test-da-en

"Now we have four-month-old mice that used to be diabetics but no longer are," he added.
Dr. Ehud Ur, a professor of medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and chair of the clinical and scientific division of the Canadian Diabetes Association, cautioned that the research is still in its early stages.
Like other experts, he is skeptical that diabetes can be cured, and notes that these findings have no relevance for people who already have Type 1 diabetes.
On Monday, Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the Nobel Committee for Literature at the Swedish Academy, publicly told a radio program on Sveriges Radio in Sweden that the committee had not been able to get direct contact with Bob Dylan in connection with winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 and had given up trying to get in touch with him.
Danius said: "Right now we're doing nothing. I've called and emailed his closest colleagues and received very kind responses. That's enough for now."
Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff has previously said the company started when his doorbell couldn't be heard from his garage workshop.
He said he built a WiFi doorbell.
Siminoff said sales rose after he appeared on an episode of Shark Tank in 2013, where the panel declined to invest in the fledgling business.
In 2017, Siminoff appeared on the shopping channel QVC.
Ring also reached a settlement with the competing security firm, ADT Corporation.
While an experimental vaccine appears to be able to reduce the death rate from Ebola, no drugs have yet been shown to be able to treat an existing infection.
The antibody cocktail ZMapp initially looked promising, but formal studies indicated it was less effective than expected at preventing deaths.
In the PALM trial, ZMapp served as a control, meaning researchers used it as a baseline and compared the three other treatments to it.
USA Gymnastics supports the U.S. Olympic Committee's letter and acknowledges the absolute need to create a safe environment for all of our athletes.
We are in agreement with the USOC's statement that it is in the best interests of our athletes, clubs, and sports to move forward with meaningful reforms within our organization rather than decertification.
USA Gymnastics supports an independent investigation that can shed light on how such widespread abuse, as described by the survivors of Larry Nassar, could have gone undetected for so long and supports all necessary and appropriate changes.
USA Gymnastics and the USOC have the same goal - to make gymnastics, and other sports, as safe as possible so athletes can pursue their dreams in a safe, positive and supportive environment.
In the 1960s, Brzezinski worked for John F. Kennedy as his advisor, and subsequently for the government under Lyndon B. Johnson.
During the 1976 election, he advised Carter on foreign policy and served as National Security Advisor (NSA) from 1977 to 1981, succeeding Henry Kissinger.
At the NSA, he assisted Carter in the diplomatic handling of international issues such as the Camp David Accords in 1978; normalization of relations between the United States and China in the late 1970s; the Iranian revolution that led to the Iran hostage crisis in 1979; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
The film, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, was nominated in all major categories.
Gosling and Stone were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively.
Other nominations include Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Original Screenplay.
Two songs from the movie "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" and "City of Stars" were nominated for best original song. Lionsgate Studio received 26 nominations overall -- more than any other studio.
Late on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a statement released by his press secretary that U.S. troops would withdraw from Syria.
The statement was released after Trump's phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey will also take over the guarding of ISIS fighters who have been captured, as the European nations have refused to take them back, according to the statement.
This not only confirms that at least some dinosaurs had feathers, a theory that is already widespread, it also provides details that fossils generally cannot, such as color and three-dimensional arrangement.
Researchers say this animal's fur was a chestnut brown in the top with a light or goldenrod colored underside.
The findings also shed light on the development of feathers in birds.
Because dinosaur feathers do not have a well-developed shaft, called a vane, but have other features of feathers, such as barbs and barbules, researchers concluded that the vane was likely a later evolutionary development than these other features.
The remote structure suggests they were not used for flight, but rather for temperature regulation or torture. Researchers say even though this is the tail of a juvenile dinosaur, the sample shows an adult four-winged and not a chicken's down.
Researchers say the sample from the tail of the young dinosaur indicates an adult's quill and not a chick's down.
A car bomb exploded outside the police headquarters in Gaziantep, Turkey, on Thursday morning, killing two police officers and wounding more than 20 others.
The governor's office said nine of the wounded were police officers.
Police said they suspect a Daesh (ISIS) sympathizer was responsible for the attack.
They found out that the sun works on the same basic principles as other stars: The activity of all the stars in the system was driven by their brightness, their rotation, and nothing else.
Luminosity and rotation are used together to determine a star's Rossby number, which is related to the plasma flow.
The lower the Rossby number, the less active the star is in terms of magnetic reversals.
On his journey, Iwasaki ran into many problems.
He was kidnapped by pirates, attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet, escaped an arranged marriage in Nepal and was arrested in India.
The 802.11n standard operates on both the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz frequencies.
This makes it incompatible with 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g, assuming the base station has two radios.
802.11n has significantly faster speeds than its predecessors with a theoretical maximum capacity of 600 mbit/s.
Duvall, who is married and has two adult children, did not make much of an impression on Miller, who was related to the story.
When asked for a comment, Miller said: "Mike talks a lot during the hearing... I was getting ready, so I didn't really listen to what he was saying."
"We will strive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a remarkable amount by 2020 compared with 2005," Hu said.
He did not put a figure on the cuts and said they would be based on China's economic output.
She urged foreign countries "to avoid the traditional practice of demonizing first and cleaning up later."
He added, however, that "they should not be asked to assume responsibilities beyond their level of development, capacity and capability."
The Iraqi study group presented the report at noon today (GMT).
It warns that no one can guarantee that any action in Iraq at this time will stop sectarian violence, rising violence or a slide into chaos.
The report begins by calling for an open debate and unity in the U.S. on Middle East policy.
The report is highly critical of nearly every aspect of the government's current policy toward Iraq and calls for an immediate change in strategy.
As the first of 78 recommendations, it calls for a new diplomatic initiative before the end of the year to secure Iraq's borders against hostile infiltration and to reestablish diplomatic relations with its neighbors.
The current senator and Argentine first lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, announced on Tuesday night that she would run for president. The announcement was made in La Plata, a city 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Buenos Aires.
Mrs. Kirchner said she intended to run for president at the Argentine Theater, the same place she used to launch her 2005 campaign for the Senate as a member of the Buenos Aires province delegation.
The debate over the use of funds for disaster relief and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina erupted because of the controversy some conservative fiscal hawks have jokingly dubbed "Bush's New Orleans deal."
Liberal criticism of the reconstruction effort has focused on the awarding of reconstruction contracts to alleged Washington insiders.
More than four million people attended the funeral.
So many people were there that it was not possible for everyone to attend the funeral at St. Peter's Square.
Several large TV screens were installed at various locations in Rome so people could watch the ceremony.
In many other cities in Italy and around the world, especially in Poland, similar rallies were held, which were attended by a large number of people.
Historians have criticized former FBI officials for putting too many resources into easy-to-solve cases, such as stolen car cases designed to boost the agency's success rate.
Congress began funding the anti-pornography initiative in the 2005 budget and directed the FBI to dedicate 10 agents to adult pornography.
The highest score in an innings was made by Robin Uthappa: 70 runs off 41 balls, hitting 11 fours and 2 sixes.
Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, the middle-order batsmen, fared well and put on a century stand.
But after losing the captain's toss, India scored only 36 runs in the first 10 overs and lost seven wickets by the end of the innings.
U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Singapore on Nov. 16 and began a weeklong tour of Asia.
He was welcomed by Singapore's deputy prime minister, Wong Kan Seng, and discussed trade and terrorism with Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.
After a week of midterm election losses, Bush told an audience about expanding trade in Asia.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after a 25-minute meeting Tuesday with NDP Leader Jack Layton in his office, agreed to send the government's "Clean Air Act" to a committee with members from all parties for review before second reading.
Layton had asked for changes to the Conservatives' environment bill during his meeting with the prime minister, asking for a "thorough and comprehensive rewrite" of the Conservative Party's environment bill.
Since the federal government took over funding of the Mersey Hospital in Devonport, Tasmania, the state government and some federal MPs have criticised the move as a stunt ahead of the federal election in November.
But Prime Minister John Howard said the move was aimed at protecting the hospital's facilities from being downgraded by the Tasmanian government by providing an extra A$45 million.
According to the latest bulletin, tide gauge measurements indicate a tsunami occurred. Some clear tsunami activity was recorded near Pago Pago and Niue.
No major damage or injuries have been reported in Tonga, but power was briefly knocked out, making it impossible for Tongan authorities to receive tsunami alerts from PTWC.
Four schools located on or near the coastline of Hawaii were closed on Wednesday despite tsunami warnings being lifted.
U.S. President George W. Bush welcomed the news.
Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe called North Korea's pledge "a big step toward the goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."
The tenth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Subtropical Storm Jerry, formed in the Atlantic Ocean today.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in the United States believes that Hurricane Jerry is not a threat to land at this time.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that 6 inches of rain could destroy the levees that had previously been damaged.
Ninth Ward, which saw floodwaters as high as 20 feet when Hurricane Katrina hit, is now at flood stage as the nearby levee was overwhelmed.
Water spills over the dike in a section that is 100 feet wide.
Commons administrator Adam Cuerden expressed his frustration over the deletions as he spoke to Wikinews last month.
He [Wales] lied to us pretty much from the start. First by claiming it was for legal reasons. Then by claiming he was listening to us all the way up to his resignation."
The community's dissatisfaction led to current efforts to draft a policy on sexually explicit content for the site, which hosts millions of media with an open license.
The work was mostly theoretical, but the program was designed to simulate observations of the SagDEG galaxy.
The effect they were looking for would be the result of tide-like forces between the dark matter of the galaxy and the dark matter of the Milky Way.
Like the Moon exerts a pull on the Earth and causes tides, the Milky Way exerts a force on the galaxy SagDEG.
Researchers can conclude that the dark room affects other dark rooms in the same way that regular rooms do.
This theory says that most of the dark matter surrounding a galaxy is found in a ring around the galaxy and is made up of masses of small particles.
Television reports show white smoke coming from the power plant.
Residents near the facility were advised by local authorities to stay indoors, turn off air conditioning and avoid drinking water from the well.
According to Japan's nuclear agency, radioactive cesium and iodine have been identified at the plant.
Officials say this indicates that containers at the site containing spent uranium fuel may be broken and leaking.
Dr. Tony Moll discovered the extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal region.
He said in an interview that the new variant was "very worrying and that there was cause for alarm because of its very high mortality rate."
Some patients may have contracted the virus at the hospital, Dr. Moll said, and at least two were hospital staff.
Within a year, an infected person can infect between 10 and 15 close contacts.
But the proportion of XDR-TB in the whole group of people with tuberculosis still seems low; 6,000 of the 330,000 people with TB in South Africa at any given time.
The two satellites, each weighing more than 1,000 pounds and moving at about 17,500 miles per hour, collided 491 miles above Earth.
Scientists say the explosion caused by the collision was enormous.
They are still trying to determine the size of the impact and how the Earth will be affected.
The debris is being tracked by the Strategic Command of the U.S. Department of Defense.
The results of the planning analysis will be posted on a public website.
A doctor who worked at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be charged with aggravated murder after her mother was found dead in the trunk of her car on Wednesday, authorities in Ohio said.
Dr. Malar Balasubramanian, 29, was found in Blue Ash, Ohio, a suburb about 15 miles north of Cincinnati, lying on the ground in a T-shirt and underwear in what appeared to be a heavily medicated state.
She led the officers to her black Oldsmobile Intrigue, which was 500 feet away.
They found the body of 53-year-old Saroja Balasubramanian covered in blood-stained blankets.
Police said the body appeared to have been there for about a day.
The first cases of the disease this season were reported at the end of July.
The disease is carried by pigs and transmitted to humans via flies.
The outbreak has prompted the Indian government to take extreme measures, such as the deployment of pig catchers in severely affected areas, distribution of thousands of mosquito nets and spraying of pesticides.
Millions of doses of encephalitis vaccines have also been pledged by the government to help the health service prepare for next year.
Plans to deliver vaccines to the historically hardest-hit areas this year were delayed due to lack of funding and low prioritization compared to other diseases.
In 1956, Słania moved to Sweden, where he began working for the Swedish postal service and became their chief engraver.
He produced more than 1,000 stamps for Sweden and 28 other countries.
His work is of such quality and detail that he is one of the very few "household names" among philatelists. Some specialize in collecting only his work.
His 1,000th stamp was the hugely popular "Deeds of the Swedish Kings" by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl from 2000, featured in the Guinness Book of Records.
He has also been involved in the engraving of banknotes for many countries, recent examples of his work include portraits of prime ministers on the front of Canada's new $5 and $100 notes.
After the accident, Gibson was taken to a hospital, but died shortly after.
The 64-year-old lorry driver was not injured in the crash.
The vehicle itself was removed from the scene around 12:00 GMT on the same day.
A worker at a nearby garage said: "There were children waiting to cross the road and they were all screaming and crying."
They all ran away from the scene of the accident.
Other issues on the agenda in Bali include saving the world's remaining forests and sharing technologies to help developing countries grow in a less polluting way.
The U.N. also hopes to be able to set up a fund to help countries affected by global warming deal with the consequences.
The money can be used to protect houses from flooding, improve water management and diversify crops.
Fluke wrote that some groups' efforts to keep women out of the debate on women's health had not been successful.
She came to this conclusion because of the many positive comments and encouragement she received from both women and men urging that contraceptives be seen as a necessary medicine.
When the fight stopped, after the injured were taken to the hospital, about 40 of the remaining inmates in the yard refused to return to their cells.
Negotiators are trying to rectify the situation, but the prisoners' demands are not unanimous.
Between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. MDT, inmates started a fire in the yard.
Shortly after, police in riot gear moved into the yard and forced the inmates into a corner with tear gas.
Firefighters eventually extinguished the blaze at 11:35 p.m.
After the dam was built in 1963, the seasonal floods that spread sediment through the river stopped.
This sediment was necessary to create sandbanks and beaches that functioned as habitats for wild animals and plants.
As a result of this, two fish species have become extinct and two others are threatened, including the paddlefish.
Although water levels are only rising a few feet after the flood, experts hope that will be enough to restore eroded sand banks along the river.
No tsunami warning has been issued and according to Jakarta's geophysics agency, none will be issued because the quake did not meet the threshold of magnitude 6.5.
Despite no tsunami warning, residents began to panic and began leaving their businesses and homes.
Even though Winfrey had tears in her eyes as she said goodbye, she assured her fans that she would be back.
"This is not goodbye. This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one."
The final results of Namibia's presidential and parliamentary elections indicate that incumbent President Hifikepunye Pohamba has been re-elected with a large majority.
The ruling party, South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), also retained its majority in parliament.
Afghan and coalition troops moved into the area to secure the site, and other coalition aircraft have been sent to help.
The crash occurred high in the mountainous terrain and is believed to have been the result of hostile fire.
Attempts to locate the crash site have been hampered by bad weather and rugged terrain.
The medical charity Mangola, Medecins Sans Frontieres and the World Health Organization say it is the worst outbreak seen so far in the country.
A spokesman for Medecins Sans Frontieres, Richard Veerman, said: "Angola is heading for the worst outbreak ever and the situation remains very difficult in the country."
The games kicked off at 10 a.m. with perfect weather, with the exception of a brief spell of light drizzle in the morning, it was a perfect day for sevens rugby.
South Africa, who are top of the group, got off to the perfect start with a comfortable 26-0 win over Zambia, who are fifth in the group.
Despite looking rusty against their opponents, South Africa still improved as the tournament progressed.
Their disciplined defense, ball-handling skills, and teamwork made them stand out, and it was clear that this was the team to beat.
Officials from the city of Amsterdam and the Anne Frank House say the tree is infected with a fungus and poses a health hazard because it is in imminent danger of toppling.
It was supposed to fall on Tuesday, but it was saved by a last-minute court order.
All of the cave entrances, named "The Seven Sisters," are between 100 and 250 meters (328 and 820 feet) in diameter.
Infrared images show that temperature swings from night to day suggest they are caves.
During the day they are cooler than the surrounding surface, and at night they are warmer.
Glen Cushing of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Team and Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, said: "Their thermal behavior indicates that they are relatively shallow holes in the ground, although they do not behave as well as large holes on Earth, which often hold a relatively constant temperature day to day."
In France, voting is traditionally low-tech: Voters isolate themselves in a booth and place a sealed piece of paper indicating their choice of candidate in an envelope.
Once election officials have verified the voter's identity, the voter places the ballot in the ballot box and signs the voter list.
The procedure is codified very precisely in French election law.
Ballot boxes have been transparent since 1988, so voters and observers can see that the ballot boxes do not contain ballots at the start of voting, and that no additional ballots are added except those that are correctly counted and come from properly registered voters.
Candidates may send representatives as witnesses to all parts of the process. At night, ballots are counted by volunteers under close supervision and according to specific procedures.
ASUS Eee PC, launched worldwide for cost-saving and functional reasons, was a hot topic at Taipei IT Month 2007.
But the consumer market for handheld computers will vary and change radically after ASUS in 2007 won Taiwan's Sustainability Award from Director Yuan of the People's Republic of China.
The station's website describes the show as "old-fashioned radio theater with a new and scandalous, nerdy twist!"
In its early days, the show was exclusively presented on the old internet radio TogiNet Radio, which is a website focusing on talk radio.
At the end of 2015, TogiNet established AstroNet Radio as a subsidiary.
The show originally featured amateur voice actors from East Texas.
It is reported that widespread looting continued throughout the night as police were not on the streets of Bishkek.
Bishkek was described by a witness as sinking into a state of "anarchy" as gangs of people roamed the streets looting grocery stores.
Many of Bishkek's residents blamed the rioters from the south for the curfew.
South Africa have beaten the All Blacks (New Zealand) in a Tri Nations rugby union match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa.
The final score was a one-point win, 21-20, that extended the All Blacks' winning streak to 15 matches.
For the Springboks, it was a comeback after five straight losses.
It was the last match for the All Blacks, who had already won the trophy two weeks earlier.
The final match in the series will take place at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next week when the Springboks take on the Australian team.
A moderate earthquake shook western Montana on Monday at 10:08 p.m.
No immediate damage reports have been received by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and their National Earthquake Information Center.
The quake was centered about 20 miles (15 miles) north-northeast of Dillon and about 65 miles (40 miles) south of Butte.
H5N1, a strain of bird flu that is deadly to humans, has infected a dead wild duck found on Monday in a marshy area near Lyon in eastern France.
After Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy, France is the seventh EU country to be hit by the virus.
Suspected cases of H5N1 in Croatia and Denmark have not yet been confirmed.
Chambers had sued God for "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions of Earth's inhabitants."
Chambers, who is an agnostic, claims his lawsuit is "frivolous" and "anybody can sue anybody."
The story presented in the French opera by Camille Saint-Saens is about an artist "whose life is dictated by a love of materials and Japan."
As a result, the artists smoke cannabis joints on stage, and the theater encourages the audience to participate.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota placed fourth, fifth and sixth.
After seeing the results, Gingrich praised Santorum, but he had harsh words for Romney, whose negative campaign ads against Gingrich were aired in Iowa.
Perry said he would "return to Texas to assess the results of tonight's straw poll and determine if there is a path forward for me in this race," but later said he would stay in the race and compete in the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21.
Bachmann, who won the Ames Straw Poll in August, decided to end her campaign.
The photographer was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he later died.
He was reportedly in his 20s. In a statement, Bieber said: "Although I was not present or directly involved in this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family."
Entertainment news site TMZ reported that the photographer stopped his car on the opposite side of Sepulveda Boulevard and attempted to photograph the traffic stop before crossing the street and continuing, prompting the California Highway Patrol officer directing traffic to order him back twice.
According to police, it is unlikely the driver of the vehicle that struck the photographer will be prosecuted.
With only 18 medals available per day, there are a number of countries that have yet to reach the podium.
They include the Netherlands, where Anna Jochemsen finished ninth in the women's Super-G yesterday, and Finland, where Katja Saarinen finished 10th in the same event.
Australia's Mitchell Gourley finished 11th in the men's standing Super-G. Czech Republic's Oldrich Jelinek finished 16th in the men's seated Super-G.
Arly Velasquez of Mexico was 15th in the men's sitting Super-G. New Zealand's Adam Hall was ninth in the men's standing Super-G.
Poland's visually impaired male skier Maciej Krezel and his guide Anna Ogarzynska finished 13th in the men's Super-G. South Korea's Jong Seork Park finished fourth and 14th in the men's sitting Super-G.
The U.N.'s peacekeeping force, which arrived in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, is blamed for spreading the disease that started near the soldiers' camp.
According to the lawsuit, waste from the U.N. camp was not properly treated, causing bacteria to flow into the Artibonite River, one of Haiti's largest rivers.
Prior to the arrival of the troops, Haiti had not experienced an outbreak of the disease since the 1800s.
The Haitian Institute for Justice and Democracy has referred to independent investigations that indicate that the Nepalese UN peacekeeping battalion unwittingly brought the disease to Haiti.
Danielle Lantagne, one of the UN's experts on the disease, said the outbreak was probably caused by the peacekeepers.
Hamilton confirmed that Howard University Hospital had admitted the patient in stable condition.
The patient had been in Nigeria, where there have been some cases of Ebola virus.
The hospital has followed infection control protocols, including isolating the infected patient from others to prevent possible spread of the infection.
Before The Simpsons, Simon had worked on several programs in various capacities.
During the 1980s, he worked on shows such as Taxi, Cheers, and The Tracey Ullman Show.
In 1989, he helped create The Simpsons with Brooks and Groening and was responsible for hiring the show's first writing staff.
Although he left the show in 1993, he remained a film producer and continued to receive thousands of dollars in royalties each season.
Earlier, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that a plane had been hijacked.
Later reports said the plane received a bomb threat and was diverted back to Afghanistan, where it landed in Kandahar.
Early reports say the plane was diverted back to Afghanistan after being denied permission to make an emergency landing in Ürümqi.
Aviation accidents are common in Iran, which has an aging fleet that is not maintained to be able to perform civil and military operations.
International sanctions have prevented the purchase of new aircraft.
A police helicopter crashed earlier this week, killing three people and injuring three others.
Iran suffered its worst air disaster in years last month when a plane en route to Armenia crashed, killing all 168 on board.
In the same month, another plane overshot a runway in Mashhad and crashed into a wall, killing 17 people.
Aerosmith has cancelled the remainder of their tour.
The band had planned to tour the U.S. and Canada until Sept. 16.
They have cancelled the tour after frontman Steven Tyler was injured when he fell off the stage while performing on August 5.
Murray lost the first set in a tiebreak after both men had won all of their service games in the set.
Del Potro led early in the second set, but that too ended tied at 6-6.
At this point, Potro was being treated for his shoulder problems, but was able to return to the match.
The program began at 20:30 local time (15:00 UTC).
Famous singers from all over the country sang bhajans, or devotional songs to Shri Shyam's parents.
Singer Sanju Sharma started the evening, followed by Jai Shankar Choudhary, who presented chhappan bhog bhajan. Singer Raju Khandelwal accompanied him.
Then Lakkha Singh took the lead to sing the bhajans.
A total of 108 plates of Chhappan Bhog (56 different edible items such as sweets, fruits, nuts and food items offered to the gods in Hinduism) were served to Baba Shyam.
Lakkha Singh also presented chhappan bhog bhajan. Singer Raju Khandelwal accompanied him.
On Thursday at the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled the design of the controller for the company's new Nintendo Revolution console.
The controller, which resembles a TV remote, uses two sensors placed near the user's TV to triangulate its position in a three-dimensional space.
This will allow players to control actions and movements in video games by moving the device through the air.
Giancarlo Fisichella lost control of his car and finished the race very quickly after the start.
His teammate Fernando Alonso led most of the race, but finished just after his pitstop - probably due to a poorly fitted right rear wheel.
Michael Schumacher retired from the race shortly after Alonso due to damage to the suspension from the many battles during the race.
"She's really sweet and sings really well," he said, according to a transcript of the news conference.
I was deeply moved every time we did these tests."
Approximately three minutes after launch, a mounted camera showed several pieces of insulation separating from the fuel tank.
However, they are not believed to have caused any damage to the shuttle.
NASA's chief of the spacecraft program, N. Wayne Hale Jr., said the isolation material was missing "at the time we're concerned about."
Five minutes into the show, the wind picks up. About a minute later, the wind reaches 70 mph... then the rain comes down so hard and in such large quantities that it feels like needles hitting your skin, followed by hail. People panic and scream and run into each other.
I walked away from my sister and her boyfriend, and on the way I saw two handicapped people in wheelchairs, people were just jumping over them and shoving them," said Armand Versace.
NHK also reported that the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture was operating normally.
Hokuriku Electric Power Co. reported no impacts from the quake and that reactor No. 1 and No. 2 at its Shika nuclear power plant were shut down.
Some 9,400 homes in the region are without water, and about 100 are without electricity.
Some roads have been damaged, train service has been suspended in the affected areas, and Noto Airport in Ishikawa Prefecture remains closed.
One of the bombs exploded outside the governor's office.
Three more bombs exploded near government buildings within two hours.
Some reports claim that the official death toll is eight, and official reports confirm that up to 30 people were injured, but the final numbers are not yet known.
Both cyanuric acid and melamine were found in urine samples from pigs that died after consuming contaminated pig feed.
Researchers at the university said the two compounds react with each other to form crystals that can block kidney function.
Researchers found that crystals formed in the urine when they added melamine and cyanuric acid.
The composition of the crystals matches those found in the urine of contacted cold-blooded animals when compared by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
I don't know if you know this, but most goods from Central America enter this country duty-free.
However, four percent of our goods were taxed through tariffs in Central American countries.
It was completely unfair and didn't make any sense to me.
All I ask is that you treat us the same way we treat you.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.
The bill would require violent video games sold in the state of California to be marked with an "18" rating and make the sale to minors punishable by a fine of $1,000 per violation.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer QC, spoke out this morning on the prosecution of both Huhne and Pryce.
Huhne is stepping down and will be replaced in the Cabinet by MP Ed Davey. MP Norman Lamb is expected to take over the job of trade minister, which Davey is leaving.
Huhne and Pryce are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on February 16.
The dead were Nicholas Alden, 25, and Zachary Cuddeback, 21. Cuddeback was the driver.
Edgar Veguilla sustained arm and jaw injuries, while Kristoffer Schneider required reconstructive surgery to his face.
Uka's weapon malfunctioned as it was aimed at a fifth man's head. Schneider suffers constant pain, is blind in one eye, missing part of his skull and has a face rebuilt with titanium.
Schneider testified via video link from a U.S. Air Force base in his home country.
In addition to Wednesday's event, Carpanedo competed in two individual events at the championship.
Her first event was slalom, where she did not finish her first run. 36 of the 116 competitors had the same result in the race.
In her second run, a slalom, she finished 10th in the women's sitting group with a combined time of 4:41.30, 2:11.60 minutes slower than Claudia Loesch of Austria, who finished first, and 1:09.02 minutes slower than Gyöngyi Dani of Hungary, who finished ninth.
Four skiers in the women's sitting group did not finish the race, and 45 of 117 skiers in the giant slalom failed to finish.
Police in Madhya Pradesh recovered the stolen laptop and mobile phone.
Deputy Inspector General of Police D K Arya said: "We have arrested five people for raping the Swiss woman and recovered her mobile phone and laptop."
The accused are Baba Kanjar, Bhutha Kanjar, Rampro Kanjar, Gaza Kanjar and Vishnu Kanjar.
Police Commissioner Chandra Shekhar Solanki said the accused appeared in court with their faces covered.
Although there were three people in the house when the car hit it, none of them were injured.
However, the driver suffered serious head injuries.
The road where the accident occurred was temporarily closed while emergency services freed the driver of the red Audi TT.
He was initially admitted to James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth.
He was then transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
Adekoya has since been charged with murdering his son at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
She is being held in custody and awaits being charged and appearing in court, but evidence from eyewitnesses could be tainted because her image has been widely disseminated.
This is common practice elsewhere in the UK, but Scottish courts operate differently, and the courts have considered the publication of images to be potentially harmful.
Professor Pamela Ferguson of the University of Dundee said: "It certainly looks like journalists need to be careful about publishing pictures of suspects and so on."
The Crown Office, which has overall responsibility for prosecutions, has suggested to journalists that no further comment will be made until charges are laid.
According to the report, the document will refer to the border conflict that Palestinians want based on the borders from before the 1967 Six-Day War.
Other topics covered, according to reports, include the future status of Jerusalem, which is holy to both sides, as well as the issues surrounding the Jordan Valley.
Israel is demanding a constant military presence in the valley for 10 years, while the Palestinian Authority is only willing to leave the valley for five years.
Shooters in the supplementary pest control operation were followed closely by park rangers as the operation was monitored and its effectiveness assessed.
In a partnership between NPWS and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc, qualified volunteers were recruited under the Sporting Shooters Association's hunting program.
According to Mick O'Flynn, the acting director of conservation and heritage at NPWS, the four shooters selected for the first cull received extensive safety and training instruction.
A new nine-member provisional electoral council (CEP) was sworn in yesterday by Martelly.
It is Martelly's fifth CEP in four years.
Last month, the former CEP head was recommended by a presidential commission as part of a package of reforms to move the country toward new elections.
Martelly's response to the widespread anti-regime protests that began in October was the commission.
The sometimes violent protests were sparked by delayed elections, some of which had not been held since 2011.
In about 60 reported cases, overheated iPods have caused six fires and burned four people.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said it was aware of 27 accidents involving the units.
Last week, METI announced that Apple had informed them of an additional 34 cases of overheating, which the company called "non-serious."
The ministry responded by calling Apple's rejection of the report "quite regrettable."
The quake hit Mariana at 7:19 a.m. local time (9:19 a.m. GMT Friday).
North Korea's state emergency committee said there were no reports of damage in the country.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also said there were no signs of a tsunami.
A former Filipino policeman has taken tourists from Hong Kong hostage by hijacking their bus in Manila, the Philippines' capital.
Rolando Mendoza fired his M16 at the tourists.
Several hostages have been rescued, and at least six have been confirmed dead so far.
Six hostages, including children and the elderly, were released early, as were the Filipino photographers.
The photographers later took the seat of an older woman as she went to the bathroom. Mendoza was shot down.
Liggins followed in his father's footsteps and pursued a career in medicine.
He trained as an obstetrician and began working at Auckland National Women's Hospital in 1959.
While working at the hospital, Liggins began researching early births in his spare time.
His research showed that if a hormone was given, it would accelerate the development of the baby's lungs in the womb.
Xinhua reported that government investigators found two "black box" recorders on Wednesday.
Other wrestlers also paid tribute to Luna.
Tommy Dreamer said, "Luna was the first Queen of Extreme. My first manager. Luna died in the night with two moons. Unbelievable, just like her. Strong woman."
Dustin "Goldust" Runnels commented that "Luna was as wild as me... maybe even more... love her and will miss her... hopefully she's in a better place now."
Of the 1,400 people surveyed ahead of the 2010 federal election, the number opposed to Australia becoming a republic rose by eight per cent since 2008.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said during the 2010 federal election campaign that she believed Australia should become a republic by the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
Thirty-four per cent of those surveyed share this view and want Queen Elizabeth II to be Australia's last monarch.
In the extremes of the poll, 29 per cent of those surveyed said Australia should become a republic as soon as possible, while 31 per cent said Australia should never become a republic.
The Olympic gold medallist was due to swim the 100m and 200m freestyle and three relays at the Commonwealth Games, but his complaints have cast doubt over his fitness.
He could not take the medication necessary to combat his pain because it is banned under the league's drug policy.
Curtis Cooper, a mathematician and professor of computer science at the University of Central Missouri, discovered the largest known prime number on Jan. 25.
Several people confirmed this discovery in early February using different hardware and software, and it was announced on Tuesday.
Comets may have been a source of water on Earth along with organic material that can form proteins and support life.
Scientists hope to understand how planets form, and especially how Earth formed since comets collided with Earth long ago.
Cuomo, 53, became governor earlier this year and signed legislation last month legalizing same-sex marriage.
He dismissed the rumors as "political gossip and nonsense."
Speculation is rife that he will run for president in 2016.
NextGen is a system, according to the FAA, that will allow planes to fly shorter routes, save millions of gallons of fuel annually and reduce CO2 emissions.
It uses satellite-based technology, rather than older technology based on radars on the ground, to give air traffic controllers the ability to locate aircraft with greater precision and give pilots more precise information.
Extra transport will not be put on and trains will not stop at Wembley, and car parking and park-and-ride options will not be available on the ground.
The fear of a lack of transport meant there was a chance the game could be played behind closed doors without the club's fans.
A study published Thursday in the journal Science reported the discovery of a new bird species on the Ecuadorean Galápagos Islands.
Researchers from Princeton University in the U.S. and Uppsala University in Sweden have reported that the new species was developed in just two generations, despite the belief that this process would have taken much longer due to mating between the endemic Darwin's finch geospiza fortis and the invasive cactus finch geospiza conirostris.
Gold can be worked into all sorts of shapes. It can be rolled into very small shapes.
It can be drawn out into a thin wire that can be wound and braided. It can be hammered or rolled into sheets.
It can be made very thin and applied to another metal. It can be made so thin that it was sometimes used to decorate the hand-painted illustrations in books called "illuminated manuscripts."
This is called a chemical pH value. You can make an indicator by using beetroot juice.
Caustic soda changes color depending on whether it is acidic or alkaline (alkaline).
The pH value is given by the amount of hydrogen ions (H+ in pH) in the tested chemical.
Brintions are protons that have had their electrons removed (because brine atoms consist of a proton and an electron).
Mix the two dry powders together, then roll them into a ball with clean, wet hands.
The moisture on your hands reacts with the outer layers, which will feel weird and form a sort of scale.
The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had a flush toilet connected to a sophisticated sewage system in almost all houses,
Remains of sewers have been found in the houses of the Minoan towns on Crete and Santorini in Greece.
There were also toilets in ancient Egypt, Persia, and China. In the Roman civilization, toilets were sometimes part of public bath houses where men and women mingled.
When you call someone who is thousands of miles away, you use a satellite.
The satellite in the room receives the call and reflects it back almost immediately.
The satellite was launched into space by a rocket. Scientists use telescopes in space because Earth's atmosphere distorts some of our light and vision.
Putting a satellite or a telescope into space requires a giant rocket that is over 100 feet tall.
The wheel has changed the world in unbelievable ways. The biggest thing the wheel has done for us is give us much easier and faster transportation methods.
It has given us the train, the car, and many other forms of transport.
Under them are several medium-sized cats that eat medium-sized prey ranging from rabbits to antelopes and deer.
Finally, there are many small cats (including domestic cats) that eat the much more numerous small prey such as insects, rodents, rabbits, and birds.
The secret to their success is a niche concept, a special job for each cat that keeps them from competing with each other.
Lions are the most social cats and live in large groups called prides.
The groups consist of one to three related adult males, plus up to 30 females and young.
Hummingbirds are usually closely related to each other and are a large family of sisters and daughters.
Lion prides behave much like wolves or dogs in packs, animals that are surprisingly similar to lions (but not other large cats) in behavior, and also very deadly to their prey.
The tiger is a good athlete, able to climb (though not well), swim, jump long distances, and pull with five times the strength of a strong man.
The tiger is in the same genus (Panthera) as lions, leopards and jaguars. These four cats are the only ones that can roar.
The tiger's roar is not like the high-pitched roar of a lion, but more like a series of snarling growls.
Ocelots prefer small prey. However, they will hunt snakes, rodents, and birds if given the opportunity. Nearly all of the prey that ocelots hunt are much smaller than themselves.
Researchers believe ocelots track and find prey (prey) by scent, sniffing where they have been on the ground.
They can see very well in the dark with night vision, and they move very quietly around. Ocelots hunt their prey by stalking them and then pouncing on their prey.
When a small group of living things (a small population) is separated from the main population they came from (such as if they move over a mountain range or a river, or if they move to a new island, so they can't easily move back), they will often be in a different environment than they were in before.
This new environment has different resources and different competitors, so the new population must have different functions or adaptations to be a stronger competitor than the previous population had needed to be.
The original population has not changed at all. It still needs the same adaptations as before.
Over time, as the new population begins to adapt to their new environment, they begin to look less and less like the other population.
Finally, after thousands or even millions of years, the two populations will be so different that they cannot be called the same species.
We call this process speciation, which simply means the formation of new species. Species are an inevitable consequence and a very important part of evolution.
Plants produce oxygen, which humans inhale, and they absorb carbon dioxide, which humans exhale (i.e. breathe out).
Plants make their food from the sun through photosynthesis. They also provide shade.
We make our houses out of plants and make clothes out of plants. Most of the food we eat is plants. Without plants, animals would not be able to survive.
Mosasaurus was at the top of the food chain in its time, so it feared nothing but other mosasaurs.
Its long snout had more than 70 knife-sharp teeth and an extra set at the top of its mouth, meaning there was no escape route for anything that crossed its path.
We don't know for sure, but it may have had a forked tongue. Its diet included turtles, large fish, other mosasaurs, and it may even have been a cannibal.
It also attacked anything that came into the water. Even a giant dinosaur like a T. rex would be no match for it.
Although most of their food would be familiar to us, the Romans ate some strange or unusual things, such as wild boar, pheasants, snails, and a type of squirrel called a dormouse.
Another difference was that while the poor and women ate their food while sitting on chairs, the rich men liked to have large feasts where they lay on their sides while eating.
Ancient Roman meals could not have included foods that came to Europe from the Americas or Asia in later centuries.
For example, they had no corn, tomatoes, potatoes, or chocolate, and none of the ancient Romans had ever tasted turkey.
The Babylonians built a primary temple for each of their gods, which was regarded as the god's home.
People brought sacrifices to the gods, and priests tried to fulfill the gods' needs through ceremonies and festivals.
Each temple had an open courtyard and an inner sanctuary that only priests could enter.
Sometimes pyramid-shaped towers, called ziggurats, were built as part of the temples.
The top of the tower was a special sanctuary for the god.
In the warm climate of the Middle East, the house was not so important.
The Hebrew family spends most of its life outdoors.
Women did the laundry in the yard; the shops were just open shelves facing the street. Stone was used to build houses.
There were no large forests in Canaan, so wood was extremely expensive.
Greenland was sparsely populated. In the Norse sagas, it is said that Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder, and when he traveled farther west he found Greenland and called it Greenland.
However, despite his discovery, there were already Inuit settlements in the area at the time.
Even though each country was "Scandinavian," there were many differences between the people, kings, customs, and history of Denmark, Sverige, Norge, and Island.
If you've seen the movie National Treasure, you might think that a treasure map is drawn on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
However, that is not true. Even though something is written on the back of the document, it is not a tax return.
On the back of the American Declaration of Independence, the words "Original Declaration of Independence, dated July 4, 1776" appear at the bottom of the document when it is turned upside down.
Although no one knows for sure who wrote it, it is known that early in its life the large parchment document (measuring 29¾ inches by 24½ inches) was rolled up for safekeeping.
Therefore, it is likely that the objection was only filed as an afterthought.
The D-Day landings and the subsequent battles had liberated northern France, but the south was still not free.
It was governed by the French Vichy government - Frenchmen who had signed a peace treaty with the Germans in 1940 and worked with them instead of fighting them.
On August 15, 1940, Allied troops invaded southern France; the invasion was called "Operation Dragoon."
In just two weeks, American and Free French forces had liberated southern France and were focusing on Germany.
A civilization is a single culture shared by a large, significant group of people who live and work together, a society.
The word civilization comes from the Latin civilis, meaning civil, and is related to the Latin civis, meaning citizen, and civitas, meaning city or city-state; and it also in some way defines the size of the society.
Cities are the precursors of nations. A civilization culture entails the transmission of knowledge across generations, long-term cultural influence, and fair distribution.
Smaller cultures often disappear without leaving any significant historical evidence, and are not recognized as true civilizations.
During the War of Independence, the thirteen states first formed a weak central government — with Congress as the only component — under the Articles of Confederation.
Congress had no power to levy taxes, and because there was no national executive or judiciary, they were dependent on the state governments, which were often uncooperative in enforcing all actions.
It had no right to override tax laws and tariffs between states.
Articles require unanimous consent from all states before they can be amended, and the central government took advantage of the fact that states' representatives were often absent.
Italy's national football team, along with Germany's national football team, is the second most successful team in the world, having won the FIFA World Cup in 2006.
Popular sports include football, basketball, volleyball, water polo, fencing, rugby, cycling, ice hockey, roller hockey and F1 motorsport.
Winter sports are most popular in the northern regions, with Italians competing in international competitions and Olympic events.
Japan has almost 7,000 islands (the largest being Honshu), making Japan the seventh largest island in the world!
Because of the chain of islands that Japan has, Japan is often referred to, from a geographical point of view, as an "archipelago"
Taiwan's history dates back to the 15th century, when European sailors passing by the island named it Ilha Formosa or the Beautiful Island.
In 1624, the Dutch East India Company established a base in the southwest of Taiwan, which changed the indigenous agricultural practices and employed Chinese laborers to work on their rice and sugar plantations.
In 1683, troops of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) took control of Taiwan's western and northern coastal areas and declared Taiwan a province of the Qing Empire in 1885.
In 1895, after a defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the Qing government signed the Shimonoseki Treaty, ceding sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan, which rules the island until 1945.
Machu Picchu consists of three main structures: Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Temple of the Three Windows.
Most of the buildings on the outskirts of the complex have been rebuilt to give visitors a better idea of how they originally looked.
In 1976, 30 percent of Machu Picchu had been restored, and excavations continue to this day.
For example, the most common photo format in the world for stills is 35 mm, which was the most common film format at the end of the era of analog film.
It is still produced today, but more importantly, its aspect ratio has been inherited by sensor formats in digital cameras.
The 35mm format is actually 36mm wide and 24mm high.
The aspect ratio for this format is therefore 3:2 (divided by 12 to achieve the simplest whole number aspect ratio).
Many common formats (e.g. APS formats) are the same or very close to this aspect ratio.
The much-maligned and often ridiculed rule of thirds is a simple guideline that creates dynamism and order in an image at the same time.
She says that the most effective place for the main motif is at the intersection of lines that divide the picture into thirds horizontally and vertically (see example).
During this period in European history, the Catholic Church, which had become wealthy and powerful, was scrutinized more closely.
For more than a thousand years, the Christian religion united European countries despite different languages and customs.
Its all-encompassing power affected everyone from the king to the common people.
One of the most important Christian doctrines is that wealth should be used to alleviate suffering and poverty, and that the church's financial resources should be used specifically for that purpose.
The central authority of the church had been in Rome for more than a thousand years, and this concentration of power and money led many to question whether it was living up to this dogma.
Shortly after hostilities broke out, Britain imposed a naval blockade on Germany.
The strategy proved effective in preventing vital military and civilian supplies from reaching the front lines. This blockade was in violation of international law codified in several international agreements over the past two centuries.
Britain laid mines in international waters to prevent ships from entering whole sections of the ocean, which was a hazard even to neutral ships.
Because of the limited effectiveness of this tactic, Germany expected a similar response to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
During the 1920s, most citizens and nations held pacifist and isolationist views.
After witnessing the horrors and atrocities of World War I, nations sought to avoid a similar situation in the future.
In 1884, Tesla moved to the United States to work for the Edison Company in New York City.
He arrived in the U.S. with four cents in his pocket, a poetry collection, and a letter of recommendation from Charles Batchelor (his former boss) to Thomas Edison.
In ancient China, different eras were depicted in a unique way; each Chinese era or family that was in power was a distinct dynasty.
In addition, between each dynasty there was an unstable period of divided provinces. The most famous of these periods was the Three Kingdoms period, which lasted for 60 years between the Han and Jin dynasties.
During these periods, there were fierce wars between many noblemen fighting for the throne.
The Three Kingdoms period was one of the bloodiest periods in ancient China's history. Thousands of people died in the battle to sit in the highest seat in the great palace in Xi'an.
There are many social and political consequences, such as the use of the metric system, a shift from absolutism to republicanism, nationalism, and the belief that the country belongs to the people, not one ruler.
Even after the revolution, the industries were open to all male applicants, allowing the most ambitious and successful to do well.
The same goes for the military, as instead of class-based ranking in the army, ranking is now based on caliber.
The French Revolution also inspired many other oppressed workers from other countries to start their own internal revolutions.
Muhammad was deeply interested in matters beyond the worldly life. He used to visit a cave known as "Hira" on the mountain of "Noor" (light) to meditate on his thoughts.
The cave itself, which has survived through the ages, gives a very vivid picture of the Prophet's spiritual inclinations.
The cave is located atop one of the mountains north of Mecca and is completely isolated from the rest of the world.
Actually, it's not easy to find at all, even if you know it exists. When you're in the cave, it's total isolation.
Only the clear blue sky above and the many surrounding mountains can be seen. Very little of the outside world can be seen or heard from inside the cave.
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing today.
The Great Pyramid was built by the Egyptians in the third millennium BC and is one of many large pyramid structures built to honor the dead pharaohs.
The Giza Plateau, or the "Giza Necropolis" in the Valley of the Dead in Egypt, contains several pyramids (of which the world-famous Great Pyramid is the largest of them all), several small tombs, several temples, and the Great Sphinx.
The Great Pyramid was built to honor Pharaoh Khufu, and many of the smaller pyramids, tombs, and temples were built to honor Khufu's wives and family members.
The "up-bow" marking resembles a V and the "down-bow" marking resembles a hook, or a square missing its lower side.
Up means to start at the tip and push the bow, and down means to start at the frog (where your hand holds the bow) and pull the bow.
Downstrokes usually produce a softer sound, while upstrokes sound louder and more powerful.
You can always insert your own markings, but keep in mind that the inserted bar lines are determined by musical reasons, so they should usually be respected.
King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette, their two small children (11-year-old Marie Therese and four-year-old Louis-Charles), and the king's sister, Madame Elizabeth, were forced back to Paris from Versailles by a mob of market women on October 6, 1789.
They returned to Paris in a carriage surrounded by a screaming mob hurling abuse at the king and queen.
The crowd forced the king and queen to keep the windows of their carriage wide open.
At one point, a member of the mafia presented the head of a royal guard killed at Versailles to the terrified queen.
War expenditures for American imperialism in the conquest of the Philippines were paid for by the Filipino people themselves.
The Filipinos had to pay taxes to the American colonial power to raise money for most of their expenditures, and the bonds ran through the banks on Wall Street in the government's name.
Naturally, the long-term exploitation of the Filipino people by the U.S. imperialists would be the main beneficiaries of the U.S. imperialism.
To understand the Knights Templar, one must understand the context in which the order was founded.
The period in which these events took place is generally known as the High Middle Ages, the period of European history that took place in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries (1000–1300 A.D.).
The High Middle Ages preceded the Early Middle Ages, which was followed by the Late Middle Ages, conventionally ending around 1500.
Technological determinism is an expression that encompasses a wide range of ideas in practice from technology as a driving force or technological necessity, to a narrower idea that human destiny is driven by an underlying logic that has connections to scientific laws, and the way it manifests itself in technology.
Most interpretations of technological determinism share two general ideas: that the development of technology follows a path that is largely independent of cultural or political influence, and that technology has an "impact" on society that is hereditary and not socially determined.
For example, one could say that the motorized car necessarily leads to the development of roads.
But a nationwide network is not economically viable for just a handful of cars, so new production methods are being developed to reduce the cost of owning a car.
When many people own cars, there are also more accidents on the roads, which leads to the development of new healthcare technologies to treat whole-body injuries.
Romanticism contained a large element of cultural determinism drawn from writers such as Goethe, Fichte and Schlegel.
In connection with Romanticism, it was geography that formed the individual, and over time there developed customs and cultures that were related to geography, and these were in harmony with the society's placement and were therefore better than arbitrarily imposed laws.
In the same way that Paris today is known as the fashion capital of the modern world, Constantinople was regarded as the fashion capital of the feudal Europe.
It is known as an epicenter of luxury since about 400 A.D. and lasted until about 1,100 A.D.
Its status declined in the 12th century, mainly because crusaders returned with gifts of silk and spices of greater value than the Byzantine markets could offer.
It was at this point that the title of fashion capital shifted from Constantinople to Paris.
The Gothic style was most prevalent between the 10th and 11th centuries and the 14th century.
Initially, the clothing was highly influenced by the Byzantine culture of the East.
However, due to the slow communication channels, western styles are lagging behind by 25-30 years.
At the end of the Middle Ages, Western Europe began to develop its own style. One of the biggest developments as a result of the Crusades was that people began to use buttons to fasten their clothing.
Subsistence farming is farming done to produce enough food to meet the needs of the farmer and his or her family.
Subsistence agriculture is a simple and often organic system that uses stored seeds native to the ecoregion in combination with crop rotation or other relatively simple techniques to maximize yields.
Historically, most farmers have been engaged in subsistence farming, and this is still the case in many developing countries.
Subcultures bring like-minded individuals together who feel overlooked by societal standards and give them the opportunity to develop a sense of identity.
Subcultures can be characterized by age, ethnicity, social class, location, and/or gender of members.
The characteristics that define a subculture as distinct may be linguistic, aesthetic, religious, political, sexual, geographic, or a combination of several factors.
People who belong to a subculture often signal their affiliation through a clear and symbolic use of style, which includes fashion, manners, and slang.
One of the most common ways to illustrate the importance of socialization is to point to the few unfortunate cases where children have not been socialized by adults in their childhood through neglect, accident, or abuse.
Such children are called "feral" or "wild." Some feral children have been kidnapped by humans (often their own parents); in some cases, the child's abandonment was caused by the parents' rejection of a child with serious intellectual or physical disabilities.
Wild children may have experienced serious child abuse or trauma before they were abandoned or ran away.
Others are said to have been raised by animals; some are said to have lived in the wild on their own.
When raised by non-human animals, the feral child exhibits behavior (within physical boundaries) that is nearly identical to that of the animal that cared for it, such as its fear or lack of interest in humans.
While project-based learning should make learning easier and more interesting, scaffolding takes it a step further.
Staging is not a learning method, but a support for people who need to learn something new - such as using a new computer program or starting a new project.
Positions can be virtual or real, in other words, a teacher is a form of position, but the little paper clip in Microsoft Office is also a position.
Virtual labs are internalized in the software and are designed to raise questions, ask for and explain procedures that may have been too difficult for the student to handle alone.
Children are placed in foster care for a variety of reasons, ranging from neglect to abuse and even extortion.
No child should grow up in an environment without nourishment, care, and education, but they do so nonetheless.
We see the foster care system as a safe haven for these children.
Our foster care system must provide safe homes, loving caregivers, stable education, and reliable health care.
A foster family is responsible for providing all necessities that were not available in the home they were removed from.
The Internet combines mass communication and interpersonal communication.
The unique characteristics of the Internet lead to additional dimensions of use and user satisfaction.
For example, James et al. (1995) suggest that "learning" and "socialization" are important motivations for Internet use.
"Personal involvement" and "sustained relationships" were also identified as new motivational factors by Eighmey and McCord (1998) as they examined audience reactions to Web sites.
The use of video recordings has led to important discoveries in the understanding of microsaccades, which are eye movements that last only a few milliseconds.
Specifically, it is claimed that one can identify whether a person is lying by correctly interpreting micro-expressions.
In his article The President's Speech, Oliver Sacks indicated how people who are unable to understand speech because of a brain injury are nevertheless able to assess sincerity with great accuracy.
He even believes that such abilities to interpret human behavior can be found in pets, such as dogs.
Research from the twentieth century has shown that there are two different pools of genetic variation: the invisible and the visible.
New genetic variation is added via mutation, and it is removed from the pool of exact variations via selection."
Separation and recombination shuffles the variation back and forth between the two pools with each generation.
Out on the savanna, it is difficult for a primate with a human-like digestive system to satisfy its need for amino acids from available plant sources.
Furthermore, non-compliance has serious consequences: stunted growth, malnutrition and ultimately death.
The most readily available plant resources would have been the proteins that exist in leaves and fruits, but for primates such as ourselves, these are difficult to digest unless prepared.
On the other hand, insects, termites, and ants are not only easy to digest, but also provide large amounts of protein containing all the essential amino acids.
All in all, it should not surprise us if our own ancestors solved their "protein problem" in much the same way as chimpanzees on the savannah do today.
Insomnia is the process of waking up during your normal sleep period and falling back asleep within a short period of time (10-60 minutes).
This can be done by using a relatively quiet buzzer to wake you up without fully waking you up.
If you find yourself turning off your alarm while you're sleeping, you can place it in the other end of the room, forcing you to get up to turn it off.
Other circadian rhythm-based options include drinking massive amounts of fluid (especially water or tea, a well-known diuretic) before bedtime, which forces you to get up and go to the bathroom.
The amount of inner peace a person possesses is the exact opposite of the amount of tension a person possesses in body and mind.
The lower the tension, the greater the vitality. Every human being has the potential to find absolute peace and happiness.
Everyone can learn to understand. The only thing that stands in the way of achieving this goal is our own tension and negativity.
Tibetan Buddhism is based on the teachings of the Buddha, but was expanded by the loving-kindness path of Mahayana and with many techniques from Indian yoga.
In essence, Tibetan Buddhism is very simple. It consists of Kundalini yoga, meditation, and the path of universal love.
Kundalini Yoga awakens the Kundalini energy (life energy) through yoga postures, breathing exercises, mantras, and visualizations.
The center of Tibetan meditation is deity yoga ("Deity Yoga"). Through visualization of various deities, the energy channels are cleansed, the chakras are activated, and enlightenment is created.
Germany was a common enemy in World War II, which led to an alliance between the Soviet Union and the United States. When the war ended, the differences in the countries' systems, processes, and cultures led to the countries opposing each other.
Two years after the end of the war, the former allies were now enemies, and the Cold War began.
It would continue for the next 40 years and would be fought in earnest by proxy armies on battlefields from Africa to Asia, in Afghanistan, Cuba, and many other places.
On September 17, 1939, the Polish defense was already broken, and the only hope was to withdraw and reorganize along the Romanian border.
These plans, however, were abandoned almost overnight as over 800,000 troops of the Soviet Union's Red Army entered and established the Belarusian and Ukrainian fronts after invading Poland's eastern regions in violation of the Riga Peace Treaty, the Polish-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, and other international treaties, both bilateral and multilateral.
The use of ships to transport goods is the most efficient way to transport large amounts of both people and goods across the oceans.
The Navy's mission has traditionally been to ensure that your country continues to have the ability to move your people and your goods, while affecting your enemy's ability to move their people and their goods.
One of the most notable recent examples of this is the North Atlantic campaign of World War II. The Americans attempted to ferry soldiers and supplies across the Atlantic to help Britain.
At the same time, the German navy, which mainly used submarines, tried to stop this traffic.
If the Allies had failed, Germany would probably have been able to invade Britain as well as the rest of Europe.
As far as is known, goats were first milked about 10,000 years ago in the Zagros Mountains of Iran.
Old cultures and tribes began keeping them so they could have easy access to milk, furs, meat and hides.
Herds were generally kept in flocks that grazed on hills or other grasslands, often watched over by shepherds who were usually children or teenagers, equivalent to the more generally known shepherds. These herding methods are still used today.
As early as the 16th century, carriages were built in England.
Although the wagons consisted only of parallel wooden planks, they meant that horses could pull heavier loads faster than on the rougher roads of the day.
Shoes were invented early on to keep the tracks in place. Eventually, however, it was realized that tracks would be more effective if they had an iron rod on top.
This became common practice, but the iron wheels caused more wear on the wooden wheels.
Eventually, wooden wheels were replaced by iron wheels. In 1767, the first all-metal rails were used.
The first known transport method was walking, but humans began walking upright about two million years ago with the emergence of Homo Erectus (meaning upright man).
Their predecessors, Australopithecus, did not usually walk upright.
There are two-toed specialisations in Australopithecus fossils that are 4.2-3.9 million years old, although Sahelanthropus may have walked on two legs as far back as seven million years ago.
We can begin to live more sustainably, we can become part of the environmental movement, and we can even be activists to reduce future suffering to some degree.
This is often like treating symptoms. But if we don't just want a temporary fix, we need to find the root of the problem and deactivate it.
It is obvious that the world has changed a lot due to the scientific and technological advancement of mankind, and problems have become bigger due to overpopulation and man's extravagant lifestyle.
After Congress adopted it on July 4, a handwritten draft was signed by President of Congress John Hancock, and Secretary Charles Thomsen was sent to John Dunlaps printer to print a few copies.
Over the course of the night, between 150 and 200 copies were made, which are now known as "Dunlap broadsides."
The first public reading of the document was performed by John Nixon on July 8 in Independence Hall's courtyard.
One of them was sent to George Washington on the 6th of July, and on the 9th of July it was opened to his troops in New York. By the 10th of August, an example had reached London.
The 25 Dunlap broadsides, which still exist, are the oldest surviving version of the document. The original handwritten version no longer exists.
Many paleontologists believe today that a group of dinosaurs survived and are still alive. We call them birds.
Most people don't see them as dinosaurs because they have feathers and can fly.
There are many things about birds that are similar to dinosaurs.
They lay eggs with shells and claws, lay eggs, and walk on their hind legs like a T-Rex.
Nearly all computers used today are based on manipulating information that is coded in the form of binary numbers.
A binary number can only have one of two values, e.g. 0 or 1, and these values are referred to as binary digits - or bits, in computer parlance.
Internal poisoning may not look the same. Symptoms such as vomiting are too general to be able to make a diagnosis.
The best indication of internal poisoning is the presence of an open medicine bottle or poisonous household chemicals.
See the label for specific first aid instructions for the specific poison.
The term bug is used by entomologists as a formal description of this group of insects.
This expression comes from an old knowledge of bedbugs, which are insects that are highly parasitic on humans.
Both rats and mice are commensal, meaning they are adapted to living in their host's house or nest.
Across the United States, there are approximately 400,000 known cases of multiple sclerosis (MS), making it the most common neurological disease in young and middle-aged adults.
MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system, consisting of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve.
Research has shown that women are twice as likely to develop MS than men.
A couple may decide that it is not best for them or their child to have a baby.
These couples can make an adoption plan for their baby.
In an adoption, biological parents give up their parental rights so that another couple can adopt them.
The goal of science is to find out how the world works using the scientific method. This method is actually used in most scientific studies.
However, experimentation, and an experiment is a test used to eliminate one or more hypotheses. Asking questions and making observations also lead to scientific research.
Naturalists and philosophers focused on classical texts and especially the Bible in Latin.
Aristotle's views on all scientific matters, including psychology, were accepted.
As knowledge of Greek faded, the West felt cut off from its Greek roots in philosophy and science.
Many of the observations made in physiology and behavior often depend on the presence of endogenous cycles and the natural biological production.
Periodic rhythms that are not responses to external periodic signals have been documented for most living organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals.
Biological clocks are self-sustaining oscillators that will continue a period of free-running cycles even in the absence of external signals.
The Hershey and Chase experiment was one of the leading proposals that DNA was a genetic material.
Hershey and Chase used bacteriophages or viruses to insert their own DNA into a bacterium.
They conducted two experiments, marking either the DNA in the cells with radioactive phosphorus or the protein in the cells with radioactive sulfur.
Mutations can have a variety of effects depending on the type of mutation, the significance of the affected piece of genetic material, and whether the affected cells are germline cells.
Only mutations in germ cells can be passed on to children, while mutations elsewhere can cause cell death or cancer.
Nature-based tourism attracts people who are interested in visiting natural areas for the purpose of enjoying the landscape and plant and animal life.
Examples of activities at the site include hunting, fishing, photography, bird watching and visits to parks as well as studies of the ecosystem.
An example is visiting, photographing and learning about orangutans in Borneo.
Every morning, people leave small towns in cars to go to their jobs, and are passed by others whose jobs are the places they just left.
On this dynamic transit ferry, everyone is connected to, and supports, a transportation system based on private cars.
The decarbonised economy has released the biosphere from the stable phase that has supported human development for millions of years, science now says.
Everyone is part of the community and uses the transportation systems. Nearly everyone complains about the transportation systems.
In developing countries, you rarely hear as many complaints about water quality or broken sewers.
Why do transport systems give rise to such complaints, why do they fail on a daily basis? Are transport engineers just incompetent? Or is there something more fundamental going on?
Traffic flow is an investigation of the individual drivers' and vehicles' movements between two points, and their interaction with each other.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to study traffic flows because drivers' behavior cannot be predicted with 100 percent certainty.
Fortunately, drivers tend to behave fairly consistently, so traffic is also fairly predictable and can be calculated mathematically.
To better represent traffic flow, there are established relationships between the three main characteristics: (1) flow, (2) density, and (3) speed.
These relationships help to plan, design, and build transportation infrastructure.
Insects were the first animals to fly. Their ability to fly helped them avoid predators and find food and mates more efficiently.
Most insects can fold their wings along their body.
This gives them a wider range of small places to hide from predators.
Today, the jewel beetle and the mayfly are the only insects that cannot fold their wings back.
Thousands of years ago, a man named Aristarchus said that the solar system revolved around the sun.
There were divided opinions about his theory - some thought he was right, while many thought the opposite: that the solar system, including the sun (and even the other stars), revolved around the earth.
It makes sense, doesn't it? We can't feel the Earth turning, can we?
The Amazon River is the largest and second-longest river in the world. It contains over eight times as much water as the world's second-largest river.
The Amazon River is also the world's widest river, and in some places is up to six miles (ca. 9,6 km) wide.
As much as 20 percent of the water flowing through the planet's rivers and oceans comes from the Amazon.
The Amazon River collects water from thousands of smaller rivers, but the main river itself is 6,387 km (3,980 mi) long.
Although pyramid building with stone continued until the end of the Old Kingdom, the pyramids of Giza were never surpassed in their construction size and technical expertise.
The ancient Egyptians of the New Kingdom were amazed by the monuments of their ancestors, which were well over a thousand years old at the time.
The population of the Vatican City is around 800, making it the smallest independent country in the world, and the country with the lowest population.
Vatican City uses Italian in its legislation and official communications.
Italian is also the everyday language spoken by most of those who work in the state, while Latin is often used for religious ceremonies.
All residents of Vatican City are Roman Catholic.
People have been aware of the basic chemical elements such as gold, silver and copper since ancient times, because they occur naturally in their natural form and are relatively easy to mine if you have the right tools.
Philosopher Aristotle had the theory that everything is made up of a mixture of one or more of four elements: earth, water, air and fire.
This was more like the four states of matter (in the same order): solid, liquid, gas and plasma, although he also had a theory that they change into new substances to form what we see.
Alloys are basic mixtures of two or more metals. Don't forget that there are many elements in the periodic table.
Elements such as calcium and potassium are considered metals. Of course, there are also metals such as silver and gold.
You can also have alloys that include small amounts of non-metallic elements, such as carbon.
Everything in the universe is made of matter. All matter is made of tiny particles called atoms.
Atoms are so tiny that billions of them can fit into the period at the end of this sentence.
Therefore, the pencil was a good friend to most, when it came out.
Unfortunately, the pencil has lost status and is being used less as new writing methods have emerged.
People now send messages through computer screens and never have to come near a pencil tip.
One can only guess what will become of the keyboard when something new comes along.
A fission bomb works on the principle that it takes energy to assemble a nucleus with many protons and neutrons.
Sort of like pushing a heavy wagon up a hill. When the core splits again, some of the energy is released.
Some atoms have unstable nuclei, which means they have a tendency to break apart under little or no influence.
The moon's surface is made of rock and dust. The moon's outer layer is called the crust.
The crust is about 70 km (43 mi) thick on the front and 100 km (62 mi) thick on the back.
It is thinner under the maria and thicker under the highlands.
There may be more lunar domes on the cover, as the crust here is thinner, making it easier for lava to rise to the surface.
Content theories are centered on finding out what gets people to react, or what appeals to them.
These theories suggest that people have certain needs and desires that are internalized as they mature into adulthood.
Theories examine what it is about certain people that gets them to do certain things and what elements of their environment get them to do or not do certain things.
Two popular content theories are Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, and Herzberg's two-factor theory.
Generally speaking, there are two behavioral extremes when a manager begins to lead his or her former peers. One extreme is to try to remain "one of the guys" (or gals).
This type of leader has difficulty making unpopular decisions, disciplinary actions, performance evaluations, assigning accountability and holding people accountable.
At the other end of the spectrum, one becomes an unrecognizable individual who feels he or she must change everything the team has done and make it his or her own.
Ultimately, the leader is responsible for the team's successes and failures.
This behavior often leads to problems between leaders and the rest of the team.
There are the same expectations for expertise for virtual teams as for conventional teams, but there are small differences.
Virtual team members often serve as a point of contact for their immediate physical group.
They often have more autonomy than conventional team members, as their teams can meet in different time zones, which their local leadership may not understand.
The presence of a true "invisible team" (Larson and LaFasto, 1989, p. 109) is also a unique aspect of a virtual team.
The "invisible team" is the team that each member of the team reports to. The invisible team sets the standards for each member.
Why would an organization want to go through the arduous process of establishing a learning organization? One of the goals of translating organizational learning concepts into practice is innovation.
Creativity and innovation begin to emerge when all available resources are used effectively across the organization's functional departments.
As a result of this, the process in an organization working together to overcome an obstacle can lead to a new innovative process that meets the customer's needs.
For an organization to be innovative, leaders must create a culture that fosters innovation, knowledge sharing, and organizational learning.
Angel (2006) explains the continuum approach as a method that can help organizations achieve higher levels of performance.
Neurobiological data provide physical evidence for a theoretical approach to the study of cognition. Therefore, it narrows the research area and makes it much more precise.
The link between brain pathology and behavior supports scientists in their research.
It has long been known that different types of brain damage, trauma, lesions and tumors affect behavior and cause changes in some mental functions.
The development of new technologies allows us to see and investigate brain structures and processes that we have never seen before.
This gives us masses of information and material to build simulator models from, which can help us understand our mental processes.
While artificial intelligence is often associated with science fiction, it is a very important branch of computer science that deals with behavior, learning, and intelligent adaptation in a machine.
Artificial intelligence research includes the ability to build machines that can automate tasks that require intelligent behavior.
Examples include control, planning and scheduling, the ability to answer customer diagnoses and questions, as well as handwriting recognition, voice and facial recognition.
Such things have become separate disciplines, with a focus on providing solutions to real-world problems.
The AI system is now often used in the economic, medical, engineering, and military sectors because it has been built into many home computers and software applications for computer games.
Field trips are a big part of any class. Often, a teacher would love to take their students to places that aren't accessible by bus.
The technology offers virtual field trips. Students can view museum artifacts, visit aquariums, or admire beautiful works of art while sitting in the classroom.
Sharing an expedition virtually is also a good way to evaluate an expedition and share experiences with future classes.
For example, students at Bennet School in North Carolina design a website each year about their trip to the state capital, and each year the website is redesigned, but old versions remain online as a sort of scrapbook.
Blogging can also help improve students' writing skills. Even though students often begin their blogging experience with poor grammar and spelling, the presence of an audience generally improves this.
Because students are often the most critical audience, the blogger begins to strive to improve his or her writing to avoid criticism.
Furthermore, "blogging forces students to be smarter about the world around them." The demand for giving the audience what they want inspires students to be smart and interesting (Toto, 2004).
Blogging is a tool that inspires collaboration and encourages students to extend their learning far beyond the traditional school day.
The use of blogs "can help students become more analytical and critical; by giving an active response to Internet materials, students can define their roles in relation to what others have written and describe their own perspectives on certain topics (Oravec, 2002).
Ottawa is Canada's charming, bilingual capital and has a number of art galleries and museums that showcase Canada's past and present.
Further south is Niagara Falls, and the northern part is home to Muskoka and other areas' unspoiled natural beauty.
All of these things, and many more, highlight Ontario as what is considered quintessentially Canadian to outsiders.
Further north, there are large areas that are sparsely populated, and some are almost uninhabited wilderness.
A population comparison that surprises many: There are more African-Americans in the U.S. than Canadians.
The East African islands lie in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.
Madagascar is by far the largest and is a continent unto itself when it comes to wildlife.
Most of the smaller islands are independent nations or are associated with France and are known for their luxurious beach resorts.
The Arabs also brought Islam to the country, and the religion quickly spread to the Comoros and Mayotte.
European influence and colonialism began in the 15th century with the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama's discovery of the Cape Route between Europe and India.
In the north, the region borders the Sahel, and in the south and west to the Atlantic Ocean.
Women: it is recommended that all female travelers claim to be married, regardless of their actual civil status.
It's sensible to wear something that looks like a wedding ring (just not too flashy.
Women should be aware that cultural differences can result in what they would consider harassment, and it is not uncommon to be grabbed by the arm, etc.
Be firm when rejecting men, and don't be afraid to say no (cultural differences or not, it's not okay!).
The modern city of Casablanca was founded by Berber fishermen in the 10th century BC and was used by the Phoenicians, Romans and Meranians as a strategic port called Anfa.
The Portuguese destroyed it and rebuilt it under the name Casa Branca, only to leave it after the 1755 earthquake.
The Moroccan sultan rebuilt the city as Daru l-Badya, and it was named Casablanca by Spanish traders who established trading posts there.
Casablanca is one of the least interesting places to shop in all of Morocco.
Around the old Medina, it is easy to find places selling traditional Moroccan goods such as tagines, ceramics, leather goods, water pipes and a long list of nips, but it is very touristy.
Goma is a tourist city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and lies completely east of Rwanda.
In 2002, Goma was devastated by lava from the Nyiragongo volcano, which buried most of the city's streets, especially in the city center.
Despite Goma being relatively safe, all visitors outside of Goma should be assessed to understand the battles taking place in North Kivu province.
The city is also a base for climbing the Nyiragongo volcano and one of the cheapest places to track mountain gorillas in Africa.
You can use a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) to get around Goma. The normal (local) price is ~500 Congolese francs for the short trip.
Along with the city's relative inaccessibility, this has made "Timbuktu" a metaphor for exotic, distant places.
Today, Timbuktu is a poor city, despite its fame making it a tourist attraction, and it has an airport.
In 1990, it was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the threat of desertification.
It was one of the larger stops on Henry Louis Gates' special Wonders of the African World for PBS.
The city stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the country's cities because it has more of an Arab feel than an African one.
The Kruger National Park (KNP) lies in northeastern South Africa and runs along the border with Mozambique to the east and Zimbabwe to the north, while the southern border is the Crocodile River.
The park covers 19,500 km² and is divided into 14 different ecozones, each supporting different wildlife.
It is one of the main attractions in South Africa and is considered the flagship of the South African National Parks (SANParks).
As in all South African national parks, there are daily conservation and entrance fees to the park.
It can also be advantageous to buy a Wild Card, as this either gives access to a selection of parks in South Africa or to all of South Africa's national parks.
Hong Kong Island gives the territory of Hong Kong its name, and is where many tourists view as the primary focus area.
Hong Kong's skyline is a group of buildings reflecting in the water of Victoria Harbour, often likened to a shimmering pearl necklace.
To get the best views of Hong Kong, leave the island and head to the Kowloon waterfront on the other side.
Most of Hong Kong's urban development is tightly packed on reclaimed land along the northern coast.
This is where the British colonizers made their own, so if you're looking for evidence of the area's colonial past, this is a good place to start.
The Sundarbans is the largest coastal mangrove forest in the world, stretching 80 km from the coast into Bangladesh and India's hinterland.
Sundarbans has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. The part of the forest within Indian territory is called Sundarbans National Park.
However, the forests are not just mangrove swamps - they contain some of the last remaining remnants of the mighty forests that once covered the Gangetic plain.
The Sundarbans covers an area of 3,850 km², of which about a third is covered by water/marsh areas.
Sundarbans has been a wildlife sanctuary since 1966, and it is estimated that there are now 400 Bengal tigers and around 30,000 chital deer in the area.
There are buses running from the two-regional bus station (on the other side of the river) all day, although most, especially those going east and to Jakar/Bumthang, depart between 6.30am and 7.30am.
Because buses in the district are often full, it's a good idea to buy a ticket a couple of days in advance.
Most districts are served by small Japanese buses, which are both comfortable and robust.
Taxis are a fast and comfortable way to travel to nearby places such as Paro (150 Nu) and Punakha (200 Nu).
The Oyapock River Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge. It spans the Oyapock River and connects the cities of Oiapoque in Brazil and Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock in French Guiana.
The two towers are 83 metres (272 ft) high, the bridge is 378 metres (1,240 ft) long and has two lanes that are 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) wide.
The vertical clearance under the bridge is 50 feet. Construction was completed in August 2011. It opened to traffic in March 2017.
The bridge is scheduled to be fully functional in September 2017, when the Brazilian customs posts are expected to be completed.
The Guaraní were the most important group of indigenous people living in the area that is now eastern Paraguay, and they lived as semi-nomadic hunters who also farmed to survive.
The Chaco region was home to other indigenous groups such as the Guaycurú and Payaguá, who survived by hunting, gathering, and fishing.
Paraguay, once called "India's great province," came into the world in the 16th century as a result of the meeting between Spanish conquerors and the indigenous peoples.
The Spanish started the colonization period that lasted for three centuries.
Since the founding of Asunción in 1537, Paraguay has managed to preserve much of its original character and identity.
Argentina is known for having one of the world's best polo teams and some of the world's best players.
The year's biggest tournament will be held in December on the polo fields in Las Cañitas.
Smaller tournaments and matches can also be seen here at other times of the year.
For information on tournaments and where to buy tickets, contact the Argentine Polo Association.
The official currency of the Falkland Islands is the Falkland pound (FKP), whose value is fixed at parity with the British pound (GBP).
Money can be exchanged at the only bank on the islands, located in Stanley opposite the FIC West store.
Overall, the pound is accepted everywhere on the islands, and in Stanley credit cards and U.S. dollars are also often accepted.
On the outer islands, credit cards are unlikely to be accepted, although British and American currency may be accepted; ask owners in advance to find out which payment methods are accepted.
It is almost impossible to exchange Falklands currency outside of the islands, so be sure to exchange your money before leaving the islands.
Because Montevideo lies south of the equator, it is summer there when it is winter in the northern hemisphere and vice versa.
Montevideo is in the subtropics; in the summer months it is normal to have temperatures over 30°C.
Winter can be deceptively cold: temperatures rarely dip below freezing, but the wind and humidity together make it feel colder than what the thermometer says.
There are no "rainy" and "dry" seasons: the amount of rainfall remains about the same throughout the year.
While many of the animals in the park are accustomed to seeing people, wildlife is still wild and should not be fed or disturbed.
According to park officials, you must be at least 100 yards/meters away from bears and wolves and 25 yards/meters away from all other wildlife!
Regardless of how cuddly they look, bison, elk, bears, and just about any large animal can attack.
Each year, a lot of visitors are injured because they don't keep a safe distance. These animals are big, wild, and can be dangerous, so give them space.
In addition, be aware that the smell of food attracts bears and other wild animals, so avoid bringing or preparing food that smells and keep your campsite clean.
Apia is the capital of Samoa. The city is located on the island of Upolu and has a population of just under 40,000.
Apia was founded in the 1850s and has been the official capital of Samoa since 1959.
The harbor provided the setting for a naval confrontation in 1889 when seven ships from Germany, the United States, and Great Britain refused to leave the harbor.
All the ships were sunk except for a British cruiser. Nearly 200 American and German lives were lost.
During the struggle for independence, organized by the Mau movement, there was a peaceful gathering in the town that resulted in the death of the paramount chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III.
There are many beaches because Auckland is close to two harbours. The most popular are in three areas.
The North Shore beaches (in the North Harbour district) lie on the Pacific Ocean and stretch from Long Bay in the north to Devonport in the south.
They are almost all sandy beaches with safe swimming and natural shade from pohutukawa trees.
Tamaki Drive beaches are located at Waitemata Harbour in the exclusive suburbs of Mission Bay and St Heliers in central Auckland.
These are sometimes overcrowded family beaches with a good selection of shops along the seafront. It's safe to swim here.
The most popular local beer is "Number One," which is not a complicated beer but is pleasant and refreshing. The other local beer is called "Manta."
There are many French wines to drink, but the New Zealand and Australian wines may be better to transport.
It's definitely safe to drink the local water from the tap, but it's easy to find bottled water if you're concerned.
For Australians, the idea of a "flat white" coffee is foreign. A "short black" is called "espresso", cappuccino has masses of froth on top (not foam), and tea is served without milk.
The hot chocolate lives up to Belgian standards. Fruit juice is expensive, but worth it.
Many people visit the reef year-round, and few people are injured by the reef for these reasons.
Always follow the advice of authorities, read and follow instructions on signs, and pay close attention to safety warnings.
Hawksbill turtles are found near beaches and near river mouths from October to April north of 1770. They can occasionally be found outside of these times.
Sharks do exist, but they rarely attack humans. Most sharks are afraid of humans and will swim away.
Saltwater crocodiles do not live their active lives in the sea, their primary habitat is in river mouths north of Rockhampton.
Pre-booking gives the traveller peace of mind that they have somewhere to sleep when they arrive at their destination.
Travel agents often have deals on certain hotels, even though you may be able to book other forms of accommodation through a travel agent, such as camping sites.
Travel agents typically offer packages that include breakfast, transportation to and from the airport, or even combined flight and hotel packages.
They can also hold the reservation for you if you need time to consider the offer or obtain other documents for your destination (e.g. a visa).
Changes or requests should be directed to the tour operator first and not directly to the hotel.
For some festivals, the majority of attendees choose to camp on site, and many attendees consider it an essential part of the experience.
If you want to be where the action is, get there early to get a spot close to the music.
Keep in mind that even though the music on the big stages is over, there may still be parts of the festival playing music late into the night.
Some festivals have special camping areas for families with young children.
Check where your hut is if you're crossing the Baltic in winter, as sailing through ice can be quite noisy for those nearby.
Cruise ship passengers are exempt from visa requirements (see terms), which is good to know as cruises to St. Petersburg give passengers time to see the city.
Casinos do everything they can to get guests to spend as much time and money as possible. Windows and clocks are usually absent, and it can be difficult to find an exit.
They often have special offers on food, drink and entertainment to keep guests in good spirits and keep them in the house.
Some establishments offer alcoholic drinks at the house's expense. But drunkenness weakens judgment, and every married gambler knows how important it is to be sober.
All drivers travelling at high latitudes or over mountain passes should be aware of the possibility of snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures.
On icy and snowy roads, there is low traction, and you can't drive the way you normally would on dry pavement.
During a blizzard, it can take only a few inches of snow to leave you stranded.
Visibility can also be limited by falling or blowing snow, or by condensation or ice on the windshield.
On the other hand, icy and snowy conditions are common in many countries, and traffic generally flows unimpeded throughout the year.
Safaris are the highlight for many and perhaps what draws the most tourists to Africa.
The term safari is often used to refer to land journeys to see the beautiful African wildlife, especially on the savannah.
Some animals, such as elephants and giraffes, have a tendency to approach cars, so standard equipment is sufficient to see the animals.
Lions, leopards, and cheetahs are sometimes shy, and you can see them better with binoculars.
A bush walk (also known as a "bush walk", "walkabout" or "walking safari") consists of hikes that may take a few hours or several days.
The Paralympic Games will be held from August 24 to September 5, 2021. Some events will be held elsewhere in Japan.
Tokyo will be the only Asian city to have hosted two summer Olympics, having also hosted the games in 1964.
If you booked your flights and accommodation for 2020 before the postponement was announced, you may have problems.
Cancellation policies vary, but by the end of March, most coronavirus-based cancellation policies do not extend through July 2020, when the Olympics were planned.
It is expected that most tickets for the event will cost between ¥2,500 and ¥130,000, with typical tickets costing around ¥7,000.
Ironing of damp clothing can help to dry it. Many hotels have an iron and ironing board that can be borrowed, even if there isn't one in the room.
If you don't have access to a sewing machine, or if you don't like wearing socks that have been sewn, you can try using a hair dryer if one is available.
Be careful not to let the fabric get too hot (which can cause shrinkage or, in extreme cases, burn marks).
There are different ways to purify water, with some being more effective against specific threats.
In some areas it is enough to boil water for a minute, in others it takes longer.
Filters vary in effectiveness, and if you are concerned you should consider buying your water in a sealed bottle from a reputable company.
Travelers may encounter wildlife they are not familiar with at home.
Pests can destroy food, cause irritations or, in worse cases, cause allergic reactions, spread poison or transmit diseases.
Infectious diseases in themselves, or dangerous animals that can injure or kill people, are normally not considered pests.
Duty-free shopping is the opportunity to buy goods in certain places that are exempt from taxes and duties.
Travelers heading to countries with a high tax rate can sometimes save significant amounts, especially on products such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
The stretch between Point Marion and Fairmont offers the most challenging driving conditions on the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Highway, often through isolated terrain in the backcountry.
Be careful if you're not used to driving on country roads: steep hills, narrow lanes and sharp bends are common.
The posted speed limits are notably lower than those before and after -- typically 35-40 mph (56-64 km/h.) -- and it's even more important than usual to obey them exactly.
Strangely enough, cell phone coverage is much stronger here than along many other stretches of the route, such as Pennsylvania Wilds.
German sausages are pretty good, and in Bavaria they are very flavorful and varied like in Germany's southern neighbor, Austria.
Backyard fruit is common: apples are baked into cakes year-round, and cherries and blossoms make their appearance during the summer.
Many German desserts also contain almonds, hazelnuts, and other nuts. Popular cakes and a strong cup of coffee often go hand in hand
If you fancy some small but satisfying cakes, you could try Berliner, Pfannkuchen or Krapfen, depending on the region.
A curry is a dish based on herbs and spices with either meat or vegetables.
A curry is either "dry" or "wet" depending on how much liquid is in it.
In the inner regions of northern India and Pakistan, yoghurt is often used in curries. In southern India and some coastal regions of the subcontinent, coconut milk is common.
With 17,000 islands to choose from, Indonesian cuisine is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of regional cuisines found throughout the country.
However, if the term is used without further elaboration, it typically refers to the food that originates from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java.
Javanese cuisine is now widely available throughout the archipelago; it consists of a range of single-spiced dishes, with the most popular spices being ginger, chili, sugar (especially Javanese coconut sugar) and various aromatic spices.
Stirrups are supports for the rider's legs that hang down on either side of the saddle.
They provide more stability for the rider, but can cause safety issues due to the possibility of a rider's foot getting caught in them.
If a rider falls off a horse but has a foot caught in the stirrup, they can be dragged away if the horse runs off. To minimize this risk, safety measures can be taken.
For starters, many riders wear riding boots with a heel and a soft, narrow sole.
Next, some saddles, particularly English saddles, have safety straps that release the stirrups from the saddle if they are pulled back by a falling rider.
Cochamó Valley - Chile's largest climbing destination, known as South America's Yosemite, has a number of large granite walls and cliffs.
Mountain tops offer breathtaking views to all visitors. Climbers from all over the world are constantly establishing new routes among the endless potential for new climbing routes.
Alpine winter sports, which include skiing and snowboarding, are popular sports activities that involve riding down snow-covered slopes with skis or a snowboard fastened to your feet.
Skiing is a huge recreational activity with many enthusiasts - sometimes known as "ski bums" who plan their entire vacation around skiing in a particular area.
People have been standing on skis for thousands of years - cave paintings dating back to 5,000 B.C. show people standing on skis!
Alpine skiing as a sport can be traced back to the 17th century, and in 1861 the first recreational ski club was opened by Norwegians in Australia.
Backcountry skiing: This activity is also known as backcountry skiing, ski touring or ski trekking.
It is related to, but usually does not involve skiing in alpine style or mountaineering. The latter is done in steep terrain and requires much stiffer skis and boots.
You should see the skiroute as a similar hiking route.
Under good conditions, you will be able to cover more distance than if you were walking, but it is very rare that you will be able to achieve the same speed as on a long-distance race without a heavy backpack and on well-packed trails.
Europe is a relatively small continent, but with many independent countries. Under normal circumstances, traveling through several countries would mean going through visa applications and passport control several times.
In this respect, the Schengen area functions much like a single country.
As long as you stay in this zone, you can normally cross borders without having to go through passport control again.
Similarly, with a Schengen visa, you do not need to apply for a separate visa for each Schengen country, which saves time, money and paperwork.
There is no universal definition of what constitutes an antique. Some tax authorities define items that are more than 100 years old as antiques.
The definition varies geographically, with the age limit being lower in North America than in Europe, for example.
Handmade products can be classified as antiques, even though they are younger than similar mass-produced products.
Reindeer herding is an important livelihood for the Sami, and the culture surrounding it is also important to many Sami with other livelihoods.
However, traditionally it was not all Sami who kept reindeer in large numbers, but they live by fishing, hunting and similar activities and mainly used reindeer as pack animals.
Today, many Sámi work in modern professions. Tourism is an important source of income in Sápmi, the Sámi area.
Although the word "gypsy" is often used by non-Roma, it is considered offensive due to its association with negative stereotypes and inaccurate perceptions of the Roma population.
If travel advisories are issued for the country you are visiting, your travel insurance or cancellation insurance may be affected.
You may also want to seek advice from other governments, but their advice will be tailored to their own citizens.
For example, U.S. citizens in the Middle East may face a different situation than Europeans or Arabs.
Advisories are only a brief overview of the political situation in a country.
These perspectives are often one-sided, general, and oversimplified in comparison to the more detailed information that can be found elsewhere.
Extreme weather is the general term for all hazardous weather phenomena that can cause damage or serious disruption to society or loss of life.
Extreme weather can occur anywhere in the world, and there are different types that can depend on geography, topography, and atmospheric conditions.
Strong winds, hail, extreme rainfall and bushfires are forms of, and effects of, severe weather such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, hailstorms and cyclones.
Regional and seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards, thunderstorms, hail and dust storms.
Travellers are advised to remain vigilant for any risk of severe weather affecting their area as this could impact any travel plans.
Anyone planning to visit a country that can be considered a war zone should undergo professional training.
A Google search for "Course in Hostile Environment" is likely to return the address of a local business.
A course will normally cover all the topics discussed here in much more detail, usually with practical experience.
A course usually lasts two to five days and involves role-playing, a lot of first aid, and sometimes weapons training.
Books and magazines about survival in the wilderness are common, but there are few publications that deal with war zones.
Travelers who plan to undergo gender reassignment surgery overseas should ensure they have valid documents for their return journey.
Governments' willingness to cooperate varies when it comes to issuing passports with unspecified gender (X) or documents that are updated to give a person a desired name and gender.
The willingness of foreign governments to respect these documents varies greatly.
Visits to security checkpoints have also become more intrusive since September 11, 2001.
Transgender passengers who have not had surgery should not expect to pass through the scanners with their privacy and dignity intact.
The return flow of waves breaking on the beach, often at a reef or similar, is called a backwash.
Because of the topography under the water, the return flow is concentrated in a few deep sections, and there can then be a fast current to deep water.
Most deaths occur as a result of exhaustion trying to swim back against the current, which can be impossible.
Once you're out of the current, it's not any harder than normal to swim back.
Try to find a place where you won't be caught again, or, depending on your skills and if you've been discovered, you may be able to wait to be rescued.
Homecoming shock comes faster than cultural shock (which is not as much a period of enthusiasm for the new), lasts longer, and can be more serious.
Travelers who have adapted to the new culture have sometimes found it very difficult to adapt to their own culture.
When you return home after traveling abroad, you have adapted to the new culture and lost some of the habits of your home culture.
When you traveled abroad for the first time, people were probably patient and understanding, knowing that a traveler in a completely new country needs to adjust.
People do not necessarily expect patience and understanding when returning home as a traveler.
Pyramid's sound and light show is one of the most interesting activities in the area for children.
You can see the pyramids in the dark, and you can see them in silence before the show begins.
Usually you hear the sounds of tourists and hawkers. The story of sound and light is like a history book.
The Sphinx sits in the background and tells a long story.
The scenes are shown on the pyramids, and the different pyramids light up.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, discovered in 1819 and claimed by many nations, has 16 active bases in 2020.
The group lies 120 km (75 mi) north of the peninsula. The largest is King George Island with the settlement of Villa Las Estrellas.
Others include Livingston Island and Deception, where an active volcano flooded a caldera to create a spectacular natural harbor area.
Ellsworth Land is the region south of the peninsula bounded by Bellingshausen Sea.
Here, the continent's mountains meet and form the Ellsworth Range's 360-mile-long chain, divided by the Minnesota Glacier.
The northern part of the Sentinel Range contains Antarctica's highest mountains, Vinson Massif (also known as Mount Vinson), which tops out at 4,892 m.
In remote areas without cell phone coverage, a satellite phone may be your only option.
A satellite phone is generally not a replacement for a cell phone because you have to be out of range of cell towers and have a clear view of the satellite to make a phone call.
This service is often used by shipping, including pleasure craft, as well as expeditions that require remote data and communications.
Your local telephone service provider should be able to provide you with more information about the availability of this service.
One option that is becoming more and more popular for those planning a sabbatical is to travel and learn.
This is particularly popular among those leaving school as it gives them the opportunity to take a year out before university without compromising their education.
In many cases, a course abroad during your sabbatical year can actually improve your chances of securing a place at a higher education institution in your home country.
There will typically be an enrollment fee to sign up for these educational programs.
Finland is a fantastic destination for sailors. "The Land of a Thousand Lakes" has thousands of islands in the lakes and seas along the coast.
In the oceans and seas, you don't necessarily need a yacht.
Although the coastal seas and the largest lakes are large enough for any yacht, the experience is different in a smaller boat or even a kayak.
Sailing is a national hobby in Finland, where there is one boat for every seven or eight people.
This is similar to Norway, Sweden and New Zealand, but otherwise it is quite unique (e.g. in the Netherlands the number is one to the previous).
Most Baltic cruises include an overnight stay in St. Petersburg, Russia.
This means that you can visit the historic town for a couple of days, returning to the ship at night.
If you only go on ship's excursions, you do not need a separate visa (since 2009).
Some cruises include Berlin, Germany in their brochures. As you can see on the map above, Berlin is not close to the sea and a visit to the city is not included in the cruise price.
Flying can be a terrifying experience for people of all ages and backgrounds, especially if they have never flown before or have experienced a traumatic event.
It's not something to be ashamed of: it's no different from the fear and hatred of other things that many people suffer from.
For some, understanding how an airplane works and what happens during flight can be helpful in overcoming a fear that is based on the unknown or lack of control.
Delivery companies charge a premium to deliver quickly. Often, time is of the essence when it comes to business documents, products, or spare parts for an urgent repair.
On some routes, the larger companies have their own planes, but on other routes and in smaller businesses, there was a problem.
If they sent things by air freight, it could have taken days to get through customs and clearance on some routes.
The only way to get it through quickly was to send it as checked baggage. Airline rules don't allow you to send baggage without a passenger. That's where you come into the picture.
The enlightened way to fly first or business class is to put down a big wad of cash to get the opportunity (or even better, get your company to do it for you).
However, this is not cheap: as a rough rule of thumb, you can expect to pay up to four times the price of economy class for business class and up to 11 times the price of first class!
In general, there is no reason to look for discounts on business or first class seats on direct flights from A to B.
Airlines know that certain core groups of passengers are willing to pay a lot of money for the privilege of getting through quickly and comfortably, and they set their prices accordingly.
Chişinău is the capital of Moldova. The local language is Romanian, but Russian is spoken in a wide range.
Moldova is a multi-ethnic republic that has suffered from ethnic conflicts.
In 1994, this conflict led to the establishment of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Republic in eastern Moldova, which has its own government and currency, but is not recognized by any member of the United Nations.
Economic ties have been re-established between these two parts of Moldova despite the breakdown in political talks.
The largest religion in Moldova is Orthodox Christianity.
Izmir is Turkey's third-largest city with a population of about 3.7 million, the country's second-largest port after Istanbul, and a major transportation hub.
What was once the old city of Smyrna is now a modern, developed and bustling trading port located around a large bay and surrounded by mountains.
The wide boulevards, glass-fronted buildings and modern shopping malls are surrounded by traditional red-tiled roofs, the old 18th-century market, old mosques and churches, despite the city having an atmosphere that is more Mediterranean than traditional Turkey.
The village of Haldarsvik overlooks the nearby island of Eysturoy and has an unusual octagonal church.
On the cemetery there are interesting marble sculptures of ducks on some tombstones.
It is worth spending half an hour walking around the fascinating village.
To the north and within easy reach lies the romantic and fascinating town of Sintra, made famous among foreigners by Lord Byron's glowing description of its beauty.
Scotturb Bus 403 runs regularly to Sintra and stops at Cabo da Roca.
To the north, you can also visit the great shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (Alter), the site of the world-famous apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Remember that you are actually visiting a mass grave. A place that has a profoundly important meaning for a large part of the world's population.
There are still many men and women alive today who survived their time there, and many more who had loved ones who were murdered or worked to death there, both Jews and non-Jews.
Please treat the site with all the dignity, solemnity and respect it deserves. Do not make jokes about the Holocaust or Nazis.
Scratching does not occur with markings or by etching graffiti on the structures.
Barcelona's official language is Catalan and Spanish. About half the population prefers to speak Catalan, most understand it, and almost all can speak Spanish.
However, most signs are only written in Catalan because it has been established as the official language by law.
However, Spanish is also widely used, in public transport and other facilities.
General announcements in the metro are made only in Catalan, but unscheduled announcements are made via an automatic system in several languages, including Spanish, English, French, Arabic and Japanese.
Parisians have a reputation for being self-absorbed, rude and arrogant.
Although this is often an inaccurate stereotype, the best way to make friends in Paris is still to act as well-mannered as possible, as this will make it much easier to get around.
Parisians' cool exterior melts quickly if you show basic courtesy.
The Plitvice Lakes National Park is filled with forested areas, mostly beech and fir trees, and offers a mix of alpine and Mediterranean plants.
It has a remarkable diversity of plant communities due to its many microclimates, different soil types, and varying elevations.
The area is also home to an extreme diversity of animal and bird species.
Here one can find many more common species as well as rare fauna such as the European brown bear, wolf, eagle, owl, lynx, wildcat and boar.
During visits to the monasteries, women are required to wear long skirts that cover their knees, while also covering their shoulders.
Most of the monasteries have towels for women who show up unexpectedly, but if you bring your own and especially some with bright colors, you'll get a smile from the monk or nun at the door.
Similarly, men must wear trousers that cover their knees.
These can be borrowed from the locker room at the entrance, but they are not washed after every use, so you may not feel comfortable wearing them. One size fits all men!
Mallorcan cuisine, like other similar areas of the Mediterranean, is based on bread, vegetables and meat (especially pork) and uses a lot of olive oil.
A simple, popular meal, especially in the summer, is Pa amb Oli: Bread with olive oil, tomato and any available condiments such as cheese, tuna, etc.
All nouns, including the word you, begin with a capital letter, even in the middle of a sentence.
This is an important way to distinguish between some verbs and objects
It certainly makes reading easier, although writing is complicated somewhat by the need to determine whether a predicative or attributive adjective is being used in a substantivized form.
Italian is relatively easy to pronounce, as most words are pronounced exactly as they are spelled.
The most important letters to watch out for are c and g, as their pronunciation varies depending on the following vowel.
Remember to pronounce r and rr differently: caro means dear, while carro means cart.
Persian has a relatively simple and generally regular grammar.
Therefore, reading this grammar book will help you learn a lot about Persian grammar and help you understand sentences better.
Just so you know, if you can speak a romance language, it will be easier for you to learn Portuguese.
People who can speak a little Spanish can quickly conclude that Portuguese is similar enough that they don't need to study it separately.
Most modern observatories are obsolete today and stand as museums or educational sites.
Because light pollution was not such a problem in their heyday, they are usually found in cities or on campuses where they are easier to reach than those built in modern times.
Most modern telescopes are enormous facilities in remote areas with good atmospheric conditions.
Watching cherry blossoms bloom, known as Hanami, has been a tradition in Japanese culture since the 8th century.
The concept came from China, where flowers from flowering trees were the chosen flower.
In Japan, the first cherry blossom festivals were held by the emperor for himself and other members of the aristocracy around the imperial court.
Plants look best when they are in a natural environment, so resist the temptation to "just try one."
If you visit a publicly accessible garden, you will be ejected without discussion if you collect "samples."
Singapore is generally a very safe place to visit and easy to navigate around, and you can buy almost anything once you arrive.
But when you're in the "high tropics," just a few degrees north of the equator, you have to deal with heat (all the time) and strong sun (when the sky is clear, which is less often).
There are also a few buses that run north to Hebron, the traditional burial place of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives.
Make sure the bus you are considering taking goes into Hebron and not just to the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba.
Indian waterways can be a good theme to base a holiday around.
For example, visiting castles in the Loire Valley or Rhine Valley, taking a cruise to interesting cities on the Danube or sailing along the Erie Canal.
They also define routes for popular walking and cycling trails.
Christmas is one of the most important holidays in Christianity and is celebrated as the birth of Jesus.
Non-believers in Christian countries and non-Christians from around the world have adopted many of the holiday's traditions.
There is a tradition of staying awake on Easter Eve to see the sunrise at an isolated spot.
Of course, there are Christian theological explanations for this tradition, but it could very well be a spring and fertility ritual from before Christianity.
Traditional churches often hold Easter vigil services on Saturday night during the Easter weekend, when congregations often break out in celebration at midnight to mark Christ's resurrection.
All animals that originally came to the islands arrived either by swimming, flying, or floating.
Because of the long distance from the continent, mammals could not make the trip, making the giant tortoise the primary grazing animal on the Galapagos.
Since the first people came to Galapagos, many mammals have been imported such as goats, horses, pigs, rats, cats, and dogs.
If you visit Arctic or Antarctic regions in the winter, you will experience polar night, which means the sun does not rise above the horizon.
This gives a good chance to see the Northern Lights, as the sky will be dark most of the day.
Because there are not many people living in these areas, and light pollution is often not a problem, you will also be able to enjoy the stars.
Japanese work culture is more hierarchical and formal than Westerners are used to.
Business suits are standard business attire, and colleagues address each other by their surnames or job titles.
Workplace harmony is important, and therefore emphasizes group effort over individual accomplishments.
Workers are often required to have their supervisors approve all decisions they make, and they are expected to follow their supervisors' instructions without question.