191 résultats pour "wide"
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Australia - Geography.
itself forms most of the border between New South Wales and Victoria. Considerable lengths of the Murray, Darling, and Murrumbidgee rivers are navigable during thewet seasons. The central plains region, also known as the Channel Country, is interlaced by a network of rivers. During the rainy season these rivers flood the low-lying countryside,but in dry months they become merely a series of water holes. The Victoria, Daly, and Roper rivers drain a section of the Northern Territory. In Queensland...
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France - country.
In both the Paris and Aquitaine basins, fertile soils derived from limestone and wind-deposited dust, called loess, have supported prosperous agriculture since ancienttimes. Other lowlands in France are scattered and relatively small. They include the Alsace Plain in the east, bordering Germany, the valley of the Rhône River in thesoutheast, and the Languedoc Plain along the Mediterranean coast. A2 Uplands France contains several regions of uplands, the worn down remains of ancient mountain sys...
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Television.
A charge-coupled device (CCD) can be much smaller than a camera tube and is much more durable. As a result, cameras with CCDs are more compact and portablethan those using a camera tube. The image they create is less vulnerable to distortion and is therefore clearer. In a CCD, the light from a scene strikes an array ofphotodiodes arranged on a silicon chip. Photodiodes are devices that conduct electricity when they are struck by light; they send this electricity to tiny capacitors. Thecapacitors...
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Guatemala - country.
C Climate The climate of Guatemala varies according to elevation, from hot coastal plains to cold mountain heights. Most of the population lives between 900 and 2,400 m (3,000and 8,000 ft) above sea level, where there are warm days and cool nights with average annual temperatures of 20°C (68°F). The coastal regions are hot and humid,with average annual temperatures of 28°C (83°F). A rainy season, from May through October, is sometimes called “winter” because it brings cloudy afternoons andlower...
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Brazil - country.
occasional droughts. Brazil contains a wealth of mineral and plant resources that have not yet been fully explored. It possesses some of the world’s largest deposits of iron ore and containsrich deposits of many other minerals, including gold and copper. Brazil’s fossil fuel resources are modest, but this limitation is offset by the considerable hydroelectricpotential of the nation’s many rivers. Although Brazil is an important producer of tropical crops, areas of highly fertile land are limited...
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Canada.
Six general landform regions are distinguishable in Canada: the Appalachian Region, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Canadian Shield, the Great Plains,the Canadian Cordillera, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. B1 Appalachian Region and Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands Eastern Canada consists of the Appalachian Region and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands. The Appalachian Region embraces Newfoundland Island, NovaScotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the G...
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Canada - country.
Six general landform regions are distinguishable in Canada: the Appalachian Region, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Canadian Shield, the Great Plains,the Canadian Cordillera, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. B1 Appalachian Region and Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands Eastern Canada consists of the Appalachian Region and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands. The Appalachian Region embraces Newfoundland Island, NovaScotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the G...
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Canada - Canadian History.
Six general landform regions are distinguishable in Canada: the Appalachian Region, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Canadian Shield, the Great Plains,the Canadian Cordillera, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. B1 Appalachian Region and Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands Eastern Canada consists of the Appalachian Region and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands. The Appalachian Region embraces Newfoundland Island, NovaScotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the G...
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Asteroid - astronomy.
Asteroids of the S type, related to the stony iron meteorites, make up about 15 percent of the total population of asteroids that can be seen from Earth. Much rarer arethe M-type objects, corresponding in composition to the meteorites known as “irons.” These objects are made up of an iron-nickel alloy and may represent the cores ofbodies that were large enough to differentiate into layers and to melt deep inside. Their rocky outer layers may have been removed by impacts with other asteroids . A...
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Folk Art
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INTRODUCTION
Carved Native American Figure
This figure of a Native American trapper was carved from a single pine log (about 1850-1890).
that young Native American women were taught to weave by Ursuline nuns. The overall spirit of French-Canadian folk art is colorful, happy, and, at the same time,devout. B Anglo-Canadian Folk Art The English tradition in the Maritime provinces is strong in the decoration of utilitarian objects, in graining, marbling, and incising, and in ship carvings (both figureheadsand stern-board decorations). The emigration to Canada of many New Englanders during and after the American Revolution led to int...
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Arkansas - geography.
temperature rises to the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F). C2 Precipitation Arkansas receives about 1,000 to 1,300 mm (about 40 to 50 in) of precipitation a year, and some areas receive even more. Most of the rain comes during winter andspring and at times is so heavy as to cause flooding. Snow is rare in the south but amounts to more than 250 mm (10 in) a year in the mountains. C3 Growing Season Arkansas has a long growing season. It averages 211 days for the state as a whole and ranges from 241...
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Arkansas - USA History.
temperature rises to the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F). C2 Precipitation Arkansas receives about 1,000 to 1,300 mm (about 40 to 50 in) of precipitation a year, and some areas receive even more. Most of the rain comes during winter andspring and at times is so heavy as to cause flooding. Snow is rare in the south but amounts to more than 250 mm (10 in) a year in the mountains. C3 Growing Season Arkansas has a long growing season. It averages 211 days for the state as a whole and ranges from 241...
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Archaeology.
Prehistoric archaeology is practiced by archaeologists known as prehistorians and deals with ancient cultures that did not have writing of any kind. Prehistory, a term coined by 19th-century French scholars, covers past human life from its origins up to the advent of written records. History—that is, the human past documented insome form of writing—began 5000 years ago in parts of southwestern Asia and as recently as the late 19th century AD in central Africa and parts of the Americas. Becaus...
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North Carolina - geography.
The drainage divide in North Carolina follows the Blue Ridge range on the eastern margin of the mountain region. This is called the “Eastern Continental Divide.” West ofthis divide, rivers drain into the Mississippi River through the Tennessee River and other tributaries of the Ohio River. The French Broad, the largest, and the LittleTennessee flow into the Tennessee River. The New River flows into the Kanawha River of West Virginia which in turn flows into the Ohio River. Most of the state’s ri...
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North Carolina - USA History.
The drainage divide in North Carolina follows the Blue Ridge range on the eastern margin of the mountain region. This is called the “Eastern Continental Divide.” West ofthis divide, rivers drain into the Mississippi River through the Tennessee River and other tributaries of the Ohio River. The French Broad, the largest, and the LittleTennessee flow into the Tennessee River. The New River flows into the Kanawha River of West Virginia which in turn flows into the Ohio River. Most of the state’s ri...
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United Kingdom - country.
B Natural Regions and Topography The island of Great Britain can be divided into two major natural regions—the highland zone and the lowland zone. The highland zone is an area of high hills andmountains in the north and west. The lowland zone in the south and east consists mostly of rolling plains. The zones are divided by an imaginary line running throughEngland from the River Exe on the southwest coast to the mouth of the River Tees on the northeast coast. The lowland zone has a milder climat...
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Mammal - biology.
On land, mammals live in many different habitats, and at a wide range of altitudes. Many mammals dig burrows as refuges or as places to raise their young, but somehave developed a largely subterranean lifestyle, feeding on small animals or plant roots beneath the soil's surface. These animals, including moles and mole-rats, digthrough the ground either with spadelike front paws or with their teeth, and they detect danger by being highly sensitive to vibrations transmitted through the soil.Most m...
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Advertising.
Advertising agencies make money in a variety of ways. When the agency uses the client’s advertising budget to buy time for an ad on the radio or on television or whenit buys space for an ad in a newspaper or magazine, the media outlet allows the agency to keep 15 percent of the cost of the space or the time as a commission. The15 percent commission has become an advertising industry standard and usually accounts for the largest portion of the agency’s income. Agencies also charge clientsfor the...
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Congress of the United States.
senator, a person must be at least 30 years old, a citizen for nine years, and a resident of the state from which he or she is elected. Most members of Congress haveserved in state legislatures, city councils, or other elected bodies. See United States Senate: Campaigning for the Senate ; United States House of Representatives: Campaigning for the House. The 435 House seats are divided among the states in proportion to each state’s population. Every state is guaranteed at least one seat. State...
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Iran - country.
Zagros mountains. In the more arid central part of the country, wild pistachio and other drought-resistant trees grow in areas that have not been disturbed by humanactivity. Tamarisk and other salt-tolerant bushes grow along the margins of the Dasht-e Kavir. A wide variety of native mammals, reptiles, birds, and insects inhabit Iran. Many species of mammals—including wolves, foxes, bears, mountain goats, red mountainsheep, rabbits, and gerbils—continue to thrive. Others—including Caspian tigers,...
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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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Panama Canal - Geography.
The size of ships using the Panama Canal has steadily increased. About 27 percent of the vessels that use the canal are built to the maximum dimensions that can passthrough it (a category called “Panamax”). This has prompted further widening of Gaillard Cut, so that the larger Panamax vessels may transit safely. However, some ofthe world’s commercial and military ships are too large for the canal. Since the 1940s, new U.S. battleships and aircraft carriers have been built exceeding the canal’sdi...
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Europe - geography.
movement of a segment of the Earth’s crust against the stable shield during the Caledonian orogeny (about 500 to 395 million years ago) raised the mountains of Ireland,Wales, Scotland, and western Norway. Subsequent erosion has rounded and worn down these mountains in the British Isles, but the peaks of Norway still reach 2,472 m(8,110 ft). The second major geological region, a belt of sedimentary materials, sweeps in an arc from southwestern France northward and eastward through the Low Countri...
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Roman Art and Architecture - History.
Racecourses or circuses were also built in many cities for holding chariot races and horse races. Rome’s circus-shaped Piazza Navona occupies the site of one that wasbuilt during the reign ( AD 81-96) of the emperor Domitian. The largest circus in Rome, the Circus Maximus, held about 200,000 spectators. E Public Baths Large cities and small towns alike also had public baths ( thermae ); under the Republic they were generally made up of a suite of dressing rooms and bathing chambers with hot- ,...
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Mesoamerica.
for cooking. In other regions, the earliest ceramics are more sophisticated technically and aesthetically. At around 1800 BC in the Pacific coastal region of Soconusco (in what is now southeastern Chiapas State, Mexico), the earliest pottery was very complex both in forms and decoration. It seems to have had a social function and beenused primarily for ritual feasting. III MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS Over a period of 3000 years, beginning in about 1500 BC, a number of important cultures emerged in M...
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Religion.
By the end of the 19th century, scholars were making religion an object of systematic inquiry. Müller’s comparative approach was adopted in many European andJapanese universities, and as a result the common features of world religions (such as gods, prayer, priesthood, and creation myths) were the subjects of sustainedscholarly investigation. In addition, field anthropologists had begun to compile firsthand accounts of the religions of peoples who previously had been dismissed assavages. The stu...
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Bolivia - country.
E Plants and Animals Because of the wide variations in elevation, plant and animal species of nearly every climatic zone are found in Bolivia. A coarse grass, called ichu, grows on the largelybarren high plateau in the west. Para rubber trees, more than 2,000 species of hardwood trees, and vanilla, sarsaparilla, and saffron plants are common in the tropicalforests of the east. The llama, found chiefly on the Altiplano, is an efficient beast of burden. Alpacas and vicuñas also inhabit the platea...
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Animal - biology.
Vertebrates are customarily divided into cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals, but these labels are not very precise. Biologists normally use the terms ectoderm and endoderm to describe temperature regulation more accurately. An ectoderm is an animal whose temperature is dictated by its surroundings, while an endoderm is one that keeps its body at a constant warm temperature by generating internal heat. Reptiles, amphibians, and fish are ectoderms. Although they do not maintain a constant wa...
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Delaware - geography.
D Climate Delaware has generally hot and humid summers and mild winters. D1 Temperature In July, average daytime temperatures are usually in the upper 20°s to lower 30°sC (80°sF) or even higher. But because summer nights tend to be cooler than thedays, July averages are about 24°C (about 75°F). In addition, onshore sea breezes can reduce daytime temperatures along the coast by 3 to 6 Celsius degrees (5 to 10Fahrenheit degrees). January averages range from -1°C (31°F) at Newark, in the north, t...
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Delaware - USA History.
D Climate Delaware has generally hot and humid summers and mild winters. D1 Temperature In July, average daytime temperatures are usually in the upper 20°s to lower 30°sC (80°sF) or even higher. But because summer nights tend to be cooler than thedays, July averages are about 24°C (about 75°F). In addition, onshore sea breezes can reduce daytime temperatures along the coast by 3 to 6 Celsius degrees (5 to 10Fahrenheit degrees). January averages range from -1°C (31°F) at Newark, in the north, t...
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Nebraska - geography.
by natural resource districts to limit the rate of pumping for irrigation. C Climate Nebraska has a typical continental climate with wide seasonal variations in temperature. C1 Temperature Winter temperatures below -20°C (0° F) and summer temperatures in the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F) are common. The average January temperature varies from about -7° C (about 20° F) in the northeast to about -2° C (about 29° F) in the southwest. The average for July, thehottest month, ranges from about 26° C...
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Nebraska - USA History.
by natural resource districts to limit the rate of pumping for irrigation. C Climate Nebraska has a typical continental climate with wide seasonal variations in temperature. C1 Temperature Winter temperatures below -20°C (0° F) and summer temperatures in the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F) are common. The average January temperature varies from about -7° C (about 20° F) in the northeast to about -2° C (about 29° F) in the southwest. The average for July, thehottest month, ranges from about 26° C...
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New Mexico - geography.
New Mexico’s major river is the Río Grande, originating in southern Colorado, and flowing southward for 760 km (470 mi) through the state. Between the San LuisValley and Española Valley the river flows in a deep canyon known as the Río Grande Gorge; then, below White Rock Canyon, it flows through several valleys containingagricultural land. Most of the water of the Río Grande is used to irrigate these valleys. The Río Grande’s waterflow in New Mexico is extremely low. One of the major tributarie...
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New Mexico - USA History.
New Mexico’s major river is the Río Grande, originating in southern Colorado, and flowing southward for 760 km (470 mi) through the state. Between the San LuisValley and Española Valley the river flows in a deep canyon known as the Río Grande Gorge; then, below White Rock Canyon, it flows through several valleys containingagricultural land. Most of the water of the Río Grande is used to irrigate these valleys. The Río Grande’s waterflow in New Mexico is extremely low. One of the major tributarie...
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Abendländische Philosophie - Philosophie.
4.1.1. 1 Ionische Philosophie Thales aus der Stadt Milet, an der ionischen Küste Kleinasiens, der um 580 v. Chr. wirkte, war der vermutlich erste griechische Philosoph – zumindest der erste, von demheute noch etwas bekannt ist. Er begründete die Schule der ionischen Naturphilosophie, die vor allem in das Wesen der Natur, der Welt überhaupt, einzudringen versuchte.Thales, der von späteren Generationen als einer der Sieben Weisen Griechenlands verehrt wurde, war an astronomischen, physikalischen...
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Museum.
History museums are dedicated to promoting a greater appreciation and knowledge of history and its importance to understanding the present and anticipating thefuture. They range from historic sites and small historic house museums to large, encyclopedic institutions such as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of AmericanHistory in Washington, D.C. Many cities and states have historical societies that operate museums or historic sites. History museums usually collect a wide range ofobjects, includi...
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Native Americans of Middle and South America.
A line that snakes across central Mexico near the Tropic of Cancer forms the northern boundary of Mesoamerica; north of this line rainfall sharply declines and theclimate is much drier. The ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica all arose and developed in the area between this line and the Guatemalan highlands far to the south. Richvolcanic soils are found throughout much of the region. A2 People and Languages Mesoamerica was a great melting pot, home to many peoples and interrelated cultures. In...
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Stamps and Stamp Collecting.
Commonwealth has by far produced the greatest number of omnibus issues, the first being the George V Silver Jubilee series of 1935, another being the series releasedon July 29, 1981, to commemorate the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Frances Spencer. III COLLECTING Philately continues to increase in popularity. Today, the number of collectors around the world numbers in the millions. Unique and valuable stamps, apart from theiraesthetic or financial appeal to collectors, are also reco...
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Chinese Music
I
INTRODUCTION
Classical Peking Opera
Of the many major forms of regional theater in China, Peking opera is by far the most famous.
World Music TourClick on the instruments to hear music from around the world.© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. However, the Confucian beliefs about music were constantly eroded throughout Chinese history by a long tradition of popular entertainment music, favored both at thecourt and by the common folk. Although excluded from official ritual performances for several thousand years, Chinese women musicians and entertainers had a centraland formative role in this entertainment music as...
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Hippopotamus - biology.
hippo backs up to its droppings and uses its tail as a paddle, flicking the dung through the air. This creates a pile that can become several meters wide over time. Male river hippos start to establish territories when they are in their early 20s, and they may eventually control more than 250 m (820 ft) of the water's edge.Subordinate males come and go freely, but a rival male will spark a confrontation if it tries to intrude. The territory owner and intruder face each other open-mouthedand, if...
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X-Ray Astronomy - astronomy.
Some neutron stars have weaker magnetic fields that allow incoming material to settle onto the entire surface of the neutron star. Eventually, so much material buildsup that the surface layer becomes dense enough to set off a vast thermonuclear explosion, called an outburst. The explosion heats gas to produce X rays. Such aneutron star—called an X-ray burster—can increase its X-ray production by a million times during an outburst. The X-ray glow fades over time, and the binary systementers a lon...
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Endangered Species - biology.
Red List database assesses the status of, and threats to, animal species worldwide. To add to this and other biodiversity databases, nongovernmental organizationssuch as Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund conduct periodic rapid assessments (focused, intensive evaluations) of biodiversity in varioushotspots— regions like Madagascar that are both rich in endemic species and environmentally threatened. This information is used in the administration of international agreements such...
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Antibiotics.
In some species of bacteria the cell wall consists primarily of a thick layer of peptidoglycan. Other species have a much thinner layer of peptidoglycan and an outer aswell as an inner membrane. When bacteria are subjected to Gram's stain, these differences in structure affect the differential staining of the bacteria with a dye calledgentian violet. The differences in staining coloration (gram-positive bacteria appear purple and gram-negative bacteria appear colorless or reddish, depending on t...
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Bowling.
In each of the first nine frames the bowler rolls one or two balls. If the bowler knocks down all ten pins with the first ball, he or she has rolled a strike, the best roll possible. An X is recorded on the scoresheet or screen, and the bowler receives ten points (the number of pins knocked down) plus a bonus of the number of pins thebowler knocks down in his or her next two bowls. The maximum possible score in a strike frame, therefore, is 30: the strike followed by two more strikes on subseq...
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Herman Melville
I
INTRODUCTION
Herman Melville
These lines (recited by an actor) begin the novel Moby Dick (1851), by Herman Melville.
short novel Billy Budd in manuscript form. Melville’s death in New York City on September 28, 1891, went virtually unnoticed. None of his books was still in print. VI MELVILLE’S EARLY WORKS With the exception of Mardi , all of Melville’s early books are narratives of maritime adventure based upon his own experiences and on his wide reading. Although London publisher John Murray accepted Typee for his Home and Colonial Library as a strictly factual account of South Seas travel, he was lar...
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Zebra - biology.
C Life Span Captive zebras have lived into their late 30s. Life expectancy in the wild, where predators abound, is probably not much more than 12 years. IV SOCIAL BEHAVIOR Like horses, zebras have large brains and a wide variety of social behaviors. Although they cannot match the overall intelligence of mammals that hunt, zebras interactwith each other in complex ways. Zebras usually live in groups known as herds, but the social structure of these groups depends on the species. The plains zeb...
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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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Radio Astronomy - astronomy.
equivalent to the apparent angular dimensions of a basketball at the distance of the moon. In 1984, the U.S. government appropriated funds for the construction of aninstallation called the very long baseline array (VLBA), a network of 10 radio antennas spread from the U.S.-Canadian border to Puerto Rico and from Hawaii to the U.S.Atlantic coast. The VLBA is expected to provide angular resolutions in the range of 200-millionths of an arc second. Canada and Australia are both planning similarprogr...
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Diving (sport).
water that creates a larger, more noticeable splash after the diver’s body displaces water under the surface. To minimize this upjet, top-level divers make a quickswimming motion by releasing their hands and collapsing their arms as they submerge. Instead of a large splash, the surface of the water appears to boil as the airbubbles rise from the diver’s entry. For feetfirst entries, which are rare in top-level competitions, divers place their legs and feet together while pointing their toes down...
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Electronics.
electronic circuits. The resistors are made from carbon mixtures, metal films, or resistance wire and have two connecting wires attached. Variable resistors, with anadjustable sliding contact arm, are often used to control volume on radios and television sets. E Capacitors Capacitors consist of two metal plates that are separated by an insulating material ( see Capacitor). If a battery is connected to both plates, an electric charge will flow for a short time and accumulate on each plate. If th...