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A biological membrane or biomembrane is a membrane which acts as a barrier within or around a cell. It is a lipid bilayer, being composed of a double layer of lipid-class molecules, specifically phospholipids, with occasional proteins intertwined, some of which function as channels. Such membranes typically define enclosed spaces or compartments in which cells may maintain a chemical or biochemical environment that differs from the outside. For example, the membrane around peroxisomes shields the rest of the cell from peroxides, and the plasma membrane separates a cell from its surrounding medium. Most organelles are defined by such membranes. Probably the most important feature of a biomembrane is that it is a selectively permeable structure. This means that the size, charge and other chemical properties of the atoms and molecules attempting to cross it will determine whether they succeed to do so. Selective permeability is essential for effective separation of a cell or organelle from its surroundings. If a particle is too large or otherwise unable to cross the membrane by itself, but is still needed by a cell, it could either go through one of the protein channels, or be taken in by means of endocytosis. More general information on this topic may be found in the article at cell membrane.

http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-definition/Biological_membrane/

Air always contains some water vapour from oceans, lakes, and the ground. Clouds form when the air cools below a certain temperature, so that some of the water vapour turns to liquid water or ice. Clouds are made up of millions of minute water droplets or ice crystals, which are so tiny that they float in air. The amount of water vapour that air contains is called its HUMIDITY. Warm, humid air often sets off THUNDERSTORMS. For clouds to form, humid air must rise. It expands and cools as it rises, making its water vapour turn to liquid water or ice. Air rises in three different ways: On warm days, the ground heats the air above it. The air expands and floats upwards, forming convection clouds. When air reaches a mountain range, it is forced to rise and cool. This forms clouds called orographic clouds. At a weather front (where warm and cool air meet), the warm air rises over the cold air, forming frontal clouds. Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air. The warmer the air is, the more water vapour it can contain. Saturated air is air that contains the maximum amount of water vapour for a particular temperature. Relative humidity is the actual amount of water vapour in the air, compared to the amount needed for the air to be saturated. Saturated air has a relative humidity of 100 per cent. Mist is a layer of cloud that lies close to the ground. It forms when warm, humid air comes into contact with an area of cold water or cold ground. This can happen when humid air touches ground that has cooled quickly on still, cloudless nights. Fog develops in the same way, but is thicker than mist. If the air temperature falls below freezing (0°C or 32°F), hoarfrost may form. Surfaces on the ground become covered by ice crystals, which look like a light dusting of snow. Dew forms when some of the water vapour in humid air comes into contact with cold surfaces at ground level. The vapour then turns into tiny drops of liquid water instead of frost. A thunderstorm begins when a cumulonimbus cloud grows extremely large. The cloud produces lightning, thunder, heavy rain or hail, strong winds, and even tornadoes. About 40,000 thunderstorms happen in the world every day – mostly in the tropics, where the air is very warm and humid. A thundercloud can be recognized by its broad, flattened top. A flash of lightning is a giant spark of electricity. When ice crystals and water droplets move about and collide inside a thundercloud, static electricity builds up. Lightning is set off when the spark jumps through a cloud, or from one cloud to another, or from a cloud to the ground. A bolt of lightning heats the air to about 30,000°C (54,000°F) so the air expands suddenly and causes a clap of thunder. Negative electric charge builds up in the base of a thundercloud, and positive charge in the top. The negative and positive charges are attracted to each other, so lightning can strike through the cloud. The negative charge in the cloud’s base also attracts positive charges in the ground, so eventually a lightning spark leaps through the air between the cloud and the ground.

http://fun.familyeducation.com/dk/science/encyclopedia/clouds.html

Despite these impacts, mallards enjoyed steady population growth in the Great Lakes states for several decades. In recent years, however, this trend appears to have reversed. Unsure of the cause of this population decline, Ducks Unlimited and the conservation community set out to clear up this uncertainty. Working in cooperation with numerous partners, DU recently completed an extensive three-year study to discover the root causes of declining mallard numbers in this region. Findings from this landmark study will help guide DU's conservation programs in the Great Lakes states for years to come. The Great Lakes mallard study was borne out of necessity to eliminate uncertainty in habitat conservation programs for breeding mallards in these states. Modeled after extensive research in prairie Canada, this study was designed to determine what factors were limiting mallard population growth in this region. DU researchers trapped numerous hen mallards, marked the birds with radio transmitters, and followed them every day throughout the breeding season to record their movements, nest success, clutch size, brood survival, and habitat use—all things DU and its partners needed to know to determine what was limiting this population of mallards. Beginning in early spring of 2000, field crews battled late-season snowstorms to trap female mallards as they returned and established breeding territories. Hens were collected by placing decoy traps containing tame hen mallards in the territories of wild birds. These traps work by exploiting the territorial instincts of breeding mallards. Hens attempt to drive away the intruder (in the trap) from their territory, and thus become trapped themselves. DU research scientists anesthetized the wild hens and surgically implanted a radio transmitter—roughly the size of a 12-gauge shotgun shell—in each bird's abdominal cavity, then released the ducks unharmed. This technology allowed the researchers to follow the daily activities of these otherwise elusive birds without disturbing them. During each field season, research technicians used telemetry equipment to follow radio-marked hens from late March through the end of August, recording information such as habitat use and duckling survival. Over a three-year period, DU tracked a total of 560 mallard hens. Research sites were chosen to represent a variety of Great Lakes landscapes, from agriculturally dominated to predominately forested. Nine sites were selected throughout northwest and southeast Wisconsin; central and southern Michigan; the tri-state area of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio; and in the Lake Erie marshes and northwestern corner of Ohio. Continue Reading >>

http://www.ducks.org/conservation/u.s.-great-lakes-system/a-brighter-future-for-great-lakes-mallards/page2

Learn something new every day More Info... by email Sonic logging is a technique used in drilling operations to analyze underground rock and soil formations with sound waves. Oil or gas exploration and recovery uses a drilling rig that creates a deep hole called a borehole, using a rotating drilling tool attached to long sections of pipe. The drilling head creates a hole with a diameter equal to the drill head size. A sound-producing tool is attached to a powered wire and sent down the borehole to create a sonic logging graph. This tool consists of a sound transmitter and receiver co-located on a long tube that fits in the borehole. The transmitter sends out a series of high-frequency sound pulses in all directions that enter the surrounding rock formations and return to the receiver. To prevent the transmitter and receiver from interfering with each other, a number of different techniques are used. The transmitter and receiver are separated by distance, creating a longer cylinder shape. Sound-absorbent materials and rubber gaskets can help reduce some of the sound from the transmitter reaching the receiver. The most important design element is based on shutting off the receiver each time the transmitter sends a pulse. This prevents false signals in the sonic logging results, and prevents the transmitted sounds from damaging the receiver. The transmitter sends sound pulses in short bursts, which enter the rock surrounding the borehole; some of the sound reflects quickly back to the receiver, and some enters the surrounding rock and is diffracted, which means it changes direction from the outgoing sound. As the diffracted sound returns to the receiver, the time difference between the transmitted and returning sound is recorded. Another effect of sound travel in the ground is attenuation, which is a reduction of sound due to absorption. As the sound enters the rock around the borehole, the rock and other materials absorb the sound, reducing the amount of signal returning to the receiver; this in turn can provide information about the characteristics of the ground. Sonic logging is effective for determining the characteristics of a borehole because sound travels differently depending on the rock or soil surrounding the transmitter. The first sounds to return to the receiver are p-waves, or pressure waves, because they typically have the highest velocity, or speed. P-waves will travel faster in higher density rock, and slower in less dense sand or soil, which is called more porous. The second type of sound waves to return to the receiver is S-waves, or shear. A shear force wants to tear something apart, so these waves are measuring the formation for its ability to shear or break. This is important in petroleum drilling, because the formation containing the oil or gas must be broken apart before the product can be recovered; this is called fracking. The S-waves will provide information used in this operation. When the sonic logging tool is sent down a borehole, it is providing a visual representation of the sub-surface characteristics. Fractures in the rocks can help drilling operations if they occur in the area of the product, but can cause problems if found elsewhere in the borehole, which may have to be sealed with piping or a concrete-like sealant to prevent leakage from the hole. Water can also be a problem for drilling operations, since it will mix with the product; if water enters the borehole in any large quantities, it may require additional processing later to remove it from the petroleum. Another concern is contamination of ground water with petroleum, so understanding where water layers exist can reduce environmental concerns.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sonic-logging.htm

The Maryland economy in the late 1700s was dependent on servants. These servants included apprentices, slaves and convicts, as well as indentured servants. Servants and slaves at Hampton were essential to the day-to-day operations at both the plantation and the Northampton Furnace and Forge. The Ridgelys contracted with more than 300 indentured servants between 1750 and 1800 at the Hampton plantation and the Northampton iron works. Some were voluntarily indentured, while most were involuntary. As many servants were illiterate, there are few written records by the servants themselves. Most adult indentures lasted four or five years, but children could serve much longer. The length of the indenture varied and was based on expected productivity. On plantations, male slaves were often trained in skilled work; the majority of women performed unskilled work. Although indentured servants tended to receive better treatment than slaves, they more frequently attempted escape. African-American slaves were less likely to run away than white indentured servants, because they were more conspicous in the free white population and, thus, were more apt to be caught. More men than women ran away, because, it was believed, men were more aware of life outside the plantation. Women were also hesitant to run because of their children. Numerous entries in the Northampton accounts refer to runaways. Payments were itemized in broadside announcements and newspaper notices. Fees and rewards for locating runaways were also listed. Most slaves did not see the American Revolution as a war for their freedom, rather, they regarded the event as an opportunity for escape. The British quickly realized that slaves could be valuable allies against the Patriots. On November 7, 1775, Virginia’s governor, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, issued a proclamation that offered freedom to slaves who would join the British army. Meanwhile, Maryland allowed slaves to serve in the militia as substitutes for their masters. These arrangements typically involved promises of freedom in exchange for military service. In January 1777, General William Howe issued a proclamation directed to slaves, offering freedom. In response to this proclamation, many slaves escaped in family groups. It is estimated that 6,000 slaves escaped to the British army between 1775 and 1781.

http://www.umbc.edu/hampton/slaves_highlighted_info.html

In geometric algebra, a blade is a generalization of the concept of scalars and vectors to include simple bivectors, trivectors, etc. Specifically, a k-blade is any object that can be expressed as the exterior product (informally wedge product) of k vectors, and is of grade k. - A 0-blade is a scalar. The inner product[not relevant] or dot product of two vectors a and b is a 0-blade and is denoted as: - A 1-blade is a vector. Every vector is simple. - A 2-blade is a simple bivector. Linear combinations of 2-blades also are bivectors, but need not be simple, and are hence not necessarily 2-blades. A 2-blade may be expressed as the wedge product of two vectors a and b: - A 3-blade is a simple trivector, that is, it may expressed as the wedge product of three vectors a, b, and c: - In a space of dimension n, a blade of grade n − 1 is called a pseudovector. - The highest grade element in a space is called a pseudoscalar, and in a space of dimension n is an n-blade. - In a space of dimension n, there are k(n − k) + 1 dimensions of freedom in choosing a k-blade, of which one dimension is an overall scaling multiplier. In a n-dimensional spaces, there are blades of grade 0 through n. A vector subspace of finite dimension k may be represented by the k-blade formed as a wedge product of all the elements of a basis for that subspace. For example, in 2-dimensional space scalars are described as 0-blades, vectors are 1-blades, and area elements are 2-blades known as pseudoscalars, in that they are one-dimensional objects distinct from regular scalars. In three-dimensional space, 0-blades are again scalars and 1-blades are three-dimensional vectors, but in three-dimensions, areas have an orientation, so while 2-blades are area elements, they are oriented. 3-blades (trivectors) represent volume elements and in three-dimensional space, these are scalar-like – i.e., 3-blades in three-dimensions form a one-dimensional vector space. See also - Marcos A. Rodrigues (2000). "§1.2 Geometric algebra: an outline". Invariants for pattern recognition and classification. World Scientific. p. 3 ff. ISBN 981-02-4278-6. - William E Baylis (2004). "§4.2.3 Higher-grade multivectors in Cℓn: Duals". Lectures on Clifford (geometric) algebras and applications. Birkhäuser. p. 100. ISBN 0-8176-3257-3. - John A. Vince (2008). Geometric algebra for computer graphics. Springer. p. 85. ISBN 1-84628-996-3. - For Grassmannians (including the result about dimension) a good book is: Griffiths, Phillip; Harris, Joseph (1994), Principles of algebraic geometry, Wiley Classics Library, New York: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-471-05059-9, MR 1288523. The proof of the dimensionality is actually straightforward. Take k vectors and wedge them together and perform elementary column operations on these (factoring the pivots out) until the top k × k block are elementary basis vectors of . The wedge product is then parametrized by the product of the pivots and the lower k × (n − k) block. - David Hestenes (1999). New foundations for classical mechanics: Fundamental Theories of Physics. Springer. p. 54. ISBN 0-7923-5302-1. General references - David Hestenes, Garret Sobczyk (1987). "Chapter 1: Geometric algebra". Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus: A Unified Language for Mathematics and Physics. Springer. p. 1 ff. ISBN 90-277-2561-6. - Chris Doran and Anthony Lasenby (2003). Geometric algebra for physicists. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-48022-1. - A Lasenby, J Lasenby & R Wareham (2004) A covariant approach to geometry using geometric algebra Technical Report. University of Cambridge Department of Engineering, Cambridge, UK. - R Wareham, J Cameron, & J Lasenby (2005). "Applications of conformal geometric algebra to computer vision and graphics". In Hongbo Li, Peter J. Olver, Gerald Sommer. Computer algebra and geometric algebra with applications. Springer. p. 329 ff. ISBN 3-540-26296-2. - A Geometric Algebra Primer, especially for computer scientists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_(geometry)

6.4. Number counts of faint galaxies The final classical test I will discuss is that of number counts of distant objects - what radio astronomers call the log(N)-log(S) test. Basically one counts the number of galaxies N brighter than a certain flux limit S. If we lived in a static Euclidean universe, then the number of galaxies out to distance R would be N R3 but the flux is related to R as S R-2. This implies that N S-3/2 or log(N) = -3/2 log(S) + const = 0.6m + const where m is the magnitude corresponding to the flux S. But we do not live in a static Euclidean universe; we live in an evolving universe with a non-Euclidean geometry where the differential number counts probe dV(z), the comoving volume as a function of redshift. In Fig. 9 we see log(dV/dz) as a function of redshift for three different (tot = 1) cosmological models: the matter dominated Universe, the cosmological constant dominated Universe, and the concordance model. For small z, dV/dz increases as z2 for all models as would be expected in a Euclidean Universe, but by redshift one, the models are obviously diverging, with the models dominated by a cosmological constant having a larger comoving incremental volume. Therefore if we can observe faint galaxies extending out to a redshift of one or two, we might expect number counts to provide a cosmological probe. Figure 9. The log of the incremental volume per incremental redshift (in units of the Hubble volume) as a function of redshift for the three flat cosmological models. There is a long history of counting objects as a function of flux or redshift. Although cosmological conclusions have been drawn (see, e.g. ), the overall consensus is that this is not a very good test because the galaxy population evolves strongly with redshift. Galaxies evolve because stars evolve. In the past, the stellar populations were younger and contained relatively more massive, luminous stars. Therefore we expect galaxies to be more luminous at higher redshift. It is also possible that the density of galaxies evolves because of merging, as would be consistent with the preferred model of hierarchical structure formation in the Universe. The distribution of galaxies by redshift can be used, to some extent, to break this degeneracy between evolution and cosmology. If we can measure the redshifts of galaxies with infrared magnitudes between 23 and 26, for example, that distribution will be skewed toward higher redshift if there is more luminosity evolution. I have recently reconsidered the number counts of the faint galaxies in the Hubble Deep Fields, north and south [55, 56]. These are two separate small patches of empty sky observed with the Hubble Space Telescope down to a very low flux limit - about mI = 30 (the I band is a far red filter centered around 8000 angstroms). The differential number counts are shown by the solid round points in Fig. 10 where ground based number counts at fainter magnitudes are also shown by the starred points. Figure 10. The solid points are the faint galaxy number counts from the Hubble Deep Fields (north and south [55, 56]) and the star shaped points are the number counts from ground based data. The curves are the no-evolution predictions from three flat cosmological models. For this same sample of galaxies, there are also estimates of the redshifts based upon the galaxy colors - so called photometric redshifts . In order to calculate the expected number counts and redshift distribution one must have some idea of the form of the luminosity function - the distribution of galaxies by redshift. Here, like everyone else, I have have assumed that this form is given by the Schechter function : which is characterized by three parameters: , a power law at low luminosities, L* a break-point above which the number of galaxies rapidly decreases, and No a normalization. I take this form because the overall galaxy distribution by luminosity at low redshifts is well fit by such a law , so I am assuming that at least the form of the luminosity function does not evolve with redshift. But when I consider faint galaxies at high redshift in a particular band I have to be careful to apply the K-correction mentioned above; that is, I must correct the observed flux in that band to the rest frame. Making this correction , but assuming no luminosity or density evolution, I find the differential number counts appropriate to our three flat cosmological models shown by the indicated curves in Fig. 10. We see that the predicted number counts all fall short of the observed counts, but that the cosmological constant dominated model comes closest to matching the observations. However, the distribution by redshift of HDF galaxies between I-band magnitudes of 22 and 26 is shown in Fig. 11 (this is obviously the cumulative distribution). Here we see that all three models seriously fail to match the observed distribution, in the sense that the predicted mean redshift is much too small. Figure 11. The cumulative redshift distribution for galaxies between apparent I-band magnitudes of 23 and 26 (photometric redshifts from ). The curves are the predicted no-evolution distributions for the three cosmological models. This problem could obviously be solved by evolution. If galaxies are brighter in the past, as expected, then we would expect to shift this distribution toward higher redshifts. One can conceive of very complicated evolution schemes, involving initial bursts of star formation with or without continuing star formation, but it would seem desirable to keep the model as simple as possible; let's take a "minimalist" model for galaxy evolution. A simple one parameter scheme with the luminosity brightening proportional to the look-back time squared, i.e., every galaxy brightens as where q is the free parameter, can give a reasonable match to evolution models for galaxies . (we also assume that all galaxies are the same- they are not divided into separate morphological classes). I choose the value of q such that the predicted redshift distribution most closely matches the observed distribution for all three models, and the results are shown in Fig. 12. Figure 12. As in Fig. 10 above the observed galaxy number counts and the predictions for the cosmological models with luminosity evolution sufficient to explain the number counts. The required values of q (in magnitudes per tH2) for the three cosmological models are: q = 2.0 ( = 1.0), q = 3.0 ( = 0.7), and q = 11.0 ( = 0.0). Obviously, the matter-dominated model requires the most evolution, and with this simple evolution scheme, cannot be made to perfectly match the observed distribution by redshift (this in itself is not definitive because one could always devise more complicated schemes which would work). For the concordance model, the required evolution would be about two magnitudes out to z = 3. For these same evolutionary models, that is, with evolution sufficient to match the number counts, the predicted redshift distributions are shown in Fig. 13. Here we see that the model dominated by a cosmological constant predicts too many low redshift galaxies, the matter dominated model predicts too few, and the model that works perfectly is very close to the concordance model! Preforming this operation for a number of flat models with variable , I find that 0.59 < < 0.71 to 90% confidence. Figure 13. The cumulative redshift distribution for galaxies between apparent i-band magnitudes of 22 and 26 (photometric redshifts from ). The curves are the predicted distributions for the three cosmological models with evolution sufficient to explain the number counts. Now there are too many assumptions and simplifications to make this definitive. The only point I want to make is that faint galaxy number counts and redshift distributions are completely consistent with the concordance model when one considers the simplest minimalist model for pure luminosity evolution. One may certainly conclude that number counts provide no contradiction to the generally accepted cosmological model of the Universe (to my disappointment).

http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Sept03/Sanders/Sanders6_4.html

What Is It? Encephalitis means inflammation of the brain. This inflammation usually is triggered by a viral infection, although sometimes it can be caused by a bacterial infection of the brain, such as Lyme disease. In some cases, symptoms are caused by direct infection of the brain. In other cases, the brain inflammation is caused by the immune system's response to the brain infection. Even if the immune system attack succeeds in eliminating the infection, it may injure the brain in the process. This is called post-infectious encephalitis. Often, viruses that cause encephalitis also cause inflammation of the delicate tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord, which are called the meninges. This condition is meningitis. When encephalitis and meningitis occur together, it is called meningoencephalitis. Of the many different viruses that can cause meningoencephalitis, enteroviruses (particularly coxsackievirus and echovirus) are the most common cause in the United States, particularly if the illness occurs in the summer or fall. Encephalitis also can be caused by the herpes simplex virus, which also causes cold sores and genital herpes. This type of encephalitis is less common but tends to be more severe. The mumps and measles viruses also can cause encephalitis, with mumps occurring most often in the winter or spring. Other viruses that can cause encephalitis include several related viruses: varicella-zoster virus (the cause of chickenpox and shingles), cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus (the most common cause of infectious mononucleosis) and human herpesvirus-6 (a cause of transient encephalitis in very young children). HIV also can cause encephalitis, particularly in the early stages of infection. Other viruses that cause encephalitis are transmitted directly or indirectly from animals to humans. Arboviruses are indirectly transmitted from animals and birds to humans by insects, especially mosquitoes and ticks. The West Nile virus, one of the arboviruses, is widespread in Africa, Central Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Since 1999, it has become increasingly common in the United States. The virus commonly infects birds. Mosquitoes that bite an infected bird and then bite a human can transmit the virus. West Nile virus does not cause encephalitis in most humans who are infected. This virus does not spread directly from human to human. Arboviruses that can infect horses are called equine viruses, such as Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE or triple E). A mosquito that bites an infected horse can carry the virus to a human. Fortunately, human infection is rare because unlike West Nile virus infection in humans, triple E infection is often much more serious. Like West Nile, triple E does not spread through direct contact with an infected human. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus rarely infects humans. When it does, it can occur through contact with small animals. The symptoms of encephalitis range from mild to severe and can be life threatening. Fortunately, most cases are not severe. Possible symptoms, beginning with the two most common, include the following: - Sudden fever - Confusion, which can be mild at first - Stiff neck and back - Extreme sensitivity to light Many of these symptoms also occur in other conditions that affect the brain, including migraine headaches and life-threatening conditions such as bleeding in the brain. When a person has a fever along with the other symptoms, some kind of infection is most likely. If your doctor suspects you have encephalitis, he or she will order tests such as a computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the brain. A procedure called a lumbar puncture or spinal tap may be used to draw fluid from the spine and test it to determine what virus is causing the encephalitis. Encephalitis can last from a few days to several months, depending on the virus involved and the severity of the case. When outbreaks of insect-borne encephalitis occur, people in the affected communities should remove pools of standing water, where mosquitoes can breed, and should use insect repellent. The most effective insect repellents contain a chemical called DEET. Travelers can be given vaccines against one cause, Japanese B encephalitis, which is common in Japan and other parts of Asia. Antiviral drugs, such as intravenous acyclovir, are often given when encephalitis is initially diagnosed, even before the cause is known. Acyclovir is the best treatment for herpes simplex encephalitis. If the drug can be started soon after symptoms begin, the chance of full recovery is much better. Without acyclovir treatment, herpes encephalitis can cause severe permanent brain damage. Antiviral drugs don't have much effect on the other viral agents that cause encephalitis. Encephalitis caused by Lyme disease is treated with intravenous antibiotics, usually ceftriaxone. Other treatments are known as supportive therapies. These include drugs to reduce fever, relieve headache and treat seizures if they occur. When To Call a Professional Contact a doctor if someone in your family suddenly becomes confused, is very hard to arouse, seems to have lost consciousness or has severe headaches. Whether these symptoms are caused by encephalitis or another condition, they require immediate medical attention. In babies, a bulge in the fontanelle (the soft spot of the skull) is another important warning sign. Encephalitis is most dangerous in babies and senior citizens, but it can be serious and even fatal in people of all ages. With severe cases, recovery is slow and may involve therapy to regain certain skills. The prospects for a complete recovery vary depending on the type of virus involved. Encephalitis from the herpes virus can cause permanent injury. Eastern equine encephalitis is rare, with fewer than 10 cases per year in the United States. However, 50% to 60% of cases are fatal, and most survivors have permanent brain damage. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/c/9339/9886/210318.html?d=dmtHealthAZ

There are two types of suffix in English: - A derivational suffix (such as the addition of -ly to an adjective to form an adverb) indicates what type of word it is. - An inflectional suffix (such as the addition of -s to a noun to form a plural) tells something about the word's grammatical behavior. - Common Suffixes in English - Denominal Adjective and Denominal Noun Etymology:From the Latin, "to fasten underneath" Examples and Observations: - "It is often possible to tell the era of a product's development by its termination. Thus products dating from the 1920s and early 1930s often end in -ex (Pyrex, Cutex, Kleenex, Windex), while those ending in -master (Mixmaster, Toastmaster) generally betray a late-1930s or early-1940s genesis." (Bill Bryson, Made in America. Harper, 1994) - "Gazebo: The name is an 18th-century joke word combining 'gaze' with the Latin suffix 'ebo,' meaning 'I shall.'" (Encyclopedia Britannica Online) - "Primary school children would be better at spelling if they were taught about morphemes--the units of meaning that form words--researchers claim today. . . . "For instance, the word 'magician' consists of two morphemes: the stem 'magic' and the suffix 'ian.' "Children find the word difficult to spell because the third syllable sounds like 'shun.' But if they knew it was made up of the two morphemes, they could make more sense of the way it is spelled, researchers suggest." (Anthea Lipsett, "Spelling: Break Words Up Into Units of Meaning." The Guardian, Nov. 25, 2008) - "Suffixes display all kinds of relationships between form, meaning, and function. Some are rare and have only vague meanings, as with the -een in velveteen. Some have just enough uses to suggest a meaning, as with -iff in bailiff, plaintiff, suggesting someone involved with law." (Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford Univ. Press, 1992) - "The number of suffixes in Modern English is so great, and the forms of several, especially in words derived through the French from Latin, are so variable that an attempt to exhibit them all would tend to confusion." (Walter W. Skeat, Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1882) - "Call it a vast linguistic conspiracy: proponents of the major conspiracy theories of the day--the truthers, the birthers, the deathers--share a suffix that makes them all sound like whackdoodles. 'It looks like conspiracy theorists might acquire a permanent suffix in -er, just like political scandals now have a permanent suffix in -gate,' Victor Steinbok, a frequent contributor to the American Dialect Society’s online discussion board, observed recently in that forum. . . . "Today’s -er groups are not -ists; their beliefs are not -isms or -ologies, theories of social organization like communism or fields of study like sociology. Nor are they -ites, devout followers of a domineering visionary figure, like Trotskyites, Benthamites or Thatcherites. The -ers, the caricature asserts, are not sophisticated enough for that. That is perhaps why -er words, long before truther, have been used to deride political opponents, as in tree hugger, bra burner and evildoer--not to mention the catch-alls for extremists, wingers and nutters (from wing nut)." (Leslie Savan, "From Simple Noun to Handy Partisan Put-Down." The New York Times Magazine, Nov. 18, 2009) - The Lighter Side of Suffixes "Good things don't end in -eum; they end in -mania or -teria." (Homer Simpson, The Simpsons) "We're good . . . at words, too: burgle, burglar, burglary. The Americans go about it differently: burglar, burglarize, burglarization. Maybe they'll move on, soon, and we'll have burglarizationeers who burglarizationize us, leaving us victims of burglarizationeerage." (Michael Bywater, The Chronicles of Bargepole. Jonathan Cape, 1992) "I've heard of many chocoholics, but I ain't never seen no 'chocohol.' We got an epidemic, people: people who like chocolate but don't understand word endings. They're probably 'over-workaholled.'" (Demetri Martin, 2007)

http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/suffixterm.htm

When students use their own technology tools within a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) classroom, they can construct new connections that lead to new opportunities for learning. However, many teachers are afraid of what can happen when students make these connections, but these fears are often unfounded when students explore new ways to learn with their own technology at school. In this post, I describe some different ways that students can connect at school and some possible resources for making those connections, and I included Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube even though those sites may not be appropriate for all ages and are blocked within many school settings. Students Connecting to Each Other Students can connect with each other via their technology devices, and according to a recent study, approximately 63% of teens say they communicate with text messages with others in their lives (Lenhart, 2012). Yet, when many students enter their schools, their handheld devices are banned, and communication with their peers are limited in order to listen to lectures and direct instruction in preparation for standardized tests. In the BYOT classroom, however, students can learn and practice new ways to connect with each other through the use of social media when they are involved in collaborative activities with their devices. Participating in group assignments such as developing a class wiki or creating a photo journal can encourage students to share their ideas and demonstrate their learning. Here are some additional resources for helping students connect with each other. Students Connecting to Teachers The bond that teachers can create with the students in their classrooms can help to develop the expectations and community necessary for a successful BYOT initiative. These connections can be motivating to students and help them become persistent learners. In the BYOT classroom, students can develop connections with their teachers as they work alongside each other to utilize technology in the discovery of new concepts and strategies. The traditional role of the teacher as the expert of content knowledge who disseminates that understanding to students through lectures is is often turned upside down in the digital age when as a community of learners, teachers and students build new meanings together. Students can connect with their teachers through the following collaborative tools that allow them to discuss topics they are learning in class and send messages to each other. Students Connecting to Content Many of the concepts that students learn in school are unfamiliar and abstract. By using their own technology devices that they have personalized with their favorite apps and shortcuts, students in the BYOT classroom are able to make greater connections to the content that they are learning. They are also able to locate the information they need just in time to understand these new concepts. Digital Age learners expect to be find ready information as needed to answer their questions, and that information needs to be engaging, visual, and interactive to achieve maximum impact on students. Students can connect with content to demonstrate what they know and with their technology tools they have the capability to emphasize their unique areas of strength and particular talents. These resources can help students connect to content at home and school. Lenhart, A. (2012, March 19). Teens, smartphones, & texting. Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Teens-and-smartphones/Summary-of-findings.aspx

http://byotnetwork.com/2012/08/31/connected-to-learning-with-byot/

||This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Anecdotal reflections are unacceptable and needs to be cited. (January 2013)| A push–pull output is a type of electronic circuit that uses a pair of active devices that alternatively supply current to, or absorb current from, a connected load. Push–pull outputs are present in TTL and CMOS digital logic circuits and in some types of amplifiers, and are usually realized as a complementary pair of transistors, one dissipating or sinking current from the load to ground or a negative power supply, and the other supplying or sourcing current to the load from a positive power supply. A push–pull amplifier is more efficient than a single-ended "Class A" amplifier. The output power that can be achieved is higher than the continuous dissipation rating of either transistor or tube used alone and increases the power available for a given supply voltage. Symmetrical construction of the two sides of the amplifier means that even-order harmonics are cancelled, which can reduce distortion. DC current is cancelled in the output, allowing a smaller output transformer to be used than in a single-ended amplifier. However, the push–pull amplifier requires a phase-splitting component that adds complexity and cost to the system; use of center-tapped transformers for input and output is a common technique but adds weight and restricts performance. If the two parts of the amplifier do not have identical characteristics, distortion can be introduced as the two halves of the input waveform are amplified unequally. Crossover distortion can be created near the zero point of each cycle as one device is cut off and the other device enters its active region. Push-pull circuits are widely used in many amplifier output stages. A pair of audion tubes connected in push–pull is described in Edwin H. Colpitts' US patent 1137384 granted in 1915, although the patent does not specifically claim the push–pull connection. The technique was well-known at that time and the principle had been claimed in an 1895 patent predating electronic amplifiers. Possibly the first commercial product using a push–pull amplifier was the RCA Balanced amplifier released in 1923 for use with their Radiola III broadcast receiver. By using a pair of low-power vacuum tubes in push–pull configuration, the amplifier allowed the use of a loudspeaker instead of headphones, while providing acceptable battery life with low standby power consumption. The technique continues to be used in audio, radio frequency, digital and power electronics systems today. A digital use of a push–pull configuration is the output of TTL and related families. The upper transistor is functioning as an active pull-up, in linear mode, while the lower transistor works digitally. For this reason they aren't capable of supplying as much current as they can sink (typically 20 times less). Because of the way these circuits are drawn schematically, with two transistors stacked vertically, normally with a level shifting diode in between, they are called "totem pole" outputs. A disadvantage of simple push–pull outputs is that two or more of them cannot be connected together, because if one tried to pull while another tried to push, the transistors could be damaged. To avoid this restriction, some push–pull outputs have a third state in which both transistors are switched off. In this state, the output is said to be floating (or, to use a proprietary term, tri-stated). The alternative to a push–pull output is a single switch that connects the load either to ground (called an open collector or open drain output) or to the power supply (called an open-emitter or open-source output). A conventional amplifier stage which is not push–pull is sometimes called single-ended to distinguish it from a push–pull circuit. In analog push–pull power amplifiers the two output devices operate in antiphase (i.e. 180° apart). The two antiphase outputs are connected to the load in a way that causes the signal outputs to be added, but distortion components due to non-linearity in the output devices to be subtracted from each other; if the non-linearity of both output devices is similar, distortion is much reduced. Symmetrical push–pull circuits must cancel even order harmonics, like f2, f4, f6 and therefore promote odd order harmonics, like (f1), f3, f5 when driven into the nonlinear range. A push–pull amplifier produces less distortion than a single-ended one. This allows a class A or AB push–pull amplifier to have less distortion for the same power as the same devices used in single-ended configuration. Class AB and class B dissipate less power for the same output as class A; distortion can be kept low by negative feedback and by biassing the output stage to reduce crossover distortion. A push–pull amplifier is more efficient than a Class A power amplifier because each output device amplifies only half the output waveform and is cut off during the opposite half. It can be shown that the theoretical full power efficiency (AC power in load compared to DC power consumed) of a push–pull stage is approximately 78.5%. This compares with a Class A amplifier which has efficiency of 25% if directly driving the load and no more than 50% for a transformer coupled output. A push–pull amplifier draws little power with zero signal, compared to a class A amplifier that draws constant power. Power dissipation in the output devices is roughly one-fifth of the output power rating of the amplifier. A Class A amplifier, by contrast, must use a device capable of dissipating several times the output power. The output of the amplifier may be direct-coupled to the load, coupled by a transformer, or connected through a dc blocking capacitor. Where both positive and negative power supplies are used, the load can be returned to the midpoint (ground) of the power supplies. A transformer allows a single polarity power supply to be used, but limits the low-frequency response of the amplifier. Similarly, with a single power supply, a capacitor can be used to block the DC level at the output of the amplifier. Where bipolar junction transistors are used, the bias network must compensate for the negative temperature coefficient of the transistors' base to emitter voltage. This can be done by including a small value resistor between emitter and output. Also, the driving circuit can have silicon diodes mounted in thermal contact with the output transistors, to provide compensation. Push–pull transistor output stages ||This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2012)| Transformer-output transistor power amplifiers It is now very rare to use output transformers with transistor amplifiers, although such amplifiers offer the best opportunity for matching output devices (with only PNP or only NPN devices required). Totem-pole push–pull output stages Two matched transistors of the same polarity can be arranged to supply opposite halves of each cycle without the need for an output transformer, although in doing so the driver circuit often is asymmetric and one transistor will be used in a Common-emitter configuration while the other is used as an Emitter follower. This arrangement is less used today than during the 1970s; it can be implemented with few transistors (not so important today) but is relatively difficult to balance and so keep to a low distortion. Each half of the output pair "mirror" the other, in that an NPN (or N-Channel FET) device in one half will be matched by a PNP (or P-Channel FET) in the other. This type of arrangement tends to give lower distortion than quasi-symmetric stages because even harmonics are cancelled more effectively with greater symmetry. In the past when good quality PNP complements for high power NPN silicon transistors were limited, a workaround was to use identical NPN output devices, but fed from complementary PNP and NPN driver circuits in such a way that the combination was close to being symmetrical (but never as good as having symmetry throughout). Distortion due to mismatched gain on each half of the cycle could be a significant problem. Super-symmetric output stages Employing some duplication in the whole driver circuit, to allow symmetrical drive circuits can improve matching further, although driver asymmetry is a small fraction of the distortion generating process. Using a bridge-tied load arrangement allows a much greater degree of matching between positive and negative halves, compensating for the inevitable small differences between NPN and PNP devices. The output devices, usually MOSFETs, are configured so that their square-law transfer characteristics (that generate second harmonic Distortion is used in a single-ended circuit) cancel distortion to a large extent. That is, as the voltage across one transistor's gate-source voltage increases the remaining bias voltage to the complementary device is reduced by that amount and the drain current change in the second device approximately corrects for the non-linearity in the increase of the first. Push–pull tube (valve) output stages Vacuum tubes (valves) are not available in complementary types (as are pnp/npn transistors), so the tube push–pull amplifier has a pair of identical output tubes or groups of tubes with the control grids driven in antiphase. These tubes drive current through the two halves of the primary winding of a center-tapped output transformer. Signal currents add, while the distortion signals due to the non-linear characteristic curves of the tubes subtract. These amplifiers were first designed long before the development of solid-state electronic devices; they are still in use by both audiophiles and musicians who consider them to sound better. Vacuum tube push-pull amplifiers usually use an output transformer, although Output-transformerless (OTL) tube stages exist.. The phase-splitter stage is usually another vacuum tube but a transformer with a center-tapped secondary winding was occasionally used in some designs. A so-called ultra-linear push–pull amplifer uses either Pentodes or Tetrodes with their screen grid fed from a percentage of the primary voltage on the output transformer. This gives efficiency and distortion that is a good compromise between triode (or Triode-strapped) power amplifiers circuits and conventional pentode or tetrode output circuits where the screen is fed from a relatively constant voltage source. See also↑Jump back a section - Joe Carr, RF Components and Circuits, Newnes, page 84 - Donald Monroe McNicol, Radios' Conquest of Space: The Experimental Rise in Radio Communication Taylor & Francis, 1946 page 348 - http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?page=5&xmldoc=193278360F2d723_1537.xml&docbase=CSLWAR1-1950-1985&SizeDisp=7 WESTERN ELECTRIC CO. v. WALLERSTEIN retrieved 12/12/12 - US Patent 549,477 Local Transmitter Circuit for Telephones., W. W. Dean - Gregory Malanowski The Race for Wireless: How Radio Was Invented (or Discovered?), AuthorHouse, 2011 ISBN 1463437501 pages 66-67, page 144 - Maurice Yunik Design of Modern Transistor Circuits, Prentice-Hall 1973 ISBN 0-13-201285-5 pp. 340-353 - Donald G. Fink, ed. Electronics Engineer's Handbook, McGraw Hill 19745 ISBN 0-07-02980-4 pp. 13-23 through 13-24 - Ian Hegglun. "Practical Square-law Class-A Amplifier Design". Linear Audio - Volume 1.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push%E2%80%93pull_output

Simply begin typing or use the editing tools above to add to this article. Once you are finished and click submit, your modifications will be sent to our editors for review. There are three main properties of chemical bonds that must be considered—namely, their strength, length, and polarity. The polarity of a bond is the distribution of electrical charge over the atoms joined by the bond. Specifically, it is found that, while bonds between identical atoms (as in H2) are electrically uniform in the sense that both hydrogen atoms are electrically... ...because they undergo a wide variety of reactions and are readily available by many synthetic methods. The reactivity of these compounds arises largely through two features of their structures: the polarity of the carbonyl group and the acidity of any α-hydrogens that are present. ...one by the fluorine atom. Although the electrons are shared between the hydrogen and the fluorine atoms, in this case they are not shared equally. This is clear from the fact that the HF molecule is polar; the hydrogen atom has a partial positive charge (δ+), while the fluorine atom has a partial negative charge (δ−): H−F δ+... ...are used for drying gases and liquids and for separating molecules on the basis of their sizes and shapes. When two molecules are equally small and can enter the pores, separation is based on the polarity (charge separation) of the molecule, the more polar molecule being preferentially adsorbed. Compare gel chromatography. poisons and chemical transport A chemical tends to dissolve more readily in a solvent of similar polarity. Nonpolar chemicals are considered lipophilic (lipid-loving), and polar chemicals are hydrophilic (water-loving). Lipid-soluble, nonpolar molecules pass readily through the membrane because they dissolve in the hydrophobic, nonpolar portion of the lipid bilayer. Although permeable to water (a polar molecule), the... The force F between two polar molecules is directly proportional to the product of the two dipole moments ( μ 1 and μ 2) and inversely proportional to the fourth power of the distance between them ( r 4): that is, F varies as μ 1 μ 2/ r 4. The equation for this... ...varies according to its location within the molecule (for example, esters are formed readily by 3-OH groups but only with difficulty by the 11β-OH group). An important property of steroids is polarity—i.e., their solubility in oxygen-containing solvents (e.g., water and alcohols) rather than hydrocarbon solvents (e.g., hexane and benzene). Hydroxyl, ketonic, or ionizable (capable of... What made you want to look up "polarity"? Please share what surprised you most...

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467099/polarity

Soil Microbes: Life Beneath Our Feet The air into which plants extend their stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits is a virtual desert compared to the soil in which their roots seek anchorage, water, and nourishment. Just about every available surface under our feet is covered with life; even the thin film of water that coats soil particles and lines pores in the soil harbors microscopic organisms that swim in those minute spaces. Without living organisms, soil would be merely crushed rock. It is the interactions between microorganisms and mineral components, fueled by sunlight and chemical reactions, that break down rock and gradually convert it into soil. The number of organisms found in soil boggles the imagination: a mere gram may contain a billion bacteria and 200 meters of fungal hyphae! Charles Darwin, well known for his theory of evolution by natural selection, is also recognized as the founder of soil ecology; but it was Louis Pasteur who first demonstrated that organic material was decomposed by bacteria, not as a result of chemical reaction. Bacteria are an essential part of the soil food web, breaking down organic matter, converting inorganic matter into organic forms, and serving as food for other organisms. All the kingdoms of life are involved in the decomposition of organic matter, which makes nutrients available to plants (and ultimately animals), but only bacteria are able to make all the essential elements available. In addition to bacteria, slime molds, protozoans, lichens, a variety of fungi, and other, more obscure organisms, have important roles in decomposing organic matter and building soil. Begin with bare rock—the Hawaiian Islands, for instance. The first organisms to colonize land newly created by lava flows must be able to provide their own nutrients by means of light or chemical energy. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), the first colonizers, are able to photosynthesize; some are able to “fix” atmospheric nitrogen, making it available to plants. Lichens (an alliance between fungi and algae) are also early colonizers, providing their own nutrients; they also produce unusual acids that help break down rock. Eventually, as a thin layer of soil develops on the lava, higher plants begin to move in; many of the first have a nitrogen-fixing capability. As a more complex flora develops, organic materials are broken down and contribute to soil formation. Organic matter improves water-holding capacity, buffers pH, and provides nutrients. Humus represents organic matter that is resistant to continued decomposition; it becomes highly stable, and functions in many soil chemical reactions. Humus contributes to soil a crumbly, spongy texture, and a rich, dark color (resembling seventy percent dark chocolate). Soil Food Web The soil food web is now recognized to influence biodiversity and interactions above the soil surface, and scientists are increasingly paying attention to what is happening beneath our feet. The organisms that facilitate the process of breaking down organic materials are called decomposers, scavengers, detritivores, saprophages, or recyclers. Whatever we call them, a succession of these abundant organisms breaks down organic materials, and contributes to soil fertility. Larger organisms, such as worms, move the soil around, creating pores and aggregates of soil particles. In turn, a wide variety of predators, parasites, and pathogens regulate the populations of soil organisms. The same organisms that break down organic material are building soil. The axiom “feed your soil,” it turns out, is truly the crux of successful gardening, and the “black gold” produced by the backyard compost pile is a gardener’s treasure house. In addition to the roles of predator, parasite, and herbivore, examples of soil food web roles include fungivores (feed on fungi), coprophages (feed on dung), and the bacterial and fungal partners (such as mycorrhizae) that assist in nutrient and water uptake by plant roots (to be explored in a future article). Many strange and wonderful organisms, visible only with a microscope, inhabit the soil. Archaea were once thought to occur only in extreme environments such as hot springs and saline soils, but have now been found in association with roots in more ordinary environments. Eubacteria (true bacteria) are found principally around plant roots, where they find a nutrient source in root exudates and dead cells. Actinomycetes contribute the wonderful “earthy” smell of freshly turned soil, and are a source of antibiotics such as streptomycin, tetracycline, and actinomycin. In the soil food web, antibiotics regulate bacteria. The sugar fungi (in the fungal phylum Zygomycota) include the first fungi to attack dead leaves. Slime molds help to break down leaves and wood by engulfing food in their path. Protozoans patrol the film of water in soil pores, also regulating the bacterial community. Other organisms, such as oomycetes (water molds), chytrids, and hypochytrids, are members of the soil food web. “We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot,” Leonardo da Vinci told us long ago, and it is still true today. As we turn our attention to the soils in which our gardens grow, we are discovering a new world to explore and a re-affirmation of the wonders of life that surround us every time we step out our door. In a Nutshell Bacteria, protozoans, blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), green, red, and yellow algae, diatoms, slime molds, actinomycetes, fungi, lichens, water molds, chytrids, oomycetes. Protista groups several phyla that may not be closely related; these are single-celled or multicellular organisms with no specialization of tissues, and include protozoans, slime molds, and other groups of eukaryotic (cells with a membrane-bound nucleus) microorganisms. Archaebacteria includes extremophiles and some root-associated organisms. Fungi include several distinct phyla: sugar fungi are in phylum Zygomycota; yeasts, and a few mushrooms, such as the well-known morels and cup fungi, are in phylum Ascomycota; most familiar mushrooms, including all those with gills, are in phylum Basidiomycota. Lichens are a mutualistic relationship between fungi and algae. Algae may be included with the Eubacteria (blue-green algae), Stramenophila (yellow and brown algae and diatoms), or Plantae (green and red algae). Worldwide. Most species of soil microbes remain undescribed. Some groups, such as slime molds, include only a few hundred species; bacteria may include millions of species. Most of the single-celled organisms reproduce by simple fission, splitting into two. Fungi have complex reproductive strategies. Algae have various reproductive strategies. Varied and diverse; the majority are visible only through a microscope. Varied. Soil bacteria and protozoans are short-lived, but lichens and some fungi may live many years. Autotrophs (plants, algae, and some bacteria and protozoans) provide their own nourishment and can produce complex organic molecules using light energy or by chemical reactions. Heterotrophs (all other living organisms) rely on autotrophs to produce the organic molecules necessary to support life. Humus in the soil helps it hold water and nutrients, creates a spongy structure, and provides a hospitable home for plants and soil organisms. Some bacteria, fungi, and other organisms cause plant diseases; oomycetes, for example, cause sudden oak death and potato blight. Some bacteria can break down pesticides and other pollutants. Archaea (also known as extremophiles) are usually found in places like hot springs, anaerobic environments, deepsea thermal vents, and salty soils; some have been discovered to have associations with plant roots. It is relatively simple to enhance the microbiology of garden soils with the addition of compost and organic materials. Seriously depleted soils may benefit from the addition of commercial inoculants to boost microbial activity. Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners, JM Nardi. [click here to read a review of this book] Teaming with Microbes: A Gardeners Guide to the Soil Food Web, Joel Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis (Timber Press, 2006). http://www.sonoma.edu/preserves/education/edmaterials.shtml. A soil-building terrarium-a fun project that inexpensively and actively demonstrates the process of soil-building. http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/21113/excerpt/9780521621113_excerpt.pdf. Provides an in-depth explanation of nutrient cycling.

http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/soil-microorganisms/

A simple straight edge and a percentage circle offer children access to profound and fundamental learnings in both art and geometry. Making grids from scratch can exercise children's powers of visualization: the abilities developed through interpreting configurations for their 'hidden' geometric shapes, patterns, symmetries, and other attributes. When I am teaching, these constructions grow out of children making chords. Counting clockwise by 25 they construct a square; counting by 20, a pentagon; by 30, a 20-pointed star. They learn that an inscribed polygon is made of chords, that a regular polygon is the result of counting correctly, that the chords and the inscribed angles are congruent. They know these things because they have MADE them from scratch! Let's begin our grid with a set of inscribed polygons. First, a pair of squares at eight points: Here we should be perceiving at least 8 triangles, 2 squares, 1 eight-pointed star, and 1 octagon, all inside 1 circle: Below, you will see more sets of polygons. There are 2 octagons, not 1, and more sets of different triangles, some congruent, some similar. All rotate around the center of the circle. When I present polygons, inscribed polygons, or the diameter of a circle, students (children or teachers) seem to know what these are. We don't go into formal definitions, especially in the context of my introduction, where I talk about two distinct and contrasting kinds of patterns: regular and random. Regular patterns have motifs that are 'units of repeat'. Though the units themselves are the same, we can vary the pattern by counting them with different numbers, i.e., repetitions: (1212121) (112112112) (112221122211222). Random patterns are like camouflage: there is not only a specific or single motif, but the viewer perceives an overall similarity of shapes and colors which, like the transcendental-numbers-after-the-decimal-sign, cannot be predicted. The motif (unit of repeat) and the pattern (the numbered intervals) are 'random'. Highlighting the polygons with lines in colors helps children to visualize, to 'seek and find' . Given the opportunity to draw this grid from the initial 8 points on the circumference, using a straight edge, learners discover elemental geometric properties as did ancient geometers long ago. They begin to experience the quintessential beauty of geometry. Home || The Math Library || Quick Reference || Search || Help

http://mathforum.org/sarah/shapiro/shapiro.inscribed.grids.html

The New York Times, August 30, 2005Link The common ancestor of humans and the rhesus macaque monkey lived about 25 million years ago. But despite that vast gulf of time, our chromosomes still retain plenty of evidence of our shared heritage. A team of scientists at the National Cancer Institute recently documented this evidence by constructing a map of the rhesus macaque's DNA, noting the location of 802 genetic markers in its genome. Then they compared the macaque map to a corresponding map of the human genome. The order of thousands of genes was the same. "About half of the chromosomes are pretty much intact," said William Murphy, a member of the team, now at Texas A&M University. The other chromosomes had become rearranged over the past 25 million years, but Dr. Murphy and his colleagues were able to reconstruct their evolution. Periodically, a chunk of chromosome was accidentally sliced out of the genome, flipped around and inserted backward. In other cases, the chunk was ferried to a different part of the chromosome. All told, 23 of these transformations took place, and within these blocks of DNA, the order of the genes remained intact. "It's fairly easy to see how you can convert the chromosomes from the macaque to the human," Dr. Murphy said. This new macaque study, which is set to appear in a future issue of the journal Genomics, is just one of many new papers charting the history of chromosomes - in humans and other species. While scientists have been studying chromosomes for nearly a century, only in the last few years have large genome databases, powerful computers and new mathematical methods allowed scientists to trace these evolutionary steps. Scientists hope that uncovering the history of chromosomes will have practical applications to diseases like cancer, in which rearranged chromosomes play a major part. Scientists have known for over 70 years that chromosomes can be rearranged. With a microscope, it is possible to make out the banded patterns on chromosomes and to compare the pattern in different species. Scientists discovered that different populations of fruit fly species could be distinguished by inverted segments in their chromosomes. Later, molecular biologists discovered how cells accidentally rearranged large chunks of genetic material as they made new copies of their chromosomes. By the 1980's, scientists were able to identify some major events in chromosome evolution. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, for example, while chimpanzees and other apes have 24. Scientists determined that two ancestral chromosomes fused together after the ancestors of humans split off from other apes some six million years ago. But a more detailed understanding of how chromosomes had changed would have to wait until scientists had amassed more information. The mystery could not be solved with data alone. Deciphering the history of chromosomes is like a fiendishly difficult puzzle. One well-studied version of it is known as the pancake problem. You have a stack of pancakes of different sizes, and you want to sort them into a neat pile from small to big. You can only do so by using a spatula to flip over some of the pancakes. Even a dozen pancakes make this a viciously hard problem to solve. "Flipping chromosomes is a lot like flipping pancakes," said Pavel Pevzner of the University of California, San Diego. In the mid-1990's, Dr. Pevzner and Sridhar Hannenhalli of the University of Pennsylvania invented a fast method for comparing chromosomes from two different species and determining the fewest number of rearrangements - the equivalent of pancake flips - that separate them. They introduced the method with a series of talks with titles like "Transforming Cabbage Into Turnips" and "Transforming Mice Into Men." "That opened the floodgates," said Bernard Moret of the University of New Mexico. Scientists have used methods like Dr. Pevzner's to study different groups of species. Dr. Pevzner himself joined with Dr. Murphy and 23 other scientists to analyze the last 100 million years of mammal evolution. They compared the genomes of humans to cats, dogs, mice, rats, pigs, cows and horses, using a program developed by Harris A. Lewin and his colleagues at the University of Illinois, called the Evolution Highway. The program allowed them to trace how each lineage's chromosomes had become rearranged over time. They published their results in the July 22 issue of Science. The scientists found some chromosomes barely altered and others heavily reworked. They also discovered that the rate for rearrangements was far from steady. After the end of the Cretaceous Period, when large dinosaurs became extinct, the chromosomes of mammals began rearranging two to five times as fast as before. That may reflect the evolutionary explosion of mammals that followed the dinosaur extinctions, as mammals rapidly occupied new ecological niches as predators and grazers, fliers and swimmers. More puzzling is the fact that different lineages became rearranged faster than others. "The dog's chromosomes have been evolving at least two to three times cats' or humans'," Dr. Murphy said. "And the mice and rats have been going even faster than the dogs." (Rodents are by no means the record holder. A 2004 study found that sunflower chromosomes have been rearranging about three times as fast as rodents'.) The new results raise questions about how evolution makes chromosome rearrangements part of a species' genome. In many cases, these mutations cause diseases, so natural selection should make them disappear quickly from a population. But scientists have also documented some rearrangements that are not hazardous or that are even beneficial. This year, for example, scientists discovered that some Northern Europeans carry a large inverted segment on one of their chromosomes. This inversion boosts the fertility of women who carry it. Chromosome rearrangements may also play a role in the origin of new species. Scientists often find that closely related species living in overlapping ranges have rearranged chromosomes. The mismatch of chromosomes may make it impossible for the two species to hybridize. As a result, the rearrangements may then spread through the entire new species. But Dr. Murphy isn't willing to speculate whether rodents have a faster rate of chromosome rearrangements because of the way they form new species. "There really isn't enough genome sequence to be sure," he said. The Science study and the newer study on macaques suggest that chromosomes tend to break in certain places, a hypothesis first offered by Dr. Pevzner in 2003. "Genomes do not play dice," Dr. Pevzner said. "Certain regions of the genome are being broken over and over again." It is too early to say why these regions have become break points, said Evan Eichler of the University of Washington, who was not involved in the mammal study. "There's something about these regions that makes them hot, and we have to figure out what that hot factor is," he said. Dr. Eichler argues that it is important to figure out what that is because a number of human congenital diseases are associated with chromosome rearrangements at these same break points. "Here you have a beautiful connection," he said. "The same thing that causes big-scale rearrangement between a human and chimp or a gorilla, these same sites are often the site of deletion associated with diseases." Some of these diseases involve chromosome rearrangements in a fertilized egg, leading to congenital disorders. Cancer cells also undergo large-scale chromosome rearrangements, often at the same break points identified in the recent evolution study. "We could have inherited some weaknesses in our genome that we have to understand and deal with medically," said David Haussler of the University of California, Santa Cruz. "And that has to do with the history of how our genome is built." Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

http://carlzimmer.com/articles/2005.php?subaction=showfull&id=1177185697&archive=&start_from=&ucat=8

There are ten microbial cells for every one human cell in the body, and microbiology dogma holds that there is a tight barrier protecting the inside of the body from outside invaders, in this case bacteria. Bacterial pathogens can break this barrier to cause infection and senior author Jeffrey Weiser, MD, professor of Microbiology and Pediatrics from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and first author Thomas Clarke, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Weiser lab, wondered how microbes get inside the host and circulate in the first place. Weiser and Clarke tested to see if microbes somehow weaken host cell defenses to enter tissues. In this Cell Host & Microbe study, the investigators found that microbes open and get through the initial cellular barrier -- epithelial cells that line the airway -- in a programmed and efficient way. They surmise this could be a normal physiological event and the epithelial lining may not be as effective at keeping microbes out as once thought. Microbes that survive once past the epithelial lining tend to be pathogenic, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, two major human pathogens causing invasive infections. Their data support a general mechanism for epithelial opening exploited by invasive pathogens to facilitate movement into tissue to initiate disease. Using microarray and PCR analysis of the epithelial cells' response to invasion by S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae, the researchers found a downregulation of genes called claudins that encode proteins key to keeping the spaces between epithelial cells tight. All animals recognize molecules in microbial cell walls. It was detection of these microbial molecules by host molecules called Toll-like receptors that caused the proteins responsible for keeping the cellular barrier tight to fall down on the job. When modeled in a cell assay, claudin downregulation was preceded by upregulation of another protein called SNAIL1 that suppresses claudins, the cellular components that keep the junctions tight. What's more, inhibiting claudin expression in a cell assay or stimulating the Toll-like receptors in an animal model loosened the junctions between cells and promoted bacterial movement across the epithelium. "This study provides an understanding of how microbes gain access into their host to affect its physiology," concludes Weiser. Explore further: X-ray tomography on a living frog embryo

http://phys.org/news/2011-06-gatekeepers-microbes-tight-spaces-cells.html

|Search||Hot Links||What's New!| Please let me remind all of you--this material is copyrighted. Though partially funded by NASA, it is still a private site. Therefore, before using our materials in any form, electronic or otherwise, you need to ask permission. There are two ways to browse the site: (1) use the search button above to find specific materials using keywords; or, (2) go to specific headings like history, principles or careers at specific levels above and click on the button. Teachers may go directly to the Teachers' Guide from the For Teachers button above or site browse as in (1) and (2). The force that lifts an airplane and holds it up comes in part from the air that flows swiftly over and under its wings. Make an airfoil (wing) by placing one end of the strip of paper between the pages of the book so that the other end hangs over the top as shown in diagram A. Move the book swiftly through the air, or blow across the top of the strip of paper. It flutters upward. Hold the book in the breeze of an electric fan so the air blows over the top of the paper. Take the strip of paper out of the book. Grasp one end of the paper and set it against your chin, just below your mouth. Hold it in place with your thumb and blow over the top of the strip. The paper rises. Try the same thing after you have fastened a paper clip on the end of the strip. See how many paperclips you can lift in this way. It doesn't matter whether you move the air over the strip of paper by blowing or whether you move the paper rapidly through the air - either way it rises. Press to see Animation for paper airfoil. [Some suggest to use Bernoulli's principle to explain this effect, while many others find the use of Bernoulli's principle in this manner to be incorrect. Read On!] Bernoulli's principle states that an increase in the velocity of any fluid is always accompanied by a decrease in pressure. Air is a fluid. If you can cause the air to move rapidly on one side of a surface, the pressure on that side of the surface is less than that on its other side. Bernoulli's principle [is then used to explain how this] works with an airplane wing. In motion, air hits the leading edge (front edge) of the wing. Some of the air moves under the wing, and some of it goes over the top. The air moving over the top of the curved wing must travel farther to reach the back of the wing; consequently it must travel faster than the air moving under the wing. Therefore the air pressure on the top of the wing is less than that on the bottom of the wing. Press to see Animation for Bernoulli's principle. Many believe that use of Bernoulli's principle to explain lift is incorrect because flat wings (such as seen on balsa wood airplanes, paper planes and others) also create lift. Please read How planes fly: the physical description of flight or Section 4.1 of Level 2 as well to get a fuller understanding of the creation of lift. Send all comments to firstname.lastname@example.org © 1995-2013 ALLSTAR Network. All rights reserved worldwide. Updated: November 30, 2009

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/Experiment1.htm

Reported speech is also known as indirect speech. Reported speech is used to relate what others have said. Teachers can use this guide on how to teach reported speech for help introducing the reported speech, as well as a reported speech lesson plan and other resources. Here is a quick review to refresh your knowledge of the basics of reported speech. There are two main ways to use related speech: Said and Told - Past Tense The verbs say and tell in the past tense (said and told) are commonly used to related a conversation that you have had with someone. In this case, the verb that you are relating moves one step back into the past. For example: Tom: I'm working hard these days. You (relating this statement to a friend): Tom said he was working hard lately. Annie: We bought some truffles for a fancy dinner. You (relating this statement to a friend): Annie told me they had bought some truffles for a fancy dinner. Here is a chart of the most common verb changes for reported speech. For more details use this guide to reported speech. present simple -> past simple Original Statement: I work hard. Reported Statement: He said he worked hard. present continuous -> past continuous Original Statement: She is playing the piano. Reported Statement: He said she was playing the piano. future with 'will' -> future in the past with 'would' Original Statement: Tom will have a good time. Reported Statement: He said Tom would have a good time. future with 'going to' -> future in the past with 'was / were going to' Original Statement: Anna is going to attend the conference. Reported Statement: Peter said Anna was going to attend the conference. present perfect -> past perfect Original Statement: I have visited Rome three times. Reported Statement: He said he had visited Rome three times. past simple -> past perfect Original Statement: Frank bought a new car. Reported Statement: She said frank had bought a new car. Changing Pronouns and Time Expressions Remember to change pronouns and time expressions when using reported speech. For example: Original Statement: I'm going to visit Tom tomorrow. Reported Statement: Ken told me he was going to visit Tom the next day. Original Statement: We are working on our end of the year report right now. Reported Statement: She said they were working on their end of the year report at that moment. Say - Present Tense The use of reported speech is generally used in the past tense, but can be used at times in the present tense to report to someone else who perhaps has not heard the original statement. When reporting with say in the present tense, keep the tense the same as the original statement, but make sure to change the appropriate pronouns and helping verbs. For example: Original Statement: I am giving my opinion. Reported Statement: He says he is giving his opinion. Original Statement: I moved back into my parents house two years ago. Reported Statement: Anna says she moved back into her parents house two years ago. Reported Speech Worksheet Put the verb in brackets into the correct tense by moving the reported verb one step back into the past when necessary. - I'm working in Dallas today. / He said he _____ (work) in Dallas that day. - I think he will win the election. / She said she _____ (think) he _____ (win) the election. - Anna lives in London. / Peter says Anna _____ (live) in London. - My father is going to visit us next week. / Frank said his father ______ (visit) them the following week. - They bought a brand new Mercedes! / She said they _____ (buy) a brand new Mercedes. - I have worked at the company since 1997. / She said she _____ (work) at the company since 1997. - They are watching TV at the moment. / She said they _____ (watch) TV at that moment. - Francis drives to work every day. / He said Francis _____ (drive) to work every day. - Alan thought about changing his job last year. / Alan said that he _____ (thought) about changing his job the previous year. - Susan is flying to Chicago tomorrow. / Susan said she _____ (fly) to Chicago the next day. - George went to the hospital last night. / Peter said that George _____ (go) to the hospital the preceding night. - I enjoy playing golf on Saturdays. / Ken says that he _____ (enjoy) playing golf on Saturdays. - I will change jobs soon. / Jennifer told me she _____ (change) jobs soon. - Frank is getting married in July. / Anna tells me that Frank ______ (get married) in July. - October is the best month of the year. / The teacher says that October _____ (be) the best month of the year. - Sarah wants to buy a new house. / Jack told me that his sister ______ (want) to buy a new house. - They are working hard on the new project. / The boss told me that they _____ (work) hard on the new project. - We've lived here for ten years. / Frank told me that they _____ (live) there for ten years. - I take the subway to work every day. / Ken tells me he _____ (take) the subway to work every day. - Angela prepared lamb for dinner yesterday. / Peter told us that Angela ______ (prepare) lamb for dinner the day before.

http://esl.about.com/od/esl-worksheets/a/Reported-Speech-Worksheet.htm

Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) is a non-native biennial forb that reproduces solely by seed. A biennial is a plant that completes its lifecycle within two years. During the first year of growth, musk thistle appears as a rosette in spring or fall. During the second year in mid to late spring, the stem bolts, flowers, sets seed, and the plant dies. Musk thistle produces many flower heads. The terminal, or tallest, shoots flower first, then lateral shoots develop in leaf axils. A robust plant may produce 100 or more flowering heads. A prolific seed producer, musk thistle can produce up to 20,000 seeds per plant, only one-third being viable. Because musk thistle reproduces solely from seed, the key for successful management is to prevent seed production. Musk thistle Fact Sheet

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=ag_Conservation%2FCBONLayout&cid=1251621066505&pagename=CBONWrapper

Feathered dinosaurs is a term used to describe dinosaurs, particularly maniraptoran dromaeosaurs, that were covered in plumage; either filament-like intergumentary structures with few branches, to fully developed pennaceous feathers complete with shafts and vanes. Feathered dinosaurs first came to realization after it was discovered that dinosaurs are closely related to birds. Since then, the term "feathered dinosaurs" has widened to encompass the entire concept of the dinosaur–bird relationship, including the various avian characteristics some dinosaurs possess, including a pygostyle, a posteriorly oriented pelvis, elongated arms and forelimbs and clawed hand, and clavicles fused to form a furcula. A substantial amount of evidence demonstrates that birds are the descendants of theropod dinosaurs, and that birds evolved during the Jurassic from small, feathered maniraptoran theropods closely related to dromaeosaurids and troodontids (known collectively as deinonychosaurs). Less than two dozen species of dinosaurs have been discovered with direct fossil evidence of plumage since the 1990s, with most coming from Cretaceous deposits in China, most notably Liaoning Province. Together, these fossils represent an important transition between dinosaurs and birds, which allows paleontologists to piece together the origin and evolution of birds. Despite integumentary structures being limited to non-avian dinosaurs, particularly well-documented in maniraptoriformes, fossils do suggest that a large number of theropods were feathered, and it has even been suggested that based on phylogenetic analyses, Tyrannosaurus at one stage of its life may have been covered in down-like feathers, although there is no direct fossil evidence of this. Based on what is known of the dinosaur fossil record, paleontologists generally think that most of dinosaur evolution happened at relatively large body size (a mass greater than a few kilograms), and in animals that were entirely terrestrial. Small size (<1 kg) and arboreal habits seem to have arisen fairly late during dinosaurian evolution, and only within maniraptora. |Part of a series on| |Dinosaurs and birds| Birds were originally linked with other dinosaurs back in the late 1800s, most famously by Thomas Huxley. This view remained fairly popular until the 1920s when Gerhard Heilmann's book The Origin of Birds was published in English. Heilmann argued that birds could not have descended from dinosaurs (predominantly because dinosaurs lacked clavicles, or so he thought), and he therefore favored the idea that birds originated from the so-called 'pseudosuchians': primitive archosaurs that were also thought ancestral to dinosaurs and crocodilians. This became the mainstream view until the 1970s, when a new look at the anatomical evidence (combined with new data from maniraptoran theropods) led John Ostrom to successfully resurrect the dinosaur hypothesis. Fossils of Archaeopteryx include well-preserved feathers, but it was not until the early 1990s that clearly nonavian dinosaur fossils were discovered with preserved feathers. Today there are more than twenty genera of dinosaurs with fossil feathers, nearly all of which are theropods. Most are from the Yixian Formation in China. The fossil feathers of one specimen, Shuvuuia deserti, have even tested positive for beta-keratin, the main protein in bird feathers, in immunological tests. Shortly after the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species, the ground-breaking book which described his theory of evolution by natural selection, British biologist and evolution-defender Thomas Henry Huxley proposed that birds were descendants of dinosaurs. He compared skeletal structure of Compsognathus, a small theropod dinosaur, and the 'first bird' Archaeopteryx lithographica (both of which were found in the Upper Jurassic Bavarian limestone of Solnhofen). He showed that, apart from its hands and feathers, Archaeopteryx was quite similar to Compsognathus. In 1868 he published On the Animals which are most nearly intermediate between Birds and Reptiles, making the case. The leading dinosaur expert of the time, Richard Owen, disagreed, claiming Archaeopteryx as the first bird outside dinosaur lineage. For the next century, claims that birds were dinosaur descendants faded, while more popular bird-ancestry hypotheses including that of a possible 'crocodylomorph' and 'thecodont' ancestor gained ground. Since the discovery of such theropods as Microraptor and Epidendrosaurus, paleontologists and scientists in general now have small forms exhibiting some features suggestive of a tree-climbing (or scansorial) way of life. However, the idea that dinosaurs might have climbed trees goes back a long way, and well pre-dates the dinosaur renaissance of the 1960s and 70s. The idea of scansoriality in non-avian dinosaurs has been considered a 'fringe' idea, and it's partly for this reason that, prior to 2000, nobody had attempted any sort of review on the thoughts that had been published about the subject. The oldest reference to scansoriality in a dinosaur comes from William Fox, the Isle of Wight curator and amateur fossil collector, who in 1866 proposed that Calamospondylus oweni from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight might have been in the habit of 'leaping from tree to tree'. The Calamospondylus oweni specimen that Fox referred to was lost, and the actual nature of the fossil remains speculative, but there are various reasons for thinking that it was a theropod. However, it's not entirely accurate to regard Fox's ideas about Calamospondylus as directly relevant to modern speculations about tree-climbing dinosaurs given that, if Fox imagined Calamospondylus oweni as resembling anything familiar, it was probably as a lizard-like reptile, and not as a dinosaur as they are currently understood. During the early decades of the 20th century the idea of tree-climbing dinosaurs became reasonably popular as Othenio Abel, Gerhard Heilmann and others used comparisons with birds, tree kangaroos and monkeys to argue that the small ornithopod Hypsilophodon (also from the Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight) was scansorial. Heilmann had come to disagree with this idea and now regarded Hypsilophodon as terrestrial. William Swinton favored the idea of a scansorial Hypsilophodon, concluding that 'it would be able to run up the stouter branches and with hands and tail keep itself balanced until the need for arboreal excursions had passed', and in a 1936 review of Isle of Wight dinosaurs mentioned the idea that small theropods might also have used their clawed hands to hold branches when climbing. During the 1970s, Peter Galton was able to show that all of the claims made about the forelimb and hindlimb anatomy of Hypsilophodon supposedly favoring a scansorial lifestyle were erroneous, and that this animal was in fact well suited for an entirely terrestrial, cursorial lifestyle. Nevertheless, for several decades Hypsilophodon was consistently depicted as a tree-climber. In recent decades, Gregory Paul has been influential in arguing that small theropods were capable climbers, and he not only argued for and illustrated scansorial abilities in coelurosaurs, he also proposed that as-yet-undiscovered maniraptorans were highly proficient climbers and included the ancestors of birds. The hypothesized existence of small arboreal theropods that are as yet unknown from the fossil record later proved integral to George Olshevsky's 'Birds Came First' (BCF) hypothesis. Olshevsky argued that all dinosaurs, and in fact all archosaurs, descend from small, scansorial ancestors, and that it is these little climbing reptiles which are the direct ancestors of birds. Ostrom, Deinonychus and the Dinosaur RenaissanceEdit In 1964, the first specimen of Deinonychus antirrhopus was discovered in Montana, and in 1969, John Ostrom of Yale University described Deinonychus as a theropod whose skeletal resemblance to birds seemed unmistakable. Since that time, Ostrom had become a leading proponent of the theory that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. During the late 1960s, Ostrom and others demonstrated that maniraptoran dinosaurs could fold their arms in a manner similar to that of birds. Further comparisons of bird and dinosaur skeletons, as well as cladistic analysis strengthened the case for the link, particularly for a branch of theropods called maniraptors. Skeletal similarities include the neck, the pubis, the wrists (semi-lunate carpal), the 'arms' and pectoral girdle, the shoulder blade, the clavicle and the breast bone. In all, over a hundred distinct anatomical features are shared by birds and theropod dinosaurs. Other researchers drew on these shared features and other aspects of dinosaur biology and began to suggest that at least some theropod dinosaurs were feathered. The first restoration of a feathered dinosaur was Sarah Landry's depiction of a feathered "Syntarsus" (now renamed Megapnosaurus or considered a synonym of Coelophysis), in Robert T. Bakker's 1975 publication Dinosaur Renaissance. Gregory S. Paul was probably the first paleoartist to depict maniraptoran dinosaurs with feathers and protofeathers, starting in the late 1980s. By the 1990s, most paleontologists considered birds to be surviving dinosaurs and referred to 'non-avian dinosaurs' (all extinct), to distinguish them from birds (aves). Before the discovery of feathered dinosaurs, the evidence was limited to Huxley and Ostrom's comparative anatomy. Some mainstream ornithologists, including Smithsonian Institution curator Storrs L. Olson, disputed the links, specifically citing the lack of fossil evidence for feathered dinosaurs. Modern research and feathered dinosaurs in ChinaEdit The early 1990s saw the discovery of spectacularly preserved bird fossils in several Early Cretaceous geological formations in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning. South American paleontologists, including Fernando Novas and others, discovered evidence showing that maniraptorans could move their arms in a bird-like manner. Gatesy and others suggested that anatomical changes to the vertebral column and hindlimbs occured before birds first evolved, and Xu Xing and colleagues proved that true functional wings and flight feathers evolved in some maniraptorans, all strongly suggesting that these anatomical features were already well-developed before the first birds evolved. In 1996, Chinese paleontologists described Sinosauropteryx as a new genus of bird from the Yixian Formation, but this animal was quickly recognized as a theropod dinosaur closely related to Compsognathus. Surprisingly, its body was covered by long filamentous structures. These were dubbed 'protofeathers' and considered to be homologous with the more advanced feathers of birds, although some scientists disagree with this assessment. Chinese and North American scientists described Caudipteryx and Protarchaeopteryx soon after. Based on skeletal features, these animals were non-avian dinosaurs, but their remains bore fully-formed feathers closely resembling those of birds. "Archaeoraptor," described without peer review in a 1999 issue of National Geographic, turned out to be a smuggled forgery, but legitimate remains continue to pour out of the Yixian, both legally and illegally. Many newly described feathered dinosaurs preserve horny claw sheaths, integumentary structures (filaments to fully pennaceous feathers), and internal organs. Feathers or "protofeathers" have been found on a wide variety of theropods in the Yixian, and the discoveries of extremely bird-like dinosaurs, as well as dinosaur-like primitive birds, have almost entirely closed the morphological gap between theropods and birds. Archaeopteryx, the first good example of a "feathered dinosaur", was discovered in 1861. The initial specimen was found in the solnhofen limestone in southern Germany, which is a lagerstätte, a rare and remarkable geological formation known for its superbly detailed fossils. Archaeopteryx is a transitional fossil, with features clearly intermediate between those of modern reptiles and birds. Discovered just two years after Darwin's seminal Origin of Species, its discovery spurred the nascent debate between proponents of evolutionary biology and creationism. This early bird is so dinosaur-like that, without a clear impression of feathers in the surrounding rock, at least one specimen was mistaken for Compsognathus. Since the 1990s, a number of additional feathered dinosaurs have been found, providing even stronger evidence of the close relationship between dinosaurs and modern birds. Most of these specimens were unearthed in Liaoning province, northeastern China, which was part of an island continent during the Cretaceous period. Though feathers have been found only in the lagerstätte of the Yixian Formation and a few other places, it is possible that non-avian dinosaurs elsewhere in the world were also feathered. The lack of widespread fossil evidence for feathered non-avian dinosaurs may be due to the fact that delicate features like skin and feathers are not often preserved by fossilization and thus are absent from the fossil record. A recent development in the debate centers around the discovery of impressions of "protofeathers" surrounding many dinosaur fossils. These protofeathers suggest that the tyrannosauroids may have been feathered. However, others claim that these protofeathers are simply the result of the decomposition of collagenous fiber that underlaid the dinosaurs' integument. The Dromaeosauridae family, in particular, seems to have been heavily feathered and at least one dromaeosaurid, Cryptovolans, may have been capable of flight. Because feathers are often associated with birds, feathered dinosaurs are often touted as the missing link between birds and dinosaurs. However, the multiple skeletal features also shared by the two groups represent the more important link for paleontologists. Furthermore, it is increasingly clear that the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, and the evolution of flight, are more complex topics than previously realized. For example, while it was once believed that birds evolved from dinosaurs in one linear progression, some scientists, most notably Gregory S. Paul, conclude that dinosaurs such as the dromaeosaurs may have evolved from birds, losing the power of flight while keeping their feathers in a manner similar to the modern ostrich and other ratites. Comparisons of bird and dinosaur skeletons, as well as cladistic analysis, strengthens the case for the link, particularly for a branch of theropods called maniraptors. Skeletal similarities include the neck, pubis, wrist (semi-lunate carpal), arm and pectoral girdle, shoulder blade, clavicle, and breast bone. At one time, it was believed that dinosaurs lacked furculae, long believed to be a structure unique to birds, that were formed by the fusion of the two collarbones (clavicles) into a single V-shaped structure that helps brace the skeleton against the stresses incurred while flapping. This apparent absence was considered an overwhelming argument to refute the dinosaur ancestry of birds by Danish artist and naturalist Gerhard Heilmann's monumentally influential The Origin of Birds in 1926. That reptiles ancestral to birds, therefore, should, at the very least, show well-developed clavicles. In the book, Heilmann discussed that no clavicles had been reported in any theropod dinosaur. Noting this fact, Heilmann suggested that birds evolved from a more generalized archosaurian ancestor, such as the aptly-named Ornithosuchus (literally, “bird-crocodile”), which is now believed to be closer to the crocodile end of the archosaur lineage. At the time, however, Ornithosuchus seemed to be a likely ancestor of more birdlike creatures. Contrary to what Heilman believed, paleontologists since the 1980s now accept that clavicles and in most cases furculae are a standard feature not just of theropods but of saurischian dinosaurs. Furculae in dinosaurs is not only limited to maniraptorans, as evidenced by an article by Chure & Madson in which they described a furcula in an allosaurid dinosaur, a non-avian theropod. In 1983, Rinchen Barsbold reported the first dinosaurian furcula from a specimen of the Cretaceous theropod Oviraptor. A furcula-bearing Oviraptor specimen had previously been known since the 1920s, but because at the time the theropod origin of birds was largely dismissed, it was misidentified for sixty years.:9 Following this discovery, paleontologists began to find furculae in other theropod dinosaurs. Wishbones are now known from the dromaeosaur Velociraptor, the allosauroid Allosaurus, and the tyrannosaurid Tyrannosaurus rex, to name a few. Up to late 2007, ossified furculae (i.e. made of bone rather than cartilage) have been found in nearly all types of theropods except the most basal ones, Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus. The original report of a furcula in the primitive theropod Segisaurus (1936) has been confirmed by a re-examination in 2005. Joined, furcula-like clavicles have also been found in Massospondylus, an Early Jurassic sauropodomorph, indicating that the evolution of the furcula was well underway when the earliest dinosaurs were diversifying. In 2000, Alex Downs reported an isolated furcula found within a block of Coelophysis bauri skeletons from the Late Triassic Rock Point Formation at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. While it seemed likely that it originally belonged to Coelophysis, the block contained fossils from other Triassic animals as well, and Alex declined to make a positive identification. Currently, a total of five C. bauri furculae have been found in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History's (NMMNH) Ghost Ranch, New Mexico Whitaker Quarry block C-8-82. Three of the furculae are articulated in juvenile skeletons; two of these are missing fragments but are nearly complete, and one is apparently complete. Two years later, Tykoski et al. described several furculae from two species of the coelophysoid genus Syntarsus (now Megapnosaurus), S. rhodesiensis and S. kayentakatae, from the Early Jurassic of Zimbabwe and Arizona, respectively. Syntarsus was long considered to be the genus most closely related to Coelophysis, differing only in a few anatomical details and slightly younger age, so the identification of furculae in Syntarsus made it very likely that the furcula Alex Downs noted in 2000 came from Coelophysis after all. By 2006, wishbones were definitively known from the Early Jurassic Coelophysis rhodesiensis and Coelophysis kayentakatae, and a single isolated furcula was known that might have come from the Late Triassic type species, Coelophysis bauri. Avian air sacsEdit Large meat-eating dinosaurs had a complex system of air sacs similar to those found in modern birds, according to an investigation which was led by Patrick O'Connor of Ohio University. The lungs of theropod dinosaurs (carnivores that walked on two legs and had birdlike feet) likely pumped air into hollow sacs in their skeletons, as is the case in birds. "What was once formally considered unique to birds was present in some form in the ancestors of birds", O'Connor said. In a paper published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE (September 29, 2008), scientists described Aerosteon riocoloradensis, the skeleton of which supplies the strongest evidence to date of a dinosaur with a bird-like breathing system. CT-scanning revealed the evidence of air sacs within the body cavity of the Aerosteon skeleton. Heart and sleeping postureEdit Modern computed tomography (CT) scans of a dinosaur chest cavity conducted in 2000 found the apparent remnants of complex four-chambered hearts, much like those found in today's mammals and birds. The idea is controversial within the scientific community, coming under fire for bad anatomical science or simply wishful thinking. The type fossil of the troodont, Mei, is complete and exceptionally well preserved in three-dimensional detail, with the snout nestled beneath one of the forelimbs, similar to the roosting position of modern birds. This demonstrates that the dinosaurs slept like certain modern birds, with their heads tucked under their arms. This behavior, which may have helped to keep the head warm, is also characteristic of modern birds. A discovery of features in a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton recently provided more evidence that dinosaurs and birds evolved from a common ancestor and, for the first time, allowed paleontologists to establish the sex of a dinosaur. When laying eggs, female birds grow a special type of bone in their limbs between the hard outer bone and the marrow. This medullary bone, which is rich in calcium, is used to make eggshells. The presence of endosteally derived bone tissues lining the interior marrow cavities of portions of the Tyrannosaurus rex specimen's hind limb suggested that T. rex used similar reproductive strategies, and revealed the specimen to be female. Further research has found medullary bone in the theropod Allosaurus and ornithopod Tenontosaurus. Because the line of dinosaurs that includes Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus diverged from the line that led to Tenontosaurus very early in the evolution of dinosaurs, this suggests that dinosaurs in general produced medullary tissue. Medullary bone has been found in specimens of sub-adult size, which suggests that dinosaurs reached sexual maturity rather quickly for such large animals. The micro-structure of eggshells and bones has also been determined to be similar to that of birds. Brooding and care of youngEdit Several specimens of the Mongolian oviraptorid Citipati was discovered in a chicken-like brooding position resting over the eggs in its nest in 1993, which may mean it was covered with an insulating layer of feathers that kept the eggs warm. All of the nesting specimens are situated on top of egg clutches, with their limbs spread symmetrically on each side of the nest, front limbs covering the nest perimeter. This brooding posture is found today only in birds and supports a behavioral link between birds and theropod dinosaurs. The nesting position of Citipati also supports the hypothesis that it and other oviraptorids had feathered forelimbs. With the 'arms' spread along the periphery of the nest, a majority of eggs would not be covered by the animal's body unless an extensive coat of feathers was present. A dinosaur embryo was found without teeth, which suggests some parental care was required to feed the young dinosaur, possibly the adult dinosaur regurgitated food into the young dinosaur's mouth (see altricial). This behavior is seen in numerous bird species; parent birds regurgitate food into the hatchling's mouth. The loss of teeth and the formation of a beak has been shown to have been favorably selected to suit the newly aerodynamical bodies of avian flight in early birds. In the Jehol Biota in China, various dinosaur fossils have been discovered that have a variety of different tooth morphologies, in respect to this evolutionary trend. Sinosauropteryx fossils display unserrated premaxillary teeth, while the maxillary teeth are serrated. In the preserved remains of Protarchaeopteryx, four premaxillary teeth are present that are serrated. The diminutive oviraptorosaur Caudipteryx has four hook-like premaxillary teeth, and in Microraptor zhaoianus, the posterior teeth of this species had developed a constriction that led to a less compressed tooth crown. These dinosaurs exhinit a heterodont dentition pattern that clearly illustrates a transition from the teeth of maniraptorans to those of early, basal birds. Molecular evidence and soft tissueEdit One of the best examples of soft tissue impressions in a fossil dinosaur was discovered in Petraroia, Italy. The discovery was reported in 1998, and described the specimen of a small, very young coelurosaur, Scipionyx samniticus. The fossil includes portions of the intestines, colon, liver, muscles, and windpipe of this immature dinosaur. In the March 2005 issue of Science, Dr. Mary Higby Schweitzer and her team announced the discovery of flexible material resembling actual soft tissue inside a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. After recovery, the tissue was rehydrated by the science team. The seven collagen types obtained from the bone fragments, compared to collagen data from living birds (specifically, a chicken), reveal that older theropods and birds are closely related. When the fossilized bone was treated over several weeks to remove mineral content from the fossilized bone marrow cavity (a process called demineralization), Schweitzer found evidence of intact structures such as blood vessels, bone matrix, and connective tissue (bone fibers). Scrutiny under the microscope further revealed that the putative dinosaur soft tissue had retained fine structures (microstructures) even at the cellular level. The exact nature and composition of this material, and the implications of Dr. Schweitzer's discovery, are not yet clear; study and interpretation of the specimens is ongoing. The successful extraction of ancient DNA from dinosaur fossils has been reported on two separate occasions, but upon further inspection and peer review, neither of these reports could be confirmed. However, a functional visual peptide of a theoretical dinosaur has been inferred using analytical phylogenetic reconstruction methods on gene sequences of related modern species such as reptiles and birds. In addition, several proteins have putatively been detected in dinosaur fossils, including hemoglobin. Feathers are extremely complex integumentary structures that characterize a handful of vertebrate animals. Although it is generally acknowledged that feathers are derived and evolved from simpler integumentary structures, the early diversification and origin of feathers was relatively unknown until recently, and current research is ongoing. Since the theropod ancestry of birds is widely supported with osteological and other physical lines of evidence, the precursors of feathers in dinosaurs are also present, as predicted by those who originally proposed a theropod origin for birds. In 2006, Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing stated in a paper that since many members of Coelurosauria exhibit miniaturization, primitive integumentary structures (and later on feathers) evolved in order to insulate their small bodies. The functional view on the evolution of feathers has traditionally focussed on insulation, flight and display. Discoveries of non-flying Late Cretaceous feathered dinosaurs in China however suggest that flight could not have been the original primary function. Feathers in dinosaurs indicate that their original function was not flight, but of a different nature. Theories include insulation brought around after they had metabolically changed from their cold-blooded reptilian ancestors, to increasing running speed. It has been suggested that vaned feathers evolved in the context of thrust, with running, non-avian theropods flapping their arms to increase their running speed. The following is the generally acknowledged version of the origin and early evolution of feathers: - The first feathers evolved; they are single filaments. - Branching structures developed. - The rachis evolved. - Pennaceous feathers evolved. - Aerodynamic morphologies appeared. (curved shaft and asymmetrical vanes) This scenario appears to indicate that downy, contour, and flight feathers, are more derived forms of the first "feather". However, it is also possible that protofeathers and basal feathers disappeared early on in the evolution of feathers and that more primitive feathers in modern birds are secondary. This would imply that the feathers in modern birds have nothing to do with protofeathers. A recent study performed by Prum and Brush (2002) suggested that the feathers of birds are not homologous with the scales of reptiles. A new model of feather evolution posits that the evolution of feathers first began with a feather follicle merging from the skin's surface that has no relation to reptilian scales. After this initial event, additions and new morphological characteristics were added to the feather design and more complex feathers evolved. This model of feather evolution, while agreeing with the distribution of various feather morphologies in coelurosaurs, it is also at odds with other evidence. The feather bristles of modern-day turkeys resemble the hair-like integumentary strcutures found in some maniraptorans, pterosaurs (see Pterosauria#Pycnofibers), and ornithischians, are widely regarded to be homologous to modern feathers, yet share also show distinct, feather like characteristics. This has led some paleontologists, such as Xu Xing, to theorize that feathers share homology with lizard scales after all. - Stage I: Tubular filaments and feather-type beta keratin evolved.[Note 3] - Stage II: The filamentous structure evolved distal branches.[Note 4] - Stage III: Xu Xing described this stage as being the most important stage. The main part of the modern feather, the feather follicle, appeared along with the rachises and planar forms developed.[Note 5] - Stage IV: Large, stiff, well-developed pennaceous feathers evolved on the limbs and tails of maniraptoran dinosaurs. Barbules evolved.[Note 6] - Stage V: Feather tracts (pennaceous feathers that are located on regions other than the limbs and tail) evolved. Specialized pennaceous feathers developed. Xu Xing himself stated that this new model was similar to the one out forward by Richard Prum, with the exception that Xu's model posits that feathers "feature a combination of transformation and innovation". This view differs from Prum's model in that Prum suggested that feathers were purely an evolutionary novelty. Xing's new model also suggests that the tubular filaments and branches evolved before the appearance of the feather follicle, while also acknowledging that the follicle was an important development in feather evolution, also in contrast to Prum's model of feather evolution. Primitive feather typesEdit The evolution of feather structures is thought to have proceeded from simple hollow filaments through several stages of increasing complexity, ending with the large, deeply rooted, feathers with strong pens (rachis), barbs and barbules that birds display today. It is logical that the simplest structures were probably most useful as insulation, and that this implies homeothermy. Only the more complex feather structures would be likely candidates for aerodynamic uses. Models of feather evolution are often proposed that the earliest prototype feathers were hair-like integumentary filaments similar to the structures of Sinosauropteryx, a compsognathid (Jurassic/Cretaceous, 150-120 Ma), and Dilong, a basal tyrannosauroid from the Early Cretaceous. It is not known with certainty at what point in archosaur phylogeny the earliest simple “protofeathers” arose, or if they arose once or, independently, multiple times. Filamentous structures are clearly present in pterosaurs, and long, hollow quills have been reported in a specimen of Psittacosaurus from Liaoning. It is thus possible that the genes for building simple integumentary structures from beta keratin arose before the origin of dinosaurs, possibly in the last common ancestor with pterosaurs – the basal Ornithodire. In Prum's model of feather evolution, hollow quill-like integumentary structures of this sort were termed Stage 1 feathers. The idea that feathers started out as hollow quills also supports Alan Brush's idea that feathers are evolutionary novelties, and not derived from scales. However, in order to determine the homology of Stage 1 feathers, it is necessary to determine their proteinaceous content: unlike the epidermal appendages of all other vertebrates, feathers are almost entirely composed of beta-keratins (as opposed to alpha-keratins) and, more specifically, they are formed from a group of beta-keratins called phi-keratins. No studies have yet been performed on the Stage 1 structures of Sinosauropteryx or Dilong in order to test their proteinaceous composition, however, tiny filamentous structures discovered adjacent to the bones of the alvarezsaurid Shuvuuia have been tested for beta-keratin, and the structures were discovered to be composed of beta-keratin. Alvarezsaurids have been of controversial phylogenetic position, but are generally agreed to be basal members of the Maniraptora clade. Due to this discovery, paleontologists are now convinced that beta-keratin-based protofeathers had evolved at the base of this clade at least. Vaned, pennaceous feathersEdit While basal coelurosaurs possessed these apparently hollow quill-like 'Stage 1' filaments, they lacked the more complex structures seen in maniraptorans. Maniraptorans possessed vaned feathers with barbs, barbules and hooklets just like those of modern birds. The first dinosaur fossils from the Yixian formation found to have true flight-structured feathers (pennaceous feathers) were Protarchaeopteryx and Caudipteryx (135-121 Ma). Due to the size and proportions of these animals it is more likely that their feathers were used for display rather than for flight. Subsequent dinosaurs found with pennaceous feathers include Pedopenna and Jinfengopteryx. Several specimens of Microraptor, described by Xu et al. in 2003, show not only pennaceous feathers but also true asymmetrical flight feathers, present on the fore and hind limbs and tail. Asymmetrical feathers are considered important for flight in birds. Before the discovery of Microraptor gui, Archaeopteryx was the most primitive known animal with asymmetrical flight feathers. However, the bodies of maniraptorans were not covered in vaned feathers as are those of the majority of living birds: instead, it seems that they were at least partly covered in the more simple structures that they had inherited from basal coelurosaurs like Sinosauropteryx. This condition may have been retained all the way up into basal birds: despite all those life restorations clothing archaeopterygids in vaned breast, belly, throat and neck feathers, it seems that their bodies also were at least partly covered in the more simple filamentous structures. The Berlin Archaeopteryx specimen appears to preserve such structures on the back of the neck though pennaceous vaned feathers were present on its back, at least. Though it has been suggested at times that vaned feathers simply must have evolved for flight, the phylogenetic distribution of these structures currently indicates that they first evolved in flightless maniraptorans and were only later exapted by long-armed maniraptorans for use in locomotion. Of course a well-known minority opinion, best known from the writings of Gregory Paul, is that feathered maniraptorans are secondarily flightless and descend from volant bird-like ancestors. While this hypothesis remains possible, it lacks support from the fossil record, though that may or may not mean much, as the fossil record is incomplete and prone to selection bias. The discovery of Epidexipteryx represented the earliest known examples of ornamental feathers in the fossil record. Epidexipteryx is known from a well preserved partial skeleton that includes four long feathers on the tail, composed of a central rachis and vanes. However, unlike in modern-style rectrices (tail feathers), the vanes were not branched into individual filaments but made up of a single ribbon-like sheet. Epidexipteryx also preserved a covering of simpler body feathers, composed of parallel barbs as in more primitive feathered dinosaurs. However, the body feathers of Epidexipteryx are unique in that some appear to arise from a "membranous structure." The skull of Epidexipteryx is also unique in a number of features, and bears an overall similarity to the skull of Sapeornis, oviraptorosaurs and, to a lesser extent, therizinosauroids. The tail of Epidexipteryx bore unusual vertebrae towards the tip which resembled the feather-anchoring pygostyle of modern birds and some oviraptorosaurs. Despite its close relationship to avialan birds, Epidexipteryx appears to have lacked remiges (wing feathers), and it likely could not fly. Zhang et al. suggest that unless Epidexipteryx evolved from flying ancestors and subsequently lost its wings, this may indicate that advanced display feathers on the tail may have predated flying or gliding flight. According to the model of feather evolution developed by Prum & Brush, feathers started out ('stage 1') as hollow cylinders, then ('stage 2') became unbranched barbs attached to a calamus. By stage 3, feathers were planar structures with the barbs diverging from a central rachis, and from there pennaceous feathers. The feathers of Epidexipteryx may represent stage 2 structures, but also suggests that a more complicated sequence of steps in the evolution of feathers took place. Use in predationEdit Several maniraptoran lineages were clearly predatory and, given the morphology of their manual claws, fingers and wrists, presumably in the habit of grabbing at prey with their hands. Contrary to popular belief, feathers on the hands would not have greatly impeded the use of the hands in predation. Because the feathers are attached at an angle roughly perpendicular to the claws, they are oriented tangentially to the prey's body, regardless of prey size.:315 It is important to note here that theropod hands appear to have been oriented such that the palms faced medially (facing inwards), and were not parallel to the ground as used to be imagined. However, feathering would have interfered with the ability of the hands to bring a grasped object up toward the mouth given that extension of the maniraptoran wrist would have caused the hand to rotate slightly upwards on its palmar side. If both feathered hands are rotated upwards and inwards at the same time, the remiges from one hand would collide with those of the other. For this reason, maniraptorans with feathered hands could grasp objects, but would probably not be able to carry them with both hands. However, dromaeosaurids and other maniraptorans may have solved this problem by clutching objects single-handedly to the chest. Feathered hands would also have restricted the ability of the hands to pick objects off of the ground, given that the feathers extend well beyond the ends of the digits. It remains possible that some maniraptorans lacked remiges on their fingers, but the only evidence available indicates the contrary. It has recently been argued that the particularly long second digit of the oviraptorosaur Chirostenotes was used as a probing tool, locating and extracting invertebrates and small mammals and so on from crevices and burrows. It seems highly unlikely that a digit that is regularly thrust into small cavities would have had feathers extending along its length, so either Chirostenotes didn't probe as proposed, or its second finger was unfeathered, unlike that of Caudipteryx and the other feathered maniraptorans. Given the problems that the feathers might have posed for clutching and grabbing prey from the ground, we might also speculate that some of these dinosaurs deliberately removed their own remiges by biting them off. Some modern birds (notably motmots) manipulate their own feathers by biting off some of the barbs, so this is at least conceivable, but no remains in the fossil record have been recovered that support this conclusion. Some feather morphologies in non-avian theropods are comparable to those on modern birds. Single filament like structures are not present in modern feathers, although some birds possess highly specialized feathers that are superficial in appearance to protofeathers in non-avian theropods. Tuft-like structures seen in some maniraptorans are similar to that of the natal down in modern birds. Similarly, structures in the fossil record composed of a series of filaments joined at their bases along a central filament bear an uncanny resemblance to the down feathers in modern birds, with the exception of a lack of barbules. Furthermore, structures on fossils have been recovered from Chinese Cretaceous deposits that are a series of filaments joined at their bases at the distal portion of the central filament bear a superficial resemblance to filoplumes. More derived, pennaceous, feathers on the tails and limbs of feathered dinosaurs are nearly identical to the remiges and retrices of modern birds. Feather structures and anatomyEdit Feathers vary in length according to their position on the body, with the filaments of the compsognathid Sinosauropteryx being 13 mm and 21 mm long on the neck and shoulders respectively. In contrast, the structures on the skull are about 5 mm long, those on the arm about 2 mm long, and those on the distal part of the tail about 4 mm long. Because the structures tend to be clumped together it is difficult to be sure of an individual filament's morphology. The structures might have been simple and unbranched, but Currie & Chen (2001) thought that the structures on Sinosauropteryx might be branched and rather like the feathers of birds that have short quills but long barbs. The similar structures of Dilong also appear to exhibit a simple branching structure. Exactly how feathers were arranged on the arms and hands of both basal birds and non-avian maniraptorans has long been unclear, and both non-avian maniraptorans and archaeopterygids have conventionally been depicted as possessing unfeathered fingers. However, the second finger is needed to support the remiges,[Note 7] and therefore must have been feathered. Derek Yalden's 1985 study was important in showing exactly how the remiges would have grown off of the first and second phalanges of the archaeopterygid second finger, and this configuration has been widely recognized.:129-159 However, there has been some minor historical disagreement over exactly how many remiges were present in archaeopterygids (there were most likely 11 primaries and a tiny distal 12th one, and at least 12 secondaries), and also about how the hand claws were arranged. The claws were directed perpendicularly to the palmar surface in life, and rotated anteriorly in most (but not all) specimens during burial.:129-159 It has also been suggested on occasion that the fingers of archaeopterygids and other feathered maniraptorans were united in a single fleshy 'mitten' as they are in modern birds, and hence unable to be employed in grasping. However, given that the interphalangeal finger joints of archaeopterygids appear suited for flexion and extension, and that the third finger apparently remained free and flexible in birds more derived than archaeopterygids, this is unlikely to be correct; it's based on a depression in the sediment that was identified around the bones. Like those of archaeopterygids and modern birds, the remiges of non-avian theropods would also have been attached to the phalanges of the second manual digit as well as to the metacarpus and ulna, and indeed we can see this in the fossils. It's the case in the sinornithosaur NGMC 91-A and Microraptor. Surprisingly, in Caudipteryx, the remiges are restricted to the hands alone, and don't extend from the arm. They seem to have formed little 'hand flags' that are unlikely to have served any function other than display. Caudipteryx is an oviraptorosaur and possesses a suite of characters unique to this group. It is not a member of Aves, despite the efforts of some workers to make it into one. The hands of Caudipteryx supported symmetrical, pennaceous feathers that had vanes and barbs, and that measured between 15–20 centimeters long (6–8 inches). These primary feathers were arranged in a wing-like fan along the second finger, just like primary feathers of birds and other maniraptorans. No fossil of Caudipteryx preserves any secondary feathers attached to the forearms, as found in dromaeosaurids, Archaeopteryx and modern birds. Either these arm feathers are not preserved, or they were not present on Caudipteryx in life. An additional fan of feathers existed on its short tail. The shortness and symmetry of the feathers, and the shortness of the arms relative to the body size, indicate that Caudipteryx could not fly. The body was also covered in a coat of short, simple, down-like feathers. A small minority, including ornithologists Alan Feduccia and Larry Martin, continues to assert that birds are instead the descendants of earlier archosaurs, such as Longisquama or Euparkeria. Embryological studies of bird developmental biology have raised questions about digit homology in bird and dinosaur forelimbs. Opponents also claim that the dinosaur-bird hypothesis is dogma, apparently on the grounds that those who accept it have not accepted the opponents' arguments for rejecting it. However, science does not require unanimity and does not force agreement, nor does science settle issues by vote. It has been over 25 years since John Ostrom first put forth the dinosaur-bird hypothesis in a short article in Nature, and the opponents of this theory have yet to propose an alternative, testable hypothesis. However, due to the cogent evidence provided by comparative anatomy and phylogenetics, as well as the dramatic feathered dinosaur fossils from China, the idea that birds are derived dinosaurs, first championed by Huxley and later by Nopcsa and Ostrom, enjoys near-unanimous support among today's paleontologists. BADD, BAND, and the Birds Came First hypothesisEdit - Main article: Birds Came First The non-standard, non-mainstream Birds Came First (or BCF) hypothesis proposed by George Olshevsky suggests that while there is a close relationship between dinosaurs and birds, but argues that, merely given this relationship, it is just as likely that dinosaurs descended from birds as the other way around. The hypothesis does not propose that birds in the proper sense evolved earlier than did other dinosaurs or other archosaurs: rather, it posits that small, bird-like, arboreal archosaurs were the direct ancestors of all the archosaurs that came later on (proper birds included). George was aware of this fact, and apparently considered the rather tongue-in-cheek alternative acronym GOODD, meaning George Olshevsky On Dinosaur Descendants. This was, of course, meant as opposite to the also tongue-in-cheek BADD (Birds Are Dinosaur Descendants): the term George uses for the 'conventional' or 'mainstream' view of avian origins outlined in the first two paragraphs above. 'BADD' is bad, according to BCF, as it imagines that small size, feathers and arboreal habits all evolved very late in archosaur evolution, and exclusively within maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs. Protoavis is a Late Triassic archosaurian whose fossilized remains were found near Post, Texas. These fossils have been described as a primitive bird which, if the identification is valid, would push back avian origins some 60-75 million years. Though it existed far earlier than Archaeopteryx, its skeletal structure is allegedly more bird-like. The fossil bones are too badly preserved to allow an estimate of flying ability; although reconstructions usually show feathers, judging from thorough study of the fossil material there is no indication that these were present. However, this description of Protoavis assumes that Protoavis has been correctly interpreted as a bird. Almost all paleontologists doubt that Protoavis is a bird, or that all remains assigned to it even come from a single species, because of the circumstances of its discovery and unconvincing avian synapomorphies in its fragmentary material. When they were found at a Dockum Formation quarry in the Texas panhandle in 1984, in a sedimentary strata of a Triassic river delta, the fossils were a jumbled cache of disarticulated bones that may reflect an incident of mass mortality following a flash flood. Scientists such as Alan Feduccia have cited Protoavis in an attempt to refute the hypothesis that birds evolved from dinosaurs. However, the only consequence would be to push back the point of divergence further back in time. At the time when such claims were originally made, the affiliation of birds and maniraptoran theropods which today is well-supported and generally accepted by most ornithologists was much more contentious; most Mesozoic birds have only been discovered since then. Chatterjee himself has since used Protoavis to support a close relationship between dinosaurs and birds. "As there remains no compelling data to support the avian status of Protoavis or taxonomic validity thereof, it seems mystifying that the matter should be so contentious. The author very much agrees with Chiappe in arguing that at present, Protoavis is irrelevant to the phylogenetic reconstruction of Aves. While further material from the Dockum beds may vindicate this peculiar archosaur, for the time being, the case for Protoavis is non-existent." Claimed temporal paradoxEdit The temporal paradox, or time problem is a controversial issue in the evolutionary relationships of feathered dinosaurs and birds. It was originally conceived of by paleornithologist Alan Feduccia. The concept is based on the apparent following facts. The consensus view is that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but the most bird-like dinosaurs, and those most closely related to birds (the maniraptorans), are known mostly from the Cretaceous, by which time birds had already evolved and diversified. If bird-like dinosaurs are the ancestors of birds they should be older than birds, but Archaeopteryx is 155 million years old, while the very bird-like Deinonychus is 35 million years younger. This idea is sometimes summarized as "you can't be your own grandmother". The development of avian characteristics in dinosaurs supposedly should have led to the first modern bird appearing about 60 million years ago. However, Archaeopteryx lived 150 million years ago, long before any of the bird changes took place in dinosaurs. Each of the feathered dinosaur families developed avian-like features in its own way. Thus there were many several different lines of evolution. Archaeopteryx was merely the result of one such line. Numerous researchers have discredited the idea of the temporal paradox. Witmer (2002) summarized this critical literature by pointing out that there are at least three lines of evidence that contradict it. First, no one has proposed that maniraptoran dinosaurs of the Cretaceous are the ancestors of birds. They have merely found that dinosaurs like dromaeosaurs, troodontids and oviraptorosaurs are close relatives of birds. The true ancestors are thought to be older than Archaeopteryx, perhaps Early Jurassic or even older. The scarcity of maniraptoran fossils from this time is not surprising, since fossilization is a rare event requiring special circumstances and fossils may never be found of animals in sediments from ages that they actually inhabited. Secondly, fragmentary remains of maniraptoran dinosaurs actually have been known from Jurassic deposits in China, North America, and Europe for many years. The femur of a tiny maniraptoran from the Late Jurassic of Colorado was reported by Padian and Jensen in 1989. In a 2009 article in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, six velociraptorine dromaeosaurid teeth were described as being recovered from a bone bed in Langenberg Quarry of Oker (Goslar, Germany). These teeth are notable in this instance in that they dated back to the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic, roughly 155-150 Ma, and represent some of the earliest dromaeosaurids known to science, further refuting a "temporal paradox". Furthermore, a small, as of yet undescribed troodontid known as WDC DML 001, was announced in 2003 as being found in the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of eastern/central Wyoming. The presence of this derived maniraptoran in Jurassic sediments is a strong refutation of the "temporal paradox". Third, if the temporal paradox would indicate that birds should not have evolved from dinosaurs, then what animals are more likely ancestors considering their age? Brochu and Norell (2001) analyzed this question using several of the other archosaurs that have been proposed as bird ancestors, and found that all of them create temporal paradoxes—long stretches between the ancestor and Archaeopteryx where there are no intermediate fossils—that are actually worse. Thus, even if one used the logic of the temporal paradox, one should still prefer dinosaurs as the ancestors to birds. Quick & Ruben (2009)Edit In Quick & Ruben's 2009 paper, they argue that modern birds are fundamentally different from non-avian dinosaurs in terms of abdominal soft-tissue morphology, and therefore birds cannot be modified dinosaurs. The paper asserts that a specialized 'femoral-thigh complex', combined with a synsacrum and ventrally separated pubic bones, provides crucial mechanical support for the abdominal wall in modern birds, and has thereby allowed the evolution of large abdominal air-sacs that function in respiration. In contrast, say the authors, theropod dinosaurs lack these features and had a highly mobile femur that cannot have been incorporated into abdominal support. Therefore, non-avian theropods cannot have had abdominal air-sacs that functioned like those of modern birds, and non-avian theropods were fundamentally different from modern birds. However, this was not mentioned in the paper, but was of course played-up in the press interviews. The paper never really demonstrate anything, but merely try to shoot holes in a given line of supporting evidence. It has been argued that respiratory turbinates supposedly falsify dinosaur endothermy, even though it has never been demonstrated that respiratory turbinates really are a requirement for any given physiological regime, and even though there are endotherms that lack respiratory turbinates. The innards of Sinosauropteryx and Scipionyx also supposedly falsify avian-like air-sac systems in non-avian coelurosaurs and demonstrate a crocodilian-like hepatic piston diaphragm, even though personal interpretation is required to accept that this claim might be correct. Furthermore, even though crocodilians and dinosaurs are fundamentally different in pelvic anatomy, some living birds have the key soft-tissue traits reported by Ruben et al. in Sinosauropteryx and Scipionyx, and yet still have an avian respiratory system. For a more detailed rebuttal of Quick & Ruben's paper, see this post by Darren Naish at Tetrapod Zoology. There have been claims that the supposed feathers of the Chinese fossils are a preservation artifact. Despite doubts, the fossil feathers have roughly the same appearance as those of birds fossilized in the same locality, so there is no serious reason to think they are of different nature; moreover, no non-theropod fossil from the same site shows such an artifact, but sometimes show unambiguous hair (some mammals) or scales (some reptiles). Some researchers have interpreted the filamentous impressions around Sinosauropteryx fossils as remains of collagen fibers, rather than primitive feathers. Since they are clearly external to the body, these researchers have proposed that the fibers formed a frill on the back of the animal and underside of its tail, similar to some modern aquatic lizards. This would refute the proposal that Sinosauropteryx is the most basal known theropod genus with feathers, and also questions the current theory of feather origins itself. It calls into question the idea that the first feathers evolved not for flight but for insulation, and that they made their first appearance in relatively basal dinosaur lineages that later evolved into modern birds. The Archaeoraptor fakeEdit - Main article: Archaeoraptor In 1999, a supposed 'missing link' fossil of an apparently feathered dinosaur named "Archaeoraptor liaoningensis", found in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, turned out to be a forgery. Comparing the photograph of the specimen with another find, Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing came to the conclusion that it was composed of two portions of different fossil animals. His claim made National Geographic review their research and they too came to the same conclusion. The bottom portion of the "Archaeoraptor" composite came from a legitimate feathered dromaeosaurid now known as Microraptor, and the upper portion from a previously-known primitive bird called Yanornis. Flying and glidingEdit The ability to fly or glide has been suggested for at least two dromaeosaurid species. The first, Rahonavis ostromi (originally classified as avian bird, but found to be a dromaeosaurid in later studies) may have been capable of powered flight, as indicated by its long forelimbs with evidence of quill knob attachments for long sturdy flight feathers. The forelimbs of Rahonavis were more powerfully built than Archaeopteryx, and show evidence that they bore strong ligament attachments necessary for flapping flight. Luis Chiappe concluded that, given these adaptations, Rahonavis could probably fly but would have been more clumsy in the air than modern birds. Another species of dromaeosaurid, Microraptor gui, may have been capable of gliding using its well-developed wings on both the fore and hind limbs. Microraptor was among the first non-avian dinosaurs discovered with the impressions of feathers and wings. On Microraptor, the long feathers on the forelimbs possess asymmetrical vanes. The external vanes are narrow, while the internal ones are broad. In addition, Microraptor possessed elongated remiges with asymmetrical vanes that demonstrate aerodynamic function on the hind limbs. A 2005 study by Sankar Chatterjee suggested that the wings of Microraptor functioned like a split-level "biplane", and that it likely employed a phugoid style of gliding, in which it would launch from a perch and swoop downward in a 'U' shaped curve, then lift again to land on another tree, with the tail and hind wings helping to control its position and speed. Chatterjee also found that Microraptor had the basic requirements to sustain level powered flight in addition to gliding. Microraptor had two sets of wings, on both its forelegs and hind legs. The long feathers on the legs of Microraptor were true flight feathers as seen in modern birds, with asymmetrical vanes on the arm, leg, and tail feathers. As in bird wings, Microraptor had both primary (anchored to the hand) and secondary (anchored to the arm) flight feathers. This standard wing pattern was mirrored on the hind legs, with flight feathers anchored to the upper foot bones as well as the upper and lower leg. It had been proposed by Chinese scientists that the animal glided and probably lived in trees, pointing to the fact that wings anchored to the feet of Microraptor would have hindered their ability to run on the ground, and suggest that all primitive dromaeosaurids may have been arboreal. Sankar Chatterjee determined in 2005 that, in order for the creature to glide or fly, the wings must have been on different levels (as on a biplane) and not overlaid (as on a dragonfly), and that the latter posture would have been anatomically impossible. Using this biplane model, Chatterjee was able to calculate possible methods of gliding, and determined that Microraptor most likely employed a phugoid style of gliding—launching itself from a perch, the animal would have swooped downward in a deep 'U' shaped curve and then lifted again to land on another tree. The feathers not directly employed in the biplane wing structure, like those on the tibia and the tail, could have been used to control drag and alter the flight path, trajectory, etc. The orientation of the hind wings would also have helped the animal control its gliding flight. In 2007, Chatterjee used computer algorithms that test animal flight capacity to determine whether or not Microraptor was capable of true, powered flight, in addition to passive gliding. The resulting data showed that Microraptor did have the requirements to sustain level powered flight, so it is theoretically possible that the animal flew on occasion in addition to gliding. Saurischian integumentary structuresEdit The hip structure possessed by modern birds actually evolved independently from the "lizard-hipped" saurischians (specifically, a sub-group of saurischians called the Maniraptora) in the Jurassic Period. In this example of convergent evolution, birds developed hips oriented similar to the earlier ornithischian hip anatomy, in both cases possibly as an adaptation to a herbivorous or omnivorous diet. In Saurischia, maniraptorans are characterized by long arms and three-fingered hands, as well as a "half-moon shaped" (semi-lunate) bone in the wrist (carpus). Maniraptorans are the only dinosaurs known to have breast bones (ossified sternal plates). In 2004, Tom Holtz and Halszka Osmólska pointed out six other maniraptoran characters relating to specific details of the skeleton. Unlike most other saurischian dinosaurs, which have pubic bones that point forward, several groups of maniraptorans have an ornithischian-like backwards-pointing hip bone. A backward-pointing hip characterizes the therizinosaurs, dromaeosaurids, avialans, and some primitive troodontids. The fact that the backward-pointing hip is present in so many diverse maniraptoran groups has led most scientists to conclude that the "primitive" forward-pointing hip seen in advanced troodontids and oviraptorosaurs is an evolutionary reversal, and that these groups evolved from ancestors with backward-pointing hips. Modern pennaceous feathers and remiges are known from advanced maniraptoran groups (Oviraptorosauria and Paraves). More primitive maniraptorans, such as therizinosaurs (specifically Beipiaosaurus), preserve a combination of simple downy filaments and unique elongated quills. Powered and/or gliding flight is present in members of Avialae, and possibly in some dromaeosaurids such as Rahonavis and Microraptor. Simple feathers are known from more primitive coelurosaurs such as Sinosauropteryx, and possibly from even more distantly related species such as the ornithischian Tianyulong and the flying pterosaurs. Thus it appears as if some form of feathers or down-like integument would have been present in all maniraptorans, at least when they were young. Skin impressions from the type specimen of Beipiaosaurus inexpectus indicated that the body was covered predominately by downy feather-like fibers, similar to those of Sinosauropteryx, but longer, and are oriented perpendicular to the arm. Xu et al., who described the specimen, suggested that these downy feathers represent an intermediate stage between Sinosauropteryx and more advanced birds (Avialae). Unique among known theropods, Beipiaosaurus also possessed a secondary coat of much longer, simpler feathers that rose out of the down layer. These unique feathers (known as EBFFs, or elongated broad filamentous feathers) were first described by Xu et al. in 2009, based on a specimen consisting of the torso, head and neck. Xu and his team also found EBFFs in the original type specimen of B. inexpectus, revealed by further preparation. The holotype also preserved a pygostyle-like structure. The holotype was discovered in two phases. Limb fragments and dorsal and cervical vertebrae were discovered initially. The discovery site was re-excavated later on, and this time an articulated tail and partial pelvis were discovered. All come from the same individual. The holotype has the largest proto-feathers known of any feathered dinosaur, with the author and paleontologist Xing Xu stating: "Most integumentary filaments are about 50 mm in length, although the longest is up to 70 mm. Some have indications of branching distal ends.". The holotype also had preserved dense patches of parallel integumentary structures in association with its lower arm and leg. Thick, stiff, spine-like structures were recovered sprouting from the new specimen's throat region, the back of its head, its neck and its back. New preparation of the holotype reveals that the same structures are also present on the tail (though not associated with the pygostyle-like structure). The EBFFs differ from other feather types in that they consist of a single, unbranched filament. Most other primitive feathered dinosaurs have down-like feathers made up of two or more filaments branching out from a common base or along a central shaft. The EBFFs of Beipiaosaurus are also much longer than other primitive feather types, measuring about 100-150 millimeters (4-6 inches) long, roughly half the length of the neck. In Sinosauropteryx, the longest feathers are only about 15% of the neck length. The EBFFs of Beipiaosaurus are also unusually broad, up to 3 mm wide in the type specimen. The broadest feathers of Sinosauropteryx are only 0.2 mm wide, and only slightly wider in larger forms such as Dilong. Additionally, where most primitive feather types are circular in cross section, EBFFs appear to be oval-shaped. None of the preserved EBFFs were curved or bent beyond a broad arc in either specimen, indicating that they were fairly stiff. They were probably hollow, at least at the base. In a 2009 interview, Xu stated: "Both [feather types] are definitely not for flight, inferring the function of some structures of extinct animals would be very difficult, and in this case, we are not quite sure whether these feathers are for display or some other functions." He speculated that the finer feathers served as an insulatory coat and that the larger feathers were ornamental, perhaps for social interactions such as mating or communication. Long filamentous structures have been preserved along with skeletal remains of numerous coelurosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation and other nearby geological formations from Liaoning, China. These filaments have usually been interpreted as "protofeathers," homologous with the branched feathers found in birds and some non-avian theropods, although other hypotheses have been proposed. A skeleton of Dilong was described in the scientific journal Nature in 2004 that included the first example of "protofeathers" in a tyrannosauroid from the Yixian Formation of China. Similarly to down feathers of modern birds, the "protofeathers" found in Dilong were branched but not pennaceous, and may have been used for insulation. The presence of "protofeathers" in basal tyrannosauroids is not surprising, since they are now known to be characteristic of coelurosaurs, found in other basal genera like Sinosauropteryx, as well as all more derived groups. Rare fossilized skin impressions of large tyrannosaurids lack feathers, however, instead showing skin covered in scales. While it is possible that protofeathers existed on parts of the body which have not been preserved, a lack of insulatory body covering is consistent with modern multi-ton mammals such as elephants, hippopotamuses, and most species of rhinoceros. Alternatively, secondary loss of "protofeathers" in large tyrannosaurids may be analogous with the similar loss of hair in the largest modern mammals like elephants, where a low surface area-to-volume ratio slows down heat transfer, making insulation by a coat of hair unnecessary. Therefore, as large animals evolve in or disperse into warm climates, a coat of fur or feathers loses its selective advantage for thermal insulation and can instead become a disadvantage, as the insulation traps excess heat inside the body, possibly overheating the animal. Protofeathers may also have been secondarily lost during the evolution of large tyrannosaurids, especially in warm Cretaceous climates. Tyrannosaurus at one stage of its life may have been covered in down-like feathers, although there is no direct fossil evidence of this. A few troodont fossils, including specimens of Mei and Sinornithoides, demonstrate that these animals roosted like birds, with their heads tucked under their forelimbs. These fossils, as well as numerous skeletal similarities to birds and related feathered dinosaurs, support the idea that troodontids probably bore a bird-like feathered coat. The discovery of a fully-feathered, primitive troodontid (Jinfengopteryx) lends support to this. The type specimen of Jinfengopteryx elegans is 55 cm long and from the Qiaotou Formation of Liaoning Province, China. Troodontids are important to research on the origin of birds because they share many anatomical characters with early birds. Crucially, the substantially complete fossil identified as WDC DML 001 ("Lori"), is a troodontid from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, close to the time of Archaeopteryx. The discovery of this Jurassic troodont is positive physical evidence that derived deinonychosaurs were present very near the time that birds arose, and basal paravians must have evolved much earlier. This fact strongly invalidates the "temporal paradox" cited by the few remaining opponents of the idea that birds are closely related to dinosaurs. (see claimed temporal paradox below.) There is a large body of evidence showing that dromaeosaurids were covered in feathers. Some dromaeosaurid fossils preserve long, pennaceous feathers on the hands and arms (remiges) and tail (rectrices), as well as shorter, down-like feathers covering the body. Other fossils, which do not preserve actual impressions of feathers, still preserve the associated bumps on the forearm bones where long wing feathers would have attached in life. Overall, this feather pattern looks very much like Archaeopteryx. The first known dromaeosaur with definitive evidence of feathers was Sinornithosaurus, reported from China by Xu et al. in 1999. NGMC 91-A, the Sinornithosaurus-like theropod informally dubbed "Dave", possessed unbranched fibers in additional to more complex branched and tufted structures. Many other dromaeosaurid fossils have been found with feathers covering their bodies, some with fully-developed feathered wings. Several even show evidence of a second pair of wings on the hind legs, including Microraptor and Cryptovolans. While direct feather impressions are only possible in fine-grained sediments, some fossils found in coarser rocks show evidence of feathers by the presence of quill knobs, the attachment points for wing feathers possessed by some birds. The dromaeosaurids Rahonavis and Velociraptor have both been found with quill knobs, showing that these forms had feathers despite no impressions having been found. In light of this, it is most likely that even the larger ground-dwelling dromaeosaurids bore feathers, since even flightless birds today retain most of their plumage, and relatively large dromaeosaurids, like Velociraptor, are known to have retained pennaceous feathers. Though some scientists had suggested that the larger dromaeosaurids lost some or all of their insulatory covering, the discovery of feathers in Velociraptor specimens has been cited as evidence that all members of the family retained feathers. Fossils of dromaeosaurids more primitive than Velociraptor are known to have had feathers covering their bodies, and fully developed, feathered wings. The fact that the ancestors of Velociraptor were feathered and possibly capable of flight long suggested to paleontologists that Velociraptor bore feathers as well, since even flightless birds today retain most of their feathers. In September 2007, Alan Turner, Peter Makovicky, and Mark Norell reported the presence of quill knobs on the ulna of a Velociraptor specimen from Mongolia. Fourteen bumps approximately 4mm apart were found in a straight line along the bone, directly corresponding to the same structures in living birds, the bumps serving as an anchor for the secondary feathers. These bumps on bird wing bones show where feathers anchor, and their presence on Velociraptor indicate it too had feathers. According to paleontologist Alan Turner, A lack of quill knobs does not necessarily mean that a dinosaur did not have feathers. Finding quill knobs on Velociraptor, though, means that it definitely had feathers. This is something we'd long suspected, but no one had been able to prove. Co-author Mark Norell, Curator-in-Charge of fossil reptiles, amphibians and birds at the American Museum of Natural History, also weighed in on the discovery, saying: The more that we learn about these animals the more we find that there is basically no difference between birds and their closely related dinosaur ancestors like velociraptor. Both have wishbones, brooded their nests, possess hollow bones, and were covered in feathers. If animals like velociraptor were alive today our first impression would be that they were just very unusual looking birds. According to Turner and co-authors Norell and Peter Makovicky, quill knobs are not found in all prehistoric birds, and their absence does not mean that an animal was not feathered – flamingos, for example, have no quill knobs. However, their presence confirms that Velociraptor bore modern-style wing feathers, with a rachis and vane formed by barbs. The forearm specimen on which the quill knobs were found (specimen number IGM 100/981) represents an animal 1.5 meters in length (5 ft) and 15 kilograms (33 lbs) in weight. Based on the spacing of the six preserved knobs in this specimen, the authors suggested that Velociraptor bore 14 secondaries (wing feathers stemming from the forearm), compared with 12 or more in Archaeopteryx, 18 in Microraptor, and 10 in Rahonavis. This type of variation in the number of wing feathers between closely related species, the authors asserted, is to be expected, given similar variation among modern birds. Turner and colleagues interpreted the presence of feathers on Velociraptor as evidence against the idea that the larger, flightless maniraptorans lost their feathers secondarily due to larger body size. Furthermore, they noted that quill knobs are almost never found in flightless bird species today, and that their presence in Velociraptor (presumed to have been flightless due to its relatively large size and short forelimbs) is evidence that the ancestors of dromaeosaurids could fly, making Velociraptor and other large members of this family secondarily flightless, though it is possible the large wing feathers inferred in the ancestors of Velociraptor had a purpose other than flight. The feathers of the flightless Velociraptor may have been used for display, for covering their nests while brooding, or for added speed and thrust when running up inclined slopes. The preserved impressions of integumentary structures in Sinornithosaurus were composed of filaments, and showed two features that indicate they are early feathers. First, several filaments were joined together into "tufts", similar to the way down is structured. Second, a row of filaments (barbs) were joined together to a main shaft (rachis), making them similar in structure to normal bird feathers. However, they do not have the secondary branching and tiny little hooks (barbules) that modern feathers have, which allow the feathers of modern birds to form a discrete vane. The filaments are arranged in a parallel fashion to each other, and are perpendicular to the bones. In specimen NGMC - 91, the feathers covered the entire body, including the head in front of the eye, the neck, wing - like sprays on the arms, long feathers on the thighs, and a lozenge - shaped fan on the tail like that of Archaeopteryx. Pedopenna is a maniraptoran theropod that shows evidence of avian affinities that are further evidence of the dinosaur-bird evolutionary relationship. Apart from having a very bird-like skeletal structure in its legs, Pedopenna was remarkable due to the presence of long pennaceous feathers on the metatarsus (foot). Some deinonychosaurs are also known to have these 'hind wings', but those of Pedopenna differ from those of animals like Microraptor. Pedopenna hind wings were smaller and more rounded in shape. The longest feathers were slightly shorter than the metatarsus, at about 55 mm (2 in) long. Additionally, the feathers of Pedopenna were symmetrical, unlike the asymmetrical feathers of some deinonychosaurs and birds. Since asymmetrical feathers are typical of animals adapted to flying, it is likely that Pedopenna represents an early stage in the development of these structures. While many of the feather impressions in the fossil are weak, it is clear that each possessed a rachis and barbs, and while the exact number of foot feathers is uncertain, they are more numerous than in the hind-wings of Microraptor. Pedopenna also shows evidence of shorter feathers overlying the long foot feathers, evidence for the presence of coverts as seen in modern birds. Since the feathers show fewer aerodynamic adaptations than the similar hind wings of Microraptor, and appear to be less stiff, suggests that if they did have some kind of aerodynamic function, it was much weaker than in deinonychosaurs and birds. Xu and Zhang, in their 2005 description of Pedopenna, suggested that the feathers could be ornamental, or even vestigial. It is possible that a hind wing was present in the ancestors of deinonychosaurs and birds, and later lost in the bird lineage, with Pedopenna representing an intermediate stage where the hind wings are being reduced from a functional gliding apparatus to a display or insulatory function. Anchiornis is notable for its proportionally long forelimbs, which measured 80% of the total length of the hind limbs. This is similar to the condition in early avians such as Archaeopteryx, and the authors pointed out that long forelimbs are necessary for flight. It is possible that Anchiornis was able to fly or glide, and may have had a functional airfoil. Anchiornis also had a more avian wrist than other non-avian theropods. Anchiornis has hind leg proportions more like those of lower theropod dinosaurs than avialans. Faint, carbonized feather impressions were preserved in patches in the type specimen. Feathers on the torso measured an average of 20 mm in length, but the feathers were too poorly preserved to ascertain details of their structure. A cladistic analysis indicated that Anchiornis is part of the avian lineage, but outside of the clade that includes Archaeopteryx and modern birds, strongly suggesting that Anchiornis was a basal member of the Avialae and the sister taxon of Aves. Anchiornis can therefore be considered to be a non-avian avialian. All specimens of Sinosauropteryx preserve integumentary structures (filaments arising from the skin) which most paleontologists interpret as very primitive feathers. These short, down-like filaments are preserved all along the back half of the skull, arms, neck, back, and top and bottom of the tail. Additional patches of feathers have been identified on the sides of the body, and paleontologist Chen, Dong and Zheng proposed that the density of the feathers on the back and the randomness of the patches elsewhere on the body indicated the animals would have been fully feathered in life, with the ventral feathers having been removed by decomposition. The filaments are preserved with a gap between the bones, which several authors have noted corresponds closely to the expected amount of skin and muscle tissue that would have been present in life. The feathers adhere close to the bone on the skull and end of the tail, where little to no muscle was present, and the gap increases over the back vertebrae, where more musculature would be expected, indicating that the filaments were external to the skin and do not correspond with sub-cutaneous structures. The random positioning of the filaments and often "wavy" lines of preservation indicate that they were soft and pliable in life. Examination with microscopes shows that each individual filament appears dark along the edges and light internally, suggesting that they were hollow, like modern feathers. Compared to modern mammals the filaments were quite coarse, with each individual strand much larger and thicker than the corresponding hairs of similarly sized mammals. The length of the filaments varied across the body. They were shortest just in front of the eyes, with a length of 13 mm. Going further down the body, the filaments rapidly increase in length until reaching 35 mm long over the shoulder blades. The length remains uniform over the back, until beyong the hips, when the filaments lengthen again and reach their maximum length midway down the tail at 40 mm. The filaments on the underside of the tail are shorter overall and decrease in length more rapidly than those on the dorsal surface. By the 25th tail vertebrae, the filaments on the underside reach a length of only 35 mm. The longest feathers present on the forearm measured 14 mm. Overall, the filaments most closely resemble the "plumules" or down-like feathers of some modern birds, with a very short quill and long, thin barbs. The same structures are seen in other fossils from the Yixian Formation, including Confuciusornis. Analysis of the fossils of Sinosauropteryx have shown an alternation of lighter and darker bands preserved on the tail, giving us an idea of what the animal looked like in real life. This banding is probably due to preserved areas of melanin, which can produce dark tones in fossils. The type specimen of Epidendrosaurus also preserved faint feather impressions at the end of the tail, similar to the pattern found in the dromaeosaurid Microraptor. While the reproductive strategies of Epidendrosaurus itself remain unknown, several tiny fossil eggs discovered in Phu Phok, Thailand (one of which contained the embryo of a theropod dinosaur) may have been laid by a small dinosaur similar to Epidendrosaurus or Microraptor. The authors who described these eggs estimated the dinosaur they belonged to would have had the adult size of a modern Goldfinch. Scansoriopteryx fossils preserve impressions of wispy, down-like feathers around select parts of the body, forming V-shaped patterns similar to those seen in modern down feathers. The most prominent feather impressions trail from the left forearm and hand. The longer feathers in this region led Czerkas and Yuan to speculate that adult scansoriopterygids may have had reasonably well-developed wing feathers which could have aided in leaping or rudimentary gliding, though they ruled out the possibility that Scansoriopteryx could have achieved powered flight. Like other maniraptorans, Scansoriopteryx had a semilunate (half-moon shaped) bone in the wrist that allowed for bird-like folding motion in the hand. Even if powered flight was not possible, this motion could have aided maneuverability in leaping from branch to branch. Scales were also preserved near the base of the tail. For more on the implications of this discovery, see Scansoriopteryx#Implications. Oviraptorosaurs, like dromaeosaurs, are so bird-like that several scientists consider them to be true birds, more advanced than Archaeopteryx. Gregory S. Paul has written extensively on this possibility, and Teresa Maryańska and colleagues published a technical paper detailing this idea in 2002. Michael Benton, in his widely-respected text Vertebrate Palaeontology, also included oviraptorosaurs as an order within the class Aves. However, a number of researchers have disagreed with this classification, retaining oviraptorosaurs as non-avialan maniraptorans slightly more primitive than the dromaeosaurs. Evidence for feathered oviraptorosaurs exists in several forms. Most directly, two species of primitive oviraptorosaurs (Caudipteryx) have been found with impressions of well developed feathers, most notably on the wings and tail, suggesting that they functioned at least partially for display. Secondly, at least one oviraptorosaur (Nomingia) was preserved with a tail ending in something like a pygostyle, a bony structure at the end of the tail that, in modern birds, is used to support a fan of feathers. Similarly, quill knobs (anchor points for wing feathers on the ulna) have been reported in the oviraptorosaurian species, Avimimus portentosus. Additionally, a number of oviraptorid specimens have famously been discovered in a nesting position similar to that of modern birds. The arms of these specimens are positioned in such a way that they could perfectly cover their eggs if they had small wings and a substantial covering of feathers. Protarchaeopteryx, an oviraptorosaur, is well known for its fan-like array of 12 rectricial feathers, but it also seems to have sported simple filament-like structures elsewhere on the tail. Soft and downy feathers are preserved in the chest region and tail base, and are also preserved adjacent to the femora. The bodies and limbs of oviraptorosaurs are arranged in a bird-like manner, suggesting the presence of feathers on the arms which may have been used for insulating eggs or brooding young. Members of Oviraptoridae possess a quadrate bone that shows particularly avian characteristics, including a pneumatizatized, double-headed structure, the presence of the pterygoid process, and articular fossa for the quadrratojugal. Oviraptorids were probably feathered, since some close relatives were found with feathers preserved (Caudipteryx and possibly Protarchaeopteryx). Another finding pointing to this is the discovery in Nomingia of a pygostyle, a bone that results from the fusion of the last tail vertebrae and is responsible in birds to hold a fan of feathers in the tail. Finally, the arm position of the brooding Citipati would have been far more effective if feathers were present to cover the eggs. Caudipteryx has clear and unambiguously pennaceous feathers, like modern birds, and several cladistic analyses have consistently recovered it as a nonavian, oviraptorid, dinosaur, it provided, at the time of its description, the clearest and most succinct evidence that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Lawrence Witmer stated: - "The presence of unambiguous feathers in an unambiguously nonavian theropod has the rhetorical impact of an atomic bomb, rendering any doubt about the theropod relationships of birds ludicrous.”" However, not all scientists agreed that Caudipteryx was unambiguously non-avian, and some of them continued to doubt that general consensus. Paleornithologist Alan Feduccia sees Caudipteryx as a flightless bird evolving from earlier archosaurian dinosaurs rather than from late theropods. Jones et al. (2000) found that Caudipteryx was a bird based on a mathematical comparison of the body proportions of flightless birds and non-avian theropods. Dyke and Norell (2005) criticized this result for flaws in their mathematical methods, and produced results of their own which supported the opposite conclusion. Other researchers not normally involved in the debate over bird origins, such as Zhou, acknowledged that the true affinities of Caudipteryx were debatable. In 1997, filament-like integumentary structures were reported to be present in the Spanish ornithomimosaur Pelecanimimus polyodon. Furthermore, one published life restoration depicts Pelecanimimus as having been covered in the same sort of quill-like structures as are present on Sinosauropteryx and Dilong. However, a brief 1997 report that described soft-tissue mineralization in the Pelecanimimus holotype has been taken by most workers as the definitive last word 'demonstrating' that integumentary fibers were absent from this taxon. However, the report describing soft-tissue mineralization described soft-tissue preservation seen in one small patch of tissue, and the absence of integument here does not provide much information about the distribution of integument on the live animal. This might explain why a few theropod workers (notably Paul Sereno and Kevin Padian) have continued to indicate the presence of filamentous integumentary structures in Pelecanimimus. Feduccia et al. (2005) argued that Pelecanimimus possessed scaly arms and figured some unusual rhomboidal structures in an effort to demonstrate this. The objects that they illustrate do not resemble scales and it remains to be seen whether they are anything to do with the integument of this dinosaur. A full description/monograph on this dinosaur has yet to be published, which might have more information on this subject. Ornithischian integumentary structuresEdit The integument, or body covering, of Psittacosaurus is known from a Chinese specimen, which most likely comes from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning. The specimen, which is not yet assigned to any particular species, was illegally exported from China, in violation of Chinese law, but was purchased by a German museum and arrangements are being made to return the specimen to China. Most of the body was covered in scales. Larger scales were arranged in irregular patterns, with numerous smaller scales occupying the spaces between them, similarly to skin impressions known from other ceratopsians, such as Chasmosaurus. However, a series of what appear to be hollow, tubular bristles, approximately 16 centimeters (6.4 in) long, were also preserved, arranged in a row down the dorsal (upper) surface of the tail. However, according to Mayr et al., "[a]t present, there is no convincing evidence which shows these structures to be homologous to the structurally different [feathers and protofeathers] of theropod dinosaurs." As the structures are only found in a single row on the tail, it is unlikely that they were used for thermoregulation, but they may have been useful for communication through some sort of display. Tianyulong is notable for the row of long, filamentous integumentary structures apparent on the back, tail and neck of the fossil. The similarity of these structures with those found on some derived theropods suggests their homology with feathers and raises the possibility that the earliest dinosaurs and their ancestors were covered with analogous dermal filamentous structures that can be considered as primitive feathers (proto-feathers). The filamentous integumentary structures are preserved on three areas of the fossil: in one patch just below the neck, another one on the back, and the largest one above the tail. The hollow filaments are parallel to each other and are singular with no evidence of branching. They also appear to be relatively rigid, making them more analogous to the integumentary structures found on the tail of Psittacosaurus than to the proto-feather structures found in avian and non-avian theropods. Among the theropods, the structures in Tianyulong are most similar to the singular unbranched proto-feathers of Sinosauropteryx and Beipiaosaurus. The estimated length of the integumentary structures on the tail is about 60 mm which is seven times the height of a caudal vertebra. Their length and hollow nature argue against of them being subdermal structures such as collagen fibers. Phylogenetics and homologyEdit Such dermal structures have previously been reported only in derived theropods and ornithischians, and their discovery in Tianyulong extends the existence of such structures further down in the phylogenetic tree. However, the homology between the ornithischian filaments and the theropods proto-feathers is not obvious. If the homology is supported, the consequence is that the common ancestor of both saurischians and ornithischians were covered by feather-like structures and that groups for which skin impression are known such as the sauropods were only secondarily featherless. If the homology is not supported, it would indicate that these filamentous dermal structures evolved independently in saurischians and ornithischians, as well as in other archosaurs such as the pterosaurs. The authors (in supplementary information to their primary article) noted that discovery of similar filamentous structures in the theropod Beipiaosaurus bolstered the idea that the structures on Tianyulong are homologous with feathers. Both the filaments of Tianyulong and the filaments of Beipiaosaurus were laong, singular, and unbranched. In Beipiaosaurus, however, the filaments were flattened. In Tianyulong, the filaments were round in cross section, and therefore closer in structure to the earliest forms of feathers predicted by developmental models. Some scientists have argued that other dinosaur proto-feathers are actually fibers of collagen that have come loose from the animals' skins. However, collagen fibers are solid structures; based on the long, hollow nature of the filaments on Tianyulong the authors rejected this explanation. After a century of hypotheses without conclusive evidence, especially well-preserved (and legitimate) fossils of feathered dinosaurs were discovered during the 1990s, and more continue to be found. The fossils were preserved in a lagerstätte — a sedimentary deposit exhibiting remarkable richness and completeness in its fossils — in Liaoning, China. The area had repeatedly been smothered in volcanic ash produced by eruptions in Inner Mongolia 124 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous Period. The fine-grained ash preserved the living organisms that it buried in fine detail. The area was teeming with life, with millions of leaves, angiosperms (the oldest known), insects, fish, frogs, salamanders, mammals, turtles, lizards and crocodilians discovered to date. The most important discoveries at Liaoning have been a host of feathered dinosaur fossils, with a steady stream of new finds filling in the picture of the dinosaur-bird connection and adding more to theories of the evolutionary development of feathers and flight. Norell et al (2007) reported quill knobs from an ulna of Velociraptor mongoliensis, and these are strongly correlated with large and well-developed secondary feathers. List of dinosaur genera preserved with evidence of feathersEdit A number of non-avian dinosaurs are now known to have been feathered. Direct evidence of feathers exists for the following genera, listed in the order currently accepted evidence was first published. In all examples, the evidence described consists of feather impressions, except those marked with an asterisk (*), which denotes genera known to have had feathers based on skeletal or chemical evidence, such as the presence of quill knobs. - Avimimus* (1987):536 - Sinosauropteryx (1996) - Protarchaeopteryx (1997) - Caudipteryx (1998) - Rahonavis* (1998) - Shuvuuia (1999) - Sinornithosaurus (1999) - Beipiaosaurus (1999) - Microraptor (2000) - Nomingia* (2000) - Cryptovolans (2002) - Scansoriopteryx (2002) - Epidendrosaurus (2002) - Psittacosaurus? (2002) - Yixianosaurus (2003) - Dilong (2004) - Pedopenna (2005) - Jinfengopteryx (2005) - Sinocalliopteryx (2007) - Velociraptor* (2007) - Epidexipteryx (2008) - Anchiornis (2009) - Tianyulong? (2009) - Note, filamentous structures in some ornithischian dinosaurs (Psittacosaurus, Tianyulong) and pterosaurs may or may not be homologous with the feathers and protofeathers of theropods. Phylogeny and the inference of feathers in other dinosaursEdit Feathered dinosaur fossil finds to date, together with cladistic analysis, suggest that many types of theropod may have had feathers, not just those that are especially similar to birds. In particular, the smaller theropod species may all have had feathers and possibly even the larger theropods (for instance T. rex) may have had feathers, in their early stages of development after hatching. Whereas these smaller animals may have benefited from the insulation of feathers, large adult theropods are unlikely to have had feathers, since inertial heat retention would likely be sufficient to manage heat. Excess internal heat may even have become a problem, had these very large creatures been feathered. Fossil feather impressions are extremely rare; therefore only a few feathered dinosaurs have been identified so far. However, through a process called phylogenetic bracketing, scientists can infer the presence of feathers on poorly-preserved specimens. All fossil feather specimens have been found to show certain similarities. Due to these similarities and through developmental research almost all scientists agree that feathers could only have evolved once in dinosaurs. Feathers would then have been passed down to all later, more derived species (although it is possible that some lineages lost feathers secondarily). If a dinosaur falls at a point on an evolutionary tree within the known feather-bearing lineages, scientists assume it too had feathers, unless conflicting evidence is found. This technique can also be used to infer the type of feathers a species may have had, since the developmental history of feathers is now reasonably well-known. Nearly all paleontologists regard birds as coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Within Coelurosauria, multiple cladistic analyses have found support for a clade named Maniraptora, consisting of therizinosauroids, oviraptorosaurs, troodontids, dromaeosaurids, and birds. Of these, dromaeosaurids and troodontids are usually united in the clade Deinonychosauria, which is a sister group to birds (together forming the node-clade Eumaniraptora) within the stem-clade Paraves. Other studies have proposed alternative phylogenies in which certain groups of dinosaurs that are usually considered non-avian are suggested to have evolved from avian ancestors. For example, a 2002 analysis found oviraptorosaurs to be basal avians. Alvarezsaurids, known from Asia and the Americas, have been variously classified as basal maniraptorans, paravians, the sister taxon of ornithomimosaurs, as well as specialized early birds. The genus Rahonavis, originally described as an early bird, has been identified as a non-avian dromaeosaurid in several studies. Dromaeosaurids and troodontids themselves have also been suggested to lie within Aves rather than just outside it.:472 The scientists who described the (apparently unfeathered) Juravenator performed a genealogical study of coelurosaurs, including distribution of various feather types. Based on the placement of feathered species in relation to those that have not been found with any type of skin impressions, they were able to infer the presence of feathers in certain dinosaur groups. The following simplified cladogram follows these results, and shows the likely distribution of plumaceous (downy) and pennaceous (vaned) feathers among theropods. Note that the authors inferred pennaceous feathers for Velociraptor based on phylogenetic bracketing, a prediction later confirmed by fossil evidence. - Origin of birds - Evolution of birds - Origin of avian flight - Birds Came First - Alan Feduccia - George Olshevsky - ^ All known dromaeosaurs have pennaceous feathers on the arms and tail, and substantially thick coat of feathers on the body, especially the neck and breast. Clear fossil evidence of modern avian-style feathers exists for several related dromaeosaurids, including Velociraptor and Microraptor, though no direct evidence is yet known for Deinonychus itself. - ^ On page 155 of Dinosaurs of the Air by Gregory Paul, there are an accumulated total of 305 potential synapomorphies with birds for all non-avian theropod nodes, 347 for all non-avian dinosauromorph nodes. Shared features between birds and dinosaurs include: - A pubis (one of the three bones making up the vertebrate pelvis) shifted from an anterior to a more posterior orientation (see Saurischia), and bearing a small distal "boot". - Elongated arms and forelimbs and clawed manus (hands). - Large orbits (eye openings in the skull). - Flexible wrist with a semi-lunate carpal (wrist bone). - Double-condyled dorsal joint on the quadrate bone. - Ossified ucinate process of the ribs. - Most of the sternum is ossified. - Broad sternal plates. - Ossified sternal ribs. - Brain enlarged above reptilian maximum. - Overlapping field of vision. - Olfaction sense reduced. - An arm/leg length ratio between 0.5 and 1.0 - Lateral exposition of the glenoid in the humeral joint. - Hollow, thin-walled bones. - 3-fingered opposable grasping manus (hand), 4-toed pes (foot); but supported by 3 main toes. - Fused carpometacarpus. - Metacarpal III bowed posterolaterally. - Flexibilty of digit III reduced. - Digit III tightly appressed to digit II. - Well developed arm folding mechanism. - Reduced, posteriorly stiffened tail. - Distal tail stiffened. - Tail base hyperflexible, especially dorsally. - Elongated metatarsals (bones of the feet between the ankle and toes). - S-shaped curved neck. - Erect, digitgrade (ankle held well off the ground) stance with feet postitioned directly below the body. - Similar eggshell microstructure. - Teeth with a constriction between the root and the crown. - Functional basis for wing power stroke present in arms and pectoral girdle (during motion, the arms were swung down and forward, then up and backwards, describing a "figure-eight" when viewed laterally). - Expanded pneumatic sinuses in the skull. - Five or more vertebrae incorporated into the sacrum (hip). - Posterior caudal vertebrate fused to form the pygostyle. - Large, strongly built, and straplike scapula (shoulder blade). - Scapula blades are horizontal. - Scapula tip is pointed. - Acromion process is developed, similar to that in Archaeopteryx. - Retroverted and long coracoids. - Strongly flexed and subvertical coracoids relative to the scapula. - Clavicles (collarbone) fused to form a furcula (wishbone). - U-shaped furcula. - Hingelike ankle joint, with movement mostly restricted to the fore-aft plane. - Secondary bony palate (nostrils open posteriorly in throat). - Pennaceous feathers in some taxa. 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"Important features of Caudipteryx - Evidence from two nearly complete new specimens." Vertebrata Palasiatica, 38(4): 241–254. PDF fulltext - ^ Buchholz, P. (1997). Pelecanimimus polyodon. Dinosaur Discoveries 3, 3-4. - ^ Briggs, D. E., Wilby, P. R., Perez-Moreno, B., Sanz, J. L. & Fregenal-Martinez, M. (1997). The mineralization of dinosaur soft tissue in the Lower Cretaceous of Las Hoyas, Spain. Journal of the Geological Society, London 154, 587-588. - ^ a b Theagarten Lingham-Soliar. (2008). A unique cross section through the skin of the dinosaur Psittacosaurus from China showing a complex fibre architecture. Proc R Soc B 275: 775-780. - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zheng, X.-T., You, H.-L., Xu, X. and Dong, Z.-M. (2009). "An Early Cretaceous heterodontosaurid dinosaur with filamentous integumentary structures." Nature, 458(19): 333-336. doi:10.1038/nature07856 - ^ Witmer, L.M. (2009), "Dinosaurs: Fuzzy origins for feathers", Nature 458 (7236): 293–295, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7236/full/458293a.html, retrieved on 2009-09-02 - ^ "Tianyulong". Pharyngula. PZ Myers. March 20, 2009. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/tianyulong.php. Retrieved on 2009-04-30. - ^ a b "Tianyulong - a fuzzy dinosaur that makes the origin of feathers fuzzier". Not Exactly Rocket Science:Science for Everyone. Ed Yong. March 18, 2009. http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/03/tianyulong_-_a_fuzzy_dinosaur_that_makes_the_origin_of_feath.php. Retrieved on 2009-07-22. - ^ Xu, X., Wang, X., Wu, X., (1999). A dromaeosaurid dinosaur with a filamentous integument from the Yixian Formation of China. Nature 401:6750 262-266 doi 10.1038/45769 - ^ Xu. X., Zhao, X., Clark, J.M., (1999). A new therizinosaur from the Lower Jurassic lower Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21:3 477–483 doi 10.1671/0272-4634 - ^ Xu, X. and Wang, X.-L. (2003). "A new maniraptoran from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning." Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 41(3): 195–202. - ^ Ji, Q., Ji, S., Lu, J., You, H., Chen, W., Liu, Y., and Liu, Y. (2005). "First avialan bird from China (Jinfengopteryx elegans gen. et sp. nov.)." Geological Bulletin of China, 24(3): 197-205. - ^ Ji, S., Ji, Q., Lu J., and Yuan, C. (2007). "A new giant compsognathid dinosaur with long filamentous integuments from Lower Cretaceous of Northeastern China." Acta Geologica Sinica, 81(1): 8-15. - ^ Czerkas, S.A., and Ji, Q. (2002). "A new rhamphorhynchoid with a headcrest and complex integumentary structures." Pp. 15-41 in: Czerkas, S.J. (Ed.). Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight. Blanding, Utah: The Dinosaur Museum. ISBN 1-93207-501-1. - ^ a b c Senter, Phil (2007). "A new look at the phylogeny of Coelurosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 5 (4): 429–463. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002143. - ^ Osmólska, Halszka; Maryańska, Teresa; & Wolsan, Mieczysław. (2002). "Avialan status for Oviraptorosauria". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47 (1): 97–116. http://app.pan.pl/article/item/app47-097.html. - ^ Martinelli, Agustín G.; & Vera, Ezequiel I. (2007). "Achillesaurus manazzonei, a new alvarezsaurid theropod (Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Río Negro Province, Argentina". Zootaxa 1582: 1–17. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/z01582p017f.pdf. - ^ Novas, Fernando E.; & Pol, Diego. (2002). "Alvarezsaurid relationships reconsidered". in Chiappe, Luis M.; & Witmer, Lawrence M. (eds.). Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 121–125. ISBN 0-520-20094-2. - ^ Sereno, Paul C. (1999). "The evolution of dinosaurs". Science 284 (5423): 2137–2147. doi:10.1126/science.284.5423.2137. PMID 10381873. - ^ Perle, Altangerel; Norell, Mark A.; Chiappe, Luis M.; & Clark, James M. (1993). "Flightless bird from the Cretaceous of Mongolia". Science 362 (6421): 623–626. doi:10.1038/362623a0. - ^ Chiappe, Luis M.; Norell, Mark A.; & Clark, James M. (2002). "The Cretaceous, short-armed Alvarezsauridae: Mononykus and its kin". in Chiappe, Luis M.; & Witmer, Lawrence M. (eds.). Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 87–119. ISBN 0-520-20094-2. - ^ Forster, Catherine A.; Sampson, Scott D.; Chiappe, Luis M.; & Krause, David W. (1998). "The theropod ancestry of birds: new evidence from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar". Science 279 (5358): 1915–1919. doi:10.1126/science.279.5358.1915. PMID 9506938. - ^ Mayr, Gerald; Pohl, Burkhard; & Peters, D. Stefan (2005). "A well-preserved Archaeopteryx specimen with theropod features.". Science 310 (5753): 1483–1486. doi:10.1126/science.1120331. PMID 16322455. - ^ Göhlich, U.B., and Chiappe, L.M. (2006). "A new carnivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen archipelago." Nature, 440: 329-332. - Gauthier, J.; De Queiroz, K. (2001), "Feathered dinosaurs, flying dinosaurs, crown dinosaurs, and the name" Aves", New Perspectives on the Origin and Early Evolution of Birds: 7–41. - Fucheng, Z.; Zhonghe, Z.; Dyke, G. (2006), "Feathers and'feather-like'integumentary structures in Liaoning birds and dinosaurs", Geological Journal 41. - Zhou, Z. (2004), "The origin and early evolution of birds: discoveries, disputes, and perspectives from fossil evidence", Naturwissenschaften 91 (10): 455–471. - Vargas, A.O.; Fallon, J.F. (2005), "Birds have dinosaur wings: the molecular evidence", J Exp Zool (Mol Dev Evol) 304: 86–90. - Prum, R.O. (2002), "Why ornithologists should care about the theropod origin of birds", The Auk 119 (1): 1–17. - Clark, J.M.; Norell, M.A.; Makovicky, P.J. (2002). "Cladistic approaches to the relationships of birds to other theropod dinosaurs". Mesozoic birds, above the heads of the dinosaurs. pp. 31–61. - Perrichot, V.; Marion, L.; Néraudeau, D.; Vullo, R.; Tafforeau, P. (2008), "The early evolution of feathers: fossil evidence from Cretaceous amber of France", Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275 (1639): 1197. - DinoBuzz — dinosaur-bird controversy explained, by UC Berkeley. - Journal of Dinosaur Paleontology, with many articles on dinosaur-bird links. - Feathered dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History. - First Dinosaur Found With its Body Covering Intact; Displays Primitive Feathers From Head to Tail — AMNH Press Release - Notes from recent papers on theropod dinosaurs and early avians - The evolution of feathers

http://fossil.wikia.com/wiki/Feathered_dinosaurs

The human eye is sensitive to a narrow band of electromagnetic radiation that lies in the wavelength range between 400 and 700 nanometers, commonly known as the visible light spectrum, which is the only source of color. When combined, all of the wavelengths present in visible light, about a third of the total spectral distribution that successfully passes through the Earth's atmosphere, form colorless white light that can be refracted and dispersed into its component colors by means of a prism. The colors red, green, and blue are classically considered the primary colors because they are fundamental to human vision. Light is perceived as white by humans when all three cone cell types are simultaneously stimulated by equal amounts of red, green, and blue light. The complementary colors (cyan, yellow, and magenta) are also commonly referred to as the primary subtractive colors because each can be formed by subtracting one of the primary additives (red, green, and blue) from white light. For example, yellow light is observed when all blue light is removed from white light, magenta forms when green is removed, and cyan is produced when red is removed. The color observed by subtracting a primary color from white light results because the brain adds together the colors that are left to produce the respective complementary or subtractive color. Introduction - Pigments and dyes are responsible for most of the color humans see in the real world. Eyes, skin, and hair contain natural protein pigments that reflect the colors visualized in the people around us (in addition to any assistance by colors used in facial makeup and hair dyes). Books, magazines, signs, and billboards are printed with colored inks that create colors through the process of color subtraction. In a similar manner, automobiles, airplanes, houses, and other buildings are coated with paints containing a variety of pigments. The concept of color subtraction is responsible for most of the color produced by the objects just described. For many years, artists and printers have searched for substances containing dyes and pigments that are particularly good at subtracting specific colors. Interactive Java Tutorials Primary Additive Colors - Light is perceived as white by humans when all three cone cell types are simultaneously stimulated by equal amounts of red, green, and blue light. Because the addition of these three colors yields white light, the colors red, green, and blue are termed the primary additive colors. This tutorial explores how the three primary additive colors interact with each other, both in pairs or all together. Primary Subtractive Colors - The complementary colors (cyan, yellow, and magenta) are also commonly referred to as the primary subtractive colors because each can be formed by subtracting one of the primary additives (red, green, and blue) from white light. This tutorial explores how the three primary subtractive colors interact with each other, both in pairs or all together. Color Filters - Examine how color filters operate to change the color of objects visualized under filtered illumination. The tutorial enables visitors to drag and drop red, green, and blue virtual color filters over objects illuminated both with white light and also previously filtered with one of the primary additive colors. Color Separation - Pigments and dyes are responsible for most of the color that humans see in the real world. Books, magazines, signs, and billboards are printed with colored inks that create colors through the process of color subtraction. This interactive tutorial explores how individual subtractive primary colors can be separated from a full-color photograph, and then how they can be reassembled to create the original scene. Selected Literature References Reference Listing - Presented in this section are selected literature references on various topics concerning both the additive and subtractive primary colors from our extensive library. The perception of color in the human visual system, whether in paint, printed materials or video displays depends on the interactions between the primary colors. Included are references to books and review articles that discuss numerous aspects of color theory and how they may be applied. Kenneth R. Spring - Scientific Consultant, Lusby, Maryland, 20657. Matthew J. Parry-Hill, Robert T. Sutter and Michael W. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310. Questions or comments? Send us an email. © 1998-2013 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners. This website is maintained by our

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/primaryhome.html

Source: Wild Europe: "Wild Arctic" This video segment from Wild Europe: "Wild Arctic" describes some of the plants and animals that make up the tundra biome, and captures the harshness of the treeless arctic environment and the adaptations organisms use to survive a year's worth of seasons there. The tundra biome is characterized by climatic extremes and complex interrelationships between organisms and their environment. The world of any one species is an intricate web of land and ice conditions, seasonal changes, and interdependencies on other plants and animals. Changes that affect even a small part of this structure can have far-reaching effects on the ecosystem as a whole. Ice shapes the landscape of the tundra biome and, somewhat paradoxically, allows for far more plant life to grow in this environment than would otherwise be possible. Precipitation levels in the Arctic (six to ten inches annually) are equivalent to those found in the world's deserts. Thus, water, even in summer, is at a premium. However, because of a permanently frozen underground layer called permafrost, water that falls to the ground as precipitation collects on the surface, rather than moving quickly through the soil and out of reach. This allows a wealth of plants to exist even in the driest parts of the Arctic. There are about seventeen hundred species of plants in the Arctic, including grasses, mosses, herbaceous plants, and shrubs. All of these have shallow root systems, tend to grow low to the ground, and generally reproduce by budding rather than with flowers and seeds. This last characteristic causes many tundra biome plants to grow in clumps and, in some cases, to become reproductively isolated from related clumps growing nearby. Indeed, scientists have found significant genetic variation between members of the same species of plant growing within a mile of one another. It is thought that these variations -- which probably correspond to differences in microclimate -- provide a long-term survival benefit, equipping the species as a whole with adaptations that allow at least some individuals to withstand dramatic climate shifts. NARRATOR: The arctic is Europe's largest area of true wilderness. Ice defines this place as arctic. It affects everything here. It shapes the landscape. It shatters rocks, it controls the climate. And in all its forms, it's a challenge to life. This apparently barren place stretches from central Scandinavia to the North Pole. (wind howling) Few places on Earth are as bleak, cold and hostile to life as the arctic in winter. Yet some animals have found ways to cope with the conditions. (birds trilling) The first migrant birds to arrive from mainland Europe are snow buntings. Even in the middle of April, storms are common, so they bury themselves in the snow till the blizzard passes. The massive bearded seal. Although they have a thick layer of blubber to insulate them from the intense cold, the key to a seal's survival is year-round access to the ocean. For this reason, they follow the ice floes, as the water temperature is often 30 degrees warmer than the air. The arrival of the barnacle geese heralds the approach of summer. At first, the geese will land in the clear patches among the snow where the grass has already started to grow. After feeding here for a week or so, they'll move to nesting sites close to the sea where year after year, they've raised their chicks. A male polar bear returns to a kill it made previously. One advantage of living in a freezer is that food is preserved for a long time. All bears will first strip a seal of the skin and blubber, for this gives them the most energy. Only later, if they return to a kill, will they eat the meat. Within seconds, gulls arrive, ever ready to pick up scraps. Belugas, possibly the most beautiful of all the whales, move in, ghostlike, following the food that gathers around the ice edges. The beluga, or white whale, is a true arctic species, spending all its life in these cold waters. So as not to be caught by the ice, it has no dorsal fin on its back. Summer brings a rare sight: the largest members of the seal family in the Northern Hemisphere—walruses. (roaring) Groups of females with pups haul themselves out of the water onto quiet beaches to rest. The middle of August is high summer in the arctic. Temperatures day and night can reach seven or eight degrees. Ice in the fjords has nearly disappeared. Tiny flowers bloom, short-stemmed to protect them from the near constant wind. By the middle of September, the grass and flowers have seeded. The sun has dropped nearer the horizon, and the bird cliffs are empty and quiet. In the arctic, winter is never far away. With the first snows, temperatures plummet and most of the wildlife that came during summer retreats south. Some animals, like the reindeer, the arctic fox and the polar bear, cannot leave. They must stay and face the most hostile weather on the planet. Academic standards correlations on Teachers' Domain use the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) database of state and national standards, provided to NSDL projects courtesy of JES & Co. We assign reference terms to each statement within a standards document and to each media resource, and correlations are based upon matches of these terms for a given grade band. If a particular standards document of interest to you is not displayed yet, it most likely has not yet been processed by ASN or by Teachers' Domain. We will be adding social studies and arts correlations over the coming year, and also will be increasing the specificity of alignment.

http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.eco.arctic/

What Is It? Measles, also known as rubeola, is an infection, mainly of the nose, windpipe and lungs that is very contagious, meaning it spreads easily from person to person. The measles virus usually spreads when someone comes into contact with droplets from another person that contain the virus. This can happen when someone with the virus coughs or sneezes. It also can happen when people touch used tissues, share drinking glasses or touch hands that have infected droplets on them. Once the virus gets into the body, the infection spreads throughout the nose, windpipe and lungs, into the skin and other body organs. A person with measles can spread the virus to others from one to two days before any symptoms begin (or three to five days before the rash) to four days after the rash appears. Measles typically causes moderate illness. In younger children, complications include middle ear infection (otitis media), pneumonia, croup and diarrhea. In adults, the illness tends to be even more severe. It is not unusual for older patients to require hospital treatment for measles-related pneumonia. The most serious consequences of measles are rare. In less than 1 of every 1,000 cases, measles produces encephalitis (brain infection), with an immediate risk of seizures, coma and death, and a long-term risk of mental retardation or epilepsy. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is an extraordinarily rare chronic form of measles encephalitis that causes brain damage. In unusual cases, measles also can directly attack the digestive organs (including the liver), the heart muscle or the kidneys. A pregnant woman who is infected with measles has an increased risk of premature labor, miscarriage or delivery of a low-birth-weight infant. Before an effective vaccine was available, there were at least 400,000 cases of measles reported each year in the United States, with probably more than 3 million unreported cases. Now, the number of cases has decreased by more than 99%. Only 251 cases were reported in the United States between 2001 and 2004, with most involving people who either came from countries where measles is common or had traveled recently to those countries. Measles symptoms begin about 8 to 12 days after coming in contact with someone who has measles. The first symptoms include coughing, runny and stuffy nose, a general, sick feeling (malaise), red eyes with tearing (conjunctivitis), and a fever up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Within two to four days, these symptoms are followed by Koplik's spots in the mouth, bluish white or gray spots on a red background, seen inside the cheeks. With a measles rash, you usually see non-itchy pink or bright red spots. The rash always begins at the hairline and behind the ears, then spreads downward to the neck, trunk, arms and legs, palms and soles. The rash begins to fade about four days later in the same order that it appeared, first from the head and neck, then the trunk and arms and legs. The fading rash may leave behind a temporary brownish discoloration or flakiness that clears up two to three days later. Some people also have big lymph nodes (swollen glands), diarrhea and vomiting. Patients with HIV, or certain types of leukemia or lymphoma, are more likely to develop severe complications from measles, but they may not develop the typical measles rash. Your doctor will check for a congested nose, red eyes, Koplik's spots and the typical measles rash. He or she will ask if you have been traveling outside the country or have been exposed to anyone with measles or an undiagnosed rash. Even if you did not have face-to-face contact with an infected person, your doctor will want to know if you go to the same school, live in the same household or dormitory or work in the same building. Your doctor will check your medical records to see if and when you were immunized against measles, and the number of doses of measles vaccine. These are given as part of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) shot. To confirm the diagnosis, your doctor may order blood tests to look for specific antibodies that fight against the measles virus. Antibodies are made by the immune system to protect against an infection. The symptoms of measles usually last about 10 days. You can prevent measles with the measles vaccine, given as part of the MMR combination vaccine. In the United States, most children receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at 12 to 15 months of age and a booster dose at 4 to 6 years. If a child has not been immunized against measles and has been exposed to the disease, the vaccine may provide protection if it is given within 72 hours of the exposure. If the exposure occurred between three and six days earlier, the child can receive an injection of immune globulin (IG), which contains antibodies to protect against the measles virus. It can prevent or at least minimize the symptoms of a measles infection. IG also can be used after exposure to measles in infants less than 6 months of age and in people who have HIV or other conditions that weaken the immune system. There is no specific treatment for measles. In people who are otherwise healthy, measles symptoms are treated with bed rest, a cool-mist humidifier to soothe respiratory passages and relieve cough, and acetaminophen (Tylenol) to reduce fever and relieve discomfort. Do not use aspirin in children with measles because of the risk of developing a rare liver and brain problem called Reye's syndrome. Children and adults who develop a middle ear infection or bacterial pneumonia are treated with antibiotics. In people hospitalized with measles and its complications, especially children 6 months to 2 years, some doctors prescribe high doses of vitamin A. Low levels of this vitamin have been found in children with severe cases of measles. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that all children with measles who live in communities where vitamin A deficiency is common should receive vitamin A. In people with weakened immune systems or those who are severely ill from measles, the antiviral medication ribavirin (Virazole) occasionally has been used, but no controlled trials have proven its benefits. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the use of ribavirin to treat measles. When To Call a Professional Call your doctor if you or your child develops symptoms of measles, even if you or your child was immunized. Not everyone has received the two doses of the MMR vaccine they need to be fully protected. Call your doctor to review the status of your measles immunity if a measles outbreak occurs in your school or workplace. If you are considering becoming pregnant, contact your obstetrician to ensure that you are immunized against measles and other infectious diseases that can affect your unborn child. Always check with your child's doctor at each visit to be sure he or she is up-to-date for all immunizations. Most healthy people recover completely from measles. About 3% of adults with measles develop symptoms of pneumonia severe enough to require hospital treatment. Death from measles complications such as pneumonia or encephalitis occurs in 1 to 2 of every 1,000 cases, more commonly in infants, older adults or people with weakened immune defenses. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30333

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSAZR000/9339/18657.html

One of the most important roles 0 serves in our number system is as a placeholder. Without 0 or an equivalent placeholder, we would not be able to tell the difference between 102, 12, and 1,002. In this positional number system, we use zeros to indicate that there are no tens in the case of 102, and, similarly, that there are no tens or hundreds in 1,002. To get a better understanding of what simple operations would be like without 0, try to solve the following problems using Roman numerals! The values of Roman numerals are as follows: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, and M = 1,000. The numerals are written from largest to smallest and then added, with one exception: Writing a smaller number before a larger one means the smaller should be subtracted from the larger; this happens because four of the same numeral cannot occur consecutively in Roman numberals. In other words, IV (not IIII) represents 4; IX (not VIIII) represents 9; and XL (not XXXX) represents 40. The year 1066 is represented as MLXVI, while 1492 is MCDXCII. You can quickly see that performing the above computations with Roman numerals is a nearly impossible task!

http://www.learner.org/courses/learningmath/number/session2/part_c/positional.html

Light waves can vibrate in many directions. Those that are vibrating in one direction -- in a single plane such as up and down -- are called polarized light. Those that are vibrating in more than one direction -- in more than one plane such as both up/down and left/right -- are called unpolarized light. Generally, unpolarized light can be considered to be vibrating in a vertical and a horizontal plane. To polarize light, one can transmit the light through a polariod filter which will only allow light of single polarity to pass. The resulting light will be polarized light of half intensity. If two polaroid filters are used and placed so that one is rotated 90 degrees to the other, no light will be able to pass. Some polarization will also occur during reflection, refraction, and scattering of light. When reflecting off non-metallic surfaces, the resulting light will be polarized parallel to the reflected surface. During refraction, a beam of light will be split up into two polarized beams, one polarized parallel and one perpendicular to the boundary. Scattering also causes partial polarization. article: What's Einstein got to do with the photoelectric effect?

http://library.thinkquest.org/27356/p_polarization.htm

The Roman Republic was governed by a complex constitution, which centered on the principles of a separation of powers and checks and balances. The evolution of the constitution was heavily influenced by the struggle between the aristocracy and the average Roman. Early in its history, the republic was controlled by an aristocracy of individuals who could trace their ancestry back to the early history of the kingdom. Over time, the laws that allowed these individuals to dominate the government were repealed, and the result was the emergence of a new aristocracy which depended on the structure of society, rather than the law, to maintain its dominance. Thus, only a revolution could overthrow this new aristocracy. Rome also saw its territory expand during this period, from central Italy to the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries, Rome expanded to the point of dominating Italy. During the next century, Rome grew to dominate North Africa, Spain, Greece, and what is now southern France. During the last two centuries of the Roman Republic, Rome grew to dominate the rest of modern France, as well as much of the east. By this point, however, its republican political machinery was finally crushed under the weight of imperialism. The precise event which signaled the transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire is a matter of interpretation. Historians have variously proposed the appointment of Julius Caesar as perpetual dictator (44 BC), the Battle of Actium (2 September, 31 BC), and the Roman Senate's grant of Octavian's extraordinary powers under the first settlement (January 16, 27 BC), as candidates for the defining pivotal event. The Senate's ultimate authority derived from the esteem and prestige of the Senate. This esteem and prestige was based on both precedent and custom, as well as the high caliber and prestige of the Senators. The Senate passed decrees, which were called senatus consultum. This was officially "advice" from the Senate to a magistrate. In practice, however, these were usually obeyed by the magistrates. The focus of the Roman Senate was directed towards foreign policy. While its role in military conflict was officially, the Senate was ultimately the force that oversaw those conflicts. The senate also managed the civil administration in the city and the town. One check over a magistrate's power was his collegiality. Each magisterial office would be held concurrently by at least two people. Another check over the power of a magistrate was provocatio. Provocatio was a primordial form of due process. It was a precursor to our own habeas corpus. If any magistrate was attempting to use the powers of the state against a citizen, that citizen could appeal the decision of the magistrate to a tribune. In addition, once a magistrate's annual term in office expired, he would have to wait ten years before serving in that office again. Since this did create problems for some consuls and praetors, these magistrates would occasionally have their imperium extended. In effect, they would retain the powers of the office (as a promagistrate), without officially holding that office. Praetors would administer civil law and command provincial armies. Every five years, two censors would be elected for an eighteen month term. During their term in office, the two censors would conduct a census. During the census, they could enroll citizens in the senate, or purge them from the senate. Aediles were officers elected to conduct domestic affairs in Rome, such as managing public games and shows. The quaestors would usually assist the consuls in Rome, and the governors in the provinces. Their duties were often financial. Since the tribunes were considered to be the embodiment of the plebeians, they were sacrosanct. Their sacrosanctity was enforced by a pledge, taken by the plebeians, to kill any person who harmed or interfered with a tribune during his term of office. All of the powers of the tribune derived from their sacrosanctity. One obvious consequence of this sacrosanctity was the fact that it was considered a capital offense to harm a tribune, to disregard his veto, or to interfere with a tribune. In times of military emergency, a dictator would be appointed for a term of six months. Constitutional government would dissolve, and the dictator would become the absolute master of the state. When the dictator's term ended, constitutional government would be restored. In the year 494 BC, the city was at war with two neighboring tribes. The plebeian soldiers refused to march against the enemy, and instead seceded to the Aventine hill. The plebeians demanded the right to elect their own officials. The patricians agreed, and the plebeians returned to the battlefield. The plebeians called these new officials "plebeian tribunes". The tribunes would have two assistants, called "plebeian aediles". In 367 BC a law was passed, which required the election of at least one plebeian aedile each year. In 443 BC, the censorship was created, and in 366 BC, the praetorship was created. Also in 366 BC, the curule aedileship was created. Shortly after the founding of the republic, the Comitia Centuriata ("Assembly of the Centuries") became the principle legislative assembly. In this assembly, magistrates were elected, and laws were passed. During the fourth century BC, a series of reforms were passed. The result of these reforms was that any law passed by the Plebeian Council would have the full force of law. This gave the tribunes (who presided over the Plebeian Council) a positive character for the first time. Before these laws were passed, the only power that the tribunes held was that of the veto. In 342 BC, two significant laws were passed. One of these two laws made it illegal to hold more than one office at any given point in time. The other law required an interval of ten years to pass before any magistrate could seek reelection to any office. During these years, the tribunes and the senators grew increasingly close. The senate realized the need to use plebeian officials to accomplish desired goals. To win over the tribunes, the senators gave the tribunes a great deal of power and the tribunes began to feel obligated to the senate. As the tribunes and the senators grew closer, plebeian senators were often able to secure the tribunate for members of their own families. In time, the tribunate became a stepping stone to higher office. Around the middle of the fourth century BC, the Concilium Plebis enacted the "Ovinian Law". During the early republic, only consuls could appoint new senators. The Ovinian law, however, gave this power to the censors. It also required the censor to appoint any newly-elected magistrate to the senate. By this point, plebeians were already holding a significant number of magisterial offices. Thus, the number of plebeian senators probably increased quickly. However, it remained difficult for a plebeian to enter the senate if he was not from a well-known political family, as a new patrician-like plebeian aristocracy emerged. The old nobility existed through the force of law, because only patricians were allowed to stand for high office. The new nobility existed due to the organization of society. As such, only a revolution could overthrow this new structure. By 287 BC, the economic condition of the average plebeian had become poor. The problem appears to have centered around wide-spread indebtedness. The plebeians demanded relief, but the senators refused to address their situation. The result was the final plebeian secession. The plebeians seceded to the Janiculum hill. To end the secession, a dictator was appointed. The dictator passed a law (the "Hortensian Law"), which ended the requirement that the patrician senators must agree before any bill could be considered by the Plebeian Council. This was not the first law to require that an act of the Plebeian Council have the full force of law. The Plebeian Council acquired this power during a modification to the original Valerian law in 449 BC. The significance of this law was in the fact that it robbed the patricians of their final weapon over the plebeians. The result was that control over the state fell, not onto the shoulders of voters in a democracy, but to the new plebeian nobility. The plebeians had finally achieved political equality with the patricians. However, the plight of the average plebeian had not changed. A small number of plebeian families achieved the same standing that the old aristocratic patrician families had always had, but the new plebeian aristocrats became as uninterested in the plight of the average plebeian as the old patrician aristocrats had always been. The final decades of this era saw a worsening economic situation for many plebeians. The long military campaigns had forced citizens to leave their farms to fight, only to return to farms that had fallen into disrepair. The landed aristocracy began buying bankrupted farms at discounted prices. As commodity prices fell, many farmers could no longer operate their farms at a profit. The result was the ultimate bankruptcy of countless farmers. Masses of unemployed plebeians soon began to flood into Rome, and thus into the ranks of the legislative assemblies. Their economic state usually led them to vote for the candidate who offered the most for them. A new culture of dependency was emerging, which would look to any populist leader for relief. Tiberius Gracchus was elected tribune in 133 BC. He attempted to enact a law which would have limited the amount of land that any individual could own. The aristocrats, who stood to lose an enormous amount of money, were bitterly opposed to this proposal. Tiberius submitted this law to the Plebeian Council, but the law was vetoed by a tribune named Marcus Octavius. Tiberius then used the Plebeian Council to impeach Octavius. The theory, that a representative of the people ceases to be one when he acts against the wishes of the people, was counter to Roman constitutional theory. If carried to its logical end, this theory would remove all constitutional restraints on the popular will, and put the state under the absolute control of a temporary popular majority. His law would be enacted, but Tiberius would be murdered when he stood for reelection to the tribunate. Tiberius' brother Gaius was elected tribune in 123 BC. Gaius Gracchus' ultimate goal was to weaken the senate and to strengthen the democratic forces. In the past, for example, the senate would eliminate political rivals either by establishing special judicial commissions or by passing a senatus consultum ultimum ("ultimate decree of the senate"). Both devices would allow the senate to bypass the ordinary due process rights that all citizens had. Gaius outlawed the judicial commissions, and declared the senatus consultum ultimum to be unconstitutional. Gaius then proposed a law which would grant citizenship rights to Rome's Italian allies. By this point, however, the selfish democracy of Rome deserted him. He stood for election to a third term in 121 BC, but was defeated and then murdered. The democracy, however, had finally realized how weak the senate had become. Several years later, a new power had emerged in Asia. In 88 BC, a Roman army was sent to put down that power, king Mithridates of Pontus. The army, however, was defeated. One of Marius' old quaestors, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, had been elected consul for the year. Sulla was then ordered by the senate to assume command of the war against Mithridates. Marius, a member of the democratic ("populare") party, had a tribune revoke Sulla's command of the war against Mithridates. Sulla, a member of the aristocratic ("optimate") party, brought his army back to Italy and marched on Rome. Sulla had become so angry at Marius' tribune that he passed a law that was intended to permanently weaken the tribunate. He then returned to his war against Mithridates. With Sulla gone, the populares under Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna soon took control of the city. The populare record was not one to be proud of. They reelected Marius consul several times without observing the customary ten year interval between offices. They also transgressed democracy by advancing unelected individuals to magisterial office, and by substituting magisterial edicts for popular legislation. Sulla soon made peace with Mithridates. In 83 BC, he returned to Rome, overcame all resistance, and captured the city again. Sulla and his supporters then slaughtered most of Marius' supporters. Sulla, who had observed the violent results of radical populare reforms was naturally conservative. As such, he sought to strengthen the aristocracy, and thus the senate. Sulla made himself dictator, passed a series of constitutional reforms, resigned the dictatorship, and served one last term as consul. He died in 78 BC. Around 66 BC, a movement to use constitutional, or at least peaceful, means to address the plight of various classes began. After several failures, the movement's leaders decided to use any means that were necessary to accomplish their goals. The movement coalesced under an aristocrat named Lucius Sergius Catiline. The movement was based in the town of Faesulae, which was a natural hotbed of agrarian agitation. The rural malcontents were to advance on Rome, and be aided by an uprising within the city. After assassinating the consuls and most of the senators, Catiline would be free to enact his reforms. The conspiracy was set in motion in 63 BC. The consul for the year, Marcus Tullius Cicero, intercepted messages that Catiline had sent in an attempt to recruit more members. The result of this was that the top conspirators in Rome (including at least one former consul) were executed upon an authorization (of dubious constitutionality) by the senate, and the planned uprising was disrupted. Cicero then sent an army, which cut Catiline's forces to pieces. The most important result of the Catilinarian conspiracy was that the populare party became discredited. The prior 70 years had witnessed a gradual erosion in senatorial powers. The violent nature of the conspiracy, in conjunction with the senate's skill in disrupting it, did a great deal to repair the senate's image. Caesar became consul in 59 BC. His colleague, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, was an extreme aristocrat. Caesar submitted the laws that he had promised Pompey to the assemblies. Bibulus attempted to obstruct the enactment of these laws, and so Caesar used violent means to ensure their passage. Caesar was then made governor of three provinces. He then facilitated the election of the former patrician Clodius to the tribunate for 58 BC. Clodius set about depriving the faction Caesar's senatorial enemies of two of their more obstinate leaders in Cato and Cicero. Clodius was a bitter opponent of Cicero because Cicero had testified against him in a sacrilege case. He attempted to try him for executing citizens without a trial during the Catiline conspiracy, resulting in Cicero going into self imposed exile and his house being burnt down. Clodius also passed a bill that forced Cato to lead the invasion of Cyprus which would keep him away from Rome for some years. Clodius passed a bill that gave a free grain dole, which had previously just been subsidised. Beginning in the summer of 54 BC, a wave of political corruption and violence swept Rome. This chaos reached a climax in January of 52 BC, when Clodius was murdered in a gang war by Milo. On January 1 of 49 BC, an agent of Caesar presented an ultimatum to the senate. The ultimatum was rejected, and the senate then passed a resolution which declared that if Caesar did not lay down his arms by July of that year, he would be considered an enemy of the republic. On January 7 of 49 BC, the senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum, which vested Pompey with dictatorial powers. Pompey's army, however, was composed largely of untested conscripts. Caesar then crossed the Rubicon with his veteran army, and marched towards Rome. Caesar's rapid advance forced Pompey, the consuls and the senate to abandon Rome for Greece. Caesar then entered the city unopposed. With Pompey defeated, and order restored, Caesar wanted to ensure that his control over the government was undisputed. The powers which he would give himself would ultimately be used by his imperial successors. He would assume these powers by increasing his own authority, and by decreasing the authority of Rome's other political institutions. Caesar would hold both the dictatorship and the tribunate, but alternate between the consulship and the proconsulship. In 48 BC, Caesar was given permanent tribunician powers. This made his person sacrosanct, gave him the power to veto the senate, and allowed him to dominate the Plebeian Council. In 46 BC, Caesar was given censorial powers, which he used to fill the senate with his own partisans. Caesar then raised the membership of the senate to 900. This robbed the senatorial aristocracy of its prestige, and made it increasingly subservient to him. While the assemblies continued to meet, he submitted all candidates to the assemblies for election, and all bills to the assemblies for enactment. Thus, the assemblies became powerless, and were thus unable to oppose him. Near the end of his life, Caesar began to prepare for a war against the Parthian Empire. Since his absence from Rome would limit his ability to install his own consuls, he passed a law which allowed him to appoint all magistrates in 43 BC, and all consuls and tribunes in 42 BC. This, in effect, transformed the magistrates from being representatives of the people, to being representatives of the dictator. After his assassination, Mark Antony formed an alliance with Caesar's adopted son and great-nephew, Gaius Octavian. Along with Marcus Lepidus, they formed an alliance known as the Second Triumvirate. They held powers that were nearly identical to the powers that Caesar had held under his constitution. As such, the senate and assemblies remained powerless, even after Caesar had been assassinated. The conspirators were then defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC. Eventually, however, Antony and Octavian fought against each other in one last battle. Antony was defeated in the naval Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and in 30 BC he committed suicide. In 29 BC, Octavian returned to Rome as the unchallenged master of the state. Life in the Roman Republic revolved around the city of Rome, and its famed seven hills. The city also had several theaters. gymnasiums, and many taverns, baths and brothels. Throughout the territory under Rome's control, residential architecture ranged from very modest houses to country villas, and in the capital city of Rome, to the residences on the elegant Palatine Hill, from which the word "palace" is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in the city center, packed into apartment blocks. Most Roman towns and cities had a forum and temples, as did the city of Rome itself. Aqueducts were built to bring water to urban centers and wine and oil were imported from abroad. Landlords generally resided in cities and their estates were left in the care of farm managers. To stimulate a higher labor productivity, many landlords freed a large numbers of slaves. Beginning in the middle of the second century BC, Greek culture was increasingly ascendant, in spite of tirades against the "softening" effects of Hellenized culture. By the time of Augustus, cultured Greek household slaves taught the Roman young (sometimes even the girls). Greek sculptures adorned Hellenistic landscape gardening on the Palatine or in the villas, and much Roman cuisine was essentially Greek. Roman writers disdained Latin for a cultured Greek style. The center of the early social structure was the family, which was not only marked by blood relations but also by the legally constructed relation of patria potestas. The Pater familias was the absolute head of the family; he was the master over his wife, his children, the wives of his sons, the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen, disposing of them and of their goods at will, even putting them to death. Roman law recognized only patrician families as legal entities. Slavery and slaves were part of the social order; there were slave markets where they could be bought and sold. Many slaves were freed by the masters for services rendered; some slaves could save money to buy their freedom. Generally mutilation and murder of slaves was prohibited by legislation. It is estimated that over 25% of the Roman population was enslaved. The cloth and the dress distinguished one class of people from the other class. The tunic worn by plebeians (common people) like shepherds and slaves was made from coarse and dark material, whereas the tunic worn by patricians was of linen or white wool. A magistrate would wear the tunic augusticlavi; senators wore a tunic with broad stripes, called tunica laticlavi. Military tunics were shorter than the ones worn by civilians. Boys, up until the festival of Liberalia, wore the toga praetexta, which was a toga with a crimson or purple border. The toga virilis, (or toga pura) was worn by men over the age of 16 to signify their citizenship in Rome. The toga picta was worn by triumphant generals and had embroidery of their skill on the battlefield. The toga pulla was worn when in mourning. Even footwear indicated a person’s social status. Patricians wore red and orange sandals, senators had brown footwear, consuls had white shoes, and soldiers wore heavy boots. Men typically wore a toga, and women a stola. The woman's stola looked different than a toga, and was usually brightly colored. The Romans also invented socks for those soldiers required to fight on the northern frontiers, sometimes worn in sandals. Romans had simple food habits. Staple food was simple, generally consumed at around 11 o’clock, and consisted of bread, salad, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meat left over from the dinner the night before. The Roman poet, Horace mentions another Roman favorite, the olive, in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "As for me, olives, endives, and smooth mallows provide sustenance. The family ate together, sitting on stools around a table. Fingers were used to eat solid foods and spoons were used for soups. Wine was considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by all classes and was quite cheap. Cato the Elder once advised cutting his rations in half to conserve wine for the workforce. Many types of drinks involving grapes and honey were consumed as well. Drinking on an empty stomach was regarded as boorish and a sure sign for alcoholism, whose debilitating physical and psychological effects were known to the Romans. An accurate accusation of being an alcoholic was an effective way to discredit political rivals. Prominent Roman alcoholics included Mark Antony, and Cicero's own son Marcus (Cicero Minor). Even Cato the Younger was known to be a heavy drinker. Following various military conquests in the Greek East, Romans adapted a number of Greek educational precepts to their own fledgling system. Home was often the learning center, where children were taught Roman law, customs, and physical training to prepare the boys to grow as Roman citizens and for eventual recruitment into the army. Conforming to discipline was a point of great emphasis. Girls generally received instruction from their mothers in the art of spinning, weaving ,and sewing. Schooling in a more formal sense was begun around 200 BC. Education began at the age of around six, and in the next six to seven years, boys and girls were expected to learn the basics of reading, writing and counting. By the age of twelve, they would be learning Latin, Greek, grammar and literature, followed by training for public speaking. Oratory was an art to be practiced and learnt, and good orators commanded respect. To become an effective orator was one of the objectives of education and learning. In some cases, services of gifted slaves were utilized for imparting education. The native language of the Romans was Latin. Although surviving Latin literature consists almost entirely of Classical Latin, an artificial and highly stylized and polished literary language from the 1st century BC, the actual spoken language was Vulgar Latin, which significantly differed from Classical Latin in grammar, vocabulary, and eventually pronunciation. Rome's expansion spread Latin throughout Europe, and over time Vulgar Latin evolved and dialectized in different locations, gradually shifting into a number of distinct Romance languages. Many of these languages, including French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish, flourished, the differences between them growing greater over time. Although English is Germanic rather than Romanic in origin, English borrows heavily from Latin and Latin-derived words. Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. Virgil represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. His Aeneid tells the story of flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome. Lucretius, in his On the Nature of Things, attempted to explicate science in an epic poem. The genre of satire was common in Rome, and satires were written by, among others, Juvenal and Persius. The rhetorical works of Cicero are considered to be some of the best bodies of correspondence recorded in antiquity. In the 3rd century BC, Greek art taken as booty from wars became popular, and many Roman homes were decorated with landscapes by Greek artists. Portrait sculpture during the period utilized youthful and classical proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism. Advancements were also made in relief sculptures, often depicting Roman victories. Music was a major part of everyday life. The word itself derives from Greek μουσική (mousike), "(art) of the Muses". Many private and public events were accompanied by music, ranging from nightly dining to military parades and maneouvres. In a discussion of any ancient music, however, non-specialists and even many musicians have to be reminded that much of what makes our modern music familiar to us is the result of developments only within the last 1,000 years; thus, our ideas of melody, scales, harmony, and even the instruments we use would not be familiar to Romans who made and listened to music many centuries earlier. Over time, Roman architecture was modified as their urban requirements changed, and the civil engineering and building construction technology became developed and refined. The Roman concrete has remained a riddle, and even after more than 2,000 years some Roman structures still stand magnificently. The architectural style of the capital city was emulated by other urban centers under Roman control and influence. Roman cities were well planned, efficiently managed and neatly maintained. Roman religious beliefs date back to the founding of Rome, around 800 BC. However, the Roman religion commonly associated with the republic and early empire did not begin until around 500 BC, when Romans came in contact with Greek culture, and adopted many of the Greek’s religious beliefs. Private and personal worship was an important aspect of religious practices. In a sense, each household was a temple to the gods. Each household had an altar (lararium), at which the family members would offer prayers, perform rites, and interact with the household gods. Many of the gods that Romans worshiped came from the Proto-Indo-European pantheon, others were based on Greek gods. The two most famous deities were Jupiter (the king God) and Mars (the god of war). With its cultural influence spreading over most of the Mediterranean, Romans began accepting foreign gods into their own culture, as well as other philosophical traditions such as Cynicism and Stoicism. Each first line maniple were leather-armoured infantry soldiers who wore a brass breastplate and a brass helmet adorned with 3 feathers approximately 30 cm (12 in) in height and carried an iron-clad wooden shield. They were armed with a sword and two throwing spears. The second infantry line was armed and armoured in the same manner as was the first infantry line. The second infantry line, however, wore a lighter coat of mail rather than a solid brass breastplate. The third infantry line was the last remnant of the hoplite-style (the Greek-style formation used occasionally during the early republic) troops in the Roman army. They were armed and armoured in the same manner as were the soldiers in the second line, with the exception that they carried a lighter spear. The three infantry classes may have retained some slight parallel to social divisions within Roman society, but at least officially the three lines were based upon age and experience rather than social class. Young, unproven men would serve in the first line, older men with some military experience would serve in the second line, and veteran troops of advanced age and experience would serve in the third line. The heavy infantry of the maniples were supported by a number of light infantry and cavalry troops, typically 300 horsemen per manipular legion. The cavalry was drawn primarily from the richest class of equestrians. There was an additional class of troops who followed the army without specific martial roles and were deployed to the rear of the third line. Their role in accompanying the army was primarily to supply any vacancies that might occur in the maniples. The light infantry consisted of 1,200 unarmoured skirmishing troops drawn from the youngest and lower social classes. They were armed with a sword and a small shield, as well as several light javelins. A small navy had operated at a fairly low level after about 300 BC, but it was massively upgraded about forty years later, during the First Punic War. After a period of frenetic construction, the navy mushroomed to a size of more than 400 ships on the Carthaginian ("Punic") pattern. Once completed, it could accommodate up to 100,000 sailors and embarked troops for battle. The navy thereafter declined in size. The extraordinary demands of the Punic Wars, in addition to a shortage of manpower, exposed the tactical weaknesses of the manipular legion, at least in the short term. In 217 BC, near the beginning of the Second Punic War, Rome was forced to effectively ignore its long-standing principle that its soldiers must be both citizens and property owners. During the second century BC, Roman territory saw an overall decline in population, partially due to the huge losses incurred during various wars. This was accompanied by severe social stresses and the greater collapse of the middle classes. As a result, the Roman state was forced to arm its soldiers at the expense of the state, which it had not had to do in the past. The distinction between the heavy infantry types began to blur, perhaps because the state was now assuming the responsibility of providing standard-issue equipment. In addition, the shortage of available manpower led to a greater burden being placed upon Rome's allies for the provision of allied troops. Eventually, the Romans were forced to begin hiring mercenaries to fight alongside the legions. Unlike earlier in the Republic, legionaries were no longer fighting on a seasonal basis to protect their land. Instead, they received standard pay, and were employed by the state on a fixed-term basis. As a consequence, military duty began to appeal most to the poorest sections of society, to whom a salaried pay was attractive. A destabilising consequence of this development was that the proletariat "acquired a stronger and more elevated position" within the state. The legions of the late Republic were, structurally, almost entirely heavy infantry. The legion's main sub-unit was called a cohort and consisted of approximately 480 infantrymen. The cohort was therefore a much larger unit than the earlier maniple sub-unit, and was divided into six centuries of 80 men each. Each century was separated further into 10 "tent groups" of 8 men each. Legions additionally consisted of a small body, typically 120 men, of Roman legionary cavalry. The cavalry troops were used as scouts and dispatch riders rather than battlefield cavalry. Legions also contained a dedicated group of artillery crew of perhaps 60 men. Each legion was normally partnered with an approximately equal number of allied (non-Roman) troops. However, "the most obvious deficiency" of the Roman army remained its shortage of cavalry, especially heavy cavalry. As Rome's borders expanded and its adversaries changed from largely infantry-based to largely cavalry-based troops, the infantry-based Roman army began to find itself at a tactical disadvantage, particularly in the East. After having declined in size following the subjugation of the Mediterranean, the Roman navy underwent short-term upgrading and revitalisation in the late Republic to meet several new demands. Under Caesar, an invasion fleet was assembled in the English Channel to allow the invasion of Britannia; under Pompey, a large fleet was raised in the Mediterranean Sea to clear the sea of Cilician pirates. During the civil war that followed, as many as a thousand ships were either constructed or pressed into service from Greek cities. As with most ancient civilisations, Rome's military served the triple purposes of securing its borders, exploiting peripheral areas through measures such as imposing tribute on conquered peoples, and maintaining internal order. From the outset, Rome's military typified this pattern and the majority of Rome's campaigns were characterised by one of two types. The first is the territorial expansionist campaign, normally begun as a counter-offensive, in which each victory brought subjugation of large areas of territory. The second is the civil war, of which examples plagued the Roman Republic in its final century. Roman armies were not invincible, despite their formidable reputation and host of victories. Over the centuries the Romans "produced their share of incompetents who led Roman armies into catastrophic defeats. Nevertheless, it was generally the fate of even the greatest of Rome's enemies, such as Pyrrhus and Hannibal, to win the battle but lose the war. The history of Rome's campaigning is, if nothing else, a history of obstinate persistence overcoming appalling losses. After recovering surprisingly swiftly from the sack of Rome, the Romans immediately resumed their expansion within Italy. The First Samnite War of between 343 BC and 341 BC was a relatively short affair: the Romans beat the Samnites in two battles, but were forced to withdraw from the war before they could pursue the conflict further due to the revolt of several of their Latin allies in the Latin War. Rome bested the Latins in the Battle of Vesuvius and again in the Battle of Trifanum, after which the Latin cities were obliged to submit to Roman rule. The Second Samnite War, from 327 BC to 304 BC, was a much longer and more serious affair for both the Romans and Samnites. The fortunes of the two sides fluctuated throughout its course. The Romans then proved victorious at the Battle of Bovianum and the tide turned strongly against the Samnites from 314 BC onwards, leading them to sue for peace with progressively less generous terms. By 304 BC the Romans had effectively annexed the greater degree of the Samnite territory, founding several colonies. Seven years after their defeat, with Roman dominance of the area looking assured, the Samnites rose again and defeated a Roman army in 298 BC, to open the Third Samnite War. With this success in hand they managed to bring together a coalition of several previous enemies of Rome. In the Battle of Populonia in 282 BC Rome finished off the last vestiges of Etruscan power in the region. By the beginning of the third century, Rome had established itself as a major power on the Italian Peninsula, but had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers in the Mediterranean at the time: Carthage and the Greek kingdoms. When a diplomatic dispute between Rome and a Greek colony erupted into open warfare in a naval confrontation, the Greek colony appealed for military aid to Pyrrhus, ruler of the northwestern Greek kingdom of Epirus. Motivated by a personal desire for military accomplishment, Pyrrhus landed a Greek army of some 25,000 men on Italian soil in 280 BC. Despite early victories, Pyrrhus found his position in Italy untenable. Rome steadfastly refused to negotiate with Pyrrhus as long as his army remained in Italy. Facing unacceptably heavy losses with each encounter with the Roman army, Pyrrhus withdrew from the peninsula. In 275 BC, Pyrrhus again met the Roman army at the Battle of Beneventum. While Beneventum was indecisive, Pyrrhus realised his army had been exhausted and reduced, by years of foreign campaigns, and seeing little hope for further gains, he withdrew completely from Italy. The conflicts with Pyrrhus would have a great effect on Rome. Rome had shown it was capable of pitting its armies successfully against the dominant military powers of the Mediterranean, and that the Greek kingdoms were incapable of defending their colonies in Italy and abroad. Rome quickly moved into southern Italia, subjugating and dividing the Greek colonies. Now, Rome effectively dominated the Italian peninsula, and won an international military reputation. The First Punic War began in 264 BC when settlements on Sicily began to appeal to the two powers between which they lay - Rome and Carthage - in order to solve internal conflicts. The war saw land battles in Sicily early on, but the theatre shifted to naval battles around Sicily and Africa. Before the First Punic War there was no Roman navy to speak of. The new war in Sicily against Carthage, a great naval power, forced Rome to quickly build a fleet and train sailors. The first few naval battles were catastrophic disasters for Rome. However, after training more sailors and inventing a grappling engine, a Roman naval force was able to defeat a Carthaginian fleet, and further naval victories followed. The Carthaginians then hired Xanthippus of Carthage, a Spartan mercenary general, to reorganise and lead their army. He managed to cut off the Roman army from its base by re-establishing Carthaginian naval supremacy. With their newfound naval abilities, the Romans then beat the Carthaginians in naval battle again at the Battle of the Aegates Islands and leaving Carthage without a fleet or sufficient coin to raise one. For a maritime power the loss of their access to the Mediterranean stung financially and psychologically, and the Carthaginians sued for peace. Continuing distrust led to the renewal of hostilities in the Second Punic War when Hannibal Barca attacked a Spanish town, which had diplomatic ties to Rome. Hannibal then crossed the Italian Alps to invade Italy. Hannibal's successes in Italy began immediately, and reached an early climax at the Battle of Cannae, where 70,000 Romans were killed. In three battles, the Romans managed to hold off Hannibal but then Hannibal smashed a succession of Roman consular armies. By this time Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal Barca sought to cross the Alps into Italy and join his brother with a second army. Hasdrubal managed to break through into Italy only to be defeated decisively on the Metaurus River. Unable to defeat Hannibal himself on Italian soil, the Romans boldly sent an army to Africa with the intention of threatening the Carthaginian capital. Hannibal was recalled to Africa, and defeated at the Battle of Zama. Carthage never managed to recover after the Second Punic War and the Third Punic War that followed was in reality a simple punitive mission to raze the city of Carthage to the ground. Carthage was almost defenceless and when besieged offered immediate surrender, conceding to a string of outrageous Roman demands. The Romans refused the surrender, and the city was stormed after a short siege and completely destroyed. Ultimately, all of Carthage's North African and Spanish territories were acquired by Rome. Rome's preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for Philip V of the kingdom of Macedon in northern Greece, to attempt to extend his power westward. Philip sent ambassadors to Hannibal's camp in Italy, to negotiate an alliance as common enemies of Rome. However, Rome discovered the agreement when Philip's emissaries were captured by a Roman fleet. The First Macedonian War saw the Romans involved directly in only limited land operations, but they ultimately achieved their objective of pre-occupying Philip and preventing him from aiding Hannibal. Macedon began to encroach on territory claimed by several other Greek city states in 200 BC and these states pleaded for help from their newfound ally Rome. Rome gave Philip an ultimatum that he must submit Macedonia to being essentially a Roman province. Philip refused, and Rome declared war against Philip in the Second Macedonian War. Ultimately, in 197 BC, the Romans defeated Philip at the Battle of Cynoscephalae, and Macedonia was forced to surrender. Rome now turned its attentions to another Greek kingdom, the Seleucid Empire, in the east. A Roman force defeated the Seleucids at the Battle of Thermopylae and forced them to evacuate Greece. The Romans then pursued the Seleucids beyond Greece, beating them in the decisive engagement of the Battle of Magnesia. In 179 BC Philip died and his talented and ambitious son, Perseus, took his throne and showed a renewed interest in Greece. Rome declared war on Macedonia again, starting the Third Macedonian War. Perseus initially had greater military success against the Romans than his father. However, as with all such ventures in this period, Rome responded by simply sending another army. The second consular army duly defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC and the Macedonians duly capitulated, ending the Third Macedonian War. The Fourth Macedonian War, fought from 150 BC to 148 BC, was the final war between Rome and Macedon. The Romans swiftly defeated the Macedonians at the Second battle of Pydna. Another Roman army besieged and destroyed Corinth in 146 BC, which led to the surrender and thus conquest of the rest of Greece. In 121 BC, Rome came into contact with two Celtic tribes (from a region in modern France), both of which they defeated with apparent ease. The Cimbrian War (113-101 BC) was a far more serious affair than the earlier clashes of 121 BC. The Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons migrated from northern Europe into Rome's northern territories, and clashed with Rome and her allies. At the Battle of Aquae Sextiae and the Battle of Vercellae both tribes were virtually annihalated, which ended the threat. Between 135 BC and 71 BC there were three "Servile Wars" involving slave uprisings against the Roman state, the third and final uprising was the most serious. involving ultimately between 120,000 and 150,000 Additionally, in 91 BC the Social War broke out between Rome and its former allies in Italy over dissent among the allies that they shared the risk of Rome's military campaigns, but not its rewards. Although they lost militarily, the allies achieved their objectives with legal proclamations which granted citizenship to more than 500,000 Italians. The internal unrest reached its most serious state, however, in the two civil wars that were caused by the consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla at the beginning of 82 BC. In the Battle of the Colline Gate at the very door of the city of Rome, a Roman army under Sulla bested an army of the Roman senate, entered the city, and marched on Rome. Sulla's actions marked a watershed in the willingness of Roman troops to wage war against one another that was to pave the way for the wars which ultimately overthrew the republic, and caused the founding of the Roman Empire. The Second Mithridatic War began when Rome tried to annex a province that Mithridates claimed as his own. In the Third Mithridatic War, first Lucius Licinius Lucullus and then Pompey the Great were sent against Mithridates. Mithridates was finally defeated by Pompey in the night-time Battle of the Lycus. The Mediterranean had at this time fallen into the hands of pirates, largely from Cilicia. The pirates not only strangled shipping lanes but also plundered many cities on the coasts of Greece and Asia. Pompey was nominated as commander of a special naval task force to campaign against the pirates. It took Pompey just forty days to clear the western portion of the sea of pirates and restore communication between Iberia (Spain), Africa, and Italy. During a term as praetor in Iberia (modern Spain), Pompey's contemporary Julius Caesar defeated two local tribes in battle. Following his term as consul in 59 BC, he was then appointed to a five year term as the proconsular Governor of Cisalpine Gaul (current northern Italy), Transalpine Gaul (current southern France) and Illyria (the modern Balkans). Not content with an idle governorship, Caesar strove to find reason to invade Gaul, which would give him the dramatic military success he sought. When two local tribes began to migrate on a route that would take them near (not into) the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, Caesar had the barely sufficient excuse he needed for his Gallic Wars, fought between 58 BC and 49 BC. Caesar defeated large armies at major battles 58 BC and 57 BC. In 55 and 54 BC he made two expeditions into Britain, becoming the first Roman to do so. Caesar then defeated a union of Gauls at the Battle of Alesia, completing the Roman conquest of Transalpine Gaul. By 50 BC, the entirety of Gaul lay in Roman hands. Gaul never regained its Celtic identity, never attempted another nationalist rebellion, and remained loyal to Rome until the fall of the western empire in 476. By the spring of 49 BC, when Caesar crossed the Rubicon river with his invading forces and swept down the Italian peninsula towards Rome, Pompey ordered the abandonment of Rome. Caesar first directed his attention to the Pompeian stronghold of Iberia (modern Spain) but decided to tackle Pompey himself in Greece. Pompey initially defeated Caesar, but failed to follow up on the victory. Pompey was then decisively defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, despite outnumbering Caesar's forces two to one. Pompey fled again, this time to Egypt, where he was murdered. Pompey's death did not result in an end to the civil wars since initially Caesar's enemies were manifold and Pompey's supporters continued to fight on after his death. In 46 BC Caesar lost perhaps as much as a third of his army, but ultimately came back to defeat the Pompeian army of Metellus Scipio in the Battle of Thapsus, after which the Pompeians retreated yet again to Iberia. Caesar then defeated the combined Pompeian forces at the Battle of Munda. Despite his military success, or probably because of it, fear spread of Caesar, now the primary figure of the Roman state, becoming an autocratic ruler and ending the Roman Republic. This fear drove a group of senators to assassinate him in March of 44 BC. Further civil war followed between those loyal to Caesar and those who supported the actions of the assassins. Caesar's supporter Mark Antony condemned Caesar's assassins and war broke out between the two factions. Antony was denounced as a public enemy, and Caesar's adopted son and chosen heir, Gaius Octavian, was entrusted with the command of the war against him. At the Battle of Mutina Antony was defeated by the consuls Hirtius and Pansa, who were both killed. Octavian came to terms with Caesarians Antony and Lepidus in 43 BC when the Second Triumvirate was formed. In 42 BC Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fought the Battle of Philippi with Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius. Although Brutus defeated Octavian, Antony defeated Cassius, who committed suicide. Brutus also committed suicide shortly afterwards. However, civil war flared again when the Second Triumvirate of Octavian, Lepidus and Mark Antony failed. The ambitious Octavian built a power base of patronage and then launched a campaign against Mark Antony. At the naval Battle of Actium (off the coast of Greece), Octavian decisively defeated Antony and Cleopatra. Octavian was granted a series of special powers including sole imperium within the city of Rome, permanent consular powers and credit for every Roman military victory, since all future generals were acting under his command. In 27 BC Octavian was granted the use of the names Augustus and Princeps indicating his primary status above all other Romans, and he adopted the title Imperator Caesar making him the first Roman Emperor.

http://www.reference.com/browse/Catilinarian

The solar disk with a coronal hole Coronal holes are areas where the Sun's corona is darker, and colder, and has lower-density plasma than average. These were found when X-ray telescopes in the Skylab mission were flown above the Earth's atmosphere to reveal the structure of the corona. Coronal holes are linked to unipolar concentrations of open magnetic field lines. During solar minimum, coronal holes are mainly found at the Sun's polar regions, but they can be located anywhere on the sun during solar maximum. The fast-moving component of the solar wind is known to travel along open magnetic field lines that pass through coronal holes.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_hole

August 15, 2012 How does one map the sky? It’s a daunting proposal to be sure and no Google cars or cameras are up to the task, but the team behind the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is making headway. The group, now in their third phase of research, recently released the largest ever 3-D map of the sky with some 540,000 galaxies. Large though it is, the recent map covers a mere eight percent of the sky. By mid-2014, the team, led by Daniel Eisenstein at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, will have gathered enough additional information to complete a quarter of the sky. Other than making a very cool animated video (above) about the project, in which viewers can seem to sail by almost 400,000 galaxies, the map will prove useful in a variety of research projects, from dark energy to quasars and the evolution of large galaxies, and the new information provides more accurate data than any other previous sky survey. Using a combination of imaging and spectroscopy, scientists are able to chart the distance of galaxies and other objects within 1.7 percent precision. In the past, the distances of bodies in space could only be measured by the far less precise Doppler shift observation of Hubble’s Law. “That’s a very provocative value of precision because astronomers spent a lot of the last century arguing about whether the Hubble Constant was 50 or 100, which is basically arguing about a factor of two in distance. Now we’re using this method to get to precisions approaching a percent,” explains Eisenstein. The mapping method relies on something called the baryon acoustic oscillation, which is “caused by sound waves that propagate in the first million years after the Big Bang,” Eisenstein explains. “These sound waves basically cause a tiny correlation between regions of space 500 million light years apart.” In the years after the Big Bang, as one galaxy formed and became too dense, it would emit a sound wave. “That sound wave travels out to a distance that corresponds today with 500 million light years and where it ends up produces (a region) slightly more enhanced than its galaxy population.” In other words, there is a slightly above average dispersion of galaxies 500 million light years apart than there are at 600 or 400 million light years. “Because we know these sound waves pick out a distance of 500 million light years, now we can actually measure distance [in the universe], so in the survey we’ve measured the distance to these galaxies.” These more accurate measurements mean exciting news for the search for dark energy, the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. “The way we measure dark energy is by measuring distances to certain objects with very high precision,” says Eisenstein. The method for taking these measurements is surprisingly physical in nature. Initial imaging allows the scientists to get a basic map of what objects are where in a certain region of the sky: quasars, galaxies, stars and other items. They then select which objects would be useful for further study. Since so many teams, including the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Cambridge, are involved, different groups pick different objects depending on their area of research. Moving onto spectroscopy, the researchers can measure 1,000 objects at a time. On a large aluminum disk, they drill holes to correspond to each objects’ position. “On a given plate there might be 700 galaxies and 200 quasar candidates and 100 stars,” Eisenstein explains. Then the team will hand-place fiber optic cables into each hole. Light from each object hits the cables and is taken to the instrument. The disk sits for an hour to absorb the light and then it’s on to the next portion of the sky. Some nights the team will fill up to nine disks, but that’s rare. Visitors can view some of the materials used by the sky survey team at the Air and Space Museum, including a charge couple device that converts light into electrical signals that can be read digitally to create a functional map. When the project is completed, they will have 2,200 plates and a map of some two million objects. And you’ll have the night sky at your fingertips. Google that! Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week. No Comments » No comments yet.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2012/08/largest-3-d-map-of-the-sky-released/

waveArticle Free Pass wave, a ridge or swell on the surface of a body of water, normally having a forward motion distinct from the oscillatory motion of the particles that successively compose it. The undulations and oscillations may be chaotic and random, or they may be regular, with an identifiable wavelength between adjacent crests and with a definite frequency of oscillation. In the latter case the waves may be progressive, in which the crests and troughs appear to travel at a steady speed in a direction at right angles to themselves. Alternatively, they may be standing waves, in which there is no progression. In this case, there is no rise and fall at all in some places, the nodes, while elsewhere the surface rises to a crest and then falls to a trough at a regular frequency. Physical characteristics of surface waves There are two physical mechanisms that control and maintain wave motion. For most waves, gravity is the restoring force that causes any displacements of the surface to be accelerated back toward the mean surface level. The kinetic energy gained by the fluid returning to its rest position causes it to overshoot, resulting in the oscillating wave motion. In the case of very short-wavelength disturbances of the surface (i.e., ripples), the restoring force is surface tension, wherein the surface acts like a stretched membrane. If the wavelength is less than a few millimetres, surface tension dominates the motion, which is described as a capillary wave. Surface gravity waves in which gravity is the dominant force have wavelengths greater than approximately 10 cm (4 inches). In the intermediate length range, both restoring mechanisms are important. A wave’s amplitude is the maximum displacement of the surface above or below its resting position. The mathematical theory of water wave propagation shows that for waves whose amplitude is small compared to their length, the wave profile can be sinusoidal (that is, shaped like a sine wave), and there is a definite relationship between the wavelength and the wave period, which also controls the speed of wave propagation. Longer waves travel faster than shorter ones, a phenomenon known as dispersion. If the water depth is less than one-twentieth of the wavelength, the waves are known as long gravity waves, and their wavelength is directly proportional to their period. The deeper the water, the faster they travel. For capillary waves, shorter wavelengths travel faster than longer ones. Waves whose amplitude is large compared with their length cannot be so readily described by mathematical theory, and their form is distorted from a sinusoidal shape. The troughs tend to flatten and the crests sharpen toward a point, a shape known as a conoidal wave. In deeper water the limiting height of a wave is one-seventh of its length. As it approaches this height, the pointed crests break to form whitecaps. In shallow water the long-amplitude waves distort, because crests travel faster than troughs to form a profile with a steep rise and slow fall. As such waves travel into shallower water on a beach, they steepen until breaking occurs. The energy of the waves is proportional to the square of the amplitude. Mathematical analysis shows that a distinction must be made between the speed of the troughs and crests, called the phase speed, and the speed and direction of the transport of energy or information associated with the wave, termed the group velocity. For nondispersive long waves the two are equal, whereas for surface gravity waves in deep water the group velocity is only half the phase speed. Thus, in a train of waves spreading out over a pond after a sudden disturbance at a point, the wave front travels at only half the speed of the crests, which appear to run through the packet of waves and disappear at the front. For capillary waves the group velocity is one and one-half times the phase speed. Waves on the sea surface are generated by the action of the wind. During generation the disturbed sea surface is not regular and contains many different oscillatory motions at different frequencies. Wave spectra are used by oceanographers to describe the distribution of energy at different frequencies. The form of the spectrum can be related to wind speed and direction and the duration of the storm and the fetch (or distance upwind) over which it has blown, and this information is used for wave prediction. After the storm has passed, the waves disperse, the longer-period waves (about 8 to 20 seconds) propagating long distances as well, while the shorter-period waves are damped out by internal friction. Three types of water waves may be distinguished: wind waves and swell, wind surges, and sea waves of seismic origin (tsunamis). In addition, standing waves, or seiches, can occur in water bodies with enclosed or nearly enclosed basins, and internal waves, which appear as undulating layers of rapidly changing density with increasing depth, take place away from the water’s surface. What made you want to look up "wave"? Please share what surprised you most...

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/637799/wave

In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant contact with another culture that has, and that makes some record of major historical events. At this point ancient art begins, for the older literate cultures. The end-date for what is covered by the term thus varies greatly between different parts of the world. The very earliest human artifacts showing evidence of workmanship with an artistic purpose are the subject of some debate; it is clear that such workmanship existed by 40,000 years ago in the Upper Paleolithic era. From the Upper Palaeolithic through the Mesolithic, cave paintings and portable art such as figurines and beads predominated, with decorative figured workings also seen on some utilitarian objects. In the Neolithic evidence of early pottery appeared, as did sculpture and the construction of megaliths. Early rock art also first appeared in the Neolithic. The advent of metalworking in the Bronze Age brought additional media available for use in making art, an increase in stylistic diversity, and the creation of objects that did not have any obvious function other than art. It also saw the development in some areas of artisans, a class of people specializing in the production of art, as well as early writing systems. By the Iron Age, civilizations with writing had arisen from Ancient Egypt to Ancient China. Many indigenous peoples from around the world continued to produce artistics works distinctive to their geographic area and culture, until exploration and commerce brought record-keeping methods to them. Some cultures, notably the Maya civilization, independently developed writing during the time they flourished, which was then later lost. These cultures may be classified as prehistoric, especially if their writing systems have not been deciphered. The earliest undisputed art originated with the Aurignacian archaeological culture in the Upper Paleolithic. However, there is some evidence that the preference for the aesthetic emerged in the Middle Paleolithic, from 100,000 to 50,000 years ago. Some archaeologists have interpreted certain Middle Paleolithic artifacts as early examples of artistic expression. The symmetry of artifacts; evidence of attention to the detail of tool shape,has led some investigators to conceive of Acheulean hand axes and especially laurel points as having been produced with a degree of artistic expression. The Mask of La Roche-Cotard has been taken as evidence of Neanderthal figurative art, although in a period post-dating their contact with Homo sapiens. There are other claims of Middle Paleolithic sculpture, dubbed the "Venus of Tan-Tan" (before 300 kya) and the "Venus of Berekhat Ram" (250 kya). In 2002 in Blombos cave, situated in South Africa, stones were discovered engraved with grid or cross-hatch patterns, dated to some 70,000 years ago. This suggested to some researchers that early Homo sapiens were capable of abstraction and production of abstract art or symbolic art. Several archaeologists including Richard Klein of Stanford are hesitant to accept the Blombos caves as the first example of actual art. The oldest undisputed works of art were found in the Schwäbische Alb, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The earliest of these, the Venus figurine known as the Venus of Hohle Fels, dates to some 40,000 years ago. Further depictional art from the Upper Palaeolithic period (broadly 40,000 to 10,000 years ago) includes cave painting (e.g., those at Chauvet, Altamira, Pech Merle, and Lascaux) and portable art: Venus figurines like the Venus of Willendorf, and also animal carvings, like the Swimming Reindeer, Wolverine pendant of Les Eyzies, and several of the objects known as bâtons de commandement. A cave at Turobong in South Korea containing human remains has been found to contain carved deer bones and depictions of deer that may be as much as 40,000 years old. Petroglyphs of deer or reindeer found at Sokchang-ri may also date to the Upper Paleolithic. Pot sherds in a style reminiscent of early Japanese work have been found at Kosan-ri on Jeju island, which, due to lower sea levels at the time, would have been accessible from Japan. The Bradshaws are a unique style of rock art found in Western Australia. They are predominantly human figures drawn in fine detail with accurate anatomical proportioning. They have been dated at at least 17,000 years old, and perhaps as much as 70,000 years old. The oldest petroglyphs are dated to approximately the Mesolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. The earliest undisputed African rock art dates back about 10,000 years. The first naturalistic paintings of humans found in Africa date back about 8,000 years apparently originating in the Nile River valley, spread as far west as Mali about 10,000 years ago. Noted sites containing early art include Tassili n'Ajjer in southern Algeria, Tadrart Acacus in Libya (A Unesco World Heritage site), and the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad. Rock carvings at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa have been dated to this age. Contentious dates as far back as 29,000 years have been obtained at a site in Tanzania. A site at the Apollo 11 Cave complex in Namibia has been dated to 27,000 years. Asia was the cradle for several significant civilizations, most notably those of China and South Asia. The prehistory of eastern Asia is especially interesting, as the relatively early introduction of writing and historical record-keeping in China has a notable impact on the immediately surrounding cultures and geographic areas. The Shigir Idol (Russian: Шигирский идол), is the most ancient wooden sculpture in the world. It was made during the Mesolithic Era,around 7500 BC. The idol was discovered in 1894, in the peat bog of Shigir, on the eastern slope of the Middle Urals (to approximately 100 km of Yekaterinburg). The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of prehistoric times, the petroglyphs as found in places like the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, and some of them are older than 5500 BC. The Indus Valley civilization produced fine small sculptures, and may have been literate. Prehistoric artwork such as painted pottery in Neolithic China can be traced back to the Yangshao culture and Longshan culture of the Yellow River valley. During China's Bronze Age, Chinese of the ancient Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty produced multitudes of Chinese ritual bronzes, which are elaborate versions of ordinary vessels and other objects used in rituals of ancestor veneration, decorated with taotie motifs and by the late Shang Chinese bronze inscriptions. Discoveries in 1987 in Sanxingdui in central China revealed a previously unknown pre-literate Bronze Age culture whose artefacts included spectacular very large bronze figures (example left), and which appeared culturally very different from the contemporary late Shang, which has always formed part of the account of the continuous tradition of Chinese culture. According to archeological evidence, the Jōmon people in ancient Japan were among the first to develop pottery that dated from the 11th millennium BC. With growing sophistication, the Jōmon created patterns by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks. The earliest examples of Korean art consist of stone age works dating from 3000 BCE. These mainly consist of votive sculptures, although petroglyphs have also been recently rediscovered. Rock arts, elaborate stone tools, and potteries were also prevalent. This early period was followed by the art styles of various Korean kingdoms and dynasties. In these periods, artists often adopted Chinese style in their artworks. However, Koreans not only adopted but also modified Chinese culture with a native preference for simple elegance, purity of nature and spontaneity. This filtering of Chinese styles later influenced Japanese artistic traditions, due to cultural and geographical circumstances. The prehistory of Korean ends most definitively with the founding of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, which are documented in a 12th-century CE Chinese text, the Samguk Sagi as beginning in the 1st century BCE; some mention of earlier history is made in other Chinese texts, like the 3rd-century CE Sanguo Zhi. Clearer evidence of culture emerges in the late Neolithic, known in Korea as the Jeulmun pottery period, with pottery similar to that found in the adjacent regions of China, decorated with Z-shaped patterns. The earliest Neolithic sites with pottery remains, for example Osan-ri, date to 6000–4500 BCE. This pottery is characterized by comb patterning, with the pot frequently having a pointed base. Ornaments from this time include masks made of shell, with notable finds at Tongsam-dong, Osan-ri, and Sinam-ri. Hand-shaped clay figurines have been found at Nongpo-dong. During the Mumun pottery period, roughly between 1500 BCE and 300 BCE, agriculture expanded, and evidence of larger-scale political structures became apparent, as villages became larger and some burials more elaborate. Megalithic tombs and dolmens throughout Korea date to this time. The pottery of the time is in a distinctive undecorated style. Many of these changes in style may have occurred due to immigration of new peoples from the north, although this is a subject of debate. At a number of sites in southern Korea there are rock art panels that are thought to date from this period, mainly for stylistic reasons. While the exact date of the introduction of bronzework into Korea is also a matter of debate, it is clear that bronze was being worked by about 700 BCE. Finds include stylistically distinctive daggers, mirrors, and belt buckles, with evidence by the 1st century BCE of a widespread, locally distinctive, bronzeworking culture. The time between 300 BCE and the founding and stabilization of the Three Kingdoms around 300 CE is characterized artistically and archaeologically by increasing trade with China and Japan, something that Chinese histories of the time corroborate. The expansionist Chinese invaded and established commanderies in northern Korea as early as the 1st century BCE; they were driven out by the 4th century CE. The remains of some of these, especially that of Lelang, near modern Pyongyang, have yielded many artifacts in a typical Han style. Chinese histories also record the beginnings of iron works in Korea in the 1st century BCE. Stoneware and kiln-fired pottery also appears to date from this time, although there is controversy over the dates. Pottery of distinctly Japanese origin is found in Korea, and metalwork of Korean origin is found in northeastern China. Superb samples of Scythian art - mostly golden jewelry and trappings for horse - are found over a vast expanse of land stretching from Hungary to Mongolia. Dating from the period between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC, art objects are usually diminutive, as may be expected from nomadic people always on the move. Art of the steppes is primarily an animal art, i.e., combat scenes involving several animals (real or imaginary) or single animal figures (such as golden stags) predominate. Probably the most famous find of Scythian items was made in 1947, when the Soviet archaeologist Sergei Rudenko discovered a royal burial at Pazyryk, Altay Mountains, which featured - among many other important objects - the most ancient extant pile rug. The Art of the Upper Paleolithic includes carvings on antler and bone, especially of animals, as well as the so-called Venus figurines and cave paintings, discussed above. Despite a warmer climate, the Mesolithic period undoubtedly shows a falling-off from the heights of the preceding period. Rock art is found in Scandinavia and northern Russia, and around the Mediterranean in eastern Spain and the earliest of the Rock Drawings in Valcamonica in northern Italy, but not in between these areas. Examples of portable art include painted pebbles from the Azilian culture which succeeded the Magdalenian, and patterns on utilitarian objects, like the paddles from Tybrind Vig, Denmark. The Mesolithic statues of Lepenski Vir at the Iron Gate, Serbia date to the 7th millennium BCE and represent either humans or mixtures of humans and fish. Simple pottery began to develop in various places, even in the absence of farming. In Central Europe, many Neolithic cultures, like Linearbandkeramic, Lengyel and Vinča, produced female (rarely male) and animal statues that can be called art, and elaborate pottery decoration in, for example, the Želiesovce and painted Lengyel style. Megalithic (i.e., large stone) monuments are found in the Neolithic Era from Malta to Portugal, through France, and across southern England to most of Wales and Ireland They are also found in northern Germany and Poland, as well as in Egypt in the Sahara desert (at Nabta Playa and other sites). The best preserved of all temples and the oldest free standing structures on Earth are the Megalithic Temples of Malta. They start in the 5th millennium BC, though some authors speculate on Mesolithic roots. Because of frequent re-use, this is difficult to prove. There are many sites for rock and cave art of engraved animal and human scenes in the Saharan area. While the best-known of these is Stonehenge, where the main structures date from the early Bronze Age, such monuments have been found throughout most of Western and Northern Europe, notably at Carnac, France, at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, in Portugal, and in Wiltshire, England, the area of Stonehenge, the Avebury circle, the tombs at West Kennet, and Woodhenge. The large mound tomb at Newgrange, Ireland, has its entrance marked with a massive stone carved with a complex design of spirals. The mound at nearby Knowth has large flat rocks with rock engravings on their vertical faces all around its circumference, for which various meanings have been suggested, including depictions of the local valley, and the oldest known image of the Moon. Many of these monuments were megalithic tombs, and archaeologists speculate that most have religious significance. Knowth is reputed to have approximately one third of all megalithic art in Western Europe. During the 3rd millennium BCE, however, the Bronze Age began in Europe, bringing with it a new medium for art. The increased efficiency of bronze tools also meant an increase in productivity, which led to a surplus — the first step in the creation of a class of artisans. Because of the increased wealth of society, luxury goods began to be created, especially decorated weapons. Examples include ceremonial bronze helmets, ornamental ax-heads and swords, elaborate instruments such as lurer, and other ceremonial objects without a practical purpose, such as the oversize Oxborough Dirk. Special objects are made in gold; many more gold objects have survived from Western and Central Europe than from the Iron Age, many mysterious and strange objects ranging from lunulas, apparently an Irish speciality, the Mold Cape and Golden hats. Pottery from Central Europe can be elaborately shaped and decorated. Rock art, showing scenes from the religious rituals have been found in many areas, for example in Bohuslän, Sweden and the Val Camonica in northern Italy. In the Mediterranean, the Minoan civilization was highly developed, with palace complexes from which sections of frescos have been excavated. Contemporary Ancient Egyptian art and that of other advanced Near Eastern cultures can no longer be treated as "prehistoric". The Iron Age saw the development of anthropomorphic sculptures, such as the warrior of Hirschlanden, and the statue from the Glauberg, Germany. Hallstatt artists in the early Iron Age favored geometric, abstract designs perhaps influenced by trade links with the Classical world. The more elaborate and curvilinear La Tène style developed in Europe in the later Iron Age from a centre in the Rhine valley but it soon spread across the continent. The rich chieftain classes appear to have encouraged ostentation and Classical influences such as bronze drinking vessels attest to a new fashion for wine drinking. Communal eating and drinking were an important part of Celtic society and culture and much of their art was often expressed through plates, knives, cauldrons and cups. Horse tack and weaponry were also subjects deemed fit for elaboration. Mythical animals were a common motif along with religious and natural subjects and their depiction is a mix between the naturalistic and the stylized. Megalithic art was still practiced, examples include the carved limestone pillars of the sanctuary at Entremont in modern-day France. Personal adornment included torc necklaces whilst the introduction of coinage provided a further opportunity for artistic expression. The coins of this period are derivatives of Greek and Roman types, but showing the more exuberant Celtic artistic style. The famous late 4th century BCE chariot burial at Waldalgesheim in the Rhineland produced many fine examples of La Tène art including a bronze flagon and bronze plaques with repoussé human figures. Many pieces had curvy, organic styles though to be derived from Classical tendril patterns. In much of western Europe elements of this artistic style can be discerned surviving in the art and architecture of the Roman colonies. In particular in Britain and Ireland there is a tenuous continuity through the Roman period, enabling Celtic motifs to resurface with new vigour in the Christian Insular art from the 6th century onwards. The sophisticated Etruscan culture developed from the 9th to 2nd centuries, with considerable influence from the Greeks, before finally being absorbed by the Romans. By the end of the period they had developed writing, but early Etruscan art can be called prehistoric. Ancient Egypt falls outside the scope of this article; it had a close relationship with the Sudan in particular, known in this period as Nubia, where there were advanced cultures from the 4th millennium BCE, such as the "A-Group", "C-Group", and the Kingdom of Kush. Significant bushman rock paintings exist in the Waterberg area above the Palala River and around Drakensberg in South Africa, some of which are considered to derive from the period 8000 BCE. These images are very clear and depict a variety of human and wildlife motifs, especially antelope. There appears to be a fairly continuous history of rock painting in this area; some of the art clearly dates into the 19th century. They include depictions of horses with riders, which were not introduced to the area until 1820s. Namibia, in addition to the Apollo 11 complex, has a significant array of Bushmen rock art near Twyfelfontein. This work is several thousand years old, and appears to end with the arrival of pastoral tribes in the area. Horn of Africa Laas Gaal is a complex of caves and rock shelters in northwestern Somalia. Famous for their rock art, the caves are located in a rural area on the outskirts of Hargeisa. They contain some of the earliest known cave paintings in the Horn of Africa, many of which depict pastoral scenes. Laas Gaal's rock art is estimated to date back to somewhere between 9,000–8,000 and 3,000 BCE. Other archaeological sites in northern Somalia were also found to contain numerous examples of historic and/or prehistoric artefacts and structures, including coins, Roman pottery, drystone buildings, cairns, mosques, walled enclosures, standing stones and platform monuments. Many of the finds were of pre-Islamic origin and associated with ancient settlements described by the 1st century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, among other documents. Based on these discoveries, the archaeologist Neville Chittick suggested in particular that the Damo site in the Hafun peninsula likely corresponded with the Periplus' "Market and Cape of Spices". Some of the smaller artefacts were later deposited for preservation at the British National Museum. Other prehistoric art in the Horn region include stone megaliths and engravings, some of which are 3,500 years old. The town of Dillo in Ethiopia has a hilltop covered with stone stelae. It is one of several such sites in southern Ethiopia dating from historic period (10th-14th centuries). The early art of this region has been divided into five periods: - Bubalus Period, roughly 12-8 kya - Round Head Period, roughly 10-8 kya - Pastoral Period, roughly 7.5-4 kya - Horse Period, roughly 3-2 kya - Camel Period, 2,000 years ago to the present Works of the Bubalus period span the Sahara, with the finest work, carvings of naturalistically depicted megafauna, concentrated in the central highlands. The Round Head Period is dominated by paintings of strangely shaped human forms, and few animals, suggesting the artists were foragers. These works are largely limited to Tassili n'Ajjer and the Akakus Mountains. Toward the end of the period, images of domesticated animals, as well as decorative clothing and headdresses appear. Pastoral Period art was more focused on domestic scenes, including herding and dancing. The quality of artwork declined, as figures became more simplified. The Horse Period began in the eastern Sahara and spread west. Depictions from this period include carvings and paintings of horses, chariots, and warriors with metal weapons, although there are also frequent depictions of wildlife such as giraffes. Humans are generally depicted in a stylized way. Some of the chariot art bears resemblance to temple carvings from ancient Egypt. Occasionally, art panels are accompanied by Tifinagh script, still in use by the Berber people and the Tuareg today; however, modern Tuareg are generally unable to read these inscriptions. The final Camel period features carvings and paintings in which camels predominate, but also include humans with swords, and later, guns; the art of this time is relatively crude. Belonging in the Lithic stage, the oldest known art in the Americas is the Vero Beach bone, possibly a mammoth bone, etched with a profile of walking mammoth that dates back to 11,000 BCE. The oldest known painted object in North American is the Cooper Bison Skull from 10,900–10,200 BCE. The ancient Olmec "Bird Vessel" and bowl, both ceramic and dating to circa 1000 BC as well as other ceramics are produced in kilns capable of exceeding approximately 900°C. The only other prehistoric culture known to have achieved such high temperatures is that of Ancient Egypt. Much Olmec art is highly stylized and uses an iconography reflective of the religious meaning of the artworks. Some Olmec art, however, is surprisingly naturalistic, displaying an accuracy of depiction of human anatomy perhaps equaled in the pre-Columbian New World only by the best Maya Classic era art. Olmec art-forms emphasize monumental statuary and small jade carvings. A common theme is to be found in representations of a divine jaguar. Olmec figurines were also found abundantly through their period. Lithic age art in South America includes Monte Alegre culture rock paintings created at Caverna da Pedra Pintada dating back to 9250–8550 BCE. Guitarrero Cave in Peru has the earliest known textiles in South America, dating to 8000 BCE. Peru and the central Andes Lithic and preceramic periods Peru, including an area of the central Andes stretching from Ecuador to northern Chile, has a rich cultural history, with evidence of human habitation dating to roughly 10,000 BCE. Prior to the emergence of ceramics in this region around 1850 BCE, cave paintings and beads have been found. These finds include rock paintings that controversially date as far back as 9500 BCE in the Toquepala Caves. Burial sites in Peru like one at Telarmachay as old as 8600-7200 BCE contained evidence of ritual burial, with red ocher and bead necklaces. The earliest ceramics that appear in Peru may have been imported from the Validivia region; indigenous pottery production almost certainly arrived in the highlands around 1800 BCE at Kotosh, and on the coast at La Florida c. 1700 BCE. Older calabash gourd vessels with human faces burned into them were found at Huaca Prieta, a site dating to 2500-2000 BCE Huaca Prieta also contained some early patterned and dyed textiles made from twisted plant fibers. Initial Period and First Horizon The Initial Period in Central Andean cultures lasted roughly from 1800 BCE to 900 BCE. Textiles from this time found at Huaca Prieta are of astonishing complexity, including images such as crabs whose claws transform into snakes, and double-headed birds. Many of these images are similar to optical illusions, where which image dominates depends in part on which the viewer chooses to see. Other portable artwork from this time includes decorated mirrors, bone and shell jewelry, and unfired clay female effigies. Public architecture, including works estimated to require the movement of more than 100,000 tons of stone, are to be found at sites like Kotosh, El Paraíso, and La Galgada. Kotosh, a site in the Andean highlands, is especially noted as the site of the Temple of the Crossed Hands, in which there are two reliefs of crossed forearms, one pair male, one pair female. Also of note is one of South America's largest ceremonial sites, Sechín Alto. This site's crowning work is a twelve-story platform, with stones incised with military themes. The architecture and art of the highlands, in particular, laid down the groundwork for the rise of the Chavín culture. The Chavín culture dominated the central Andes during the First Horizon, beginning around 900 BCE, and is generally divided into two stages. The first, running until about 500 BCE, represented a significant cultural unification of the highland and coastal cultures of the time. Imagery in all manner of art (textiles, ceramics, jewelry, and architectural) included sometimes fantastic imagery such as jaguars, snakes, and human–animal composites, much of it seemingly inspired by the jungles to the east. The later stage of the Chavín culture is primarily represented by a significant architectural expansion of the Chavín de Huantar site around 500 BCE, accompanied by a set of stylistic changes. This expansion included, among other changes, over forty large stone heads, whose reconstructed positions represent a transformation from human to supernatural animal visages. Much of the other art at the complex from this time contains such supernatural imagery. The portable art associated with this time included sophisticated metalworking, including alloying of metals and soldering. Textiles found at sites like Karwa clearly depict Chavín cultural influences, and the Cupisnique style of pottery disseminated by the Chavín would set standards all across the region for later cultures. (The vessel pictured at the top of this article, while from the later Moche culture, is representative of the stirrup-spouted vessels of the Chavín.) Early Intermediate Period The Early Intermediate Period lasted from about 200 BCE to 600 CE. Late in the First Horizon, the Chavín culture began to decline, and other cultures, predominantly in the coastal areas, began to develop. The earliest of these was the Paracas culture, centered on the Paracas Peninsula of central Peru. Active from 600 BCE to 175 BCE, their early work clearly shows Chavín influence, but a locally distinctive style and technique developed. It was characterized by technical and time-consuming detail work, visually colorful, and a profusion visual elements. Distinctive technical differences include painting on clay after firing, and embroidery on textiles. One notable find is a mantle that was clearly used for training purposes; it shows obvious indications of experts doing some of the weaving, interspersed with less technically proficient trainee work. The Nazca culture of southern Peru, which is widely known for the enormous figures traced on the ground by the Nazca lines in southern Peru, shared some similarities with the Paracas culture, but techniques (and scale) differed. The Nazca painted their ceramics with slip, and also painted their textiles. Nazca ceramics featured a wide variety of subjects, from the mundane to the fantastic, including utilitarian vessels and effigy figures. The Nazca also excelled at goldsmithing, and made pan pipes from clay in a style not unlike the pipes heard in music of the Andes today. The famous Nazca lines are accompanied by temple-like constructions (showing no sign of permanent habitation) and open plazas that presumably had ritual purposes related to the lines. The lines themselves are laid out on a sort of natural blackboard, where a thin layer of dark stone covers lighter stone; the lines were thus created by simply removing the top layer where desired, after using surveying techniques to lay out the design. In the north of Peru, the Moche culture dominated during this time. Also known as Mochica or Early Chimú, this warlike culture dominated the area until about 500 CE, apparently using conquest to gain access to critical resources along the desert coast: arable land and water. Moche art is again notably distinctive, expressive and dynamic in a way that many other Andean cultures were not. Knowledge of the period has been notably expanded by finds like the pristine royal tombs at Sipán. The Moche very obviously absorbed some elements of the Chavín culture, but also absorbed ideas from smaller nearby cultures that they assimilated, such as the Recuay and the Vicús. They made fully sculpted ceramic animal figures, worked gold, and wove textiles. The art often featured everyday images, but seemingly always with a ritual intent. In its later years, the Moche came under the influence of the expanding Huari empire. The Cerro Blanco site of Huaca del Sol appears to have been the Moche capital. Largely destroyed by natural events around 600 CE, it was further damaged by Spanish conquistadors searching for gold, and continues with modern looters. The Middle Horizon lasted from 600 CE to 1000 CE, and was dominated by two cultures: the Huari and the Tiwanaku. The Tiwanaku (also spelled Tiahuanaco) culture arose near Lake Titicaca (on the modern border between Peru and Bolivia), while the Wari culture arose in the southern highlands of Peru. Both cultures appear to have been influenced by the Pukara culture, which was active during the Early Intermediate in between the primary centers of the Wari and Tiwanaku. These cultures both had wide-ranging influence, and shared some common features in their portable art, but their monumental arts were somewhat distinctive. The monumental art of the Tiwanaku demonstrated technical prowess in stonework, including fine detailed reliefs, and monoliths such as the Ponce monolith (photo to the left), and the Sun Gate, both in the main Tiwanaku site. The portable art featured "portrait vessels", with figured heads on ceramic vessels, as well as natural imagery like jaguars and raptors. A full range of materials, from ceramics to textiles to wood, bone, and shell, were used in creative endeavours. Textiles with a weave of 300 threads per inch (80 threads per cm) have been found at Tiwanaku sites. The Wari, dominated an area from central Peru to Ecuador, with their main center near Ayacucho, Peru. Their art is distinguished from the Tiwanaku style by the use of bolder colors and patterns. Notable among Wari finds are tapestry garments, presumed to be made for priests or rulers to wear, often bearing abstract geometric designs of significant complexity, but also bearing images of animals and figures. Wari ceramics, also of high technical quality, are similar in many ways to those of the preceding cultures, where local influences from fallen cultures, like the Moche, are still somewhat evident. Metalwork, while rarely found due to its desirability by looters, shows elegant simplicity and, once more, a high level of workmanship. Late Intermediate Period Following the decline of the Wari and Tiwanaku, the northern and central coastal areas were somewhat dominated by the Chimú culture, which included notable subcultures like the Lambayeque (or Sicán) and Chancay cultures. To the south, coastal cultures dominated in the Ica region, and there was a significant cultural crossroads at Pachacamac, near Lima. These cultures would dominate from about 1000 CE until the 1460s and 1470s, as the Inca Empire began to take shape and eventually absorbed the geographically smaller nearby cultures. Chimú and Sicán Cultures The Chimú culture in particular was responsible for an extremely large number of artworks. Its capital city, Chan Chan, appears to have contained building that appeared to function as museums—they seem to have been used for displaying and preserving artwork. Much of the artwork from Chan Chan in particular has been looted, some by the Spanish after the Spanish conquest. The art from this time at times displays amazing complexity, with "multimedia" works that require artists working together in a diversity of media, including materials believed to have come from as far away as Central America. Items of increasing splendor or value were produced, apparently as the society became increasing stratified. At the same, the quality of some of the work declined, as demand for pieces pushed production rates up and values down. The Sicán culture flourished from 700 CE to about 1400 CE, although it came under political domination of the Chimú around 1100 CE, at which time many of its artists may have moved to Chan Chan. There was significant copperworking by the Sicán, including what seems to be a sort of currency based on copper objects that look like axes. Artwork includes burial masks, beakers and metal vessels that previous cultures traditionally made of clay. The metalwork of the Sicán was particularly sophisticated, with innovations including repoussé and shell inlay. Sheet metal was also often used to cover other works. Prominent in Sicán iconography is the Sicán deity, which appears on all manner of work, from the portable to the monumental. Other imagery includes geometric and wave patterns, as well as scenes of fishing and shell diving. Chancay culture Chancay culture, before it was subsumed by the Chimú, did not feature notable monumental art. Ceramics and textiles were made, but the quality and skill level was uneven. Ceramics are generally black on white, and often suffer from flaws like poor firing, and drips of the slip used for color; however, fine examples exist. Textiles are overall of a higher quality, including the use of painted weaves and tapestry techniques, and were produced in large quantities. The color palette of the Chancay was not overly bold: golds, browns, white, and scarlet predominate. Pachacamac Pachacamac is a temple site south of Lima, Peru that was an important pilgrimage center into Spanish colonial times. The site boasts temple constructions from several periods, culminating in Inca constructions that are still in relatively good condition. The temples were painted with murals depicting plants and animals. The main temple contained a carved wooden sculpture akin to a totem pole. Ica culture The Ica region, which had been dominated by the Nazca, was fragmented into several smaller political and culture groups. The pottery produced in this region was of the highest quality at the time, and its aesthetics would be adopted by the Inca when they conquered the area. Late Horizon and Inca culture This time period represents the era in which the culture of the central Andes is almost completely dominated by the Inca Empire, which began its expansion in 1438. It lasted until the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in 1533. The Inca absorbed much technical skill from the cultures they conquered, and disseminated it, along with standard shapes and patterns, throughout their area of influence, which extended from Quito, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile. Inca stonework is notably proficient; giant stones are set so tightly without mortar that a knife blade will not fit in the gap. Many of the Inca's monumental structures deliberately echoed the natural environment around them; this is particularly evident in some of the structures at Machu Picchu. The Inca laid the city of Cusco in the shape of a puma, with the head of the puma at Sacsayhuaman, a shape that is still discernible in aerial photographs of the city today. The iconography of Inca art, while clearly drawing from its many predecessors, is still recognizably Inca. Bronzework owes a clear debt to the Chimú, as do a number of cultural traditions: the finest goods were reserved to the rulers, who wore the finest textiles, and ate and drank from gold and silver vessels. As a result, Inca metalwork was relatively rare, and an obvious source of plunder for the conquering Spanish. Textiles were widely prized within the empire, in part as they were somewhat more portable in the far-flung empire. Ceramics were made in large quantities, and, as with other media, in standardized shapes and patterns. One common shape is the urpu, a distinctive urn shape that came in a wide variety of standard capacities, much as modern storage containers do. In spite of this standardization, many local areas retained some distinctive aspects of their culture in the works they produced; ceramics produced in areas under significant Chimú control prior to the Inca rule still retain characteristics indicative of that style. Following the Spanish conquest, the art of the central Andes was significantly affected by the conflict and diseases brought by the Spanish. Early colonial period art, began to show influences of both Christianity and Inca religious and artistic ideas, and eventually also began to encompass new techniques brought by the conquerors, including oil painting on canvas. Early ceramics in northern South America The earliest evidence of decorated pottery in South America is to be found in two places. A variety of sites in the Santarém region of Brazil contain ceramic sherds dating to a period between 5000 and 3000 BCE. Sites in Colombia, at Monsú and San Jacinto contained pottery finds in different styles, and date as far back as 3500 BCE. This is an area of active research and subject to change. The ceramics were decorated with curvilinear incisions. Another ancient site at Puerto Hormiga in the Bolívar Department of Colombia dating to 3100 BCE contained pottery fragments that included figured animals in a style related to later Barrancoid cultural finds in Colombia and Venezuela. Valdivia, Ecuador also has a site dated to roughly 3100 BCE containing decorated fragments, as well as figurines, many represent nude females. The Valdivian style stretched as far south as northern Peru, and may, according to Lavallée, yet yield older artifacts. By 2000 BCE, pottery was evident in eastern Venezuela. The La Gruta style, often painted in red or white, included incised animal figures in the ceramic, as well as ceramic vessels shaped as animal effigies. The Rancho Peludo style of western Venezuela featured relatively simple textile-type decorations and incisions. Finds in the central Andes dating to 1800 BCE and later appear to be derived from the Valdivian tradition of Ecuador. Early art in eastern South America Relatively little is known about the early settlement of much of South America east of the Andes. This is due to the lack of stone (generally required for leaving durable artifacts), and a jungle environment that rapidly recycles organic materials. Beyond the Andean regions, where the inhabitants were more clearly related to the early cultures of Peru, early finds are generally limited to coastal areas and those areas where there are stone outcrops. While there is evidence of human habitation in northern Brazil as early as 8000 BCE, and rock art of unknown (or at best uncertain) age, ceramics appear to be the earliest artistic artifacts. The Mina civilization of Brazil (3000–1600 BCE) had simple round vessels with a red wash, that were stylistic predecessors to later Bahia and Guyanan cultures. Argentina, Chile, and Patagonia The southern reaches of South America show evidence of human habitation as far back as 10,000 BCE. A site at Arroio do Fosseis on the pampa in southern Brazil has shown reliable evidence to that time, and the Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of the continent has been occupied since 7000 BCE. Artistic finds are scarce; in some parts of Patagonia ceramics were never made, only being introduced by contact with Europeans. Native arts of Oceania From earliest times, the natives of Australia, often known as Aborigines, have been creating distinctive patterns of art. Much of Aboriginal art is transitory, drawn in sand or on the human body to illustrate a place, an animal totem, or a tribal story. Early surviving artworks of the Aborigines are mostly rock paintings. Many are called X-ray paintings because they show the bones and organs of the animals they depict. Some Aboriginal art seems abstract to modern viewers; Aboriginal art often employs geometrical figures and lines to represent landscape, which is often shown from a birds-eye view. For instance, in Aboriginal symbolism, a swirl stands for a watering hole. The natives of Polynesia have a distinct artistic heritage. While many of their artifacts were made with organic materials and thus lost to history, some of their most striking achievements survive in clay and stone. Among these are numerous pottery fragments from western Oceania, from the late 2nd millennium BCE. Also, the natives of Polynesia left scattered around their islands Petroglyphs, stone platforms or Marae, and sculptures of ancestor figures, the most famous of which are the Moai of Easter Island. Human arts might have origins in early human evolutionary prehistory. According to a recent suggestion, several forms of audio and visual arts (rhythmic singing and drumming on external objects, dancing, body and face painting) were developed very early in hominid evolution by the forces of natural selection in order to reach an altered state of consciousness. In this state, which Joseph Jordania calls battle trance, hominids and early human were losing their individuality, and were acquiring a new collective identity, where they were not feeling fear or pain, and were religiously dedicated to the group interests, in disregard of their individual safety and life. This state was needed to defend early hominids from predators, and also to help to obtain food by aggressive scavenging. Ritualistic actions involving heavy rhythmic music, rhythmic drill, coupled sometimes with dance and body painting had been universally used in traditional cultures before the hunting or military sessions in order to put them in a specific altered state of consciousness and raise the morale of participants - "The term "prehistoric" ceases to be valid some thousands of years B.C. in the near east but remains a warranted description down to about 500 A.D. in Ireland", Review by "A. T. L." of Prehistoric Art by T. G. E. Powell, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 97, No. 1 (1967), p. 95, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, JSTOR - New York Times - The Metropolitan Museum of New York City Introduction to Prehistoric Art Retrieved 2012-5-12 - Chase, pp. 145-146 - Portal, p. 25 - Portal, p. 26 - Bradshaws Foundation, PhyOrg News, 2011, UOW - Coulson, pp. 150–155 - It is on display the museum in Yekaterinburg - Portal, p. 27 - Portal, p. 29 - Portal, p. 33 - Portal, pp. 34–35 - Portal, p. 38 - Portal, p. 39 - Portal, p. 40 - Portal, p. 41 - Sandars, 75-98 - Coulson, p. 86 - Coulson, pp. 80–82 - Unesco World Heritage designation. - Neville Chittick, An Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Horn: The British-Somali Expedition, (1975), pp.117-133. - Coulson, p. 147 - Coulson, pp. 156–160 - Coulson, pp. 160–162,205 - "Ice Age Art from Florida." Past Horizons. 23 June 2011 (retrieved 23 June 2011) - Bement, Leland C. Bison hunting at Cooper site: where lightning bolts drew thundering herds. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999: 37, 43, 176. ISBN 978-0-8061-3053-8. - Friedman, Florence Dunn (September 1998). "Ancient Egyptian faience". Retrieved 2008-12-22.[dead link] - Wilford, John Noble. Scientist at Work: Anna C. Roosevelt; Sharp and To the Point In Amazonia. New York Times. 23 April 1996 - "Dating a Paleoindian Site in the Amazon in Comparison with Clovis Culture." Science. March 1997: Vol. 275, no. 5308, pp. 194801952. 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Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution,pg 98-102 - William McNeil, 1995. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press - Jonathan Pieslak. 2009. Sound Targets: American Soldiers and Music in the Iraq War. Indiana University Press - Arbib, Michael A (2006). Action to language via the mirror neuron system: The Mirror Neuron System. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84755-1. - Bailey, Douglass (2005). Prehistoric Figurines: Representation and Corporeality in the Neolithic. Routledge Publishers. ISBN 0-415-33152-8. - Bruhns, Karen O (1994). Ancient South America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-27761-7. - Chase, Philip G (2005). The Emergence of Culture: The Evolution of a Uniquely Human Way of Life. Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-0-387-30512-7. - Coulson, David; Campbell, Alec (2001). African Rock Art. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-4363-8. - Lavallée, Danièle; Bahn, Paul G [translator] (1995). The First South Americans. University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-665-8. - Portal, Jane (2000). Korea: Art and Archaeology. Thames & Hudson. - Sandars, Nancy K., Prehistoric Art in Europe, Penguin (Pelican, now Yale, History of Art), 1968 (nb 1st edn.) - Stone-Miller, Rebecca (1995). Art of the Andes. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-20286-9. - Thackeray, Anne I., et al.; Thackeray, JF; Beaumont, PB; Vogel, JC (1981-10-02). "Dated Rock Engravings from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa". Science 214 (4516): 64–67. doi:10.1126/science.214.4516.64. PMID 17802575. - "Unesco World Heritage announcement on Twyfelfontein". Retrieved 2008-11-13. - RockArtScandinavia Tanums Hällristningsmuseum Underslös. Rock art research centre. - EuroPreArt database of European Prehistoric Art - Lepenski Vir - Göbekli Tepe, in German - Nevali Cori - Prehistoric Art Expressions from India |Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prehistoric art|

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ESL Grammar Worksheets Past Continuous Tense Past Continuous (1) We use the Past Continuous Tense to talk about something that was happening at a specific time in the past. To use the Past Continuous Tense, you need a [Past Tense Be Verb] + [Verb+ing]: Write [Past Tense Be Verb] + [Verb+ing] to complete the following sentences: 1. I _______ ____________ during the baseball game. 2. The two girls _______ ______________ during the math test, so the teacher was angry at them. 3. Mary _______ ______________ during math class. 4. James and Mark _______ ______________ during lunchtime. 5. Those two boys _______ ______________ during the whole movie! 6. Everyone was ______________ during the party. 7. My sisters _______ ______________ during summer vacation. 8. Nathan _______ ______________ during the music concert. 9. Christina and Lilian _______ ____________ during the football game. Back to ESL Grammar Exercises Stickyball Home: ESL Worksheets

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We draw a triangle and the center of the circle passing through the three vertices of the triangle (the triangle's circumcenter). Profiting from Cabri-Geometric features, we drag the vertices, observing that in some instances the center of the circle lies on a triangle's side. Measuring, in such cases, the opposite angle, we conclude that it is a right angle. The converse statement (on a right triangle the cicumcenter always lies on the hypothenuse) can be likewise verified. We will show, on this simple case, how a computer algebra system is able to automatically "discover" the same result. First of all we must establish a (wrong) conjecture, just involving the given construction, such as: on every triangle the circumcenter lies on one side. Therefore we take as hypotheses the given construction (the given vertices, the center of the circle). As thesis, we state that such center lies on a side. The system will determine that the thesis is generally false; and that it is true if and only if we have a right triangle.(Continues in Next Page) Back to ICME8-RECIO home page Next Page (Steps 1 and 2)

http://mathforum.org/mathed/seville/recio/situation1.html

The concept of 'human rights' in the modern sense was unknown in early medieval England. All men and women were subject to the will of Almighty God and, under Him, to his earthly agents, principally the king and the higher clergy, and could only practice what they wished with the consent or at least the tacit acceptance of the authorities. Developments which ultimately led to modern notions of the rights of lesser individuals began in 1215 with the issue by King John of Magna Carta, the "Great Charter", which granted to barons and free men in England certain specific rights, most notably freedom from imprisonment without trial. The Charter was established as a permanent part of the political and legal landscape by its confirmation in its final form in 1225. Magna Carta was generally accepted only because of fortunate political circumstances during the decade between 1215 and 1225, a period of royal minority. The Charter was confirmed many more times during the 13th century; the most significant occasion was in 1297, when as well as new copies being issued the text was entered on the statute roll, giving it the status of a parliamentary statute. Three of the Charter's chapters remain valid in English law, including one (1225, chapter 29) that guaranteed to each of the king's subjects that they would not suffer imprisonment "except by the judgment of his peers or by the law of the land". This phrase - not dissimilar to modern ideas of human rights - was for the first time equated with "due process of law" in a statute of 1354. In that statute the phrase "no free man" was replaced by "no man of whatever estate or condition he may be". This hugely broadened the number of people who could consider themselves covered by it. During the same period a philosophical belief in natural rights, such as freedom and the safe possession of belongings, began to appear in the writings of philosophers like William of Ockham. However most "ordinary people" remained untouched by such writings, as they were unable to read. The age of Magna Carta also witnessed the creation of Parliament. With the gradual involvement of representatives of local communities, it eventually developed into the focal point of representative democracy which it is today. The first recorded Parliament began in January 1237. Representatives of local communities were first included in 1254, and the first surviving summons, to the county of Kent, dates from 1275. The concept of the "community of the realm" represented something which might have been termed "commonwealth" in a later period. It became established even among the lower orders of society. It was quoted in 1265 by some of the inhabitants of the village of Peatling Magna in Leicestershire, when they made what could be interpreted as a political statement: they took action against the servants of a man whom they considered to be an enemy of the community of the realm. Those responsible spent several months in prison. During the 13th and 14th centuries those who were not represented in Parliament sometimes took actions on their own behalf. In many cases this brought them into conflict with the local and national authorities. Often they were crown tenants, living on manors anciently part of the royal demesne and claiming a privileged legal status. Communal actions also took place on the estates of private landlords, especially monastic houses. In 1280 the tenants of the abbot of Burton on Trent at Mickleover in Derbyshire proceeded against their lord by resorting to the common law, suing out royal judicial writs to distrain him. Their efforts failed in the end and they had to submit. An early example of an agricultural "trade union" was a group of 80 landless farm labourers at Barton upon Humber in north Lincolnshire. In 1302 the group attempted to impose a local minimum wage and certain restrictive practices. This was suppressed by the king's bailiff, on the orders of the king's council, although one of the participants complained to the court of King's Bench about his arrest. Prisoners in Nottingham gaol awaiting trial, petitioned the king and council in c.1318. They claimed to be starving, and asked for the appointment of justices to try them promptly and, they hoped, release them. The Black Death of 1349 and subsequent outbreaks of plague, such as that of 1361, drastically reduced the supply of tenant farmers and agricultural labour. This helped to improve the economic position of manorial tenants and labourers in the countryside. The landlord classes reacted immediately though the Statute of Labourers, passed by Parliament in 1351, which tried to freeze wages at the pre-plague level. Unrest in the countryside led 30 years later to the Peasants' Revolt, during which rebels from Essex and Kent, inspired by the radical speeches of preachers like John Ball, took and held control of London itself for a time. The revolt was suppressed, but not before its effects had spread to many parts of England. Ball was hanged at St Albans a month later. Commissions were set up to deal with the aftermath of the Peasants' Revolt. Immediately after the hanging of Ball, John Shirle, from Nottingham, was arrested and tried in Cambridge after he had defended Ball and his views and spoken against the ruling classes in a local public house. The 15th century was dominated by dynastic struggles for the throne of England following Henry Bolingbroke's usurping of Richard II in 1399. There was little political advancement, which benefited the "common man", although favourable economic conditions, due to a shortage of tenants and labourers, may have led to an improvement in living standards. Their status improved too: the parliamentary franchise in county elections extended to include freeholders holding land whose annual value amounted to 40s. This provision lasted until the great reform act of 1832.

http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/humanrights/1215-1500/default.htm

There are a lot of great resources for educators on asteroids and small solar system bodies on the Dawn site. The Impact Cratering Lab exercises introduce a geologic process that has had major consequences for the geology of all solid bodies in the solar system and for the biology of Earth. read more » The guide is designed to be used as single activities or combined to form mini-units. read more » Pushing the Envelope: A NASA Guide to Engines: A Guide for Educators and Students with Chemistry, Physics, and Math ActivitiesPosted July 20th, 2010 by admin The Educator's Guide for grades 9-12 aids in teaching math, physics, and chemistry concepts from the viewpoint of propulsion and aeronautics. It is aligned with national standards. read more » Updated Rockets Educator Guide (2008). History of rockets, how rockets work, applying Newton's Laws. read more » - Comet on a Stick activity - Grade level 3-5 - Children's Activities - What is a Comet? - Comet Sisters Story & Activity Extension - Extreme Navigation - Grade level 5-8 read more » The hands-on activities in this Educator Guide lay the conceptual groundwork for understanding questions fundamental to the field of astrobiology. read more » This NASA educator guide for grades 5-12 focuses on the technology behind spacesuits. read more » Units of lesson plans: Our Star the Sun School-to-School - connect with other classrooms using this moderated and sage web-based communication tool for young students read more » COSMIC TIMES: POSTERS, LESSONS AND TEACHER GUIDES FOR GRADES 7-12 read more »

http://www.astro.cornell.edu/outreach/taxonomy/term/34

Flow Chart of the Mill Click here to journey through the Mill's machinery using an interactive flow chart. Ball mills used for grinding ore. c. 1936. BCMM# 12915 Although the Mill was huge and filled with hundreds of large, noisy machines, the job the Mill performed was rather simple. The top six levels were used to crush and grind large pieces of mined rock into a powder. The froth flotation process took place on the seventh level. In this process, ground up rock was mixed with water and special chemicals. Air bubbles were pumped through the mixture, and the chalcopyrite ore, which contains the precious copper minerals, stuck to the bubbles and rose to the surface where it was skimmed off. On the bottom level of the Mill, the concentrate, as the ore was now called, was dewatered in large thickening tanks. These thickening tanks turned slowly, causing the heavy ore to sink to the bottom and water to rise to the top. The concentrate was then sent to smelters all around the world. There the minerals were heated to high temperatures, purified into copper and sold. Modern mills use a very similar process, although today, chemicals and machines are more efficient. Minerals are crushed, separated, dried, then heated to high temperatures, or smelted, to purify them into finished consumable metals such as copper. The simplicity of this process allowed the Mill at Britannia to operate with many of the same machines for 50 years. Click here to view a printable PDF version of the Mill Flow Chart.

http://theconcentrator.ca/english/flowchart.asp

In One Big Party?, students learn about the many roles of political parties. After taking a broad picture look at the different hats parties wear, students take a quick look at the impact of political party systems. On day two, guide students through the impact of the two major political parties in the United States. From examining the political spectrum to analyzing their own stances on several current issues, students will walk away understanding the complexity of the two-party system. Students will be able to: ANTICIPATE the lesson by asking your class to name the two major political parties in the United States. Then ask whether they can name any other political parties. Assuming they have trouble with this, ask why they think it is so hard to name other parties. DISTRIBUTE reading pages 1-2 to the class and read through both pages with the class, pausing to review new vocabulary and reinforce new concepts. DISTRIBUTE review pages 1-2 to the class. PROJECT the “Strengths & Weaknesses” transparency, working through completing the chart. EXPLAIN the “Party Systems Strengths and Weaknesses” activity. Tell students that you will project nine statements. The students must decide as a class if the statement is a strength or weakness of a party system. They must then decide if it applies to one-, two-, or multi-party systems. Students should then write the italicized phrase in the appropriate place on the “Party Systems” chart on their review worksheets. ASSIGN the rest of the review pages after reviewing the instructions for the rest of the activities. Allow students to complete these as a class, in small groups, or individually. REVIEW student work aloud as a check for understanding. PROJECT the “Political Spectrum” transparency. Use the Political Spectrum Activity Guide to introduce the concept to students. DISTRIBUTE the political parties packet. Read the first page as a class, pausing to review new vocabulary and reinforce new concepts. ASSIGN activity pages 1-2, allowing students to complete these as a class, in small groups, or individually. CLOSE the class by reminding students that political leanings and affiliations are very personal decisions and the views of political parties are broad and vary over time.

http://www.icivics.org/teachers/lesson-plans/one-big-party

What are Guided Notes? Guided Notes are teacher-prepared hand-outs that outline or map lectures, but leave "blank" space for key concepts, facts, definitions, etc. As the lecture progresses, you then fills in the spaces with content. Guided notes help you follow a lecture, identify its important points, and develop a foundation of content to study and to apply. If you have difficulty taking notes, ask your teacher if he or she can prepare guided notes to help you improve your note taking. Here are several strategies in completing and using Guided Notes: Cues: Can your teacher add visual cues (highlighting, bullets, "fingers", circles, numbered sequences, images, etc.) that identify the type or quantity of information to complete? For example: main and secondary ideas, examples, sequences Visuals: Can visual information (charts, graphs, pictures, illustrations, concept maps, etc.) be included for completion References: Can these be included for comparison and study? Before the lecture: Questions/discussion Is there opportunity to discuss the guided notes, either during or after the lecture? Model/checklist: Is there a model or checklist to follow? (How much do I write? Have I completed all the blanks? Where can I find missing items?) Versions: Are there simpler or progressively more complex versions of the guided notes? Can I begin with the simpler (less writing) and work up to more difficult versions that require After the lecture: Class review: Ask if the class can review the guided notes for comparison and/or feedback? Media type, format, presentation: Ask if completed guided notes can be displayed via computer or overhead transparency for demonstration, discussion, or developing examples After the class period: Teacher review: Review your guided notes with the teacher to see how you did Models: Ask your teacher for a completed copy and compare your notes with the model Peer review: Exchange your notes with a friend to compare and identify important content Examples: Develop examples from your notes to see if Tests/exams: Ask if questions will be drawn from completed guided notes information? Student-developed guided notes Can these be used for an evaluation? as a class project? Website overview: Since 1996 the Study Guides and Strategies Website has been researched, authored, maintained and supported by Joe Landsberger as an international, learner-centric, educational public service. Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt, and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners. Please be aware that the Guides welcome, and are under, continuous review and revision. For that reason, digitization and reproduction of all content on the Internet can only be with permission through a licensed agreement. Linking to the Guides is encouraged! The Study Guides and Strategies Website is intended for students, ages middle school through returning adult, as well as their parents, teachers and support professionals. Its resources are intended to empower all learners without regard to institutional and national boundaries; cultural mores and religious beliefs; race, gender and sexual orientation. Full disclaimer on use

http://www.studygs.net/guidednotes.htm

Scale insects are strange. Adult females resemble imature stages: they are soft-bodied and lack wings, compound eyes and obvious segmentation. The last three developmental stages (pre-pupa, pupa, adult) in male scale insects do not feed. Adult males usually live for less than a day; they are listeless and slow. They may be dipterous or wingless, have compound eyes, or a variable number of simple eyes aranged in a line around the head, or dorsal and ventral pairs. Many scale insect species have done away with males completely, reproducing asexually. Scales have the greatest diversity of sperm structure and sex determining chromosome systems of any known group of organisms. One group has a placenta-like structure in the female that is used to feed first-instar males. Another is hermaphroditic - the only known example among insects. Most scale insects produce a waxy secretion that either coats the body or protects it beneath a domicilelike structure (called a scale cover). Secretions vary from a thin translucent sheet to a thick, wet mass, to a powdery bloom. Scale insects are serious plant pests and because they are small and cryptic, they frequently are not detected until they have caused significant damage. They are difficult to detect in quarantine inspections, especially at low levels. They are most important as agricultural pest of perennial plants and can cause serious damage to nut and fruit trees, woody ornamentals, forest vegetation, greenhouse plants, and house plants. Damage is usually caused by removal of plant sap, but also may be caused by plant pathogens, toxins and the production of large quantities of honeydew with resultant growth of sooty mold fungi that cover leaf surfaces and reduce photosynthesis. Scales also can be beneficial. They have been used as sources of dyes (cochineal scales, gall-like scales, giant scale, and lac scale), of shellac and lacquerlike substances (lac scales and giant scales), of candle wax (soft scales), of the manna of the Israelites (mealybugs), of pearls for necklaces (ground pearls or giant scales), and even chewing gum (ornate pit scale). Cochineal scales and mealybugs have been used in the control of noxious weeds. Distribution and Ecology Scale insects occur in nearly all available botanical habitats from the tundra to the tropics. They are found on nearly all parts of the host including the leaves, branches, trunks, fruits, and roots. They sometimes occur under bark and may cause various kinds of plant deformities including chlorotic spots, pits, and galls.

http://scalenet.info/background/

Anatomy and Function of the Heart Valves What are heart valves?The heart consists of four chambers, two atria (upper chambers) and two ventricles (lower chambers). Blood passes through a valve before leaving each chamber of the heart. The valves prevent the backward flow of blood. Valves are actually flaps (leaflets) that act as one-way inlets for blood coming into a ventricle and one-way outlets for blood leaving a ventricle. Normal valves have three flaps (leaflets), except the mitral valve, which only has two flaps. The four heart valves include the following: - tricuspid valve - located between the right atrium and the right ventricle. - pulmonary valve - located between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. - mitral valve - located between the left atrium and the left ventricle. - aortic valve - located between the left ventricle and the aorta. How do the heart valves function?As the heart muscle contracts and relaxes, the valves open and shut, letting blood flow into the ventricles and atria at alternate times. The following is a step-by-step description of how the valves function normally in the left ventricle: - When the left ventricle relaxes, the aortic valve closes and the mitral valve opens, to allow blood to flow from the left atrium into the left ventricle. - The left atrium contracts, allowing even more blood to flow into the left ventricle. - When the left ventricle contracts, the mitral valve closes and the aortic valve opens, so blood flows into the aorta. What is heart valve disease?Heart valves can have one of two malfunctions: - regurgitation (or leakage of the valve) The valve(s) does not close completely, causing the blood to flow backward through the valve. This results in leakage of blood back into the atria from the ventricles (in the case of the mitral and tricuspid valves) or leakage of blood back into the ventricles (in the case of the aortic and pulmonary valves). - stenosis (or narrowing of the valves) The valve(s) opening becomes narrowed or valves become damaged or scarred (stiff), inhibiting the flow of blood out of the ventricle or atria. The heart is forced to pump blood with increased force in order to move blood through the narrowed or stiff (stenotic) valve(s). The information on this Web page is provided for educational purposes. You understand and agree that this information is not intended to be, and should not be used as, a substitute for medical treatment by a health care professional. You agree that Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital is not making a diagnosis of your condition or a recommendation about the course of treatment for your particular circumstances through the use of this Web page. You agree to be solely responsible for your use of this Web page and the information contained on this page. Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and information providers shall not be liable for any damages you may suffer or cause through your use of this page even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/cardiac/afhv.html

Discovering Your Child's Preferred Learning Style What are Learning Styles? Every child is born ready to learn. Yet children (and adults) generally have a preferred style in which they learn best. A child might learn through a combination of styles, but usually there is one learning style he or she favors over the others. - You may be able to spell by visualizing a word, but your child may not be able to memorize his or her spelling words unless he or she writes them down first. - Your child's incessant pencil tapping may actually help her or him stay on task. There is no right or wrong learning style. Your primary learning style may be different from your child's. To work effectively with your child, you need to understand both your own learning style and your child's. When you identify how your child learns best, you can help your child have more positive learning experiences. The Most Common Learning Styles The three most common learning styles are: - Physical (Kinesthetic) Visual Learners learn by watching. They use images to remember, creating a picture in their heads. To learn spelling, for example, they may picture the way a word looks. Visual learners may also: - Enjoy art and drawing - Read maps, charts and diagrams well - Like mazes and puzzles Teaching methods for visual learners include: - Making flash cards for key information - Drawing symbols or pictures - Visually highlighting key words and pictures - Making charts to organize information - Translating words and ideas into symbols, pictures and diagrams - Using to-do lists, assignment logs and written notes (also benefits physical learners) Auditory learners benefit from traditional teaching techniques. They learn well when directions are read aloud or information is presented and requested verbally. They remember facts when presented in a poem, song or melody. Auditory learners also like: - To tell stories and jokes - To play word games - To use tape recorders Teaching methods for auditory learners include: - Reading out loud together - Encouraging them to read out loud when they study, so they can "hear" the instruction - Studying with a partner, so they can talk out the solutions to problems - Writing out a sequence of steps to solve a problem, then reading the steps out loud Physical learners learn best through movement and physical manipulation. They like to find out how things work and want to touch, feel and experience what they are being asked to learn. Most kindergarteners are physical learners, but by second or third grade their learning styles may change to visual or auditory. However, half of all students in high school and beyond remain physical learners. Physical learners may also: - Need to manipulate, handle and try things out - Have a short attention span - Need to be moving to learn - Show you things rather than telling you about them Teaching methods for physical learners include: - Letting them participate in science or math laboratories - Creating and participating in dramatic productions - Going on field trips - Creating and performing skits and dances - Encouraging them to take notes and draw diagrams - Having them make models. Reprinted with the permission of the U.S. Department of Education. Add your own comment Today on Education.com WORKBOOKSMay Workbooks are Here! WE'VE GOT A GREAT ROUND-UP OF ACTIVITIES PERFECT FOR LONG WEEKENDS, STAYCATIONS, VACATIONS ... OR JUST SOME GOOD OLD-FASHIONED FUN!Get Outside! 10 Playful Activities - Kindergarten Sight Words List - The Five Warning Signs of Asperger's Syndrome - What Makes a School Effective? - Child Development Theories - Why is Play Important? Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Creative Development - 10 Fun Activities for Children with Autism - Test Problems: Seven Reasons Why Standardized Tests Are Not Working - Bullying in Schools - A Teacher's Guide to Differentiating Instruction - Steps in the IEP Process

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Discovering_Your/

People need more than six hours of sleep a night in order for their vaccinations to work effectively. Lack of sleep won’t just saddle you with unsightly bags and dark circles under your eyes: It also can make you more susceptible to disease. New research from a team of California and Pennsylvania scientists has found a direct link between sleep and the effectiveness of vaccines. Healthy adults who get less than six hours of sleep a night don’t get protection from vaccines, the researchers found. “I hope this becomes a wake-up call, not just for public health advocates and doctors, but for everyone,” said Aric Prather, an psychoneuroimmunologist at UC San Francisco and author of the study. “We need to stress sleep as an element of maintaining good health.” The study appeared this week in the journal Sleep. It is fairly well established that sleep affords many benefits and that a lack of sleep can make people susceptible to all sorts of maladies, including respiratory illness. And scientists previously have looked into the role that sleep plays in terms of boosting the effectiveness of vaccines – it does. However, those studies were done in controlled laboratory settings with college-age students, who generally are considered to have superior immune systems. Prather wondered whether these studies could be applied to the real world – to middle-aged men and women living their lives normally, sleeping in their own beds, determining their own schedules. So he and his colleagues gathered a group of 125 men and women between the ages of 40 and 60 and followed them over a six-month period. They screened out anyone who had an overlying medical condition or was on medication that could interfere with the subject’s sleep or reaction to a vaccine. The researchers then gave each participant a three-dose hepatitis B vaccine, which consists of an initial dose, a booster one month later and a final boost at six months. They instructed the participants to keep sleep and stress diaries, and 88 of the subjects wore electronic sleep monitors at bedtime. The team found that those who slept an average of less than six hours a night were far less likely to mount antibody responses to the vaccine. Therefore, they were more likely – 11.5 times more likely – to be unprotected by the vaccines than those who slept more than seven hours a night. Stress, as an independent factor, didn’t have an effect, Prather said. In the end, 18 of the 125 participants didn’t receive adequate protection from the vaccine. “I expected to see a relationship between sleep and antibody production,” Prather said. “But I was surprised at just how dramatic it was, that some people were left unprotected.” "With the emergence of our 24-hour lifestyle, longer working hours and the rise in the use of technology, chronic sleep deprivation has become a way of life for many Americans," Prather said. "These findings should help raise awareness in the public health community about the clear connection between sleep and health." View this story on California Watch This story was produced by California Watch, a part of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting. Learn more at www.californiawatch.org.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Sleep_linked_to_vaccine_effectiveness__study_says-164877966.html

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament (MPs) serve for terms of approximately three years. The House is presided over by the Speaker. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (Imp.) of 1900 established the House of Representatives as part of the new system of dominion government in newly federated Australia. The 150 members of the House are elected from single member electorates (geographic districts, commonly referred to as "seats" but officially known as "Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives"). One vote one value legislation requires all electorates to have the same number of voters with a maximum 10 per cent variation. However the baseline quota for the amount of voters in an electorate is determined by the amount of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Subsequently, the electorates of the smallest states and territories have more variation in the amount of voters in their electorates, with the smallest holding around 60,000 voters and the largest holding around 120,000 voters. Meanwhile the largest states have electorates with more equal voter numbers, with most electorates holding 85,000 to 100,000 voters. Voting is by the 'preferential system', also known as instant-runoff voting. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal. This allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote. The number of electorates in each state and territory is determined by population. The parliamentary entitlement of a state or territory is established by the Electoral Commissioner dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. The population of each state and territory is then divided by this quota to determine the number of members to which each state and territory is entitled. Under the Australian Constitution all original states are guaranteed at least five members. The Federal Parliament itself has decided that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory should have at least one member each. According to the Constitution, the powers of both houses are nearly equal, with the consent of both houses needed to pass legislation. The difference mostly relates to taxation legislation. In practice, by convention, the leader of the party (or coalition of parties) with a majority of members in the lower house is invited by the Governor-General to form the Government. Thus the leader becomes the Prime Minister and some of the other elected members of the government party in both the House and the Senate become ministers responsible for various portfolios and administer government departments. Bills appropriating money (supply bills) can only be introduced in the lower house and thus only the party with a majority in the lower house can govern. In the current Australian party system, this ensures that virtually all contentious votes are along party lines, and the Government always has a majority in those votes. The Opposition party's main role in the House is to present arguments against the Government's policies and legislation, and attempt to hold the Government accountable as much as possible by asking questions of importance during Question Time and during debates on legislation. By contrast, the only period in recent times during which the government of the day has had a majority in the Senate was from July 2005 (following the 2004 election) to July 2008 (following the 2007 election). Hence, votes in the Senate are usually more meaningful. The House's well-established committee system is not always as prominent as the Senate committee system because of the frequent lack of Senate majority. In a reflection of the United Kingdom House of Commons, the predominant colour of the furnishings in the House of Representatives is green. However, the colour was tinted slightly in the new Parliament House (opened 1988) to suggest the colour of eucalyptus trees. The 2010 election resulted in the first hung parliament since the 1940 election. Four of six crossbenchers have given confidence and supply to the incumbent Labor Party headed by Julia Gillard to continue as a minority government. |Australian Labor Party||4,711,363||37.99||−5.40||72||−11| |Liberal Party of Australia||3,777,383||30.46||+0.76||44||−11| |Liberal National Party (QLD)||1,130,525||9.12||+0.60||21||+21| |National Party of Australia||419,286||3.43||−0.04||6||−4| |Country Liberal Party (NT)||38,335||0.31||−0.01||1||+1| |National Party (WA)||43,101||0.34||+0.20||1||+1| |Australian Labor Party||6,216,445||50.12||−2.58||72||−11| |Party||Seats held||Percentage of House| |Australian Labor Party| A feature of the Australian House is its Main Committee, designed to be an alternative debating chamber; it is modelled after the Committee of the Whole that exists in several different legislatures, particularly the United States House of Representatives and the United Kingdom House of Commons. Matters considered to be relatively uncontroversial can be referred by the entire House to the Main Committee, where substantive debate can take place. The Main Committee cannot, however, initiate nor make a final decision on any parliamentary business, although it can perform all tasks in between. The Main Committee was created in 1994, to relieve some of the burden of the entire House: different matters can be processed in the House at large and in the Main Committee, as they sit simultaneously. It is designed to be less formal, with a quorum of only three members: the Deputy Speaker of the House, one government member, and one non-government member. Decisions must be unanimous: any divided decision sends the question back to the House at large. The Main Committee was created through the House's Standing Orders: it is thus a subordinate body of the House, and can only be in session while the House itself is in session. When a division vote in the House occurs, members in the Main Committee must return to the House to vote. The Main Committee is housed in one of the House's committee rooms: the room is customised for this purpose and is laid out to resemble the House chamber. Due to the unique role of the Main Committee, proposals have been made to rename the body to avoid confusion with other parliamentary committees. Proposals include "Second Chamber" and "Federation Chamber".

http://www.uniblogger.com/en/Australian_House_of_Representatives

Why do proteins coil up into spirals? A new answer to this question, which could aid the effort to identify the genetically determined shapes and functions of human proteins, will be published in the 20 July 2000 issue of the journal Nature. "We have discovered a simple explanation, based solely on principles of geometry, for the protein's preference for the helix as a major component of its overall structure," says Jayanth R. Banavar, professor of physics at Penn State and a member of the team of U.S. and Italian research physicists that made the discovery. The finding is expected to be useful in such wide-ranging research areas as structural genomics, pharmaceuticals, protein engineering, and materials science. "We applied mathematical ideas about optimal shapes of strings with maximum 'thickness' to proteins, which are string-like in that they have an amino-acid backbone that curls and bends itself into a number of characteristic shapes, including the helix," Banavar says. Proteins are the product of genes and also the structural stuff of cells and tissues. Like any tool, each protein's shape plays a large role in determining its function. Banavar and his colleagues asked in mathematical language what shape would lead to certain known properties of proteins. This approach is different from the intensive ongoing effort in biochemical research to understand what shape a protein is most likely to take based on each chemical bond that can form within its backbone's distinctive sequence of amino acids. "Many different amino-acid sequences fold into the same or similar structures, which suggests that the structure may be of more fundamental importance than the amino-acid sequences," Banavar says. "Our work yields a simple and logical way of looking at protein shapes independent of complex biochemical interactions." "A fascinating question to think about is why proteins take on certain basic shapes in their folded states," says Amos Maritan Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy

http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Why-proteins-spiral-11267-1/

In a paper published in the July 10 issue of the journal Nature, the team, led by Alberto Saal, assistant professor of geological sciences at Brown, believes that the water was contained in magmas erupted from fire fountains onto the surface of the Moon more than 3 billion years ago. About 95 percent of the water vapor from the magma was lost to space during this eruptive “degassing,” the team estimates. But traces of water vapor may have drifted toward the cold poles of the Moon, where they may remain as ice in permanently shadowed craters.And if there was water on the moon, who knows what else we might find? NASA plans to send its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter later this year to search for evidence of water ice at the Moon’s south pole. If water is found, the researchers may have figured out the origin. (Note: The image of the volcanic glasses collected by the Apollo 15 space mission is from NASA. Apparently. Saal's team's analysis detected water.)

http://collidinguniverses.blogspot.com/2008/07/water-on-moon-and-what-else.html

Overview of the CPU The CPU, which stands for Central Processing Unit, is the brains of the PC. It is also referred to as a "processor" or "chip". The CPU directs, coordinates and communicates with the hardware components and performs all of the "thinking". What a CPU actually does is perform mathematical calculations. It is the software that people write that translates those calculations into useful functions for us. The speed of the CPU, generally speaking, is the number of calculations it can perform in one second. It is more complicated than that, but that is a reasonable way to think of the speed. A 500 MHz (megahertz) CPU performs about 500,000,000 mathematical calculations per second. As the speed of new CPUs increase, the difference is becoming less obvious to computer users. A CPU that is twice as fast as another one will not result in a PC running twice as fast. The CPU has to wait for other, slower components and for the user too. The CPU spends a lot of time sitting idle, waiting for something to do. For example, it waits for you to press a key or for the hard drive to retrieve some data or the video card to draw what will appear on the screen. CPUs now have something called a "cache" or memory cache. The memory cache is where information is stored that the CPU is likely to need soon. This memory is in addition to the normal memory installed in a PC. The difference is that the cache is built right into the CPU, and it is much faster. Cache memory was invented to help reduce the time the CPU had to wait while information was retrieved from the standard memory. The two largest CPU manufacturers are Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Their products compete head to head and are substantially similar. The CPUs from these rivals each have their own champions and will tell you why one chip is better than the other. The key difference for you may simply be price or speed. Page 1 of 3

http://acmehowto.com/howto/pc/hardware/cpu/overview.php

ANTEBELLUM TEXAS. In the drama of Texas history the period of early statehood, from 1846 to 1861, appears largely as an interlude between two great adventures-the Republic of Texas and the Civil War.qqv These fifteen years did indeed lack the excitement and romance of the experiment in nationhood and the "Lost Cause" of the Confederacy. Events and developments during the period, however, were critical in shaping the Lone Star State as part of the antebellum South. By 1861 Texas was so like the other Southern states economically, socially, and politically that it joined them in secession and war. Antebellum Texans cast their lot with the Old South and in the process gave their state an indelibly Southern heritage. When President Anson Jones lowered the flag of the republic for the last time in February 1846, the framework for the development of Texas over the next fifteen years was already constructed. The great majority of the new state's approximately 100,000 white inhabitants were natives of the South, who, as they settled in the eastern timberlands and south central plains, had built a life as similar as possible to that experienced in their home states. Their economy, dependent on agriculture, was concentrated first on subsistence farming and herding and then on production of cotton as a cash crop. This meant the introduction of what southerners called their "Peculiar Institution"-slaveryqv. In 1846 Texas had more than 30,000 black slaves and produced an even larger number of bales of cotton (see COTTON CULTURE). Political institutions were also characteristically Southern. The Constitution of 1845, written by a convention in which natives of Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia alone constituted a majority, depended heavily on Louisiana's fundamental law as well as on the existing Constitution of the Republic of Texas. As befitted an agricultural state led by Jacksonians, the constitution prohibited banking and required a two-thirds vote of the legislature to charter any private corporation. Article VIII guaranteed the institution of slavery. With the foundations of their society in place and the turbulence of the republic behind them, Texans in 1846 anticipated years of expansion and prosperity. Instead, however, they found themselves and their state's interests heavily involved in the war between Mexico and the United States that broke out within a few months of annexation (see MEXICAN WAR). Differences between the two nations arose from a variety of issues, but disagreement over the southwestern boundary of Texas provided the spark for war. Mexico contended that Texas reached only to the Nueces River, whereas after 1836 the republic had claimed the Rio Grande as the border. President James K. Polk, a Jacksonian Democrat from Tennessee, backed the Texans' claims, and in January 1846, after unsuccessful attempts to make the Rio Grande the boundary and settle other differences by diplomacy, he ordered Gen. Zachary Taylor to occupy the disputed area. In March Taylor moved to the Rio Grande across from Matamoros. Battles between his troops and Mexican soldiers occurred north of the river in May, and Congress, at Polk's request, declared war. Approximately 5,000 Texans served with United States forces in the conflict that followed, fighting for both General Taylor in northern Mexico and Gen. Winfield Scott on his campaign to capture Mexico City. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war in February 1848, Mexico recognized Texas as a part of the United States and confirmed the Rio Grande as its border. Victory in the Mexican War soon led to a dispute concerning the boundary between Texas and the newly acquired Mexican Cession. This conflict arose from the Lone Star State's determination to make the most of the Rio Grande as its western boundary by claiming an area reaching to Santa Fe and encompassing the eastern half of what is now New Mexico. In March 1848 the Texas legislature decreed the existence of Santa Fe County, and Governor George T. Wood sent Spruce M. Baird to organize the local government and serve as its first judge. The people of Santa Fe, however, proved unwilling to accept Texas authority, and United States troops in the area supported them. In July 1849, after failing to organize the county, Baird left. At the same time a bitter controversy was developing in Congress between representatives of the North and the South concerning the expansion of slavery into the territory taken from Mexico. The Texans' western boundary claims became involved in this larger dispute, and the Lone Star State was drawn into the crisis of 1850 on the side of the South. President Zachary Taylor, who took office in March 1849, proposed to handle the Mexican Cession by omitting the territorial stage and admitting California and New Mexico directly into the Union. His policy angered southerners in general and Texans in particular. First, both California and New Mexico were expected to prohibit slavery, a development that would give the free states numerical superiority in the Union. Second, Taylor's approach in effect pitted the federal government against Texas claims to the Santa Fe area and promised to stop the expansion of slavery at the Lone Star State's western boundary. Southern extremists resolved to break up the Union before accepting the president's proposals. They urged Texas to stand firm on the boundary issue, and the Mississippi state legislature called for a convention in Nashville during June 1850 "to devise and adopt some means of resistance" to Northern aggression. Ultra-Southern spokesmen in Texas took up the cry, demanding that their state send delegates to Nashville and take all steps necessary to prove that it was not "submissionist." In December 1849 the Texas legislature responded to the crisis with an act designating new boundaries for Santa Fe County, and Robert S. Neighbors was sent to organize the government there. The legislature also provided for the election in March 1850 of eight delegates to attend the Nashville convention for "consultation and mutual action on the subject of slavery and Southern Rights." By June, when Neighbors reported that the people of Santa Fe did not want to be part of Texas, the state appeared ready to take aggressive action. Moderation prevailed, however, in Washington, Nashville, and Texas. By September 1850 Congress had worked out a compromise to settle the crisis. After much wrangling, Senator James A. Pearce of Maryland proposed that the boundary between Texas and New Mexico be a line drawn east from the Rio Grande along the 32d parallel to the 103d meridian, then north to 36°30', and finally east again to the 100th meridian. In return for its New Mexican claims, Texas would receive $10 million in United States bonds, half of which would be held to satisfy the state's public debt. Some Texans bitterly opposed the "Infamous Texas Bribery Bill," but extremism was on the wane across the state and the South as a whole. In Texas the crisis had aroused the Unionism of Sam Houston, the state's most popular politician. He made fun of the election to choose delegates to the Nashville convention. The vote had been called too late to allow effective campaigning anyhow, and of those elected only former governor J. Pinckney Henderson actually attended the meeting in Tennessee. (Incidentally, in this same election Texans approved the permanent choice of Austin as state capital.) The Nashville convention, although it urged Texas to stand by its claim to New Mexico, generally adopted a moderate tone. In November 1850 Texans voted by a two-to-one margin to accept the Pearce Bill (see COMPROMISE OF 1850). The crisis of 1850 demonstrated the existence of strong Unionist sentiment in Texas, but it also revealed that the Lone Star State, in spite of its location on the southwestern frontier, was identified with the Old South. Charles C. Mills of Harrison County summarized this circumstance perfectly in a letter to Governor Peter H. Bell during the crisis: "Texas having so recently come into the Union, should not be foremost to dissolve it, but I trust she will not waver, when the crisis shall come." As the boundaries of antebellum Texas were being settled and its identity shaped during the first years of statehood, new settlers poured in. A state census in 1847 reported the population at 142,009. Three years later a far more complete United States census (the first taken in Texas) enumerated 212,592 people, excluding Indians, in the state. Immigrants arriving in North Texas came primarily from the upper South and states of the old Northwest such as Illinois. Settlers entering through the Marshall-Jefferson area and Nacogdoches were largely from the lower South. On the Gulf Coast, Galveston and Indianola served as entry points for many lower southerners. Numerous foreign-born immigrants, especially Germans, also entered through these ports during the late 1840s. The Texas to which these migrants came was a frontier state in the classic sense. That is, it had a line of settlement advancing westward as pioneers populated and cultivated new land. Also, as in most American frontiers, settlers faced problems with Indians. By the late 1840s Texas frontiersmen had reached the country of the fierce Comanches and were no doubt relieved that, since annexation, the task of defending the frontier rested with the United States Army. In 1848–49 the army built a line of eight military posts from Fort Worth to Fort Duncan, at Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande. Within two years, under the pressure to open additional lands and do a better job of protecting existing settlements, federal forces built seven new forts approximately 100 miles to the west of the existing posts. This new line of defense, when completed in 1852, ran from Fort Belknap, on the Brazos River, to Fort Clark, at the site of present-day Brackettville. Conflict with the Comanches continued for the remainder of the decade as federal troops, joined at times by companies of Texas Rangersqv, sought to protect the frontier. They were never entirely successful, however, and Indian warfare continued after the Civil War. With the Comanches and the lack of water and wood on the western plains both hampering its advance, the Texas frontier did not move during the 1850s beyond the seven forts completed at the onset of the decade. Areas immediately to the east of the military posts continued to fill, but the rush westward slowed. In 1860 the line of settlement ran irregularly from north to south through Clay, Young, Erath, Brown, Llano, Kerr, and Uvalde counties. Important as it was to antebellum Texas, this western frontier was home to only a small fraction of the state's population. The great majority lived well to the east in areas where moving onto unclaimed land and fighting Indians were largely things of the past by 1846. These Texans, not frontiersmen in the traditional sense, were yet part of an extremely significant frontier-the southwesterly march of slaveholding, cotton-producing farmers and planters. "King Cotton" ruled the Old South's agricultural economy, and he came to rule antebellum Texas as well. Anglo-American settlers had sought from the beginning to build a plantation society in the region stretching from the Red River through the East Texas timberlands to the fertile soils along the Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, and lesser rivers that emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. During the 1850s this cotton frontier developed rapidly. At the census of 1850, 95 percent of the 212,592 Texans lived in the eastern two-fifths of the state, an area the size of Alabama and Mississippi combined. Ten years later, although the state's population had grown to 604,215, the overwhelming majority still lived in the same region. The population had far greater ethnic diversity than was common elsewhere in the South. There were large numbers of Germans in the south central counties, many Mexican Americans from San Antonio southward, and smaller groups of Poles, Czechs,qqv and other foreign-born immigrants scattered through the interior. Nevertheless, natives of the lower South constituted the largest group of immigrants to Texas during the 1850s, and southerners headed three of every four households there in 1860. Like immigrants from the Deep South, slaves also constituted an increasingly large part of the Lone Star State's population (27 percent in 1850 and 30 percent in 1860). Their numbers rose from 58,161 to 182,566, a growth of 214 percent, during the decade. The expansion of slavery correlated closely with soaring cotton production, which rose from fewer than 60,000 bales in 1850 to more than 400,000 in 1860. In 1850 of the nineteen counties having 1,000 or more slaves-ten in northeastern Texas and nine stretching inland along the Brazos and Colorado rivers-fifteen produced 1,000 or more bales of cotton. The census of 1860 reported sixty-four counties having 1,000 or more slaves, and all except eight produced 1,000 or more bales. These included, with the exception of an area in extreme Southeast Texas, virtually every county east of a line running from Fannin County, on the Red River, southwestward through McLennan County to Comal County and then along the San Antonio River to the Gulf. Only six counties in this area managed to grow at least 1,000 bales of cotton without a matching number of slaves. Slavery and cotton thus marched hand-in-hand across antebellum Texas, increasingly dominating the state's agricultural economy. Plantations in Brazoria and Matagorda counties produced significant sugar crops, but elsewhere farmers and planters concentrated on cotton as a source of cash income. By 1860 King Cotton had the eastern two-fifths of Texas, excepting only the north central prairie area around Dallas and the plains south of the San Antonio River, firmly within his grasp. Perhaps, as Charles W. Ramsdell suggested, the cotton frontier was approaching its natural limits in Texas during the 1850s. The soil and climate of western Texas precluded successful plantation agriculture, and proximity to Mexico, with its offer of freedom for runaways, reinforced these geographical limitations. In reality, however, regardless of these apparent natural boundaries, slavery and cotton had great potential for continued expansion in Texas after 1860. Growth had not ended anywhere in the state at that time, and the north central prairie area had not even been opened for development. The fertile soils of the Blackland Prairie and Grand Prairie counties would produce hundreds of thousands of bales of cotton once adequate transportation reached that far inland, and railroads would soon have met that need. The two prairie regions combined were more than three-fourths as large as the state of South Carolina but had only 6 percent as many slaves in 1860. The cotton frontier of antebellum Texas constituted a virtual empire for slavery, and such editors as John F. Marshall of the Austin State Gazette wrote confidently of the day when the state would have two million bondsmen or even more. Only a minority of antebellum Texans, however, actually owned slaves and participated directly in the cash-crop economy. Only one family in four held so much as a single slave, and more than half of those had fewer than five bondsmen. Small and large planters, defined respectively as those owning ten to nineteen and twenty or more slaves, held well over half of the state's slaves in both 1850 and 1860. This planter class profited from investments in land, labor, and cotton and, although a decided minority even among slaveholders, provided the driving force behind the state's economy. Agriculture developed rapidly in antebellum Texas, as evidenced by a steady expansion in the number of farms, the amount of improved acreage, the value of livestock, and the size of crops produced. Slave labor contributed heavily to that growth. On the other hand, during the 1850s Texas developed very slowly in terms of industry, commerce, and urban growth. In both 1850 and 1860 only about 1 percent of Texas family heads had manufacturing occupations. Texas industries in 1860 produced goods valued at $6.5 million, while, by contrast, Wisconsin, another frontier state that had entered the Union in 1846, reported nearly $28 million worth of manufactures. Commercial activity, retarded no doubt by inadequate transportation and the constitutional prohibition on banking (see BANKS AND BANKING), also occupied only a small minority (less than 5 percent) of Texans. With industry and commerce so limited, no urban area in the state reached a population of 10,000 during the antebellum years. In 1860 San Antonio (8,200), Galveston (7,307), Houston (4,800), and Austin (3,500) were the state's only "cities." By contrast, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reported a population of 20,000 as early as 1850. Antebellum Texans failed to diversify their economy for several reasons. Part of the explanation was geographical: climate and soil gave Texas an advantage over most regions of the United States, certainly those outside the South, in plantation agriculture and thus helped produce an overwhelmingly agricultural economy. Slavery appears also to have retarded the rise of industry and commerce. Slave labor made the plantation productive and profitable and reduced the need for the invention and manufacture of farm machinery. Planters concentrated on self-sufficiency and on the cultivation of cotton, a crop that quickly passed out of Texas for processing elsewhere with a minimum involvement of local merchants along the way. Opportunities for industry and commerce were thus reduced by the success of the plantation. Moreover, the planters, who were, after all, the richest and most enterprising men in Texas and who would have had to lead any move to diversify the economy, benefited enough financially and socially from combining land and slave labor that they generally saw no need to risk investments in industry or commerce. Planters did have an interest in improving transportation in their state. From the 1820s onward Texans had utilized the major rivers from the Red River to the Rio Grande to move themselves and their goods and crops, but periodic low water, sand bars, and rafts of logs and brush made transportation by water highly unreliable. Moving supplies and cotton on Texas roads, which became quagmires in wet weather, was simply too slow and expensive. Thus, as the cotton frontier advanced inland, the movement of crops and supplies, never an easy matter, became increasingly difficult. Railroads offered a solution, albeit not without more financial difficulties than promoters could imagine. The state legislature chartered the state's first railroad, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado, in February 1850. Intended to run from Harrisburg, near Houston, westward to Alleyton, on the Colorado River, and tap the commerce on both the Brazos and Colorado, this road became operational to Stafford's Point in 1853 and reached its destination by 1860. Dozens of other railroads received charters after 1850, but for every one that actually operated six came to nothing. Railroad promoters, faced with a difficult task and armed with arguments about the obvious importance of improved transportation in Texas, insisted that the state should subsidize construction. Their efforts to gain public aid for railroad corporations focused on obtaining land grants and using the United States bonds acquired in the settlement of the New Mexico boundary as a basis for loans. Some Texans, however, led by Lorenzo Sherwood, a New York-born lawyer who lived in Galveston, opposed the whole concept of state subsidies for private corporations. Sherwood developed a State Plan calling for the government in Austin to construct and own a thousand-mile network of railroads. Those who favored private promoters managed early in 1854 to obtain a law authorizing the granting of sixteen sections of land for each mile of road built to all railroads chartered after that date. However, the struggle between those who favored loans and supporters of the State Plan continued into 1856, as Sherwood won election to the legislature and continued to fight effectively for his ideas. His opponents finally seized upon statements Sherwood made against reopening the African slave trade, accused him of opposing slavery, and forced him under the threat of violence to resign from the legislature. Within less than a month, in July 1856, the legislature passed a bill authorizing loans of $6,000 to railroad companies for every mile of road built. Antebellum Texans thus decided that private corporations encouraged by state aid would built their railroads. Progress was limited, however. By 1860 the state had approximately 400 miles of operating railroad, but almost all of it radiated from Houston. Major lines included the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado, from Harrisburg to Alleyton through Houston; the Galveston, Houston and Henderson, from Galveston to Houston; and the Texas and New Orleans, from Houston to Orange through Beaumont. Only the San Antonio and Mexican Gulf Railway, which ran from Port Lavaca to Victoria, and the Southern Pacific Railroad (not to be confused with the future system of that name) in Harrison County did not connect in some fashion with Houston. Railroad building progressed slowly because antebellum Texas did not have the native capital to finance it, the industrial base to produce building materials, or the population and diversified economy to provide traffic the year around. At least the stage had been set, however, for building an adequate network of rail transportation after 1865. Thus, as the cotton frontier of Texas developed during the 1850s, the state's economy increasingly mirrored that of the Deep South. A majority of Texans lived as small, nonslaveholding farmers, but plantation agriculture and slave labor produced the state's wealth and provided its economic leaders. At the same time, there was little development in terms of industry, commerce, urban growth, and transportation. With an economy of this nature and a Southern-born population predominant in most areas, antebellum Texas naturally developed social practices and institutions that also were Southern to the core. Women in antebellum Texas found their role in society shaped by traditions that, while by no means unique to the South, were strongly entrenched in that region. The ideal female was a homemaker and mother, pious and pure, strong and hardworking, and yet docile and submissive. She was placed on a pedestal and admired, but she had no political rights and suffered serious disabilities before the law. Women could not, for example, serve on juries, act as lawyers, or witness a will. Texas women, however, did enjoy significant property rights. Married women retained title to property such as land and slaves owned before they wed, had community rights to all property acquired during a marriage, and had full title to property that came into their hands after divorce or the death of a husband. These rights allowed Texas women to head families, own plantations, and manage estates in ways that were anything but passive and submissive. Antebellum Texans favored churches in the evangelical tradition of the Old South. Methodists far outnumbered other denominations. By 1860 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as it was called after the North-South split of 1844, had 30,661 members. Baptists constituted the second largest denomination, followed by the Presbyterian, Christian, Cumberland Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopal churches. These institutions provided spiritual and moral guidance and offered educational instruction as well. Moreover, religious activities brought people together in settings that encouraged friendly social interchange and relieved the isolation of rural life. Education in antebellum Texas was largely a matter of private enterprise, both secular and church affiliated. At the most basic level, would-be teachers simply established common schools and offered primary and elementary instruction to children whose parents could pay tuition. More formal education took place in state-chartered institutions, which often bore names promising far more than they could deliver. Between 1846 and 1861 the Texas legislature chartered 117 schools, including forty academies, thirty colleges, and seven universities. Most of these institutions lasted only a few years, had relatively few students, and, regardless of their titles, offered little beyond secondary education. The University of San Augustine and Marshall University, for example, both chartered in 1842, had primary departments teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. The quality of education at all levels in Texas schools suffered from a variety of problems, including the fact that teachers who were dependent for their pay on the good will of parents could not afford to be very demanding. Schools often covered their shortcomings and bolstered their academic reputations by holding public oral examinations that the whole community could attend. Parents and most observers greatly appreciated these events and overlooked the fact that generally they were watching rehearsed performances rather than true examinations. Regardless of its doubtful quality, private school education lay beyond the means of most antebellum Texas families. In general only the well-to-do could afford to buy schooling for their children, a situation that conflicted with democratic ideals and growing American faith in education. Texans expressed considerable interest during the 1850s in establishing a free public school system. Action came, however, only after the legislature devised a scheme to establish a fund that could be used for loans to promote railroad building, with the interest going to support public schools. In January 1854 the legislature set aside $2 million of the bonds received from the boundary settlement in 1850 (see BOUNDARIES OF TEXAS and COMPROMISE OF 1850) as a "Special School Fund." Two years later another act provided for loans from this fund to railroad corporations. Interest from the school fund was to go to the counties on a per-student basis to pay the salaries of public school teachers, but counties had to provide all the necessary buildings and equipment. Knowing that this would be expensive and doubtless feeling pressure from private school interests, the legislature permitted local authorities to hire teachers in existing educational institutions. It quickly became apparent that the interest from the school fund would be totally inadequate to do more than subsidize the schooling of children from indigent families. The private schools benefited, and public education remained only a dream. (see HIGHER EDUCATION.) Educational opportunities notwithstanding, literacy, at least as measured by census enumerators, was high in antebellum Texas. The state's many newspapers (three dailies, three triweeklies, and sixty-five weeklies by 1860) constituted the most widely available reading matter. Among the most influential publications were the Telegraph and Texas Register, the Clarksville Northern Standard, the Marshall Texas Republican, the Nacogdoches Texas Chronicle, the Austin State Gazette,qqv the Dallas Weekly Herald (see DALLAS TIMES-HERALD), and the Galveston Daily News (see GALVESTON NEWS). What the papers lacked in news-gathering facilities they made up for with colorful editors and political partisanship. Virtually anyone who cared to could find both information on current events and entertainment in an antebellum newspaper. Texans had a notable variety of amusements. Amateur theater groups, debating societies, and music recitals, for example, provided cultural opportunities. Many other amusements were notably less genteel. Horse racing, gambling, and drinking were popular, the last to such a degree that the temperance crusade against liquor was by far the most important reform movement of the era. Cruder amusements often sparked violence, although antebellum Texans needed very little provocation. The constitution had outlawed duels, the Old South's traditional method of settling affairs of honor, but violence in Texas was generally more spontaneous and less stylized, anyhow. In June 1860, for example, a man named Johnson spotted on the street in Hempstead one McNair, with whom he had a long-standing quarrel. Firing three times from his second-floor hotel room window, he hit McNair in the neck, side, and thigh. As Johnson prepared to ride away, a crowd gathered around the dying McNair. "By God, a good shot that," one said. Politics in antebellum Texas reflected the state's preeminently Southern economic and social structure. Institutionally, political arrangements were highly democratic by the standards of that era. The Constitution of 1845 permitted all adult white males, without regard to taxpaying or property-holding status, to vote and hold any state or local office. In practice, however, wealthy slaveholders dominated officeholding at all levels and provided the state's political leadership. Their control was democratic in that they were freely elected, and they governed without having to coerce nonslaveholders into supporting their policies. Nevertheless, leadership by a minority class whose status depended on the ownership of slaves introduced an element of aristocracy and gave a pro-Southern cast to antebellum Texas politics. Virtually all of the men who governed Texas from 1846 to 1861 were identified with the Democratic party. "We are all Democrats," Guy M. Bryan wrote in 1845, "since the glorious victory of that party, who fearlessly espoused our cause and nailed the `Lone Star' to the topmast of their noble ship." When the Whig party displayed a lack of enthusiasm for the Mexican War and supported President Zachary Taylor in denying Texas claims to New Mexico territory in 1849–50, Bryan's statement became even more accurate. The Democrats won every presidential and gubernatorial election between 1845 and 1861. Indeed, so complete was their domination that the closest contests during these years came as a result of intraparty divisions, usually with the towering figure of Sam Houston occupying center stage. J. Pinckney Henderson easily won the first race for state governor in December 1845 and took office in February 1846. He presided over the transition from republic to state and spent the latter part of 1846 commanding Texas troops in Mexico. Worn out from the war and in failing health, Henderson declined in 1847 to run for reelection. He was succeeded by George T. Wood, a Trinity River planter who had the support of Sam Houston. Wood served from 1847 to 1849, as the dispute over the New Mexico boundary built to crisis proportions. During his term Texans participated in their first presidential election and gave Democrat Lewis Cass 69 percent of the vote in his contest with the Whig Zachary Taylor. Wood lost the governorship to Peter Hansborough Bell in 1849, probably because of lukewarm support from Houston and Bell's promise of a more aggressive policy on the boundary question. The Compromise of 1850, although considered a shameful surrender by some extremists, did not seriously injure Bell's pro-Southern reputation. He defeated four opponents in 1851, including the Whig Benjamin H. Epperson, and served a second term before resigning in 1853 to take a seat in Congress. In the meantime the Democratic presidential candidate, Franklin Pierce, carried Texas overwhelmingly in the election of 1852. The Whigs made their most serious bid for the governorship in 1853 with the candidacy of William B. Ochiltree. Democrats met this challenge by agreeing to support one man, Elisha M. Pease, rather than their usual multiplicity of candidates. Pease's first term was significant for efforts to start a public school system and encourage railroad building. It also marked the appearance of a new political party that offered the most serious threat to Democratic domination of state politics during the 1850s. The American (Know-Nothing) party, an antiforeign, anti-Catholic organization that had originated in the Northeast, appeared in Texas during 1855 and attracted many Whigs, whose party had disintegrated as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The Know-Nothings supported Lieutenant Governor David C. Dickson for governor in 1855 and forced the Democrats to call a hurried state convention and unify in support of Governor Pease. The new party had considerable success in legislative and local elections, but Pease defeated Dickson with relative ease. The Know-Nothings lost badly in their support of Millard Fillmore during the presidential race of 1856 and rapidly withered into insignificance thereafter. During Pease's second term (1855–57), Texas politics came to focus on pro- and anti-Houston issues as they had not since the end of the republic. Senator Houston's consistent Unionism in the crisis of 1850 and in voting against the Kansas-Nebraska Act greatly irritated ultra-Southern Democrats in Texas. A flirtation with the Know-Nothings had the same effect. Believing that he would not be reelected to the Senate when his term ended in 1859, Houston decided to run for governor in 1857 as an independent. The regular Democrats nominated Hardin R. Runnels, a native Mississippian with strong states'-rights beliefs, and a bitter campaign followed. Houston presented himself as a champion of the Union and his opponents as disunionists, while regular Democrats said that Old Sam was a Free-Soil traitor to Texas. Runnels won by a vote of 32,552 to 23,628, handing Houston the only defeat he ever suffered in a major political campaign. As governor, Runnels pursued an aggressive policy toward Indians in Northwest Texas, and there was more bloodshed on the frontier in 1858–59 than at any other time since 1836. The Comanches, although pushed back, mounted destructive raids on exposed settlements in 1859, creating considerable dissatisfaction with the Runnels administration. Also, during Runnels's term sectional tensions increased as the governor endorsed an extreme version of states' rights, and leading Democrats, including John Marshall, state party chairman and editor of the Austin State Gazette, advocated ultra-Southern policies such as reopening the African slave trade. These developments under Runnels set the stage for another bitter and exciting gubernatorial contest in 1859. The regular Democrats renominated Runnels and Lieutenant Governor Francis R. Lubbock on an ultra-Southern platform, while Houston and Edward Clarkqv opposed them by running as Independent or Union Democrats. This time, in his last electoral contest, Houston defeated Runnels, 36,227 to 27,500. The victory may have resulted in part from a lack of pro-Southern extremism among Texas voters, but Houston's personal popularity and the failure of Runnels's frontier policy played key roles, too. In any case, the state legislature's choice of Louis T. Wigfall as United States senator only two months after the gubernatorial election demonstrated that Unionism by no means had control in Texas. Wigfall, a native of South Carolina, was a fire-eating secessionist and one of Houston's bitterest enemies in Texas. Houston's inaugural address, which he delivered publicly rather than to the hostile legislature, concluded with a plea for moderation. "When Texas united her destiny with that of the United States," he said, "she entered not into the North, nor South. Her connection was not sectional, but national." The governor was at least partly correct about the attitude at the time of annexation, but by 1860 Texas had become so much a part of the Old South that not even Sam Houston could restrain the state's rush toward secession. Ultrasoutherners controlled the Democratic state convention in 1860 and sent a delegation headed by Runnels and Lubbock to the national convention in Charleston, South Carolina. Rather than accept a platform favoring Stephen A. Douglas, the northern Democrat who called for popular sovereignty to decide the matter of slavery in the territories, the Texans joined other Deep South delegations in walking out of the convention. This step opened a split in the Democratic party that soon resulted in the nominations of Douglas by the Northern wing and John C. Breckinridge by the Southern. In the meantime the Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln on a platform opposing the spread of slavery, and conservatives from the upper South formed a Constitutional Union party aimed at uniting those who wished to avoid disunion. Sam Houston received serious consideration for the presidential nomination of the new party but lost to John Bell of Tennessee. Regular Democrats in Texas supported Breckinridge and threatened immediate secession if the "Black Republican" Abraham Lincoln won. The Opposition, as those who opposed the Democrats were now called, turned to Bell and the Constitutional Unionists in the hope of preventing disunion. This group, which generally sought to carry on the traditional unionism of the Whigs, Know-Nothings, and Houston Independent Democrats, did not oppose slavery or Southern interests. They simply argued that secession amounted to revolution and would probably hasten the destruction of slavery rather than protect it. A minority from the outset, the Opposition saw their cause weakened further during the late summer of 1860 by an outbreak of public hysteria known as the Texas Troubles. The panic began with a series of ruinous fires in North Texas. Spontaneous ignition of phosphorous matches due to extremely hot weather may have caused the fires. Several masters, however, forced their slaves to confess to arson, and Texans decided that a massive abolitionist-inspired plot threatened to destroy slavery and devastate the countryside. Slave and white suspects alike fell victim to vigilante action before the panic subsided in September. "It is better," said one citizen of Fort Worth, "for us to hang ninety-nine innocent (suspicious) men than to let one guilty one pass." (see SLAVE INSURRECTIONS.) In November 1860 Breckinridge defeated Bell in Texas by a vote of 47,458 to 15,463, carrying every county in the state except three-Bandera, Gillespie, and Starr. Abraham Lincoln received no votes in Texas, but free-state votes made him the president-elect, scheduled to take office in March 1861. His victory signaled the beginning of a spontaneous popular movement that soon swept the Lone Star State out of the Union. True to its antebellum heritage as a growing part of the cotton frontier, Texas stood ready in 1860 to join the other Southern states in secession and war. Walter L. Buenger, Secession and the Union in Texas (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984). Randolph B. Campbell and Richard G. Lowe, Wealth and Power in Antebellum Texas (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1977). Abigail Curlee, A Study of Texas Slave Plantations, 1822–1865 (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, 1932). Earl Wesley Fornell, The Galveston Era: The Texas Crescent on the Eve of Secession (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1961). Llerena B. Friend, "The Texan of 1860," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 62 (July 1958). Robert Kingsley Peters, Texas: Annexation to Secession (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1977). Charles W. Ramsdell, "The Natural Limits of Slavery Expansion," Mississippi Valley Historical Review 16 (September 1929). Ernest Wallace, Texas in Turmoil: The Saga of Texas, 1849–1875 (Austin: Steck-Vaughn, 1965). The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Randolph B. Campbell, "ANTEBELLUM TEXAS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/npa01), accessed May 18, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/npa01

Court Administration > State Court Administrator's Office > Court Information Office > Teachers and Students Resource Center > Recognizing Constitution Day |The U.S. Constitution||The Minnesota Constitution View larger version View larger version English philosopher John Locke argued that in society, the rights of life, liberty, and property reside with the people; and in order to live in a civil society and to protect these rights, the people needed to establish a social contract with those who govern them. In America, government is centered on such a social contract- the Constitution. America’s journey to develop a constitution began with the Declaration of Independence. And continued during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), when the 13 original colonies convened a Congress of Federation that worked to develop the laws that would help define our young government. Because the former colonists feared a strong centralized government, the Articles of Confederation, which the Congress of Confederation drafted, established a weak central government. But these Articles proved to be inadequate for the problems that the young government would face. In addition to the United States Constitution, Minnesota’s citizens are also governed by the Minnesota Constitution. On February 26, 1857, the United States Congress passed what is known as the Enabling Act. The bill allowed the voters in a territory to vote on whether to apply for statehood, in addition to calling for the state to hold a Constitutional Convention. An election was held in Minnesota on June 1, 1857 to elect delegates to the convention. The delegates were to meet in Saint Paul between July 13 and August 29, 1857. Partisanship soon threatened to derail the Convention. The Democrats and Republicans met separately, and drafted their own separate Constitutions. In the end, a compromise committee, consisting of five members from each party, drafted a Constitution which would be acceptable to both sides. However, when the time came for the delegates to sign the Constitution, most refused to sign a copy already signed by members of the opposing side. As a result, two copies were written, which contained over 300 wording, punctuation, and grammatical differences. None of these differences changed the meaning of what the compromise committee had agreed upon. On August 29, 1857, the delegates signed the two copies of the Minnesota Constitution. In early 1787, another Convention would be called, the United States Constitutional Convention. It was the job of this convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. In the end, they found it easier to start over. On September 17, 1787, the Convention ratified what is now our Constitution. A majority of the voting population in 9 of the 13 states also needed to support the new Constitution. On March 4, 1789, the United States Constitution became law. It is the longest lasting written Constitution in the world. BILL OF RIGHTS When we think of the Constitution what comes to mind? For most people, it is the Bill of Rights. The drafters of the Constitution were torn about whether specific “Rights” should be included. Many delegates believed that because the Constitution only granted limited powers, all other rights were obviously reserved to the people; therefore there was no need to include in the constitution a specific list of which “Rights” were protected. But in 1791, there were 10 Amendments added to the Constitution. These amendments did list specific rights and are what we now call the Bill of Rights. The Minnesota Constitution has not been replaced during its nearly 150 year history. Over the decades, many other states re-wrote their constitutions, but Minnesota did not, so Minnesota now has one of the oldest state constitutions. In 1971, the Minnesota state legislature established a constitutional study commission to review the Constitution. The members of the commission decided to restructure the Constitution’s Articles and Sections; they also made recommendations on ways to modernize the language. In 1973, both Houses of the State Legislature passed an amendment that incorporated the recommendations of the commission. Then Governor Wendell Anderson supported the amendment, and it went for a vote before the people on November 5, 1974. The Amendment was passed and the changes were adopted to all further copies of the Constitution. There are many United States Supreme Court cases for which the decision rests on the U.S. Constitution. Many consider these cases instrumental in the development of the United States. The following are some examples of important Supreme Court decisions: Marbury vs. Madison- Established the doctrine of Judicial Review. Plessy vs. Ferguson- Affirmed the concept of “separate but equal”. Brown vs. The Board of Education- Held that the concept of “separate but equal” is unconstitutional. There has been much less research and analysis done by scholars on court cases related to state constitutions as opposed to the federal constitution. Minnesota is no exception; the following examples illustrate a variety of cases that have been heard before the Appellate Courts. State of Minnesota v. Kurtis Dean Machholz- This case looks at the First Amendment. Court of Appeals Decision Supreme Court Decision Unity Church of St. Paul, et al. v. State of Minnesota- Constitutionality of Minnesota Citizens’ Personal Protection Act of 2003- the predecessor to “Conceal & Carry”. Court of Appeals Decision Kahn v. Griffin- Examines the “right to vote” based on redistricting in Minneapolis. Supreme Court Decision State of Minnesota v. Mustafaa Naji Fort- Looks at the Constitutionality of police searches at traffic stops. Court of Appeals Decision Supreme Court Decision Two Governments? Two Constitutions? The government structure of the United States of America is based on the idea of federalism: two separate, but interconnected, structures governing the citizens. In the United States this means that citizens have a federal government and a federal constitution. In addition each state has a separate state constitution and state government. A common question that arises from this structure is which government holds supremacy over the other. Most people believe that the federal government has the “final word” in many areas of governance. However, this is not completely accurate. In creating the federal constitution, the framers purposefully left certain things ambiguous. They created this authority, in part, because of their fear of an overpowering centralized government, which might resemble the monarchy from which they had fought in order to achieve independence. It is also due to differences in theological, social, economic and political differences in each state. The framers believed that if there was a general set of laws to protect all citizens’ basic rights, the states could then determine which further rights they would chose to protect. The Constitution and the Three Branches of Government One provision that is included in every Constitution is a section describing the framework of the government. In the federal and state constitutions, this system includes an Executive Branch, a Legislative Branch, and a Judicial Branch. Each branch plays an important role in our government. The roles are independent, yet connected; they provide what is known as a system of “checks and balances.” The Legislative Branch enacts the laws. The Executive Branch enforces the laws. The Judicial Branch interprets the laws. Most people understand how the Legislative and Executive Branchs interact with the law. What can be less clear is how the Judicial Branch interacts with the law. When a citizen believes that the Legislature has enacted an unconstitutional law, he or she may bring a case before the Judicial Branch. In the same way, if a citizen believes that the way the Executive Branch is enforcing a law is inappropriate, he or she can bring a case before the Judicial Branch. In today’s world, courts serve a very important role in our government. Under the Constitution they are the branch of government charged with hearing “grievances” from citizens. They are the final arbitrators on what is or is not legal under the state and federal constitutions and laws. The Constitution & the Judicial Branch How does having two Constitutions effect today’s Judicial Branch? When a constitutional question is brought to the court, the case frequently goes before the highest court in the land. At the federal level, and in most states, that court is called the Supreme Court. These courts examine the Constitution to determine whether the legal question is constitutional. In recent years there have been questions raised about what legal issues should be examined by state Supreme Courts based on their own state constitution, and what issues should be examined based on the federal constitution. This is largely a matter that states may determine for themselves. In some areas of law there is more or less clarity in one Constitution or law than in the other. In these cases, where there is a lack of clarity, it is up to the court to determine the intent of the law. Sometimes the law is purposefully ambiguous, this ambiguity can allow more Judicial discretion, meaning that the Court can interpret the legislative intent of the law. However, sometimes the law is ambiguous because the question is not one that the legislature expected to be brought before the court. The judicial branch determines the basis of each legal question, and every decision must be based on the rule of law. This result is generally accomplished by the Court examining its past decisions on the issue (if precedent); as well as the development of law in this area. In many cases, the Court’s decision will harken back to the Constitution, which hopefully has laid out the most basic aspect of the relationship between a citizen and his or her government. Minnesota Constitutional Convention Democratic and Republican Delegation Debates are available from the Minnesota Historical Society. Bill or Rights Institute offers activities and lesson plans for use on Constitution Day. The Constitutional Rights Foundation is pleased to present a series of free online lessons, resources from the CRF catalog, and Internet links to help educators design their own Constitution Day program. Constitution Facts offers fun and interesting facts about the U.S. Constitution. Annenberg Classroom offers a wide array of Annenberg Public Policy Center educational resources under a single umbrella that you can use for Constitution Day. You can find curricula, lesson plans, and multimedia materials. To help schools comply with federal requirements of offering an educational program for Constitution Day, Annenberg Classroom, in cooperation with a group of leading educators and media organizations, offers a variety of educational resources for use in high schools, colleges and universities and by federal agencies on Constitution Day. "A Conversation on the Constitution: Judicial Independence" with Supreme Court Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen G. Breyer and Sandra Day O'Connor. Length: 32 min. (Read along with Spanish language Closed Captions) View individual students' questions and the Supreme Court Justices' answers. Also, view last year's Constitution Day video: "Our Constitution: A Conversation," with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer. Length: 30 min. "The Roberts Court: What can this Term Tell us About the Future of the Court?" This year, with the appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court has undergone its most significant changes in over a decade. Taped at the National Constitution Center in July, this program reviews the highlights. Length: 50 min. Visit Annenberg Classroom's A/V Room to find many more multimedia programs! From the National Archives: "Teaching With Documents: Observing Constitution Day" The National Constitution Center offers lesson plans, games and useful background information. More Lesson Plans Constitution Day Materials American Bar Association: Judicial Independence and Judicial Accountability: What Makes a Good Judge? Judicial Independence: Selected Definitions and Writings

http://www.mncourts.gov/default.aspx?page=1811

5.7 Next Steps 1. Forming Patterns. The first part of this project has just been to get something that can form patterns of differentiated cells. Now that we can segment up the tissue and get cells that have differential gene expression we can have different types of neurons. Each of these neurons will need to eventually form synapses in different parts of the developing brain. To do this will need to introduce growth cones. 2. Growth Cones and Axonal Guidance. The next phase of the developmental system that needs to be added is to allow the formation of growth cones and the guidance of the axon to the target neuron. Now that the we have the ability to split the tissue into segments of differentiated cells, each of the potential neurons needs to find its target that it will eventually form synapses on. To do this the concept of a growth cone needs to be introduced. A growth cone is an extension of a neuron that literally crawls outward from the main body of the neuron using little tentacles called filopodia. The filopodia samples chemicals on the nearby neurons and extracelluar spaces looking for chemicals that it finds attractive or repellent. If they smell a chemical they like then they will crawl the growth cone towards the higher concentration of that chemical. But if they smell a chemical they find odious they will crawl away from it. This is the basic mechanism that neurons use to find the general area where they will find their target neuron. It is like using a map to find the correct block where your destination is. Once you get there though you will have to look around to find your exact target. In the simulator each cell will have one virtual growth cone that can move away from its parent and rest on a neighboring cell. Several new protein types will need to be added. The first new protein will control the speed of movement of the growth cone. The protein will have an expression function and the active quantity of the protein in the cell will be fed into the expression function. That function will translate into a speed. It will be possible to have a number of these speed control proteins that work together to regulate the overall speed. Just like transcription factors, you could have one speed protein that tries to make the growth cone go faster, and another that stops it altogether. It will be the combination of the quantity of active protein present and the expression functions that will determine how fast the growth cone moves, when it begins moving, and when it stops. The growth cone will typically not begin moving until the cell has differentiated to some degree. It will be this differentiation that will start the production of speed control proteins and kick the growth cone into motion. When the cone finally finds its target a new stop protein will be produced in large quantities to halt the cone so that it stays on the target. The next set of new proteins to be added will involved the guidance of the growth cone. This will require some new receptor / ligand proteins. These will be similar to the standard membrane receptors and ligands already described, but with a slight difference. The cell that has the growth cone will produce several of these new type of receptors. Other cells will produce the new guidance ligands and will lay them down in paths of increasing concentration gradients like the one shown in figure 1. There will be numerous of these paths that will have to be laid down in different areas so each section of neurons will be able to find the general location where they need to look to find their target. At each time slice the growth cone will sample a few of the cells that are around its current location. The guidance receptors that it has will be mated with the guidance ligands on these other cells to get an overall attractiveness value. Once the selected cells have all been sampled then the one that was most attractive will determine the direction of growth for the cone, and the speed control proteins will control the distance traveled in the chosen direction. Once the growth cones reach the general area where their target is located they will slow down and start doing a more detailed search looking for specific combinations of membrane ligands. Once they find the target these ligands will activate receptors that produce speed control proteins that stop the movement of the growth cone and initiate formation of synapses. 3. Synapse Formation. When the growth cone finds its target neuron it produces proteins that initiate synapse formation. This will involved several things. First, when the cell originally differentiated into a specific type of neuron it will have begun producing some more new types of proteins. One of these new proteins will be what decides the arborization pattern at the end of the axon. The protein will have a parameter that tells which direction it effects (x, y, or z) and it will have an expression function. The overall quantity of that protein in the cell will be fed into the expression function to determine the extent of arborization in that direction using the target neuron as the center. This will be done for all three dimensions and all neurons within that arborization rectangle will get one synapse with this neuron. The formation of the synapses themselves will be somewhat tricky. In the past there was only one location for all the proteins in the cell body and they were treated the same always. But now this will no longer be true. Each synapse and dendrite will have its own local quantities of proteins that are separate from the main cell body. This is necessary so that each synapse and dendrite can have different connection strengths. Also, we will have to take into consideration that fact that a synapse can also form on other synapses, further adding to the complications. 4. Functioning Neurons. At this point I have still not worked through a lot of the details for things and I am just throwing out my thoughts about how this stuff will work. We are finally to the point where we can get functioning neurons. Each different type of neuron will produce different levels of proteins that are important for it. These proteins will be transported to the different synapses. Some of the proteins that will be transported to the synapses and dendrites will a new type of ligand and receptor that are involved in the actual firing of the neuron. The receptor will be transported to the dendrites of the cell and when a ligand binds it will relate this binding value with the firing rate of the presynaptic neuron to determine the amount of current entering the cell, like an Ach receptor. Other types of ligands would use the binding value, the firing rate, and the membrane potential of the cell to determine the amount of current entering the cell, like a NMDA receptor. At this point the cell will use the same model for the functioning of a neuron as the one used in the insect simulator example. The difference being that the connection weight between neurons will be dynamic and dependent on the different types and quantities of receptors and ligands in the dendrites and presynaptic terminals. And the levels of these proteins will be controlled by the gene expression in the cell. With this it will be possible to generate mechanisms similar to those that we know are involved in learning in real organisms. Short term learning will come from local and temporary changes in the presynaptic and postsynaptic terminals themselves, long term learning will come from alterations in the gene expression of that cell. This is a bold set of goals. It may not be possible to do it with the current level of technology available. However, I still intend to try. If I manage to succeed then this will be the first artificial nervous system that I am aware of that will integrate the cellular components of gene expression to control connection strengths of neurons, and that uses gene expression in general to grow the neurons in the first place. I think this approach has tremendous potential to produce truly intelligent and adaptive systems and I look forward to the challenge of trying to make it work.

http://www.mindcreators.com/DevelopmentalSim/NextSteps.htm

Check out our new Video Podcast -- Math Snacks! differentiated math lesson This hands-on activity uses a tool to measure inches on a yard banner. The measurement tool differentiates the lesson. Students just beginning to understand measurement can use 1" cm tiles, those who can measure with a ruler can use a standard ruler and for advanced students have them use a broken tape measure to measure different lengths to make a Winter Yard. This lesson plan can be found below under file attachments. For more information on students' misconceptions and lesson ideas see What is Measurement Lesson. When designing a tiered math lesson, the teacher must first think about what is the learning goal for the class, but then adapt the difficulty of the task up and down based upon individual student needs. Tiering is often confused with tracking. Let me explain my understanding of the difference. Tracking is deciding to have three or four groups of students, teachers then "fit" the students into the appropriate group. In tracking, students usually do not move as often and are often "stuck" in a group. In tiering, the teacher first assesses the students abilities

http://michellef.essdack.org/?q=taxonomy/term/38

Late in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, George Mason of Virginia proposed adding a bill of rights to the Constitution. Mason was the principal author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, but he did not persuade the other delegates that the Constitution needed its own bill of rights. As many of the Constitution's supporters explained later during the struggle for ratification, the specific grants of power that the Constitution contained limited the actions of the government and, together with the prohibitions on congressional action, in effect made the Constitution the guarantor of the people's rights and liberties without a bill of rights. That explanation did not satisfy Mason or the other men who opposed ratification of the Constitution. They feared a too-powerful national government, and they believed that without explicit guarantees of such fundamental liberties as freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion the new national government would be a danger to liberty. In Virginia, after the convention narrowly voted to ratify the Constitution, the opponents of ratification and a number of the men who voted to ratify it, but who also agreed with some of the objections that had been made, proposed a long list of amendments, some of which were intended to reduce the power of the new government and some of which drew on the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the English Bill of Rights for explicit protection of fundamental liberties. Those debates and objections changed James Madison's mind on the issue. He had not believed that the Constitution required a bill of rights and said so in 1787 and 1788 during the ratification process. But the objections to the Constitution that its opponents raised persuaded him that the addition of a bill of rights would calm the fears of the opponents and give the government under the new Constitution a chance to succeed. Consequently, as a member of the United States House of Representatives in 1789, he drew on the amendments that the Virginia and other state ratification conventions had proposed to introduce the first draft of what became the Bill of Rights. As the amendments worked their ways through the House and the Senate, they took the shape that we now know, the first ten amendments. In the autumn of 1789 Congress submitted them and two other amendments to the state legislatures for ratification. The Library of Virginia owns one of the twelve surviving original copies of the Bill of Rights. This is the very copy that Congress sent to the Virginia General Assembly for ratification or rejection. Fifteen and a half years after Virginia adopted its own Declaration of Rights, on December 15, 1791, the Commonwealth became the eleventh state to approve the third through twelfth amendments, which thereupon became the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known ever after as the Bill of Rights. The second of the amendments proposed in 1789 was ratified in May 1992 and became the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights prohibits the federal government from abridging the freedoms of religion, speech, and press and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances; the right to keep and bear arms; the right of the people not to have troops quartered in their homes; the right to protection against unreasonable government searches and seizures; the right to jury trials in civil and criminal cases and of a grand jury in criminal cases; the right to due process of law in court; a prohibition on government taking private property without just compensation; a prohibition on excessive bail and fines and on cruel and unusual punishments; and two amendments defining rights of people and of the states: "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People"; and "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People." 1. How many amendments to the Constitution were sent to the states by Congress for ratification as the Bill of Rights? 2. Who was president of the United States when the Bill of Rights was sent to the states for ratification? 3. How many people signed this copy of the Bill of Rights? 4. Where did Congress meet when the Bill of Rights was drafted? 1. Explore the changes in language found in the last article of the draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the adopted Declaration of Rights and compare that to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. 2. Research the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and explain why the convention did not add a bill of rights to the Constitution at that time. 3. Research the ratifications of the Constitution, which occurred in 1787 and 1788, and discuss the reasons why James Madison, who originally opposed the addition of the United States Bill of Rights, changed his mind. 4. Review the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the United States Bill of Rights and discuss the similarities and differences. 5. Read the English Bill of Rights and the American Bill of Rights and identify in the English version the origins of the many provisions found in the American Bill of Rights. 6. Identify the individual rights that were guaranteed in the original United States Constitution before the adoption of the Bill of Rights. 7. Create a new Bill of Rights, with provisions and language appropriate for our times. 8. Discuss the effectiveness of the Bill of Rights in respect to current events, particularly the First Amendment, which protects the right to worship and the freedom of speech and press. Conley, Patrick T., and John P. Kaminski, eds. The Bill of Rights and the States: The Colonial and Revolutionary Origins of American Liberties. Madison, Wis.: Madison House, 1992. Bodenhamer, David J., and James W. Ely, Jr., eds. The Bill of Rights in Modern America: After 200 Years. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993. Bowling, Kenneth R. "'A Tub to the Whale': The Founding Fathers and Adoption of the Federal Bill of Rights." Journal of the Early Republic 8 (1988): 223–251. Veit, Helen E., Kenneth R. Bowling, and Charlene Bangs Bickford, eds. Creating the Bill of Rights: The Documentary Record from the First Federal Congress. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. Kukla, Jon, ed. The Bill of Rights: A Lively Heritage. Richmond: Virginia State Library and Archives, 1987.

http://virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/shaping_the_constitution/doc/rights

Image from NASA Earth Observatory The Ouarkziz Impact Crater lies in northwestern Algeria, close to the border with Morocco. The crater was formed by a meteor impact less than 70 million years ago. Originally called Tindouf (being ca. 170 km noth-east of the town of Tindouf), the 3.5-kilometer wide crater (image center) has been heavily eroded since its formation; however, its circular morphology is highlighted by exposures of older sedimentary rock layers that form roughly northwest to southeast-trending ridgelines. The crater is set in carboniferous limestones and shales of Upper Visean and Lower Namurian formations which are upturned at the crater rim. The crater consists of three concentric zones. Outer zone with outward dipping faults. Inward dipping zone. Central brecciated vertical dipping beds. It is thus a complex crater.

http://my.opera.com/nielsol/archive/monthly/?month=201205

Deciduous trees are those that lose their leaves each fall and enter a stage of dormancy for the winter months, according to the University of Minnesota's Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Site. The leaves that fell in the autumn chill grow anew in the springtime on deciduous trees, repeating this cycle of rebirth and death for the lifespan of the tree. Many families of trees go through this process in the United States, including the maples, most of the oaks, many nut and fruit trees, and other recognizable and common species. The majority of the oak tree species will shed their leaves by the time the calendar indicates winter, with the white oaks, bur oaks, overcup oaks, Gambel oaks, chestnut oaks, red oaks, black oaks, scarlet oaks, blue oaks and willow oaks among them. A few oaks--like the evergreen myrtle oaks and live oaks--hang onto their leaves year round. Maples have what botanists will refer to as opposite leaves, with two leaves growing opposite each other on a twig attached to a branch. Maples lose their leaves, with the foliage often turning the scenery into a spectacular array of reds, yellows, oranges and other colors in the fall. The maples that will become bare by the winter include such kinds as the red maple, silver maple, sugar maple, Norway maple, black maple, mountain maple, bigleaf maple, striped maple and the boxelder--a type of maple with different leaves. Boxelders have compound leaves (multiple leaflets on one stem), but they fall off just the same. Fruit and Nut Trees The American plum, Allegheny plum, black cherry, sweet crabapple, frosted hawthorn and persimmon tree are deciduous fruit-bearing species in America. Trees that produce nuts and lose their leaves in winter include the black walnut, bitternut hickory, shagbark hickory, pignut hickory, pecan, hazelnut and butternut trees. Many of the nut trees, such as the hickories and walnuts, have compound leaves with a large number of narrow leaflets attached to a central stem known as a rachis. Other types of trees that drop their leaves and then develop new ones each year are the horsechestnut, buckeye, sassafras, sweetgum, American sycamore, red mulberry, tuliptree, slippery elm, beech and eastern hophornbeam. The birches (paper, yellow, gray, and river) also lose their leaves. Additionally, cottonwoods, alders and most of the willows are American trees that stand naked in the winter cold.

http://www.gardenguides.com/89490-trees-lose-leaves-winter.html

Louisiana and her Caribbean parent colony developed intimate links during the eighteenth century, centered on maritime trade, the exchange of capital and information, and the migration of colonists. From such beginnings, Haitians exerted a profound influence on Louisiana's politics, people, religion, and culture. The colony's officials, responding to anti-slavery plots and uprisings on the island, banned the entry of enslaved Saint Domingans in 1763. Their rebellious actions would continue to impact upon Louisiana's slave trade and immigration policies throughout the age of the American and These two democratic struggles struck fear in the hearts of the Spaniards, who governed Louisiana from 1763 to 1800. They suppressed what they saw as seditious activities and banned subversive materials in a futile attempt to isolate their colony from the spread of democratic revolution. In May 1790 a royal decree prohibited the entry of blacks - enslaved and free - from the French West Indies. A year later, the Haitian Revolution The revolution in Saint Domingue unleashed a massive multiracial exodus: the French fled with the bondspeople they managed to keep; so did numerous free people of color, some of whom were slaveholders themselves. In addition, in 1793, a catastrophic fire destroyed two-thirds of the principal city, Cap Français (present-day Cap Haïtien), and nearly ten thousand people left the island for good. In the ensuing decades of revolution, foreign invasion, and civil war, thousands more fled the turmoil. Many moved eastward to Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic) or to nearby Caribbean islands. Large numbers of immigrants, black and white, found shelter in North America, notably in New York, Baltimore (fifty-three ships landed there in July 1793), Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah, as well as in Spanish Florida. Nowhere on the continent, however, did the refugee movement exert as profound an influence as in southern Louisiana. |Maryland, The Laws of Maryland, with the Charter, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution of the State, and Its Alterations, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States, and Its Amendments; with a General Index. Rev. by Virgil Maxcy., vol. II |Memoir of Pierre Toussaint, Born a Slave in St. Domingo by Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee |Freedom certificate of Pierre Toussaint from from Pierre Toussaint papers, 1793-1853, bulk (1822-1853) Between 1791 and 1803, thirteen hundred refugees arrived in New Orleans. The authorities were concerned that some had come with "seditious" ideas. In the spring of 1795, Pointe Coupée was the scene of an attempted insurrection during which planters' homes were burned down. Following the incident, a free émigré from Saint Domingue, Louis Benoit, accused of being "very imbued with the revolutionary maxims which have devastated the said colony" was banished. The failed uprising caused planter Joseph Pontalba to take "heed of the dreadful calamities of Saint Domingue, and of the germ of revolt only too widespread among our slaves." Continued unrest in Pointe Coupée and on the German Coast contributed to a decision to shut down the entire slave trade in the spring of 1796. In 1800 Louisiana officials debated reopening it, but they agreed that Saint Domingue blacks would be barred from entry. They also noted the presence of black and white insurgents from the French West Indies who were "propagating dangerous doctrines among our Negroes." Their slaves seemed more "insolent," "ungovernable," and "insubordinate" than they had just five years before. That same year, Spain ceded Louisiana back to France, and planters continued to live in fear of revolts. After future emperor Napoleon Bonaparte sold the colony to the United States in 1803 because his disastrous expedition against Saint Domingue had stretched his finances and military too thin, events in the island loomed even larger in Louisiana.

http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic_body.cfm?migration=5&topic=2

|Read our E-Magazine| |Receive our E-Newsletters| |Become our Fan| Nasal allergies and asthma are similar conditions in different parts of the body. Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) involves an allergic reaction to pollen. A virtually identical reaction occurs with allergy to mold, animal dander, dust, and similar inhaled allergens. The pollens that cause hay fever vary from person to person and from region to region. Pollens that are carried by bees from plant to plant are seldom responsible for hay fever because the grains are large and have a waxy coating. Tiny, hard-to-see pollens carried by the wind are more often the cause of hay fever. Examples of plants commonly responsible for hay fever include: In addition to individual sensitivity and geographic differences in local plant populations, the amount of pollen in the air can be a factor in whether hay fever symptoms develop. Hot, dry, windy days are more likely to have increased amounts of pollen in the air than cool, damp, rainy days where pollen is washed to the ground. When an allergen such as pollen or dust is inhaled by a person with a sensitized immune system, it triggers antibody production; these antibodies bind to cells that contain histamine. Histamine and other chemicals are released by these cells when the antibodies are stimulated by allergens. This causes itching, swelling of affected tissues, mucus production, muscle spasms, hives, rashes, and other symptoms. Symptoms vary in severity from person to person. History is important in diagnosing hay fever, including whether the symptoms vary according to time of day, the season, exposure to pets, diet changes, or other sources of potential allergens. Skin testing is the most common method of allergy testing. This may include intradermal, scratch, patch, or other tests. Occasionally, the suspected allergen is dissolved and dropped onto the lower eyelid (conjunctiva) of the eye as a means of testing for allergies. There are no specific blood tests that are commonly used to diagnose hay fever. The best "treatment" is to avoid what causes your allergies in the first place. It may be impossible to completely avoid everything you are allergic to, but you can often take steps to reduce your exposure. Medication options include the following: Allergy shots (immunotherapy) are occasionally recommended if the allergen cannot be avoided and symptoms are hard to control. It includes regular injections of the allergen, given in increasing doses (each dose is slightly larger than the previous dose) that may help the body adjust to the antigen. Symptoms may sometimes be prevented by avoiding known allergens. Most trees produce pollen in the spring, grasses and flowers usually produce pollen during the summer, and ragweed and other late-blooming plants produce pollen during late summer and early autumn. During the pollen-producing times (pollen season), people with hay fever should remain indoors in an air conditioned-atmosphere whenever possible. For people that are sensitive to certain indoor allergens, dust mite covers for mattresses and pillowcases are recommended, as well as avoidance of culprit pets or other triggers. Bahls C. In the clinic. Allergic rhinitis. Ann Intern Med. Apr 3, 2007;146(7):ITC4-1-ITC4-16. Reviewed By: David A. Kaufman, MD, Section Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital-Yale New Haven Health System, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Previously reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. (6/18/2008)

http://www.lenoxhillhospital.org/ADAM/Care%20Guides/28/000142.aspx

This image shows two views of the trailing hemisphere of Jupiter's ice-covered satellite, Europa. The left image shows the approximate natural color appearance of Europa. The image on the right is a false-color composite version to enhance color differences in the predominantly water-ice crust of Europa. There are a number of very good lines of evidence which suggest that beneath this icy cover lies an ocean- and many have speculated that if there is an ocean, there could be hydrothermal vents (and maybe even microbes!). Click image for larger view and image credit. Back in the lab, we try to mimic the diverse hydrothermal vent environment to grow microbes. This anaerobic media is incubated at 90 °C (195°F). Click image for larger view and image credit. As a refresher, all of life on earth is divided into three domains- Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. Bacteria and Archaea are single celled organisms with no true nucleus, no membrane-bound organelles, and they divide by binary fission. They are very, very small—invisible to the naked eye, whereas most eukaryotes tend to be bigger things, like humans, tigers, shrimp, and zooplankton. Microorganisms are everywhere on Earth—in your belly, dirt, the oceans—and they have had a profound impact on Earth’s habitability and biodiversity, especially considering they have been around for about 3.5 billion years. Yet their diversity and distribution remain under-sampled and uncharted, especially in the deep sea. The base of the food chain Since the discovery of hydrothermal vents in the late 1970s, it has been shown that microbes are ubiquitous in and around hot and warm sea-floor vents driven by volcanic heat. Microbes have the ability to capture energy from a huge range of chemical processes, and many of the microbes at deep-sea hydrothermal vents do not need sunlight or oxygen to survive. Some live off of sulfur, hydrogen, or iron, while others produce methane. Many of these organisms fix their own carbon from carbon dioxide and use energy sources like hydrogen sulfide being emitted in vent fluids to grow. In turn, they serve as a carbon source for the larger creatures often seen at deep-sea vents, like tube worms or mussels. These chemosynthetic microbes are considered the primary producers at vents, like plants in the sunlit world, providing energy for all other life forms found there. This is a fundamentally different ecosystem than the photosynthetic light-driven ecosystem that most of us are familiar with at the surface of the ocean or in our backyard gardens. Until vents were discovered, nobody even knew this way of building an ecosystem was possible! Photomicrographs of a subseafloor thermophile isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vent fluids. This organism eats sulfur and hydrogen and fixes its own carbon from carbon dioxide. (A, B) Scanning electron micrographs, and (C, D) transmission electron micrographs thin sections. Click image for larger view and image credit. All of life on earth is divided into three major domains- the Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. This is the universal phylogenetic tree based on a gene that we all have, the ribosomal RNA. We (humans) are located in the crown group of animals, but the majority of diversity on this planet is in the microbial (bacterial and archaeal) world. Those lines highlighted in red lead to organisms that are heat-loving, the focus of much of our work at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Click image for larger view and image credit. Diversity of life at vents and beyond There are many different “niches” or habitats that microbes can live in at vents—sediments, black smoker chimneys, venting fluids, mats, even on rocks beneath the seafloor! Some microbes are heat-loving, or thermophilic, meaning they grow at very high temperatures, from a “mild” 40 °C (104 °F) all the way up to 121 °C (250 °F)! We study these communities using a suite of molecular, microscopic and enrichment-based techniques to examine the adaptation of microbes to their geologic and chemical habitat. On this mission to the Mid-Cayman Rise, we are especially interested in documenting the microbial habitats in ultramafic-hosted sites—sites with rocks that are extremely rich in hydrogen, magnesium and iron. There is very little known about microbes in this type of environment and our interests in hydrothermal vent microbial communities spans much further than just the bottom of the ocean. It has been hypothesized that life may have originated and evolved near deep-sea hydrothermal systems, and that organisms currently living in these likely analogues of early habitats may still harbor characteristics of early life. Microbes unique to this environment could provide insight into metabolic processes, strategies for growth, and survival of life forms in the subsurface of solar bodies with a water history. For example, Jupiter’s satellite Europa may harbor a liquid ocean with life-supporting hydrothermal systems beneath its icy shell. And the recent detection of methane in the Mars atmosphere has brought considerable attention to methane generation, both abiotic and biotic, and in general, determining if Mars can feasibly support microbial metabolisms that use or generate methane. With a sample size of only one, the search for life beyond Earth must begin with life as we know it on Earth, and deep-sea hydrothermal vents are a great place to begin our search for unusual life that pushes the limits of life as we know it. Sign up for the Ocean Explorer E-mail Update List.

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1104/background/microbes/microbes.html

Beginning Reading Design This lesson will help children identify and understand the sound of the short vowel /i/. Students will recognize the vowel in spoken language by learning the meaningful representation of sticky icky hands. As students gain the understanding of corresponding graphemes and phonemes, students are well on their way to becoming more fluent readers. Students will be reciting a tongue twister using their correspondence; they will also have further practice with this correspondence as they complete a letterbox lesson as well as read a decodable book. Primary paper and pencils for the student The meaningful representation of the "sticky icky" fingers Poster with the tongue twister written on it: "Mick slipped on the slick brick." Decodable text: Liz is Six List of letterbox words in Phoneme-Count order: (3) Pit, Fit, (4) Brick, Pink, Spit, Crib,(5) Drink, Twist, (6) Sprint. Letter Tiles: p, I, t, b, r, c, k, n, s, d, t, w. Ready words for the students to listen to and distinguish which ones contain the vowel sound: pit, pet, clink, clank, flip, flop, drink, and drank). 1. Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part is learning what letters stand for the mouth movements we make as we say words. Today we are going to work on spotting the mouth movement /i/. We spell /i/ with the letter i. When we make the sound /i/ we want to think of something being all over our hands and being very sticky. 2. Everyone put your hands out and act like you have something sticky on your hands that you just cannot get off. Every say together "We have sticky icky fingers". Notice how your mouth is almost trying to smile. Your voice box is on. 3. I want everyone to clear your desk off and I’m going to give you some sample words. I’m going to say two different words and I want you to make the sticky icky hand motion when you hear the word with the short vowel /i/ in it. (Pit, Pet, Clink, Clank, Flip, Flop, Drink, Drank) 4. Very good. Now together as a class we are going to practice a tricky tongue twister to practice our vowel some more. "Mick slipped on the slick brick." Everyone now turn to the person next to you and say our tricky tongue twister five times while doing your hand motion when you hear the short vowel. 5. Everyone now split into your reading groups. We’re going to go around the room and read Liz is Six together as a class. 6. After everyone finishes reading I am going to bring the class back together and going to have them illustrate their own memorable representation of how they are going to remember the /i/ sound. 7. For their assessment I am going to informally assess their reading by listening to their ability to correctly read and distinguish the short vowel /i/ sound. I will also be collecting their illustrations as a completion grade and assess their understanding once again of the correct understanding of the vowel sound. Letterbox example words for the Reading Genie Meaningful illustration for /i/

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/realizations/paynebr.htm

An introduction to waves Light travels as waves. Waves can be described by their amplitude, wavelength and frequency. The speed of a wave can be calculated from its frequency and wavelength. Waves are vibrations that transfer energy from place to place without matter (solid, liquid or gas) being transferred. Think of a Mexican wave in a football crowd. The wave moves around the stadium, while each spectator stays in their seat only moving up then down when it's their turn. Some waves must travel through a substance. The substance is known as the medium, and it can be solid, liquid or gas. Sound waves and seismic wavesseismic waves: Shock waves travelling through the Earth, usually caused by an earthquake. are like this. They must travel through a medium. It is the medium that vibrates as the waves travel through. Other waves do not need to travel through a substance. They may be able to travel through a medium, but they do not have to. Visible light, infrared rays, microwaves and other types of electromagnetic radiationelectromagnetic radiation: Energy travelling as waves in the form of changing electrical and magnetic fields. are like this. They can travel through empty space. Electrical and magnetic fields vibrate as the waves travel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa_pre_2011/radiation/anintroductiontowavesrev1.shtml

If you look at a cylindrical block from the bottom, you see a circle. If you look at it from the side you see a square. Imagine a cylindrical block that is spinning around amazingly fast. When you look at it, it stops spinning and snaps into either a circle or a square. This is similar to how a qubit will behave. Whereas a normal bit has a value of either one or zero. A qubit is both. A qubit has some amount of one and some amount of zero, however when you measure it the qubit will always snap into a one or zero. These measurements are probabilistic and will not be the same each time. How do blackholes affect light? Assuming we could get close enough to a blackhole without dying, how would it affect what the surroundings look like? How will the bending of light impact what we see? The reddit user, entropyjump, synthesized what a blackhole would look like (before it sucked up a bunch of stuff). Watch the video and read the below description: The youtube movie shows a simulated view of a small black hole, if it were suspended in the air about a meter away from the camera. I wrote the simulation in Python, and used a spherical panorama image available online. In the movie clip, the camera is orbiting the black hole to show what the environment looks like as light is traveling through strongly curved spacetime close to the black hole. In some movie frames, a so-called ‘Einstein ring’ can be seen: this feature appears when there is an object exactly behind the black hole as seen by the camera. Light from this object passes around all sides of the black hole on its way toward us, forming a ring around its shadow.Although this black hole is tiny (it has a Schwarzschild radius of about 1.8 centimeters), its mass is about twice that of Earth. Such a black hole would wreak havoc on our planet if it were to come in the vicinity of Earth. So, this is just a visualization of how light would behave close to it, and not a full physical simulation of the other effects the black hole might have on its environment. Lets just say I had practically inifinte energy. How do I go about turning this into a stream of protons? Dont hold back on the quantum field theory. Smashing existing particles together & filtering out what we want(protons) is not a good enough answer. The first practical complication is that you cannot (as far as we know) create matter without also creating an equal amount of anti matter. Of course the fact that the observable universe is mostly regular matter indicates that there is some lopsidedness to this summitry and so it may be possible to find conditions that at least create slightly more matter then antimatter. Still, this is a problem that you would need to be overcome to get your pure stream of regular matter protons. Another problem is the fact that to create particles we simply amass a very large amount of energy in a very small space and see what pops out. We have no way to command that only certain particles be created. For example, even if I amass enough energy to allow for the spontaneous creation of a pair of protons (the proton and its anti matter partner) i have no way to know if the protons are what is going to be created, or other particles whose combined mass and energy add up to the mass of the proton pair. We can only predict the frequency that certain particles will be created. Finally, although the transformation of energy into matter and matter into energy is a common occurrence in nature, and an entire industry (the nuclear power industry) has been made possible by our understanding of the transition we still aren’t anywhere close to having a mass-energy conversion machine. I can try and explain the conversion machine and our current methods of conversion if you want, but I think its off the topic of your question, and it looks like I’ve mad an ugly wall of text already. If any of you reading this see something that I’ve got wrong, or want to explain in more detail please do! This is a topic I’ve been curious about for years. Edit: I saw your post in r/physics. No, we can’t do better then smash particles together and see what comes out. Think of it this way. We don’t create matter, we simply create the conditions that allow matter to be created. The conditions that are needed are a very high concentration of energy, and the only way we have to achieve those conditions are particle collides. Unfortunately if we have enough energy to allow for the creation of a proton, then we have also allowed for the creation of many smaller particles that will need to be filtered out. So I’m sorry if smashing existing particles together & filtering out what we want is not a good enough answer, because right now its the only answer. That’s how I roll Thunderclouds emit gamma rays in powerful, millisecond-long bursts called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, first discovered by space observatories. These bursts can also produce beams of electrons and even of antimatter that can travel halfway around the globe. All proposed explanations for the phenomena involve strong electric fields unleashing avalanches of electrons inside clouds, but none fully accounts for the sheer energies of the gamma rays. New dedicated space missions and research aircraft may solve the mystery, as well as find out if the flashes pose radiation exposure risks for airline flights. In designing this jet-injection mechanism, the engineers relied on what’s known as a Lorentz force actuator (Image 3). The Lorentz force actuator in this case is a small permanent magnet surrounded by a coil of wires. The coil of wires, or solenoid, is part of a piston system that is separate from the permanent magnet which lies in the center. If we recall from high school physics, we know that when a current is passed through the wires of a solenoid, the solenoid becomes an electromagnet which, in turn, creates its own magnetic field. Now, if this new field is opposite that of the permanent magnet, meaning if their fields repel, then a repulsive force will be established. This force will accelerate the piston towards the nozzle, creating a sudden change in pressure which then ejects the medicine out of the nozzle. We’ve found the Higgs Boson: What next? The LHC is about to have a $1.82 Billion upgrade to research dark matter. It might have only just found the elusive ”God particle”, but the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN laboratory, near Geneva, is to have a $A1.82 billion upgrade at the end of the decade to investigate the mystery of dark matter. Scientists believe dark matter holds the universe together. Yet while it is all around us, making up 84 per cent of all matter, it has never been seen as it does not produce or reflect light. Now scientists hope that a 10-fold boost to the power of the beams of particles being smashed together inside CERN’s 27-kilometre tunnels will allow them to create and detect dark matter. Other experiments at the laboratory will continue until the end of this year, when the collider will close for 20 months for repairs.

http://thequantumlife.tumblr.com/tagged/Physics

hen the clock is gaining on the sundial, the Sun rises and sets later each day, and when the sundial is gaining on the clock, the Sun rises and sets earlier each day. If the two effects which give us the equation of time were solely responsible for sunrise and sunset times, these times would be late in summer and winter and early in spring and fall. Most of us would say at once that, of course this is not true. But it is true for anyone living on the On a standard meridian at the equator one might expect the Sun to rise at 6:00 A.M. and set at 6:00 P.M., but the Sun rises at 6:03 A.M. in July, a summer month, and also rises late, at 6:11 A.M. in February, a winter month. It rises seven minutes before 6:00 A.M. in mid-May, and 20 minutes before 6:00 A.M. at the end of October. At the equator these effects are entirely accounted for by the equation of time. The daily path of the Sun as seen at the equator on the first day of spring, summer, fall, and winter is illustrated in Figures 7 and 7a . At the equator the Sun rises perpendicularly from the horizon and sets perpendicularly, regardless of the season. Also, the total path of the Sun, day and night, is divided equally by the horizon. There are always twelve hours of daytime and twelve hours of night-time at the equator, except for two minor effects that increase daytime by about eight minutes. First, since we mark the instant of sunrise as the time the Sun's upper edge or "limb" just touches the horizon, the actual center of the Sun is still below the horizon by half the diameter of the Sun, 16 arc minutes or ¼ degree.. It will take an additional minute for the Sun's center to be on the horizon. At sunset the same thing happens and so an additional two minutes are gained for daytime. Second, when the Sun's limb appears at the horizon, it is actually still 43 arc minutes below the horizon but only appears to be at the horizon due to the refraction or bending of the Sun's rays by the Earth's atmosphere. This effect causes the sunrise to appear about three minutes early and sunset late by the same amount. Taking both effects together, the length of daytime is about 8 minutes more than 12 hours, and so, of course, night-time will be 8 minutes less than 12 hours, resulting in daytime being 16 minutes more than night-time at the equator, or for that matter, anywhere during the equinoxes (March 21 and September 21). Figure 7. The daily or diurnal paths of the Sun during the solstices(21 December and 21 June) and the equinoxes (21 March and 21 September) as seen by an observer at the equator. Solid lines are daytime, dashed lines are night-time. At all seasons on the equator, the daily paths of the Sun are divided equally above and below the horizon. The same information shown in Figure 7 is presented in Figure 7a, below, in the form of a polar plot of the position of the Sun in the coordinates of the azimuth and altitude of the Sun as seen by an observer at that latitude. Figure 8 and 8a show the apparent paths of the Sun as seen from Hawai'i, the southernmost State of the United States, 21 degrees north of the equator. The paths are all parallel to each other, but are slanting at 21 degrees to the horizon. It will also be noticed that the horizon divides the total path of the Sun into equal periods only on the first days of spring and fall, i.e., the equinoxes. In summer, the portion of the Sun's path above the horizon is much greater than the night portion, and the reverse is true in the winter. This illustrates the geographical effect, which depends on the observer's latitude. Figure 8 and 8a (below). The daily path of the Sun as seen from Hawai'i on the first day of spring, summer, fall, and winter. extreme situation is shown in Figures 9 aand 9a for a location at the Arctic Circle, latitude 66½ o north. The Sun is above the horizon all day at the beginning of summer, barely touching the horizon at midnight. At the beginning of winter the Sun's path is entirely below the horizon. This latter situation is modified by the refraction of sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere which causes the Sun to appear a little higher at the horizon than it actually is. Because of this refraction, the Sun appears briefly above the southern horizon at noon on the first day of winter at the Arctic Circle. Figures 9 and 9a (below). The daily path of the Sun as seen at 66.5 degrees north latitude (the Arctic Circle) on the first day of spring, summer, fall,

http://www.cso.caltech.edu/outreach/log/NIGHT_DAY/sunrise.htm

That separates or distinguishes; -- applied to points or marks used to distinguish letters of similar form, or different sounds of the same letter, as, a, ã, ä, o, o, etc. A small mark (such as an accent mark) added above, below, before, or after a base character to modify its pronunciation or significance. A sign, usually small, placed above, below or across a letter or group of letters in order to change the phonemic value of the original letter(s), or to denote stress or tone, or to distinguish between two words. Examples: German , , ; š and _ in the romanization of Russian Cyrillic; in the romanization of Hebrew; Polish _; Romanian _; French (where) as against ou (or). See also marker. From Greek διακÏητικός which means distinguishing. A mark or sign placed under, over or through a symbol to create a representation of a new value, not necessarily changing the value of a symbol but always representing an independent value (for example, an accent, tone, or some other linguistic information). Modifying mark of a character. For example, the accent marks in Latin scripts (acute, tilde and ogonek), the vowel marks in Hebrew, and the consonant pronunciations in Thai and Lao. (1) Any mark placed over, under, or through a Latin-based character, usually to indicate a change in phonetic value from the unmarked state. (2) A character that is attached to or overlays a preceding base character. Most diacritics are non-spacing characters that don't increase the width of the base character. A mark added to a letter or symbol indicating a change in its usual pronunciation, e.g. è, é, ê, ë. a mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation capable of distinguishing; "students having superior diacritic powers"; "the diacritic elements in culture"- S.F.Nadel a special accent that is added to the character when accent (dead) key is pressed followed by normal character a tilde above the vowel A mark applied or attached to a symbol, such as an accent mark. a mark added to a letter that usually provides information about pronunciation or the stress that should be given to a syllable; for example, acute (´) and grave (`) accents, and diaeresis (¨) are all diacritics. A modifying mark on a character. For example, the accent marks in Latin script (acute, tilde, and ogonek) and the tone marks in Thai. Synonymous with accent. These are acents characters that may appear with another character - such as the German umlaut. A mark near or through a character or combination of characters that indicates a different sound than the sound of the character without the diacritical mark. For example, the cedilla in façade is a diacritic. It changes the sound of . A mark like a circumflex, accent mark, cedilla, or umlaut, which is added to a letter to give it a special phonetic value, or to distinguish words which are otherwise graphically identical. Also called ‘accent. A mark that modifies the phonetic value of another character or characters. It does not occur alone but is used in conjunction with another character. In records each diacritic occupies its own position, directly preceding the modified character. a mark, such as an accent, underline, or bar, which is added to a written symbol to indicate an alteration of how the symbol should be pronounced. Refers to a character or symbol, which has no standard keyboard equivalent, such as â, æ, ç, etc. Because they cannot be represented using a standard keyboard, diacritics are typically stripped from source data during the database building process. The pippin utility program is responsible for stripping/substituting cityplacediacritics. a written symbol which is structurally dependent upon another symbol; that is, a symbol that does not occur independently, but always occurs with and is visually positioned in relation to another character, usually above or below. Diacritics are also sometimes referred to as accents. For example, acute, grave, circumflex, etc. A diacritical mark or diacritic, also called an accent mark, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. The term derives from Greek διακÏιτικός (diakritikos, "distinguishing"). Note that "diacritic" is a noun and "diacritical" is the corresponding adjective.

http://www.metaglossary.com/meanings/320515/

The goal of this selection of resources is to help parents support their children with the important ongoing project of homework. Below are tools for helping with learning strategies, motivation, memory, reading comprehension, and mathematics. There are 22 articles in this section. Sort by: | Date | Title | Just as your children have schedules and expectations each day at school, it is important to have them at home as well. These five tips will jump-start your homework routine and make the process easier for everyone. Taking good notes while reading can help students improve concentration and actively engage with what they are reading. This excerpt from Homework Made Simple: Tips, Tools and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework describes a number of effective note-taking methods. Does your child have trouble finishing homework within a reasonable amount of time? Is homework a frequent family battle? Learn how to stay sane and help your child succeed. Many computer products have built-in accessibility options such as text-to-speech, screen magnification options, or voice input controls. Learn what some of these optional features are and how to integrate them into instruction and studying. We all use strategies throughout our day to remember the variety of facts and ideas we need to retain. It is valuable for teachers, therapists, and parents to understand the memory process in order to become better equipped to help our students understand and use strategies. How can you help the child who does his homework, but then forgets to turn it in? Learn to help children with executive functioning problems plan and organize by reading these strategies. This article presents a variety of memory strategies. As parents, we need to pay attention to our child's reaction to the strategies and help our child select and use strategies that are comfortable and most closely match his or her preferred learning style. This article will help your child succeed doing homework. Read tips that can help kids with learning disabilities, ADHD, and dyslexia work faster and with focus. Set up a place for your child to work and give them the supplies they need. Teach them strategies, get them organized, and encourage them to succeed. Dyxlexia expert Regina Richards offers some strategies that parents and teachers can use to offer students new and different ways to access math learning. Suggestions for fostering independent reading include: (a) Give children books that are not too difficult. (b) Help them find books they will enjoy. (c) Encourage them to try many kinds of material. Although independent reading cannot substitute for teaching decoding, it improves reading comprehension and the habit of reading. Over one hundred ideas on how you can help your child overcome their problems with writing caused by their learning disability. Help your child with POWER (Plan, Organize, Write, Edit, and Revise.) Much of classroom learning at the secondary and postsecondary levels depends on understanding and retaining information from lectures. In most cases, students are expected to take notes and to review them in preparation for testing of lecture material. When instructional materials present a barrier to student learning, teachers often adapt the materials to allow students greater access to the information to be taught. These adaptations may involve changing the content of the materials (the nature or amount of information to be learned) or changing the format of the materials (the way information is presented to the learner). Work well with your tutor and get results. Learn good questions to ask. This short article will set your relationship on the right track. Here are some concrete techniques that children can use to study spelling. This article also shares guidelines teachers and students should keep in mind, because practice makes permanent. Many students with learning or reading disabilities find homework challenging. Here are five research-based strategies that teachers can use to help students.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/c668/

From the beginnings of slavery until the Civil War, countless numbers of African Americans attempted to make or succeeded in making their way to freedom. It was during the nineteenth century, however, that the migration of runaways within the United States and to Canada and Mexico became widespread. It is estimated that at least 50,000 men, women and children ran away each year and among them a few thousand made it to freedom. A few fugitives became prominent abolitionists who wrote autobiographies, thus contributing to a unique American literary genre, the Slave Narrative. At enormous risk, many others helped their families and friends and even strangers, secure their own freedom. Many Reasons to Leave The great majority of the runaways absconded for a few days or weeks only to be captured, or to return on their own. Some ran away to reunite with family members who had been sold away or to sustain familial or romantic liaisons. But for others, the goal was to secure permanent freedom and leave behind the horrors of a system that brutalized and exploited them. Many planned their escapes for weeks, even months, waiting for the right moment. Their quest for freedom often meant leaving loved ones behind in slavery, and the pain and anguish of such separations remained strong. Fear and anxiety about being caught and returned to bondage were a constant reminder that at no time did runaways have any right to freedom. Local and federal laws, indeed the Constitution itself, protected the rights of slaveholders to retrieve their "property." Successful fugitives were extremely self-confident and self-reliant individuals, resourceful, willful, focused, and purposeful. Their owners often described them as "artful," "cunning," "wily," "bold," and "intelligent." They took enormous risks and faced extraordinary hardships. They knew they would meet harsh punishments if caught. Many had seen firsthand the brutality experienced by those who had failed. Severe whippings of three hundred lashes - followed by rubs of salt, vinegar and hot pepper - were common and left many permanently injured. Some, like Jade, who stole money to pay for his passage North, never recovered. A man who witnessed his punishment stated, "They took him and whupped him for near fifteen minutes. We could hear him holler ‘way up at the big house. Jade, he never got over that whupping. He died three days later." Notwithstanding the dangers and threats, men, women and children, alone, in small family units, or in groups, dared to embark on a road to freedom that could take up to a year to travel. The Peaks of Migration Even though escape from bondage was a permanent feature of slave societies, at certain times the migration of runaways rose precipitously. During the colonial period, the number of fugitives remained small and those who succeeded usually posed as free people in towns and cities. But during and after the American Revolution, the flow of runaways increased as the war disrupted the plantation system in the South and ushered in the gradual abolition of slavery in the North. During the war, thousands fled to the British lines. For instance, in 1775, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, offered enslaved men their freedom if they bore arms for the British. Between five hundred and six hundred men immediately responded to Dunmore's "proclamation." Too often, however, the British promise of freedom was an empty one. At the end of the war, they sent a number of Black Loyalists to the West Indies in chains. The disruption caused by the war between the United States and Great Britain in 1812 -1815 also sparked a migration of runaways. To break the will of the South, British commanders occupied New Orleans with black troops. Admiral Alexander Cochrane even recruited runaways to fight against the Americans in Louisiana. In South Carolina and Georgia, black Sea Islanders left their plantations when British troops appeared. Roswell King, overseer on Pierce Butler's plantation on St. Simons Island, witnessed such an exodus among his boss' s five hundred slaves. "I can never git over the Baseness of your ungrateful Negroes," he wrote Butler, telling him that 138 people had escaped. Lastly, after the closing of the transatlantic slave trade in 1808 and the great expansion of the domestic slave trade from the Upper South to the lower Mississippi River Valley, the migration increasingly turned to the northern states and Canada. In the decades leading up to the Civil War, it symbolized the oppressive nature of bondage in the Southern states and revealed the inequalities faced by African Americans elsewhere in the United States. Profile of the Fugitives A profile of fugitives both within the South and in the North and Canada reveals that the great majority were young men in their teens and twenties. They ran away in greater numbers because they had not yet married or, if they had, had not yet begun a family. They were also more able to defy authorities or their overseers and owners if necessary. Once away from the plantation or farm, they could better defend themselves and were willing to resist capture. Women were less likely to be fugitives because they had often begun to raise families by their late teens and early twenties. With youngsters to care for, it was difficult to contemplate either leaving them behind or taking them along in an escape attempt. Nevertheless, many women embarked on the migration to freedom. Among the most notable was North Carolina native Linda Brent - later known as Harriet Jacobs - who escaped in 1835 and hid in an attic for nearly seven years before running to the north. She later became a reformer, abolitionist, and educator and wrote her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself , in 1861. When she escaped, a wanted poster was displayed for miles around. Sometimes entire families made it to freedom, like Harriet Shepard and her five children, who, along with five other men and women, fled in an owner's carriage. In a few instances, extended families of ten or more made it across the Ohio River. Besides tremendous courage, runaways displayed a great deal of ingenuity and organizational skills. They had to discretely gather food for the trip and, if possible, changes of clothes. Most runaway advertisements described the clothing people were wearing when they left, and as a consequence, many runaways modified their appearance, and even disguised their gender. Those light-skinned enough to pass for white had to behave and talk like white people. All had to provide believable explanations when asked questions, and they became masters at deceit and secrecy. Henry "Box" Brown of Virginia made one of the most unusual escapes from slavery. After his owner sold his wife and children to a North Carolina planter, Brown resolved to flee from bondage. With the help of a friend, he folded his five-foot-eight-inch, two hundred pound body into a specially constructed wooden box, two-feet-eight-inches deep and two feet wide. His friend took the trunk-like box to the Adams Express Company in Richmond and sent it off to a Philadelphia abolitionist. Twenty-seven hours and 350 miles later, Brown arrived at his destination. Most runaways chose one of the five major destinations that evolved during the period from the American Revolution to the Civil War: towns and cities in the South, remote areas near the plantations, the West, the North, and Canada. A few fled to Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean. Escape to Cities and Towns Perhaps a majority of successful runaways escaped to towns and cities. Even in colonial days these urban areas offered them unique opportunities for autonomy and anonymity. The hiring of enslaved men and women by townspeople, as well as self-hire was common, and by the early 1800s, most Southern cities had hundreds and sometimes thousands of hired bondspeople, making it possible for escapees to blend in. Resourceful fugitives who made it to urban centers could find ways to conceal their identities, create new ones, perhaps find shelter with relatives -enslaved and free- and possibly lose themselves in growing free black populations. Many who succeeded in hiding their true identities were literate, possessed marketable skills, and could easily pass as free. They knew what whites wanted to hear and could produce a plausible explanation of their backgrounds. Males found work as laborers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, mechanics, shoemakers, and tradesmen; women were employed as house servants, cooks, maids, and laundresses. Although escapees still faced the constant danger of being stopped and questioned by the authorities or suspicious citizens, control was less intensive than in the countryside, where black strangers were scrutinized and often arrested. As Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Louisville, Nashville, Mobile, New Orleans, and St. Louis grew, it became increasingly difficult for authorities to keep track of the expanding African-American populations. Residential patterns in these cities impeded the ability of the authorities to check the identities of African-Americans. They lived in alleys behind their owners' town houses, in rundown houses along the rivers and in residential areas and suburbs where they worked as house servants. There was little racial separation: regular slaves, hired slaves, free persons of color, and runaways lived in close proximity to white artisans and mechanics as well as members of the planter aristocracy. Although detailed statistics do not exist, local police records suggest that there was a continual flow of fugitives into urban areas. In these cities where runaways might have relatives and friends, there were also free blacks willing to assist and religious institutions that would take them in. In the Upper South cities, many legally free people, who had recently emerged from bondage, sympathized with the fugitives' plight and provided aid and comfort. A free mulatto in Camden, Delaware, Samuel D. Burris, was described as "notorious" for providing protection to fugitives. Despite a previous conviction, an observer reported, "Burris still persists in the nefarious practice of enticing Servants and Slaves away from their Masters." The second migratory path followed by the runaways contrasted sharply with the urban migration. It led into the most remote, isolated backcountry, dense forests, bayous, swamps, or Indian territories. There, the fugitives formed maroon communities - organized enclaves of runaways-that developed in the earliest days and continued through abolition. As early as 1690, farmers in Harlem, New York, were complaining about the inhabitants of a maroon colony who were attacking the settlers. The first known free black community in North America was a settlement of fugitive Africans called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose. Located near St. Augustine in Spanish Florida, it operated from 1739 to 1763. Some runaways established camps in Elliott's Cut, between the Ashepoo and Pon Pon rivers in South Carolina; and in the Indian nations of Alabama and Mississippi. In the eighteenth century, others had taken refuge in Spanish Florida with the Seminole Indians. Black and native Seminoles joined forces against the U.S. army during two wars in 1812 and 1835. In 1822, the sub-agent for the Florida Indians wrote: It will be difficult (says he) to form a prudent determination with respect to the ‘maroon negroes' (Exiles), who live among the Indians . . . . They fear being again made slaves, under the American Government, and will omit nothing to increase or keep alive mistrust among the Indians, whom they in fact govern. If it should become necessary to use force with them, it is to be feared that the Indians will take their part. It will, however, be necessary to remove from the Floridas this group of freebooters, among whom runaway Negroes will always find a refuge. It will, perhaps, be possible to have them received at St. Domingo, or to furnish them means of withdrawing from the United States! During the 1790s, runaways in Virginia and the Carolinas hid in woods and swamps during the day, and emerged at night to commit "various depredations" on farms and plantations. By the nineteenth century, several thousands lived in the Great Dismal Swamp on the border between Virginia and North Carolina. Slaveholders often ran advertisements mentioning that the fugitives were heading there: Bonaparte ran away last Christmas without cause or provocation. He is about six feet high and rather slim yet very strong, twenty-eight years old, not of very dark complexion, full eyes, large mouth, fine set of teeth, speaks fluently. I have received information that he is lurking about the Dismal Swamp. ( Southern Argus, April 16, 1852.) Maroons have been described as "some of the most hate-filled and angry slaves." Before fleeing, they had often committed acts of violence against their owners, overseers or other whites. Many vowed never to return to bondage. Joe, who murdered a slave owner in South Carolina, fled deep into the woods. He recruited others to join him and became the leader of a band of fugitives. He was then given the nickname Forest, as he had made the deep woods his refuge. A group of slave owners petitioned the State Senate in 1824, saying in part: [Joe] was so cunning and artful as to elude pursuit and so daring and bold ... as to put every thing at defiance.... Embolden [sic] by his successes and his seeming good fortune he plunged deeper and deeper into Crime until neither fear nor danger could deter him first from threatening and then from executing a train of mischief we believe without parallel in this Country. Forest remained at large and was caught only when a former companion betrayed him and revealed his location. The maroon leader was shot in the forest where he had successfully lived free for more than two years. The maroons or "outlyers," as contemporaries called them, maintained their cohesion for years, sometimes for more than a generation. They made forays into populated farming sections for food, clothing, livestock, and trading items. Sometimes they bartered with free blacks, plantation slaves, and nonslaveholding whites, and in a few instances white outlaws joined them, although this was rare. It is estimated that at least fifty maroon communities were active in the South between 1672 and 1864. Going South and West For some fugitives, the path to freedom went south and west. Men and women in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana could escape north into Indian Territory, west toward the frontier, or south to Mexico. Of the three destinations, Mexico proved the most attractive. "Sometimes, someone would come 'long and try to get us to run up North and be free," declared San Antonio former slave Felix Haywood. "We used to laugh at that. There was no reason to run up North. All we had to do was to walk... south, and we'd be free as soon as we crossed the Rio Grande." Haywood's views were confirmed by the San Antonio Ledger , a pro-slavery newspaper that noted in 1852 that Mexico had "long been regarded by the Texas slave as his El Dorado for accumulation, his utopia for political rights, and his Paradise for happiness." By the eve of the Civil War nearly ten thousand runaways lived south of the Rio Grande. Missouri enslaved men and women sought freedom in another western sanctuary, Kansas. Between 1861 and 1865, twelve thousand fugitives crossed the Kansas-Missouri border to freedom. Some fled to Kansas Territory, seeking Lawrence, a major stop on the western Underground Railroad . Opportunities for flight increased dramatically after the Civil War began. When Kansas Senator James H. Lane led Union forces into southwest Missouri in August 1861, runaways began to enter his military camp. Without authorization from Washington, Lane signed up the men as soldiers and sent the women and children to safety in Kansas. His impetuous act created the first African-American troops in the Union Army during the Civil War and encouraged other Missouri refugees from Arkansas and Indian Territory to make their way to Kansas and freedom. Henry Clay Bruce, the brother of future Mississippi Senator Blanche K. Bruce, was one of those refugees. Years later he recalled in his autobiography how he and his fiancée escaped from Missouri to Kansas in 1863. Bruce strapped around his waist "a pair of Colt's revolvers and plenty of ammunition" for the run to the western border. "We avoided the main road and made the entire trip...without meeting anyone.... We crossed the Missouri River on a ferry to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I then felt myself a free man." During the nineteenth century, the northern exodus of runaways increased as slavery was abolished in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, the New England states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Those who succeeded in making it to freedom usually came from the Upper South states of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri. The routes they took after crossing into free territory varied. One corridor led to Philadelphia, through eastern Pennsylvania, and on to New York and Boston. Some came into western Pennsylvania and moved north before entering western New York. Others crossed the Ohio River at Louisville or Cincinnati and journeyed overland to Cleveland, getting assistance along the way in Oberlin, Xenia, and other towns. More than a few found refuge in all-black communities in Ohio's Brown and Mercer counties. Fugitives also went to Quaker areas like Richmond, Indiana, and to larger cities such as Indianapolis and Chicago. In rarer instances, the fugitives made it to the North from the Deep South states. They sometimes trekked more than a thousand miles, over hills, rivers, and mountains. They would sleep during the day, hiding out in dense woods, curled up in barns, outbuildings, or slave cabins. They traveled primarily at night to avoid the patrols. The North Star was their navigational guide. In 1837, Charles Ball escaped from a South Carolina farm and headed north: From dark until ten or eleven o'clock at night, the patrol are watchful, and always traversing the country in quest of negroes, but towards midnight, these gentlemen grow cold, or sleepy, or weary, and generally betake themselves to some house, where they can procure a comfortable fire. Sometimes, escapees from the Deep South stowed away on Mississippi steamboats and Atlantic coast vessels. Others posed as free people and boarded trains. William and Ellen Craft combined many of these techniques and ingeniously escaped from Georgia to Boston in 1848. Ellen, the daughter of her owner and very light-skinned, posed as her husband's deaf and ailing master -her arm in a sling to cover her inability to write and her head wrapped in a bandage to camouflage her lack of a beard. Despite a near discovery in Baltimore, they reached their destination. Later, when two slave catchers appeared in Boston, they fled to Nova Scotia and eventually emigrated to England where they lived for seventeen years. Ellen stated at the time, "I would much rather starve in England, a free woman, than be a slave for the best man that ever breathed upon the American Continent." The runaways quickly found out that the North was not the "Promised Land"; rather there they met with discrimination and poverty, and found their dreams and hopes shattered. In southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, white residents held strong sympathies for the slaveholding South. They did little to assist runaways and had few qualms about turning them over to owners or "slave catchers" who came to claim them. African Americans' social networks in the North were often family and community-oriented. Many runaways settled in black neighborhoods in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Newark, and Boston. In the nineteenth century, runaways could find help from the loosely organized anti-slavery advocates who became known as "conductors" on the Underground Railroad. The most outstanding of the conductors was Harriet Tubman. She escaped slavery herself and led her family and hundreds of others to freedom during the course of nineteen trips into the South. The network was especially active in the western territories after the War of 1812. By 1830, it had spread through fourteen northern states. The network derived its name from the remark of a Kentucky slaveholder who had vainly pursued a fugitive into Ohio. He remarked that the man "must have gone off an underground railroad." Although much of what we know about those who aided fugitives comes from post-Civil War recollections of former abolitionists who wished to demonstrate their hatred of slavery, some whites and free blacks, including William Still, who later wrote a book on the subject, did assist a number of runaways. Quite a few fugitives in the North became active in the abolition movement. The most famous, Frederick Douglass - one of the country's greatest orators - is regarded by many as the century's leading abolitionist spokesman. Douglass' s writings and speeches gave an authentic voice to the abolitionist crusade. Josiah Henson, Anthony Burns, Samuel Ringgold Ward, William Wells Brown, Henry "Box" Brown, and others wrote about their experiences and became highly sought-after speakers on the anti-slavery lecture circuit. Their moving stories about their lives in bondage had a profound effect in converting northerners to the abolitionist cause. As historian Larry Gara wrote, "The eyewitness accounts of these former slaves had more impact in the anti-slavery cause than hundreds of theoretical speeches and pamphlets." Canada, the Promised Land The stage was set for the African-American migration into Canada in 1772, when England declared that any slave reaching Canadian soil was automatically free. Following the War of 1812, sizable numbers of runaways started to settle in Canada. People began to call it the "Promised Land," a term that came into wider usage after slavery was banned in 1834 throughout the British colonies. Over the next thirty years, between one and two thousand African Americans entered Canada each year. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 -which gave a slave owner or his appointed agent the authority to retrieve a fugitive even in the North with the assistance of local authorities-- caused many escapees living in the northern states to cross into Canada. According to the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, within a year of the bill's passage, some five thousand people had emigrated. Among them were free men and women whose very liberty was threatened by kidnappers, who increasingly abducted and sold them South; and others who felt they were not completely free. Advocates of immigration to Canada included Abraham Shadd, a free black shoemaker who aided fugitives in Delaware and Pennsylvania during the 1830s and 1840s before settling in Toronto in 1851. His daughter, Mary Ann Shadd, opened a school for fugitive children and edited the Provincial Freeman. She was the first black woman in North America to found and edit a weekly newspaper. Most runaways settled in what are now the Ontario Province cities of Toronto, Chatham, London, and Windsor; in rural areas along lakes Erie and Ontario; and in the all-black communities of Dawn, Wilberforce, Dresden, and Buxton . In 1837, Joseph Taper and his family fled from Frederick County, Virginia, "in consequence of bad usage." While staying in Pennsylvania, he read a runaway notice in a newspaper calling for his apprehension. Later, in Pittsburgh, he learned of the presence of a slave catcher. Taper took his family to St. Catharines, Ontario, where he rented a farm and settled in raising crops and livestock. In 1840, he wrote to a friend back in Virginia: Since I have been in the Queen's dominions I have been well contented, Yes well contented for Sure, man is as God intended he should be. That is, all are born free & equal. This is a wholesome law, not like the Southern laws which puts man made in the image of God on level with brutes ... I have enjoyed more pleasure with one month here than in all my life in the land of bondage. Teenager Henry K. Thomas fled in 1836 from Nashville, Tennessee. His mother planned his escape after she found out he was slated to be sold. Thomas made his way across middle Tennessee into Kentucky. He was captured and jailed in Louisville, just short of reaching the Ohio River. That night, although shackled, he broke out of jail, stole a small boat, and navigated over the waterfalls to the Ohio shore, where a man removed his chains. By 1850, Thomas was living in Buffalo, New York, as a property-owning free man. Learning of the Fugitive Slave Act, he took his family across the border, settling in the town of Buxton where he purchased a farm. By the eve of the Civil War, perhaps thirty thousand fugitives lived in Canada. The Civil War The dynamics of runaway journeys changed dramatically during the Civil War. Beginning in June 1861, enslaved people near Fortress Monroe, Virginia, began to trickle into Union lines and offer their services to the federal authorities. General Benjamin Butler called them "contraband." In the following months, the trickle turned into a torrent as thousands of runaways made their way to Army lines. Some Union generals refused to accept them, returning them to their owners, but Congress prohibited this early in 1862. By the time Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, tens of thousands of men, women, and children had made it out of bondage. Those who escaped found their new situation to be nearly as desperate as the circumstances they had left behind. Union soldiers beat, robbed, and raped them, and they were forced to live in contraband camps without proper sanitation, shelter, or supplies. Although the army was ordered to provide clothing, rations, and medical care, and freedmen's aid societies sought to aid Southern African Americans, most runaways suffered greatly from exposure and harsh conditions. One of the most important changes that occurred during this period was the enlistment of black soldiers in the Union Army. Prior to 1862, they were excluded from the army, although some served as spies, scouts, cooks, teamsters, officers' servants, and laborers. In May 1862, the federal government began to recruit African Americans. A majority of the approximately 186,000 black men who served during the war were from the Southern states, including 93,000 from the seceded states and 40,000 from the border slave states. Many among them were runaways. Despite being paid less than their white counterparts, they participated in several battles, acquitting themselves with courage and dignity. Few escapees during the war sought retribution against their former owners. Seeking a new life in freedom, they rarely found it necessary to attack the slaveholders as federal troops moved into their sections. Group violence most often occurred in Louisiana, where owners had a long history of oppressive treatment and punishment. When they attempted to move them to remote backcountry areas, some of the enslaved assaulted overseers before fleeing. By the end of the war, a large but undetermined number of the nearly four million enslaved men, women, and children had become runaways. As in the prewar period, few among them left the region of their birth. Most found a life in freedom fraught with suffering, pain, hunger, disease, and fear. The war, however, ended forever the phenomenon of runaways. The Consequences of the Migration The number of fugitives who made it to safety can only be estimated. In 1850 and 1860, United States census takers asked each slave owner in the South how many of his or her slaves had run away during the previous year and remained at large. They reported 1,011 in 1850 and 803 in 1860. But many owners did not wish to admit that their "property" had become successful fugitives, and so the census reports were almost surely far below the actual numbers. The records of northern anti-slavery societies as well as newspaper notices of runaways in the Southern states suggest that probably several thousand people made it to freedom each year during the antebellum era. While this figure is low compared with the total number--3.2 million in 1850 and 4 million in 1860--over time it amounted to a significant migration. The journey of runaways to towns and cities in the South gave momentum to African-American urbanization during the antebellum period, a phenomenon that accelerated after the Civil War. The migration of the maroons to remote areas caused great fear among slave owners and represented a continuing problem in maintaining control over their human property. Indeed, existence of these outlying groups served as a counterpoint to the proslavery ideology that promoted the institution as benign and paternalistic. The western movement of runaways led white Kansans to recognize the permanence of African-American settlement in their state in 1862. Lawrence abolitionist Richard Cordley acknowledged their presence when he declared, "The Negroes are not coming. They are here. They will stay here. They are to be our neighbors, whatever we may think about it, whatever we may do about it." Supported by the mostly white Kansas Emancipation League, the refugees founded Freedman's Church in Lawrence on September 28, 1862, creating the first of the many African-American community institutions that existed throughout Kansas by the end of the Civil War. In the North and Canada, runaways became symbols of the evils of slavery. Their increasing presence - as important and often charismatic figures in the abolition movement - played a major role in energizing the struggle against slavery. The fugitives would come to symbolize the inherent contradiction in the national creed: America as a land of liberty and equality, and America as a land of slavery and oppression. Aptheker, Herbert. American Negro Slave Revolts, 5th edition. New York: International Publishers, 1983. ____________."Maroons Within the Present Limits of the United States." Journal of Negro History 24 (1939): 167-84. Berlin, Ira. Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South. New York: Pantheon Books, 1974. Blackett, Richard J. M. Beating Against the Barriers: Biographical Essays in Nineteenth-century Afro-American History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1986. Blockson, Charles L. Hippocrene Guide to the Underground Railroad. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1994. Brown, Canter, Jr. "The Sarrazota, or Runaway Negro Plantations: Tampa Bays First Black Community, 1812-1821." Tampa Bay History 12 (Fall/Winter 1990): 5-19. Campbell, Stanley W. The Slave Catchers: Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850-1860. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968. Dusinberre, William. Them Dark Days: Slavery in the American Rice Swamps. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Egerton, Douglas R. Gabriels Rebellion: The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993. Finkleman, Paul, ed. Fugitive Slaves, Articles on American Slavery. Vol. 6. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989. Franklin, John Hope. The Free Negro in North Carolina, 1790-1860. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1943. ____________. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of American Negroes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. Franklin, John Hope, and Loren Schweninger. Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Gara, Larry. The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1961. Gatewood, Willard. "'To Be Truly Free': Louis Sheridan and the Colonization of Liberia." Civil War History 29 (December 1983): 332. Gordon, Asa H. "The Struggle of the Negro Slaves for Physical Freedom." Journal of Negro History 13 (January 1928): 22-35. Hadden, Sally E. Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2001. Harrold, Stanley. "Freeing the Weems Family: A New Look at the Underground Railroad." Civil War History 42 (December1996): 289-306. Johnson, Michael P. "Runaway Slaves and the Slave Communities in South Carolina, 1799 to 1830." William and Mary Quarterly 38 (July 1981): 418-41. Leaming, Hugo Prosper. Hidden Americans: Maroons of Virginia and the Carolinas. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.,1995. Litwack, Leon. North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. ____________. "South Carolina Fugitives as Viewed Through Local Colonial Newspapers with Emphasis on Runaway Notices 1732-1801." Journal of Negro History 60 (April 1975): 288-319. Miller, Floyd J. The Search for a Black Nationality: Black Emigration and Colonization, 1787-1863. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975. Mulroy, Kevin. Freedom on the Border: The Seminole Maroons in Florida, the Indian Territory, Coahuila, and Texas. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1993. Nash, Gary B. Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia's Black Community, 1720-1840. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988. Northrup, Solomon. Twelve Years a Slave, Narrative of Solomon Northrup, a Citizen of New York, Kidnaped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River in Louisiana. Cincinnati: Henry W. Derby Publisher, 1853; rpt., edited by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Olmstead, Frederick Law. The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveller's Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States, Arthur M. Schlesinger. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. ____________. A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, with Remarks on Their Economy. New York: Dix and Edwards, 1856. Pease, William H, and Jane H. Pease. Black Utopia: Negro Communal Experiments in America. Madison: The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1963. Phillips, Christopher. Freedom's Port: The African American Community of Baltimore, 1790-1860. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997. Porter, Kenneth W. "Florida Slaves and Free Negroes in the Seminole War, 1835-1842." Journal of Negro History 28 (October 1943): 390-421. ____________. "Negroes in the Seminole War, 1835-1842." Journal of Southern History 30 (November 1964): 427-50. ____________. "Three Fighters for Freedom." Journal of Negro History 28 (January 1943): 51-72. Price, Richard. Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1996. Quarles, Benjamin. "Freedom Fettered: Blacks in the Constitutional Era in Maryland, 1776-1810 - An Introduction." Maryland Historical Magazine 84 (Winter1989): 299-304. Rawick, George, ed. The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography. 19 vols. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Company, 1972. Schweninger, Loren, ed. From Tennessee Slave to St. Louis Entrepreneur: The Autobiography of James Thomas, with Foreword by John Hope Franklin. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1984. ____________. "A Fugitive Negro in the Promised Land: James Rapier in Canada, 1856-1865. Ontario History 67 (June 1975): 91-104. Strother, Horatio T. The Underground Railroad in Connecticut. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1962. Switala, William J. Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg, Penn.: Stackpole Books, 2001. Toplin, Robert Brent. "Peter Still Versus the Peculiar Institution." Civil War History 13 (December 1967): 340-49. Wilson, Carol. Freedom at Risk: The Kidnapping of Free Blacks in America, 1780-1865. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1994. Windley, Lathan Algerna. A Profile of Runaway Slaves in Virginia and South Carolina from 1730-1787. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995. Winks, Robin. The Blacks in Canada: A History. New Haven, Comm.: Yale University Press, 1971. Wood, Peter. Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion. New York: Knopf, 1974. Runaway Slave Advertisements from 18th-century Virginia Newspapers. Compiled by Professor Thomas Costa, Professor of History, University of Virginia's College at Wise. Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 Contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. Keywords such as fugitive or run away yield dozens of personal accounts. Butler Island 1839 Description of Pierce Butler's St. Simon Island Plantation, where a mass exodus took place when runaways were invited to join British troops in the war of 1812. This site explores how Canada became the home of the first settlements of free blacks outside Africa. It includes a portal of links to information about Lord Dunmore's Proclamation, the Ethiopian Regiment, the Black Pioneers, personal accounts including narratives, documents such as Certificates of Freedom, and letters. This article provides a chart of black settlements in Spanish Florida from 1690-1850's. It outlines the events taking place such as the establishment of various settlements for fugitives, including Fort Mose (Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose), and the inhabitants' battles with the U.S. Army and proponents of slavery. Ontario Heritage Foundation Report On the commemoration and historical background of Mary Ann Shadd The Underground Railroad The National Geographic Underground Railroad website allows users to assume the role of a runaway, meet with Harriet Tubman, and travel several hundred miles to freedom. The journey is presented in an interactive game. The William Still Underground Railroad Foundation Focuses on protecting and insuring the accurate depiction of the historical events pertaining to the UGRR and Anti-Slavery Society. The Foundation educates the American citizens generally, and youth particularly, about the life of William Still, maintain an accurate archive to preserve the legacy of William Still, and use him as a role model for youth development. The site also has a resource guide with various links. Slavery and Freedom in Lancaster County This site is a digital exhibition highlighting towns in Pennsylvania (Lancaster, Columbia, Christiana, and Solanco; and Canada (Buxton) integral to the Underground Railroad movement. Photos, maps and minimal text make up this site.

http://www.inmotionaame.org/print.cfm?migration=2

Earth's Water Cycle Protects and Provides Clouds function as earth's curtains, balancing the temperature. When they form, they block the sun when the temperature on earth becomes too hot, and they let the sunlight in when it becomes too cold. When the earth is hot, more water evaporates from the oceans and turns into clouds. These clouds reflect more energy and the earth cools. When the earth is cold, the clouds cool and condense into rain and snow. With fewer clouds, less energy is reflected. The energy reaches the earth and warms it. The earth has the most diverse collection of reflective surfaces in our solar system. Water is the most abundant chemical compound on earth. Water covers three fourths of the earth's surface. Between half to three fourths of your body is water. Water is ideal for carbon-based chemistry. Water is transported from the ocean to the atmosphere, to the land, and then back to the ocean. The ocean is the primary storehouse of water on the earth. The sun evaporates water from the oceans, which rises into the atmosphere and eventually returns to the ocean. The atmosphere also stores a small quantity of water. Wind blows water vapor from the hot ocean to the cool land. Cooling water vapor condenses into clouds. Water falls back to the land as rain and snow. The land also stores water. Fresh water is held for months in ice and snow. Water infiltrates into the land and is stored underground. Surface water flows into streams and rivers. Lakes store water. Water flows from the land back into the ocean. Water expands when it freezes, unlike most other substances. Ice and snow take up more volume than the same amount of liquid water. This makes water denser as a liquid than when frozen, so ice floats on the surface. If ice did not float on the surface of the water, the floors of oceans and lakes would be covered with glaciers of ice that never melt. Ice helps regulate the climate by reflecting energy. As a liquid, water's temperature range is perfect for cycling water from the oceans to the land. Water takes a lot of energy to evaporate into a vapor, and it releases this energy when it condenses back into liquid. This absorbtion and release of energy balances temperatures in the earth's climate, as well as inside living cells. If less energy were required for evaporation, streams, rivers, and lakes would evaporate away quickly. Beautiful clouds and sunsets inspire praise for the Creator who forms them. We are blessed by the water that flows though our biosphere.

http://www.icr.org/water-cycle/

Electricity is the name given to an effect resulting from the presence of stationary or moving electric charges and the effects they cause. The word electricity was coined by William Gilbert (1544–1603), an English physicist and physician known primarily for his original experiments on the nature of electricity and magnetism (the force around a magnet). Rubbing two materials together, such as your feet against a carpet, causes the separation of two kinds of electric charges in the atoms that make up the materials. A buildup of stationary charges are called static charges. If enough charges separate, a spark, called static discharge, is produced when the charges recombine. American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) named the two kinds of charges positive and negative. He also experimentally demonstrated that lightning, like the small spark created when you touch a metal doorknob after rubbing your feet on the carpet, is an example of static discharge, which is a loss of static charges. Static electricity is specifically the effect produced by static charges. In this project, you will learn about two methods by which materials are charged: friction and conduction. You will discover the effects of electrostatic induction. You will also determine how materials and distance between charged materials affect the electric force. Purpose: To charge materials electrically by friction and induction. - 9-inch (22.5-cm) round balloon - 9-ounce (270-ml) paper cup - tap water - wool cloth (scarf or sweater) - Inflate the balloon to a size that is easily held in one hand. Tie a knot in the neck of the balloon. - Use the pencil point to punch a small hole in the side of the cup near its bottom. - Ask a helper to hold his or her finger over the hole in the cup, fill the cup with water, then set the cup on the edge of a sink with the hole pointing toward the sink. - Rub the balloon on the cloth five or more times. - Ask your helper to remove his or her finger from over the hole and observe the direction of the water coming from the hole in the cup. - Hold the balloon near but not touching the stream and observe any change in the direction of the stream of water. The stream of water bends toward the balloon. Electricity is any effect resulting from the presence of stationary or moving electric charges. A charge (electric charge) is the property of particles within atoms that causes a force (a push or pull on an object) between the particles. The force between particles due to their charges is called an electric force. The two forms of charges are called positive and negative. When two like charges (positive and positive or negative and negative) are near each other, they repel (push apart) each other. But when two unlike charges (positive and negative) are near each other, they attract (pull together) each other. The property of space around a charged object that exerts an electric force on other charged objects is called an electric field. The source of positive and negative charges are the protons and electrons in atoms, which contain a nucleus. Protons are positively charged particles inside the nucleus (central part), and electrons are negatively charged particles outside the nucleus. Physical contact, such as rubbing, between uncharged material is one method, called the friction method, of electrically charging them. Friction is the name of forces that oppose the motion of two surfaces in contact with each other, such as the rubbing of the balloon and cloth together. Before the balloon and the cloth are rubbed together, they are neutral (having an equal number of positive and negative charges, thus having no electric charge). This is because the atoms they are made of have an equal number of protons (positive charges) and electrons (negative charges). Atoms can become charged by either losing or gaining electrons. This happens because electrons, unlike protons, are free to move. If an atom loses an electron, the atom then has more positive charges (protons) than negative charges (electrons), and is therefore positively charged. If an atom gains an electron, it has more negative charges (electrons) than positive charges (protons), and is consequently negatively charged. When two objects are rubbed together, one of them tends to lose electrons more than the other. The loss of electrons in one object results in its becoming positively charged, and the gain of electrons by the other object results in that object becoming negatively charged. In this experiment, when the rubbing stops and the balloon and cloth are separated, the electric charges stop moving. The balloon has a negative charge and the cloth a positive charge. An object with more of one kind of charge than another is said to be charged. These electric charges remain stationary, thus are called static charges (a buildup of stationary electric charges). Static electricity is the effect of static charges. While water molecules are neutral, they are polarized, meaning their positive and negative charges are separated so that they have a positive and negative end. The presence of the negatively charged balloon causes the negative end of the water molecules to be repelled. Because water is a liquid, its molecules have more freedom of motion, so the water molecules rotate until the positive ends of the molecules are facing the balloon. Thus the side of the stream of water facing the balloon becomes more positively charged. Since unlike charges are attracted to one another, the positively charged water stream is attracted to the negatively charged balloon. The process of polarizing a neutral material by separating its positive and negative charges due to the proximity (nearness) of a charged object is called electrostatic induction. The rotation of the polarized water molecules by the charged balloon is an example of electrostatic induction.

http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/static-electricity1/

World Bulletin / News Desk A big expansion of Antarctica's ice almost a million years ago may help scientists predict modern climate change, a study showed. The report, examining the Earth's orbit around the sun in a 100,000-year cycle of cold and warmth, showed that ice sheets took thousands of years to grow at the start of Ice Ages and surprisingly lagged a quicker cooling of the oceans. That delay, and the discovery of a large buildup of ice into the Southern Ocean around Antarctica 900,000 years ago, is a step towards understanding the climate system and its link to changes in the planet's orbit, they said. That in turn could help predict current global warming. "When we think of future climate change we think about everything happening together," said Harry Elderfield, a professor at Cambridge University and lead author of the study in Friday's edition of the journal Science. "We might think that it's warmer so sea level would change at the same time" as ice melts on the land and adds to the oceans. "What we are seeing is that things are changing, not really in concert." "The deep sea cooled to nearly freezing temperatures early in any given glacial cycle, whereas globalice volume typically increased gradually," Peter Clark of Oregon State University wrote in a separate commentary in Science on the findings. Elderfield's team found records of both sea temperatures and ice volumes by studying the chemical makeup of tiny marine fossils in the seabed off New Zealand. The last Ice Age was at a maximum about 20,000 years ago and the Earth is into a natural warmer period in a cycle expected to last about 100,000 years. But manmade global warming is now the main cause of a rise in temperatures in the past half-century, according to the U.N. panel of climate scientists which projects ever more floods, droughts and rising sea levels. Until now, most experts have believed that Ice Ages were seen mainly in changes in the volume of icearound the North Pole -- giant ice sheets blanketed much of the Northern Hemisphere at the height of the last Ice Age. "The assumption had been that the big cycles in the Ice Ages occurred with ice volume in the Arctic. We are finding that is not the case. We are finding that Antarctica is changing," Elderfield said. And the growth of Antarctic ice 900,000 years ago apparently initiated a previously unexplained shift in the cycle of Ice Ages and warmer periods to the current 100,000 years from 41,000 years, they said. Both periods are linked to Earth's orbit. Scientists previously have been unable to separate information in fossils about the volume of ice on the planet from information about changing temperatures, Elderfield said. They found that the amount of magnesium indicated changes in temperatures in the fossils and the exact makeup of oxygen indicated the amount of ice.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/index.php?aType=haber&ArticleID=93715

Maintaining Geologic Activity For a moon to have an active dynamo producing a magnetic field, it must have a source of internal heat. But even more internal heat is required to drive another process that may be essential: the geologic activity needed to keep the carbonate-silicate weathering cycle going, which regulates the global atmospheric temperature on geologic timescales. This important cycle maintains a roughly constant level of carbon dioxide in an atmosphere across many millions of years, due to a feedback effect between temperature, the weathering of rocks on continents, the deposition of weathered carbonates in ocean sediments, and the release of CO2 from buried sediments by volcanic activity. Without this self-regulating cycle, an otherwise habitable world will fall into a perpetual ice age, much as Mars is in today. In solar system's terrestrial planets, the most important source of internal heat today is the decay of radioactive isotopes. This heat source decreases with time, however, and small bodies cool faster than large ones. As a result, large planets like Earth can support the carbonate-silicate cycle longer than small planets like Mars. While the amount of internal heat required is still a subject of debate, it is estimated that a world's mass must be at least 25 percent that of Earth to maintain this cycle for 4.6 billion years, if radioactivity is the only heat source. But large moons orbiting an extrasolar giant have an additional source of internal energy that our terrestrial planets lack: tidal heating. A spectacular example is Jupiter's moon Io. The constant flexing of Io's body as it is tugged between Jupiter and the planet's other moons generates enough heat to make it the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Europa seems to experience a lesser degree of tidal heating, enough to maintain the ocean of liquid water that apparently exists beneath its icy shell. Ganymede has a magnetic field and evidence of past geologic activity that both suggest this largest moon of Jupiter also underwent tidal heating as its orbit evolved through resonances with its siblings over the past few billion years. The amount of tidal heating depends on a number of factors such as the masses of the moon and its planet, the moon's internal structure, the size and eccentricity of its orbit, and the orbits of its near neighbors. Large moons of extrasolar giants probably experience some tidal heating that could help maintain good living conditions far longer than much larger terrestrial planets maintain in isolation. Continued; click "Next Page" below.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/resources/seti/3304591.html?page=3&c=y

An artist's impression of the Chicxulub asteroid slamming into the Atlantic 65 million years ago. Dinosaur doomsday was wetter than scientists have thought, according to new images of the crater where the space rock that likely killed the dinosaurs landed. Sixty-five million years ago the asteroid struck off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Most scientists think this event played a large role in causing the extinction of 70 percent of life on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs. Geophysicists now have created the most detailed 3-D seismic images yet of the mostly submerged Chicxulub impact crater. The data reveal that the asteroid landed in deeper water than previously assumed and therefore released about 6.5 times more water vapor into the atmosphere. The images also show the crater contained sulfur-rich sediments that would have reacted with the water vapor to create sulfate aerosols. These compounds in the atmosphere would have made the impact deadlier by cooling the climate and producing acid rain. "The greater amount of water vapor and consequent potential increase in sulfate aerosols needs to be taken into account for models of extinction mechanisms," said Sean Gulick, a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin who led the study. The findings will be published in the February 2008 issue of the journal Nature Geosciences. The asteroid impact alone was probably not responsible for the mass extinction, Gulick said. More likely, a combination of environmental changes over different time scales took their toll. Many large land animals, including the dinosaurs, might have baked to death within hours or days of the impact as ejected material fell from the sky, heating the atmosphere and setting off firestorms. More gradual changes in climate and acidity might have had a larger impact in the oceans. If there were more acid rain than scientists had previously calculated, it could help explain why many smaller marine creatures were affected, because the rain could have turned the oceans more acidic. There is some evidence that marine organisms more resistant to a range of pH survived, while more sensitive creatures did not.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325687,00.html

Whales Galore includes several whale and ocean-themed activities in reading, math, and science for your kindergarten and first grade classrooms. Materials and ideas included: Reading and Writing: Lesson on identifying fantasy and reality elements from the story Dear Mr. Blueberry, by Simon James (ISBN#978-0689807688). Cooperative learning activity, independent writing assessment, and comprehension questions about the story are all included! Math: Whale and ocean-themed lesson exploration, cooperative learning story problems for addition and subtraction, and individual or group assessment included! Science: KWL chart, whale comparison Venn diagram, and whale body parts labeling worksheet included! We hope you and your students have a whale of a time learning about these amazing animals! Please also check out our PowerPoint Show called "All About Whales" in our TpT store. It shares many whale facts and also compares killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, and beluga whales. Thank you for browsing! Please follow Kelly and Kim's Kreations on TpT, find us on Facebook, or follow our blog at http://kellyandkimskindergarten.blogspot.com.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Whales-Galore-reading-writing-math-and-science-245788

Communications Protocols 101 This is the first installment in a series of articles on TCP/IP communications. Read part two and part three. Connecting two or more computers to form a network is a common practice today. The original computer network, ARPANET, was developed in the 1960s under the sponsorship of the United States Department of Defense. ARPANET was a packet-switched network, which meant that messages transmitted between computers were broken into packets. These packets had a maximum size and were encapsulated with header information that provided addressing for routing and reassembling at the destination. The term Internet was coined in 1983 when ARPANET was split into two pieces--MILNET (for the military) and a reduced version of ARPANET. The building blocks of the Internet are its (networking) IP and its process-to-process TCP used through physical entities of WANs and LANs. The distinction between a WAN and a LAN is typically the size of the geographical area. WANs can span cities, countries or even continents. LANs are typically limited to a building or a business/university campus. I'll start with a brief explanation of a network, including Ethernet and Token Ring basics, followed by concepts of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) and Internet models. Next, I'll introduce TCP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and IP protocols (a set of conventions governing data treatment and formatting in an electronic communications system), including communications ports and sockets. Let's start with a view of a simple network. Figure 1 shows two computers communicating over a network. The end system (e.g., a customer) is considered the ultimate producer or consumer of network information. An end-to-end protocol (e.g., TCP) operates between two end systems. A hop-by-hop protocol (e.g., IP) operates between an end system and one or more intermediate systems (e.g., router) to reach a destination end system. A point-to-point protocol operates on a shared physical media (e.g., Ethernet) connecting two systems. A router is considered as an intermediate system that's multi-homed--a system with attachments to two or more physical networks. A router's job is to receive data on an interface destined for a different network to which it's attached, and then forward the data to that network. This action is typically called store and forward. A bus topology is a physical network architecture in which all hosts contend (potentially simultaneously) for access to the same media (wire or cable, sometimes called a cable plant). A ring topology (e.g., IBM's Token Ring) is a physical network architecture in which hosts must receive permission to use a shared media by receiving a token, a special frame granting permission to transmit. Ethernet is a multi-access, packet-switched communications system for carrying digital data among locally distributed computing systems. In a packet-switched network, data flows through individual units or blocks of information. Packets contain both headers (control and routing information) and data (end-user data or control data). In an Ethernet LAN system, all computers connect to a shared coaxial cable through a network interface card (NIC). Also in an Ethernet LAN system, the control mechanism is an access method known as Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detect (CSMA/CD). To contend for the use of the cable plant, any NIC wishing to transmit checks for a busy signal (using its carrier sense capability). If the cable plant hasn't been busy for a specified amount of time, the station begins to immediately transmit its data. Search our new 2013 Buyer's Guide.

http://ibmsystemsmag.com/aix/administrator/networks/Communications-Protocols-101/

This part of the computer that executes program instructions is known as the processor or Central Processing Unit (CPU). In a microcomputer, the CPU is based on a single electronic component, the microprocessor chip, within the system unit or system cabinet. The system unit also includes circuit boards, memory chips, ports and other components. Amicrocomputer’ s system cabinet will also house disk drives, hard disks, etc., but these are considered separate from the CPU. The CPU has two parts —The Control Unit (CU) and the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU). In a microcomputer , both are on a single microprocessor chip. Control Unit (CU) The control unit tells the rest of the computer system how to carry out a program’ s instructions. It directs the movement of electronic signals between memory -which temporarily holds data, instructions and processes information - and the ALU. It also directs these control signals between the CPU and input/output Arithmetic - Logic Unit (ALU) Arithmetic Logic Unit, usually called the ALU, performs two types of operations - arithmetical and logical.

http://comworld9.blogspot.com/2012/12/cpu.html

Kansas Family History Research From Ancestry.com Wiki History of Kansas Kansas derives its name from a tribe of plains native peoples, the “Kansa,” who lived in earth lodges along the Missouri, Kansas, and Blue rivers in the northeastern section of the state. Kansas, which was a segment of the vast area known as the Louisiana Purchase, became part of the United States in 1803. With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, it became the Kansas Territory. On 29 January 1861 Kansas was admitted as a free state and became the thirty-fourth state in the Union. Kansas was first designated as permanent “Indian territory” and it became the home for many of the displaced tribes from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri as well as the remaining indigenous plains people. In 1825 the Kansa and Osage tribes were induced to give up part of their eastern Kansas lands to make way for those from the east: the Shawnee, Kickapoo, Delaware, Wea, Piankeshaw, and others. By 1846 nineteen reservations had been established within the boundaries of what is now Kansas. The first mission for Native Americans in what is now Kansas was Mission Neosho, established in 1824. A Methodist mission was founded for the benefit of the Shawnee in 1829. It did not take long for the restless white settlers to desire permanent homes and farms in Kansas. This settlement, however, was spurred not so much by natural westward expansion as by the determination of both pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions to achieve a majority population. This struggle became an important part of the peopling of Kansas, and the genealogist with early Kansas settlers will want to become familiar with the details. Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 only accentuated the difficulties, and this early civil war ultimately turned the Kansas Territory into “bleeding Kansas.” As each faction attempted to establish a majority, fraud became common. As an example, the 1855 Kansas state census showed 53 voters in the seventh district, but three months later, 253 votes were cast. From 200 to 300 men from Missouri went into the seventh district of Kansas Territory in wagons and horseback on the day preceding the election. They were armed with pistols and other weapons and intended to vote to secure the election of pro-slavery members to the territorial legislature. These examples are typical of the stuffing of ballot boxes by residents of Missouri who were hoping to create a slave state. In 1859 slavery was prohibited by the Wyandotte Constitution, but this law did not go into effect until statehood in 1861. Kansas became a strong Republican force when it entered the Union. For the settler of Kansas, this period was a long, bloody, and difficult one. Bushwhackings, burnings, lootings, and murder became an inevitable part of life. Graphic testimony is offered in the Reports of the Special Committee (see Background Sources for Kansas) and in the stories reported in surviving newspapers published along the Kansas-Missouri border and in eastern newspapers such as the New York Tribune. The first act of the Kansas territorial legislature on 30 August 1855 was to designate thirty-three counties in the eastern section of the territory. The second act created Marion and Washington counties, and a third created Arapahoe County out of territory that would later become part of the territory of Colorado. Kansas experienced its greatest population expansion at the end of the Civil War when peace brought development of the prairie lands. The construction of railroads and the availability of cheap lands through both the railroad companies and the federal government brought many settlers to the area until 1867. The Homestead Act was available only to Union veterans, giving Kansas a distinctly Yankee flavor. Kansas was not always hospitable; pioneers were visited by prairie fires, droughts, blizzards, dust storms, grasshopper plagues, cyclones, and floods. Many would-be settlers retreated saying, “In God We Trusted; In Kansas We Busted.” Some early settlers returned to the safety of the east. The settlers who remained and those who came later established the farms, communities, and businesses that shaped Kansas history.

http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Kansas_Family_History_Research&oldid=3934

Africa - a continent of contrasts Key Stage 3 teaching resources The aim of this module is to introduce students to the huge variation in geography that exists within the complex continent of Africa. Whilst providing a framework for young people to understand what is going on in the continent, the aim of each lesson is to involve them in the lives of people living in Africa, rather than just looking at the continent from the outside. Ultimately, students will learn that improving people's lives in a continent that is often perceived to be a ‘hopeless case' is dependent on a range of physical and human factors both within the individual countries, across the continent and on an international scale. The module begins with a lesson on the scale and diversity of Africa, setting the continent within its global context and exploring the range of climates, environments, landscapes, populations and cultures that exist within its 53 countries. Common misconceptions of Africa are explored in the second lesson, through a range of activities which again highlight the wide diversity of opportunities, challenges and life styles. The main body of the module focuses on a comparison between two contrasting countries in Africa: Sudan and Ghana. Students learn about the long-running but recently resolved civil war in Sudan and the impact of this on the lives of the population, before looking to the future and considering a range of options for the social and economic development of the country. In contrast, Ghana is a country which can be considered to have a successful economy, in spite of problems and challenges. It has made progress and improved the lives of the majority of the population in recent years. Students explore Ghana's export economy and consider the impact of educational improvements for the future of the country. Finally, the module raises the question of the positive and negative impacts that new technologies can bring to people living in developing countries. The benefits that ownership of mobile phones can bring to the Masai cattle herders of Kenya are contrasted with the growing and dangerous industries to process and recycle our electronic waste. This is a complex module for this young age group, but while it is difficult to teach a unit on Africa in such a small number of lessons, it is hoped that teachers will draw on the resources available and extend the ideas to suit the requirements of their curriculum and those of the students within their classes. Focus on key concepts - Physical and human processes

http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/Teaching+resources/Key+Stage+3+resources/Africa+A+continent+of+contrasts/Africa+-+a+continent+of+contrasts.htm

Political upheavals have altered and formed the world into what it is today. This article takes a look as some of the most shocking upheavals in history. Each of these events has played a key role in the development of today’s politics. Between 1849 and 1865, many major events took place, including the American Civil War. The years leading up to the war were turbulent at best. The nation endured a number of cultural and economic changes during this time. The economics of the North and the West were changed by a transportation revolution as well as industrialization. In addition, the majority of the population shifted to the North and the United States way faced with a massive cultural change. 1. Wilmot Proviso Acquiring new territory from Mexico via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo rehabilitated a sectional debate, which gripped the nation during the admission of Missouri. Congressional representatives were either concerned by or hopeful for the extension of slavery into new territories. However, the Wilmot Proviso what just as much about party politics inside the Democratic Party. The bill never passed and Southerners were offended by what they believed to be an outright attack on their social systems. 2. The California Gold Rush The question of slavery gained urgency when gold was discovered in California in 1848. The following year saw a great influx of miners and prospectors who wanted to strike it rich. Many abandoned their homes, jobs and families to migrate to California. In addition, several Chinese-Americans were attracted to the west coast. The majority of the migrants was never successful in their search for gold and ended up settling in urban San Francisco and Sacramento. 3. The Compromise of 1850 An senator from the state of Illinois by the name of Stephen A. Douglas brokered The Compromise of 1850, and it was supported by Henry Clay. It lead to the admission of California as a free state, the financial compensation of Texas for loss of territories, abolishment of slavery in the District of Columbia, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law and allowed the New Mexico territory determine their status through voting. 4. Bleeding Kansas Settlers rushed in to Kansas when it was a new territory, some supported slavery and others opposed it. Soon, violent clashed erupted across the land. Elections were held in 1855 for territorial legislature. Although there were only 1,500 voters that were legal, the pro-slavery migrants from Missouri increased the population to more than 6,000. Therefore, the elected officials to the legislature were primarily slavery supporters. Those who opposed slavery were outraged and violence ensued over the next couple of years. 5. Other memorable political upheavals include: 6. The Election of 1856 7. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 8. John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry Dena White enjoys blogging about finding the best MPA online to fit your needs.

http://www.conflictandpeace.org/category/history/

How are black holes discovered? How did the first astronomer discover the first black hole? Who had discovered it and when was it found? Please explain how the first black hole was discovered. No single astronomer has the credit for discovering a black hole. Before I explain how astronomers found evidence for the existence of black holes, let me give you some of the necessary physics background. 1. Any body which is above absolute zero (-273 Celsius) radiates thermal energy, and the peak wavelength of emission depends on the temperature of the object. For example, the sun's surface is about 6000 Kelvin so that its peak emission is in green light. If an object's temperature is about a million degrees, then its peak emission will be in X-rays. 2. Normally stars are prevented from collapsing from gravity due to thermal gas pressure and radiation pressure. However, if the thermal energy source (nuclear fusion reactions) stop, then the star will collapse. It turns out that there are forces other than gas pressure which counteract gravity when the star becomes more compact (for instance the neutron star is only 10 km across!). But the astrophysicist Chandrasekar proved that there is a maximum mass beyond which nothing can beat gravity. So, if we detect a compact object in space which is more than this critical mass, then we can be confident that it is a black hole. Now to return to the question of finding black holes: How can one detect a black hole if nothing can escape from it? Consider a binary system of stars where one of the stars is a black hole and the other a normal star. If the normal star's envelope gets close enough to the black hole, then the fierce gravity of the black hole can rip out gas from the normal star which is then swallowed by the black hole. However, due to the conservation of angular momentum, the gas cannot plunge straight into the black hole, but must orbit it for some time before it gets sucked. Thus, a disc like structure is formed around the black hole from which gas is pulled slowly into the black hole. When the gas orbits the black hole in the disc, its temperature is raised to several millions of degrees which emits radiation in the X-ray part of the spectrum (by the first note that I explained above). Thus, when we detect X-ray sources in the sky, then we know that there is gas which has been heated to several million degrees, and one of the mechanisms to achieve that is the accretion disc around the black hole. If the system giving out X-rays turns out to be a binary star, then a case can be made that one of the stars is a compact object (a neutron star or a black hole). Binary stars are very useful to astronomers because it allows us to measure the mass of the stars in the system (by Kepler's laws). If the mass of the compact object turns out to be more than the critical mass mentioned above, then one can be sure that it is a black hole. So that is how black holes are discovered. Now about actual discovery: In the early 1970s, an intense X-ray source was found in the constellation Cygnus called Cygnus X-1. As the years passed, in the spring of 1972, Cygnus X-1 was identified with a star known by its classification number HDE226868 (which is a radio source). Soon evidence was found that it is a binary star system with a period of about 5.6 days. By the special theory of relativity, no information can travel faster than the speed of light. Hence, a celestial object cannot change its luminosity on a time scale shorter than the time taken for the light to reach from one side of it to the other. Analysis of Cygnus X-1 showed that its emission had luminosity variations on time scales as short as thousandths of a second, suggesting that the object was only a few kilometers wide. Thus evidence was found that one of the stars was a compact object. Finally, astronomers used the binary star system to determine the mass of the compact object and found that it was greater than the critical mass, so that it was most likely a black hole. That is about the discovery of the first black hole in our universe. Since then, astronomers have detected several black holes in space using several techniques. While one class of black holes have "small" masses (greater than 5 times the mass of the sun), there are others which have gigantic masses (more than a million times the mass of the sun), called supermassive black holes. These black holes are found in the centers of several galaxy, with our own Milky Way harbouring a two million mass black hole in the center. Get More 'Curious?' with Our New PODCAST: - Podcast? Subscribe? Tell me about the Ask an Astronomer Podcast - Subscribe to our Podcast | Listen to our current Episode - Cool! But I can't now. Send me a quick reminder now for later. How to ask a question: If you have a follow-up question concerning the above subject, submit it here. If you have a question about another area of astronomy, find the topic you're interested in from the archive on our site menu, or go here for help. This page has been accessed 39810 times since April 29, 2002. Last modified: October 22, 2002 9:55:55 AM Ask an Astronomer is hosted by the Astronomy Department at Cornell University and is produced with PHP and MySQL. Warning: Your browser is misbehaving! This page might look ugly. (Details)

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=50

Feudalism and Medieval life The social structure of the Middle Ages was organized round the system of Feudalism. Feudalism in practice meant that the country was not governed by the king but by individual lords, or barons, who administered their own estates, dispensed their own justice, minted their own money, levied taxes and tolls, and demanded military service from vassals. Usually the lords could field greater armies than the king. In theory the king was the chief feudal lord, but in reality the individual lords were supreme in their own territory. Many kings were little more than figurehead rulers. Lower Brockhampton manor, Feudalism was built upon a relationship of obligation and mutual service between vassals and lords. A vassal held his land, or fief, as a grant from a lord. When a vassal died, his heir was required to publicly renew his oath of faithfulness (fealty) to his lord (suzerain). This public oath was called "homage". A Vassal's Obligations The vassal was required to attend the lord at his court, help administer justice, and contribute money if needed. He must answer a summons to battle, bringing an agreed upon number of fighting men. As well, he must feed and house the lord and his company when they travelled across his land. This last obligation could be an onerous one. William the Conqueror travelled with a very large household, and if they extended their stay it could nearly bankrupt the lord hosting them. In a few days of Christmas feasting one year William and his retinue consumed 6,000 chickens, 1,000 rabbits, 90 boars, 50 peacocks, 200 geese, 10,000 eels, thousands of eggs and loaves of bread, and hundreds of casks of wine and cider. A Lord's Obligations On the lord's side, he was obliged to protect the vassal, give military aid, and guard his children. If a daughter inherited, the lord arranged her marriage. If there were no heirs the lord disposed of the fief as he chose. Manors, not villages, were the economic and social units of life in the early Middle Ages. A manor consisted of a manor house, one or more villages, and up to several thousand acres of land divided into meadow, pasture, forest, and cultivated fields. The fields were further divided into strips; 1/3 for the lord of the manor, less for the church, and the remainder for the peasants and serfs. This land was shared out so that each person had an equal share of good and poor. At least half the work week was spent on the land belonging to the lord and the church. Time might also be spent doing maintenance and on special projects such as clearing land, cutting firewood, and building roads and bridges. The rest of the time the villagers were free to work their own land. Food and Drink The fare at the lord's table was as full of variety as the peasant's was spare. Meat, fish, pastries, cabbage, turnips, onions, carrots, beans, and peas were common, as well as fresh bread, cheese, and fruit. At a feast spitted boar, roast swan, or peacock might be added. Wine or ale was drunk, never water, which was rightly considered suspect. Ale was the most common drink, but it was not the heady alcoholic drink we might imagine. It was thin, weak, and drunk soon after brewing. It must have had little effect on sobriety. Fruit juices and honey were the only sweeteners, and spices were almost unknown until after the Crusades. Meat was cut with daggers and all eating was done with the fingers from trenchers, or hollowed out husks of bread. One trencher was used by two people, and one drinking cup. Scraps were thrown on the floor for the dogs to finish. There were no chimneys, and the fireplace was in the middle of the hall. Smoke escaped by the way of louvres in the roof (at least in theory). In the early medieval period the centre of life in castles and manors was the great hall, a huge, multipurpose chamber safely built upon the second floor. These halls were dimly lit, due to the need for massive walls with small windows for defense from attack. In the 14th century the hall descended to the ground floor, and windows grew in size, indicating increased security. The solar, or family room, remained on the first floor. It became the custom for the family to eat in the solar, leaving the great hall to minor guests and servants. Hall life decreased as trade increased. Trades specialized and tradesmen and women moved out of the hall. The communal life of the hall declined and families became more private. Manors sustained fewer people as trades separated from the manor community. The Peasant's Life Villages consisted of from 10-60 families living in rough huts on dirt floors, with no chimneys or windows. Often, one end of the hut was given over to storing livestock. Furnishings were sparse; three legged stools, a trestle table, beds on the floor softened with straw or leaves. The peasant diet was mainly porridge, cheese, black bread, and a few home-grown vegetables. Peasants had a hard life, but they did not work on Sundays or on the frequent saints' days, and they could go to nearby fairs and markets. The lot of serfs was much harsher. The Serf's Life Although not technically a slave, a serf was bound to a lord for life. He could own no property and needed the lord's permission to marry. Under no circumstance could a serf leave the land without the lord's permission unless he chose to run away. If he ran to a town and managed to stay there for a year and a day, he was a free man. However, the serf did have rights. He could not be displaced if the manor changed hands. He could not be required to fight, and he was entitled to the protection of the lord. Life in a medieval monastery Also see "Medieval London" in our "London History" guide Prehistory - Roman Britain - Dark Ages - Medieval Britain - The Tudor Era - The Stuarts - Georgian Britain - The Victorian Age Contents © David Ross and Britain Express

http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm

Timescale of the San Juan by Norm Vance This is a chronological history with brief historical references. For more detail see specific articles on this website. This date is an apt starting place for our time scale of the San Juan because the area was 100% different than now. At this point in time the San Juan area was a shallow ocean. The beach was up around the present Canadian border. Almost all of the earth’s land mass was composed of separate “plates” which were clumped together on the other side of the planet in a gigantic area now called Gondwanaland. The land was barren but the seas were teeming with tiny life forms. (Check Florissant Fossil Beds Northeast of Gunnison.) The enormous plates moved about the planet with several forming the continents of the western hemisphere. The San Juan area is now a desert but much of the earth’s surface is lush with plant life. This is the age of the dinosaur. (Check at Dinosaur Monument northwest of Montrose.) 200 to 80 MYA Gold & SilverDuring this time many upheavals were caused by the Pacific Plate grinding into the plate that is North America. At times vast seaways filled much of the San Juan area bringing sand and clay resulting in layers of sandstone, shale, and various other layered formations. At about 80 MYA the pressure of the plate action became too great and large fractures occurred between the present Boulder, Colorado area, across the San Juan area and toward the southwest corner of the state. These deep cracks in the surface allowed molten minerals to flow upward. They flowed into empty spaces in the broken crust and cooled to solids. 80 million years later people mined into these and removed gold, silver, and many rare minerals. The area is known as the Colorado Mineral Belt. All but one of Colorado’s famous mines is located in this ancient area. new set of plate pressures start pushing on the west side of the country’s land mass causing great folding and uplifting in the earth’s surface. This formed early mountains. For the next 40 million years a quiet period of erosion took place. This erosion carried material out of the higher lands and spread it around the mountain’s edges forming deserts. Boom! Starting at 35 MYA and lasting almost ten million years great volcanic explosions blew holes the San Juan area. Huge mounds of volcanic ash and magma grew into new mountains. When empty of magma and energy the huge volcanoes collapsed leaving craters. New volcanoes grew and also collapsed until the craters overlapped into a moonscape. The great volcano activity died down about 20 MYA. This was the end of the era of earth shaking events in the San Juan area. Molten minerals still leaked into fractures, the floors of old volcanoes settled and filled in, and slowly a time of peace came to the new baby mountains. This peace was not a still time however, just slower. There was an enormous amount of heavy rock thrown out or pushed up into a rugged landscape. Gravity acted on the more unstable rock. Rock slides and rock movement both exposed new mountain peaks and covered other vast areas. Other events went to work carving the San Juan. These were caused by wind, water and ice. The ice age caused a build up of an ice pack on mountains and in the valleys. These glaciers moved and scoured valley walls and floors. Some valleys became wide canyons. As sections of earth were slowly pushed upwards, rivers cut deep narrow gorges. Over vast periods of time, wear and erosion cut the San Juan Mountains and valleys into the shape we find today. Slowly winds brought in soil components. Winds, birds and animals carried seeds and the area grew a vast array of plants. The dinosaurs were gone by 65 million years ago. Other animals survived the early harshness of planet earth and were separated as the plates pulled the land mass apart. Great wooly mammoths, bison, early elk and deer, and a wide variety of animals had the San Juan to themselves for millions of years. 4 MYA to 30 TYA – Mankind (Please note the time changes from millions of years ago to thousands of years ago.) Man began and lived in what are now Africa, Asia, and Europe. The Americas were separated from the Eastern Hemisphere by the vast oceans of the world until about 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. The last great Ice Age began about 60 TYA. The ice sheets took water from the oceans lowering them hundreds of feet. The ice build up projected down into the United States covering Canada completely. Higher elevation areas such as the San Juan developed glaciers which once again changed the landscape. The Humanity Pump Although it was the Ice Age, temperatures and weather still varied. Mankind had spread north and east in what is now Siberian Russia. Slowly, over generations, hunting tribes followed prey across the ice cap toward Alaska. The warmer times drew them north and east. Then a cooling period drove them south into Alaska and Canada. The ice age weather was a pump that pushed early man into the Americas. Given several thousand years these people populated to the southern tip of South America. 10 TYA Man Enters the San Juan Just when the first man or tribe entered our San Juan area is unknown. Because mountain life is harsher than at lower elevation the early nomads populated the lower areas of America first. In the San Juan area early man first followed mammoth or bison up waterways higher and higher into the mountains during summer’s heat. These early people are called Paleo Indians. They are known as “The Great Hunters.” It is truly an adequate name considering they faced huge mammoths with crude stone tipped spears and clubs and hunted three quarters of the mammals to extension! These early people lived in crude, temporary tent-like structures. Small tribes moved about an area according to the supply of food and the season. Their spears were stone tipped and these points and other stone tools are about all we know about them. All of the other material goods they possessed were organic and have long since rotted. The general weather and temperature patterns began a slow change, becoming warmer. This caused a movement of Indian tribes across the southwest. The early hunters followed prey east to the plains. Tribes from the west and south moved into the area living mostly in the dry deserts of New Mexico and Arizona. This is known as the desert culture and they developed into the Anasazi. The Anasazi lived in a large area of the southwest for 2000 years developing from nomadic hunters into farmers and city builders. They moved away from the San Juan area when severe drought conditions developed toward the end of the 1200′s. They became the current Pueblo culture. A couple of centuries later the Navajo and Ute Indians moved into the mostly empty San Juan area. 400 YA Close Encounter! Europeans began sailing to this hemisphere beginning with Columbus. Later Spanish explorers landed in Mexico and pushed north and west working their way up the Rio Grande Valley. It was a close encounter for the Pueblo, Ute and Navajo who first saw a horse mounted Spaniard. They had never seen a horse or a non Indian before. Trade was quickly set up between the Indians and the Spanish. The Spanish wanted furs from the Indians and the Spanish needed workers to use to herd sheep. The Indians wanted the wondrous horse. They traded hides and their children to the Spanish for horses which they often killed and ate. Anger and violence began soon as the whites moved onto more Indian land and the Indians began stealing horses and cattle. The Spanish treated the Indians harshly in an effort to change evey aspect of their culture and religion. White men moved into the New Mexico area which was considerably easier to travel through than the mountains to the north. The Utes traded hides gathered in the San Juan. This ultimately caused a few early Europeans to venture into the southern borders of the area. The San Juan became of great interest to the Spanish who had long expected to find civilizations in the area loaded with gold and silver. There was already the fur trade and information that traces of silver and gold had been found in the mountains to the north got their attention. The governor of New Mexico sent Juan Rivera to explore north of Santa Fe and into the mountains. He returned with still more inviting news of the high mountains. 200 YS -1776 At the same time our country’s founding fathers were preparing the Declaration of Independence for a group of states on the eastern coast, a small band of men and women set off from Santa Fe on a mission of adventure and exploration. The goal was to find a passable route from the Catholic missions in New Mexico to the newly established missions in California. The leader of this expedition was Fryer Dominquez. It was Fryer Silvestre Escalante who recorded the activity and discoveries made. Escalante’s recordings were the first accurate descriptions of the southern San Juan. The mountains and roughness of the land caused exact locations to vary but maps were made and landmarks given names. The terrain also was a challenge for the expedition. After skirting along the southern and western San Juan and making it to north of the Grand Canyon the expedition turned back returning to Santa Fe. Following the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson sent several expeditions into the west. The famous Lewis and Clark group pushed across the Rocky Mountains and on to the Pacific taking a northerly route. Another group led by Zebulon Pike pushed into the San Luis Valley just east of the San Juan. This was Mexican territory and a Mexican army patrol arrested the Pike group. Lewis and Clark, Pike, and others reported on the wild animal life in the mountains. Early trappers began working their way up the waterways into the mountains. These were powerful and strong willed men who began the “Mountain Man” legends. They not only had to face a rough natural environment but also the sometimes unfriendly Indians. Support for trapping came from England. The English gentleman of the day simply had to have a beaver skin hat or two in his collection. This fad caused the trappers to face the harsh life. They left their names on many mountains, rivers, parks, and other landmarks. A few of these hearty mountain men began to see a need for outposts to service the trapping business. Several trading posts and military forts sprang up. A minister, Joseph Williams, left a description of a fort on the Uintah River. He attempted to “save” the mountain men who he described as “fat, dirty, idle, greasy, drunken, swearing, and unbelievably wicked.” Preacher Williams saved himself by leaving the fort. By 1840 the beaver hat fad faded and the fur market crashed ending the big fur business but leaving the San Juan investigated by white men. Many of the trading post became towns and some the cities of today. The colorful John Fremont was the next to explore the area. Fremont had a long history of exploring and popularizing the mountains in his writings. He had problems with the army and was once court marshaled. Later, as a citizen he was hired to blaze a trail to California from St. Louis. He pushed his group into the San Juan from the east, just north of the present South Fork, Colorado. Fremont moved 120 mules and 32 men into the mountains in early winter. No mules and only 23 men made it back. Once again the San Juan turned back attempts of the white men to blaze a trail through it. The Old Spanish Trail The route followed by Dominguez and Escalante was traveled by others and became the historic Old Spanish Trail that ultimately linked Santa Fe with Los Angeles. The Santa Fe Trail In 1821 the Santa Fe Trail was opened between the east and Santa Fe. The combination of the Old Spanish and Santa Fe trails allowed new traffic into the area. The trails were used for decades by trappers, settlers, cowboys and other brave souls. Spoils of War In 1846-47 the United States and Mexico were at war. The United States defeated Mexico and won from Mexican rule the lands that became New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. Pagosa became better known when in 1859, a party led by Captain John Macomb entered the area following the Old Spanish Trail. Macomb camped at and was awed by the Great Pagosa Hot Spring. He returned to the U.S. with news about his travels to the Great Pagosa and of gold deposits he had seen in Southwest Colorado rivers. The Lure of Gold The country was already deep into gold-fever because of the rush to California and the gold finds in Colorado west of Denver. The lure of gold in the San Juan began a rush that would forever change the area. The San Juan Mountains had been a barrier holding back exploration and settlers. Harsh winters and rugged terrain had been more than the Spanish or early Anglos wanted to deal with. Fortunes in gold was a different matter and soon after the news of streams gleaming with gold was received, the rush was on. The area northwest of Pagosa Country saw the major gold and silver strikes. The towns of Silverton, Ouray, Tulluride, and others sprang to life overnight. At the same time Summitville, the largest mine in the Pagosa area, began production. Summitville is south of present day Wolf Creek Pass. Pagosa with its well-traveled trails remained an access route and cross -roads. The Great Pagosa Hot Spring was well-known by travelers and miners. In the summer months of the early 1870′s the Great Pagosa Hot Spring was a welcome rest and recuperation spot. In 1878 the U.S. Army moved to Pagosa Springs and built a fort on the bank of the San Juan River across from the Great Pagosa Hot Spring. The mostly blackmen, called “Buffalo Solders,” were there to protect miners and settlers from unhappy Indians. In the early 1800’s there were many sheep herders in the Pagosa area. Sheep wondered the mountains in summer and were routed to the southern foothills in winter. Intermixed with sheep were cattle and large ranches developed across the area, but lumber became the main industry of the area. The major railroad line by-passed Pagosa Springs to the south stopping at Pagosa Junction on its way from Chama to Durango. Train tracks were laid into many valleys and to Pagosa Springs. These were “spur lines” used to haul lumber and ultimately connected to the main line. Wood from Pagosa was shipped to many diverse locations from home construction in Denver to chopsticks in Japan. During World War I a better route from the San Luis Valley to the San Juan Valley resulted in Wolf Creek Pass being constructed. The towns that now exist in the San Juan area are the towns that survived. Many settlements and towns began only to fade away as time passed. It is to the credit of the past residents of Pagosa Country that their courage and tenacity kept the area alive. In a harsh environment their spirit overcame the ups and downs of economy and nature. Pagosa now has a multi-faceted economy and lifestyle. Cattle ranches still exist and the cowboy is very much a part of the area. Light industry can be found from small lumber mills to many cottage industries. Tourism and summer and winter sports are the main industry in modern times.

http://pagosasprings.com/timescale-of-the-san-juan/

From Plastics Wiki, free encyclopedia In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of one or more substances, known as solutes, dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. A common example is a solid, such as salt or sugar, dissolved in water, a liquid. Gases may dissolve in liquids, for example, carbon dioxide or oxygen in water. Liquids may dissolve in other liquids and gases in other gases. An ideal solution is one where the interactions of the molecules of the solvent with each other are equal to their interactions with the solutes. The properties of an ideal solution can be calculated by the linear combination of the properties of its components. The solvent is conventionally defined as the substance that exists in a greater quantity than the solute(s) in the solution. If both solute and solvent exist in equal quantities (such as in a 50% ethanol, 50% water solution), the concepts of "solute" and "solvent" become less relevant, but the substance that is more often used as a solvent is normally designated as the solvent (in this example, water). Solvents can be broadly classified into polar and non-polar solvents A common measure of the polarity of a solvent is the dielectric constant. The most widely used polar solvent is water, with a dielectric constant of 78.5. Ethanol, with a dielectic constant of 24.3, has intermediate polarity. An example of a non-polar solvent is hexane, which has a dielectic constant of 1.9. Generally polar or ionic compounds will only dissolve in polar solvents. A simple test for the polarity of a liquid solvent is to rub a plastic rod, to induce static electricity. Then hold this charged rod close to a running stream of the solvent. If the path of the solvent deviates when the rod is held close to it, it is a polar solvent. Certain molecules have polar and non-polar regions, for example sodium dodecyl sulfate. This class of molecules (called amphipathic molecules) includes surfactants like soaps and emulsifiers, as they have the ability to stabilize emulsions by aligning themselves on the interface between the non-polar and polar liquids, with their polar ends in the polar liquid and their non-polar ends in the non-polar liquid. During solvation, especially when the solvent is polar, a structure forms around it, which allows the solute-solvent interaction to remain stable. When no more of a solute can be dissolved into a solvent, the solution is said to be saturated. However the point at which a solution can become saturated changes significantly with different environmental factors, such as temperature, pressure, and contamination. Raising the solubility (such as by increasing the temperature) to dissolve more solute, and then lowering the solubility causes a solution to become supersaturated. In general the greater the temperature of a solvent, the more of a given solute it can dissolve. However, some compounds exhibit reverse solubility, which means that as a solvent gets warmer, less solute can be dissolved. Some surfactants exhibit this behaviour. There are several ways to measure the strength of a solution; see concentration for more information. There are many types of solutions: |Examples of solutions||Solute| |Solvent||Gas||Oxygen and other gases in nitrogen (air)||Water vapor in air (humidity)||The odor of a solid results from molecules of that solid being dissolved in the air| |Liquid||Carbon dioxide in water (carbonated water)||Ethanol (common alcohol) in water; various hydrocarbons in each other (petroleum)||Sucrose (table sugar) in water; sodium chloride (table salt) in water; gold in mercury, forming an amalgam| |Solid||Hydrogen dissolves rather well in metals; platinum has been studied as a storage medium||Water in activated charcoal; moisture in wood||Steel, duralumin, other metal alloys| - Colligative properties - Molar solution - Percentage solution - Solubility equilibrium - Suspension (chemistry)

http://plastics.inwiki.org/Solution

The history of polling in the United States goes back to 1824, when two newspapers, the Harrisburg Pennsylvanian and the Raleigh Star, organized "show votes" to determine the political preferences of voters prior to the presidential election of that year. In 1883 the Boston Globe attempted to speed up its reporting of election returns by sending reporters to poll various precincts. By the turn of the century many newspapers were conducting polls to determine political preferences. Later polls were conducted by magazines; the first among them were the Farm Journal (1912) and the Literary Digest (1916). Those early polls were generally local or regional rather than national and were confined to obtaining election preferences rather than opinions on political issues. During World War I, however, a poll as to whether or not the United States should enter the war was conducted. The methods used in the early polls made no claim to being scientific; polling was usually done by canvassers hired to go out and question people or by "straw ballots" in the newspapers, which readers were asked to fill out and mail in. A more scientific method of polling called sampling was developed in the mid-1930s. This method enables the polltaker to question a small percentage of the group whose opinions he wishes to ascertain and to analyze from their responses the opinions of the whole group. The superiority of this method over the old straw-ballot system was demonstrated in the 1936 presidential election when the Literary Digest poll, which based its predictions on the older technique, produced a staggeringly inaccurate forecast, while the poll of a newer group organized by George Gallup predicted the result of the election correctly. By the 1940s the polls were concerned with social and economic questions as well as with political issues. An unusual failure of polling took place in 1948 when the polling organizations predicted the defeat of Harry S. Truman, who won. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/poll-evolution.html

John wants to know the values of the area and perimeter of a rectangle. John can take measurements of the length and width of the rectangle in inches. John's measurements are expected to be accurate to within 0.1 inch. 1. Identify the inputs and outputs of the problem. Inputs: length of rectangle, width of rectangle, number1, Outputs: area and perimeter of rectangle 2. Identify the processing needed to convert the inputs to the Area = length * width Perimeter = 2W + 2L (W = width, L = length) 3. Design an algorithm in pseudocode to solve the problem. Make sure to include steps to get each input and to report each 4. Identify two test cases, one using whole number values, and one using decimal number values. For each of the two test cases show what inputs you will use and what your expected outputs should 5. Write the program to implement your algorithm

http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/john-wants-know-values-area-perimeter-rectangle-john-measurements-length-width-rectangle-i-q2504993

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a day marking the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla. Although the Mexican army was eventually defeated, the "Batalla de Puebla" became a rallying point of Mexican unity and patriotism, and a symbol for the right of nations for to self-determination. Cinco de Mayo is often confused in this country with the independence of Mexico, which took place more than 50 years earlier on September 16, 1810. But the country continued to face threats of foreign invasion as well as an internal political split. Cinco de Mayo, therefore, commemorates a historical uprising in Mexico that united sectors from all social classes–peasants, landowners, and industrial workers — in a people’s war where a small, under-equipped army of Mexicans defeated a vastly superior military power. On May 5th, 1862, under General Ignacio Zaragoza, some 5,000 ill-equipped Mestizo and Zapotec Indians defeated the French army in what came to be known as the "Batalla de Puebla." An excerpt from a speech given by journalist John Ross, author of the book ??The Annexation of Mexico: From the Aztecs to the International Monetary Fund. - John Ross, author of ??The Annexation of Mexico: from the Aztecs to the International Monetary Fund.

http://www.democracynow.org/1998/5/5/cinco_de_mayo

If you live near the coast or have ever visited the beach, you are probably aware of tides. But did you know that tides are really big waves that move through the ocean in response to the forces of the Moon and the Sun? Tides appear as the regular rise and fall of the sea surface. How much the water level changes over the day varies depending on where you are and what day it is. NOAA's National Ocean Service has been measuring and predicting tides since the 1800s using engineered systems that automatically detect and record changes in water levels. These early sets of data were collected mechanically on drums of paper which had to be frequently attended to and adjusted by scientists on a regular basis. Today data are recorded electronically, transmitted via satellite, and made available online. At the backbone of this system is a network of long-term, continuously operating water-level stations known as the National Water Level Observation Network. There are real-time tidal observations and prediction stations around the United States. If the level of water is constantly changing, how do we know how much water levels have risen or fallen from normal? To define normal, scientists use a reference, or datum, as a starting point from which all measurements are made. The numbers that appear on a nautical chart represent water depths measured relative to such a datum. Physics of Tides Tides occur as a response to the gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon and the rotation of Earth. There are three basic tidal patterns - diurnal, semidiurnal, and mixed. Diurnal tides are characterized by one high and low tide a day. On the other hand, semidiurnal tides are characterized by two high and two low tides per day at approximately regular time intervals and are similar in height. Mixed tides are similar to semidiurnal tides in that they have two high and low tides but different in that the height of successive high (and low) tides may differ substantially. Semidiurnal tides are frequently found on the east coast of the United States, and mixed tides on the west coast of the U.S. Diurnal tides are mostly found in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) and other organizations have established a system of real-time monitoring of tides that can now be measured to centimeter accuracy. Tides on the ocean can vary by tens of meters (vertically) between coastlines. The gravitational attraction on the portion of the ocean that is directly aligned with the Sun and/or Moon actually pull a bulge of water away from Earth. As the direct alignment of the Sun and Moon with Earth changes due to the rotation and revolution of these three celestial bodies, the bulge of water moves. The pull of water away from Earth toward the Sun and/or Moon draws water away from other portions of the ocean. Centrifugal acceleration actually causes another bulge of water on the opposite side of Earth. This movement of water up and down relative to the average sea level is by definition high and low tide. The timing of the high and low tides is easily predicted knowing the positions of the Sun and Moon. Tides are a regular event on every coastline and their timing is predictable. Their occurrence is of great importance to all marine activities, including the natural daily flooding and drying of coastal wetlands, where animals and plants have evolved to thrive in these unique environments. Many coastal wetland areas are also the outlet to terrestrial streams and rivers that flow to the ocean. In these locations, organisms need to be able to tolerate a range of environmental conditions including large variations in salinity that occur in relation to the level of freshwater input. Natural and human changes to these regular cycles can have devastating effects on these organisms. Some of these changes are rapid and some occur more slowly as coastlines are reformed over millions of years. Tidal ranges can be affected by many factors including latitude, bathymetry, and the shape of the coastline. On coastlines with long shallow gradients, the high and low tide marks may be tens of meters apart in horizontal distance. In other areas, water may be funneled up through estuaries and embayments by unique coastal structures, greatly increasing the size of the tide. The tidal range in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada can be almost 20 meters. The view during low tide in the Bay of Fundy can be a dramatic sight as bays that were filled with water earlier the day may be emptied for a few hours until high tide. This link, http://www.srh.weather.gov/jetstream/ocean/fundy_max.htm, displays a chart of the tidal range in the Bay of Fundy. Oceanic currents are driven by many factors including wind, salinity and temperature differences. The rise and fall of the tides, which are driven by the gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon on Earth's ocean are another cause of currents. Tidal currents are present in the ocean, near the shore, in bays and estuaries, and along the coast. The speed and direction of tidal currents are predictable. Tidal currents are the only type of current affected by the interactions of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. The Moon's force is much greater than that of the Sun because the moon is approximately 390 times closer to Earth than the Sun is. Tidal currents, just like tides, are affected by the different phases of the Moon. During a new, or full Moon, tidal current velocities are strongest and are called spring currents. When the Moon is at first or third quarter phases, tidal current velocities are weakest and are called neap currents. Tides: Measurements and Data Measuring, collecting, and analyzing data on tides has become very sophisticated with modern advances in technology. Today there are vast numbers of monitoring stations transmitting data in real time. This network of coastal monitoring stations are placed in major navigable harbors and along most coastlines of the United States. The rise and fall of tides greatly affect all marine travel. Bridges and other structures that extend across navigable rivers limit the size of vessels that can pass under them. The distance between the water and the bottom of the structure is called the air gap. If a 50 meter tall vessel tries to pass under a bridge with an air gap of only 45 meters, the result will be damage to the vessel and the bridge. Sometimes the passage under a bridge is calculated so closely that a vessel can only pass under a bridge at low tide - which increases the air gap. Or, if the air gap is too small for vessel to pass, the bridge must be movable, such as a drawbridge.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/pd/tidescurrents/tidescurrents_tides.html

Adaptations help organisms survive in their ecological niche or habitat; adaptations can be anatomical, behavioural or physiological. Anatomical adaptations are physical features such as an animals shape. Behavioural adaptations can be inherited or learnt and include tool use, language and swarming behaviour. Physiological adaptations include the ability to make venom; but also more general functions such as temperature regulation. Adaptation to extremes encompasses all the special behaviours and physiologies that living things need to withstand the planet's harshest conditions and environments. Whether it's a lack of oxygen at altitude, the searing heat of deserts or the bitter cold of the polar regions, plants, animals and other organisms have evolved a multitude of coping strategies. Animal intelligence covers behaviour that's considered above the norm for an animal. Some species may be unusally adept at learning new skills or using tools. Others have highly developed social and even emotional skills and may even have developed a distinct culture, in a similar way to human beings. Behavioural pattern describes an animal's dominant way of life. Arboreal animals, for example, live in trees and nocturnal animals are active at night. Communication and senses are how an organism perceives the world - for instance through scent or sight - and how it sends messages or warnings to others. Ecosystem roles are about the part an animal or plant plays in sustaining or maintaining the habitat around them. Bees, for example, pollinate flowers, without which those plants would not produce fruits or seeds. Other species, such as dung beetles, play a vital role in keeping grasslands clear of animal waste and recycling valuable resources. Feeding habits describe the dominant diet of a particular species or group of species, and how they go about obtaining it. Life cycle describes all the different stages through which an animal, plant or other organism passes from conception, through adulthood to death. Encompassed here are not only the major physiological stages of growth and development, but also temporary occurrences such as moulting and experiential phases such as courtship and parenthood. Locomotion is how an animal gets around - for instance by swimming, flying or climbing. Morphology is anything to do with what a plant or animal looks like - its size, shape, colour or structure. Predation is catching and killing an animal in order to eat it and different species have evolved a range of strategies for doing this efficiently. The most frequently used methods are variations on chasing and capturing if the predator is a fast runner, ambushing to conserve energy, or using a trapping mechanism such as a spider's web. Reproduction covers all the tactics and behaviours involved in obtaining a mate, conceiving the next generation and successfully raising them. It includes everything from plants being pollinated, to stags fighting over hinds, to lionesses babysitting their sisters' cubs. Social behaviour is all about how an animal interacts with members of its own species. For instance, does it live in a colony or on its own, does it fight to be top of the pecking order, or does it try to keep strangers away from its home? Survival strategies enable organisms to cope with particular stresses, from temporary environmental changes in the weather to the constant threat of predation. So, for instance, to avoid the cold of winter animals may migrate away or hibernate, while trees may shed their leaves. To avoid predation, plants may be poisonous or covered with defensive spikes and animals may use camouflage or travel in great numbers. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/adaptations

Rationale: To facilitate comprehension and memory of stories, students need to know about the general structure of stories and how to ask themselves important questions about stories as they are reading. Once readers know how to identify and use this story grammar to improve comprehension, they can become skilled readers. This lesson will help children understand story structure and how to use the structure to facilitate comprehension. They will practice by asking themselves questions during silent reading, and after reading, they will make story maps. Materials: Class copy of ãFrog Friendsä (Ranger Rick, April 2001) for each student; class copy of ãThe Secret of Silver Pondä (Ranger Rick, July 1998) for each student; story map worksheets for each student; overhead projector; transparency of ãMy Story Mapä; ãquestionä cards for each student; extra paper; and pencils. Procedures: 1) Introduce the lesson by explaining the importance of story grammar in many stories. Once we learn how to identify story structure, our comprehension and memory of stories will improve, therefore, making us better readers. Today we will work on how to identify and use story grammar by reading several stories and doing some activities to improve our comprehension skills. 2) Today, we are going to read our stories silently. Letâs quickly review how we read silently. Remember we read to ourselves and not out loud. This way, we do not disturb any of our friends who are also reading silently. [Read a passage aloud.] Am I reading silently? No, you can hear me reading and this is very distracting if you are trying to comprehend or understand a story. This is how we read silently [read the passage to yourself]. So today when we are reading, remember that reading silently means reading to yourself so that you are not disturbing any other readers. 3) Explain the structure of stories with the children. Remind them of the following: Most stories have a beginning that includes the time of the story, where it took place, and the main characters. An event then sets a goal or problem, which is followed by attempts to reach the goal or solve the problem. Finally, the goal is resolved in some way, and the mail characters react to the outcome. This what we call story structure or story grammar. 4) To better understand story structure, they can ask themselves questions while they read. [Pass out cards with questions to everyone]. Tell the students to ask themselves these five questions as they read the story: 1) Who is the main character? 2) Where and when did the story take place? 3) What did the main characters do? 4) How did the story end? and 5) How did the main character feel? Tell the class that they are going to silently read ãFrog Friendsä and that while reading, they need to ask themselves the five questions on the card. 5) After they have read the article, model to them how to answer the questions on the card. Show them how to use their knowledge of story structure to help them answer these questions. Go through each question: For example: #1 and #2: At the beginning of the story, we know we are usually introduced to the setting and the main characters. So I will look at the beginning of this story and see that the setting is in the summer, by a pond, and the main character is Miguel. Now that I have got you started, letâs see if you can finish answering the questions. 6) Have a discussion with the whole class about the story. Talk about the five questions and answers. 7) Tell the students the following: Now we are going to create a story map of ãFrog Friends.ä A story map consists of recording the setting, main character, problem, goal, action, and outcome information of the story. Read the famous fairy tale of Cinderella aloud and model how to make a story map of this story. [I will fill in the story map on the overhead projector; a sample of what the story map looks like is below]. Class watch as I use my knowledge of story structure to fill in the story map. Go through each part of the map and record each answer. Tell the students how you got your answers. Let them make a story map of the story they just read. 8) For assessment, pass out sample story maps just like the I used on the overhead projector and the following article to everyone in the class: ãThe Secret of Silver Pond.ä Tell them to read the article silently to themselves and when they are finished to make a story map of the story they just read. Remind them to themselves the five questions on their cards because those five will help them to fill in the story map. My Story Map Title of Book: Reference: Pressley, M., Johnson, C. J., Symons, S., McGoldrick, J. A., & Kurity, J. A. (1989). Strategies that improve childrenâs memory and comprehension of text. The Elementary School Journal, 90, 13. Click here to return to Breakthroughs. Click here to email me your

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/breakthroughs/burnsrl.html

Students will investigate a variety of renewable energy resources, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each. In this lesson, students will use Internet resources to investigate renewable sources of energy. The students should already have a basic understanding of energy, and know several examples of renewable and nonrenewable sources. It's important to be aware of common misconceptions associated with energy. For example, students believe energy is associated only with humans or movement, is a fuel-like quantity which is used up, or is something that makes things happen that is expended in the process. (Benchmarks for Science Literacy, p. 338.) Although students typically hold these meanings for energy at all ages, upper elementary-school students tend to associate energy only with living things, in particular with growing, fitness, exercise, and food. (Benchmarks for Science Literacy, p. 338.) In addition to not readily understanding the conservation of energy, students do not understand that once energy is converted, it is not necessarily in a usable form. This lesson is designed to help students investigate and evaluate renewable energy sources. Most students can name several renewable resources, but have little understanding of them. It's important for students to examine controversial issues associated with renewable energy sources from multiple perspectives; by exploring benefits, drawbacks, and social ramifications, students will develop a deeper appreciation for these complex issues. - Gather resources for student research, including reviewing the websites suggested in the Development. - Determine due dates for various steps of the lesson, if possible. Ask the following questions in order to review basic ideas and find out what students already know about renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Be sure to determine if students hold any misconceptions. - Is there more than one source of energy? - What are some sources of energy? - What is meant by a renewable energy source? What are some examples? - What is meant by a nonrenewable energy source? What are some examples? - Discuss major differences between nonrenewable and renewable/alternative energy sources. - Do you know of any places where renewable/alternative energy sources are regularly being used? Let students know that they will focus on renewable/alternative energy sources in this lesson. Have students go to the California and Renewables: FAQs site and read these two articles: - What are the environmental benefits of renewable energy? - How much would it cost a household to do renewable energy? After students have read these sections, ask them questions such as: - Why do these reports suggest that communities should begin to look at alternative energy resources? - There were seven sources of energy described on this site. What are they? - What are the benefits of using renewable energy technologies? - Why aren't some renewable resources widely accepted today? - Which energy resource is cheaper in the short run? In the long run? - What is meant by the terms "environmental costs" and "social costs"? What are some examples of each? Divide students into teams of four or five. Each team will be responsible for researching one of the following: Solar; Wind; Geothermal; Biomass; or Hydropower systems. Distribute the Renewable Energy Resources student sheet and explain the entire scope of the lesson to students. Explain the final product (the vote), as well as all steps leading up to that. Be sure that the due dates are clear and recorded on the student sheets. If they aren't known yet, be sure to remind students to record them as they are determined. In their research, students could use any of the following online resources, as well as any others you find appropriate. They also could use print resources available in the classroom or library. - Renewable Energy, part of Energy Kid's Page from the Department of Energy, offers a basic introduction to each energy resource. - Renewable Energy Basics provides more in-depth information. - Energy Story has a chapter devoted to each type of renewable energy. - The U.S. Department of Energy's Frequently Asked Questions page allows students with specific questions to contact specialists from the Energy Information Administration by using a tool found on the right side of the page near the middle (students will have to scroll down the page). As outlined on the student sheet, after students have finished their research and one-page summaries, they should present their findings to the class. They could use PowerPoint, Excel, or other creative presentation formats. At appropriate times during the presentations, lead discussions to help the rest of the class process the information and compare the benefits and the drawbacks of each type of resource. Ask questions such as: - What are the potential impacts of the different types of energy? - What are the benefits of each? - What are the drawbacks of each? - Are there any environmental impacts from the different types of energy? - Are there economic impacts from the different types of energy? - What sort of social issues impact the use of alternative sources of energy? - What is the greatest factor that has kept alternative energy sources from being universally accepted/adopted? As stated on the Renewable Energy Resources activity sheet, students will write a "community news article" in which they choose the type of alternative energy they feel would be the easiest to implement in widespread use. They should use persuasive writing in an attempt to be a community advocate; they will ultimately try to persuade other members of the community to adopt this alternative energy source. Students should defend their choice using information learned in this lesson (in their research, if applicable, and other student presentations). They should address social impacts, costs, and environmental impacts. Be sure that the expectations for this letter are clear; you may wish to use a rubric that clearly states the guidelines. Then, hold a mock town-hall meeting in which students are advocates for particular energy sources. Structure this activity to suit the needs of your class. It could be a quick activity, or one for which the students make posters, flyers, and dress in costume. Have students discuss and debate the various alternative energy sources, and at the end, hold a class vote to determine what type of alternative energy is to be adopted by the town. Have the students go to Energy Quest's Experiment with Water to Produce Energy to design their own water wheel. They can experiment with the number of blades, the size of blades, the speed of running water, and the size of the wheel. Students can share their findings on renewable energy with a local congressperson via e-mail. If they don't know the address, they can find it by going to the United States House of Representatives site and using the tool found near the middle of the page. Students can further research the benefits and limitations of renewable alternative energy sources at the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network site. This site lays out the different types of renewable energy in a short but succinct style that will appeal to many students.

http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/renewable-energy-sources/

A chemical formula (or molecular formula) is one way chemists describe a molecule. The formula says what atoms, and how many of each type, are in the molecule. Sometimes the formula shows how the atoms are linked, and sometimes the formula shows how the atoms are arranged in space. The letter shows what chemical element each atom is. The subscript shows the number of each type of atom. For example, hydrogen peroxide has the formula H2O2. Methane has one carbon (C) atom and four hydrogen atoms; the chemical formula is CH4. The sugar molecule glucose has six carbon atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms and six oxygen atoms, so its chemical formula is C6H12O6. The 19th-century Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius worked out this system for writing chemical formulas. Further reading [change] - Ralph S. Petrucci, William S. Harwood, F. Geoffrey Herring (2002). "3". General Chemistry: Principles and Modern Applications (8th ed.). Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0131988255. ASIN B000ZI5Z2K.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_formula

The Basics of Pie Charts A pie chart looks – you’ve guessed it – a bit like a pie. The chart is a circle with various-sized slices ‘cut out’ from the middle to the edge. The size of the slices shows the relative size of the categories. You often see a pie chart showing the results of an opinion poll. Pie charts use angles to show the relative sizes of various categories. Pie charts are circular and are cut into ‘slices’: the bigger the slice of pie, the bigger the group it represents. Deciding when to use a pie chart You use a pie chart rather than a bar chart when you’re not very interested in the actual numbers you want to represent but want to see how big the groups are compared with each other. A good example is if you want to give a presentation about the age groups of your company’s customers but don’t want the audience to know precisely how many customers you have. You frequently see pie charts on election-night reports on TV to show the distribution of votes. In a very close election race, the slices representing the two front-runners are almost the same size. Handling angles, percentages and numbers You probably won’t be surprised to find that you can work out the values associated with pie charts using the Table of Joy. A whole circle contains 360 degrees. In a pie chart, those 360 degrees correspond to the total of the values represented in the chart. The Table of Joy is a technique for figuring out what sum you need to do when you have two amounts you know to be proportional – that is, if you double the size of one, you double the size of the other. The Table of Joy looks like an oversized noughts and crosses grid. When you work with a pie chart, you may need to figure out one of the following three things: The size of the angle in a slice. The value of a slice. The total of the values in all the slices. To find one of these things, you need to know the other two. Here’s how to use the Table of Joy to work with a pie chart: Draw out a noughts-and-crosses grid. Leave yourself plenty of room in the grid for labels. Label the top row with ‘value’ and ‘degrees’. Label the sides with ‘slice’ and ‘circle’. Write 360 in the ‘circle/degrees’ cell and the two other pieces of information you have in the appropriate places. Put a question mark in the remaining cell. Write down the Table of Joy sum. The sum is the number in the same row as the question mark times by the number in the same column, all divided by the number opposite. Work out the sum. The answer is the value you’re looking for. To convert an angle into a percentage (or vice versa) you use a similar process. The whole circle – 360 degrees – corresponds to the whole of the data – 100 per cent. Use the same steps, but change the ‘value’ column to ‘per cent’, and in the ‘circle/per cent’ cell write 100.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-basics-of-pie-charts.navId-407333.html

Castles were large, stone protective barriers that were the highest point of royalty and commanded great respect. Being over 500 feet tall, castles weighed over 150,000 tons and were very hard to break into, do to the thick layer of cement gluing each brick together. Battlements were square gaps at the tops of castles that allowed warriors to fire arrows without trouble aiming and let them have defense behind a battlement. Also, these barriers were extremely thick and sturdy. Drawbridges were bridges that could be lifted or dropped with the use of massive amounts of ropes and chains. Drawbridges may be used to withdraw passage across moats. Simple drawbridges may be found in short canal crossings, where the lifting mechanism is a pair of overhead hooks with weights. Moats were deep and wide water-filled ditches, excavated to provide a barrier against attack upon castle ramparts or other fortifications. Moats were usually filled with sharks and crocodiles, so only the use of a drawbridge would allow access. The deepest moat was 25 feet deep. Galleon Ships were the most common barbarian ships and were the largest. These multi-decked ships were generally armed with cannons and the starboard contained a menacing sculpture to scare whales away. The galleon was powered entirely by sail and carried on three to five masts. They were used in both military and trade because of the steadiness of the ship and powerful defenses. Galleons weighed less than 500 tons and reached up to 45 feet tall. Catapults were siege engines used to hurl projectiles such as boulders or burning wood. The bottom end of the throwing arm of the catapult and the inner ends of both arms are inserted into rope that is twisted, providing a massive store of energy. These siege crafts went up to 15 feet tall, and over 400 lbs! Battering Rams were siege engines used to batter down walls and gates. A battering ram was slung from a wheeled support frame by chains so that it could be much larger and more easily swung against its target. Sometimes the ram's attacking point would have a metal head and vulnerable parts of this craft might be bound with metal ropes to protect it. Battering rams were 13 feet tall and over 400 lbs!

http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00423/forts.html

The upper limit on the mass of a neutron star is about 3 solar masses. Beyond that mass, the star can no longer support itself against its own gravity, and it must collapse. No known force can prevent the material from collapsing all the way to the point-like singularity, a region of extremely high density where the known laws of physics break down. Surrounding the singularity, at a distance of a few kilometres for a solar-mass object, is a region of space from which even light cannot escape from – a black hole. Astronomers believe that the most massive stars form black holes, rather than neutron stars, after they explode in a supernova. Conditions in and near black holes cannot be described by Newtonian mechanics. A proper description involves the theories of relativity developed by Albert Einstein early in the twentieth century. Even relativity theory fails right at the singularity. The "surface" of a black hole is the event horizon. At the event horizon, the escape velocity equals the speed of light. Within this distance, nothing can escape. Even photons passing too close to a black hole are deflected onto paths that cross the event horizon and become trapped. Relativity theory describes gravity in terms of a warping, or bending, of space by the presence of mass. The more mass, the greater the warping. All particles – including photons - respond to that warping by moving along curved paths. A black hole is a region where the warping is so great that space folds back on itself, cutting off the interior of the hole from the rest of the universe. To a distant observer, the clock on a spaceship falling into a black hole would show time diliation – it would appear to slow down as the ship approached the event horizon. The observer would never see the ship reach the surface of the hole. At the same time, light leaving the ship would be subject to gravitational redshift as it climbed out of the hole's intense gravitational field. Light emitted just at the event horizon would be redshifted to infinite wavelength. Both phenomena are predictions of the theory of relativity. However, the gravitational redshifts due to both the Earth and the Sun are very small, but have been detected experimentally. Once matter falls into a black hole, it can no longer communicate with the outside. However, on its way in, it can form an accretion disk and emit X-rays just as in the neutron-star case. The best candidates for black holes are binary systems in which one component is a compact X-ray source. Cygnus X-1, a well-studied X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus, is a long-standing black hole candidate. Studies of orbital motions imply that the compact objects are too massive to be neutron stars, leaving black holes as the only logical alternative.

http://library.thinkquest.org/17445/universe/blackhole.shtml

Vector Addition: Force Table The objective is to experimentally verify the parallelogram law of vector addition by using a force table. A force table, a set of weights, a protractor, a metric ruler, a scientific calculator, and graphing paper Concurrent forces are forces that pass through the same point. A resultant force is a single force which effect is the same as the sum of a number of forces. The equilibrant of a system of forces is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the resultant of those forces. Review the introduction section of Experiment 2 for additional information on different graphical methods as well as the analytical method of finding a resultant, if necessary. Set up a force table as shown in the following figure with its three 50.0-gram hanging weights. Be careful about the following points while using the force table: 1) The direction of the forces must be set by adjusting the strings at the desired angles. The angles must be read from directly above the strings to prevent parallax error. 2) The string (not the edge of the clamp) represents the line of action of the force. 3) Each collar that slides around the circular platform for adjusting the angle for each force, is grooved. The groove of each slider (collar) must be flush with the edge of the circular platform for correct angle adjustment as well as measurement. The schematic diagram of a force table Take the following steps for each vector addition. Complete each row of Table 1 before going to the next row. This means that the %errors in each row must be calculated before the start of the experiment for the next row. a) In each of the trials 1 and 2, place the weights for F1 and F2 in accordance with Table 1 (below) at the specified angles. The ring is the object under study. This means that all forces are acting on the ring. Place enough weights on the third cord (Force F3) and adjust its angle until the system is in equilibrium. At equilibrium, the ring is exactly at the center of the circular platform as can be judged by the stud at the center. Force F3 that is needed to bring the ring to equilibrium is called the "equilibrant." Record the angle and magnitude of F3. b) Note that if you add 180° to, or subtract 180° from, the angle of F3, it gives you the angle of R, the resultant of F1 and F2 that you are looking for. Do this as well and record the values for R in Table 1. The magnitude of R is exactly equal to the magnitude of F3, the equilibrant, and angle of R is 180° different from the angle of F3. These last two values are your measured values for vector R, by the force table method (experimental). c) Now, find the magnitude and direction (angle) of R by calculation (or the analytical method). First find Rx and Ry, then R and θ as usual. These calculated values are your accepted values for vector R. d) Not only you need to add F1 and F2 graphically (by parallelogram method) in lab as part of the experiment, but also make sure that you include the graphical method (Parallelogram) in your report. Calculate a %error on each of R and θ, and record them in the last columns of Table 1. Given: the given values are in Table 1. Measured: Record your measured values in Table 1. |Magn.(gf)||Angle||Magn.(gf)||Angle||Magn.(gf)||Angle||Magn.(gf)||Angle||Magn.(gf)||Angle||on R||on θ| Comparison of the results: Provide the percent error formula used as well as the calculated values of percent errors. State your conclusions of the experiment. Provide a discussion if necessary. Include the following questions and their answers in your report: 1) Two forces, one 500gf and the other 800gf, act on a body. What are the maximum and minimum possible magnitudes of the resultant force? Hint: Sketch many parallelograms that have their adjacent sides equal to 5cm and 8cm, for example, to represent 500gf and 800gf, respectively, but with different angles between those adjacent sides. If the different angles you choose are say, 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 degrees, you will see how the magnitude of the resultant changes case to case and then you will be able to decide the maximum and minimum values for the resultant. 2) Could four forces be placed in the same quadrant or in two adjacent quadrants and still be in equilibrium? Draw a sketch and explain your answer. 3) What is the relationship between the equilibrant vector and the resultant?

http://www.pstcc.edu/departments/natural_behavioral_sciences/Web%20Physics/Experiment%2003.htm

The Black Box In 1859, scientist Robert Kirchhoff introduced an interesting problem into the world of physics: the question of blackbody radiation. A "blackbody" is basically a black box that absorbs all the radiation that is directed toward it. The amount of energy that it emits is independent of the size or shape of the box; it depends only on temperature. For decades, physicists worked to figure out the relationship between the temperature of the blackbody and the distribution of the emitted energy along the electromagnetic spectrum. This was of particular interest to theorists because finding the relationship could yield valuable physical constants that could then be applied to other physics concerns. However, there was a more concrete and technical reason to search for a formula relating energy to temperature. Such an equation could be used as a standard for rating the strength of electric lamps. For this reason, the imperial bureau of standards–the Physikalisch- Technische Reichsanstalt–took a special interest in finding the formula. And, in 1896, a young German physicist working there, Wilhelm Wien, seemed to have stumbled onto an equation that worked. With the knowledge of the spectral distribution of the energy at one temperature, Wien's equation would produce the distribution for any other temperature. It was an experimentally accurate theory, but Wien had no explanation for why his equation worked; he knew only that it did. Meanwhile, Planck was hired to take Kirchhoff's old job at the University of Berlin. Planck spent much of the 1890s studying problems of chemical thermodynamics, specifically entropy. His work in this field led him to the puzzle of blackbody radiation, and he set himself the goal of finding a workable theory that would yield Wien's equation. But just as Planck thought he'd found the answer, a series of experiments proved that Wien's equation was actually incorrect. Rather than assuming his theory was correct and hoping the empirical data would eventually prove him right, Planck chose to trust the experimental results: Wien's theory was wrong, which mean Planck's was, too. So, in 1900, Planck was forced to start all over again. At this point, Planck took a revolutionary step, although he didn't realize it at the time. Unable to get the numbers to work any other way, he made a bold assumption: Planck posited that energy was emitted by the black box in tiny, finite packets. This was an unprecedented move, as it had always been assumed that energy came in an unbroken continuous wave, not in a series of discrete energy packets. But the assumption led Planck to an equation that worked, the equation that would make him famous: E = hv. In this equation, E stands for the total energy of the light source, v is the frequency of the light, and h was a mathematical constant that came to be known as "Planck's constant." If Planck was right, then energy could only be emitted in certain units–multiples of hv. Planck called these units "quanta," Latin for "how much." This equation challenged everything that had been previously thought about energy. But no one, not even Planck, realized this at the time. Planck's equation worked, and by 1908, everyone in the field had accepted it, but even the best physicists of the time failed to see its implications. Like Planck, they considered the quantum assumption to be nothing more than a convenience, a mathematical abstraction with no consequences for the real world. Despite this oversight, Planck's work was impressive enough to draw the attention and admiration of his peers. The new equation would, in itself, have been enough to make Planck's career. Planck's theory yielded two new universal constants that related mechanical measures of energy to temperature measures: h and K. Planck called K "Boltzmann's constant", a gesture of appreciation to Ludwig Boltzmann, whose theories had led Planck to his own grand solution. In 1900, the value of h meant little to physicists, but K meant a great deal. Knowing that such a constant as K existed, physicists had composed the equation LKT = pressure of a standard unit of gas. In this equation, L stands for the number of molecules in a standard unit of gas and T stands for the absolute temperature of the gas. They knew that the number of molecules and the temperature of a gas were directly related to the pressure it exerted, but they didn't know how, since the values of both L and K were a mystery. Thanks to Planck, physicists could finally derive a value for L. And knowing L eventually led to even more discoveries, including a theoretical confirmation of the charge of a single electron. This was one of the earliest connections physicists were able to make between electrodynamics and atomic theory, and bridging the gap between these two fields had been one of Planck's highest goals. He wasn't the only one with this goal. As the impact of Planck's work grew and grew, his peers sat up and took notice. In 1908, Planck was nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of his two constants and the E = hv formula itself. But Planck's nomination was voted down, not because his work wasn't significant enough, but because someone had finally realized it had even more significant implications. It was pointed out to the Nobel committee that Planck's equation implied that energy did not come in a continuum, and, horrified by the thought, the committee declined to award Planck the prize. Instead, the 1908 Nobel Prize went to Gabriel Lippman, for his work in the new field of color photography. Though he lost the prize in 1908 for being too revolutionary, more than ten years later, Planck would finally win his Nobel–not in spite of the revolution his theory was about to cause, but because of it. Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note!

http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/planck/section2.rhtml

Resurrecting mammoth evolutionary dead ends Opinion:The film Jurassic Park featured dinosaurs cloned from DNA recovered from insects preserved in prehistoric amber. The scientific and technical capacity to do this remains a long way off, but, in the meantime, powerful biotechnological techniques are being applied to study the physiology of extinct animals. Kevin Campbell and Michael Hofreiter (Scientific American, August 2012) describe their brilliant research into how the physiology of woolly mammoths helped them survive during the ice age. Woolly mammoths are extinct cousins of today’s Asian elephants. Woolly mammoths’ ancestors originated in sub-tropical Africa and migrated to Siberia less than 2 million years ago, at the beginning of the Pleistocene ice ages. The main problem these animals encountered in Africa was avoiding overheating, but when they moved north and the world froze they had to develop the capacity to conserve and manage heat. Traditionally, extinct animals are studied by examining their fossilized bones and teeth. This allows the reconstruction of animal size, shape, configuration of musculature and some indication of the nature of the diet. Such studies tell us little or nothing of the physiological processes that sustained these animals, but modern biotechnology is now successfully attacking this problem. The unit of biological organization is the cell. Every cell is controlled by instructions encoded in its genetic DNA. DNA is a very long molecule made of four different units called nucleotides strung along its length. The nucleotides are denoted by the four letters A, T, G and C, and the genetic instructions are encoded in the linear sequence of these letters. Most of the work of the cell is carried out by proteins. There are thousands of different proteins. A protein is a long molecule made of units called amino acids strung along its length. There are 20 different types of amino acids and the types and sequence of amino acids in a protein determine the nature and the function of the protein. The genetic DNA controls the cell by specifying what proteins are made. The linear information encoded in DNA is translated into the linear sequence of amino acids in a protein. The amount of DNA code necessary to code for a protein is called a gene. DNA from extinct animals can be recovered, with difficulty, from fossilized remains and the nucleotide sequence of genes for critically important proteins from extinct animals can be worked out. This information is compared with the corresponding gene from the modern successor of the extinct animal. If the gene sequences are identical, then the protein products are identical. If they are different, then the extinct animal made a different protein to the modern animal and this different protein probably underpinned a different physiological regime. If the extinct gene is different, you can modify a sample of the modern gene in the laboratory to make it match the extinct gene. The extinct gene is then incorporated into the DNA of a bacterium which is grown in culture to produce the protein product of the extinct gene. This “extinct” protein can now be studied in the laboratory to see how it behaves compared to its modern counterpart. This is how biotechnological techniques are being used to study the physiology of extinct animals. Animals generate energy by oxidizing (“burning”) food in their cells. The necessary oxygen is taken from the air and carried through the bloodstream to the cells, bound to the protein haemoglobin. The haemoglobin releases the oxygen when it reaches the tissue cells. This release of oxygen requires energy input and its efficiency declines greatly as temperatures drop. Consequently modern animals that live in very cold environments have evolved mechanisms to help haemoglobin release its oxygen in tissues. Using the methods described earlier, Campbell and Hofreiter made woolly mammoth haemoglobin, which differs from modern elephant haemoglobin, and tested its oxygen releasing characteristics. They found that the mammoth haemoglobin releases its oxygen much more efficiently at low temperature compared with modern elephant haemoglobin. The woolly mammoth had evolved a variety of haemoglobin capable of coping with very cold conditions as part of a strategy for surviving the ice age. Future research will elucidate further details .

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/resurrecting-mammoth-evolutionary-dead-ends-1.953723

1846–1857 Westward Migration The trek of the Mormon pioneers is one of the most inspiring and heartbreaking episodes in U.S and Mormon history. The Mormons, U.S. citizens, were driven from their homes and forced to march thousands of miles from Nauvoo, Illinois, located on the Mississippi River, to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. They were literally driven out of their own country, since Utah was then still part of Mexico. For many, the journey did not end there, as the Mormon Church continued to settle all the surrounding region, from Chihuahua, Mexico to Alberta, Canada. As the first Mormon pioneers left Nauvoo in February of 1846, another group of Mormons left New York City on board a ship called the Brooklyn, under the leadership of Samuel Brannan. They were bound for Yerba Buena (now San Francisco), in California, from where they would make the trek to Utah. The journey lasted six months. On June 14, the Mormons arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which they named Kanesville. Later, they established Winter Quarters across the river in Nebraska. By the end of the year, all Mormons who chose to follow the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had left Illinois and were established in Winter Quarters, or the other temporary settlements. The Saints were driven out of Illinois during the winter. It took 131 days just to cross the 300 miles across Iowa (a year later, it took only 111 days to make it the rest of the way to Salt Lake). The harshness of the winter weather, however, enabled the Saints to cross the Mississippi River on the frozen ice. Saints who were unprepared became a burden on those who embarked with a supply of food, and starvation threatened. Some impoverished Saints stayed on in Nauvoo, to be driven out later. The following winter, the headquarters of the Church was in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and nearly 4000 Saints had gathered there. Thousands of others had camped in Iowa, some were on their way to California, and about 1500 were in St. Louis. The Saints were more scattered and disorganized than they ever had been. Only the genius of Brigham Young, called “the modern Moses,” and other able leaders, kept church government and programs going to manage and organize the Saints. The winter was harsh in Winter Quarters and many were ill and near starving. The Saints suffered from malaria, pneumonia, and tuberculosis during the summer, and scurvy, and exposure in the winter. In early 1847, Brigham Young received a revelation on how to organize for the journey west. It counseled them to establish groups with captains and to build way stations along the route. It also commanded them to sing songs and dance when they were happy and to pray when they were sad. It was in Iowa that one Mormon pioneer, William Clayton, overjoyed to hear news that his wife had just given birth, wrote the famous song “Come, Come Ye Saints,” which the Mormons would sing as they crossed the plains. While in the Mormons resided in Council Bluffs, the United States Army approached Brigham Young. Ironically, while the government refused to defend or help the driven Mormons, they now requested 500 men to form a battalion for fighting in the U.S.-Mexican War. Though recognizing the irony of the situation and the trials that could result from sending the men, Brigham Young agreed, since the soldier’s pay would help the impoverished pioneers. The five hundred men of the Mormon Battalion left quickly. Brigham Young prophesied that they would not see battle, but would eventually rejoin their families safely in Utah. That prophesy came true, but only after the men, and a few women who refused to go on without their husbands, endured the longest infantry march in U.S. history . . . over 2,000 miles. Eventually they arrived in San Diego, where a monument still stands to them. Along the way, the only trouble they had was with a disrespectful captain assigned to watch them, sickness, which caused some to leave and go to Pueblo, Colorado, and a skirmish with some bison. The Mormon Battalion not only helped the Mormon pioneers, but also spurred the California Gold Rush of 1849, when several of the Battalion members found gold at Sutter’s Mill, while trying to earn enough money to go to Utah. In April of 1847, Brigham Young and his advance party left Winter Quarters. Other groups followed behind. This group blazed the Mormon Trail to Utah. The first scouts arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 21, 1847, but the main party arrived on July 24, 1847, which is still celebrated as Pioneer Day in Utah. On that day, Brigham Young, confined to a wagon because of illness, sat up in his bed, looked at the Salt Lake Valley, and said, “This is the right place, drive on.” The men and women of this company immediately planted crops, so they could have fresh wheat before the winter. Brigham Young and others chose and dedicated the land for the Salt Lake Temple and returned to Winter Quarters. They arrived just before winter. That December, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the members of the Church sustained and accepted Brigham Young as the second President of the Church, and a prophet, seer, and revelator to the world. The next spring, Brigham Young and other companies returned to Utah. Crisis gripped the new colonists as swarms of crickets, later named Mormon crickets, attacked their crops in June 1848. After much prayer and fasting, flocks of seagulls arrived and ate all the crickets, disgorging them and then returning to eat more. The Mormon pioneers recognized this as a miracle. Later, a monument was erected to this event on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and the seagull became the state bird. The next few years passed similarly, as more and more Mormon pioneers crossed the Great Plains and came to Utah. Towns were established all throughout Utah. Missionary work continued and, by the late 1840s and 1850s, there were more Mormons in Europe, with over 17,000 in England alone, than in America. The Book of Mormon was translated into every major European language, as well as Hawaiian, as the Mormon Church grew quickly in Hawaii, too. The Mormon Church started a newspaper, The Deseret News, and established churches, schools, and a government. In September of 1850, President Millard Fillmore named Brigham Young as territorial governor. The Mormons named a town, Fillmore, after him. This, for a time, was the territorial capitol, until Salt Lake’s growth and centrality to the population made it the natural choice. In 1851, the Church established the University of Deseret, which is now called the University of Utah. In August of 1852, the Church publicly announced, for the first time, the practice of Mormon polygamy, or plural marriage as the Mormons called it. This issue became the focus for all attacks on and persecution of Mormonism for the next forty years. Nevertheless, the Mormons continued to establish towns throughout Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho. To assist poor Mormons coming from Europe, the Mormon Church established the Perpetual Emigration Fund in 1849. This program gave money to immigrating Mormons and helped them to get established in the West. Once they could start making money, they paid back what they had taken. That money was then given to other immigrants. The PEF helped tens of thousands move to Utah. Eventually, to allow more settlers to come, the Church started having some pioneers use handcarts instead of wagons to cross the plains to Utah. Brigham Young surmised that the distance was walkable, and that those who could not afford wagons and teams could then make the trek. While most Mormons made it safely and even happily with handcarts, two companies, the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies of 1856, got a late start and used green wood for their wheels. Since the wood was not properly cured, the wheels broke frequently. Delays from this and the effects of an early winter forced them to hole up in Martin’s Cove in western Wyoming. Many died of exposure before rescue efforts organized by Brigham Young saved them in November of 1856. Thousands of Mormons continued to immigrate with handcarts and wagons until the transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869.

http://historyofmormonism.com/mormon-history/westward_migration_period/

To create a smooth, fluid link between a word that ends in a vowel sound into a word that begins with a vowel sound, a very small y sound or w sound is added between the words, connecting one word to the next. This allows the listener to perceive both words individually, while never stopping the airflow between words. Deciding whether to link vowels together with a y sound /j/ or a w sound /w/ will eventually come naturally to the speaker. Linking with the wrong sound will feel and sound awkward. Practice linking the following words with a w sound /w/: Practice linking the following words with a y sound /j/: Click here to join Pronuncian for full online access to all exercises and quizzes for this lesson.

http://www.pronuncian.com/Lessons/Default.aspx?Lesson=65

Radar bounces radio waves off water drops in clouds. Click on image for full size Radar is an important part of weather forecasting because it can show rain is located. The radar bounces radio waves off raindrops in clouds. A computer measures how long it takes for the radio waves to reflect back. It then figures out how far away the rain is. The computer also measures how much energy is reflected back. This tells scientists how much rain is in the clouds. A new kind of radar called Doppler radar can do a lot more. In addition to showing how far away a raindrop is, Doppler radar can also show if that raindrop is moving toward or away from the radar. Scientists know that if the rain is moving, wind must be pushing it. This is how they know where the wind is blowing in the clouds. Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!Cool It! is the new card game from the Union of Concerned Scientists that teaches kids about the choices we have when it comes to climate change—and how policy and technology decisions made today will matter. Cool It! is available in our online store You might also be interested in: Radar is short for "radio detection and ranging". A radar dish sends out pulses of radio waves. These waves bounce off objects and return to the dish. A radar echo shows up on the monitor and shows where...more Raindrops form when tiny water droplets collide together in clouds to form bigger ones. When they get too heavy, rain falls out of the clouds. Rain is more than 5mm in diameter. The types of clouds that...more Wind is moving air. Warm air rises, and cool air comes in to take its place. This movement creates the winds around the globe. Winds move at different speeds and have different names based on their speed....more In some years there are many hurricanes. Other years there are only a few. Each year, scientists make predictions about what they think the hurricane season will be like. They can’t say for sure how many...more Below is a list of different weather advisories, watches, and warnings. Severe Thunderstorm Watch: A severe thunderstorm watch is issued when a thunderstorm with strong winds and/or hail the size of a...more Scientists sometimes travel in airplanes that carry weather instruments in order to gather data about the atmosphere. These research aircraft bring air from the outside into the plane so scientists can...more A section of the Great Plains in the central part of the United States is called "Tornado Alley". This is because more tornadoes form here than any other part of the country. The plains are flat which...more

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado/weather_radar.html&edu=elem

According to Chinese tradition, filial piety (hsiao) was the primary duty of all Chinese. Being a filial son meant complete obedience to one's parents during their lifetime and--as they grew older--taking the best possible care of them. After their death the eldest son was required to perform ritual sacrifices at their grave site or in the ancestral temple. A son could also express his devotion to his parents by passing the Civil Service examinations, winning prestige for the whole family. Most important of all, a son had to make sure that the family line would be continued. Dying without a son therefore was one of the worst offenses against the concept of filial piety. If a marriage remained barren, it was a son's duty to take a second wife or adopt a child in order to continue the family. Since Chinese women became part of their husband's family through marriage, filial conduct for a woman meant faithfully serving her in-laws, in particular her mother-in-law, and giving birth to a son. By fulfilling these duties, she also gained prestige for her own family. If the mother and daughter-in-law did not get along, filial piety demanded that a man should get rid of his wife in order to please his mother. He could always get another wife, but he would only have one mother. While continuing the family line was probably the most important issue for the vast majority of the Chinese, Buddhist monks and nuns were required to remain celibate. Their refusal to fulfill the obligations of filial piety made them suspect in the eyes of other Chinese. Along with the eunuchs at the emperor's court and Taoist priests they were often believed to conduct themselves in an immoral or criminal manner. Stories about exemplary filial conduct abound in Chinese history. The Twenty-Four Examples of Filial Piety (Er-shih-ssu hsiao) were chosen and compiled by Kuo Chü-ching during the Yüan Dynasty (1280-1368 CE) while he was mourning the death of his father. Other collections followed. Even today, these stories form an important part of Chinese folklore. You may be surprised at how brief these stories are and how little background is given. Two reasons may explain this: On the one hand, everyone was so familiar with the heroes of these examples that it was unnecessary to give any details about their lives. On the other hand, brevity is considered to be good style in the classic Chinese tradition. Following are six of the twenty-four examples from the Er-shih-ssu hsiao. Min Tzu-chien had lost his mother at a young age. His father remarried and had two more sons with his second wife. She always dressed her own sons in thickly padded robes. But to her stepson she gave only a thin coat padded with cattails [instead of cotton]. One winter day, when Min Tzu-chien was told to hold the reins of his father's cart, he was shivering so badly that he dropped the reins. This way his father found out that his wife dressed his oldest son very poorly. In his rage he decided to dismiss his second wife. But Min Tzu-chien said: "If she stays, one son will be freezing. But if she leaves, all three sons will suffer from the cold." When his stepmother heard this, she changed her attitude towards Min Tzu-chien. During the Chin Dynasty (4th-5th Century CE), a boy named Wu Meng (1) was already serving his parents in exemplary filial piety although he was just eight years old. The family was so poor that they could not even afford a gauze net against the mosquitoes. Therefore every night in the summer swarms of mosquitoes would come and bite them. Wu Meng let them all feast on his naked stomach. Even though there were so many, he did not drive them away. He feared that the mosquitoes, having left him, would instead bite his parents. His heart was truly filled with love for his parents. Kuo Chi, who lived during the Han Dynasty (200 BCE-200 CE) and his family were very poor. He had a three-year-old son. Even though there was little food, Kou Chi's mother would always give part of her share to her grandson so that he did not suffer hunger. One day Kuo Chi said to his wife, "We are so poor and needy that we cannot give mother enough to eat, and on top of this our son is eating part of mother's share. It were better if we buried our son." (2) He started digging a grave. When he had dug a hole of about three chih (3), he discovered a pot filled with gold and the inscription: "Officials may not take it, people may not steal it." During the time of the Chou Dynasty (11th-3rd Century BCE), there was a man named Lao Lai-tzu (4) who was by nature extremely filial. He took care of both his parents and provided for them with the choicest delicacies. After he himself turned seventy, he never spoke about his age. (5) He often wore clothes striped in five colors and acted like an infant in front of his parents. He would carry a bowl of water to them, and then stumble on purpose. Lying on the floor he would cry like a little child in order to make his parents laugh. During the era of the Three Kingdoms (3rd Century CE) there lived a man named Meng Sung, also known as [Meng] Chien-wu (6). He had lost his father during his childhood. When his mother was old and sick she craved fresh bamboo-shoots even though it was winter. Sung had no idea how he could get them. In desperation, he went into a bamboo grove, clasped a bamboo stem and broke into tears. His filial devotion moved heaven and earth and they forced the earth to crack open. Numerous shoots of bamboo came out. Meng Sung carried them home and made them into a soup for his mother. As soon as she had eaten she felt much better. Huang T'ing-chien (7) of the Sung Dynasty, also known as [Huang] Shan-gu, became a member of the Hanlin academy (8) during the Yuan-Yu reign (1086-1094 CE) (9). He was by nature extremely filial. Even though he was such an esteemed and famous person, he served his mother with utmost devotion. Every evening he would personally clean his mother's chamber pot. Not a moment passed without his fulfilling his filial duties. (1) According to Chinese tradition, Wu Meng later in life studied black magic and could cross a river without a boat, waving a fan of white feathers over the water. His body did not decompose after death and finally disappeared. (2) Chinese texts sometimes continue this conversation: "We can always get another son, but it is impossible to get another mother." (3) One chih is approximately 11 inches long. (4) Lao Lai-tzu lived during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 CE) of the Chou Dynasty and was a native of Ch'u in South-West China. According to Chinese tradition, the king of Ch'u eventually heard of his ability to make people laugh and gave him a post in his court. (5) In China it is quite unusual even today for both men and women above seventy not to mention their age with pride. In some colloquial versions of this story it is said that he does not mention his age so that his parents would not be sad and realize that both their son and they themselves might be near death. (6) Meng Sung eventually became keeper of the imperial fish ponds under the first emperor of the succeeding Chin dynasty. (7) Huang T'ing-chien (1050-1110 CE) was a well-known poet and calligrapher. (8) The Hanlin academy was the central institution of learning in Imperial China. This appointment was very prestigious for any scholar. (9) Upon his ascension to the throne and whenever he considered it beneficial, a Chinese emperor proclaimed a new maxim for his reign. "Yuan yu" means "great protection." Translated by Lydia Gerber

http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln270/24-filial1.htm

African-Americans and the Populist Movement These questions and documents can be used in conjunction with of the New York State Education Department standard curriculum for grades 7&8 Social Studies: United States and New York State History. Students will learn about the Populist Era~1880-1900, as a response to the overwhelming power of Big Business. -Introduction of the Populist Movement -Similarities between poor white and African American Farmers in the late 19th century -How is the election process presented in today’s New York Times |An Example of segregated facilities available to African Americans in the South. After Reconstruction ended in 1877, African Americans ceased to hold significant political power in the South. Segregation existed but custom, rather than law, enforced it. This changed in the 1890s when the Populist Party, an agrarian movement which sought to raise farm prices and challenge the power of the banks and railroads, attempted to merge the common economic interests of poor African American and white farmers against the white Democratic party elite in the South. This elite turned to stopping the African American vote to maintain their power. The Fifteenth Amendment forbade racial restrictions on suffrage, but white supremacists used thinly disguised laws to remove African Americans from the voter rolls. These included poll taxes that poor blacks (and whites) could not pay and literacy tests. Racial violence, especially lynching, was used to discourage African Americans from voting as well as to maintain the unwritten racial and economic order that characterized the South. Many African Americans, most notably Ida Wells-Barnett, organized protests but their voices did not reach the ears of an America deaf to racial injustice. |Before The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss (aka Theodor Seuss Geisel) drew political cartoons for the newspaper PM during World War ll. His cartoons included attacks on Jim Crow, racism and the poll tax.(Oct 12,1926) In addition to disfranchisement, African Americans were also subject to racist laws, known as Jim Crow legislation, which spread throughout the South in the late 1890s. Jim Crow racially segregated all public facilities, including bathrooms, hospitals, schools, and streetcars. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld segregation in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case and endorsed state laws disenfranchising African Americans in the 1898 Williams v. Mississippi decision. It would be more than 60 years before African Americans would regain the voting and civil rights that Jim Crow legislation violently took from them.

http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/content/voting_curriculum/african_the_populist.html

A team of scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark reported a remarkable discovery in this month’s issue of the journal Genes & Development. Genetic regulation is a complex and intricate affair carefully orchestrated by an array of proteins and other factors. While the basics are well understood, the researchers discovered that the length of the gene itself may also have a role, adding another twist to the already complex and intricate story of genetic regulation. A gene is often thought of as a stretch of DNA which encodes RNA which is in turn translated into a protein molecule. A gene isn’t simply a stretch of DNA, though. The DNA that makes up a gene is richly endowed with features that control when and how it becomes translated into RNA and what happens to that RNA molecule afterwards. The promoter region at the start of the gene regulates its expression; promoters have various short stretches of DNA, like TGTCTC or TATAAA, which are recognized by the molecular machinery that reads DNA. There’s also a terminator region at the end which marks where transcription into RNA should stop. The transcribed RNA molecule then gets processed in various ways before it leaves the nucleus for the ribosomes, molecular complexes which read RNA and assemble a protein accordingly. Having already shown that terminators can also affect gene expression, Pia Andersen, Søren Lykke-Andersen and Torben Heick Jensen did an elegant series of experiments to understand how this happens. In addition to marking the end of transcription, terminators contain different signals which help guide RNA processing. One of these is the polyA signal, which gets recognized by proteins that cut off the end of the RNA molecule and replace it with a special sequence called a polyA tail. The polyA tail helps the RNA get out of the nucleus and protects it from being broken down in the rest of the cell, as well as being important for translation of the RNA into a protein. To investigate the role of the polyA signal, the researchers constructed an artificial gene with a promoter and a polyA-signal-containing terminator separated by a fragment of a yeast gene. They introduced this construct into human cell cultures and determined how strongly it was expressed by measuring the amount of the corresponding RNA. When a short fragment (around 400 bases) was used to separate the promoter and terminator, the gene was barely expressed at all, but adding as little as 280 bases to the fragment was enough to fully restore the gene to full activity. In other words, short genes get switched off because a terminator with a polyA signal is too close to the promoter. The researchers think this may be because the molecular machinery recruited by the terminator interferes with the promoter or perhaps even because of a physical interaction between the promoter and terminator themselves. Of course, short genes exist in every genome, including our own. How do these genes get expressed? Some short genes are read by different proteins, but others use a terminator that doesn’t contain a polyA signal, thereby avoiding problematic interactions. To demonstrate this, the team repeated the experiment with a terminator from one of these short genes instead of the polyA-terminator and found that even the short constructs were fully expressed. Out of the 59 known human genes that produce an RNA molecule less than 500 bases long, the researchers found only two with a polyA signal in the terminator; by contrast, genes between 500 and 3000 bases in length had the signal 56% of the time. Living creatures need to exquisitely control the expression of genes in both space and time in order to develop correctly and respond appropriately to changes in the environment. A lot of our understanding of this process has been based on functional units of DNA that activate or repress genes by acting as binding sites for proteins and protein complexes. The effect of spatial and structural factors is much less clear, since these interactions have been more challenging to understand and manipulate. This is a really great paper which adds to our growing understanding of how the shape and structure of DNA can regulate gene expression. Like everything else in biology, the regulation of genes is complex, multi-layered and often self-referential….which is part of what makes it so beautiful. Andersen, P., Lykke-Andersen, S., & Jensen, T. (2012). Promoter-proximal polyadenylation sites reduce transcription activity Genes & Development, 26 (19), 2169-2179 DOI: 10.1101/gad.189126.112

http://inspiringscience.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/how-short-can-genes-get/

Life in the 1880's: The Economy of the 1880s Author: Dorothy W. Hartman Overall, the period following the Civil War and Reconstruction was marked by expansion on all fronts of the economy. Up to 1880, agriculture was the principal source of wealth in the U.S, but that was about to change. Immigration, primarily from Europe, and internal migration west, supplied the human capital for constructing railroads, and building and operating industries of unprecedented scale. This growth also gave rise to the new middle class, made a few very wealthy, and trapped masses of immigrants and unskilled laborers in lives of poverty. Two philosophies of the day underscored and, to some extent, justified the accumulation of wealth and monopolization of certain sectors of the economy. The first was the long-held American belief in equal opportunity - that if one worked hard enough and applied his energies and talents in the marketplace, he would be successful. The ‘rags to riches’ fiction of Horatio Alger drew inspiration from this belief. The second belief, touted by capitalists and used politically to deter government regulation, derived from contemporary scientific theory of the day - Darwin’s Origin of Species. Darwin’s theory of the biological survival of the fittest was taken under the wing of capitalists and emerged as ‘laissez faire,’ the philosophy that, in a market left unfettered by government intervention and regulation, those corporations best suited to compete would thrive and others would fall away, thus strengthening the economy as a whole. At the same time, however, the very same industrial and financial leaders who used this platform to argue against regulation were the same men who sought and got government subsidies and other special treatment for railroad construction and other industrial infrastructure. The age was also marked with the kinds of practical inventions that impacted everyday life - kerosene, the light bulb, the tin can, breakfast cereal and others. The population changed from a society of producers to one of consumers of mass marketed products churned out in factories far from home and marketed through new mail order catalogs. Farm production was impacted by the introduction machines capable of plowing, planting and reaping thousands of times more that human labor could ever accomplish. As a result, more and more acres west of the Mississippi River came into large scale production and farming elsewhere became increasingly specialized and more commercial. Increasing production and decreasing demand for farm commodities caused prices to fall in the 1870s and 1880s in the face of rising costs associated with transportation and borrowing for land purchases, improvements and equipment. During this period, American farmers also became part of the growing global economy as countries like Australia, Argentina and Russia added their agricultural products to the market and therefore affecting prices on a world-wide basis. Although the last quarter of the nineteenth century was generally considered to be one of continual, but rocky expansion, it was not without setbacks. Three economic declines, in 1873, 1884 and 1893, some more severe than others, marked the swings of the economic cycle. Prices in general trended downward after 1873, and lasted until 1896 or 1897. This deflation, resulting mostly from the failure of the money supply to keep pace with the rapid increase in the volume of goods produced, affected agricultural goods as well as manufactures. During 1883, at the start of that particular economic slowdown, 10, 299 businesses closed their doors. Not until 1886, after a slow but steady improvement, did economic conditions in general recover. Many citizens felt like they were living through a "great depression," even though production expanded nearly continuously until 1893, when a true depression hit the country. Hallmark of the Age—Industrial Expansion At the beginning of the Civil War, the United State’s industrial output, while increasing, did not come close to that of major European nations. By the end of the century, though, this country had become the leader in manufacturing. The value of American manufactured products rose from $1.8 billion in 1859 to over $13 billion in 1899. Some modern economists estimate that the gross national product, or GNP, increased by 44 percent between 1874 and 1883 alone, and continued to expand. Between 1850 and 1900, the geographical center for manufacturing moved westward from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Columbus, Indiana. By 1890, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio turned out more than 30 percent of all American manufactured goods. Indiana was an increasingly urban state, with a population density in 1880 of 55 people per square mile, though the majority of Hoosiers still lived in rural areas. Economists and historians cite a number of conditions which contributed to the rapid industrial transformation in this country. Natural resources, previously untapped, were exploited and, with advances in production technique, developed into new products. The growth of the country, both in settled areas and population, added to the size of the national market while protective tariffs shielded this market from foreign industrial competition. Foreign capital to finance this expansion entered the market freely, while European immigration, 2.5 million in the 1870s and twice that in the 1880s, provided the labor needed by industry. This period also saw rapid advances in basic science and technology which created a wealth of new machinery, new processes and new power sources that increased productivity in existing industry and created new industries as well. This practical application of technology and science, so indicative of the age, affected some aspect of daily life in every community. In 1880, 13,000 patents were issued and that number continued to grow, totaling 218,000 by the end of the century. Only a few examples of the new inventions and patented devices were dynamite, oleomargarine, phonographs, cash registers and typewriters. On a national scale, though, the emergence of large-scale heavy industry - mining, iron and steel production, and the exploitation and refining of crude oil - marked this period of history. These industries, coupled with the expansion of the railroad system, defined’ big business,’ created enormous wealth, gave rise to the labor movement, and influenced future government decisions regarding regulation. Railroads and big business Most historians credit the phenomenal growth of the railroad system as the common linking factor in the country’s economic expansion after the Civil War. Transcontinental and feeder lines brought raw materials to industrial centers, agricultural goods and finished products to cities across the country and to coastal ports for overseas shipment. They carried settlers into territories west of the Mississippi River, passengers through to California and the West Coast, and mail to every corner of the nation and its territories. Railroads’ impact on the economy was threefold, according to historian Albro Martin. First, the railroad industry reduced the real cost of transportation to a fraction of what it had been. Secondly, it brought all sections of the country into the national economy, making regional specialization on a grand scale possible. Finally, it gave birth to a host of other industries for which it became an indispensable input or from which it derived the huge quantities of materials and equipment called for by railroad investment. Competition for business was steep, however, and cut heavily into company profits, leading one commentator to note that a person trying to run a railroad honestly would be like Don Quixote tilting at a windmill. (Charles F. Adams, Jr., in Railroads: The Origin and Problems, 1879). The cost of shipping 100 pounds of goods from Chicago to New York fell from a high of $2.15 in 1865 to between 35 cents and 75 cents in 1888. To stay in business, ruthless railroad owners charges higher rates on the short feeder lines where there was little or no competition, circumvented ‘official’ rate schedules by giving rebates to large customers and otherwise undercut smaller competitors until they failed. By 1879, 65 lines were bankrupt. During the 1880s, the surviving major rail lines responded by building or buying lines in order to create interregional systems. In that decade, more than 70,000 miles of line were built, with 164,000 miles in operation by 1890, most of it in the trans-Mississippi West. (See: Transportation) In the face of competition and falling rates, the railroads developed a method, called ‘pooling,’ that established standard rates. Pooling was an agreement among rail companies operating in the same market to set and maintain rates at a certain level. Revenues were then ‘pooled’ and distributed among the lines. For example, in 1877, officials of the New York Central, Erie, Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio made a rate agreement for freight from New York to Chicago and St. Louis, putting the proceeds in a common pool to be divided between the lines on a 33, 33, 25 and 9 per cent basis respectively. At the same time, they also agreed to reduce the wages of their workforce by 10 per cent, leading, some say, to the great railroad strike of 1877. Pools became a ‘hot topic’ politically, leading ultimately to the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which outlawed the practice. One of the most vociferous groups to speak out against the railroads were farmers. Already besieged by falling prices for their goods, they also faced higher shipping costs on the smaller feeder lines that faced little or no competition and thus could demand higher rates. It was often more costly to ship items short distances that it was to ship them between regions. The Granger movement of the 1870s and the Agrarian movements in the South and Great Plains during the same decade and into the 1880s adopted the railroad rate problem as one of their platforms. ( See: Politics) Heavy Industry and Big Business With railroads as the catalyst and advances in technology as the tools, heavy industry made huge strides in production, capitalization and consolidation. The steel industry and the oil industry are two major examples dominating the world of big business during the period. Iron and Steel The demands of a geographically expanding nation coupled with the need to build industrial infrastructure made the iron and steel industry of paramount importance in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Competition was steep, though, and led ultimately to consolidation and integration among the competing companies. Technological advances, namely the Bessemer and open hearth processes for manufacturing steel, greatly improved efficiency and productivity. Huge fields of iron ore discovered in Minnesota and Michigan, and mined commercially in the 1870s and 1880s, fed the growing number of furnaces, just as the combination of rail and Great Lakes shipping made connecting raw materials to manufacturing centers easier. This conjoining of events and advancements gave the industry the critical mass necessary to become a major economic factor. In 1880, there were about 792 iron and steel manufactures in the country. Making farm implements alone required approximately $62,000,000 in capital. Although Pittsburgh was considered the center of steel production, there were also multimillion dollar facilities in Illinois, Alabama and Colorado. These producers of iron and steel made the raw material for other industries making metal products large and small, from locomotives to agricultural and industrial machinery to knives. In 1885, the nation produced just under 5 million tons of pig iron and about 6.5 million tons of steel. In 1886, the corresponding numbers were approximately 6.5 million tons of pig iron and about 9 million tons of steel. Andrew Carnegie was considered by most to be the kingpin of the steel industry. His rise from poor, immigrant bobbin boy in a textile mill to multimillion dollar industrialist was the stuff of legend. When others expanded their operations in good times, he instead chose to expand in lean time at less cost. He practices what became known as ‘horizontal integration,’ which meant he bought up his competitors ( again, in lean times) to control the market in one product. Oil and Energy With the discovery of oil in northwest Pennsylvania in 1859, the United States entered a new era of energy, one in which it is still entwined. This emerging industry had one advantage held by no other at the time - the US was the only source of commercially available crude oil in the world and consequently faced no foreign competition for its products. Speculation ran wild and the hills of Pennsylvania took on the frenzy of the California gold rush of a decade before. Production rose dramatically, from 10 million barrels a year in 1873 to 20 million barrels in 1880. Before the invention of the gasoline engine, kerosene was the most important product. In the early years in Pennsylvania, hundreds of small refineries, reminiscent of the stills of neighboring moonshiners, produced kerosene under dangerously explosive conditions. By the 1870s, refining had been improved and the volume of crude being pumped caused prices to fall. Refineries became larger and more efficient. By the 1870s, the chief oil-refining centers were Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and the New York City area. Of these, Cleveland was the fastest growing, due to advantages in rail and water transport. Rockefeller and the Trust The Standard Oil Company of Cleveland, led by John D. Rockefeller, emerged as the largest oil refining business in the country. By 1879, Rockefeller controlled 90 per cent of the nation’s oil refining capacity, plus a network of oil pipelines and reserves of petroleum still in the ground. Because of this monopoly and the expansion of the industry in general, the company attracted much attention in the late 19th century. By means fair and foul, Rockefeller and his associates cornered the market, driving prices down to destroy competitors, demanding and getting rebates from railroad companies for shipping, and employing spies and bribery to attract customers from competing companies. As Rockefeller began to buy up companies in other states, and this brought him into conflict with Ohio law, which prohibited owning plants in other states or holding stock in out-of-state corporations. To circumvent this restriction, Rockefeller, with the help of lawyer Samuel C.T. Dodd, developed the "trust," in which the stock of Standard Oil of Ohio and all the other companies Rockefeller purchased was vested and placed under the control of nine trustees. The result was that competition nearly disappeared, and by 1892, Rockefeller was worth $800 million. The Trust’s complete control of the industry was soon synonymous with monopoly in the eyes of the public. Trusts became a vehicle in other industries, too. At one point the Sugar Trust, run by the American Sugar Refining Company, controlled 98% of sugar refining in the United States. In response, the government passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890, which had mixed success in controlling these monopolies. Labor’s Response to Big Business The demandfor labor brought on by increased industrialization brought increasing numbers of rural migrants, women, children and newly arrived immigrants into the workforce after the Civil War. In the 1880s, more than 5 million immigrants arrived in this county, the majority of them from England, Ireland and Germany. 1882 marked a new high, with 788, 992 arrivals - more than 2, 100 per day. Additionally, falling agricultural prices during that decade caused many young men from farming communities to move to cities or migrate west. Those who found work in factories, mines or railroads had to bend to the demands of a new schedule, tied to machine and time clock. For some, this proved too onerous, and they turned to organized resistance. Many historians note the railroad strike of 1877 as a watershed in the late nineteenth- century labor movement. In the economic downturn that followed the Panic of 1873, railroad managers cut wages, increased workloads and laid off workers, particularly those who belonged to unions. In July a series of strikes broke out among unionized workers who were protesting wage cuts. Violence spread from Pennsylvania into the Midwest. At one point, nearly two thirds of the railway mileage in the country was shut down. Private police - the Pinkertons - and state militia were called in by company owners to control the strikers. The courts issues injunctions against the strikers, citing conspiracy to obstruct the U.S. mail in some cases. In August that year, a judge in Indianapolis gave railroad strikers who had violated his injunction short jail sentence for contempt of court. After a month of unprecedented carnage, President Hayes sent in federal troops to end the strikes. Craft unions dated from the early nineteenth century, but their narrow focus kept them from broad support and power. The National Labor Union, founded in 1866, failed to survive the hard times of the 1870s. Only the Knights of Labor, a broad based labor organization founded in 1860, survived the depression of 1873. The Knights, at first associated with garment cutters, opened its membership to other workers in the 1870s. Knights membership peaked in 1886, at 730,000. Unlike the narrowly focused trade unions at the time, which excluded everyone except workers in particular crafts, the Knights welcomed women, African-Americans, immigrants and all unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The Knights believed they could eliminate conflict by establishing a cooperative society in which laborers worked for themselves. "There is no good reason, " stated Grand Master Terence V. Powderly, "why labor cannot, through cooperation, own and operate mines, factories, and railroads." Most Knights leaders opposed strikes, but the failure of negotiations with Jay Gould in 1886 during a dispute over wages and union recognition for railroads in the Southwest caused militant crafts unions to break away. Membership in the Knights dwindled. Once economic conditions improved in the early 1880s, labor groups began to campaign for an eight-hour work day. This renewed effort by laborers to regain control of their work gathered steam in Chicago, where radical anarchists - who believed that voluntary cooperation should replace government - and trade unionists promoted the cause. On May 1, 1886, mass strikes and the largest spontaneous labor demonstration in the nation’s history took place, with about 100,000 workers participating. Police mobilized, especially around the large McCormick reaper factory. The day passed calmly, but two days later, police stormed an area near the McCormick factory where striking union members and nonunion strikebreakers were battling. Police shot and killed two unionists and wounded a few others. Labor groups rallied the next evening at Haymarket Square, near downtown Chicago, to protest police brutality. As police approached the rally, a bomb was thrown and exploded near them, killing seven and injuring sixty-seven. Mass arrests followed, including eight anarchists, who were tried and convicted of the bombing, even though the evidence against them was questionable. Four were executed, one committed suicide in prison and the remaining three were pardoned in 1893. The identity of the bomber was never clearly established. Out of this upheaval, the American Federation of Labor emerged as the preeminent worker’s organization. The AFL originated in a movement which arose in Terre Haute, Indiana and Pittsburgh in 1881, when Samuel Gompers, Adolph Strasser and Peter J. McGuire formed the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada. Samuel L. Leffingwell of the Indianapolis Trades Assembly became the second president of the organization in 1882. By 1886, the organization had transformed into the AFL, which at that time had a membership of about 140,000. Gompers became the president, and remained in power well into the twentieth century. The AFL avoided the idealistic rhetoric of the Knights of Labor and instead promoted concrete goals - higher wages, shorter hours, and collective bargaining rights. As a federation, member unions retained autonomy in their own areas of interest. However, since unions were organized by craft rather than by workplace, they had little interest in recruiting unskilled workers into membership. And, unlike the Knights, the AFL was openly hostile to women. Many unions affiliated with the AFL also had exclusionary policies when it came to immigrants and blacks. These prejudices were reinforced when blacks and immigrants worked as strikebreakers, who may have found the lure of employment too great to resist even as they faced militant strikers. The business of agriculture changed in fundamental ways after the Civil War. Never had there been a greater expansion than between 1870 and 1900. Hundreds of thousands of acres of land came under cultivation west of the Mississippi, mostly in grain, causing other areas of the country to switch to and specialize in other farm products. The extensive network of rail lines facilitated moving products to markets, although not without significant cost. Mechanized farm equipment improved efficiency. Scientific methods were introduced through agencies like the Department of Agriculture, founded in 1862, and state experiment stations, established by the Hatch Act in 1887. Paradoxically, this expansion was accompanied by a steady price decline beginning with the Depression of 1873. This decline was fueled in part by overproduction and competition from other countries, thrusting American farmers into a global economy. Farmers faced a number of economic issues between 1870 and 1897. The first was a steady downward trend in the price received for output coupled with chronic overproduction. Price declines were, in part, due to falling costs of production as new areas around the world came into production and as more progressive farmers continued the trend toward mechanization that began before the Civil War. And, in order to compensate for falling prices, farmers increased production as much as possible, hoping to make up in volume what was lost in falling prices. Although prices declined in nearly all areas of the economy during the same period, the farmer faced other obstacles that reinforced the belief that other classes, especially the rising industrial and financial classes, were receiving a better deal from political institutions than they were. This feeling was more widespread in the newly opened areas of the plains, where the difficulties of initial cultivation and problems of isolated farm life fueled discontent. During the post-Civil War era, farm productivity did not grow as much as non-farm productivity. Therefore, when relative prices were approximately unchanged, the average farmer’s income grew at a slower rate than that of the average non-farmer. Farmers in the older and more favorably situated areas did, however, provide a counterbalance to the agrarian radicalism of the west and south. Farmers in general also faced a the shortage of both short and long term credit. Because nationally chartered banks had been forbidden to engage in farm mortgage financing, farmers had to resort to state banks and private mortgage bankers who only lent on short term (five to seven years) at high rates of interest (8, 10 or 12 percent before 1887, 18 to 24 percent afterwards, in some cases), on mortgages that always seemed to come due when crops were bringing less than ever. Farmers borrowed money for start-up costs, to buy more land and to purchase livestock and equipment. Railroad rates were another concern. Railroad companies, faced with stiff competition on trunk lines, often raised rates on the feeder lines where there competition was less - or non-existent - to compensate. Much of the concern over rates came from the newly opened areas on the Great Plains. A survey of rail rates in 1886 reveals that it cost between 54 cents and 76 cents per ton mile to ship goods east of Chicago, but as much as $2.04 per ton mile west of the Missouri River. At one point, it was cheaper for farmers on the plains to burn corn for heat than to ship it east to market. Finally, unlike other producers, farmers were not protected by tariff legislation. Their products competed in the world market without the protection of import tariffs. (See: Politics of the 1870s and 1880s) And, in 1879, Italy declared U.S. pork "unwholesome," and banned its import. Portugal, Spain, France, Germany and Austria-Hungary soon followed. Exports of wheat, rye and their flours suffered even more after 1880. Meanwhile, manufactured goods were protected by U.S. tariff laws, thus keeping the price paid for those goods artificially high. Consequently, farmers were forced to sell their goods in a purely competitive world market, while buying in a protected one. During this period, the percentage of Americans who worked in farming was declining, even though the total number of persons engaged in farming was increasing. In 1870, 6,850,000 persons were farming. In 1880, that number was 8,585,000 and in 1900, 10,912,000. Corresponding U.S. population for those years was (1870) 39,905,000, (1880) 50,262,000, (1900) 76,094,000. By the 1880s, the center of outward population migration was the Old Northwest, which had a loss of 1,087,000 out of 1,363,000 nationwide. Nearly all the moving population came from Midwestern farms and settled in mining camps and towns rather than on the land. Statistics also reveal that the gross product per farm worker increased within the same period. Calculated in 1910-1914 dollars, the value increased from $362 in 1870, to $439 in 1880 and $526 in 1900. Once the wheat belt moved to the central plains, the Old Northwest became the corn and hog belt, although wheat continued to be a major crop. Of the twelve highest producing states for wheat in 1880, Indiana was second. Also in 1880, Indianapolis was second only to Chicago in the number of hogs handled at packing houses. Around the same time, 4/5 of the corn produced in the U.S. came from ten states; Indiana was fourth on the list. It is difficult to categorize the economic state of farmers in general during this period. The consensus of historians seems to indicate that the more radical strain of farmers came from the South and newly opened Great Plains. Farmers in both these regions faced enormous start-up costs, the South recovering from the war and Reconstruction and the Plains just opening up to cultivation. In other areas of the country, falling incomes and return on investment coupled with the lure of the west and new opportunities in urban areas drew labor from the farm to these new opportunities. It took until the early twentieth century for supply and demand to level out, as farm population stabilized and new waves of immigration increased the food needs of the country. It is evident, however, that the last quarter of the nineteenth century was a major transition period for agriculture, just as it was for other sectors of the economy. Some general statistics for Indiana, taken from the 1880 U.S. Census: 329,614 males were employed in farming; 118,221 as laborers, 209,297 as farmers and planters. Of these 186,894 were between the ages of 16 and 59, 22, 403 were over 60 years old. Of the total, 186,894 were native born. The next largest group was German born, totaling 13, 462 One thousand six hundred twenty-six women were employed in agriculture out of 51,422 women employed in all sectors statewide. Of those employed in agriculture, 526 were laborers and 982 were farmers and planters. The number of farms in Indiana in 1870 was 161,289; that number was 194,013 in 1880, a 20% increase. Slightly over 76% of the farms were owner operated. Acres in farming in 1880 totaled 20,420,983 or 88.9% of the total land, second only to Ohio, in a state that had an average of 55 people per square mile. In 1880, Indiana produced 115,482,300 bushels of corn, 47,284,853 bushels of wheat and 15,599,518 bushels of oats. The comparable figures for the entire U.S. were 1,754,591,675 in corn, 459,483,137 in wheat and 407,858,999 in oats. The export prices per bushel in 1870 were 92.5 cents for corn, $1.298 for wheat and 63 cents for oats. Nine years later those prices were 47.1 cents for corn, $1.068 for wheat and 29.7 cents for oats, reflecting a relatively steep decline. Mass Production and the Consumer Economy A number of factors worked to bring rural residents into a world of consumer culture that emerged after the Civil War. As railroads spread, so did the availability of goods now massed produced in urban factories. Refrigerated rail cars, first patented in 1868, now brought heretofore unavailable produce, like oranges, to remote corners of the country. Purchases that once occurred by bargaining with the local storekeeper were now transacted with distant purveyors through mail order catalogs. Department stores, mail order catalogs and the new the 5 and 10 cent store were places of ‘awakened desire,’ as one historian put it. While the large retail emporiums and the 5 and 10 cent stores quenched the desires of city residents, rural families relied on the Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogs to keep them abreast on the latest conveniences, machinery, and fashion styles. The Montgomery Ward catalog first arrived on the scene in 1872. That year, from a small rented loft in Chicago, Aaron Montgomery Ward sent out a single price sheet listing items for sale and explaining how to place an order. Twelve years later, the catalog numbered 240 pages and listed nearly ten thousand items for sale. Unlike a face-to-face purchase from the local storekeeper, the mail order business depended on the confidence of a buyer in a seller he or she had never seen. Ward built his business on his hope for a revolution in farmers’ buying habits. At first, Ward’s had the advantage of being the official supply house of the Grange. From 1872 through the 1880s, Ward’s described itself as " The Original Grange Supply House" and offered Grangers special privileges. Ward’s products also carried an ironclad guarantee - all goods were sent "subject to examination," and any item found to be unsatisfactory could be returned to the company, which paid the postage both ways. Ward’s apparently succeeded in personalizing these otherwise remote transactions, for correspondence soon included hundreds of men writing annually seeking a wife and letters from a few women looking for husbands. Sears, Roebuck and Company appeared on the scene a bit later. In 1886, Richard Warren Sears set up the R.W. Sears Watch Company in Minneapolis, leaving his railroad station agent’s job after making about $5,000 by selling watches "on the side." A year later, he moved to Chicago and took a partner, Alvah Curtis Roebuck, a watchmaker. He sold this watch business in 1889 for $70,000,but was back in the retail business in a couple of years. By 1893, the firm of Sears, Roebuck and Company had expanded into a wide range of merchandise. Some of the factors that precipitated the availability of mass goods arose from the Civil War. Standardized clothing sizes, developed first to clothe soldiers, transferred to the civilian population after the war. By the 1880s, retailers advertised " every size clothes for every sized man." Standard sizes for women took a bit longer to develop and become popular. The standardization and mass production of shoes followed a similar path. Barter was still sometimes used as a means of transaction in rural areas. But, increasingly, the emergence of mail order catalogs and urban department stores, both with fixed prices, changed the way in which people acquired and paid for goods. The wide availability of relatively affordable consumer goods also changed how individuals and families defined "necessities" as advertising, a new medium, enticed folks to indulge in a variety of ‘new and improved’ commodities. The fixed price policy democratized the marketplace, in which items were judged not by their quality or function but by their price. General storekeepers and other small merchants protested against the large retailers and their fixed prices. They cited unfair competition and the impersonal nature of ‘trading’ with the far-away retailers. In rural towns across the country, local residents still relied on the barter system and a bit of negotiating, but, increasingly, consumerism became a national phenomenon, encouraged by an expanding transportation system, relentless advertising and the growing availability of mass produced products. The expansion and contraction of the money supply was of great concern to the farmers in the late 19th century. Prices were falling and interest rates rising, trapping farmers (and others) between the two. Some historians note, however, that even though farm prices were falling, so were other prices, so the total economic picture may not have been as bad as some say. Even so, farmers felt the pinch, especially in the newly opened areas west of the Mississippi, where start-up cost drove many into high interest, short term debt. Farmers in other regions faces similar challenges to raise production or increase specialization, and often took on debt to purchase new mechanized farm equipment or additional land. Finally, with the tight money supply, it was never certain whether hard currency would be available when it came time to sell crops after harvest. One of the biggest issues surround the increase in the money supply was that of silver currency. In 1873, the government had dropped the provision for minting silver dollars in legislation governing the mint. This action attracted little attention at the time, since greenbacks and national bank notes were the only forms of currency in circulation. But as the money supply tightened, there was agitation to re-mint silver dollars. The government responded with the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, providing for the purchase of silver by the treasury in a specified amount and for its coinage into silver dollars. Provision was also made for the issuance of silver certificates in denominations of $10 and up. (In 1877, the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing started printing all U.S. currency.) Experience proved that it was impossible to keep silver dollars in circulation and, by 1886 it became necessary to reduce the denomination of silver certificates to one dollar. It was in this form that most of the silver purchased went into circulation. Consequently, money in circulation around 1886 consisted of greenbacks, national bank notes and silver certificates - with an occasional silver dollar turning up. On late nineteenth century economy in general, including discussions of agriculture see: Barnes, James A. Wealth of the American People. New York: Prentice Hall, 1949. Bogart, Ernest L. The Economic History of the United States. New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1917. Bruchey, Stuart. Enterprise: The Dynamic Economy of a Free People. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1990. Chandler, Arthur. The Changing Economic Order: Readings in American Business and Economic History. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc. 1968. Degler, Carl N. The Age of Economic Revolution, 1876-1900. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1977. Garraty, John A. The American Nation: A History of the United States Since 1865. New York: Harper and Row, 1983. Greenleaf, William. American Economic Development Since 1860. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1968. Gunderson, Gerald. A New Economic History of America. New York: McGraw Hill, 1976. Higgs, Robert. The Transformation of the American Economy, 1865-1914: An Essay in Interpretation. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1971. Hoftstader, Richard and Beatrice Hofstader. Great Issues in American History: From Reconstruction to the Present Day, 1864-1981. New York: Vintage Books, 1982. (See Part III Agrarian Reform, No. 1 Resolution of the Meeting of the Illinois State Farmer’s Association, April 1873.) Licht, Walter. Industrializing America: the Nineteenth Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1995. Martin, Albro. "Economy from Reconstruction to 1914." in Porter, Glenn, ed. Encyclopedia of American Economic History. New York: Charles Scribner Sons, 1980. Shannon, Fred. The Centennial Years: A Political and Economic History of America from the Late 1873s to the Early 1890s. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1967. Shields, Roger Elwood. Economic Growth with Price Deflation, 1873-1896. Dissertations in American Economic History, University of Virginia, August 1969. For discussions of consumerism, see: Boorstin, Daniel. The Americans: The Democratic Experience. New York: Random House, 1973. Schlereth, Thomas J. Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life 1876 1915. New York: Harper-Collins, 1991. Dirks, Scott. The Value of A Dollar: Prices and Incomes in the United States, 1860 1989. Lakeville, Connecticut: Grey Publishing House, 1999. On the roots of the silver issue, see: Weinstein, Allen. Prelude to Populism: Origins of the Silver Issue, 1867-1878. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970. For a focus on farmers and agriculture, see: Danhof, Clarence H. " Agriculture in the North and West." in Porter, Glenn, ed. Encyclopedia of American Economic History. New York: Charles Scribner Sons, 1980. Shannon, Fred A. The Farmer’s Last Frontier: Agriculture 1860-1897. Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1945.

http://www.connerprairie.org/Learn-And-Do/Indiana-History/America-1860-1900/1880s-Economy.aspx

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a method for producing an extremely large number of copies of a specific DNA sequence through amplification. In addition to the template DNA you want to amplify, you need two oligonucleotide primers. These primers are single-standed and contain the 5' and 3' sequences (20-30 nucleotides long) that flank your desired DNA. These primers are made synthetically and are usually diluted to a 20 µM working solution for a 1µM dilution in the reaction mixture. Deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) are also needed for building new DNA. PCR is usally performed with a 100 µM concentration of dNTPs, and Taq polymerase has higher accuracy at lower concentrations. Magnesium chloride (MgCl2) is also essential for dNTP incorporation. The optimum concentration range for MgCl2 is 1.0-1.5 mM; low Mg2+ leads to low PCR yields and an excess results in nonspecific products. Finally, Taq DNA polymerase is needed to polymerize the new DNA. polymerse is from the thermophilic bacterium , which was discovered by Thomas Brock in the 1960s in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park replicates DNA at 74°C by catalyzing polymerization in the 5' to 3' direction at a rate of 35–100 nucleotides per second. It also possesses 5' to 3' exonuclease activity as a proofreading mechanism. takes place in a thermocycler and is as follows: - Denaturation of DNA (90-94°C) - Annealing of primers (45-70°C) - Extension by polymerase (70-75°C) - Repeat process 20-30 times The annealing temperature will vary depending on how well the primers match the desired sequence - the more perfect the match the higher the temperature. A common equation used for the determination of annealing temperature is T = 2(A + T) + 4(G + C), where A, T, G, and C represent the numbers of each nucleotide in the primer sequence. Kary Mullis was working at Cetus Corporation in Berkeley doing DNA synthesis and finding point mutations with oligonucleotides and radioactively labeled dNTPs when he came up with the idea for PCR. He won the in Chemistry in 1993 for his PCR method. - Amplification of DNA for cloning - Add linkers with restriction sites to primers, anneal at a lower temperature initially, insert PCR product into a cloning vector. - Disease diagnosis (eg. HIV testing) - Amplify HIV-specific DNA from blood instead of performing an ELISA or western blot, which look for antibodies against HIV. - Sex determination (eg. cattle embryos) - One cell can be removed from an embryo at an early stage of development (8 cells or more) for amplification of a Y chromosome gene such as the sry gene, which encodes a testis-specific - Molecular evolution - Scientists have amplified a hypervariable region of Neanderthal mitochodrial DNA and compared it to human DNA, leading them to conclude that Neanderthals and modern humans developed separately and are therefore separate species. - Macalester College students have been working on developing a DNA-based taxonomic key of the freshewater muscle species of the St. Croix River using PCR to amplify an internal transcribed spacer. - Forensics - PCR is used to amplify segments with variable numbers of tandem repeats (VNTRs), and the frequencies of these segments in a population are used to determine the probability of finding an individual with the same DNA profile. Bourgaize, D., Jewell, T. R., & Buiser, R. G. (2000). Biotechnology: Demystifying the concepts. San Francisco, CA: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Krings, M., Stone, A., Schmitz, R. W., Krainitzki, H., Stoneking, M., & Pääbo, S. (1997). Neandertal DNA sequences and the origin of modern humans. Cell, 90 (1), 19-30. Mahbubani, M. H., & Bej, A. K. (1994). Applications of polymerase chain reaction methodology in clinical diagnostics. In H. G. Griffin & A. M. Griffin (Eds.). (1994). PCR technology: Current innovations (pp. 307-326). Ann Arbor, MI: CRC Press, Inc. Montgomery, M. K. (2001, Nov. 28). Cloning and manipulation of DNA III. Lecture presented at Macalester College, St. Paul, MN. Mullis, K. B. (2002). Kary B. Mullis—Nobel Lecture. Nobel e-Museum. Newton, R.C., & Graham, A. (1997). PCR. (2nd ed.). New York: BIOS Russell, P. J. (2000). Fundamentals of genetics. (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Addison Wesley

http://www.macalester.edu/~montgomery/PCR.html

February 19, 2010 With sonar, a bat (or whale or submarine) will emit a sound that is reflected off nearby objects. Those sound waves are altered by the objects, and the bat can use those changes to gain information about what the object is and its distance and direction. There are two strategies for sonar detection: A sonar beam that is sent directly forward, which returns more information overall, or a signal that hits objects on an angle, which can give more precise information. Mathematically, strategy number two is the best strategy, and that is the one that Egyptian fruit bats use. The researchers suggest that such a strategy tradeoff may be involved in other detection methods, such as smelling, vision and hearing. Check out the entire collection of Pictures of the Week on our Facebook fan page. Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week. No Comments » No comments yet.

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