Radioactive decay

Radioactive decay, also known as nuclear decay or radioactivity, is the process by which a nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting radiation. A material that spontaneously emits such radiation — which includes alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays and conversion electrons — is considered radioactive.

Radioactive decay is a stochastic (i.e. random) process at the level of single atoms, in that, according to quantum theory, it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay. The chance that a given atom will decay never changes, that is, it does not matter how long the atom has existed. For a large collection of atoms however, the decay rate for that collection can be calculated from their measured decay constants or half-lives. This is the basis of radiometric dating. The half-lives of radioactive atoms have no known limits for shortness or length of duration, and range over 55 orders of magnitude in time.

There are many different types of radioactive decay (see table below). A decay, or loss of energy from the nucleus, results when an atom with one type of nucleus, called the parent radionuclide (or parent radioisotope), transforms into an atom with a nucleus in a different state, or with a nucleus containing a different number of protons and neutrons. The product is called the daughter nuclide. In some decays, the parent and the daughter nuclides are different chemical elements, and thus the decay process results in the creation of an atom of a different element. This is known as a nuclear transmutation.

Radio:Active

Radio:Active (stylised as Radio:ACTIVE) is the fourth studio album by English pop punk band McFly. It is the band's first album under their new, self-created label, Super Records. The album was first released via a promotion with the Mail on Sunday on 20 July 2008. The album was officially released on 22 September 2008, with the official release being branded the 'Deluxe Edition'.

Since its release, Radio:Active has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. It also received a Silver sales status certification for sales of over 60,000 copies in the UK.

Background

McFly made the decision to first issue the album free with the Mail on Sunday. More than 2.4 million copies of the album were given away free, which represented a 300,000 copy increase from the paper's average circulation.Tom Fletcher revealed the strategy: "We get to put it into almost three million homes, which is an incredible opportunity for us. Hopefully the three million people will all enjoy the music and they'll decide to see us when we go on tour." Mail on Sunday managing director Stephen Miron said both "the band and the paper were very happy with the sale". The album was officially released in shops on 22 September 2008. Compared to The Mail on Sunday version, this version contained four extra tracks, but removes the single "The Heart Never Lies". This edition also includes a bonus DVD and a 32-page booklet.

Radioactive (Rita Ora song)

"Radioactive" is a song recorded by British recording artist Rita Ora, released as the fourth overall single from her debut studio album, Ora (2012). The single was released on 11 February 2013. The song was co-written by Sia Furler and Greg Kurstin, while the latter also produced the cut.

Background and composition

In July 2012, it was announced that "Radioactive" would serve as the third single from Ora in the United States. In November 2012, it was confirmed that "Radioactive" would serve as the fourth single from Ora in the United Kingdom. The cover artwork for the song was revealed on 9 January 2013. It features Ora against a backdrop of colorful stars. Sia Furler and Greg Kurstin wrote the song, while Greg Kurstin was the producer.

Critical reception

"Radioactive" received favorable reviews from music critics. According to a reviewer of Metro, "Radioactive is a dancefloor-ready track that is more about the beat than the lyrics or any deeper meaning behind them". An example is when she sings: "‘I’m checking you out in your sweet desire/I’m coming over to make you mine/It’s a crime boy, you’re so fine/I’m taking you out, boy, it’s a green light/I’m glad you came over, it was about time/It feels right, boy you’re so fine".

Liquid

A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, and plasma), and is the only state with a definite volume but no fixed shape. A liquid is made up of tiny vibrating particles of matter, such as atoms, held together by intermolecular bonds. Water is, by far, the most common liquid on Earth. Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Most liquids resist compression, although others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly constant density. A distinctive property of the liquid state is surface tension, leading to wetting phenomena.

The density of a liquid is usually close to that of a solid, and much higher than in a gas. Therefore, liquid and solid are both termed condensed matter. On the other hand, as liquids and gases share the ability to flow, they are both called fluids. Although liquid water is abundant on Earth, this state of matter is actually the least common in the known universe, because liquids require a relatively narrow temperature/pressure range to exist. Most known matter in the universe is in gaseous form (with traces of detectable solid matter) as interstellar clouds or in plasma form within stars.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid (TL) is a video game website and multiregional professional eSports organization based in the Netherlands. With the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Team Liquid began sponsoring professional players. In 2012, Team Liquid recruited a North American Dota 2 team, marking their first venture into multi-genre management. In January 2015, Team Liquid officially merged with Team Curse under the Liquid banner, bringing on Steve Arhancet, his supporting staff, and former Curse League of Legends, Street Fighter, and Super Smash Bros. teams. Team Liquid was founded in 2001 originally as a news site focusing on StarCraft.

History

The website was founded on May 1, 2001 by Victor "Nazgul" Goossens and Joy "Meat" Hoogeveen under the domain teamliquid.cjb.net. On September 22, 2002 the website was moved to the current address of teamliquid.net. A day later the very first poll was posted as a vote for the website's name with the current name winning over other suggestions such as likwit.com.

Liquid consonant

In phonetics, liquids or liquid consonants are a class of consonants consisting of lateral consonants together with rhotics.

Distribution

Liquids as a class often behave in a similar way in the phonotactics of a language: for example, they often have the greatest freedom in occurring in consonant clusters. In many languages, such as Japanese and Korean, there is a single liquid phoneme that has both lateral and rhotic allophones.

English has two liquid phonemes, one lateral, /l/ and one rhotic, /ɹ/, exemplified in the words led and red.

Many other European languages have one lateral and one rhotic phoneme. Some, such as Greek, Italian and Serbo-Croatian, have more than two liquid phonemes. All three languages have the set /l/ /ʎ/ /r/, with two laterals and one rhotic. Similarly, the Iberian languages contrast four liquid phonemes. /l/, /ʎ/, /ɾ/, and a fourth phoneme that is an alveolar trill in all but some varieties of Portuguese, where it is a uvular trill or fricative. Some European languages, like Russian and Irish, contrast a palatalized lateral–rhotic pair with an unpalatalized (or velarized) set (e.g. /lʲ/ /rʲ/ /l/ /r/ in Russian).