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177-440: Twelve years ago, an object dubbed Calamity appeared near Earth and burst in the sky, emitting a strange radiation which gave a small group of humans superpowers and near invincibility in apparent defiance of the known laws of physics. They all have different types of powers and weaknesses, with no apparent rhyme or reason. Dubbed Epics, these super-humans took to crime. Existing government proved absolutely incapable of controlling

354-540: A circumstellar disk , and then the planets grow out of that disk with the Sun. A nebula contains gas, ice grains, and dust (including primordial nuclides ). According to nebular theory , planetesimals formed by accretion , with the primordial Earth being estimated as likely taking anywhere from 70 to 100 million years to form. Estimates of the age of the Moon range from 4.5 Ga to significantly younger. A leading hypothesis

531-467: A burning building, where Prof gifts him with some of his shielding powers to save her. David is too late, but discovers that Megan had rigged the high-tech gun Tia gave him to shoot her future self should she die of fire, which was her weakness and would disable her reincarnation abilities, and had succeeded. He then finds Regalia through shooting at Obliteration and grabbing onto him as he automatically teleported away, and finds her actually dying of cancer in

708-492: A common barycenter every 27.32 days relative to the background stars. When combined with the Earth–Moon system's common orbit around the Sun, the period of the synodic month , from new moon to new moon, is 29.53 days. Viewed from the celestial north pole , the motion of Earth, the Moon, and their axial rotations are all counterclockwise . Viewed from a vantage point above the Sun and Earth's north poles, Earth orbits in

885-548: A counterclockwise direction about the Sun. The orbital and axial planes are not precisely aligned: Earth's axis is tilted some 23.44 degrees from the perpendicular to the Earth–Sun plane (the ecliptic ), and the Earth-Moon plane is tilted up to ±5.1 degrees against the Earth–Sun plane. Without this tilt, there would be an eclipse every two weeks, alternating between lunar eclipses and solar eclipses . The Hill sphere , or

1062-604: A distance of 46 feet (14 m). In 2001, the Chicago Park District , which owns the structure, faced substantial criticism when it announced plans to alter the stadium with a design by Benjamin T. Wood and Carlos Zapata of Wood + Zapata in Boston . The stadium grounds were reconfigured by local architecture firm Lohan Associate, led by architect Dirk Lohan , grandson of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe . The stadium's interior would be demolished and reconstructed while

1239-784: A doubleheader on February 17, 2013, with the Wisconsin Badgers and Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Hockey City Classic, the first outdoor hockey game in the history of the stadium. A Chicago Gay Hockey Association intra-squad game was held in affiliation with the Hockey City Classic. On March 1, 2014, the Chicago Blackhawks played against the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the NHL Stadium Series . The Blackhawks defeated

1416-490: A few events before then, including a field day for Chicago police officers on September 6, and the stadium's first football game, between Louisville Male High School and Austin Community Academy High School , on October 4. On November 22, the stadium hosted its first college football game, in which Notre Dame defeated Northwestern University 13–6. On November 11, 1925, the stadium's name

1593-516: A football capacity of 62,500, making it the smallest stadium in the NFL . Soldier Field is also the oldest stadium established in the NFL and 3rd oldest in MLS. The stadium's interior was rebuilt as part of a major renovation project in 2002, which modernized the facility but lowered its seating capacity, eventually causing it to be delisted as a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Soldier Field has served as

1770-420: A full rotation about its axis so that the Sun returns to the meridian . The orbital speed of Earth averages about 29.78 km/s (107,200 km/h; 66,600 mph), which is fast enough to travel a distance equal to Earth's diameter, about 12,742 km (7,918 mi), in seven minutes, and the distance from Earth to the Moon, 384,400 km (238,900 mi), in about 3.5 hours. The Moon and Earth orbit

1947-421: A globe-spanning mid-ocean ridge system. At Earth's polar regions , the ocean surface is covered by seasonally variable amounts of sea ice that often connects with polar land, permafrost and ice sheets , forming polar ice caps . Earth's land covers 29.2%, or 149 million km (58 million sq mi) of Earth's surface. The land surface includes many islands around the globe, but most of

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2124-443: A hospital bed next to Dawnslight, a benevolent Epic in a coma he's been in since childhood, who grants the city its eccentric ways, light and food, partially from an image of a city he's had in his mind as a child. Obliteration teleports away when David reveals that what Epics dream of in nightmares are their weakness. As he watches a projection of where Prof is and Regalia tells him that all the energy Obliteration had been gathering and

2301-499: A less restricted community, turning it into more of a free haven. Suddenly, nearby rooftops blaze and explode, and it's revealed that Regalia has brought in Obliteration, an incredibly strong and cryptic Epic who has a flair for the theatrics and is famous for desolating Houston , San Diego , and Albuquerque , not wanting to rule, but simply to destroy. With the abilities to absorb and disperse amazing amounts of heat, teleport in

2478-518: A machine called the Harmsway, which is used to quickly heal wounds, and they have clothing that projects a small and fairly effective protective force field. The Reckoners create a plan to lure out Steelheart; the plan is to announce that there is a powerful new Epic named Limelight, who challenges Steelheart to a duel for Newcago. To make Steelheart take the challenge seriously, they stage two attacks which they accredit to Limelight. First, they blow up

2655-750: A minor wound right under Steelheart's eye, while trying to kill Deathpoint, and David has grown up devoting his life to learning all he can about the Epics to find their weaknesses, with the goal of avenging his father. He tracks "the Reckoners", an elite group led by "Professor" Jonathan Phaedrus with the common goal of killing as many Epics as possible. They decide to admit him into their group when they discover he has witnessed Steelheart's weakness, and his collected research. Steelheart has turned most all of Newcago into steel with his power and one of his right-hand men, Nightwielder, keeps it in eternal darkness by hiding

2832-500: A mission to retrieve his notes, David convinces the Reckoners to try to kill Steelheart. In addition to hunting Epics, the Reckoners are in possession of advanced technology, which they say has scientifically been derived from Epic powers, most prominently the power to tunnel through inanimate matter, namely steel, using a glove-like item called "Tensors". They used these Tensors to tunnel escape routes during missions, create tunnels used as traps, and to create hiding places. They also have

3009-691: A new venue more possible. On September 29, the Bears and Churchill Downs Incorporated announced that they had reached an agreement for the property. On September 5, 2022, the Kentucky bluegrass was replaced with Bermuda grass after poor field conditions were noted in an August 13 preseason game. The closest Chicago 'L' station to Soldier Field is the Roosevelt station on the Orange , Green and Red lines. The Chicago Transit Authority also operates

3186-401: A pigeon (among other animals, it is later revealed). It's realized that the two are planning on blowing up buildings around Obliteration as to keep anyone who could threaten his absorption away. It's assumed that all of the innocents inside died, but Prof steps up and conjures a force field to protect them. The refugees are led safely out of the city, and David ponders why Regalia plans to destroy

3363-574: A possible factor for a new stadium. The Bears had also purchased options in Hoffman Estates , Elk Grove Village and Aurora . In 1995, McCaskey announced that he and Northwest Indiana developers agreed to construction of an entertainment complex called "Planet Park", which would also include a new stadium. However, the plan was rejected by the Lake County Council, and in 1998, then-Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley proposed that

3540-419: A power struggle between Prof (going by his epic name, Limelight) and the previous ruler, the epic Larcener. Larcener has the ability to steal powers from other epics, so he has a wide variety of powerful abilities, the full extent of which is not known. In spite of this, he is apparently lazy, satisfied with ruling his single city and allowing other epics to do as they will. The Reckoners soon encounter Prof, who

3717-557: A promise to give David a chance to destroy Calamity. David, armed with an Obliteration-powered bomb, is deposited at Calamity's red star (actually the International Space Station , which has been turned to glass). David discovers that Larcener is Calamity, a supernatural being that loathes humans and at the same time fears their world. It is his hatred and disgust that corrupt epics to evil and he believes that humans are destined to destroy themselves. David detonates

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3894-803: A public free skate at Soldier Field. Participants in the celebrity game included Éric Dazé , Jamal Mayers and Gino Cavallini . Denis Savard was in attendance, serving as an honorary coach during the game. On February 15, 2015, Soldier Field hosted another Chicago Gay Hockey Association intra-league match in association with the Hockey City Classic. 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The first Special Olympics games were held at Soldier Field on July 20, 1968 . The games involved over 1,000 people with intellectual disabilities from 26 U.S. states and Canada competing in track and field and swimming. In 1970,

4071-624: A result of the renovation, a 10-member federal advisory committee unanimously recommended that Soldier Field be delisted as a National Historic Landmark . The recommendation to delist was prepared by Carol Ahlgren, an architectural historian at the National Park Service 's Midwest Regional Office in Omaha, Nebraska , who was quoted in Preservation Online stating, "if we had let this stand, I believe it would have lowered

4248-610: A similar deal in 2018) to have such rights held by the company. With the 2003 renovation, the Bears gained power in striking sponsorship deals at Soldier Field; the Miller Brewing Company was given the pouring rights of alcoholic beverages, while Delaware North Sportservice was named the food and beverage service provider. Aramark took over service operations at the stadium when the latter contract expired in 2013. Northern Illinois Huskies play select games at Soldier Field, all of which have featured them hosting

4425-498: A speed record never exceeded since , was the first step in building the new Soldier Field. Nostalgic Bears fans recalling the team's glory seasons (especially 1985 ), as well as some retired players, picked up their seats in the South parking lot. The foremen on the job were Grant Wedding, who installed the seats himself in 1979, and Mark Wretschko, an executive for the factory who made the new seats. As Soldier Field underwent renovation,

4602-737: A team from the Big Ten Conference . Northern Illinois University (NIU) is located in DeKalb , 65 miles (105 km) to the west on Interstate 88 . Notre Dame Fighting Irish football used the stadium as home field for the 1929 season while Notre Dame Stadium was being constructed. The school has used Soldier Field for single games on occasion both prior to and since the 1929 season, and boasts an undefeated 10–0–2 record there. At Soldier Field, Notre Dame has played Northwestern four times, USC and Wisconsin twice, and Army, Drake, Great Lakes Naval Base, Navy, and Miami once each. Beginning in

4779-557: A three-year commitment. The team previously played home games at Wrigley Field , the home stadium of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB), but were forced to move to a larger venue due to post- AFL–NFL merger policies requiring that stadium capacities seat at least 50,000 spectators as well as lighting for potential night games. The Bears had initially intended to build a stadium in Arlington Heights , but

4956-456: Is a chemically distinct silicate solid crust, which is underlain by a highly viscous solid mantle. The crust is separated from the mantle by the Mohorovičić discontinuity . The thickness of the crust varies from about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) under the oceans to 30–50 km (19–31 mi) for the continents. The crust and the cold, rigid, top of the upper mantle are collectively known as

5133-447: Is a dowser, able to sense other epics). Against the better judgment of the other Reckoners, David agrees to an alliance with him. David and Abraham track down Tia, still alive in the city. She promised Prof she would kill him if he ever turned and she is working on plans to do so. She reveals Prof's weakness to David: his own powers when gifted to others. Unfortunately, Prof has tracked Tia down too. She gives herself up in order to protect

5310-449: Is alerted to them in the process. David and Tia clash over what to do next. Tia has learned that Prof is following through on a Regalia's master plan, and wants to go through with her original plan to steal his data, but David insists they have to escape. Before they can get out, Prof confronts David and Megan. Megan brings an alternate universe version of Prof's daughter to confront him with powers that match his own. It partially works–Prof

5487-558: Is apparently invulnerable, is able to fly, can hurl blasts of energy, and can turn inanimate matter to steel; he has turned all of Chicago to steel for kilometers around and into the ground. Newcago is also shrouded in darkness by Steelheart's lieutenant, Nightwielder. Compared to other places in what was the United States, war torn, lawless and ravaged by warring Epics, Newcago is well run, with normal people generally having access to food, water, electricity, jobs, etc. David's father

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5664-535: Is approximately 9.8 m/s (32 ft/s ). Local differences in topography, geology, and deeper tectonic structure cause local and broad regional differences in Earth's gravitational field, known as gravity anomalies . The main part of Earth's magnetic field is generated in the core, the site of a dynamo process that converts the kinetic energy of thermally and compositionally driven convection into electrical and magnetic field energy. The field extends outwards from

5841-435: Is at least somewhat humid and covered by vegetation , while large sheets of ice at Earth's polar deserts retain more water than Earth's groundwater , lakes, rivers and atmospheric water combined. Earth's crust consists of slowly moving tectonic plates , which interact to produce mountain ranges, volcanoes , and earthquakes. Earth has a liquid outer core that generates a magnetosphere capable of deflecting most of

6018-529: Is contained in 3.45 billion-year-old Australian rocks showing fossils of microorganisms . During the Neoproterozoic , 1000 to 539 Ma , much of Earth might have been covered in ice. This hypothesis has been termed " Snowball Earth ", and it is of particular interest because it preceded the Cambrian explosion , when multicellular life forms significantly increased in complexity. Following

6195-580: Is drowning, when he feels someone miraculously save him and put him ashore. When the other Reckoners return to him, Jon is missing, and it's understood that Prof had to use his powers to stave off Obliteration, but it's also understood that the Epic was not defeated. While escaping to a submarine with the others, David catches a glimpse of Megan in wet clothes in a crowd, and soon realizes that she saved him. The Reckoners' submarine takes them to an underwater mansion, where they are hidden from Regalia's view. David, who

6372-604: Is eventually neutralized by minions with flamethrowers, as fire is Megan's weakness. David fights Prof wearing the tensor suit, a collection of motivators that gives him all of Prof's powers, but it's still not enough to drive away Prof's darkness. Finally, when David is beaten, he realizes Prof's true weakness: the fear of failure. They remind him of all the ways he has failed–leading the Reckoners to destruction, killing Tia–and his powers are neutralized. Larcener steps in and takes Prof's powers for himself. Before anyone can respond Obliteration appears and teleports David away, fulfilling

6549-457: Is farthest out from its center of mass at its equatorial bulge, the summit of the volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador (6,384.4 km or 3,967.1 mi) is its farthest point out. Parallel to the rigid land topography the ocean exhibits a more dynamic topography . To measure the local variation of Earth's topography, geodesy employs an idealized Earth producing a geoid shape. Such a shape

6726-443: Is following him and draws her out when they are alone. Megan, who is trying to resist her Epic temptations, tells him that she finds it easier to control herself around him, and the two have a laugh in the wake of a bad metaphor by David. Megan gives David a motivator, which is a small object that helps Knighthawk technology work, before leaving him, threatening him with a gun when he tries to kiss her. However, David notices that she has

6903-516: Is gained if the ocean is idealized, covering Earth completely and without any perturbations such as tides and winds. The result is a smooth but irregular geoid surface, providing a mean sea level (MSL) as a reference level for topographic measurements. Earth's surface is the boundary between the atmosphere, and the solid Earth and oceans. Defined in this way, it has an area of about 510 million km (197 million sq mi). Earth can be divided into two hemispheres : by latitude into

7080-568: Is in Atlanta , but he refuses to get further involved. David presses him, revealing that his ultimate plan is to kill Calamity. Knighthawk explains how motivators work and gives David an incubator to preserve a sample of Prof's DNA, in hopes of making motivators from it. The Reckoners travel to Atlanta, or what is now called Ildithia. Ildithia is a moving city of salt, currently located somewhere in Kansas . Buildings, plants, and even cars parked along

7257-492: Is in the process of hunting down Larcener to secure his control of the city. Megan's illusions, images drawn from other realities, allow them to avoid his detection. While Megan is using her abilities Firefight inexplicably appears and briefly talks to David. They set up in Ildithia, using one of Knighthawks motivators to fashion a base out of salt that blends in with the city. Before long Larcener shows up on their doorstep. (He

The Reckoners - Misplaced Pages Continue

7434-438: Is not, in fact, an illusion-making Epic, but can pull semi-real objects and people from alternate universes, and her weakness was fire. Val catches David in contact with Megan, and her bullets are deflected by Prof, who plans to take out Newton and Megan at once to draw out Regalia. David is imprisoned at the Reckoners base by Prof. To escape Prof's shield wall, David puts a bullet hole in the window and talks to Regalia, exposing

7611-513: Is now slightly longer than it was during the 19th century due to tidal deceleration , each day varies between 0 and 2 ms longer than the mean solar day. Earth's rotation period relative to the fixed stars , called its stellar day by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), is 86,164.0989 seconds of mean solar time ( UT1 ), or 23 56 4.0989 . Earth's rotation period relative to

7788-429: Is obviously uneasy about water, sees Prof return, and implores that perhaps Regalia is trying to resist the Epic powers, to which Tia agrees. However, Prof believes something bigger is happening, convinced the assassins were a call for help to kill her instead of having her powers take over and destroy the city, and takes David aside to warn him that Regalia is the primary target, and to not let his feelings for Megan get in

7965-622: Is rare, though the alternative spelling Gaia has become common due to the Gaia hypothesis , in which case its pronunciation is / ˈ ɡ aɪ . ə / rather than the more classical English / ˈ ɡ eɪ . ə / . There are a number of adjectives for the planet Earth. The word "earthly" is derived from "Earth". From the Latin Terra comes terran / ˈ t ɛr ə n / , terrestrial / t ə ˈ r ɛ s t r i ə l / , and (via French) terrene / t ə ˈ r iː n / , and from

8142-487: Is that it was formed by accretion from material loosed from Earth after a Mars -sized object with about 10% of Earth's mass, named Theia , collided with Earth. It hit Earth with a glancing blow and some of its mass merged with Earth. Between approximately 4.1 and 3.8 Ga , numerous asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment caused significant changes to the greater surface environment of

8319-453: Is the basis for the astronomical unit (AU) and is equal to roughly 8.3 light minutes or 380 times Earth's distance to the Moon . Earth orbits the Sun every 365.2564 mean solar days , or one sidereal year . With an apparent movement of the Sun in Earth's sky at a rate of about 1°/day eastward, which is one apparent Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours. Due to this motion, on average it takes 24 hours—a solar day—for Earth to complete

8496-589: Is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life . This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world , the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water . Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering 70.8% of Earth's crust . The remaining 29.2% of Earth's crust is land, most of which is located in the form of continental landmasses within Earth's land hemisphere . Most of Earth's land

8673-457: Is tied to that of the Sun. Over the next 1.1 billion years , solar luminosity will increase by 10%, and over the next 3.5 billion years by 40%. Earth's increasing surface temperature will accelerate the inorganic carbon cycle , possibly reducing CO 2 concentration to levels lethally low for current plants ( 10  ppm for C4 photosynthesis ) in approximately 100–900 million years . A lack of vegetation would result in

8850-413: Is wounded, and David manages to get a tissue sample–but it does not drive the darkness out of Prof. With different realities bleeding into one another, David slips into an alternate world, one where there is no Calamity, where Steelheart and Firefight are good epics and apparently fighting alongside the Reckoners. Upon David returning to his world, Prof has his guards open fire. David is somehow unharmed by

9027-603: The Century of Progress World's Fair in 1933, it served as the main stage. The stadium's design is in the Neoclassical style, with Doric columns rising above the East and West entrances. In its earliest configuration, Soldier Field was capable of seating 74,280 spectators, and was in the shape of a U. Additional seating could be added along the interior field, upper promenades, and on the large, open field and terrace beyond

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9204-716: The Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer (MLS) announced an agreement with the Village of Bridgeview to release the team from their lease with SeatGeek Stadium , where they had played since 2006. As a result, the Fire returned to Soldier Field for the 2020 MLS season . On June 17, 2021, the Chicago Bears submitted a bid for the Arlington Park Racetrack property, making a move from Soldier Field to

9381-583: The Milky Way and orbits about 28,000  light-years from its center. It is about 20 light-years above the galactic plane in the Orion Arm . The axial tilt of Earth is approximately 23.439281° with the axis of its orbit plane, always pointing towards the Celestial Poles . Due to Earth's axial tilt, the amount of sunlight reaching any given point on the surface varies over the course of

9558-505: The New York Times Young Adult Bestseller list for the week of October 13, 2013 and gained favorable reviews, one commenting, "Like many of his other novels, Brandon Sanderson created a whole new world so imaginative, deep and different; a world that completely immerses you in it effortlessly". Firefight also debuted at #1 on the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller list . Earth Earth

9735-759: The Pacific , North American , Eurasian , African , Antarctic , Indo-Australian , and South American . Other notable plates include the Arabian Plate , the Caribbean Plate , the Nazca Plate off the west coast of South America and the Scotia Plate in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The Australian Plate fused with the Indian Plate between 50 and 55 Ma . The fastest-moving plates are

9912-419: The asthenosphere , the solid but less-viscous part of the upper mantle that can flow and move along with the plates. As the tectonic plates migrate, oceanic crust is subducted under the leading edges of the plates at convergent boundaries. At the same time, the upwelling of mantle material at divergent boundaries creates mid-ocean ridges. The combination of these processes recycles the oceanic crust back into

10089-415: The celestial equator , this is equivalent to an apparent diameter of the Sun or the Moon every two minutes; from Earth's surface, the apparent sizes of the Sun and the Moon are approximately the same. Earth orbits the Sun, making Earth the third-closest planet to the Sun and part of the inner Solar System . Earth's average orbital distance is about 150 million km (93 million mi), which

10266-410: The equatorial region receiving more sunlight than the polar regions) drive atmospheric and ocean currents , producing a global climate system with different climate regions , and a range of weather phenomena such as precipitation , allowing components such as nitrogen to cycle . Earth is rounded into an ellipsoid with a circumference of about 40,000 km. It is the densest planet in

10443-408: The ocean floor form the top of Earth's crust , which together with parts of the upper mantle form Earth's lithosphere . Earth's crust may be divided into oceanic and continental crust. Beneath the ocean-floor sediments, the oceanic crust is predominantly basaltic , while the continental crust may include lower density materials such as granite , sediments and metamorphic rocks. Nearly 75% of

10620-430: The precessing or moving mean March equinox (when the Sun is at 90° on the equator), is 86,164.0905 seconds of mean solar time (UT1) (23 56 4.0905 ) . Thus the sidereal day is shorter than the stellar day by about 8.4 ms. Apart from meteors within the atmosphere and low-orbiting satellites, the main apparent motion of celestial bodies in Earth's sky is to the west at a rate of 15°/h = 15'/min. For bodies near

10797-474: The sphere of gravitational influence , of Earth is about 1.5 million km (930,000 mi) in radius. This is the maximum distance at which Earth's gravitational influence is stronger than that of the more distant Sun and planets. Objects must orbit Earth within this radius, or they can become unbound by the gravitational perturbation of the Sun. Earth, along with the Solar System, is situated in

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10974-635: The "Eyesore on the Lake Shore ," while others called it "Monstrosity on the Midway" or "Mistake by the Lake". The renovation was described by some as if "a spaceship landed on the stadium". Lohan responded: I would never say that Soldier Field is an architectural landmark. Nobody has copied it; nobody has learned from it. People like it for nostalgic reasons. They remember the games and parades and tractor pulls and veterans' affairs they've seen there over

11151-464: The "last ice age", covered large parts of the continents, to the middle latitudes, in ice and ended about 11,700 years ago. Chemical reactions led to the first self-replicating molecules about four billion years ago. A half billion years later, the last common ancestor of all current life arose. The evolution of photosynthesis allowed the Sun's energy to be harvested directly by life forms. The resultant molecular oxygen ( O 2 ) accumulated in

11328-698: The #128 Soldier Field Express bus route to the stadium from Ogilvie Transportation Center and Union Station . There are also two Metra stations close by: the Museum Campus/11th Street station on the Metra Electric Line , which also is used by South Shore Line trains, and 18th Street , which is only served by the Metra Electric Line. Pace also provides access from the Northwest, West and Southwest suburbs to

11505-504: The 1940s and through the late-1960s (except for during World War II ), motorsport races regularly were held on a short track at the stadium. In 1956 and 1957, NASCAR held races at the stadium, including a NASCAR Cup race . In the early-to-mid 1980s saw the US Hot Rod Association host Truck and Tractor Sled Pull Competitions and Monster Truck exhibitions here. The engines on some of the vehicles would echo through

11682-483: The Bears share Comiskey Park with the Chicago White Sox . Beginning in 1978, the plank seating was replaced by individual seats with backs and armrests. In 1982, a new press box, as well as 60 skyboxes, were added to the stadium, boosting its capacity to 66,030. In 1988, 56 more skyboxes were added, increasing capacity to 66,946. Capacity was slightly increased to 66,950 in 1992. By 1994, however, capacity

11859-524: The Bears spent the 2002 NFL season playing their home games at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois . On September 29, 2003 , the Bears played their first game at the renovated Soldier Field, in which they were defeated by the Green Bay Packers , 38–23. The total funding for the renovation cost $ 632 million; taxpayers were responsible for $ 432 million while the Chicago Bears and

12036-484: The Cambrian explosion, 535 Ma , there have been at least five major mass extinctions and many minor ones. Apart from the proposed current Holocene extinction event, the most recent was 66 Ma , when an asteroid impact triggered the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but largely spared small animals such as insects, mammals , lizards and birds. Mammalian life has diversified over

12213-654: The Earth. Terra is also the name of the planet in some Romance languages , languages that evolved from Latin , like Italian and Portuguese , while in other Romance languages the word gave rise to names with slightly altered spellings, like the Spanish Tierra and the French Terre . The Latinate form Gæa or Gaea ( English: / ˈ dʒ iː . ə / ) of the Greek poetic name Gaia ( Γαῖα ; Ancient Greek : [ɡâi̯.a] or [ɡâj.ja] )

12390-428: The Epics' power, Steelheart's weakness, and about a group of normal humans dedicated to killing Epics, called the Reckoners, so that he can get revenge on Steelheart. Near the start of the book, David makes contact with the Reckoners when he interferes with one of their missions. Among this group are the leader and founder of the Reckoners, Jonathan Phaedrus, who is called Prof throughout the book, Tia, Abraham, Cody, and

12567-439: The Epics' weaknesses may possibly be connected to events from their past, like Mitosis' weakness was his own rock music from the past. David and Exel delve into the lore of 'Dawnslight', a believed good Epic who watches over the city and grants it with glowing lights on the spray paint on the side of the walls of buildings, as well as filling the interiors of the city's skyscrapers with luscious, jungle-like greenery and fruit to feed

12744-552: The Epics, the most powerful of which replaced government authority and enslaved the rest of humanity. Ten years ago, an eight-year-old Chicago native boy named David Charleston was orphaned when the High Epic Steelheart murdered his father while confronting a rival Epic, Deathpoint, in a bank. The sole survivor of the bank carnage, David has now come of age in what is known as Newcago, ruled by Steelheart. David witnessed Steelheart's one weakness as his father inflicted

12921-477: The Knighthawk Foundry. While searching a lab, David gets shot, and Megan ends up using her powers to save him, nearly succumbing to them. Before they can escape they are addressed by Knighthawk, who turns out to be an old associate of Prof. David asks him for help to recover Prof. Knighthawk gives them two motivators (epic-derived technology that allow others to use their powers) and tells them that Prof

13098-533: The Latin Tellus comes tellurian / t ɛ ˈ l ʊər i ə n / and telluric . The oldest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4.5682 +0.0002 −0.0004 Ga (billion years) ago. By 4.54 ± 0.04 Ga the primordial Earth had formed. The bodies in the Solar System formed and evolved with the Sun. In theory, a solar nebula partitions a volume out of a molecular cloud by gravitational collapse, which begins to spin and flatten into

13275-426: The Moon and, by inference, to that of Earth. Earth's atmosphere and oceans were formed by volcanic activity and outgassing . Water vapor from these sources condensed into the oceans, augmented by water and ice from asteroids, protoplanets , and comets . Sufficient water to fill the oceans may have been on Earth since it formed. In this model, atmospheric greenhouse gases kept the oceans from freezing when

13452-499: The NFL contributed $ 200 million. Several writers and columnists attacked the Soldier Field renovation project as an aesthetic , political and financial nightmare. The project received mixed reviews within the architecture community, with criticism from civic and preservation groups. Prominent architect and native Chicagoan Stanley Tigerman called it "a fiasco. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin dubbed it

13629-487: The Penguins 5–1 before a sold-out crowd of 62,921. The team also held its 2015 Stanley Cup Championship celebration at the stadium instead of Grant Park , where other city championships have typically been held, due to recent rains. On February 7, 2015, Soldier Field hosted another edition of the Hockey City Classic. The event had been delayed due to unusually warm weather (42 °F (6 °C)) and complications with

13806-470: The Reckoner team. While going out with the others to scout Obliteration's spot, David goes into the interior of a building and notices odd fortune cookies hanging off of vines from the large vegetation, with notes inside asking for help, saying that " She has me captive ". The group sets up around Obliteration to spy on him, when Newton is noticed nearby, as well as Knoxx, another Epic thug who can change into

13983-529: The Reckoners knowing her cover as Steelheart's spy was blown. With the attacks on his team from Mitosis and Sourcefield, Jon Phaedrus, or known as Prof throughout the book, has eyes set on the common connection between them and Regalia, the Epic who rules Babilar, formerly known as Manhattan , and who has sent multiple subordinate Epics to confront the Newcago Reckoners. Jon sets out to Babilar with David and Tia (leaving Abraham and Cody behind to defend

14160-416: The Solar System . Of the four rocky planets , it is the largest and most massive. Earth is about eight light-minutes away from the Sun and orbits it , taking a year (about 365.25 days) to complete one revolution. Earth rotates around its own axis in slightly less than a day (in about 23 hours and 56 minutes). Earth's axis of rotation is tilted with respect to the perpendicular to its orbital plane around

14337-458: The Solar System's planetary-sized objects, Earth is the object with the highest density . Earth's mass is approximately 5.97 × 10   kg ( 5.970  Yg ). It is composed mostly of iron (32.1% by mass ), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%), with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements. Due to gravitational separation ,

14514-676: The Solar System, formed 4.5 billion years ago from gas and dust in the early Solar System . During the first billion years of Earth's history , the ocean formed and then life developed within it. Life spread globally and has been altering Earth's atmosphere and surface, leading to the Great Oxidation Event two billion years ago. Humans emerged 300,000 years ago in Africa and have spread across every continent on Earth. Humans depend on Earth's biosphere and natural resources for their survival, but have increasingly impacted

14691-403: The Sun when the star reaches its maximum radius, otherwise, with tidal effects, it may enter the Sun's atmosphere and be vaporized. Earth has a rounded shape , through hydrostatic equilibrium , with an average diameter of 12,742 kilometres (7,918 mi), making it the fifth largest planetary sized and largest terrestrial object of the Solar System . Due to Earth's rotation it has

14868-465: The Sun, producing seasons . Earth is orbited by one permanent natural satellite , the Moon , which orbits Earth at 384,400 km (1.28 light seconds) and is roughly a quarter as wide as Earth. The Moon's gravity helps stabilize Earth's axis, causes tides and gradually slows Earth's rotation . Tidal locking has made the Moon always face Earth with the same side. Earth, like most other bodies in

15045-406: The Sun. The normal humans live mostly underground and work at menial factory jobs. Yet Steelheart has proved one of the more effective Epic rulers, by providing Newcago with infrastructure, food, water, and electricity, in contrast with most other cities in what are now known as the "Fractured States". The United States , and other parts of the world, were changed forever when a glowing red light in

15222-548: The Tensors to fight him. The powerful Epics named Nightwielder and Firefight go after David, preventing him from using his father's gun on Steelheart. David is able to kill Nightwielder, but Firefight turns out to be Megan, who is revealed as an illusionist Epic with reincarnation abilities who had infiltrated the Reckoners. Because of David's love for Megan, and because Megan was extremely confused and less evil from not using her powers regularly, she lets David go. David joins Prof in

15399-464: The United States hosting Australia as part of the 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches shortly before both teams were due to travel to England for the 2015 Rugby World Cup . The Eagles were defeated 47–10. On November 5, 2016, Ireland beat New Zealand 40–29 at Soldier Field as part of the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals – the very first time Ireland had beaten the All Blacks in

15576-425: The atmosphere and due to interaction with ultraviolet solar radiation, formed a protective ozone layer ( O 3 ) in the upper atmosphere. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of complex cells called eukaryotes . True multicellular organisms formed as cells within colonies became increasingly specialized. Aided by the absorption of harmful ultraviolet radiation by

15753-426: The atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), creates the conditions for both liquid surface water and water vapor to persist via the capturing of energy from the Sun's light . This process maintains the current average surface temperature of 14.76 °C (58.57 °F), at which water is liquid under normal atmospheric pressure. Differences in the amount of captured energy between geographic regions (as with

15930-516: The bomb, to no effect, but before Calamity can kill him Prof and Megan appear. Prof has faced his fear–of his powers, of failure–in order to save David, and this is the key; he has reclaimed his powers in a way that Calamity can neither steal nor corrupt. But even together, they can't beat Calamity. Instead, David has Megan send him and Calamity to the other universe. There Calamity sees proof that epics–Steelheart, Firefight–can be good. Forced to accept that humans are not wholly evil, he fades away. Back in

16107-429: The bullets, but Tia is killed. Prof, agonized by her death, destroys the entire Sharp Tower, and Megan manifests a parachute to barely allow them to survive the fall. Once safe in their hideout they learn that Knighthawk was able to pull Prof's data off of Tia's mobile. It outlines Prof's plan: make a motivator of Larcener's ability and use it to steal Calamity's powers, becoming the ultimate epic. Knighthawk agrees to use

16284-450: The center, the temperature may be up to 6,000 °C (10,830 °F), and the pressure could reach 360  GPa (52 million  psi ). Because much of the heat is provided by radioactive decay, scientists postulate that early in Earth's history, before isotopes with short half-lives were depleted, Earth's heat production was much higher. At approximately 3  Gyr , twice the present-day heat would have been produced, increasing

16461-526: The city of Newcago) to face Regalia, whom David suspects has a long-term connection with Jon and Tia, because they seem to know a lot about each other. Upon arriving in Babilar, a ruined NYC flooded up to the top of the skyscrapers, which are used by the citizens as homes, connected by ladders, Prof, David, and Tia meet with Val, the tough-headed operations leader of the Babilar Reckoners, Exel,

16638-485: The city she has seemed to care for and help grow all along. After finally being able to connect with Val and meeting with Prof, who is in isolation to keep his powers at bay (they nearly overtook him after greatly exerting them), David runs into Megan, who snuck into the Reckoner base via their submarine, the two talk, and it's revealed that Megan hasn't been using her powers, and her Epic powers have been at bay. David and Megan finally embrace and kiss. Megan reveals that she

16815-400: The city. Megan realizes she is in control of herself, and David discovers that an Epic confronting their fears is the secret to remaining in control. With this knowledge they begin to prepare for their next confrontation with Prof. Following the events of Firefight, Prof has succumbed to his powers and David now leads what remain of the Reckoners. Broke and in need of equipment, they break into

16992-402: The coast was clear. This also saved him because Steelheart came back with another Epic named Faultline and sank the entire building into the ground, killing all of the other survivors and the rescue workers. David later guessed that Steelheart did this because everyone in the bank had watched him bleed and had learned that his invincibility had a weakness. David dedicates his life to learning about

17169-454: The continental crust , particularly during the early stages of Earth's history. New continental crust forms as a result of plate tectonics , a process ultimately driven by the continuous loss of heat from Earth's interior. Over the period of hundreds of millions of years, tectonic forces have caused areas of continental crust to group together to form supercontinents that have subsequently broken apart. At approximately 750 Ma , one of

17346-616: The continental surfaces are covered by sedimentary rocks, although they form about 5% of the mass of the crust. Earth's surface topography comprises both the topography of the ocean surface , and the shape of Earth's land surface. The submarine terrain of the ocean floor has an average bathymetric depth of 4 km, and is as varied as the terrain above sea level. Earth's surface is continually being shaped by internal plate tectonic processes including earthquakes and volcanism ; by weathering and erosion driven by ice, water, wind and temperature; and by biological processes including

17523-419: The core are chaotic; the magnetic poles drift and periodically change alignment. This causes secular variation of the main field and field reversals at irregular intervals averaging a few times every million years. The most recent reversal occurred approximately 700,000 years ago. The extent of Earth's magnetic field in space defines the magnetosphere . Ions and electrons of the solar wind are deflected by

17700-527: The core is primarily composed of the denser elements: iron (88.8%), with smaller amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements. The most common rock constituents of the crust are oxides . Over 99% of the crust is composed of various oxides of eleven elements, principally oxides containing silicon (the silicate minerals ), aluminium, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, or sodium. The major heat-producing isotopes within Earth are potassium-40 , uranium-238 , and thorium-232 . At

17877-463: The core, through the mantle, and up to Earth's surface, where it is, approximately, a dipole . The poles of the dipole are located close to Earth's geographic poles. At the equator of the magnetic field, the magnetic-field strength at the surface is 3.05 × 10 T , with a magnetic dipole moment of 7.79 × 10 Am at epoch 2000, decreasing nearly 6% per century (although it still remains stronger than its long time average). The convection movements in

18054-539: The days shorter. Above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle there is no daylight at all for part of the year, causing a polar night , and this night extends for several months at the poles themselves. These same latitudes also experience a midnight sun , where the sun remains visible all day. By astronomical convention, the four seasons can be determined by the solstices—the points in

18231-441: The destructive solar winds and cosmic radiation . Earth has a dynamic atmosphere , which sustains Earth's surface conditions and protects it from most meteoroids and UV-light at entry . It has a composition of primarily nitrogen and oxygen . Water vapor is widely present in the atmosphere, forming clouds that cover most of the planet. The water vapor acts as a greenhouse gas and, together with other greenhouse gases in

18408-611: The earliest known supercontinents, Rodinia , began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia at 600–540 Ma , then finally Pangaea , which also began to break apart at 180 Ma . The most recent pattern of ice ages began about 40 Ma , and then intensified during the Pleistocene about 3 Ma . High- and middle-latitude regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and thaw, repeating about every 21,000, 41,000 and 100,000 years. The Last Glacial Period , colloquially called

18585-544: The equally large area of land under permafrost ) or deserts (33%). The pedosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's land surface and is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. Soil is crucial for land to be arable. Earth's total arable land is 10.7% of the land surface, with 1.3% being permanent cropland. Earth has an estimated 16.7 million km (6.4 million sq mi) of cropland and 33.5 million km (12.9 million sq mi) of pastureland. The land surface and

18762-457: The escape, Megan is killed, but they do succeed in kidnapping Conflux. It is revealed that Conflux was actually a captive of Steelheart, kept prisoner and used like a battery to power the city and the weapons of Steelheart's forces. With the capture of Conflux, Steelheart accepts the Reckoners', or as he thinks, Limelight's, challenge. They set the final battle to happen at the all-steel ruins of Soldier Field . Before signaling Steelheart, they rig

18939-458: The explosive blast from killing David by using a shielding power. David then tells Prof about how Megan is actually Firefight, which shocks him. David then runs off to find her and talk to her. When he encounters her, he finds that the reincarnation process messed with her memory and that she does not remember everything she has been through with David, only that she is supposed to be one of the bad guys. David tries to convince her to come with him and

19116-436: The explosives go off, Steelheart is killed, due to the fact that it was he who pulled the trigger and he doesn't fear himself, he ended up unknowingly killing himself. When the dust settles, it is revealed that Prof is an Epic who had avoided turning evil by gifting his powers in the form of technology. One of these powers is the ability to heal rapidly, and he used this power on himself just in time to revive himself and prevent

19293-403: The exterior would be preserved in an example of facadism . A similar endeavor of constructing a new stadium within the confines of a historic stadium's exterior was done with Leipzig 's Red Bull Arena , which similarly built a modern stadium while preserving the exterior of the original Zentralstadion . Fans and radio hosts, such as WSCR 's Mike North , criticized the small seating capacity of

19470-411: The extremely large and friendly giant of the team, and Mizzy, the spunky and clumsy point/repair and equipment manager. Together, they go out on boat to the city, where they discuss Regalia's powers of being able to control the water and water level, as well as being able to project herself upon the water's surface and see things near the water surface. The group finds it odd that she's turned the city into

19647-422: The fight against Steelheart, but Prof is killed. David soon finds out that their last theory about David's father's gun does not work. Steelheart takes David's gun, and is intent on shooting him with it, but shortly before allowing Steelheart to take the gun, David figured out that Steelheart's weakness is that he can only be killed by someone who does not fear him, and has rigged the gun to trigger an explosive. When

19824-638: The growth and decomposition of biomass into soil . Earth's mechanically rigid outer layer of Earth's crust and upper mantle , the lithosphere , is divided into tectonic plates . These plates are rigid segments that move relative to each other at one of three boundaries types: at convergent boundaries , two plates come together; at divergent boundaries , two plates are pulled apart; and at transform boundaries , two plates slide past one another laterally. Along these plate boundaries, earthquakes, volcanic activity , mountain-building , and oceanic trench formation can occur. The tectonic plates ride on top of

20001-404: The heat in Earth is lost through plate tectonics, by mantle upwelling associated with mid-ocean ridges . The final major mode of heat loss is through conduction through the lithosphere, the majority of which occurs under the oceans. The gravity of Earth is the acceleration that is imparted to objects due to the distribution of mass within Earth. Near Earth's surface, gravitational acceleration

20178-815: The home venue for a number of other sports teams in its history, including the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL and University of Notre Dame football . It hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup , the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup , and multiple CONCACAF Gold Cup championships. In 1968 , it hosted the inaugural World Games of the Special Olympics , as well as its second World Games in 1970. Other historic events have included large rallies with speeches, including by Amelia Earhart , Franklin D. Roosevelt , and Martin Luther King Jr. On December 3, 1919, Chicago-based architectural firm Holabird & Roche

20355-406: The land surface is taken by the four continental landmasses , which are (in descending order): Africa-Eurasia , America (landmass) , Antarctica , and Australia (landmass) . These landmasses are further broken down and grouped into the continents . The terrain of the land surface varies greatly and consists of mountains, deserts , plains , plateaus , and other landforms . The elevation of

20532-513: The land surface varies from a low point of −418 m (−1,371 ft) at the Dead Sea , to a maximum altitude of 8,848 m (29,029 ft) at the top of Mount Everest . The mean height of land above sea level is about 797 m (2,615 ft). Land can be covered by surface water , snow, ice, artificial structures or vegetation. Most of Earth's land hosts vegetation, but considerable amounts of land are ice sheets (10%, not including

20709-399: The lithosphere, which is divided into independently moving tectonic plates. Beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere , a relatively low-viscosity layer on which the lithosphere rides. Important changes in crystal structure within the mantle occur at 410 and 660 km (250 and 410 mi) below the surface, spanning a transition zone that separates the upper and lower mantle. Beneath

20886-536: The location of the base, and she brings him high enough to see Calamity, who is not a star but a male Epic. Calamity attempts to gift David with powers, but he refuses as he had already faced his aquaphobia and is brought back down to Earth. David is able to kill Newton with her weakness, compliments, as the black sheep in her family, she was afraid of being perfect, with Mizzy's help, who was on point to assassinate Newton, after convincing her that Regalia knew their plans and they would fail. He then rushes to Megan's aid at

21063-410: The loss of oxygen in the atmosphere, making current animal life impossible. Due to the increased luminosity, Earth's mean temperature may reach 100 °C (212 °F) in 1.5 billion years, and all ocean water will evaporate and be lost to space, which may trigger a runaway greenhouse effect , within an estimated 1.6 to 3 billion years. Even if the Sun were stable, a fraction of the water in

21240-456: The lowercase when it is preceded by "the", such as "the atmosphere of the earth". It almost always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as "what on earth are you doing?" The name Terra / ˈ t ɛr ə / occasionally is used in scientific writing and especially in science fiction to distinguish humanity's inhabited planet from others, while in poetry Tellus / ˈ t ɛ l ə s / has been used to denote personification of

21417-497: The magnetosphere. During magnetic storms and substorms , charged particles can be deflected from the outer magnetosphere and especially the magnetotail, directed along field lines into Earth's ionosphere , where atmospheric atoms can be excited and ionized, causing an aurora . Earth's rotation period relative to the Sun—its mean solar day—is 86,400 seconds of mean solar time ( 86,400.0025 SI seconds ). Because Earth's solar day

21594-409: The magnetosphere; solar wind pressure compresses the day-side of the magnetosphere, to about 10 Earth radii, and extends the night-side magnetosphere into a long tail. Because the velocity of the solar wind is greater than the speed at which waves propagate through the solar wind, a supersonic bow shock precedes the day-side magnetosphere within the solar wind. Charged particles are contained within

21771-483: The magnetosphere; the plasmasphere is defined by low-energy particles that essentially follow magnetic field lines as Earth rotates. The ring current is defined by medium-energy particles that drift relative to the geomagnetic field, but with paths that are still dominated by the magnetic field, and the Van Allen radiation belts are formed by high-energy particles whose motion is essentially random, but contained in

21948-417: The mantle, an extremely low viscosity liquid outer core lies above a solid inner core . Earth's inner core may be rotating at a slightly higher angular velocity than the remainder of the planet, advancing by 0.1–0.5° per year, although both somewhat higher and much lower rates have also been proposed. The radius of the inner core is about one-fifth of that of Earth. The density increases with depth. Among

22125-612: The mantle. Due to this recycling, most of the ocean floor is less than 100 Ma old. The oldest oceanic crust is located in the Western Pacific and is estimated to be 200 Ma old. By comparison, the oldest dated continental crust is 4,030 Ma , although zircons have been found preserved as clasts within Eoarchean sedimentary rocks that give ages up to 4,400 Ma , indicating that at least some continental crust existed at that time. The seven major plates are

22302-548: The modern oceans will descend to the mantle , due to reduced steam venting from mid-ocean ridges. The Sun will evolve to become a red giant in about 5 billion years . Models predict that the Sun will expand to roughly 1  AU (150 million km; 93 million mi), about 250 times its present radius. Earth's fate is less clear. As a red giant, the Sun will lose roughly 30% of its mass, so, without tidal effects, Earth will move to an orbit 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) from

22479-399: The mother of Thor . Historically, "Earth" has been written in lowercase. Beginning with the use of Early Middle English , its definite sense as "the globe" was expressed as "the earth". By the era of Early Modern English , capitalization of nouns began to prevail , and the earth was also written the Earth , particularly when referenced along with other heavenly bodies. More recently,

22656-424: The name is sometimes simply given as Earth , by analogy with the names of the other planets , though "earth" and forms with "the earth" remain common. House styles now vary: Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the more common, with the capitalized form an acceptable variant. Another convention capitalizes "Earth" when appearing as a name, such as a description of the "Earth's atmosphere", but employs

22833-618: The new venue, and others have criticized the Park District's lack of care to the field surface after the first seasonal freeze and a refusal to consider a new-generation artificial surface, leaving the Bears to play on dead grass. On January 19, 2002, the night of the Bears' playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles , demolition began as tailgate fires still burned in trash cans in the parking lots. The removal of 24,000 stadium seats in 36 hours by Archer Seating Clearinghouse,

23010-402: The newest recruit, Megan. They first take David along with them because they fear that he could be an Epic who was sent to spy on them. The Reckoners plan to leave him behind after learning that he was a normal person who only studied them long enough to learn their habits. David convinces them to bring him along and work with him when he tells them that he has seen Steelheart bleed. After going on

23187-425: The newly forming Sun had only 70% of its current luminosity . By 3.5 Ga , Earth's magnetic field was established, which helped prevent the atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind . As the molten outer layer of Earth cooled it formed the first solid crust , which is thought to have been mafic in composition. The first continental crust , which was more felsic in composition, formed by

23364-454: The normal world, the ISS begins to fall to Earth, and David embraces his epic powers to save them. With Calamity gone, epics are no longer compelled to be evil (although they can still choose to do so, as Obliteration does). David learns that in the alternate universe the epic known as Steelheart is, in fact, his father, with whom he is joyfully reunited. After returning to his universe, David and

23541-509: The north endzone, bringing the seating capacity to over 100,000. Before they moved into the stadium, the Chicago Bears had played select charity games at Soldier Field as early as 1926 , when they played their former crosstown rivals, the Chicago Cardinals . The Cardinals also used the stadium as their home field for their final season in the city in 1959 . In 1971 , the Bears moved into Soldier Field full-time, originally with

23718-593: The ocean may have covered Earth completely. The world ocean is commonly divided into the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Antarctic or Southern Ocean , and Arctic Ocean, from largest to smallest. The ocean covers Earth's oceanic crust , with the shelf seas covering the shelves of the continental crust to a lesser extent. The oceanic crust forms large oceanic basins with features like abyssal plains , seamounts , submarine volcanoes , oceanic trenches , submarine canyons , oceanic plateaus , and

23895-670: The oceanic plates, with the Cocos Plate advancing at a rate of 75 mm/a (3.0 in/year) and the Pacific Plate moving 52–69 mm/a (2.0–2.7 in/year). At the other extreme, the slowest-moving plate is the South American Plate, progressing at a typical rate of 10.6 mm/a (0.42 in/year). Earth's interior, like that of the other terrestrial planets, is divided into layers by their chemical or physical ( rheological ) properties. The outer layer

24072-599: The orbit of maximum axial tilt toward or away from the Sun—and the equinoxes , when Earth's rotational axis is aligned with its orbital axis. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter solstice currently occurs around 21 December; summer solstice is near 21 June, spring equinox is around 20 March and autumnal equinox is about 22 or 23 September. In the Southern Hemisphere, the situation is reversed, with

24249-401: The others are still in the space station which has started to fall down since Calamity is not there to hold it in place. David recalls his father's words before he dies: "There will be heroes. Just wait." With this in mind, David seizes the power from within and turns into an epic. He holds the same powers as Steelheart and his father from the alternate universe, and by turning the ISS into steel,

24426-444: The others, though she urges David to beat Prof and save her. The Reckoners adapt Tia's plans into a rescue attempt, infiltrating a party at Sharp Tower (where Prof has taken up residence) to get her out. Obliteration recognizes David at the party but doesn't give them away; he says that they are on the same side in wanting to destroy Prof. Obliteration also hints that Prof has a bomb fashioned from his powers. They rescue Tia, but Prof

24603-649: The ozone layer, life colonized Earth's surface. Among the earliest fossil evidence for life is microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone in Western Australia , biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks in Western Greenland , and remains of biotic material found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. The earliest direct evidence of life on Earth

24780-414: The part she cut out of the Epic in exchange for more power was for a bomb — one she knew Prof could contain with his powers. As she planned, Prof does so and loses control, killing Val and Exel. David kills Regalia in rage. Prof arrives and uses his power with the intent to kill David. Before he can, a revived Megan appears and rescues David with her reality-warping powers. They escape and Prof flies away from

24957-474: The partial melting of this mafic crust. The presence of grains of the mineral zircon of Hadean age in Eoarchean sedimentary rocks suggests that at least some felsic crust existed as early as 4.4 Ga , only 140  Ma after Earth's formation. There are two main models of how this initial small volume of continental crust evolved to reach its current abundance: (1) a relatively steady growth up to

25134-501: The past 66 Mys , and several million years ago, an African ape species gained the ability to stand upright. This facilitated tool use and encouraged communication that provided the nutrition and stimulation needed for a larger brain, which led to the evolution of humans . The development of agriculture , and then civilization , led to humans having an influence on Earth and the nature and quantity of other life forms that continues to this day. Earth's expected long-term future

25311-553: The people. However, the conversation is cut short when it's discovered that Obliteration is sitting on top of a rooftop in Babilar, collecting up heat from the sun, most likely in an effort to vaporize the city. David keeps in touch with Megan via text, and Prof (who is thinking of a plan to stop Obliteration from destroying the city) becomes suspicious that he's putting her in front of the mission to end Regalia's reign over Babilar, and even threatens to send him back to Newcago. Prof leaves David still unsure if his presence helps or hinders

25488-478: The planet's environment . Humanity's current impact on Earth's climate and biosphere is unsustainable , threatening the livelihood of humans and many other forms of life, and causing widespread extinctions . The Modern English word Earth developed, via Middle English , from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe . It has cognates in every Germanic language , and their ancestral root has been reconstructed as * erþō . In its earliest attestation,

25665-421: The polar Northern and Southern hemispheres; or by longitude into the continental Eastern and Western hemispheres. Most of Earth's surface is ocean water: 70.8% or 361 million km (139 million sq mi). This vast pool of salty water is often called the world ocean , and makes Earth with its dynamic hydrosphere a water world or ocean world . Indeed, in Earth's early history

25842-475: The power plant that supplies Newcago with a portion of its electricity. Secondly, they tried to attack one of the powerful Epics in Steelheart's employ known as Conflux; he is known as a "gifter", or "transference Epic" which gives him the ability to gift his powers to non-Epics and in his case, anything that runs on electricity. The attack doesn't go according to plan because they were somehow found out. During

26019-425: The power to transform matter into solid steel, and immunity to bullets. David jokes that he hasn't quite got the flying part down, and his father offers to teach him, to which David eagerly agrees. Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel , a spin-off and the fourth book in the series, was released on July 22, 2021, in an audiobook -only format; e-book and print editions are set for later release. Steelheart debuted at #1 on

26196-495: The present day, which is supported by the radiometric dating of continental crust globally and (2) an initial rapid growth in the volume of continental crust during the Archean , forming the bulk of the continental crust that now exists, which is supported by isotopic evidence from hafnium in zircons and neodymium in sedimentary rocks. The two models and the data that support them can be reconciled by large-scale recycling of

26373-489: The property did not fit the league's specifications. On September 19, 1971, the Bears played their first home game at Soldier Field, in which they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 17–15. In 1978, the Bears and the Chicago Park District agreed to a 20-year lease and renovation of the stadium; both parties pooled their resources for the renovation. The playing surface was AstroTurf from 1971 until 1987, and

26550-619: The quality of the ice. The 2015 edition of the Hockey City Classic featured a match between Miami University and Western Michigan , followed by a match between the Big Ten 's Michigan and Michigan State On February 5, the organizers of the Hockey City Classic organized the Unite on the Ice event benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital . The event was centered upon a celebrity hockey game with former NHL and AHL players, as well as

26727-493: The rates of mantle convection and plate tectonics, and allowing the production of uncommon igneous rocks such as komatiites that are rarely formed today. The mean heat loss from Earth is 87 mW m , for a global heat loss of 4.42 × 10  W . A portion of the core's thermal energy is transported toward the crust by mantle plumes , a form of convection consisting of upwellings of higher-temperature rock. These plumes can produce hotspots and flood basalts . More of

26904-448: The rest of the Reckoners, but she refuses and David is forced to leave her. At the end of the novel, David reflects on what he has done. He and the other Reckoners realize that they will have to continue to fight for the safety of Newcago because other Epics will come, looking to fill in Steelheart's place. He then thinks about how he did not kill Steelheart only because he wanted revenge for his father or redemption for running away when he

27081-447: The safety on, and believes that it is love. David continues to practice with the spyril, and improves his skills greatly, until suddenly Regalia's water projection appears. The two discuss the morals of Reckoners and Epics, and while David tries to figure out her location by triangulation, she states that he has only hurt society by killing Steelheart, and that he will be the end of his own people. She disappears, and David contemplates how

27258-613: The second international games occurred, when Special Olympics returned to Soldier Field. On November 1, 2014, the stadium hosted its first international rugby union test match between the United States Eagles and New Zealand All Blacks as part of the 2014 end-of-year rugby union tests . Over half of the 61,500 tickets were sold within two days. The All Blacks beat the Eagles 74–6. The stadium hosted its second international rugby union match on September 5, 2015, with

27435-522: The shape of an ellipsoid , bulging at its Equator ; its diameter is 43 kilometres (27 mi) longer there than at its poles . Earth's shape also has local topographic variations; the largest local variations, like the Mariana Trench (10,925 metres or 35,843 feet below local sea level), shortens Earth's average radius by 0.17% and Mount Everest (8,848 metres or 29,029 feet above local sea level) lengthens it by 0.14%. Since Earth's surface

27612-482: The sky known as Calamity gave normal people superhuman powers and abilities. These people came to be known to humanity as Epics. The story is told through the perspective of David, an orphaned teenager living in Newcago (formerly known as Chicago ). Newcago is ruled by the extremely powerful Epic named Steelheart, who has created a society run by other powerful Epics, with normal people living with normal jobs. Steelheart

27789-517: The skyscrapers in downtown Chicago as they made their pull. Damage to the stadium turf on a few of the event occasion's led USHRA to move events to the Rosemont Horizon (known today as Allstate Arena ). On February 7, 2013, the stadium hosted a high school hockey game between St. Rita High School from the city's Southwest side and Fenwick High School from suburban Oak Park . The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Miami RedHawks played

27966-427: The stadium with four express routes from Schaumburg , Lombard, Bolingbrook, Burr Ridge, Palos Heights and Oak Lawn. The pouring rights of non-alcoholic beverages at Soldier Field were held by The Coca-Cola Company from at least 1992 until 2012, when the Bears signed a contract with Dr Pepper Snapple Group (later Keurig Dr Pepper ), making it the only stadium in the NFL then (with Cleveland Browns Stadium striking

28143-515: The stadium with multiple exits and various traps. They plan to test each of their theories about Steelheart's true weakness, including that some of the contents of the vault can weaken him, that he can only be hurt by someone who believes in the possibility of good Epics, that he can only be hurt by crossfire, and that he can only be hurt by the gun that David's father used. When they meet Steelheart, they try out all but one theory of breaking his invincibility, but none work. Prof stalls Steelheart by using

28320-415: The standard of National Historic Landmarks throughout the country. ... If we want to keep the integrity of the program, let alone the landmarks, we really had no other recourse." The stadium lost the landmark designation on February 17, 2006. In May 2012, Soldier Field became the first NFL stadium to achieve LEED status, a program intended to award environmentally sustainable buildings. On July 9, 2019,

28497-416: The streets have been transformed to salt, and as the city moves, structures grow out of salt near the front while those near the back crumble away. Residents are constantly moving to new homes in order to keep up with it. Ildithia is known for its abundant produce, due to an epic named Stormwind whose presence provides rain and unnaturally fast crop growth near the city. When they arrive at Ildithia, they find

28674-707: The summer and winter solstices exchanged and the spring and autumnal equinox dates swapped. Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois , United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National Football League (NFL) since 1971, as well as Chicago Fire FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) from 1998 to 2006 and since 2020. It also regularly hosts stadium concerts and other large crowd events. The stadium has

28851-459: The team survives the landing. Obliteration meets them and reveals that he has faced the darkness five years ago but he is still determined to continue on with his plan of killing everyone. He tells David he will give him one week to rest and that his next target is Toronto. In a final scene, Megan sends David into the alternate universe. David and his father talk, noting to one another that David's powers mimic those of his father—the ability to fly,

29028-645: The tissue sample to make motivators of Prof's powers. Despite their failures, David convinces the Reckoners to stay in Ildithia and try one more time to turn Prof. Privately he confesses to Megan how he survived the bullets during the Sharp Tower assault, and about the nightmares, he's been having. When Calamity offered him powers he turned them down, yet these seem like strong signs that he is an epic. Prof attacks their hideout and they are forced to face him with minimal preparation. Megan, finally accepting her powers as part of her, fights like she never has before but

29205-508: The wake of danger, as well as enhanced strength, he runs rampant throughout the city, killing citizens seemingly joyously while the Reckoners try to exploit a weakness. While fighting him, David notices bandages on his chest, as if he were recently injured. The lopsided scuffle ends with David being thrown into the depths with a ball and chain, before Obliteration graciously thanks him for slaying Steelheart, saying it's simply an obstacle averted in his quest to destroy everything in his path. David

29382-534: The way of the mission. Exel and Mizzy help David learn to use the spyril , a piece of Knighthawk machinery that allows the user to use it as a jet pack of water. After plenty of training on this, David and Mizzy are sent to a Babilar party to spy on Newton, a gang leader in the city and an Epic working for Regalia. However, Mizzy and David end up connecting, and it's revealed that Mizzy wants to kill 'Firefight' (Megan) for killing Sam, an old member of her team. David tries to spy on Newton, but suddenly realizes that Megan

29559-461: The word eorðe was used to translate the many senses of Latin terra and Greek γῆ gē : the ground, its soil , dry land, the human world, the surface of the world (including the sea), and the globe itself. As with Roman Terra /Tellūs and Greek Gaia , Earth may have been a personified goddess in Germanic paganism : late Norse mythology included Jörð ("Earth"), a giantess often given as

29736-620: The year. This causes the seasonal change in climate, with summer in the Northern Hemisphere occurring when the Tropic of Cancer is facing the Sun, and in the Southern Hemisphere when the Tropic of Capricorn faces the Sun. In each instance, winter occurs simultaneously in the opposite hemisphere. During the summer, the day lasts longer, and the Sun climbs higher in the sky. In winter, the climate becomes cooler and

29913-604: The years. I wouldn't do this if it were the Parthenon . But this isn't the Parthenon. Proponents of the renovation argued it was direly needed because of aging and cramped facilities. The New York Times named the renovated Soldier Field one of the five best new buildings of 2003. Soldier Field was given an award in design excellence by the American Institute of Architects in 2004. On September 23, 2004, as

30090-431: Was a hero. When his father shot Deathpoint, the bullet grazed Steelheart's cheek and caused him to bleed. Enraged, Steelheart killed David's father and then proceeded to destroy the bank. David crawled into one of the vaults, which ultimately saved him from falling debris and isolated him from Steelheart's energy blasts. Later, David was recovered by rescue workers, who told him to play dead, but ended running away scared when

30267-513: Was changed to Soldier Field , in dedication to U.S. soldiers who had died in combat during World War I . Its formal rededication as Soldier Field was held during the 29th annual playing of the Army–Navy Game on November 27, 1926. Several months earlier, in June 1926, the stadium hosted several events during the 28th International Eucharistic Congress , the first held in the United States. During

30444-616: Was chosen to design the stadium, which broke ground on August 11, 1922. The stadium cost $ 13 million to construct (equivalent to $ 232 million in 2023), a large sum for a sporting venue at that time (in comparison, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum had cost less than US$ 1 million in 1923 dollars). On October 9, 1924, the 53rd anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire , the stadium was officially dedicated as " Grant Park Stadium", although it had hosted

30621-509: Was in a band before he was an Epic. He is defeated by the citizens of Newcago, who were previously too afraid to confront any Epics, coming together to collectively sing one of his songs. Book 2, Firefight , was published on 6 January 2015. After the events of Steelheart and Mitosis, David Charleston, dubbed as the infamous 'Steelslayer' by many, is searching for something to fill the hole left now that his revenge had at long last been fulfilled. Firefight, otherwise known as Megan, has since left

30798-518: Was little, but because he was fighting for his father's dreams of good Epics. This short story takes place between the Steelheart and Firefight books. In it, the Epic Mitosis does not believe that David was the one to bring down Steelheart. Mitosis's ability is to split into multiple clones of himself each clone having their own consciousness. Mitosis weakness is his own music from when he

30975-447: Was murdered by Steelheart around the time of the collapse. When David was eight, he and his father were at a bank which was attacked by an Epic named Deathpoint who had the power to vaporize people by pointing at them. Half the bank was killed when Steelheart came in and Deathpoint started to argue with him. During this time, David's father grabbed one of the dead guards' guns and prepared himself to kill Deathpoint, believing that Steelheart

31152-480: Was replaced with natural grass in 1988. On February 27, 1987, Soldier Field was designated a National Historic Landmark . In 1989, Soldier Field's future was in jeopardy after a proposal was created for a "McDome", which was intended to be a domed stadium for the Bears, but was rejected by the Illinois Legislature in 1990. Because of this, Bears president Michael McCaskey considered relocation as

31329-449: Was slightly reduced to 66,944. During the renovation, seating capacity was reduced to 55,701 by building a grandstand in the open end of the U shape. This moved the field closer to both ends in order to move the fans closer to the field, at the expense of seating capacity. The front row 50-yard line seats were only 55 feet (17 m) away from the sidelines, the shortest distance of all NFL stadiums until MetLife Stadium opened in 2010 with

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