1. Booker Prize Is Awarded to Samantha Harvey’s ‘Orbital’  The New York Times
2. Samantha Harvey wins the Booker prize for “Orbital”  The Economist
3. ‘This is a book we need now’: Sara Collins on choosing this year’s Booker winner  The Guardian
4. Orbital by Samantha Harvey: the Booker prize-winner set to go 'stratospheric'  The Week
5. The inconvenient truth about this year’s Booker Prize winner  The Independent

1. British writer Samantha Harvey wins Booker Prize for space novel Orbital  Al Jazeera English
2. Samantha Harvey’s ‘beautiful and ambitious’ Orbital wins Booker prize  The Guardian
3. Samantha Harvey wins the Booker prize for “Orbital”  The Economist
4. British writer Samantha Harvey’s space-station novel ‘Orbital’ wins 2024 Booker Prize  CNN
5. Booker Prize Is Awarded to Samantha Harvey’s ‘Orbital’  The New York Times

British writer Samantha Harvey and Booker Prize 2024 winner for her book "Orbital" poses on the red carpet upon arrival for the Booker Prize Award announcement ceremony, at the Old Billingsgate, in London, on November 12, 2024. — AFP

Britain's Samantha Harvey won the 2024 Booker...

British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with "Orbital," a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit structural flexibility induced by temperature and guest adsorption, as demonstrated in the structural breathing transition in certain MOFs between narrow-pore and large-pore phases. Soft modes were suggested to entropically drive such pore breathing through enhanced vibrational dynamics at high temperatures. In this work, oxygen K-edge resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy of the MIL-53(Al) MOF was performed to selectively probe the electronic perturbation accompanying pore breathing dynamics at the ligand carboxyl­ate site for metal–ligand interaction. It was observed that the temperature-induced vibrational dynamics involves switching occupancy between antisymmetric and symmetric configurations of the carboxyl­ate oxygen lone pair orbitals, through which electron density around carboxyl­ate oxygen sites is redistributed and metal–ligand interactions are tuned. In turn, water adsorption involves an additional perturbation of π orbitals not observed in the structural change solely induced by temperature.

The soft X-ray photoelectron momentum microscopy (PMM) experimental station at the UVSOR Synchrotron Facility has been recently upgraded by additionally guiding vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light in a normal-incidence configuration. PMM offers a very powerful tool for comprehensive electronic structure analyses in real and momentum spaces. In this work, a VUV beam with variable polarization in the normal-incidence geometry was obtained at the same sample position as the soft X-ray beam from BL6U by branching the VUV beamline BL7U. The valence electronic structure of the Au(111) surface was measured using horizontal and vertical linearly polarized (s-polarized) light excitations from BL7U in addition to horizontal linearly polarized (p-polarized) light excitations from BL6U. Such highly symmetric photoemission geometry with normal incidence offers direct access to atomic orbital information via photon polarization-dependent transition-matrix-element analysis.

Advances in physics have been significantly driven by state-of-the-art technology, and in photonics and X-ray science this calls for the ability to manipulate the characteristics of optical beams. Orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams hold substantial promise in various domains such as ultra-high-capacity optical communication, rotating body detection, optical tweezers, laser processing, super-resolution imaging etc. Hence, the advancement of OAM beam-generation technology and the enhancement of its technical proficiency and characterization capabilities are of paramount importance. These endeavours will not only facilitate the use of OAM beams in the aforementioned sectors but also extend the scope of applications in diverse fields related to OAM beams. At the FERMI Free-Electron Laser (Trieste, Italy), OAM beams are generated either by tailoring the emission process on the undulator side or, in most cases, by coupling a spiral zone plate (SZP) in tandem with the refocusing Kirkpatrick–Baez active optic system (KAOS). To provide a robust and reproducible workflow to users, a Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS) is used for both optics tuning and beam characterization. KAOS is capable of delivering both tightly focused and broad spots, with independent control over vertical and horizontal magnification. This study explores a novel non-conventional `near collimation' operational mode aimed at generating beams with OAM that employs the use of a lithographically manufactured SZP to achieve this goal. The article evaluates the mirror's performance through Hartmann wavefront sensing, offers a discussion of data analysis methodologies, and provides a quantitative analysis of these results with ptychographic reconstructions.

 Police Innovations LLC eliminates damage in transit with orbital wrapper.

Wrapper prevents loads from sliding off the pallet and adds protection from damage in transit.

Su libro recrea la vida diaria de seis astronautas orbitando en la Estación Espacial Internacional, con una prosa poética y científica a partes iguales Leer

Samantha Harvey talks about her new Booker Prize-winning novel Orbital. It follows a day in the life of astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Samantha Harvey has won the 2024 Booker Prize for her science fiction novel Orbital. The novel follows six international astronauts as they orbit the Earth for one day of their nine-month space mission.

Samantha Harvey's Orbital wins the Booker Prize. The 136-page space novel explores astronauts' reflections on Earth, touching on mourning, desire, and the climate crisis.

Samantha Harvey's "Orbital" is the second-shortest novel to win the award and the first to be set in space.

Samantha Harvey's "Orbital" is the second-shortest novel to win the award and the first to be set in space.

LONDON — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with "Orbital," a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of the Earth. Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a "space pastoral" about six orbiting astronauts, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The confined characters loop through 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of a day, trapped in one another's company and transfixed by the globe's ever-changing vistas. "To look at the Earth from space is like a child looking into a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is herself," said Harvey, who researched her novel by reading books by astronauts and watching the space station's live camera. "What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves." She said the novel "is not exactly about climate change, but implied in the view of the Earth is the fact of human-made climate change." She dedicated the prize to everyone who speaks "for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life." "All the people who speak for and call for and work for peace — this is for you," she said. Writer and artist Edmund de Waal, who chaired the five-member judging panel, called "Orbital" a "miraculous novel" that "makes our world strange and new for us." Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, noted that "in a year of geopolitical crisis, likely to be the warmest year in recorded history," the winning book was "hopeful, timely and timeless." Harvey, who has written four previous novels and a memoir about insomnia, is the first British writer since 2020 to win the Booker. The prize is open to English-language writers of any nationality and has a reputation for transforming writers' careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel. De Waal praised the "crystalline" writing and "capaciousness" of Harvey's succinct novel — at 136 pages in its U.K. paperback edition, one of the shortest-ever Booker winners. "This is a book that repays slow reading," he said. He said the judges spent a full day picking their winner and came to a unanimous conclusion. Harvey beat five other finalists from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, chosen from among 156 novels submitted by publishers. American writer Percival Everett had been the bookies' favorite to win with "James," which reimagines Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" from the point of view of its main Black character, the enslaved man Jim. The other finalists were American writer Rachel Kushner's spy story "Creation Lake"; Canadian Anne Michaels' poetic novel "Held"; Charlotte Wood's Australian saga "Stone Yard Devotional"; and "The Safekeep" by Yael van der Wouden, the first Dutch author to be shortlisted for the Booker. Harvey is the first female Booker winner since 2019, though one of five women on this year's shortlist, the largest number in the prize's 55-year history. De Waal said issues such as the gender or nationality of the authors were "background noise" that did not influence the judges. "There was absolutely no question of box ticking or of agendas or of anything else. It was simply about the novel," he said before the awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate, a grand former Victorian fish market in central London. Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to novels originally written in English published in the U.K. or Ireland. Last year's winner was Irish writer Paul Lynch for post-democratic dystopia "Prophet Song." Lynch handed Harvey her Booker trophy at the ceremony, warning her that her life was about to change dramatically because of the Booker publicity boost. Harvey said she was "overwhelmed" but remained down-to-earth about spending her prize money. She said she'd disburse "some of it on tax. I want to buy a new bike. And then the rest — I want to go to Japan."

Samantha Harvey has won the UK's top fiction prize for a novel that takes place over 24 hours on the International Space Station

Samantha Harvey has won the UK's top fiction prize for a novel that takes place over 24 hours on the International Space Station

It’s the second-shortest book to be awarded the prize.

Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos to test-fire Agnibaan rocket with 3D printed engine, aiming for suborbital flight trajectory control

She called the book a “space pastoral” about six astronauts circling the Earth, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns

Here is a select list of stories to start the day

In the fused ring system of the title compound, C32H37NO4, the central di­hydro­pyridine ring adopts a flattened boat conformation, the mean and maximum deviations of the di­hydro­pyridine ring being 0.1429 (2) and 0.2621 (2) Å, respectively. The two cyclo­hexenone rings adopt envelope conformations with the tetra­substituted C atoms as flap atoms. The benzene and phenyl rings form dihedral angles of 85.81 (2) and 88.90 (2)°, respectively, with the mean plane of the di­hydro­pyridine ring. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked via an O—H⋯O hydrogen bond, forming a helical chain along the b-axis direction. A Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the most important contributions to the crystal packing are from H⋯H (65.2%), O⋯H/H⋯O (18.8%) and C⋯H/H⋯C (13.9%) contacts. Quantum chemical calculations for the frontier mol­ecular orbitals were undertake to determine the chemical reactivity of the title compound.

The present work reports on the charge and spin density modelling of YTiO3 in its ferromagnetic state (TC = 27 K). Accurate polarized neutron diffraction and high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were carried out on a single crystal at the ORPHÉE reactor (LLB) and SPRING8 synchrotron source. The experimental data are modelled by the spin resolved pseudo-atomic multipolar model (Deutsch et al., 2012). The refinement strategy is discussed and the result of this electron density modelling is compared with that from XRD measured at 100 K and with density functional theory calculations. The results show that the spin and charge densities around the Ti atom have lobes directed away from the O atoms, confirming the filling of the t2g orbitals of the Ti atom. The dxy orbital is less populated than dxz and dyz, which is a sign of a partial lift of degeneracy of the t2g orbitals. This study confirms the orbital ordering at low temperature (20 K), which is already present in the paramagnetic state above the ferromagnetic transition (100 K).

Orbital ATK is targeted to launch its Cygnus spacecraft into orbit for a resupply mission to the International Space Station March 24, 2017 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida

A system is described, along with the related device and method, for transmission and/or reception of signals having electromagnetic modes with orbital angular momentum (OAM), wherein the device is adapted to receive, at its input, electromagnetic signals from at least one transmitter, and is configured to apply a discrete Fourier transform to the electromagnetic signals in order to generate the signals having electromagnetic modes with orbital angular momentum.

We can adapt flexibly to environment changes and search for the most appropriate rule to a context. The orbital prefrontal cortex (PFo) has been associated with decision making, rule generation and maintenance, and more generally has been considered important for behavioral flexibility. To better understand the neural mechanisms underlying the flexible behavior, we studied the ability to generate a switching signal in monkey PFo when a strategy is changed. In the strategy task, we used a visual cue to instruct two male rhesus monkeys either to repeat their most recent choice (i.e., stay strategy) or to change it (i.e., shift strategy). To identify the strategy switching-related signal, we compared nonswitch and switch trials, which cued the same or a different strategy from the previous trial, respectively. We found that the switching-related signal emerged during the cue presentation and it was combined with the strategy signal in a subpopulation of cells. Moreover, the error analysis showed that the activity of the switch-related cells reflected whether the monkeys erroneously switched or not the strategy, rather than what was required for that trial. The function of the switching signal could be to prompt the use of different strategies when older strategies are no longer appropriate, conferring the ability to adapt flexibly to environmental changes. In our task, the switching signal might contribute to the implementation of the strategy cued, overcoming potential interference effects from the strategy previously cued. Our results support the idea that ascribes to PFo an important role for behavioral flexibility.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We can flexibly adapt our behavior to a changing environment. One of the prefrontal areas traditionally associated with the ability to adapt to new contingencies is the orbital prefrontal cortex (PFo). We analyzed the switching related activity using a strategy task in which two rhesus monkeys were instructed by a visual cue either to repeat or change their most recent choice, respectively using a stay or a shift strategy. We found that PFo neurons were modulated by the strategy switching signal, pointing to the importance of PFo in behavioral flexibility by generating control over the switching of strategies.

Title: How Is the Infraorbital Nerve Block Performed?
Category: Procedures and Tests
Created: 4/21/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/21/2020 12:00:00 AM

Decades of space activity have littered Earth’s orbit with orbital debris, popularly known as space junk. Objects in orbit include spent rocket bodies, inactive satellites, a wrench, and even a toothbrush. The current quantity and density of man-made debris significantly increases the odds of future collisions either as debris damages space systems or as colliding…

Decades of space activity have littered Earth’s orbit with orbital debris, popularly known as space junk. Objects in orbit include spent rocket bodies, inactive satellites, a wrench, and even a toothbrush. The current quantity and density of man-made debris significantly increases the odds of future collisions either as debris damages space systems or as colliding…

Decades of space activity have littered Earth’s orbit with orbital debris, popularly known as space junk. Objects in orbit include spent rocket bodies, inactive satellites, a wrench, and even a toothbrush. The current quantity and density of man-made debris significantly increases the odds of future collisions either as debris damages space systems or as colliding…

Decades of space activity have littered Earth’s orbit with orbital debris, popularly known as space junk. Objects in orbit include spent rocket bodies, inactive satellites, a wrench, and even a toothbrush. The current quantity and density of man-made debris significantly increases the odds of future collisions either as debris damages space systems or as colliding…

Decades of space activity have littered Earth’s orbit with orbital debris, popularly known as space junk. Objects in orbit include spent rocket bodies, inactive satellites, a wrench, and even a toothbrush. The current quantity and density of man-made debris significantly increases the odds of future collisions either as debris damages space systems or as colliding…

The US Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane will conduct three experiments in low orbit, including converting the sun's power into radio frequency microwave energy.

Reaction creates actinide 2-metallabiphenylenes