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aitrendingblogs · 3 months

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The Role of AI in Traffic Management for Smart Cities

Stemming with the enhanced rate of urbanization, smart cities are gradually becoming the new standard in urban life. Imbedded in the operations of these smart cities is traffic management and this is an area that is rapidly going smart through the use of artificial intelligence.

AI in Traffic Management is one of the most crucial components that can provide smooth, safe, and environmentally friendly traffic systems within cities. This blog aims to give an insight on how modern traffic management and AI in smart Cities is going to be like.

How AI in Traffic Management Transforms Smart Cities

1. Enhancing Traffic Flow

What makes Traffic Management to benefit from use of AI is because AI has the potential of enhancing the flow of traffic. Using machine learning and statistic models, little data collected in real-time from various sources such as traffic cameras, sensors, and GPS devices is used to predict traffic congestion and find ways of avoiding it. Cohort control regulates traffic light timings with AI to maintain a proper flow of cars away from congestions and thus reducing the time spent at a traffic light. It also contributes to improving the model’s controls and handling and makes the car more efficient in terms of fuel usage and exhaust emission.

There are different algorithms that use machine learning with features that enable the prediction of traffic conditions depending on the past traffic records and real-time experience. For example, AI can decide to direct traffic to certain roads during certain time of the day; this will help avoid congestion. The use of Artificial Intelligence in Traffic Management means that the cells control traffic signals and their operation, and the variation in the traffic signals’ duration is based on real-time existence, eliminating maneuvering through congested traffic with a lot of staring at the red light.

2. Improving Road Safety

AI in Traffic Management also has a very important contribution to make regarding the safety of the roads. Through trained algorithms, probability of future accident prone areas, with the help of data collected from the traffic can be detected. It allows authorities to introduce preventive actions like, for example, changing speed limits or placing additional signals. Also, when there is an incident, the systems, bolstered by artificial intelligence technology can identify such incidences and notify relevant authorities, thus reducing on response time.

For instance, based on data obtained from different sensors, AI can recognize aggressive steering inputs or a sudden deceleration, which might suggest an accident or an obstacle on the road. The major benefit of introducing AI to the applications of driving cars and traffic systems is that it provides real time alert to drivers and traffic management centers to prevent the occurrence of accidents and also minimize the degree of an accident that may take place. Traffic management system’s integration of AI is also involved in observing the crossing points of pedestrians and the safety of non-motorized travelers on the road.

3. Reducing Environmental Impact

Especially, traffic congestion is not only indirectly linked to delays but also has a positive correlation with emissions. The application of AI in traffic management also contributes to reducing the negative effects on the environment since idle times and unnecessary traffic congestions are greatly eliminated and unnecessary movement is discouraged if routes that take less time and emit less are available. This is a big strides in ensuring that the smart cities reach the much-awaited sustainability objectives.

AI can also help avoid certain routes and suggest others which will take less time and consume less fuel in comparison to congested routes. In addition, it can also adjust the time lightings to make traffic signals work better in order to avoid cars to stay at intersection that dramatically cuts greenhouse gas. It is also interesting to note that the application of AI in traffic management with the integration of electric vehicle (EV) systems can enhance the use of EVs by offering real-time information on charging station status as well as suggest charging schedules.

The Intersection of AI and Other Technologies

1. Integration with IoT

IoT has become an innovative tool in traffic management through the incorporation of AI technologies. The IoT devices monitor and gather vast data from the vehicles and the infrastructure and the data is analyzed using AGI to give meaningful insights. This is beneficial as it increases the efficacy of the use of Artificial Intelligence in Traffic Management, by making the decisions associated with the task much more sound and subsequently, increasing the efficacy of urban mobility.

For example, IoT sensors fixed along roads and the vehicles themselves can relay information about traffic congestion, vehicles speed and the state of roads. This information is analyzed by AI to change the signals that manage traffic, address congestion as well as improve safety procedures. AI technology when integrated with IoT helps to do predictive maintenance of infrastructure- it can even detect areas with potholes or broken traffic signals among others before fully developed.

2. AI and Custom Chatbot Development

Thus, in the sphere of AI the opportunities for enhancing the flow of traffic are immense. Using AI, customized chatbot development companies such as Biz4Group are now developing intelligent systems that help with real-time traffic information and routing of the traffic flow for the much used commuting public. These chatbots can give specifics of traffic and hence enhance the ability of people to plan their travel.

The specifically developed chatbots can communicate with drivers via mobile applications or the vehicle’s own system and suggest the most suitable routes according to the traffic situation and the driver’s preferences. When adapting the concept of applying AI in Traffic Management and getting custom chatbot solutions, the city benefits from optimising the commuter’s experience, decreasing the travel time, and managing the traffic density.

3. Generative AI Development

The developments on generative AI are also proving to be highly contributive. Generative AI development Company like Biz4Group is also developing models which imitates different traffic situations. Such simulations are useful to the urban planners since they enable them to predict the efficient designing of traffic patterns and to try out various measures to be adopted in the overall traffic control before adapting them to the real world.

Generative AI can model traffic interactions and over well predict the impacts of infrastructural changes including additional lanes and traffic signal timings. In this manner, generative AI offers an environment for experimentation in the framework of an actual city and facilitates better decisions based on data collected from imitating a city’s conditions and layout.

Challenges and Future Prospects

1. Data Privacy and Security

AI in Traffic Management creates several opportunities that are as follows, the downside is; concerns related to data privacy and security. In the huge amount of collected data it is necessary to provide safety against its leakage and abuse. Bearing this in mind, intensification of effective cybersecurity measures is rather important to rebuild public confidence and support theAI usage in smart cities.

Cities have to make specific guidelines in order to regulate the collection, retention, and utilisation of the citizens’ data to ensure the protection of their data. Moreover, cooperation with AI development services that focus on security issues can avoid many dangerous situations. Knowledge of AI algorithms and their results, and concern in its broad availability can also enhance the public acceptance of AI in Traffic Management.

2. Scalability and Integration

Another one more nuanced and relative to the works of AI is the issue of AI implementation on a large scale and together with current architecture. Modern cities require cities to enhance their existing infrastructures to incorporate the usage of modern AI technologies. Still, it is worth investing in such projects to gain better accessibility, lower car accidents rates, and environmental efficiency on the long run.

Scalability is a major investment cost and technical problem but if done properly the benefits of mobility and such can go a long way in making the urban experience much more fulfilling. Collaborations involving the implementation of AI and relationships with AI development services and technology companies such as IBM or Microsoft will allow for the implementation of efficient Traffic Management that will enable large cities address the increasing populace and traffic.

Conclusion

AI enabling Traffic Management is one of the grand pillars of Smart Cities. Implementing traffic optimization, bettering road safety, and minimizing the negative impact on the environment: with AI, the future’s ready for more practical city life. AI development services in conjunction with other services like custom chatbot development and generative AI promise to take traffic management a notch higher.

For the cities, which aim at becoming smart, investments in AI in Traffic Management are by all means possible as well as obligatory.

#ai consulting #generative ai development services

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enchantingtragedyfart · 8 months

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regina-del-cielo · 3 years

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“The Old Guard” Daemon AU: Joe and the African cheetah

After Nicky, you get Joe. Hope you’re ready for another Excessively Long Bulletpoint, aka “reasons why I think Joe’s daemon should be a cheetah”

the Head Bonk of Love means that some Cat Behaviour is present in the Couple, and I think Joe has. a Cat Vibe – but since he’s also a warrior, it’s a Large Cat

Joe is stupidly pretty; cheetahs are stupidly, stupidly pretty, I mean -

like, look at those anime eyes, with that eyeliner on top of the game

long legs and large chest – yeah, that’s Joe

cheetahs hunt by looking for their prey in open areas (sniper’s spotter anyone?), and using their high running speed to kill it preferably under a minute’s time. They’re famous for being able to make dramatic decelerations in three strides and to follow sharp changes of direction and pace without breaking their own step. Joe’s fighting style is all about surprise attacks (São Paulo ‘34), speed and giving maximum damage in the smallest time possible (yes it’s because he uses Big Guns Once and then throws them away)

(also, he sprinty – the way he runs to cover Nicky on the killfloor? Joe could run faster than Usain Bolt if Nicky was waiting on the end line, and so does his daemon)

although they don’t form prides like lions, cheetahs are still fairly gregarious for a large feline. The males, in particular, after leaving their mothers form coalitions, between brothers but also welcoming strangers, who hunt, live and protect a territory together, being affectionate and caring for each other. May I repeat myself? 🎶 ~ Found Family Vibes Babe ~ 🎶

cheetahs are very ‘talkative’, with a vast array of vocalisations, including purring and chirping (also their meowing is stupidly adorable go listen to it). They also love to cuddle, and we all know how much Joe loves hugging people and clinging to Nicky in his sleep, right?

listen, we all know the story of baby cheetahs in zoos having therapy dog companions. Now, Nicky’s daemon isn’t really a dog, but if Nicky is Joe’s “moon when he’s lost in darkness and warmth when he shivers in cold”, why shouldn’t their daemons reflect that? (cue Long Sessions of wolf and cheetah grooming each other)

(this is more of a Vibe, but the way Joe goes Anxious kinda fits the nervous energy of cheetahs - and I'm totally crediting @ellynneversweet for thinking about the connection between "hyper-specialized and incredibly fast animal" and "Anxiety™️" first)

cheetahs today have a very restricted habitat range, but historically they were spread through all of Africa and a good portion of Asia (although Asian cheetahs are actually a different subspecies), so it’s perfectly plausible that Yusuf could have seen them without having to travel to the other side of the continent

cheetahs have also been tamed for a very long time, maybe since the Sumerians. Their use as hunting animals is almost uninterrupted in nobility and royal families from Ancient Egypt up to the European colonization era in India

now, I have no way of knowing if the Zirid or Fatimid caliphs had pet hunting cheetahs in their courts in the 11th century, but there may be a non-zero chance that they may have been a not-too-unusual sight in Fustat or Alexandria – and I think Yusuf’s family would have had significant business contacts in the area, possibly from before the Zirids became an independent kingdom from the Fatimids

in Ancient Egypt cheetahs were believed to represent the goddess Mafdet, (later on replaced by Bastet): she was the deification of legal justice, protected the sun god Ra from venomous snakes, and was associated also with the protection of the pharaoh’s chambers. Cheetahs were also said to be the ones to take away the spirits of pharaohs when they died

Islam doesn’t seem to have any specific symbology linked to cheetahs, although big cats in general could represent ferocity – domestic cats, on the other hand, are taken in very high consideration (which, relatable), so I think that people’s reactions to Yusuf’s daemon pre-immortality would have been neutral, if not generally positive

given the status symbol that cheetahs were in that time and age, it might have even proved to be an advantage for Yusuf in his family’s business dealings – people may have assumed that he had Connections in higher places (i.e. the court) than any other merchant, and Rich People may have favoured his products because of it

add his Sparkly Anime Eyes and his Natural Charms, pre-immortality Yusuf could have charmed the pants off of anyone, that’s what I’m saying

while looking up potential names I noticed that Arabic names tend to have meanings of qualities, so in this AU the norm of daemon naming would be based on which quality parents would want their child to have the most, and then I remembered that families can have the weirdest naming traditions (like – people that give their kids names starting by the same letter)

the Al Kaysani men we know of (thanks to Yusuf’s patronymics) are all named after prophets (and Big Ones at that), and what if it was a pattern? What if they had a family tradition, that when a son is named after an Important Person, their daemon would be named after a woman that was relevant for said Prophet Figure?

(so his grandfather Muhammad’s daemon would have been Khadija, like the first wife of the Prophet; and his father Ibrahim’s would be Sara)

now, this poses a small problem: Yusuf the Prophet is the only one whose story is told in chronological order in its own surah in the Quran, and while he’s one of the most revered prophets in Islam, the only woman of note in his story is the wife of Potiphar (called Aziz in the surah), the one that tried to seduce him and he kept refusing. In Islamic tradition she’s named Zuleikha, and let’s say that her depiction is… not exactly positive?

so Ibrahim and his wife decide to cover their bases by naming baby Yusuf’s daemon Maryam, after the most revered woman in Islam – you can’t go wrong with the Virgin Mary

(when Ibrahim goes to Alexandria on a business trip soon after Yusuf’s birth, he tells a Christian acquaintance of the names chosen and the guy positively lights up: “Oh, like the Holy Family! How clever!”)

(Ibrahim’s mind goes blank for three seconds before remembering that Christians believe that the Virgin Mary got married to a guy named Joseph. He shrugs to himself and smiles politely, thinking that if this little coincidence will make Christians like his son more, then it can only be good for business and neighbourly relations, right?)

*me, writing this, in full deus ex machina robes:*

(yes, Nicolò who knew absolutely nothing about Muslims before ending up in Jerusalem will have an Existential Crisis when he learns what Yusuf and Maryam’s names stand for)

unlike with Nicky who didn’t expect his settled daemon’s form, I think Yusuf had some inkling that Maryam was going to be some form of cat – even when she was unsettled, it was one of the forms she preferred (this is Very Much Inspired by @polarcell's baby!Joe fanart)

and she probably would have settled into a chubby lady cat like his father’s, if it hadn’t been for the sack of Mahdia

by a stroke of luck, Yusuf and his family are in another town to celebrate one of his sisters’ wedding when the Pisans and Genoans attack and pillage Mahdia – but when they come back it’s to a disaster. The fleet is destroyed, and their warehouse has clearly been looted

after a couple of months of seeing how the situation is progressing, Ibrahim decides to move the family to Alexandria, where they have an established network and can work more easily – and Alexandria is too big, too important for Christian merchants, to be attacked like Mahdia was

Yusuf has grown up in a happy environment, but he’s heard the story of Kairouan, how his parents had to run away from it with their families years before they would meet and get married – and seeing his hometown ravaged like that, and the tight lines around his parents’ eyes, it feels like history repeating itself

Yusuf is a young man that feels things deeply and loves with all his strength. He loved Mahdia, and he’s seen it burned and wounded. He loves his family, and he’s heard his Ummi cry behind closed doors and has had to hold one of his youngest brothers because of nightmares of their house burning

he wants to protect them, he wants to be strong enough. He wants to make sure they’ll never be hurt again

when Maryam settles into a cheetah, Yusuf is sure that his desire had a part in it – and judging by the look his parents exchanged when they saw the two of them, they must have known it too

(“Well, technically she is still a cat”, he jokes. “Just bigger than expected”. His mother just smiles at him and replies “maybe Allah has greater plans for you than we can know, habibi”)

more than ten years later, Yusuf finds himself in Jerusalem, freshly back in Fatimid hands after the Seljuk conquest, to establish a new branch of the family business in the city. He’s almost ready to go back home with good news for his father and brothers when news of the approaching Franks reaches the city, and people start preparing for a siege

Yusuf spends the whole night awake, finding comfort in Maryam’s purring, eyes fixed on the saif his father had given him at the start of his journey, to protect himself. He thinks of Kairouan, of Mahdia. Of this city, so bustling and luminous, and yet so used to war and strife

he couldn’t do anything for the city of his parents, nor for the one of his childhood. But here, now... he’s a grown man, he can fight, he’s not arrived too late. He can do something now

“You know that no one will fault you if we leave. Taking care of ourselves in times of war isn’t wrong”, Maryam tells him, soothing, his voice of reason. He nods, but his mind is made up. “These invaders refused the governor’s offer. They’re here to fight, and this city will need all the help she can gather. I know I’m only one man, but every pair of hands makes a difference”

He sends his assistants and servants back home to Alexandria with a message for his family, and presents himself at the garrison to offer his eyes and his sword to the protection of Jerusalem. He’s scared, and in the back of his mind he knows that he may not come out of this alive, may not see his family ever again, but it also feels right

(two months later, seeing the invaders slaughter the helpless population, having inexplicably risen from the dead, and with a fucking Frank trying to drag him out of the walls, a Frank that doesn’t fucking die either, he regrets staying, bile rising in his throat)

(a year and a half after that, with his hand buried in the soft fur of Reparata’s neck, and hearing Maryam purr under Nicolò’s reverent touch, regret is the furthest thing from his mind)

Interesting things I learned that weren’t completely relevant to Joe’s story but I think you all should be aware of:

Wolves are mentioned all of three times in the Quran, all of them in the Surah Yusuf.

Speaking of the surah, the commentaries seemed to never waste an occasion to remark upon the fact that Yusuf was beautiful. In the story itself, the friends of Potiphar’s wife are mocking her for having a crush on a servant, so she invites them to her home and offers them apples, with a knife to peel them. When they start on the fruits, she sends for Yusuf – and as soon as he enters the room, the women are so distracted by his handsomeness that they end up cutting their own hands instead of peeling the apples.

*me, waving this information in the general direction of Argentina: “DID YOU HEAR THAT, LEANDRO FERNANDEZ?!?”*

Researching animals in Islam I found out about the prophet Muhammad’s cat, Muezza – and the story that she fell asleep on his prayer robe one day, and instead of disturbing her Muhammad cut off the sleeve she was on top of. I had to lie down because that’s the most Cat Owner Thing to do, oh my god.

Another thing that had me put down my phone and stare into nothingness: cheetahs make nyam nyam sounds when they eat.

I had definitely more problems in finding (and consulting) references for this post re: Yusuf’s background, especially since most of the footnotes on the various Wikipedia pages I jumped through were either lacking an external link or they were in French, which I can’t read. Not to mention that the Google Books previews had a tendency to skip exactly the pages where the information I most cared about was contained. Extremely acephobic of them.

That said, what isn’t already linked in the bulletpoint is down here:

Jamil M. Abun-Nasr (1987): A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic period. Cambridge University Press, 455 pages

Phillip C. Naylor (2015): North Africa, Revised Edition: A History from Antiquity to the Present. University of Texas Press, 412 pages

Pang B., Van Valkenburgh B., Kitchell K.F.Jr., Dickman A., Marker L. (2017): “History of the Cheetah-Human Relationship”, in Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation, Marker L., Boast L.K., Schmidt-Küntzel A. (eds.). Academic Press, pages 17-24

The Old Guard Character Resource Hub, specifically this map of eleventh century trade routes (whoever put it in the Google Docs, know that you have my eternal gratitude)

Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa (1992): General History of Africa, Volume 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, Hrbek I. (ed.). James Currey Publishers, 398 pages

#the old guard #my ponderings #daemon AU #yusuf al kaysani #the romantic hero this world doesn't deserve but needs the most #YUSUF AL KAYSANI SEXIEST MAN ALIVE CONFIRMED #nature #animals #cheetah #JFC THIS WAS. A HARDSHIP TO WRITE #I had Very Distinct Thoughts and I knew in what direction I wanted them to go but it was. SO HARD. to write them down coherently #me to me: 'this is what happens when you delve into a cultural background you know nothing about'#re: Yusuf's backstory I had to go with common sense at some point guys #the Sources were working against me and so was the French language #no I didn't touch the sources in French with a ten-foot pole. I know exactly ten words in French and at least three of them are swearwords #also academics don't seem to care much about the Zirids after the fall of Kairouan huh?#they all went 'yeah after the Banu Hilal invasion they were never the same and after the Norman attacks in the 1140s --'#'-- the Almohads took their place' OK BUT WHAT ABOUT THE 1070-1090s SIR?#WAS THE SACK OF MAHDIA THE O N L Y THING THAT HAPPENED IN THOSE TWENTY YEARS?! I NEED A N S W E R S #all of this to say: if people More Informed than me see something that Doesn't Make Sense in the historical section feel free to hit me up

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gumnut-logic · 3 years

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Callisto (Full Prologue)

Prologue Part One - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 | Bit 4 | Bit 5 Part Two - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3

When I first started this story, I was of two minds whether to put all of the prologue at the front or scatter it throughout the fic. I started with 700-odd words of it and drove into the body.

It fast became obvious that I really needed to build a lot more into the prologue as the OCs were empty shells and I needed to explain the story behind them and why Jeff is so determined.

So at the end of Part Two, I stopped and went back. This is the result. Nearly 5000 words of Jeff Tracy landing on Mars. It can stand as its own story, but it definitely leads into the planned events for the novel, Callisto. Either way I hope you enjoy it. Be aware that the first 500 words or so may be familiar as they were part of the original version. Don’t worry, the rest is new.

Of course, many, many thanks to @tsarinatorment @scribbles97 and @janetm74 for all the amazing support and help with this fic. Plus @onereyofstarlight my go to science officer on this voyage. You guys are absolutely amazing and I couldn’t have done this without you ::massive group hug::

Now this is done, I can finally go back to writing the novel chronologically. I have to say that this is going to be one hell of a ride.

No warnings needed.

-o-o-o-

2033

“Another boy?”

Jeff grinned. “Yeah. Another one.” He couldn’t help but stare at the photo that had landed on his screen as a good luck token from Earth.

He did of course, know about Lucille going into labour the night before and it was for that reason he hadn’t had the sleep he probably should have pre-history making Mars landing. But honestly, to get this signal from that little blue planet a good eight months away…his heart swelled…his beautiful baby boy had a shock of red hair that screamed their Irish ancestry down through the hundreds of years since their family had left the old world.

Lucille sat holding him, looking tired but ever so proud. Her dark hair was tied back and the sparkle in her eyes brought a lump into his throat. Her mother, pink hair and all, sat beside his wife holding his two eldest boys on her lap. Scott had his hand on Virgil’s arm as the now second youngest reached over towards his baby brother, a frown of concentration on his face.

“He’s beautiful.”

Jeff startled a little. Berry was breaking regs and leaning over the back of Jeff’s pilot couch, her straps unfastened. The cockpit was pretty snug in the lander, most of the room taken up with safety equipment and interfaces, leaving little for the padded personnel support.

He shot an eyebrow in her direction and she smiled a dare back at him. The astrogeologist wasn’t one for breaking the rules, she just liked to taunt him a little.

Ju, in contrast, was checking her harness was secure a second time. “Creating your own crew, Tracy?” Her auburn eyes smirked at him. “Aiming to replace us?”

He grinned. “Could be.” Dare he mention that his four-year-old eldest could already name all the controls in this cockpit? His grin widened. “But we can’t replace the first person to set foot on Mars, now can we?”

Berry snorted, a little abashed. But it was, after all, her part to play once they made touchdown. The words had been rehearsed, the order of exit decided. For very specific reasons, the first human on Mars was going to be Kate Berrenger.

Berry had worked her ass off to make this mission a reality. Her specialisation onboard was astrogeologist, but honestly it was far more. The woman was talent on legs. It was she who had designed much of the equipment they were deploying on the surface, she who had hunted and gathered the funding, she who had put in the sweat and tears to make this work. And Ju wasn’t far behind. The two of them were quite a powerhouse pair. Jeff considered himself and Lee lucky to have been chosen for this mission. Of course, he’d known Berry for a very long time, worked with her for most of it, but it wasn’t a given that the team that had helped populate the moon would also be the first on Mars.

“Given how many life support pods we’re dragging down there, I bet your boys could drop by in about thirty years or less.”

“You gonna put your money where your mouth is, Berry?” The thought was tantalising. Not to put pressure on any future careers – Lucy would kill him – but he would hope that at least one out of three might follow in his footsteps.

Maybe?

He turned around and opened his mouth, only to be interrupted. “Major Tracy, tell your team to secure. Two minutes to separation.” Sinclair was his usual grumpy, nervous self.

“Roger that, Orbiter Control.”

He glared at Berry and the redhead bit her lip with a smile, green eyes dancing, before sitting back and strapping herself in preparation for the sequence.

She didn’t stop smiling though.

“So watcha gonna name him?” Lee prodded him with his eyebrows from beside Jeff.

A last glance at the photo before he returned to separation prep, fingers tight in his gloves. “Are you going to remember this one?” An eye in the engineer’s direction.

“Sure.”

Running his fingers over the controls, Jeff ran through pre-flight. “Name my eldest.”

Lee grunted, his eyes darting away. “Not important right now.” A flick of a switch. “I’m green across the board.”

“A-ok.” Jeff ran through the last sequence of checks…and ran them again…for luck. “Orbiter Control, we are green for separation.”

“Roger that, Cornerstone. Separation in sixty seconds on my mark.” A breath. “Mark.” Another pause. “Good luck.”

And the countdown began.

Jeff ran his eyes over everything again. The great ship that had journeyed so far from home was preparing to split in half. The lander at the top of the vessel was to pull away from the orbiter and its massive propulsion engines to begin the historic descent to the Martian surface. Eight months in space, so much preparation time and so many sacrifices before that, had all led to this moment.

History in the making.

His eyes combed the readouts watching like a hawk. The computer had control, but computers could only do so much.

Still green across the board.

Quiet, his fingers touched the screen where the photo had been. “John Glenn Tracy.” A breath. “His name is John.”

Displays shifted as the countdown hit zero and machinery grunted. The Cornerstone drifted apart from its propulsion module and floated free far above the red of the Martian surface.

Jeff eyed his instrumentation and sent a prayer to his family back home.

Today was an important day.

-o-o-o-

Lee watched Jeff side-on as he clicked his helmet into place. Taylor was a realist and he knew he wouldn’t be here without the crazy pilot.

It was Jeff’s drive that had gotten them this far. It was like riding a rollercoaster of determination and outright luck. From the Airforce, through space training and their sojourns on Alfie, Lee had tied himself to the man’s coat tails and hadn’t looked back.

God, it had been fun.

Jeff Tracy was a tsunami that crashed through everything and took everyone with him.

And Lee went willingly.

When they had been chosen for this mission it was a dream come true.

The countdown dropped to zero and machinery clunked as the lander separated smoothly from the orbiter. She drifted momentarily before the computer engaged thrusters to push her gently out of orbital alignment.

“We are five by five for atmospheric entry.” The words he uttered were almost rote after so many practise simulations back on Earth.

Atmospheric entry on Mars was considerably different to entry on Earth. Terran atmosphere was more like soup in comparison to the barely-there Martian atmosphere. Still made for a warm entry though, friction was friction after all.

“Trajectory achieved.” Jeff’s voice was confident and firm. As always.

Lee eyed the computer readouts, mentally ticking off procedure as the lander dipped into the outer reaches of the atmosphere and shifted to its entry interface.

Forces wrapped themselves around Lee and his body responded. After so many months of weightlessness, this was going to be a challenge.

“Ready for deceleration burn.”

The landing module sported early entrance stage retro thrusters designed to slow the vehicle to reduce the friction on the spacecraft’s skin. A new innovation that had proven essential in many return trips to the moon in preparation for the creation of a habitable dome on the satellite.

And here they were attempting to do something similar on Mars.

Cornerstone shook as her thrusters engaged exactly on time.

The craft roared.

Lee revelled in it.

“Three minutes to subsonic.”

“I really hate this bit.” It was barely heard above the commotion.

Lee snorted to himself. Ju was an astronaut in every sense, but she had a thing regarding atmospheric entry and the microscopic bits they could be exploded into if something went wrong.

“We are on track, Ju. Not a thing to worry about.” His voice reassurance itself, Jeff could sell the moon cheese if he so felt like it.

“Orbiter to Cornerstone. Tracy, we have a problem.”

Lee blinked. Sinclair’s voice was ominous.

“Orbiter, detail?”

“Cornerstone, weather has kicked up on the landing site. We have a developing dust storm. Looks to be a big one.”

“Orbiter, we are fixed for descent. Please advise severity.” Jeff’s tone was frustrated and Lee couldn’t help but echo it.

Data landed in Lee’s console and while Jeff continued to monitor their descent, Lee examined the situation. “We have a category five dust storm developing over the landing site. Orbiter is right, she looks like she could actually do some damage.”

Mars dust storms were generally all gust and no guts. The air density and pressure forced storms that were dramatic to look at, but generally little more than a windy day on planet Earth. This one, however... “It’s an anomaly.”

Jeff’s eyes darted from his console to Lee’s, grey eyes assessing the data. “Ju, your opinion?” They had to make the decision fast. Altering their trajectory now was possible, but fuel was precious. Any extra used now narrowed their safety margin for later.

The meteorologist’s fingers darted over her board. “Unusual strength, I agree.” Lee glanced in her direction as she frowned. “But Cornerstone should be able to handle it.”

“‘Should’ is not a good enough assumption, Zhang.” Jeff was frowning. The lander’s retros cut out as they reached a safe enough velocity to manoeuvre and Jeff’s hands curled around the yoke.

Lee’s finger darted over his board and brought up the outside cameras.

The red planet stretched out before them, her slightly blue tinted atmosphere contrasting against the rust of her surface.

That surface was churning.

Ju was outraged. “How the hell did that develop in the time it took us to separate from Orbiter? She was as calm as a sleeping baby!”

“I don’t care about then, I need now. Zhang, recommendation!”

The woman grunted. “I say go. If you think you can handle it. It is well within Cornerstone’s specs. Your decision, Major.”

Jeff’s lips thinned, his eyes darting across the readouts. A moment and he hit the comms switch. “Orbiter, we are go for landing. We’ve come this far, might as well go all the way.”

“Tracy, are you sure?”

“Humanity never got anywhere taking it easy.” He glanced at Lee. “Hold onto something.”

Cornerstone began her turn, orientating her nose to the sky so her retros could lower her safely to the Martian surface.

Or in Jeff Tracy terms, ‘spinning so she could park her ass’.

As if reading Lee’s mind, the glint in Jeff’s eyes was something to both be wary of and to celebrate.

Out of the four of them, Jeff was the most reckless, the most daring. But as he was the pilot, it sometimes called for it. Jeff had already saved them from becoming just another crater on Earth’s moon by pulling the most unconventional manoeuvre ever seen on the satellite when a landing thruster misfired on approach. The craft had shot off on a completely unpredicted vector that would have ploughed them into moon dust...if Jeff hadn’t reacted as fast as he did. He flipped the craft with its remaining three thrusters and, shedding the majority of their velocity in an energy dump that had Lee’s stomach on the outside, planted their craft like a sack of potatoes.

They had landed roughly, but they had landed alive and Lee was still amazed his friend had been able to do that.

So, if they were going down in a cloud of red dust, Lee was quite happy to have Jeff at the controls.

Not to say that Lee himself wasn’t handy with a spacecraft. He had his own experience to be proud of. He flew, but his realm was more the mechanical. He was here as back up and maintenance.

For those times the Tracy fix wasn’t quite enough.

A sigh. He eyed the billowing clouds below as they rapidly approached. They were history in the making. Whatever happened here today would be taught in schools for decades to come.

He had faith in Jeff. They would land, Berry would take those first important steps on a new planet, say the rehearsed words, and join Neil Armstrong in the halls of fame.

But first they had to get there.

-o-o-o-

Jeff swallowed as the cloud of dust loomed beneath the lander. Numbers scrolled across his console. The computer should be able to handle most of it. Its programming was solid. Lucy had made sure of it.

The thought of his beautiful wife...little Johnny.

Dust swelled and wrapped around their craft and visibility became...bad.

Cornerstone shuddered.

Mars dust was a bastard of a thing. Ever so fine and carrying a tiny electric charge that on occasion interfered with instruments.

This was one of those occasions.

“We have blackout on three primary sensors.” Damn. Two others flickered, the screen fritzing a moment.

His fingers darted over controls in an attempt to compensate for the data loss.

Lee was muttering beside him and stabbing at his board. “Rerouting to back-ups.”

Their screens flickered and cleared somewhat.

Numbers plummeted.

Beyond the blinding dust the digital readout that marked the surface of the planet approached.

Far too fast.

Retros crucial to start the landing sequence did not fire.

Shit.

It took seconds for him to compensate and move to manual, but that was enough for the craft to fall many more metres so, when he did manually trigger the burn, they were lower than they should be.

Cornerstone roared as he pushed more energy into braking.

“Lee, we need primary thrust or we are so much pancake!” Her four landing thrusters were not slowing them enough. The math in his head was churning out a fatal result and their history-making attempt was fast turning into a shitfest. “I need that power now.”

“You have it.” Short and sharp as Lee’s hands darted over his console.

On Jeff’s board the main thruster icon lit up.

It wasn’t meant to be used this way. The main thruster was for launching. It was far more powerful than they needed to land. But if he didn’t slow Cornerstone, she was going to take on a big red rock and lose.

The computer ran calculations and spat numbers out at him.

“Firing main thruster.” The icon flashed, Cornerstone roared and g-forces wrapped around all of them and squeezed.

No one said anything for the second of burn that slowed their descent ever so rapidly. Everything shook, the ship’s superstructure groaning.

Jeff’s eyes tracked their velocity, counting down as the surface of the planet rushed towards them. Visually they couldn’t see it. Virtually it looked ready to slap them in the face.

But the main thruster compensated, slowing the craft just enough for the landing rockets to do their job.

Jeff killed the big one and concentrated on the landers to take the last of their speed.

Cornerstone slowed. Five hundred metres. Four hundred metres. Three hundred metres. Two hundred metres. One hundred metres. Landing struts deployed. Fifty. Thirty. Twe-

The whole ship slammed to a stop, its structure groaning and tilting for a second before righting itself. Alarms began shrieking, red lights flashing all over his board.

What the hell?!

The readout had them stalled nineteen metres ‘above’ the virtual surface. Virtual was obviously not lining up with actual.

Another metallic groan and the ship tilted slightly again. This time it stayed tilted. No doubt a landing strut had taken the brunt and folded.

One red light screamed at him more than the others.

Beside him, Lee confirmed his fears. “We have a fuel leak.”

Shit!

He was unstrapping himself even as the craft groaned again. Something sparked not far away. Lee was a split second behind, listing the reason for the malfunction. The exterior hull, and the mangled landing strut responsible.

A rupture in the external hull. Hell.

Jeff undocked a diagnostic pad and slapped it on his belt.

Martian gravity made itself known. So many months without its native pull, Jeff’s body protested the sudden movement, but they didn’t have time. Precious fuel was escaping.

He hit the ladder leading out of the cockpit at a run, feet locking around the struts and his hands pushing him down. The whole sensation of gravity, but only a third of Earth’s was baffling. His body caught between expectations and stumbling along the way. Ultimately, he partly fell his way down through the access ports, hands grabbing at the railings barely preventing him from colliding with each deck.

Cornerstone’s fuel tanks were attached to her four landers, with a fifth fueling her main launcher.

It was number three that was the problem.

His boots hit decking and he scrambled for the airlock. Beside him Lee had a toolkit and they both barrelled through the door sealing it behind them.

The pumps cycled and the pressure dropped, their suits shifting with the change, and then the elevator was lowering them to the ground.

As the doors opened, they were faced with a wall of swirling dust.

Jeff did his best to ignore it but it fast became a problem. The maintenance tab in his hand was directing him to climb ladders up the side of the vehicle, but he could barely see the tablet, much less the ladders themselves through the red dust.

“Stick close, Lee. I’d hate to lose you in this.”

“Right behind you, Jeff. Wouldna want to lose you either.”

It was simple, but reassuring nonetheless. Fumbling, he found the landing strut. It was skewed in a way that even in the thick swirling haze, he could see was far from the right angle for correct support.

Hooking a foot into the lowest rung, he snagged his friend and urged him up the ladder ahead. If anyone was going to save their asses in this situation, it was Lee.

If Jeff could land it, chances were Lee could fix it. The man could jimmy two sticks and a rubberband into whatever was needed. Hell, he’d done almost exactly that on the moon at least twice.

This was just another challenge. Jeff had landed them, no matter how roughly. Now Lee would be able to fix it.

Jeff clung to that maxim.

But the question wasn’t about skill, it was more about whether or not they were going to damn well be able to see what they needed to see in order to do what needed doing.

Red obscured everything. The speed it was all flying past spoke to his earth senses of gale force winds, but the pressure on his suit was little more than a windy day.

Not enough to affect the spacecraft.

Mars was obviously educating them early that this was not Earth. Not in any way shape or form.

Their clamber up the strut was partly a blind one, but they made it to the damaged side of the craft. Through a mixture of touch and virtual readout, it became clear that the outer hull had buckled, forcing the inner hull into the fuel tank. Most of it had held, but there was a small microfracture and the pressure differences were bubbling solid state fuel into gas at a rate that, if it didn’t deplete the tank, would likely cause an explosion that would solve all their problems with a history-making finality.

Jeff climbed up beside Lee as he fumbled at his tool kit. The tank was dislodged off its mounts, something they would need to remedy later, but it was still inset from the hull.

Jeff put his body in position to block the main flow of the dust and wind, jamming himself up against the still warm hull of his ship.

A little less dust swirled over the bubbling crack and Lee didn’t hesitate. Before Jeff could blink, gell bondtape landed smoothly over the area, the engineer sealing it with an electronic nudge from a set-wand. The electricity lined molecules up like soldiers and locked them in place bonding them to whatever the tape was adhered to. They had used the same stuff on Alfie two years ago when one of their habitats had tried to make one with the lack of lunar atmosphere.

An extremely simple solution for a very dangerous problem.

His heart, still adrenalin-fueled, refused to believe the danger was over.

As if reading Jeff’s thoughts, Lee smirked at him through the haze. “Never leave home without it.” A sigh as he ran a gloved hand over the seal. “This should hold for the short term. Once we are sure the strut is stabilised, I’ll give it a good going over. Hopefully, we can lose this storm in the process.”

Jeff would have liked to claim it couldn’t blow forever, but both of them knew Mars storms could be unpredictable and last for months if they so chose to.

Lee ran a scanner over the strut’s connection to the launcher. How the hell the engineer could see the readouts, Jeff didn’t know.

For all future excursions to the Red Planet, Jeff was going to recommend helmet based heads-up displays.

“She’s safe for now. A little bent, but she isn’t going to fall over. Hopefully, once we get out some of the heavy lifting equipment we can bend her back into shape if we need to.” Lee stood up. “Hull patching is going to be an ass, though.”

Jeff’s lips thinned and he dropped a hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “One thing at a time. We’ve got this, Lee.”

Lee grunted. “How the hell do you keep spinning the optimism, Jeff?”

A snort. “What? You’d prefer doom and gloom?” He shuffled back towards the ladder. “That’s it, Lee, we’re never leaving this god forsaken rock. Welcome to your new home.” He raised up his hands and as if the gods declared him some kind of Moses for that very moment, the dust clouds parted as if they were a red sea of sand. Sol, so much smaller this far away, poked its weak light through the hazy atmosphere and lit up the bare red rocks of their temporary home. While on one side, the billowing wall of dust storm swirled on its way, on the other red mountains rose up to a weak blue-red sky.

Lee shifted down beside him. “You know, I figured you had an agreement with the gods of physics, but isn’t this a little ridiculous?”

Jeff was too captivated with the view to respond.

Cornerstone was on the plateau they had been simulating for months on end. She stood tall and proud, if a little crooked and pinker than her promo shots.

“We made it.” The words fell from his lips.

Lee clung to the ladder beside him. “Yeah, that we did.”

Sunlight flickered weakly in the atmosphere and a gust of wind dragged more dust across the view.

Jeff shifted. “We better get inside before that mess starts up again. Take advantage of being able to see where we are going.”

Lee didn’t respond immediately, his eyes combing the jagged horizon. “Thanks, Jeff.”

A frown. “For what?”

“Getting us here.”

“It was a group effort, Lee, you know that. Couldn’t have done it without the team. Couldn’t have done it without you. Hell, you just patched a hole that could have blown us up.”

Lee grunted.

“Are you guys going to hang outside all day, or do we have to guess the sitrep?” Berry’s tone was tight.

“Roger, Berrenger. Situation secure. On our way back in.”

It wasn’t until they reached the elevator that he realised exactly what had happened.

And who he was.

By the doors, protected by the shadow of the lowered module was a single footprint that hadn’t been blown away by the wind.

“Aw, hell.”

Lee, as always, stepped up beside him. “Yeah. I guess that makes you the first man to walk on Mars.”

-o-o-o-

Ju was furious. “It was Kate’s right to be the first!”

The vacs in the airlock had sucked everything off their suits to the point Lee was surprised his hair wasn’t standing on end despite the helmet.

As it was, his hackles were somewhere near orbit as they stood in the conference room that doubled as a mess. “And what exactly do you think we were supposed to do? The ship was going to explode.” It was simple to Lee. Sure, he was all for equality, it was a given, but they would’ve been all equally dead if he and Jeff hadn’t done what they did.

“You didn’t give us a chance!”

“I’m the engineer here, Zhang. There wasn’t time! The decision was made and we are alive because of it.”

“Then why weren’t you first, Taylor? Why the hell was Tracy even out there? He’s not the engineer!”

Beside Lee, Jeff straightened. “Standard procedure, Zhang. We work in pairs. If you think I was going to let Lee go out in that on his own, you’ve been serving while wearing a blindfold.”

The short, dark-haired woman stepped up to the Major, her eyes fiery. “It was Kate’s place in history and you stole it!”

Lee flared. “We did what was necessary! This was not a publicity grab, for Christ’s sake! It didn’t even occur to us until we were returning. It was about saving our lives, Zhang. How can you possibly think it was anything else?”

“Because it always is.” She waved a hand at Jeff. “Always the hotshot. Always the first. Always the hero. Do you ever think, Tracy? Do you ever think about those you barrel past?”

Jeff glared down at the meteorologist. “I will not apologise for my achievements, Zhang. This was an honest to god accident.”

“Due to decisions made by you.”

“What the hell, Zhang?!” Lee pushed forward. That was taking it too far.

“We should never have tried to land in that dust storm. We should have waited it out.”

“You said we could take it!”

“But it wasn’t my decision, was it?” Her tone was a positive hiss at Jeff.

“Screw you, Zhang-“

“Taylor!”

“Jeff-“

The man was still the damn tall walking wall when he wanted to be. “Lee, stop.” He glared at Ju. “I will not apologise for my command decisions either, Zhang. What was done, is done.” His stance softened as he turned to Berry.

She had been ominously quiet the entire time.

Jeff sighed. “I’m sorry, Kate.”

The red-haired astrogeologist straightened away from the bulkhead, her arms still folded across her chest. Lee had always liked Berry. She had her head on much straighter than Ju ever did.

Ju was like a terrier with a bone.

The bone variety today was definitely Jeff-flavoured.

But there was only kindness in Berry’s eyes as she looked up at the Major. “This sucks, Jeff, it really does.” She looked down a moment. “But it is what it is and I guess it was what it was meant to be.” A shrug. “I suppose I’ll have to settle for third on Mars. Still pretty momentous, I think.”

“Kate, it doesn’t have to be that way.” Jeff took a step towards her. “It’s not official. It was a stupid repair. We can do the ceremonial step onto the planet anyway. No one has to know.”

Her head tilted to one side. “So, the ship miraculously healed itself?”

“Berry-“

She closed the gap between them, placing a hand on his arm. “Jeff, honestly, it’s not what is important here. You took the first step. We still have plenty of others that need to be taken. My ego can keep.”

Zhang flared again. “Kate, this was for women-“

“Ju, enough. It doesn’t matter! Humans have just landed on Mars, for god’s sake. I would have thought we would be a little less worried about the gender of the person taking the first step and more worried about the fact we did it without blowing up.”

“It was supposed to be you.” Ju wilted in defeat under Berry’s glare.

“Well, it was Jeff, and I think he is no less deserving than any of us.”

Jeff’s voice was quiet. “Are you sure, Kate?” The use of her first name was a rarity for the major, there was a friendship between those two almost as long as the one between Jeff and Lee. Hell, if Jeff hadn’t met Lee’s sister, Lucy, the engineer wondered what might have eventuated in that department.

Not that he had ever had to worry about that. Jeff was a complete sop for Lucy. His sis had the man wrapped around her little finger.

If that made Lee feel just that touch more protective of the crazy pilot, then so be it.

Kate straightened, her shoulders strong. “I’m sure.” Then her lips curled up a little. “Besides, my lines were so much more elegant than ‘Stick close, Lee. I’d hate to lose you in this.’”

Jeff snorted and shrugged. “If I’m going to make history gotta make sure my best friend is with me.”

Zhang made a disgusted sound and stormed out of the room.

Shoulders dropping, Jeff sighed. “Guess I need to work on my phrasing.”

But Lee was too wrapped in the moment, a little too proud and grateful to care. “She’ll live.”

The grunt from Jeff reminded Lee that they still had months to share living quarters with the fiery Ju.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her.” Berry squeezed Jeff’s arm before reaching out to Lee as well. “Thank you, both of you, for getting us down safely. We’re on Mars, guys. Let the party begin.”

The smile in her eyes was honest and ever so heartening.

-o-o-o-

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Jeff Tracy #lee taylor #mars #callisto

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hannagoldworthy · 4 years

Text

AWOL 26

(Another longer one. Lots of disagreements in this chapter, but somehow I managed to sneak in a brief, cute little exchange that I’ve been wanting to post for months. Also, I left canon a little bit more broken than I found it, again. Yay!)

It was said that the lineage of Yoda through his most recent apprentice, Yan Dooku, tended to be more reckless and foolhardy than most. Ahsoka had grown enough that she no longer bristled at that particular bit of criticism, but she still preferred to think that she, Anakin, and Master Obi-Wan had their priorities straight, because there was not much time in battle for thought to dwell on anything else but the most immediate problem.

Therefore, once she recovered from the initial wave of disbelief at finding her best friend in the company of a Sith Lord who ought to have died more than a decade ago, Ahsoka let the conundrum pass for the moment. The immediate problem was not Barriss or Maul. The immediate problem was getting off Florrum.

And the immediate obstacles to solving that problem were the several speederfuls of pirates who had caught up to them.

And getting onto the Crucible while in a live firefight.

When the Crucible was being piloted by a ten-year-old Rodian.

As a wise one once said…fierfek.

Well, at the very least, their ferocious new temporary ally was not at all afraid of returning fire…so to speak. When a blaster bolt had ricocheted perilously close to Barriss’s head just as she was having her turn drinking from the canteen, Maul had sent the speeder of the pirate responsible hurtling into the speeder behind it. Jinx gave Ahsoka precisely one wide-eyed expression of helplessness, before turning off his blue lightsaber and following suit, plucking the remaining pirates out of their seats and dropping them to tumble into Florrum’s yellow dust.

“You’re not going to win anything by sparing their useless lives, boy.”

“And you’re wasting your breath being dramatic. They’re out of range now.”

Barriss swiped a blaster bolt out of the air before it could hit Jinx’s right lekku. “Less talking, more blocking. Are we there yet?”

Ahsoka tuned out the fight, listening to the distinctive whistle of the Crucible’s ancient engine as it gradually grew nearer. “Almost.” She put her head into the tank’s hatch. “All right, everybody out! You guys are getting on first.”

“But the accelerator…”

“Lock it in place with something! We need to go!”

The Crucible pulled up beside them, smoking and squealing in ways that would have set even Anakin’s teeth on edge. The old gangplank was lowered, and Ganodi and Professor Huyang stood upon it, the young Rodian reaching out with her hands and the Force towards her friends.

And that was when the tank suddenly decelerated; whatever had been placed on the accelerator to keep it going had been displaced. Ahsoka braced, grabbing poor Byph as he lost his footing and nearly fell. The Crucible, already overtaxed in this high-speed chase for which it had not been built even in its time, careened away from them; without a good pilot at its controls, it lurched and then plummeted toward the ground. Ganodi and the Professor only had enough time to leap out of the ship before it crashed…right into a ravine which Ahsoka only just now noticed they had been approaching.

Petro disappeared into the hatch, and the brakes screeched two moments later. They came to a perilous, halting stop, mere meters from meeting the Crucible’s ultimate fate. The pirate speeders surrounded them.

“Hands up, Jedi!”

Ahsoka knew when she was beaten. She turned off her sabers, holstered them, and put her hands above her head. Almost everyone else did the same…except, of course…

“That means you, Zabrak!”

The Sith held his hands primly behind his back, though he did spare the speaker one ferocious glare. “I am not a Jedi.”

“Maul,” Barriss hissed.

“Put. Your hands. UP!”

He lifted his eyebrows, and then tilted one ear to the sky. “Like…so?” He flicked his wrists, and flipped the three speeders over, toppling everyone still in them to the ground.

The pirates swore and tried to right themselves, but before they could get reorganized, a heavy weight descended toward them. A heavy, beat-up freighter landed thunderously between the pirates and the commandeered tank, its large cargo bay doors opened wide.

“Everybody inside!”

“Oh, you have got to be kidding,” Ahsoka breathed, even as she fished Petro out of the pilot seat.

“Have you got any better ideas?” Jinx yelled, before he leaped off the tank to retrieve Ganodi and the Professor.

…He was right. There was no choice, here. It was either this, or let the pirates capture them again, them and all the younglings.

Ahsoka ran up behind the children, helping Barriss toss Zatt, Katooni, and Petro up into Byph, Merrin, and Gungi’s waiting hands. Then, she jumped into the cargo bay, and caught Barriss’s hand to lift her up; Maul hauled the Professor inside a second later, Barriss caught Ganodi when Jinx wildly tossed her, and Ahsoka barely managed to drag Jinx himself aboard before they were taking off, the blaster bolts still flying around their heads as the doors finally closed. Then, for a moment, all was still as everyone fought to catch their breath.

“Best. Training mission. Ever,” Gungi growled at long last.

“What he said,” Byph returned in his own language.

When she got home, Ahsoka was going to buy Obi-Wan a good keg of his favorite tea. If this was the sort of headache he had to deal with all the time around her and Anakin, the man was a living, breathing saint and deserved three dozen vacations at the least.

***

“Um…brother?” Savage murmured as they left Florrum’s atmosphere.

Maul rolled his eyes, and began to input calculations for a hyperspace jump. “I know, I know. Just…get us out of here for now.”

Savage sighed. “No, I don’t mean them.” He took Maul’s hand, and pointed out of the bridge window. “That.”

His younger brother’s jaw dropped as he saw what Savage had noticed on the sensors…that being the entire flotilla of Confederate ships which had dropped out of hyperspace in front of them scant seconds before. “…What?”

“That’s Grievous’s flagship,” Savage said…oh, and that was a person he’d hoped never to cross again, but here they were. “What did you do?”

“I…I don’t know…”

“It wasn’t him,” intoned one of Maul’s new acquisitions, a Togruta, who entered the control room, staring at the ships outside with an expert gaze. “The Ohnaka Gang has been at odds with Dooku for some time now. Obviously Dooku has sent his main enforcer to deal with them.”

“Oh,” Savage grunted, swiveling around to the controls in order to direct their ship out of the flotilla’s path. “Well, never let it be said that I stood in the way of General Grievous…”

“You’re just going to run away?” the girl demanded.

Savage was pretty sure he and Maul made the same bewildered gesture before they turned back toward her. “Was Ohnaka not about to sell you to Dooku?” Maul asked. “Why in the name of every star are you defending that mongrel?”

There was an obstinate light in the young Jedi’s eyes. “That mongrel is the only thing in this sector that doesn’t belong to the Confederacy. His raids have disrupted their supply chain far more than we’ve been able to manage. Like it or not, he’s necessary if anyone is going to depose Dooku.”

She was careful to avoid mentioning the Jedi or the Republic, and addressed her argument chiefly to Savage in a tacit appeal to his presumed desire for revenge against his erstwhile Master. “That is an excellent point,” Savage replied, holding up a hand when Maul, confused, began to lose his temper. “And, if I was in any other situation aside from this, I’d give my left hand for the chance to ruin Count Dooku’s day. But, I’m not the only factor here. We are getting away, end of discussion.”

“But…”

“You heard him,” Maul murmured. “Go back to your younglings, Padawan.”

She sneered, and stamped all the way back to the cargo bay where her fellows were waiting.

Savage grinned. “Man, you’re better at adopting strays than I am.”

“…Shut up.”

“…We’re going back to Yavin? But the pirates found us there…”

“The pirates are about to be far too busy to care about where we’ve gone. It’s as good a hiding place as any.”

***

…There was a Hutt-sized bedframe welded to the cargo bay floor, with a fully-attached mattress to boot. Barriss was currently occupied with gathering a great many blankets, comforters, and pillows, which had been scattered about the room with all of the recent activity; the younglings shrugged, and set about helping her with the task.

Ahsoka watched quietly, feeling as if her life was spinning out of control and she couldn’t even manage to decide how to react to it. Florrum is being invaded by Separatists, she signed, dully.

Good.

She glared at Jinx. Obi-Wan did not spend the last two years cultivating a rapport with Hondo Ohnaka for us to lose him as an ally. This could turn the war against us.

Master Kenobi is still in the neighborhood. If he wants to keep Ohnaka there, he has the numbers to liberate him, if the wily old rodder does not liberate himself first. The Twi’lek eyed her shrewdly. But that isn’t the real reason you’re angry, is it?

She huffed. I’m not angry, I’m frustrated. We just wasted two years of progress…

No, Ohnaka wasted two years of progress when he decided to throw friendly relations with the Jedi out the window to grab at some shiny crystals. We made a choice to survive, and we did.

For how long? Force save us…you weren’t here to see the results of Savage Opress’s last rampage, but I was. He killed one of my crèchemates, his Master, and their entire division of clones…

Yes, I know. I watched the HUD footage to get a feel for what I was getting into. At Ahsoka’s horrified face, Jinx averted his eyes and shrugged. I’ll admit it didn’t really put my mind in a good place. But, that battle was months ago, and to be honest, he didn’t look well in those holos. He was too still, too robotic, and his pupils were…I dunno, wonky, too much dilated for the amount of daylight he was in. I think it’s safe to say he was not his own person then, under some kind of mind control. And…well, look at him now.

The giant Zabrak had lumbered into the room, and gingerly bent to pick up a soft blanket patterned with cartoon tookas. Zatt crept up to him, gesturing to the blanket.

“I can take that over to the bed if you want.”

Opress peered down, barely able to see the young Nautolan over the expanse of his own massive chest. “Uh…no, I…” he stammered, gently lifting the blanket out of the youngling’s grasp. “This is, uh…mine.”

Zatt stared solemnly back at him, and reached up to pat his elbow. “That’s valid, my dude.”

Jinx turned back to Ahsoka, raising his eyebrows meaningfully. See what I mean?

She frowned. Barriss obviously got to him.

And? She’s good at mind healing, overworked or not. And, they don’t seem to have any love for Dooku…

Jinx. Please tell me you aren’t seriously suggesting what I think you are?

He regarded her frankly. We have no choice but to watch and wait, right now. If we can turn this into an alliance of some sort…you have to admit, it would give the Order options we didn’t have before.

You are…!

Ahsoka, tell me straight. If these two had shown up on Wasskah instead of Chewbacca, what would you have done?

She closed her eyes, and set her jaw. I would have united with them against a common enemy.

Even if the rest of us thought you were crazy.

She sighed. I don’t think you’re crazy.

Of course you don’t, because you’re crazy. I’m just trying to keep up, here. Jinx smiled. We can always try to run away once we land. The kids’ commlinks still work, and Master Kenobi knows we’re out here somewhere. And we’re pretty good at this surviving thing, you and I.

I hope we can be good enough…

***

Hondo Ohnaka sat enthroned amongst the ruins of his own hideout, observing quietly as Obi-Wan and Cody approached him. He was stone-cold sober, his chin high and his back straight; that alone told the Jedi that he was greatly affected by the losses he had suffered.

“Well, General,” the Weequay said with a smile. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to discuss my fee.”

“Your fee?” Obi-Wan replied, holding back a smirk as Cody deliberately adjusted the gigantic repeater he was carrying on one hip. “Beg pardon, Captain, but as it was my army that liberated your assets, I believe I am the one getting paid in this scenario.”

“Ah, but you only helped me because my business is useful to your war efforts…don’t lie, I’ve been around to know how the game works.” Hondo sniffed theatrically, slouching. “Our ledger is settled on that account, but there is still the matter of the effort I spent protecting your young Jedi-in-training.”

Obi-Wan kept smiling, even as the gears of his brain came grinding to a halt. “To which young Jedi do you refer?”

“Why, your teenage grand-apprentice, of course! I rescued her from one of my more irritating competitors who were going to sell her to Dooku of all people, along with some Twi’lek kid she was with…Syndulla, I think his name was. And then, of course, I found another girl named Offee; two of my men (whom I’ve now promoted to captains) snatched her out of the jaws of some monster and brought her back here!”

“…Do tell,” Obi-Wan said, forcing his body language to exude calmness instead of his steadily rising hackles. “Well, where are they? They’ve all been sorely missed back on Coruscant.”

Hondo laughed nervously. “That’s the thing…they, uh, went their separate way after the attack on my compound.”

Obi-Wan’s eyelid twitched, and he heard Cody shift the intimidating weapon to hold it in his arms like a baby, sliding one step closer to combat mode. “So what you’re telling me is that you had our young Jedi, and not only did you not immediately inform us that they were with you…”

“You’re a hard man to contact, Kenobi, have a heart!”

“…you also extended the same hospitality to them that General Skywalker, Count Dooku, and I received upon our first stay with your organization.”

“Absolutely not. I’m smart enough not to make the same mistake twice, my friend, give me just a little credit!”

“Not only that, but you had them in your possession, and then you lost them? And you expect me to pay you for that?”

“There were extenuating circumstances, and I can assist you in finding them!”

“Oh really? Tell me, where do you think they went?”

The pirate captain cringed just a little, trying to play it off as a shrug. “They, uh, neglected to inform me of that.”

“Meaning they escaped.”

“No, meaning they were stolen, by two new recruits who took advantage of my generosity and my excellent benefit plan.”

Obi-Wan was beginning to seriously regret the choice to leave Anakin on Coruscant and Lissarkh on the ship; this man needed to be strangled or eaten, one of the two, possibly both at the same time, and he couldn’t manage to stomach doing either himself. “Can you at least describe the reprobates in question?”

“Uh…well, they were both Dathomirian. One was this little girl, maybe twelve years old, adorable, and she could talk to the disturbingly friendly ghosts we had staying in our diner. The other was her father, a man kind of yay-high, red skin, yellow eyes…”

He was going to have a stroke. He was certain of it. “You allowed Darth Maul to walk away with my teenage apprentice!?”

“No, I allowed Malign, touchingly protective single father of Ilyana, to walk away with your teenage apprentice. I’m not an idiot, Kenobi – that Maul fellow was in pieces and had a, uh, distinguished Core accent like you do. This guy was whole and spoke like a normal person…I mean, normal for out here, not…”

“Did this ‘single father’ have a red lightsaber?”

“How in the galaxy would I know? I was fashionably indisposed when the fighting broke out!” Hondo was shrinking into his chair. “Are you…angry? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you…”

Obi-Wan waved him silent and turned his back on him, so that only Cody could see the several long breaths he took through his nostrils and let out through his mouth in order to avoid doing something regrettable in a fit of temper.

“Easy, sir,” the Commander murmured.

“I should have let Grievous kill him.”

“And let that asthmatic cyborg have all the fun? Sir, I thought you loved me.”

Obi-Wan grinned, and turned back to Hondo with what he assumed was an expression of tactfully withheld bloodthirst. “Captain, your fee is settled. For your effort in…protecting our future Jedi, I will order my colleague here not to gun you down like the…unrepentant gentleman of fortune you are.”

Hondo glanced in terror at Cody, who sighed disappointedly and shifted the repeater onto his hip again.

“You will also refrain from interfering in any Jedi effort again, for the duration of the war…my fellow generals are going to be less forgiving than I am.”

“Of course, Kenobi, anything you say.” The pirate captain nodded shakily. “All of my resources are at your disposal as well.”

“What resources?”

“…Want a drink?”

“I have my own, personal, very well-stocked bar on my own, personal, not currently on-fire or discombobulated ship. Keep your drugged and watered-down spotchka. I bid you good day.” And with that, Obi-Wan turned on his heel and marched out of the compound.

“…You know, sir, we could always bombard them from orbit,” Cody said at his shoulder.

“I’m in a mood to admit I’d like that, Commander, but I’d have a devil of a time justifying such a waste of tibanna gas to the Council.” Obi-Wan sighed. “He’s going to be scrambling to regain my good graces now. That, at least, will ensure his good behavior for…a standard month, perhaps. He might even find the young ones for us.”

“Then we can shoot him.”

“Indeed.”

#star wars #the clone wars #canon divergence #AWOL au #ahsoka tano #darth maul #maul #barriss offee #jinx syndulla #savage opress #the Youngling Clan #plus merrin feral and the prof in the background #obi-wan kenobi #hondo ohnaka #commander cody #oho nobody's having a good day here #except maybe nilam and qui-gon #pretty sure they're hyped up on Space Ghost Booze #and bitching to each other about their respective children #Ahsoka is just looking for any reasonable excuse not to share an enclosed space with her ancestral enemy #Hondo is not a reasonable excuse #Zatt is a good Nightbrother Wrangler #return of Savage's favorite tooka blanket #Hondo shut up challenge #Obi-Wan is going to blow a gasket #it's kind of beautiful in a terrifying way #the 212th waits in eager anticipation for their general to lose his temper #more cyborgs to dogpile that way #Cody is just kind of watching this and feeling privileged to witness such an historic moment #just you wait until Luminara and Lissarkh hear about this...

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wavbleu · 4 years

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Rodrick heffley: Keep quiet

tw: possession and degrading

~~~~~~~~~

"I cant believe she would do that to you!" you say with a short giggle, you look at Rodricks adorable face and my smile grew bigger knowing that the only time hes genuinely happy and laughing is around you. "I was so totally shocked when she bit me, my dick hurt for like the following week." He stroked his fingers through his semi-short hair and continued on his painful story on how he lost his virginity.

You and Rodrick have been talking for 2 and a half months now, you and him have an extreme connection despite the fact that you are totally opposite. You like to wear softer colored clothes and get good grades in school, and Rodrick well... doesn't. He doesn't give a shit what people think or say about him and just goes the way he wants to, Thats what you've always adored him, you were jealous of that.

Sometimes you question how your friends with a guy as corrupted as him.

But when ever you converse the words just spill out of you, it actually feels like hes engaged and actually willing to hear more and learn about you. You've never experienced anything like that before. Speaking that most of your exes just used you for sex.

Whenever your around Rodrick, you feel like yourself. What ever you are scared to be in front of everyone else you show it to him and he strangely accepts it. Obviously, you would even consider him your best friend or 'pal' But lately ... the way he touches you isnt very 'pal-like' . Although it may seem like something small, he would massage your knee and work his way down your smooth thigh, stopping right before he reaches your inner thigh; slowly massaging that area and leaves you wanting more of him.

It could be when your hugging and he lowers his hands from your waist to your hips.. Stuff like that may not seem large but it speaks louder and clear that theres sexual tension in the air.

Rodrick finished up his tragic v card story and you both giggled, Rodrick then abruptly stopped laughing and his once loud laugh turned into a snarky smile. "What's with the smirk." you say smiling nervously not knowing what he will do.

"Are you a virgin?" He says, "Nah." You respond back to him. "Ive only had sex with 2 people though."

Yea you weren't a virgin (at all) but man when you had sex it was just beyond awful, terrible. Butterflies grew in your stomach as you watched him bite his cheek in amazement.

"Wow, Little miss Y/N getting freaky in the sheets." he teased, you droopily looked down at your swinging feet hanging off your bed and sighed before admitting, "Well it wasn't exactly good.. if fact it was absolutely dreadful." , "Well i wanna hear this to see if its just as bad as mines."

You adjusted yourself to lean against the white headboard, looking at Rodrick who was seated at the end of the bed. You wrapped your arms around your pillow and started reminiscing on how you lost your virginity at the ripe old age of 17.

"Well it was a party that was at some random guys house.. gee I dont even remember his name... I think it was like tony or something like that.","We were in this small group with other people in our grade, we were bored so we decided to play 7 minutes in heaven.." , "and it was my turn to spin the bottle, sadly."...

flashback

~~~~~

(skip if you dont like the extra length.)

You anxiously spun the bottle, hoping that it would stop on your crush, Luke Hannington. The bottle spun and everyone watched in awe.

You felt your heart drop to your stomach as the bottle started to decelerate and fixate on a person.. tense but hopeful , you look up at the person the bottle focused on.

Luke.

You tried to hold back your sheer excitement and joyfulness, but it quickly came to a halt after seeing your crushes nonchalant, monotone, bored face. 'He was probably hoping for someone hotter' you think yourself pathetically.

Everyone sneakily snickered and whispered in each others ears after seeing his disappointed face and disgusted eyes.

You felt like bursting into tears after feeling the way you did. You felt hideous.

"So ill set the timer, the closet is on your left sweetie." The host said, obviously trying to hold back her sneaky remarks until you get in the closet.

He quickly gets up and speed walks to the closet, you followed, fondling your fingers and biting the skin off your lip.

You got to the closet, atleast he was sweet enough to hold the door open for you.

You sat down on the carpeted floor, hassling all the jackets and coats off of you. Luke frantically searched for the light so we can actually see in this closet and took a seat after.

He closed the door and minutes later you heard it lock from the otherside, "Begin, lovebirds!"

The only thing that began was the pure awkwardness and his uncomfortable glances. "So um.." You tried to start a convo but failed at it miserably, nothing you were doing was working, he would always give this stupid uncomfy look or mess with his collar. You were milliseconds away from kicking the door down and leaving this stupid party.

"Im sorry." he said noticing your frustration, "I dont think your ugly or anything.", "Ive had sex before, but not with strangers."

Stranger. Neat.

Tension arosed in the closet after he asked out of no where, "Have you ever been fingered before?" ,"I think im a pro if i say so myself."

You nodded your head no, "Im a virgin..","Ive always wanted to though.." You tried to say seductively hoping to make him hard. "Open your legs." He sternly demanded, you obeyed and did just that.

He pulled off your cotton panties and felt you up and down, then awkwardly slid a finger in. You gasp surprised, hoping he would've given more foreplay. "Um.." You moan as he fingered you in an accelerating pace , rubbing your left lip thinking it was your clit.

You felt second hand embarrassment for him, Luke Hannington doesn't know where the clitoris is?

You were drying out and getting turned off by his loud grunts and heavy breathing, actually thinking he was doing something. "Somebody lied to this man.." You said in your head. "No way do i actually have to fake an orgasm for this psychopath to stop."

You prepped yourself and tried replicate the girls off of pornhub, "Oh yes!" you moaned as you shook your legs frantically, a smile grew upon his face as he went faster. "Im gonna-" You dramatically puff your chest up faking an intense orgasm.

He stopped and swiped the sweat off of his forehead, "Good right?" , "Great, i bet you i wont even be able walk straight!" You moan, you cheesily snapped your fingers and giving him finger guns to throw him off your awful acting. The timers alarm rung, "Finally." You thought to yourself.

You stood up and walked out of the closet just fine.

You got back to the group who were snickering and giggling like a bunch of pre-schoolers.

~~~~

end of flashback

"Bad but not as bad as mines." He chuckled competitively, "Whatever." You threw a pillow at him. "Ive been cursed with the spell "awful sex." ever since that night." You dramatically say, "Is that so?" , "No guy has been capable of making you cum.. making you scream?" His voice lowered, looking into your eyes with a hot confused look.

"Yea pretty much." You sneakily adjust your skirt so he can see your soft thighs and a sliver of your panties. The room went silent as he looked you up and down, examining your body and its crevices , he licked his lips struggling to control the urge to squish and carress your thighs. He quickly looked down hoping you didnt notice how long he was staring at your body, so hungrily.

"Hey um.. y/n" He said scooting closer to you.

Your breath became heavy and palms began to sweat as you watched him scoot in closer.

"Have you been feeling it too?" his soft deep voice lowering into a erotic whispering tone. "F-feeling what?" You stumble trying to think straight, his eyes were fixated on your lips, he wanted them badly.

"You know.." "The tension?" He slowly rubs your thigh with his huge hands, maneuvering them up your skirt but stopping right before he hit, you know what. You hated that. You nod slowly to his question.

"You told me you never came before?" He questioned, "No.. never." You responded back. He put a stray hair behind your ear, then smoothly rubbed his thumb over your bottom lip.

"Can i be your first?"

You nod needily.

Biting your lip before going in for a deep passionate kiss. He wrapped his hand around your waist , scooting you up onto his lap. His hands adventured up your skirt again , grabbing your ass and slapping it. You gasp at the loud sound it made.

"My parents are home Rodrick!" You whisper yelled pulling away from the kiss.

Rodrick continued kissing your neck and ear, gripping your firm ass cheek, not giving a fuck about what anyone says. Like usual.

"Baby i truly don't give a shit, just keep it down." He sternly said.

"Mmm ok.." You moan and roll your head back as he made out with that sweet spot on your neck.

He roughly pinned you down and kissed you more this time exchanging tongue. He pulled away from the compelling kiss leaving a small train of spit

He pulled your panties off smoothly and stared at the sight to see. "Have you ever been fingered before?" He jokingly teased giving a little lightheart to this hot and spicy situation.

He trailed his hands up and down your wet pussy, looking for that spot.

When he finally got his hands on it you let out a small gaspy squeal, "Its right here?" You nod, breath getting faster.

"Yes daddy right there please~" You cry out, "Daddy?" He smirks, He slowly rubs his fingers around your clit. "Im your daddy now?" Rodrick bites his lip, "Then i guess your my little slut then."

"Are you my little slut?" He asks you, he picks up his pace sending a small tingle down your spine, he giggled mischievously knowing that its gonna be hard for you to respond. You try to catch your breath but moans and shrieks keep cutting your words off.

"Are you my little.. slut?" He slipped in two fingers and fucked your tight hole and worked your g-spot, so much to a point where you had to grasp one of your plushies to keep from screaming. "Alright I guess ill have to make you say yes."

Your eyes roll back as you felt his mouth attach to your clit, swirling his tongue all around your sensitive clit. For the first time you actually wanted to cum..

"I think im gonna-" You bite into a pillow to cover the loud noise you were gonna let out.

Right before you were about to have an intense orgasm, he stopped. Edging you and all your senses. You whined like a little bitch.

"Shut the fuck up." He said unbuckling his pants, "Your gonna take this dick and your gonna like it, alright? alright." He said stroking his rock hard twitching dick before aggressively sliding in.

"My parents- ah-" , " I swear if you mention your parents one more time im gonna throat fuck you." He said in a pissed off tone.

He threw your legs over his shoulders and slid a pillow under you. Rodrick continued to fuck up into you, hitting that one spot again, and again, and again; and just to torture you, he rubbed your clit you were experiencing bliss, euphoria.

Rodrick swiftly took your legs off his shoulder and spread them wide open so he could get a deeper fuck, "stupid slut your legs are trembling." , "You really like me fucking you hard, hitting that spot just perfectly even when your parents are just sitting in their room ; feet away? " ,"Now when i ask this again, i want a response."

"are you my little slut?" He whispered into your ears, you moaned loudly and threw your head back, "Yes!", "Yes daddy, im your slut." ," I want your parents to fucking hear." He looked you deep in the eyes waiting for your response.

"Yes daddy im your slut.." You moaned loudly.

He grasped on your waist and pounded deep into you, the claps of your skin, the loud moans, at that point you forgot you even HAD parents.

He kept fucking into your tight cunt relentlessly, hitting every single spot perfectly. Humanly impossible.

"Cum whore i know you wanna." Rodrick says, you open your mouth but no moans come out.. that was it . You were actually gonna cum... Your legs began to shake and tumble , it felt like a large sneeze but in your stomach. "Im gonna-" You could barely get out.

You released yourself onto his cock, "Fucking hell." He said as he couldn't bare to last any longer. He pulled out of you and came onto your tired cunt.

"Damn baby." He groaned putting his softening dick away. "was it good?" He hopefully said, "It was amazing." You responded back excitedly.

That stupid curse is gone, yay!

Everything was good until you heard loud footsteps seconds away from your door.

~~~~~~~

Authors note:

This is a pretty long story but i actually enjoyed writing these ones, rodrick was my first story on this book (and my most popular) so you know i had to do the mf again🙄 pegging and femboy kink coming soon⚠️

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cardiothoracics-blog · 3 years

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cardiothoracic

Can you know what is HEART?

The heart is an organ that circulates blood by acting as a pump. It can be a simple tube, like in spiders and annelid worms, or a more complex structure, like in mollusks, with one or more receiving chambers (atria) and the main pumping chamber (ventricle). The heart of a fish is a folded tube with three or four swollen areas that correspond to mammalian chambers. The heart of animals with lungs, such as amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, has evolved from a single pump to a double pump that circulates blood to the lungs and the whole body. The heart is a four-chambered double pump at the middle of the circulatory system in humans, other mammals, and birds. It lies on the diaphragm, the muscular partition between the chest and the abdominal cavity, in humans. It is located between the two lungs and slightly to the left of the heart, behind the breastbone.

Blood vessel:

A blood vessel is a blood vessel in the human or animal body that circulates blood. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart, and arterioles are the small branches that branch out from them. Venules are very small branches that gather blood from different organs and sections and join to form veins, which return the blood to the heart. Capillaries are tiny thin-walled vessels that bind the arterioles and venules; nutrients and wastes are shared between the blood and body tissues through the capillaries. The endothelium is a thin layer of cells that lines the inner surface of every blood vessel. The endothelium is separated from the vessel's tough exterior layers by the basal lamina, an extracellular matrix produced by surrounding epithelial cells.The endothelium is responsible for regulating the flow of substances into and out of the bloodstream, including nutrients and waste products. Angiogenesis is a mechanism in which tissues develop new blood vessels in response to certain conditions. Angiogenesis is necessary for the replacement of damaged tissue, but it also happens in abnormal circumstances, such as tumor growth and progression.

What is cardiology, exactly?

The term cardiology comes from the Greek terms "cardia," which means "heart," and "logy," which means "study of." Cardiology is a field of medicine that deals with heart problems and disorders, which may range from congenital abnormalities to acquired conditions like coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. Cardiologists are physicians who specialize in cardiology and are responsible for the medical treatment of multiple heart diseases. Cardiac surgeons are doctors who specialize in treating heart problems by surgery.

Heart failure:

Because of the effectiveness of thrombolysis and primary angioplasty, the survival rate for myocardial infarction (MI) has improved dramatically in recent years. However, the resulting heart disease epidemic has become a significant public health problem. According to data from the United Kingdom, heart disease affects around 2% of the population. Furthermore, since chronic heart failure (CHF) has a worse prognosis, a patient admitted to the hospital with pulmonary edema has a worse prognosis than a patient with carcinoma in any organ other than the lung.

Congenital heart disease in adults:

Congenital heart and cardiovascular system defects affect about 1% of live births, with around half of these children requiring medical or surgical intervention during their childhood. A further 25% of people would need surgery in the first decade to sustain or boost their quality of life. Just ten percent of adolescents survive puberty without surgery; however, many of these ten percent lead normal lives for years before their abnormality is discovered.

Hypertension

Since most patients are asymptomatic and care is preventative rather than palliative, hypertension is a difficult condition to handle. One of the problems facing clinicians working to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality caused by high blood pressure is persuading patients of the need for poorly tolerated medication in the face of good health (BP). Renal disorder, myocardial infarction (MI), and cerebrovascular accident are all severe consequences of untreated hypertension. However, many patients do not receive aggressive enough care.

What exactly does cardiology entail?

A cardiologist will conduct a physical examination and review the patient's medical history. They can perform tests to check the person's weight, pulse, lungs, blood pressure, and blood vessels.

Tests:

They can also perform or order the following tests,

· ECG or EKG

· Ambulatory ECG

· An exercise test or stress test

· Echocardiogram

· Echocardiography

· Cardiac Catheterization

· Nuclear cardiology

ECG or EKG:

ECG or EKG monitors the heart's electrical activity.

Ambulatory ECG:

Ambulatory ECG is a form of ECG that tracks heart rhythms when a person is exercising or going about their daily activities. Small metal electrodes are adhered to the chest and wired to a Holter monitor, which monitors the heart rhythms.

An exercise test or stress test:

An exercise test, also known as a stress test, depicts the changes in heart rhythm that occur during rest and exercise. It assesses the heart's capabilities and weaknesses.

Echocardiogram:

An echocardiogram is a form of ultrasound that shows the anatomy of the heart chambers and surrounding areas, as well as how well the heart is functioning.

Echocardiography:

The cardiac output of the heart, as measured by echocardiography, is a measure of how efficiently the heart pumps blood. It can detect pericarditis or inflammation around the heart. It can also detect systemic heart valve defects or infections.

Cardiac Catheterization:

A short tube in or near the heart collects data and can help alleviate a blockage during cardiac catheterization. It will take pictures and test the heart's and electrical system's functionality. Congenital cardiac, valvular, and coronary artery conditions can all be treated with catheter-based procedures and fluoroscopy.

Nuclear cardiology:

In nuclear cardiology, radioactive materials are used to research cardiovascular conditions and diseases in a non-invasive manner. Infarction imaging, single-photon-emission computed tomography, planar imaging, and myocardial perfusion imaging are all examples of this form of imaging.

What types of diagnostic tests should be carried out?

The physical examination does not reveal any new findings that support the atrial tachycardia diagnosis. The discovery of tachycardia (heart rate >100 beats per minute) with no reasonable physiologic explanation raises concern. Valsalva maneuvers, carotid sinus massage, and cold drinks, among others, may stop a tachycardia and indicate a diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia, but they have no bearing on the precise diagnosis of atrial tachycardia. With gradual deceleration/acceleration of the heart rate, sinus tachycardia slows with vagal maneuvers. Hypotension, hypoxia, symptoms of inflammation/infection, pallor, abdominal distention, or tenderness, among other physical exam findings, may explain physiologic sinus tachycardia.

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huntedinhavensdale-rpg · 4 years

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Wait...there’s Original Shifters?

That’s right! They didn’t come out of nowhere you know. So what’s the deal?

History

Shifters have always been believed to be descended from werewolves or at least associated with them. A ‘watered down’ version if you will. That’s close but not quite. The very First Shifters are born from an Original Werewolf and a Psychic! That’s right, if a member of the Original pack and a Psychic got together at any point in history and had a baby, well... That’s an Original Shifter right there.

Sidenote: they are the only kind of Original that can still be born today! (That we know of...).

From there, shifters were born all over the world, all throughout history. Most shifters have no idea that Original Shifters exist (as they are the rarest of the Originals) and grow up thinking shifters have always been around. The most believable theory is that they’re something to do with werewolves.

There’s no dramatic feuds in their history. If you’re not an Original Shifter, you’re pretty close to being human and a normal life is in the cards. Pretty drama free, really. Totally overlooked. They’re just out there living their best lives, hopefully. A short and sweet history lesson. But what makes the Originals special, outside of their lineage? Well.

THE NEED TO KNOWS

Original shifters are immortal - inherited from their Original werewolf parent. Regular shifters only have decelerated ageing.

They can shift into any real animal that they know without having to touch them. They can also shift into any human they have touched or known, as in, they’ve seen them (in real life, TV, on a photo).

They have increased strength and agility, fast healing and heightened senses.

While they don’t have a specific psychic ability, they can do some spells that rely on ingredients and written incantations. They can also draw power from the moon (the new moon especially) for these spells.

They’re immune to being hurt by silver. Like all Originals, they’re very hard to kill.

They know when someone they meet is a shifter. Shifters can also get a strange vibe or feeling when they meet an Original (because they’re #powerful).

While they don’t have the ability to sense exactly which type of supernatural someone is, they do know when someone they meet is supernatural/not human. The older the Original is and if they’ve trained themselves to do it, upon touching a supernatural, they’ll get a stronger sense of what exactly they are.

#shifter q & a #general #hihupdates #history #yes my Fun TitlesTM are making a comeback lmaooo

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enchantingtragedyfart · 8 months

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thickerfullerhair-blog · 5 years

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Getting Your Way Around Female Hair Loss

Female hair loss is a sensitive topic to most women as the balding and thinning crown in the head is a common and serious concern for men. Whenever the issue of hair loss and balding is brought up into the open, concerned parties are almost always very much willing to try every trick they will come across with. For as long as it is going to give them something they can be optimistic about, they would dare give it a try.

While the market nowadays is teeming with a sundry of products that are making a high-claim to cure male and female hair loss, the truth can’t be denied that even the best hair loss supplements today cannot give us an assurance that they can make hair grow again. But it is such a relief to know that these hair building fiber products can help in decelerating hair loss.

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Only when you have found out what is likely of reasons there is as to why recently you are losing a significant amount of your hair can you identify the next course of action that you need to take. Sometimes, hair loss in women can be reversed by virtue of making dramatic changes to their lifestyle. Or at times, in conjunction with a change in lifestyle, women afflicted with thinning hair may just need to take some supplements that may contain essential nutrients in which their bodies might be having deficiencies.

Hair loss is a part and parcel of our aging process and there is no you can get away with it. While trying to look for effective ways to salvage what is left of your mane, you may want to consider instead the use keratin hair fibers to camouflage your thinning hair. These hair loss concealing products may not help to make your hair grow back, but they can surely help restore your confidence with the look and feel of natural hair. Read here to find out what available products are best for you.

Before you buy a keratin hair loss concealer, you might want to check out the following points below. Here are some of the important things you need to keep in mind, so you can get value for your money.

1. See to it that the product is an exact match to your natural hair color

Of course, this is kind of self-explanatory. Nobody, who is in the right frame of mind, would think that it is fairly okay to have an unnatural looking hair. When trying to look for a hair loss concealer product, see to it that what you are going to buy is an exact match to your natural hair color.

2. Ease of Application

Most of us are living a frenzied life or have a hectic schedule to keep. Hence, each second counts and for that reason, as much as possible, you only need to look for products that will not require you to spend an inordinate amount of time in applying your concealer such as the hair building fiber. When it comes to hair loss concealers, it should be easy-peasy to apply and that it should not take you forever doing it.

3. It should work effectively regardless of what hairstyle you want to have

One measure to gauge that you have come across a very good hair loss concealer is when you see that it works okay with any hairstyle. It does not matter whether your hair is curly, wavy, short, black, thinning, or grey (lots or just streaks of it), your choice of keratin fiber concealer should work okay and lets you achieve your best look so far.

4. The materials that the hair fibers are made of

There are two kinds of hair fibers in the market today, natural and non-natural. Natural is comprised of keratin hair fibers and this type of hair loss concealing product is highly recommended because they give you a more natural look and, since they are manufactured with static electricity, they attach your hair strands on their own without having the need for hair sprays to keep them in place.

Here is the takeaway when it comes to hair loss concealing products:

Look only for a female hair loss concealer that is reputed for its high resistance to heat, water, and humidity. Of paramount importance here is that you should be confident that the product itself will not backfire on you even if you have them exposed to rain or sun. If in case, you are going to have a dip in your pool, it should not make you feel worried about doing so.

#hairlossconcealer #femalehairloss #hairfibers #aging

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exhaled-spirals · 5 years

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Book to real world, real world to book—I am in perpetual transit. It is much easier, for some reason, to shift from the page to dailiness than it is to accomplish the reverse. There may be a sigh of reluctance, a momentary dissociation, but the lever is readily moved. It is much harder to push it in the other direction. Even if I am entirely engrossed in a novel and eager to get under its spell again, I still find that reentry takes effort. To return to the realm of symbols, however comfortable I am in that realm, always involves a change of circuit and what feels at first like a great deceleration. But the difficulties in no way dampen my pleasure in making the transition—they may even heighten it, intensifying the involvement once I have resumed. Indeed, the state I occupy while reading often feels more focused, more meaningful, more real than those that comprise most of my nonreading life. I have the same feeling about certain dreams—that they carry me to a truer place. [...] Not only is the text a distillation, a dramatic shaping of materials, but to process it we must apply a very exclusive sort of focus. The result is an altered state of awareness, a kindled-up sort of high. But like any high, it must at some point wear off. Reentry—the return to the more dispersed conditions of dailiness—brings on a sense of affective slackening.

Sven Birkerts, The Gutenberg Elegies

#quote #sven birkerts #the gutenberg elegies #books #reading #english

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lindoig4 · 5 years

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Glaciers and Ice

Glaciers have become an unexpected focus for me! Hundreds of them! Everywhere you look, there are several. We saw one that has an 11km calving front and most are probably 30 to 50 metres high at the face, but possibly hundreds of metres thick in the circ or neve (further inland, the ice is several kilometres thick!).

They are eye-wateringly glaring white, although they contain quite a bit of rock and other debris collected during the inexorable march to the sea. We were told that most move up to about a metre a day, but some can move more than 20 metres a day. We have been Zodiac-ing around in front of some, always a few hundred metres away, and seen many examples of calving. Usually it is just a boulder or two or a few tons of ice falling into the water, making a noisy splash and a small series of waves, but we have also seen many thousands of tons come crashing down, sending deadly shards of ice flying hundreds of metres in the air and creating a surging wave more than 2 metres high right across the bay in all directions. We can often hear the ice grinding away from the front, rumbling, grumbling and growling exactly like rolling thunder, interspersed with rifle cracks like lightning as the ice slips and splits into crevasses, chasms and serac towers, often portending a huge calving a minute or two later. Some blocks of ice at crazy angles seem ready to fall in an instant, yet remain poised while neighbouring chunks collapse into the sea with a thunderous roar and surge of water that has had our Zodiac drivers fleeing flat out to put extra space between us and the onrushing tsunami.

On one occasion, I was looking at a crack in the ice where I thought a bird had flown when the crack opened and lengthened and a few hundred tons of ice fell into the sea – but most times, we hear the crash after the event and only see the later stages of the calving.

Once the ice is in the water, it often breaks into a number of icebergs of various sizes, that turn and twist and tumble until an equilibrium is reached and they drift off away from the face of the glacier to float around until they finally melt and disappear, months or often even several years later. We have cruised around in our Zodiacs, in and out of areas of ice – with icebergs as small as tiny slivers and as big as a small fleet of B-Doubles. We haven’t seen any giant ones like we see in photos from Antarctica, but we have been very aware of it being the Arctic as we are surrounded by some of Nature’s most exquisite sculptures. Individual bergs come in every conceivable shape – and many that are really not conceivable at all. It is hard to understand how particular delicate shapes could evolve. Some are like pancakes, often undercut for metres at sea level so there is just a crust surrounding a great bulk of ice in the middle. Some are just big lumps of ice. Others are a junkpile of boulders, blocks, rectangular solids, weird shapes, all set at crazy angles to each other so it is impossible to imagine how they could form like that. There are large areas of slush that the Zodiacs simply glide over or through, and even quite large ice-rocks simply slide aside to make way for the progress of our little exploratory craft. It truly is a Wonderland, usually still and quiet except for the background whisper of trillions of popping air-bubbles, trapped under immense pressure inside the ice, bursting free as their millennia-long prison melts slowly in the weak sunshine. It is magic to just sit still and silent waiting for the next majestic calving to occur. And often there is an accompaniment of tinkling, sometimes a mini-roar as waterfalls of meltwater drip or pour off the larger bergs.

We have also spent time on board grinding through pack-ice. In some areas, the sea is an endless white pancake, somewhat uneven from the pressure raising some plates over others or breaking them up to stand erect and refrozen in the distance. This is where we have found some clues as to how the amazing shapes might form. Looking down over the bow, we see the ship cracking through the floes, buckling and breaking the pancake, sliding plates over and under other parts of the floe, redistributing the weight, buoyancy and pressures to create something of a chain reaction for quite a few metres around. We hear the ice rumbling and grinding against the hull, harsh and angry. Sometimes the thickness or density is such that when the ship encounters a berg, there is a sudden deceleration or a swerve to port or starboard that reverberates throughout the ship and we are reminded that there are forces far greater than just liquid water outside.

The ice also exhibits a surprising array of colours. Freshly calved glaciers tend to be quite blue due to the compressed air under immense pressure inside, but this fades to dazzling white over time. It means that watching the bluest areas of the glacier-front gives us the greatest chance of seeing an event as it happens. Most times, we hear the initial crash of ice hitting the water and we just see the end of the calving – but for all that, what we have seen has been quite awesome with sometimes thousands of tons of ice tumbling into the sea. Algae also grows on the surface of the ice so we have seen many areas of red, green, orange, grey and black ice – as well as many areas of just plain dirty ice where dust and debris has blown onto the ice and become embedded – or ground into the sides of the glacier as it scratches and scrapes it way across unyielding mountains on its rendezvous with the sea. Looking into icebergs, we are often able to see quite large rocks or areas of dust laid down perhaps thousands of years ago, ready to drop as sediment or scree as the ice melts. The sea near glacier fronts appears quite murky compared with crystal clear pristine water further out to sea. And walking across a moraine is very difficult where the ice has retreated and left trillions of little round stones or a cacophony of slightly larger ones set at every angle to their neighbours. Finding a safe foothold or trudging through a sea of pebbles up to our ankles takes its toll on one’s energy. The icebergs themselves are quite beautiful, usually as sharp and white as can be imagined, but a wonderful delicate turquoise glow under the water, not so easily defined as the depths blur the edges. Some are opaque white ice, some are crystal clear, many more are a mix of both, streaked with vivid blue or just plain dirty from the embedded detritus.

We have seen lots of movement among the bergs with quite large ones turning turtle and breaking up or large chunks of ice emerging from under nearby bergs and surprising us as they leap up next to our Zodiac. This is as a result of disparate melting, causing the centre of gravity of the iceberg to shift and the internal pressures created over centuries suddenly creating new points of equilibrium that result in dramatic movements of great volumes of ice within a second or two. And remember that all we see is the tip of the iceberg – 90% or more of it is hidden in the depths and we frequently drive over the most exquisite blue or turquoise sea beneath our Zodiac.

Local critters

The entire focus of the expedition for most people is Polar Bears. We have seen several, but always at a fair distance. They appear as dots in most photographs and people watch from the bridge for hours hoping to see one swimming between ice floes or snoozing on the ice. For me, watching a fur rug sleeping on the ice a kilometre or so in the distance is interesting for a time, but hardly enthralling. The ship has spent a lot of time hunting bears with some success, and I would like to see one a little closer (not too close) to satisfy my curiosity, but other beasties are just as interesting for me.

We saw a few Arctic Foxes, not up close, but certainly close enough to see them clearly and watch as they hunted around the tundra for a bird to eat or some eggs to scavenge. We have seen both the blue fox (bluish brown-black) and the more common morph (yellow-white and brown) and they move very smoothly across the rocks and snow in their search for food.

We have seen quite a few seals of various species, some on ice floes, but mostly just popping their heads up out of the water near the Zodiacs to see what these strange humans look like. More exciting are the walruses. We saw one haul-out of about 70 to 100 at quite a distance one evening, but we went ashore this morning and approached another herd of about the same number to the closest legal proximity of 30 metres (with the Governor’s Police auditing our activities at a distance). They were very courteous when we chatted with them on our return to the Zodiacs – the Politi that is – the walruses ignored us. They were very bad-mannered in fact, constantly burping and grunting, waving their flippers and displaying their bums to us – quite rude really. But it was amazing to get so close to these wonderful huge animals and see them in their natural habitat.

There are not that many species of birds here. A book in the bridge indicates that, including rare vagrants, Svalbard’s complete bird list stands at 81, but perhaps less than half those are regularly sighted. My list currently stands at 21, including perhaps my favourite for the trip so far, the Ivory Gull. There are some other special birds though – another is the Arctic Tern. I need to do some more research once we get Internet access in Reykjavik or Canada, but I think I have seen 6, possibly up to 8, species that are new to us – ‘lifers’ in the twitching world.

On Board Activities

Mainly eating – with visits to the bar, the bridge and the rigamarole of preparing to go ashore and ‘un-preparing’ when we return to the ship. It is liberating to free one’s poor feet from their gumboot prison.

But there have been a couple of briefings, a cocktail party (buy-your-own-cocktails) to meet the Captain and some crew, and a few very interesting lectures.

The lectures have been by specialist staff. One was on Ice and Rocks by Ulliana, a glaciologist, one on Mammals and Birds of the Arctic by Roger (odd bod researcher of various things that make him think he is an expert on everything), and one on Polar Bears by Chris, a naturalist and probably the most impressive mine of knowledge on board. All have been fascinating, almost too information-rich, but very entertaining and provocative even if not much of the detail lodged on my memory-bank.

Then there was the Polar Plunge, a traditional event in which demented passengers and equally insane crew are invited to leap into the ocean without breaking any bones on the ice. Nine intrepid jumpers took the plunge this trip, several had done it on previous expeditions, but I think they must all be crazy. (Mind you, Heather decided against it, but wants to do it on the Greenland leg.) It is simply a few seconds in the 1 degree ocean then back into the 2 degree air with a wind-chill factor that probably makes the ocean feel decidedly bath-like. Not for me, especially not with a gallery of about 60 people making sure I didn’t chicken out – as I am sure I would.

More about Ice

An iceberg that is 250 metres square and a mere 20 metres high (and we have seen quite a few up to 90 metres high), containing a few tonnes or hundreds/thousands of tonnes of accumulated moraine has about another 10 times as much underwater as is visible. A few rough calculations puts this little ice-block at a over 7 hectares in area or 12.5 million cubic metres in volume. Given that each cubic metre of ice weighs a tonne, the Titanic really didn’t stand much chance taking on a piece of ice that possibly bulked out at 20-100 million tonnes or more.

When we were all out on deck last night enjoying our ‘funny hat’ barbecue dinner, the ship was cruising along with icebergs drifting past at maybe 11 or 12 knots, we were very glad of the skills of our Russian crew in avoiding a collision with any of them. It was a truly amazing sight to be enjoying a meal and drinks with a parade of giant ice-towers marching past 25 metres or so to either side of the ship.

One thing that surprised me was the manoeuvrability of the ship. In the Zodiacs, we just zap along, skidding over most small icebergs or turning on a sixpence around bigger ice blocks with only the larger ones offering any real resistance. But I assumed that the ship would be unable to change course fast enough to avoid anything. It has amazed me to see the skill of the helmsman weaving between most of the larger floes, sliding past with just an inch or so to spare, occasionally bumping one gently aside with only the solid pack ice challenging the ice-strengthened hull. The skill of our Russian crew is truly outstanding.

And just a definitional point...... I have referred to icebergs quite often, but technically we have seen very few. To be officially designated an iceberg, it must be 5 metres high and 15 metres long (or 200 square metres). This means the part of the ice that is visibly above the waterline. Somewhat smaller chunks of ice are called Bergy Bits (yep, true scientific name) and anything under a metre high are called Growlers - and hundreds of them have growled along the sides of our ship.

I thought that true icebergs are more common at even higher latitudes and in the southern Antarctic where calving is even more dramatic, but we saw some awesome icebergs around Greenland. Maybe more later – with pics!

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billehrman · 5 years

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Thinking Out of the Box

As we discussed in last week’s blog “Race to the Bottom” traditional means of stimulating economic growth are no longer working and are, in fact, backfiring from their real intent. Governments’ need to move away from reliance on any additional monetary stimulus, which clearly is not working, and begin huge fiscal stimulus programs financed with 50+ year bonds at little or no cost. If not, the risks to the downside, including deflation, will continue to rise. But change is in the air!

Look at what happened to all financial markets Friday after it was reported that Germany may be willing to run fiscal deficits during recessions. That’s Germany, the most fiscally conservative country—not Greece—that we are talking about! But, will the government actually pass a large pro-active anti-cyclical package? Well, Germany has indeed entered a recession so, let’s see if the government walks the walk. Time will tell, but if Germany passes one, expect all countries in the Eurozone to quickly follow suit with Germany’s blessing. Remember that deflation is everyone’s biggest fear, not inflation. We also believe that Christine Lagarde, who will shortly become head of the ECB, will support such stimulus programs. And we expect ECB’s Draghi last hurrah to end with a bang next month, his largest stimulus plan to date. Will it work? Doubtful! But change is happening.

China ‘s central bank announced reform yesterday. The bank will replace benchmark interest rates with Loan Prime rates based on world bank lending rates as a reference for pricing new loans. Policy makers are hoping to substantially cut borrowing costs and increase supply while increasing demand for funds. We expect the government to announce major new fiscal stimulus plans to bolster growth in the next few weeks too. If not, China’s growth will continue to decelerate, and unemployment would rise. But don’t fret as change is happening.

The U.S government is considering selling 50-100-year bonds. We discussed this very same topic last week and strongly believe that the U.S should not only refinance as much of its short/medium term debt as possible longer term to benefit from the huge decline in rates but also finance a much-needed infrastructure program this way. Change is happening here as well.

Look at the topic for discussion next week when the Fed governors meet at Jackson Hole for their annual symposium: “Challenges for Monetary Policy” in today’s global environment. How relevant is that? We expect to hear that the U.S economy is fine, but the Fed is worried that weakness overseas could find its way to our shores such that the Fed had to commence a midcourse correction. We really hope to hear what the Fed has in its toolbox, beside lowering rates, to steepen the yield curve which is of great concern to all. Let’s see if Powell and the Fed really have come up with creative tools to end the yield curve flattening/inversion. If so, that would be great which would help restore business/investor confidence. More change brewing.

We pride ourselves for positioning our portfolios to not only benefit from the current environment but also for looking over the valley to benefit as change happens. Right now, our portfolios are highly defensive owning consumer no-durables, utilities, some retailers, cable with content, technology with little/no exposure to China, airlines, special situations and gold. We own no financials nor cyclicals. Even though change is happening, it does not occur overnight so great patience will be needed to let it all unfold. The rewards could be tremendous. As we mentioned last week, we are creating an options portfolio to benefit from the changes we see taking place with governments and monetary authorities finally thinking out of the box.

We were asked last week by one of the truly great investors of our time whether we felt that our market was fully valued at less than 17 times earnings with 10-year treasuries yielding around 1.5% and 30-year bond yields hovering around 2%. He was pulling our leg. He knew what our answer would be. Undervalued, but only for investors. We recognize that near term systematic trading can play havoc with the market and make anyone look foolish. Did you know that over half the S &P is yielding far in excess of the 30-year bond yield? And we expect dividends to rise over time. What would you rather own today as an asset class? Stocks, for sure. Our strength is to own the right stocks. The U.S economy continues to be in far better shape than virtually every other major industrialized nation. Let’s take a look at the most recent data points that substantiate or detract from our view:

· The U.S economy is tracking for 2+% growth in the third quarter led by continued strong consumer demand along with stimulative fiscal policy at all levels. Our industrial complex and farming remain stuck in the mud held back by our trade policy. Consumer sentiment has trailed off recently but is still a healthy 92.1; current economic conditions is 107.4 and the index of consumer expectations fell to 80.2. All of these numbers are good but apprehension over trade and jobs are rising. The services sector continues to roll along with second quarter revenues up 1.3% from the first quarter and up 5.4% from a year ago. We were pleased to see housing permits increase 8.4% from June levels while housing completions rose 7.2% as low mortgage rates finally appear to be kicking in. Retail sales continue strong as evidenced by Walmart’s numbers. We expect good numbers out of Target and Home Depot this week. The traditional department store unfortunately continues to suffer and lose market share. It should be noted that the U.S deficit already exceeds last year’s numbers as spending has increased by 8% while revenues rose only 3%. Highly stimulative. On the other hand, industrial output declined 0.2% in July and is down 1.5% since December. Capacity utilization has dropped to 75.4 percent, 3 percentage points below the long-term average. We were pleasantly surprised to see that non-farm business labor productivity increased 2.3% in the second quarter with unit labor costs up only 2.5% over the last year. Despite all the tariffs, the price index for U.S imports has fallen 1.8% over the last year. Interesting! However, overall CPI inflation has picked up modestly having increased by 0.3% for the second consecutive month. Trump postponed last week additional tariffs on over $100 billion of Chinese exports from September to December. It is clear that Trump is getting more concerned about the 2020 elections and wants/needs a strong economy and stock market to win. He also took the time to question three major bank CEOs learning first-hand how his trade policy is hurting corporate confidence impeding spending/hiring plans. We do not see how Trump could impose additional tariffs in December without hurting his election chances next year.

· China’s July economic performance slowed dramatically from a year ago: industrial output rose only 4.8%; retail sales increased only 7.6%; and fixed asset investment slowed to growth of only 5.7%. These numbers are multi-year lows. Remember that China needs to sustain growth over 6% to keep their unemployment rate from rising. China is clearly suffering from the trade conflict as businesses’ shift their supply chains to other countries to avoid tariffs. Weakness in China’s bank lending in July also supports our view that China’s growth targets for the foreseeable future are suspect. Clearly, the bank moves yesterday are in response to weakening domestic growth/demand. We expect a major fiscal stimulus plan prior to October to bolster the economy. We expect growth to slow for the rest of the year but better performance in 2020 as all the stimulus kicks in.

· Growth in the Eurozone slowed to only 0.2% in the second quarter. You only have to look at the move down in rates last week prior to Germany’s announcement that it may increase fiscal spending even if it caused a deficit. In our opinion, Germany and the rest of the Eurozone is already in a recession so the governments better move fast, or their economies will continue to deteriorate rapidly with rising deflationary risks. German economic sentiment fell to a negative 44.1 in August while the entire Eurozone economic sentiment declined to a negative 43.6. Whoa! We really don’t care what “big bazooka” Draghi and the ECB have planned for September. Time for the governments to step up to the plate with huge domestic stimulus programs. A hard Brexit in October is more likely than even which will only hurt growth all the more.

· Japan is caught in the cross hairs of the trade conflict between the U.S and China. There is really very little that the BOJ can do to stimulate growth at this point. We are surprised that the government hasn’t already announced a delay in hiking the upcoming retail tax increase. The prospects for Japan remain dim.

Governments/monetary authorities may be finally willing to think innovatively as traditional monetary means to stimulate economies are not working. Just look at where current interest rates are globally and the sheer magnitude of government debt yielding negative rates. The race to the bottom has failed! It is time to stop pushing on a string and adopt major fiscal policies to stimulate growth. It is clear that there is a global movement finally afoot to adopt the right policies, but the risks remain high that governments move too slow adopting the needed stimulus plans. Notwithstanding, we are for the first time, cautiously optimistic that the powers to be are finally panicking and will enact fiscal policies to stimulate growth, cause yield curves to finally steepen and end currency policies competitively devaluing one’s currency. However, we are not willing to shift our defensive view until we see more cards turn up supporting that view.

Right now, there is no place like home. The U.S is clearly best positioned to sustain its growth rate over the foreseeable future as we have a strong consumer, a very stimulative fiscal policy and a monetary body with many arrows left in its quiver to support growth. Our market for an investor is tremendously undervalued for sure selling at 17 times earnings with yields so low and bank capital/liquidity ratios so high. There is NO financial stress as evidenced by spreads staying tight.

Our portfolios are concentrated in consumer non-durables, utilities, technology with limited/no exposure to China, retail including housing related like HD, healthcare with major new product flow, airlines, gold, and many special situations. We own only best in class with superior managements, winning strategies, rising earnings, huge cash/free cash flow, dividend yields over the 10-year treasury bond yields and all selling well beneath intrinsic value. We own no financials, cyclicals and commodity stocks but we are working on an options strategy to shift more cyclical if the cards turn up right but with limited capital at risk. We continue to maintain above average cash reserves. Remember to review all the facts; pause, reflect and consider mindset shifts; look at your asset mix with risk controls; do independent research and …

Invest Accordingly!

Bill Ehrman Paix et Prospérité LLC

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s-c-i-guy · 6 years

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Dark Energy May Be Incompatible With String Theory

A controversial new paper argues that universes with dark energy profiles like ours do not exist in the “landscape” of universes allowed by string theory.

On June 25, Timm Wrase awoke in Vienna and groggily scrolled through an online repository of newly posted physics papers. One title startled him into full consciousness.

The paper, by the prominent string theorist Cumrun Vafa of Harvard University and collaborators, conjectured a simple formula dictating which kinds of universes are allowed to exist and which are forbidden, according to string theory. The leading candidate for a “theory of everything” weaving the force of gravity together with quantum physics, string theory defines all matter and forces as vibrations of tiny strands of energy. The theory permits some 10500 different solutions: a vast, varied “landscape” of possible universes. String theorists like Wrase and Vafa have strived for years to place our particular universe somewhere in this landscape of possibilities.

But now, Vafa and his colleagues were conjecturing that in the string landscape, universes like ours — or what ours is thought to be like — don’t exist. If the conjecture is correct, Wrase and other string theorists immediately realized, the cosmos must either be profoundly different than previously supposed or string theory must be wrong.

After dropping his kindergartner off that morning, Wrase went to work at the Vienna University of Technology, where his colleagues were also buzzing about the paper. That same day, in Okinawa, Japan, Vafa presented the conjecture at the Strings 2018 conference, which was streamed by physicists worldwide. Debate broke out on- and off-site. “There were people who immediately said, ‘This has to be wrong,’ other people who said, ‘Oh, I’ve been saying this for years,’ and everything in the middle,” Wrase said. There was confusion, he added, but “also, of course, huge excitement. Because if this conjecture was right, then it has a lot of tremendous implications for cosmology.”

Researchers have set to work trying to test the conjecture and explore its implications. Wrase has already written two papers, including one that may lead to a refinement of the conjecture, and both mostly while on vacation with his family. He recalled thinking, “This is so exciting. I have to work and study that further.”

The conjectured formula — posed in the June 25 paper by Vafa, Georges Obied, Hirosi Ooguri and Lev Spodyneiko and further explored in a second paper released two days later by Vafa, Obied, Prateek Agrawal and Paul Steinhardt — says, simply, that as the universe expands, the density of energy in the vacuum of empty space must decrease faster than a certain rate. The rule appears to be true in all simple string theory-based models of universes. But it violates two widespread beliefs about the actual universe: It deems impossible both the accepted picture of the universe’s present-day expansion and the leading model of its explosive birth.

Dark Energy in Question

Since 1998, telescope observations have indicated that the cosmos is expanding ever-so-slightly faster all the time, implying that the vacuum of empty space must be infused with a dose of gravitationally repulsive “dark energy.”

In addition, it looks like the amount of dark energy infused in empty space stays constant over time (as best anyone can tell).

But the new conjecture asserts that the vacuum energy of the universe must be decreasing.

Vafa and colleagues contend that universes with stable, constant, positive amounts of vacuum energy, known as “de Sitter universes,” aren’t possible. String theorists have struggled mightily since dark energy’s 1998 discovery to construct convincing stringy models of stable de Sitter universes. But if Vafa is right, such efforts are bound to sink in logical inconsistency; de Sitter universes lie not in the landscape, but in the “swampland.” “The things that look consistent but ultimately are not consistent, I call them swampland,” he explained recently. “They almost look like landscape; you can be fooled by them. You think you should be able to construct them, but you cannot.”

According to this “de Sitter swampland conjecture,” in all possible, logical universes, the vacuum energy must either be dropping, its value like a ball rolling down a hill, or it must have obtained a stable negative value. (So-called “anti-de Sitter” universes, with stable, negative doses of vacuum energy, are easily constructed in string theory.)

The conjecture, if true, would mean the density of dark energy in our universe cannot be constant, but must instead take a form called “quintessence” — an energy source that will gradually diminish over tens of billions of years. Several telescope experiments are underway now to more precisely probe whether the universe is expanding with a constant rate of acceleration, which would mean that as new space is created, a proportionate amount of new dark energy arises with it, or whether the cosmic acceleration is gradually changing, as in quintessence models. A discovery of quintessence would revolutionize fundamental physics and cosmology, including rewriting the cosmos’s history and future. Instead of tearing apart in a Big Rip, a quintessent universe would gradually decelerate, and in most models, would eventually stop expanding and contract in either a Big Crunch or Big Bounce.

Paul Steinhardt, a cosmologist at Princeton University and one of Vafa’s co-authors, said that over the next few years, “all eyes should be on” measurements by the Dark Energy Survey, WFIRST and Euclid telescopes of whether the density of dark energy is changing. “If you find it’s not consistent with quintessence,” Steinhardt said, “it means either the swampland idea is wrong, or string theory is wrong, or both are wrong or — something’s wrong.”

Inflation Under Siege

No less dramatically, the new swampland conjecture also casts doubt on the widely believed story of the universe’s birth: the Big Bang theory known as cosmic inflation. According to this theory, a minuscule, energy-infused speck of space-time rapidly inflated to form the macroscopic universe we inhabit. The theory was devised to explain, in part, how the universe got so huge, smooth and flat.

But the hypothetical “inflaton field” of energy that supposedly drove cosmic inflation doesn’t sit well with Vafa’s formula. To abide by the formula, the inflaton field’s energy would probably have needed to diminish too quickly to form a smooth- and flat-enough universe, he and other researchers explained. Thus, the conjecture disfavors many popular models of cosmic inflation. In the coming years, telescopes such as the Simons Observatory will look for definitive signatures of cosmic inflation, testing it against rival ideas.

In the meantime, string theorists, who normally form a united front, will disagree about the conjecture. Eva Silverstein, a physics professor at Stanford University and a leader in the effort to construct string-theoretic models of inflation, thinks it is very likely to be false. So does her husband, the Stanford professor Shamit Kachru; he is the first “K” in KKLT, a famous 2003 paper (known by its authors’ initials) that suggested a set of stringy ingredients that might be used to construct de Sitter universes. Vafa’s formula says both Silverstein’s and Kachru’s constructions won’t work. “We’re besieged by these conjectures in our family,” Silverstein joked. But in her view, accelerating-expansion models are no more disfavored now, in light of the new papers, than before. “They essentially just speculate that those things don’t exist, citing very limited and in some cases highly dubious analyses,” she said.

Matthew Kleban, a string theorist and cosmologist at New York University, also works on stringy models of inflation. He stresses that the new swampland conjecture is highly speculative and an example of “lamppost reasoning,” since much of the string landscape has yet to be explored. And yet he acknowledges that, based on existing evidence, the conjecture could well be true. “It could be true about string theory, and then maybe string theory doesn’t describe the world,” Kleban said. “[Maybe] dark energy has falsified it. That obviously would be very interesting.”

Mapping the Swampland

Whether the de Sitter swampland conjecture and future experiments really have the power to falsify string theory remains to be seen. The discovery in the early 2000s that string theory has something like 10500 solutions killed the dream that it might uniquely and inevitably predict the properties of our one universe. The theory seemed like it could support almost any observations and became very difficult to experimentally test or disprove.

In 2005, Vafa and a network of collaborators began to think about how to pare the possibilities down by mapping out fundamental features of nature that absolutely have to be true. For example, their “weak gravity conjecture” asserts that gravity must always be the weakest force in any logical universe. Imagined universes that don’t satisfy such requirements get tossed from the landscape into the swampland. Many of these swampland conjectures have held up famously against attack, and some are now “on a very solid theoretical footing,” said Hirosi Ooguri, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology and one of Vafa’s first swampland collaborators. The weak gravity conjecture, for instance, has accumulated so much evidencethat it’s now suspected to hold generally, independent of whether string theory is the correct theory of quantum gravity.

The intuition about where landscape ends and swampland begins derives from decades of effort to construct stringy models of universes. The chief challenge of that project has been that string theory predicts the existence of 10 space-time dimensions — far more than are apparent in our 4-D universe. String theorists posit that the six extra spatial dimensions must be small — curled up tightly at every point. The landscape springs from all the different ways of configuring these extra dimensions. But although the possibilities are enormous, researchers like Vafa have found that general principles emerge. For instance, the curled-up dimensions typically want to gravitationally contract inward, whereas fields like electromagnetic fields tend to push everything apart. And in simple, stable configurations, these effects balance out by having negative vacuum energy, producing anti-de Sitter universes. Turning the vacuum energy positive is hard. “Usually in physics, we have simple examples of general phenomena,” Vafa said. “De Sitter is not such a thing.”

The KKLT paper, by Kachru, Renata Kallosh, Andrei Linde and Sandip Trivedi, suggested stringy trappings like “fluxes,” “instantons” and “anti-D-branes” that could potentially serve as tools for configuring a positive, constant vacuum energy. However, these constructions are complicated, and over the years possible instabilities have been identified. Though Kachru said he does not have “any serious doubts,” many researchers have come to suspect the KKLT scenario does not produce stable de Sitter universes after all.

Vafa thinks a concerted search for definitely stable de Sitter universe models is long overdue. His conjecture is, above all, intended to press the issue. In his view, string theorists have not felt sufficiently motivated to figure out whether string theory really is capable of describing our world, instead taking the attitude that because the string landscape is huge, there must be a place in it for us, even if no one knows where. “The bulk of the community in string theory still sides on the side of de Sitter constructions [existing],” he said, “because the belief is, ‘Look, we live in a de Sitter universe with positive energy; therefore we better have examples of that type.’”

His conjecture has roused the community to action, with researchers like Wrase looking for stable de Sitter counterexamples, while others toy with little-explored stringy models of quintessent universes. “I would be equally interested to know if the conjecture is true or false,” Vafa said. “Raising the question is what we should be doing. And finding evidence for or against it — that’s how we make progress.”

#science #mathematical physics #dark energy #string theory

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