A biosphere reserve is an ecosystem with plants and animals of unusual scientific and natural interest. It is a label given by the UNESCO to help protect the sites. The plan is to promote management, research and education in ecosystem conservation. This includes the 'sustainable use of natural resources'. If, for example, fish or trees are taken for human use, this is done in ways which least damage the ecosystem.
A biosphere reserve consists of three zones:
The program is run by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program. It has started a World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The MAB program has built up the World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 1971. Biosphere reserves, exchange knowledge and experiences on new ideas for sustainable development. They are areas used to develop new ways of doing things, test these ways and share the results. The objective is to get a balanced relationship between mankind and nature. The biosphere is very important to humans.
Lake Amadeus
Lake Amadeus () is a huge salt lake in the southwest corner of the Northern Territory, in Australia. It is about north of Uluṟu. The lake is 180 km long and 10 km wide. It is the largest salt lake in the Northern Territory. Because of the dryness of the area, the lake is usually a dry salt crust. When it rains enough, water flows through it towards the east. It eventually connects to the Finke River. Lake Amadeus holds up to 600 million tonnes of salt. The groundwater soaks into the ground, and the lake supports several reliable springs.
The first European to find the lake was the explorer Ernest Giles in 1872. He had seen Kata Tjuta from far away and was making his way there. The lake blocked his path. He could not go over it because the dry lake bed was not able to hold the weight of his horses. He described the lake as "an infernal lake of mud and brine". Giles was going to name it "Lake Ferdinand" after Baron Ferdinand von Mueller. But Mueller asked Giles to instead name it after King Amadeus I of Spain. Amadeus had honoured Mueller a few years before.
Lake Amadeus is on Aboriginal land, and is covered by the Katiti and Petermann Aboriginal Land Trusts.
Elder Futhark
Elder Futhark is the oldest known runic script. It was used by Germanic tribes during the 2nd to 8th century. It consists of 24 different characters that are used like an alphabet; each character represents a sound or syllable. All Germamic tribes used the same form and same language. Its use lasted to the mid 8th century. Scholars are still discussing when it was first used: The oldest known use which is not disputed is a comb on the Vimose inscriptions from Denmark. It dates around the year 160. There are also runes on the Meldorf fibula, which date from the year 50. The inscription on the fibular is made of characters that are probably runes. The problem is that these characters can also represent symbols in the Latin alphabet.
Many of the characters from Elder Futhark resemble Latin or etruscan ones. For this reason, Elder Futhark had probably modelled form Southern Europe. The ordering of the Futhark letters is completely different from other known alphabets. In contrast, the ordering of the Latin alphabet is the same as the Greek one, which preceded it.
Adam Faith
Adam Faith (real name Terence Nelhams-Wright, 23 June 1940 - 8 March 2003) was a British singer, actor and journalist.
Faith was born in Acton, London. He died of a heart attack in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
A Trip to the Moon
A Trip to the Moon is a 1902 French silent movie. It is based loosely on Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" and H. G. Wells' "The First Men in the Moon". In French, the title of the movie is "Le Voyage dans la lune". The movie was written and directed by Georges Méliès. He had some some help from his brother Gaston. The movie runs about 14 minutes. It was very popular when it was shown for the first time. It is the best-known of the many movies made by Méliès. "A Trip to the Moon" is the first science fiction movie. The movie has many new twists on animation and special effects. One of the most well known images is the one showing a spaceship landing in the Moon's eye. "A Trip to the Moon" was named one of the 100 greatest movies of the 20th century by "The Village Voice". It was ranked at #84.
Six astronomers agree to take a trip to the moon. They build a space capsule in the shape of a bullet. A huge cannon shoots it into space with the help of "marines". These marine are mostly pretty girls in sailor outfits. Some of the marines are men though. The Man in the Moon watches the capsule as it moves toward the moon. He gets hit in the eye.
The astronomers get out of the capsule. They are tired. They unroll their blankets and sleep. A comet passes. The Big Dipper appears with human faces looking out of each star. Snowfall wakes the astronomers. They go into a cavern and find giant mushrooms. One astronomer opens his umbrella. It turns into a giant mushroom.
Selenites appear. They are insectoids that live on the moon. The astronomers fight them. They are captured. They are taken to the Selenite Palace. One astronomer destroys the Chief Selenite. The astronomers run to their space capsule. They take off. They land in an ocean on Earth. A ship rescues them. A celebration is held in honor of the brave men.
Younger Futhark
Younger Futhark is a runic script that developed from Elder Futhark, and was used mainly in Scandinavia. Younger Futhark was used form around the year 800. It uses 16 symbols instead of 24, for Elder Futhark. At the same time, the language developed from Proto-Norse to Old Norse, which used more that 16 sounds.
Hard Candy (Madonna album)
Hard Candy is the 11th studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on April 19, 2008 by Warner Bros. The first single from the album, "4 Minutes" has Justin Timberlake and Timbaland singing in it. It went on to top charts around the world and reached number three on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. The second single, "Give It 2 Me", has vocals from Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes. It reached the top ten in Canada and the UK.
"Hard Candy" was number one in several countries. Madonna did The Sticky and Sweet Tour to promote the album. "Hard Candy" has sold over four million copies around the world.
It was certified Gold in the United States for shipments of over 500,000 copies.
Dord
Dord is a ghost word, a word that has no definition. In 1934, the New International Merriam Webster Dictionary accidentally printed the word, "dord." Philip Babcock Gove was an editor at Merriam-Webster and became editor-in-chief of Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Gove wrote a letter to the journal American Speech fifteen years after the error was caught. He explained why "dord" was printed in the second edition of the New International dictionary. It got through when a slip was sent saying "D or d?" Readers could think it was a word, "dord." It only appeared in the second edition of the dictionary. It was soon caught and taken out. Dord is the only known ghost word in the Merriam Webster's Dictionary history.
ETalk
etalk (formerly "eTalk Daily") is a Canadian entertainment news show hosted by Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim.
Edwin S. Porter
Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 – April 30, 1941) was an early movie pioneer and director. His most important movies are "Life of an American Fireman" (1903) and "The Great Train Robbery" (1903).
Life of an American Fireman
Life of an American Fireman is a silent movie. It was made by Edwin S. Porter. It was shot late in 1902. It was distributed early in 1903. It is one of the earliest American storytelling movies. It is about the rescue of a woman and child from a burning building. It has seven scenes and nine shots. Movie expert Charles Musser points out that this movie shows that the social role of firefighters was changing at the time it was made.
Pentane