title: Liberty Ross

text: In 2014, Ross confirmed she was dating record producer Jimmy Iovine. They married on Valentine's Day, 2016, in California at the home of music producer David Geffen.


title: Liberty Ross

text: Ross has five siblings, including brothers Leopold Ross and Atticus Ross. She is the granddaughter of Miles Lampson. She is of Italian heritage through her great-grandfather, Aldo Castellani.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Kip Stephen Thorne (born June 1, 1940) is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions in gravitational physics and astrophysics. A longtime friend and colleague of Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, he was the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) until 2009 and is one of the world's leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein's general theory of relativity. He continues to do scientific research and scientific consulting, most notably for the Christopher Nolan film "Interstellar". Thorne was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Rainer Weiss and Barry C. Barish "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves".


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne was born on June 1, 1940, in Logan, Utah. His father, D. Wynne Thorne (1908–1979), was a professor of soil chemistry at Utah State University, and his mother, Alison (née Comish; 1914–2004), was an economist and the first woman to receive a PhD in economics from Iowa State College. Raised in an academic environment, two of his four siblings also became professors. Thorne's parents were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and raised Thorne in the LDS faith, though he now describes himself as atheist. Regarding his views on science and religion, Thorne has stated: "There are large numbers of my finest colleagues who are quite devout and believe in God ... There is no fundamental incompatibility between science and religion. I happen to not believe in God."


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne rapidly excelled at academics early in life, winning recognition in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search as a senior at Logan High School. He received his BS degree from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1962, and his PhD from Princeton University in 1965 under the supervision of John Archibald Wheeler with a doctoral dissertation entitled "Geometrodynamics of Cylindrical Systems".


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne returned to Caltech as an associate professor in 1967 and became a professor of theoretical physics in 1970, becoming one of the youngest full professors in the history of Caltech at age 30. He became the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor in 1981, and the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1991. He was an adjunct professor at the University of Utah from 1971 to 1998 and Andrew D. White Professor at Large at Cornell University from 1986 to 1992. In June 2009, he resigned his Feynman Professorship (he is now the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus) to pursue a career of writing and movie making. His first film project was "Interstellar", on which he worked with Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Throughout the years, Thorne has served as a mentor and thesis advisor for many leading theorists who now work on observational, experimental, or astrophysical aspects of general relativity. Approximately 50 physicists have received PhDs at Caltech under Thorne's personal mentorship.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne is known for his ability to convey the excitement and significance of discoveries in gravitation and astrophysics to both professional and lay audiences. His presentations on subjects such as black holes, gravitational radiation, relativity, time travel, and wormholes have been included in PBS shows in the U.S. and on the BBC in the United Kingdom.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne and Linda Jean Peterson married in 1960. Their children are Kares Anne and Bret Carter, an architect. Thorne and Peterson divorced in 1977. Thorne and his second wife, Carolee Joyce Winstein, a professor of biokinesiology and physical therapy at USC, married in 1984.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne's research has principally focused on relativistic astrophysics and gravitation physics, with emphasis on relativistic stars, black holes and especially gravitational waves. He is perhaps best known to the public for his controversial theory that wormholes can conceivably be used for time travel. However, Thorne's scientific contributions, which center on the general nature of space, time, and gravity, span the full range of topics in general relativity.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne's work has dealt with the prediction of gravitational wave strengths and their temporal signatures as observed on Earth. These "signatures" are of great relevance to LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), a multi-institution gravitational wave experiment for which Thorne has been a leading proponent – in 1984, he cofounded the LIGO Project (the largest project ever funded by the NSF) to discern and measure any fluctuations between two or more 'static' points; such fluctuations would be evidence of gravitational waves, as calculations describe. A significant aspect of his research is developing the mathematics necessary to analyze these objects. Thorne also carries out engineering design analyses for features of the LIGO that cannot be developed on the basis of experiment and he gives advice on data analysis algorithms by which the waves will be sought. He has provided theoretical support for LIGO, including identifying gravitational wave sources that LIGO should target, designing the baffles to control scattered light in the LIGO beam tubes, and – in collaboration with Vladimir Braginsky's (Moscow, Russia) research group – inventing quantum nondemolition designs for advanced gravity-wave detectors and ways to reduce the most serious kind of noise in advanced detectors: thermoelastic noise. With Carlton M. Caves, Thorne invented the back-action-evasion approach to quantum nondemolition measurements of the harmonic oscillators – a technique applicable both in gravitational wave detection and quantum optics.


title: Kip Thorne

text: On February 11, 2016, a team of four physicists representing the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, announced that in September 2015, LIGO recorded the signature of two black holes colliding 1.3 billion light-years away. This recorded detection was the first direct observation of the fleeting chirp of a gravitational wave and confirmed an important prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity.


title: Kip Thorne

text: While he was studying for his PhD in Princeton University, his mentor John Wheeler gave him an assignment problem for him to think over: find out whether or not a cylindrical bundle of repulsive magnetic field lines will implode under its own attractive gravitational force. After several months wrestling with the problem, he proved that it was impossible for cylindrical magnetic field lines to implode.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Why is it that a cylindrical bundle of magnetic field lines will not implode, while spherical stars will implode under their own gravitational force? Thorne tried to explore the theoretical ridge between the two phenomena. He found out eventually that the gravitational force can overcome all interior pressure only when an object has been compressed in all directions. To express this realization, Thorne proposed his hoop conjecture, which describes an imploding star turning into a black hole when the critical circumference of the designed hoop can be placed around it and set into rotation. That is, any object of mass M around which a hoop of circumference formula_1 can be spun must be a black hole.


title: Kip Thorne

text: As a tool to be used in both enterprises, astrophysics and theoretical physics, Thorne and his students have developed an unusual approach, called the "membrane paradigm", to the theory of black holes and used it to clarify the "Blandford-Znajek" mechanism by which black holes may power some quasars and active galactic nuclei.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne has investigated the quantum statistical mechanical origin of the entropy of a black hole. With his postdoc Wojciech Zurek, he showed that the entropy of a black hole is the logarithm of the number of ways that the hole could have been made.


title: Kip Thorne

text: With Igor Novikov and Don Page, he developed the general relativistic theory of thin accretion disks around black holes, and using this theory he deduced that with a doubling of its mass by such accretion a black hole will be spun up to 0.998 of the maximum spin allowed by general relativity, but not any farther. This is probably the maximum black-hole spin allowed in nature.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne and his co-workers at Caltech conducted scientific research on whether the laws of physics permit space and time to be multiply connected (can there exist classical, traversable wormholes and "time machines"?). With Sung-Won Kim, Thorne identified a universal physical mechanism (the explosive growth of vacuum polarization of quantum fields), that may always prevent spacetime from developing closed timelike curves (i.e., prevent backward time travel).


title: Kip Thorne

text: With Mike Morris and Ulvi Yurtsever, he showed that traversable wormholes can exist in the structure of spacetime only if they are threaded by quantum fields in quantum states that violate the averaged null energy condition (i.e. have negative renormalized energy spread over a sufficiently large region). This has triggered research to explore the ability of quantum fields to possess such extended negative energy. Recent calculations by Thorne indicate that simple masses passing through traversable wormholes could never engender paradoxes – there are "no" initial conditions that lead to paradox once time travel is introduced. If his results can be generalized, they would suggest that none of the supposed paradoxes formulated in time travel stories can actually be formulated at a precise physical level: that is, that "any" situation in a time travel story turns out to permit "many" consistent solutions.


title: Kip Thorne

text: With Anna Żytkow, Thorne predicted the existence of red supergiant stars with neutron-star cores (Thorne–Żytkow objects). He laid the foundations for the theory of pulsations of relativistic stars and the gravitational radiation they emit. With James Hartle, Thorne derived from general relativity the laws of motion and precession of black holes and other relativistic bodies, including the influence of the coupling of their multipole moments to the spacetime curvature of nearby objects, as well as writing down the Hartle-Thorne metric, an approximate solution which describes the exterior of a slowly and rigidly rotating, stationary and axially symmetric body.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne has also theoretically predicted the existence of universally antigravitating "exotic matter" – the element needed to accelerate the expansion rate of the universe, keep traversable wormhole "Star Gates" open and keep timelike geodesic free float "warp drives" working. With Clifford Will and others of his students, he laid the foundations for the theoretical interpretation of experimental tests of relativistic theories of gravity – foundations on which Will and others then built. , Thorne was interested in the origin of classical space and time from the quantum foam of quantum gravity theory.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Thorne has written and edited books on topics in gravitational theory and high-energy astrophysics. In 1973, he co-authored the textbook "Gravitation" with Charles Misner and John Wheeler; that according to John C. Baez and Chris Hillman, is one of the great scientific books of all time and has inspired two generations of students. In 1994, he published "Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy", a book for non-scientists for which he received numerous awards. This book has been published in six languages, and editions in Chinese, Italian, Czech, and Polish are in press. In 2014, Thorne published "The Science of Interstellar" in which he explains the science behind Christopher Nolan's film "Interstellar"; Nolan wrote the foreword to the book. In September 2017, Thorne and Roger D. Blandford published "Modern Classical Physics: Optics, Fluids, Plasmas, Elasticity, Relativity, and Statistical Physics", a graduate-level textbook covering the six major areas of physics listed in the title.


title: Kip Thorne

text: He has been a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Danforth Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, and Fulbright Fellow. He has also received the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from Claremont Graduate University and an honorary doctorate from the Physics Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.


title: Kip Thorne

text: Kip Thorne was selected by "Time" magazine in an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the American world in 2016.


title: Clayface

text: Clayface is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most incarnations of the character possess clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities, and all of them have been depicted as adversaries of the superhero Batman. In 2009, Clayface was ranked as IGN's 73rd-greatest comic book villain of all time.


title: Clayface

text: A prominent enemy of Batman, Clayface has appeared in various forms of non-comics media, and has been voiced by Ron Perlman, Steve Harris, and Alan Tudyk among others, with a version of the character appearing on the television series "Gotham", portrayed by Brian McManamon.


title: Clayface

text: Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the original Clayface, Basil Karlo, appeared in "Detective Comics" #40 (June 1940) as a B-list actor who began a life of crime using the identity of a villain that he had portrayed in a horror film. The character only appeared twice in the Golden Age, but was the inspiration for the shape-shifting Silver Age version.


title: Clayface

text: In the late 1950s, Batman began facing a series of science fiction-inspired foes, including Matt Hagen, a treasure hunter given vast shapeshifting powers and resiliency by exposure to a pool of radioactive protoplasm, who became the second Clayface. He retained the title for the next several decades of comic book history.


title: Clayface

text: In the late 1970s, Preston Payne became the third Clayface. A scientist suffering from hyperpituitarism, Preston Payne used the second Clayface's blood to create a cure for his condition, but instead became a clay-like creature that needed to pass his new condition on to others to survive.


title: Clayface

text: Sondra Fuller of Strike Force Kobra used the terrorist group's technology to become the fourth Clayface, also known as Lady Clay. She formed the Mud Pack with the original and third Clayfaces. During this era, the original Clayface used the DNA of Payne and Fuller to become the Ultimate Clayface (as he now called himself).


title: Clayface

text: Sometime after the Mud Pack event, Payne and Fuller had a son named Cassius "Clay" Payne, who, as the fifth Clayface, also had metahuman shapeshifting powers.


title: Clayface

text: In a 1998 storyline, Dr. Peter Malloy later used a sample of Cassius Payne's skin to become a Claything when he was introduced in "Batman" #550 (January 1998).


title: Clayface

text: In 2002, the Todd Russell version of Clayface was introduced in "Catwoman" vol. 3, #4 (May 2002), and in 2005, the Johnny Williams version of Clayface was introduced in "" #60 (February 2005).


title: Clayface

text: The original version of Clayface, Basil "Baz" Karlo, first appeared in "Detective Comics" #40 (June 1940). He is a B-list actor who is driven insane when he hears that a remake of the classic horror film he had starred in, "Dread Castle", would be shot without him acting in the film, even though he is to be one of the advising staff. Donning the costume of Clayface, a villain he once played in a different movie, he begins killing the actors playing characters he killed in the order and way they die in the film, along with someone who knew his identity. Last, he plans to murder the actor playing the Clayface killer. He is foiled by Batman and Robin.


title: Clayface

text: He reappears after the prison ambulance he is riding in plunges off a cliff. He once again dons the mask of Clayface and targets Bruce Wayne's fiancée, Julie Madison. Once again, the Dynamic Duo foil his plans. A movie buff, Batman co-creator Bob Kane states that the character was partially inspired by the 1925 Lon Chaney, Sr. version of "The Phantom of the Opera" and that the name of the character came from a combination of Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone.


title: Clayface

text: While Earth-One's version of Clayface has a similar history, he was only seen in a flashback as Alice Chilton reminiscences about Bruce Wayne's growth from when her son Joe Chill shot Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne to his path to becoming Batman.


title: Clayface

text: John Carlinger was a renowned actor and director of horror movies who held a film exhibition aboard the yacht Varania III. Basil Karlo, the original Clayface, assaulted Carlinger with murderous intent because Carlinger neglected to "invite" him to the event, but Carlinger killed Karlo instead. Feeling threatened by a few actors attending the exhibition who were rumored to be demanding an audit of his production company's finances, Carlinger used Karlo's alter ego to mask his true identity and intentions when he gunned these actors down in cold blood. The Batman deduced "Clayface's" true identity by the water-solubility of his makeup, revealing it to be a type of makeup used by modern actors instead of the greasepaint Karlo was more likely to use. Batman punched Carlinger's lights out and exposed his murder scheme, putting the corrupt movie producer's brief stint as Clayface to an abrupt end.


title: Clayface

text: In the Post-"Crisis" continuity, Karlo languishes in a prison hospital, when the current Clayface (Sondra Fuller) visits him out of curiosity. Karlo proposes an alliance between all living Clayfaces to kill Batman and did an attempt to resurrect Matt Hagen. He even arranges for a small piece of the remains of Matt Hagen to be gathered to make him a post-mortem member of the "Mud Pack", as the group called itself. Even though the "Mud Pack" is defeated, Karlo injects himself with blood samples from Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller, gaining the abilities to shapeshift and melt with a touch; he becomes the self-declared "Ultimate" Clayface. He is defeated by the combined efforts of Batman and Looker of the Outsiders by overloading his abilities, making him melt into the ground. He literally sinks into the Earth's crust when he loses control of his powers; he survives, however, and now his body sports crystals similar to quartz that endow him with greater power. Karlo escapes his underground prison when Gotham City is struck by a great . He captures Batman and is about to kill him, but he gets into a feud with Mr. Freeze about who has a right to kill the Caped Crusader. Using that distraction, Batman soundly defeats both of them.


title: Clayface

text: During the "No Man's Land" storyline, Karlo holds Poison Ivy prisoner in Robinson Park. After she is freed from her prison by Batman, Poison Ivy battles and defeats Karlo, sinking him deep into the ground. It appears that the Ultimate Clayface is destroyed in this battle.


title: Clayface

text: During the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, Clayface resurfaces as a member of Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains.


title: Clayface

text: Later, he seeks to increase his already formidable powers by absorbing Wonder Woman (a clay construct similar to him), giving him an amount of powers that border on invulnerability. While he is successful in absorbing some of the heroine's powers, causing her to regress to a teenage appearance resembling Donna Troy, he is ultimately returned to normal when Wonder Woman and Donna were able to trick Clayface into entering a train carriage with Wonder Woman while she was disguised as Donna, Donna subsequently using the Lasso of Truth to swing the carriage around and turn it into a mystical centrifuge, causing the clay Clayface had taken from Wonder Woman to split away from him and re-merge with Wonder Woman due to the differences between the two types of clay.


title: Clayface

text: Basil Karlo is among the members of the Injustice League and is among the villains seen in "Salvation Run".


title: Clayface

text: During the "Final Crisis" storyline, Clayface can be seen as a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains. He triggers an explosion at the "Daily Planet" under Libra's orders when Lex Luthor orders Libra to do something that will draw Superman to them.


title: Clayface

text: Black Mask attempts to control Karlo by implanting a device in his body. He escapes Black Mask, but is captured and imprisoned by the Outsiders.


title: Clayface

text: In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. As a part of the "Death of the Family" storyline, Poison Ivy breaks Basil Karlo out of Arkham, claiming she wants to marry him. This turns out to be a ruse, however; Ivy is using him as part of a larger scheme. Upon realizing this, he seeks revenge. Karlo later returns with a new plan: to use his DNA-duplication abilities to impersonate Bruce Wayne and take control of Wayne Enterprises. He even guesses that Wayne is Batman's true identity. However, Batman plants false evidence to suggest that he anticipated Karlo's attempt to take his DNA and tricked him into taking a fake sample. Batman eventually stops Karlo by trapping him in a security system that can only be deactivated with Karlo's original DNA, reasoning that he has changed too much for his original DNA to be present in his system.


title: Clayface

text: In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Basil is re-imaged as a handsome young actor who was disfigured in a car accident. In a desperate bid to salvage his career, he began abusing an industrial make-up chemical known as "Re-Nu" which, when combined with clay and putty, warps flesh into new shapes and forms; a secret he discovered from his father Vincent Karlo, a former special effects artist. However, the chemical is long out of production, and Karlo is forced to steal more and more of it to preserve his handsome appearance. Batman apprehends him during one such robbery, which reveals his secret to the world. Karlo's career is ruined and his girlfriend Glory Griffin dumps him. Batman attempts to get Karlo to testify against the creator of Re-Nu, Roland Daggett, but he refuses. Instead, he attempts to break into the warehouse where the police are holding his stolen stash of Re-Nu. When police open fire on the vials, Karlo is doused in the chemical and transformed into Clayface. He then attacks the set of the film he was fired from. Batman attempts to evacuate the set, but Clayface flings him off into the distance and begins massacring everyone in sight. As an added bit of revenge, Clayface disfigures Glory, who is working on the film as a production assistant, before Batman apprehends him. This incident leads Glory to become Mudface of the Victim Syndicate.


title: Clayface

text: In the 2016 Batman story arc "Night of the Monster Men", the villainous Professor Hugo Strange uses a serum to transform living and dead human beings into horrific monsters. Batman initially suspects Karlo, who has broken out of Arkham Asylum. Realizing Karlo needs treatment more than imprisonment, Batman asks him to join his team. Karlo agrees, and working with Batman, Nightwing, Batwoman, Orphan, and Spoiler helps to defeat Strange's monsters. At one point, Karlo used the alias of "Matt Hagen". The government agency A.R.G.U.S. creates a quarantine zone encompassing the neighborhood where the creature died, nicknaming it "Monstertown". A consultant for A.R.G.U.S., Dr. Victoria October, takes charge of "Monstertown", the area of Gotham City affected by Strange's serum. Clayface patrols the sewers beneath Monstertown, retrieving for Dr. October monsters created by leaking serum.


title: Clayface

text: Dr. October offers to work on a means of returning Clayface to human form permanently. She asks him to stay in his monstrous form for as long as possible so she can chart the mental degradation he undergoes the longer he remains nonhuman. She also acts as his counselor when he despairs of a cure. Dr. October calls the Clayface persona a "fear response" that occurs Karlo's mind abandons empathy and embraces anger. Batman has Clayface wear a high-technology forearm device (later replaced with a smaller wristband with a longer-lasting power source) that enables him to regain human form without using his powers—reducing the psychotic effect being Clayface has on Karlo. The device is not a cure, as the Clayface DNA consumes Basil Karlo's human DNA whenever he is locked into human form. Dr. October gives him a "placebo" bracelet with messages from his close friend Cassandra Cain (Orphan), which helps him focus on retaining his sanity. After pushing past the twelve-hour mark, Clayface loses his sanity and attacks Dr. October. Orphan intervenes, saving her life by putting the real bracelet back on.


title: Clayface

text: Victoria cares deeply for Karlo, and later calls him a "great friend". Dr. October expresses a desire to test her cure on a less serious case, and Karlo tells her of Glory Griffin. Karlo also tells Glory about the potential cure, although she refuses to forgive him for what he did to her. Later, with the cure close to being finished, Clayface is captured by Glory when the villain First Victim takes over Arkham Asylum and releases her. Glory removes Clayface's wrist controller, and he goes insane. As Clayface rampages through Gotham to confront Batman, Batwoman obtains a weapon which can destabilize Karlo's molecular structure, killing him. During his attack on Old Wayne Tower, Karlo is accidentally doused with hundreds of gallons psychoactive mud, worsening his insanity. Dr. October attempts to cure Karlo, but the effect is only temporary, and Batwoman kills Karlo. Three days later, Dr. October cures Glory Griffin, saying she did so only for the sake of Basil Karlo.


title: Clayface

text: Clayface did not die, however. Seven issues later, in "Detective Comics" #981, readers discover that Basil Karlo is still alive and retains his Clayface powers (at least to some degree). For reasons unstated, Dr. October conspired with him to fake his death. Karlo leaves a message for Cassandra Cain and then allows Dr. October to take him out of Gotham City.


title: Clayface

text: In a flashback, Clayface is among the villains that protected Ingrid Karlsson during a riot. Before Ingrid was killed by an inmate using a rogue batarang despite the villains getting her away from the riot, she gave birth to Astrid Arkham, who would later become the Arkham Knight.


title: Clayface

text: Basil Karlo, bringing Killer Croc, Firefly, Cheshire, and the New God Knockout as potential allies seeking a second chance. Then Karlo assures Selina that her Alleytown stronghold will inevitably come to a head with the Magistrate, which can be better served with formidable allies by her side. Clayface and Killer Croc attack Valley, giving Selina a chance to escape into the water, as the Magistrate Croc Tell Basil to retreat and before that Valley blows Clayface up with a grenade.


title: Clayface

text: The second version of Clayface, Matthew "Matt" Hagen, first appeared in "Detective Comics" #298. A treasure hunter, Hagen finds a mysterious radioactive pool of protoplasm in a cave. Immersing himself in it by accident, he is transformed into a malleable clay-like form which could be shaped into almost anything he desires. This is only a temporary effect, however, requiring him to return to the pool periodically in order to maintain use of his powers. His criminal activities attracted the attention of Batman and Robin. Batman discovered his weakness and defeated him.


title: Clayface

text: Matt Hagen later escaped from prison and decided to investigate the protoplasmic substance that turned him into Clayface so that he can find a way to prolong his powers. Clayface posed as wealthy civilians of Gotham City in order to learn more about his criminal activities. Batman and Robin later confronted Clayface at his hideout where they used a combination of a freeze gun and the protoplasmic substance to defeat Clayface and return him to prison.


title: Clayface

text: Matt Hagen eventually breaks out of prison and uses the protoplasmic pool to become Clayface again. This time, Batman defeats Clayface by immersing himself in the protoplasm, with the resulting battle causing Batman to destroy the cave that contained the protoplasmic pool.


title: Clayface

text: Clayface later competes with Joker causing Batman, Robin, Batwoman and Bat-Girl to work together to defeat both villains.


title: Clayface

text: After escaping from Green Wells Maximum Security Prison upon having stashed some chemicals there, Clayface eventually copies the pool's protoplasmic jelly by chemistry studies, although the artificial protoplasm only allows him five hours of his power compared to the full two days of the pool's. Clayface resumes his crime spree by stealing the priceless stamp collection of millionaire K.A. King and stealing the trophy that was to be given to Batman. Clayface's activities also attract the attention of Superman. Assuming the form of Superman, Clayface is evenly matched with him until Clayface smashes some bleachers to provide a diversion to get away. During Clayface's robbery, Batman used Kryptonite on Clayface's Superman form, only for Clayface to get away by shapeshifting into a rocket. When Batman uses Red Kryptonite on him, it causes Clayface to go crazy. Clayface uses the X-Ray Vision in his Superman form to see who Batman is. Before he can reveal who Batman is, Clayface's powers wear off, causing him to regress back to Matt Hagen. Superman manages to save Clayface from the fall. Matt Hagen had lost the memory of Batman's secret identity as he is handed over to the Gotham City Police Department.


title: Clayface

text: When Brainiac returns to Earth to plan his revenge on Superman, he goes on a rampage and blasts the walls to a prison where Matt Hagen was imprisoned. This gives Matt Hagen the opportunity to escape and head to one of his secret laboratories in order to regain his powers. He makes more of the synthetic formula that gives him his shapeshifting powers for five hours. With Jimmy Olsen by his side, Batman works to track down Clayface while Robin works with Superman to catch Brainiac. This leads to a team-up between Clayface and Brainiac. While Superman and Robin managed to apprehend Brainiac, Clayface tries to escape, only for his formula to wear off which enables Batman and Jimmy Olsen to apprehend him.


title: Clayface

text: Clayface later appears as a member of Queen Bee's Anti-Justice League in order to capture the Justice League. They are defeated by the Justice League.


title: Clayface

text: Clayface later breaks out of prison and restores his powers. He kidnaps Lois Lane as part of a plot to destroy Batman and Superman. Both superheroes managed to rescue Lois Lane and defeat Clayface.


title: Clayface

text: Clayface is among the villains that fight Batman and Robin as part of a gang of Batman foes gathered together by the Joker.


title: Clayface

text: During the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline, Matt Hagen is ultimately killed by one of the Anti-Monitor's Shadow Demons, together with the Bug-Eyed Bandit.


title: Clayface

text: Clayface appeared in Limbo alongside other dead supervillains as part of a plan to return to the living, only to be defeated by Hawk and Dove, the Teen Titans and Jeb Stuart's Haunted Tank. The impostor Etrigan the Demon offered them a way out through another portal, but he was merely toying with the dead supervillains. When he sent them through the portal, it turned out to be an entrance to Hell.


title: Clayface

text: During the "Mud Pack" storyline, Basil Karlo gathers a small piece of Hagen's remains and makes him a post-mortem member of the group. He was unable to bring Matt Hagen back to life, however.


title: Clayface

text: During the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, Matt Hagen turns up alive and was sighted as a member of Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains during the Battle of Metropolis.


title: Clayface

text: The third version of Clayface, Preston Payne, first appeared at the end of "Detective Comics" #477 before making his first full appearance in "Detective Comics" #478–479. Suffering from hyperpituitarism, Payne works at S.T.A.R. Labs-Gotham division searching for a cure. He obtains a sample of Matt Hagen's blood, and isolates an enzyme which he introduces into his own bloodstream. Although he is briefly able to shape his own appearance, this effect is short-lived: while on a date, his flesh begins to melt, and when he grabs his horrified girlfriend's arm, she completely dissolves into a shapeless pile of protoplasm. Payne builds an anti-dissolving exoskeleton suit to support his clay-like flesh and contain his contagion, but he soon learns that he needs to transmit this dissolving contagion onto others to survive by touching them (he feels excruciating pain before this happens, which only stops when he touches someone). During this time, his mental health starts to slip as he falls in love with a wax mannequin he names "Helena", thinking that she is the only woman who is immune to his touch. After another breakdown, he thinks Helena enjoys watching men "fighting over her" when he battles Batman yet again in front of the wax doll. Although he does not give her up, he keeps her in Arkham Asylum, saying "we're both too polite to admit divorce, but she can't live forever".


title: Clayface

text: Dr. R. Hutton takes a night shift at Arkham Asylum in order to do research for his new book detailing superhuman psychology. He keeps a close watch on the inmates at Arkham Asylum. During this time, he sees Clayface spending intimate time with Helena.


title: Clayface

text: During the events of the "Mud Pack" storyline, Sondra Fuller, the fourth Clayface, begins masquerading as the superheroine Looker and visits Payne at Arkham. That same night, he gets into an argument with Helena and unintentionally knocks her head off. Believing that he has killed her, Payne goes on a rampage until subdued in a nearby swamp by the asylum guards. Fuller, who is still using Looker's appearance and powers, rescues him and influences him to follow Basil Karlo's commands. Karlo ultimately betrays Payne and Fuller and takes samples of both their blood to inject into himself. Payne finally breaks free of Fuller's control and is about to kill her when she admits how sorry she is for using him. The two, after escaping, fall in love and go on to live together while on the run, leading to Fuller becoming pregnant with their child, Cassius.


title: Clayface

text: Payne acquires medicine to control his pain and now feels it only in his mind. It is also revealed that he was abused by his parents.


title: Clayface

text: A stunted, emaciated Payne appears in the graphic novel "" by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. He is used to metaphorically represent sexually transmitted infections.


title: Clayface

text: Payne next appears in the "" miniseries, having been coerced into working for Prometheus, who had threatened the life of his son. Prometheus had further mutated Payne, giving him back his old shapeshifting abilities, curing him of his contagion, and had him act as a decoy for the Justice League. When the ruse was discovered, an explosive device planted inside Payne's body detonated. It is unknown to this day if he survived the explosion.


title: Clayface

text: The fourth version of Clayface, Sondra Fuller (also known as Lady Clay), first appeared in "Outsiders" #21. She is a member of Strike Force Kobra who is transformed into a shape-changer by her employer Kobra's technologies. She agreed to going through with the process because she hates her own face. The process works and she becomes a member of Strike Force Kobra. Clayface possesses identical abilities to those of Matt Hagen, but they are permanent, without the requirement for exposure to a source of protoplasm. She can additionally copy any special powers of the being she is mimicking. Clayface is defeated by the Outsiders.


title: Clayface

text: Later, after the Mud Pack forms and battles Batman, Fuller falls in love with Preston Payne. After Clayface-Prime (Karlo) is defeated, Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller escape and get married while on the run, and they have a child named Cassius "Clay" Payne, a play on boxer Muhammad Ali's birth name. After Abattoir kidnaps the child, the couple get into a fight involving Azrael/Batman. Batman eventually defeated them both, and Fuller was put into custody.


title: Clayface

text: The "DC Rebirth" version of Sondra Fuller appeared in the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", where she claims that Kobra was not the person who gave her the powers of shapeshifting after all. Instead, she claims that her powers were the result of a government conspiracy to create superpowered beings. Her proclamation further adds to the global scandal known as "the Superman Hypothesis", which suggests that the United States has been secretly creating superheroes and supervillains for an unknown/unstated purpose. Clayface later accompanied Black Adam in his attack on the White House.


title: Clayface

text: Before the debut appearances of the fifth and sixth Clayfaces, Clayface III and IV team up, breaking Clayface I out of prison. Clayface I also futilely tries to revive Clayface II. Together, the trio form the "Mud Pack". Karlo/Clayface I later gains the others' powers by injecting himself with extracts of blood samples from Clayface III and IV, becoming the "Ultimate Clayface". Clayface I is defeated by Batman and Looker and Clayface III and IV escape.


title: Clayface

text: After the Mud Pack incident, Payne and Fuller escape and fall in love while on the run. They eventually have a child together named Cassius "Clay" Payne, who becomes the fifth version of Clayface and debuted in "Batman" #550. The boy is separated from his parents and held in a government laboratory. The name "Cassius" is a pun on "Cassius Clay", the birth name of boxer Muhammad Ali.


title: Clayface

text: If a piece of him is separated from his body, it can grow a mind of its own, but it mostly thinks in an unstable form of what Cassius wants. If bonded with another human, it becomes a Claything; the piece can give that human Clayface-like abilities, such as becoming soft and malleable, being able to withstand bullets and other forms of harm, and could also manifest Payne's ability to melt objects; all this person would have to do to perform such an action is to think about it. Cassius finds it very painful and distressing to have pieces of himself taken, and will go to crazed lengths to recover them.


title: Clayface

text: When Thomas Elliot attempted to give himself the shapeshifting abilities of the Clayfaces, he determined that Cassius is the only 'pure' Clayface in existence, as all others retain fragments of their former human DNA where Cassius is the only Clayface that was never anything but his current state.


title: Clayface

text: In an issue of "", Cassius is depicted as having the clay-like appearance of his mother and father, but can only stay in this form while awake (a similar trait shared by Plasmus in the Teen Titans" animated series.


title: Clayface

text: During the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, Cassius was sighted as a member of Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains.


title: Clayface

text: Following the "Final Crisis" storyline, Cassius attacks the National Guard on the roadblock, but when he was approached by General Immortus's team, he is able to recognize one of the team, Human Flame. Cassius attacks and blames him for Libra enslaving Earth. The Justice League arrives to end the fight as Human Flame and General Immortus's team teleport away, leaving Cassius to be captured. After the League interrogates him, he is taken to some FBI vehicles, but the measures to contain him prove to be useless; Cassius breaks loose, escaping into the desert.


title: Clayface

text: The sixth version of Clayface, also known as the Claything, also debuted in "Batman" #550. Claything is created when a skin sample from Cassius Payne comes to life and merges with a D.E.O. scientist, Dr. Peter Malley. He has the ability to melt objects simply by looking at them. Claything is destroyed when Cameron Chase psychokinetically turns his own powers against him and his remains are stored at the D.E.O. Headquarters.


title: Clayface

text: The seventh version of Clayface, Todd Russell, debuted in "Catwoman" (vol. 3) #1 (January 2002), but is not actually shown until "Catwoman" (vol. 3) #4 (May 2002). This version of Clayface is not named until "Catwoman" (vol. 3) #44. Having the power to change into virtually any shape and size, he preys upon prostitutes in Gotham's East End until Catwoman is able to contain his severed head inside of a freezer. There are very few background details given about the seventh Clayface's past. He was in the Army, suffered injuries, and was subsequently experimented on (possibly by the DEO) before losing most of his memory and discovering his new powers. After his capture, he is held captive and further experimented upon for almost two years at S.T.A.R. Labs in Gotham before being freed by Catwoman.


title: Clayface

text: The eighth version of Clayface, Johnny Williams, debuted in "Batman: Gotham Knights" #60 (February 2005). Williams is introduced as a former firefighter in Gotham who is transformed into a clay-based creature by an explosion in a chemical plant. He first discovers his transformation after he accidentally kills a prostitute; horrified and stricken with guilt, he plans to commit suicide. Just then, he is approached by Hush and the Riddler, who tell him that the chemicals turned him into the latest Clayface. They begin to manipulate Williams, holding out the promise of a cure and making him do their bidding, including pretending to be Tommy Elliot (Hush's true identity) and an adult Jason Todd, to hurt and confuse Bruce Wayne. Elliot also takes some samples from Williams to try and determine how he can duplicate the shapeshifting aspects of Clayface without losing his original form, also using these samples to infect Batman's ally Alfred Pennyworth with a virus that allows Hush to exert some degree of control over Alfred, forcing him to commit murder. Eventually, Williams realizes he is being manipulated and Hush will never help him after Hush tries to steal a sample of Cassius in the hopes that analysis of the 'pure' Clayface (the only one who was never human in the first place) will help him crack the sample. Knowing that he is going to die, Williams offers Batman assistance against Hush in exchange for protecting his family. He redeems himself in his death by providing Batman with a sample of himself so that Batman can find a cure for the virus infecting Alfred, also ensuring that Alfred is cleared of the murder charges by ensuring that his final appearance after death includes fingerprints that are so similar to Alfred's that the detectives conclude that they simply made a mistake.


title: Clayface

text: The ninth version of Clayface, the Clayface of Japan, debuted in "Batman Incorporated" #6 (June 2011) as part of "The New 52". Batman tasks Batman Japan (Jiro Osamu) to fight the Clayface of Japan about months into his Batman Incorporated venture. Not much is known about this Clayface, except that he resembles all of the previous Clayfaces and seems to have their same set of powers. Presumably, this Clayface, as a rival to Osamu, is a native of Japan. Batman states that this Clayface is a newcomer, a samurai, and operates in or around Hokkaido.


title: Clayface

text: The being known as Clownface began as a stray piece of Clayface's body that became unattached and gained enough sentience to morph itself into a mute old man. This man was found and taken to Arkham Manor because of his unresponsiveness. Later, the Joker infected this portion of Clayface with Joker venom, morphing it into an entirely separate killing machine he called Clownface.


title: Clayface

text: A number of alternate universes in DC Comics publications allow writers to introduce variations on Clayface, in which the character's origins, behavior, and morality differ from the mainstream setting.


title: Clayface

text: The Basil Karlo incarnation of Clayface appears in the "" video game franchise, primarily voiced by Rick D. Wasserman.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: Miss Universe Philippines 2022 was the 3rd edition of the Miss Universe Philippines pageant. The coronation night was held on April 30, 2022, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: The coronation night was livestreamed by ABS-CBN through iWantTFC, YouTube, and The Filipino Channel on April 30, 2022 with a delayed telecast on GMA Network on May 1, 2022. Beatrice Luigi Gomez of Cebu City crowned Silvia Celeste Cortesi of Pasay as her successor at the end of the event. Cortesi will represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2022 pageant.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On January 3, 2022, the organization announced that the coronation will be in April 2022. Screenings began in February 2022. On March 17, 2022, the organization confirmed that the coronation night will be on April 30, 2022 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On January 31, 2022, the organization launched its search for the next Filipina who will represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2022 competition. The final submission of application was initially set for February 15, 2022 but was later extended to February 22, 2022.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On February 28, 2022, the organization revealed its Top 50 delegates that will undergo a series of online challenges to fight for a slot in the final 32 delegates. The online challenges premiered on Kumu starting March 11, 2022.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: The Top 50 delegates competed in different challenges. The public and judges' votes determined the winners of every challenge.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On March 26, 2022, Kumu announced the two winners for its Livestream and Follower challenges. The winner of the Follower Sprint challenge will get her own Kumu dressing room during the preliminary competition. On the other hand, the winner of the Livestream challenge will get her own make-up artist during the preliminary competition. The winner of the Livestream challenge also became the second official delegate of the pageant.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On April 6, 2022, the organization revealed its final 32 delegates. Two delegates advanced to the Top 32 as Kumunity's choice and Kumu's choice while thirty delegates were chosen based from all of the online challenges which were scored by the public and the panel of experts.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On April 18, 2022, the organization announced that a new crown in collaboration with Jewelmer would be unveiled on April 19, 2022. At the Miss Universe Philippines 2022 gala night held on April 19, 2022, the organization and Jewelmer revealed the new crown named La Mer en Majesté or "The Sea in Majesty" which aptly pays homage to her majesty, the sea, for "she is the queen of the elements". Embedded in it are the Golden South Sea Pearls, the national gem of the Philippines, "a radiant symbol of the harmonious relationship between man and nature, capturing the very spirit of the Filipinos".


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On April 20, 2022, the organization announced that the national costume competition will be filmed in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. Originally scheduled to be livestreamed on TikTok on April 25, 2022, it was moved to April 26, 2022 due to technical concerns. The competition featured a new Johannes Rissler track entitled "Habi". For this edition's national costume competition, the organization decided that 30% of each finalist’s costume should be made of Philippine textiles or weaving.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On April 16, 2022, the organization announced that the preliminary competition would be held on April 27, 2022 at The Cove Manila in Okada Manila, Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. Marco Gumabao and Beatrice Gomez hosted the event, while Ez Mil, Anji Salvacion, Yheen & Yuki, and Gabriel Umali performed as musical guests.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On March 17, 2022, the organization confirmed that the coronation night would be on April 30, 2022 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On March 26, 2022, the organization announced that former Miss Universe titleholders Pia Wurtzbach, Iris Mittenaere, and Demi-Leigh Tebow would be hosting the coronation night.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: On April 12, 2022, the organization announced that musician and singer-songwriter Bamboo Mañalac would be performing on the coronation night. On April 13, 2022, the organization announced that actor, dancer, and singer Sam Concepcion would also be performing on the coronation night. On April 18, 2022, the organization announced that Filipino-American singer Francisco Martin would also be performing at the coronation night. On April 19, 2022, the organization announced that singer-songwriter and performer Morissette, singer-songwriter JM Bales, and R&B singer Arthur Nery would have their special performances on the coronation night.


title: Miss Universe Philippines 2022

text: The judges for both the preliminary competition and the final telecast determined the results alongside a public vote, which consists of:


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: In philosophy, naturalism is the idea or belief that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: According to philosopher Steven Lockwood, naturalism can be separated into an ontological sense and a methodological sense. "Ontological" refers to ontology, the philosophical study of what exists. On an ontological level, philosophers often treat naturalism as equivalent to materialism. For example, philosopher Paul Kurtz argues that nature is best accounted for by reference to material principles. These principles include mass, energy, and other physical and chemical properties accepted by the scientific community. Further, this sense of naturalism holds that spirits, deities, and ghosts are not real and that there is no "purpose" in nature. This stronger formulation of naturalism is commonly referred to as "metaphysical naturalism". On the other hand, the more moderate view that naturalism should be assumed in one's working methods as the current paradigm, without any further consideration of whether naturalism is true in the robust metaphysical sense, is called "methodological naturalism".


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: With the exception of pantheists – who believe that Nature is identical with divinity while not recognizing a distinct personal anthropomorphic god – theists challenge the idea that nature contains all of reality. According to some theists, natural laws may be viewed as secondary causes of God(s).


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: In the 20th century, Willard Van Orman Quine, George Santayana, and other philosophers argued that the success of naturalism in science meant that scientific methods should also be used in philosophy. According to this view, science and philosophy are not always distinct from one another, but instead form a continuum.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Naturalism is most notably a Western phenomenon, but an equivalent idea has long existed in the East. Naturalism was the foundation of two out of six orthodox schools and one heterodox school of Hinduism. Samkhya, one of the oldest schools of Indian philosophy puts nature (Prakriti) as the primary cause of the universe, without assuming the existence of a personal God or Ishwara. The Carvaka, Nyaya, Vaisheshika schools originated in the 7th, 6th, and 2nd century BCE, respectively. Similarly, though unnamed and never articulated into a coherent system, one tradition within Confucian philosophy embraced a form of Naturalism dating to the Wang Chong in the 1st century, if not earlier, but it arose independently and had little influence on the development of modern naturalist philosophy or on Eastern or Western culture.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Western metaphysical naturalism originated in ancient Greek philosophy. The earliest pre-Socratic philosophers, especially the Milesians (Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes) and the atomists (Leucippus and Democritus), were labeled by their peers and successors "the "physikoi"" (from the Greek φυσικός or "physikos", meaning "natural philosopher" borrowing on the word φύσις or "physis", meaning "nature") because they investigated natural causes, often excluding any role for gods in the creation or operation of the world. This eventually led to fully developed systems such as Epicureanism, which sought to explain everything that exists as the product of atoms falling and swerving in a void.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Aristotle surveyed the thought of his predecessors and conceived of nature in a way that charted a middle course between their excesses.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: With the rise and dominance of Christianity in the West and the later spread of Islam, metaphysical naturalism was generally abandoned by intellectuals. Thus, there is little evidence for it in medieval philosophy. The reintroduction of Aristotle's empirical epistemology as well as previously lost treatises by Greco-Roman natural philosophers which was begun by the medieval Scholastics without resulting in any noticeable increase in commitment to naturalism.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: It was not until the early modern era of philosophy and the Age of Enlightenment that naturalists like Benedict Spinoza (who put forward a theory of psychophysical parallelism), David Hume and the proponents of French materialism (notably Denis Diderot, Julien La Mettrie, and Baron d'Holbach) started to emerge again in the 17th and 18th centuries. In this period, some metaphysical naturalists adhered to a distinct doctrine, materialism, which became the dominant category of metaphysical naturalism widely defended until the end of the 19th century.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Immanuel Kant rejected (reductionist) materialist positions in metaphysics, but he was not hostile to naturalism. His transcendental philosophy is considered to be a form of liberal naturalism.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: In late modern philosophy, "Naturphilosophie", a form of natural philosophy, was developed by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel as an attempt to comprehend nature in its totality and to outline its general theoretical structure.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: A version of naturalism that arose after Hegel was Ludwig Feuerbach's anthropological materialism, which influenced Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's historical materialism, Engels's "materialist dialectic" philosophy of nature ("Dialectics of Nature"), and their follower Georgi Plekhanov's dialectical materialism.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Another notable school of late modern philosophy advocating naturalism was German materialism: members included Ludwig Büchner, Jacob Moleschott, and Carl Vogt.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: The current usage of the term naturalism "derives from debates in America in the first half of the 20th century. The self-proclaimed 'naturalists' from that period included John Dewey, Ernest Nagel, Sidney Hook and Roy Wood Sellars."


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: A politicized version of naturalism that has arisen in contemporary philosophy is Ayn Rand's Objectivism. Objectivism is an expression of capitalist ethical idealism within a naturalistic framework. An example of a more progressive naturalistic philosophy is secular humanism.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: The current usage of the term naturalism "derives from debates in America in the first half of the last century.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Currently, metaphysical naturalism is more widely embraced than in previous centuries, especially but not exclusively in the natural sciences and the Anglo-American, analytic philosophical communities. While the vast majority of the population of the world remains firmly committed to non-naturalistic worldviews, contemporary defenders of naturalism and/or naturalistic theses and doctrines today include Kai Nielsen, J. J. C. Smart, David Malet Armstrong, David Papineau, Paul Kurtz, Brian Leiter, Daniel Dennett, Michael Devitt, Fred Dretske, Paul and Patricia Churchland, Mario Bunge, Jonathan Schaffer, Hilary Kornblith, Leonard Olson, Quentin Smith, Paul Draper and Michael Martin, among many other academic philosophers.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: According to David Papineau, contemporary naturalism is a consequence of the build-up of scientific evidence during the twentieth century for the "causal closure of the physical", the doctrine that all physical effects can be accounted for by physical causes.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: In contemporary continental philosophy, Quentin Meillassoux proposed speculative materialism, a post-Kantian return to David Hume which can strengthen classical materialist ideas.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: The term "methodological naturalism" is much more recent, though. According to Ronald Numbers, it was coined in 1983 by Paul de Vries, a Wheaton College philosopher. De Vries distinguished between what he called "methodological naturalism", a disciplinary method that says nothing about God's existence, and "metaphysical naturalism", which "denies the existence of a transcendent God". The term "methodological naturalism" had been used in 1937 by Edgar S. Brightman in an article in "The Philosophical Review" as a contrast to "naturalism" in general, but there the idea was not really developed to its more recent distinctions.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: In addition Arthur C. Danto states that Naturalism, in recent usage, is a species of philosophical monism according to which whatever exists or happens is "natural" in the sense of being susceptible to explanation through methods which, although paradigmatically exemplified in the natural sciences, are continuous from domain to domain of objects and events. Hence, naturalism is polemically defined as repudiating the view that there exists or could exist any entities which lie, in principle, beyond the scope of scientific explanation.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Arthur Newell Strahler states: "The naturalistic view is that the particular universe we observe came into existence and has operated through all time and in all its parts without the impetus or guidance of any supernatural agency." "The great majority of contemporary philosophers urge that that reality is exhausted by nature, containing nothing ‘supernatural’, and that the scientific method should be used to investigate all areas of reality, including the ‘human spirit’.” Philosophers widely regard naturalism as a "positive" term, and "few active philosophers nowadays are happy to announce themselves as 'non-naturalists'". "Philosophers concerned with religion tend to be less enthusiastic about 'naturalism'" and that despite an "inevitable" divergence due to its popularity, if more narrowly construed, (to the chagrin of John McDowell, David Chalmers and Jennifer Hornsby, for example), those not so disqualified remain nonetheless content "to set the bar for 'naturalism' higher."


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Alvin Plantinga stated that Naturalism is presumed to not be a religion. However, in one very important respect it resembles religion by performing the cognitive function of a religion. There is a set of deep human questions to which a religion typically provides an answer. In like manner naturalism gives a set of answers to these questions".


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: According to Robert Priddy, all scientific study inescapably builds on at least some essential assumptions that cannot be tested by scientific processes; that is, that scientists must start with some assumptions as to the ultimate analysis of the facts with which it deals. These assumptions would then be justified partly by their adherence to the types of occurrence of which we are directly conscious, and partly by their success in representing the observed facts with a certain generality, devoid of "ad hoc" suppositions." Kuhn also claims that all science is based on an approved agenda of unprovable assumptions about the character of the universe, rather than merely on empirical facts. These assumptions – a paradigm – comprise a collection of beliefs, values and techniques that are held by a given scientific community, which legitimize their systems and set the limitations to their investigation. For naturalists, nature is the only reality, the "correct" paradigm, and there is no such thing as "supernatural", i.e. anything above, beyond, or outside of nature. The scientific method is to be used to investigate all reality, including the human spirit.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Some claim that naturalism is the implicit philosophy of working scientists, and that the following basic assumptions are needed to justify the scientific method:


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Naturalism in its primary sense is known as "metaphysical naturalism", "ontological naturalism", "pure naturalism", "philosophical naturalism" and "antisupernaturalism". Metaphysical naturalism rejects the supernatural concepts and explanations that are part of many religions.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Methodological naturalism, this second sense of the term "naturalism", seeks to provide a framework of acquiring knowledge that requires scientists to seek explanations of how the world around us functions based on what we can observe, test, replicate and verify. It is a distinct system of thought concerned with a cognitive approach to reality, and is thus a philosophy of knowledge. It is a self-imposed convention of science that attempts to explain and test scientific endeavors, hypotheses, and events with reference to natural causes and events.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Steven Schafersman states that methodological naturalism is "the adoption or assumption of philosophical naturalism within the scientific method with or without fully accepting or believing it ... science is not metaphysical and does not depend on the ultimate truth of any metaphysics for its success, but methodological naturalism must be adopted as a strategy or working hypothesis for science to succeed. We may therefore be agnostic about the ultimate truth of naturalism, but must nevertheless adopt it and investigate nature as if nature is all that there is."


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Studies by sociologist Elaine Ecklund suggest that religious scientists in practice apply methodological naturalism. They report that their religious beliefs affect the way they think about the implications – often moral – of their work, but not the way they practice science.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: In a series of articles and books from 1996 onward, Robert T. Pennock wrote using the term "methodological naturalism" to clarify that the scientific method confines itself to natural explanations without assuming the existence or non-existence of the supernatural, and is not based on dogmatic metaphysical naturalism. Pennock's testimony as an expert witness at the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial was cited by the Judge in his "Memorandum Opinion" concluding that "Methodological naturalism is a 'ground rule' of science today":


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: "Expert testimony reveals that since the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, science has been limited to the search for natural causes to explain natural phenomena... While supernatural explanations may be important and have merit, they are not part of science." It is a "ground rule" that "requires scientists to seek explanations in the world around us based upon what we can observe, test, replicate, and verify."


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Schafersman writes that "while science as a process only requires methodological naturalism, I think that the assumption of methodological naturalism by scientists and others logically and morally entails ontological naturalism", and "I maintain that the practice or adoption of methodological naturalism entails a logical and moral belief in ontological naturalism, so they are not logically decoupled." Strahler agrees: "The naturalistic [ontological] view is that the particular universe we observe came into existence and has operated through all time and in all its parts without the impetus or guidance of any supernatural agency. The naturalistic view is espoused by science as its fundamental assumption."


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: W. V. O. Quine describes naturalism as the position that there is no higher tribunal for truth than natural science itself. In his view, there is no better method than the scientific method for judging the claims of science, and there is neither any need nor any place for a "first philosophy", such as (abstract) metaphysics or epistemology, that could stand behind and justify science or the scientific method.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Therefore, philosophy should feel free to make use of the findings of scientists in its own pursuit, while also feeling free to offer criticism when those claims are ungrounded, confused, or inconsistent. In Quine's view, philosophy is "continuous with" science, and "both" are empirical. Naturalism is not a dogmatic belief that the modern view of science is entirely correct. Instead, it simply holds that science is the best way to explore the processes of the universe and that those processes are what modern science is striving to understand.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Karl Popper equated naturalism with inductive theory of science. He rejected it based on his general critique of induction (see problem of induction), yet acknowledged its utility as means for inventing conjectures.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Popper instead proposed that science should adopt a methodology based on falsifiability for demarcation, because no number of experiments can ever prove a theory, but a single experiment can contradict one. Popper holds that scientific theories are characterized by falsifiability.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Alvin Plantinga, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Notre Dame, and a Christian, has become a well-known critic of naturalism. He suggests, in his evolutionary argument against naturalism, that the probability that evolution has produced humans with reliable true beliefs, is low or inscrutable, unless the evolution of humans was guided (for example, by God). According to David Kahan of the University of Glasgow, in order to understand how beliefs are warranted, a justification must be found in the context of supernatural theism, as in Plantinga's epistemology. "(See also supernormal stimuli)."


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Plantinga argues that together, naturalism and evolution provide an insurmountable ""defeater" for the belief that our cognitive faculties are reliable", i.e., a skeptical argument along the lines of Descartes' evil demon or brain in a vat.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: The argument is controversial and has been criticized as seriously flawed, for example, by Elliott Sober.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Robert T. Pennock states that as supernatural agents and powers "are above and beyond the natural world and its agents and powers" and "are not constrained by natural laws", only logical impossibilities constrain what a supernatural agent cannot do. He says: "If we could apply natural knowledge to understand supernatural powers, then, by definition, they would not be supernatural." As the supernatural is necessarily a mystery to us, it can provide no grounds on which one can judge scientific models. "Experimentation requires observation and control of the variables... But by definition we have no control over supernatural entities or forces." Science does not deal with meanings; the closed system of scientific reasoning cannot be used to define itself. Allowing science to appeal to untestable supernatural powers would make the scientist's task meaningless, undermine the discipline that allows science to make progress, and "would be as profoundly unsatisfying as the ancient Greek playwright's reliance upon the "deus ex machina" to extract his hero from a difficult predicament."


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: Naturalism of this sort says nothing about the existence or nonexistence of the supernatural, which by this definition is beyond natural testing. As a practical consideration, the rejection of supernatural explanations would merely be pragmatic, thus it would nonetheless be possible for an ontological supernaturalist to espouse and practice methodological naturalism. For example, scientists may believe in God while practicing methodological naturalism in their scientific work. This position does not preclude knowledge that is somehow connected to the supernatural. Generally however, anything that one can examine and explain scientifically would not be supernatural, simply by definition.


title: Naturalism (philosophy)

text: The late philosopher of mathematics Mark Steiner has written extensively on this matter and acknowledges that the applicability of mathematics constitutes "a challenge to the entrenched dogma of naturalism."


title: Dominant-party system

text: A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a political occurrence in which a single political party continuously dominates election results over running opposition groups or parties. Any ruling party staying in power for more than one consecutive term may be considered a dominant party (also referred to as a "predominant" or "hegemonic" party). Some dominant parties were called the natural governing party, given their length of time in power.


title: Dominant-party system

text: "Dominant"-parties and their domination of a state, develop out of one-sided electoral and party constellations within a multi-party system (particularly under presidential systems of governance), and as such differ from states under a "one"-party system, which are intricately organized around a specific party. Sometimes the term ""de facto" one-party state" is used to describe dominant-party systems which, unlike a one-party system, allows (at least nominally) democratic multiparty elections, but the existing practices or balance of political power effectively prevent the opposition from winning power, thus resembling a one-party state.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Dominant-party systems differ from the political dynamics of other dominant multi-party constellations such as consociationalism, grand coalitions and two-party systems, which are characterized and sustained by narrow or balanced competition and cooperation.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Between 1950 and 2017, more than 130 countries were included in the list of dominant-party systems at different times.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Dominant-party systems are commonly based on majority rule for proportional representation or majority boosting in semi-proportional representation.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Critics of the "dominant party" theory argue that it views the meaning of democracy as given, and that it assumes that only a particular conception of representative democracy (in which different parties alternate frequently in power) is valid. Raymond Suttner, himself a former leader of the African National Congress (ANC), argues that "the dominant party 'system' is deeply flawed as a mode of analysis and lacks explanatory capacity. But it is also a very conservative approach to politics. Its fundamental political assumptions are restricted to one form of democracy, namely electoral politics, and display hostility towards popular politics. This is manifest in the obsession with the quality of electoral opposition, and its sidelining or ignoring of popular political activity organised in other ways. The assumption in this approach is that other forms of organisation and opposition are of limited importance or a separate matter from the consolidation of their version of democracy."


title: Dominant-party system

text: One of the dangers of dominant parties is "the tendency of dominant parties to conflate party and state and to appoint party officials to senior positions irrespective of their having the required qualities." However, in some countries this is common practice even when there is no dominant party. In contrast to one-party systems, dominant-party systems can occur within a context of a democratic system. In a one-party system other parties are banned, but in dominant-party systems other political parties are tolerated, and (in democratic dominant-party systems) operate without overt legal impediment, but do not have a realistic chance of winning; the dominant party genuinely wins the votes of the vast majority of voters every time (or, in authoritarian systems, claims to). Under authoritarian dominant-party systems, which may be referred to as "electoralism" or "soft authoritarianism", opposition parties are legally allowed to operate, but are too weak or ineffective to seriously challenge power, perhaps through various forms of corruption, constitutional quirks that intentionally undermine the ability for an effective opposition to thrive, institutional and/or organizational conventions that support the status quo, occasional but not omnipresent political repression, or inherent cultural values averse to change.


title: Dominant-party system

text: In some states opposition parties are subject to varying degrees of official harassment and most often deal with restrictions on free speech (such as press laws), lawsuits against the opposition, and rules or electoral systems (such as gerrymandering of electoral districts) designed to put them at a disadvantage. In some cases outright electoral fraud keeps the opposition from power. On the other hand, some dominant-party systems occur, at least temporarily, in countries that are widely seen, both by their citizens and outside observers, to be textbook examples of democracy. An example of a genuine democratic dominant-party system would be the pre-Emergency India, which was almost universally viewed by all as being a democratic state, even though the only major national party at that time was the Indian National Congress. The reasons why a dominant-party system may form in such a country are often debated: supporters of the dominant party tend to argue that their party is simply doing a good job in government and the opposition continuously proposes unrealistic or unpopular changes, while supporters of the opposition tend to argue that the electoral system disfavors them (for example because it is based on the principle of first past the post), or that the dominant party receives a disproportionate amount of funding from various sources and is therefore able to mount more persuasive campaigns. In states with ethnic issues, one party may be seen as being the party for an ethnicity or race with the party for the majority ethnic, racial or religious group dominating, e.g., the African National Congress in South Africa (governing since the end of apartheid in 1994) has strong support amongst Bantu peoples of South Africa and the Ulster Unionist Party governed Northern Ireland from its creation in 1921 until 1972 with the support of the Protestant majority. Similarly, the Apartheid-era National Party in South Africa had the support of Afrikaners who make up the majority of White South Africans while English-speaking white South Africans tended towards more liberal and reform-oriented parties like the Progressive Federal Party.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Sub-national entities are often dominated by one party due to the area's demographic being on one end of the spectrum. For example, the current elected government of the District of Columbia has been governed by Democrats since its creation in the 1970s, Bavaria by the Christian Social Union since 1957, Madeira by the Social Democrats since 1976, and Alberta by Progressive Conservatives from 1971 to 2015. On the other hand, where the dominant party rules nationally on a genuinely democratic basis, the opposition may be strong in one or more subnational areas, possibly even constituting a dominant party locally; an example is South Africa, where although the African National Congress is dominant at the national level, the opposition Democratic Alliance is strong to dominant in the Province of Western Cape.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Canada's lower house, the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, is a multi-party system. Multiple political parties are represented; however, every federal election since World War II has seen in essence only two federal parties win enough seats to form a government: the Liberal Party, and various iterations of a conservative party including the now defunct Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the modern Conservative Party, which governed from 2006 to 2015.


title: Dominant-party system

text: With the emergence and strengthening of regional, and other non-traditional parties such as the Bloc Québécois following the Meech Lake Accord and the New Democratic Party, which have both served as the Official Opposition, both the Liberal and Conservative Party have relied on unofficial support from these smaller parties when in minority governments.


title: Dominant-party system

text: The Liberal Party of Canada has nonetheless been dominant in federal politics of Canada since its founding. So much so, that critics and academics alike have sometimes described the Liberal Party as "Canada's natural governing party". , the Liberal Party of Canada had governed for 86 of the past 126 years. Canada's 23rd prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is the 13th Liberal to serve as prime minister. The party ruled between 1896 to 1911, from 1921 to 1930 (except a few months), from 1935 to 1957, from 1963 to 1984 (except for a brief period from 1979 to 1980) and 1993 to 2006. In early 2006, the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada were elected, governing until 2015. After a nearly a decade in opposition, the Liberals returned to power following the 2015 election and were subsequently re-elected as minority governments in the 2019 election and the 2021 election.


title: Dominant-party system

text: At the provincial level, dominant party systems were once common with single party governments holding power for decades in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. However, at present (2022) only the Province of Saskatchewan could be described as having a dominant party system.


title: Dominant-party system

text: As a whole, the US has a two-party system, with the main parties since the mid-19th century being Democratic Party and the Republican Party. However, some states and cities have been dominated by one of these parties for up to several decades, and during the 20th century, Democrats dominated Congress for 60 years.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Some parts of the US have differing party systems and third-party representation. Most notably the two main parties in Puerto Rico (home to 3 million Americans) are the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party, with 3 minor parties represented after the 2020 election.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Dominant-party systems can also exist on Indian reservations. The Seneca Nation of Indians, a tribe with territory within the bounds of the State of New York, has had the Seneca Party as the dominant party in its political system for several decades.


title: Dominant-party system

text: For 62 years from 1933 until 1995, the United States Congress was dominated by the Democratic Party. During this period, Republicans only held a majority in the House of Representatives for a total of 4 years: 1947–49 and 1953–55. In the Senate, Republicans held a majority for a total of 10 years: 1947–49, 1953–55 and 1981–87. This was largely due to the enduring popularity of the New Deal introduced by the Democratic Party during the Great Depression, and supported by the New Deal Coalition – a broad coalition of many different types of voters who all supported the Democratic Party's economic policies. The New Deal Coalition fractured in the mid-1960s and by the mid-1990s the Democrats had lost control of Congress in the "Republican Revolution."


title: Dominant-party system

text: Gerrymandering has also been a feature of politics for the House of Representatives, allowing parties to sometimes retain or gain a majority of seats, even when losing the popular vote nationally.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Following the 2020 elections, Democrats retained their majority in the House, although with reduced seats. After winning two runoff elections in the state of Georgia they got an effective 50/50 tie in the Senate (counting two independents who caucus with the Democrats). This meant the Vice President (Kamala Harris, a Democrat) was allowed to cast a vote as a tie-breaker, in the event of a 50–50 tie.


title: Dominant-party system

text: No party has dominated the Presidency since the end of the First Party System in the 1820s. The Democratic-Republican party controlled the Presidency for the longest period (24 years from 1801 until it splintered during and after the election of 1824), and its presidential candidate faced no organized opposition in 1820. Since then no party has had their candidates control the Presidency for more than 20 years in a row (the Democratic Party from 1933 to 1953), and since 1953 no party has controlled the presidency for more than 12 years in a row (the Republican Party from 1981 to 1993). The longest-serving President was Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt who served three consecutive terms from 1933 to 1945. Roosevelt was elected to a fourth term but died two months after inauguration. In 1951, the U.S. ratified the 22nd Amendment which limits a person to two full terms as President, but does not prevent candidates from one party from dominating the Presidency by winning consecutive elections.


title: Dominant-party system

text: The US uses an Electoral College system to elect its President, where votes in low population states have more weight. As a result, it's possible to win the Presidential election while another candidate wins more votes, nationally. In 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016, a Republican candidate won the election and became President, while a Democrat received more votes.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Historically, the Southern United States was dominated by the Democratic Party, and in particular sub-factions called the Southern Democrats and Solid South. This began prior to the American Civil War but was especially from the end of the Reconstruction Era in 1877 to the election of Republican President Herbert Hoover in 1928, who won five of the eleven former Confederate states. Southern Democrats originally supported the enslavement of African Americans, then after the American Civil War and Reconstruction, supported Jim Crow laws designed to heavily oppress and politically disenfranchise millions of black Americans.


title: Dominant-party system

text: In the 1960s, northern Democrats, including Southern Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson and his predecessor John F. Kennedy, supported the civil rights movement and passage of the Civil Rights Act, which alienated the Southern Democrats. Later, the Republican Party developed a southern strategy to gain support among the newly disaffected Southern voters, by appealing to conservative cultural values, such as opposition to abortion. This led to the South eventually becoming dominated overall by the Republican Party, although intra-state politics remain dominated by the Democratic Party well into the 2000's and even former segregationists such as Robert Byrd were elected to the U.S. Senate from that party.


title: Dominant-party system

text: In the 21st century, there is increasingly an urban-rural split where large urban areas tend to be dominated by Democrats and rural areas tend to be dominated by Republicans. This tends to hold true despite the overall leanings of the state or territory. That is, rural areas tend to vote Republican even in otherwise Democrat-dominated states, while urban areas tend to vote Democrat even in Republican-dominated states. This trend is increasing over time, with rural areas growing more heavily Republican, and inner city areas growing more heavily Democratic.


title: Dominant-party system

text: Some states have been dominated by a single party for a long period of time. States which have a long record of being dominated by one party are often called red or blue states, after the colour representing their dominant party (red for Republicans, blue for Democrats). Some states lie in the middle, not being heavily dominated by either party. States where elections are especially close, are often termed "purple."


title: Dominant-party system

text: Following the 2018 and 2020 elections, the Republican Party continued to hold a majority of state legislatures and a majority of governorships.


title: American badger

text: The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-central Canada to certain areas of southwestern British Columbia.


title: American badger

text: The American badger's habitat is typified by open grasslands with available prey (such as mice, squirrels, and groundhogs). The species prefers areas such as prairie regions with sandy loam soils where it can dig more easily for its prey.


title: American badger

text: The American badger is a member of the Mustelidae, a diverse family of carnivorous mammals that also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, and the wolverine. The American badger belongs to the Taxidiinae, one of four subfamilies of mustelid badgers – the other three being the Melinae (four species in two genera, including the European badger), the Helictidinae (five species of ferret-badgers) and the Mellivorinae (the honey badger); the so-called stink badgers are mephitids. The American badger's closest relative is the prehistoric "Chamitataxus". Among extant mustelids, the American badger is the most basal species; its lineage is thought to have split off from the rest of the Mustelidae about 18 million years (Ma) ago, following the split of mustelids from procyonids about 29 Ma ago.


title: American badger

text: The ranges of the subspecies overlap considerably, with intermediate forms occurring in the areas of overlap.


title: American badger

text: In Mexico, this animal is sometimes called "tlalcoyote". The Spanish word for badger is "tejón", but in Mexico this word is also used to describe the coati. This can lead to confusion, as both coatis and badgers are found in Mexico.


title: American badger

text: The American badger has most of the general characteristics common to badgers; with stocky and low-slung bodies with short, powerful legs, they are identifiable by their huge foreclaws (measuring up to 5 cm in length) and distinctive head markings.


title: American badger

text: American badgers possess morphological characteristics that enable them to be good fossorial specialists, such as a conical head, bristles on the ears, and nictitating membranes in the eyes. American badgers have powerful forelimbs. They also possess a strong humerus and large bony processes for the attachment of muscles. The mechanical advantage in badger forelimbs is increased by the specialized olecranon process and bones such as the radius and metacarpals.


title: American badger

text: Measuring generally between in length, males of the species are slightly larger than females. They may attain an average weight of roughly for females and up to for males. Northern subspecies such as "T. t. jeffersonii" are heavier than the southern subspecies. In the fall, when food is plentiful, adult male badgers can reach up to . In some northern populations, females can average .


title: American badger

text: Except for the head, the American badger is covered with a grizzled, brown, black and white coat of coarse hair or fur, giving almost a mixed brown-tan appearance. The coat aids in camouflage in grassland habitat. Its triangular face shows a distinctive black and white pattern, with brown or blackish "badges" marking the cheeks and a white stripe extending from the nose to the base of the head. In the subspecies "T. t. berlandieri", the white head stripe extends the full length of the body, to the base of the tail.


title: American badger

text: The American badger is a fossorial carnivore. It preys predominantly on pocket gophers (Geomyidae), ground squirrels ("Spermophilus"), moles (Talpidae), marmots ("Marmota"), prairie dogs ("Cynomys"), pika ("Ochotona"), woodrats ("Neotoma"), kangaroo rats ("Dipodomys"), deer mice ("Peromyscus"), and voles ("Microtus"), often digging to pursue prey into their dens, and sometimes plugging tunnel entrances with objects. The American badger is a significant predator of snakes, including rattlesnakes, and is considered the most important predator of rattlesnakes in South Dakota. They also prey on ground-nesting birds, such as the bank swallow, or sand martin ("Riparia riparia"), and the burrowing owl ("Athene cunicularia"), lizards, amphibians, carrion, fish, skunks ("Mephitis" and "Spilogale"), insects (including bees and honeycomb), and some plant foods, such as corn ("Zea mais"), peas, green beans, mushrooms and other fungi, and sunflower seeds ("Helianthus").


title: American badger

text: American badgers are generally nocturnal; however, in remote areas with no human encroachment they are routinely observed foraging during the day. Seasonally, a badger observed during daylight hours in the spring months of late March to early May often represents a female foraging during daylight and spending nights with her young. Badgers do not hibernate but may become less active in winter. A badger may spend much of the winter in cycles of torpor that last around 29 hours. They do emerge from their burrows when the temperature is above freezing.


title: American badger

text: As a fossorial mammal, the American badger uses a scratch-digging process where the forelimbs are withdrawn to break the soil and move the debris behind or to the sides of its body


title: American badger

text: An abandoned badger burrow may be occupied by mammals of similar size, such as foxes and skunks, as well as animals as diverse as the burrowing owl, California tiger salamander and California red-legged frog.


title: American badger

text: The American badger has been seen working with a coyote in tandem while hunting. Typically this pairing is one badger to one coyote; however, one study found about 9% of sightings included two coyotes to one badger, while 1% had one badger to three coyotes. Researchers have found that the coyote benefits by an increased catch rate of about 33%, and while it is difficult to see precisely how the badger benefits, the badger has been noted to spend more time underground and active. Badgers are also thought to expend less energy while hunting in burrows.


title: American badger

text: According to research, this partnership works due to the different hunting styles of the predators and how their prey reacts to them. A ground squirrel, upon spotting a coyote, will crawl into its hole to escape; while upon seeing a badger, the ground squirrel will climb out of its hole and use its speed to outrun the badger. Hunting in tandem raises the prey vulnerability and both predators win.


title: American badger

text: Badgers are normally solitary animals but are thought to expand their territories in the breeding season to seek out mates. Mating occurs in late summer and early fall, with some males breeding with more than one female. American badgers experience delayed implantation, with pregnancies suspended until December or as late as February. Young are born from late March to early April in litters ranging from one to five young, averaging about three.


title: American badger

text: Badgers are born blind, furred, and helpless. Eyes open at four to six weeks. The female feeds her young solid foods prior to complete weaning and for a few weeks thereafter. Young American badgers first emerge from the den on their own at five to six weeks old. Families usually break up and juveniles disperse from the end of June to August; young American badgers leave their mothers as early as late May or June. Juvenile dispersal movements are erratic.


title: American badger

text: Most female American badgers become pregnant for the first time after they are a year old. A minority of females four to five months old ovulate, and a few become pregnant. Males usually do not breed until their second year.


title: American badger

text: Large predators occasionally kill American badgers. The average longevity in the wild is 9–10 years, with a record of 14; a captive example lived at least 15 years and five months.


title: American badger

text: American badgers prefer grasslands and open areas with grasslands, which can include parklands, farms, and treeless areas with friable soil and a supply of rodent prey. They may also be found in forest glades and meadows, marshes, brushy areas, hot deserts, and mountain meadows. They are sometimes found at elevations up to but are usually found in the Sonoran and Transition life zones (which are at elevations lower and warmer than those characterized by coniferous forests). In Arizona, they occur in desert scrub and semi-arid grasslands. In California, American badgers are primarily able to survive through a combination of open grasslands of agricultural lands, protected land trust and open space lands, and regional and state and national park lands with grassland habitat. Badgers are occasionally found in open chaparral (with less than 50% plant cover) and riparian zones. They are not usually found in mature chaparral. In Manitoba aspen parklands, American badger abundance was positively associated with the abundance of Richardson's ground squirrels ("Spermophilus richardsonii").


title: American badger

text: In Ontario it primarily resides on the extreme southwestern portion of the province, restricted to the north shore of Lake Erie in open areas generally associated with agriculture and along woodland edges. There have been a few reports from the Bruce-Grey region.


title: American badger

text: American badger use of home range varies with season and sex. Different areas of the home range are used more frequently at different seasons and usually are related to prey availability. Males generally have larger home ranges than females. In a 1972 study, radiotransmitter-tagged American badgers had an average annual home range of . The home range of one female was in summer, in fall, and in winter. Lindzey reported average home ranges of . Estimated density of American badgers in Utah scrub-steppe was one per square mile (2.6 km), with 10 dens in active or recent use.


title: American badger

text: , overdevelopment of American badger habitat had resulted in reduced range, decreased prey, and forced badgers into contact with humans when foraging between fragments. Direct observations in Sonoma County, documenting habitat and badger sightings and foraging, reflect various ranges within the fragmented habitat areas from less than 1/2 mile to approximately 4 miles. Within these areas, the availability of prey and a fresh water source are key factors for the preferred habitat areas and ability to survive. Identifying and conserving habitat areas where there is year-round activity, along with identified burrowing patterns and observations of female badger territory for birthing and raising young have become critical factors in survival of the species.


title: American badger

text: American badgers are most commonly found in treeless areas, including tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, grass-dominated meadows and fields within forested habitats, and shrub-steppe communities. In the Southwest, plant indicators of the Sonoran and Transition life zones (relatively low, dry elevations) commonly associated with American badgers include creosotebush


title: American badger

text: ("Larrea tridentata"), junipers ("Juniperus" spp.), gambel oak ("Quercus gambelii"), willows ("Salix" spp.), cottonwoods ("Populus" spp.), ponderosa pine ("Pinus ponderosa"), grasses, and sagebrushes ("Artemisia" spp.).


title: American badger

text: In Colorado in 1977, American badgers were common in grass–forb and ponderosa pine habitats. In Kansas, they are common in tallgrass prairie dominated by big bluestem ("Andropogon gerardi"), little bluestem ("Schizachyrium scoparium"), and Indian grass ("Sorghastrum nutans"). In Montana 24 years ago, badgers were present in Glacier National Park in fescue ("Festuca" spp.) grasslands. In Manitoba, they occur in grassland extensions within aspen ("Populus" spp.) parklands.