tipping point, critical mass, Critical Period, Sensitive Period, fission, fusion, gravitational wave,

The discovery of fission - the splitting of heavy nuclei - revealed the liberation of large quantities of energy; an effect now exploited in nuclear reactors. This energy is generated by differences in mass. Energy is also liberated when light nuclei combine to form heavier ones, i.e. fusion.

When the coronavirus’s reproduction number is above 1, it spreads. Below 1, it fades away.


When the virus’s reproduction number is above 1, it spreads. Below 1, it fades away.




BLOOMBERG.COM



The Global Battle to Force the Coronavirus Below Its Tipping Point

the dangerous new virus at the heart of a fast-spreading outbreak is growing more contagious, Chinese officials said.




WSJ.COM



China Urges Calm Over Coronavirus During ‘Critical Period’


Big Bang to Little Swoosh
By MAX TEGMARK



The discovery of gravitational waves in the fabric of space may go down as one of the greatest in the history of science.

Alexander McQueen, Dark Star of International Fashion

Astronomy

• Dark star, a star which has a gravitational pull strong enough to trap light
• Dark star (dark matter), a star composed of dark matter, which may have existed in the early universe

Sustainability nears a tipping point

Sustainability now occupies a central and permanent place in corporate boardrooms; 31% of respondents say sustainability is contributing to their profits, and 70% have placed sustainability permanently on their management agendas, according to a new global study by MIT Sloan Management Review a....

Caroline Isaac, Deep Computing Executive at IBM said, “Supercomputers are enabling the world to become increasingly interconnected, instrumented and intelligent. We have now reached a tipping point in price/performance that's allowing breakthroughs in university research that were previously unimaginable”.


Mainland tempts makers to set up shop and offers vital market

The mainland is a growing force in chip manufacturing.
Intel's first semiconductor plant in China is expected to begin production next year.
Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp, the world's second-biggest contract chipmaker, plans to acquire the rest of Hejian Technology, a Chinese foundry in which it holds a 15 per cent stake.
“We believe a production base in China is essential,” said Richard Yu of UMC.
“China's market was relatively strong even during [the global economic crisis], attracting many customers that preferred the option of local production.”
But China's domestic foundries are years away from mounting a serious challenge to their Taiwan counterparts, partly because of restrictions on technology transfer by the US and Taiwan governments.
Nearly all China's domestic foundries are struggling to stay profitable.
An advantage of being in Taiwan, according to Mr Yu, is that “the critical mass of semiconductor companies in Taiwan has really helped us optimise our operating efficiency.
“Within Taiwan's dedicated science parks in Hsinchu and Tainan, there are companies that represent the full spectrum of the semiconductor supply chain to fulfil industry needs”.
But China is becoming a vital market for Taiwan's semiconductor groups.
Donald Lu at Goldman Sachs estimates that China accounts for 13 per cent of demand for the contract chipmakers, meaning “demand from China and other emerging markets has become as important as demand from developed countries”.

Greenland’s melting ice nears “tipping point”

A just-published study warns that the ice sheet covering the massive island, which lies mainly above the Arctic Circle, is melting at such an accelerated rate that it may become “a major contributor to sea level rise” around the world within two decades.

The study’s authors found that ice loss in 2012 was nearly four times the rate in 2003, adding to research showing that the melting is speeding up as the warming increases. Another study has found Greenland’s ice loss had reached its fastest rate in at least 350 years.

Why it matters: The study is the latest in a series of papers published this month suggesting that scientific estimates of the effects of a warming planet have been, if anything, too conservative. Researchers say they collectively underline the need for a sharp reduction in emissions.

"Let them find their own new words," he joked. "It's not a cutthroat business but we like to say it's a bare knuckles business." Morse did acknowledge: "It's harder for some paper dictionaries to stay in business in the era of online dictionaries."
And he allowed for a sneak peak at the Top 25, rounded out by:
Craft beer, e-reader, game changer, a new definition for "gassed" as slang for drained of energy, gastropub, geocaching, shovel-ready (a construction site ready for work) and tipping point.





tipping point
The point in time in which a technology, procedure, service or philosophy has reached critical mass and becomes mainstream. See network effect. See also tip and ring.

【英】Critical Period，Sensitive Period · 


critical mass
n.

1. The smallest mass of a fissionable material that will sustain a nuclear chain reaction at a constant level.
2. The amount of matter needed to generate sufficient gravitational force to halt the current expansion of the universe.
3. An amount or level needed for a specific result or new action to occur: “The sudden national uproar over drugs and drug abuse has reached politically critical mass in Washington” (Tom Morganthau).

fission
n.

1. The act or process of splitting into parts.
2. A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus, especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium, splits into fragments, usually two fragments of comparable mass, releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of energy. 核分裂
3. Biology. An asexual reproductive process in which a unicellular organism divides into two or more independently maturing daughter cells.

v., -sioned, -sion·ing, -sions. v.tr.
To cause (an atom) to undergo fission.

v.intr.
To undergo fission.

[Latin fissiō, fissiōn-, a cleaving, from fissus, split. See fissi-.]