title: Bionicle

paragraphs: Bionicle (stylized BIONICLE) is a line of toys by the LEGO Group marketed primarily for 5- to 16-year-olds. The line was launched on December 30, 2000 in Europe and June/July 2001 in Canada and the United States. "Bionicle" is a portmanteau constructed from the words "biological" and "chronicle". The concept is similar to Lego Group's earlier themes, Slizers/Throwbots and RoboRiders in that each of those lines had characters based on classical elements. Earlier Bionicle packages had displayed the Technic Logo, but it has since been phased out, evolving Bionicle into its own branch of LEGO. It has recently been announced by the director of LEGO that they will stop making new Bionicle sets after Winter 2010 "for the foreseeable future". However, while production of sets will stop, the story will not, as Greg Farshtey will continue to update it on the website. Bionicle was replaced by Hero Factory, which was released later in July 2010.

paragraphs: The Bionicle story is set in a science fantasy world and is primarily told through the book series, Bionicle Chronicles, Bionicle Adventures, and Bionicle Legends as well as through comic books published by DC Comics. Four films have also been made. As of 2010, the main Bionicle story will be published online.

paragraphs: The 2001–2008 Bionicle story arc was set in a world inhabited predominantly by part-organic, part-machine beings (most notably the Matoran) in a subterranean world, which exists in massive domes underground. 2009 began a new saga of the story-line, leaving behind the previous years and venturing out to newer possibilities as Mata Nui, after having been banished by Makuta Teridax, finds his way to a mysterious barren planet called Bara Magna. Here he becomes the center of the story and makes new allies as he tries to find a way to save the Matoran from Makuta Teridax's tyrannical rule.

paragraphs: The concept of Bionicle was proposed in 2000. During that time, Lego was suffering a ten-year downturn. In 1998, the company suffered its first loss, resulting layoffs for the first time with 1000 people being laid off the following year. In January 2004, Lego posted a loss of 1.4 billion Danish kroner (140 million British pounds and 223.86 million USD). A few weeks earlier, in order to "stabilise its financial situation," another 500 jobs were cut.

paragraphs: Initially, the idea of Bionicle was faced with resistance from "company traditionalists" as Lego had "no experience of creating the kind of story-based, multichannel brand that was being proposed." Also, the war-like appearance of the Bionicle characters went against the company's values: "high-quality products, an emphasis on free play and encouraging the imagination, and no modern warfare or violence."

paragraphs: However, the Bionicle line soon became the "biggest of the recent hits" and the number one product of Lego in 2003. The series made its first debut in virtual form on the web in December 2000. In 2004, the sets accounted for approximately all of Lego's turnover. As the sets were produced, Lego developed them on the sets' website through "character bios and an episodic adventure game." The main storyline is developed by a team of eight people around the world, who decide "which media gets which bit of the story." Because the Bionicle story is told through multiple media (books, comics, and movies), the purpose of the website is to put the different parts together. The practice of making every Bionicle product "from toys to toothbrushes" promote the website resulted in web traffic averaging more than a million page views per month in August 2004. Another strategy used to promote the website was the use of "Kanoka points". Each toy packaging had special access codes that allows users to earn the points ("the Bionicle equivalent of a loyalty scheme") that can be used to play web games.

paragraphs: The 2001–2008 storyline arc of Bionicle was set in a science fantasy world inhabited predominantly by part-organic, part-machine beings in a subterranean world, which exists in massive domes underground. This world (dubbed "The Matoran Universe") and its races were once protected by a Great Spirit named Mata Nui, until he was cast into an eternal slumber by the evil Makuta Teridax and the Brotherhood of Makuta. The world of the Matoran began to fall apart. But mask of life that was stored inside Mata Nui was sent out to space to find a new planet. The mask landed on the planet of Bara Magna and the mask created a small body.

paragraphs: 2009 began a whole new saga of the story-line, leaving behind the previous years, and venturing out to newer possibilities as Mata Nui, after having been banished by Makuta Teridax, crash lands on a mysterious barren planet, called Bara Magna. Here he becomes the center of the story, and makes new allies as he tries to find a way to save the Matoran and the Toa from Makuta Teridax's tyrannical rule.

paragraphs: The story begins with six Toa Mata: Tahu, Lewa, Gali, Kopaka, Pohatu, and Onua, arriving on an island known as the Island of Mata Nui, remembering nothing beyond their names. They discovered that the inhabitants, the Matoran villagers, face constant attacks from infected Rahi, savage beasts controlled by the powerful influence of Makuta Teridax through use of Infected Kanohi masks, causing a war which lasted about 1000 years. After searching for and finding numerous Kanohi masks, the Toa each receive a Golden Kanohi mask with tremendous power and seek out Makuta himself. After challenging the ferocious Manas crabs and the Shadow Toa (evil doppelganger-like illusional replicas of the Toa ), the Toa confront Makuta and defeat him by uniting their elemental powers.

paragraphs: Upon his defeat, Makuta released the ancient Bohrok. Bohrok are robotic drones that were designed to "cleanse" the island of Mata Nui to its state "in the before-time". The Bohrok began to tear through the villages on the island, forcing Matoran to flee. One inventive Matoran of Earth, Nuparu, builds a powerful vehicle called the Boxor, made from parts of a damaged Bohrok in order to fight off the swarms. The Toa, unaware of the Bohrok's purpose, collected the Bohrok's Krana (mask-like creatures that function as their brains) to confront the Bohrok Queens, the Bahrag: Cahdok and Gahdok. The defeated Cahdok and Gahdok are sealed in a prison created by the Toa's elemental powers. The Toa Mata are then exposed to a substance called Energized Protodermis, which transforms them, granting them new armor and weapons. They renamed themselves the "Toa Nuva".

paragraphs: With Cahdok and Gahdok defeated, the Bohrok Swarms are stopped and returned to their hives. However, six new elite Bohrok, called the Bohrok-Kal, appeared with the purpose of releasing the Bahrag. They then proceeded to steal the Toa Nuva's powers, which are the key to breaking the seal. On the verge of defeat, the Toa force all of their powers into the Bohrok-Kal, overloading and defeating them.

paragraphs: Shortly afterwards, two Matoran, Takua and Jaller, discovered the Kanohi Mask of Light. They were tasked with traveling across the island of Mata Nui to find the Toa of Light. Meanwhile, Makuta created and sent out six creatures called Rahkshi to find the mask and stop the coming of the Toa of Light. The Rahkshi tore across Mata Nui, destroying the villages of Ta-Koro and Onu-Koro. The Rahkshi were stopped by the Toa, but not before killing Jaller. Jaller's death caused Takua to realize he was the Toa of Light, and he donned the mask to become Toa Takanuva. Takanuva went to confront Makuta and, during their battle, they both fell into a pool of energized protodermis, a silvery substance with the power to change or destroy a being, and became fused together into the being Takutanuva. Takutanuva then proceeded to open the door to the city of Metru Nui, allowing the Matoran and Toa through. Using some of his life energy, he revived Jaller while still holding the door open. However, the use of energy was too great and Takutanuva was crushed by the door, seeming to kill both Takanuva and Teridax, leaving only Takanuva's Mask of Light. Takanuva was promptly revived when his mask was used to activate the beacon to Metru Nui. Afterwards, the Matoran prepared to return to the island city of Metru Nui.

paragraphs: As the Matoran prepared to journey to Metru Nui, the Turaga (village elders) revealed that they had once been Toa, fighting in Metru Nui against threats such as the Morbuzakh plant creature and the Dume-controlled Vahki enforcement squads. They, as Matoran, were transformed into the Toa Metru by Toa stones containing power sacrificed by Toa Lhikan. Their mission was to find the six Great Disks and defeat the Morbuzakh, a plant menace that threatened to destroy the city. When they did, however, they were betrayed by Dume, the Turaga of the city. Later, they discovered that Makuta Teridax had taken the disguise of Dume and taken control of the Vahki (law enforcement robots). His plan was to put the Matoran to sleep, wipe out their memories, and reawaken them "as their conqueror." The Toa fled, but were attacked by Teridax. Combining their elemental powers, they were able to seal Teridax in a prison of crystallized protodermis. The Toa traveled to a new island, which would later be known as Mata Nui, vowing to return to save the Matoran.

paragraphs: They do return. However, the evil king Sidorak and his viceroy Roodaka had been reigning on the island, with vicious spider-like creatures called Visorak. The Toa were soon captured and mutated into bestial Toa Hordika. To revert to normal, the Toa sought out the legendary Rahi Keetongu. Toa Vakama, however, betrayed the other Toa and joined Sidorak, who made him the leader of the Visorak. The other Toa confronted the Visorak horde in a great battle, and convinced Vakama to rejoin them. Vakama then ordered the Visorak to be free. Keetongu then killed Sidorak, whom Roodaka and Vakama betrayed. The six Toa then defeated Roodaka with all six of their elemental powers. However, this had the side effect of freeing Makuta because Roodaka carried a fragment of his prison. The Toa struck her for this reason. Having been restored by Keetongu, the Toa Metru brought the Matoran to a new island. When they sacrificed their power to awaken the Matoran, they become Turaga, and later established new villages on this island called Mata Nui.

paragraphs: The Toa Nuva learned that Mata Nui was not only asleep but dying. To save him, they must travel to the island of Voya Nui and seek the mysterious Kanohi Ignika, the Mask of Life. The Toa Nuva set out on this adventure but are quickly taken prisoner by six new and powerful enemies, the Piraka: Zaktann, Hakann, Vezok, Thok, Reidak, and Avak. They sought the mask for their own dark purposes. When the Toa failed to return, a group of six Matoran followed after them. Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Nuparu, Kongu, and Matoro escaped to the island in Toa canisters, but as they traveled, bolts of lighting from the Red Star transformed them into the Toa Inika. Upon their arrival, they learn of the Piraka and how they enslaved the local Matoran by posing as false Toa, in order to make the Matoran build them a fortress. With the help of a small Matoran Resistance and the ancient guardian Axonn, the Toa Inika were able to free the Toa Nuva, find the temple of the mask, and battle the Piraka as well as the other creatures guarding it. They eventually emerged victorious with the Kanohi. But the Mask of Life possessed a will of its own, and in the last moment evades them all, rushing into the depths of the sea.

paragraphs: Following the chase for the Mask of Life, the Toa Inika descended into the waters after receiving the mysterious clue "save the sunken city" from an unknown Matoran, who had saved Hahli from drowning at the cost of him dying from decompression sickness.[14] A burst of energy from the Mask of Life transformed the Toa Inika into water-breathing forms. They discovered an inhabited village of Mahri Nui that had broken off from Voya Nui and sunk a thousand years ago. The village was threatened by ancient warlords known as Barraki that had been mutated by the nearby mutagenic waters called "The Pit". The Toa, now known as Toa Mahri, faced off against the Barraki to survive. However, by the time the Toa retrieved the mask, the Great Spirit died. Realizing there was still hope, Toa Matoro rushed to the core of the universe and sacrificed his life to revive Mata Nui. In the last moments of his life, Toa Matoro used the Mask's power to teleport the Toa Mahri back to Metru Nui and allow them to breathe air again. The Great Spirit's life was saved but he still had to be awakened.

paragraphs: After being given new armor and weapons by Artakha, the Toa Nuva arrived at Karda Nui, the core of the universe. There, they came to face the Makuta who were trying to turn the population of Av-Matoran – Matoran of Light – into Shadow Matoran. The Toa Nuva were helped by the arrival of Takanuva, now able to control Light and Shadow because of a shadow leech attack, and Toa Ignika, who is the Mask of Life itself. The Kanohi Ignika had made a body for itself because it wished to see what it was like to be a living being. With their combined forces, they reached a structure in the center of Karda Nui called the Codrex, where Toa Ignika had to sacrifice his new body to awaken Mata Nui. Takanuva, with the help of the remaining uncorrupted Av-Matoran, returned the Shadow Matoran to their previous states. Shortly afterwards, the Toa escaped the core before the energy storm caused by Mata Nui's awakening could destroy them. The Makuta, however, failed to escape, and were all killed. Back in Metru Nui, Mata Nui's awakening was celebrated, but celebration was cut short when it was revealed that Teridax had taken over the body of Mata Nui, revealed to be the universe of the Matoran. Trapping the spirit of Mata Nui in the Mask of Life, he sent it flying into space so that the former Great Spirit cannot interfere with his control over the universe.

paragraphs: The Bionicle story continues after Mata Nui was banished from his body by Makuta Teridax, onto a planet called Bara Magna. With the exception of a few wildlife species, Bara Magna is a barren desert planet which only supports few resources, so each tribe on the planet has a few warriors, called Glatorian, to battle for them. These resources, such as food and water, are distributed accordingly. The villagers of this world are known as Agori. The Agori together make up six different tribes, each affiliated with a region. After the Mask of Life lands on Bara Magna, it creates a body for Mata Nui to use. Mata Nui then teams up with a few Glatorian to defeat the combined forces of the Skrall and Bone Hunters, two major threats to the villages, and look for a way to return to his body. With the help of his new Glatorian and Agori friends he exposes a traitor known as Metus and defeats the Skrall and Bone Hunters. He helps the villages of the world to unite, taking all of the giant pieces of robot and linking them into a large prototype robotic body, a body like the one the Matoran Universe resides in.

paragraphs: After defeating the Skrall and seeing the rest of the villages unite, Mata Nui stands against the challenge of taking back his old body from Teridax. He learns that he was created by the Great Beings on the planet of Spherus Magna, which is now divided into a jungle moon (Bota Magna), an ocean moon (Aqua Magna), and the remaining desert planet (Bara Magna), as the result of the Core War. Mata Nui also learns that before he was built, there was a previous robot, which the Agori use as their home. An Agori of Tesara named Tarduk helps Mata Nui by showing him an ancient power source that could power up the old robot.

paragraphs: In this final journey, two heroes return to finish the fight: Tahu, returned to his original form to wear the powerful Golden Armor, and Takanuva. They are aided by Gresh. They fight off the Skakdi Warlord, Nektann to defeat Makuta, and his army; hordes of Rahkshi, armed with heat vision; and Skrall.

paragraphs: The story continues as the forces of both the Matoran Universe and Glatorian face the oncoming onslaught of Skakdi, Rahkshi, and Skrall. The golden armour, scattered by Makuta's blast is collected by Tahu, Gresh, and Takanuva from the many enemies. Tahu defeats Skakdi warlord Nektann, and then dons the armour, which incinerates every Rahkshi Kraata on Bara Magna.

paragraphs: Teridax claims that he will destroy Bara Magna with gravitic energy, until Mata Nui forces his arm upwards, causing Teridax to send the energy wave to the moons above. Mata Nui pushes Teridax back into one of the onrushing moons, the green moon of Bota Magna, whose impact destroys his core processor, which kills Teridax. Mata Nui then mourns the brother that he could have had, in his mind.

paragraphs: The finale concludes when Mata Nui uses his strength, and the power of the Mask of Life, to bring Spherus Magna together once more, to heal those who were mutated by Pit Mutagen, to bring life back to the planet, and to reconstruct destroyed geographical features. The strain causes his power core to dissipate, destroying the prototype robot. When the Glatorian and Toa discover the Ignika unscathed in the location where Mata Nui was, Mata Nui speaks to them from within the Mask of Life. He tells them that the future is their own and theirs to build. He then remains dormant in the Ignika. The Agori, Matoran, Toa, Glatorian and all others begin a new life on Spherus Magna.

paragraphs: The Bionicle toyline drew to a close in late 2009, after the 2010 sets were finalized for release, and was replaced in the summer of 2010 by Hero Factory, a Lego theme that´s compatible with Bionicle sets. But despite this, the story is continuing in serials written by Greg Farshtey online at BIONICLEstory.com.

paragraphs: The Bionicle franchise has been well received, with one reviewer describing the sets as "good combination of assembly and action figure" and first-year sales of 100 million British pounds (161.7 million USD). Bionicle had received a Toy of the Year Award for Most Innovative Toy in 2001 from the Toy Industry Association.

paragraphs: In 2001, several Māori tribal groups from New Zealand threatened legal action against Lego for allegedly trademarking Māori words used in naming the Bionicle product range. In response, a Lego spokesperson stated that only the term "Bionicle" had been trademarked. Lego agreed to stop commercial use of the Māori language after sending an executive to meet with Māori representatives in New Zealand. Some Māori terms used by Lego were changed, such as "Huki", which was changed to "Hewkii", and "Tohunga", which was changed to "Matoran". Within the fictional Bionicle universe, these changes were explained by the introduction of a "Naming Day" holiday, in which characters who have done heroic deeds for their village are honored by having the spelling of their name changed (though the pronunciation remains the same). However, a number of Māori terms such as "Toa", which means "warrior", "Kanohi", which means "face", and "Kopaka", which means "cold", were not changed. Since this controversy, Lego has not made any more names that are common terms in other living languages (with the exception of Umbra, a Latin word, and some names that are real names in some languages).

paragraphs: The rapid success of Bionicle has had a major impact on the Lego company. According to Stephanie Lawrence, the global director of licensing for Lego, "We've created an evergreen franchise to complement the many event-based properties on the children's market. An increasing number of category manufacturers want to tap into the power of the BIONICLE universe, and the key for us now is to manage the excitement to stay true to the brand and the lifestyle of our core consumer." According to one source, Bionicle has changed the way children think of, and play with, LEGO products by combining "the best of LEGO building with the story telling and adventure of an action figure line," and that 85% of American boys age 6–12 know of the Bionicle brand and 45% own the toys.

paragraphs: Paul Hardcastle and Simon Fuller produced the first soundtracks for Bionicle's commercials used in 2001 to 2003. Music for the first three Bionicle films featured a more classical tune, rather that the techno-like beats used in the ads and animations. In 2005, the first official Bionicle songs were released. They were produced by rock band All Insane Kids and are called "Hero" and "Caught In A Dream" (the latter being used as the theme of Bionicle 3). Further down Bionicle's history, more songs were used to help advertise their sets, most of which were produced by Danish band Cryoshell, as well as songs by other artists, like "Crashed" by Daughtry and "Move Along" by The All-American Rejects.


title: Flora

paragraphs: In botany, flora (plural: floras or florae) has two meanings.

paragraphs: The first meaning refers to all plant life in an area or time period (especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life). The corresponding term for animal life is fauna.

paragraphs: The second meaning refers to a "book or other work" which describes the plant species in an area or time period, with the aim of allowing identification.

paragraphs: The term flora comes from the Latin language. Flora was the goddess of flowers in Roman mythology.

paragraphs: Plants are grouped into floras based on region, period, special environment, or climate. Regions can be geographically distinct habitats like mountain vs. flatland. Floras can mean plant life of an historic era as in "fossil flora".

paragraphs: Bacterial organisms are sometimes included in a flora . Other times, the terms "bacterial flora" and "plant flora" are used separately.


title: Eric Cantona

paragraphs: Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (born 24 May 1966 in Marseille) is a French football player turned actor. He was one of Manchester United's greatest players. Cantona has more than 140 appearances with Manchester United. He ended his professional footballing career with the team. Cantona had earlier played for Leeds United before moving to Manchester United in 1992. He has also played for France national team from 1987 to 1994. He retired from football in 1997 and became a film actor.


title: Twin town

paragraphs: Twin towns are towns that are made at the same time, like twins are born at the same time

paragraphs: In Europe, the pairs of towns are called twin towns, but other languages say friendship towns or partner towns; in North America and Australasia, the towns are called sister cities. Brother cities was the name of twinned cities in the old Soviet bloc.

paragraphs: Twin towns often (but not always) have similar populations, industries and other characteristics. Sometimes, even larger areas enter into "twinning" agreements, such as that between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju in South Korea.

paragraphs: The earliest form of town twinning in Europe was between the German city of Paderborn and the French city of Le Mans in 836, although this was not officially established as a modern town twinning arrangement until 1967.

paragraphs: Coventry, United Kingdom was the first ever city to "twin" with another city (Stalingrad, Soviet Union) and hence began the modern practice of twinning.

paragraphs: After the Second World War twinning was a way to bring European people into a closer understanding of each other and to promote cross-border projects and peace.

paragraphs: For example, Coventry twinned with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, both cities having been heavily bombed during the war. Each twin city country is represented in a specific ward of the city and in each ward has a peace garden dedicated to that twin city.

paragraphs: Another early example of town twinning dates back to 1947 when Bristol Corporation (later Bristol City Council) sent five 'leading citizens' on a goodwill mission to Hanover.

paragraphs: Twinning is more popular in Europe than anywhere else, but the idea has now spread to other continents.

paragraphs: Since 1989, the European Union has had a support scheme for town twinning. In 2003 an annual budget of about 12 million euros was given to about 1,300 projects.

paragraphs: The first city in North America to establish a sister city relationship was Toledo, Ohio, United States, with Toledo, Spain in 1931. In 1944, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada twinned with the Ukrainian city of Odessa, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union. This was to show support and to help the allied port city during World War II.


title: Buffyverse

paragraphs: The Buffyverse is a fictional universe created by writer/director Joss Whedon. It is the setting used for the movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (BtVS), the "BtVS" television series and the "Angel" television series. Comic books and novels based on both the Buffy and Angel television series and the Fray comic book also take place in the Buffyverse. The term Buffyverse was created by the fans of the shows and later used by Whedon as the name for his world. The term has also been used in the titles of published works.

paragraphs: The Buffyverse is a world where Vampires and demons exist. Many different types of fictional creatures and monsters can be found in this world. These creatures include werewolves, ghosts, trolls, and witches. It is a world where magic is used often. Most of the people in the Buffyverse do not know that these creatures live in this world or that magic exists.

paragraphs: The Slayer or "Chosen One" is a young girl with super-human strength, agility and stamina. It is her destiny to fight evil. When one Slayer is killed, a new girl is "chosen" to become the new Slayer. The new slayer has all of the power of the last Slayer as soon as she is chosen. The new Slayer also begins to have dreams that tell her of her future and Slayers from the past.

paragraphs: The first Slayer was created long before written history by a group of men who looked like Aborigine. She was created by combine her with a demon. As each Slayer is killed, the demon moves to the next slayer. It gives her the powers of the Slayer as well as the dreams of its past with the other slayers.

paragraphs: In the Buffyverse there are many different "dimensions" or worlds. Some are full of evil. A place where the borders between the normal world and an evil dimension are weak is called a Hellmouth. Evil in the normal world will naturally move towards a hellmouth. The area closest to a hellmouth will be home to much evil and strange circumstances.

paragraphs: There are two well known hellmouths in the Buffyverse. The first is located in Sunnydale, California. This is the place where the stories in "Buffy" take place. It is the largest and most powerful hellmouth in the Buffyverse. The second hellmouth is in Cleveland, Ohio. Not much is known about this hellmouth.


title: Loudness

paragraphs: Volume can mean loudness, for example, in the volume control on computers and televisions which lets you tell the unit how loud you want its sound to be. Loudness is measured in Decibels (Db) and can be measured using a "Decibel Meter" or "sound level meter".


title: Atlas Mountains

paragraphs: The Atlas Mountains (Amazigh: Idurar n Watlas, ) are a mountain range in northwest Africa. They extend about 2,400 km (1,500 miles) through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Tougkal, with an elevation of 4,167 metres (13,671 ft) in southwestern Morocco. The second highest mountain is the M'Goun of 4071 meters. The southwestern part is called "Anti-Atlas".

paragraphs: The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert. Most of the people living in the Atlas Mountains are part of Berber tribes in Morocco and in Algeria.

paragraphs: The mountains are named after the ancient Greek Titan, Atlas.


title: Genetic drift

paragraphs: Genetic drift is a random effect on biological populations. Its effect is to remove genetic variation from a population of living organisms.

paragraphs: In natural populations there are a number of forces acting. There are forces which add heritable variation to the population, such as mutation and recombination. There are also factors which remove variation from the population, and drift is one of these.

paragraphs: In a species, or an interbreeding population, there is usually a great deal of genetic variation. This genetic variation is in the form of different alleles at many loci (gene positions) on the chromosomes.

paragraphs: Changes in allele frequency are mainly caused by natural selection, that is, by differential survival, and contribution to the next generation. But as populations get smaller, there is a tendency for each generation to become more homozygous, with less variety of alleles. This is an effect similar to inbreeding: it leads to genetic uniformity.

paragraphs: Genetic drift is the name given to this loss of variation. It can affect evolution in surprisingly big ways, but "only when populations are quite small". What 'small' means would depend on the organism. 50 individuals is small, 5000 is not, 500 is maybe. The basic mechanism of drift is that genetic variety is reduced by chance, making the individuals more similar to each other, and hence more vulnerable.


title: 1956 Winter Olympics

paragraphs: The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The USSR debuted in these Winter Olympics. They immediately showed their strength by winning more medals than any other nation.

paragraphs: A total of 32 nations sent athletes to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Bolivia, Iran, and the USSR competed at the Winter Games for the first time. Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey returned after having missed the 1952 Winter Olympics. Argentina, Denmark, New Zealand, and Portugal did not compete at these Games, after participating in 1952.

paragraphs: Athletes from West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) competed together as the United Team of Germany at these Games, an arrangement that would continue for the next two Olympiads.


title: Feather duster

paragraphs: A feather duster is a tool used for cleaning. It consists typically of a handle and a segment composed of natural or artificial feathers which form the cleaning-contact surface. It is particularly useful for removing dust from surfaces.

paragraphs: Feather dusters use the principles of static electricity to take up small debris such as dander.


title: Electrostatics

paragraphs: Electrostatics (also known as "static electricity") is the branch of physics that deals with apparently stationary electric charges.

paragraphs: Electrostatics involves the buildup of charge on the surface of objects due to contact with other surfaces.

paragraphs: Although charge exchange happens whenever any two surfaces contact and separate, the effects of charge exchange are usually only noticed when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow. This is because the charges that transfer to or from the highly resistive surface are more or less trapped there for a long enough time for their effects to be observed.

paragraphs: These charges then remain on the object until they either bleed off to the ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge: e.g., the familiar phenomenon of a static 'shock' is caused by the neutralization of charge built up in the body from contact with non-conductive surfaces.


title: Coat of Arms of Dominican Republic

paragraphs: The coat of arms of the Dominican Republic, as described by Article 96 of the Dominican Constitution, has a shield supported by an olive branch (left) and a palm leaf (right); above the shield, a blue ribbon displays the national motto: "Dios, Patria, Libertad" ("God, Fatherland, Freedom"). Below the shield, there is a red ribbon with the words "República Dominicana" ("Dominican Republic").

paragraphs: In the center of the shield there is an opened Bible with a small cross above it, and on each side flanked by three spears, two of them holding Dominican flags. The Constitution does not specify in what page should be opened the Bible; only that is the "Book of Gospels, opened". In fact, only the 1916 Constitution said "opened in John, Chapter XIII" but that constitution was not valid because of the occupation of the country by United States.

paragraphs: The National Flag of Dominican Republic has a small coat of arms in the center of the white cross.

paragraphs: The first Dominican coat of arms was created by the first Dominican Constitution of 6 November 1844 but it was frequently changed until 1913; sometimes, two different coats of arms were used at the same time.

paragraphs: The official Dominican coat of arms, or "Great Seal of the Nation", was established in 1913, when Adolfo Nouel was the President of the Dominican Republic.


title: Eustis, Florida

paragraphs: Eustis is a city in Lake County, Florida, United States. Its current population as of 2005 is 17,683.


title: Fort Walton Beach, Florida

paragraphs: Fort Walton Beach is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of 2005, the population is estimated to be 19,817.


title: Supercell

paragraphs: A supercell is a strong type of thunderstorm with a thick, rotating updraft (a mesocyclone). Supercell thunderstorms are the largest, most dangerous type of thunderstorms. There are really only two types of thunderstorms: supercell and ordinary, but some have four classifications: single-cell, multi-cell, squall line, and supercell.


title: Kathleen Blanco

paragraphs: Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (December 15, 1942 – August 18, 2019) was an American politician. She served as Governor of Louisiana from 2004 through 2008 until being replaced by Bobby Jindal. She was born in New Iberia, Louisiana. Blanco is a member of the Democratic Party.

paragraphs: In December 2017, Blanco was diagnosed with an incurable form of eye melanoma and liver cancer. On April 19, 2019, it was announced that she was in hospice care. Blanco died on August 18, 2019 under hospice care in Lafayette, Louisiana at the age of 76.


title: Armenian hypothesis

paragraphs: The Armenian hypothesis suggests that the Proto-Indo-European languages was spoken in the Armenian Highland in the 3rd millennium BC. Scholars Tamaz Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov place the homeland in Armenia.


title: Wilsonian Armenia

paragraphs: Wilsonian Armenia is used for the borders that were drawn by Woodrow Wilson at the Treaty of Sèvres. The area was to the north and to the west side of Trabzon Province to provide the DRA an area to the Black Sea. The Armenian national fight for "Western Armenia" being somewhat part of the newly established Turkish republic dropped from the table.


title: Yasuo Fukuda

paragraphs: Yasuo Fukuda () (born 16 July 1936) was Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was born in Gunma, Japan. The prime minister before him was Shinzo Abe. He hosted the G8 meeting in Hokkaido in July 2008, but resigned on September 1, 2008, due to low approval ratings and political deadlock. He was succeeded by Taro Aso.


title: Mercenary

paragraphs: Mercenaries are soldiers who fight mainly for money, rather than for their country or for their political beliefs.

paragraphs: Mercenaries are a very old phenomenon. They are mentioned in the Old Testament - King David had a bodyguard of Cretan and Philistine mercenaries. The Carthaginians often used mercenaries. The so-called Free Companies in the Middle Ages were mercenary companies which consisted of rogue knights and archers. The Japanese "ronin" were mercenary samurai.

paragraphs: For many years in the Middle Ages soldiers from Switzerland fought battles for whichever side paid them. The popes would hire soldiers from Switzerland to fight for them. The Swiss Guard is all that is left of Switzerland's mercenary tradition. However the modern Swiss Guard are not mercenaries, because the guards are all catholic and are prepared to fight not for their country but for their beliefs.

paragraphs: Soldiers of professional volunteer armies, like those of the US Army, are not considered as mercenaries as they fight for their country and fatherland. Likewise, foreign volunteers in standing armies, such as French Foreign Legion, are not considered as mercenaries as they are loyal to the country they serve. But various private military contractors are considered mercenaries.


title: Kere

paragraphs: Kere ( or Kerey) is a lake in Kazakhstan, in Akmola Province. Its area is 63.8 square kilometres. It is about 10 km south of Lake Tengiz


title: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

paragraphs: Jean-Pierre Jeunet (born 3 September 1953 in Roanne, Loire, France) is a French movie director.

paragraphs: Jean-Pierre Jeunet bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short movies while studying animation at Cinémation Studios. He made friends with Marc Caro. Caro was a designer and comic book artist. Caro worked on many of Jeunet's movies with him.

paragraphs: Together, Jeunet and Caro directed award-winning animations. Their first live-action movie was "The Bunker of the Last Gunshots" (1981). It was a short movie about soldiers in a futuristic world. Jeunet also directed numerous television advertisements and music videos.

paragraphs: Jeunet and Caro's first full length movie was "Delicatessen" (1991). It was a black comedy set in a famine-plagued future. Next came "The City of Lost Children" (1995). It was a dark fantasy movie with a story about a doctor who kidnaps children in order to steal their dreams.

paragraphs: Because "The City of Lost Children" was well liked, Jeunet was asked to direct the fourth movie in the Alien series - "" (1997). Though not well received by critics, "Alien: Resurrection" turned a profit at the box office.

paragraphs: Jeunet returned to France after making "Alien: Resurrection". The fact that he had made a Hollywood movie gave him freedom on his next movie, "Amélie". "Amélie" is lighter and more romantic than his earlier movies. This story was a huge success worldwide. It was nominated for several Academy Awards. For this movie he also got an European Film Award for Best Director.

paragraphs: In 2004, Jeunet released "A Very Long Engagement". It is based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot. The movie is set after World War I. It is about a woman (played by Audrey Tautou) looking for her missing lover.


title: Graham Yost

paragraphs: Graham Yost is a Canadian movie and television screenwriter. His most famous works are the 1994 movie "Speed", "Broken Arrow", and "Hard Rain". Yost did not write the dialog for "Speed". The dialog was written by Joss Whedon.

paragraphs: He has also written for the television series "Herman's Head", "Band of Brothers", and "Boomtown". More recently, he is the creator of the NBC drama "Raines" starring Jeff Goldblum that premiered on March 15, 2007.

paragraphs: Yost won an Emmy award for his part in the mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon" and for his involvement in "The Pacific". Graham also won a Golden Globe for his work on HBO miniseries, "Band of Brothers". Graham was one of the writers for the show.


title: Longboat

paragraphs: A longboat was an open boat used on-board ships during the age of the sailing ships. The original name was 'Shallop' but was changed to longboat in the 18th century. A ship or vessel would carry several ship's boats for various uses. The most important would be a longboat, an open boat to be rowed by up to eight or ten . The longboat had rowing benches designed for up to two men to an oar. A longboat was designed for use in rough water and could be rigged for sails.

paragraphs: One of its main uses was as a pulling boat. Another was to . When a ship was at anchor, longboats carried people and supplies between ship and shore.


title: Jarrow

paragraphs: Jarrow is a town in England. It has 27,000 people.

paragraphs: Romans had set up a fort near Jarrow in the 1st century. Later in the 5th century, Anglo-Saxons occupied the location. It is not well known when Jarrow was first built. The name of "Jarrow" has been used from 750. The monastery of St Paul is the sister monastery of Monkwearmouth in Sunderland.

paragraphs: Jarrow is part of the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside


title: 1952 Winter Olympics

paragraphs: The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1952 in Oslo, Norway.

paragraphs: A total of 30 nations sent athletes to compete at these Games, which was the highest number to that date. This was the first time New Zealand and Portugal participated in the Winter Olympic Games. Australia, Germany, and Japan returned, after having missed the 1948 Winter Olympics. Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey did not participate in 1952, after having competed in 1948.


title: 1940 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as Games of the XII Olympiad, were not held.

paragraphs: The games were planned for Tokyo in Japan, but the Japanese organizers withdrew in 1938 because of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

paragraphs: In 1938, the International Olympic Committee decided to hold the games at Helsinki in Finland.

paragraphs: The games were cancelled because of World War II.


title: 1936 Winter Olympics

paragraphs: The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1936 in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin.

paragraphs: 28 nations sent athletes to compete in Germany, to date the largest number at a Winter Games. Australia, Bulgaria, Greece, Liechtenstein, Spain, and Turkey all made their Winter Olympic debut in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia all returned to the Games after having missed the 1932 Winter Olympics.


title: Atlas (anatomy)

paragraphs: In anatomy, the atlas is the top "cervical vertebra" (neck bones) of the spine. In anatomy, the "atlas" is written (C1) for short.

paragraphs: It is named for the Atlas of mythology, because it supports the head in the same way as Atlas held the world on his shoulders.

paragraphs: The "atlas" connects to a vertebra called the . Together they form the joint connecting the skull to the rest of the spine. The "atlas" and "axis" are different in shape from all the other vertebrae. They have more movement. They allow the head to nod and to rotate (turn).


title: Vertebra

paragraphs: Vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the individual irregular bones that make up the spinal column ("aka" ischis) – a flexuous and flexible column.

paragraphs: There are normally thirty-three (33) vertebrae in humans, including the five that are fused to form the sacrum (the others are separated by intervertebral discs) and the four coccygeal bones which form the "tailbone".

paragraphs: The upper three regions comprise the remaining 24, and are grouped under the names "cervical" (7 vertebrae), "thoracic" (12 vertebrae) and "lumbar" (5 vertebrae), according to the regions they occupy. Each vertebra has a hole through which the spinal cord passes.


title: 1928 Winter Olympics

paragraphs: The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true "Winter Olympics" held on its own and not as a part of a "Summer Olympics". The preceding 1924 Winter Olympics were later renamed as Winter Olympics. They were actually part of the 1924 Summer Olympics. All preceding Winter Events of the Olympic Games were the winter sports part of the schedule of the Summer Games, and not as a separate Winter Games.

paragraphs: Athletes from 25 nations competed at these Games, up from 16 in 1924. This was the first time many countries attended the Winter Olympic Games, including Argentina, Estonia, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Romania.


title: Local government in England

paragraphs: For the purposes of local government, England is divided into as many as four levels of administrative divisions. At some levels, various legislation has created alternative types of administrative division.

paragraphs: At the top level, England is divided into nine regions. Each one containing one or more county-level areas. The regions were created in 1994 and since the 1999 Euro-elections have been used as England's European Parliament constituencies. All have the same status. However London is the only region with any devolved power in the form of an elected mayor and the Greater London Authority. The regions also vary greatly in their areas and their populations.

paragraphs: England is divided by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 into areas for the appointment of Lord Lieutenants, who are historically the Crown's representative in a county. Although not actually defined as such, these areas have become known as ceremonial counties. These counties are sometimes used by people when describing where they live in England. However, many are not used as local government areas themselves, as many are too large or include large urban areas. They are taken into consideration though when drawing up Parliamentary constituency boundaries for example.

paragraphs: For administrative purposes, England is divided into four types of county-level subnational entities used for local governance.

paragraphs: There are six metropolitan counties, divided into metropolitan boroughs, which cover large urban areas outside London. They were created in 1974. In 1986 their county councils were abolished.

paragraphs: The "shire counties" were also created in 1974 and are legally known as non-metropolitan counties. They are divided into non-metropolitan districts and cover much of the country, though mainly the rural areas.

paragraphs: Unitary authorities were created in the 1990s and are single-tier authorities which combine the functions of county and district councils. They are defined either as counties consisting of a single district or districts of a county such as Berkshire that has no county council. The Isle of Wight is the exception, being a county council with no districts.

paragraphs: Greater London was created in 1965 and is sometimes considered as a metropolitan county but it is not defined as such. It is divided into the City of London and London boroughs.

paragraphs: Districts in England may also have the status of borough, city or royal borough.

paragraphs: The metropolitan counties were divided into metropolitan districts which are usually called boroughs. When the county councils were abolished the metropolitan districts gained much of their powers and therefore function similar to other unitary authorities.

paragraphs: Shire counties are divided into non-metropolitan districts. Power is shared with the county council, but shared differently to the metropolitan counties when first created.

paragraphs: The civil parish is the most local unit of government in England. Under the legislation that created Greater London, they are not permitted within its boundary. Not all of the rest of England is parished, though the number of parishes and total area parished is growing.

paragraphs: The following are exceptions to the general arrangements for local government in England and as a consequence are separately listed in legislation from the above types of local authorities where functions are allocated to particular groups of local authorities.

paragraphs: In Greater London, the 32 London borough councils have a status close to that of unitary authorities, but there is also a higher strategic tier, the Greater London Authority, which oversees some of the functions performed elsewhere by Counties including transport, policing, the fire brigade and also economic development.

paragraphs: As well as the same general functions performed by the surrounding London boroughs, the City of London has others which make it distinct from most local authorities, including extraterritorial possessions (such as Hampstead Heath and Queens Park recreation ground in Kilburn) and services (including veterinary services at Heathrow Airport and domestic asbestos disposal) elsewhere in Greater London.

paragraphs: Inner Temple and Middle Temple are small liberties within the boundary of the City of London which function as their own local authorities.

paragraphs: The Isles of Scilly have a "sui generis" local authority, the Isles of Scilly Council, which is similar to a unitary authority found in the rest of England.

paragraphs: A referendum was held in North East England on November 4, 2004 to see whether people there wished to have an elected regional assembly. As part of the referendum, voters were to have been asked to choose which system of unitary authorities they would like to see in the existing county council areas if the regional assembly was approved. In the event, the vote in the North East was a decisive "no", making the proposed local government changes moot.

paragraphs: Similar referendums in North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber were postponed indefinitely: on 8 November 2004 the Deputy Prime Minister announced "I will not therefore be bringing forward orders for referendums in either the North West, or Yorkshire and the Humber". *Statement by Deputy Prime Minister

paragraphs: Most of the proposed changes would have required no change in the county level entites, as they could have been be implemented by merging districts and abolition of the county council. Where borders were crossed, however, changes would have been needed. This impacted Lancashire, where various parts were proposed for combination with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen (both unitaries), Sefton (in Merseyside), Wigan (in Greater Manchester), and southern Cumbria; it also affects one proposal for North Yorkshire, which would have merged the district of Selby with the East Riding of Yorkshire. Few of the boundary changes would have involved creating new borders - only the proposals to combine Blackpool with parts of Wyre, and to split West Lancashire between Wigan and Sefton would do this.

paragraphs: On 27 March, 2007, Local Government Minister Phil Woolas announced that sixteen councils bidding for unitary status had been short listed to go forward for public consultation. On 26 July, 2007 Wollas' successor John Healey announced that nine proposals would proceed, subject to the approval of Parliament in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill (LGPIH). The Government expects those approved for implementation to be fully operational by April 2009. The short-listed proposals were those made by:

paragraphs: [*] - the Boundary Committee is asked to advise whether an alternative unitary proposal for Norwich based on revised council boundaries could deliver the required improvements.

paragraphs: [**] - if Bedford Borough Council’s proposals are implemented other authorities in Bedfordshire including Bedfordshire County Council will be invited to propose a unitary solution for the remaining area of Bedfordshire.


title: 1928 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, were held at Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

paragraphs: The games were thought to be a success. Half of the expense of the games was covered by the Dutch government.

paragraphs: A total of 46 nations were represented at the Amsterdam Games. Malta, Panama, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) competed at the Olympic Games for the first time. Germany returned after having been banned in 1920 and 1924.


title: 1924 Winter Olympics

paragraphs: The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1924 in Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Europe (FRANCE) between 30 January and 2 February 1922. At first, the games were called "Semaine Internationale des Sports d'Hiver" ("International Winter Sports Week") and were held as part of the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was later decided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the Games would be called the I Olympic Winter Games. Russia won the four man bobsled.

paragraphs: Athletes from 16 nations competed in the first Winter Olympic Games.


title: Realism

paragraphs: Realism is a word that can be used in many different ways. It is used mainly in the arts to describe the way that writers, musicians, painters etc. thought in the late 19th century. These artists were trying to show the world as it really is, instead of trying to escape to a world of fantasy, which is what the Romantics had been doing. The Realists wanted to give an accurate description of Nature and of the way people lived in society.

paragraphs: Realism in literature was a movement which started in Germany. The poet and writer Heinrich Heine tried in his books to accept the world as it is instead of trying to escape from it. Realistic writers tried to find good things about society.

paragraphs: The interest in Realism led to a movement called Naturalism. This meant describing scenes in nature accurately. The novelist Emile Zola was a Naturalist.

paragraphs: In philosophy, realism has a somewhat different meaning. Realist philosophy is a way of thinking about the world in which things have an existence even if no one is studying them (looking, hearing, smelling, touching them). This was different from older philosophers who said that things only exist because of people who are aware of them. For example: beauty only exists because someone sees something that they think is beautiful. A realist philosopher might say that beauty is there whether anyone sees it or not.

paragraphs: In music there was a movement called Verismo which was the Italian word for “reality”. Verismo was popular in Italian opera around the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. Puccini was an opera composer whose style is typical of Verismo.

paragraphs: The term social realism describes an art form in America in the 1930s which expressed social protest in a naturalistic way. This is different from what is usually called socialist realism which was a term used by Soviet politicians from 1932 to the mid 1980s to describe art which showed the workers' struggle, glorifying the Soviet Union.

paragraphs: In the early 20th century Realism led to other movements such as Dadaism and Surrealism.


title: Ridge (meteorology)

paragraphs: A ridge is a stretched out area of high atmospheric pressure compared to normal recorded pressures. It is also the opposite of a trough.


title: Hurricane Hunters

paragraphs: Hurricane Hunters are special aircraft that fly into or around a tropical cyclone to gather information (or data). Hurricane Hunters are only used to study tropical cyclones in the northern Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean.


title: St. Vincent Island, Florida

paragraphs: St. Vincent Island, Florida is one of a group of islands that is located in the Floridan Gulf Coast.


title: Phencyclidine

paragraphs: Phencyclidine (a shortened version of the chemical name "phenylcyclohexylpiperidine"), usually called PCP, is an illegal drug. PCP is called a hallucinogenic drug: it causes people to hallucinate, and see, hear, and sense things that are not real. PCP is neurotoxic. It causes changes to the brain that can leave permanent damage. Before people started using PCP as an illegal drug, it was used as an anesthetic.

paragraphs: PCP is a white powder, made of tiny crystals. It dissolves easily in water or alcohol. PCP has many slang or 'street names'; the most common is "angel dust". Other slang names for PCP are angel hair, angel mist, aurora borealis, black whack, crystal, cyclones, devil dust, dummy dust, embalming fluid, hallucinogen, horse tranquilizer, jet fuel, magic dust, rocket fuel, or star dust. PCP is sometimes mixed with marijuana and called love boat or killer weed. PCP can also be mixed with crack; this is called "space basing".

paragraphs: PCP was created after World War II as a surgical anesthetic. It worked well, but there were serious side effects: hallucinations, jumbled speech, and delirium. Around the mid-to-late 1960s, the drug sprang up on the streets of San Francisco as a "Peace Pill." People soon realized that it was a very dangerous drug. In the San Francisco area, the use of PCP died out before the 1970s. At the same time, the drug was becoming more common in New York, and it spread quickly there. However, its use in this area died out, like in San Francisco. The United States made it illegal to use PCP for any reason, or to make the drug, because of its serious effects.

paragraphs: People can have many different effects from using PCP. The drug can affect the central nervous system (the brain and major nerves). This can cause many changes in the brain and body.

paragraphs: PCP often causes major changes in what a person senses (what he feels, sees, hears, smells, or tastes). For example:

paragraphs: PCP can also cause people to have a lot of energy, feel and act stronger than usual, and not feel pain.

paragraphs: PCP can be eaten, snorted, injected (shot into the body using a needle), or smoked. A person can take a low, medium, or high dose of PCP, and he will have different effects depending on which dose he takes. Low doses can cause a person to feel euphoric (very happy), relaxed, numb, detached from his own body, anxious, or confused. At low doses, people can also have sensory distortions (changes in how they hear, see, taste, smell, or feel things); amnesia (where the person cannot remember things normally); speech which does not make sense; blurred vision; or a blank stare. Medium doses can cause confusion, agitation, analgesia (not feeling pain), fever, excessive salivation, and "schizophrenic-type" behavior. High doses can cause seizures, respiratory failure (where the breathing systems in the body stop working), coma, fever, stroke, or death.

paragraphs: People who use PCP can get physically or psychologically (mentally) addicted to the drug. If an addicted person suddenly stops taking PCP, he will get withdrawal symptoms, like diarrhea, chills, and tremors (uncontrollable shaking in part of the body). In the brain, PCP affects multiple neurotransmitter systems. (Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the brain.) For example, it keeps the brain from getting rid of extra dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These are all very important neurotransmitters in the brain. PCP can also affect some types of opioid receptors in the brain. It also inhibits (or blocks) the action of glutamate by blocking NMDA (N-methyl d-aspartate) receptors. Prescription drugs like diazepam (Valium), haloperidol (Haldol), and phentolamine may be used to help manage some of PCP's effects.


title: Philodendron

paragraphs: Philodendron ("tree lover") is a large genus of the Arum family, Araceae. Currently, about 900 different species are known. The plants are evergreen flowering plants. Some of them are vines, some can grow as epiphytes. Most of them grow like bushes. They can reach a height of about 6 meters.

paragraphs: Very often, "Philodendron" are grown as houseplants. They grow quickly, and are easy to care for. Sometimes "Monstera" are still called "Philodendron". That plant is very similar.

paragraphs: "Philodendron" are sometime grown because they can neutralise some poisons commonly found indoors, most notably formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and benzene.


Sagittarius


title: Sagittarius (astrology)

paragraphs: Sagittarius is the astrological Zodiac sign that represents the constellation Sagittarius. Sagittarius is from November 22 to December 17. The opposite sign to Sagittarius is Gemini, which is from May 21 to June 20.

paragraphs: In mythology Sagittarius is related to Greek myth of a centaur.

paragraphs: myths also says that the constellation Sagittarius represents chiron because of his responsible actions unlike all the other sagittarians.

paragraphs: In astrology Sagittarius is ruled by the planet Jupiter.

paragraphs: Astrologers broadly agree that the following are the characteristics of Sagittarius:

paragraphs: The Sagittarius has some very good characteristics, but with some very bad ones too. This is because they have two personalities, because the Centaur (Sagittarius' symbol), is half horse half person.

paragraphs: are always fighting each other. This everyday fight inside a Sagittarius' personality is seen in Sagittarius' sign, as a bow notching a heavy cross.


title: Shell Oil Company

paragraphs: Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Its parent is a multinational oil company ("oil major") of Anglo Dutch origins. Royal Dutch Shell is one of the largest oil companies in the world. About 22,000 Shell employees are based in the United States The head office in the United States is in Houston, Texas. Shell Oil Company, including its related companies, is one of the US’s largest oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers.

paragraphs: Shell has approximately 25,000 Shell-branded gas stations in the US. They are Shell's most visible public presence. Shell also owns the Jiffy Lube chain of auto oil change stores. Since 1998, Shell Oil Company is a 50/50 partner with the Saudi Arabian government-owned oil company Saudi Aramco in Motiva Enterprises. Motiva is refining and marketing joint venture which owns and operates three oil refineries on the Gulf Coast of the United States. Motiva also operates 8,000 Shell-branded gas stations in the eastern and southern United States. Shell also used to hold 80% of an exploration firm called Pecten that explores and drills in various offshore locations including the oil basin near Douala, Cameroon. It sold the 80% to Addax Petroleum on 31 October 2011.


title: Noble Energy

paragraphs: Noble Energy, Inc. () of Houston, Texas is the modern name of Noble Affiliates Inc., by which it was known through the 1990s, and it is now an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with almost US$3 billion in income at #660 on the 2007 Fortune 1000 list of the largest American companies.

paragraphs: In 1985, Noble Affiliates started its subsidiary Noble Drilling Corporation () to shareholders, and that company in turn went public by the early 1990s, and then became Noble Corporation, an S&P 500 company.

paragraphs: In South America, the company operates in Argentina and Ecuador. In Africa, Noble Energy operates in Equatorial Guinea. And in Eurasia, it operates in the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and China.


title: Pakenham railway line, Melbourne

paragraphs: The Pakenham Railway Line is a Railway in Melbourne, Victoria. It has 25 stations. It was run by M-Train until April 17, 2004, where Connex took over all Melbourne rail services.

paragraphs: Bold stations are places where trains end their journeys, "italic" stations have staff there to help people.

paragraphs: Branches from Frankston line at Caulfield station.

paragraphs: The Traralgon regional line follows on from this line.


title: Austrian Empire

paragraphs: The Austrian Empire was an empire that lasted in Europe from 1804 to 1867. The empire was centered on present-day Austria and was a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire which collapsed on 1806. The last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, became Francis I of Austria. It was succeeded by Austria-Hungary.


title: Pilot fish

paragraphs: Pilot fish ("Naucrates ductor") are fish that live in many places of the world. They live in warm water. They eat parasites on larger fish.

paragraphs: Pilot fish usually gather around sharks (also rays and sea turtles). They eat parasites on their host, and small pieces of food that their host does not eat (leftovers). When pilot fish are young, they gather around jellyfish and drifting seaweeds.

paragraphs: Pilot fish follow sharks because other animals which might eat them will not come near a shark. In return, sharks do not eat pilot fish because pilot fish eat their parasites. This is called a "mutualist" relationship. Small pilot fish are often seen swimming into the mouth of a shark to eat small pieces of food from the shark's teeth. Sailors even said that sharks and pilot fish act like close friends. When a ship would capture the shark the pilot fish followed, some people reported that the pilot fish would follow the ship for up to six weeks.

paragraphs: They will follow ships in other circumstances, sometimes for very long distances. Many pilot fish have been seen on the shores of England, which is a long way from where they usually live.

paragraphs: The pilot fish is of a dark blue to blackish-silver colour, and are slightly lighter in colour underneath. They have between 5 and 7 dark stripes going from top to bottom. When the fish is excited, these stripes disappear, and three large blue patches appear on its back. The pilot fish is usually about 30 cm long, but sometimes they can be as big as 70cm.

paragraphs: The pilot fish will not hurt people, and they are said to be good to eat. They are very difficult to catch, though.

paragraphs: There are many explanations for the name "pilot fish". Probably it is because they surround sharks like tugs with an ocean liner.


title: Bălţi

paragraphs: Bălţi is the third-largest city in the country of Moldova. It is the major city in the northern part of the country. During the Russian Empire (1812-1917), and later the Soviet era (1940-1990) the name was also spelled Beltsy, from its form in Russian. The city is 135 km north of the capital Chişinău, on the small river Răut, a branch of the Dniester (Nistru). It is located on a hilly landscape that, in the Middle Ages, was covered with forest. This forest has since been almost entirely cut down.


title: Floyd Landis

paragraphs: Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American road racing cyclist, now best remembered because of the Tour de France 2006 doping scandal. He is a time-trial specialist and a strong climber.

paragraphs: Landis turned professional in 1999 with the Mercury Cycling Team. He joined the US Postal Service team in 2002, and moved to the Phonak Hearing Systems team in 2005.

paragraphs: Landis was fired from the Phonak team on 5 August 2006. The doping test after stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France showed he had a very high testosterone/epitestosterone "ratio". The rules say that for every one unit of one chemical he should have four unites of the other (a 4 to one (4:1) ratio). Landis's test showed a ratio of 11:1.

paragraphs: Landis appealed to the USA Cycling and saying the tests were not done properly. USA Cycling asked three people from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to study Landis's claims. On 20 September 2007 that group voted 2 to 1 against him. Landis was stripped of his title as winner of the 2006 Tour de France by the UCI, and banned from professional racing for two years.

paragraphs: Under UCI rules, the cyclist's national federation, in this case USA Cycling decides if the rules have been broken, but because of the science involved they asked the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to help.

paragraphs: Floyd Landis was born in Farmersville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

paragraphs: Landis was brought up a Mennonite, and rode his first races wearing sweatpants because his religion forbade wearing shorts; he won anyway. Landis' father, is a devout Mennonite, and tried to stop him from racing his bike by giving him extra chores. He had no time to train during the day, so he would sneak out of the house at night to train, sometimes at 1 or 2 a.m. and often in the freezing cold. His father, found that Floyd had been going out at night and often followed him at a distance to make sure he was not getting into trouble. Today, Floyd Landis's father is a supporter of his son and says he is one of Floyd's biggest fans.

paragraphs: Before the 2006 Tour de Francemost people thought the winner would be either Ivan Basso or Jan Ullrich, who finished second and third respectively in the 2005 tour. Days before the race, the Operación Puerto doping case forced Basso and Ullrich to withdraw, and Landis became one of the favourites to win

paragraphs: Landis performance up to Stage 16 of the Tour de France and his comeback in Stage 17 is surprising because of his hip ailment, called osteonecrosis, which was revealed in an article in "The New York Times" during the 2006 Tour de France. This means he was in constant pain.

paragraphs: On July 27, 2006 the Phonak Cycling Team said Floyd Landis had a urine test come back positive, having an unusually high ratio of the hormone testosterone to the hormone epitestosterone (T/E ratio) after Stage 17. Landis denied having doped. Phonak stated that he would be dismissed should the backup sample also test positive. It did, and Landis was suspended from professional cycling and dismissed from his team. Landis's personal physician later disclosed that the test had found a T/E ratio of 11:1 in Landis, far above the maximum allowable ratio of 4:1.

paragraphs: The tests were done by French government's anti-doping clinical laboratory, the National Laboratory for Doping Detection (LNDD)which is part of the Ministry of Youth, Sport, and Social Life, and is and is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).)

paragraphs: On May 14, 2007 a meeting began between the USADA and Landis about the doping allegations. On September 20, 2007, the arbitrators found Landis guilty of doping.

paragraphs: As Landis forfeited his Tour title, the second place rider, Óscar Pereiro, became the race's official winner. Landis has also been banned from the sport for two years, dated retroactively to January 2007.

paragraphs: Landis's former team, Phonak has already been disbanded

paragraphs: The USADA had more B samples taken during the Tour de France 2006 examined. After Landis's attempts to prevent these tests had failed, traces of exogenous testosterone were found in several samples in a test of seven samples. These confirmation tests were done at the same French lab Landis's team was trying to discredit for the first positive results.

paragraphs: Landis did race in France in 2007 so that the appeal could be decided in the United States first. If the raced in France they may start their own investigation because doping is illegal in France.

paragraphs: Among Landis's lawyers are José Maria Buxeda of Spain and Howard L. Jacobs of the United States. Buxeda represented Roberto Heras when he was suspended for two years after testing positive for doping. Jacobs has also defended athletes accused of doping, such as cyclist Tyler Hamilton and sprinter Tim Montgomery. They are also representing Kazakh cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov who was accused of blood doping, kicked out of the 2007 Tour de France, and fired from his cycling team.

paragraphs: On September 20, 2007 Landis was found guilty of doping by a 2-1 vote of the hearing committee. The committee said that there were mistakes testing the sample so they will not say that there was a high amount of the natural chemical testosterone. But the committee did say was proof of artificial testosterone and that

paragraphs: Landis does have the right to appeal the decision of the committee to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.


title: Óscar Pereiro

paragraphs: Óscar Pereiro is a cyclist from Spain. He was born on 3 August 1977. He came second in the 2006 Tour de France. On 20 September 2007 he was declared the winner because Floyd Landis was found guilty of doping.


title: Hawksbill sea turtle

paragraphs: The hawksbill turtle or sea turtle ("Eretmochelys imbricata") is an endangered species of turtle.

paragraphs: It is mostly seen in shallow lagoons and coral reefs where its food is. It is smaller than the Australian flatback turtle: it is usually a little more than two feet long. It usually weighs about 150 pounds. It has the most pointed beak among sea turtles, which is how it gets its name. The hawksbill gets food from inside coral reefs, eating sponges, shrimp, squid, and other invertebrates. The hawksbill pointy beak helps the turtle get food out of the tiny cracks and holes in which it searches.

paragraphs: Though they are sometimes seen in American waters, hawksbill turtles almost always nest in the warmer climates that run along the equator. Because people use the shell to make jewelry and other things, the hawksbill turtle is endangered.


title: 1924 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were held at Paris in France.

paragraphs: The games were thought to be successful, but costly. The events were well attended.

paragraphs: A total of 44 nations sent athletes to compete at the Paris games.


title: 1906 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1906 Summer Olympics, also called the 1906 Intercalated Games, were held in Athens, Greece.

paragraphs: These games are not awarded the title of "Olympiad" because they were held between the III and IV Olympiads. Medals were given to the participants during these games, but the medals are not officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

paragraphs: Athletes from 20 nations took part in the St. Louis games.


title: 2012 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, were held in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012, followed by the 2012 Paralympic Games from 29 August to 9 September.

paragraphs: London became the first city to host the modern Olympic Games three times; London also hosted the 1908 Summer Olympics and the 1948 Summer Olympics.

paragraphs: By the bid submission deadline of 15 July 2003, nine cities had submitted bids to host the 2012 Olympics. These cities were Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro.

paragraphs: On 18 May 2004 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reduced the number of cities to five: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, and Paris.

paragraphs: The IOC inspection team visited the five candidate cities during February and March 2005.

paragraphs: On 6 June 2005, the International Olympic Committee released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. Although these reports did not contain any scores or rankings, the evaluation report for Paris was seen as the most positive, followed closely by London.

paragraphs: During the process, many thought Paris was most likely to win the nomination, largely because this was its third bid in recent years. In late August 2004, reports came out predicting a London and Paris tie in the 2012 bid.

paragraphs: On 6 July 2005, London was announced as the winner of the bid at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore.

paragraphs: Athletes from 204 National Olympic Countries took part. In addition, four individual athletes competed under the Olympic flag—one from South Sudan and three from the region of the former Netherlands Antilles

paragraphs: Listed below are NOCs who have qualified at least one athlete. As of 7 June 2011, 101 nations have qualified at least one athlete.

paragraphs: The 2012 Summer Olympics event has 26 sports.

paragraphs: The International Olympic Committee executive board met on 13 August 2009 and approved the addition of women's boxing. The International Boxing Federation proposed that 40 athletes compete in five different weight classes.

paragraphs: The official motto for the 2012 Summer Olympics is "Inspire a generation". It was chosen to highlight the organiser's commitment to inspire the world to get involved in sporting events through the olympic games' legacy.

paragraphs: The official mascots for the Olympics and Paralympic Games were revealed in May 2010. They were called Wenlock and Mandeville.

paragraphs: The 2012 Olympics had many sponsors. Some of the most popular ones are McDonald's, Acer, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Panasonic.


title: 1952 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were held at Helsinki in Finland.

paragraphs: Helsinki was chosen as the host city over Amsterdam, Athens, Lausanne, and Stockholm and five American cities: Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Philadelphia. Helsinki had been given the 1940 Summer Olympics, but they were cancelled because of World War II.

paragraphs: A total of 69 nations sent athletes to compete at the Helsinki games.


title: 1948 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were held at London in the United Kingdom.

paragraphs: These were the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, because no Games were held during World War II.

paragraphs: In part, the games were thought to be a success because the Organizing Committee did not go into debt. The final financial report showed a ₤29,000 profit.

paragraphs: A total of 59 nations sent athletes to compete at the London Games.


title: 1944 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1944 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad, were not held.

paragraphs: The games were cancelled because of World War II. They would have been held in London, England, which won the bid in the June 1939 International Olympic Committee election, over Rome, Detroit, Lausanne, Athens, Budapest, Helsinki and Montreal.

paragraphs: London hosted the next Olympic Games, the 1948 Summer Olympics, awarded without an election.

paragraphs: In spite of the war, the IOC had many events at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland to celebrate its 50th anniversary. These events happened on 17 June to 19 June 1944 and were called "The Jubilee Celebrations of IOC" by Carl Diem, the man who began the modern tradition of the Olympic torch relay.

paragraphs: Polish POWs in the Woldenberg (Dobiegniew) Oflag II-C POW camp were granted permission by their Nazi captors to have an unofficial "POW Olympics" in 1944, showing that the Olympic spirit can survive even during war.


title: 1920 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were held at Antwerp in Belgium.

paragraphs: The games were a financial strain for the host country and the participants. The events were not well attended.

paragraphs: A total of 22 nations sent athletes to compete at the Antwerp games.


title: 1916 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1916 Summer Olympics , officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were not held.

paragraphs: The games were planned for Berlin in Germany.

paragraphs: In 1912, workers began building the sports facilities for the games. The "Deutsches Stadion" ("German Stadium") began in 1912. In June 1913, the stadium was officially opened with 60,000 people at the ceremonies.

paragraphs: The games were cancelled because of World War I.


title: Morphology (linguistics)

paragraphs: Morphology is part of linguistics. It looks at the way words are put together using small pieces called morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest part of a word that has meaning. Different languages have different morphemes and have different rules for how morphemes are combined.

paragraphs: Words are the smallest pieces of a sentence. Some words only have one morpheme. For example the English words "thank," "dog," and "slow" are all words made up of only one morpheme. A morpheme that can stand alone as a word is called a "free morpheme".

paragraphs: Words can also be made up of more than one morpheme. English speakers know that one can add the plural(more than one) morpheme, "-s," to the end of "dog," and create the word "dogs". The new word combines the meanings of the two morphemes, so the meaning of the new word, "dogs" is "more than one dog." "Dog" is a free morpheme, but the plural morpheme "-s" is not. It must attach to a word (no native English speaker would use "-s" as a stand alone word). Morphemes which must be attached to a word are called "bound morphemes". Morphemes attached to the front of a word are called "prefixes". Those attached to the end are called "suffixes". Some morphemes can attach in the middle of a word and are called "infixes". (example?)

paragraphs: There are two types of bound morphemes: derivational and inflectional. Inflectional morphemes give a listener or reader information about how the word is used in a sentence. English does not have a lot of inflectional morphemes. An example of an inflectional morpheme in English is the "-ed" suffix for verbs. This morpheme at the end of a verb lets the speaker know that the action happened in the past. Another example is the "-s" suffix for nouns to show that there is more than one of the noun.

paragraphs: Derivational morphemes change the part of speech or somehow change the basic meaning of the word they attach to. Most bound morphemes in English are derivational.


title: Syntax

paragraphs: In linguistics, syntax is the study of the rules that govern the structure of sentences.

paragraphs: The term "syntax" can also be used to refer to these rules themselves, as in “the syntax of a language”. Modern research in syntax attempts to describe languages in terms of such rules, and, for many practitioners, to find general rules that apply to all languages.


title: 1912 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were held in Stockholm, Sweden.

paragraphs: The games were thought to be a success. For the first time, athletes in the Games came from all five continents symbolised in the Olympic rings.

paragraphs: A total of 22 nations sent athletes to compete at the Stockholm games. They were:


title: Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov

paragraphs: Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov (21 August 1929 – 7 October 2017) was a Soviet/Russian historical linguist. His main topic of study is Indo-European languages.

paragraphs: He is best known for his glottalic theory of how consonants are spoken in Indo-European languages and for placing point of origin for these languages in the area of the Armenian Highlands and Lake Urmia. He was born in Moscow.

paragraphs: Vyacheslav Ivanov's father was Vsevolod Ivanov, one of the most famous Soviet writers. His mother was an actress. She worked in the theatre of Vsevolod Meyerhold. His childhood was filled by disease and war, which he spent in Tashkent.

paragraphs: Ivanov died in Moscow on 7 October 2017 at the age of 88.


title: Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze

paragraphs: Tamaz (Thomas) V. Gamkrelidze (Georgian თამაზ გამყრელიძე) (born October 23, 1929) is a Georgian linguist, orientalist and public benefactor, Academician (since 1974) and President (2005–2013) of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), Doctor of Sciences (1963), Professor (1964).

paragraphs: Gamkrelidze was born in Kutaisi. His brother Revaz Gamkrelidze is also an Academician, a famous mathematician.


title: Georgian alphabet

paragraphs: The Georgian alphabet is used to write in the Georgian language and other Kartvelian languages. The alphabet is called Khutsuri, first said around in the 11th century.

paragraphs: Greek and Aramaic influences have been shown, but some Georgian scholars like Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze have said that they were freely invented in imitation of the Greek model rather than directly based upon earlier forms of the Aramaic alphabet even though the Georgian phonological inventory is very different from Greek.


title: Cytosine

paragraphs: Cytosine is one of the 5 main nucleobases used in storing and transporting genetic information within a cell in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA.

paragraphs: In DNA and RNA, cytosine is paired with guanine. However, it is unstable, and can change into uracil (spontaneous deamination). This can lead to a point mutation if not repaired by the DNA repair enzymes such as uracil glycosylase, which cleaves a uracil in DNA.


title: 1908 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IV Olympiad, were held in London, United Kingdom.

paragraphs: The Olympics were originally scheduled to be held in Rome; however, Mount Vesuvius erupted on 7 April 1906. The natural disaster caused a financial strain on the Italian government. Then the venue was changed to London. The costs of the games were covered by donations.

paragraphs: A total of 22 nations sent athletes to compete at the London games. They were:


title: Guanine

paragraphs: Guanine is one of the five main nucleobases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA.

paragraphs: The others are adenine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. With the formula CHNO, guanine is a derivative of purine.

paragraphs: Guanine, along with adenine and cytosine, is present in both DNA and RNA, whereas thymine is usually seen only in DNA and uracil only in RNA.


title: Glottalic theory

paragraphs: The glottalic theory says that Proto-Indo-European had ejective stops instead of voiced stops. The theory says that it had p’ t’ k’, and not b d g, like the traditional version of the Proto-Indo-European sound system.

paragraphs: The glottalic theory was made in the United States by Paul Hopper and in the Soviet Union by Thomas V. Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav V. Ivanov. The earliest theory was made by the Danish linguist Holger Pedersen. It did not have glottalized sounds. Earlier linguists, such as André Martinet and Morris Swadesh, saw the potential of replacing glottalic sounds for the supposed plain voiced stops of Proto-Indo-European. This idea stayed hypothetical until more evidence for it was published in 1973 by Hopper in the journal Glossa and by Gamkrelidze and Ivanov in the journal Phonetica.


title: Proto-Indo-Europeans

paragraphs: The Proto-Indo-Europeans were a group of people after the last Ice age. Their existence, from 4000 or earlier, is implied by their language. They were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE), an unwritten but now partly reconstructed prehistoric language.

paragraphs: Knowledge of them comes not only from language, but also from archaeology and archaeogenetics. They were a group of loosely related peoples ancestral to the Bronze Age Indo-Europeans.

paragraphs: The Proto-Indo-Europeans likely lived during the Copper Age, or roughly the 5th to 4th millennia BC. Mainstream scholarship places them in the general region of the steppes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Some scholars would extend the time of PIE much further back. More recent studies support an origin in northern Iran and the Armenian Highland.

paragraphs: By the mid-2nd millennium BC offshoots of the Proto-Indo-Europeans had reached Anatolia, the Aegean, Northern India, and likely Western Europe.

paragraphs: The Proto-Indo-European culture had some or all of these features:

paragraphs: The Proto-Indo-Europeans were a patrilineal society, probably half-nomadic, relying on animal husbandry, notably of cattle and sheep. They domesticated the horse – "ekwos" (cf. Latin "equus"). The cow ("gwous") played a central role, in religion and mythology as well as in daily life. A man's wealth would have been measured by the number of his animals (small livestock), "peḱus" (cf. English "fee", Latin "pecunia").

paragraphs: They practiced a polytheistic religion centered on sacrificial rites, probably administered by a priestly caste. Burials in barrows or tomb chambers (see Kurgan hypothesis). Important leaders would have been buried with their belongings, and possibly also with members of their households or wives (human sacrifice, suttee).

paragraphs: Many Indo-European societies know a threefold division of priests, a warrior class, and a class of peasants or husbandmen. If there was a separate class of warriors, it probably consisted of single young men. They would have followed a separate warrior code unacceptable in the society outside their peer-group. Traces of initiation rites in several Indo-European societies suggest that this group identified itself with wolves or dogs (see also Berserker, werewolf).

paragraphs: As for technology, reconstruction suggests a culture of the early Bronze Age, with bronze tools and weapons. Silver and gold were known. Sheep were kept for wool, and textiles were woven. The wheel was known, certainly for ox-drawn carts, and late Proto-Indo European warfare may also have made use of horse-drawn chariots.

paragraphs: The native name of this people cannot be reconstructed with certainty. "Aryo-" (interpreted by some as meaning "those who plow"), sometimes upheld as a self-identification of the Proto-Indo-Europeans (see Aryan), is shown only in the Indo-Iranian subfamily, since it appears on written inscriptions; however, the Proto-Indo-Europeans themselves had not yet adopted writing, so there is no way to verify that "Aryo-" was their self-identification.


title: Urheimat

paragraphs: Urheimat (German: "ur-" original, ancient; "Heimat" home, homeland) is a linguistic term meaning the original homeland of the speakers of a proto-language. Since many peoples tend to wander and spread, there is no exact Urheimat, but there is an Indo-European Urheimat different from the Germanic or Romance Urheimat. Recent studies say the original home of Indo-Europeans was near the Armenian Highlands.


title: Anatolian hypothesis

paragraphs: The Anatolian hypothesis of Proto-Indo-European origin is that the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language lived in Anatolia during the Neolithic era. When the Neolithic Revolution took place in the seventh and sixth millennia BC, the speakers spread over Europe. Those who advocate this hypothesis think that the Indo-European languages originated in Anatolia. They believe that the Proto-Indo-Europeans then migrated north to the location north of the Caucasus Mountains. There is an another hypothesis, called the Kurgan hypothesis. The people who support it say the Indo-European languages came from the Caucasus. One of the best-known advocates of the Anatolian hypothesis is Colin Renfrew.


title: Rafael Ishkhanyan

paragraphs: Rafael Ishkhanyan or Ishkhanian () is a well-known Armenian philologist and historian. He was a professor of the Yerevan State University.

paragraphs: In 1939, Ishkhanyan entered the department of Armenian language and literature of Yerevan State University. He fought in World War II. After the war, he continued his studies and graduated from Yerevan University in 1949.

paragraphs: His works are generally dedicated to the earliest history of the Armenian people, to the comparative linguistic analysis of ancient languages, and to printing. He is one of the authors of Armenian Soviet encyclopedia.

paragraphs: He was a Deputy to the Supreme Soviet Armenia in 1990-1996.

paragraphs: Ishkhanyan claims that Armenians "were the aborigines of the Armenian plateau who have been living there continuously since the fourth millennium B.C.E at the latest". Similar claims were promoted in nationalist novels such as those of Sero Khanzatian, published in the 1970s.


title: Cross-country race

paragraphs: A Cross-country race is any running race that takes place on different types of terrain. Different levels of competition include middle school , high school , collegiate men and , women 5km (3.1 mi) and , amateur, and professional.

paragraphs: The scoring in these events gives one point to the winner, two points to the person who finished second, and so on. In an "invitational" or "meet" where teams of runners count up the points of their top five finishers. This is their score. The team with the lowest score wins. If there is a tie, the team with the fastest sixth man wins.

paragraphs: Times in races depend on the terrain, weather, and the other runners. This means that two athletes competing in different places in the world who are running the same time might not be at the same ability level.


title: Long distance race

paragraphs: A long distance race is any running event on the track that is longer than 3000m. This includes such events as the 3000m run, the 3000m steeplechase, the 3200m run, the two mile run, the three mile run, 5000m run, five mile run, six mile run, and 10000m run, and so on.


title: Warsaw Convention

paragraphs: "distinguish the Warsaw Pact, which was a defence treaty between Eastern European nations"

paragraphs: The Warsaw Convention is an international convention which regulates for international carriage of persons, luggage or goods performed by aircraft for reward.

paragraphs: It was signed in 1929 in Warsaw, it was amended in 1955 at The Hague and in 1975 in Montreal.

paragraphs: In particular, the Warsaw Convention has the following rules:

paragraphs: On April 1, 2007, the exchange rate was 1.00 SDR = 1.135 EUR or

paragraphs: The Montreal Convention, signed in 1999, will replace the Warsaw Convention system, once Montreal has been ratified by all states.


title: Coroner (band)

paragraphs: Coroner was a thrash metal band from Switzerland. The band was formed in 1985. The band is with Noise record label. The band's most successful albums are "No More Color", "Mental Vortex" and "Grin".


title: Ritchies

paragraphs: Ritchies is the largest independent supermarket group in the IGA network of Australia. It was started in 1870 by Thomas Ritchie who opened a food store in the tiny country village of Frankston, Victoria.


title: Maggie Smith

paragraphs: Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is a British actress. She is better known as Maggie Smith. She made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 60 years. She has won many awards for acting, both for the stage and for movies, including seven BAFTA Awards (five competitive awards and two special awards including the Bafta Fellowship in 1996), two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, two Emmy Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, two SAG Awards and a Tony Award.

paragraphs: Her award winning movies include "Othello" (1965), "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969), "Travels with My Aunt" (1972), "California Suite" (1978), "Clash of the Titans" (1981), "A Room with a View" (1985) and "Gosford Park" (2001). She has also been in a number of widely-popular movies, including "Hook" (1991), "Sister Act" (1992) and as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" movie series. She currently stars in the drama "Downton Abbey" as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, for which she has won an Emmy.

paragraphs: Smith was born in Ilford, Essex. She moved to Oxford at age four and went to Oxford High School.

paragraphs: Smith has been married twice. She married actor Robert Stephens on 29 June 1967 at Greenwich. The couple had two sons: actors Chris Larkin (born in 1967) and Toby Stephens (born in 1969). They divorced on 6 May 1974.

paragraphs: She married playwright Beverley Cross on 23 August 1975 at Guildford. He died on 20 March 1998.

paragraphs: In 2007, the "Sunday Telegraph"' reported that she had breast cancer. She has made a full recovery.


title: Blood Tsunami

paragraphs: Blood Tsunami is a thrash metal band from Oslo, Norway. The band was formed in 2004.


title: Bates College

paragraphs: Bates College is an American liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. Bates College was founded in 1855. 1,800 students attend Bates. Economics, English, Psychology, Biology, and History are popular majors at Bates College.


title: Suffolk University

paragraphs: Suffolk University is an American university in Boston, Massachusetts. Suffolk was founded in 1906 by Gleason Archer. The University has three main schools: Suffolk University Law School, Suffolk University College of Arts and Sciences, and Suffolk University's Sawyer Business School. The University remains best known for its law school. It is featured annually in U.S. News and Annual Report and the Princeton Review.


title: French literature

paragraphs: French literature is the literature of France. It also includes literature that is written in French, even if the writer is not from France. There are countries besides France where French is also spoken. These countries include Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Senegal, Algeria, and Morocco. Works that are written in French but not from France are called Francophone literature.

paragraphs: The French language grew out of Latin. French is a Romance language, related to other languages like Spanish and Italian. French was also influenced by the Celtic and Frankish languages.

paragraphs: The following French or French language authors have won a Nobel Prize in Literature:


title: Treaty of Warsaw (1970)

paragraphs: The Treaty of Warsaw () is a treaty between West Germany and the People's Republic of Poland. It was signed on December 7, 1970 and ratified by the German Bundestag on May 17, 1972.

paragraphs: In the treaty, both sides committed themselves to nonviolence and accepted the existing border - the Oder-Neisse line. This was a very sensitive topic at the time as Poland was concerned that one day a German government would lay claim to some of the territory Germany lost after World War II. Poland took over this territory to replace eastern Poland, which the Soviet Union had conquered in 1939. A lot of that land was east of the Curzon Line, and Poland kept it after the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921).

paragraphs: Chancellor Willy Brandt was heavily criticized by the conservative CDU/CSU opposition, which indeed were in favour of such a claim, accusing him of abandoning German interests. The Oder-Neisse line was reaffirmed by a reunited Germany in the German-Polish Border Treaty, signed on 14 November 1990.

paragraphs: In the FRG at the time this treaty was signed it was not seen as the last word on the border, because article IV stated that previous treaties like the Potsdam Agreement were not superseded by this latest agreement, so the provisions of this treaty could be changed by a final peace treaty between Germany and the Allies of World War II as provided for in the Potsdam Agreement.