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247 | a chemical element is a substance that is made up of only one type of atom. atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
the number of protons in an atom is called the atomic number. for example, all atoms with 6 protons are atoms of the chemical element carbon, and all atoms with 92 protons are atoms of the element uranium. the number of neutrons in the nucleus does not have to be the same in every atom of an element. atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes. saying that a substance "contains only one type of atom" really means that it contains only atoms that all have the same number of protons.
the number of protons in the nucleus causes its electric charge. this fixes the number of electrons in its normal (un-ionized) state. the electrons in their atomic orbitals determine the element's various chemical properties.
elements are the basic building blocks for all types of substances. if a substance contains more than one type of atom, it is a compound or a mixture. the smallest particle of a compound is a molecule.
118 different chemical elements are known to modern chemistry. 92 of these elements can be found in nature, and the others can only be made in laboratories. the human body is made up of 26 elements. the last natural element discovered was uranium, in 1789. the first man-made element was technetium, in 1937.
chemical elements are commonly arranged in the periodic table. where the elements are in the table tells us about their properties relative to the other elements.
chemical symbols
chemical elements are given a unique chemical symbol. chemical symbols are used all over the world. this means that, no matter which language is spoken, there is no confusion about what the symbol means. chemical symbols of elements almost always come from their english or latin names. for example, carbon has the chemical symbol 'c', and sodium has chemical symbol 'na', after the latin natrium. tungsten is called 'w' after its german name, wolfram. 'au' is the symbol for gold and it comes from the latin word for gold, aurum. another symbol which comes from latin is 'ag'. this is the element silver and it comes from the latin argentum. lead's symbol, 'pb', comes from the latin plumbum and the english word plumber derives from this as pipes used to be made out of lead. some more recently discovered elements were named after famous people, like einsteinium, which was named after albert einstein.
compounds
elements can join (react) to form pure compounds (such as water, salts, oxides, and organic compounds). in many cases, these compounds have a fixed composition and their own structure and properties. the properties of the compound may be very different from the elements it is made from. sodium is a metal that burns when put into water and chlorine is a poisonous gas. when they react together they make sodium chloride (salt) which is generally harmless in small quantities and edible.
mixtures
some elements mix together in any proportion to form new structures. such new structures are not compounds. they are called mixtures or, when the elements are metals, alloys.
isotopes
most elements in nature consist of atoms with different numbers of neutrons. an isotope is a form of an element with a certain number of neutrons. for example, carbon has two stable, naturally occurring isotopes: carbon-12 (6 neutrons) and carbon-13 (7 neutrons). carbon-14 (8 neutrons) is a naturally occurring radioactive isotope of carbon. at least two isotopes of each element are known (except for oganesson, of which only a few atoms have | 1,024 | 0 |
248 | egypt is a country in northeast africa, parts of the country hang on to the middle east. its capital city is cairo. egypt is famous for its ancient monuments, such as the pyramids and the sphinx.
history
ancient egypt has one of the longest histories of any country in the world as it used to be ruled by pharaohs. as a province of the roman empire, it became christian and some coptic church people are thereafter more than a thousand years of muslim rule. the fatimid caliphate ruled egypt in the tenth through twelfth centuries. mamlukes ruled it until 1798 when napoleon defeated them. muhammad ali pasha soon took over and started a dynasty of khedives under the ottoman empire. the empire fell apart after world war i. egypt became an independent country in 1922 and the khedive became a king. egypt is a member of the united nations and the arab league. it became a republic after the army's revolution of 1952.
geography
egypt is a large country, but a large portion of it is desert. most people (95% of egypt's total people) live in areas around the coast of the mediterranean sea and along the nile river. this includes the cities of cairo, alexandria, aswan, and port said. not many people live in the desert. today, egypt has about 90 million people.
egypt is divided into 29 areas, called governorates of egypt.
politics
egypt is a country that has had many different rulers and many political systems. after world war ii, egypt was still ruled by a king, farouk of egypt (11 february 1920 – 18 march 1965). he was the last ruler of the muhammad ali dynasty.
farouk was overthrown on 23 july 1952 by a military coup. the coup was led by muhammad naguib, and gamal abdel nasser. from then on, egypt had military rulers or rulers who had the backing of the army and many citizens.
nasser became president, from 1956 to 1970. later rulers were anwar sadat, and hosni mubarak.
abdel fattah el-sisi became president in 2014.
revolution of 2011
in january 2011, thousands of protesters gathered in cairo. they wanted hosni mubarak to leave office. he had been the president for almost 30 years. on february 11, 2011, vice president omar suleiman made an announcement. he said that mubarak agreed to leave office. in 2012, egypt had a democratic election for the post of president. the winner was the muslim brotherhood candidate, mohamed morsi.
the events which followed are still controversial, but one aspect stands out. morsi issued a declaration that in effect gave him unlimited powers. he had the power to legislate (make laws) without legal overview by the courts. this caused widespread protests. on 3 july 2013, he was unseated by a military coup council (a coup d'état). after an election in june 2014, abdel fattah el-sisi became president of egypt. islamist movements, such as the muslim brotherhood, rejected the change of regime as a military coup, and not democratic.
demographics
religion
today, the people of egypt are mostly sunni muslims. there are many christians in egypt today. many of these belong to the coptic orthodox church of alexandria.
languages
the official language in egypt is arabic. the majority speak egyptian arabic but many speak other dialects. some egyptians still speak coptic and english. they also speak french and german in egypt. th | 1,024 | 0 |
248 | egypt is a country in northeast africa, parts of the country hang on to the [...] ese are taught in egypt as additional languages.
famous people
many famous people are from egypt. some of these include omar sharif, who was an international actor, boutros boutros-ghali, who was the first person from africa to lead the united nations, and four nobel prize winners: anwar sadat, who won the nobel peace prize in 1978, naguib mahfouz, who won the nobel prize in literature in 1988, ahmed zewail, who won the nobel prize in chemistry in 1999, and mohamed elbaradei, who won the nobel peace prize in 2005. mohamed salah is a famous footballer who plays for liverpool in england. a famous egyptian singer is called amr diab.
governorates
egypt is divided into 27 governorates. the governorates are divided into regions. the regions have towns and villages. each governorate has a capital. sometimes capital has the same name as the governorate.
culture
egypt is a country with an immense cultural mix. life in the countryside differs from life in large cities. there are differences between the families which are muslim, and the smaller number which are coptic christians. there are noticeable differences in the standards of education.
tourism
tourism is one of the most important national incomes in egypt. in 2008, about 12 million tourists visited egypt providing nearly $12 billion of national income to egypt. tourism affects the economy of the country as a whole.
giza necropolis is one of egypt's iconic sites. it is a popular destination for tourists to visit. it includes the great pyramid of giza, one of the seven wonders of the world.
transport
there are methods of transport in egypt. the suez canal carries ships of many countries.
cairo metro is one of the most important projects in egypt. it consists of 3 lines. metro is the most preferable transport in egypt due to persistent major traffic jams in the streets of cairo. metro line 4 is being developed to reach the new cairo district.
egypt established egyptair in 1932. the airline is based in cairo international airport and is owned by the government. | 607 | 27 |
249 | Everything2 or E2 is a website. It lets people make pages about many different things, and some people use it as a diary.
E2 users create pages called nodes and add stuff in writeups. Only logged-in users can create writeups. Only the person who created the writeup or someone who the website owners (called "gods") choose can edit the writeup. On the other hand, on Wikipedia, anyone can edit pages, but on Everything2 only those who can edit the writeup can edit pages.
Everything2 does not require a neutral point of view like Wikipedia does. So, it is possible to have more than one article (writeups) under the same title (node), each by different authors, and presenting different points of view.
Other websites
Everything2 website
Everything2.com article about Wikipedia
Websites
1998 establishments | 236 | 0 |
253 | An Editor is a person who makes changes to documents.
More specifically the word editor can mean:
a person who edits texts; see copy editing. A newspaper or magazine editor is a person who prepares articles for printing and sometimes chooses which articles to put in the newspaper. The main editor of a newspaper or magazine is called the "editor-in chief".
a Wikipedia user who makes changes (also called "edits") to pages ("articles")
text editor, an application program for editing an electronic text or media document
one who, or that which, edits photos
film editor, a person who edits movies
a human or machine for movie film or video editing | 180 | 0 |
255 | Ecological yield is the harvestable growth of an ecosystem. It is most commonly measured in forestry - in fact sustainable forestry is defined as that which does not harvest more wood in a year than has grown in that year, within a given patch of forest.
However, the concept is also applicable to water, and soil, and any other aspect of an ecosystem which can be both harvested and renewed - the so-called renewable resources. The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is reduced over time if more than the amount which is "renewed" (refreshed or regrown or rebuilt).
Ecology | 165 | 0 |
256 | The experience economy is the intangible service economy that customers experience directly. In moral purchasing, Natural Capitalism and other theories of how consumers make choices, they are actually choosing experiences or comprehensive outcomes of their choices. For instance to buy local is to choose a whole experience of local suppliers, such as in a farmers market or Slow Food, that is quite different than the experience associated with factory food or fast food.
Economics | 101 | 0 |
257 | execution is where state authorities kill someone for having committed an extremely serious crime, usually treason or especially terrible murders. in most countries where the death penalty is still provided for by law, using it is an option available to the sentencing judge: even if the jury or judicial panel recommends the death penalty, the presiding judge still has the option to lock the convicted person in a prison for the rest of their life. a person whose job is to execute others is an executioner.
beheading
beheading means cutting the person's head off. it is one of the oldest execution methods and mentioned in the bible. beheading used to be the standard method of execution in scandinavia and germany. commoners were usually beheaded with an axe and noblemen with a sword. a special device, like the guillotine, may be used, as in france. nazi germany used the guillotine to execute criminal convicts, such as murderers.
many countries formerly used beheading as an execution for important people, including england. in england, many noblemen and even some kings and queens have been beheaded. there, the prisoner would be led up the scaffold and might be allowed a last speech. then, he/she would be blindfolded and put his/her neck onto a block. then, the executioner would lift up his axe and swing it down onto the victim's neck. if the executioner was skilled and the axe was sharp, then the axe would usually cut through the bone and organs of the victim in one stroke. but if the executioner was inexperienced, then it might take several strokes before the head was cut off.
other ways of execution
many countries do not allow executions as punishment any more, because it is too violent or immoral. however, many states of the united states and some other countries use it. in the united states, less violent ways of execution are used than in the past. here are some ways of executing people:
hanging: using a rope to either break the convict's neck or to choke (or strangle) them. widely used around the world until the 20th century. still today in use in some countries, such as iraq, singapore and japan.
firing squad: several people shoot and kill a person. armies around the world have long used this method, since guns and bullets are readily available. firing squad was the lawful means of execution in finland until 1944, when death penalty was abolished (stopped by the law). it was also used in the state of utah in the 20th century. in most cases, not all the shooters have real bullets. after the execution, it is not possible to determine which of the people firing killed the person just executed.
gas chamber: killing a person by filling the air in a room with poison gas until the person cannot breathe and dies. this method was used for executions in some u.s. states, and for mass murder by the schutzstaffel during the holocaust.
lethal injection: killing a person by placing poisons into their bloodstream. this is the choice of execution in most u.s. states that allow executions.
electrocution: killing a person by placing them in an electric chair and giving them a very high electric shock.
old-fashioned methods
crucifixion: a person (or their corpse) is fixed to a timber by nails or by impalement. the romans used crucifixion to punish traitors, rebels and runaway slaves because the romans considered it the most unpleasant death. death by this method may take days. besides ancient greece, ancient rome, and the persian empires, this method was also used in feudal japan.
drawing and quartering: a violent form of execution common in medieval and renaissance europe. it involved taking a person's organs out while they were still alive.
breaking on the wheel: the executioner | 1,024 | 0 |
258 | The Flesch Reading Ease (FRES) score says how easy something is to read. J. Peter Kincaid and others made this formula for the U.S. Navy in 1975.
How it works
The FRES test works by counting the number of words, syllables, and sentences in the text. It then calculates the average number of words per sentence and the average number of syllables per word. The idea is that shorter words and shorter sentences are easier to read. The higher the score, the easier the text is to understand. The formula is:
Some points of reference for the score are:
The highest score possible is 121.22. It is gained if every sentence only has a one-syllable word.
"The cat sat on the mat" scores 116. There is no lower limit to this score. Some very complicated
sentences can have negative scores.
The Flesch score is usually lower for technical documentation because the topic itself is complicated.
Someone who uses the test regularly will develop a sense of a reasonable score for this type of writing.
They can then aim to align with this score.
The Flesch score for this subsection is 74.
Tools
Tools to calculate the Flesch Reading Ease include:
Microsoft Word's grammar check
Abiword (open source)
KWord (open source)
koRpus | 371 | 0 |
262 | february (feb.) is the second month of the year in the julian and gregorian calendars, coming between january and march. it has 28 days in common years, and 29 days in leap years. in sweden in 1712 and 1732 the month had 30 days. this was to make the calendar match to the rest of the world. in 1930 and 1931, february had 30 days in the soviet union because the government changed all the months to be 30 days long. the name comes either from the roman god februus or else from "februa", the festivals of purification celebrated in rome every fifteenth of this month.
february begins on the same day of the week as march and november in common years, and august in leap years. february always ends on the same day of the week as october, and additionally, january in common years.
the month
february is one of the last two months to be added to the calendar at the beginning of the year (the other is january). this is because in the original roman calendar, the two months of winter, when not much would happen in agriculture, did not have names.
february is the second month of the year, coming between january and march, and is also the shortest month, with 28 days in a common year, and 29 days in a leap year.
february begins on the same day of the week as march and november in common years and on the same day of the week as august in leap years. february ends on the same day of the week as january in common years and october every year, as each other's last days are exactly 4 weeks (28 days) and 35 weeks (245 days) apart respectively. in a leap year, february is the only month to begin and end on the same day of the week.
every year, february starts on the same day of the week as june of the previous year, as each other's first days are exactly 35 weeks (245 days) apart. in common years, february finishes on the same day of the week as may of the previous year, and in leap years, august and november of the previous year.
in common years immediately before other common years, february starts on the same day of the week as august of the following year, and in leap years and years immediately before that, may of the following year. in years immediately before common years, february finishes on the same day of the week as july of the following year, and in years immediately before leap years, april and december of the following year.
february is also the only month of the calendar that, once every six years and twice every 11 years consecutively, either back into the past or forward into the future, will have four full 7-day weeks. in countries that start their week on a monday, it occurs as part of a common year starting on friday, in which february 1st is a monday and the 28th is a sunday, this was observed in 2021 and can be traced back 11 years to 2010, 11 years back to 1999, 6 years back to 1993, 11 years back to 1982, 11 years back to 1971 and 6 years back to 1965, and will be observed again in 2027 in countries that start their week on a sunday, it occurs in a common year starting on thursday, with the next occurrence in 2026, and previous occurrences in 2015 (11 years earlier than 2026), 2009 (6 years earlier than 2015), 1998 (11 years earlier than 2009) and 1987 (11 years earlier than 1998). this works unless the pattern is broken by a skipped leap year, but no leap year has | 1,024 | 0 |
262 | february (feb.) is the second month of the year in the jul [...] been skipped since 1900 and no others will be skipped until 2100.
from circa 700 bc, when numa pompilius, the second king of rome, added it to the calendar, february had 23 days and 24 days on some of every second year, until 46 bc when julius caesar assigned it 29 days on every fourth year and 28 days otherwise. leap year day, february 29, is added in every year that can be divided equally by four, such as 2012 and 2016, but this does not apply when the year ending in "00" at the turn of the century does not divide equally into 400. this means that 1600 and 2000 were leap years in the gregorian calendar, but 1700, 1800, and 1900 were rather common years. this is where the julian calendar calculated dates differently, as it always repeated february 29 every four years.
february is a winter month in the northern hemisphere and a summer month in the southern hemisphere. in each hemisphere, it is the seasonal equivalent of august in the other. in weather lore, groundhog day, in the united states, is set to decide what the weather will be like for the rest of the winter.
february's flower is the violet and its birthstone is the amethyst. the meaning of the amethyst is sincerity. the zodiac signs for february are aquarius (january 21 to february 19), and pisces (february 20 to march 20).
events in february
fixed events
february 1 - freedom day (united states)
february 1 - imbolc (paganism)
february 2 - groundhog day (united states)
february 2 - candlemas (western christianity)
february 2 - inventor's day (thailand)
february 2 - world wetlands day
february 2 - constitution day (philippines)
february 3 - heroes' day (mozambique)
february 3 - veterans' day (thailand)
february 4 - independence day (sri lanka)
february 4 - day of the armed struggle (angola)
february 4 - world cancer day
february 5 - constitution day (mexico)
february 5 - runeberg's birthday (finland)
february 5 - unity day (burundi)
february 6 - waitangi day (new zealand)
february 6 - sámi national day (norway, sweden, finland, parts of russia)
february 6 - ronald reagan day (california)
february 7 - independence day (grenada)
february 10 - feast of st. paul's shipwreck (malta)
february 10 - fenkil day (eritrea)
february 11 - national foundation day (japan)
february 12 - darwin day
february 12 - abraham lincoln's birthday (united states)
february 12 - union day (burma)
february 12 - youth day (venezuela)
february 14 - valentine's day
february 14 - statehood day in arizona and oregon
february 15 - day of the flag of canada
february 16 - independence day (lithuania)
february 17 - celebrated as independence day in kosovo
february 18 - independence day (the gambia)
february 18 - international asperger's day
february 21 - international mother langua | 1,024 | 27 |
262 | february (feb.) is the second month of the year in the jul [...] ge day
february 21 - language movement day (bangladesh)
february 21 - biikebrennen, celebrated in northern schleswig-holstein (germany) and southern denmark
february 22 - george washington's birthday (united states)
february 22 - independence day (saint lucia)
february 23 - republic day (guyana)
february 23 - national day (brunei)
february 23 - defender of the fatherland day (russia)
february 24 - independence day (estonia)
february 24 - flag day (mexico)
february 25 - national day (kuwait)
february 25 - people power day (philippines)
february 25 - soviet occupation day (georgia)
february 26 - liberation day (kuwait)
february 27 - national day (dominican republic)
february 28 - kalevala day (finland)
february 28 - national science day (india)
february 28 - peace memorial day (taiwan)
february 29 - leap day
moveable and month-long events
chinese new year, falls on a new moon between january 21 and february 21.
lent-related observances in western christianity:
shrove monday - can fall between february 2 and march 8
shrove tuesday (pancake day) - can fall between february 3 and march 9
ash wednesday, start of lent - can fall between february 4 and march 10
carnival - most famous ones take place in rio de janeiro and venice
black history month (canada and united states)
presidents' day (united states) - third monday in february, celebrating the birthdays of abraham lincoln and george washington.
super bowl (american football), usually on the first sunday in february
six nations (rugby union), tournament running from early february to mid-march between england, france, ireland, italy, scotland and wales.
winter olympics are often held in february, last in 2010, and next in 2014.
selection of historical events
february 1, 1884 - the first edition of the oxford english dictionary is published.
february 1, 1953 - in the night from january 31, parts of the netherlands, belgium and the united kingdom are severely flooded.
february 1, 2003 - space shuttle columbia breaks up on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board.
february 2, 1913 - grand central terminal in new york city is opened for the first time.
february 3, 1931 - a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits the cities of napier and hastings, new zealand.
february 3, 1959 - buddy holly, ritchie valens and the big bopper die in a plane crash in iowa on the "day the music died".
february 4, 1948 - ceylon, present-day sri lanka, becomes independent.
february 4, 2004 - facebook is founded.
february 5, 1818 - jean-baptiste bernadotte becomes king of sweden.
february 5, 1909 - leo baekeland announces the creation of bakelite.
february 6, 1788 - massachusetts becomes a us state.
february 6, 1840 - the treaty of waitangi is signed in new zealand, officially making it a british colony.
february | 1,024 | 27 |
262 | february (feb.) is the second month of the year in the jul [...] 6, 1952 - elizabeth ii of the united kingdom becomes queen.
february 7, 1979 - grenada becomes independent.
february 8, 1542 - mary, queen of scots is executed.
february 10, 1763 - in the treaty of paris, france has to give quebec to great britain.
february 10, 1863 - the fire extinguisher is patented.
february 11, 1979 - islamic revolution.
february 11, 1990 - in south africa, nelson mandela is released from prison.
february 11, 2011 - hosni mubarak resigns as president of egypt, after widespread protests.
february 11, 2013 - pope benedict xvi announces his resignation, effective at the end of the month.
february 12, 1809 - charles darwin and abraham lincoln are born on the same day.
february 12, 1818 - bernardo o'higgins signs the independence of chile near concepcion.
february 13, 1668 - spain recognizes portugal as an independent country.
february 13, 1931 - new delhi becomes the capital city of india.
february 14, 1779 - james cook is killed by local people in the hawaiian islands.
february 15, 1965 - the maple leaf flag becomes the flag of canada.
february 15, 2013 - a meteorite explodes over chelyabinsk, western siberia, russia, injuring over 1,000 people.
february 16, 1918 - lithuania declares independence.
february 16, 1959 - fidel castro becomes leader of cuba.
february 17, 2008 - kosovo declares independence from serbia, which does not recognize it as an independent state.
february 18, 1930 - clyde tombaugh discovers the dwarf planet pluto.
february 18, 1965 - the gambia becomes independent.
february 19, 1861 - serfdom ends in russia.
february 20, 1472 - orkney and shetland become part of scotland.
february 20, 1929 - american samoa becomes a us territory.
february 21, 1613 - mikhail i of russia becomes tsar, starting the romanov dynasty.
february 21, 1848 - karl marx and friedrich engels publish the communist manifesto.
february 21, 1958 - the peace symbol is designed.
february 22, 1862 - jefferson davis officially becomes president of the confederate states of america.
february 22, 1979 - saint lucia becomes independent.
february 22, 2011 - a strong earthquake strikes the city of christchurch, new zealand, killing 181 people, and destroying the city's cathedral.
february 23, 1941 - plutonium is first produced and isolated by glenn t. seaborg.
february 23, 1970 - guyana becomes a republic.
february 24, 1918 - estonia declares independence.
february 24, 2022 - russia invades ukraine.
february 25, 1921 - soviet russia occupies tbilisi, georgia.
february 25, 1947 - prussia no longer exists from this date.
february 25, 1986 - through the people power revolution, corazon aquino | 1,024 | 27 |
262 | february (feb.) is the second month of the year in the jul [...] becomes president of the philippines.
february 26, 1815 - napoleon bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of elba.
february 26, 1993 - a terrorist bomb explodes in a car park under the world trade center, new york city.
february 27, 1844 - the dominican republic becomes independent from haiti.
february 27, 2010 - the 2010 cauquenes earthquake strikes central chile, causing major destruction and killing around 500 people.
february 28, 1922 - egypt declares independence.
february 28, 1986 - prime minister of sweden olof palme is murdered.
february 29, 1960 - an earthquake strikes agadir, morocco, killing 3,000 people.
february 29, 1984 - pierre trudeau announces his resignation as prime minister of canada.
february 29, 2004 - jean-bertrand aristide resigns as president of haiti following a popular rebel uprising.
trivia
in february the sun passes through zodiac constellations capricornus and aquarius.
the signs of the zodiac within the month of february are aquarius (january 21 to february 19) and pisces (february 20 to march 20).
february is the shortest month of the year.
in a leap year, february 29 falls on the same day of the week as october 31.
the birth flower of february is the violet.
the amethyst and the pearl are considered birthstones of the month of february.
two of the most highly rated us presidents were born in february - abraham lincoln and george washington. other us presidents born in february are ronald reagan and william henry harrison, who was the shortest-serving president.
nicolaus copernicus and galileo galilei, two famous astronomers, were both born in february.
02 | 581 | 27 |
269 | FAQ is an abbreviation for "Frequently Asked Question(s)". The term is used for a list of questions and answers. All of the questions are supposed to be asked often and they all are about the same thing. Since the acronym was first used in written form, there are different ways it is said; both "fak" and "F.A.Q." are commonly used.
Internet slang | 105 | 0 |
271 | A flame is the part of a fire that can be seen. Flame might also mean:
Flaming (internet) - Insult sent over the internet on purpose
Flame polishing
Flame retardant, a kind of material that resists heat and flame.
Flame Nebula, a star in Orion's Belt
Organizations
Calgary Flames, Canadian ice hockey team
Atlanta Flames, original name of the Calgary Flames
Guildford Flames, English ice hockey team
Northumbria Flames, Northumbria University's ice hockey team
Westchester Flames F.C., American football (soccer) team
Canterbury Flames, New Zealand netball team
Florida Flame, American basketball team
Black Flame, publishing company
Wilflife
Flame (moth), a kind of moth
Flame Skimmer, a kind of dragonfly
Flame maple, a kind of maple tree
Flame Robin, a kind of robin
Other
Flame gun
Flame cell
Basic English 850 words | 269 | 0 |
276 | Financial capital is a form of capital. It is things that have value, but do not do anything by themselves. They are only valuable because people value (want) them. For example, money is a form of financial capital. You cannot do anything with money but it still has value.
Financial capital is used to pay for things, this is because there is always more of it and people always want it. This means that financial capital has a stable value and can be traded in most places and with most people.
Some forms of financial capital, such as stocks, gold or bonds are not wanted by everybody. However they can be traded with people for money or another type of financial capital. Because of this, these forms of financial capital do not have a stable price. This means that some people try to make a profit by buying and selling these types of financial capital in a market.
Some things are treated as financial capital, even though they do have a use. For example, some people buy and sell land but are not interested in doing anything with it. Some people think this sort of trade is bad because the land should be used and not just treated like money. Other types of capital, such as social capital and human capital are rarely treated like financial capital. This may be because they involve people. Treating useful capital like financial capital is called comodification.
In politics, a common question is how often the government should use financial capital. In particular, should the government use financial capital to make a profit? Traditionally, liberal politicians do not mind this kind of trading for profit, but socialist or conservative politicians are against it.
Factors of production
Finance | 387 | 0 |
278 | Fecund universes is a multiverse theory of Lee Smolin. It relies on models of our universe and statistics from astrophysics but is more correctly a theory of cosmology.
In this theory, collapsing stars, or black holes, are always creating new universes with slightly different laws of physics. Because these laws are only slightly different, each is assumed to be like a mutation of the original universe, as if each universe was a kind of single-celled organism. It would reproduce by "splitting" in some sense.
This theory relies on many models of our universe to model these "mutated" alternative universes, the ones that Smolin supposes are generated or "spun off" by black holes.
No human can ever be part of any of these "other" universes. Observations from astrophysics can only say if the black holes exist or are common, and give some idea of how much the laws of physics can vary and still let the new universes produce new black holes.
Smolin predicts that there would be many black holes in the universe humans can see, since they are likely in a very late born universe, by simple probability. If there are many black holes, that is evidence for his theory,
As this shows, cosmology has a very different standard of evidence and burden of proof than is required for models of our universe only, which humans (using mathematics) can observe and exchange knowledge on.
It is hard to separate science from religion on such questions. It may be a simple matter of preference whether one wants to see one's universe as part of a system like biology or like mechanics - clockwork. Smolin's theory is important mostly because it challenges the mechanistic paradigm.
Even if it is wrong, it raises the idea that living beings might have to see their universe as also living to be able to understand or care about it at all. Some compare Smolin's theory to Gaia philosophy which combines biology, geology and ecology to explain the Earth, our planet, as a living thing. If both are right, humans are on a living planet in a living universe. This idea is very appealing - which does not mean it is really "right".
Cosmology | 577 | 0 |
280 | food is what people, plants and animals eat to live. every organism needs energy to carry on with the process of living which comes from food. food usually comes from animals and plants. it is eaten by living things to provide energy and nutrition. food contains the nutrition that people and animals need to be healthy. the consumption of food is normally enjoyable to humans.
it contains protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, water and minerals. liquids used for energy and nutrition are often called "drinks". if someone cannot afford food they go hungry.
food for humans is mostly made through farming or gardening. it includes animal and vegetable sources. some people refuse to eat food from animal origin, like meat, eggs, and products with milk in them. not eating meat is called vegetarianism. not eating or using any animal products is called veganism.
food produced by farmers or gardeners can be changed by industrial processes (the food industry). processed food usually contains several natural ingredients and food additives (such as preservatives, antioxidants, emulsifiers, flavor enhancers). for example, bread is processed food.
food processing at home is done in the kitchen, by the cook. the cook sometimes uses a cookbook. examples of cooking utensils are pressure cookers, pots, and frying pans.
food can also be prepared and served in restaurants or refectory (in particular for children in school).
the utensils used may be a plate, knife, fork, chopsticks, spoon, bowl, or spork.
many people do not grow their own food. they have to buy food that was grown by someone else. people buy most of their food in shops or markets. but some people still grow most or all of their own food.
people may buy food and take it home to cook it. they may buy food that is ready to eat from a street vendor or a restaurant.
other countries have their own way of eating food. an example of an ethnic food is mexican food.
production of food
originally, people got food as hunter-gatherers. the agricultural revolution changed that. farmers grew crops including those invented and improved by selective breeding. these improvements, for example the invention of maize, allowed feeding more people, and further improvements gave it a better taste.
food shortage has been a big problem throughout history. many people do not have enough money to buy the food that they need. bad weather or other problems sometimes destroy the growing food in one part of the world. when people do not have enough food, we say that they are hungry. if they do not eat enough food for a long time, they will become sick and die from starvation. in areas where many people do not have enough food, we say that there is famine there.
food and water can make people sick if it is contaminated by microorganisms, bad metals, or chemicals.
if people do not eat the right foods, they can become sick.
if people do not eat enough protein, they get the disease called kwashiorkor.
if they do not eat enough vitamin b1 (thiamine), they get the disease called beriberi.
if they do not eat enough vitamin c, they get the disease called scurvy.
if children do not eat enough vitamin d, they get the disease called rickets.
people may often have a variety of eating disorders that cause them to either eat too much, or not be able to eat certain things or amounts. common diseases like coeliac disease or food allergies cause people to experience ill effects from consuming certain foods that are normally safe. if people eat too much food, they can become overweight or obese. this causes numerous health problems. on the other hand, eating too little food, from lack of access or anorexia could cause malnutrition. therefore, people have to balance the amount, the nutrition, and the type of food to be healthy.
food in religions
many cultures or religions have food taboos. that means they have rules what people should not eat, or how the food has to be prepared. examples of religious food rules are the k | 1,024 | 0 |
283 | If someone is found guilty of a crime, their punishment may be to pay a fine, a certain amount of money. In many countries, fines can be ordered by police, court judges and some government officers.
When agreeing to a contract with a business, a customer may agree to certain rules. If the customer breaks the rules, then they agree to pay a fine for doing so. For example, when somebody hires a car and agrees to return it by Friday, they agree that if they do not return the car by Friday, they must pay a $50 fine to the business.
Punishments
Money | 157 | 0 |
285 | fish (plural: fish or fishes) are a group of animals with bones which live in water and respire (get oxygen) from their gills. as a group, they are much older than other vertebrates. the first fish developed about 500 million years ago.
fish used to be a class of vertebrates. now the term covers five classes of animals that live in the water:
jawless fish
armoured fish
cartilaginous fish
ray-finned fish
lobe-finned fish
there are more fish than four-limbed animals: there are over 33,000 described species of fish. fish are usually covered with scales. they have two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. most fish are cold-blooded (poikilotherm).
there are many different kinds of fish. they live in fresh water in lakes and rivers (freshwater fish), and in salt water (marine fish) in the oceans. some fish are less than one centimeter long. the largest fish is the whale shark, which can be almost 15 meters long and weigh 15 tons. almost all fish live in the water. a group of fish called the lungfish have developed lungs because they live in rivers and pools which dry up in certain parts of the year. they burrow into mud and aestivate until the water returns.
the english word "fish" does not fit neatly into cladistics, which is the scientific way to put living things into groups. so scientists call it a paraphyletic word. this means that the animals called "fish" in english do not fit into just one phylum. some fish are more closely related to land animals than they are to other fish. for example, lobe-finned fish were the first animals with bones to come live on land, and all land animals are their descendants. lobe-finned fish are more closely related to humans than to ray-finned fish.
types of fish
"fish" is not a formal taxonomic grouping in systematic biology. amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals all descended from lobe-finned fish. but the use of the term "fish" is so convenient that we go on using it.
fish are the oldest vertebrate group. the term includes a huge range of types, from the middle ordovician, about 490 million years ago, to the present day. these are the main groups:
agnatha: the jawless fish. cambrian to present day.
pteraspids: the head-shields
anaspids: gills opened as holes. silurian to end-devonian.
cephalaspids: early jawless fish
lampreys: living ectoparasites
osteostraci: bony-armoured jawless fish.
gnathostomata: the jawed fish. includes all types commonly called fish, except the lamprey.
placoderms: heavily armoured fish
chondrichthyes: cartilaginous fish: sharks, rays and skates.
acanthodii: extinct spiny sharks
osteichthyes: bony fish.
actinopterygii: the ray-finned fish.
chondrostei: sturgeons and some other early types.
neopterygii: first seen in the later permian, lighter and faster-moving than previous groups.
holostei: the gars and bowfins
teleostei: the most successful group, triassic to present day.
sarcopterygii: the lobe-finned fish
dipnoi: the lungfish; eight genera survive.
coelacanths: two species survive. they were probably a sister-group to the tetrapods.
certain animals that have the word fish in their name are not really fish: crayfish are crustacea, and jellyfish are cnid | 1,024 | 0 |
285 | fish (plural: fish or fishes) are a group of animals with [...] aria. some animals look like fish, but are not. whales and dolphins are mammals, for example.
anatomy
bony and cartilaginous fish
most kinds of fish have bones. some kinds of fish, such as sharks and rays, do not have real bones. their skeletons are made of cartilage, and so they are known as cartilaginous fish.
fish scales
all fish are covered with overlapping scales, and each major group of fish has its own special type of scale. teleosts ('modern' fish) have what are called leptoid scales. these grow in concentric circles and overlap in a head to tail direction like roof tiles. sharks and other chondrichthyes have placoid scales made of denticles, like small versions of their teeth. these also overlap in a head to tail direction, producing a tough outer layer. shark skin is available for purchase as shagreen, a leather which as original is smooth in one direction, and rough in the other direction. it may be polished for use, but is always rough in texture and resistant to slipping.
the scales are usually covered with a layer of slime which improves passage through the water, and makes the fish more slippery to a predator.
there are various types of eel: most are in the anguilliformes. their life-style has evolved many times. eels have scales with smooth edges or are absent.
freshwater fish
41% of all fish live in freshwater. there are also some important fish which breed in rivers, and spend the rest of their life in the seas. examples are salmon, trout, the sea lamprey, and three-spined stickleback. some fish are born in salt water, but live most of their mature lives in fresh water: for example the eels.
species like these change their physiology to cope with the amount of salt in the water.
saltwater fish
59% of fish live in saltwater and are known as marine fish. some of the common marine fish are from the family pomacentridae and sub-family pomacentrinae. many of the smaller, colourful marine fish are used in aquariums.
swimming
fish swim by exerting force against the surrounding water. there are exceptions, but this is usually done by the fish contracting muscles on either side of its body. this starts waves of flexion which travel the length of the body from nose to tail, generally getting larger as they go along.
most fishes generate thrust using lateral movements of their body & tail fin (caudal fin). however, there are also species which move mainly using their median and paired fins. the latter group profits from the gained manoeuvrability. this is needed, for example, when living in coral reefs. such fish cannot swim as fast as fish using their bodies & caudal fins.
muscle
fish can swim slowly for many hours using red muscle fibres. they also make short, fast bursts using white muscle. the two types of muscle have a fundamentally different physiology. the red fibres are contined in the middle of the body along the spine and usually alongside a much greater number of white fibres.
the white fibres get their energy by converting the carbohydrate glycogen to lactate (lactic acid). this is anaerobic metabolism, that is, it does not need oxygen. they are used for fast, short bursts. once the lactic acid builds up in the muscles, they stop working, and it takes time for the lactate to be removed, and the glycogen replaced. using their white fibres, fish can reach speeds of 10 lengths per second for short bursts.
swimming for long periods needs oxy | 1,024 | 27 |
285 | fish (plural: fish or fishes) are a group of animals with [...] gen for the red fibres. the oxygen supply has to be constant because these fibres only operate aerobically. they are red because they have a rich blood supply, and they contain myoglobin. myoglobin transports the oxygen to the oxidising systems. red muscle gets its energy by oxidising fat, which weight for weight has twice as much energy as carbohydrate or protein. using their red fibres, fish can keep up a speed of 35 lengths per second for long periods.
swimming in groups
many fish swim in groups. schools of fish can swim together for long distances, and may be chased by predators which also swim in schools. casual groups are called'shoals'.
body shape
the shape of the body of a fish is important to its swimming. this is because streamlined body shapes makes the water drag less. here are some common fish shapes:-
the picture on the right shows a shark. this shark's shape is called fusiform, and it is an ovoid shape where both ends of the fish are pointy. this is the best shape for going through water quickly. fishes with fusiform shapes can chase prey and escape predators quickly. many live in the open ocean and swim constantly, like marlins, swordfish, and tuna. ichthyosaurs, porpoises, dolphins, killer whales all have similar shapes. this is an example of convergent evolution.
eel-like
the long, ribbon-like shape of an eel's body shows another shape. this enables them to hide in cracks, springing out quickly to capture prey, then returning quickly to their hiding spot.
flatfish
flatfish live on the bottom of the ocean or lake. most use camouflage: they change colours to match the ocean floor. during their early lives, their eyes move to the upper side of their flat body.
reef fish also have flat bodies, and their body is often highly coloured. flat bodies can slip in and out among the corals, sponges, and rocks, avoiding predators. angelfish, surgeonfish, and butterflyfish are examples.
fish as food
some people eat many different kinds of fish. these include carp, cod, herring, perch, sardines, sturgeon, tilapia, trout, tuna, and many others. a person who buys and sells fish for eating is called a fishmonger.
the word to fish is also used for the activity of catching fishes. people catch fish with small nets from the side of the water or from small boats, or with big nets from big boats. people can also catch fish with fishing poles and fishhooks with bait. this is often called angling. anglers also different types of fishing lures.
because people are catching too many fish for food or other uses, there are less and less fish in the sea. this is a problem known as overfishing.
fish as pets
selective breeding of carp made them into the domesticated koi in japan, and goldfish in china. this breeding began over 2,000 years ago. the chinese brought their goldfish indoors during the song dynasty. they kept them in large ceramic vessels. that we now do in glass fish tanks.
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286 | Foot is also the name of a unit of measurement. See foot (unit).
A foot (one foot, two or more feet) is a body part on the end of a leg. It is used when walking. It is also important for balance: it helps people stand straight. People also use it to kick, in both fighting and sports, football being an example.
People's hands and feet have the same shape: they both have five digits (the fingers and toes). Many other animals with backbones also have five digits. The part of the foot which joins it to the leg is called the heel. The bottom of the foot is called the sole.
Most land vertebrates have feet, and there are many different sorts of foot. The feet of monkeys are much like the hands. The hard foot of an ungulate is a hoof. When an animal has soft feet, or feet with soft parts on the underside, it is called a paw. Many invertebrates also have feet.
Many use footwear to protect themselves from weather and dirt. There are multiple kinds of footwear, for example sandals, shoes, and boots. When people do not remove footwear, especially in hot places or when they are very active, their feet can smell badly (foot odour). Wearing footwear that is too big or small can be bad for the feet, causing blisters. People who have foot, leg, and back problems can also get help from special shoes.
People have different traditions in different parts of the world for when to wear footwear. For example, in many countries, usually do not wear their shoes or boots in a home. In the United States people often wear shoes inside a home. In Japan, people do not wear shoes in homes, and floors are often made of very soft materials. In Japan it is also important to keep the floors clean. In cultures where people always wear shoes, people sometimes think it is bad not to wear them. Not wearing shoes can be good for the feet, especially if they are damaged.
Conditions like Athlete's foot affect the feet, causing the feet to feel dry and cracked. Doctors who work with people's feet are podiatrists or chiropodists''.
Bones
Half the bones in a human body are in the foot. There are 26 bones there. They are 14 phalanges (toes), 5 metatarsals (arch of the foot), and 7 tarsals (ankle bones).
Basic English 850 words | 653 | 0 |
291 | france ( or ; ), officially the french republic (, ), is a country in western europe. it also includes various departments and territories of france overseas.
mainland france extends from the mediterranean sea to the english channel and the north sea, and from the rhine to the atlantic ocean. it is sometimes referred to as l'hexagone ("the hexagon") because of the shape of its territory.
france is a unitary semi-presidential republic. the head of state is the president, who is also a politician. the prime minister is secondary to the president.
metropolitan france is bordered (clockwise from the north) by belgium, luxembourg, germany, switzerland, italy, monaco, andorra, and spain. the overseas departments and collectives of france share land borders with brazil and suriname (bordering french guiana), and the netherlands antilles (bordering saint martin). france is linked to the united kingdom by the channel tunnel, which passes under the english channel.
france is the largest country in the european union and the second largest in europe. it has been one of the world's most powerful countries for many centuries. during the 17th and 18th centuries, france colonized much of north america. during the 19th and early 20th centuries, france built one of the largest colonial empires of the time. this included large parts of north, west and central africa, southeast asia, and many pacific islands. france is a developed country and has a large economy.
it is the most visited country in the world, with 82 million foreign visitors every year.
france was one of the first members of the european union, and has the largest land area of all members. it is also a founding member of the united nations, and a member of the francophonie, the g8, nato, and the latin union. it is one of the five permanent members of the united nations security council. france has the largest number of nuclear weapons with active warheads, and the largest number of nuclear power plants, in the european union.
france's official language is french, which is also official in 29 other countries. some other french speaking countries include the congo, quebec, and mauritius.
an interesting fact is that the french king louis xix only enjoyed 20 minutes of royal fame after his father charles x abdicated, leaving him to ascend the french throne in july 1830.
geography and climate
france is in western europe. france shares its borders with belgium, luxembourg, germany, switzerland, italy, monaco, andorra, and spain. france has two mountain ranges near its borders: the alps in the east and the pyrenees in the south. the climate of southern france is similar to greece which both have mediterranean climate. there are many rivers in france, including the seine and the loire. in the north and the west of france, there are low hills and river valleys.
in france there are many different climates. the atlantic has a major effect on the weather in the north and west. this means the temperature is about the same most of the year. it is in the marine west coast climate region. in the east, winters are cold and the weather is good. summers are hot and stormy. in the south, winters are cool and wet. summers are hot and dry. the north has a temperate climate similar to that of the united kingdom and other northern european countries.
france has the second-largest exclusive economic zone (eez) in the world. it covers 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,637 sq mi). only the united states has a larger one.
history
name
the name "france" comes from the latin word francia ', which means "land of the franks".
roman gaul
the borders of modern france | 1,024 | 0 |
291 | france ( or ; ), officially the french republic [...] are about the same as those of ancient gaul. celtic gauls inhabited ancient gaul. julius caesar conquered gaul for rome in the 1st century bc. eventually, the gauls adopted roman speech (latin, from which the french language evolved) and roman culture. christianity first appeared in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad. it became firmly established by the fourth and fifth centuries.
franks
in the 4th century ad, the germanic tribes, principally the franks invaded the gauls. this is how the name francie appeared. the modern name "france" comes from the name of the capetian kings of france around paris. the franks were the first tribe of europe after the fall of the roman empire to convert to christianity rather than arianism. the french called themselves "the most christian kingdom of france".
the treaty of verdun (843), divided charlemagne's empire into three parts. the biggest area was western francia. it is similar to modern france.
kingdom
middle ages
the carolingian dynasty ruled france until 987, when hugh capet became king of france. his descendants, the direct capetians, the house of valois and the house of bourbon, unified the country with many wars and dynastic inheritance.
enlightenment
the monarchy was the most powerful during the 17th century and the reign of louis xiv of france. at that time, france had the largest population in europe. the country had a big influence over european politics, economy, and culture. french became the common language of diplomacy in international affairs. much of the enlightenment happened in france. french scientists made big scientific discoveries in the 18th century. france also conquered many overseas possessions in the americas and asia.
republic
napoleonic wars
france had a monarchy until the french revolution in 1789. king louis xvi and his wife, marie antoinette, were executed in 1793. thousands of other french citizens were killed. napoleon bonaparte took control of the republic in 1799. he later made himself emperor of the first empire (1804–1814). his armies conquered most of continental europe. the metric system was invented by french scientists during the french revolution. that time 3 estates were developed.
after napoleon's final defeat in 1815 at the battle of waterloo, another monarchy arose. later louis-napoléon bonaparte created the second empire in 1852. louis-napoléon was removed after the defeat in the franco-prussian war of 1870. the third republic replaced his regime.
colonialism
the large french colonial empire in the 19th century included parts of west africa and southeast asia. the culture and politics of these regions were influenced by france. many ex-colonies officially speak the french language.
world wars
the country actively took part in both the first and second world wars, with battles taking place on its soil. during the first world war, millions were killed in the trenches including over a million in the battle of the somme. the conditions were extremely difficult for the soldiers on the front. the last surviving veteran was pierre picault who died on 20 november 2008 at the age of 109.
during the second world war, nazis occupied france. the allies landed in normandy on 6 june 1944 and began the battle of normandy. german forces lost france in just a few months.
divisions
the 13 regions and 96 departments of metropolitan france include corsica. france is divided into (administrative) regions:
a | 1,024 | 27 |
291 | france ( or ; ), officially the french republic [...] uvergne-rhône-alpes
bourgogne-franche-comté
brittany (bretagne)
centre-val de loire
corsica (corse)
grand est
hauts-de-france
île-de-france
normandy (normandie)
nouvelle-aquitaine
occitanie
pays de la loire
provence-alpes-côte d'azur
corsica has a different status than the other 12 metropolitan regions. it is called collectivité territoriale.
france also has five overseas regions:
french guiana (in south america)
guadeloupe (in the caribbean)
martinique (in the caribbean)
mayotte (in the indian ocean)
réunion (in the indian ocean)
these five overseas regions have the same status as the metropolitan ones. they are like the overseas american states of alaska and hawaii.
then france is divided into 101 departments. the departments are divided into 342 arrondissements. the arrondissements are re-divided into 4,032 cantons. the smallest subdivision is the commune (there are 36,699 communes). on 1 january 2008, insee counted 36,781 communes in france. 36,569 of them are in metropolitan france and 212 of them are in overseas france.
government
the government of france is a semi-presidential system determined by the constitution of the french fifth republic. it provides for a separation of powers.
the main ideals are expressed in the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen. the constitution declares the nation to be "an indivisible, secular, democratic, and social republic". with a prime minister subordinate to the president, this slightly strange system was chosen by general charles de gaulle in 1958.
military
the french armed forces has four branches:
the armée de terre (army)
the marine nationale (navy)
the armée de l'air (air force)
the gendarmerie nationale (a military force which acts as a national rural police)
france has about 359,000 military personnel. france spends 2.6% of its gross domestic product (gdp) on defense. this is the highest in the european union. france and the uk spend 40% of the eu defence budget. about 10% of france's defence budget is for its nuclear weapons force.
foreign relations
france is a member of the united nations. it is a permanent member of the united nations security council and has veto rights. it is also a member of the world trade organisation (wto). it hosts the headquarters of the oecd, unesco and interpol. in 1953, the united nations asked france to choose a coat of arms to represent them internationally. the french emblem is now on their passports.
france was a founding member of the european union. in the 1960s, france wanted to exclude the united kingdom from the organisation. it wanted to build its own economic power in continental europe. france and germany became closer after world war ii. this was to try to become the most influential country in the eu. it limited the influence of the new eastern european members. france is a member of the north atlantic treaty organisation (nato). however, under president de gaulle, it left the joint military command. in the early 1990s, france received criticism for its underground nuclear tests in french polynesia. france vigorously opposed the 2003 invasion of iraq. france retains strong political and economic influence in | 1,024 | 27 |
291 | france ( or ; ), officially the french republic [...] its former african colonies. for instance it has supplied economic aid and troops for peace-keeping missions in the ivory coast and chad.
economy
france is a member of the g8 group of leading industrialised countries. france has the eighth-largest economy in the world by gross domestic product (gdp) (which takes into account how much it costs to live in different countries and inflation rates). france and 11 other european union members jointly launched the euro on 1 january 1999 and started using it in 2002.
france's economy has nearly 2.9 million registered companies. the government has a considerable influence over railway, electricity, aircraft, and telecommunications firms (as it owns big companies like sncf and edf (french electricity)). france has an important aerospace (design of aircraft and spacecraft) industry led by airbus. it can also launch rockets from french guiana.
france has invested a lot in nuclear power. this made france the smallest producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world. as a result, 59 nuclear power plants generate most of the electricity produced in the country (78% in 2006, up from only 8% in 1973, 24% in 1980, and 75% in 1990).
france is the leading agricultural producer and exporter in europe. france exports wheat, poultry, dairy products, beef, and pork. it is also famous for its wine industry. france received 10 billion euros in 2006 from the european community as subsidies to its farmers.
at one time, the factory act of 1833 limited the workday for women and children to 11 hours a day.
demographics
on 1 january 2008, it was estimated that 63.8 million people live in france, including in the overseas regions of france. 61,875,000 of these live in metropolitan france, the part of the country that is within europe.
ethnic groups
the major ethnic groups living in france today are descended from celtic people and roman people. the significant minority groups living in france are:
teutonic, that is germanic peoples
slavic
people from north africa
sub-saharan african - people from africa who live south of the sahara desert
people from indochina
people from the basque country of southwest europe
culture
language
french is the official language of france. it belongs to the romance language group, which includes italian and spanish. many regional dialects are also used in france. alsatian, a german dialect, is spoken in alsace and in parts of lorraine in eastern france. french was the language of diplomacy and culture in europe between the 17th and 19th century and is still widely used.
some people in france also speak basque, breton, catalan, corsican, german, flemish, and occitan.
religion
france is a secular country and the constitution guarantees freedom of religion. the population is about 51% roman catholic, and 31% of people are agnostics or atheists. 5% are muslim, 3% say they are protestant and 1% say they are jewish. 10% are from other religions or do not have an opinion about religion. there are also zoroastrian, unitarian universalist, jain and wiccan communities. religions founded in france include raelism.
according to a poll in 2007:
34% of french citizens responded that "they believe there is a god".
27% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life | 1,024 | 27 |
291 | france ( or ; ), officially the french republic [...] force".
33% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
literature
french literature began in the middle ages. french was divided into several dialects at the time. some authors spelled words differently from one other.
during the 17th century, pierre corneille, jean racine, molière, blaise pascal and rené descartes were the main authors.
in the 18th and 19th centuries, french literature and poetry reached its best. the 18th century saw writings of authors, essayists and moralists as voltaire and jean-jacques rousseau.
as for french children's literature in those times, charles perrault wrote stories such as "little red riding hood", "beauty and the beast", "sleeping beauty" and "puss in boots".
many famous french novels were written in the 19th century by authors such as victor hugo, alexandre dumas and jules verne. they wrote popular novels like the three musketeers, the count of monte-cristo, twenty thousand leagues under the sea, the hunchback of notre-dame and les misérables. other 19th century fiction writers include emile zola, guy de maupassant, théophile gautier and stendhal.
famous novels were written during the 20th century by marcel proust, antoine de saint-exupéry, albert camus, jean-paul sartre and michel houellebecq.
sports
the tour de france cycling race in july is one of the best-known sporting events. it is a three-week race of around 3,500 km that covers most of france and ends in the centre of paris, on the avenue des champs-elysées. football is another popular sport in france. the french team won the fifa world cup in 1998 and 2018. they also won the uefa european football championship in 1984 and 2000. france also hosts the 24 hours of le mans car race. france also hosted the rugby world cup in 2007 and finished fourth.
france is closely associated with the modern olympic games. at the end of the 19th century, the baron pierre de coubertin suggested having the olympic games again. france hosted the summer olympics twice, in 1900 and 1924, in paris. france will host the summer olympics in 2024, in paris. france also hosted the winter games three times: in 1924 in chamonix, in 1968 in grenoble, and in 1992 in albertville.
cuisine
french cuisine has influenced the style of cooking throughout europe, and its chefs work in restaurants throughout the world.
the roots of modern haute cuisine lie in chefs like la varenne (1615–1678) and the notable chef of napoleon, marie-antoine carême (1784–1833). these chefs developed a lighter style of food compared to the food of the middle ages. they used fewer spices, and more herbs and creamy ingredients.
typical ingredients like roux and fish stock, and techniques such as marinading, and dishes such as ragout, were invented. carême was an expert pâtissier (pastry-maker), and this is still a mark of french cooking. he developed basic sauces, his'mother sauces'; he had over a hundred sauces in his repertoire | 1,024 | 27 |
291 | france ( or ; ), officially the french republic [...], based on the half-dozen mother sauces.
french cuisine was introduced in the 20th century by georges auguste escoffier (1846–1935). he was a genius at organisation. he worked out how to run large restaurants, as in a big hotel or a palace; how the staff should be organised; how the menu was prepared. he had methods for everything. escoffier's largest contribution was the publication of le guide culinaire in 1903, which established the fundamentals of french cookery. escoffier managed the restaurants and cuisine at the savoy hotel and carlton hotel in london, the hôtel ritz paris, and some of the greatest cruise ships.
escoffier, however, left out much of the culinary character to be found in the regions of france.
gastro-tourism and the guide michelin helped to make people familiar with the rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of the french countryside in the 20th century. gascon cuisine has also had great influence over the cuisine in the southwest of france. many dishes that were once regional have become common all over the country. cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles regionally and nationally. in the north of france, people often prefer to use butter to cook. in the south, they prefer olive oil and garlic. in france, each region has its own special dish; choucroute in alsace, quiche in lorraine, cassoulet in the languedoc-roussillon, and tapenade in provence-alpes-côte d'azur.
in november 2010, french gastronomy was added by unesco to its lists of the world's 'intangible cultural heritage'.
tourism
france is the number one tourist destination in the world. in 2007, 81.9 million foreign tourists visited france. spain comes second (58.5 million in 2006) and the united states comes third (51.1 million in 2006).
some of the most famous attractions in paris, are the eiffel tower and the arc de triomphe. another one is mont saint michel, in normandy.
a european disneyland is located in a suburb east of paris. the resort opened in 1992 and is also a popular tourist destination in europe. | 674 | 27 |
292 | finland (finnish: suomi) is a country in northern europe and is a member state of the european union. finland is one of the nordic countries and is also part of fennoscandia. finland is located between the 60th and 70th latitudes north. its neighbours are sweden to the west, norway to the north, russia to the east and estonia to the south, beyond the sea called gulf of finland. most of western and southern coast is on the shore of the baltic sea.
the capital of finland is helsinki; the second largest city is tampere. the official currency of the country is the euro (eur); before 2002 it was the markka, the finnish mark (fim). the president of finland is sauli niinistö. 5.5 million people live in finland. finnish and swedish both are the official languages of finland; the most spoken languages is finnish, mother tongue of about 90% of the population. swedish is spoken by the swedish speaking minority of finland, called the finnish swedes, who make up 5% of the total population. finland became independent of russia on 6 december 1917.
the most important cities and towns in finland are helsinki, espoo, tampere, vantaa, turku, oulu, lahti, kuopio, jyväskylä and pori.
finland is a highly industrialised first world country. the most important finnish industrial products are paper, and steel products such as machines and electronics. nokia (the mobile company) is originally a company of finland, named after a small town called nokia.
finland has been top of the list of least corrupt countries on the corruption perceptions index more times than any other country.
people and culture
the people of finland are called finns. most finns speak finnish as their mother tongue. about six percent of finns have the swedish language as their mother tongue. they live mostly in the western part of finland and on åland (finnish ahvenanmaa)
finns also study mandatory english and swedish in school. most finns work either in services (that is: shops, banks, offices or businesses) or in factories. finns often like saunas and nature. many finnish families have summer cottages, small houses where they go to relax on their summer holidays. the most important festivals that finnish people celebrate are midsummer and christmas.
the most popular sports in finland are ice hockey, skiing, track and field and association football (soccer). finns have also won events in swimming, motor sports and gymnastics.
there is a group of a few thousand sámis (also called lapps) in the most northern part of finland, called lapland. most of the samis live in norway and sweden. many sami people farm reindeers. originally, samis were hunter-gatherers. in the past the sami were nomads, but nowadays they live in regular houses.
very few people in finland are from other countries. in 2016 about 4% of residents were born in another country.
nature and weather
most of finland is covered by pine forest. the swan, which was considered holy long ago, is the national bird of finland. wood is the most important natural resource of finland. it is estimated that up to one-third of all wood resources of the european union are in finland.
the national animal of finland is the brown bear. the largest animal is the elk, a type of moose, which is a member of the deer family.
there are hundreds of rivers and thousands of fresh water lakes. fishing is a popular sport. it is estimated there are almost 180,000 lakes in fin | 1,024 | 0 |
292 | finland (finnish: suomi) is a country in northern europe and [...] land.
many islands in the baltic sea belong to finland, too. thousands of islands are part of the åland archipelago. tourists from all over the world come to see the fells and the northern lights in lapland.
the highest mountain of finland is halti, which is 1328 meters high. the largest lake is saimaa, 4,400 square kilometres. the longest river of finland is tornionjoki. the largest river (by watershed) is kemijoki, 552 kilometres long.
the weather in finland varies widely by season. summer usually lasts from may to early september, and temperatures can reach up to +30 °c. autumns are dark and rainy. winter snow usually begins to fall in helsinki in early december (in lapland it can fall as early as october) and in the winter the temperature can drop to -40 °c. highest temperature recorded in finland is +37,2 °c and lowest temperature is -51,5 °c. winter usually lasts to mid-march, when the snow melts in helsinki (in lapland the snow usually doesn't melt until early may), and spring lasts till late may. spring can be erratic, and the weather can change from frost to sunshine within a matter of days. the famed northern lights are common in lapland.
history
people first came to finland 10,000 years ago. that was just after an ice age, after a glacier that covered the ground had receded.
some think the first people in finland already spoke a language similar to the finnish language that is spoken today. it is known that an early form of the finnish language was spoken in finland in the iron age. (the iron age in finland was 2,500–800 years ago).
the first residents in finland hunted animals, as "hunter-gatherers". some people started to farm crops about 5,200 years ago. farming slowly became more and more popular and became the major way of life until the modern age.
the ancient finns were pagans. the most important god of the finnish pantheon was ukko. he was a god of sky and thunder, much like odin, another scandinavian god-king. these powers were common among the pagan god kings in pantheons ranging from the finnish ukko, to the scandinavian/germanic/saxon odin, all the way east to zeus of the greeks and jupiter of the romans.
around a thousand years ago, when most of europe was adopting christianity, finland also began following christianity. during the reformation of christianity in the 16th century, most finns became protestants. some pagan practices still remain amongst the now christian finns, such as bear worship.
from the middle ages finland was a part of sweden. then, in the year 1809, russia took finland from sweden. finland was a part of russia, but after a short period of time it became autonomous. the finns essentially controlled finland, though the tsar was in control officially. finns could create their own laws and had their own currency, (called the markka), their own stamps and own customs. however, finland did not have its own army.
during the 1905 russian revolution, in the grand duchy of finland:
the social democrats organised the general strike of 1905. the red guards were formed. on, russian artillerymen and military engineers rose to rebellion in the fortress of sveaborg (later called suomenlinna), helsinki. the finnish red guards supported the sveaborg rebellion with a general | 1,024 | 27 |
292 | finland (finnish: suomi) is a country in northern europe and [...] strike, but the mutiny was quelled by loyal troops and ships of the baltic fleet within 60 hours.
after independence
on 6 december 1917, finland became independent, which meant that it no longer was a part of russia. there was a communist revolution in russia and after 1922 russia was a part of the soviet union. there were communists in finland too, who tried to create a revolution in finland
this attempt at revolution caused the finnish civil war. the communists lost the civil war, and finland did not change its old capitalist system
stalin, who was the leader of the soviet union, did not like having a capitalist country as its neighbour. stalin wanted finland to become a communist state and be a part of the soviet union. the leaders of finland refused: they wanted to stay independent. the soviet union sent many troops across the eastern border of finland to try to make finland join them, which resulted in the winter war. the soviet union eventually won, and took most of karelia and other parts of finland.
adolf hitler was the dictator of germany, and he wanted to invade the soviet union. finland wanted to retrieve the areas that it had lost, so they joined the german invasion, which started with operation barbarossa in 1941. the finnish part of the second world war is called the continuation war in finland. however, finland was not a fascist or an antisemitic country. finns were interested in freedom rather than dictatorship.
while germany was losing the war, finland had already progressed into the soviet union in order to regain the areas lost in the previous peace. finland wanted to end the war with the soviet union, which resulted in peace. once again finland had to give up the areas they had conquered. this time, the peace with the soviet union made finland and germany enemies. finns fought the germans, and germans retreated to norway, burning down all of lapland behind them. this is called the lapland war. finland remained independent.
after the war, many factories were built in finland. many people moved from farms to cities. at that time, big factories manufactured products like paper and steel. more and more people worked in more advanced jobs, like high technology. also, many people went to universities to get a good education. finland was one of the first countries where most people had internet connections and mobile phones. a well-known company that makes mobile phones, nokia, is from finland.
finland joined the european union in 1995. the finnish currency was changed to the euro in 2002.
finland joined nato in 2023, after the russian invasion of ukraine.
economy
finland has a mixed economy. free market controls most of production and sales of goods, but public sector is involved in services. in 2013, taxes were 44% of gross national product. this is 4th largest in europe, after denmark, france and belgium.
in 2014 services were 70% of the gross national product.
the largest company in 2014 was oil refinery neste oil. the second largest was nokia. two forest industries stora enso and upm-kymmene, were numbers three and four. number five was kesko which sells everyday goods in k-supermarkets.
elections
elections are organized to select 200 members to the parliament of finland. also selected are the president of finland, members of town and city councils and finnish members to the european parliament. the elections are secret and direct. people vote directly for the person they want to be elected. in presidential elections votes are only cast for a person, not for a political party. all the other elections are proportional. the system is a combination of voting for individuals and parties. the right to vote is universal and | 1,024 | 27 |
292 | finland (finnish: suomi) is a country in northern europe and [...] equal. in general elections everybody has one vote.
famous finnish people
alvar aalto, architect
markku alen, 1978 world rally champion
valtteri bottas, current formula one driver
the dudesons, also known as duudsonit, a four-man stunt group with several tv shows and a movie. close friends with the jackass crew
akseli gallen-kallela, artist
marcus gronholm, 2000/02 world rally champion
mika häkkinen, 1998 and 1999 formula one world champion
tarja halonen, former president of finland
tuomas holopainen, founder of the internationally famous band nightwish
sami hyypiä, football coach; 2005 uefa champions league winner
juha kankkunen, 1986/87/91/93 world rally champion
urho kekkonen, former president of finland during the cold war
jari kurri, 5 time stanley cup winner, nhl hall of famer
eino leino, poet
elias lönnrot, compiler of national epic kalevala
jari litmanen, footballer; 1995 uefa champions league winner
tommi makinen, 1996-99 world rally champion
carl gustaf emil mannerheim, a president and military commander
karita mattila, world famous opera singer, winner of the first cardiff singer of the world competition
hannu mikkola, 1983 world rally champion
paavo nurmi, famous olympic long-distance runner
kimi räikkönen, 2007 formula one world champion
keke rosberg, 1982 formula one world champion
timo salonen, 1985 world rally champion
timo sarpaneva, famous designer mainly in glass
teemu selanne, 2007 stanley cup winner
jean sibelius, the most important finnish composer
lauri törni, later known as larry thorne, a winner of the mannerheim cross during the continuation war
linus torvalds, the creator of linux
tarja turunen, former member of the internationally famous band nightwish
ville valo, lead singer songwriter of him
ari vatanen, 1981 world rally champion
tapio wirkkala, designer and artist | 692 | 27 |
293 | in botany, a fruit is a plant structure that contains the plant's seeds.
to a botanist, the word fruit is used only if it comes from the part of the flower which was an ovary. it is an extra layer round the seeds, which may or may not be fleshy. however, even in the field of botany, there is no general agreement on how fruits should be classified. many do have extra layers from other parts of the flower.
in general speech, and especially in cooking, fruits are a sweet product, and many botanical fruits are known as vegetables. this is how ordinary people use the words. on this page, we describe what botanists call a fruit.
the fleshy part of a fruit is called the mesocarp. it is between the fruit's skin (exocarp) and the seeds. the white part of an apple, for example, is the "fleshy" part of the apple. usually, when we eat a fruit, we eat the "fleshy" part.
types of fruits
berry
if the entire fruit is fleshy, except for maybe a thin skin, the fruit is called a berry. a berry might contain one seed or many. grapes, avocados, and blueberries are berries. they all have a thin skin, but most of the fruit is fleshy. don't get confused by the name of fruits like strawberries, because actually they are not berries. the seeds are on the outside: on a real berry, the seed or seeds are inside the fruit.
pepo
a pepo (pronounced pee' po) is a modified berry. its skin is hard and thick and is usually called a "rind". pumpkins and watermelons, for instance, are pepos.
hesperidium
a hesperidium is another modified berry. it has a leathery skin that is not as hard as the skin of a pepo. all citrus fruit like oranges and lemon are hesperidiums.
pome
a pome (pohm) is a fruit that has a core surrounded by fleshy tissue that one can eat. the core is usually not eaten. berries are different - the seeds are inside the fleshy part, not separated from it by a core. apples and pears are pomes.
drupe
drupes are also called stone fruit. a drupe is a fleshy fruit with a hard stone around the seed. we usually call this'stone' the 'pit' of the fruit. peaches and olives are drupes. actually, the almond fruit is a drupe, too, though we eat the seed that is inside the 'pit' of the almond fruit.
botanical fruits
since fruits are produced from fertilised ovaries in flowers, only flowering plants produce fruits. fruits are an evolutionary 'invention' which help seeds get dispersed by animals.
the botanical term includes many that are not 'fruits' in the common sense of the term. such as the vegetables squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomato, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, and bell pepper and some spices, such as allspice and chili
.
accessory fruits
an accessory fruit or false fruit (pseudocarp) is a fruit in which some of the flesh is derived not from the ovary but from some adjacent tissue.
a fig is a type of accessory fruit called a syconium. pomes, such as apples and pears, are also accessory fruits: the core is the true fruit.
non-botanical fruits
strictly speaking, these are not botanical fruits:
any produced by non-flowering plants, like juniper berries, which are the seed-containing female cones of conifers.
fleshy fruit-like growths that develop from other plant tissues (like rhubarb).
area of agreement
these are fruits which you can buy in sh | 1,024 | 0 |
293 | in botany, a fruit is a plant structure that contains the plant's seeds. [...] ops, and which are also acceptable as botanical fruits:
berry fruits: redcurrant, gooseberry, cranberry, blueberry also, but not commonly known as berry fruits, are tomato, avocado, banana.
false berries: raspberry, strawberry, blackberry: they are aggregate fruits (see below). the yew berry is not a fruit at all because the yew is a conifer.
stone fruits or drupes: plum, cherry, peach, apricot, olive.
citrus fruits, like oranges, grapefruits, and tangerines.
aggregate fruits: raspberries, blackberries.
multiple fruits: pineapples, figs.
many fruits come from trees or bushes. for plants, fruits are a means of dispersal, usually by animals. when the fruit is eaten, the seed(s) are not digested, and get excreted. where fruits have big stones, just the soft parts are eaten.
most fruits we eat contain a lot of water and natural sugars, and many are high in vitamin c. they have a large amount of dietary fibre. fruits are usually low in protein and fat content, but avocados and some nuts are exceptions to this. not only humans, but our closest living relatives (primates) are keen fruit-eaters. so are many other groups of herbivorous mammals and many birds.
seedless fruits
seedlessness is an important feature of some fruits of commerce. commercial bananas, pineapple, and watermelons are examples of seedless fruits. some citrus fruits, especially oranges, satsumas, mandarin oranges, and grapefruit are valued for their seedlessness.
seedless bananas and grapes are triploids, and seedlessness results from the abortion of the embryonic plant which is produced by fertilisation. the method requires normal pollination and fertilisation. | 549 | 27 |
294 | A farm is a piece of land used to grow crops and/or raise animals.
People who grow these plants or raise these animals are called farmers. This work is called farming.
Land that is used to grow plants is called farmland. Land that is used to feed animals with its grass is called pasture. Land that can be used to grow plants for food is called arable land.
Many farms are very large and can cause damage. In some places farms are many and small, and can also cause damage. Farms provides most of the food for people. Some people farm to eat the food they produce (subsistence agriculture). Other farms, including large ones, sell their products to markets far away in urban areas (commercial or industrial farming). Most subsistence farms are in poorer countries, while industrial farms are in richer countries.
Kinds of farms
A farm that produces fruits or nuts is called an orchard.
A farm that produces grapes is called a vineyard.
A farm that raises and trains horses is called a stable.
A farm that produces milk and dairy products is called a dairy farm.
If the animals are raised for meat it is a ranch.
A large farm that produces non-essential crops like tobacco, coffee, cotton or sugarcane is called a plantation. | 328 | 0 |
296 | Geography (from Greek: , geographia, literally "earth description") is the study of earth and its people. Its features are things like continents, seas, rivers and mountains. Its inhabitants are all the people and animals that live on it. Its phenomena are the things that happen like tides, winds, and earthquakes.
A person who is an expert in geography is a geographer. A geographer tries to understand the world and the things that are in it, how they started and how they have changed.
Geography is divided into two main parts called physical geography and human geography. Physical geography studies the natural environment and human geography studies the human environment. The human environmental studies would include things such as the population in a country, how a country's economy is doing, and more. There is also environmental geography.
Maps are a main tool of geography, so geographers spend much time making and studying them. Making maps is called cartography, and people who specialize in making maps are cartographers.
Branches
Physical geography
Physical geography (or physiography) focuses on geography as an Earth science. It aims to understand the physical problems and the issues of lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere, and global flora and fauna patterns (biosphere).
Physical geography can be divided into many broad categories, including:
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| Geodesy || Geomorphology || Glaciology || Hydrology & Hydrography
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| Landscape ecology || Oceanography || Pedology || Palaeogeography
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Human geography
Human geography is the social science that covers the study of people and their communities, cultures, economies and their interaction with the environment. Geographers studying the human environment may look at:
Population
Countries of the world
Land use
Agriculture
City
Industry
Energy
Pollution
History
The oldest known world map dates back to ancient Babylon from the 9th century BC. The best known Babylonian world map is the Imago Mundi of 600 BC. Star charts (maps of the sky) are of similar age.
During the Middle Ages, people in Europe made fewer maps. People in the eastern countries made more. Abū Zayd al-Balkhī created the "Balkhī school" of mapping in Baghdad.
Western Europe became known as the leader of geographic thought during the European Renaissance and The Age of Exploration (1400–1600). The printing press made maps and information about the world available to everyone.
This caused more interest in how the world worked.
In the 1700s and 1800s scientists started to study the relationship between the environment and its people | 865 | 0 |
299 | grammar is the study of words, how they are used in sentences, and how they change in different situations. the ancient greeks used to call it grammatikē tékhnē, the craft of letters. it can have any of these meanings:
the study of a language: how it works, and everything about it. this is background research on language.
the study of sentence structure. rules and examples show how the language should be used. this is a correct usage grammar, as in a textbook or manual/guide.
the system which people learn as they grow up. this is the native-speaker's grammar.
when we speak, we use the native person's grammar, or as near as we can. when we write, we try to write with correct grammar. so, speaking and writing a language each have their own style.
different languages
all languages have their own grammar. most european languages are rather similar.
english makes few changes to its word endings ('suffixes'). in the italic or 'romance' languages (such as french, italian, and spanish), word endings carry a lot of meaning. in english we have just a few: plurals and possessives (john's) are the most common. in our verbs we have dropped most endings except one: i love, you love, but she loves. that final's' comes from the anglo-saxon, which had more suffixes. verbs do have endings which show changes in tense: walked, walking.
word order is the other big difference. romance languages normally put adjectives after the nouns to which they refer. for example, in english, a person may say i like fast cars, but in spanish, it is me gustan los coches rápidos. the order of the words has changed: if just the words, without the grammar, are translated into english, it would mean 'to me they please the cars fast'. this is because spanish and english have different rules about word order. in german, verbs often come near the end of sentences (as: die katze hat die nahrung gegessen), whereas in english we usually put them between subject and object, as: the cat has eaten the food.
changing language
written grammar changes slowly but spoken grammar is more fluid. sentences which english speakers find normal today, might have seemed strange 100 years ago. and they might not, because many of our favourite sayings come from the authorized king james version of the bible, and from shakespeare.
different people speak with grammar that differs from that of other people. for example, people who use the dialects called general american english and bbc english might say, i didn't do anything, while someone who speaks what is called african american vernacular english or aave might say, i didn't do nothing. london working class version: i ain't done nuffink! these are called double negatives, and are found almost entirely in spoken english, and seldom written.
these differences are called dialects. the dialect a person uses is usually decided by where they live. even though the dialects of english use different words or word order, they still have grammar rules. however, when writing in american english, grammar uses the rules of general american english. when people talk about using 'proper english', they usually mean using the grammar of general british english, as described in standard reference works. the models for spoken english in britain are often called received pronunciation or bbc english.
parts of speech
grammar studies nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, sentences, phrases, clauses, interjections.
nouns
nouns are 'thing' words like 'table and 'chair'. they are objects, things you see in everyday life. proper noun | 1,024 | 0 |
300 | the great lakes are five large lakes in east-central north america. they hold 21% of the world's surface fresh water.
the five lakes are: lake superior, lake michigan, lake huron, lake erie, and lake ontario.
geography
four of the great lakes are on the border between canada and the united states of america. the other, lake michigan, is completely inside the united states.
all together, by volume, they are the largest group of fresh water lakes in the world. no one of the lakes is larger than lake baikal (russia) or lake tanganyika (east africa).
the cities of chicago, illinois (9.8 million people, on lake michigan), toronto, ontario (5.5 million, on lake ontario); detroit, michigan (5.3 million, on the detroit river); montreal, quebec (3.9 million, on the st. lawrence river), cleveland, ohio (2.9 million, on lake erie), buffalo, and ottawa (1.2 million, ontario, on the ottawa river) are on the shores of the great lakes or their rivers.
though the five lakes have separate basins, they form a single, connected body of freshwater. the lakes connect the east-central interior of north america to the atlantic ocean. lakes michigan, huron and erie are approximately equally high and ships can easily pass from one to the next. water flows from lake superior and lake michigan into lake huron; then through the detroit river into lake erie; then through niagara falls into lake ontario; and then through the saint lawrence river to the atlantic ocean. water also drains from the chicago river on the south.
many rivers flow through a large watershed into the lakes. the lakes have about 35,000 islands. the great lakes region includes the five lakes and many thousands of smaller lakes, often called inland lakes.
lake michigan and lake huron hit all-time record low levels in 2013.
the unusual shape of the great lakes has created the possibility of large waves called seiche. if a storm causes a fast, strong increase in air pressure on one side of a lake, the water level on that side of the lake will drop and suddenly push up the water level on the opposite side of the lake. a 10 foot tall wave in chicago caused several deaths in 1954.
ecological threats
the great lakes are home to a variety of species of fish and other organisms. in recent years, overfishing caused a decline in lake trout. the drop in lake trout increased the alewife population. in response, the government introduced salmon as a predator to decrease the alewife population. this program was so successful that the salmon population rose rapidly, and the states surrounding lake michigan promoted'salmon snagging'. this has been made illegal in all of the great lakes states except for a limited season in illinois. lake michigan is now being stocked with several species of fish. however, several invader species such as lampreys, round goby, and zebra mussels threaten the native fish populations.
invasive species
accidentally introduced species are a big problem. since the 19th century about 160 species have invaded the great lakes ecosystem, causing severe economic and ecological impacts. according to the inland seas education association, they deprive fish of food, cause blooms of toxic algae, and foul boats, spawning areas and drinking water intakes. on average a new invasive species enters the great lakes every eight months.
two important infestations in the great lakes are the zebra mussel, first discovered in 1988, and the quagga mussel in 1989. these molluscs are efficient filter feeders. they compete with native mussels, and also reduce available food and spawning grounds for fish.
also, the | 1,024 | 0 |
302 | the gnu free documentation license (gnu fdl or simply gfdl) is a copyleft license for open content such as software. it was made by the free software foundation (fsf) for the gnu project. it was initially created for use with software documentation, but can be applied to other types of works as well, such as wikipedia.
as a copyright license, the gfdl is a type of contract between the creator of a copyrightable work (such as a book, an encyclopedia article, a painting, or a piece of music) and anyone else who might want to use it. the gfdl is considered "copyleft" because the license is meant to make it easier to use and re-use the copyrighted work, not to restrict its use.
if a copyrightable work is released under the gfdl, the creator of the work is saying that anyone else may reproduce, distribute, or modify the work, as long as they follow a set of requirements specified in the gfdl. among the requirements of the gfdl are that any new work created from the original work is also licensed under the gfdl—that is, once something is licensed as gfdl, it will always stay licensed as gfdl, and anything which uses it also is licensed as gfdl.
the gfdl also says that in order to distribute or modify a work licensed with the gfdl, the re-user must give credit to any previous authors of the work, and include a list of changes they made to the work.
finally, any work licensed with the gfdl must contain, somewhere, the entire text of the license. this provision has been criticized, because it is not always easy to include an entire, long license with a copyrighted work. in a book, for example, it is easy to include one extra page with the license, but if the work is something like a song, or a photograph, it is not easy.
the gfdl has other requirements that are more complicated. for example, if part of the work is labeled as an "invariant section," it cannot ever be removed or changed by someone using the work ("invariant" means "does not change").
works licensed under the gfdl may be included in with non-gfdl-licensed works only if it is clear which parts of the work are licensed as the gfdl. for example, in a book of poetry it would be easy to label some poems as licensed under the gfdl and some not licensed under it. but it would not be easy to label if part of a song was licensed as gfdl and the rest was not, so this would not be allowed.
any use of gfdl material which violates the terms of the gfdl is potentially copyright infringement. infringement issues are managed through a community based approach with the approval and assistance of the free software foundation.
a number of online projects use the gfdl. an online project to license its content under the gfdl is wikipedia.
the gfdl has been criticized by many people who wish that it made it even easier for content to be re-used. among the criticisms are that it is very hard to combine gfdl material with other copyleft licenses, that it is not always clear and easy to understand, and that some of its requirements, such as the "invariant sections", are not free at all.
history
the gfdl was released in draft form for feedback in september 1999. after revisions, version 1.1 was issued in march 2000, version 1.2 in november 2002, and version 1.3 in november 2008. the current state of the license is version 1.3.
conditions
material licensed under the current version of the license can | 1,024 | 0 |
304 | Glass is a hard material that can be made in many shapes. It is usually transparent, but it can also be made in colours. Glass is mainly made of silica; glass made of silica only is called silica glass. It originated in India.
Glass used to make windows and bottles is a specific type called soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silicon dioxide (SiO2), sodium oxide (Na2O) from sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), calcium oxide, also called lime (CaO), and several minor additives.
By changing the proportions, and adding different ingredients, many kinds of glass can be made. Coloured glass is made by adding small amounts of metal oxides. For example, a blue colour is given by tiny amounts of cobalt oxide.
Crystal glass is made by adding lead and zinc oxides. It is not actually a crystal because all glass is a non-crystalline solid. Crystal glass is called cut glass if it has been cut by hand:
" 'Cut glass' is glass that has been decorated entirely by hand by use of rotating wheels. Cuts are made in an otherwise completely smooth surface of the glass by workers holding and moving the piece against various sized metal or stone wheels".
Because glass is used to make lenses, the word "glasses" often means eyeglasses.
The myth that glass is actually a liquid comes from the fact that old windows in houses and churches (200–300 years old) are sometimes a little out of shape: thicker at the bottom than the top. This is actually due to the process of glass making in the past which led to the glass pane being thicker at one edge than the other. It was sensible to install the windows with the thick edge at the bottom. Sometimes a window can be found with the thick edge at the top of the window.
Glass can be recycled over and over. Glass bottles and jars can easily be recycled to make new glass bottles and jars or used in industry as aggregate (building material) or sand. | 536 | 0 |
305 | god is a being or spirit worshipped as a deity. he is considered to be the creator of the universe in some religions. theists believe that god created everything that exists and has ever existed. some theists think god is immortal (cannot die) and has power without limits. deism is the belief that god exists, but god does not very often change or never changes things in the universe. pantheism is the belief that the universe is god, while atheism is the belief that there are no deities. agnostics think we cannot know for sure whether god or gods exist, but still might (or might not) believe at least one deity exists. people who believe that the word "god" should be defined before taking a theological position are ignostic.
in some religions, there is only one deity, god. this is called monotheism. some monotheistic religions are the abrahamic religions (christianity, judaism, and islam), the bahá'í faith, and sikhism. in other religions there are many gods. this is polytheism. some polytheistic religions are hinduism, shinto, taoism, paganism, wicca and some variants of buddhism. some say that there is one god who can come in many forms, or that there is one god that is more powerful than the other gods.
in philosophy and theology, people normally write about a god that has a personality but no body and is everywhere at once; that god made the world and time and is separate from the world; that no-one made god; that god knows everything and has all power; that god is both free and good; and that god is perfect and the start of all morality.
there are different names for god in different religions. some examples are yahweh, elohim in judaism and christianity, allah in islam, baha in bahá'í faith, and ahura mazda in zoroastrianism.
in english, people write the words "god" and "gods" are in lowercase letters. people that believe in only on god (monotheists) like to write god with a capital letter. some people that believe in more than one god (polytheists) also like to use capital letters when writing about their gods. most people that believe in god or gods do not believe in the gods of other religions.
does god exist?
many people have asked themselves if god exists. philosophers, theologians, and others have tried to prove that it exists. others have tried to disprove the hypothesis. in philosophical terminology, such arguments are about the epistemology of the ontology of god. the debate exists mainly in philosophy, because science does not address whether or not supernatural things exist.
there are many philosophical issues with the existence of god. some definitions of god are not specific. arguments for the existence of god typically include metaphysical, empirical, inductive, and subjective types. some theories try to explain order and complexity in the world without evolution or scientific method. arguments against the existence of god typically include empirical, deductive, and inductive arguments. conclusions sometimes include: "god does not exist" (strong atheism); "god almost certainly does not exist" (de facto atheism); "no one knows whether god exists" (agnosticism); "god exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (deism or theism); and "god exists and this can be proven" (theism). there are many variations on these positions, and sometimes different names for some of them. for example, the position "god exists and this can be proven" is sometimes called "gnostic theism" or "strong theism".
believing in god
by the year 2000, approximately 53% of the world's population were part of one of the three main ab | 1,024 | 0 |
305 | god is a being or spirit worshipped as a deity. he is considered [...] rahamic religions (33% christian, 20% islam, less than 1% judaism), 6% with buddhism, 13% with hinduism, 6% with traditional chinese religion, 7% with various other religions, and less than 15% as non-religious. most of these religious beliefs involve god or gods. some religions do not believe in a god or do not include the concept of gods.
god in the abrahamic religions
abrahamic religions are very popular monotheistic ones. well-known abrahamic religions include judaism, christianity, and islam. monotheistic means the people in these religions believe there is only one god. the name of god is usually not allowed to be said in judaism, but some jews today call him yhwh (yahweh) or jehovah. muslims say the word allah, which is the arabic word for "god".
believers in the abrahamic religions (except islamic believers) believe that god has created human beings in his image, but this idea is not easily understood by humankind. one artistic idea is that of an wise elder man in use since the renaissance.
god in christianity
the christian bible talks about god in different ways. within christian canon the old testament talks about "god the father", whilst the gospels in the new testament are about jesus, or "god the son". many christians believe that jesus was god's incarnation on earth. christians consider the holy spirit to be god as well, the third person of god.
in the new testament, there are three beings who are said to be god in different forms: the father, the son, and the holy spirit (also known as the holy ghost). this is called the trinity. although the word "trinity" is not in the bible, the word used for god in chapter one of genesis is actually plural, and the phrase "in the name of the father, son and holy spirit' is used in the new testament, (e.g. matthew 28:19). another word that christians believe has exactly the same meaning as "trinity" is the word "godhead", which is in the bible.
christians believe that god incarnated in a human body, through the normal birth process, normally growing up into a man named jesus or (yeshua), coming to earth specifically to give every person an opportunity of salvation from their own evil, called sin. the effect of personal evil far transcends the repercussions humans cause to one another in the world, but affects one's relationship with god the father, and that aspect of the self cannot be addressed through one's own self-improvement efforts, but requires god to intervene in order to set one right. when jesus prayed and talked to god, he called him "father," and taught others to do the same.
jesus also taught that one must be born again in order to receive god's spirit, otherwise one remains separated from god, acting merely from their own mind, thus being vulnerable to deception by human philosophies or the many spiritual philosophies which do not come from god but from fallen angels, which are within various false religions. after a person consciously accepts the free gift of eternal life, which jesus's sacrifice offers, god comes to live in the individual, as god lived in humankind before the fall.
god in eastern religions
in hinduism, there is only one god, named brahman, but brahman is said to have taken on many different incarnations. some of these are rama, krishna, buddha, shiva, kali, parvati, and durga. to many outsiders, the worship of god's different incarnations is considered to be the worship of many gods. however, it is really only | 1,024 | 27 |
305 | god is a being or spirit worshipped as a deity. he is considered [...] the worship of one god in different ways.
some hindus also believe that the spirit of god lives in everyone. this idea is called advaita vedanta, which is the hindu term for monism.
religions like buddhism and confucianism involve the worship of many gods, or sometimes no gods at all.
in shinto, there is not a single specific god, as is in most religions, but instead, a wide variety of deities called kami, they are the spirit and essence of all nature things, both animate and inanimate, even including rocks, trees and poetry, for example. as shinto is a polytheistic religion, it is usually believed that there are eight-million kami (八百万の神 yaoyorozu-no-kami), in the japanese language, the number "eight-million" is normally used to mean infinity.
god in western philosophy
philosophers can talk about god or god; sometimes they talk about a specific god, but other times they are just talking about the idea of god.
one of the earliest western philosophers to write about god in a monotheistic way was the greek aristotle, who describes god as the supreme cause. aristotle saw god as a being that makes everything happen, but is not influenced by anything else.
the idea of an "all powerful" god raises some interesting questions. one of them is called the god paradox. it asks whether god can make a mountain (or rock) that is so heavy he cannot lift it. the question considers if a god "who can do anything" could do two things that are mutually contradictory.
there have been several attempts to prove the existence of god with logic. blaise pascal said that it is better to believe there is a god, than to believe there isn't. this argument is known as pascal's wager today. note that blaise pascal was a mathematician, and he used this argument to illustrate the concept of expected value in statistics. other attempts known as the ontological argument, the cosmological argument, and teleological argument today. kurt gödel formulated an argument for the existence of god using modal logic in the 1970s. | 607 | 27 |
306 | In folklore, a ghost is thought to be the spirit of a dead person which tried very much to scare us or they are referred to as the supernatural by others. Scientists say that there are no real ghosts, but many people believe that there are. There are a huge amount of stories about ghosts in books and movies. Sometimes the ghost is the spirit of a person who was killed by someone or who was already dead.
The ghost may stay on Earth because he or she has unfinished problems or is still trying to say goodbye to people who they missed. Sometimes ghosts are said to live in a particular locality, for example an abandoned house or a place that existed hundreds of years ago.
Sometimes the ghosts in these stories exist because of some problem the person had during life or to say goodbye to loved ones, that was not solved before he or she died. The ghost stays on Earth trying to fix the problem. If the problem is fixed, the ghost can leave. Many people say they have seen or heard ghosts. People who try to talk to ghosts as their job are called mediums.
There can be bad ghosts and there can also be good ones. There have never been any ghosts that have actually hurt or killed people, although people tell stories about it.
Many people believe they have seen ghosts. Others believe they have felt ghosts near them. Often the ghost is said to appear as a feeling of cold and a light or a misty cloud, but sometimes people say they have seen ghosts that look more like people. Sometimes ghosts are said to come in human form. Some ghosts might cause fear in the person who sees them, by being seen suddenly. Some ghosts are said to be friendly and help people who have problems. People or animals that can sense ghosts cannot feel them touching them as they are the spirit of a person, or a personified force.
Ghosts are said to form right after people die, or even centuries later. Many people make up stories or urban legends. Many try to prove the existence of these paranormal creatures with special technology such as heat sensors. They also make TV shows dedicated to proving the existence of ghosts. They often investigate cases where a person has seen one or visit a place of sighting.
Stories of ghosts can be found all over the world. Chinese philosopher Confucius said "Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them."
The most feared spirit in Thailand is Phi Tai Hong, the ghost of a person who has died suddenly of a violent death. The Koran discusses spirits known as jinn. In Europe there is the recurring fear of "returning" or revenant deceased who may harm the living. This includes the Scandinavian , the Romanian , the Serbian vampir, the Greek vrykolakas among others.
Modern times
In modern days, ghosts have become common features in horror and fantasy stories. Their appearance can take the form of the person they once were or sometimes they are depicted wearing white cloaks over their body and face.
At Halloween, many people dress up as ghosts. | 811 | 0 |
308 | Green is a color between the yellow and blue colors in the rainbow. Green is a primary color (a color that can be mixed with another color) of light. The others are red and blue.
Green and blue are next to each other on the spectrum, and there are languages which do not distinguish between them. Examples are old Chinese, Thai, old Japanese, and Vietnamese.
Green paint can be made by mixing yellow paint and blue tempera paint together.
Green light, like all light, is quanta—composed of photons. The wavelength of green light is about 550 nanometers (one-billionth of a meter).
Most leaves of growing plants, such as trees and bushes, are green. This is because there is a chemical in leaves, called chlorophyll, which is colored green.
See color vision for more on the significance of green.
Meaning of green
Green is used as a color associated with jealousy. The phrase "green-eyed monster" means a jealous person.
The color green is the color of nature. Having a "green thumb" means that you're good at gardening.
Green is a color associated with poison. Paris green is a highly toxic chemical compound.
Green is a color of the Islamic religion. Search the shade "Islamic Green" below.
Green is also the color of sickness. The phrase "green around the gills" is an expression implying that the person is nauseated.
Comparison of green, teal, blue and ultramarine
Tones of green color comparison chart
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by range with a wavelength of roughly 570-520 nm. | 465 | 0 |
309 | God's eye view is a name for a point of view where the speaker or writer assumes he or she has knowledge only God would have. It appears several ways:
In religion, when an institution claims to speak for a divine being.
In writing, when a writer leaves the point of view of the main actor to start writing about things they could not know if the story were in real life.
In science, when a scientist ignores the way a subject-object problem affects statistics or an observer effect affects experiment.
In medicine when a doctor makes a claim that The Gaze they use on a patient, actually sees the problem, rather than making a guess at a problem.
In ethics when a statement is made about who or what is right, without an honest attempt to make the process of deciding this consider all points of view.
A special case of the last is in a wiki with a GodKing. Often this person can get others to believe what they say about what is right, without making any special effort to be fair to other views.
Many people think René Descartes took a God's eye view when he said cogito ergo sum. George Berkeley argued that optics from Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler also had this problem.
Social sciences | 324 | 0 |
310 | google llc is an american multinational corporation from the united states. it is known for creating and running one of the largest search engines on the world wide web (www). every day more than a billion people use it. google's headquarters (known as the "googleplex") is in mountain view, california, part of silicon valley. the motto of google is "do the right thing".
since september 2, 2015, google has been owned by a holding company called alphabet inc.. that company has taken over some of google's other projects, such as its driverless cars. it is a public company that trades on the nasdaq under the ticker symbols goog and googl.
google's search engine can find pictures, videos, news, usenet newsgroups, and things to buy online. by june 2004, google had 4.28 billion web pages on its database, 880 million pictures and 845 million usenet messages—six billion things. google's american website has an alexa rank of 1, meaning it is the most widely visited website in the world. it is so widely known that people sometimes use the word "google" as a verb that means "to search for something on google". because more than half of people on the web use it, "google" has also been used to mean "to search the web".
history
larry page and sergey brin, two students at stanford university, usa, started backrub in early 1996. they made it into a company, google inc., on september 7, 1998, at a friend's garage in menlo park, california. in february 1999, the company moved to 165 university ave., palo alto, california, and then moved to another place called the googleplex.
in september 2001, google's rating system (pagerank, for saying which information is more helpful) got a u.s. patent. the patent was to stanford university, with lawrence (larry) page as the inventor (the person who first had the idea).
google makes a percentage of its money through america online and interactivecorp. it has a special group known as the partner solutions organization (pso) which helps make contracts, helps to make accounts better and gives engineering help.
advertising
google makes money by advertising. people or companies who want people to buy their product, service, or ideas give google money, and google shows an advertisement to people google thinks will click on the advertisement. google only gets money when people click on the link, so it tries to know as much about people as possible to only show the advertisement to the "right people". it does this with google analytics, which sends data back to google whenever someone visits a website. from this and other data, google makes a profile about the person and then uses this profile to figure out which advertisements to show.
branding
the name "google" is a misspelling of the word googol. milton sirotta, nephew of u.s. mathematician edward kasner, made this word in 1937, for the number 1 followed by one hundred zeroes (10100). google uses this word because the company wants to make lots of stuff on the web easy to find and use. andy bechtolsheim thought of the name.
the name for google's main office, the "googleplex," is a play on a different, even bigger number, the "googolplex", which is 1 followed by one googol of zeroes 1010100.
products
android is an operating system for mobile devices and was originally made by google as part of the open handset alliance, which google leads. it is the chief competitor to apple's ios and windows phone by microsoft (now dis | 1,024 | 0 |
310 | google llc is an american multinational corporation from the united states. it [...] continued).
google adsense is a free program that enables website publishers of all sizes to display relevant google ads and earn money.
google analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives one rich insights into his website traffic and marketing effectiveness.
google alerts google alerts are email updates of the latest relevant google results (web, news, etc.) based on one's choice of query or topic.
google allo was software for discussing with other people live.
google assistant is a virtual assistant application built into android devices.
blogger is a free tool that allows users to publish blogs on a google website.
google books lets people search for books.
google calendar is an online calendar.
google chrome is a web browser that google made.
google classroom is an online system for students. it was popular during covid-19.
google docs is an online google full of docs.
google drive is an online document editor.
google earth is the 3d version of google maps with a digital globe.
google groups is a place for users to discuss topics. google bought deja news in 2001 and made it into google groups.
google images is an image search utility.
google maps is a service from google to provide satellite pictures and road maps for everywhere around the world.
google news is a facility which shows news stories from over 4,500 news sources. google news archives
google pay is a way to pay online. users can send money using their credit cards or bank accounts to other users.
google photos is a software for organizing and editing photos.
google play is a sector that has games, and other things.
google products is a pack of google software.
google search is a search utility.
google shopping lets the user find out about things for sale on the internet.
google translate is an online translation service. it can translate websites and text into other languages.
google sites is a service for making websites.
google video is a video search utility.
google+ was a social networking service that is like facebook. the service launched on june 28, 2011.
gmail is an e-mail service that google started in 2004. it is called google mail in the united kingdom and germany. users get free space to store e-mail.
hangouts is an instant messenger where one can talk to friends. it ended up shutting down on november 1, 2021.
sidewalk labs
tenor is a search utility for gif files
waze is a navigation service that gives driving directions.
youtube is a video hosting service which was bought by google from paypal for 1.65 billion dollars and now runs as a google service. | 749 | 27 |
311 | A gallon is a volumetric unit of measurement. People have used many different gallons throughout history. Only two gallons are still commonly used, which are the imperial and U.S. liquid gallon.This is 3,57 liter
Sale of petrol
Petrol, also known as gasoline, is sold by the imperial gallon in four British Overseas Territories (Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Montserrat) and six countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines). All of the countries and territories just mentioned also use miles per hour for speed limits and drive on the left side of the road.
Gasoline is sold by the U.S. gallon in Belize, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, and Peru, as well as in the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
Sizes | 293 | 0 |
312 | a government is a group of people that have the power to rule in a territory, according to the administrative law. this territory may be a country, a state or province within a country, or a region. there are many types of government, such as democratic, parliamentary, presidential, federal or unitary.
works
governments make laws, rules and regulations, collect taxes and print money.
governments have monopolies on the legal use of force.
governments have systems of justice that list the acts or activities that are against the law and describe the punishments for breaking the law.
governments have a police force to make sure people follow the laws.
governments have diplomats who communicate with the governments of other countries by having meetings. diplomats try to solve problems or disagreements between two countries, which can help countries to avoid war, make commercial agreements, and exchange cultural or social experiences and knowledge.
governments have a military force such as an army that protects the country from terrorists and other major threats that attack or which can be used to attack and invade other countries.
the leader of a government may have advisors and ministers for various departments. together they are called the administration.
types of governments
plato listed five kinds of government in the republic:
democracy
the most common type of government in the western world is called democracy. in democracies, people in a country can vote during elections for representatives or political parties that they prefer. the people in democracies can elect representatives who will sit on legislatures such as the parliament or congress. political parties are organizations of people with similar ideas about how a country or region should be governed. different political parties have different ideas about how the government should handle different problems. democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people.
however, many countries have forms of democracy which limit freedom of choice by the voters. one of the most common ways is to limit which parties can stand for parliament, or limit the parties' access to mass media such as television. another way is to rig (unfairly manipulate or interfere with) the voting system by removing votes from opposition voters and substituting votes for the party in power. few countries are textbook (classic, paradigmatic) democracies, and the differences between them has been much studied.
monarchy
a monarchy is a government ruled by a king or a queen who inherits their position from their family, which is often called the "royal family." there are two types of monarchies: absolute monarchies and constitutional monarchies. in an absolute monarchy, the ruler has no limits on their wishes or powers. in a constitutional monarchy a ruler's powers are limited by a document called a constitution.
in modern times, monarchies still exist in great britain and the commonwealth, the netherlands, spain, japan, saudi arabia, and thailand, along with several other countries. a monarch may have one of several titles: king or queen, emperor or empress, or emir.
aristocracy
an aristocracy is a government run by the people of a ruling class, usually people who come from wealthy families with a particular set of values, or people who come from a particular place. a person who rules in an aristocracy is an aristocrat. aristocracy is different from nobility, in that nobility means that one bloodline would rule, whereas an aristocracy would mean that a few or many bloodlines would rule, or that rulers be chosen in a different manner.
dictatorship
under a dictatorship, the government is run by one person who has all the power over the people in a country. a dictatorship may also be called one-man rule, autocracy or tyranny.
originally, the roman republic made dictators to lead during time of war. the roman dictators (and greek tyrants) were not always cruel or unkind, but they did hold power all by themselves, rather than sharing | 1,024 | 0 |
312 | a government is a group of people that have the power to rule in a territory, [...] power with the people. roman dictators only held power for a short period of time.
in modern times, a dictator's rule is not stopped by any laws, constitutions, or other social and political institutions, and can last many years or even decades. after leaving the spanish empire, many countries in latin america were dictatorships. world war ii was partly a war between dictators, and later new countries in asia and africa also were ruled by dictators. examples of dictators include josef stalin, adolf hitler, augusto pinochet, idi amin, muammar al-qaddafi, and gamal abdul nasser. these men ruled from when they took power until when they died, because they would not let anyone else take power from them. there is no evidence of a woman serving as a dictator in modern times.
oligarchy
an oligarchy is a government ruled by a small group of powerful people. these people may spread power equally or not equally. more so a different version of a monarchy, where everyone makes decisions together instead of one person making them all or telling people what to do, such as in a dictatorship. an oligarchy is different from a true democracy because very few people are given the chance to change things. an oligarchy does not have to be hereditary or passed down from father to son. an oligarchy does not have one clear ruler, but several powerful people. some past examples of oligarchy are the former union of soviet socialist republics and apartheid south africa. a fictional example is the dystopian society of oceania in the book nineteen eighty-four. some critics of representative democracy think of the united states as an oligarchy. this view is shared by anarchists. an oligarchy may have a leader in the ruling group.
the history and the theory of government
the simplest idea of government is those who rule over people and land. this may be as small as a community or village or as big as a continent (like australia and india).
the people who rule can allow others to own land. it is a deed by government that gives this right in the way that laws describe. some think they have the right to hold land without government permission. this view is called libertarianism. others think they can do without government. this view is called anarchism.
almost every place on earth is connected to one and only one government. places without government are where people follow traditions instead of government rules, small border disputed areas and the continent of antarctica, because almost no people live there. for every other place on earth there is a government that claims'sovereign control' over it. the word "sovereign" is old and means "control by a king" (sovereign). governments of villages, cities, counties and other communities are subordinate to the government of the state or province where they exist, and then to that of the country.
it is from kings and feudalism that modern governments and nation states came. the capital of a country, for instance, is where the king kept his assets. from this we get the modern idea of capital in economics. a government may regulate trade as well as to rule over land.
governments also control people and decide things about what morality to accept or punish. in many countries, there are strict rules about sexual intercourse and drugs which are part of law and offenders are punished for disobeying them.
tax is how government is paid for in most countries. people who buy, sell, import, invest, own a house or land, or earn money are made to pay some of the money to a government.
there are many theories of how to organize government better. these are called theories of civics. many people think leaders must be elected by some kind of democracy. that way, they can be replaced at election. many governments are not a democracy but other forms in which only a few people have power.
there are many theories of how to run a | 1,024 | 27 |
314 | a galaxy is a group of many stars, with gas, dust, and dark matter. the name 'galaxy' is taken from the greek word galaxia meaning milky, a reference to our own galaxy, the milky way.
gravity holds galaxies together against the general expansion of the universe. in effect, the expansion of the universe takes place between groups of galaxies, not inside those groups. gravity holds the galaxy together. the same applies to groups and clusters of galaxies, such as our local group where the milky way is, and the virgo cluster, a collection of more than 1,000 (might even be 2,000) galaxies. the gravitation is produced by the matter and energy in a galaxy or group of galaxies. everything in a galaxy moves around a centre of mass, which is also an effect of gravity.
there are various types of galaxies: elliptical, spiral and lenticular galaxies, which can all be with or without bars. then there are irregular galaxies. all galaxies exist inside the universe. the observable universe contains more than 2 trillion (1012) galaxies and, overall, as many as an estimated stars (more stars than all the grains of sand on planet earth).
description
there are galaxies of different sizes and type. typical galaxies range from dwarfs with as few as ten million (107) stars up to giants with a hundred trillion (1014) stars, all orbiting the galaxy's center of mass. galaxies may contain many multiple star systems, star clusters, and various interstellar clouds. the sun is one of the stars in the milky way galaxy; the solar system includes the earth and all the other objects that orbit the sun.
star clusters are not galaxies, they are inside galaxies. globular clusters are spherical-shaped star clusters which are part of the outer halo of the milky way. one of the largest (and oldest) known star clusters, messier 15, has several million stars, packed closely together, with a black hole at its centre. the stars are too closely packed to get an accurate count, but it certainly has more stars than some of the smaller galaxies.
within galaxy clusters, galaxies move relative to other galaxies. they can and do collide. when this happens, the stars generally move past each other, but gas clouds and dust interact, and can form a burst of new stars. gravity pulls both galaxies into somewhat new shapes, forming bars, rings or tail-like structures.
many galaxies continue to form new generations of stars. the milky way, and all spiral shaped galaxies like it (see right side image of ngc 2997), produce new stars at a rate of one or two stars per year. this star formation happens in the vast interstellar clouds that account for about 1% to 10% of the mass of these galaxies. globular star clusters, on the other hand, are not currently forming stars because this activity happened billions of years ago and then stopped once all of the gas and dust clouds were used up.
in the astronomical literature, the word 'galaxy' with a capital g is used for our galaxy, the milky way. the billions of other galaxies are written as 'galaxy' with a lowercase g. the term milky way first came out in the english language in a poem by chaucer.
when william herschel wrote his catalogue of deep sky objects, he used the name spiral nebula for objects like the andromeda galaxy. 200 years later astronomers discovered that they are made of stars as the milky way is, so the term 'nebula' is now only used for diffuse structures within a galaxy.
types
there are two main kinds of galaxies, spiral galaxy and elliptical galaxy. they are classified according to the hubble sequence.
spiral galaxy
a spiral galaxy is a | 1,024 | 0 |
314 | a galaxy is a group of many stars, with gas, dust, and dark matter. [...] galaxy that has a spiral shape. most of the galaxies in the universe observed by astronomers are spiral galaxies (about 77%).
they are divided into two :
barred spiral galaxy (classified as "sb")
unbarred spiral galaxy (classified as "sa")
ngc 1300 and ngc 1672 are examples of barred spiral galaxies. the whirlpool galaxy and messier 81 are examples of unbarred spiral galaxies.
the identifying characteristics of a spiral galaxy are disk-shaped rotating, spiral arms, and a bulge in the galactic core. the spiral arms are where new hot stars are born. "bulge" in the galactic core has old stars. this feature is common to the most spiral galaxies.
elliptical galaxy
an elliptical galaxy is a galaxy that has a ellipsoid (3d of ellipse) shape. this type of galaxy are dominant in universe, especially in galaxy clusters. the shape ranges from circle, ellipse, and cigar-shaped. in hubble sequence, this shape can be represented as class :
e0 (circle-shape)
e53 (ellipse-shape)
e7 (cigar-shaped)
elliptical galaxies have a large range in size. the giant elliptical galaxy can be over a more 1 million light years and the smallest (know as "dwarf elliptical galaxy") are less than one-tenth the size of milky way the effective radius defines the area from which half its light comes. the mass of elliptical galaxy is also large. a giant elliptical galaxy can have mass of 1013 (many trillions) of solar masses.
other kinds of galaxies
a lenticular galaxy is a galaxy seen as a disc shape. the shape of a lenticular galaxy can be between spiral galaxy and elliptical galaxy. the shape can be known by looking at the bulge of the galactic center. if the bulge is very bright, it is a spiral galaxy | 602 | 27 |
315 | Geometry (from Ancient Greek: Γεωμετρία (romanized: Geometria (English: "Land measurement") derived from Γη (romanized: Ge; English: "Earth" or "land") and also derived from Μέτρον) (romanized: Métron; English: "A measure")) is a branch of mathematics that studies the size, shapes, positions and dimensions of things. We can only see shapes that are flat (2D) or solid (3D), but mathematicians (people who study math) are able to study shapes that are 4D, 5D, 6D, and so on.
Squares, circles and triangles are some of the simplest shapes in flat geometry. Cubes, cylinders, cones and spheres are simple shapes in solid geometry.
Uses
Plane geometry can be used to measure the area and perimeter of a flat shape. Solid geometry can measure a solid shape's volume and surface area.
Geometry can be used to calculate the size and shape of many things. For example, geometry can help people find:
the surface area of a house, so they can buy the right amount of paint
the volume of a box, to see if it is big enough to hold a liter of food
the area of a farm, so it can be divided into equal parts
the distance around the edge of a pond, to know how much fencing to buy.
Origins
Geometry is one of the oldest branches of mathematics. Geometry began as the art of surveying of land so that it could be shared fairly between people. The word "geometry" is from a Greek word that means "to measure the land". It has grown from this to become one of the most important parts of mathematics. The Greek mathematician Euclid wrote the first book about geometry, a book called The Elements.
Non-Euclidean geometry
Plane and solid geometry, as described by Euclid in his textbook Elements, is called "Euclidean Geometry". This was simply called "geometry" for centuries. In the 19th century, mathematicians created several new kinds of geometry that changed the rules of Euclidean geometry. These and earlier kinds were called "non-Euclidean" (not created by Euclid). For example, hyperbolic geometry and elliptic geometry come from changing Euclid's parallel postulate.
Non-Euclidean geometry is more complicated than Euclidean geometry but has many uses. Spherical geometry for example is used in astronomy and cartography.
Examples
Geometry starts with a few simple ideas that are thought to be true, called axioms. Such as:
A point is shown on paper by touching it with a pencil or pen, without making any sideways movement. We know where the point is, but it has no size.
A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. For example, Sophie pulls a piece of string from one point to another point. A straight line between the two points will follow the path of the tight string.
A plane is a flat surface that does not stop in any direction. For example, imagine a wall that extends in all directions infinitely. | 867 | 0 |
316 | graph theory is a field of mathematics about graphs. a graph is an abstract representation of: a number of points that are connected by lines. each point is usually called a vertex (more than one are called vertices), and the lines are called edges. graphs are a tool for modelling relationships. they are used to find answers to a number of problems.
some of these questions are:
what is the best way for a mailman to get to all of the houses in the area in the least amount of time? the points could represent street corners and lines could represent the houses along the street. (see chinese postman problem)
a salesman has to visit different customers, but wants to keep the distance traveled as small as possible. the problem is to find a way so they can do it. this problem is known as travelling salesman problem (and often abbreviated tsp). it is among the hardest problems to solve. if a commonly believed conjecture is true (described as p ≠ np), then an exact solution requires one to try all possible routes to find which is shortest.
how many colors would be needed to color a map, if countries sharing a border are colored differently? the points could represent the different areas and the lines could represent that two areas are neighboring. (look at the four color theorem)
can a sketch be drawn in one closed line? the lines of the drawing are the lines of the graph and when two or more lines collide, there is a point in the graph. the task is now to find a way through the graph using each line one time. (look at seven bridges of königsberg)
different kinds of graphs
graph theory has many aspects. graphs can be directed or undirected. an example of a directed graph would be the system of roads in a city. some streets in the city are one way streets. this means, that on those parts there is only one direction to follow.
graphs can be weighted. an example would be a road network, with distances, or with tolls (for roads).
the nodes (the circles in the schematic) of a graph are called vertices. the lines connecting the nodes are called edges. there can be no line between two nodes, there can be one line, or there can be multiple lines.
in graph theory, trees structures are widely used, they represent hierarchical structures. a tree is a directed or undirected graph where there is no cycle, meaning: no way of going from one vertex (for example a town) to the same one using each edge you use only once (walking only once on each road you take).
history
→
→
a visualization of the seven bridges of königberg. leonhard euler solved this problem in 1736, which led to the development of topology, and modern graph theory.
a graph is an abstract data structure. it holds nodes that are usually related to each other. a node is a dataset, typically in the form of ordered pairs. nodes are either connected or not connected to another node. the relation between nodes is usually defined as an edge. graphs are useful for their ability to associate nodes with other nodes.
there are a few representations of graphs in practice.
leonhard euler used to live in a town called königsberg. (its name changed to kaliningrad in 1946). the town is on the river pregel. there is an island in the river. there are some bridges across the river. euler wanted to walk around and use each of the bridges once. he asked if he could do this. in 1736, he published a scientific article where he showed that this was not possible. today, this problem is known as the seven bridges of königsberg. the article is seen as the first paper in the history of graph theory.
this article, as well as the one written by vandermonde on the knight problem, carried on with the analysis situs initiated by | 1,024 | 0 |
323 | Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public.
Herm is only 1 miles long. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are banned too. The sandy white beaches make Herm a walker's paradise.
Population: 60 (2002).
Islands of the Channel Islands | 103 | 0 |
324 | history is the study of past events. people know what happened in the past by looking at things from the past including sources (like books, newspapers, scripts and letters), buildings and artifacts (like pottery, tools, coins and human or animal remains.) libraries, archives, and museums collect and keep these things for people to study history. a person who studies history is called a historian. a person who studies pre-history and history through things left behind by ancient cultures is called an archaeologist. a person who studies mankind and society is called an anthropologist. the study of the sources and methods used to study and write history is called historiography.
people can learn about the past by talking to people who remember things that happened at some point in the past. this is called oral history. for example, when people who had been slaves and american civil war survivors got old, some historians recorded them talking about their lives, so that history would not be lost.
in old times people in different parts of the world kept separate histories because they did not meet each other very often. some groups of people never met each other. the rulers of medieval europe, ancient rome and ancient china each thought that they ruled the only important parts of the world and that other parts were "barbarian". but they were still connected, even if they didn't realize it.
the term "historically" is used to say that something has been a certain way during most of its history. for example, a historically female university is a university which has had a student body that was mostly or entirely female for most of its history. the term is often used for historically female and historically black (african american) schools.
timeline of history
pre-history
ancient history
sumer
ancient egypt
babylonia
ancient armenia
ancient greece
ancient india
ancient china and japan, korea, mongolia
ancient southeast asia - cambodia - thailand - indonesia
ancient north america - iroquois, mohawk, huron, haida, lenape, mohican, cree, sioux, inuit, dene
ancient central america - aztecs, maya, olmecs, toltecs, teotihuacan, mixtecs
ancient south america - inca, chimu, tihuanacu, huari
ancient africa
ancient australia
roman empire
christian rome - justinian to the rise of byzantium
chinese dynasties
byzantine empire
early islamic caliphate - muhammad to the crusades
early middle ages - end of european dark ages to rise of roman catholic church
high middle ages and the crusades - conflict with islam, cathars, pagan tribes in lithuania, etc.
late middle ages - 13th century to 15th century
late islamic caliphate - to fall of muslim spain
mongol empire
renaissance - 15th century renewal of science etc., based on texts from ancient greece and roman empire that were preserved by muslims and captured by christians
european colonization of the americas - 15th century impact on america
spanish empire
british empire
baroque era - mid 16th century to mid-late 18th century
conflict of ottoman empire with austria-hungary
rise of the qing dynasty in china
enlightenment - mid 17th century to late 18th century
19th century
british empire
20th century
history of australia since colonizing australia
history of the united states
modern history and origins of modern world power structure
world war i
world war ii
united nations ascendance - how it became so central.
chinese revolution, partition of india, north atlantic treaty organisation (nato)
us-soviet cold war including korean war, vietnam war, soviet-afghan war
recent conflicts in the muslim world - arab-israeli wars, us invasion of afghanistan, us invasion of iraq
recent conflicts in west | 1,024 | 0 |
325 | Health is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease" according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Physical health is about the body. Mental health is about how people think and feel. Social health talks about how people live with other people. It is about family, work, school, and friends.
Aspects of health
Physical health
Physical fitness refers to good body health. It is dependent on genetic determinators and also on social, economic and ecological factors. That means, one's genes are partly responsible for one's physical health, but also other circumstances: where you live, how clean or polluted your water and the air around you is and also how good your social and medical system is. It is also the result of regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and proper rest for physical recovery. A person who is physically fit will be able to walk or run without getting breathless and they will be able to carry out the activities of everyday living and not need help. How much each person can do will depend on their age and whether they are a man or woman. A physically fit person usually has a normal weight for their height. The relation between their height and weight is called their Body Mass Index. A taller person can be heavier and still be fit. If a person is too heavy or too thin for their height it may affect their health. Better health is central to human happiness and well-being. It also makes an important contribution to economic progress, as healthy populations live longer, are more productive, and save more. Many factors influence health status and a country's ability to provide quality health services for its people.
Mental health
Mental health refers to a person's emotional and psychological well-being. "A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her thinking and emotional (feeling) abilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life."
One way to think about mental health is by looking at how well a person functions. Feeling capable and efficient; being able to handle normal levels of stress, have good friends and family, and lead an independent life; and being able to "bounce back," or recover from hardships, are all signs of mental health. It’s normal for all of us to feel worried, sad, upset, or have difficult emotions from time to time. For most people though, these feelings are only temporary and are resolved without causing any long-term problems. However, for some people, these negative feelings can become worse over time and lead to a mental health problem such as depression, anxiety, stress or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Public health
Public health refers to trying to stop a disease that is unhealthy to the community, and does not help in living a long life or promote your health. This is fixed by organized efforts and choices of society, public and private clubs, communities and individuals.
It is about the health of many people, or everybody, rather than one person. Public health stops instead of encouraging a disease through surveillance of cases. To prevent being sick, it is good to act according to some simple advice: Hand washing, regular check-ups, vaccination programmes, drinking clean water, and using condoms. When infectious diseases break out, washing hands for about 30 seconds may be especially important. Sometimes it is necessary to avoid masses of people or wear a surgical mask to protect yourself and to stop the spreading of the disease. Teaching people how to live healthily and educate them, especially about sex and childbirth, is also very important. | 925 | 0 |
326 | A harbor (American English) or harbour (British English) is a place where ships may shelter. Some harbours are used as ports to load and unload ships. The port will have quays or piers where the ships may be moored or tied up and a transport system for taking goods inland. Often railway and road transport will be used. Goods also move by pipeline transport and by smaller ships on rivers.
Harbor means to shelter or keep safe. Harbors can be natural as in San Francisco or artificial as in ancient Carthage or a mix of both. During the D-Day operations of 1944, two artificial harbors (named mulberry) were built just off the beaches where the invasion was happening. | 187 | 0 |
332 | Hawaii (sometimes spelled "Hawai'i") is a U.S. state and the only U.S. State that is in Oceania. It is the last state that joined the United States, becoming a state on August 21, 1959. It is the only state made only of islands. Hawaii is also the name of the largest island. The capital and largest city of Hawaii is Honolulu on the island named Oahu.
Name
Hawaii is known as the "Aloha State". Aloha is a Hawaiian word that has many meanings like welcome, hello and goodbye. Aloha also means love and care. The different meanings are brought together in the term "Aloha Spirit" to describe the friendly people of Hawaii.
Geography
Hawaii is an archipelago, a long chain of islands. There are eight main islands and many small islands and atolls. They are the tops of underwater volcanos. The main islands are Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and Hawaii.
History
The first people of Hawaii were Polynesians. They came to the islands sometime between 200 and 600 AD. Captain James Cook discovered the islands in 1778. Others may have been there before him. Captain Cook named the islands the Sandwich Islands for the fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montague.
Kamehameha I was the first king of Hawaii. He united the separate small Hawaiian kingdoms into one large kingdom in 1795. In 1893, American soldiers stopped Queen Liliuokalani from leading Hawaii when American business people took over the government and made their own laws. She was the last monarch of Hawaii. She also wrote the original words of the song called Aloha Oe.
The Americans made Hawaii into a republic for a short time. The new leader, Sanford Dole was called the President of Hawaii. In 1898, the United States of America took over the government and made Hawaii into a territory.In 1907, University of Hawaiʻi is established. In 1959, Hawaii became the fiftieth American state. In other words, it was taken ("annexed") against the wishes of its native people. Their queen, Lili’uokalani, wrote that “it had not entered into our hearts to believe that these friends and allies from the United States… would ever go so far as to absolutely overthrow our form of government, seize our nation by the throat, and pass it over to an alien power”.
Reason for statehood
Early in World War II the U.S. Pacific Fleet was based on the Philippines. Perceiving that this was not safe, the navy moved its base to the Hawaiian islands, namely Oahu (the main island in the chain). It was there that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. That was significant in the later discussions about the future of the islands.
Economy
The biggest industry of Hawaii is tourism. Almost seven million people visited in 2000. Important exports are sugar, pineapple, macadamia nuts, and coffee.
Popular tourist sites include Waikiki Beach, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Polynesian Cultural Center, and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.
State symbols
The state flower is the yellow hibiscus (Hibiscus brackenridgei or ). The state bird is the Hawaiian goose (nene). The state fish is the reef triggerfish, also called the . The state tree is the candlenut, also called kukui. The state song is Hawaii Ponoi. The state motto is . In English it says, The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. | 1,019 | 0 |
333 | Honolulu is the capital city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is also the largest city in Hawaii and it has the most important harbor. It is on the south-east shore of the island of Oahu.
Etymology
Honolulu means "sheltered harbor" in the Hawaiian language. No one knows for sure when Honolulu was first settled or when the name was first used.
History
Honolulu harbor was called Kulolia before foreigners came. The first foreigner was Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794. He named the harbor Fair Haven. Other foreign captains is started calling it Brown's Harbor. The name Honolulu was used some time after that.
Honolulu quickly became the most important harbor of Hawaii. At that time, sandalwood was a big export. Honolulu was also an important supply point for whalers.
Kamehameha III made Honolulu the capital city of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1850. It was also the capital of the Republic of Hawaii and the Territory of Hawaii. It stayed the capital when Hawaii became a state in 1959.
Notable people
Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, died in Honolulu
Bruno Mars, singer, was born in Honolulu
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, was born in Honolulu
Nicole Scherzinger, singer, was born in Honolulu
Jason Momoa, actor currently lives in Honolulu | 433 | 0 |
335 | The Island of Hawaiʻi is the largest U.S. Hawaiian Island, and it is the farthest south. It is also called the "Big Island." Its area is 4,038 sq. miles (10,458 km2). The widest part of the island is 93 miles (150 km) across.
The Big Island has more than half (~62%) of the total land area of State of Hawaii. It is part of County of Hawaii.
The island is seven separate shield volcanos that erupted more or less one at a time, one partly covering the other. These are (from oldest to youngest): Kohala (extinct), Mauna Kea (dormant), Hualalai (dormant), Mauna Loa (active), Kulani (extinct, mostly buried), and Kilauea (very active). The volcanos were caused by the Pacific oceanic tectonic plate moving over a hotspot. There lava from the Earth's lower mantle or upper core is close to the surface.
The largest city on the island is Hilo. Hilo has many historic buildings, interesting shops, parks, many performances, festivals and events. It is on the rainy, east side of the island. The city of Kailua-Kona is on the dry, west side of Hawaii, and is popular with tourists. | 380 | 0 |
338 | Healing is a process that happens in the body. Through healing, cells are able to repair damaged tissue.
There are two different ways healing can happen:
The damaged tissue is replaced with tissue of the same kind. This is called regeneration.
The damaged tissue is replaced with scar tissue. This is called repair
Most healing processes combine both ways of healing.
| 86 | 0 |
342 | people have lived in australia for over 65,000 years. the first people who arrived in australia were the aboriginal peoples and torres strait islander people's. they lived in all parts of australia. they lived by hunting, fishing and gathering.
aboriginal peoples invented tools like the boomerang and spear. there is also evidence that the aboriginal people used farming methods. tradition was very important in their lives. their religion is called the dreamtime, which has lots of stories about the creation of the world by spirits. aboriginal art started at least 30,000 years ago and there are lots of dreaming stories painted on walls and cut in rocks all around australia. aboriginal music has songs about the dreamtime, sometimes with special instruments like the didgeridoo.
in 1606 the first european, dutch explorer willem janszoon (1571–1639), visited the west. luis vaez de torres sailed through the water between australia and new guinea later that year.
only after dirk hartog chanced upon the west coast in 1616 did other european vessels visit and map the coast. after sixty more ships visited the coast, enough was known for a map to be published in 1811. the land was dry because of not much rain; some was a desert. the explorers thought no crops could be grown and so it would be difficult for people to live there. they decided there would be no economic reasons to stay.
in 1642, dutchman abel tasman, working for the dutch east indies company reached tasmania, which he called antony van diemenslandt. he then called the continent he charted the north coast of on his second visit in 1644 new holland. in 1688, william dampier became the first englishman to reach australia. but in 1770 a british sailor, captain james cook, found the fertile east coast of australia. he called it new south wales, and claimed it for britain.
englishman matthew flinders published his map of the coast in 1814, calling it australia for the first time, a name later formally adopted by the authorities.
colonial australia
the british decided to use the land visited by captain cook as a prison colony. britain needed a place to send its convicts (people who had been sent to jail for theft and other crimes) because its gaols were full and it had just lost its american colonies in the american war of independence. in 1788 the british first fleet of 11 ships, carrying about 1500 people arrived at botany bay (sydney). arthur phillip led them as the first governor of new south wales. about 160 000 convicts were brought to australia from 1788 until 1868. free immigrants began arriving in the 1790s.
for the first few years they did not have much food, and life was very hard. but soon they began to farm, and more people came. sydney grew, and new towns were started. wool brought good money. by 1822, many towns had been set up and people from the towns often visited sydney for additional economic resources.
soon people from sydney found other parts of australia. george bass and matthew flinders sailed south to tasmania and a colony was started at hobart in 1803. hamilton hume and william hovell went south from sydney by land. they found the murray river, and good land in victoria. thomas mitchell went inland, and found more rivers. in 1826, the first british military outpost was set up at king george sound in western australia. the swan river colony was started in 1829, with townsites at fremantle and perth. in 1836, a free-settler colony was started in south australia, where no convicts were ever sent. queensland became a separate colony in 1859. as | 1,024 | 0 |
342 | people have lived in australia for over 65,000 years. the first people who [...] the towns and farms spread across australia, the aboriginal people were pushed off their land. some were killed, and many died from illness and hunger. soon, australia's aborigines were outnumbered by europeans, and many were made to live on reserves.
the goldrushes of new south wales and victoria started in 1851 leading to large numbers of people arriving to search for gold. the population grew across south east australia and made great wealth and industry. by 1853 the goldrushes had made some poor people very rich.
convict transportation ended in the 1840s and 1850s and more changes came. the people in australia wanted to run their own country, and self-govern. the first governments in the colonies were run by governors chosen by london. soon the settlers wanted local government and more democracy. the new south wales legislative council, was created in 1825 to advise the governor of new south wales, but it was not chosen by voters. william wentworth established the australian patriotic association (australia's first political party) in 1835 to demand democratic government for new south wales. in 1840, the adelaide city council and the sydney city council were started and some people could vote for them (but only men with a certain amount of money). then, australia's first parliamentary elections were held for the new south wales legislative council in 1843, again with some limits on who could vote. the australian colonies government act [1850] allowed constitutions for new south wales, victoria, south australia and tasmania. in 1850 elections for legislative councils were also held in the colonies of victoria, south australia and tasmania.
in 1855, limited self-government was granted by london to new south wales, victoria, south australia and tasmania. a new secret ballot was introduced in victoria, tasmania and south australia in 1856, allowing people to vote in private. this system was copied around the world. in 1855, the right to vote was given to all men over 21 in south australia. the other colonies soon followed. women were given the vote in the parliament of south australia in 1895 and they became the first women in the world allowed to stand in elections. in 1897, catherine helen spence became the first female political candidate.
australians had started parliamentary democracies all across the continent. but voices were getting louder for all of them to come together as one country with a national parliament. | 670 | 27 |
346 | spain is a country in europe.
early history
people have lived on the iberian peninsula for about 500,000 years. neanderthal man came about 200,000 years ago. modern humans first came about 40,000 years. thousands of years ago iberians and celts lived there, and the phoenicians made a few cities there to get tin and silver to trade.
the roman empire controlled spain for three hundred years; then people from eastern europe called visigoths fought for spain, won it from the romans, and controlled spain for over two hundred years.
medieval times
the visigoths converted from arian christianity to roman catholics. muslims who were arab and berber invaded in 711 and conquered spain in 718. they called it al-andalus. roman catholics eventually decided to fight to take spain back from the muslims. they fought wars called the reconquista for more than seven hundred years. they also fought crusades against other christians like the cathars. the moors also fought each other for control of al-andalus.
in the year 1492, they took the last part of spain that had belonged to the moors. boabdil, the last moorish leader of granada, gave the city to king ferdinand of aragon on 2 january 1492, and christians now ruled all of spain.
before this, several different kings had ruled different countries in what is now called spain. two of these countries, castile and aragon, came together when the king of aragon, ferdinand ii, married the queen of castile, isabella.
in the same year, 1492, they decided to send christopher columbus to explore the atlantic ocean. columbus found a land there that the people of europe did not yet know. these were the islands of the caribbean sea.
late 15th century
columbus and other sailors explored more and found that there were two continents there - north america and south america. spain sent many soldiers and businessmen to north and south america, and they took over very large parts of those two continents. owning this empire made spain very rich. but when they conquered that empire, they killed millions of the native americans who had lived there before. spain owned this empire for more than three hundred years.
meanwhile, at home, the muslim manuscripts had been either burnt or spread to other countries. jews had been expelled from spain. the multicultural society was destroyed, and so was the learning. among the few things kept and respected in spain were in music: harmony and stringed instruments, and of course the buildings, many of which became churches, by adding crosses.
16th and 17th centuries
the spanish empire was the strongest in the world through most of the next two centuries, thanks to gold from the americas. this new gold made rulers and colonial governors rich. meanwhile, others' savings became worth less due to inflation. spain became a society of very rich and very poor. some of the poorest went to the new colonies in the caribbean, central america and south america, mostly to find gold.
native american peoples were killed by diseases brought by the spaniards, but most spaniards did not know this. they found damaged and dying societies with people who had lost some of their most important leaders and thinkers. the spaniards thought this meant they were inferior, and used this as an excuse to enslave the natives. millions of natives died mining gold for the spanish.
the spanish empire also at this time funded the spanish inquisition which tortured and killed anyone who disagreed with the roman catholic church. the reformation which created protestant sects in europe was not allowed into spain, it was kept out and, as with jews or muslims, its believers were killed.
the nobles of spain no longer had to | 1,024 | 0 |
346 | spain is a country in europe.
early history
people have lived on the i [...] fight anyone since the internal feuds were over. no one could challenge their power. in many ways it was held together as a reign of terror. people who challenged them were often called heretics, so that the inquisition could torture them, and then nobles take the property.
for ordinary people on both sides of the atlantic ocean, life got worse. a few rulers got rich. today we would say that these people were guilty of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. many church people who had the power to speak out at that time, did so, and they said many of the same things as we would say today. but none of this mattered much to the rulers.
the great satire don quixote was written about this time.
18th century
in the 18th century, there was doubt over who should become king of spain; this doubt led many of the kings of europe to fight to become king of spain. this was called the war of the spanish succession.
france occupied spain for a long time. this made spain very weak. it also made spain lose its empire in north and south america; all of the parts of that empire became their own countries, or were taken over by other countries such as the united states of america.
20th century
there was not much peace in spain during the first part of the 20th century. some spaniards tried to set up a government chosen by the people (a democracy), and they made the king of spain leave the country. however, in 1936, two different groups of spaniards went to war over whether the government should be a democracy, or take orders from one person. in 1939, those who wanted democracy were defeated, and a dictator named francisco franco took over the government.
franco died in 1975. he had decided that spain should have a king again, and he chose juan carlos, the grandson of the king who had been forced to leave the country, to be king. but the king did not rule as a dictator; instead, he chose to set up a democracy. also since franco's death, spain appointed adolfo suárez to became spain's first democratically elected prime minister. now spain is a modern democratic country, and does business with many countries around the world. it is a part of the european union. | 609 | 27 |
348 | Height is the distance between the lowest end and highest end of an object.
For example, it is said the bottom of the foot is a person's lowest end, and the top of the head is a person's highest end. If the distance between the bottom of a person's foot and the top of that person's head is 64 inches, then that person's height is 64 inches.
Height is measured in 3D objects. 2D objects do not have height; they only have length and width. | 137 | 0 |
353 | The human body is the body of a person. It is the physical structure of a person.
The body is a thing that can be hurt or killed. Its functions are stopped by death. You need your muscles and your joints to move.
Study of the human body
Some people study the human body. They look at where it is different from, or the same as, other animals' bodies. These animals can be alive today. Or they can be extinct animals like other hominids. (Hominids are primates that are close to humans. Neanderthals and Homo erectus were hominids.) Some people study how the human body works and lives in its environment. Some people study what people think about their body. Artists study how to draw or paint the human body.
Fields of study
Many different fields of study look at the human:
Biology is a field of science. It studies living things. It looks at how the human body works. It studies how the human body came from evolution. It studies how genetics makes the human body.
Anatomy studies the parts of the body and how they work together.
Ecology studies the environment including how humans affect it.
Physical anthropology is a field of science. It compares humans to other hominids. It also studies all other hominid bodies. They look at how humans and chimpanzees are the same or different.
Psychology is a field of medicine. It looks at how people think and feel. The brain is part of the body. How we think and feel comes from the brain. So psychologists study the body. They study how the brain lets us be who we are.
Religion also talks about the body. Some religions see the body as where the soul lives. Some see the body as like a church. This is because a church is where people worship God. These people think God should be worshiped inside people. Some religions think the body is made from chakras that connect us to the universe.
Medicine sees the body like a machine. Doctors want to fix problems with the body. They study how to fix the problems, called diseases.
Parts of human body
Head
Ear
Face
Forehead
Eyebrow
Eye
Cheek
Nose
Mouth
Lips
Chin
Neck
Torso
Chest
Breast
Abdomen
Umbilicus
groin
Pelvis
Vulva
Penis
Scrotum
Back
Upper limb
Shoulder
Axilla
Elbow
Forearm
Wrist
Hand
Finger
Lower limb
Buttocks
Thigh
Knee
Calf
Ankle
Foot
Organ system
Various organ systems give the body the ability to live and do things.
circulatory system is the body system that moves blood around the body.
digestive system is the parts of the body that digest food.
The endocrine system includes those organs of the body which produce hormones.
immune system is the set of tissues which work together to resist infections.
integumentary system is everything covering the outside of an animal's body.
lymphatic system is a network of thin vessels that branch into tissues throughout the body.
musculoskeletal system consists of the human skeleton and attached muscles.
nervous system is a body system which sends signals around the body.
reproductive system is the part of an organism that makes them able to sexually reproduce.
respiratory system is the body getting rid of carbon dioxide and taking in oxygen.
urinary system is a system of organs that makes urine/pee and takes it out of the body.
The human body and other animals
The human body is like other animals. The skeleton, muscles and other parts are very much like those of other primates. Our body is also like other mammals, and somewhat like other vertebrates. DNA differences follow a similar pattern. The human genome is closer to that of other primates than to other vertebrates, and closest to chimpanzee. | 1,019 | 0 |
355 | hydrogen is a chemical element at the start of the periodic table. it has the symbol h and atomic number 1. it also has a standard atomic weight of 1.008, which makes it the lightest element in the periodic table.
hydrogen is the most common chemical element in the universe, making up 75% of all normal (baryonic) matter (by mass). most stars are made of mostly hydrogen. hydrogen's most common isotope has one proton with one electron orbiting around it.
properties
hydrogen is grouped as a reactive nonmetal, unlike the other elements found in the first column of the periodic table, which are grouped as alkali metals. the solid form of hydrogen should behave like a metal, though.
when by itself, hydrogen normally binds with itself to make dihydrogen (h2) which is very stable, because of its high bond-dissociation energy of 435.7 kj/mol. at normal temperature and pressure, this hydrogen gas (h2) has no color, smell, or taste and is not poisonous as it is a nonmetal and burns very easily.
combustion
molecular hydrogen is flammable and reacts with oxygen:
2 h2(g) + o2(g) → 2 h2o(l) + 572 kj (286 kj/mol)
at temperatures higher than 500 °c, hydrogen suddenly burns in air.
compounds
while hydrogen gas in its natural form is not reactive, it does form compounds with many elements, especially halogens, which are very electronegative, meaning they want an electron very badly. hydrogen also forms massive arrays with carbon atoms, forming hydrocarbons. the study of the properties of hydrocarbons is known as organic chemistry.
the h- anion (negatively charged atom) is named a hydride, though the word is not commonly used. an example of a hydride is lithium hydride (lih), which is used as a "spark plug" in nuclear weapons.
acids
acids dissolved in water normally contain high levels of hydrogen ions, in other words, free protons. their level is generally used to determine its ph, that is, the content of hydrogen ions in a volume. for example, hydrochloric acid, found in people's stomachs, can dissociate into a chloride anion and a free proton, and the property of the free proton is how it can digest food by corroding it.
though uncommon on earth, the h3+ cation is one of the most common ions in the universe.
isotopes
hydrogen has 7 known isotopes, two of which are stable (1h and 2h), which are commonly named protium and deuterium. the isotope 3h is known as tritium, has a half-life of 12.33 years, and is produced in small amounts by cosmic rays. the 4 isotopes left have half-lives on the scale of yoctoseconds.
hydrogen in nature
in its natural form on earth, hydrogen is generally a gas. hydrogen is also one of the parts that make up a water molecule. hydrogen is important because it is the fuel that powers the sun and other stars.
hydrogen makes up about 74% of the complete universe.
natural hydrogen is normally made of two hydrogen atoms connected together. scientists name these diatomic molecules. hydrogen will have a chemical reaction when mixed with most other elements, though it has no color or smell.
natural hydrogen is very uncommon in the earth's atmosphere, because nearly all primordial hydrogen would have escaped into space because of its weight. in nature, it is generally in water. hydrogen is also in all living things, as a part of the organic compounds that living things are made of. | 1,024 | 0 |
355 | hydrogen is a chemical element at the start of the periodic table. it has the symbol [...] in addition, hydrogen atoms can join with carbon atoms to form hydrocarbons. petroleum and other fossil fuels are made of these hydrocarbons and commonly used to make energy.
some other facts about hydrogen:
it is a gas at room temperature
it acts like a metal when it is solid.
it is the lightest element in the universe.
it is the most common element in the universe.
it burns or explodes at temperatures higher than 1000°f / 528°c, such as in fire.
it glows purple when it is in plasma state.
history of hydrogen
hydrogen was first separated in 1671 by robert boyle. in 1776, henry cavendish identified it as its own element and named it "inflammable air". he saw in 1781 that burning it made water.
antoine lavoisier gave hydrogen its name, from the greek word for water, 'υδορ (read /heew-dor/) and gennen meaning to "produce" as it forms water in a chemical reaction with oxygen.
uses of hydrogen
the most common uses are in the petroleum industry and in making ammonia by the haber process. some is used in other places in the chemical industry. a little of it is used as fuel, for example in rockets for spacecraft. most of the hydrogen that people use comes from a chemical reaction between natural gas and steam.
nuclear fusion
nuclear fusion is a very powerful source of energy. it depends on forcing atoms together to make helium and energy, as in a star like the sun, or in a hydrogen bomb. this needs a large amount of energy to get started, and is not easy to do currently. a big advantage over nuclear fission, which is used in today's nuclear power stations, is that it makes less nuclear waste and does not use a poisonous and uncommon fuel like uranium. more than 600 million tons of hydrogen undergo fusion every second on the sun.
using hydrogen
hydrogen is mostly used in the petroleum industry, to change heavy petroleum parts into lighter, more useful ones. it is also used to make ammonia. smaller amounts are burned as fuel. most hydrogen is made by a reaction between natural gas and steam.
the electrolysis of water breaks water into hydrogen and oxygen, using electricity. burning hydrogen joins with oxygen molecules to make steam (natural water vapor). a fuel cell joins hydrogen with an oxygen molecule, releasing an electron as electricity. for these reasons, many people believe hydrogen power will replace other synthetic fuels in the future.
hydrogen can also be burned to make heat for steam turbines or internal combustion engines. like other synthetic fuels, hydrogen can be made from natural fuels such as coal or natural gas, or from electricity, and therefore represents a valuable addition to the power grid; in the same role as natural gas. such a grid and infrastructure with fuel cell vehicles is now planned by a number of countries, such as japan, korea and many european countries. this lets these countries buy less petroleum, which is an economic advantage. the other advantage is that, used in a fuel cell or burned in a combustion engine as in a hydrogen car, the engine does not make pollution. only water, and a small amount of nitrogen oxides, forms. | 922 | 27 |
357 | helium is a chemical element. it has the chemical symbol he, atomic number 2, and atomic weight of about 4.002602. there are 9 isotopes of helium, only two of which are stable. these are 3he and 4he. 4he is by far the most common isotope.
helium is called a noble gas, because it does not regularly mix with other chemicals and form new compounds. it has the lowest boiling point of all the elements. it is the second most common element in the universe, after hydrogen, and has no color or smell. however, helium has a red-orange glow when placed in an electric field. helium does not usually react with anything else. astronomers detected the presence of helium in 1868, when its spectrum was identified in light from the sun. this was before its discovery on earth.
helium is used to fill balloons and airships because its density is lighter than air. it does not burn, so is safe for that kind of use. it is also used in some kinds of light bulbs. people can breathe in helium: it makes their voices sound higher than it normally does. this may seem silly, but it can actually be quite dangerous as if they breathe in too much, hypoxia can injure or kill them as they are not breathing normal air. breathing too much helium can also cause long-term effects to vocal cords.
helium is created through the process of nuclear fusion in the sun, and in similar stars. during this process, two hydrogen atoms are fused together to form one helium atom. on earth it is made by the natural radioactive decay of heavy radioactive elements like thorium and uranium, although there are other examples. the alpha particles emitted by such decays consist of helium-4 nuclei.
history
helium was discovered by the french astronomer pierre janssen on august 18, 1868, as a bright yellow line in the spectrum of the chromosphere of the sun. the line was thought to be sodium. on the same year, english astronomer, norman lockyer, also observed it and found that it was caused by a new element. lockyer and english chemist edward frankland named the element helium, from the greek word for the sun, ἥλιος (helios).
characteristics
helium is the second least reactive noble gas after neon. it is the second least reactive of all elements. it is chemically inert and monatomic in all standard conditions. helium is the least water-soluble monatomic gas.
uses
helium is used as a shielding gas in growing silicon and germanium crystals, in making titanium and zirconium, and in gas chromatography, because it is inert. helium is used as a shielding gas in arc welding.
helium is mixed with oxygen and other gases for deep underwater diving because it does not cause nitrogen narcosis.
helium is also used to condense hydrogen and oxygen to make rocket fuel. it is used to remove the fuel and oxidizer from ground support equipment before the rocket launches. it is used to cool liquid hydrogen in space vehicles before the rocket launches.
helium is used as a heat-transfer medium in some nuclear reactors that are cooled down by gas. helium is also used in some hard disk drives. helium at low temperatures is used in cryogenics.
supply
helium has become rare on earth. if it gets free into the air it leaves the planet. unlike hydrogen, which reacts with oxygen to form water, helium is not reactive. it stays as a gas. for many years after the 1925 helium act, the usa collected helium in a national helium reserve. american helium comes from wells in the great plains area. at present, more hel | 1,024 | 0 |
358 | The home page of a website is the document that a web server sends to another computer's web browser application when it has been contacted without a request for specific information. That is, when one enters only a domain name in the Address box without specifying a directory or a file, the home page is usually the first part of the website one would be taken to. The Home Page is also called the Main Page.
A properly written home page will tell a user about the information available on the website, and how to view different parts of the website.
The home page of simple.wikipedia.org can be found at this link.
Home Page was a popular computer application used for composing web pages.
In Linux servers
In Linux-based servers, the homepage is default.html, default.php, etc. This is a problem for website administrators to install website applications like MediaWiki. Mainly because most website applications are created with the homepage as index.php for PHP applications.
In Windows servers
Similarly, in Windows-based servers, the homepage is default.html, default.php, etc.
Websites
Web design | 300 | 0 |
359 | hair is something that grows from the skin of mammals. hair is made of keratins, which are proteins.
animal hair is usually called fur. sheep and goats have curly hair, called wool. wool is used to make many products, like clothing and blankets.
humans and some other animals have lost much of their hair through evolution, and some other mammals, such as the elephant and the whale, have almost none at all.
functions of hair
hair has different functions:
it can protect against losing body heat. this is thought to be the basic, original function of hair.
it protects against uv radiation, which damages the skin.
it can protect against rain or water. air can be trapped in the fur, or oil can be secreted by the skin. both these methods prevent the rain or water from making the body too cold. aquatic mammals in cold waters usually have blubber (fat) under the skin, and almost no hair.
defence: hair is modified in mammals like porcupines, for protection.
hair colouring can perform different functions. it helps to camouflage some animals. it can also signal to others of the same species. examples are: signalling to females for mating purposes and signalling to others for territory control. signalling danger to other species (aposematic colouring) is also done by, for example, skunks.
animals can change their hair so they look bigger, or more threatening. this can also be used for mating; which is the case with lions, for example. also, the male lions' mane also protects their neck from damage when fighting other males.
false hair
some animals, for example certain insects and spiders also have hairs. however, these are not hair in the biological sense, but are actually bristles. the hairs found on certain plants are also not true hair, but trichomes.
human hair
in humans, hair grows mostly on the head, and the amount of body hair is different from person to person.
hair color
hair color is passed down by parents only. natural hair color can be given only by genes. natural hair color is passed down genetically by both mother and father. this relies on dominant and recessive genes carried by a parent. these genes may not be the color of their hair, however, many people carry genes that are recessive and do not show in their traits or features.
dyeing hair is to change the color of hair. it consists of a chemical mixture which can change the color of hair by a chemical reaction. many people dye their hair to hide gray or white hairs. this is because most people gain white or gray hairs as they grow older.
genetics and chemistry
two types of melanin pigment give hair its color: eumelanin and pheomelanin. pheomelanin colors hair red. eumelanin determines the darkness of the hair color. a low concentration of brown eumelanin results in blond hair, but more brown eumelanin will color the hair brown. high amounts of black eumelanin result in black hair, while low concentrations give gray hair. all humans have some pheomelanin in their hair.
the genetics of hair colors are not yet firmly established. according to one theory, at least two gene pairs control human hair color.
one phenotype (brown/blond) has a dominant brown allele and a recessive blond allele. a person with a brown allele will have brown hair; a person with no brown alleles will be blond. this explains why two brown-haired parents can produce a blond-haired child.
the other gene pair is a non-red/red pair, where the not-red allele is dominant and the allele for red hair is recessive. a person with two copies of the red-haired allele will have red hair, but it will be either auburn or bright | 1,024 | 0 |
359 | hair is something that grows from the skin of mammals. hair is made of [...] reddish orange depending on whether the first gene pair gives brown or blond hair, respectively.
the two-gene model does not account for all possible shades of brown, blond, or red (for example, platinum blond versus dark blonde/light brown), nor does it explain why hair color sometimes darkens as a person ages. several other gene pairs control the light versus dark hair color in a cumulative effect (quantitative genetics).
hair texture
hair texture is also inherited genetically. the thickness of hair, its color and its tendency to curl are all inherited. there are also genetic differences between men and women.
hair loss
people have about 100,000 hairs on their head. about 100 fall out each day, but they usually grow back. some men are bald but girls and women may become bald if they lose their hair from a disease called alopecia.
men often lose some of their hair as they grow older. this is known as baldness. doctors call it "male pattern baldness" because hairs often fall out in similar places. it often begins by hair falling out first from the front of the head, and then from the top of the head. after a while, all that may be left is a some hair running above the ears and around the lower back of the head. even though it is unusual for women to go bald, many women suffer from thinning hair over the top of their head as they grow old.
people have tried to find cures for hair loss for thousands of years. in an effort to get their hair back, men have tried "cures" like applying strange lotions or even having their heads packed in chicken manure. many unproven "cures" are still marketed today. it is only in the last decade or so that treatments have been developed which do sometimes work. some doctors do hair transplants, where they take tiny plugs of hair from areas like the back of the neck and plant them in the bald spots on the head. some drugs have been tested and approved for sale as hair loss treatments. they encourage hair regrowth and thickening, but work better if applied before hair loss turns to baldness.
history and culture
people have been interested in hair on their heads for hundreds of thousands of years. for both men and women, styling and coloring hair have been ways to look good, and get attention. sometimes society makes rules about hair, for example by not allowing people to cut their hair or beards, like in sikhism | 694 | 27 |
361 | ireland (; ; ulster-scots: ) is an island in the north atlantic. it is about 486 kilometres (302 miles) long and about 288 kilometres (179 miles) wide. to the west of ireland is the atlantic ocean; to the east of ireland is the island of great britain. over 6.4 million people lived on the island in 2016.
countries
today, the island of ireland is made up of two countries: the republic of ireland and northern ireland:
the republic of ireland is a sovereign state and occupies 84% of the island. its capital and largest city is dublin. the official languages of the republic are irish and english. even though irish is official in the country, only a small part of the population is fluent or a native speaker. while the irish language (or gaelic) is taught in most schools, most people speak english in their day-to-day lives.
northern ireland, which is one of the four countries of the united kingdom, makes up the remaining 17% of ireland and is in the north-east part of the island. it has a population of 1.8 million people, and its capital and largest city is belfast.
during the 1550s and the 1650s four plantations had taken place in ireland.
from 1801 to 1921, all of ireland was part of the same country, called the united kingdom of great britain and ireland. in 1919, a war broke out, the irish war of independence, and on december 6 1921, the irish free state became independent. after a new constitution came into effect in 1937, the state became a republic. northern ireland stayed with the uk, and this would lead to the troubles beginning in the 1960s and ending with the good friday agreement signed in 1998.
facts
the flag colours of the republic of ireland are green, white and orange.
a symbol of ireland is the shamrock.
popular games in ireland include gaelic football and hurling.
the population of the republic of ireland is around 4.7 million.
the president of the republic of ireland is michael d. higgins.
the two parts of ireland are the republic of ireland and northern ireland.
the river shannon, which runs from north to south, is the longest river on the island. ireland has many lakes and lough neagh, in northern ireland, is the largest lake in ireland. ireland is known for its landscapes, music, history, and mythology.
the great potato famine was very bed about 1 million people died
provinces and counties
ireland is traditionally divided into four provinces and thirty-two counties. twenty-six counties are in the republic and six in northern ireland. three of the provinces are entirely within the republic (connacht, leicester and munster), and one province (ulster) has some counties in both the republic and in northern ireland.
connacht - galway, leitrim, mayo, roscommon, sligo
leinster - carlow, dublin, kildare, kilkenny, laois, longford, louth, county meath, offaly, westmeath, wexford, wicklow
munster - clare, cork, kerry, limerick, tipperary, waterford
ulster - cavan, donegal, monaghan (republic of ireland); antrim, armagh, derry, down, fermanagh, tyrone (northern ireland)
main cities
dublin is the largest city. it is the capital of the republic of ireland. dublin was established as a viking settlement in the 9th century. the population is 525,383 in dublin city, and 1,270,603 in co. dublin.
belfast is the capital of northern ireland. it has 483,000 people in the greater | 1,024 | 0 |
361 | ireland (; ; ulster-scots: ) is an island in the north [...] belfast urban area there are 267,000 in the city itself. shipbuilding used to be a major industry here. the titanic was built in belfast at the harland and wolff shipyard.
armagh is a city in northern ireland. it is often called the 'ecclesiastic capital of ireland' as it is the seat of both the catholic church and the (protestant) church of ireland. the population is 14,590.
cork is the largest city in munster. corkonians often refer to it as 'the real capital'. the population is 119,230. but following a 2019 cork boundary change|boundary extension in 2019, the population increased to c. 210,000.
derry (or londonderry) is the second largest city in northern ireland. derry is notable for the medieval city walls which still stand. because the walls have never been breached, the city is nicknamed "the maiden city". in 2013 derry was the uk capital of culture. many cultural events took place there during the year. the population is 83,652.
history
during the last glacial period (the "ice age"), most of ireland was covered with ice. after that, ireland became covered with trees. the first people came to ireland about 9,000 years ago, in the middle stone age (mesolithic period). they were nomadic. once food ran out in the place they lived, they would move to another place. evidence of these people was found in mount sandel, co. derry.
about 4000 bc, in the new stone age (neolithic period), the first farmers arrived in ireland. these people cleared openings in the forest and built permanent settlements with houses and farmland. when people in this age died, they were buried in tombs called megaliths. many megaliths are left standing today, such as portal dolmens and passage tombs.the most famous megalith is newgrange passage tomb in co.meath.
new settlers came around 2000bc, marking the start of the bronze age. copper was mined mainly in mount gabriel, co. cork and tin was imported from cornwall. these people used bronze to make weapons, such as swords. they also used it to make early forms of jewellery, such as sun discs and torcs. these settlers buried the dead in court tombs or wedge tombs, and burial places have been found with stone circles.
it is unknown when the celts came to ireland, but it is likely they brought the use of iron with them. the use of iron marks the start of the iron age. it is known that by about 300bc, the use of iron and celtic culture was widespread in ireland. the celts lived in ring forts, hill forts, promontory forts and crannógs. it is thought that only the richer families and settlements lived in crannógs. these were man-made islands in the middle of lakes with houses on them.
celtic ireland was split into around 150 kingdoms called tuath. the king was elected from the royal family. below the king were the nobles, and the aos dána, who were people with special skills, such as poets, druids (priests), judges and craftsmen.
by the early 6th century, ireland was mostly christian through the work of st. patrick and other missionaries. druids were replaced by priests and monks. monasteries soon were built such as glendalough in co. wicklow. glendalough and other monasteries built round towers for safety when vikings attacked. small monasteries were also built in remote places, the most famous being | 1,024 | 27 |
361 | ireland (; ; ulster-scots: ) is an island in the north [...] skellig michael, off the coast of co. kerry.
at this time many hand-written manuscripts were created by the monasteries. they include the cathach, the book of durrow, and the book of kells. monks also produced fine silver chalices, croziers and brooches, and carved high crosses.
in 1169, anglo-norman lords invaded ireland. they were led by strongbow who landed at passage east, co. waterford. the anglo-normans conquered many parts of ireland in the following 60 years. they introduced their way of life to the irish people. the feudal system was soon introduced in ireland as a means of organising land. castles were built to defend the land like trim castle, co. meath. during the middle ages, ireland's first proper towns were built.
from 1801 until 1921, all of ireland was part of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland. in 1921 northern ireland was created and 'partitioned' from the south. northern ireland has stayed within the united kingdom since then. the full name of the uk is 'the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland'.
in 1921 the south became the irish free state. in 1937 the irish free state adopted a new constitution which named the state 'ireland', and in 1948 this state passed the republic of ireland act which declared it to be a republic.
migration
many irish people have left ireland and moved to the united states, canada, australia, and south america. the great famine (1845 to 1849 inclusive) forced many to leave; it is estimated almost a million people died of starvation, and a million more emigrated. from a maximum of over 8 million in 1841, the total irish population dropped to just over 4 million in the 1940s. since then, the population has grown to over 6 million. this has been helped by the economic growth of the "celtic tiger" and since 2004 immigration from countries in eastern europe such as poland.
today almost 80 million people around the world are descended from irish immigants.
climate
ireland has an oceanic climate.
the highest temperature ever recorded in ireland was, on 16 july 1876 in dublin.
top 5 warmest days
sports
ireland's main sports are gaelic games (gaelic football, hurling, etc.) and soccer.
the many sports played and followed in ireland include gaelic games (mainly gaelic football, hurling and camogie), horse racing, show jumping, greyhound racing, basketball, fishing, handball, motorsport, mma, boxing, target shooting and tennis. hockey, golf, rowing, cricket, rugby union and olympic target shooting are organised on an all-island basis, with a single team representing the whole of ireland in international competitions. other sports, such as soccer and netball, have separate organizing bodies in northern ireland and the republic of ireland.
as northern ireland is a constituent nation of the united kingdom it also sends a northern ireland team to the commonwealth games. at the olympic games, a person from northern ireland can choose to represent either ireland or great britain.
soccer is the most popular team sport in terms of participation. according to the irish sports monitor 2015 annual report, 4.8% of adults over 15 participate in soccer. gaelic football 2%, camogie 1.2, rugby 1.1%. individual exercise pursuits are most popular with 43% of all sport participated by individuals on their own. personal exercise 13.7%, running 8.2%, swimming 8%, cycling 5.5%, dancing 3%, golf 2.7% | 1,024 | 27 |
361 | ireland (; ; ulster-scots: ) is an island in the north [...], weights 2.3%, yoga 1.5% and pilates 1.4%.
soccer is by far the most popular team pursuit for males at 8.8% with gaelic football attracting 3.4%. personal exercise 13.4% and running 8.9% are the most popular male activities. team sports do not figure highly amongst females with dancing at 4.6% and yoga 2.4% are two of the highest shared activities.
given the variety of sports in ireland, it is of interest to note how the government's capital sports programme 2017 allocated it's €56 million funds. €23.5 million went to the gaa which highlights the strength of the gaa lobby. €7.25 million to soccer, rugby €3.1 million, tennis €2.64 million, golf €1.97 million, sailing €1.21 million, athletics just under €1 million, diving €451,000 while other sports did not fare so well.
gaelic football is one of the most popular sports in ireland in terms of match attendance, and in 2003 had 34% of total sports attendances at events in the republic of ireland, followed by hurling at 23%, soccer at 16% and rugby at 8%. initiative's viewertrack study, which measured 2005 sports audiences, showed the sport's highest-profile match, the all-ireland football final, to be the most watched event of the nation's sporting year. soccer is the most played team sport in ireland. | 457 | 27 |
362 | The Internet is the biggest world-wide communication network of computers. The Internet has a lot of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry many different kinds of information. The short form of internet is the 'Net'. The World Wide Web is one of its biggest services. It is used by countless people all over the world.
The Internet was developed in the United States by the Department of Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Internet was first connected in October 1969 and was called ARPANET. The World Wide Web was created at CERN in Switzerland in 1990 by a British (UK) scientist named Tim Berners-Lee.
Today, people can pay money to access the Internet from internet service providers. Some services on the Internet cost nothing to use. Sometimes people who offer these free services use advertising to make money. Censorship and freedom of speech on the Internet can be controversial.
Services
The Internet is used for many things, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and other documents of the World Wide Web.
The most used service on the Internet is the World Wide Web (which is also called the "Web" or “www”). The web contains websites, including social media, blogs, and wikis like Wikipedia. Webpages on the Internet can be seen and read by anyone (unless the page needs a password, or it is blocked).
The second biggest use of the Internet is to send and receive e-mail. E-mail is private and goes from one user to another. Instant messaging is similar to email, but allows two or more people to chat to each other faster.
Some governments think the internet is a bad thing, and block all or part of it. For example, the Chinese government thinks that Wikipedia is bad, so often no one in China can read it or add to it. Another example of the internet being blocked is in North Korea. Some parents and schools block parts of the Internet they think are bad for children to see.
Dangers
The Internet makes communication easy, and communication can be dangerous too. People often send secret information, and sometimes other people can steal that information. They can use the Internet to spread lies, steal secrets, or give dangerously bad advice. For example, Facebook has had some problems with privacy settings.
Some websites may trick people into downloading viruses that can harm a computer, or spyware that spies on its users (looks at what they are doing and tells someone else).
E-mails can have harmful files with them as "attachments".
In internet chatrooms, people might be preying on others or trying to stalk or abuse them.
The Internet contains content that many people find offensive , as well as content intended to be offensive.
Criminals may steal people's personal information or trick people into sending them money. | 733 | 0 |
363 | italy ( [iˈtaːlja]) is a country in southern europe. it is a member of the european union. its official name is the italian republic. the italian flag is green, white and red. italy is a democratic republic.
italy is a founding member of the european union. in 2022, italy's president is sergio mattarella. its prime minister is giorgia meloni. italy is also a member of the g7, as it has the eighth largest gross domestic product in the world.
italy has become famous for its wine and food. some foods are different between regions. famous dishes include various types of pasta, pizza, and grapes. olives are also often used.
before 1861, italy was made up of smaller kingdoms and city-states.
the country's capital, rome, is one of the most famous cities in the world. it was the capital of the roman empire. other famous cities in italy include venice, naples, turin, genoa, florence, palermo, and milan.
geography
italy is a peninsula. it is surrounded by the sea on all of its sides except its north side. northern italy is separated from france, switzerland, and austria by the alps, a chain of mountains. mont blanc (monte bianco in italian or white mountain in english), the highest mountain in western europe, is in this chain. the second important chain of mountains in italy is the apennines, which are in central and southern italy.
the po river is the longest river in italy. it flows through 5 cities: turin, piacenza, cremona, and ferrara. the tiber river runs through the city of rome.
northern italy has some of the biggest lakes in the country, such as lake garda, lake como, lake maggiore and lake iseo. because it is surrounded by the sea, italy has a very long coast, which brings tourists from all over the world. tourists also come to see italy's historical places.
the country has a number of islands, the biggest of which are sicily and sardinia, which can be reached by ship or aircraft. italy has a border at sea with libya to the south.
political geography
the capital of italy is rome. this is where the roman empire started. other large cities in italy include milan, naples, turin, florence, palermo, and venice.
two enclaves (separate countries) are located within italy. they are san marino, which is surrounded by northern italy, and the vatican city, which is surrounded by the city of rome. vatican city is also the only enclave in the world to also be surrounded by a city.
climate
italy has both an oceanic climate and continental climate.
the highest temperature ever recorded in italy was on 25 june 2007 in foggia.
the lowest temperature ever recorded in italy was on 10 february 2013 at pale di san martino.
people and culture
people from italy are called italians. even if an italian were to leave italy, it is possible that their descendants could also claim italian citizenship. this is because of italian nationality law relying mostly on ius sanguinis, or "right of blood" in latin. almost all italians are christians. most of these are roman catholics. roman catholicism
is based in the vatican city, which is home to its leader, the pope.
the population of italy is about 60 million people. almost 3 million of them live in rome, and 1.5 million in milan. as of december 2015, over 5 million foreigners were living in italy, which is 8.3% of the total population.
the official language of italy is italian. german, slovenian | 1,024 | 0 |
363 | italy ( [iˈtaːlja]) is a country in [...], french, and a few others are also recognized. people also speak dialects of italian such as sicilian and sardinian. there are many different dialects spoken in italy. they vary between regions and sometimes between provinces.
the people of italy are mostly descendant from the ancient romans.
italy is home to more world heritage sites than any other country in the world. these sites are culturally important and valued according to unesco. about 60% of the works of art of the world are in italy. italy is also a big wine producer. in 2005, it made over 5 million tonnes of wine.
food
famous italian foods include pasta and pizza.
art
many notable artists were from italy. they include:
donatello, sculptor
leonardo da vinci, painter
michelangelo, sculptor and painter
amedeo modigliani, painter
raphael, painter
economy
italy has a modern social welfare system. the labor market is very strong. many foreigners, especially from romania, work in italy where the wages are much higher.
italy's modern society has been built up through loans. now the country has a very high debt of 1.9 trillion euros or 120% of the country's total gdp.
religion
most people in italy are roman catholics, but the catholic church is no longer officially the state religion. 87.8% of the people said they were roman catholic.
only about a third said they were active members (36.8%). there are also other christian groups in italy, with more than 700,000 eastern orthodox christians. 180,000 of them belong to the greek orthodox church.
550,000 are pentecostals and evangelicals (0.8%). 235,685 jehovah's witnesses (0.4%), 30,000 waldensians, 25,000 seventh-day adventists, 22,000 mormons, 20,000 baptists, 7,000 lutherans, 4,000 methodists.
the country's oldest religious minority is the jewish community. it has about 45,000 people. it is no longer the largest non-christian group.
about 825,000 muslims live in italy. most of them immigrated. (1.41% of the total population) only 50,000 are italian citizens. in addition, there are 50,000 buddhists 70,000 sikh and 70,000 hindus in italy.
major cities
rome
venice
milan
naples
turin
florence
bologna
palermo
trieste
bari
regions
italy has 20 regions. every region is divided into provinces.
there are 20 regions. five of them have a special status, called autonomous. this means that they can make certain local laws more easily. these regions are marked with an asterisk (*) below.
politics
the head of state is sergio mattarella. he became president of the italian republic in february 2015. the first president was enrico de nicola.
the head of government is giorgia meloni. she became prime minister on october 22, 2022, the first woman in that role. she succeeded mario draghi. draghi's cabinet, fell after support for his coalition fell.
italy was one of the first members of the european union. in 2002 along with 11 other european countries, it changed to using the euro as its official currency. before this, th | 1,024 | 27 |
363 | italy ( [iˈtaːlja]) is a country in [...] e italian lira had been used since 1861.
anyone who wants to be president of italy must have italian citizenship, be at least 50 years old, and must be able to uphold political and civil rights.
history
the capital of italy is rome. rome was founded in 753 bc. it was a separate state well known as roman kingdom firstly, roman republic and roman empire later. it conquered various neighbors including the etruscan civilization in the north and the states in the south known as magna graecia.
before 1861, italy was not a state. the area included a group of separate states that were ruled by other countries (such as austria, france, and spain). in the 1850s, the earl of camillo benso, count of cavour was the head of government of the "state of sardinia". he talked to the austrians in lombardy and veneto and said they should create a northern italian state. this happened, but other central and southern italian states also joined piedmont to create a bigger state.
kingdom of italy
in 1860, giuseppe garibaldi took control of sicily, creating the kingdom of italy in 1861. victor emmanuel ii was made the king. in 1861, latium and veneto were still not part of italy, because they were ruled by the pope and austrian empire.
veneto was made part of italy in 1866 after a war with austria. italian soldiers won latium in 1870. that was when they took away the pope's power. the pope, who was angry, said that he was a prisoner to keep catholic people from being active in politics. that was the year of italian unification.
italy participated in world war i. it was an ally of great britain, france, and russia against the central powers. almost all of italy's fighting was on the eastern border, near austria. after the "caporetto defeat", italy thought they would lose the war. but, in 1918, the central powers surrendered. italy gained the trentino-south tyrol, which once was owned by austria.
fascist italy
in 1922, a new italian government started. it was ruled by benito mussolini, the leader of fascism in italy. he became head of government and dictator, calling himself "il duce" (which means "leader" in italian). he became friends with german dictator adolf hitler. germany, japan, and italy became the axis powers. in 1940, they entered world war ii together against france, great britain, and later the soviet union. during the war, italy controlled most of the mediterranean sea.
on july 25, 1943, mussolini was removed by the great council of fascism. on september 8, 1943, badoglio said that the war as an ally of germany was ended. italy started fighting as an ally of france and the uk, but italian soldiers did not know whom to shoot. in northern italy, a movement called resistenza started to fight against the german invaders. on april 25, 1945, much of italy became free, while mussolini tried to make a small northern italian fascist state called the republic of salò. the fascist state failed and mussolini tried to flee to switzerland and escape to francoist spain, but he was captured by italian partisans. on 28 april 1945 mussolini was executed by a partisan.
after world war two
the state became a republic on june 2, 1946. for the first time, women were able to vote. italian people ended the savoia dynasty and adopted a republic government. | 1,024 | 27 |
364 | If is a word to describe a statement where one thing depends on something else.
For example:
We can call this true if there is proof.
We will play outside if it does not rain.
If — is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling. It appeared in the Brother Square Toes chapter of Kipling's book Rewards and Fairies. In a 1995 BBC opinion poll, it was voted Britain's favourite poem. It is arguably Kipling's most famous poem.
Basic English 850 words | 137 | 0 |
367 | An island is a piece of land that is surrounded by a body of water such as a lake, river, sea or ocean. Islands are smaller than continents. Although there are many Islands that surround fresh water, the vast majority of them surround oceans.
Greenland and Australia are huge islands, but they are built of continental rock, and the latter is generally considered a continent. The most ancient part of continental rock is far older and chemically more complex than the rock of the sea floor.
The heart of continents is their cratons, which are the most ancient and stable parts of the Earth's crust. In the cratons are all the rare elements needed for electronic equipment. They were swept up as the Sun moved through areas where supernovae had exploded. The rare elements we need were all got indirectly from supernovae explosions. The Sun's energy comes from turning hydrogen into helium.
There are some islands which do have rare elements, and that is a sign that they were once part of a large supercontinent. So Great Britain was once part of a supercontinent. The oldest rocks are 2,700 million years old, and include many rare elements only found in cratons. Britain is a snapped-off piece of the Old Red Sandstone continent, now known as Laurasia.
Other islands that were formed from the ocean floor, as Japan, and Hawaii were, lack most of the rare elements. Japan has for many years since WWII imported iron ore from Australia. Its seizing of Manchukuo (~Manchuria) and the infamous attack on Pearl Harbour no doubt had many reasons. Lack of raw materials was one of these Now it looks for potential in its nearby deep-sea muds.
Big islands
In Europe
Great Britain 218,995 km²
Iceland 101,826 km²
Ireland 81,638 km²
The island in the north of Novaja Zemlja 47,079 km²
Spitsbergen 38,981 km²
The island in the south of Novaja Zemlja 33,246 km²
Sicily 25,662 km²
Sardinia 23,812 km²
Nordaustlandet (archipelago of Svalbard, Norway) 14,247 km²
Cyprus 9,234
Corsica 8,741 km²
Other places
Greenland 2,130,800 km²
New Guinea 785,753 km²
Borneo 748,138 km²
Madagascar 587,041 km²
Baffin 507,451 km²
Sumatra 677,658 km² | 758 | 0 |
370 | an interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities.
interim may also refer to:
temporary organizational arrangements (general concept)
provisional government, emergency government during the creation, collapse, or crisis of a state; also called interim government
caretaker government, temporary rule between governments in a parliamentary democracy; also called interim government
acting president, interim head of a state
acting (law), designation of a person temporarily exercising the authority of any position
interim management, in business
specific temporary political arrangements
provisional and interim governments and constitutions
articles of confederation, united states 1781–1788
interim government of california, 1846–1850
provisional constitution of the confederate states, 1861–1862
provisional constitution of the republic of china, 1912–1931
dáil constitution, ireland 1918–1921
interim national assembly (czechoslovakia), 1945–1946
interim government of india, 1946–1947
provisional constitution of 1950, indonesia 1950–1959
interim constitution of tanzania, 1964–1977
interim presidency of suharto, indonesia 1967–1968
interim constitution of azad jammu and kashmir (1974), from 1974
interim batasang pambansa, government of the philippines 1978–1984
interim government of iran 1979–80, also covered by interim government of iran (1979–80),
interim government of iran (1981)
interim parliament of the turkish republic of northern cyprus, 1983
transitional government of ethiopia, 1991–1995
interim government of somalia, 1991–1996
interim national government, nigeria 1993
interim constitution (south africa), 1994–1997
national transitional council (congo), 1997–2001
joint interim administrative structure, kosovo 2000–2001
afghan interim administration, 2001–2002
law of administration for the state of iraq for the transitional period, 2004–2005
iraqi interim government, 2005
iraqi transitional government, 2005–2006
interim national constitution of the republic of sudan, 2005
2006 interim constitution of thailand and 2006 thai interim civilian government
interim cabinet of fiji, 2007
2011 provisional constitution of egypt, 2011–2012
national transitional council, libya 2011–2012
libyan interim constitutional declaration, from 2011
regmi interim cabinet, nepal 2013–2014
interim government of ambazonia, from 2017
2020 interim government of kyrgyzstan
caretaker interim governments
specific states generally
interrex (english: "between kings"), office in the roman kingdom and republic, a type of regent
caretaker government of australia, laws and history pertaining to interim governments in that country
caretaker government of bangladesh, laws and history pertaining to interim governments in that country
caretaker government of malaysia, laws and history pertaining to interim governments in that country
caretaker prime minister of pakistan, law | 1,024 | 0 |
370 | an interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, [...] s and history pertaining to interim governments in that country
interim and acting president of israel
interim leader (canada), a temporary party leader appointed upon the resignation or death of a party leader
specific caretaker interim governments
churchill caretaker ministry, united kingdom 1945
iraqi governing council, government under the law of administration for the state of iraq for the transitional period, 2004–2005 (see above)
interim legislature of nepal, from 2009
interim cabinet of panagiotis pikrammenos in greece, 2012
2015 interim election government of turkey
caretaker government of myanmar (2021), from 2021
sub-state entities
interim east punjab assembly, 1947–1951
interim morgan government, wales 2000
interim uttarakhand assembly, indian state of uttarakhand 2000–2002
ituri interim administration, government of the ituri region of the congo, from 2003
syrian interim government, government of some parts of syria from 2013
bangsamoro interim cabinet, government of bangsamoro in the philippines from 2018
temporary peaces
regensburg interim, 1542 decree relating to religious disputes in germany
augsburg interim, 1548 decree relating to religious disputes in germany
leipzig interim, another 1548 decree relating to religious disputes in germany
interim peace between finland and the ussr 1940–1941
diplomacy
chargé d'affaires ad interim, temporary head of a diplomatic mission
interim meeting of foreign ministers, 1945, also called the moscow conference of foreign ministers
interim agreement, commonly known as the oslo accords, relating to the israeli–palestinian conflict
interim agreement on the west bank and the gaza strip, commonly known as the oslo ii accord
sinai interim agreement, also known as the sinai ii agreement, between egypt and israel 1975
interim self governing authority, 2003 tamil proposal
geneva interim agreement on iranian nuclear program, 2013, commonly known as the joint plan of action
other
interim committee, precursor to the american atomic energy commission 1945–1946
interim independent electoral commission (kenya), 2009–2011
interim committee on un-american activities, commonly known as the canwell committee, legislative committee of washington state in the united states, 1947–1949
nassau interim finance authority, from 2000, new york state commission
interim climate change committee, new zealand 2018–2019
legal concepts and procedures
interim order, court order in effect pending outcome of a case
interim trustee, concept in united states bankruptcy law
interim appeal, a partial appeal in united states law
interim interdict in scots law, a temporary injunction
judicial interim release, part of canadian bail law
peacekeeping forces
united nations interim force in lebanon, from 1978
united nations interim security force for abyei in sudan, from 2011
sports
caretaker manager, temporary manager of a soccer team; also called interim manager
interim championship, temporary world championship in boxing and other contact sports
ifa interim intermediate league, ireland 2008–2009
the arts
interim (film), 1 | 1,024 | 27 |
371 | an idiom is a common phrase which means something different from its literal meaning but can be understood because of their popular use.
idioms are difficult for someone not good at speaking the language. some idioms are only used by some groups of people or at certain times. the idiom shape up or ship out, which is like saying improve your behavior or leave if you don't, might be said by an employer or supervisor to an employee, but not to other people.
idioms are not the same thing as slang. idioms are made of normal words that have a special meaning known to almost everyone. slang is usually special words, or special meanings of normal words that are known only to a particular group of people.
to learn a language a person needs to learn the words in that language, and how and when to use them. but people also need to learn idioms separately because certain words together or at certain times can have different meanings. in order to understand an idiom, one sometimes needs to know the culture from which the idiom comes.
to know the history of an idiom can be useful and interesting. for example, most native british english speakers know that "no room to swing a cat" means "there was not much space" and can use the idiom properly. however, few know this is because 200 years ago sailors were punished by being whipped with a "cat o' nine tails". a big space was cleared on the ship so that the person doing the whipping had room to swing the cat.
an idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be understood from the dictionary definitions of each word taken separately. the linguist's term for the real meaning of an idiom is the subtext.
simple definition
idioms are phrases or expressions that have a figurative meaning different from their literal interpretation. they are commonly used in everyday language to convey a specific idea, often with cultural or historical significance. idioms are not meant to be taken literally, and their meaning can be understood only by familiarizing oneself with their usage and context.
some common idioms
break a leg
a way to wish someone good luck.
to live it up
to enjoy life, to live widely
to kick the bucket
to die.
shape up or ship out
used to tell someone that they should leave if they don't improve their behavior or performance
learn the ropes
learn and often perfect the skills of a craft, job, etc.
mad as a hatter
mentally unstable, especially as the result of poisoning.
to shed crocodile tears to cry about something but without actually caring.
wild goose chase a useless journey or pursuit.
nothing burger an idea or promise without substance
there's no room to swing a cat
there is not a lot of space.
to pay through the nose
to pay a lot of money, more than is normal.
cost an arm and a leg
be extremely expensive.
to bark up the wrong tree
to choose the wrong course of action.
to spill the beans
to tell a secret.
it's raining cats and dogs
it's raining heavily.
to get into hot water
to get into trouble.
skate on thin ice
to disregard caution.
chicken-hearted
frightened or cowardly
to chicken out
not doing a thing, because of fear.
top dog
leader.
to smell a rat
to think that something is wrong.
to give up
to quit.
to give up on
to stop believing in something or someone.
i could eat a horse
i am very hungry.
to be on top of the world
to be really happy.
once in a blue moon
rarely
wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole! (or barge pole in british english)
not wanting anything to do with something or someone.
avoid like the plague
avoid at any cost.
miss the boat
be too late for a chance or opportunity.
child's play
| 1,024 | 0 |
371 | an idiom is a common phrase which means something different from its literal meaning [...] easy to do.
cakewalk
something easy to accomplish.
chinese puzzle
extremely difficult task.
castle in the clouds or pie in the sky
an impossible or improbable dream, project, etc.
hit the sack
to go to bed
get\give the sack
dismiss or be dismissed from one's employment.
the whole nine yards
everything
bells and whistles
all the unnecessary luxuries, features, etc
mad as a hater
insane, as from poisoning.
turn a blind eye \ deaf ear
to ignore.
cry wolf
report a false emergency.
one's cup of tea
what someone prefers.
not for all the tea in china
less common idioms include
safe as houses
very safe and secure.
idioms which have unclear meaning
articles by oxfam and the bbc have said that many idioms in english are unclear, or ambiguous. many are understood differently in different countries. many of the examples are taken from face-to-face talk, but may also apply in written reports.
examples
satisfactory (in a report, or in an assessment) might mean not satisfactory.
i hear what you say. might mean i'm listening, but more likely i totally disagree.
with the greatest respect. may mean you are quite wrong. 68% of british thought it meant "i think you are an idiot", whereas 49% of americans thought it meant "i am listening to you".
i'll bear it in mind. in a survey 55% of british thought it meant i've forgotten it already. 43% of americans thought it meant i will probably do it.
vocables are sounds that are not proper words, but mean something, and are often ambiguous. one is a long drawn-out sound hmmmmmm.
one suggestion is that these idioms are used to smooth over difficult areas in social interaction. they cover passive-aggressive statements which might cause more conflict if openly expressed. | 566 | 27 |
373 | The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) tests how fluent you are in the English language. People who take the test take the Academic Module or the General Training Module. The academic one is for people who want to go to university. The general one is for people who want to do other training or want to get work experience. People who want to emigrate to a country that uses English also take the general one.
Most universities in Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States accept the IELTS. Many professional companies do as well.
Other websites
IELTS Web Site
IELTS Exams
English language
Tests | 153 | 0 |
378 | Ink is a liquid that is used to write, draw, print, or make marks. The word ink is from Latin and means "colored water". Ink is used in pens, in some computer printers, and in printing presses. In some countries, people write by using ink and brushes. People usually write or print using black ink, but ink can be any color. The first ink was used in Egypt about 2600 BC.
The first inks were carbon inks, made from soot, which is 80% carbon, water and gum arabic. Red ink would need iron oxide (such as haematite) from ground rocks instead of soot. Later, in Europe, people used iron gall ink. This is the kind of ink Johann Sebastian Bach and Leonardo da Vinci used. Now ink colours are produced by man-made dyes.
A disadvantage of many kinds of ink is that they may smudge when wet, spoiling the picture or writing. If water-based ink is used, the writing situation needs to be stable, with the writer seated at a table. Ink in a ballpoint pen (biro) is a kind of gel. It is held in a thin long cylinder (tube) inside the pen. The ink does not fall out of the cylinder as it sticks to the sides of the tube. Therefore, ballpoint pens can be used in a wider range of circumstances compared to water-based inks.
| 387 | 0 |
381 | The inch is a unit of length in the Imperial system and the United States customary system. The abbreviation for inches is in or ". There are 12 inches in a foot. One inch is equal to 2.54 centimetres.
The word "inch" came from Middle English unche, which came from Old English ynce, from Latin uncia meaning "a twelfth part".
History
The inch was originally defined as 3 barleycorns. The inch was finally standardised in the International Yard and Pound Treaty in 1959 between the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The international yard was made equal to 0.9144 metres. From this, subdivisions and multiples of the yard were specifically defined.
Usage
In Britain and the United States, people use inches more than they use millimetres or centimetres. In the rest of the world, international units are almost always used. The inch is not used by scientists.
In the United Kingdom, road signs that show how high a vehicle can be in order to pass through a tunnel are required to be in feet and inches. Theme parks and drive thru signs usually show it in metres. People regularly measure their height in feet and inches. Official medical records, however, are required to record people's height in metric measurements only.
In Canada, a mix of centimetres and inches are used in height. Older generations, especially, use Imperial units. A lot of exposure to Americanized phrases leads to younger generations often having a good understanding of both the Imperial and metric systems.
In the United States, height is always in feet and inches. Science is the only field to use metric measurements.
Other Commonwealth countries, including Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Jamaica use inches to varying degrees. From every day use to exclusively the older community.
Length
Units of length
Imperial units | 511 | 0 |
384 | The pint (abbreviated pt) is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. There are three types of pints used in different countries. An imperial pint and US pint both equal of a quart and of a gallon.
An imperial fluid ounce is approximately 4% smaller than a US fluid ounce although an imperial pint has 4 more fluid ounces than a US pint, making an imperial pint approximately 20% larger than a US pint.
Imperial Pint
The imperial pint is the pint used in England, Canada, Ireland, and Burma. The unit may appear in other Commonwealth. Confusion in Canada often arises as liquids are occasionally sold in U.S. pints, near the border, although the official and only pint that is legal in Canada is the imperial pint. The imperial system has no dry pint and volume in dry units, since solid objects are measured by mass. 1 imperial pint equals 568,261.25 mm3.
An imperial fluid ounce is approximately 4% smaller than a US fluid ounce although an imperial pint has 4 more fluid ounces than a US pint, making an imperial pint approximately 20% larger than a US pint.
US Wet Pint
The US wet pint, or more commonly 'pint', is the unit used to measure volume in the United States. It is more common than the dry pint which is used for non-liquid volume measurements. 1 US pint is exactly equal to 473,176.473 mm3, defined by the international yard and pound agreement.
US Dry Pint
The US dry pint was a unit used for measuring the volume of solid objects instead of mass or quantity.
Usage
The wet U.S. pint is still commonly used in the United States.
In Canada, it is commonly used for alcohol although a pint can vary from 12 fl oz to 20 fl oz and is sometimes incorrectly given in US fl oz.
In England and Ireland, only milk and pure ethanol are sold in pints; however, milk must have litres next to pints.
In England, milk is often sold in metric quantities near to imperial pints.
Imperial units
Units of volume | 604 | 0 |
390 | ISO 19011 is the new global accounting standard, replacing accounting standards that were part of ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. It is the most likely basis for accounting reform which could put an end to accounting scandals.
The standard offers four resources to organizations to "save time, effort and money":
A clear explanation of the principles of management systems auditing.
Guidance on the management of audit programs.
Guidance on the conduct of internal or external audits.
Advice on the competence and evaluation of auditors.
Accounting
19011 | 158 | 0 |
391 | india (hindi: ), officially the republic of india (hindi: ) and also known as hindustān or bhārat within the country, is a country in south asia. it is the largest country by number of people and seventh largest country by land area. india is a peninsula, bounded by the indian ocean on the south, the arabian sea on the southwest, and the bay of bengal on the southeast. it has six neighbors: pakistan in the north-west, china, nepal, and bhutan in the north, and bangladesh and myanmar in the east. sri lanka is nearby to the south.
the capital city of india is new delhi. india has the second largest military force in the world and is also a nuclear weapon state. india's economy became the world's fastest growing in the g20 developing nations during 2014, replacing the people's republic of china. india's literacy and wealth are also rising. according to new world wealth, india is the fifth richest country in the world with a total individual wealth of $12.6 trillion. however, it still has many social and economic issues like poverty and corruption. india is a founding member of the world trade organisation (wto), and has signed the kyoto protocol.
india has the fifth largest economy by nominal gdp, the third largest by gdp (ppp) and is the fastest growing major economy. india is a nuclear power and has the second largest standing military in the world. india has its own space agency (isro) and has done various research throughout the solar system, including sending spacecraft to the moon, mars, and venus. india is also a member of the g20 developing nations, and has been described as a potential superpower due to its rising economy and increase in global influence.
india has the fourth largest number of spoken languages per country in the world, only behind papua new guinea, indonesia, and nigeria. people of many different religions live there, including the five most popular world religions: hinduism, buddhism, sikhism, islam, and christianity. the first three religions originated from the indian subcontinent along with jainism.
national symbols
the national emblem of india shows four lions standing back-to-back. the lions symbolize power, pride, confidence, and courage. only the government can use this emblem, according to the state emblem of india (prohibition of improper use) act, 2005.
the name india comes from the greek word, indus. this came from the word sindhu, which, over time, turned into hind, hindi, or hindu. the preferred endonym (the name given to the country by its own people) is "bhārat" in hindi and other indian languages as contrasted with names from outsiders. some of the national symbols are:
national anthem: jana gana mana
national song: vande mataram
national animal: tiger
national bird: peacock
national flower: lotus
national tree: banyan
national river: ganges (ganga)
national aquatic animal: ganges river dolphin
national fruit: mango
national heritage animal: elephant
national heritage bird: indian eagle
history
some of the main classical languages of the world, tamil and sanskrit, were born in today's india. both of these languages are more than 3000 years old. the country founded a religion called hinduism, which most indians still follow. later, a king named chandragupt maurya built an empire called the maurya empire in 300 bc. it made most of south asia into one whole country. from 180 bc, many other countries invaded india. even later (100 bc ad 1100), other indian dynasties (empires) came, including the chalukyas, cholas, pallavas, and pandyas. southern | 1,024 | 0 |
391 | india (hindi: ), officially the republic of india [...] india at that time was famous for its science, art, and writing. the cholas of thanjavur were pioneers at war in the seas and invaded malaya, borneo, cambodia. the influence of cholas are still noticeable in southeast asia.
many dynasties ruled india around the year 1000. some of these were the mughal, vijayanagara, and the maratha empires. in the 1600s, european countries invaded india, and the british controlled most of india by 1856.
in the early 1900s, millions of people peacefully started to protest against british control. one of the people who led the freedom movement was mahatma gandhi, who only used peaceful tactics, including a way called "ahimsa", which means "non-violence". on 15 august 1947, india peacefully became free and independent from the british empire. india's constitution was founded on 26 january 1950. every year, on this day, indians celebrate republic day. the first official leader (prime minister) of india was jawaharlal nehru.
after 1947, india had a socialist planned economy. it is one of the founding members of the non-aligned movement and the united nations. it has fought many wars since independence from britain, including the wars in 1947-48, 1965, 1971, and 1999 with pakistan and in 1962 with china. it also fought a war to capture goa, a portuguese-built port and a city that was not a part of india until 1961. the portuguese refused to give it to the country, and so india had to use force and the portuguese were defeated. india has also done nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998. it is one of the few countries that have nuclear bombs. since 1991, india has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
government
india has the most people of any democracy in the world.
india's government is divided into three parts: the legislative (the one that makes the laws, the parliament), the executive (the government), and the judiciary (the one that makes sure that the laws are obeyed, the supreme court).
the legislative branch is made up of the parliament of india, which is in new delhi, the capital of india. the parliament of india is divided into two houses: the upper house, rajya sabha (council of states); and the lower house, lok sabha (house of people). the rajya sabha has 250 members, and the lok sabha has 552 members.
the executive branch is made up of the president, vice president, prime minister, and the council of ministers. the president of india is elected for a period of five years. the president can choose the prime minister, who has most of the power. the council of ministers, such as the minister of defence, helps the prime minister. narendra modi became the prime minister of india on 16 may 2014. he is the 19th prime minister of india. the president has less power than the prime minister.
the judicial branch is made up of the courts of india, including the supreme court. the chief justice of india is the head of the supreme court. supreme court members have the power to stop a law being passed by parliament if they think that the law is illegal and contradicts (opposes) the constitution of india. in india, there are also 24 high courts.
geography and climate
india is the seventh biggest country in the world. it is the main part of the indian subcontinent. the countries | 1,024 | 27 |
391 | india (hindi: ), officially the republic of india [...] next to india are pakistan, bangladesh, myanmar, china, bhutan, and nepal. it is also near sri lanka, an island country. the andaman and nicobar islands, a union territory of india, is near thailand, indonesia, and myanmar.
india is a peninsula, which means that it is surrounded on three sides by water. in the west is the arabian sea, in the south is the indian ocean, and in the east is the bay of bengal. the coastline of india is of about long. the northern part of india has many mountains. the most famous mountain range in india is the himalayas, which have some of the tallest mountains in the world. there are many rivers in india. the main rivers are the ganges, the brahmaputra, the yamuna, the godavari, the kaveri, the narmada, and the krishna.
india has different climates. in the south, the climate is mainly tropical, which means it can get very hot in summer and cool in winter. the northern part, though, has a cooler climate, called sub-tropical, and even alpine in mountainous regions. the himalayas, in the alpine climate region, can get extremely cold. there is very heavy rainfall along the west coast and in the eastern himalayan foothills. the west, though, is drier. because of some of the deserts of india, all of india gets rain for four months of the year. that time is called the monsoon. that is because the deserts attract water-filled winds from the indian ocean, which give rain when they come into india. when the monsoon rains come late or not so heavily, droughts (when the land dries out because there is less rain) are possible. monsoons normally come around july–august.
military
the indian armed forces is the military of india. it is made up of an army, navy and air force. there are other parts like paramilitary and strategic nuclear command.
the president of india is the commander-in-chief. however, it is managed by the ministry of defence. in 2010, the indian armed forces had 1.32 million active personnel. this makes it one of the largest militaries in the world.
the indian army is becoming more modern by buying and making new weapons. it is also building defenses against missiles of other countries. in the years 2018-2022, india imported more arms than any other nation in the world.
from its independence in 1947, india fought four wars with pakistan and a war with china.
indian states
for administration purposes, india has been divided into smaller pieces. most of these pieces are called states, some are called union territories. states and union territories are different in the way they are represented. most union territories are ruled by administrators (called lieutenant governors) sent by the central government. all the states, and the territories of delhi, and puducherry elect their local government themselves. in total, there are twenty-eight states and eight union territories.
states:
union territories:
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trouble with the borders
there are disputes about certain parts of the indian borders. countries do not agree on where the borders are. pakistan and china do not recognise the disputed territory of jammu and kashmir. the indian government claims it as an indian state. similarly, the republic of india does not recognise the pakistani and chinese parts of kashmir.
in 1914, british india and tibet agreed on the mcmahon line, as part of the simla accord. in july 1914, china withdrew from the agreement. indians and tibetans see this line as the official border. china does not agree, and both mainland china and taiwan do not recognize that arunachal pradesh belongs | 1,024 | 27 |
391 | india (hindi: ), officially the republic of india [...] to india. according to them, it is a part of south tibet, which belongs to china.
economy
the economy of the country is among the world's fastest growing. it is the 7th largest in the world with a nominal gdp of $2,250 billion (usd), and in terms of ppp, the economy is 3rd largest (worth us$8.720 trillion). the growth rate is 8.25% for fiscal 2010. however, that is still $3678 (considering ppp) per person per year. india's economy is based mainly on:
service sector: 43%
industries: 41%
information technology: 7%
farming: 7%
outsourcing: 2%.
india's economy is diverse. major industries include automobiles, cement, chemicals, consumer electronics, food processing, machinery, mining, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, steel, transportation equipment, and textiles.
however, despite economic growth, india continues to suffer from poverty. 27.5% of the population was living in poverty in 2004–2005. in addition, 80.4% of the population live on less than us$2 a day, which was lowered to 68% by 2009.
people
there are 1.4 billion people living in india. in 2023, india passed china to become the world's most populous country.
about 65% of indians live in rural areas, or land set aside for farming. the largest cities in india are mumbai, kolkata, delhi, chennai, bangalore, hyderabad, and ahmedabad. india has 23 official languages. altogether, 1,625 languages are spoken in india.
languages
there are many different languages and cultures in india. there are two main language families in india, the indo-aryan and the dravidian languages. about 69% of indians speak an indo-arayan language, and about 26% speak a dravidian language. other languages spoken in india come from the austro-asiatic group. around 5% of the people speak a tibeto-burman language.
hindi is the official language in india with the largest number of speakers. it is the official language of the union. native speakers of hindi represent about 41% of the indian population (2001 indian census). english is also used, mostly for business and in administration. it has the status of a'subsidiary official language'. the constitution also recognises 21 other languages. either many people speak those languages, or they have been recognized to be very important for indian culture. the number of dialects in india is as high as 1,652.
in the south of india, many people speak kannada, telugu, tamil and malayalam. in the north, many people speak chhattisgarhi, punjabi, bengali, gujarati, and marathi, odia, and bihari.
india has 27 official languages. its constitution lists the name of the country in each of the languages. hindi and english (listed in boldface) are the "official languages of the union" (union meaning the federal government in delhi); tamil, sanskrit, telugu, kannada, malayalam, and odia are officially the "classical languages of india."
culture
cave paintings from the stone age are found across india. they show dances and rituals and suggest there was a prehistoric religion. during the epic and puranic periods, the earliest versions of the epic poems ramayana and mahabharata were written from | 1,024 | 27 |