document_title: House of Cards (U.S. TV series)

question_text: when does house of cards start in canada

question_tokens: when does house of cards start in canada

text: House of Cards (U.S. TV series)

text: Plot[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally released

1
13
February 1, 2013 (2013-02-01)

2
13
February 14, 2014 (2014-02-14)

3
13
February 27, 2015 (2015-02-27)

4
13
March 4, 2016 (2016-03-04)

5
13
May 30, 2017 (2017-05-30)

text: Season 1 (2013)[edit]

text: Francis "Frank" Underwood, a power-hungry Democratic congressman from South Carolina and House majority whip, celebrates the election of President Garrett Walker, whose campaign he assisted to get himself appointed Secretary of State. However, Underwood soon learns that he is no longer being considered for the position. Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez tells Underwood that the president wants him to promote his agenda in Congress and will not honor their agreement. Inwardly seething, Underwood quickly gains control of his anger and hides his disappointment to present himself as a helpful lieutenant to Walker and his agenda. In reality, Underwood begins an elaborate plan behind the president's back, with the ultimate goal of gaining power for himself.

text: Frank's wife Claire runs an NGO, the Clean Water Initiative, which she uses to cultivate her own power and influence, yet its ultimate purpose remains unknown. Despite the success of the operation, Claire seeks to expand its scope to the international stage, often utilizing Frank's connections to push the organization to new heights. It is clear from the outset that Claire shares both her husband's cold-hearted, ruthless pragmatism and lust for power, and they frequently scheme together to ensure the success of each other's ventures. They both work with Remy Danton, a corporate lobbyist and former Underwood staffer, to secure funds for their operations and expand their influence.

text: Underwood begins a highly intricate plan to obtain a cabinet position, acquiring pawns he can manipulate in his power play. Underwood begins a symbiotic, and ultimately sexual, relationship with Zoe Barnes, an ambitious young political reporter, secretly feeding her damaging stories about his political rivals to sway public opinion as needed. Meanwhile, he manipulates Peter Russo, a troubled alcoholic and congressman from Pennsylvania, into helping him undermine Walker's pick for Secretary of State, Senator Michael Kern. Underwood eventually has Kern replaced with his own choice, Senator Catherine Durant. Underwood also uses Russo in a plot to end a teachers' strike and pass an education bill, which improves Underwood's standing with Walker.

text: Because the new vice president is the former governor of Pennsylvania, a special election is to be held for his successor. Underwood helps Russo get clean and props up his candidacy, but later uses call girl Rachel Posner to break his sobriety and trigger his public downfall shortly before the election. Distraught, Russo decides to make amends for his failure by coming clean to the press about his role in Underwood's schemes. In response, Frank kills Russo by leaving him passed out in a closed garage with Russo's car running, causing him to die of carbon monoxide poisoning. With the special election in chaos, Underwood convinces the vice president to step down and run for his old position of governor – leaving the vice presidency open to Underwood, as was his plan all along.

text: Walker appears to have other plans, however. Underwood ends up vetting a surprising choice for vice president: Missouri billionaire Raymond Tusk. He later finds out that Tusk has been secretly appraising Underwood for vice president and is a longtime advisor and friend of Walker; it was Tusk who convinced Walker to break his original agreement to appoint Underwood. Tusk explains he will influence Walker to nominate Underwood if he agrees to perform one unspecified favor for him that will benefit Tusk's financial interests. Underwood, after some thought, counter-proposes to Tusk that they work together to fulfil both their interests, which Tusk accepts. Meanwhile, after Underwood ends their affair, Zoe begins piecing together clues about Underwood's various plots. The season ends when Underwood is offered the nomination for vice president, which he accepts.

text: Season 2 (2014)[edit]

text: With Frank on the verge of being sworn in as vice president, Zoe and two colleagues, Lucas Goodwin and Janine Skorsky, continue to look into his schemes, and ultimately locate Rachel. As a protective measure, Frank's aide Doug Stamper brings Rachel to a safe house while Frank lures Zoe to a Metro station and, unseen by witnesses or security cameras, pushes her in front of an oncoming train. Zoe's death compels Janine to abandon the investigation, but galvanizes Lucas to continue the search alone. Lucas solicits the help of a hacker to retrieve Frank's text history. However, the hacker, Gavin Orsay, actually works for Doug and frames Lucas for cyberterrorism. Later, Gavin uses Rachel to extort Doug. Fearing potential harm and Doug's growing obsession with her, Rachel hits Doug with a brick and leaves him for dead.

text: After Frank begins his vice presidential duties, Claire becomes close with the First Lady, and they support a bill to reform the military's prosecution of sexual assault, after Claire reveals in an interview that she had an abortion after being raped in college by a man who has just been commissioned as a general. (Claire lies by conflating two events; a sexual assault by the college classmate and an abortion she had several years later). She learns Walker's marriage is strained and offers the First Lady the aid of a spiritual advisor and marriage counselor.

text: Though Tusk wields major influence over Walker, Frank aims to drive a wedge between them. He meets Xander Feng, a Chinese businessman and ally of Tusk's, to engage in back-channel negotiations which Frank intentionally scuttles at the expense of Tusk's credibility. This leads to a trade war with China and a spike in U.S. energy prices. Tusk openly opposes Walker's efforts to deal with the crisis and begins having a tribal casino funnel money into Republican PACs in retaliation. When Frank discovers that Feng is the source of the funneled money, he gets Feng to end his partnership with Tusk in exchange for a lucrative bridge contract.

text: The Justice Department discovers that Doug was videotaped at the casino and investigates the White House's ties to Feng and Tusk. Seeking to establish trust with the special prosecutor, Frank manipulates Walker into volunteering his travel records, which reveal his visits to a marriage counselor and raise questions about whether the illicit donations were discussed. Wishing to avoid public disclosure of his personal issues, Walker has the White House Counsel coach the counselor, which the special prosecutor interprets as witness tampering. As the House Judiciary Committee begins drafting articles of impeachment, both Walker and Frank offer Tusk a presidential pardon in exchange for implicating each other. Tusk sides with Walker at first, leaving Frank no other option than to regain the president's trust as a friend. Walker calls off his deal with Tusk as a sign of friendship to Frank, leading Tusk to testify that Walker knew about the deal with China. With Walker forced to resign, Frank is sworn in as president.

text: Season 3 (2015)[edit]

text: Six months into his presidency, Frank begins by pushing for a new jobs program called America Works. Because funding for America Works requires cutting into social programs, Frank faces immense opposition from his own party. Determined to leave a legacy and not be a "placeholder" president, Underwood makes ambitious moves to run in the 2016 presidential election, where he faces off against Heather Dunbar in the Democratic primaries. This decision is a reversal of his previous pledge not to run for the presidency.

text: Meanwhile, Doug recovers from his injuries, but Frank refuses to reinstate him as his chief of staff. Doug appears to switch sides and begins working for Dunbar's campaign. Gavin helps Doug track down Rachel in exchange for lifting the ban on his passport; the findings he delivers are of a body reported as a Jane Doe but with fingerprints matching Rachel's. Distraught by the news, Doug suffers a relapse, which Frank blames on Dunbar. When Gavin reveals that Rachel is really alive, Doug brutalizes him into divulging her location. Doug finds Rachel living under a false identity in New Mexico, drives her into the desert, and eventually kills her too. He returns to work as Frank's Chief of Staff after Remy resigns.

text: Meanwhile, Claire is named the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and faces a crisis in the Jordan Valley, which pits Frank against Russian president Viktor Petrov. When Petrov has an American gay rights activist arrested in Russia, the Underwoods persuade him to secure a release. However, Petrov demands that the activist apologize on Russian television, leading the activist to kill himself while being visited by Claire. Later, after Russian troops are killed in the Jordan Valley, Petrov convinces Frank to remove Claire as ambassador in exchange for a peaceful resolution. Claire resigns, giving the reason that she wants to be more active in Frank's campaign.

text: Throughout the season, a writer named Thomas Yates follows the Underwoods. He is hired by Frank to write a biography that Frank plans to use to promote America Works. Yates, a fiction writer with a dark past of his own, decides to put a different spin on the book and writes less about Frank and more about his marriage with Claire. Yates reads Frank a prologue that Frank does not understand at first, but agrees is a decent beginning. By the end of the season, Yates has the first chapter written and Frank, not liking the direction the book is taking, fires Yates. By the season finale, tensions between the Underwoods reach a point where Claire states her intent to leave Frank.

text: Season 4 (2016)[edit]

text: Claire relocates to Dallas and runs for Congress in her home district. The incumbent, Doris Jones, plans to retire and endorse her daughter Celia as her successor. Claire offers them federal funding for a key Planned Parenthood clinic in exchange for stepping down, but they refuse the offer. Frank desperately seeks to get Claire back by his side as he loses ground in key primary states. He succeeds after promising not to sabotage her campaign in Texas, but he later blocks her congressional bid by publicly endorsing Celia Jones in his State of the Union address. Frank and Claire travel to South Carolina for the primary, but a series of scandals casts Frank in a bad light and causes him to narrowly lose the state to Dunbar. Frank discovers that Claire had been leaking information to Dunbar, and she threatens to continue unless he names her as his running mate. Frank refuses.

text: Lucas is released from prison and seeks revenge against Frank. He approaches Dunbar and explains his story, but she turns him away. Desperate, he attempts to assassinate Frank, wounding the president in the abdomen and killing bodyguard Edward Meechum, but not before Meechum kills Lucas. While Frank remains comatose, Donald Blythe is sworn in as acting president. Blythe is indecisive during a critical military situation involving Russia, and turns to Claire for guidance on foreign policy. Claire goes against Frank’s wishes by convincing Blythe to involve China in the ensuing dispute and secure a meeting with Petrov, where she brokers an ambitious peace deal single-handedly. While Frank remains incapacitated, Doug decides to go after Dunbar by leaking information about her secret meeting with Lucas prior to the assassination attempt. Dunbar denounces the allegations as a smear campaign, in a move that is widely panned and leads to her suspending her presidential bid. Frank recovers and resumes his position as president, agreeing to put Claire on the ticket for the upcoming election.

text: Tom Hammerschmidt, Zoe and Lucas's former editor, digs deeper into the latter's claims of Frank's misdeeds. He approaches Remy and, with his help, starts to piece together Frank's corruption. Tom also meets with Walker, convincing him to help by appealing to his anger for being forced to resign. Danton and Jackie Sharp also decide to go on the record against Frank to lend credibility to the story.

text: An American family is kidnapped in Tennessee by two supporters of a radical Islamist group called the Islamic Caliphate Organization (ICO), who agree to negotiate only with the ambitious Republican nominee, Governor Will Conway. Frank invites Conway to the White House to assist in the negotiations as a publicity stunt, and Conway helps buy critical time in locating the suspects. However, tensions between the Conways and Underwoods lead to the governor ending his role in the crisis. Frank and Claire allow the kidnappers to speak to the deposed leader of ICO, Yusuf al Ahmadi, after successfully obtaining the release of two of the hostages. Instead of defusing the situation as he agreed, al Ahmadi urges the kidnappers to kill the remaining hostage and broadcast the killing to the public.

text: Meanwhile, Hammerschmidt publishes his story and threatens to end Frank's campaign weeks before the election. Claire urges Frank to use a heavier hand in the situation, and they decide to fight back by creating chaos. Frank addresses the public declaring that the nation is at total war, ordering the full force of the military be used to combat global terrorism regardless the cost. The season ends with Frank and Claire watching the live execution of the hostage together, and Claire breaking the fourth wall for the first time by looking into the camera along with Frank.

text: Season 5 (2017)[edit]

text: In the weeks before the 2016 election, Frank uses ICO as a pretext to enacting martial law in urban areas and consolidating polling places in key states. Done mainly through back channels with Democratic governors, this is officially done in the name of safety, but is actually done to disenfranchise rural Republican voters. To keep the strategy of fear going, Doug blackmails hacker Aidan Macallan into launching a massive cyberattack on the NSA, slowing down internet traffic and wiping out hundreds of thousands of files. The Underwood Administration pins the attack on ICO.

text: On Election Day, the result hinges on Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Ohio. Contrary to the Underwoods' desired plans, the early returns seem to favor Conway. Underwood's political machine stages a terrorist attack in Knoxville, which is pinned on a local suspected ICO sympathizer. With Pennsylvania secured by Conway and Ohio seeming to swing his way, Frank unofficially calls Conway directly to concede. However, this is merely a tactic to put Conway off guard, as the Underwoods contact Ohio's governor and convince him to close the polls early on the pretense of a terrorist threat. Ohio and Tennessee refuse to certify the election, and neither candidate reaches the requisite number of electoral votes.

text: Nine weeks after the unresolved election, the Twelfth Amendment is invoked, with the vote being put up to members of Congress. During a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, cracks begin to appear in Conway's facade as he loses his cool. In spite of this, Frank's own baggage and 12% approval rating only allows him a tie with Conway in the House, while Claire manages to secure the Senate vote, becoming acting president. In light of the tie, Claire orders a special election for Ohio and Tennessee. Meanwhile, Jane Davis, a low-ranking Commerce Department official who has a wide-ranging network of connections and influence, begins working closely with the Underwoods.

text: As a private citizen for the time being, Frank attends a meeting of powerful men at a secret society known as Elysian Fields, in an effort to secure their influence for votes in the upcoming special election. Meanwhile, Conway has a mental breakdown on his private plane due to feeling that the election was stolen from him. Eventually, this and other leaks from his campaign are slowly dripped to the media in a manner that seems unconnected to the Underwoods. Seeing that his candidate is losing, Conway's campaign manager, Mark Usher, switches sides to the Underwoods. The Underwood ticket wins both Ohio and Tennessee, and Frank is sworn in as president and Claire as vice president.

text: Meanwhile, Hammerschmidt continues to investigate Zoe's death, and is given information by an unknown leaker within the White House. Major document dumps are made available to Hammerschmidt, which, among other charges, prompts an impeachment hearing against Frank. In response, the Underwoods set up extensive surveillance on all White House personnel. Eventually, the leaker makes a voice-modulated call to Hammerschmidt, implicating Doug in Zoe's murder. The Underwoods convince Doug to take the fall for killing Zoe, and the leaker is revealed to be Frank himself.

text: The leaks are revealed to be part of Frank's master plan to resign the presidency to Claire, believing his thirst for power can be better achieved in the private sector, working alongside his wife's presidency. Frank, concerned about Durant's intention to testify at the impeachment hearing, pushes her down a short flight of stairs upon accepting her resignation, hospitalizing her. Claire poisons Yates with an overdose of Gelsemium provided to her by Jane, concerned that he knows too much. Finally, contractors working for the Underwoods eliminate LeAnn by ramming her car off the road into a guard rail. Frank resigns, and the two await the proper moment for Claire to pardon him. This comes in the form of a military special operations unit finding and taking out the leader of ICO, which moves media focus away from Frank. Standing in the Oval Office, Claire appears to reconsider pardoning Frank, and ignores multiple concerned calls from him regarding the matter. The season ends with Claire ignoring Frank's call, then breaking the fourth wall to tell the viewers, "My turn."

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text:
Kevin Spacey as Francis J. "Frank" Underwood, Democrat from South Carolina's 5th congressional district who is House Majority Whip in season one, Vice President of the United States in season two, and the 46th President of the United States in seasons three to five.
Robin Wright as Claire Underwood, Frank's wife who runs the Clean Water Initiative, a non-governmental organization, in season one before giving it up to become Second Lady of the United States in season two. She then becomes United States Ambassador to the United Nations in season three and First Lady of the United States in seasons three to five, Acting President of the United States briefly in season five before becoming Vice President of the United States and then permanently 47th President of the United States at the end of the season.
Kate Mara as Zoe Barnes, a reporter for The Washington Herald (and later Slugline). She forms an intimate relationship with Frank Underwood, her political informant, who in turn uses her as a mouthpiece to leak stories to the press and irk his political rivals.
Corey Stoll as Peter Russo, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district and recovering addict.
Michael Kelly as Douglas "Doug" Stamper, Underwood's unwaveringly loyal chief of staff and confidant. He is temporarily replaced by Remy Danton as Chief of Staff after his injury for most of season 3 but returns as his new chief of staff at the end of the season.
Kristen Connolly as Christina Gallagher, a congressional staffer and personal assistant to President Walker, and lover to Peter Russo.
Sakina Jaffrey as Linda Vasquez, President Walker's White House Chief of Staff.
Sandrine Holt as Gillian Cole, the leader of a grass-roots organization called World Well that provides clean water to developing countries.
Constance Zimmer as Janine Skorsky, a reporter for The Washington Herald.
Michel Gill as Garrett Walker, 45th President of the United States, former Governor of Colorado. He trusts Underwood as a close adviser and lieutenant, but remains blind to his machinations.
Sebastian Arcelus as Lucas Goodwin, an editor at The Washington Herald and later Zoe's boyfriend.
Mahershala Ali as Remy Danton, a lawyer for Glendon Hill and lobbyist who works for natural gas company SanCorp in season one and Raymond Tusk in season two. He worked in Underwood's congressional office as Communications Director prior to the series, and after severing ties with Tusk, serves as Underwood's chief of staff for most of season 3 until quitting at the end of the season.
Boris McGiver as Tom Hammerschmidt, editor-in-chief of The Washington Herald. He opens an investigation into the secret dealings of Frank and his inner circle in Season 4.
Nathan Darrow as Edward Meechum, a member of the U.S. Capitol Police and the Underwoods' bodyguard and driver.
Rachel Brosnahan as Rachel Posner, a prostitute trying to make a better life for herself using Stamper.
Molly Parker as Jacqueline "Jackie" Sharp, a Democratic congresswoman from California who succeeded Frank as Majority Whip. She also briefly ran for the Democratic nomination for President in season 3.
Gerald McRaney as Raymond Tusk, a billionaire businessman with a wide network of influence, although he prefers to live modestly.
Jayne Atkinson as Catherine "Cathy" Durant, a Democratic Senator from Louisiana and Secretary of State.
Jimmi Simpson as Gavin Orsay, a computer hacker turned reluctant FBI informant, who works secretly with Doug Stamper in exchange for help escaping the country.
Mozhan Marnò as Wall Street Telegraph reporter Ayla Sayyad. She is assigned to the White House and does freelance investigative reporting.
Elizabeth Marvel as Heather Dunbar, a lawyer and Solicitor General of the US in the Walker Administration. She runs against Underwood for the Democratic nomination.
Derek Cecil as Seth Grayson, a political operative who becomes Press Secretary for Vice President Underwood through blackmail.
Paul Sparks as Thomas Yates, a successful author whom Frank asks to write a book about the America Works jobs program. He stays on as a speech writer and Claire's lover.
Joel Kinnaman as Will Conway, Republican Governor of New York and Nominee for President of the United States running against Frank.
Kim Dickens as Kate Baldwin, chief political reporter of the Wall Street Telegraph. She replaces Sayyad at the White House after Seth Grayson dismisses Sayyad for protocol violations.
Lars Mikkelsen as Viktor Petrov, the President of Russia.[8]
Neve Campbell as LeAnn Harvey, a Texas-based political consultant Claire hires to run her Congressional campaign. She later becomes the Campaign Manager for the Underwoods for the 2016 Election.
Campbell Scott as Mark Usher, Conway's Campaign Manager. He later joins the Underwood's inner circle as a "Special Adviser".
Patricia Clarkson as Jane Davis, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade. She is very well connected and able to successfully negotiate back channel dealings for the Underwoods.
Dominique McElligott as Hannah Conway, wife of New York Governor and Republican presidential nominee Will Conway.
Korey Jackson as Sean Jeffries, a young reporter at the Washington Herald working under Hammerschmidt.
Damian Young as Aidan Macallan, a data scientist and NSA contractor who is friends with LeAnn Harvey.
James Martinez as Alex Romero, a Democratic Congressman who leads the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Frank's alleged abuse of power.

text: Production[edit]

text: Conception[edit]

text:
The world of 7:30 on Tuesday nights, that's dead. A stake has been driven through its heart, its head has been cut off, and its mouth has been stuffed with garlic. The captive audience is gone. If you give people this opportunity to mainline all in one day, there's reason to believe they will do it.
“
”

 — David Fincher[9]

tag: div

text: Independent studio Media Rights Capital, founded by Mordecai Wiczyk and Asif Satchu, producer of films such as Babel, purchased the rights to House of Cards with the intention to create a series.[10] While finishing production on his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher's agent showed him House of Cards, a BBC miniseries starring Ian Richardson.[10] Fincher was interested in producing a potential series with Eric Roth.[10] Fincher said that he was interested in doing television because of its long-form nature,[11] adding that working in film does not allow for complex characterizations the way that television allows.[11] "I felt for the past ten years that the best writing that was happening for actors was happening in television. And so I had been looking to do something that was longer form," Fincher stated.[11]

text: MRC approached different networks about the series, including HBO, Showtime and AMC, but Netflix, hoping to launch its own original programming, outbid the other networks.[12] Ted Sarandos, Netflix's Chief Content Officer, looked at the data of Netflix users' streaming habits and concluded that there was an audience for Fincher and Spacey.[13] "It looked incredibly promising," he said, "kind of the perfect storm of material and talent."[10] In finding a writer to adapt the series, Fincher stated that they needed someone who could faithfully translate parliamentary politics to Washington."[10] Beau Willimon, who has served as an aide to Charles Schumer, Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton,[14] was hired and completed the pilot script in early 2011.[10] Willimon saw the opportunity to create an entirely new series from the original and deepen its overall story.[10]

text:
This is the future, streaming is the future. TV will not be TV in five years from now...everyone will be streaming.
“
”

 — Beau Willimon[15]

text: The project was first announced in March 2011, with Kevin Spacey attached to star and serve as an executive producer.[16] Fincher was announced as director for the first two episodes, from scripts by Willimon. Netflix ordered 26 episodes to air over two seasons.[17]

text: Spacey called Netflix's model of publishing all episodes at once a "new perspective."[15] He added that Netflix's commitment to two full seasons gave the series greater continuity. "We know exactly where we are going," he said.[15] In a speech at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, he also noted that while other networks were interested in the show, they all wanted a pilot, whereas Netflix – relying solely on their statistics – ordered the series directly.[18] In January 2016, show creator, executive producer and showrunner Beau Willimon's departure following season 4 was announced.[19]

text: Casting[edit]

text:
I was lucky to get into film at a time that was very interesting for drama. But if you look now, the focus is not on the same kind of films that were made in the 90s. When I look now, the most interesting plots, the most interesting characters, they are on TV.
“
”

 — Kevin Spacey[15]

text: Fincher stated that every main cast member was their first choice.[11] In the first read through, he said "I want everybody here to know that you represent our first choice — each actor here represents our first choice for these characters. So do not fuck this up."[11] Spacey, whose last regular television role was in the series Wiseguy, which ran from 1987 until 1990, responded positively to the script. He then played Richard III at The Old Vic, which Fincher said was "great training."[11] Spacey supported the decision to release all of the episodes at once, believing that this type of release pattern will be increasingly common with television shows. He said, "When I ask my friends what they did with their weekend, they say, 'Oh, I stayed in and watched three seasons of Breaking Bad or it's two seasons of Game of Thrones."[20] He was officially cast on March 18, 2011.[16] Robin Wright was approached by Fincher to star in the series when they worked together in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.[11] She was cast as Claire Underwood in June 2011.[21] Kate Mara was cast as Zoe Barnes in early February 2012.[22] Mara's sister, Rooney, worked with Fincher in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and when Kate Mara read the part of Zoe, she "fell in love with the character" and asked her sister to "put in a word for me with Fincher." The next month, she got a call for an audition.[23]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Locations[edit]

text: Principal photography for the first season began in January 2012[24] in Harford County, Maryland, on the Eastern seaboard of the United States.[25] Filming of exterior scenes in 2013 centered primarily in and around the city of Baltimore, Maryland, which is about 40 miles northeast of Washington, D.C.

text: Among the numerous exteriors filmed in Baltimore, but set in Washington, D.C., are: Francis and Claire Underwood's residence, Zoe Barnes' apartment, Freddy’s BBQ Rib Joint, The Clean Water Initiative building where Claire works, The Washington Herald offices, the Washington Opera House, the Secretary of State's building, Hotel Cotesworth, The Georgetown Hotel, Werner's Bar, Tio Pepe's, the DuPont Circle Bar, as well as scenes set in other locations, including Peter Russo's campaign rally in Pennsylvania and The Sentinel (military academy)’s Francis J. Underwood Library and Waldron Hall in South Carolina.[26]

text: Most of the interior scenes in House of Cards are filmed in a large industrial warehouse,[27] which is located in Joppa, Maryland, also in Harford County, which is about 17 miles north east of Baltimore.[27][28] The warehouse is used for the filming of some of the most iconic scenes of the series, such as the full-scale reconstruction of most of the West Wing of the White House, including the Oval Office,[29] the Congressional offices and corridors, the large 'Slugline' open-plan office interior, and domestic interiors such as the large townhouse rooms of the Underwood residence and a large loft apartment.[27] Extensive filming for season 5 was also done at the Maryland Historical Society in Mount Vernon, Baltimore.

text: The series uses green screen to augment the live action, inserting views of outdoor scenes in windows and broadcast images on TV monitors, often in post-production. The Production Designer, Steve Arnold, also describes in detail the use of a three-sided green screen to insert street scenes outside car windows, with synchronized LED screens above the car (and out of camera shot), that emit the appropriate light onto the actors and parts of the car, such as window frames: "All the driving in the show, anything inside the vehicle is done on stage, in a room that is a big three-sided green screen space. The car does not move, the actors are in the car, and the cameras are set up around them. We have very long strips of LED monitors hung above the car. We had a camera crew go to Washington, D.C. to drive around and shoot plates for what you see outside when you’re driving. And that is fed into the LED screens above the car. So as the scene is progressing, the LED screens are synched up to emit interactive light to match the light conditions you see in the scenery you’re driving past (that will be added in post). All the reflections on the car windows, the window frames and door jambs is being shot while we’re shooting the actors in the car. Then in post the green screens are replaced with the synced up driving plates, and it works really well. It gives you the sense of light passing over the actors’ faces, matching the lighting that is in the image of the plate".[27]

text: In June 2014, filming of three episodes in the UN Security Council chamber was vetoed by Russia at the last minute.[30] However the show was able to film in other parts of the UN Building.[31] In August 2014, the show filmed a "mock-motorcade scene" in Washington, D.C.[31] In December 2014, the show filmed in Espanola, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas, New Mexico.[32][33]

text: Tax credits[edit]

text: According to the Maryland Film Office, the state provided millions in tax credits to subsidize the production costs.

text:
For season 1, the company received a final tax credit of $11.6 million. Production costs were $63 million, more than 1,800 Maryland businesses were involved, and nearly 2,200 Marylanders were hired with a $138 million economic impact.[34]
For season 2, the company was reported to expect to get a tax credit of about $15 million because filming costs were more than $55 million. There were nearly 2,000 Maryland businesses benefitting from the production and more than 3,700 Marylanders were hired with a $120 million estimated economic impact.[34]
For season 3, the company filed a letter of intent to film, and estimated costs and economic impact similar to season 2.[34] Under the 2014 formula, "the show would qualify for up to $15 million in tax credits."[34]

text: Release[edit]

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: In Australia, where Netflix was not available prior to 2015, the series was broadcast on Showcase, premiering May 7, 2013. Australian subscription TV provider Foxtel, and owner of Showcase, offered the entire first season to Showcase subscribers via their On Demand feature on Foxtel set top boxes connected to the internet, as well as through their Xbox 360, Internet TV, and mobile (Foxtel Go) services. Although the entire season was made available, it maintained its weekly timeslot on Showcase.[35] Season two returned to Showcase on February 15, 2014. As with season one, the entire season was made available on demand to Showcase subscribers while also retaining a weekly timeslot.[36] The series has also been made available to non Foxtel subscribers through Apple's Apple TV service. Prior to Netflix's Australian launch on March 28, 2015,[37] Netflix renounced Showcase's rights to House of Cards,[38] with season 3 premiering on Netfix at launch.[39]

text: In New Zealand, where Netflix was unavailable prior to 2015, season 1 premiered on TV3 in early 2014 followed immediately by season 2.[40] Netflix launched in New Zealand on March 24, 2015, and unlike Australia (which had Netflix launch on the same day) where House of Cards season 3 was available at launch,[37] the series was unavailable and the premiere date and network of season 3 is unknown.[41]

text: In India, where Netflix was unavailable prior to January 2016, House of Cards premiered on February 20, 2014, on Zee Café.[42] Seasons 1 and 2 were aired back–to–back.[43] The channel aired all 13 episodes of season 3 on March 28 and 29, 2015. This marked the first time that an English-language general entertainment channel in India aired all episodes of the latest season of a series together. The move was intended to satisfy viewers' urge to binge watch the season.[44] Although Netflix launched in India in January 2016, House of Cards was not available on the service until March 4, 2016.[45] All episodes of season 4 had their television premiere on Zee Café on March 12 and 13, 2016.[46]

text: House of Cards was acquired by Canadian superstation CHCH for broadcast beginning September 13, 2017, making the program available throughout Canada on cable and free-to-air in CHCH's broadcast region, which includes portions of the United States.[47]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Season 1 was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in region 1 on June 11, 2013,[48] season 2 was released on June 17, 2014,[49] season 3 was released on July 7, 2015,[50] and season 4 was released on July 5, 2016.[51]

text:
Season
Volume/Chapters
DVD Releases
Blu-ray Releases

Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
Region A
Region B

The Complete First Season
Volume One
Chapters 1–13

June 11, 2013

June 10, 2013

June 27, 2013

June 11, 2013

June 10, 2013

The Complete Second Season
Volume Two
Chapters 14–26

June 17, 2014

June 16, 2014

June 19, 2014

June 17, 2014

June 16, 2014

The Complete Third Season
Volume Three
Chapters 27–39

July 7, 2015

June 29, 2015

August 6, 2015

July 7, 2015

June 29, 2015

The Complete Fourth Season
Volume Four
Chapters 40–52

July 5, 2016

July 4, 2016

July 7, 2016

July 5, 2016

July 4, 2016

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text:
Season
Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes
Metacritic

1
85% (34 reviews)
76 (25 reviews)

2
88% (40 reviews)
80 (25 reviews)

3
77% (48 reviews)
76 (24 reviews)

4
87% (30 reviews)
76 (17 reviews)

5
72% (25 reviews)
60 (11 reviews)

text: Season 1[edit]

text: The first season received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a rating of 85%, based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "Bolstered by strong performances — especially from Kevin Spacey — and surehanded direction, House of Cards is a slick, engrossing drama that may redefine how television is produced."[52] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[53][54]

text: USA Today critic Robert Bianco praised the series, particularly Spacey's and Wright's lead performances, stating "If you think network executives are nervous, imagine the actors who have to go up against that pair in the Emmys."[55] Tom Gilatto of People Weekly lauded the first two episodes, calling them "cinematically rich, full of sleek, oily pools of darkness."[53] In The Denver Post, critic Joanne Ostrow said the series is "Deeply cynical about human beings as well as politics and almost gleeful in its portrayal of limitless ambition." She added: "House of Cards is a wonderfully sour take on power and corruption."[56]

text: Writing in The New York Times, critic Alessandra Stanley noted that the writing in the series sometimes fails to match the high quality of its acting: "Unfortunately Mr. Spacey’s lines don’t always live up to the subtle power of his performance; the writing isn’t Shakespeare, or even Aaron Sorkin, and at times, it turns strangely trite." Nevertheless, she lauded House of Cards as an entertainment that "revels in the familiar but always entertaining underbelly of government."[57] Andrew Davies, the writer of the original UK TV series, stated that Spacey's character lacks the "charm" of Ian Richardson's,[58] while The Independent praised Spacey's portrayal as a more "menacing" character, "hiding his rage behind Southern charm and old-fashioned courtesy."[59] Randy Shaw, writing for The Huffington Post, criticized House of Cards for glorifying "union bashing and entitlement slashing within a political landscape whose absence of activist groups or anyone remotely progressive resembles a Republican fantasy world".[60] Critics such as Time television critic James Poniewozik and Hank Stuever of The Washington Post compare the series to Boss.[61][62] Like the UK show and novel of the same name many critics have noted that it is heavily influenced by both Macbeth and Richard III,[63][64][65] In addition, some critics find elements of Othello, such as Iago's bitter ire.[66]

text: Season 2[edit]

text: The second season received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the season has a rating of 88%, based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "House of Cards proves just as bingeworthy in its second season, with more of the strong performances, writing, and visual design that made the first season so addictive".[67] On Metacritic the season has a score of 80 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[68]

text: But as the season progressed, reviews became more mixed.[69] Jen Chaney of Vulture wrote that the second season "felt kind of empty" and that "the closest it came to feeling emotionally rich was when it focused on Claire."[70] At the end of the second season, Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote that show is a "A ridiculous political potboiler that takes itself too seriously"; he gave the overall season a C-.[71]

text: Season 3[edit]

text: The third season received mostly positive reviews, although many critics noted it felt repetitive. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 77%, based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Season three introduces intriguing new political and personal elements to Frank Underwood's character, even if it feels like more of the same for some."[72] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[73]

text: Negative reviews came from Nick Gillespie of The Daily Beast who accused the writers of "descending into prosaic moralism" in season 3 and asserts that it deviates from the show's original intent,[74] and Michael Wolff of USA Today plainly asserts that "the third season of House of Cards is no good...not just no good, but incompetent, a shambles, lost."[75] IndieWire named the season one of the most disappointing shows of 2015.[76]

text: Season 4[edit]

text: The fourth season received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 87%, based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "House of Cards retains its binge-worthiness by ratcheting up the drama, and deepening Robin Wright's role even further."[77] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[78]

text: Ben Travers of IndieWire had a positive response to season four, calling it an upgrade from what he perceived as a "messy and unsatisfying melodramatic" third season, writing that "House of Cards is aiming at authenticity, and–for what feels like the first time–consistently finding it."[79]

text: Todd Van DerWerff of Vox had a mixed review to season four, criticizing the repetitive and predictable nature of the series, writing: "There's no such mystery with House of Cards, where you know exactly what will happen as surely as you do on NCIS. Obstacles will present themselves, but Frank (the hammy Kevin Spacey) and Claire (the almost perfect Robin Wright) Underwood will overcome. What you see is what you get."[80]

text: The choice to have Frank and Claire run as running mates was highly criticized by some reviewers. Jonathan Holmes of Radio Times wrote that "there are limits to the stupidity viewers are willing to accept, and with season four [House of Cards] may have stepped over the line. Claire demanding her selection as Frank’s running mate is stupid. Moronic. It turns a canny political operator into a ham-brained fish-eyed jar-opener."[81] Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic wrote that "in moments like this it’s good to remember that Cards really, fundamentally is a stupid TV show instead of a particularly cunning comment on political reality."[82]

text: Season 5[edit]

text: The fifth season received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 72% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "House of Cards enjoys a confident return to form this season, though its outlandish edge is tempered slightly by the current political climate."[83] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 60 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[84]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: For its first season, House of Cards received nine nominations for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, to become the first original online-only web television series to receive major nominations.[85] Among House of Cards' nine nominations, "Chapter 1" received four nominations for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards and 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards becoming the first webisode (online-only episode) of a television series to receive a major Primetime Emmy Award nomination: Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for David Fincher. This episode also received several Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic).[85][86] Although Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series is not a category that formally recognizes an episode, Spacey submitted "Chapter 1" for consideration to earn his nomination.[87] At the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award presentation, "Chapter 1" and Eigil Bryld earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series, making "Chapter 1" the first Emmy-awarded webisode.[88][89] At the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, Fincher won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for directing the pilot episode "Chapter 1" in addition to the pair of Creative Arts Emmy Awards, making "Chapter 1" the first Primetime Emmy-awarded webisode.[90] None of the Emmy awards were considered to be in major categories.[91]

text: For the 71st Golden Globe Awards, House of Cards received four nominations.[92] Among those nominations was Wright for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for her portrayal of Claire Underwood, which she won. In so doing she became the first actress to win a Golden Globe Award for an online-only web television series.[93][94][95]

text: For its second season, House of Cards received 13 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, Kevin Spacey for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Robin Wright for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Kate Mara for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, and Reg E. Cathey for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.[96] At the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, the series was nominated for Best Drama Series and Wright was nominated for Best Drama Actress, while Spacey won for Best Drama Actor.


document_title: Thyroid hormones

question_text: thyroid hormones (t3 and t4) are produced by

question_tokens: thyroid hormones ( t3 and t4 ) are produced by

root

text: Thyroid hormones

text: Function[edit]

text: The thyroid hormones act on nearly every cell in the body. They act to increase the basal metabolic rate, affect protein synthesis, help regulate long bone growth (synergy with growth hormone) and neural maturation, and increase the body's sensitivity to catecholamines (such as adrenaline) by permissiveness. The thyroid hormones are essential to proper development and differentiation of all cells of the human body. These hormones also regulate protein, fat, and carbohydrate metabolism, affecting how human cells use energetic compounds. They also stimulate vitamin metabolism. Numerous physiological and pathological stimuli influence thyroid hormone synthesis.

tag: p

text: Thyroid hormone leads to heat generation in humans. However, the thyronamines function via some unknown mechanism to inhibit neuronal activity; this plays an important role in the hibernation cycles of mammals and the moulting behaviour of birds. One effect of administering the thyronamines is a severe drop in body temperature.

text: Medical use[edit]

text: Both T3 and T4 are used to treat thyroid hormone deficiency (hypothyroidism). They are both absorbed well by the gut, so can be given orally. Levothyroxine is the pharmaceutical name of the manufactured version of T4, which is metabolised more slowly than T3 and hence usually only needs once-daily administration. Natural desiccated thyroid hormones are derived from pig thyroid glands, and are a "natural" hypothyroid treatment containing 20% T3 and traces of T2, T1and calcitonin. Also available are synthetic combinations of T3/T4 in different ratios (such as liotrix) and pure-T3 medications (INN: liothyronine). Levothyroxine Sodium is usually the first course of treatment tried. Some patients feel they do better on desiccated thyroid hormones; however, this is based on anecdotal evidence and clinical trials have not shown any benefit over the biosynthetic forms.[4] Thyroid tablets are reported to have different effects, which can be attributed to the difference in torsional angles surrounding the reactive site of the molecule.[5]

text: Thyronamines have no medical usages yet, though their use has been proposed for controlled induction of hypothermia, which causes the brain to enter a protective cycle, useful in preventing damage during ischemic shock.

text: Synthetic thyroxine was first successfully produced by Charles Robert Harington and George Barger in 1926.

text: Formulations[edit]

text: Today most patients are treated with levothyroxine, or a similar synthetic thyroid hormone.[6][7][8] Different polymorphs of the compound have different solubilities and potencies.[9] Additionally, natural thyroid hormone supplements from the dried thyroids of animals are still available.[8][10][11] Levothyroxine contains T4 only and is therefore largely ineffective for patients unable to convert T4 to T3.[12] These patients may choose to take natural thyroid hormone, as it contains a mixture of T4 and T3,[8][13][14][15][16] or alternatively supplement with a synthetic T3 treatment.[17] In these cases, synthetic liothyronine is preferred due to the potential differences between the natural thyroid products. Some studies show that the mixed therapy is beneficial to all patients, but the addition of lyothyronine contains additional side effects and the medication should be evaluated on an individual basis.[18] Some natural thyroid hormone brands are FDA approved, but some are not.[19][20][21] Thyroid hormones are generally well tolerated.[7] Thyroid hormones are usually not dangerous for pregnant women or nursing mothers, but should be given under a doctor's supervision. In fact, if a woman who is hypothyroid is left untreated, her baby is at a higher risk for birth defects. When pregnant, a woman with a low-functioning thyroid will also need to increase her dosage of thyroid hormone.[7] One exception is that thyroid hormones may aggravate heart conditions, especially in older patients; therefore, doctors may start these patients on a lower dose and work up to a larger one to avoid risk of heart attack.[8]

text: Production[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: Central[edit]

text: Thyroid hormones (T4 and T3) are produced by the follicular cells of the thyroid gland and are regulated by TSH made by the thyrotropes of the anterior pituitary gland. The effects of T4 in vivo are mediated via T3 (T4 is converted to T3 in target tissues). T3 is 3- to 5- fold more active than T4.

text: Thyroxine (3,5,3',5'-tetraiodothyronine) is produced by follicular cells of the thyroid gland. It is produced as the precursor thyroglobulin (this is not the same as thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG)), which is cleaved by enzymes to produce active T4.

text: The steps in this process are as follows:[22]

text:
The Na+/I− symporter transports two sodium ions across the basement membrane of the follicular cells along with an iodide ion. This is a secondary active transporter that utilises the concentration gradient of Na+ to move I− against its concentration gradient.
I− is moved across the apical membrane into the colloid of the follicle.
Thyroperoxidase oxidizes two I− to form I2. Iodide is non-reactive, and only the more reactive iodine is required for the next step.
The thyroperoxidase iodinates the tyrosyl residues of the thyroglobulin within the colloid. The thyroglobulin was synthesised in the ER of the follicular cell and secreted into the colloid.
Iodinated Thyroglobulin binds megalin for endocytosis back into cell.
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) released from the adenohypophysis binds the TSH receptor (a Gs protein-coupled receptor) on the basolateral membrane of the cell and stimulates the endocytosis of the colloid.
The endocytosed vesicles fuse with the lysosomes of the follicular cell. The lysosomal enzymes cleave the T4 from the iodinated thyroglobulin.
The thyroid hormones cross the follicular cell membrane towards the blood vessels by an unknown mechanism.[22] Text books have stated that diffusion is the main means of transport,[25] but recent studies indicate that monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) 8 and 10 play major roles in the efflux of the thyroid hormones from the thyroid cells.[23][24]

tag: ol

text: Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a 660 kDa, dimeric protein produced by the follicular cells of the thyroid and used entirely within the thyroid gland.[citation needed] Thyroxine is produced by attaching iodine atoms to the ring structures of this protein's tyrosine residues; thyroxine (T4) contains four iodine atoms, while triiodothyronine (T3), otherwise identical to T4, has one less iodine atom per molecule. The thyroglobulin protein accounts for approximately half of the protein content of the thyroid gland.[citation needed] Each thyroglobulin molecule contains approximately 100-120 tyrosine residues, a small number of which (<20) are subject to iodination catalysed by thyroperoxidase.[26] The same enzyme then catalyses "coupling" of one modified tyrosine with another, via a free radical-mediated reaction, and when these iodinated bicyclic molecules are released by hydrolysis of the protein, T3 and T4 are the result.[citation needed] hence, each Tg protein molecule ultimately yields very small amounts of thyroid hormone (experimentally observed to be on the order of 5-6 molecules of either T4 or T3 per original molecule of Tg).[26]

text:
More specifically, the monoatomic, anionic form of iodine, iodide,

I

{\displaystyle I}

—, is actively absorbed from the bloodstream by a process called iodide trapping.[citation needed] In this process, sodium is cotransported with iodide from the basolateral side of the membrane into the cell,[clarification needed] and then concentrated in the thyroid follicles to about thirty times its concentration in the blood.[citation needed] Then, in the first reaction catalysed by the enzyme thyroperoxidase, tyrosine residues in the protein thyroglobulin are iodinated on their phenol rings, at one or both of the positions ortho to the phenolic hydroxyl group, yielding monoiodotyrosine (MIT) and diiodotyrosine (DIT), respectively. This introduces 1-2 atoms of the element iodine, covalently bound, per tyrosine residue.[citation needed] The further coupling together of two fully iodinated tyrosine residues, also catalysed by thyroperoxidase, yields the peptidic (still peptide-bound) precursor of thyroxine, and coupling one molecule of MIT and one molecule of DIT yields the comparable precursor of triiodothyronine:[citation needed]

text:
peptidic MIT + peptidic DIT → peptidic triiodothyronine (eventually released as triiodothyronine, T3)
2 peptidic DITs → peptidic thyroxine (eventually released as thyroxin, T4)

tag: ul

text: (Coupling of DIT to MIT in the opposite order yields a substance, r-T3, which is biologically inactive.[relevant? – discuss][citation needed]) Hydrolysis (cleavage to individual amino acids) of the modified protein by proteases then liberates T3 and T4, as well as the non-coupled tyrosine derivatives MIT and DIT.[citation needed] The hormones T4 and T3 are the biologically active agents central to metabolic regulation.[citation needed]

text: Peripheral[edit]

text: Thyroxine is believed to be a prohormone and a reservoir for the most active and main thyroid hormone T3.[27] T4 is converted as required in the tissues by iodothyronine deiodinase.[28] Deficiency of deiodinase can mimic hypothyroidism due to iodine deficiency.[29] T3 is more active than T4,[30] though it is present in less quantity than T4.

text: Initiation of production in fetuses[edit]

text: Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is released from hypothalamus by 6 – 8 weeks, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) secretion from fetal pituitary is evident by 12 weeks of gestation, and fetal production of thyroxine (T4) reaches a clinically significant level at 18–20 weeks.[31] Fetal triiodothyronine (T3) remains low (less than 15 ng/dL) until 30 weeks of gestation, and increases to 50 ng/dL at term.[31] Fetal self-sufficiency of thyroid hormones protects the fetus against e.g. brain development abnormalities caused by maternal hypothyroidism.[32]

text: Effect of iodine deficiency on thyroid hormone synthesis[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: If there is a deficiency of dietary iodine, the thyroid will not be able to make thyroid hormone. The lack of thyroid hormone will lead to decreased negative feedback on the pituitary, leading to increased production of thyroid-stimulating hormone, which causes the thyroid to enlarge (the resulting medical condition is called endemic colloid goitre; see goitre). This has the effect of increasing the thyroid's ability to trap more iodide, compensating for the iodine deficiency and allowing it to produce adequate amounts of thyroid hormone.

text: Circulation and transport[edit]

text: Plasma transport[edit]

text: Most of the thyroid hormone circulating in the blood is bound to transport proteins. Only a very small fraction of the circulating hormone is free (unbound) and biologically active, hence measuring concentrations of free thyroid hormones is of great diagnostic value.

text: When thyroid hormone is bound, it is not active, so the amount of free T3/T4 is what is important. For this reason, measuring total thyroxine in the blood can be misleading.

text:
Type
Percent

bound to thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG)
70%

bound to transthyretin or "thyroxine-binding prealbumin" (TTR or TBPA)
10-15%

albumin
15-20%

unbound T4 (fT4)
0.03%

unbound T3 (fT3)
0.3%

text: Despite being lipophilic, T3 and T4 cross the cell membrane via carrier-mediated transport, which is ATP-dependent.[33]

text: T1a and T0a are positively charged and do not cross the membrane; they are believed to function via the trace amine-associated receptor TAAR1 (TAR1, TA1), a G-protein-coupled receptor located in the cell membrane.

text: Another critical diagnostic tool is measurement of the amount of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) that is present.

text: Membrane transport[edit]

text: Contrary to common belief, thyroid[34] hormones cannot traverse cell membranes in a passive manner like other lipophilic substances. The iodine in o-position makes the phenolic OH-group more acidic, resulting in a negative charge at physiological pH. However, at least 10 different active, energy-dependent and genetically-regulated iodothyronine transporters have been identified in humans. They guarantee that intracellular levels of thyroid hormones are higher than in blood plasma or interstitial fluids.[35]

text: Intracellular transport[edit]

text: Little is known about intracellular kinetics of thyroid hormones. However, recently it could be demonstrated that the crystallin CRYM binds 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine in vivo.[36]

text: Mechanism of action[edit]

text: The thyroid hormones function via a well-studied set of nuclear receptors, termed the thyroid hormone receptors. These receptors, together with corepressor molecules, bind DNA regions called thyroid hormone response elements (TREs) near genes. This receptor-corepressor-DNA complex can block gene transcription. When triiodothyronine (T3) binds a receptor, it induces a conformational change in the receptor, displacing the corepressor from the complex. This leads to recruitment of coactivator proteins and RNA polymerase, activating transcription of the gene. [37] Although this general functional model has considerable experimental support, there remain many open questions. [38]

text: Thyroxine, iodine and apoptosis[edit]

text: Thyroxine and iodine stimulate the spectacular apoptosis of the cells of the larval gills, tail and fins in amphibian metamorphosis, and stimulate the evolution of their nervous system transforming the aquatic, vegetarian tadpole into the terrestrial, carnivorous frog. In fact, amphibian frog Xenopus laevis serves as an ideal model system for the study of the mechanisms of apoptosis.[39][40][41][42]

text: Effects of triiodothyronine[edit]

text: Effects of triiodothyronine (T3) which is the metabolically active form:

text:
Increases cardiac output
Increases heart rate
Increases ventilation rate
Increases basal metabolic rate
Potentiates the effects of catecholamines (i.e. increases sympathetic activity)
Potentiates brain development
Thickens endometrium in females
Increases catabolism of proteins and carbohydrates[43]

text: Measurement[edit]

text: Thyroxine and triiodothyronine can be measured as free thyroxine and free triiodothyronine, which are indicators of thyroxine and triiodothyronine activities in the body. They can also be measured as total thyroxine and total triiodothyronine, which also depend on the thyroxine and triiodothyronine that is bound to thyroxine-binding globulin. A related parameter is the free thyroxine index, which is total thyroxine multiplied by thyroid hormone uptake, which, in turn, is a measure of the unbound thyroxine-binding globulins.[44] Additionally, thyroid disorders can be detected prenatally using advanced imaging techniques and testing fetal hormone levels.[45]

text: Related diseases[edit]

text: Both excess and deficiency of thyroxine can cause disorders.

text:
Hyperthyroidism (an example is Graves Disease) is the clinical syndrome caused by an excess of circulating free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine, or both. It is a common disorder that affects approximately 2% of women and 0.2% of men. Thyrotoxicosis is often used interchangeably with hyperthyroidism, but there are subtle differences. Although thyrotoxicosis also refers to an increase in circulating thyroid hormones, it can be caused by the intake of thyroxine tablets or by an over-active thyroid, whereas hyperthyroidism refers solely to an over-active thyroid.
Hypothyroidism (an example is Hashimoto's thyroiditis) is the case where there is a deficiency of thyroxine, triiodiothyronine, or both.
Clinical depression can sometimes be caused by hypothyroidism.[46] Some research[47] has shown that T3 is found in the junctions of synapses, and regulates the amounts and activity of serotonin, norepinephrine, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain.
Hair loss can sometimes be attributed to a malfunction of t3 and t4. Normal hair growth cycle may be affected disrupting the hair growth.

text: Preterm births can suffer neurodevelopmental disorders due to lack of maternal thyroid hormones, at a time when their own thyroid is unable to meet their postnatal needs.[48] Also in normal pregnancies, adequate levels of maternal thyroid hormone are vital in order to ensure thyroid hormone availability for the fetus and its developing brain.[49] Congenital hypothyroidism occurs in every 1 in 1600–3400 newborns with most being born asymptomatic and developing related symptoms weeks after birth.[50]

text: Anti-thyroid drugs[edit]

text: Iodine uptake against a concentration gradient is mediated by a sodium-iodine symporter and is linked to a sodium-potassium ATPase. Perchlorate and thiocyanate are drugs that can compete with iodine at this point. Compounds such as goitrin, carbimazole, methimazole, propylthiouracil can reduce thyroid hormone production by interfering with iodine oxidation.[51]


document_title: Ball and socket joint

question_text: where is the ball and socket joint found in the body

text: Ball and socket joint

text:
Ball and socket joint

1: Ball and socket joint; 2: Condyloid joint (Ellipsoid); 3: Saddle joint; 4 Hinge joint; 5: Pivot joint;

Capsule of shoulder-joint (distended). Anterior aspect.

Identifiers

TA
A03.0.00.050

FMA
75301

Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]

text: The ball and socket joint (or spheroid joint) is a type of synovial joint in which the ball-shaped surface of one rounded bone fits into the cup-like depression of another bone. The distal bone is capable of motion around an indefinite number of axes, which have one common center. It enables the bone to move in many places (nearly all directions).

text: An enarthrosis is a special kind of spheroidal joint in which the socket covers the sphere beyond its equator.[1]

text: Examples[edit]

text: Examples of this form of articulation are found in the hip, where the rounded head of the femur (ball) rests in the cup-like acetabulum (socket) of the pelvis, and in the glenohumeral joint of the shoulder, where the rounded head of the humerus (ball) rests in the cup-like glenoid fossa (socket) of the shoulder blade.[2] The shoulder includes a sternoclavicular articulation joint.

text:
Hip

Shoulder

Details of hip joint.

Femur
Femoral Neck
Femoral Head
Acetabulum
Acetabular Labrum
Pelvis


document_title: Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground

question_text: who sings angels flying too close to the ground

text: Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground

text:
"Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground"

Single by Willie Nelson

from the album Honeysuckle Rose

B-side
"I Guess I've Come to Here in Your Eyes"

Released
January 1981

Genre
Country

Length
4:27

Label
Columbia

Songwriter(s)
Willie Nelson

Producer(s)
Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson singles chronology

"On the Road Again"
(1980)
"Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground"
(1981)
"Mona Lisa"
(1981)

"On the Road Again"
(1980)
"Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground"
(1981)
"Mona Lisa"
(1981)

text: "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" is a 1981 single from the film Honeysuckle Rose. "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" was written and performed by Willie Nelson. The single was Willie Nelson's seventh number one on the country chart as a solo artist and stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country chart.[1]

text: This song is commonly believed to have been written about Charlie "Magoo" Tinsley, a good friend of Nelson's who happened to also be a member of The Hells Angels.[citation needed] This has never been confirmed or denied by Nelson who usually says he's not going to argue with a load of bikers.[citation needed] He did once claim the song was about his wife Connie.[citation needed]

text: Charts[edit]

text:
Chart (1981)
Peak
position

US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[2]
1

Canadian RPM Country Tracks
1

text: Cover versions[edit]

text:
Bob Dylan covered the song during the recording sessions for his 1983 album Infidels. The song appeared as the B-side to four different international single releases in support of the album.
Cross Canadian Ragweed covered the song on their tenth album, Happiness and All the Other Things.
Raul Malo covered the song on his 2006 album You're Only Lonely.
The Smoking Popes included a cover of the song on the re-issue of their 1995 album Born to Quit.
The King of the Hill soundtrack included a version of this on which Nelson duets with Mark McGrath. Oddly enough, the original, not this version, appeared in "Wings of the Dope" (the episode in which Luanne's deceased boyfriend reappears as an angel).
Alison Krauss recorded a cover of the song and included it on the Target Corporation exclusive version of her 2017 release Windy City.


document_title: Death Star

question_text: when did the second death star blow up

question_tokens: when did the second death star blow up

text: Death Star

text: Origin and design[edit]

text: Although details, such as the superlaser's location, shifted between different concept models during production of Star Wars, the notion of the Death Star being a large, spherical space station over 100 kilometers in diameter was consistent in all of them.[4] George Lucas gave the original task of designing a "Death Star" to concept artist and spaceship modeler Colin Cantwell,[5] who had collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.[6] In a 2016 interview, Cantwell related that "I didn't originally plan for the Death Star to have a trench, but when I was working with the mold, I noticed the two halves had shrunk at the point where they met across the middle." As it "would have taken a week of work just to fill and sand and refill this depression," Cantwell suggested a trench to Lucas to save the labor. Lucas liked the idea,[5][6] and the Death Star model was created by John Stears.[7][8] The buzzing sound counting down to the Death Star firing its superlaser comes from the Flash Gordon serials.[9] Portraying an incomplete yet powerful space station posed a problem for Industrial Light & Magic's modelmakers for Return of the Jedi.[10] Only the front side of the 137-centimeter model was completed, and the image was flipped horizontally for the final film.[10] Both Death Stars were depicted by a combination of complete and sectional models and matte paintings.[4][10]

text: Special effects[edit]

text: The Death Star explosions featured in the special edition of A New Hope and in Return of the Jedi are rendered with a Praxis effect, wherein a flat ring of matter erupts from the explosion.

text: The grid plan animations shown during the Rebel briefing for the attack on the Death Star late in A New Hope were an actual computer graphics simulation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory made by Larry Cuba and Gary Imhoff as part of a CalArts project, and had been included during filming.[11]

text: Depiction[edit]

text: These are depictions of the Death Star and other similar weapons of mass destruction within the Star Wars canon.

text: Death Star-class[edit]

text: DS-1 Platform - (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope)[edit]

text: The original Death Star's completed form appears in Star Wars, known officially as the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, or Project Stardust in Rogue One. Commanded by Governor Tarkin, it is the Galactic Empire's "ultimate weapon",[12] a huge spherical space station over 100 kilometers in diameter capable of destroying a planet with one shot of its superlaser. The film opens with Princess Leia transporting the station's schematics to the Rebel Alliance to aid them in destroying the Death Star. Tarkin orders the Death Star to destroy Leia's home world of Alderaan in an attempt to press her into giving him the location of the secret Rebel base; she gives them the false location of Dantooine, but Tarkin has Alderaan destroyed anyway, as a demonstration of the Death Star's firepower and the Empire's resolve. Later, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are pulled aboard the station by a tractor beam, where they discover and manage to rescue Princess Leia. As they make their escape, Obi-Wan dies fighting Darth Vader, enabling the others to flee the station. Later, Luke returns as part of a fighter force to attack its only weak point: a ray-shielded particle exhaust vent leading straight from the surface directly into its reactor core. Luke was able to successfully launch his fighter's torpedoes into the vent, impacting the core and triggering a catastrophic explosion, which completely destroyed the station before it could use its superlaser weapon to annihilate its intended target, the rebel base on Yavin IV.[citation needed]

text: The Clone Wars Legacy story reel from the unfinished Crystal Crisis on Utapau episodes revealed that the reason General Grievous was on Utapau in Revenge of the Sith was to acquire enormous kyber crystals, which were required to power the Death Star's superlaser.[13]

text: The first Death Star's schematics are visible in the scenes on Geonosis in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones showcasing the early development of the Death Star prototype, the Death Star plans were designed by Geonosians led by Archduke Poggle the Lesser, a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and is shown early in construction at the end of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The Death Star plans are a central plot-point in the 2016 film Rogue One and the original 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.[citation needed]

text: A hologram from the original Death Star is briefly visible in a scene at the Resistance base in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens and used as a means of comparison with one from the First Order's own superweapon, Starkiller Base.[citation needed]

text: In the animated series Star Wars Rebels, the two-part episode "Ghost of Geonosis" hinted that the Geonosians were nearly wiped out to extinction out of the Empire's need for secrecy. Saw Gerrera, having been sent to Geonosis to investigate, deduced the Empire possesses a superweapon and resolved to discover the Death Star as depicted in the final season two-parter "In the Name of the Rebellion." Though it was a dead end, finding only scientists being abducted by the Empire, Saw learned the weapon is powered by kyber crystals taken from the Jedha system.

text: The anthology film Rogue One focuses on a band of Rebels stealing the plans for the first Death Star prior to the events of A New Hope. The Death Star project was overseen by Orson Krennic, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military. Under Krennic's supervision, the project was beset by constant delays, and he forcibly recruited weapons designer Galen Erso (the father of Jyn Erso, the movie's main protagonist) to complete the design; nevertheless, it was another fifteen years before the Death Star was operational. The Death Star's primary laser was powered by kyber crystals mined from the desert moon of Jedha, and is first used to destroy Jedha City both as a response to a violent insurgency on the planet, and as a display of the Death Star's operational status to restore the Empire's confidence in the project. Grand Moff Tarkin assumes control over the Death Star while Krennic investigates security breaches in the design project. It is subsequently revealed that Galen discreetly sabotaged the design by building a vulnerability into the reactor. This is the same vulnerability that Luke Skywalker takes advantage of during the events of A New Hope. After the Death Star plans are stolen from the Scarif vault, Tarkin fires the Death Star laser on the base killing Krennic, as well as Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor.[citation needed]

text: The canonical population of the first Death Star was 1.7 million military personnel, 400,000 maintenance droids, and 250,000 civilians/independent contractors.[1][2]

text: The 2014 book Star Wars: Tarkin detailed the life of Grand Moff Tarkin, and prominently featured the first Death Star. The theme of the construction of the Death Star is continued in the 2016 book, Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel, which tells the story of the development of the Death Star's superweapon by the scientist, Galen Erso and Krennic's deception of him. It also reveals how Poggle worked with Krennic on the Project but then turned on him.[14]

text: In the film Rogue One, it is revealed that the Death Star's superlaser is powered by multiple reactors, allowing it to vary its destructive power depending on the target. Skeptical of the station's power, Tarkin ordered that it first be tested on Jedha City using a single reactor. Subsequently, a second single-reactor test would destroy their installation on Scarif, along with the Rebel strike force who had successfully stolen the station's plans. The destruction of the planet Alderaan would be the first time the Death Star was tested with all reactors employed.[citation needed]

text: DS-2 Platform - (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi)[edit]

text: Return of the Jedi features a second Death Star still under construction in orbit around the second moon of Endor. Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader send the Rebels false information that the station's weapons systems are not operational in order to lure them into a trap. When the station's protective shield is disabled by a ground assault team on the forest moon of the planet Endor (led by Han Solo) with the help of the native Ewoks, rebel fighters flew into the unfinished station targeting its reactor core chamber and damaged the reactor core itself, which eventually explodes and destroys the station. It was destroyed by Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian (with Nien Nunb as his Millennium Falcon co-pilot), the former destroying a power regulator and the latter destroying the main reactor.[citation needed]

text: The Death Star II is featured in the cover of the book Star Wars: Aftermath (2015), which also features many flashbacks to the destruction of the Death Star II, as well as the events directly after its destruction. One of the main characters in the story personally escaped the explosion of the Death Star. The destruction of the second Death Star was also shown in holograms in the book. The 2015 comic book Star Wars: Shattered Empire also explores the days following the destruction of the Death Star II from the perspective of Poe Dameron's parents, who were pilots during the event. The video game Star Wars: Uprising also takes place during the aftermath of the second Death Star's destruction, and features a hologram of its description on multiple occasions in and out of cutscenes.[citation needed]

text: Similar super weapons of mass destruction[edit]

text: Malachor Sith Temple - (Star Wars Rebels)[edit]

text: The Star Wars Rebels episode Twilight of the Apprentice features a forbidden planet called Malachor,[15] home of an ancient Sith Temple.[16] This temple contained a Battle Station capable of destroying planets, and could only be activated by placing a special Sith Holocron[17] in an obelisk at the summit of the pyramid inside the temple. Thousands of years prior, a battle was waged on Malachor that resulted in the deaths of its inhabitants. Somewhere between the events of his last appearance in The Clone Wars and this episode, Darth Maul had become stranded on Malachor. When Ahsoka Tano, Kanan and Ezra arrived, Ezra was separated from them. He was discovered by a character who later revealed himself to be Maul. Together, they solved a series of test chambers that required cooperation between two Force wielders, and retrieved a Sith Holocron. With the help of Kanan and Ahsoka, they fought three Inquisitors, all of whom were killed by Maul. Maul then betrayed his allies, blinding Kanan, and proceeded to activate the Battle Station. Once Maul was defeated by a sightless Kanan, Darth Vader arrived with the intention of retrieving the holocron, but was challenged by Ahsoka Tano, his former Padawan. While the station was preparing to fire, Kanan and Ezra retrieved the holocron themselves and escaped, preventing this weapon of mass destruction from being used. Even though the temple was destabilized, Ahsoka and Vader kept fighting to the death within the rapidly-crumbling building, until it eventually exploded, wounding Darth Vader and almost killing Ahsoka.[18]

text: Starkiller Base - (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)[edit]

text: Star Wars: The Force Awakens features Starkiller Base, a planet turned into a battle station built by the First Order. Significantly larger than either the first or second Death Star, and unlike either of those cost-prohibitive space stations, this battle station cut-costs by terraforming an existing planet and draws its fire power directly from a sun, but it requires time to draw enough energy. Once fired, it has the power to destroy up to five planets within the same star system simultaneously, making it a far deadlier superweapon than the Death Star. General Hux gave an intense speech while the Starkiller Base demonstrated its lethality by obliterating the five planets of the Hosnian Prime system (the location of the Republic government, which rotates every few years), the cataclysm witnessed by Han Solo, Chewbacca, Rey and Finn from Maz Kanata's castle. After Rey was captured by Kylo Ren, he interrogated her within the base. Han, Chewbacca and Finn approached the base at light-speed because the base's shield kept out anything going under the speed of light. They found Rey and successfully lowered the protective shields, enabling an X-wing assault led by Poe Dameron and Nien Numb to destroy the planet-turned-base, with Poe firing the crucial, destructive shots.[citation needed] The name Starkiller Base paid homage to the early drafts of the original Star Wars film, referring to Luke Skywalker's original name as Luke Starkiller.[19][20]

text: Death Stars in Star Wars Legends[edit]

text: Both Death Stars appear throughout the non-canonical Star Wars Legends (formerly known as the Expanded Universe).[citation needed]

text: The first Death Star's construction is the subject of Michael Reaves and Steve Perry's novel Death Star. In LucasArts's Star Wars: Battlefront II, the player participates in a mission to secure crystals used in the Death Star's superlaser. The first Death Star under construction acts as the final stage in the video game, The Force Unleashed. Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy introduces the Maw Cluster of black holes that protect a laboratory where the Death Star prototype was built (consisting of the super structure, power core, and superlaser).[citation needed]

text: National Public Radio's A New Hope adaptation portrays Leia (Ann Sachs) and Bail Organa's (Stephen Elliott) discovery of the Death Star's existence and Leia's mission to steal the space station's schematics. The first level of LucasArts' Dark Forces gives the player a supporting role in Leia's mission, while a mission in Battlefront II tasks the player with acting as a stormtrooper or Darth Vader in an attempt to recover the plans and capture Leia. Steve Perry's novel Shadows of the Empire describes a mission that leads to the Rebels learning of the second Death Star's existence, and that mission is playable in LucasArts' X-Wing Alliance combat flight simulator. Numerous LucasArts titles recreate the movies' attacks on the Death Stars, and the Death Star itself is a controllable weapon for the Empire in the Rebellion and Empire at War strategy game. A Death Star variation appears in Kevin J. Anderson's novel Darksaber (1995), and a prototype version of the Death Star can be found in his novel Jedi Search (1994).[citation needed]

text: The first Death Star is depicted in various sources of having a crew of 265,675, as well as 52,276 gunners, 607,360 troops, 30,984 stormtroopers, 42,782 ship support staff, and 180,216 pilots and support crew.[21] Its hangars contain assault shuttles, blastboats, Strike cruisers, land vehicles, support ships, and 7,293 TIE fighters.[22] It is also protected by 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,600 ion cannons, and at least 768 tractor beam projectors.[22] Various sources state the first Death Star has a diameter of between 140 and 160 kilometers.[21][23][24] There is a broader range of figures for the second Death Star's diameter, ranging from 160 to 900 kilometers.[25][26]

text: DS-X Prototype Battle Station[edit]

text: In the Legends novels Death Star, Dark Empire II, Jedi Search and Champions of the Force, an experimental Death Star prototype, DS-X (a durasteel frame surrounding a reactor core, superlaser, engines and a control room) was conceived by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin as a test bed for the first Death Star. It was constructed by Bevel Lemelisk and his engineers at the Empire's secret Maw Installation. The prototype measured 120 kilometers in diameter. Its superlaser was only powerful enough to destroy a planet's core, rendering it an uninhabitable "dead planet". The targeting system on the prototype was never calibrated and the superlaser was inefficient, leaving the weapon's batteries drained. The prototype had no interior except a slave-linked control room, hyperdrive engines and other components; the station operated with skeleton-crew of 75 personnel.[citation needed]

text: George Lucas himself confirmed that the plans featured in Attack of the Clones and the under-construction facility in Revenge of the Sith was indeed the original Death Star. The Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology retconned the DS-X prototype into being built alongside the main Death Star.[citation needed]

text: Death Star III - (Star Tours: The Adventures Continue)[edit]

text: In the Disney attraction Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, guests can travel inside an incomplete Death Star during one of the randomized ride sequences. In the original Star Tours, a Death Star III is seen and destroyed during the ride sequence by the New Republic. Leland Chee originally created the third Death Star to explain why a Death Star is present on the Star Tours ride when both of the stations in the movies were destroyed.[27] The station being built near the Forest Moon of Endor like the second Death Star before it is similar to an original concept for Return of the Jedi, where two Death Stars would have been built near Had Abbadon (then the Imperial capital world). The Habitation spheres, based on the Imperials' suspicious claims that they were designed strictly for peaceful purposes, were suggested by some fans to have been the origin for the Death Star III. This was later revealed to be the case in Part 2 of the StarWars.com Blog series The Imperial Warlords: Despoilers of an Empire. In the Star Wars Legends game Tiny Death Star, a random HoloNet entry states that one of the residents of the Death Star is simply staying there until he can afford to stay at the third Death Star.[citation needed]

text: Cultural influence[edit]

text: The Death Star placed ninth in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular movie weapons.[28] It is also referred to outside of the Star Wars context.[citation needed]

text: KTCK (SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket) in Dallas were the first to use the term "Death Star" to describe the new mammoth Cowboys Stadium, now AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. The term has since spread to local media and is generally accepted as a proper nickname for the stadium.[29]

text: The Death Star strategy was the name Enron gave to one of their fraudulent business practices for manipulating California's energy market.[30]

text: AT&T Corporation's logo introduced in 1982 is informally referred to as the "Death Star".[31] Ars Technica referred to "the AT&T Death Star" in an article criticizing a company data policy.[32] Competitor T-Mobile mocked AT&T's "Death Star" logo and "Empire-like reputation" in a press release.[33]

text: Science[edit]

text: In 1981, following the Voyager spacecraft's flight past Saturn, scientists noticed a resemblance between one of the planet's moons, Mimas, and the Death Star.[34] Additionally, a few astronomers[who?] sometimes use the term "Death Star" to describe Nemesis, a hypothetical star postulated in 1984 to be responsible for gravitationally forcing comets and asteroids from the Oort cloud toward Earth.[35]

text: Merchandise[edit]

text: Kenner and AMT created a playset and a model, respectively, of the first Death Star.[36][37] In 2005 and 2008, Lego released models of Death Star II and Death Star I, respectively.[38][39] In 1979, Palitoy created a heavy card version of the Death Star as a playset for the vintage range of action figures in the UK, Australia and Canada. Both Death Stars are part of different Micro Machines three-packs.[40][41] The Death Stars and locations in them are cards in Decipher, Inc.'s and Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Customizable Card Game and Star Wars Trading Card Game, respectively.[42] Hasbro released a Death Star model that transforms into a Darth Vader mech.[43] Estes Industries released a flying model rocket version.[44]

text: A Death Star trinket box was also released by Royal Selangor in 2015, in conjunction with the upcoming December screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[45] In 2016, Plox released the official levitating Death Star Speaker[46] in anticipation of the upcoming screening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

text: White House petition[edit]

text: In 2012–13, a proposal on the White House's website urging the United States government to build a real Death Star as an economic stimulus and job creation measure gained more than 30,000 signatures, enough to qualify for an official response. The official (tongue-in-cheek) response was released in January 2013:[47] the cost of building a real Death Star has been estimated at $850 quadrillion by the Lehigh University, or about 13,000 times the amount of mineable resources on Earth, while the International Business Times cited a Centives economics blog calculation that, at current rates of steel production, the Death Star would not be ready for more than 833,000 years.[48] The White House response also stated "the Administration does not support blowing up planets," and questioned funding a weapon "with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship" as reasons for denying the petition.[47][49][50]

text: Petition in other countries[edit]

text: The Luxemburgish magician Christian Lavey (born as Christian Kies) submitted a petition for the construction of a Death Star to the Luxemburgish parliament [51]. However, on an interview with a local radio station Lavey admitted that this petition was just a joke and some kind of protest against the space plans of the government.