cahya/wikipedia-simple-en huggingface dataset:
Amaterasu

Amaterasu (), Amaterasu-ōmikami ( or ) or Ōhirume-no-muchi-no-kami (), is a goddess in Japanese mythology. She is the Sun Goddess, and the most sacred of all Shinto deities. Her name, Amaterasu, means "(that which) illuminates Heaven." Her shrine is at Ise.

Tradition 
Amaterasu is the sister of Susano'o, the god of the sea and storms, and of Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon. All three were created from Izanagi, when he washed his face to clean the dirtiness of Yomi, the underworld. Amaterasu was born when Izanagi washed out his left eye, Tsukuyomi was born from the washing of the right eye, and Susano'o from the washing of the nose.

Story 
The tales tell of great rivalry between Amaterasu and Susano'o. When he was to leave Heaven forever because Izanagi ordered him to, he went to say goodbye to his sister. Amaterasu, suspicious, proposed him a challenge: each of them was to turn an object of the other's into people. Amaterasu created three women from Susanoo's sword while he created five men from her necklace. Amaterasu said the men were hers because they were born of her necklace. Susano'o destroyed her rice fields, threw a dead pony into her loom, and killed one of her assistants in anger. For this, Amaterasu, sad, angry and scared, went to hide inside Ama-no-Iwato, the "heavenly rock cave", so the Sun was hidden and the world became dark for a long time. The Oni (devils of Japanese mythology) came out to the dark world, and the gods could not make Amaterasu come out of the cave.

The intelligent goddess of happiness, Ama-no-Uzume (天宇受売命), took a big bucket, turned it upside down near the cave entrance, and began a dance on it, tearing off her clothing in front of the other Kami. They thought this was so funny that they laughed happily.

Amaterasu heard them, and looked out to see why the gods were laughing. When she opened the cave, she saw her wonderful reflection in a mirror Uzume had put on a tree, and slowly came out of the cave.

At that moment, the god Ameno-Tajikarao (天手力男命) closed the cave behind her, so she could not go back in. Another god tied a magic rope across the entrance. The sun goddess was then asked by the Kami Ame-no-Koyane (天児屋根命) to go back with the gods. She agreed, and light came back to the earth, but Susanoo was punished by being banished from Heaven.

Other websites 
 Shinbutsudo: A Web Page for the Study of Japanese Religions 

Japanese deities
Shinto
National personifications
Organism

An organism is an individual living thing. It is easy to recognize a living thing, but not so easy to define it. Animals and plants are organisms, obviously. Organisms are a biotic, or living, part of the environment. Rocks and sunshine are parts of the non-living environment.

Organisms usually have five basic needs to continue their metabolism. They need air, water, nutrient (food), energy, and a place to live. However, not all living things need all these at the same time. Many organisms do not need access to air at all.

A little thought is needed about viruses. There is no agreement as to whether they should be regarded as living. They are made of protein and nucleic acid, and they evolve, which is a really important fact. However, they exist in two quite different phases. One phase is dormant, not active. The other is inside a living cell of some other organism. Then the virus is very active reproducing itself. Consider the parallel with a computer program. When in use it is active; when it is not, it is completely inactive. It is still a program all the same.

Another example from biology is the spore, which is a distribution phase of a bacteria, fungus or some plants. They are not active until they get to the right situation. They have all the working parts to build a complete organism, but for the moment it is switched off.

Some organisms are made up of millions of cells. They are multicellular organisms. Many can be seen without using a microscope.

Most organisms are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. You need a microscope to see them. They are called microorganisms. Organisms can be made up of just one cell. They are called unicellular organisms or single celled organisms. Examples include bacteria, and protozoa such as the Amoeba and Paramecium.

Origin
The Tree of Life project works on the relationships between living things. Identifying a LUCA (last universal common ancestor) is one of its main aims. The LUCA is estimated to have lived some 3.8 billion years ago (sometime in the Palaeoarchaean era).

A universal common ancestor is at least 102860 times more probable than having multiple ancestors.
A model with a single common ancestor but allowing for some gene swapping among species was... 103489 times more probable than the best multi-ancestor model...
The idea came from Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, "Therefore... probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth have descended from some one primordial form..."

Related pages
 Earliest known life forms
 Origin of life
 Morphology (biology)

References

Other websites

About the Tree of Life Web Project
Maddison D.R. et al 2007. The Tree of Life Web Project. Pages 19-40 in: Zhang Z.-Q. & Shear W.A., eds. Linnaeus Tercentenary: progress in invertebrate taxonomy. Zootaxa 1668:1-766. Open Access PDF

Biology
Organisms
Kinetic energy

Kinetic energy is the energy that an object has because of its motion. This energy can be converted into other kinds, such as gravitational or electric potential energy, which is the energy that an object has because of its position in a gravitational or electric field.

Difference between Kinetic & Potential Energy 
Kinetic Energy is the maximum amount of work a moving body due to its motion can do, whereas Potential energy is the maximum amount of work a body can do due to its configuration or position in a field force.  Kinetic Energy is valid for all sorts of forces as seen from this derivation.

but Potential Energy is not as can be seen here

which clearly suggests that only conservative forces can have potential energy associated with them; see conservation of energy.

Translational kinetic energy
The translational kinetic energy of an object is:

where
  is the mass (resistance to linear acceleration or deceleration);
  is the linear velocity.

Rotational kinetic energy
The rotational kinetic energy of an object is:

where
  is the moment of inertia (resistance to angular acceleration or deceleration, equal to the product of the mass and the square of its perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation);
  is the angular velocity.

References

Other websites 
 Rotational kinetic energy
 Differences between Kinetic energy and Potential energy

Energy
Mechanics
Basic physics ideas
Boat

A boat is a vehicle used to travel on water. It is smaller than a ship and can be lifted out of the water and carried on a ship. Some boats have sails, some are powered by rowing with oars, and some use motors. Those that use steam engines are steamboats

These boats are usually made of wood. However, some parts are made of metals like steel and aluminium. Expensive boats may have parts from fiberglass or composite materials and some even have helicopter pads. There are some boats that can even go underwater. They are called submarines.

A narrowboat is a boat designed to be used on narrow canals. It is sometimes called a barge.

The first boats were invented in the Netherlands in around 8000 BCE.

History 
The Pesse Canoe is likely the oldest boat recovered to date as it was built sometime around 8,000 BCE

References
Navy

The navian is the part of a country's military that fights on water using boats. People in the navy are called navians. The navy is mostly made up of warships. It may also have its own air force and soldiers. It may have special boats that can go underwater, called submarines, or another kind of special boat that is meant to carry airplanes, called aircraft carriers.

History 
Originally, Naval war was fought by ramming other ships and then jumping onto them to fight the crew. In Ancient Greece and Rome, the ships were usually powered by oars. During the Middle Ages, the cannon was invented. These could be shot at other ships from a great distance. Warships around this time also began to use sails instead of oars for power. In the middle 19th century, ships began to be plated in armor for protection. Steam engines allowed them move while carrying the armor, and better ones soon made them much faster. These early warships, called ironclads, are thought to have begun the type of Naval warfare used today. Ships soon became much larger.

Related pages

 Royal Navy
 United States Navy
 Royal Australian Navy
 Royal New Zealand Navy
Air force

An air force is the branch of a country's military which fights in the air. The air force is made up of aircraft such as fighters, bombers, helicopters and transport aircraft. When a navy has its own air force it is called Naval Aviation. 

Air forces began in the early 20th century, usually as part of the army. Most countries separated their air forces in the 1930s and 1940s. 

Aircraft in an air force sometimes fly in a formation. Formations are when the aircraft fly in a pattern. Air forces is part of the military.

The biggest air force in the world is the United States Air Force (USAF).

References
List of words about computers



A
 Adobe
 Acrobat
 Algorithm
 AMD
 Android
 API
 Apple
 Application
 Analog

B

 Boot
 binary
 BIOS
 bitcoin
 byte
bot
 Botnet
 Browser

C 
 C programming language
 Cable
 Cache memory
 Captcha
 Connection
 Control
 Cookie
C++
Computer

D
 data
 database
datalake
 Debian
 decompress
 desktop
 dialer
 digital
 document
 disk operating system (redirect (or disambig) from DOS)
 download

E
 ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator
 electricity
 email
 email attachment
 Encarta encyclopedia
 Epiphany web browser
 End User License Agreement (redirect from EULA)
 Explorer
 ext2 filesystem type
 ext3 filesystem type

F
 File allocation table (disambiguation from FAT or fat)
 FAT16 filesystem
 FAT32 filesystem
 file
 file types by ending
 filesharing
 filesystem
 firewall
 folder
 footnotes
 format
 FreeBSD
 freeware
 FTP
 Facebook
 ((Function))

G
 gigabyte (redir from gb)
 Gimp
 Gmail
 Gnome
 Google
 GNU
 GnuPG
 GPU
 Google Nest

H
 hacker
 hard disk (redirects from hard drive, hard disk drive, hard disk)
 hardware
 Hash_function
 HDMI
 home page
 HTML
 HTTP
 HTTP_Cookie

I
 Intel
 Icons
 Input device
 Internet

J

 MarA jio
 Joo
 Jio

 Java
 JavaScript
 J#

K
 KDE*
 kernel
 keyboard
 key
 keyword

L
 laptop
 licensing examples for computer software
 link
 Linux
 Lavasoft
 Live CD
 LibreOffice

M
 Macintosh
 Mac OS
 Mac OS X
 Malware
Mainframe Computer 
 Mandrake Linux
 Martus
 md5
 media
 megabyte (redir or disamb from mb)
 Microsoft
 modify
 monitor
 Motherboard
 mouse
 Mozilla web browser
 Mozilla Firefox web browser
 Modem
 mp4
 mpeg-4

N
 NTFS filesystem type
 Netscape
 Netscape Navigator web browser
 network
 NNTP
 non-commercial
 notebook computer
 Nvidia

O
 ogg file format for multimedia
 OpenOffice.org
 Open Site
 open source
 Opera web browser
 operating system
 operating systems, a list

P
 page
 Perl
 personal computer (PC)
 Petabyte
 pdf or more likely PDF
 peer to peer, P2P
 PGP
 PHP
 proprietary
 piracy
 pirate
 plug-in
 Python
 popup
 printer
 privacy
 program
 program release
 Python
 PRINT

Q
 QNX
 QuickBasic
 QuickTime.
 QWERTY

R
 Random_access_memory(redirect from RAM)
 ReactOS
 Read-only_memory(Redirect from ROM)
 RedHat
 Reiser FS filesystem type
 root
 RSA
 Recycle Bin
 Reboot

S
 scan
 search engine
 security
 server
 shared source
 shareware
 software
 spam
 spamming
 Spreadsheet
 spyware
 super computer
 super user
 surfing the internet
 Suse
 SDK
 SSD
 system
 synergy (synergistic)

T
 training for computers
 Trojan horse
 Terabyte (TB)
 Tablet

U
 Ubuntu
 undo
 UNIX
 update
 upload
 user
 USB

V
 version
 virtual community
 Visual Studio
 Visual Basic
 virus
 Vulnerability32]✓
 VPN

W
 Windows
 Wine (software)
Wi-Fi

X
 Xine
 XML
 x86, x32(processor)
 x86-64, x64(processor architecture)

Y
 Yahoo!
 Yotabyte

Z
 Z (file format)
Zoom in - Zoom out
ZIP
Zettabyte(ZB)

Other websites 
 A Gnu Dictionary of Computing - downloadable

Computing
Computer-related lists
Computers
Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is a Micronesian island nation in the western Pacific Ocean. The capital of Marshall Islands is Majuro. The official languages are Marshallese and English.

National Anthem: Forever Marshall Islands

Roughly 10% of the population of the Marshall Islands can now be found in northwest Arkansas, U.S. Most live and work in the city of Springdale, a community of roughly 50,000. Each year, the Marshallese host a homecoming event so friends and relatives can get together to celebrate, stay in touch with politics at home, and spread their island culture. They meet at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale and have dancing, feasting, volleyball, and basketball. As a population, they are devoted to family and church and bring island dance and song to this corner of Arkansas.
New York University

New York University, also known as NYU, is a research university in New York City. It is the largest private university in the United States, and is highly regarded in the nation as well as around the world.

Rankings
In 2020, it was ranked as the 11th best university in the United States by the QS World University Rankings: USA, and as the 28th best university in the world by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, NYU is highly ranked in the fields of Law, Medicine, Mathematics, Business, Psychology, Communications, Performing Arts, Film, Economics, and Philosophy.

History
The university was founded as University of the City of New York in 1831 by a prominent group of New York City residents led by then United States Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin. The school was officially renamed New York University in 1896.

37 Nobel Prize winners have been produced by NYU, the 12th most in the United States and 19th most in the world. Three heads of state attended NYU: Ma Ying-jeou of the Republic of China, Ephraim Katzir of Israel, and Guillermo Endara of Panama. Many American politicians also attended NYU, including Bill de Blasio, Carol Bellamy, and Rudy Giuliani. Many successful actors and movie directors attended NYU, including Martin Scorcese, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Spike Lee, Ang Lee, Mahershala Ali, Woody Allen, and Adam Sandler. Other famous alumni include the creator of the polio vaccine Jonas Salk, singer Lady Gaga, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, author Suzanne Collins, and former special counsel Robert Mueller.

NYU is one of the places where 5G was created, as well as where many of the foundations of modern electromagnetic theory were discovered.

Campus
In addition to its main campus in New York City, NYU also has degree-granting campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. NYU Abu Dhabi has produced more Rhodes Scholars per student than any other university in the world.

References

Association of American Universities
Colleges and universities in New York City
Alpha male

An alpha male is the top-ranking male in a mammalian social group.

Origin
Some animals live in a social structure where the most powerful male in the group is decided by either fights or very aggressive battles that sometimes end in death (in the wild). The current alpha male must defend his position from younger members. When he is too old or not strong enough to win, he loses his position in the group. Sometimes, he will die or be forced to leave the group.

The result of this is that the alpha male usually has more opportunity to mate with the available females. This system developed because strong males will produce young which have a better chance for survival.

Examples
Some animal groups which may have alpha males:
 Lions
 Apes: chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans
 Horses
 Deer

Humans
Alpha male can also refer to a high-ranked human in a group. This may be in a business setting or sometimes in other competitive areas, like sports. However, this is an extension by metaphor: humans do not have the same mating system as other social mammals. One reason is that the oestrous cycle in humans is different. This has the result that females may be sexually receptive at almost any time. Also, humans generally pair off, and alpha males do not have exclusive rights over all females in a group, except in rare circumstances.

Animals
Ethology
Johannesburg

Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. It is the capital of the Gauteng Province. It was founded on October 4, 1886 and has the JSE Securities Exchange, which is the largest stock exchange in Africa.

Johannesburg houses the tallest office block in Africa, the Carlton Centre (50 stories) and the tallest tower, the Hillbrow Tower (270 metres, or 90 stories).  The city is nicknamed Egoli or Jozi, which means "place of gold", for the large gold deposit at Witwatersrand.   

 The Johannesburg Zoo was established in 1904, and historically, it has been owned and run by the city of Johannesburg. It houses the only two polar bears in Africa. Johannesburg is not seen as a tourist centre in South Africa, but rather as a commercial centre.

Johannesburg has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb in the Köppen climate classification). Snow is a very rare event. It only snows in Johannesburg once or twice in a century.

Nelson Mandela died there on 5 December 2013, aged 95. He was also given the "Freedom of the City" award.

References 

 
1886 establishments
1880s establishments in South Africa
Condensed matter physics

Condensed matter physics is a branch of physics which talks about matter that has its molecules packed together very closely. This usually means it deals with solids (solid matter).

Matter
Basic physics ideas
Bag

A bag is a kind of soft container. It can hold or carry things. It may be made from cloth, leather, plastic, or paper. Many bags are disposable but some are made to use for a long time. A bag may have one or two handles or a shoulder strap. Bags come in different shapes and sizes depending on how they will be used. A small bag that can be carried with a single hand is sometimes called a handbag, purse, or pocketbook.  Children can suffocate, or stop breathing and die, when they put certain kinds of bags over their heads, due to having the supply of oxygen cut off.

Other websites

Basic English 850 words
Containers
Sapporo

is the capital city of Hokkaidō Prefecture in Japan. The port city is on the southwest part of the island of Hokkaidō and it is the island's largest city.

The city has a famous snow festival in winter, it has a growing population of about 1,800,000 people.  Its area is . There are a lot of fish markets in Sapporo. A beer brand named "Sapporo" was named after this city. Ramen is a very popular food in Sapporo. The city has a subway system. Some famous landmarks are the Sapporo TV Tower, and the clock tower that is in the center of the city. There are several universities here, including Hokkaido University. The nearby airport is called New Chitose Airport.

Events
1972 - The Winter Olympic Games were held in Sapporo.

Related pages
 Consadole Sapporo

References

Other websites

 City of Sapporo
 Sightseeing of Sapporo 
 Sightseeing of Sapporo

Olympic cities
Hokkaidō Prefecture

is a special Japanese prefecture in Hokkaidō region on the island Hokkaidō.  It is the most northern prefecture of Japan.

Sapporo is the capital city of Hokkiado.

History

Until the Meiji Restoration, the island was called Ezo, Watari-shima, Yeddo, and Yezo.  Since 1869, it has been called Hokkaidō.

The population expanded in the late 19th century.

Timeline
 1947 (Shōwa 22): Hokkaidō Prefecture was established.

 2008 (Heisei 20): 34th G8 summit at Toyako

Geography
Hokkaidō is the 2nd largest island of Japan The island is between the Sea of Japan to the west, the Sea of Okhotsk to the northeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southeast, and the Tsugaru Strait to the south. 

Hokkaidō is separated from Honshu by the Tsugaru Strait; however, it is connected by the underwater Seikan tunnel.

Some of the Chishima Islands are occupied by Russia, but Japan still considers the islands to be Japanese.

National Parks
Natural Parks are established in about 10% of the total land area of the prefecture.

Shrines and Temples
Hokkaidō jingū was the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of Ezo, which was an ancient name for the Hokkaidō region.

Related pages
 Provinces of Japan
 Prefectures of Japan
 List of regions of Japan
 List of islands of Japan
 Consadole Sapporo

References

Other websites 

  Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903
Periodic table (big)



Related pages
 Periodic table

Periodic table
Periodic table (metals and non-metals)

Color coding for atomic numbers:
 Elements numbered in blue are liquids at Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP);
 those in green are gases at STP;
 those in black are solid at STP;
 those in red are synthetic (all are solid at STP).
 those in gray have not yet been discovered (they also have muted filled colors indicating the likely chemical series they would fall under).

Related pages 
 Periodic table

Periodic table
Medlar

The medlar is a tree and the name of the fruit of this tree. Its Latin name is Crataegus germanica, or "German medlar", but it is not from Germany. It grows in the Near East and South-Eastern Europe, and the Romans took it to Germany. Near the Caspian Sea, people grew the medlar about three thousand years ago. It came to Greece in about 700 BC and to Rome in about 200 BC. It was an important fruit plant in Roman and medieval times. But by 1600-1700, people started eating other fruits and not the medlar. Today people do not grow it very often.

The medlar needs warm summers and mild (not too cold) winters and likes to grow in sunny, dry places. In the best places, the plant can grow up to eight metres tall. The medlar is deciduous: it is not green all year. Usually, it is shorter than a tree. It lives between thirty and fifty years. Medlar leaves are dark green, maximum fifteen centimetres long and three centimetres wide. The plant has flowers in late spring. The flowers are white. The red-brown medlar fruits are similar to apples and grow to two to three centimetres. They are very hard and acidic, and we can only eat them after the cold weather makes them soft.

Other websites

Fruits
Amygdaloideae
Hippocrates

Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was a Greek doctor who is called the "father of medicine". He was the first person to teach that people got sick for scientific reasons. Previously, people believed that disease was caused by angry gods.

Many of Hippocrates' writings are still important to doctors. For example, patient confidentiality, meaning that doctors can only discuss a patient with the patient themselves. Another of his ideas is to never knowingly lead a patient to suffering or death. These kinds of ideas are part of medical ethics.

The Hippocratic Oath is named after him. This is a set of rules which doctors promise to obey. This is an example of a modern Hippocratic Oath used at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. I do solemnly swear by all I hold most sacred:
 that I will be loyal to the profession of medicine and just to its members
 that I will lead my life and practice my art with virtue and honor
 that into whatsoever home I shall enter it shall be for the good of the sick and the well by the utmost of my power and that I will hold myself aloof from wrong and from corruption and from the tempting of others to vice
 that I will exercise my art solely for the benefit of my patients, the relief of suffering, the prevention of disease and promotion of health, and I will give no drug and perform no act for an immoral purpose
 that in the treatment of the sick, I will consider their well-being to be of a greater importance than their ability to compensate my services
 that what I may see or hear in the course of treatment or even outside the treatment in regard to the lives of persons which is not fitting to be spoken, I will keep inviolably secret
 that I will commit myself to a lifetime of continued learning of the art and science of medicine
 these things I do promise and in proportion as I am faithful to this oath, may happiness and good repute be ever mine, but should I trespass and violate this oath, may the reverse be my lot.

References 

460s BC births
4th-century BC deaths
Greek physicians
Ancient Greek philosophers
History of medicine
ELISPOT

ELISPOT stands for "Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Spot Assay".  It is a laboratory technique for detecting cells that make (or "secrete") various substances.  These substances include specific types of cytokines or antibodies.  The ELISPOT method is typically used with blood cells, and is a helpful tool in studying the human immune system and various treatments for disease (e.g. vaccines).

In the ELISPOT technique, tiny wells are used to contain the cells, with a variety of other substances.  The substances cause colored spots to form near the cells that secrete the substances in question. These spots can then be counted manually (using a microscope, for example) or automatically using specialized equipment with computer vision capabilities.

The ELISPOT technique is very sensitive, and can detect even a single substance-producing cell. It is also very versatile, since it can be tailored to detect a wide variety of very specific secretions.

Other websites 
A flash animation of the ELISpot procedure 
An animated illustration of the ELISPOT process 
 Examples of spot patterns formed by the ELISPOT technique

Biochemistry
Billion

Billion is a name for a large number. It may refer specifically to:

 1,000,000,000 (, one thousand million), the short scale definition now normal in both British and American English
 1,000,000,000,000 (, one million million), the long scale definition used formerly in Britain and currently in certain other languages

Billion may also refer to: 
 Billions (TV series), a Showtime series
 Billions (movie), a 1920 silent comedy
 Billion (company), a Taiwanese modem manufacturer
 Jack Billion (born 1939), 2006 Democratic Party candidate for governor of South Dakota
 Mr. Billion, a 1977 movie by Jonathan Kaplan
 "Billions" (song), a song on Russell Dickerson's album Yours
White blood cell

The job of white blood cells (also called leukocytes) is to fight infections and cancer. They also remove poison, waste and damaged cells from the body.

The number of white blood cells increases when a person is fighting infection or disease and decrease when a person is healthy.

Types of white blood cells

Lymphocytes 
Lymphocytes are round white blood cells a bit bigger than a red blood cell. Their center is round and they have little cytoplasm. Part of the lymphatic system, these target specific germs or poisons using their antibodies. There are three known types of lymphocytes, called T-cells, B-cells, and natural killer cells (NK cells).

B-cells make antibodies, which are little molecules that attach to viruses or bad cells. These tell other cells to destroy the viruses or bad cells, like a flag.

T-cells can either help make more B-cells, or kill cells with antibodies.

Natural killer cells kill cells in the body that have been infected by a virus or that are part of a tumor. They are part of the innate immune system.

Monocytes 
Monocytes are reserve cells which turn into macrophages and dendritic cells, which work together in tissues to fight disease. Monocytes have a kidney bean shaped center and lots of cytoplasm. They may appear as macrophages in a non-round shape when they pass through tissue to eat germs, "junk" cells, and dead cells.

Granulocytes 
The next three types of white blood cells are referred to as granulocytes since they all contain rough, grain-like particles that assist in attacking viruses and bacteria. Granulocytes are also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes because of the shape of the nucleus, which has three segments.

Neutrophils 
Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cells in mammals, 70% of leukocytes. They are an essential part of the immune system. They get to the site of an injury within minutes, and make up much of the content of pus. They have a short life-span of a couple of days.

The nucleus, which looks like a string of beads, does not take up stain strongly. Like phagocytes, they actually eat the bacteria and dead cells. They also release a bunch of proteins which work to damage the bacteria.

Basophils 

Basophils, or basophil granulocytes, are rare granulocytes. If you collected 1000 white blood cells, only 13 of them would be basophils. Their nucleus is hidden by granules which turn dark blue in color when stained. Basophils carry histamine and heparin. They appear at the sites of ectoparasite infection, or allergies. We don't know exactly how they work.

Eosinophils 
Eosinophils, or acidophils, are leukocytes. They are one of the immune system components which combat parasites and certain infections. As with mast cells and basophils, they part causes of allergy and asthma. Eosinophils are round cells with a lobed nucleus and granules which turn red when stained. These granules are packed with proteins that can be poured out to help destroy invaders.

Cell testing 
A test called a differential count shows how many white blood cells there are in a person's blood, and how many of each type are there.

References 

Cell biology
Immunology
Author

An author is a person who writes  books, stories, poems, or other written work.  Their writing can be truth or fiction, short or long.  Often, author is a word for a professional writer, but any person who writes may also be called that.

Sometimes, a person who creates something that is not prose is called an author. Someone who writes music may be called the author of that piece of music, though we would usually call that person a composer. In the film world, the French word for author, auteur, is often used about someone who has been both the writer and director of a movie. 

In biology, the first person to write an article that gives a name to and describes a type of living thing is the author of that name. 

In copyright law, the author is the first owner of copyright.  Such laws also apply to other works of art such as pictures or music.

Related pages 
 Writer
 Journalist

References

Other websites 
 Networks of scientific papers
Pedipalp

Pedipalps are the two appendages on the front of a spider's head. Some spiders seem to have ten legs and not eight, because these pedipalps look like an extra pair of legs. The pedipalps are used rather like arms.  Spiders often use them to hold insects (for example crickets) for them to eat.

Male spiders also use pedipalps for mating.  The male spiders make some silk, put sperm onto the silk, and then put their pedipalps into the sperm.  The pedipalps then hold the sperm, and the spider can use it to mate with a female by putting them inside her epigynum.

Diversity of pedipalps 
The pedipalps of all chelicerates vary: Ricinulei, Thelyphonida, Amblypygi, some Opiliones, Schizomida, Scorpions and pseudoscorpions all have theirs as pincers, with the Amblypygi's being their entire pedipalps shaped like mantids. The Palpigradi's pedipalps have some of the strangest roles of arachnids as they use theirs for locomotion. The pedipalps of Solifugae act as antenna.

Other websites 
 Close-up view of pedipalps on a large spider 

Animal anatomy
Arachnids
Ionic compound

In chemistry, an ionic compound is a compound made of ions. They have strong ionic bonds between particles. Lots of energy (heat) is required to break the bond apart, resulting in high melting and boiling points. The ions join together because they have different charges. Compounds of metals and non-metals are usually ionic. They are made when two or more atoms come close together and an electron goes from one atom to the other atom. The electron does this because both atoms want a full outer shell, similar to those of the noble gases.

Note 1: carbon and silicon in Group 4 usually form covalent bonds by sharing electrons.

Note 2: the elements in Group 0 do not react with other elements to form ions

Physical properties

Chemistry

sv:Jonförening
ELISA

The ELISA method (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay) is a technique used in biochemistry to determine if a certain substance--such as a specific cytokine or antigen--is present within a sample. It is sometimes abbreviated as "EIA."

This technique uses special antibodies that attach themselves to the substance. These antibodies generate a specific color. The amount of color indicates the amount of substance present. (Sometimes, the substance must be viewed under ultraviolet light for the antibodies to generate this color.)

Another set of antibodies are used to "capture" the substance. These antibodies adhere to both the substance and the testing container, thus holding the substance in place.

A more sophisticated and sensitive technique, the ELISPOT method, was derived from the ELISA techique.

Other websites 
 An animated illustration of an ELISA assay 
 Image of a microtiter plate, such as is commonly used in ELISA tests

Biochemistry
David Hume

David Hume (7 May 1711 – 25 August 1776) was a philosopher and historian from Scotland. When he was still alive, people thought of him as a historian. He wrote a series of large books called The History of England. But today, people think of Hume as an important philosopher.

Works
In his books on philosophy, Hume said that many of our beliefs do not come from reason. Instead, they come from our instincts or feelings. For example, reason does not tell us that one thing causes another. Instead, we see one thing and then we see another, and we feel a link between the two. Similarly, reason does not tell us that someone is a good person. Instead, we see that the person is kind and friendly, and we feel a special moral feeling. Because Hume thought that these beliefs do not come from reason, people call him a "skeptical" or "anti-rationalist" philosopher.

Hume is famous for his 'Induction Fallacy'. This draws attention to a common mistake people make. People see something, and make claims that what they see will always be as they see it. For example, people see only white swans and claim that all swans are white. This is 'fallacious' or mistaken, because it is always possible that they then will see a black swan.

Hume was also skeptical about religion. He was not a religious person and religious people did not like his opinions. He did not believe in miracles. He said that suicide wasn't always wrong, but never said whether or not he believed in God. In 1776, when he was dying, his friends found him very calm about death, despite him not believing in an Afterlife. Today, Hume's books are very important to philosophers who are interested in religion.

Influence
Today's philosophers sometimes use the term 'Hume's fork' to refer to Hume calling everything we can think about either a relation of ideas (things like mathematics, that must be true) or a matter of fact (like science, where we have to look at things to tell whether or not they are true).

Another philosopher, Immanuel Kant, read some of Hume's books and changed his mind about some important things. Kant said Hume had made him wake up from a sleeping dogmatism, the traditional metaphysics.

Books
Here are Hume's most important books:

 A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to introduce the experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects. (1739-40)
In this large book, Hume talks about the human mind and tries to figure out how it works. He talks about knowledge, cause and effect, emotions, right and wrong, and many other things.

 An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) 
In this small book, Hume talks about many of the same things from the Treatise, like knowledge and cause and effect. He tried to make this book easy to read.

 An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751)
This is another small book, and again, Hume tried to make it easy to read. The book is about right and wrong.

 Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (after Hume died)
In this book, Hume has three characters who argue with each other about God.

References 

1711 births
1776 deaths
People from Edinburgh
18th-century British philosophers
Bath

A bath (UK English) or bathtub (US English) is a basin large enough for people sit in when washing their body.  The bath is usually in the bathroom.  A less common name for a bath is a washtub.

Sometimes people will add scents, oils and salts to the bath for better experience.

A bath is also a place where people can sit in water (or other liquids, often hot) for their health. This is where the town name Bath comes from. Public baths for relaxing were built in all parts of the Roman Empire.

Other 
 Bird bath
 Bathhouse
Steam bath

Home
Hygiene
Brush

A brush is a tool with bristles or wires or other filaments sticking out. There are many kinds. Most brushes have a long part at one end to hold (the handle), on the other end from the head that carries the bristles or filaments. We use brushes for cleaning, making hair look good, painting, and other purposes.

Brushes for cleaning

Many kinds of brushes are made for cleaning, for example toothbrushes or brushes for cleaning floors.

Paint brushes
We use paint brushes for putting ink or paint on paper. If a brush is dipped 1/3 to 1/4 of it’s length into a can of paint, a good brush will ideally pick up the perfect amount of paint and spread it on a surface in a film that is smooth and uniform and absent of any drips, dips, or brush marks. Paint brushes typically come in two forms, synthetic, and natural. Synthetic brushes are usually made from products such as nylon, while natural refers to bristles from an animal source. Computer graphics uses digital paintbrushes for making pictures.

Paint brushes can have three shapes:
 Round: The long, close-together bristles of these brushes mean they can hold more paint. This is why many artists like them for painting large things and for color washes.
 Flat: These are good for spreading paint.
 Fan-shaped: These mix paint well.

Brush care 
 Clean paint from brushes after you use them. This is very important for oil and acrylic paint because when the paint is dry, taking it off can break the brush.

 Never leave brushes in water (etc.) with the bristle end down. This is because the bristles can change shape.

Sizes and materials 
We can buy brushes in different sizes and materials. Here are some sorts.

Decorators' brushes 
The sizes of brushes used for painting and decorating (changing the colour or look of a room) are usually in millimeters or inches. This shows how wide the head is. 

Here are some sizes:

 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8", 1", 1¼", 1½", 2", 2½", 3", 3½", 4".

 10 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, 40 mm, 50 mm, 60 mm, 70 mm, 80 mm, 90 mm, 100 mm.

We can buy brushes with natural or synthetic (man-made) bristles. Handles (the part of the brush we hold) may be wood or plastic.

Artists' brushes 
Artists' brushes usually have sizes with numbers, but there is no standard.

From smallest to largest, the sizes are: 

 7/0 (also  0000000), 6/0, 5/0, 4/0, 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30.

We use sizes 000 to 20 most often.

Bristles may be natural -- either soft hair or hog (pig) bristle -- or synthetic (man-made).

Artists' brush handles (the part of the brush we hold) are often wooden, but the cheapest brushes may have plastic handles. Many cheap handles are made of unfinished wood; better quality handles are of finished wood.

References 

Basic English 850 words
Tools
Starch

Starch is a complex carbohydrate. It is made of many glucose units joined by chemical bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants as an energy store. It is the most common carbohydrate in human diets. Pasta, potatoes, bread, and other starchy foods are made out of carbohydrates.

Starch in every day activities.

Starch in food 
Some good food sources of starch are cereals, bread, potatoes, grains, peas, and beans. Starch is also used for thickening sauces in cooking and thickening cold foods during a preheat. Starch is a white powder that is tasteless and odourless. Corn starch or cornflour is known as a popular kind of starch made from corn.

Foods with a lot of starch produce more energy than other foods. However, if this energy is not used, it is turned into fat by the liver through de novo lipogenesis.

Laundry starch 
There are also different kinds of starch, like laundry starch, which gives clothing a smooth and crisp feel. Sweat and dirt from a person’s wrist and neck will stick to the starch on the clothes, not to the fibers of the clothes, and will wash away along with the starch. Then, after each laundry load, the starch can be used again.

Other facts 
Starch glues are used in wood, cotton, and bonding of paper. Animals and humans have amylase, so they can digest starch.
Starch was used in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries to stiffen the collars and ruffs of the fine linen which surrounded the neck. Starch also requires heat to thicken. The actual temperature depends on the type of starch.

Carbohydrates
Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was a philosopher from England. His most famous book is Leviathan (1651).

Writings
Hobbes mainly wrote about government and law—he was a political philosopher. He tried to show that the best kind of government has one in which society was organised under one authority. All individuals in that society give up some rights for the sake of protection. There is no doctrine of "separation of powers" in Hobbes's discussion. According to him, the sovereign power must control civil, military, judicial, and ecclesiastical powers.

Studies
Looking at human nature, we will see that humans are very selfish and that we are willing to hurt each other if we think it will help us. Naturally, humans are all equal because we are all strong enough to kill each other—even a child can kill a strong man while he sleeps. Imagine what things would be like without a government. It would be terrible—a "state of war". There would not be enough stuff for everyone, and people would disagree about who got what. Some people would fight each other, and everyone else would be very worried about their own safety. No one would be able to trust anyone else or make plans for the future. Life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" (people would be alone, poor, mean, and would not live for long). Next, Hobbes argues that it would be a good idea for everyone to stop fighting and choose a Sovereign which could be one man or an assembly of men. Everyone should agree to obey the Sovereign, and give him all power of coercion or force of restraint under law. Once the Sovereign is in place, everyone has to obey him, even those who disagree with him. This is because everyone already agreed to obey him no matter what. Hobbes says it's better to be mostly safe under an all-powerful Sovereign, than to be in a state of war.

Hobbes wanted his argument to be like math, with each step leading to the next. However, many people disagreed with his argument. Some said that Hobbes was in favor of rebellion, because he said that people were naturally equal. Others said that humans are not as selfish as Hobbes thought. Today, most people do not like the idea of an all-powerful government. Nevertheless, Hobbes's argument was a very important one, and philosophers who are interested in government or political theory still study Hobbes's books very carefully.

References 

1588 births
1679 deaths
17th-century English philosophers
Nicomachus

Nicomachos or Nicomachus is a Greek name. It can mean:
Nicomachus of Gerasa, an ancient mathematician

Nicomachus, the father of Aristotle and court physician (doctor) to King Amyntas III of Macedon. Nicomachus died when Aristotle was about 10. Nicomachus wanted Aristotle to follow in his footsteps. But Aristotle did not become a doctor but a philosopher.

Given names
Newt

Newts or efts are small amphibia. They are in a subfamily of the salamanders. They are found in North America, Europe, and North Asia.

Life cycle 
Females lay eggs and leave them. Tadpoles are born from those eggs.

Newts have three life stages. First as a tiny aquatic larva, which gradually undergoes metamorphosis. Then they leave the water for a year as a juvenile called an eft. They go back in the water to breed as adults.

In some species the adults stay in water for the rest of their lives. Others are land-based, but return to water each year to breed.

Defences 
Many newts produce toxins in their skin secretions as a defence against predators. They have bright skin colours as a warning to other animals.

Taricha newts of western North America are particularly toxic; the rough-skinned newt Taricha granulosa of the Pacific Northwest produces more than enough tetrodotoxin to kill an adult human. Recently, a 29-year-old man in Coos Bay, Oregon, who had been drinking heavily, swallowed a rough-skin newt for a dare; he died later that day despite hospital treatment.

Most newts can be safely handled, provided that the toxins they produce are not ingested or allowed to come in contact with mucous membranes, or breaks in the skin. After handling, proper hand-washing techniques should be followed due to the risk from the toxins they produce and bacteria they carry, such as salmonella. It is illegal to handle or disturb great crested newts in the UK without a licence.

Are newts a related group? 
The term "newt" has traditionally been used as a functional term for salamanders living in water, and not a systematic unit. The relationship between the genera has been uncertain, though they may be a natural systematic unit. Newer molecular analysis tend to suggest they actually do form a clade.
Newts only appear in one subfamily of salamanders, the Pleurodelinae (of the family Salamandridae).
Some genera occasionally listed as Pleurodelinae are not newts (Salamandrina and Euproctus).

References 

 
Amphibians
Larva

Many animals develop in separate stages. A larva (plural: larvae) develops from the egg in those animals. It is a separate life stage from the adult reproductive stage. A larva does not look like the adult animal, and changes shape (known as metamorphosis) as it grows up. There may be several larval stages before the adult form. Tadpoles, maggots and caterpillars are larvae.

Marine organisms with a larval stage often release large numbers of eggs and sperms into the water column. After fertilisation, the eggs develop into tiny larvae. The larvae develop and grow for some time before metamorphosing into adults. Most marine invertebrates and many fish have a pelagic larval stage or pelagic eggs. These live in the plankton, and may be transported long distances.

Evolutionary theory 
Probably the most widely accepted theory explaining the evolution of larval stages is the need for dispersal. Sessile organisms such as barnacles and tunicates, and sea-floor groups like mussels and crabs, need some way to move their young into new territory, since they cannot move long distances as adults. Many species have relatively long pelagic larval stages (how long a larva is in the water column). During this time, larvae feed and grow, and many species move through several stages of development. For example, most barnacles moult through six nauplius larva stages before moulting to a cipris, when they look to settle. The larvae eat different food from the adults, and disperse.

The other consideration is the small size of the eggs. If animals lay many small eggs (and most do), then the young stages cannot live the life the adults lead. They must live a separate life until they have the size and capability to live as an adult. This is what the larvae do.

Origin of vertebrates 
A long-standing theory is that in transformed larvae of sea-squirts (tunicates) lies the origin of vertebrates. Tunicates are sessile, but their larvae are mobile, and have some features found in early vertebrates. The process of paedomorphosis, where juvenile features are retained in the adult, is the proposed mechanism. Genome analysis does show that the tunicates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates.

References 

Animals
Developmental biology