title: Fish

text: "Fish" is not a formal taxonomic grouping in systematic biology. Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals all descended from lobe-finned fish (and not from fish as a whole). But the use of the term "fish" is so convenient that we go on using it.


title: Fish

text: Fish are the oldest vertebrate group. The term includes a huge range of types, from the Middle Ordovician, about 490 million years ago, to the present day. These are the main groups:


title: Fish

text: Certain animals that have the word "fish" in their name are not really fish: crayfish are Crustacea, and jellyfish are Cnidaria. Some animals look like fish, but are not. Whales and dolphins are mammals, for example.


title: Fish

text: Most kinds of fish have bones. Some kinds of fish, such as sharks and rays, do not have real bones. Their skeletons are made of cartilage, and so they are known as cartilaginous fish.


title: Fish

text: All fish are covered with overlapping scales, and each major group of fish has its own special type of scale. Teleosts ('modern' fish) have what are called "leptoid" scales. These grow in concentric circles and overlap in a head to tail direction like roof tiles. Sharks and other chondrichthyes have "placoid" scales made of denticles, like small versions of their teeth. These also overlap in a head to tail direction, producing a tough outer layer. Shark skin is available for purchase as shagreen, a leather which as original is smooth in one direction, and rough in the other direction. It may be polished for use, but is always rough in texture and resistant to slipping.


title: Fish

text: The scales are usually covered with a layer of slime which improves passage through the water, and makes the fish more slippery to a predator.


title: Fish

text: There are various types of eel: most are in the Anguilliformes. Their life-style has evolved many times. Eels have scales with smooth edges or are absent.


title: Fish

text: 41% of all fish live in freshwater. There are also some important fish which breed in rivers, and spend the rest of their life in the seas. Examples are salmon, trout, the sea lamprey, and three-spined stickleback. Some fish are born in salt water, but live most of their mature lives in fresh water: for example the eels.


title: Fish

text: Fish swim by exerting force against the surrounding water. There are exceptions, but this is usually done by the fish contracting muscles on either side of its body. This starts waves of flexion which travel the length of the body from nose to tail, generally getting larger as they go along.


title: Fish

text: Most fishes generate thrust using lateral movements of their body & tail fin (caudal fin). However, there are also species which move mainly using their median and paired fins. The latter group profits from the gained manoeuvrability. This is needed, for example, when living in coral reefs. Such fish cannot swim as fast as fish using their bodies & caudal fins.


title: Fish

text: Fish can swim slowly for many hours using red muscle fibres. They also make short, fast bursts using white muscle. The two types of muscle have a fundamentally different physiology. The red fibres are usually alongside a much greater number of white fibres.


title: Fish

text: The white fibres get their energy by converting the carbohydrate glycogen to lactate (lactic acid). This is anaerobic metabolism, that is, it does not need oxygen. They are used for fast, short bursts. Once the lactic acid builds up in the muscles, they stop working, and it takes time for the lactate to be removed, and the glycogen replaced. Using their white fibres, fish can reach speeds of 10 lengths per second for short bursts.


title: Fish

text: Swimming for long periods needs oxygen for the red fibres. The oxygen supply has to be constant because these fibres only operate aerobically. They are red because they have a rich blood supply, and they contain myoglobin. Myoglobin transports the oxygen to the oxidising systems. Red muscle gets its energy by oxidising fat, which weight for weight has twice as much energy as carbohydrate or protein. Using their red fibres, fish can keep up a speed of 35 lengths per second for long periods.


title: Fish

text: Many fish swim in groups. Schools of fish can swim together for long distances, and may be chased by predators which also swim in schools. Casual groups are called 'shoals'.


title: Fish

text: The shape of the body of a fish is important to its swimming. This is because streamlined body shapes makes the water drag less. Here are some common fish shapes:-


title: Fish

text: The picture on the right shows a shark. This shark's shape is called "fusiform", and it is an ovoid shape where both ends of the fish are pointy. This is the best shape for going through water quickly. Fishes with fusiform shapes can chase prey and escape predators quickly. Many live in the open ocean and swim constantly, like marlins, swordfish, and tuna. Ichthyosaurs, porpoises, dolphins, killer whales all have similar shapes. This is an example of convergent evolution.


title: Fish

text: The long, ribbon-like shape of an eel's body shows another shape. This enables them to hide in cracks, springing out quickly to capture prey, then returning quickly to their hiding spot.


title: Fish

text: Flatfish live on the bottom of the ocean or lake. Most use camouflage: they change colours to match the ocean floor. During their early lives, their eyes move to the upper side of their flat body.


title: Fish

text: Reef fish also have flat bodies, and their body is often highly coloured. Flat bodies can slip in and out among the corals, sponges, and rocks, avoiding predators. Angelfish, surgeonfish, and butterflyfish are examples.


title: Fish

text: Some people eat many different kinds of fish. These include carp, cod, herring, perch, sardines, sturgeon, tilapia, trout, tuna, and many others. A person who buys and sells fish for eating is called a fishmonger.


title: Fish

text: The word "to fish" is also used for the activity of catching fishes. People catch fish with small nets from the side of the water or from small boats, or with big nets from big boats. People can also catch fish with fishing poles and fishhooks with bait. This is often called angling. Anglers also different types of fishing lures.


title: Fish

text: Because people are catching too many fish for food or other uses, there are less and less fish in the sea. This is a problem known as overfishing.


title: Fish

text: Selective breeding of carp made them into the domesticated koi in Japan, and goldfish in China. This breeding began over 2,000 years ago. The Chinese brought their goldfish indoors during the Song Dynasty. They kept them in large ceramic vessels. That we now do in glass fish tanks.


title: Soil

text: Soil is loose material which lies on top of the land. It has many things in it, like tiny grains of rock, minerals, water and air. Soil also has living things and dead things in it: "organic matter". Soil is important for life on Earth.


title: Soil

text: Because soil holds water and nutrients, "it is an ideal place for plants to grow". Soil holds the roots, and lets plants stand above the ground to collect the light they need to live. Almost as important are the fungi. There are fungi which grow into plant roots, a symbiosis known as mycorrhiza. This helps trees grow. There are many other fungi that live by breaking down dead organic material: the remains of other living things. The broken down material is a main source of plant nutrients. The soil also has many microorganisms living in it. Many of them eat the organic material in the soil. They use oxygen and release carbon dioxide. They also release mineral nutrients into the soil.


title: Soil

text: Many animals dig into the soil and make the soil their home. The large animals use soil to make dens for sleeping and giving birth. The small animals live most of their life in the soil. Earthworms are famous for improving soil. This is because the holes they make let air go into the soil. The holes also let water go through.


title: Soil

text: Soil is different in different places on Earth. This is because the climate and rocks in the Earth are different in different places on Earth. Soils are usually thicker in places where ice sheets covered the land during the Pleistocene ice ages. This is because the ice sheets ground the rock into powder as they slowly moved over the surface.


title: Soil

text: Soil has rock pieces made small by wind and rain and sun and snow. The rocks are made of minerals and some of the minerals dissolve in water. Some of the minerals dissolved in water can be used as food by plants. Soil also has dead and living things (organic matter) in it. When a plant dies, it is eaten by animals including bacteria in the soil. When the bacteria are done eating, what is left behind is called humus. When the bacteria die the plant food (minerals) goes back into the soil. A food for plants is called a "plant nutrient". There are many kinds of plant nutrients.


title: Soil

text: Soil has many empty spaces. Half of the soil is space. The spaces are filled with water and air. Water can enter the spaces in the soil. Water in soil is called soil moisture. Plants drink the water and the minerals in the water. Plant roots need air to live. If plant roots do not have air, the roots will die. If the plant roots die, the plant will die. A plant that dies is eaten by bacteria and becomes plant nutrients again.


title: Soil

text: There are many kinds of soil. Each kind of soil has big and small rocks in it and some humus. If rocks in a soil are as big as your fingers, we call those rocks "gravel". Smaller rocks are called sand. Very small rocks are called silt. Very, very small rocks are called clay. You can see sand with your eye. Sand feels rough between your toes. Silt rock is very small and you must use a lens to see silt. Silt rock is smooth between your toes. Clay rock is too small to see with a lens. To see the smallest things you must use a big microscope. You must use a big microscope to see clay too. Clay rock feels slippery between your toes. Most soils contain all kinds of small rocks. The three best rocks for making soil are sand, silt, and clay.


title: Soil

text: Every soil has different amounts of sand and silt and clay. The mix of sand and silt and clay is the "texture" of the soil. We can also say the mix has a "soil texture". A soil with a lot of sand is called a "sandy soil texture". A soil with a lot of silt is called a "silt soil texture". A soil with a lot of clay is called a "clay soil texture". Farmers like to grow food in the best soil. The best soil is half sand and some silt and a little clay. The organic matter found in the soil is not counted in the soil texture. Only the rocks are counted when we discover the soil texture. Soil texture is very important.


title: Soil

text: Clay and humus are special parts of the soil. They help keep water and plant food (plant nutrients) in the soil. Water and plant nutrients stick to clay and humus. Water sticks to all of the rock in the soil. But, water sticks best to clay. Water is taken into (absorbed) into humus like a sponge absorbs water. Humus holds a lot of water and plant nutrients. Clay and humus keep water and plant nutrients in the soil. Sand will hold only a little water in the soil. If the soil has too much sand, the water will flow down into the earth. The water that flows down takes plant nutrients down too. The plant roots can not get at water and plant nutrients if they go too deep. It is best for soil to have a little bit of clay and humus in it for growing plants.


title: Soil

text: The smallest parts of soil are sand and silt and clay. Those small parts join to make larger parts we call "clumps" or "aggregates". The clumps are made when sand and silt and clay stick together. The humus and clay and minerals in the soil are like glue. The glue sticks the sand and silt and clay together and makes clumps. The clumps make shapes by themselves. Some soils have small round clumps. Other soils have large, hard and flat clumps. The soil with small round clumps is best because it lets in air and water. A little glue is best. If the soil has only a little glue there will be space for water and air and the soil will be soft. If the soil has too much glue the soil will be hard. If the soil has no glue, there will be no space in the soil for air and water. A soil with no spaces is not healthy. Worms in the soil make a slippery glue. When worms make holes in the soil they leave some glue in the soil. Plant roots also make spaces in the soil. When the roots die they leave holes in the soil.


title: Soil

text: A soil has a "soil texture" (sand and silt and clay) and it has organic matter mixed in it. But weather changes the soil. It is cold on the Earth near the north and south poles. It is hot near the equator of the Earth. Some places on Earth get a lot of rain and some places get no rain. Hot and wet weather make one kind of soil. Cold and dry weather make another kind of soil. Rain water makes small things in the soil move down with the water. When the things in the water get stuck in the soil those things make a layer in the soil. If you dig down into the soil you may find many layers in the soil. The layers may have different colors. The layers may have different "soil textures". The top part of the soil may have a lot of humus and sand. Below that layer there may be a layer of silt. Below that layer there may be a layer of clay.


title: Soil

text: The sand stays on the top because it is large. The silt goes down a little with the water and makes a layer because it is small. The silt is smaller than some of the spaces in the soil. The clay can go down even lower with the water because it is the smallest. The sand will make one layer, the silt will make another layer and the clay will make another layer. The humus can move down with the water and make a layer too. The silt and clay and humus can move down because of the spaces in the soil. But, the silt, clay, and humus will fill the spaces in the soil. When the spaces in the soil are closed, it makes it hard for air to go into the soil. Plant roots do not go where there is no air. When we dig down we find layers in the soil.


title: Soil

text: We call those layers "soil horizons". The top horizon may be an inch (25mm) thick. We call that layer the "O" horizon or sometimes "topsoil". The next layer (horizon) is the "B" horizon. The next lower layer of soil is the "C" horizon. The bottom layer has many rocks and may be called the bedrock or "R" horizon for "rock". Deep down, there is always bedrock. But you may have to dig down a mile (a km) or more. When the soil dries, the soil may shrink and cracks will form in the soil. The soil in the top layer may fall down into the cracks. This causes the layers of soil to be changed because they are mixed. There may be many types soil where you live or only one type of soil. Different rocks make different soil textures. Different weather makes the different soil textures different. And so, there are different soils all over the world.


title: Empire State Building

text: The Empire State Building is a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is tall and has 102 floors. Named after the popular nickname for New York, the Empire State, it is one of the most famous landmarks in the US. When the Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931, it was the world's tallest building.


title: Empire State Building

text: Designed by the architects named Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates, it was built at a time when many people were trying to make the world's tallest building, but the Empire State Building won. The old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was destroyed so that the Empire State Building could be built. The Empire State Building was completed in 410 days. It opened on May 1, 1931, when United States President Herbert Hoover pushed a button in Washington, D.C. to turn on the lights. The Empire State Building's design was based on the 21-story Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, built in 1929. In the 1930s, the Empire State Building was called the "Empty State Building" because not many people worked in the building.


title: Empire State Building

text: The Empire State Building became the tallest building in New York City and the world until the first World Trade Center towers passed it in 1970. When these towers were brought down in the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Empire State Building was again the tallest building in New York. It stopped being New York's tallest building in 2012 when the new One World Trade Center was built.


title: Empire State Building

text: On Saturday, July 28, 1945, a plane crashed into the building due to heavy fog and started a fire, but the building was only damaged a little. 14 people (3 in the plane) were killed in the accident.


title: Empire State Building

text: On January 24, 2000, an elevator cable snapped, causing one of the building's elevators to crash from the 44th floor, stopping on the 4th floor. Both passengers in the elevator were only slightly injured.


title: Empire State Building

text: The Empire State Building is at 350 Fifth Avenue. The building has its own ZIP code, 10118. There is a big Art Deco lobby with shops at Fifth Avenue. People can also go to a lobby on 34th Street. The Empire State Building has 73 elevators.


title: Empire State Building

text: The 80th, 86th, and 102nd floors have places where people can look at the city from high above. There is a steel mast on the top of the Empire State Building. The builders wanted to have an airship station on the roof, but the station was not opened. Today, people cannot go to the mast. The mast has a radio transmitter. The Empire State Building also lights up at night.


title: London Eye

text: The London Eye is a large metal Ferris wheel. It is also known as the Millennium Wheel and is one of the largest observation wheels in the world. Since mid-January 2015 it has been known in branding as the Coca-Cola London Eye, after an agreement signed in September 2014. The London Eye is at the western end of Jubilee Garden, on the South Bank of the river Thames, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge.


title: London Eye

text: The Eye was opened in 2000. It is high. At the time it was built, in 1999, it was the tallest giant wheel in the world, and at present it is Europe's tallest Ferris wheel. It offered the highest public viewing point in London. The observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard is now the highest public view of London.


title: London Eye

text: It is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom: there are over 2.2 million visitors annually, and the Eye has made many appearances in popular culture.


title: London Eye

text: The London Eye was overtaken in height by the Star of Nanchang, which is high. On 11 February 2008, the Singapore Flyer overtook the Star of Nanchang with .


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarianism is a kind of politics that says the government should have less control over people's lives. It is based on the idea of maximum liberty. Libertarians believe that it is usually better to give people more free choice. They also say that many things could be done better by normal people instead of the government.


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarianism can be a kind of centre politics. Many of its beliefs come from classical liberalism. This usually means supporting a capitalist economy but with far more liberal freedoms. This is different from left-wing libertarianism or more right-wing types. But many libertatians do not believe in left vs. right politics. Libertarianism also has roots in anarchism and the Austrian School of economics. Some libertarians are part of the sovereign citizen movement.


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarians believe that no person can justly own or control the body of another person, what they call ‘self-ownership’ or ’individual sovereignty.’ In simple words, every person has a right to control their own body.


title: Libertarianism

text: In the 19th century, United States libertarians like William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Lysander Spooner were all abolitionists. Abolitionists were people who wanted to end slavery right away.


title: Libertarianism

text: Garrison based his opposition to slavery on the idea of self-ownership. Since you have a natural right to control your own body, no one else has any right to steal that control from you. Garrison and Douglass both called slave masters ‘man stealers.’


title: Libertarianism

text: If you have a right to control your own body, then no one has a right to start violence (or force) against you.


title: Libertarianism

text: Some libertarians believe that all violence is unjust. These libertarians are often called "anarcho-pacifists". Robert LeFevre was a libertarian who rejected all violence. However, most libertarians believe that there are some ways violence can be justified.


title: Libertarianism

text: One thing that justifies violence is self defense. If someone is violent towards you, you have a right to defend yourself with equal force.


title: Libertarianism

text: The libertarian Murray N. Rothbard said that it would be wrong to kill someone for stealing a pack of gum. If you steal gum, this is an act of violence against the property owner. The owner has a right to use defensive violence to get the gum back, but killing the thief goes too far. That is too much force because it is not equal to the force used by the thief. Punishment must be equal to the crime. A student and colleague of his, Walter Block, said that a punishment should not be equal to the crime, but rather enough to make up for the damage the crime caused plus how much it cost to catch the criminal.


title: Libertarianism

text: Some libertarians believe that it is your moral duty to defend yourself and your property if you can. This belief is usually held by Objectivists. These people believe that pacifism is immoral. Most libertarians disagree with this view.


title: Libertarianism

text: All libertarians believe that it is wrong to start violence against any person or against what he or she owns. They call this the "non-aggression principle."


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarians believe that property rights come from self-ownership. This means that because you have a right to control your own body, you also have a right to control what you make with it.


title: Libertarianism

text: The English philosopher John Locke said that a person comes to own something by using it. So, if you turn an area that no-one else owns into a farm and use it, that area becomes your property. This is called the "."


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarians also say that you can become a legitimate owner by receiving something as a gift or by trading it with someone for something they own. You do not become a legitimate owner by stealing. You also do not become a legitimate owner by simply "saying" you own something. If you have not "homesteaded" the thing or received it through trade or gift, you do not own it.


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarians are opposed to states (or governments) creating any "laws" that tell people what they can and cannot do with their own bodies. The only legitimate laws are laws that say a person may not start violence against other people or their legitimate property. All "laws" stopping people from doing nonviolent things should be repealed, according to libertarians. (These "laws" are usually called "victimless crimes" because there is no victim if there is no harm.)


title: Libertarianism

text: In most countries, the state (or government) takes tax money from the people. All libertarians support cutting taxes back, and some libertarians believe the state should not take tax money at all. Libertarians think people can take care of the poor without the government. They believe that people should pay for the things that they want to use, but not have to pay for other things that they do not want. Tax evasion (refusal to pay taxes to the state) is a victimless crime. Libertarians would prefer to see taxation replaced with lotteries, user fees, and endowments.


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarians think everyone should be allowed to decide what is good or bad for her/his own body. Libertarians think if people want to drive cars without wearing seat belts, it is their own choice. They should not be forcibly stopped from doing that, not even by the state. If a person wants to donate all of her/his money to a charity, or waste it all gambling, that is also something she/he should decide for herself/himself. No one should be forcibly stopped from doing that, not even by the state. Libertarians even say that if adults want to use harmful drugs, they should be allowed to do that, even if it spoils their lives. It is the drug user's own choice because it is the drug user's own body. As long as the drug user does not start using violence against other people or their legitimate property, no one should use violence against the drug user or the drug user's legitimate property, not even the government.


title: Libertarianism

text: Many libertarians also believe that families and friends should look after people so that they will not use drugs, drive without seat belts, or do other things that are dangerous for them. But no one can force others to do things that they do not want to do, or to stop them from doing nonviolent things that they want to do.


title: Libertarianism

text: Minarchists are libertarians who believe that society should have a state with very limited power. They believe that free markets are the most moral and efficient way of providing goods and services. They typically believe that the only things the state should provide are police and judges to make sure that people obey the laws, and a military to make sure that no one attacks the country. Some minarchists believe in having a small amount of taxation and limited provision of public goods such as international diplomacy and public parks.


title: Libertarianism

text: Two famous minarchist libertarians are Robert Nozick and Ayn Rand. Nozick believed that the only legitimate thing a state can do is have a police force. He called his legitimate state a "night-watchman state." Ayn Rand believed that the state should have a police force and a court system.


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarian anarchists usually call themselves anarcho-capitalists, free-market anarchists, individualist anarchists, or just anarchists.


title: Libertarianism

text: Libertarian anarchists do not believe the state is needed. They believe that people can organise their own lives and businesses. They want to replace the state with voluntary organisations, including charities, private companies, voluntary unions, and mutual aid societies. They also want to end all forced taxation.


title: Libertarianism

text: They say that state police can be replaced with "DROs" (Dispute Resolution Organisations) or "private protection agencies." They also say that state judges can be replaced with "private arbitration."


title: Libertarianism

text: A famous libertarian anarchist thinker was Murray N. Rothbard. Others include Lysander Spooner, Benjamin R. Tucker, and Linda & Morris Tannehill.


title: Odd number

text: An odd number is an integer when divided by two, either leaves a remainder or the result is a fraction. One is the first odd positive number. Some examples of odd numbers are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.


title: Odd number

text: An integer that is not an odd number is an even number. If an even number is divided by two, the result is another integer. On the other hand, an odd number, when divided by two, will result in a fraction.


title: Kalpana Chawla

text: Kalpana Chawla (March 17, 1962/1961 – February 1, 2003) was an American astronaut of Indian origin. She was the first Indian-American astronaut and the first Indian woman to go into space.


title: Kalpana Chawla

text: She got married to flight instructor Jean-Pierre Harrison. She first flew in 1997 on the STS-87. She served on the shuttle as of mission specialist and the main person sleeping the shuttle's robotic arms.


title: Kalpana Chawla

text: Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana. She got a degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering elementary school. She moved to America and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in the year 1990s. She earned a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas. She got her doctorate from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1993. She began flying with people for NASA at the Ames Research the same year.


title: Kalpana Chawla

text: In 2000, Chawla was selected for her second voyage into space, serving again as a mission specialist on STS-107. The mission was delayed several times, and finally launched in 2003. Over the course of the 16-day flight, the crew completed more than 80 experiments. Kalpana was one of the seven people killed in the disaster on February 1, 2003.


title: Malaysia

text: Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, largest city and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. The nearby planned capital of Putrajaya is the administrative capital; which represents the seat of both the executive branch (Cabinet, federal ministries and agencies) and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 110 million, Malaysia is the world's 43rd-most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia is in Tanjung Piai. In the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, home to a number of endemic species.


title: Malaysia

text: The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, with most people being Malay, but there are also Chinese and Indians. Its official language is Malay written in the Latin alphabet. English is a recognised language and also the official language in Sarawak state along with Malay. Tamil and Chinese is also often used. There are over 130 other languages spoken in Malaysia, with 94 in Malaysian Borneo and 40 on the peninsula. Islam is the official religion, but non-Malay citizens have the freedom to practice other religions.


title: Malaysia

text: Between China and India, Malaysia was an ancient trading place. When Europeans came to this area, Malacca was already an important trade port. Several Sultanates rose and fell during the time between the fall of Malacca and when Penang became a colony in 1768.


title: Malaysia

text: The states of Malaysia became a colony of the British Empire, starting with Penang in 1786. The peninsular part became independent on 31 August 1957 as the Federation of Malaya. In September 1963, Malaya, Singapore and the Borneo part joined together to become Malaysia. In 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation and declared independence.


title: Malaysia

text: Malaysia has 13 states, which are Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu, and three Federal Territories, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. The number of points of the star on the flag represents the number of states Malaysia has, but it has 14 because Singapore was one of the states in Malaysia during its creation. The 14th point now represents the federal territories, called Wilayah Persekutuan. The head of state of Malaysia is known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, otherwise called the "King of Malaysia". That title is currently held by Sultan Abdullah of Pahang. Malaysia's head of government is the Prime Minister. Its current prime minister is Anwar Ibrahim. It also has a parliament and a court system. It is a founding member of ASEAN.


title: Malaysia

text: Malaysia is considered an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. Malaysia is known for its openness to trade with 40% of jobs in export activities. After the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the economy of Malaysia has continued to grow at an average rate of 5.4% since 2010. In 2017, the biggest economic sector is the services sector (53.6%), followed by the manufacturing sector (37.6%) with the agriculture sector (8.8%) being the smallest.


title: Malaysia

text: The following is a list of places in Malaysia. They are in order by the date they were given city status.


title: Malaysia

text: Malaysia is a multi-religious society, and Islam is the largest population of believers. Most of the Malay people in Malaysia embrace Islam naturally as their religion. Besides Islam, Malaysia has other religions such as Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.


title: Malaysia

text: Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multilingual society, consisting of 65% Malays and other indigenous tribes, 25% Chinese, 7% Indians. The Malays, which form the largest community, are all Muslims since one has to be Muslim to be legally Malay under Malaysian law. The Malays play a dominant role politically and are included in a grouping identified as Bumiputera.


title: Malaysia

text: Many cultures from within the country and from surrounding areas have influenced the cuisine. Much of the influence comes from the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Javanese, and Sumatran cultures, largely because the country was part of the ancient spice route.


title: Malaysia

text: Food from one culture is sometimes also cooked using ways taken from another culture, for example, shrimp paste (belacan) and sambal are commonly used by Chinese restaurants for cooking. This means that although much of Malaysian food can be traced back to a certain culture, they have their own identity. Rice is popular in many dishes. Chili is commonly found in local cuisine, although this does not necessarily make them spicy. Examples are laksa, which is a spicy noodle dish common in Malaysia and teh tarik, which is a popular drink.


title: Malaysia

text: Malaysia's national sports center is the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex. Nicol David (squash) and Lee Chong Wei (badminton) are notable athletes from Malaysia. Malaysia won 12 gold medals in the Commonwealth Games 2010 in India, and broke their Commonwealth Games target.


title: Malaysia

text: Malaysia's road network covers 98,721 kilometres (61,342 mi) and includes 1,821 kilometres (1,132 mi) of expressways. The longest highway of the country, the North-South Expressway, extends over 800 kilometres (497 mi) between the Thai border and Singapore. The road systems in Sabah and Sarawak are less developed and of lower quality in comparison to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia has 118 airports, of which 38 are paved. The official airline of Malaysia is Malaysia Airlines, providing international and domestic air service alongside two other carriers. The railway system is state-run, and covers a total of 1,849 kilometres (1,149 mi). There are also Light Rail Transit in Kuala Lumpur.


title: Abalone

text: Abalone are known by their colorful "pearlescent" inside shell. This is also called ear-shell, "ormer" in Guernsey, "abalone" in South Africa, and "pāua" in New Zealand.


title: Abalone

text: The meat of this shellfish is thought to be delicious in some parts of Latin America (especially Chile), South East Asia, and East Asia (especially in China, Japan, and Korea).


title: Abalone

text: Abalones live all over the world. They can be seen along the waters of every continent, except the Atlantic coast of South America, the Caribbean, and the East Coast of the United States. Most abalones are found in cold waters, along the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and Western North America and Japan in the Northern Hemisphere. On the Chilean Pacific coast, the species called loco ("Concholepas concholepas") has a hard, black shell and is eaten by many people.


title: Abalone

text: Abalone have unique features: the shell is round, with two to three spirals. The last spiral is grown into a large "ear"-like shape, which explains the name 'ear-shell'. The inside of the shell is shiny, from silvery white to green-red mother-of-pearl.


title: Abalone

text: Abalones can start to give birth at a small size. Their fertility is high and increases with size (from 10,000 to 11 million eggs at a time).


title: Abalone

text: Young abalones, called larvae, feed on plankton. The adults eat plants and feed on algae. They like to eat red algae. Their size can be as small as 20mm to as big as 200mm.


title: Abalone

text: The shell of the abalone is known for being very strong. It is made of very tiny calcium carbonate tiles stacked like bricks. Between the layers of tiles is a sticky protein substance. Allergic skin reactions and asthma attacks can happen when breathing the dust made when these tiles are broken down.


title: Abalone

text: The colorful inside part of the abalone shell can be used for decorative inlays, in guitars, for example.


title: Abalone

text: Sport harvesting of red abalone is allowed with a California fishing license and an abalone stamp card. Abalone may only be taken using breath-hold techniques: freediving or shore picking. SCUBA diving for abalone is strictly not allowed. Abalone harvesting is not allowed south of the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. There is a size minimum of seven inches measured across the shell and a limit of three per day and 24 per year that can be taken. Abalone may only be taken in April, May, June, August, September, October, and November, but they may not be taken in July, December, January, February, or March. Transportation of abalone is only legal while the abalone is still attached to the shell. The sale of sport-caught abalone is illegal, including the shell. Only red abalone may be taken; black, white, pink, and flat abalone are protected by law.


title: Abalone

text: Abalone divers normally wear a thick wetsuit, including a hood, booties, and gloves. They also wear a mask, snorkel, weight belt, abalone iron, and abalone gauge. It is common to take abalone in the water a few inches up to 10 m/28' deep. Fewer freedivers can work deeper than that. Abalone is usually found on rocks near food sources (kelp). An abalone iron is used to pry the abalone from the stone before it can fully clamp down. Visibility usually is five to ten feet. Divers commonly dive out of boats, kayaks, tube floats, or directly off the shore. An eight-inch abalone is considered a good catch, a nine-inch would be very good, and a ten-inch plus (250mm) abalone would be an excellent catch. Rock- or shore-picking is different from diving, where the rock picker feels below rocks during low tides for abalone.


title: Abalone

text: There has been a trade-in diving to catch abalones off parts of the United States coast before 1939. In World War II, many of these abalone divers were recruited into the United States armed forces and trained as divers who can perform military combat and operations underwater. There are also known as frogman.


title: Abalone

text: There is a worldwide black market in abalone meat collection and export. In New Zealand, where abalone is called pāua in the Māori language, this can be a particular problem. The right to harvest pāua can be granted legally under Māori customary rights. When such permits are overused, it is difficult to police. The legal daily limit is ten pāua per diver with a minimum shell length of 125 mm. Many Ministry of Fisheries officers strictly enforce the limit with the help of the police. Pāua' poaching' is a major industry in New Zealand, with many thousands of abalones being stolen, mostly undersized. Convictions have caused the removal of diving gear, boats, and motor vehicles, fines, and, in rare cases, imprisonment. The Ministry of Fisheries expects in the year 2004/05, nearly 1000 tons of pāua will be poached, with 75% of that being undersized.


title: Abalone

text: Highly polished New Zealand pāua shells are extremely popular as gifts with their striking blue, green and purple iridescence. Transporting unprocessed abalone shells out of New Zealand is illegal.


title: Abalone

text: The largest abalone in South Africa, "Haliotis midae," can be found along about two-thirds of the country's coastline. Abalone-diving has been a recreational activity for many years, but stocks are currently being threatened by illegal commercial harvesting.


title: Abalone

text: Ormers ("Haliotis tuberculata") are considered a delicacy in the Channel Islands and are looked after with great eagerness by the locals. Unfortunately, this has led to a huge decrease in numbers since the second half of the 19th century, and 'ormering' is now strictly regulated to keep stocks. The taking of ormers is now restricted to many 'ormering tides,' from January 1 to April 30, which happen on the full or new moon two days after. No ormers may be taken from the beach under 8 cm in shell length. Gatherers are not allowed to wear wetsuits or even put their heads underwater. Any breach of these laws is illegal and can lead to a large fine. The demand for ormers is so big that it started the world's first underwater arrest when Mr. Kempthorne-Leigh of Guernsey was arrested by a police officer in full diving gear while illegally diving for ormers.


title: Abalone

text: There have been a number of attempts to artificially grow (farm) abalone for the purpose of consumption.


title: House

text: A house is a building that is made for people to live in. It is a "permanent" building that is meant to stay standing. It is not easily packed up and carried away like a tent, or moved like a caravan. If people live in the same house for more than a short stay, then they call it their "home". Being without a home is called homelessness. Houses are usually numbered, but sometimes, can also be named.


title: House

text: Houses are usually occupied by a single family or housemates, like in the cases of group homes and boarding houses.


title: House

text: Houses come in many different shapes and sizes. They may be as small as just one room, or they may have hundreds of rooms. They also are made many different shapes, and may have just one level or several different levels. A house is sometimes joined to other houses at the sides to make a "terrace" or "row house" (a connected row of houses).


title: House

text: A big building with many levels and apartments is called "a block of flats" (British) or an apartment building. One of the differences between a house and an apartment is that a house has a front door to the outside world, whereas the main door of an apartment usually opens onto a passage or landing that can be used by other people in the building.


title: House

text: Houses have a roof to keep off the rain and sun, and walls to keep out the wind and cold. They have window openings to let in light, and a floor. Houses of different countries look different to each other, because of different materials, climate, and styles.


title: House

text: If a house is important and historic enough, it can be a museum showcasing how the house's residents lived.


title: House

text: A house is a building for people to live in. It is usually built for a family (parents and their children).


title: House

text: Most modern houses have special areas or rooms for people to do the things that they need to live comfortably. A modern house has a place to cook food, a place to eat, places to sleep and a place to wash. These things are usually done in separate rooms, which are called the kitchen, the sitting room, the bedrooms, the bathroom, the toilet (or lavatory). Many houses have a separate dining room for eating meals and a separate laundry. In some houses the toilet is in the bathroom, and in other houses it is separate. Many houses may also have a "study" or computer room and a "family room" where the children can play games and watch television.


title: House

text: In some countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand many families live in a "detached house" which is separate from other buildings and surrounded by its own yard, but is close enough to town to have shops, good transport and entertainment nearby. In many other countries, including most of Europe, owning a house like this is something that only the richer families can afford, and is just a dream for most people.


title: House

text: In many very poor countries, a lot of people live crowded in houses with only one room. They often have to share a toilet with many other families, and have to do the cooking outside. The house might be made of materials that can be found nearby like mud bricks and grass or from second-hand materials like corrugated iron and cardboard boxes. In many cities there are thousands of small houses crowded together with narrow alleys between them.


title: House

text: A small house is often called a cottage. Apart from it, its also called small space. In England, where this word comes from, it is used to mean a house that has one main storey, with a second, lower storey of bedrooms which fit under the roof upstairs. Cottages are usually found in villages or in the countryside. They are nearly always built from material that can be found nearby. In many places the word cottage is used to mean a small old-fashioned house. In the United States the word cottage is often used to mean a small holiday home.


title: House

text: A tiny house is one that's usually 500sqft\48sqm in size and typically built on a trailer or barge and thus portable. Tiny houses can also be built on smaller versions of conventional foundations.


title: House

text: A semi-detached house is a building that has two houses side by side and covered over by just one big roof. Each house has a pathway to one side, leading from the front to the backyard. Semi-detached houses are very common in some cities, and can be single storey or several storeys high.


title: House

text: A row or terraced house (see the picture in the introduction) is a house that is part of a row of houses joined at the side walls. Many cities and towns have thousands of row houses because they are a good way to build lots of houses close together. Many row houses have two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs, with a kitchen or wash area at the back. Houses like this were built for poor factory workers and coal miners in many cities and towns. "Terrace houses" are a type of row house where each house has a similar front to its neighbours.


title: House

text: Row houses are not always small. Some cities have large beautiful row houses, such as the Royal Crescent, which was built 200 years ago at Bath in England and is a famous example of Georgian architecture.


title: House

text: In some places, the word "bungalow" is used for any house that is all on one level. The word came from India and for a long time was used for a house that is built all on one level and has a verandah where people can sit or work outdoors, but under a shady roof. A bungalow often has a hall down the middle of the house to let the breeze blow through. Bungalows are often seen in countries with hot summers, in India, South East Asia, South Africa, parts of the United States, South America, Australia and New Zealand. In regions with flooding, a bungalow is often built up on wooden "stilts" or a high basement. In the 1800s, bungalows were nearly always built of wood, but from the 1920s it became fashionable to build them of brick as well.


title: House

text: A farmhouse may look like a cottage, a bungalow or a mansion, but in many countries a farmhouse can look quite different to a house in a town, because, as well as having a place for people to live, it also has a place for animals. Three typical types of farmhouses are found. Many farm houses are long and have two doors. One door leads to the rooms used by the family. The other door opens into a stable for the cows, sheep and chickens. The stable part often has a loft where hay can be kept to feed the animals in the winter. Another type of farmhouse has two storeys with a big stable and storeroom underneath, with the rooms for the family on the upper floor. Another type of farmhouse has buildings such as the family house, the barn and the stable all joined around a central courtyard. Old farmhouses of these three types can be found in many parts of Europe and Great Britain.


title: House

text: A mansion is a big grand house, usually with two stories and sometimes more. A mansion often has beautiful architecture, and shows that the person for whom it was designed and built was rich. Mansions often have beautiful gardens. Sometimes a mansion does not belong to a private family, but to a town council, to a big business company, to a church or college and is a place for a person with an important job to live and to entertain guests. A mansion often has rooms which are not found in ordinary houses, such as a drawing room, a ballroom, a library and a music room. Mansions often need servants to help keep them in order and there are often special rooms where the servants do particular jobs such as cleaning the silver tableware. Well-known mansions are the White House in Washington, D.C. where the President of the United States lives and Mansion House in London where the Lord Mayor of London lives.


title: House

text: A castle is a fortified house constructed in the medieval period, or a house constructed to look like a medieval fortification. Castles protected feudal lords from their attacking enemies. In later periods, castles were built as part of romanticist revival movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries.


title: House

text: A palace is a house that is very grand for people like Kings and Queens,or other rich people. Many palaces are homes of royal or aristocratic people. Some old palaces been changed by people who lived there over many hundreds of years.


title: House

text: One of the best-known palaces in the world is Buckingham Palace, a royal palace in London. The largest palace in the world is the Louvre which was built in Paris for the Kings of France. It now holds a famous art gallery.


title: House

text: Houses are usually built from types of material that can easily be made or bought near the place where the house is built. Because of this, old houses in different towns and different villages look quite different to each other, even in the same country. In modern times building materials can be transported easily and this means that a builder has much more choice about the types of material to use for a house.


title: House

text: In many parts of the world, mud or clay are the main building materials. Clay is a type of soil that sticks together more strongly than most other types of soil. There are three main ways of building walls with mud and clay.


title: House

text: It was discovered that if clay was used, rather than mud, very strong bricks could be made by "firing" (or baking) them in a "kiln" (a special oven). "Fired" bricks were like pottery; they did not wash away easily in rain and would sometimes last for thousands of years. The bricks were joined to each other with a type of cement called "mortar". Some houses built by the Ancient Romans are still standing 2000 years later.


title: House

text: Bricks became one of the most common building materials. In most cities, nearly all the houses are built of bricks because they are long lasting, they do not need repairing very often. Brick houses are generally made strong by having all the main walls two bricks thick. Two walls are built side by side which are "bonded" (or joined to each other) by having some bricks set so they make a bridge between the two layers. The pattern of the bonded bricks can be seen from the outside. The two main patterns are called "Flemish Bond" and "British Bond".


title: House

text: Houses made of timber are found wherever there are, or there has once been big forests. Timber houses are also often found in seaside towns where the sea air makes brick and stone houses feel cold and damp.


title: House

text: A well-known type of old-fashioned house is the "half-timbered" house. These are seen in the British Isles, France, and across northern Europe and the Alps. These houses date mainly from about 1200 to about 1800.


title: House

text: In places where there is lots of stone, many houses are built of it. In many parts of the world, little cottages are built of stone. Many mansions and palaces are also built of stone, as are nearly all castles.


title: House

text: Modern houses are often made of "pre-fabricated" parts that are partly built in a factory, and are easy to put together at the site of the building.


title: Greece

text: Greece ( or ), officially the Hellenic Republic ( ), (historically known as Hellas) (Greek: Ελλάς), is a country in Southeastern Europe. Its capital city is Athens.


title: Greece

text: It borders Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea is to the East and South of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea is to the West. Both are part of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and have many islands. 80% of the country is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak.


title: Greece

text: Ancient Greece created democracy, philosophy, science and mathematics, drama and theater and the Olympic Games. This is why other languages use many Greek words.


title: Greece

text: Greece is a parliamentary republic, in which the leader of the party with more seats in the parliament is the Prime Minister. The country has a President, but his powers are ceremonial. He is the head of state, not the head of government, much like how Kings and Queens operate in constitutional monarchies and is elected by Parliament and not the people. Its economy is the highest in the Balkans region, though facing financial difficulties due to a Greek government-debt crisis. The country was under occupation by the Ottoman Empire until 1821.


title: Greece

text: It was the empire of Alexander the Great. Ancient Greece was made up of a number of city-states, each with its own constitution. Athens, Sparta and Corinth are examples of city-states.


title: Greece

text: The official language spoken in Greece is Greek, spoken by 99% of the population and 90% of the population as well as the Republic of Cyprus. It identifies as Christian Orthodox. Many Greeks also understand English, French and German, which are taught in schools. Greece was a founding member of the United Nations, joined NATO in 1952, became a member of the European Union in 1981, and adopted the Euro in 2001. Due to the large tourism industry, powerful shipping sector, and its geostrategic importance, it is sometimes classified as a middle power.


title: Greece

text: Greece's history is one of the richest in the world. The Greeks were one of the most advanced civilizations. Greece is famous for its many philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, and kings like Alexander the Great and Leonidas. Greece is said to be the "birthplace of Democracy", because city-states like Athens, now the capital of Greece, were the first to elect their leaders and not have kings. During the years of Alexander the Great, a huge Greek Macedonian empire was created that stretched from modern-day Greece to Egypt and Iran, until the borders of India. Because of the significant role that Greek culture played during that time, it is called the Hellenistic period (or "Greek-dominated period"). During that time, the Greek language became the 'lingua franca' of the Middle East, which means the language that people who do not speak the same language use to communicate, like English is used today as an international language.


title: Greece

text: Greece was then ruled by the Roman Empire, and many argue that Rome conquered Greece with its army, but Greece conquered Rome with its culture. The Roman Empire after the conquest of Greece became a civilization known as the Greco-Roman (or Greek-Roman) civilization. When the Roman Empire collapsed, the Greeks emerged as the ruling class of the Byzantine Empire, and the Greek language became the official language of the empire, which included all the territories around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was then occupied by the Ottoman Empire for a period of 400 years. Some areas of Greece, like the second-largest city in the country, Thessaloniki, were occupied for 500 years and became part of Greece in the early 20th century.


title: Greece

text: The Greek War of Independence began in 1821 and Greece was an independent country (a republic) in 1828. In 1832 Greece was made a kingdom by the United Kingdom and Russia, under the German Wittelsbach dynasty.


title: Greece

text: In 1912, Greece took part in the Balkan Wars, where it gained many of the territories that make up the country now, such as Greek Macedonia and the islands of the Aegean Sea. Greece fought in both World War I and World War II in the side of allies. During World War I, Greece was divided into two countries, the State of Thessaloniki in the north and the State of Athens in the south. Both countries claimed to be the legitimate government of Greece, but the State of Thessaloniki received support from the Allies. The country was reunited in 1917 when the King abdicated. In 1920 Greece expanded again and briefly reached its maximum size. The territories that the country had gained in Turkey were given back to Turkey in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, but Greece kept Western Thrace. The king returned in 1935, and Greece was under a fascist dictatorship from 1936 until 1941, friendly to the Allies when it was invaded by Nazi Germany.


title: Greece

text: Greece’s Macedonia region is known for its rich history, The ancient kingdom of Macedonia (sometimes called Macedon) was Alexander the Great's empire.


title: Greece

text: In 1940, Greece was invaded by Italy, but defeated the invasion. This was the first victory of an Allied country against an Axis power. After this, Hitler decided to attack Greece sooner than he had planned. Germany invaded on 6 April 1940 and captured Greece's second-largest city of Thessaloniki on 9 April, while Athens was captured on 27 April. Most fighting ended with the Battle of Crete. Greece suffered major damages in the war.


title: Greece

text: Between 1946 and 1949, the Greeks fought a civil war. The fighting was between the communists and the people who supported the king, who also had support from the United Kingdom and the United States. The war left the country devastated and the people very poor.


title: Greece

text: In 1967 the military took control of the country and restricted democracy. Free elections were then held again 7 years later, and the Greeks voted to send the king away and declared a republic in 1974. Greece became a member of the European Union in 1981. Greece had seen rapid growth in the 1990s, but some of the country's economic statistics were modified to appear more correct than they were, as the government had lied with the help of banks from the United States. In 2004, Greece hosted the Olympic Games for a second time. Since 2009, Greece has been in an economic crisis, which is also becoming a political crisis.


title: Greece

text: It is not a federal state like the United States, but a unitary state like the United Kingdom. It is ruled by a parliament, called the "Hellenic Parliament" (or "Greek Parliament" in Simple English), which has 300 members. It is a parliamentary republic, which means that, unlike in the United States, the President has very few powers. The person in charge of the government of Greece is the Prime Minister.


title: Greece

text: Greece was a kingdom for most of its history as an independent nation. It officially became the "Third Hellenic Republic" (or "The Third Republic of Greece" in Simple English) in 1975, when the monarchy was abolished by a popular vote.


title: Greece

text: Greece was under a military dictatorship between 1966 and 1975. Demonstrations by the students of the universities across Greece took place in 1973 but were suppressed by the regime, which forcibly stopped the protests. The dictatorship collapsed after the invasion of Cyprus and handed over power to Constantine Karamanlis.


title: Greece

text: There are many political parties in Greece, but only seven are in the Greek parliament. Until 2015, only two political parties formed governments, the PASOK party (which is social democratic) and New Democracy (ND, which is conservative). The government ousted in the 2015 election was led by PASOK, DIMAR, AND ND. Other parties include the Communist party, the left-wing SYRIZA party, the nationalist party and others. SYRIZA, led by Alexis Tsipras, won the 2015 parliamentary election held on January 25 of that year, and entered into a coalition government with the small right-wing party "Greek Independents".


title: Greece

text: The divisions of Greece are called 'Peripheries'. As of January 2011, there are 13 peripheries in Greece. Peripheries are subdivided into 'peripheral units', and previously they were known as 'prefecture', but prefectures were abolished in 2011. The most populated peripheries in Greece are Attica, where the capital city of Greece, Athens, is, and Central Macedonia, where Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, is. All the peripheries, and their capital cities, are:


title: Greece

text: Greece is a small country compared to other countries such as the United States, Spain , Italy, the United Kingdom and Russia. The population of Greece is estimated to be over 11 million. Most of the people in Greece are Greek people, and they form 94% of the population of the country. There are also many Albanians in Greece, and they make up 4% of the population. Other nationalities make up for another 2% of the country.


title: Greece

text: The Greek government recognizes only the Muslim minority in the country, the Turkish one in the region of Western-Thrace. They include Pomak and Xoraxane Roma. The majority of them live in cities like Xanthi and Komotini. The dispute between Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia has resulted in the refusal of Greece to acknowledge the existence of a Macedonian minority. The 2001 population census showed only 747 citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia in Greece. The Republic of North Macedonia says that there are a maximum of 300,000 ethnic Macedonians in Greece, but Greece says that if there is a minority in the country, it would not be more than 30,000 people, in the northern part of the country, near the border with the Republic of North Macedonia. This is also supported by international organizations.


title: Greece

text: The Greek flag was officially adopted in 1828 as a civil and state ensign (a flag for use only on boats and ships) and as a national flag when flown outside of Greece, for example on embassies. A different flag (white cross on a blue field) was used as a land flag within Greece from 1828 until 1969 and from 1975 to 1978. In 1978 the current flag became national flag and the older land flag was abolished.


title: Greece

text: There are many theories about the origin of the color of the flag. One says that blue represents the color of the sea and the white represents the waves, and others include white for the waves and blue for the sky and white for purity and breaking away from tyranny, and blue for Greece. There are nine stripes on the flag, which according to the legend represent the nine syllables in the phrase “Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος’’ which means “freedom or death.’’ The cross stands for Christianity.


title: Greece

text: Greece is a capitalist country, like the United States and France. Greece has the largest number of trading ships (a 'merchant navy') in the world. Tourism is also a major source of income for Greece. In the 20th century Greece had its own currency but now uses the Euro as most other European Community countries do.


title: Greece

text: Greece has adopted some welfare state policies, such as public healthcare and free education, like many other European countries. Greece, however, has not collected enough taxes to pay for them. The pension system is especially expensive.


title: Greece

text: This is putting Greece in a very difficult situation when the country has accumulated a debt of about €350 billion or debt by 170 percent of the country's total GDP. Greece also has a trade deficit, meaning that it buys more things than it sells. The country is cutting costs and asking for loans in order to avoid bankruptcy.


title: Greece

text: About 30 million tourists visit Greece each year. That is more than the country’s entire population. To serve the many tourists, Greece has many international airports. Tourism also makes up more than 20% of the Greek GDP.


From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs (or need) is a slogan that Karl Marx made popular in his writing "Critique of the Gotha program", published in 1875. The German original is "Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen". According to Marx, once a communist society has been established, it will produce enough goods and services so that everyone's needs can be satisfied.


title: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need

text: Even though the phrase is commonly attributed to Marx, he was not the first to use it. The slogan was common within the socialist movement. Louis Blanc first used it in 1839, in "The organization of work". The origin of this phrasing has also been attributed to the French communist Morelly, who proposed in his 1755 "Code of Nature" "Sacred and Fundamental Laws that would tear out the roots of vice and of all the evils of a society" including the following:


title: Uzbekistan

text: Uzbekistan is a country in Central Asia. Its capital and largest city is Tashkent. There are about 32 million people living in Uzbekistan, now. The neighbouring countries are Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. It is a doubly landlocked country, of which there are only two in the world. Most people in Uzbekistan speak a language called Uzbek, a Turkic language similar to Uyghur and Turkish. In the Uzbek language, Uzbekistan is called "O‘zbekiston" and it means "the land of the true nobles". Uzbekistan has a long history. Humans first lived in Uzbekistan from before the 2nd millennium BC. The current president today is Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Human rights in Uzbekistan are 'atrocious' according to Human Rights Watch


title: Uzbekistan

text: Uzbekistan is divided into twelve provinces, one autonomous republic, and one independent city. The provinces are divided into districts.


title: Karl Marx

text: Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 in Trier, Prussia – 14 March 1883 in London, England) was a German political thinker who wrote about economics and politics. Marx thought that if a place that works together runs on wage-labor, then there would always be class struggle. Marx thought that this class struggle would result in workers taking power. He believed that no economic class"—"wage workers, land owners, etc. should have power over another. Marx believed that everyone should contribute what they can, and everyone should get what they need. His most famous book was the Communist Manifesto. He wrote it with Friedrich Engels in 1848. The book is about the ideas and aims of communism. His ideas are called Marxism.


title: Karl Marx

text: His most important work is "Das Kapital", or The Capital. It is commonly known in English as simply 'Capital.' He spent many years working on the three parts of the book. Das Kapital describes how "capitalism" works and the problems this creates, such as division of labour, alienation and exploitation. The book has led to many arguments between those who agree with the book and those who do not. Marx's ideas have been thought of as responsible for socialist revolutions (like the Russian Revolution).


title: Karl Marx

text: Marx's most popular theory was 'historical materialism', arguing that history is the result of material conditions, rather than ideas. He believed that religion, morality, social structures and other things are all rooted in economics.


title: Karl Marx

text: Marx also wrote the "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844", a critique of political economy in which he discusses topics such as labor wages, labor rent, and capital profit, and his ideas of how to change the economy, including proletarian socialist revolution and an eventual communist society.


title: Karl Marx

text: Karl Marx was born in Trier in 1818, but he had to move many times because the government did not like his ideas. Marx lived for a long time in London. He died there in 1883. After he died, his friend Engels finished many of his works.


title: PlayStation Portable

text: The PlayStation Portable, or PSP, is Sony's first video game console to be a handheld. It was made in Japan and came out there first on December 12, 2004. After that, it came out in North America on March 24, 2005 and came out in Europe on September 1, 2005. It was first announced in 2003 at E3 and then next year its first design was shown off. It can play PSP video games, as well as music, video, and pictures. To transfer music, videos, or pictures to a PSP, you must use a USB cable to send the files from a computer to it. The games and movies come on a disc called the "Universal Media Disc" which holds 1.8 GB (this is a lot more than a normal CD, but less than a DVD). A Memory Stick Pro Duo can also be used for memory storage. The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld game console to use a disc as its media storage instead of a cartridge.


title: PlayStation Portable

text: On January 31, 2014, shipments of the PlayStation Portable ended in North America. They also ended on June 30, 2014 in Japan and ended shipments to Europe by the end of 2014.


title: PlayStation Portable

text: There are over 700 games for the PSP. The movies look like the DVD. The reason the PSP can have movies is because the disc (Universal Media Disc) has a lot of memory space. In many countries, "Spider-Man 2" (the movie) was included for free with the console.


title: PlayStation Portable

text: The PSP has built in Wi-Fi. This allows players who are traveling to download items, surf the web and play online. The PlayStation Portable can also connect with the PlayStation 3 as a sort of remote control for movie playback and for downloading content.


title: PlayStation Portable

text: There are five versions of the PlayStation Portable, the PSP-1000 (also known as "PSP fat"), PSP-2000 ("slim and light" edition, a lighter version of the original PSP), PSP-3000 ("bright and light" edition, that includes a built in microphone and improved LCD), PSP-N1000 (or PSP Go, with a sliding screen design, bluetooth and internal storage of 16GB replacing the UMD drive.) and PSP-E1000 (similar to PSP-3000, but without stereo sound, Wi-Fi and microphone).


title: PlayStation Portable

text: Sony subsequently released the successor to the PSP, the PlayStation Vita, in Japan on December 17, 2011 and starting worldwide on February 22, 2012.


title: PlayStation Portable

text: The PlayStation Portable is similar to the Nintendo DS, because they are both for games you can take with you. However, Nintendo and Sony said they were made for different people. The DS has sold more units than the PSP.


title: Twitter

text: Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service. Users use any device with an internet connection and a web browser to send and to read messages, called "tweets". For years, tweets could be up to 140 characters long, then doubled to 280 characters in November 2017. They appear on the user's profile webpage. Tweets can usually be read by anyone, but senders can also keep messages private. Private tweets only go to their list of friends. Users may subscribe to tweets from other people. This is called "following", and subscribers are known as "followers". As of late 2009, users can also follow lists of authors.


title: Twitter

text: All users can send and receive tweets using the Twitter website. They can also use other applications that work with Twitter on smartphones. Twitter by Short Message Service (SMS) is available in certain countries. Using Twitter is free, but sending or getting tweets by SMS may cost money. The website is based in San Francisco, California. Twitter also has servers and offices in San Antonio, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts, and soon in Salt Lake City, Utah.


title: Twitter

text: Twitter has become very popular worldwide since Jack Dorsey created it in 2006. It now has more than 126 million users. It is sometimes described as the "SMS of the Internet".


title: Twitter

text: On April 25, 2022, the Twitter board of directors agreed to Elon Musk's USD $44 billion offer to buy the company. On October 27, 2022, Elon Musk took control of the company and fired CEO Parag Agarwal along with other top executives.


title: Twitter

text: Twitter started at a podcasting company Odeo. The company board members had a "daylong brainstorming session". During the meeting, Jack Dorsey introduced the idea of one person using an SMS service to communicate with a small group. At first, they called this project "twttr". It fit the five-character length of American SMS short codes and sounded like "Flickr". At first, the developers planned to use "10958" as a short code. Later they changed it to "40404" because it was easier to remember and type. Dorsey sent the first Twitter message at 9:50 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) March 21, 2006. The first tweet was, "just setting up my twttr."


title: Twitter

text: The first version of Twitter was only for Odeo employees to use. They opened the full version for anyone to use on July 15, 2006. In October 2006, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Dorsey, and other members of Odeo started a new company called Obvious Corporation. Obvious Corporation bought Odeo and all of its property–including Odeo.com and Twitter.com–from the investors and shareholders. Twitter became its own separate company in April 2007.


title: Twitter

text: Twitter started becoming very popular after the 2007 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000. The Twitter company set up two very large computer screens in the hallways at the conference. These screens only showed Twitter messages. Hundreds of people at the conference checked on what each other were doing by looking at the many tweets. Panelists and speakers talked about Twitter. Bloggers at SXSW described it to others in a very positive way.


title: Twitter

text: Reaction at the festival was very good. Blogger Scott Beale said that Twitter "absolutely rul[ed]" SXSW. Social software researcher Danah Boyd said Twitter "own[ed]" the festival. Twitter staff won the festival's Web Award prize. They said, "we'd like to thank you in 140 characters or less. And we just did!"


title: Twitter

text: On October 4, 2010, Evan Williams announced that he would not be CEO any more. Dick Costolo became the new CEO. He had been COO of Twitter. Williams will stay with the company and work on plans for the future of Twitter.


title: Twitter

text: Technology author Steven Johnson described the basic way Twitter works. He called it "remarkably simple." Following is an important part of Twitter as a social network. Users' Twitter home pages show all of the tweets from people they follow. The tweets appear from newest to oldest. Johnson said:


title: Twitter

text: Twitter is mainly used by older adults who might not have used other social sites before Twitter. Jeremiah Owyang studies social media. He said, "Adults are just catching up to what teens have been doing for years." Only 11% of Twitter's users were 12 to 17 years old in September 2009. This may be because Twitter first gained popularity in businesses and news media that attract more older people. Many famous people such as Shaq, Britney Spears, and Ashton Kutcher are Twitter users.


title: Twitter

text: In June 2009, more women than men used Twitter—53% women; 47% men. Only 5% of users made 75% of all tweets. Also, New York City had the most Twitter users.


title: Twitter

text: People can use software from other companies to access Twitter. These programs are called "third-party applications". The Twitter company changed the way this works on 31 August 2010. Now applications must use OAuth to connect to Twitter. This method means that users do not have to give their passwords to the third-party applications. Changing the login system to OAuth did cause some problems. Using OAuth had been optional and programs used to be able to ask for usernames and passwords. However, now third-party applications that try to use a username and password do not work at all. The Twitter company said that using OAuth will give users "increased security and a better experience."


title: Twitter

text: On April 30, 2009, Twitter changed the way it looks on the web. They added a search bar and a space on the right side of the page with "Trending Topics". That space shows the most common phrases appearing in messages. Biz Stone explained that all messages are instantly indexed and explained the results of the change. The Trending Topics has made Twitter something "unexpectedly important — a discovery engine for finding out what is happening right now."


title: Twitter

text: Sometimes Twitter users experience a problem with the service and cannot access the website. They cannot read or write tweets but only see the "Fail Whale" image created by Yiying Lu,


title: Twitter

text: Twitter worked well approximately 98% of the time in 2007. That is about six full days of no service. The problems were particularly noticeable during events popular with the technology industry such as the 2008 Macworld Conference & Expo keynote address.


title: Twitter

text: Twitter developed several software projects to improve their own service. The company shared these as open source software. Some of these software projects are related to databases, such as the Gizzard Scala framework and a distributed graph database called FlockDB.


title: Twitter

text: t.co is a service created by Twitter to make URLs shorter. It can only be used for links that people post to Twitter. It is not available for other uses. Eventually all links on Twitter will use t.co. The company hopes that the service will protect users from harmful websites. They will also use it to keep a record of people clicking on links in tweets.


title: Twitter

text: Twitter had used the services from other sites such as TinyURL and bit.ly. They began trying their own way of making URLs shorter for direct messages in March 2010. They used the domain, twt.tl, before they bought the t.co domain.


title: Twitter

text: The company is using these accounts to test the service on the main site: @TwitterAPI, @rsarver, and @raffi.


title: Twitter

text: On September 2, 2010, Twitter sent an email message to users to explain that they were starting to open the service to them.


title: Parliamentary system

text: A parliamentary system of government means that the executive branch of government has the direct or indirect support of the parliament. This support is usually shown by a vote of confidence. A balanced relationship between the executive and the legislature in a parliamentary system is called responsible government.


title: Parliamentary system

text: The separation of powers between the executive and law making branches is not as obvious as it is in a presidential system. There are different ways of balancing power between the three branches which govern the country (the executive (or ministers), the law makers and the judges).


title: Parliamentary system

text: Parliamentary systems usually have a "head of government" and a "head of state". They change after their terms are over. The head of government is the prime minister, who has the real power. The head of state may be an elected president or, in the case of a constitutional monarchy, hereditary.


title: Parliamentary system

text: Examples of a few countries which practice parliamentary systems are India, Italy, Japan, and Latvia to name a few. Parliament is different in every country.


title: Labour Party (UK)

text: The Labour Party is the main centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. It is a social democratic party. It has been one of the UK's two main political parties from the early 20th century to the present day. It is the second largest party in the British House of Commons, with 202 out of 650 seats. It forms the Official Opposition. The current Labour Party leader is Sir Keir Starmer, who took over in April 2020 from Jeremy Corbyn.


title: Labour Party (UK)

text: The Labour Party was in power in the United Kingdom government from 1997 to 2010. Now it sits in opposition. It was in power in the Scottish Parliament (in coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats) until 2007. It is the largest group in the London Assembly, although until May 2016 the Mayor of London was a Conservative party member. It is also the second largest party in local government.


title: Labour Party (UK)

text: The party was officially formed in 1906, just after the general election, as a successor of the Labour Representative Committee formed in 1900. In 1918, the party made a new constitution with the commitment to socialism, or the socialization of the industry. This could be found in Clause 4.


title: Labour Party (UK)

text: The Labour Party won the general election in 1945 for the first time. From 1951 Labour was in opposition for thirteen years, during which there were serious fights between the left and right wings of the party. The leader of the left wing was Aneurin Bevan. His supporters were called the ""Bevanites"". They wanted a less confrontational policy in foreign affairs and more socialist actions. The leaders of the right wing were Clement Attlee and Hugh Gaitskell. They believed that Western capitalism had changed a lot and that socialism and public ownership was not so important. Gaitskell tried to remove Clause 4 from the party constitution at the 1959 conference, but he could not.


title: Labour Party (UK)

text: In 1994, Tony Blair forced the Labour Party to drop Clause 4. This was an important step to change the party into "New Labour".


title: Labour Party (UK)

text: In 2015, dark horse candidate Jeremy Corbyn announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Labour Party. At the beginning, he was thought of as a socialist fringe candidate, but he later became the lead candidate in polls and got the support of the majority of trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party, along with those of three non-affiliated unions. On 12 September 2015, he was elected Leader of the Labour Party, with a majority vote of 59.5% in the first round of the ballot.


title: Bill Gates

text: William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and the co-founder and chairman of Microsoft. He is the third-richest person in the world behind Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in net worth as of January 2021.


title: Bill Gates

text: William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955 at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, U.S. He has British and German ancestry. His father William H. Gates, Sr. was a lawyer. His mother Mary Maxwell Gates served on the board of directors for First Interstate Banksystem and the United Way. His parents wanted him to be a lawyer. At the age of 13, Bill went to Lakeside High School.


title: Bill Gates

text: He was a freshman at Harvard University in 1973. He left Harvard to make software. Bill Gates saw an opportunity to transform the personal computer, which was expensive and difficult to use. He decided that computers could be made less expensive and easier to use. Gates started Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gates then went on to develop the Windows operating system, which at first wasn't well-received but with time became the most used system in the world.


title: Bill Gates

text: In 2006, Gates announced he was going to quit his job at Microsoft. This was so he could do more charity work with his wife, Melinda. Their charity is called the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates' philanthropy projects have included vaccination of children in sub-Saharan Africa, scholarship programs in the United States, and a mission to help organize other billionaires to redistribute their wealth. He likes to give money and support to human rights, education, and technological innovation.


title: Bill Gates

text: Gates stepped down from his CEO position in Microsoft in 1998 and Steve Ballmer did the job instead. On June 16, 2007, Microsoft said that Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, will come in on a day-to-day schedule to continue working with his charity organization full-time for the years to come. On 2014, Satya Nadella became the new CEO of Microsoft and Bill Gates came back as the Chief Technology Adviser.


title: Bill Gates

text: He was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 for his services to philanthropy and charity. As an American citizen, he cannot be called "Sir Bill Gates", but can use the letters "KBE" after his name.


title: Bill Gates

text: Melinda French divorced with Bill Gates since May 3, 2021. Even though they divorced, they stated that they will keep working on charity events.


title: Bill Gates

text: In 1986, Gates took Microsoft public. The company's stock was worth $520 million. Gates owned 45 percent of the stock himself, which was worth $234 million. The company continued its rapid growth and the stock price soared. At one point, Gates' stock was worth over $100 billion. This made him the richest man in the world, until October 2017, when Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos became even richer than him.


title: Bill Gates

text: He was the richest man in the world. In October 2017, his net worth was surpassed by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos had an estimated net worth of US$90.6 billion compared to Gates's net worth of US$89.9 billion at the time. As of January 2021, Gates had an estimated net worth of US$163 billion, making him the third-richest person in the world. And now, he is the third-richest person in the world behind Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in net worth as of January 2021.


title: TLC (group)

text: TLC is an American girl group. Its original lineup had three members. TLC was one of the first R&B and hip hop stars of the 1990s. They formed the group in Atlanta, Georgia in 1991. TLC (an acronym for "T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli") consisted of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (1971-2002) and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Lisa Pebbles, was the group's manager.


title: TLC (group)

text: TLC's first album "Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip" (1992) sold 4,000,000 copies in the United States. It released four singles "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "What About Your Friends", "Hat 2 Da Back", and "Baby, Baby, Baby". In 1994, Lopes had set her boyfriend Andre Rison's house on fire. After she was released from rehab, she was put on probation. That same year, "CrazySexyCool" was released. It became their breakthrough release. It sold 11,000,000 copies in the United States and was certified 8 times Platinum in Canada, Platinum in United Kingdom and 1 time Diamond in the United States.


title: TLC (group)

text: "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked the album #377 of the "500 greatest albums of all time" list. The singles "Red Light Special", "Waterfalls", "Creep" and "Diggin' on You" all entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart.


title: TLC (group)

text: TLC filed for bankruptcy in 1995, despite their success of "CrazySexyCool". The group had owe too much money to their manager Pebbles. The albums sales were not enough to pay her back. TLC filed for a lawyer and was able to terminate the record deal signed with Pebbles. Because of the label and producer trouble, and health problems (Watkins' struggled with sickle cell anemia), postponed any developments for their next album.


title: TLC (group)

text: "Fanmail" was released in 1999. The album became a hit record. The singles "No Scrubs", "Unpretty", and "Silly Ho" helped the album to reach number 1 on the "Billboard" 200 pop chart. The album's fourth single "Dear Lie" was not successful. The album was given positive feedback from music critics. The band began arguing with each other because of Lopes, who continued to be on tabloid magazines. Watkins married rapper Mack 10. However, her health problems were helping her to not be near recording studios.


title: TLC (group)

text: Lopes had begun a solo career. In 2002, Lopes was killed during a car accident in Honduras. The remainder of the group announced that they continue recording their fourth album. Lopes had recorded a few verses before she was killed.


title: TLC (group)

text: The album, "3D" was released later that year. The single "Girl Talk" was a tribute to Lopes. The other single "Hands Up" was not successful. The album's third single "Damaged" was more successful and was on the Hot 100 until 2003.


title: TLC (group)

text: In 2004, the reality television show "R U The Girl?" aired on Fox. The show was about searching for great African American singers. The show had over 4,000,000 average viewers. O'so Krispie from Atlanta was chosen as the winner. TLC later said that they never wanted to replace Lopes. They continued as a duo.


title: President of India

text: The President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the first citizen of the Republic and the commander in chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The current president, Droupadi Murmu, who was sworn in on 25 July 2022. She succeeded Ram Nath Kovind. The President resides in an estate known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.


title: President of India

text: The Vice-President of India will have to discharge the duties, if the Office falls vacant due to any reason other than expiry of the term. when vacancies occur in the offices of the President and of the Vice-President simultaneously, the Chief Justice discharges the functions of the President until a newly elected President.


title: Separation of powers

text: Separation of Powers helps to protect freedom. The executive branch carries out the laws but cannot make laws to make themselves powerful. Also the judiciary is responsible for making sure that criminals are punished, so that members of the government or legislature cannot ignore the law as the judiciary can check on them.


title: Separation of powers

text: Separation of powers is also called a system of "checks and balances" because the branches can check up on each other and if any of the branches get too strong, that branch will be balanced by the others.


title: Separation of powers

text: In the United States the three branches of government are completely separate except for the Vice President who is President of the Senate. In the United Kingdom the three branches of Government are mixed but the checks and balances are provided by history and "custom" (the rule that says something should happen because that is how it has been done for a long time). The Queen is Head of State (the executive), but is also part of Parliament (the legislative branch) and is the Fountain of Justice (the head of the judicial branch). But by convention she does not do anything without the advice of Ministers and never refuses to pass an Act of Parliament. The Queen has a lot of power but the power is controlled and balanced by the need to act in certain ways or only use the power at certain times.


title: Separation of powers

text: In some countries the leaders of the executive branch are members of the legislature. This system is called responsible government.


title: Separation of powers

text: The first to talk about separation of powers in the modern age was Charles-Louis Montesquieu. Montesquieu published his book "De l'esprit des lois" ("The Spirit of Laws") in 1748.


title: Big Bang

text: The Big Bang is a scientific theory about how the universe started, and then made the stars and galaxies we see today. The Big Bang is the name that scientists use for the most common theory of the universe, from the very early stages to the present day.


title: Big Bang

text: The most commonly considered alternatives are called the Steady State theory and Plasma cosmology, according to both of which the universe has no beginning or end.


title: Big Bang

text: According to the theory the universe began as a very hot, small, and dense superforce (the mix of the four fundamental forces), with no stars, atoms, form, or structure (called a "singularity"). Then about 13.8 billion years ago, space expanded very quickly (thus the name "Big Bang"). This started the formation of atoms, which eventually led to the formation of stars and galaxies. It was Georges who first noted (in 1927) that an expanding universe could be traced back in time to an originating single point. The universe is still expanding today, and getting colder as well.


title: Big Bang

text: As a whole, the universe is growing and the temperature is falling as time passes. Cosmology is the study of how the universe began and its development. Some scientists who study cosmology have agreed that the Big Bang theory matches what they have observed so far.


title: Big Bang

text: Astronomer Fred Hoyle mockingly called the theory the "Big Bang" on his radio show. Scientists who did not agree with him decided to use it.


title: Big Bang

text: Scientists base the Big Bang theory on many different observations. The most important is the redshift of very far away galaxies. Cosmological redshift is the Doppler effect occurring in light. When an object moves away from Earth, its color rays look more similar to the color red than they actually are, because the movement stretches the wavelength of light given off by the object. Scientists use the word "red hot" to describe this stretched light wave because red is the longest wavelength on the visible spectrum. The more redshift there is, the faster the object is moving away. By measuring the redshift, scientists proved that the universe is expanding, and they can work out how fast the object is moving away from the Earth. With very exact observation and measurements, scientists believe that the universe was a singularity approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Because most things become colder as they expand, scientists assume that the universe was very small and very hot when it started. This does not take into account other possible (non-cosmological) causes of redshift.


title: Big Bang

text: Other observations that support the Big Bang theory are the amounts of chemical elements in the universe. Amounts of very light elements, such as hydrogen, helium, and lithium seem to agree with the theory of the Big Bang. The same is true, however, for Static State theory and plasma cosmology. Scientists also detected what they call the cosmic microwave background radiation. These electromagnetic waves are everywhere in the universe. This radiation is now very weak and cold, but is thought to have been very strong and very hot a long time ago.


title: Big Bang

text: It can be said that time had no meaning before the Big Bang. If the Big Bang was the beginning of time, then there was no universe before the Big Bang, since there could not be any "before" if there was no time! Other ideas state that the Big Bang was not the beginning of time 13.8 billion years ago. Instead, some believe that there was a completely different universe before the Big Bang, and it may have been very different from the one we know today.


title: Big Bang

text: Nonetheless, in November 2019, Jim Peebles, awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology. Noted, in his award presentation, that he does not support the Big Bang Theory, due to the lack of concrete supporting evidence, and stated, "It's very unfortunate that one thinks of the beginning whereas in fact, we have no good theory of such a thing as the beginning."


title: Dormant volcano

text: Dormant volcanos are the volcanos that are quiet but might erupt again in the future. If a volcano that has been silent for years erupts again or shows activity, it is called a "dormant volcano". Vesuvius of Italy is a prime example. After many years of dormancy, it re-emerged in 1931. Then it is dormant again. For example, Krakatoa in Indonesia, Aconcagua in Chile, and Mount Fuji in Japan are dormant volcanoes.


title: Dormant volcano

text: For example, some scientists have described Mount Fuji as dormant or inactive. That volcano has been dormant since its last eruption in 1707, but is also classified as active. The Geological Survey of Japan lists Mount Fuji as among the active volcanoes on the island of Honshu.


title: Sicily

text: Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean. Along with some smaller islands it is an autonomous region of Italy. The capital city of Sicily is Palermo. The population was about 5,087,000 (over 5 million) in 2004. Sicily is the biggest region in the nation of Italy.


title: Sicily

text: Phoenician and Greek people colonized the island in the 8th Century BC and sometimes fought wars there. Carthage controlled most of the island until Ancient Rome conquered it. In later centuries, Saracens (who significantly impacted the Island genetically and culturally) fought against the Byzantine Greeks, and Normans ruled it for a few centuries. After the revolts of Sicilian Vespers, the crown of Aragon and Spain took over the Island. Later, Garibaldi in the Risorgimento conquered it and brought it into the Kingdom of Italy.


title: Natural environment

text: Natural environment means all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning not because of humans. The universe is natural, but often the term "natural environment" only means nature on Earth.


title: Natural environment

text: There is also the built environment. There, man has changed landscapes and natural environment to make cities and agricultural land.


title: Beauty of Loulan

text: The Beauty of Loulan (楼兰美女) or Loulan Beauty (Other aliases: "Loulan middle-aged woman(楼兰長女)") is the preserved dead body of a woman who lived about 4000 years ago, during the Bronze Age. She was found on April 1, 1980 near the Silk Road in the Xinjiang region of China, by Chinese archaeologists Mu Sun-ing (穆舜英) and members of the Archaeological Institute of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. She is one of the , named after where they were found, the .