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Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are meteoroids, asteroids, and comets whose orbits lie close to -- and sometimes cross -- Earth’s. Impact craters on Earth bear witness to the destructive potential of NEOs. The hazard posed by NEOs has captured the professional attention of not just astronomers but ... geologists, biologists, mission planners, aerospace engineers, and even the United States Department of Defense. The public is increasingly aware that Earth resides within a cosmic shooting gallery. The crash of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in 1994 provided proof that cosmic collisions do occur.
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Near-Humans was the general term for any of the many species, subspecies, or races in the galaxy which were very closely related biologically to baseline Humans. In contrast, other humanoid species only had general external similarities to Humans, and had no biological connection. However, the term "humanoid" was sometimes used loosely to describe Near-Human species.
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The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker), renamed after its launch in honor of planetary scientistEugene M. Shoemaker, is aroboticspace probedesigned to study thenear-Earth asteroidErosfrom close orbit over a period of a year. The primary scientific objective of NEAR was to return data on the bulk properties, composition,mineralogy, morphology, internalmassdistribution andmagnetic fieldof Eros. Secondary objectives include studies ofregolithproperties, interactions with thesolar wind, possible current activity as indicated by dust or gas, and the asteroid spin state. This data will be used to help understand the characteristics ofasteroidsin general, their relationship tometeorites andcomets, and the conditions in the early solar system. To accomplish these goals, the spacecraft was equipped with anX-ray/gamma ray spectrometer, a near-infrared imaging spectrograph, a multi-spectral camera fitted with aCCD imagingdetector, alaser rangefinder, and amagnetometer. A radio science experiment was ... performed using the NEAR tracking system to estimate thegravityfield of the asteroid.
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The Near-Human status of many "alien races" is not always certain. For instance, aliens who appear very similar to Humans may often be assumed by fans to be Near-Human, though this may never be explicitly stated in the canon. Other aliens may not be specifically described as Near-Human, but other evidence, such as half-Human offspring, will show them to be Near-Human. On the other hand, the Utai look obviously non-Human, but are specifically described as Near-Humans in the Revenge of the Sith novelization. Some of this confusion comes from overlapping use of the terms "humanoid" and "Near-Human", both by in-universe sources and real-world writers.
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When, in the 1830s, New Yorker William B. Ogden saw the property that his family had bought on the Near North Side of the Chicago River, he was appalled by the swampy condition of the land. Nevertheless, rapidly increasing real-estate values and the possibility of industrial development along the river induced him to buy up large tracts of land there. He gave the Chicago Dock and Canal Company control of the land where in the twentieth century the Chicago North Pier was built. Ogden increased the amount of waterfront, manufacturing land by having a canal dug across a bend in the North Branch of the river, creating Goose Island. Residential patterns followed industrial use. Although Irish factory workers settled at the juncture of the river and its North Branch, an area called Kilgubbin or the Patch, Ogden's decision to bring the city's first railroad there in 1848 drove them northward along the river.
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All Near-Humans shared close external similarities to Humans, usually with small differences in skin and eye color or bone structure. Biologically, many Near-Humans were capable of interbreeding with baseline Humans. Some were close enough to the Human baseline to be considered a race or ethnic group of Humans, rather than a separate species. Similarly, some groups, biologically classified as Humans, though differing from the Human mainstream almost entirely in their culture, were considered so distinct that they were sometimes referred to as Near-Human.
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