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This week's Signpost report
Featured content
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 18 December to 14 January.
Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.
One year ends, and another begins
Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.
Featured articles
The first Belgium A-squad in 1901 featured four Englishmen.
The water pipit is evaluated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The cover art for the first edition of Astounding Stories of Super-Science was created by Hans Waldemar Wessolowski.
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The blue-and-yellow macaw is a large South American parrot with blue top parts and yellow under parts.
Twelve featured articles were promoted.
- Banksia aculeata (nominated by Casliber) is a species of plant of the family Proteaceae native to the Stirling Range in the southwest of Western Australia. A shrub up to 2 m (6.6 ft) tall, it has dense foliage and leaves with very prickly serrated margins. The unusual pinkish, pendent flower spikes, known as inflorescences, are generally hidden in the foliage and appear during the early summer. Although it was collected by the naturalist James Drummond in the 1840s, it was not formally described until 1981—by Alex George in his monograph of the genus.
- Nominative determinism (nominated by Edwininlondon) is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their name. The term was first used in the magazine New Scientist in 1994, after the magazine's humorous Feedback column noted several studies carried out by researchers with remarkably fitting surnames. These included a book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology by researchers named Splatt and Weedon. These and other examples led to light-hearted speculation that some sort of psychological effect was at work. Since the term appeared, nominative determinism has been an irregularly recurring topic in New Scientist, as readers continue to submit examples.
- Tidus (nominated by Tintor2) is a fictional video game character in Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. He was introduced as the protagonist of the role-playing video game Final Fantasy X in 2001 as a 17-year-old expert of the fictional sport blitzball from the city of Zanarkand. He has appeared in other video games, including the Final Fantasy X sequel Final Fantasy X-2, the Kingdom Hearts series, and several Square Enix crossover games. Tidus is voiced primarily by Masakazu Morita in Japanese and James Arnold Taylor in English. Both actors enjoyed voicing the character, and Morita also performed the motion capture for him. The character has been generally well received by video game critics, his cheerful personality and heroic traits making him an appealing protagonist. His character development gives him the ability to overcome his hatred for his father, Jecht, and to become protective of Yuna when learning of her possible tragic fate. His romantic relationship with Yuna has been considered among the best in video games, although reviewers and fans were divided on Taylor's voicing of the character.
- Jochen Rindt (nominated by Zwerg Nase) (1942–1970) was a German-born racing driver who represented Austria during his career. In 1970, he was killed during practice for the Italian Grand Prix and became the only driver to be posthumously awarded the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Overall, he competed in 62 Grands Prix, winning six and achieving 13 podium finishes. He was also successful in sports car racing, winning the 1965 edition of 24 Hours of Le Mans paired with Masten Gregory in a Ferrari 250LM. Rindt was a popular figure in Austria and his success resulted in increased interest in motorsport and Formula One in particular. He hosted a monthly television show titled Motorama and set up a successful exhibition of racing cars in Vienna.
- The Belgium national football team (nominated by Kareldorado) has officially represented Belgium in association football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association. It appeared in the end stages of twelve FIFA World Cups and five UEFA European Football Championships, and featured at three Olympic football tournaments, including the 1920 Olympic tournament, which they won. Most of Belgium's home games are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
- Cliff Clinkscales (nominated by TempleM) (born 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Halifax Hurricanes of the National Basketball League of Canada. A point guard, Clinkscales has been playing professionally since 2008, appearing in the NBA Development League, the American Basketball League, and the National Basketball League of Canada. He was an NBL Canada All-Star in 2014, and subsequently won the league championship in 2016.
- Operation Infinite Reach (nominated by GeneralizationsAreBad) was the codename for American cruise missile strikes in 1998 on al-Qaeda bases in Khost, Afghanistan, and the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan. The attacks, launched by the United States Navy, were ordered by President Bill Clinton in retaliation for al-Qaeda's August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people and injured over 4,000 others. Operation Infinite Reach was the first time the United States acknowledged a preemptive strike against a violent non-state actor. Operation Infinite Reach, described by historian Timothy Naftali as "the largest U.S. military response to a terrorist attack" since the 1986 bombing of Libya, was met with a mixed international response: American allies and most of the American public supported the strikes, but the targeted countries, Islamic militant groups, and other nations in the Middle East strongly opposed them.
- Devon County War Memorial (nominated by HJ Mitchell) is a First World War memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and situated on the cathedral green in Exeter, the county town of Devon. The memorial takes the form of a simple cross. Hewn from a single block of granite quarried from Haytor on Dartmoor, it stands just to the west of the cathedral, in alignment with the altar. The cross stands on a granite plinth, which itself sits on three steps. It was unveiled by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1921. The memorial is a grade II* listed building, part of a "national collection" of Lutyens' war memorials.
- The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix (nominated by MWright96) was a Formula One motor race held on 5 October at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie. It was the fifteenth round of the 2014 Formula One season and the 30th Japanese Grand Prix held as part of the Formula One World Championship. The 44-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who started from second position. His teammate, Nico Rosberg, finished second and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel came in third. It was Hamilton's eighth victory of the season, his first at Suzuka and the 30th of his Formula One career.
- The water pipit (nominated by Jimfbleak) (Anthus spinoletta) is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of southern Europe and southern Asia eastwards to China. It is a short-distance migrant; many birds move to lower altitudes or wet open lowlands in winter. Water pipits construct a cup nest on the ground under vegetation or in cliff crevices and lay four to six speckled greyish white eggs, which hatch in about two weeks with a further 14–15 days to fledging. Although pipits occasionally catch insects in flight, they feed mainly on small invertebrates picked off the ground or vegetation, and also some plant material.
- Analog Science Fiction and Fact (nominated by Mike Christie) is an American science-fiction magazine. The first issue, titled Astounding Stories of Super-Science', was dated January 1930, published by William Clayton, and edited by Harry Bates. Clayton went bankrupt in 1933 and the magazine was sold to Street & Smith. The new editor was F. Orlin Tremaine, who soon made it the leading magazine in the nascent pulp science fiction field. At the end of 1937, John W. Campbell took over editorial duties under Tremaine's supervision, and the following year Tremaine was let go, giving Campbell more independence. By 1950, the magazine was no longer regarded as the leader of the field, though it did continue to publish popular and influential stories. In 1960, Campbell changed the title of the magazine to Analog Science Fiction & Fact. At about the same time Street & Smith sold the magazine to Condé Nast. Ben Bova took over from 1972 to 1978, and the character of the magazine changed noticeably.
- Paranthodon (nominated by IJReid) is a genus of extinct stegosaurian dinosaur that lived in South Africa during the Early Cretaceous period. Discovered in 1845, it was one of the first stegosaurians found. Its only remains, a partial skull and isolated teeth, were found in the Kirkwood Formation. British paleontologist Richard Owen initially identified the fragments as those of the pareiasaur Anthodon. After remaining untouched for years in the British Museum of Natural History, the partial skull was identified by South African paleontologist Robert Broom as belonging to a different genus; he named the specimen Palaeoscincus africanus. Several years later, Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa, unaware of Broom's new name, similarly concluded that it represented a new taxon, and named it Paranthodon owenii. Since Nopcsa's species name was assigned after Broom's, and Broom did not assign a new genus, both names are now synonyms of the current binomial, Paranthodon africanus.
Featured lists
Thirteen featured lists were promoted.
- The Jnanpith Award (nominated by Dharmadhyaksha and Vivvt) is an Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English, with no posthumous conferral. The award has been conferred upon fifty-seven writers including seven women authors.
- Tamannaah (born 1989) is an Indian actress known for her work in Telugu and Tamil films. Her filmography (nominated by Pavanjandhyala) consists of fifty-two films, with Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan under filming and Baahubali: The Conclusion in post-production stage.
- The Latin Grammy Hall of Fame (nominated by Magiciandude) is a hall of fame established by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize "early recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that were released more than 25 years ago". The albums and songs are picked by a panel of recording-arts professionals, such as musicologists and historians, and selected from all major categories of Latin music. As of 2017, forty-one works have been inducted into the hall of fame.
- Room is a 2015 Canadian-Irish drama film directed by Lenny Abrahamson. It is an adaptation of Emma Donoghue's eponymous novel, who also wrote the screenplay. It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2015, with A24 later providing the film a wide release in 2016 at over 800 theaters in the United States and Canada. The film grossed a worldwide box office total of over $35 million on a production budget of $13 million. The film awards and nominations (nominated by Cowlibob) in a variety of categories with particular praise for its direction, screenplay and the performances of Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay. At the 88th Academy Awards, Room received four nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Abrahamson and Best Adapted Screenplay for Donoghue. Larson went on to win for Best Actress.
- Bradley Cooper (born 1975) is an American actor and producer. During his career (nominated by Famous Hobo and FrB.TG) he appeared in forty films (including two voice roles and three television films) and over hundred television episodes. He also appeared in three theatre productions between 2006 and 2015.
- Mississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. According to the 2010 United States Census, Mississippi is the 32nd most populous state with 2,968,103 inhabitants and the 31st largest by land area spanning 46,923.27 square miles (121,530.7 km2) of land. Mississippi is divided into 82 counties and contains 299 incorporated municipalities (nominated by Mattximus) consisting of cities, towns and villages. Municipalities in Mississippi are classified according to population size. At time of incorporation, municipalities with populations of more than 2,000 are classified as cities, municipalities containing between 301 and 2000 persons are considered towns, and municipalities between 100 and 300 persons are called villages.
- The Voice is an American singing competition television series which premiered on NBC in 2011. Based on the original The Voice of Holland, the series features several stages of competition to search for new vocal talent contested by aspiring singers, age 15 or over, drawn from public auditions. It has been nominated for numerous awards (nominated by Mymis), including thirty-one Emmy Award nominations, winning six times, including three awards in the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category and three awards for its lighting design. As of 2016, The Voice has won 32 awards from a total of 96 nominations.
- Landon Donovan (born 1982) is a professional soccer player who played for the United States men's national soccer team from 2000 to 2014. In his 157 appearances for the United States, he scored 57 goals (nominated by SounderBruce), making him the country's all-time male top scorer.
- The first season (nominated by Jclemens) of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered on HBO in April 2011, and concluded in June 2011. The season consists of 10 episodes, each running approximately 55 minutes. The television series is based on A Game of Thrones, the first novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin and is adapted for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. The story takes place in a fictional world, primarily upon a continent called Westeros, with one storyline occurring on another continent to the east known as Essos. Like the novel, the season initially focuses on the family of nobleman Eddard Stark, as he is thrust into royal intrigue at the invitation of his king and longtime friend, Robert Baratheon. Critics praised the show's production values and cast, with specific accolades for Peter Dinklage's portrayal of Tyrion Lannister. The first season won two of the thirteen Emmy Awards for which it was nominated, for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Dinklage) and Outstanding Main Title Design; it also received a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. U.S. viewership rose by approximately 33% over the course of the season, from 2.2 million to over 3 million by the season finale.
- Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named (nominated by Jason Rees) by various warning centers to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches, and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the event of concurrent storms in the same basin. Generally once storms produce sustained wind speeds of more than 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph), names are assigned in order from predetermined lists depending on which basin they originate. However, standards vary from basin to basin: some tropical depressions are named in the Western Pacific, while tropical cyclones must have a significant amount of gale-force winds occurring around the centre before they are named in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Shriya Saran (born in 1982) is an Indian actress and model who has acted mostly in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi language films. She has appeared (nominated by Vensatry) in sixty-seven films (including four bilingual productions), with Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan and Tadka currently under filming.
- Alyssa Milano (born 1972) is an American actress and singer. Her discography (nominated by Aoba47) includes four studio albums, one reissue, two compilation albums, two video albums, five music videos and thirteen singles.
- Parrots (nominated by Dunkleosteus77), also known as psittacines, are the 402 species of birds that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions, of which 387 are extant. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoidea ("true" parrots), the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos), and the Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots). Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia.
Featured pictures
Twelve featured pictures were promoted.
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Jesse B. Jackson
(created by Harris & Ewing; restored by Centpacrr; nominated by EtienneDolet) -
Creaking Pagoda
(created and nominated by Godot13) -
The De Goyer Family and the Painter
(created by Adriaen van Ostade; nominated by MurielMary) -
Backside of an automatic watch
(created and nominated by PetarM) -
Rough chameleon
(created by Charlesjsharp; nominated by J Milburn) -
Capitole de Toulouse
(created by Blieusong; nominated by EtienneDolet) -
Hook Windmill
(created and nominated by Rhododendrites) -
Atomic chess capture
(created and nominated by Rhododendrites) -
Krestovsky Stadium
(created and nominated by Godot13) -
Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the Buddhist crisis
(created by Malcolm Browne; nominated by Ramaksoud2000) -
Women Airforce Service Pilot
(created by the United States Department of the Air Force; restored by Hohum and Bammesk; nominated by MurielMary)
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