AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Many rulers in South Asia used elephants as executioners, ones who put the condemned to death. One nonreligious Mogul Emperor, Akbar (1547-1605), used his favorite elephant as a judge, too. Akbar ruled in the city of Agra from 1570-1585. He believed that his favorite elephant could know who was guilty. He put thousands of people to death this way. Even when the crimes were minor, he sent them to the elephant. Elephant handlers staked them before the great elephant and tried to convince it to step on them. The huge elephant crushed most, but sometimes refused. Akbar believed this proved their innocence and then released them.
Different regions crushed people by elephant in different ways. One region put people inside of a bag, so they would not have to watch what was about to happen. Then, the elephant would crush the bag flat with the condemned inside. In another region, people made the condemned watch the elephant slowly come from far away. Its huge feet kept coming closer. Sometimes, they buried the condemned to the neck. The elephant would come and step on the head. Some places made the condemned put his head on a special stand. The stand had fountains on the sides where brains and blood would flow when the elephant pressed down its huge foot.
For hundreds of years, people used elephants for military purposes. Death under the foot of an elephant was common for people who left the army or prisoners as well as for military criminals.
There are few records about crushing by elephant. Many records were lost. The British wrote about about it during their long rule of India.
Robert Knox was an English traveler. He wrote about a Sri Lankan crushing in 1681.
Power network
A Power network is a type of contact network where its members can tell other people what to do.
It must be large enough to literally scare or force people to go along with its requests, which makes them orders. This typically requires thousands of people in constant touch with each other.
A political party is the most obvious example. It is typically much larger than a social network but is not one, since people can only call on each other for a small number of reasons, and perhaps at specific times. Also not every member of the network has the same role or right to help.
A corporation may also be a power network if it relies on many power relations to maintain itself - for instance, the right to draw oil from the ground or dump waste without being held responsible for it.
When a power network achieves some stable grasp of political power and daily working control of some important infrastructure, it becomes a power structure. In a democracy the visible power networks represented by the parties compete regularly in an election - but much of the power structure, typically the bureaucracy, does not change, and is typically ignored as a power network in itself.
Citizenship is a legal relationship between a person and a country. Usually the country is the one they were born in, lives in, supports, and in return gets protection. A person is usually a citizen of the country where he or she is born, but sometimes a person will apply for naturalization, to become a citizen in another country. There are countries which allow dual (two) citizenship, and countries which do not.
A citizen is a member of a sovereign group of people that have certain rights. Governments protect these rights or take advantage of them. Some Governments may exile people from citizenship laws on such matter vary between countries.
People born in Canada become citizens of the country by "Jus soli" even if their parents are not citizens.
In 2018 the New York Times reported that 20% of babies born in Richmond Hospital in Richmond, British Columbia, were born to mothers involved in birth tourism. This means that the babies automatically acquire Canadian citizenship.
Elephants are the largest living land mammals. The largest elephant recorded was one shot in Angola, 1974. It weighed 27,060 pounds (12.25 tonnes) and stood 13 feet 8 inches (2.16 m) tall. Their skin color is grey.
At birth, an elephant calf may weigh as much as 100 kg (225 pounds). The baby elephant develops for 20 to 22 months inside its mother. No other land animal takes this long to develop before being born.
In the wild, elephants have strong family relationship. Their ways of acting toward other elephants are hard for people to understand. They "talk" to each other with very low sounds. Most elephants sounds are so low, people cannot hear them. But elephants can hear these sounds far away. Elephants have strong, leathery skin to protect themselves.
There are two living genera of elephants. These are the African "Loxodonta africanus", and the Asian elephants "Elephas maximus".
An elephant's most obvious part is the trunk. The trunk is a very long nose, made from the upper lip. An elephant uses its trunk to grab objects such as food. Though the rest of an elephant's skin is strong and thick, its trunk is very soft and sensitive. Elephants avoid Acacia trees with ants because they can bite the inside of an elephant's trunk. The trunk is also used when it trumpets. The elephant usually stands still, raises its trunk, and blows. This is a signal to other elephants and wildlife.
Elephants have teeth and tusks. Tusks are large teeth coming out of their upper jaws.
A lot of ivory comes from elephant tusks. Ivory traders killed many elephants, so now hunting them is illegal.
In total, they have 24 teeth: 12 front teeth, called premolars, and 12 back teeth, called molars. When the last molar wears out, the elephant dies because it cannot eat. They can live for about 70 years. But in a zoo or circus, people can keep elephants alive by feeding them soft food.
Grass wears down their teeth because it has a high concentration of silica and is very abrasive. Elephants use their teeth in sequence, not all at once. This means that, at any time, they only have one tooth in each jaw, a total of four.
African elephants are larger and have bigger ears. They are grazers who still do quite a lot of browsing: they eat leaves, branches and grass. These big ears have many "veins", which carry blood throughout the body. Biologists think that the blood going through their ears helps African elephants to cool off. The weather is hotter in Africa than in Asia, so cooling is important for African elephants. Female African elephants have tusks, but female Asian elephants do not. African elephants have a low place in their back. African elephants have two "fingers" at the end of their trunks, but Asian elephants only have one. Indian elephants eat mainly grass.
Some African elephants live on the savanna while others live in the forest. Today, many people think these are different species. Scientists named the forest group Loxodonta cyclotis and the savanna group Loxodonta africanus.
The African forest elephant is the third largest living land animal in the world.
Elephants are distantly related to sea cows, which are large aquatic mammals. Early ancestors in the Palaeocene and Eocene were small, semi-aquatic animals. By the Miocene several groups of large mainly forest-dwelling elephants evolved, the gomphotheres and deinotheres. Their teeth show little wear, indicating a diet of soft, nongritty, forest vegetation.
Modern elephants – the actual family Elephantidae – evolved from gomphotheres as the climate became cooler and drier in the Pliocene and Pleistocene. This includes the mammoth and mastodon as well as modern elephants.
The gomphotheres lasted a long time, and were hunted by modern man. There was a change in plant resources, with the reduced forests and extended grassland. This favoured specialist grass feeders over generalist eaters. This change in the dietary supply was one of the factors which forced gomphotheres toward extinction in the late Pleistocene in South America. The remaining population probably succumbed to climatic change and/or human predation around the time of the Holocene margin.
The significant thing about modern elephants (especially Indian elephants) is that they eat grass: they are primarily grazers, rather than browsers. Compared with gomphotheres, the teeth of modern elephants are quite different.
Humans have used elephants for different things. The Carthaginian general Hannibal took some elephants across the Alps when he fought the Romans. He probably used the North African elephant, a kind of elephant that does not live today. It was smaller than other African elephants. Elephants are used by tourists as rides.
People have used Indian elephants to move around and to have fun. Many circuses have them. Siamese, Indians, and other South Asians used them for several things. They fought in armies, and they crushed criminals. They also did heavy work like lifting trees and moving logs.
However, people have never "domesticated" elephants. Domesticated animals are tame and have babies under human control. The male elephant in heat is dangerous and hard to control. This state is called musth. Most elephants used by people are female, except those used in war. In a battle, female elephants run from males, so armies needed males. Elephants are used by tourists for riding.
Both African and Asian elephants are endangered species. Elephants in captivity do not make many babies, and some captive elephants are abused and mistreated.
African elephants receive some legal protection in every country where they are found. However, 70% of their range exists outside protected areas. Conservation efforts in some areas have led to more elephants. Local numbers may be controlled by contraception or moving the elephants to other places. Large-scale culling (legal killing) ceased in 1988, when Zimbabwe stopped doing it. In 1989, trade in elephants and their products (ivory, meat) was made illegal. Appendix II status (which allows restricted trade) was given to elephants in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe in 1997 and South Africa in 2000. In some countries, sport hunting of the animals is legal: Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have export quotas for elephant trophies. The IUCN estimates a total of around 440,000 individuals for 2012.
The total population of Asian elephants is about 40,000–50,000 (a rough estimate). Around half of the population is in India. Although Asian elephants are declining in numbers overall, particularly in Southeast Asia, the population in the Western Ghats may be increasing.
A female elephant will have a single baby (called a "calf") every four or five years. Calves are born tall and weigh around . An elephant's gestation lasts about 22 months. Another female elephant often stays with the new mother until its baby is born. The newborn elephant can often stand within a half hour after it is born. Mother elephants touch their babies gently with their trunks. It takes a baby a year or more to control its trunk and learn its many uses.
Baby elephants nurse for the first two years of their lives. After it is born, the first thing that the baby does is wobble in search of its mother's milk. It drinks about 10 liters of milk every day.
White elephants are considered holy in Thailand.
The most famous fictional elephant is Dumbo. It is a flying elephant in a Disney movie. "The Elephant's Child" is one of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories"
Ganesha is the god of wisdom in Hinduism. He has an elephant's head.
The elephant is the symbol for the United States Republican Party. It is like the Democratic Party's donkey. The first person to use the elephant as a symbol for the Republican Party was Thomas Nast. He did that in a Harper's Weekly cartoon in 1874.
Buddhism originated in India, based on the teachings, of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Gautama Buddha. A Buddha is one who is said to be awake to the truth of life.
Over the centuries his teachings spread from Nepal to Central Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and now Europe and North and South America. Theravada Buddhism is most common in South Asia; Mahayana further north. Buddhism exists in many different strands today, but all schools and sects share basic ideas. About seven percent of the people of the world are Buddhist.
While many people see Buddhism as a religion, others see it as a philosophy, and others as a way of finding reality.
Siddhartha Gautama (563483 BC) began life as the infant prince of a small kingdom in what is now the southern part of Nepal. As an adult he left wealth and status behind to search for truth. Enlightened at the age of 35, the Buddha spent the next 45 years of his life traveling and teaching in the northern part of India. He died at the age of 80.
The Buddha focused much of his teaching on how to overcome suffering. He saw that all living things suffer in being born, in getting sick, in growing old, and in facing death. By overcoming suffering, he taught, a person will be truly happy.
Early teaching. His first lesson after becoming enlightened was to other seekers who had also renounced the world. This was a group of holy men or monks with whom the Buddha had studied for five or more years. To them he first presented what he saw as the Four Noble Truths of life and the Eightfold Noble Path (see below). These teachings identify the causes of suffering and their cure.
Three marks of existence. The Buddha taught that life is best understood as being "impermanent" (everything changes), "unsatisfactory" (left on our own we are never truly happy), and "interdependent" (all things are linked, even to the degree that the self is better understood as an illusion).
The middle way. Buddhism teaches non-harm and "moderation" or balance, not going too far one way or the other. This is called the Middle Way, and encourages people to live in balance.
Meditation. The Buddha recommended meditation as a way to discipline the mind and see the world as it is. Buddhists may meditate while sitting in a special or specific way. Standing and walking meditation are other styles.
Three poisons. In discussing suffering, the Buddha identified the three poisons of desire, anger and stupidity, and he showed that we could end our suffering by letting go of desires and overcoming anger and stupidity.
Nirvana. The complete letting go of negative influences is called Nirvana, meaning "to extinguish," like putting out the flame of a candle. This end of suffering is also called Enlightenment. In Buddhism, Enlightenment and Nirvana often mean the same thing.
Do Buddhists believe in god or gods? The Buddha would not say if gods exist or not, although gods play a part in some Buddhist stories. If someone asked the Buddha, "Do gods exist?" he maintained a "noble silence". That is, he would not confirm or deny. Buddhists do not believe that people should look to gods to save them or bring them enlightenment. Rather individuals should work out their own path the best they can.
Other basic teachings. Many of the Buddha's ideas are found in other Indian religions, especially Hinduism.
"Buddha" is a Pali word which means "The awakened one". Someone who has woken up to the truth of the mind and suffering and teaches the truth to others is called a Buddha. The word "Buddha" often means the historical Buddha named Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama). Buddhists do not believe that a Buddha is a god, but that he is a human being who has woken up and can see the true way the mind works. They believe this knowledge totally changes the person. This person can help others become "enlightened" too. Enlightened people are beyond birth, death, and rebirth.
According to Buddhism, there were countless Buddhas before Gautama Buddha and there will be many Buddhas after him.
In Pali texts, the first Buddha in Buddhavamsa sutta was Taṇhaṅkara Buddha. The Mahapadana sutta says the earliest Buddha of the recent seven buddhas was Vipassi Buddha ("But sutta is not saying that Vipassi is first Buddha"). Counting from the present "kalpa" (the beginning of our present world (Earth)) Gautama Buddha is considered the fourth Buddha. In this telling, the first is Kakusandho Buddha, second Konakamano Buddha, and the third Kassapo Buddha. The last Buddha of this "kalpa" will be Maitreya Buddha. Then the world (Earth) will renew itself and from then begins a new "kalpa".
Buddhists respect and treasure the "Three Jewels", which are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
The Buddha refers to the awakened one, the Dharma to the Buddha's teachings, and the Sangha to the people who follow the Buddha and his teachings.
Buddhists say "I take "refuge" in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha." They find comfort in these jewels or treasures.
The Buddha's first and most important teachings are the Four Noble Truths.
The Buddha told people to follow a special way of life called the "Noble Eightfold Path" if they want to understand the "Four Noble Truths". These are:
Buddhists are encouraged to follow five "precepts", or guidelines. The Buddha taught that killing, stealing, having sex in a harmful way, and lying are not signs of skill.
If a person wants to be a monk or nun, he or she will follow other "precepts" as well.
A story can be different things:
Governor General
Governor General is a representative of a head of state. The term is mostly used in Commonwealth countries, where the governor general is a representative of the monarch.
Sometimes the title is spelled as "Governor General", which is used in Canada, but sometimes it is spelled with a hyphen ""-"", "Governor-General", which is the spelling used in Australia.
A black hole is a region of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape. According to the general theory of relativity, it starts existing when spacetime gets curved by a huge mass. There is a sphere around the black hole. If something goes inside the sphere, it can not leave. This sphere is called the event horizon. A black hole is black because it absorbs all the light that hits it. It reflects nothing, just like a perfect black body in thermodynamics. Under quantum mechanics, black holes have a temperature and emit Hawking radiation, which makes them slowly get smaller.
Because black holes are very hard to see, people trying to see them look for them by the way they affect other things near them. The place where there is a black hole can be found by tracking the movement of stars that orbit somewhere in space. Or people can find it when gas falls into a black hole, because the gas heats up and is very bright. This can be found by Earth or Earth-orbiting telescopes. Inside a black hole the rules of physics are very different.
Astronomers have found evidence of supermassive black holes at the center of almost all galaxies. In 2008 astronomers found evidence that a supermassive black hole of more than four million solar masses is near the Sagittarius A* part of the Milky Way galaxy.
In 1783, an English clergyman called John Michell wrote that it might be possible for something to be so heavy you would have to go at the speed of light to get away from its gravity. Gravity gets stronger as something gets more massive. For a small thing, like a rocket, to escape from a larger thing, like Earth, it has to escape the pull of the Earth's gravity or it will fall back. The speed that it must travel to get away is called escape velocity. Bigger planets (like Jupiter) and stars have more mass, and have stronger gravity than Earth. Therefore, the escape velocity would need to be much faster. John Michell thought it was possible for something to be so big that the escape velocity would need to be faster than the speed of light, so even light could not escape. In 1796, Pierre-Simon Laplace wrote about the same idea in the first and second editions of his book "Exposition du système du Monde" (it was removed from later editions).
Some scientists thought Michell might be right, but others thought that light had no mass and would not be pulled by gravity. His theory was forgotten.
In 1916 Albert Einstein wrote an explanation of gravity called general relativity.
A few months later, while serving in World War I, the German physicist Karl Schwarzschild used Einstein's equations to show that a black hole could exist. The Schwarzschild radius is the size of the event horizon of a non-rotating black hole. This radius was the measurement where the escape velocity was equal to the speed of light. If the radius of a star is smaller, then light is unable to escape, and it would be a dark star, or black hole.
In 1930, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar predicted that stars heavier than the sun could collapse when they ran out of hydrogen or other nuclear fuels to burn. In 1939, Robert Oppenheimer and H. Snyder calculated that a star would have to be at least three times as massive as the Sun to form a black hole. In 1967, John Wheeler invented the name "black hole" for the first time. Before that, they were called "dark stars".
In 1970, Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose showed that black holes "must" exist. Although the black holes are invisible (they cannot be seen), some of the matter that is falling into them is very bright.
As of spring 2019, there was an image of a black hole, or rather, the things orbiting the black hole. The image required many photos from different locations. One of the team members (Katie Bouman) made a compilation of all the images into one singular image.
In 2020, Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on the theory of black holes.
The gravitational collapse of huge (high-mass) stars cause "stellar mass" black holes. Star formation in the early universe may have created very massive stars. When they collapsed they produced black holes of up to 10 solar masses. These black holes may be the seeds of the supermassive black holes found in the centers of most galaxies.
Most of the energy released in gravitational collapse is given off very quickly. A distant observer sees the material falling in slowly and then stop just above the event horizon because of gravitational time dilation. The light given off just before the event horizon is delayed an infinite amount of time. So the observer never sees the formation of the event horizon. Instead, the collapsing material seems to become dimmer and increasingly red-shifted, eventually fading away.
Black holes have also been found in the middle of almost every galaxy in the known universe. These are called supermassive black holes (SBH), and are the biggest black holes of all. They formed when the Universe was very young, and also helped to form all the galaxies.
Quasars are believed to be powered by gravity collecting material into supermassive black holes in the centers of distant galaxies. Light cannot escape the SBHs at the center of quasars, so the escaping energy is made outside the event horizon by gravitational stresses and immense friction on the incoming material.
Huge central masses (10 to 10 solar masses) have been measured in quasars. Several dozen nearby large galaxies, with no sign of a quasar nucleus, have a similar central black hole in their nuclei. Therefore, it is thought that all large galaxies have one, but only a small fraction are active (with enough accretion to power radiation) and so are seen as quasars.
At the middle of a black hole, there is a gravitational center called a singularity. It is impossible to see into it because the gravity prevents any light escaping. Around the tiny singularity, there is a large area where light which would normally pass by gets sucked in as well. The edge of this area is called the event horizon. The area beyond the event horizon is the black hole. The gravity of the black hole gets weaker at a distance. The event horizon is the place farthest away from the middle where the gravity is still strong enough to trap light.
Outside the event horizon, light and matter will still be pulled toward the black hole. If a black hole is surrounded by matter, the matter will form an "accretion disk" (accretion means "gathering") around the black hole. An accretion disk looks something like the rings of Saturn. As it gets sucked in, the matter gets very hot and shoots x-ray radiation into space. Think of this as the water spinning around the hole before it falls in.
Most black holes are too far away for us to see the accretion disk and jet. The only way to know a black hole is there is by seeing how stars, gas and light behave around it. With a black hole nearby, even objects as big as a star move in a different way, usually faster than they would if the black hole was not there.
Since we cannot see black holes, they must be detected by other means. When a black hole passes between us and a source of light, the light bends around the black hole creating a mirror image. That effect is called gravitational lensing.
Hawking radiation is black body radiation which is emitted by black hole, due to quantum effects near the event horizon. It is named after the physicist Stephen Hawking, who provided a theoretical argument for its existence in 1974.
Hawking radiation reduces the mass and the energy of the black hole and is therefore also known as "black hole evaporation". This happens because of the virtual particle-antiparticle pairs. Due to quantum fluctuations, this is when one of the particles falls in and the other gets away with the energy/mass. Because of this, black holes that lose more mass than they gain through other means are expected to shrink and ultimately vanish. Micro black holes (MBHs) are predicted to be larger net emitters of radiation than larger black holes and should shrink and dissipate faster.
The no hair theorem states that a stable black hole has only three independent physical properties: mass, charge, and angular momentum. If this is true, then any two black holes that have the same values for these three properties will look the same. As of 2020, it is unclear if the no hair theorem is true for real black holes.
The properties are special, because all three can be measured from outside the black hole. For example, a charged black hole repels other like charges just like any other charged object. Similarly, the total mass inside a sphere containing a black hole can be found by using the gravitational analog of Gauss's law, far away from the black hole. The angular momentum or spin can also be measured from far away.
Sheffield
Sheffield is a big city in a region called South Yorkshire in the North of England. 534,500 people live there. Sheffield is in the middle of lots of hills. The city centre is where the River Sheaf meets the River Don, and Sheffield gets its name from the River Sheaf. The city is east of the Peak District National Park. It is estimated that Sheffield has over two million trees, which is more than any city in Europe per each person. 61% of the city is green space, such as parks and forests.
The area of Sheffield used to be the Anglo-Saxon shire of Hallamshire, the city itself was founded later.
Sheffield is famous for making cutlery (like knives and spoons). People in Sheffield have made cutlery for a very long time (a Sheffield-made knife is referred to in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", a book from the Middle Ages). Sheffield is also famous for making steel. Benjamin Huntsman discovered the crucible technique for making steel in 1740. In 1856, Henry Bessemer invented the Bessemer converter steelmaking furnace. Henry moved to Sheffield to make steel. Later, in 1912, Harry Brearley invented stainless steel in Sheffield.
The first football team in the world is from Sheffield, Sheffield F.C., set up in 1857. Sheffield currently has two big professional football teams, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.
There are lots of famous bands from Sheffield. Some of them are Pulp, the Human League, Def Leppard and the Arctic Monkeys. Michael Palin is also from Sheffield.
There is a big arena called the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield. WWE have visited this arena to do live shows.
Fertilizer
A fertilizer is a chemical that helps plants to grow. It is used to replace the mineral salts taken by plants or removed/washed away by rain.
Common fertilizers:
The important things in fertilizer are:
When fertilizers are offered for sale, the percentage of N, P, and K must be written on the bags or boxes, but for historcal reasons, P is shown as %P2O5 and K is shown as %K2O.
E.g.:9-23-30 which means: 9% N, 23%P2O5 and 30%K2O.
In Australia the pecent of elemental sulfur must also be shown.
In the UK, the elemental composition (in percentages) may also be shown alongside the mandatory traditional system, provided the numbers are put inside square brackets.
Leafy plants need lots of N. Flowering plants need lots of P and K.
A soil test can tell how much N, P, and K is needed.
The military is the group or groups of people that are given power to defend something (mostly a country). They are armed, so they are called the armed forces. The military protects its country by defending it from the armed forces of enemies, if there is a war. The military can also be ordered by the government of the country to attack another country. The word "military" comes from Latin "miles", warrior.
There are many jobs to do in a military. Some jobs are for fighting and some are for other work to support the military. Some things people do in the military are use weapons, drive vehicles, and repair weapons. Other people in the military learn how to fly aircraft, pilot ships, or repair engines. People in the military usually wear clothes called a uniform. In some places, especially where there may be combat, a uniform often comes in a camouflage pattern which is designed to make the person hard to see in the forest or desert.
There are two ways to join the military. In many countries, people join the military because they want to. In other countries, there are laws that some people have to be in the military, even if they do not want to be. This is called "the draft" or "conscription". It usually depends on age and physical fitness. Old military people or former military people are called "veterans". Some are members of a military reserve force.
The military of a country is usually divided into different branches organizations that do different kinds of work. These branches usually are:
Sometimes the military has more branches that do more specialized work. For example, in the United States and United Kingdom there are:
Some big countries even have small units which perform special actions which are very difficult. They are called special forces.
There are also mercenaries, soldiers who fight just for pay and have little loyalty to whomever might hire them, and private military contractors (PMC), which are under the command of a company (civilian company). The Medieval Italian "condottieri" were a historical example of PMCs. A warlord may have a private army, which are often no more trustworthy than common gangsters or criminals.
In most countries of the world, young men and (in a few countries) women between 17 and 18 and of good health may be forced by the government of their country to join the military and have military training. This is called "conscription". The countries that do not have conscription include Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malta, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In some countries, such as Argentina and United States, conscription is legal but is not used, at the present time.
When a person wants to join the military as a volunteer, they "enlist". (This means simply that they put their name on a list.) They have to be above a certain age, 17 or 18 in most countries. They have to pass physical fitness tests to show that they are well enough to do the jobs that they will have to do. They must also have good enough hearing, to hear orders, and good enough sight to use a rifle.
New people in the military are often called “recruits”. They have training at a special camp, sometimes called “boot camp" or "basic training". During this training, the recruits usually have very little free time. They learn to understand the "orders" or "commands" that are given by the officers to the "troops". (The troops are the military people in a group.) They learn the right ways to obey the orders. They do a lot of exercise to improve their fitness and strength. They learn about weapons, first aid, and their uniforms and "kit". (Their kit is their equipment.) Recruits also learn how to march. (This is the way to walk together, keeping "in step".) Learning to march is sometimes called “drill”. By the time soldiers finish "boot camp", they should know enough to be a helpful person in their group. The camp usually finishes with a parade in which the newly trained recruits show off their marching and other skills they have learned in front of important visitors. Once the recruits are fully trained, they are ready to defend (protect) their country from attack, or to go to [war], if necessary.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>includes 169,800 Marine Corps
<nowiki>**</nowiki>includes Strategic Deterrent Forces, Paramilitary, National Guard, etc.
<nowiki>***</nowiki>includes 125,000 Revolutionary Guards
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and some microorganisms make substances like carbohydrates. It is an endothermic (takes in heat) chemical process that uses sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into sugars. The sugars are used by the cell as energy, and to build other kinds of molecules.
Photosynthesis is very important for life on Earth. Green plants build themselves using photosynthesis. Algae, protists and some bacteria also use it. Some exceptions are organisms that directly get their energy from chemical reactions; these organisms are called chemoautotrophs.
Photosynthesis can happen in different ways, but there are some parts that are common.
Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts in leaves (or other green tissues). They contain chlorophyll, the green pigment that absorbs light energy. In leaves, palisade cells have chloroplasts to capture light.
Oxygen is a waste product of photosynthesis: it comes out of the plant in respiration. All the oxygen in the atmosphere has its origin in plants (including those microorganisms which do photosynthesis)
Glucose is used in respiration (to release energy in cells). It is stored in the form of starch (which is converted back to glucose for respiration in the dark). Glucose can also be converted into other compounds for growth and reproduction e.g. cellulose, nectar, fructose, amino acids and fats.
Photosynthesis has two main sets of reactions(phases). Light-dependent reactions(light dependent phase) need light to do work; and light-independent reactions(light independent phase) which do not need light to do work.
Light energy from the sun is used to split water molecules (photolysis). The sunlight hits chloroplasts in the plant. This causes an enzyme to split the water. Water, when split, gives oxygen, hydrogen, and electrons.
Hydrogen, along with electrons energized by light, converts NADP into NADPH which is then used in the light-independent reactions. Oxygen gas diffuses out of the plant as a waste product of photosynthesis, and ATP is synthesized from ADP and inorganic phosphate. This all happens in the grana of chloroplasts.
During this reaction, sugars are built up using carbon dioxide and the products of the light-dependent reactions (ATP and NADPH) and various other chemicals found in the plant in the Calvin Cycle. Therefore, the light-independent reaction cannot happen without the light-dependent reaction. Carbon dioxide diffuses into the plant and along with chemicals in the chloroplast, ATP, and NADPH, glucose is made and finally, transported around the plant by translocation.
There are three main factors affecting photosynthesis:
If there is little light shining on a plant, the light-dependent reactions will not work efficiently. This means that photolysis (breakdown of water by light) will not happen quickly, and therefore little NADPH and ATP will be made. This shortage of NADPH and ATP will lead to the light-independent reactions not working as NADPH and ATP are needed for the light-independent reactions to work.
The light intensity required is easily investigated in an aquatic plant such as pondweed. The oxygen bubbles given off can be counted or the volume measured. By changing the distance between light and plant, the light intensity is made to vary. Change in light intensity will affect the change in rate of photosynthesis . Artificial lighting can be used in the dark to maximise the photosynthetic rate.
Carbon dioxide is used in the light-independent reactions. It combines with NADPH and ATP and various other chemicals (such as Ribulose Bisphosphate) to form glucose. Therefore, if there is not enough carbon dioxide, then there will be a buildup of NADPH and ATP and not enough glucose will be formed.
There are many enzymes working in photosynthetic reactions – such as the enzyme in photolysis. All enzymes work best at their optimum temperature. All light-dependent and light-independent reactions will occur normally at average or optimum temparatures. Tropical plants have a higher temperature optimum than the plants adapted to temperate climates.
When the temperatures are too low, there is little kinetic energy, so the reaction rate decreases. If the temperatures are too high, the enzymes become "denatured" and the catalysis of photosynthesis reaction stops.
Greenhouses must keep an optimum temperature for normally functioning of plants.
The first photosynthetic organisms probably evolved early in the history of life. They may have used reducing agents such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide as sources of electrons, rather than water. Cyanobacteria appeared later, and the excess oxygen they produced contributed to the oxygen catastrophe. This made the evolution of complex life possible.
Today, the average rate of energy capture by photosynthesis globally is approximately 130 terawatts, which is about six times larger than the current power used by human civilization.
Photosynthetic organisms also convert around 100–115 thousand million metric tonnes of carbon into biomass per year.
A casserole is a baked dish of many different types of food, usually mixed together. Usually, one of the ingredients is a can of soup. Many people like to cook casserole because it is a very simple meal. It is a simple way to cook a nutritional meal.
Casseroles are usually cooked slowly in the oven, sometimes covered, but often uncovered. They may be served as a main course or a side dish, and may be served in the vessel in which they were cooked.
Types of casserole include ragout, hotpot, cassoulet, tajine, moussaka, lasagne, shepherd's pie, gratin, rice or macaroni timballo, and carbonnade.
A popular type of casserole is green bean casserole, which has green beans, milk or cream, and fried onions. It was first cooked in Berlin, New Hampshire in 1866 by Elmire Jolicoeur.
The second illustration proves how old the idea is. That casserole dish has a lid, and a spout for steam to escape. The heat is applied from below as it is with a stew.
A plate is a type of dish where food can be placed after being cooked for eating. Sometimes they are called dishes. They may be made out of ceramic, plastic, paper, or styrofoam.
A plate is also one of the broken pieces of lithosphere of the Earth.
All plates have irregular shapes. They lie and float on the upper mantle. They move very slowly in different directions. Their movement is driven by the convection currents in the magma.
A plate can contain both oceanic and continental crusts. Some contain oceanic crust only.
The flea ("siphonaptera") is an insect that lives on many kinds of animals and sometimes humans. Fleas are considered parasites, and they drink the blood of the animal they bite.
Fleas can live outdoors in sand or tall grass, and they will jump to any passing animal and lay eggs. Flea bites are usually red bumps and they itch. They can carry disease and make animals sick.
There are several types of flea including the dog flea, cat flea, human flea, northern rat flea, and the oriental rat flea. During the Middle Ages, the oriental rat flea spread a bacteria that caused the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death or Black Plague, a huge epidemic much more severe than today's bird flu. The oriental rat flea would become infected by the bacteria "Yersinia pestis". After infection the bacteria grew inside of the flea, eventually blocking the path to its stomach. Because of this, the flea was always hungry. When the flea would bite a human it opened up the skin but since the stomach of the flea was blocked, the blood from the human was heaved up back into the human, only this time it was infected with the Bubonic plague bacteria.
Terrorism is the use of fear and acts of violence in order to intimidate societies, governments or against an ideology. Many different types of social or political organizations might use terrorism to try to achieve their goals. People who do the terrorism are called "terrorists". The foundation of modern terrorism is the work of Sergey Nechayev, a Russian radical who developed strategies for carrying out terrorism.It also include politics.
It is difficult to explain terrorism. Terrorism has no official criminal law definition at the international level. Common definitions of terrorism refer to the violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror). They may be done for a religious, political, or ideological goal, and uses illegal violence. Some definitions now include acts of unlawful violence and war. The use of similar tactics by criminal gangs is not usually called terrorism. The same actions may be called terrorism when done by a politically motivated group.
There are over 10000 definitions of "terrorism". In some cases, the same group may be described as "freedom fighters" by its supporters and "terrorists" by its opponents. The term 'terrorism' is often used by states to criticize political opponents.
One form of terrorism is the use of violence against noncombatants for the purpose of gaining publicity for a group, cause, or individual.
According to Memorial Institute for Prevention of Terrorism, terrorists killed 20,498 people in 2006. The major effect of terrorism comes from the fear which generates.
Counter-terrorism is broad in scope. Specific types of counter-terrorism include:
The Republic of South Africa is a country in the southern region of Africa. About fifty-seven million people live there. South Africa is next to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.
The biggest city of South Africa is Johannesburg. The country has three capitals for different purposes. They are Cape Town, Pretoria, and Bloemfontein. This is because the government is based in Pretoria, the parliament is in Cape Town and the Supreme Court is in Bloemfontein.
There are 11 national languages. They are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu, Swati, Setswana, Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa, Venda and Tsonga. They are also known as National Lexicography Units (NLUs). Because of all the languages, the country has an official name in each language.
One of South Africa's most well known people is Nelson Mandela. He was its president from 1994 until 1999. He died in 2013 at the age of 95. The current president is Cyril Ramaphosa.
Many rare animals such as lions, cheetahs, zebras and giraffes live in South Africa.
South Africa is one of the richest countries in Africa.
The first European people to come to South Africa were Portuguese explorers. In 1487, Bartolomeu Dias found what he called the "Cape of Storms". The king of Portugal changed it to "Cape of Good Hope". He called it this because the cape gave the Portuguese a new chance to find a sea route to India.
In 1652, Jan van Riebeeck colonized the Cape. He started the camp for the Dutch East India Company. This was so that they could give fresh food to ships on their way to the south of Asia. There were very few native people living in the Cape. Because of this, slaves were brought from Indonesia, Madagascar and India to work at the colony. In 1795, Great Britain took the Cape from the Dutch East India Company, to stop France from taking it. The British gave it back in 1803 but then annexed the Cape in 1807 when the Dutch East India Company went bankrupt.
Diamonds were found in South Africa in 1867. Gold was found in 1884. This made a great number of people to come to South Africa from Europe. They were hoping to make money.
The First Boer War happened in 1880-1881. The war was between the British and the Boers Republics. At that time, the British had the Cape. The Boer Republics were established when Dutch settlers moved north in the Great Trek. The British lost the war and came back 8 years later in 1899. They won this Second Boer War in 1902. The British had brought many more soldiers the second time. The Boers had no chance of winning. On 31 May 1910 the Union of South Africa was made from the Cape and Natal colonies. It was also made from Orange Free State and the Transvaal. These were two Boer Republics.
South Africa is found at the southernmost region of Africa, with a long coastline that reaches more than and along two oceans (the South Atlantic and the Indian). At , South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world and is almost the size of Colombia. Njesuthi in the Drakensberg at is the highest part in South Africa.
The back of South Africa is a big and flat. It is a very populated scrubland, the Karoo, which is drier towards the northwest along the Namib desert. The eastern coastline however, is well-watered, which makes a climate kind of like the tropics.
To the north of Johannesburg, the altitude drops beyond the of the Highveld. It then turns into the lower lying Bushveld, an area of mixed dry forest and a lot of wildlife. East of the Highveld, beyond the eastern escarpment, the Lowveld reaches towards the Indian Ocean. It has mostly high temperatures, and is also the location of subtropical agriculture.
South Africa has a mostly temperate climate. It is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, and is located in the climatically milder southern hemisphere. Average elevation is higher towards the north (towards the equator) and further inland. Because of this varied topography and oceanic influence, different parts of South Africa have different climates.
There is a desert in the southern Namib in the farthest northwest and subtropical climate in the east along the Mozambique border and the Indian ocean. From the east, the land quickly rises over mountains towards the back plateau known as the Highveld. Even though South Africa is thought as semi-arid, there is a difference in climate as well as topography.
The southwest has a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean with mild, moderately wet winters and hot, dry summers. This area also makes much of the wine in South Africa. This region is also mostly known for its wind, which blows almost all year. The wind can sometimes be severe when passing around the Cape of Good Hope mostly gets bad for sailors, making many shipwrecks. Further east on the south coast, rainfall falls more evenly throughout the year, making a green landscape. This area is popularly known as the Garden Route.
The Orange Free State is mostly flat, because it lies in the center of the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not get subtropical heat. Johannesburg, in the center of the Highveld, is at 1,740 m (5,709 ft) and gets a yearly rainfall of 740 mm (29.9 in). Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare.
South Africa is ranked sixth out of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries, with more than 20,000 different kinds of plants, or about 10% of all the known species of plants on Earth, making it very rich in plant biodiversity.
The most common biome in South Africa is the grassland, mostly on the Highveld. This is where grasses, low shrubs, and acacia trees, mostly camel-thorn and whitethorn are more common then plants. Plants become even more less common towards the northwest. This is because of low rainfall. There are many species of water-storing plants like aloes and euphorbias in the very hot and dry Namaqualand area. The grass and thorn savanna turns slowly into a bush savanna towards the north-east of the country, with more thick growth. There are many numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern end of Kruger National Park.