Marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level. The opposite event, marine transgression, occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously exposed land.

Evidence of marine regressions and transgressions occurs throughout the fossil record, and these fluctuations are thought to have caused (or contributed to) several mass extinctions, among them the Permian-Triassic extinction event (250 million years ago) and Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (65 Ma). At the time of the Permian or P/T extinction, the largest extinction event in the Earth's history, global sea level fell 250 meters, or more than 800 ft.

During the ice ages of the Pleistocene, a clear correlation existed between marine regressions and episodes of glaciation; as the balance shifts between the global cryosphere and hydrosphere, more of the planet's water in ice sheets means less in the oceans. At the height of the last ice age, at around 18,000 years before the present, the global sea level was 120 to 130 meters (400 ft.) lower than today. A cold spell around 6 million years ago was linked to an advance in glaciation, a marine regression, and the start of the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean basin. Some major regressions of the past, however, seem unrelated to glaciation episodes — the regression that accompanied the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period being one example.

Andrew Mallard is a Western Australian who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released from prison in 2006 after his conviction was quashed by the High Court of Australia.

Mallard had been convicted of the murder of Pamela Lawrence, a business proprietor, who was killed at her shop, on 23 May 1994. The evidence used in Mallard's trial was scanty and obscure, and it was later revealed that police withheld vital information from his defence team. Almost twelve years later, after an appeal to the High Court, his conviction was quashed, and a retrial ordered. However, the charges against him were dropped and Mallard was released. At the time, the Director of Public Prosecutions stated that Andrew Mallard remained the prime suspect and that if further evidence became available he could still be prosecuted.

In 2006 police conducted a review of the investigation and subsequently a cold case review. As a result they uncovered sufficiently compelling evidence to charge convicted murderer Simon Rochford with the murder of Pamela Lawrence and to eliminate Andrew Mallard as a person of interest. After being publicly named as a suspect, Simon Rochford was found dead in his cell in Albany Prison, having committed suicide.

Amel Bent (born Amel Bent Bachir Arabic:أمل بنت بشير, on June 21, 1985 in Paris) is a French singer.

Amel Bent grew up in the French commune of La Courneuve with her Algerian father and a Moroccan mother. She has a brother and a sister. Her career jump started after making it to the semi-finals of the reality TV show Nouvelle Star 2, France's version of Pop Idol. Although her performance did not make it to the finals, she was still noticed by some of the show's producers, and would end up making her début album later that year, titled: Un Jour d'été, released in late 2004. The album would sell more than 550,000 copies in France alone, but the success of the album would ultimately be derived from the single, "Ma Philosophie", which would sell at more than 500,000 copies, staying at the No.1 slot, in France, for more than 6 weeks during and after sales.

¹ French Digital Charts
² Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart

¹ French Digital Charts
² Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart

Herbert Spiegel (June 29, 1914 – December 15, 2009) was an American psychiatrist who popularized therapeutic hypnosis as a mainstream medical treatment for patients suffering from pain, anxiety and addictions. He also gained notoriety for his treatment of the woman known as Sybil, whose case became the subject of a book, 1976 television miniseries and 2007 television movie.

Herbert Spiegel was the father of David Spiegel, M.D., of Stanford University, who likewise is an expert in hypnosis.

Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Spiegel attended the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Maryland Medical School. He first learned hypnosis while he was a resident at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C.

During World War II, Spiegel used hypnosis as a treatment for pain control while serving as a battalion surgeon with the First Infantry in North Africa. With the use of hypnosis, Spiegel was able to reduce the use of morphine in treating soldiers wounded in battle. He later wrote, "I discovered that it was possible to use persuasion and suggestion to help the men return to previous levels of function" after sustaining severe combat stress.