of metals and nonmetals. There is no standard definition of a metalloid,
nor is there agreement as to which elements are appropriately classified
as such. Despite this uncertainty, the term remains in use in chemistry
literature. The six commonly recognised metalloids are boron, silicon,
germanium (pictured), arsenic, antimony and tellurium. Elements less
commonly recognised as metalloids include carbon, aluminium, selenium,
polonium and astatine. Typical metalloids have a metallic appearance but
are brittle and only fair conductors of electricity. Chemically, they
mostly behave as weak nonmetals. They can form alloys with metals. Most
of their other properties are intermediate in nature. Metalloids and
their compounds are used in alloys, biological agents, flame retardants,
glasses, optical storage and optoelectronics, pyrotechnics,
semiconductors and electronics. The term metalloid originally referred
to nonmetals. Its more recent meaning, as a category of elements with
intermediate properties, became widespread in 1940–1960. Metalloids
are sometimes called semimetals, a practice that has been discouraged.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalloid>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1779:
American Revolution: James Wilson and his colleagues were
forced to defend themselves after a mob, angered by his successful legal
defense of 23 people from exile, converged on his house, resulting in
six deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wilson>
1895:
The first U.S. Open golf tournament was held on a nine-hole
course at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Open_(golf)>
1958:
The new constitution establishing the French Fifth Republic,
France's current political regime, was introduced.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fifth_Republic>
1976:
British Rail's InterCity 125 service (pictured), the world's
fastest diesel-powered train, began operations on the Western Region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCity_125>
2010:
The dam holding a waste reservoir in western Hungary collapsed,
freeing 1 million cubic metres (1,300,000 cu yd) of red mud, which
flooded nearby communities and killed at least nine people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajka_alumina_plant_accident>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
catloaf:
The loaflike form of a domestic cat sitting with paws tucked underneath
the body.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/catloaf>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Buster survives tornados, waterfalls, avalanches of boulders,
and falls from great heights, and never pauses to take a bow: He has his
eye on his goal. And his movies, seen as a group, are like a sustained
act of optimism in the face of adversity; surprising, how without
asking, he earns our admiration and tenderness. Because he was funny,
because he wore a porkpie hat, Keaton's physical skills are often
undervalued … no silent star did more dangerous stunts than Buster
Keaton. Instead of using doubles, he himself doubled for his actors,
doing their stunts as well as his own.
--Roger Ebert
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert>
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