Walrus

The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the family Odobenidae and genus Odobenus. This species is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic walrus (O. r. rosmarus) which lives in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific walrus (O. r. divergens) which lives in the Pacific Ocean, and O. r. laptevi, which lives in the Laptev Sea of the Arctic Ocean.

Adult walruses are easily recognized by their prominent tusks, whiskers, and bulkiness. Adult males in the Pacific can weigh more than 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) and, among pinnipeds, are exceeded in size only by the two species of elephant seals. Walruses live mostly in shallow waters above the continental shelves, spending significant amounts of their lives on the sea ice looking for benthic bivalve mollusks to eat. Walruses are relatively long-lived, social animals, and they are considered to be a "keystone species" in the Arctic marine regions.

Walrus (locomotive)

Walrus is a diesel locomotive currently on the Groudle Glen Railway. Walrus has a sister locomotive called Dolphin.

Early career

This locomotive was one of three built in 1952 by the Hunslet Engine Company for Robert Hudson (explaining the unusual manufacturers' title which appears prominently, cast into the locomotive's radiator frontage). It was built to run in a sand and gravel pit in Twickenham and did so until closure, after which the three were put up for sale. Along with works No. 4352 the locomotive was purchased by Doddington Park in Chipping Sodbury where a pleasure ground had been established. It was at this time that the locomotive acquired a "steam outline" structure. This consisted of a sheet metal half-cab with oval windows, false dome and chimney. The exhaust from the engine which had previously been directed beneath the frames was re-routed to be shot from this new chimney to give the appearance that the engine was "steaming" along. The locomotive was given the name "Doddington Dragon" at this time and heraldic crests added to the side panels. By 1980 the park was suffering losses and was closed, the locomotive, her sister, carriages and all trackwork were put up for sale.

Walrus (disambiguation)

In addition to the animal, Walrus may refer to:

Individuals

Songs

Transportation

Aviation

Maritime

The Walrus

The Walrus is a Canadian general interest magazine which publishes long-form journalism on Canadian and international affairs, along with fiction and poetry by Canadian writers.

History

Creation

In 2002, David Berlin, a former editor and owner of the Literary Review of Canada, began promoting his vision of a world-class Canadian magazine. This led him to meet with then-Harper's editor Lewis H. Lapham to discuss creating a "Harper's North," which would combine the American magazine with 40 pages of Canadian content. As Berlin searched for funding to create that content, a mutual friend put him in touch with Ken Alexander, a former high school English and history teacher and then senior producer of CBC Newsworld's CounterSpin. Like Berlin, Alexander was hoping to found an intelligent Canadian magazine that dealt with world affairs.

Before long, the Chawkers Foundation, run by Alexander's family, had agreed to provide the prospective magazine with $5 million over five years, and the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation promised $150,000 for an internship program. This provided enough money to get by without the partnership with Harper's.

Walrus (comics)

The Walrus is a comedic Marvel Comics supervillain and an enemy of Spider-Man and Frog-Man.

Publication history

Walrus first appeared in Defenders #131 (May 1984) and was created by J.M. DeMatteis, Peter Gillis, and Alan Kupperberg.

Fictional character biography

The Walrus is a supervillain and foe of Spider-Man. He wears a costume that resembles a walrus and despite being physically strong, proved to be completely inept at villainy. While most supervillains are interested in stealing money or taking over the world, the Walrus was content with mindless property damage. He considered his role as a supervillain as that of a "mass-destructionist".

The man who would one day don the guise of the savage Walrus was once a cab driver named Hubert Carpenter (a reference to "The Walrus and the Carpenter" poem from Through the Looking-Glass). Hubert's uncle Humbert (a mad scientist/eccentric janitor) used devious experimental technology to endow Hubert with the attributes that would surely make him into the preeminent supervillain of all times. Hubert, now with the "proportionate speed, strength and agility of a walrus", started causing havoc.

Walrus HULA

The Walrus HULA (Hybrid Ultra Large Aircraft) project was a DARPA-funded experiment to create an airship capable of traveling up to 12,000 nautical miles (about 22,000 km) in range, while carrying 500-1000 tons of air cargo. In distinct contrast to earlier generation airships, the Walrus HULA would be a heavier-than-air vehicle and would generate lift through a combination of aerodynamics, thrust vectoring, and gas buoyancy generation and management.

DARPA said advances in envelope and hull materials, buoyancy and lift control, drag reduction and propulsion combined to make this concept feasible. Technologies to be investigated in the initial study phase included vacuum/air buoyancy compensator tanks, which provide buoyancy control without ballast, and electrostatic atmospheric ion propulsion.

The WALRUS could potentially expand and speed the strategic airlift capability of the United States substantially while simultaneously reducing costs. A smaller scale demonstration was scheduled for 2008, when a small scale version of the WALRUS designed to carry only the capacity of a C-130 Hercules (i.e., 18,000 kg or about 40,000 lbs) was expected to fly.