A computer at the University of Manchester (circa 1962), which was the first machine to use virtual memory and paging. Its instruction execution was pipelined, and it contained fixed- and floating-point arithmetic units that were capable of ~200 kFLOPS.


IEEE Computer Society

The first king of Atlantis. Son of Poseidon and Cleito.

Supposedly the Atlantic Ocean and Atlantis were named after him.

A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS

ATLAS will use LHC to study proton-proton interaction, to improve the fundamental understanding of matter and forces. One of the primary goals is to understand the nature of mass.

To process all the data generated ATLAS will use GriPhyN.

I have used Atlas to refer to myself. I picked up the usage from a Spider Robinson short story (not a Callahan's story). The meaning is a figurative analogy - one who has the world on their shoulders. A person with the world on their shoulders wants to change the world, to make a difference -- and feels extremely guilty about every shortcoming and self-perceived failure within them.

Being an Atlas in this sense tends to mean that you're overwrought and overstressed about things that you have no control over and things you cannot change (the past is a good example of one of these). There is one thing an Atlas must do if they want to accomplish things -- and that is let it go.

Atlas is commonly depicted holding the world up: a great globe on his shoulders, and he in some agonized contrapposto position to support it, like an over-ambitious shot-putter.

As Webster 1913 says, the use of this image in Gerhardus Mercator's book of maps was the origin of the term atlas in that sense. I don't know how long this image was around before then, but it might well have been contemporary (post-Columbus), rather than going back all the way to classical mythology.

When did people start believing the earth was spherical? It is ascribed to the Pythagoreans, but I don't know how widely accepted it was in ancient Greece, or whether it was just esoteric theory then.

In the original myth, Atlas stood upon the earth, and on his shoulders carried the heavens, or more accurately carried the pillars that held up the heavens. He was Mount Atlas, or the Atlas Mountains in what is now Morocco.

One story says that Perseus met him there and turned him to stone with the head of Medusa.

But in a different version he was alive when he held up the heavens. Hercules came to him seeking the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. He agreed to hold up the heavens while Atlas went off to fetch the apples. Atlas of course could hardly believe his luck. Hercules, being a strong man, was not exactly known for brains. So Atlas went off chuckling, got the apples, and planned to tell Hercules, sorry mate, you're it now, I'm off to disport with the nymphs. (He did at some point father Calliope and the Pleiades.)

So Hercules said yeah, okay... er, excuse me, I've got a bit of an itchy shoulder. This pad is slipping. I just need to adjust it. Do you mind just holding the heavens up again while I do it?

Hint: What did I tell you about strong men? You've never heard of the Twelve Labours of Atlas, have you?

A male figure holding up the roof of a building is called an atlantid (or telamon), as the female is called a caryatid.

The Greek root is tla- 'to bear'. Cognate Germanic words are the archaic English thole 'to bear, to suffer patiently' and German geduldig 'patient'. Also the Latin root tol- as in tolerate, and the participle tlat- which was suppletive for fero 'I bear': but the stem got its consonants simplified to lat-, so you got pairs like transfero 'I carry across', translatum 'carried across'.

Compiled overview of the 100 ton Atlas 'Mech, from various BattleTech novels and game sourcebooks:



The sight of BattleMechs lumbering across the terrain is a familiar one among the worlds of the Inner Sphere. Nevertheless, the sight of an Atlas still manages to make even experienced MechWarriors break out in a sweat. The AS7-D Atlas was designed as a last-ditch attempt to ensure the superiority of the Star League's Regular Army over the growing armies of the House Lords. General Aleksandr Kerensky himself set down the specifications for the Atlas, calling for "a 'Mech as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally."

Ugly and foreboding are two apt descriptions for the Atlas. Though some 'Mechs might be taller and heavier, none have the Atlas's aura. Considerable effort went into making the Atlas's weapons as visible as possible to give an opposing MechWarrior plenty of opportunity to see that he is out-gunned, and not being paid enough to die. Designers spent an entire year fashioning the head/cockpit to create a perfect merging of function and gruesomeness. The end result resembles a mechanized headless horseman with his jack-o-lantern skull. The design is accentuated by huge stooping shoulder cowlings and a hunched back with every line leading the eye inward towards the machines frightning visage. MechWarriors nicknamed the Atlas "Death's Head".

The AS7-D Atlas was one of the first 'Mechs to mount such a large and devastating gun as the Defiance 'Mech Hunter Class 20 Autocannon. Even though it carries only ten rounds of ammo, the mere threat of such a large cannon is often enough to send lighter 'Mechs scurrying. This weapon's only problem is that it lacks a cooling jacket and can overheat easily.

The Atlas's long-range missile delivery system is a unique design. Upon discovering that the twenty launching tubes of the Far Fire LRM-20 would not fit into the 'Mech's torso, the designers modified the launcher to use only five tubes with a feed system that can shoot four salvos within ten seconds. The feed system is fairly reliable, and techs need only worry about shielding the ammo from heat emitted from the nearby reactor. Reloading is quick, as each missile tube has its own ammunition clip. Completely loaded, the missile system can shoot twelve salvos of twenty missiles.

The 'Mech's armor is thick, and the forward torso and legs are especially well protected. Someone once calculated that if a battalion of Stinger 'Mechs engaged an Atlas, the Atlas would retire for repairs an hour later, leaving only one Stinger still able to move.
(...uhm, ya, right! The Atlas does pack an impressive 19 tons of Durallex Special Heavy Armor, but this guy was just kissing General Kerensky's ass. No one 'Mech can withstand a battalion of anything. Fuck, just ask an Ewok!)

Four Defiance B3M Medium Lasers and a TharHes Maxi short-range missile 6-pack make the 'Mech a decent close-range fighter, but it's true close-range weapon is it's mellee ability. The Atlas' strong Foundation Type 10X internal structure gives the arms and hands enormous power. This has created many horror stories concerning Atlases lifting light sized 'Mechs with one hand and fling them to the ground as though they there were mere toys.

The main drawback of the Atlas is its slow speed. Intelligent opponents will retreat before the forbidding machine, hoping either to draw it into tight quarters, such as a city or woods, or sucker it into water or mud. Once there, the Atlas's lack of mobility and jump jets is a fatal flaw.

The AS7-K Atlas is a formidable new re-design that incorporates an extra-light engine, Cellular Ammunition Storage Equipment, and an impressive array of weapons.

The AS7-K trades the Class 20 Autocannon for a Dragon's Fire Gauss rifle. The arm mounted medium lasers have been upgraded to Victory Nickel Alloy extended-range large lasers. The two rear-facing, torso mounted mediums are now Victory Heartbeat medium pulse lasers. The Yori Flyswatter anti-missile system complete the design's arsenal. the only sacrific for these upgrades was the scraping of the short-range missile 6-pack. That, and the price tag jumped from 9.5million to over 22.5!

The Atlas was first used against Stefan the Usurper. In the final battles to gain control of Earth's major spaceports, the Atlas was instrumental in securing beachheads to allow troops to land safely.

General Kerensky's second-in-command, General Aaron DeChevilier, spearheaded the final assault on the Usurper's last stronghold, the Imperial City. He continually exposed his Atlas to enemy fire, yet marched on as if the laser bolts, missiles, and cannon shells were nothing more than the annoying buzz of flies. When DeChevilier's Atlas pushed over the concrete outer wall surrounding the Imperial Palace, Kerensky headed for the Usurper's palace gates in his Orion.

Considering the Atlas's raw power, it is no wonder that Kerensky wanted all Atlases to accompany him into his self-imposed exile. Ironically, more than two thirds of the pilots who refused to join him were Atlas pilots. The remaining Atlases (and those still being produced by Yori Mech Works and Independence Weaponry on the planets Al Ma'ir, Hesperus and Quentin) continue to inspire terror wherever they tread.



Note: Information used here was the domain of FASA before they split the rights between Wizkids LLC and Microsoft (table-top gaming and video games respectively). Copyright of the fluff text is in limbo, but names of persons, places, & things are without any doubt the property of Wizkids LLC. Use of any terms here related to the BattleTech trademark are not meant as a challenge to Wizkids LLC's rights.
{ Moons of Saturn }
Discovered by            R. Terrile 
Date of Discovery        1980
Distance from Saturn     137,670 km
Radius                   18.5 × 17.2 × 13.5 km
Mass                     ???
Orbital Eccentricity     0.000
Orbital Inclination      0.3°
Orbital Period           0.6019 day
Rotational Period        ???
Density (gm/cm3)         ??? 

Tiny, irregular Atlas orbits Saturn near the outside of the A ring. Saturn's rings are identified by letters, ascending from the inside out. Atlas is Saturn's second closest satellite. Atlas's location within a ring makes it a shepherding moon. This means it limits the size of its nearby ring through gravitational forces. It was discovered by means of imagery from the Voyager 1 probe.

Sources:
NASA.gov
space.com

Ατλας

A giant, the son of Iapetus and the sea-nymph Clymene (or in some versions of the sea-nymph Asia). He was the brother of Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus, 'the men of violence' (Table 25 and Table 38). According to some traditions he was the son of Uranus and thus the brother of Cronus. He belongs to the generation of monstrous and unbridled divinities which preceded the Olympians. He took part in the struggle between the Gods and the Giants and Zeus sentenced him to carrying the vault of the sky on his shoulders as a punishment. His dwelling was generally regarded as in the very far west, in the country of the Hesperides, though it was sometimes said to be 'among the Hyperboreans'. Herodotus was the first person to refer to Atlas as a mountain in North Africa. Perseus was said to have turned Atlas into a rock on returning after slaying the Gorgon, by confronting him with Medusa's head.

Atlas is said to have had several children: the Pleiadeas and the Hyades by Pleione, and the Hesperides by Hesperis. Dione was also regarded as his daughter and his sons were Hyas and Hesperus. Late conjectures regarded Atlas as an astronomer who taught men the laws governing celestial bodies and he was deified for that reason. Sometimes it was said that there were three separate figures, all known as Atlas, one African, one Italian and one Arcadian, the father of Maia and hence the grandfather of Hermes. For the Atlas who gave his name to Atlantis, see Atalantis.

{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}

Table of Sources:
- Hesiod, Theog. 507ff.
- Hom. Od. 1, 52ff.; 7, 245
- Aeschylus, PV 348, 425f
- Pind. Pyth. 4, 289ff. (516ff.)
- Euripides, Ion 1ff.; HF 402
- schol. on Apoll. Rhod. Arg. 3, 106; 1, 444
- Ovid, Met. 2, 296; 6, 174
- Apollod. Bibl. 1, 2, 3; 2, 5, 11
- Hyg. Fab. 150
- Hdt. 4, 185
- Serv. on Virgil, Aen. 8, 134
- See also Heracles.

With the weight of the world
On your back
A billion voices crying out
To you
They are helpless
Just as you are
Much less a god
Much more a prisoner
Infinite power
No ability
Weary titan
Suspended in the stars
Labouring along
Your painful ellipse around
The sun
Apollo laughs at you
Keep your head down
Defeated deity
They need you no more
You've seen your brothers
And sisters
Die
Defeated
And defiled
Atlas, oh how you
Bear it all
The weight of the world
Upon your shoulders
Trudging through the
Empty temperatures of
Space
And the empty hopes
Of time
Know this old god
You too will die
And when you do
The world will
Fall from its place
In the heavens
Forever
And the gods will die
And you will again have
Fate's favour
For now step forward
Through your torture
Be pain
Be labour
Be ignored
And know that
At the moment you finally
Pass
You truly are
Again the master of all things

An atlas is a book of maps, oft comprehensively covering a region, or the world entire. The advent of such an effort is relatively recent, given the ancientness of the mapmaking endeavor -- the earliest such efforts have been dated back nine thousand years or more -- but, naturally, those ancient maps outlining the oldest city bounds were carved directly into walls, and so not exactly well-suited for collection and reproduction in folio pages. Instead, maps bound and reproducible would have to sit and wait, twiddling their collective metaphorical thumbs for centuries on down the line until paper and printing improved by a proportion permitting that maps be lain flat, one over the next. Christopher Columbus sailed with no atlas, but with a collection of separate charts, most probably kept rolled and bound with twine. But, legend holds that the first bound atlas to be compiled -- a Turkish assemblage in the year 1570 -- included a direct copy made from a map of the New World sketched by Columbus himself.

Modernly, atlases have progressed by leaps and bounds with innovations such as using pink and yellow and spring green shades to demarcate different countries nestled side-by-side. Oh, and, naturally, using more and more accurate pencilings of landforms until that entire art was sped into obsolecense by the easy availability of satellite images suitable for imitate transposition into the map form. But, as with so many other things, there exists a high possibility that the relentless march of technology spells the death of mass-produced printed atlases. For now, we have Google and Mapquest and others, which provide a single, continuous and never-ending cartographical platform, and we have mobile devices which guarantee that you'll need never again pick up a tome made from a tree. But, as with the printed dictionary, thesaurus, and telephone directory, we shall at least be able to look upon the atlas in the museum collection and lament, "well, you had a good run."

At"las (#), n.; pl. Atlases (#). [L. Atlas, -antis, Gr. , , one of the older family of gods, who bears up the pillars of heaven; also Mt. Atlas, in W. Africa, regarded as the pillar of heaven. It is from the root of to bear. See Tolerate.]

1.

One who sustains a great burden.

2. Anat.

The first vertebra of the neck, articulating immediately with the skull, thus sustaining the globe of the head, whence the name.

3.

A collection of maps in a volume

; -- supposed to be so called from a picture of Atlas supporting the world, prefixed to some collections. This name is said to have been first used by Mercator, the celebrated geographer, in the 16th century.

4.

A volume of plates illustrating any subject.

5.

A work in which subjects are exhibited in a tabular from or arrangement; as, an historical atlas.

6.

A large, square folio, resembling a volume of maps; -- called also atlas folio.

7.

A drawing paper of large size. See under Paper, n.

Atlas powder, a nitroglycerin blasting compound of pasty consistency and great explosive power.

 

© Webster 1913.


At"las, n. [Ar., smooth.]

A rich kind of satin manufactured in India.

Brande & C.

 

© Webster 1913.

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