White Dwarf Issue 50 10 January 2015

This book contains the best and most up-to-date contributions in the field of late stage stellar evolution, as presented at the APNVII conference in Hong Kong in December 2017. A total of 60 scientists from 20 countries gathered to present, listen, interact and discuss the most current issues and problems in planetary nebulae and related objects research. The emphasis of this influential series of meetings, which was the seventh occasion over the last 20 years, has always been on the hypothesized and observed physical shaping mechanisms of the ejected nebulae that have such wonderful and intriguing forms. This special Galaxies conference issue of fully refereed contributions brings together a representative compilation of the meeting presentations in paper form. It captures the current “snap shot” status of this research field in some real sense. Such proceedings are well received and can be used as a reference material by both participants and all others working in the field for years to come.

Chronicles the evolution of record breaking while incorporating thousands of new entries, including the first band to perform on all seven continents, the most accurate clock, and the world's largest model train store.

Are the United States and China on a collision course? In response to remarks made by Donald Trump’s secretary of state, China’s state-run newspaper Global Times asserted, "Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the [disputed] islands will be foolish." Some experts contend that conflict is inevitable when an established power does not make sufficient room for a rising power. In this timely new work, renowned professor of international relations Amitai Etzioni explains why this would be disastrous and points to the ways the two nations can avoid war. The United States is already preparing for a war with China, Etzioni reveals. However, major differences of opinion exist among experts on the extent of military commitment required, and no plan has been formally reviewed by either Congress or the White House, nor has any been subjected to a public debate. Etzioni seeks here to provide a context for this long overdue discussion and to explore the most urgent questions: How aggressive is China? How powerful is it? Does it seek merely regional influence, or regional dominance, or to replace the United States as the global superpower? The most effective means of avoiding war, several experts argue, requires integrating China into the prevailing rule-based, liberal, international order. Etzioni spells out how this might be achieved and considers what can be done to improve the odds such an integration will take place. Others call for containing or balancing China, and Etzioni examines the risk posed by our alliances with various countries in the region, particularly India and Pakistan. With insight and clarity Etzioni presents our best strategy to reduce tension between the two powers, mapping out how the United States can accommodate China’s regional rise without undermining its core interests, its allies, and the international order.

Hardy herbaceous perennials make up a major part of our gardens in the world. For mostly political reasons, there is no formal process for cataloging or registering new varieties or cultivars of these important plants which sell in the billions per year. In 2013, the Open Registration Of Cultivars (OROC) aka "Oh-rock" program was created to provide a worldwide guide to new hardy herbaceous plants. This Fall 2018 edition provides 77 pages of plant descriptions, images, and links to buy to study the new plants in the public interest. It is 100% free.

An overview of fine-tuning arguments in physics, for students and researchers in physics and philosophy.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts is devoted to the recording, summarizing and indexing of astronomical publications throughout the world. Two volumes are scheduled to appear per year. Volume 67 records 10,903 papers covering besides the classical fields of astronomy and astrophysics such matters as space flights related to astronomy, lunar and planetary probes and satellites, meteorites and interplanetary matter, X rays and cosmic rays, quasars and pulsars. The abstracts are classified under more than one hundred subject categories thus permitting quick surveying of the bulk of material published on the same topic within six months. For instance, this volume records 119 papers on minor planets, 155 papers on supernovae, and 554 papers on cosmology.

This volume covers the genus Phlox in all the species, ranging from early, heirloom cultivars to recent introductions. While most perennial guides might cover 20-50 cultivars, this descriptive checklist with images has cultivar history and variety specific traits for more than 940 cultivars. Hatch;s Perennials is a 35 year project of taxonomist Larry Hatch to catalog and document cultivars of hardy herbaceous plants in a thorough way not done in more than 80 years by any author. With more than 1200 pages of detailed content, version 3.1 remains one of the most complete plant encyclopedias ever published.