open-index/open-wikipedia-markdown huggingface dataset:
Potassium nitrate

**Potassium nitrate** is a chemical compound. It has the chemical formula KNO3. It contains potassium and nitrate ions. It is often called **saltpeter**. 

## Properties
Potassium nitrate is a colorless solid. It dissolves in water. It is a common source of the nitrate ion. Potassium nitrate is a strong oxidizer. It decomposes to potassium nitrite and oxygen when heated. Its pH is almost neutral. It burns with a lilac flame.

## Production
It can be made by reacting ammonium nitrate with potassium hydroxide. It can also be made by reacting potassium chloride with ammonium nitrate. It might be made by reacting potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate with nitric acid. 

## Occurrence
Saltpeter is a mineral form of potassium nitrate. It is only found in very dry areas. It is one of the few minerals that have nitrogen in them. 

## Uses 
Potassium nitrate is used in explosives. Oxygen from the air is the most common chemical that is used for oxidation, which is how most fires and explosions happen. Some explosions will use up oxygen so quickly, though, that there is not enough to finish the reaction, and the explosion is not very strong. Potassium nitrate replaces the need for oxygen and takes up much less space, which lets the explosion be stronger and faster. It is a main ingredient of gunpowder.

Potassium nitrate is also used in rocket fuel for the same reason as in explosives, except that the goal is to let the fuel burn longer, not faster. Potassium nitrate is used as a fertilizer, to help plants grow faster and grow in more places where it might be hard for them to grow otherwise. It can also be used to decay tree stumps.

## Safety
Potassium nitrate is a poison and will cause permanent injury when improperly handled. It also can start fires and explosions easily.

## Related pages
*Potassium permanganate
Endoxa

**Endoxa** was a concept Aristotle talked about. It refers to the opinion not of individuals (which he contrasts by naming that 'doxa') but the consensus of the population and wise people with a supposed more valid opinion than that of the individual.

Aristotle employs a detailed and distinctive approach to clarify the relationship between incontinence, continence, and related conditions in relation to virtue and vice. He examines the prevailing beliefs about these states to discern what is right and wrong.

## Related pages 
*Common sense

## References
Pluralism

**Pluralism** is a concept used in many fields and mostly means that things are done in many parts or ways. That is unlike monism, which has a single way or thing in a system, or dualism, which has two.

In political science, pluralism supports more than either one political party or two major dominant parties and considers even very minor parties as important.

In philosophy it contrasts with monism and has multiple ideas that possibly form a structure, rather than a reduced number of entities.

## Related pages 
*Democracy
*Multiculturalism
*Toleration
Evolutionary psychology

**Evolutionary psychology** is a branch of psychology that investigates behavior which has evolved. It is similar in this respect to ethology, which has always used ideas from evolutionary biology.
## Abstract
This field seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, functional products of natural selection or sexual selection. Evolutionary psychology usually focuses on behavior most people share. Sex and social behavior are some of the more common areas that evolutionary psychology focuses on. Events like violent behavior need explanation in evolutionary terms.

Evolutionary psychology is related to other fields of science like sociobiology, social psychology, and sociocultural anthropology. Evolutionary psychologists argue that much of human behavior is the result of adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.

The adaptationist approach is steadily increasing as an influence in the general field of psychology. This includes our ability to infer others' emotions, discern kin from non-kin, identify and prefer healthier mates, and cooperate with others. They report successful tests of theoretical predictions related to such topics as infanticide, intelligence, marriage patterns, , perception of beauty, bride price and parental investment.

:"The recognition that psychological mechanisms are evolved adaptations connects evolutionary biology to psychology in the strongest possible fashion, allowing everything we know about the study of adaptations to be applied to the study of psychological mechanisms".

## Books 
*Barkow, Jerome H; Cosmides, Lena & Tooby, John (eds) 1992. *The adapted mind: evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture*. Oxford University Press. 
*Buss, David 2011. *Evolutionary psychology: the new science of the mind*. 4th ed, Pearson. 

## Related pages 
*Adaptive unconscious
*Sociobiology
**The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals*

## References 
## Other websites 
* Frans de Waal 2012 Moral behavior in animals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcJxRqTs5nk
Marina Rikhvanova

**Marina Rikhvanova** is a Russian ecologist and leader of the Baikal Ecological Wave (BEW) organization which protects Siberia’s Lake Baikal from ecological damage. Lake Baikal, the world’s biggest reservoir of fresh water, is currently under threat from industrial pollution. In 2008, Rikhvanova was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize.

## Related pages
*List of ecologists from Europe

## References
Icelandic Wikipedia

The **Icelandic Wikipedia** () is the Icelandic-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was started in December 2003. It has over 50,000 articles.

## References 
## Other websites 
* Icelandic Wikipedia main page
Ageism

, founding director of the National Institute on Aging who coined the term "ageism"]]
**Ageism** is when a person is treated badly only because of their age and a highly damaging social construct. Ageism can be bias and discrimination by one person or by a part of society as a group. Discrimination is when a person is left out or abused by somebody who does not like something about them. For example, their facial features, their height or their skin.

There have been many issues at the British broadcasting company, BBC, dealing with people saying that they have issues with ageism. Ageism is often common in the entertainment industry and journalism where what a person looks like is felt by many to be important, although ageism can be directed at people working in their industry even in their private life.

There are two targets for age discrimination: old people (also called senior citizens) and young people. Discrimination against old and young people can happen at places like job interviews. For example, a company might hire a worker who is about 30 years old instead of someone who is about 50 years old, or someone who is around 20 years old, regardless of skill level. Another common example of ageism is not allowing "minors", or young people, to vote, drive, work, marry, or give sexual consent.

Age discrimination is the result of actions taken to deny or limit opportunities to people based on age. These are usually actions taken as a result of one's ageist beliefs and attitudes. Age discrimination occurs on both a personal and institutional level. On a personal level, an older person may be told that they are too old to engage in certain physical activities, like an informal game of basketball between friends and family. They may also be told (most common in today's Western society) that they are too old to date or to be sexually attractive to much younger people and to have a much younger partners, or encounter prejudices against age-differences in general, whether the relationship is sentimental/sexual or even platonic (this particular form of ageist bigotry and discrimination is even more relevant today or in recent times on social media).

A relevant example of the latter case is the infamous "Half your age plus seven rule". Although this relatively recent theory supposedly originated in the West is recognized as bigoted, outdated and ageist and without actual valid basis, one "rule of thumb" to determine whether an age difference is "socially acceptable" holds that a person should never date someone whose age is less than half their own plus seven years.
 According to this "rule", a 28-year-old would date no one younger than 21 (half of 28, plus 7) and a 50-year-old would date no one younger than 32 (half of 50, plus 7).

## Notes 
## References
Kleptocracy

**Kleptocracy** ('klepto' meaning 'theft' in Ancient Greek) is the ruling of possibly any kind of government that uses its power to steal from its people.  This rarely-applied word was used by Charles Krauthammer, the nationally syndicated Washington Post columnist and political commentator on Fox-TV, on Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3, 2014.  He referred to Russia as a *kleptocracy* in a TV panel discussion about its influence in the revolution in the neighboring Ukraine in late February.  His political column added another derivation of this word: *kleptocratic*.

"Kleptocratic" is used by Krauthammer in the following quote: "But surely the West has more financial clout than Russia's **kleptocratic** extraction economy that exports little but oil, gas and wisky."

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had $731 million in his bank accounts when his party, Barisan Nasional, lost the 14th election to Pakatan Harapan, led by Mahathir Mohamad. The loss was partly due to allegations of Najib's involvement in the 1MDB scandal.

## Related pages
* Group of States Against Corruption
* International Anti-Corruption Academy
* International Anti-Corruption Day
* United Nations Convention against Corruption
* Transparency International
Fairfield, Wisconsin

**Fairfield** is a town of Sauk County in the state of Wisconsin, United States.  About 1,000 people lived in Fairfield as of 2020.  Fairfield is the place where the "sand farm" was bought by Aldo Leopold in 1935.  Fairfield has an area of 35.6 square miles.

## References
Corpus

***Corpus*** (plural ***corpora***) is Latin for *body*. It can mean:

* **Corpus Christi** (disambiguation)

* **Corpus (linguistics)**
** **Text corpus**, a large set of text, usually organized by topic or by where the text came from
** **Speech corpus**, a similar large set of audio files/recordings
* Corpus callosum, a structure in the brain
* Corpora cavernosa, a pair of structures in human genitals
* Habeas corpus, a legal term that stops police from holding a suspect for too long
* Corpus delicti, a legal term meaning "body of the crime."
* Corpus luteum, a hormone gland in mammals
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

**Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute**, or **RPI** is a private university in Troy, NY. It was made in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer because he wanted there to be schools that taught science and engineering. It is the oldest engineering school in America. Lots of students from RPI get jobs that pay a lot of money after they leave RPI. Some people who went to RPI have started big companies like NVIDIA, John Wiley and Sons, and Texas Instruments. George Low, an American who helped get spaceships into space, went to RPI.

What RPI focuses on has changed a lot since it was first made.  There still is a lot of engineering at the school, but now there is growing arts and social studies teaching at the school. A big concert hall called EMPAC was opened in 2008 at RPI.

Most of RPI's sports teams play in NCAA Division III, which does not allow athletic scholarships. The men's and women's ice hockey teams play as Division I teams in ECAC Hockey. The hockey teams are can award scholarships because of a special NCAA rule.

## References
## Other websites 
* Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
* Institute Archives and Special Collections
* Not the Rensselaer Wiki 
* A Postcard History of RPI
Millbury, Massachusetts

**Millbury** is a town of Worcester County in the state of Massachusetts, United States. About 13,800 people lived in Millbury as of 2020.
Mach number

creating a vapor cone at transonic speed just before reaching the speed of sound]]

A **mach number** is a number that describes speed. It is a measure of the speed of an object compared to the speed of sound. Mach number is given as a percentage compared to the local speed of sound. For example, half the speed of sound = Mach 0.5.

M=v/a 

Where **v** is the speed of the object, and **a** is the speed of sound.
: \mathrm{M} = \frac{u}{c},

It is named after the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach. When writing a speed as a Mach number, the number comes after "Mach."

## Categories of Mach numbers
Flying speed less than Mach 0.8 is called subsonic. Almost all airplanes, helicopters, and other aircraft are subsonic.

Flying speed from Mach 0.8 to Mach 1.2 is called transonic. If an airplane is moving at this speed, then some of the air around it moves faster than the speed of sound, but some of the air moves slower than the speed of sound.

Flying speed from Mach 1.2 to Mach 5 is called supersonic. An aircraft moving at this speed makes a shock wave. This can be heard as a very loud sound called a sonic boom. Supersonic aircraft are used in war, as fighter jets. Today, there are no supersonic aircraft for  use. There were some in the past, mainly the Concorde.

Flying speed above Mach 5 is called hypersonic.

## References
Drag

**Drag** may be:
*Drag (physics), a force that slows down objects
*Drag racing, a way to race cars
*Drag (clothing), a style of clothing
**Drag queen, a man who dresses like a woman
Transonic

**Transonic** means breaking the sound barrier by travelling faster than the speed of sound (1236&nbsp;km/h or 768&nbsp;mph).

The speed of flight is divided into four groups based on speed.
*Subsonic
***Transonic**
*Supersonic
*Hypersonic

Transonic means going from subsonic to supersonic.  Subsonic ends and supersonic begins at mach 1, so transonic goes from mach 0.8 to 1.2.  When you are going through transonic speeds, drag increases and it is really hard to go any faster.  This is the sound barrier.
Massively multiplayer online game

**Massively multiplayer online games** (**MMOGs**) are video games where players play together over the internet. These games are different from other online video games because they have very many players all playing with each other at the same time. Other online video games have fewer players playing with each other at the same time. The most popular kind of MMOG is the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Examples are *RuneScape*, *World of Warcraft* (WOW), *Roblox* and *Transformice*.

## Related pages 
* Metaverse
Mark D. Maughmer

**Mark D. Maughmer** (born January 18, 1947) is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. He is famous for designing the first type of airplane wing tips for better glider performance. He has won many awards for being a good teacher and for having an influence in aerospace.

## References
Triskaidekaphobia

. The elevator does not have the "13th floor".]]
**Triskaidekaphobia** is the fear of the number thirteen.  The number 13 has been linked to bad luck in the western superstition. Some buildings in the United States do not have a "13th floor."

The term was first used by Isador Coriat in *Abnormal Psychology*.

There is also a fear of Friday the 13th. This fear is called *paraskevidekatriaphobia* or *friggatriskaidekaphobia*.

## Related pages
* Tridecagon
## Notes 
## References
Magnoliales

**Magnoliales** is an order of flowering plants. They are very successful, despite being an early type of flowering plant.

## Classification 
The Magloliales includes six families:
* Annonaceae (custard apple family, over 2000 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas; mostly tropical but some temperate)
* Degeneriaceae (two species of trees found on Pacific islands)
* Eupomatiaceae (two species of trees and shrubs found in New Guinea and eastern Australia)
* Himantandraceae (two species of trees and shrubs, found in tropical areas in Southeast Asia and Australia)
* Magnoliaceae (about 225 species including magnolias and tulip trees)
* Myristicaceae (several hundred species including Nutmeg)

## References
Jack Russell Terrier

The **Jack Russell Terrier** is a breed of small dog with a white coat that can be smooth, rough, or "wire-haired". It was bred in England for fox hunting. It can also be used as a work dog.

## History 
The Jack Russell terrier was originally bred in England by the Reverend John Russell, starting around 1819. He enjoyed fox hunting and bred the Jack Russell for this activity. 

He was successful. Jack Russells are excellent at fox hunting. They are fast runners and are sturdier than the standard terrier. Their sense of smell is so strong that Jack Russells can even smell foxes when they go underground. Today, the only difference is leg length.

## References 
## Other websites 
; Jack Russell Terrier Clubs
* Jack Russell Terrier Club of America
* Jack Russell Terrier Club of Canada

; Other websites
* A Pictorial History of Working Terriers
* Terrier Work Basics
* Jack Russell Rescue Australia, the only Jack Russell Terrier Rescue group in Australia
* Jack Russell Terrier Pictures & Info
* Jack Russell Training and Raising Information
Pulp (band)

**Pulp** are a English band from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The lead singer, Jarvis Cocker, started the band in 1978. For a long time, Cocker found life as a musician hard. However, in 1994, he and his band became famous when their album called his "*His and Hers*" became popular in the United Kingdom. They had three more albums and a number of singles before the band split up in 2001.  Pulp has since reformed in 2025. 

## Albums by Pulp 
1983 - It 
1987 - Freaks 
1992 - Separations 
1994 - His 'N' Hers (Number 9 in the UK music charts) 
1995 - Different Class (Number 1 in the UK music charts)  
1996 - Countdown 1992-1983 (Number 10 in the UK music charts)  
1998 - This Is Hardcore (Number 1 in the UK music charts) 
2001 - We Love Life (Number 6 in the UK music charts)
+44 (band)

The **+44**, or **Plus 44**, was a punk rock supergroup that started in 2005. It was started by former Blink-182 members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, with guitarist Craig Fairbaugh from the band Transplants, and Shane Gallagher from the Nervous Return. The name of the band is the title of the telephone code for the UK, +44. The band broke up on January 13, 2009, when Blink-182 reformed.

## Members 
* Mark Hoppus (vocals, bass)
* Travis Barker (drums, keyboards)
* Craig Fairbaugh (rhythm guitar, vocals)
* Shane Gallagher (lead guitar)

## Discography 
* 2006 - *When Your Heart Stops Beating*

## References 
## Other websites 
*
Johns Hopkins University

**The Johns Hopkins University** is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States of America. Johns Hopkins opened in 1876 as part of a seven million dollar donation to start a number of institutions under his name. Johns Hopkins does more than 1.5 billion dollars of science research every year. During the pandemic, the university has been doing researching on the outbreak.

## References
## Other websites
* Johns Hopkins University
Trap door

A **trap door** or **trapdoor** is a door in the ground or in a floor,  that one enters vertically. Some can open when someone is standing on it. People typically put small doors disguised as something normal to scare a person falling into a trapdoor. They can be used for malicious purposes like murder. However, they can be used to hide things from other people.  

Trap doors are popular in  themed movies. The victim who falls down the trap door often is met with danger or a hidden . A standard cliché deals with the victim finding himself in an alligator filled swamp (most famously seen in *Scooby Doo* cartoons).
Pane sciocco

***Pane sciocco*** (also called in Tuscany "pane toscano") is a variety of bread very common in Tuscany and in Umbria, two regions in Italy. Pane sciocco does not contain salt, because when it was first made in the 1600s, salt was very rare and very expensive. Pane sciocco is often eaten with typically Tuscan ham or sausages, famous for being salty.

## Related pages
*Tuscan food
The Black Pearl (Scott O'Dell)

***The Black Pearl*** is a young adult book by Scott O'Dell first published in 1967. It is about the son of a pearl dealer living in the Lower California peninsula. It won the Newbery Honor in 1968.

## Story 
The story is about a Mexican teenager named Ramon Salazar who works with his father finding and selling pearls. One day, Ramon went diving in an underwater cave in search of pearls and found a pearl bigger than his fist. It was so shiny and big that he thought that it was called the Pearl of Heaven. The pearl was found in a lagoon that belonged to an Indian who warned Ramon that the pearl belonged to the Manta Diablo.

## Movie adaptation 
In 1977, Saul Swimmer directed the U.S.-Spanish co-production *The Black Pearl,* also known in Spanish as *La Perla Negra*.

## Related pages
*Herman Melville: *Moby-Dick* (1851)
*John Steinbeck: *The Pearl* (1947) (also set among the pearl divers of La Paz)
*Ernest Hemingway: *The Old Man and the Sea* (1952) (aging Cuban fisherman struggling with a giant marlin)
Bobsleigh

**Bobsled** or **bobsleigh** is a team sport played during the Winter Olympic Games. It is played by riding on iced tracks with a sled. Modern tracks are made of concrete, coated with ice. Artificial bobsleigh tracks are also available.

International bobsled competitions are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT).

The first bobsleds were built in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the late 19th century by rich tourists from Britain who were staying at the Palace Hotel owned by Caspar Badrutt.

## Related pages
*Sking
*Ski jumping

## Notes
## Other websites
*Bobsleigh at the Official website of the Olympic Movement
*Images for bobsleigh
*Videos for bobsleigh
*Bobsleigh crash
Gaius Caesar

**Gaius Julius Caesar** (20 BC–4 AD) was one of two brothers adopted by the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Both died in their early twenties, clearing the path for Tiberius. Gaius Caesar had achieved the rank of Consul before his death.

## References
Biplane

biplane flown by Lt. George A. Vaughn Jr., 17th Aero Squadron]]
A **biplane** is a fixed-wing aircraft that has two fixed wings.  The lower wing is often attached to the body of the aircraft and the top wing is raised above.  Most early airplanes were biplanes because they have a stronger structure than a monoplane.  When engineers discovered how to make strong monoplanes, biplanes became rare because they produce more drag.  

Famous biplanes include the Polikarpov Po-2, Sopwith Camel, Avro Tutor, Antonov An-2, Beechcraft Staggerwing, Boeing Stearman, Bristol Bulldog, Curtiss JN-4, de Havilland Tiger Moth, Fairey Swordfish, Hawker Hart, Pitts Special and the Wright Flyer.  The Stearman is particularly associated with stunt flying with wing-walkers.  

## References
White chocolate

**White chocolate** is a type of chocolate. White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, milk, and sugar. In the United States, white chocolate must be at least 20% cocoa butter, at least 14% total milk solids, at least 3.5% milk fat, and less than 55% sugar or other sweeteners. 
In the European Union, there must be at least 20% cocoa butter, at least 14% total milk solids and at least 3.5% milk fat.
Sea plane

floatplane in Harbour Air livery.]]

A **sea plane** is a fixed-wing vehicle that can take off to the sky or water.

## References
Paraglider

A **paraglider** is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. 

## Overview
In mountain areas, pilots usually take off from great height to fly down to the valley. In flat areas, a winch is used to tow the paraglider to a height of up to 400 meters before it is released. It is also possible to soar on the coast in laminar sea breeze. Some more advanced pilots also launch from hot air balloons or helicopters.
Coypu

The **coypu** (or **nutria**, *Myocastor coypus*) is a large, plant-eating, rodent which lives in wetlands. The nutria first came from South America including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Animals were taken to Louisiana in the 1930s to be farmed for their fur. Some of these animals escaped and are now living in the Louisiana coastal wetlands. They have become a pest and have damaged the environment.

## References
Hot air balloon

A **hot air balloon** is a type of aircraft. It is lifted by heating the air inside the balloon, usually with fire. 

Hot air weighs less than the same volume of cold air (it is less dense), which means that hot air will rise up or float when there is cold air around it, just like a bubble of air in a pot of water. The greater the difference between the hot and the cold, the greater the difference in density, and the stronger the balloon will pull up. This means that balloons can carry more weight on a cold day, or if the air inside the balloon is very hot. At higher temperature, the air molecules move faster. This causes the molecules to spread out and therefore hot air is less dense than cooler air.

## History
The hot air balloon is the oldest form of flying technology that can successfully carry people. The earliest use of hot air to make objects fly was made in Ancient China. Paper lanterns were sent into the air for signalling.

The first hot air balloon to carry a person was made by the Montgolfier brothers. On 19 September 1783, they demonstrated their invention for King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at the French court in Paris. The passengers were a sheep, a duck and a rooster. They flew for 480 metres.  The first flight carrying a person was on 15 October 1783. It carried Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier. The balloon was attached to the ground by a rope. The first *free* flight, without being attached to the ground, was a few weeks later, on 21 November 1783. It carried Marquis François d'Arlandes and Pilatre de Rozier.

## How it works
The air is made up of molecules. When the air is cold, these molecules are closer together. When the air is hot, they move away from each other. So, in the same space, there are fewer molecules in hot air. Hot air is therefore lighter than cold air. This makes it rise and carry up the balloon when the air inside it is heated. The air is heated in the balloon with a burner, which uses bursts of fire to keep the air hot. The fire is fuelled by propane.

The heated air is kept inside the balloon by its fabric. This is called the "envelope". It is usually made of nylon.

The passengers and the pilot stand in the basket, which is attached to the balloon by ropes. The basket is usually made of wicker. Baskets can come in many sizes. It can have enough places for up to 36 people. It depends on the size of the balloon to carry that much weight.

## Festivals 
A hot air balloon festival is a type of air show. It is where ballooners display and fly their balloons together. During these events, they fly in the morning and in the evening if the conditions allow it. People can enjoy a balloon flight if they pay. There are many activities. Sometimes, the balloons are lit up against the night sky.

At these festivals, people can see different shapes of balloons. Usually, they are kind of round but they may have forms.

## References
## Other websites
* Hot air ballooning 
* Hot air balloonat Library Think Quest
Megafauna

'' NHM]]
, 2.5 to 3 meters (8-10 feet) at the shoulder and weighing 3500 and 5400 kilograms (4-6 tons)]]
**Megafauna** are large animals. The word is most used for the Pleistocene megafauna  the large land animals of the last ice age, such as mammoths. It is also used for the largest living wild land animals, especially elephants, giraffes, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, elk, condors, etc.

Its use is connected with the discussion about the Holocene extinctions after the ice age. Most of the large land animals which were alive 12,000 years ago are now extinct, and there is much discussion as to what has caused this. The two main theories are hunting by humans, and climate change. Together, these reasons are enough to explain why these previously successful animals are now extinct. Elephant birds on Madagascar were certainly hunted to extinction, as were the Moas in New Zealand.  Archaeological sites with evidence of moa hunting are all over New Zealand. The moas became extinct about five hundred years ago. The moas had survived being hunted by Haast's Eagle, but they did not survive being hunted for food by the Maoris.

For many others the climate changes may have been the main reason for their extinction.

## References
Comfortably Numb

**Comfortably Numb** is a rock song by Pink Floyd. It was released on their album *The Wall* in 1979. The song is about a rock star who is visited by a doctor. The doctor gives him medicine allowing the rock star to perform again. The lyrics were written by Roger Waters and the music was written by David Gilmour. This song became very popular and became part of every Pink Floyd tour since 1981. It was even played by Roger Waters and David Gilmour on their individual solo tours. In 2004 Scissor Sisters released a disco version of the song. It reached number ten in the UK Singles Chart.
Blank slate

**Blank slate**, or ***tabula rasa*** (which means the same thing) was a philosophical idea of John Locke. It had, like much of philosophy, a history which went as far back as Aristotle, but it was Locke who made it known to our modern world:
:"Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper void of all characters, without any ideas. How comes it to be furnished? ... To this I answer, in one word, from EXPERIENCE".

Humans, when born, are thought not have  experience or knowledge, and that everything is learned after they grow. In particular, Locke thought all knowledge came from sense data, and the mind is empty at the beginning. By 'sense data' is meant the process of hearing, seeing, touching etc.

Locke's idea was immediately picked up by others:
:"Children are a sort of raw material put into our hands... [Their minds are] like a sheet of white paper".
:"Our virtues and our vices may be traced to the incidents which make the history of our lives, and if these incidents could be divested of every improper tendency, vice would be extirpated [cut out] from the world".—The economist and social liberal William Godwin (1756–1836), who argued for human perfectibility and enlightenment.

Many have held similar views. The founder of behaviourism, John B. Watson (1878–1938):
:"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors".

Throughout the 20th century the influence of evolution and genetics ran against these liberal ideas. Ethology proved that much animal behaviour was inherited, instinctual, ( and ). Konrad Lorenz argued that the aggression so obvious in the history of mankind was a playing out of behaviour which had evolutionary advantage in our past. The field of evolutionary psychology set out to examine the role played by evolution on our mental life. If humans share a common evolutionary history with the other animals, it is likely that we inherit mental traits from our evolution. The human ability to learn a language is inherited, and is of huge practical importance. Very important also (though less obvious) is the way that our unconscious mind helps us get through life. The apparatus which performs that mental activity is certainly inherited. These are some reasons why a number of recent publications have rejected Locke's idea.

## Related pages 
*Adaptive unconscious
*Behaviourism
*Empiricism
*Human nature
*Nature versus nurture
*Psychological nativism
*Sociobiology

## References
Cucurbitales

The **Cucurbitales** is an order of flowering plants, included in the rosid group of dicotyledons. This order mostly belongs to tropical areas, with limited presence in subtropic and temperate regions. The order includes various shrubs and trees, together with many herbs and climbing plants.

One of major characteristics of the Cucurbitales is the presence of unisexual flowers, with thick pointed petals (whenever present). The pollination is usually performed by insects, but wind pollination, where flowers use the wind to move pollen from one flower to the next, is also present (in Coriariaceae and Datiscaceae).

The order consists of roughly 2600 species in eight families. The largest families are Begoniaceae (begonia family) with 1400 species and Cucurbitaceae (gourd family) with 825 species.

The large families of Cucurbitales include several economically important plants. Specifically, the Cucurbitaceae are responsible for some food species, such as squash, pumpkin (both from *Cucurbita*), watermelon (*Citrullus vulgaris*), melon and cucumber (both *Cucumis*). The Begoniaceae are known for their horticultural species, of which there are over 130.

## References
Cucurbitaceae

**Cucurbitaceae** is the plant family with melons, gourds or **cucurbits**. It includes crops such as cucumbers, squashes (including pumpkins), luffas, melons and watermelons. 

The family lives mostly in the tropics. Its edible fruits were amongst the earliest cultivated plants.
Air pump

A **air pump** is a pump that is used to inflate things, like a basketball. The pump often has a needle at the end and can be used to inflate other objects as well. Bicycle tires are normally filled with air. With extensive use, the tires may lose air and need to be inflated. When the air gets moved, an area of low pressure gets created which fills up with more air.

## References
Bruce Campbell

**Bruce Lorne Campbell** (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He is known for his starring role in the 1981 horror movie *Evil Dead*. He has since become a B-movie icon. He starred as Sam Axe in *Burn Notice* on the USA Network. He played Ronald Reagan in season 2 of the FX original series *Fargo* in late 2015.

In March 2026, Campbell announced that he was diagnosed with cancer and would begin treatment.

## References
Nachos

**Nachos** are a snack food made with tortilla chips and cheese. Sometimes they have jalapeños, sauce, beans, guacamole or meat on them.

Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya created nachos at the Victory Club in 1940 when Mamie Mandwasy, a regular customer, asked if Anaya could bring her and three other women a different snack than usual. Anaya went to the kitchen and spotted freshly fried pieces of corn tortillas. In a moment of culinary inspiration, he added melted cheese and pickled jalapeño strips. After tasting the snack Anaya created, Mandwasy asked what it was called. Anaya responded, "Well, I guess we can just call them Nacho's Special." The dish was so popular, the owner of the Victory Club, Roberto de los Santos, put Nacho's Special on the menu and the snack quickly spread throughout the world. When the Victory Club closed in 1961, Anaya opened his own restaurant, Nacho's. 

## References
Unicycle

A **unicycle** is a pedal vehicle. It is like a bicycle, but it has only one wheel. It has a seat and pedals, but no chain or gears. There is no handlebar, it is steered by gripping the seat with the legs and twisting the body.  A rider keeps their balance by moving their arms, and controlling their speed. It is usually used for acting and performing. A unicycle is more expensive than a cheap bicycle, because unicycles are far less common.

There are two kinds of unicycles; giraffe unicycles and traditional unicycles. Giraffe unicycles are much taller than traditional unicycles, and use a chain so that the performer's legs do not have to stretch very far. Giraffe unicycles are mostly used by performers in circuses.  

Unicycles are often used while the performer is simultaneously juggling or plate spinning. To do this, performers usually rock back and forth on the unicycle. This is called "idling". It lets the performer pay attention to what they are doing in their hands, instead of to the ground in front of them. To "idle" a unicycle, performers usually press one foot down, anchoring it in the bottom position of the wheel. This foot both provides support and completes the rocking motion that is necessary to keep the unicycle balanced.

Many other tricks can be done when riding a unicycle.  This includes going backwards, riding up and down steps, pedaling with only one foot, hopping in place, wheel-walking (putting the feet on the tire instead of on the pedals) and riding over obstacles.

## References
Chulabhorn Dam

**Chulabhorn Dam** (เขื่อนจุฬาภรณ์) is a dam in Thailand. It is named after a princess, Chulabhorn Walailak. The dam is in Tambon Thung Lui Lai, Amphur Kon San, Chaiyaphum Province on the Nam Phrom River.  It is 700 metres long and 70 metres high.  It holds a reservoir of 31 square kilometres.

## Other websites 
* Chulabhorn Dam in Chaiyaphum
Caspar David Friedrich

, *Portrait of Caspar David Friedrich* (c. 1810–20)]]

**Caspar David Friedrich** (September 5, 1774 – May 7, 1840) was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter.

He is best known for landscapes, which typically feature lonely figures against night skies, morning mists or Gothic ruins. 

## Related pages
*List of German painters
*German art
Alexander Stepanovich Popov

**Alexander Stepanovich Popov** () ( – ) was a Russian physicist and inventor who first showed how to use electromagnetic (radio) waves, although he did not apply for a patent for his invention.

## References
Dark energy

**Dark energy** is the name given to the force that is believed to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Distant galaxies appear to be moving away from us at high speed: the idea is that the universe is getting bigger and has been since the Big Bang. Measurements are now accurate enough to allow astronomers to tell that these galaxies seem to be accelerating away from us. The universe is expanding at an increasing rate.
## Understanding
This faster and faster expansion is not understood by scientists. There are many ideas for what might be causing the rapid expansion. However, at the moment, cosmologists who study it do not have an answer. It is *as if* there was something there in empty space providing a repulsive force (Anti-gravity) that makes the universe expand. This has been named **dark energy**.

A 2011 research article sets out the problem for theoretical physics.

## Related pages 
* Dark matter
* Hubble's law
* Metric expansion of space
* Nature timeline

## References
United Nations Environment Programme

The **UN Environment Programme** (**UNEP**) is in charge of the United Nations environmental activities, helping developing countries in making environmentally  policies and encouraging sustainable development through sound environmental practices. It began as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. UNEP also has six regional offices and other country offices.

UNEP has helped to develop guidelines and treaties on issues such as the international trade in potentially harmful chemicals, transboundary air pollution, and contamination of international waterways.

The World Meteorological Organization and the UNEP established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. UNEP is also one of several Implementing Agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

## Other websites
*United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

## List of Accredited Organizations to UNEP https://www.unep.org/civil-society-engagement/accreditation/list-accredited-organizations 
Non-governmental organizations meeting the requirements of the accreditation process are granted observer status to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and its subsidiary bodies. Accreditation provides non-governmental organizations the opportunity to participate in environmental decision-making at the highest level.

https://www.unep.org/civil-society-engagement/accreditation/list-accredited-organizations
Green Revolution

The **Green Revolution** was a spread of food security technology by Norman Borlaug, who earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. He is said to have saved over a billion people from starving to death, from the 1930s to the 1960s. 

It was done by the creation of different types of cereal grains which grew more food than average. Also, there was more use of modern systems for watering crops. Food management was made more modern. The spread of hybridized seeds, man-made fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers all helped.

## Background 
In the 20th century, big spending in modern and scientific research for agriculture led to the growth of more food in industrial countries. The Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation helped to change these scientific technologies to fit the conditions in developing countries. The first research was on rice and wheat, two of the most important food crops for developing countries. Irrigation and the growth of better plant types, in addition to more use of fertilizers and pesticides, led to more food growth in Asia and Latin America, starting in the late 1960s. The term “Green Revolution” was used to mean the large growth in agriculture that happened at this time. The curse part of this reference can now be seen, as population has grown so that problems remain, but with an increased population.

## References
90482 Orcus

**90482 Orcus** (symbol: ), originally known by the provisional designation **2004 DW**, is a Kuiper belt object (KBO). It is also a dwarf planet. It was found by Michael Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz on February 17, 2004. It was also seen in pictures from November 8, 1951. Like Pluto it is in orbital resonance with Neptune but it stays on the opposite side of the Sun from Pluto.

## Moon 
A moon of Orcus was found on  22 February 2007.

The satellite was found at 0.25 arcsec from Orcus with magnitude difference of 2.7. Assuming an albedo similar to that of the primary, the magnitude suggests a diameter of about 220&nbsp;km. It is thought to be a smaller KBO that was captured.

## Other websites
* MPEC 2004-D09 announcing the discovery but attributing it to Raymond J. Bambery, Steven H. Pravdo, Michael D. Hicks, Kenneth J. Lawrence, Daniel MacDonald, Eleanor F. Helin and Robert Thicksten / NEAT
* MPEC 2004-D13 correcting MPEC 2004-D09
* Chad Trujillo's page on 2004 DW 
* First BBC article
* First New Scientist article
* Updated orbital elements from Lowell Observatory 
* AstDys  orbital elements
* Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Ephemeris

## References
Chaiyaphum province

**Chaiyaphum** () is one of the Isan (*north-eastern*) provinces (*changwat*) of Thailand. As of 2000, 1 million people live there, and has an area of 12,778.3&nbsp;km². The Governor is Thawon Phrommichai.

## Geography
* Chulabhorn Dam

## Administrative divisions 
The province has 16 districts (amphoe); 124 subdistricts (tambon) and 1393 villages (muban).
Afrikaans Wikipedia

The **Afrikaans Wikipedia** () is the Afrikaans-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was started in November 2001. , the site had over 103,000 articles.

## References 
## Other websites 
* Afrikaans Wikipedia main page
Susan George (political scientist)

**Susan George** (born 1934) is a well-known writer on Third World poverty, underdevelopment and debt. She is a fellow of the Transnational Institute and is a critic of the present policies of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.  

She has been a consultant to United Nations agencies and is a frequent public speaker. She is American but lives in France.

## Books 
* *How the Other Half Dies* (Penguin) 1976. Reprinted 1986, 1991  (An analysis of the real reasons for world hunger.)
* *A Fate Worse Than Debt* (Penguin) 1988  (An analysis of the reasons for Third World debt.)
* *The Debt Boomerang* (Pluto Press) 1992  (Continuing the theme of Third World debt and its harmful effects.)
* *The Lugano Report: On Preserving Capitalism in the 21st Century* 1999 
* *Another World Is Possible If* (Verso Books) 2004 

## Other websites 
*Susan George, Official page at Transnational Institute.
Stern Review

The **Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change** is a 700-page report released on 30 October 2006 by economist Lord Nicholas Stern for the British government. 

It discusses the effect of climate change and global warming on the world economy. It is the largest and most widely known and discussed report of its kind.
Nicholas Stern, called the  "world’s top climate economist", endorses 350 ppm as “a very sensible long-term target.”

Lord Stern was the co-chairperson of the of *Global Commission for the Economy and Climate*.

## Related pages
*Carbon cycle
*Greenhouse gas
*Energy efficiency and Sustainable energy
*Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
*An Inconvenient Truth and Al Gore
*James Hansen
*Tim Flannery
*Carbon footprint
*350.org

## References
Manuel Pino

**Manuel Pino** is a professor at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. Opposition to uranium mining has played a big role in Pino's life. He has written about *The Destructive Impact of Uranium Mining on Native American Culture*.  He has spoken out at many international conferences about victims of uranium mining, depleted uranium, and associated cancer deaths.  In 2008, Manuel Pino received the Nuclear-Free Future Award.

## Related pages
*Uranium in the environment
*Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
*Jacqui Katona

## References
## Other websites
*Uranium Mining and Indigenous People
*Indigenous Leaders Call For End To Uranium Mining
Jacqui Katona

**Jacqui Katona** is an Aboriginal woman who tried to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory.  In 1998 the Mirrar Aboriginal people, together with environmental groups, created one of the largest protests in Australia's history. Katona won the 1999 U.S. Goldman Environmental Prize because she protected her country and culture against uranium mining.

## Related pages
* Uranium in the environment
* Manuel Pino

## References
## Other websites
* Yes to land rights! No to uranium mining! 
* Anti-nuke protests 
* Indigenous Leaders Call For End To Uranium Mining
Third rail

train picking up contact from the third rail via a contact shoe]]
A **third rail** is a metal railway track that is placed on either side of a train track to provide electrical power to trains traveling along the tracks. They are often used on subways and local train services.  Before third rails, electricity was carried in overhead wires. Many deaths occur around the world each year due to human contact with a third rail. In New York City, there have been multiple cases of people dying because they have urinated on the third rail.

## Related pages
*Subway
*Toronto subway and RT

## References
## Other websites
*MSNBC - Stay alive! Tips to survive a subway emergency