title: Nepal national football team

text: The Nepali football came across a forgettable two years from 2001 to 2003 when the row between two factions (government-backed and FIFA-backed) led Nepali football into deep trouble. Nepal faced a ban and therefore could not participate in any events and the rankings slipped heavily. The dispute was settled, but not before it contributed to pushing Nepali football backward. Nepal celebrated their 100th international football match in January 2003 when they played Bangladesh in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship. Nepal failed to make any real impact at the tournament. During its 22 years of international participation, the Nepali team has only played 26 nations outside of South Asia, but it has defeated all of the country's South Asian neighbors during various regional tournaments. Nepal also faced non-AFC teams in competitive tournaments such as Ghana U23 in the 1999 Bangabandhu Cup, and Kazakhstan in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign (although Kazakhstan was a member of the AFC during this match).


title: Nepal national football team

text: Despite many attempts to raise the standard of football, the players of the resource-strapped nation have not been able to make their mark in international football beyond South Asia. In 2003 during the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, Nepal's A national team suffered a number of heavy defeats in international matches outside of South Asia. In a match during the Asian Cup qualifying round in South Korea, the hosts scored 16 goals to no reply. In their six matches, Nepal conceded 45 goals and failed to hit the back of the net even once. However, the qualifying competition for the 2002 FIFA World Cup witnessed one of Nepal's best performances in international football, with the "Gorkhalis" securing two wins in four matches and scoring 13 goals in two matches against Macao and Iraq. But with the Nepali national and youth teams failing to achieve any noticeable success at the international level and FIFA introducing new age restriction systems in several international tournaments, Nepal recently decided to compete only in the FIFA World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers as well as the SAFF Championship until 2006.


title: Nepal national football team

text: After the marquee appointments of Graham Roberts, Nepal had experienced a fair amount of success following the decade of decline. Nepal won Saff U-19 championship in 2015 and 3 major tournaments in 2016, the Bangabandhu Cup and the AFC Solidarity Cup and won a gold medal in 2016 South Asian Games. Nepal lost no match in 2016.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Nepal managed a well performance in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification, although the team was luckily chosen as replacement for Guam as Guam chose not to participate. Nepal had two successful draws against much stronger Philippines and Yemen at home, both ended 0–0. However, as the team lost to Tajikistan twice and away loss to the Philippines and Yemen, the Nepalis failed to qualify to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Nepal participated in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification where they have to face strong Australia, Kuwait and Jordan, alongside minnows Chinese Taipei. The Nepalis only managed one single win over Chinese Taipei away 2–0, and lost to the other opponents without scoring a goal after five matches.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Nepal participated in the 2021 SAFF Championship Managing to qualify from the group 2nd place behind India national football team. They fought but Nepal couldn't win against the Blue Tigers and lost by 3–0.


title: Nepal national football team

text: The team's home ground is various around the nation one of the ground being Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal. Holding 18,000 spectators all of which are beautifully seated. It is the biggest stadium in Nepal. It is named after Dashrath Chand, one of the martyrs of Nepal.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Most recently, the stadium was used as a primary venue for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup and the 2013 SAFF Championship, with the Halchowk Stadium hosting some of the matches as well.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Apart from sporting events, the stadium is also used as a music venue for cultural events with Bryan Adams being the most notable act that performed at the site.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Before the 2013 SAFF Championship in Nepal, the stadium underwent a heavy renovation that saw several improvements such as the expansion of seats from 20,000 to 28,000.


title: Nepal national football team

text: The country also has some recenty added stadiums that include pokhara footbal stadium located at pokhara rangasala which has recently been consutucted on year 2021.


title: Nepal national football team

text: The national team's kit employs a tricolor of red, blue, and white to reflect the colors of the national flag of Nepal. With red being used for home matches, and blue for away. The pattern in some kits reflects the triangular shaping of the flag, namely the 2013 kit. Nepal's kits are mostly template kits, as opposed to a custom team-specific kit. This is because the Nepal national team isn't lucrative enough to afford kit partnership deals with manufacturers.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Very little is known about the history prior to 1998. However, during the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, the Nepali national team hired Bijay Shah to provide technical assistance to the squad, while also acting as the assistant coach. At the time, the team didn't have printed sportswear for the tournament. After printing makeshift kits, Bijay was inspired to start a T-shirt printing company known as Attsh, where through the partnership with a US printing company, and colleagues in South Korea, they produced their first batch of kits for the national team prior to the 1999 South Asian Games.


title: Nepal national football team

text: On 4 March 2019, ANFA has revealed two new jerseys for members of the national football team along with new national football anthem. The new jerseys have ANFA logo on the left where used to be national flag in the old jerseys. There is also national flag and picture of Mount Everest above the ANFA logo. This new sign is designed by Sandeep Tiwari. ANFA also made provision of white jerseys for friendly matches.


title: Nepal national football team

text: During the ANFA Cup, the All Nepal Football Association occasionally entered two teams for Nepal; Nepal Red & Nepal Blue. This is very much akin to other South Asian teams such as Pakistan (Pakistan Green & Pakistan White, 1993 SAFF Championship; Pakistan Reds, 1976 Quaid-e-Azam exhibition matches), and Bangladesh (Bangladesh Red, 1983 President's Gold Cup). Nepal Red was a selection of Nepali players that played as the full Nepal national football team. Whereas, Nepal Blue was effectively the B-team.


title: Nepal national football team

text: Most of the Nepali top players play in the Nepal Red team, and it is also described as "the Nepal senior team", and is captained by the regular national team captain. While Nepal Blue is described as the "second string team"..


title: Nepal national football team

text: In these tournaments, Nepal was sometimes fielded as 'ANFA XI', 'Nepal XI', or 'Nepal Sports Development Authority' despite being the de facto national football team endorsed by the ANFA.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Eugene Hütz (; , ; born Yevgen Oleksandrovych Nikolayev-Symonov, , on 6 September 1972) is a Ukrainian-born singer, composer, disc jockey and actor, most notable as the frontman of the Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz was born in Boyarka, to a Ukrainian-Lithuanian father, a butcher by profession, and a Ukrainian mother who was of half Servitka Roma ancestry. His father also played guitar in one of Ukraine's first rock bands, Meridian. When Eugene was 14, he and his father made his first guitar of plywood, his first distortion pedals out of radio parts, and his first drum set from large metal fish cans, skinned with layers of Scotch tape. Hütz learned English through his musical "mentors" because, as he put it, "Russian rock always had lyrics that were superb and more advanced than the original Western rock ‘n’ roll, I think. Of course, Western rock is much stronger when it comes to performance and production, but Russian songwriters were the champions of writing lyrics. So naturally, I picked mentors who taught me how to tell a story, like Johnny Cash or Nick Cave or Leonard Cohen or Shane MacGowan from The Pogues. I learned English through my mentors. I feel like they are kind of my uncles in this sense."


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz's transition into an American singer was a long journey through Poland, Hungary, Austria and Italy. Descendants of the Romani called the Servo Roma (a tribe known for its blacksmiths, horsetraders and musicians), Hütz and his family fled their hometown after hearing of the Chernobyl meltdown. They spent seven years trekking through Eastern European refugee camps before settling in the US. While living in Kyiv Hütz's parents hid their Roma ancestry, and it was during this journey that Hütz was introduced to his roots. They visited the village his family came from and his relatives introduced him to the essential foods and music of their culture.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz's Roma/Ukrainian background provides his central inspiration, influencing his lifestyle and the music of his band Gogol Bordello. Hütz's connection with his cultural roots is not without controversy, however, and he is seen as a polarizing figure among international Romani rights activists due to stereotypical displays of Romani culture.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz arrived in Vermont in 1992 as a political refugee through a resettlement program with his mother, father and cousin Yosef.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz started his musical career in Ukraine with the band Uksusnik (Vinegar Tap). While in Vermont, Hütz formed the punk band The Fags. He later moved to New York and took on his mother's German maiden name of Hütz. In New York, he met the future members of Gogol Bordello including violinist Sergey Ryabtsev, accordionist Yuri Lemeshev, guitarist Oren Kaplan, drummer Eliot Ferguson and dancers Pam Racine and Elizabeth Sun. He first called the band "Hutz and the Bela Bartoks", but changed it after realizing that "nobody knows who the hell Béla Bartók is in the United States."


title: Eugene Hütz

text: In 1999, Gogol Bordello released their debut full-length "Voi-La Intruder", produced by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds drummer Jim Sclavunos. In September 2002 the band released their second album "Multi Kontra Culti vs. Irony". In 2005 the band released the E.P. "East Infection" followed later that year by the SideOneDummy debut "", recorded by Steve Albini. Gogol Bordello's next offering, "Super Taranta!" (produced by Victor Van Vugt) became one of their most critically acclaimed releases with music critic Robert Christgau calling Gogol Bordello "the world's most visionary band." Their next album, "Trans-Continental Hustle", was released on 27 April 2010 and the LP on 11 May 2010. The band's sixth studio album, "Pura Vida Conspiracy", was released in 2013, followed by their seventh, "Seekers and Finders", in 2017.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Gogol Bordello's live shows and Hütz's stage presence have earned them invitations to places such as The Whitney Museum in New York, The Tate Modern in London and the Venice Biennale in Italy. Gogol Bordello has played events such as Riot Fest, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Roskilde Festival, Reading, Virgin Mobile Fest, Leeds, Bumbershoot, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Byron Bay Bluesfest and A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: In New York Hütz made a name for himself as a DJ with a style best represented on his experimental side project J.U.F. (Jüdisch-Ukrainische Freundschaft) and a newer incarnation, MITITIKA. He has also performed and recorded with the Kolpakov Trio.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz made his film debut in the 2005 film "Everything Is Illuminated", playing the character Alex. In addition to his film role, Hütz wrote and performed (as part of Gogol Bordello) some of the music for the film's soundtrack. Several Gogol Bordello members made cameo appearances in various roles in the movie.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz is the subject of the 2006 documentary, "The Pied Piper of Hützovina". Directed by Pavla Fleischer, the film chronicles Hütz's annual trip across Ukraine and Eastern Europe exploring his musical and cultural roots.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz played the lead character in "Filth and Wisdom", a 2008 film that marked Madonna’s directorial debut. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2008.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz wrote the introduction for the Subculture Books edition of "Taras Bulba", released in December 2008.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz has worked with Les Claypool on various projects, including his performance on Claypool's album ""Of Fungi and Foe"" (on the track "Bite Out of Life").


title: Eugene Hütz

text: Hütz appeared on the cover of the May 2013 issue of the Ukraine edition of "Vogue", with Estonian model Kätlin Aas.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: In the 2006 movie "", the character of Eugene (played by Shea Whigham) is based on Hütz. Several of Hütz's songs are featured in the film. Hütz was also the inspiration for the character Evgeni (played by Oscar Isaac) in Madonna's film W.E.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: In the January 2008 Gucci menswear show in Milan, Hütz was cited as the key inspiration for the collection.


title: Eugene Hütz

text: In October 2008, Hütz told the "LA Weekly" that he had moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In November 2009, he told "Página/12" that he had moved to São Paulo.


title: Borno State

text: Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border forms part of the national border with Niger, and its northeastern border forms all of the national border with Chad, being the only Nigerian state to border three foreign countries. It takes its name from the historic emirate of Borno, with the emirate's old capital of Maiduguri serving as the capital city of Borno State. The state was formed in 1976 when the former North-Eastern State was broken up. It originally included the area that is now Yobe State, which became a distinct state in 1991.


title: Borno State

text: Borno is the second largest in area of the 36 states, only behind Niger State. Despite its size, the state is the eleventh most populous with an estimated population of about 5.86 million as of 2016. Geographically, the state is divided between the semi-desert Sahelian savanna in the north and the West Sudanian savanna in the centre and south with a part of the montane Mandara Plateau in the southeast. In the far northeast of the state is the Nigerian portion of Lake Chad and the Lake Chad flooded savanna ecoregion; the lake is fed by the Yobe River which forms the state's border with Niger until it reaches the lakebed. In the centre of the state is part of the Chad Basin National Park, a large national park that contains populations of black crowned crane, spotted hyena, patas monkey, and roan antelope along with transient herds of some of Nigeria's last remaining African bush elephants. However, a section of the park, the Sambisa Forest, was taken over during the Boko Haram insurgency in the early 2010s forcing many fauna to flee; large animals were not seen until 2019 and 2020 when a massive herd of migratory elephants returned to Borno.


title: Borno State

text: Borno State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, including the Dghwede, Glavda, Guduf, Laamang, Mafa, and Mandara in the central region; the Afade, Yedina (Buduma), and Kanembu in the extreme northeast; the Waja in the extreme south; and the Kyibaku, Kamwe, Kilba, Margi groups and babur in the south while the Kanuri and Shuwa Arabs live throughout the state's north and centre. Religiously, the vast majority of the state's population (~85%) are Muslim with smaller Christian and traditionalist minorities (especially in the south) at around 7% each.


title: Borno State

text: From the 700s, what is now Borno State was within the territory of the Kanem Empire, an empire spanning from modern-day southern Libya (Fezzan) south through most of now-Chad into modern-day Borno State. In the late 1300s, the Kanem Empire was forced to moved after unsuccessful wars, becoming the Bornu Empire before regaining strength and ruling the wider area for the next 500 years. It was not until the early 1800s when the Fulani jihad significantly weakened the Empire, that Bornu began to decline. Much of modern-day southern Borno State was seized in the wars and incorporated into the Adamawa Emirate under the Sokoto Caliphate. About 80 years later, Rabih az-Zubayr, a Sudanese warlord, conquered the Empire and ruled until he was killed by French forces in the 1900 Battle of Kousséri. The Adamawa Emirate was also defeated by colonial powers, losing the Adamawa Wars to Germany and the British Empire. Both Rabih's lands (later reconstituted as the Borno Emirate) and the Adamawa Emirate were then divided among colonial powers with modern-day Borno State being split between Germany and the British Empire.


title: Borno State

text: The British-controlled area was incorporated into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate which later merged into British Nigeria before becoming independent as Nigeria in 1960. The German-controlled area (territory along the modern-day border with Cameroon) formed Deutsch-Bornu as a part of German Kamerun until allied forces invaded and occupied Kamerun during the Kamerun campaign of World War I. After the war, what is now the eastern periphery of Borno State became a part of the Northern Cameroons within the British Cameroons until 1961, when a referendum led to merger with Nigeria. Originally, modern-day Borno State was a part of the post-independence Northern Region until 1967 when the region was split and the area became part of the North-Eastern State. After the North-Eastern State was split, Borno State was formed on 3 February 1976 alongside ten other states. Fifteen years after statehood, a group of LGAs in the state's west was broken off to form the new Yobe State. Years later, in the early 2000s, the state became the epicentre of the Islamist group Boko Haram since it began its insurgency in 2009. From 2012 to 2015, the insurgency escalated dramatically with much of the state falling under the control of the group, which soon become the world's deadliest terror group in 2015 and forced millions from their homes. Following a 2015 mass multinational offensive along with infighting within the terrorists between the original Boko Haram group and the Islamic State – West Africa Province breakaway, the group was forced from its strongholds into the Sambisa Forest and some islands in Lake Chad by 2017; however, terrorists continue to be a threat statewide with frequent attacks on both civilian and military targets.


title: Borno State

text: As an partially agriculturally-based state, the rural Borno State economy relied heavily on livestock and crops prior to the Boko Haram insurgency while state capital Maiduguri is a major regional trade and service center. However, after years of the insurgency affecting development and forcing farmers from rural areas in the state, Borno has the thirteenth lowest Human Development Index in the country but as the insurgency has slightly abated since 2016, development has renewed.


title: Borno State

text: The state has a predominance of Kanuri people, while other ethnic groups such as Lapang, Babur/Bura and Marghi are also found in the southern part of the state. Shuwa Arabs are mainly the descendants of Arab people and are an example of the endurance of traditional political institutions in some areas of Africa. The emirs of the former Kanem–Bornu Empire have played a part in the politics of this area for nearly 1,000 years.


title: Borno State

text: The current Kanemi dynasty gained control of the Borno Emirate in the early 19th century after the Fulani jihad of Usman dan Fodio. Conquered by Rabih in 1893, The state was invaded by the British, French and Germans at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1902, the British officially incorporated Borno into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate and in 1907 established a new capital at Maiduguri, which remains the capital to this day.


title: Borno State

text: After Nigerian independence in 1960, Borno remained fairly autonomous until the number of states in Nigeria expanded to 12 in 1967. Local government reform in 1976 further reduced the power of the emirs of the former dynasty, and by the time of Nigeria's return to civilian rule in 1979, the emirs' jurisdiction has been restricted solely to cultural and traditional affairs. Mala Kachallah was elected governor of Borno State in 1999 under the flagship of the then APP (All Peoples Party), later renamed the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP). Ali Modu Sheriff was elected governor of Borno State in Nigeria in April 2003.


title: Borno State

text: Boko Haram's insurgency began in 2009, with Borno being the worst-affected area. On 14 May 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in northeastern Nigeria, including Borno State along with the neighboring states of Adamawa and Yobe. This happened after fighting between Boko Haram and the state armed forces killed 200 people in the town of Baga. A spokesman for the armed forces declared that the offensive would continue "as long as it takes to achieve our objective of getting rid of insurgents from every part of Nigeria."


title: Borno State

text: In July 2014, the state's governor Kashim Shettima said that "176 teachers had been killed and 900 schools destroyed since 2011." After the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in April 2014, most schools in Borno State were closed.


title: Borno State

text: In November 2014, UNICEF reported it has increased its Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) centres in Borno State "from 5 to 67." In Borno State, the agricultural sector has suffered mostly because of the insurgency, and many people have experienced acute food insecurity.


title: Borno State

text: The climate of Borno state is characteristic of rainfall variability, with strong latitudinal zone, which is drier in this north eastern state. The commencement of the rainy season in this north-east state is around June/July of every year, which far behind the south eastern states. The trade wind, also regarded as the harmattan season is often experienced in the state between the months of December and February. There is a reduction in rainfall from 3,800 mm to below 650 mm in the state, hence it rains in the state between 4 to 5 months annually. The state experiences high relative humidity annually. The hottest period in the state is in the month of May, with an average of 34C while the month of January is the coldest with an annual average of 23C. The wettest month is August with an average of 118.6 mm while the windiest month is December with an average of 11km/h.


title: Borno State

text: Borno State consists of twenty-seven (27) Local Government Areas, grouped into three Senatorial Districts (shown below with their areas and 2006 Census population figures):


title: Borno State

text: In addition, there are eight Emirate Councils (Borno, Damboa, Dikwa, Biu, Askira, Gwoza, Shani and Uba Emirates), which advise the local governments on cultural and traditional matters.


title: Borno State

text: A wide variety of Biu–Mandara languages are spoken in Borno State, particularly in the Mandara Mountains.


title: Borno State

text: Islam is practiced in Borno State, with an equally few number of adherents of Christianity and other faiths. Sharia operates as the primary foundation for the development, interpretation, and enforcement of most civic codes and laws. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri has its seat in the State. Ekklesiar Yan'Uwa A Nigeria (EYN) buildings in Maiduguri were destroyed by Boko Haram as a part of their uprising. The buildings were later rebuilt.


title: Proton decay

text: In particle physics, proton decay is a hypothetical form of particle decay in which the proton decays into lighter subatomic particles, such as a neutral pion and a positron. The proton decay hypothesis was first formulated by Andrei Sakharov in 1967. Despite significant experimental effort, proton decay has never been observed. If it does decay via a positron, the proton's half-life is constrained to be at least years.


title: Proton decay

text: According to the Standard Model, the proton, a type of baryon, is stable because baryon number (quark number) is conserved (under normal circumstances; see chiral anomaly for an exception). Therefore, protons will not decay into other particles on their own, because they are the lightest (and therefore least energetic) baryon. Positron emission and electron capture – forms of radioactive decay which sees a proton become a neutron – are not proton decay, since the proton interacts with other particles within the atom.


title: Proton decay

text: Some beyond-the-Standard Model grand unified theories (GUTs) explicitly break the baryon number symmetry, allowing protons to decay via the Higgs particle, magnetic monopoles, or new X bosons with a half-life of 10 to 10 years. For comparison, the universe is roughly 10 years old. To date, all attempts to observe new phenomena predicted by GUTs (like proton decay or the existence of magnetic monopoles) have failed.


title: Proton decay

text: Quantum tunnelling may be one of the mechanisms of proton decay.<ref name="url[nucl-th/9809006] Time-dependent properties of proton decay from crossing single-particle metastable states in deformed nuclei"></ref>


title: Proton decay

text: Quantum gravity (via virtual black holes and Hawking radiation) may also provide a venue of proton decay at magnitudes or lifetimes well beyond the GUT scale decay range above, as well as extra dimensions in supersymmetry.<ref name="urlProton Decay, Black Holes, and Large Extra Dimensions - NASA/ADS"></ref>


title: Proton decay

text: There are theoretical methods of baryon violation other than proton decay including interactions with changes of baryon and/or lepton number other than 1 (as required in proton decay). These included "B" and/or "L" violations of 2, 3, or other numbers, or "B" − "L" violation. Such examples include neutron oscillations and the electroweak sphaleron anomaly at high energies and temperatures that can result between the collision of protons into antileptons or vice versa (a key factor in leptogenesis and non-GUT baryogenesis).


title: Proton decay

text: One of the outstanding problems in modern physics is the predominance of matter over antimatter in the universe. The universe, as a whole, seems to have a nonzero positive baryon number density – that is, matter exists. Since it is assumed in cosmology that the particles we see were created using the same physics we measure today, it would normally be expected that the overall baryon number should be zero, as matter and antimatter should have been created in equal amounts. This has led to a number of proposed mechanisms for symmetry breaking that favour the creation of normal matter (as opposed to antimatter) under certain conditions. This imbalance would have been exceptionally small, on the order of 1 in every (10) particles a small fraction of a second after the Big Bang, but after most of the matter and antimatter annihilated, what was left over was all the baryonic matter in the current universe, along with a much greater number of bosons.


title: Proton decay

text: Most grand unified theories explicitly break the baryon number symmetry, which would account for this discrepancy, typically invoking reactions mediated by very massive X bosons or massive Higgs bosons (). The rate at which these events occur is governed largely by the mass of the intermediate or particles, so by assuming these reactions are responsible for the majority of the baryon number seen today, a maximum mass can be calculated above which the rate would be too slow to explain the presence of matter today. These estimates predict that a large volume of material will occasionally exhibit a spontaneous proton decay.


title: Proton decay

text: Proton decay is one of the key predictions of the various grand unified theories (GUTs) proposed in the 1970s, another major one being the existence of magnetic monopoles. Both concepts have been the focus of major experimental physics efforts since the early 1980s. To date, all attempts to observe these events have failed; however, these experiments have been able to establish lower bounds on the half-life of the proton. Currently, the most precise results come from the Super-Kamiokande water Cherenkov radiation detector in Japan: a 2015 analysis placed a lower bound on the proton's half-life of years via positron decay, and similarly, a 2012 analysis gave a lower bound to the proton's half-life of years via antimuon decay, close to a supersymmetry (SUSY) prediction of 10–10 years. An upgraded version, Hyper-Kamiokande, probably will have sensitivity 5–10 times better than Super-Kamiokande.


title: Proton decay

text: Despite the lack of observational evidence for proton decay, some grand unification theories, such as the SU(5) Georgi–Glashow model and SO(10), along with their supersymmetric variants, require it. According to such theories, the proton has a half-life of about ~ years and decays into a positron and a neutral pion that itself immediately decays into two gamma ray photons:


title: Proton decay

text: Additional decay modes are available (e.g.: ), both directly and when catalyzed via interaction with GUT-predicted magnetic monopoles. Though this process has not been observed experimentally, it is within the realm of experimental testability for future planned very large-scale detectors on the megaton scale. Such detectors include the Hyper-Kamiokande.


title: Proton decay

text: Early grand unification theories (GUTs) such as the Georgi–Glashow model, which were the first consistent theories to suggest proton decay, postulated that the proton's half-life would be at least  years. As further experiments and calculations were performed in the 1990s, it became clear that the proton half-life could not lie below  years. Many books from that period refer to this figure for the possible decay time for baryonic matter. More recent findings have pushed the minimum proton half-life to at least ~ years, ruling out the simpler GUTs (including minimal SU(5) / Georgi–Glashow) and most non-SUSY models. The maximum upper limit on proton lifetime (if unstable), is calculated at a bound applicable to SUSY models, with a maximum for (minimal) non-SUSY GUTs at


title: Proton decay

text: Although the phenomenon is referred to as "proton decay", the effect would also be seen in neutrons bound inside atomic nuclei. Free neutrons – those not inside an atomic nucleus – are already known to decay into protons (and an electron and an antineutrino) in a process called beta decay. Free neutrons have a half-life of 10 minutes ()


title: Proton decay

text: due to the weak interaction. Neutrons bound inside a nucleus have an immensely longer half-life – apparently as great as that of the proton.


title: Proton decay

text: The lifetime of the proton in vanilla SU(5) can be naively estimated as formula_1. Supersymmetric GUTs with reunification scales around   yield a lifetime of around 10 yr, roughly the current experimental lower bound.


title: Proton decay

text: The dimension-6 proton decay operators are formula_2, formula_3, formula_4 and formula_5 where formula_6 is the cutoff scale for the Standard Model. All of these operators violate both baryon number ("B") and lepton number ("L") conservation but not the combination "B" − "L".


title: Proton decay

text: In GUT models, the exchange of an X or Y boson with the mass Λ can lead to the last two operators suppressed by formula_7. The exchange of a triplet Higgs with mass "formula_8" can lead to all of the operators suppressed by formula_9. See doublet–triplet splitting problem.


title: Proton decay

text: In supersymmetric extensions (such as the MSSM), we can also have dimension-5 operators involving two fermions and two sfermions caused by the exchange of a tripletino of mass "M". The sfermions will then exchange a gaugino or Higgsino or gravitino leaving two fermions. The overall Feynman diagram has a loop (and other complications due to strong interaction physics). This decay rate is suppressed by formula_10 where "M" is the mass scale of the superpartners.


title: Proton decay

text: In the absence of matter parity, supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model can give rise to the last operator suppressed by the inverse square of sdown quark mass. This is due to the dimension-4 operators


title: Proton decay

text: The proton decay rate is only suppressed by formula_11 which is far too fast unless the couplings are very small.


title: 7 and 7

text: A 7 and 7 is a highball cocktail, a mixed alcoholic drink containing Seagram's Seven Crown and 7 Up. It is typically served with ice. It was one of the most popular drinks in the United States during the 1970s.


title: Diprotodon

text: Diprotodon (Ancient Greek: "two protruding front teeth") is an extinct genus of marsupial from the Pleistocene of Australia, containing one species, D. optatum. The earliest finds date to 1.77 million to 780,000 years ago, but most specimens are dated to after 110,000 years ago. Its massive fossils were first unearthed in 1830 in Wellington Caves, New South Wales, before any serious scientists were active on the continent, and were variably guessed to belong to rhinos, elephants, hippos, or dugongs. "Diprotodon", formally described by Sir Richard Owen in 1838, was the first named Australian fossil creature, and set Owen on a path to becoming the foremost authority of his time on other marsupials and Australian megafauna so enigmatic to European science.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" is the largest known marsupial to have ever lived, far dwarfing its closest living relatives, wombats and koalas. It grew as large as at the shoulders, over from head to tail, and possibly almost in weight. Females were much smaller than males. It supported itself on elephant-like legs to traverse long distances, and was able to colonise most of Australia. The digits were weak, and most of the weight was probably borne on the wrists and ankles. The hindpaws angled inward at 130°. Its jaws may have produced a prodigious bite force of at the long and ever-growing incisors, and over at the last molar. Such power would have permitted it to eat vegetation in bulk, crunching and grinding on mixed browse with its bilophodont teeth.


title: Diprotodon

text: It is the only known marsupial (and metatherian) identified to make seasonal migrations, trekking through a wide range of habitats in large (usually female) herds to search out food and water. Walking speed could have been about . "Diprotodon" may have formed polygynous societies, possibly using its powerful incisors to battle for mates or fend off predators, namely the largest known marsupial carnivore, "Thylacoleo carnifex". Being a marsupial, "Diprotodon" raised a joey in a pouch on its belly, probably one facing backwards like a wombat.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" went extinct about 40,000 years ago as part of the Quaternary extinction event, along with every other Australian creature over , possibly caused by the extreme drought conditions, as well as pressure from the first Aboriginal Australians who had been sharing the continent with the megafauna for about 20,000 years. Conversely, there is no solid direct evidence of Australian aboriginals and "Diprotodon" (or any Pleistocene megafauna) interacting at all. "Diprotodon" has been conjectured to be the subject of some aboriginal mythological figures (most notably, the bunyip) and aboriginal rock artworks, but these are unconfirmable.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 1830, bushman George Ranken found a diverse fossil assemblage while exploring Wellington Caves, New South Wales. This was the first major site of extinct Australian megafauna. They were excavated when Ranken returned later in a formal expedition headed by Major Thomas Mitchell.


title: Diprotodon

text: At the time these massive fossils were discovered, there were no serious scientists in Australia. It was generally guessed that the fossil assemblage represents rhinos, elephants, hippos, or dugongs, but they were not formally described until Mitchell, while in England publishing his journal, brought them to his former colleague Sir Richard Owen in 1837. In 1838, while studying a piece of a right mandible with an incisor, Owen compared the tooth to that of a wombat or a hippo, and designated it as a new genus in a letter to Mitchell, as "Diprotodon". Mitchell published the correspondence in his journal. Owen formally described "Diprotodon" in volume 2 without mentioning a species, but in volume 1, he listed the name "Diprotodon optatum", making that the type species. "Diprotodon" means "two protruding front teeth". It was the first ever Australian fossil mammal described. In 1844, Owen replaced the name "D. optatum" with ""D. australis"". Owen only used "optatum" the one time, and the acceptance of its apparent replacement ""australis"" has historically varied widely.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 1843, Mitchell was sent more "Diprotodon" fossils from the recently settled Darling Downs, and relayed them to Owen. Owen believed "Diprotodon" was an elephant related to or synonymous with "Mastodon" or "Deinotherium", having interpreted the incisors as tusks, as well as comparing the flattening (anteroposterior compression) of the femur to the condition in elephants and rhinos, and the raised ridges of the molar to the grinding surfaces of elephant teeth. Later that year, he formally synonymised "Diprotodon" with "Deinotherium" as ""Dinotherium Australe"", which he recanted in 1844 after German naturalist Ludwig Leichhardt pointed out that the incisors clearly belong to a marsupial. Owen, nonetheless, still classified the molars from Wellington as ""M. australis"". He also continued to describe "Diprotodon" as likely elephantine. In 1847, a nearly complete skull and skeleton was recovered from the Darling Downs, which confirmed this characterisation. The massive skeleton, while on public display in Sydney, attracted quite an audience. Leichhardt believed the animal was aquatic and suggested in 1844 that it might still be alive in an undiscovered tropical area towards the interior, but as the European land exploration of Australia progressed, he became certain it was extinct. Owen would go on to be the foremost authority of Australian palaeontology of his time, mostly working with marsupials.


title: Diprotodon

text: Huge assemblages of rather complete "Diprotodon" fossils have been unearthed in dry lake- or riverbeds, the largest from Lake Callabonna. Fossils were first noticed here by an aboriginal stockman working on a sheep property just east. The owners, the Ragless brothers, notified the South Australian Museum who hired Australian geologist Henry Hurst, who reported an enormous wealth of fossil material. He was given £250 in 1893 to excavate the site, and turned over 360 "Diprotodon" individuals over a few acres, and more were uncovered pretty soon after excavation was restarted in the 1970s. Multiple herds of these animals at different times probably got stuck in the mud during their crossing while the water was low during dry seasons.


title: Diprotodon

text: In addition to "D. optatum" and ""D. australis"", several other species were erected through the 19th century because adult "Diprotodon" specimens come in two distinct size ranges. In their 1975 review of Australian fossil mammals, Australian palaeontologists J. A. Mahoney and William David Lindsay Ride did not ascribed this to sexual dimorphism because males and females among modern wombat and koala species (its closest living relatives) are skeletally indistinguishable, so they assumed the same would have been true for extinct relatives, including "Diprotodon".


title: Diprotodon

text: In 2008, Australian palaeontologist Gilbert Price opted to recognise only one species, "D. optatum" based most notably on a lack of dental differences among these supposed species, and suggested that it was likely that "Diprotodon" was indeed sexually dimorphic, with the male probably being the larger form.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" is a marsupial in the order Diprotodontia, suborder Vombatiformes (wombats and koalas), infraorder Vombatomorphia (wombats and allies). It is unclear how different groups of vombatiformes are related to each other as the most completely known members, living or extinct, are exceptionally derived (highly specialised forms which are quite different from their last common ancestor).


title: Diprotodon

text: In 1872, American mammalogist Theodore Gill erected the superfamily Diprotodontoidea and family Diprotodontidae to house "Diprotodon". New species were added to both groups in subsequent years. By the 1960s, the first diprotodontoids dating to before the Pliocene were being discovered, better elucidating how they are related to each other. Because of this, in 1967, American palaeontologist Ruben A. Stirton subdivided Diprotodontoidea into one family, Diprotodontidae, with four subfamilies: Diprotodontinae (containing "Diprotodon" among others), Nototheriinae, Zygomaturinae, and Palorchestinae. In 1977, Australian palaeontologist Michael Archer synonymised Nototheriinae with Diprotodontinae, and in 1978, Archer and Australian palaeontologist Alan Bartholomai elevated Palorchestinae to family level as Palorchestidae, leaving Diprotodontoidea with two families (Diprotodontidae and Palorchestidae), and Diprotodontidae with two subfamilies (Diprotodontinae and Zygomaturinae).


title: Diprotodon

text: Diprotodontoidea family tree according to Australian palaeontologists Karen H. Black and Brian Mackness, 1999 (left), and Vombatiformes family tree according to Beck "et al." 2020 (right):


title: Diprotodon

text: Diprotodontidae is the most diverse family in Vombatomorphia, better adapted to the spreading dry and open landscapes over the last tens of millions of years than other groups in the infraorder (living or extinct). Similarly, "Diprotodon" has been found in every Australian state, making it the most widespread Australian megafauna in the fossil record. The oldest vombatomorph (and vombatiform) is "Mukupirna", identified in 2020 from Oligocene deposits of the South Australian Namba Formation dating to 26–25 million years ago. The group probably evolved much earlier, since "Mukupirna" was already differentiated as a closer relative to wombats than other vombatiformes; and attained a massive size of roughly , whereas the last common ancestor of vombatiformes was probably a small creature.


title: Diprotodon

text: Both diprotodontines and zygomaturines were both apparently quite diverse over the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene roughly 23 million years ago (though the familial and subfamilial classifications of diprotodontoids from this time period is debated). Compared to zygomaturines, diprotodontines were rare during the Miocene, the only identified genus being "Pyramios". By the Late Miocene, diprotodontians became the most common marsupial order in fossil sites, a dominance which indures to


title: Diprotodon

text: present day; at this point, the most prolific diprotodontians were diprotodontids and kangaroos. Diprotodontidae also began a gigantism trend, along with several other marsupials, probably a response to the lower quality plant foods available in a drying climate, requiring them to consume much more. Gigantism appears to have evolved six time independently among the vombatiform lineages. Diprotodontine diversity returned in the Pliocene, and Diprotodontidae reached peak diversity with seven genera, coinciding with the spread of open forests. In 1977, Archer suggested that "Diprotodon" directly evolved from the smaller "Euryzygoma", which has been discovered in Pliocene deposits of eastern Australia predating 2.5 million years ago.


title: Diprotodon

text: In general, there is poor resolution on the ages of Australian fossil sites, and while the geochronology of "Diprotodon" is one of best for Australian megafauna, it is still quite incomplete and the majority of remains sit undated. The earliest (indirectly dated) "Diprotodon" fossils were reported by Price and Australian palaeontologist Katarzyna Piper from the Nelson Bay Formation at Nelson Bay, New South Wales, which dates to 1.77 million to 780,000 years ago during the Early Pleistocene. The remains are notably smaller than Late Pleistocene "Diprotodon" by 8–17%, but they are otherwise indistinguishable. The oldest directly dated fossils come from the Boney Bite site at Floraville, New South Wales. They were deposited approximately 340,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene based on U-series dating and luminescence dating of quartz and orthoclase. Floraville is the only identified Middle Pleistocene site in tropical northern Australia. Beyond these, almost all dated material comes from Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS5) or younger (after 110,000 years ago) during the Late Pleistocene.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" had a long and narrow skull. Like other marsupials, the top of the skull of "Diprotodon" was flat or depressed over the small braincase, as well as the sinuses of the frontal bone. Like many other giant vombatiformes, the frontal sinuses are extensive; in a specimen from Bacchus Marsh, they take up —roughly 25% of skull volume—whereas the brain only occupies —only 4% skull volume. Marsupials tend to have smaller brain to body mass ratios than placental mammals, becoming more disparate the bigger the animal, which could be a response to conserve energy, as the brain is a calorically expensive organ, or is proportional to the maternal metabolic rate, which is much less in marsupials since they do not have to gestate for as long. The expanded sinuses increase the surface area available for the temporalis muscle to attach (important for biting and chewing) to compensate for a deflated braincase as a result of a proportionally smaller brain. They may have also helped dissipate stresses produced by biting more efficiently across the skull.


title: Diprotodon

text: The occipital bone, the back of the skull, slopes forward at a 45° angle, as opposed to most modern marsupials where it is vertical. The base of the occipital is heavily thickened. The occipital condyles (a pair of bones which connect the skull with the vertebral column) are semi-circle shaped, with the bottom half being narrower than the top. The inner border (which forms the foramen magnum, where the spinal cord feeds through) is thin and well-defined. The top margin of the foramen magnum is somewhat flattened rather than arched. The foramen expands backwards towards the inlet, especially vertically, and is more reminiscent of a short neural canal than a foramen magnum.


title: Diprotodon

text: There is a sagittal crest extending across the midline of the skull from the supraoccipital (the top of the occipital bone) to the interorbital region (between the eyes on the top of the head). The orbit (eye socket) is small and oval-shaped vertically. The nasal bones slightly curve upwards until near their endpoint, where they begin to curve down, giving the bones somewhat of an S-shaped profile. Like many marsupials, most of the nasal septum is made of bone rather than cartilage. The nose would have been quite mobile. The height of the skull from the peak of the occipital bone to the end of the nasals is strikingly almost uniform, but the end of the nasals is the tallest point. The zygomatic arch (cheek bone) is strong and deep like in kangaroos, but unlike koalas or wombats, and also extends all the way from the supraoccipital.


title: Diprotodon

text: Like kangaroos and wombats, there is a gap in between the jointing of the palate (roof of the mouth) and the maxilla (upper jaw) behind the last molar, which is filled by the medial pterygoid plate. This would have been the insertion for the medial pterygoid muscle relevant to closing the jaw. Like many grazers, the masseter muscle (also responsible for closing the jaw) seems to have been the dominant jaw muscle, and a probable large temporal muscle compared to the lateral pterygoid muscle may indicate, unlike wombats, a limited range of jaw motion side-to-side (i.e., it would have been better at crushing rather than grinding food). The insertion of the masseter is placed forwards, in front of the orbits, which could have allowed better control over the incisors. Overall, "Diprotodon" chewing strategy appears to align more with kangaroos than wombats, with a powerful vertical crunch followed by a transverse grinding motion.


title: Diprotodon

text: Like other marsupials, the ramus of the mandible (the portion that goes up to connect with the skull) angles inward. The condyloid process (which connects the jaw to the skull) is similar to that of a koala. The ramus is straight and extends almost vertically, thickening as it approaches the body of the mandible (where the teeth are). The depth of the body of the mandible increases somewhat from the last to the first molar. The mandibular symphysis (which fuses the two halves of the mandible) is strong, beginning at the frontmost end of the third molar; this would prevent either half of the mandible from moving independently of the other, unlike kangaroos which use this ability to better control their incisors.


title: Diprotodon

text: The dental formula of "Diprotodon" is , with, in each half of either jaw, three incisors in the upper and one in the lower jaw; no canines; and one premolar and four molars in both jaws. There is a long diastema (gap) separating the incisors from the molars.


title: Diprotodon

text: The incisors are chisel-like (scalpriform). The first incisors in both jaws grew continuously throughout the animal's life, like wombats and rodents, but the other two upper incisors did not. This combination is not seen in any living marsupial. The cross-section of the upper incisors is circular. In one old male specimen, the first upper incisor measures of which is within the tooth socket; the second is where is in the socket; and the exposed part of the third is . The first incisor is convex and curves outwards, but the other two are concave. The lower incisor has a faint upward curve but is otherwise straight, and it has an oval cross-section. In the same old male specimen, it measures of which is inside the socket.


title: Diprotodon

text: The premolars and molars are bilophodont, and each feature two distinct lophs (ridges). The premolar is triangular and about half the size of the molars. The necks of the lophs are coated in cementum like kangaroos. Unlike kangaroos, there is no connecting ridge between the lophs. The peaks of these lophs have a thick enamel coating, which thins towards the base. This could wear away with use and expose the dentine layer, and beneath that osteodentine. Like the first premolar of marsupials, the first molar of "Diprotodon" and wombats is the only tooth that is replaced.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" had five cervical (neck) vertebrae. The atlas, the first cervical (C1), has a pair of deep cavities for insertion of the occipital condyles. The diaphophyses (an upward-angled projection on either the side of the vertebra) of the atlas are relatively short and thick, and overall resemble those of wombats and koalas. The articular surface (the part that joints to another vertebra) of the axis (C2) is slightly concave on the front side, and flat on the back side. Like kangaroos, the axis has a low subtriangular hypophysis (projecting vertically from the underside of the vertebra) and a proportionally long odontoid (a projection from the axis which fits into the atlas), but the neural spine (which project vertically the topside of the vertebra) is more forwards. The remaining cervicals lack a hypophysis. Like kangaroos, C3 and C4 have a shorter and more compressed neural spine, which is supported by a low ridge along its midline in the front and the back. The neural spine of C5 is narrower but thicker, and is supported by stronger though shorter ridges.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" probably had 13 dorsal vertebrae and 14 pairs of closely-spaced ribs. Like many other mammals, the dorsals initially decrease in breadth and then expand before connecting to the lumbar vertebrae. The front dorsals unusually match the short proportions of the cervicals, and the articular surface is flat. At the beginning of the series, the neural spine is broad and angled forward, and is also supported by a low ridge along its midline in the front and the back. Later on, the neural spine is angled backwards, and bifurcates (splits into two). Among mammals, bifurcation of the neural spine is only seen in elephants and humans, and even then, only in a few of the cervicals, not in the dorsals. Compared to wombats and kangaroos, the neural arch is proportionally taller. Like in elephants, the epiphysial plates (growth plates) and the neural arch (where the neural spine is attached to) are anchylosed (very rigid in regard to the vertebral centrum), which serve to support the animal's immense weight.


title: Diprotodon

text: Like most marsupials, "Diprotodon" likely had six lumbar vertebrae. They retain a proportionally tall neural arch, but not the diapophyses, though L1 can retain a small protuberance on one side where a diapophysis would be in a dorsal vertebra; this has been documented in kangaroos among other mammals. The length of each vertebra increases along the series, so the lumbar series may have bent downward.


title: Diprotodon

text: Like other marsupials, "Diprotodon" had two sacral vertebrae. The base of the neural spines of these two were ossified (fused) together.


title: Diprotodon

text: The general proportions of the scapula (shoulder blade) align more closely with more basal vertebrates such as monotremes, birds, reptiles, or fish, rather than marsupials or placentals. It is triangular and proportionally narrow, but unlike most mammals with a triangular scapula, the arm attaches to top of the scapula, and the subspinous fossa (the fossa below the spine of the scapula) increases towards the arm joint instead of decreasing. The glenoid cavity (where the arm connects) is oval shaped like in most mammals.


title: Diprotodon

text: Unlike other marsupials, the ilia (the large wings of the pelvis) are lamelliform in being short and broad, and sporting a flat surface instead of a fossa (a depression). Lamelliform ilia have only been recorded in elephants, sloths, and apes, though these groups all have a much longer sacral vertebra series (marsupials are restricted to two sacral vertebrae). Nonetheless, the ilia provided strong muscle attachments which were probably oriented and used much the same as in an elephant. The sacroiliac joint (where the pelvis connects to the spine) is at a 35° angle in reference to the long axis of the ilium. The ischia (which form part of the hip socket) are thick and rounded tailwards, but taper off and diverge towards the socket, unlike in kangaroos where the ischia proceed almost parallel to each other. They were not connected to the vertebra. The hip socket itself is well rounded and almost hemispherical.


title: Diprotodon

text: Unlike most marsupials, the humerus is rather straight (as opposed to S-shaped), and the trochlea of the humerus (at the elbow joint) is not perforated. The ridges for muscle attachments are poorly developed, which seems to have been compensated by the powerful forearms. Similarly, the condyles where the radius and ulna (the forearm bones) connect maintain their rounded shape and are quite similarly sized, unusually reminiscent of the condyles between the femur and the tibia and fibula in the leg of a kangaroo.


title: Diprotodon

text: Like elephants, the femur of "Diprotodon" is straight, compressed anteroposteriorly (from headside to tailside), and the walls of the femur are prodigiously thickened, strongly constricting the medullary cavity (where the bone marrow is). The proximal end (part closest to the hip joint) is notably long, broad, and deep. The femoral head projects up far from the greater trochanter. Like kangaroos, the greater trochanter is split into two lobes. The femoral neck is roughly the same diameter has the femoral head. Like kangaroos, the condyle for the fibula is excavated out, but the condyle for the tibia is well rounded and hemispheric. Like many other marsupials, the tibia is twisted and the tibial malleolus (on the ankle) is reduced.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" has five digits on either paw. Like other plantigrade walkers (the paws were flat on the ground), the wrist and ankle would have been largely rigid and inflexible. The digits overall are proportionally weak, so the paws probably had a lot of padding in life. Similarly, the digits do not seem to have been engaged much in weight bearing.


title: Diprotodon

text: The forepaw was strong, and the shape of the wrist bones are quite similar to those kangaroos. Like other vombatiformes, the metacarpals are broadly similar to those of kangaroos and allies. The pisiform bone is enlarged, and takes up half the jointing surface ulna. The fifth digit on the forepaw is the largest.


title: Diprotodon

text: The digits of the hindpaws turn inwards from the ankle at a 130° angle. The second and third metatarsals (the metatarsals connect the toes to the bones which connect to the ankle) are significantly reduced, which may mean these digits were syndactylous (fused) like in all modern diprotodontians. The first, fourth, and fifth digits are enlarged. The toes are each about the same length, except the fifth one which is much stouter.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" is the largest known marsupial to have ever lived. The bigger "Diprotodon" skeletons measure at the shoulders, and from head to tail. Accounting for cartilagenous intervertebral discs, "Diprotodon" may have been 20% longer than the reconstructed skeletons, exceeding .


title: Diprotodon

text: As researchers were formulating predictive body mass equations for fossil species, efforts were largely constrained to eutherian mammals as opposed to marsupials. The first attempt at estimating "Diprotodon" was Peter Murray in his 1991 review of the megafauna of Pleistocene Australia. He made an estimate of , though conceded it was probably not a very precise one. This made "Diprotodon" the largest herbivore in Australia. In 2001, Canadian biologist Gary Burness and colleagues did a linear regression between the largest herbivores and carnivores (living or extinct) from every continent (for Australia: "Diprotodon", "Varanus priscus", and "Thylacoleo carnifex") vs. the landmass area of their continent, and another regression between the daily food intake of living creatures vs. the landmass of their continents. He calculated the food requirements of "Diprotodon" was 50–60% smaller than expected for Australia's landmass, which he believed was a result of a generally lower metabolism in marsupials compared to placentals (up to 20% lower) and sparser nutritious vegetation compared to other continents. That is, the maximum attainable body size is capped much lower than on other continents.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 2003, Australian palaeontologist Stephen Wroe and colleagues took a more analytical approach to body mass than Murray's guesstimate. They made a regression between the minimum circumference of the femora and humeri of 18 quadrupedal marsupials and 32 placentals vs. body mass, and then input 17 "Diprotodon" long bones into their predictive model. The outputs ranged from , for a mean of , though Wroe conceded that reconstructing the weight of extinct creatures which far outweigh living counterparts is problematic. For comparison, an American bison that they used in their study weighed , and a hippo . Using Burness's methods, "Diprotodon" is 25% larger than expected.


title: Diprotodon

text: Like modern megaherbivores, most evidently the African elephant, the Pleistocene Australian megafauna likely had a profound effect on the vegetation, limiting the spread of forest cover and woody plants. Carbon isotope analysis suggests "Diprotodon" fed on a broad range of foods, and, like kangaroos, was consuming both C (well-watered trees, shrubs, and grasses) and C (arid grasses) plants. Still, the low seasonal δC values (its carbon isotope ratio remained about the same in both winter and summer, so it ate the same proportion of C and C plants regardless of their seasonal abundance) indicate that "Diprotodon" was a selective eater, at least more so than the modern wombat. The fossilised gut contents (incompletely digested) of one 53,000 year old individual from Lake Callabonna shows its last meal consisted of young leaves, stalks, and twigs.


title: Diprotodon

text: The molars of "Diprotodon" are a simple bilophodont shape. Kangaroos use their bilophodont teeth to grind low-fibre (not too tough) plants as a browser, as well as grass as a grazer. Kangaroos which predominantly graze have specialised molars to resist the abrasiveness of grass, but such adaptations are not exhibited in "Diprotodon", so "Diprotodon" may have had a mixed diet similar to a browsing wallaby. It may have chewed like them too, beginning with a vertical crunch before grinding transversely, as opposed to wombats which only grind transversely. Similar to many large ungulates (hoofed mammals), the jaws of "Diprotodon" were better suited for crushing rather than grinding, which would have permitted it to process vegetation in bulk.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 2016, Australian biologists Alana Sharpe and Thomas Rich estimated the maximum possible bite force of "Diprotodon" using finite element analysis. They calculated: at the incisors, and across the molar series. For reference, the American alligator can produce forces upwards of . Though these are likely overestimates, the jaws of "Diprotodon" were still exceptionally strong, which would have allowed it to consume a broad range of plants, including tough, fibrous grasses.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 2017, Price and colleagues determined that "Diprotodon" made seasonal migrations, probably in search of food or watering holes. Price and colleagues did this by measuring the strontium isotope ratio (Sr/Sr) at various points along the "Diprotodon" incisor QMF3452 from the Darling Downs, and matching those ratios to the ratios of sites across that region. This individual appears to have been following the Condamine River, and, while apparently keeping to the Darling Downs during the three years this tooth had been growing, it would have been making a northwest-southeast round-trip annually. This trek parallels the mammalian mass migrations of modern day East Africa.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" is the only identified metatherian that seasonally migrated between two places. A few modern marsupials, such as the red kangaroo, have been documented making migrations should the need arise, but it is not a seasonal occurrence. Since "Diprotodon" could do it, it is not unlikely that other Pleistocene Australian megafauna did it as well.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" apparently moved in large herds. These fossilised herds, most commonly unearthed in southeastern Australia, seem to be either predominantly or entirely female (sometimes in tow with juveniles). Such sexual segregation is normally seen in polygynous species, a common social organisation among modern megaherbivores which features an entirely female herd save for their young and the dominant male; the herd breeds exclusively with this male. Similarly, the skull is adapted to handling much higher stresses than what resulted from bite alone, so "Diprotodon" therefore may have subjected its teeth or jaws to more strenuous activities than just chewing, such as battling other "Diprotodon" for mates, or fending off predators, using the incisors. Like modern red and grey kangaroos (which also sexually segregate), bachelor herds of "Diprotodon" seem to have been less tolerant to drought conditions than female herds on account of their larger size and nutritional requirements.


title: Diprotodon

text: The locomotion of an extinct animal can be inferred using fossil trackways, which seldom ever preserve in Australia over the Cenozoic. Only the trackways of humans, kangaroos, vombatids, "Diprotodon", and the diprotodontid "Euowenia" have been identified. "Diprotodon" trackways have been found at Lake Callabonna and the Victorian Volcanic Plain grasslands. The diprotodontid manus (forepaw) print is semicircular, and the pes (hindpaw) is reniform (kidney-shaped). Owing to proportionally small digits, most of the weight was borne on the carpus and tarsus (the bones connecting to respectively the wrist and the ankle). Diprotodontines seem to have had a much more erect gait, an adaptation to long-distance travel similar to elephants, rather than the more sprawling posture of wombats and zygomaturines, though there are no fossil trackways of the latter to verify their reconstructed standing posture.


title: Diprotodon

text: At Lake Callabonna, the single "Diprotodon" responsible for the impressions had an average stride length of , trackway width of , and paw dimensions in length x width. The gleno-acetabular length (the distance between the shoulders and pelvis) could have been about , and assuming a hip height of , the maker of tracks was probably moving at around .


title: Diprotodon

text: At the volcanic plain, the single "Diprotodon" responsible for the impressions had an average stride length of , trackway width of , and pes length of . The gleno-acetabular length may have been about , and assuming a hip height of , the maker of tracks was probably moving at around . Its posture was much more sprawled than that from Callabonna, aligning more with what might be expected of "Zygomaturus", so the animal may have been a female carrying a large joey in her pouch, the added weight on the stomach altering the gait. The first trackway went on for in a southeasterly direction towards a palaeo-lake. The animal seems to have hesitated stepping down from the first sand bar on its path, with the right pes making three overlapping prints here while shuffling around. The trackway vanishes for a stretch, and reappears while the animal seemingly is stepping on wet sediment. Another diprotodontid trackway appears away moving southerly, which may have been left by the same individual.


title: Diprotodon

text: The marsupial metabolic rate is about 30% slower than that of placentals, due to a lower body temperature of . Marsupials also give birth at an earlier point in foetal development, relying on lactation to facilitate most of the joey's development; investing in lactation over pregnancy duration can be advantageous in a highly seasonal and unpredictable climate to minimise maternal nutritional requirements (as pregnancy is much more energetically expensive). Consequently, marsupials cannot support as large a litter size or as fast a generation time.


title: Diprotodon

text: Using the relation between female body size and life history in kangaroos, a "Diprotodon" female would have gestated for six to eight weeks, and given birth to a single joey. Given its massive size, "Diprotodon" may not have sat down to give birth as smaller marsupials do, possibly standing up instead. Like koalas and wombats, the pouch may have faced backwards, so the joey could crawl down across its mother's abdomen to enter, and then attach itself to a teat until it could see (perhaps 260 days) and thermoregulate. It would have permanently left the pouch after 860 days, and suckled until reaching after four or five years.


title: Diprotodon

text: In large kangaroos, females usually reach sexual maturity and enter oestrus soon after weaning, and males need double the time. A similar pattern could have been exhibited in "Diprotodon". Assuming a lifespan of up to 50 years, a female "Diprotodon" could have given birth eight times.


title: Diprotodon

text: "Diprotodon" existed during the Pleistocene, and spread out across the entire Australian continent by the Late Pleistocene, most especially following MIS5 approximately 110,000 years ago. The onset of the Quaternary glaciation and the continuous advance and retreat of glaciers at the poles created fluctuating and extreme climatic swings elsewhere. In Australia, the warmer, wetter interglacials were received by forests and woodlands, and the colder, dryer glacial periods were more conducive to grasslands and deserts. Nonetheless, the continent progressively became dryer and dryer over time as the Asian monsoons became less influential over Australia, with the vast interior turning arid and sandy by 500,000 years ago; the mega-lakes (once prominent especially during interglacials over northwestern Australia) drying up; and the rainforests of eastern Australia gradually retreating. Aridity has hastened over the last 100,000 years, especially after 60,000 years ago with surging El Niño–Southern Oscillation.


title: Diprotodon

text: The continent-wide distribution of "Diprotodon" indicates that herds trekked across most any habitat Australia had to offer, much like modern African elephants south of the Sahara. "Diprotodon" was a member of a diverse assemblage of megafauna endemic to Pleistocene Australia, such as the thylacine, modern kangaroos, sthenurines (giant short-faced kangaroos), a diversity of modern and giant koala and wombat species, the tapir-like "Palorchestes", the giant turtle "Meiolania", and the giant bird "Genyornis". "Diprotodon" coexisted with the diprotodontid "Zygomaturus trilobus", which appears to have clung to the forests, whereas "Diprotodon" foraged the expanding grasslands and woodlands. Other contemporary dipotodontids ("Hulitherium", "Z. nimborensia", and "Maokopia") were insular forms restricted to the forests of New Guinea.


title: Diprotodon

text: Given its massive size, "Diprotodon" would have been a tough adversary for native carnivores. It contended with the largest known marsupial predator, "Thylacoleo carnifex", and while "Diprotodon" fossils gnawed or bitten by "T. carnifex" have been identified, it is unclear if the marsupial predator was powerful enough to take down an animal surpassing . Given that the modern jaguar, at half the size of "T. carnifex", can bring down a bull, it is not impossible that "T. carnifex" could have killed more average or smaller sized "Diprotodon". Similar to recent kangaroos with thylacines or quolls, juvenile "Diprotodon" may have been at high risk to "T. carnifex" predation, as "T. carnifex" and juvenile "Diprotodon" fossils have been recovered from the same caves. The largest predators of the continent were now-extinct reptiles, most notably the crocodiles "Paludirex" and "Quinkana", and the giant lizard megalania ("Varanus priscus"). At in length, megalania was the largest carnivore of Pleistocene Australia.


title: Diprotodon

text: As part of the Quaternary extinction event, "Diprotodon" and every other land animal heavier than went extinct from Australia. The timing, and thus the exact cause, are unclear because in general there is poor resolution on the ages of Australian fossil sites. Since their discovery, the Australian megafauna have been thought to have died out as the climate worsened, or because of overhunting by the first Aboriginal Australians. In 2001, Australian palaeontologist Richard Roberts and colleagues dated 28 major fossil sites across the continent, and were able to provide a precise date for megafaunal extinction. They found that most disappear from the fossil record by 80,000 years ago, but "Diprotodon" (in addition to the giant wombat "Phascolonus", "Thylacoleo", and the short-faced kangaroos "Procoptodon", "Protemnodon", and "Simosthenurus") was identified at Ned's Gully, Queensland, and Kudjal Yolgah Cave, Western Australia, which they dated to respectively 47 and 46 thousand years ago. Thus, the megafauna all died out probably between about 41 to 50 thousand years ago. There also seems to have been a rather diverse assemblage of megafauna just before their extinction, and all populations across the continent (or at least in western and eastern Australia) died out at about the same time. As of 2021, there is still no solid evidence of megafauna surviving past approximately 40,000 years ago. Their latest occurrence (including "Diprotodon") is recorded at South Walker Creek mine in the northeast, at about 40,100 ± 1,700 years ago.


title: Diprotodon

text: At the time of Roberts "et al.", the earliest evidence of human activity was 56±4 thousand years old, which was rather close to their calculated date, so they hypothesised that human hunting had eradicated the last megafauna within about 10 thousand years of coexistence. Human hunting had earlier also been blamed for the extinction of North American and New Zealand megafauna. Human activity had then been generally regarded as the main driver of Australian megafaunal extinction, especially because the megafauna had survived multiple extreme drought periods during glacial periods, and at the time there did not seem to be any evidence of unusually extreme climate during this window. Given how slowly marsupials reproduce, even limited megafaunal hunting may have severely weakened their population.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 2005, American geologist Gifford Miller noticed that fire abruptly becomes much more common about 45,000 years ago, which he ascribed to aboriginal fire-stick farmers, who would have regularly started controlled burns to clear highly productive forests and grasslands. He believed this radically altered the vegetational landscape, and promulgated the expanse of the modern day fire-resilient scrub, at the expense of the megafauna. Many subsequent studies have had trouble firmly linking controlled burns and major ecological collapse. The frequency of fire could have also increased as a consequence of megafaunal extinction, as total plant consumption plummeted, leading to faster fuel buildup.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 2017, the human-occupied Madjedbebe rockshelter by the northern Australian coast was dated to about 65,000 years, which meant that humans and megafauna had coexisted for over 20,000 years, casting strong doubt on the unilateral role of human activity in megafaunal extinction. Further, in the 2010s, several ecological studies were published in support of major drought conditions coinciding with the final megafaunal extinctions. Therefore, their demise may have been the result of a combination of ecological turmoil, human hunting, and human-driven landscape changes.


title: Diprotodon

text: Despite the role that the first Australian Aborigines are speculated to have had in the extinction of "Diprotodon" and other Australian megafauna, there is a dearth of evidence that humans utilised them at all over the 20,000 years of coexistence. There have been no megafaunal fossils suggestive of human butchery or cooking.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 1984, an upper right "Diprotodon" incisor (I) bearing 28 visible cut marks was discovered in Spring Creek in southwestern Victoria by Gail Paton, and formally studied by Ron Vanderwald and Richard Fullager. The incisor was split in half longitudinally, seemingly while the bone was still fresh, but it was glued together before Vanderwald and Fullager could inspect it. Each piece measures in length. The marks are aligned in a straight line, and measure in length, in width, and in depth. They determined it was inconsistent with bite marks from scavenging "Thylacoleo" or mice, and concluded it was incised by humans with flint as a counting system or a random doodle. This specimen became one of the most cited pieces of evidence that humans and megafauna directly interacted, until a 2020 re-analysis by Australian palaeoanthropologist Michelle Langley identified the engraver as most likely a tiger quoll.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 2016, Australian archaeologist Giles Hamm and colleagues unearthed a partial right radius belonging to a young "Diprotodon" in the Warratyi rock shelter. Because it lacks carnivore damage and the rock shelter is a pretty steep climb, they believed that humans were responsible for the bone ending up where it did.


title: Diprotodon

text: When the first massive fossils were dug up in Australia, it was not clear what animals they might have represented as there were no serious scientists on the continent, but locals guessed some may represent rhinos or elephants. The colonists, most vocally Reverend John Dunmore Lang, forwarded these fossils as evidence of the Genesis flood narrative. The aborigines also attempted to fit the finds into their own religious ideas, quickly associating "Diprotodon" with the bunyip, a large carnivorous lake monster. Many ethnologists and palaeontologists of the time consequently believed the bunyip is a tribal memory of the lumbering giant which probably frequented marshlands (though at the time it was not impossible that the creature and other megafauna were still alive, as the land exploration of the continent was still ongoing.) Scientific investigation into the bunyip was stigmatised after a purported bunyip skull was sensationalised in 1846 (especially when put on display at the Australian Museum), until Owen the following year recognised it as the skull of a foal, surprised that the burdgeoning Australian scientific community could have erred so egregiously.


title: Diprotodon

text: In 1892, Canadian geologist Henry Yorke Lyell Brown reported that aborigenes identified "Diprotodon" fossils from Lake Eyre as those of the Rainbow Serpent, which he thought was a giant, bottom-dwelling fish. This notion became somewhat popularised after English geologist John Walter Gregory (who believed the god was a horned and scaly creature) conjectured that it was a chimaera of "Diprotodon" (which he believed had a horn) and a crocodile. Later workers continued to report some link between the Rainbow Serpent and either "Diprotodon" or crocodiles.


title: Diprotodon

text: These kinds of suppositions are not testable, and also require stories to survive oral tradition for tens of thousands of years. If Pleistocene megafauna are indeed the basis for some aboriginal mythology, it is unclear if the stories were based on the creatures when they were alive, or their fossils discovered long after they had died out.


title: Diprotodon

text: Australian Aborigines decorated caves with paintings and drawings of several creatures, but the identities of the subjects are oftentimes unclear. In 1907, Australian anthropologist Herbert Basedow found footprint petroglyphs in Yunta Springs and Wilkindinna, which he believed represented those of "Diprotodon". In 1988, Australian historian Percy Trezise presented what he thought was a Quinkan depiction of "Diprotodon" to the First Congress of the Australian Rock Art Research Association. Both of these claims have their faults as the supposed depictions bear several features inconsistent with what is known about "Diprotodon". Furthermore, unlike the more naturalistic artwork of Early European modern humans (which are more easily identifiable as various animals), aboriginal artwork is much more stylistic and is by-and-large uninterpretable by an outsider. The subjects of aboriginal paintings can also be mythological beings from the Dreaming rather than a corporeal subject.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Maidan Nezalezhnosti ( , literally "Independence Square") is the central square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square has been known under many different names, but often it is called by people simply "Maidan" ("square"). The square contains the iconic Independence Monument.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Since the start of Ukraine's independence movement in 1990, the square has been the traditional place for political rallies, including four large-scale radical protest campaigns: the 1990 student Revolution on Granite, the 2001 Ukraine without Kuchma, the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013–14 Euromaidan. Maidan is also a regular site for non-political displays and events; however, since 2014, most of them were moved to Sofiyivska Square or elsewhere, because making entertainment on a place where people were killed during Euromaidan was considered inappropriate. Most notably, Christmas Fairs and New Year celebrations were moved to Sofiyivska Square.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: The square received its current name on 26 August 1991, two days after the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, during the collapse of the Soviet Union.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Maidan is a Ukrainian word for "square, open space", with widely used equivalents in the Middle East and South Asia to refer to an open space in or near a town, used as a parade ground or for events such as public meetings. It comes from Persian (, "town-square or central place of gathering"), itself deriving from Proto-Iranian, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European . Compare Avestan , Sanskrit () and Latin . The word also was borrowed into neighboring Turkic languages, as in the Crimean Tatar and Turkish , which are the likely sources of the borrowing into Ukrainian.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Kropyvnytskyi, Kremenchuk and Odesa have "Independent Squares" named (using rather than for "square").


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Independence Square is one of three squares located along Khreshchatyk, close to the northeastern end of the street. It is situated close to European Square, which is the terminal end of Khreshchatyk. Besides Khreshchatyk, which splits the square in half, several other streets lead to the square. These include Architect Horodecki Street, Institute Street, Michael Street, Kosciol Street, Minor Zhytomyr Street, Sophia Street, Taras Shevchenko Lane, and Boris Hrinchenko Street.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: The square itself is a multi-level location. At ground level is the intersection of Khreshchatyk, which splits Institute Street (vulytsia Instytutska), and Michael Street (vulytsia Mykhailivska). Underneath the square, the Obolonsko–Teremkivska line of the Kyiv Metro stretches across with its station Maidan Nezalezhnosti located underground. Also the "Hlobus" mall is situated underneath the square.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Until the 10th century, the future square's site, as well as the rest of Khreshchatyk, was called "Perevisyshch". It was located just to the south of the Kyiv City, beyond which were located territories of the Cave Monastery (Kyiv-Pechersky) along the Dnipro River.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: At the lower end of Sofiivska vulytsia (Sofia Street), which led to the High City, stood one of the three main gates of Old Kyiv (Yaroslav's City), the Lyadski Gates; the other two were the Golden Gates and Zhydivski Gates. Those gates are also mentioned in 1151, and around them lived the Polish population of the city, Lacka Sloboda. The Lyadksi Gates were destroyed during the storm of city by the Mongol army of Batu Khan in 1240.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Sometime during the 18th century, the new Pecherski Gates were erected; they stood until 1833. Until the early 19th century, the area was a low-lying vacant ground known as "Goat Swamp" ("Kozyne Boloto").


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: In the 1830s, the first wooden dwellings were built on the site, and in the 1850s stone buildings appeared. The most famous Ukrainian writer, Taras Shevchenko lived in that area in 1859, in a building between Mala Zhytomyrska (Little Zhytomyr) and Mykhailivska vulytsia (Michael's Street).


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Development rapidly intensified after the mid-19th century, when the territory gradually became the commercial center of Kyiv, which underwent an immense boom during the Russian Industrial Revolution, becoming the third most important city in the Russian Empire. Until 1871, it was called the "Khreshchatitskaya Ploshchad" (Khreshchatyk Square); it was a location for the local market and folk entertainment. In 1876, the Kyiv City Duma building was built here, and the area became known as the Dumskaya Ploshchad (Duma Square). A line from the Kyiv tram, the first electric tram built in the Russian Empire (opened 1892) reached the square in 1894.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: In 1913, in front of the City Duma, a monument of Pyotr Stolypin (who was assassinated in Kyiv in 1911) was constructed, and it stood there until March 1917 at the dawn of the Revolutionary war within the Empire.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: In 1919, the square was renamed "Soviet Square". From 1935, it was called "Kalinin Square", after Mikhail Kalinin, the first chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: During the first couple of years after the war, the square was completely rebuilt from scratch. It was architecturally integrated with the newly constructed Khreshchatyk in the typical (for the time) neo-classical Stalinist architecture. The newly constructed Kyiv "Central Post Office" and "Trade-Union House" with its high-rise clock located in the square, is very well known and frequently appears in pictures of the center of the city.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: In 1976-77, as a part of metro construction, much of the square was again rebuilt, and it was renamed "October Revolution Square" (Ploshcha Zhovtnevoyi revolyutsii). During the reconstruction, the massive cubist monument to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution was put up as was the complex ensemble of fountains.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: During the Soviet period, the square was used for demonstrations and parades in honor of May 1 (until 1969), Victory Day and the October Revolution.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: After Ukraine's independence in 1991, the square was given its current name. The competing proposal of "Liberty Square" (Ploshcha Svobody) was raised at the time as well as in the years to follow, but the current name commemorating the Ukrainian independence is now firmly associated with the square ("see the section below").


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: In 2001, as the square was the major center of the "Ukraine without Kuchma" mass protest campaign, the new extensive construction of the area was abruptly ordered by the Kyiv mayor of the time, Oleksandr Omelchenko. The square was fenced off for construction and became inaccessible for the protesters and many observers claimed that the main goal of the project ordered by the city mayor was to disrupt the


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: protests, especially since similar tactics were commonly used by local authorities throughout Ukraine.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Following the construction, the old familiar look of the square, with its many fountains, was significantly altered and the public reaction to the new look of the square was mixed at first. However, by now the square's monument to Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and Lybid, the legendary founders of Kyiv, the folklore hero Cossack Mamay, the city's historic protector Archangel Michael as well as a more modern invention, the protecting goddess Berehynia, and the many glass domes are easily recognisable as parts of the modern city centre.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: A mostly underground shopping mall called "Hlobus" was built under the square to replace the old and shabby giant underpass formerly dubbed by Kyivans as "Truba" (the Tube).


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Trade-Unions House was severely damaged during the fire in February 2014, so later it went through a reconstruction.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Future developments of the square include the demolition of the old "Ukrayina" hotel (formerly hotel "Moskva"), and building a new 68-floor building instead.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: As the central Kyiv square, following the end of Soviet era the Maidan has been the centre of public political activity. In the autumn of 1990, students' protests and hunger strikes also known as the Revolution on Granite at the Maidan resulted in the resignation of the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR Vitaliy Masol.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: In the 2000s, the biggest political protests in Ukraine, such as the "Ukraine without Kuchma" campaign and the Orange Revolution took place in this square. During the "Orange Revolution" in late 2004, Maidan Nezalezhnosti received global media coverage, as hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in the square and nearby streets, and pitched tents for several weeks, enduring the cold and snow. One of the eminent activists during that time became Paraska Korolyuk. The protests against electoral fraud resulted in an additional round of presidential elections being ordered by the Supreme Court of Ukraine, which were won by the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: Following his election as the President of Ukraine, and after taking the official oath in the parliament, Yushchenko took a public oath at Maidan Nezalezhnosti in front of his numerous supporters.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: After the Orange Revolution, Maidan Nezalezhnosti continues to attract political protesters. Mass rallies for political candidates have attracted large numbers, with the 2009 "Batkivshchyna" party congress (during which Yulia Tymoshenko was nominated as a candidate for president) being a notable example that brought nearly 200,000 people to the square.


title: Maidan Nezalezhnosti

text: The square was the site of Euromaidan protests beginning in November 2013, progressing to violent clashes, fires, and ending in the February Revolution of Dignity. The square was covered in protesters all day and night since 1 December 2013. On 27 January 2014, Ukrainian police reported a 55-year-old man from Western Ukraine found dead hanging from the framework of a huge artificial 'New Year tree' in central Kyiv. The body was found hanging inside the cone-shaped tubular steel construction on Kyiv's Independence Square. The tree, which had become a symbol of anti-government resistance, was at that time decorated with a poster of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and scrawled with graffiti opposing President Viktor Yanukovich. The Revolution of Dignity of the following month led to more than 100 people perishing.


title: Purépecha

text: The Purépecha (endonym ) are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro.


title: Purépecha

text: They are also known by the pejorative "Tarascan", an exonym, applied by outsiders and not one they use for themselves.


title: Purépecha

text: The Purépecha occupied most of Michoacán but also some of the lower valleys of both Guanajuato and Jalisco. Celaya, Acambaro, , and Yurirapundaro. Now, the Purépecha live mostly in the highlands of central Michoacán, around Lakes Patzcuaro and Cuitzeo.


title: Purépecha

text: It was one of the major empires of the Pre-Columbian era. The capital city was Tzintzuntzan. Purépecha architecture is noted for step pyramids in the shape of the letter "T". Pre-Columbian Purépecha artisans made feather mosaics that extensively used hummingbird feathers, which were highly regarded as luxury goods throughout the region.


title: Purépecha

text: During the Pre-Colonial era, the Purépecha kingdom engaged in conflict with the Aztecs. The Purépecha kingdom expanded through conquest. However, many avoided conquest and bloodshed and, in order to maintain their freedom, exchanged goods and resources such as metal with the Purépecha kingdom.


title: Purépecha

text: The Purépecha empire was never conquered by the Aztec Empire, in fact there is no record of the Aztecs ever defeating them in battle. This was most likely due to the presence of metal ores within their empire, and their knowledge of metallurgy, which was far superior to that of the Aztecs ; such skills have persisted in their descendants and are still widely regarded today, particularly their coppersmithing. Even though they were enemies with the Aztecs, the Aztecs still traded with them, mainly for metal tools and weapons.


title: Purépecha

text: After hearing of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and having the native population much diminished by an epidemic of smallpox, the "cazonci" Tangaxuan II pledged his allegiance as a vassal of the King of Spain without a fight in 1525. It is believed that the Spanish conquistador Cristóbal de Olid, upon arriving in the Purépecha Empire, now in present-day Michoacán, explored some parts of Guanajuato in the early 1520s. A legend relates of a 16- or 17-year-old Purépecha, Princess Eréndira, who led her people into a fierce war against the Spanish. Using stolen Spanish horses, her people learned to ride into battle. In 1529 to 1530, the Spanish forces entered Michoacán and some parts of Guanajuato with an army of 500 Spanish soldiers and more than 10,000 Native warriors.


title: Purépecha

text: Then, in 1530, the president of the Real Audiencia, Nuño de Guzmán, a conquistador notorious for his ruthlessness and brutality towards the natives, plundered the region and executed Tangaxuan II, destroying the Purépecha State and provoking a chaotic situation and widespread violence. In 1533, the Crown sent an experienced "Oidor" (Judge of the Audiencia) and later bishop, Don Vasco de Quiroga, who established a lasting colonial rule. The lands of the Purépecha was subjected to serious deforestation during the Spanish Colonial period.


title: Purépecha

text: Following the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), Michoacán experienced political unrest. When former revolutionary general Lázaro Cárdenas, originally from a small town in Michoacán, was appointed governor of his state, he began an ambitious program of reform and economic development, which he continued when he became president of Mexico (1934–40). For him, the indigenous heritage of Michoacán was foundational for the construction of Mexico's post-revolutionary identity. Although the Aztecs loomed large in Mexican history and the construction of identity, Cárdenas saw the Purépecha as "purer" source. The Purépecha had never been conquered by the Aztecs, but in the era of the Spanish conquest, the resistance of the Purépecha was a point of regional pride. In particular, Cárdenas promoted the story of Princess Eréndira who is said to have fought against the Spanish. He named the house he built in Pátzcuaro "La Quinta Eréndira" and commissioned muralists to depict Purépecha history in his residence and elsewhere. Purépecha traditions of folkloric performance became a source of "indigenista" pride.


title: Purépecha

text: In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century social scientists have studied Purépecha out-migration from the region.


title: Purépecha

text: Many traditions live on, including the "Jimbani Uexurhina" (New Year), which is celebrated on February 2. It has both traditional indigenous and Catholic elements. The community lights a fire, called the "chijpiri jimbani" or "new fire," as part of a ceremony that honors the four elements. Mass is also celebrated in the Purhépecha language. They believed in God of the sky, earth, and underworld. The God of the sky and war, Kurikaweri. The Goddess of earth, controlling life and climate, Kweawaperi. The Goddess of the sea and the underworld, Xaratenga.


title: Purépecha

text: The Purépecha are mainly fishers because they mainly lived around the Patzcuaro lakes. They are also known for their skill in weaving and pottery. Many live in wooden cabins within compounds surrounded by dry-stone walls. However, many of these structures are being replaced with homes made out of brick and concrete.One distinctive practice of the Purépecha include the baptization of newborns after forty days of separate rest for the mother and child. The infant is then swaddled for six weeks and kept in physical contact with the mother or a close female relative. Temples created by Purépecha didn't look like their Mesoamerica counterparts.


title: Purépecha

text: Purépecha today celebrates many holidays. One of the most popular holidays celebrated by the Purépecha is the Day Of The Dead or "Día De Los Muertos" . While it is celebrated throughout Mexico in the same way, Purépechans celebrate slightly differently. On November 1st and 2nd, family members take part in all-night vigils at the graves of their loved ones. Purépecha believe that the souls of the dead watch over their living relatives on the Day of the Dead.


title: Purépecha

text: In the town of San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, which is a Purépecha town, unmarried men will dance the Dance of the Cúrpites. The dance is used to help the man express their masculinity and court their sweetheart. The dance is celebrated during the Christian holiday of Epiphany.


title: Purépecha

text: The Purépecha language is spoken by nearly 200,000 people in Michoacán. Since Mexico's 2000 indigenous language law, indigenous languages like Purépecha were granted official status equal with Spanish in the areas in which they are spoken. Recently, educational instruction in Purépecha has been introduced in the local school systems. Additionally, many Purépecha communities offer classes and lessons in the language.


title: Purépecha

text: Princess Eréndira of the Purépecha was depicted in the 2006 film "Erendira Ikikunari" ("Erendira the Untameable").


title: Purépecha

text: The 2017 Disney film, Coco presents a character named “Mama Coco”, who was based on a real Purépecha woman, María Salud Ramírez Caballero.


title: Purépecha

text: The 2022 film, , introduces Namor, who’s mythos is rewritten to include an indigenous Meso American background with influences from Mayan and Aztec culture. Tenoch Huerta, who portrays Namor, comes from a Purépecha background.