Velocity

Velocity (pronounced vuh-los-i-tee)

(1) Rapidity of motion or operation; swiftness; a certain measurement of speed.

(2) In mechanics and physics, a measure of the rate of motion of a body expressed as the rate of change of its position in a particular direction with time.  It is measured in metres per second, miles per hour etc.

(3) In casual, non technical use, a synonym for speed.

1540-1550: From the Middle French vélocité, from the Latin velocitatem (nominative vēlōcitās) (swiftness; speed), from vēlōx (genitive velocis) (swift, speedy, rapid, quick) of uncertain origin.  It may be related either to volō (I fly), volāre (to fly) or vehere (carry) from the primitive Indo-European weǵh- (to go, move, transport in a vehicle) although some etymologists prefer a link with the Proto-Italic weksloks from the primitive Indo-European weg-slo-, a suffixed form of the root weg- (to be strong, be lively). Although in casual use, velocity and speed are often used interchangeably, their meanings differ.  Speed is a scalar quantity referring to how fast an object is moving; the rate at which an object covers distance.  Velocity is the rate at which an object changes position in a certain direction. It is calculated by the displacement of space per a unit of time in a certain direction. Velocity deals with direction, while speed does not.  In summary, velocity is speed with a direction, while speed does not have a direction.  Velocity is a noun; the noun plural is velocities.

Great moments in velocity stacks

Velocity stacks (also informally known as trumpets or air horns) are trumpet-shaped devices, sometimes of differing lengths, fitted to the air entry of an engine's induction system, feeding carburetors or fuel injection.  Velocity stacks permit a smooth and even flow of air into the intake tract at high velocities with the air-stream adhering to the pipe walls, a process known as laminar flow.  They allow engineers to modify the dynamic tuning range of the intake tract by functioning as a resonating pipe which can adjust the frequency of pressure pulses based on its length within the tract.  Depending on the length and shape of the stack, the flow can be optimized for the desired power and torque characteristics, thus their popularity in competition where the quest is often for top-end power but the flow can also be tuned instead to produce enhanced low or mid-range performance for specialized use.

1973 McLaren M20C.

The 1968 McLaren M8A was built for the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (the Can-Am) and used a new aluminum version (later sold for street use as the ZL1) of the 427 cubic inch (7.0 litre) big-block Chevrolet V8.  Dry sumped and fuel injected, it was rated at 625 bhp.  A series for unlimited displacement sports cars, the wonderful thing about the Can-Am was the brevity of the rules which essentially were limited to (1) enclosed body work and (2) two seats (one of which was close to a fake).  With engines eventually growing to 509 cubic inches (8.3 litres) and reaching close to 800 horsepower, the McLarens dominated the series for five years, their era ended only by the arrival of the turbo-panzers, the turbocharged Porsche 917s which in qualifying trim generated a reputed 1500 horsepower.  The McLarens remained competitive however, the final race of the 1974 series won by a McLaren  M20.    

1970 Ferrari 512S.

Ferrari built 25 512S models in 1969-1970 to comply with the FIA’s homologation rules as a Group 5 sports car to contest the 1970 International Championship for Makes.  It used a five-litre V12 and was later modified to become the 512M which, other than modified road cars, was the last Ferrari of the post-war era built for sports car racing, the factory instead focusing on Formula One.  Not until 2023 would Ferrari return to the Sports Car circuits, celebrated with victory in the Le Mans 24 hour endurance classic, the marque's first since winning with a 250 LM in 1965.  

1965 Coventry Climax FWMW flat-16 prototype.

Coventry Climax developed their FWMW between 1963-1965, intending it for use in Formula One.  A 1.5 litre flat-16, both the Brabham and Lotus teams designed cars for this engine but it was never raced and the engines never proceeded beyond the prototype stage.  Like many of the exotic and elaborate designs to which engineers of the era were attracted, the disadvantages imposed by the sheer bulk and internal friction were never overcome and the promised power increases existed in such a narrow power band it’s usefulness in competition was negligible.  Even on the test-benches it was troublesome, the torsional vibrations of the long crankshaft once destroying an engine undergoing testing.  It was Coventry at its climax; after the débacle of the FWMW, the company withdrew from Formula One, never to return.

1970 Porsche flat-16 prototype.

Porsche developed their flat-16 in the search for the power needed to compete with the big-capacity machines in the Can-Am series.  Unable further to enlarge their flat-12, their solution was to add a third more cylinders.  As an engine, it was a success and delivered the promised power but the additional length of the engine necessitated adding to the wheelbase of the cars and that upset their balance, drivers finding them unstable.  Porsche mothballed the flat-16 and resorted instead to forced-aspiration, the turbocharged flat-12 so effective that ultimately it was banned but not before it was tweaked to deliver a reputed 1500+ horsepower in Can-Am qualifying trim and, in 1975, at the Talladega raceway it was used to set the FIA closed course speed record at 221.160 mph (355.923 km/h); the mark stood for five years.  Had the 917 from the start been designed around a flat-16, it's history may have proved more remarkable still.

1966 Ford 289 V8 in GT40 Mk 1.

Not all the Ford GT40s had the photogenic cluster of eight velocity stacks.  When the Ford team arrived at Le Mans in 1966, their Mk II GT40s were fitted with a detuned version of the 427 cubic inch (7.0 litre) big-block FE engines used on the NASCAR circuits and instead of the multiple twin-choke carburetors with the velocity stacks familiar to the Europeans, it was fed by a single four barrel unit under a fairly agricultural looking air intake.  On the GT40s, the velocity stacks looked best on the 289 and 302 cubic inch (4.7 & 4.9 litre) small-block Windsor V8s, the ones built with the four downdraft Weber carburetors thought most charismatic and they're nicely complemented by the "bundle of snakes" exhaust systems.

1967 BRM H-16.

In typically English fashion, the 1949 BRM V16 is celebrated as a glorious failure.  In grand prix racing, it failed for many reasons but in one aspect, it was a great success: the supercharged 1.5 litre engine generated prodigious, if hard to handle, power.  Not discouraged, when a three litre formula was announced for 1966, BRM again found the lure of sixteen cylinders irresistible though this time, aspiration would be atmospheric.  It actually powered a Lotus to one grand prix victory in Formula One but that was its sole success.  Although nice and short, it was heavy and tall, the latter characteristic contributing to a high centre of gravity, exacerbated by the need to elevate the mounting of the block to make space for the exhaust system of the lower eight cylinders.  It was also too heavy and the additional power it produced was never enough to offset the many drawbacks.  Withdrawn from competition after two seasons and replaced by a more conventional V12, the FIA later changed the rules to protect BRM from themselves, banning sixteen cylinder engines.  Had BRM persisted, what was planned was four-valve head so the H-16's component count would have listed: 16 cylinders, 2 crankshafts, 8 camshafts, 2 distributers and 64 valves, making those who value intricacy porn most content.

1969 Ferrari 312P.

Build to comply with Group 6 regulations for prototype sports cars, the Ferrari 312 P was raced by the factory towards the end of the classic era for sports car racing which dated back to the early 1950s.  Fielded first with a three litre V12, it was re-powered with a flat-12 in 1971 and has often been described as the Ferrari Formula One car with bodywork and while a simplification, given the engineering differences between the two, that was the concept.  It appeared on the grid to contest the World Sportscar Championship in 1969, a return from a year of self-imposed exile after one of Enzo Ferrari's many arguments with the FIA.  Needing reliability for distance racing, the Formula One engine was slightly detuned and, as in the open wheeler on which it was based, acted as an integral load-bearing part of the structure.  Unlike Ferrari's earlier sports cars, this time the classic array of Webber carburetors was eschewed, the velocity stacks sitting atop Lucas mechanical fuel-injection.

Albert Einstein, Lindsay Lohan and velocity

Velocity plays is a critical component in Albert Einstein’s (1879-1955) Special (1905) & General (1915) Theories of Relativity which profoundly redined understanding of space, time, and gravity.  In the Special Theory of Relativity, there is an explanation of the perception of “simultaneity”: events simultaneous in one frame of reference may not be simultaneous in another frame moving at a different velocity.  The critical implication of this was that time was absolute but depends on the relative motion of observers.  This means a moving clock runs slower than one which is static (relative to the observer).  History’s second most quoted equation (number one said to be “2+2=4” although this is contested) is Einstein’s expression of mass-energy equivalence (E=mc²) which shows that mass and energy are interchangeable.  The significance in that of velocity is that as an object's velocity approaches the speed of light, its relativistic mass increases, requiring more energy to continue accelerating.  From this Einstein deduced the speed of light was the “universal speed limit” because for this eventually to be exceeded would require the input of an infinite amount of energy.  Whether such a state might have been possible in the first fraction of a second during the creation of the current universe remains a matter of speculation but as it now exists, the limit remains orthodox science although, for certain purposes, it is possible usefully to construct a model of the universe where, in a sense, "everything is happening at the same time", an abstraction which, paradoxically, is often used to illustrate why it's wrong.  This "everything is happening at the same time" model differs from one in which time doesn't exist: in such a place, everything would have to happen at once.     

The role of velocity in the General Theory of Relativity remains fundamental but is more complex still.  In addition to the dilation of time sue to relative motion, there is also “Gravitational Time Dilation” (due to relative motion, gravity itself causes time to dilate).  Objects moving in strong gravitational fields experience time more slowly than those existing in weaker fields.  Radically, what Einstein did was explain gravity not as a force (which is how we experience it) but as a curvature of space-time caused by the effects of mass & energy and the motion (and thus the velocity) of objects is is influenced by this curvature.  The best known illustration of the concept is that of “Geodesic Motion”: In curved space-time, a free-falling object moves along a geodesic path (the straightest possible between the points of departure & arrival). The velocity of an object influences its trajectory in curved space-time, and this motion is determined by the curvature created by mass-energy.

Two of Lindsay Lohan’s car most publicized car accidents.  All else being equal (which, as Albert Einstein would have explained, probably can’t happen), if an object is travelling at a higher velocity (in the casual sense of "speed"), the damage will be greater.  In these examples, at the point of impact, the Porsche 911 (997) CarreraS (2012, left) was travelling at a higher velocity than the Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG roadster (2005, right).

In classical (pre-Einstein) mechanics, the explanation would have been an object traveling at a higher velocity would have its kinetic energy increase quadratically with velocity (ie double the velocity and the kinetic energy increases by a factor of four.  In relativistic physics, as an object's velocity approaches the speed of light, its relativistic mass increases with velocity and relativistic mass contributes to the object's total energy.  For velocities much less than the speed of light (non-relativistic speeds (a car, even with Lindsay Lohan behind the wheel)), the increase in mass is negligible, and the primary difference is the increase in kinetic energy which follows the classical equation.  However, at velocities approaching the speed of light, both the kinetic energy and the relativistic mass increase significantly.  In a car crash, the main determinate of an impact's severity (and thus the damage suffered) is the kinetic energy:  A car traveling at a higher velocity will have significantly more kinetic energy, so any impact will be more destructive; the kinetic energy is determined by the square of the velocity meaning small a small increase in velocity results in a large increase in energy.  So, on the road, it’s really all about energy because the velocity attainable (relative to what’s going to be hit) means any increase in mass is going to be negligible.  However, were a car to be travelling at close to the speed of light the relativistic mass greatly would be increased, further contributing to the energy of the crash and making things worse still.

Virtual

Virtual (pronounced vur-choo-uhl)

(1) Being as specified in power, force, or effect, though not actually or expressly such; having the essence or effect but not the appearance or form.

(2) In optics, of an image (such as one in a looking glass), formed by the apparent convergence of rays that are prolonged geometrically, but not actually (as opposed to a real image).

(3) Being a focus of a system forming such images.

(4) In mechanics, pertaining to a theoretical infinitesimal velocity in a mechanical system that does not violate the system's constraints (applied also to other physical quantities); resulting from such a velocity.

(5) In physics, pertaining to a theoretical quality of something which would produce an observable effect if counteracting factors such as friction are disregarded (used often of the behavior of water if a factor such as friction were to be disregarded.

(6) In physics, designating or relating to a particle exchanged between other particles that are interacting by a field of force (such as a “virtual photon” and used also in the context of an “exchange force”).

(7) In digital technology, real, but existing, seen, or happening online or on a digital screen, rather than in person or in the physical world (actually an adaptation of an earlier use referring to political representation).

(8) In particle physics, pertaining to particles in temporary existence due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

(9) In quantum mechanics, of a quantum state: having an intermediate, short-lived, and unobservable nature.

(10) In computing (of data storage media, operating systems, etc) simulated or extended by software, sometimes temporarily, in such a way as to function and appear to the user as a physical entity.

(11) In computing, of a class member (in object-oriented programming), capable of being overridden with a different implementation in a subclass.

(12) Relating or belonging to virtual reality (once often used as “the virtual environment” and now sometimes clipped to “the virtual”) in which with the use of headsets or masks, experiences to some degree emulating perceptions of reality can be produced with users sometimes able to interact with and change the environment.

(13) Capable of producing an effect through inherent power or virtue (archaic and now rare, even as a poetic device).

(14) Virtuous (obsolete).

(15) In botany, (literally, also figuratively), of a plant or other thing: having strong healing powers; a plant with virtuous qualities (obsolete).

(16) Having efficacy or power due to some natural qualities; having the power of acting without the agency of some material or measurable thing; possessing invisible efficacy; producing, or able to produce, some result; effective, efficacious.

1350–1400: From the Middle English virtual & virtual (there were other spellings, many seemingly ad hoc, something far from unusual), from the Old French virtual & vertüelle (persisting in Modern French as virtuel), from their etymon Medieval Latin virtuālis, the construct being the Classical Latin virtū(s) (of or pertaining to potency or power; having power to produce an effect, potent; morally virtuous (and ultimately the source of the modern English “virtue” from the Latin virtūs (virtue)) + -ālis.  The Latin virtūs was from vir (adult male, man), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European wihrós (man) (the construct of which may have been weyh- (to chase, hunt, pursue) + -tūs (the suffix forming collective or abstract nouns)).  The –alis suffix was from the primitive Indo-European -li-, which later dissimilated into an early version of –āris and there may be some relationship with hel- (to grow); -ālis (neuter -āle) was the third-declension two-termination suffix and was suffixed to (1) nouns or numerals creating adjectives of relationship and (2) adjectives creating adjectives with an intensified meaning.  The suffix -ālis was added (usually, but not exclusively) to a noun or numeral to form an adjective of relationship to that noun. When suffixed to an existing adjective, the effect was to intensify the adjectival meaning, and often to narrow the semantic field.  If the root word ends in -l or -lis, -āris is generally used instead although because of parallel or subsequent evolutions, both have sometimes been applied (eg līneālis & līneāris).  The alternative spellings vertual, virtuall and vertuall are all obsolete.  Virtual is a noun & adjective, virtualism, virtualist, virtualism, virtualness, virtualization (also as virtualisation) & virtuality are nouns, virtualize (also as virtualise) is a verb and virtually is an adverb; the noun plural is virtuals.  The non virtualosity is non-standard.

The special use in physics (pertaining to a theoretical infinitesimal velocity in a mechanical system that does not violate the system’s constraints) came into English directly from the French.  The noun use is derived from the original adjective.  Virtual is commonly used in the sense of being synonymous with “de facto”, something which can now be misleading because “virtue” has become so associated with the modern use related to computing.  In the military matters it has been used as “a virtual victory” to refer to what would by conventional analysis be thought a defeat, the rationale being the political or economic costs imposed on the “winner” were such that the victory was effectively pyrrhic.  It was an alternative to the concept of “tactical defeat; strategic victory” which probably was a little too abstract for some.

"Virtual art galleries" range from portals which enable works to be viewed on any connected device to actual galleries where physical works are displayed on screens or in some 3D form, either as copies or with a real-time connection to the original.   

In computing, although “virtual reality” is the best known use, the word has for some time been used variously.  “Virtual memory” (which nerds insist should be called “virtual addressing” is a software implementation which enables an application to use more physical memory than actually exists.  The idea dates from the days of the early mainframes when the distinction between memory and storage space often wasn’t as explicit as it would later become and it became popular in smaller systems (most obviously PCs) where at a time when the unit cost of RAM (random access memory) hardware was significantly higher than the default storage media of the HDD (hard disk drive).  Behaving as static electricity does, RAM was many orders of magnitude faster than the I/O (input/output) possible on hard disks but allocating a portion of free disk space to emulate RAM (hence the idea “virtual memory”) did make possible many things which would not run were a system able to work only with the installed physical RAM and rapidly it became a mainstream technique.

There’s also the VPN (virtual private network), a technology which creates a secure and encrypted connection over a public network (typically the Internet) and use is common to provide remote access to a private network or to establish a secure tunnel between two networks using the internet for transport.  The advantage of VPNs is they should ensure data integrity and confidentiality, the two (or multi) node authentication requirement making security breaches not impossible but less likely.  Widely used by corporations, VPNs are best known as the way traditionally used to evade surveillance and censorship in certain jurisdictions as diverse as the PRC (People’s Republic of China), the Islamic Republic of Iran and the UK although this is something of an arms race, the authorities with varying degrees of enthusiasm working out way to defeat the work-arounds.  VPNs often use an IP tunnel which is a related concepts but the IP tunnel is a technique used to encapsulate one type of network packet within another type of network packet to transport it over a network that wouldn't normally support the type of packet being transported.  IP tunnels are particularly useful in connecting networks using different protocols and (despite the name), the utility lies in them being able to transport just about any type of network traffic (not just IP).  A modular technology, not all IP tunnels natively provide authentication & encryption but most support “bolt-ons” which can add either or both.  So, while all VPNs use some form of tunnelling (however abstracted), not all tunnels are VPNs.

Microsoft really wanted you to keep their Java Virtual Machine.

Then there are “virtual machines”.  In personal computing, the machine came quickly to be thought of as a box to which a monitor and keyboard was attached and originally it did one thing at a time; it might be able to do many things but not simultaneously.  That situation didn’t long last but the idea of the connection between one function and one machine was carried over to the notion of the “virtual machine” which was software existing on one machine but behaving functionally like another.  This could include even a full-blown installation of the operating systems of several servers running on specialized software (sometimes in conjunction with hardware components) on a singles server.  What made this approach practical was that it is not unusual for a server to be under-utilized for most of its life (critically components often recording 2-3% utilization for extended periods, thus the attraction of using one physical server rather than several.  Obviously, the economic case was also compelling, the cost savings of having one server rather than a number multiplied by reductions in electricity use, cooling needs, insurance premiums and the rent of space.  There was also trickery, Microsoft’s JVM (Java Virtual Machine) an attempt to avoid having to pay licensing fees to Sun Microsystems (later absorbed by Oracle) for the use of a Java implementation.  The users mostly indifferent but while the hardware was fooled, the judges were not and the JVM was eventually declared an outlaw.

Operating a computer remotely (there are few ways to do this) rather than physically being present is sometimes called “virtual” although “remote” seems to have been become more fashionable (the form “telecommuting” used as early as 1968 is as archaic as the copper-pair analogue telephone lines over which it was implemented although “telemedicine” seems to have survived, possibly because in many places voice using an actual telephone remains a part).  In modern use (and the idea of virtual as “not physically existing but made to appear by software” was used as early as 1959), there are all sorts of “virtuals” (virtual personal trainers, virtual assistants etc), the idea in each case is that the functionality offered by the “real version” of whatever is, in whole or in part, emulated but the “virtual version”, the latter at one time also referred to as a “cyberreal”, another word from the industry which never came into vogue.  “Virtual keyboards” are probably the most common virtual device used around the world, now the smartphone standard, the demise of the earlier physical devices apparently regretted only by those with warm memories of their Blackberries.  Virtual keyboards do appear elsewhere and they work, although obviously offer nothing like the tactile pleasure of an IBM Model M (available from ClickyKeyboards.com).  The idea of “a virtual presence” is probably thought something very modern and associated with the arrival of computing but it has history.  In 1766, in the midst of the fractious arguments about the UK’s reaction to the increasing objections heard from the American colonies about “taxation without representation” and related matters (such as the soon to be infamous Stamp Act), William Pitt (1708-1778 (Pitt the Elder and later Lord Chatham); UK prime-minister 1766-1768) delivered a speech in the House of Commons.  Aware his country’s government was conducting a policy as inept as that the US would 200 years on enact in Indochina, his words were prescient but ignored.  Included was his assertion the idea of “…virtual representation of America in this house is the most contemptible idea that ever entered into the head of man and it does not deserve serious refutation.”  However, refute quite seriously just about everything his government was doing he did.  Pitt’s use of the word in this adjectival sense was no outlier, the meaning “being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact” dating from the mid-fifteenth century, an evolution of the sense of a few decades earlier when it was used to mean “capable of producing a certain effect”.  The adverb virtually was also an early fifteenth century form in the sense of “as far as essential qualities or facts are concerned while the meaning “in effect, as good as” emerged by the early seventeenth.

Lindsay Lohan's 2021 predictions of the US$ value of Bitcoin (BTC) & Ethereum (ETH).  By April 2024 the trend was still upward so the US$100,000 BTC may happen.  

In general use, the terms “cybercurrency”, “cryptocurrency” & “virtual currency” tend to be used interchangeably and probably that has no practical consequences, all describing electronic (digital) “currencies” which typically are decentralized, the main point of differentiation being that cryptocurrencies claim to be based on cryptographic principles and usually limited in the volume of their issue (although the decimal point makes this later point of little practical significance)  Whether they should be regarded as currencies is a sterile argument because simultaneously they are more and less, being essentially a form of gambling but for certain transactions (such as illicit drugs traded on various platforms), they are the preferred currency and in many jurisdictions they remain fully convertible and it’s telling the values are expressed almost always in US$, “cross-rates” (ie against other cryptocurrencies) rarely quoted.  However, to be pedantic, a “virtual currency” is really any not issued by a central government or authority (in the last one or two centuries-odd usually a national or central bank) and they can include in-game currencies, reward points and, of course, crybercurrencies.  The distinguishing feature of a cryptocurrency is the cryptotography.

Although the term is not widely used, in Christianity, "virtuality" was the view that contrary to the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, the bread & wine central to Holy Communion do not literally transform into flesh and blood but are the medium or mechanism through which the spiritual or immaterial essence of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ are received.  Within the Church, those who espoused or adhered to the heresy of virtuality were condemned as "virtualists.  In philosophy, the concept of virtuality probably sounds something simple to students but of course academic philosophy has a “marginal propensity to confuse”, the important distinction being “virtual” is not opposed to “real” but instead to “actual”, “real” being opposed to “possible”.

Afterburner

Afterburner (pronounced af-ter-bur-ner)

(1) In aviation, a device placed within, or attached to the exit of, a jet-engine exhaust pipe to produce afterburning.

(2) In engineering, a device in the exhaust system of an internal-combustion engine for removing or rendering harmless potentially dangerous components in the exhaust gases.

1948: A compound word, the construct being after + burn +-er.  The verb after developed from its use as an adverb and preposition, from the Middle English after-, efter- & æfter-, from the Old English æfter- (after, behind, against; later in time; in pursuit, following with intent to overtake), the idea being off + -ter (a comparative suffix), the original formation meant "more away, farther off”.  It was cognate with the Scots efter-, the Old Frisian & West Frisian efter-, the Dutch achter-, the German after-, the Swedish efter, the Old Norse eptir, the Old High German aftar, the Gothic aftra (behind), the Greek apotero (farther off) and the Old Persian apataram (further).  From circa 1300 it assumed the meaning "in imitation of; in the style of" while, as a conjunction in the sense of "subsequent to the time that" the use was inherited from the late Old English.  The phrase “after hours” (hours after regular working hours) dates from 1814 although the exact purpose has always proved elusive but it’s assumed by most to relate to retail commerce rather than terms of employment.  Afterwit was from circa 1500 and deconstructs literally as "wisdom that comes too late" but is familiar feeling of one for whom a perfect piece of repartee comes to mind only after the moment has passed; it’s perhaps surprising afterwit didn’t endure in the language.  The phrase “after you” an element in etiquette meaning “yielding precedence to another” dates from 1650.

Burn was from the Middle English bernen & birnen, from the Old English birnan (to burn), a metathesis from the Proto-West Germanic brinnan, from the Proto-Germanic brinnaną (to burn), from the primitive Indo-European bhrenw- and related to the Middle Irish brennim (drink up) & bruinnim (bubble up), the present stem from bhrewh- & bhru- (linked to the Middle Irish bréo (flame), the Albanian burth, the Cyclamen hederifolium (mouth burning) and the Sanskrit भुरति (bhurati) (moves quickly, twitches, fidgets).  The verb was from the early twelfth century brennen (be on fire, be consumed by fire; be inflamed with passion or desire, be ardent; destroy (something) with fire, expose to the action of fire, roast, broil, toast; burn (something) in cooking) which when applied to objects imparted the sense of “to shine, glitter, sparkle, glow like fire”, the form from both the Old Norse brenna (to burn, light) an two originally distinct Old English verbs: the transitive bærnan (to kindle) and the intransitive beornan (be on fire).  All of these were from the Proto-Germanic brennanan (causative brannjanan), source also of the Middle Dutch bernen, the Dutch branden, the Old High German brinnan, the German brennen, the Gothic brannjan (to set on fire); the ultimate etymology uncertain.  The noun burn dates from circa 1300 in the sense of "act or operation of burning” and was from the Old English bryne, the etymology identical to the verb and prior to the mid-sixteenth century, the usual spelling was brenne.

The Figurative use of burn (of passion, conflict etc.) was in Old English and survives to this day while the literal sense of "be hot, radiate heat" was from the later thirteenth century, the meaning "produce a burning sensation, sting" from a hundred years later.  A further figurative sense, that of "being cheated, swindled or victimized" emerged in the 1650s on the notion that whatever one lost “may as well have been burned”.  The slang use of burned from the late eighteenth century meaning "infected with venereal disease" referred to the sensation which was one of the symptoms.  To “burn one's bridges (behind one)” meant "behave so as to destroy any chance of returning to a status quo" and was used in the late nineteenth century, perhaps because of some of the reckless cavalry operations documented during the US Civil War although it’s a variation on the “burn the boats” (so one’s soldiers have no alternative but to fight, there being no chance of escape) approach known since Antiquity.  To have money “burn a hole in (one's) pocket” was a critique from the 1850s of those with an irresistible propensity to spend whatever money was in one’s possession; the modern expression of economists is of “expenditure rising to meet income”.  The meaning "mark or injury made by burning" is from 1520s while “slow burn” dates from 1938 and refers to a technique in acting.

The –er suffix was from the Middle English –er & -ere, from the Old English -ere, from the Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, thought usually to have been borrowed from Latin –ārius and reinforced by the synonymous but unrelated Old French –or & -eor (the Anglo-Norman variant was -our), from the Latin -(ā)tor, from the primitive Indo-European -tōr.  The –er suffix was added to verbs to create a person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.  If added to a noun it usually denoted an occupation.

The afterburner

Attracted by theoretical work which hinted at improved thrust, Rolls-Royce began ground tests on one of their early jet engines in 1944 although the war ended before the technology was ready for production.  By the early 1950s, most advanced jet fighters had adopted afterburners and they continue generally to be used mostly in military aircraft although a few civilian applications have existed including the now defunct Tupolev Tu-144 and Concorde.

An afterburner’s purpose is to provide an increase in thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff and in combat. Afterburning is achieved by injecting additional fuel downstream of the turbine and produces significantly increased thrust; the trade-off being very high fuel consumption and inefficiency, though this is considered acceptable for the short periods during which it is usually used.  The quantum of a jet-engine’s thrust is determined by the general principle of mass flow rate and thrust depends on two things: the velocity of the exhaust gas and the mass of that gas. A jet engine can produce more thrust by either accelerating the gas to a higher velocity or by having a greater mass of gas exit the engine.  Designing a basic turbojet engine around the second principle produces the turbofan engine, which creates slower gas but more of it. Turbofans are highly fuel efficient and can deliver high thrust for long periods, but the design trade-off is a large size relative to the power output. To generate increased power with a more compact engine for short periods, an engine requires an afterburner. The afterburner increases thrust primarily by accelerating the exhaust gas to a higher velocity.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird afterburning for additional thrust during take-off (left) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark performing a dump-and-burn (right).

What many people think of as afterburners are actually displays of dump-and-burn at air shows, a procedure where dumped fuel is intentionally ignited using the plane's afterburner. A spectacular flame combined with high speed makes this an interesting sight but it’s just for entertainment.  Fuel dumping is used to reduce the mass of an aircraft about to undertake emergency landings and thus, for other than for safety reasons, dump and burn has no practical use.  In the slang of pilots who flew the early generation of fighters with afterburners the phrase was "lit up the burners" while the dump and burn is also called a "torching" or a "zippo".

Lighting up the burners: Lindsay Lohan in The Canyons (2013).

Flak

Flak (pronounced flak)

(1) Ground-based anti-aircraft fire using explosive shells.

(2) In casual use, criticism; hostile reaction; abuse.

1938: From the German Flak (anti-aircraft gun), condensed from Fliegerabwehrkanone (literally "air defense gun"), the acronym deconstructed from Fl(ieger) + a(bwehr) + k(anone).  The sense of "anti-aircraft fire" became generalized in English from 1940 and the flak jacket is attested from 1956.  The metaphoric sense of "criticism" is American English circa 1963.  The synonym (and military verbal shorthand) is ack-ack, which appears to have developed independently in the German and allied military, the former using (from 1939) acht-acht (eight-eight) as an informal reference to the 88mm canon, the later being World War I (1914-1918) signalers' phonetic spelling of "AA".  Jargon has its own life and even after the NATO Phonetic Alphabet was standardized in 1956, ack-ack was so distinctive and well-known there was no suggestion it should be replaced by alpha-alpha. 

Lindsay Lohan in flak jacket.

The homophone flack (public relations spokesman) was first noted in US use in 1945, initially as a noun but, almost immediately became also a verb and it’s always had the sense of handling adverse criticism; if necessary by lying ("taking the flak" as it were).  The origin is murky; there’s a suggestion it was coined at entertainment industry magazine Variety but the first attested use was in another publication.  Flack was said to have emerged because of a coincidence in existence between flak being used to describe criticism (analogous with anti-aircraft fire) and a certain Mr Flack, said to be a public relations spokesman in the movie business but, given the accepted etymology, most regards this as an industry myth.

The 88mm Flak Canon

Panzer VI (Tiger Tank 1) with 88mm canon, Sicily, 1943.

The German 88 mm anti-aircraft canon was developed during the 1930s and was one of the most versatile and widely used weapons of World War II (1939-1945), deployed as field artillery, in anti-aircraft batteries, in ground assault and anti-tank roles and, on the larger tanks, as canon.  The naval 88, although the same caliber, was an entirely different weapon, dating from 1905.

88mm Flak Gun, Russia, 1941.

However, its stellar reputation belied to some extent, latter-day battlefield reality.  Like much mass-produced German weaponry of World War II, the 88 lost some of its comparative advantage as the allies’ quantitative and (with a few notable exceptions, especially in jet and rocket propulsion) qualitative superiority in materiel became apparent.  As an anti-aircraft gun, the Flak 88 needed high muzzle velocity to reach the altitudes at which bombers flew (20,000+ feet (6000+m)) and to achieve that the projectile itself was relatively small.  The high velocity made the Flak 88 a formidable anti-tank weapon, but did limit its effectiveness as field artillery.  Right to the end however, it remained a potent force wherever the terrain was suitable.

Zoo Flak Tower, Berlin, 1945.

One place the Flak 88s weren’t used was on the three huge concrete structures in Berlin called the Flak Towers.  Because the newer British and US bombers flew at higher altitudes, the bigger 128 mm canon was required.

The best known of the structures was the Berlin Zoo Flak Tower (Flakturm Tiergarten), the construction of which was induced by the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) first bombing raids on the city in August 1940.  Even by the standards of the time, these attacks were small-scale and of no obvious military value but, like the raid on Tokyo staged by the US in 1942 and the seemingly quixotic cross-border incursions by forces of indeterminate origin probing Russia’s “special military operation”, they compelled a disproportionately large re-allocation of civilian and military resources.  Early in the war, Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi 1922-1945 and Reichsmarschall 1940-1945) in his capacity as head of the air force (Luftwaffe) had been asked if the industrial Ruhr was at risk of being bombed and he assured the nation: “No enemy bomber can reach the Ruhr… if one reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Göring. You can call me Meyer.”  The Reichsmarschall might have believed his own publicity but the RAF did not though few in 1940 thought the more distant Berlin was vulnerable and the first raids, pin-pricks though they were compared with what was to come, embarrassed the Nazi hierarchy and convinced Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) to fear that ominous mantra of the 1930s: “The bomber will always get through”.

Accordingly, needing to retain popular support and well aware of the capital’s lack of air-raid shelters (though the leading Nazis and their families were well provided for), the Führer ordered the construction of huge anti-aircraft gun towers, the designs submitted for his approval as early as the following March.  Construction began immediately and the first, the Berlin Zoo Flak Tower, was made operational within months and in its massiveness was entirely typical of the architectural practices of the Third Reich.  Reflecting Hitler’s preferences, it was rendered in a neo-Romantic style and any medieval soldier would have recognized it as a fortress, albeit one on a grand scale.  It gained its name by virtue of its proximity to the municipal zoo and the term “tower” was a rare instance of modesty of expression during the Nazi era.  The reinforced concrete structure was as tall as a 13-story building with a 70 x 70 m (230 x 230 feet) footprint and in addition to the flak guns on the roof, it housed an 85-bed hospital, extensive storage space for art works & cultural artifacts as well as the capacity to provide shelter for some 15,000 people (a number greatly exceeded later in the war when the raids became both frequent and severe.

The installed armament was a battery of four 128 mm (5 inch) twin Flak mounts, augmented by 20 mm (¾ inch) and 37-mm (1½ inch) guns on lower platforms, the sides of the tower 8 m (26 feet) thick, the roof 5 m (16 feet).  The versatility of the design was proven when in 1945 the city was under assault by the Red Army and the big guns were deployed at low angle, proving highly effective as tank destroyers and according to the estimates of both sides, delaying the entry of Soviet troops by almost two weeks.  Even then, after the city had been occupied and the surrender negotiated, the Germans remained in control of the tower, the thick walls having withstood all attacks.  After the war, it proved difficult to demolish and it was only in 1948, after several attempts and over 100 tons of explosives that finally it was razed, the land eventually returned to the Berlin Zoo.

Ghat

Ghat (pronounced gat, got (Indian) or gawt (Indian) or (apparently optionally) fat/fhat for certain slang)

(1) In India, a wide set of steps descending to a river, especially a river used for bathing; a mountain pass; a mountain range or escarpment; a place of cremation (also as burning-ghat).

(2) A leaf possessing simulative qualities, chewed in Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, and among Yemenite Jews in Israel.  Ghat chewing sessions are social and involve playing music, smoking a nargilah (a hookah-type device for smoking) and what’s sometimes described as “other such Eastern reveries” (usually with initial capital).

(3) Among the criminal classes, a slang word for a firearm, derived from the Gat Air Pistol, a low-velocity air-powered pistol produced circa 1937-1996 which fired a variety of projectiles.

(4) An acronym standing for Give Hope And Take (away), a short series of events in which someone gives hope to another then instantly and ruthlessly takes it away.

(5) Slang for something very good or much admired, "ghatness" thus a desirable quality (class specific with a noted ethnic bias in use).

(6) As a homophone, slang for the Gatling Gun.

(7) As the homophonic acronym GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (1947-1995), predecessor of the World Trade Organization (WTO) arrangements.

(8) In Hinduism, a certain type of temple.  A brahmin (a member of the highest (priestly) caste) who acted as the hereditary superintendent of a particular ghat (temple) and who was regarded as authoritative in matters of genealogy and ritual was known as a panda.

1595–1605: From Hindi घाट (ghāṭ) (a pier; a pass of descent from a mountain, hence also "mountain range, chain of hills," also "stairway leading up from a river" (to a shrine, temple, etc.), from the Sanskrit घट्ट (ghaṭṭa or ghattah) (a landing-place, steps on the side of a river leading to the waters).  The Sanskrit is of unknown origin but there may be a connection with the Telugu కట్ట (kaṭṭa) (dam, embankment).  In Indian use, the related form is ghaut.  Under the Raj, some language guides suggested a ghaut differed from a ghat in that the former was used exclusively to describe “a ravine leading to the sea” but this was later discredited.  The mistake probably arose in assuming a local practice was universal and it appears ghaut and ghat were inconsistently but widely used interchangeably (the plural was ghauts).  Ghat is a noun; the noun plural is ghats and all derived forms (ghating, ghated, ghatness etc are non-standard).

As a point of usage, it appears the slang forms of ghat should be pronounced with a hard “G” except when used in meaning 5 (above) when an “ef” or “ph” (as in fat or phat) is used.  It’s an important convention of use: If one has just been ghatted in the sense of meaning 4 (above), it’s correct to say “The bitch really gatted me” and not “The bitch really phatted me”.  That really seems just common sense.        

The Gat Air Pistol

Gat air pistol advertisement.

The Gat Air Pistol was made by the Harrington company in the United Kingdom.  It was in production continuously between the late 1930s and late 1990s, except during the World War II (1939-1945) when the factory re-tooled for war production.  The pistol could fire .177 pellets, ball bearings, darts, corks and anything else small and light enough to suit the barrel.  A low-powered weapon with a very low muzzle velocity, the target market was hobbyists and children, the latter predictably usually boys; there was a time when they were given such things.  The other lucrative market was the travelling fair.  In every sideshow ally there were usually several shooting gallery stall owners who offered infamously worthless prizes for anyone able to hit the target and for their purposes, the cheaply-produced, notoriously inaccurate Gat was ideal.  Anyone who could hit a target with a Gat gun was probably a pretty bad shot.

1920s US advertising.

Many Sociologists, psychologists and others have pondered why, despite generations of US youth having what was by international standards ready access to firearms, mass shootings at schools by them didn't exist as a phenomenon until the 1990s and the explanations offered have included (1) the effect of the internet, (2) the relaxation of censorship in popular culture, (3) the availability of high-powered, rapid fire weapons with large capacity magazines, (4) the use of increasingly potent narcotics at younger age of first use & addiction and (5) the rise of single parent (typically a mother) households.  

Exposome

Exposome (pronounced eks-poh-sohm)

(1) A concept describing (1) the environmental exposures an individual encounters throughout life and (2) how these factors impact an individual's biology and health.

(2) The collection of environmental factors (stress, diet, climate, health-care etc) to which an individual is exposed and which can have an effect on health outcomes.

2005: The construct was expos(e) +‎ -ome, the word coined by cancer epidemiologist Dr Christopher Wild, then director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).  Expose (in the sense of “to lay open to danger, attack, harm etc”; “to lay open to something specified”) dates from the mid-fifteenth century and was from the late Middle English exposen, from the Middle French exposer (to lay open, set forth), from the Latin expōnō (set forth), with contamination from poser (to lay, place). The –ome suffix was an alteration of -oma, from the Ancient Greek -ωμα (-ōma).  It was only partially cognate to -some (body), from σῶμα (soma) (body), in that both share the case ending -μα (-ma), but the ω was unrelated.  The sense was of “a mass of something” and use is familiar in forms such as genome (in genetics the complete genetic information (DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid)) and phenome (the whole set of phenotypic entities in a cell, tissue, organ, organisms, and species). Exposome is a noun and exposomic is an adjective; the noun plural is exposomes.

The study and assessment of external and internal factors (chemical, physical, biological, social, climatic etc) factors that may influence human health is not new and evidence of interest in the topic(s) exist in the literature of physicians and philosophers (there was sometimes overlap) from the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, China, Persia and India.  One of the paradoxes of modernity in medicine was that simultaneously there developed an interest in (1) interdisciplinary and holistic approaches while (2) specialization become increasingly entrenched, the latter leading sometimes to a “siloing” in research and data accumulation.  What makes exposome a useful tool is it is a way of expressing the interplay between genetics and environmental factors in the development of diseases with a particular focus on chronic conditions and widely the concept has been applied in many fields of medicine beyond public health.  What it does is calculate the cumulative effect of multiple exposures, allowing researchers to “scope-down” to specific or general gene-environment interactions, producing data to permit a more accurate assessment of disease risk and thus the identification of useful modes of intervention.

Dr Wild’s coining of exposome came about because some word or phrase was needed to describe his innovation which was the application of a systematic approach to measuring environmental exposures to what was coming to be known about the human genome; in a sense it was an exercise in cause and effect, the three components being (1) the external exposome, (2) the internal exposome and (3) the biological response.  The external exposome included factors such as air pollution, diet and socioeconomic factors as well as specific external factors like chemicals and radiation.  The internal exposome included endogenous factors, such as hormones, inflammation, oxidative stress, and gut microbiota.  The biological response described the complex interactions between the external and internal exposome factors and their influence on an individual's physiology and health.

At its most comprehensive (and complex), the exposome is a cumulative measure of all environmental exposures to which an individual has been subject throughout their entire life.  While that’s something that can be modelled for an “imagined person”, in a real-world instance it will probably always be only partially complete, not least because in some cases critical environmental exposures may not be known for long after their effect has been exerted; indeed, some may be revealed only by an autopsy (post mortem).  Conceptually however, the process can be illustrated by example and one illustrative of the approach is to contrast the factors affecting the same individual living in three different places.  What that approach does is emphasize certain obvious differences between places but variations in an exposome don’t depend on the sample being taken in locations thousands of miles apart.  For a variety of reasons, the same individual might record a radically different outcome if (in theory) living their entire life in one suburb compared with one adjacent or even in one room in one dwelling compared with another perhaps only a few feet away.  Conditions can be similar across a wide geographical spread or different despite close proximity (even between people sitting within speaking distance), the phenomenon of “micro-climates” in open-plan offices well documented.  The number of variables which can be used usefully to calculate (estimate might be a better word) an individual’s (or a group’s) exposome is probably at least in the dozens but could easily be expanded well into three figures were one to itemize influences (such as chemicals or specifics types of pollutant matter) and such is the complexity of the process that the mere existence of some factors might be detrimental to some individuals yet neutral or even beneficial to others.  At this stage, although the implications of applying AI (artificial intelligence) to the interaction of large data sets with a individual’s genetic mix have intrigued some, the exposome remains an indicative conceptual model rather than a defined process.

As an example, consider the same individual living variously in New York City, Dubai or Los Angeles.  In each of those places, some factors will be universal within the locality while others will vary according to which part of place one inhabits and even at what elevation at the same address; the physical environment in a building’s ground floor greatly can vary from that which prevails on the 44^th floor:

Lindsay Lohan in New York City in pastel yellow & black bouclé tweed mini-dress.  Maintaining an ideal BMI (body mass index) is a positive factor in ones exposome. 

(1) Air Quality and Pollution: Moderate to high levels of air pollution, especially from traffic (NO₂, PM2.5). Seasonal heating (oil and gas) contributes in winter.  Subway air has unique particulate matter exposure.

(2) Climate and UV Radiation: Humid continental climate—cold winters and hot summers. Seasonal variability affects respiratory and cardiovascular stressors.

(3) Diet and Food Environment: Diverse food options—high availability of ultra-processed foods but also global cuisines. Food deserts in poorer boroughs can reduce fresh produce access.

(4) Built Environment and Urban Design: Dense, walkable, vertical urban environment. High reliance on public transport; more noise pollution and crowding stress.  Lower car ownership can reduce personal emissions exposure.

(5) Cultural and Psychosocial Stressors: High-paced lifestyle, long working hours. High density increases social stress, noise, and mental health challenges.  Diversity can be enriching or alienating, depending on context.

(6) Economic and Occupational Exposures: Highly competitive job market. Occupational exposures vary widely—white-collar vs service industries. Union protections exist in some sectors.

(7) Healthcare Access and Public Policy: Robust healthcare infrastructure, but disparities remain by borough and income. Medicaid and public hospitals provide some safety net.

Lindsay Lohan in Dubai in J.Lo flamingo pink velour tracksuit.  A healthy diet and regular exercise are factors in one's exposome. 

(1) Air Quality and Pollution: Frequently exposed to dust storms (fine desert dust), high PM10 levels, and air conditioning pollutants. Limited greenery means less natural air filtration.  Desalination plants and industrial expansion add further exposure.

(2) Climate and UV Radiation: Extreme desert heat (45°C+), intense UV exposure, little rain. Heat stress and dehydration risks are chronic, especially for outdoor workers.

(3) Diet and Food Environment: High import dependency. Abundant processed and fast foods, especially in malls. Dietary pattern skewed toward high sugar and fat content.  Cultural fasting (eg Ramadan) introduces cyclical dietary stressors.

(4) Built Environment and Urban Design: Car-centric city. Pedestrian-unfriendly in many areas due to heat and design. Heavy air conditioning use is a major indoor exposure pathway.

(5) Cultural and Psychosocial Stressors: Strict social codes and legal restrictions influence behavioral exposures. Expat life often means social disconnection and job insecurity for migrant workers.

(6) Economic and Occupational Exposures: Large migrant workforce faces occupational health risks, including long hours in extreme heat. Labor protections are inconsistent.

(7) Healthcare Access and Public Policy: Healthcare access stratified—good for citizens and wealthy expats, less so for low-wage migrants. Private sector dominates.

Lindsay Lohan in Los Angeles in 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG (2005-2011) Roadster (R230, 2002-2011).  Smoking is a factor in one's exposome.

(1) Air Quality and Pollution: Known for smog due to vehicle emissions and topography (valley trap). Ozone levels high, especially in summer. Wildfire smoke increasingly common.

(2) Climate and UV Radiation: Mediterranean climate with mild, dry summers. High UV exposure, though moderated by coastal influence. Drought conditions affect water quality and stress.

(3) Diet and Food Environment: Strong health-food culture, organic and plant-based diets more common. Yet fast food and food deserts remain in less affluent areas.  Hispanic and Asian dietary influences prominent.

(4) Built Environment and Urban Design: Sprawling, suburban in many parts. High car dependence means more exposure to vehicle exhaust.  Outdoor activities more common in certain demographics (eg, beach culture).

(5) Cultural and Psychosocial Stressors: Cultural emphasis on appearance, wealth, and entertainment may increase psychosocial pressure.  Homelessness crisis also creates variable community stress exposures.

(6) Economic and Occupational Exposures: Gig economy widespread, leading to precarious employment. Hollywood and tech industries also introduce unique workplace stress patterns.

(7) Healthcare Access and Public Policy: California’s public health programs are progressive, but uninsured rates still high. Proximity to cutting-edge research centers can boost care quality for some.

So one's exposome is a product of what one wants or gets from life, mapped onto a risk analysis table.  In New York City, one copes with urban pollution and persistent subway dust in an increasingly variable climate marked by periods of high humidity, a dietary range determined by one's wealth, the advantage of a good (if not always pleasant) mass transit system and the possibility of a “walking distance” lifestyle, albeit it in usually crowded, fast-paced surroundings.  Employment conditions are mixed and access to quality health care is a product of one's insurance status or wealth.

In Dubai, one lives with frequent dust storms, months of intense heat and UV exposure, a dependence on food imports, the constant temptation of fast food (FSS; fat, salt, sugar).  The car-centric lifestyle has created a built environment described as “pedestrian-hostile” and there are sometimes severe legal limits on the personal freedom especially for migrant workers who are subject to heat exposure and limited labor rights (even those which exist often not enforced).  The health system distinctly is tiered (based on wealth) and almost exclusively privatized.

The air quality in Los Angeles greatly has improved since the 1970s but climate change has resulted in the more frequent intrusion of smoke from wildfires and the prevailing UV exposure tends to be high; the climate is not as “mild” as once it was rated.  While there are pockets in which walkability is good, Los Angeles mostly is a car-dependent culture and the coverage and frequency of mass-transit has in recent decades declined.  Although this is not unique to the city, there's heightened awareness of a sensitivity to specific cultural pressures based on appearances and perceptions of lifestyle while housing stress is increasing.  Economic pressures are being exacerbated by the growth of the gig economy and traditionally secure forms of employment are being displaced by AI (bots, robots and hybrids).  Although California's healthcare system is sometimes described as "progressive", on the ground, outcomes are patchy.

So each location shapes the exposome in distinctive ways and the potential exists for the process better to be modelled so public health interventions and policies can be adjusted.  Of course, some risks are global: anywhere on the planet there’s always the chance one might be murdered by the Freemasons but some things which might seem unlikely to be affected by location turn out also to be an exposome variable. Because planet Earth is (1) roughly spherical, (2) and travels through space (where concepts like up & down don’t apply) and (3) constantly is exposed to meteoroids (every day Earth receives tons of “space dust”), it would be reasonable to assume one is equally likely to be struck by a meteoroid wherever one may be.  However, according to NASA (the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration), strikes are not equally likely everywhere, some latitudes (and regions) being more prone, due to several factors:

(1) Because Earth’s rotation and orbital motion create a bias, meteoroids tend more often to approach from the direction of Earth’s orbital motion (the “apex direction”), meaning the leading hemisphere (the side facing Earth's motion, near the dawn terminator) sees more meteoroid entries than the trailing hemisphere.  On a global scale, the effect is small but is measurable with the risk increasing as one approaches the equatorial regions where rotational velocity is greatest.

(2) Because most meteoroids approach from near the plane of the Solar System (the ecliptic plane), there’s what NASA calls a “latitude distribution bias”: Earth’s equator being tilted only some 23.5° from the ecliptic, meteoroids are more likely to intersect Earth’s atmosphere near lower latitudes (the tropical & sub-tropical zones) than near the poles.  So, those wishing to lower their risk should try to live in the Arctic or Antarctic although those suffering chronic kosmikophobia (fear of cosmic phenomena) are likely already residents.

(3) Some 70% of the Earth’s surface area being the seas and oceans, statistically, most meteoroids land in the water rather than in land so the lesson is clear: avoid living at sea.  The calculated probability is of course just math; because sparsely populated deserts accumulate meteorites better because erosion is low, a large number have been found in places like the Sahara and outback Australia but those numbers reflect a preservation bias and don’t necessarily confirm a higher strike rate.  The lesson from the statisticians is: Don’t dismiss the notion of living in a desert because of a fear of being struck by a meteoroid.

(4) Gravitational focusing, although it does increase Earth’s meteoroid capture rates (disproportionately so for objects travelling more slowly), is a global effect so there is no known locational bias.  While there is at least one documented case of a person being struck by a meteoroid, the evidence does suggest the risk is too low to be statistically significant and should thus not be factored into the calculation of one’s exposome because one is anywhere at greater risk of being murdered by the Freemasons.

Ms Ann Hodges with bruise, Alabama, September. 1952.  Painful though it would have been, she did get  her “15 minutes of fame” and eventually sold the fragment for US$25 so there was that.

In the narrow technical sense, many people have been struck by objects from space (as estimated 40+ tons of the stuff arrives every day) but most fragments are dust particles, too small to be noticed.  The only scientifically verified injury a person has suffered was an impressively large bruise a meteorite (the part of a meteoroid that survives its fiery passage through the atmosphere to land on Earth’s surface) on 10 September 1954 inflicted on Ms Ann Hodges (1920-1972) of Sylacauga, Alabama in the US.  Weighing 7.9 lb (3.6 kg), the intruder crashed through the roof of her house and bounced off a radio, striking her while enjoying a nap on the sofa.  The meteoroid was called Sylacauga and, just as appropriately, the offending meteorite was named the Hodges Fragment.  Anatomically modern humans (AMH) have been walking the planet for perhaps 300,000 years and we’ve been (more or less) behaviorally modern (BMH) for maybe a quarter of that so it’s possible many more of us have been struck,  In the absence of records, while it’s impossible to be definitive, it’s likely more have been murdered by the Freemasons that have ever been killed by stuff falling from space although, as the history of species extinction illustrates, a direct hit on someone is not a prerequisite for dire consequences.

Dashcam footage of meteorite fragment in the sky over Lexington, South Carolina.

The cosmic intruder crashed through the roof of a house on 26 June, 2025 and although there were no injuries, Fox News reported the fragment left a hole in the floor “about the size of a large cherry tomato”.  Analysis determined the rock was from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and as well as the dramatic fireball many captured on their dashcams, it would briefly have broken the sound barrier as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.  It was also very old, dating from slightly before the formation of the Solar System’s rocky inner planets (one of which is Earth) some 4.56 billion years ago and such fragments are of interest to many branches of science because they represent a small part of the “basic building blocks” of those planets and can thus assist in understanding the processes active during the Solar System’s earliest days.  Curiously (to those not trained in such things), the cosmologists explained “such a small fragment didn’t present a threat to anyone” which seems strange given its impact left a small crater in a floor, one implication being one wouldn’t wish for such a thing to hit one’s skull.  That the impact happened in Georgia, a state adjacent to Alabama where a half-century earlier the unfortunate Ms Hodges was struck, may make some add “meteorite fragments” to their list of “exposome factors south of the Mason-Dixon Line” but the sample size is too small for conclusions to be drawn and the events are mere geographic coincidences.