. Eventually, students were restricted to cheering from the south side of the street.


title: Wellesley College

text: Since 1970, the annual Alumnae Achievement Awards have recognized three alumnae for outstanding achievements in their fields. Recipients have included Lynn Sherr, Diane Sawyer, Pamela Melroy, Judith Martin, Nora Ephron, Ophelia Dahl, Hillary Clinton, and Madeleine Korbel Albright, among many others.


title: Wellesley College

text: The Ruhlman and Tanner Conferences, supported by Wellesley alumnae, are held every year for students to share their learning experiences within the college community. Classes are canceled on these days. The Tanner Conference is held in the fall to celebrate outside-the-classroom education, including internships and summer or winter session research projects. Ruhlman, in the spring, is a chance for students to present projects they've been working on in courses or independent research during the year. Both conferences encompass panels, readings, and multimedia projects.


title: Wellesley College

text: In 2015, 58 percent of all Wellesley students received financial aid; not including outside scholarships, the average grant awarded is $39,000. In 2020-2021, the average annual aid offer was over $56,000. In February 2008, the college stopped offering financial-aid loans to students from families with incomes under $60,000, including international students and Davis Scholars, and it lowered the total amount of student loans by one-third (to a maximum of $8,600 total over four years) to students from families with incomes between $60,000 and $100,000. The maximum loan level for other students on aid is $12,825 total for four years.


title: Wellesley College

text: Of Wellesley's student body, as of 2019 less than half of the students are Caucasian, with roughly one-third of the student body identifying as Asian, and a significant number of Latina and African-American students. Students come from over 60 countries and all 50 states, with 90% of students hailing from outside of Massachusetts.


title: Wellesley College

text: Wellesley's alumnae are represented among business executives and also work in a variety of other fields, ranging from government and public service to the arts. They include the first woman to be named professor of clinical medicine Connie Guion, class of 1906; architect Ann Beha, class of 1972; author Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (author and publisher) class of 1914; astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, class of 1884; archaeologist Josephine Platner Shear, class of 1924; astronaut Pamela Melroy class of 1983; screenwriter Nora Ephron, class of 1962; composers Elizabeth Bell and Natalie Sleeth; and professor and songwriter Katharine Lee Bates. Journalists Callie Crossley, Diane Sawyer, Cokie Roberts, Lynn Sherr, and Michele Caruso-Cabrera also graduated from Wellesley as did Sandra Lynch, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and political scientist Jane Mansbridge, class of 1961. Rebecca Lancefield, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, graduated from Wellesley, as did Alice Ames Winter (B.A. 1886; M.A. 1889), president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Adaline Emerson Thompson, class of 1880, later served as a trustee for twenty years.


title: Wellesley College

text: Both Madeleine Albright ('59), and Hillary Rodham Clinton ('69), have spoken about the formative impact their Wellesley experiences had on their careers. During her life, Secretary Albright returned annually to campus to lead the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs, a month-long pedagogical seminar where students learn more about global affairs through analysis and action. Additionally, three U.S. ambassadors (Julieta Valls Noyes, Anne Patterson, and Michele Sison) are Wellesley alumnae. Soong Mei-ling (also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek), the former First Lady of China, graduated from Wellesley.


title: Wellesley College

text: Other notable Wellesley graduates who have received the college's Alumnae Achievement Award include: Anna Medora Baetjer '20, public health expert, physiologist, toxicologist; Marian Burros '54, journalist, food writer; Sally Carrighar '22, writer, naturalist; Elyse Cherry '75, an entrepreneur, financial, and social equity activist; Suzanne Ciani '68, electronic music composer, recording artist; Phyllis Curtin '43, opera singer; Jocelyn Gill '38, astronomer; Marjory Stoneman Douglas '12, environmental activist, author; Persis Drell '77, particle physicist; Nora Ephron '62, writer and director; Helen Hays '53, ornithologist; Dorothea Jameson '42, psychologist; Jean Kilbourne '64, media educator; Judith Martin '59, (pen name Miss Manners) author; Nergis Mavalvala '90, a quantum astrophysicist; Lorraine O'Grady '55, conceptual artist and cultural critic; Santha Rama Rau '45, writer; Marilyn Yalom '54, historian, feminist scholar; and Patricia Zipprodt '46, costume designer.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Kiss the Girls is a 1997 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Cary Elwes. The screenplay by David Klass is based on James Patterson's best-selling 1995 novel of the same name. A sequel titled "Along Came a Spider" was released in 2001.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Washington, D.C. detective and forensic psychologist Alex Cross heads to Durham, North Carolina when his niece Naomi, a college student, is reported missing. He learns from police detective Nick Ruskin that Naomi is the latest in a series of young women who have vanished. Soon after his arrival, one of the missing women is found dead, bound to a tree, and a short time later, Kate McTiernan is kidnapped from her home.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: When she awakens from a drugged state, Kate discovers that she is being held by a masked man calling himself Casanova, and she is one of several prisoners trapped in his lair. She manages to escape and is severely injured when she jumps from a cliff into a river. After she recuperates, she joins forces with Cross to track down her captor, whom Cross concludes is a collector, not a killer, unless his victims fail to follow his rules. This means there is time to rescue the other imprisoned women, as long as they remain obedient.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Clues lead them to Los Angeles, where a series of gruesome kidnappings and murders have been credited to Dr. William Rudolph, known as the Gentleman Caller. Cross's efforts to capture and question Rudolph are foiled when Rudolph escapes. In North Carolina, Cross traces Casanova up the river. Alerted by a gunshot, he discovers Casanova's underground hideout. Rudolph is revealed to be Casanova's partner. Casanova escapes, while Rudolph is shot by Cross. Cross rescues the kidnapped women, including Naomi.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Later, Kate invites Cross to dinner at her house. Ruskin drops by Kate's house and sends home the two officers guarding her. While Cross is at home preparing to meet Kate for dinner, he discovers that Ruskin's signature on the arrest warrants matches Casanova's handwriting. Cross tries calling Kate to inform her, but Ruskin has already disconnected her phone line. Kate becomes suspicious of Ruskin while conversing with him. He then drops his accent, revealing he is Casanova. After a fight and attempted rape, Kate manages to handcuff him to the oven. Ruskin slashes Kate's arm with a kitchen knife. In attempting to free himself, Ruskin pulls the oven away from the wall, rupturing the gas pipe. Ruskin takes out a lighter, threatening to cause an explosion due to the leaking gas. Cross shows up and tries to discourage Ruskin. When this fails, Cross shoots Ruskin, firing through a milk carton to avoid igniting the gas. Cross comforts Kate as the police arrive.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Principal photography began on April 16, 1996. The film shot two weeks on location in North Carolina on the streets of Durham, in nearby county parks, and outside a Chapel Hill, North Carolina residence. The police station was constructed in a downtown Durham warehouse. The majority of filming occurred in the Los Angeles area, with locations including the Disney Ranch, The Athenaeum at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, a house in the Adams historic district of Los Angeles, and on the campus of the University of Southern California in University Park. Designed by American production designer Nelson Coates, the majority of the sets, including the tunnels and underground chambers, were constructed in sound stages on the Paramount Studios lot. Filming was completed on July 10, 1996.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: The film premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in September 1997 before opening on 2,271 screens in the US the following month. It earned $13,215,167 in its opening weekend and a total of $60,527,873 in the US, ranking #30 in domestic revenue for the year.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: The film was not shown in some theaters in central Virginia at the time of release, due to the unsolved murders of three teenage girls in the area. This decision was out of respect for the families and surrounding communities. The murders were eventually solved and attributed to Richard Evonitz.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: The film received negative reviews and has a "Rotten" rating of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes from 33 reviews with the consensus: "Detective Alex Cross makes his inauspicious cinematic debut in "Kiss the Girls", a clunky thriller that offers few surprises."


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" said the film "is cut from the same cloth as "The Silence of the Lambs", but the piece of material it uses has the uneven shape and dangling threads of a discarded remnant... [It] begins promisingly, then loses its direction as the demand for accelerated action overtakes narrative logic." Holden writes of Morgan Freeman that he "projects a kindness, patience and canny intelligence that cut against the movie's fast pace and pumped-up shock effects. His performance is so measured it makes you want to believe in the movie much more than its gimmicky jerry-rigged "[sic]" plot ever permits."


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: In the "Chicago Sun-Times", Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars and said, "David Klass, the screenwriter, gives Freeman and Judd more specific dialogue than is usual in thrillers; they sound as if they might actually be talking with each other and not simply advancing plot points... [They] are so good, you almost wish they'd decided not to make a thriller at all - had simply found a way to construct a drama exploring their personalities."


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" called the film "a tense, scary, perversely creepy thriller" and added, "David Klass ... blessedly deletes the graphic descriptions of torture and rape included in the novel. Unfortunately, he also neglects to include any explanation of Casanova's behavior. Otherwise "Kiss the Girls" does what it's supposed to do. A solid second film from director Gary Fleder, it's sure to set pulses racing and spines tingling." In the same newspaper, Desson Howe felt "The movie ... operates on the crime-movie equivalent of automatic pilot. It takes off, flies and lands without much creative intervention."


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: In the "San Francisco Chronicle", Peter Stack thought "the story ... goes on too long. It has too many confusing plot twists and keeps losing energy. Blame it on Hollywood excess, or director Gary Fleder's uncertain hand. A cut of 15 minutes would have helped." He was more impressed by the film's stars, calling Morgan Freeman "compelling" and "a hero of extraordinary power that comes almost entirely from his unemotional, calculating calm," and stating that Ashley Judd "gives the sometimes plodding drama a dose of intense vitality. This young actress is getting awfully good at turning potentially gelatinous characters into substantive people who spark viewer interest."


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Judd was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Drama at the 1998 Satellite Awards.


title: Kiss the Girls (1997 film)

text: Four years after "Kiss the Girls", a film adaptation of "Along Came a Spider" was released. Morgan Freeman reprised his role. Later, the franchise was rebooted with a 2012 adaptation of the novel "Cross", titled "Alex Cross", starring Tyler Perry in the titular role.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Quadriga Fintech Solutions was the owner and operator of QuadrigaCX, which was believed to be Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange. In 2019 the exchange ceased operations and the company filed for bankruptcy with C$215.7 million in liabilities and about C$28 million in assets.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: The company's CEO and founder, Gerald William Cotten, allegedly died in 2018 after traveling to India. Up to C$250 million (US$190 million) in cryptocurrency owed to 115,000 customers was missing or could not be accessed because only Cotten held the password to off-line cold wallets.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Quadriga likely never invested the funds entrusted to it, according to Chainalysis, a cryptocurrency tracking firm. Either the funds were never received or quickly went missing. "What Quadriga really did with the money that customers gave it to buy Bitcoin remains a mystery," according to Chainalysis.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Ernst & Young was appointed as an independent monitor while Quadriga was granted temporary legal protection from its creditors under the "Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act". On 8 April 2019 the firm entered bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as the possibility of a successful reorganization appeared to be remote.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were reportedly investigating the company. Lawyers for the customers of the exchange have asked that Cotten's body be exhumed.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Gerald Cotten (born 11 May 1988) lived in Belleville, Ontario before attending the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. He graduated from York with a bachelor of business administration in 2010. He learned about Bitcoin in Toronto and travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he founded Quadriga in November 2013 with Michael Patryn.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Quadriga started by doing only local trades. Their online exchange launched after the first month. In January 2014 they installed the second Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver. In 2014 only C$7.4-million worth of bitcoin were exchanged on Quadriga. In a 2014 interview, founder Gerald Cotten explained that the company stored customer funds on paper wallets in safe deposit boxes: "So we just send money to them, we don’t need to go back to the bank every time we want to put money into it. We just send money from our Bitcoin app directly to those paper wallets, and keep it safe that way."


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: The company tried to raise money and list on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) working with Patryn. The company raised C$850,000 but cancelled plans to list on the exchange in early 2016. Quadriga had four employees in 2015 with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, but ran out of money by June 2015.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: In 2016, Cotten became the sole director of Quadriga when all the other directors resigned. Other than a few contractors, it had no employees, offices or bank accounts thereafter.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: In 2017, Bitcoin experienced a speculative frenzy rising in price from about US$1,000 to almost US$20,000. About C$1.2-billion worth of bitcoin was exchanged on Quadriga. While the large increase in volume increased commissions, it also caused cash-flow problems due to the exchange's reliance on external payment processors and its lack of a proper accounting system. In June 2017, Quadriga announced that they had lost ethereum worth US$14 million due to a smart contract error.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Throughout 2018, as Bitcoin prices crashed, customers of the exchange reported delays when attempting to withdraw dollars. C$28 million held by Costodian, a Quadriga payment processor, was frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in January 2018. CIBC stated that they could not determine the ownership of the money and could not contact Cotten or Quadriga. In November 2018 the case was decided with the accounts going to the court to decide the ownership individually. Neither Costodian or Quadriga could access the funds.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: According to court filings, Quadriga also used WB21 as a payment processor. Michael Gastauer, Chief Executive of WB21, has been named in a civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a US$165 million fraud. Another payment processor used by Quadriga, Crypto Capital, was named in a civil suit filed by the New York Attorney General in April 2019. In that case, $851 million entrusted to Crypto Capital had been "lost, stolen or absconded with", according to the suit.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Quadriga used an unusual teller-window system for customers to withdraw their money. Rather than pay customers via bank wires, they were told to come to a nondescript building in Laval, Quebec to pick up the cash. Customers reported that once they arrived, there was nobody in the office, or that there was no cash to be disbursed.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: In January 2019 Ernst & Young reported that Quadriga did not have a bank account, but instead used third-party payment processors. It apparently had no formal accounting system. The business was run from Cotten's encrypted laptop from Cotten's home in Fall River, Nova Scotia.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Quadriga co-founder Michael Patryn was identified by "The Globe and Mail" as Omar Dhanani, who was convicted on identity theft charges in the U.S. and served 18 months in Federal prison. Dhanani also had pleaded guilty to burglary and grand theft charges and had been deported to Canada. Bloomberg also identified Patryn as Dhanani, showing that he had officially changed his name from Omar Dhanani to Omar Patryn in British Columbia in March 2003 and changed it again to Michael Patryn in October 2008.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: According to Jennifer Robertson, Cotten's widow, he died on 9 December 2018 while travelling in India. She had accompanied him to a hospital in Jaipur the previous day and he was diagnosed with septic shock, perforation, peritonitis, and intestinal obstruction. On the 9th, he allegedly died after episodes of cardiac arrest. On 10 December, a death certificate was issued by the local municipality as well as a "no objection certificate" from the police to return the body to Nova Scotia.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Robertson filed an affidavit on behalf of the company which included a "Statement of Death" for Cotten, filed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 12 December 2018. It also stated that Quadriga has 363,000 registered users and a sum of C$250 million is owed to 115,000 affected users.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Cotten's will was signed 27 November 2018, twelve days before he allegedly died. It left Robertson the entire C$9.6-million estate and named her as the trustee. The estate includes an airplane, a sailboat, a 2017 Lexus, and real estate in Nova Scotia and Kelowna, British Columbia. A C$100,000 trust fund was made to provide lifelong care for Cotten's two chihuahuas in case of Robertson's death.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: On 14 January 2019, Quadriga announced that their CEO, Gerald Cotten, had died the month prior from Crohn's disease while doing volunteer work at an orphanage in India. After the exchange was put into maintenance mode for several days in January, they announced on the 31st that they were applying for creditor protection. According to an affidavit by the CEO's widow, approximately 115,000 customers are owed C$250 million (US$190 million), most of which was cryptocurrency held in Quadriga's cold wallet in the laptop that only the deceased CEO had access to. Blockchain analysts have reported that they are unable to find evidence of Quadriga's cold wallets on the blockchain, a public ledger used for cryptocurrencies.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: According to some of Cotten's family members, there was a crypto "Dead man's switch" that would provide Quadriga with operating information in the event of his death; however, "neither the monitor nor others involved with the organization are aware of a dead-man switch email having been received."


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Ernst & Young found five Quadriga cold wallet addresses, but they were empty, containing no cryptocurrency since April 2018. Another "appears to have been used to receive Bitcoin from another cryptocurrency exchange account and subsequently transfer Bitcoin to the Quadriga hot wallet" on 3 December. Another three empty wallets were believed to possibly be owned by Quadriga. Fourteen trading accounts that were also examined were used to trade on other exchanges.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Some Reddit users have suggested that Cotten faked his own death in order to defraud customers through an exit scam, while others believe that Cotten's death exposed a Ponzi scheme. On 13 December 2019, the court-appointed law firm representing the exchange's former users sent a letter to the RCMP asking that they exhume Cotten's body to confirm his identity and verify a cause of death.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: In June 2020, the Ontario Securities Commission officially concluded that Quadriga was indeed a fraud and a Ponzi scheme. It stated that Gerald Cotten committed fraud by opening accounts under aliases and crediting himself with fictitious currency and crypto asset balances, which he traded with unsuspecting clients and that "What happened at Quadriga was an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology." The Official Ontario Securities report on Quadriga is attached here.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Gerald Cotten's widow has maintained that she knew nothing about her husband's activities and agreed to forfeit $12 million in assets.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: On 5 February, 2019, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Wood ordered a "30-day stay that precludes filing of claims against Quadriga", which is a temporary legal protection from its creditors under the "Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act", a legal status that allows insolvent corporations to restructure their business and financial affairs. Meanwhile, in order to manage the finances of the company during the process, a third-party monitor, Ernst & Young, was appointed. Aaron Matthews served as Director of Operations.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Ernst & Young reported on 6 February 2019 that C$468,675 (US$354,300) of bitcoin were "inadvertently" sent to an inaccessible cold wallet.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: On 5 March 2019, Justice Wood extended Quadriga's court protection to 23 April. He appointed Peter Wedlake of Grant Thornton to be chief restructuring officer. Quadriga's customers are owed C$260 million in cryptocurrency and cash. A C$24.7 million disbursement fund has been planned with C$300,000 to go to Cotten's widow, Jennifer Robertson, who advanced that amount to start the court proceedings; C$200,000 will go to Ernst & Young and another C$250,000 to its lawyers; C$229,842 will go to Quadriga's lawyers; and C$17,000 to independent contractors.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: Quadriga's lawyer, the firm Stewart McKelvey, withdrew from the case due to a potential conflict of interest.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: A documentary titled "" about the story of Gerald Cotten premiered at the 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: The CBC released a 6-episode podcast about Quadriga and the death of its founder called "A Death in Cryptoland". The podcast was hosted by Takara Small.


title: Quadriga Fintech Solutions

text: An 2021 8-episode podcast entitled "Exit Scam" followed the buildup of Quadriga, and investigated whether Gerald Cotten had faked his own death. The podcast was reported by Aaron Lammer and Lane Brown.


title: Saber Interactive

text: Saber Interactive Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded in 2001 with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Saber was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2020, making the studio a direct subsidiary. The company employs over 1,350 people.


title: Saber Interactive

text: Saber Interactive was founded in 2001 by Andrey Iones, Matthew Karch, and Anton Krupkin. Together they created a 3D engine from scratch, gathered a team of artists from Saint Petersburg, Russia and began working on their first game, Will Rock. After the release of Will Rock, Saber developed their proprietary game engine, Saber3D, which was used in their second title, "TimeShift" (2007). The Saber3D engine has since been continuously updated and evolved for use in current games.


title: Saber Interactive

text: In 2010, Saber was approached by Microsoft's 343 Industries to remake "" for the game's tenth anniversary. This would be Saber's first involvement in a major franchise and COO Andrey Iones considered it "an opportunity that we couldn’t miss". To maintain the original game experience, Saber used the original engine for game play and the Saber3D engine for visuals. "" was released on November 15, 2011 to positive reviews. Saber then assisted in 2014 on the development of "".


title: Saber Interactive

text: On August 1, 2016, Saber Interactive opened its first internal studio outside of Russia in Madrid. This was the beginning of a major international expansion, with Saber opening studios in Sundsvall, Sweden (by buying porting studio Binary Motion), and Minsk, Belarus.


title: Saber Interactive

text: CDProjekt RED partnered with Saber in 2018 on the Nintendo Switch port of "". The port was released on October 15, 2019 to positive reviews highlighting the performance and playability.


title: Saber Interactive

text: On April 16, 2019, Saber launched "World War Z". The game sold over one million units in its first week of release.


title: Saber Interactive

text: In October 2019, Saber Interactive acquired Bigmoon Entertainment, a game development studio of forty people based in Porto, Portugal, and rebranded the studio as Saber Porto.


title: Saber Interactive

text: Saber was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2020 in a deal worth US$525 million. Under the deal, Saber became the fifth direct subsidiary under Embracer and maintains autonomy. Post-acquisition, Matthew Karch continues to serve as chief executive officer and Andrey Iones as chief operating officer. After joining Embracer, Saber became a platform for future acquisitions of other studios.


title: Saber Interactive

text: In August 2020, Saber Interactive acquired 4A Games, the developers behind the "Metro" video game series and New World Interactive, the developers of "". In November 2020, Saber Interactive acquired 34BigThings, Mad Head Games, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Snapshot Games and Zen Studios. Former President and CEO of id Software, Todd Hollenshead, joined Saber as Head of Publishing on November 18, 2020.


title: Saber Interactive

text: In February 2021, Embracer Group announced that they acquired Aspyr and that the developer would be a subsidiary for Saber Interactive. The day one purchase price amounts to US$100 million on a cash and debt free basis, where US$60 million is paid in cash and US$40 million is paid in newly issued Embracer B shares. An additional consideration of a maximum of US$350 million may be paid under the agreement subject to certain conditions.


title: Saber Interactive

text: In June 2021, new publishing label Prime Matter announced Saber Interactive was developing a new entry in the "Painkiller" franchise.


title: Saber Interactive

text: On June 10, 2021, Warhorse Studios announced that Saber Interactive will be developing a "" port for the Nintendo Switch.


title: Saber Interactive

text: In August 2021, Saber Interactive acquired 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks, SmartPhone Labs, Demiurge Studios, and Fractured Byte.


title: Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers

text: Warrant officers (WOs) and chief warrant officers (CWOs) in the US military rank below officers but above officer candidates and enlisted servicemen. The first warrant officer rank, WO1 does not have a "commission" associated with it, instead having a "warrant" from the secretary of the army. Warrant officers are allowed the same courtesies as a commissioned officer, but may have some restrictions on their duties that are reserved for commissioned officers. Warrant officers usually receive a commission once they are promoted to chief warrant officer 2 (CW2/CWO2). WO1s may be appointed by commission as stated in title 10 USC.


title: Early modern human

text: Early modern human (EMH) or anatomically modern human (AMH) are terms used to distinguish "Homo sapiens" (the only extant Hominina species) that are anatomically consistent with the range of phenotypes seen in contemporary humans from extinct archaic human species. This distinction is useful especially for times and regions where anatomically modern and archaic humans co-existed, for example, in Paleolithic Europe. Among the oldest known remains of "Homo sapiens" are those found at the Omo-Kibish I archaeological site in south-western Ethiopia, dating to about 233,000 to 196,000 years ago, the Florisbad site in South Africa, dating to about 259,000 years ago, and the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco, dated about 315,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: Extinct species of the genus "Homo" include "Homo erectus" (extant from roughly 2 to 0.1 million years ago) and a number of other species (by some authors considered subspecies of either "H. sapiens" or "H. erectus"). The divergence of the lineage leading to "H. sapiens" out of ancestral "H. erectus" (or an intermediate species such as "Homo antecessor") is estimated to have occurred in Africa roughly 500,000 years ago. The earliest fossil evidence of early modern humans appears in Africa around 300,000 years ago, with the earliest genetic splits among modern people, according to some evidence, dating to around the same time. Sustained archaic human admixture with modern humans is known to have taken place both in Africa and (following the recent Out-Of-Africa expansion) in Eurasia, between about 100,000 and 30,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: The binomial name "Homo sapiens" was coined by Linnaeus, 1758. The Latin noun "homō" (genitive "hominis") means "human being", while the participle "sapiēns" means "discerning, wise, sensible".


title: Early modern human

text: The species was initially thought to have emerged from a predecessor within the genus "Homo" around 300,000 to 200,000 years ago. A problem with the morphological classification of "anatomically modern" was that it would not have included certain extant populations. For this reason, a lineage-based (cladistic) definition of "H. sapiens" has been suggested, in which "H. sapiens" would by definition refer to the modern human lineage following the split from the Neanderthal lineage. Such a cladistic definition would extend the age of "H. sapiens" to over 500,000 years.


title: Early modern human

text: Estimates for the split between the Homo sapiens line and combined Neanderthal/Denisovan line range from between 503,000 and 565,000 years ago; between 550,000 and 765,000 years ago; and (based on rates of dental evolution) possibly more than 800,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: Extant human populations have historically been divided into subspecies, but since around the 1980s all extant groups have tended to be subsumed into a single species, "H. sapiens", avoiding division into subspecies altogether.


title: Early modern human

text: Some sources show Neanderthals ("H. neanderthalensis") as a subspecies ("H. sapiens neanderthalensis"). Similarly, the discovered specimens of the "H. rhodesiensis" species have been classified by some as a subspecies ("H. sapiens rhodesiensis"), although it remains more common to treat these last two as separate species within the genus "Homo" rather than as subspecies within "H. sapiens".


title: Early modern human

text: All humans are considered to be a part of the subspecies "H. sapiens sapiens", a designation which has been a matter of debate since a species is usually not given a subspecies category unless there is evidence of multiple distinct subspecies.


title: Early modern human

text: The divergence of the lineage that would lead to "H. sapiens" out of archaic human varieties derived from "H. erectus", is estimated as having taken place over 500,000 years ago (marking the split of the "H. sapiens" lineage from ancestors shared with other known archaic hominins). But the oldest split among modern human populations (such as the Khoisan split from other groups) has been recently dated to between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago, and the earliest known examples of "H. sapiens" fossils also date to about that period, including the Jebel Irhoud remains from Morocco (ca. 300,000 or 350–280,000 years ago), the Florisbad Skull from South Africa (ca. 259,000 years ago), and the Omo remains from Ethiopia (ca. 195,000, or, as more recently dated, ca. 233,000 years ago).


title: Early modern human

text: An mtDNA study in 2019 proposed an origin of modern humans in Botswana (and a Khoisan split) of around 200,000 years. However, this proposal has been widely criticized by scholars, with the recent evidence overall (genetic, fossil, and archaeological) supporting an origin for "H. sapiens" approximately 100,000 years earlier and in a broader region of Africa than the study proposes.


title: Early modern human

text: In September 2019, scientists proposed that the earliest "H. sapiens" (and last common human ancestor to modern humans) arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa.


title: Early modern human

text: An alternative suggestion defines "H. sapiens" cladistically as including the lineage of modern humans since the split from the lineage of Neanderthals, roughly 500,000 to 800,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: The time of divergence between archaic "H. sapiens" and ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans caused by a genetic bottleneck of the latter was dated at 744,000 years ago, combined with repeated early admixture events and Denisovans diverging from Neanderthals 300 generations after their split from "H. sapiens", as calculated by Rogers et al. (2017).


title: Early modern human

text: The derivation of a comparatively homogeneous single species of "H. sapiens" from more diverse varieties of archaic humans (all of which were descended from the early dispersal of "H. erectus" some 1.8 million years ago) was debated in terms of two competing models during the 1980s: "recent African origin" postulated the emergence of "H. sapiens" from a single source population in Africa, which expanded and led to the extinction of all other human varieties, while the "multiregional evolution" model postulated the survival of regional forms of archaic humans, gradually converging into the modern human varieties by the mechanism of clinal variation, via genetic drift, gene flow and selection throughout the Pleistocene.


title: Early modern human

text: Since the 2000s, the availability of data from archaeogenetics and population genetics has led to the emergence of a much more detailed picture, intermediate between the two competing scenarios outlined above: The recent Out-of-Africa expansion accounts for the predominant part of modern human ancestry, while there were also significant admixture events with regional archaic humans.


title: Early modern human

text: Since the 1970s, the Omo remains, originally dated to some 195,000 years ago, have often been taken as the conventional cut-off point for the emergence of "anatomically modern humans". Since the 2000s, the discovery of older remains with comparable characteristics, and the discovery of ongoing hybridization between "modern" and "archaic" populations after the time of the Omo remains, have opened up a renewed debate on the age of "H. sapiens" in journalistic publications. "H. s. idaltu", dated to 160,000 years ago, has been postulated as an extinct subspecies of "H. sapiens" in 2003. "H. neanderthalensis", which became extinct about 40,000 years ago, was also at one point considered to be a subspecies, "H. s. neanderthalensis".


title: Early modern human

text: "H. heidelbergensis", dated 600,000 to 300,000 years ago, has long been thought to be a likely candidate for the last common ancestor of the Neanderthal and modern human lineages. However, genetic evidence from the Sima de los Huesos fossils published in 2016 seems to suggest that "H. heidelbergensis" in its entirety should be included in the Neanderthal lineage, as "pre-Neanderthal" or "early Neanderthal", while the divergence time between the Neanderthal and modern lineages has been pushed back to before the emergence of "H. heidelbergensis", to close to 800,000 years ago, the approximate time of disappearance of "H. antecessor".


title: Early modern human

text: The term Middle Paleolithic is intended to cover the time between the first emergence of "H. sapiens" (roughly 300,000 years ago) and the period held by some to mark the emergence of full behavioral modernity (roughly by 50,000 years ago, corresponding to the start of the Upper Paleolithic).


title: Early modern human

text: Many of the early modern human finds, like those of Jebel Irhoud, Omo, Herto, Florisbad, Skhul, and Peștera cu Oase exhibit a mix of archaic and modern traits. Skhul V, for example, has prominent brow ridges and a projecting face. However, the brain case is quite rounded and distinct from that of the Neanderthals and is similar to the brain case of modern humans. It is uncertain whether the robust traits of some of the early modern humans like Skhul V reflects mixed ancestry or retention of older traits.


title: Early modern human

text: The "gracile" or lightly built skeleton of anatomically modern humans has been connected to a change in behavior, including increased cooperation and "resource transport".


title: Early modern human

text: There is evidence that the characteristic human brain development, especially the prefrontal cortex, was due to "an exceptional acceleration of metabolome evolution ... paralleled by a drastic reduction in muscle strength. The observed rapid metabolic changes in brain and muscle, together with the unique human cognitive skills and low muscle performance, might reflect parallel mechanisms in human evolution." The Schöningen spears and their correlation of finds are evidence that complex technological skills already existed 300,000 years ago, and are the first obvious proof of an active (big game) hunt. "H. heidelbergensis" already had intellectual and cognitive skills like anticipatory planning, thinking and acting that so far have only been attributed to modern man.


title: Early modern human

text: The ongoing admixture events within anatomically modern human populations make it difficult to estimate the age of the matrilinear and patrilinear most recent common ancestors of modern populations (Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam). Estimates of the age of Y-chromosomal Adam have been pushed back significantly with the discovery of an ancient Y-chromosomal lineage in 2013, to likely beyond 300,000 years ago. There have, however, been no reports of the survival of Y-chromosomal or mitochondrial DNA clearly deriving from archaic humans (which would push back the age of the most recent patrilinear or matrilinear ancestor beyond 500,000 years).


title: Early modern human

text: Fossil teeth found at Qesem Cave (Israel) and dated to between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago have been compared to the dental material from the younger (120,000–80,000 years ago) Skhul and Qafzeh hominins.


title: Early modern human

text: Dispersal of early "H. sapiens" begins soon after its emergence, as evidenced by the North African Jebel Irhoud finds (dated to around 315,000 years ago). There is indirect evidence for "H. sapiens" presence in West Asia around 270,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: The Florisbad Skull from Florisbad, South Africa, dated to about 259,000 years ago, has also been classified as representing early "H. sapiens".


title: Early modern human

text: Among extant populations, the Khoi-San (or "Capoid") hunters-gatherers of Southern Africa may represent the human population with the earliest possible divergence within the group "Homo sapiens sapiens". Their separation time has been estimated in a 2017 study to be between 350 and 260,000 years ago, compatible with the estimated age of early "H. sapiens". The study states that the deep split-time estimation of 350 to 260 thousand years ago is consistent with the archaeological estimate for the onset of the Middle Stone Age across sub-Saharan Africa and coincides with archaic "H. sapiens" in southern Africa represented by, for example, the Florisbad skull dating to 259 (± 35) thousand years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: "H. s. idaltu", found at Middle Awash in Ethiopia, lived about 160,000 years ago, and "H. sapiens" lived at Omo Kibish in Ethiopia about 233,000-195,000 years ago. Two fossils from Guomde, Kenya, dated to at least (and likely more than) 180,000 years ago and (more precisely) to 300–270,000 years ago, have been tentatively assigned to "H. sapiens" and similarities have been noted between them and the Omo Kibbish remains. Fossil evidence for modern human presence in West Asia is ascertained for 177,000 years ago, and disputed fossil evidence suggests expansion as far as East Asia by 120,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: In July 2019, anthropologists reported the discovery of 210,000 year old remains of a "H. sapiens" and 170,000 year old remains of a "H. neanderthalensis" in Apidima Cave, Peloponnese, Greece, more than 150,000 years older than previous "H. sapiens" finds in Europe.


title: Early modern human

text: A significant dispersal event, within Africa and to West Asia, is associated with the African megadroughts during MIS 5, beginning 130,000 years ago. A 2011 study located the origin of basal population of contemporary human populations at 130,000 years ago, with the Khoi-San representing an "ancestral population cluster" located in southwestern Africa (near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola).


title: Early modern human

text: While early modern human expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa before 130 kya persisted, early expansion to North Africa and Asia appears to have mostly disappeared by the end of MIS5 (75,000 years ago), and is known only from fossil evidence and from archaic admixture. Eurasia was re-populated by early modern humans in the so-called "recent out-of-Africa migration" post-dating MIS5, beginning around 70,000–50,000 years ago. In this expansion, bearers of mt-DNA haplogroup L3 left East Africa, likely reaching Arabia via the Bab-el-Mandeb, and in the Great Coastal Migration spread to South Asia, Maritime South Asia and Oceania between 65,000 and 50,000 years ago, while Europe, East and North Asia were reached by about 45,000 years ago. Some evidence suggests that an early wave humans may have reached the Americas by about 40,000–25,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: Evidence for the overwhelming contribution of this "recent" (L3-derived) expansion to all non-African populations was established based on mitochondrial DNA, combined with evidence based on physical anthropology of archaic specimens, during the 1990s and 2000s, and has also been supported by Y DNA and autosomal DNA. The assumption of complete replacement has been revised in the 2010s with the discovery of admixture events (introgression) of populations of "H. sapiens" with populations of archaic humans over the period of between roughly 100,000 and 30,000 years ago, both in Eurasia and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Neanderthal admixture, in the range of 1–4%, is found in all modern populations outside of Africa, including in Europeans, Asians, Papua New Guineans, Australian Aboriginals, Native Americans, and other non-Africans. This suggests that interbreeding between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans took place after the recent "out of Africa" migration, likely between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago. Recent admixture analyses have added to the complexity, finding that Eastern Neanderthals derive up to 2% of their ancestry from anatomically modern humans who left Africa some 100 kya. The extent of Neanderthal admixture (and introgression of genes acquired by admixture) varies significantly between contemporary racial groups, being absent in Africans, intermediate in Europeans and highest in East Asians. Certain genes related to UV-light adaptation introgressed from Neanderthals have been found to have been selected for in East Asians specifically from 45,000 years ago until around 5,000 years ago. The extent of archaic admixture is of the order of about 1% to 4% in Europeans and East Asians, and highest among Melanesians (the last also having Denisova hominin admixture at 4% to 6% in addition to neanderthal admixture). Cumulatively, about 20% of the Neanderthal genome is estimated to remain present spread in contemporary populations.


title: Early modern human

text: In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 CT scans, of a virtual skull shape of the last common human ancestor to modern humans/"H. sapiens", representative of the earliest modern humans, and suggested that modern humans arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa while North-African fossils may represent a population which introgressed into Neandertals during the LMP.


title: Early modern human

text: Generally, modern humans are more lightly built (or more "gracile") than the more "robust" archaic humans. Nevertheless, contemporary humans exhibit high variability in many physiological traits, and may exhibit remarkable "robustness". There are still a number of physiological details which can be taken as reliably differentiating the physiology of Neanderthals vs. anatomically modern humans.


title: Early modern human

text: The term "anatomically modern humans" (AMH) is used with varying scope depending on context, to distinguish "anatomically modern" "Homo sapiens" from archaic humans such as Neanderthals and Middle and Lower Paleolithic hominins with transitional features intermediate between "H. erectus", Neanderthals and early AMH called "archaic Homo sapiens". In a convention popular in the 1990s, Neanderthals were classified as a subspecies of "H. sapiens", as "H. s. neanderthalensis", while AMH (or European early modern humans, EEMH) was taken to refer to "Cro-Magnon" or "H. s. sapiens". Under this nomenclature (Neanderthals considered "H. sapiens"), the term "anatomically modern "Homo sapiens"" (AMHS) has also been used to refer to EEMH ("Cro-Magnons"). It has since become more common to designate Neanderthals as a separate species, "H. neanderthalensis", so that AMH in the European context refers to "H. sapiens", but the question is by no means resolved.


title: Early modern human

text: In this more narrow definition of "H. sapiens", the subspecies "Homo sapiens idaltu", discovered in 2003, also falls under the umbrella of "anatomically modern". The recognition of "H. sapiens idaltu" as a valid subspecies of the anatomically modern human lineage would justify the description of contemporary humans with the subspecies name "Homo sapiens sapiens". However, biological anthropologist Chris Stringer does not consider "idaltu" distinct enough within "H. sapiens" to warrant its own subspecies designation.


title: Early modern human

text: A further division of AMH into "early" or "robust" vs. "post-glacial" or "gracile" subtypes has since been used for convenience. The emergence of "gracile AMH" is taken to reflect a process towards a smaller and more fine-boned skeleton beginning around 50,000–30,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: The cranium lacks a pronounced occipital bun in the neck, a bulge that anchored considerable neck muscles in Neanderthals. Modern humans, even the earlier ones, generally have a larger fore-brain than the archaic people, so that the brain sits above rather than behind the eyes. This will usually (though not always) give a higher forehead, and reduced brow ridge. Early modern people and some living people do however have quite pronounced brow ridges, but they differ from those of archaic forms by having both a supraorbital foramen or notch, forming a groove through the ridge above each eye. This splits the ridge into a central part and two distal parts. In current humans, often only the central section of the ridge is preserved (if it is preserved at all). This contrasts with archaic humans, where the brow ridge is pronounced and unbroken.


title: Early modern human

text: Modern humans commonly have a steep, even vertical forehead whereas their predecessors had foreheads that sloped strongly backwards. According to Desmond Morris, the vertical forehead in humans plays an important role in human communication through eyebrow movements and forehead skin wrinkling.


title: Early modern human

text: Brain size in both Neanderthals and AMH is significantly larger on average (but overlapping in range) than brain size in "H. erectus". Neanderthal and AMH brain sizes are in the same range, but there are differences in the relative sizes of individual brain areas, with significantly larger visual systems in Neanderthals than in AMH.


title: Early modern human

text: Compared to archaic people, anatomically modern humans have smaller, differently shaped teeth. This results in a smaller, more receded dentary, making the rest of the jaw-line stand out, giving an often quite prominent chin. The central part of the mandible forming the chin carries a triangularly shaped area forming the apex of the chin called the mental trigon, not found in archaic humans. Particularly in living populations, the use of fire and tools requires fewer jaw muscles, giving slender, more gracile jaws. Compared to archaic people, modern humans have smaller, lower faces.


title: Early modern human

text: The body skeletons of even the earliest and most robustly built modern humans were less robust than those of Neanderthals (and from what little we know from Denisovans), having essentially modern proportions. Particularly regarding the long bones of the limbs, the distal bones (the radius/ulna and tibia/fibula) are nearly the same size or slightly shorter than the proximal bones (the humerus and femur). In ancient people, particularly Neanderthals, the distal bones were shorter, usually thought to be an adaptation to cold climate. The same adaptation is found in some modern people living in the polar regions.


title: Early modern human

text: Height ranges overlap between Neanderthals and AMH, with Neanderthal averages cited as and for males and females, respectively, which is largely identical to pre-industrial average heights for AMH. Contemporary national averages range between in males and in females. Neanderthal ranges approximate the contemporary height distribution measured among Malay people, for one.


title: Early modern human

text: Following the peopling of Africa some 130,000 years ago, and the recent Out-of-Africa expansion some 70,000 to 50,000 years ago, some sub-populations of "H. sapiens" had been essentially isolated for tens of thousands of years prior to the early modern Age of Discovery. Combined with archaic admixture this has resulted in significant genetic variation, which in some instances has been shown to be the result of directional selection taking place over the past 15,000 years, i.e. significantly later than possible archaic admixture events.


title: Early modern human

text: Some climatic adaptations, such as high-altitude adaptation in humans, are thought to have been acquired by archaic admixture. Introgression of genetic variants acquired by Neanderthal admixture have different distributions in European and East Asians, reflecting differences in recent selective pressures. A 2014 study reported that Neanderthal-derived variants found in East Asian populations showed clustering in functional groups related to immune and haematopoietic pathways, while European populations showed clustering in functional groups related to the lipid catabolic process. A 2017 study found correlation of Neanderthal admixture in phenotypic traits in modern European populations.


title: Early modern human

text: Physiological or phenotypical changes have been traced to Upper Paleolithic mutations, such as the East Asian variant of the EDAR gene, dated to c. 35,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: Recent divergence of Eurasian lineages was sped up significantly during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Mesolithic and the Neolithic, due to increased selection pressures and due to founder effects associated with migration. Alleles predictive of light skin have been found in Neanderthals, but the alleles for light skin in Europeans and East Asians, associated with KITLG and ASIP, are () thought to have not been acquired by archaic admixture but recent mutations since the LGM. Phenotypes associated with the "white" or "Caucasian" populations of Western Eurasian stock emerge during the LGM, from about 19,000 years ago. Average cranial capacity in modern human populations varies in the range of 1,200 to 1,450 cm for adult males. Larger cranial volume is associated with climatic region, the largest averages being found in populations of Siberia and the Arctic. Both Neanderthal and EEMH had somewhat larger cranial volumes on average than modern Europeans, suggesting the relaxation of selection pressures for larger brain volume after the end of the LGM.


title: Early modern human

text: Examples for still later adaptations related to agriculture and animal domestication including East Asian types of ADH1B associated with rice domestication, or lactase persistence, are due to recent selection pressures.


title: Early modern human

text: An even more recent adaptation has been proposed for the Austronesian Sama-Bajau, developed under selection pressures associated with subsisting on freediving over the past thousand years or so.


title: Early modern human

text: Behavioral modernity, involving the development of language, figurative art and early forms of religion (etc.) is taken to have arisen before 40,000 years ago, marking the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic (in African contexts also known as the Later Stone Age).


title: Early modern human

text: There is considerable debate regarding whether the earliest anatomically modern humans behaved similarly to recent or existing humans. Behavioral modernity is taken to include fully developed language (requiring the capacity for abstract thought), artistic expression, early forms of religious behavior, increased cooperation and the formation of early settlements, and the production of articulated tools from lithic cores, bone or antler. The term Upper Paleolithic is intended to cover the period since the rapid expansion of modern humans throughout Eurasia, which coincides with the first appearance of Paleolithic art such as cave paintings and the development of technological innovation such as the spear-thrower. The Upper Paleolithic begins around 50,000 to 40,000 years ago, and also coincides with the disappearance of archaic humans such as the Neanderthals.


title: Early modern human

text: The term "behavioral modernity" is somewhat disputed. It is most often used for the set of characteristics marking the Upper Paleolithic, but some scholars use "behavioral modernity" for the emergence of "H. sapiens" around 200,000 years ago, while others use the term for the rapid developments occurring around 50,000 years ago. It has been proposed that the emergence of behavioral modernity was a gradual process.


title: Early modern human

text: The equivalent of the Eurasian Upper Paleolithic in African archaeology is known as the Later Stone Age, also beginning roughly 40,000 years ago. While most clear evidence for behavioral modernity uncovered from the later 19th century was from Europe, such as the Venus figurines and other artefacts from the Aurignacian, more recent archaeological research has shown that all essential elements of the kind of material culture typical of contemporary San hunter-gatherers in Southern Africa was also present by at least 40,000 years ago, including digging sticks of similar materials used today, ostrich egg shell beads, bone arrow heads with individual maker's marks etched and embedded with red ochre, and poison applicators. There is also a suggestion that "pressure flaking best explains the morphology of lithic artifacts recovered from the c. 75-ka Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. The technique was used during the final shaping of Still Bay bifacial points made on heat‐treated silcrete." Both pressure flaking and heat treatment of materials were previously thought to have occurred much later in prehistory, and both indicate a behaviourally modern sophistication in the use of natural materials. Further reports of research on cave sites along the southern African coast indicate that "the debate as to when cultural and cognitive characteristics typical of modern humans first appeared" may be coming to an end, as "advanced technologies with elaborate chains of production" which "often demand high-fidelity transmission and thus language" have been found at the South African Pinnacle Point Site 5–6. These have been dated to approximately 71,000 years ago. The researchers suggest that their research "shows that microlithic technology originated early in South Africa by 71 kya, evolved over a vast time span (c. 11,000 years), and was typically coupled to complex heat treatment that persisted for nearly 100,000 years. Advanced technologies in Africa were early and enduring; a small sample of excavated sites in Africa is the best explanation for any perceived 'flickering' pattern." Increases in behavioral complexity have been speculated to have been a linked to an earlier climatic change to much drier conditions between 135,000 and 75,000 years ago. This might have led to human groups who were seeking refuge from the inland droughts, expanded along the coastal marshes rich in shellfish and other resources. Since sea levels were low due to so much water tied up in glaciers, such marshlands would have occurred all along the southern coasts of Eurasia. The use of rafts and boats may well have facilitated exploration of offshore islands and travel along the coast, and eventually permitted expansion to New Guinea and then to Australia.


title: Early modern human

text: In addition, a variety of other evidence of abstract imagery, widened subsistence strategies, and other "modern" behaviors has been discovered in Africa, especially South, North, and East Africa, predating 50,000 years ago (with some predating 100,000 years ago). The Blombos Cave site in South Africa, for example, is famous for rectangular slabs of ochre engraved with geometric designs. Using multiple dating techniques, the site was confirmed to be around 77,000 and 100,000–75,000 years old. Ostrich egg shell containers engraved with geometric designs dating to 60,000 years ago were found at Diepkloof, South Africa. Beads and other personal ornamentation have been found from Morocco which might be as much as 130,000 years old; as well, the Cave of Hearths in South Africa has yielded a number of beads dating from significantly prior to 50,000 years ago, and shell beads dating to about 75,000 years ago have been found at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Specialized projectile weapons as well have been found at various sites in Middle Stone Age Africa, including bone and stone arrowheads at South African sites such as Sibudu Cave (along with an early bone needle also found at Sibudu) dating approximately 72,000–60,000 years ago some of which may have been tipped with poisons, and bone harpoons at the Central African site of Katanda dating ca. 90,000 years ago. Evidence also exists for the systematic heat treating of silcrete stone to increase its flake-ability for the purpose of toolmaking, beginning approximately 164,000 years ago at the South African site of Pinnacle Point and becoming common there for the creation of microlithic tools at about 72,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: In 2008, an ochre processing workshop likely for the production of paints was uncovered dating to ca. 100,000 years ago at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Analysis shows that a liquefied pigment-rich mixture was produced and stored in the two abalone shells, and that ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones and hammer-stones also formed a composite part of the toolkits. Evidence for the complexity of the task includes procuring and combining raw materials from various sources (implying they had a mental template of the process they would follow), possibly using pyrotechnology to facilitate fat extraction from bone, using a probable recipe to produce the compound, and the use of shell containers for mixing and storage for later use.<ref name="Washington Post-2011/10/12/gIQApyHrhL"></ref> Modern behaviors, such as the making of shell beads, bone tools and arrows, and the use of ochre pigment, are evident at a Kenyan site by 78,000-67,000 years ago. Evidence of early stone-tipped projectile weapons (a characteristic tool of "Homo sapiens"), the stone tips of javelins or throwing spears, were discovered in 2013 at the Ethiopian site of Gademotta, and date to around 279,000 years ago.


title: Early modern human

text: Expanding subsistence strategies beyond big-game hunting and the consequential diversity in tool types have been noted as signs of behavioral modernity. A number of South African sites have shown an early reliance on aquatic resources from fish to shellfish. Pinnacle Point, in particular, shows exploitation of marine resources as early as 120,000 years ago, perhaps in response to more arid conditions inland. Establishing a reliance on predictable shellfish deposits, for example, could reduce mobility and facilitate complex social systems and symbolic behavior. Blombos Cave and Site 440 in Sudan both show evidence of fishing as well. Taphonomic change in fish skeletons from Blombos Cave have been interpreted as capture of live fish, clearly an intentional human behavior.


title: Early modern human

text: Humans in North Africa (Nazlet Sabaha, Egypt) are known to have dabbled in chert mining, as early as ≈100,000 years ago, for the construction of stone tools.


title: Early modern human

text: Evidence was found in 2018, dating to about 320,000 years ago at the site of Olorgesailie in Kenya, of the early emergence of modern behaviors including: the trade and long-distance transportation of resources (such as obsidian), the use of pigments, and the possible making of projectile points. The authors of three 2018 studies on the site observe that the evidence of these behaviors is roughly contemporary with the earliest known "Homo sapiens" fossil remains from Africa (such as at Jebel Irhoud and Florisbad), and they suggest that complex and modern behaviors began in Africa around the time of the emergence of "Homo sapiens".


title: Early modern human

text: In 2019, further evidence of Middle Stone Age complex projectile weapons in Africa was found at Aduma, Ethiopia, dated 100,000–80,000 years ago, in the form of points considered likely to belong to darts delivered by spear throwers.


title: Early modern human

text: "Homo sapiens" technological and cultural progress appears to have been very much faster in recent millennia than in "Homo sapiens" early periods. The pace of development may indeed have accelerated, due to massively larger population (so more humans extant to think of innovations), more communication and sharing of ideas among human populations, and the accumulation of thinking tools. However it may also be that the pace of advancements always looks relatively faster to humans in the time they live, because previous advances are unrecognised.


title: Pre-ejaculate

text: Pre-ejaculate (also known as pre-ejaculatory fluid, pre-seminal fluid or Cowper's fluid, and known as pre-cum) is a clear, colorless, viscous fluid that is emitted from the urethra of the penis during sexual arousal. It is similar in composition to semen but has distinct chemical differences. The presence of sperm in the fluid is variable from low to absent. Pre-ejaculate functions as a lubricant and an acid neutralizer.


title: Pre-ejaculate

text: The fluid is discharged from the urethra of the penis during arousal, masturbation, foreplay or at an early stage during sexual intercourse, some time before the individual fully reaches orgasm and semen is ejaculated. It is primarily produced by the bulbourethral glands (Cowper's glands), with the glands of Littré (the mucus-secreting urethral glands) also contributing. The amount of fluid that is issued varies widely among individuals. Some individuals do not produce any pre-ejaculate fluid, while others emit as much as . The outflow of pre-ejaculate is independent of mechanical stimulation of the penis or an erection, and can be triggered by erotic thoughts alone.


title: Pre-ejaculate

text: Pre-ejaculate fluid contains chemicals associated with semen, such as acid phosphatase, but other semen markers, such as gamma-glutamyltransferase, are absent.


title: Pre-ejaculate

text: Pre-ejaculate neutralizes residual acidity in the urethra caused by urine, creating a more favorable environment for the passage of sperm. The vagina is normally acidic, so the deposit of pre-ejaculate before the emission of semen may change the vaginal environment to promote sperm survival. Pre-ejaculate also acts as a lubricant during sexual activity, and plays a role in semen coagulation.


title: Pre-ejaculate

text: Low levels or no sperm exists in pre-ejaculate, although studies examined small samples of men. Two contrary studies found mixed evidence, including individual cases of a high sperm concentration. Popular belief – dating to a 1966 Masters and Johnson study – stated that pre-ejaculate may contain sperm that can cause pregnancy, which is a common basis of argument against the use of coitus interruptus (withdrawal) as a contraceptive method.


title: Pre-ejaculate

text: In rare cases, an individual may produce an excessive amount of pre-ejaculate fluid that can be a cause of embarrassment or irritation. A few case reports have indicated satisfactory results when such individuals are treated with a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor, such as finasteride.


title: Passion fruit (fruit)

text: The passion fruit is so called because it is one of the many species of passion flower, the English translation of the Latin genus name, "Passiflora", and may be spelled "passion fruit", "passionfruit", or "passion-fruit". Around 1700, the name was given by missionaries in Brazil as an educational aid while trying to convert the indigenous inhabitants to Christianity; its name was "flor das cinco chagas" or "flower of the five wounds" to illustrate the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection, with other plant components also named after an emblem in the Passion of Jesus.


title: Passion fruit (fruit)

text: Passion fruits are round or oval, and range from a width of 1.5 to 3 inches. They can be yellow, red, purple, and green. The fruits have a juicy edible center composed of a large number of seeds.


title: Passion fruit (fruit)

text: The part of the fruit that is used (eaten) is the pulpy juicy seeds. Passion fruits can also be squeezed to make juice.


title: Passion fruit (fruit)

text: Raw passion fruit is 73% water, 23% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 1% fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, raw passion fruit supplies 97 calories, and is a rich source of vitamin C (36% of the Daily Value, DV) and a moderate source of riboflavin (11% DV), niacin (10% DV), iron (12% DV), and phosphorus (10% DV) (table). No other micronutrients are in significant content.


title: Passion fruit (fruit)

text: Several varieties of passionfruit are rich in polyphenols, and some contain prunasin and other cyanogenic glycosides in the peel and juice.


title: 1440p

text: 1440p is a family of video display resolutions that have a vertical resolution of 1440 pixels. The "p" stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The 1440 pixel vertical resolution is double the vertical resolution of 720p, and one-third (about 33.3%) more than 1080p. QHD (Quad HD) or WQHD (Wide Quad HD) is the designation for a commonly used display resolution of pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio. As a graphics display resolution between 1080p and 4K, Quad HD is regularly used in smartphone displays, and for computer and console gaming.


title: 1440p

text: 1440p video mastered from ratio content can be displayed with 1920×1440 or higher resolution such as QXGA or 2304×1440 with scaling, windowboxing, or pillarboxing. Widescreen 1440p requires 2560×1440 (WQHD) resolution, possible with WQXGA, 2560×1920, or higher resolution with letterboxing, scaling, or windowboxing. The HDMI 1.3 specification supports WQXGA, and hence widescreen 1440p.


title: 1440p

text: Early uses of QHD (often mistakenly marketed as "2K Display") computer displays became commonly available in 2010. Dell's UltraSharp U2711 monitor was released in 2010 as WQHD, with a 1440p widescreen. The 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display released in 2010 also had a native resolution of 2560 × 1440, as did the Apple Thunderbolt Display which was sold from July 2011 to June 2016.


title: 1440p

text: By 2020 QHD had expanded to a common resolution for computer gaming, with multiple video cards available that supported high frame rates at that resolution. In early 2021, QHD gaming laptops with fast refresh rates were introduced by multiple computer manufacturers.


title: 1440p

text: In relation to smartphones, 1440p displays are sometimes marketed as "Quad HD", as it is four times the resolution of 720p high definition. The Vivo Xplay 3S, released December 2013, was the first smartphone to use a 1440p display; by 2015, 1440p had seen wider adoption by high-end flagship smartphones from major companies.


title: 1440p

text: In September 2020, Microsoft revealed the Xbox Series S would support a resolution of 1440p at 120 FPS.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is a 2007 American comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan, and written by Kasdan and co-producer Judd Apatow. It stars John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows and Kristen Wiig. A parody of the biopic genre, "Walk Hard" is the story of a fictional early rock and roll star played by Reilly.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: "Walk Hard" primarily references the musical biopics "Ray" (2004) and "Walk the Line" (2005); in addition to Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, the "Dewey Cox" character includes elements of the lives and careers of other notable musicians including Roy Orbison, Glen Campbell, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Donovan, John Lennon, James Brown, Jim Morrison, Conway Twitty, Neil Diamond, Hank Williams, and Brian Wilson. The film portrays fictional versions of artists Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles; some artists appear as themselves, including Eddie Vedder, Jewel and Ghostface Killah. In addition, the film parodies or pays tribute to the musical styles of David Bowie, Billy Joel, Van Dyke Parks, and seventies punk rock.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: The film was released in North America on December 21, 2007. It received positive reviews from critics but was a box office bomb, grossing only $20 million against a $35 million budget. The film has since become a cult classic.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: In Springberry, Alabama, 1946, young Dewey Cox accidentally cuts his brother Nate in half with a machete. The trauma causes him to lose his sense of smell. Dewey meets a blues guitarist who discovers his life experience instilled in him a natural affinity for playing blues.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: In 1953, Dewey performs at a school talent show and drives the crowd wild with his song "Take My Hand," and his father kicks him out of the house, calling it the "Devil's music". A 14-year-old Dewey leaves Springberry with his 12-year-old girlfriend Edith; they soon marry and have a baby.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Working at an all-African American nightclub, Dewey replaces singer Bobby Shad onstage and impresses Hasidic Jew record executive L'Chaim. While recording a rockabilly rendition of "That's Amore", he is berated by an executive. A desperate Dewey performs "Walk Hard," a song inspired by a speech he gave Edith, which restores the executive's belief in Judaism and rockets him to superstardom.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: The song quickly becomes a hit and Dewey becomes caught up in the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. He soon performs his first concert as the following act to Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper. Dewey is introduced to marijuana by his drummer Sam and becomes unfaithful to Edith. Dewey's father informs him that his mother has died while dancing to Dewey's song and blames Dewey's music for her death.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Distraught, Dewey finds Sam using cocaine and partakes, resulting in a cocaine-fueled punk rock performance. Choir-girl Darlene Madison enters Dewey's life, and he produces several sexually suggestive hit records amid their courtship. He weds Darlene while still married to Edith, which leads to both women leaving him, after which Dewey purchases drugs from an undercover cop. After he serves time in prison and in rehab, Darlene returns.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: They move to Berkeley, California in 1966 during the counterculture movement. Dewey's new singing style is compared to that of Bob Dylan, which he angrily denies. On a band visit to India, Dewey takes LSD with the Beatles, leading to a "Yellow Submarine"-esque hallucination.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Dewey becomes consumed with creating his masterpiece "Black Sheep" (a homage to Brian Wilson's "Smile"). The band resents his insane musical style and abusive behavior and breaks up; Darlene, also unable to deal with him, leaves him for Glen Campbell. During another stint in rehab, Dewey is visited by the ghost of Nate, who ridicules his self-pity and tells him to start writing songs again.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: In the 1970s, Dewey now hosts a CBS variety television show but is unable to compose a masterpiece for his brother. Nate reappears and urges him to reconcile with their father. Dewey and his father wind up dueling with machetes; despite having trained years for this moment, his father cuts himself in half, forgives Dewey for Nate's death, tells him to be a better father, and dies. Dewey breaks down and destroys almost everything in his home.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Dewey is approached by one of his illegitimate children and decides to reconnect with his many offspring. In 1992, a divorced Darlene returns to him. Finally realizing what is most important, Dewey regains his sense of smell and remarries her.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: In 2007, L'Chaim's son Dreidel informs Dewey of his popularity with young listeners through rapper Lil' Nutzzak's sampling of "Walk Hard." Dewey learns he is to receive a lifetime achievement award. They want him to sing a song at the ceremony, but Dewey is reluctant, fearing his old temptations. However, with his family's support, he reunites with his band and is finally able to create one great masterpiece, summing up his entire life with his final song, "Beautiful Ride."


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: A title card reveals that Dewey died three minutes after this final performance, which then also reads "Dewford Randolph Cox, 1936–2007." A post-credits scene is a short black-and-white clip of "the actual Dewey Cox, April 16, 2002" (still played by Reilly).


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Jake Kasdan brought the idea to his friend and fellow director Judd Apatow. They then began writing the film together. The tongue-in-cheek references in this fake biopic were drawn from various sources. Apatow and Kasdan noted that they watched various types of biopics for inspiration, including those of Jimi Hendrix and Marilyn Monroe. Despite the humorous approach, the film was crafted in the serious tone of films earmarked for an Oscar, adding to the irony.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: John C. Reilly, who actually sings and plays guitar, was chosen to play the title role. "We took the clichés of movie biopics and just had fun with them," Reilly said. The "deliberate miscasting" of celebrity cameos, such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles, was intended to enhance the comedy. The film's poster is a reference to the "young lion" photos of Jim Morrison.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 74% based on 134, classifying it as "certified fresh". The site's consensus states: "A parody that pokes fun at rock stars and reductive biopics alike, this comedy sings in large part because of stellar performances and clever original music." On Metacritic the film has a score of 63 out of 100 based on reviews from 22 critics.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and wrote: "Instead of sending everything over the top at high energy, like "Top Secret!" or "Airplane!", they allow Reilly to more or less actually "play" the character, so that, against all expectations, some scenes actually approach real sentiment." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" magazine wrote: "The tricky thing about parody movies is that the jokes get old fast and they're hit-and-miss. "Walk Hard", a spoof of every musical biopic from "Ray" to "Walk the Line", is guilty on both counts. How lucky that when the jokes do hit, they kick major ass." A 2022 review of the best comedy films of the 21st century placed this at sixth.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: The film was not commercially successful, taking $18 million at the US box office which was less than the film's $35 million budget.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: John C. Reilly received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance in a Musical or Comedy and a nomination for Best Original Song.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 8, 2008. In the opening weekend, 263,001 DVD units were sold, generating revenue of $5,110,109. As of May 2010, DVD sales have gathered revenue of $15,664,735.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Along with a backing band "The Hardwalkers", Reilly made seven musical appearances as Dewey Cox in the weeks prior to the film's release date.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Several fake commercials were aired including one with John Mayer, hinting Dewey might be his father.


title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

text: Singer-songwriters Dan Bern and Mike Viola (of the Candy Butchers) wrote most of the film's songs, including "There's a Change a Happenin'", "Mulatto", "A Life Without You (Is No Life at All)", "Beautiful Ride" and "Hole in My Pants". Charlie Wadhams and Benji Hughes wrote the song "Let's Duet". Marshall Crenshaw wrote the title song, and Van Dyke Parks penned the Brian Wilson-esque 1960s-styled psychedelic jam "Black Sheep" (the recording session seems to be a specific parody of Wilson's "Smile" album sessions, on which Van Dyke Parks worked). Antonio Ortiz wrote "Take My Hand". A number of critics noted the unusually high quality of many of the individual songs on the soundtrack, how well they reflected the styles and times they were attempting to parody, and how well they stood on their own as quality compositions. The soundtrack was nominated for both a Grammy and Golden Globe Award and was nominated and won the Sierra Award for Best Song in a Motion Picture from the Las Vegas Film Critics Society. John C. Reilly sang on all the tracks and played guitar on most of them.


title: Quantum tunnelling

text: Quantum tunnelling, also known as tunneling (US) is a quantum mechanical phenomenon whereby a wavefunction can propagate through a potential barrier.


title: Quantum tunnelling

text: The transmission through the barrier can be finite and depends exponentially on the barrier height and barrier width. The wavefunction may disappear on one side and reappear on the other side. The wavefunction and its first derivative are continuous. In steady-state, the probability flux in the forward direction is spatially uniform. No particle or wave is lost. Tunneling occurs with barriers of thickness around 1–3 nm and smaller.