cahya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Recrystallization (see also crystallization) is an essentially physical process that has meanings in chemistry, metallurgy and geology.

In chemistry, recrystallization is a procedure for purifying compounds. A crystal compound often has other compounds on it that make it less useful. To get rid of these extra items, the crystal is placed in a boiling liquid. Soon the crystal dissolves. The boiling solution, or the mix of the liquid and the dissolved crystal, gets colder. The crystal will form again. The unwanted compounds stay in the solvent, or the liquid. Now the crystal is pure and made of only the compound. Each type of compound works best in a certain type of liquid. Sometimes two or more liquids mixed together are needed to dissolve a crystal.

In geology, solid-state recrystallization is a metamorphic process that occurs under situations of intense temperature and pressure where grains, atoms or molecules of a rock or mineral are packed closer together, creating a new crystal structure. 
Limestone is a sedimentary rock that undergoes metamorphic  recrystallization to form marble, and clays can recrystallize to muscovite mica.

In metallurgy, recrystallization is the nucleation and growth of new undeformed grains in a deformed metal.

For ice, recrystallization means the growth of larger crystals at the expense of smaller ones. Some biological antifreeze proteins have been shown to inhibit this process, and the effect may be relevant in freezing-tolerant organisms.

Related pages

 Crystal
 Crystallization

Gallery

Chemistry
Laboratory techniques
Geology
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an law for environmental conservation made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It protects native species and restricts the release of non-native species into the wild. The Act is split into four parts. Killing most mammals and almost all birds is illegal in the United Kingdom, except for certain types and for certain reasons.

Licenses
General licences under the act to hunt birds are issued each year by the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in England. The Department can give a licence to kill or disturb birds. It also gives out a general licence.  This allows any "authorised person", that is someone who has the landowner's permission, to kill certain birds, or to destroy their eggs or nests, if there is no other way to get rid of the birds.

This table shows the name of the bird, and the reasons () that type of bird can be destroyed.

1or to prevent serious damage to livestock or damage to foodstuffs for livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber, fisheries or inland waters.

Other websites
Official text of the Act

1981 in the United Kingdom
Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom-related lists
Soil classification means that one finds categories of soils that are based on general characteristics as well as criteria that decide about the use that is possible.

Soil classification can be approached from both the perspective of pedogenesis and from soil morphology. But in both cases interpretations do not vary widely.

Further reading
 Eswaran, H., Rice, T., Ahrens, R., & Stewart, B. A. (Eds.). (2002). Soil classification : a global desk reference. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press.
 McBratney, A. B., & de Gruijter, J. J. (1992). A continuum approach to soil classification by modified fuzzy k-means with extragrades. Journal of Soil Science, 43(1), 159-175.

Other websites
 A Compendium of On-Line Soil Survey Information - Soil Classification for Soil Survey by D. G. Rossiter
Engineering soil description and classification 

Geology
Engineering
Soil
A manor house or fortified manor-house is a country house, which has historically formed the centre of a manor (see Manorialism).  The term is sometimes used for relatively small country houses which belonged to gentry families, as well as to grand stately homes, particularly as a technical term for minor late medieval castles more intended for show than for defence.

In general terms, the manor house was the house of a feudal lord of a manor, which he occupied only on occasional visits if he held many manors. Although not built with strong fortifications as castles were, many manor houses were partly fortified: they were enclosed within walls or ditches. Often the farm buildings were within these walls as well. Many manor houses had small gatehouses and watchtowers. 

The main feature of the manor house was its great hall. By the beginning of the 16th century, manor houses as well as small castles began to acquire the character and amenities of the residences of country gentlemen. This late 16th century transformation produced many of the smaller Renaissance châteaux of France and the many country mansions of the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles in England.  

In France, the terms château or manoir are often used to describe a French manor house. Maison-forte is another French word to describe a strongly fortified manor house.  In the western France provinces of Brittany and Normandy, certain large manors enjoyed real means of protection. 

In modern usage, the term manor or manor house is often used, especially outside Europe, to mean simply either a country house or indeed any other house considered to resemble one, without any reference to age or to the historical sense of the term.

Related pages
 Mansion
 Reality TV show recreating life in an Edwardian manor house.

Other websites
  Estonian Manors Portal - the English version gives the brief overview of 438 best preserved manor houses in Estonia.

Houses
The English country house is generally accepted as a large house that was once in the ownership of an individual who in most of the cases owned another great house in the West End of London. The country house was not only a weekend retreat for aristocrats, but also often a full time residence for the minor gentry.

Evolution of the English country house 
The country houses of England have developed over the last 500 years. Before this time most larger houses were fortified, because their owners were feudal lords or overlords of their manor. The Tudor period of stability in the country saw the first of the large unfortified country houses.

With the rise of modern industry and urbanization, when people left the country to go to the big cities the popularity of country houses declined as there were less people in the country. After 1945 it became very difficult to pay for the huge staff that was required to maintain these houses.

References 
Girouard, Mark. Life in the English Country House : a social and architectural history details the impact of social change on design

Other websites 
The National Trust - England, Wales, & Northern Ireland
The National Trust for Scotland
English Heritage
An English Manor House Head Gardener's Online Diary
Lost Heritage - A Memorial to the Lost Country Houses of England

Houses
The larynx (plural larynges), also known as the voice box, is an organ in the neck of humans and animals. It  helps to protect the wind pipe by stopping it from inhaling food. It also helps with breathing and making sounds. The larynx houses the vocal cords.

Function 
The larynx makes the voice. Both pitch and loudness are controlled here. It has a small slit through which air passes and makes the vocal cords vibrate. The vibrating vocal cords make the air vibrate. This sound changes as it travels through the vocal tract. It becomes a different sound based on the position of the tongue, lips, mouth, and pharynx.

When swallowing, the backward motion of the tongue forces part of the larynx called the epiglottis to cover up the opening to the larynx, also called the laryngeal opening. This is to stop the food swallowed from entering the lungs. The larynx is also pulled upwards to help with this process. If the larynx is irritated by something that is swallowed, a strong cough reflex is used to protect the lungs.

Disorders of the larynx

There are several things that can cause a larynx to not function properly. Some symptoms are hoarseness, loss of voice, pain in the throat or ears, and breathing difficulties. Larynx transplant is not done very often. The world's first successful operation took place in 1998 at the Cleveland Clinic, and the second took place in October 2010 at the University of California Medical Center in Sacramento.

 Acute laryngitis is the sudden inflammation and swelling of the larynx. It is caused by the common cold or by excessive shouting. It is not serious. Chronic laryngitis is caused by smoking, dust, frequent yelling, or prolonged exposure to polluted air. It is much more serious than acute laryngitis.
 Presbylarynx is age-related hardening of the soft tissues of the larynx. It results in weak voice and restricted vocal range. Bowing of the front portion of the vocal cords is found on laryngoscopy (an examination of the larynx).
 Polyps and nodules are small bumps on the vocal cords. They can be caused by prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke and vocal misuse.
 Two related types of cancer of the larynx, namely squamous cell carcinoma and verrucous carcinoma, are strongly associated with repeated exposure to cigarette smoke and alcohol.
 Laryngeal spasm.
 Laryngopharyngeal reflux is a condition in which acid from the stomach irritates and burns the larynx. Similar damage can occur with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
 Laryngomalacia is a very common condition of infancy. The soft, immature cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward during inhalation, causing the airway to be (partly) blocked.
 Laryngeal perichondritis, the inflammation of the perichondrium (a connective tissue around the cartilage) of laryngeal cartilages, causing the airway to be (partly) blocked.

References 

Speech and Hearing Science: Anatomy and Physiology 3rd edition. Willard R. Zemlin. 1988. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 

Anatomy of the respiratory system
An endangered species is a species (a population) of animals, plants or other organisms that is in danger of becoming extinct. This could happen because there are few of that animal left, its predators have grown in number, or the climate that it lives in is changing, or the places it lives in have been destroyed. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has worked out that endangered species are 40% of all organisms. 

Many countries have laws to protect these plants and animals. These laws, if obeyed, can save species by stopping hunting, land development or making parks and reserves. Poaching and other illegal activities, however, can still destroy them. 

Only a few plants and animals at risk of extinction, mostly vertebrates, are put on the lists and get legal protection. Many more species become extinct, or will become extinct, without people knowing about it.

Mammal
This is a list of mammals that are endangered. They include:
 Asiatic linsang
 Asiatic lion
 Black-footed ferret
 Black rhinoceros
 Blue whale
 Bornean ferret-badger
 Dhole
 Ethopian wolf
 Hairy-eared dwarf lemur
 Indonesian mountain weasel
 Snow leopard
 Tiger
 White rhinoceros  (currently considered as near endangered)

Birds
Here is a list of birds that are endangered. They include:
 Albatross
 Crowned solitary eagle
 Grey parrot
 Marquesan imperial pigeon

Related pages
 IUCN Red List

Further reading
Endangered or Not, but at Least No Longer Waiting March 6, 2013 New York Times

References
Archosaurs are a large group of reptiles, including all crocodiles, birds, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs (flying reptiles). There are also a number of smaller extinct groups, mostly from the Triassic period.

The Archosaurs are definitely a monophyletic clade, and do not include reptiles such as the Squamata (lizards and snakes) and the Sphenodontia (Sphenodon).

They have these diagnostic features, called synapomorphies in cladistics talk:
 Teeth set in sockets, which makes them less likely to be torn loose during feeding. Some archosaurs, such as birds, are secondarily toothless.
 Opening in the skull in front of the eyes but behind the nostrils, reduces the weight of the skull.
 Small openings in the jaw bones, which reduces the weight of the jaw slightly.
 Legs held under the body rather than sprawled, or may be held under the body. This improves both breathing and movement.
 A special ridge for attaching muscles to the femur. This detail may have made it possible for dinosaurs to stand on two legs. All early dinosaurs and many later ones were bipedal.

The archosaurs or their immediate ancestors survived the catastrophic Permian–Triassic extinction event. Benton comments: "The key tetrapods to benefit from the Permo-Triassic mass extinction was the Archosauromorpha". Then, in the early and middle Triassic, there was rapid evolution into the types of aquatic and land tetrapods which dominated the rest of the Mesozoic era.

Archosaur classification
Clades:
 Avemetatarsalia
 †Pterosauria
 Dinosauria
 Crurotarsi or Pseudosuchia: The crocodile line of crown-group Archosauria
 †Phytosauria: semi-aquatic long-snouted types
 †Aetosauria: quadrupedal armoured herbivores
 †Ornithosuchidae: look rather like dinosaurs
 Crocodylomorpha (Crocodilia and their ancestors)
 †Rauisuchia ? uncertain group, includes some large-bodied quadrupedal predators

Archosauromorpha
This is an even wider group, which includes diapsid Sauropsida which appeared in the middle Permian and Triassic periods. Their relationships are not well established at present.

Further reading
 Benton M.J. 2015. Vertebrate paleontology. 4th ed, Blackwell, Oxford: Evolution of the Archosauromorphs, p154.
 Carroll R.L. 1988. Vertebrate paleontology and evolution. Freeman N.Y.

References
Stalagmites may also refer to a type of fungus.

A stalagmite is a  form that can be found on the floor of a cave. It rises from the floor of a limestone cave when mineralized solutions drip from the ceiling and deposits of calcium carbonate form columns on the ground. The corresponding formation on the ceiling of a cave is known as a stalactite. 

There are several methods to help remember which formation hangs from the ceiling (stalactite) and which rises from the floor (stalagmite):

 StalaCtite has a "c" for "ceiling".
 StalaGmite has a "g" for "ground".
 The T in StalacTite resembles one hanging from the ceiling, while the M in StalagMite resembles a formation rising from the floor.

When touring caves with stalactites and stalagmites you might be asked to not touch the rock formations. This is generally because the formation is considered to still be growing and forming. Since the rock buildup is formed by minerals solidifying out of the water solution, skin oils can disturb where the mineral water will cling. So the development of the rock formation will be affected and not will not be natural anymore.

Stalactites and stalagmites can also form on concrete ceilings and floors, but they form much more quickly on concrete than in the natural cave environment.

Related pages
 Stalactite

References

Other websites 
 The Virtual Cave: Stalagmites

Caves
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound, with the chemical formula CaCO3. The elements involved are calcium (Ca), carbon (C) and oxygen (O). It is a common substance found as rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshell. 

Calcium carbonate is usually the main cause of hard water. It is used as a calcium supplement or as a treatment for antacid, but too much can be bad for your health.

Calcium carbonate is found naturally as the following minerals and rocks:
 Aragonite
 Calcite
 Vaterite or (μ-CaCO3)
 Chalk
 Limestone
 Marble
 Travertine

To test whether a mineral or rock contains calcium carbonate, strong acids, such as hydrochloric acid, can be added to it. If the sample does contain calcium carbonate, it will fizz and produce carbon dioxide. Weak acids such as acetic acid will react, but less quickly. All of the rocks/minerals mentioned above will react with acid.

Related pages

 Aragonite
 Calcite
 Limestone
 Ocean acidification
 Gesso
 Cuttlefish
 Cuttlebone

Minerals
Geochemistry
Calcium compounds
Carbonates
Hard water is water that has a high mineral content (contrast with soft water).

The main components of these minerals usually are calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) ions. But there are also dissolved metals, bicarbonates, and sulfates. Calcium usually enters the water as either calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of limestone and chalk, or calcium sulfate (CaSO4) in the form of several other mineral deposits. The main source of magnesium is dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). Hard water is generally not harmful and some hardness in water is a useful source of calcium for healthy bone development .

Other websites 
Alcoa Chemical, Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) Calculator

Water
Soft water is water which has relatively low concentration of calcium carbonate and other ions . It contains less than 85.5 parts per million of calcium carbonate. 

The water that lathers with soap easily is called or known as soft water. It describes type of water that contain few or no minerals like calcium (Ca) or magnesium (Mg) ions. The term is usually relative to hard water, which does contain significant amounts of such ions.

Soft water mostly comes from peat or igneous rock sources, such as granite but may also come from sandstone sources, since those sedimentary rocks are usually low in calcium and magnesium. 

Hard water may be better for the heart than soft water. Its calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)ions may be a dietary supplement for some. 

The main disadvantage of hard water is it deposits calcium carbonate on pipes, especially hot water pipes. This is called "scale formation". It may cause blockage of pipes and reduce boiler efficiency. Also, soap and detergents work less well in hard water. These effects increase as hardness increases. 
 
    Soften water

References 

Water
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat that one can find in upland areas, that are characterised by acidic soils. 

Moorland habitats are rather common in the neotropics and tropical Africa but one can find them also in small scattered places in northern and western Europe, northern Australia, North America, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In the tiny areas of European moorlands tend to be  environments with only very few species. They are often dominated by heather. In the far more extensive moorlands of the tropics species diversity can be extremely high. 

Moorlands differ from typical heathland in being colder and much wetter, often with extensive bogs.

Famous moorlands in the UK
Notable areas of upland moorland in Britain include the Dark Peak, the Forest of Bowland, the Lake District, the Pennines, Mid Wales, the Southern Uplands of Scotland, the Scottish Highlands and a few very small pockets in western Herefordshire.

Bleaklow, Dark Peak, England
 Bodmin Moor, Cornwall
 Curry and Hay Moors, Somerset, England
 Dartmoor, and Dartmoor wildlife, Devon, England
 Emley Moor, West Yorkshire, England
 Exmoor, Devon and Somerset, England
 Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire, England
 Marston Moor and North York Moors, North Yorkshire, England
 Rannoch Moor, Highland, Scotland
 Rombalds Moor, West Yorkshire, England
 Saddleworth Moor, Pennine hills, England
 Shropshire Hills, small pockets of moorland, England 
 Staffordshire Moorlands, England
 Ythan Estuary complex, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, largest coastal moorland in the United Kingdom, known for high biodiversity.

Conservation
In Europe if the heather and other vegetation is left for too long, a large volume of dry and combustible material builds up. This may cause a fire which may burn out a large area. But generally moorland wildlife copes with even major fires and are easily able to recover if such intense burnings are not too frequent.

Other websites
Moorland

Habitats
In context of biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical means one of the world's eight terrestrial ecozones.

This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexican lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.

It is sometimes used as a synonym for the tropical area of South America, although the ecozone also includes temperate southern South America. 
Its fauna and flora are distinct from the Nearctic (which includes most of North America) because of the long separation of the two continents. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama joined the two continents 2 to 3 million years ago.

The Neotropic includes more tropical rainforest than any other ecozone. They extend from southern Mexico through Central America and northern South America to southern Brazil and include the Amazon Rainforest. These rainforest ecoregions are one of the most important reserves of biodiversity on Earth. Extensive deforestation in the late 20th century has reduced this diversity to a degree.

Other websites 
 Map of the ecozones
 Eco-Index, a bilingual searchable reference of conservation and research projects in the Neotropics; a service of the Rainforest Alliance

References 
 Cox, C. Barry; Peter D. Moore 1985. Biogeography: an ecological and evolutionary approach. 4th ed, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
 Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. 1995. A conservation assessment of the terrestrial ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington DC.
 Schultz J.: 2005. The Ecozones of the World. 2nd ed, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York.  
 Udvardy M.D.F. 1975. A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. IUCN Occasional Paper #18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.

Ecozones
For the thoroughbred racehorse see Nearctic (horse).

The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.

In ecology, an ecozone is a large land mass that contains many terrestrial ecoregions, each of which has unique plants and animals.

The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico. 

Southern Mexico, southern Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean islands are part of the Neotropic ecozone, together with South America.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) divides the Nearctic into four Bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)."

Other websites
 Map of the ecozones
 Nearctica, the natural world of North America

References
 Flannery, Tim 2001. The eternal frontier: an ecological history of North America and its peoples. Grove Press, New York.
 Ricketts, Taylor H., Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, Colby J. Loucks et al. 1999. Terrestrial ecoregions of North America: a conservation assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.

Ecozones
Nearctic (born 1954 – died 1973) was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. He had his most successful season in racing at 4 years old, when he won nine races. Nearctic was retired to stand at stud at Windfields Farm in Canada where he became father of a Kentucky Derby winner and the Northern Dancer.
He died at age 19 on July 27, 1973.

Other websites 
 Nearctic's pedigree and stats

1954 births
1973 deaths
Thoroughbred racehorses
Lockerbie is a small town in Scotland that was devastated on 21 December 1988 when a Pan American 747-400 aeroplane crashed after a bomb exploded on board. The bomb was hidden in a hand held radio in the rear cargo hold. It had been transferred onto the flight from a connecting flight from Amsterdam. All passengers and crew aboard the aeroplane, and 11 people in the town of Lockerbie were killed. The total number of people killed was 270. The Libyan government was found to have organized the bombing. The United Nations placed sanctions on Libya, which stopped people buying and selling items with Libya. In 2003 Libya agreed to pay compensation to the families of the people killed.

References

Towns in Scotland
A circadian rhythm is a rhythm that repeats about every 24 hours.  Plants and animals have these built-in cycles which allow them to flower at the right time, sleep at the right time, etc.

These cycles are also called circadian clocks. The word "circadian" comes from the Latin circa, "around", and diem or dies, "day", meaning "about a day".  Biological time-keeping rhythms include daily, tidal, weekly, seasonal, and annual rhythms. However, most of these rhythms repeat once a day, so they are called circadian  from the Latin circa (about) dies (a day).

Circadian clocks are the internal clocks which make sure that the organism is doing the right thing at the right time. With more complex animals there is the matter of sleep, which seems to be universal amongst animals which have a brain.

Circadian rhythms do some amazing things, especially in the oceanic animals whose eggs are fertilised externally. This means the eggs and sperm have to be released at the same time by both sexes of the same species. Little is known about the physiology of how this coordination is achieved.

Animal clocks have three main parts:
 a central biochemical oscillator with a period of about 24 hours that keeps time;
 a series of input pathways to this central oscillator to allow  the clock to adjust itself;
 a series of output pathways that regulate rhythms in biochemistry, physiology, and behaviour throughout an organism.

In 2017, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young "for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm" in fruit flies (Drosophila).

The circadian rhythms, also called the "biological clock" or the "body clock", of humans and other animals, regulate many bodily functions including feeding, sleeping, body temperature and hormone production.

Plants 
The actual machinery in plants, fungi and bacteria are different from those in the animal clock. However, they do the same kind of thing in practice.

References 

Physiology
A stud in animal breeding is a male animal, such as a horse or dog, that is employed for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species (stallion, bull, rooster, etc.) usually mean that the animal is entire, that is, not castrated, and therefore capable of standing at stud. A specialized vocabulary exists for de-sexed animals.

A stud farm, in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding using stud animals.

Animals
Bureaucracy is the structure and set of rules that control the activities of people that work for large organizations and government. 

It is characterized by standardized procedure (rule-following), formal division of responsibility, hierarchy, and impersonal relationships. In practice, the interpretation and execution of policy can lead to informal influence.

Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science. Four structural concepts are central to any definition of bureaucracy: a well-defined division of administrative labor among persons and offices, a personnel system with consistent patterns of recruitment and stable linear careers, a hierarchy among offices, such that the authority and status are distributed among actors, and formal and informal networks that connect organizational actors to one another through flows of information and patterns of cooperation. 

Examples of everyday bureaucracies include governments, armed forces, corporations, hospitals, courts, ministries and schools.

Other websites
 Abstracts of academic books and articles about bureaucracy 
 Kevin R. Kosar, "What Ought a Bureaucrat Do?"  Claremont.org, (A review piece that ponders the values that should guide bureaucrats in their work.)
 Scientific Management and the Bureaucratic Organization  Summary of key concepts from on-line course.

Sociology
Sion is the capital of the Swiss canton of Valais. In 2002, it had a population of 27,700.

Landmarks include the Basilique de Valère and Château de Tourbillon.

Geography 
The city is home to 28,013 people as of 31 December, 2005. It is in the center of the Rhône valley. Sion is the economic and commercial hub of the region and canton.

The older area of the city still stays and is well preserved. As well as the two Château's, a number of other important buildings are there, such as the Château de la Majorie, the Hôtel de Ville and the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Sion.

History 
Sion really started to develop during the time when Celts were big.

It takes its name from the Latin word Sedunum. It housed the Romans with the rest of the surrounding area in the first century BCE.

The Roman Catholic bishop of Sion is the oldest in Switzerland and one of the oldest north of the Alps.

On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Salins merged into the municipality of Sion.

Since 2017, Les Agettes part of the municipality.

Economy 

The tertiary sector is the main economic sector in Sion. Tourism is also an important sector due to its historic château's and museums.

Sion is the third largest wine making region in Switzerland, however, the valuable agricultural land and vineyards are undergoing constant regression due to the process of urbanisation.

Sion has also become an important medical site. The Sion-Region hospital is here next to the central institute of Valaisan hospitals and the Romande clinic for physical rehabilitation (SUVA).

Finally, the commune hosts a waste incinerator which disposes of the waste from 44 surrounding communes. This incinerator has a catalytic converter, something that reduces harmful gases to below unacceptable levels. The heat created from the burning is converted into electrical energy that is then provided to local communes.

Airshows 
Public Airshows have been held at the airfield of Sion. Participated Aerobatic teams have been for example the Frecce Tricolori from Italy was well as the Patrouille de France.

Transport 
Sion is on the main railway line, the motorway and also has an airport (Sion Airport).

References

Other websites 
 Official website 
 Tourism guide
Brig is a part of the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It includes the following municipalities:

Districts of Valais
Monthey is the capital of the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It has a population is of 15,118 (as of 2004) people (Montheysans).  Monthey is located on the west side of the Rhône valley, south to Lake Geneva. Monthey is important to Swiss industry, with many important companies including chemical companies. The city is close to the famous winter sports region, the Portes du Soleil.

References

Other websites

 Monthey Homepage

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Sierre is the capital of the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It has a population of 14,355. It is situated at the language border of the German-speaking upper part of the "Wallis" and the French-speaking "Valais". This city counts as one of the three official bilingual towns in Switzerland. Sierre is starting point for the tourist sites of the Val d'Anniviers including the villages of Vercorin, Chandolin, St-Luc Vissoie, St-Jean Chandolin, Grimentz, Zinal and Ayer. Sierre is connected with Crans-Montana by a cable car.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Sierre became economically important as very early aluminium smelting is enabled by its access to hydroelectricity.

References

Other websites
 Official website 

Cities in Switzerland
Municipalities of Valais
Brig is the capital of the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

History 
The historic town of 5,000 people is part of the Brig-Glis municipality. The name 'Brig' comes from Briva, or "bridge."  Its medieval name was Briga dives. It is a small town in the Swiss canton of the Valais, at the foot of the northern slope of the Simplon Pass, on the right bank of the Saltine stream, and a little above its junction with the Rhone. Its older houses look very Italian. Its buildings were built during the 17th century, because of a single member of the local Stockalper family.

Location 
Brig is close to the Swiss-Italian borders. The language used when talking between one another is a unique German dialect, used only in this canton. Brig is popular among winter sport athletes, since it is surrounded by many Alp summits. The town itself is close to Rhone river. Due to the height, the temperatures in winter often remain below zero, resulting in frost. During the summer season, heat can be intense.

The place of meeting in the town is the train station, which links it to other Swiss cities.

Economy 
The wealth of Brig is because of the Simplon Pass.   The opening of the carriage road across the Simplon (1807) and of the tunnel beneath the pass (1906), as well as the fact that above Brig is the steeper and less fertile portion of the Upper Valais (then much frequented by tourists), greatly increased the importance and size of the town.

References

Other websites

 Brig-Glis municipal website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
The Pennine Alps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy (Piedmont and the Aosta Valley).

They include the following peaks:

References

Europe-related lists
Mountain ranges of the Alps
Mountains of Italy
Mountains of Switzerland
Geography of Valais
Piedmont
Valle d'Aosta
The Bernese Alps are a group of mountain ranges in the western part of the Alps, in Switzerland. Although the name notes that they are in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, some of the Bernese Alps are found in the cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, Valais, Lucerne, Uri, and Nidwalden.

List of peaks
The main peaks of the Bernese Alps are:

References

Other websites 

 Bernese Alps  at NASA Earth Observatory

Europe-related lists
Mountain ranges of the Alps
Mountains of Switzerland
Conthey is a district in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It contains the following municipalities:

Districts of Valais
Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It is found to the north of the Matterhorn in the German-speaking and mostly Roman Catholic section of the canton. It is pretty far southeast of Gstaad, and is pretty close to the border with Italy.

Zermatt has a local population of 5,500 people, but the actual population changes through the seasons as tourists come and go.

Tourism

Zermatt is a famed ski resort and is a tourist destination. Until the mid-1800s, it was mostly a farming community; its name, as well as that of the Matterhorn itself, derives from the alpine meadows, or matten, in the valley. In the German language, the town is "Zur Matte", or "in the meadow."

The town was "discovered" mid-century by British mountaineers, most notably Edward Whymper, whose conquest of the Matterhorn made the village famous worldwide.

Zermatt is a closed village, which means that non-Swiss nationals are not permitted to buy property within the area.  May is the worst time to visit this city, as most of the streets are muddy.

Hiking
Zermatt is a good place to start many hikes into the surrounding mountains, such as the Haute Route that ultimately leads to Chamonix in France.  A complex of cable cars and chair lifts carry skiers in the winter and hikers in the summer; the highest of them leads to the Klein Matterhorn, a small outcropping on the ridge between Breithorn and Matterhorn that offers cool views in all directions. It is possible to cross into Italy via the Cervinia cable car station.

Transportation
Any automobile that uses an engine is not allowed in Zermatt because of concerns for air pollution.  Electric vehicles are allowed for local commerces. The Cantonal police allow some people to park in the northern section of this city.  Some emergency vehicles (firetrucks, ambulance,..) are also allowed to use combustion engines.

Most people reach Zermatt by train or cable car.  Trains also leave for Zermatt from Visp and Brig.

Skiing
Zermatt is well known throughout the world for its great skiing, especially Triftji for its moguls. The high altitude results in consistent skiing continuously up until the summer.
Skiing in Zermatt is split up into four distinct areas; Sunnegga, Gornegrat, Klein Matterhorn and Schwarzsee. There is also a connection to Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy. 
Trail Map.

Other websites

Zermatt.ch official website
Air Zermatt website 
Municipality of Zermatt 
Burgergemeinde Zermatt  
Photo gallery dedicated to Zermatt and surrounding nature 
Webcams in Zermatt 
 Images from Zermatt 
Scenic Zermatt Photos

Municipalities of Valais
Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland
The Corvidae are the crow family.  They are all passerines, but unusually they do not have musical voices. 

There are over 120 species in the family. The word 'crow' is also used to describe birds in the genus Corvus. This genus includes the crows, jackdaws and ravens.

Crows are found on every continent except for the southern area of South America and Antarctica. Most crows are found in South America, Central America, Europe and Asia. There are only 10 species each in Africa, Australia and North America.

A group of crows is called a murder and, indeed, they are distinctly carnivorous..

Description 
Most members of the crow family are black, such as crows, rooks, choughs, ravens and jackdaws. However, not all crows are black. Magpies and treepies can be black and white, or blue and green, or brown. Jays are often blue and white.

Crows are some of the most intelligent birds in the world. Crows and rooks are good at using tools, for example sticks or twigs. Magpies can see themselves in a mirror and they understand that it is a reflection. Many crows live near to humans in towns and cities. Some crows (such as treepies) live in forests. They are more shy than the crows that live in cities.

Some crows in North America, Europe and northern Asia migrate. This means they travel to different places in summer or winter. Most crows are resident birds. This means they live in the same place all year round.

Many crows live in large groups. For example, many rooks nest together in large groups at the top of trees. This is called a rookery. Crows in big groups are often noisy. However, when it is the breeding season (this means when birds nest and have babies), crows can become angry and will scare off other crows.

Crows eat a variety of food. They will eat fledglings (baby birds) and eggs from nests, small animals (mice and rats), carrion (dead animals), vegetables and garbage. for much of the year, crows and rooks dig into grassland with their strong beaks, and eat various kinds of insect grubs and worms. Because they may attack the nest of other birds, crows may get mobbed by other species. This is when the defending birds group together to chase off the crow. Also, on farms, crows will eat vegetables and seeds. Farmers do not want this to happen so they make a scarecrow. This is an object made of straw and old clothes. It looks like a man and it may scare the crows away.

Crows make their nests in tall trees. They make the nest from large sticks. They usually lay 3–8 eggs. Both parents look after the fledglings.

Main species 
The family includes:
 crows
 rooks
 jackdaws
 ravens
 jays
 magpies
 treepies
 choughs
 nutcrackers.
Visp is the capital city of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It has a population of around 7,000 people.  The two valleys are Mattertal and Saastal. It borders Brig-Glis

The majority of the population are German-speaking.

Economy
It has a chemical business named LONZA AG.  There are also several smaller businesses.

Transportation
In 2007, Visp will become a junction of the Neue Eisenbahn-Alpentransversale or NEAT, connecting with many other rail-lines.

The bus and the train station of Visp and Brig is the starting point for many outdoor activities, trips, and tours in the surrounding mountain resorts of Zermatt and Saas-Fee.

References

Other websites

 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Saint-Maurice is the capital of the district of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Mex (VS) merged into the municipality of Saint-Maurice.

It is the site of the Roman outpost of Agaunum and the old Abby of Saint-Maurice, which has become a famous high school in Switzerland (Collège de Saint-Maurice).

It is not St. Moritz, a ski resort in the east part of Switzerland.

References

Other websites 

 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Conthey is the capital of the district of Conthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

References

Other websites

 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Entremont is a district in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It has the following cities:

 Bagnes 
 Bourg-Saint-Pierre 
 Liddes 
 Orsières 
 Sembrancher 
 Vollèges

Districts of Valais
Sembrancher is the capital of the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

A small scenic village of around 500 residents in the Bagnes Valley, it is close to the Verbier ski resort. There is a way to get from Sembrancher to the Verbier ski resort and back for people interested in skiing.

Other websites
 Official webpage 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Münster-Geschinen is the capital city of the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2004 the former municipalities of Münster and Geschinen merged into the new municipality of Münster-Geschinen and On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Münster-Geschinen, Blitzingen, Grafschaft, Niederwald and Reckingen-Gluringen merged into the new municipality of Goms.

Other websites
 Official website 

Former municipalities of Valais
Microbiotheria are a small order of marsupial mammals with only one living species, the Monito del Monte (Spanish for 'little mountain monkey').

It is the only New World representative of the superorder Australidelphia; all other New World marsupials are part of the Ameridelphia.

The species is nocturnal and arboreal, and lives in thickets of Chilean bamboo in the temperate rain forests of the southern Andes. It eats mainly insects and other small invertebrates, supplemented with fruit.

At one time, they were placed in the order Didelphimorphia, the opossums, but due to many morphological differences, they were placed in another order. The skull's shape is strange, with many technical differences from the opossums.

Phylogeny and biogeography 

It has long been suspected that South American marsupials were ancestral to those of Australia. The two continents were connected via Antarctica in the early Cainozoic era.

Australia’s earliest known marsupial is Djarthia, a primitive mouse-like animal that lived about 55 million years ago. Djarthia had been identified as the earliest known australidelphian, and this research suggested that the Monito del Monte was the last of a clade which included Djarthia.

In 2010, analysis of retrotransposon insertion sites in the nuclear DNA of marsupials confirmed the placement of the Monito del Monte in Australidelphia. It also showed its position as the most basal of that superorder.

The study also confirmed that the most basal of all marsupial orders are the other two South American lineages (Didelphimorphia and Paucituberculata, with the former probably branching first). This indicates that Australidelphia arose in South America (with the ancestors of all other living marsupials), and probably reached Australia in a single dispersal event after Microbiotheria split off (originated).

References 

Marsupials of Australia
Chile
Greywacke  is a type of sandstone. It is hard, and dark in color. It has different sized grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments set in a compact, fine clay matrix. It is mostly found in Palaeozoic strata. The larger grains can be sand-to-gravel-sized, and matrix materials make up more than 15% of the rock by volume. 

The origin of greywacke was a problem. Gravel, sand and mud should not be laid down together, because river outflow drops heavier grains first. Now geologists think greywacke is formed by submarine avalanches or strong turbidity currents. These actions churn sediment and cause mixed-sediment slurries to occur. When this happens, the resulting rocks show various sedimentary features. Support for the turbidity current origin is the fact that deposits of greywacke are found on the edges of the continental shelves, at the bottoms of oceanic trenches, and at the bases of mountain formational areas. It also occurs in association with black shales of deep sea origin.

References 

Sandstones
Carmina Burana is the name given to a collection of texts from the 11th and 12th century. There are over 240 texts in the collection, most of them written in Latin, some in Middle High German. Most of the texts are moral or satirical in nature. There are also texts about spring, or about love. Some of them are drinking songs, some of them were used as Minnesang.  Some of the songs contain hints for the melodies. For some, the melodies can be reconstructed.

The texts were written down around 1230. This happened either in an abbey in Styria, or near Brixen. They were discovered by Johann Christoph von Aretin in Benediktbeuern Abbey in 1803. Today, they are in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. There they can be found there as Codex Buranus, with the signature clm 4660/4660a.

Johann Andreas Schmeller edited them and published them as Carmina Burana – Lieder aus Benediktbeuern. 

Carl Orff took 24 of them as Carmina Burana. He wrote the music for them. The work was first performed in 1937 in the Opera house in Frankfurt am Main. Together with his works Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite he made a work containing all three, called Trionfi. Trionfi is performed much less than the Carmina Burana alone, though.

Other websites
 Complete original text (without translation) from Biblioteca Augustana
 Text with translations from Teach Yourself Latin 
 Athena Review 
 Carmina Burana: An Analysis of Perfection , 1996.

 Carmina Vulgata  in linguam Ruthenicam versa 

Medieval literature
Latin language
Vex is the capital city of the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

References

Other websites 
 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Mohammed Zahir Shah (16 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last King (Shah) of Afghanistan. He ruled for four decades, from 1933 to 1973.

Mohammed Zahir Shah became king of Afghanistan at the age of nineteen after the assassination of his father in November 1933. Since he was so young, his uncle, Shah Mahmood Khan ran the government. Mohammed Zahir Shah took control and was able to keep Afghanistan’s neutral position in international politics.

In July 17, 1973, Mohammed Zahir Shah was no longer king after a bloodless coup. He died on 

Monarchs of Afghanistan
Pashtun people
1914 births
2007 deaths
People from Kabul