Request For Leave Of Absence - Duke University: Fill & Download for Free

Tim CookTimothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960)is an American business executive, philanthropist and industrial engineer. Cook is the chief executive officer of Apple Inc., and previously served as the company's chief operating officer under its cofounder Steve Jobs.Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as a senior vice president for worldwide operations, and then served as the executive vice president for worldwide sales and operations.He was made the chief executive on August 24, 2011, prior to Jobs' death in October of that year.During his tenure as the chief executive, he has advocated for the political reformation of international and domestic surveillance, cybersecurity, corporate taxation, American manufacturing, and environmental preservation.In 2014, Cook became the first chief executive of a Fortune 500 company to publicly come out as gay.Cook also serves on the boards of directors of Nike, Inc., the National Football Foundation,and is a trustee of Duke University.In March 2015, he said he planned to donate his entire stock fortune to charity.Early life and educationCook was born in Mobile, Alabama, United States.He was baptized in a Baptist churchand grew up in nearby Robertsdale. His father, Donald, was a shipyard worker, and his mother, Geraldine, worked at a pharmacy.Cook graduated from Robertsdale High School in 1978.He earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in industrial engineering from Auburn University in 1982,and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in 1988.CareerPre-Apple eraAfter graduating from Auburn University, Cook spent 12 years in IBM's personal computer business, ultimately serving as the director of North American fulfillment.It was during this time that Cook also earned his MBA from Duke University, becoming a Fuqua Scholar in 1988.Later, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the computer reseller division of Intelligent Electronics. In 1997, he became the Vice President for Corporate Materials at Compaq for six months, but left the position after being hired by Steve Jobs.Apple eraEarly careerIn 1998, Steve Jobs asked Cook to join Apple. In a commencement speech at Auburn University, Cook said he decided to join Apple after meeting Jobs for the first time:Any purely rational consideration of cost and benefits lined up in Compaq's favor, and the people who knew me best advised me to stay at Compaq... On that day in early 1998, I listened to my intuition, not the left side of my brain or for that matter even the people who knew me best... no more than five minutes into my initial interview with Steve, I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and join Apple. My intuition already knew that joining Apple was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work for the creative genius and to be on the executive team that could resurrect a great American company.His first position was Senior Vice President for worldwide operations.Cook closed factories and warehouses, and replaced them with contract manufacturers; this resulted in a reduction of the company's inventory from months to days. Predicting its importance, his group had invested in long-term deals such as advance investment in flash memory since 2005. This guaranteed a stable supply of what became the iPod Nano, then iPhone and iPad.Competitors at Hewlett-Packard described their canceled HP TouchPad tablet computer and later said that it was made from "cast-off, reject iPad parts".Cook's actions were recognized for keeping costs under control and, combined with the rest of the company, generated huge profits.Cook giving the keynote at the 2012 World Wide Developers Conference.In January 2007, Cook was promoted to lead operationsand served as chief executive in 2009, while Jobs was away on a leave of absence for health related issues. In January 2011, Apple's board of directors approved a third medical leave of absence requested by Jobs. During that time, Cook was responsible for most of Apple's day-to-day operations, while Jobs made most major decisions.Apple chief executive (2011–present)After Jobs resigned as CEO and became chairman of the board, Cook was named the new chief executive officer of Apple Inc. on August 24, 2011.Six weeks later, on October 5, 2011, Jobs died due to complications from pancreatic cancer.Forbes contributor Robin Ferracone wrote in September 2011: "Jobs and Cook proceeded to forge a strong partnership, and rescued the company from its death spiral, which took it from $11 billion in revenue in 1995 down to less than $6 billion in 1998 ... Under their leadership, the company went from its nadir to a remarkable $100 billion today".In April 2012, Time included Cook on its annual "100 Most Influential People in the World" list.On October 29, 2012, Cook made major changes to the company's executive team. Scott Forstall resigned as senior vice president of iOS, and became an advisor to Cook until he eventually departed from the company in 2013. John Browett, who was Senior VP of retail, was dismissed six months after he commenced at Apple, when he received 100,000 shares worth US$60 million.Forstall's duties were divided among four other Apple executives: design SVP Sir Jonathan Ive assumed leadership of Apple's human interface team; Craig Federighi became the new head of iOS software engineering; services chief Eddy Cue became responsible for Maps and Siri; and Bob Mansfield, previously SVP of hardware engineering, became the head of a new technology group.Cook with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New DelhiCook's executive changes occurred after the third quarter of the fiscal year, when revenues and profits grew less than predicted.One commentator said that Forstall was forced to step down, as Cook "decided to lance the boil as internal politics and dissent reached a key pitch". Since becoming CEO, Cook focused upon building a harmonious culture that meant "weeding out people with disagreeable personalities—people Jobs tolerated and even held close, like Forstall";although, another journalist said that "Apple's ability to innovate came from tension and disagreement."On February 28, 2014, Cook made headlines when he challenged shareholders to "get out of the stock" if they didn't share the company's views on sustainability and climate change.In May 2016, Cook traveled to China to meet with government officials there after the closure of Apple's online iTunes Store and Apple Books store by the Chinese government.Cook with Chongqing Mayor Huang in Apple Store Jiefangbei, China, August 17, 2016In 2016, some analysts compared Cook to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, claiming that innovation had died down since he replaced Jobs, similar to when Ballmer became Microsoft CEO in 2000.In December 2017, Cook was a speaker at the World Internet Conference in China.Research published at the University of Oxford characterized Cook's leadership style as paradigmatic of founder centrism: explained as a founder's mindset, an ethical disposition towards the shareholder collective, and an intense focus on exponential value creation.Cook was appointed chairman of the advisory board for Tsinghua University's economics school in October 2019. The length of his term will be 3 years.Cyber securityAlongside Google vice-president Vint Cerf and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Cook attended a summit held by President Barack Obama, on August 8, 2013, in regard to government surveillance and the Internet in the wake of the Edward Snowden NSA incident.Following the December 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in which 14 people were killed by Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the Federal Bureau of Investigation solicited Apple to assist in "unlock[ing]" an iPhone 5C used by Farook.On February 16, 2016, in response to a request by the Department of Justice, a federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to create a custom iOS firmware version that would allow investigators to circumvent the phone's security features.Cook responded in an open letter, wherein he denounced the government's demands as constituting a "breach of privacy" with "chilling" consequences.Public imageLeadership styleAs Apple Inc. CEO, Cook regularly begins sending emails at 4:30 a.m. and previously held Sunday-night staff meetings by telephone to prepare for the next week.Cook shared in May 2013 that his leadership focused on people, strategy, and execution; he explained, "If you get those three right the world is a great place."Under Cook's leadership, Apple has increased its donations to charity, and in 2013, he hired Lisa Jackson, formerly the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to assist Apple with the development of its renewable energy activities.Public affiliationsCook with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, April 25, 2018During the 2008 election cycle, Cook donated to Barack Obama's first White House election.While it had been reported in early 2011 that Cook was gay,at the time, and prior to his Oct. 2014 public statement, Cook chose to keep his personal life private.He did publicly support LGBT rights.In October 2014, the Alabama Academy of Honor inducted Cook, who spoke about his home state's record of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.The Academy of Honor is the highest honor Alabama gives its citizens.In 2015, Cook said he donated to Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy for their stances on eBook pricing and surveillance reform, respectively.During the same election cycle he hosted a fundraiser for Senator Rob Portman.In early March 2016, he said he donated to the election campaign of Democratic representative Zoe Lofgren of California. In early June, Cook hosted a private fundraiser along with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan, described by Politico as "a joint fundraising committee aimed at helping to elect other House Republicans".In the 2016 election, Cook raised funds for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.At one point, Clinton's campaign considered Cook as a candidate for vice-president.at Bloomberg's Global Business Forum, Cook defended the DACA immigration program. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the direction of Donald Trump's administration, stating: "This is unacceptable. This is not who we are as a country. I am personally shocked that there is even a discussion of this."In 2018, at a privacy conference in Brussels, Cook expressed his opinions on the stockpiling of personal data by tech firms, suggesting that it amounted to surveillance and should make the public "very uncomfortable."Personal lifeCook is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys hiking, cycling, and going to the gym. He is known for being solitary, using an off-campus fitness center for privacy, and little is publicly shared about his personal life. He explained in October 2014 that he has sought to achieve a "basic level of privacy".Cook was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, an incident he said made him "see the world in a different way". He has since taken part in charity fundraising, such as cycle races to raise money for the disease. He later told the Auburn alumni magazine that his symptoms came from "lugging a lot of incredibly heavy luggage around".In 2009, Cook said that he offered a portion of his liver to Jobs since they share a rare blood type. Cook said that Jobs responded by yelling, "I'll never let you do that. I'll never do that."While delivering the 2010 commencement speech at Auburn, Cook emphasized the importance of intuition during significant decision-making processes, and explained that preparation and hard work are also necessary to execute on intuition.On October 30, 2014, Cook came out as gay in an editorial for Bloomberg Business saying "I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."He consulted with Anderson Cooper, who had publicly come out himself, on aspects of the statement, and cleared the timing to ensure it would not distract from business interests.Cook had been open about his sexuality "for years" and, while many people at the company were aware of his sexual orientation, he sought to focus on Apple's products and customers rather than his personal life. He ended his op-ed writing "We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick."Cook became the first and only openly gay CEO on the Fortune 500 list.In September 2015, Cook clarified on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, "Where I valued my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people, so I wanted to tell everyone my truth."In October 2019, he talked about the decision and remarked on how it was thanks to LGBTQ people who had fought for their rights before him that paved the way for his success; and that he needed to let younger generations know that—in a coding analogy—he saw being gay as a feature his life had to offer rather than any problem.He hoped his openness could help LGBTQ youth dealing with homelessness, and suicide hope that their situation could get better.Awards and honorsFinancial Times Person of the Year (2014)[74][75][76]Ripple of Change Award (2015)[77][78]Fortune Magazine's: World's Greatest Leader. (2015)[79][80]Alabama Academy of Honor: Inductee. (2015)[60]Human Rights Campaign's Visibility Award (2015)[81][82]Honorary Doctor of Science from University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland (2017)[83]Courage Against Hate award from Anti-Defamation League (2018)[84]

The British Ministry of Defence captured the attention of the global media in October 2007, when it announced that it had successfully made a tank invisible to the human eye. Although the British government is keeping the details to itself, it released the basic idea behind the technology.Pity they can't use it on Boris Johnson and his problem Brexit, and render them both permanently invisible too…..Makes sense, using one load of rubbish and nonsense to get rid of another….Well, if it can really be believed….Invisible tanks seem far-fetched? Not anymore. At least not to adversaries using infrared to see.Adaptiv -- an armour encasing that looks and feels as one imagines a dragon's scales to -- turns tanks into chameleons, allowing them to disappear into the environment behind them or to even look like a snowdrift, trash can, crowd, or a soccer mom’s station wagon.A product of BAE working alongside the Swedish Defence Material Administration, Adaptiv flaunts the very latest in camouflage technology -- and Fox News was given an exclusive look at the technology at the biannual 2011 Defense and Security Equipment International (DESi) conference, the world's largest weapons show, where it's on display for the first time.Research began at the end of the nineties in Sweden to look at the proliferation of sensors on the battlefield and to consider how they could meet this threat and defeat the advantage those sensors could give the enemy. The team looked at the best thermals to date and reverse engineered them focusing on 500 meters.Infrared, used by devices such as night-vision goggles or aircraft, essentially sees in hot and cold, unlike the human eye. Adaptiv uses the reliance on thermals in the battlefield against adversaries by manipulating these hot and cold readings to deceive the surveillant.More On This...A system of more than 1,000 5.5-inch hexagonal tiles made of thermo-electric material gives the tank its chameleon-like capability, which can confuse (if not convince) an adversary into thinking it is looking at something it is not. Hesitation can give the warfighters a few more seconds -- which may be the difference on the battlefield.The tiles or pixels can rapidly change temperature directed by thermal cameras that monitor and quickly project adjustments onto them to conform with the tank’s immediate environment.In its blending mode, it matches the temperature of its surroundings melding into the background to avoid detection.“If you can’t see it, you can’t kill it," said Hakan Karlsson, director of marketing communications at BAE Systems. Blending can even be achieved when the tank is moving, and initial trials suggest that blending is at its best at 300 to 400 meters.The blogosphere has been a buzz about Adaptiv’s invisibility power, but arguably even cooler is its ability to shapeshift to the eyes of infrared. Disguising vehicles as tanks with paint or netting is nothing new, but Adaptiv does it in a far smarter way.To transform into an entirely different object, Adaptiv draws from its pattern library organized by terrain and projects itself as something native to the immediate area. For example, if it enters an Artic environment it can conjure up a polar bear and project itself as one so sensors scanning for a tank see a harmless animal.Adaptiv is not limited by its pattern library however, and can even go chameleon on the spot shifting into something it has come across in its immediate terrain. For example, if it is entering an urban environment it can take a snapshot of an object on the street like a dumpster and then immediately change its appearance to be read as one to scanners.Mounted on the tank is a large-ish ball with infrared cameras; press a button to capture an image and another to push that image out to the scales of the tank to go chameleon.The armor also serves another very important purpose. Friendly fire is always a concern, and demarcating to your force as a friendly and not hostile is key. This signal needs to be discreet as well, so that you are not advertising to the enemy.Planes, for example, sometimes use a method of radiating their identity in all directions; Adaptiv is capable of signaling its identity to only the friendly side.By projecting onto its skin a marker similar to a barcode, it can indicate it is a friendly in a way that is only readable to its force.Balancing weight with protection is always a challenge. Heavy armor may seem to make soldiers safer but the additional weight can slow a vehicle down and reduce its agility -- thereby increasing possible risk.The CV90 tank Adaptiv has on display was a smart choice. It carries the punch of a tank while weighing approximately half of the average tank. Adaptiv adds armor, can withstand ordnance and physical impact, consumes low power and is relatively lightweight so it does not affect agility or movement. If a pixel is damaged, it can easily be removed and replaced.The pixels can be scaled up or down so there is a range of other applications as well, from taking helicopters and warships stealth to rendering fixed installations invisible. Adaptiv could be a game changer.What’s next for Adaptiv? I hear they are playing with other light frequencies such that invisibility to the naked eye is in the pipeline -- very cool indeed.Ballet dancer turned defense specialist Allison Barrie has travelled around the world covering the military, terrorism, weapons advancements and life on the front line. You can reach her at [email protected] technology renders this Army tank invisible to the human eye, but not infrared.So this confirms invisible tanks they exist. Fake news????? HmmmmmExperiments with invisibility are nothing new, it was successfully accomplished by the USS ELDRIDGE in a Philadelphia shipyard during World War Two, but the experiment went terribly wrong. Developments have since then improved somewhat. The alleged invisibility experiment remains highly controversial.USS Eldridge and Invisibility.General synopsisNote: Several different, and sometimes contradictory versions of the alleged experiment have circulated over the years. The following synopsis recounts key storey points common to most accounts.The experiment was allegedly based on an aspect of some unified field theory, a term coined by Albert Einstein to describe a class of potential theories; such theories would aim to describe — mathematically and physically — the interrelated nature of the forces of electromagnetism and gravity, in other words, uniting their respective fields into a single field.According to some accounts, unspecified "researchers" thought that some version of this field would enable using large electrical generators to bend light around an object via refraction, so that the object became completely invisible. The Navy regarded this of military value and it sponsored the experiment.Another unattributed version of the story proposes that researchers were preparing magnetic and gravitational measurements of the seafloor to detect anomalies, supposedly based on Einstein's attempts to understand gravity. In this version, there were also related secret experiments in Nazi Germany to find anti-gravity, allegedly led by SS-Obergruppenführer Hans Kammler.There are no reliable, attributable accounts, but in most accounts of the supposed experiment, USS Eldridge was fitted with the required equipment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Testing began in the summer of 1943, and it was supposedly successful to a limited extent. One test resulted in Eldridge being rendered nearly invisible, with some witnesses reporting a "greenish fog" appearing in its place. Crew members complained of severe nausea afterwards. Also, reportedly, when the ship reappeared, some sailors were embedded in the metal structures of the ship, including one sailor who ended up on a deck level below that where he began and had his hand embedded in the steel hull of the ship, as well as some sailors who went "completely bananas."There is also a claim the experiment was altered after that point at the request of the Navy, limiting it to creating a stealth technology that would render USS Eldridge invisible to radar.None of these allegations have been independently substantiated.The conjecture then claims that the equipment was not properly re-calibrated, but that in spite of this, the experiment was repeated on October 28, 1943. This time, Eldridge not only became invisible, but it disappeared from the area in a flash of blue light and teleported to Norfolk, Virginia, over 200 miles (320 km) away. It is claimed that Eldridge sat for some time in view of men aboard the ship SS Andrew Furuseth, whereupon Eldridge vanished and then reappeared in Philadelphia at the site it had originally occupied. It was also said that the warship went approximately ten minutes back in time.Many versions of the tale include descriptions of serious side effects for the crew. Some crew members were said to have been physically fused to bulkheads while others suffered from mental disorders, some re-materialized inside out, and still others vanished. It is also claimed that the ship's crew may have been subjected to brainwashing, to maintain the secrecy of the experiment.Evidence and researchThe historian Mike Dash notes that many authors who publicized the "Philadelphia Experiment" story after that of Jessup appeared to have conducted little or no research of their own. Through the late 1970s, for example, Allende/Allen was often described as mysterious and difficult to locate, but Goerman determined Allende/Allen's identity after only a few telephone calls. Others speculate that much of the key literature emphasizes dramatic embellishment rather than pertinent research. Berlitz's and Moore's account of the story (The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility) claimed to include factual information, such as transcripts of an interview with a scientist involved in the experiment, but their work has also been criticized for plagiarising key story elements from the novel Thin Air which was published a year earlier.Misunderstanding of documented naval experimentsPersonnel at the Fourth Naval District have suggested that the alleged event was a misunderstanding of routine research during World War II at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. An earlier theory was that "the foundation for the apocryphal stories arose from degaussingexperiments which have the effect of making a ship undetectable or 'invisible' to magnetic mines."Another possible origin of the stories about levitation, teleportation and effects on human crew might be attributed to experiments with the generating plant of the destroyer USS Timmerman (DD-828), whereby a higher-frequency generator produced corona discharges, although none of the crew reported suffering effects from the experiment.Observers have argued that it is inappropriate to grant credence to an unusual story promoted by one individual, in the absence of corroborating evidence. Robert Goerman wrote in Fate magazine in 1980, that "Carlos Allende" / "Carl Allen", who is said to have corresponded with Jessup, was Carl Meredith Allen of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, who had an established history of psychiatric illness, and who may have fabricated the primary history of the experiment as a result of his mental illness. Goerman later realized that Allen was a family friend and "a creative and imaginative loner ... sending bizarre writings and claims."Timeline inconsistenciesThe USS Eldridge was not commissioned until August 27, 1943, and it remained in port in New York City until September 1943. The October experiment allegedly took place while the ship was on its first shakedown cruise in The Bahamas, although proponents of the story claim that the ship's logs might have been falsified or else still be classified.The Office of Naval Research (ONR) stated in September 1996, "ONR has never conducted investigations on radar invisibility, either in 1943 or at any other time." Pointing out that the ONR was not established until 1946, it denounces the accounts of "The Philadelphia Experiment" as complete "science fiction."A reunion of Navy veterans who had served aboard USS Eldridge told a Philadelphia newspaper in April 1999 that their ship had never made port in Philadelphia.Further evidence discounting the Philadelphia Experiment timeline comes from USS Eldridge’s complete World War II action report, including the remarks section of the 1943 deck log, available on microfilm.Alternative explanationsResearcher Jacques Vallée describes a procedure on board USS Engstrom, which was docked alongside the Eldridge in 1943. The operation involved the generation of a powerful electromagnetic field on board the ship in order to deperm or degauss it, with the goal of rendering the ship undetectable or "invisible" to magnetically fused undersea mines and torpedoes. This system was invented by a Canadian, Charles F. Goodeve, when he held the rank of commander in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, and the Royal Navy and other navies used it widely during World War II. British ships of the era often included such degaussing systems built into the upper decks (the conduits are still visible on the deck of HMS Belfast in London, for example). Degaussing is still used today. However, it has no effect on visible light or radar. Vallée speculates that accounts of USS Engstrom's degaussing might have been garbled and confabulated in subsequent retellings, and that these accounts may have influenced the story of "The Philadelphia Experiment."Vallée cites a veteran who served onboard USS Engstrom and who suggests it might have travelled from Philadelphia to Norfolk and back again in a single day at a time when merchant ships could not: by use of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and Chesapeake Bay, which at the time was open only to naval vessels.Use of that channel was kept quiet: German submarines had ravaged shipping along the East Coast during Operation Drumbeat, and thus military ships unable to protect themselves were secretly moved via canals to avoid the threat.The same veteran claims to be the man that Allende witnessed "disappearing" at a bar. He claims that when the fight broke out, friendly barmaids whisked him out of the bar before the police arrived because he was underage for drinking. They then covered for him by claiming that he had disappeared.Well, crackpot stories from crackpot people?, or a mixture of reality and secrecy? Who knows…But invisible tanks…well….here we go then…hold on for the ride….The Polish ANDERS tank has panels which can change and become invisible to radar.British Army experiments, however, are likely to not be as high end or technical as the Polish tank above. Sides are always trying to spie or copied the other, so secrets don't remain secret for too long…The element of surprise is the biggest advantage any army can have in war. And it’s hard to develop a bigger surprise than a 35-tons, 7-meters long, 3.8-meters wide, and 2.8-meters high invisible monster. Meet Poland’s PL-01 tank.The PL-01 tank is a concept from Poland Defence Holdings in cooperation with Polish companies and British conglomerate BAE Systems. Comprised of a chassis with an unmanned turret that has an autoloading 105 mm or 120 mm calibre cannon, the PL-01 is intended to act as a fire support combat vehicle. An array of hexagonal Peltier plates on the surface can be heated and cooled to project the desired image, such as the background and or a separate object, making the tank invisible. It’s scheduled to go in production in 2018, with a projected debut date in 2022. Enemies of Poland, beware.The tank is coated in silicon, effectively turning the vehicle into a highly reflective movie screen. Video cameras positioned on the tank take real-time footage of the surrounding environment, and projectors show the images on the surface of the tank. To observers at secret trials conducted by the British army in October 2007, the only thing visible was the images of the terrain projected onto the tank.The British military plans on having the tanks battlefield-ready by 2012, but this technique may be short-lived due to some drawbacks. Cameras or projectors may fail, and from different angles, the tank may be visible. It's a somewhat clumsy and difficult way of rendering an object invisible (HowStuffWorks discussed this technology in another article on invisibility cloaks). Using cameras and projectors creates a smoke-and-mirrors style optical illusion, and the lead researcher at the British test isn't entirely satisfied with the technology."The next stage is to make the tank invisible without [cameras and projectors]," physicist Sir John Pendry tells the Daily Mail, "which is intricate and complicated, but possible."Remember that invisible Aston Martin DB Sportscar in the James Bond film? It used surface cameras to project invisibility by making it look the same as its surroundings. This technology comes right out of Q Service back room.James Bond film introduced the technological idea in a Movie some years ago.Now Tanks or cars could avoid payment of parking tickets by remaining invisible…hmmmmmAhhh hmmm yes…Tee Tee Tum !!!!!! bah RUMBLED…..the tank tracks can still of course be seen so can tyre marks. Shit, back to the drawing board….Now you see it now you don't…invisible tanks, followed by invisible soldiers even without shadows are coming to a neighbourhood near you now….hmmmmIn addition to Pendry, universities around the world and the United States military are exploring the possibilities of actually making an object invisible using next-generation cloaking technology that actually manipulates light. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) -- the research wing of the Pentagon -- has received the green light for $15 million in funding over three years to investigate urban obfuscants. This ambitious project is an attempt to create a protective shield for use by soldiers in urban combat situations. A shield that opens quickly in tight spaces and protects a soldier from the enemy fire would be a great asset, but DARPA's not stopping there. This shield would also be able to make the soldier beneath it invisible and would be self-healing, meaning that if a bullet does manage to get through the shield, the material could repair itself.Chances are, DARPA will be successful in its quest -- eventually. The physics are already in place to make it possible, and when the technology to create the necessary parts becomes available in the next decade, these cloaking devices will leave the realm of science fiction and enter reality.But how is this possible? How can we manipulate light? It's all based on some very small particles.Metamaterials.Researchers are currently exploring the possibilities associated with an artificial type of matter called metamaterials.Naturally, occurring matter exhibits behaviour based on the molecules that make it up -- the Atomic material that composes the finished product determines what properties the product will have. For instance, take the relationship between wood and light. Wood, like all-natural matter, reflects and refracts light. But just how much light it reflects and refracts depends on how the electromagnetic waves of the light interact with the particles -- like electrons -- that make up the wood.With metamaterials, the sum of the parts, not the parts themselves, determines how the material behaves. Researchers have found that by using certain materials -- like gold and copper arranged in certain patterns and shapes -- they can combine the properties of those materials. In other words, unlike natural matter, metamaterials' behaviour depends on the properties of the materials that make it up and the way the materials are put together.So how do metamaterials make something appear invisible? To simplify it, Duke University's David R. Smith suggests this: Imagine a fabric woven of thread. In this fabric, light is only allowed to flow over the threads (meaning it can't travel into the nooks and crannies between the threads). If you punch a hole in the fabric with a pin, the light will go around the hole and resume its original course of travel, since light can only travel over the thread. So to the light waves, the hole doesn't exist. If you put an object in the hole, the light waves would go around the object too, effectively rendering the object invisible [source: Technology Review].This is what metamaterials theoretically can do: They guide light around an object, rather than reflect or refract the light. So to the light waves -- and the human eye that perceives them -- the object might as well not even be there. If the light waves can be guided by the metamaterials around the object and back to its original course, the object wouldn't cast a shadow, either. This is another goal of using metamaterials to create cloaking devices.Smith is one of several researchers using metamaterials to manipulate microwaves -- the electromagnetic waves used in radar. To effectively manipulate an electromagnetic wavelength of any kind, the metamaterial used has to be smaller than the wavelength. Since microwaves' wavelengths are measured in centimetres, scientists have the technology to create metamaterials small enough to manipulate them, moving waves around an object. A stealth bomber sheathed in the right layer of metamaterials, for example, could be invisible to radar. The shield would be visible, but radar wouldn't be able to detect the plane.Making the entire aircraft invisible to the naked eye is a bigger challenge. For one thing, we don't currently have the technology to manufacture materials on the small scale required to manipulate light waves. Light wavelengths are measured in nanometers (billionths of a meter), and the metamaterials needed to block light must be even smaller than that. Another challenge is that a metamaterial cloaking device would have to be arranged to manipulate light on the entire visible spectrum because different colours exist on different wavelengths. And lastly, a cloaking device would plunge a person on the inside into darkness, as the light that would normally reach him or she would be diverted around the cloaking device.If research and funding for metamaterials continue at its current pace, these challenges could soon be overcome. But there are other challenges that must be solved before the technology is practical. One demand of the DARPA project is that it be asymmetrical. This means that the wearer on the inside should be able to see out, but he or she would be invisible to anyone outside the suit. Once these problems are worked out, the army of the future may be very hard to spot.Until it rains or gets foggy or a bird shits from the trees, or a passing enemy soldier stops and takes a Piss onto the tank panels…err or it starts to Snow….or falling leaves from trees land on it and reveals its form to the human eye….or it splashes waters everywhere while storming across a wet Salsbury Plain Imber….trees are seen splitting and falling down all by themselves and strange engine noises and engine smoke are seen…giving the “game away”….and muddy great tank tracks are seen rolling wildly across the battlefields….hmm…”Hold Transcription, Hold tape Recorder” and Cut the camera…..yeah right….David Ike come back all is forgiven…hmmmmDavid Ike, a former professional Football Player and singer with the Pop Group Dollar in the late 1970’s early 1980’s, has written a number of “rather strange” books………a mixture of Pseudo-Science, some Historical research and even Spiritualist mediumistic “Channelling” (when causing massive embarrassment, he accused Sir Edward heath and the Queen of being secret Reptillian Alien shapeshifters”)…Ike appeared, shown above, on live television, some years ago, destroying any credibility he ever had, and made some rather foolish statements, while clearly undergoing a serious episode of Mental illness….Sir Edward said, “I hope Mr. Ike recovers from his illness very soon”….Invisible tanks? Invisible soldiers without shadows? Unseen Ships? Tyre tracks with no car? ….Uh Ohh……CRACKPOT !!!!!!!!

Lord James Stewart was always extremely envious of Mary Queen of Scots as the acknowledged heir of her father James V. He was eleven years older than Mary. Being James V’s eldest child, he was tantalisingly close to being the rightful heir. He was the son of James’s mistress, Margaret Erskine, a sister of the Earl of Mar. She was obviously quite a personality and captivated the King, becoming the model for Dame Sensuality in Sir David Lindsay’s, A Satire of the Three Estates. Nevertheless, she had married Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven in 1527, before her affair with the King and four year’s before the birth of Lord James in 1531. In 1536, consideration was given to her divorcing Douglas, so that she could marry the king, and the Pope was approached, but the request was dropped when James became betrothed to Madeleine de Valois, the daughter of Henry II of France. Nevertheless, the divorce would not necessarily have legitimised Lord James, but he was partially legitimised to enable him to inherit property, but not as heir to the Scottish CrownLord James was extremely well educated and was brought up with the intention that he should enter the church. He was appointed Prior of St Andrews at an early age, a position that entitled him the the income of the abbacy of St Andrews, but he never took holy orders. Although he was devoutly religious, he was converted to become a Reformer by John Knox in 1556. He was also extremely politically astute,and used his position as a leading Reformer to promote his political ambitions. Like William Maitland, the Scottish Secretary of State, he became extremely concerned that Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, now the Queen Regent in her daughter’s absence in France, was seeking to subsume Scottish Government under French control. He rapidly became the leader of a group of Protestant lords, seeking to curb French power in Scotland, and he used his position with the so called ‘Lords of the Congregation’ as a platform to promote his political ambitions, which he developed with Maitland and with advice from William Cecil, the English Secretary of State.When Mary married the French Dauphin Francis, consideration was given by the Scottish Protestant Lords to deposing Mary as Queen. Initially it was suggested that James Hamilton, the Earl of Arran, and second in line to the throne after his father, the Duke of Chatelherault, should marry Princess Elizabeth of England and claim the Scottish throne, but Arran’s insanity and Elizabeth’s reluctance to challenge an anointed Queen put paid to that idea. This left the door open for Lord James either to claim the Crown or to seek to lead a Scottish republic, but he lacked the necessary support among the Scottish Lords.Following the death of Francis II, it was realised by Lord James, Maitland and Cecil, that it would be preferable for Mary to return to Scotland as a widow, rather than leave her loose in Europe able to make a hostile Catholic marriage. Lord James went to France and persuaded her to return with provision of Catholic services for herself, and in the expectation that Elizabeth would accept her as heir to the English Crown. It was believed that, once freed from France, she would become more amenable to becoming Protestant. During this time, she developed a warm relationship with Lord James and appointed him to lead her Scottish Government. So long as Mary was willing to leave Lord James to manage affairs all went well between them, but when Cecil was unwilling to promote Mary as Elizabeth’s heir, unless she became Catholic and Elizabeth was fearful of nominating any heir, she became disillusioned with Lord James.Although great efforts were made to find an acceptable Protestant husband for Mary, Elizabeth and Cecil still refused to acknowledge Mary’s claim to the English throne unless she became Protestant. When Mary chose to marry the objectionable Lord Darnley, Lord James (now Earl of Moray) realised he would lose his position as head of Scottish Government. When he took up arms against the couple, Elizabeth failed to provide him with military support, and he continued to lack universal backing from the Scottish lords, many of whom had Catholic sympathies. This resulted in him being exiled to England.It was Maitland who took up the role to remove Darnley and Mary to make way for Moray to become Regent for Mary’s son Prince James. The plan, agreed with Moray and Cecil, was to persuade the Earl of Bothwell to arrange Darnley’s murder and then to implicate Mary by accusing her of involvement with him in a crime of passion. That they pulled it off was remarkable. Mary was imprisoned and Moray returned to become Regent for Prince James. Maitland, Moray and Cecil now arranged falsified evidence to incriminate Mary in a crime of passion, so it is hardly surprising that she came to hate her half-brother. Maitland, who had married Mary Fleming, Mary’s lady-in-waiting, later showed contrition, and to Moray’s annoyance did much to try to ameliorate Mary’s lot. He pulled together Mary’s supporters in Scotland, and, although Maitland did not approve, they arranged for Moray to be murdered. Mary was not disappointed.