269 résultats pour "earth"
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Soyuz - astronomy.
Since 1978, citizens of Czechoslovakia, France, Mongolia, Cuba, the United Kingdom, and about 20 other countries have flown on Soyuz spacecraft. In March 1995,American astronaut Norman E. Thagard flew in Soyuz-TM 21 to Mir; he returned to Earth in July 1995 on the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis. The collapse of the Soviet Union left Russia with less money and fewer resources for spaceflight programs than in the past. Nevertheless, Russia managed to keep theMir space station continuously staffed wit...
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Ferdinand Magellan
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INTRODUCTION
Ferdinand Magellan (1480?
reduced fleet and brought it to its goal, the Moluccas, where he took on a cargo of cloves. One ship tried to return across the Pacific but was forced back by the windsand then captured by the Portuguese, who interned its crew. Cano made the long westward return voyage with one last ship, the Victoria . After a difficult voyage, with a remaining crew of 18, the Victoria reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, almost three years to the day after setting forth. The cargo of cloves s...
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Ferdinand Magellan.
reduced fleet and brought it to its goal, the Moluccas, where he took on a cargo of cloves. One ship tried to return across the Pacific but was forced back by the windsand then captured by the Portuguese, who interned its crew. Cano made the long westward return voyage with one last ship, the Victoria . After a difficult voyage, with a remaining crew of 18, the Victoria reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, almost three years to the day after setting forth. The cargo of cloves s...
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Ferdinand Magellan - explorer.
reduced fleet and brought it to its goal, the Moluccas, where he took on a cargo of cloves. One ship tried to return across the Pacific but was forced back by the windsand then captured by the Portuguese, who interned its crew. Cano made the long westward return voyage with one last ship, the Victoria . After a difficult voyage, with a remaining crew of 18, the Victoria reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, almost three years to the day after setting forth. The cargo of cloves s...
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Saturn - astronomy.
measurements of the magnetic field made by the Voyager space probes in the 1980s. Additional Cassini findings reported in March 2007 suggested that particles originating from geysers on the moon Enceladus may provide a partial explanation for thechange. The neutral gas particles become electrically charged and are captured by Saturn’s magnetic field, forming a disk of hot, ionized gas around the planet’sequator. The charged particles interact with the magnetic field and slow down the rotation of...
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Native American Architecture
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INTRODUCTION
Native American Architecture, traditional architecture of the peoples of who lived in North America before Europeans arrived.
Mound Builders who resided in the area.John Elk III/Bruce Coleman, Inc. Another mound building culture, named Hopewell, also appears to have originated in Ohio but expanded west to Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma, south to Louisiana,Mississippi, and Alabama, east to Georgia and the Appalachian Mountains, and north to Wisconsin, Michigan, and lower Ontario in Canada. The Hopewell culture lastedfrom about 200 BC to 400 AD. Hopewell people built large, linear mounds to create enclosures in geometrical...
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Voyager - astronomy.
Voyager 1 had not yet reached the termination shock boundary. They reported that the spacecraft was near but not yet there. Both teams agreed, nevertheless, thatVoyager 1 had entered unknown territory and had embarked on the final phase of its mission, which includes exploring the termination shock boundary, the heliopauseitself, and finally, interstellar space. Voyager 2 is also due to explore these outer regions. Unlike Voyager 1, a key instrument known as a plasma detector is still functionin...
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Aerospace Medicine - astronomy.
medically as aeroembolism and popularly as the bends, leads to confusion, paralysis, or neurocirculatory collapse. The most characteristic symptoms of the bends arepain in the large joints resulting from pressure of the gas on tendons and nerves, together with spasm of the blood vessels. Preflight inhalation of pure oxygen toeliminate nitrogen from the system has proved valuable as a preventive measure. Rapid decompression, resulting from accidental failure at high altitudes of thepressure withi...
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Geographic Exploration.
The commercial reason for exploration has been a consistent driving force. In 1492 the great navigator Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic Oceanseeking a new, shorter, and cheaper route to reach the riches of East Asia, and Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama circumnavigated Africa for much the same reason.Yet similar investigations of the profitable eastern trade had already been made by Arab sailors. Arab trading ships were sailing from the Arabian Sea to southeasternAsia probab...
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Geographic Exploration - explorer.
The commercial reason for exploration has been a consistent driving force. In 1492 the great navigator Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic Oceanseeking a new, shorter, and cheaper route to reach the riches of East Asia, and Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama circumnavigated Africa for much the same reason.Yet similar investigations of the profitable eastern trade had already been made by Arab sailors. Arab trading ships were sailing from the Arabian Sea to southeasternAsia probab...
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Culture.
form of knowledge, such as scientific discoveries; objects, such as works of art; and traditions, such as the observance of holidays. C1 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Self-identity usually depends on culture to such a great extent that immersion in a very different culture—with which a person does not share common ways of life orbeliefs—can cause a feeling of confusion and disorientation. Anthropologists refer to this phenomenon as culture shock. In multicultural societies —societies s...
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Glacier.
covered. In spring the snow cover begins to melt in the lower reaches, exposing the ice surface. As temperatures increase, the melting moves up the glacier. Thesnowline is the highest position the melting reaches during the year. Firn is old granular snow. The firn limit may not exactly coincide with the annual snowline since insome years rapid melting leaves behind firn patches below the snowline. Some glaciers exhibit features called ice streams and icefalls. Ice streams are valley glaciers th...
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Atom - chemistry.
Atoms have several properties that help distinguish one type of atom from another and determine how atoms change under certain conditions. A Atomic Number Each element has a unique number of protons in its atoms. This number is called the atomic number (abbreviated Z). Because atoms are normally electrically neutral,the atomic number also specifies how many electrons an atom will have. The number of electrons, in turn, determines many of the chemical and physical properties ofthe atom. The ligh...
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Radar.
gathers the weak returning radar signals and converts them into an electric current. Because a radar antenna may both transmit and receive signals, the duplexerdetermines whether the antenna is connected to the receiver or the transmitter. The receiver determines whether the signal should be reported and often does furtheranalysis before sending the results to the display. The display conveys the results to the human operator through a visual display or an audible signal. B1 The Antenna The rec...
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Lightning.
In the U.S. about 100 persons are killed and many injured by lightning each year, more than by tornadoes or hurricanes. Forty percent of all farm fires and 75,000forest fires a year are started by lightning. Lightning is not all bad, however. The soil is enriched with nitrogen that is released from the atmosphere by lightning andcarried to the ground by raindrops. Some scientists believe that lightning may have been a key element in the origin of life on earth, creating from simple elementscompl...
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Asia - geography.
the Himalayas, the world’s highest mountain system. The Pacific Ocean plate drifted westward, scraping along the Eurasian plate and slipping under its coastal edge. This created the islands of Japan, Taiwan, the Kurils, theRyūky ūs, and the Philippines. Southeast Asia lies at the intersection of the Eurasian, Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean plates. Over time the contact between these platescreated the mountain ranges of mainland Southeast Asia. The continued slow movement of the plates causes fr...
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Asia - history.
the Himalayas, the world’s highest mountain system. The Pacific Ocean plate drifted westward, scraping along the Eurasian plate and slipping under its coastal edge. This created the islands of Japan, Taiwan, the Kurils, theRyūky ūs, and the Philippines. Southeast Asia lies at the intersection of the Eurasian, Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean plates. Over time the contact between these platescreated the mountain ranges of mainland Southeast Asia. The continued slow movement of the plates causes fr...
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Igneous Rock.
As a magma cools, the first crystals to form will be of minerals that become solid at relatively high temperatures (usually olivine and a type of feldspar known asanorthite). The composition of these early-formed mineral crystals will be different from the initial composition of the magma. Consequently, as these growing crystalstake certain elements out of the magma in certain proportions, the composition of the remaining liquid changes. This process is known as magmatic differentiation.Sometime...
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Mechanics
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INTRODUCTION
Mechanics, branch of physics concerning the motions of objects and their response to forces.
Components of VelocityNeglecting air resistance, a ball thrown into the air at an angle will travel in a parabolic path. The velocity of the ball (V)has independent vertical (V) and horizontal (H) components; the horizontal component stays the same the entire time theball is in the air, while the vertical component, the only component affected by gravity, changes continuously while theball is aloft.© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. To understand why and how objects accelerate, force...
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Conservation.
cancers, Hodgkin’s disease and leukemia. Unfortunately, human activities have greatly reduced biodiversity around the world. The 20th century encompasses one of the greatest waves of extinction, orelimination of species, to occur on the planet. The greatest threat to biodiversity is loss of habitat as humans develop land for agriculture, grazing livestock, industry,and habitation. The most drastic damage has occurred in the tropical rain forests, which cover less than seven percent of the Earth’...
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Mythology
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INTRODUCTION
Mythology, the body of myths of a particular culture, and the study and interpretation of such myths.
usually define a myth as a story that has compelling drama and deals with basic elements and assumptions of a culture. Myths explain, for example, how the worldbegan; how humans and animals came into being; how certain customs, gestures, or forms of human activity originated; and how the divine and human worlds interact.Many myths take place at a time before the world as human beings know it came into being. Because myth-making often involves gods, other supernatural beings, andprocesses beyond...
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Asia - Geography.
Borneo, the world’s third largest island after Greenland and New Guinea. To the southeast is the Timor Sea separating the Asian island of Timor from the Australiancontinent. The Indian subcontinent is flanked by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. The island of Sri Lanka and the much smaller Maldives andNicobar Islands trail away to the south. The Arabian Sea’s Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea form an arc along the western rim of Asia...
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Asia - History.
Borneo, the world’s third largest island after Greenland and New Guinea. To the southeast is the Timor Sea separating the Asian island of Timor from the Australiancontinent. The Indian subcontinent is flanked by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. The island of Sri Lanka and the much smaller Maldives andNicobar Islands trail away to the south. The Arabian Sea’s Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea form an arc along the western rim of Asia...
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underworld (1) Greek The black abyss known
as Hades and the dwelling place of the dead.
Earth. By the middle of the third century b.c., Dis Pater and Proserpina had also become the rulers of the realm of dead spirits. Together they became an official part of the Roman religious ceremonies. Beginning in 249 b.c., Romans held games known as the Ludi Tarentini or Tarentine Games, to recognize, honor, and appease these two gods. Much of the mythology of Dis Pater and Proserpina had by this time taken on the stories of the Greek gods Hades (or Pluto) and Persephone, who ruled over a rea...
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Pacific Ocean - geography.
The Pacific is the oldest of the existing ocean basins, its oldest rocks having been dated at 200 million years. The major features of the basin and rim have been shaped bythe phenomena associated with plate tectonics. The coastal shelf, which extends to depths of 180 m (600 ft), is narrow along North and South America but is relatively widealong Asia and Australia. The East Pacific Rise, a midocean ridge system, extends 8,700 km (5,400 mi) from the Gulf of California to a point 3,600 km (2,240...
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Modern Art
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INTRODUCTION
American Gothic
American Gothic was painted by the 20th-century American artist Grant Wood in 1930.
while at the other side a woman in black appears to mourn the end of her participation in the dance. Click on the buttonsto learn more.© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. In view of this diversity, it is difficult to define modern art in a way that includes all of 20th-century Western art. For some critics, the most important characteristic ofmodern art is its attempt to make painting and sculpture ends in themselves, thus distinguishing modernism from earlier forms of art that had con...
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Desert - geography.
irrigation from rivers or wells. Such transformations of deserts are not without problems. Evaporation of the irrigation water results in the accumulation of salt on thesurface soil, eventually rendering it useless for further crop production. By tapping reservoirs of fossil water deep beneath the desert, humans are, in effect, miningwater. Once this water is gone, it is irreplaceable. Burning and overgrazing of semiarid lands on the periphery of deserts can irreversibly damage the plants thatco...
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Desert - Geography.
irrigation from rivers or wells. Such transformations of deserts are not without problems. Evaporation of the irrigation water results in the accumulation of salt on thesurface soil, eventually rendering it useless for further crop production. By tapping reservoirs of fossil water deep beneath the desert, humans are, in effect, miningwater. Once this water is gone, it is irreplaceable. Burning and overgrazing of semiarid lands on the periphery of deserts can irreversibly damage the plants thatco...
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Magnetism
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INTRODUCTION
Magnetism, an aspect of electromagnetism, one of the fundamental forces of nature.
the French physicist Paul Langevin produced a theory regarding the temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of paramagnets (discussed below), which wasbased on the atomic structure of matter. This theory is an early example of the description of large-scale properties in terms of the properties of electrons and atoms.Langevin's theory was subsequently expanded by the French physicist Pierre Ernst Weiss, who postulated the existence of an internal, “molecular” magnetic field inmaterials...
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Rain Forest.
dropped into the heart of the forest by helicopters. Suspended from the crane’s long, movable arm is a large gondola that functions as a mobile treetop laboratory.Moving from tree to tree, forest researchers collect specimens, conduct experiments, and observe life in the canopy frontier. The highest stratum of the rain forest is made up of the emergent trees, those individuals that stick up above the forest canopy. Emergents, which do not form acontinuous layer, are usually the giants of the for...
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Ancient Egypt.
around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...
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Ancient Egypt - USA History.
around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...
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Desert - geography.
a desertification study made for the United Nations stated that 35 percent of the earth’s land surface was at least threatened by such processes. See also Ecology; Environment. Contributed By:Robert Leo SmithMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Animal Migration.
No one understands exactly how migrating animals know when to migrate or how they find their way.Some experts think that the shortening days in fall or the lengthening days in spring may act as a signalto birds and other animals. Such signals indicate that it is time to start their long journey. Once on their way, birds are thought to navigate by the Sun and stars. Research shows that birds alsomay be sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field—the space around Earth where a magnetic force is felt. Fish...
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The Varieties of the Millennial Experience
I.1 Varieties 2 Resurrection of the Dead ( al-Qiy āma ) and the Day of Judgment ( Yawm al-H i s āb) are at hand. 4 Eschatological thought tends towards totalism: the conclusion is final and decisive, a closed solution. The messiness of earthly existence must itself burn up in the process. This vision of a f inal and ultimate solution welcomes zero -sum thinking (dualistic), imagining a closed form of redemption: the good in heaven, the evil in hell; the body and all its disorder...
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Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ode to the Westwind (Sprache & Litteratur).
Than thou, O uncontrollable! If evenI were as in my boyhood, and could be The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven,As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speedScarce seemed a vision; I would ne’er have striven As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed! A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowedOne too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud. V Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:What if my leaves are falling...
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Temperature
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INTRODUCTION
Thermometers
Mercury and digital thermometers are the most common types of household devices for measuring body temperature.
range of the water, which differs for various species. Thus, for example, the increase in temperature of river water by only a few degrees as a result of heat dischargedfrom power plants may kill most of the native fish. See Water Pollution. The properties of all materials are also markedly affected by temperature changes. At arctic temperatures, for example, steel becomes very brittle and breaks easily,and liquids either solidify or become very viscous, offering high frictional resistance to...
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Periodic Law - chemistry.
VI QUANTUM THEORY With the development of the quantum theory and its application to atomic structure by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr and other scientists, most of the detailedfeatures of the periodic table have found a ready explanation. Every electron is characterized by four quantum numbers that designate its orbital motion in space. Bymeans of the selection rules governing these quantum numbers and the exclusion principle of Wolfgang Pauli, which states that two electrons in the same ato...
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Zeus (Day, Bright Sky) Greek The chief god
of Greek mythology.
induced Cronus into releasing his brothers and sisters, the siblings decided to go to war against Cronus and the Titans. For 10 long years, Zeus fought against the Titans, who were led by the mighty Atlas, for Cronus was now old. Finally Zeus enlisted the help of Gaia (Earth), who advised him to release the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones (the Hecatoncheires), who had been imprisoned in the Underworld. Zeus did this, and in gratitude the Cyclopes gave Zeus the thunderbolt as a weapon. They...
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From "Song of Myself" - anthology.
Till that becomes unseen and receives proof in its turn.Showing the best and dividing it from the worst age vexes age,Knowing the perfect fitness and equanimity of things, while they discuss I am silent, and go bathe and admire myself.Welcome is every organ and attribute of me, and of any man hearty and clean,Not an inch nor a particle of an inch is vile, and none shall be less familiar than the rest.I am satisfied—I see, dance, laugh, sing;As the hugging and loving bed-fellow sleeps at my side...
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Excerpt from Love's Labour's Lost - anthology.
BEROWNE. I could put thee in comfort—not by two that I know.Thou makest the triumviry, the corner-cap of society,The shape of Love's Tyburn, that hangs up simplicity. LONGAVILLE. I fear these stubborn lines lack power to move.(Reading ) “O sweet Maria, empress of my love!”— These numbers will I tear, and write in prose.He tears the paper BEROWNE. O, rhymes are guards on wanton Cupid's hose;Disfigure not his shop. LONGAVILLE. ( taking another paper ) This same shall go: (Reading ) “Did not the he...
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Kuiper Belt - astronomy.
III RESEARCH The Kuiper Belt is an exciting area of research in astronomy. The discovery and astronomical exploration of the Kuiper Belt over the past decade have fueled arevolution in scientists’ views of the solar system. Today astronomers recognize the Kuiper Belt as the third major region of the solar system (the other two regions arethe inner solar system, with its small rocky planets, and the outer solar system, with its gas-giant planets). They believe that the belt helps explain Pluto’...
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Amerikanischer Film.
Frankenstein, 1975; Frankenstein Junior ). Der „New-Hollywood”-Bewegung, die sich Ende der sechziger Jahre gebildet hatte, um für größere gestalterische Freiheiten und weniger Abhängigkeit vom Kommerz zu kämpfen, waren Regisseure wie Dennis Hopper ( Easy Rider, 1969; Easy Rider ), Arthur Penn ( Bonnie and Clyde, 1967; Bonnie und Clyde ), Robert Altman ( Nashville, 1975; Nashville ), Peter Bogdanovich ( The Last Picture Show, 1971; Die letzte Vorstellung ), Francis Ford Coppola ( The Go...
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some screws, a pair of rusty scissors, a toy car, a pen, a key ring, broken glasses for someone with incredibly bad eyes.
anything Iwant. Myfavorite bookis A Brief History ofTime, even though Ihaven't actually finished it,because themath is incredibly hardandMom isn'tgood athelping me.One ofmy favorite partsisthe beginning ofthe first chapter, where Stephen Hawking tellsabout afamous scientist whowasgiving alecture abouthowtheearth orbits thesun, andthesun orbits thesolar system, andwhatever. Thenawoman inthe back ofthe room raised herhand andsaid, "What youhave told usisrubbish. Theworld isreally aflat plate suppo...
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Wireless Communications.
were large, heavy units. After the invention of the transistor in 1948, radios shrank in size to small handheld radio transceivers. Public two-way radios with severalfrequency options are widely available as well. Usually limited in range to a few miles, these units are great aids for such mobile professionals as construction workers,film crews, event planners, and security personnel. Simpler two-way radios, called walkie-talkies, have been popular children’s toys for years. Most walkie-talkiesb...
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Aegean Civilization .
warlike. The styles are also more formal and geometric than those of earlier examples, anticipating the art of classical Greece. A typical Mycenaean city had, at its center, the fortress palace of the king. The cities were fortified with massive structures of unevenly cut stones, known as Cyclopeanwalls. The Linear B tablets from this time include names of Greek gods, such as Zeus, and contain detailed records of royal possessions. The gold masks, weapons, andjewelry found by Schliemann at the r...
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Aegean Civilization - USA History.
warlike. The styles are also more formal and geometric than those of earlier examples, anticipating the art of classical Greece. A typical Mycenaean city had, at its center, the fortress palace of the king. The cities were fortified with massive structures of unevenly cut stones, known as Cyclopeanwalls. The Linear B tablets from this time include names of Greek gods, such as Zeus, and contain detailed records of royal possessions. The gold masks, weapons, andjewelry found by Schliemann at the r...
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Excerpt from Bleak House - anthology.
patience, courage, hope; so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart; that there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give—who does notoften give—the warning, 'Suffer any wrong that can be done you, rather than come here!' Who happen to be in the Lord Chancellor's court this murky afternoon besides the Lord Chancellor, the counsel in the cause, two or three counsel who are never inany cause, and the well of solicitors before mentioned? There is the registrar below...
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Invertebrate - biology.
animals with a five-pointed design. They live in the sea and move with the help of tiny fluid-filled feet—another feature found nowhere else in the animal world. Zoologists recognize several different groups of worms. The phylum known as flatworms contains the simplest animals possessing heads. Nerves and sense organs areconcentrated in the head. Most flatworms are paper-thin and live in a variety of wet or damp habitats, including the digestive systems of other animals. Roundwormsrepresent anot...
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Invertebrate - biology.
animals with a five-pointed design. They live in the sea and move with the help of tiny fluid-filled feet—another feature found nowhere else in the animal world. Zoologists recognize several different groups of worms. The phylum known as flatworms contains the simplest animals possessing heads. Nerves and sense organs areconcentrated in the head. Most flatworms are paper-thin and live in a variety of wet or damp habitats, including the digestive systems of other animals. Roundwormsrepresent anot...
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