The Astrophysics Data System is an online NASA database of over 7,000,000 astronomy and physics papers from both peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources. Abstracts are available free online for almost all articles, and full scanned articles are available in GIF and PDF format for older articles. New articles have links to electronic versions hosted at the journal's webpage, but these are typically available only by subscription (which most astronomy research facilities have). It is managed by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. ADS is an extremely powerful research tool, and has had a significant impact on the efficiency of astronomical research since it was launched in 1992. Literature searches which previously would have taken days or weeks can now be carried out in seconds via the sophisticated ADS search engine, which is custom-built for astronomical needs. Studies have found that the benefit to astronomy of the ADS is equivalent to several hundred million US dollars annually, and the system is estimated to have tripled the readership of astronomical journals. Use of ADS is almost universal among astronomers worldwide, and therefore ADS usage statistics can be used to analyze global trends in astronomical research.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
War of the League of Cambrai: Swiss mercenaries defeated the French in Novara, present-day Italy, forcing them to withdraw from Milan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Novara_%281513%29
1523:
Gustav Vasa became King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_I_of_Sweden
1844:
The YMCA, today a world-wide movement of more than 45 million members from 124 national federations, was founded in London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YMCA
1933:
The first ever drive-in theater opened in Pennsauken, New Jersey, USA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/drive-in_theater
1982:
A war in Lebanon began when Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon to root out members of the Palestine Liberation Organization. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Lebanon_War
2005:
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its landmark legal decision in Gonzales v. Raich, allowing the U.S. Congress to ban medical marijuana even in states that approve its use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_v._Raich
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
let the cat out of the bag (v): To disclose a secret; to let a secret be known, often inadvertently http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/let_the_cat_out_of_the_bag
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I can be forced to live without happiness, but I will never consent to live without honor. --Pierre Corneille http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Corneille