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Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present
Par Cynthia Stokes Brown. 2007
&“This exciting saga crosses space and time to illustrate how humans, born of stardust, were shaped—and how they in turn…
shaped the world we know today.&” —Publishers Weekly This book offers &“world history on a grand scale&”—pulling back for a wider view and putting the relatively brief time span of human history in context. After all, our five thousand years of recorded civilization account for only about one millionth of the lifetime of our planet (Kirkus Reviews). Big History interweaves different disciplines of knowledge, drawing on both the natural sciences and the human sciences, to offer an all-encompassing account of history on Earth. This new edition is more relevant than ever before, as we increasingly grapple with accelerating rates of change and, ultimately, the legacy we will bequeath to future generations. Here is a path-breaking portrait of our world, from the birth of the universe from a single point the size of an atom to life on a twenty-first-century planet inhabited by seven billion people.Guide to Electricity and Magnetism: Using Mathematica for Calculations and Visualizations
Par James W. Rohlf. 2024
This is a “how to guide” for a calculus-based introductory course in electricity and magnetism. Students taking the subject at…
an intermediate or advanced level may also find it to be a useful reference. The calculations are performed in Mathematica, and stress graphical visualization, units, and numerical answers. The techniques show the student how to learn the physics without being hung up on the math. There is a continuing movement to introduce more advanced computational methods into lower-level physics courses. Mathematica is a unique tool in that code is written as "human readable" much like one writes a traditional equation on the board.Key Features: Concise summary of the physics concepts. Over 300 worked examples in Mathematica. Tutorial to allow a beginner to produce fast results. The companion code for this book can be found here: https://physics.bu.edu/~rohlf/code.htmlEssential reading — New ScientistAn enthusiastic, mostly comprehensible account of a popular theory many scientists believe will unite two of…
the few remaining separate elements in the universe: matter and energy...Hooper does a fine job explaining historical physics and newer concepts — Kirkus Reviews“As the world’s most powerful particle accelerator revs up, Dan Hooper’s book is essential reading.” — New ScientistDark Cosmos: In Search of Our Universe's Missing Mass and Energy
Par Dan Hooper. 2006
The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological Revolution
Par Henry Schlesinger. 2010
In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky's Cod and David Bodanis's E=MC2, The Battery is the first popular history of the…
technology that harnessed electricity and powered the greatest scientific and technological advances of our time.What began as a long-running dispute in biology, involving a dead frog's twitching leg, a scalpel, and a metal plate, would become an invention that transformed the history of the world: the battery. From Alessandro Volta's first copper-and-zinc model in 1800 to twenty-first-century technological breakthroughs, science journalist Henry Schlesinger traces the history of this essential power source and demonstrates its impact on our lives.Volta's first battery not only settled the frog's leg question, it also unleashed a field of scientific research that led to the discovery of new elements and new inventions, from Samuel Morse's telegraph to Alexander Graham Bell's telephone to Thomas Edison's incandescent lightbulb. And recent advances like nanotechnology are poised to create a new generation of paradigm-shifting energy sources.Schlesinger introduces the charlatans and geniuses, paupers and magnates, attracted to the power of the battery, including Michael Faraday, Guglielmo Marconi, Gaylord Wilshire, and Hugo Gernsback, the publisher and would-be inventor who coined the term "science fiction." A kaleidoscopic tour of an ingenious invention that helped usher in the modern world, The Battery is as entertaining as it is enlightening.The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality
Par Richard Panek. 2011
"The centerpiece of The 4% Universe is a compelling narrative of science at its best… serve[s] handsomely as an illuminating…
guide to the dark mysteries lying at the heart of the intersection of astronomy and fundamental physics."—The Wall Street Journal "Impeccably researched and highly readable."—New Scientist "A model for all would-be popular-science writers."—Physics World "Panek's passion for the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy wins the day. He succeeds because he recognizes that he's writing not just about red shifts and supernovae, but about people...the success of The 4 Percent Universe also stems from Panek's wisdom about how science works."—The Washington Post "The balance between lively characters and provocative ideas keeps the book moving as quickly as any high stakes thriller, but the pay-off here is an answer of truly cosmic significance...the universe is keeping secrets from us--big secrets. Dark secrets. Panek's joyful journey through the wilds of modern cosmology gives us good reason to care about those secrets, and their sure-to-be surprising answers."—Ad Astra, Magazine of National Space Society"A superior account of how astronomers discovered that they knew almost nothing about 96 percent of the universe. Science writer Panek (The Invisible Century: Einstein, Freud, and the Search for Hidden Universes, 2005, etc.) points out that 50 years ago astronomers assumed they understood the cosmos and its history from the big bang to galaxy formation to its ultimate fate as expansion continued. One detail remained disturbing: Galaxies were moving too fast. Since gravity controls movements, they had to be heavier than predicted. By the 1980s, this "missing mass" problem became critical as it became clear that galaxies, including ours, were rotating so fast that missing mass far outweighs visible objects such as stars. Even after eliminating gas and dust, "dark matter" represents strange particles unknown to science. Astronomers also believed that gravity was slowing expansion of the universe but debated if galaxies would reverse themselves, continue to recede ever more slowly or (the favorite theory) simply stop. Panek describes frustrating struggles with high-tech detectors, complex computer algorithms and massive telescopes to search distant galaxies for the key. The answer came in the late '90s expansion wasn't slowing but speeding up. Flabbergasted astronomers understood that accelerating billions of galaxies requires immense energy. Since Einstein proved that energy and mass are equivalent, this "dark energy" makes up three-quarters of the universe. Dark energy added to dark matter reduces the familiar universe to 4 percent of the total. Panek delivers vivid sketches of scientists, lucid explanations of their work and revealing descriptions of the often stormy rivalry that led to this scientific revolution, usually a media cliche, but not in this case." —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review"There has always been more to the universe than we can see. Science journalist Panek (The Invisible Century) offers an insider's view of the quest for what could be the ultimate revelation: the true substance of the unseen dark matter and energy that makes up some 96% of our universe. The search for these hidden elements began in the 1960s with astronomers asking whether the universe would end in an infinitely expanding "Big Chill" or a collapse into a "Big Crunch"--or whether the universe is a just-right "Goldilocks" space that would nurture stars and galaxies forever. To answer this question, scientists calculated the universe's mass and discovered there was far more mass than we could see. But where is this "missing mass" and what kind of exotic "dark" stuff is it made of? Panek gleefully describes a 'Wild West of the mind, where —Two-dimensional Hybrid Composites: Synthesis, Properties and Applications (Engineering Materials)
Par Neetu Talreja, Divya Chauhan, Mohammad Ashfaq. 2024
This book highlights a comprehensive review of synthesis, properties, and strategies to improve the applicability of 2D materials like graphene,…
borophenes, metal nanosheets, phosphorene, and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). It also highlights the synthesis of 2D-based hybrid composite materials and their effects on applicability, especially in energy, environment, and biomedical applications, by incorporating surface functional groups, metal/non-metal ions, and polymers. The advancement in innovative technology and use of 2D-based hybrid composite materials can improve the development of newer products/opening newer possibilities to fight existing issues related to environment, energy, and biomedical sciences. However, researchers continue to face numerous challenges in developing newer products/possibilities, large-scale production, with health and environmental impact being a challenge.This book serves as a valuable resource for researchers, professionals and students working in the field of advanced materials, especially 2D-based hybrid composites.q-RASAR: A Path to Predictive Cheminformatics (SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science)
Par Kunal Roy, Arkaprava Banerjee. 2024
This brief offers an introduction to the fascinating new field of quantitative read-across structure-activity relationships (q-RASAR) as a cheminformatics modeling…
approach in the background of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and read-across (RA) as data gap-filling methods. It discusses the genesis and model development of q-RASAR models demonstrating practical examples. It also showcases successful case studies on the application of q-RASAR modeling in medicinal chemistry, predictive toxicology, and materials sciences. The book also includes the tools used for q-RASAR model development for new users. It is a valuable resource for researchers and students interested in grasping the development algorithm of q-RASAR models and their application within specific research domains.The Trouble With Gravity: Solving the Mystery Beneath Our Feet
Par Richard Panek. 2019
An Apple Books Best Book of July "[Panek] has made a career out of explaining things scientists themselves may barely understand...…
[he] takes evident pleasure in the whirl of new ideas." —The Washington Post "With a sustained sense of wonder, Panek finds the roots of science in our myths and poetry, uncovering the provocative side of something we only think we know. His rigorous-but-readable book won&’t reveal what gravity is, but will challenge your view of the universe and our place in it." —Apple Books &“Thought-provoking . . . Panek&’s inquisitive, fine-tuned narrative is full of character and, unlike many other books on physics, imbued with the friendly casualness of a coffee-shop chat. As such, it will delight both lay readers and serious students.&” —Publishers Weekly &“One of the best of the postgravitational-waves-discovery physics books for fans of popular science . . . highly recommended.&” —Library Journal &“Fine popular primer...expert description of the spectacular things that gravity does.&” —Kirkus Reviews &“I've long been a big fan of Richard Panek's writing. He is eloquent, smart, and a fascinating thinker, someone who is able to get me excited about topics that would have never even occurred to me. I respect and trust him—and am always eager to see what he will write next.&” —Maria Konnikova, New York Times best-selling author of Mastermind and The Confidence Game &“Richard Panek moves with startling grace and economy through the intersecting realms of philosophy and physics, always asking the unexpected question. He has forced me to rethink my fundamental assumptions about gravity—and shown me how much we can gain by doing so.&” —Andrea Barrett, author of The Air We Breathe and Archangel "In The Trouble with Gravity, Richard Panek acts as a guide, both amiable and erudite, through one of the most puzzling mysteries of the natural world. In explaining the various &‘explanations&’ of gravity from classical to post-modern times, Panek draws us into a thoughtful meditation on the mythic, cultural, philosophical and, yes, scientific implications of what happens when a wet potato or a crystal vase slips from your hand." —Billy Collins &“Gravity is a mystery—one of the greatest. It has baffled and teased humans since the dawn of history and perplexes us still. Richard Panek takes us on a journey that is original, brave, and ultimately very beautiful: a reminder that sometimes science isn&’t a solution but a search.&” —James Gleick, author of Time Travel: A History &“Without gravity, there would be no earth, no humans and no non-fiction books. Which would be a shame, because we&’d miss out on Richard Panek&’s wonderful, entertaining work. Richard takes us on a vivid journey from the arctic to the tropics, from the human skeleton to the edges of the universe, filling our imagination with counter-intuitive modern science and ancient philosophy. And all of this is delivered in buoyant, almost poetic, writing. So thank you gravity and Richard.&” —A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically &“A thoroughly researched tour of humanity&’s investigations of gravity through the ages, including the very exciting—but still unfinished—ones happening today.&” —Professor Lisa Randall, auth —The Physics of Advanced Optical Materials: Tellurite Glasses
Par Raouf El-Mallawany. 2023
This book focuses on advanced optical properties and applications of tellurite glasses and tellurite glasses doped with rare-earth nanoparticles. The…
initial chapter presents the current state of the art in tellurite glass development, focusing on those compositions doped with nanoparticles based on rare-earth elements such as neodymium and erbium. The book then discusses various linear and nonlinear optical properties (e.g., refractive index, absorption, optical susceptibility) of these glasses in the visible and ultraviolet spectral regions. Finally, it looks at a selection of recent technological applications of doped tellurite glasses, such as highly efficient laser glass, novel temperature sensors, and advanced optical fiber material. Featuring comprehensive and up-to-date data sets, along with a topical discussion of promising new areas of application, this book is particularly suitable for researchers and industry professionals working in the field of glass manufacturing for optics and laser applications.Conformal Vector Fields, Ricci Solitons and Related Topics (Infosys Science Foundation Series)
Par Ramesh Sharma, Sharief Deshmukh. 2024
This book provides an up-to-date introduction to the theory of manifolds, submanifolds, semi-Riemannian geometry and warped product geometry, and their…
applications in geometry and physics. It then explores the properties of conformal vector fields and conformal transformations, including their fixed points, essentiality and the Lichnerowicz conjecture. Later chapters focus on the study of conformal vector fields on special Riemannian and Lorentzian manifolds, with a special emphasis on general relativistic spacetimes and the evolution of conformal vector fields in terms of initial data.The book also delves into the realm of Ricci flow and Ricci solitons, starting with motivations and basic results and moving on to more advanced topics within the framework of Riemannian geometry. The main emphasis of the book is on the interplay between conformal vector fields and Ricci solitons, and their applications in contact geometry. The book highlights the fact that Nil-solitons and Sol-solitons naturally arise in the study of Ricci solitons in contact geometry. Finally, the book gives a comprehensive overview of generalized quasi-Einstein structures and Yamabe solitons and their roles in contact geometry. It would serve as a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers in mathematics and physics as well as those interested in the intersection of geometry and physics.Proceedings of the 30th International Laser Radar Conference (Springer Atmospheric Sciences)
Par John T. Sullivan, Thierry Leblanc, Sara Tucker, Belay Demoz, Edwin Eloranta, Chris Hostetler, Shoken Ishii, Lucia Mona, Fred Moshary, Alexandros Papayannis, Krishna Rupavatharam. 2023
This volume presents papers from the biennial International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC), the world’s leading event in the field of…
atmospheric research using lidar. With growing environmental concerns to address such as air quality deterioration, stratospheric ozone depletion, extreme weather events, and changing climate, the lidar technique has never been as critical as it is today to monitor, alert, and help solve current and emerging problems of this century. The 30th occurrence of the ILRC unveils many of the newest results and discoveries in atmospheric science and laser remote sensing technology. The 30th ILRC conference program included all contemporary ILRC themes, leveraging on both the past events’ legacy and the latest advances in lidar technologies and scientific discoveries, with participation by young scientists particularly encouraged. This proceedings volume includes a compilation of cutting-edge research on the following themes: new lidar techniques and methodologies; measurement of clouds and aerosol properties; atmospheric temperature, wind, turbulence, and waves; atmospheric boundary layer processes and their role in air quality and climate; greenhouse gases, tracers, and transport in the free troposphere and above; the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere; synergistic use of multiple instruments and techniques, networks and campaigns; model validation and data assimilation using lidar measurements; space-borne lidar missions, instruments and science; ocean lidar instrumentation, techniques, and retrievals; and past, present and future synergy of heterodyne and direct detection lidar applications. In addition, special sessions celebrated 50 years of lidar atmospheric observations since the first ILRC, comprising review talks followed by a plenary discussion on anticipated future directions.Quantum Critical Phenomena of Valence Transition: Heavy Fermion Metals and Related Systems (Springer Tracts in Modern Physics #289)
Par Shinji Watanabe, Kazumasa Miyake. 2023
This book comprehensively presents an unconventional quantum criticality caused by valence fluctuations, which offers theoretical understanding of unconventional Fermi-liquid properties…
in cerium- and ytterbium-based heavy fermion metals including CeCu2(Si,Ge)2 and CeRhIn5 under pressure, and quasicrystal β-YbAlB4 and Yb15Al34Au51. The book begins with an introduction to fundamental concepts for heavy fermion systems, valence fluctuation, and quantum phase transition, including self-consistent renormalization group theory. A subsequent chapter is devoted to a comprehensive description of the theory of the unconventional quantum criticality based on a valence transition, featuring explicit temperature dependence of various physical quantities, which allows for comparisons to relevant experiments. Lastly, it discusses how ubiquitous the valence fluctuation is, presenting candidate materials not only in heavy fermions, but also in strongly correlated electrons represented by high-Tc superconductor cuprates. Introductory chapters provide useful materials for learning fundamentals of heavy fermion systems and their theory. Further, experimental topics relevant to valence fluctuations are valuable resources for those who are new to the field to easily catch up with experimental background and facts.Photographing the Deep Sky: Images in Space and Time
Par Chris Baker. 2018
Spectacular nebulae where stars are born, beautiful star clusters from the early formation of the Milky Way, and galaxies as…
far as a billion light years away, all feature in this book of stunning images from astrophotographer Chris Baker.The author takes the reader on a journey through time and space to the Deep Sky, far beyond our Solar System. It is a pictorial description of the awe-inspiring wondrous objects that exist out there."The images are of objects from hundreds to many millions of light years away; distances of such enormity are hard for our minds to grasp. The book presents fascinating information on what the Earth was like when the light started its earth-bound journey through space.For example, as the light left the Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million years ago on its interstellar journey to Chriss telescope, the Himalayas are still being raised and Polar Bears roam Britain.Chapters are included describing the basics of astrophotography, as modern telescopes and cameras make this a rewarding hobby well within reach of the amateur astronomer. Chris describes his observatory in the mountains of Spain along with practical guidance on how to get started in astrophotography.With a concise, clear discussion on the background of astronomical science, this is above all, a book to celebrate the beauty and fascination of space.Yearbook of Astronomy, 2018
Par Brian Jones, Richard S. Pearson. 2017
The YEARBOOK OF ASTRONOMY 2018 is a book no stargazer should be without.Recognized by both amateurs and professionals alike as…
an indispensable guide to the night sky, the Yearbook of Astronomy is one of the longest-running series of books on astronomy and the night sky and one of the only reference books to be fully revised each year. Formerly edited by Patrick Moore, this iconic publication first appeared way back in 1962 (well over half-a-century ago) and continues to be, as it was then, the main popular astronomy annual for amateur astronomers.Forthcoming editions will endeavor to maintain the popular style and familiarity of previous editions as well as offering its readers a new, invigorating and inspirational layout and presentation. The 2018 edition contains authoritative sky charts and detailed monthly sky notes that plot a clear path though the years lunar phases, eclipses, comets, meteor showers and minor planets as well as featuring a variety of articles covering a wide range of astronomy-related topics.Articles for the 2018 edition include: Solar System Exploration in 2017 by Peter Rea; Astronomy in 2017 by Rod Hine; Anniversaries in 2018 by Neil Haggath; Supermassive Black Holes by David M Harland; Comets and How to Photograph Them by Damian Peach; Some Pioneering Lady Astronomers by Mike Frost; Double and Multiple Stars by John McCue; Modern Video Astronomy by Steve Wainwright; Is There Still a Place for Art in Astronomy? by David A Hardy; and much more. Bursting with up-to-the-minute information, this Yearbook of Astronomy 2018 is, as ever, essential reading for anyone fascinated by the night sky . . .This book presents a new way of thinking about quantum mechanics and machine learning by merging the two. Quantum mechanics…
and machine learning may seem theoretically disparate, but their link becomes clear through the density matrix operator which can be readily approximated by neural network models, permitting a formulation of quantum physics in which physical observables can be computed via neural networks. As well as demonstrating the natural affinity of quantum physics and machine learning, this viewpoint opens rich possibilities in terms of computation, efficient hardware, and scalability. One can also obtain trainable models to optimize applications and fine-tune theories, such as approximation of the ground state in many body systems, and boosting quantum circuits’ performance. The book begins with the introduction of programming tools and basic concepts of machine learning, with necessary background material from quantum mechanics and quantum information also provided. This enables the basic building blocks, neural network models for vacuum states, to be introduced. The highlights that follow include: non-classical state representations, with squeezers and beam splitters used to implement the primary layers for quantum computing; boson sampling with neural network models; an overview of available quantum computing platforms, their models, and their programming; and neural network models as a variational ansatz for many-body Hamiltonian ground states with applications to Ising machines and solitons. The book emphasizes coding, with many open source examples in Python and TensorFlow, while MATLAB and Mathematica routines clarify and validate proofs. This book is essential reading for graduate students and researchers who want to develop both the requisite physics and coding knowledge to understand the rich interplay of quantum mechanics and machine learning.Fundamentals of NMR and MRI: From Quantum Principles to Medical Applications
Par Fatemeh Khashami. 2024
This book bridges the gap between physical foundations and medical applications of the NMR and MRI technologies, making them accessible…
to both physicists and biomedical scientists. The physical basis of these technologies is discussed in a manner that can be easily understood by scientists from different backgrounds, aiding them in gaining a clearer understanding of the subject.. For instance, the medical applications of NMR and MRI technologies are described in a way that is accessible to physicists. Moreover, geometrical descriptions and specific mathematical tools are used to facilitate the visualizations of many concepts. Furthermore, the book covers modern technologies such as hyperpolarization and several other state-of-the-art techniques, along with their foundations.Advanced Methods of Joint Inversion and Fusion of Multiphysics Data (Advances in Geological Science)
Par Michael S. Zhdanov. 2023
Different physical or geophysical methods provide information about distinctive physical properties of the objects, e.g., rock formations and mineralization. In…
many cases, this information is mutually complementary, which makes it natural for consideration in a joint inversion of the multiphysics data. Inversion of the observed data for a particular experiment is subject to considerable uncertainty and ambiguity. One productive approach to reducing uncertainty is to invert several types of data jointly. Nonuniqueness can also be reduced by incorporating additional information derived from available a priori knowledge about the target to reduce the search space for the solution. This additional information can be incorporated in the form of a joint inversion of multiphysics data.Generally established joint inversion methods, however, are inadequate for incorporating typical physical or geological complexity. For example, analytic, empirical, or statistical correlations between different physical properties may exist for only part of the model, and their specific form may be unknown. Features or structures that are present in the data of one physical method may not be present in the data generated by another physical method or may not be equally resolvable.This book presents and illustrates several advanced, new approaches to joint inversion and data fusion, which do not require a priori knowledge of specific empirical or statistical relationships between the different model parameters or their attributes. These approaches include the following novel methods, among others: 1) the Gramian method, which enforces the correlation between different parameters; 2) joint total variation functional or joint focusing stabilizers, e.g., minimum support and minimum gradient support constraints; 3) data fusion employing a joint minimum entropy stabilizer, which yields the simplest multiphysics solution that fits the multi-modal data. In addition, the book describes the principles of using artificial intelligence (AI) in solving multiphysics inverse problems. The book also presents in detail both the mathematical principles of these advanced approaches to joint inversion of multiphysics data and successful case histories of regional-scale and deposit-scale geophysical studies to illustrate their indicated advantages.The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy
Par Moiya McTier. 2022
In this approachable and fascinating biography of the galaxy, an astrophysicist and folklorist details everything humans have discovered—from the Milky…
Way's formation to its eventual death, and what else there is to learn about the universe we call home. After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, The Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. Our home galaxy has even fallen in love. After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for. Its fascinating autobiography recounts the history and future of the universe in accessible but scientific detail, presenting a summary of human astronomical knowledge thus far that is unquestionably out of this world. NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND SCIENCENET NAMED A BEST AUDIOBOOK OF 2022 BY BOOKPAGETaking the Quantum Leap: The New Physics for Nonscientists
Par Fred A. Wolf. 1981
World renowned physicist Fred Alan Wolf explains the scientific concepts of quantum mechanics in accessible language for nonscientists.Winner of the…
National Book AwardTaking the Quantum Leap entertainingly traces the history of physics from the observations of the early Greeks through the discoveries of Galileo and Newton to the dazzling theories of such scientists as Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Bohm. This humanized view of science opens up the mind-stretching visions of how quantum mechanics, God, human thought, and will are related, and provides profound implications for our understanding of the nature of reality and our relationship to the cosmos.“The prose, indeed, is exhilarating, and exhibits a passion to explain—humorously . . . Wolf provides commendable explanations of visions and revisions of atomic models; he is fin, in particular, on the Uncertainty Principle . . . Enjoy the book for its bravura.” —Kirkus Reviews