vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Manhattan Project
The key raw material for the project was uranium , which was used as fuel for the reactors , as feed that was transformed into plutonium , and , in its enriched form , in the atomic bomb itself . There were four known major deposits of uranium in 1940 : in Colorado , in northern Canada , in Joachimsthal in Czechoslovakia , and in the Belgian Congo . All but Joachimstal were in allied hands . A November 1942 survey determined that sufficient quantities of uranium were available to satisfy the project 's requirements . Nichols arranged with the State Department for export controls to be placed on uranium oxide and negotiated for the purchase of 1,200 short tons ( 1,100 t ) of uranium ore from the Belgian Congo that was being stored in a warehouse on Staten Island and the remaining stocks of mined ore stored in the Congo . He negotiated with Eldorado Gold Mines for the purchase of ore from its refinery in Port Hope , Ontario , and its shipment in 100 - ton lots . The Canadian government subsequently bought up the company 's stock until it acquired a controlling interest .
Moon landing
After the early Soviet successes , especially Yuri Gagarin 's flight , US President John F. Kennedy looked for a US project that would capture the public imagination . He asked Vice President Lyndon Johnson to make recommendations on a scientific endeavor that would prove US world leadership . The proposals included non-space options such as massive irrigation projects to benefit the Third World . The Soviets , at the time , had more powerful rockets than the United States , which gave them an advantage in some kinds of space mission .
Manhattan Project
An Alsos team went to Stassfurt in the Soviet Occupation Zone and retrieved 11 tons of ore from WIFO . In April 1945 , Pash , in command of a composite force known as T - Force , conducted Operation Harborage , a sweep behind enemy lines of the cities of Hechingen , Bisingen , and Haigerloch that were the heart of the German nuclear effort . T - Force captured the nuclear laboratories , documents , equipment and supplies , including heavy water and 1.5 tons of metallic uranium .
Rainwater harvesting
Though little - known , for centuries , the town of Venice depended on rainwater harvesting . The lagoon which surrounds Venice is brackish water , which is not suitable for drinking . The ancient inhabitants of Venice established a system of rainwater collection which was based on man - made insulated collection wells . Water percolated down the specially designed stone flooring , and was filtered by a layer of sand , then collected at the bottom of the well . Later , as Venice acquired territories on the mainland , it started to import water by boat from local rivers , but the wells remained in use , and were especially important in time of war when access to the mainland water could be blocked by an enemy . Rainwater
Moon landing
Like Zond , Apollo Moon flights were generally launched on a free return trajectory that would return them to Earth via a circumlunar loop in the event that a Service Module malfunction failed to place them in lunar orbit as planned . This option was implemented after an explosion aboard the Apollo 13 mission in 1970 , which is the only manned circumlunar loop mission flown to date .
Halley's Comet
During its 1986 apparition , Halley 's Comet became the first comet to be observed in detail by spacecraft , providing the first observational data on the structure of a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail formation . These observations supported a number of longstanding hypotheses about comet construction , particularly Fred Whipple 's `` dirty snowball '' model , which correctly predicted that Halley would be composed of a mixture of volatile ices -- such as water , carbon dioxide , and ammonia -- and dust . The missions also provided data that substantially reformed and reconfigured these ideas ; for instance , it is now understood that the surface of Halley is largely composed of dusty , non-volatile materials , and that only a small portion of it is icy .
Mars
Small quantities of methane and formaldehyde detected by Mars orbiters are both claimed to be possible evidence for life , as these chemical compounds would quickly break down in the Martian atmosphere . Alternatively , these compounds may instead be replenished by volcanic or other geological means , such as serpentinization .
Diamond
Once diamonds have been transported to the surface by magma in a volcanic pipe , they may erode out and be distributed over a large area . A volcanic pipe containing diamonds is known as a primary source of diamonds . Secondary sources of diamonds include all areas where a significant number of diamonds have been eroded out of their kimberlite or lamproite matrix , and accumulated because of water or wind action . These include alluvial deposits and deposits along existing and ancient shorelines , where loose diamonds tend to accumulate because of their size and density . Diamonds have also rarely been found in deposits left behind by glaciers ( notably in Wisconsin and Indiana ) ; in contrast to alluvial deposits , glacial deposits are minor and are therefore not viable commercial sources of diamond .
Chernobyl disaster
The worst of the radioactive debris was collected inside what was left of the reactor . During clean - up operations , remotely controlled machinery were used to try to move the most highly radiative debris , but these failed in the harsh conditions . Consequently , the most highly radioative materials were shoveled by Chernobyl liquidators from the military wearing heavy protective gear ( dubbed `` bio-robots '' by the military ) ; these soldiers could only spend a maximum of 40 seconds working on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings because of the extremely high doses of radiation given off by the blocks of graphite and other debris . Though the soldiers were only supposed to perform the role of the `` bio-robot '' a maximum of once , some soldiers reported having done this task five or six times . The reactor itself was covered with bags of sand , lead and boric acid dropped from helicopters : some 5000 metric tons of material were dropped during the week that followed the accident .
Xenon
Naturally occurring xenon consists of eight stable isotopes . More than 40 unstable xenon isotopes undergo radioactive decay , and the isotope ratios of xenon are an important tool for studying the early history of the Solar System . Radioactive xenon - 135 is produced by beta decay from iodine - 135 ( a product of nuclear fission ) , and is the most significant ( and unwanted ) neutron absorber in nuclear reactors .
Exploration of Mars
The mission studied the entire Martian surface , atmosphere , and interior , and returned more data about the red planet than all previous Mars missions combined . The data has been archived and remains available publicly . A
Moon landing
Johnson had championed the US manned space program ever since the Sputnik scare , sponsoring the legislation which created NASA when he was in the Senate in 1958 . When Kennedy asked him in 1961 to research the best manned space achievement to counter the Soviets ' lead , Johnson responded that the US had an even chance of beating the USSR to a manned lunar landing , but not for anything less . Kennedy seized on Apollo as the ideal focus for efforts in space . He ensured continuing funding , shielding space spending from the 1963 tax cut , but diverting money from other NASA scientific projects . This last dismayed NASA 's leader , James E. Webb , who perceived the need for NASA 's support from the scientific community .
Mars
The Phoenix lander returned data showing Martian soil to be slightly alkaline and containing elements such as magnesium , sodium , potassium and chlorine . These nutrients are found in soils on Earth , and they are necessary for growth of plants . Experiments performed by the lander showed that the Martian soil has a basic pH of 7.7 , and contains 0.6 % of the salt perchlorate .
Exploration of Mars
NASA 's Mars Exploration Rover Mission ( MER ) , started in 2003 , is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers , Spirit ( MER - A ) and Opportunity , ( MER - B ) exploring the Martian surface geology . The mission 's scientific objective is to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars . The mission is part of NASA 's Mars Exploration Program , which includes three previous successful landers : the two Viking program landers in 1976 ; and Mars Pathfinder probe in 1997 . Mars
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Some B - 29s , fitted with filtered air sampling scoops , were used to monitor above ground nuclear weapons testing by the United States and the USSR by sampling airborne radioactive contamination . The USAF also used the aircraft for long - range weather reconnaissance ( WB - 29 ) , for signals intelligence gathering ( EB - 29 ) and photographic reconnaissance ( RB - 29 ) .
Moon landing
With Korolev 's death and the failure of the first Soyuz flight in 1967 , the co-ordination of the Soviet Moon landing program quickly unraveled . The Soviets built a landing craft and selected cosmonauts for the mission that would have placed Aleksei Leonov on the Moon 's surface , but with the successive launch failures of the N1 booster in 1969 , plans for a manned landing suffered first delay and then cancellation .
Mariana Trench
In 2016 , a research expedition looked at the chemical makeup of crustacean scavengers collected from a range of 7,841 -- 10,250 metres within the trench . Within these organisms , the researchers found extremely elevated concentrations of PCBs , a chemical toxin banned for its environmental harm in the 1970s , concentrated at all depths within the sediment of the trench .
Spratly Islands dispute
In 1968 , oil was discovered in the region . The Geology and Mineral Resources Ministry of the People 's Republic of China ( PRC ) has estimated that the Spratly area holds oil and natural gas reserves of 17.7 billion tons ( 1.60 × 10 kg ) , compared to the 13 billion tons ( 1.17 × 10 kg ) held by Kuwait , placing it as , potentially , the fourth largest reserve bed in the world . The United States Energy Information Administration contests this , estimating almost no oil and less than 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas exists in fields near the Spratly Islands . Still , these large potential reserves have assisted in intensifying the territorial claims of the neighbouring countries .
Nickel
Nickel released from Siberian Traps volcanic eruptions is suspected of assisting the growth of Methanosarcina , a genus of euryarchaeote archaea that produced methane during the Permian -- Triassic extinction event , the biggest extinction event on record .
Mars
The Mars Science Laboratory , named Curiosity , launched on November 26 , 2011 , and reached Mars on August 6 , 2012 UTC . It is larger and more advanced than the Mars Exploration Rovers , with a movement rate up to 90 m ( 300 ft ) per hour . Experiments include a laser chemical sampler that can deduce the make - up of rocks at a distance of 7 m ( 23 ft ) . On February 10 , 2013 , the Curiosity rover obtained the first deep rock samples ever taken from another planetary body , using its on - board drill .
Rainwater harvesting
Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for reuse on - site , rather than allowing it to run off . Rainwater can be collected from rivers or roofs , and in many places , the water collected is redirected to a deep pit ( well , shaft , or borehole ) , a reservoir with percolation , or collected from dew or fog with nets or other tools . Its uses include water for gardens , livestock , irrigation , domestic use with proper treatment , indoor heating for houses , etc . The harvested water can also be used as drinking water , longer - term storage , and for other purposes such as groundwater recharge .
Chernobyl disaster
According to official estimates , about 95 % of the fuel in Reactor 4 at the time of the accident ( about 180 metric tons ) remains inside the shelter , with a total radioactivity of nearly 18 million curies ( 670 PBq ) . The radioactive material consists of core fragments , dust , and lava - like `` fuel containing materials '' ( FCM ) -- also called `` corium '' -- that flowed through the wrecked reactor building before hardening into a ceramic form .
Venus
In 1975 , the Soviet Venera 9 and 10 landers transmitted the first images from the surface of Venus , which were in black and white . In 1982 the first colour images of the surface were obtained with the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 landers .
Exploration of Mars
Selected Soviet Mars probes Spacecraft Orbiter or flyby outcome Lander outcome Mars 1 Failure Failure Mars 2 Success Failure Mars 3 Partial success Partial success Mars 4 Failure N / A Mars 5 Partial success N / A Mars 6 Success Failure Mars 7 Success Failure Phobos 1 Failure Not deployed Phobos 2 Partial success Not deployed
Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere
The most direct method for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for periods before instrumental sampling is to measure bubbles of air ( fluid or gas inclusions ) trapped in the Antarctic or Greenland ice sheets . The most widely accepted of such studies come from a variety of Antarctic cores and indicate that atmospheric CO concentrations were about 260 -- 280 ppmv immediately before industrial emissions began and did not vary much from this level during the preceding 10,000 years . The longest ice core record comes from East Antarctica , where ice has been sampled to an age of 800,000 years . During this time , the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has varied between 180 -- 210 ppm during ice ages , increasing to 280 -- 300 ppm during warmer interglacials . The beginning of human agriculture during the current Holocene epoch may have been strongly connected to the atmospheric CO increase after the last ice age ended , a fertilization effect raising plant biomass growth and reducing stomatal conductance requirements for CO intake , consequently reducing transpiration water losses and increasing water usage efficiency .
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
In June 2011 , TEPCO stated the amount of contaminated water in the complex had increased due to substantial rainfall . On 13 February 2014 , TEPCO reported 37 kBq ( 1.0 micro curie ) of caesium - 134 and 93 kBq ( 2.5 micro curies ) of caesium - 137 were detected per liter of groundwater sampled from a monitoring well . Dust particles gathered 4 km from the reactors in 2017 included microscopic nodules of melted core samples encased in caesium . After decades of exponential decline in ocean caesium from weapons testing fallout , radioactive isotopes of caesium in the Sea of Japan increased after Fukushima from 1.5 mBq / L to about 2.5 mBq / L and are still rising as of 2018 , while those just off the western coast of Japan have declined .
Long Island Sound
The continental ice sheet scraped off an average of 65 feet ( 20 m ) of surface material from the New England landscape , then deposited the material ( known as drift ) from the Connecticut coast into the Sound , creating what is now Long Island ( the terminal moraine ) . When the ice sheet stopped advancing 18,000 years ago ( as addition of snow at the origin was in equilibrium with the melting at the southern edge ) , a large amount of drift was deposited , known as the Ronkonkoma Moraine , which stretches along much of southern Long Island . Later , another period of equilibrium resulted in the Harbor Hill Moraine along most of northern Long Island . The next moraines ( recessional moraines ) to the north were created just on and off the Connecticut coast . These moraines , created by much smaller deposits ( probably from equilibrium states that were much shorter in time ) are discontinuous and much smaller than those to the south . The Connecticut coast moraines are in two groups : the Norwalk area and the Madison - Old Saybrook area . Sandy plains and beaches resulted from the erosion of moraines and redeposition in these areas , and to the east of each , where the drift cover is thinnest , exposed bedrock creates rocky headlands , often with marshlands behind them .
Xenon
In a similar way , xenon isotopic ratios such as Xe / Xe and Xe / Xe are a powerful tool for understanding planetary differentiation and early outgassing . For example , the atmosphere of Mars shows a xenon abundance similar to that of Earth ( 0.08 parts per million ) but Mars shows a greater abundance of Xe than the Earth or the Sun . Since this isotope is generated by radioactive decay , the result may indicate that Mars lost most of its primordial atmosphere , possibly within the first 100 million years after the planet was formed . In another example , excess Xe found in carbon dioxide well gases from New Mexico is believed to be from the decay of mantle - derived gases from soon after Earth 's formation .
Indus River
The Indus river feeds the Indus submarine fan , which is the second largest sediment body on the Earth . It consists of around 5 million cubic kilometres of material eroded from the mountains . Studies of the sediment in the modern river indicate that the Karakoram Mountains in northern Pakistan and India are the single most important source of material , with the Himalayas providing the next largest contribution , mostly via the large rivers of the Punjab ( Jhelum , Ravi , Chenab , Beas and Sutlej ) . Analysis of sediments from the Arabian Sea has demonstrated that prior to five million years ago the Indus was not connected to these Punjab rivers which instead flowed east into the Ganges and were captured after that time . Earlier work showed that sand and silt from western Tibet was reaching the Arabian Sea by 45 million years ago , implying the existence of an ancient Indus River by that time . The delta of this proto - Indus river has subsequently been found in the Katawaz Basin , on the Afghan - Pakistan border .
Exploration of Mars
Other future mission concepts include polar probes , Martian aircraft and a network of small meteorological stations . Longterm areas of study may include Martian lava tubes , resource utilization , and electronic charge carriers in rocks . Micromissions are another possibility , such as piggybacking a small spacecraft on an Ariane 5 rocket and using a lunar gravity assist to get to Mars .
Space Race
Korolev 's design bureau produced two prospectuses for circumlunar spaceflight ( March 1962 and May 1963 ) , the main spacecraft for which were early versions of his Soyuz design . Soviet Communist Party Central Committee Command 655 - 268 officially established two secret , competing crewed programs for circumlunar flights and lunar landings , on August 3 , 1964 . The circumlunar flights were planned to occur in 1967 , and the landings to start in 1968 .
Cold War
On the nuclear weapons front , the United States and the USSR pursued nuclear rearmament and developed long - range weapons with which they could strike the territory of the other . In August 1957 , the Soviets successfully launched the world 's first intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) and in October , launched the first Earth satellite , Sputnik 1 . The launch of Sputnik inaugurated the Space Race . This culminated in the Apollo Moon landings , which astronaut Frank Borman later described as `` just a battle in the Cold War . ''
Mars
Methane can exist in the Martian atmosphere for only a limited period before it is destroyed -- estimates of its lifetime range from 0.6 -- 4 years . Its presence despite this short lifetime indicates that an active source of the gas must be present . Volcanic activity , cometary impacts , and the presence of methanogenic microbial life forms are among possible sources . Methane could be produced by a non-biological process called serpentinization involving water , carbon dioxide , and the mineral olivine , which is known to be common on Mars . Escaping
Moon landing
The intense efforts devoted in the 1960s to achieving first an unmanned and then ultimately a manned moon landing become easier to understand in the political context of its historical era . World War II had introduced many new and deadly innovations including blitzkrieg - style surprise attacks used in the invasion of Poland and in the attack on Pearl Harbor ; the V - 2 rocket , a ballistic missile which killed thousands in attacks on London and Antwerp ; and the atom bomb , which killed hundreds of thousands in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . In the 1950s , tensions mounted between the two ideologically opposed superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union that had emerged as victors in the conflict , particularly after the development by both countries of the hydrogen bomb . The
Mars
Researchers believe that much of the low northern plains of the planet were covered with an ocean hundreds of meters deep , though this remains controversial . In March 2015 , scientists stated that such an ocean might have been the size of Earth 's Arctic Ocean . This finding was derived from the ratio of water to deuterium in the modern Martian atmosphere compared to that ratio on Earth . The amount of Martian deuterium is eight times the amount that exists on Earth , suggesting that ancient Mars had significantly higher levels of water . Results from the Curiosity rover had previously found a high ratio of deuterium in Gale Crater , though not significantly high enough to suggest the former presence of an ocean . Other scientists caution that these results have not been confirmed , and point out that Martian climate models have not yet shown that the planet was warm enough in the past to support bodies of liquid water . Polar
History of chemistry
The later part of the nineteenth century saw a huge increase in the exploitation of petroleum extracted from the earth for the production of a host of chemicals and largely replaced the use of whale oil , coal tar and naval stores used previously . Large - scale production and refinement of petroleum provided feedstocks for liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel , solvents , lubricants , asphalt , waxes , and for the production of many of the common materials of the modern world , such as synthetic fibers , plastics , paints , detergents , pharmaceuticals , adhesives and ammonia as fertilizer and for other uses . Many of these required new catalysts and the utilization of chemical engineering for their cost - effective production .
Mars
There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars , as well as the possibility of extant life . Future astrobiology missions are planned , including the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers . Liquid water can not exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure , which is less than 1 % of the Earth 's , except at the lowest elevations for short periods . The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water . The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap , if melted , would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 meters ( 36 ft ) . In November 2016 , NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars . The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior .
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
In 2011 , scientists working for the Japan Atomic Energy Agency , Kyoto University and other institutes , recalculated the amount of radioactive material released into the ocean : between late March through April they found a total of 15 PBq for the combined amount of iodine - 131 and caesium - 137 , more than triple the 4.72 PBq estimated by TEPCO . The company had calculated only the direct releases into the sea . The new calculations incorporated the portion of airborne radioactive substances that entered the ocean as rain .