text
stringlengths 199
648k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 14
419
| file_path
stringlengths 139
140
| language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.65
1
| token_count
int64 50
235k
| score
float64 2.52
5.34
| int_score
int64 3
5
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This paper will demonstrate choices, tragedy, respect, individuality, and values in the following stories: The Moose and The Sparrow by Hugh Garner, The Yellow Sweater by Hugh Garner, The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant, The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross, and David by Earle Birney
A choice is something one must make frequently throughout each and every day of ones lifetime. Some choices may be easier to make than others. One must choose to get out of bed each morning, what someone wants to eat or drink, whom one should converse with. Other choices may not quite be as simple to make, or the choices I make throughout my life may be easy choices to me, but to someone else those choices would be very hard to make. For instance, young Cecil had to make many choices in the story “The Moose and The Sparrow”. Cecil chose to stay at the camp even though he was being bullied constantly by Moose Mason. “He said he’d made up his mind to stick it out until his time was up” (page 4, lines 23-24) As much as Moose was physically harming Cecil, Cecil did stick to his commitment to the lumber camp and continued to earn his money for university. He was a tough young man inside of his sparrow-like shell to put up with all of Moose’s bullying, and Cecil made a justifiable choice to stop Moose by killing him.
In the story “The Yellow Sweater” Marie chose to leave her aunt Bernice’s house as Bernice’s husband was obviously abusing Marie. Marie Chose to pack up her things to move to the city, but she didn’t hitchhike like other people leaving the small town she was living in. Marie simply chose to walk, but when Tom pulled over on the side of the road, Marie chose to get into the car not knowing what kind of person she would be traveling with or if she would arrive safely to her destination. “She opened the right rear door, saying at the same time, “Thank you sir,” in a frightened little voice.” (page 3,lines 7-9)
Tom made some choices too. He chose to pick up this young girl plodding along the side of the highway, when he would never pick up a hitchhiker before. Tom chose to pick Marie up because “it might be fun to pick her up, to cross-examine her while she was trapped in the seat beside him.” ( page 2, lines 76- 78) Tom also chose to keep his real identity hidden from Marie, hoping that he could use her for sex, so he gave her a fictitious name, “When he drew out his wallet to pay the checks he was careful to cover the initials G.G.M. with the palm of his hand.” (page 4 lines 54 - 56)
In the story “The Necklace” Monsieur Loisel chose to give up the 400 francs he was saving for a new rifle to buy her a beautiful dress to wear on their evening out “He grew a little pale, for he was reserving just that sum to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting, the next summer, on the plain of Nanterre, with some friends who used to shoot larks there on Sundays. But he said:- ‘All right, I will give you four hundred francs. But take care to have a pretty dress.’ ” (page 2 lines 27-29) Mathilde chose not to tell Mme. Forester that the necklace she lent to her was lost. Instead, M. Loisel told his wife to write her a letter. “ You must write to your friend,” he said, “that you have broken the clasp of her necklace and that you are having it repaired. That will give us time to turn around.” She wrote as he dictated.” (page 4 lines 84-86) Instead of coming clean and telling Mme. Forester what really happened to her necklace, M. and Mme. Loisel chose to just go into debt and work hard to pay for a new necklace to replace the lost one. Finally one Sunday came and Mme. Loisel saw Mme Forester and decided to speak to her. “ Mme. Loisel felt moved. Should she speak to her? Yes, certainly. And now that...
|
<urn:uuid:8cac9a92-5ef0-4adb-83d8-6d4eb7f4cac7>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Moral-Dilemma-Essay-564526.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.982964
| 929
| 3.046875
| 3
|
Spitting cobra bite. Many elapid bites result in little local swelling, but the spitting cobras are known for the amount of swelling and tissue damage they can cause. Photograph by Clyde Peeling. Click to view larger image. Western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) bite. Rattlesnake bites can cause severe swelling, pain, and permanent tissue damage. Photograph by Clyde Peeling. Click to view larger image. Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) bite. These bites usually result in local pain and swelling but usually have less tissue loss than rattlesnake bites. Photograph by Tom Diaz.Click to view larger image. Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) bite. Pit viper bites can cause a leakage of blood cells out of the blood vessels, even on parts of the body away from the bite site. Note the significant bruising of the upper forearm and arm. Photograph by Clyde Peeling. Click to view larger image.
Medically reviewed by Avrom Simon, MD; Board Certified Preventative Medicine with Subspecialty in Occupational Medicine
Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 5/12/2016
Patient Comments & Reviews
The eMedicineHealth doctors ask about Snakebite:
|
<urn:uuid:9afe2c2d-72a3-4b10-8a50-4345a0def203>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/snakebite/page8_em.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.864502
| 263
| 2.609375
| 3
|
VA’ERA (And I Saw): Exodus 6:2–9:35; Ezekiel 28:25-29:21
In our weekly Torah portion (parasha), the power struggle in the spiritual realm between the god of this world (Pharaoh) and the true God of Israel begins. It cost the Egyptians a lot of pain and sorrow. The Ten Plagues were planned by God because of Pharaoh’s “hardened heart” in order to show the world through “mighty acts of judgment” … “That I am the LORD your God!”
We see from the acts of Pharaoh’s magicians in response to some of the plagues, that there are satanic spiritual powers in the world. But God always prevails, for example, the one snake of Aaron’s staff consumed the others (7:8-12). By the way, Aaron’s staff is preserved later in the Ark of the Covenant.
In the first verses of our parasha (6:5 to 8), God repeats Himself by saying He hears the “groaning of the Israelites” and remembers His covenant with the patriarchs. In this passage we find the four terms of redemption – where the Jew drinks four cups of wine during Passover – as a sign of victory over the four world kingdoms mentioned by the prophet Daniel. They are symbolic in that God promises His people to: bring you out, free you, redeem you and take you (as His people). That’s also the same order in our personal walk after salvation through Jesus Christ, starting with our exodus from the world and ending with becoming His people!
We also read about the first four plagues – Blood, Frogs, Gnats and Flies. An interesting thought in 7:1, “See, I have made you (Moses) God (Elohim) to Pharaoh.” (See also Chapter 4:16)
Moses often showed mercy to Pharaoh and the Egyptian people and even prayed for them after some plagues. “And the LORD did what Moses asked.” (8:13 & 31) What a close fellowship Moses had with God, that God even heard and did what he asked! That same strong relationship is evident later at Mount Sinai when God reverses His judgment of the Israelites after the sin of the golden calf. One of the main reasons for this is Moses’ humble heart and his full submission to God. (By the way, if you read Moses Hebrew Name Moshe backwards, you get Hashem – the Name of the Almighty!)
God said to Abraham: “Then the LORD said to him, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.’” (Genesis 15:13) According to Jewish tradition, one generation is 40 years. Egypt underwent one plague for each generation of Israelites in captivity (400 years). And with which plague did God begin? The Nile River turned into blood. A clear reminder of the killing of the Hebrew Boys when they were drowned by the Egyptians in the Nile! The Ten Plagues get increasingly painful and also attack nature, animals and humans. But God’s people, the Hebrews, were protected (8:18).
In our reading of the prophets, Egypt is punished with 40 years of exile, but to the people of Israel come words of comfort: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.’” (Ezek. 28:25-26) - Michael Schneider -
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
|
<urn:uuid:e3f4aebf-7a9a-4a70-861f-cf506dc9e6d3>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/6240/Default.aspx?archive=article_title
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954897
| 861
| 2.65625
| 3
|
Through her art and work, Sonia Delaunay blurred the lines between poetry, fashion, and fine art. Delauney studied drawing and printmaking before exploring the possibilities of mixed media and simultaneous contrast, where two pieces placed next to each other influence each other. She created dresses, book bindings, and frames for poems using simultaneous contrast with bold colors and cubist designs in painted and sewn shapes. After settling in Madrid after World War I, she took commissions to design costumes for operas and ballets around Europe and created a series of “poem dresses” where the relationship between the words and colors shifted with the wearer’s movements. In 1924 she created her own fashion design company, creating clothes that were sold by Liberty’s of London and department stores in New York and Amsterdam, and in 1927 she introduced the concept of prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) to an audience at the Sorbonne. She then returned to painting, becoming the first living female artist to have a retrospective show of her work at the Louvre in 1964.
How to cite this page
Jewish Women's Archive. "Sonia Delaunay." (Viewed on June 25, 2016) <http://jwa.org/people/delaunay-sonia>.
|
<urn:uuid:e02a211c-2fa0-45b4-b266-24bd019b7352>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://jwa.org/people/delaunay-sonia
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957446
| 268
| 3.109375
| 3
|
Habitat - Wildlife Area Management
Date Published: November 2006
Number of Pages: 69
Author(s): Brian Calkins
The Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area (2,744 acres) was established in 1990 for the purpose of protecting and managing elk winter range habitat on the North Fork Toutle River mudflow that resulted from the 1980 eruption of Mt. St Helens. The property was acquired through a land exchange with the Weyerhaeuser Company with assistance from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Fifteen smaller satellite units comprising an additional 1,200 acres have been acquired since 1990 and are located in Lewis, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Clark and Skamania Counties. They are managed for a wide diversity of species and habitats.
The primary management emphasis for the property located on the North Fork of the Toutle River is to provide elk winter range for a portion of the Mt. St. Helens elk herd. Prior to WDFW ownership the mudflow had been seeded to reduce erosion and transport of sediment downstream into the Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers. This planting effort resulted in an area that was highly attractive to elk particularly during the winter months. Erosion of the mudflow in the mid-1990’s and landscape scale vegetation changes due to maturation of surrounding commercial forests have reduced the watershed’s capacity to support wintering elk populations despite WDFW’s efforts to expand and enhance forage production on the mudflow. Public attention has been directed toward reducing elk winter mortality due to malnutrition on the Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area.
The primary management concerns and public issues identified in the Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Plan are:
- Protecting the remaining forage base from further erosion losses.
- Increasing the quality and quantity of forage produced in existing areas.
- Expanding the forage producing acreage.
- Reducing the impact of public use on wintering elk.
- Manage the elk population to a better balance with its habitat.
- Controlling scotch broom and other noxious weeds.
- Protecting and enhancing existing ESA listed fish habitat.
In 2006 WDFW continued planting efforts to control erosion, and improve winter forage production on the site. Measures to reduce harassment on the winter range are also being implemented which include closing the wildlife area to public access during the winter months and prohibiting dogs on the site. A winter elk-monitoring plan (Appendix 7) is in place to assess the condition of elk using the mudflow.
Many of the enhancements to the mudflow were lost early this winter due to floods. Efforts in 2007 will be directed toward replacing the erosion control plantings and pursuing funds to install wood or other structures to better secure the remaining mudflow area and give the plantings more time to mature.
The Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Plan compliments the Mt. St Helens Elk Herd Plan, which provides a more comprehensive review of elk management in the larger geographic region.
Draft documents are provided for informational purposes only. Drafts may contain factual inaccuracies and may not reflect current WDFW policy.
Persons with disabilities who need to receive this information in an alternative format or who need reasonable accommodations to participate in WDFW-sponsored public meetings or other activities may contact Dolores Noyes by phone (360-902-2349), TTY (360-902-2207), or email (email@example.com
). For more information, see http://wdfw.wa.gov/accessibility/reasonable_request.html
|
<urn:uuid:a89d69c2-daea-4098-9126-4c2a1d844cb9>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/pub.php?id=00480
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00198-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.923722
| 773
| 2.953125
| 3
|
Pulse width modulation (PWM) has been used successfully in electronic control circuits for at least forty years. It is an efficient method for controlling a large amount of output power while expending a relatively small amount of power in the controller
Pulse width modulation (PWM) has been used successfully in electronic control circuits for at least forty years. It is an efficient method for controlling a large amount of output power while expending a relatively small amount of power in the controller itself. No matter how small, the sources of inefficiency in the electronic PWM circuit stem from the finite switching time of solid-state controlling devices and the finite conducting resistance of the switching device when in its on state. The extremely short switching times of electronic devices allow the efficient use of PWM at frequencies in the kHz range, so the range of suitable applications is fairly broad.
On the other hand, using PWM to perform hydraulic switching requires valves, whose switching times must be measured in tens or even hundreds of milliseconds — not microseconds or nanoseconds as in the case of electronic circuits. The result is that improperly implemented PWM hydraulic circuits produce unwanted vibrations and pulsations at frequencies that can be transmitted to output actuators. This possibility exists in the case of the PWM regulated hydraulic pressure source.
To investigate this phenomenon, I constructed a PWM-controlled, constant-pressure power supply typical of those used in electrohydraulic servo mechanisms and motion control systems. Representative test results can be displayed and analyzed, and a practical design methodology is outlined that can be used by others wishing to apply the PWM method to regulate pressure from a power unit supplying more than a trivial amount of power to a dynamic load. This applied engineering analysis aims to determine the extent a PWM-regulated pressure source can be constructed using a fixed-displacement pump with augmenting accumulator as compared to the conventional method using a pressure-compensated pump.
Effects of non-constant pressure
Having constant pressure at the servovalve's pressure port is critical in motion control systems using the positional servomechanism that follows a motion profile. When the pressure port is maintained at a constant pressure, the accuracy of the motion control system improves. Non-constant supply pressures affect the servo system adversely in three significant ways.
First, if the supply pressure varies when the servomechanism is in a dwell, or fixed position, the variations are propagated to the servo actuator in a way that upsets the force balance. Therefore, the actuator moves, seeking a new point of force balance. This results in a new value for the error signal, and, as its name implies, results in a positioning error. In a machine tool, for example, this can result in machined parts that must be scrapped.
Second, in critical applications — say, a flying cut-off — the flow demanded by the axis undergoing acceleration causes a reduction in supply pressure. This forces the servovalve to open more fully than if the supply pressure had not dropped. The pressure reduction further causes an undesired variation in actuator speed. This will either cause an error in cut-off length or demand a time delay for both the supply pressure and the servo axis to settle, potentially reducing machine productivity.
Third, in multi-axis machines, commanding one axis to move will result in a flow demand and subsequent transient pressure reduction. Other axes that may be at dwell will "feel" the pressure variation at their own respective P-ports. The result can be twitching in the otherwise stable axes.
Dealing with less than ideal
No pressure source can be made truly constant. The pressure variations can only be reduced to where they will result in positioning and velocity errors within tolerable limits. Every application has its own set of application requirements, along with allowable speed variations and positioning errors. Clearly, then, special attention must be paid to the integrity of the pressure supply source in the most critical applications. The only thing separating critical applications from the non-critical ones is the amount of error that can be tolerated.
If we could build "ideal" pressure sources, which would not vary under any circumstances, we'd have a happy state of affairs. But such a power unit is at once impracticable and impossible. We can only strive to keep the variations within tolerable limits.
The methods for predicting the degree of servomechanism error that can be expected in the presence of a given supply pressure variation are well documented. But rather than repeating the methods, we will instead concentrate on those design features that will achieve a specific pressure variation.
The general process of maintaining a "constant" pressure in the face of flow variations (disturbances) is referred to as pressure regulation. Countless applications require constant-pressure power supplies. But the aim of this investigation is to evaluate the PWM pressure control method, and devise a design methodology for
anyone wishing to implement the concept. Therefore, it is a foregone conclusion that constant pressure is required by the application.
A break from convention
The conventional method of maintaining a constant pressure in the face of load flow variations uses a variable-displacement, pressure-compensated pump with an isolating check valve and an augmenting accumulator. The accumulator accommodates the sudden flow demands of the load flow, and, as explained last month, is critical to the dynamic regulation of supply pressure.
Standardized methods exist for testing pressure-compensated pumps, both dynamically and in steady-state. The pressure-compensated pump is not the subject of this investigation. Rather, it is evaluated here only to provide a comparison to a pressure control method assumed to be familiar to the reader. It is the standard by which at least some judgement will be made regarding the effectiveness of the PWM pressure regulation method.
Establishing the ground rules
The power unit used as the subject of this report is drawn in hydraulic schematic form below. It consists of an engine driven, variable-displacement pump with appropriate valving and accumulators to maintain relatively constant pressure under varying flow demands.
The load consists of a time varying, but programmable, load flow. The power unit can function using either conventional pressure compensation or with PWM (on-off) pressure regulation while keeping pump displacement fixed. Next month, we'll begin analyzing operation of this power unit in some detail.
Jack L. Johnson, P. E., is an electrohydraulic specialist, fluid power engineering consultant, and president of IDAS Engineering, Inc., east Troy, Wis.
Contact him by calling (262) 642-7021, e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org, or visit his web-site at www.idaseng.com. The web-site describes testing, research, and design facilities and services, instructional videos, books, and software, all geared toward electro-hydraulic system design.
|
<urn:uuid:26fd199d-2144-40d6-a887-4df4c6286555>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://hydraulicspneumatics.com/other-technologies/pwm-unconventional-way-regulate-pressure
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.907567
| 1,430
| 2.796875
| 3
|
Carnegie Mellon develops new mobile robot that balances, moves on ball instead of wheels or legs
Pittsburgh -- Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new type of mobile robot that balances on a ball instead of legs or wheels. "Ballbot" is a self-contained, battery-operated, omnidirectional robot that balances dynamically on a single urethane-coated metal sphere. It weighs 95 pounds and is the approximate height and width of a person. Because of its long, thin shape and ability to maneuver in tight spaces, it has the potential to function better than current robots can in environments with people.
Ballbot's creator, Robotics Research Professor Ralph Hollis, says the robot represents a new paradigm in mobile robotics. What began as a concept in his home workshop has been funded for the last two years with grants from the National Science Foundation.
Hollis is working to prove that dynamically stable robots like Ballbot can outperform their static counterparts. Traditional, statically stable mobile robots have three or more wheels for support, but their bases are generally too wide to move easily among people and furniture. They can also tip over if they move too fast or operate on a slope.
"We wanted to create a robot that can maneuver easily and is tall enough to look you in the eye," Hollis said. "Ballbot is tall and skinny, with a much higher center of gravity than traditional wheeled robots. Because it is omnidirectional, it can move easily in any direction without having to turn first."
Ballbot has an onboard computer that reads balance information from its internal sensors, activating rollers that mobilize the ball on which it moves -- a system that is essentially an inverse mouse-ball drive. When Ballbot is not in operation, it stands in place on three retractable legs.
Hollis noted that current legged robots, such as humanoids, are complex and expensive. He's looking for simple alternatives to better understand the issues of dynamic stability for mobile robots in human environments. He believes that the research may produce a robot that could have useful, meaningful interactions with people who are elderly, disabled or need assistance in an office environment.
Hollis and his team -- including Robotics Institute Project Scientist George Kantor and graduate students Tom Lauwers, Anish Mampetta and Eric Schearer -- have demonstrated Ballbot moving on carpeted surfaces. They presented their research findings in October 2005 at the prestigious International Symposium for Robotics Research in San Francisco, and most recently at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, which took place in mid-May in Orlando, Fla. Future plans for Ballbot include adding a head and a pair of arms. Swinging the arms, said Hollis, would help to rotate and balance the body.
"We want to make Ballbot much faster, more dynamic and graceful," he said. "But there are many hurdles to overcome, like responding to unplanned contact with its surroundings, planning motion in cluttered spaces and safety issues."
Hollis has been a pioneer in the field of mobile robots since he began building them as a hobby in the 1950s -- well before there were commodity transistors, personal computers or easily accessible off-the-shelf parts. In the 1960s, he developed one of the world's first mobile robots and followed that in the 1970s with the Newt mobile robot, which was one of the first to have an onboard computer. Hollis wrote an article about Newt for the now-defunct Byte Magazine that was voted one of the publication's best stories of all time. Newt subsequently became a subject in the NOVA television documentary "The Mind Machines."
Hollis' hobby ultimately became his career. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from Kansas State University and a doctorate in the field from the University of Colorado. After a short time at North American Aviation, where he worked on computer simulations of space-flight vehicles, he joined the staff at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1978. He initially focused on magnetism and acoustics, but jumped at the opportunity to enter their fledgling robotics research program. He served as manager of advanced robotics in IBM's Manufacturing Research Department from 1986 to 1993, when he accepted a position as a senior research scientist at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.
"When I started building robots, the field didn't even exist," said Hollis. "Now the field has grown up around me and I'm in the middle of it. It's like a dream come true."
For more information, see www.msl.ri.cmu.edu/projects/ballbot/.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 30 Apr 2016
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
|
<urn:uuid:76eb5e09-b678-41e1-be71-e7d88d87a2c9>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2006-08/cmu-cmd080906.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.967637
| 978
| 3.0625
| 3
|
Anglo American Novelist and Playwright
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an British American playwright and author. She is best known for her children's stories, in particular Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1911). Her status as a divorced woman writer supporting her family with her earnings pushed the boundaries of what was considered 'a woman's place' in 19th century society.
Frances Eliza Hodgson was born on November 24, 1849 in Cheetham, near Manchester, England, the third of five children of Eliza Boond Hodgson and Edwin Hodgson, who owned a business selling quality ironmongery and brass goods. Frances was the middle of the five Hodgson children, with two older brothers and two younger sisters.
In 1852 the family moved to a more spacious home with greater access to outdoor space. Barely a year later, with his wife pregnant for a fifth time, Edwin Hodgson died of a stroke, leaving the family without income. Frances was cared for by her grandmother while her mother took over running the family business.
From her grandmother, who bought her books, Frances learned to love reading, particularly The Flower Book which had colored illustrations and poems. Frances had an active imagination, writing stories she made up in old notebooks. Another of her favorite books was the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and she spent many hours acting out scenes from that book.
Because of their reduced income, Eliza had to give up their house and moved with her children to Seedley Grove, where they lived with relatives in a home that included a large enclosed garden where Frances enjoyed playing. When her mother moved the family to Salford, Frances mourned the lack of the flowers and gardens. Their home was located in Islington Square, adjacent to an area with severe overcrowding and poverty.
Frances and her siblings were sent to be educated at The Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Gentleman, where she was described as "precocious and romantic." She had an active social life and enjoyed telling stories to her friends and cousins; in her mother she found a good audience, although her brothers had a tendency to tease her about her stories.
Manchester was a manufacturing town that was almost entirely dependent on a cotton economy which was ruined by the American Civil War. In 1863 Eliza Hodgson was forced to sell their business and move the family once again to an even smaller home; at that time Frances' education came to an end.
Eliza Hodgson's brother asked the family to join him in America in Knoxville to where he had immigrated and had a thriving dry goods store. In 1865 Eliza decided to accept his offer. After the polluted industrial city of Manchester, Tennessee seemed like paradise to Frances, but she remained strongly attached to England.
After the war ended, along with much of the trade it brought to the area, Eliza's brother lost a large portion of his business and was unable to provide for the newly arrived family. During their first winter the family lived in a log cabin in New Market, outside of Knoxville, later moving to a home Frances called 'Noah's Ark, Mt. Ararat.'
Living across from them was the Burnett family, and Frances became friendly with Swan Burnett whom she introduced to books and English authors such as Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott. She may have befriended him because of a childhood injury that left him lame and unable to participate in physical activities. Not long after they met, Burnett left for Ohio to go to college.
Frances began writing to help earn money for the family, and her first short story was published in Godey's Lady's Book in 1868. Soon after, she was also being published regularly in Scribner's Monthly, Peterson's Ladies' Magazine and Harper's Bazaar. Determined to escape the family's poverty, for five years Frances wrote constantly, calling herself "a pen driving machine."
Once her first story was published, she spent the rest of her life as a working writer. By 1869 she had earned enough to move the family into a better home in Knoxville. Her mother died in 1870, and the burden to financially support her five siblings increased, but she was soon earning a regular income from her writing. Within two years two of her sisters and a brother were married.
With the income from her writing Frances returned to England for an extended visit in 1872, and then went to Paris where she had a couture dress made to be shipped to Tennessee, having agreed to marry Swan Burnett. She returned home before the dress arrived and attempted to postpone the wedding, but Swan insisted they marry as soon as possible.
Frances Hodgson married Swan Burnett in September 1873. She gave birth to her first child, Lionel, in September 1874. That year she also began work on her first full length novel, That Lass o' Lowries, set in Lancashire, England. The couple wanted to leave Knoxville, and her writing income was enough for them to travel to Paris, where they lived for two years. Swan completed his medical training as an eye and ear specialist there.
After the birth of their second child, son Vivian, they returned to the United States. The Burnetts intended to move to Washington, DC, where Swan would start his medical practice. However they were in debt, and Frances was forced to live with Swan's parents in New Market while Swan established himself in Washington.
To economize Frances made clothing for her boys, often including many frills. She designed velvet suits with lace collars for her boys, and frilly dresses for herself. She allowed her sons' hair to grow long, which she then shaped into long curls.
Early in 1877 Frances Hodgson Burnett was offered a contract to have That Lass o' Lowries published, which was doing well in its serialization, as a book. At that point she made her husband her business manager. That Lass o' Lowries (1877) was published to good reviews, and the rights were sold for a British edition.
Shortly after the publication of the book in 1877, she joined her husband in Washington, DC, where she established a household and friends. She continued to write, becoming known as a rising young novelist. Despite the difficulties of raising a family and settling in a new city, Burnett began writing a dramatic interpretation of That Lass o' Lowrie in response to a pirated stage version presented in London.
After a visit to Boston in 1879 where she met Louisa May Alcott and Mary Mapes Dodge, editor of the children's magazine St. Nicholas, Burnett began to write children's fiction. During the next five years she wrote several short works for St. Nicholas. Most of her work is set in the English countryside.
Burnett continued to write adult fiction as well: Louisiana (1880), A Fair Barbarian (1881) and Through One Administration (1883). However, as had happened in Knoxville, she felt the pressure of maintaining a household, caring for children and a husband and keeping to her writing schedule, which often left her feeling exhausted and depressed.
Within a few years Burnett became well known in Washington society and hosted a literary salon on Tuesday evenings, often attended by politicians, as well as local literary figures. Swan's practice grew and he had a good reputation, but his income lagged behind hers, forcing her to continue her writing schedule. Unfortunately she was often ill and at times suffered from the heat in Washington, which she escaped whenever possible.
Burnett was a devoted mother and took great joy in her two sons. She doted on their appearance, continuing the practice of curling their long hair each day, which became the inspiration for her children's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy; the serialization began in 1885 in St. Nicholas magazine. This story features a boy who dresses in elaborate velvet suits and wears his long hair in curls, and who was modeled on Burnett's younger son Vivian.
Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in book form in 1886. It became a best seller in the United States and England, was translated into 12 languages, and established Burnett's reputation as a writer. She also wrote a stage version of Little Lord Fauntleroy, which was produced on stage in London and on Broadway, making her as much money as the book.
To the Country of Her Birth
In 1887 Burnett traveled to England for Queen Victoria's Jubilee, which became the first of yearly transatlantic trips from the United States to England, accompanied by her sons. In her rented rooms she continued her Tuesday evening salon and soon attracted visitors, meeting Stephen Townsend for the first time. Despite her busy schedule, she felt ill from the heat and the crowds of tourists, spending protracted periods in bed.
With her sons, she moved on to spend the winter in Florence where she wrote The Fortunes of Philippa Fairfax (1888), the only book to be published in England but not in the United States. That winter Sara Crewe or What Happened at Miss Minchin's was published in the United States. She would go on to make Sara Crewe into a stage play.
In 1888, Burnett returned to Manchester where she leased a large home, had it decorated, and then turned it over to cousins to run as a boarding house, after which she moved to London where she again took rooms, enjoyed the London season, and prepared Phyllis for production, a stage adaptation of The Fortunes of Philippa Fairfax. She was disappointed by the bad reviews, and turned to socializing. During this period she began to see more of Stephen Townsend.
In 1890 Burnett's oldest son Lionel died from consumption (tuberculosis) in Paris, which greatly affected her life and her writing. Before his death, she sought a cure from physicians and took him to Germany to visit spas. After his death, she wrote in a letter to a friend that her writing was insignificant in comparison to having been the mother of two boys.
Lionel's death caused a relapse of the depression she struggled with for much of her life. She turned to Spiritualism, Theosophy and Christian Science to assuage her grief, topics that would occur in her novels. Her marriage was not a happy one; they often spent much time apart and finally divorced in 1898.
Burnett soon ensconced herself at her country home in England where she would get the inspiration for The Secret Garden, often writing outside in the garden. She returned to London where she sought the distraction of charity work and formed the Drury Lane Boys' Club in February 1892. Also during this period she wrote a play with a starring role for Stephen Townsend in an attempt to begin his acting career.
After a two year absence from her Washington home, her husband and her younger son Vivian, Burnett returned to DC in March 1892, where she continued charity work and began writing again. In 1893, Burnett published an autobiography, dedicated to her eldest son, titled The One I Knew Best of All. Also in that year, she had a set of her books displayed at the Chicago World's Fair.
Burnett returned to London in 1894; there she heard news that her younger son Vivian was ill, so she quickly rushed back to the US. Vivian recovered from his illness, but missed his first term at Harvard University. Burnett stayed with him until he was well, then returned to London. At this time she began to worry about her finances.
As she had in the past, she turned to writing as a source of income and began to write A Lady of Quality (1896), which was to become the first of a series of successful adult historical novels, which was followed by In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim (1899) and The Methods of Lady Walderhurst (1901).
In 1898, when Vivian graduated from Harvard, Frances divorced Swan Burnett. Burnett and Swan had orchestrated the dissolution of their marriage some years earlier. Swan took his own apartment and ceased to live with Burnett, so that after a period of two years she could plead desertion as a reason for the divorce. The press was critical, with the Washington Post writing that the divorce was caused by Burnett's "advanced ideas regarding the duties of a wife and the rights of women."
From the mid-1890s Burnett lived in England at Great Maytham Hall, where she made her home for the next decade, although she continued annual transatlantic trips to the United States. She socialized in the local villages, filled the house with guests, and had Stephen Townsend move in with her, causing the local vicar to become scandalized with her lifestyle.
In February 1900 Frances Hodgson Burnett married Stephen Townsend in Genoa, Italy. Burnett's biographer, Gretchen Gerzina writes of the marriage: "It was the biggest mistake of her life". The press stressed the age difference - Townsend was ten years younger than she. Within months, in a letter to her sister, Burnett admitted the marriage was in trouble, describing Townsend as scarcely sane and hysterical.
In the spring of 1901, when she returned to the country, Townsend tried to replace her long-time publisher Scribner's with a publishing house offering a larger advance. In 1902, after a summer of socializing at Maytham, Burnett suffered a physical collapse. She returned to American and entered a sanatorium. There she told Townsend she would no longer live with him, and the marriage ended.
In June 1904 Burnett returned to Maytham, which had a series of walled gardens, and she wrote several books in the rose garden there. At Maytham Burnett originally had the idea for The Secret Garden (1911), the story of how Mary Lennox and her friends find courage, friendship and independence while tending their garden. It has been described as one of the most satisfying children's books ever written.
In 1907, she returned permanently to the United States, having become a citizen in 1905, and built a home in Plandome Manor, Long Island, New York where she lived for the last 17 years of her life. Her son Vivian was employed in the publishing business and at his request she agreed to be the editor for Children's Magazine. Over the next several years a number of her shorter works were published in that magazine.
In 1911 The Secret Garden was published, when Burnett was in her 60s. While it was initially written for children it was soon being read by an audience of all ages in North America and Europe. Burnett lived an extravagant lifestyle, spent money on expensive clothing and continued to write. Titles to follow were The Dawn of Tomorrow (1909), T. Tembarom (1913), The Lost Prince (1915), Robin (1922) and The Head of the House of Coombe (1922).
Frances Hodgson Burnett died of heart failure at Plandome Manor on Long Island on October 29, 1924 at age 74. She is buried in Roslyn Cemetery nearby, next to her son Vivian.
Eventually publishing fifty-two books and thirteen plays, Frances Hodgson Burnett might be surprised to discover that she is remembered today for a handful of children's books, but most of all for The Secret Garden. She made and spent a fortune in her lifetime, was generous and extravagant, yet anxious about money and obsessively hardworking, reinventing for herself and for generations to come the magic and the mystery of the childhood she never had.
|
<urn:uuid:e2cad98d-fc75-4693-8eeb-78d7c7bd4ac8>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://civilwarwomenblog.com/frances-hodgson-burnett/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.988221
| 3,208
| 3.21875
| 3
|
In the Catholic Church in the west at least today, Advent is emphasized as a time of waiting, preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ--in the future and in history. There are some elements of penitence: vestments are purple; we do not sing the Gloria at Sunday Masses; we hear often about the counter-cultural nature of Advent as we wait to celebrate Christmas and then celebrate Christmas for a season and not just a day. That's the position of Advent overall.
Before the English Reformation, Advent was a season of penitence and fasting--except I suppose where the Boy Bishop handed out treats and declared holidays from December 6 to December 29!!--preparing for the feast of Christmas with its joyous celebration. There were no marriages during the season of Advent (or of Lent) and the Ember Days (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after December 13, the feast of St. Lucy) of the Advent season were Fast Days. As Christmas was one of the great feasts of the year when the laity would receive Holy Communion, parishioners prepared by receiving the Sacrament of Penance, examining their consciences, confessing their sins, and fulfilling the penance given by the priest.
As Eamon Duffy comments in both The Stripping of the Altars and The Voices of Morebath, the seasons and feasts of the Church year were integrated parts of the social and personal life of Catholic Christians in England before the English Reformations of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I. They provided order and remembrance; most events would be dated by a religious date: a child was born two days after Michaelmas; a couple were married five days after Christmas; a father died on the eve of Candlemas. (Wouldn't help much to use the movable feasts of Easter and Pentecost!) The feasts and seasons provided a pattern of work and rest, fasting and feasting, life and death. That pattern is certainly something lost after the Reformation Parliament.
|
<urn:uuid:4ee8a72d-cbcd-44d8-9924-073b33aed002>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-in-merry-old-england.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97801
| 413
| 3.21875
| 3
|
Walter Bradford Cannon
Walter Bradford Cannon, Physiologist, was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on October 19, 1871. By the end of his high school career, because of his interest in the biological sciences, he decided to pursue a preparatory course for medical school. However, he was advised to study in the East. So, in 1892, with a cash capital of $180, he entered Harvard College. From then on, through four years of college and four years of Harvard Medical School in Boston, he paid his way with his own earnings.
Cannon started working in the lab during his first year. He volunteered to undertake a research project in addition to his first year medical studies: he suggested that he might find a way to utilize the x-ray as a means of studying the process of digestion in animals. Cannon devised an apparatus in which an animal could be placed above an aperture in a lead-shielded table, under which an x-ray tube was focused. Among his first experiments, Cannon watched the course of a button down a dog’s esophagus. His first report, “The Movements of the Stomach Studies by Means of the Rontgen Rays,” was published in the American Journal of Physiology in 1898.
During his last year in medical school, he was invited to conduct courses in comparative anatomy at Harvard College and Radcliffe College. In 1900 Cannon received his medical degree, joined the American Physiological Society, and became an instructor in the Department of Physiology at the Harvard Medical School. In 1902 Cannon became an assistant professor of physiology; in 1906, he became the chair of the department, a position which he held for thirty-six years, until his resignation in August, 1942.
Cannon's research became more involved at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly at the outset of World War I. He went to Europe with a Harvard medical unit whose duty it became to study, and to combat, shock. He concentrated on traumatic shock, writing in 1915 Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear, and Rage. The “sympathico-adrenal system” orchestrates changes in blood supply, sugar availability, and the blood’s clotting capacity. In 1923 his Traumatic Shock postulated that traumatic shock was caused by blood being drained into the dilated capillary region, a phenomenon for which he coined the term exemia. The treatment of shock, he argued, should concentrate on reinstating normal circulation.
Following World War I, Dr. Cannon resumed both research and teaching. He was one the pioneers in study of the autonomic nervous system, isolating at terminals of nerves a chemical product, sympathin, and pointing out its role as mediator of impulses between nerve and muscle. His observations also convinced him that the living body always strives toward a harmonious equilibrium--a state which Dr. Cannon called “homeostatis” in his book, Wisdom of the Body.
Dr. Cannon’s interests were not limited by Harvard’s campus: he accepted exchange professorships, in Paris and in Peking. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1914. He also served as chairman of the Committee on Physiology of the National Research Council from its inception in 1916 until his death.
During the last years of his life, he suffered intensely from acute dermatitis suspected as having been caused by radiation. He died on October 1, 1945.
Sources: Notable American Unitarians, Am J Public Health
|
<urn:uuid:b0fabf76-5f32-4f50-b5b2-e10f3c0b595a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://hms.harvard.edu/departments/medical-education/student-services/academic-societies-hms/walter-bradford-cannon-society/walter-bradford-cannon
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.984148
| 729
| 3.15625
| 3
|
A group of forty former world leaders, including President Bill Clinton and South Africa's President Nelson Mandela, have sounded the alarm on population growth and water scarcity, according to Reuters ("Twenty more "Niles" needed to feed growing population - leaders"). The subject is famililar to Clinton who in 1993 established a Council on Sustainable Development. One of the council's objectives was to chart a path towards the stabilization of U.S. population. Among the immigration-related recommendations:
- Develop comprehensive and responsible immigration and foreign policies that reduce illegal immigration and mitigate the factors that encourage immigration.
- Increase research on linkages between demographic change, including immigration factors and sustainable development.
Back in 1993, the U.S. granted 903,916 immigrants Legal Permanent Resident status. Since then, the United States has admitted more immigrants than in any other period in U.S. history. The recommendations of the Council on Sustainable Development went unheeded by Clinton and the Congress.
Twenty years later, in 2012, the former world leaders warn that global population growth will "require another 1,000 cubic km (240 cubic miles) of water per year....equal to the annual flow of 20 Niles or 100 Colorado Rivers." The demand for water, they report, will be led by three nations: China, India, and the United States.
In this video, Environmental Planner Leon Kolankiewicz explains how America's environmental impact is greater than other countries' because of our greater affluence and technology. Our immigration policy affects the rest of the world.
Americans in the Southwest may be the first to feel the effects. In "Population, Immigration, and the Drying of the American Southwest," Kathleen Parker reports that immigration is responsible "for more than half of population growth" in regions dependent on the Colorado River, and Brad Udall, director of the University of Colorado’s Western Water Assessment says, "We’re on a collision course between supply and demand.”
Only Congress can stabilize U.S. population growth. At current levels of immigration, the U.S. population could not stabilizeeven if native-born fertility dropped to less than one child per woman. Politicians, however, rarely take the long view of immigration policy. They don't consider the impact their policies will have on future generations.
In a recent paper, Parker writes: "Wall Street and other growth advocates—the people who brought us the banking crisis—wring their hands in despair over a recent miniscule decrease in national fertility rate, even as they ignore critical carrying capacity issues that could have catastrophic economic and other consequences." We have seen the same hand-wringing in the media, the same obsession with never-ending growth.
As the naturalist David Attenborough says: "The notion of ever more old people needing ever more young people, who will in turn grow old and need even more young people, and so on ad infinitum, is an obvious ecological Ponzi scheme."
JEREMY BECK is the Director of the Media Standards Project for NumbersUSA
Originally Published: Mon, Sep 17th 2012 @ 9:15am EDT
|
<urn:uuid:7f9ad1e6-f4de-4189-bd86-9fd2b4d37d6c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckj/september-17-2012/mass-immigration-ecological-ponzi-scheme.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.935047
| 644
| 3.109375
| 3
|
A meteor with an initial velocity , mass and radius is tangentially approaching the surface of a planetoid as illustrated in the picture above. The planetoid has a mass , radius and is initially at rest. A while later the meteor sticks to the surface of the planetoid (see the picture above). Answer the following (and show steps):
1) Find the velocity of the center of mass of the new object formed by the combination of the planetoid and the meteor.
2) Find the new center of mass with respect to the planetoid after the collision occurs.
3) If the moment of inertia of a solid sphere is. Calculate the moment of Inertia of the entire system after the collision.
|
<urn:uuid:5dbab9cf-a9d4-4783-9397-34545f790bce>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/meteor-initial-velocity-mass-radius-tangentially-approaching-surface-planetoid-illustrated-q1080676
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.881891
| 145
| 4.0625
| 4
|
One of the first questions we wanted to answer was, “What do we mean when we say governance?” and “What areas of governance are in scope for our work?” Our inclination was to start with a taxonomy of the governance space. But, it didn’t seem like we should be reinventing the wheel. Surely, there must be some consensus out there on what governance means. So we turned to existing literature. We soon discovered that not only was there no consensus, each actor seemed to define governance differently.
So we went back to the drawing board. For us, governance encompasses public institutions in the broadest sense: from the mechanisms that bring politicians into office, to the policymaking process, to the bureaucracies which deliver essential public services. The actors relevant for us aren’t confined to those working within government. We are particularly interested in the ways in which citizens and civil society interact with governments outside of elections; the ways in which an empowered populace makes government more efficient and accountable.
Within this broad definition, we’ve outlined three general areas wherein the Governance Collaboratory seeks to foster innovation:
Efficiency. In some places, governments want to do the right thing, but they have limited human and financial resources and/or broken bureaucratic processes. How can we increase a government’s ability to achieve its stated policy objectives? Innovations in this space might address any number of the core functions of bureaucracy – collecting tax revenues, distributing public resources, making purchases, resolving disputes, delivering basic services, and enacting policies. How might we fundamentally redesign these government processes to make them more efficient and effective, without requiring substantial increases in the financial resources or human capital available? How might we enable governments to more actively draw on expertise from outside of government to solve problems?
Social Accountability. Too often, people are apathetic about the poor performance of government and are not empowered to articulate their views. When they do speak up, citizens often hear nothing back or see nothing change, further decreasing their motivation to act. There are profound consequences of the fact that many governments have few good ways of soliciting input from citizens (outside of elections): policies don’t reflect people’s priorities, resources are not targeted to those who need it most, and officials don’t get the feedback they need to improve performance. How might we empower people to more actively articulate what they want from their government? How might we ensure that citizens are able to hold politicians and government officials to their commitments?
Checks and Balances. The reality in many developing countries is that power is highly concentrated and politicians are in business to protect the interests of a privileged elite. Citizens can play an important role in increasing accountability. But, formal institutions matter as well. Changes to formal institutions – that strengthen the independence of an electoral commission, establish an anti-corruption authority, ensure oversight of the executive by an empowered parliament, promote an independent judiciary, and sustain a vibrant media – can balance the almost unrivaled power of the executive. But often these independent institutions are controlled by the same special interests or are set up to fail. What can be done to strengthen existing institutions of horizontal accountability (i.e., legislatures, judiciaries, independent oversight bodies, and the media)? How might we increase their legitimacy and strengthen their capacity in support of a healthier democratic system?
|
<urn:uuid:a1c54ea4-5967-4ffe-a440-66a31af1d3dd>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://dschool.stanford.edu/blog/2012/12/21/what-is-governance-scoping-the-problem/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.951935
| 687
| 2.828125
| 3
|
|Central coordinates||141o 40.21' East 34o 47.39' South|
|IBA criteria||A1, A3|
|Altitude||0 - 100m|
|Year of IBA assessment||2009|
Summary This large mallee reserve supports populations of three globally threatened species, Malleefowl, Black-eared Miner and Mallee Emu-wren, the near threatened Red-lored Whistler, and two species restricted to the mallee biome, Regent Parrot and Purple-gaped Honeyeater. It also contains ephemeral wetlands, which sometimes support significant numbers of waterbirds.
Site description The Murray-Sunset, Hattah & Annuello IBA captures a large area of contiguous mallee in north-western Victoria. It encompasses seven protected areas and the contiguous uncleared native vegetation. This entire area is incorporated into a single IBA because it supports a suite of threatened mallee bird species, some of which occur in very small numbers scattered across vast distances. A large area of patchy and degraded habitat in the north-west of Murray-Sunset NP and extending north from the park is excluded because it supports none of the key bird species. The IBA captures the protected Hattah Lakes and wetland systems along the Murray River, but waterbird numbers at these sites are insufficient to justify nomination as an independent IBA. The IBA could be expanded to include a length of the Murray River which supports large numbers of breeding Regent Parrots.
Key Biodiversity Occasional records of Black, Pied and Purple-gaped Honeyeaters and at least one record of Scarlet-chested Parrot (Atlas of Australian Birds database). Up to 288 Hoary-headed Grebes, 101 Freckled Duck, 1960 Pacific Black Duck, 15,053 Grey Teal, 5797 Hardhead, 1280 Pink-eared Duck, 128 Black-fronted Dotterel and 1000 Australian Pelicans have been counted at the Hattah Lakes (DEWHA 2008; Hattah Lakes Ramsar Site Information Sheet) and a maximum 254 Black-fronted Dotterel in 1990 (AWSG database). The endangered Australasian Bittern may occur in small numbers when ephemeral wetlands are inundated. An estimated 1-2 pairs of Grey Falcon were present in 1998-2003 (R. Clarke in litt. 2006).
|Species||Season||Period||Population estimate||Quality of estimate||IBA Criteria||IUCN Category|
|Malleefowl Leipoa ocellata||resident||1998-2003||30-100 breeding pairs||medium||A1||Vulnerable|
|Regent Parrot Polytelis anthopeplus||resident||1998-2008||uncommon||-||A3||Least Concern|
|Mallee Emuwren Stipiturus mallee||resident||1998-2003||50-200 breeding pairs||medium||A1, A3||Endangered|
|Black-eared Miner Manorina melanotis||resident||1998-2003||20-40 breeding pairs||medium||A1, A3||Endangered|
|Purple-gaped Honeyeater Lichenostomus cratitius||resident||1998-2003||50-200 individuals||medium||A3||Least Concern|
|Red-lored Whistler Pachycephala rufogularis||resident||1998-2003||30-100 breeding pairs||medium||A1, A3||Vulnerable|
|2014||very high||not assessed||not assessed|
|Good - based on reliable and complete / representative data|
|Natural system modifications||fire & fire suppression - increase in fire frequency/intensity||happening now||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||very rapid to severe deterioration||very high|
|Protected area||Designation||Area (ha)||Relationship with IBA||Overlap with IBA (ha)|
|Annuello||Nature Conservation Reserve - Flora and Fauna Reserve||35,284||protected area contained by site||36,014|
|Bell||Nature Conservation Reserve||1,051||protected area contained by site||1,051|
|Bockie||Natural Features Reserve - Bushland Reserve||23||protected area contained by site||23|
|Gnarr I237||Natural Features Reserve - Bushland Reserve||49||protected area overlaps with site||21|
|Hattah - Kulkyne||National Park||48,000||protected area contained by site||48,000|
|Murray - Kulkyne||Other Park||3,530||protected area contained by site||3,530|
|Murray - Sunset||National Park||633,000||protected area overlaps with site||536,774|
|Nowingi||Natural Features Reserve - Bushland Reserve||138||protected area contained by site||138|
|Nurnurnemal||Natural Features Reserve - Bushland Reserve||51||protected area contained by site||72|
|IUCN habitat||Habitat detail||Extent (% of site)|
|Desert||Semi-desert (includes gibber plains)||minor|
|Forest||Callitris forests & woodlands; Casuarina forests & woodlands; Eucalypt low open forests||major|
|Savanna||Eucalypt open woodlands||major|
|Shrubland||Chenopod shrubs, samphire shrubs and forblands; Heath; Mallee shrublands & woodlands||major|
|Wetlands (inland)||Ephemeral; Freshwater lakes & pools||minor|
Land ownership Victorian State Government.
|Land-use||Extent (% of site)|
|nature conservation and research||minor|
Protection status Numerous - see separate section.
Acknowledgements Thanks to Tim Dolby for drafting the nomination.
References Baker-Gabb, D. (2004) Recovery Plan for the Mallee Emu-wren, Red-lored Whistler, Western Whipbird and other threatened mallee birds. Natural Heritage Trust, Canberra.
Burbidge, A.H. (1985) The Regent Parrot. A report on the breeding distribution and habitat requirements along the Murray River in south-eastern Australia. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Report Series No. 4.
Clarke, R.H. and Clarke, M.F. (1998) Field management of the Black-eared Miner. Final report to Dept of Natural Resources and Environment, Vic. July 1998.
Clarke, R.H., Boulton, R.L. and Clarke, M.F. (in press) Estimating population size of the black-eared miner, with an assessment of landscape-scale habitat requirements. Pacific Conservation Biology.
Clarke, R.H. (2005) Ecological requirements of birds specialising in mallee habitats. Modelling the habitat suitability for threatened mallee birds La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia.
Clark, R.H (2007) Surveys for Mallee Emu-wrens within the Murray Mallee Reserve System, Victoria, Spring 2006. Internim Report to the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.
DEWHA (2008) A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia. http://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/environmental/wetlands/database/ accessed August 2008.
DSE (2003) Hattah-Kulkyne Lakes Ramsar Site: Strategic Management Plan. Melbourne: Department of Sustainability and Environment.
Garnett S.T. and Crowley, G.M. (2000) The action plan for Australian birds 2000. Canberra: Environment Australia.
Luck, G.W., Possingham, H.P. and Paton, D.C. (1999a) Bird responses at inherent and induced edges in the Murray Mallee, South Australia. 1. Differences in Abundance and Diversity. Emu 99: 157-69.
Luck, G.W., Possingham, H.P. and Paton, D.C. (1999b) Bird responses at inherent and induced edges in the Murray Mallee, South Australia. 2. Nest predation as an edge effect. Emu 99:170-75.
Silveira, C.E. (1990) Mallee Emu-wren. Pp. 107-109 In Threatened birds of Australia - an annotated list. Brouwer, J. & Garnett, S. (Eds). Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union Report number 68. Moonee Ponds: RAOU.
Silveira, C.E. (1993) The recovery plan for Australia’s threatened mallee birds – addressing fire as a threatening process: research phase. Report to the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, Melbourne.
Silveira, C.E. (1999) Mallee Emu-wren Stipiturus mallee. Flora and Fauna Guarantee Action Statement. Natural Resources and Environment, Melbourne.
Webster, R. and Leslie, D. (1997) Assessment of Regent Parrot Polytelis anthopeplus breeding habitat in south-western New South Wales. Unpublished report to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and State Forests of New South Wales.
Webster, R. (2002) Surveys of Regent Parrot Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides breeding colonies in Victoria between Piambie State Forest and Nangiloc. Unpublished Report to Mallee Catchment Management Authority.
Webster, R. (2003) Further surveys of Regent Parrot Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides breeding colonies in Victoria between Piambie State Forest and Nangiloc. Unpublished Report to Mallee Catchment Management Authority.
Webster, R. (2004) Surveys of potential Regent Parrot Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides nesting habitat in Victoria between Piambie State Forest and Lambert Island. Unpublished Report to Mallee Catchment Management Authority.
Contribute Please click here to help BirdLife conserve the world's birds - your data for this IBA and others are vital for helping protect the environment.
Recommended citation BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Murray-Sunset, Hattah and Annuello. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 02/07/2016
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife
|
<urn:uuid:ad458be4-5bd7-4687-ab72-b8d137c90718>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=26488
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00158-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.761653
| 2,267
| 2.796875
| 3
|
Boone County History
New Milwaukee Bridge Biggest in the World (The Perry Daily Chief, July 13, 1912)Surpasses Famous Boone Structure in Length - The Biggest Railroad Fill in Iowa
Roadbed to Reach from Bluff to Bluff
Over Three and One-Half Millions to be Expended in Crossing the Valley
When the Northwestern Railway decided to abandon its historic old line, leave Mongonia, with its famous old bridge across the Des Moines and where dwelt the heroine of the line, Kate Shelley, on a little spur track, and decided to dash from the top of the high hills on one side of the valley over to the other side without grade, railroad builders held their breath and gasped that it could be done. Today in answer to such skepticism there spans the valley at a dizzy height the longest and highest (for its length) bridge in America. It is a double tracked structure of steel resting spider like on mammoth big concrete pillars which extend but a short way up the canyon. Its construction involved two and one half million dollars and by it the railroad company saved torturous twisting grades down the bluffs on the other. Two miles of trackage was done away with and the mileage between ocean to ocean was cut down correspondingly as much.
When it was thrown open to traffic, the famous engineers came to visit it. The engineering world marveled at the stupendous quantity of work, the huge pillars and the strength in the vast, expanse of bridge. Thousands of passengers have rushed to the observation end of the trains and hung breathless as they gazed down nearly 200 feet to the twisted silver ribbon of the river below.
Is Greatest Yet
Just east of Perry another engineering marvel is to be constructed. Following the example of the Northwestern, the Milwaukee is to span the valley with another structure longer by double the length, nearly as high and with greater engineering problems to solve. It will cost full $3,500,000 before completed. The new double track bridge will be without question the greatest bridge of its kind not only in Iowa but the entire middle west. Its construction calls for nearly double the amount of steel used in the Boone bridge and joining to it on the east will be the largest fill for railroad trackage ever attempted in Iowa. One hundred or more feet high, a mile in length, containing a million and a half yards of dirt and built by four successive lifts or benches, this fill is the marvel of modern engineering. Its construction does away with the extension of the big steel structure over to the east side, which has such been done, would make the Milwaukee bridge fully two miles long.
As the party making the inspection went down the famous old Godfrey hill and dipped into the wide Des Moines River Valley, scenes on every hand told the story of the immensity of the project which the railroad was undertaking. On both sides of the river are to be seen hundreds of men apparently a score of steam shovel and as many engineers tearing away the face of the earth, piling up huge trainloads of dirt on the grade and getting ready for the bridge gang which will lay the steel and build the monster bridge.
From Bluff to Bluff
The new Milwaukee bridge will start at the west end of the high bluff on the Charles Harlow place which overlooks the entire valley. One hundred and sixty-five feet below it and nearly a mile to the east runs the Des Moines River. It looks like a silver ribbon finding its way through the meadows which border its banks. Hugh concrete piers, now under construction and being built by Mr. Howell the contractor, rise from the sheer face of the bluff and will carry the huge steel bridge across the vast expanse. Beneath the bridge fully 90 feet runs the road which leads to the Phildia coal camp. The new structure will span the roadway like a modern Collosus of Rhodes and will not interfere with the traffic to and from the mine.
A Hive of Industry
But on the east side of the river is where the scene is a hive of industry. Porter Bros., millionaire contractors have the job of building the huge fill which is to meet the bridge and aid in spanning the valley. With them in C. W. Marshall, sub contractor, also of Kansas City. Between the two big companies there are employed six huge steam shovels which are eating their way through small mountains of dirt and depositing the debris in trains of flat cars. A dozen engines steam back and forth pushing the dirt trains out to the end of the grade, where by the latest modern methods the dirt is deposited and placed in the fill.
The equipment which these two firms have employed on the work represent the investment of nearly $2,000,000. There are big standard gauge engines and cars for the Porter Bros. and narrow gauge equipment for the Marshall Company. The Porter people are equipped with huge dump cars which operate by air and the engineer in his cab by the manipulation of levers can dup the dirt, readjust the cars and do all the work which it would otherwise take at least fifty men to do.
Four Sections of Grade
The manner by which the work is accomplished is equally interesting. The fill 100 feet high necessitates a 400 foot base. It is improbable as well as impossible to do this from the top level of the grade. Therefore the grade has been divided in four horizontal sections, each 25 feet high. The first section is being built first, after which, the temporary tracks for the use of the dump cars will be lifted 25 feet higher in the air and the second section will be filled.
Because of the width of the fill, it is necessary for two trucks to be used. Each track is started at the outer edge of the fill, nearly 400 feet apart. As the fill gradually grows and the dirt fills up the interstices of the rude trestle about which the debris is thrown, the tracks are moved by crow bar and manual labor a few feet closer together and the dumping toward the center continues.
On Thursday the two tracks on the first level or lift as they are technically called had been moved about ten feet closer together than when the work was first started. The Marshall crew was working on the second level a thousand feet back of the dumps on the first lift. Within a few days it is expected that the third lift, fifty feet higher than the lowest dump and 75 feet above the natural level of the land will be started.
Like a Big City
Here camp life in a grading camp is to be seen at its best. The steam shovels accompanied by the musical rattle of chains, the toot-trot of the donkey engines as they thread their way through the big bluffs taking dirt out to the dump, the chant of the hundreds of men as they move in unison jacking over the tracks, others laying new ones, some shoveling the dirt down into the fill, all gives one an impression of a big city, and a very busy one at that.
The scene is one which cannot be described and one which must be seen to be appreciated. If one can imagine a pile of dirt 5,000 feet long, or nearly a mile, a block and one-half wide at the bottom and sloping up to about forty feet at the top and as half again as high as the city standpipe, that describes the amount of dirt which will be used in the Des Moines River project. To get this dirt was a problem for the company. Because of the necessity to get the material, the Milwaukee has purchased 215 acres of land in one piece from the old Zack Dalander and the Ben Williams heirs, 7 acres from J.A. Jontz. But even this was not enough so 25 acres of hills have been recently bought to furnish additional material.
Dinner at Camp
The Porter camp is a marvel of completeness. Its bunk houses, its offices, its dining room are all built of boards. The Marshall camp is of canvass but clean, pitched on an eminence overlooking the beautiful valley, and ensconced in a grove of magnificent trees. Here the party was entertained for dinner. And a good dinner it was too.
It is of interest to add here that these camps buy the best of everything. The best meats the packers sell are to the camps along the railroads. The vegetables are secured from the farmers in huge quantities. Professional cooks, usually two or three are employed to prepare the food. In fact, Mr. Marshall explained, to secure the best of help and to get the best results from their laborers, it pays to feed the men well and look out for their personal comfort.
A Historic Spot
It is a historic old place where the Milwaukee is tearing up the surface of the earth and remoulding it to fit the needs of modern transportation. Just north of the huge grade lies the site of the old town of Elk Rapids. There is nothing there now but a farm house or two. In generations past, it was a famous old ford of the river. The pioneers traded there, secured their mail and learned the news that travelled by stage and courier. When the Milwaukee put its line through, the trade went toward the new towns along the line and Elk Rapids died away and became only a memory.
The land over which the bridge will span and upon which the mammoth grade is being erected, was entered by Ben Williams as a homestead in 1850. The Williams family and Zack Dalander, another pioneer, lived there for many years, the latter acquiring land in 1858 which remained in his possession until the Milwaukee bought his entire farm. The houses where these families lived were built of native lumber. When the graders moved in the farmers moved out. The Williams home was torn down, and only the old well sweep marks the spot where it stood. The Dalander house caught fire a few weeks ago and was burned down. It wasn't an accident; it was cheaper to burn than to move and a railroad company is not in the business of a curator of historical spots.
Cemetery to Be Moved
Right in the path of the moster grade is the old Williams Cemetery, grown rank with weeds and wild flowers. Headstones dating back to 1858 mark graves of men and women whose death occurred in that year. It presents a problem which the legal department of the road must solve. The company has purchased one hundred feet to the north of the little city of the dead and has secured permission from as many relatives as can be found for the removal of graves to the other side of the cemetery. The company needs fifty feet of the south end of it. A plat is being prepared locating each of the graves and the new part of the cemetery will be platted just as the old part is. The legal question of the change will be completed in a few days. When completed there will nestle along the side of the grade a neat burying ground, a monument of the past in comparison with the enterprise and ingenuity of modern man.
Grove is Destroyed
In years gone by, on the high hill above the cemetery and near the ridge where the railroad will heap westward across the valley, there was a magnificent grove of trees. A few are left yet, but eighty acres of it have been cleared and the wood used to make the trestles for the grade. A few magnificent monarchs of the forest have been left. One huge birds-eye maple, towering a hundred feet or more high and at least four feet through at the base, stands in silent protest of the devastation of the kingdom he has ruled over for so long. It too, will go down, but the eyes of the engineers are upon it, and it will be sawed up and used for veneer for furniture for some lady's chamber.
In a few weeks this mammoth bill will be eaten away by the battery of steam shovels which are gnawing at its sides. At its foot is an extensive gravel pit which will be used for ballast and just across the river can be seen the stacks of the Phildea mine which furnish the trainloads of coal which are used as fuel by the engines and steam shovels. A temporary bridge has been erected across the river to bring fuel into the works. A big water tank has been erected and a complete water system is piped out over the scene of activity in pipes lying along the surface of the ground.
Gamble in Charge
Upon this work the Milwaukee has placed one of its best engineers, W.S. Gamble, who built the Puget Sound line across the mountains. Mr. Gamble makes his headquarters at Madrid and has a crops of efficient engineers under him. The task of bridging the valley, and superintending the work at the river occupies most of his time. He was a cordial host to the party at his office in Madrid and explained in detail the size of the work under his charge. He exhibited a plan of the big Des Moines River Bridge, and explained that it would be 3,000 feet long exclusive of the mammoth grade at the east end and that the track would be 165 feet above the high water mark of the river. There are alternate spans of 40 and 70 feet, the shorter ones being tied together by huge iron latticework. Across the river bed proper are two longer spans 156.5 feet. The steel superstructure will rest on cement pillars which will start forty or more feet below the present surface.
Naturally this bridge is attracting attention all over the country and the site, one and one-half miles north of the present crossing of the Des Moines has been visited by railroad men and engineers who express admiration in the way the Milwaukee has solved the river grades question. Monday we will describe the work from the river to Maxwell, and tell a number of interesting facts relating to the change of the right of way and the magnitude of the work which is being accomplished by this road.
|
<urn:uuid:ab96e584-c4ec-43ec-84ce-20ec74a5311b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://iagenweb.org/boone/history/milwaukeebridge.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971509
| 2,830
| 2.859375
| 3
|
An interdisciplinary team of U-M sustainability experts and engineers has developed a “ green guide” to aid developers and operators of energy storage systems. Titled “12 Principles for Green Energy Storage in Grid Applications,” the 12 Principles offer researchers, designers and industry professionals a clear, concise picture of the most important criteria to consider when designing and operating sustainable energy storage devices and systems. The principles are detailed in the January 19 issue of Environmental Science and Technology.
Because of the intermittency of electricity production from renewables, energy storage is an important complement to renewable power. It’s a way to keep using solar energy in the dark and wind energy on a calm day. The renewable industry is growing dramatically; the US boasts twice as many solar workers as it did five years ago. The deployment of storage technologies is expected to grow in tandem as the use of wind, solar, and other renewable technologies continue to grow.
Consumers feel their home energy costs would have to more than double before they had to use less or reduce other expenses to compensate, according to a new index created by the University of Michigan's Energy Institute and released today. The university's energy affordability indices are modeled on U-M's Survey of Consumers, and like their progenitor, the surveys ask questions of consumers about how much their own bills for things like gasoline, electricity, and home heating would have to rise before they became unaffordable. The energy surveys, which canvassed 3,400 Americans over two years, found that throughout the survey period, even consumers in the lower third of the income scale would have to see their home energy costs double before costs broke the bank. The survey also looked at gasoline prices and found that consumers would not find it unaffordable to fill their tanks unless pump prices more than doubled to $5.50 a gallon.
This week, leaders from about 150 nations have come together in Paris for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, with the goal of taking international action to limit carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
A delegation of 10 U-M faculty members and students are attending the U.N. conference, including participants from the School of Information, the School of Natural Resources and Environment, the College of Engineering and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Panel debate over emissions doesn't follow partisan lines
It was an unusual scenario, to say the least.
Republican lawmakers yesterday needled witnesses on the nuances and intricacies of carbon accounting for biofuels -- models created to showcase how well the fuels performed as a tool for averting climate change.
ANN ARBOR—The opening of the University of Michigan Energy Institute's Battery Fabrication and Characterization User Facility, or Battery Lab, today further expands the Midwest's rapidly growing battery research and manufacturing capabilities.
The open-access lab will provide space to build and test battery concepts while fully protecting the intellectual property of its users. The lab's capabilities have already attracted global user interest from startups, established corporations and academics.
Is a Michigan hydro pumped storage facility clean and renewable?
Midwest Energy News
The Ludington Pumped Storage hydroelectric facility in western Michigan is a clean and renewable energy source that should receive credits for its ability to reduce carbon emissions, according to various state and federal lawmakers.
Energy Institute research professor John DeCicco, an energy and transportation expert, was featured on WEMU's The Green Room, along with UMEI faculty affiliate Jonathan Levine and postdoctoral fellow Louis Merlin, both of Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Michigan utilities met the state's standard this year, generating 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. Now, to reduce carbon emissions, some people in the state want to see the bar raised to 20 percent or higher, but paying for it remains controversial.
“What we found is that doubling our RPS would add about $1.70 per month for a typical consumer,” says Jeremiah Johnson, a professor at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan.
UM set to open driverless-car test site Mcity on Monday
The University of Michigan will officially open its new testing site for connected and driverless cars on Monday. The 32-acre testing grounds, called Mcity, are designed to simulate urban and suburban roads with a network of controlled intersections, traffic signals, streetlights, sidewalks, construction obstacles and more, the university said in a release. The $6.5 million test track is operated by UM’s Mobility Transformation Center.
In June, an interdisciplinary group of U-M faculty, students and staff working in sustainability welcomed EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to the Graham Institute. Administrator McCarthy learned more about U-M climate research and education, and shared goals of EPA's forthcoming Clean Power Plan. She also provided important perspectives on EPA’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector, including the Agency’s engagement
|
<urn:uuid:56c0ec9b-8b38-4b10-a4a8-b6edb63c36ad>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://energy.umich.edu/news-events/news?category=18
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95025
| 1,001
| 2.59375
| 3
|
Copper and Aquatic Life
Copper Applications in Health & Environment
Oceans, tidal pools, lakes, rivers, and ponds --all bodies of water that sustain life-- have copper present as a vital, naturally occurring element. Its presence as a basic component of the process that spawns the abundant species that swim, scurry, wiggle and wallow in the waters of the world has been established by Nature and confirmed by scientists.
It is, simply stated, indispensable because it is necessary for normal growth in living beings.
"The role of copper in small quantities is essential to marine life," says Dr. Karl D. Shearer, Research Fisheries Biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Washington.
"It is a key component of enzymes, compounds that act as catalysts in the metabolism of organisms," says Dr. A. G. Lewis, an oceanographer and Professor in the Department of Oceanography and Zoology at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B. C., Canada. "Because it is an essential metal, an adequate supply is necessary for normal metabolism," he explains
"Copper's main role in the body is through metalloenzymes and enzymes catalyze many different chemical reactions," says Dr. Kathryn Michel, Assistant Professor of Nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Michel adds that "the body is full of enzymes and any chemical reaction in the body has possibly enzymes associated with it. Copper is a very important component and absolutely essential to the performance of the enzymes"
She explains that "enzymes are critical to the development of bone tissue and the production of red blood cells. A copper deficiency would contribute to anemia."
Put simply, "enzymes won't function without trace minerals such as copper, which means there's no metabolism," says Dr. Shearer, the National Marine Fisheries Services biologist, who has worked extensively in the analysis and development of food for fish. With no metabolism there would be no energy to fuel the vital processes that sustain life in creatures.
Aquatic plants, which play an important role in marine life, are no less reliant on copper. It plays an important role in photosynthesis and respiration. Like marine animal life, plants get copper from copper that is dissolved in the water, copper that is present in other particles or sediment found in the water and copper in their food.
Levels of copper in fresh water and salt water have been found to be generally low. In the United States studies of raw, untreated surface water have shown copper content ranging from 0.001 milligrams per liter to 0.28 milligrams per liter. The mean was 0.015 milligrams per liter. In open oceans, copper levels ranged from 0.1 milligrams per liter to 0.39 milligrams per liter, with an average of 0.8 milligrams per liter.
These figures show how copper is effective in small quantities. Dr. Shearer says that "the normal level of copper in whole fish tissue is one to two parts per million." To measure such tiny amounts requires a spectro photometer, an instrument that gauges matter by zeroing in all the way down to atoms in molecules. Scientists heat animal tissue to extremely high temperatures until atoms begin to emit light. Different atoms produce light at different wavelengths. So "we measure (light) wavelength to get to know what elements are present in the tissue of the fish and we measure the intensity of the light, which tells us the amount present," says Dr. Shearer.
They amount of copper and other trace minerals in the growth and development of fish, crustaceans (shellfish) and mollusks such as oysters and clams may be minute in quantity but enormous in economic terms. Many of these species are part of the renewable foundation of fishing, a vast worldwide activity that helps meet a growing demand for protein.
Commercial and recreational fishing is practiced just about every where in the world, including such land-locked countries as Bolivia, in South America, and Azerbaijan, in Asia. Bolivians have been fishing the waters of Lake Titicaca for centuries, and the valuable caviar industry of the world is centered in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimated that in 1997 the world's food fish production reached 90 million tons, an almost threefold increase since 1960. Almost a third of that catch was raised on fish farms in a fast-growing commercial process known as aquaculture. Fish grow under controlled conditions within enclosures and are fed a carefully balanced diet that invariably includes copper.
At Bio-Oregon, in Warrenton, Oregon, a producer of formulated food for fish farms, Dr. Dennis Roley, says that "copper has always been a supplemental trace element." Because copper can be virtually recycled from healthy animal tissue, fish food industries find copper in organic forms such as copper sulfate in the offal of edible fish such as salmon that has already been processed.
By including copper in fish food, fish farmers are replicating what nature does so well in the wild: providing an environment that nurtures life and growth. In this respect marine life is similar to other species.
"The requirements for trace minerals such as copper are pretty steady among vertebrate animals," says Dr. Shearer. Interestingly, he adds, crustaceans, such as shrimp, lobster and crab, are in particularly need of copper because its serves as an oxygen carrier in their blood.
Dr. Lewis, the University of British Columbia oceanographer, notes that "copper concentrations in crustaceans may be elevated compared with other groups since many crustaceans use copper in a blood pigment�"
That is why, if you look closely, blood on an uncooked shrimp looks bluish, a typical color of certain forms of oxidized copper. Copper in marine invertebrates plays the role that among humans is performed by iron, which is present in blood as hemoglobin.
It doesn't take much copper to perform its critical role in marine species. Data supplied by Dr. Shearer shows that Atlantic salmon and Channel catfish require 3 milligrams of copper per kilogram of feed. Rainbow trout and carp make do on 3 milligrams per kilogram of feed.
Although requirements have not been determined for every marine species, scientists do know that copper deficiencies in certain species can result in reduced growth and cataracts, among other symptoms. Conversely, scientists have observed that overly high presence of copper in natural waters, due to pollutants or produced experimentally, may badly damage gills, adversely affect the liver and kidneys of fish or cause some neurological damage."
Scientists are frequently frustrated in their efforts to study more closely the effects of too little or too much copper on aquatic species in the wild because it is unusual to find whole fish that have died slowly as a result of malnutrition. "In the wild animals with deficiencies get quickly eaten or decompose," says Dr. Shearer.
Dr. Lewis, who every year prepares a review of copper in the environment for the International Copper Association, says that copper plays an important role in other aquatic environments, too. It is a key component of marine plant life. It is commonly used to purify and distribute drinking water. It combats the growth of unwanted organisms that foul water intake lines, aquaculture facilities and the hulls of vessels.
Copper's Dual Role in Aquaculture
Copper is essential to the growth and development of aquaculture species. It also plays a frequent role in the supply of water that makes fish farming possible.
To insure healthy development of fish, water has to flow easily in and out of the enclosures were they are raised. Undesirable growths can impair the flow of water by blocking or "fouling" ducts, pipes, grates and other conduits. The reduced flow will result in less life-sustaining oxygen being circulated in the waters.
To keep fish farms operating at an optimal level, operators resort to copper-containing compounds, known as antifouling agents, as a weapon against the growth of organisms that impair the flow of water. When properly used, these agents -copper alloys, metal-containing plastic and copper-containing paints and coatings-create a durable antifouling surface that reduces maintenance and eliminates the need for more hazardous types of coatings.
Also in this Issue:
- Alloy 171 for Electronic Interconnects
- Copper's Role in the Safe Disposal of Radioactive Waste: Copper's Relevant Properties - Part I
- Q & A With Hans-Erhard Reiter of the ADSL Forum
- Copper and Aquatic Life
- Research on Copper Joining Techniques Evaluates New Designs and Brazing Methods
|
<urn:uuid:0335b360-5fc5-4f0d-a459-063e91163a42>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.copper.org/publications/newsletters/innovations/1998/12/water_health.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95044
| 1,815
| 3.359375
| 3
|
A flamingo spreads its wings in Slottsskogen, August 27 2009. Photo: Eva Obenius.
In Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg a 137 hectare big park extends over the southwestern parts. Slottsskogen, “the forest of the castle” has been a green lung for Gothenburg and its inhabitants during more than 100 years.
During the eight years I lived there I spent much time in this park, having picnics, taking walks or just passing through it on my way to work. Watching the seasons change the colours of the leaves or just hearing some bird song could make all the difference on a bad day. And it is actually proved that these “green lungs” have a significant health impact on city dwellers.
Closing health gaps
A few years ago the medical journal the Lancet actually had an article on how parks improve health and cut stress in cities. Two Scottish researchers had found that even small parks in the heart of our cities has a good effect on strokes and heart disease, and that the existence of parks is a good way of fighting health inequalities between different social groups.
A photo homage to the park
The other day I heard about a great project, which is in itself a homage to Slottsskogen and the lungs of our cities. Eva Obenius, who is a Gothenburg photographer, spends one year taking photos of this park every single day.
Until April, she publishes one of them daily on her blog. Birds flying, a ladybug on a blade of grass, the edges of a pair of skates. Watching them makes me long back to Slottsskogen.
A local adventure
After 300 days of continuous photographing, she tells me that there are of course days of grey weather when finding a subject can be a real challenge. But this project has also trained her eye, teaching her to see details she did not notice before.
And while many photographers are attracted to great expeditions in the Antarctic or Borneo, Eva Obenius shows that exploring what is close to you can also be an adventure.
In the autumn, her work will be exhibited at the Gothenburg Museum of Natural History.
At the house of the Climate Pilot family Harman-Stokes in Washington DC during the first challenge on food in June last year. Photo: Tove Lund
In 2007 four families in the Swedish city of Kalmar were selected to become Climate Pilots. During one year they went through different challenges in order to live a more climate conscious life. During the project they managed to decrease their emissions by a third.
Now they are exporting their learning, becoming climate coaches for four American families in Washington DC.
On the blog of the American Climate Pilots we can follow their work. For example they have tried spending two entire weeks without shopping, prepared climate-smart dinners and are now struggling with their fourth and last challenge: Traveling.
Reading their blog posts it seems like it can be one of the trickiest. One of the pilots writes that it is hard not to drive in Northern Virginia and that he was astonished when his climate coach from Kalmar told him that she had only driven three times during the last month. I think this shows that there are things you cannot fix entirely by yourself, like public transport for example. In this case, the Climate Pilot seems to have found an excellent solution for cutting down his driving though: he works from home a couple of days a week.
It’s sure nice to be a role model at times (read this article about the project in The Washington Post), and it is great that the acquired insights of families here can be shared by others, creating new bonds and friendships over the Atlantic. In a truly global perspective, though, I still should point out that we have a lot to learn in Sweden too. The average emissions per person of CO2 in Sweden are about 6 tons (excluding for example our imported consumption and international air traffic). There are many countries with higher per capita emissions, like the US and Australia with around 20 tons per person. But there are also plenty of countries with fewer emissions. So while Washington DC gets coaching from the Kalmar families, maybe we ought to get some coaching too..?
When I have been traveling to different countries, I have always started off with sort of a detective’s work on how to find the category of things that I like, which might not always be found in an ordinary guide book. Most of all, for me, it has been a quest to find places without consumption demands.
It can be good fun – I have great memories of being sent around the whole campus at a university in Rome in search of someone who could tell me about the Italian environmental scene, ending up in a professor’s office trying to communicate between English and Italian above a model of a whale on his desk. Other times I have cycled around Paris at night or ended up in a deserted youth hostel in a German village, looking for the perfect getaway after two hectic weeks in London.
Grey Heron spotting
There are more direct ways of finding green spaces and sustainable community development, however. In 1992 the first Green Map was made over New York. Now it has spread to over 600 cities, towns and villages in 55 countries. One of them is Stockholm, where about 60 different sites are shown, from where to spot a Grey Heron to where to rent a kayak.
One good thing is that the map is open, which allows everyone to share their best ideas. Although there are some sites where I do not really see the “green” content, like several petrol stations… However, after making your own sorting this map can be quite useful.
Photo: Anna T/Flickr.
Earlier here in the Sustainability blog I have written about the amounts of food that is thrown away in supermarkets and school dining halls. But the truth is a lot of food is also wasted in our very private kitchens.
According to a consumers’ association here in Stockholm the food thrown away by Swedish households every year represent CO2 emissions of up to 1,9 million tons – the equivalent of what 700 000 cars would emit in the same time. A survey the association conducted about a year ago showed that more than half of the wasted food would actually have been completely okay to eat.
Trusting our senses more?
But now there is good news. Recently the same association made a new survey, asking young persons if they had noticed this discussion. It seems that a quite a few of those aged between 18 and 29 years – which was earlier shown to be the group who threw away most food – have actually started thinking about these issues and are now trying to let less food go to the dustbin.
One of the reasons why people throw away food which would actually be good to eat is that they follow the best-before date strictly. We are simply not used to trusting our noses and tongues. When it comes to me personally, the main reason is bad planning.
Another reason can be that we buy too big packages, with the idea that it will save money and packaging. But the truth is often that the food gets old before we have a chance to consume it, according to Helén Williams at Karlstad University. She recommends smaller packages.Read more about her ideas on how to reduce food waste through better packaging here.
Yes, it actually says “Water temperature 0 degrees Celcius”.
In my quest to enjoy my local winter instead of falling for the temptation of taking next plane to a warmer place, I recently took one more step: ice-hole swimming.
A lot of people, including other Swedes, look at me as if I were crazy when I tell them about this. How can anyone voluntarily jump into zero degree Celcius water? Or, for that matter, spend time in a 100 degrees Celcius room? The truth is, having a sauna and taking (quick) dips into a lake or is one of the things I like the most about the winter here.
Good for the health
According to the sauna enthusiasts, sweating in a heated wooden room is good for the health. It relaxes tense muscles and joints, increases blood circulations and sends endorphins out in the blood. Asthmatics are said to breathe more easy and those who suffer from psoriasis say their skin become softer and less itchy.
Two seconds in the water
Then the dip (Yes, dip. Calling it “swimming” is actually a slight exaggeration).
First you have to be thoroughly warm. Climbing down a ladder covered in ice is a challenge, and then – two seconds in the water makes you more awake than ever. But when you’re up in the air again, wrapped in a towel and with a pair of slippers on your feet and with the heat still steaming from your skin, you don’t even feel cold.
Well, it is a bit difficult to explain. I think it simply has to be experienced.
|
<urn:uuid:36128308-f420-45c3-98ad-b697b3149ffb>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://blogs.sweden.se/sustainability/2010/01/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972777
| 1,867
| 2.53125
| 3
|
The Challenge: Design a low cost circuit board milling machine optimized to be mass-produced.
Technical Approach: Several observations on the process of circuit board milling serve as the premise of the design:
Selected Design Features: The overall device has a working area of 4" x 6" with a footprint roughly the size of a letter-sized sheet of paper. Capstan drives were chosen for their simplicity and low cost, and also serve as torque limiters to prevent excessive loads on the small-diameter drive cables. The X and Y axis motion components - such as the motors, capstans, gearboxes, and bearings - are fully integrated into aluminum box extrusion housings. Proper kinematic constraint is used wherever possible to reduce frictional forces and ease assembly. Sheet metal has been utilized to reduce material cost and manufacturing effort. Several of the precision guide shafts double as structural reinforcements for the sheet-metal frame to prevent deflection under the tension of the capstan drive cable.
|One pinned and one sliding shaft mostly avoid mechanical overconstraint.||The Z-axis is exactly constrained thru the use of flexures.|
|The drive mechanisms are integrated into the box extrusion housings.||A preload spring keeps the Z-axis in contact with its leadscrew (a socket head cap screw).|
|I continued this project after graduation. This simple USB-controlled stepper motor driver was intended to decouple machine development from networked control system development.||One of the first milestones was drawing a PCB with a pen.|
|A PCB is finally milled!||Cut quality is revealed through the lens of a microscope. I was debugging why some traces were thicker than others.|
|My senior thesis explains the project in much greater detail. Click to download (PDF).||A classmate named Will Bosworth and I worked together to produce two additional machines, which we brought to Maker Faire 2009 in San Mateo, CA.|
|Mr. Red at Maker Faire.||Mr. Yellow at Maker Faire.|
|
<urn:uuid:c5668b25-9c42-4fb5-b3e5-68db68249a53>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://web.mit.edu/imoyer/www/portfolio/pcbmill/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936607
| 427
| 2.75
| 3
|
Simple Definition of ladder
: a device used for climbing that has two long pieces of wood, metal, or rope with a series of steps or rungs between them
: a series of steps or stages by which someone moves up to a higher or better position
: a long hole in a stocking
Full Definition of ladder
1 : a structure for climbing up or down that consists essentially of two long sidepieces joined at intervals by crosspieces on which one may step
2 : something that resembles or suggests a ladder in form or use; especially : run 11a
3 : a series of usually ascending steps or stages : scale <climbing up the corporate ladder>
ladderlikeplay \-ˌlīk\ adjective
Examples of ladder in a sentence
He was moving up the corporate ladder.
She worked her way up from the lowest rung on the economic ladder.
She got a ladder in her stocking.
Origin and Etymology of ladder
Middle English, from Old English hlǣder; akin to Old High German leitara ladder, Old English hlinian to lean — more at lean
First Known Use: before 12th century
LADDER Defined for Kids
Definition of ladder for Students
: a device used for climbing usually consisting of two long pieces of wood, rope, or metal joined at short distances by horizontal pieces on which a person may step
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up ladder? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
|
<urn:uuid:10b24942-1034-44da-ae10-7f5c95308b39>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ladder
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.930835
| 320
| 3.40625
| 3
|
Critics and audiences are buzzing about Fox Searchlight’s “12 Years a Slave,” which opens October 18th. Here are five reasons why you should see it.
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood,” Dr. Martin Luther King expounded on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
King’s iconic speech has become the cultural cornerstone for racial equality in the United States. But are we there yet? It’s what we aim towards, but at times seems like nothing more than an inspirational dream. After the 2008 election of the nation’s first African-American president, it seemed like you could sail away on the optimistic stream of hope about a colorless society.
“The post-racial era, as embodied by Obama, is the era where civil rights veterans of the past century are consigned to history and Americans begin to make race-free judgments on who should lead them,” Daniel Schorr of NPR wrote in 2008. But then Schorr cautioned that “the nation may have a way to go yet to reach colorblindness.”
Five years later, I’m sure Trayvon Martin’s family would agree.
The United States is currently in a crisis of confidence when it comes to race. King’s dream seems just over the horizon, but still frustratingly out of reach. Why? The reasons make up a multitude of arguments and are endlessly debatable. But we can do without contest is to look backwards to examine the earliest origins of race in this country.
By understand where we’ve been, it is possible to see where we are going—and to maintain the growth towards King’s vision of an egalitarian world where people aren’t judged by race. If we face the most terrible parts of our history, we can begin to understand where we are today. And this way, perhaps we can steer the course to where we need to go and where so many of us deeply want to be.
“12 Years a Slave” is the movie to help us do that.
This movie is why cinema matters. It’s the true story of the life of Solomon Northup, a 19th-century free black man and musician from upstate New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. From acclaimed director Steve McQueen and writer John Ridley, “12 Years a Slave” conveys an eloquence and horror which has critics in a frenzy, calling it “extraordinary” and “surreal in its evil.”
Why, specifically, should we invest our time and money into it?
1. Because “there hasn’t been a filmed project that engages with the subject of slavery this deeply since the television miniseries Roots.”
Or so writes Kyle Buchanan over at Vulture, who believe the film will win Best Picture. This film offers us a time portal into the brutality of living as an enslaved African American like few have ever done before.
Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gushes “Believe the Oscar buzz. Britain’s Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) nails the horror of America’s slavery shame but also finds humanity in one man’s determination to free himself and return to his family.”
William Goss of Film.com rhapsodizes “Northup’s story was a true, terrible thing, and by virtue of telling it, the burdens of all American slaves are unflinchingly realized by Ejiofor and McQueen alike.”
2. Because director Steve McQueen is brilliant.
Coming off his win at of the People’s Choice award at the recent Toronto Film Festival for “12 Years a Slave,” Steve McQueen is said to be “deeply grateful” for the accolades his film is receiving. But this is not the first time the British director has wowed audiences.
In 2008, he received the first-time director, or Caméra d’Or Award at Cannes for “Hunger,” his depiction of the 1981 Irish hunger strike. His second major theatrical release, “Shame,” featuring “12 Years” star Michael Fassbender as a sex addict, also received likewise high praise in 2011 and 2012.
3. Because the performances will become iconic.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays Solomon Northup in “12 Years a Slave,” gives a career-defining performance. As he told CBS News, “It sort of drifts away from being this complicated tale of these terrible times into really a story about the human spirit and I think everybody can connect to it.”
Brad Pitt, who also produced the film, plays a Canadian abolitionist. Michael Fassbender and Sarah Paulson are haunting as the Epps, a couple of impossibly cruel slave owners. Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Alfre Woodard and Paul Dano also have key roles.
Lupita Nyong’o, who plays horrifically-abused slave Patsey on the Epps plantation, has been called the break-out star of the film. As the native Kenyan actress told CTV News, “At the end of the day, Patsey was my reward and everything else is welcome and overwhelming and beautiful.”
4. Because it continues the dialogue on race in our society.
“12 Years a Slave” offers up an unflinching view of the atrocities committed in the name of commerce and culture from the African-American perspective. But acknowledging this horror bridges our understanding from all angles.
So where to go from here?
A national best-seller and winner of the National Book Award, Edward Ball’s “Slaves in the Family” continues the vital conversation. Written by the descendant of slave owners and traders in South Carolina, Edward Ball embarked on a quest to understand the intertwined history of his family and the black people they enslaved. What emerges is an incredibly insightful look at how race has shaped one family—and in turn, our country at large. This book is a fantastic companion piece to McQueen’s film.
5. Because it’s a true story.
“Twelve Years a Slave,” Northup’s real-life narrative detailing his abduction and life while enslaved, was published in 1853 in the United States to wide acclaim. Abolitionists and sympathizers rallied to the book, which sold 30,000 copies throughout the north on the eve of the Civil War.
Considered one of the best accounts of American slavery ever written by a slave, it was Northup’s “shrewd observations” which catapulted the narrative into the consciousness of the American public. It described the day-to-day life of a slave as never before seen, which helped fuel the atmosphere which eventually led to the destruction of this American institution.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” had this to say of the memoir: “It is a singular coincidence, that Solomon Northup was carried to a plantation in the Red River country—that same region where the scene of Uncle Tom’s captivity was laid—and his account of this plantation, and the mode of life there, and some incidents which he describes, form a striking parallel to that history.”
“12 Years a Slave” will be commercially released by Fox Searchlight in the United States on October 18th.
Related on Ecosalon:
Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight
|
<urn:uuid:b1c1095d-6dfe-4737-9434-bc852a5ad10e>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://ecosalon.com/5-reasons-to-see-12-years-a-slave/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95685
| 1,673
| 2.96875
| 3
|
The book of Psalms, also known as "the Psalter", a collection of many poems and hymns from ancient Israel and Judah.
As poetry, the Psalms were used as worship material for the Hebrews and later Jews. Many of them list David as the author. With 150 songs, the book has both the shortest chapter in the Bible (Ps. 117) and the longest (Ps. 119).
Enumeration of passages from the Psalms requires care. Jewish and Christian versification often does not coincide, since superscriptions (found at the beginning of many psalms) are numbered in the Jewish tradition, but not in the Christian tradition. Within Christian Bibles, the Orthodox and Catholic "chapter" divisions follow the Septuagint in which Pss 9 and 10 in the Jewish and Protestant Bibles are regarded as a single psalm, thus throwing out the numbering between them by one. In the latter third of the Psalms there are several other inconsistencies between these versions, before the enumeration again coincides in the final three psalms (Pss 148-150).
The Septuagint also preserves a 151st psalm with the heading: "This psalm is ascribed to David as his own composition (though it is outside the number)..." (NRSV).
|
<urn:uuid:aa85175b-d932-4187-b387-38307d7d2af1>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/tags/psalms/info
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969908
| 270
| 3.625
| 4
|
Sorry, the book that you are looking for is not available right now.
We did a search for other books with a similar title, and found some results for you that may be helpful.
A major book about the future of the world, blending natural history, field reporting and the history of ideas and into a powerful account of the mass extinction happening today
Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. But this time around, the cataclysm is us.
In The Sixth Extinction, two-time National Magazine award winner and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in a half-dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the Great Auk and the Sumatran rhino.
Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as a concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in French Revolutionary Paris through to the present day. 'The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
About the Author
Elizabeth Kolbert was a New York Times reporter for fourteen years until she became a staff writer at the New Yorker in 1999. Her three-part series on global warming, 'The Climate of Man', won the 2006 National Magazine Award for Public Interest, the 2005 American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Award and the 2006 National Academies Communication Award. It was from this series of articles that Field Notes from a Catastrophe: A Front-line Report on Climate Change. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.
A distinctive and eloquent voice of conscience ... In her timely, meticulously researched and well-written book, Kolbert combines scientific analysis and personal narratives to explain it to us. The result is a clear and comprehensive history of earth's previous mass extinctions ... "People change the world," Kolbert writes, and vividly presents the science and history of the current crisis. Her extensive travels in researching this book, and her insightful treatment of both the history and the science all combine to make The Sixth Extinction an invaluable contribution to our understanding of present circumstances, just as the paradigm shift she calls for is sorely needed Al Gore, New York Times I tore through Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction with a mix of awe and terror. Her long view of extinction excited my joy in life's diversity - even as she made me aware how many species are currently at risk Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and A More Perfect Heaven Elizabeth Kolbert writes with an aching beauty of the impact of our species on all the other forms of life known in this cold universe. The perspective is at once awe-inspiring, humbling and deeply necessary T.C. Boyle Well-composed snapshots of history, theory and observation that will fascinate, enlighten and appal many readers Guardian Compelling ... It is a disquieting tale, related with rigour and restraint by Kolbert Observer Passionate ... This is the big story of our age. We are living through the historically rare elimination of vast numbers of species. And for the first time, it is our fault ... Uplifting prose about the wonders of nature. But the overwhelming message of this book is as clear as that of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962. We humans have become a geological force in our own right - and, unless we act, the consequences will be devastating Sunday Times It is oddly pleasurable to read Elizabeth's Kolbert's new book, which offers a ramble through mass extinctions, present and past ... A wonderful chapter covers the North Atlantic's once-abundant, flightless great auks ... Wisely, Ms Kolbert refuses to end on an optimistic note Economist Kolbert has not only grasped the enormity of what we are unleashing, but can present it in a way that even the average human with a short historical attention span can grasp. Read this book Peter Forbes, Independent Kolbert is a witty, deft writer with an eye for vivid colour. She takes us from sun-blistered desert islands on the Great Barrier Reef to the sopping Peruvian jungle ... Hers is a deadly message, delivered in elegant prose, and we can't afford to ignore it Philip Hoare, Sunday Telegraph a book that can be dipped into or read from cover to cover. Biologist
Number Of Pages: 336
Published: 1st March 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Country of Publication: GB
Dimensions (cm): 23.4 x 15.3 x 2.7
Weight (kg): 0.52
Edition Number: 1
|
<urn:uuid:694e7a2e-5ce6-498d-a4a8-085eaca6594c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.booktopia.com.au/the-sixth-extinction-elizabeth-kolbert/prod9781408851227.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00198-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.924821
| 1,079
| 2.921875
| 3
|
Yet some Nepali officials think it unlikely that poachers killed Babai Valley's 49 missing rhinos, because only one skeleton has been found after an exhaustive search.
Poachers usually kill rhinos for the animals' horns, which are valuable in Chinese medicine. The massive carcasses are then left to rot.
Eric Dinerstein is a rhino expert with the international conservation organization WWF and author of Return of the Unicorns, an analysis of Indian rhino conservation efforts.
Dinerstein explained that the rhinos have a high rate of natural mortality.
Calves often fall victim to tigers or are separated from their mothers by monsoon floods. Males engage in vicious battles during mating season that frequently end in the loser's death.
Still, Dinerstein suspects that there is a human hand behind the Babai Valley mystery.
"The likely answer is that many of them were poached," he said.
"The truth is that even back in 1975 I was told [by local people] not to go into the Babai Valley, because there were a lot of poachers there and it was very rough. There has been poaching there since long before there the [Maoist] insurgency," he said.
As for the missing carcasses, Dinerstein suggests that many factors could have caused them to disappear.
He's seen local Nepalese carry off the remains of a rhino that died naturally.
"Every part of the animal was considered valuable," he said. "There wasn't a shred of that rhino left."
The reserve's animal denizens may have also played a part.
"There are lots of scavengers on the [southern plain known as the] Teraimammals, birds, lots of species," Dinerstein said.
"If somebody had been patrolling they would have been tipped off [to a dead rhino] by lots of vultures.
"But because nobody was patrolling, you could easily have a carcass disappear quite quickly without much of a trace."
Free Email News Updates
Best Online Newsletter, 2006 Codie Awards
Sign up for our Inside National Geographic newsletter. Every two weeks we'll send you our top stories and pictures (see sample).
SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES
|
<urn:uuid:4a5446b8-4b08-4abe-ac0c-57a0e12529af>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070103-rhino-nepal_2.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.98045
| 469
| 2.921875
| 3
|
There has been much written on the subject of fitness and how to lose weight while working out. However, there remains a void when it comes to instructing people on the proper method of breathing while exercising. This little known fact has been looked over by most that have never had the guidance of a personal trainer. In fact, if you belong to a gym, like most people that try to workout on a regular basis – on your next trip, observe the people around you. You will find that the majority of people are not only using the improper breathing techniques, but they also do not have the proper form when weight training or using weight machines in the gym.
One good way to quickly fix this problem is to invest in a few good Strength & Cardio Workout DVD’s or just read this step-by-step important workout tip on how to breathe properly while performing any type of workout – whether it may be strength training, cardio or Yoga and/or Pilates.
As a personal trainer, I observe my clients everyday during their workouts and the number one thing I have to constantly remind them to do is BREATHE. I find that my clients are focusing so much on the exercise that they completely forget to breathe.
Follow these easy steps to help you breathe correctly while working out:
- While exercising, your body requires more oxygen – breathing correctly delivers more oxygen to your blood and muscles which in turn gives you more energy to get you through your workout.
- Holding your breath while working out cuts off the oxygen supply to your lungs, blood and muscles which can cause you to tire more easily, feel dizzy and/or lightheaded.
- While doing cardio, be conscious of your core and your breath – try to maintain a consistent breathing rhythm throughout your entire cardio session. If you feel that you are starting to become short of breath, slow your pace down for a few minutes, allow your heart rate to come down and let your breath catch back up.
- When Strength Training, you want to inhale on the return (easiest part of the exercise) and exhale on the exertion. (hardest part of the exercise)
Here are a couple examples for you to use the next time you workout:
- Push Up: While performing a Push Up, you want to inhale as you lower down to the floor and exhale as you push yourself back up.
- Biceps Curl: Exhale as you curl the weight up, contracting your bicep at the top and exhale as you slowly lower the weight back down.
- Chest Press: Take a nice deep breathe before you even begin, exhale as you push/press the weight up and exhale as you slowly lower the weight back down.
- Same applies for when you are working your Abdominals as well. Many people have a tendency to hold their breath while doing core exercises. Inhale before you even perform your first crunch - Crunch up, exhale and contract your abs, inhale and slowly lower yourself back down. Be sure to keep your breathing rate aligned with the speed of your crunch – if you notice yourself taking faster, shallow breaths, slow yourself down and find your breath.
A personal tip of mine – before you perform any exercise, take a few deep breaths, find your focus and then begin your set. For example, when performing a Chest Press I get my set of weights that I am going to use, find an open bench, take a seat, take a few deep breaths and then start my set.
|
<urn:uuid:31fdc4c9-5fd2-481f-927e-f8f221b39198>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.tophealthspot.com/blog/2010/01/29/workout-advice-how-to-breathe-properly-while-working-out/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956269
| 724
| 2.609375
| 3
|
Translation of wonder in Spanish:
- 1 uncountable (awe, curiosity) a child's sense of wonderla capacidad de asombro de un niñowe gazed in wonder at the scenecontemplamos la escena maravilladoshis success is an endless source of wonder to mesu éxito es todo un misterio para mí or no deja de maravillarmeExample sentences
- She remembered his other expressions, wonder, joy, amazement; all positive feelings.
- But that fear was drowned out by the overwhelming emotions that filled her: awe and wonder, expectation and joy.
- For most of us this remarkable series of volumes will be a constant source of wonder, amazement, and re-thinking.
- Explore the wonders of coral reefs, mangrove communities, and seagrass beds while identifying the marine organisms that live there.
- Divers can explore the underwater wonders of Eastern Indonesia on seven to eight days cruises to the islands of Komodo, Alor, Flores, Sumbawa and Lombok.
- And new galleries exploring the wonders of astronomy and the study of time and an improved astronomy education centre will be opened in the South Building along with a shop and cafe.
- 2 countable (marvel, miracle) the Seven Wonders of the (Ancient) World the eighth wonder of the worldla octava maravillait's a wonder (that) he didn't break his neckes asombroso or es un milagro que no se matarayou're not eating properly; no wonder you feel tired!no estás comiendo bien; no me extraña que estés cansado or ¡con razón estás cansado!with so much unemployment it's little or small wonder that crime is on the increasecon tanto desempleo no es de extrañar que siga aumentando la delincuenciais it any wonder he has no friends?¿te sorprende que no tenga amigos?wonders will never cease! [humorous]¡eso sí que es increíble!to work or do wondersthey can work wonders with the little money they havehacen maravillas con el poco dinero que tienenI'll do my best, but don't expect me to work wondersharé lo que pueda, pero no esperes milagroshe's worked wonders with this room it works wonders for your complexiones maravilloso para el cutisthat hairstyle does wonders for himese corte de pelo lo favorece muchísimoExample sentences
- This is a magical world brimming with wonders, diverse and remarkable.
- It's no wonder that across the country they increasingly regard their elected representatives as gutless wonders.
- It has been less than a week since the gutless wonder conceded the election way too soon.
- 1 (ponder, speculate) why do you ask? — oh, I was just wondering¿por qué preguntas? — por nada or por saberwho can that be, I wonder?¿quién será?I wonder if $50 will be enough
¿quién podrá ser?me pregunto si con 50 dólares va a alcanzarhe said it was an accident — I wonderdijo que fue un accidente — tengo mis dudasat first it seemed a good idea, but now I'm beginning to wonderal principio me pareció una buena idea pero ya no estoy tan seguro or pero ahora tengo mis dudasthe sight of them sitting together set me wonderingverlos sentados juntos me hizo pensarto wonder
aboutsomebody/ -ingwe're wondering about going to Spain this summerestamos pensando si ir a España este veranoI was wondering about Guy as a possible candidateestaba pensando que quizás Guy pudiera ser un candidatoI wonder about you sometimesa veces de veras me preocupas
- 2 (marvel, be surprised)maravillarseto wonder
atsomethingI wonder at your patienceme maravilla or me asombra la paciencia que tienesthey don't trust him, but that's hardly to be wondered atno le tienen confianza, pero eso no es de extrañargone off with his secretary, I shouldn't wonderno me extrañaría que se hubiera ido con la secretariaExample sentences
- He followed her brisk stride, through the hallways and into her office, all the while wondering at the marvel that was Katherine Wood.
- Talking to them, we wondered at the freedom they had enjoyed from an early age.
- She wondered at the invisibility that her clothing offered her.
- Now I'm wondering if Sergei was surprised to see it, in ‘real life’ etc.
- I was surprised, wondering if there was anything wrong with me.
- But, because of my past, I think it took a lot of people by surprise. They wondered what was happening to me.
- 1 (ask oneself)preguntarseI wonder whose book this is¿(me pregunto) de quién será or podrá ser este libro?I wonder what he looks like¿cómo será?I wonder why he does it
me pregunto cómo será¿por qué lo hará?I wonder why I bother
me pregunto por qué lo haráno sé por qué me molestoI wonder if or whether he'll be thereme pregunto si estaráI wonder whether I should take an umbrellano sé si llevar un paraguas o nowe were wondering if you'd like to come around to dinnerestábamos pensando si te gustaría venir a casa a cenarshe wondered what to writeno sabía qué escribirExample sentences
- Those of us who live in the provinces wonder at the obsessive efforts of some Tory politicians to ingratiate themselves with that lobby.
- Children wonder at the crossings as the light-blinking boom-gates close for the pistons.
- He would wonder at the human body's capacity to do all that and more!
- (before noun)(drug/cure)
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
|
<urn:uuid:cfb84668-939e-4fde-921b-87ac3ca8e56c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/translate/english-spanish/wonder
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.725973
| 1,411
| 2.703125
| 3
|
Is this the first human to fly like a bird? VIDEO
I can't believe most people think this creative invention is not real; that it is an animation. I remember in 1971, in NYC, where I lived at the time, street vendors suddenly started selling a plastic bird which had an elastic that you wound up and then it took off and flew by flapping its wings. A man in France had invented, patented, manufactured and sold millions of them. It was quite a sensation, in all the media. The novelty was that no one had EVER invented something that actually flew by flapping wings like a bird. The secret was the oval wing action at the shoulder that allowed the wing to catch air, press it down, and then bring the wing forward without catching the air. The repeated strokes downward allowed the model bird to rise. For thousands of years no one had ever figured it out. If you have ever gone swimming, you get the idea.
|
<urn:uuid:23d669da-484d-484b-be50-42fdb2dc4237>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://ufodigest.com/video/first-human-fly-bird-video
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.986104
| 193
| 2.75
| 3
|
Hi my name is Andrea,
Recently we I have read at school some readings about culture and there I've found this:
* a people is
In my english classes I was taught thar people was just used in plural, buth there it is used in other ways. What is the meaninf of those expressions?
Besides, in a game in play-station I've found this phrase :"Nothing but tangerines" what does it mean?
thanks a lot
Hello MG, welcome to Using English!
"People" can mean any group of human beings, e.g.
1. There are three people in Reception to see you.
Or human beings in general:
2. People are strange.
Or any national or ethnic group, considered as a unit (in this sense, it can be used in the plural too):
3. We don't have an argument with the British people; only with the British government.
4. The museum has a new exhibition about the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia.
As for "nothing but tangerines", it's an emphatic way of saying "only tangerines", e.g.
5. There was nothing but tangerines in the fridge this morning.
(i.e. there was nothing else: only tangerines.)
All the best,
|
<urn:uuid:412813a6-bb17-4360-8afa-9738c120d475>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/27342-middle-etc?goto=nextoldest
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961895
| 280
| 3.125
| 3
|
By Michael Vogel
Z Corporation overcame many technical and managerial challenges while developing its 3D color printers. Creating such products required a laborious series of spaghetti-like experiments chasing parameters thought to hold the potential for performance improvements. In one case researchers spent an entire year searching for a breakthrough that would achieve critical design specifications.
Figure 1: This is a graphical representation of the Design-Expert optimization solution.
To accelerate their product development process, Z Corporation provided its engineers with the knowledge and software to do statistical design of experiments (DOE) with the help of Design-Expert software from Stat-Ease. The company developed a procedure by which every factor with a reasonable chance of affecting product performance is systematically and simultaneously evaluated via these controlled experiments.
“The DOE process identifies the significant variables,” says Joe Titlow, Z Corporation’s director of product management. “These vital few factors are then further investigated through more detailed experiments. This process makes it possible to overcome development obstacles and move much more quickly to an optimized product design.”
Z Corporation’s 3D printers create physical models from computer-aided design (CAD) data by using an inkjet printhead to deposit a liquid binder that solidifies layers of powder. Full 24-bit color capabilities use colored binder materials (cyan, magenta, and yellow, like a 2D printer) to produce millions of distinct colors. A part can be printed at the rate of one vertical inch per hour. Because Z Corporation printers use standard inkjet printing technology, they are reliable and affordable. Finished parts cost $0.10 per cubic centimeter in materials.
Difficult Product Development Process
Development of printers based on this technology requires a profound knowledge of the complex interaction of the powder that forms the structure of the model. Other factors are the ink that causes the powder to solidify, the hardware that deposits the ink and powder, and the software that controls the process. Each of these systems must come together to deliver the strength, surface finish, and accuracy needed to meet design specifications.
In the past, the company transitioned slowly from research to product development. Researchers explored new chemicals, changed one factor and measured one response, then changed another factor and measured another response. This one-factor-at-a-time approach wasted a considerable amount of time on factors that were later determined to be insignificant. Researchers also often missed important multifactor interactions.
Figure 2: Curvature in Surface Finish A model shows strong interaction between factors A and B.
“DOE offered a logical solution to this problem,” Titlow says. “One of our researchers learned from his DOE instructor that Design-Expert software from Stat-Ease offers a very powerful optimization tool called response surface methods (RSM). RSM models are crucial in developing the products at the heart of most of our projects. We found Design-Expert to be easy to use.”
Getting a Stalled Project Going
To fine-tune a powder formulation, a Z Corporation researcher used Design-Expert to create a three-level factorial RSM experimental design.
The researcher selected the following factors (with ranges shown in parentheses):
- Polymer level (8% to 12%)
- Binder level (0.90 to 1.30) ]editor’s note: actual units of measure are confidential]
- Polymer type (Grade A, B, or C)
Note that the last factor is categorical (discrete types), whereas the other two variables are numeric (continuously adjustable). Design-Expert can handle combinations like these without problems.
The responses were as follows (while units of measure are confidential, actual ranges are shown):
- Strength A (0.60 to 2.40)
- Strength B (3.20 to 10.04)
- Strength C (3.10 to 8.63 )
- Response A (8.00 to 12.00)
- Surface Finish A (ranked 1 to 5)
- Surface Finish B (ranked 1 to 10)
- Accuracy A (-2.60 to 12.00)
- Accuracy B (6.693E-003 to 9.941E-003).
The software generated a design with 46 runs including 5 replicates. This met the experimental budget. (In cases where there is limited time or material, Design-Expert offers a computer-generated statistically optimal fraction with less than half the number of runs as this full factorial.) Many of the responses suffered from missing measurements, but the software experienced no difficulty in generating results from these reduced data sets. The majority of the responses were linear, but significant (and important) multifactor interactions were discovered for several of the critical responses (see Figure 2). The researcher viewed the ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) for each response (see Table above). Effects with less than a 90 percent degree of confidence were considered insignificant and deleted from the predictive models.
Optimizing the Product
Next, the researcher developed a desirability function by establishing criteria for each response (maximize, minimize, or hit a target and prioritize them by importance). Often the subsequent numerical optimization by Design-Expert provides a number of different solutions. However, in this case, the criteria led to only one possible solution. Figure 1 shows the small window of success. Technicians mixed the recommended powder recipe and made a batch in the lab. The results correlated remarkably with the predicted values from Design-Expert. Technicians repeated the experiments on a production scale and got the same results. This single RSM experiment resolved an issue that had stopped the project.
“This first success with DOE provided the momentum we needed for a full-blown implementation of the technology,” Titlow says. “Now we perform DOE on every new product-development project at the earliest stages. We enumerate every factor that theory tells us might be playing a role. Then we use factorial DOE to screen them, and RSM to provide the optimum settings. Factorial DOE/RSM reduces our time to market while creating products that perform at a higher level. In particular, the print quality of our products has gone up rapidly, allowing us to deliver more value to our customers.”
Michael Vogel is VP for Research and Development at Z Corporation. Before joining Z Corporation, Mike worked at Lockheed Martin where he was involved in the design and manufacture of advanced aircraft, spacecraft, and marine systems. He has a B.S. in both Aerospace Engineering and Life Sciences from MIT. Send comments about this article to DE-Editors@deskeng.com.
|
<urn:uuid:476fb4b0-2b4c-405a-9102-235ea1234b6f>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.deskeng.com/de/design-expert-software-enables-z-corp-printer-design/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.924098
| 1,371
| 2.9375
| 3
|
By David Abramowitz, Special for CNN
Editor's note: David Abramowitz is Vice President, Policy & Government Relations for Humanity United and Director of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), a coalition of U.S.-based human rights organizations working to end modern slavery and human trafficking in the United States and around the world. ATEST recently issued “The Path to Freedom,” a road map for the second-term Obama Administration to follow as it works to fulfill its commitment to eliminate modern slavery.
It’s been 150 years since President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declared in the midst of the U.S. Civil War that all slaves “shall be free.”
Today, the word “slavery” still conjures up horrifying images and stomach-churning thoughts about the most disgraceful days in U.S. history.
This shamefully evil chapter still cannot be fully explained, because no facts can possibly answer how humanity allowed it to happen, and why we didn’t stop it sooner.
Similar questions haunt the United States and countries around the world today - how has slavery evolved into a multi-billion dollar illicit global industry, overshadowed only by drugs?
Perhaps we turned a blind eye because modern slavery looks so different than it did in 1863, when it was largely in the open.
Modern-day slavery manifests itself in many new and nuanced forms, often described in the 21st century as forced labor or human trafficking. Or perhaps we turned a blind eye because we can’t conceive how slavery can persist in 2013.
Human trafficking is viewed worldwide as morally reprehensible, and slavery is illegal in every country.
As a result, modern slavery is underground and masked so well that we may not recognize it in our own communities. For example, construction workers, housekeepers, farm workers and too many others in low-paying industries are brought to the United States by labor brokers who promised a job, but enslaved them instead.
Today’s slave is shackled by insurmountable debt, coercion, fear and intimidation. She has been lured into crossing a border or leaving home for what she believes is legal work, only to find herself trapped by an unscrupulous labor broker who seizes travel documents and threatens retribution by law enforcement or immigration authorities, or violence against family members if she leaves.
Slavery exists today for the same reason it did more than a century ago: money. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes cites estimates that human trafficking in all its forms yields $32 billion dollars in profits every year.
That number may seem shockingly large at first glance, but is easily explained: the rise of globalization, demand for cheap labor, and supply of vulnerable workers. Massive, international companies use complex supply chains in order to, for example, deliver shrimp harvested in Thailand to markets in communities like Topeka, Kansas in a matter of days.
Most of the severe exploitation occurs at the bottom of these chains, where unpaid Burmese immigrants may be forced to stand in a shed for hours on end, peeling the shrimp we will enjoy days later at our dinner table.
The story varies tens of millions of times in a range of industries around the globe. You’ll find trafficking victims in the palm oil plantations of Malaysia and Indonesia, brothels of Phnom Penh, construction sites and homes in the Middle East and the suburbs of the United States.
So if we know that slavery and human trafficking exist today, how can we stop it?
There is no simple answer - trafficking and slavery are complex problems, encompassing human rights abuses, transnational crime, labor violations, humanitarian law, migration and immigration policy, sexual violence and child welfare. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a solution.
The world’s business communities, governments and civil society must collaborate in order to create a comprehensive approach to the issue. For example, non-governmental organizations and law enforcement can reach out to communities to educate, help free victims, and advocate for and provide essential services to survivors.
The private sector can help ensure supply chains are free of human trafficking, forced labor and other forms of modern slavery, and that their employees do not personally reap the benefits of trafficking.
Philanthropic institutions can fund and produce new learning from path-breaking initiatives such as finding new ways to help victims make the transition to survivors, mapping supply chains and creating new tools to combat trafficking in supply chains, and cultivating technological approaches to combating trafficking.
And governments can ensure that they are not inadvertently involved in modern slavery, and institute and fund policies that can ultimately eliminate human rights crimes in individual countries.
In September, President Barack Obama announced several initiatives to fight modern slavery, including an executive order to strengthen U.S. policy on human trafficking in government contracting.
He also promised to provide relevant officials and agencies with training and guidance programs on human trafficking, and to expand resources and services for trafficking survivors.
Obama’s pledge to step up his administration’s efforts to combat modern slavery was significant.
Now, he must deliver on these promises, and his first priority must be working with Congress to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) - the cornerstone of federal anti-trafficking efforts.
The TVPA has provided critical resources and new tools for those on the front lines in the fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery, but was shamefully allowed to expire in 2011 due to political stagnation. Reauthorizing the TVPA is critical to maintaining U.S. leadership on this important issue.
As we honor the Emancipation Proclamation, the symbolic end to one of America’s darkest times, and observe January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, I am hopeful that we are on the cusp of taking meaningful steps toward a modern emancipation.
Let us all ensure that, 150 years from now, our descendants do not ask why we allowed slavery to continue, and why we didn’t stop it sooner.
|
<urn:uuid:78cc3bed-f3d7-4d6e-b78e-050922f06c00>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/10/its-time-for-anti-slavery-action-mr-president/?hpt=hp_c3
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00061-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936231
| 1,250
| 3.234375
| 3
|
Materials Research Center
The Materials Research Center (MRC) was constructed under the first facilities grant awarded by NASA on September 25, 1962. According to James E. Webb, NASA administrator, the purpose of the grant program was "to house interdisciplinary activities in space related sciences and technology to universities which are making substantial contributions to the national space program." The NASA grant provided for a $1.5 million, 56,000 sq. ft. research facility. An additional grant from the National Science Foundation for $500,000 provided funding for an Engineering Science Research wing. The project, totaling 96,000 square feet, was completed by architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill at a cost of $2.6 million. Twenty-five laboratories, designed in part by faculty, provided facilities for powder metallurgy, polymer, ceramics, ultrasonics, cryogenics, corrosion and other materials research. The material research program was directed by the Interdisciplinary Material Research Committee consisting of eight faculty members, the director of the research division and an administrative director.
The MRC was formally dedicated April 23, 1966 as part of the "Man and Materials" symposium. Detler W. Bronk, chair of the RPI Board of Trustees and president of Rockefeller University; Arthur Schlesinger, author and historian; J. Erik Jonsson, trustee and CEO of Texas Instruments; and Chester F. Carlson, inventor of xerography and consultant to Xerox Corp. were among the guest speakers at the event.
1967 Map Back to Rensselaer Buildings
|
<urn:uuid:b2780969-52a2-45bb-8f9e-5767f917f204>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://rpi.edu/dept/library/html/Archives/buildings/mrc.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943931
| 320
| 2.578125
| 3
|
In 1932, Nelson Rockefeller commissioned Mexican muralist Diego Rivera to paint a mural for the ground floor lobby of the Radio Corporation Arts Building in the Rockefeller Center. The painting was supposed to depict in Rockefeller's own words "Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future." Rivera proposed a 63-foot mural. He started working on the mural with the help of six assistants, in March 1933.
"Man at the Crossroads" proved out to be one of the most groundbreaking works of Diego Rivera. The center of the painting portrayed a commanding industrial worker with his hands on the controls of heavy machinery. The crossroads were formed by two long narrow slides intersecting at the centre, right below the worker. One slide displayed a microscopic view of body cells, reflecting sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and another presented a telescopic view of the universe. The painting was roughly divided into two sections. The left panel showed elite people, especially women, enjoying, drinking, and partying. A contrast was reflected on the same side with a group of people protesting and being clubbed by the police.
The right side of "Man at the Crossroads" showed a May Day parade with workers and people living in harmony. At the center of the left side, there was an image of Vladimir Lenin (Russian communist leader), as if joining hands in power with a black farmer, a white worker, and a soldier. The presence of Lenin in the painting hinted at an 'Anti-Capitalist' flavor. To avoid any kind of political controversy, Nelson Rockefeller requested Rivera to replace the face of Lenin with any ordinary face. Diego was an ardent fan of the Soviet leader and so he refused to replace Lenin in the painting. He instead offered to add American leader Abraham Lincoln's face to another part of the mural. Their differences were never resolved.
Rivera wished to get a few pictures taken of his "Man at the Crossroads," but photographers were banned from the center. Lucienne Bloch, one of Rivera's assistants, snuck in a camera into the building and took some pictures to record the mural. These pictures are the only original records of the mural. On May 22, 1933, Rivera was paid in full and was barred from the premises, without letting him complete his work. The painting was then draped and was hidden away from the public eye. On the midnight of February 9, 1934, a few workers marched into the center with axes and hammers and destroyed the mural.
Diego Rivera was determined to finish his painting "Man at the Crossroads," so he reproduced his work under the name "Man, Controller of The Universe." This painting also depicted Lenin and Rivera added a portrait of Leon Trotsky (another communist leader). This painting can be seen in the Palace of Fine arts in Mexico. At Rockefeller's Center, the mural replacing that of Diego's has Abraham Lincoln as its key subject.
|
<urn:uuid:00eead66-d4c3-4d3b-82c1-51c2f843576f>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://painting.ezinemark.com/his-most-famous-painting-man-at-the-crossroads-by-diego-rivera-4ecde87cae4.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971207
| 595
| 3.5
| 4
|
The University of Arizona Press, in collaboration with LPI, publishes Asteroids III, a Space Science Series volume.
The European Space Agency launches the Mars Express orbiter and its lander, Beagle 2. The mission is the first spacecraft sent to Mars by Europe, and is named “Mars Express” because it was built more quickly than any other comparable planetary mission.
The first Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, launches. The second rover, Opportunity, launches almost a month later, on July 7.
The Forum on Concepts and Approaches for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) is held at the LPI. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the science issues related to the JIMO project.
The Sixth International Conference on Mars, co-sponsored by LPI, is held in Pasadena, California. The conference is designed to provide an opportunity to review and debate some of the key questions and controversies that have matured during the flood of Mar Global Surveyor and Odyssey data.
The Galileo spacecraft plunges into Jupiter's crushing atmosphere, deliberately destroyed to protect one of its own discoveries — a possible ocean beneath the icy crust of the moon Europa.
The SMART 1 lunar orbiter launches. The first of ESA’s Smart Missions for Advanced Research in Technology, the mission travels to the Moon using solar-electric propulsion and carrying a battery of miniaturized instruments.
The People’s Republic of China launches Shenzhou 5, becoming only the third nation to put a human in space. Astronaut Yang Liwei and the spacecraft orbited the Earth 14 times before safely landing in north China the next day.
|
<urn:uuid:424cd171-c7cb-4811-b2fd-61d5539718c5>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi_40th/2003.shtml
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00197-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.908698
| 337
| 2.5625
| 3
|
The first few haggard Rwandan rebels started to trickle out of the Congolese forests of North Kivu in early January. Within weeks their numbers grew to hundreds. By June, more than 8,000 — including about 1,000 former gunmen — were back home in neighbouring Rwanda, aided by United Nations peacekeepers and refugee workers. One of the fighters, Antoine Uwumukiza told a reporter for the Washington Post why he decided to go back. “We’ve heard people say, ‘In Rwanda, there is good government,’ and we have decided to go see if it’s propaganda.” When he discovered that the government’s reconciliation policy was real, he said, he decided to stay.
But the situation along the Congo-Rwanda border is not unique. Foreign fighters like Mr. Uwumukiza who fight across borders “are significant threats to regional security in all areas where they exist in significant numbers,” notes a study, ‘Combatants on Foreign Soil’, prepared by the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA).
Unlike fighters who are nationals of a country emerging from war, most foreign combatants cannot simply rejoin local communities after the guns fall silent. Frequently there are no organized programmes to help fighters return home. Where they do exist, fear, suspicion and poor relations between governments may mean that fighters are left behind to become persistent security threats.
African insurgent forces have long operated across poorly-guarded national borders, notes the OSAA study. Some have been viewed positively, especially in the early anti-colonial liberation struggles or the movements against the apartheid regime in South Africa.
While such groups often had clear political goals, disciplined troops and support from local communities, the fighters in the many civil wars that followed did not. Not only have government and rebel forces both targeted civilians, they have also recruited combatants from abroad. The involvement of fighters from neighbouring countries added a further layer of complexity to the violence.
West Africa was one region where multiple armed groups operated repeatedly across national borders. In 1989, rebel forces entered Liberia from neighbouring Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. Then from Liberia, Charles Taylor, initially as a warlord and later as president, backed the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in its attacks against the government of Sierra Leone. At various times, combatants from Liberia, Burkina Faso and other countries fought directly alongside the RUF. Later, two new rebel groups opposed to President Taylor launched a second civil war in Liberia, initially striking from Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire and eventually prompting Mr. Taylor’s departure in 2003.
Following the peace agreements in Sierra Leone and Liberia, UN-organized disarmament programmes succeeded in demobilizing tens of thousands of homegrown fighters. But little was done to help foreign combatants return home. “This difficulty was compounded by shortcomings in fully reintegrating former soldiers back into civilian life. Many youths were left idle and dissatisfied, with no jobs, little education and few skills other than handling weapons. So when war erupted in Côte d’Ivoire in 2002 and both sides in that conflict sought new foot soldiers, there were thousands of ready recruits willing to cross the border.
The US-based Human Rights Watch, in a 2005 report on West Africa’s “regional warriors,” interviewed some 60 combatants from 15 groups. Most had fought in at least two conflicts in the region. “There are some of us who can’t seem to live without a weapon. Anywhere we hear about fighting we have to go,” said a 24-year-old Liberian who had fought in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.
Living by the gun
For these fighters, the main reason appears to be economic. Most of those recruited for successive wars lacked jobs and lived in desperate economic conditions. The recruiters and commanders promised they would be able to loot. Some readily shifted allegiances from one group to another as the opportunities for pillage changed.
To reduce the likelihood of such an “insurgent diaspora,” experts argue, governments should stop recruiting or backing foreign fighters, while peacekeeping forces should better coordinate their own efforts. The UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire now works closely with its counterpart in Liberia to ease the repatriation of foreign ex-combatants.
It is just as important, experts argue, to better reintegrate former fighters into their own societies. If they have jobs, social connections and other opportunities at home, they will be less open to recruitment for wars abroad and more likely to try life without a gun.
Rwanda welcomes rebels home
Benoït Barabwiriza returned to Rwanda in January for a short visit with several other former rebels. He is a member of the FDLR, a Hutu rebel force that opposes the government of Rwanda and it was the first time in years that he had seen his homeland. “We have come here to assess how the country is doing,” he explained to a journalist, “after which we will go back to our colleagues in Congo and tell them of our experiences. Then we will decide whether to come back for good.”
For several years the government has been seeking to convince such exiles that they are welcome back. Such outreach efforts are part of a broader process of national reconciliation intended to re-knit a country torn apart by the 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 Rwandans, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, were slaughtered.
In recent years, some 20,000 former rebels have returned, aided by small financial settlements that include cash, scholarships, vocational training, access to credit and other support for setting up small businesses and income-generating projects.
Government representative Jean Sayinzoga welcomed Mr. Barabwiriza and his fellow visitors, emphasizing that they could go wherever they wanted in Rwanda, including to visit former combatants who had previously been repatriated. “Feel free,” he told them, “and feel at home.
|
<urn:uuid:54872ad1-1084-443b-b327-a3be612faa4f>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.un.org/africarenewal/web-features/un-helps-foreign-fighters-head-home?qt-popular_content_block=1
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.968353
| 1,280
| 2.90625
| 3
|
How to Care for Lost Pigeons
By: Frank Mosca
What to do if you find a lost pigeon ?
Most lost birds are hungry and thirsty. Water is necessary
before all else. Since pigeons drink by suction, any water
container should be at least 1 in. (2.5 cm) deep. An open
container, i.e., a dish, an old margarine container tub, etc.,
is best. While a thirsty bird may drink immediately, it also may
not. A bird which has gone without water for a while is
sometimes a bit less than itself. It may be so exhausted, it
doesn't even realize that water is in front of it, especially if
the water container you use is different from what it is
familiar with. A trick I've often used is to trickle a few drops
of water from on high into the container to make a splashing
sound. When they hear that, most birds will invariably head to
drink. If a bird looks really exhausted, Gatorade or other
proprietary sports drink may be added to the water. A teaspoon
or two per cup (250 ml) of water will help replenish
Pigeons are grain eaters. While park pigeons will eat bread,
most domestic birds have been raised on a multi-grain mixture
and have never seen a slice of it. In fact, they would likely
ignore it as possible food. Instead of bread, you might try
feeding them something else from around the house. Popcorn
(maize), rice, split peas, barley, buckwheat (kasha), canary
seed, etc., are all good first options to feed a lost bird with.
THESE GRAINS SHOULD NOT BE COOKED OR POPPED BUT FED RAW. Water
should also be provided since pigeons normally drink immediately
What Should I Keep It In ?
Any container that a dog or cat can't get into will be fine. An
old bird cage will hold the pigeon for a day or so with no
problem, as will a cardboard box - a screen on top of such a box
is better than simply closing the flaps since there will then be
enough light for the bird to see to eat and drink.
Finding the bird's owner
What if it won't go home ?
the bird has a band on its leg, the owner can sometimes be
traced through one of the national pigeon organizations.
However, this is often not even necessary. After twenty-four to
forty-eight hours rest with food and water, most homing pigeons
are more than capable of finding their way home on their own.
Simply release the bird in an area free of wires or other
obstacles and it will usually head home immediately. NEVER try
to attach a note to the owner by rubber banding it to the bird's
leg. This cuts off the leg's blood circulation and often leads
to gangrene and amputation of the limb.
Many birds can be traced to their owner by the numbered band
(ring) on their leg. In North America, homing pigeons normally
carry bands with a combination of the year plus the
AU -- American Racing Pigeon Union
IF -- Internation Federation
C.U. -- Canadian Racing Pigeon Union
Outside of North America, racing homers can be traced through
the national racing club of the country of origin.
There are ONLY 200 breeds of pigeon. Some fly very well, some
don't. Those which carry a band marked with NPA National Pigeon
Association can sometimes be tracked to the owner. Many,
however, can not because these bands are also sold through
feedstores and other outlets where permanent records are not
If the bird carries a band with other letters than those
listed above for racing homers or for NPA banded birds, it may
be privately banded or belong to someone who has banded with a
specialty club band. Your local feed store often knows many of
the pigeon breeders close to you and can often refer you to one
of them. Such individuals often know of local club secretaries
who may be able to help you.
I Want to Keep the Bird. It's Cute !
Because these Homing Pigeons are protected by most state laws
and because their owners care for them, every attempt should be
made to locate the owner... However.
If the pigeon you have is unbanded (no way to trace the
owner), or, if, after searching, and not finding the owner, you
decide you'd like to keep the pigeon as a pet, by all means do
so. Pigeons make fun pets. Many will become extremely attached
to you - and you to them. There are many fine books on the
market which will help you become a responsible pigeon
Just remember a few basics:
1) Clean water, feed, and mineral grit (available at most feed
2) Pigeons must have dry surroundings, they're not ducks. They
love a bath, but whatever you keep them in must normally be bone
3) Enjoy one of the most fun animals alive.
4) Send for a free information packet from the American Racing
For More Lost
Pigeon Contacts please Click Here to contact the
American Racing Pigeon Union
|
<urn:uuid:1b46b1bb-3954-44e1-b11c-464e02db186a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.pigeon.org/carelostbird.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00200-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.949508
| 1,132
| 2.59375
| 3
|
Pogrom Happenings in Stavisht
by Yisrael Rubin
Stavisht is a town in the Uyezd of Tarashcha, near the River Ikaash, [note: in Russian the name of the river is Gniloii Tikich, a branch of the Bug River.] fifty viorst [about 33 miles] from a train station (Belaya Tserkov station). In 1917 it had about 20,000 Christian inhabitants and 6,000 Jews. At present there are about 80 Jewish families, about 400 people. It had one brandy distillery, three mills, a seltzer water factory, various artisans, and commercial enterprises.
Before the revolution the relations between Christians and Jews were neutral, neither friendly nor hostile. In 1905, when there was an outbreak of pogroms in the area, it was quiet in Stavisht. Before the Revolution the following organizations existed: a savings and loan society, a credit union, six cooperative stores, a Talmud Torah, a Jewish school with two grades and a government school with four grades.
In October 1917, on one of the market days, a pogrom broke out led by demobilized soldiers. The textile shop of H. Ulanovski was robbed. The pogrom lasted several hours. It was quelled thanks to the local militia, which played an important role in defending the town.
In November of that same year a band of 18 men entered the town, led by a man named Dabravalski. These were bandits whose only goal was robbery. They demanded and received a contribution of 15,000 rubles, and left after two hours.
In February of 1918, at the time of the Central Council, a band of 200 men burst into the town and took control. At its head was Kravtshenko, from the village of Snizshke. The Ukrainian militia arrived to drive them out, and they robbed several stores.
In 1918 a few thousand peasants from the village of Strizivke began a pogrom against Jews, whom they accused of bringing in the Germans. On the way to Stavisht they killed about 25 Jews; in the village of Strizivke they killed 14 Jews; in the village of Sukhari 67 Jews; and another five on the way. More peasants joined from the village of Tartsitse. At their head was a well known Bolshevik, Grebenko. They took over the power in Stavisht and neighboring villages. They stayed there until August. On August 17 there was a battle between the peasants and the Germans, who drove Grebenko out of town. The peasants killed six Jews in their retreat from Stavisht. Of those killed we know the names of Avraham-Eli Levin and Yitshak Tori.
From that time the town was cut off from commercial enterprise. No Jew could leave town, for the woods and roads were full of partisans who robbed and killed Jews passing through. This was the situation in 1919.
During the intermediate days of Passover 1919 a band of 80 soldiers came into town. They called themselves Bazinevtes. They robbed for a few hours, but their leaders forced them to return to the Jewish population that which they had taken, and they gave back a great deal. On the second day of Shavuot in 1919 a band of 5000 men came into town. This was a unit from Griogrive's militia. The leaders were Yatsenko and Zsheliezniak. They stayed in town eleven days. On the first day there were six Jews killed, of whom we know the names of the following: David Kohen, 20 years old; Yitshak Kohen, 30 years old; Ben Tsiyon Maldavanski, 43 years old; Svirski, 18 years old. They demanded one million rubles, or they would slaughter the entire Jewish population. Only 500,000 rubles could be collected. They also took 30 head of cattle, 30 horses and wagons. Throughout the eleven days they were in town they robbed the Jews, taking whatever merchandise they could find. They murdered the head of the Committee of the Poor, Mordekhai Gutharts, killed two visiting Jews, and raped many women. They arrested ten Jews on trumped up charges that the Jews had shot at them. Thanks to Rabbi Avraham, the rabbi of Stavisht, who risked his life to go to them and mollified them, the prisoners were freed. Zsheliezniak said that they were only against Communists. On the twelfth day they left for Tarashcha, where they were badly beaten by the Red Army and they retreated back to Stavisht. This happened on June 15, 1919. They stayed in town from early morning until two in the afternoon and killed 30 Jews.
They left at two o'clock. A few days later they started to come back to town, but the Jews had learned of their approach and they fled. Most of them fled to Volodarke, Skvira Uyezd, about 18 viorst away. Many fled to Belaya Tserkov and others to nearby villages. The bandits robbed the abandoned Jewish homes in Stavisht and then made their way to Voladarke, where they found the greatest number of Stavisht Jews. Rabbi Avraham went to the leader, Zsheliezniak who had great respect for him. All of the Stavisht Jews were allowed to return home. On their way to Voladarke, the bandits had burned the bridge over the Rasi River. They forced the local peasants to bring boards to serve as a temporary bridge over which the Stavisht Jews crossed on their way home. Zsheliezniak even gave the Jews bread for the journey.
One night in July 1919, the military commissar Karnivski and his assistant Baytshkovski, both born in the village of Flark (10 viorst from Stavisht) and his Red Army unit of 20 men, broke into several Jewish homes, broke the windows, broke down the doors, and robbed and killed nine people. Of the dead the following are known: Sara Royzenblit, 45 years old with two daughters, 18 and 20 years old; Ze'ev Vaynshthein, 40 years old; Beyla Vekslin, a dentist, 50 years old; Ya'akov Ber Zshivotovski. They wanted to burn down all the Jewish homes and they notified the peasants of the neighboring villages that they should come and help them get rid of the Jews. Two wagonloads of peasants came, but ten local peasants opposed them and defended the town. Two days later Commissar Mazali came from Tarashcha to put down the uprising and they too robbed many Jewish homes. Karnivski and his unit came a number of times. One Sabbath he announced that if the Jews did not come to defend themselves against the charge that they had complained about him in Kiev, he would cut off the town. He called the Rabbi, who did not come. The local militia took strenuous measures to defend the town.
On the fourth of Av 1919, a band of 12,000 followers of Zelenovtse came into town. They demanded two million rubles and merchandise. They received 412,000 rubles and 20 head of cattle. They robbed and took whatever was left, whatever had been hidden. They killed two people. One of them was Mordekhai Frenkel.
Before they received the contribution they arrested 30 people, among whom were: Rabbi Avraham, Binyamin Faynzilber, Khlavna Kohen, Shemuel Salganik, Yosef Stepanski, and yours truly. One of the officers took a great deal of money from the Jews in addition to the contribution and did not allow more to be killed.
Rosh Hashanah eve 1919 Dobrovolski and 20 men came into town and demanded 100,000 rubles, threatening that he would kill and rob if he did not get the money. They received 65,000 rubles and did not hurt anyone. However, when the Jewish representatives came to ask that his band not rob anyone he shot at them, but did not hit them.
In November 1919 a group of 16 followers of Denikin came into town. They demanded a contribution. They were given 70,000 rubles. They took a lot of gold and silver and killed and robbed. They raped two women in the Bet Hamidrash and killed a 70 year old woman, Kapatshevski, who was bringing her share of the contribution. In the Bet Hamidrash they took everyone's clothing, examined them, and took everything away, leaving the people naked. They beat them unmercifully. They wanted to chop off Rabbi Avraham's right hand, but he begged and pleaded so much that they did not. Then they were going to hang him on the hook of the hanging lamp, but decided not to. They demanded that food and liquor be brought to the Bet Hamidrash, and as they ate and drank they called out, Long life to the Christians and death to the Jews!
In December 1919, when the Denikins left Ukraine, many militia units came through Stavisht and robbed and pillaged. On the tenth of December a group of 20 men came through and demanded 20,000 rubles. On the 12th of December 1919 40 peasants came with Denikin's militia. They came to the Bet Hamidrash with a note from the commandant, took 50,000 rubles contribution, ten pud [about 360 lbs.] of oats and other goods. On the 15th of December a large group of Denikin's militia came through and robbed the Jews. There were three killed of whom we know the names of two: Reuven Fishlin and Mirashnik. A four year old child, Nathan, was seriously wounded, as well as an old man, Reuven Banin. They hung him up three times, yet he remained alive. They raped many women and set fire to many houses. Three houses belonging to Shalom Tripolski, Moshe Kohen, and Yosef Binyamin Broytman were burned to the ground.
Until April 1920, all was quiet, but even in the relatively quiet times between pogroms the local militia would carry out attacks on Jewish houses and rob them. Then, on the 20th of April 1920, a band of 50 men led by Slipanski and Karavski, natives of the village of Handikha, came from Tetiev. The Jews had learned of their approach and had fled a day earlier. They ran towards Tarashcha, Vinograd and Belaya Tserkov. A few old, sick and disabled people remained behind. The bandits killed 18 people of whom the following are known: Sara Shapira, Avraham Aba Tshubinski. They wanted to set fire to the town, but some of the local Christians did not allow this. They stayed for two days and left. Eight days later some of them came back and robbed and pillaged. There was a man from Stavisht in their group, who had served in the Stavisht militia, and he did not allow them to kill anyone. This time they stayed for three days. A few days later some of them came back and demanded that all the Jews leave within two hours. They brought all the Jewish residents to the Polish commandant and took them seven viorst from town to the village of Krivets and then told them to go wherever they wished. Only the sick and disabled remained in town.
Then the local peasants took advantage of the situation and stole everything possible. There was a Polish authority in town which did nothing to stop them. One eye-witness, Monus Marianovski, had a Polish passport, and the authority told him to leave town saying that they would not be responsible for his life. At that time the bandits killed 18 people, among whom were: Sara Kaplavtsker, Shalom Landsman, and Shelomo Zalman Frenkel. In the Jewish Bikur Holim [hospital] they killed six old women. They killed Frenkel by tying him to a pig, throwing the pig into a cellar and then setting the cellar on fire, burning him and the pig alive.
About eight days after Shavuot, when the Poles left, the local peasants entered many houses and robbed them. It became a bit quieter and a few people returned. Some of the local Christian intelligentsia took part in the robberies. Among them were: Tsherbin, a teacher in the Stavisht four grade school; the justice of the peace, who started a panic every day saying the bandits were coming so that people would run away. The inspector of the four grade school invented a false charge that the Jewish Communists were coming to Stavisht to kill the Christians. They encircled the town with machine guns and the local Christians joined the bandits and pillaged. On one day in June they set five houses on fire.
There are now about 80 Jewish families left in Stavisht. They are extremely fearful and are ready to flee at a moment's notice. The destruction is great. All the stores are closed, there is absolutely no business going on. Most homes are wrecked.
Sh. Rabinovits wrote this for Khlavna Kagan, former member of the Stavisht Town Authority, who could not write because it was Rosh Hashanah.
Traianovski (?) [the question mark appears in the text]
From the Rabbi of Stavisht to the Rabbi of Kiev
[Written in Hebrew]
Stavisht, 5 Elul, 5678
To his honor the honored and learned rabbi of the congregation of Kiev and environs Rabbi Shelomo Aharonson, the priest of God on high.
We, the representatives of the Jews in Stavisht pour forth our pleas to you, our rabbi, to stand by us in this hour of mortal danger, which is hovers over us, for of the ten measures of suffering which have been inflicted on the Jews of Ukraine in this time of emergency, nine measures have come upon us.
Our isolated town, fifty viorst from the railroad, is in the center of the land where the partisan uprising is happening. About six weeks ago our town was filled with the sound of army boots of the partisans, with Gribinko at their head. They declared a draft of all men aged eighteen to forty. Afterwards they lay a fine upon our town of 15,000 rubles. They were given all of the money and they nullified the draft order. They confiscated much merchandise for which they sometimes paid a small sum. There is almost no shop in town which has not suffered from this confiscation.
In the early period the partisans seemed to be satisfied with taking money and merchandise and did not cause violence and the spilling of blood, because there was a certain amount of discipline imposed by their leaders, to whom we could turn for protection. However now the situation has completely changed. Two weeks ago a group of Germans came to town and the partisans left. On the second day a battle began between the two camps. It started outside of Stavisht but little by little the partisans were forced to retreat into the town and the narrow streets became killing fields. For seven hours without cease there was thunder of rifles and grenades and a rain of fire on the town. Of the Jews there were four dead and many wounded because the bullets of death penetrated the walls into the houses. But our most terrible sufferings began after the battle.
The leaders and some of the partisans retreated and left our area and found refuge on the other side of the Dnieper. However, a large portion of them, peasants from the area, returned to their homes, hid their arms, and posed as peasants going about their work. The Germans could not find them, because their families would not give them up. The Germans stayed in town for five days and as soon as they left, the partisans removed their disguises, took up their arms, and became the rulers. Since they had no leaders, they were simply a band of robbers and murderers. They would gather into bands of ten or more men, lay ambushes on the roads and kill all the Jews passing by, after taking everything they had. Every day one or two dead Jews are brought into town. No one dares to leave for fear of these bandits.
The sources of income have been stopped, and the lives of the residents hang by a thread. The bands are not satisfied with ambush only, but invade the town, band by band, armed with swords, rifles, and grenades; they attack the houses and rob them, enter the stores and take merchandise, then require tribute from the town.
For example, On Sunday, this week, a band of eleven bandits came into town, armed with grenades, and demanded a tribute of 25,000 rubles. After much begging by the rabbi, in tears, they lowered the sum to 15,000 rubles. They gave us one hour to collect the money. Now there is a rumor that they are planning to set fire to the whole town, after they have plundered it. Our small community is in the midst of tens of villages filled with murderers and robbers, armed to the teeth. We are like a lamb ringed by seventy wolves. We are poor and without weapons to defend ourselves. Have mercy, Rabbi, on our unfortunate community, and send us assistance in our time of trouble. Let the authorities know that they must send us a defense force immediately, for death awaits us and our wives and children, horrible death by sword and fire.
We have been informed that a German unit is approaching but will be here only a few days, and afterwards the bandits will again wreak havoc upon us. We ask and plead in the name of one thousand Jewish families for help. Please send us a permanent defense force so that the Germans will not just come in and out for they do nothing to prevent the violence and the robbery.
So says the member of the juridical authority (signature)
So says Yitshak Avraham Haysinski, Rabbi of Stavisht (signature)
P.S. Since the letter has been delayed until today, the tenth of Elul, more dead bodies have been gathered that were found on the roads. Yesterday they found nine dead Jews, five men and four women, near the village Zshidivsko Grebli. In another place there were dead gentiles. Even though the Germans are in town and protect it against attack, the roads are still dangerous.
(Received August 23 1918)
[Note: I have transliterated the names as they appear in text]
Special cable to the Forward from N. Shifrin, Berlin, December 29. I have received the names of over one hundred murdered Jews in Stavisht, Kiev Province.
The following have left behind a wife and four children:
The following have left behind a wife and five children:
The following have left behind a wife and six children:
The following have left behind a wife and one or two children:
Another two dead that I know about:
These are the last martyrs who were murdered by Zshelezniak's band in the big Bet Hamidrash, possibly the last Jews in town.
|1.||Levin, Avraham-Eli||Murdered in August 1918.|
|2.||Kohen, David, 20||Murdered in 1919.|
|3.||Svirski, 18.||Murdered in 1919.|
|4.||Fishlin, Reuven||Murdered in 1920.|
|5.||Landsman, Shalom||Murdered in 1920.|
|6.||Fren[k]el, Shelomo Zalman||Murdered in 1920.|
|7.||Smalier and his wife||(Burned alive in their home)|
|The committee wishes to express its heartfelt gratitude to YIVO of New York for collecting the historic data about our town and giving us the Photostats.|
|The Book Mishpat Hakore|
|Reb Levi son of Eliezer Menahem Spekter
author of Mishpat Hakore.
[This photo is juxtaposed with the title page of book,
January 12, 1961
The meeting was opened by Mr. Rubin. In attendance were Hava Zaslavski, Mr. Rubin, Mr. Palant, Mr. and Mrs. Louie Lipovski, Mr. and Mrs. Golub, Y. Golub.
Subjects under discussion:
It was decided:
(Yitshak) Irving Golub
(Yosef) Joe Golub
Academy Hall, January 12, 1961.
We, the undersigned landslayt from Toronto and Montreal, Canada, greet the honorary president Arthur Schechter and the committee for the wonderful initiative to carry out a project of publishing a book about our town Stavisht. This is a noble and humanitarian undertaking and we were pleased to assist in this project in any way we could.
We have high regards for this task and we thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to participate in the work. We wish you great success in our cooperative effort.
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
Stavishche, Ukraine Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2016 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 19 Jul 2009 by OR
|
<urn:uuid:c53393be-241d-4cd3-a543-1fd93d084263>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Stavishche/sta221.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.97985
| 4,608
| 2.734375
| 3
|
With six astronauts on board, Endeavour sped to orbit under cloudless skies from the Kennedy Space Center today to begin the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, the first human space flight of the 21st century.
Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dom Gorie, and Mission Specialists Janice Voss, Janet Kavandi, Gerhard Thiele and Mamoru Mohri blasted off 14 minutes into the available 2 hour plus launch window at 11:44 a.m. Central time after a near flawless countdown, and arrived on orbit 8 ½ minutes later. The slight delay in launching Endeavour was due to the launch team needing a few minutes to resolve some minor technical issues before proceeding with the final portion of the countdown.
The STS-99 crew's first tasks were to set up Endeavour for dual shift, round-the-clock operations using a trio of radar systems mounted in the cargo bay for the most comprehensive three-dimensional map of the Earth ever attempted.
Once Endeavour’s payload bay doors are opened, the Red Team of Kregel, Kavandi and Thiele will begin to activate the Shuttle radar instruments, and will prepare for the deployment of a 200-foot long boom over the left wing of the orbiter on which two of the radar systems are housed. That boom deploy will begin about 5 ½ hours into the mission.
Kregel, Kavandi and Thiele will conduct a series of jet thruster firings once the boom is deployed to test its ability to flex properly and will set up recorders on board on which the radar data will be stored for downlink to mission scientists on the ground.
Meantime, the Blue Team of Gorie, Voss and Mohri will begin an abbreviated six hour sleep period at 3:44 p.m. They’ll be awakened at 9:44 p.m., soon after the radar boom has been checked out, to begin radar mapping operations late tonight.
Endeavour is orbiting the Earth in an orbit inclined 57 degrees to either side of the Equator for the radar mapping of around 80 per cent of the Earth’s surface. Endeavour is orbiting the planet every 90 minutes at an altitude of about 127 nautical miles.
The next STS-99 status report will be issued tonight after the radar boom mast is deployed.
- end -
|
<urn:uuid:6b0b9cde-f8b0-471a-8d9b-d51db7426735>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-99/STS-99-01.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.902701
| 493
| 2.703125
| 3
|
About The Charts and Nutrition Facts
- For accuracy, the calorie chart and fat chart are based on the biggest serving size available.
- These nutrition facts came directly from the USDA or manufacturer/restaurant.
- If you're using a calorie counter, remember that Fat, Carbs, and Protein calories are just close estimations based on the Atwater factors:
Fat: 9 cal/g Carb: 4 cal/g Protein: 4 cal/g
- Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Please remember this when using this information to make healthy food choices for your diet.
Calories - At this serving size there are 1079 Calories per serving. A closer look shows: 333 Calories from Fat, 276 Calories from Protein, and 468 Calories from Carbohydrate. If you're keeping track, a good calorie counter can make this easy -- see the software below.
Fat - The Total Fat grams for one serving is 37 grams. Of this, 14 grams are from Saturated Fat and unfortunately Trans Fat is unknown. The remaining 23 grams are unaccounted for.
Cholesterol - The amount of Cholesterol in one serving is 171 mg.
Carbohydrates - For this food, the total Carbohydrate count is 117 grams, which includes 2 grams of Sugar and 5 grams of Fiber. There are 112 Net Carbs per serving (total Carbs minus Fiber), which is good to know if you are watching your blood sugar or on a low carb diet.
Protein - For Protein, one serving of this food has a total of 69 grams.
Minerals - Both Calcium and Iron content for this food is unknown.There are 2957 mg of Sodium in this food.
Vitamins - Unfortunately we do not know the Vitamin A and C amounts. They were not listed for this food.
|
<urn:uuid:9a4b2245-d3fc-4ea0-9656-bedba27ec2f8>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://quitehealthy.com/nutrition-facts/big-apple-bagels/R232971.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.906256
| 378
| 2.8125
| 3
|
Posted by melissa on Friday, December 2, 2011 at 2:44pm.
Calculate the pH of each of the following solutions.
(a) 0.300 M propanoic acid (HC3H5O2, Ka = 1.3 10-5)
(b) 0.300 M sodium propanoate (NaC3H5O2)
(c) pure H2O
(d) 0.300 M HC3H5O2 and 0.300 M NaC3H5O2
- chemistry - DrBob222, Friday, December 2, 2011 at 6:27pm
a)Let HA = the weak acid, proanoic acid.
..............HA ==> H^+ + A^-
Ka = (H^+)(A^-)/(HA)
Substitute from the ICE chart and solve for x, then convert to pH.
This is a salt and the pH will be determined by the hydrolysis of the salt.
A^- + HOH ==> HA + OH^-
Set up an ICE chart similar to the one in (a) and solve for OH^-, then convert to pH.
(c) Pure water ionizes as
HOH => H^+ + OH^-
Set up an ICE chart and use
Kw = (H^+)(OH^-), solve for H^+ and convert to pH.
This is a buffered solution. Use the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.
Post your work if you get stuck.
Answer This Question
More Related Questions
- Chemistry - Calculate the pH after 0.011 mol NaOH is added to 1.00 L of each of ...
- Chemistry - Need help with AP chemistry, specifically Acids and Bases The acid ...
- Chemistry - What is the pH of a solution containing 0.10 M propanoic acid (...
- ap chemistry - For propanoic acid (HC3H5O2, Ka = 1.3 10-5), determine the ...
- Chemistry - What is the pH of a 1.00 L solution of the following buffer 0.500 M ...
- Mahts - The perimeter of a field is 300m and its length is 100m. What is its ...
- Chem - For a solution that is 0.280 M HC3H5O2 (propanoic acid Ka=1.3*10^-5) and ...
- Chemistry - Suppose 300.0 mL of 0.50 M HCl and 300.0 mL of 0.50 M NaOH, both ...
- Math (trigonometry) - From a boat on the water, the angle of elevation of the ...
- math - The out-of-pocket costs to an employee for dental insurance and dental ...
|
<urn:uuid:e38fa994-db6d-4006-acb7-b59978e14e6f>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1322855085
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.803076
| 595
| 3.015625
| 3
|
For A Silvery Calif. Fish, A Special Moonlit Night
Summertime is beach time in Southern California, even at night. Locals gather around bonfires, roast marshmallows and enjoy each other's company. On some very special nights, there's even sex — at least for the fish.
The grunion run happens only in the spring and summer months. Late at night, under the full and new moons, thousands of tiny, silvery fish swim to shore for a very peculiar mating ritual.
"The grunions are basically spawning tonight," says Larry Fukuhara, the program director at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. "The females are coming out," he says. They'll burrow backwards into the sand about 2 or 3 inches. Then the males will "wrap around" and fertilize the eggs, Fukuhara adds.
Grunion look a lot like sardines, just a little bigger. They're native only to Southern California and the upper Baja Peninsula. On this night, the tiny, silvery fish are expected around 10:30 p.m. There is no guarantee of a grunion sighting, but Fukuhara stays positive.
It's a romantic evening for everyone involved, but especially for the grunion. Once fertilized, the eggs will wash back out to sea and become baby grunion that will soon come back ashore, just like their parents did.
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium offers a special grunion program to teach kids and their parents about this summertime ritual. Once the lecture and educational filmstrip end, crowds of families march down to the beach to try to track down a few of the fish. Some aquarium staff stand by to assist with their curiosity.
Participants receive their instructions: As the wave recedes, look for anything wiggling in the wet sand.
Four young girls claim they have seen some grunion wiggling on the shore, and they have plans for any they catch. One suggests frying and eating them. Another warns not to keep them as pets — dogs might eat them.
A wave washes back into the ocean, and there is a dash from the sand into the water. Children and adults splash madly, scouring piles of seaweed and dark water with flashlights and lighted cellphones for any signs of the silvery fish — no doubt an intimidating crowd for any 3-inch creature, grunion included.
The crowd's bravery is challenged, as well. With every cold wave that washes up, there is a chorus of shrieks and a simultaneous race back to the sand, attempting to avoid the salty surge.
Many of the buckets brought from home for the big haul are empty, but Ryan Caruso proudly holds two squirmy creatures in his pail.
Lisa Cane brought her 4-, 8-, 10- and 12-year-old.
"We're in with the nature and learning and having fun," she says.
And it is fun for everyone, until it's time to go home.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And, finally this hour, to the beaches of Southern California for our series, Summer Nights. When the moon is new or full and the tide is high, thousands of locals line the shores to watch small, silvery fish as they have sex on the beach. The fish are grunion and the event is the Grunion Run. The audience marvels at the mating ritual and then there's a free-for-all. Grab all the slimy little fish you can.
NPR's Amy Walters sent us this post card from San Pedro.
AMY WALTERS, BYLINE: So, it's Friday night. I've had a long week of work, as I'm sure a lot of you guys have, and no better in Southern California to let off a little steam than to head to the beach, which is where I've arrived to see the world famous Grunion Run.
There are people everywhere, big bonfires.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 1: Later this evening about 10, 10:30, we'll all be going out to the beach together.
LARRY FUKUHARA: I'm Larry Fukuhara and I'm the program director here at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 1: On certain nights, (unintelligible) sandy California beaches are the scene of a spectacular display.
FUKUHARA: The grunions are basically spawning tonight. The females will come out and what they're going to be doing is burrow backwards into the sand about two to three inches. The male or males will wrap around and what they'll do is fertilize the eggs.
WALTERS: A romantic evening.
FUKUHARA: Oh, yes, yes. I'm glad you're here.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 1: Now, kids, please ask your parents what fertilization means. OK? Do that on the drive home. They'll love it.
FUKUHARA: Then, afterwards, we're going to go out to the beach with the rest of the people and, hopefully, see grunion.
WALTERS: What do you think? Are our odds good tonight?
FUKUHARA: Always good. We're always positive. Heck, yeah. Yeah. We're going to see grunion.
ANTHONY: Fish, 10, 20, 30, 100.
WALTERS: What's your name?
ANTHONY: Anthony (unintelligible).
WALTERS: And I heard that you are 10 years old. Is that right?
ANTHONY: Nine (unintelligible).
WALTERS: OK. So should we go see if there's going to be fish out there?
(SOUNDBITE OF WAVES)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 1: OK, folks, so what we're going to do is we're watching (unintelligible) wave recede, as it goes out, it leaves shiny, shimmery, wet sand and what you want to do is look for anything wiggling in that wet sand area. We're starting to get a couple reports that there's a couple fish here and there. Looks like we have a couple over to our left.
WALTERS: How long do we have to wait? Do you guys see any?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: Yeah. They were silver and they were wiggling.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 1: Sometimes, if you look in the waves, you can see them. As the wave curls up, you can see them in the waves.
WALTERS: What are you going to do with them once you catch them?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: You bring them home and fry them and eat them. You can't have them like pets. If you have dogs, your dogs are going to eat them.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN 2: Or we could fry them right there in the fire.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: Yeah. Or maybe in our house when we get there.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 1: Have fun.
(SOUNDBITE OF CROWD)
WALTERS: I do think the most self-respecting grunion might be scared away by this tremendous Friday night crowd.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHILDREN SHRIEKING)
WALTERS: Rest assured, that was not a grunion attack. That was merely a small wave. Did you get one?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: I got two. When it first came in, I got one and then, right here, I got one.
WALTERS: Are you going to name it?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: Oh, mine fell.
WALTERS: Oh, (unintelligible) flipping around. (Unintelligible).
(SOUNDBITE OF CHILDREN SHRIEKING)
LISA CANE: I have a four-year-old, a eight-year-old, 10-year-old and a 12-year-old.
WALTERS: Tell me your name.
CANE: Lisa Cane(ph). You know, we're in with the nature and learning and having fun.
WALTERS: So there's still some campfires burning. Still lots of folks in the water, but I've had a long week and it's Friday night and I'm headed home. How many s'mores did you eat?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: Three.
BLOCK: That's NPR's Amy Walters enjoying the Grunion Run at the Cabrillo Aquarium in San Pedro, California. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
|
<urn:uuid:0ecccab5-cb62-48ce-844a-1698b2b160a4>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://wdiy.org/post/silvery-calif-fish-special-moonlit-night
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.949565
| 1,852
| 2.8125
| 3
|
Large Asteroid Zooms Safely Past Earth
A mountain-sized asteroid made its closest approach to
Earth at 9:35 a.m. Eastern Time
on Wednesday, Sept. 29.
Image above: This graphic illustrates the path of Toutatis with respect to Earth. Image courtesy: NASA/JPL.
Click for videos:
+ Toutatis overview
+ Animation of Toutatis' orbit
+ Computer model of Toutatis: .avi or .mov
Although asteroid 4179 Toutatis came no closer than
four times the distance between Earth and the Moon
(approximately 1.5 million kilometers or 961,000 miles),
this is the closest approach of any known asteroid of
comparable size this century.
"This is the closest Toutatis will come for another 500
years, and its orbit is very well known," said Dr. Don
Yeomans of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif., manager of NASA's Near Earth Objects Program Office.
"What this fly-by provides is an opportunity to study one of
our closest solar system neighbors."
"While we have done radar observations on this particular
asteroid before, this is the closest it has come since at
least the twelfth century," said Dr. Steve Ostro, a
at JPL. "We will use the huge dish in Arecibo, Puerto Rico,
to refine our knowledge of its physical characteristics and
Image above: An artist's concept of Toutatis. Image courtesy: NASA/JPL.
Named after an obscure Celtic and Gallic god, Toutatis is a
yam-shaped space rock that measures 1.92 kilometers (1.2
miles) by 2.29 kilometers (1.4 miles) by 4.6 kilometers (2.9
miles). Toutatis has one of the strangest rotation states
observed in the solar system. Instead of spinning around a
single axis, as do the planets and the vast majority of
asteroids, it "tumbles" somewhat like a football after a
botched pass. Its rotation is the result of two different
types of motion with periods of 5.4 and 7.3 Earth days,
which combine in such a way that Toutatis's orientation,
with respect to the solar system, never repeats.
When the asteroid flew past Earth, it was traveling at
approximately 39,600 kilometers per hour (24,550 miles per
hour). Toutatis will not be this close again until 2562.
It was discovered in 1989.
For more information about near Earth objects on the
Internet, visit http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/
D.C. Agle (818) 393-9011
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Gretchen Cook-Anderson (202) 358-0836
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
|
<urn:uuid:1f076ccb-85ee-4920-8c24-cb76bc0e9b6c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/toutatis-092804.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.855392
| 618
| 3.53125
| 4
|
CRAIGAVON, South Africa — At first glance, Craigavon’s streets look just like those of any other leafy suburb in Johannesburg.
But a trained eye might notice that this neighborhood’s trees are indigenous specimens swarming with insects, that one in five is a gum-secreting acacia karoo and that — most crucial of all — there is no more than a five-yard gap between them.
The reason for the careful layout of Craigavon’s trees is simple: They were planted for the sole enjoyment (and survival) of the suburb’s most elusive residents — bush babies.
Lesser bush babies (also known by the scientific name galago maholi) are one of the world's smallest primates, measuring about 7 to 8 inches and weighing from 5 to 10 ounces, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. They are very vocal, making noises that sound like a baby crying. They are nimble, fast and can leap 20 feet.
The diminutive, nocturnal primates with oversized eyes used to roam freely over vast swaths of Johannesburg, but rapid and often disorganized urbanization has wreaked havoc on their habitat.
The country’s economically and culturally diverse population poses multiple threats to their environment. First, trees in areas designated for the building of sprawling estates and modern developments are systematically chopped down, thereby depriving the bush babies of their food source and sleeping quarters.
Beyond habitat worries, poor residents of Johannesburg’s many squatter camps hunt the animals to sell them as pets. They also harvest their body parts for traditional medicine or simply eat them. They also cut down the bush babies’ trees of choice, as they make for better firewood.
“They can jump quite a big distance and they can jump between two acacia trees that are quite far apart, but there is a limit to how far they can move and if you remove enough of the trees you just destroy their ability to move around their habitat,” said Judith Masters, a zoology professor at the University of Fort Hare.
But all is not bleak for the bush babies.
Craigavon is home to the last sustainable population of lesser bush babies in Johannesburg, and some of the suburb’s residents are determined to make their neighborhood a safe haven for the primates. They plant row after row of indigenous trees, including acacias whose high-sugar gum is one the bush babies’ favorite food sources in winter when insects are hard to come by. The conservationists also put up nests and install ropes when the distance between trees is too great for the animals to leap.
The bush baby protectors also use a two-sided strategy to educate and harass local builders to ensure their projects have only a minimal impact on the bush babies’ environment.
“I’d just really like to try to get developers to be more environmentally sensitive and aware,” said Paula Combrink, a longtime Craigavon resident and a member of Bushbaby SOS, a local organization dedicated to saving the area’s bush babies.
Some agree to preserve their property’s existing trees, but many don't. The developers’ first task is often to remove all the trees from a lot, even if the building phase could wait months or years to start. Surveying one such treeless plot this week, Combrink lamented that bush babies “could have been living here quite happily for a good two-three breeding seasons,” had they not cut the trees right away.
With development comes cars, pets and children. For bush babies, that often means road kill, cat bites and toy gun wounds. Those who survive this onslaught often find their way north to Pretoria, where Marti Scholtz-Koen has set up a rehabilitation center. Scholtz-Koen started taking in a few injured and distressed bush babies nine years ago as people figured her experience handling exotic monkeys would translate to bush babies.
Besides her backyard, the rescue operation now includes several game reserves and release sites, and she treats up to 50 bush babies a year, an increase she blames on major residential developments and road projects.
The work is very demanding, as it may take months or even years before a bush baby is ready for release, but the end result makes it all worth it for Scholtz-Koen.
“It’s very fulfilling to get one eventually released because the main idea about the whole situation is to release them,” she said.
Nicci Wright, who manages the FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in northern Johannesburg, regularly takes in bush babies, along with jackals, otters, owls and antelopes, all victims of man’s malicious or inconsiderate behavior. Wright does outreach toward children and developers alike, but doubts her caseload is set to decline.
“Sometimes you do think, ‘God, what difference are you actually making?,’ but we’re making a huge difference to the animals that do come through here obviously,” she said.
Northern South Africa is the tail end of the lesser bush baby’s habitat, which makes the fragmentation of its population more likely. New development exacerbates the phenomenon, leaving isolated groups prone to inbreeding and eventually dying out, zoology professor Masters said.
“They eat insects. It’s a really good thing,” she said. “They’re not much of a nuisance to anybody, and the only thing that they can do is good.”
More GlobalPost dispatches by Nicolas Brulliard:
|
<urn:uuid:4c06ccb9-154b-49cb-afa9-9d5d66f12505>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-africa/090312/bush-babies-struggle-south-africas-urban-jungle
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00085-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958596
| 1,171
| 3.4375
| 3
|
Birds evolved during the Mesozoic, during the various “Ages” of the dinosaurs, as a subset of those dinosaurs. Many researchers believe that these early birds were different from their then very close dinosaur cousins because of their flight adaptations, and some have linked this idea to flight-based or tree- based foraging.
Today, most birds fly (counting by species) and their flight is linked to their primary dietary adaptation. Some birds actually feed on the wing, while others fly to food sites and once there do not locomote very much. Other birds forage on the ground habitually. The difference between these two kinds of birds should be evident in the morphology of their feet.
If you examine bird feet today and can successfully characterize these feet in a way that links reliably to mode of foraging, then you should be able to look at Mesozoic bird (and dinosaur) feet and say something about how they foraged. In this way, you can test the hypothesis that early birds were flight- and tree-foragers rather than foot-foragers. A paper in Current Biology does this.
The first thing the researchers had to do was to deconstruct commonly held conceptions of bird locomotion and positional behavior. In other words, they noticed that the way we characterize birds … as “ground-dweller” vs “percher” vs “climber” … requires “summarisation of potentially disparate aspects of behaviour and morphology … with emphasis on the ‘ability/inability’ to perch. However, many ‘perchers’ visit the ground and some ‘ground-dwellers’ can perch.”
The authors re-categorized the birds into groups that were both finer than those normally used, and based on a better set of observations of bird behavior, focusing not on how birds cling (or fail to cling) to various arboreal surfaces, but rather, how they use their feet to forage.
They then measured “claw angle” .. the angle between key physical landmarks on the third toe … which they believe varies in relation to mode of foraging. These data separated out by category of foraging very nicely:
To someone who studies the relationship between morphology and behavioral adaptations, this graph is a real wet dream. One wonders if they made up the data. But they didn’t.
The top part of this graph shows the claw angle (Y-axis) increasing from left to right across the foraging categories into which the authors placed the birds. Ground foraging birds are on the left, others towards the right. This is done for two phylogenetically distinct groups of birds and shows the same pattern for both of these large taxa.
This is very nice work. In and of itself this morphological pattern is an important contribution. But there is more.
The lower right part of the graph shows the claw angle measurements for Mesozoic genera. They appear to be mostly ground foragers. The horizontal line in this graph is the cutoff point that seems to work for living birds (lower than 100 degrees = ground forager, higher = varying degrees of tree foraging). One Mesozoic specimen is above this line, which does not mean much … it could be an outlier.
In other words, it is reasonable to conclude that ground foraging was the predominant behavior among the Mesozoic birds.
In particular the hypothesis that Mesozoic bird evolution involved flight-and tree based foraging is not supported by this analysis. This forces evolutionary biologists to change their thinking about early bird evolution. Science marches on.
GLENN, CHRISTOPHER L. BENNETT, MICHAEL B.(2007): Foraging modes of Mesozoic birds and non-avian theropods. Current Biology, 17, R911-R912.
|
<urn:uuid:7c776ffd-729f-4ec5-ac68-c9b9cdc7ef5d>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/11/16/birds-evolved-during-the-mesoz/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961007
| 800
| 3.75
| 4
|
The Wind-up Sailboat is a small toy boat that can move around in water.
- A child simply needs to wind the small knob on the side of the boat in order to make the rudder spin. The spinning rudder will make the boat move forward when placed in water. Airflow against the sail will contribute to the steering of the vessel.
- The Wind-up Sailboat displays basic principles that involve vectors and the effects of these different forces on the direction of an object. Ages: 4-8.
- The boat will be made almost entirely from plastic (with small metal peices for the inner mechanical workings), and fabric for the sail. Estimated cost: $8.00.
Carnegie Mellon University
January 26, 2010
Toy concept 1 | Toy concept 2
|
<urn:uuid:8a2418c4-7493-4385-b263-9bac4d6a599f>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/students/zps/Project1/concept3.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.887655
| 162
| 3.515625
| 4
|
In Season Fruit And Vegetable Guide
There's a lot to be said for eating fresh produce while it’s in season. It's typically less expensive and more nutritionally rich. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are more likely to have been grown locally too, which means a smaller carbon footprint is left behind after delivering them to your table. This is good news for the environment as well as for your local and regional economy.
To take advantage of seasonal produce options, it really pays to develop a taste for lots of different varieties of fruits and vegetables. You'll probably find luscious peaches in June or watermelons in August, but in October, being able to switch from strawberries to apples or from zucchini to acorn squash will make it easier to set a varied table and take advantage of the benefits each season has to offer.
Spring season fruits and veggies are usually the first out of the ground after the last bout of harsh winter weather. They're often fragile because whole crops can be lost to a late frost. Although you may start getting excited over huge, early strawberries, they aren't the only fruits to consider. Why not try:
If you do opt for strawberries, wait until later in spring, you'll be able to take advantage of a large harvest and save money at the market. Here's another strawberry tip: Pass on the jumbo varieties and look for smaller, bright red strawberries with red (not white) shoulders and deep green caps. They'll be the sweetest berries for your money.
When it comes to spring vegetables, nothing beats those first asparagus spears. They're often a bargain, too. Don't be fooled into spending more for the white varieties. They're just regular asparagus grown under a cover of mulch to keep the light out. They taste much the same as green asparagus. Like strawberries, asparagus is a spring favorite that gets more attention than some other great choices. Try these spring vegetables to round out your table. They're tasty when steamed or in stir fry. A few make lively additions to a spring salad or homemade soup, too.
- Collard greens
- English peas
- Green beans
- Morel mushrooms
- Mustard greens
- Snow peas
- Baby lettuce
- Sweet corn
- Sweet onion (like Vidalia onions)
- Sugar snap peas
- Swiss chard
As summer begins to unfold, you'll begin to see the full bounty available in the produce department. This is by far the most productive time for fruits and vegetables. You probably look forward to the latest crop of vine ripened tomatoes, but do take the time to explore some of the berry offerings in the market this summer season. The dye that makes them that rich red or purple color also contains antioxidant compounds that contribute to hearth health and may boost brain function. Specialty berries, like blackberries and fresh raspberries, are becoming more abundant, so the prices for mixed berries are typically in line with more common summer fruits like nectarines, apricots and cherries. Beyond being good for you, berries are delicious for breakfast, in salads and eaten as simple snacks.
Look for these popular summer produce items too:
- Bell peppers
- Green beans
- Hot peppers
- Lima beans
- Sweet corn
- Summer squash
- Zucchini squash
- Crenshaw melon
- Honeydew melons
- Persian Melons
We love the idea of being able to rummage through the produce department to find the right snack item, but fruits can get pricey, even during the summer. One good rule of thumb is that most fruits will drop in price during harvest time for that particular variety. That's the time when they're most abundant. For the best value, watch the grocery store adds in your weekly paper. The best time to buy those figs or honeydew melons may only last a week or two.
You'll start to see a change in the look of your local produce department in early fall. The bright colors of summer fruit will begin to give way to russets and deep oranges in potatoes, pumpkins and persimmons. This is harvest time for late summer crops and early root vegetables. It's a good time to take a look at your cooking references for hearty stew and soup recipes. You're likely to find sturdy leafy greens like kale on sale with other cabbage family vegetables like Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Look for these vegetables as well:
- Acorn squash
- Bok choy
- Brussels sprouts
- Butternut squash
- Button Mushrooms
- Sweet potatoes
- Swish chard
- Winter squash
Although there are fewer fruit options, fall is apple and pear season. There are lots of reasonably priced varieties available, too. If you're into canning or want to learn, this is a great time to buy a bushel of apples and make apple butter. For instructions on how to can fruits and vegetables, see How To Can Fruits & Vegetables. You'll find these fruits in abundance during autumn:
If you live in an area that experiences a hard frost and harsh winter weather, most of the fruits and vegetables you'll see on grocery store shelves will be either imported or grown in large commercial greenhouses. This means they're more expensive than most seasonal produce . . . with one big exception. Around the Christmas holidays, you'll begin to see the price for produce items like green beans, yams, asparagus, lettuce, parsley and other holiday favorites start to drop.
Historically, high demand for these fruits and vegetables, even though they are more expensive to produce and bring to market, drives the price down. Grocery outlets also use them as loss leader items, keeping the prices low to entice customers into the store to buy other grocery items, too. If you watch the ads, you can buy green beans at a big discount for your traditional green bean casserole. Take advantage of the limited bounty by purchasing in large quantities and freezing prepared recipes. You'll save and also make mealtime a little easier for a month or so.
Even though winter is the least likely time to find abundant and varied produce offerings at the market, there are still some old standbys that are reasonably priced throughout the winter months. Be on the lookout for these winter produce items:
- Brussels Sprouts
- Sweet Potatoes
- Winter Squash
Great Deals and Fresh Food Favorites
Although fruits and vegetables are typically seasonal for a specific region, you can find many seasonal items in your market all year long. When they're imported fresh, you pay a premium for them, but when they're flash-frozen, you may be able to get them at a bargain price. Frozen foods have come a long way in the last 30 years. Today, a fresh frozen vegetable will retain up to 90 percent of its nutritional value through the freezing process. If defrosted and consumed within a couple of weeks of purchase, those peas or baby carrots will taste almost as good as their fresh counterparts, retain many of their vitamins and be available at discounts of up to 20 percent. Watch the ads. Frozen foods need to be rotated off of grocery shelves regularly. That means you may have an opportunity to save big when you buy bargain frozen vegetables. The only thing wrong with frozen produce is the assumption that it's inferior to fresh options.
While you're looking around the store, stop a moment on your juice aisle, too. Many juices your kids will think are sweet fruits are actually fortified with vitamins and minerals and created using a vegetable base. If you can't encourage your children to eat healthy, supplement their diets with some sneaky vegetables parading around as fruity drinks. You don't have to do it all the time, but knowing the option is out there will make meal planning a little easier at your house.
|
<urn:uuid:91f69fd1-fb9a-4db5-bd2e-43346556d331>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.idealhomegarden.com/recipes/in-season-fruit-vegetable-guide/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00195-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.934874
| 1,619
| 2.828125
| 3
|
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Translation into Mathematical Expressions 572 Views
Rigging your friend's scale so it looks like she's shedding the pounds: being a good friend, or being a total creeper? Translate a word problem into mathematical expressions and find out for yourself. (Our take: don't try this on any of your friends at home.)
ACT Math: Pre-Algebra Drill 2, Problem 3. Which of the following numbers is smallest?
ACT Math: Pre-Algebra Drill 2, Problem 4. Which of the following numbers is largest?
SAT Math: Algebra and Functions Drill 1, Problem 2
What do poetry and basic operations have in common? Watch this video to find out.
SAT Math 2.2 Numbers and Operations
|
<urn:uuid:f69a1a1f-b349-4415-a7e6-ad027776636b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.shmoop.com/video/translation-into-mathematical-expressions/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.87843
| 176
| 3.734375
| 4
|
The Trinity Test Legacy And The Birth Of The Atomic Bomb
KUNM Call In Show Thur. 7/31 8 a.m.
July marked the 69th anniversary of the world's first detonation of an atomic bomb, in New Mexico. And on Monday, “Manhattan,” a fictional show about the scientists who made the bomb, premiered on WGN America.
We’ll be talking about this moment in U.S. history with an eye on how it affected New Mexicans. Did you know there were people living nearby when the Trinity test took place? What are the long-term effects of the Trinity test? What does it mean to us today that the first atomic bomb was detonated right here in our home state?
We’d love to hear from you! Email: firstname.lastname@example.org, post your comments online, or call in live during the show.
• Tina Cordova, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium
• Heather McClenahan, Los Alamos Historical Society
The Trinity Test—History Channel
The First Nuclear Test in New Mexico—American Experience
On the Neutron Trail—Olivia Fermi
|
<urn:uuid:22de6552-a634-4c26-9863-3ed0439f0492>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://kunm.org/post/trinity-test-legacy-and-birth-atomic-bomb
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00011-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.900238
| 246
| 2.890625
| 3
|
In early March of 1945 the 9th Armored Division of the U.S. First Army was lucky enough to capture the last intact bridge spanning the Rhine at Remagen (which collapsed ten days later, after a substation bridgehead had been made). Meanwhile, after the completion of the Battle in the Ardennes, General Patton turned his Third Army to the south and east, driving towards the last natural obstacle between the Allies and the heart of Germany. As all other road and rail bridges across the Rhine had been destroyed by retreating German forces, it became apparent that the rest of the US Army units would have to cross using their own resources. The first river assault by the Third Army was made on March 22, 1945 near the town of Oppenheim by the 5th Infantry Division who crossed on assault rafts. The Third Army also successfully assaulted the Rhine at three other locations: Boppard, St. Goar and Mainz. The pontoon treadway bridge pictured here was completed on March 29th, 1945 at Mainz.
Near the pontoon treadway bridge pictured here were the remains of the bridge spanning the Rhine River in Mainz. Then known as the Strassenbrücke, it was destroyed by the Germans on March 17, 1945 to slow the advance of the Allied forces. The bridge was originally completed in 1885 and widened in 1933. Its reconstruction was completed in 1950 and later named for German statesman Theodor Heuss.
|
<urn:uuid:f5b3c28a-34e6-4e07-923b-18210319e682>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.lostimagesofww2.com/photos/places/mainz.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.986198
| 298
| 3.5
| 4
|
A clear majority of Americans now oppose hydraulic fracturing, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center. And while most voters still support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, support is slipping there as well.
Hydraulic fracturing — colloquially known as “fracking” — is a process for extracting oil or natural gas from shale formations, in which a mix of water and various chemicals is pumped under intense pressure into the well after it’s been drilled. This fractures the rock, allowing the oil or gas to flow to the surface. Development of the process over the last decade or so has lead to a boom in North American fossil fuel production, but it’s also come along with a host of problems — studies suggest at least ten percent of the chemicals used in the fracturing fluid are toxic, posing a threat to drinking water; people who live near fracking wells are more likely to become sick thanks to the pollution; methane leaks from the industry exacerbate global warming; and the process may even trigger earthquakes.
According to Pew, support for fracking stood at 48 percent in March of 2013, versus 38 percent opposition. But as of November 2014, Americans have flipped their position: 41 percent now favor the process while 47 percent oppose it. And while support fell across all demographic groups, the biggest drops — all 10 percentage points or more — occurred among women, voters under age 49, those with some college education, Midwesterners, and independent voters. Women already opposed the fossil fuel extraction process by one percentage point in March of 2013, but for every other one of those groups, the change flipped them from decisive approval to decisive opposition.
At the same time, the partisanship around fracking remains strong: Republicans support it by 62 percent, while Democrats oppose it by 59 percent.
Pew also inquired into Americans support for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring crude oil from Canada’s tar sands south to the Gulf of Mexico for transport. While the public still favors the project by 59 percent to 31 percent, those positive numbers have slipped significantly, from 66 percent favoring the pipeline back in March 2013. The drop was especially dramatic for Independent voters, among whom support fell from 70 percent to 58 percent over that time period. Support among Democratic voters dropped nearly as much, from 54 percent to 43 percent. In fact, slightly more Democrats now reject the pipeline than favor it.
Meanwhile, the partisan gap over the issue increased slightly, as Republican support ticked up from 82 percent to 83 percent.
Opponents of the pipeline point out that the crude oil from the tar sands is unusually dirty and, if burned, would massively contribute to global warming. It would also pose a threat of spills and damage to wildlife. Supporters of the project hold it up as a jobs booster, though the amount of permanent jobs the pipeline would create is a tiny blip in comparison to the country’s needs.
Because it crosses international boundaries, the State Department must ultimately decide wether to give the pipeline a green light or not. The controversy has left that decision mired in delays, and the State Department itself has been widely criticized for low-balling the problems with the pipeline in it’s assessments.
With their newfound control over both chambers of Congress, Republicans are pushing for a vote to approve construction of Keystone XL as soon as possible. But hints are coming from the White House that President Obama would veto such a move.
|
<urn:uuid:0bec2154-60a2-4c11-8cde-ab2a7362eb1e>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/13/3591891/pew-poll-voters-oppose-fracking/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00094-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962015
| 698
| 2.859375
| 3
|
Like most children of her class in the 18th century colonial south, Martha Wayles (Jefferson) didn’t go to school, but was, rather, “home schooled” by governesses, tutors, and members of the family. Furthermore, she was raised with only the knowledge and skills that were thought necessary for her future as the wife of a plantation owner—household management, entertaining, music, needlework, and some accounting skills.
Students who participate in this lesson will gain an understanding of the education of children in the colonial period, particularly the education of upper class girls in the colonial south. They will weigh this education with the later responsibilities that Martha Wayles Jefferson had to undertake, and consider, in writing, the probable “fit” between her education and her later life.
Access to the Internet; access to biographies of Martha Jefferson, both online and in print; paper and pen or pencil, or typewriter or word processor.
1. Introduce the lesson with a discussion of the relation of education to life’s work today. How does one become “prepared” for a job, or a career, or a profession? Imagine if one had to depend upon one’s relatives, or perhaps a tutor, for one’s education. How might that be?
2. Then, have students explore the websites below, as well as any print biographies of Martha Jefferson, particularly in her role as the wife of an up and coming politician, looking for documentation of the kind of education she had – including what was appropriate for girls of her social class in the colonial south – and taking notes on their findings.
3. Discuss with students the nature of the education of upper class girls in the 18th century, and how it differed from the education of girls today.
4. Then, ask students to read at least one biography of Martha Jefferson, and write a short paper linking her education to the responsibilities of her later life. Was there a good “fit” between the two? In what ways? Would she have been better prepared if she had had advanced schooling? Or, did her education serve her well? Students should clearly state their ideas on these questions, and back them up with information from their research.
Extending the Lesson:
This lesson could be extended by also doing the lesson on the Education of Abigail Adams, another First Lady educated in the 18th century colonies.
Sources & Resources:
Anthony, Carl Sferrazza. First Ladies: the Saga of the Presidents’ Wives and Their Power, 1789-1900 (2 vols., 1990, 1991). New York: William Morrow, 1991.
Education in Colonial America
Women and Education in 18th Century Virginia
Dame Schools in Colonial America
American Needlework in the 18th Century
This lesson was developed by Averil McClelland, Kent State University.
|
<urn:uuid:79a913ba-6144-4592-9261-60dde93fb863>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.firstladies.org/curriculum/curriculum.aspx?Curriculum=985
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00137-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.968983
| 608
| 3.8125
| 4
|
Men with high cholesterol may be 3 times more likely to suffer a heart attack than women with high cholesterol, a recent Norwegian study found.
Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analyzed blood test results and health information for 23,525 women and 20,725 men 60 years and younger, looking for differences in dyslipidemia and heart attack risk. The findings were published in the September 2013 issue of Epidemiology
After 12 years of follow-up, over 500 men suffered a heart attack, compared with just 157 women. The results indicated that men with high cholesterol were significantly more likely to have a heart attack than women with high cholesterol. The proportion of heart attack cases that could be attributed to this increased risk among men was 0.46 for high total serum cholesterol, 0.23 for low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and 0.52 for high non-HDL cholesterol. Obesity and hypertension, however, were shown to have similar risks for heart attack in both men and women.
The authors of the study suggest that female sex hormones may protect women against heart attacks, despite a high cholesterol level. They note that currently, clinical guidelines for treating high cholesterol do not distinguish between men and women, but that preventing dyslipidemia in men may prevent more heart attacks.
|
<urn:uuid:3f21b6fe-f492-458a-a750-e6e44574d947>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2013/October2013/High-Cholesterol-Causes-More-Heart-Attacks-in-Men-Than-in-Women
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.952289
| 264
| 2.90625
| 3
|
The Stilt Sandpiper, Micropalama himantopus or Calidris himantopus, is a small shorebird. The Stilt Sandpiper breeds in the open arctic tundra of North America It is a very long-distance migrant, wintering mainly in South America. It occurs as a rare vagrant to western Europe.This species nests on the ground, laying three or four eggs. The male has a display flight. Outside the breeding season, this bird is normally found on inland waters, rather than open coasts.
|
<urn:uuid:e9fb19bf-6cbe-4fe0-9cda-cc8a9e6febd6>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/73800/73817/73817_sandpiper.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.917104
| 112
| 2.65625
| 3
|
Outstanding science writer and co-founder of German Rocket Society.
Willy Ley was a prolific writer and lecturer on scientific subjects. He was one of the earliest proponents of a manned flight to the Moon. Unfortunately, died less than one month before seeing his life-long dream become a reality.
Ley was born in Berlin, Germany on October 2, 1906, and received a degree in journalism from the University of Koenigsberg. Originally interested in paleontology, he became fascinated with space travel after reading Hermann Oberth's pioneering books on the subject. In 1926, Ley published his first book, Die Fahrt ins Weltall (The Journey into Space) . The next year he helped found the German VfR (Society for Spaceship Travel). Over the next several years he published several books promoting spaceflight while also editing the VfR's journal, Die Rakete (The Rocket) . When Wernher Von Braun joined the club in 1931 his first rocket tutor was Willy Ley.
In 1928, Ley wrote Die Möglichkeit der Weltraumfahrt (The Possibility of Interplanetary Travel) . It was the inspiration behind the influential German film, and book, Die Frau im Mond, ( The Woman in the Moon) . With the rise of Hitler's Nazi regime in 1932, and the collapse of the VfR in 1934, Ley left Germany in 1935. He came to the United States under the auspices of the American Rocket Society, and became a U.S. citizen in 1944. His literary works on astronautics and astro-history that he would write in America are considered classics in their field.
Ley immediately joined the American Rocket Society, experimenting with rockets from 1936 on. He soon discovered that, compared to the situation in Germany, public enthusiasm over the possibility of manned rocket flight in the U.S. was seriously lacking. He therefore wrote articles and books publicizing the practicality of manned spaceflight in the relatively near future. In 1944, Ley published Rockets: the Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere, expressing his belief that rockets would soon be able to carry humans into space, perhaps even to the Moon. This was one of the earliest books on rocketry for the general American public, and served as a basic reference source for future science fiction and reality writing. It was re-issued as Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space in 1968. Ley's most influential work however, was the best-selling The Conquest of Space, published in 1949 with lavish illustrations by Chesley Bonestell.
Willy Ley's text for The Conquest of Space opened the doors of many minds to the idea that mankind was truly capable of leaving the earth behind. He was one of several specialists, including Wernher von Braun and Fred Whipple, who contributed articles to an edition of Collier's magazine entitled "Man Will Conquer Space Soon." Ley also served as technical advisor for the Tom Corbett Space Cadet television series in the early 1950s and Walt Disney's Tomorrowland television series. Willy Ley died in Queens, New York on June 24, 1969, less than a month before the Apollo 11 lunar landing. Ley Crater on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.
Willy Ley quotes:
"Why should we try for space travel? It cannot be a substance of any kind that can be expected to pay. It can only be something intangible, not involving haulage, which is at the same time more valuable. There is something like that: Knowledge."
"The study of an idea is, of necessity, the story of many things. Ideas, like large rivers, never have just one source. Just as the water of a river near its mouth, in its final form, is composed largely of many tributaries, so an idea, in its final form, is composed largely of later additions."
"The point to remember is that a giant leap into space can be a giant leap toward peace down below."
|
<urn:uuid:ad4df3ce-a65c-4f12-9f70-ed24181851b9>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=18
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00085-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970979
| 824
| 3.3125
| 3
|
- Historic Sites
Chopin Called Him “The King Of Pianists”
But was Louis Moreau Gottschalk America’s first musical genius or simply the purveyor of sentimental claptrap?
December 1982 | Volume 34, Issue 1
Gottschalk must have known he was often just going through the motions, and we can only guess what emotional price he had to pay for that self-knowledge. We may assess part of that price by the curious West Indian interlude in his career. In 1856 he began a long association with Salvatore Patti and his daughter, Adelina, who was to become one of the greatest divas in operatic history. They concertized throughout the Caribbean. For a while it was an exciting time. Gottschalk explored the possibilities of Cuban music with a huge ensemble from Havana’s Grand Tacon Theater. “My orchestra,” he wrote, “consists of six hundred and fifty performers, eighty-seven choristers, fifteen solo singers, fifty drums and eighty trumpets—that is to say nearly nine hundred persons bellowing and blowing to see who could scream the loudest.”
During this period he wrote some of his finest piano music and his first symphony, A Night in the Tropics , a glorious orchestral work in which traditional symphonic music abandons itself to the syncopation of habanera rhythms.
Gottschalk spent most of this time roaming about the Antilles, “indolently permitting myself to be carried away by chance… giving a concert whenever the night overtook me. ” As often as not, Gottschalk’s audience was a lone, half-mad mulatto who thought himself to be the Pope’s brother.
The mists began to clear, possibly because he was running short of cash, and he began to pick up the threads of a concertizing career in Havana when word came from the United States about the outbreak of the Civil War. A Southerner by birth and social inclination, Gottschalk nonetheless detested the institution of slavery and was a staunch Unionist. He swore an oath of allegiance to the Federal government and hurried back to New York. He arrived in February 1862, full of self-reproach for his Latin sojourn; “years foolishly spent, thrown to the wind, as if life were infinite, and youth eternal.”
He became the foremost musician associated with the North. His heroic piano composition “L’Union,” a paraphrase of national tunes dedicated to Gen. George McClellan, Commander of the Army of the Potomac, was accepted as an anthem of the Federal cause. Part of the mythology surrounding Gottschalk during this period was that he frequently appeared on the battlefield to play for the Union troops. There is no evidence to indicate he actually sought out a killing ground as a concert stage, but his openhearted support for the Union was well appreciated. President Lincoln, not a notably music-minded statesman—he once listened to a prodigy playing a number of serious pieces at a White House recital and finally asked if the child would mind playing “Listen to the Mocking Bird”—was persuaded to appear at a Gottschalk performance of “L’Union.” Gottschalk was mortified because he felt he had played badly before his beloved President, but it is unlikely Lincoln would have known one way or the other.
Gottschalk resumed concertizing at a furious rate. When, before, he had given two concerts in a day, he now, thanks to knowledge of train schedules worthy of a dispatcher, was sometimes able to manage three.
The Northern states were not suited to his warm temperament—“when I see snow, I see death”—but he pushed himself ruthlessly. Musically, it was not a happy time for him. He wrote almost nothing of any interest during the war years, and the unremitting grind of his concert schedule as he entrained from one small town to the next, always repeating the same program of minor Gottschalk showpieces wherever he went, became a dreadful burden. “I have become stupid with it,” he wrote in his diary. “I have the appearance of an automaton under the influence of a voltaic pile. My fingers move on the keyboard with feverish heat, and for the moment it is not possible for me to hear the music, without experiencing something of the sensation of that hero of Alexander Dumas fils , condemned for one month to eat nothing but pigeon. The sight of a piano sets my hair on end like the victim in the presence of the wheel on which he is about to be tortured.”
|
<urn:uuid:bc508ab2-c8c1-46b2-8211-c31ce83ecf44>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.americanheritage.com/content/chopin-called-him%E2%80%9C-king-pianists%E2%80%9D?page=5
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.980695
| 1,000
| 2.734375
| 3
|
The Conficker Internet worm could strike at infected computers around the world on April 1, a security expert warned Monday.
Conficker is a sophisticated piece of malicious computer software, or malware, that installs itself on a Windows PC's hard drive via specially written Web pages. It then conceals itself on a computer.
Graham Cluley of the British security firm Sophos confirmed that Conficker is programmed "to hunt for new instructions on April 1."
However, he added, "This does not mean that anything is going to happen, or that the worm is actually going to do anything. Simply, it is scheduled to hunt a wider range of Web sites for instructions on that date."
One strange thing about Conficker is that no one yet has any idea what it is programmed to do.
In February, Cluley told The Times: "It's as if someone is assembling an army of computers around the world, but hasn't yet decided where to point them."
A worst-case scenario for April 1 would be for all the world's millions of infected computers to receive simultaneous instructions to attack, or to flood the Internet with spam e-mail.
Ed Gibson, Microsoft's chief security adviser for the U.K., was reluctant to make predictions about Conficker's behavior.
"April 1 is a classic date for anything like this to go off," he said. "But I really would hate to say that April 1 is going to be unlike any other day."
How to protect yourself from the Conficker Worm:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/comput ... icker.mspx
|
<urn:uuid:d902f41a-39f8-4e41-8c5b-ccc65a2d9d49>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=29180&p=328305
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961062
| 331
| 2.625
| 3
|
Imperium Japonicum, per regiones digestum sex et sexaginta. Amstelodami : Apud R. & I. Ottens, [1740?]
Adriaan Reelant (Reland), professor of oriental languages at the University of Utrecht, created this map of Japan’s 66 provinces from a variety of sources—a Japanese map made by Ishikawa Ryusen (from the collection of Benjamin Dutry, a former director of the East India Company), a Dutch chart of Nagasaki harbor, and imagery from the Atlas Japannensis by Arnoldus Montanus. In Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868), contact with Europeans was strictly limited to trade with the Dutch East India Company—and only through the port of Nagasaki. That commercial arrangement is symbolized by the display of porcelain in front of the cartouche. Despite the Christian motifs, even more prominently featured here, missionaries were personae non gratae under the Tokugawa. The cultural uniqueness of Japan is emphasized by the Sino-Japanese characters identifying the provinces, the noble crests (including the triple hollyhock flowers of the Tokugawa clan), and the images of the samurai, palanquin, and pagoda.
|
<urn:uuid:912288df-827d-408e-a8ee-9c7589d68500>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/maps/exhibits/baroque/reelant1740.cfm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.847899
| 267
| 3.125
| 3
|
- About MacNews
- Category Reviews
- Tech Support
- Connect Tools
An Apple patent (number 201202237) shows that Apple is working on ways for cursors in Mac OS X to more easily transition based on where it's located on screen and what activity is underway at the time.
Responsive to a trigger event, a first cursor state having a first visual appearance is transitioned into a second cursor state having a second visual appearance. A transition type and transition time can be specified so that the transition can be visually perceived by a user. The cursor states can be associated with different cursor types and/or cursor schemes.
Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "A cursor is a moving placement or pointer that indicates a position on a display. Some computer operating systems use multiple cursor types. For example, an arrow cursor may be used in one application and a crosshair or text cursor may be used in another application. Different cursor types can help a user interact with an operating system and applications.
"Cursors often run in hardware (e.g., on a video card) separated from the main computer. Different cursor types can help a user interact with an operating system application and controls. Cursors can also provide feedback about what will happen when a mouse or other pointing device is manipulated by the user."
John O. Louch is the inventor.
|
<urn:uuid:3014c656-b64a-4e58-9f02-c50eadd0dd42>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.macnews.com/2012/09/13/apple-beefing-cursor-transition-features-mac
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.912549
| 284
| 2.65625
| 3
|
6 Water Research Horizon Conference – outlook
17/18 June 2015 | Berlin – Botanical Garden/Museum
The Water Research Horizon Conference offers an open platform to catalyze the interdisciplinary ‘water community’ to intensify the dialogue between scientists, practitioners, policymakers, stakeholders and decision-makers.
It intends stimulating the exchange of knowledge and the development of new ideas for providing scientific input as well as interdisciplinary approaches to solve the most pressing water problems.
Interfaces are considered as a key feature of the water cycle mainly – this relates to the relevant processes between its compartments as well as the ecosystems incl. interactions
Hydrosphere and biosphere
The terrestrial branch of the hydrosphere is tightly linked and two-way coupled to the biosphere in many ways. Vegetation penetrates the interfaces between soil, atmosphere and aquatic bodies and strongly influences their mutual states. Land surface vegetation exposes subsurface water to the water cycle via their roots and vessels. It actively controls soil water use for sustaining life in general by optimizing energy flux partitioning between radiation, sensible and latent heat, but also regulates precipitation interception and infiltration into the soil.
Biosphere emission and capture of trace gases and particulates affect the water cycle indirectly by changing the composition and concentration of greenhouse gases and aerosols; ensuing radiation effects and cloud condensation nuclei action impact evapotranspiration via the surface energy balance and precipitation development, respectively. The biosphere strongly influences the water holding and transmission capability of soil for its own existence and influences its structure and composition on the long term by amplification of mineral weathering.
Water quality in lakes and rivers with their open surfaces to the atmosphere depends on the aquatic biosphere, which processes solutes, transforms particulate matter and influences water flow. Eco-hydrology, i.e. the interactions and feedbacks between the hydrological cycle and ecological systems, is a rapidly advancing research domain.
between natural and technical systems, the effect of infrastructures and human influences in general. In this context, two main overarching themes were set which are:
Hydrosphere and anthroposphere
The anthropogenic impacts on the hydrosphere are manifold driven by population growth, energy and food demand as well as economic activities. Water systems often consist of technical infrastructures and both manmade and natural water bodies often functioning as receiving waters. First are under pressure with increasing societal demands and corresponding transformation processes, last typically affected by strong human influences with impacts on water use, the quality of ground and surface waters as well as downstream aquatic ecosystems.
Water will probably be one of the main resources limiting food production. Globalization and trade liberalization, a growing population as well as climate change will significantly affect both water availability and demand esp. for food security. Besides a changing consumerism or production processes intelligent strategies are required for a more efficient irrigation (‘more crop per drop’) or a more resilient system as aquacultures. The latter is globally the fastest growing food sector and continues to expand alongside terrestrial crop and livestock production.
Humans affect water quality, and the other way around health risks often arise by contaminated water with nutrients or trace elements and infectious agents. However, often the effects and consequences are not yet clear – i.e. how risk is understood or can be defined and esp. evaluated which may help improving the access and protection of safe (ground) water resources.
|
<urn:uuid:94e72b34-53ec-45d0-b99c-a0e060f6e6aa>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.watersciencealliance.org/6-wrhc/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.935699
| 695
| 2.796875
| 3
|
Feline Physics: Why Cats Can Survive Falls From Great Heights
Cat image via Shutterstock
The other night, I watched a YouTube video featuring a woman standing on her bed, holding a cat upside down by its feet, then repeatedly dropping the cat onto the mattress. Amazingly, every time the cat was released, it immediately righted itself and landed on its feet.
The woman was performing the same basic experiment that French scientist Etienne Jules Marey did back in 1890. Marey, famous for investigations in which his chronophotographic camera was able to capture up to 60 consecutive frames a second, dropped a cat and filmed it. And yes, there’s a clip on YouTube:
The purpose of both of these videos was to demonstrate the cat’s unique innate ability to reorient its body during a fall. There’s even a name for this phenomenon: the “righting reflex.” Animal experts say that the righting reflex is observable in kittens as early as three to four weeks, and is fully developed at seven weeks.
How does the righting reflex work?
First, cats have supersensitive sense organs. A vestibular apparatus in their inner ear acts as a balance and orientation compass. They always know right side up. Second, cats have a unique skeletal structure - an unusually flexible backbone and the absence of a collarbone. So when a cat falls, its senses respond with lightning speed, and it is able to reorient its body and twist its head around so it can see where it’s going to land.
Beyond their amazing aerial spins, cats also have what could be called a built-in parachute. Like many small animals, they have a low body-volume-to-weight ratio, which when falling, allows them to slow their velocity by spreading out and becoming their own parachute. It’s the same kind of maneuver that flying squirrels do in mid-air.
But as amazing as their gravity-defying abilities are, cats are not invincible.
In 1987, veterinarians at New York City’s Animal Medical Center did a study of felines that had fallen from tall buildings. 90% of them survived, though most sustained serious injuries. Of those, more than one-third needed life-saving treatment, while just under a third required no treatment. What’s remarkable is that the study found that cats that fell from heights of 7 to 32 stories were less likely to die than those that fell from 2 to 6 stories.
Why? One theory is that after a certain distance, a cat reaches maximum speed and that vestibular mechanism in its ear shuts off. As a result, the cat relaxes. As any stuntman can tell you, relaxed limbs are less likely to break than unrelaxed ones. Another is that the greater height gives the cat time to adopt its parachute pose.
For those of you who enjoy physics, the “falling cat problem,” as it’s called, has been parsed in diagrams and technical language in online dissertations such as “Gauge Theory of the Falling Cat” and the Monty Python-ish sounding “Aerial Righting Reflexes in Flightless Animals.”
Then, of course, there's The Buttered Cat Paradox, which Miss Cellania discussed in great detail last year.
So over to you, cat owners. Any amazing stories of your kitty taking daredevil falls and landing on its feet?
|
<urn:uuid:36f3d8d6-59a7-40f5-8b77-4867d50509c3>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://mentalfloss.com/article/29921/feline-physics-why-cats-can-survive-falls-great-heights
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963265
| 718
| 3.84375
| 4
|
Anthropology | Performing Nationalism
E677 | 25824 | Stoeltje
Around the globe social and cultural groups express resistance to
domination through the performance of symbolic forms such as ritual,
religion, song, narrative, the novel, language, food, film/tv, etc.
Equally common, the nation state utilizes the same resources from its
indigenous cultures or created out of symbolic resources to produce
unity, loyalty and patriotism. These symbolic and artistic forms
constitute a powerful force in the phenomenon we label "nationalism."
This course deals with the process that accomplishes these purposes,
whether domination or resistance. While related to the distribution
and flow of power at any time, these processes are especially crucial
in periods of transition, war, or political upheaval.
After several sessions devoted to discussion of theories of
nationalism we will focus on ethnographic studies in different parts
of the world, emphasizing the processes by which nationalism operates,
the forms through which it communicates,(such as popular culture,
religion, war, spectacle), the changes forms undergo in order to
express the desired goals, and processes of resistance. Not only
will we consider nationalism of the dominant cultural group,
associated with or supported by the state, but we will view cultural
nationalism performed by minority groups. The course will conclude
with a consideration of the relationship between the national and
transnational or global forces.
Students may choose a symbolic form from the present or the past as
their subject and will write two related papers (one short and one
long) on a specific ethnographic site and specific symbolic form that
expresses nationalism, national identity, transnationalism or specific
elements of this process. (Examples: religious movements that oppose a
dominant force, a Latin American indigenous dance that represents the
nation; Mexican-American Charreada; a precolonial African state based
on law). Students will also be expected to write a written response
for each class session. A few guest speakers who are working on this
topic will be included as well.
The latter portion of the class will be devoted to student presentations.
Readings will include theoretical studies of nationalism and
modernity,(Imagined Communities, and National Identities for example)
as well as some historical readings that contextualize this process in
relation to larger sociopolitical contexts.
|
<urn:uuid:6927c3cf-316b-42c5-8ef8-f52e7324822b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/blspr08/anth/anth_e677_25824.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.910429
| 498
| 3.390625
| 3
|
ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – The Ameren coal-fired power plant in Labadie, Missouri is being called one of the nation’s “Toxic Ten.”
The Environmental Integrity Project report indicates measures have been put in place to reduce toxic emissions nationwide. But some plants, like Labadie, continue to churn out thousands of pounds of toxins which are hazardous in small concentrations.
Patricia Schuba is President of the Labadie Environmental Organization.
“The report is information that power plants have reported to the Environmental Protection Agency about the estimates of toxic materials released to the air,” she said, adding that Ameren Labadie was ranked number two on the list in the past.
“What has changed to drop Ameren to the seventh position with about 795 pounds of mercury released to the air per year?,” Schuba questioned.
Ameren would not speak with KMOX. Instead, they released a written statement which read in part, “Mercury is a naturally occurring element and emissions can fluctuate based upon the type of coal burned.”
But, Schuba says, mercury does not simply disappear. “It’s going in the ponds that are leaking in the floodplain near drinking water and near the Missouri River or it’s going somewhere else. Ameren is the only one that can explain that.”
The statement released by Ameren also cited control technologies in Illinois which have resulted in a reduction of mercury emissions and say they continue to look for ways to reduce emissions in a cost effective manner. Schuba is skeptical.
“I question their statement in that they are required in Illinois to put pollution protection equipment on their plants but not here in Missouri,” she said. “The Labadie plant, as far as I know, does not have scrubbers and it does not have pollution protection mechanisms in place. So I’m a little surprised that that number at Labadie has decreased by half.”
|
<urn:uuid:f5cce2f3-2603-4fd6-96bb-291666f8137c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/01/07/labadie-coal-plant-named-one-of-toxic-ten/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.968995
| 423
| 2.71875
| 3
|
In 1565, the Vatican was looking for a secret agent. It was shortly after the Council of Trent and the pope wanted to get the decrees of the Council to all the European bishops. What would be a simple errand in our day, was a dangerous assignment in the sixteenth century. The first envoy who tried to carry the decrees through territory of hostile Protestants and vicious thieves was robbed of the precious documents. Rome needed someone courageous but also someone above suspicion. They chose Peter Canisius. At 43 he was a well-known Jesuit who had founded colleges that even Protestants respected. They gave him a cover as official "visitor" of Jesuit foundations. But Peter couldn't hide the decrees like our modern fictional spies with their microfilmed messages in collar buttons or cans of shaving cream. Peter traveled from Rome and crisscrossed Germany successfully loaded down with the Tridentine tomes -- 250 pages each -- not to mention the three sacks of books he took along for his own university!
Why did the Vatican choose Peter Canisius for this delicate task?
Born in Holland in 1521, Peter had edited and written several volumes on Church history and theology, been a delegate to the Council of Trent, and reformed the German universities from heresy. Called to Vienna to reform their university, he couldn't win the people with preaching or fancy words spoken in his German accent. He won their hearts by ministering to the sick and dying during a plague. The people, the king, and the pope all wanted to make Peter bishop of Vienna, but Peter declined vigorously and administered the diocese for a year.
For many years during the Reformation, Peter saw the students in his universities swayed by the flashy speeches and the well-written arguments of the Protestants. Peter was not alone in wishing for a Catholic catechism that would present true Catholic beliefs undistorted by fanatics. Finally King Ferdinand himself ordered Peter and his companions to write a catechism. This hot potato got tossed from person to person until Peter and his friend Lejay were assigned to write it. Lejay was obviously the logical choice, being a better writer than Peter. So Peter relaxed and sat back to offer any help he could. When Father Lejay died, King Ferdinand would wait no longer. Peter said of writing: "I have never learned to be elegant as a writer, but I cannot remain dumb on that account." The first issue of the Catechism appeared in 1555 and was an immediate success. Peter approached Christian doctrine in two parts: wisdom -- including faith, hope, and charity -- and justice -- avoiding evil and doing good, linked by a section on sacraments.
Because of the success and the need, Peter quickly produced two more versions: a Shorter Catechism for middle school students which concentrated on helping this age group choose good over evil by concentrating on a different virtue each day of the week; and a Shortest Catechism for young children which included prayers for morning and evening, for mealtimes, and so forth to get them used to praying.
As intent as Peter was on keeping people true to the Catholic faith, he followed the Jesuit policy that harsh words should not be used, that those listening would see an example of charity in the way Catholics acted and preached. However, his companions were not always as willing. He showed great patience and insight with one man, Father Couvillon. Couvillon was so sharp and hostile that he was alienating his companions and students. Anyone who confronted him became the subject of abuse. It became obvious that Couvillon suffered from emotional illness. But Peter did not let that knowledge blind him to the fact that Couvillon was still a brilliant and talented man. Instead of asking Couvillon to resign he begged him to stay on as a teacher and then appointed him as his secretary. Peter thought that Couvillon needed to worry less about himself and pray more and work harder. He didn't coddle him but gave Couvillon blunt advice about his pride. Coming from Peter this seemed to help Couvillon. Peter consulted Couvillon often on business of the Province and asked him to translate Jesuit letters from India. Thanks to Peter , even though Couvillon continued to suffer depression for years, he also accomplished much good.
Peter believed in the importance in learning and understanding the Catholic faith. If it is available to you, resolve to read a portion of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church. Don't try to read too much but consider reading a page a day. Before we can spread our faith we must have a solid foundation in ourselves.Prayer:
Saint Peter Canisius, you saw the good in even the most troublesome of people. You found their talents and used them. Help me to see beyond the behavior of others that may bother me to the gifts God has given them. Amen
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (June 27) Cyril was born at Alexandria, Egypt. He was nephew of the patriarch of that city, Theophilus. Cyril received a classical and ... continue readingMore Saint of the Day
- "excerpts taken from Victories of the Martyrs," by St. Alphonsus de Liguori Taken from the Acts of St. Anastasia, who is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass, and commemorated by the Church [old calendar] on December 25, St. Anastasia was a spiritual child of St. ... continue readingMore Female Saints
Saint Michael the Archangel isn't a saint, but rather he is an angel, and the leader of all angels and of the army of God. This is what the title "Archangel" means, that he is above all the others in rank. St. Michael has four main responsibilities or offices, as we ... continue reading
Dymphna was born in Ireland sometime in the seventh century to a pagan father and devout Christian mother. When she was fourteen, she consecrated herself to Christ and took a vow of chastity. Soon afterward, her mother died and her father - who had loved his wife ... continue reading
By Marshall Connolly (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
On September 4, 2016, Pope Francis will canonize Mother Teresa as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Her canonization is an important event for Catholics and all people around the world. Here's 3 reasons why. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - When Mother Teresa is ... continue readingMore Christian Saints & Heroes
|
<urn:uuid:76e542d6-3baa-497b-bfe0-84704433544c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=93
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.98231
| 1,335
| 2.625
| 3
|
- The West Nile Virus outbreak of 1999 in New York: the Flushing Hospital experienceD S Asnis
Department of Internal Medicine, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Flushing, New York 11355, USA
Clin Infect Dis 30:413-8. 2000..With the assistance of the New York City and New York State health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these were documented as the first cases of WNV infection on this continent...
- The West Nile virus encephalitis outbreak in the United States (1999-2000): from Flushing, New York, to beyond its bordersD S Asnis
Department of Internal Medicine, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, New York 11355, USA
Ann N Y Acad Sci 951:161-71. 2001..The NYC outbreak resulted in the first cases of WNV infection in the Western Hemisphere and the first arboviral infection in NYC since yellow fever in the nineteenth century. The WNV is now a public health concern in the United States...
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus meningitis, New York, NY, USA, 2009Deborah S Asnis
Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Flushing, New York, New York 11355, USA
Emerg Infect Dis 16:328-30. 2010..Clues leading to the diagnosis included aseptic meningitis during winter and the finding of hypoglycorrachia and lymphocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid. LCMV continues to be an underdiagnosed zoonotic disease...
|
<urn:uuid:6d39420a-fc60-46a5-9fb8-de760f2725e6>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.labome.org/expert/usa/muana/owen-muana-609410.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.828838
| 322
| 2.53125
| 3
|
The US ASW forces include a variety of acoustic sensors installed on air, surface, and subsurface platforms, as well as those at fixed geographic locations. These systems support Navy missions in broad ocean surveillance, detection, classification, localization, and prosecution.
The levels of ship-generated and wind-generated ambient noise are a functions of shipping density, wave height or sea state, and frequency. Values for heavy shipping and sea state level 6 are of interest, since an operational sonar must be designed to perform against expected worst-case conditions.
The lowest point on each curve corresponds to the "optimum" frequency, in the sense that it is the least amount of source power required for the system to achieve detection. Size and weight constraints for the source are a major factor in determining sonar system feasibility. For example, the experimental Low Frequency Array system weighed approximately 100,000 pounds, and required one megawatt of power-generation capacity. For every 3-dB increase in source level required, these numbers double. Optimum frequency becomes lower as the detection range increases. At very short ranges (one to three nautical miles), the optimum frequency occurs in the kilohertz portion of the spectrum, whereas at long ranges the optimum frequency drops into the hundreds of hertz. The upper-frequency cutoff is driven mainly by the absorption term in transmission loss. The engineering design of the array becomes more difficult at very low frequencies. For example, at 1000 Hz, a 20-dB array is approximately 250 feet long. The same gain array at 10 Hz would be 25,000 feet in length. Coupled with engineering considerations for extremely low frequency system designs (very long receive arrays and extremely large, heavy sources), the region below 10 Hz is probably not interesting for an operational system.
Very short range acoustic sensors with detection ranges of a few kiloyards, such as mines, torpedoes, and air-deployed sensors, are typically utilized for final localization and prosecution. Intermediate detection ranges, from miles to tens of miles, are generally required for surface-ship ASW missions (such as area sanitization or Battle Group defense against the torpedo threat), and by attack submarines for counterdetection of threatening submarines.
Currently, the ASW systems supporting these missions are composed of hull- and bow-mounted active and passive sonars and by tactical towed arrays. Surveillance ranges are necessarily hundreds of miles to be effective for broad ocean surveillance. The United States has both fixed and mobile large-aperture passive acoustic arrays in its surveillance inventory.
Developed in an era of noisy submarines, the US ASW systems performed extremely well against the Soviet order of battle for which they were designed. Introduction of the quieter Soviet submarine, and the addition of Third World diesel-electric submarines to the inventory of possible threats, have significantly degraded the effectiveness of US passive acoustic sensors. Short-range tactical missions are only modestly affected because of the reliance on high-frequency active acoustics as well as nonacoustic sensors (e.g., magnetic anomaly detection). Medium-range tactical missions can be more significantly impacted. The lack of an adequate passive sonar capability for surface-ship ASW operations will influence tactics and significantly degrade overall mission effectiveness for covert and longer-range operations.
For high-speed and noncovert ASW operations, active sonars will continue to provide acceptable perfor-mance despite submarine noise reduction. Attack submarine operations, however, critically rely on the passive acoustic detection advantage possessed by US nuclear submarines. This advantage has been diminishing against the quiet threat posed by these newer submarines as the US strategy of countering larger numbers of hostile below 10 Hz, the optimum system design frequency and the required source level are at issue, because the uncertainties in the sonar equation are great enough to shift the local SL minimum within these bounds. For this reason, research and development programs were initiated by the Navy to resolve uncertainties in the sonar equation parameters for low-frequency active sonars.
The real situation is complicated, and when more realism is built into the sonar equation, significant variability is introduced. Although general conclusions about the existence of an optimum design frequency lying between low-frequency noise and high-frequency absorption cutoffs remain valid, a best-design frequency is less obvious. Sonar engineers must necessarily understand detailed characteristics of each term in the sonar equation to produce designs that are effective against variations in the target and the ocean medium.
|Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list|
|
<urn:uuid:09981ba1-5e34-45c0-8492-b70ccf84a385>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/systems/sonar.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.944039
| 910
| 2.890625
| 3
|
Italianastronomer. In the 1860s he discovered that there are similarities between the orbits of some meteor streams and the orbits of particular comets, showing in 1866, for example, that the Perseid meteor shower is associated with Comet Swift–Tuttle, and postulated that meteors are debris from comets. From 1877 he began a series of careful observations of Mars that resulted in a highly detailed map and a system of nomenclature for its albedo features. Much speculation and controversy followed his report of straight markings, the canali. This term, originally used by P. A. Secchi, means ‘channels’ but was translated into English as ‘canals’. Schiaparelli also prepared maps of Venus and Mercury, and studied the orbits of binary stars.
Subjects: Astronomy and Astrophysics.
|
<urn:uuid:cece3404-07e5-445c-8485-01c73eaf1633>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100445575
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958907
| 180
| 3.28125
| 3
|
How much do you know about spiders? The superhero Spider-Man is awesome, but the role of actual spiders in diverse ecosystems around the world is just as captivating.
“If spiders disappeared, we would face famine,” declares Norman Platnick, who studies arachnids at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, where a live spider exhibit opened in July. “Spiders are primary controllers of insects. Without spiders, all of our crops would be consumed by those pests.”
Just to clarify: although insects and spiders are often grouped together, they belong to different animal groups. Spiders are arachnids – technically Class Arachnida, which includes ticks, mites, and scorpions. The most obvious way to distinguish insects from spiders is to count their legs. Insects have six legs, while arachnids have eight.
The importance of spiders to agriculture may be well known, but did you know that the spiders on one acre of woodland alone consume more than 80 pounds of insects each year? Clearly, those insect populations would explode without their spider predators.
That’s what Platnick is talking about.
Aside from chemical control, predation is the only way to limit herbivorous pests. And spiders are excellent at this task. Spiders are particularly crucial in organic farming, which relies heavily on biological pest control.
A few more fascinating facts about spiders:
* Spiders were around more than 300 million years ago, long before dinosaurs walked the Earth.
* Only about 50 percent of known spider species make webs. Others hunt their prey or burrow underground.
* You are unlikely to be bitten by a spider, since they are very shy. They generally prefer to run away rather than bite.
Scientists are also exploring other ways in which spiders could be helpful to humans. That’s because a spider’s venom contains hundreds of different chemical compounds, some of which may be medically active.
So researchers are testing many of these chemicals. At Yale, scientists are examining whether chemicals in the venom of the Australian funnel-web spider could be used to improve pain-control medications. At the University of Buffalo, a researcher is working on healing muscular dystrophy patients with a compound in the venom of a South American spider. In Seattle, a doctor is working on a project that involves a scorpion-venom concoction that makes brain tumors glow.
Then of course there is spider silk: spiders make many different kinds of silk in their webs, each with a property, such as toughness, flexibility, stickiness. Perhaps this too could have important uses in the future.
There are indeed many unknowns about spiders.
“Scientists have identified almost 45,000 different spider species,” says Platnick, “and that’s at best one-half of what actually exists. When we lose a spider species, we may lose a compound that could have cured epilepsy. We may lose a silk that could have produced a strong and lightweight material.”
But Platnick is most concerned about the vital importance of spiders to agriculture since, like many animals, spiders are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation of habitat, as well as by introduced species. Spiders may often be overlooked in conservation planning, just because they are so small.
That is a huge mistake, Platnick believes. For him, it is quite simple: without spiders, our crops will be eaten by insects and we humans will starve.
Spiders have been fascinating writers for a long time: remember Shelob, Tolkien’s giant evil spider in “The Lord of the Rings”? Or E.B. White’s Charlotte the spider?
So look kindly on the next spider you see; our future depends on these eight-legged creatures.
Photo Credit: Thinkstock
|
<urn:uuid:eb3dc719-7403-4b6c-bd91-63b2d0865015>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.care2.com/causes/why-our-future-depends-on-spider-conservation.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.947969
| 791
| 3.765625
| 4
|
I have no idea how to go about solving questions about forces relating to vectors, and with a test due in a few days, I don't want to go unprepared.
Below is the diagram of the problem I'm having:
There are several questions about this diagram, and I'd appreciate if somebody could help guide me through them.
The first part of the question is to "calculate the forces of the angled roofs at the points where they meet."
In the description given before the diagram, it explains that each angled part of the roof exerts a downward force of 50 kg/m^2, and that this building will need a load-bearing wall at the point where the roofs meet (which is the blue dotted line).
The 18m and 7m are the two lengths of the two angled roofs.
After that part of the question, it says to also calculate the resultant force that the wall must counteract to support the roof, which I'm assuming is the diagonal of the invisible parallelogram formed by the roofs.
Thank you all very much!!!
|
<urn:uuid:93f4f244-8f20-48b3-99f2-38cd7d1000d3>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://mathhelpforum.com/math-topics/137272-need-help-force-question-relating-vectors.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966201
| 219
| 2.703125
| 3
|
Electric vehicles, sometimes called EVs, can give drivers like you a convenient way to get around, while saving you money on fuel, reducing emissions, and supporting the nation’s energy security. Learn about the advantages of electric vehicles, see EVs in action, and find out how they work by checking out DOE’s new Electric Vehicle 101 video.
The basics principles behind this technology are this: the EV’s battery transfers energy to an electric motor, the motor turns a drive train, which then turns the wheels. Up to 80% of the energy in the battery is transferred directly to power the car, making it a highly efficient mode of transportation. With all-electric vehicles, you never have to fuel up at the gas pump—instead, you just recharge the batteries at home or at charging stations on your route.
Compared to conventional vehicles, the driving range of an all-electric EV – typically about 100 miles per charge – may seem limited. However, when you consider the average American commutes fewer than 40 miles roundtrip, it becomes clear that EVs are a reliable and comfortable way to regularly get from point A to point B, while reducing energy waste and contributing to a sustainable environment. For longer trips, you can simply recharge the battery along your way. Use the Alternative Fueling Station Locator to find a charging station near you.
For drivers looking for an energy-saving car with longer range, an “extended-range” electric vehicle makes longer trips easier by switching to a gasoline-fueled engine to power the car’s electric motor when the battery is low. Visit the Vehicle Cost Calculator on DOE’s Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center to make side-by-side comparisons of a broad array of EVs, hybrids and conventional vehicles on the road today.
The cost of today’s EVs is coming down relative to similar-sized conventional and hybrid vehicles, and long-term savings can be realized through fuel savings and by taking advantage of a federal tax credit and state and local incentives.
|
<urn:uuid:d42cc885-ea8b-44a4-9610-36287211f0ba>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/new-energy-101-video-electric-vehicles
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.93927
| 417
| 3.78125
| 4
|
According to ancient greek myths, the great greek
King Aegeus was forced to pay tribute to King Minos of the Minoans,
whose kingdom was on the island we now call Crete. Every year
the tribute included seven young men and seven young maidens.
Underground far below King Minos' palace at the city of Knossos
lay a huge maze built for him by the
inventor and master architect Daedalus. Inside the maze Minos
kept a monster called the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a hideous
creature that was half man and half bull. The fourteen young
people from Greece would be let loose into the maze, the labyrinth,
where they would become hopelessly lost and eventually be eaten
by the Minotaur.
According to the legend, King Aegeus' son, Thesesus,
decided to volunteer as one of the sacrificial victims, so that
he could attempt to kill the Minotaur. Thesesus was successful.
He slew the Minotaur, then used a trail of twine he'd started
laying down at the entrance of the labyrinth to find his way
out of the maze.
So how much of this incredible tale is based on
reality? Ancient writers from Roman times argued that the Labyrinth
was a set of winding caves they knew were located on the south
side of Crete at Gortyna. In the early 19th century C.R. Cockerell
visited these caves and wrote in his journal that he and his
party entered the cavern through an inconspicuous hole in the
hillside of Mount Ida and unwound a length of twine to keep
from getting lost. "The windings," wrote Cockerell,
"bewildered us at once, and , my compass being broken,
I was quite ignorant as to where I was. The clearly intentional
intricacy and apparently endless number of galleries impressed
me with a sense of horror and fascination I cannot describe.
At every ten steps one was arrested, and had to turn to right
or left, sometimes to choose one of three or four roads. What
if one should lose the clue!"
sketch of the Gortyna cavern as seen in the 19th century.
The caves at Gortyna, as much as they might
seem to fit the legend are in the wrong place as the Labyrinth
was supposedly located at Knossos. Some writers have speculated
that another similar set of caves, now lost, near Knossos
served as the Labyrinth, but modern archaeologists have come
to another conclusion.
Archaeologists have found no evidence that a
horrible half-man, half-bull-like creature existed at Knossos.
However, they have found what looks like a labyrinth. The
labyrinth wasn't built in a cave below the palace, though.
It was the palace.
The Minoans are a mysterious people. We do not
know where they came from, but they seemed to have arrived
in Crete about 7000 BC. By all indications the Greeks feared
the Minoans, but the Minoans did not seem like a warlike people
(their cities had few fortifications). Little is known about
the Minoan's religion or their form of government. We cannot
read the writing they left behind. In fact, researchers have
been unable to figure out even by what name the Minoans called
themselves. The term Minoan comes from the legend of King
Minos and was coined by archaeologists because they needed
a term to describe their discoveries at Knossos.
fresco from the Minoan palace at Knossos showing the
sport of "bull leaping."
If the Minoans had power it must have come from
trade, not war. They exchanged goods with peoples from all
around the eastern Mediterranean. Ostrich plumes came from
northern Africa, alabaster from Egypt, gold and silver from
the Aegean Islands and ivory from Syria. They alll passed
through Minoan hands, making Mionan profits, on their way
to distant destinations.
The wealth from the trade financed a number
of palaces on Crete, the largest of which was the palace at
Knossos. Archaeologists are not exactly sure who lived in
the Knossos palace. However, they have uncovered a quantity
of ceremonial and religious imagery there. This leads some
to believe that the chief occupant of the building was a 'priest-king'
who had the dual function of leading the state and the religion.
Other scholars see the palace as a only a temple. Others as
a center for trade.
Whatever the palace's function, the building
itself was enormous. It contained hundreds of rooms at many
levels grouped around a central courtyard. The palace had
storerooms, bathrooms, private apartments, public rooms, workshops
and even what appears to be a throne room. Some of the storerooms
contained dozens of huge jars, called pithoi, which
were used to contain olive oil. According to some estimates
60,000 gallons of olive oil could be put in these, which is
a testament to the Minoan's wealth.
siliver coin from Knossos dated at around 500 B.C. shows
the Minotaur on one side and the Labyrinth on the other.
While there is no archaeological evidence of
a labyrinth, the palace itself to a visitor must have seemed
like an intimidating maze of corridors, staircases and rooms.
This is probably where the legend of the labyrinth began.
An early version of the palace was started around 1900 BC,
but was demolished for a grander one in 1700 BC. Unlike the
Greeks, the Minoans did not consider symmetry an important
attribute of architecture. Rooms and halls seem to be added
almost at random, though they were undoubtedly placed with
a practical purpose in mind. The lack of symmetry does not
mean the palace was ugly. Each room had its own beauty and
many were decorated with frescoes. The palace reflected the
Mnoans practicality. Much of the structure and columns were
made of wood, which was more likely to survive an earthquake
than stone. The palace had a sanitary drainage system to take
wastewater away from the apartments. The drainage channel
was even designed with zigzags and basins to slow down the
water to prevent overflows. Many of the rooms are partly underground
to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Colonnaded
porches allow cool breezes in, but kept out the hot sun.
If the palace is the origin of the labyrinth
myth, where did the legend of the Minotaur come from? We know
that the Minoans had a fascination for bulls. Their most mysterious
art shows human figures, some of them girls, grabbing the
horns of a bull and leaping over it. Archaeologists have wondered
if this strange and dangerous activity really did take place.
If it did, was it merely a sport, or did it have some religious
significance? Recent archaeological excavations have shown
an arena-like structure outside one of the Minoan palaces
that might have been the site of these mysterious activities.
Whatever the significance of the bull-leaping, it was probably
the genesis of the Minotaur myth.
Why bulls? Crete is subject to earthquakes.
Perhaps the violent and unpredictable movements of the earth
seemed to them like the temperamental acts of a creature such
as a bull. The Greek god Poseidon was known as the 'earth-shaker'
and was connected to bulls, so perhaps the Minoans were worshiping
an earlier form of this god in their ceremonies.
think that the end of the Minoan culture came about 1450 BC.
Seventy miles away, a volcano exploded on the island of Thera.
This caused a huge tidal wave to hit Crete which destroyed
many major buildings and probably their fleet of ships. The
wave ended the Minoan's ability to conduct trade, causing
them to quickly lose power in the eastern Mediterranean.
Some scholars suggest that the end of the Minoan
culture may have inspired stories about the continent of Atlantis.
The story of the destruction of a powerful and sophisticated
culture by water in one night seems extremely similar, though
the dates and location must have been exaggerated over time.
Copyright Lee Krystek
2001. All Rights Reserved.
|
<urn:uuid:fe37464f-1682-472e-a052-9c942929a837>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.unmuseum.org/minot.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972089
| 1,791
| 3.265625
| 3
|
Each part of the world has a system for classifying soil. In North America there are two classification systems for identifying soil deposits. One is that used in the United States is called "Soil Taxonomy," published in 1975 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has six categories and 12 soil types. Canada has a soil class system that is comprised of five categories with up to nine types of soil. Grassland soils are supposed to be some of the most fertile places to grow crops.
Mollisols are a soil class used in the U.S. soil taxonomy system. This class of soil is one of the youngest soil types and covers about 14 to 26 percent of grassland ecosystems. This type of soil is found through the Great Plains and parts of the South in the United States. Mollisol is a very fluffy, fertile rich soil used for agricultural crops. This type of soil is abundant in grasslands and has a very dark color due to the organic matter that enriches it.
Vertisols are one of the soil types used in the U.S. soil taxonomy system. Vertisol soil has a high clay consistency that can expand or shrink depending upon the climate and moisture conditions. This type of soil is usually found lying under grasslands and rolling hills. This type of soil class is usually located around 50 degrees north to 40 degrees south of the equator. In the United States, parts of Southern Texas have large portions of vertisols. They are also abundant in Eastern Australia. Vertisol makes excellent pasture lands and can be used in the cultivation of rice crops.
Solonetzic is a soil classification in the Canadian system of soil identification. This type of soil is found in the dry areas of the prairies in Canada. There are normally very elevated levels of salt deposits near the soil's surface that cause an evaporation of moisture in the soil. Solonetzic soil in Canada usually has a pH level that leans toward normal to slightly acidic. This soil is usually covered by grass and some trees. Salt-tolerant plants can thrive in this type of soil.
Chernozem is a type of soil class in Canada. This kind of soil is found in grasslands near the Canadian prairies and the interior plains of Western Canada. Chernozem soil is very dark in color varying from brown to black and even grays; it is made up of rich organic material. This soil class obtains its dark color from frequent rains. The soil holds moisture well, which makes it very fertile and excellent for planting crops.
|
<urn:uuid:e2bbe8bf-a435-4c4c-9665-59258324cf22>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.gardenguides.com/126234-grassland-soil-types.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961783
| 526
| 4.125
| 4
|
CO2 variations are largely controlled by fossil fuel emissions and seasonal fluxes of carbon between the atmosphere and land biosphere. For example, dark red and pink shades represent regions where CO2 concentrations are enhanced by carbon sources, mainly from human activities. During Northern Hemisphere spring and summer months, plants absorb a substantial amount of CO2 through photosynthesis, thus removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Atmospheric CO, a pollutant harmful to human health, is produced mainly from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning. Here, high concentrations of CO (white) are mainly from fire activity in Africa, South America, and Australia. Scientists use model output data such as these to help answer important questions about Earth’s climate and to help design future satellite missions.
These model simulations use fossil fuel emissions estimates provided by the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR). NASA’s Quick Fire Emissions Dataset (QFED) estimates fire emissions using MODIS fire radiative power observations. Additional, observationally constrained estimates of CO2 flux between the atmosphere and land and ocean carbon reservoirs were produced as part of NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System Flux Pilot Project (http://carbon.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/cms/inv_pgp.pl?pgid=581). Land biosphere fluxes come from the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach Global Fire Emissions Database (CASA-GFED) model which incorporates MODIS vegetation classification and AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. Ocean fluxes are produced by the NASA Ocean Biogeochemical Model (NOBM) which incorporates MODIS chlorophyll observations.
|
<urn:uuid:b609d812-2a08-41cb-ae08-6bb409b0158d>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=30515
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00181-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.867601
| 343
| 4.1875
| 4
|
Chinese schoolchildren perform morning exercises at their school in Shanghai October 14, 2009. (Nir Elias/Reuters)
SHANGHAI, China — In 1997, at age 25, Pan Pengkai left his native Hangzhou and arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts to begin his PhD in interactive cinema at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He had been studying English for the last decade in school, but as Pan began classes, he grew increasingly frustrated.
“You’d go listen to a lecture for two hours, and you couldn’t understand a thing except the last sentence,” Pan said, chuckling. “‘Do you have any questions?’”
Now chief executive of the Shanghai-based English-learning software maker Saybot, Inc., Pan commands a workforce of 100 engineers, product developers and salespeople who create interactive learning software that’s used by more than 180 million students in China.
Earlier this year, the company also launched a new web-based English-learning environment for kids called Alo7 in China, the country home to the most internet users in the world.
“Learning is a very interesting thing in the 21st century,” said Pan. ““Chinese kids have fewer choices in school than American kids, so going on the Internet is heaven for them. But I don’t want them to kill dragons. That doesn’t help their intelligence. I want them to love to learn.”
Pan comes from a family of teachers, and both of his parents are professors. He studied industrial design at Zhejiang University and was one of the first people in China to use the internet while creating 3D animation for television commercials. Pan partly credits having access to the internet in 1995 with getting into MIT: “I was able to scope out the programs and professors at every school, and write a more detailed application.”
One of six students accepted to MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte’s interdisciplinary program in interactive media, Pan created a series of innovative projects including a sharing platform similar to YouTube (“The timing was too early”) and an interactive film for cell phones and PDAs that used location censors that tracked the user’s location (“Again, too early”). By graduation in 2003, Pan had an attractive offer from Google in hand.
But he had a different idea.
Pan wanted to return to China and launch a language software company. “Spoken English is the biggest problem in China, so there must be something wrong with the way Chinese students learn English,” Pan said. Pan observed that a simple machine that uses traditional cassettes, called the “repeat machine," was selling 200 million units a year at $20 to $30 each. He had used the machine as a child.
Pan’s first idea was to develop a small speech robot device, using speech-recognition software and similar participatory design principles as interactive cinema. Negroponte, who is founder and current chairman of the One Laptop per Child non-profit organization, contributed seed money.
But after working on the robot for six months, Pan found that the idea wouldn’t fly. “Hardware sales and distribution in China is very tough. There’s lots of money spent on marketing, and over-inflating product features,” Pan said. “In this kind of market, it’s hard to compete.”
So he decided to take his product online. By 2006, Saybot rolled out its software to English training academies, public schools, and other consumers. Targeted at university students preparing for exams, the software costs students RMB 100 to RMB 300 ($15 to $44) per year.
In January, the company rolled out Alo7, a virtual cartoon world online for kids age 6 to 16 designed to match classroom textbooks. The theme is traveling the world with pets discovering different cultures and languages. Access to the site costs RMB 1 a day ($0.15 a day).
Pan believes that innovation comes from different points of view. “Education products are hard to make, but learning is individualized,” said Pan. “Different people find aspects engaging and effective. We’re continuously talking with customers, schools, and rolling out new releases every week.”
According to Pan, China faces unique challenges because its educational system has been overly commercialized. “China fell behind because it stopped learning. Everyone wants to get into a good school, not emphasize kids’ individuality.”
“Deng Xiaoping had a clear vision in the early 1980s: China needs to modernize, face the future and the world. But the educational vision got lost,” said Pan. “Our leaders should set an agenda now.”
|
<urn:uuid:bec2f18a-cbb3-41a1-803f-4dc0ab541915>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/education/100511/education-china-language-instruction?page=0,0
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00057-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962646
| 1,007
| 2.75
| 3
|
On December 21, 1937, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater in Hollywood. In the audience was the cream of Tinseltown society. Charlie Chaplin, Shirley Temple, Jack Benny, Marlene Dietrich, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks Junior, just to name a few. The movie cost $1,480,000 to produce. Walt was in debt up to his eyebrows and this premiere could be a “make or break” moment for his company. As we know, the audience was mesmerized and this pivotal evening catapulted Walt into the big leagues forever. Here are copies of the two original movie posters for the film.
It is often claimed that “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was the first full-length animated movie. This is not true. That honor goes to Argentine movie-maker Quirino Cristiani who in 1917 animated “The Apostle.” Not to minimize Quirino’s contribution, but an analogy similar to the discovery of the New World can be made. Yes, Leif Ericson may have been the first European to travel to the New World, but his voyage had little impact on society as a whole. Crossing the Atlantic only became significant when Columbus made the journey almost 500 years later. The same is true with animation. It took Walt’s vision to change the way audiences viewed “cartoons.”
“Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs” was the most profitable movie in 1938. In 1989, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The movie is currently the only animated film on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest American films (#34). The movie is also ranked as AFI’s number one animated film. So groundbreaking was the movie that Walt was given a special Oscar presented to him by Shirley Temple.
Although the original Carthay Circle Theater was demolished in 1969, replicas can be seen at Disney's Hollywood Studios and soon at Disney's California Adventure.
When Walt began planning Disneyland, Snow White was an obvious choice to be included in his park. After all, without the financial success of her movie, “The Happiest Place on Earth” might never have become a reality.
When Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, the park’s attractions were not the sophisticated diversions we think of today. Rides like Dumbo and the Mad Tea Cups were simple carnival rides that Walt dressed up with his characters. This is also true of the dark rides. First patented in 1928 by Leon Cassidy, these single-rail electric vehicles were simple rides that would entertain fair-goers for many years before Walt came along. They employed sudden tight curves to both surprise the passengers and hide the next scene from view. The sights were most often two-dimensional cut-outs and black lights were frequently used to illuminate fluorescent paint. Once again, Walt dressed up this tried-and-true attraction with his well-known characters. “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride,” “Peter Pan Flight,” and “Snow White’s Adventure” greeted Disneyland guests on opening day.
In the beginning, guests did not see Snow White while riding on her attraction. The Imagineers wanted the guests to “be” Snow White and see the adventure through her eyes. Unfortunately, this concept was lost on most guests and they complained that the lovely heroine was nowhere to be seen. During the 1983 makeover of Fantasyland, all of the dark rides were redesigned to some degree. At this time, Snow White was added to the attraction.
The same was true at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. In the early years, Snow White was not seen on the ride. It wasn’t until December 16, 1994 that she made an appearance. The ride vehicles were also enlarged at this time to hold six guests instead of four. In addition, the attraction was renamed “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” as this ride often frightened young children and the Imagineers felt some sort of warning was necessary.
“Snow White’s Scary Adventures” is housed in a castle-like structure in the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland. Behind the boarding area is a large mural featuring the characters from the story.
The ride begins outside the Queen’s Castle. We pass Snow White’s wishing well then we find her daydreaming nearby as the Queen looks on from an overhead window.
We then enter the castle and come face to face with the magic mirror. Moments later, we see the Queen transform into the Wicked Witch. This can be a terrifying moment for young children.
We next pass through a dungeon and see skeletons, presumably the recipients of the Queen’s evilness. Then the Wicked Witch appears and offers us a poison apple.
As we leave the Queen’s castle, we enter a dark forest to find the Huntsman pursuing a terrified Snow White.
As we journey deeper into the woods, we come across the Dwarf’s cottage. We enter to find the little men engaged in song and merriment. While in this room, notice the candlelight illuminating the walls. It’s actually paint – the trick of a clever artist.
Around the corner we see Snow White accepting a poison apple from the Wicked Witch.
Outside the cottage we encounter two hungry vultures and the Wicked Witch. We escape their clutches by entering the Dwarf’s diamond mine.
Exiting the mine we find the Dwarfs pursuing the Wicked Witch up a mountain where she is trying to dislodge a boulder to tumble upon the attraction’s riders below. Just in the nick of time, a lightning bolt strikes the old hag and we hear her scream as she tumbles backwards to her death.
Around the corner we find the Prince awakening our beauty with a kiss. We then see them riding off into the sunset as Dopey waves goodbye.
To see a three minute filming of “Snow White’s Scary Adventures,” check out my video. Because of low lighting, portions of this video were shot using infrared photography.
As part of the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland expansion, “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” will be closing permanently in early 2012. “Princess Fairytale Hall” will take over this space and provide meet-and-greet opportunities with a number of the Disney princesses.
But don’t despair if you’re a lover of Snow White. A new attraction, “The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train” will take up residence on what was once the “20,000 Leagues” lagoon. This mild coaster will employ new technology that will allow the vehicles to pivot using centrifugal force, thus giving the mine cars a swinging motion. Along the fast paced journey guests will encounter the Dwarf’s cottage, their mine, and new AudioAnimatronics.
At the Magic Kingdom, “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” has always been the least popular of the three dark rides. Both “Peter Pan’s Flight” and “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” offer FastPass, but “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” never needed to. But this does not lessen this attraction’s appeal and the importance its heroine played in the building of the Disney Company. If you have a trip planned to Disney World this coming year, I strongly suggest you experience this classic attraction one last time.
The previous post in this blog was Disney Parks Souvenirs .
The next post in this blog is Another Disney Quiz - Questions.
|
<urn:uuid:cd0c5f51-207a-456e-819c-f695a4b1a97f>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2011/02/snow_whites_scary_adventures_1.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954579
| 1,628
| 2.71875
| 3
|
Looking for a fresh approach as you teach your children? Then stay tuned to today’s Home School Heartbeat, as host Mike Smith talks about one concept that can reenergize your homeschool.
Mike Smith: One of the benefits of homeschooling is that it gives parents the freedom to personalize their child’s education to his or her talents and interests. An exciting way to do this is to explore learning styles.
You’ve probably heard the term “learning styles,” or “learning modalities,” before. A learning style is a person’s inborn preference for learning through one of the senses—hearing, sight, or touch. When teaching is tailored to a person’s unique learning style, he or she learns far more effectively.
Let’s say your student has become very frustrated with math, but you’ve noticed that he loves music class. His learning style might be auditory—that is, he learns best by hearing. You can help him understand math by teaching him the multiplication tables through songs.
Or, perhaps your daughter fidgets her way through history class and can’t seem to remember those pesky dates. She might be a kinesthetic learner—one who needs to use her whole body to learn. You could have her act out important scenes in history, cementing the facts in her memory.
Exploring learning styles can breathe new life into your homeschool. If your child seems to have hit a major roadblock in a particular subject, or simply doesn’t seem to care about learning anymore, a consideration of his or her learning style can make school fun again.
And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
Mike: Identifying your child’s learning style can inspire a fresh vision for your homeschool. How? Because such things as curriculum choice and lesson format are all impacted by how your student learns best.
If your child has a tendency to stare off into space in the middle of class, he could be a visual learner. This is the child who learns through what he sees. He may be a picture learner—one who responds most to information that is presented in pictures. Or he might be a print learner, who remembers information that is presented as words on a page. When he appears to be daydreaming in the middle of class, he’s simply trying to visualize the concepts he’s learning.
Help your visual learner get the most out of studying by using visual aids. Assign books that contain helpful illustrations. Hang posters, maps, and timelines on your classroom walls. Since visual learners love eye-catching colors and designs, provide attractive folders for organization, and allow your student to use colored pencils on his assignments.
Take the time to teach your visual learner good study habits. He should practice highlighting reading material and quizzing himself with flashcards. Honing note-taking skills is crucial. By drawing pictures, sketching diagrams, and color-coding notes, a visual learner can solidly retain information presented in lecture format.
When you teach to your child’s learning styles, a whole new world of teaching options open up. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
Mike: Homeschoolers have the wonderful flexibility being able to personalize their child’s education. Whether your child is a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner, you can choose the curriculum methods and teaching techniques that enable fun, effective learning.
Do you have an auditory learner in your homeschool? She’s the one who needs to hear herself say something in order to remember it. That’s because she retains information most strongly when it comes through her ears. You may also notice that she prefers to have you read aloud to her instead of reading to herself. Because this talkative child learns best by hearing, you’ll want to incorporate a variety of sound-based formats into her homeschool lessons. Encourage your student to read her assignments aloud to understand them. Teach lessons conversationally, giving her the opportunity to verbalize what she is learning. Make frequent visits to your local library to borrow books on tape and CDs with learning songs. Your auditory learner will also benefit from group projects and oral presentations.
Since auditory learners sometimes find silence to be distracting, allow your child to listen to music while studying. She may also enjoy working with a study partner. Although your child’s study habits may seem unorthodox, the important thing is that she be aware of how she learns best.
As you homeschool your auditory learner, you’ll find yourself learning to celebrate the sounds around you. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
Mike: This week we’ve discussed visual and auditory learners. Today I’d like to talk about the kinesthetic learner—the child who learns best through movement or touch. You’ll recognize him because he has difficulty sitting still. And when he says, “Let me see!” he really means, “Can I touch that?”
Imagine how frustrating the classroom experience can be for this child! Information presented in traditional formats—through workbooks or lectures—just don’t stick in his mind. But if he plays a game, acts a story, or uses math manipulatives, he can achieve success in learning. In planning lessons for this kinesthetic learner, you’ll want to deemphasize workbooks and lectures in favor of active learning. Get ready for some fun-filled schooldays! Provide your squirmy student with refrigerator magnets in the shapes of numbers and letters. And if you’re studying history, have him build a model ship or construct a building out of blocks. Give him plenty of opportunities to dance, exercise, and act out stories. When it’s time to sit still, allow your child to sip on water or quietly work on a puzzle.
Your kinesthetic learner can study for tests by jumping rope while reviewing terms. Be sure and let him take breaks throughout the school day to run errands or take the dog for a walk. Movement and hands-on activities will make learning come alive for him.
And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
Mike: Many resources are available that can help you identify your child’s learning style, both online and at the library. You’ll find checklists, detailed descriptions, and suggested teaching tools. If possible, have your child fill out a learning-style checklist herself. By combining your child’s perspective with your own observation, you’ll be able to confidently identify her learning style.
There’s no formula for teaching each particular learning style. Just dive in—and have fun! The point of identifying your child’s learning style is to make learning a joy, not a burdensome list of requirements. Ask your child for feedback as you try different teaching strategies. She can tell you when a lesson makes sense and when it doesn’t. She may even have suggestions for how she can learn more effectively.
As your child moves through the high school years, teach her how to take charge of her own education. You may even want to award high school credit for a course in learning styles and strategies. Have your student research ways to adapt various classes to her learning style. Challenge her to develop study techniques that take advantage of her unique strengths.
College and the working world can sometimes seem inflexible to the student who learns “outside the box.” But with a good knowledge of learning styles, your child will know how to make the transition with flair.
And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
|
<urn:uuid:7679c1db-f3a5-4949-a987-3648bf9ab648>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.hslda.org/docs/hshb/119/hshbwk7.asp?src=slide&slide=HSHB_Learning_Styles_Apr_28_2014&pos=2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.947973
| 1,611
| 2.9375
| 3
|
Category: Kids Games
Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a children's game which primarily teaches turn-taking and counting. Player spin a central spinner which dictates winning or losing cherries.
Hi Ho! Cherry-O
updated design and game play
A family favorite for over 30 years, Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a fun, easy-to-learn game. Preschoolers develop and practice math skills -- like counting, addition and subtraction -- by picking fruit from their trees to fill their buckets.
|
<urn:uuid:52aa2a13-6cfe-4db6-a44e-e784871adb1c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
https://www.funagain.com/control/catalogsearch?category_id=GENRE_10379&filter_categories=STORE_KIDS
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00064-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.926262
| 106
| 2.703125
| 3
|
Once, the Hudson River was the key conduit to the rest of the North American continent, and by gaining control of the waterway, the British intended to drive a wedge between New England and the South, thereby weakening the American upstarts. The fleet of 23 British ships and 2,000 troops was traveling upriver on its way to meet up with General Burgoyne’s forces, who were traveling south from the Champlain Valley. The conflagration at Kingston – then the capital of New York – was a diversion, propelled by the desire to punish “this nest of villains,” as General Vaughan wrote.
A highlight of the three-day event, which commences at 7:30 p.m. on October 14 with a meeting of the “American Committee of Safety” at the Hoffman House – it’s followed by the “British Council of War” between the land and naval forces at Kingston Point Beach at 8 p.m. – is the encampment of British and Colonial forces at Kingston Point Park. From 12 noon to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 15, and on the morning of Sunday, October 16 starting at 8:30 a.m., the public is invited to visit, learning more about the historical event from the reenactors as well as witnessing naval competitions, races and other fun activities. Food vendors will be on the premises.
Meanwhile, a recreation of the actions that led to the incineration of Kingston unfolds, starting with the landing of the British naval forces at Kingston Point Beach at 10 a.m. on Saturday. After repelling the Colonial militia – according to First Ulster’s historical accounts, colonel Johannes Snyder of the First Ulster Militia had five cannons and 150 men at his disposal – the British forces begin their march towards Uptown, meeting scattered resistance along the one-and-a-quarter-mile route.
At 3:30 p.m., the American Militia launches a surprise attack on the British encampment, but fails to drive the invaders off. From 7:30 to 11 p.m., a grand ball is held in the Council Chambers at Kingston City Hall to welcome General Vaughan, the victorious British commander, and “his Lady.”
On Sunday at 1 p.m., more action gets underway: Panicked residents of Kingston pack their belongings and flee as the British troops approach the Stockade District (Wall and Main Streets). The Americans put up a fight as the troops push ahead, passing the same stone buildings that they torched in 1777. This time around, of course, spectators will be spared the sight of flames – and residents can relax – with the event winding up with the reenactors breaking for lunch at local restaurants.
According to the First Ulster website, among the defensive actions undertaken by the First Ulster Militia under Colonel Snyder were two hastily constructed earthworks: one at Ponckhockie, overlooking the Hudson River and the mouth of the Rondout Creek, and the other near O’Reilly’s Woods, the present-day site of City Hall. But the British easily overwhelmed the Colonials, driving them out and torching the city. As General Vaughan described the scene at Kingston (then called Esopus), “They fired from their Houses, which induced me to reduce the Place to Ashes, which I accordingly did, not leaving a House.” But the Colonials quickly rebuilt their city – and the rest, as they say, is history.
|
<urn:uuid:36c7fa20-ad4f-4180-ada5-f8e0e9d33a94>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ulsterpublishing.com/pages/full_story/push?article--The+Redcoats+are+coming-Burning+of+Kingston+reenacted+this+weekend-%20&id=16030385
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00197-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961542
| 721
| 2.75
| 3
|
In this paper we argue for using a "Game First" approach to teaching introductory programming. We believe that concerns over whether an OO approach or a procedural approach should be used first are secondary to the course assignment and example content. If examples are not compelling, student interest often lags thus making the OO versus procedural argument moot. We believe that game programming motivates most new programmers. Compelling assignments mean that students are far more likely to learn because they are interested, and the visual component allows students to see mistakes in their code as manifested in the resultant graphics. We describe our experiences after redesigning and offering a new introductory computer science sequence using 2D game development as a unifying theme. We teach fundamental programming concepts via two dimensional game development in Flash and ActionScript during the first quarter, transition to C++ to solidify concepts and add pointers during the second quarter, then teach a multi-phase project based game approach using C++ and openGL (2D graphics only) during the third quarter. Our surveys show that this approach improved student understanding of all seven basic topics examined.
A games first approach to teaching introductory programming
|
<urn:uuid:7685901e-55e4-41ae-b2c6-de2f83fa3bc6>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/20696cdb9dc3042f77263b2896ebe2ddd/ajlakanen
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00167-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.925477
| 228
| 2.796875
| 3
|
Pronunciation: (sku-las'tik), [key]
1. of or pertaining to schools, scholars, or education: scholastic attainments.
2. of or pertaining to secondary education or schools: a scholastic meet.
4. of or pertaining to the medieval schoolmen.
1. (sometimes cap.) a schoolman, a disciple of the schoolmen, or an adherent of scholasticism.
2. a pedantic person.
3. Rom. Cath. Ch.a student in a scholasticate.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
|
<urn:uuid:d1685444-4225-4592-b6dc-8cccbfdaf337>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://dictionary.infoplease.com/scholastic
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.75374
| 142
| 2.734375
| 3
|
This document defines the data and mechanisms used to rate internet pages. This can be used to enable surfing sessions that are limited to specified contents, and is especially useful for allowing children to experience the web in a safe manner.
Unless otherwise noted, character data is assumed to be in Unicode.
A rating is a dictionary filled with name/value items. Each name/value item is an instance of a defined rating format.
A rating format defines a unique, case insensitive name, and a range of valid values along with their interpretation.
A given interpretation allows comparing two ratings against each other, to test if one exceeds the other. Comparisons are used to decide wether to allow a rated page or not.
A URL rating relates a rating to one or more URLs. It consists of a rating, an URL and an optional generic flag specifying that all URLs with the given URL as base path apply to the rating. It also has an optional comment explaining the rating.
A rating service defines a unique name and the (sub-)set of supported rating formats. The service name should be an URL with human-viewable information about the service.
The service should store and/or deliver URL ratings of the formats it defines.
Several recommended storage and delivery methods are explained below, however they are not mandatory.
Several different rating delivery methods are defined. They allow content providers flexibility when providing rating data. Since rating data is in Unicode, it must be encoded if the delivery method does not support Unicode.
When answering a HTTP request, rating data can be submitted as HTTP headers. All headers start with X-Rating and are defined as follows:
submits the service this rating applies to
submits one name/value item of the rating dictionary
HTTP header names are defined case insensitive. This is the reason why rating names, which are used as part of HTTP header names, are also defined case insensitive.
The order in which headers are sent does not matter. No duplicate X-Rating headers are allowed, but a X-Rating-XYZ header can occur multiple times, in which case it is service dependent on how to interpret the multiple values.
A HTML file can be rated by supplying data in a meta tag. The format is basically the same as the HTTP header format, using X-Rating in the name attribute and the value in the content attribute.
There are several things to consider when storing URL ratings for a service.
Since rating data is in Unicode, it must be encoded if the storage method does not support Unicode.
Rating data will be stored and processed on lots of different computers and platforms. All algorithms should be platform independent.
The storage format should be easily readable by humans. A readable format is automatically editable with a text editor, which also guarantees platform independence for editing operations.
As you might have guessed by now, the WebCleaner software delivers both a full featured rating service, and supports to deploy and enforce it on your computer. You can even submit your own ratings to the service. Below you will find a short description of the service. For more information, visit the WebCleaner rating service page (XXX todo).
The following rating formats are defined by WebCleaner:
|WC-Agerange||INT “-” INT?||Content is only suited for people of an age in the given range. If the second range value is missing, it is considered infinite.|
|WC-Violence WC-Sex WC-Language||“none” or “mild” or “heavy”||Content contains violence, sex or foul language in the given degree: either none, some or a lot of it.|
WebCleaner stores URLs normalized and absolute.
WebCleaner supports both HTTP header and HTML meta data ratings.
HTTP header example:
X-Rating: http://imadoofus.org/service/ X-Rating-WC-Agerange: 10-
HTML meta data example:
<meta name="X-Rating" content="http://imadoofus.org/service/"> <meta name="X-Rating-WC-Agerange" content="10-">
The WebCleaner rating web interface allows to query and send ratings for specific URLs. Sent ratings will undergo a review process before being admitted into the official rating database.
The WebCleaner proxy web interface will allow to send local ratings for review to the rating service URL. It will also be possible to update the local rating database with the official rating database.
URL ratings are stored as a number of fields. Each field begins with a tag, such as URL or Comment (case insensitive), followed by a colon, and the body of the field. Certain fields may be multiple lines in length, with subsequent lines indented by whitespace.
The format grammar assumes that the values of the URL rating are given as the -value terminals. Strings are case insensitive.
url-rating ::= url generic? rating+ comment? url ::= "Url: " url-value generic ::= "Generic: " ("true" | "false") rating ::= rating-name ": " rating-value comment ::= "Comment: " indented-comment-value
Url: http://www.imadoofus.org/ generic: true wc-Agerange: 6- Comment: This is just a dandy site, suitable for all kinds of people. Now with more extras!
The parser accepts malformed entries: the fields can be in any order, and whitespace will be normalized.
|
<urn:uuid:01e6a257-7132-447c-a439-69dac82892c7>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://webcleaner.sourceforge.net/rating.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.847872
| 1,151
| 3.296875
| 3
|
The Tao Teh King: A Short Study in Comparative Religion, by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, , at sacred-texts.com
Sincere words are not (necessarily) pleasant, nor are pleasant words (necessarily) sincere.
The good are not (necessarily) skillful debaters, nor are skillful debaters (necessarily) good men. 1
The wise are not (necessarily) well-informed, nor are the well-informed (necessarily) wise. 2
The Holy Man does not accumulate. He works for others, yet ever has abundance for himself; he gives to others, yet himself ever possesses superabundance.
The divine way is advantageous, without danger; the way of the Sages is effective without struggle. 3
131:1 "Confucius remarked, 'With plausible speech and fine manners will seldom be found moral character.'" Analects.
131:2 "Confucius remarked, 'A man who possesses moral worth will always have something to say worth listening to; but a man who has something to say is not necessarily a man of moral worth.'" Analects.
131:3 The last sentence is according to the rendering of Mr. T. W. Kingsmill.
Lit.—"Heaven's Tao benefits but injures not; the Holy Man's Tao acts but strives not."
131:* Quoted by Dr. Legge from Bunyan, in loc.
|
<urn:uuid:7b28c0f6-4553-4dcf-9bd5-fb8a5c55c7ec>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://sacred-texts.com/tao/mt/mt84.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.904222
| 305
| 2.703125
| 3
|
Few kitchen items are as cheerful and welcoming as a cookie jar. Whether it's a rare McCoy Mammy jar kept behind glass or just a colorful clown container placed within easy reach for the kids, a vintage cookie jar is exactly the sort of thing you want to get your hand caught in!
Decorative cookie jars as a category of vintage kitchenware first appeared in the United States in the early 1930s, although a 10-inch-tall ceramic cookie jar in the shape of a trash can from Brush Kolorkraft of Roseville, Ohio has been dated to 1929.
Other early cookie-jar manufacturers include McKee Glass Company of Pennsylvania (glass manufacturers were the first to capitalize on the public’s desire for cookie jars) and Louisville Pottery, which made lidded jars for the Harper J. Ransburg Company of Indiana. Ransburg is credited with being an early contributor to the cookie-jar genre because the firm hand-painted so many of them—a quarter-million a year during its heyday in the 1930s. Designs ranged from floral patterns, Davy Crockett coonskin caps, Humpty Dumpty, and Mary and her little lamb.
McCoy Pottery, also of Roseville, Ohio, joined the cookie-jar fray in the late 1930s. By no means the first, McCoy is arguably one of the most important and sought-after names in this category. McCoy’s first figural cookie jar was Mammy with Cauliflower (Blackamoor figures were associated with good eating during the ’30s). Other Mammy jars featured large women whose equally spacious dresses formed the bases of the jars. The words “Dem cookies shor am good” on the outside of one jar from 1944 were replaced in 1946 with the far-less offensive “Cookies.”
Another sought-after cookie-jar manufacturer was American Bisque of West Virginia, which excelled at character and people jars. They made grannies, clowns, and chefs; Dutch girls and boys (sometimes in pairs); and many different iterations of Davy Crockett. American Bisque also produced jars featuring the likenesses of licensed cartoon characters such as Popeye, Yogi Bear (holding a sign that reads “BETTER THAN AVERAGE COOKIES”), Fred Flintstone, and Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Many manufacturers, including American Bisque, produced countless jars in the shapes of animals. Pigs were especially popular— American Bisque is known for its “paws in pockets” jars. Other pink-cheeked creatures included elephants, kittens and puppies, lamps, and rabbits.
In the postwar era, countless ceramics companies made cookie jars. Sought-after producers include Brush Pottery, whose cows with cat finials and circus horses from the 1950s are tough to find in good condition. Purington Pottery made jars shaped like Howdy Doody heads, while Red Wing Stoneware produced Dutch girls, bunches of grapes, and chefs in assorted colors. Those are all nice, but the prizes for Red Wing are the cinnamon-colored King of Tarts jars and any color of cabbage jar you can find...
Regal China Company cranked out umpteen versions of Little Red Riding Hood, made an entire series of “Alice in Wonderland” products for Walt Disney, including an Alice cookie jar, and even made a jar shaped like the head of Harpo Marx. As for Shawnee Pottery, it is best known for its Smiley and Winnie Pig jars, each of which was made from the same mold but featured different colored scarves and articles of clothing.
One other important cookie-jar category is the advertising jar. Coca-Cola, Harley Davidson, and Quaker Oats are just a few of the firms who turned to McCoy for their cookie jars. Mrs. Field’s had jars made in the shapes of its trademark paper bags. And then there was Oreo, whose jars were shaped like—you get only one guess—its famous cookies.
|
<urn:uuid:b3ebd8a0-01c8-44f5-8427-fe7c102a62e1>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/kitchen/cookie-jars
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.9659
| 841
| 2.53125
| 3
|
Seth Ward's parents were John Ward, an attorney with a good reputation who was quite poor, and Martha Dalton. John Ward's father had been a rich man with a sizable estate, but had squandered his wealth. Seth was the second of his parents' three sons, there being six children in the family. Pope, who was a close friend of Ward, writes ( or ):-
I never heard Ward speak of his father, but that he often spoke fondly and admiringly of his mother, and believed that his character was due to her.
He was educated at the grammar school in Buntingford, then at Sidney Sussex College of the University of Cambridge, which he entered on 1 October 1632 as a sizar since his family was poor. He was tutored by Samuel Ward, who was not a relation, and lodged in his lodgings. He appears to have been somewhat shy and worked long hours in the library rather than spend time in the city. He showed considerable promise in mathematics and he impressed John Bainbridge, the first Savilian professor of astronomy. After disputing the differences between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, he was awarded his BA in 1637. In 1640 he was elected a fellow of Sidney Sussex College, then three years later he was appointed as a mathematics lecturer at the University of Cambridge. He went to study privately with William Oughtred, an ordained an Episcopal minister who taught mathematics to students who came to live in his house during their period of instruction in 1643. When he returned to Cambridge, Ward introduced ideas from Oughtred's Clavis Mathematicae (1631) into the syllabus there.
The First English Civil War began in 1642, before Ward was appointed to his lectureship. The Parliamentarians opposed the Royalists and the first battle in the war took place at Edgehill in October 1642. Early in 1643 Royalist forces were doing well and the Parliamentarians sought an alliance with the Covenanters in Scotland. This led to a document called the Solemn League and Covenant which promised a reformed religion in England and Scotland in return for military support from the Scots. Early in 1644 a Scottish army marched south to support the Parliamentarians, and in turn the English Parliament decreed that the Covenant was to be taken by every Englishman over the age of eighteen. It became a prerequisite for everyone holding office under Parliament. Ward opposed the Solemn League and Covenant and as a result he was removed from his fellowship and lectureship by the Parliamentarian Commissioners in 1644. He left Cambridge, living with friends near London, also spending a period with Oughtred at Albury. He then acted for several years as a tutor to the family of Ralph Freeman in Aspenden.
Charles I made his own alliance with the Scots in 1648 and the Solemn League and Covenant was no longer a prerequisite. Ward was able to hold positions again and was now in favour with the Parliamentarians having signed allegiance to the Commonwealth. He was appointed to the Savilian Chair of Astronomy at Oxford in 1649, a post which he held until 1661. The Savilian Chair had become vacant in November of 1648 when Oxford was visited by representatives of Cromwell's parliamentary party with the purpose of ensuring that the scholars in post there were loyal to Parliament and they dismissed the holder of the chair John Greaves. However, Greaves was a friend of Ward and, before leaving office, was able to organise that Ward succeed him. The same Commissioners who dismissed Greaves appointed John Wilkins as warden of Wadham College, and Wilkins invited Ward to live in rooms in Wadham.
Ward set up an observatory at Wadham and was the first person at Oxford to teach the Copernican system. He describes his activities in this area in a letter written on 27 February 1652 (see where Ward's old-fashioned English is preserved):-
I have spent much of my time (beside my readings which excepting Xmas to have been continual since the 10 of October) in building a slight observatory for the matter of my profession and in procuring and fitting Telescopes and other instruments for observation so that the account I can give of those 2 designs, I mentioned to you, is but small yet somewhat I have done in both of them, and in that which I look on as the chief I have in Xmas time made not only a progress but an alteration to a good advantage.
He was a founding fellow of the Royal Society, elected in 1663. In fact he was a member of the Oxford Philosophical Society which was a fore-runner of the Royal Society. Robinson writes in :-
At that time Oxford was the home of many illustrious men of science, among whom may be mentioned John Wilkins, the Warden of Wadham; Robert Boyle; Thomas Willis; Jonathan Coddard; and John Wallis. These men constituted a brilliant intellectual group and they, together with Ward and others, formed the Oxford Philosophical Society. All of the above took an active interest in the formation of the Royal Society in 1660 and became original Fellows.
In the same letter we quoted from above (written on 27 February 1652), Ward describes the activities of the Oxford Philosophical Society :-
... our Club ... consists of about 30 persons. We have (every one taking a portion) gone over all or most of the heads of natural philosophy and applied mathematics collecting only a history of the phenomena out of such authors as we have in our library and sometimes trying experiments as we had occasion and opportunity. Our first business is to gather together such things as are already discovered and to make a book with a general index of them ....
We have conceived it requisite to examine all the books of our public library (every one taking his part) and to make a catalogue or index of the matters and that very particularly in philosophy, physics, mathematics and indeed in all other faculties, that so that great numbers of books may be serviceable and a man may at once see where he may find whatever is there concerning the argument he is upon, and this is our present business which we hope to dispatch this Lent.
The library Ward refers to in this letter is the Bodleian Library which had been founded in 1598. In addition to his work in astronomy, Ward wrote several mathematical works, in particular Idea trigonometriae demonstratae (1654), but he is perhaps best known for his defence of the teaching at Oxford. In 1654 John Webster, a chaplain in the army, published Academiarum Examen in which he claimed that the universities were blindly devoted to Aristotle but outside the universities:-
... some private spirits have made progress, as Napier, Briggs, Oughtred. and some others. [However] it had lain as a fair garden unweeded or cultivated, so little have the Schools done to advance learning or promote sciences.
Ward, in collaboration with John Wilkins, replied to Webster in Vindiciae Academiarum (1654). They pointed out that:-
... natural science and all new forms of knowledge are welcomed, mathematics has been considerably advanced, chemistry and magnetism are studied, and projects are afoot for establishing a laboratory for chemical, mechanical and optical researches. Those who cry out upon the university exercises in the schools close their eyes to the work done in college halls and in tutors' chambers.
Arithmetic and geometry are sincerely and profoundly taught, analytical algebra, the solution and application of equations, containing the whole mystery of both those sciences, being faithfully expounded in the Schools by the Professor of Geometry, and in several Colleges by particular tutors.
It was not only with Webster that Ward disputed. He also disputed with Hobbes for his attack on mathematics and the universities. His main attack was In Thomae Hobbii philosophiam exercitatio epistolica (1656) in which he examined Hobbes' philosophy and theology, to which Hobbes replied in the last of his Six Lessons to the Savilian Professors of the Mathematics (1656). Pope ( or ) reports that relations between Hobbes and Ward reached such a low point that when Hobbes was invited to visit a mutual friend he would first check whether Ward was invited before accepting.
On the astronomy side Ward disputed with Ismael Boulliau in what has become known as the Boulliau-Ward controversy over Kepler's laws. In 1645 Boulliau, although accepting elliptical orbits for planets, argued strongly against Kepler's laws, claiming that the planets were self-moved and totally dismissed Kepler's mathematics as "a-geometric". He called Kepler a "mediocre geometer". Ward opposed Boulliau's assumptions, methods and conclusions. The argument was a difficult one where accuracy of prediction, simplicity of hypothesis and physical basis of the hypothesis all played a major role. The hypothesis which gave results most closely matching observations was not necessarily physically correct.
Ward was awarded a divinity degree from Oxford in 1654. In 1657 he was elected to the position of President of Jesus College, Oxford, but Cromwell preferred another and he never took up the post. In 1659 he was elected President of Trinity College, Oxford, and this time he took up the post. However following the Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660, the previous Royalist President, was reinstated and Ward removed from the post. Already Dean of Exeter, he resigned the Savilian Chair of Astronomy at Oxford in 1661 in order to became Bishop of Exeter in the following year. Wren was Ward's successor as Savilian professor at Oxford. Ward's career in the church is described by Richard John King :-
In 1662, not long after the Restoration, he succeeded John Gauden to the See of Exeter. He was already Dean of that City. Very severe to Nonconformists, he was a greater benefactor to his Cathedral than any bishop since the Reformation. He first cast out the buyers and sellers who had usurped the cloister and caused the partition in the Cathedral Church to be pulled down. He repaired and beautified the building, the expenses whereof amounted to £25,000. He also bought a new "pair of organs," esteemed the best in England, which cost £2,000. Bishop Ward was translated to Salisbury in 1667 where he also set about repairs necessitated by the disorders of the Civil War. The Bishop's Palace, he completely restored, it having fallen into ruin. A survey of the entire Cathedral at Salisbury was made at Bishop Ward's request to Sir Christopher Wren, principally with a view to the security of the spire. Beside other benefactions to Salisbury, he founded in it a hospital for widows of the clergy of the diocese. Bishop Ward's learning was considerable, his charity and hospitality very great. He was one of the first to assist in the establishment of the Royal Society. He died in Knightsbridge in January 1688, having long since lost his faculties and therefore unaware of the great events of the Glorious Revolution during which king James II lodged in his Episcopal Palace. Bishop Ward was buried in his own Cathedral at Salisbury, where a tablet to his memory exists in the south transept.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
|
<urn:uuid:84bd6f00-bd21-47e6-9eaa-5ee7e33c4001>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Printonly/Ward_Seth.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.985659
| 2,331
| 2.78125
| 3
|
Different definitions of 'inflation' and 'deflation'
Austrians commonly refer to only the first part of the common definition – the increase in the quantity of money – without the specifying statement that inflation is only that part which is not offset by an increased demand for money.
While (re-)reading one of the chapters of Mises’s Theory of Money and Credit, I noted my underlining of the very clearly formulated definitions on page 240. Mises defines inflation as:
an increase in the quantity of money (in the broader sense of the term, so as to include fiduciary media as well), that is not offset by a corresponding increase in the need for money (again in the broader sense of the term), so that a fall in the objective exchange-value of money must occur.
Austrians commonly refer to only the first part of this definition – the increase in the quantity of money – without the specifying statement that inflation is only that part which is not offset by an increased demand for money (which, indirectly, seems to suggest a “soft dismissal” of monetarism rather than the hard line that would otherwise follow).
The same seems to be true for Mises’s definition of deflation:
a diminution of the quantity of money (in the broader sense) which is not offset by a corresponding diminution of the demand for money (in the broader sense), so that an increase in the objective exchange-value of money must occur.
Now, it would not be fair to say that these definitions as formulated by Mises back in 1912 in any sense were final. And it is far from impossible that Austrian thinkers before and since then have used idiosyncratic and different variations of these definitions, but presumably with a common core of their meaning.
But what definitions are there? I am interested in finding out what other definitions of inflation and deflation are available in Austrian works. Please post the definitions you are aware of in the comments section (direct quotes with page references, please).
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on blog.mises.org.
|
<urn:uuid:07c10da6-bc22-4a9b-98bc-5fc2bdd38a1b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Circle-Bastiat/2011/1118/Different-definitions-of-inflation-and-deflation
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00028-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959818
| 501
| 2.828125
| 3
|
Each year, an untold number of spiders are sentenced to gruesome deaths, guilty only of possessing eight, jerky hydraulic legs, two arced fangs, and myriad orb-like eyes. Humans, of course, are the executioners.
This wanton extermination is regrettable and actually deleterious to humanity. Many of the 43,678 known spider species aren't dangerous to us in the least, instead predating upon genuinely pesky and harmful insects like mosquitoes. One species of jumping spider in East Africa actually prefers ensnaring and eating mosquitoes carrying the insidious malaria parasite, which kills up to a million humans each year. The number of human deaths caused by spider bites is paltry in comparison.
Spiders are incredibly hearty animals, persisting in almost every environment worldwide except for the air and water. This resilience means that they do occasionally end up in foreign environments, like your bed sheets. In the southern United States, two species in particular -- black widows and brown recluses -- are known to wind up where we don't want them. Despite their comparatively small size, each packs a powerful, venomous punch. Disturbingly, the brown recluse's hemotoxin sometimes has a necrotic effect, inducing the skin surrounding the bite to rot away. Such an experience is no fun, no fun at all.
As such, arachnid extermination is occasionally necessary. But what's the best way to carry it out? Stomping or swatting are quite effective methods, although they are very messy and potentially disastrous for innocent nearby objects, like that old, antique lamp precariously situated right next to your eight-legged target.
Another potential option -- recommended by Destin from Smarter Every Day -- is death by fire. Since the exoskeletons of small spiders are pressurized (that's how they extend their legs), holding a flame nearby causes the interior pressure to skyrocket, resulting in a spectacular explosion of legs and segmented body parts. This method, however, is also messy and suffers from a more serious drawback: it could actually start a fire.
A technique more commonly utilized is flushing the spider down the toilet, a fate which elicits curiosity. What happens to a spider after it traverses the U-bend? For an answer, I sought the expertise of Ohio State's Dr. Jerome Rovner, a member of the American Arachnological Society.
"Flushed spiders will drown if they end up submerged in
the sewer," he told me in an email. "However, the drowning process for a spider can take an hour
or more, as they have an extremely low metabolic rate and thus a very low
rate of oxygen consumption."
Death by lengthy drowning might be deemed cruel, an end unfitting for an animal so overtly beneficial to mankind. Thus, Rovner recommends a more intricate, yet affable method for destroying one of our eight-legged friends:
Catch [the spider] in an empty pill vial of appropriate size (or a baby-food-size jar), snap the cap on, and put it in the refrigerator freezer overnight. Getting cold is a normal experience of all spiders during winter, so it doesn't seem cruel to knock them out by lowering their body temperature. The next day, pour enough rubbing alcohol in the container to submerge the frozen spider to insure that it will not recover from being frozen. The now dead spider and alcohol can then be poured into the toilet and flushed away.
|
<urn:uuid:9745594a-df2b-4da0-b717-d2cc910acdb9>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/05/whats-the-most-humane-way-to-kill-a-spider.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00151-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.937482
| 714
| 2.875
| 3
|
1) To disseminate a knowledge of zoology and an appreciation of animal life.
2) To maintain a zoological garden where small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibian and tropical fish will be on display for observation and study.
3) Through local facilities readily accessible to all of Staten Island, to instill in children an understanding and appreciation of living creatures.
4) To provide lectures and facilities for group meetings devoted to the study of natural history.
A Brief History of the Zoo
In August 1933 the Staten Island Zoological Society was organized to create and administer a zoo located in Clarence T. Barrett Park on Staten Island. The formal goals of the Society articulated in the first bulletin in December 1934 have been adhered to throughout its history and are as follows:
• To disseminate a knowledge of zoology and an appreciation of animal life
• To maintain a zoological garden where small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and
tropical fish will be on display for observation and study
• Through local facilities, accessible to all of Staten Island, instill in children an
understanding and appreciation of living creatures
• To provide lectures and facilities for group meetings devoted to the study of natural
Zoo construction commenced in 1933 as part of the Federal Government's works program on an eight-acre estate willed to New York City. It was opened on June 10, 1936, the first zoo in the U. S. specifically devoted to an educational mandate. The Staten Island Zoological Society was the first zoo in the country to specifically dedicate itself to fulfilling an educational mission. The Society has remained steadfast in its concentration on this goal, which is still a vital part of the Society's current mission.
The Staten Island Zoo was also the first zoo anywhere to exhibit all the 32 varieties of rattlesnakes known to occur in the United States. In the late 1960's the Zoo maintained the most complete rattlesnake collection in the world with 39 varieties. Since it's opening in 1936, the Staten Island Zoo has been synonymous with snakes. This is due in great part to Carl Frederick Kauffeld, former Curator of Reptiles and Director. It was his focus on "herps" (reptiles and amphibians) and particularly rattlesnakes that brought international status to our reptile collection. Harold J. O'Connell, the organizer of the Staten Island Zoological Society and Carol Stryker, the first Director of the Zoo, shared Kauffeld's passion for herps. O'Connell and Stryker were pivotal in establishing our reptile collection and were instrumental in raising the public's consciousness of reptiles.
The Staten Island Zoo was also the first in the American zoo community to have a full time woman veterinarian on staff. In 1942 Dr. Patricia O Connor, was hired as the Zoo's veterinarian - a historic event. Dr. O Connor was also co-founder and first president of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians and the first to serve two non-consecutive terms as president of the Association for Women Veterinarians.
Since the Zoo's opening, its human and physical resources have created this exemplary educational and recreational facility. Over the years New York City's "biggest little Zoo" evolved to accommodate the collection and serve the visiting public. The small one-building style Zoo originally designed in the 1930's had its first major renovation in 1969 when a Children's Center was constructed. A focus group of children determined what kind of center they wanted including what kind of the animals. Designed as a farmyard, this facility focused on hands on activities for small children. After its completion the Zoo experienced a sizable increase in visitation especially among families with small children.
In the 1980's the Board of Trustees made a commitment to renovate its physical plant to reflect the new focus on environmental conservation and education. A thirty-page publication, "Developments in the 1980's," served as the blueprint for the redevelopment of the physical plant, which took place over the next twenty years. The Society spent over $16 million to upgrade, modernize and transform 90% of the exhibits and public and staff facilities. Concurrently the educational staff was expanded and specific formal and informal curricula were developed for the education of preschool to seniors.
In 1988 the Zoo received accreditation by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums. Paramount in developing new exhibits is the goal of providing a naturalistic setting conducive to the needs of the living collection. The objective was to provide the visitor with a simulation of how the animals live and interact in the wild. Construction of animal exhibits and visitor amenities continues into the new millennium as the Zoo expands to better serve and educate its growing visitorship.
Through effective wildlife exhibitions, promotion of species conservation, educational programs and community outreach the Society has become a powerful instrument for influencing and informing the public about the beauty, value and vulnerability of nature.
|
<urn:uuid:c28e889d-c615-4868-800a-d75992012089>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.statenislandzoo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=77
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95732
| 1,000
| 3.140625
| 3
|
Landin, Anders and Haridi, Seif and Hagersten, Erik (1991) DDM - a cache-only memory architecture. [SICS Report]
The long latencies introduced by remote accesses in a large multiprocessor can be hidden by caching. Caching also decreases the network load. We introduce a new class of architectures called Cache Only Memory Archi-tectures (COMA). These architectures provide the programming paradigm of the shared-memory architectures, but have no physically shared memory; instead, the caches attached to the processors containallthe memory in the system, and their size is therefore large. A datum is allowed to be in any or many of the caches, and will automatically be moved to where it is needed by a cache-coherence protocol,which also ensures that the last copy of a datum is never lost. The location of a datum in the machine is completely decoupled from its address. We also introduce one example of COMA: the Data Diffusion Machine (DDM), and its simulated performance for large applications. The DDM is based on a hierarchical network structure, with processor/memory pairs at its tips. Remote accesses generally cause only a limited amount of traffic over a limited part of the machine.
|Item Type:||SICS Report|
|Uncontrolled Keywords:||Multiprocesor, COMA, hierarchical architeture, hierarchical buses, multilevel cache, shared memory, split-transaction bus, cache coherence, cache-only memory architecture|
|Deposited By:||Vicki Carleson|
|Deposited On:||30 Oct 2007|
|Last Modified:||18 Nov 2009 16:00|
Repository Staff Only: item control page
|
<urn:uuid:eee22547-22a4-46c8-91b6-678aa157b474>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://soda.swedish-ict.se/2106/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00097-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.836771
| 369
| 2.796875
| 3
|
It’s a source of wonder how DNA can program people’s faces to resemble others sharing genetic kinship.
Resemblance is the basis of our perception of race and ethnicity. It is also a favourite topic of conversation at family gatherings – proclaimed where it is strikingly apparent, or perhaps whispered where it is lacking. Families generally like it when their male biological offspring look like their fathers and females look like their mothers, perhaps with the odd feature thrown in to mark the other half’s creative stamp (“He’s the spitting image of you, but he’s got my eyes”). Some may start life looking like one parent, then ‘morph’ into the other as they get older. Certain facial features may perpetuate for generations, or, fascinatingly, even skip generations. What family historian hasn’t felt a thrill when they unearth an old photograph of a long forgotten ancestor with a distinct family resemblance? DNA never forgets.
Does the actual percentage of DNA we share have any bearing on our degree of resemblance to each other? It’s a genetic lottery, of course. Here are some interesting examples of resemblance across generations:
Resemblance is inevitable with monozygotic (identical) twins who share 99.99% of their genes. Film aficionados will know that the producers of Terminator 2 kept their special effects budget down by using Linda Hamilton’s identical twin Leslie in certain shots. The film also featured identical twins Don and Dan Stanton (male monozygotic twins are less common than female).
More commonly, twins will be dizygotic (non-identical) and around half are male-female pairs. They may share up to around 75% of their genes and, like any other siblings, may look similar, particularly given that they are the same age.
However, dizygotic twins may also look very different from each other. Kian and Remee Hodgson were born a minute apart to mixed race parents. The odds, however, of a mixed race couple having twins of such markedly different colours are very rare.
Siblings share 50% of their genes. While each sibling receives the same genetic material from each parent, the combination of those genes will be different each time, resulting in both physical difference and similarities too. Some genetic traits will always show up because of their dominance. Some may even skip generations.
This is evident in the immediate descendants of 10th US President John Tyler. His grandsons, Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. and Harrison Ruffin Tyler, are brothers who only share a passing resemblance. Harrison strongly resembles his father, Lyon Sr., while Lyon Jr. strongly resembles his grandfather, John. The Tyler family is remarkable because of the length of time spanning each generation, but this delayed time gap has no effect on their DNA programming – John Tyler’s dominant genes are still showing up faithfully in his grandson over 220 years after his birth.
Adolf Hitler’s 50% share of his mother’s genes are more apparent as a younger man. With added weight and years, his father’s genetic traits seem to come to the fore.
Going back a generation, grandparents share 25% genetic similarity with their grandchildren. The dominant genes of Joseph Stalin and Eleanor Roosevelt are clear in the faces of their respective grandson and granddaughter – Yevgeny Dzhugashvili and Anna Roosevelt.
By the time we go back 5 generations, the genetic similarity shared with a particular ancestor is diluted to around 3%. Actor Skandar Keynes is a great-great-great grandson of Charles Darwin. He may not grow to share his ancestor’s distinctive looks in old age, but as young children the resemblance is clearly evident.
Another example of a 5 generation gap is Prince William and his great-great-great grandfather King Edward VII. Depending on camera angle and facial expression, William can look like any number of his ancestors – but when he briefly sported a beard recently and was snapped in Victorian ‘non-smiling’ mode, he bore a striking resemblance to 19th century playboy Edward, ‘the Uncle of Europe’, particularly around the eyes and the nose.
After 1,000 years of ‘selective breeding’ by the royal families of Europe, the genetic similarity between William and Edward may be somewhat more than the 3% expected in a 5 generation gap. For example, William’s grandparents – Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip – are 3rd cousins from both being directly descended from Queen Victoria, as well as 2nd cousins once removed from their direct descent from King Christian IX of Denmark.
However, things are looking up for William genetically. At 6ft 3in, he not only towers over the 5ft 5in Edward VII, but he is also set to be the tallest ever monarch in British history (taller even than Edward I, the famed 6ft 2in ‘Longshanks’ who reigned 1272-1307). Both William and his 6ft 2in brother Harry are the beneficiaries of their father Prince Charles’ genetic masterstroke – to inject the royal bloodline with ‘tall genes’ from the Spencer family.
The historic nemesis of British royalty, Oliver Cromwell (who signed King Charles I’s death warrant in 1649), is pictured here alongside his 9 x great-grandson Charlie Bush. Charlie’s resemblance to his famous ancestor probably owes more to the make-up, wig and costume involved in this fun piece of living history than to his DNA – after 11 generations they will likely share less than 0.05% of their genetic material. Nonetheless, the resemblance is quite convincing.
Family resemblances are not only confined to siblings and direct ancestors. Cousins obviously share genetic material too. A first cousin will share them same proportion of DNA with you as a great-grandparent (12.5%), and some uncanny resemblances can occur between seemingly distant cousins. Ralph C Lincoln discovered he shared an ancestor with 16th US President Abraham Lincoln that made them 3rd cousins. While Ralph has contrived to grow a similar style of beard as Abraham, a split image of their faces reveals an uncanny resemblance.
And finally, fans of the TV genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? may recall the first UK series which featured Jeremy Clarkson (still my favourite ever episode). He uncovered an old photo of his long-dead 1st cousin 3 times removed, George Kilner, which looked startlingly similar to a 1970s passport mugshot of a teenage Clarkson. Jeremy and George share just 1.56% of their genetic material.
|
<urn:uuid:5f34e0f6-f887-4ddb-ab78-f54c3b87b41a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.abroadintheyard.com/dna-family-resemblance-across-generations/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.952878
| 1,368
| 3.0625
| 3
|
Here be monsters
The signage design for Carlsbad, New Mexico, an underground site to be sealed until the year 12,000 AD, is a genuine matter of life and death.
In 1999 the US Department of Energy commissioned a remarkable project: a signage system for the nuclear waste underground storage facility site in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The message: Keep out and don’t dig for the next 10,000 years. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site will be filled and sealed by 2035, and that seal must not be opened until the year 12,000AD. Three hundred generations will have lived on Earth by that time.
What these future human beings look like, how they live, what language – if any – they speak, we cannot even begin to imagine. Yet however much we might like to be able to ignore the potential catastrophe we have bequeathed them – the Department of Energy initially considered leaving the area unmarked – we cannot in conscience do so. If our warning loses its significance and clarity, future treasure-hunters will be digging up their own downfall and possibly that of the whole human race.
For the interdisciplinary team given the brief, this meant rethinking communication; understanding how it evolves in relation to social and cultural changes; and envisioning some of the changes that might take place in the near and not-so-near future. If all technology were to be destroyed, for example – a scenario that Albert Einstein famously predicted, saying ‘I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones’ – what would visual communication look like? Would our writing systems and their typographic shapes still prevail? Would systems such as runes, hieroglyphs or arranging objects in space resurface? Or alternatives as yet beyond our imagining? For future inhabitants of Earth, Western writing might be an ancient script, belonging to a culture they can hardly imagine and cannot, literally, understand – although Carlsbad, as an archeological site, would provide perhaps the most quintessential clues to our times: the way we use technology, the planet and design.
Even if typographic symbols were still in use, or at least physically legible, their meaning might not be apparent to future generations. Language is a social current that twists and turns; words, grammar and structure can be overwritten or replaced. After ten millennia, even the most carefully formulated message could be misread – and this is one message that has to get through. The same holds true for the signification of symbols, which relies on acquired knowledge. Take the skull-and-crossbones symbol universally used on bottles containing poison. This has had to be reconsidered, because children were misinterpreting it as something to do with pirates, and hence exciting. And although ‘Mr Yuk’, an alternative designed by the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1971, does naturally repel many children, it has had to be backed up with a song, underlining the limitations of visual communication in conveying life-and-death messages.
The team has thus had to venture into more esoteric fields of communication. Could they devise a signage system that extends beyond typo / graphic symbols? Something more fluid, that might engage the human need for storytelling and tradition, like a complex myth that could be woven into the common knowledge and folklore of a culture, backed up by rituals inseparable from the place?
Or perhaps even a whole way of life – in this case, breaking with traditional uses of land and making digging taboo? But such approaches would still be vulnerable to social revolutions or ecological changes, and to an inevitable distortion over time.
The alternative was to look at an even lower common denominator, the primal levels of sense and instinct. This is knowledge so deep we do not have to acquire it, and which is beyond temporal contexts. What if the team were to exploit the physical limits of human beings? We could create surfaces so hot that we cannot walk or settle on them; spaces that induce so violent a reaction that we can go no further; a landscape rendered unbearable by the sound of the wind blowing through it. Such proposals take the space provided by the wipp and use it in a sculptural way to create experiences, rather than content / meaning. This would be closer to Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin than to the Rosetta stone. By not attempting the impossible task of bridging the gap between one communication system and an unknown other, might they be able to ensure that the signs function over an extremely long period?
Such speculative forms of communication seem to be too experimental for the us Department of Energy. The project is currently testing a combination of two strategies planned to incorporate the entire space of the landfill, both horizontally, across sixteen square miles, and vertically to a depth of 2150ft, by using layers of signs / messages of increasing degrees of complexity, from outside in. Thus, the strata of the cave-like structure housing the nuclear waste will contain detailed explanations, in various languages, of what is buried there, how it got there and what its dangers are. An archive and information centre, so to speak. The layer above will consist of small buried markers, and, above that again, huge monolithic structures placed regular distances apart, each engraved with symbols inspired by Edvard Munch’s The Scream and the skull and crossbones, in the hope that these depictions of humans in pain will express the physical menace embedded in the ground. On the surface and around the site’s borders will be more traditional information signs. All must be difficult to remove, resistant to vandalism, unattractive to thieves, and able to endure as long as it takes for the nuclear waste to lose its toxicity.
The ‘passive institutional controls’ developed by the project will become the basis for a universal signage system that identifies all future nuclear waste burial sites. Soon these marks will pop up on our maps, marking the ultimate non-places.
Yet the fact that not one single communication designer was appointed to the consulting team (which consisted of an archeologist, an astronomer, an anthropologist, a linguist, a material scientist and an environmental designer) says something about wider perceptions of our profession. We graphic designers consider ourselves experts in the transformation of immaterial messages into visual form and back again, yet no one invited us to help solve the biggest communication problem in human history. If what we do really is so important and relevant, and if we really are as good at it as we keep assuring ourselves, we should be engaging with projects of this importance and scale. We need to rethink the whole concept of signage, information design and communication. What roles do writing and materiality play? Should we embrace more tacit forms of knowing / communicating? Should the Carlsbad signage simply communicate the facts, or should it also offer something of human character – an apology, for example?
In the meantime, nothing has been decided in Carlsbad and most likely will not until 2035 when the burial site will be sealed. So, graphic designers, illustrators, typographers – you still have a good quarter-century to submit your proposals.
First published in Eye no. 62 vol. 16 2006
Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues.
|
<urn:uuid:07498344-a72a-4da7-8f14-75a1fba7dfdd>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/here-be-monsters
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943424
| 1,557
| 2.59375
| 3
|
The National Archives
Heroes & Villains
Truman & the atomic bomb
> Source 1
US survey of damage caused by firebombing of Tokyo in 1945
(Catalogue ref: AIR 48/15)
What factors made this firebombing raid on Tokyo so damaging?
What content of the source lets you know that this is an Allied document?
What is missing from an official document of this kind in terms of providing a full picture of what happened in Tokyo during this event?
|
<urn:uuid:84aff307-4aca-42b9-97a8-18086adbb7cb>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/heroesvillains/g5/cs1/g5cs1s1a.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.855259
| 102
| 2.71875
| 3
|
Readers Write: Can we teach robots to think ethically?
Letters to the Editor for the October 8, 2012 weekly print issue: When we create artificial intelligence, will we create artificial 'ethicators,' too? The potential for 'cognitive decision-making skills' in computers is both challenging and exciting.
Can we teach robots to think ethically?
Regarding the Sept. 17 cover story, "Man & Machine," on the development of artificial intelligence (AI): I don't wish to be an alarmist, but I'm glad we're still far from inventing self-reasoning machines. Humankind has a history of creating new technologies simply because they're possible, only thinking about their impact later. Ray Bradbury suggested that science fiction is the nursery of new possibilities for humanity. If so, it should also be considered a warning.
From Isaac Asimov's novel "I, Robot" to HAL in Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey," thinkers have long been asking: How can we be sure an artificial intelligence will be good? A machine has no moral sense or inner Jiminy Cricket to guide it. Will we create artificial "ethicators," too? If we can't even train dogs reliably, are we really capable of training machines with human-level reasoning?
Extremely sophisticated, "smart" software could play a key role in reviving the US economy, just as highly capable computer-based systems may replace some human job functions. But this article doesn't really push to the most challenging frontier of AI.
Computer systems may develop to the point where they seem to possess cognitive decision-making skills and reach conclusions not foreseen by their creators. These themes are touched on by "cyber prophets" like the computer pioneer Bill Joy when he wrote the groundbreaking article "Why the future doesn't need us" (Wired Magazine, 2000).
One of the most vital aspects of this new world is the rapid proliferation of a vast variety of "networks" – where "smart" machines and "smart" systems share information in an endless "ebb and flow." The flowing data are altered and improved in what some refer to as a kind of "collective intelligence." Our current Internet is a mild precursor of the potential involved in such a system.
This prospect can sometimes seem overwhelming, but I am reassured that in dealing with both exciting potential and sobering challenge we can be sure that our highest sense of intelligence will provide a steadfast guide.
Dr. Allan Hauer
|
<urn:uuid:6158dcc9-40dd-405b-be7e-0ec1fc327993>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2012/1008/Readers-Write-Can-we-teach-robots-to-think-ethically
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943791
| 510
| 2.921875
| 3
|
Obese mothers are more likely to have children with metabolic disorders such as diabetes compared with thin mothers, but the underlying molecular and cellular reasons for this effect have been unclear. A study published by Cell Press on January 23rd in the journal Cell reveals that the offspring of mouse mothers on a high-fat diet are predisposed to obesity and diabetes because of abnormal neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus--a key brain region that regulates metabolism. The findings suggest that mothers who consume a large amount of fat during the third trimester may be putting their children at risk for lifelong obesity and related metabolic disorders.
"Our study suggests that expecting mothers can have major impact on the long-term metabolic health of their children by properly controlling nutrition during this critical developmental period of the offspring," says study author Tamas Horvath of the Yale University School of Medicine.
More than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese and thus are at risk for long-term health problems such as type 2 diabetes. Studies in humans have shown that mothers who are obese or have diabetes put their children at risk for metabolic problems, but researchers have not previously identified the exact brain circuits mediating this effect, known as metabolic programming. Moreover, past studies failed to pinpoint the most critical stage of pregnancy during which maternal nutrition has the greatest impact on offspring health.
To address these questions, Horvath teamed up with Jens Brüning of the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research and the University of Cologne to develop a mouse model of metabolic programming. They found that mouse mothers fed a high-fat diet during lactation had offspring with abnormal neuronal connections in the hypothalamus, as well as altered insulin signaling in this brain circuit. As a result, the offspring remained overweight and had abnormalities in glucose metabolism throughout their adult life.
Because of developmental differences between species--neural circuits in the hypothalamus continue to develop after birth in mice but are fully developed before birth in humans--the findings suggest that the third trimester of pregnancy in humans is the most critical time window for a mother's nutrition to have long-lasting effects on her offspring's health.
"Given that gestational diabetes frequently manifests during the third trimester, our results point toward the necessity of more intensified screening of mothers for altered glucose metabolism, as well as tightly controlled antidiabetic therapy if any alterations are detected during this critical period," Brüning says.
Cell, Vogt et al.: "Neonatal insulin action impairs hypothalamic neurocircuit formation in response to maternal high fat feeding."
|
<urn:uuid:23bbb51c-c328-4187-8523-c56ea1524591>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-01/cp-oim011514.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956933
| 516
| 3.09375
| 3
|
- Year Published: 1851
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: United States of America
- Source: Melville H. (1851). Moby Dick.London, England: Richard Bently.
- Flesch–Kincaid Level: 9.8
- Word Count: 3,538
Melville, H. (1851). Chapter 134: The Chase--Second Day. Moby Dick (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved June 28, 2016, from
Melville, Herman. "Chapter 134: The Chase--Second Day." Moby Dick. Lit2Go Edition. 1851. Web. <>. June 28, 2016.
Herman Melville, "Chapter 134: The Chase--Second Day," Moby Dick, Lit2Go Edition, (1851), accessed June 28, 2016,.
At day-break, the three mast-heads were punctually manned afresh.
“D’ye see him?” cried Ahab after allowing a little space for the light to spread.
“See nothing, sir.”
“Turn up all hands and make sail! he travels faster than I thought for;- the top-gallant sails!- aye, they should have been kept on her all night. But no matter- ‘tis but resting for the rush.”
Here be it said, that this pertinacious pursuit of one particular whale, continued through day into night, and through night into day, is a thing by no means unprecedented in the South sea fishery. For such is the wonderful skill, prescience of experience, and invincible confidence acquired by some great natural geniuses among the Nantucket commanders; that from the simple observation of a whale when last descried, they will, under certain given circumstances, pretty accurately foretell both the direction in which he will continue to swim for a time, while out of sight, as well as his probable rate of progression during that period. And, in these cases, somewhat as a pilot, when about losing sight of a coast, whose general trending he well knows, and which he desires shortly to return to again, but at some further point; like as this pilot stands by his compass, and takes the precise bearing of the cape at present visible, in order the more certainly to hit aright the remote, unseen headland, eventually to be visited: so does the fisherman, at his compass, with the whale; for after being chased, and diligently marked, through several hours of daylight, then, when night obscures the fish, the creature’s future wake through the darkness is almost as established to the sagacious mind of the hunter, as the pilot’s coast is to him. So that to this hunter’s wondrous skill, the proverbial evanescence of a thing writ in water, a wake, is to all desired purposes well nigh as reliable as the steadfast land. And as the mighty iron Leviathan of the modern railway is so familiarly known in its every pace, that, with watches in their hands, men time his rate as doctors that of a baby’s pulse; and lightly say of it, the up train or the down train will reach such or such a spot, at such or such an hour; even so, almost, there are occasions when these Nantucketers time that other Leviathan of the deep, according to the observed humor of his speed; and say to themselves, so many hours hence this whale will have gone two hundred miles, will have about reached this or that degree of latitude or longitude. But to render this acuteness at all successful in the end, the wind and the sea must be the whaleman’s allies; for of what present avail to the becalmed or wind-bound mariner is the skill that assures him he is exactly ninety-three leagues and a quarter from his port? Inferable from these statements, are many collateral subtile matters touching the chase of whales.
The ship tore on; leaving such a furrow in the sea as when a cannonball, missent, becomes a plough-share and turns up the level field.
“By salt and hemp!” cried Stubb, “but this swift motion of the deck creeps up one’s legs and tingles at the heart. This ship and I are two brave fellows!- Ha, ha! Some one take me up, and launch me, spine-wise, on the sea,- for by live-oaks! my spine’s a keel. Ha, ha! we go the gait that leaves no dust behind!”
“There she blows- she blows!- she blows!- right ahead!” was now the mast-head cry.
“Aye, aye!” cried Stubb, “I knew it- ye can’t escape- blow on and split your spout, O whale! the mad fiend himself is after ye! blow your trump- blister your lungs!- Ahab will dam off your blood, as a miller shuts his watergate upon the stream!”
And Stubb did but speak out for well nigh all that crew. The frenzies of the chase had by this time worked them bubblingly up, like old wine worked anew. Whatever pale fears and forebodings some of them might have felt before; these were not only now kept out of sight through the growing awe of Ahab, but they were broken up, and on all sides routed, as timid prairie hares that scatter before the bounding bison. The hand of Fate had snatched all their souls; and by the stirring perils of the previous day; the rack of the past night’s suspense; the fixed, unfearing, blind, reckless way in which their wild craft went plunging towards its flying mark; by all these things, their hearts were bowled along. The wind that made great bellies of their sails, and rushed the vessel on by arms invisible as irresistible; this seemed the symbol of that unseen agency which so enslaved them to the race.
They were one man, not thirty. For as the one ship that held them all; though it was put together of all contrasting things- oak, and maple, and pine wood; iron, and pitch, and hemp- yet all these ran into each other in the one concrete hull, which shot on its way, both balanced and directed by the long central keel; even so, all the individualities of the crew, this man’s valor, that man’s fear; guilt and guiltiness, all varieties were welded into oneness, and were all directed to that fatal goal which Ahab their one lord and keel did point to.
The rigging lived. The mast-heads, like the tops of tall palms, were outspreadingly tufted with arms and legs. Clinging to a spar with one hand, some reached forth the other with impatient wavings; others, shading their eyes from the vivid sunlight, sat far out on the rocking yards; all the spars in full bearing of mortals, ready and ripe for their fate. Ah! how they still strove through that infinite blueness to seek out the thing that might destroy them!
“Why sing ye not out for him, if ye see him?” cried Ahab, when, after the lapse of some minutes since the first cry, no more had been heard. “Sway me up, men; ye have been deceived; not Moby Dick casts one odd jet that way, and then disappears.”
It was even so; in their headlong eagerness, the men had mistaken some other thing for the whale-spout, as the event itself soon proved; for hardly had Ahab reached his perch; hardly was the rope belayed to its pin on deck, when he struck the key-note to an orchestra, that made the air vibrate as with the combined discharge of rifles. The triumphant halloo of thirty buckskin lungs was heard, as- much nearer to the ship than the place of the imaginary jet, less than a mile ahead- Moby Dick bodily burst into view! For not by any calm and indolent spoutings; not by the peaceable gush of that mystic fountain in his head, did the White Whale now reveal his vicinity; but by the far more wondrous phenomenon of breaching. Rising with his utmost velocity from the furthest depths, the Sperm Whale thus booms his entire bulk into the pure element of air, and piling up a mountain of dazzling foam, shows his place to the distance of seven miles and more. In those moments, the torn, enraged waves he shakes off, seem his mane; in some cases, this breaching is his act of defiance.
“There she breaches! there she breaches!” was the cry, as in his immeasurable bravadoes the White Whale tossed himself salmon-like to Heaven. So suddenly seen in the blue plain of the sea, and relieved against the still bluer margin of the sky, the spray that he raised, for the moment, intolerably glittered and glared like a glacier; and stood there gradually fading and fading away from its first sparkling intensity, to the dim mistiness of an advancing shower in a vale.
“Aye, breach your last to the sun, Moby Dick!” cried Ahab, “thy hour and thy harpoon are at hand!- Down! down all of ye, but one man at the fore. The boats!- stand by!”
Unmindful of the tedious rope-ladders of the shrouds, the men, like shooting stars, slid to the deck, by the isolated backstays and halyards; while Ahab, less dartingly, but still rapidly was dropped from his perch.
“Lower away,” he cried, so soon as he had reached his boat- a spare one, rigged the afternoon previous. “Mr. Starbuck, the ship is thine- away from the boats, but keep near them. Lower, all!”
As if to strike a quick terror into them, by this time being the first assailant himself, Moby Dick had turned, and was now coming for the three crews. Ahab’s boat was central; and cheering his men, he told them he would take the whale head-and-head,- that is, pull straight up to his forehead,- a not uncommon thing; for when within a certain limit, such a course excludes the coming onset from the whale’s sidelong vision. But ere that close limit was gained, and while yet all three boats were plain as the ship’s three masts to his eye; the White Whale churning himself into furious speed, almost in an instant as it were, rushing among the boats with open jaws, and a lashing tail, offered appalling battle on every side; and heedless of the iron darted at him from every boat, seemed only intent on annihilating each separate plank of which those boats were made. But skilfully manoeuvred, incessantly wheeling like trained chargers in the field; the boats for a while eluded him; though, at times, but by a plank’s breadth; while all the time, Ahab’s unearthly slogan tore every other cry but his to shreds.
But at last in his untraceable evolutions, the White Whale so crossed and recrossed, and in a thousand ways entangled the slack of the three lines now fast to him, that they foreshortened, and, of themselves, warped the devoted boats towards the planted irons in him; though now for a moment the whale drew aside a little, as if to rally for a more tremendous charge. Seizing that opportunity, Ahab first paid out more line; and then was rapidly hauling and jerking in upon it again- hoping that way to disencumber it of some snarls- when lo!- a sight more savage than the embattled teeth of sharks!
Caught and twisted- corkscrewed in the mazes of the line, loose harpoons and lances, with all their bristling barbs and points, came flashing and dripping up to the chocks in the bows of Ahab’s boat. Only one thing could be done. Seizing the boat-knife, he critically reached within- through- and then, without- the rays of steel; dragged in the line beyond, passed it, inboard, to the bowsman, and then, twice sundering the rope near the chocks- dropped the intercepted fagot of steel into the sea; and was all fast again. That instant, the White Whale made a sudden rush among the remaining tangles of the other lines; by so doing, irresistibly dragged the more involved boats of Stubb and Flask towards his flukes; dashed them together like two rolling husks on a surf-beaten beach, and then, diving down into the sea, disappeared in a boiling maelstrom, in which, for a space, the odorous cedar chips of the wrecks danced round and round, like the grated nutmeg in a swiftly stirred bowl of punch.
While the two crews were yet circling in the waters, reaching out after the revolving line-tubs, oars, and other floating furniture, while aslope little Flask bobbed up and down like an empty vial, twitching his legs upwards to escape the dreaded jaws of sharks; and Stubb was lustily singing out for some one to ladle him up; and while the old man’s line- now parting- admitted of his pulling into the creamy pool to rescue whom he could;- in that wild simultaneousness of a thousand concreted perils,- Ahab’s yet unstricken boat seemed drawn up towards Heaven by invisible wires,- as, arrow-like, shooting perpendicularly from the sea, the White Whale dashed his broad forehead against its bottom, and sent it turning over and over, into the air; till it fell again- gunwale down- and Ahab and his men struggled out from under it, like seals from a sea-side cave.
The first uprising momentum of the whale- modifying its direction as he struck the surface- involuntarily launched him along it, to a little distance from the centre of the destruction he had made; and with his back to it, he now lay for a moment slowly feeling with his flukes from side to side; and whenever a stray oar, bit of plank, the least chip or crumb of the boats touched his skin, his tail swiftly drew back, and came sideways smiting the sea. But soon, as if satisfied that his work for that time was done, he pushed his pleated forehead through the ocean, and trailing after him the intertangled lines, continued his leeward way at a traveller’s methodic pace.
As before, the attentive ship having descried the whole fight, again came bearing down to the rescue, and dropping a boat, picked up the floating mariners, tubs, oars, and whatever else could be caught at, and safely landed them on her decks. Some sprained shoulders, wrists, and ankles; livid contusions; wrenched harpoons and lances; inextricable intricacies of rope; shattered oars and planks; all these were there; but no fatal or even serious ill seemed to have befallen any one. As with Fedallah the day before, so Ahab was now found grimly clinging to his boat’s broken half, which afforded a comparatively easy float; nor did it so exhaust him as the previous day’s mishap.
But when he was helped to the deck, all eyes were fastened upon him; as instead of standing by himself he still half-hung upon the shoulder of Starbuck, who had thus far been the foremost to assist him. His ivory leg had been snapped off, leaving but one short sharp splinter.
“Aye, aye, Starbuck, ‘tis sweet to lean sometimes, be the leaner who he will; and would old Ahab had leaned oftener than he has.”
“The ferrule has not stood, sir,” said the carpenter, now coming up; put good work into that leg.”
“But no bones broken, sir, I hope,” said Stubb with true concern.
“Aye! and all splintered to pieces, Stubb!- d’ye see it.- But even with a broken bone, old Ahab is untouched; and I account no living bone of mine one jot more me, than this dead one that’s lost. Nor white whale, nor man, nor fiend, can so much as graze old Ahab in his own proper and inaccessible being. Can any lead touch yonder floor, any mast scrape yonder roof?- Aloft there! which way?”
“Dead to leeward, sir.”
“Up helm, then; pile on the sail again, ship keepers! down the rest of the spare boats and rig them- Mr. Starbuck away, and muster the boat’s crews.”
“Let me first help thee towards the bulwarks, sir.”
“Oh, oh, oh! how this splinter gores me now! Accursed fate! that the unconquerable captain in the soul should have such a craven mate!”
“My body, man, not thee. Give me something for a cane- there, that shivered lance will do. Muster the men. Surely I have not seen him yet. By heaven it cannot be!missing? quick! call them all.”
The old man’s hinted thought was true. Upon mustering the company, the Parsee was not there.
“The Parsee!” cried Stubb- “he must have been caught in-”
“The black vomit wrench thee!- run all of ye above, alow, cabin, forecastle- find him- not gone- not gone!”
But quickly they returned to him with the tidings that the Parsee was nowhere to be found.
“Aye, sir,” said Stubb- “caught among the tangles of your line- I thought I saw him dragging under.”
“My line! my line? Gone?- gone? What means that little word?- What death-knell rings in it, that old Ahab shakes as if he were the belfry. The harpoon, too!- toss over the litter there,- d’ye see it?- the forged iron, men, the white whale’s- no, no, no,- listered fool! this hand did dart it!- ‘tis in the fish!- Aloft there! Keep him nailed-Quick!- all hands to the rigging of the boats- collect the oars- harpooneers! the irons, the irons!- hoist royals higher- a pull on all the sheets!- helm there! steady, steady for your life! I’ll ten times girdle the unmeasured globe; yea and dive straight through it, but I’ll slay him yet!
“Great God! but for one single instant show thyself,” cried Starbuck; “never, never wilt thou capture him, old man- In Jesus’ name no more of this, that’s worse than devil’s madness. Two days chased; twice stove to splinters; thy very leg once more snatched from under thee; thy evil shadow gone- all good angels mobbing thee with warnings:- what more wouldst thou have?- Shall we keep chasing this murderous fish till he swamps the last man? Shall we be dragged by him to the bottom of the sea? Shall we be towed by him to the infernal world? Oh, oh,- Impiety and blasphemy to hunt him more!”
“Starbuck, of late I’ve felt strangely moved to thee; ever since that hour we both saw- thou know’st what, in one another’s eyes. But in this matter of the whale, be the front of thy face to me as the palm of this hand- a lipless, unfeatured blank. Ahab is for ever Ahab, man. This whole act’s immutably decreed. ‘Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates’ lieutenant; I act under orders. Look thou, underling! that thou obeyest mine.- Stand round men, men. Ye see an old man cut down to the stump; leaning on a shivered lance; propped up on a lonely foot. ‘Tis Ahab- his body’s part; but Ahab’s soul’s a centipede, that moves upon a hundred legs. I feel strained, half-stranded, as ropes that tow dismasted frigates in a gale; and I may look so. But ere I break, yell hear me crack; and till ye hear that, know that Ahab’s hawser tows his purpose yet. Believe ye, men, in the things called omens? Then laugh aloud, and cry encore! For ere they drown, drowning things will twice rise to the surface; then rise again, to sink for evermore. So with Moby Dick- two days he’s floated- to-morrow will be the third. Aye, men, he’ll rise once more,- but only to spout his last! D’ye feel brave men, brave?”
“As fearless fire,” cried Stubb.
“And as mechanical,” muttered Ahab. Then as the men went forward, he muttered on: “The things called omens! And yesterday I talked the same to Starbuck there, concerning my broken boat. Oh! how valiantly I seek to drive out of others’ hearts what’s clinched so fast in mine!- The Parsee- the Parsee!- gone, gone? and he was to go before:- but still was to be seen again ere I could perish- How’s that?- There’s a riddle now might baffle all the lawyers backed by the ghosts of the whole line of judges:- like a hawk’s beak it pecks my brain. I’ll, I’ll solve it, though!”
When dusk descended, the whale was still in sight to leeward.
So once more the sail was shortened, and everything passed nearly as on the previous night; only, the sound of hammers, and the hum of the grindstone was heard till nearly daylight, as the men toiled by lanterns in the complete and careful rigging of the spare boats and sharpening their fresh weapons for the morrow. Meantime, of the broken keel of Ahab’s wrecked craft the carpenter made him another leg; while still as on the night before, slouched Ahab stood fixed within his scuttle; his hid, heliotrope glance anticipatingly gone backward on its dial; sat due eastward for the earliest sun.
|
<urn:uuid:7525b5be-1730-4a51-ab1d-e776a8439f23>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/42/moby-dick/815/chapter-134-the-chase-second-day/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969555
| 4,951
| 3.015625
| 3
|
Click on an item in the set below to see more info.
1. Magnet Schools Are More Specialized Than Traditional Public Schools
A magnet school is a public school that may offer specialized instruction in the arts, sciences and career education. This type of school brings together academically gifted students or students with a shared interest.
2. These Programs Have a Magnetic Appeal
Magnet programs and schools are designed to give students a chance to choose an educational option that’s attractive to them. Students can study something that they would not otherwise be able to in a traditional school setting.
3. Magnet Programs Are More Likely to Have Greater Monetary Resources
Magnet schools provide students with all the instructional and support services they’ll need in order to achieve the school’s declared purpose.
4. Magnet Programs Help Districts Achieve Balance
Magnet schools can draw suburban students into urban areas in order to diversify the student population. They can also help districts balance out overcrowded classrooms.
5. Some Programs Have Admission Requirements
If your family’s considering a magnet school, ask the district whether your child will need to pass an admission test or audition in order to get into the program. Some schools (such as magnet schools that focus on the military or career preparation) may hold a lottery for admission spots.
|
<urn:uuid:8c93c232-16b7-4a25-9be9-029ac19fd925>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.education.com/slideshow/magnet-schools-what-s-attraction/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.942115
| 273
| 2.921875
| 3
|
|Billy Terwilliger (aka Twillig) is not your typical 14 year old boy.
True, he is beginning to get interested in sex and thinks that the
word "fart" is entertaining, but he is also a number theorist and the
recipient of the first Nobel prize in mathematics!
This novel follows Twillig as he gets accustomed to a secretive think-tank at which he has been hired. We learn that the goal of this research center (and the impressive scientists there from many disciplines) is to decode a brief message (a series of dots and dashes, like Morse code) that has been received from a distant source: Ratner's Star.
Not only does Twillig's area of interest (numbers he calls "zorgs") prove useful in this investigation, they also lead to a discovery in mathematical physics (all of which offends Twillig's view of math as beautiful and useless).
This passage is taken from the last chapter:
|(quoted from Ratner's Star)|
Mainwaring edged his way to Billy's side.
"We used zorgs," he whispered"
"Identifying the mohole."
"Zorgs are useless."
"We used them," Mainwaring said.
"Practically nobody knows what they even are."
"Softly knows, doesn't he?"
"He's one of the few."
"Softly explained how we might use zorgs. I briefed my sylphing teams. Without zorgs we would never have found the mohole."
"Except Softly wanted us to use them in tracking back the signal. But we didn't need them for that. We needed them for the mohole."
"A hole is an unoccupied negative engergy state," Mainwaring whispered. "Hole theory involves `pair creation' which is the simultaneous ceration of a particle-antiparticle pair. Holes move, just as moholes seem to move, just as a discrete partcile can separate iteself from a continuously dense array, leaving behind its antiparticle or hole. What Softly pointed out was that zorgs provide a perfect working mathematical model of hole theory....We had to learn to view zorgs as events rather than numbers, just as particles are events rather than things. The discrete-continuous quality of zorgs is what really helped us work out the necessary mathematics of Moholean relativity and made mohole indentification practically inevitable."
Don DeLillo is a well known, and critically acclaimed author in literary circles. But, Ratner's Star, his attempt at mathematical fiction, did not please all of his fans. (See the reviews at Amazon, for instance.)
"This so called book is the worst
piece of junk I have ever read. It
barely has a plot, instead it repeats
the same stupid things over and over
again. The main character jumps to
completely unfounded conclusions.
All in all it is probably one of the
worst novels ever written."
One of my all time favourites, for ever and ever. Constituting an almost unremarked break in the history of western narrative, Ratner’s Star finds DeLillo freely borrowing and bending the structures of Lewis Carroll, sending little Billy Twillig through and down the post-contemporary Scientific-Industrial looking glass and bunny hole. The language is stunning and exquisitely wrought; so good I sometimes have to put it down to recompose myself, like staring at the sun.
I'm not sure how I stumbled across this book, but I read it in high school, when I was a nerd studying math history for fun. DeLillo had me convinced that he was quite a knowledgeable math afficianado, not only because of the variety of physics- and number-theory-related content, but also because of the way his characters related to and dealt with these issues.
Regarding literary sediment, I can't vouch that this book is anything more than a 'typical DeLillo' book, except that it speaks to the scientist in ways seldom found in fiction.
Regarding mathematical content, I'm surprised that the title includes no allusion to math (as far as i know..).
|
<urn:uuid:f4756955-6d33-4ee5-8ce1-02538ff4ac70>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?callnumber=mf68
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966977
| 887
| 2.640625
| 3
|
INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Teens who bully and mock via texting, Facebook posts, tweets and YouTube videos don't see the immediate consequences of the behavior, U.S. researchers say.
Brandie Oliver, an assistant professor in Butler University's graduate program for school counseling, said online bullies mistakenly think that once they've sent a message "it disappears into space" and can't be traced back to them.
"If a girl posts a mean remark online, she doesn't have to witness the target's hurt reaction," Oliver said in a statement. "Many students post messages that they would never say in a face-to-face situation."
However, these teens get upset when they realize their messages or posts can be retrieved and often are used in disciplinary school actions, Oliver said.
To prevent digital dramas, Oliver suggested:
-- Children accept "friends" online who you know and trust.
-- Kids shouldn't engage in online bullying, gossip or passing on embarrassing photos and video.
-- Everyone should understand whatever is posted -- a message, picture, video -- can be commented on by others.
Oliver said parents and adults should:
-- Get involved in the digital world of your teen.
-- Educate youth about the online world.
-- Don't "cave in" to a teen's begging for online access if he or she can't deal with digital drama.
|
<urn:uuid:781c1254-14a1-4dee-a2a9-90b3b2c6ad10>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/10/07/Teens-dont-know-Net-posts-retrievable/UPI-95181318042960/?rel=31191322079578
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932632
| 293
| 3.015625
| 3
|
What are clinical trials?
What are the phases of a clinical trial?
What is a clinical trial protocol?
Where are trials conducted?
Who can participate in a trial?
Is a clinical trial a last resort?
Are clinical trials risky?
Are patients given "sugar pills" on clinical trials?
Will health insurance cover the cost of a clinical trial?
Do you only go on a clinical trial if you have cancer?
A clinical trial is a research study involving patients that is used to find better ways to diagnose, prevent or treat diseases using new drugs or new devices. Trials are designed to answer specific questions about new and established therapies. They help doctors tell if a new treatment works and is safe. Millions of patients have taken part in this kind of research, and nearly all of today’s cancer drugs were tested this way.
Cancer patients must choose to participate in a clinical trial, and they must be carefully screened by their doctors to determine if a trial is appropriate for them. Patients who make an informed decision to enroll in a clinical trial get first access to the latest promising cancer therapies not yet available elsewhere. Participants also contribute to the advancement of cancer research and benefit generations of future patients by providing the information scientists and doctors need to develop new, more effective ways to prevent and treat cancer. Clinical trial participants are closely monitored and can opt out of the trial at any time.
The National Cancer Institute designated and partially funded VCU Massey Cancer Center to conduct research that addresses the nation’s cancer problems. Clinical trials are an essential tool in solving these problems because they evaluate the latest therapies and bring to patients novel laboratory research findings.
VCU Massey has one of the largest offerings of clinical trials in Virginia. Evaluating the latest cancer treatments for adult and pediatric patients, Massey conducts more than 100 trials on more than 20 types of cancers from brain and breast, to leukemia, prostate, lung and more.
Most clinical research progresses in an orderly series of steps or phases.
- Phase 0 trials – A relatively new phase of clinical trials created to speed up the development of promising new treatments. Very small, single doses or applications are used to study how the body processes the treatment and if the treatment works in the body as expected. In this phase, researchers can more quickly weed out the treatments that aren’t producing the desired effects, and can avoid moving those drugs onto further phase trials.
- Phase 1 trials – Evaluate how a new drug should be administered (i.e., orally, intravenously, by injection), how often and in what dosage.
- Phase 2 trials – Provide preliminary information about how well the new drug works and generate more information about the drug’s safety and benefits. A phase 2 study usually focuses on a particular type of cancer.
- Phase 3 trials – Compare a promising new drug, combination of drugs or procedure with a current standard of treatment.
- Phase 4 trials – Include the continuing evaluation that takes place after Food and Drug Administration approval, when the drug is already on the market and available for general use (post-marketing surveillance).
Clinical trial protocols are the action plans or guidelines that must be followed during the course of any study. Guidelines may cover:
- The design of the study – what it will study and how
- Who may participate – criteria for participants who enter the study
- What medications and medical tests will be used with the participants
- What information is being researched
Several research centers may be involved in the study, and each uses the same protocols to ensure that information from all centers can be combined and compared.
Large cancer centers, university hospitals, local medical centers or physician offices may offer clinical trials. There may be only one or two locations involved in a particular study, or hundreds around the country.
Many of the clinical trials at VCU Massey Cancer Center are offered as part of a collaborative effort among multiple cancer centers and research facilities organized into national or regional groups. Working in unison, members of these groups offer the same studies and follow the same protocols for each trial. The protocol is a study’s game plan that each researcher follows to the letter in order to ensure the consistency of the data collected and the integrity of the results drawn from the data.
With strength in numbers, cooperative groups help expand the number of patients on studies and can collect more data to evaluate the effectiveness of the trial. Also, enrolling participants in multiple locations means a trial can reach its enrollment goals sooner, accelerating the research.
Currently, VCU Massey participates in or has access to trials from eleven consortiums:
- American College of Surgeons Oncology Group
- Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network
- Cancer and Leukemia Group B
- Children’s Oncology Group
- Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group
- Gynecologic Oncology Group
- National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project
- North Central Cancer Treatment Group
- Radiation Therapy Oncology Group
- Southeast Phase 2 Consortium
- Southwest Oncology Group
Each protocol in a trial defines specific characteristics (known as eligibility criteria) that patients should have in order to participate in the study. Characteristics may include type of disease and its stage, as well as the patient’s age and general health.
Eligibility criteria help assure that the study results answer the research question and identify who will benefit in the future from the approach being studied.
Waiting until other treatments are exhausted lessens a patient’s chance of being eligible for a clinical trial. The best time to make a decision about participating in a clinical trial is at the time of first diagnosis and every time a new treatment decision must be made.
At VCU Massey Cancer Center, each new patient is evaluated by a multi-disciplinary team of clinical experts who work together to offer the best treatment plan for that particular patient. When appropriate and based on each individual patient, treatment options may include clinical trials.
Patients on clinical trials are monitored very closely by their doctors and care team. In fact, many patients have said they appreciated the extra attention they received while participating in a clinical trial.
In addition, trials are generally overseen by an independent data and safety monitoring board as well as by any cooperative group study teams through which the trials are offered. Patient data — without individual identifiers — is reported and shared among the cooperative group members.
As part of the monitoring and data-sharing process, clinical researchers can identify any irregularities in symptoms. If a problem arises, the trial can be altered or stopped, and a patient may opt out at any time for any reason. Just like all medical treatments, cancer clinical trials are not risk-free. However, the safety of patients is of utmost importance to the researchers. There are several procedures in place as part of the protocols to protect the safety of the people who participate. Two groups that oversee the safety procedures are the:
- Organization that sponsors the study (for example, the National Cancer Institute).
- The Institutional Review Board (IRB) that oversees clinical research in the health care institution. The IRB includes physicians, other health care providers, consumers and sometimes members of the clergy, who do not have any personal interest in the results of the study. As neutral reviewers, they ensure that the study is conducted fairly and that participants are not likely to be harmed.
Phase 3 trials also have a special group called a Data Safety and Monitoring Committee that looks at the test results, monitors the safety of the participants and decides whether the study should go forward as originally planned.
Sugar pills (placebos) are seldom used in cancer clinical trials and are never used if a known, effective treatment is available. Patients in clinical trials always get the best treatment available. If a new drug is being tested as part of a trial, one group of patients might receive the current best standard treatment plus the new drug, while another group may receive the current best standard treatment plus a placebo. Either way, everyone is getting the best treatment available. Comparing the results of the two groups enables researchers to determine if the new drug is more effective than the current standard treatment.
VCU Massey Cancer Center would never let the cancer go untreated. The only time a placebo would be used alone is if there is currently no standard treatment or if a new cancer prevention measure is being tested for people without cancer.
Many insurers cover the normal costs of treatment for cancer clinical trials and many states, including Virginia, have mandatory coverage for certain types of trials. Research nurses at VCU Massey Cancer Center will gladly contact a patient’s insurance company on his/her behalf.
The cost to VCU Massey is considerable given the infrastructure expenses and labor-intensity of clinical trials, but offering them is a critical component of our research mission. Clinical trials are labor-intensive because we must collect and manage a wealth of data and have more frequent contact with these patients. For example, we have 450 former breast cancer clinical trial participants who are now cancer-free but we must follow up with them at least once a year to continue to report their data and to monitor for any long-term effects or trends.
Several cancer prevention and control studies are also available for people without cancer. Many participants are those who have a strong family health history of cancer and want to explore ways that may reduce their chances of developing cancer.
|
<urn:uuid:c57bd643-ccbc-4fcc-a0d5-2675e74c1eb8>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://massey.vcu.edu/clinical-trials/about/answers/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936903
| 1,924
| 3.34375
| 3
|
As one of the few pioneering female chemists in the 1960s, Stephanie Kwolek invented the flexible, tougher than steel fibers that were used to create life-saving body armor for law enforcement and soldiers.
Kwolek died this week at the age of 90, her co-workers at DuPont, the chemical company where Kwolek worked, confirmed to ABC News.
"She leaves a wonderful legacy of thousands of lives saved and countless injuries prevented by products made possible by her discovery," DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman said in a statement.
In 1965, Kwolek devised a liquid crystal solution that could be cold-spun. Nearly half a century later, her discovery and legacy have endured through a variety of goods ranging from bulletproof vests to sports rackets and smartphones.
Earlier this week, the one millionth vest using the latest Kevlar technology was sold, according to DuPont, showing just how important Kwolek's discovery remains, even half a century after she did what researchers had long struggled to do.
Kevlar has been used to make sporting goods "lighter, stronger and safer," according to DuPont. It can be found in motorcycle components and clothing, as well as skis, racquets, canoes and kayaks.
The durable, flexible material has also been integrated into personal electronics, such as the Motorola DROID RAZR, which is made with Kevlar unibody design
Kevlar's resistance to chemicals and extreme temperatures makes it ideal for personal electronics, according to DuPont's website.
Goodyear has used the material to create a tire with Kevlar reinforced sidewalls that DuPont said can increase puncture resistance by 35 percent.
Kwolek, who aspired to be a fashion designer before she discovered a love of chemistry, served as a mentor for other female scientists throughout her career. She also participated in programs aimed to introduce children to science.
Kullman remembered her as a "creative and determined chemist and a true pioneer for women in science."
A Catholic Mass to celebrate Kwolek's life is scheduled for June 28, according to the Associated Press.
|
<urn:uuid:7272a108-7fec-451b-ad83-0bc4097722da>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/kevlar-inventor-stephanie-kwolek-dead-90/story?id=24229099
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971423
| 446
| 3.1875
| 3
|
All about Ptown
A Brief History
An historic fishing port, Provincetown is situated at the tip of Cape Cod in an area of spectacular natural beauty, surrounded by miles of dunes and beaches. Provincetown has a diverse and singular history. The Pilgrims first landed in Provincetown in 1620, and signed the Mayflower Compact, a declaration of self-determination and radical thought that characterizes the history and people of Provincetown, even today. Provincetown, Land's End or Hell Town as its been known, has been home to sailors, pirates, fisherman, painters and authors for centuries.
In the 1800's Provincetown, with the largest and safest natural harbor on the New England coast, was one of the greatest and busiest sea ports in the country. The fishing industry soon faltered and the Portland Gale of 1898 swept away half of the town's wharves. It was then that Provincetown turned to another fledging industry to fill the economic gap...tourism. The resort population that visited Provincetown every summer, provided jobs to take the place of those lost as more individuals and families discovered the magic of Provincetown and Cape Cod.
In the 1920's the artistic and literary productions of the town were of international repute and the abandoned sites of maritime businesses became the new homes of the seasonal visitor as sail lofts, warehouses and barns became studios, galleries and shops. During the 1920's and 1930's a gay & lesbian presence began to grow together with artists, writers, and playwrights from New York City and elsewhere. These newcomers found inspiration in the magical beauty of the "outer Cape" and the freedom to try new ideas. Gradually, contingents of poets, novelists, journalists, socialists, radicals and dilettantes began to visit Provincetown during the summer months. Later many of these visitors took up permanent residence.
Today, the wealth of preserved historic buildings combines with the lure of the sea to create a magical place. The rich texture of cultural, period and social influences has produced a sense of place that is uniquely Provincetown. These special qualities have, for over a century, attracted artists tourists and bohemians who have blended with the local population and produced the character of the community. Provincetown is truly
|
<urn:uuid:335d701b-b7ec-4f18-8321-21f9e861db04>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.romeosholiday.com/all-about-ptown.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958631
| 484
| 2.546875
| 3
|
I’ve been getting notes (like from my friend Melissa) asking me whether a picture of Jupiter and its moon Io is real or not. The answer is: kinda! And of course I’ll explain. First, here’s the picture in question:
[Click to enjovianate.]
First, let say that when I saw the picture I recognized it, but couldn’t place it. Google to the rescue! I did an image search on "Jupiter Io" — I recognized the moon as Io from the obvious volcanic plume and features on its surface — and quickly got my answer.
Basically, it’s a montage of two images, both of which are real but were taken separately. They were taken by NASA’s New Horizons probe, which passed Jupiter in 2007. New Horizons is on its way to Pluto, and flew past Jupiter to steal some of its energy and boost the speed of the probe.
The shot of Jupiter is actually a composite of three images taken in the infrared, well past what the human eye can see. That big blue spot is actually the Great Red Spot! But the scientists applied a false color to the infrared images for this picture. The different colors more or less show cloud height: high-altitude clouds are blue, and clouds deeper in the Jovian atmosphere are red.
Io is actually depicted as more true to what your eye would see — it’s shown in visible light, not infrared. However, that image of the moon was taken nearly a day after the Jupiter pictures were taken! The two pictures were stitched together later. The red spot is an active volcano on Io, and the blue swoosh is the plume of ejecta reaching well above the moon’s surface.
[Update (March 20, 2012): Apropos of this, and coincidentally, the USGS just released a global map of Io. On Google+, I posted a the Io map highlighting Tvashtar Paterae, the volcanic region erupting in this picture.]
I’ll note that the phase of Jupiter — almost half full or so — isn’t real, though. The infrared images of the planet were taken many minutes apart, and Jupiter rotates so quickly that they would’ve been blurred, smeared, if simply shown as they were taken. To compensate, the person putting the image together mathematically projected the pictures onto a sphere seen obliquely like this. In reality, the space probe was nearly directly above Jupiter’s lit side when it took those images. Weird!
Anyway, apparently this picture was posted on reddit linking to an anonymous image hosting site that didn’t have much by the way of explanation, and got out into the wild of the internet. People loved it — I mean, come on, it’s an awesome shot — but weren’t sure if it was even real, or where it came from. I’ll note that way down in the comments on that post the true nature of the picture is revealed, but not before the picture got spread far and wide. That happens on the ‘net, and I’m just glad I got people asking me about it. One of the big points of putting together pictures like this for the public is to pique their curiosity!
And I’m happy to oblige that desire to learn. Think about it: this picture isn’t a fake, it’s real, more or less, and it’s from a small spacecraft on its way to Pluto, and then out of the solar system forever. And as usual, reality is way, way cooler than fakery.
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Goddard Space Flight Center
I got a note from astronomer Alan Stern, who is the Principal Investigator on the Pluto New Horizons probe currently on its way for a 2015 flyby of the diminutive world. There’s a drive to get a US postal stamp made to honor Pluto, and Alan was letting me know the petition is doing well, but has a long way to go: they almost at 10,000 signatures, but they want 100,000!
You can read more about this in my post from early February. I think this is a pretty nifty idea, and if you do too go and sign the petition. If we can get this rolling now, a stamp will be issued to surplant the one made in 1990 that said Pluto has "Never been Explored"… just in time for that to be no longer true.
But hurry — your last chance to sign the petition is March 13, in just a week. Go!
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will zip past Pluto, giving us our first close-up view of this tiny world.
The team behind the space probe have a nice idea to help raise awareness of it: make a new US Post Office stamp commemorating it. My friend Dan Durda, both an accomplished astronomer and artist, created this lovely design of the stamp:
[Click to enhadesenate. Note: the word "Forever" means the stamp is always good for first class postage, and is crossed out here to prevent forgery.]
It shows the spacecraft going by Pluto and its (relatively) freakishly large moon Charon. I like how he didn’t go for photorealism, but instead used an oil paint-like feel for it. The stamp is meant as a followup — I might even say send-up — of a US stamp issued in 1990 about Pluto that has the label "Not Yet Explored".
I like this stamp! I’d love to see it made official, too. Alan Stern, the head guy for the mission, created a petition to help that along. It takes more than just a nice stamp design to get the PO’s notice; it has to have public support as well. I signed the petition, and if you want to, please do.
I’ll note that I expect this to raise the specter of whether Pluto is a planet or not. I have some thoughts on that, and I’ll be posting again soon on that topic.
This is pretty nifty: astronomers have discovered a fourth moon orbiting Pluto!
The tiny chunk of ice was found in Hubble images taken just a few weeks ago, and was clearly seen among the three previously known satellites:
It doesn’t have a name yet — it’s designated S/2011 P1 (or just P4 informally) — and it’s only about 13 – 34 km (8 to 21 miles) across. The size is estimated by measuring its brightness and assuming it’s icy like Pluto itself — a more reflective (white or icy) object would appear brighter than a darker object if they are the same size. Since its actual reflectivity isn’t known, the size has a wide range. But it’s still pretty dinky. For comparison, Pluto itself is 2300 km across, and its biggest moon Charon is well over 1000 km in size. I’ll note our own Moon is 3470 km across, so even Pluto is pretty small.
The thing is, in that single image above you can’t be sure if the object is a moon or a coincidentally placed background star. The solution: take a second image! That was done, clinching the moon’s identity:
See how it’s moved? Mind you, in the week or so between these two images Pluto moved substantially compared to background stars, and the moon moved along with it around the Sun at the same time it’s going around Pluto. You can see the motion of the other moons as well.
In the image, the diagonal lines are an optical effect inside the telescope itself. Pluto is very bright, so the astronomers used some processing techniques to make it appear much fainter, taking multiple images and subtracting one from the other to remove the glare of Pluto (it doesn’t work perfectly, which is why there is a black strip across the image; that blocks unwanted noisy light). I did this myself on many images when I worked on Hubble. It’s amazing how well it works, as you can see in the image above.
Mind you, Pluto was 5 billion km (3 billion miles) from Earth when this image was taken! But we’ll soon get much better pictures: the New Horizons probe will fly past the tiny world in 2015, snapping away as it does. We’ll probably learn more about Pluto in a few hours than we have since its discovery in 1930.
I wonder what they’ll name this iceball? The two moons Nix and Hydra (discovered in 2005) were named after Roman mythological characters associated with night time and Pluto. Cerberus seems like an obvious choice, but there’s already an asteroid with that name. Maybe they can change the spelling a bit to Kerberus to get around that. There’s already an asteroid named Persephone, too, if you’re curious. We’re running out of good names!
Well, whatever it’ll be called, it’s there, and we’ll see it up close in personal in just a few more years.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI institute)
In July 2015, the New Horizons probe will fly past Pluto, snapping pictures and taking data of this icy world. Whether you think Pluto is a planet or not* it’s still a fascinating object and I can’t wait to see what New Horizons sends back.
But what happens after that? The space probe will still be traveling into deep space at high speed… but space out there isn’t empty. Beyond Pluto lie the solar system’s coldest denizens, the Kuiper Belt Objects. These are lumps of ice, frozen chunks that may take millennia to circle the Sun once. We’ve identified over a thousand of these KBOs, and there are tens of thousands more waiting to be discovered. Scientists with the New Horizons mission are hoping to find one near enough to the probe’s path to plan a flyby, so we can finally see one of these things up close.
And that’s where you come in!
A new website, Ice Hunters, has been put together to help you find potential KBOs for New Horizons to visit. It’s part of the Zooniverse; a citizen science project that gets people involved in real astronomy. In this case, you can examine images from the giant Magellan and Subaru telescopes to look for targets. It’s actually not terribly hard; here’s one image I looked at:
Basically, KBOs move over time, so two images are taken some time apart. One is digitally subtracted from the other, so stars tend to go away (though they don’t erase perfectly, leaving those ugly residuals). Any whitish blobs left are things that have changed between the two images: variable stars, asteroids, cosmic rays, and, hopefully, KBOs. When you find something you simply tag it by clicking it. A circle is placed around it, and the location is logged. You can see the object I found in the image above.
Humans are pretty good at this, while computers are easily confused by the messy residuals. But just to make sure every click is saved and compared to the work of other people. The more an object is clicked, the more likely it is to be something real and worth following up. The website explains how all this works.
That’s all there is to it! You have to register to do this (unless you’re already a Zooniverse member); it’s free and easy. And who knows? You may literally be the person who finds an icy world that will get a visit from New Horizons!
New Horizons image credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute (JHUAPL/SwRI)
*My opinion: defining the word "planet" is a bad bet if not impossible. If you want the longer story, check out this article I wrote for Discover Magazine.
Man, is that way out in the black. The probe is now closer to the orbit of Uranus than it is to Saturn, though both planets are over a billion kilometers away from New Horizons right now.
The solar system is frakkin’ BIG (if I may mix my colorful scifi metaphors). If you’re still not sure just how roomy things are out there, even at its current speed of 16.5 km/sec (10 miles/sec) — fast enough to cross the entire United States in five minutes — New Horizons won’t pass the orbit of Uranus until March 18, 2011, more than a year from now. Neptune’s orbit isn’t until August 24, 2014.
One thing to notice: from this point of view, planets revolve around the Sun in a counterclockwise fashion. Given the position of Pluto, you can see the two are heading for a close encounter soon. Well, for a sufficiently broad definition of "soon": July 14, 2015.
Space is big.
Today, December 29, 2009, the New Horizons Pluto probe crosses an arbitrary but psychologically important line: it is now closer to Pluto than it is to Earth.
If there were people on board the small interplanetary probe, no doubt they’d be popping champagne. I’m sure that back on Earth, the team behind NH are pretty happy. This probe has a checkered history, having been planned, canceled, re-planned, delayed, on and on. It’s amazing it got to launch at all. But on January 19, 2006 the small, half-ton probe was sent on its way, and on July 14, 2015 it’ll sail past Pluto and its collection of moons, snapping pictures and taking data.
Today marks the official halfway point, where New Horizons has half its path already behind it. Here’s a plot of its distance to Earth (in blue) and Pluto (red) care of the New Horizons site:
Distance in the graph is measured in Astronomical Units (a yardstick used by astronomers for convenience; it’s the distance of the Earth to the Sun, about 150 million km (93 million miles)). The distance to Earth is wiggly because the Earth goes around the Sun as New Horizons moves out, and the distance to Pluto decreases steadily as the spacecraft catches up on its journey. Where the two lines cross is where the distances are equal, and that’s now, today!
You may be wondering about the timing: New Horizons is halfway in distance to Pluto, but the mission timeline halfway point isn’t until October 16, 2010 (if I’ve done the math correctly). The probe was launched at high speed, slowed down due to the Earth’s and Sun’s gravity, picked up a kick from Jupiter in early 2007, and has been slowing ever since. Since it was moving faster before, it reached the distance halfway point before the schedule halfway point.
New Horizons is now 16.37 AU – 2.449 billion km, or 1.522 billion miles — from home. But maybe now, home is no longer Earth. Once it crossed that line today, home became deep space. Even Pluto and its moons Charon, Nix, and Hydra are only milestones for it. It won’t be stopping when it gets there; New Horizons will sail on by, continuing into deep space. It’ll become one of several other spacecraft we’ve sent out of the solar system itself, set to wander interstellar space forever.
That is, unless one day we catch up to them ourselves. I imagine in a few hundred years they’d make fine museum pieces. Or maybe, if poetry still exists in humans all those far-flung centuries from now, we’ll let those probes continue on. I rather like that idea better.
You can follow the New Horizons probe on Twitter, which is how I found out about this milestone today.
Art credit: ESO/L. Calçada
Speaking of web pages showing scale (OK, it was almost two weeks ago, but still cool), BABloggee Mike Sperry reminded me of this site which shows the solar system to scale… all on one web page! The Sun is displayed when you go to the page, and you can scroll to the right to see the planets, drawn in scale both in size and distance.
The Sun is about 560 pixels wide, putting Pluto something like 2 million pixels to the right. And some people wonder why it’ll take the New Horizons mission 9 years to get to Pluto…
|
<urn:uuid:945c3144-26cc-47af-acb1-a542498c79e2>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/tag/new-horizons/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946632
| 3,540
| 2.671875
| 3
|
Browse Results For:
This continuing revision of a theoretical edifice the foundations of which were laid in the middle of the nineteenth century--the reexamination of old ideas, proposals of new ones, and the synthesis of the most suitable--shows us how science works, and how scientists have painstakingly built a solid set of explanations for what Darwin called the “grandeur” of life.
Parasites have evolved independently in numerous animal lineages, and they now make up a considerable proportion of the biodiversity of life. Not only do they impact humans and other animals in fundamental ways, but in recent years they have become a powerful model system for the study of ecology and evolution, with practical applications in disease prevention. Here, in a thoroughly revised and updated edition of his influential earlier work, Robert Poulin provides an evolutionary ecologist's view of the biology of parasites. He sets forth a comprehensive synthesis of parasite evolutionary ecology, integrating information across scales from the features of individual parasites to the dynamics of parasite populations and the structuring of parasite communities.
Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites presents an evolutionary framework for the study of parasite biology, combining theory with empirical examples for a broader understanding of why parasites are as they are and do what they do. An up-to-date synthesis of the field, the book is an ideal teaching tool for advanced courses on the subject. Pointing toward promising directions and setting a research agenda, it will also be an invaluable reference for researchers who seek to extend our knowledge of parasite ecology and evolution.
A Life History Perspective
A human female is born, lives her life, and dies within the space of a few decades, but the shape of her life has been strongly influenced by 50 million years of primate evolution and more than 100 million years of mammalian evolution. How the individual female plays out the stages of her life--from infancy, through the reproductive period, to old age--and how these stages have been formed by a long evolutionary process, is the theme of this collection. Written by leading scholars in fields ranging from evolutionary biology to cultural anthropology, these essays together examine what it means to be female, integrating the life histories of marine mammals, monkeys, apes, and humans. The result is a fascinating inquiry into the similarities among the ways females of different species balance the need for survival with their role in reproduction and mothering.
The Evolving Female offers an outlook integrating life history with an intimate examination of female life paths. Behavior, anatomy and physiology, growth and development, cultural identity of women, the individual, and the society are among the topics investigated. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Linda Fedigan, Kathryn Ono, Joanne Reiter, Barbara Smuts, Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, Mary McDonald Pavelka, Caroline Pond, Robin McFarland, Silvana Borgognini Tarli and Elena Repetto, Gilda Morelli, Patricia Draper, Catherine Panter-Brick, Virginia J. Vitzthum, Alison Jolly, and Beverly McLeod.
Concepts, Methods, and Applications of Selection Experiments
Experimental approaches to evolution provide indisputable evidence of evolution by directly observing the process at work. Experimental evolution deliberately duplicates evolutionary processes—forcing life histories to evolve, producing adaptations to stressful environmental conditions, and generating lineage splitting to create incipient species. This unique volume summarizes studies in experimental evolution, outlining current techniques and applications, and presenting the field’s full range of research—from selection in the laboratory to the manipulation of populations in the wild. It provides work on such key biological problems as the evolution of Darwinian fitness, sexual reproduction, life history, athletic performance, and learning.
Radiation ? Histology ? Biology
About 320 million years ago a group of reptiles known as the synapsids emerged and forever changed Earth's ecological landscapes. This book discusses the origin and radiation of the synapsids from their sail-backed pelycosaur ancestor to their diverse descendants, the therapsids or mammal-like reptiles, that eventually gave rise to mammals. It further showcases the remarkable evolutionary history of the synapsids in the Karoo Basin of South Africa and the environments that existed at the time. By highlighting studies of synapsid bone microstructure, it offers a unique perspective of how such studies are utilized to reconstruct various aspects of biology, such as growth dynamics, biomechanical function, and the attainment of sexual and skeletal maturity. A series of chapters outline the radiation and phylogenetic relationships of major synapsid lineages and provide direct insight into how bone histological analyses have led to an appreciation of these enigmatic animals as once-living creatures. The penultimate chapter examines the early radiation of mammals from their nonmammalian cynodont ancestors, and the book concludes by engaging the intriguing question of when and where endothermy evolved among the therapsids.
The Case of Evolution and Creationism
The clash between evolution and creationism is one of the most hotly contested topics in education today. This book, written by one of America's most distinguished science educators, provides essential background information on this difficult and important controversy. Giving a sweeping and balanced historical look at both schools of thought, John A. Moore shows that faith can exist alongside science, that both are essential to human happiness and fulfillment, but that we must support the teaching of science and the scientific method in our nation's schools. This highly informative book will be an invaluable aid for parents, teachers, and lawmakers, as well as for anyone who wants a better understanding of this debate. From Genesis to Genetics shows us why we must free both science and religion to do the good work for which each is uniquely qualified.
Using accessible language, Moore describes in depth these two schools of thought. He begins with an analysis of the Genesis story, examines other ancient creation myths, and provides a nuanced discussion of the history of biblical interpretation. After looking at the tenets and historical context of creationism, he presents the history of evolutionary thought, explaining how it was developed, what it means, and why it is such a powerful theory. Moore goes on to discuss the relationship of nineteenth-century religion to Darwinism, examine the historic Scopes trial, and take us up to the current controversy over what to teach in schools. Most important, this book also explores options for avoiding confrontations over this issue in the future.
Thoughtfully and powerfully advocating that the teaching of science be kept separate from the teaching of religion, Moore asks us to recognize that a vigorous and effective scientific community is essential to our nation's health, to our leadership role in the world, and to the preservation of a healthy environment.
The Origin and Evolution of Tetrapods
Around 370 million years ago, a distant relative of a modern lungfish began a most extraordinary adventure—emerging from the water and laying claim to the land. Over the next 70 million years, this tentative beachhead had developed into a worldwide colonization by ever-increasing varieties of four-limbed creatures known as tetrapods, the ancestors of all vertebrate life on land. This new edition of Jennifer A. Clack's groundbreaking book tells the complex story of their emergence and evolution. Beginning with their closest relatives, the lobe-fin fishes such as lungfishes and coelacanths, Clack defines what a tetrapod is, describes their anatomy, and explains how they are related to other vertebrates. She looks at the Devonian environment in which they evolved, describes the known and newly discovered species, and explores the order and timing of anatomical changes that occurred during the fish-to-tetrapod transition.
Various approaches have been developed to evaluate the consequences of spatial structure on evolution in subdivided populations. This book is both a review and new synthesis of several of these approaches, based on the theory of spatial genetic structure. François Rousset examines Sewall Wright's methods of analysis based on F-statistics, effective size, and diffusion approximation; coalescent arguments; William Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory; and approaches rooted in game theory and adaptive dynamics. Setting these in a framework that reveals their common features, he demonstrates how efficient tools developed within one approach can be applied to the others.
Rousset not only revisits classical models but also presents new analyses of more recent topics, such as effective size in metapopulations. The book, most of which does not require fluency in advanced mathematics, includes a self-contained exposition of less easily accessible results. It is intended for advanced graduate students and researchers in evolutionary ecology and population genetics, and will also interest applied mathematicians working in probability theory as well as statisticians.
Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds offers an eye-opening look into how the characteristics of the physical world drive the designs of animals and plants. These characteristics impose limits but also create remarkable and subtle opportunities for the functional biology of organisms. In particular, Steven Vogel examines the size and scale, and trade-offs among different physical processes. He pays attention to how the forms and activities of animals and plants reflect the materials available to nature, and he explores the unique constraints and possibilities provided by fluid flow, structural design, and environmental forces.
Each chapter of the book investigates a facet of the physical world, including the drag on small projectiles; the importance of diffusion and convection; the size-dependence of acceleration; the storage, conduction, and dissipation of heat; the relationship among pressure, flow, and choice in biological pumps; and how elongate structures tune their relative twistiness and bendiness. Vogel considers design-determining factors all too commonly ignored, and builds a bridge between the world described by physics books and the reality experienced by all creatures. Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds contains a wealth of accessible information related to functional biology, and requires little more than a basic background in secondary-school science and mathematics.
Drawing examples from creatures of land, air, and water, the book demonstrates the many uses of biological diversity and how physical forces impact biological organisms.
Meta-analysis is a powerful statistical methodology for synthesizing research evidence across independent studies. This is the first comprehensive handbook of meta-analysis written specifically for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, and it provides an invaluable introduction for beginners as well as an up-to-date guide for experienced meta-analysts.
The chapters, written by renowned experts, walk readers through every step of meta-analysis, from problem formulation to the presentation of the results. The handbook identifies both the advantages of using meta-analysis for research synthesis and the potential pitfalls and limitations of meta-analysis (including when it should not be used). Different approaches to carrying out a meta-analysis are described, and include moment and least-square, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, all illustrated using worked examples based on real biological datasets. This one-of-a-kind resource is uniquely tailored to the biological sciences, and will provide an invaluable text for practitioners from graduate students and senior scientists to policymakers in conservation and environmental management.
|
<urn:uuid:9a148d59-c634-4c6f-bae1-1f5e3308f56a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://muse.jhu.edu/browse/science_technology_and_mathematics/evolution?items_per_page=10&browse_view_type=default&m=31
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.923215
| 2,257
| 2.5625
| 3
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.