title: Chitin

paragraphs: Chitin is a semitransparent material that is the main component of the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans (e.g. crab, lobster and shrimp) and insects (e.g. ants, beetles and butterflies), of the cell walls of fungi, the radula of molluscs and the beaks of cephalopods (e.g. squid, and octopuses). Chitin has also proven useful for several medical and industrial purposes.


title: Radula

paragraphs: The radula is the toothed chitinous ribbon in the mouth of most molluscs. It can be compared with the tongue of human beings but, unlike our tongue, it is used for cutting and chewing food before it enters the esophagus.

paragraphs: The radula is present in all molluscs except bivalves, and only in molluscs. For example, Gastropods use it to graze and scrape diatoms and other microscopic algae off rock surfaces and other substrata. Squid use it for cutting up their prey.


title: Exoskeleton

paragraphs: An exoskeleton supports and protects an animal's body from outside and not like the internal endoskeleton - of, for example human beings - from inside.

paragraphs: Many invertebrate animals (such as shelled mollusks) have exoskeletons in the sense of external hard parts. But if one speaks of an exoskeleton one mostly means that of arthropods (i.e. insects, spiders, myriapods and crustaceans).

paragraphs: Exoskeletons contain rigid and resistant components that fulfil a set of functional roles including protection, excretion, sensing, support, feeding and (for terrestrial organisms) acting as a barrier against desiccation. Exoskeletons first appeared in the fossil record about 550 million years ago, and their evolution has been seen as critical as a driving role in the Cambrian explosion of animals that took place subsequent to this time.


title: High Force

paragraphs: High Force is one of Britain's great waterfalls. It is in Teesdale, County Durham. It was created by erosion when a river went through the rock and did not erode the hard upper layer of igneous rock, but eroded the bottom layer of soft limestone, a sedimentary rock. It is one of the biggest waterfalls in the UK.


title: Adetokunbo Ademola

paragraphs: Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola, KBE, GCON was a Nigerian judge and former Chief Justice of Nigeria (1958-1972). Before becoming the Chief Justice, he was Chief Justice of the Western Region of Nigeria.

paragraphs: Although, Justice Ademola is known for his judicial duties, he was an important person in the Nigerian crisis of 1966. Then, a counter coup had challenged the unity of Nigeria. A few Northern Military officers had successfully executed a coup with a plan to secede from Nigeria. But the British High Commission, which gets intelligence briefings on Nigeria and Chief Justice Ademola persuaded the Northern leaders not to quit but to take power.

paragraphs: Adetokunbo Ademola was born on February 1, 1906 to the family of a titled traditional ruler of Abeokuta, Oba Ladapo Ademola. He later married the daughter of a prominent Lagos lawyer, Kofo Moore.

paragraphs: He attended St Gregory's Grammar School and King's College, Lagos before proceeding to Selwyn College, Cambridge. He was then called to the bar in 1934 and started work as a crown counsel. In 1939, he was appointed a magistrate before becoming a junior high court judge in 1949. In 1955, he was made the Chief Judge of Western Nigeria and later became the Chief Justice of the country.

paragraphs: As the Chief Justice, he was instrumental to the establishment of the Nigerian Law School, the first located in the country. He was also involved in a case: Lakanmi vs the Attorney General of Nigeria, where he ruled that a Nigerian court could review military decrees.


title: Endoskeleton

paragraphs: An endoskeleton is a structure that holds an animal from inside.

paragraphs: One can find endoskeletons in three phyla and one subclass of animals: in Chordata, Echinodermata, Porifera and Coleoidea. An endoskeleton allows the body to move and gives the body structure and shape.

paragraphs: A true endoskeleton develops from mesodermal tissue. Such a skeleton is present in echinoderms and chordates. The Coleoidae do not have a true endoskeleton in the evolutionary sense; here, a mollusc exoskeleton developed into several sorts of internal structure, the "cuttlebone" of cuttlefish being the best-known version. An important advantage of an endoskeleton over an exoskeleton is that the endoskeleton provides more structural support.

paragraphs: Endoskeletons hold inner organs, tissues, and systems together easily.


title: Kayfabe

paragraphs: In professional wrestling, something that is "kayfabe" is not real, something that is "acted out" and not happening in real life. Many things in wrestling are kayfabe, that is, they appear to be real (such as the storylines), but are, in actuality, fake.

paragraphs: People who believe that kayfabe acts are real are called marks, as opposed to smarks. Those who know wrestling is scripted but still enjoy the storylines are known as smart-marks, or smarks.

paragraphs: It is unknown where the term came from; it is sometimes believed that the term "kayfabe" is a modification of the Pig latin word for "fake", "akefay".


title: Bruce Willis

paragraphs: Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955 in Germany) is an American actor and film producer. His mother was German; his father was American. He became famous in the late 1980s. He has remained one of Hollywood's biggest stars, mostly for his role as Lt. "John McClane" in the "Die Hard" series. Willis was married to actress Demi Moore and they had three daughters before their divorce in 2001. They were married for thirteen years. He has received many awards and honors in his career. Willis supports the United States armed forces and has been a spokesman several times.

paragraphs: Some of his best-known movies are "Die Hard", "The Player", "Pulp Fiction" and "Sin City".


title: Zoospore

paragraphs: A zoospore is an asexual spore that uses a flagellum for moving around. It is also called a "swarm spore". These spores are created by some algae and fungi to multiply themselves.

paragraphs: There are two types of flagellated zoospores, "whiplash" and "tinsel" or "decorated".

paragraphs: Both "tinsel" and "whiplash" flagella beat in a sinusoidal wave pattern, but when both are present, the tinsel will beat in the opposite direction of the whiplash, to give 2 axes of control of motility.

paragraphs: A zoosporangium is the sexual structure in which the zoospores develop in a plant, fungi, or protists.


title: Gamete

paragraphs: A gamete is a specialized sex cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are produced by germ cells.

paragraphs: In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete—called an ovum (or egg)—and a male produces the smaller type—called a spermatozoon (or sperm cell).

paragraphs: The name gamete was introduced by the Austrian biologist Gregor Mendel.

paragraphs: Gametogenesis is the development of diploid germ cells into haploid eggs or sperm, (respectively oogenesis and spermatogenesis). It is different for each species but the general stages are similar. The development of eggs (oogenesis} and sperm (spermatogenesis) have many features in common. They both involve:

paragraphs: They also have major differences, especially


title: Morphology (biology)

paragraphs: Morphology is the study of animal or human form or body shape. It is the branch of biology dealing with the study of the form of organisms and their specific structural features.

paragraphs: The concept of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Friedrich Burdach (1800).

paragraphs: In general use, the word morphology refers to the form and structure of an organism as a whole, including all internal and external structures. This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern) as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs. Morphology is contrasted to physiology, which deals primarily with function.

paragraphs: In English-speaking countries, the term "molecular morphology" has been used for some time for describing the structure of compound molecules, such as polymers


title: Taxon

paragraphs: A taxon (plural taxa) is a taxonomic group or taxonomic unit. It is a group of organisms which a taxonomist decides belong together.

paragraphs: Taxa can be big or small, a fairly small taxon is the giraffes, a very big one is the beetles.

paragraphs: A taxonomist can assign a scientific name and rank to a taxon; this places it at a particular level in a hierarchy. It is not strictly necessary to assign either a name or a rank to a taxon, but doing so makes it much easier to refer to the taxon. However, many taxa have to wait for years before getting a name.

paragraphs: There is no limit to the number of ranks that may exist, but the most important ranks are, in hierarchical order:

paragraphs: Note: "Phylum" applies formally to any biologial domain but traditionally it was always used of animals whereas "Division" was traditionally often used of plants, fungi etc.

paragraphs: A simple phrase to remember the order is

paragraphs: "Dignified Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk" (there are many other such phrases).

paragraphs: A distinction is made between taxonomy and systematics. Systematics deals with how groups relate to each other. Taxonomy deals with making groups (taxa), deciding what belongs together. Taxonomy is also known as classification.

paragraphs: A special part of taxonomy is nomenclature. This consists of rules on what names to use. So a taxonomist first decides what does and does not belong in a group, and then uses nomenclature to decide what name this group should have. If a group is made larger or bigger it may get a different name. On the other hand, the same name may refer to a bigger taxon (according to one particular taxonomist) or a smaller taxon (according to some other taxonomist). This means that scientific names are not guaranteed to be stable. Most names are stable, but for some taxa there is no agreement on its name, because taxonomists do not agree what does belong together and what does not belong together.

paragraphs: A taxonomist can decide for himself what scientific reasons he adopts for making a group (a taxon). If he is not convincing in his choice, other taxonomists will not agree with him, and they will then make other arrangements. These days biological classification is mostly supposed be done according to evolutionary (phylogenetic) relationships, so far as these are known.


title: Domain (biology)

paragraphs: In biological taxonomy, a domain (also superregnum, superkingdom, or empire) is a taxon in the highest rank of organisms, higher than a kingdom.

paragraphs: Domain (or its synonyms) is the most inclusive of these biological groupings. The arrangement of taxa reflects the fundamental evolutionary differences in the genomes. There are several modern alternative domain classifications of life. Among them are:

paragraphs: After defining Archaea as a new domain, Woese redrew the taxonomic tree. His three-domain system is based upon genetic relationships. It divides life into 23 main divisions in three domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. Archaea are neither bacteria nor eukaryotes. Looked at another way, they are prokaryotes that are not bacteria.


title: Keratin

paragraphs: Keratins are a family of fibrous proteins. Keratin is what makes up hair in animals, as well as horns, nails, hooves, shells, beaks, and feathers. The name comes from Greek word "keras" meaning "horn".

paragraphs: Keratins are tough and insoluble. They form the hard but non-mineral structures in reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals. A similar biological toughness is found in chitin.

paragraphs: Keratins are the main constituent of structures that grow from the skin:

paragraphs: Arthropods such as crustaceans often have parts of their exoskeleton made of keratin, sometimes in combination with chitin.

paragraphs: Keratins are also found in the gastrointestinal tracts of many animals, including roundworms (who also have an outer layer made of keratin).

paragraphs: Although it is now difficult to be certain, the scales, claws, some protective armour and the beaks of dinosaurs would, almost certainly, have been composed of a type of keratin.

paragraphs: The silk fibroins produced by insects and spiders are often classified as keratins, though it is unclear whether they are phylogenetically related to vertebrate keratins.

paragraphs: Silk found in insect pupae, and in spider webs and egg casings, also has twisted β-pleated sheets incorporated into fibers wound into larger supermolecular aggregates.


title: Fibrous protein

paragraphs: A fibrous protein or scleroprotein is one of the three main types of proteins. The others are globular and membrane proteins).

paragraphs: There are many types of scleroprotein, such as keratin, collagen, elastin, and fibroin. Such proteins protect and support. They form connective tissue, tendons, bone matrices, and muscle fibre.


title: Filament

paragraphs: In "physics and electrical engineering":


title: Protein filament

paragraphs: In biology, a filament is a long chain of proteins, such as those found in hair, muscle, or in flagella.


title: Hanami

paragraphs: Hanami means "flower viewing" in Japanese. Enjoying beautiful flowers is an old Japanese custom. Cherry blossoms are the most popular. The custom of hanami is more than a thousand years old. It is still very popular in Japan. Hanami takes place in the spring. Cherry blossoms are there for only a week or two. The cherry trees flower in late March and early April. The blossoms do not stay fresh very long. After a little time, the blooming is over. Then the blossoms fall from the trees.

paragraphs: An older form of hanami also exists in Japan. It celebrates the plum blossoms instead of cherry blossoms.

paragraphs: The practice of hanami is many centuries old. It started during the Nara Period (710–784) when the Chinese Tang Dynasty influenced Japan in many ways; one of which was the custom of enjoying flowers. Though it was ume blossoms that people admired in the beginning, by the Heian Period (794–1185), sakura began to attract more attention. The sakura were considered sacred by the Japanese, and they were so important that they still are a cultural symbol of Japan. People believed in gods' existence inside the trees, and the hanami party was used in the beginning to divine that year's harvest and to announce the season of planting rice. Those who went to the hanami made offerings at the root of sakura trees, and after the ceremony, they took part in the offering drinking sake.

paragraphs: Emperor Saga of the Heian Period adopted this custom, and celebrated parties to view the flowers with sake and feasts under the blossoming branches of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan. Poems were written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself; beautiful, but lasting for a very short time. This 'temporary' view of life is very popular in Japanese culture and is usually considered as an admirable form of existence; for example, in the samurai's principle of life ending when it's still beautiful and strong, instead of slowly getting old and weak. The Heian era poets used to write poems about how much easier things would be in Spring without the sakura blossoms, because their existence reminded us that life is very short:

paragraphs: Hanami was used as a term that meant "cherry blossom viewing" for the first time in the Heian era novel "Tale of Genji" (chapter 8, 花宴 "Hana no En, "Under the Cherry Blossoms""). From then on, in "tanka" and in "haiku" poetry, "flowers" meant "sakura", and the terms "hanami" and "flower party" were only used to mean sakura blossom viewing.

paragraphs: At the beginning, the custom was followed only by the Imperial Court, but the samurai nobility also began celebrating it during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568–1600). In those years, Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave great hanami parties in Yoshino and Daigo, and the festivity became very popular through all the Japanese society. Shortly after that, farmers began their own custom of climbing nearby mountains in the springtime and having lunch under the blooming cherry trees. This practice, called then as the "spring mountain trip", combined itself with that of the nobles' to form the urban culture of hanami. By the Edo Period (1600–1867), all the common people took part in the celebrations, in part because Tokugawa Yoshimune planted areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.

paragraphs: Japanese people continue the tradition of hanami. People fill parks to eat and drink under the flowering trees. In more than half of Japan, the cherry blossoming days come at the same time of the beginning of school and work after vacation, and so welcoming parties are often opened with hanami. Usually, people go to the parks to keep the best places to celebrate hanami with friends, family, and company co-workers many hours before. In many places such as Ueno Park, temporary paper lanterns are hung for night viewing of the flowers.

paragraphs: The blossom forecast or cherry blossom front is announced each year by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The first cherry blossoms happen in the subtropical southern islands of Okinawa, while on the northern island of Hokkaido, they bloom much later. In most large cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the cherry blossom season normally takes place around the end of March and the beginning of April. The television and newspapers closely follow this "cherry blossom front", as it slowly moves from south to north.

paragraphs: Hanami is also popular outside of Japan. There are hanami celebrations in Korea, Philippines, China, and elsewhere (many other places).

paragraphs: In 1912, Japan gave 3,000 sakura trees to the United States to celebrate the nations' friendship. These trees were planted in Washington, D.C.. 3,800 more trees were added 1956. These sakura trees are a popular tourist attraction. Each year, the "National Cherry Blossom Festival" happens when they bloom in early Spring.

paragraphs: In Macon, Georgia, another cherry blossom festival called the "International Cherry Blossom Festival" is celebrated every spring. Macon is known as the "Cherry Blossom Capital of the World" because 300,000 sakura trees grow there.

paragraphs: In Brooklyn, New York, the "Annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival" takes place in May at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. This festival started in 1981 and is very popular.


title: Landmarks

paragraphs: Originally, a landmark literally meant a prominent, easily identified geographic point, (like a mountain, a cliff, or a river) used by explorers and others to find their way back or through an area.

paragraphs: In modern use, it includes anything that can be recognized easily, such as a monument, building, or other structure. In American English it is the main word used to call places that are tourist attractions because they are beautiful, or big, or they have historical importance. Some, such as National Landmarks, are on official lists of landmarks. Landmarks in the British English are normally used for casual navigation, such as giving directions to someone to get somewhere. This is done in American English as well.

paragraphs: Landmarks also can be of two different categories: natural (e.g., physical features such as waterfalls and mountains), and structures constructed by humans. Many of them are World Heritage Sites.

paragraphs: Some important landmarks across the world today include:


title: Neighbourhood

paragraphs: A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographic community in a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities because the people that live in them commonly talk with each other. Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition.

paragraphs: According to urban scholar Lewis Mumford, Neighbourhoods have always exist where humans live. Many of the functions of the city are usually distributed into neighbourhoods. Archaeologists have found evidence of neighbourhoods in the ruins of most of the earliest cities around the world. Historical documents give information about neighbourhood life in many historical preindustrial or nonwestern cities.

paragraphs: Neighbourhoods are usually created by social interaction between people living near each another. They are local social groups larger than households that are not under the control of city or state officials. In some early urban traditions, basic municipal functions such as protection, marriages, cleaning and repairs are done by neighbourhoods. This is shown to have happened in historical Islamic cities.

paragraphs: Most ancient and historical cities also had administrative districts. These were used by the government for taxation and social control. Administrative districts are usually larger than neighbourhoods. They often cover areas that are larger than just one neighbourhood. Sometimes, administrative districts are just one neighbourhood. This leads to a lot of control of social life by officials. For example, in the T’ang period Chinese capital city Chang’an, neighbourhoods were districts. There were state officials who controlled life and activity at the neighbourhood level.

paragraphs: Neighbourhoods in very old cities often grouped certain people together. Ethnic neighbourhoods were important in many old cities. They are still common in cities today. Economic specialists, including craft makers, merchants, and others, could be grouped together in neighbourhoods. There were also neighbourhoods based around certain religions. One important part to neighbourhood being different from each other and their people getting along well was how people moved from rural areas to the cities. This was always happening in old cities. The people moving to the cities often moved in with relatives and people they knew from before moving to the city.

paragraphs: In the mainland of the People's Republic of China, the term is usually used for the urban administrative division. These divisions are found below the district level. A subdistrict level may exists in some cities. They are also called streets. The naming may be different from one city to another. Neighbourhoods usually have 2,000 to 10,000 families. Within neighbourhoods, families are grouped into smaller groups of 100 to 600 families. These smaller groups are supervised by a residents' committee. These groups are often broken down into even smaller groups of fifteen to forty families. In most urban areas of China, neighbourhood, community, residential community, residential unit, residential quarter have the same meaning.

paragraphs: Neighbourhood () in Turkey is an administrative unit within municipalities. It has an official status but no governmental powers. Neighbourhoods are administered by the Mukhtar and the "Neighbourhood Seniors Council". This is a group of 4 people. The mukhtar is elected by the people living in the neighbourhood. He is an administrator of the district governor. Mukhtar also has a seat at the City Assembly. This is an organization for the coordination of the public institutions in the city. Neighbourhood administrators get a salary from the Central Government. They also get money from the fees paid for dealing with certain documents.

paragraphs: The term has no official use in the United Kingdom. It is often used by local boroughs for sub-divisions of their area for the delivery of certain services and functions. It is also used as a term to refer to a small area within a town or city. The term is commonly used to refer to organisations which deal with such a very local issues, such as neighbourhood policing or Neighbourhood watches. Government statistics for local areas are often called neighbourhood statistics even though the data is usually broken down into districts and wards.

paragraphs: In Canada and the United States, neighborhoods often have official or semi-official status. This is commonly done using neighbourhood associations, neighbourhood watches, or block watches. These may deal with such things as lawn care and fence height. They may provide such things as block parties, neighbourhood parks, and community security. In some other places the organisation is the parish. A parish may have several neighbourhoods in it depending on the area.


title: Lantern

paragraphs: A lantern is a device that can be moved from one place to another, used to create light and to light up open areas. Lanterns may be used for giving signals, or as general light sources for camping. They can have candles inside, or use other things as fuel, like alcohol or kerosene. Lanterns that give dim light are generally used as decoration. Lanterns are also used in festivals like the Obon festival in Japan.


title: Cherry blossom

paragraphs: Cherry blossom or sakura (Japanese kanji and Chinese character: 桜 or 櫻; katakana: サクラ) are cherry trees, "Prunus serrulata", and their blossoms. The fruit comes from a different species. Cherry trees are a symbol of spring for Japanese people. The word Sakura can also be used as a name for women.

paragraphs: The traditional custom of "Hanami" or "Flower viewing" involves visiting places where sakura are blooming. Japanese people love cherry blossoms, but they are not the national flower in Japan. Someiyoshino is the most famous type of sakura.

paragraphs: There are approximately 400 different types of cherry trees. They mutate easily.

paragraphs: Most of the flowers are white or pink with five petals, but there are some flowers with almost a hundred petals.


title: Filamentation

paragraphs: Filamentation is the anomalous (not normal) growth of certain bacteria, such as "E. coli", in which cells continue to elongate but do not divide (no septa formation). Bacterial filamentation is a defect in completing replication and is observed in bacteria responding to a various stresses. This may happen, for example, when there is extensive DNA damage through the SOS response system. Nutritional change may also cause bacterial filamentation.


title: Septum

paragraphs: A septum (Latin: "something that encloses"; plural Septa) is a partition separating two cavities or spaces. Examples include:

paragraphs: Fungi produce septa to partition filamentous hyphae into discrete cells.


paragraphs: The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO) is an orchestra for young musicians in the United Kingdom. The members of the orchestra are all aged between 13 and 19 years. It is a very large orchestra with about 150 players. Children who want to play in the National Youth Orchestra have to be able to play their instrument very well. They need to be at least Grade 8 Distinction standard and they need to be very good at sightreading so that they can learn very quickly. They have to pass an audition to get a place in the orchestra. These auditions take place in the autumn in several towns in Britain.

paragraphs: The National Youth Orchestra was started in 1947 by Ruth Railton (later Dame Ruth King). The current director is Sarah Alexander.

paragraphs: The orchestra meet three times a year during the school holidays at New Year, Easter and Summer for about two weeks. They rehearse very hard together and then give one or two concerts in famous concert halls in Britain such as Barbican Hall in London, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, St David's Hall in Cardiff and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. Every year they play in a Promenade Concert in the Royal Albert Hall. In 2007 they played the Leningrad Symphony by Shostakovich at the Proms. In June that year they played at the Glastonbury Festival. The trumpeters and drummers woke people up with Aaron Copland’s "Fanfare for the Common Man" In April 2008 the NYO played Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" in Birmingham Symphony Hall, and in August they will play at the Snape Maltings and at the BBC Proms conducted by Antonio Pappano with the pianist Boris Berezovsky as soloist.

paragraphs: The concerts are always conducted by famous conductors. Usually the famous conductor will come to rehearse the orchestra for the last few days of the course.

paragraphs: During their courses they also have time to play chamber music together. They are taught by teachers who are famous musicians. Some of them are young composers who are learning to compose music. They are taught by the composer Paul Patterson. The musicians also have time to explore music from other cultures.

paragraphs: The NYO also has Open Days for slightly younger children to explore music.


title: Flag of Canada

paragraphs: The Maple Leaf flag became Canada's flag on 15 February 1965.

paragraphs: Before this, Canada used the British Red Ensign with Canada's coat of arms on it. Flag experts say that the Red Ensign was "defaced" by the coat of arms.

paragraphs: Flag and heraldry experts also call the design of the flag a "Canadian Pale". This is because the white stripe in the middle (called a pale in heraldry) was not the usual narrow stripe but was half the width of the flag. This was the first time a design like this was used.

paragraphs: On some days the Canadian government flies the "Royal Union Flag" next to the Maple Leaf Flag. The Royal Union Flag is the British Union Jack, and is a symbol that Canada is a member of the Commonwealth, and that Canada and Britain share a history and a monarch.

paragraphs: The Queen of Great Britain, had some say in what the flag was to be. She thought that the maple leaf greatly represents the country of Canada.


title: The Wee Free Men

paragraphs: The Wee Free Men is the 30th in the "Discworld" book series by Terry Pratchett. It was published in 2003. It is the second "Discworld" book written for children, but it's still liked by many adults.

paragraphs: The Queen of the Elves tries to invade the Discworld again by stealing children and invading dreams.

paragraphs: Tiffany Aching, a 9-year-old girl discovers that her grandmother used to be a witch. Tiffany also discovered that she has a talent for magic, too.

paragraphs: When Tiffany's baby brother is stolen by the evil queen, Tiffany enters the elves' world to save him with the help of "The Wee Free Men" and Miss Tick. "The Wee Free Men" are small blue fairies and they speak with a Scottish accent.


title: Vandals

paragraphs: The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe. They entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals may have given their name to the region of Andalusia, which according to one of several theories of its etymology was originally called "Vandalusia" or land of the Vandals. This would be the source of "Al-Andalus" — the Arabic name of Iberian Peninsula, in the south of present-day Spain, where they settled before pushing on to create a Vandal Kingdom in North Africa.

paragraphs: The Goth Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals, as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I.

paragraphs: Byzantine Empire forces under Justinian I conquered the Vandalic African kingdom in 534.


title: Order of the Thistle

paragraphs: The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry, associated with Scotland. Its original date of founding is unknown. James VII (also King of England as James II) created the modern Order in 1687. The Order is the Sovereign and sixteen Knights and Ladies, as well as certain "extra" knights (members of the British and foreign royal families). The Sovereign decides who is to be a member. He or she is not advised by the Government, as occurs with most other Orders. The sixteen members are required to be Scottish-born, but the "extra" knights and ladies are not.

paragraphs: The Order's main emblems are the thistle, the national flower of Scotland, and Saint Andrew holding a saltire (X shaped cross). The motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit" (Latin for "No one provokes me with impunity"); the same motto is also on the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom for use in Scotland and on some pound coins. St Andrew is also the patron saint of the Order.

paragraphs: Most British orders of chivalry cover all of the United Kingdom, but the three most most senior ones each cover only one constituent country . The Order of the Thistle, which covers to Scotland, is the second-most senior in precedence. Its equivalent in England, The Most Noble Order of the Garter, is the oldest order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, dating to the middle fourteenth century. In 1783 an Irish order, The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, was founded; but since the independence of the Republic of Ireland the Order has fallen dormant. The last new knight was made in 1927, and the last surviving Knight of St Patrick died in 1974.

paragraphs: The first date of the Order's creation is not known. One story says that Achaius, King of Scots, was fighting King Aethelstan of East Anglia and he saw cross of St Andrew in the sky. After he won the battle, Achaius established the Order of the Thistle. Even though Achaius and Aethelstan never fought, this story of the foundation, is given in the Royal Warrant 'reviving' the Order in 1687. Another story says that the Order was instituted, or re-instituted by Robert I at the Battle of Bannockburn.

paragraphs: King James II and VII issued letters patent "reviving and restoring the Order of the Thistle to its full glory, lustre and magnificency" in 1687. Only 12 knights were allowed, and he appointed eight before the King was deposed in 1688. His successors, the William and Mary, did not make any more appointments to the Order. In 1703 however, Anne once again revived the Order of the Thistle.

paragraphs: The Kings of Scotland–later the Kings of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom–have served as Sovereigns of the Order.

paragraphs: When James VII revived the Order, the statutes said that the Order would continue the ancient number of Knights, which was described in the preceding warrant as "the Sovereign and twelve Knights-Brethren in allusion to the Blessed Saviour and his Twelve Apostles.

paragraphs: In 1827, George IV increased the Order to sixteen members. Women were excluded from the Order. George VI created his wife Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon a Lady of the Thistle in 1937, and in 1987 Elizabeth II allowed the regular admission of women to both the Order of the Thistle and the Order of the Garter.

paragraphs: From time to time, individuals joined the Order by special permission. These members are known as "Extra Knights" and do not count towards the sixteen-member limit. Members of the British Royal Family are normally admitted by special permission; the first was Prince Albert. King Olav V of Norway, was the first foreigner to be admitted to the Order, was also admitted by special permission in 1962.

paragraphs: The Sovereign has historically had the power to choose Knights of the Order. From the eighteenth century onwards, the Sovereign made his or her choices upon the advice of the Government. George VI felt that the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle had been used only for political patronage, rather than to reward actual merit. Therefore in 1946, with the agreement of the Prime Minister (Clement Attlee) and the Leader of the Opposition (Winston Churchill), both Orders returned to the personal gift of the Sovereign.

paragraphs: Knights and Ladies of the Thistle may also be admitted to the Order of the Garter.

paragraphs: Knights and Ladies of the Thistle may also have their knighthoods taken away. But this has happened only once, to John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar who was "deprived" of both the knighthood and the earldom after taking part in the Jacobite rising of 1715.

paragraphs: For the Order's great occasions, such as its annual service each June or July, as well for coronations, the Knights and Ladies wear an elaborate costume:

paragraphs: Aside from these special occasions, however, much simpler badges are used whenever a member of the Order attends an event at which decorations are worn.

paragraphs: When James VII revived the Order in 1687, he wanted the Abbey Church at the Palace of Holyroodhouse to be the Chapel for the Order of the Thistle, perhaps copying the idea from the Order of the Garter (whose chapel is located in Windsor Castle).

paragraphs: James VII was deposed by 1688 and the Order did not have a Chapel until 1911, when one was added onto St Giles High Kirk in Edinburgh. Each year, the Sovereign stays at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in June or July; during the visit, a service for the Order is held. Any new Knights or Ladies are installed at annual services.

paragraphs: Each member of the Order, including the Sovereign, is allotted a seat in the Chapel. Their coat of arms is above their seat.


title: Nasal septum

paragraphs: The nasal septum separates the left and right airways in the nose and divides the two nostrils.

paragraphs: The fleshy external end of the nasal septum is sometimes also called "columella".

paragraphs: The nasal septum is composed of three structures:

paragraphs: The nasal septum can depart from the centreline of the nose; this condition is known as a deviated septum. Injury, excessive nose-picking and cocaine usage can cause septum perforations, or holes developing in the septum.

paragraphs: An operation to the nasal septum is known as a septoplasty.


title: Nostril

paragraphs: A nostril (or naris, pl. "nares") is one of the two channels of the nose, from the point where they to the external opening.

paragraphs: In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates, whose function is to warm air on inhalation and remove moisture on exhalation. Fish do not breathe through their noses, but they do have two small holes used for smelling which may be called nostrils.

paragraphs: In humans, the nasal cycle means that during the course of a day, the nostrils will switch over approximately every four hours or so, meaning that only one nostril is used at any one time.


title: Ethmoid bone

paragraphs: The ethmoid bone (from Greek "ethmos", "sieve") is a bone in the skull that separates the nasal cavity from the brain. As such, it is located at the roof of the nose, between the two orbits. The cubical bone is lightweight due to a spongy construction.

paragraphs: The ethmoid bone consists of four parts:

paragraphs: Blows to the head can shear off the olfactory nerves that pass though the ethmoid bone and cause anosmia, an irreversible loss of the sense of smell and a great reduction in the sense of taste (most of which depends on smell). This not only deprives life of some of its pleasures, but can also be dangerous, as when a person fails to smell smoke, gas, or spoiled food.


title: Bundesverdienstkreuz

paragraphs: The Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) is Germany's only general decoration (award). It is officially called the "Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany). This Federal Order of Merit was created on 7 September 1951. Germany gives between 3,000 and 5,200 awards every year, in all classes.

paragraphs: Most of the Länder have their own orders of merit. There are up to three ranks (member, officer, commander). The Cities of Bremen and Hamburg do not have an order, and by old tradition its citizens will refuse any decoration in form of an order.

paragraphs: The Bundesverdienstkreuz has eight classes, in ascending order:

paragraphs: The President of the Federal Republic holds the "Sonderstufe des Großkreuzes" ex officio. It is awarded to him in a ceremony by the President of the Bundestag. The Chancellor, the President of the Bundesrat and the President of the Bundesverfassungsgericht attend this ceremony. Other than the President of the Federal Republic, only a foreign head of state can receive the highest class award. People can also receive the Großkreuze in a special rare design. Only two people have had this award, Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl.

paragraphs: Except for the lowest class, the badge is the same for all classes. However, the badge and ribbon for women is a little smaller. The badge is a golden Maltese Cross enamelled in red. It has a central disc with a black eagle. The star is golden. It has straight rays and its size and points vary according to class. The badge is on top of it. The ribbon is red with gold-black-gold stripes.


title: Austin Lightning

paragraphs: The Austin Lightning is an amateur soccer team in Austin, Texas. It is in the Mid South division of the South Conference of the Premier Development League of the United Soccer Leagues.

paragraphs: The club was founded in 2003, when it was moved from Lafayette, Louisiana. The team finished last in the division in the 2007 season, due in part to scheduling difficulties caused by record amounts of rain in Austin, which cause fields to be closed on match days. The Austin Lightning are coached by Jaime Mimbela. Their colors are red and white.


title: BBC Symphony Orchestra

paragraphs: The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the main orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is one of the best orchestras in Britain.

paragraphs: The orchestra started in 1930. Sir Adrian Boult was the main conductor until 1950, when Sir Malcolm Sargent took over until 1957. Since then there have been several conductors. Now the orchestra is conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek.

paragraphs: As well as these principal conductors there have been others, including the famous Arturo Toscanini, who made a series of recordings with the orchestra in the Queen's Hall from 1937 to 1939.

paragraphs: The BBC often ask composers of today to write music for the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Composers whose new works they have performed include Sally Beamish, Harrison Birtwistle Elliott Carter, James MacMillan, John Tavener and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

paragraphs: The orchestra plays a big part in the BBC Proms, the season of concerts played every summer at the Royal Albert Hall. It plays on both the first and last nights of the prom season. It also plays several concerts in the Barbican during the year. They often make recordings in the BBC studios. They can often be seen on BBC Television. Sometimes they go on tour to other countries. They also play concerts for young people as part of an education programme.

paragraphs: There are other professional BBC orchestras and groups: the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the BBC Big Band and the BBC Singers. There are also two amateur choruses: the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC National Chorus of Wales.


title: Jiří Bělohlávek

paragraphs: Jiří Bělohlávek (24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was the principal (main) conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. His name "Bělohlávek" means "Whitehead". It is pronounced "Bye-lo-hla-vek". He was born in Prague.

paragraphs: Bělohlávek studied conducting with Sergiu Celibidache. He went to the Prague Conservatory and Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He won the 1970 Czech National Conducting Competition and soon became famous in his country and abroad.

paragraphs: Bělohlávek was chief conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra from 1977-1989. He became principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990 for a short time. Then he founded the Prague Philharmonia "(Pražskou komorní filharmonii)" in 1994, They gave concerts all over the world together and made many recordings. He is still their conductor laureate (honorary conductor).

paragraphs: From 1995-2000, Bělohlávek was principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2006 he became their principal conductor. He conducted them at the Proms that year. In 2007 he conducted at the Last Night of the Proms.

paragraphs: Bělohlávek also conducts in the United States. He first conducted at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in December 2004, conducting Leoš Janáček's "Káťa Kabanová" with Karita Mattila in the title role. He returned to the Met in January and February of 2007 for the same composer's "Jenůfa", once again with Mattila, and with Anja Silja as the Kostelnička. Other guest conducting appearances in the US have been with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

paragraphs: Bělohlávek died on 31 May 2017 in Prague from cancer at the age of 71.


title: Arturo Toscanini

paragraphs: Arturo Toscanini (25 March 1867 – 16 January 1957) was an Italian conductor. Most musicians think he was the greatest conductor of his time. His fame was legendary: he was probably the first conductor to become a world superstar. He had an incredibly good memory and could remember every single note of the large number of works he conducted. He had a photographic memory so that he could remember what the pages looked like. Sometimes he found little mistakes in the scores which no one else had ever noticed. He had a very keen sense of hearing and knew exactly what each instrument was doing. He also had a fiery temperament and there are movies of him shouting angrily at his orchestra in rehearsals. In the early days of gramophone recordings he made some of the first recordings of famous orchestral works.

paragraphs: Toscanini was born in Parma in Italy. He won a scholarship to the local music conservatory, where he learned to play the cello. He joined the orchestra of an opera company and he toured South America with them in 1886. While performing Verdi’s opera "Aida" in Rio de Janeiro the audience did not like the conductor and they booed him so that he had to leave the stage. No one knew what to do at first, but then they persuaded Toscanini, who was only 19 years old, to put down his cello and conduct the orchestra. He did this brilliantly from memory (without looking at the music) and that night he became famous.

paragraphs: When he got back to Italy Toscanini returned to his chair in the cello section, and took part as cellist in the first performance of Verdi's "Otello" (La Scala, 1887). Verdi was there and was very impressed when Toscanini asked him about a mistake he noticed in the score.

paragraphs: Soon the young musician's reputation as a brilliant conductor of opera grew. He conducted the first performances of Puccini's "La Bohème" and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci". In 1896 he conducted his first symphonic concert (works by Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner), in Turin. By 1898 he was conductor at La Scala, Milan and he stayed there until 1908, but returned during the 1920s. He took the Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour in 1920-21; it was during that tour that Toscanini made his first recordings (for the Victor Talking Machine Company).

paragraphs: Toscanini started conducting outside Europe: at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City (1908–1915) as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (1926–1936). He toured Europe with the New York Philharmonic in 1930 and always had great success. Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to conduct at Bayreuth (1930–1931). In the 1930s he conducted at the Salzburg Festival (1934–1937) and the first concert in 1936 of the newly formed Palestine Symphony Orchestra (now the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) in Tel Aviv, and later performed with them in Jerusalem, Haifa, Cairo and Alexandria.

paragraphs: At first Toscanini agreed with Fascism but later, when the dictator Mussolini came to power, he became against it. He refused to perform an opera at La Scala and was beaten up, so he left Italy and went to the United States.

paragraphs: There was no orchestra for him in the USA so they made a new orchestra for him to conduct. This was the NBC Symphony Orchestra, created for him in 1937. He conducted the first broadcast concert on December 25, 1937, in NBC Studio 8-H in New York City's Rockefeller Center.

paragraphs: Toscanini was often criticized for not performing much American music and contemporary music (music by living composers). However, in 1938, he conducted the world premieres of two orchestral works by Samuel Barber, "Adagio for Strings" and "Essay for Orchestra (Barber)|Essay for Orchestra". In 1945, he led the orchestra in Carnegie Hall recording sessions of American music including "An American in Paris" by George Gershwin. He also conducted broadcast performances of Copland's "El Salon Mexico" and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with soloists Earl Wild and Benny Goodman and "Concerto in F" with pianist Oscar Levant, as well as music by other American composers, including two marches of John Philip Sousa.

paragraphs: In 1940, Toscanini had a disagreement with the NBC and he threatened to move to CBS. Although they agreed in the end it was this time that Leopold Stokowski began conducting some of the concerts and continued to appear sometimes as a guest conductor of the orchestra.

paragraphs: In July 1942 Toscanini conducted the American premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's "Symphony no 7". Due to World War II, the score was microfilmed in the Soviet Union and brought by courier to the United States. At first Stokowski wanted to conduct it but then he agreed that Toscanini would. Unfortunately for New York listeners, a big thunderstorm made it difficult to hear the music on the radio. Later the performance was reissued.

paragraphs: The orchestra went all over the world with Toscanini. In 1950 the NBC concerts moved to Carnegie Hall. In a programme of music by Richard Wagner in 1954 Toscanini was not well and forgot how the music went. He never conducted in public again after that.

paragraphs: Toscanini married Carla De Martini on June 21, 1897, when she was not yet 20 years old. They had four children although one died. He worked with many great singers and musicians, including the pianist Vladimir Horowitz who was a great friend. Horowitz married one of Toscanini’s daughters.

paragraphs: When he died of a stroke in New York City at the age of 89, his body was returned to Italy and was interred in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan.

paragraphs: Many years after his death, in 1987, Toscanini was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.


title: Philip K. Dick

paragraphs: Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer. He is mostly known for his works of science fiction. In addition to his published novels, Dick wrote "approximately 121 short stories. He wrote most of them for science fiction magazines." At least eight of his stories have been adapted into movies.

paragraphs: Philip K. Dick developed what would later be called cyberpunk. Many of his works are about themes from sociology. Often, politics also play an important role. Very often there are Authoritarian Governments, and very powerful companies in his books. In his later books, Dick writes about drug use. He writes about characters that have paranoia or schizophrenia. In novels such as "A Scanner Darkly" or "VALIS" he uses his own experiences.

paragraphs: He was awarded the Hugo Award for his novel, "The Man in the High Castle", in 1963. "I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, because the world we actually have does not meet my standards," Dick wrote of these stories. "In my writing I even question the universe; I wonder out loud if it is real, and I wonder out loud if all of us are real." Dick spent most of his career as a writer. He did not have much money.

paragraphs: Dick died of a stroke. In 2007, he became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series (#173).

paragraphs: "The Man in the High Castle" (1962) takes place in an different universe. There the United States is ruled by the Axis powers, who have won the Second World War. Many people consider it to be one of the important novels about a different view on history. It is the only Dick novel to win a Hugo Award. Philipkdickfans.com recommends this novel, along with "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "Ubik" as an introductory novel to readers new to the writing of Philip K. Dick.

paragraphs: "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" (1965) uses many concepts from science fiction. It has several layers of reality and unreality. It is also one of Dick’s first works to explore religious themes.

paragraphs: "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" takes place in the twenty-first century. Under the supervision of the United Nations authority, mankind has colonized the solar system's every habitable planet and moon. Life is physically daunting and psychologically monotonous for most colonists, so the UN must draft people to go to the colonies. Most entertain themselves using "Perky Pat" dolls and accessories manufactured by Earth-based "P.P. Layouts". The company also secretly creates "Can-D", an illegal but widely available hallucinogenic drug allowing the user to "translate" into Perky Pat (if the drug user is a woman) or Pat's boyfriend, Walt (if the drug user is a man). This recreational use of Can-D allows colonists to experience a few minutes of an idealized life on Earth by participating in a collective hallucination.

paragraphs: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the story of a bounty hunter policing the local android population. It occurs on a dying, poisoned Earth. All "successful" humans have left, the only remaining inhabitants of the planet are people with no prospects off-world. Androids, also known as andys, all have a preset "death" date. However, a few andys seek to escape this fate and supplant the humans on Earth.

paragraphs: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (1968) is well known as the literary source of the influential 1982 movie "Blade Runner." It is about the question "What is real, what is fake? Are the human-looking and human-acting androids fake or real humans? Should we treat them as machines or as people? What important factor defines humanity as distinctly alive, versus those merely alive only in their outward appearance?

paragraphs: "Ubik" (1969) uses big networks of psychics and a suspended state after death in creating a state of eroding reality. In 2005, "Time Magazine" listed it among the All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels.

paragraphs: "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said" (1974) is about Jason Taverner, a television star living in a dystopic near-future police state. After being attacked by an angry ex-girlfriend, Taverner awakens in a dingy hotel room. He still has his money in his wallet, but his identification cards are missing. This is no minor inconvenience, as security checkpoints manned by pols and Nats, the police and National Guard) are set up throughout the city to stop and arrest anyone without valid ID.

paragraphs: Jason at first thinks that he was robbed, but soon discovers that his entire identity has been erased. There is no record of him in any official database, and even his closest associates do not recognize or remember him. For the first time in many years, Jason has no fame or reputation to rely on. He has only his charisma to help him when he tries to find out what happened to his past and avoid the attention of the pols.

paragraphs: "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said" was Dick's first published novel after years of silence. In these years, his critical reputation had grown, and this novel was awarded the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. It is the only Philip K. Dick novel nominated both for a Hugo and for a Nebula Award.

paragraphs: In an essay written two years before dying, Dick described how he learned from his Episcopalian priest that an important scene in the novel was very similar to a scene in the Acts of the Apostles. Richard Linklater talks about this novel in his movie Waking Life, which begins with a scene reminiscent of another Dick novel, Time out of Joint.

paragraphs: "A Scanner Darkly" (1977) is a bleak mixture of science fiction and police procedural novels. In its story, an undercover narcotics police detective begins to lose touch with reality. This is because he becomes a victim of the drug he should have fought against. This drug is called "SubstanceD". It permanently changes the mind of the people who take it. Substance D is instantly addictive. It starts with a pleasant euphoria. This feeling is quickly replaced with increasing confusion, hallucinations and eventually total psychosis. It was adapted to movie by Richard Linklater.

paragraphs: "VALIS," (1980) is perhaps Dick’s most postmodern and autobiographical novel. It looks at his own unexplained experiences. Some people also see it as his most academic work. It was made into an opera by Tod Machover. "VALIS" was voted Philip K. Dick‘s best novel at the website philipkdickfans.com.

paragraphs: His later works, especially the "VALIS trilogy", were heavily autobiographical.The word "VALIS" is the acronym for "Vast Active Living Intelligence System"; it is the title of a novel. The theme can be found in at least three more novels. Later, PKD thought that VALIS was both a "reality generator" and a means of extraterrestrial communication.

paragraphs: Dick has had a big impact on modern philosophy. The things he wrote about postmodernity have been noted by many philosophers. Among them were Jean Baudrillard, Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek. Žižek is especially fond of using Dick's short stories to articulate the ideas of Jacques Lacan. For Baudrillard, Dick is the ultimate articulation of hyperreality:

paragraphs: "It is hyperreal. It is a universe of simulation, which is something altogether different. And this is so not because Dick speaks specifically of simulacra. SF has always done so, but it has always played upon the double, on artificial replication or imaginary duplication, whereas here the double has disappeared. There is no more double; one is always already in the other world, an other world which is not another, without mirrors or projection or utopias as means for reflection. The simulation is impassable, unsurpassable, checkmated, without exteriority. We can no longer move "through the mirror" to the other side, as we could during the golden age of transcendence."


title: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

paragraphs: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center in Pasadena, California.


title: Renewable energy commercialization

paragraphs: Renewable energy commercialization involves many different technologies, including solar photovoltaics, solar thermal power plants, solar heating and cooling systems, wind power, hydroelectricity, geothermal power, biomass, and ocean energy systems. Each is at a different stage of development, yet the market is growing for many renewables.

paragraphs: Renewables contributed 19 percent to our energy consumption and 22 percent to our electricity generation in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Both, modern renewables, such as hydro, wind, solar and biofuels, as well as traditional biomass, contributed in about equal parts to the global energy supply. Worldwide investments in renewable technologies amounted to more than US$214 billion in 2013, with countries like China and the United States heavily investing in wind, hydro, solar and biofuels.

paragraphs: Renewable energy resources exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to other energy sources, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency is resulting in significant energy security, climate change mitigation, and economic benefits. In international public opinion surveys there is strong support for promoting renewable sources such as solar power and wind power. At the national level, at least 30 nations around the world already have renewable energy contributing more than 20 percent of energy supply. National renewable energy markets are projected to continue to grow strongly in the coming decade and beyond.

paragraphs: While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development. Globally, an estimated 3 million households get power from small solar PV systems. Micro-hydro systems configured into village-scale or county-scale mini-grids serve many areas. More than 30 million rural households get lighting and cooking from biogas made in household-scale digesters. Biomass cookstoves are used by 160 million households.

paragraphs: Climate change, pollution, and energy insecurity are significant problems and addressing them requires major changes to energy supply and use. Renewable energy technologies are essential contributors to the energy supply portfolio, as they contribute to world energy security, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and help to reduce greenhouse gases. Climate-disrupting fossil fuels are being replaced by clean, climate-stabilizing, non-depletable sources of energy:

paragraphs: In global public opinion surveys there is strong support for promoting renewable sources such as solar power and wind power, requiring utilities to use more renewable energy, and providing tax incentives to encourage the development and use of such technologies.

paragraphs: EU member countries have ambitious renewable energy goals. In 2010, Eurobarometer polled the twenty-seven EU member states about the target "to increase the share of renewable energy in the EU by 20 percent by 2020". Most people in all twenty-seven countries either approved of the target or called for it to go further.

paragraphs: As of 2011, new evidence has shown that there are large risks associated with traditional energy sources, and that major changes to the mix of energy technologies is needed. Several mining tragedies globally have underscored the human toll of the coal supply chain. New EPA initiatives targeting air toxics, coal ash, and effluent releases highlight the environmental impacts of coal and the cost of addressing them with control technologies. Events at the Fukushima nuclear plant have renewed doubts about the ability to operate many nuclear plants safely over the long term. Cost estimates for “next generation” nuclear units continue to climb, and lenders are unwilling to finance these plants without taxpayer guarantees.


title: Mapudungun

paragraphs: Mapudungun is a language isolate spoken by Mapuche people, in Chile and Argentina. Even after the arrival of the Spaniards, ethnic groups in Argentina adopted Mapudungun, for instance Patagonians or Tehuelche. This process is named araucanization. Today, its speakers number 260,000, with 250,000 in the Central Valley of Chile and 10,000 in the Argentinian region of Patagonia.

paragraphs: The name of the boldo tree comes from the Mapudungun word "foldo". The word "Poncho" was adopted by Spanish and many other languages. It may have come from the Mapudungun word "pontro" or from the Quechua word "punchu".


title: Impurity

paragraphs: Something that has impurity is not pure. For example, water that is clean would be called pure water. Water that is dirty would be called impure water. This may result in a change in melting point or boiling point.

paragraphs: Impurities may be harmful. For example, an engine works bad when its fuel is not pure.

paragraphs: Impure materials are useful sometimes. Alloys are metals with impurities. Solar cells are made of silicon crystals, but a very small amount of impurity (0.001% to 0.01%) is needed in them to work.


title: Queen's Hall

paragraphs: The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Central London, England. It opened in 1893. It is best known for being where the Promenade Concerts were started by Robert Newman in 1895.

paragraphs: The Queen's Hall was built because London needed a new concert hall in the centre of the town. It stood in Langham Place, just next to where BBC Broadcasting House stands today. The Queen's Hall had seating for up to 3,000 people (including the orchestra). The arena (downstairs) had removable seating. The polished floor could be used for dancing. The acoustics of the hall were excellent. There was also a smaller hall, The Queen's Small Hall, which seated 500 people. This was used for chamber music. In later years it was used as a recording studio. The architect who designed the hall was Thomas Edward Knightley.

paragraphs: The first time The Queen's Hall was used was on 25 November 1893 when Newman gave a children's party in the afternoon. In the evening about 2000 ladies and gentlemen came to a concert given by the Band of the Coldstream Guards, which included vocal music, piano and organ solos. At 11.00pm the seats in the arena were removed and the dancing began. The official opening of the hall took place on 2 December. On 10 August 1895 the first Promenade concert was given with Henry Wood conducting.

paragraphs: On January 14, 1896, the first public movie show was given at the Queen's Hall to members and wives of the Royal Photographic Society.

paragraphs: The seats were uncomfortable because there was not enough leg room, so in 1913 and 1919 some changes were made, after which the hall could seat 2400 people.

paragraphs: From 1930 to 1941, the BBC Symphony Orchestra regularly gave broadcast concerts in the hall. Arturo Toscanini, who guest conducted the orchestra during the 1930s, made some famous recordings in the Queen's Hall in the late 1930s.

paragraphs: On 10 May 1941 (during the World War II) the Royal Choral Society gave a concert in the Queen's Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra. They performed Elgar's oratorio "Dream of Gerontius" under the conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent. It was the last concert ever given there because, later that night, the hall was completely destroyed by bombs.

paragraphs: After the destruction of Queen's Hall, the BBC Symphony Orchestra moved its broadcast concerts and recording sessions to Bedford School. Among the great recordings made at the school was Sir Adrian Boult's recording of Elgar's second symphony. The Proms continued in the Royal Albert Hall. They also took place in Bristol and Bedford, but after the war they settled in the Royal Albert Hall where they continue today.


title: Avesta

paragraphs: Avesta is the holy book of Zoroastrianism. It is written in the Avestan language. The Avesta has also been translated into other languages including Farsi and English. The oldest portion, the Ghathas, are the religious songs composed by Zoroaster himself. Other parts of Avesta are named Yasna, Yashts, Visperad, Vendidad and Khordeh Avesta. There are two other religious texts in Zoroastrianism which are named Denkard and Ardaviraf Namak.


title: Darius I of Persia

paragraphs: Darius the Great (c. 549 BC– 486/485 BC) was the son of Hystaspes and Shah of Iran from 522 BC to 485 BC. After Darius became Shah of Iran, he divided the Persian Empire into twenty provinces, and appointed a governor for each province. He introduced golden coins and developed commerce within the empire and trade without. Darius allowed Jews to rebuild the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. He also built many temples in Egypt. The largest building that was built by Darius, is the new capital of Persepolis, near Pasargadae. Darius died in Persepolis. His tomb was cut into a rock face near Persepolis. After his death, Xerxes became the Shah of Iran.


title: Pasargadae

paragraphs: Pasargadae was a city in ancient Persia, and is today a historical site in Fars,Iran. Pasargadae was the first capital of the Persian Empire. The building of the capital city by Cyrus the Great, begun in 546 BCE, but was left unfinished, for Cyrus died in 530 BCE. Pasargade remained the Persian capital unti Darius I built the Persepolis. The tomb of Cyrus the Great is in this city.

paragraphs: Pasargadae is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: American Staffordshire Terrier

paragraphs: The American Staffordshire terrier is a breed of dog.

paragraphs: It was first bred in British colonies of North America in the nineteenth century. Its early ancestors are the bulldog and the terrier, and used to be called the Blue Paul terrier. In the 1930s, dogbreeders bred it with the Pit bull terrier. Its name was changed to the American Staffordshire Terrier in 1972.


title: Persepolis

paragraphs: Persepolis (Old Persian: 'Pars', New Persian: تخت جمشید, 'Takht-e Jamshid') was an ancient capital of the second Iranian dynasty, the Achaemenid Empire. Ancient Persians called it Parsa, meaning "the city of Persians". Persepolis () is the Greek translation of the name. In modern Iran, the city is known as Takht-e-Jamshid (Throne of Jamshid). The largest building in Persepolis is the Apadana Hall with 72 columns. The Tachara palace built by Darius I is also an important building. The Hadish palace in Persepolis was started by Xerxes and finished by his son Artaxerxes.

paragraphs: Persepolis has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.


title: Xerxes

paragraphs: Xerxes the Great was a Shah of Iran (485–465 BC) of AchaemenidEmpire. Xerxes was son of Darius I and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great. After Darius died, Xerxes became the Shah of Iran. At the Battle of Thermopylae, Xerxes defeated Greek warriors. After winning at Thermopylae, Xerxes then took control of Athens with his army. Finally, Greek warriors won the Battle of Salamis against Xerxes in 480 BC.


title: Shell (zoology)

paragraphs: A shell is a hard outer layer, which has evolved in a very wide variety of different animals, including molluscs, sea urchins, crustaceans, turtles and tortoises, armadillos, etc.

paragraphs: Seashells are perhaps the most familiar and most common shells, both in the wild and for sale as decorative objects. They are usually composed of calcium carbonate, in the form of calcite or aragonite. This can have different forms, one is nacre or mother of pearl. Other kinds of animal shells are made from chitin, bone and cartilage, or silica.

paragraphs: Shells of many types were popular as human decorations, either used whole or cut into pieces. One used them for all kinds of pendants, beads, buttons, brooches, rings, and hair combs.

paragraphs: Small pieces of colored shell and iridescent shell have been used to create mosaics and inlays which have been used to decorate larger items such as boxes and furniture. Large numbers of whole seashells, arranged to form patterns, have been used to decorate man-made grottos.

paragraphs: Several kinds of sea animals have exoskeletons which one can find after their death in beach drift. Often beachcombers pick them. But usually only those of molluscs (also spelled "mollusks") are known as seashells.

paragraphs: The majority of shell-forming molluscs belong to two classes: Gastropoda (univalves, or snails) and Bivalvia (bivalves or clams, oysters, scallops, etc.).


title: Tortoise

paragraphs: A tortoise is a reptile of the order Testudines which lives on land. Like their aquatic cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. Most are quite small, but island tortoises have several times evolved to a large size: those on the Galapagos are famous. Darwin made one of his rare mistakes when he did not note which island each of them came from. Later it became clear that they were slightly different on different islands.


title: Sea turtle

paragraphs: Sea turtles ("Chelonioidea") are turtles found in all the world's oceans except the Arctic Ocean, and some species travel between oceans. The term is US English. In British English they are simply called "turtles"; fresh-water chelonians are called "terrapins" and land chelonians are called tortoises.

paragraphs: The earliest known turtles are from the Middle Jurassic. So, turtles are one of the oldest surviving reptile groups: they are more ancient than snakes or crocodiless.

paragraphs: There are seven species of sea turtle: Kemp's ridley sea turtle, the olive ridley, the flatback, the green, the loggerhead, the hawksbill and the leatherback.

paragraphs: All but the leatherback are in the family Chelonioidea. The leatherback belongs to the family Dermochelyidae and is its only member. The leatherback sea turtle is the largest, measuring six or seven feet (2 m) in length at maturity, and three to five feet (1 to 1.5 m) in width, weighing up to 2000 pounds (about 900 kg). Most other species are smaller, being two to four feet in length (0.5 to 1 m) and proportionally less wide. The flatback turtle is found only on the northern coast of Australia.


title: Report of 1800

paragraphs: The Report of 1800 was a resolution drafted by James Madison. It argued for the sovereignty of the individual states under the United States Constitution and against the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Virginia General Assembly adopted the Report in January 1800. The document primarily subtly amends arguments from the 1798 Virginia Resolutions. The main reason for making the Report was to answer criticisms that had been leveled at the Resolutions. The Report was the last important explication of the Constitution produced before the 1817 Bonus Bill Veto Message.

paragraphs: The arguments made in the Resolutions and the Report were later used frequently during the nullification crisis of 1832, when South Carolina declared federal tariffs to be unconstitutional and void within the state. Madison, however, rejected the concept of nullification and the notion that his arguments supported such a practice. Whether Madison's theory of republicanism really supported the nullification movement, and more broadly whether the ideas he expressed between 1798 and 1800 are consistent with his work before and after this period, are the main questions surrounding the Report in the modern literature.

paragraphs: Madison, a member of the Republican Party, was elected to the Republican-dominated Virginia General Assembly from Orange County in 1799. A major item on his agenda was the defense of the General Assembly's 1798 Virginia Resolutions, of which Madison had been the draftsman. The Resolutions, usually discussed together with Thomas Jefferson's contemporaneous Kentucky Resolutions, were a response to various perceived outrages perpetrated by the Federalist-dominated national government. The most significant of these were the Alien and Sedition Acts, four laws that allowed the President to deport aliens at will, required a longer period of residence before aliens could become citizens, and made it a crime to publish malicious or defamatory material against the government or its officials. Republicans were outraged by the legislation, and Madison and Jefferson drafted the highly critical Resolutions adopted in response by the Virginia and Kentucky state legislatures.

paragraphs: The Virginia Resolutions had in the year since publication received highly critical replies from state legislatures, including those of New York, Delaware, and the five New England states. The reason for the criticism was that the General Assembly, led in the effort by state-sovereignty advocate John Taylor of Caroline, had put a state-sovereignty spin on the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 despite Madison's hopes. These replies contended that the Supreme Court of the United States had the ultimate responsibility for deciding whether federal laws were constitutional, and that the Alien and Sedition Acts were constitutional and necessary. The Federalists accused the Republicans of seeking disunion, even contemplating violence. At the time, leading Virginia Republican figures such as Rep. William Branch Giles (in public) and Sen. John Taylor of Caroline (in private) actually were contemplating disunion, and the Virginia General Assembly chose this juncture for finally constructing a new state armory in Richmond, so there was some truth to the charge.

paragraphs: Jefferson, the leader of the Republican Party and then–Vice President, wrote to Madison in August 1799 outlining a campaign to strengthen public support for the principles expressed in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 (commonly referred to as "the principles of '98"):

paragraphs: That the principles already advanced by Virginia & Kentucky are not to be yielded in silence, I presume we all agree. I should propose a declaration of Resolution by their legislatures on this plan. 1st. Answer the reasonings of such of the states as have ventured in the field of reason, & that of the Committee of Congress. ... 2. Make a firm protestation against the principle & the precedent; and a reservation of the rights resulting to us from these palpable violations of the constitutional compact by the Federal government, ... 3. Express in affectionate and conciliatory language our warm attachment to union with our sister-states, and to the instrument & principles by which we are united; … fully confident that the good sense of the American people and their attachment to rally with us round the true principle of our federal compact. But determined, were we to be disappointed in this, to sever ourselves from that union we so much value, rather than give up the rights of self government which we have reserved, & in which alone we see liberty, safety & happiness.

paragraphs: In response to this letter, Madison visited Jefferson at Monticello during the first week of September. Their discussion was important in that it persuaded Jefferson to depart from his radical stance on dissociation from the Union, which is expressed at the end of the excerpt above. At the very least, Virginia or Kentucky taking such a stance publicly would have justified the Federalist attacks against the secessionist tendencies of the Republicans. Madison won over Jefferson, who shortly thereafter wrote to Wilson Cary Nicholas that: "From [this position] I retreat readily, not only in deference to [Madison's] judgment but because as we should never think of separation but for repeated and enormous violations, so these, when they occur, will be cause enough of themselves." Adrienne Koch and Harry Ammon, examining Jefferson's later writing, conclude that Madison had a significant role "in softening Jefferson's more extreme views."

paragraphs: Jefferson hoped for further involvement with the production of the Report and planned to visit Madison at Montpelier on his way to Philadelphia, the national capital, for the winter session of the United States Congress. However, James Monroe, who would become Governor of Virginia before the end of the year, visited Jefferson at Monticello and cautioned him against meeting with Madison, since another meeting between two of the most important Republican leaders would provoke significant public comment. The task of writing the Virginia Report was left solely to Madison. Jefferson underlined the importance of this work in a November 26 letter to Madison in which he identified "protestations against violations of the true principles of our constitution" as one of the four primary elements of the Republican Party plan.

paragraphs: The Assembly session began in early December. Once at Richmond, Madison began drafting the Report, though he was delayed by a weeklong battle with dysentery. On December 23, Madison moved for the creation of a special seven-member committee with himself as chairman to respond to "certain answers from several of the states, relative to the communications made by the Virginia legislature at their last session." The committee members were Madison, John Taylor, William Branch Giles, George Keith Taylor, John Wise, John Mercer, and William Daniel. The next day, Christmas Eve, the committee produced a first version of the Report. The measure came before the House of Delegates, the lower house of the General Assembly, on January 2.

paragraphs: Though certain to pass due to the Republican majority, which had recently been solidified by the election of a Republican clerk and speaker of the House, the Report was debated for five days. The main point of contention was the meaning of the third of the Virginia Resolutions:

paragraphs: …this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government, as resulting from the compact to which the states are parties; … and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted by said compact, the states who are parties thereto have the right … to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil…the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them.

paragraphs: This resolution had been the principal target of the Federalist attack on the Resolutions. Particularly at issue was the sense in which the states were parties to the federal compact. The Report was ultimately amended to provide greater clarity on this issue by emphasizing that it was the people themselves, acting through the states in their sovereign capacity, who were parties to the Constitution. The amended Report passed the House of Delegates on January 7 by a margin of 60 to 40. At some point in the next two weeks, it passed the Senate by a margin of 15 to 6.

paragraphs: The Report was received warmly by Virginia Republicans. The General Assembly arranged for five thousand copies to be printed and distributed in the state, but there was not much public response to the Report, and it appears to have had relatively little impact on the presidential election of 1800 (which was, nevertheless, a major victory for the Republicans and a repudiation of Federalist policies). Parties outside Virginia seemed uninterested in the rehashing of the 1798 Resolutions, and in other states there was very little public comment. Jefferson eagerly sought copies for distribution to Republican members of Congress departing for their home states, and when they failed to arrive he entreated Monroe for at least one copy that he could reproduce. Despite Jefferson's approval of and attempt to distribute Madison's work, the national reaction was tepid. Though it had little impact on the immediate election, Madison's Report clarified the legal argument against the Acts and for states' rights in general, particularly in its advancement of the Tenth Amendment rather than the Ninth as the main bulwark against federal encroachment on state autonomy.

paragraphs: The general purpose of the Report was the affirmation and expansion of the principles in the Virginia Resolutions. The first major goal of the Resolutions was to bring about the repeal of the Alien and Sedition Acts by generating public opposition that would be expressed through the state legislatures. Madison sought to accomplish this by demonstrating conclusively that the Acts violated the constitution. Laying into the Acts in his Report, Madison described many breaches of constitutional limits. The Alien Act granted the President the unenumerated power of deporting friendly aliens. Contrary to the Sedition Act, the federal government had no power to protect officials from dissent or libelous attack, beyond the protection it accorded to every citizen; indeed, such special intervention against the press was "expressly forbidden by a declaratory amendment to the constitution." As well, Madison attacked Federalist carriage laws and bank laws as unconstitutional.

paragraphs: To remedy the defects revealed by the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, Madison called for citizens to have an absolute right to free speech. Madison writes that the ability to prosecute speech amounts to "a protection of those who administer the government, if they should at any time deserve the contempt or hatred of the people, against being exposed to it." Freedom of the press was necessary, because "chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted to the press for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression." The Report supported a strict interpretation of the First Amendment. While the Federalists interpreted the amendment as limiting the power of Congress over the press, but implying that such power existed, Madison argued that the First Amendment wholly prohibited Congress from any interference with the press.

paragraphs: More generally, the Report made the argument in favor of the sovereignty of the individual states, for which it is best known. The basic message was that the states were the ultimate parties constituting the federal compact, and that therefore the individual states were ultimate arbiters of whether the compact had been broken by the usurpation of power. This doctrine is known as the compact theory. It was the presence of this argument in the Resolutions that had allowed the Federalists to paint the Republicans as leaning toward secession; in the amended Report the line is moderated, with an emphasis that it is the states as political societies of the people (and therefore, one reads in, not the state legislatures alone) which possess this power. Either formulation would help the Republican cause by refuting the finality of any constitutional interpretation advanced by the Congress and federal judiciary, both of which were dominated by Federalists.

paragraphs: In defense of Virginia Republicans and the Resolutions, Madison emphasized that even if one disagreed with the compact theory, the Virginia Resolutions and the Report of 1800 themselves were simply protests, which states were surely entitled to produce. They were "expressions of opinion, unaccompanied with any other effect than what they may produce on opinion by exciting reflection." By eschewing direct action in favor of influencing popular opinion, Madison tried to make clear that the Republicans were not moving toward disunion.

paragraphs: The Report was regarded in the early 19th century as among the more important expressions of Republican principles. Spencer Roane described it as "the "Magna Charta" on which the republicans settled down, after the great struggle in the year 1799." Henry Clay said on the floor of the House of Representatives that it was from the Report of 1800, above other documents, that he had developed his own theories on constitutional interpretation. H. Jefferson Powell, a modern jurist, identifies three persistent themes of Republican constitutionalism which emerged from the Resolutions and the Report: (1) a textual approach to the Constitution, (2) the compact theory, and (3) that caution, not trust, should characterize our approach to those who hold political power.

paragraphs: In more recent years, the main practical interest in the Report has been its absolutist understanding of the First Amendment. Multiple Supreme Court decisions have cited the case as evidence of the Framers' ideas on free speech. In the 1957 "Roth v. United States" opinion by William Brennan, Madison's Report is cited as evidence that "the fundamental freedoms of speech and press have contributed greatly to the development and well-being of our free society and are indispensable to its continued growth." Other cases to cite the Report for a similar purpose include "Thornhill v. Alabama" (1940) and "Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC" (2000).

paragraphs: In modern scholarship outside the legal arena the Report is mostly studied for its discussion of states' rights with regard to federalism and republicanism. According to Kevin Gutzman, the Report, together with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, forms a foundation for the "radical southern states' rights tradition." However, Madison rebuffed charges that his writings supported the constitutional interpretation advanced by pro-nullification Southerners. The Report of 1800, Madison argued, did not say the government was a compact of the individual states, as the pro-nullification elements suggested. Rather the Report of 1800 described a compact of "the people in each of the States, acting in their highest sovereign capacity." The state governments themselves, no less than the federal judiciary, possess only delegated power and therefore cannot decide questions of fundamental importance. Madison thought the Resolutions and Report were consistent with this principle while the Ordinance of Nullification was not.

paragraphs: Gutzman rejects Madison's gloss of the Report as a "specious distinction," saying it is reasonable to read into the Resolutions and the Report an "ominous challenge to federal supremacy." Drew McCoy, however, has argued that Madison indeed developed a moderate stance which stood between the nationalists and the pro-nullification camp. Koch and Ammon agree, stating that "Nowhere in American political literature does there exist a more careful, precise and mature reiteration of the principles of republican self-government; and nowhere is it clearer that the intermediate existence of state governments between the people and the 'General Government' should function to prevent a totalitarian imbalance in any one center of authority."


title: Baykal (port)

paragraphs: Baykal (port) () is a rural locality in Russia, Irkutsk oblast, Sliudanskyy region.

paragraphs: The village is near Lake Baikal and setted in left coast of river Angara. In the right coast is Listvianka. The administrative centre Irkutsk is 60 kilometers north. There is an automobile ferry to Listvianka.

paragraphs: In 2005, there were 400 people living in Baikal village. In USSR times there were about 10000 humans.


title: Rudder

paragraphs: A rudder is used to steer ships, boats, submarines, aircraft, hovercraft or other conveniences that move through air or water.

paragraphs: Oars mounted on the side of ships for steering are documented from the 3rd millennium BC in Persia and Ancient Egypt in artwork, wooden models, and even parts of actual boats of that times. An early example of an oar mounted on the stern is found in the Egyptian tomb of Menna (1422-1411 BC). Stern-mounted oars were also quite common in Roman river navigation as proved from reliefs more than a millennium later.

paragraphs: A depiction of a sternpost-mounted rudder can be seen on a pottery model of a Chinese junk dating from the 1st century AD during the Han Dynasty, predating their appearance in the West by a thousand years. The technology of stern-mounted rudder in Europe and Islam World, which was introduced by travelers in the Middle Ages, was transferred from China


title: Exploration of Neptune

paragraphs: The Exploration of Neptune started on August 25, 1989, when "Voyager 2" became the first and so-far only spacecraft to visit the planet. Like the other gas giants, Neptune has no solid land on its surface so landing on Neptune would be impossible.

paragraphs: NASA is thinking to send another spacecraft known as the "Neptune Orbiter" to study more about Neptune; the spacecraft is planned to be probably launched on 2035. It would release atmospheric probes, and possibly release a Triton Lander. NASA has said the earliest possible launch date is 2030. Budget cuts may eliminate this proposal.

paragraphs: In Voyager 2's last visit with a planet before leaving the solar system, Voyager 2 came 3000 miles (5000 km) above Neptune's north pole, the closest approach it made to any planet after it left Earth. Voyager 2 studied Neptune's atmosphere, its rings, its magnetosphere, and its moons. Several discoveries were made, including the discovery of the Great Dark Spot and Triton's geysers.

paragraphs: Voyager 2 found that Neptune's atmosphere was very active, even though it gets only 3% of the sunlight Jupiter receives. Voyager 2 discovered an anticyclone called the Great Dark Spot, similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. However, pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope showed that the Great Dark Spot had disappeared. Also seen in Neptune's atmosphere at that time was an almond-shaped spot called ""D2"", and a bright, quickly moving cloud high above the cloud decks named Scooter.

paragraphs: Voyager 2 also found four rings of Neptune and found proof for ring arcs, or incomplete rings around Neptune. Neptune's magnetosphere was also studied by Voyager 2. The planetary radio astronomy instrument found that Neptune's day is sixteen hours, seven minutes. Voyager 2 also discovered auroras, like on Earth, but much more complicated.

paragraphs: Voyager 2 discovered six moons orbiting Neptune, but only three were photographed in detail: Proteus, Nereid, and Triton. Proteus turned out to be an ellipsoid, as large as an ellipsoid could become without turning into a sphere. Proteus is very dark in color. Nereid, although discovered in 1949, is still not well known even after Voyager 2 passed by. Triton was flown by at about 25,000 miles (40,000 km) away, and became the last object Voyager 2 would ever explore. Triton was shown to have extraordinary active geysers and polar caps. A very thin atmosphere was found, as well as thin clouds.


title: Kinder Scout

paragraphs: Kinder Scout is a plateau about 600 metres above sea level. It is in Derbyshire, England, roughly between the villages of Hayfield to the west, Edale to the southeast, and the town of Glossop to the northwest.

paragraphs: The gritstone rock under the plateau is covered by a thick layer of peat, cut by a dense network of streams which flow off it. One of the main streams is the Kinder River, which drops off the Western edge at Kinder Downfall. Plants on the plateau are mainly heather, with some mosses and bilberry. Bracken grows on the slopes around the plateau. The highest point is Kinder Low at .

paragraphs: It can be approached from the southeast up a steep track called Jacobs Ladder. It is crossed by the Pennine Way long-distance footpath which starts in nearby Edale. Several sections of the path have been surfaced with large stone slabs in this area, to try to minimise environmental damage to the delicate moorland ecosystem by the large number of hikers it attracts all year round.

paragraphs: In the 1930s, Kinder Scout was the scene of the first mass trespasses by ramblers (Sunday, 24 April 1932) protesting at the lack of public access to the open moorland in many parts of northern England, which were then kept for grouse shooting by the estates of a number of stately homes. Public rights of way were established later, and the 2000 Countryside and Rights of Way Act set a new legal framework in which the bulk of Kinder Scout is now "Access Land" where the public has a right to roam freely.


title: Stern

paragraphs: The stern is the rear part of a ship or boat.

paragraphs: The stern area has always been the place near the steering apparatus (rudder, tiller, ship's wheel, etc.), and by extension became the domain of the ship's captain and other officers. In particular, the stern was the location of the officers' quarters, and during the age of sail became the most opulent part of the ship, with rows of windows, galleries, walkways, and fine decorations. That meant that this part was rather vulnerable, and the goal of much maneuvering in battle was to achieve the stern rake, in which a ship would pour its entire broadside into the stern.

paragraphs: Other features of the stern included lanterns and the ensign.


title: Urbain Le Verrier

paragraphs: Urbain Le Verrier (March 11, 1811 – September 23, 1877) was a French mathematician who was famous for co-discovering the planet, Neptune.


title: John Malkovich

paragraphs: John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) American actor, producer and director. He was nominated for the Academy Award, and he also won an Emmy Award.

paragraphs: He was in the Robert Zemeckis' movie, "Beowulf". That movie also starred Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie.

paragraphs: Malkovich was married to actress Glenne Headly from 1982 until they divorced in 1988.

paragraphs: On June 6, 2013 in Toronto, Malkovich rescued a man after he was sliced in the neck. Malkovich helped the man until the paramedics arrived.


title: Glenn Close

paragraphs: Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American movie and stage actress. Close has been nominated for and won many awards in her career, for her acting in both movies and theater.


title: Blaqk Audio

paragraphs: Blaqk Audio is an electronic band, made by Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI. Blaqk Audio features Davey Havok as lyricist and vocalist, with Jade Puget writing all music and programming the synthesizers. Blaqk Audio was recently signed to Interscope Records, and their first album, "CexCells", was released on August 14, 2007. The band describes themselves as ""Two boys in love with synthesizers and software"".