Productique

L'émergence de la productique dans les années 1980 : Des applications informatiques isolées au concept du Computer Integrated Manufacturing "L'information est saisie (et mise à jour) dans le système intégré, exclusivement par ceux qui la produisent".

La productique est une démarche qui vise à améliorer l'ensemble des méthodes et des moyens de production industrielle, dans un objectif de maitrise des critères couts, qualité et délais.
Pour atteindre ce but, la productique agit sur :
la formation des hommes (opérateurs)
l'organisation des ressources (hommes et machines)
l'optimisation des flux industriels
l'efficacité des procédés
Elle recouvre la production, la fabrication de pièces (usinage, moulage, etc.), la gestion et l'ordonnancement de la fabrication, l'optimisation des moyens de production et leur rentabilité, le contrôle des pièces produites (métrologie), etc

Technologie

Dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, l'humanité avait atteint la maîtrise technologique nécessaire pour s'extraire de la surface du globe pour la première fois et se lancer à la conquête de l'espace

Le mot technologie possède deux acceptions de fait :
Étymologiquement et historiquement : l'étude des techniques. On dit alors la technologie.
De plus en plus fréquemment, un ensemble de méthodes et techniques autour de réalisations industrielles formant un tout cohérent. On parle alors d'une technologie. Elle ne se confond pas dans cette seconde acception avec la technique :
Si sur une voiture, vous utilisez un procédé d'avance à l'allumage, de votre invention il s'agit d'une simple technique.
Un moteur à explosion d'automobile est quant à lui issu d'une technologie qui évolue depuis un siècle et demi.
En revanche, l'automobile dont l'existence s'accompagne de constructeurs, de routes, d'autoroutes, de stations-services, de garages, de parkings, etc. constitue un ensemble de technologies.
Les sciences de l'ingénieur ont à couvrir l'étude des technologies pertinentes à leur discipline. Dans une même branche, celles-ci changent avec le temps.
Guy Deniélou, fondateur de l'Université de Technologie de Compiègne, propose de définir la technologie comme « le nom que prend la science quand elle a pour objet les produits et les procédés de l'industrie humaine ».
On peut aussi se contenter de la formulation du dictionnaire, qui la définit comme Étude des techniques, des machines, des outils, etc., employés dans l'industrie, qui est plus concise et sans doute plus claire, même si elle est un peu moins précise.
À cause de son aspect porteur, le mot est parfois galvaudé par les services de marketing des entreprises. Ainsi, ClearType est présentée comme une technologie alors que ce n'est qu'une technique, et on voit mal comment elle pourrait ne pas le rester. En revanche le Wi-Fi est bien aujourd'hui pour sa part une technologie comme peut l'être le HTML par exemple

Réalisateur

Avant la prise d'une scène, un réalisateur donnant ses derniers conseils

Un réalisateur (ou une réalisatrice) est une personne qui assure la direction de fabrication d'une œuvre audiovisuelle captée par une ou plusieurs caméras, généralement pour le cinéma ou la télévision. À partir d'un scénario, il détermine les aspects visuels et dramatiques du film. Lors du tournage, il assure la mise en scène, la direction d'acteurs et dirige l'équipe technique. Suivant les termes de son contrat, il en dirigera ou non le montage. C'est la cas le plus fréquent en Europe, moins aux États-Unis ; il dispose alors du "final cut".
Employé par la production, le réalisateur doit assurer la bonne marche du tournage. C'est à lui de respecter l'agenda et le budget impartis par la production.
Aujourd'hui, la profession de réalisateur s'exerce dans de nombreux domaines :
Les longs métrages et les courts métrages de fiction (cinéma ou télévision)
Les documentaires et les films animaliers
Les films d'animation
Les films expérimentaux (qui se rapprochent des arts plastiques)
Les spots publicitaires
Les films de communication audiovisuelle
Le direct à la télévision (sport, divertissement...)

Life

Life on a rocky peak

Life is a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects, i.e. non-life, and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally. A physical characteristic of life is that it feeds on negative entropy.[1][2] In more detail, according to physicists such as John Bernal, Erwin Schrödinger, Wigner, and John Avery, life is a member of the class of phenomena which are open or continuous systems able to decrease their internal entropy at the expense of substances or free energy taken in from the environment and subsequently rejected in a degraded form (see: entropy and life).[3][4]
A diverse array of living organisms can be found in the biosphere on Earth. Properties common to these organisms—plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea and bacteria—are a carbon- and water-based cellular form with complex organization and heritable genetic information. They undergo metabolism, possess a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce and, through natural selection, adapt to their environment in successive generations.
An entity with the above properties is considered to be a living organism, that is an organism that is alive hence can be called a life form. However, not every definition of life considers all of these properties to be essential. For example, the capacity for descent with modification is often taken as the only essential property of life. This definition notably includes viruses, which do not qualify under narrower definitions as they are acellular and do not metabolise. Broader definitions of life may also include theoretical non-carbon-based life and other alternative biology. Some forms of artificial life, however, especially wet artificial life, might alternatively be classified as real life.

Nature

A more steady-state view of nature: Hopetoun Falls, Victoria, Australia. Much attention has been given to preserving the flora and other natural characteristics of the view, while allowing ample access for visitors to this popular site.

Galunggung in 1982, showing a combination of natural events.

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The term generally does not include manufactured objects and human interaction unless qualified in ways such as, e.g., "human nature" or "the whole of nature". Nature is also generally distinguished from the supernatural. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the galactic.
The word "nature" is derived from the Latin word natura, or "the course of things, natural character."[1] Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord.[2] This is shown in the first written use of the word φύσις, in connection with a plant.[3] The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.[4][5]
Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects – the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness – wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the latter being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human or human-like consciousness or mind.

Rock

This balancing rock, "Steamboat Rock" stands in Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, CO

A rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids. The Earth's lithosphere is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Petrology is the scientific study of rocks.

Easter

16th century Russian Orthodox icon of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Easter, the Sunday of the Resurrection, Pascha, or Resurrection Day, is the most important religious feast of the Christian liturgical year, observed at some point between late March and late April each year (early April to early May in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the moon. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, which Christians believe occurred on the third day of his death by crucifixion some time in the period AD 27 to 33. Easter also refers to the season of the church year, called Eastertide or the Easter Season. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day but now officially lasts for the fifty days until Pentecost. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter.
Today many families celebrate Easter in a completely secular way, as a non-religious holiday.

Stockman

Stockman Campdrafting in Biggenden, Australia

In the Australian lexicon, a stockman is the name given to a person who looks after the livestock on a station, while a drover tends to cattle on a stock route. Trainee stockmen are known as "jackaroos" (trainee stockwomen are known as "jillaroos").
Stockmen traditionally used whips and rode horses for livestock maintenance and mustering, but motorised vehicles are increasingly used. Station employees, including stockmen, who work at a number of different occupations within their work, are also known as 'station hands'.
In Australia, the person who raises and looks after the livestock is usually called a grazier if they own the property (called a Sheep station or Cattle station). The sport of campdrafting is reputed to have started by stockmen during informal competitions.
In Longreach, Queensland, Australia, a Museum and Memorial called the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame was established to pay tribute to the pioneers of the Australian Outback.

Mount Hotham

Mount Hotham Ski ResortMary's Slide ski run

Mount Hotham is a mountain in Victoria, Australia. It is home to Mount Hotham Village, and Mount Hotham Ski Resort. The mountain is located approximately 357 kilometres north east of Melbourne, 746 kilometres from Sydney, and 997 kilometres from Adelaide by road. Mount Hotham's summit rises to an altitude of 1,861 metres above sea level, while Mount Hotham village stands tall at a height of 1,750 metres AHD.
Currently, Mt. Hotham holds the record for the highest annual snowfall of any Victorian resort over the past decade [1][2]. Most of the skiing is based on one side of a large valley, and the area connects to the Bogong High Plains.
Mt. Hotham features 3.2 square kilometres of ski area, including 35 kilometres of tree-lined cross-country trails and a network of 13 lifts. The longest run at Mount Hotham is 2.5 kilometres long. Mount Hotham features an abundance of runs for skiers and boarders of all standards from beginners (20%) to intermediates (40%) and advanced (40%). The resort is home to one of Australia's most difficult runs, the steep Mary's Slide. A list of every ski tow to ever operate at Hotham can be found at wikiski.

Omeo, Victoria

OmeoVictoriaThe historic Omeo Post office by night

Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the East Gippsland Shire. At the 2001 census, Omeo had a population of 259.[1] The name is derived from the Aboriginal word for 'mountains'. It serves as the commercial hub for the Tambo and Omeo Valleys.
The area was first visited by stockmen who drove stock through the region as early as 1835. In 1845 gold was found around Omeo. Earthquakes in 1885 and 1892, and the Black Friday bushfires of 1939, caused damage to Omeo, yet several old buildings remain.
The town hosts the Omeo Plains Mountain Festival in December and January each year, a market and rodeo and polo match at Cobungra around Easter, and an agricultural show in November.
Attractions include the Oriental Claims, the Cuckoo Clock shop, White Water rafting on the Mitta Mitta. If you enjoy fishing then the Combungra, Tambo and Mitta Mita all provide good trout fishing.

Hill

The panoramic view from Connors Hill, near Swifts Creek, Victoria

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section or bispecies of scarp slope without a well-defined area of it or the submitted summit (e.g. Box Hill).

Swifts Creek, Victoria
Swifts Creek is a rural community located between Omeo and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, 379 kilometres (235 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne. Swifts Creek is at an altitude of 300m above sea level. The area was originally settled by Europeans in the gold rushes of the mid 1800s.
At the 2006 census, Swifts Creek and the surrounding area had a population of 281.[1] Local estimates often suggest a population somewhat less than official figures for the area, but there are disputes over what surrounding areas are counted in the town's population.

Light beam

Two visible light beams projected by 88 searchlights were used to symbolize the missing towers of the World Trade Center as part of the Tribute in Light in remembrance of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

A light beam or beam of light is a narrow projection of light energy radiating from a source into a beam. Sunlight is a natural example of a light beam when filtered through various mediums (clouds, foliage, windows, etc). To artificially produce a light beam, a lamp and a parabolic reflector is used in many lighting devices such as spotlights, car headlights, PAR Cans and LED housings

Sauna

A Finnish wood-heated sauna

A sauna (IPA pronunciation: ['sɔ:nə] or ['saʊnə], Finnish ['sɑunɑ]) is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities. These facilities derive from the Finnish sauna. The word sauna is also used metaphorically to describe an unusually hot or humid environment.
A sauna session can be a social affair in which the participants disrobe and sit or recline in temperatures of over 80 °C (176 °F). This induces relaxation and promotes sweating.

Mist

Misty Morning at Swifts Creek

This article is about the weather phenomenon. For the computer game series, see Myst.
Mist is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in exhaled air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna. It can also be created artificially with aerosol canisters if the humidity conditions are right.
The only difference between mist and fog is visibility [1]. This phenomenon is called fog if the visibility is one kilometre or less (in the UK for driving purposes the definition of fog is visibility less than 200 metres, for pilots the distance is 1 kilometre). Otherwise it is known as mist. Seen from a distance, mist is bluish, while haze is more brownish.
Strong superstitious and religious connotations are associated with mist in some cultures.
Mist makes a beam of light visible from the side via refraction and reflection of the suspended water droplets.
Scotch Mist refers to a light, steady drizzle, the name being typical of the Scottish penchant for understatement.
Mists usually occur near the shores, and is often associated with fog.

Cerastoderma

Coques

Les coques (Cerastoderma) est le nom donné à certains bivalves (ou lamellibranches) vivant dans la zone de balancement des marées. Selon les régions, on lui donne les noms de « rigadeau » (dans l'ouest), « bucarde », « sourdon », « hénon », « demoiselle » ou « maillot ». La légende dit qu'un pêcheur qui se serait échoué aurait consolidé sa coque grâce aux coquilles de ce mollusque, ce qui justifierait cette appellation.

Plancton

Beroidae

Le mot plancton (du grec ancien πλαγκτός / planktós ou « errant ») désignait chez Homère les animaux errant à la surface des flots. Hensen, en 1887 le définit comme l'ensemble des petits organismes vivants (aujourd'hui qualifié de biomasse) dans les eaux douces, saumâtres et salées, le plus souvent en suspension et apparemment passivement : gamètes, larves, animaux inaptes à lutter contre le courant (petits crustacés planctoniques et méduses), végétaux et algues microscopiques.On lui oppose ;
le necton, capable de se déplacer activement horizontalement et/ou verticalement éventuellement contre le courant : poissons, cétacés, etc.
le Tripton, appelé pseudoplancton par Davis (1955)[1], qui rassemble les éléments supposés morts (nécromasse) ou d'origine minérale ou organique (excrétats, particules issues du plancton mort...).
Le caractère passif du déplacement est réputé être le seul critère valable pour caractériser l'appartenance au plancton, mais de nombreuses espèces planctoniques sont capables de se déplacer (flagelles, modifications de la densité des cellules...)Le Seston regroupe l'ensemble des particules, de toute nature, mortes ou vives, organiques ou inorganiques en suspension dans l'eau. (Seston = tripton + plancton).
Le plancton est la base de nombreux réseaux trophiques et la principale nourriture des baleines à fanon, des coquillages filtreurs (dont moules, coques, huîtres, etc. qu'il peut intoxiquer par diverses toxines).

Corail

Corail

Animal et symbiote des milieux marins stricto sensu, le corail est un animal microscopique se construisant tout au long de sa vie une carapace qui, cumulée avec celle de ses millions de congénères, forme un récif corallien.
Cependant, le corail seul ne pourrait pas vivre. Il fonctionne en réalité en étroite coopération, en symbiose avec un végétal microscopique : la zooxanthelle dans les mers chaudes et le plancton dans les mers froides.

Abattage

Abattage d'un cochon à l'époque médiévale

Le nom masculin abattage a pour définition la mise à mort des animaux d'élevage.
Il désigne également par extension la mise à mort d'animaux pour limiter la population d'une espèce[1], éliminer un animal jugé nuisible ou dangereux[2] ou la propagation d'une maladie.[3]
Le mot abattage est remplacé le plus souvent dans les médias par le terme plus édulcoré d'euthanasie, mot qui désigne pourtant une mise à mort dans le seul but d'abréger les souffrances ou une longue agonie. Pour désigner le sacrifice des plus petits animaux dans les laboratoires ou les élevages de fourrure, on empoie aussi le terme d'euthanasie, il s'agit cependant bien d'un abattage.

Nature

Gold creek en Alaska

La Nature a deux sens fondamentaux : la matière d'une chose (ce qu'elle est, son essence) et le devenir d'une chose dans sa spontanéité (libre d'une fin, la nature humaine).
Au sens commun la Nature est l'ensemble du milieu naturel de la Terre et des forces qui l'habitent, les êtres humains, l'air, les mers, le monde minéral, végétal (forêts...), et animal.
Devant la perte continue de la biodiversité au cours des dernières décennies, la protection des milieux naturels et la demande d'un développement durable sont devenues des priorités pour une grande partie des citoyens de la plupart des pays.

Virus

Virus de l'herpès

Un virus est une entité biologique qui nécessite une cellule hôte, dont il utilise les constituants pour se multiplier. Les virus sont des objets particulaires, infectieux, constitués au minimum d'un acide nucléique et de protéines.
La virologie est la science qui étudie les virus. Elle est étudiée par des virologues ou des virologistes.
Le mot virus est issu du latin virus, i (neutre) qui signifie « poison ». Se terminant par un s, virus ne prend pas de marque du pluriel en français [1].