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Descent

Descent is the derivation from an ancestor or the act of coming down from a higher to a lower level. In anthropology and sociology, it refers to the system of socially recognized parentage through which individuals trace their kinship ties to ancestors, thereby establishing rights, obligations, and group memberships such as inheritance, succession, and residence rules. This framework varies widely across cultures, serving as a foundational element in organizing social structures and familial alliances.^[1] Descent systems are broadly classified into unilineal and non-unilineal types, with unilineal descent emphasizing affiliation through only one parental line—either the father's (patrilineal) or the mother's (matrilineal)—while non-unilineal systems, like bilateral descent, recognize both parents equally. Patrilineal descent, the most common form globally (found in about 41% of societies), traces kinship through males, often linking property and authority to paternal lines, as seen in many agrarian societies where it reinforces patrilocal residence and male-dominated inheritance.^[2]^[3] In contrast, matrilineal descent follows the maternal line, where women may hold significant roles in property transmission and lineage continuity, exemplified in groups like the Minangkabau of Indonesia or the Navajo of North America.^[4] Other variations include ambilineal descent, where individuals may choose affiliation with either parent's group based on strategic or situational factors, and double unilineal descent, which utilizes both lines for distinct purposes, such as patrilineal for land rights and matrilineal for movable property. Bilateral descent, prevalent in Western societies like the United States, creates cognatic kin networks without strict unilineal segmentation, emphasizing egalitarian ties and nuclear family units. These systems often form larger corporate groups like lineages or clans, which can span several generations and enforce exogamy to prevent inbreeding while promoting alliances. For other noun usages of "descent," such as downward movement or in mathematics, see the relevant sections below.^[5]^[6]^[1] Beyond biological ties, descent incorporates social mechanisms like adoption or fictive kinship to integrate outsiders, ensuring group stability in the absence of centralized authority, particularly in traditional societies. Anthropological studies highlight how descent rules interact with marriage practices and economic systems to maintain social order, with unilineal forms often correlating with segmentary lineages that resolve conflicts through balanced opposition. Modern globalization and urbanization continue to influence these systems, blending traditional descent with bilateral models in hybrid forms.^[3]

Noun usages

Genealogy and inheritance

In genealogy, descent refers to the transmission of ancestry and biological traits from one generation to the next, forming the basis of familial lineage and inheritance.^[7] This process establishes social, legal, and cultural connections between individuals and their forebears, often documented through records of parentage and succession.^[8] Descent systems vary across societies, with unilineal forms tracing lineage exclusively through one parental line. Patrilineal descent follows the male line, where inheritance and group membership pass from fathers to sons, as seen in ancient Roman society where kinship centered on the paternal family unit and property devolved to male heirs.^[9] In contrast, matrilineal descent traces through the female line, with rights and identity derived from mothers and their siblings; among the Ashanti people of Ghana, for instance, descent is matrilineal, meaning an individual belongs to their mother's lineage, and property often passes from a woman's brother to her son rather than directly to daughters.^[10]^[11] Legally, descent governs intestate succession—the distribution of a deceased person's estate when no will exists—under common law principles that prioritize close relatives. In such cases, assets typically pass first to surviving spouses and children, then to parents or siblings if no direct descendants survive.^[12] Common law employs two primary distribution methods: per stirpes, which divides the estate by family branches so a deceased heir's share goes to their descendants (e.g., grandchildren inherit their parent's portion equally), and per capita, which allocates equal shares among all surviving heirs at the same generational level, excluding descendants of predeceased beneficiaries.^[12] These rules ensure orderly transfer while reflecting equitable principles derived from English common law traditions.^[13] The historical evolution of descent rules in England transitioned from rigid feudal systems to flexible modern probate frameworks. Under feudalism, land inheritance followed primogeniture, favoring eldest sons to maintain estate integrity and feudal obligations, with limited testamentary freedom.^[14] The Statute of Wills in 1540 marked a pivotal shift, enacted under Henry VIII to allow landowners to bequeath freehold land by will, reducing reliance on automatic descent and enabling greater control over property transmission amid economic changes.^[14] By the 19th and 20th centuries, reforms like the Administration of Estates Act 1925 standardized probate processes, equalizing inheritance rights for daughters and spouses while preserving core descent principles in intestacy.^[15]^[16] Culturally, descent plays a central role in shaping personal and collective identity, often serving as a foundation for social status and belonging. In nobility systems, titles and privileges descend through specified lines, such as male-preference primogeniture in European aristocracy, reinforcing hierarchical structures and historical continuity.^[15] Among indigenous kinship systems, descent organizes community ties and resource allocation; for example, Tlingit societies in Alaska employ matrilineal descent to define clan membership and rights, fostering a sense of shared heritage and mutual support that underpins cultural resilience.^[17] This significance extends to broader identity formation, where descent narratives affirm ethnic origins and continuity with ancestral pasts.^[18]

Downward movement and processes

In mountaineering and climbing, descent often involves rappelling or abseiling, techniques where climbers control their downward movement along a fixed rope using friction devices. The single-rope technique (SRT), commonly employed in vertical caving and applicable to certain climbing scenarios, allows for efficient descent and ascent on the same rope by threading it through a self-locking descender, such as the Petzl Stop, while maintaining two points of attachment for safety.^[19] Equipment like the figure-eight descender, a simple aluminum device in the shape of an 8 used for over 50 years, provides controlled friction for ropes of 9.5-11 mm diameter; the rope passes through the larger loop and is clipped via the smaller one to a carabiner, enabling adjustable speed via the brake hand.^[20] These methods prioritize stability and prevent uncontrolled falls, with holding power varying by configuration—up to 5.9 kN in rescue mode for heavy loads.^[20] In aviation, the descent phase of landing requires precise control to align the aircraft with the runway while managing speed and altitude. Pilots typically follow a stabilized approach on a 3-degree glide path, adjusting power and pitch to maintain airspeed at 1.3 times the stall speed (VSO) and a constant descent angle to the aiming point.^[21] The rate of descent (ROD) is calculated by multiplying groundspeed in knots by 5, yielding feet per minute; for example, at 100 knots groundspeed, the ROD is approximately 500 feet per minute (fpm) for light general aviation aircraft.^[21] Descent rates are kept between 500-1000 fpm, reducing to below 500 fpm above 300 feet above ground level (AGL) to ensure a gentle touchdown, with forward slips or flap adjustments used to steepen the path without altering airspeed significantly if needed.^[21] General processes of descent encompass everyday and natural mechanisms, such as movement in elevators or down stairs, where gravitational force drives the motion but is moderated by mechanical or muscular control. In an elevator descending at constant speed, passengers experience an apparent weight equal to their true weight due to the balance between gravity and the floor's normal force; however, during acceleration downward, apparent weight decreases, approaching weightlessness in free fall.^[22] Gravitational fall, as in a free-falling object, follows Newton's second law, with constant acceleration of 9.8 m/s² near Earth's surface, leading to linearly increasing velocity (V = at) and quadratically increasing displacement (X = ½at²), unaffected by mass in a vacuum.^[23] Socially, descent manifests as downward mobility, defined as an involuntary or voluntary shift to a lower occupational group than one's parents, such as from a professional role like nursing to an intermediate one like shopkeeping, often persisting over time with 80% of affected individuals remaining in lower status after five years.^[24] Historical examples highlight the risks and ingenuity in descent during exploration. On May 29, 1953, after summiting Mount Everest, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay spent 15 minutes at the peak before beginning their descent along the Southeast Ridge, navigating challenges like the Hillary Step amid fatigue, and successfully rejoining teammate George Lowe lower on the mountain.^[25] In space exploration, re-entry descents of capsules like NASA's Genesis mission in 2004 involved passive aerodynamic stability after separation from the spacecraft at 11.04 km/s entry velocity and -8° flight-path angle, followed by drogue parachute deployment at Mach 1.8 and main parachute at 7.5 km altitude for a targeted landing, though a parachute failure shifted the impact 8.3 km from the Utah Test and Training Range site.^[26] These events underscore descent's role in completing high-stakes journeys, often modeled mathematically for trajectory prediction in aviation and space contexts.^[26]

Mathematics

In mathematics, descent refers to techniques and structures that involve reducing problems to smaller or simpler cases, often through compatibility conditions or inductive arguments on ordered sets. The concept traces its origins to Euclidean geometry, where Euclid's Elements (circa 300 BCE) implicitly employed principles akin to descent in proving properties of integers, such as the well-ordering of positive integers via the absence of infinite descending chains in the Euclidean algorithm for greatest common divisors.^[27] This foundational idea evolved in the 19th century with Richard Dedekind's work on algebraic number theory, where he introduced ideals to establish unique factorization domains by ensuring no infinite descending chains of ideals under divisibility, thus avoiding pathological factorizations in rings like the integers of quadratic fields.^[28] A prominent application is the method of infinite descent, a proof technique pioneered by Pierre de Fermat in the 17th century to demonstrate the non-existence of integer solutions to certain Diophantine equations. The method assumes a minimal positive integer counterexample exists and derives a strictly smaller positive integer counterexample, leading to an infinite regress that contradicts the well-ordering principle of the natural numbers.^[29] For instance, Fermat used it to prove that there are no positive integer solutions to x^4 + y^4 = z^4, a special case of his Last Theorem for exponent 4; assuming such a solution in lowest terms, one constructs a smaller primitive Pythagorean triple satisfying a related equation, implying an infinite descent.^[30] Similarly, the irrationality of \sqrt{2} can be shown by assuming \sqrt{2} = p/q in lowest terms with p, q > 0; then p^2 = 2q^2 implies p is even, so p = 2k yields q^2 = 2k^2, making q even, and repeating produces smaller denominators indefinitely, a contradiction.^[31] In algebraic geometry and number theory, descent formalizes the reduction of objects defined over field extensions to the base field, often via group actions. Galois descent, developed in the mid-20th century, allows one to "descend" vector bundles or varieties from a Galois extension L/K to the base field K by equipping the object over L with an action of the Galois group \mathrm{Gal}(L/K) that satisfies cocycle conditions, ensuring the descended object is defined over K.^[32] Effective descent extends this to algorithmic solvability of Diophantine equations, where finite descent steps bound solution sizes, as in Fermat's method but generalized to elliptic curves or higher-degree equations via height functions or modular forms.^[33] A landmark generalization is Grothendieck's descent theory from the 1960s, which provides criteria for gluing local objects over a cover of a scheme into a global one, using fibered categories and effective conditions for faithfully flat morphisms, foundational for stack theory and cohomology.^[34] Beyond these, descent appears in category theory as descent data, which equips an object over a cover \{U_i \to X\} with isomorphisms on intersections U_i \times_X U_j satisfying a cocycle condition, enabling the reconstruction of a global object via a 2-categorical limit (the descent object).^[35] In ordered sets, descending chains—sequences a_1 > a_2 > \cdots with no infinite length—characterize well-founded partial orders, underpinning the well-ordering principle where every nonempty subset has a least element, as in ordinal arithmetic.

Science and technology

In evolutionary biology, descent with modification represents the foundational concept proposed by Charles Darwin, positing that species evolve over time through gradual changes inherited from common ancestors, leading to diversification and speciation.^[36] This idea, central to Darwin's theory of natural selection, explains the unity of life via shared ancestry, supported by empirical evidence from fossil records showing transitional forms and from genetic analyses, such as mitochondrial DNA studies tracing maternal lineages back to a common human ancestor approximately 150,000–200,000 years ago.^[37] These genetic markers, inherited solely through the maternal line, provide a molecular clock for reconstructing evolutionary histories and confirming patterns of descent across populations.^[38] In physics, descent refers to the process by which objects move downward in a gravitational field, converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy. The work done by gravity during such vertical descent over a height h is given by W = mgh, where m is mass, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the change in height; this equation derives from the conservative nature of the gravitational force, where potential energy U = mgh decreases as the object descends.^[39] In orbital mechanics, controlled descent is achieved through de-orbit burns, where spacecraft engines fire retrograde to reduce velocity and lower perigee into the atmosphere, as exemplified in Apollo missions where burns of approximately 65 m/s initiated lunar descent orbits.^[40] In computing and optimization, gradient descent is an iterative algorithm for minimizing objective functions by moving parameters in the direction opposite to the gradient, with roots in Augustin-Louis Cauchy's 1847 method for solving systems of equations via successive approximations.^[41] The update rule is \theta_{t+1} = \theta_t - \alpha \nabla J(\theta_t), where \theta_t are parameters at iteration t, \alpha is the learning rate, and \nabla J(\theta_t) is the gradient of the cost function J; this approach has become essential in machine learning since the 2010s for training neural networks.^[42] A key variant, stochastic gradient descent (SGD), approximates the gradient using random subsets of data, enabling efficient training on large datasets and accelerating convergence in deep learning models.^[42] In typography technology, descent denotes the vertical distance below the baseline to the lowest extent of a font's glyphs, such as the tails of letters like 'g' or 'y', which influences line spacing alongside ascent (the height above the baseline). Standard font metrics, as defined in systems like OpenType, combine ascent, descent, and leading to determine baseline-to-baseline distance, ensuring readable text layout across applications. Recent advancements in AI-driven robotics incorporate descent planning within pathfinding algorithms, where gradient-based methods generate collision-free trajectories for unmanned aerial vehicles by minimizing distance gradients to targets while avoiding obstacles, enhancing autonomy in dynamic environments post-2020.^[43]

Proper names

Film and television

The Descent (2005) is a British horror film directed by Neil Marshall, following a group of women on a spelunking expedition in the Appalachian Mountains who become trapped underground and encounter bloodthirsty creatures known as crawlers.^[44] The story explores themes of claustrophobia, grief, and female solidarity, with the protagonist Sarah dealing with the recent loss of her family.^[45] Released in the UK in July 2005 and in the US in 2006, it grossed $57.2 million worldwide against a £3.5 million budget, becoming a commercial success.^[44] Critically acclaimed for its tension and all-female cast, the film holds an 87% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2/10 on IMDb.^[46]^[44] Descent (2007) is an American thriller directed by Talia Lugacy, starring Rosario Dawson as Maya, a college student who survives a brutal sexual assault and later confronts her attacker while working as a dancer.^[47] The film delves into themes of trauma, revenge, and recovery, presented as a rape-and-revenge narrative.^[48] It received a limited theatrical release and mixed reviews, praised for Dawson's performance but criticized for its heavy-handed approach; it has a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score.^[49] The Descent Part 2 (2009), directed by Jon Harris, serves as a direct sequel, picking up immediately after the first film's events with Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) emerging from the cave in a traumatized state and amnesiac. A sheriff leads a rescue team, including Sarah, back into the caves to search for survivors, where they face the crawlers again, amplifying the original's gore and isolation.^[50] The film maintains the claustrophobic horror but expands the scope with new characters; it earned a 49% Rotten Tomatoes rating, with critics noting its effective scares despite lacking the original's emotional depth.^[50] In television, Descent (2005) is a sci-fi TV movie directed by Blair Hayes, where a team of scientists races to avert global disaster amid escalating volcanic activity along the Ring of Fire.^[51] Aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, it focuses on high-stakes geological threats but received low ratings, scoring 3.5/10 on IMDb for its formulaic plot.^[51] More recent productions include The Descent (2023), a low-budget horror film about a community terrorized by shadowy creatures emerging from the darkness, directed by Jorge A. Jimeno and Felipe Sánchez, which premiered to poor reception with a 2.5/10 IMDb rating.^[52] Descent (2024) is a five-episode Australian sci-fi comedy series created by Millie Holten, Madi Savage, and Ella Lawry, streaming on YouTube, following three amateur scientists on a deep-sea mission to "Eel City" to combat climate change; it has a 7.1/10 IMDb score for its humorous take on environmental peril.^[53] The second season of Apple TV+'s Silo featured an episode titled "Descent" in December 2024, centering on a critical underground journey in the dystopian series. Additionally, Descent (2025) is an indie thriller starring an investigator uncovering an abduction tied to her own past trauma, directed by an emerging filmmaker, earning a modest 5.4/10 on IMDb shortly after release.^[54]

Video games

Descent (1995) is a seminal first-person shooter developed by Parallax Software and published by Interplay Productions for MS-DOS, introducing revolutionary six-degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) movement in zero-gravity environments set within alien mines.^[55] Players pilot a spacecraft to navigate fully three-dimensional levels, battling robot enemies while solving environmental puzzles, which marked a significant advancement over contemporary 2.5D shooters like Doom.^[56] The game achieved commercial success, with the original and its immediate sequel together selling over 1 million units by 1998, praised for its immersive gameplay and technical innovation.^[56] The series continued with Descent II (1996), also developed by Parallax Software and published by Interplay, expanding on the original's mechanics with enhanced enemy AI, new weapons, and multiplayer support via modem and network play.^[57] It maintained the 6DOF shooting in mine-like settings but introduced outdoor levels and a guide bot to assist navigation.^[58] Descent 3 (1999), developed by Outrage Entertainment and published by Interplay for Windows, shifted to planetary surfaces alongside mines, incorporating on-foot segments, advanced physics, and online multiplayer, though it received mixed reviews for deviating from pure 6DOF flight.^[59] An expansion, Descent 3: Mercenary, followed in 2000, adding new missions and weapons.^[60] Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War (1998), developed by Volition and published by Interplay, diverges into a space combat simulator, placing players as pilots in large-scale interstellar conflicts with branching narrative campaigns involving human, alien, and unknown threats.^[61] It features dynamic battles between fighters and capital ships, emphasizing strategy and story over the confined mine navigation of prior titles, and spawned a sequel, FreeSpace 2 (1999).^[62] Later attempts to revive the franchise include Descent: Underground (2016), a crowdfunding-backed project by Descendent Studios focusing on VR-compatible 6DOF mining combat as a prequel, but development stalled amid legal disputes with Interplay, leading to its cancellation around 2020 and rebranding without the Descent name. Indie and mobile efforts, such as roguelike RPG modes inspired by the series in games like Path of Exile's Descent challenges, echo its legacy in procedural dungeon exploration.^[63] The Descent series has had lasting cultural impact, pioneering 6DOF mechanics that influenced modern titles like Overload (2018), a spiritual successor by former Parallax developers featuring updated graphics and physics while preserving the core tunnel-shooting formula.^[64] Fan mods and ports, including VR adaptations, continue to sustain interest, with community efforts enhancing accessibility on contemporary hardware as of 2025.^[56]

Literature

In literature, "Descent" has been employed as a title for various novels, short stories, and poetry collections, often evoking motifs of physical, emotional, or psychological plummeting into uncertainty, loss, or the unknown. These works span genres from thriller and science fiction to horror and speculative fiction, using the concept of descent to explore human vulnerability and transformation. Tim Johnston's Descent (2015) is a literary thriller centered on the Courtland family, whose vacation in the Rocky Mountains turns nightmarish when their 18-year-old daughter, Caitlin, a talented runner, is abducted during a morning jog. The narrative follows the ensuing family crisis, with father Grant embarking on a desperate search, brother Sean grappling with guilt and rage, and mother Angela retreating into isolation, as they confront the psychological toll of grief and unresolved violence. Published by Algonquin Books, the novel became a New York Times bestseller and received acclaim for its suspenseful pacing and emotional depth, with NPR describing it as a "twisty thriller-plus" that captures the unraveling of familial bonds.^[65] Ken MacLeod's Descent (2014), a science fiction novel from Orbit Books, follows Ryan, a skeptical young man in a rural Scottish town, whose worldview shatters when he witnesses an apparent UFO crash and becomes entangled in a web of conspiracy theories, alien encounters, and virtual reality simulations that blur the lines of identity and reality. The story critiques surveillance society and technological paranoia, blending hard sci-fi elements with personal introspection as Ryan questions his sanity amid escalating revelations. Reviewers praised its intellectual engagement, with Strange Horizons noting its exploration of thriller tropes through a lens of political and philosophical inquiry.^[66] Thomas M. Disch's short story "Descending" (1964), first published in Fantastic, depicts a shoplifter's surreal plunge into an infinite series of descending escalators within a vast department store basement, transforming a petty crime into a nightmarish allegory of entrapment and existential dread. As the protagonist descends level after level—reaching the 152nd sub-basement in a hallucinatory loop—the narrative builds horror through isolation and the erosion of reality, culminating in psychological collapse. Included in anthologies like The Dark Descent, the story exemplifies Disch's New Wave style, emphasizing disorientation over traditional plot resolution.^[67] More recent additions include Kalyn Josephson's This Dark Descent (2024), a young adult fantasy novel from Delacorte Press, where a rogue enchanter named Mikira enters a perilous magical horse race across a treacherous realm, confronting themes of hidden heritage, ambition, and forbidden power amid a backdrop of societal upheaval and personal revelation. The work highlights descent as both literal (through perilous terrains) and metaphorical (into one's true self), earning praise for its fast-paced world-building suitable for YA audiences.^[68] Across these works, common themes revolve around falling—whether literal descents into abyssal spaces or figurative plunges into grief, identity crises, and societal undercurrents—serving as vehicles for examining resilience and the human capacity for adaptation in the face of irreversible change.^[69]

Music

In the realm of music, "Descent" has been employed as a title for various songs, albums, and compositions across genres, often evoking themes of decline, turmoil, or transformation. One prominent example is the track "Descent" by the American industrial metal band Fear Factory, released on their third studio album Obsolete in 1998. This song, characterized by its aggressive rhythms and electronic-infused soundscapes, explores themes of human devolution and existential neglect, with lyrics depicting a fall from intellectual and emotional grace.^[70]^[71] Classical music features Philip Glass's A Descent into the Maelstrom, a minimalist opera composed in 1986 and inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same name, which narrates a shipwreck in a whirlpool. The work, scored for voices, ensemble, and synthesizer, was premiered as part of a dance adaptation and later recorded in versions including a 2006 release by the Philip Glass Ensemble and a 2019 orchestral arrangement by the Arctic Philharmonic under Tim Weiss. Its repetitive motifs and escalating intensity mirror the story's vortex-like descent, marking it as a significant contribution to Glass's oeuvre of narrative-driven minimalism.^[72]^[73] Several bands have adopted "Descent" as their name, particularly within metal subgenres. The UK-based Descent, active from 1999 to 2009, specialized in thrash and death metal, releasing demos and splits that blended raw aggression with technical precision during the late 2000s underground scene. Similarly, an Australian death metal band named Descent emerged in the 2010s, known for brutal tracks like "Confined" from their 2018 album Towers of Grandiosity, emphasizing themes of entrapment and fury.^[74]^[75] More recent releases highlight the term's versatility in contemporary music. The Swedish melodic death metal band Orbit Culture issued their fourth studio album Descent in August 2023 via Seek & Strike Records, featuring ten tracks such as "Black Mountain" and "Sorrower" that fuse groovy riffs with atmospheric melancholy, earning praise for its cinematic production and thematic depth on isolation. In electronic music, producer Sappheiros released the single "Descent" in March 2024, a future garage and downtempo piece with hazy synths and introspective vibes, distributed through platforms like SoundCloud and Spotify. These works illustrate an evolution from the heavy, riff-driven metal of the 1990s and 2000s to the genre-blending electronic explorations of the 2020s.^[76]^[77]^[78]

Other media and brands

In the realm of comics and graphic novels, Descent titles have emerged in niche horror and sci-fi genres. Little Nightmares: Descent to Nowhere is a four-issue limited series published by Titan Comics, with the first issue released on October 8, 2025. Written by Lonnie Nadler and illustrated by Dennis Menheere, it weaves parallel narratives set in the eerie world of the Little Nightmares franchise, focusing on vanished children haunting rural and nautical environments.^[79] Another example is Event Horizon: Dark Descent, a 2025 IDW Publishing miniseries written by Christian Ward and illustrated by Tristan Jones, which expands the 1997 cult horror film Event Horizon with interdimensional terror themes.^[80] Additionally, La Muerta: Descent from Coffin Comics presents a supernatural action story featuring the undead luchadora character, with Chapter 1 released in recent years under writers Brian Pulido and Mike MacLean, emphasizing themes of vengeance and the afterlife.^[81] Brands adopting the name Descent span outdoor and performance apparel. Descente Ltd., a Japanese sportswear company founded in 1935, produces high-performance gear for skiing, snowboarding, and climbing activities, including insulated jackets and technical base layers designed for extreme descents and mobility.^[82] The brand's products, such as the Allterrain line, emphasize functionality with features like water-repellent fabrics and ergonomic fits, catering to professional athletes and outdoor enthusiasts globally.^[83] In digital and collectible media, Descent-themed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have gained traction in the blockchain space post-2023. Descent by Andreas Gysin is a 2024 NFT collection comprising 100 generative digital artworks exploring abstract visual patterns, minted on the Ethereum blockchain.^[84] Similarly, Descent into Darkness represents a horror-inspired NFT project with 82 unique holders as of 2025, featuring thematic assets tied to descent motifs in dark fantasy.^[85] On the Cardano blockchain, Token Swirling Descent emerged in April 2025 as a utility token integrated with NFT ecosystems for decentralized art trading.^[86] Amusement park attractions include Dragon's Descent, a 220-foot (67 m) S&S turbo drop tower at Funtown Splashtown USA in Saco, Maine, operational since 2018 and recognized as the tallest ride in northern New England. The experience involves a controlled ascent followed by a high-speed free-fall descent with panoramic coastal views.^[87]

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The only case of his “Theorem” that Fermat actually proved, as far as we know, was the case n = 4: x4 + y4 = z4. His proof was based on a technique which he ...
[30]
https://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/Maths/Courseware/EllipticCurves/2016/Fermat-n4.pdf
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[PDF] GALOIS DESCENT 1. Introduction Let L/K be a field ... - Keith Conrad
These Galois descent features on ideals lead to applications in algebraic geometry. We present two of them. Theorem 4.7. Let V ⊂ Ld be the zero set of f1 ...
[32]
[PDF] Explicit Methods for Solving Diophantine Equations
The general idea of descent, initiated by Fermat, is to map a (possibly large) point on a given curve (or more general variety) to smaller points on other.
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[PDF] Notes on Grothendieck topologies, fibered categories and descent ...
Oct 2, 2008 · Grothendieck topology, in which descent theory works (thus we see all the three notions appearing in the title in action). Then I proceed to ...
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descent in nLab
Sep 12, 2024 · Descent is the study of generalizations of the sheaf condition on presheaves to presheaves with values in higher categories.Descent for simplicial... · Descent for strict ω \omega... · Descent in terms of gluing...
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Well-founded relation - Wikipedia
A relation is well-founded when it contains no infinite descending chains, meaning there is no infinite sequence x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , ... of elements of X.
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On the Origin of Species - Project Gutenberg
Thus, on the theory of descent with modification, the main facts with respect to the mutual affinities of the extinct forms of life to each other and to ...
[37]
"Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution" (1987), by Rebecca ...
Oct 10, 2014 · The authors compared mitochondrial DNA from different human populations worldwide, and from those comparisons they argued that all human ...Missing: ancestry | Show results with:ancestry
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Aspects of Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Analysis in Different ...
Ancient mitochondrial DNA retrieved from museum specimens, archaeological finds and fossil remains can provide direct evidence for population origins and ...
[39]
Potential energy
The total work done by the gravitational force is W = -mg∆ytotal = -mgh. The change in potential energy is Ug = mgh. A potential energy function is a function ...
[40]
Apollo 15 Flight Journal - Day 4, part 3: The Descent Orbit - NASA
Oct 27, 2023 · The burn, which is intended to slow the spacecraft by 213.9 fps (65.2 m/s), will have the effect of dropping the high point until it becomes the ...
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[PDF] Steepest Descent 1 Introduction - OSTI.GOV
The steepest descent method, also known as the gradient descent method, was first proposed by Cauchy in. 1847 [1]. In the original paper, Cauchy proposed the ...
[42]
On the different regimes of stochastic gradient descent - PNAS
Stochastic gradient descent (SGD), with its variations, has been the algorithm of choice to minimize the loss and train neural networks since the introduction ...Abstract · 1. Noise-Dominated Regime · 2. Critical Batch Size
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Gradient-based autonomous obstacle avoidance trajectory planning ...
Jun 24, 2024 · This paper introduces a UAV path planning approach based on distance gradients. The key improvements include generating collision-free paths using collision ...<|control11|><|separator|>
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The Descent (2005) - IMDb
Rating 7.2/10 (267,015) One of the greatest British horrors ever made. Focusing on the fear of claustrophobia with the simple dread of the unknown, The Descent puts likable characters ...User reviews · Full cast & crew · The Descent · The Descent: Part 2
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Neil Marshall's 'The Descent' at 20: Humans Are the Scariest Things
The story of The Descent revolves around six women having a reunion one year after one of them, Sarah, lost her family in a tragic accident.
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The Descent - Rotten Tomatoes
Rating 87% (187) After descending underground, the women find strange cave paintings and evidence of an earlier expedition, then learn they are not alone.The Descent: Part 2 · 187 Reviews · Neil Marshall · 100000+ Ratings
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Descent (2007) - IMDb
Descent: Directed by Talia Lugacy. With Rosario Dawson, Chad Faust, Marcus Patrick, Vanessa Ferlito. A college co-ed is brutally raped and struggles alone ...Descent · Plot · User reviews · Parents guide
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Descent - Movies - Review - The New York Times
starring Rosario Dawson as Maya, a college student who survives a sexual assault — makes this vividly clear, dramatizing the ...
[49]
Descent - Rotten Tomatoes
Maya (Rosario Dawson) is a friendly college senior who accepts an invitation to dinner from fellow student Jared (Chad Faust).
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The Descent: Part 2 - Rotten Tomatoes
Rating 49% (41) The first-time director Jon Harris recreates the sense of airless, claustrophobic panic that worked so effectively the first time around and cranks up the yuck ...
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Descent (TV Movie 2005) - IMDb
Rating 3.5/10 (1,153) Descent is a 2005 Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller TV movie about scientists trying to prevent a global catastrophe from the Ring of Fire.
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The Descent (2023) - IMDb
Rating 2.5/10 (128) A group of individuals must unravel the secrets behind a series of horrifying attacks by mysterious creatures that emerge from the depths of darkness.
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Descent (TV Series 2024– ) - IMDb
Rating 7.1/10 (29) Convinced they can find a new home for humanity and save the world from climate doom, three 'scientists' descend to the bottom of the ocean to Eel City.
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Descent (2025) - IMDb
Rating 5.4/10 (8) After a traumatic accident, Alex West discovers an abduction in a remote cabin, but as she investigates, her own past and blurred memories make her an ...
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Descent (1995) - MobyGames
Released: 1995 on DOS ; Developers. Parallax Software Corp. ; Collected By: 350 players ; Genre: Action ; Perspective: 1st-personMissing: sales | Show results with:sales
[56]
Remembering Descent, the once-popular, fully 3D 6DOF shooter
Jul 25, 2025 · Developed by Parallax Software and published by Interplay, the game was a huge success at the time, moving millions of copies in a market where ...
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Descent II (1996) - MobyGames
The second Descent game features new levels, new weapons and new robot enemies. It also comes with helpful ideas for the player like the Guide-bot.
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Descent 2 on Steam
Rating 4.5 (160) · 14-day returnsFeb 19, 2014 · Your new mission sends you into the black depths of treacherous alien mines. You blast through enemy robots with powerful new tools, leaving their flaming ...
[59]
Descent³ (1999) - MobyGames
The third installment of the famous 3d shooter Descent. Hop in your Pyro-GX, dive at high speed into the mines and blast hordes of robots without mercy!<|control11|><|separator|>
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Descent 3 + Mercenary - GOG.com
In stock Rating 4.3 (1,328) Descent 3 is a futuristic shooter with intense 3D combat, plasma cannons, and infected robots. It features both new and old weapons, and takes place in both ...
[61]
Descent: Freespace - The Great War (1998) - MobyGames
The game focuses on space dogfighting across large-scale battles involving both nimble starfighters and massive capital ships. Players are assigned a wide ...
[62]
Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War - Steam
May 7, 2014 · Descent: FreeSpace is the quintessential old school space shooter. With a deep story, great graphics and engaging battles against fighters to capital ships it ...
[63]
Descent - Path of Exile Wiki - Fandom
Descent is an hour-long race league introduced in Season Three. It also was the signature event for Season Three, meaning there was a separate leaderboard ...Missing: Roads | Show results with:Roads
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Overload (Video Game) - TV Tropes
Jun 5, 2018 · Overload is a 3D First-Person Shooter (alternatively, 6DOF shooter, for six degrees of freedom), and Spiritual Successor to the classic Descent games.
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'Descent' Is A Twisty Thriller-Plus - NPR
Jan 6, 2015 · Tim Johnston's suspenseful novel follows a family that begins to come apart after their teenage daughter is abducted during a mountain ...
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Descent by Ken MacLeod By Michael Levy - Strange Horizons
Jun 2, 2014 · For a book that makes at least some pretense to the thriller form, MacLeod's novel does little to ratchet up the tension at this point. Ryan ...
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DESCENDING-PAGE 1 - lexal.net
He knew then his first moment of terror—a premonition that there was no end to his descent, but this feeling gave way quickly to a laughing fit. "I'm going to ...
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Descent (The Palladium Wars, #4) by Marko Kloos - Goodreads
Rating 4.3 (3,452) Jul 16, 2024 · A nationalist uprising triggers an interstellar wrest for control in an epic novel of embattled worlds by the author of Citadel and the Frontlines series.
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Descent by Tim Johnston - The Gilmore Guide to Books
Rating 4.0 · Review by CatherineJan 21, 2019 · 18-year-old Caitlin has been a runner. It is who she is and in running she moves in a world of her heart, her blood, her muscles—all working in ...
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Fear Factory – Descent Lyrics - Genius
Descent Lyrics: Descent / Descent / Falling victim from neglect / Designed thoughts and intellect / Forgotten and displaced / The crux of my dismay / I feel ...
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Descent - song and lyrics by Fear Factory | Spotify
Lyrics. Descent. Descent. ♪. Falling victim from neglect. Designed thoughts and intellect. Forgotten and displaced. The crux of my dismay. I feel nothing.
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Philip Glass: A Descent into the Maelstrom - T... - AllMusic
Philip Glass: A Descent into the Maelstrom by Tim Weiss, Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra released in 2019. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, ...
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Philip Glass: A Descent into the Maelstrom - Apple Music Classical
Jun 28, 2019 · Listen to Philip Glass: A Descent into the Maelstrom by Tim Weiss. 2019. 18 tracks. 1 hour.
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Music | Descent
DESCENT - 1999 - 2009. UK Thrash/death Metal. This Bandcamp page serves as a historical archive of a lot of stuff the band recorded over the years. Feel free ...
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DESCENT - Confined [New Brutal Death Metal Band] - YouTube
Aug 10, 2018 · Descent is one of the best new Australian Brutal Death Metal bands. From their 2018 upcoming album "Towers Of Grandiosity", this is the 3rd ...
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Descent | Orbit Culture - Bandcamp
Free deliveryDescent by Orbit Culture, released 18 August 2023 1. Descending 2. Black Mountain 3. Sorrower 4. From The Inside 5. Vultures of North 6. Alienated 7.
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Descent - Album by Orbit Culture | Spotify
Listen to Descent on Spotify · album · Orbit Culture · 2023 · 10 songs.
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https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4jQ6x7vTdh/
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Order Little Nightmares: Descent to Nowhere #1 - 4! - Titan Comics
Written by Lonnie Nadler, with art by Dennis Menheere, LITTLE NIGHTMARES: DESCENT TO NOWHERE #1 is on sale NOW, #2 arrives November 5, #3 on December 3, and #4 ...
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Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 Reviews - League of Comic Geeks
Aug 20, 2025 · Read reviews and discussion of Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 from Christian Ward and Tristan Jones, published by IDW Publishing.<|control11|><|separator|>
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https://coffincomicsshop.com/products/la-muerta-descent-mega-incentive-edition
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Descente
Using our unique design skills to bring dynamic new form to good original ideas. Perfection right down to the smallest details. Turning out pure functional ...Women's · Brand Concept · MEN · About Descente
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DESCENTE ALLTERRAIN
An urban activewear line that combines versatility and convenience, allowing it to be worn 24 hours a day, all year round. More. More ...Shop List · Allterrain｜descente... · Allterrain 81 · Mizusawa Down
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Descent by Andreas Gysin - NFT Price Floor - Chart & Stats
Descent by Andreas Gysin is an NFT collectible created by Andreas Gysin that was released on 2-19-2024. The project consists of 100 unique digital items ...
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Descent into Darkness NFT Latest Floor Price, Charts, and Market ...
Descent into Darkness (DESCENT-INTO-DARKNESS) is currently held by 82 owners, has a floor price of 0.00 BTC ($0.00), and has a market cap of 0.00 BTC ($0.00) ...
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https://adastat.net/tokens/f334fccb4134eaadc230717af9eeda840be0b578c4d26d9f66bcef27537769726c696e6744657363656e74
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Funtown USA Thrill Rides
... Descent. The 220-foot tall turbo drop tower is the tallest attraction in Northern New England, and provides unique panoramic views from every angle, unseen ...