Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
The World Factbook
The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. The factbook gives a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, location, telecommunications capacity, government, industry, military capability, etc, of all US-recognized countries and territories in the world.
As The World Factbook is prepared by the CIA for the use of U.S. Government officials, the style, format, coverage, and content are designed to meet their specific requirements.
Information is provided by:
- Antarctic Information Program (National Science Foundation),
- Bureau of the Census (Department of Commerce),
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor),
- Central Intelligence Agency,
- Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs ,
- Defense Intelligence Agency (Department of Defense),
- US Department of State,
- US Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior),
- US Maritime Administration (Department of Transportation),
- National Imagery and Mapping Agency (Department of Defense),
- Naval Facilities Engineering Command (Department of Defense),
- Office of Insular Affairs (Department of the Interior),
- Office of Naval Intelligence (Department of Defense),
- United States Board on Geographic Names (Department of the Interior), and
- other public and private sources.
The official seal of the CIA, however, may NOT be copied without permission as required by the CIA Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. section 403m). Misuse of the official seal of the CIA could result in civil and criminal penalties. Also, "Federal law prohibits use of the words "Central Intelligence Agency," the initials "CIA," the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency, or any colorable imitation of such words, initials, or seal in connection with any merchandise, impersonation, solicitation, or commercial activity in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the impression that such use is approved, endorsed, or authorized by the Central Intelligence Agency. "
Many sites have used information and images from the CIA World Factbook, because of its public domain status, including this encyclopedia.
Besides the World Factbook, the CIA puts out a directory of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments each week.
Oddities and controversies
The maps of countries in the Factbook also appear to have strange anomalies. For example, the map of the United Kingdom lists the town of Grangemouth in Scotland, although it is only a small town and in no way a major city (this is perhaps due to its status as a major centre of the oil industry in Scotland).
The U.S. does not recognize the renaming of Burma by its ruling military junta to Myanmar and thus keeps its entry for the country under "Burma."
Specific regions within a country or areas in dispute among countries, such as Kashmir and Kosovo, are not covered, but other areas of the world whose status is disputed, such as the Spratly Islands, have entries.
Maps depicting Kashmir have the India-Pakistan border drawn at the Line of Control, but the region of Kashmir occupied by China drawn in hashmarks.
Northern Cyprus is not given a separate entry or listed as part of Turkey because "territorial occupations/annexations not recognized by the United States Government are not shown on U.S. Government maps."
Taiwan has a separate entry not listed under "T", but at the bottom of the list. The name "Republic of China" is not listed as Taiwan's "official name" under the "Government" section, perhaps due to U.S. recognition of Beijing's One-China Policy according to which the Republic of China is a defunct entity having been replaced by the People's Republic of China. The name "Republic of China" was briefly added on January 27, 2005 but changed back to "none" on February 10, 2005.
On December 16, 2004, the CIA added an entry for the European Union. According to the CIA, the European Union was added because the EU "continues to accrue more nation-like characteristics for itself".
- World Factbook Website
- 2004 CIA World Factbook for Pocket PC and Palm OS devices
- Nationmaster.com: statistics with bars, based on the Factbook
- Authorama CIA World Factbook: The complete Factbook as XHTML1.0 (easily readable, no images, device-independent)
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details


Although often used interchangeably, the words "fate" and "destiny" have distinct connotations.
- Traditional usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines and orders the course of events. Fate defines events as ordered or "inevitable" and unavoidable. Classical and European mythology features three goddesses dispensing fate, known as Moirai in Greek mythology, as Parcae in Roman mythology, and as Norns in Norse mythology. They determine the events of the world through the mystic spinning of threads that represent individual human fates.
- Destiny is used with regard to the finality of events as they have worked themselves out; and to that same sense of "destination", projected into the future to become the flow of events as they will work themselves out.
In other words, "fate" relates to events of the future and present of an individual and in cases in literature unalterable, whereas "destiny" relates to the probable future. Fate implies no choice, but with destiny the entity participates in achieving an outcome that is directly related to itself. Participation happens willfully.
In Hellenistic civilization, the chaotic and unforeseeable turns of chance gave increasing prominence to a previously less notable goddess, Tyche, who embodied the good fortune of a city and all whose lives depended on its security and prosperity, two good qualities of life that appeared to be out of human reach. The Roman image of Fortuna, with the wheel she blindly turned, was retained by Christian writers, revived strongly in the Renaissance and survives in some forms today.
In daily language, "destiny" and "fate" are synonymous, but with regard to 19th century philosophy, the words gained inherently different meanings.
For Arthur Schopenhauer, destiny was just a manifestation of the Will to Live, which can be at the same time living fate and choice of overrunning the fate same, by means of the Art, of the Morality and of the Ascesis.
For Nietzsche, destiny keeps the form of Amor fati (Love of Fate) through the important element of Nietzsche's philosophy, the "will to power" (der Wille zur Macht), the basis of human behavior, influenced by the Will to Live of Schopenhauer. But this concept may have even other senses, although he, in various places, saw the will to power as a strong element for adaptation or survival in a better way. Nietzsche eventually transformed the idea of matter as centers of force into matter as centers of will to power as mankind’s destiny to face with amor fati. The expression Amor fati is used repeatedly by Nietzsche as acceptation-choice of the fate, but in such way it becomes even another thing, precisely a "choice" destiny.
Many Greek legends and tales teach the futility of trying to outmaneuver an inexorable fate that has been correctly predicted. This form of irony is important in Greek tragedy, as it is in Oedipus Rex and in the Duque de Rivas' play that Verdi transformed into La Forza del Destino ("The Force of Destiny") or Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, or in Macbeth's uncannily-derived knowledge of his own destiny, which in spite of all his actions does not preclude a horrible fate.
Other notable examples include Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, in which Tess is destined to the miserable death that she is confronted with at the end of the novel; Samuel Beckett's Endgame; the popular short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs.
Destiny is a recurring theme in the literature of Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), including Siddharta (1922) and his magnum opus, Das Glasperlenspiel, also published as The Glass Bead Game (1943). The common theme of these works involves a protagonist who cannot escape a destiny if their fate has been sealed, however hard they try. Destiny is also an important plot point in the hit TV shows Lost, Heroes and Supernatural, as well a common theme in the Roswell TV series. Destiny is a recurring theme in the video-game franchise Kingdom Hearts, with Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep having its story based around the concept of Destiny, and the tagline for the game stating "Destiny is never left to chance." Destiny is also a prominent theme in the anime Mawaru Penguindrum, which focuses on the concept that humans cannot escape from their own fate.
See also
|Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Destiny|
- Divine Providence
- Lazy argument
- Qadr, destiny in Islam
- Russian avos'
- Psychology of human destiny
- "The Wheel of Fortune" remains an emblem of the chance element in fate(destiny).
- Beyond Good & Evil 13, Gay Science 349 & Genealogy of Morality II:12
- Cornelius, Geoffrey, C. (1994). "The Moment of Astrology: Origins in Divination", Penguin Group, part of Arkana Contemporary Astrology series.


Outer doublet heterogeneity reveals structural polarity related to beat direction in Chlamydomonas flagella
Department of Cell Biology
Chlamydomonas; Dynein ATPase; Flagella; Microscopy, Electron; Microtubules
Analysis of serial cross-sections of the Chlamydomonas flagellum reveals several structural asymmetries in the axoneme. One doublet lacks the outer dynein arm, has a beak-like projection in its B-tubule, and bears a two-part bridge that extends from the A-tubule of this doublet to the B-tubule of the adjacent doublet. The two doublets directly opposite the doublet lacking the arm have beak-like projections in their B-tubules. These asymmetries always occur in the same doublets from section to section, indicating that certain doublets have consistent morphological specializations. These unique doublets give the axoneme an inherent structural polarity. All three specializations are present in the proximal portion of the axoneme; based on their frequency in random cross-sections of isolated axonemes, the two-part bridge and the beak-like projections are present in the proximal one quarter and one half of the axoneme, respectively, and the outer arm is absent from the one doublet greater than 90% of the axoneme's length. The outer arm-less doublet of each flagellum faces the other flagellum, indicating that each axoneme has the same rotational orientation relative to the direction of its effective stroke. This strongly suggests that the direction of the effective stroke is controlled by a structural component within the axoneme. The striated fibers are associated with specific triplets in a manner suggesting that they play a role in setting up or maintaining the 180 degrees rotational symmetry of the two flagella.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: J Cell Biol. 1983 Sep;97(3):902-8.
The Journal of cell biology


To create a true net-zero building, one that literally generates as much or more energy than it consumes, is no easy task. Still, it’s a task that makes good business sense. After all, buildings consume a huge amount of energy, which cuts into profit margins. This simple equation finally hit home with Hines, the international real estate firm, and equity partner J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The two are partnering to build a new 13-story, 415,000-square-foot building at La Jolla Commons in San Diego that will become the nation’s largest carbon-neutral office building to date.
In order to achieve this rare feat, the building will utilize combination of high-performance building design, directed biogas and on-site fuel cells that annually will generate more electricity than tenants will use. The fuel cells, made by Bloom Energy, will generate approximately 5.0 million KWh of electricity annually, which is roughly equivalent to the electricity required to power 1,000 San Diego homes. Methane needed to power the fuel cells will be acquired from carbon-neutral sources, such as landfills and wastewater plants, and placed into the national natural gas pipeline system. The building’s exterior is predominately a glass curtainwall system incorporating highly efficient, insulated, double-paned glass with a clear, low-emissive coating.
Hines views its newest building, which will also contain a highly efficient under-floor air system, as a sort of ongoing R&D project. “Our net-zero project at La Jolla Commons gives us a great foundation for furthering the use of carbon-neutral technologies and fuels,” said Gary Holtzer, Hines’ global sustainability officer. ”Our next step is to adapt what we have learned and apply it to an existing urban property in a less temperate environment.”
Construction on the carbon neutral building began in April 2012 and completion is scheduled for mid-2014.


Philosophy East and West 46 (2):143-164 (1996)
|Abstract||The origin, content, argumentative basis, practical implication, and influence of Mencius' views of mind-heart and human nature are discussed. While the differences between Confucius and Mencius are acknowledged, it is argued that Mencius' view that human nature is good is consistent with and is a further development of basic ideas in Confucius' thinking. The basis of Mencius' view is not empirical generalization but inner reflection and personal experience, which reveal a shared natural endowment in human beings with a transcendental source. In addition to a discussion of Mencius' views, the development of his ideas in the Sung and Ming and by contemporary Neo-Confucians is also considered|
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James Behuniak Jr (2011). Naturalizing Mencius. Philosophy East and West 61 (3):492-515.
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1. Yodhājīva Sutta. On five kinds of warriors: those who are frightened by a cloud of dust, by the sight of a flag, by tumult, by conflict, and those who fight victoriously; and on five similar kinds of monks. A.iii.87f.
2. Yodhājīva Sutta. On five kinds of warriors: those who go down into the thick of the fight where they are overpowered, those who are wounded and die on the way to their home, those who survive for some time but die of their wounds, those who are cured of their wounds, those that are victorious in battle and continue to fight. There are five corresponding kinds of monks. A.iii.94ff.
3. Yodhājīva Sutta. Records the visit of the headman Yodhājīva to the Buddha. S.iv.308.


Galactorrhea is a discharge of milk-like substance from the breast that is not associated with breastfeeding after pregnancy. This condition mainly occurs in women. It does occur in men, but much less commonly. The milky white discharge can come from one or both breasts, and the breast may leak fluid with or without stimulation.
Galactorrhea has many causes, though sometimes the cause is unknown. Tumors of the pituitary gland, called pituitary adenomas or prolactinomas, can cause galactorrhea. The pituitary is a small gland attached to the brain. Pituitary tumors are usually not cancerous. They can cause galactorrhea when they produce excess prolactin, a hormone that stimulates milk production.
Other causes of galactorrhea include:
- Hormonal imbalance
Some medications, such as:
- Stopping or starting to take birth control pills or other hormones
- Certain blood pressure drugs
- Certain psychiatric medications
- Anti-nausea drugs
- Some antigastroesophageal reflux medications
- Some pain killers
- Certain herbs, such as :
- Illicit drugs, such as marijuana and opioids
- Sexual stimulation of the breast
- Certain diseases, such as underactive or overactive thyroid, and chronic kidney failure, or liver disease
- Chronic emotional stress
- Hypothalamic tumors or disease
Chest wall conditions, such as:
- Surgical scars
- Tumors of chest wall
- In newborns, high levels of circulating estrogen may result in enlarged breast tissue and secretion of milk
Galactorrhea is more common in women. Other factors that may increase your chance of galactorrhea include:
- Wearing clothing that irritates the nipple
- Frequent breast self-exam or frequent breast stimulation
The primary symptom is a milky discharge from the nipple that is not associated with breast-feeding. The discharge can come from one or both breasts. Other symptoms that can occur along with the discharge include:
- Abnormal or absent menstruation
- Heat or cold intolerance
- Disordered appetite, increase or decrease in weight
- Increased thirst or urination
- Loss of sex drive
- Bloody or foul-smelling discharge
- Acne or abnormal hair growth
- Visual difficulties
- Impotence in men
The doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done. Tests may include:
- A sample of the breast discharge to look at under a microscope
- Blood tests to check hormone levels
- Pregnancy test
- Imaging tests to check for a pituitary gland tumor in the brain:
If the discharge is not milky or contains blood, then this is not galactorrhea. Other tests must be done to check for breast cancer or other disorders.
Treatment depends on the cause. In some mild cases, no medical treatment is necessary, and the condition will go away on its own. In these cases, breast binders that prevent stimulation of the nipples may be effective. If medications are identified as the potential cause, safe alternatives should be sought.
If an underlying cause for galactorrhea, such as a pituitary tumor, is found, this condition may be treated.
Tumors of the pituitary gland that cause galactorrhea are usually benign. Small tumors may be treated with a medication, such as a dopamine agonist. Larger tumors that do not respond to medication may be treated with the following:
- Surgery to remove the tumor and nearby tissues
- Radiation therapy to shrink tumors
Despite treatment, pituitary gland tumors often recur.
To reduce your risk of galactorrhea, take these steps:
- Avoid wearing clothing that irritates the breast.
- Avoid frequent breast self-exam; usually once a month is enough.
- Avoid excessive sexual stimulation of the breasts.
- Do not use illicit drugs.
- Reviewer: Andrea Chisholm; Brian Randall, MD
- Review Date: 06/2013 -
- Update Date: 06/11/2013 -


Date: April 2003
Why does DNA decompose when heated to too high a temperature?
The most of the hydrogen bonds that join the two DNE stands break from the
heat. With more heat the actual bonds between the nucleotides can break
-fragmenting a strand.
Very few organic molecules can with stand high temperatures for very
long. Heat provides the activation energy to break covalent bonds and
denature/destroy molecular structure. Proteins are particularly sensitive.
There are exceptions, as in the case of thermophillic bacteria. There are
cases or heat shock-proteins or "chaperone" proteins that can protect
regular proteins from breakdown - to a point.
DNA doesn't actually decompose when heated. It just melts. DNA comes in two mirror image strands that you could visualize as a zipper. The chemical bonds that make up each strand of the zipper are permanent joins, but the teeth that connect the two strands are much weaker and sensitive to heat. So when you expose DNA to heat (for instance, by boiling it), the two strands of the zipper separate. By very slowly cooling that denatured DNA, you could actually get the strands to reanneal or zip up again.
Christine Ticknor, Ph.D.
Ireland Cancer Center
Case Western Reserve University
DNA in its native form is composed of two molecules that have the
characteristic of being complementary such that one strand associates
with the other in a particular fashion, forming a "double helix." The
two molecules are stabilized in this structure due to noncovalent bonds,
mostly hydrogen bonds and vanderWaals forces. These bonds are not
strong; accordingly, when the temperature rises sufficiently, the double
helix is said to "melt" into its two component molecules, and will
reassociate upon slow cooling under appropriate salt conditions. So,
the issue is not decomposition so much as disassociation upon exposure
to too high a temperature; and the reason for the disassociation is that
the energy input of the heat overcomes the ability of the noncovalent
bonds to keep the molecules together.
Heat "cooks" organic material, DNA or others, especially in the presence of oxyge. So
DNA can "burn" in the usual sense of the word forming CO2, N2 and other compounds. Even in the
absence of O2, heat can cause DNA, or other molecules, to change its structure either by losing
some degradation product, or just changing structure so that it cannot replicate. The
"technical" term for proteins is "denaturing", which is a catch-all phrase for "losing its
Chemical bonds have a certain stability based on the type of bonding. Some
bonds are quite strong The following are covalent bond strengths.
Bond Bond Strength(kJ/mole); Bond Bond Strength (kJ/mole)
Cl-Cl 239 H-Cl 427
H-H 432 C-H 413
N N 941 N-H 391
Bond strength can be overcome by adding heat...The GC and AT bonds in DNA
are hydrogen bonds (non-covalent) and can also be overcome with heat.
these hydrogen bonds are about 71 kilojoules per mole...relatively weak (but
strong in large numbers) and can be broken and reformed by heating and
cooling. This is the secret behind the polymerase chain reaction.
Click here to return to the Molecular Biology Archives
Update: June 2012


BURKE TEACHERS STUDY, PREPARE FOR NEW CURRICULUM
Burke County schools are preparing for a curriculum change coming in August as North Carolina joins more than 40 other states in adopting the Common Core State Standards. A pamphlet Burke schools will send to parents next month explains the new way of teaching, testing and holding principals accountable.“These standards describe what students are supposed to know from kindergarten through 12th grade,” the pamphlet reads. “They define the reading, writing and math knowledge and skills needed at each grade level. Each year builds on the next so that by high school graduation, young people are prepared to go to college or to enter the workplace.”Burke school officials attended a crash course in Common Core last month as North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson toured the state to talk about the upcoming changes.


Race for survival
On the brink of extinction, Honu'ea struggle to the sea
October 23, 2008A full moon floods the wide swath of sand that conceals Orion's nest. Big Beach is lit up so bright we can see where the first ones emerged, the football-sized divot on a small mound of sand cordoned of with yellow caution tape.
This is the third and final full moon to hit the still-gravid mound.
Sheryl King, a biologist with the Hawaii Wildlife Fund, sits at the head of a circle consisting of a dozen or so of us. She explains what we are to do should more baby honu'ea—hawksbill turtles—dig their way out on one of our shifts: make sure they head in the right direction—toward the sea. Keep cats, mongooses, and crabs away. If one flips over in a footprint, push up sand beneath it so it can right itself, but don't ever touch a hatchling.
We determine who stakes out when, then hit the hay, or rather the sand.
Hawksbill nests typically gestate for around 60 days, King said, but she adjusts a nest's "due date" according to various factors, among them temperature and shade.
King spotted Orion, the mother, depositing this particular clutch around 64 days prior to the first hatchlings' emergence. She was watching for nesting hawksbills as part of the dawn patrol, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service effort to spot nesting females as part of the Honu'ea Recovery Project. She estimated the nest would begin to hatch on October 11. She was only 2 days off.
The project takes place with help from several entities, including FWS, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The aim is to get the honu'ea population up to more stable number.
Orion herself likely hatched very close to the spot where she dropped off her most recent batch.
"They tend to return to their natal beach," said HWF co-founder Hannah Bernard. "We don't really understand how they find their way."
Yet Orion doesn't stick around for very long after nesting. According to King, she spends most of her days off the coast of Oahu and comes to the vicinity of Big Beach every three to four years just to nest.
"I first tracked her, and named her, in 2001," King said. "We've tracked her with satellite transmitters so we have a good handle on her movements."
This is Orion's third or fourth nest this season. Two other nests were laid on island this year by an as yet unidentified female, which Bernard says is a good thing—one more nesting female adding to the species' extremely small gene pool.
This is one of only ten or so nesting areas archipelago-wide. There are three on Maui. Other sites include Kameahame Beach on the Big Island and a black sand beach at the mouth of Moloka'i's Halawa River. Ninety percent of honu'ea nesting occurs on the Ka'u Coast of the Big Island.
Nests contain an average of 140 eggs. But while a single hawksbill may lay nearly a thousand eggs in a given year, Hawaii's honu'ea aren't exactly thriving. King said that they have a one in 10,000 chance of making it to adulthood. Volunteers stake out the nest for 24 hours a day as the due date approaches to help ensure the hatchlings' instinctual seaward striving goes without predatory incident.
HWF volunteer coordinator Angie Hofmann compares the hatching of a sea turtle nest to childbirth. Everyone was antsy in the days leading up to the hatching. A handful of volunteers parked nest-side in beach chairs day and night, eyes locked on the mound for even the tiniest movement. One volunteer called it a "watched pot."
Only this one boils.
The first batch emerged at around 5am on Monday, October 13. Forty-eight hatchlings made their way to the water that morning, but Orion's nest was still far from empty.
Glimpsing these tiny hatchlings, bellies full of yolk, as they march toward the sea is an extraordinary sight on its own, but there is a particular sense of urgency for the little ones whose prolific mama chose to deposit them in the shade of a keawe tree at Big Beach.
Honu'ea are not the enormous green guys that bob up beside you when you're snorkeling at Black Rock or Molokini. Honu'ea are smaller—they grow to be up to 270 pounds, whereas the greens round out at 400. Honu'ea have a beak rather than a rounded snout—hence the Anglo name, hawksbill.
Most importantly, honu'ea are endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and most people you ask will say they're critically endangered; greens are not.
Though their plight is severe and stemming from the same source, green sea turtles are listed as threatened, which means that their numbers are much higher than those of the honu'ea.
Statewide, according to King and Bernard, there are fewer than 100 nesting female honu'ea. Fewer than ten of these will nest throughout the isles in any given year. Only five or six total dig their nests on Maui's coastline.
"That's critically low," Bernard said, adding that the entire Hawaii hawksbill population is extremely vulnerable. "The greater your numbers, the greater your resilience."
They cite anthropogenic—human—causes for the species' alarmingly low numbers: runoff, traffic, lights that disorient nesting turtles, introduced predators, habitat loss and more.
Hawksbills across the globe were once plundered for their shells, which were made into combs, jewelry and even guitar picks. In Japan, according to the 1999 Jay April documentary Red Turtle Rising, they were seen as a sign of longevity, and thus stuffed and hung on the walls in many homes. In Hawaii their shells were used to make dinnerware, jewelry and medicine, though a kapu (taboo) barred honu'ea meat from being consumed (they dine primarily on poisonous sponges, which makes their meat toxic). The tortoiseshell pattern that may or may not constitute your sunglass frames was inspired by the hawksbill. In 1973 real tortoiseshell was banned worldwide under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
|Researchers have tracked Orion's (the mama turtle) route and found she likes to hang out on Oahu, but comes to Maui to nest.|
It may be illegal to mess with them these days, but they're not exactly bouncing back.
That's why the 140 or so hatchlings here at Big Beach, barely larger than your big toe, need to make it the ocean.
So far the turnout has been outstanding. The first night saw 48 turtles scamper into the tide. The next night more than 100 came out. Tonight we'll see the stragglers to the shore, if there are any.
The next day King will excavate the nest carefully with her hands for any that didn't make it out, dead or alive. Live hatchlings will be placed in the water after dusk. Eggshells will be counted and unhatched eggs will be sent to a NOAA lab in Honolulu for DNA testing.
My one to 2am shift comes and goes without a peep. I've been instructed to shine a red flashlight on the nest every few minutes, but the mound is frozen.
I fall asleep after my shift with few expectations.
At some bleary hour a voice startles me awake.
"There's a turtle!" King says as she passes my tent. "A turtle just hatched!"
It's barely a quarter past five in the morning. Volunteers climb out of sleeping bags and tents and flood the area around the nest. One hatchling moves slowly toward the sea in the moonlight, almost a silhouette at this dark hour. Its tracks look like tire tread from a mountain bike. We inch along behind it, awestruck.
After 20 minutes the turtle is at the edge of the sea. Although its flippers have just had a killer workout, the hatchling takes to the waves effortlessly after the lapping water swallows it whole.
Any number of things could have thrown off the hatchling and its siblings. Had this been a beach up the road they may have gone toward bright lights. They may have gone toward South Kihei Road and gotten smashed, which has happened before with nesting mothers; once in 1993 and once in 1996, thanks to speeding motorists. A feral cat (of which there are many) could have gotten to them. King says that even ghost crabs prey on sea-bound hatchlings, gouging out their eyes in a horrific display King herself has witnessed in the northwest Hawaiian Isles.
Hofmann said her major concern is the long-term impact of development on nesting. While Big Beach is a state park and thus can't be built upon, two proposed developments—Wailea 670 and the expansion of Makena Resort—could increase the volume of beachgoers that may, inadvertently or otherwise, disturb the nests.
"If they both get their way there'd be another city down here," she said.
The proposed development sites may be pretty far mauka of where the turtles nest, but storm runoff has an obvious impact on their ability to successfully hatch and make it to the sea, as does lighting.
Hofmann said that, given how close honu'ea are to extinction, developers should reconsider how they determine appropriateness when choosing a building site.
"The turtles have chosen this as their nesting place," she said.
While there are several well-documented hawksbill nesting sites statewide, there is no bureaucratic mechanism that can designate them as a critical habitat.
Bernard said that the only defense for sites with impending developments so far has been a lighting ordinance that the county adopted in 2007, which she said was watered-down.
"It's not the bill that we hoped for," she said, "but it's a start."
Just after six in the morning the camp gets jostled awake once again. Three more babies have come out, a volunteer says. I hop to my feet. The last ones to emerge on their own are making it to sea in the new daylight, each on a separate trajectory, seemingly unaware of one another but probably very aware of us.
We scare away the looming ghost crabs. We clear the path of debris, as the turtles' tiny flippers hoist them along the final stretch of sand.
It takes one honu'ea a few tries to take to the water; the oncoming surf pushes it off course. The other two swim off almost instantly.
Nobody knows where they're headed. They return to near shore areas after about five to 10 years, but the time in between is known as the lost years. One theory is that they attach themselves to little clumps of seaweed, floating wherever the current takes them. Those ready to nest, of course, eventually make it back to the beach of their birth using some mysterious sense that we don't yet understand. The hope is they'll stick around long enough for us to find out. MTW
For more information on how you can help hawksbills visit wildhawaii.org. To find out more about the role of honu'ea in Hawaiian history and culture check out the award-winning 1999 documentary Red Turtle Rising, directed by Jay April. The film is available for free on the Web at filmmaui.com and through the World Turtle Trust.
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| Quote #1
Richard's first mention of his relation to his family prepares us for the way family will function in the play. Richard speaks of deceiving one brother to imprison the other. He even explicitly compares himself to his brother Edward, saying that he is all the evil that Edward is not. Thus we get the hint that family will not be about the ties and the love that bind people. Instead, it's just one more instrument Richard will use to manipulate and spread his hate.
| Quote #2
Richard implicitly draws a comparison between himself and Anne's dead husband, the murdered Prince Edward, by pointing out their old family connection. By invoking the Plantagenet name, Richard goes far back to the original family from which the two warring houses, Lancaster and York, sprang. Amidst all the animosity in the play, it's easy to forget that the warring Lancasters and Yorks are actually related by blood (hence the dispute). Remembering the family connection between the Lancasters and Yorks also makes all the quarreling within the York family a bit more understandable. Being family doesn't guarantee allegiance. Fighting within the family is common, hence the Wars of the Roses.
| Quote #3
Margaret represents the old guard that the Yorks defeated to come to power. As they turn from their in-fighting to attack her, we get a rare glimpse of family loyalty and unity amongst those related to King Edward.


MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Middle school students from several New Castle County schools are having an opportunity to spend a morning in the New Castle County Courthouse to learn more about how the court system works and to speak informally with prosecutors and public defenders. Starting with a tour of the courthouse, the students learn about the “nuts and bolts” of the justice system, including new technologies used in the courtroom, as well as court facilities and security, and watch a demonstration by Pocket, the dog whose well-trained nose aids Capitol Police in protecting the courthouse.
Thereafter, they get an opportunity to learn about the legal aspects of the court system from a judge who explains how trials work. And, then, when they least expect it, they get to experience a trial themselves – albeit a mock one. As they are listening to the judge explain the various aspects of a trial, a “theft” occurs and the alleged perpetrator is put on trial. Students act as prosecutors, public defenders, judges, bailiffs, and jurors, with their real-life counterparts coaching them on their roles. After the trial is completed and the jury reaches a verdict, the group discusses what occurred at the trial and why the jury reached its verdict. The visit concludes with lunch and an opportunity to speak informally with the real life prosecutors, public defenders, and others involved in the trial.
All of those attending expressed a great deal of enthusiasm about the experience. “I loved everything!” exclaimed one student on his evaluation. “My favorite part of the day was the mock trial. It was fun to act like it was a real case,” said another. A third student appreciated the one-on-one contact with those who work in the field, saying “My favorite part of the day was talking to Mr. Andy [Public Defender Andrew Rosen]. He told me some important things.” And the professionals involved enjoyed working with the students, as well, according to “Mr. Andy” of the Public Defender’s Office.
In November and December, the project hosted approximately 25 students from Bayard Middle School in Wilmington, as well as about 180 students over three days from Newark Charter School. In the upcoming months, the project is slated to host students from East Side Charter, Springer Middle School, and H.B. duPont Middle School.
The project, which is spearheaded by the Administrative Office of the Courts, is a cooperative effort with the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the Public Defender. It originated last year as part of the Delaware Supreme Court’s racial and ethnic fairness initiative, which is co-chaired by Justice Henry duPont Ridgely of the Supreme Court and Chief Judge Alex J. Smalls of the Court of Common Pleas.
For further information contact Kirsten Morris by e-mail at Kirsten.firstname.lastname@example.org or by phone at 302-255-0094.


Member Comment Sought on Draft National Science and Mathematics Curriculum
In 2008 all Australian governments agreed that a quality education for all young Australians is critical to maintaining Australia’s productivity and quality of life. They agreed that a national curriculum would play a key role in delivering quality education and committed to the development of a K–12 national curriculum, initially in the areas of English, mathematics, science and history.
The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) was formed to develop a national curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 12 in specified learning areas.
ACARA released discussion papers on the development of the new curriculum. Following member consultation Engineers Australia compiled a submission making comments on the proposed structure of the science and mathematics curriculum.
ACARA then released the Shape of the Australian Curriculum documents in the second half of 2009. Engineers Australia in partnership with APESMA and ACEA provided further comments to ACARA outlining concerns that a clear understanding of engineering was not being successfully built into the science school curriculum.
Now, Engineers Australia has been given the opportunity to provide further comments on the draft Mathematics and Science curriculum.
To view the submission and curriculum documents or to make a comment, please click here (note: you must be logged in to view this page)


At Tebtunis public bathhouses
have been excavated, the oldest dating to the third century BCE. They had showers,
stone basins and a stove to heat the bathwater.
While a few bathrooms and tubs have been discovered most Egyptians seem to have
been content with cleaning themselves by aspersion or by a dip in a canal or the
river. They had wash basins and probably filled them with a natron solution from
jugs with spouts and used sand as a scouring agent. They washed after rising and
both before and after the main meals. As mouth wash they used another salt solution


Cortex Off, Consciousness Off
This dramatic reduction in brain activity after loss of consciousness is scarcely surprising. The link between consciousness and this organ is tight, as expressed in the adage “No brain: never mind!” Yet neuroscientists are trying to track the footprints of consciousness to its actual lair. Which region in the cortex, the thalamus or elsewhere is essential to be conscious at all? Consider the following two experiments.
Twenty-five patients with Parkinson's disease were anesthetized with propofol or sevoflurane while the electrical activity of both the cortex and thalamus was monitored by a group under François Gouin of the Timone University Hospital Center at the University of the Mediterranean in Marseille, France. Their neocortex was monitored by a conventional electroencephalographic (EEG) electrode placed on the scalp on top of the head, whereas thalamic activity was recorded by an electrode implanted deep inside the brain in the subthalamic nucleus. This electrode stimulates the brain to alleviate the shaking that is the hallmark of Parkinson's. Experimenters assessed consciousness by tapping patients on the shoulder and asking them every 20 seconds to open their eyes.
When consciousness was lost after anesthesia was initiated—that is, when the patients no longer opened their eyes following the command—the cortical EEG changed dramatically, switching from low amplitude and irregular activity into readings dominated by large and slow brain waves that occur about once every second. Such so-called delta band activity is characteristic of deep sleep. Furthermore, the complexity of the cortical EEG signal decreased significantly when patients stopped responding. None of these changes occurs in the thalamic electrode at the time that consciousness is lost.
Indeed, it is only several minutes later that the thalamic voltage signal matches that of the cortex. The data—consistent for two quite different anesthetic agents, one injected and the other one inhaled—argue that the drivers for the loss of consciousness are parts (or all) of the neocortex and that the thalamus follows.