AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Over the past years, individuals have been using the terms "autism" and "autism spectrum disorder" like they mean the same thing. Autism is a spectrum disorder. This means that some people who have autism are only mildly affected. These people may go to regular schools, go to work, and have partners and families. Some people are affected worse than others. These people may be able to take care of most of their own needs at home like dressing and getting food, but not be able to have a regular job or travel alone. A person who has severe autism may need to be cared for all their life. Few people with autism are extraordinarily gifted or talented. These people are said to have savant syndrome. They are often very good at just one thing in particular, like mathematics, playing the piano or remembering football scores.
The overall category of the Autism Spectrum Disorder is called Pervasive Developmental Disorder. The name describes medical conditions with developmental problems in a number of fields. In most cases, when referring to the Autism Spectrum Disorder, we are referring to the most common disorders:
The different categories, the so-called “International Classification of Diseases” (ICD), are defined by the World Health Organization. As shown in the table, the diseases vary in several points. These are the age of onset, social interaction, communication and behaviour. An individual belongs to a certain category, depending on the areas of impairment. All three may seem similar in symptoms, yet are not the same. Still, people within one group show similar symptoms. The groups can be used to search for an underlying cause of the disease and to provide a better treatment.
Scientists do not know exactly what causes autism. There may be many different causes for the different types of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Scientists do know about some things that make a person more likely to have an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The autism spectrum disorders are highly heritable disorders. This means that it is very likely (over 90%) that the child of an autistic person will also be on the autism spectrum. The reason for this are certain genes. These genes are linked to autism and are passed on from a parent to the child. Already Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger noticed that fathers of autistic children often preferred being on their own over being with people. Therefore, Kanner and Asperger suspected a genetic cause. Studies with families with a child on the autism spectrum were done to investigate this theory. They found that sometimes the children’s parents (fathers as well as mothers) also show social difficulties, shyness and problems with understanding contextual information when talking to someone. Some studies have found this in only 10 out of 100 families, some in as much as 45 out of every 100 families.
Other than the studies done on children who had autistic parents, recently a couple of studies were done on children who either had a sibling or a twin showing autistic signs. Similar to the outcomes in the autistic parents studies, most children having autistic siblings/ twins were found out to be showing autistic signs. According to a recent study, around fifty percent of infants with autistic siblings showed some kind of atypical behaviour, around one forth of them showed delays and deficits in achieving infancy milestones and around 17% of all were later diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
Moreover, twin studies showed that it is much more likely that identical twins are both on the autism spectrum than that non-identical twins are both on the autism spectrum. Identical twins have nearly the same DNA. Therefore, it is highly probable that they are either both autistic or both not autistic. Non-identical twins share only half of their genes which makes it less likely that they both have the disorder. Scientists have shown that the recurrence risk (the likelihood that a child is on the autism spectrum if it has a sister or a brother that is autistic as well) is 20 to 80 times higher than the probability for having the disorder in the average population.
However, it is not a single gene that increases the risk for autism spectrum disorders. Several genes have been linked to the disorder. All of the identified genes can in sum only explain one or two out of every ten autism cases. None of the genes that have been found to play a role in autism can explain more than one out of every 100 cases.
The genetic influences include:
The affected genes influence:
Researchers have not found a single neuronal correlate for autism spectrum disorders, i.e. no abnormal functioning of the brain is the only cause of autism. Nevertheless, scientists found some differences between the brains of autistic people and the typical human brain. These differences lie in the anatomy of the brain, the activity in certain brain regions as well as in the connections between brain regions. It is a general tendency that autistic people use the same brain regions as other people but show different activity. In some areas the activity is less, in others it is stronger. However, this may only be true for male autists. Throughout the last years, studies have shown that brains of autistic women might be like normal men's brains.
Some researchers grouped autistic people's difficulties into three main areas in order to investigate their neuronal basis.
Researchers say that building a Theory of mind is one of the main problems for autistic people. This makes it difficult for them to interact with others. Problems in social interaction are probably worsened by low preference for social stimuli, such as faces. This tendency has been found in studies tracking the person’s eye movements and in EEG studies. EEG studies showed lower than normal activity in the fusiform face area (FFA), a brain region that is usually active when seeing faces. However, the results of other studies could not show this.
Also, scientists measured brain activity of people on the autism spectrum with fMRI while they were thinking about their own emotions. They found activity in the same brain regions as in non-autistic people. The difference was that some regions which are important for thinking about oneself and emotions (especially the anterior insula) were less active in autistic people. Other brain regions were much more active. These findings may explain the difficulties people with autism experience when trying to understand complex facial expressions and emotions (such as shame, jealousy).
People on the autism spectrum show a lower ability for executive function. Executive function means physical, emotional and cognitive self-control. This includes planning actions, focusing, shifting attention and flexibility of behaviour and thinking. Autistic people's ability can improve but it will remain below non-autistic people's ability in executive function.
Problems with executive function are probably caused by large networks in the brain. Grey matter and white matter irregularities have a negative influence on the way different brain regions work together (functional integration). A smaller corpus callosum leads to abnormalities in working memory (an active process of keeping a memory until it is needed) and planning actions.
Central coherence is the ability to build wholes out of parts. It is weak in people with autism. This means that autistic people focus more on details. They cannot build wholes out of them. Not being able to pay attention to wholes results in difficulties with perception and language. Therefore, people with autism usually need more time for dealing with information coming from their surroundings. As a consequence, they typically also need more time for responding. However, performance varies between people on the autism spectrum. Moreover, the term central coherence may include many interacting aspects. This makes it difficult to find the cause for it in the brain. Neural correlates for central coherence are not yet known.
The risk for autism spectrum disorders can be increased if the mother uses thalidomide, valproic acid or drinks too much alcohol during pregnancy. The risk for autism also increases with the age of father and mother at the time of pregnancy.
Scientists know that parents do not cause their children's autism by not being loving enough.
Scientists do know for sure that vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccines do not even make a person more likely to have autism - even if they are already at a high risk for autism before they get their vaccines.
In 1997 A. Wakefield and others found autism signs one month after the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was applied. They released a paper in which they claimed that autism is caused by the MMR vaccine. However, the study had several flaws:
Also, no plausible biological mechanism could explain how the MMR vaccine leads to autism. Since then many case-control studies have been done to investigate the relationship between vaccines and autism. This means, they compared a group which was vaccinated with a group that was not vaccinated but apart from that identical. They did not find MMR vaccines to be the cause of autism. Neither did they find an increased risk for autism by the vaccination.
Parents also worried that thiomersal (US: thimerosal - a substance that makes vaccines and other medicines usable for a longer time) might cause autism because it contains mercury. No harm from the amount of ethylmercury in vaccines was known. Yet, vaccines for infants containing mercury were taken from the market. Nevertheless, thiomersal as a cause for autism is biologically also not biologically. Mercury poisoning triggers clearly different symptoms than autism. Still, researchers did studies about this topic. They did not find a connection between thiomersal and autism.
Finally, a third theory was suggested. It was stated that many vaccines at the same time would weaken the immune system of infants. However, autism is not a disorder that is related to the immune system. Furthermore, single and also many vaccines do not weaken the immune system.
Diagnosing autism is difficult since there is no medical test like a blood test. Instead, an evaluation is made by a team of doctors and other health professionals who are experienced in autism and know the individual.
A reliable diagnosis can first be given at the age of two. At the age of 18 and 24 months, children should get a check-up. If anything wrong is noticed, a further evaluation is done. In this, a team of professionals will interview the child’s guardians about the child’s behaviour and see what they are like in different settings. This may also include behavioural or physical assessments as well as intelligence tests or developmental tests. A good, detailed, history of the child is often very useful in receiving a diagnosis.
Adults can be diagnosed in adults as well as children. This can be difficult because autism has symptoms that can overlap with other disorders, such as OCD, that may have appeared by adulthood. An expert will usually ask the adult about concerns, challenges in life (such as socially or behaviourally) as well as standardised testing in these areas. They also often ask for a developmental history.
In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association published the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). In order to be diagnosed with autism, a person must fulfill two standardized criteria. It is important that individuals must show symptoms from early childhood, even if those symptoms are recognized later. These symptoms have to limit everyday functioning. Additionally, these symptoms cannot be explained by an intellectual disability or a developmental delay.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviours.
Autism spectrum disorder includes a wide range of symptoms, skills and levels of disability. Some autistic people also have learning disabilities, mental health issues or other conditions. This means that autism can also co-occur with other conditions and symptoms of the following disorders:
In the DSM-V, a diagnosis of autism excludes making a formal diagnosis of other psychiatric disorders. Therefore, other mental health conditions may be undiagnosed in an autistic person, because it is impossible to make a comorbid clinical diagnosis.
Since autism is a spectrum, every person with autism is different. Different treatments help different people. There are a few different categories of treatment. The main ones are medication, different therapies and diets. The treatment is fitted depending on what a person with autism needs.
It is still unclear what causes autism. There may be a few causes. At the moment, it is only possible to lower the symptoms of autism. A full recovery from autism is not possible. If therapies cannot reduce the symptoms of autism, medications are used additionally. Often, several medications are used at the same time to treat different symptoms of autism.
Serotonin is a chemical messenger that transports signals between cells and is very important for normal function, such as with sensory perception, memory, learning and sleep, all of which are impaired in autistic people.
Researchers have not yet found a link between autism and serotonin, although they have been successful in treating autism with SSRIs, which stop cells from absorbing serotonin, meaning more is used for signals.
They can be used to treat repetitive behaviour, aggression, hyperactive behaviour and outbursts of anger. The SSRIs can have many side-effects. Usually the medication is better tolerated by adults than by children. Examples of SSRIs are Clomipramine, Fluvoxamine, Sertraline, Venlafaxine, Trazodone and Mirtazapine.
Dopamine is a chemical messenger in the brain. It helps to do movements, release hormones and strengthen cognitive abilities. Researchers found that increasing the amount of dopamine in the brain will worsen the symptoms of autism. Substances that help to reduce symptoms of autism are the antipsychotic drugs. There are two types of antipsychotic medications. One of the types are typical antipsychotics. They block the sites where dopamine would bind to a cell. Atypical antipsychotic drugs on the other hand block the sites where dopamine or serotonin would bind to a cell. Antipsychotic medicine is the most successful treatment for excitability in autism. It can also help to reduce aggression, self-injury, hyperactivity and repetitive, although it may have many side-effects. Originally, antipsychotic medications were used to treat mental disorders like depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Examples of antipsychotic drugs are Haloperidol, Clozapine, Risperidone and Paliperidone.
In the beginning, psychostimulants were only used for patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Researchers found out that they can also help patients with autism. The medication can reduce hyperactivity and inattention in people with autism. The medication can have many side-effects. Examples are Methylphenidate, Clonidine and Guanfacine.
People with autism often have problems with their digestive organs like the stomach or gut. These problems could be inflammations, abdominal pain, gas, diarrhea or bacterial overgrowth. The reasons may be malnutrition, food intolerances or allergies. Specific food products causing these problems are excluded from the diet. In many cases, products containing gluten or casein, the main protein occurring in dairy products, are excluded. In many cases vitamins, minerals as well as essential fatty acids are additionally provided. A big problem is that many autistic people cannot tell that they have pain. Therefore, many problems concerning the digestive organs stay undetected.
Therapy can be used to minimize distress caused by sensory overload. Individual therapy plans are created. The therapist tries to help the autistic person in many different aspects.
One part of this is sensory integration. The therapist will help the patient to make sense of different sensory inputs. For example, they may ask a child patient to play with finger paints or collect objects from a bad of dried beans.
Another part is the training of daily life activities. The therapist may help the patient to get used to things like getting dressed, eating, hygiene, shopping and financial management. These may be done one step at a time if the activity involves multiple steps, such as cooking.
Play therapy is also helpful, especially for children. It can be useful to learn about certain emotions, which can be hard for autistic people. This can also be used to help learn social conventions, such as shaking hands instead of hugging when meeting a stranger.
Often animals are used to help autistic people. Most often dogs or horses are used. The people diagnosed with autism can care for these animals, pet them and, in the case of the horse, even ride on them. Studies showed that the interaction between an autistic person and animals can increase communication, reduce stress, fear, aggression and reduce the severity of the symptoms of autism.
Music therapy consists of two parts: One is an active listening part. Here, the therapist is making music himself or playing music from a record. In the other part, the autistic person can make music himself like playing an instrument or singing. Music therapy will improve different aspects of communication.
Here, different materials and techniques are used to draw pictures. The aim of art therapy is to make the autistic person more flexible and relaxed and to improve communication skills, self-image and learning skills. The effects of the therapy can be long lasting and transferred to the school, work or home setting.
These are just little Workouts for the Left and Right Hemisphere based on whether your child is having Left or Right brain weakness. Bear crawls help develop body awareness, improve coordination and motor planning, and build strength in the trunk and upper body. Throwing weighted objects like medicine balls can increase core strength and balance and help improve coordination. It may also have therapeutic benefits and can stimulate brain centers responsible for short-term memory. In a study published in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, the authors found that movements similar to those exhibited by those with autism may help provide needed feedback to the body. This may reduce repetitive behaviors such as arm flapping or clapping. Arm circles are a great upper-body exercise that helps increase flexibility and strength in the shoulders and back and can be done anywhere with no equipment.
Scientific studies
The Italian language is a Romance language spoken in Italy. Other countries that use Italian as their "official language" are San Marino, Vatican City and Switzerland. Slovenia, and Croatia also use Italian as an official language, but only in some regions. Italian is spoken by about 70 million people in several countries, including some parts of Monaco, Malta, Albania, Montenegro, Dodecanese (Greece), Eritrea, Libya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tunisia. The standard version from Tuscany is used for most writing but other dialects are sometimes written.
It is mostly derived from Latin, with some words from Greek, Etruscan and elsewhere. It is called an inflected language - that means that the meaning of words can be changed by changing their endings. Italian nouns are either masculine or feminine in gender (these usually have little to do with natural genders).
Most singular masculine nouns end in -o, and most plural masculine nouns end in -i.
Most singular feminine nouns end in -a, and most plural feminine nouns end in -e.
So:
The ending of verbs are quite complicated because of conjugation. The endings depend upon the "tense" of the verb (past, present, future and so on) and on the "person" of the verb (I, you, they etc.). Because Italian grammar uses endings for these inflections, the personal pronoun is not always needed (in the following example it is in parenthesis).
There are very many of these endings to learn - it is one of the more difficult parts of the Italian Grammar. But pronunciation is simple - there are just a few rules to learn, and hardly any difficult sounds.
Many Italian words for food have entered the English language, such as: pizza, spaghetti and ravioli. Many technical words in music are Italian, such as forte and allegro. Many musical instrument names are also Italian, such as cello and tuba. Mafia and vendetta come from the darker side of Italian culture .
The Republic of Namibia is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. It is bordered by Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south. It gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Before that it was called South West Africa. Its capital is Windhoek.
Before World War I Namibia was a German colony. German is still widely spoken in the country, although English is the official language.
Namibia has a population of 2.1 million people.
The name of the country is from the Namib Desert. This is said to be the oldest desert in the world.
The dry lands of Namibia were lived in since early times by Bushmen, Damara and Nama. About the 14th century AD, Bantu came to the area from central Africa. From the late 18th century onwards, Orlam clans from the Cape Colony crossed the Orange River. They moved into the area that today is southern Namibia. The nomadic Nama tribes were largely peaceful. The missionaries with the Orlams were well received by them, the right to use waterholes and grazing was given. On their way further north, the Orlams met clans of the Herero tribe. They were not as friendly. The Nama-Herero War started in 1880. They did not stop until Imperial Germany sent troops.
The first Europeans to explore the region were the Portuguese navigators Diogo Cão in 1485 and Bartolomeu Dias in 1486. Like most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia was not largely explored by Europeans until the 19th century. At this time traders and settlers arrived, mostly from Germany and Sweden.
Namibia became a German colony in 1884. This was to stop the British. The country was called German South-West Africa. From 1904 to 1907, the Herero and the Namaqua took up arms against the Germans. In the following , 10,000 Nama (half the population) and about 65,000 Hereros (about 80% of the population) were killed.
South Africa began to rule the land in 1915. They defeated the German force during World War I. It was a League of Nations mandate territory from 1919. In 1946 the League was replaced by the United Nations. South Africa would not give up their rule of the land. Many people thought the land should be independent from South Africa. In 1971 South Africa was told their hold on the country was illegal. They still did not leave.
The country officially became independent on 21 March 1990. Sam Nujoma became the first President of Namibia.
Namibia is divided into 14 regions and subdivided into 121 constituencies. Regional councillors are directly elected through secret ballots.
Tourism is a major contributor (14.5%) to Namibia's economy. It creates tens of thousands of jobs (18.2% of all employment). There are over a million tourists per year. The country is among the main tourist places in Africa. It is known for ecotourism which features Namibia's extensive wildlife.
There are many lodges and reserves for tourists. Sport Hunting is also a large, and growing part of the Namibian economy. It was 14% of total tourism in the year 2000. Namibia has numerous species wanted by international sport hunters. In addition, extreme sports such as sandboarding and 4x4ing have become popular. Many cities have companies that provide tours. The most visited places include the Caprivi Strip, Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast Park, Sesriem, Etosha Pan and the coastal towns of Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz.
Namibia has required free education for 10 years between the ages of 6 and 16. Grades 1–7 are primary level, grades 8–12 secondary.
Most schools in Namibia are state-run. There are a few private schools. There are four teacher training colleges, three colleges of agriculture, a police training college, a Polytechnic at university level, and a National University.
The most popular sport in Namibia is football. The Namibia national football team qualified for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. They have yet to qualify for any World Cups. The Namibian rugby team has been in four separate World Cups. Namibia were participants in the 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cups. Cricket is also popular. The national team played in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
Inline Hockey was first played in 1995. It has become more and more popular in the last years. The Women's Inline Hockey National Team were in the 2008 FIRS World Championships. Namibia is the home for one of the toughest footraces in the world, the Namibian ultra marathon.
The most famous athlete from Namibia is certainly Frankie Fredericks, sprinter (100 and 200 m). He won four Olympic silver medals (1992, 1996). He also has medals from several World Athletics Championships. He is also known for humanitarian activities in Namibia and further.
Jubal Early
Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He commanded a corps in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He invaded the north in 1864. After the war, he was one of the major defenders of the Confederate.
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Daresbury, Cheshire, 27 January 1832 – Guildford, Surrey, 14 January 1898). Dodgson was an Oxford don, a logician (mathematics expert), a writer, a poet, an Anglican clergyman, and a photographer. He is most famous for his story "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" which he told to a young friend, Alice Liddell, when he took the girl and two sisters on a boat trip. Alice enjoyed the story and asked Dodgson to write it down. Carroll then wrote a second story about Alice called "Through the Looking-Glass". Both stories are still popular all over the world.
Dodgson was a Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, specialising in logic and mathematics. He wrote a number of books and pamphlets on the subject. He died of pneumonia in Guildford, Surrey.
Belize (), formerly known as "British Honduras", is a country in Central America. It used to be called "British Honduras", but changed its name in 1973. Long before that it was part of the Mayan Empire. Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America.
Some people in Belize speak Spanish or Kriol, but English is the official language and the most commonly spoken. This is because Belize is a former colony of the United Kingdom, while its neighbors were once colonies of Spain. Many people speak two languages. Belize is a melting pot of cultures.
More than three hundred and thirty thousand (374,681 (2017)) people live in Belize. Kriols make up about 21% of the Belizean people. Three Maya groups now live in the country: the Yucatec, the Mopan, and Kekchi. The Garinagu are a mix of African, Arawak, and Carib ancestry. There are also Mestizos.
Belmopan, which is near the centre of the country, is its capital. The first capital was Belize City. Other towns and cities include Belize City, Corozal Town, Orange Walk Town, Punta Gorda, Santa Elena/San Ignacio (known as the twin town) and San Pedro Town.
Belize is on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. There are about 450 islands. The largest island, Ambergris Caye, is forty kilometres long. Many other islands are very small. In the water around the islands are coral reefs.
The temperature along the coast is warm all year round. It typically ranges from 20 °C to 32 °C. Sometimes hurricanes hit, causing great damage.
Belize is on the Caribbean coast of northern Central America. It shares a border on the north with the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the west with the Guatemalan department of Petén, and on the south with the Guatemalan department of Izabal. To the east is the Caribbean Sea. The Belize Barrier Reef is along most of the of predominantly marshy coastline. Belize have the second largest living barrier reef in the world. The area of the country totals . There are many lagoons along the coasts and in the northern part of the country. This makes the actual land area smaller at .
The Hondo and the Sarstoon River make the northern and southern border.
The north of Belize is mostly flat, swampy coastal plains. In some places it is heavily forested. The south has the low mountain range of the Maya Mountains. The highest point in Belize is Doyle's Delight at . The Caribbean coast is lined with a coral reef and about 450 islets and islands.The islands are locally called cayes (pronounced "keys"). Three of only four coral atolls in the Western Hemisphere are off the coast of Belize.
Over 60% of Belize's land surface is covered by forest. 20% is covered by cultivated land (agriculture) and human settlements. There are also important mangrove ecosystems across Belize's landscape.
Belize is divided into 6 districts. The districts are shown below with their areas (in km) and number of people at the 2010 Census:
Total areas and number of people 22,964 – 312,971
These districts are further divided into 31 constituencies.
The largest communities as of 2017 are:
The Belize Defence Force (BDF) is the military. It is responsible for protecting Belize. In 1997, the regular army had over 900 people, the reserve army 381, the air wing 45 and the maritime wing 36. This amounts to an overall strength of about 1400. In 2005, the maritime wing became part of the Belizean Coast Guard. In the same year, the government spent $1.2 million on the military. This is 1.87% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
After Belize became independent in 1981 the United Kingdom kept some military in the country to protect it from invasion by Guatemala. The main British force left in 1994. This was three years after Guatemala said Belize was independent. The United Kingdom still keeps some military people in the country. In 2011 the base was only 10 soldiers due to British budget cuts. They hope to reopen the base later.
Belizean cuisine is inspired by British, Mexican and Western Caribbean cooking. Since Belize is a melting pot of culture, it has adopted dishes from many different countries. The basic ingredients are rice and beans. These are often eaten with chicken, pork, veal, fish or vegetables. Coconut milk and fried plantains are added to the dishes to create a truly tropical taste. Exotic ingredients include armadillo meat, venison, iguana, iguana egg, and fried paca. Conch soup is a traditional dish. It has a characteristic taste and thick consistency due to added okra, potatoes, yams, cassava flour and a touch of toasted habanero. Belizean food is almost always served alongside white rice in coconut milk.
The most common dishes that you will encounter in Belize are the following:
Mestizo- Tamales, Relleno, Escabeche, Empanades and many other corn food.
Creole- The famous Rice and Beans, sere, and other dishes with may include cassava and yam.
The major sports in Belize are football, basketball, volleyball and cycling. There are smaller followings of boat racing, track & field, softball and cricket. Fishing is also popular in areas of Belize. The Cross Country Cycling Classic is one of the most important Belize sports events. This one-day sports event is meant for amateur cyclists but has also gained a worldwide popularity.
On Easter day, citizens of Dangriga participate in a yearly fishing tournament. First, second, and third prize are awarded based on a scoring combination of size, species, and number. The tournament is broadcast over local radio stations. Prize money is awarded to the winners.
Belize's National Basketball Team is the only National Team to have major victories internationally.
The black orchid (Encyclia Cochleatum) is the National Flower of Belize. This orchid grows on trees in damp areas, and flowers nearly all year round. Its clustered bulblike stems vary in size up to six inches long and carry two or three leaves.
The black orchid flower has greenish-yellow petals and sepals with purple blotches near the base. The "lip" (one petal of special construction, which is the flower's showiest) is shaped like a valve of a clamshell (hence the name Encyclia Cochleatum) and is deep purple-brown, almost black, with conspicuous radiating purple veins.
The National Tree of Belize is the Mahogany Tree ("Swietenia macrophylla"), one of the magnificent giants of the Belize rain forest. It rises straight and tall to over a hundred feet. In the early months of the year, when the leaves fall and new red-brown growth appears, the tree can be seen from a great distance. The tree puts out a many small whitish flowers. The flowers blossom into dark fruits, which are pear-shaped capsules about six inches long. The mahogany tree matures in 60 to 80 years.
The Keel Billed Toucan ("Ramphastos sulfuratus") is the National Bird of Belize. It is noted for its great, canoe-shaped bill and its brightly coloured green, blue, red and orange feathers. There are toucans in open areas of the country with large trees. It is mostly black with bright yellow cheeks and chest, red under the tail and a distinctive white patch at the base of the tail. They make a monotonous frog-like croak. Toucans like fruits. They eat by cutting with the serrated edge of their bills.
The Tapir or Mountain Cow (Tapirello Bairdii) is the largest land mammal of the American tropics. The tapir is a stoutly built animal with short legs, about the size of a donkey and weighs up to 600 pounds. Its general color is dusty brown with a white fringe around the eyes and lips, white tipped ears and occasional white patches of fur on the throat and chest.
In spite of its local name, the tapir is not a cow. It is closely related to the horse and is also kin to the rhinoceros. The tapir is a vegetarian. It spends much of its time in water or mud shallows, and is a strong swimmer.
The National Animal is protected under the law thus the hunting of the tapir is illegal.
Michael Landon
The RMS "Titanic" was a British passenger ship. It was built by Harland and Wolff ship builders, in Belfast, for the White Star Line company. She sank during her first trip at sea.
Before she sailed, many people thought it would be almost impossible for ships of this design to sink.
At 11:40 on 14 April 1912, during the "Titanic"'s first trip, she hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. The iceberg broke the "Titanic"'s hull (bottom), letting water into the ship. The "Titanic" sank two hours and forty minutes later at 2:20 on 15 April.
As she sank, the "Titanic" split in two. The wreck killed over 1,500 people. Only around 705 people survived. It was one of the worst shipwrecks that was not during a war.
One reason why so many people died was that the ship did not have enough lifeboats for everyone on board. The "Titanic" had 20 lifeboats with room for 1,178 passengers, only a third of the number of passengers the ship could carry. It actually had more lifeboats than was needed by law (it needed 16 with room for 990 passengers). This was because the laws in the UK were out of date. They did not say that a ship needed enough lifeboats for all passengers. They only said that a ship weighing more than 10,000 tons needed 16 lifeboats (the Titanic weighed 46,000 tons). Furthermore, the White Star Line believed that the lifeboats on the "Titanic" would only be needed to take passengers a short distance to a rescue ship.
Higher class women and children were allowed on the lifeboats first, and passengers who sailed in first class (which meant that they paid for better rooms on the ship) were allowed on before other passengers. Few of the poorer people who had paid less (called second class and third class passengers) got out safely.
Another reason so few people survived was that the radio was off on the "SS Californian", the ship closest to the "Titanic". The "Californian" crew did not hear about the accident. Also, the "Titanic" did have flares but they were white.Back then(and still now),red meant emergency and other colors were used for identification (White=White Star Line).The Californian and other ships saw the flares but they didn't think of the flares as distress signals. Another ship, the "SS Carpathia", did hear about the accident and collected all 705 survivors.
This had several reasons:
Many of those who died didn't die because they couldn't leave the ship before it sank. They died of hypothermia, while they were floating in the cold water (which was only a bit over the freezing point at that time). When the MS. Carpathia arrived, at 4.10 ship's time, they were floating dead bodies in the water. Many lifeboats rowed away from those who were in the water shouting for help. The people in the lifeboats were afraid the lifeboat would capsize when people entered it from the water. Only lifeboat Number four returned to the shouting people in the water. Five people could be rescued, but two of them died in the lifeboat. Around 3 am ship's time, 40 minutes after the sinking, the last calls for help ceased. After 3am, lifeboat number 14, commanded by Officer Harold Lowe returned. He could save another three people. He had emptied the lifeboat and let the people in the boat enter other boats beforehand.
The following table gives a listing of those who died and those who survived, grouped by age, gender and ships class. Children are those up to age 12. It is taken from a report to British parliament of 1912. There are other lists, with slightly different numbers.
The last survivor of the Titanic disaster to die was a woman named Millvina Dean. She was the youngest passenger on board, as she was then a baby of only nine weeks old. She died in Ashhurst, Hampshire, England on 21 May 2009 aged 97.
The "Titanic" disaster changed many maritime ship laws. Because so many people died, authorities felt that laws should be put into place to make ship travel safer. Changes included requiring all ships to carry enough lifeboats for everyone on the ship, and emergency materials such as flares. Someone must be at the ship's radio all the time.
Alexander Brehm, a German physicist, was shocked when he heard about the disaster. He wanted to invent a technology that would be able to detect icebergs. He wasn't able to achieve that goal until his death, but he was granted patents relating to the measurement of the depth at sea, using sound. Today, this is known as echo sounding.
The wreck was found by a French and American team, led by Robert Ballard, on September 1, 1985 at 1:02 in the morning.
In 1986, Ballard returned to the wreck with a submarine. He took many photos and made lots of films.
In 1987, a French team salvaged 900 objects and took them to the surface.
The story of the sinking has been made into several movies. The most popular film version is a 1997 film starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio called "Titanic". It won 11 Academy Awards, tying "Ben-Hur" for the record for the most Academy Awards won by one movie.
Other movie versions of the story include the 1958 film "A Night to Remember", the 1953 film "Titanic", the 1979 film "S.O.S. Titanic "and the 1996 movie "Titanic".
In the 1980 film Raise the Titanic, salvagers raise the shipwreck from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. However, this is impossible to do in reality. The "Titanic" broke in two, and the wreck is partially stuck in the bottom, buried under more than three feet (1 m) of mud in some spots. The ship has been on the ocean floor for more than 100 years, and would shatter into many more pieces if disturbed. Worms and other animals have eaten away much of the wood and many other parts.
Steel is iron mixed with carbon and perhaps other metals. It is harder and stronger than iron. Iron with more than 1.7% percent carbon by weight is named cast iron. Steel is different from wrought iron, which has little or no carbon.
Steel has a long history. People in India and Sri Lanka were making small amounts of steel more than 2,500 years ago. It was very expensive and was often used to make swords and knives. In the Middle Ages, steel could be made only in small amounts since the processes took a long time.
In the time since, there have been many changes to the way steel is made. In about the year 1610 steel started to be made in England, and the way it was made got better and cheaper over the next 100 years. Cheap steel helped start the Industrial Revolution in England and in Europe. The first industrial Converter (metallurgy) for making cheap steel was the Bessemer converter, followed by Siemens-Martin open-hearth process.
Today the most common way of making steel is the basic-oxygen process. The converter is a large turnip-shaped vessel. Liquid raw iron called "pig iron" is poured in and some scrap metal is added in to balance the heat. Oxygen is then blown into the iron. The oxygen burns off the extra carbon and other impurities. Then enough carbon is added to make the carbon contents as wanted. The liquid steel is then poured. It can be either cast into molds or rolled into sheets, slabs, beams and other so-called "long products", such as railway tracks. Some special steels are made in electric arc furnaces.
Steel is most often made by machines in huge buildings called "steel mills". It is a very cheap metal and is used to make many things. Steel is used in making buildings and bridges, and all kinds of machines. Almost all ships and cars are today made from steel. When a steel object is old, or it is broken beyond repair, it is called "scrap". It can be melted down and re-shaped into a new object. Steel is "recyclable" material; that is, the same steel can be used and re-used.
Steel is a metal alloy which includes iron and often some carbon.
Every material is made up of atoms which are very small parts. Some atoms hold together quite well, which is what makes some solid materials hard. Something made of pure iron is softer than steel because the atoms can slip over one another. If other atoms like carbon are added, they are different from iron atoms and stop the iron atoms from sliding apart so easily. This makes the metal stronger and harder.
Changing the amount of carbon (or other atoms) added to steel will change those things that are interesting and useful about the metal. These are called the properties of the steel. Some properties are:
Steel with more carbon is harder and stronger than pure iron, but it also breaks more easily (brittle).
There are thousands of steel types. Each type is made of different chemical elements.
All steels have some elements that have a bad effect, such as phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S). Steel makers take out as much P and S as possible.
Plain carbon steels are made only of iron, carbon, and undesired elements. They fall into three general groups. Plain carbon steel with 0.05 to 0.2% carbon does not harden when cooled quickly. Welding it is simple, so it is used for shipbuilding, boilers, pipes, fence wire and other purposes where low cost is important. Plain steels are used for springs, gears, and engine parts. Plain carbon steel with 0.45 to 0.8% carbon is used for very hard items such as shears and machine tools.
Alloy steels are plain carbon steel with metals such as Boron (B), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), and cobalt (Co) added. These give other properties than plain carbon steel. Alloy steels are made for specialized purposes. For example, chromium can be added to make stainless steel, which does not rust easily, or boron can be added to make very hard steel that is also not brittle.
There are a huge number of things that people make from steel. It is one of the most common and useful metals.
A lot of items made from iron in the past are now made of steel. Some of them are:
The Luftwaffe (pronounced ) is the name for the air force of Germany. It was the name for the air force of Germany during the Third Reich when Adolf Hitler was in power (between 1933 and 1945). It has also been the name for the air force since it was re-established in 1955 during the era of the Cold War. Luftwaffe means Air weapon in English.
Germany first had aeroplanes in its army in 1910, four years before the start of World War I in 1914. At that time, aeroplanes had no guns. They were being used for reconnaissance duties. They would fly over the battlefield to see what the enemy was doing and fly back so that the pilots could tell their generals what they knew. The generals used that information to help plan the fighting.
During World War I, Germany created the "Luftstreitkräfte", known in English as the Imperial German Air Service. The German navy also had its planes in the Marine-Fliegerabteilung.
Guns were fitted to planes in 1915.
The fighter aeroplanes became very famous because of its brave pilots. The most famous German pilot of World War I was Manfred von Richthofen, also known as "The Red Baron" of Jasta 11. When he died in combat, Hermann Goering replaced him.
Germany also used airships called "Zeppelins". They were named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who had built the first airships in 1900. He had wanted them to carry cargo and passengers, not bombs. He died in 1917.
In November 1918, the "Allies of World War I" (which included Britain and France) won the war, and Germany had to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty said that Germany could not have any military aeroplanes at all because it was blamed for starting the war in 1914. Germany therefore had to destroy all its military aeroplanes as a punishment, so until 1933 it had no air force at all.
Between January and September 1918 German pilots shot down 3,732 Allied planes while losing 1,099 aircraft. By the end of the war, the German Army Air Service had a total of 2,709 frontline aircraft, 56 airships, 186 balloon detachments and about 4,500 flying personnel. After the war ended in German defeat, the service was dissolved completely. The Treaty of Versailles demanded that its aeroplanes should be destroyed.
For many years, Germany pretended to have no army pilots. The German army generals did not like the idea of not having any aeroplanes, so they acted secretly and used tricks. At first, pilots would pretend to be training to become airline pilots but this was not much use because they really needed to fly fighters and bombers. The Treaty of Versailles did not allow Germany to have them, so Germany had to ask for help from Russia, its former (and future) enemy.
In 1924, German army pilots started to fly Russian fighters and bombers at a secret training school near the Russian city of Lipetsk. These pilots would then become the first ones to fly for the new German air force, the Luftwaffe, when Hitler said that it now existed. The training school closed in 1933.
In 1935, Adolf Hitler finally told the world that Germany had a new air force, even though the Treaty of Versailles forbade it. Hitler was defying the Allies, who had won World War I. The allies did nothing about this, because many still remembered the war in 19141918. They were frightened by the idea of war and did not want another one.
The Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 gave the Germans the opportunity to test its new aircraft, pilots and weapons in battle. Hitler sent many aeroplanes and pilots to Spain because he wanted to support Francisco Franco, who wanted to get rid of the Spanish government. The aeroplanes included fighter aircraft called the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and dive bombers called the Junkers Ju 87 ‘Stuka”.
During the war. German bombers attacked the city of Guernica in the Basque region of northeast Spain, and many civilians died in the attack. Many governments and people around the world were horrified by the attack. The artist Pablo Picasso made a painting called "Guernica" that has become very famous. People see the painting as a symbol of the horror of war. A copy of the painting hangs in the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
The German air force was the strongest in the world when World War II broke out in September 1939. It supported the army on the ground and the aircraft were very effective at defeating all opposition. The German armed force, the "Wehrmacht", had practised a new, fast, way to defeat their enemies. This was called Blitzkrieg or "lightning war". The French and the British were more prepared for a trench war.