ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Hyaenas (sometimes Hyenas) are mammals. They are the family Hyaenidae, in the order Carnivora. They live in Africa, and in west and south Asia. In the past they had a much wider distribution. Now there are two subfamilies with four species. With only four species, it is the fourth-smallest family in the Carnivora, and one of the smallest in the class Mammalia. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components to most African and some Asian ecosystems. Hyaena walk much like bears because their front legs are longer than their back. Except for the aardwolf, hyaenas are known to have one of the world's strongest bites. Its function is to crush bone. Relationships. Hyaenas look much like canids, but they are actually in the Feliformia, with cats and mongooses. Although related to felines and viverrids, their life style is similar to canids.  Convergent evolution has taken place. Both large hyaenas and canids are non-climbing, running hunters which catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Both eat food quickly and may store it. Their calloused feet have large, blunt, non-retractable nails, good for running and making sharp turns. However, the hyaenas' grooming, scent marking, defecating habits, mating, and parental behaviour are similar to the behaviour of other feliforms. Spotted hyenas are matriarchal. This means that females dominate and males are inferior. Hunting. Spotted hyaenas were long said to be cowardly scavengers, but they kill as much as 95% of the food they eat. They can drive off leopards or lionesses from their kills. Hyenas are mostly nocturnal animals, but may leave their lairs in the early morning. Except for the very social spotted hyaena, hyenas are generally not gregarious animals, though striped and brown hyaenas may live in family groups and come together at kills. Spotted hyaenas are intelligent creatures. They work together well and are cooperative. They have strategic hunting methods
Table salt is a mineral composed mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl). This is a chemical compound, one of many salts. Salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. When salt (sodium chloride) is mixed with water, the salt dissolves into the water, creating a saline solution. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent. The open ocean has about of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt can be made by either evaporation or can be mined. To get sea salt, man-made holes are built then filled with sea water. The water evaporates and leaves salt behind. Table salt is one of the few minerals that are eaten a lot by humans, but it can be used for other things besides giving food its flavor. Both sodium and chlorine are needed for all living creatures, including humans, but they are not always eaten in the form of salt, where they are found together in large amounts. Some peoples, like the Yanomami tribe in South America, eat very little salt. Salt is used to control the amount of water in the body. Salty flavor is also one of the basic tastes. Salt cravings may be caused by not having enough minerals, such as sodium chloride, in the body. Eating too much or too little salt can make health problems more likely to happen, for example hypertension. When food is made, salt was often used as a preservative, to make the food last longer, and as a seasoning, for flavor. Salt is less used as a preservative now as refrigeration is used instead and people are worried that too much salt will make them ill. There are different ways to get table salt:
Silk is a natural fibre made by the silk worm cocoon. Silk fibres are very strong and are often used to make cloth. The cloth from silk can be made into rugs, bedding, or can be used to write or paint on. In the past, silk was used to make parachutes. The practice of growing silkworms for silk production is called "sericulture". Most spiders make a natural fibre of their own that is also called silk. History. The practice of breeding silkworms, known as sericulture, dates back to around 5000 BC during the time of the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di. Legend says that his wife, Lei Zu, introduced silkworm rearing and invented the loom, earning her the title Goddess of Silk.  Chemical properties. Silk that is made by the silk worm is made up of two main proteins, sericin and fibroin. Fibroin is the structural center of the silk and gives it its strength. It is made up of amino acids, which make the fibers strong and hard to break. The tensile strength is there because of hydrogen bonds. When silk is stretched, there is a strong force on these many bonds, so they do not break. Serecin is the sticky material which surrounds the fibroin and gives it protection from the outside. Silk is resistant to most mineral acids, except for sulfuric acid, which dissolves it. Perspiration gives the silk a yellowish colour.
The Beatles were an English pop/rock band, started in Liverpool, England in 1960. The members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Most people say they are the most successful and influential band in the history of popular music. The group were a main part of the creation of 1960s counterculture. They began as a skiffle band, and were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll. In their later years, the band was experimental with genres such as different types of rock, classical, and Indian music. Their main songwriters were Lennon and McCartney. Before The Beatles became popular, they played in clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years between 1960 and 1963, with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. They went through many drummers, including Pete Best, before finally asking Ringo Starr to join in 1962. Sutcliffe also quit, meaning Paul McCartney started playing the bass instead. Brian Epstein was their manager and George Martin produced most of their music. Their first single was "Love Me Do", in late 1962. It was a hit and they became popular in the United Kingdom. As they became more popular, their popularity was named "Beatlemania". By 1964, the Beatles were worldwide stars and led the "British Invasion" of the USA. They made some of the best-selling albums of the 1960s, with twelve studio albums. They broke up in 1970. John Lennon was later murdered in New York City in 1980 and George Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr still make music. In 2023, they released their final single "Now and Then". History of the Beatles. Starting in 1956, John Lennon and several of his friends played in a British band called the Quarrymen. Over the next few years, the members of the band changed, and by 1960, the band was called the Beatles. They did not have their first hit until 1962. In February 1963 their song, "Please Please Me", reached the number 1 position on the British charts. This was the first
Reincarnation is the name of the idea that people are born again in another body after they die and this cycle continues over many lifetimes. Rebirth or "transmigration" is the preferred term for those believers who do not believe in eternal souls. Many Hindus, Jainists, Celtic pagans, Buddhists, and people who follow some African religions believe in reincarnation or rebirth/ transmigration. Carnate means “of flesh”, and reincarnate means to “reenter the flesh". Belief in reincarnation or rebirth/transmigration. The belief is held in many religions except Islam and Christianity, although 20 to 30 percent of Christians in western countries also believe in reincarnation. Ethnologists have documented the belief among nearly all the traditional religions of ethnic groups in Africa, North and South America, and Australia/Oceania. The tribes of north-west North America continue to believe in reincarnation despite negative attitudes towards it on the part of Christian missionaries and churches. Reincarnation in Hinduism. Hindus believe in reincarnation, the process where the soul repeatedly takes on a physical body through being born on Earth. Ancient scriptures of Hinduism starting around 700 BC teach that the soul, or immortal “self”, takes birth time and time again. The soul survives and continues its long journey until it is one with God. Hindus believe that the soul never dies, but inhabits one body after another during its evolutionary journey guided by karma. Karma (literally: action) is the sum of one's actions, and the force that determines one's next reincarnation. The soul evolves from immaturity to spiritual illumination. Therefore, each reincarnating soul chooses a home and a family which can best fulfill its next step of learning and maturation. Each life on Earth is similar to a class in school. Maturation of the soul on Earth means fulfilling its worldly desires, which can only be experienced through a body. At death the soul leaves the physical body. But the soul does not die. It lives on in a subtle body called the astral body. The astral body exists in a nonphysical dimension called the astral plane. Here the soul continues to have experiences until it is born again
eBay is a website. It is a place for online auctions. Anybody can sell almost anything they want there. People can buy many things there as well. People have to send what they sell themselves, usually using mail. Some items may be collected by the buyer such as items to large or heavy to post. Buyers can transfer the money in any way they want as long as the sellers accept payments made that way. A lot of people use PayPal to transfer the money. PayPal was owned by the same people as eBay until 2015. Margaret Whitman was the CEO of eBay from 1995 to 2008. History. eBay was started in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. It was first called "Auctionweb". The name 'eBay' came later when he tried to register a domain name for his planned name "EchoBay". It was already taken so he shortened the name to 'eBay'. Statistics. Millions of items are bought on eBay every day. It is often very cheap to list an item on eBay. Total costs are usually below ordinary auction house costs. Many people look at others' items because they are interested in them.
Gerhard Schröder was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. He was born on 7 April 1944 in Mossenberg, North Rhine-Westphalia. After school he learned retail sales in a Lemgo from 1958 to 1961. After that he made his abitur (highest school exam in Germany) in Bielefeld. Then he studied law in Göttingen. After that he worked as a lawyer. He joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1963 and became chairman of its youth organisation in 1978. In 1986 he became a member of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony. In 1990 he was elected as Prime-Minister of Lower Saxony. He became the chancellor of Germany in 1998. After elections in 2005, he was replaced by Angela Merkel. He is a member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany).
Melbourne () is the second-largest city in Australia. It is the capital of Victoria, a state in the south-east of Australia. The population of Melbourne was just over five million in 2020. "Melbourne" is an ambiguous name. The local City of Melbourne is quite small, as the City of London is. But the metropolitan area of Melbourne is nearly 9,993 km2 square kilometers (3,858 sq mi). Melbourne is a multicultural city (it welcomes people and cultures from all over the world). It is famous for its trams. In the centre of Melbourne is a river called the Yarra River. Melbourne also has many big parks and gardens and some beaches. There are many things to do in Melbourne. Visitors in Melbourne can go to museums, look at art, eat food at restaurants, go to shops and visitors can enjoy of international events like Australian Open and Formula One both in the early year.  Melbourne has been the winner of the Economist's 'World's most liveable city' award seven times in a row (winner 20102017). History. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner. In 1851, some people found gold near Melbourne. Melbourne grew very quickly because people came from all over the world to look for gold. At the end of the 19th century, Melbourne was called "Marvellous Melbourne". Melbourne was the biggest and most important city in Australia for many years, but now Sydney is larger (but perhaps not more important). The first Australian government was in Melbourne from 1901 to 1927, when it moved to Canberra. Facilities. There is a lot of industry (factories) and commerce (buying and selling) in Melbourne. Many of Australia's largest companies and many large companies from other countries work there. It is home to Australia's largest seaport.  There are a number of universities (the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Deakin University, Victoria University, La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the Australian Catholic University).  Much of Australia's automotive (car) industry is there, for example the engine maker "
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. There are 403,468 people who live there. It does not belong to a state but it is in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Canberra was started in 1913 and in the middle of the city is Lake Burley-Griffin. This lake was created especially for the city. There was a competition to design the new capital city of Australia. The competition was won by an architect from Chicago in the United States of America. His name was Walter Burley Griffin. Griffin designed his triangular town as a garden town, so its size expanded over a big area. But as Canberra grew larger and larger, the lake was no longer in the middle of the town, but the people who are in charge of planning the city make sure Canberra is as close to Griffin's original plan as possible. Canberra has a size in area nearly as big as Berlin, but the number of people who live there is much smaller. Before Canberra was founded, Australia’s two most important cities, Sydney and Melbourne, were arguing which city should be the capital of the continent. First, Melbourne was elected the capital, but in 1908 there was a vote. The result: an area of 2400 square kilometers was given to the country by New South Wales to build Canberra in. This was the place, 300 kilometers away from Sydney and with a distance of 650 kilometers to Melbourne, where a few years later Canberra was built. The name Canberra is pronounced in various ways and most commonly now as "CAN-brugh" making it sound almost an English name - Canborough ! Some say "CAN-buh-ruh" ; a small number of people may pronounce it "can-BEAR-ruh" ; at an earlier time "can-BERR-a" was very common and that form is still heard although often looked down upon as ignorant and incorrect. But while now an uncommon pronunciation it may be closest to the original name and pronunciation. In the 19th century a farming property on the Limestone Plains was named "Canberry" (or "Camberry") and some think this name is derived in turn from the name of the local tribe - the Ngambri or K
Sydney (, also ) is a city on the east coast of Australia which is the capital city of New South Wales. About five and a half million people live in Sydney which makes it the biggest city in both Australia and Oceania.  Sydney started in 1788, when the Captain Arthur Phillip brought the First Fleet to settle in Australia. The settlers were mostly convicts from crowded prisons in England and Ireland, with a group of soldiers to guard them. The country is home to more than 200 spoken languages with a large population of overseas-born residents. The first people to occupy the area were Australian Aboriginals. Attractions. In Sydney, there are many famous buildings: the Sydney Opera House, the Queen Victoria Building and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney has a large harbour and many beaches. The most famous beach is Bondi Beach, some other famous beaches are Coogee Beach and Manly Beach. A popular coastal walk to do is the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk. Famous parts of the harbour are Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. The Royal National Park is a popular and famous park in southern Sydney. Sydney has many things to see and do. These include visiting Taronga Zoo (a park for animals) on the northern side of the harbour, eating food, looking at art or watching sports (like cricket or rugby) or walking down George Street which has many nice shops. Sydney has some of Australia's best shopping, and the Blue Mountains are about two hours' drive away to the west. Many people go to Sydney City to watch the great fireworks display over the harbour on New Year's Eve. Sydney holds events throughout the year that attract tourists from around the world, some namely events are Vivid Sydney, Royal Easter Show, and more. Events. Sydney is home to a range of events that happen throughout the year, drawing many tourists and visitors to the city. One of Sydney's biggest event holding convention centre is the newly rebuilt International Convention Centre located by Darling Harbour, Sydney. High-profile global events held in Sydney were: 2007 APEC Leaders Conference, 2008 World Youth Day and the 2014 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. Vivid Sydney.
The greenhouse effect occurs when certain gases in the Earth's atmosphere (the air around the Earth) trap infrared radiation. This makes the planet become warmer, similar to the way a greenhouse becomes warmer.  The most important greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are: water vapor, carbon dioxide(CO2), and methane. When there is more greenhouse gas in the air, the air holds more heat. This is why more greenhouse gases cause climate change and global warming. The greenhouse effect is natural. It is important for life on Earth. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth's average temperature would be around 18 or –19 degrees Celsius (0 or 1 degree Fahrenheit). Earth would be locked in an ice age. Because of the greenhouse effect, the Earth's actual average temperature is 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit).  The problem is that recently, the greenhouse effect has become stronger. This is because humans have been burning large amounts of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, it has caused the planet to warm over the past 150 years. About 10,000 years ago, before people started burning large amounts of fossil fuels, there were 260 to 280 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, but now there is over 400 ppm. Most scientists say that having 350 ppm or less is safe for the environment and that species on the planet can adapt to this level. Higher levels can make severe problems for animal and marine life that are already being seen today, such as ocean acidification. The greenhouse effect was first proposed by Joseph Fourier in 1824. Mars, Venus and other planets with atmospheres also have greenhouse effects. The effect on Venus is especially strong because Venus has so much CO2. This is why Venus is hotter than Mercury, even though Mercury is closer to the sun. The first person to predict that carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels (and other combustion processes) could cause global warming was Nobel Prize winner Svante Arrhenius.
Ionizing radiation is a process in physics where something sends out particles or waves that can ionize an atom or molecule through atomic interactions.  The strength of ionizing radiation depends on the energy of the individual particles or waves, and not a function of the number of particles or waves present. The material that the radiation can ionize depends on the ionization energy of the material. Ionizing radiation can be electromagnetic radiation or subatomic particles.  Electromagnetic: Subatomic particle radiation includes: Some radiation can go through the human body and other objects. Usually when people use the term radiation, they are talking specifically about potentially harmful types of ionizing radiation. If something produces this sort of radiation, it is said to be radioactive. There is a little radiation all around us all the time, which people's bodies are used to, but larger amounts of radiation can make people sick or kill them. Natural ionizing radiation is produced by radioactive decay of some chemical elements, such as uranium. Stars and other things in outer space also make radiation. "See cosmic ray". Some isotopes that are radioactive only stay radioactive for much less than a second. Other things can stay radioactive for thousands of years.  People and anything that lives gives off radiation naturally, because of the potassium and Carbon-14 inside.  Some of the machines that make radiation are called particle accelerators. Scientists use these machines to make radiation so they can study it. X-ray machines also make radiation, so doctors can see the inside of the human body and help people. Nuclear weapons (atomic weapons) use a nuclear reaction to produce massive amounts of energy, in the form of heat, light, and radiation. This radiation is spread by the dust, ash, and smoke produced by the blast. Nuclear reactors are used to make electricity. They make a lot of radiation, but the reactors are built carefully to keep the radiation inside the reactor. But many people are afraid that if there were a problem with the reactor, radioactive material could escape into the environment, harming or killing many animals and people. Also, the parts of the reactor stay radioactive, and can kill people, for hundreds or thousands of years, so people are not sure where they can keep parts of old
Dr. Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., retired Colonel (born January 20, 1930) is an American pilot and astronaut. He was one of the Apollo 11 astronauts and the second person to have ever walked on the moon. Early life. Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He earned a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the military academy West Point in 1951. After postgraduate studies, he received a ScD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1963.From his earlier activity as a fighter pilot in the Korean War he won several medals, including the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal. Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin was the second person in history to set foot on the Moon (after Neil Armstrong, during the Apollo 11 mission). The Lunar Lander Module landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. He was 39 when he set foot on the moon. As a Presbyterian elder, Aldrin was the first and only person to hold a religious ceremony on the Moon. Using a kit given to him by his pastor, he took communion during his moon mission. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. After the death of Michael Collins in 2021, Aldrin became the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew. Later life. Aldrin left NASA in March 1972. He has been married four times: to Joan Archer, to Beverly Zile, to Lois Driggs Cannon, and to Anca V Faur. He had three children with Joan, named James, Janice, and Andrew. He married Cannon on Valentine's Day, 1988. He is the oldest contestant on the television series "Dancing with the Stars". He competed in 2010.