Confusingly, the common name "cockle" is also given (by seafood sellers) to a number of other small edible bivalves which have a somewhat similar shape, however these bivalves are in other families such as the Veneridae (Venus clams) and the Arcidae (ark clams). Cockles in the family Cardiidae are sometimes known as "true cockles" in order to distinguish them from these other species.
Wildfire
Wildfire is a general term which includes forest fires, grassland fires, bushfires, brush fires and any other vegetation fire in countryside areas.
Wildfires occur in every continent except Antarctica. They can occur naturally and spontaneously, but many are caused by humans, accidentally or deliberately. Fossil records and human history show that wildfires do occur at intervals. The Great Oxygenation Event and the spread of land plants made Earth a planet of fire.
Wildfires can cause extensive damage to property and human life, but they also have some beneficial effects on wilderness areas. Some plant species depend on the effects of fire for growth and reproduction, although large wildfires may also have negative ecological effects.
Strategies of wildfire prevention, detection, and suppression have varied over the years. One of the more controversial methods is controlled burn: People permit or light small fires to burn away some of the fuel for a potential wildfire. While some wildfires burn in remote forested regions, they can cause extensive destruction of homes and other property in the zone between developed areas and undeveloped wilderness.
Plants in wildfire-prone ecosystems often have adaptations to their local conditions. Such adaptations include physical protection against heat, increased growth after a fire event, and flammable materials that encourage fire and eliminate competition. For example, plants of the genus "Eucalyptus" contain flammable oils that encourage fire and hard sclerophyll leaves that resist heat and drought. This makes them dominant over less fire-tolerant species. Dense bark, shedding lower branches, and high water content in external structures may also protect trees from rising temperatures. Fire-resistant seeds and reserve shoots that sprout after a fire encourage species preservation, as in 'pioneer' species that specialize in restarting ecological succession after a fire.
Smoke, charred wood, and heat can stimulate the germination of seeds. Smoke from burning plants promotes contains orange butenolide, which induces germination of seeds.
Grasslands in Western Sabah, Malaysian pine forests, and Indonesian "Casuarina" forests are believed to have resulted from previous periods of fire. The deadwood litter of Chamise (Californian greasewood shrub) is low in water content and flammable, and the shrub quickly sprouts after a fire. "Sequoia" relies on periodic fires to reduce competition, release seeds from their cones, and clear the soil and canopy for new growth. Some have adapted to, and rely on, low-intensity surface fires for survival and growth. The optimum fire frequency for Caribbean pine in Bahamian pineyards is every 3 to 10 years. Too frequent fires favour herbaceous plants, and infrequent fires favour other tree species.
Bipod
"Bipod" comes from the Latin and Greek words "bi" and "pod". "Bi" means "two" and "pod" means "foot", or "feet". A bipod is sometimes attached to a firearm to help support it. It also makes it more stable. It gives the best stability along two axes of motion: side-to-side and up-and-down.
On firearms, bipods are often used on rifles and shotguns to allow the gun to rest and stop it from moving. They can also be seen on long-barrelled weapons. The bipod allows the gunner to rest the weapon on the ground, a short wall or other object. This allows for more accuracy. Different types of bipods are set up in different ways. Some bipods are a specific length that can not be changed, but some bipods' length can be changed. Mostly, when bipods are not being used, they are folded forwards, not back towards the gunner. Some types of bipod can fold into grips for the gunner to hold to keep the weapon steady.
When firing a weapon without a bipod, it is harder to aim and keep the weapon steady.
The good thing about having a bipod is that it makes weapons more accurate. At first, the bipod was only used on long-barreled rifles, such as snipers. However, light and heavy machine guns now use them, as well as small pistols.
Emperor Jomei
The conventionally accepted names and sequence of the early emperors were not to be confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kammu, who was the 50th monarch of the Yamato dynasty.
Jomei was a grandson of Emperor Bidatsu and a great-grandson of Emperor Kimmei.
Suiko did not make it clear who was to succeed her after her death.
Jomei's reign lasted 13 years.
The actual place of Jomei's grave is known. This emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine ("misasagi") at Nara. The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Jomei's mausoleum. It is formally named "Osaka no uchi no misasagi".
Some short poems are believed to have been written by Emperor Jomei. For example,
Lawson Inada
Lawson Fusao Inada (born 1938 in Fresno, California) is an American poet and was the fifth poet laureate of the U.S. state of Oregon.
Inada is a third-generation Japanese American ("Sansei"). As a child, Inada and his family were interned during World War II.
Inada became a jazz musician, and this affected his writing. Inada cites jazz and his time in the internment camps as his chief influences as a poet. He studied writing at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Oregon, and the University of Iowa.
He joined the faculty of Southern Oregon University in 1966.
In 1994, Inada's "Legends from Camp" won an American Book Award; and he was awarded poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2006 Inada was named Oregon's poet laureate.
Nobushige Hozumi
Hozumi was appointed to the House of Peers in 1890.
In 1915, he was ennobled with the title of "danshaku" (baron) under the "kazoku" system.
In 1916, Horzumi was named to the Emperor's Privy Council in 1916.
The people of Uwajima city named a bridge in his honor. He was also honored by a Japanese commemorative postage stamp in 1998.
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a charity event from Comic Relief that happens every two years. It is held in association with BBC Sport. The event brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries. At the heart of the campaign is the Sport Relief Mile.
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I (; c. 540 – 12 March 604), better known in English as Gregory the Great, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 64th Pope from 3 September 590 to his death in 604.
Gregory was born in Rome, but the date of his birth is not certain. He was the son of a noble Roman family.
Gregory was elected pope in 590.
Casino Marina del Sol
The Casino Marina del Sol is the largest casino in Chile. It is in the city of Talcahuano. It opened in 2005 under a Chilean law allowing casinos. It contains a casino, hotel, gym, spa, disco, museum and car park.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a special type of MRI that makes it possible to watch different areas of a person's brain while they do different tasks.