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The Satan Bug (novel)
''The Satan Bug'' is a first-person narrative thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was originally published in 1962 under the pseudonym Ian Stuart, and later republished under MacLean's own name. Plot The story revolves around the theft of two germ warfare agents, botulinum toxin and the indestructible "Satan Bug" (a laboratory-conceived derivative of poliovirus), from the Mordon Microbiological Research Establishment (similar to Porton Down). There is no vaccine for the "Satan Bug" and it is so infectious that any release will rapidly destroy all human life on Earth. With these phials of unstoppable power, a mad "environmentalist" threatens the country's population unless Mordon is razed to the ground. Like other of MacLean's works, the plot involves layers of deception. The first-person narrator, Pierre Cavell, is initially presented as an embittered figure who has been successively fired for insubordination from the British Army, the Metropolitan P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Novels
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is a Wikimedia movement affinity group for contributors with shared goals. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within sister projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by '' Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outside organizations relevant to the field at issue. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porton Down
Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) – known for over 100 years as one of the UK's most secretive and controversial military research facilities, occupying – and a site of the UK Health Security Agency. It is also home to other private and commercial science organisations, and is expanding to attract other companies. Location Porton Down is located just northeast of the village of Porton near Salisbury, in Wiltshire, England. To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down airfield operated by QinetiQ. On some maps, the land surrounding the complex is identified as a "Danger Area". History of government use Porton Down opened in 1916 as the War Department Experimental Station, shortly thereafter renamed the Royal Engineers Experimental Station, for testing chemical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Clavell
James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known as the author of his Asian Saga novels, a number of which have had television adaptations. Clavell also wrote such screenplays as those for '' The Fly'' (1958) (based on the short story by George Langelaan) and '' The Great Escape'' (1963) (based on the personal account of Paul Brickhill). He directed the popular 1967 film '' To Sir, with Love'' for which he also wrote the script. Biography Early life Born in Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Charles Clavell, a Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia with the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 to 1922. Richard Clavell was posted back to England when James was nine months old. Clavell was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School. World War II In 1940, Cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Sturges
John Eliot Sturges (; January 3, 1910 – August 18, 1992) was an American film director. His films include ''Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), '' The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), '' The Great Escape'' (1963), and '' Ice Station Zebra'' (1968). In 2013, ''The Magnificent Seven'' and 2018, '' Bad Day at Black Rock'' were selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Career Sturges started his career in Hollywood as an editor in 1932. During World War II, Sturges directed documentaries and training films as a captain in the United States Army Air Forces First Motion Picture Unit. Sturges's mainstream directorial career began with '' The Man Who Dared'' (1946), the first of many B movies. In the suspense film ''Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), he made imaginative use of the widescreen CinemaScope format by placing Spencer Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Satan Bug
''The Satan Bug'' is a 1965 American crime science fiction suspense film from United Artists, produced and directed by John Sturges, that stars George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis, and Dana Andrews. The screenplay by James Clavell and Edward Anhalt was loosely based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Alistair MacLean, written under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. The film score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. The film featured the first use of a stabilized camera mount, invented by Nelson Tyler, placed on a helicopter. Plot Lee Barrett, a private investigator and former intelligence agent discharged for his outspoken views, is approached by a man with a tempting offer to join a political organization opposing bioweapons. His refusal proves the correct response, as the man is an impersonator sent by his former boss, Eric Cavanaugh, to test his loyalty. Barrett is asked by Cavanaugh to investigate the murder of the security chief of Station Three, a top-secret biowea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control. Headquartered in Lyon, France, it is the world's largest international police organization, with seven regional bureaus worldwide and a National Central Bureau in all 195 member states. Interpol was conceived during the first International Criminal Police Congress in 1914, which brought officials from 24 countries to discuss cooperation in law enforcement. It was founded on September 7, 1923 at the close of the five-day 1923 Congress session in Vienna as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC); it adopted many of its current duties throughout the 1930s. After coming under Nazi control in 1938, the agency had its headquarters in the same building as the Gestapo. It was effectively moribund until the end of World War ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botulism
Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, feeling tired, and trouble speaking. This may then be followed by weakness of the arms, chest muscles, and legs. Vomiting, swelling of the abdomen, and diarrhea may also occur. The disease does not usually affect consciousness or cause a fever. Botulism can be spread in several ways. The bacterial spores which cause it are common in both soil and water. They produce the botulinum toxin when exposed to low oxygen levels and certain temperatures. Foodborne botulism happens when food containing the toxin is eaten. Infant botulism happens when the bacteria develops in the intestines and releases the toxin. This typically only occurs in children less than six months old, as protective mechanisms develop after that time. Wound botulism is found most often among those who inject street drugs. In this situation, sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strychnine Poisoning
Strychnine poisoning can be fatal to humans and other animals and can occur by inhalation, swallowing or absorption through eyes or mouth. It produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction, making it quite noticeable and a common choice for assassinations and poison attacks. For this reason, strychnine poisoning is often portrayed in literature and film, such as the murder mysteries written by Agatha Christie. The probable lethal oral dose in humans is 1.5 to 2 mg/kg. Similarly, the median lethal dose for dogs, cats, and rats ranges from 0.5 to 2.35 mg/kg. Presentation in humans Ten to twenty minutes after exposure, the body's muscles begin to spasm, starting with the head and neck in the form of trismus and risus sardonicus. The spasms then spread to every muscle in the body, with nearly continuous convulsions, and get worse at the slightest stimulus. The convulsions progress, increasing in intensity and frequency until the backbone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nerve Agent
Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Nerve agents are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors used as poison. Poisoning by a nerve agent leads to constriction of pupils, profuse salivation, convulsions, and involuntary urination and defecation, with the first symptoms appearing in seconds after exposure. Death by asphyxiation or cardiac arrest may follow in minutes due to the loss of the body's control over respiratory and other muscles. Some nerve agents are readily vaporized or aerosolized, and the primary portal of entry into the body is the respiratory system. Nerve agents can also be absorbed through the skin, requiring that those likely to be subjected to such agents wear a full body suit in addition to a respirat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the modern area named London has since grown far beyond the City of London boundary. The City is now only a small part of the metropolis of Greater London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, the City of London is not one of the London boroughs, a status reserved for the other 32 districts (including Greater London's only other city, the City of Westminster). It is also a separate ceremonial county, being an enclave surrounded by Greater London, and is the smallest ceremonial county in the United Kingdom. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City (differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in what is now Northern Germany. Area Definitions of what constitutes East Anglia vary. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia, established in the 6th century, originally consisted of the modern counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and expanded west into at least part of Cambridgeshire, typically the northernmost parts known as The Fens. The modern NUTS 3 statistical unit of East Anglia comprises Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire (including the City of Peterborough unitary authority). Those three counties have formed the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia since 1976, and were the subject of a possible government devolution package in 2016. Essex has sometimes been included in definitions of East Anglia, including by the London Society of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyanide Poisoning
Cyanide poisoning is poisoning that results from exposure to any of a number of forms of cyanide. Early symptoms include headache, dizziness, fast heart rate, shortness of breath, and vomiting. This phase may then be followed by seizures, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, loss of consciousness, and cardiac arrest. Onset of symptoms usually occurs within a few minutes. Some survivors have long-term neurological problems. Toxic cyanide-containing compounds include hydrogen cyanide gas and a number of cyanide salts. Poisoning is relatively common following breathing in smoke from a house fire. Other potential routes of exposure include workplaces involved in metal polishing, certain insecticides, the medication sodium nitroprusside, and certain seeds such as those of apples and apricots. Liquid forms of cyanide can be absorbed through the skin. Cyanide ions interfere with cellular respiration, resulting in the body's tissues being unable to use oxygen. Diagnosis is oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
