Beta ( UK : / ˈ b iː t ə / , US : / ˈ b eɪ t ə / ; uppercase Β , lowercase β , or cursive ϐ ; Ancient Greek : βῆτα , romanized : bē̂ta or Greek : βήτα , romanized : víta ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek , beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive IPA: [b] . In Modern Greek , it represents the voiced labiodental fricative IPA: [v] while IPA: [b] in borrowed words is instead commonly transcribed as μπ. Letters that arose from beta include the Roman letter ⟨ B ⟩ and the Cyrillic letters ⟨ Б ⟩ and ⟨ В ⟩ .
25-496: Beta (B, β) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. Beta or BETA may also refer to: Beta Like the names of most other Greek letters, the name of beta was adopted from the acrophonic name of the corresponding letter in Phoenician , which was the common Semitic word * bayt ('house', compare Arabic : بيت bayt and Hebrew : בית báyit ). In Greek,
50-505: A dyno ). The official climbing guidebooks were the first systematic forms of beta. The beta in these physical climbing guidebooks was limited to the basic details of the climbing route (e.g. length, grade, direction/topo etc.) so as to manage the size of the guidebook and avoid giving so much information that would spoil an onsight attempt. With the development of the internet, a significant quantity of more detailed beta began to accumulate (e.g. complete YouTube videos on how to climb
75-461: A long or short reach), and/or their preferred style and technique (e.g. may not have the power to overcome a roof, and thus take a different route). Multiple route options–and thus betas–are particularly common on long multi-pitch climbing and big wall climbing routes, for example on the famous Yosemite route Freerider and its optional V7 (7A+) "Huber boulder problem". In rock climbing , beta can include background information about
100-404: A route was set by German climber Alex Megos who in 2013, became the first-ever climber in history to onsight a 9a (5.14d) graded sport climbing route, Estado Critico . As of 2023, Slovenian climber Janja Garnbret remains the only female climber to flash ( La Fabelita in 2015) and onsight ( Fish eye in 2021) an 8c (5.14b) graded sport climbing route. When a climber has made
125-448: A route's grade of difficulty (e.g. what drove the grade), detailed aspects about the crux (e.g. "you need to use your left hand, not your right"), the climbing style needed (e.g. long reaches or tiny crimps ), the best way to protect the route (e.g. "insert a number 4 SCLD before attempting the crack"), and specific information about hand or foot holds . For mountaineering and alpine climbing , beta may include information about
150-547: A specific route, per example opposite). Both established climbing guidebook publishers (e.g. 'RockFax' in Europe), and the new dedicated online climbing databases (e.g. Mountain Project and 'theCrag.com'), began to aggregate this detailed beta in online databases and apps, alongside the traditional guidebook-type information. Open-source beta databases such as 'OpenBeta' also aggregate user-generated climbing beta. The original use of
175-416: A stream of unbound energetic electrons is commonly referred to as beta radiation or beta rays . Decays producing electrons or their antiparticles are called beta decays . In regression analysis , ⟨B⟩ symbolizes nonstandardized partial slope coefficients, whereas ⟨β⟩ represents standardized (standard deviation-score form) coefficients ; in both cases, the coefficients reflect
200-430: A time-limited pre-competition inspection, climbers try to work out the beta starting from the top of the route and working down, to avoid losing time. The derived term spraying beta designates when a third party begins to impart unwanted beta without being asked for it (which can ruin an onsight attempt). The term breaking beta designates when a climber is able to bypass or skip a whole sequence of moves (e.g. using
225-596: Is a slang term for men derived from the designation for beta animals in ethology, along with its counterpart, alpha male. The term has been used as a pejorative self-identifier among members of manosphere communities, particularly incels , who do not believe they are assertive or traditionally masculine , and feel overlooked by women. It is also used to negatively describe other men who are not assertive, particularly in heterosexual relationships. In statistics, beta may represent type II error , or regression slope. In some high-quality typesetting, especially in
250-419: Is attributed to Texan climber Jack Mileski. When a climber completes a route on their first attempt and without falling, it is called an onsight if they had no beta, or a flash if they had beta (a completion after several failed attempts is called a redpoint ). New grade milestones in the on-sighting and flashing of routes are actively followed in the climbing media. The discovery of new beta has led to
275-407: Is called a flash . The climbing media records new grade milestones of onsights and flashes of major sport climbing routes. As of 2023, the highest milestone in flashing a route was by Czech climber Adam Ondra who in 2018, became the first-ever climber in history to flash a 9a+ (5.15a) graded sport climbing route, Super Crackinette . As of 2023, the highest milestone for on-sighting
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#1732851656376300-417: The first ascent (or first free ascent ) of a climbing route, they will assign a technical grade to the route to reflect the difficulties encountered. This grade will be a function of the particular beta that the climber used to make their first ascent. As subsequent climbers repeat the new route, they may discover new beta that makes the route easier and thus lowers its grade. Notable examples include
325-426: The 2021 downgrading of Bibiliographie from 9c (5.15d)–the world's highest grade at the time–to 9b+ (5.15c) after a slightly easier sequence of moves was worked out for the crux . New beta can also emerge from new climbing techniques ; examples being the introduction of knee pads that enabled knee bar rests, and use of more advanced heel hooks . In 2002, the famous bouldering route Dreamtime
350-792: The French tradition, a typographic variant of the lowercase letter without a descender is used within a word for ancient Greek : βίβλος is printed βίϐλος . In typesetting technical literature, it is a commonly made mistake to use the German letter ß (a s–z or s–s ligature) as a replacement for β. The two letters resemble each other in some fonts, but they are unrelated. "Beta" can be used to refer to several consumer and professional videotape formats developed by Japan's Sony Corporation . Although similarly named, they are very different in function and obsolescence. These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using
375-460: The angle between the orbit plane of a spacecraft or other body and the vector from the sun. β is sometimes used to mean the proton-to-electron mass ratio . The uppercase letter beta is not generally used as a symbol because it tends to be rendered identically to the uppercase Latin B . The term " beta " refers to advice on how to successfully complete a particular climbing route, boulder problem, or crux sequence. Beta male , or simply beta ,
400-471: The approach (e.g. crossing bergschrunds ), the ability to find the correct route (e.g. "avoid the crack system on the left"), the feasibility of exiting the route before completing it (e.g. key abseils to set up), and the situation regarding rock-fall and avalanche dangers. Sometimes climbers display beta on a graphical beta-map (a more detailed move-by-move instruction guide than the route topo ). Advanced climbers on very difficult routes try to connect
425-401: The beta of their route to their muscle memory, so they don't have to think about the next move. Competition climbers are given a fixed time to inspect the route as a group before the competition, but once the climbing begins, they must remain in the isolation zone away from the climbing wall , to prevent them learning more beta from watching fellow competitors attempting the route. During
450-473: The change in the criterion Y per one-unit change in the value of the associated predictor X. β is also used in biology, for instance in β-Carotene , a primary source of provitamin A , or the β cells in pancreatic islets , which produce insulin . β is sometimes used as a placeholder for an ordinal number if α is already used. For example, the two roots of a quadratic equation are typically labelled α and β . In spaceflight, beta angle describes
475-732: The name was βῆτα bêta , pronounced [bɛ̂ːta] in Ancient Greek. It is spelled βήτα in modern monotonic orthography and pronounced [ˈvita] . The letter beta was derived from the Phoenician letter beth [REDACTED] . The letter Β had the largest number of highly divergent local forms. Besides the standard form (either rounded or pointed, [REDACTED] ), there were forms as varied as [REDACTED] ( Gortyn ), [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] ( Thera ), [REDACTED] ( Argos ), [REDACTED] ( Melos ), [REDACTED] ( Corinth ), [REDACTED] ( Megara , Byzantium ), and [REDACTED] ( Cyclades ). In
500-432: The normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style: Beta (climbing) Beta is a climbing term that designates information about how to ascend a climbing route , and the specific climbing techniques required—and how to apply them—to overcome the key challenges encountered. Traditionally sourced in climbing guidebooks , online databases and apps now provide detailed climbing beta. The term
525-525: The portfolio's value tends to change by 1.5%. In the International Phonetic Alphabet , Greek minuscule beta denotes a voiced bilabial fricative [β] . A superscript version may also indicate a compressed vowel , like [ɯᵝ] . Beta has twice been used to name an Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone : Beta is often used to denote a variable in mathematics and physics, where it often has specific meanings for certain applications. In physics
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#1732851656376550-437: The re-grading of notable and historic climbing routes. The complexity of beta can range from a small hint about a difficult section (i.e. referred to as "some" beta), to a step-by-step instruction of the entire climb (i.e. referred to as "the" beta). Sometimes there is more than one way to climb a route and thus more than one beta; climbers can follow different route beta depending on their body shape (e.g. whether they have
575-405: The system of Greek numerals , beta has a value of 2. Such use is denoted by a number mark: Β′. Beta is used in finance as a measure of investment portfolio risk. Beta in this context is calculated as the covariance of the portfolio's returns with its benchmark's returns, divided by the variance of the benchmark's returns. A beta of 1.5 means that for every 1% change in the value of the benchmark,
600-497: The term beta in climbing is generally attributed to the late Texan climber Jack Mileski, who climbed predominantly in the Shawangunks during the early 1980s. "Beta" is short for Betamax , an early videotape format since largely replaced by the VHS format . Reputedly, Mileski would record climbers ascending routes on Betamax tape and then share these tapes with other climbers, resulting in
625-445: The term becoming synonymous with getting information on how to climb a route. When climbers are attempting a graded climbing route for their first time, a distinction is made on whether they complete the route on their first attempt without falling. This distinction is further split depending on whether they had prior beta about the route. Where they had no beta, their ascent is called an onsight , and where they had prior beta, it
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