We now have four-month-old mice that aren't diabetic and used to be diabetic," he added.
Dr. Hugh Urd, a professor of medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and president of the Canadian Diabetes Association's clinical and scientific committee, cautioned that the study is still in its early stages.
Like some other experts, he is skeptical about whether type 1 diabetes can be cured, noting that these findings are not likely to benefit people already diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
On Monday, Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Nobel Committee for Literature at the Swedish Academy, publicly announced during a radio show on Sveriges Radio in Sweden that the committee had given up trying to reach Bob Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.
Dannius said, "Right now, we're not doing anything. I've emailed his closest colleague and got back very friendly responses. For now, that's probably enough."
Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff previously said the company was born out of his frustration at not being able to hear the doorbell chime from his garage.
He said he made a WiFi phone.
Since his appearance on Shark Tank, Siminoff said he has seen an uptick in sales.
In late 2017, Siminof appeared on QVC, a shopping TV channel.
The Ring has also agreed to a legal settlement with rival security contractor ADT Corp.
While an experimental vaccine has been shown to be effective in preventing deaths from Ebola, there is currently no proven cure for those who have already contracted the disease.
An antibody cocktail called ZMapp was initially promising but official studies showed it was not as effective at preventing Ebola deaths as had been hoped.
In the PALM trial, ZMapp was the control, meaning that scientists used it as the starting point to compare it to three other treatments.
The U.S. Gymnastics Federation is supporting the U.S. Olympic Committee's letter and the absolute necessity for the Olympic family to promote a safe environment for all of our athletes.
We agree with the USOC's statement that it would be in the best interests of our athletes, our clubs, and our sport to move forward with the significant reforms within our organization rather than face de-certification.
U.S. Gymnastics is supporting an independent investigation to understand how the abuse described by Larry Nassar's victims could have gone undetected for so long and will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that it never happens again.
The USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee have the same goal - to make gymnastics, and all sports, as safe as possible so that athletes can pursue their dreams in a positive and supportive environment.
In the 1960s, Brzezinski was an advisor to John F. Kennedy and later served in Lyndon B. Johnson's administration.
During the 1976 election he was Carter's foreign policy advisor and then National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981, succeeding Henry Kissinger.
As NSC adviser, he helped Carter deal with world affairs, including the 1978 Camp David Accords, the normalization of U.S.-China relations in the 1970s, the Iranian Revolution and the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
The film, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is nominated for awards in every major category.
Gosling and Stone have both been nominated for Best Actor and Actress respectively.
Other nominations included best picture, best director, cinematography, costume design, film editing, original score, production design, sound editing, sound mixing and best original screenplay.
Two songs from the film were nominated for Best Original Song, "Audition (Bring on the Night)" and "La Vie en Rose." Lionsgate led all studios with 26 nominations.
U.S. President Donald Trump said late on Sunday that U.S. troops would withdraw from Syria.
The statement followed a phone call between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey would also take on the responsibility of holding ISIS fighters who are unable to be repatriated by European countries, according to the statement.
As well as confirming that at least some dinosaurs were covered in feathers, which is already a well-established theory, it also gives us details that fossils alone can never reveal, such as the colour and three-dimensional nature of the feathers.
Scientists say the bird's feathers were a chestnut brown colour on top and a pale or carotenoid colour below.
The discovery also sheds new light on the evolution of feathers in birds.
Because the feathers of the dinosaur do not have a well-developed central shaft, called a rachis, but do have other features of feathers - barbs and barbules - researchers have concluded that the rachis is probably a later evolutionary development from these other features.
The structure of the feathers suggests they were not for flight but for temperature regulation and display, said the researchers, adding that although it was a juvenile dinosaur, the pattern of the feathers suggested it was an adult not a juvenile.
Although this is a juvenile dinosaur, the feathers in the sample are indistinguishable from those of an adult, the researchers said.
An explosion in a car parked outside a police station in the Turkish city of Gaziantep killed two policemen and injured more than twenty people yesterday.
Nineteen officers have been injured, the governor's office said.
Police said they suspected the alleged Daesh (ISIS) soldier was behind the attack.
They concluded that the Sun was working in much the same way as the rest of the stars: it was the light and rotation of the Sun that drove the solar system's activity, not anything else.
Brightness and rotation are used together to establish the coronal mass ejection's (CME) estimated size, which is the amount of plasma.
The fewer the number of Rosby's, the less active the star is in its magnetic field reversal.
Ivaska often found himself in hot water during his travels.
He has been robbed by thieves, chased by a rabid dog in Tibet, avoided marriage in Nepal and arrested in India.
The standard 802.11n operates on both frequencies of 2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz.
This will ensure compatibility with older versions - 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11c, if the access point has dual radios.
The speeds of the 802.11n standard are significantly higher than those of its predecessors, with a maximum theoretical throughput of 600 Mbit/s.
Duval, who is married with two adult children, made a lasting impression on Miller, who was the subject of the story.
Asked to comment, Myers said, "Mike talked a lot during the hearing ... I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying."
We will work to significantly reduce the carbon dioxide emissions per BDP by 2020 compared to the 2005 level," Hoo said.
He did not give a figure for the reduction, saying the numbers would be worked out based on China's economic output.
He urged developing countries to "avoid the old path of first polluting and then cleaning up."
He added, however, that "it should not be asked of them to take on responsibilities that go beyond their stage of development, capacities and maturity."
The Iraqi study group is to present its findings today at 1200 GMT.
It is impossible to say with any degree of certainty that a particular course of action in Iraq at this point will end the sectarian war, reduce the violence or avert chaos.
The report calls for a national debate and consensus on U.S. policy in the Middle East.
The report is highly critical of nearly every aspect of the current US policy on Iraq and calls for an immediate change of direction.
His first of 78 recommendations is to launch a new diplomatic initiative by the end of this year to ensure Iraq's borders are protected from hostile intervention and to rebuild relations with neighboring countries.
Current senator and first lady of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, announced her plans to run for the 2015 presidential election last night in La Plata, a city 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Buenos Aires.
Ms. Kirchner announced her intention to run for the presidency at the Teatro Argentino, the same place where she launched her campaign for the Senate in 2005 as a member of the Buenos Aires provincial delegation.
The debate was sparked by controversy over the cost of Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction, which some fiscal conservatives have wryly dubbed "Bush's New Orleans Goodies."
Liberal criticism of the push for a renewal has focused on awarding contracts to powerful Washington insiders.
More than 4 million people went to Rome to attend the funeral.
So many people turned out that it was impossible for everyone to attend the funeral at St Peter's Square.
Several big screens have been set up around Rome so that people can watch the ceremony.
Similar screens were set up in many other Italian towns and across the world, particularly in Poland.
Historians have criticized the FBI's current policy of focusing resources on easily solved cases, especially car thefts, in order to increase the agency's success rate.
Congress began funding the initiative in fiscal 2005 and mandated that the FBI hire 10 agents specializing in pornography targeted at adults.
Robyn Uta'o led all scorers with 70 points on 41 balls, hitting 11 fours and 2 sixes.
Middle-order batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid had a good partnership of 100 runs.
But after losing the captaincy, India managed to score only 36 runs and lost 7 wickets before the end of the innings.
U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Singapore on November 16 for a week-long tour of Asia.
He was greeted by Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, Wong Kan Seng, and discussed trade and terrorism with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Following a series of defeats in mid-term elections, Bush announced to the press that he would push for the expansion of trade in Asia.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed on Tuesday, after a 25-minute meeting with NDP leader Jack Layton in his office, to allow his "Clean Air Act" to go to committee for all parties to hash out before it is voted on again.
Mr Layton asked for changes to the Conservatives' environmental legislation during a meeting with the Prime Minister, demanding a "root and branch review" of the party's green policies.
Since the federal government stepped in to fund the Mersey Hospital in Devonport, Tasmania, the state government and some federal MPs have criticised the move as an election stunt ahead of the federal election, to be held on May 18.
But Prime Minister John Howard said the move was to ensure the hospital buildings were not degraded by the Tasmanian government, adding $45 million.
Tsunami waves have been observed and a tsunami warning is in effect for the area within 300 km of Pago Pago and Niue, according to the latest information.
No major damage or injuries were reported in Tonga, though there was a brief power outage that prevented the Tongan authorities from issuing a tsunami warning through the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC).
Fourteen schools on Hawaii's coastline or nearby were closed for the day Wednesday, even though no tsunami was detected.
U.S. President George W. Bush applauded the announcement.
North Korea's pledge is a "big step in the right direction in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," Bush's spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
The tenth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Jerry, has formed in the Atlantic Ocean today.
The National Hurricane Center does not expect Jerry to threaten the mainland at this time.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers estimated that 6 inches of additional rainfall could cause the already damaged levees to break.
In the Ninth Ward, which was flooded up to 20 feet during Hurricane Katrina, water is now flowing over a levee.
Water was flowing over the levee at 100th Street.
Commons Speaker John Bercow expressed his frustration at the deletions when he spoke to Wikinews last month.
He [Wales] has lied to us all along. First, when he said it was all legal. Second, when he said he was listening to us and then deleted his art."
Community dissatisfaction has led to current efforts to draft guidelines for sexual content on a website which hosts millions of media under open licenses.
The work was mostly theoretical, but the program was designed to simulate observations of the Sagittarius galaxy.
The effect the team was looking for would have been caused by tidal forces between the dark matter in the galaxy and the dark matter in the Milky Way.
Like the moon's gravity pulling on the earth, causing the tides and eclipses, the Milky Way's gravity is pulling on the Sagittarius galaxy, causing the tides and eclipses.
Scientists have concluded that dark matter interacts with other dark matter just as normal matter does.
According to this theory, most of the dark matter surrounding a galaxy is located in a halo around the galaxy in the form of tiny particles.
Television footage showed a white cloud billowing out of the plant.
Local authorities are advising people living near the nuclear power plant to stay indoors, turn off ventilation systems and not to drink water from the tap.
According to the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, radioactive cesium and iodine have been detected at the site.
This suggests that the containers holding the uranium fuel may have ruptured and are leaking, authorities said.
Dr. Tony Moll has discovered a strain of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.
In an interview, he said the new variant was "extremely contagious and threatening because of its high mortality rate."
Doctor Mole believes some patients may have contracted the disease at the hospital, and at least two health workers at the hospital have been confirmed to have contracted the disease.
During one year an infected person can transmit the disease to between 10 and 15 close contacts.
However, the prevalence of XDR-TB in the group of TB patients is still relatively low - 6,000 out of 330,000 people infected at any time in South Africa.
Both satellites, weighing more than 1,000 pounds and traveling at about 17,500 mph, came together 491 miles above Earth.
Scientists say the explosion resulting from the crash was massive.
Scientists are still trying to work out the size of the asteroid and how it will affect Earth.
The U.S. Defense Department's strategic command is on the hunt for the debris.
The results of the analysis will be published on a public website.
A doctor who worked at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania has been charged with murder in the death of her mother, who was found dead in the trunk of her car Wednesday, authorities in Ohio said.
Dr. Malar Balasubramanian, 29, was found in Blue Ash, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati that is about 15 miles north of the city, lying on the ground in short sleeves and sandals, apparently under the influence of drugs.
She pointed police to her black Oldsmobile Intrigue, which was 500 feet away.
They found the body of Sagar Balasubramaniyan, 53, covered in blood-stained blankets.
Police said the body had probably been there for one day.
The first cases of the season were reported at the end of July.
The disease is present in pigs and is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.
The outbreak has prompted the Indian government to take steps such as deploying pig catchers in the worst-hit areas, distributing thousands of mosquito nets and spraying pesticides.
The government has also pledged several million doses of the encephalitis vaccine to help health facilities prepare for the next year.
Plans to deliver vaccines to the hardest-hit areas this year have been put on hold for lack of funding and because other diseases were deemed a higher priority.
In 1956, Slaney moved to Sweden, where he began working for the Swedish Post Office and became its chief engraver after three years.
He designed more than 1000 stamps for Sweden and for 28 other countries.
His work is so highly regarded, so distinguished and so well known that he is one of the very few "household names" in the field of philately. Individuals have made a career out of collecting only his work.
His thousand-dollar stamp was the magnificent "Great Swedish Kings" of David Klocker Ehrenstrahl in 2000, a record-breaker in the Guinness Book of Records.
He has also been involved in the design of banknotes for a number of countries and recent examples of his work include the portraits on the new Canadian $5 and $100 banknotes.
Gibson was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The truck's 64-year-old driver was not hurt in the crash.
The vehicle was removed from the scene at about 12:00 p.m. ET the same day.
A worker at the nearby garage said: "There were kids waiting to cross the road who were screaming and crying."
Everyone had fled the scene of the accident.
Other issues on the agenda for Bali include saving the world's remaining forests and technology exchanges to help developing nations grow without emitting more pollution.
The UN also hopes to complete the design of a fund to help developing countries cope with the impact of global warming.
The money could be used to protect homes from flooding, improve water infrastructure and diversify crops.
Fluke wrote that there had been "attempts by some to silence women's voices on women's health."
She came to this conclusion after receiving an overwhelming amount of positive comments and encouragement from women and men alike urging her to push for contraceptive medication to be considered a medical necessity.
When the fighting stopped and the injured were taken away, about 40 remaining inmates were left in the yard and refused to return to their cells.
Talks have been ongoing to try to resolve the situation but it is not clear what the inmates' demands are.
Between 10.00 and 11.00 BST on Friday, prisoners started a fire in the courtyard.
Officers were quickly equipped with riot gear and entered the courtyard to push the inmates back using a water cannon.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze by 11:35 p.m.
After the dam was built in 1963, seasonal floods no longer carried sediment to the river.
Sediments were necessary to create sand dunes and beaches, which provided habitats for plants and animals.
This has resulted in the extinction of two fish species and has put another two at risk including the bumblebee shrimp.
While the water level will only rise a few feet following the flood, officials are hopeful that will be enough to restore the eroded sand dunes that line the river downstream.
No tsunami warning was in effect, and Indonesia's geophysics agency said there would be none because the magnitude was below 6.5.
Although there was no tsunami threat, people started panicking and began to leave their businesses and homes.
While tears filled Winfrey's eyes during her farewell, she made sure to let viewers know she wasn't going anywhere.
It's not going to be easy. It's the end of one chapter and the beginning of another."
Namibia's incumbent president Hage Geingob has been re-elected with an overwhelming majority in the country's presidential and parliamentary elections.
The ruling party, the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo), has also won a majority in parliamentary elections.
The coalition and Afghan troops have been moving in to secure the area and other coalition jets have been sent to help.
The helicopter crashed in mountainous terrain and was believed to have been brought down by hostile fire.
Attempts to find the crash site have been hampered by bad weather and difficult terrain.
The outbreak is considered to be the worst in the country's history, according to Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization.
A spokesperson for Medecins Sans Frontieres said: "Angola is currently facing its worst cholera outbreak ever and the situation in Angola remains critical."
The games got underway at 10am in glorious sunshine and, apart from a brief spell of rain in the morning, it was the perfect day for sevens rugby.
South Africa, the highest-ranked side in the tournament, got off to a good start with a comfortable 26-0 win over Zambia, who are ranked fifth in the world.
While they may have looked a little jittery in their opening match of the tournament against their southern neighbours, South Africa gradually improved as the tournament progressed.
Their disciplined defense, ball skills, and teamwork were what stood out, and it was clear that they were the team to beat.
The municipality of Amsterdam and the Anne Frank House announced that the tree is infested with fungi and is a danger to public safety due to its imminent collapse.
It was due to be heard on Tuesday but has now been postponed for an emergency hearing.
The entrances to the caves, collectively known as the "Seven Sisters", range in length from 100 to 250 metres (328 to 820 feet).
The infrared images, which show the difference between daytime and night-time temperatures, indicate that these are probably caves.
They are cooler than the adjacent land during the day and warmer at night.
Their thermal behavior is not as consistent as in large caves on Earth, which often maintain a reasonably constant temperature, but it is clear that this is because they are such deep holes in the ground, said Glynn Kushner of the U.S. Geological Survey and Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Traditionally, voting in France has been very straightforward in terms of technology: voters go into a booth and put a stamped ballot paper in the box.
When officials verify a voter's identity, he or she will be given a ballot to place in the voting booth and will be asked to sign the voter rolls.
France's election law is very strictly codified.
Since 1988, ballot boxes have had to be transparent so that voters and observers can see that there is no stuffing of the ballot box at the beginning of the vote and that no ballots are added except those of the voters listed and authorized to vote.
Candidates can send representatives to participate in any part of the process. Tonight, volunteers will be counted under the watchful eye of observers, following specific procedures.
The ASUS Eee PC, launched worldwide for its portability and price, was the main focus of the IFA month in Taipei in 2007.
But the laptop computer market will radically change and diversify after the CEO of the Republic of China, Mr. Yuan, awarded ASUS the Taiwan Sustainability Award in 2007.
The station's website describes the show as "an old-fashioned radio play with a brand new twist!"
In its early days, the show was only streamed online on TogiNET Radio, which has a long history and a focus on radio interviews.
In late 2015, TogiNet established AstroNet Radio as a subsidiary.
The show originally featured amateur voice actors from East Texas.
The looting reportedly continued through the night in several areas while law enforcement was absent from the streets of Bishkek.
One onlooker described Bishkek descending into anarchy, with gangs roaming the streets and looting shops selling consumer goods.
Some citizens of Bishkek blamed the demonstrators from the south for the anarchy.
South Africa have defeated the All Blacks (New Zealand) in the Four Nations in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa.
The final result was a win by one point, 21-20, to conclude a 15-match winning streak for the All Blacks.
It was a fifth straight defeat in five matches for the Springboks.
It was the last match of the All Blacks, who had already won the trophy two weeks ago.
The final match of the series is due to be played at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next Saturday, when the Springboks face Australia.
A moderate earthquake struck western Montana at 22:08 on Monday.
There were no immediate reports of damage from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its National Earthquake Information Center.
The earthquake was centered about 20 km (15 miles) northeast of Dillon, which is about 65 km (40 miles) south of Butte.
It has been confirmed that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which is deadly to humans, has infected a wild duck found dead in a marsh near Lyon in eastern France on Monday.
France is the seventh European Union country to be hit by the virus, after Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy.
Possible H5N1 cases in Croatia and Denmark have yet to be confirmed.
Chambers accused God of "inflicting death, destruction, and terror on millions of people all over the planet."
Chambers, an agnostic, argues that his suit is "frivolous" and that "anyone can sue anyone."
The story presented by Camille Saint-Saens in the French opera is of an artist "whose life is controlled by his love for drugs and Japan."
The performers then fire joints of cannabis onto the stage, inviting the audience to participate.
Former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann rounded out the top four and five spots, respectively.
After the results were in, Gingrich heaped praise on Santorum but had harsh words for Romney, who had run a negative advertising campaign against Gingrich in Iowa.
Perry said, "I'm going to go back to Texas and I'm going to take a hard look at it and see if I continue on with this run," but later said he would stay in the race and compete in the South Carolina primary on February 21.
Buckman, who won the August primary unopposed, has decided to wrap up his campaign.
The photographer was taken to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
He was in his twenties at the time and was not on the scene or directly involved in the tragic accident, but Bieber said in a statement, "While I was not directly involved in the accident, my heart goes out to the family of the victim."
TMZ, the entertainment news website, reported that the photographer stopped his car on the other side of Sepulveda Boulevard and tried to take pictures of the police activity, before crossing the street and continuing on, weaving in and out of traffic, California Highway Patrol officers told him to pull over twice.
The driver of the vehicle that struck the photographer will likely not be criminally charged, police said.
With only eighteen medals to be awarded per day, many countries were not able to place on the podium.
Those included the Netherlands, where Anna Jochems finished ninth in the women's Super-G, and Finland, where Katja Sarinen came in tenth.
Australian Michael Gouliard finished in 11th place in the men's Super-G standings. The Czech skier Ondrej Jelinek came in 16th in the men's Super-G standings.
Mexico's Arly Velasquez was 15th in the men's super-G, while New Zealander Adam Hall was ninth in the standing super-G.
The Polish skier with a visual impairment, Maciej Krezel, and his guide, Anna Ogarzinska, finished in 13th place in the super-G. North Korean skier Jong Seorak Park came in 24th in the men's super-G.
The UN peacekeeping force in Haiti, which took over after the 2010 earthquake, has been blamed for the outbreak, which started near a military camp.
The suit alleges that the U.N. camp's sewage system was not properly maintained, leading to bacteria flowing into the Artibonite River, which is one of Haiti's largest.
Haiti had not had problems with the disease since the 1800s prior to the arrival of the troops.
The Haitian Institute for Justice and Democracy cited independent investigations that suggested the Nepalese UN peacekeeping battalion had inadvertently introduced cholera to Haiti.
UN health expert Daniel Lantagne said the outbreak was likely due to peacekeepers.
Hamilton said the Howard University Hospital is treating the patient, who is in stable condition.
The patient had been in Nigeria, which has seen some Ebola cases.
The hospital followed an infection control protocol, including isolating patients, to prevent others from being infected.
Before The Simpsons, Simon was involved in several shows in various capacities.
He worked on shows including Taxi, Cheers and The Tracey Ullman Show in the 1980s.
With Brooks and Groening, he helped create The Simpsons in 1989 and hired the show's original writers.
Although he left the show in 1993, he still holds the title of executive producer and continues to take home tens of millions of dollars per series.
China's state news agency Xinhua said earlier the plane had been hijacked.
Subsequent reports suggested the plane had been diverted back to Afghanistan and landed in Kandahar.
Earlier reports suggested the plane had been diverted back to Afghanistan after it was denied an emergency landing in Urumqi.
Air accidents are frequent in Iran, which has an old and poorly maintained fleet of both civilian and military aircraft.
International sanctions meant that no new aircraft could be bought.
Three people were killed and three others injured when a police helicopter crashed earlier this week
Iran was hit last month by its worst air crash in years when a plane bound for Armenia crashed, killing all 168 aboard.
Also in the same month, another passenger plane crashed in Mashhad, hitting a wall and killing seventeen people.
Aerosmith canceled the remainder of their tour.
The rock band was scheduled to tour the United States and Canada until September 16.
The band canceled the tour after frontman Steven Tyler injured his shoulder in a fall from the stage on August 5.
Mari lost the first set in the tie-break after both players held their service games.
Del Potro also took an early lead in the second set but he too was broken back at 6-6.
Potro received treatment for a shoulder injury but was able to return to the game.
The program started at 8:30 p.m. local time (1500 UTC).
Prominent singers across the country have been rendering bhajans, or devotional songs, in praise of Shri Shyam.
Sangeeta Sharma started the evening, followed by Jai Shankar Chaudhary, who sang the bhajan Chappan Bhog. Raju Kandelwal followed.
Then Lucky Singh took over the mantle of leading the bagpiper band.
Eighty-eight Chappan Bhog (fifty-six different food items in Hinduism, including sweets, fruits, dry fruits, foodgrains and other offerings) were served to Baba Shyam.
Lakshmi Shankar also introduced a god of mischief. He was followed by a singer Raul Xandeval.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata unveiled the design of the new Nintendo Switch controller during a keynote address at the Tokyo Game Show on Thursday.
Like a remote control for a TV, the controller uses two sensors next to the user's TV to triangulate its position in 3D space.
This will allow gamers to control the action and movements in video games by shifting the device in the air.
Giancarlo Fisichella lost control of his car and ended up in the gravel trap soon after the start.
His teammate Fernando Alonso had been the first to stop for tyres, and came out of the pits just ahead of Vettel, but the four-time world champion was the quicker of the two and swept by on the inside.
Schumacher ended his race not long after Alonso did, because of damage incurred in a number of wheel-to-wheel battles during the race.
She's very sweet and she sings beautifully, he said, according to a transcript of the press conference.
I always got emotional when we practiced that."
About three minutes after launch, a camera inside the rocket showed many pieces of the insulation material separating from the fuel tanks.
However, it is believed that they did not cause any damage to the shuttle.
Nascar's VP of Racing Development, Wayne Haye, Jr. said, "It's unfortunate that it took this long to figure it out."
Five minutes into the event, the winds begin to pick up; after one minute, the winds reach 70 km/h... Then it begins to rain, but the rain is so heavy and so intense that it feels like needles piercing your skin; then hail starts to fall from the sky and people start to panic and scream and run all over each other.
I lost my sister and her friend, and on the way there were two disabled people in wheelchairs, people were jumping over them and pushing them," said Armand Versace.
NHK also reported that the nuclear plant at Kashiwazaki Kariwa in Nagata prefecture is operating normally.
The Hokuriku Electric Power Company said there were no aftershocks and that reactors 1 and 2 at the Shika nuclear power plant had been shut down.
About 9,400 homes in the region were reported to be without water, while about 100 were without power.
Some roads were damaged, railway services were disrupted in the affected areas and Noto airport in Ishikawa prefecture remained closed.
One bomb exploded in front of the General Governor's office.
Three more bombs were detonated near government buildings in the span of two hours.
Eight people were officially reported to have been killed and as many as 30 injured, according to some reports. The final toll was not yet known.
Both cyanuric acid and melamine were found in samples of pet food that sickened and killed animals after they ate the tainted pet food.
The two compounds can interact to form crystals that can block the function of the kidneys, according to the university's researchers.
Scientists have noticed that crystals are formed in the cat's urine by adding melamine and cyanuric acid.
The composition of these crystals matches that found in the urine of the affected animals, when compared using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
I don't know if you know this or not but most of the products from Central America come into this country duty free.
And by the way, eighty percent of our products are made outside of Central America and we're still paying those tariffs. We're taking the hit for you.
It didn't seem to make any sense; it wasn't fair.
All I have to say to people is to treat me how I treat them.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a bill that will make it illegal to sell or rent violent video games to minors.
The proposed legislation would require violent video games sold in California to carry an "18" sticker, and would fine retailers $1,000 for selling to minors.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer QC, said this morning that both Hune and Price will be prosecuted.
Hwang has resigned and will be replaced by backbencher Ed Davey, who is tipped to take over as Chancellor from Rishi Sunak when he stands down.
Hine and Price are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on February 16.
Nicholas Alden, 25, and Zachary Kudebek, 21, were killed in the crash. Kudebek was the driver.
Edgar Vega suffered a broken hand and cheekbone, while Christopher Schnieder will undergo facial reconstruction surgery.
Schindler's weapon got stuck in the fifth man's head. Schindler constantly feels pain, he is blind in one eye, he is missing part of his skull and his face was reconstructed using titanium.
Schneider testified via video link from a U.S. Air Force base in his home country.
As well as competing on Wednesday, Carpanedo raced in two individual events at the Championships.
Her first race was the Slalom, where she finished with a DNF. 36 of 116 competitors finished with a DNF in that race.
In her second race of the day, the Great Hall of Fame, she came in tenth in the women's group, with a combined time of 4:41.30, 2:11.60 minutes behind first-place finisher Claudia Loesch of Austria, and 1:09.02 minutes behind ninth-place finisher Gyongy Daniel of Hungary.
Four skiers in the eighth category did not finish their races and 45 of 117 skiers in the giant slalom did not make it to the rankings.
The police in Madhya Pradesh have recovered a stolen laptop and a mobile phone.
Deputy Inspector General D.K. Arya said, "We have arrested five people for raping the Swiss woman and recovered her mobile phone and laptop."
The accused have been identified as Baba Kanjar, Buta Kanjar, Rampu Kanjar, Gaja Kanjar and Vishnu Kanjar.
Police superintendent Chanda Sharad Solanki said the suspects appeared in court with their faces covered.
No one was hurt when the car struck the house, although three people were inside at the time.
The rider, however, suffered a serious head injury.
The road was temporarily closed while emergency services attended to the driver of the red Audi TT.
He was initially admitted to James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth.
He was later moved to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
Adekoya has since been charged with murder in Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
She is being held in custody awaiting indictment and trial, but any evidence gleaned from eyewitnesses could be tainted by the fact that her image was splashed across many media outlets.
It is a common practice in other parts of the UK, but the Scottish legal system functions differently and courts have found that the publication of photographs can be potentially defamatory.
Professor Pamela Ferguson, of Dundee University, said: 'Journalists seem to be treading a very fine line in terms of what they can and can't publish'
A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, which oversees criminal prosecutions in Scotland, said it would not be commenting further at this stage.
According to the leaked document, the discussions will focus on the borders of a future Palestinian state, which the Palestinians want to be based on the pre-1967 Six-Day War boundaries.
Other issues reportedly discussed included the future of Jerusalem, which is claimed by both nations, and the Jordan Valley.
Israel has demanded continuing military presence in the valley for ten years after the agreement is signed, while the Palestinians are willing to see that presence limited to five years.
Shooters had to be under the supervision of a ranger at all times and the effectiveness of the cull had to be monitored.
The partnership between NPWS and the NSW Archery Association (NSWAA) has seen qualified volunteers brought in to assist with the NSWAA's archery program.
According to Mike Offer, acting director for the NPWS's park protection and heritage, the four marksmen selected to carry out the first round of targeted shootings have all been provided with comprehensive safety and training.
A new nine-member CEC was sworn in yesterday under Martelly.
It is Marteille's fifth election as mayor in four years.
Last month, the presidential commission recommended the CEP's resignation as part of a package of measures to pave the way for new elections.
The commission was set up in response to widespread anti-government protests that started in October.
Violent protests have sometimes been triggered by election delays, some of which have been ongoing since 2011.
About 60 cases of overheating iPods have been reported, resulting in six fires and minor burns to four people.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it was aware of 27 incidents related to the devices.
Last week, METI said Apple had informed it of 34 additional incidents of overheating, which the company described as "non-consequential."
The department responded by calling Apple's delay in releasing the report "truly regrettable."
The earthquake struck at 7:19 a.m. local time (9:19 p.m. Friday GMT)
The Northern Mariana Islands Office of Emergency Management said there were no reports of damage in the territory.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also said there was no tsunami threat.
A former Philippine police officer held tourists hostage in Hong Kong by hijacking their bus in Manila, the Philippines' capital.
Ronaldo Mendoza fired an M16 rifle at the tourists.
A number of people have been rescued and at least six have been confirmed dead.
Six people, including a child and an elderly man, were released earlier. A Filipino photographer was also freed.
Photos later showed the elderly woman being wheeled away in a wheelchair for some toilet paper. Mendoza was shot with a firearm.
Following in his father's footsteps, Lyginski began a career in medicine.
He studied midwifery and started work at the National Women's Hospital in Auckland in 1959.
While working at the hospital, Liggins began researching preeclampsia in his spare time.
His research showed that the use of hormones would hasten the fetal development of the baby's lungs.
On Wednesday, government investigators said they had found two "black boxes" containing flight data, Xinhua reported.
Luna's fellow wrestlers also paid tribute to her.
Tommy Driemler said, "Luna was the first queen of extreme. She was my first manager. Luna passed away two months ago. She was a very strong woman."
Dustin "Goldust" Rhodes commented, "The moon was just as odd as I am...maybe more so...I love her and I miss her...hopefully she's in a better place."
The number of people who said they were against Australia becoming a republic has increased by eight percentage points since 2008, the survey of 1400 people conducted before last year's federal election found.
During the 2010 federal election campaign, interim prime minister Julia Gillard said she believed Australia should become a republic after the reign of Elizabeth II.
Thirty-four per cent of those surveyed said they wanted Queen Elizabeth II to be the last Australian monarch.
In the extremes of the poll, 29 per cent of respondents said Australia should become a republic as soon as possible, while 31 per cent said Australia should never become a republic.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist was due to compete in the 100m and 200m individual events as well as the 4x100m relay at the Games but his participation has been thrown into doubt by his complaints.
He was unable to take the painkillers he needed because they are banned in the Olympics.
On February 25, mathematician and computer scientist Curtis Cooper of the University of Central Missouri discovered the largest known prime number.
Several people had confirmed the discovery using various hardware and software by early February, and it was disclosed on Tuesday.
Comets may have been the source of water to be brought to Earth by organic material that could have formed proteins and allowed for the beginning of life.
Scientists hope to understand how planets form, in particular how the Earth formed, since it has been hit by comets in the past.
The 53-year-old became governor earlier this year and signed a law last month legalizing same-sex marriage.
He called the rumors "political gossip and nonsense."
He is reportedly going to run for president in 2016.
The FAA says NextGen will allow planes to fly more direct routes, saving millions of gallons of fuel per year and reducing carbon emissions.
It uses satellite-based technology, rather than ground radar, to allow air traffic controllers to track aircraft more accurately and provide pilots with more precise information.
No extra tube trains will call at Wembley and there are no overground park-and-ride or park-and-ride-and-ride facilities.
Fears over travel disruption have heightened the chances of the match being played behind closed doors.
A new species of bird has been discovered on the Galapagos islands of Ecuador, according to a study published in the journal Science on Thursday.
Researchers from Princeton University in the United States and Uppsala University in Sweden reported that the new species had evolved in just two generations, although the process is believed to have taken much longer due to interbreeding between the native Darwin's finches, Geospiza fortes, and the introduced cactus finches, Geospiza conirostris.
Gold can be worked in all sorts of forms. It can be rolled into fine grains.
It can be woven into a thin cord, which can be twisted or braided. It can be woven into a checkerboard pattern or folded into a leaf-like shape.
It can be made in a very thin form and attached to some other metal. It can be so thin that it is sometimes used to decorate the illuminated (illuminated) manuscripts.
This is called the pH of a chemical. You can make an indicator by using red cabbage juice.
The juice from the cabbage changes color depending on whether the chemical is acidic or alkaline (basic).
The pH level is the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+ in pH) in a solution.
The hydronium ions are the protons that have lost their electrons (since the hydrogen atoms are composed of one proton and one electron).
Mix the two dry ingredients together and then knead into a ball with your wet hands.
The moisture in your hands will react with the outer layers, giving you a weird feeling and forming a sort of wrap.
The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had sewers and bathrooms in nearly every home, which were connected to a sophisticated drainage system.
Remains of the sewer system have been found in the houses of the Minoan cities at Crete and Thera in Greece.
The ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Chinese also had toilets. In the Roman civilization, toilets were sometimes part of public baths, where men and women went in the same place.
When you call someone who is thousands of miles away, you use a satellite.
The satellite in space hears the call and then comes back to you almost in the same moment.
The rocket has sent a satellite into space. Scientists use telescopes in space because the Earth's atmosphere blocks some of the light and makes a picture blurry.
Sending a satellite or a telescope into space requires a massive rocket, over 100 feet tall.
The wheel changed the world in an amazing way. The biggest thing the wheel did for us was to make transportation much easier and quicker.
This has brought us the train, the car, and many other means of transportation.
Below them are medium-sized cats that eat medium-sized prey, from rabbits to antelopes and deer.
In the end, there are many small cats (including pet cats) that eat many more small things including insects, bats, rodents and birds.
The secret to their success is the concept of an ecological niche, a specialised job that each cat does which stops them competing with each other.
Lions are the most social of the cat family and live in large groups called prides.
The herds consist of one to three adult males, along with as many as thirty females and young.
Females are usually related to each other, making up a large group of sisters and cousins.
Lion prides behave much like wolf packs or herds of cattle, animals that are behaviorally surprisingly similar to lions (though not to other large cats) and are also very deadly to their prey.
As a multi-talented athlete, the tiger can run (though not very fast), swim, leap great distances, and pull things that are five times heavier than they are.
The tiger is in the same genus (Panthera) as lions, leopards and jaguars, and is the only one of the four big cats that can roar.
The roar of a tiger is not like the loud roar of a lion, but is more like a sentence full of sharp, snarling words.
Jaguars like to eat small animals. They will catch monkeys, snakes, rodents and birds if they can. Almost all of the animals that jaguars hunt are much smaller than the jaguar itself.
Scientists have discovered that cougars track and seek out animals they will eat (prey) by smelling the scent left in the ground by the prey.
They can see very well in the dark with night vision and they move very quietly. The ocelots hunt by stalking their prey and then charging.
When a small group of organisms (a small population) becomes isolated from the rest of the population from which it descended (for example, when it moves over a mountain range or a river or when it colonizes an island that makes it difficult for them to move back) they often find themselves in a different environment from the one they came from.
The new environment will have different resources and different competitors, so the new population will have to be different in character or adapt to be a more powerful competitor than before.
The original population has not changed much, so they still need the same adaptations as before.
Over time, as the new population begins to adapt to its new environment, it becomes less and less like the parent population.
Eventually, after thousands or even millions of years, the two populations will become so different that they can no longer be considered the same species.
This process is called speciation, which just means the creation of new species. Speciation is an inevitable result and a very important part of evolution.
Plants make oxygen which people breathe in and take in carbon dioxide which people breathe out (i.e. exhale).
Plants make their own food from the sun using photosynthesis. They also provide us with cooling.
Houses are made out of plants and our clothes are made out of plants. Most of the food we eat is from plants. Without plants, animals wouldn't be able to live.
Mosasaurus was a top predator in its time and was not afraid of anything except other mosasaurs.
His jaws were lined with more than 70 teeth, each one as sharp as a razor, and he had an additional set of teeth in the back of his jaw, meaning nothing was out of his reach.
We can't say for sure, but he may have had a forked tongue. His diet consisted of fish, sharks, and other mosasaurs, and he may have even been a cannibal.
It would have attacked anything that went in the water; even a huge dinosaur like a T-rex would not have been safe from it.
While much of their food would be familiar to us, the Romans had some strange or unusual items on the menu, including wild boar, locusts, snails and a type of rodent called a porcupette.
Another difference was that while poor people and women would eat while sitting on benches, the rich preferred to hold banquets while reclining.
The ancient Roman diet could not have included the goods that came from America and Asia in later centuries.
For instance, they didn't have corn, or pumpkins, or potatoes, or chocolate, and no ancient Roman ever tasted vanilla.
The Babylonians built a primary temple for each of their gods, which was considered to be the home of the god.
People would bring offerings to the gods and priests would try to please the gods through ritual and festivals.
Each temple had an open courtyard in front of the temple and an inner sanctuary which was only entered by the priests.
Sometimes the special tower-like buildings, called ziggurats, were built to be part of a temple.
The top of the tower was a special sanctuary for the god.
In the hot climate of the Middle East, houses were not as important.
Much of daily life for the Hebrew family was outdoors.
Women cooked in the courtyard; shops were simply open shelves facing the street. Stone was used to build houses.
There was little timber in the land of Canaan, so wood was a very expensive commodity.
Greenland was sparsely inhabited. According to the Norse sagas, Erik the Red was banished from Iceland for murder and went west to find a new land, which he called Greenland.
But in spite of his discovery, there were already Eskimos living there at the time.
Although all the countries were "Scandinavian," there were many differences between the nations, kings, customs, and histories of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland.
If you saw the movie National Treasure, you may believe that the map of the treasure was drawn on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
However, this is not true. While something is written on the back of the document, it is not a treasure map.
On the back of the Declaration of Independence were the words "The Original Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776." The text appeared on the back of the document, upside down.
While no one can say for sure who wrote it, it is known that this large document on parchment (29 3/8" by 24 1/2") was rolled up for storage at some stage early in its history.
Well, it was probably added just for marking purposes.
The landings on D-Day and the battles that followed freed northern France, but the south was still not free.
They were "Vichy" French, the ones who had made peace with the Germans in 1940 and collaborated with them rather than fighting them.
On August 15, 1940, the Allies invaded southern France in an operation called Operation Dragoon.
In just two weeks the Americans and Free French forces had liberated southern France and were on the way to Germany.
A civilization is a unique culture shared by a very large group of people who live and work together, i.e. a society.
The word civilization is derived from the Latin civilis, which means "of a citizen," and civitas, which means "city" or "city-state," and thus more or less describes the size of the community.
Nations are ephemeral; civilizations are permanent. A civilization is a culture that spans several generations, leaves a lasting imprint, and expands beyond its own borders.
Smaller civilizations usually do not leave behind any significant historical evidence and are therefore not recognized as true civilizations.
During the war for independence, thirteen states initially formed a weak central government - with Congress as the sole component - under the Articles of Confederation.
The Congress had no power to levy taxes and, as there was no national executive or judiciary, it had to rely on the states to carry out all its legislation, which were often reluctant to do so.
He also did not have the power to alter tax laws and tariffs between countries.
Unanimous consent of all states was required before any changes could be made, and the states were so reluctant to cede any power that their representatives were often not even present for the meetings.
The Italian national football team, along with the German national football team, is the second most successful in the world, having won the World Cup in 2006.
Popular sports include football, basketball, volleyball, water polo, fencing, rugby, cycling, ice hockey, roller hockey and Formula 1 racing.
Winter sports are most popular in the northern parts of the country and Italians have competed in international games or the Olympics.
Japan consists of almost 7,000 islands (the largest being Honshu), making it the world's 7th largest island country!
Because of the group of islands that make up Japan, Japan is often referred to geographically as an archipelago.
The beginnings of Taiwan can be traced back to the 15th century, when European mariners passing by the island referred to it as "Ilha Formosa", the Beautiful Island.
In 1624, the Dutch East India Company established a base in the southwest of Taiwan, beginning the transformation of aboriginal farming practices and employing Chinese workers to tend its sugarcane and gambier plantations.
In 1683, the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) took control of the western and northern coastal areas of Taiwan and established Taiwan as a province of the Qing Empire in 1885.
Following its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the Qing government signed the Shimonoseki Treaty in 1895, under which Japan gained sovereignty over Taiwan until 1945.
Machu Picchu is composed of three main buildings, the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun and the House of the Three Windows.
Most of the buildings on the edges of the complex have been refurbished to give visitors a better idea of what they would have been like originally.
By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues to this day.
For example, the most common format for still photography in the world is 35 mm, which was the dominant film format by the end of the analogue era.
It is still made today, but what is more important is that its aspect ratio of 3:2 became the standard for digital image sensors in digital cameras.
The 35 mm format is in fact 36 by 24 mm.
It is believed that the aspect ratio of this format is 3 by 2 (divided by 12 to get the simplest whole number ratio).
Many common formats (e.g. APS family of formats) are the same size or nearly the same size.
The thirds rule, often misused and often ridiculed, is simply a guideline that creates tension and at the same time maintains a sense of order in the picture.
It says here that the most prominent place for the main subject is at the intersection of the lines that divide the picture into thirds, vertically and horizontally (see example).
During this period of European history, the Catholic Church, which had become wealthy and powerful, was beginning to be held accountable.
Christianity has been uniting European markets for thousands of years, despite differences in language and customs.
With her inexhaustible power, she influenced everyone, from kings to common people.
One of the main Christian principles is that wealth is to be used to relieve the plight and poverty of others and for this reason tithing (giving one tenth of one's income) has been a mainstay of church finance.
The central authority of the church had been based in Rome for more than a thousand years, and the concentration of power and wealth had led to widespread questioning of whether this was still the case.
Immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain began a naval blockade of Germany.
The strategy proved effective in cutting off key military and civilian supplies, although this blockade is generally considered to be in violation of international law codified in several international agreements over the past two centuries.
Britain has mined international waters to prevent any ship from entering large parts of the ocean, posing a risk even to neutral vessels.
With limited answers to this tactic, Germany expected a similar response to their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
During the 1920s, the overwhelming majority of both citizens and nations were pacifist and isolationist.
After seeing the horrors and atrocities of World War I, nations sought to avoid such a situation in the future.
In 1884, Tesla moved to the United States to accept a job with the New York company of Edison.
He came to the U.S. with four cents in his pocket, a book of poems, and a letter of recommendation from Charles Bachelor (his former boss) to Thomas Edison.
Ancient China had a unique way of distinguishing different periods of time; each dynasty or each ruling family represented a distinct period in China's history.
There were also periods of instability between each dynasty, such as the Three Kingdoms period which lasted for six decades between the Han and Jin dynasties.
During this period there was intense warfare between many of the lords who fought for the crown.
The Three Kingdoms is one of the bloodiest periods in Chinese history, with thousands dying in a power struggle at the huge palace in Xi'an.
There are many social and political results such as the metric system, the shift from absolute to republican government, nationalism and the belief that the state is for the people not one ruler.
Jobs were also opened up after the revolution to any man who applied, allowing the most ambitious and successful to prosper.
This is also true in the military, where ranks are now based on caliber rather than class.
The French Revolution also inspired many other oppressed people of the working class in other countries to start their own revolutions.
Muhammad used to go to a cave for meditation which later came to be known as "Hira" on the mountain called "Nour" (light).
The cave itself, which has survived from different periods, gives a very clear picture of Muhammad's spiritual inclinations.
Situated atop a mountain north of Mecca, the cave is completely isolated from the rest of the world.
It is, in fact, hard to find, even if you know it is there. After entering the cave, there is complete isolation.
There is nothing to be seen in the interior but the pure, beautiful sky and the many surrounding mountains. Very little of this world can be seen or heard from the interior of the cave.
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World to still be standing.
The Great Pyramid of Giza, built by the ancient Egyptians in the third century B.C., is one of many large pyramidal buildings to be found in the country that were meant to serve as eternal resting places for the pharaohs.
The Giza Plateau in Egypt contains the Great Pyramid, several smaller pyramids, a number of tombs, and the Great Sphinx.
The Great Pyramid was built for King Khufu and many smaller pyramids, tombs and temples were built for Khufu's wives and other members of his family.
The "V" with the crossbar looks like a B, and the "V" without the crossbar is like a hyphen or a square with the bottom missing.
The "up" motion means you start at the top of the guitar and pull the string towards you, while the "down" motion means you start at the bottom of the guitar and pull the string away from you.
Raising the bell produces a quieter sound while lowering the bell produces a louder and more assertive sound.
Feel free to write your notes in pencil, but remember that the printed notes are there for musical reasons and are usually best respected.
On October 6, 1789, King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette and their two young children (11-year-old Marie-Thérèse and four-year-old Louis-Charles) as well as the king's sister, Madame Élisabeth, were forced to leave Versailles and head for Paris, with a mob of women from the marketplace leading the way.
They made their way back to Paris by carriage, waving and shouting abuse at the king and queen as they passed.
The crowd ordered the king and queen to open the carriage windows.
At one point, a member of the royal guard, who was killed in the attack in Versailles, was cheered as he passed by the crowd.
The war expenses of American imperialism in taking over the Philippines were paid by the Filipino people themselves.
They had to pay taxes to the US colonial government to cover for most of the expenses and charges incurred by the Philippine government in holding deposits with the Wall Street banks.
Of course, the long-term exploitation of the Filipino people represented the primary gain of American imperialism.
To understand the Templars, you have to understand the context in which they were created.
The period in which these events took place is often referred to as the High Middle Ages and includes the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries (1000s, 1100s, 1200s).
The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around 1500.
Technological determinism is the broad umbrella term for a range of ideas in practice, from technological compulsion or imperative to a strict sense that human affairs are bound by the fundamental logic of science and its manifestations in technology.
Most interpretations of technological determinism have two general ideas: that technological development is an independent force outside of cultural and political influences and that technology has its own "effects" on societies that are independent of social influences.
For instance, it might be argued that motorized vehicles are necessary for the development of roads.
However, the national road network is not economically sustainable with just a few cars, so new methods of production had to be developed to lower the cost of owning a car.
The invention of the car also led to more accidents on the road, which in turn led to the development of new techniques in healthcare for treating traumatic injuries.
Romanticism was tinged with a fair amount of cultural determinism, derived from writers like Goethe, Fichte, and Schlegel.
In the context of Romanticism, geography shaped the individual, and over time customs and culture associated with a geography would be better than arbitrary laws imposed on a society.
As Paris is known as the fashion capital of the modern world, Constantinople was the fashion capital of the medieval world.
Its reputation as a center of luxury lasted from about the 4th century until about the 11th century.
Its importance declined in the 12th century, partly because of the Crusaders bringing goods such as silk and spices which were more valuable than what the Byzantine markets could offer.
It was in this period that the fashion capital moved from Constantinople to Paris.
The Gothic style reached its peak between the 10th and 11th centuries and the 14th century.
In the beginning, the clothing was influenced by the Byzantine culture in the east.
However, due to the different communication channels, styles in the West may be behind by about 25–30 years.
In the late Middle Ages, Western Europe began to develop its own style. One of the great inventions of the age resulting from the Crusades was the invention of the girdle to hold clothes in place.
Subsistence farming is farming for the sole purpose of providing enough food for the farmer's family.
Traditional agriculture is a simple, often organic system that uses heirloom seeds, indigenous to a particular ecoregion, in combination with crop rotation and other relatively simple techniques to increase yields.
Historically, most farmers were self-sufficient farmers, and this is still the case in many developing countries.
Subcultures bring together like-minded individuals who feel disenfranchised by social norms and allow them to explore their identity.
Subcultures may be distinct due to age, ethnicity, class, location, and/or gender.
Characteristics which define a subculture may include linguistic, aesthetic, religious, political, sexual, geographic, or any combination of factors.
Members of a subculture often identify their membership through a distinct style which may include clothing, mannerisms and jargon.
One of the most common methods used to illustrate the importance of socialization is to look at some of the sad cases of children who, due to neglect, abuse, or physical abuse, were not socialized by adults as they grew up.
Such children are sometimes called "feral" or "wild" children. In some cases, such children have been abandoned by people (often their own parents); in some cases, such abandonment follows the parents' refusal to accept the child's serious intellectual and physical disabilities.
The traumatized children may have suffered abuse or trauma before they were abandoned or ran away.
Others were said to have been raised by animals or to have lived in the wilderness.
When fully weaned from animals that are not human, feral children display behavior (within physical boundaries) that is nearly identical to that of the animals that cared for them, such as their fear or indifference to humans.
While project-based learning is meant to make learning easier and more engaging, learning through a jigsaw system takes it one step further.
Metacognitive scaffolding is not a learning method, but a pre-learning support that helps individuals go through a new learning experience, such as using a new computer program or starting a new project.
The waving can be either virtual or real, i.e. the teacher is actually a waving person, but also a tiny paperclip in Microsoft Office.
The software's virtual tutors are an integral part of the software and are designed to prompt, encourage and explain procedures that might otherwise be too complex for learners to work through on their own.
Children are placed in foster care for a variety of reasons ranging from neglect to abuse to exploitation.
No child should ever be raised in an environment that is not nurturing, supportive, and educational, but it does happen.
We consider the foster care system to be the safety net for these children.
Our foster care system should provide secure homes, loving caregivers, continuous learning, and dependable health care.
The family accommodation should provide for all the comforts which were lacking in the houses from which the families were taken out.
The Internet combines elements of both mass communication and interpersonal communication.
The unique characteristics of the Internet have led to additional dimensions in both the use and acquisition of goods and services.
For instance, "learning" and "socialization" have been cited as important purposes in using the Internet (James et al., 1995).
In 1998, Ajami and McCord, in their study of user reactions to web sites, identified "personal involvement" and "maintained relationships" as new motivational factors.
The use of video recording has led to significant discoveries in the interpretation of micro expressions, or fleeting facial expressions lasting a fraction of a second.
In particular, it is said that if you read micro-expressions correctly, you can tell if someone is lying.
Oliver Sacks illustrated in his book The President's Speech how people who are unable to understand speech due to brain damage can nevertheless judge the sincerity of the speaker.
He even suggests that animals such as the domestic dog may have the ability to understand the human mind.
Research in the 20th century showed there are two forms of genetic variation: hidden and revealed.
Mutation introduces a new allele while selection removes alleles from the gene pool.
Segregation and recombination ensure that there is always a mixture of variants in each generation.
In the wild, the herbivore's digestive tract is similar enough to a human's to be able to obtain the amino acids available from plant sources.
In fact, if this is not done, it can lead to serious consequences: depression, malnutrition and eventually death.
The most easily available plant-based protein sources were the proteins in the leaves and seeds, but they were hard to digest unless cooked.
On the other hand, animal food (ants, termites, eggs) is not only easy to cook, but also provides a large amount of protein that contains all essential amino acids.
When considered in its entirety, it should come as no surprise that our ancestors solved their "protein problem" in much the same way that chimpanzees do today in the rainforest.
A sleep disruption is the process of purposefully waking up during your normal sleep time and then falling back asleep shortly after (10-60 minutes).
This can easily be achieved with a relatively quiet alarm clock that will wake you without fully rousing you.
If you reset your alarm during your sleep, you can put it on the other side of the room so that you have to get out of bed to turn it off.
Other options based on circadian rhythm include drinking plenty of fluids (especially water or tea, a diuretic) before bed, which encourages the person to wake for a toilet trip.
The amount of internal peace a person has is inversely proportional to the amount of tension in their body and spirit.
The lower the tension, the more positive life force. Every person has the capacity to find absolute peace and serenity.
All of us can achieve enlightenment. The only thing that stands in the way of this is our own tension and negativity.
Tibetan Buddhism is based on the teachings of the Buddha but was influenced by the path of love of the Mahayana and many of the techniques of Indian yoga.
In essence, Tibetan Buddhism is a very simple thing. It consists of kundalini yoga, meditation, and the path of universal love.
Kundalini yoga activates the kundalini energy (the energy of enlightenment) through yoga poses, breath work, mantras, and visualization.
The center of Tibetan meditation is the deity Yoga. Through visualization of various deities, the energy channels are cleared, the chakras are activated and enlightened awareness is created.
Germany was the common enemy in World War II, which led to cooperation between the USSR and the U.S. After the war, differences in the systems, processes, and cultures led to the two countries drifting apart.
Two years after the war had ended, former allies were now enemies and the Cold War had begun.
It was envisioned to last 40 years and was waged in a series of battles and skirmishes across Africa, Asia and the Americas, from the jungles of Cuba to the mountains of Afghanistan, among other places.
By September 17, 1939, the Polish defense had already been broken and the only hope was a withdrawal and reorganization along the Romanian border.
However, these plans became obsolete overnight when more than 800,000 Red Army troops of the Soviet Union invaded and created the Belarusian and Ukrainian fronts after occupying eastern Poland in violation of the Riga Peace Treaty, the Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact, and other international agreements, both bilateral and multilateral.
Overseas shipping is by far the most efficient way to move large numbers of people and large quantities of goods across an ocean.
The Navy's job has traditionally been to make sure your country can move people and things around, and to make sure the bad guys can't do the same.
One of the more prominent recent examples of this was the North Atlantic Campaign of World War II, in which the United States sought to transport people and supplies across the Atlantic Ocean to help Britain.
The German Navy, mostly with submarines, tried to blockade the traffic.
Had the Allies not succeeded, Germany would have been able to invade Britain just as it had conquered the rest of Europe.
It appears that goats were first domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Zagros Mountains of Iran.
Ancient cultures and tribes began storing them for easy access to milk, cheese, meat and leather.
The domestic goats are usually kept in herds which graze on hills or other rough ground, often accompanied by a herdsman, who may be a child or an adult, similar to the more familiar shepherds. These methods of herding are still in use.
Railways were in use in England in the 16th century.
Although early railways were composed only of parallel wooden planks, they allowed horses pulling carts to run at a faster rate of speed and to haul heavier loads than could be managed on rough roads of the time.
Rails were introduced fairly early on to keep the wheels on the track. However, it was gradually realised that wheels would be more efficient if they had a metal spike on the top.
This became a regular practice, but iron tires caused more damage to wooden wheels.
Over time wooden rollers were replaced by iron ones. In 1767, the first iron rollers were introduced.
The first known type of transportation was walking upright. Humans began walking upright about 2 million years ago with the appearance of Homo erectus (upright man).
Their ancestors, the australopithecines, did not walk upright like we do.
The evidence for bipedality in the Australopithecus fossils is between 4.2 to 3.9 million years old, though the Sahelanthropus may have walked upright as early as seven million years ago.
We can begin to live in a more eco-friendly way, we can join the environmental movement, and even become activists to help mitigate future suffering.
In many cases, this is just symptomatic treatment. However, if we don't want to just have a temporary fix, we need to find the root cause and put out the fire.
It is quite obvious that the world has changed dramatically due to the scientific and technological progress of the human race, and problems have become more acute due to overpopulation and the extravagant way in which the human race lives.
After being passed by Congress on July 4, a handwritten copy of the resolution signed by President of Congress John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson was sent a few blocks away to printer John Dunlap.
Between 150 and 200 copies were produced overnight, and these became known as the "Dunlap Broadsides".
John Nixon was the first to publicly read the document, on July 8 in the courtyard of the Independence Hall.
A copy was sent to George Washington on July 6 and was read to his troops on July 9 at New York. Another copy was sent to London on August 10.
The 25 Danlap documents that still exist are the oldest existing copies of the document. The original, hand-written document is not known to have survived.
Many paleontologists today believe that one group of dinosaurs survived and are still alive today. They are called birds.
Many people don't consider them dinosaurs because they have feathers and can fly.
But there are many things about birds that still look reptilian.
They have claws on their feet and toes, lay eggs and walk on two hind legs just like the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Almost all computers in use today are based on manipulating information in the form of binary numbers.
A binary number can have only one of two values, i.e. 0 or 1, and these values are called binary digits - or bits in computer jargon.
It may not be immediately apparent that internal poisoning is the cause of symptoms such as vomiting. The symptoms are general enough that an internal poisoning diagnosis is not immediately apparent.
The best indicator of internal contamination may be the presence of open drug packets or toxic household chemicals.
Please see the placard for specific first aid instructions for that particular poison.
Entomologists use the word "bug" in a formal sense to refer to this group of insects.
This term is derived from the ancient knowledge of bed bugs, which are insects that are very well adapted to parasitize humans.
Both the bats and the common vampire bats are social species that remain with their parents for a long time, becoming adapted to roosting or living with the host family.
It is estimated that there are approximately 400,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States, making it the most common neurological disease in young and middle-aged adults.
MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system, which comprises the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve.
The study found women are twice as likely to experience MS symptoms than men.
The couple may decide that parenting the child is not in their best interest or in the child's best interest.
These couples may decide to go through the process of adopting a baby.
In the process of adoption, biological parents give up their parental rights so that another couple can become the legal parents of a child.
The main goal of science is to understand the way the world works using the scientific method. This method actually controls most scientific research.
However, experimentation is not the only way, and the experiment is a test that is used to eliminate one or more possible hypotheses. Asking a question and observing is also a way to do scientific inquiry.
Naturalists and philosophers he focused on classical texts, especially the Latin Bible.
His views on all matters scientific, including psychology, were held in high regard by Aristotle.
As the knowledge of Greek faded, the West became disconnected from its Greek philosophical and scientific roots.
Many prominent rhythms in physiology and behavior often depend critically on the presence of endogenous cycles and their production via biological clocks.
Most living things display regular biological rhythms that are not simply responses to daily changes in the environment. These rhythms are found in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals.
Biological clocks are self-sustaining oscillators that continue with the free-running period even in the absence of external cues.
The Hershey–Chase experiment was one of the leading indications that DNA was the genetic material.
Hersh and Chase used bacteriophages, or viruses, to introduce their own DNA into bacteria.
They performed two experiments in order to mark the DNA phage with radioactive phosphorus or the protein phage with radioactive sulfur.
The effects of mutations can vary depending on the type of mutation, the significance of the genetic material affected, and whether or not the cells affected are reproductive.
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 interested in visiting natural areas to enjoy and experience the landscape including its flora and fauna.
Activities include things like hunting, fishing, photography, bird watching, park visits and ecosystem studies.
For example, visiting, photographing and learning about orangutans in Borneo.
Every morning, people leave the tiny villages in their cars to go to their jobs, passing by the people who live right in the villages they are passing through to get to their jobs.
This dynamic transportation process involves everyone in some way and supports a transportation system based on private automobiles.
Science now points to this carbon-intensive economy slowing down the biosphere's transition out of one of its stable states that have been around for the past two million years of human evolution.
Everyone participates in society and uses the transportation systems. Nearly everyone complains about the transportation systems.
Complaints about the quality of water or bridges collapsing are seldom heard in developed countries.
Why are transportation systems so prone to failure, and why do we keep making the same mistakes over and over again? Is it because transportation engineers are just incompetent? Or is there something more fundamental going on?
Traffic flow is the study of how individual vehicles and groups of vehicles move between points. It also looks at how they interact with each other.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to study traffic flow because the behavior of the driver cannot be predicted with 100% certainty.
Fortunately, drivers generally behave in a reasonably predictable manner; thus traffic flows can be represented by a reasonably predictable mathematical model.
To represent traffic better, three main characteristics are linked: (1) flow, (2) density and (3) speed.
These relationships help in planning, designing and executing projects on the road.
Insects were the first animals to take to the air. Their ability to fly helped them avoid predators, and find food and mates more efficiently.
Most insects have the advantage of being able to fold their wings against their body.
This gives them a greater variety of small places to hide from predators.
The only insects today that can't fold their wings are dragonflies and damselflies.
Thousands of years ago, a man named Aristarchus said that the solar system goes around the sun.
Some people believed he was right, but many believed the opposite; that the Sun orbits the Earth, including the Sun (and even other stars).
This makes sense, since the Earth doesn't feel like it's moving, right?
The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world and the largest in terms of volume of water. It carries eight times the volume of water as the world's second largest river.
The Amazon is also the widest river on Earth, with its widest point being six miles.
Twenty percent of the world's fresh water that flows into the oceans comes from the Amazon.
The Amazon River is 6,387 km (3,980 mi) long. The Amazon collects water from a thousand tributaries.
Although stone pyramids were continued to be built until the end of the Old Kingdom, there was nothing to rival the Giza pyramids in size and technical sophistication.
The ancient Egyptians of the New Kingdom were in awe of the monuments left by their predecessors who had been dead for over a thousand years.
The Vatican has about 800 inhabitants and is the smallest independent state in the world and the country with the lowest population.
The Vatican uses Italian in its laws and official communications.
Italian is also a daily language spoken by most working in the country, while Latin is often used in religious rituals.
All citizens of the Vatican are Roman Catholics.
Humans have been aware of basic chemical elements such as gold, silver, copper for a long time, since they can be found naturally and can be obtained relatively easily using primitive tools.
Aristotle, a philosopher, had a theory that everything was made of a mixture of one or more of the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire.
It more resembled the four states of matter (in the same order): solid, liquid, gaseous, plasma, though he also theorized that they change into new substances to give rise to what we see.
The alloys are actually mixtures of two or more metals. Don't forget that there are a lot of elements in the periodic table.
Elements such as calcium and potassium are considered metals. Of course, there are metals such as silver and gold.
There are also alloys that consist of a small amount of non-metals like carbon.
Everything in the universe is made out of stuff. The whole universe is made out of tiny particles called atoms.
Atoms are so small that you could fit billions of them in the period at the end of this sentence.
The Stoggies were a good friend to many people when they arrived.
Unfortunately, as new writing methods were introduced, the pencil was relegated to a lower status and used less.
People nowadays write messages on computer screens and have never even been near a typewriter.
The only thing we can wonder is what the keyboard will turn into when we get something newer.
A nuclear bomb works on the principle of taking energy to form a nucleus with many protons and neutrons.
It's sort of like pushing a heavy cart uphill. The breaking of the shell then releases some energy.
Some atoms have unstable nuclei, which means they tend to break down with a little or no prompting.
The surface of the Moon is made out of rocks and dust. The outer-layer of the Moon is called the crust.
The crust is about 70 km thick on the near side and 100 km thick on the far side.
It is thinner under the sea and thicker on land.
Maybe there are more lunar seas on the near side because the crust is thinner. It was easier for the lava to come out.
Content theories seek to find out what drives people or what they like.
These theories suggest that humans have certain needs and/or desires that are internalized as they mature into adults.
These theories look at what makes certain people want to do the things they do, and what from their environment will make them do or not do certain things.
Two popular theories of motivation are Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's two-factor theory.
In general, two tendencies can arise when managers begin to lead former peers: one is to try to remain "one of the guys" (or girls).
This type of manager has a hard time making unpopular decisions, enforcing discipline, taking credit, giving credit, and holding people accountable.
On the other end of the spectrum, a person may become an unrecognizable individual who feels the need to change everything that person has done and make it their own.
In the end, it comes down to the head coach being responsible for the success and failures of the team.
This can often lead to a rift between the leader and the rest of the team.
Virtual teams need to meet the same quality standards as conventional teams, but there are subtle differences.
Members of a virtual team often function as the point of contact for their physical group.
They often have more autonomy than conventional team members, since their teams can span different time zones that local management may not be aware of.
The presence of a real "invisible team" (Larson and LaFasto, 1989, p. 109) is also a unique element of a virtual team.
The "invisible team" is the management team that each member reports to. The invisible team sets standards for each member.
Why would an organization want to go through the long process of establishing a learning organization? One reason is innovation.
When all available resources are effectively utilized by the functional departments of an organization, creativity and ingenuity can come to the fore.
Thus, the process of organizing in which people work together to overcome challenges can lead to a new innovative process that will meet the customer's needs.
Before an organization can be innovative, leadership must create a culture of innovation, as well as knowledge sharing and organizational learning.
Angel (2006) explains the approach of continuous improvement as a methodology to help organizations achieve higher levels of performance.
Neurobiological findings provide physical evidence for a theoretical approach to the study of cognitive abilities. This in turn narrows the field of inquiry and makes the study more focused and accurate.
Scientists have backed up their findings with evidence linking brain pathology to behavior.
It has been known for some time that different types of brain damage, trauma, lesions and tumors affect behavior and cause changes in certain mental functions.
The development of new technologies is allowing us to see and investigate brain structures and processes that we have never seen before.
This provides us with a lot of data and material to build simulation models that help us understand the processes in our mind.
While AI has a strong connotation of science fiction, AI is a very important branch of computer science that deals with the behavior, learning, and intelligent adaptation of machines.
Artificial intelligence research is concerned with the question of whether and to what extent intelligent machines can be built.
Examples include control, planning and scheduling, ability to respond to customer diagnoses and queries, and recognition of handwriting, speech and faces.
These things have become separate disciplines in their own right, focusing on providing real-world solutions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being applied to fields including economics, medicine, engineering and the military, having been incorporated into a number of home computers and video games.
Field trips are often an important part of any classroom experience, and teachers often like to take their classes to places that are inaccessible by bus.
Technology offers solutions in the form of virtual field trips. Students can look at museum exhibits, visit an aquarium or admire beautiful art while sitting in their classroom.
Virtually sharing the experience of a field trip is also a great way to reflect on the experience and to share the experience with future classes.
For instance, each year students at Bennett College in North Carolina design a website about their pilgrimage to the state capital, and each year the website is redesigned but the old ones are kept online to serve as an album.
Blogs can also help improve writing skills in students. While students may begin their experience with blogging with poor grammar and spelling, the presence of an audience generally encourages them to do better.
Because students are often the most critical audience, the writer begins to hone his or her writing skills to avoid criticism.
Also, blogging "forces students to become more aware of the world around them." The need to engage the audience motivates learners to be smart and interesting (Toth, 2004).
Blogging is a tool that inspires collaboration and encourages learners to extend their learning beyond the traditional school day.
The appropriate use of blogs "can help students become more analytical and critical; by actively engaging with materials on the web, students can define their opinions in the context of other texts, as well as articulating their own perspectives on particular issues (Oravetz, 2002).
This charming, bilingual capital of Canada is home to a number of art galleries and museums that showcase Canada's past and present.
Further south are the Niagara Falls, while the north is home to the pristine natural beauty of the Muskoka and Parry Sound areas.
All of this further cements Ontario as what foreigners largely consider to be Canadian.
The vast areas to the north are fairly sparsely populated, and some are virtually uninhabited wilderness.
For one thing, there are more African-Americans who live in the U.S. than there are Canadian citizens.
The East African islands are in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa.
Although Madagascar is by far the largest island, and a continent in its own right, when it comes to wilderness.
Most of the smaller islands are independent nations or French overseas territories, and are known for their luxury beach resorts.
The Arabs also brought Islam inland, and it was widely accepted in Comoros and Mayotte.
European influence and colonialism began in the 15th century, with the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama finding a sea route from Europe to India.
The region is bounded by the Sahel to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west.
Women: It is advisable for all female travelers to claim to be married, regardless of their actual marital status.
It's also useful to have a wedding band (not necessarily an expensive-looking one).
Women should be aware that cultural differences can lead to what they may consider harassment, and it is not uncommon for them to be followed, touched, etc.
Be resolute in rejecting men and don't be afraid to take a stand (cultural differences notwithstanding, that's not a bad thing!).
The modern city of Casablanca was founded by Berber fishermen in the 10th century CE, and was used as a strategic port by the Phoenicians, Romans, and Merinids, who called it Anfa.
The Portuguese destroyed and rebuilt it in the 16th century under the name of Castelo de São Jorge, only to abandon it after the 1755 earthquake.
The Moroccan sultan who rebuilt the city called it Daru l-Badi, and the Spanish traders who established a trading post there called it Casablanca.
Casablanca is one of the least interesting places to buy things in Morocco.
In and around the old medina it is easy to find shops selling traditional Moroccan items such as tagines, pottery, leatherware, jewellery and a wide range of trinkets, but all are geared towards tourists.
Goma is a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located at the northeastern corner of the country, near Rwanda.
In 2002, the city was devastated by a lava flow from nearby Mount Nyiragongo, which flowed through most of the city, especially in the center.
While Goma is relatively safe, it is essential to get a sense of the ongoing fighting in the surrounding North Kivu provinces before heading out.
The town is also a base for trekking up Mount Nyirangongo, and some of the cheapest gorilla tracking in Africa.
You can use moto-taxis (motorcycle taxis) to get around in Goma. The usual (local) rate is around 500 Congolese francs for shorter rides.
Due to its relative inaccessibility, Timbuktu has been used as a metaphor for exotic, remote places.
Today, Timbuktu is a ghost town, though its reputation as a tourist attraction is such that it has an airport.
Threatened by the encroaching Sahara Desert, Timbuktu was listed as a World Heritage Site in Danger in 1990.
It was one of the main bases for Henry Louis Gates's "African American Lives," on PBS.
Unlike other cities in the country, this city has a more Arab than African feel to it.
The Kruger National Park (KNP) is in northeastern South Africa, bordering Mozambique in the east, Zimbabwe to the north and the Crocodile River to the south.
The park covers 19,500 km² and is divided into 14 distinct ecozones, each containing different wildlife.
It is one of the major attractions of Southern Africa and is considered to be the main attraction of the South African National Parks (SANParks).
As in all South African national parks, there are daily conservation and park entrance fees.
It would also be worth considering the purchase of a park ranger's ticket, which allows entry into certain South African parks or all of South Africa's national parks.
The island of Hong Kong gives the territory its name and is the place that many visitors come to see.
The array of buildings that make up the Hong Kong skyline have been likened to a shining beacon, with the harbour's waters providing the perfect backdrop.
To get the best view of Hong Kong, leave the island and head for the waterfront promenade at Kowloon across the harbour.
Much of Hong Kong's urban development has been on reclaimed land along the north coast.
British colonists took over the area, so if you're looking for evidence of the colonial past of the territory, this is a good place to start.
The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world, and it extends 80 km (50 miles) from the Bay of Bengal inland to Bangladesh and India.
The Sundarbans has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and is home to the Sunderbans National Park, a protected area in India.
However, the swamps are not just mangrove forests - they include some of the last remaining great forests that once covered the Ganges Plain.
The Sundarbans has an area of 3,850 km2, of which one third is water and marsh.
Since 1966, Sundarbans has been a wildlife sanctuary, and is estimated to contain 400 Royal Bengal tigers and around 30,000 spotted deer.
Buses depart regularly throughout the day from the intercity bus station (on the other side of the river) although most, particularly those to the east and to Jaka/Bumtan, leave between 06:30 and 07:30.
Since intercity buses are often full, it is advisable to buy a ticket a few days in advance.
Most districts are served by Japanese minibuses, which are comfortable and durable.
Taxis are a quick and easy way to get around, and are reasonably priced for short rides such as Paro (Nu 150) and Punakha (Nu 200).
The Oyapock River Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Oyapock River to connect the cities of Oyapock in Brazil and Cayenne, French Guiana.
The towers are 83 metres high and the bridge is 378 metres long with two 3.5 metres wide lanes.
The vertical opening below the bridge is 15 metres wide and was completed in August 2011 but didn't open to traffic until March 2017.
The bridge is scheduled to open to traffic in September 2017, when the customs points on the Brazilian side are due to be completed.
The Guarani were the main indigenous group in the present-day eastern Paraguay and lived as semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers who also practiced some sustainable agriculture.
The Chacoan Ancestral Puebloans were the ancestors of other Native American tribes in the area, such as the Jicarilla Apache and the Puebloan peoples of New Mexico. They survived by hunting, gathering, and farming.
Paraguay, once known as the "Spanish Province of the Indies", was established in the 16th century following the encounter between the Spanish conquerors and the indigenous peoples.
The Spanish began a three-century period of colonization.
Since the founding of Asunción in 1537, Paraguay has managed to preserve much of its indigenous character and identity.
Argentina is known for having one of the best soccer teams and players in the world.
The biggest tournament of the year is held in December at the La Quinta Country Club.
You can also find smaller tournaments and matches here during other parts of the year.
For all tournament news and information on where to buy tickets for the polo matches, please visit the Argentine Polo Association (Asociacion Argentina de Polo).
The official currency of the Falkland Islands is the Falkland pound (FKP), which has the same value as the British pound (GBP).
You can exchange money at a bank on the island in Stanley, across the road from the FIC West.
Pound sterling is widely accepted throughout the islands and in Stanley, and US dollars are also readily accepted.
Credit cards are unlikely to be accepted on remote islands, although British pounds and U.S. dollars may be; it is best to check with the establishments beforehand to see what type of payment is accepted.
It is nearly impossible to exchange Falkland pound outside of the islands, so be sure to exchange your money before leaving the islands.
Because Montevideo is south of the equator, there is summer when it is winter in the northern hemisphere and vice versa.
Montevideo has a subtropical climate; in summer, temperatures above 30°C are common.
Winter can be bitterly cold, with temperatures rarely rising above freezing, but the combination of wind and moisture can make it feel a lot colder than the thermometer reads.
There are no distinct "wet" and "dry" seasons: rainfall is more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.
While many animals in the park are used to seeing people, it is still a wild environment and they should not be fed or bothered.
Keep at least 100 yards/meters away from bears and wolves, and 25 yards/meters away from all other wildlife, according to park officials.
Regardless of their appearance, bison, moose, bears, and just about any large animal can be dangerous.
Each year, dozens of visitors are injured in encounters with these wild and potentially dangerous animals, so give them their space.
Also, bears and other wildlife are attracted to scents, so avoid carrying or storing food with strong scents and keep your campsite clean.
Apia is the capital of Samoa. The city is located on the island of Upolu and has about 40,000 inhabitants.
Established in the 1850s, Apia has been the capital of Samoa since 1959.
The port was the site of a notable maritime confrontation in 1889, when seven ships from Germany, the United States, and Britain refused to leave.
All but one of the ships, a British cruiser, were sunk and nearly two hundred American and German lives were lost.
During the struggle for independence, the peaceful gathering in the city resulted in the killing of the paramount chief of Tu'i Malila, Tupou Tamasese Lealofi III.
With the city spread between two harbors, there are many beaches. The most popular ones are in three areas:
The beaches of the Northern Coast (in the Northern Province) front the Pacific Ocean and extend from Long Beach in the north to Davenport in the south.
Almost all of the beaches are sandy with safe bathing and many of them have shade provided by the trees.
The beaches of Tamaki Drive are located in the Waitemata Harbour, in the wealthy suburbs of Mission Bay and St Heliers in central Auckland.
These are family beaches that can get crowded, and have a range of shops right on the waterfront. Swimming is safe.
The main local beer is Number One, which is not a complex beer but is pleasant and refreshing. Another local beer is called Manta.
There are many French wines that are worth trying, but New Zealand and Australian wines may be more palatable.
Tap water is safe to drink but bottled water is easily available if you prefer.
For Australians, coffee is a strange concept. A short black is an espresso, a cappuccino is a milky coffee, and tea is drunk without milk.
The hot chocolate complies with Belgian standards. Fruit juices are expensive but exceptional.
During the whole year, many trips go to the ridge, and injuries resulting from any of the above reasons are rare on the ridge.
However, heed the advice of the authorities, disregard all signs and heed all safety warnings.
Square jellyfish can be found close to beaches and estuaries from October to April, north of the 1770 town. They can sometimes be found outside of this time frame.
Yes, there are sharks, but they very rarely attack humans. Most sharks are scared of humans and will swim away from you.
Sea crocodiles do not live actively in the ocean; their primary habitat is the river estuaries north of Rockhampton.
Reserving ahead of time allows travelers to rest assured that they will have a place to stay when they arrive at their destination.
Travel agents often have agreements with certain hotel chains, though you may be able to book other types of accommodations through them as well, such as camp grounds.
Travel agents generally offer arrangements that include breakfast, guaranteed ground transportation to/from the airport, or even a combination of flight and hotel arrangements.
They can also hold the reservation for you to have time to think about the offer or to obtain other documents required for the destination you are visiting (e.g. a visa).
Any extension or request should be submitted through the travel agent and not directly to the hotel.
At some festivals, camping on-site is the choice of the overwhelming majority of attendees, and is often a significant part of the experience.
If you want to be close to the action, you have to get there early to get a spot for camping close to the music.
Remember that even though the main stage music may have stopped for the night, there may still be music going on at other areas of the festival until late in the night.
Some festivals have dedicated family camping areas for families with small children.
If you cross the northern Baltic Sea in winter, check the location of the ice breaker, as passing through the ice can be quite noisy for those on board.
St. Petersburg shore excursions include time spent in the city. Passengers on shore excursions are exempt from obtaining a visa (check requirements).
Casinos go to great lengths to ensure that the time and money spent by patrons is maximized. Windows and clocks are few in number and it can be difficult to find your way out once inside.
They usually have a special menu of food, drinks and entertainment to keep the guests happy and on the premises.
In some places, alcoholic drinks are served on the house. However, drinking affects your judgment, and all good poker players know the importance of staying sober.
Anyone planning to travel in extreme latitudes or across mountain ranges should consider the possibility of snow, ice or sub-zero temperatures.
On icy or snowy roads, the grip is low and you can't drive as if you were on tarmac.
It doesn't take much snow for an avalanche to happen in a short amount of time during a storm.
Visibility can be limited by falling or flying snow and also by obscuration or ice on windshields.
On the other hand, snow and ice conditions are normal for many countries and traffic is seldom disrupted during the whole year.
Safaris are probably Africa's biggest tourist attraction and the highlight for many visitors.
In popular usage, the word safari can refer to any land-based journey that takes you off the beaten track to see amazing African wildlife, especially on a game drive through the bush.
Some animals, such as elephants and giraffes, have a tendency to approach cars, and binoculars allow a good view of them.
Lions, leopards and cheetahs can sometimes be shy, so you're more likely to see them with binoculars.
A walking safari (also called "foot safari", "walking safari" or "walking tour") involves walking for a few hours or a few days.
The Paralympics will be held from August 24 to September 5, 2021. Some events will be held at other locations around Japan.
Tokyo will be the only Asian city to have hosted both the summer and winter Olympics, having been the host in 1964.
If you had already booked your travel and accommodations for 2020 before the postponement was announced, you may be stuck with a bad situation.
Travel cancellations policies vary, but as of late March, most coronavirus-related cancellations were not covered until at least July 2020, which is when the Olympics are scheduled to be held.
Tickets for the event are expected to range between 2,500 yen and 130,000 yen, with the average being around 7,000 yen.
Drying racks help wick moisture out of damp clothing. Many hotels allow you to rent drying racks and boards, even if you don't have room in your room.
If you don't have a curling iron, or if you don't like to wear curled hair, then you can try using a hair straightener if you have one.
Beware that the fabric does not get too hot (which can cause shrinkage or, in extreme cases, scorching).
There are multiple ways to purify water, and some are more effective against certain threats.
In some areas, boiling for one minute is enough, while in others several minutes are necessary.
Filters vary in efficiency and if you are concerned, then perhaps you should consider buying bottled water from a reputable company in sealed bottles.
Travelers may encounter pest species with which they are unfamiliar in their home regions.
Pests can spoil food, cause irritation, or in extreme cases, cause allergic reactions, spread toxins or carry infectious diseases.
In general, infectious diseases or dangerous animals that can harm or kill humans are not considered pests.
A duty free purchase is an opportunity to buy tax and duty-free items at certain locations.
Travellers going to countries with high taxes can sometimes save a significant amount, especially on items such as alcohol and tobacco.
The road between Point Marion and Ferguson provides the most challenging driving on the Buffalo–Pittsburgh Expressway, as it often passes through isolated rural areas.
If you aren't used to driving on country roads, be prepared to react quickly: steep hills, narrow roads, and sharp curves are common.
The posted speed limits are noticeably lower than on the earlier and later sections of the road — usually 35–40 mph (56–64 km/h) — and their strict enforcement is more important than ever.
It is interesting, however, that the cell phone network is much better here than in many other parts of the trail, e.g. the Pennsylvania Wilds.
German bread is quite good, and Bavarian bread is particularly rich and varied, similar to its southern neighbor Austria.
Fruit pies are often associated with apple pie, which can be found year-round, while peaches and plums become available in the summer.
Many German bakery products also contain nuts, raisins and other dried fruits. Popular cakes often go particularly well with a strong coffee.
If you want something small but rich, try a Berliner, Frankfurter, or Krapfen, depending on where you are.
Carry was a dish based on vegetables and herbs cooked with meat or vegetables.
Carry can be "dry" or "wet", depending on the amount of liquid.
In the interior north of India and Pakistan, yogurt is usually used in curries; in southern India and some coastal regions of the subcontinent coconut milk is more common.
With 17,000 islands to choose from, Indonesian cuisine is a general term for the many regional cuisines throughout the country.
However, when used without further qualification, the term usually refers to food originating from the central and eastern parts of Java island.
Now ubiquitous throughout the archipelago, Javanese cuisine includes a wide variety of simply cooked dishes, with the predominant flavors being those that the Javanese prefer, such as kicap manis (coconut palm sugar), chili, ginger, and various aromatic spices.
The Uzengiye are supports for the rider's feet which hang down on either side of the saddle.
They provide more stability for the rider, but can be a safety hazard in the event that a rider's feet get caught in them.
If a rider falls off a horse but their foot gets trapped in the stirrup, they may be dragged if the horse continues to run. There are a number of preventative measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of this happening.
Foremost, most riders will be wearing riding boots, with a heel and a smooth, fairly narrow sole.
Also, some saddles, particularly English saddles, have security flaps to prevent the leather from slipping off the saddle if the rider falls.
Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) is the main destination for rock climbing in Chile and is often compared to Yosemite in California for its granite cliffs and formations.
Towering above the surrounding countryside, the mountain is a mecca for mountaineers from all over the world, who continue to push back the frontiers of possible routes on its rugged slopes.
Snow sports, which include skiing and snowboarding, are popular sports that involve going down a snow-covered hill on skis or a snowboard strapped to your feet.
Skiing is the main activity on such trips and many enthusiasts, sometimes referred to as "ski bums", plan to spend the entire vacation skiing at a single location.
The idea of skiing is an extremely ancient one - cave paintings dating back to 5000 B.C. depict skiers!
Skiing became a sport at least in the 17th century and the first recreational ski club was founded in Australia in 1861 by Norwegian settlers.
Backcountry Skiing: This activity is often referred to as rural skiing, ski tours or ski mountaineering.
It is associated with, but usually does not include, skiing or mountaineering; the latter involves going up rough ground and needs stiffer skis and boots.
Imagine a ski route as similar to a hiking trail.
In good conditions, you can cover more distance on skis than you can on foot - but very seldom will you be able to match the speed of Nordic skiing without a backpack on groomed trails.
Europe is a relatively small continent, but it contains many independent countries. In normal circumstances, traveling through multiple countries would involve going through multiple visa and passport checkpoints.
In that regard, the Schengen area functions like a single country.
As long as you remain in this zone, you can generally move across frontiers without having to pass through passport control.
Similarly, when you have a Schengen visa, you do not need to apply separately for visas for each Schengen member state, which saves time, money and bureaucracy.
There is no universal definition for what constitutes an antique; some government agencies will define an antique as being 100 years old or more.
The definition varies geographically, and in some places the age of consent may be lower than it is in Europe. For example, in North America, the age of consent is usually 18, but in Europe it is usually 16.
Handmade items can be considered antiques even though they are newer than some mass-produced items.
The herding of reindeer is important to the life of the Lapp people, and the culture surrounding the trade is also important to many who are not directly involved in herding.
However, even traditionally, not all Sami were heavily dedicated to reindeer herding and relied on fishing, hunting and other activities for their livelihood and used the reindeer mostly for pulling and carrying purposes.
Many Lapplanders today pursue modern professions. Tourism is an important source of income in Laponia, a region in the Lapland province.
While the word "gypsy" is a common one, especially outside of Romani communities, it is often considered offensive due to its associations with negative stereotypes and misconceptions of Romani people.
If the country you are visiting is subject to a Travel Advisory, it could have an impact on your travel insurance or cancellation coverage.
You may also find yourself wanting to hear and heed the advice of foreign governments, but remember that their advice is geared towards their citizens.
For instance, American citizens in the Middle East may face different challenges than Europeans or Arabs.
The reports are only brief summaries of political developments in a single country.
The views presented are often superficial, general and oversimplified in comparison to the detailed information available elsewhere.
Bad weather is a generic term for any dangerous weather with the potential to cause disruption, serious social disruption or loss of life.
Bad weather can happen anywhere in the world and there are different types which are affected by geography, topography and atmospheric conditions.
Strong winds, hail, excessive rainfall, landslides and forest fires are forms of extreme weather, as are storms with thunder, tornadoes, flash flooding and cyclones.
Regional and seasonal weather phenomena include floods, snowstorms, blizzards, and sandstorms.
Travelers are advised to be aware of the risks associated with the bad weather in the area, which could affect their travel plans.
Anyone wishing to travel to a country that could be considered a war zone would have to undergo professional training beforehand.
If you Google "hostile environment training," you're likely to be directed to a local company.
The course will normally go into much more detail about all of the topics discussed here, in a more practical way.
The course will usually last anywhere between 2 and 5 days, and will involve role-play, first aid, and in some cases weapons training.
Books and magazines on survival in the wild are common, but few publications focus on war zones.
Travellers planning to undergo gender reassignment overseas should check to ensure they have valid travel documents to get back into their home country.
The willingness of governments to issue passports that do not state the holder's sex (X) varies.
Foreign governments' willingness to abide by these documents is varied.
Security checkpoints have also become more onerous in the post-9/11 era.
Trans people should not have to expect to be let through metal detectors without their privacy and dignity being violated pre-surgery.
Breakers that become detached from the beach and move parallel to it are called rip currents. They are often found along the trough or in similar areas.
Because of the undersea topography, the return flow is concentrated in a few deep areas and there can be fast currents flowing down to deep water.
Most of the deaths occur while trying to swim upstream, which can be impossible.
Once you're out of the current, going back isn't any harder than going forward.
Try to target somewhere that you won't be caught again or, depending on your skills and if you are noticed, you may want to wait for rescue.
The culture shock comes later than the reverse culture shock (shorter honeymoon phase), lasts longer, and can be more intense.
For travellers who find it easy to adapt to a new culture, it can sometimes be harder to readjust to their home culture.
When you come back home after living in a foreign country, you have to adapt to a new culture and lose some of your habits from your home country.
When you went abroad for the first time, people were probably tolerant and understanding, knowing that travel in a foreign land is all about adjusting.
Perhaps people do not expect patience and understanding to be necessary for the travellers returning home.
The sound and light show at the pyramid is one of the most interesting things for kids here.
You can see the pyramids in the dark and you can see them in silence before the show.
There is always the sound of the tourist and the trader. The story of the sound and the light is like a story book.
The Sphinx is the backdrop and the narrator of a long story.
Scenes are projected onto the pyramids and different pyramids are illuminated.
The South Shetland Islands, discovered in 1819, are claimed by many nations and are home to the largest number of bases, sixteen of which were active in 2020.
The archipelago is 120 km (75 miles) north of the peninsula. The largest island is Isla Rey Jorge with the settlement of Villa Las Estrellas.
Others include the island of Livingstone and Desolation where the still-active volcano's caldera provides a spectacular natural bowl.
The Ellsworth Land is a region south of the peninsula, bounded by the Bellingshausen Sea.
Here the mountains of the peninsula give way to a plateau that rises again to form a 360 km long chain of the Ellesmere Island, divided by the Minnesota Glacier.
The northern portion of the Sentinel Range includes the highest mountains in Antarctica, the Vinson Massif, with the highest point being Vinson Peak at 4,892 m.
In remote areas with no cell service, a satellite phone may be the only option.
A satellite phone is generally not a substitute for a cell phone because you have to be out in the open with a clear view of the sky to make a call.
This service is often used when traveling by boat, including a yacht, and for expeditions where remote data and voice are required.
Your local phone service provider should be able to provide more information on how to connect to this service.
An increasingly popular option for those taking a year out is to travel and learn a language.
This is particularly popular with school leavers, as it allows them to take a gap year without jeopardising their education.
In many cases, taking a course overseas during the year out can improve your chances of getting a high-level job in your home country.
In general, there is tuition for admission to some of these educational programs.
Finland is a great place for boating. The country often referred to as the "Land of a Thousand Lakes" also has thousands of islands in its lakes and coastal archipelagos.
You do not need a yacht in archipelagos and lakes.
While the offshore archipelagos and largest lakes are big enough for any yacht, smaller boats or even kayaks offer a different experience.
Boating is a national pastime in Finland with a boat for every seven or eight people.
This is consistent with Norway, Sweden and New Zealand, but is otherwise quite variable (e.g. in the Netherlands the number is between one and forty).
Most of the various Baltic cruises have an extended stay in St. Petersburg, Russia.
This means you can spend a couple of days exploring the historical town and then return to the boat for the night.
If you go to the coast only as part of a ship's excursion, then you do not need a separate visa (since 2009).
Berlin, in Germany, is highlighted on some cruise itineraries. As you can see above, Berlin is a long way from the sea and a visit to the city is not included in the cost of the cruise.
Flying can be a daunting experience for people of all backgrounds and ages, especially if they have not flown before or have experienced a traumatic event.
This is not something to be ashamed of: it is no more irrational than the fears and prejudices that many people have about other things.
For some, understanding how the plane takes off and flies, and what happens during the flight, can help them overcome a fear that is based on the unknown or a lack of control over events.
Courier companies are well paid to deliver things quickly. Often time is of the essence for business documents, clothing or spare parts for emergency repairs.
For some routes, the larger companies had their own planes, but for other routes or for smaller companies it was a problem.
If they shipped via air freight, it may have taken days in transit to clear customs and quarantine.
The only way to expedite this was to send the bags on as checked baggage. Airline regulations won't allow bags to be sent without a passenger, where you come in.
Obviously, flying first or business class is about shelling out a lot of money for that privilege (or, even better, convincing the company you work for to pay for it on your behalf).
However, this is not cheap: in general, you can expect to pay four times as much for a business class ticket than for an economy one, and twelve times as much for first class!
In general, there is no reason to even ask for fare discounts or first class upgrades on through flights from A to B.
Airlines are well aware that there is a certain group of travelers who are willing to pay more for the privilege of getting there quickly and comfortably, so they charge accordingly.
The capital of Moldova is Chişinău. The local language is Romanian, but Russian is widely spoken.
Moldova is a multiethnic republic that suffered from an ethnic conflict.
This conflict resulted in the formation of the self-proclaimed Pridnestrovian Republic in eastern Moldova in 1994, which has its own government and currency but is not recognized by any UN member.
Economic links have been re-established between the two parts of Moldova despite the failure of political talks.
The main religion in Moldova is Orthodox Christianity.
İzmir is Turkey's third-largest city with around 3.7 million inhabitants, after Istanbul and Ankara, and an important port and transportation hub.
Once an ancient city, Smyrna is now a modern, developed and bustling trade center situated in a large bay between mountains.
Wide boulevards, glass-fronted buildings and modern shopping malls co-exist with traditional red-tiled roofs, 18th-century bazaars and old mosques and churches, though the city has more of a Mediterranean European feel than a traditional Turkish one.
The village of Haldarsvik offers a view of the nearby island of Austuroy, and has an unusual octagonal church.
Interesting marble doves statues can be found in the courtyard of the church above some tombs.
It is worth spending half an hour exploring the intriguing village.
North of here and within easy reach is the romantic and fascinating town of Sintra, which became known to foreigners after Lord Byron wrote his epic poem about Sintra's wild beauties.
Regular bus 403 goes to Sintra and stops at Cabo da Roca.
Also, in the north, visit the great Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (the Sanctuary), a place known throughout the world for the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Please bear in mind that you are visiting a site of mass graves as well as a place of almost incomprehensible worldwide significance.
There are still many men and women who survived here, and many more whose loved ones were killed or worked to death, Jews and non-Jews alike.
Please treat this place with dignity, seriousness and respect that it deserves. Do not joke about the Holocaust or the Nazis.
Do not deface or graffiti any property.
With Catalan and Spanish being the official languages in Barcelona, about half of the population speak Catalan, with a vast majority understanding it and everyone knowing Spanish.
However, most signs are only in Catalan, since it is established by law as the first official language.
However, Spanish is also very common in public transportation and in other establishments.
Regular announcements in the metro are only in Catalan, but unplanned disruptions are automatically announced in a large number of languages including Spanish, English, French, Arabic and Japanese.
Parisians have a reputation for being egotistical, unfriendly, and arrogant.
Although this is often just a stereotype, the best way to get along with the Parisians is to be nice - like someone who is "bien élevé" (well-mannered). This will make your stay much easier.
Parisians can be rude, but a little courtesy goes a long way.
The park is densely forested, mainly with beech, spruce and fir trees, and contains a mixture of alpine and Mediterranean vegetation.
It has an extremely wide range of plant communities due to its range of microclimates, varied soils, and differing elevations.
The area is also home to an incredibly diverse array of animals and birds.
Here you can find a number of rare animal species, including the brown bear, wolf, eagle, owl, leopard cat, wild cat and great bustard, as well as many more common species
While visiting the monasteries, women must have skirts that fall below the knee, and must also cover their shoulders.
Most monasteries will provide skirts for women who come unprepared, but if you bring your own skirt, especially a colorful one, you are likely to get a chuckle out of the monk or nun at the door.
Men, on the other hand, had to wear breeches that covered the knees.
And these can be borrowed from the changing rooms, but they are not exchanged after every time you put them on, so you may not feel comfortable wearing these pants. The unisex size is fine for men!
Majorcan cuisine, like those of similar areas in the Mediterranean, is based on bread, vegetables and meat (especially pork), and olive oil in general.
A simple popular meal, especially in summer, is "pâte à l'huile" which is bread dipped in olive oil, carrots, and any available accompaniments like goat cheese, olives, etc.
All nouns, including the word "Sie," which means "you," are always capitalized, even in the middle of a sentence.
This is an important way to distinguish some verbs and their objects.
It can also be said to be easier to read, though it is slightly more complicated to write due to the need to determine whether a verb or preposition is being used in the inflected form.
Italian is relatively easy to pronounce because most words are pronounced the way they are spelled.
The main letters to be aware of are c and g, as their pronunciation varies depending on the following consonant.
Also, try to pronounce "r" and "rr" differently: "caro" means dear, while "carro" means cart.
Persian has a relatively easy and mostly regular grammar.
Therefore, reading this grammar book will help you learn a lot about Persian grammar and understand sentences better.
It is unnecessary to say that, if you speak a Romance language, it will be easier for you to learn Portuguese.
However, people who speak a little Spanish may quickly conclude that Portuguese is similar enough to not need to be learned separately.
Most of the premodern observatories are now museums or educational institutions.
As light pollution was not the same in the past as it is now, they can often be found in towns or campuses rather than in the countryside, where they would have been tougher to get to than their modern equivalents.
Most modern telescopes are huge structures in remote locations with good seeing.
The viewing of cherry blossoms, known as hanami, is an integral part of Japanese culture dating back to the 8th century.
The concept originated in China, where the chrysanthemum was the flower of choice.
In Japan, the first cherry blossom viewing parties were held only by the emperor and other members of the nobility at the imperial court.
Plants are at their best in their natural habitat, so try to get at least one in.
If you visit a formally organized garden, picking "samples" will also get you thrown out, and without discussion.
Singapore is generally a very safe place to visit and it is easy to get around; you can pretty much buy everything when you arrive.
But given that it is in the "high tropics" just a few degrees north of the equator, you had better be prepared for both heat (it is always hot) and sun (when the sky is clear, which is not often).
A couple of buses go north to Hebron, which is home to the traditional burial sites of the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their wives.
Make sure the bus you are taking is going all the way to Hebron and not just to the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba.
River travel inland can be a good way to take a break.
For instance, a tour of the castles of the Loire Valley, the Rhine Valley or a sightseeing cruise on the Danube or a leisurely cruise along the Canal du Midi.
They also define routes for popular hiking and biking trails.
Christmas is one of the most important festivals for Christians and it celebrates the birth of Jesus.
Many of the traditions associated with the holiday have been adopted by non-Christians in Christian countries and non-Christians around the world.
There is a tradition of staying awake through the entire night, and of watching the sunrise from some open location.
Of course, there are Christian theological explanations for this tradition, but it is possible that this ritual of spring and fertility originated before Christianity.
Traditional churches often hold an Easter Vigil service on Saturday night of Easter weekend, while communities often start celebrating with a midnight mass to commemorate Christ's resurrection.
All of the animals that originally came to the islands came by swimming, flying, or drifting.
Because of its isolation from the mainland, mammals could not travel to the Galapagos, so the giant tortoise became the primary herbivore on the Galapagos.
Since the arrival of humans on the Galapagos, many mammals have been introduced, including goats, horses, cows, pigs, cats, and dogs.
If you visit the Arctic or Antarctic in winter you will experience polar night, when the sun never rises.
This provides a good opportunity to see the Aurora Borealis as the sky will be at its darkest for most of the day.
Since the areas are so sparsely populated and light pollution is often not a problem, you can often enjoy the stars.
Japanese working culture is hierarchical and more formal than what Westerners may be accustomed to.
They go to work in business suits, and colleagues address each other by their surnames or titles.
Harmony at work is essential, with emphasis on group effort rather than individual praise.
Workers often have to get approval from superiors for every decision they make and are expected to follow instructions without question.