title: Anxiety

paragraphs: Anxiety is distress or uneasiness of mind caused by a fear of danger or misfortune. Very often, people with anxiety also feel worries. There can also be physical symptoms, like having a headache or an upset stomach.

paragraphs: Anxiety is a very common human emotion and is often associated with fear, panic, and the fight or flight response. The amount of stress needed to cause anxiety will vary from person to person however, basics include: losing one's job, the death of a loved one, or an accident, to name a few. In most people, anxiety will settle over time and one will return to normal state.

paragraphs: Some people suffer a lot of anxiety over a long period of time which controls them and makes their lives difficult. These conditions are called anxiety disorders and can be treated by therapy and medicine.

paragraphs: General anxiety is a disorder in which the victim is constantly worried or fearful about situations or things that normally wouldn’t bother them or others. When this continual anxious state starts to interfere with their social, family and work life, and prevents them functioning in a normal fashion, they may be said to have a General Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

paragraphs: General anxiety symptoms are things such as; continual tiredness / exhaustion, inability to relax, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, fear of public places, fear of socializing, frequent feelings of irrational anxiety / fear, compulsive behavior, worrying about making mistakes, regular nightmares, disturbed sleep patterns, excessive crying, headaches, stomach problems, diarrhea, nausea, aching muscles, and so on.

paragraphs: Symptoms of anxiety attacks are things like; sweating, shaking and tremors, palpitations, shortness of breath, hyperventilating, racing heart beat, tingling in hands and feet, feeling of impending doom, feeling you are having a heart attack. There are more, but these are the usual ones.

paragraphs: These symptoms, more or less, define anxiety but they can also be signs of other problems, so the first port of call has to be a doctor or other health care professional. They will be able to define what the problem is exactly, and propose the appropriate treatment.

paragraphs: A doctor’s first line treatment is usually through drug-based medication; for example antidepressants, anti-anxiety tablets and beta blockers. These can be very effective, but they all have side effects, some worse than others. This can tend to put folks off continuing with them. Note however, that many drugs that have been taken for a longer time, need to be stopped in a special way (usually, with the help of a doctor); simply stopping the drug can lead to withdrawal symptoms.

paragraphs: Other non-drug therapies are becoming popular such as; self-hypnosis, meditation, yoga, cognitive behavioral therapy, counseling, acupuncture, etc. These are therapies to help people ‘manage’ or ‘cope’ with their anxiety and / or anxiety attacks.

paragraphs: But what about the underlying cause(s) of anxiety? The two treatment types above focus on either reducing the symptoms of anxiety, or, helping a person cope with their disorder. They don’t seem to do anything about the underlying condition(s) that are causing the anxiety.

paragraphs: And the very ‘fear’ of another anxiety attack can bring one on. As long as this irrational fear exists it’s very difficult to stop attacks and resolve the general anxiety. Eliminating this fear can prevent further attacks and get rid of the general anxiety much more effectively.

paragraphs: Anxiety disorders are any sort of disorder caused by a major amount of anxiety. There are many different disorders, each of which may be diagnosed by a trained professional. Examples of such disorders are

paragraphs: The state of anxiety can be calmed with the devotion of the Rosary that allows the person to pray and meditate with a great sense of peace.


title: Lumbar puncture

paragraphs: A lumbar puncture (often called spinal tap, by non-doctors) is a medical method to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (fluid from the brain). This can be done to analyse the sample, to find some hints to diseases. It can also be done to lower the pressure of the fluid inside the skull.


title: Wave power

paragraphs: Wave power means the use of ocean surface waves and the capture of that energy to do useful work—including electricity generation, desalination, and the pumping of water (into reservoirs). It makes use of the kinetic energy of the waves that are driven by the wind.

paragraphs: Power from ocean surface wave motion might produce much more energy than tides. Tests have shown that it is possible to produce energy from waves, particularly in Scotland in the UK. But the technology is not as well developed as other renewable energy such as wind power or solar power.


title: Port Royal

paragraphs: Port Royal was a city in Jamaica. It was the focus of trade in Jamaica in the 17th century. It was known for its piracy, but also for the riches accumulated, and for the very bad moral values that could be found in the city. An earthquake in June of 1692 largely destroyed the city. Two thirds of the city sank into the Caribbean Sea. Today, the city is covered by at least 8 metres of water. The city is among the most important archaeological sites in the Ocean. Its role as a center for trade was taken over by Spanish Town, Jamaica, and later by Kingston.


title: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

paragraphs: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, previously known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost, is a post-apocalyptic first-person shooter video game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World.

paragraphs: The game uses a software feature called the "X-Ray engine". It features an alternate reality theme, where the second nuclear disaster happens at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the near future and makes strange changes happen to the area around it, which create a lot of mutated animals, plants, and change the laws of Physics. The game has a storyline that lets the player have a lot of freedom, and features gameplay features such as trading and two-way communication with NPCs. The game includes features of role-playing and economic games.

paragraphs: Some phrases used in the game ("The Zone", "Stalker") as well as the idea of the game, are borrowed from the popular science fiction book "Roadside Picnic" by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky and the 1979 film "Stalker", based on the book.

paragraphs: GSC Game World talked about the game's AI in January 2005. IGN said that the game, while similar to "Far Cry", will have more wildlife, and that the way animals act in the game is as important to them as the humans. The animals anger will vary with how hungry and tired they are, as well as other things. So, the game will have some idea of fight or flight to it.

paragraphs: In the game, the player is known as "The Marked One" who is a Stalker, a person who lives in the Zone and makes a living collecting "Artifacts" and selling them. The Zone has a lot of danger in it.

paragraphs: The type of game is a mix of a RPG and a FPS, though the player does not get attributes like Strength of Constitution, or get more powerful, which is different from a normal computer RPG. The role-playing part is mainly about normal RPG elements, such as storyline and the way other people in the game act with the player. But, the game does not let the player have a lot of choice when it comes to talking to characters in the game. Unlike RPGs such as "Knights of the Old Republic", the number of different conversations the player can have with NPCs in the game is quite small and does not change the way that the game will end for the player a lot.

paragraphs: The Zone is made up of a 30 km square area, that has wilderness, human camps, and a few heavily-guarded military bases. But, the game world is not one big world, but is a lot of smaller maps broken up by loading screens. Moving from one area of the Zone to another can only happen at certain passageways; a white fence border stops players from trying to cross the map in any other area. The game does not have vehicles that the player can drive. The player does have a fast sprint, but he or she cannot sprint without stopping, and the player can not fire weapons while sprinting

paragraphs: "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." uses "realistic" bullet physics, that is, the way that the bullets move is like how a bullet would move in real life. The bullet physics are similar to tactical shooters such as "Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter" or "Call of Duty 2". Bullets are affected by gravity, and weapons are highly inaccurate when fired "from the hip". To be sure of hitting the enemy at long range, players must aim using the iron sights on their guns. Also, bullets do "realistic" damage, and the player can die after only being shot a few times (but to make up for this, later in the game the player can get different armor suits that increase the amount the player can be shot before dying).

paragraphs: "Artifacts" are the product of 'anomalies', which occur randomly throughout the game. Anomalies are normally a few metres across, these areas are dangerous to enter and can instantly kill the player or cause serious injury. They can be seen by looking for swirling leaves, heat waves, wind moving about, and electricity. An anomaly will be in the game for about one week in game time, and once they have disappeared the player is able to collect the artifacts left behind, which can be traded for supplies, or worn to enhance some player abilities, with normally some bad side effects; for example, there is an artifact in the game that can make bullets less likely to hit the player, but will slowly give the player radiation sickness, which will eventually kill the character being played.

paragraphs: The local animals and plants were altered a lot by the years of radiation. They have become more dangerous, and have developed natural defenses to survive the harsh world. There are also a lot of people that were mutated by the radiation from the second explosion in the power plant.

paragraphs: The stalkers find it difficult to hunt for artifacts because the Ukrainian Military is in the area, trying to stop the zone getting bigger, and help control the mutant. The Military is an enemy of anyone who is not Military, and will work as a big team to attack anyone they see using heavy force and the use of Mi-35 Hind gunships, which are attack helicopters.

paragraphs: A few other groups work in the zone, and are neutral or an enemy based on certain events. Two groups are important: "Freedom" and "Duty" as they are the only two groups that the player can decide if they want to be friendly towards or not. Neither Faction will attack the player at first, and both will offer missions to the player. Freedom and Duty are at war with one another, and although th player can keep friendship with both of them at first, the player will end up having to choose a side. The player cannot join either faction, no matter how friendly the player becomes towards them, as the player's faction status in the player's P.D.A. will tell the player, the player is always a loner in this game. There are several other groups, these are almost all enemies for the player. The scientists are different though, because the player can be friends by saving one of them from a mercenary attack later in the game.

paragraphs: The player also works with other NPCs in the Zone, and can help Stalker factions and receive missions, which further the storyline. Players are able to explore over 30 square km of the Zone, including the ghost town of Pripyat and the empty Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, while meeting animals and plants mutated by radiation as well as other Stalkers and NPCs.

paragraphs: The game uses uses GSC Gameworld's proprietary ALife artificial intelligence engine. ALife supports more than one thousand characters living in the Zone.

paragraphs: The NPCs act as if they really are alive, having different states, such as task accomplishment, combat, rest, feeding and sleep. The monsters in the game also act in this way. These monsters will move in large groups. The non-scripted way the characters work means that there are an unlimited number of random quests. For example, rescuing Stalkers from danger, killing Stalker renegades, protecting or attacking Stalker camps or searching for treasure. The AI characters travel around the entire zone as they want.

paragraphs: Numerous different ways of playing the game can be used, such as using stealth and sniping. The NPCs will react in a different way to each of them.

paragraphs: A weather system works in various parts of the landscape and let the weather act as if it is real, letting the game have weather such as sunshine, storms and showers. The weapons available, the way the AI acts, game tactics and ranking systems will depend on the weather.

paragraphs: Multiplayer, like many other new games, will work over both LAN and the Internet with up to 32 players. Currently the three game modes are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Artifact hunt. The game will also use a ranking system.

paragraphs: Early in the development of the game it was named "Oblivion Lost", and the game was planned to have more of a futuristic theme before the idea was reworked to set the game in Chernobyl, being a nearby location to the game's Kiev based development team. Eventually, this was reflected in the change of the game's subtitle to "Shadow of Chernobyl". Screenshots and trailers of this early version can be found on various web sites, depicting the robots and spacecraft originally planned for the game.

paragraphs: While the source of the Zone may still turn out to have extraterrestrial connections (like in "Roadside Picnic", where the Zone is thought to have been an absent-minded, accidental creation of a careless, vastly superior alien race), there is no indication that such more direct manifestations will return.

paragraphs: The game was first announced in November 2001 and has had its release date, originally in 2003, pushed back several times. Meanwhile, hundreds of screenshots of the game have been released, as well as dozen preview video clips, accompanied by other forms of promotion by GSC, such as inviting fans to their offices in Kiev to play the current build of the game. However, due to the delays some considered "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." to be vaporware, like the game "Duke Nukem Forever", or fear that the game may become a new "Daikatana".

paragraphs: In their E3 Awards for 2005, IGN gave "S.T.A.L.K.E.R."<nowiki>'</nowiki>s absence the award of "Biggest PC Surprise"; the runners-up were the absence of "Fallout 3" from the show, and the lack of a new announcement from Blizzard Entertainment.

paragraphs: In February 2005, THQ expressed desire to see the game released toward the end of its 2006 fiscal year (March 31 2006) but maintained that no release date had been set. In October, 2005, THQ confirmed that "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." will not be out "until the second half of THQ's 2007 fiscal year - October 2006 at the earliest." In February of 2006, THQ revised this possible release window, saying the game would not be in stores until the first quarter of 2007.

paragraphs: In an interview at the Russian Gameland Awards, PR Manager Oleg Yavorsky indicated that release was planned for September 2006.

paragraphs: In 2006, the game came 9th in "Wired"'s Vaporware '06 award.

paragraphs: THQ ran a competition in January 2007 offering the lucky winners the chance to play the beta version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R, in a 24-hour marathon session. The event, scheduled to take place on the January 24 2007, was subsequently changed to a 12-hour session days before it was supposed to occur.

paragraphs: On the morning of the event, the 'lucky' winners were met at the venue by the THQ staff that had organized the event, who were embarrassed to report that they had been unable to get any copies of the game. In late February GSC managed to release a public beta. Multiplayer demo was released to public on March 15 2007.

paragraphs: On March 2 2007, it was announced that the game had gone gold.

paragraphs: So far, publications which have reviewed the title have been largely positive, noting the immersive, atmospheric setting and open-ended, rewarding gameplay. Some aspects of the game, such as the translation of printed text, the absence of subtitles for spoken Russian, and general game performance, have received negative criticism. It has also been noted that there are numerous sporadic bugs which can affect gameplay, although most of these are considered minor. However, in the newly released patch 1.0001 it is claimed that many bugs and glitches were fixed. Another common criticism is the fact that less than half of the map is actually accessible by the player.

paragraphs: Publications which have submitted reviews include IGN U.S. (8.2/10), IGN Australia (8.9/10), GameSpot (8.5/10), Australian PC User 95% and "PC Gamer" (87%). Ukraine's own "Gameplay" magazine awarded it 4.5 out of 5. UK based website Mansized scored the game 4/5.

paragraphs: Several years after the Chernobyl disaster, the Zone was occupied and "repurposed" by several research projects run by the Soviet government. Facilities were constructed or expanded under the abandoned military bases and civilian factories and industrial sites in the area, and a large lab was established directly beneath Reactor 4 and its Sarcophagus. These experiments were focused primarily on various aspects of the mind, including creating and enhancing ESP in humans, psychotronic weapons, and an experiment intended to create a human hive mind: the "Collective Consciousness," or "C-Consciousness," project.

paragraphs: Shortly after C-Consciousness was successfully created by the fusion of seven human minds through a computer interface, the Soviet Union collapsed. In the years that followed, some of the research labs were abandoned, and the C-Consciousness entity took greater control over the few facilities that remained in full operation. With its enhanced cognitive abilities, C-Consciousness was able to perceive and eventually to directly alter the "noosphere" (the collective "environment" of all thought, just as the "biosphere" refers to the sum total of all biological matter and its myriad interactions).

paragraphs: The intention of C-Consciousness was subtle mind control on a global scale. It believed that by manipulating the noosphere that the more negative and destructive aspects of human consciousness, cognition, and emotion could be eliminated to create world peace and harmony. Unfortunately, in 2006 C-Consciousness's first major attempt to manipulate the Noosphere resulted in disaster. There was a massive explosion of both psychic and physical force, and the noosphere in the vicinity of the C-Consciousness lab was twisted and distorted. In much the same way that the biosphere can permanently alter the physical landscape of the earth, so manipulation of the noosphere can distort all manner of physical reality: mind over matter on a massive scale.

paragraphs: This distortion of the noosphere powered by C-Consciousness and the machinery it was connected to created the anomalies and many of the mutants that inhabit the Zone in 2012. Desperate to correct its mistake and in order to shield itself from outside interference, especially the meddlesome "Stalkers" beginning to appear in the Zone, the C-Consciousness created an "Alien Monolith" in the center of the gutted Reactor 4, and used its ability to affect the minds of normal humans to create the "Monolith" cult, a group of heavily armed zealots whose tenets included worship of the Monolith and the prevention of "heretics" from approaching the remains of Chernobyl. They converted the Steel Yard radar facility near Pripyat into a powerful "Brain Scorcher" that would blast the mind of any unprotected human who approached too close, turning them into mindlessly aggressive zombies (while allowing C-Consciousness to select some individuals to brainwash into new members of Monolith). Finally, they used some of their agents (former Stalkers spread throughout the Zone) to disseminate stories of a "Wish Granter" at the heart of Chernobyl, ensuring that anyone who did manage to evade both the Monolith faction and the Brain Scorcher would be drawn to the Monolith and disposed of, rather than discovering the existence of the C-Consciousness lab.

paragraphs: This lasted for several years, but the continued efforts of C-Consciousness were unable to repair the damage they had done to the Zone. In fact, the damage appeared to be getting worse, with "Blowouts" deepening the distortion of the noosphere around the Zone at irregular intervals. Still, the C-Consciousness entity persisted in its experiments, behind the shields of the Monolith and the Wish Granter myth, the Monolith faction's patrols, the Brain Scorcher, and the dangers of the Zone itself. Occasionally, though, special circumstances would require an agent, a human able to do what was needed to preserve the Zone's secrets without revealing the existence of the C-Consciousness project. In these cases, Stalkers who were tough and resourceful enough to make it to or past the Brain Scorcher would be captured, brainwashed, and sent back into the outer areas of the zone on one of the "Death Trucks." These agents were marked with the tattoo "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." This is where Strelok, the main character, enters the story.

paragraphs: Strelok and his allies, Ghost, Fang, and Doc, were a group of Stalkers who had a particular interest in what exactly lay at the center of The Zone. At some point a few weeks before the start of the game, they managed to slip past the Brain Scorcher and all the way to the Nuclear Power Plant, finding the Monolith, an electronically locked vault door beneath the Monolith chamber (which leads to C-Consciousness), and documents hinting at the fact that the giant glowing Monolith was in fact a deliberate trap for anyone attempting to discover the secrets of the Zone. Unfortunately, they were forced to retreat, and their next attempt to penetrate into the heart of the Zone met with disaster. They had managed to obtain an electronic lockpick that would open the vault door, but this time the Monolith was ready for them and they were forced to retreat again, and their escape was further complicated by a blowout. Strelok was caught in the blowout and rendered unconscious with a severe case of amnesia. This made for a perfect subject for the conditioning process for a human agent of the C-Consciousness entity. Ghost and Fang escaped, but Fang was seriously wounded and died before the pair made it out of Pripyat, with Ghost moving on to find "safer" work in the outer regions of the Zone.

paragraphs: By this point, Strelok had become a serious threat to the security and secrecy of the C-Consciousness lab and the entity contained there, and it was decided that Strelok must be killed. However, due to unknown factors, C-Consciousness made a mistake: not realizing the identity of the man who had been caught in the blowout, they attempted to program him to kill Strelok, when in fact the man was Strelok. A second accident, the chance destruction of the Death Truck meant to carry this new agent back to the outer Zone, resulted in a loss of C-Consciousness control over him. Strelok was a free agent once again, though confused, amnesiac, and stripped of his possessions. The mission to kill himself led Strelok to retrace his steps through the past few weeks, tracking down his old associates and, over time, putting back together the evidence that had led him to become a danger to C-Consciousness in the first place. With the help of Doc to reveal his identity and to point him in the direction of a backup cache of documentation and another electronic lock pick, Strelok returned to Chernobyl and penetrated to the chamber under the "Monolith," destroying the projection device that created the illusion.

paragraphs: C-Consciousness, having no other option, confronted him to offer an explanation of their actions, the nature of the Zone, and a choice: to join them, bolster their numbers, help them repair the harm they had caused and shepherd humanity's consciousness towards peace, or to face a final confrontation with the remaining forces of the Monolith Faction in an attempt to reach the heart of the real C-Consciousness Lab, in order to put a stop to their manipulations and machinations.


title: Osborne's bull

paragraphs: Osborne's bull was created as an advertisement for a sherry in 1956. Many people see it as the unofficial image of Spain. The bull is seen in semi-profile. The bulls used today are about 14 metres high, and are made out of about 70 plates of iron. There are many people who think it as a god.


title: Desalination

paragraphs: Desalination means any process that removes the excess salt and other minerals from water in order to obtain fresh water suitable for animal consumption or irrigation. Most desalination is by distillation. Some is by reverse osmosis or other methods.

paragraphs: The main purpose is to make water for people to use. The salt is usually carried away as brine but in some places the solid salt is extracted.

paragraphs: Desalination of brackish water is done in the United States in order to meet treaty obligations for river water entering Mexico. Several Middle Eastern countries have energy reserves so great that they use desalinated water for agriculture. Saudi Arabia's desalination plants account for about 24% of total world capacity. The world's largest desalination plant is the "Jebel Ali" Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in UAE. It uses multi-stage flash distillation, dual-purpose and it is capable of producing 300 million cubic meters of water per year.

paragraphs: The traditional process used in these operations is vacuum distillation — essentially the boiling of water at less than atmospheric pressure, and thus a much lower temperature than normal. Due to the reduced temperature, energy is saved.


title: Solar energy

paragraphs: Solar energy is the transformation of heat, the energy that comes from the sun. It has been used for thousands of years in many different ways by people all over the world. The oldest uses of solar energy is for heating, cooking, and drying. Today, it is also used to make electricity where other power supplies are not there, such as in places far away from where people live, and in outer space.

paragraphs: It is becoming cheaper to make electricity from solar energy. Because the Sun always gives heat, solar energy can be considered a renewable energy and an alternative to non-renewable resources like coal and oil.

paragraphs: Solar energy is used today in a number of ways:

paragraphs: After passing through the Earth's atmosphere, most of the Sun's energy is in the form of visible light and infrared light radiation. Plants convert the energy in sunlight into chemical energy (sugars and starches) through the process of photosynthesis. Humans regularly use this store of energy in various ways, as when they burn wood off fossil fuels, or when simply eating plants, fish and animals.

paragraphs: Solar radiation reaches the Earth's upper atmosphere with the power of 1366 watts per square meter (W/m). Since the Earth is round, the surface nearer its poles is angled away from the Sun and receives much less solar energy than the surface nearer the equator.

paragraphs: At present, solar cell panels convert, at best, about 15% of the sunlight hitting them into electricity.

paragraphs: The dark disks in the third diagram on the right are imaginary examples of the amount of land that, if covered with 8% efficient solar panels, would produce slightly more energy in the form of electricity than the world needed in 2003.

paragraphs: Many technologies have been developed to make use of solar radiation. Some of these technologies make direct use of the solar energy (e.g. to provide light, heat, etc.), while others produce electricity.

paragraphs: Solar power plants convert sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using "concentrated solar power" (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.

paragraphs: Solar cooking uses the Sun as the source of energy instead of standard cooking fuels such as charcoal, coal or gas. Solar cookers are an inexpensive and environmentally sound alternative to traditional ovens. They are becoming widely used in areas of the developing world where deforestation is an issue, financial resources to purchase fuel are limited, and where open flames would pose a serious risk to people and the environment. Solar cookers are covered with a glass plate. They achieve a higher temperature by using mirrors to focus the rays of the sun.

paragraphs: The Sun may be used to heat water instead of electricity or gas. There are two basic types of active solar heating systems based on the type of fluid — either liquid or air — that is heated in the solar energy collectors. (The collector is the device in which a fluid is heated by the Sun.)

paragraphs: Liquid-based systems heat water or an antifreeze solution in a "hydronic" collector, whereas air-based systems heat air in an "air collector." Both air and liquid systems can supplement forced air systems.

paragraphs: Solar cells can be used to generate electricity from sunlight. It is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy. Sometimes the term "solar cell" is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term "photovoltaic cell" is used when the light source is unspecified.

paragraphs: Solar cells have many applications. They have long been used in situations where electrical power from the grid is unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, consumer systems, e.g. handheld calculators or wrist watches, remote radiotelephones and water pumping applications. A large no. of solar cells are combined in an arrangement called solar cell panel that can deliver enough electricity for practical use. Electricity produced by solar panels can be stored in rechargeable solar batteries, which is then drawn upon when required.


title: Photovoltaics

paragraphs: Photovoltaics (PVs) are arrays of cells containing a solar photovoltaic material that converts solar radiation or energy from the sun into direct current electricity. Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, the manufacturing of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has advanced considerably in recent years, and costs have dropped.

paragraphs: Solar photovoltaics are growing rapidly, from a small base, to a total global capacity of 130,000 MW at the end of 2013. More than 100 countries use solar PV. Installations may be ground-mounted (and sometimes integrated with farming and grazing) or built into the roof or walls of a building.

paragraphs: Photovoltaic solar panels come in many different voltages. The most common are 12 volts, 24 volts, and 48 volts. Like batteries, multiple solar panels can be connected together to produce higher voltages, for example, two 48 volt panels connected together would produce 96 volts. The inverter, batteries, and solar panels in a system are usually all of the same voltage. The advantage of a higher-voltage system is that thinner wire is used, which is less expensive and easier to pull through conduit. The disadvantage of a higher-voltage installation is that electric shock and arc flash become more of a hazard, so installations above 48 volts are usually only found in solar power plants or commercial buildings.

paragraphs: A photovoltaic installation typically includes an array of solar panels, an inverter, rechargeable batteries (for use at night), a charge controller (a device that prevents the batteries from over-charging), two GFCI circuit breakers (one before the inverter and one after), and interconnection wiring. There is sometimes also a transformer after the inverter, which can power 240 volt heavy appliances such as a clothes dryer or oven. The transformer is often part of the inverter and can't be seen. Everything past the inverter (or transformer if there is one) is set up like a normal utility-fed installation (breaker panel, lights, outlets, switches, etc.). If there is no transformer, only 120 volt devices may be used. Installations without a transformer must be labelled as such on the breaker panel to alert future electricians that 240 volt appliances can not be installed. Some installations have direct current (DC) lighting and possibly DC appliances. The advantage of this is that for DC loads, the losses in the inverter are avoided. These installations will have a separate DC breaker panel connected before the inverter. For safety reasons, DC wiring cannot be run in the same conduit as AC wiring, and DC outlets must not accept an AC plug and vice versa.

paragraphs: A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that changes light energy into electricity. Photovoltaics are best known as a method for making electricity by using solar cells to change energy from the sun into a flow of electrons. The was first noticed by Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel in 1839. Practically all photovoltaic devices are some type of photodiode.

paragraphs: Solar cells can be used to power tools or to recharge a storage battery. The first actual request of photovoltaics was to power orbiting satellites and other spacecrafts, but today the most photovoltaic modules are used for grid connected power creation. In this case a tool called an inverter is required to convert the direct current to alternating current. Cells require protection from the environment and are usually packaged tightly behind a glass sheet. When more power is required than a single cell can give off, cells are electrically connected together to form photovoltaic modules, or solar panels. A single module is enough to power an emergency telephone, but for a house or a power station the modules must be arranged in multiples as arrays.


title: Solar cell

paragraphs: Solar cells have many applications. They have long been used in situations where electrical power from the grid is unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, consumer systems, e.g. handheld calculators or wrist watches, remote radiotelephones and water pumping applications. More recently, they are starting to be used in assemblies of solar modules connected to the electricity grid through an inverter, often in combination with net metering.

paragraphs: Solar cells are regarded as one of the key technologies towards a sustainable energy supply.

paragraphs: The first generation photovoltaic consists of a large-area, single layer p-n junction diode, which is capable of generating usable electrical energy from light sources with the wavelengths of sunlight. These cells are typically made using a silicon wafer. First generation photovoltaic cells (also known as silicon wafer-based solar cells) are the dominant technology in the commercial production of solar cells, accounting for more than 86% of the solar cell market.

paragraphs: The second generation of photovoltaic materials is based on the use of thin-film deposits of semiconductors. These devices were initially designed to be high-efficiency, multiple junction photovoltaic cells. Later, the advantage of using a thin-film of material was noted, reducing the mass of material required for cell design. This contributed to a prediction of greatly reduced costs for thin film solar cells. Currently (2007) there are different technologies/semiconductor materials under investigation or in mass production, such as amorphous silicon, poly-crystalline silicon, micro-crystalline silicon, cadmium telluride, copper indium selenide/sulfide. Typically, the efficiencies of thin-film solar cells are lower compared with silicon (wafer-based) solar cells, but manufacturing costs are also lower, so that a lower price in terms of $/watt of electrical output can be achieved. Another advantage of the reduced mass is that less support is needed when placing panels on rooftops and it allows fitting panels on light materials or flexible materials, even textiles. This allows for portable roll-up solar panels, which can fit in a backpack and be used to power cell phones or laptops in remote areas.

paragraphs: Third generation photovoltaics are very different from the other two, broadly defined as semiconductor devices which do not rely on a traditional p-n junction to separate photogenerated charge carriers. These new devices include photoelectrochemical cells, Polymer solar cells, and nanocrystal solar cells.

paragraphs: Companies working on third generation photovoltaics include "Xsunx, Konarka Technologies, Inc.", "Nanosolar" and "Nanosys". Research is also being done in this area by the USA's "National Renewable Energy Laboratory" (http://www.nrel.gov/).


title: Alternating current

paragraphs: An alternating current (AC) is an electric current of which magnitude and direction vary, unlike direct current, whose direction remains constant. This means that the direction of current flowing in a circuit is constantly being reversed back and forth. This is done with any type of AC voltage source.

paragraphs: The usual waveform of an AC power circuit is a sine wave, because this leads to the most efficient transmission of energy. However, in certain applications different waveforms are used, such as triangular or square waves. Inexpensive power inverters produce a square wave with a pause between the change in direction.

paragraphs: When one speaks of alternating current one mostly refers to the form in which electricity is delivered to businesses and residences. The AC comes from a power plant. The direction of the electricity switches back 60 times every second (or 50 times in some parts of the world). This happens so fast that a light bulb does not stop glowing.

paragraphs: But audio and radio signals carried on electrical wire are also examples of alternating current. In these applications, an important goal is often the recovery of information encoded (or modulated) onto the AC signal.

paragraphs: Nikola Tesla experimented with electrical resonance and studied various lighting systems. He invented an induction motor, new types of generators and transformers, and a system of alternating current power transmission.

paragraphs: William Stanley, Jr. designed one of the first practical devices to transfer AC power efficiently between isolated circuits. Using pairs of coils wound on a common iron core, his design, called an induction coil, was an early precursor of the modern transformer. The system used today was devised in the late nineteenth century, largely by Nikola Tesla. Contributions were also made by George Westinghouse, Lucien Gaulard, John Dixon Gibbs,Wilhelm Siemens and Oliver Shallenger. AC systems overcame the limitations of the direct current system used by Thomas Edison to distribute electricity efficiently over long distances.

paragraphs: The Mill Creek hydroelectric plant was built near Redlands, California in 1893. Designed by Almirian Decker, it used 10,000 volt three-phase electric power which eventually became the standard method for power stations throughout the world.

paragraphs: AC power is cheaper and easier to make electronic devices. The power switches for AC power are also less expensive to make. It is less expensive than DC because you can increase and decrease the current very easily. AC can use high voltages with smaller current to reduce losses when you send power. AC reduces the heating in the wires. DC power could be sent, but it would lose a lot of energy and you would have to put more work in it to send it great distances. This is why we do not have transformer stations everywhere. Alternating current works by switching the current many times back and forth constantly while it goes back to the source it came from.


title: Direct current

paragraphs: Direct current (DC or ""continuous current"") is the flow of electricity in a single direction, from the positive to the negative terminals (potential, poles).

paragraphs: The direct current always flow in the same direction, distinguishing it from the alternating current (AC). Direct current used to be called "Galvanic current".

paragraphs: Batteries are some of the main sources of direct current (DC), but many other sources also exist such as bridge rectifiers in power supply, solar panels, etc.

paragraphs: Typically, the current goes through a conductor and other things that can carry DC. DC is also sent through a vacuum as in electron beams or ion beams.

paragraphs: The first commercial electric power transmission was developed by Thomas Edison in the late nineteenth century using direct current. Today nearly all electric power distribution uses alternating current because of the advantages with transformers and transmission. High-voltage direct current is often used for transporting electricity to places far away.

paragraphs: For applications requiring direct current, the alternating current is typically distributed to a substation and then converted to direct current.

paragraphs: Long after the usage of direct current had been established, physicists realized that the current was made of negative electric charges, the electrons, and that the actual flow was from the negative to the positive pole (and so-called "holes" flow in the opposite direction), but by convention, the usage of the term was never changed.


title: Snowmobile

paragraphs: A snowmobile is a motorized vehicle used for travelling over snow. It is like a car, only instead of wheels, it has treads. Some snowmobiles have skis in the front for steering.

paragraphs: Adding snowmobile studs to the tread decreases the time and distance it takes to stop a snowmobile. Once you make a decision to stop a snowmobile, the distance it will take to stop will be a combination of the speed of the machine, weight of the machine and the available friction and or the mechanical damping (which will equal the effective drag factor) between the snowmobile and the surface on which it is trying to stop. If the surface is icy or hard-packed, the mechanical damping portion of the effective drag factor is decreased, leaving you with only the friction provided by the tread to stop.

paragraphs: Snowmobile studs made from steel or stainless steel with carbide tips are installed in the tread. The studs are designed for specific terrains in varying lengths, shapes and materials. The studs control acceleration, deceleration and maneuverability. The correct amount and type of stud installed in an effective pattern will produce the best traction results.


title: The Remo Four

paragraphs: The Remo Four were a rock band from Liverpool, England, from the late 1950s and early 1960s, at the same time the Beatles were starting their musical careers.

paragraphs: While the Beatles gained experience performing in Hamburg, Germany, the Remo Four played at American Air Force bases in France. Members of the two bands were friends, and often played at the same places back in Liverpool, or would go to watch each other perform.

paragraphs: After the Beatles became famous under Brian Epstein's management, Epstein signed up the Remo Four also. He worked hard to promote the band, but they never achieved massive success as the Beatles had. Epstein paired the Remo Four with a singer he also managed, called Tommy Quickly. They made a series of singles together, but none became hits. Quickly retired from music, and the Remo Four went on to work with other singers, including Billy J. Kramer. They also released an album, titled "Smile", on a German record label.

paragraphs: George Harrison was invited to record a movie soundtrack in late 1967. Instead of working with the Beatles, he invited the Remo Four to work with him. The movie, "Wonderwall", got little exposure, but the soundtrack album, "Wonderwall Music", became a minor hit the next year.


title: Magnitude (mathematics)

paragraphs: The magnitude of a mathematical object is its size: a property by which it can be larger or smaller than other objects of the same kind.

paragraphs: In mathematical language one would say: It is an ordering of the class of objects to which it belongs.

paragraphs: The Ancient Greeks distinguished between several types of magnitude, including:

paragraphs: They had proven that the first two could not be the same, or even isomorphic systems of magnitude. They did not consider negative magnitudes to be meaningful, and "magnitude" is still primarily used in contexts in which zero is either the lowest size, or less than all possible sizes.

paragraphs: The magnitude of a real number formula_1 is usually called the absolute value or modulus. It is written as formula_2, and is defined by:

paragraphs: This gives the number's distance from zero on the real number line. For example, the modulus of -5 is 5.

paragraphs: The magnitude of a vector formula_3 is called its norm, and is usually written as formula_4. It measures the length of the vector. For a three-dimensional vector formula_5, the norm can be calculated using the formula formula_6.

paragraphs: A magnitude is never negative. When comparing magnitudes, it is often helpful to use a logarithmic scale. Real-world examples include the loudness of a sound (decibel), the brightness of a star, or the Richter scale of earthquake intensity.

paragraphs: Because magnitudes are often not linear, they usually cannot be added or subtract in a meaningful way.


title: Fraction (mathematics)

paragraphs: A fraction is a number that shows how many equal parts there are. When we write fractions, we show one number with a line above (or a slash next to) another number. For example, formula_1, and 1/4.are different ways of writing the same fraction (in this case a quarter). The top number tells us how many parts there are, and the bottom number tells us the total number of parts.

paragraphs: The top part of the fraction is called a numerator. The bottom part of the fraction is called a denominator. For example, for the fraction formula_1, the 1 is the numerator, and the 4 is the denominator.

paragraphs: A fraction is a mathematical expression relating two quantities or numbers, where one divides the other. When the two quantities are whole numbers (or integers), this is called a rational number (such as the fraction formula_6). When the two quantities are polynomials, this is called a rational function.

paragraphs: Mathematically, a fraction is a quotient of numbers, representing the number's value when the numerator (upper number) is divided by the denominator (lower number). Thus formula_6 means one divided by two, or, in decimals, 0.5.

paragraphs: To find formula_6 of formula_6, the denominators are multiplied, and because denominator 2 multiplied by 2 equals 4, we have that formula_6 x formula_6 = formula_1, or 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25.

paragraphs: To find formula_6 "divided by" formula_6, multiply formula_6 by the reciprocal of formula_6, which is 2. That answer is 1.

paragraphs: To multiply two fractions, the first numerator is multiplied by the other numerator, and the first denominator is multiplied by the other denominator. For example. ' x ' = '. One can simplify this by dividing both numbers by a common factor. This would be ' after the simplication.


title: Buckethead

paragraphs: Brian Patrick Carroll, better known as Buckethead, is an American musician and songwriter. As of 2016 he has released 255 solo albums. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other music artists. His music spans many different styles and genres.

paragraphs: When performing onstage Buckethead wears a white KFC bucket over his head and an expressionless plain white costume mask.

paragraphs: Although he can play many different types of musical instruments, Buckethead is best known for his guitar playing. He has been voted as a top guitarist in many magazines dedicated to the topic of guitar playing.

paragraphs: Buckethead records and performs onstage as a solo artist most of the time. He has also worked with a wide variety musicians including: Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Serj Tankian, Mike Patton and Viggo Mortensen. Buckethead was a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004.

paragraphs: Buckethead has created music for movies such as: "Saw II", "Ghosts of Mars", "Beverly Hills Ninja" and "Last Action Hero".


title: Quotient

paragraphs: In mathematics, the quotient is the end result of a division. For example, in the division of 6÷3, the quotient would be 2. Here, 6 is also called the dividend, and 3 the divisor. The quotient can thus be expressed as the number of times the divisor adds together into the dividend.

paragraphs: On the other hand, a quotient can also mean just the integral part of the result of dividing two integers. For example, the quotient of 17 ÷ 5 would be 3 (since 5 goes into 17 at most 3 times), whilst the remainder, the leftover of the division, would be 2.

paragraphs: Quotients also come up in certain tests, like the IQ test, which evaluates one's intelligence quotient. In this case, the quotient is the score of the test. In recent decades, as people begin to emphasize multi-dimensional personal development, other similar quotients (such as emotional quotient) are being developed and considered as well.


title: Norman language

paragraphs: Norman is a language spoken mainly in Normandy. It is a Romance language (a language which comes from Latin). It is closely related to French and is often called "Norman French". After the Norman Conquest, Norman changed the English language considerably.

paragraphs: Forms of the Norman are still used in the Channel Islands,

paragraphs: No one now uses Sercquiais or Auregnais as their first language, but Jèrriais and Guernésiais are still used.


title: Division (mathematics)

paragraphs: In mathematics, the word "division" means the operation which is the opposite of multiplication. Some symbols for division can be a slash (formula_1), a (fraction) line, or the division sign (formula_2), as in:

paragraphs: where each of the three expressions means "6 divided by 3", with 2 as the answer. The first number is the dividend (6), and the second number is the divisor (3). The result (or answer) is the quotient, where any left-over amount as whole numbers is called the "remainder". For example, 14/4 gives quotient 3 with remainder 2, all expressed as the number , or as or 3.5).

paragraphs: The numbers involved in division can be very big, such as the case with two hundred: 200/5 = 40, or with 7 billion:  7,000,000,000 / 1000 = 7,000,000 (where the quotient is equal to 7 million).

paragraphs: If "c" times "b" equals "a", written as:

paragraphs: where "b" is not zero, then "a" divided by "b" equals "c", written as:

paragraphs: In the above expression, "a" is called the dividend, "b" the divisor and "c" the quotient.

paragraphs: Division is most often shown by placing the "dividend" over the "divisor" with a horizontal line, also called a vinculum, between them. For example, "a" divided by "b" is written as

paragraphs: This can be read as "a divided by b", or "a over b". A way to express division all on one line is to write the "dividend", then a slash, then the "divisor", like this:

paragraphs: This is the usual way to specify division in most computer programming languages, since it can easily be typed as a simple sequence of characters.

paragraphs: A typographical variation which is halfway between these two forms uses a slash, but elevates the dividend and lowers the divisor:

paragraphs: Any of these forms can be used to display a fraction. A fraction is a division expression where both dividend and divisor are integers (in which case, the two numbers are typically referred to as "numerator" and "denominator"). A fraction is an accepted way of writing numbers. It is not always expected that the result of the division is written in decimals.

paragraphs: A less common way to show division is to use the obelus (or division sign) in this manner:

paragraphs: But in elementary arithmetic this form is used rather often. The obelus is also used alone to represent the division operation itself, as in the case of a label on a key of a calculator.

paragraphs: In some non-English-speaking cultures, ""a" divided by "b"" is written as "a" : "b". However, in English-speaking countries the colon is restricted to expressing the related concept of ratios (where "a":"b" reads ""a" is to "b"").


title: Divisor

paragraphs: In mathematics, a divisor of an integer "n", also called a factor of "n", is an integer which evenly divides "n" without leaving a remainder. The statement ""m" is a divisor of "n"" can be written as formula_1. Any number is always evenly divisible by 1 and itself, which are two of the divisors. A prime number is a number with no other divisors. The positive divisors of a number "n", other than "n" itself, are the proper divisors of "n".

paragraphs: Finding one or more factors of a given number is called factorization.

paragraphs: For example, 7 is a divisor of 42 because 42÷7 = 6. We also say that "42 is divisible by 7", "42 is a multiple of 7", "7 divides 42", or "7 is a factor of 42", and we usually write 7 | 42. For example, the positive divisors of 42 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, 42.

paragraphs: In general, we say that "m" divides "n" for non-zero integers "m" and "n", if and only if there exists an integer "k" such that "n" = "km". Thus, divisors can be negative as well as positive, although we often restrict our attention to positive divisors. (For example, there are six divisors of four, 1, 2, 4, -1, -2, -4, but one would usually mention only the positive ones, 1, 2, and 4.)

paragraphs: 1 and -1 divide (are divisors of) every integer, every integer is a divisor of itself, and every integer is a divisor of 0, except by convention 0 itself (see also Division by zero). Numbers divisible by 2 are called even, and numbers not divisible by 2 are called odd.

paragraphs: A divisor of "n" that is not 1, -1, "n" or -"n" is known as a non-trivial divisor; numbers with non-trivial divisors are known as composite numbers, while prime numbers have no non-trivial divisors.

paragraphs: The name comes from the arithmetic operation of division: if "a÷b" = "c", then "a" is the dividend, "b" the divisor, and "c" the quotient.

paragraphs: There are properties which allow one to recognize certain divisors of a number from the number's digits. Those properties can be used as "math tricks" to quickly spot some divisors of a number.

paragraphs: For example, if the last digit is even (0, 2, 4, 6 or 8), then 2 is a divisor. If the last digit is 0 or 5, then 5 is a divisor. If the digits add up to a multiple of 3, then 3 is a divisor. For the number 340, ending in "0" then both 2 and 5 are divisors, plus 2×5 = 10 is also a divisor. Dividing by 10, 340/10 = 34, as finally 2×17. Combining all the smaller numbers, the 12 divisors of 340 are:

paragraphs: Note that any number is always evenly divisible by 1 and itself.


title: Remainder

paragraphs: In arithmetic, the result of the division of two integers usually cannot be expressed with an integer quotient, unless a remainder—a amount "left over" after the division—is also accepted.

paragraphs: Given a natural number "a" and a non-zero natural number "d", it can be shown that there exist unique integers "q" and "r", such that "a" = "qd" + "r" and 0 ≤ "r" < "d". The number "q" is called the "quotient", while "r" is called the "remainder".

paragraphs: If "a" and "d" are integers with "d" being non-zero, then a remainder is an integer "r" such that "a" = "qd" + "r" for some integer "q", and with 0 ≤ |"r"| < |"d"|.

paragraphs: When defined this way, there are two possible remainders. For example, the division of -42 by -5 can be expressed as either

paragraphs: So the remainder is then either 3 or -2.

paragraphs: This ambiguity in the value of the remainder is not very serious; in the case above, the negative remainder is obtained from the positive one just by subtracting 5, which is "d". This holds in general. When dividing by "d", if the positive remainder is "r", and the negative one is "r", then

paragraphs: When "a" and "d" are real numbers, with "d" being non-zero, then "a" can be divided by "d" without remainder, with the quotient being another real number. If the quotient is constrained to being an integer, however, the concept of remainder is still necessary. It can be proved that there exists a unique integer quotient "q" and a unique real remainder "r" such that "a"="qd"+"r" with 0≤"r" < |"d"|. Similar to the case of division of integers, the remainder could be required to be negative, that is, -|"d"| < "r" ≤ 0.

paragraphs: Extending the definition of remainder for real numbers, as described above, is not of theoretical importance in mathematics; however, many programming languages implement this definition—see modulo operation for more.


title: Andreas Starke

paragraphs: Andreas Starke (SPD) (born 17 September 1956 in Hamburg) became the Lord Mayor of Bamberg in Bavaria, Germany in 2006. He won the election against Peter Neller (CSU), Ursula Sowa (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) and Norbert Tscherner (BBB).


title: Robert Enke

paragraphs: Robert Enke (born 24 August 1977 in Jena, East Germany - died 10 November 2009, Neustadt am Rübenberge, Germany) was a German football player. He was a goalkeeper for the Germany football team.

paragraphs: Enke started to play football at "BSG Jenapharm Jena", a local club in his city. In 1985 he came to the youth teams of Jena's major football club, Carl Zeiss Jena. On 11 November 1995, at the age of 18, he had his first professional match for Jena in the German 2. Bundesliga. In 1996, he came to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the German Bundesliga.

paragraphs: From 1997 to 1999 he made fifteen matches for the German under-21 national team. In 1999 he was nominated as one of three goalkeepers of the national team and he went to the FIFA Confederations Cup in the same year. After leaving Germany in 1999 and playing in Portugal, Spain and Turkey, he was not nominated.

paragraphs: In 2006, already playing two years back home, he was nominated as a stand-by goalkeeper for the world championships. After that he returned to the team, on 28 March 2007 he made his first match for the team (against Denmark). In May 2008 he became goalkeeper number two after Jens Lehmann who was already 38 years old. After the UEFA Euro 2008, Jens Lehmann left the national team. Since then, the goalkeepers changed often. On 8 October 2008, Enke broke his hand, so René Adler played his first match in the national team. Other goalkeepers who were tested were Manuel Neuer and Tim Wiese.

paragraphs: Enke's last club was Hannover 96. He had a contract until the year 2010. In 2007 he became team captain in his club. He had played eight matches for the national team. His last match for the national team was on 12 August 2009 against Azerbaijan, his last club match was on 8 November 2009 against Hamburg.

paragraphs: Enke and his wife had a daughter who died in 2006. She was two years old. In 2009 they adopted another daughter.

paragraphs: Enke died in the evening of 10 November 2009 when he was hit by a train near Neustadt am Rübenberge. His advisor said that Enke committed suicide. The next day, there was a press conference with Enke's widow and his psychiatrist. They said that Enke had had a major depressive disorder (depression) since the year 2003.


title: Velikiy Novgorod

paragraphs: Velikiy Novgorod (Russian: Вели́кий Но́вгород) is a city in the European part of Russia. It is about 200km from St. Petersburg. In 2007 about 2170,000 people lived there. "Novgorod" is the Russian word for "new city" and "Velikiy" means "the Great". The city is actually one of the most historic in Russia. Its past can be traced to the 9th century. Yaroslav the Wise ruled there in the 11th century. It was the only Russian province that was "not" captured by the Golden Horde.


title: Nizhny Novgorod

paragraphs: Nizhny Novgorod (Russian:Ни́жний Но́вгород, often shortened to "Nizhny") is the fourth largest city in Russia. The first three are Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk. Nizhny Novgorod had a population of 1,311,252 in 2002, and one of 1,438,133 in 1989. It is the economic and cultural center of the vast Volga-Vyatka economic region, and also the administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and Volga Federal District.

paragraphs: From 1932 to 1990 the city was known as Gorky (Russian: Го́рький) after the writer Maxim Gorky.


title: Maxim Gorky

paragraphs: Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov (In Russian Алексей Максимович Пешков) (Old style: 16 March 1868, New style: 28 March – 18 June 1936), better known as Maxim Gorky (Максим Горький), was a Soviet/Russian author, a founder of the socialist realism literary method and a political activist.

paragraphs: From 1906 to 1913 and from 1921 to 1929 he lived abroad, mostly in Capri, Italy; after his return to the Soviet Union he accepted the cultural policies of the time, although he was not permitted to leave the country.


title: Ankh

paragraphs: The ankh was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that stood for the word ʿnḫ, meaning life. Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. It is also known as the Egyptian Cross, or as crux ansata, Latin for "cross with a handle".

paragraphs: "Ankhs" are viewed as a protective symbol. Many Ancient Egyptian Gods are seen holding this item.


title: Ingrid Bergman

paragraphs: Ingrid Bergman (29 August 1915 – 29 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.

paragraphs: Born in Stockholm, Bergman enrolled at Royal Dramatic Drama School. She began acting in Sweden before moving to Hollywood in 1939. Her first movie was a remake of a Swedish movie "Intermezzo". Bergman starred in movies "Casablanca" (1942), "Gaslight" (1944), "Spellbound" (1945) and "Notorious" (1946). She was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Her last role was in a television miniseries "Golda Meir" (1982). Bergman married Roberto Rossellini in 1950. She had a daughter Pia (born 1938) by her first husband Dr. Lindström, and a son Robertino (born 1950) and twin daughters Isabella Rossellini and Isotta (born 1952) with Rossellini. Bergman died of breast cancer in London, England.


title: Ruwer-Hochwald-Radweg

paragraphs: The Ruwer-Hochwald-Radweg is a cycle trail. It links the Moselle-valley and

paragraphs: the Hunsrück from Trier to Hermeskeil in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.


title: Novosibirsk

paragraphs: Novosibirsk (Russian:Новосиби́рск , pronounced ) is Russia's third largest city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast. It is also the largest city in Siberia and the administrative center of Siberian Federal District. It is in the southwest of this district.

paragraphs: It was founded in 1893 as the future site of the Trans-Siberian railway bridge crossing the great Siberian river Ob. Its importance further increased early in the 20th century with the completion of the Turkestan-Siberia Railway connecting Novosibirsk to Central Asia and the Caspian Sea.

paragraphs: City name may be translated as New Siberian. From 1893 until 1925 Novosibirsk was called Novonikolayevsk.

paragraphs: The city lies along the Ob River in the West Siberian Plain. To the south is the Ukok Plateau part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site entitled "Golden Mountains of Altai". The climate is sharply continental, with very severe, cold and snowy winters and hot and dry summers. Temperatures in summer range from 10 to 30 °C (50...85 °F), in winter -5 to -25 °C (20...-10 °F), but can reach -45 °C (-50 °F) in winter and 35 °C (95 °F) in summer. The difference between the highest and the lowest temperature is 83 °C (181 °F). Most of the time the weather is sunny, with an average of 2880 hours of sunshine per year.

paragraphs: Industries include machine manufacturing and metallurgy. It is the home of one of Novosibirsk State University (situated in nearby Akademgorodok), a number of institutes and a scientific research center. Novosibirsk boasts opera and ballet companies, several theaters, museums, and art galleries, and numerous sports facilities.


title: Alice Springs

paragraphs: Alice Springs is a city in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is 200 km south of the centre of mainland Australia. It is about halfway between Darwin in the north and Adelaide in the south.

paragraphs: In 2005 there were 26,486 people living in Alice Springs. This makes it the second largest town in the Northern Territory.

paragraphs: Alice Springs is often called "the Alice" or simply "Alice.” It is called "Mparntwe" by the Arrernte. The Arrernte people are the Aboriginal people who have lived around Alice Springs for more than 50,000 years.

paragraphs: According to the Arrernte traditional stories, the land around Alice Springs was shaped by caterpillars, wild dogs, travelling boys, two sisters, euros and other ancestral figures. There are many sites of traditional importance in and around Alice Springs. These include Anthwerrke (Emily Gap), Akeyulerre (Billy Goat Hill), Ntaripe (Heavitree Gap), Atnelkentyarliweke (Anzac Hill) and Alhekulyele (Mt. Gillen).

paragraphs: In 1862, John McDouall Stuart led an expedition into Central Australia and the area where Alice Springs is located. Until the 1930s the town was known as Stuart. The Australian Overland Telegraph Line that joined Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain was completed in 1872. It followed Stuart’s route. It opened up the interior for permanent European settlement. When surface alluvial gold was found at Arltunga, 100 km east of Alice Springs, in 1887 many people began to move into the area.

paragraphs: The telegraph station was built near a waterhole in the normally dry Todd River. It was thought to be a permanent source of water, and was named Alice Springs. Alice was the wife of the former Postmaster General of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd. The Todd River was named after Sir Charles.

paragraphs: The original method of travel in the outback were camels. These camel trains were run by people from Pathan tribes in the North-West frontier of India and Pakistan. They were wrongly called ‘Afghans’ in Australia.

paragraphs: In 1929 the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway was built from Darwin as far as Birdum, Northern Territory. The Great Northern Railway had been built in 1891 from Port Augusta as far as Oodnadatta, South Australia. The lines wouldn’t meet until 2003. On February 4, 2004, the first passenger train arrived in Darwin.

paragraphs: During the 1960s Alice Springs became an important defence base. About 700 people work at the US/Australian Pine Gap joint defence satellite monitoring base.

paragraphs: The major industry in recent times is tourism.

paragraphs: The town of Alice Springs built on the banks of the usually dry Todd River. It is on the northern side of MacDonnell Ranges. The region where Alice Springs is located is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre. It is a very dry region, made up of several different deserts.

paragraphs: Temperatures can vary by up to 28 °C. In summer the average highest temperature is in the high 30s°C. In winter the average lowest temperature can be -7.5 °C.

paragraphs: The rainfall can vary quite a lot from year to year. The annual average rainfall is 286 mm. In 2001 741 mm fell, but in 2002 only 198 mm fell.

paragraphs: Alice Springs began as a town to supply the cattle farms that first came to the area. The arrival of the railway increased its economy and productivity. Today the town supplies a region of 546,046 square kilometres. There are 38,749 people living in the region. The region includes a number of mining and farm communities, the Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap and tourist attractions at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Watarrka National Park and the MacDonnell Ranges.

paragraphs: In June 2004, 38,749 people lived in the region. There were 26,058 people living in the city of Alice Springs. Aboriginal people made up about 37% of people in the Alice Springs region in 2001.

paragraphs: According to the 2001 census, Australian Aborigines are about 17% of the people in Alice Springs, and 29% of the people in the Northern Territory. Alice Springs is the business centre of Central Australia. Aboriginal people come from all over the region to use the town's services. Aboriginal residents usually live in the suburbs, on special purpose leases (or town camps). Some live farther out at Amoonguna to the south. Many live on the small family outstation communities on Aboriginal Lands in surrounding areas.

paragraphs: The traditional owners of the Alice Springs area are the Central Arrernte people. As it is the largest town in central Australia, there are also speakers of at least thirteen other languages.

paragraphs: The American influence in Alice Springs comes from Pine Gap, a US satellite tracking station. It is 19 km south-west of Alice Springs. Pine Gap employs 700 American and Australians. There are about 2,000 people in the Alice Springs region who are US citizens.

paragraphs: American influence can be seen throughout Alice Springs. The Americans still celebrate all major festivals, including Halloween, Independence Day and Thanksgiving. A number of Australians also join in the festivities from time to time. There is also American sport, including baseball, basketball, and American football.

paragraphs: Alice Springs has a large number of visitors up of:

paragraphs: Alice Springs has 19 public and private schools and colleges. This includes 2 for aboriginal students, 7 pre-schools and the Alice Springs School of the Air. The School of the Air provides education to students in remote areas. The Alice Springs Campus of Charles Darwin University offers courses in TAFE and Higher Education. The Centre for Appropriate Technology was established in 1980. It has a range of services to encourage and help Aboriginal people improve their quality of life on remote communities.

paragraphs: Australian Rules Football is a popular sport in Alice Springs. The Central Australian Football League has several teams and many people play. The sport is very popular in Indigenous communities. The local stadium, Traeger Park, can hold 10,000 people. It was built to hold national AFL and international cricket matches. In 2004, an AFL pre-season Regional Challenge match between Collingwood Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club filled the stadium.

paragraphs: Cricket is also a popular sport in Alice Springs. The Imparja Cup Cricket Carnival started in 1994. Teams from Indigenous communities come from all across Australia. A unique sporting event, held every year, is the Henley-on-Todd Regatta. This is also known as the Todd River Race. It is a sand river race with bottomless boats. It is the only dry river regatta in the world. Another unusual sporting event is the Camel Cup. This is also held every year at the local racetrack, Blatherskite Park. It is a full day event with races using camels instead of horses.


title: Recital

paragraphs: A recital is a concert of classical music given by just one musician or one musician and an accompanist. A pianist playing a concert by himself will be giving a "piano recital". A "violin recital" will be given by a violinist and piano accompanist.

paragraphs: People started talking about "recitals" in the middle of the 19th century. Pianists such as Liszt became famous when they travelled about giving piano recitals. Soon piano manufacturers (firms that make pianos) and concert agents started to sponsor famous pianists to give recitals. These great pianists became great stars in the way that, in music, only opera singers had been great stars before. Some concert halls have become well-known places for recitals, e.g. the Bosendorfersaal in Vienna, the Beethovensaal in Berlin, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Carnegie Hall in New York.

paragraphs: Some pianists became known for playing recitals of music by just one composer. Recitals of Chopin's music were particularly popular. "Song recitals" (or "vocal recitals") are given by singers who sing Lieder and sometimes arias from operas.


title: Programme music

paragraphs: Programme music (or "program music" in US English) is music for instruments which describes something or tells a story. It is the opposite of "absolute music" which is not trying to describe anything, just the sound of the piece. Programme music was very popular in the 19th century although some programme music was written earlier.

paragraphs: Some composers in the Renaissance and Baroque periods wrote music which described battles. Antonio Vivaldi wrote a very famous set of four concertos for violin and strings called "The Four Seasons". Each of the movements describe things happening during the year's seasons, e.g. the birds singing in the spring, snowy winter days, etc.

paragraphs: At the start of the 1800s, Beethoven wrote a pastoral symphony, Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale", which describes the peaceful life in the countryside. This way of making music describe things became very popular with Romantic composers. Mendelssohn wrote "concert overtures" which had nothing to do with an opera but were simply short pieces of music for orchestra which told a story. "Hebrides Overture", for example, describes the feel of the sea lapping into Fingal's Cave in the Scottish Inner Hebrides.

paragraphs: Franz Liszt made programme music very popular in his symphonic poems. Hector Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" describes a story he made up himself about a man who has dreams about a woman he loves. The woman he loves is represented by a tune (melody) which is heard in different ways during the symphony. It is called an "idée fixe" (French for "fixed idea"). This way of linking a theme (tune) with a person led to Wagner's use of leitmotif in his operas in which a tune is linked to a person, event or idea. At the start of the 19th century Richard Strauss wrote several symphonic poems, often using a leitmotif to describe the person it is about. They include "Don Juan", "Don Quixote" and "Ein Heldenleben" ("A hero's life").


title: Anaerobic organism

paragraphs: An anaerobic organism is any living thing that does not need oxygen for growth.

paragraphs: Microaerophiles are organisms that may use oxygen, but only at low concentrations (low micromolar range); their growth is inhibited by normal oxygen concentrations (approximately 200 micromolar). Nanaerobes are organisms that cannot grow in the presence of micromolar concentrations of oxygen, but can grow with and benefit from nanomolar concentrations of oxygen.

paragraphs: Obligate anaerobes may use fermentation or anaerobic respiration. In the presence of oxygen, facultative anaerobes use aerobic respiration; without oxygen some of them ferment, some use anaerobic respiration. Aerotolerant organisms are strictly fermentative. Microaerophiles carry out aerobic respiration, and some of them can also do anaerobic respiration.

paragraphs: Some anaerobic bacteria produce toxins (e.g., tetanus or botulinum toxins) that are highly dangerous to higher organisms, including humans.


title: Tetanus

paragraphs: Tetanus is a disease that leads to muscle contractions that stay that way for some time.

paragraphs: Infection generally occurs through wound contamination, and often involves a cut or deep puncture wound. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the anaerobic bacterium "Clostridium tetani". As the infection goes on, muscle spasms develop in the jaw. This led to the common name of the condition, lockjaw. This is usually followed by difficulties with swallowing. The condition leads to general muscle stiffness and spasms in other parts of the body. Infection can be prevented by proper immunization and by post-exposure prophylaxis.


title: Immunization

paragraphs: Immunization is a way of preventing a person from getting a disease. This is done by making the person's body come into contact with a bit of the disease so that the body learns how to fight it. The body's ability to fight off a disease is called its immune system.

paragraphs: The material is known as an immunogen. Immunization is the same as inoculation and vaccination because inoculation and vaccination use an infecting agent (something that infects) in the same way that immunization does.

paragraphs: When the human immune system is exposed to an infection once, it can learn how to cope quickly if it is exposed to it again. By exposing an individual to an immunogen in a controlled way, the body will be able to protect itself from that infection later on in life.


title: Whipped cream

paragraphs: Whipped cream is a dairy food used in many desserts. It is made with heavy cream, a type of cream that contains a large amount of fat.

paragraphs: To make whipped cream, a person whips or beats the heavy cream with a whisk or an electric mixer until it becomes fluffy and filled with air. For some desserts, people add icing sugar as a sweetener. Some people also add flavourings to whipped cream, such as vanilla.

paragraphs: Whipped cream is used in many types of desserts. Some desserts, such as apple pie or strawberry shortcake, are often served with whipped cream on top. Whipped cream is also served in milk shakes, Alex's coffee, and on ice cream sundaes. Some desserts have whipped cream inside them, such as cream puffs and eclairs.


title: Tetanospasmin

paragraphs: Tetanospasmin is the neurotoxin produced by the vegetative spore of "Clostridium tetani" in anaerobic conditions, causing tetanus. It is sometimes called spasmogenic toxin, tetanus toxin or abbreviated to TeTx or TeNT.


title: Neurotoxin

paragraphs: A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells – neurons – usually by interacting with membrane proteins and ion channels.

paragraphs: Many of the venoms and other toxins that organisms use in defense against vertebrates are neurotoxins. A common effect is paralysis, which sets in extremely rapidly. The venom of bees, scorpions, pufferfish, spiders and snakes can contain many different toxins. Many neurotoxins act by affecting voltage-dependent ion channels.

paragraphs: A man named Clairvius Narcisse was dead and came back to life again because the locals used neurotoxin on him to bring him back to life. He was buried in Haiti in 1964.


title: Paralysis

paragraphs: Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups, when the thing that is paralysed cannot move.

paragraphs: Paralysis is most often caused by damage to the nervous system or brain, especially the spinal cord. Major causes are stroke, trauma, poliomyelitis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), botulism, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Partial paralysis can also occur in the REM stage of sleep (see:Sleep paralysis). Paralysis often includes loss of feeling in the affected area.


title: Membrane protein

paragraphs: A membrane protein is a protein molecule that is attached to, or associated with the membrane of a cell or an organelle.

paragraphs: 20–30% of all genes in genomes code for membrane proteins. They are targets of over 50% of all modern medicinal drugs.

paragraphs: Membrane proteins perform a variety of functions vital to the survival of organisms:


title: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

paragraphs: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are an American Football team in the National Football League (NFL). They are a part of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference. The Buccaneers are from Tampa, Florida. The team was founded in 1976, and are the champions from Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002. The current head coach is Bruce Arians. Their quarterback is Tom Brady.

paragraphs: The name "Buccaneer" comes from certain pirates who would raid the western coast of Florida in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

paragraphs: The Buccaneers play in Raymond James Stadium located in Tampa, Florida.

paragraphs: The Buccaneer's division rivals include the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons. Their in state rivals include the Miami Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

paragraphs: The Buccaneers have 3 players in the NFL Hall of fame: Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp, and Derrick Brooks.


title: Obelus

paragraphs: An obelus (plural, obeli) is a symbol of a line with dots above and below, formula_1, and is used to represent the division operation in mathematics. Because of that, this symbol is also known as a division sign.

paragraphs: The word "obelus" comes from the Greek word for a sharpened stick, spit, or pointed pillar. This is the same root as that of the word "obelisk". The obelus was first used as a symbol for division in 1659, in the algebra book "Teutsche Algebra" by Johann Rahn. Today, the obelus is used occasionally, mostly as a standalone symbol for the division operation itself (as on a calculator), or as an operator in elementary arithmetic. In most cases, division is now represented using other ways, often by a forward slash (/), also known as "solidus".


title: Vinculum (symbol)

paragraphs: A vinculum is a horizontal line put over a mathematical expression. It shows that it belongs together as a group. ("Vinculum" is Latin for "chain".)

paragraphs: 1. groups of digits repeating forever, for example,

paragraphs: 3. radicals (in the following example the quantity formula_3 is the radicand, and thus has a vinculum over it):


title: Colon (punctuation)

paragraphs: The colon (":") is a punctuation mark, visually consisting of two equally sized dots centered on the same vertical (up/down) line.

paragraphs: A colon is a more significant pause than a semi-colon. It is usually used to contrast two parts of a sentence:

paragraphs: The colon's first appearance in English text is marked by the "Shorter Oxford English Dictionary" as 1589.

paragraphs: A special double-triangle colon symbol is used in IPA to indicate that the preceding sound is long. Its form is that of two triangles, each a bit larger than a point of a standard colon, pointing toward each other. It is available in Unicode as modifier letter triangular colon, Unicode U+02D0 (). A regular colon is often used as a fallback when this character is not available, or in the practical orthography of some languages (particularly in Mexico), which have a phonemic long/short distinction in vowels.

paragraphs: The colon is also used in mathematics, cartography, model building and other fields to denote a ratio or a scale, as in 3:1 (pronounced "three to one"). A betting odd of the form formula_1 corresponds to the probability formula_2. Unicode provides a distinct ratio character, Unicode U+2236 () for mathematical usage.

paragraphs: In many non-English-speaking countries, the colon is used as a division sign: ""a divided by b"" is written as a : b.

paragraphs: The combination with an equal sign, formula_3, is used for definitions.

paragraphs: In computing, the colon character is represented by ASCII code 58, and is located at Unicode code-point U+003A. The full-width (double-byte) equivalent, ：, is located at Unicode code point U+FF1A.

paragraphs: The colon is quite often used as a special control character in many operating systems commands, URLs, computer programming languages, and in the path representation of several file systems. It is often used as a single post-fix delimiter, signifying the immediate precedence of a token keyword or the transition from one mode of character string interpretation to another related mode. Some applications, such as the widely used MediaWiki, use the colon as both a pre-fix and post-fix delimiter.

paragraphs: For a double-colon, "::" the meaning has included the use of ellipsis, as spanning over omitted text; however, there have been other meanings as well.

paragraphs: On the Internet (online chats, email, message boards, etc.), a colon or multiple colons is sometimes used to denote an action or emote. In this use, it has the inverse function of quotation marks—denoting actions where unmarked text is assumed to be dialog. For example:

paragraphs: Colons may also be used for sounds (as with ":Click:"). One can contrast this use with the use of outer asterisks (for example, *cough* would denote that the speaker is coughing, as opposed to saying the word 'cough').

paragraphs: It also has the widespread usage of representing two vertically aligned eyes in a emoticon, such as :-), :( :P, :D, :3, etc.


title: Tomorrow Never Knows

paragraphs: Tomorrow Never Knows is a song from The Beatles's "Revolver" album, from 1966.

paragraphs: John Lennon wrote the song based on his readings of "The Psychedelic Experience", which adapted the "Tibetan Book of the Dead" for use as an LSD "user's manual", intending to give users a kind of religious experience. The song's title came from his bandmate Ringo Starr, who was known for his but insightful comments about life.

paragraphs: Lennon wanted the sound of monks , to complement the Beatles' recording of the song. It was not possible to do this, but Lennon's voice was played through a special speaker (called a Leslie speaker), to give it a sound, like a voice calling from a hilltop. Other sounds on the record came from tape loops, playing over and over, and from a sitar.

paragraphs: The song has also been recorded by other artists. A dance cover version appeared in the 1990s.