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By NORMAN SISON
Sunset photo by BEN LEAÑO
Manila doesn’t rank alongside London, Paris and other great capitals of the world. However, what it lacked in man-made wonders, Manila Bay’s natural beauty made up for.
American architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham saw Manila’s potential during a visit in 1905. Commissioned by American governor William Cameron Forbes to draw a city plan for Manila, Burnham envisioned a lovely coastal boulevard stretching 10 kilometers from Intramuros, the original walled city of Manila, to Pasay City to the south.
Cavite Boulevard was to continue all the way to Cavite province. Burnham’s idea was a spacious tree-lined roadway that included a tramline and sidewalks for promenaders.
During the American colonial period, Manila was home away from home for its 5,000 American residents. Tourism promoters then pictured Manila as the “Pearl of the Orient”.
“Americans rose early, spent the morning at their offices, took a siesta after lunch, returned briefly to their desks and quit at four or five in the afternoon,” described journalist Stanley Karnow, in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines, of how life was back then. “They might then listen to the daily band concert at the Luneta (Rizal Park today), go horseback riding along the beach, or play golf, tennis or polo before drinks at their clubs as the sun set in a splash of effulgent colors.”
Over a century later, land reclamations, lack of urban planning and other problems that accompanied urbanization reduced Burnham’s concept to a mere two kilometers, between the US embassy and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
But Manila Bay’s charm continues to draw promenaders, joggers, bikers, skaters, lovers and families. And each day closes in a spectacular blaze of colors as the sun sets over the horizon — to the delight of photographers and anyone with a cell phone camera.
Manila residents will say that you’ve never been to Manila if you’ve never seen a Manila Bay sunset. A travel article on Time Magazine included “sunset watching” in its list of 10 things to do when in Manila.
It is that postcard picture of Manila that a motley group of protesters, calling themselves the SOS Manila Bay Coalition, is now fighting to prevent it from becoming history. Their battle cry is “Save our sunset”, and their main opponents, ironically, are the Manila city council and the city government.
It all began in 1991, when the Public Estates Authority (now the Philippine Reclamation Authority) issued a clearance to Elco Development & Construction Corporation, the parent company of Manila Goldcoast Development Corporation, to build on the remaining two-kilometer stretch.
In the following year, protesters won a city council ordinance declaring the remaining two-kilometer stretch off-limits. Also, in 1992, Congress passed a law declaring Manila Bay a national park.
But Goldcoast persisted. In 2011 the city council issued an ordinance giving the project the go signal and the city government entered into an agreement with Goldcoast to help develop the project.
An Internet search reveals nothing on what Goldcoast plans to build. Goldcoast doesn’t have a website, while Elco is listed only in online directories.
In 1954, President Ramon Magsaysay issued a proclamation reserving Manila Bay for a national park. Last year the National Historical Commission declared the Manila Bay waterfront a national historical landmark, protected by law.How a mere city council ordinance could trump a national law has left the protesters wondering. The protest group is circulating a petition on Facebook to torpedo the project.
Being a natural harbor, with an area of 2,000 square kilometers and an average depth of 55 feet, Manila Bay has been the Philippines’ open door to the world.
In 1570, two Spanish frigates commanded by conquistador Martin de Goiti entered the bay, leading to the founding of Manila as the seat of Spanish colonial rule for 300 years.
“As have tourists over the centuries since, they stared with stupefaction at the spectacular sunset,” according to Karnow.
In 1646, Spanish and Dutch warships squared off in the bay during the Eighty Years’ War, ending Dutch attempts to seize the Philippines. The Spaniards attributed the victory to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, and it is commemorated annually to this day in a Catholic festivity known as La Naval de Manila.
In 1898, a US Navy task force commanded by Commodore George Dewey annihilated a Spanish flotilla at the outset of the Spanish-American War, heralding America’s presence in the Philippines.
Cavite Boulevard was later renamed Dewey Boulevard to honor the hero of the Battle of Manila Bay. In the 1960s, the road was renamed Roxas Boulevard, in honor of Manuel Roxas, the Philippines’ fifth president.
The Manila Bay protest group argues that the issue is not just about the view, it is also about preserving history and a national heritage.
“I have childhood memories of going to Manila Bay with my family,” Ayie Zerrudo commented on the online protest petition. “It’s something every Filipino should be able to experience and appreciate.”
Tagged Manila Bay sunset |
St Patrick's Country
Original Official Site of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board
When St Patrick came to Ireland in 432 he meant to sail up the coast to county Antrim where, as a young slave, he had tended flocks for six years on Slemish mountain. But strong currents swept his boat through Strangford's tidal narrows and he landed where the Slaney river flows into the lough.
Nothing daunted by this change of plan, Patrick set about his missionary business, starting with Dichu, the local chieftain. Dichu was quickly converted and gave him a barn (sabhal pronounced 'saul' in Gaelic) for holding services. Over the next 30 years Patrick converted the Irish to Christianity. He died at Saul in 461 and was buried in Downpatrick.
According to the 8th-century hymn of St Fiacc, Patrick received his last communion from St Tassach. You can see the ruins of St Tassach's church, one of Ireland's earliest Christian buildings, at Raholp near Saul. At Saul itself a replica of an early church with a round tower marks the place where Patrick preached his first sermon to the Irish.
From the sixth to the ninth centuries, missionaries from Ireland - including St Columbanus and St Gall from Bangor and monks from Movilla at Newtownards, another important monastery on the Ards carried the light of Christianity into a Europe languishing in the Dark Ages.
The late 12th century saw the building of the Cistercian monasteries on Strangford's shores. Both Grey Abbey and Inch Abbey, near Downpatrick, had filial connections with England and, for nearly. 400 years the Cistercians of Strangford sailed the Irish Sea, taking much needed Ulster corn, wheat, flour, fish and salt to the beleaguered English abbeys of Holm Cultram in Cumberland and Furness in Lancashire.
Sailing home to Strangford in 60-oar galleys heavily laden with Cumberland stone and iron ore and steering by the sun and stars, the sailor monks of the early Middle Ages risked death on every journey.
West of Strangford is the wide-streeted town of Ballynahinch where 7,000
United Irishmen lost the decisive battle of the 1798 rebellion. South
of Ballynahinch on the slopes of Cratlieve mountain stands the Legananny
Dolmen, one of Ireland's finest neolithic tombs - country people called
them 'giants' graves'.
Northern Ireland Homepage | Travel Tips | Golf | Industrial Heritage | Walking, Hiking & Horseback | Activities | Calendar of Events | Transportation | Cuisine and Restaurants | Birdwatching | Fishing | Ancestral Heritage | County Antrim | County Armagh | City of Belfast | County Down | County Fermanagh | County Londonderry | County Tyrone | Tour Operators | InterKnowledge Home Page
Copyright (c) 1995-1997 interKnowledge Corp. All rights reserved. |
On Saturday in Busch Garden's Globe Theater, NASA Langley’s Center Director Lesa Roe took to the stage and wished a happy 100th birthday to the Girl Scouts of America. As she looked out into a sea of local Girl Scouts who attended Girl Scout Engineering Day, she gave them another reason to celebrate – opportunity.
"Almost every woman astronaut that has been flying today has been a Girl Scout, so that's pretty incredible," Roe said. "And actually the first woman, the first American woman, that walked in space is actually Kathy Sullivan, and Kathy walked in space and was a Girl Scout as well. So, lots of history and a lot of Girl Scout opportunities right there in NASA."
Jaws dropped as images of spacewalks took over the big screen. Roe continued to explain real possibilities through engineering.
Click to enlarge
NASA Langley's Center Director Lesa Roe with Girl Scouts before giving her keynote speech at the Globe Theater at Busch Gardens for Girl Scout Engineering Day. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith
Click to enlarge
Amanda Cutright, an engineer from NASA Langley, shows Hanna Davis from Girl Scout troop 1142 the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator at one of the many booths aimed to inspire future engineers. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith
Credit: NASA/Sean Smith
"What is an engineer?" she asked. Then, she shared a quote, which served as the answer: "Scientists discover the world that exists, engineers create the world that never was."
The message became more clear as Roe explained that engineers are associated with everything from hair dryers, to computers, to the rides and roller coasters that surrounded them in the park. She described engineering as a "stealth, secret profession that underpins all kinds of things that go in our world."
As a former Brownie Scout, Roe revealed that she learned a sense of teamwork from her organization at a young age. That was an important lesson that was still being implemented in her work at NASA by working with others to solve challenges.
She talked about science, aeronautics and space exploration, and discussed Langley's current projects and missions. Eyes widened as the screen showed animations of the Mars Science Laboratory landing on Mars, and test capsules making a splash into Langley’s hydro basin, which surely brought nearby rollercoasters and water rides to mind.
"Engineers create things that never were," Roe reemphasized. "The key ingredient is Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)."
The Girl Scouts headed to the Festhaus, where dozens of Langley volunteers were set up to teach them more about the projects and missions Roe introduced. Roe urged them to continue celebrating NASA's 95th anniversary open house in September at Langley Research Center – one of the many places they could work to change the world through engineering.
The Researcher News
NASA Langley Research Center
Editor & Curator: Denise Lineberry
Executive Editor & Responsible NASA Official: Rob Wyman |
Full, in-depth video training guide on how to set up and facilitate a Peer Mediation program in your school or educational setting.
Hosted by Colin Newton and Derek Wilson, co-founders of Inclusive Solutions, this step by step guide gives you the tools to implement this powerful approach to peer support and problem solving in an engaging and comprehensive way. It includes the theoretical background to the approach, as well as practical advice around how to teach it to young people, including footage of live Peer Mediation training sessions in a primary school. Peer mediation or peer counselling is an approach to impacting on bullying in primary and secondary schools by training pupils to be ‘Peer Mediators’ or ‘counsellors’.
This well proven, highly effective method of impacting on school based bullying is still viewed by some as radical. Children and young people will benefit by learning about:
- Issues of Confidentiality
- Welcoming your ‘client’
- Using active listening skills
- Using Open and Closed Questions to enable your client to tell you his or her story
- How to reflect back feelings and how to check you have understood what the client has told you
- Exploring options for resolving the bullying issue with your client
‘This is the best quality video on this subject that exists right now’: Educational Psychologist, 2020 |
Woodworkers typically have their work cut out, as it is amongst the toughest of jobs to carry out. There are so many things that go into making the perfect creation, and one mistake can lead to a sordid conclusion and the dreaded aspect of starting from scratch.
However, times are changing, and what used to be one of the most tedious things ever is now becoming a fun pastime and something to look forward to. One of the tools that have been so helpful over the years is the drill press, a tool that ticks so many boxes and keeps finding more cool uses. One of these additional uses would be discussed in depth here.
Here, we will be describing what a lathe is and what it is used for in woodworking, we would also be showing you just how versatile a lathe is, and we will be showing you the different components of a lathe.
At the end of this piece, you’ll be well equipped with the basics and the more advanced means of operating a drill press as a lathe and beyond. So without further ado, let’s get to showing you a thing or two about the versatility of one of a woodworker’s favorite tools.
About a Lathe
A lot of us have heard about lathes, their versatility, and it’s not out of the ordinary to hear woodworkers go on and on about how they make their jobs easier. But do we know what these tools are about, do we know the components, and do we know just how versatile they can turn out to be? Well, now you’re about to find out. A lathe is a “machining tool that is used primarily for shaping metal or wood. It works by rotating the work piece around a stationary cutting tool. The main use is to remove unwanted parts of the material, leaving behind a nicely shaped work piece”.
As you can see from the above definition, lathes are pretty similar to drill presses, which makes it a no-brainer for them to perform similar functions, and that’s one of the reasons we are having this discussion.
Lathes come in different shapes and sizes they come with different and yet unique features, and most importantly there are different types of lathes that you can find in the market. Lathes aren’t so understated anymore, as now people have found out just how special they are, and they’re going on to purchase them in bulks and convert their drill presses to lathes if the need arises.
Lathes have been used to make a plethora of creations, such creations including but not limited to bowls, musical instruments, woodworking projects, and so much more. However, just ensure that no matter the system is operated, you ensure that your lathe is using the basic holding and rotating mechanism, that way you’ll be certain of a worthwhile result.
Parts of a Lathe
Lathes are pretty complex tools, it’s super important that we show you some of the parts, giving you a clear picture about how they work, and their multifaceted uses.
This is the path that holds the rest of the components together, it is super important, and a lathe wouldn’t be properly functioning without an effective one. All parts of the lathe are attached to the bed, this is important as it forms the base of the lathe and keeps everything in one proper piece. It also tells you the maximum diameter limit of the lathe, and how far it can stretch or otherwise.
The Tool Rest
This is an adjustable part of a lathe that is properly equipped for keeping tools when not in use. It is one of the most important parts of the lathe, as without it work might be tedious, overbearing, and frankly inaccurate. It’s worthy of note that you can adjust the tool rest for height and rotation, but for safety reasons, you should only do this when the machine is off. Tool rests should be tampered with, as that could be pretty detrimental to the person operating them.
This is a part of a lathe that is specially used to hold the wood in place and rotate it freely on a stable axis. You could either use it as a live center or a dead center, a live center turns with the work, while the dead center does not rotate as the work rotates on it. They both work similarly and the choice remains the handymen.
How to Use a Drill Press as a Lathe?
At the beginning of this discourse, we spoke about how versatile a typical drill press is, and this versatility plays a major role in it being used efficiently as a lathe. It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to use your drill press as a live center or dead center, it would fit the bill as long as you make some minor alterations. But first of all, we’ll tell you a bit about a couple of things that a drill press can do when used as a lathe.
What typically is the main function of a lathe, can easily be performed by a slightly altered drill press. This involves feeding the work piece against the rotation of the chuck, and you’ll be able to produce flat surfaces at the end of a work piece with requisite ease, in such a way that even the keenest of eyes won’t know that you did it with a drill press instead of a specialized lathe.
This is one of the top functions of a lathe, and luckily it can be done with equal precision and efficiency as a drill press. Boring entails “removing a part inside a work piece to create holes with various sizes depending on your pin”. All you need to alter in a drill press is to ensure you add a single-point cutting tool and then you’re good to go!
One of the major steps in achieving a stylistic and effective finishing. Chamfering is “the process of beveling the extreme ends of the work piece to remove the burrs or protect the wood from any damage”. It can also be done using a drill press instead of a specialized lathe, and the great part is that you don’t be sacrificing any of the final product in the process.
Other things that can be done by a drill press working as a lathe include, turning, counter boring, knurling, among others.
Using a Drill Press with a Live Center and/ or a Dead Center
Now that we understand that a drill press can serve as a lathe, it’s now time to understand how it can be used as either a live center or a dead center. It’s not as serious as it sounds, but it’s something completely realizable if you pay rapt attention.
Using a Drill Press with a Live Center
First off you need to convert it to something resembling a lathe machine, this can be done by using a router bearing that has the same diameter at the bottom of your work piece.
Once you get that out of the way, then you’ll set up the drill press to a lathe, which can be realized by getting a 2×4 scrap of wood, clamping it to your drill press table, and finally drilling a hole that would snugly fit your bearing. Once you get that out of the way, you’ll insert the work piece, start lathing, sanding, and once you’re done you’ll check your workspace to make the last few adjustments.
Using a Drill Press with a Dead Center
As regards using a drill press as a lathe with a dead center, it’s a little different from using it with a live center, but it’s also realizable. First off, you’ll have to fit some essential hardware like unique bolts that’ll hold the press in place. Then you’ll install the bolts by “attaching the pointed bolt with some offender washers at the center of your drill Press table”, this will rightfully serve as the dead center.
The next stop is pre-drilling a hole, which thereafter should be properly aligned to the live center for proper operations. Following this, you’ll mount your wood, put some lubricants to use, and you’ll finish the process by lathing the woodwork to perfection. See, it wasn’t so hard after all.
Converting a drill press to a lathe is a piece of cake, as long as you have the right component to make it a reality. It is thoroughly realizable, as long as you go over the process in the right way, as well as discarding the temptation to go through any shortcuts. Before you start lathing, ensure that you go through all of the tips above, possibly consult with a friend that has some knowledge about the whole thing, and ensure that you are protected at all times.
Of course, you can make a metal lathe out of a drill press, but you have to ensure that you do so the right way to avoid stories that touch. Of course, you can use a drill press as a lathe, just that you must ensure that you tick all the boxes before getting into the crux of the matter. Woodworking has never been more versatile, it’s now a case of achieving multiple goals while using a specialized tool, you too can be part of the fun! |
Inequality is a hot topic. Prominent economists, such as Thomas Piketty and Joseph Stiglitz, have raised public awareness of economic inequality: differences between people in income (what you earn) and capital (what you own). They and others have shown that economic inequality is not only huge, but steadily increasing: the proverbial "one percent" own more and more of everything there is to own. Others have focused on social inequality, such as differences in the opportunities given to women and ethnic minorities, compared (generally) to white men.
Social and economic inequality are, of course, related; in a sense, economic inequality is a subtype of social inequality. But it's a subtype that is (relatively) easy to quantify—and that's exactly what I will try to do in this post, using data from Eurostat, a public database curated by the European Commission.
We all have some gut feeling of the kinds of inequalities that exist: You probably don't need to see an income distribution to know that, on average, men earn more than women for the same job. But how much more? Do men make 50% more, or only 5%? And how does this compare to differences between people with different levels of education? Or to differences between countries? Or to differences between the very rich and the very poor within a country?
It's important to have some idea of the magnitude of the different kinds of inequalities. Because only then you can have an informed debate.
(Disclaimer: This is my best attempt to interpret complicated data. As you will see below, for example when looking at the gender pay gap, income inequality is not an objective measure, but depends on how you quantify it. So keep that in mind!)
Let's first simply see how much people earn in a single year, over time in the seven largest countries that are either part of the eurozone (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands), or are set to become part of it (Romania and Poland).
The y-axis shows the median annual income in Purchasing Power Standard (PPS) Euros. This is an artificial currency that corrects for differences in cost of living between countries: Romanians earn far less than Germans. But life is also cheaper in Romania than in Germany, and the PPS tries to take this into account.
So what does this figure tell us? First and foremost, there's an enormous difference in how much people earn across Europe. By and large, people in north-west Europe (represented here by France, Germany, and Netherlands) make the most. People in southern Europe (here Spain and Italy) make somewhat less. And people in eastern Europe (here Romania and Poland) make the least.
These differences are not terribly surprising, although you may be surprised by the size of the income gap between countries: Romanians make only about a fourth of what French people make.
You also see that income has steadily increased over time. But this is largely due to inflation: over time, you can buy less for the same amount of money, but this is generally compensated by a corresponding increase in income.
Correcting for inflation
Therefore, to see whether or not people have become richer (or poorer) over time, we need to correct for inflation. This is what the figure below shows:
Median inflation-corrected income increased in the 90s, but has stayed more-or-less constant since. It's important to note that we're looking at median income here: 50% of people make more, and 50% make less. If we would look at mean income (the sum of how much everyone makes divided by how many people there are), I suspect we would see a steady increase by most measures; but this is driven by increasing inequality, the fact that a small group of rich people are getting richer, even though the majority of not-so-rich people are not. (On the bright side, the majority are also not getting poorer, which is in contrast to what is happening in the United States, at least according to some authorities.)
Also: comparing wealth over time is, in a sense, impossible. Nowadays we spend a lot of our money on things that did not exist in the 90s, such as iPhones. Therefore, comparing our current wealth with our wealth during the 90s is at best a rough estimate, based on the price of products that are common to both epochs.
The top 10% v the bottom 10%
Let's now take a look at inequalities within countries: how much more do the richest people earn, compared to the poorest people? To illustrate this, I plotted the proportion of total income that goes to the bottom and top 10%.
In a hypothetical perfectly equal country, each would get 10% of the total income (i.e. there would not be any distinction between the rich and poor); in a hypothetical perfectly unequal country, the top 10% would get 100% of all income, and the bottom 10% would get nothing. In reality, the pie is sliced as follows:
This figure shows that the richest 10% receive about 25% of total income, or 2.5 times their share. The poorest 10% receive about 3% of total income, or only about 0.3 times their share. Phrased differently, the top 10% earn about ten times more than the bottom 10%.
Interestingly, this ratio is roughly equal over time and across countries. The steady increase in inequality that Thomas Piketty documented in his bestselling Le capital au XXIe siècle is not evident in this data. I suspect that this is partly because Piketty looked at more data over a far longer period. But it's also because Piketty considered mostly capital (what people own) whereas this figure shows income (what people earn). And capital is distributed far more unequally than income; for example, rich people tend to own the houses they live in (which are capital, and not income), whereas poor people rarely do.
Gender pay gap
Let's now consider the income gap between men and women:
Surprisingly, to me, the income gap between men and women is very small in this data. Men do indeed make somewhat more, but only by 2 to 3%. And this difference is roughly constant over time and across countries.
Eurostat also has a page dedicated to the gender pay gap, and here the gap is reported to be about 16%. So why don't we see this 16% gap in the figure above? I'm not sure, but I suspect that it may again be related to the use of the median or the mean. Top-earning jobs are dominated by men, and this may result in a large pay gap when looking at mean income. But the pay gap may not be as large for normal-paying jobs, which is why there is only a small pay gap when looking at median income. This could be part of the explanation. But I'm honestly not sure.
And how about education?
The figure above shows income for people with a low (not more than high school) and high (at least university) education. The income gap is enormous: people with a university diploma make about twice as much as those with only a high-school diploma.
So education pays. Whether it pays so much that it's worth putting yourself tens of thousands of euros in debt for is another matter. |
By Jeffrey Levin
A little over a thousand years ago, a great community flourished within the desert mesas of northwestern New Mexico. There along twisting cliff-lined Chaco Canyon the Anasazi people established an astonishing series of settlements which included elaborately irrigated fields, an extensive system of roads, and hundreds of stone masonry structures constructed from carefully cut blocks of sandstone.
Among these structures were a number of monumental multistory buildings, known today as the Great Houses of Chaco. Each contained dwelling spaces, storage rooms, a central plaza, and kivasround subterranean chambers used for ceremonial purposes. The Great Houses rose four or five stories high, and the largest of them, Pueblo Bonito, had 650 rooms upon completion.
For reasons that remain a matter of debate, the settlements fell into disuse during the 1200s. An extended drought is one possible explanation. Whatever the cause, the Anasazi departed, bequeathing their remarkable constructions to the sun, the rain, and the wind.
Seven hundred years later much of their accomplishment still stands. Extensively excavated during this century, the ancient ruins in Chaco Canyon now are managed by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) which operates Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a World Heritage Site.
With over eight miles of stone walls to preserve in the 34,000-acre park, the ruins present a formidable conservation challenge. Michael Taylor, an archaeologist with the NPS Southwest Region's Division of Conservation, says funding limitations have created real problems in preserving Chaco's architectural ruins. "What we're confronted with now is a diminishing budget to hire people to maintain the walls."
Ironically in this semi-arid canyon, the most erosive factor in the walls' deterioration is water. In winter it comes as snow which piles up on the tops and at the base of the walls. Water percolates down from the top, freezes at night in wall cavities, and leads to buckling of the masonry. Snow melting on the ground creates a rising dampness that causes erosion at the base of the walls. To reduce these problems, snow is removed by snow blower from the tops of the walls and manually from the base of the wallshighly labor-intensive tasks.
The torrential thunderstorms of summer cause similar and different problems. Rain saturating the ground leads to capillary rise into the base of the walls. In addition, the direct impact of the rain and the run-off erodes the mortar. Walls, left exposed on one side and covered with soil on the other, are subject to lateral migration of water.
"The water infiltrates, migrates to, or rises in the wall, then evaporates on the exposed side," explains Neville Agnew, GCI Special Projects Director. "Soluble salts that come out of the soil just eat away at the walls. The stone is corroding badly."
The conditions described are not unique to Chaco Canyon. They occur wherever architectural ruins are left exposed to the weather. Because these problems are so pervasive and so destructive to archaeological resources, the NPS and the GCI recently initiated a collaborative project at Chaco to document and test strategies for protecting standing architectural remains.
The project was predicated on the use of backfilling as a protective strategy. Backfilling involves reburying the site either wholly or partiallywith soil. While backfilling cannot stop deterioration, it can slow it down significantly by establishing a more stable environment for a site.
"There's a debate going on about the extent to which archaeological sites ought to be reburied after excavation," observes Dr. Agnew. "Some archaeologists want to leave them for the public to see. This creates a huge problem of maintenance. We espouse the position that sites should be displayed only if they can be properly maintained. If they can't, they should be reburied."
Backfilling actually occurred in a number of places in Chaco Canyon after excavations in the 1890s and 1920s. In order to document the benefits of backfilling in preserving archaeological remains, the NPS, as part of its collaborative project with the GCI, partially reexcavated six roomsall of which had been thoroughly photographed at the time of their original excavation. During the reexcavations, which occurred in June 1992, the rooms' present conditions were comprehensively documented before the spaces were again backfilled. The results of this effort will be reviewed over the next few months.
The findings will have important implications for the future use of backfilling. "We hope to obtain some reliable data about backfilling, and demonstrate its efficacy and flexibility as a protective strategy" says Martha Demas, a GCI Training Program Fellow involved in the project.
Mr. Taylor, who is the NPS's principal investigator on the project, believes NPS management now realizes that backfilling can be a viable way to preserve certain areas, especially those that are not actively being seen by visitors. It is a technique, he feels, that the public needs to understand as well.
"It's a matter of making the public aware that what we're after is preserving the resourcenot covering everything up so that they can't see it," says Mr. Taylor. "We're being very selective. We don't want to backfill areas that the public really needs to see to understand the history of particular areas."
As Dr. Demas points out, backfilling need not be incompatible with public presentation of a site. "There's a tendency to think that when you backfill, you have to fill up the whole site," she says. "But there are degrees of backfilling. It doesn't have to be total." At Chaco, for instance, many excavated rooms and spaces are partly backfilled while others have been left unfilled so that their full extent can be seen by visitors. Unfortunately, the resulting difference in fill levels between adjacent rooms creates problems. Besides placing unequal pressure on walls, it leaves the exposed side of a wall subject to the migration of moisture and salts from the filled side. That is exactly what happens when it rains.
To address these problems, NPS and GCI staff together developed two experimental strategies to deal with the difficulties created by partial backfilling. They also developed two strategies focused on seasonal protection of the walls from snow melt. All four strategies have applicability to other sites with standing archaeological remains.
Testing of the strategies began in November 1991. Dr. Demas says that the methods were purposefully kept simple. "The intention was to design strategies that could be easily implementednot high-tech. The only thing that's high-tech about this project is the geosynthetic materials we're using."
Geosynthetics is a generic term for a class of products (e.g., geotextiles and geodrains) composed of synthetic materials that perform a variety of functions, ranging from separation and filtration of soils to drainage of water. These materials, which are used extensively in civil engineering works such as road and building construction, have only begun being applied to archaeological site protection.
Of the two tests dealing with backfilling, the first involves installation of a vertical geodrain on the backfilled side of a room wall to alleviate pressure on the wall, prevent water migration, and limit the capillary rise of moisture. The second test is a horizontal geodrain placed over the surface of a fill and is intended primarily to drain off surface water from rain and melted snow.
Of the two tests devised for seasonal protection, one deals primarily with snow accumulation through the installation of a geodrain and an impermeable geomembrane along the base of a wall. The other test uses seasonally-installed, impermeable geomembranes to protect the tops of walls from water penetration and eliminate the need for snow removal.
The first three tests are being conducted at Pueblo Bonito. The fourth test (only in place during winter months) is being done nearby at Pueblo del Arroyo, another Great House of Chaco. The tests will be monitored for four years. On the basis of a preliminary inspection conducted this spring, the wall capping appears to be effective in providing protection from the detrimental effects of snow melt.
Mr. Taylor hopes that the strategies being testedcombined with the results of temporary reexcavationswill help strengthen the case for backfilling as an effective protective strategy for sites. "So many sites are exposed, and so many of them are being lost not only through natural deterioration, but vandalism. If they're not dealt with in some manner, many sites just aren't going to be around in the future." |
An emergent field, biotechnology offers exciting career opportunities for anyone interested in science and research. This growing field is recession-proof, continuing to add jobs regardless of what is happening with the economy. And it is especially significant for people in North Carolina because this state ranks fourth in biotech strength. Ranking is determined by many factors such as the revenue generated by each state’s biotech products and services, their research capacity and the high-quality pool of scientists and engineers employed within the state.
Wondering if a career in biotech is right for you or your child? Then, keep reading to learn more about this lucrative industry.
What Is Biotechnology?
Biotechnology is the use of science and engineering techniques to create new products or services. People in this field conduct research on new medicines, strengthening crops, improving biofuels, and countless other applications. Then, their work is used to improve the lives of other people.
There is an enormous amount of work in the science and business of biotechnology. Government agencies and universities employ biotech scientists and regulatory and business personnel. Other biotechnology workers are employed by private businesses and companies within a variety of industries. Science staff may work in laboratories, manufacturing or clinical settings. Biotechnology-trained workers are also needed in sales, marketing, legal, environmental, and regulatory settings.
What Do You Do With a Career in Biotechnology?
People who have a career in biotechnology can perform a range of different tasks depending on their area of focus. Unlimited positions are available in biotechnology research and product development, manufacturing, testing, regulation, sales, and marketing including in the following applications:
How Much Do Biotechnologists Earn?
In every field, earnings can vary significantly, but to give you an idea of the potential, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the median income for biological technicians is $45,860 per year as of 2019, nearly 20% more than the median income for all occupations, and people in the top 10% of earnings for this field bring home over $73,000 per year.
Most importantly, however, the industry is growing faster than average and shows no signs of slowing down.
How Do You Start a Career in Biotechnology?
Generally, you need a bachelor’s degree in biotech, biology or a related field to pursue a career in this field. However, several community colleges offer certificate programs in biotechnology that provide students with a variety of options for employment or further college study. High school students can enter a biotechnology career pathway at certain high schools. These programs give students lab and academic experiences in biotechnology sciences and a chance to explore this rewarding industry.
At Sallie B. Howard High School of Arts and Science, we can help your child get a jump start on a career in biotechnology. Our well-trained, highly experienced staff and leadership team are committed to guiding your child through a rigorous college preparatory curriculum with an emphasis on sciences and research. To learn more, contact us today. |
When I first saw the engraving Charge of H.M. 14thLight Dragoons at the Battle of Ramnuggur in the Sarmaya collection, I assumed that the Sikhs lost this battle. Having had no prior knowledge of the Anglo-Sikh wars, I simply went by the body language of the subjects here. Even a cursory look will leave you with an impression that the Sikh side was losing. The British soldiers advance powerfully on their chargers, their long swords raised menacingly. The Sikhs are largely on foot, mostly frozen in defensive postures and the bodies in the foreground seem to belong to their ranks. Imagine my surprise when later I read in George Bruce Malleson’s book, The Decisive Battles of India 1746- 1849, that the Anglo-Sikh wars were among the toughest the British ever fought. In fact, this specific scene was set during the Second Anglo-Sikh War, one that incurred great losses for the British, including the death of Colonel Havelock who led this charge.
That said, the narrative in the engraving is not incorrect nor does it twist facts. What it does is conveniently pause at a moment that shows the British covered in valour and their adversaries at a disadvantage. The scene above is titled, Charge of H.M. 14thLight Dragoons At the Battle of Ramnugger. In the initial stages of this charge, the Sikhs retreated; the story of the battle doesn’t end here, but the perspective of this artist does. It’s not unusual for the prevailing political dispensation to attempt to write history in its own favour and visual art has long been a tool for nationalistic propaganda. But I think it’s worth discovering the rest of this story if only to provide the right context to this masterful work of art. And to introduce you to the brilliant and brave Sher Singh Attariwalla.
The Battle of Ramnagar took place between the British and Sikh forces in November of 1848. However, the Second Anglo-Sikh War had started in Multan that April, when the Khalsa army resolved to revolt. It began when the Diwan of Multan, Mulraj Chopra, rebelled by resigning his post. Two British officers who came to take control from him were killed. Troops from Firozpur were sent under Colonel Henry Edwards to subdue the revolt while an autumn siege was being planned. But before autumn came, outbreaks in other regions began. The rising of Chattar Singh Attariwalla in Hazara and the operations of Maharani Jind Kaur, who was an informer for the Sikh army even as she was imprisoned by the British, distracted the imperial forces and they put Multan on hold.
Sher Singh Attariwalla, son of Chattar Singh and a royal commander in the British military, was appointed to reinforce the troops in Multan. Sher Singh had 5,000 men under him and he marched to Multan with Jundial Singh, who was formerly a member of Chattar Singh’s army. On September 14th, Sher Singh too, declared open rebellion. The Multan force thus grew to 12,000 men, 54 guns and 14 mortars.
In November, Sher Singh moved his camp to Ramnagar. A position carefully chosen for its many advantages: he could establish communication easily with his father in Derajat; he could intercept the movements of the ruler of Kashmir, Gulab Singh and prevent an alliance that would strengthen the British position; and he could draw his supplies from the districts north of the River Chenab. According to Malleson, “Such a position was worth fighting for. Indeed, Sher Singh would have been justified in seeking an opportunity to bring the British to action to maintain it.” Sher Singh camped on a plain near the river. The Chenab was narrow but had a wide bed of soft sand, which could not support cavalry and artillery.
Commander-in-Chief of the British forces Lord Gough decided to march to Ramnagar, 10 miles from the British camp near Multan. The force consisted of cavalry and artillery supported by an infantry brigade and two batteries of artillery; only a quarter of this troop consisted of European officers. On 22ndNovember, the British charged and the Sikh detachment on the left bank fell back. They then re-joined Sher Singh on the right bank. Seeing the enemy retire without striking a blow, Lord Gough advanced, misjudging the situation. He also failed to consider the fact that the squadron he had advanced with was much smaller than the Sikh army.
As the British pressed on behind the Sikhs, they came to land that exposed them to enemy view. The right side of the bank was higher too, giving the Sikhs better range. The Sikhs began firing with force. The British attempted to return fire but could not manage this fast enough as some of their artillery got stuck in the sand.
Captain Ouvry followed with a squadron of the 3rdLight Dragoons (cavalry) and other British charges but they all came under heavy fire from the Sikhs and were unsuccessful. By this time, the Sikhs had moved further towards the British artillery stuck in the sand. The next attack was then made by Captain Havelock of the 14th Light Dragoons (depicted in the engraving) aimed at the recovery of the gun. As mentioned above, the Sikhs fell back a few yards, possibly to get the Dragoon within better range of their own artillery. As the 14thpressed on, it too came under heavy charge from the Sikhs. The Sikh infantry then returned and charged under the continuing fire. Havelock was slain in this fight. Colonel Cureton too was killed as he withdrew from the charge. The squadron fell back, the Sikhs prevailed and carried off with them the spoils of the war, ie the gun embedded in the sand.
From GB Malleson’s book, The Decisive Battles of India 1746- 1849
From Edward Joseph Thackwell’s book, The Narrative of the Second Sikh War in 1848-1849
Interestingly, the two accounts above have very different viewpoints of this event. In Thackwell’s narrative Havelock was an exceptional soldier who did whatever he could to secure the embedded artillery. He also describes how Havelock’s body was mutilated and had to be identified by the colour of the hair. In Malleson’s narrative, Havelock was burning with indignation and disregarded strategy, which might have warned him against following a course that two squadrons before him had failed at. And he describes Cureton being shot in the heart.
As a result of this combat, eighty-two men were killed, wounded or went missing from the British army. The Sikhs had now crossed the right bank of the Chenab and were in a stronger position, although on less favourable terrain. Lord Gough prepared then to cross the river of Chenab, even though the wiser option would have been to keep Sher Singh in check while the siege of Multan was carried out. As the direct attacks from the left bank before had failed, the British decided to cross a nearby ford between Ramnagar and Vazirabad and attack the Sikhs from behind, surprising them.
There were three fords that could be used to realise the strategy: Ghari, Ali Sher and Vazirabad. On 23rdNovember, E Joseph Thackwell and Colin Campbell, together with 8,000 men, marched towards the ford at Ghari towards Ranikan. They started at 1am with the aim to cross the ford by 8am. The ford had never been navigated before by the British men and the infantry soon became unsure of their way. They had difficulty following the right path, especially in the darkness and reached Ranikan two hours later than planned. When they reached they saw a broad riverbed, broader than the one at Ramnagar, the banks of which had many sandbanks and quicksand too. The opposite bank was out of range and guarded by the enemy as well. It became abundantly clear that this expedition was useless.
Thackwell then decided to cross the ford at Vazirabad. With great difficulty there as well, his men crossed that ford in the cold night of Punjab without food or fire. The next day, by the time Thackwell’s men recovered from the journey and organised food, it was already noon. He then received a message to wait for assistance from General Godby’s brigade. He directed his men to encamp on the grassy land near the village, Sadulapur, which lay facing three other village walls. To distract the Sikh army, Gough back at Ramnagar opened fire on 1stDecember.
When Sher Singh became aware of Thackwell’s movements, he came up with a plan of action that showed his mettle as a great commander. He marched to Thackwell at once, before Gough could receive his message requesting aid. Sher Singh broke up his camp and drew back a force of 10,000 men towards his side. The rest engaged with fire from Gough. Sher Singh then caught up to Thackwell, just as he had taken camp position near Sadulapur on 3rd December. He took up positions in all three villages facing Sadulapur and started firing shots. “It was Sher Singh, who had surprised the British”.
The British immediately retreated and the advanced guard deployed fell back too. The Sikhs beat down heavy fire on the British till sunset, leading to the loss of 76 men. Sher Singh fell back on his position in Ramnagar without a single loss to guard against Lord Gough, who came under heavy criticism for his command and strategies.
According to Malleson, “It was universally felt that up to that point the campaign had been a failure.” Thackwell felt the Chenab passage was an ill-advised exercise. The battle of Ramnagar was thus, an unambiguous victory for the Sikhs, who suffered almost no losses on account of the British.
With the historical context straightened out, we can now appreciate the artistry of this engraving. It was based on an original watercolour by Henry Martens, a very prolific British artist who specialised in military art. He worked for the publisher Rudolph Ackermann who produced among other titles The Costumes of the Indian Army with the artist. The original artwork by Martens was traced by John Harris who was known for creating uncannily accurate facsimiles of art for the British Museum. The work you see above is an engraving by Harris based on an artwork by Martens, who himself drew inspiration for these battlefield paintings from first-hand accounts given by officers in the British army. Despite the number of hands involved in the shaping of this image, the silent message it sends about the might of the British army is unambiguous. That is, until we zoom out a little and see history through a wider lens.
Kuhu Kopariha is Curatorial Assistant at Sarmaya |
Year 5 Home Learning
Hello Kestrels, just one more week of Home Learning before you're back with me in class - yaaaay! I know some of you are finding it really hard to keep going with the lessons I am setting but please just persever for 5 more days. It really helps me if, when you join the live lessons, you turn your camera on so that I know who I can chat with and I don't keep asking questions to children who aren't there! If you would rather just follow the lessons via the powerpoints I have provided below and not join the live lesson, that's fine but I often add extra bits in when I'm teaching live, so you'll miss out on that and, more importantly, I will miss you! Happy leaning!
Mrs McPherson x
Weekly Timetables and Work
Please see resources for this week below. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to email me at [email protected] and I will do my best to answer in a timely fashion.
Spelling and Grammar
Poetry - I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth
Loom Intro for Wed lesson
Science link for Thursday’s Live Lesson from the University of Worcester for British Science Week at 2pm prompt! |
Researchers at MIT have developed a interactive display that can shape-shift to render 3D representations and even interact with its environment.
A research team from the Tangible Media Group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has built an active physical visualization technology that uses a surface of pins that rearrange themselves to create a topographical representation of an object.
Called InForm, the idea behind the 3D “display” is much like a Pin Screen toy, made up of 1,000 pins arranged in a square grid. These pins are moved up and down by actuators, and the display can use an overhead display with Kinect sensor to augment the display with other information.
The 3D surface idea comes with several possible applications. For instance, the surface can make buttons on-demand. InForm will even interact with its environment. Users can press a “button” and InForm will feedback accordingly. The surface can even detect other objects and interact with these as necessary. For instance, it can play around with a ball by creating ramps to move it around or enclose it within a wall.
The killer app for this kind of interactive “display” would, however, be in architectural designing and urban planning.
“Urban planners and Architects can view 3D designs physically and better understand, share and discuss their designs,” said the creators.
If you can imagine the scene in the first X-Men movie, in which Xavier and team plans out their attack on Magneto and company at Liberty Island, MIT’s InForm would be a candidate for a real-world device that city planners or architects can use for similar projections and planning.
Aviz actually offers a few other examples of “Active Physical Visualization” projects, which include those that address both civilian and military needs. This particular MIT project might go beyond simple visualization, however, in that the device can actually receive feedback from its environment and react accordingly. |
The best views comes after the hardest climb
Hiking is, to me, an expression of life. Some paths you take will be long, winding and steady, others may be short and sweet and some are gruelling, arduous, sometimes frustrating but ultimately the most rewarding. Occasionally there are paths that we simply cannot conquer in a particular time, we struggle for breath and strength but these routes often teaches us something about ourselves, not being able to conquer a particular destination does not mean failure, it’s how you overcome that particular defeat that makes the difference. But no matter the journey, it can be an incredibly freeing and empowering expedition of self-development.
Hiking is also one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of fitness. The beauty the landscapes offer to you, the ability to see countries, coasts, towns and villages in a completely new and different way each time you make the climb, can help to inspire, invigorate and achieve a sense of identity.
From a health perspective; it is an excellent activity to improve cardiorespiratory function. Both heart and lungs benefit tremendously from a good hike because hiking trails often entail walking over natural terrain, often on an incline which challenge these organs helping them to get stronger and healthier. In addition, it will help lower the risk of heart and lung diseases, lower the risk of diabetes and help level out your blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels. Getting outdoors will also help improve your production of Vitamin D, a vitamin which we’re able to produce from the sun, can help us feel happier as well as help normal function, said to improve muscle pain, strengthen bones and teeth and further help reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases.
There are also a number of intellectual and mental health benefits to hiking. Getting back to nature can be truly inspiring and get the creative juices flowing; Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter Have all been inspired by the landscapes the writers immersed themselves in. Moreover, taking nature trails as opposed to designated paths entails a lot of problem solving, freethinking and coordination; skills that can be developed and honed, all of which will help with career prospects. Hiking also has numerous mental health benefits too and has been proven to help reduce stress and anxiety levels, help individuals overcome insomnia and help build self-confidence and self-esteem.
Top tips to hiking:
- Start of small and build up- many look at walking/hiking as an easy sport but actually it can be very challenging. If you’re starting out, take a relatively short path or a route with a relatively low incline and build yourself up to something more challenging.
- A hike kit is essential- take with you bottled water, a small first aid kit, snacks, a map if one is available or take a photo of one (you may not get signal in every location) and sunscreen on every walk you go on. If this is something you’re going to be doing frequently, have a hike pack
- Be mindful of others. When passing other hikers on narrow trails, the right of way goes to the person on the incline as this is the more challenging task.
- Leave footprints, take photos and nothing else. Take all trash with you and try not to disturb the ecosystem.
Finding a trail
The National Trust has an amazing website dedicated to walking; you can find a trail right for you, with stops along the way and even areas that you may camp. They often have various routes for different locations so you can choose something appropriate to your confidence and fitness levels as well as your time and they even have recommendations for sites to camp on or near.
It can be pretty challenging to dress for a hike; what seems like a gloomy wet day can actually have you working up quite a sweat.
Layers are essential to keep you healthy and comfortable on a hike. Being weather wise is sensible too; during summer thinner lighter layers are a good idea whilst in winter you may want to add thermals in synthetic fabrics or wool to help keep you warm and dry. When it comes to hiking cotton isn’t recommended because it retains moisture, losing its insulating benefits which can cause you to feel cold and make you ill; look for quick-drying fabrics such as nylon, spandex, polyester and Merino wool. Most sports gear is made from suitable materials.
Here are our recommendations for a good hiking kit
AMAZING DEAL! 3 in 1 coat |
Brain Tumor Headaches
Relation of Brain Tumors to Headaches – Headache in Subdural Hematoma and Brain Abscess
Relation of Brain Tumors to Headaches
Brain tumor is the most feared cause when it comes to headaches. Statistically, in 30% of headache cases brain tumor is a major concern. Yet, headache as a first symptom occurs only in 1% of brain tumors.
Some more statistics – in one study, only 5% of patients diagnosed with brain tumor or other mass in the brain had headaches as a presenting symptom and none had headache as a major concern!
Cause of Headache in Brain Tumors
Considering lack pain perception by the brain tissue, the above mentioned statistical observations are pretty logical. The following structures in the head are able to perceive pain: meninges (layers of connective tissue covering the brain on the outside), arteries, a periosteum (superficial layer of the skull bones), and the skin.
Brain mass lesions always produce symptoms of the brain damage first, or before the headache. Brain has a jelly-like consistency. Any locally generated pressure is immediately transferred to the surrounding brain tissue. As a result, any pain will appear only at the point when the meninges are stretched, which will occur only if the tumor is large enough.
As the tumor gets larger it destroys more and more brain tissue. Each particular brain area is responsible for some specific function. Once destroyed, a loss of this particular function becomes evident.
Typical First Symptoms of Brain Tumors
The very first symptoms of a brain tumor are usually subtle or insidious. Missing keys while typing, difficulty using mirrors while driving, tripping while walking on uneven surface or while running, brief involuntary movements in one of the limbs are some of the examples. These minor symptoms gradually progress and evolve into an obvious limb weakness, loss of a visual field, or lack of coordination with falls. A full-blown epileptic seizure without any warning is a very common presentation of a brain tumor.
Some brain tumors tend to bleed. In case of intracranial hemorrhage, the tumor reveals itself with an apparent set of symptoms and, yes, a headache may be one of them; but not the only one.
Basically, if someone has a headache without even subtle neurological symptoms and normal neurological examination, a brain tumor responsible for the headache is virtually impossible. Some silent, asymptomatic tumor can be ruled out only on the brain imaging, such as an MRI, but that tumor would not be responsible for the headache.
Tumors with a Headache as a First Symptom
As usual, there are some exceptions, which just confirm the rules.
Tumors outside the brain, like in the skull, cause headaches without any neurological symptoms and they are often very bad ones. They are usually metastases. This pain is constant, very disturbing, often worse at night, and might be either local or holocranial.
Another example is a small tumor in the wrong place. The brain inside the skull is suspended in the cerebrospinal fluid, which is constantly produced in one place and reabsorbed in the other. So, there is a constant flow. Sudden obstruction of this flow may cause a head position or strain related headache, sometimes with loss of consciousness, if the tumor is located next to the cerebrospinal fluid pathways. A colloid cyst of the third ventricle is an example.
Classically, brain tumor related headaches are described as a constant dull headache, which often gets worse at night. This description has a very poor diagnostic guidance. Chronic daily headaches are extremely common in sleep deprivation, sleep apnea, and depression. Nocturnal headaches are typical in cluster headaches, migraine and primary hypnic headaches.
Brain Tumor Diagnosis
The best diagnostic modality is a Brain MRI with a contrast. Bone metastases will be best seen on the CAT scan.
Who needs brain imaging and who doesn’t? It is mostly a judgement call. A general rule is that any headache with classical features of a specific primary headache syndrome does not need brain imaging. All others are better being imaged because it is too easy to get wrong.
Headache in Subdural Hematoma and Brain Abscess
There are multiple types of the brain mass lesions and they all share one of the characteristics – an expanding mass inside the skull. The most common is subdural hematoma.
Subdural Hematoma Headache
Headaches caused by subdural hematoma and a brain tumor are similar. Both are produced by expanding volume inside the head. Constant heaviness in the head often gets worse at night. Confusion and sometimes vomiting are common associates.
In subdural hematoma there is a blood accumulation in the subdural space, which is the gap between the dura (a thick and hard tissue film covering the skull inside) and the brain.
Causes and Symptoms of Subdural Hematoma
The most common reason for this type of hemorrhage is a rupture of the bridging veins.
Veins are low pressure vessels, so the blood leaks from them slowly. The most common cause of subdural hemorrhage is a head injury. In younger people symptoms of headache, vomiting, and confusion due to subdural hematoma develop relatively rapidly (within hours after the injury). So, it is hard to miss. In older people the story is different.
Spontaneous (lack of trauma history) subdural hematoma is not uncommon in older people and in the high risk patient groups. We are all gradually losing our nerve cells. Our brains are shrinking year after year.
The result is an increased subdural space (the gap between the skull and the brain). This change in anatomy produces two effects: bridging veins get stretched and the larger subdural space can accumulate more blood. As a result, stretched bridging veins are easier to damage and the larger subdural space allows more blood accumulation over a longer period of time, which obviously delays the symptoms.
Minor head injury in the elderly may be forgotten. Days or weeks later the first symptoms of headache and some confusion will appear. Blaming senior moments for these symptoms may lead to devastating consequences, permanent loss of some brain functions, or even death.
The other two common risk factors for subdural hematoma are hemodialysis and blood thinners, such as Coumadine.
Subdural Hematoma Treatment
Subdural hematoma treatment largely depends on the size of the blood clot and the symptoms. Asymptomatic SDH does not have to be treated. It is rather monitored by repeated neurological examinations and the brain imaging. Large, or rapidly expanding and symptomatic hematomas require surgical evacuation ASAP.
Brain abscess behaves similar to a rapidly growing tumor and, basically, causes the same symptoms as a brain tumor. Fever is not universally present (only 50%). In the past, brain abscess was a relatively common complication of a middle ear infection in children. Nowadays, the most common cause of the brain abscess is toxoplasmosis in AIDS patients.
Any comments about this page will be greatly appreciated at [email protected] Content copyright 2017. DOCTORSTRIZHAK.COM. All rights reserved.
Disclosure: This Web Site is intended for education purpose only. The information provided on this site must not be perceived as a guide for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. Every effort is made to keep the information current, but there are absolutely no guarantees of timely updates. By Andre Strizhak |
On 1 May 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland. This event was the result of the Treaty of Union that was agreed on 22 July 1706, and then ratified by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland each passing an Act of Union in 1707. Almost a century later, the Kingdom of Ireland, already under English control by 1691, merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom with the passing of the Act of Union 1800.
Britain is famous for being the worlds first industrialised country, and for having the largest global empire in human history, owning up to a quarter of the Earths landmass. The empire also played a very important role in founding colonies in the New World, eventually becoming the dominant European power in North America, before it was wrestled away in a struggle that has come to be known as the American Revolution. In history, Britain had a powerful economy and a strong navy, as well as a formidable army of soldiers who were commonly known as the Redcoats, and to emulate this in Age of Empires 3, the British civilization has powerful booming capabilities, and civilization bonuses and home city cards which help to support musketeers, grenadiers and ships.
British bonuses focus around getting a strong economy while harassing the enemy before finally attacking with full force, which means that the British isn't a recommended civilization to use for rushing. Their long-range longbowmen are their anti-infantry infantry units, and, with the "Yeomen" card, they get a range that rivals that of most cannons. The unique British Home City cards focus on upgrading Musketeers/Grenadiers, Ships, Hussars, and settlers, and British factories produce Rockets instead of Heavy Cannons. The British are also the only civilization that can purchase a mercenary infantry unit, the Scottish Highlander, with a Fortress Age card.
- Longbowman (archer)
- Rocket (heavy artillery)
- Manor house (houses that spawns one settler each once built)
Royal Guard Units
- Manor houses are more expensive variants of houses that spawns one settler each once built. The "Estates" card from the Home City allows manor houses to train settlers as if they were town centers.
- Factories produce rockets instead of heavy cannons.
The British military isn't as diverse as that of certain other civilizations. Their barracks only has one mainline/gunpowder unit, for example. Many people refer to strategies that utilise longbowmen when in the Colonial Age. As longbowmen cannot reload their weapons while moving, they have low hit and run potential, and are thus better off with frontline of units protecting them. Many players tend to stick to a combination of longbowmen and pikemen, as this allows them to ignore any need to mine gold, and instead, focus purely on food and wood, which allows them to effectively upgrade their economy while producing an army. |
VIDEO: Get new perspective on CASNR's horticultural gardens, greenhouse complex
By: Norman Martin
Just north of United Supermarkets Arena on the Texas Tech campus, you'll find the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources' Horticultural Gardens and Greenhouse Complex. The facility is used for teaching and research purposes, but also serves as a place for the public to see some of the state's most iconic blooms, lending inspiration to weekend gardeners. The greenhouse complex consists of eight bays, three of which are used for teaching.
VIDEO: Click here
"It's definitely used by far more people thank you might think," said Jennifer Simek, greenhouse manager with Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science. "Grounds maintenance uses one of the bays for their interior plant program. The other four greenhouses are all used for research. A lot of changes have already been made, and in the future you should expect to see a lot more changes in the gardens."
Officials with Department of Plant and Soil Science note that greenhouse construction began in 1973. Currently, the complex consists of eight glass and aluminum national greenhouses, a steam drying facility and a plant laboratory with seven growth chambers, an autoclave, a growth room, and standard laboratory equipment. In addition it has two classrooms with projectors, internet access and document cameras to assist in supporting the more than 1,000 students that pass through classes held at the greenhouse each year.
In addition, the complex has four research houses with high-intensity lighting and automated temperature control to support an estimated $3 million in research conducted with federal, state and private grants each year. There are three teaching compartments, housing an interior foliage collection, along with plant production facilities to support the laboratories.
Meanwhile, the first plantings for the horticultural gardens were made in 1982. Over the decades the gardens have expanded to include a variety of garden rooms, including collections of annuals, perennials, shrubs, ornamental grasses, a xeriscape, two rock gardens and a small arboretum. Each area provides a demonstration area for screening new plant materials for use in semiarid landscapes, as well as serving as an outdoor classroom for plant material classes. The gardens include a demonstration vineyard, rose collection and paving materials demonstration area.
Video Reporting/Production by Jeff Ramazani & Allison Hirth
CONTACT: Eric Hequet, Department Chair, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2838 or [email protected]
- Agricultural & Applied Economics
- Agricultural Education & Communications
- Animal & Food Sciences
- Landscape Architecture
- Natural Resources Management
- Plant & Soil Science
- Veterinary Science
Editor: Norman Martin
Maps: Where to Find It |
Research is one of the most important missions of the faculty. Research goals are to excel in the generation of knowledge in basic sciences leading to new discovery, international publications, and most importantly to transfer of research findings to public used in industrial, agricultural and environmental issues.
The emphasis of research in principally based on problems of local relevance, concentrating on transferring knowledge to solve the community’s problems. Research projects are diverse, encompassing the areas of food and industrial microbiology, sensor, analytical method development, environmental pollution, climate change and sustainable develop, food and agricultural product, alternative energy, computational science, computer and information technology, mathematics and applications, astronomy and cosmology, theoretical physics, statistics, computational chemistry and biology.
4 Centers of Excellence
1. Applied Taxonomic Research Center (ATRC)
ATRC carries out research in basic and applied taxonomy, and also provides services to the public through its expertise in taxonomy of local plants, animals and fungi. Major research themes include taxonomy, ecology and commercial application of zooplankton, particularly the fairy shrimps; taxonomic and systematic study of local plants and medicinal plants; study of pollen causing allergy in human; DNA fingerprinting and chromosome studies for agricultural purposes; and utilization of plankton, aquatic insects and algae as bioindicators for environmental assessment.
2. Center for Geo-informatics for the Development of Northeast Thailand (GECNET)
The center’s main objective is to employ geographical information system technology and remote sensing as a tool for providing information useful for area-based planning for the development of the northeast region of Thailand including, evaluation for drought-, flood-, soil erosion risk area; spatial diversity for terrestrial ecosystems; land suitability evaluation for agricultural crops; agricultural land use planning; evaluation for bird flu risk area and more.
3. Protein and Proteomics Research Centre for Commercial and Industrial Purposes (ProCCI)
ProCCI thrives to discover novel proteins, enzymes, and related metabolites that are potentially useful for commercial and industrial purposes. The core strength of our researchers in protein chemistry, molecular biology, enzyme technology, and antimicrobial mechanism enables us to deliver new strategy in reducing cost in industry, adding values for commercialized products, and so forth. The strong connection with business sector where the research question originates allows us to expand the research horizon resulting in useful research outcomes and also high quality graduate students ready for working in both academia and industry.
4. Materials Chemistry Research Center (MCRC)
MCRC research is focusing on three areas: (1) molecular functional materials,
(2) polymers and organic-inorganic hybrid materials and (3) modified inorganic materials aiming at developing new and novel functional materials for applications including; adsorption and separation, catalysis, chemical and biological sensors, analytical applications in food and environment, biological activities, and materials for magnetics, dielectric and magnetoelectric. The developing of research methodology and new synthesizing methods along with the insight in investigations on these functional properties are crucial to acquire the well-designed materials with notably innovative applications. Apart from developing the new materials, one of the MCRC goals is to build strong research networks among group of senior investigators, young researchers and graduate students associated with MCRC. Beyond the center, MCRC is as well establishing the national and international collaborations to strengthen and promote the research-based knowledge in Materials Chemistry. |
The 1871 census came to the stark conclusion that ‘within relatively few years’ Irish would cease to exist. Yet, over a century later, Irish became the twenty-third officially recognized language of the European Union in 2007. To believe the census returns of recent years, Irish is in a state of rude health. But is this true when half a million people claim to speak Irish, but seldom actually speak it? In the traditional Gaeltacht areas, Irish is in peril – whilst it flourishes in Gaelscoileanna, in urban areas and in cyberspace. What do these dramatic shifts mean for the language’s future?
A New View of the Irish Language covers issues such as language and national identity; the impact of emigration and immigration; music, literature and the media; the importance of place-names; teaching and learning Irish; attitudes towards Irish; and the state of the Gaeltacht – and probes beyond the statistics and rhetoric to explore the true situation of Irish in the contemporary world. Contributors: Ruairí Ó hUiginn, Pádraig Ó Riagáin, Liam Mac Mathúna, Máirín Nic Eoin, Liam Ó Muirthile, Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, John Harris, Breandán Delap, Conchúr Ó Giollagáin & Seosamh Mac Donnacha, Caoilfhionn Nic Pháidín, Pádraig Ó Laighin, Lillis Ó Laoire, Anna Ní Ghallachair, Ciarán Mac Murchaidh, Brian Ó Conchubhair, Aidan Doyle, Aidan Punch, Suzanne Romaine, Dónall Mac Giolla Easpaig and Iarfhlaith Watson. |
Maintaining a balance between body, mind, and spirit is essential for any musician to be healthy. This is wellness. In this course vocalists learn techniques for keeping their instruments in top shape, reducing both vocal and overall stress, and managing real life factors like performance anxiety. This course will also present techniques and a detailed look at vocal anatomy, to support learning to sing virtually every style of music with a healthy, long-lasting approach.
This lab will explore posture, movement, and breathing as they relate to the act of musical production. Students will explore how they experience themselves making music and learn how to modify their own actions to play more efficiently with less effort. Self-awareness exercises will be used to improve the kinesthetic sense—one's sense of oneself in movement—enabling the instrumentalist to avoid injuries due to overuse and/or misuse, as well as helping to develop sensitivity, clarity, and power in musical production. Through increased awareness, students will acquire the ability to regulate or modify their actions to meet varying demands of practice and performance.
Whether using drumsticks, picking a guitar string, or using breath to sing, music is created by movement. Music is movement. The human body moves to create the sound waves that move through the air. We all have a picture of our bodies in our mind called a body map. This map guides every movement we make. If this picture is accurate then our movement will be free, efficient and effective. When our maps are inaccurate or unclear, movement can become labored and lead to injuries. Body mapping is a highly effective process for learning healthy, efficient, and effective physical motion. In this class you will work towards a fully realized understanding of your own physical structure so your movement will be healthy and your motion free. As a result, you will produce a better, more open, more resonant sound.
This course is a continuation of Body Mapping for Musicians 1 and introduces the study of human anatomy for the purpose of developing the awareness of our bodies in movement. The major aim of this course is to attain the embodiment of the knowledge acquired during the class. The process used to acquire this embodied understanding can be a lifelong process for self-study. This course explores how the body mapping process can be used to optimize the function of our bodies in movement and performance. Improved movement leads to healthier and improved instrumental and vocal technique. While students study "parts" (bones, joints, muscles, etc.), the goal of the course is a deeper intellectual understanding and embodied sense of an integrated whole beyond basic anatomy. Students use various modalities to deepen their knowledge, including books, videos, models, and self-study through palpation and movement. Students have opportunities to apply the principles learned in in-class musical performances.
The musician's environment, with its continual pressures and workload demands, is frequently intense. Through a regular practice of yoga, you will be better able to deal with pressures and stress. Yoga means union. It is the union of mind, body, and spirit. This course will lead you through a series of breathing exercises, meditations, warm-ups, and postures that will help integrate the mind, body, and spirit of your being. Practicing yoga will enable you to be more aware and focused in all aspects of your life.
With a firm foundation of the principles of yoga learned and practiced in Yoga for Musicians 1, this course goes deeper into the practice and its benefits. Students more fully explore many techniques including meditation, breathing, and advanced postures. Students will learn about the different energy channels in the body and how to regulate them to improve a sense of well-being.
Tai Chi Chuan, or "Grand Ultimate Fist," is a moving meditation/exercise/martial art that can complement and energize your studies, music, and all the activities of your busy day. Traditionally, it is an internal "yin" fighting style that develops grounding, relaxation, and the ability to utilize the attacker's own power to subdue them. It is also a constantly evolving art/science that promotes physical, mental, and emotional balance, and is a useful tool for identifying playing-related tension patterns and opening constricted channels of the body. Tai Chi Chuan is a slow, flowing, no-sweat exercise with excellent health benefits that requires no uniforms or equipment, a moderate amount of floor space to perform, and no opponent to compete against except yourself. This course will lead you through the first 20 postures of the 60-movement form developed by Grandmaster William C. C. Chen. Once the complete choreography is learned, this short form could be incorporated into your daily routine and would require only a few minutes to complete.
This course will explore the fundamentals of qigong and how students can employ these practices in both their musical and daily lives. Students will learn a variety of exercises as well as breathing and awareness techniques to increase the flow of chi throughout one's system. These exercises promote emotional balance, mental clarity, and an optimum physical state. Students will learn about the unique physiological benefits as well as how to apply these exercises to their instrument, daily activities, and creative endeavors. In addition, students will learn how qigong can act as a catalyst for healing or preventing an overuse injury and other health maladies. By the end of the course, students will be more able to conduct the inner orchestra of their mind, body, heart, and spirit through a state of relaxed awareness.
Tai chi can provide you with a way to maintain your sanity and health throughout life, both as a musician and as the person you are. The twelve moves of Integral Tai Chi will help you to stay grounded and will contribute to enhancing your creative and musical self. This course will explore the fundamentals of Integral Tai Chi, a system based on martial arts, yet tailored into a gentle, graceful set of movements. Tai chi is performed more slowly, more as a meditative form of exercise. Students will learn these twelve moves in a progressive method, enabling anyone to perform each movement at their own level of comfort. The course will also focus on breathing and awareness techniques to increase the flow of chi throughout one's system, promoting emotional balance, mental clarity, and an optimum physical state. Recent studies have shown physiological benefits include stress reduction, pain reduction, regulation of the lymphatic system, regulation of blood pressure, increased immunity against invasive disease, and more. By the end of the course, students will be more able to conduct the inner orchestra of their mind, body, heart, and spirit through a state of relaxed awareness.
The ancient Chinese recognized that there is energy throughout the universe, called qi, and formed a discipline to master this energy: qigong. Through a series of exercises and meditations, this class teaches students how to awaken this force within and employ its power and wisdom to activate their inner creator. This course shows students how to play their instruments in various states of consciousness and clarity brought about using qigong. As well, this course helps students optimize relationships with bandmates and members of the audience through the practice of this discipline. Qigong can harmonize the emotions in order to tap the creative essence of the muse. It can also clarify one’s goals, both short and long term. Qigong promotes health and gives a sense of balance within a seemingly chaotic world.
Continuing with the themes introduced in PSH-238, this class further explores posture, movement, and breathing as it relates to music production. With a more developed sense of self in movement, students can focus their skill toward individual needs. Half of the class will be devoted to more challenging awareness through movement lessons, with each student meeting privately with the instructor over the course of the semester. Students will design a personal program for self-improvement and maintenance of comfortable and easy movement while practicing and performing. In addition to injury prevention, the course will aid students in developing their sensitivity, clarity, and power in music production.
With a firm foundation of the principles learned and practiced in PSH-P260 Tai Chi Chuan for Musicians 1, this course goes deeper into the art of tai chi and and its many benefits. Students learn additional postures and two-person push hands (also called sensing hands), and further refine their body mechanics. Students move with internal energy while differentiating this energy from locked-in muscle tension. This course emphasizes how the sensitivity acquired through this practice relates to healthier technique, performance, and endurance. Students review the first 20 postures of the 60 movement form from PSH-P260 Tai Chi Chuan for Musicians 1 and learn the remaining 40. Once the complete choreography is learned, this entire sequence can be incorporated into a daily wellness practice to support overall health and well-being in a short amount of time. |
East India Company
|See our interactive map of|
17th cent HEIC Factories
on Google Maps
The East India Company (EIC) was also known as the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) and 'John Company'. It was a joint-stock company that was granted an English Royal Charter on December 31, 1600 by Elizabeth I. The British East India Company started out as a commercial trading venture, but grew in strength and eventually virtually ruled India until the Indian Mutiny in 1857.
- East India Company Factories
- East India Company Army
- East India Company Acts of Parliament
- HEIC Early Voyages
- Occupations for information about East India Company employees including
- Records within The National Archives Relating to the East India Company
- Honourable East India Company Wikipedia
- "Unit 2 BRITISH ADMINISTRATION:1757-1858” from the Indira Gandhi National Open University pdf version and html version. This India List post dicusses the "Secret Department" and other Departments,, based on information from the preceding link.
- Poplar High Street [London]: The Church of St Matthias and the East India Company’s Almshouses from British History Online
- East India Company London workers British Library blog Untold Lives 17 October 2011
- The East India Company slaving voyage of Nicholas Skottowe British Library blog Untold Lives 9 January 2012
- The East India Company - a view www.sscnet.ucla.edu
- "Loot: In search of the East India Company" by Nick Robins originally written 2003 corporate-rule.co.uk
- The East India Company: The Company that ruled the waves The Economist 17 December 2011
- This British Raj thread is about the schooling of some HEIC recruits.
- In Our Time - The East India Company. BBC 4 Radio Program presented by Melvyn Bragg.
- Blame the British Raj on bankers: One community played a significant role in helping the British take over the country’s administration by Aakar Patel Friday 6 April 2012. livemint.com
Historical books online
- Annals of the Honorable East-India Company: From Their Establishment by the Charter of Queen Elizabeth, 1600, to the Union of the London and English East-India Companies, 1707-8 by John Bruce (1810). Google Books: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
- A Sketch of the History of the East-India company: from its first formation to the passing of the Regulating act of 1773; with a summary view of the changes which have taken place since that period in the internal administration of British India by Robert Grant (1813) Google Books
- An analysis of the constitution of the East-India company, and of the laws passed by Parliament for the government of their affairs, at home and abroad: To which is prefixed, a brief history of the company, and of the rise and progress of the British power in India by Peter Auber (1826). The Appendix contains names of important officials - eg. Governor Generals, Commanders-in Chief of Armies, Members of Council. Google Books
- Supplement to An analysis of the constitution of the East-India Company: and of the laws passed by Parliament for the government of their affairs, at home and abroad : to which is prefixed, a brief history of the Company, and of the rise and progress of the British Power in India by Peter Auber (1828). Covers the period May 1826 to 1828. Google Books
- Descriptive List of Secret Department Records 1784 National Archives of India 1970 Volume 5 Google Books
- Letters Received by the East India Company from Its Servants in the East: transcribed from India Office Records Archive.org
- Volume 1 1602-1613 1896 Volume 2 1613-1615 1897 Volume 3 1615 1899 Volume 4 1616 1900 Volume 5 1617 January to June 1901 Volume 6, 1617 July-December 1902
- The English Factories in India: A Calendar of Documents in the India Office, British Museum and Public Records Office by William Foster Archive.org
- 1618-1621 1906 1622-1623 1908 1624-1629 1909 1630-1633 1910 1634-1636 1911 1637-41 1912 1642-45 1913 1646-1650 1914 1651-1654 1915 1655-1660 1921 1661-1664 1923. Volume 12,1665-1667 and Volume 13,1668-1669 are available to read online on the Digital Library of India website
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series edited by W Noel Sainsbury Archive.org
- Volume 2 East Indies, China and Japan 1513-1616 1862, Volumes 3 and 4: East Indies, China and Japan 1617-1621 and 1622-1624 are not available online, Volume 6 East Indies, China and Persia 1625-1629 1884 Volume 8 East Indies and Persia 1630-1634 1892
- A Calendar of the Court Minutes, Etc. of the East India Company by Ethel Bruce Sainsbury Archive.org
- The early annals of the English in Bengal, being the Bengal public consultations for the first half of the eighteenth century, summarised, extracted, and edited with introductions and illustrative addenda by Charles Robert Wilson Archive.org. Volume 1 1704-1710 1895, Volume 2 Part 1 1711-1717 1900
- Bengal; its Chiefs, Agents, and Governors by Frederick Charles Danvers 1888 Archive.org
- "State of the Company’s Service in 1765"-Lord Clive to the Court of Directors , page 465 from Lives of Indian Officers: Illustrative of the History of the Civil and Military Service of India Volume 1 by John William Kaye (1867) Google Books
- Early revenue history of Bengal, and the Fifth Report, 1812 by Frank David Ascoli 1917 Archive.org
- Treaties and grants from the country powers, to the East India company, respecting their presidency of Fort St. George, Fort-William and Bombay from the year 1756 to 1772 1774 Google Books
- An authentic copy of the correspondence in India: Between the Country Powers and the Honourable the East India Company's Servants : Containing Amongst Many Others the Letters of Governor Hastings...&c, Together with the Minutes of the Supreme Council at Calcutta : the Whole Forming a Collection of the Most Interesting India-papers, which Were Laid Before Parliament in the Session of 1786 Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6
- A collection of treaties, engagements, and sunnuds, relating to India and neighbouring countries, compiled by C U Aitchison Google Books Index Volume 1866.
- Volume 1 Bengal, Burmah and the Eastern Archipelago 1862, Volume 2 The N. W. Provinces, Oudh, Nipal, the Punjab and the States on the Punjab Frontier 1863
- Volume 3 The Peishwa, Nagpore and Bundelcund 1863 Archive.org, Volume 4 Rajpootana, Central India, and Malwa. 1864
- Volume 5 Hyderabad, Mysore, Coorg, the Madras Presidency, and Ceylon 1864, Volume 6 The States within the Bombay Presidency. 1864
- Volume 7 Sindh, Beloochistan, Persia, and Herat; Turkish Arabia and The Persian Gulf; and The Arabian and African Coasts. With a supplement 1865.
- Some later editions are available on the website Archive.org
- Memoir On The Affairs of the East India Company pub J.L.Cox London 1830 - archive.org |
The first stars, which formed 400 million years after the Big Bang, were massive, short-lived beasts. But their deaths scattered the heavier elements into the Universe, which eased the formation of smaller stars like our Sun. The heavier elements were also essential for the formation of another feature of our Solar System: the planets.
But just because the raw materials for planets were in place, it doesn't mean that the conditions were appropriate for their formation. But a new discovery, made using data from the Kepler mission, suggests what the authors call the "era of planet formation" didn't take too long. The discovery is the Kepler-444 system, which contains five small rocky planets that formed over 11 billion years ago.
As far as the Kepler data was concerned, Kepler-444 was simply a single star with evidence of transiting planets. But an international team of researchers took a closer look with Hawaii's Keck I telescope, which has a significantly higher resolving power than Kepler. And there they spotted a separate object, orbiting with a period of 430 years. An examination of the light from this revealed that it was a binary containing two red dwarfs. That makes Kepler-444 a three-star system.
The third star, the largest of the set, is still somewhat smaller than the Sun (about three-quarters of its mass), putting it in the category called "K dwarfs."
Kepler had seen evidence of five separate transiting planets, but hadn't been able to confirm their existence. By examining the system more closely, the authors are able to conclude that these are very likely to be real planets. To begin with, the host star is unusually fast moving; if there were a background object creating effects that look like transits, its position relative to Kepler-444 would have shifted over time. An examination of archival footage shows nothing of the sort.
The planets themselves are also at what are called resonance points, in that their gravitational interactions should stabilize their orbits. And, if placed around one of the neighboring red dwarfs, the orbits would become unstable. Based on all of these features, the authors conclude that all five signals from Kepler-444 represent planets.
It's a tightly packed system, with the most distant planet completing an orbit in less than ten days and the closest needing only 3.6 days. All of the planets are also small, with radii ranging from 0.4 times that of Earth up to 0.7 times; they increase in size as you get farther from their host star. Because of their small size, the authors conclude that the bodies are almost certainly rocky, and likely Earth-like in composition.
That's also what you'd predict based on the composition of the host star, which has very low levels of heavier elements (technically termed "metal poor"). You might think that heavier elements would be needed to form rocky planets, but it has turned out that you need lots of them to form gas giants. That's because gas giants form by the quick growth of a large, rocky body that's then able to pull in lots of gas via gravity.
Metal poor stars are also typically old, as they've formed before multiple rounds of star birth and death have produced lots of heavier elements. To find out how old, the authors turned to asteroseismology, the study of the equivalent of seismic waves humming through the star, causing it to pulse. Certain types of pulses occur with a regularity that changes with the age of the star.
Thanks to a detailed analysis (which involved, in part, a software package called "Asteroseismology Made Easy"), the authors came up with an estimate of Kepler-444's age: 11.2 billion years. That's only about two billion years after the deaths of the first stars and means these planets were seven billion years old by the time the Earth formed.
That suggests that the era of planet formation probably began shortly after the elements were created that could support it. Which has implications for the presence of life elsewhere in the galaxy; even if you assume life is very improbable, that many billions of years can skew the odds pretty dramatically. |
Answers to common questions about doing research and using the library.
| 0 0 | Last updated on Aug 29, 2017 glossary
Peer review is a rigorous process most scholarly articles undergo before they are published. This means scholars in the author's field or discipline review and evaluate the article for quality and validity. If lacking, the article may be rejected. Reviewers often offer suggestions for revision as a condition of acceptance.
If you need help determining if a source is peer-reviewed, contact us or talk with your professor. |
Epitome of Roman History/Book 2
- CHAP. XIII. THE SEDITIOUS NATURE OF THE TRIBUNITIAL POWER.
The Tribunitial Power furnished occasions for all kinds of seditions; a power which, under pretence of maintaining the rights of the common people, (for whose protection it was established,) but in reality to acquire power for itself, courted the favour of the populace by proposing laws respecting the division of lands, the distribution of corn, and the disposal of judicial proceedings. In all these laws there was indeed a colour of equity. For what was more just, than that the commons should have their full rights from the senate, that a people who had conquered all other nations, and was master of the world, might not live without altars and hearths of their own? What was more equitable, than that the poorest class of people should be maintained from the public treasury of their country? What was more conducive to the security of equal liberty, than that, while the senate settled the provinces, the authority of the equestrian order should be supported by judicial privileges? Yet these very objects led to harm, and the unhappy state became a prize for its own overthrow. For the transference of the judicial power from the senate to the knights, caused peculation with regard to taxes, the patrimony of the of the government; while the purchase of corn exhausted the treasury, the nerves of the commonwealth. And how could the common people be put in possession of lands, but by the ejection of those that already occupied them, who were themselves a part of the people, and who moreover held their estates, as bequeathed to them from their forefathers, by prescription of time and right of inheritance?
- CHAP. XIV. THE SEDITION OF TIBERIUS GRACCHUS.
Tiberius Gracchus kindled the first flame of contention, a man who was unquestionably the first in Rome for family, person, and eloquence. But he, whether dreading to be involved in the odium of Mancinus's surrender, (as he had been one of the sureties for the performance of that treaty,) and joining in consequence the popular party, or moved by a regard to equity and justice, and taking pity on the commons, in order that a people who had conquered all other nations, and was master of the world, might continue exiles from their own altars and hearths, or from whatever motive he acted, entered upon a great political measure, and, when the day for propounding the bill for it was come, ascended the Rostra attended with a vast train of followers; nor did the nobility, on the other side, fail to meet him with a body of opponents, among whom were the rest of the tribunes. But when Gracchus observed Cnaeus Octavius opposing his laws, he laid hands upon him, in violation of the rights of the tribunitial body and the privileges of their office, and thrust him from the Rostra; and, besides, put him so much in fear of instant death, that he was obliged to lay down his office. Gracchus was in consequence made one of three commissioners for the division of the lands. But when, to complete his objects, he requested, at the comitia, that his term of office might be prolonged, and a party of the nobility, and of those whom he had expelled from their lands, rose up against him, a sanguinary conflict ensued in the forum. Having, upon this, fled to the Capitol, and exhorting the people to save his life, touching his head, at the same time, with his hand, he excited the idea that he was asking for royalty and a diadem. The people, therefore, at the instigation of Scipio Nasica, being roused to take up arms, he was, with apparent justice, put to death.
- CHAP. XV. THE SEDITION OF CAIUS GRACCHUS.
Shortly after, Caius Gracchus was animated with equal ardour to become the avenger of his brother's death and the maintainer of his laws. Endeavouring, accordingly, with similar tumult and terror, to reinstate the people in their forefathers' lands, promising them the late bequest of Attalus for their support, and becoming elated and influential by means of a second tribuneship, he pursued for a time, with the support of the common people, and apparently successful course; but when Minucius, another of the tribunes, ventured to oppose his laws, he had the boldness, relying on the aid of partisans, to take possession of the Capitol so fatal to his family. Being driven thence, with a great slaughter among his party, he sought refuge on Mount Aventine, where, a number of the senators assailing him, he was cut off by the consul Opimius. Insult was also offered to his dead body; and the sacred head of a tribune of the people was paid for to his assassins with its weight in gold.
- CHAP. XVI. THE SEDITION OF APULEIUS.
Apuleius Saturninus, however, still persisted to promote the laws of the Gracchi, so much was he encouraged by Marius, who, being always an enemy to the nobility, and presuming, moreover, on his consulship, endeavoured, after killing openly, at the comitia, Annius his competitor for the tribunate, to introduce in his stead one Caius Gracchus, a man without tribe or name, but who, by a forged pedigree, had represented himself as one of the family of the Gracchi.
Apuleius, exulting with impunity amidst so many and so great outrages, applied himself, with such determination, to pass the laws of the Gracchi, that he even prevailed upon the senate to take an oath to promote his object, threatening such as hesitated that he would procure their exile.</ref>That he would procure their exile] Aqua et igni interdicturem. "That he would interdict from fire and water," the common form of words used in the sentence of banishment.</ref> Yet there was one who chose exile rather than to take the oath. After the banishment of Metellus, therefore, when the nobility were greatly dispirited, and when he was domineering in his third year, he proceeded to such a height of audacity, that he even disturbed the consular comitia with a new murder. In order to make Glaucias, an abettor of his insanity, consul, he ordered his rival Caius Memmius to be slain, and, in the midst of the consequent tumult, joyfully heard himself called king by his followers. But the senate afterwards combining against him, and Marius, as he was no longer able to support him, becoming his opponent, a pitched battle was fought in the forum, and, being driven from the field, he took refuge in the Capitol. Being, however, besieged, and deprived of water, and producing in the minds of the senators, by the representations of his deputies, a belief that he repented of what he had done, he was allowed to come down from the Capitol, and was received, with the leaders of his party, into the senate-house, when the people, bursting into the building, overwhelmed him with sticks and stones, and tore him to pieces before he was dead.
- CHAP. XVII. THE SEDITION OF DRUSUS.
Last of all, Livius Drusus, depending not only on the influence of the tribuneship, but on the authority of the senate, and the consent of all Italy, endeavoured to promote the same laws, and, by attempting one thing after another, excited so violent a combustion in the state, that not even the first flash of it could be endured; and, being cut off by a sudden death, he left a war as an inheritance to his posterity. The Gracchi, by their law respecting the judicial power, had divided the Roman people into two parties, and made of one nation a state with two heads. The Roman knights, feeling strong in such extraordinary privileges, as having the lives and fortunes of the greatest men in their hands, were, by intercepting the public revenues, robbing the state at their pleasure; while the senate, weakened by the banishment of Metellus and the condemnation of Rutilius, had lost all the pride of their dignity. In this state of affairs, Servilius Caepio and Livius Drusus, men equal in wealth, spirit, and dignity, (whence the rivalship that animated Drusus arose,) proceeded to maintain, the former the cause of the equestrian order, and the latter that of the senate. Standards, eagles, and banners accompanied each, and there was as much hostility in one city as there could have been in two camps. Caepio, in the first place, making an attack upon the senate, singled out Scaurus and Philippus, leaders among the nobility, to prosecute them for bribery at elections. Drusus, to oppose these proceedings, attracted the populace to his side by the prospect of passing the laws of the Gracchi, and inspired the allies, by means of the same laws, with the hope of obtaining the civic franchise. There is a saying of his remembered, "that he left nothing for any one to give away, unless he would distribute dust or air." The day for proposing the bills arrived, when suddenly so vast a multitude showed themselves on all sides, that the city seemed to be beset with a crowd of enemies. Yet the consul Philippus ventured to oppose the bills; but an officer, seizing him by the throat, did not let him go till the blood gushed from his mouth and eyes. The bills were accordingly proposed and passed by force. But the allies, immediately afterwards, demanded the civic franchise which had been offered as the price of their assisting to pass them, when death, meantime, carried off Drusus, who was unable to keep his word, and who was sick of the disturbances which he had rashly excited; a death very seasonable at such a crisis. Nevertheless, the allies did not, on that account, cease to demand, by force of arms, the performance of Drusus's promise from the Roman people.
- CHAP. XVIII. THE WAR WITH THE ALLIES.
Though this war be called a war with the allies, to extenuate the odium of it, it was, if we acknowledge the truth, a civil war. For as the people of Rome united in itself the Etrurians, the Latins, and the Sabines, and derives one blood from them all, it formed one body of those several members, and is one people composed of them all. Nor did the allies with less disgrace excite an insurrecton within Italy than the citizens within the city.
When the allies, therefore, had with great justice demanded the freedom of a city which they had strengthened by their exertions, (with the hope of which Drusus, from a desire of getting power, had inspired them,) the same firebrand that burned Drusus, inflamed the allies, after he was cut off by the perfidy of his fellow-citizens, to take up arms and attack the city. Than such an outbreak what could be more sad, what more calamitous? when all Latium and Picenum, all Etruria and Campania, and at last Italy itself, rose up in arms against their metropolis and parent; when those monsters of ingratitude from the municipal towns led all the flower of our most brave and faithful allies under their several standards, Popedius heading the Marsians, Afranius the Latins, their whole senate and consuls the Umbrians, and Telesinus the Samnites and Lucanians; and when a people that was arbiter of princes and nations could not govern itself, and Rome, that had conquered Asia and Europe, was assailed from Corfinium.
The first step in the war was to have been taken on the Alban Mount, when, on the destival of the Latin Feriae, the consuls, Julius Caesar and Marcus Philippus, were to have been assassinated amidst the sacrifices and altars. That atrocity being prevented by a discovery, the whole fury of the war burst forth at Asculum, where certain commissioners, who had come from Rome, were slain in the midst of a crowd at the public games. This outrage bound them, as it were by an oath, to prosecute this impious war. Immediately, therefore, the various signals for hostilities sounded through tribes and cities from every quarter of Italy, Popedius, the leader and authro of the war, hurrying about from one place to another. Neither the devastation spread by Hannibal, nor that by Pyrrhus, was so great as the present. Ocriculum and Grumentum, Fesulae and Carseoli, Reate, Nuceria, and Picentia, were laid waste with slaughter, fire, and sword. The forces of Rutilius, the forces of Caepio, were alike defeated. Julius Caesar himself, having lost his army, and being brought back to Rome covered with blood, passed through the city a wretched corpse. But the great good fortune of the Roman people, always more remarkable in adversity than prosperity, rose again in all its might. Their generals, respectively, defeated the people whom they attacked; Cato dispersed the Etrurians, Gabinius the Marsians, Carbo the Lucanians, Sylla the Samnites; and Pompeius Strabo, laying waste the country about Asculum with fire and sword, did not cease from destroying, till, by the overthrow of the place, he had made atonement to the manes of so many armies and consuls, and to the gods of so many devastated cities.
- CHAP. XIX. THE WAR AGAINST THE SLAVES.
Though, in the preceding war, we fought with our allies, (which was bad enough,) yet we contended with free men, and men of good birth: but who can with patience hear of a war against slaves on the part of a people at the head of all nations? The first was with slaves occurred in the infancy of Rome, in the heart of the city, when Herdonius Sabinus was their leader, and when, while the state was distracted with the seditions of the tribunes, the Capitol was besieged and wrested by the consul from the servile multitude. But this was an insurrection rather than a war. At a subsequent period, when the forces of the empire were engaged in different parts of the world, who would believe that Sicily was much more cruelly devastated by a war with slaves than in that with the Carthaginians? This country, fruitful in corn, and, in a manner, a suburban province, was covered with large estates of many Roman citizens; and the numerous slave-houses, and fettered tillers of the ground, supplied enough force for a war. A certain Syrian, by name Eunus, (the greatness of our defeats from him makes us remember it,) counterfeiting a fanatical inspiration, and tossing his hair in honour of the Syrian goddess, excited the slaves, by command of heaven as it were, to claim their liberty and take up arms. And that he might prove this to be done by supernatural direction, he concealed a nut in his mouth, which he had filled with brimstone and fire, and, breathing gently, sent forth flame together with his words. This prodigy at first attracted two thousand of such as came in his way; but in a short time, by breaking open the slave-houses, he collected a force of above sixty thousand; and, being adorned with ensigns of royalty, that nothing might be wanting to his audacity, he laid waste, with lamentable desolation, fortresses, towns, and villages. The camps even of praetors (the utmost disgrace of war) were taken by him; nor will I shrink from giving their names; they were the camps of Manilius, Lentulus, Piso, and Hypsaeus. Thus those, who ought to have been dragged home by slave-takers, persued praetorian generals routed in battle. At last vengeance was taken on them by our general Perperna; for having conquered them, and at last besieged them in Enna, and reduced them with famine as with a pestilence, he threw the remainder of the marauders into chains, and then crucified them. But over such enemies he was content with an ovation, that he might not sully the dignity of a triumph with the name of slaves.
Scarcely had the island recovered itself, when it passed from the hands of a Syrian slave to those of a Cilician. Athenio, a shepherd, having killed his master, formed his slaves, whom he had released from the slave-house, into a regular troop. Then, equipped with a purple robe and a silver sceptre, and with a crown on his head like a king, he drew together no less an army than the fanatic his predecessor, and laying waste, with even greater fury, (as if taking vengeance for his fate,) villages, fortresses, and towns, he vented his rage upon the masters, but still more violently on the slaves, whom he treated as renegades. By him, too, some armies of praetors were overthrown, and the camps of Servilius and Lucullus taken. But Aquilius, following the example of Perperna, reduced the enemy to extremites by cutting off his supplies, and easily destroyed by famine forces which were well defended by arms. They would have surrendered, had they not, from dread of punishment, preferred a voluntary death. Not even on their leader could chastisement be inflicted, though he fell alive into our hands, for while the people were disputing who should secure him, the prey was torn to pieces between the contending parties.
- CHAP. XX. THE WAR AGAINST SPARTACUS.
We may, however, support the dishonour of a war with slaves, for though they are, by their circumstances, subjected to all kinds of treatment, they are yet, as it were, a second class of men, and may be admitted to the enjoyment of liberty with ourselves. But the war raised by the efforts of Spartacus I know not what name to call, for the soldiers in it were slaves, and the commanders gladiators; the former being persons of the meanest condition, and the latter men of the worst character, and adding to the calamity of their profession by its contempibleness. Spartacus, Crixus, and Oenomaus, breaking out of the fencing school of Lentulus, escaped from Capua, with not more than thirty of the same occupaion, and, having called the slaves to their standard, and collected a force of more than ten thousand men, were not content with merely having escaped, but were eager to take vengeance on their masters. The first theatre for action that attracted them was Mount Vesuvius. Here, being besieged by Clodius Glaber, they slid down a passage in the hollow part of the mountain, by means of ropes made of vine-branches, and pentrated to the very bottom of it; when, issuing forth by an outlet apparently impracticable, they captured, by a sudden attack, the camp of the Roman general, who expected no molestation. They afterwards took other camps, and spread themselves to Cora, and through the whole of Campania. Not content with plundering the country seats and villages, they ravaged, with terrible devastation, Nola and Nuceria, Thurii and Metapontum. Being joined with new forces day after day and forming themselves into a regular army, they made themselves, out fo osiers and beasts' hides, a rude kind of shields, and out of the iron from the slave-houses forged swords and other weapons. And that nothing proper might be wanting to the complement of the army, they procured cavalry by breaking in the herds of horses that came in their way, and conferred upon their leader the ensigns and fasces that they took from the praetors. Nor did he, who of a mercenary Thracian had become a Roman soldier, of a soldier a deserter and robber, and afterwards, from consideration of his strength, a gladiator, refuse to receive them. He afterwards, indeed, celebrated the funerals of his own officers, who died in battle, with the obsequies of Roman generals, and obliged the prisoners to fight with arms at their funeral piles, just as if he could atone for all past dishonours by becoming, from a gladiator, an exhibitor of shows of gladiators. Engaging next with the armies of the consuls, he cut to pieces that of Lentulus, near the Apennines, and destroyed the camp of Caius Cassius at Mutina. Elated by which success, he deliberated (which is sufficient disgrace for us) about assailing the city of Rome. At length an effort was made against this swordsman with the whole force of the empire, and Licinius Crassus avenged the honour of Rome, by whom the enemies (I am ashamed to call them so) being routed and put to flight, betook themselves to the furthest parts of Italy. Here, being shut up in a corner in Bruttium, and attempting to escape into Sicily, but having no ships, and having in vain tried, on the swift current of the strait, to sail on rafts made of hurdles and casks tied together with twigs, they at last sallied forth, and died a death worthy of men. As was fitting under a gladiator captain, they fought without sparing themselves. Spartacus himself, fighting with the utmost bravery in the front of the battle, fell as became their general.
- CHAP. XXI. THE CIVIL WAR OF MARIUS AND SYLLA.
This only was wanting to complete the misfortunes of the Romans, that they should raise an unnatural war among themselves, and that, in the midst of the city and forum, citizens should fight with citizens, like gladiators in an amphitheatre. I should bear the calamity, however, with greater patience, if plebeian leaders or contemptible nobles had been at the head of such atrocity; but even Marius and Sylla, (O indignity! such men, such generals!) the grace and glory of their age, lent their eminent characters to this worst of evils. It was carried on, if I may use the expression, under three constellations, the first movement being light and moderate, an affray rather than a war, for the violence prevailed only between the leaders themselves; in the next rising, the victory spread with greater cruelty and bloodshed, through the very bowels of the whole senate; the third conflict exceeded not merely animosity between citizens, but that between enemies, the fury of the war being supported by the strength of all Italy, and rancour raging till none remained to be killed.
The origin and cause of the war was Marius's insatiable ambition of honours, in endeavouring to procure for himself the province decreed to Sylla by a law of Sulpicius.</ref>A law of Sulpicius] Silpicia lege. Sulpicius was a tribune of the people who had procured a law to be passed for this purpose.</ref> Sylla, provoked at this injustice, immediately led back his legions, and, putting off the war with Mithridates, poured two bodies of troops into the city by the Esquiline and Colline gates. Here Sulpicius and Albinovanus designedly throwing their troops in his way, and sticks, stones, and other weapons, being discharged on him on all sides from the walls, he himself also threw weapons in return, and forced a passage even by fire, and triumphantly occupied the citadel on the Capitoline hill as a captured fortress, a place which had escaped being taken by the Carthaginians and the Gauls. Having then, by a decree of the senate, pronounced his opponents enemies to the state, he proceeded to the utmost severities, by forms of law, upon the tribune who was present, and others of the adverse faction. Flight like that of slave saved Marius, or rather Fortune preserved him for another war.
In the consulship of Cornelius Cinna and Cnaeus Octavius, the fire, which had been but imperfectly suppressed, burst forth afresh, ebing excited, indeed, by a disagreement between the consuls themselves, on a proposal being made to the senate for recalling such as the senate had declared enemies. The assembly met armed with swords, but the party that preferred peace and quiet prevailing, Cinna was driven from the country, and fled to join Marius. Marius then returned from Africa, the greater for his misfortunes; for the report of his imprisonment, chains, flight, and exile, had surrounded his dignity with a certain awe. At the name of so great a man people flocked together from all parts; slaves, (a disgraceful proceeding,) and persons condemned to the prisons, were armed in his cause; and the unhappy general easily found an army. Claiming by force, therefore, a restoration to his country from which he had by force been expelled, he might seem to have acted with justice, had he not stained his cause with cruelty. But as he returned at enmity with gods and men, at the first irruption of his fury, Ostia, the ward and foster-child of the city, was pillaged with miserable havoc; and his army next entered Rome in four bodies, Cinna, Marius, Carbo, and Sertorius, dividing the troops amongst them. Here, when the whole force of Octavius had been driven from the Janiculum, and a signal had been immediately after given for the slaughter of the leading men, somewhat more cruelty was shown than would have been practiced in a town of the Carthaginians or the Cimbri. The head of the consul Octavius was exposed upon the Rostra; that of Antonius, who had held the consulship, was displayed on Marius's dining-table; the Caesars were killed by Fimbria in the midst of their own household-gods; the two Crassi, father and son, each in the sight of the other; the hooks of the executioners dragged Baebius and Numitorius through the middle of the forum; Catulus released himself from the insults of his enemies by swallowing fire; Merula, the priest of Jupiter, sprinked the face of Jupiter himself with blood from his veins; Ancharius was stabbed in the sight of Marius himself, because, forsooth, he did not stretch out that fatal hand Such and so many deaths of senators did the seventh consulship of Marius produce, between the calends and ides of the month of January. What would have happened if he had completed the year of his consulship?
In the consulate of Scipio and Norbanus the third tempest of civil rage thundered forth with its whole fury, eight legions, and five hundred cohorts, being ranged in arms on the one side, and on the other Sylla returning from Asia with his victorious army. And since Marius had been so cruel to the party of Sylla, how much further cruelty was necessary that Sylla might be avenged on Marius? The first conflict took place at Capua, near the river Vulturnus, where the army of Norbanus was instantly put to flight, and the forces of Scipio, immediately afterwards, surprised, while hopes of peace were held out to them. The younger Marius and Carbo, being then made consuls, as if despairing of ultimate victory, but purposing not to fall unavenged, sacrificed to their own manes, as it were, beforehand, with the blood of the senate; and the senate-house being beset, its members were led forth, as prisoners from a gaol, to be put to death. What slaughters were committed in the Forum, in the Circus, in the open temples! Quintus Mucius Scaevola, one of the pontifices, embracing the Vestal altars, was almost buried in the same fire with them. Lamponius and Telesinus, eladers of the Samnites, wasted Campania and Etruria more cruelly than Pyrrhus and Hannibal had done, and revenged themselves under pretence of supporting their party. But at Sacriportus, and the Colline gate, all the forces of Marius were defeated. At the former place Marius, at the latter Telesinus, was conquered. the end of the war, however, was not the end of the massacres; for swords were drawn even in peae, and vengeance was taken even on such as had voluntarily surrendered. It was a less atrocity that Sylla cut to pieces more than seventy thousand men at Sacriportus and the Colline gate, for it was then war; but it was a greater than he ordered four thousand unarmed citizens to be butchered in the Villa Publica. Were there so many killed in peace, and no more? Who, inded, can reckon those whom every one that would, killed in the city? until Fufidius admonishing Sylla that "some ought to be left alive, that there might be people for them to rule," that great proscription-list was put forth, and two thousand were selected, out of the equestrian and senatorial orders, to be sentenced to die. This was an edict of a new kind. It grieves me to state, after these proceedings, that the deaths of Carbo, Soranus the praetor, and Venuleius, were subjects of sport; that Baebius was severed limb from limb, not by the sword, but by the hands of men, like wild beasts; and that Marius, the brother of the general, was kept alive awhile at the sepulchre of Catulus, his eyes being put out, and his hands and legs being cut off one after another, that he might die as it were piecemeal.
When the punishments of individuals were nearly over, the first municipal towns of Italy were put up to sale, Spoletium, Interamniusm, Praeneste, and Florence. As to Sulmo, an ancient city in alliance and friendship with us, Sylla (a heinous act) ordered it, though not taken by siege, to be destroyed; just as enemies condemned by the law of arms, and malefactors sentenced to death, are ordered to be led to execution.
- CHAP. XXII. THE WAR WITH SERTORIUS.
What was the war with Sertorius but a consequence of Sylla's proscription? Whether I should call it a war with foreign enemies, or a civil war, I do not know, as it was one which Lusitanians and Celtiberians carried on under the conduct of a Roman. Sertorius, a man of great but unsuccessful ability, becoming an exile and fugitive from that fatal proscription, disturned sea and land in consequence of his ill-treatment; and, trying his fortune, at one time in Africa, and at another in the Balearic isles, and being driven over the Ocean, went as far as the fortunate Islands, and at length armed Spain. A brave man easily unites himself with brave men; nor did the valour of the Spanish soldiery ever appear greater than under a Roman general. Nor was he indeed content with Spain, but extended his views to Mithridates and the people of Pontus, and assisted that king with a fleet. And what would have happened if they had formed a junction? The Roman state could not withstand so powerful an enemy as Sertorius by means of one general only. To Metellus was joined Cnaeus Pompey: and these two wasted his forces for a long time, though always with doubtful success; nor was he at last subdued in the field, until he was betrayed by the villainy and treachery of those about him. Having pursued his forces through almost all Spain, they were long in reducing them, the contests being always such that victory was dubious. The first battles were fought under the command of the lieutenant-generals; Domitius and Thorius making a commencement on one side, and the brothers Herculeii on the other. Soon afterwards, the two latter being overthrown at Segovia, and the former at the river of Anas, the generals themselves tried their strength in the field, and at Lauron and Sucro suffered equal loss on both sides. Part of our army them devoting itself to the devastation of the country, and part to the destruction of the cities, unhappy Spain suffered for the disagreement between the Roman generals, till Sertorius, being cut off by the treachery of his people, and Perperna being defeated and given up, the cities themselves submitted to the power of the Romans, as Osca, Termes, Tutia, Valentia, Auxima, and, after having endured the extremity of famine, Calagurris. Spain was thus restored to peace. The victorious generals would have the war accounted rather a foreign than a civil one, that they might have the honour of a triumph.
- CHAP. XXIII. THE CIVIL WAR UNDER LEPIDUS.
In the consulship of Marcus Lepidus, and Quintus Catulus, a civil war that was kindled was suppressed almost before it began; but how violent was it! It was a spark of the great civil contention that had spread abroad its fires from the very funeral pile of Sylla. For Lepidus, in his presumption, being eager for a change in the state of affairs, prepared to annul the acts of that eminent man, and not indeed unjustly, if he could have done so without much injury to the commonwealth. But he would not; for since Sylla, as dictator, had proscribed his enemies by the right of war, if Lepidus recalled those of them that survived, for what other end were they recalled than for a war? And since Sylla had assigned the estates of the condemned citizens, though seized unjustly, yet by form of law, a demand for their restitution would no dount disturn the city that was now tranquillised. It was expedient, therefore, for the sick and wounded republic to continue upon any terms, lest its wounds should be torn open by the dressing.
Lepidus, then, having alarmed the state, as with the blast of a trumpet, by his turbulent harangues, set out for Etruria, and thence brought arms and an army against Rome. But Lutatius Catulus and Cnaeus Pompey, the captains and ringleaders under Sylla's tyranny, had previously occupied the Milvian bridge, and the Janiculan hill, with another army. Being repulsed by these generals in the first encounter, and afterwards declared an enemy by the senate, he fled back, without loss, to Etruria, and thence retired to Sardinia, where he died of disease and sorrow of mind. The conquerors, which was scarcely ever the case in the civil wars, were content with re-establishing peace.
- BOOK IV.
- CHAP. I. THE INSURRECTION OF CATILINE.
It was in the first place expensive indulgence, and, the next, the want of means occasioned by it, with a fair opportunity at the same time, (for the Roman forces were then abroad in the remotest part of the world,) that led Catiline to form the atrocious design of subjugating his country. With what accomplices (direful to relate!) did he undertake to murder the senate, to assassinate the consuls, to destroy the city by fire. to plunder the treasury, to subvert the entire government, and to commit such outrages as not even Hannibal seems to have contemplated! He was himself a patrician; but this was only a small consideration; there were joined with him the Curii, the Porcii, the Syllae, the Cethegi, and Antronii, the Varhunteii, the Longini, (what illustrious families, what ornaments of the senate!) and Lentulus also, who was then praetor. All these he had as supporters in his horrid attempt. As a pledge to unite them in the plot, human blood was introduced, which, being carried round in bowls, they drank amongst them; an act of the utmost enormity, had not that been more enormous for which they drank it. Then would have been an end of this glorious empire, if the conspiracy had not happened in the consulship of Cicero and Antonius, of whom one discovered the plot by vigilance, and the other suppressed it by arms.
The revelation of the atrocious project was made by Fulvia, a common harlot, but unwilling to be guilty of treason against her country. The consul Cicero, accordingly, having convoked the senate, amde a speech against the accused, who was then present in the house; but nothing further was effected by it, than that the enemy made off, openly and expressly declaring that he would extinguish the flame raised against him by a general ruin. He then set out to an army which had been prepared by Manlius in Etruria, intending to advance under arms against the city. Lentulus, meanwhile, promising himself the kingdom portended to his family by the Sibylline verses, disposed throughout the city, against a day appointed by Catiline, men, combustibles, and weapons. And not confined to plotting among the people of the city, the rage for the conspiracy, having excited the deputies of the Allobroges, who happened then to be at Rome, to give their voice in favour of war, would have spread beyond the Alps, had not a letter of Lentulus been intercepted through the information of Vulturcius. Hands were immediately laid on the barbarian deputies, by order of Cicero; and the praetor was openly convicted by the senate. When a consultation was held about their punishment, Caesar gave his opinion that they should be spared for the sake of their rank, Cato that they should suffer the penalty due to their crime. Cato's advice being generally adopted, the traitors were strangled in prison.
But though a portion of the conspirators were thus cut off, Catiline did not desist from this enterprise. Marching, however, with an army from Etruria against his country, he was defeated by a force of Antonius that encountered him on the way. How desperate the engagement was, the result manifested; for not a man of the rebel troops survived. Whatever place each had occupied in the battle, that very spot, when life was extinct, he covered with his corpse. Catiline was found, far in advance of his men, among the dead bodies of the enemy; a most glorious death, had he thus fallen for his country.
- CHAP. II. THE WAR BETWEEN CAESAR AND POMPEY.
Almost the whole world being now subdued, the Roman empire was grown too great to be overthrown by any foreign power. Fortune, in consequence, envying the sovereign people of the earth, armed it to its own destruction. The outrages of Marius and Cinna had already made a sort of prelude within the city, as if by way of trial. The storm of Sylla had thundered even further, but still within the bounds of Italy. The fury of Caesar and Pompey, as with a general deluge or conflagration, overran the city, Italy, other countries and nations, and finally the whole empire wherever it extended; so that it cannot properly be called a civil war, or war with allies; neither can it be termed a foreign war; but it was rather a war consisting of all these, or even something more than a war. If we look at the leaders in it, the whole of the senators were on one side or the other; if we consider the armies, there were on one side elevemn legions, and on the other eighteen, the entire flower and strength of the manhood of Italy; if we contemplate the auxiliary forces of the allies, there were on one side levies of Gauls and Germans, on the other Deiotarus, Ariobarzanes, Tarcondimotus, Cotys, and all the force of Thrace, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Macedonia, Greece, Aetolia, and all the East; if we regard the duration of the war, it was four years, a time short in proportion to the havoc made in it; if we attend to the space and ground on which it was conducted, it arose within Italy, whence it spread into Gaul and Spain, and, returning from the west, settled with its whole force on Epirus and Thessaly; hence it suddenly passed into Egypt, then turned towards Asia, next fell upon Africa, and at last wheeled back into Spain, where it at length found its termination. But the animosities of parties did not end with the war, nor subsided till the hatred of those who had been defeated satiated itself with the murder of the conqueror in the midst of the city and the senate.
The cause of this calamity was the same with that of all others, excessive good fortune. For in the consulship of Quintus Metellus and Lucius Afranius, when the majesty of Rome predominated thoughout the world, and Rome herself was celebrating, in the theatres of Pmpey, her recent victories and triumphs over Pontus and Armenia, the overgrown power of Pompey, as is usual in similar cases, excited among the idle citizens a feeling of envy towards him. Metellus, discontented at the diminution of his triumph over Crete, Cato, ever an enemy to those in power, calumniated Pompey, and raised a clamour against his acts. Resentment as such conduct drove Pompey to harsh measures, and impelled him to provide some support for his authority. Crassus happened at that time to be distinguished for family, wealth, and honour, but was desirous to have his power still greater. Caius Caesar had become eminent by his eloquence and spirit, and by his promotion to the consulate. Yet Pompey rose above them both. Caesar, therefore, being eager to acquire distinction, Crassus to increase what he had got, and Pompey to add to his, and all being equally covetous of power, they readily formed a compact to seize the government. Striving, accordingly, with their common forces, each for his own advancement, Caesar took the province of Gaul, Crassus that of Asia, Pompey that of Spain; they had three vast armies,, and thus the empire of the world was now held by these three leading personages. Ther government extended through ten years. At the expiration of this period, (for they had previously been kept in restraint by dread of one another,) a rivalry broke forth between Caesar and Pompey, consequent to the death of Crassus among the Parthians, and that of Julia, who, being married to Pompey, maintained a good understanding between the son-in-law and fathr-in-law by means of this matrimonial bond. But now the power of Caesar was an object of jealousy to Pompey, and the eminence of Pompey was offensive to Caesar. The one could not bear an equal nor the other a superior. Sad to relate, they struggled for mastery, as if the resources of so great an empire would not suffice for two. Accordingly, in the consulship of Lentulus and Marcellus, their first bond of union being broken, the senate, that is, Pompey, began to think of a successor to Caesar in the consulate; nor did Caesar refuse to comply with their wishes, if regard were but had to him at the following election. But the consulship, which ten tribunes of the people, with Pompey's approbation, had recently decreed him in his absence, was now, as Pompey remained neutral, refused him. It was insisted "that he should come and sue for it according to ancient usage." He, on the other hand, demanded what had been decreed him, and declared, that unless they adhered to their word, he would not part with his army. A decree was accordingly passes against him as an enemy.
Caesar, provoked at these proceedings, resolved to secure the rewards of arms by means of arms. The first scene of acion, in this civil war, was Italy, of which Pompey had occupied the strongholds with light garrisons. But they were all ovrpowered by the sudden advance of Caesar. The first signal for battle sounded from Ariminium, when Libo was expelled from Etruria, Thermus from Umbria, and Domitius from Corfinium. The war would have been finished without bloodshed, if Caesar could have surprised Pompey at Brundusium; and he would have surprised him, had he not escaped by night through the barricade of the beseiged harbour. Dishonourable to relate! he that was recently at the head of the senate, the arbiter of peace and war, fled across the sea, over which he had once triumphed, in a single vessel that was shattered and almost dismantled. Nor was Pompey driven from Italy sooner than the senate was forced from the city, which Caesar having entered, when it was almost evacuated from fear of him, created himself consul. The sacred treasury, too, as the tribunes were slow in unlocking it, he ordered to be broken open, seizing the revenue and property of the Roman people before he seized their empire.
Pompey being driven off and put to flight, Caesar thought it better to regulate the provinces before proceedings to pursue him. Sicily and Sardinia, to be assured of corn, he secured by means of his lieutenant-generals. In Gaul there were no remains of hostility; for he himelf had established peace in it. But Marseilles, when he wished to pass through it on his way to the Spanish armies of Pompey, ventured to shut her gates against him. The unhappy city, desirous of peace, fell into a war through fear of war. But, as it was fortified with walls, he lft it to be reduced for him in his absence. The men of the Greek city, in opposition to the effeminacy of its character, ventured to break through the enemy's lines, to set fire to their machines, and angage them with their vessels. But Brutus, to whom the conduct of the siege had been intrusted, defeated them by land and sea, and utterly subdued them. At length, when they surrendered, everything was taken from them, except, what they valued above everything, their liberty.
In Spain, a doubtful, varied, and bloody contest awaited Caesar with Petreius and Afranius, the generals of Pompey, whom, when they were lying encamped at Ilerda, near the river Sicoris, he attempted to besiege, and to cut them off from the town. In the mean time, by an overflow of the river in the spring, he himself was prevented from getting provisions. Thus his camp was assailed by famine, and the besieger was himself in a manner besieged. But when the river subsided, it left the plains free for devastation and contest. Caesar then pressed fiercely upon the enemy, and, having overtaken them as they were retreating to Celtiberia, forced them with a mole and line of circimvallation, and consequent privation of water, to capitulate.
Hither Spain was thus secured; nor did Farther Spain long resist. For what could one legion do, after five had been defeated? Varro, therefore, readily submitting, Cadiz, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Ocean, and everything else, acknowledged the superior fortune of Caesar. Fortune, however, in Illyricum and Africa, made some attempt against him in his absence, as if on purpose that his successed might be made more striking by something unfavourable. For when Dolabella and Antony, who were ordered to secure the entrance to the Adriatic, had pitched their camps, the former on the Illyrian, the latter on the Curictian shore, at a time when Pompey was master of a vast extent of sea, Octavius Libo, Pompey's lieutenant-general, suddenly surrounded both of them with a large force from the fleet. Famine forced Antony to surrender. Some flat boats sent to his assistance by Basilus, such as want of ships had obliged them to make, were caught, as it were, in a net, by means of ropes stretched under the water, through a new contrivance of the Cilicians in Pompey's service. Two of them, however, the tide brought off; but one, which bore some men of Opitergium, struck upon the shallows, and underwent a fate deserving to be remembered by posterity. A party of something less than a thousand men sustained, for a whole day, the weapons of an army that entirely surrounded them; and, when their valour had no way of escape, they agred, in order to avoid a surrender, and at the instigation of the tribune Vulteius, to kill one another.
In Africa the valour of Curio was equalled by his ill-fortune; for, being sent to secure that province, and elated with the conquest and rout of Varus, he was unable to make a stand against the sudden arrival of the king Juba and the Mauretanian cavalry. After he was defeated, he might have fled; but shame prompted him to die with the army which was lost by his rashness.
But fortune now summoning the pair of combatants, destined to contend for the empire of the world, Pompey fixed on Epirus for the seat of warfare, nor was Caesar slow to meet him; for, having settled everything in his rear, he set sail, though the middle of winter obstructed his passage by unfavourable weather, to pursue the war; and, having pitched his camp at Oricum, and finding that part of his forces, which had been left with Antony for want of ships, made some delay at Brundusium, he grew so impatient, that, to get them over, he attempted so sail alone in a spy-boat at midnight, though the sea was tempestuously agitated by the wind. A saying of his to the master of the boat, who was alarmed at the greatness of the danger, is well remembered; "What dost thou fear? Thou carriest Caesar."
When the forces of Caesar and Pompey were assembled from every quarter, and their camps were pitched at no great distance, the plans conceived by the generals were widely different. Caesar, naturally daring, and eager to bring the affair to a conclusion, displayed his troops, and challenged and harassed the enemy, sometimes besieging their camp, which he had inclosed with a wall of sixteen miles in circuit; (but what hurt could a siege do to those who, from the sea being open, had an abundance of supplies?) sometimes by fruitless attacks on Dyrrachium, (a place which even its situation rendered impregnable,) and, at the same time, by constant engagements with their parties as they sallied out, (at which time the extraordinary valour of Scaeva the centurion was displayed, into whose shield a hundred and twenty weapons penetrated,) as well as by plundering such cities as had joined Pompey, among which he wasted Oricum, and Gomphi, and other strongholds of Thessaly. To counteract these attempts, Pompey contrived delays, and declined to fight, in order that he might wear out the enemy, who were hemmed in on all sides, with want of provisions, and that the ardour of his impetuous opponent might be exhausted. But the prudent plan of the general did not long avail him; the soldiers found fault with the inaction in which they were kept, the allies with the protraction of the war, and the nobility with the general's love of power. Thus the fates hurrying him on, Thessaly was chosen as the theatre for battle, and the destiny of the city, the empire, and the whole of mankind, was committed to the plains of Philippi. Never did fortune behold so many of the forces, or so much of the dignity, of the Roman people collected in one place. More that three hundred thousand men were assembled in the two armies, besides the auxiliary troops of kings and nations. Nor were there ever more manifest signs of some approaching destruction; the escape of victims, swarms of bees settling on the standards, and darkness in the daytime; while the general himself, in a dream by night, heard a clapping of hands in his own theatre in Rome, which rung in his ears like the beating of breasts in sorrow; and he appeared in the morning (an unlucky omen!) clad in black in the centre of the army.
As to the army of Caesar, it was never possessed of greater spirit and alacrity. It was on his side that the trumpets first sounded, and the darts were first discharged. The javelin of Crastinus, too, was noticed as that of the beginner of the battle; who, being soon after found among the dead bodies of the enemy, with a sword thrust into his mouth, proved by the strangeness of the wound the eagerness and rage with which he fought. Nor was the issue of the contest less wonderful. For though Pompey had so much larger a number of horse, that he seemed capable of easily hemming in Caesar, he was himself hemmed in. When they had fought a long time without advantage on either side, and Pompey's cavalry had galloped foreard at his command from one of the wings, the German cohorts on the other side, at a given signal, suddenly met the horse in their course with so furious a charge, that the cavalry seemed to be but infantry, and the infantry to advance with the force of cavalry. On the overthrow of the retreating horse followed the destruction of the light-armed foot. Consternation then spreading wider and wider, and the troos of Pompey throwing each other into confusion, the slaughter of the rest was effected as with one hand, nor did anything contribute to the overthrow of the army so much as its magnitude. Caesar exerted himself greatly in the battle, acting a middle part, as it were, between a commander and a soldier. Some sayings of his, too, which fell from him as he rode about, were caught up; one of which was cruel, but judicious and conducive to the victory, "Soldiers, strike at the face;" another, uttered when he was in pursuit, was intended only for effect, "Spare your countrymen."
Happy had Pompey been, though in misfortune, had the same fate that overwhelmed his army fallen upon himself. He survived his honour, to flee on horseback, with more disgrace, through Thessalian Tempe; to reach Lesbos in one small vessel; to be driven from Syedrae, and to meditate, upon a desert rock of Cilicia, an escape to Parthia, Africa, or Egypt; and finally, to die on the shore of Pelusium, in sight of his wife and children, at the word of a most contemptible prince, at the instigation of eunuchs, and, that nothing might be wanting to his calamities, by the sword of Septimius, a deserter from his own army.
With the death of Pompey who would not have supposed that the war had been concluded? But the ashes of the fire of Thessaly burst forth into flame again with much more violence and heat than before. In Egypt, indeed, a war arose against Caesar without the influence of Roman faction. Ptolemy, king of Alexandria, having committed the crowning atrocity of the civil war, and assured himself of the friendship of Caesar by means of Pompey's head, but Fortune, at the same time, demanding vengeance for the manes of so great a man, an opportunity for her purpose was not long wanting. Cleopatra, the king's sister, falling at the feet of Caesar, intreated that a part of the kingdom might be restored to her. The damsel had beauty, and its attractions were heightened by the circumstance that, being such as she was, she seemed to have suffered injustice; while Caesar had a dislike for the king her brother, who had sacrified Pompey to the fortune of party, and not from regard to Caesar, and who would doubtless have treated Caesar himself in a similar manner, had his interest required it. Caesar, desiring that Cleopatra should be reinstated in power, was immediately beset in the palace by the same persons that had assassinated Pompey; but with wonderful bravery, though only with a small body of troops, he withstood the efforts of a numerous army. In the first place, by setting fire to the neighbouring houses and dockyards, he kept at a distance the darts of his eager enemies, and then suddenly made his escape to the island of Phaos. Being driven from thence into the sea, he swam off, with wonderful good fortune, to his fleet that lay at hand, leaving his military cloak in the water, whether by chance, or with a view to its receiving, instead of himself, the shower of darts and stones hurled by the enemy. At length being taken up by the men of his fleet, and attacking the enemy on all sides at once, he made atonement to the manes of his son-in-law by a conquest of that perfidious nation. Thedotus the king's guardian, the author of the whole war, and Pothinus and Ganymede, monsters that were not even men, after fleeing in various directions over sea and land, were cut off by death. The body of the king himself was found buried in the mud of the river, distiguished by a golden coat of mail.
In Asia, too, there arose a new commotion from Pontus, Fortune apparently, and as it were purposely, taking this opportunity to terminate the kingdom of Mithridates, that as the father was conquered by Pompey, the son might be conquered by Caesar. King Pharnaces, presuming more on our dissensions than on his own valour, poured into Cappadocia with an army ready for action. But Caesar, engaging him, overthrew him in one battle, and that, as I may say, not an entire one, falling upon him like lightning, which, in one and the same moment, comes, strikes, and is gone. Nor was it a vain boast on the part of Caesar, "that the enemy was conqered before he was seen."
Such were the occurences with foreig enemies. But in Africa he had a fiercer contest with his own countrymen than at Pharsalia. A tide of civil fury had driven the relics of the shipwrecked party to this country; relics, indeed we should hardly call them, but rather a complete warlike force. The very calamity of the general had strengthened the obligation of their military oath; nor did the succeeding eladers show any degeneracy; for the names of Cato and Scipio had a sufficiently effective sound in the room of that of Pompey. To the force on that side was added Juba, king of Mauritania, as if that Caesar might carry his conquests the further. There was therefore no difference in the fields of Pharsalia and Thapsus, except that the efforts of the Caesarians were greater and more vigorous, as being indignant that the war should have grown up after the death of Pompey. The trumpeters (what had never happened before) sounded a charge of themselves, before the general gave an order for it. The overthrow began with Juba, whose elephants, new to war, and lately brought from the woods, were startled at the sudden noise, and his army immediately took to flight. Nor were the leaders too brave to flee, though the deaths of them all were not inglorious. Scipio got off in a ship, but, as the enemy overtook him, he thrust his sword into his bowels, and when some one asked where he was, he retrned this answer, "The general is well." Juba, habing betaken himself to his palace, and having banqueted sumptuously on the following day with Petreius the companion of his flight, offered himself, at table, in the midst of their cups, to be killed by his hand. Petreius slew both Juba and himself, and the half-consumed meats, and funeral dishes, were mixed with the blood of a king and a Roman. Cato was not at the battle, but, having pitched his camp on the Bagrada, guarded Utica, as a second barrier of Africa.</ref>As a second barrier of Afrca] Velut altera Africae claustra. Thapsus having been the other.</ref> Hearing, however, of the defeat of his party, he did not hesitate to die, but even cheerfully, as became a wise man, hastened his own death. Dismissing his son and attendants with an embrace, and reading in the night, by the light of a lamp, that book of Plato which treats of immortality of the soul, he afterwards rested a while, but, about the first watch, having drawn his sword, he pierced his breast, which he had uncovered with his hand, more than once. After this the surgeons would needs trouble him with plasters, which he endured till they were gone, and then opened the gashes afresh, when a vast quantity of blood issuing foth made his dying hands sink on the wounds.
But as if there had hitherto been no fighting war, and the party of Pompey, arose again; and Spain exceeded Africa in the struggle as much as Africa had exceeded Thessaly. What now attracted great regard to the party, was, that the two generals were brothers, and that two Pompeys had appeared instead of one. Never, therefore, were there fiercer encounters, or with such dubious success. First of all, Varus and Didius, the lieutenant-generals, engaged at the very mouth of the Ocean. But their vessels had a harder contest with the sea, than with one another. For the Ocean, as if it would punish the discord of fellow-citzens, destroyed both fleets by shipwreck. What an awful scene was it, when waves, storms, men, ships, and arms, mingled in contention at the same time! Consider, too, the frightful nature of the situation itself; the shores of Spain, on the one side, and of Mauretania on the other, closing as it were together; the internal and external seas, and the pillars of Hercules overhanging them, while all around was agitated with a battle and a tempest.
Soon after, they applied themselves, in various quarters, to the sieges of cities, which, between the leaders on one side and the other, paid a severe penalty for their alliance with Rome. Of the battles, the last was fought at Munda. Here the contest was not attended with Caesar's previous success, but was long doubtful and threatening, so that Fortune seemed evidently hesitating how to act. Caesar, too, before the battle, was more low-spirited than ordinary, whether from meditating on the instability of human things, from a feeling of mistrust of his long-continued prosperity, or from dreading Pompey's fate after having obtained Pompey's station. But in the course of the battle there occurred an incident, such as no man ever remembered to have heard of before; for when the two armies, equal in fortune, had been wholly engaged in mutual slaughter, there happened suddenly, in the greatest heat of the combat, a deep silence, as if by common consent, on both sides. This was an expression of general feeling. At last came the dire misfortune, strange to the eyes of Caesar, that after fourteen years of service, his tried body of veterans gave ground. They did not indeed flee, but they seemed to resist rather from being ashamed to retreat than from real courage. Springing off his horse, therefore, he rushed like a madman to the front of the battle, where he stayed and encouraged those that were shrinking, and made his influence felt through the whole body with eye, hand, and voice. Yet, in the confusion, he is said to have meditated death, and to have shown plainly by his looks that he was inclined to hasten his end, had not five battalions of the enemy, which then marched across the field, and which had been sent by Labienus to defend the camp that was in danger, caused an appearance of flight. This the crafty general either believed, or took advantage of the movement to make it appear; and, advancing on the enemy as if they were fleeing, he both raised the courage of his own men, and damped that of his opponents. The party of Caesar, thinking themselves conquerors, pressed forward with greater spirit; that of Pompey, supposing some on their side to be fleeing, commenced a general flight. How great the slaughter of the enemy was, and how great the rage and fury of the conquerors, may be estimated from the following circumstance. The fugitives from the battle having taken refuge in Munda, and Caesar, giving orders that they should immediately be besieged, a rampart was formed of dead bodies heaped on one another, which were held together by being stuck through with lances and javelins; a spectacle that would have been horrible even among barbarians.
When Pompey's sons had lost all hope of victory, Caesonius, having overtaken Cnaeus, who had fled from the field of battle, and was making his way, with a wound in his leg, to some desert and solitary place, slew him in the town of Lauron, still fighting, and proving that his spirit was not utterly broken. Fortune, meanwhile, hid Sextus in Celtiberia, and reserved him for other wars after Caesar's time.
Caesar returned triumphant to his native city. The Rhine, the Rhone, and the subjugated Ocean formed of gold, represented his first triumph, for Gaul. The second was for Egypt; when the Nile, Arsinoe, and the Pharos burning like fire, were displayed. The third was for Pharnaces and Pontus. The fourth was displayed for Juba and the Moors, and twice-conquered Spain. But Pharaslia, Thapsus, and Munda, were nowhere to be seen; yet how much greater were those actions for which he had no triumph!
There was now, at last, an end of hostilites. The peace that followed was free from bloodshed, and atonement was made for the war by clemency. No one was put to death by Caesar's order except Afranius, (it was enough that he had pardoned him once,) and Faustus Sylla, (he had learned to be afraid of sons-in-law,) and the daughter of Pompey with her children by Sylla; in which proceeding regard was had to posterity. His countrymen, therefore, being not ungrateful, all kinds of honours were conferred on him as the sole governor of the state; as statues in the temples, a radiant crown to wear in the theatre, a raised seat in the senate-house, a cupola on his own house, and a month in the heavens. He was, besides, called Father of his country, and Perpetual Dictator; and at last, whether with his own consent is doubtful, the ensigns of royalty were offered him on the Rostra by the consul Antony.
But all these honours were but as decorations laid on a victim doomed to die. The envy of others overcame the clemency of the ruler, and his very power of conferring benefits was insupportable to the free. Nor was long delay granted him, before Brutus and Cassius, and others of the nobility, conspired to put him to death. How great is the power of fate! The knowledge of the conspiracy had spread widely; an account of it, on the very day fixed for its execution, had been presented to Caesar himself; nor was he able, when he sacrificed, to find one in a hundred victims propitious. Yet he ventured into the senate-house, meditating an expedition against the Parthians. Here, as he was sitting in his curule chair, the senate fell upon him, and he was struck to the ground with three-and-twenty wounds. Thus he, who had deluged the world with the blood of his countrymen, deluged the senate-house at last with his own.
- CHAP. III. CAESAR AUGUSTUS.
The Roman people, when Caesar and Pompey were killed, thought that they had returned to their state of pristine freedom; and they would have returned to him, had neither Pompey left children, nor Caesar an heir; or, what was worse, had not Antony, once the sharer and afterwards the rival of Caesar's power, survived to be the incendiary and disturber of the succeeding age. For as Sextus Pompey sought to recover what was his father's, consternation was spread over the whole sea; as Octavius tried to revenge his father's death, Thessaly was again to be disquieted; and as Antony, a man of fickle disposition, either showed displeasure, that Octavius should succeed Caesar, or, from love of Cleopatra, was ready to degenerate into a king, the Romans could not otherwise find safety but by taking refuge in a state of servitude. Yet, in the midst of their great distractions, it was a source of congratulations to them that the sovereign power fell into the hands of Augustus Caesar, rather than those of any other man; for he, by his wisdom and prudence, reduced to order the body of the empire, which was distracted in every part, and which, doubtless, would never have coalesced and harmonised again, had it not been regulated by the direction of one president, as by one soul and mind.
In the consulship of Mark Antony and Publius Dolabella, when Fortune was proceeding to transfer the empire to the Caesars, there arose various and manifold convulsions in the state; and, as it happens in the annual revolution of the heavens, that the constellations by their motions occasion thunder, and make known their change of place by change of weather, so, in the change of condition in the Roman government, that is, of the whole human race, the body of the empire was shaken throughout, and distracted with all kinds of perils, and civil wars both by land and sea.
- CHAP. IV. THE CONFLICT AT MUTINA.
The first occasion of civil commotion was Caesar's will, whose second heir, Antony, enraged that Octavius was preferred before him, raised a desperate war to set aside the adoption of the spirited young man. Seeing that he was but a tender youth, under eighteen years of age, and therefore a fit and proper subject, as he thought, for any ill-usage, while he himself was of high dignity from his long service with Caesar, he proceeded to dismember his inheritance by clandestine acts of injustice, to attack him personally with opprobrious language, and to hinder, by all imaginable artifices, his co-optation into the Julian family. At last, to crush the young man entirely, he openly took up arms against him, and, having got an army in Cisalpine Gaul, besieged Decimus Brutus, who opposed his movements, in Mutina; but Octavius Caesar, recommended to public favour by his age and injuries, and by the greatness of the name which he had assumed, recalled the veterans to arms, and, though but a private person, engaged (who would believe it?) with a consul. He relieved Brutus from the siege at Mutina, and drove Antony from his camp. On that occasion, too, he behaved gallantly in action; for, wounded and covered with blood, he carried back an eagle, which had been committed to him by a dying standard-bearer, upon his shoulder into the camp.
- CHAP. V. THE SIEGE OF PERUSIA.
The distribution of lands among the soldiers occasioned another war; lands which Caesar assigned the veterans in his army as the reward of their service. Fulvia, the wife of Antony, girt with a sword in the field like a man, stimulated Antony's mind, which otherwise was always sufficiently ill-disposed, to action. By rousing the husbandmen, therefore, who had been driven from their lands, he produced another war. Caesar now attacked him as one attacks an enemy, not by private opinion, but by the suffrages of the whole senate, shut him up within the walls of Perusia, and, by means of a wretched famine, that had recourse to every expedient, forced him at last to a surrender.
- CHAP. VI. THE TRIUMVIRATE.
When Antony, even alone, was a hindrance to the public quiet, and a trouble to the state, Lepidus was joined with him, as one fire to another. What could Caesar then do against two armies? He was necessitated to join in a most cruel league with their leaders. The views of all the three were different. The desire of wealth, of which there was a fair prospect from a disturbance of the state, animated Lepidus; the hope of taking vengeance on those who had declared him an enemy, instigated Antony; the death of his father unavenged, while Cassius and Brutus lived offensive to his manes, actuated Caesar. With a view to a confederacy for these objects, a peace was made among the three generals. At Confluentes, between Perusia and Bononia, they joined hands, and the armies saluted each other. After no good precedent, a Triumvirate was established; and the state being subjugated by force of arms, the proscription, first introduced by Sylla, was revived. Its fury embraced no fewer than a hundred and forty senators. The deaths of many, who fled into all parts of the world, were shocking, cruel, and mournful; such, indeed, as no one can sufficiently lament. Antony proscribed Lucius Caesar, his own uncle; Lepidus, Lucius Paulus, his own brother. It was now a common practice to expose the heads of such as had been killed, on the Rostra at Rome; but, though such was the case, the city could not refrain from tears, when the head of Cicero, severed from his body, was seen on that very Rostra which he had made his own; nor was there a less concourse to see him there than there had formerly been to hear him. These atrocities proceeded from the lists of Antony and Lepidus. Caesar was content with proscribing the assassins of his father; the deaths of whom, had they been less numerous, might have been thought just.
- CHAP. VII. THE WAR RAISED BY CASSIUS AND BRUTUS.
Brutus and Cassius seemed to have cast Caesar, like another king Tarquin, from the sovereignty; but the liberty, which by his assassination they had hoped to restore, they entirely lost. After the murder was committed, they fled from the senate house to the Capitol, being afraid, and not without reason, of Caesar's veterans, who did not want inclination to avenge his death, but had no leader. As it appeared, however, that desolation threatened the commonwealth, vengeance was not then thought proper to be pursued.
But, to escape the eye of the public grief, Brutus and Cassius withdrew into Syria and Macedonia, the very provinces assigned them by the Caesar whom they had slain. Vengeance for Caesar was thus delayed rather than smothered. The government being regulated, therefore, rather as it was possible than as it was requisite, by the Triumviri, and Lepidus being left to guard the city, Caesar, accompanied by Antony, prepared for a war against Cassius and Brutus, who, having collected a vast force, had taken post on the same ground that had been fatal to Cnaeus Pompey. But evident omens of destined calamity were observed on this occasion. Birds, accustomed to feed on dead bodies, flew around the camp as if it were already their own. An Ethiopian meeting the troops, as they were proceeding to the field of battle, was too plainly a dismal sign. Some black phantom, too, appeared to Brutus in the night, when he was meditating, after his custom, with a lamp by his side, and, being asked what it was, replied, "Thy evil Genius." Thus it spoke, and vanished from his eyes while he was wondering at its appearance.
In Caesar's camp the birds and victims gave predictions with equal significance, but all for the better. Nothing, however, was more remarkable, than that Caesar's physician was admonished in a dream, that "Caesar should quit his camp, which was destined to be taken," as afterwards happened. For when the battle had commenced, and both sides had fought for some time with equal spirit, (though the leaders were not present, one of whom sickness, and the other fear and indolence, had detained from the field, yet the invincible fortune, both of the avenger and the avenged, supported the party, the danger being at first equally threatening to either side, as indeed the event of the conflict showed,) the cam of Caesar was taken on the one side, and that of Cassius on the other. But how much more powerful is fortune than conduct, and how true is that which Brutus said when he was dying, that "Virtue existed not in reality, but merely in name!" A mistake settled the victory in this battle. Cassius, at a time when one of his wings was giving way, observing his cavalry, after having surprised Caesar's camp, coming back at full speed, imagined that they were fleeing, and withdrew to a neighbouring hill, where the dust and confusion, with the approach of night, obstructing his view of the action, and a scout, whom he sent for the purpose, being slow in bringing intelligence, he concluded that his party was utterly defeated, and caused one of his followers to strike off his head.
Brutus, having lost his very soul in Cassius, and being resolved to adhere strictly to their compact, (for they had agred that both should survive the battle, or neither,) presented his side to one of his attendants, that he might run him through with his sword.
Who cannot but wonder, that these wisest of men did not use their own hands to despatch themselves? But perhaps this was avoided from principle, that they might not, in releasing their most pure and pious souls, stain their own hands, but, while they used their own judgment, might allow the crime of the execution to be another's.
- CHAP. VIII. THE WAR WITH SEXTUS POMPEY.
Though the assassins of Caesar were cut off, the house of Pompey was yet left. One of the young men, his sons, had fallen in Spain; but the other had escaped by flight, and, having collected the relics of the unhappy war, and armed a body of slaves, kept possession of Sicily and Sardinia. He had now also covered the sea with a fleet. But how different was he to his father! The one had suppressed the Cilician pirates; the other carried pirates in his own vessels. This youth was entirely overpowered, in the Strait of Messina, with a vastly superior force; and, had he attempted nothing afterwards, would have carried with him to the grave the reputation of a great commander. But it is the mark of a great genius to hope always. After his defeat he fled, and sailed to Asia, where he was destined to fall into the hands and fetters of enemies, and, what is most intolerable to the brave, to die by the sentence of his foes under the axe of the executioner. There never was a more wretched flight since that of Xerxes. For he who, a short time before, was master of three hundred and fifty ships, fled with only six or seven, putting out the light of his own vessel, casting his rings into the sea, and looking anxiously behind him, yet not afraid that he should perish.
- CHAP. IX. THE PARTHIAN WAR, UNDER VENTIDIUS.
Although Caesar, by defeating Cassius and Brutus, had disabled their party, and, by cutting off Pompey, had extirpated its very name, yet he could not succeed in establishing peace as long as that rock, knot, and obstacle to the public tranquillity, Antony, remained alive. He himself, indeed, by reason of his vices, was not wanting to his own destruction; but by indulging, from ambition and luxury, in every irregular course, he first freed our enemies, then his own countrymen, and lastly the age in which he lived, from the dread of him.
The Parthians, on the overthrow of Crassus, had assumed greater courage, and had heard with joy of the civil discords among the Romans. As soon, therefore, as an opportunity showed itself, they did not hesitate to rise in arms, especially as Labienus earnestly incited them, who, having been sent thither by Brutus and Cassius, such is the madness of civil discord, had solicited the enemies of Rome to assist them. The Parthians, under the conduct of Pacorus, a youth of the royal family, expelled the garrisons of Antony. Saxa, Antony's lieutenant-general, owed it to his sword that he did not fall into their hands. At length, Syria being taken from us, the evil extended itself more widely, as the enemy, under pretence of aiding others, were conquering for themselves, and would have continue to conquer, had not Ventidius, also a lieutenant-general of Antony, overthrown, with incredible good fortune, not only the forces of Labienus, but Pacorus himself, and all the Parthian cavalry, along the whole plain betwen the Orontes and Euphrates. The slain amounted to more than twenty thousand. Nor was this effected without stratagem on the part of the general, who, pretending fear, suffered the enemy to come so close to our camp, that, by depriving them of room for discharging their arrows, he rendered them useless. The prince fell fighting with great bravery; and his head being carried about through the cities which had revolted, Syria was soon recovered without further war. Thus by the slaughter of Pacorus we made compensation for the overthrow of Crassus.
- CHAP. X. THE WAR OF ANTONY WITH THE PARTHIANS.
After the Parthians and Romans had made trial of one another, and Crassus and Pacorus had given proof of their mutual strength, their former friendship was renewed with expressions of equal regard on either side, and a treaty with the king concluded by Antony himself. But such was the excessive vanity of the man, that being desirous, from a love of distinction, to have Araxes and Euphrates read under his statues, he suddenly quitted Syria, and made an inroad on those very Parthians, and that without any cause or reason, or even pretended proclamation of war, as if it were among a general's accomplishments to surprise people by stealth. The Parthians, who, besides having confidence in their arms, are crafty and subtle, pretended to be alarmed, and to retreat across the plains. Antony, as if already victorious, instantly pursued, when suddenly a body of the enemy, not very numerous, rushed suddenly forth, like a storm of rain, upon the Romans, who, as it was evening, were tired with the day's march. Discharging their arrows from all sides, they overwhelmed two legions. But this was nothing in comparison with the destruction that would have met them on the following day, had not the mercy of the gods interposed. One of the Romans who had survived the overthrow of Crassus, rode up to the camp in a Parthian dress, and having saluted the soldiers in Latin, and thus gained credit with them, told them of the danger which threatened them: saying, that "the king would soon come up with all his forces; that they ought therefore to retreat, and take shelter in the mountains; and that possibly, even if they did so, enemies would not be wanting." In consequence, a smaller number of enemies overtook them than had been intended. Overtake them, however, they did; and the rest of the army would have been destroyed, had not the soldiers, while the arrows were falling on them like hail, fortunately sunk down, as if they had been taught, upon their knees, holding up their shields above their heads, and making it appear as if they were killed. The Parthians then refrained from shooting. When the Romsn afterwards rose up, the proceeding appeared so like a miracle, that one of the barbarians exclaimed, "Go, and fare ye well, Romans; fame deservedly speaks of you as the conquerors of nations, since you have escaped death from the arrows of the Parthians." After this, there was no less endured from want of water, than at the hands of the enemy. The country, in the first place, was deadly from its drought; the river, too, with its brackish and bitter water, was more deadly to some; and besides, even good water was pernicious to many, being drunk greedily when they were in a weak condition. Subsequently the heat of Armenia, the snows of Cappadocia, and the sudden change of climate from one to the other, was as destructive as a pestilence. Scarce the third part, therefore, of sixteen legions being left, and his silver being everywhere cut up with hatchets, the excellent general, begging death, from time to time, at the hands of a gladiator of his, escaped at last into Syria, where, by some unaccountable perversion of mind, he grew considerably more presuming than before, as if he had conquered because he had escaped.
- CHAP. XI. THE WAR WITH ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.
The madness of Antony, which could not be allayed by ambition, was at last terminated by luxury and licentiousness. After his expedition against the Parthians, while he was disgusted with war and lived at ease, he fell in love with Cleopatra, and, as if his affairs were quite prosperous, enjoyed himself in the queen's embraces.
The Egyptian woman demanded of the drunken general, as the price of her favours, nothing less than the Roman empire. This Antony promised her; as though the Romans had been easier to conquer than the Parthians. He therefore aspired to sovereignty, and not indeed covertly, but forgetting his country, name, toga, and fasces, and degenerating wholly, in thought, feeling, and dress, into a monster. In his hand there was a golden sceptre; a scymitar by his side; his robe was of purple, clasped with enormous jewels; and he wore a diadem, that he might dally with the queen as a king.
At the first report of his new proceedings, Caesar had crossed the sea from Brundusium to meet the approaching war. Having pitched his camp in Epirus, he beset the island of Leucas, Mount Leucate, and the horns of the Ambracian Gulf, with a powerful fleet. We had more than four hundred vessels, the enemy about two hundred, but their bulk made up for their inferiority in number; for, having from six banks of oars to nine, and being mounted with towers and high decks, they moved along like castles and cities, while the sea groaned and the winds were fatigued. Yet their magnitude was their destruction. Caesar's vessels rose from three banks of oars to not more than six, and being therefore ready for all that necessity required, whether for charging, retreating, or wheeling around, they attacked, several at once, each of those heavy vessels, too unwieldy for any kind of contest, as well with missile weapons, as with their beaks, and firebrands hurled into them, and dispersed them at their pleasure. Nor was the greatness of the enemy's force shown by anything so much as by what occurred after the victory. The vast fleet, being shattered in the engagement, spread the spoils of the Arabians and Sabaeans, and a thousand other nations of Asia, over the whole face of the deep. The waves, driven onward by the winds, were continually throwing up purple and gold on the shore. The queen, commencing the flight, made off into the open sea with her gilded vessel and sails of purple. Antony immediately followed.
But Caesar pursued hard on their track. Neither their preparations, therefore, for flight into the Ocean, nor the securing of the two horns of Egypt, Paraetonium and Pelusium, with garrisons, were of the least profit to them. They were almost caught by Caesar's own hand. Antony was the first to use his sword against himself. The queen, falling at the feet of Caesar, tempted his eyes in vain; for her charms were too weak to overcome the prince's continence. Her suit was not for life, which was offered her, but for a portion of the kingdom. Despairing of obtaining this from Caesar, and seeing that she was reserved for his triumph, she took advantage of the negligence of her guard, and withdrew herself into a mausoleum, a name which they give to the sepulchres of their kings. Having there put on her best apparel, as she used to be dressed, she placed herself by her dear Antony in a coffin filled with rich perfumes, and, applying serpents to her veins, died a death resembling sleep.
- CHAP. XII. THE WARS WITH FOREIGN NATIONS.
This was the termination of the civil wars. Those which followed were with foreign nations, and started up in various parts of the world while the empire was distracted with its own troubles. Peace was new; and the swelling and proud necks of the nations had not yet accumstomed to the curb of bondage, recoiled from the yoke that had been but recently imposed upon them. The part of the world lying to the north, peopled by the Norici, Illyrians, Pannonians, Dalmatians, Mysians, Thracians, Dacians, Sarmatians, and Germans, was in general the most violent.
The Alps and their snows, to which they thought that war could not reach, gave confidence to the Norici; but Caesar, with the aid of his step-son, Claudius Drusus, subjugated all the people of those regions, the Brenni, Senones, and Vindelici. How savage these nations were, their women plainly proved, for, when weapons failed, they threw their very infants, after having dashed them on the ground, in the faces of the soldiers.
The Illyrians lie at the foot of the Alps, and guard their deep valleys, which are a sort of barriers of defence to them, surrounded by precipitous torrents. Against this people Caesar himself underttok an expedition, and ordered bridges to be constructed in order to reach them. Here the waters and the enemy throwing his men into some confusion, he snatched a shield from a soldier hesitating to mount a bridge, and was the first to march across; and when the army had followed, and the Illyrins, from their numbers, had broken down the bridge, he, wounded in his hands and legs, and appearing more comely in blood and more majestic in danger, did great execution on the enemy's rear.
The Pannonians were defended by two forests, as well as by three rivers, the Drave, the Save, and the Ister. After laying waste the lands of their neighbours, they had withdrawn themselves within the banks of the streams. To reduce them, he despatched Vibius, and they were cut to pieces along both the rivers.</ref>Along both the rivers] In utrisque fluminibus. Three rivers are mentioned above, tribus fluviis, Dravo, Savo, Histroque. But Histro is not found in all the manuscripts, and Salmasius conjectures satis acribus fluviis, Dravo Savoque.</ref> The arms of the conquered were not burnt, according to the usage of war, but were gathered up, and thrown into the rivers, that the news of the victory might thus be conveyed to those who still held out.
The Dalmatians live for the most part in woods, whence they boldly sally out to commit robberies. This people Marcius had before, as it were, deprived of a head, by burning their city Delminium. Afterwards Asinius Pollio, he that was the second orator in Rome, deprived them of their flocks, arms, and lands. But Augustus committed the final subjugation of them to Vibius, who forced the savages to dig the earth, and collect the gold from its veins, for which this nation, naturally the most covetous of all people, seeks with care and industry, so that they appear to hoard it for their own purposes.
To describe how cruel and inhuman the Mysians are, and how much the most barbarous of all barbarians, would be a horrid task. One of their leaders, calling for silence in front of the army, exclaimed, "Who are you?" The answer retuirned was, "The Romans, lords of all nations." "So you may be," they retorted, "if you conquer us." Marcus Crassus took their words for an omen. They, having straightway offered up a horse before their lines, made a vow that "they would sacrifice, and eat, the bowels of the Roman generals that they should kill." I could suppose that the gods heard them, for they could not endure even the sound of our trumpets. Domitius, a centurion, a man of stolidity sufficiently barbarous, yet effective against men like himself, struck the savages with no small terror, by mounting a pan of coals upon his helmet, and shedding from his head, which appeared on fire, a flame excited by the motion of his body.
Before these the people of Thrace had revolted. These barbarians had been accustomed to the military standards, discipline, and arms of the Romans. But being subdued by Piso, they showed their violent spirit even in captivity, attempting to bite their chains, and thus punishing their own fierceness.
The Dacians live among the mountains. But, whenever the Danube became passable by being frozen, they were accustomed, at the command of Cotiso their king, to make descents, and lay waste the neighbouring country. This people, so difficult of approach, Caesar Augustus determined to drive back. Having despatched Lentulus for this perpose, he repulsed them beyond the further bank, and built garrisons on this side of the river. The Dacians were not, therefore, conquered, but repelled, and left for a future opportunity.
The Sarmatians occupy wide plains, in which they ride about; and it was though sufficient to prevent them, by the expertions of the same Lentulus, from crossing the Danube. They have nothing on the face of their territory but snows and a few woods, and such savages are they, that they known not what peace is.
I wish he had not thought it of so much importance to conquer Germany. The dishonour with which it was lost was greater than the glory with which it was gained. But because he knew that Caesar, his father, had twice made bridges over the Rhine to prosecute the war against the country, he was desirous, in honour of him, to make it a province, and it would have been made so effectually, if the barbarians could have endured our vices as well as our government. Drusus, being sent to the country, first subdued the Usipetes, and then overran the districts of the Tenctheri and Catti. Of the remarkable spoils of the Marcomanni he raised a high mound, by way of a trophy. Next he attacked, at the same time, the three powerful tribes of the Cherusci, Suevi, and Sicambri, who had commenced the war by burning twenty of our centurions, regarding this proceeding as a bond of union, and entertaining such confident hopes of victory, that they divided the spoil by agreement beforehand. The Cherusci chose the horses, the Suevi the gold and silver, and the Sicambri the captives. But all happened contrary to their expectations; for Drusus, proving conqueror, divided their horses, cattle, gold chains, and themselves, as spoil, and sold them. For the defence of the provinces, too, he fixed garrisons, and bodies of guards, along the Meuse, the Elbe, and the Weser. On the banks of the Rhine he raised more than fifty fortresses. He built bridges at Bonn and Gesoriacum, and secured them with ships. He opened a way through the Hercynian forest, which, till that time, had been unpenetrated and unattempted. At length such peace was made throughout Germany, that the inhabitants seemed changed, the ground different from what it was, and the air milder and softer than it was wont to be. And when that brave young man died there, the senate gave him a surname from the province, (an honour which they had never bestowed on any other general,) not from flattery, but in testimony of his merit.
But it is more difficult to retain provinces than to acquire them. They are obtained by force, but secured by justice. Our exultation was accordingly but short. The Germans had been defeated rather than subdued. Under the rule of Drusus they respected our manners rather than our arms. But when Drusus was dead, they began to detest the licentiousness and pride, no less than the cruelty, of Quintilius Varus. He ventured to call an assembly, and administered justice in his camp, as if he could restrain the violence of barbarians by the rods of a lictor and voice of a crier. But the Germans, who had long regretted that their swords were covered with rust, and their horses idle, proceeded, as soon as they saw the toga, and felt laws more cruel than arms, to go to war under the conduct of Arminius, while Varus, meantime, was so well assured of peace, that he was not the least alarmed, even by a revious notice, and subsequent discover of the plot, made by Segestes, one of the enemy's chieftains. Having, therefore, risen upon him unawares, and fearing nothing of the kind, while he, with a strange want of precaution, was actually summoning them to his tribunal, they assailed him on every side, seized his camp, and cut off three legions. Varus met his overthrow with the same fortune and spirit with which Paulus met the day of Cannae. Never was slaughter more bloody than that which was made of the Romans among the marshes and woods; never were insults more intolerable than those of the barbarians, especially such as they inflicted on the pleaders of causes. Of some they tore out the eyes, of others they cut off the hands. Of one the mouth was sewed up, after his tongue had been cut out, which one of the savages holding in his hand, cried, "At last, viper, cease to hiss." The body of the consul himself, which the affection of the soldiers had buried, was dug out of the ground. To this day the barbarians keep possession of the standards and two eagles, the third, the standard-bearer, before it fell into the hands of the enemy, wrenched off, and keeping it hid within the folds of his belt, concealed himself in the blood-stained marsh. In consequence of this massacre, it happened that the empire, which had not stopped on the shore of the Ocean, found its course checked on the banks of the Rhine.
Such were the occurrences in the north. In the south there were rather disturbances than wars. Augustus quelled the Musulanians and Getulians, who border on the Syrtes, by the agency of Cossus, who had thence the surname of Getulicus. But his successes extended further. He assigned the Marmardiae and Garamantes to Curinius to subdue, who might have returned with the surname of Marmaricus, had he not been too modest in setting a value on his victory.
There was more trouble with the Armenians in the east, whither Augustus sent one of the Caesars his grandsons. Both of them were short-lived, but only one of them died without glory. Lucius was carried off by disease at Marseilles, Caius in Syria by a wound, whilsy he was engaged in recovering Armenia, which had revolted to the Parthians. Pompey, after the defeat of king Tigranes, had accustomed the Armenians to such a degree of bondage as to receive rulers from us. The exercise of this right, after having been interrupted, was, by Caius Drusus, recovered in a slight struggle, which, however, was not without bloodshed. Domnes, whom the king had made governor of Artaxata, pretending that he would betray the place, struck Drusus as he was intent on perusing a scroll, which the assasin had just presented to him as containing an account of the treasures. He was hurt, but recovered of the wound for a time. But Domnes, pursued on all sides by the incensed army, made some atonement to Caesar while he still survived, not only by his sword, but a burning pyre, on which, when wounded, he cast himself.
In the west, almost all Spain was subdued, except that part which the Hither Ocean washes, and which lies close upon the rocks at the extremity of the Pyrenees. Here two very powerful nations, the Catabrians and Asturians, lay exempt from the dominion of the Romans. The spirit of the Cantabrians was the more mischievous, more haughty, and more obstinate in raising war; for not content with defending their liberty, they also attempted to domineer over their neighbours, and harassed, with frequent inroads, the Vaccaei, the Curgonii, and the Autrigonae.
Against this people, therefore, as they were said to be pursuing violent measures, an expedition was not committed by Augustus to another, but undertaken by himself. He advanced to Segisama, where he pitched his camp, and then, dividing his army, he inclosed by degrees the whole of Campania, and caught the savage people, like wild beasts, as with a circle of nets. Nor were they spared on the side of the Ocean, where theur rear was vigorously assailed by a fleet. His first battle against the Cantabrians was under the walls of Vellica. Hence they fled to the lofty mountain Vinnius, which they thought the waters of the Ocean would ascend sooner than the arms of the Romans. In the third place, the town of Aracillum made violent resistance; but it was at last taken. At the siege of the mountain Medullus, (which he had surrounded with a trench of fifteen miles in length,) when the Romans pressed forward on every side, and the barbarians saw themselves reduced to extremity, they eagerly hastened their own deaths at a banquet, with fire, sword, and a kind of poison, which is there commonly extracted from yew-trees; and thus the greater part escaped the captivity which threatened them. Of this success, obtained by his lieutenant-generals Antistius, Furnius, and Agrippa, Caesar received the news while wintering on the sea-coast at Tarraco. He himself, arriving at the place, brought some of the inhabitants down from the mountains, bound others by taking hostages of them, and sold others, by right of war, for slaves. The achievement appeared to the senate worthy of the laurel and triumphal chariot, but Caesar was now so great that he could despise chariots.
The Asturians, at the same time, had come down in a vast body from their mountains; nor had they undertaken an enterprise rashly, like barbarians, but, having pitched their camp at the river Astura, and divided their forces into three parts, they prepared to attack three camps of the Romans at once. With such brave enemies, coming upon us so suddenly and in such order, there would have been a doubtful and desperate combat, (and would that I could think the loss on both sides would have been equal!) had not the Trigaecini betrayed them. Carisius, forewarned by the latter people, and coming up with his army, frustrated the enemy's designs, though not even thus without bloodshed. Lancia, a strong city, received the survivors of the routed army. Here there was so fierce an encounter, that firebrands were called for to burn the city after it was taken, when the general with difficulty prevailed with the troops to spare it, "that it might be a monument of the Roman victory as it stood, rather than burnt."
This was the termination of the campaigns of Augustus, as well as the rebellion in Spain. The fidelity of the Spaniards towards us was afterwards unshaken, and peaced remained uninterrupted; a consequence resulting as well from their own disposition, which was now more inclined to tranquillity, as from the managment of Caesar, who, dreading their confidence in the mountains where they sheltered themselves, ordered them to occupy and inhabit the part in which his camp had been, and which was level ground. This regulation was noticed as one of great prudence. The country round about contains gold, and yields vermillion, chrysocolla, and other pigments. He accordingly ordered the soil to be worked. Thus the Asturians became acquainted with their treasures hid in the earth, but searching for them for others.
All nations in the west and south being subdued, and all to the north between the Rhine and Danube, as well as all to the east between the Cyrus and Euphrates, the other countries also, which had not fallen under the authority of Rome, yet grew sensible of her grandeur, and reverenced a people who had conquered so many nations. The Scythians and Sarmatians sent ambassadors to us, desiring our friendship. The Seres, too, and the Indians who live under the very sun, coming with jewels and pearls, and bringing also elephants among their presents, thought they proved their respect to Augustus by nothing so much as the length of their journey, which they had taken four years to complete. The complexion of the men showed that they came from another climate. The Parthians, also, as if they repented of their victory, brought back, of their own accord, the standards which they had taken on the overthrow of Crassus.
Thus there was everywhere, throughout the whole world, uniform and uninterrupted peace or agreement; and Caesar Augustus, in the seven hundredth year from the foundation of the city, ventured to shut the temple of double-faced Janus, which had been shut twice before, in the reign of Numa, and when Carthage was first conquered. Afterwards, applying his thoughts to secure transquillity, he kept in order, by many strict and severe laws, an age which was prone to every vice, and plunging fast into luxury. For these great achievements, he was styled Perpetual Dictator, and Father of his Country. It was debated, too, in the senate, whether, as he had established the empire, he should not also be called Romulus; but the name of Augustus was thought more sacred and venerable, in order that, while he still lived on earth, he might in name and title be ranked among the gods.
- Ch. XIII. By judicial privileges] Judiciorum regno. The law respecting the choice of judices was several times altered. At first they were chosen only from the senators; afterwards, by a law of Caius Gracchus, only from the equites; next, by a law of Caepio, from both orders; and various changes succeeded. See Adam's Rom. Antiq., p. 236, 8vo. ed.
- Caused peculation with regard to taxes] Vectigalia supprimebat. "It was easy for the equites, (many of whom were farmers of the revenues,) when they were granted by the law of Gracchus the privilege of being judices, to favour those of their own class on trials, and thus to allow much malappropriation of the public money." Stadius. "Supressa vectigalia are intercepta et in privatos usus conversa. 'Supprimere pecuniam' for to convert to one's own use occurs in Cic. pro Cluent., c. 25, 36." Duker.
- Ch. XIV. Mancinus's surrender] Mancinianae deditionis. See ii., 18.
- A people who had conquered, &c.] The same words occur in the preceding chapter. Probably, as Duker observes, they ought to be omitted in one of the passages.
- Ch. XVI. His competitor] The competitor of Apueleius. Valerius Maximus, ix., 7, 3, says that he was killed by the people, but calls him Aulus Numius. The manuscripts of Florus vary as to the name.
- Ch. XVII. Extraordinary privileges] The judices being now elected from the equites. See note on c. 13.
- Intercepting the public revenues] Interceptis vectigalibus. See note on c. 13.
- Metellus] See c. 16.
- Rutilius] He had held the consulship, and was a man of high character, but was brought to trial for extortion, and condemned by a factio of the equitea Stadius.
- Ch. XVIII. With great justice] Justissime. "This does not seem to be consistent with what is said above, that the allies excited an insurrection with disgrace to themselves (flagitio). Unless Florus means that though the demands of the allies were just, yet they ought to have borne patiently with the refusal of them on the part of Rome, which they were to regard as their mother-city, just as children bear with hard treatment from their parents." Duker.
- Their whole senate and consuls the Umbrians] Umbros totus senatus et consules. Lipsius, Freinshemius, Faber, Perizonius, Graevius, and Duker, are unanimous in suspecting this passage of being corrupt. The name of a leader seems to be wanting. Perizonius thinks that we should read Popedius Marsos et Latinos; Afranius Umbros; Egnatius Samnium; Lucaniamque Telesinus. "Egnatrius was an eminent general of the enemy, whom Livy, Epit., lib. lxxv. calls nobilissimum ducem, and whom it is not likely that Florus would have omitted to mentioned." Duker.
- Ch. XIX. To have been dragged home] Retrahi. Many editions have distrahi.
- Ch. XX. Without sparing themselves] Sine missione. "That is, even to death. Missio was leave to withdraw from the battle, which was sometimes granted to conquered gladiators; but when it was determied that they should fight till one of them was killed, the struggle was said to be sine missione. Freinshemius.
- Ch. XXI. But even Marius and Sylla] Quum vero—Marius et Sylla. All the commentators see that this passge stands in need of some correction. Freinshemius conjectures jam vero. Lipsius and Madame Dacier, with less felicity tum vero.
- Under three constellations] Tribus—sideribus. See note on ii., 18.
- The tribune who was present] Sulpicius, apparently.
- At enmity with gods and men] Dis hominibusque infestus. Desperate, concious that both gods and men were already enraged at him, and not caring how much further he provoked them.
- The Caesars] Caius and Lucius, two brothers.
- He did not stretch out that fatal hand, &c.] Quia fatalem illam scilicet manum non porrexerat salutanti. Ancharius apprached to salute Marius, but Marius did not hold out his hand to him; the followers of Marius, therefore, despatched him, according to directions which they had previously received.
- Villa Publica] See the pseudo-Sallust's Second Epistle to Caesar, c. 5.
- Like wild beasts] Ritu ferarum. As beasts would be torn.
- Enemies condemned, &c.] The concluding sentence of this chapter is nearly unintelligible. It stands thus in Duker's edition: Nam Sulmonem, vetus oppidum, socium atque amicum (facinus indignum!) nondum expugnatusm, it obsides jure belli, et modo morte damnati duci jubentur: sic damnatam civitatem iussit Sulla deleri. For obsides Gronovius proposed to Graevius to read hostes, which succeeding critics have approved. Modo no one has attempted to explain, except Wopkens, (Lect. Tullian, 5, transcribed by Duker,) who says tht it means nulla quaestione adhibita, caeco impetu, or, as we should say, "off-hand." I have given to the passage, in the translation, the sense in which I must suppose that Florus intended; omitting the word damnatam.
- Ch. XXII. Being driven over the Ocean] Missusque in Oceanum. Missus, as the critics observe, can hardly be right. Lipsius conjectures victus, Perizonius fusus.
- Domitius and Thorius] Leiutenant-generals of Metellus: the brothers Herculeii, on the side of Sertorius, are mentioned by Frontin., i., 5, 8, Livy, Epit., xc., Eutrop., vi., 1, and other authors.
- Roman generals] Sertorius and his opponents. Sertorius was by birth a Sabine.
- Ch. XXIII. But how violent was it!] In all the editions the passage stands, Sed quantum lateque fax illius motus ab ipso Syllae rogo exarsit! Quantum lateque is mere nonsense, as all the commentators allow, except Perizonius, who would name it equivalent to quam late, but, as Duker remarks, he should have shown that other writers so express themselves. N. Heinsius conjectures quantum quamque late; Duker, quam late; Is. Vossius, quam longa lateque. I have not attempted any close adherence to the text. Madame Dacier was inclined to expunge both quantum and lateque.
- Ch. I. To destroy the city by fire] Distringere incendiis urbem. So as distringendam libertatem, Sen. Benef., vi., 34, where Lipsius would read destringendam.
- Human blood] See Sall., Cat., c.22.
- Openly and expressly declaring] Seque palam professo incendium, &c. The passage is evidently corrupt. Madame Dacier would strike out professo; Graevius would eject palam, and read ex professo, adverbially. Gronovius would read seque palam professo, &c., which Vossius, Rupertus, and apparently Duker, approve, and which seems to be the only reasonable was of correcting the passage.
- Tarcondimotus] A prince of Cilicia; Cotys, a king of Thrace.
- At the diminution of his triumph over Crete] Ob imminutum Cretae triumphum. "Not complaining without reason, for the greatest ornament of his triumph, the captive leaders, had been kept back by Pompey." Vell. Pat., ii., 40. Dion. Cass., lib. xxxvi.
- Three vast armies] Tres maximos exercitus. These words are without a verb in the original. "Some verb," says Graevius, "such as habuere, must have been lost out of the text; or the three words must have been an interpolation."
- In opposition to the effeminacy of its character] Non pro mollitie nominis. "Not in accordance with report, which represented all the Greeks, not excepting those of Marseilles at that period, as unwarlike and spiritless; for that the people of that city had then degenerated from their former reputation for valour, sjhown by Bos on Cic., Ep. Att., x., 12." Duker.
- Curictian shore] Curictio litore. "From Curicta, a town at the entrance of the Adriatic, called by Ptolemy ??????ta." Salmasius. The copies vary greatly; some have Corcyraeo; others Cretico.
- A thousand men] Not in one boat; though it would seem to be so from the text.
- A hundred and twenty weapons penetrated] Centum atque viginti tela sedere. Some copies have centum atque quadraginta. In Caesar, B. C. iii., 58, it is stated that the number of holes in the shield was a hundred and thirty.
- As with one hand] Quasi una manu. "That is, very easily, without effort; no great force being necessary to effect it." Rupertus.
- Driven from Syendrae] Pulsis Syedris. "Syedra is mentioned by Ptolemy among the maritime towns of Cilicia; Stephanus calls it a city of Isauris, which is often confounded with Cilicia." Salmasius. Before Salmasius the reading was pulsis (or Pulsus) Hedris, which puzzled all the editors.
- Damsel] Puella.
- Dislike for the king, &c.] Odium ipsius regis, &c. There seems to be something wanting in the text here, as Freinshemius and Duker observe.
- Comes, strikes, and is gone] Venit, percussit, abcessit. He uses the preterperfects for the sake of greater effect, as Pearce imagined that Longinus used the aorists in sect. i., ?f?? d?—t? te p???µata d???? s??pt?? p??ta d?ef???se, ?a? t?? t?? ??t???? ?????a? ??ed???at? d??aµ??, which passage Smith, believing in Pearce, translated, "The sublime—with the rapid force of lightning, has borne down all before it, and shown at one stroke the compacted might of genius." Both should have known better. Minellius aptly compares Vell. Pat., ii., 7: Ego vix crediderim tam mature tantam urbem floruisse, concidisse, resurrexisse. See Sall., Jug., c. 106, coenatos esse.
- Had strengthened the obligation, &c.] By exciting them to avenge his death.
- Nor were the leaders too brave, &c.] Et duces fortius quam ut fugerent, &c. Thus stands the passage in Duker's edition, and almost all others, though Salmasius long ago substituted nec, and Freinshemius, Madame Dacier, Perizonius and Duker himself, admitted that the sense demanded the alteration.
- Funeral dishes] Parentalia fercula. Because Petreius and Juba slew themselves over them.
- At the very mouth of the Ocean] In ipso ostio Oceani. Near the straits of Gibraltar. "Not far from Crantia, as Dion., ib. xliii., has it, or Cateia, as Hirtius de Bell. Hispan., c. 32." Freinshemius.
- The internal and external seas] Mare et intestinum et externum. The Mediterranean sea, within the strait of Gibraltar, and the Ocean without it.
- This was an expression of general feeling] Hic omnium sensus erat. "These words are a contemptible gloss." Freinshemius. "I think otherwise; Florus means that all the soldiers, by this silence, testified what they felt, that they wished an end to be put to civil contention." Graevius. "If this was Florus's meaning, he ought to have expressed it more plainly, by adding or prefixing something to the words." Duker.
- Arsinoe—displayed] In ferculus—Arsinoe. Madame Dacier thinks that by Arsinoe Florus means the picture of a city by that name; Duker supposes that he intends the portrait of Arsinoe, the sister of Cleopatra, but observes that he must have erred from not knowing that Arsinoe herself was led in the triumph with other captives, as is told by Dion Cassius, lib. Xliii. Ferculum was a sort of frame or stage on which things were carried in triumphal processions.
- For which he had no triumph] He did not triumph on account of those battles, says Freinshemius, because in them he had conquered, not foreigners, but his own countrymen. See iii., 22, fin. "Yet that the representations of the contests at Pharsalus and Thapsus, as well as the portraits of the brave men who fell in them, Scipio, Cato, and Petreius, were carried in triumph, is stated by Appian, Bell. Civ., lib. ii.; * * * * that he triumphed, a fifth time, for his victory over the Pompeys at Munda, is testified both by Dion Cassius, l. xliii., and by Plutarch in his life of Caesar." Duker.
- And Faustus Sylla, (he had learned to be afraid of sons-in-law,) &c.] Et Faustum Sullam: dedicerat generos timere: filaimque Pompeii cum patruelibus ex Sulla. Under the term sons-in-law Florus comprehends Pompey and Faustus Sylla. Caesar had learned from Pompey to dread a son-in-law, and he now dreaded Faustus Sylla, who, as florus appears to think, was his grandson-in-law, by having married Pompey's daughter. But on this point Florus, as Graevius remarks, is in error, for Julia, Caesar's daughter, died childless; and Faustus Sylla's marriage with a daughter of Pompey by another wife did not at all connect him with Caesar. To the word patruelibus no critic has professed to give a satisfactory sense; it admits, indeed, of no explanation, for patruelis is a "cousin-german," and to whom can we suppose that Florus called the children of Faustus Sylla "cousin-germans?" I have therefore, instead of it, adopted parvulis, the conjecture of Perizonius, approved both by Graevius and Duker.
- Regard was had to posterity] Posteris cavebatur. Lest, if any offspring of Sylla should be left, it might be the means of raising a new war. But Hirtius, De Bell. Afric., c. 95, gives a quite different account of the matter, saying that Caesar "granted the daughter of Pompey, and her children by Faustus Sylla, their lives and all their property."
- Ch. III. His father's death] The death of Julius Caesar, his father by adoption.
- Was ready to degenerate into a king] Descisit in regem. "An elegant expression, and agreeable to the feelings of the old Romans, to whom the name of king was detestable." Freinshemius.
- Ch. IV. Second heir] Secundus hoeres. "Camers says that he has nowhere else read this, but I remember to have read it in Dion. Cass., lib. xliv. The second heir is he who takes the place of the first should the first die before the death of the testator." Vinetus.
- Ch. VI. What could Caesar then do, &c.] The word Caesar is wanting in the text, but Graevius shows the necessity of adopting it.
- Confluentes] At the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine, now Coblenz.
- After no good precedent] Nullo bono more. "In allusion to the preceding triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus." Duker.
- Ch. VII. Vengeance was not then thought proper, &c.] Displicuit ultio. After these words follow cum consulis abolitione decreta, of which, according to the unanimous voice of the commentators, no sense can be made, and which I have consequently omitted.
- Fear and indolence] Metus et ignavia. That Antony was thus kept from the field, seems to be a gratuitous assertion on the part of Florus. Plutarch merely observes that "some said Antony was absent from the battle, and did not arive in the field till his men were in pursuit of the enemy." Vit. Ant., c 28. See also Vit. Brut., c. 61. No other authority is adduced on the subject.
- Virtue existed—merely in name] This saying of Brutus is wholly inapplicable here. Florus first uses virtus in a military sense, (for conduct or ability,) and then confounds it with virtus in a moral sense.
- Both should survive the battle, or neither] Ita enim par superesse bello convenerat. Of these words, from which the critics extract no satisfactory sense, I have borrowed Clarke's translation. Freinshemius seems to offer the best emendation: Ita enim super isto bello convenerat. "Quid sibi velit hic par," says Salmasius, "non video."
- From principle] Ex persuasione. "The word persuasio is also applied to the sentiments and principles of the philosophers by Quintilian, xii., 2." Duker. The sentiment at the conclusion of this chapter is, as Salmasus says, sufficiently turgid.
- Ch. VIII. With a vastly superior force] Tanta mole. The tanta is evidently corrupt. Tollius conjectures tandem tota mole.
- Casting his rings into the sea] Annulis in mare abjectis. What rings are meant, is a point of dispute. Madame Dacier and Duker think that they are the rings Sextus Pompey wore on his fingers, and which he threw away that he might not be known by them. Rupertus supposes that they were the fetters worn by the rowrs who were the slaves of Pompey, (fetters being called rings by Martial, Epig., ii., 29, xi., 38,) and which were thrown away that they might make less noise; a supposition much less probable than the other.
- Not afraid that he should perish] Non timens ne periret. "Here I accept the interpretation of Rupertus, who says that Sextus Pompey had hopes of safety from Antony." Duker.
- Ch. IX. Knot and obstacle] Nodus et mora. "In imitation of Virgil, Aen., x., 428: Pugnae nodumque moramque. Freinshemius.
- More than twenty thousand] Viginti amplius millium fuit. "The author is obscure," as Duker remarks, "from excess of brevity," for he leaves it uncertain whether the slaughter was of the cavalry or of the whole army. I have followed the interpretation of Faber.
- Ch. X. With its brackish and bitter water] Salinacidis, sc. aquis, according to Salmasius, whom Graevius and Duker follow. A word compounded of salinus (for salsus) and acidus. Others write the word salmacidus, as in Plin. H. N., xxxi., 8, 22; but Salmasius's method appears the better.
- And his silver being everywhere cut up with hatchets] Quum argentum ejus passim dolabris concideretur. Thuis was done, according to Plutarch, by Antony's own soldiers, during a riot. "Those who were known to be possessed of gold or silver were slain and plundered, and the money conveyed in the baggage was carried off. Last of all his [Antony's] own baggage was seized, and the richest bowls and tables were cut asunder and divided among the pillagers." Life of Antony, c. 64. Langhorne's Translation.
- Into a monster] In illud monstrum. That is, into that momster of a king, such as he is afterwards described. See note on desciscit in regem, c. 3.
- Preparations—for flight into the Ocean] Praeparata in Oceanum fuga. Florus alludes to the project of Cleopatra, to draw her vessels over the Isthmus of Suez from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea, and to flee to some more remote country. See Plutarch, Vit. Anton., c. 89.
- A name which they give to the sepulchres of their kings] Sepulcgra regum sic vocant. Salmasius and Freinshemius would eject these words, as a mere intruded gloss.
- In a coffin] In solio. "Solium is here put for the loculus (coffin) in which dead bodies were buried; as in Plin H. N., xxxv., 12; Q. Curt., x., 1, 32." Freinshemius. Also Suet. Ner., c. 50; Solium Porphyretici marmoris.
- Ch. XII. How savage these nations were] Quae fuerit callidarum ventium feritas. The word callidarum, with which none of the critics are satisfied, I have omitted. Salmasius conjectures Alpicarum; Nic. Heinsius Validarum.
- A sort of barriers] Et quaedam quasi claustra. I read ut with Gruter.
- Here the waters and the enemy, &c.] Hic se et aquis et hoste turbantibus. "I cannot see the propriety of the promoun se, and could wish it were absent. * * * But if for se were substituted suos, there would be no obscurity." Duker.
- More comely in blood and more majestic in danger] Speciosior sanguine, et ipse periculo augustior.
- He that was the second orator in Rome] Hic secundus orator. "I know n ot what these words mean, unless it be that Pollio was second to Cicero. I would rather read facundus; * * * but, to say the truth, I am inclined to think the words a mere gloss, which somebody had written in the margin of his copy as his own description of Pollio." Freinshemius. Vinetus, Isaac Vossius, Madame Dacier, Tollins, and Duker, are of the same opinion.
- The people of Thrace] Thracum maxime populus. I have omitted maxime, as unintelligible. Madame Dacier and Graevius would read maximus.
- Drusus] Step-son of Augustus; the same that is mentioned by Horace, Od., iv., 4.
- Gesoriacum] Afterwards called Bononia, whence its modern name Boulogne.
- More difficult to retain, &c.] He has the same remark, ii., 17.
- To this day—two eagles] Aquilas duas adhuc barbari possident. Freinshemius observes that there were recovered before the time of Florus; one by Stertinus, as is stated in Tacit. Ann., i., 60; and the other by Gabinius, as is told by Dion Cassius, lib. lx. "Lipsius, on Tacit. Ann., ii., 25, expresses a suspicion that Florus copied his account from some Roman historian who wrote before the recovery of the eagles." Duker.
- His grandsons] Sons of his daughter Julia and Marcus Agrippa.
- Hurt] Strictus. Stringere, used in this way, is generally leviter vulnerare.
- Hither Ocean] Citerior Oceanus. What Florus meant by Citerior Oceanus, neither Ryckius, nor Madame Dacier, nor Duker, can settle. The Cantabri and Astures were situate near the end of the Pyrenees furthest from Rome, on the Atlandtic Ocean.
- By degrees] In diem. "From day to day." Perizonius, Freinshemius, and Graevius, would read indidem; but this, as Duker, observes, is superfluous, when unde precedes.
- Of Vellica] All the editions have Belgicae; but there is no place of this name known in Spain. Vellicae is the conjecture of Stadius, approved by Gruter, Graevius, and Perizonius.
- Chrysocolla, and other pigments] Chrysocollae, et aliorum colorum. Crysocolla is generally considered the same with borax. Good, in his notes on Lucretius, vi., 1077, says that is "a mineral sand, found on the shores of the Red Sea, of an elegant green colour, denominated by the nations of modern times tincar or tincal." See Pliny, H. N., xxxiii., 5. Borax is also said to be found in great quantities in [...]hibet.
- The complexion of the men, &c.] Et Tamen ipse hominum color, &c. The 'tamen, as Madame Dacier remarks, is worse than useless, giving a ridiculous meaning to the sentence. It is wanting in one of Ryckius's manuscripts, and in some editions. I have omitted it.
- Uniform and uninterrupted] Cuncta atque continua. Cuncta is read in all manuscripts and editions, but is, as Graevius observes, unintelligible. I have preferred una, the conjecture of Gronovius. Lipsius had previously suggested juncta.
- Peace or agreement] Pax—aut pactio. All people were quiet, as having either, from being conquered, accepted terms of peace, or consenting to abstain, at least for the present, from hostilities. The latter class, as Duker observes, were those of whom Florus speaks a little above; nations who, though not actually subdued by the Romans, were sensible of their supriority, and respected their power. |
noun, plural fi·la [fahy-luh]. /ˈfaɪ lə/.
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Origin of filum
Words nearby filum
Example sentences from the Web for filum
This thread, the filum labyrinthi, is the new method of induction.
Of this division there seems to be only one small fragment, the Filum Labyrinthi, consisting of but two or three pages.
Name from filum, a thread, in allusion to the cottony hairs of these plants.
A small form is often found parasitic on Chorda filum, spreading out horizontally like the hairs of a bottle brush.Sea-Weeds, Shells and Fossils|Peter Gray
Cui filum sericum circumligatum, et sigillum cancellari impressum erat.History of the Great Reformation, Volume IV|J. H. Merle D'Aubign |
Pluto, designated (134340) Pluto, is a dwarf planet in the solar system following Neptune’s orbit. It comes from the Roman mythological god Pluto (Hades, according to Greek mythology). At the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union held in Prague on August 24, 2006, a new category called plutoid was created, including Pluto. Pluto was once categorized as a planet but is now seen as a dwarf planet.
It is also the prototype of a category of transneptunian objects called plutinos. Pluto has an eccentric orbit highly inclined with respect to the ecliptic, which runs closer in its perihelion to Neptune’s orbit’s interior. It also has five satellites: Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra, which are celestial bodies that share the same category as the dwarf planet.
Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930, by the American astronomer Clyde William Tombaugh (1906-1997) from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and was considered the ninth and smallest planet in the solar system by the International Astronomical Union and by the Public opinion from then until 2006. However, its membership in the group of planets in the solar system was always controversial among astronomers.
After an intense debate, and with the proposal of the Uruguayan astronomer Julio Ángel Fernández and Gonzalo Tancredi before the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague, Czech Republic, it was unanimously decided to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet. According to the proposal, there are three conditions for an object to be considered a planet: The object must be in orbit around the Sun. The object must be massive enough that its gravity has rounded it off. More specifically, its own gravity should pull it into a shape defined by hydrostatic equilibrium. The object must have cleared the vicinity of its orbit.
It turns out that Pluto fails to meet the third condition. Its mass is considerably less than the combined mass of the other objects in its orbit: 0.07 times, in contrast to our planet, which is 1.7 million times the remaining mass in its orbit (excluding the moon). Therefore, it was decided by the IAU that bodies like Pluto, who happened to meet criteria number one and two, but not number three, would be called dwarf planets.
For many years there was a belief that Pluto was a Neptune satellite that had ceased to be a satellite due to reaching a second cosmic speed. However, this theory was rejected in the 1970s after dynamic studies determined it was impossible: Pluto and Neptune’s trajectories never come close.
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft became the first spacecraft to explore Pluto up close, flying by the dwarf planet and its moons on July 14, 2015. Furthermore, in early 2019, New Horizons flew past its second major science target, —2014 MU69, the most distant object ever explored up close.
As revealed by NASA, by the time New Horizons reached Pluto and its moons, it had traveled farther away and for a longer time period (more than nine years) than any previous deep-space spacecraft ever launched.
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It is incorrect to state that Canada lacks a melting pot tradition. It arose and gained support at the time a similar tradition was explicitly formulated in the U.S. Its continuity can be traced through John Diefenbaker’s notion of “One Canada” to Preston Manning’s Reform Party. Manning’s view of bilingualism and multiculturalism as special privileges for distinct groups is strikingly reminiscent of Dalton McCarthy’s Equal Rights movement …
Apart from French Canada, two other forces have reinforced the Canadian mosaic. The first was the fact that Canadians of British ancestry wished to retain their British roots and traditions. Not really wishing to become unhyphenated Canadians themselves, they had difficulty persuading others to do so. British Canadians would not trade the rights of Englishmen for the rights of man, or the reflected glories of the Empire for a Canadian identity that might have included their fellow Canadians. The second force was anti-Americanism, as the sociologist S.D. Clark has explained most clearly. In 1950, Clark noted that the frontier had served as a melting pot in both North American countries but that Canadian elites had resisted this tendency so as to preserve the colonial character of Canadian society1 …
In sum, the legacy of Canadian history and the complex character of Canadian society prevented either the melting pot or the mosaic philosophy from gaining hegemony. The former was strong in provincial politics and in populist movements. The latter reigned supreme in Quebec and dominated the two major parties at the federal level, Diefenbaker notwithstanding. The Liberals’ early espousal of a melting pot philosophy came to an end as the populist roots of that party withered away under Laurier’s leadership.
Meanwhile, south of the border, by 1963 two noted students of American ethnicity maintained that the melting pot theory was no longer useful or credible, if it ever had been. In Beyond the Melting Pot, Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan concluded that ethnicity had persisted in the U.S. and seemed likely to do so indefinitely, reinforced by race and religion. By the time the second edition appeared in 1970, evidence had accumulated to prove them right.
Multiculturalism: Trudeau’s invention
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which seemed to mark the triumph of Henri Bourassa’s vision of an equal partnership between two founding peoples, actually contributed to its disintegration. Its public hearings encountered considerable resistance to the notion of English-French duality. The Commission was forced to devote an entire volume of its report to “the contributions of other ethnic groups” in an effort to preserve its own legitimacy. One result of its efforts was to turn French Canadians and “other ethnics,” traditionally allies against the melting pot tendencies of English Canada, into adversaries. The more sophisticated opponents of Quebec nationalism saw their opportunity.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau borrowed from his favourite philosopher, Lord Acton, the idea that a truly liberal state should not be dominated by one ethnic group because it will use its power to oppress other groups and provoke a reactive nationalism on their part. Trudeau viewed French Canadian nationalism, which tried to use the Quebec government for nationalist ends, as a reaction against British Canadian nationalism, which had tried to use the colonial state, and later the federal state, for nationalist ends. But if one group is a majority, how can it be prevented from dominating?
The answer is to have no majority. If no group is large enough to dominate, government will have to be based on compromise, and the evils of “nationalism” will be avoided. (English Canadians were slow to realize that when Trudeau denounced “nationalism,” he meant loyalty to an ethnic group, not loyalty to the state. The different meanings of nation in the two languages caused considerable confusion.)
Official multiculturalism, a policy first proclaimed by Trudeau in the House of Commons on October 8, 1971, thus served several related purposes. It was a quid pro quo to “other ethnics” for the 1969 Official Languages Act. It was a reminder to Quebec nationalists that the French were only one of several ethnic groups. It was a warning against any effort by Quebec to create its own melting pot, an effort already urged by many nationalists (and undertaken a few years later with Bill 101). Finally, multiculturalism was intended to ensure that the Canadian state would never again be an instrument of British Canadian nationalism by dissolving “English Canada” into a congeries of different ethnic groups. If there was no majority, according to this Actonian reasoning, French Canada did not have to worry about being a minority. In a sense multiculturalism was an updated version of the British imperial policy of divide and rule.
Multiculturalism was quickly endorsed by the opposition parties and soon adopted as policy by several of the provinces, with the conspicuous exception of Quebec. One reason for its rapid acceptance was its apparent resemblance to the more familiar notion of the Canadian mosaic. Another was its un-American symbolism, at a time when anti-Americanism in Canada was especially high. Still another was that most non-French Canadians preferred multiculturalism to equal partnership between French and English, including those who would have preferred a more “British” definition of the country. Significantly, the popularity of the concept only began to decline after non-white and non-European groups replaced the Italians and Ukrainians as its most obvious beneficiaries, and the Mulroney government shifted the focus of multiculturalism policy from the dubious notion of encouraging cultural differences to the more praiseworthy objective of combating racism.
Meanwhile, multiculturalism had been entrenched in Canada’s constitution. Section 27 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms directs that “this Charter shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians.” In his statement of October 8, 1971, Trudeau asserted that in Canada “there is no official culture.” If it is true, this statement apparently does not have a meaning analogous to the statement that in the U.S. there is no official religion. While the U.S. government avoids any involvement in religion, even to the point of refusing to take note of it in the census, the Canadian government is heavily involved in culture, to the tune of more than $1.5 billion annually. Indeed, if there is no official culture, why have a policy? Presumably because the market cannot be counted upon to produce the results that Lord Acton would have preferred.
An even more serious contradiction concerns the concepts of individual and collective rights. In Trudeau’s political thought individual rights have always been of primordial importance, and collective rights viewed with suspicion. Multiculturalism was valued because it allegedly made individual rights more secure, not as an end in itself. Yet multiculturalism, if taken seriously, has undeniable collectivist implications.
These collectivist implications have surfaced most clearly, and most ominously, in the form of demands by various ethnic groups for symbolic and even financial compensation for past wrongs allegedly perpetrated by the Canadian state. First it was the Japanese Canadians protesting against their internment and resettlement during the Second World War. When the government capitulated to their demand for apology and compensation, Chinese Canadians demanded similar redress for a tax on Chinese immigration imposed a century earlier. Then Italian Canadians demanded compensation for the internment of suspected fascists (about 1 per cent of the Italian-Canadian population) during the Second World War. After Mulroney apologized for that episode, Ukrainian Canadians demanded compensation for the internment, during the First World War, of some of their ancestors who had emigrated from Austria-Hungary. Even a group of Franco-Ontarians is trying to take the government of Ontario to court for “cultural genocide.” Note that in the nature of collective rights, no injury to actual living persons need be claimed, much less proved.
Even the most vehement supporters of official multiculturalism are beginning to resist the financial implications of such demands. In December 1994, one week after denouncing Neil Bissoondath’s critique of multiculturalism, Sheila Finestone, Minister of State for Multiculturalism and Trudeau’s successor as Mount Royal MP, announced that the government would no longer consider financial redress for any wrongs inflicted on ethnic groups by previous governments. The government, she said, could not rewrite history. Spokesmen for the Chinese, Italian and Ukrainian ethnic lobbies reacted angrily.
The pot that didn’t melt
While all this has been going on in Canada, there have been parallel developments in the U.S. The word multiculturalism has surfaced also to become a subject of great controversy. As in so many other respects, the two countries appear to be converging, even as Canadians turn a blind eye to the fact and insist on their own distinctiveness.
The publication of Beyond the Melting Pot in 1963 coincided with the end of an era in U.S. ethnic relations. Martin Luther King, Jr. brought his campaign for Afro-American civil rights to Birmingham, Alabama, and President Kennedy brought civil rights to centre stage in his administration. Kennedy’s civil rights legislation would be adopted in the following year, and Johnson’s Voting Rights Act a year later. Increasingly, however, Afro-American militants replaced the original goals of “integration” and “civil rights” by “Black Power,” collective rights and quasi-separatism. They contended that Afro-Americans would continue to be, as they always had been, excluded from the melting pot, that integration would, at best, benefit a relatively small black middle class. Instead, they emphasized their African “roots” and alleged cultural distinctiveness vis-à-vis white America …
Perhaps the most significant developments in ethnic relations in the U.S. involved the so-called “Hispanic” population. Like the Canadian term francophone, Hispanic is a generic term covering a number of distinct groups, which include Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans and the indigenous “Chicano” element in the southwest which predates the acquisition of the territory from Mexico in 1845. Largely because of rising immigration, legal and otherwise, “Hispanics” are increasing much more rapidly than the population as a whole. Following the example of Afro-Americans, they have come to expect a proportionate share of political appointments and nominations and of access to education and opportunity. Perhaps more ominous demands include bilingual or Spanish-language education, which already exists in some areas, and the availability of Spanish-language services from all three levels of government.
The erosion of the melting pot concept has also been reflected in the census. The 1970 census was the first to attempt to determine the total number of “Hispanics,” although Mexicans had been counted separately since 1930. In 1980, the U.S. census for the first time followed Canada’s example of asking ethnic origin.
Even the expression multiculturalism has entered the American vocabulary, although with no acknowledgement of its Canadian origins. Jesse Jackson in his attempt to build a “rainbow coalition” was perhaps the first prominent politician to use the term, but since that time it has become generally familiar. On the other hand, the term melting pot has largely acquired connotations of forced assimilation or even racism and is rarely used by Americans except in a hostile or ironic sense. Bilingual education, which was widespread before the First World War, has been revived in many states and been subsidized by the federal government since 1968 …
In actual fact there has probably been more resentment among Afro-Americans than among Euro-Americans against the new multiculturalism. Increasing emphasis on the goals of Hispanic Americans has tended to deflect attention away from the still unresolved problems of Afro-Americans. The social and economic progress of some relatively recent immigrants, as contrasted with African Americans, has not failed to attract attention. (Canadians may recall the reaction in Quebec when the Dunton-Laurendeau commission revealed the fact that French Canadians ranked near the bottom among ethnic groups in average income.) Resentment seems to focus specifically on certain immigrant groups, notably the Koreans who often operate small stores and other businesses in neighbourhoods with large Afro-American populations.
Increasingly ethnicity in American life is being defined as a zero-sum game between Euro-Americans, Afro-Americans, Asian Americans and “Hispanics.” (The fact that the last of these is a linguistic rather than a racial classification and thus overlaps with the others is usually disregarded.) Jesse Jackson notwithstanding, the rainbow coalition is a long way off.
Where do we go from here?
Clearly the two North American federations have far more in common so far as ethnicity and ethnic politics are concerned than the traditional stereotypes would suggest. The ideological partition of the continent in 1783, and the fact that French was originally, and rather ironically, the predominant language on the “British” side of the new boundary, led to some significant differences, differences sustained by the fact that Canada encouraged large-scale immigration from continental Europe during most of the period when the U.S. restricted it under the quota system. But developments since the 1960s have caused the two countries to converge.
The Quiet Revolution in Quebec and the civil rights revolution in the southern states gave ethnic questions a prominent place on the political agenda at the same time as the increasing weight of immigrants of non-European background altered the ethnic composition of the cities of both countries. The result has been increased emphasis on ethnicity and friction between the traditionally contending groups: English and French in Canada, Whites and Blacks in the U.S. French Canadians and Afro-Americans have on balance been more hurt than helped by the new emphasis on the problems and objectives of immigrant groups.
A recent study by two of Canada’s leading sociologists presents strong evidence of convergence, undermining the contrasting stereotypes of melting pot and mosaic.2 Jeffrey G. Reitz and Raymond Breton examined attitudes toward the retention of minority cultures, the degree to which minorities actually retain their cultures, the extent of prejudice and discrimination, and the incorporation of ethnic minorities in the economy. They found few significant differences between Canadians and Americans. Furthermore, one that they did find contradicts the stereotype: Americans were more supportive of cultural retention by minorities than Canadians, not less.
Some significant differences remain. Quebec has no counterpart in the American federation, although this could change in the long term if one or more southwestern states become predominantly Spanish-speaking. And Canada, largely because of its determination to resist absorption by the U.S., has a much stronger tradition of involvement by the state in “culture.” But these do not constitute a valid reason why “multiculturalism” should assume such a prominent place in the symbolic order of Canada as it has assumed recently.
In reality, multiculturalism does not in fact distinguish Canada from the U.S., it causes anxiety in Quebec and increasing resentment in anglophone Canada, and it is a highly questionable blessing for ethnic minorities, as Neil Bissoondath, among others, has recognized. For most of them, individual opportunity and participation in the mainstream of Canadian life are higher priorities than collective “rights” to cultural retention and the refighting of historical controversies.
Given the difficulties of the amending process, Section 27 can probably not be removed from the Charter. There are other ways in which Canada can retreat from its ill-advised policy of official multiculturalism. The Mulroney government moved in the right direction by downsizing the Ministry of State for Multiculturalism and shifting from cultural retention toward combating racism. Cultural assimilation and equal opportunities for all are in the long run the best defences against racism.
Another desirable step would be to eliminate the ethnic question from the Canadian census, while retaining the questions dealing with language. The ethnic question originally had the primary purpose of measuring the weight of the francophone minority but the language questions now do so in a more accurate and acceptable manner. The accuracy and reliability of the ethnic data have always been questionable, and since they do not measure the degree of assimilation they are largely irrelevant in any event. Their chief consequence is to encourage inflated claims by various “ethnic” lobbies as to the number of people they allegedly represent. In the last Canadian census more than 765,000 persons, mainly in Ontario, defied the instructions on the form and wrote in their ethnic origin as “Canadian.” Where is John Diefenbaker now that we need him?
Canada, to its credit, is a land of immigration, as is the United States. However, immigrant-receptive polities work best when the natural process of integration into the community is allowed to take its course. Ethnic diversity caused by immigration is very different from ethnic diversity caused by territorial expansion, like that of the former Soviet Union and (Lord Acton’s favourite example) the Austro-Hungarian empire.
“Multiculturalism” is a dysfunctional symbol and a misguided policy insofar as it blurs this fundamental distinction. It is time to let Lord Acton rest in peace.
1 S. D. Clark, The Developing Canadian Community (2nd edition; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962) pp. 195-196.
2 Jeffrey G. Reitz and Raymond Breton, The Illusion of Difference: Realities of Ethnicity in Canada and the United States (Toronto: C.D. Howe, 1994). |
If you’re going abroad this year, as well as checking the exchange rate, have a look at whether you and the family need any vaccinations. Different parts of the world are affected by different disease, and some can be serious. Vaccination is a very effective way of staying well while away.
Typhoid fever is caused by a bacterial infection (Salmonella typhi) spread through contaminated water and food. It’s particularly prevalent in areas where sanitation and food hygiene are poor. At risk countries include Africa, South/South East Asia, India and Central/South America. The vaccination comes as an injection or in capsule form, and you will usually need a booster after a few years.
Meningitis is a serious bacterial infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord (the meninges). The condition does not always give you the characteristic rash that doesn’t fade when you press it, as it depends on where the bacteria infect the body (only the blood infection gives you a rash). If not treated quickly, it rapidly leads to death. Prevention is important. There are many different strains of meningitis. High-risk areas include Africa and the Middle East, especially in people on the Hajj pilgrimage, due to the crowds. The vaccination protects again strains A, C, W and Y. The routine UK childhood vaccination protects against types B and C.
Cholera is a potentially serious bacterial infection associated with poor hygiene. It’s most prevalent in areas of Africa, South/South East Asia, the Middle East, Central America and the Caribbean. Treatment involves oral rehydration solution to prevent dehydration, and antibiotics if symptoms are severe. The vaccine can be given as a drink, which is taken in 2-3 doses.
Yellow fever is a viral infection transmitted by certain types of mosquito. It’s particularly common in sub-Saharan Africa, South America and parts of the Caribbean. The illness starts with typical viral symptoms (fever, aches and pains), but can progress to organ failure and serious haemorrhage. There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, and management mainly involves dealing with the symptoms. However, vaccination can significantly reduce your chances of getting it and is around 95% effective, and gives lifelong protection.
Hepatitis is a liver infection caused by a range of viruses (anything from hep A to hep E). The most important types for travellers are hep A and B. Hep A is usually caught through contaminated food and drink, and is prevalent in areas like India, Central/South America, the Far East, Africa and Eastern Europe. The vaccine is an injection, and if you have the booster within a year, you’re protected for 20 years. Hep B is blood-borne and usually spread through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids. It’s especially important for those undertaking high-risk activities or working in healthcare. Though most clear the virus themselves, it can lead to liver infection that puts you at risk of cirrhosis and cancer. The vaccine is a series of injections.
Rabies is a condition that primarily affects animals, but a bite from an infected animal can spread it to humans. It’s a viral illness that targets the brain and nervous system, resulting in unusual behaviour and ultimately progressing to paralysis and death. The vaccine is a series of injections, which can cover you for up to 10 years. |
Top 10 Prehistoric Planetary Apocalypses
The planet Earth has seen some seriously savage events in the ancient past, and researchers have only recently been able to assemble enough details to present us with a rough picture. The impact that wiped out the dinosaurs has been well-covered but will be included here because of a recently discovered twist.
The saga of Earth’s violent youth is still being written, and the chapters penned by modern science are far more fascinating than any high-budget Hollywood epic.
10 Younger Dryas Impact/Lake Agassiz
Much of North America’s classic megafauna—including mastodons, saber-toothed cats, giant sloths, and more—went extinct around 13,000 years ago. This extinction coincided with a geological period known as the Younger Dryas.
The Younger Dryas occurred near the end of the last ice age when the Earth was warming and glaciers were receding. For some reason, the warming stopped and global temps plummeted up to 24 degrees Celsius (43 °F) within a few short decades.
The chill lasted for over 1,000 years, killing many species. This extinction has been described by geologists as “geologically instantaneous [and] the most extreme manifestation of climate change in the geological record.”
Although it was a mystery for many years, scientists today have a very interesting theory as to what brought about such conditions. As ice ages end and glaciers retreat, very large meltwater lakes can form within the glaciers themselves.
Lake Agassiz was one such incredibly massive lake. It spanned a general area of roughly 945,000 square kilometers (365,000 mi2), which is about five times the land area of North Dakota. The ice dam containing this lake collapsed, releasing nearly 16,000 square kilometers (6,000 mi2) of cold, fresh meltwater into the warm ocean currents and dropping the Earth’s temperature.
A current school of thought is that an asteroid may have caused this dramatic cold snap. Harvard scientist Michail Petaev and his colleagues state that this impact is evident from high amounts of platinum and iridium—cosmic fingerprint evidence of an iron meteorite impact—that were found in a Greenland ice core sample from this part of the Holocene Epoch. Other scientists have discovered nanodiamonds and impact-produced carbon particles from this same sediment layer, supporting the hypothesis.
9 Gamma-Ray Burst Mass Extinction
As it appears from Earth, the cosmos seems to be the peaceful, nighttime image of serenity. But it can also be the stage of extreme violence.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) occur at the supernova deaths of massive stars and are the most powerful explosions in the universe. The extremity of their violence is hard for the human mind to comprehend. They can last from milliseconds to minutes and, in that time frame, emit as much energy as the Sun puts out in 10 billion years.
University of Kansas and NASA scientists have used atmospheric modeling to hypothesize that just such an explosion may have caused the mass extinction that occurred during the Ordovician Period. This was over 200 million years before the first dinosaurs walked the Earth and long before there was any animal or significant plant life on land.
The scientists determined that even a 10-second burst from 6,000 light-years away would destroy half the Earth’s ozone and expose all living things to lethal ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Small life-forms that form the base of the food chain (such as plankton) would be severely depleted. Chemical changes in the atmosphere would have led to planetary cooling, disrupting ecosystems everywhere.
Brian Thomas, then a PhD candidate at the University of Kansas, said that as much as 60 percent of the marine invertebrates may have been wiped out. Near-surface creatures would have been immediately affected by the lack of food and exposure to the Sun’s ultraviolet rays, while the deepwater creatures could have held out for longer. Eventually, the food chain disruption would have caught up to them as well.
An interesting BBC documentary was done on the subject, and you can view it here.
8 Lunar Cataclysm
Imagine the Earth being hit with many massive space rocks (picture Texas-sized boulders) over a stretch of many millions of years. This occurred early in Earth’s history. “[Around 3.9 billion years ago,] Earth would have been a miserable place to be alive,” says Oregon State University researcher Robert Duncan.
Known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, this event describes the series of deadly impacts suffered by Earth early in its history, likely due to the disturbance of the asteroid belt between Earth and Mars. Evidence on Earth for these impacts has long been erased due to erosion and plate tectonic action, so it wasn’t until the Moon landings that retrieved Moon rocks told the story.
Chemical “fingerprinting” and radiometric dating techniques used on Moon rocks have revealed that both the Earth and Moon sustained a meteoric barrage around the time that life is thought to have first begun developing on our planet. Scientists believe the bombardment lasted for about 100 million years.
Here are some current theories as to the origin of the asteroid belt disturbance: the existence of a “Planet V” that formed within the zone of smaller planets but was swallowed up by the Sun, the synchronous resonance of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s orbits (the most popular theory), and a possible collision of the unnamed 10th and 11th planets in the outer solar system.
7 Storegga Slide
Imagine that the UK was once a peninsula of Europe and not an island. What fantastically violent event would transform this landmass into the island nation that we would recognize today?
Start with a landslide the size of Scotland. Place it underwater in the darkness of a prehistoric ocean, amid all kinds of undiscovered, ancient, and deadly marine life, and picture the resulting tsunami. It paints a frightening picture indeed.
Around 8,000 years ago, that is exactly what happened off the Scandinavian coast.
A prehistoric earthquake shifted up to 3,500 cubic kilometers (840 mi3) of sediment (roughly 2,000 times the mass of material that was displaced during the Mount St. Helens eruption). It slid across the sloping ocean floor for about 800 kilometers (500 mi).
The tsunami punched the shores of Norway with a front wave 11 meters (35 ft) high. It was 9 meters (30 ft) high in the Faroe Islands, and up to 27 meters (90 ft) high in the Shetlands. A landlocked Norwegian Sea was released into the marsh-speckled tundra (“Doggerland” region, as it was called), turning the southern lowlands into the English Channel as we know it today.
“Anyone standing out on the mud flats at that time would have been dismembered. The speed [of the water] was just so great,” says geologist David Smith of Oxford University. “The waves would have been maybe as much as 10 meters (33 ft) high.”
The earthquake may have been caused by a collapse of spongelike methane hydrate deposits on the subterranean floor at the base of massive sediments that had built up over a very long time. The water hit the English coast with enough force to travel 40 kilometers (25 mi) inland, entirely changing the coastal geography and dooming whatever hunter-gatherer colonies existed in the area.
The dry, cold tundra that was home to thousands of our mammoth-hunting ancestors was completely submerged. Shockingly, it wasn’t even the largest slide in ancient history! Most scientists agree that that honor goes to our next entry.
6 Markagunt Gravity Slide
Geologists David Hacker, Robert Biek, and Peter Rowley wrote a paper on an ancient landslide, once thought to have been several different slides separated in time, but eventually found to be one jaw-dropping monster of a landslide. Most other ancient landslides that have been discovered so far—as fearsome as they are in scale and magnitude—pale shamefully in comparison.
Twenty-one million years ago, a landslide occurred between what is now Beaver, Utah, and the Bryce Canyon National Park. Large masses of rocky sediment, built up over long periods from volcanic action, rested heavily and at a steep angle atop a weaker layer of softer, clay-rich sediment. Magma swelling into a dome-like structure put even more pressure on the weaker layer supporting it until it collapsed. The collapse may have been triggered by a violent event like an earthquake or an eruption.
Once loose, the massive sheet of rock slid on the top of the softer clay layer for miles until the clay layer stopped. Then the top mass slid on its own even further. The entire mass slid over 89 kilometers (55 mi) and covered roughly 3,400 square kilometers (1,300 mi2).
It was very fast-moving—taking only a few minutes—and it was violent, overrunning every living thing in its path. Most of the slide itself was composed of huge blocks that covered several kilometers apiece. To this day, they are mostly upright and intact.
The immense friction from the slide melted rock into glass structures known as pseudotachylytes. The discovery of these pseudotachylytes provided the initial indicators of the presence and magnitude of the landslide.
5 Gibraltar Breach
The Rock of Gibraltar offers a majestic view. You may look at the African coast from its Andalusian summit in Europe and watch the boats pass through the Strait of Gibraltar.
During an ice age 5.3 million years ago, the lower sea level gave rise to a narrow land bridge that joined Europe to Africa, blocking the entry of the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean basin was a desert with very salty lakes left over from seawater that had evaporated 300,000 years earlier.
That ice age ended, the sea level rose, and the land bridge subsided just enough to allow a breach. It started slowly as a “trickle” and, over several thousand years, built up enough steam to become one of the largest waterfalls the world had ever known. It carved an ever-deepening channel into the land as it grew.
The flow of seawater contained probably 1,000 times the volume of the Amazon River! The trickle became a torrent of such magnitude that 90 percent of the Mediterranean basin was refilled in as little as a few months, although it may have taken as long as two years according to Daniel Garcia-Castellanos, a geophysicist in Barcelona.
Under these conditions, the Mediterranean water level would have been rising as much as 10 meters (33 ft) a day. It destroyed any and all flora and fauna that existed at the time and created the Mediterranean Sea as we know it today.
The subsidence of tectonic plates is thought to be the cause, but much research is left to be done before more definitive conclusions can be reached.
4 Black Sea Deluge (Noah’s Flood)
No less a legend than Dr. Robert Ballard—discoverer of the wreck of the Titanic—has proposed the theory that would explain the origin of the well-known “flood myths” of ancient lore.
A 1999 marine expedition led by Ballard discovered signs of human occupation and man-made structures at the bottom of the Black Sea. The discovery of an ancient shoreline, as well as the remains of freshwater mollusks, indicated that there was once a freshwater lake under what is now the salty Black Sea. This was evidence of a massive flood. Radiocarbon dating supports a date for the deluge of around 7,000 years ago.
Rising sea levels were caused by melting glaciers during a warming period at the end of one of the many past ice ages. These waters threatened the area around the Bosporus Strait, which may have been a land bridge at one time. It is now a land bottleneck in Asia Minor that opens up into the Black Sea.
At some point, the land bridge was breached. The Mediterranean Sea poured in at roughly 42 cubic kilometers (10 mi3) every day, perhaps “with a force of 200 Niagara Falls,” according to Columbia University marine geologists Bill Ryan and Walter Pitman.
It would have left the terrified survivors to hand down legends of the flood through oral traditions of many generations. It may have inspired the flood stories of Noah, Gilgamesh, and other peoples of the ancient world.
3 ‘The Great Dying’
Also known as the Permian-Triassic extinction event, “the Great Dying” was the largest mass extinction of life on Earth. It happened many millions of years before the dinosaurs roamed the planet.
Nearly a quarter of a billion years ago, at the end of the Permian era, 90 percent of the planet’s life was wiped out. Only 4 percent of sea life survived. Almost all the trees were gone. The culprit of this terrible geologic crime is believed to be massive “flood basalt eruptions” that happened in a region known today as the Siberian Traps.
Flood basalt eruptions differ from familiar forms of volcanism. Instead of lava erupting from a cone-like mountain, it erupts from large openings in the Earth itself and spreads over a very large area. This is believed to have occurred when the Earth’s landmass consisted of one continent (Pangaea). The specific event location was what is now modern-day Siberia.
The eruption covered an area of 3 million cubic kilometers (720,000 mi3), and it lasted for millions of years. Massive amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide were released into the air, poisoning the atmosphere and causing abrupt climate change.
An area the size of the United States was covered in lava 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) deep. The oceans were acidified and starved of oxygen. Oceanic circulation was also impeded. Short-term nuclear winters would have been followed by long-term global warming. The long-term effect was devastating to all life, and the planet took millions of years to recover.
“It’s literally a singular event in Earth history—it’s a monster,” says MIT PhD Seth Burgess. “It makes Yellowstone (supervolcano) look like the head of a pin.”
2 Shiva Impact—Double Dinosaur-Killing Impact!
According to a new theory, it was not one but two asteroid impacts that killed the dinosaurs.
The well-known Chicxulub crater of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico bears witness to the massive impact that led to global climate changes and mass extinction. The asteroid that hit the Earth in the Late Cretaceous 65 million years ago was 10 kilometers (6 mi) wide and produced a crater about 180 kilometers (110 mi) across.
A mere 300,000 years later, while the Earth was still geologically recovering from that impact, a 40-kilometer-wide (25 mi) rock hit the ocean off the west coast of India, leaving a crater that was 480 kilometers (300 mi) wide.
“If we are correct,” paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee said, “this is the largest crater known on Earth.” The crater was appropriately named the Shiva crater after the Hindu god of destruction. It is thought that that this event broke the Seychelles islands off the Indian subcontinent.
Some scientists have stated that the Earth’s crust was vaporized at the point of impact, initiating the flood basalt volcanism of the Deccan Traps (similar to the Siberian Traps). This released noxious gases and accelerated the rate of volcanism that was already rife in the area of western India at the time.
The impact was so severe that it deformed part of the Earth’s lithosphere mantle and shattered the Indian tectonic plate where the asteroid hit. Between the lethal kinetic impact energy, the massive tsunami, the lava flood jailbreak, and the gas release, struggling species that were previously on the edge must have had no chance.
The impact far surpassed the Chicxulub crater in scale and violence. “The dinosaurs were really unlucky,” said Chatterjee.
1 Theia Impact
The mother of all cosmic impacts occurred when a Mars-size planet (known as Theia) struck Earth during the free-for-all billiards game of colliding planetary bodies early in the history of the solar system. The Earth was smashed into a barely intact spinning spheroid of molten rock. This cataclysm produced the habitable Earth that we know today and gave us our Moon.
Molten debris that spun off immediately after the violent collision was kept in gravitational orbit by the rump of Earth that remained. The debris gradually coalesced into the familiar sphere that appears in our night sky.
Credit is again due to the Apollo missions and the subsequent study of Moon rocks. It was found that the Earth and the Moon rocks were uncannily similar in composition. This led scientists to deduce that the Earth and Moon were once the same object, which was violently separated by a massive protoplanetary collision early in Earth’s history.
Daniel Herwartz, an isotope geochemist at the University of Gottingen in Germany, found that the similarity in oxygen isotopes between Moon rocks and Earth rocks further reinforces the impact hypothesis. “This group of meteorites has a very, very similar isotopic composition to the Earth,” he said.
Some scientists say that Theia was more of an E-type asteroid rather than a recognizable planet as we would picture it.
Beau Boivin is an extremely intelligent, witty, charming, suave, debonair bachelor who is very, very good-looking. He is also very humble about these facts and denies writing his own bio.
Read about more apocalypses on our planet on 10 Brutal Realities Of Life After The Nuclear Apocalypse and 10 Apocalypses That We Survived. |
Kazan University was
historically one of the Russian centers that focused on Buddhist and
Oriental Studies. O. M. Kovalevskyi, a Mongolianist, and V. P. Vasiliev,
a Chinologist, were deeply involved in Buddhist studies and were on
the teaching staff of its Oriental Studies Department. In 1854 the
Oriental Studies Department of Kazan University moved to Saint Petersburg.
A year later in 1855 the Oriental Studies Department was set up within
Saint Petersburg State University. The Asian Museum of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, which was founded in 1816, served as another
center of Oriental Studies in Saint Petersburg. Today it is the Saint
Petersburg Branch of the Oriental Studies Institute with the Russian
Academy of Sciences.
did a good job collecting research data on Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva,
Tibet, and Mongolia. Their research expeditions were arranged by the
Russian Geographic Society and sponsored by the Tsarist government.
The latter did not do it for the sake of science, but to provide a
basis for the further development of appropriate geopolitical doctrines.
The researchers of
Buddhism did not restrict their activities to studying the classical
Buddhist literary heritage of India. Minaev and his disciples S. F.
Oldenburg and F. I. Stcherbatsky considered it obligatory for any
person involved in Buddhist studies, no matter what his or her field
was, to be well acquainted with the living Buddhist tradition existing
in Central, Eastern, and Southern Asia. Saint Petersburg Buddhist
scholars have been sticking to this approach for generations.
Oldenburg (1863-1934) was an Indianist just like his teacher Minaev.
His field of study lay within popular Buddhist literary texts and
iconography. Oldenburg and Stcherbatsky set up a series of books called
Buddhist Library (Bibliotheca Buddhica), which aimed at publishing
original Buddhist texts, monographs and multi-author books devoted
to Buddhism. At present, the series numbers thirty-seven volumes.
Oldenburg was one
of the organizers of the first Buddhist exhibition held in the Russian
Museum in Saint Petersburg in 1919. The exhibition aimed at acquainting
visitors with the Buddhist doctrine, as well as its art and cultic
artifacts on loan from Saint Petersburg museums. The exhibition could
be classified as the first Buddhism educational event due to the lectures
given by such outstanding Russian Buddhist scholars as F. I. Stcherbatsky,
O.O. Rosenberg, B. Y. Bladimirtsov, and S. F. Oldenburg.
Stcherbatsky (1866-1942) was the founder of the Saint Petersburg Buddhist
Studies tradition. His major field of study was Buddhist Philosophy,
especially logic and epistemology. His first book of a significant
importance, Epistemology and Logic as They are Viewed by Succeeding
Buddhists (vol.1, 1903; vol. 2, 1909) deals with the translation of
a Buddhist treatise on logic and its subsequent commentary. The Core
Concept of Buddhism and the Meaning of Dharma (1923), The Concept
of Buddhist Nirvana (1927) and Buddhist Logic (1930-1932) soon followed.
They were published in English and made their author, along with Russian
Buddhist Studies, famous worldwide. Russia held this reputation for
years and guided the European science.
was not only a distinguished scientist but an outstanding teacher
as well. He trained and educated a number of highly qualified Indianists,
Buddhologists and Tibetan scholars. O. O. Rosenberg, Y. Y. Obermiller,
A. I. Vostrikov, and B. B. Baradiyn are only a few famous names among
his most advanced students. Stcherbatsky's approach was to combine
academic and applied scientific achievements within the framework
of Russian Buddhist Studies. Moreover, he sincerely believed that
research of the Indian and Buddhist traditions provided a solid basis
for coming to terms with those Buddhist forms that sprang up later
and diffused among the Buryats and Kalmyks. He took a pro-active part
in arranging the expedition to Tibet and Mongolia for G. Ts. Tsybikov
and B. B. Baradiyn.
The second half of
the nineteenth century is marked by intense field research in the
areas of Buddhism's traditional spread.(11) Aleksei Matveevich Pozdneev
(1851-1920) was among the pioneer Buddhist scholars to conduct applied
Buddhist Studies. He had broad background knowledge in regional geography
and Buddhism, and spoke Mongolian and Tibetan fluently. He went on
several long trips to the areas of the diffusion of Tibeto-Mongolian
Buddhism. Pozdneev's expeditions always focused on, among other things,
acquiring information on the social, political, and economic situation
of the Buddhist areas of the Russian Empire and its neighboring countries.
His logs gave rise to several books that were the first reliable source
of precious information on Buddhism in Mongolia in the nineteenth
Tsybikov (1873-1930) is also widely known for his field research of
Buddhism. His trip to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, lasted from 1899
to 1902. At that time any foreigner was denied of the right of entry
into Tibet unless he or she was a Buddhist follower and Asian native.
Tsybikov managed to get into the country under the pretext of being
a Buddhist pilgrim. Actually it was far from being a personal trip,
but was actually a well-planned scientific expedition under the auspices
of the Russian Geographical Society. In fact, it was the idea of Pozdneev,
one of Tsybikov's teachers, to send him to Tibet as a pilgrim. Upon
his return to Russia, Gombodzab Tsybikov reported back to the Geographical
Society with general information on Tibet's geography, climate, ethnography,
economics patterns, state administration, and religion. While being
on this trip, Tsybikov kept a log that later grew into a book entitled:
A Buddha Pilgrim Visiting Tibetan Shrines (1919).
Baradiyn (1878-1937), a prominent Buddhist scholar and field researcher,
made an outstanding contribution to the research of Buddhist monasteries
in Tibet and Mongolia. His professors at Saint-Petersburg State University
were academics S. F. Oldenburg and F. I. Stcherbatsky. Baradiyn went
to the Labran Buddhist monastery, one of the three largest Gelugpa
educational centers in the north of Tibet (the present-day territory
of Gansu province, China). His work A Trip to Labran (1908) is based
on various data of the monks' life in Labran, obtained during his
trip. One of Baradiyn's key works is Buddhist Monasteries (1926),
which contains valuable information on Buddhist monasteries in Buryatia,
Mongolia, and Tibet.
Otton Ottonovich Rosenberg,
Stcherbatsky's most devoted disciple and associate (1888- 1919), mainly
focused on studying Indian Buddhist philosophical texts (Abhidharmakosha
by Vasubandhu) and their interpretation in China and Japan. In 1912
to 1916 Rosenberg went to Japan on a research trip to observe Buddhism
as it was in the country at that time. He also wanted to get direct
access to original Buddhist philosophical texts. Unfortunately, he
did not live long, leaving just a few works behind, his monograph
Problems of Buddhist Philosophy (1918) being of paramount importance.
This work and some of his brief articles set forth a number of basic
methodological statements that greatly predetermined the further development
of Buddhist studies in Russia.
Obermiller (1901-1935) combined the study of Tibetan Buddhist written
records with the field research of Buddhist monasteries (datsans)
in Buryatia in 1926-1927. Obermiller translated The History of Buddhism
in India and Tibet, a historiographic text by the distinguished Tibetan
historian Budon Rinchendub (fourteenth century), into English and
commented on its historical, cultural, and religious aspects.
Along with the translation
of Buddhist canonical texts and their subsequent interpretation, the
Saint Petersburg Buddhologists played a pro-active role in setting-up
the datsan, a Buddhist research center (see Section III).
Buddhist Studies in
After the October
Revolution of 1917 Buddhist Studies went on in Saint Petersburg, despite
such difficulties as a lack of up-to-date scientific information and
literature, and problems maintaining contact with foreign scientists.
F. I. Stcherbatsky and S. F. Oldenburg, along with many other prominent
Oriental Studies scholars, chose not to leave Russia both in the post-revolutionary
years and during the Civil war. Although the Russian scholars and
scientists faced a myriad of difficulties, they did continue their
research and teaching. New and unprecedented projects sprang up. The
Buddhist Exhibition of 1919 is an example of such an unexpected event.
The years that followed
the October Revolution abounded in Buddhist field research. For instance,
Stcherbatsky's students Y. Y. Obermiller, A. I. Vostrikov, M. I. Tubyansky,
and B. V. Semichov went to Transbaikalia to do field research on the
living Buddhist tradition.
In 1927 the Institute
of Buddhist Culture (INBUC) was set up within the Soviet Academy of
Sciences, on the initiative of Stcherbatsky, Oldenburg, and Tubyansky.
Young and promising scientists Y. Y. Obermiller, A. I. Vostrikov,
B. V. Semichov, B. A. Vasiliev, and E. N. Kozerovskaya, worked there,
majoring in the study of Sanskrit, Tibet, Mongolia, and China. INBUC
saw its core activities as conducting studies of Buddhist culture
and its forms, tracing their historical evolution, and doing research
on the living Buddhist cultures that settled in various Asian countries.
The structural reorganization of Oriental Studies bodies within the
Soviet Academy of Sciences took place in 1930. As a result, the Asian
Museum, the Institute of Buddhist Culture and the Department of Turkish
Studies merged together to set up the Institute of Oriental Studies
within the USSR Academy of Sciences. Stcherbatsky was the head of
the Indian and Tibetan Studies Department of the newly established
The Bibliotheca Buddhica
series was published until 1936. The year 1936 saw the last issue
in the series, number thirty, containing the original Sanskrit treatise
Madhyanta-Vibhanga submitted by Stcherbatsky. The series resumed publication
twenty-five years later.
The Russian scholars
were able to conduct Buddhist studies as original and independent
research in 1930. The Russian Academy of Sciences was guided by the
pre-revolutionary Regulation of 1836 for several decades after the
October Revolution of 1917. The 1836 Regulation did not impose any
ideological restrictions on the research area and subjects. In 1930
a new Regulation was adopted by the Russian Academy of Sciences, one
that banned any religious research. Nevertheless, the Indio-Tibetan
Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies was privately engaged
in Buddhist studies for seven more years. The latter were non-scheduled
events with the Department.
In the late 1930s
the activities of the Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) Buddhist Studies
school glimmered only slightly. Many of Stcherbatsky's students were
subject to repression and executed. Academician Sherbatksy was persecuted
on the basis of his being an idealist Neo-Kantian. He was accused
of disseminating reactionary ideas and propagating "Indian popovshchina"
(retaining the services of priests). His last works were published
exclusively in English. When the Great Patriotic War of 1941 started
in Russia, Stcherbatsky, along with other scientists, were evacuated
to Borovoy, a settlement in the north of Kazakhstan. He died there
on March 18, 1942, having survived nearly all his students and followers.
The 1960s Buddhist
Studies revival is associated with such names as Y. N. Roerich(12),
O. F. Volkova, L. E. Myall, A. M. Pyatigorsky, and B. D. Dandaron.(13)
This Buddhist Studies Renaissance period was relatively short and
came to its end in the early 1970s. Dandaron, who had been subject
to repression in Stalin's epoch, was arrested in 1972 for the study
and propagation of Buddhism. He was accused of setting up a sect,
sentenced to imprisonment, and died in prison. Many Buddhist Studies
scholars who maintained close relations with him and who witnessed
for the defense in court were also prosecuted. The Soviet government
adopted an attitude of mistrust toward Buddhist Studies and started
to suspect people involved in it of crime. As a result some Buddhist
Studies scholars were denied the right to conduct scientific research
and some of them emigrated from the country, like A. M. Pyatigorksy
and A. Y. Shurkin.
Although certain ideological
limitations existed with regard to proper Buddhist Studies, the following
years saw the further evolution of Oriental Studies in terms of the
historical, social scientific, philological, and cultural aspects
connected with Buddhist research in one way or another. Here are only
some of the Orientalists who provided insights into Buddhist issues:
G. M. Bongard-Levin, who dealt with spiritual world of ancient India;
L. N. Menshikov, who focused on Buddhist texts (Dunjhyana) and Chinese
Buddhist literary texts (Byanven genre); M. I. Vorobieva-Decyatovskaya,
who covered Buddhist texts in Sanskrit available in Central Asia;
I. S. Gurevich, who studied Yujlu, the language of Chan; V. I. Kornev,
who described Buddhism and public life in the countries of South-Eastern
Asia; V. N. Goreglyad, who was mainly concerned with Buddhism and
Japanese literature; A. S. Martunov, who did research on the role
of and interaction between society, the state, and Buddhism in China
and the Far East; and E. V. Zavadskaya, who studied the impact of
the Chan (Zen) tradition on European culture in the twentieth century.
A new scientific center was established at that time. It was the Buddhist
Studies Department within the Institute of Social Sciences, the Buryat
branch of the Siberian division of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
This Department focused mainly on the study of Chinese and Japanese
Buddhism. Such scholars as N. V. Abaev, L. E. Yangutov, S. Y. Lemekhov,
and S.P. Nesterkin worked here.(14)
In the late 1980s
and early 1990s, when the Russian government switched to the new socio-political
doctrine, it brought about the revival of Buddhist Studies in Saint
Petersburg. The Buddhist Studies boom of the 1980s and 1990s is associated
with the following names: A. N. Ignatovich, who studied the history
of Buddhism in Japan; V. N. Androsov, who dealt with Nagarjuna doctrine;
V. G. Lusenko, who focused on early Pali Buddhism; A. V. Parebok,
who also covered Pali Buddhism; A. M. Kabanov, who was interested
in Zen and traditional Japanese literary texts; S. D. Serebryany,
who dealt with Indian religious and philosophical texts and Mahayana
Sutras; E. A. Torchinov, whose major concern was Chinese Buddhism
and Buddhist philosophy; and M. E. Yarmakov, who studied Buddhist
hagiography in China and the Chinese Buddhism of the common people.
The late 1980s saw
the formation of a task group headed by V. I. Rudoy, which in 1992
achieved the status of a Buddhist Studies task group within the Saint-Petersburg
division of the Oriental Studies Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences.
At present, it is made up of V. I. Rudoy (the Head of the group),
E. P. Ostrovskaya, and T. V. Ermakova. Rudoy was the first to start
a Buddhist Studies tradition guided by its own methodological principles
and based on a distinct strategy of conducting scientific research
over decades. One of the group's core scientific activities is to
translate and interpret Abhidharmakosha, a basic religious and philosophical
treatise of the Indian Buddhist tradition.
Today, Russian Buddhist
Studies, in Saint Petersburg in particular, is going through another
III. The Saint Petersburg
of Buddhism as a traditional religious belief of Russia is closely
connected with the construction of the first European Buddhist datsan(16)
in Saint Petersburg. The history of the Saint-Petersburg Buddhist
shrine is very dramatic and intriguing, mostly due to the fact that
the Russian Empire had always treated Buddhism as a religious belief
of ethnic minority groups. Orthodox Tsarist Russia was rather flexible
towards peoples who practiced other religions (like Islam, Judaism,
and Buddhism) in the sense that it did not hamper the evolution of
their religions and cultures. At the same time Russian Empire ideology
was always rooted in Orthodox Christianity.
The Saint Petersburg
Buddhist community at the beginning of the twentieth century
The construction of
the Buddhist datsan in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian
Empire until 1917, was brought about by particular events and circumstances.
In the early twentieth century a large Buddhist ethnic community was
established in Saint Petersburg, which numbered hundreds of people.
The establishment of this Buddhist community went through several
phases. Thus, in 1869 there was only one Buddhist registered; a year
later in 1897 there were 75 Buddhists; and in 1910 there were 184
Buddhists. The core of the community was made up of Buryat and Kalmyk
people, natives of the traditional Buddhist territories of the Empire,
namely the Transbaikalia, Astrakhan, and Stavropol provinces. They
came from various social strata: college students, craftsmen, merchants,
low ranks of the Cossak military units quartered in Saint-Petersburg,
and so on.
In the early twentieth
century Kalmyk princes of the Tundutovs' and Tumens' clans settled
in the capital. The Tundutovs took an active part in the social life
of the city. The Russian nobles, public and political figures, attended
their fashionable, regularly held gatherings. There is some evidence
that Saint Petersburg Buryats and Kalmyks had an opportunity to repeatedly
petition the Emperor for permission to build a Buddhist temple, thanks
to the patronage of the Tundutovs' acquaintances.
The Orientalists majoring
in Buddhism and Buddhist culture played a pro-active role in settling
the issue. It should be noted, however, that they did not propagate
Buddhism themselves. Their primary concern was to set up a center
of Indian and Tibetan Spirituality and Culture within the datsan,
in order to have the opportunity to study and translate Buddhist texts
into Russian, with the direct help of Buddhist written record holders,
i.e., ordained religious masters.
The thirteenth Dalai
Lama Thubden Gyatso (1876-1933) and Agvan Lobsan Dorzhiev (1854-1938),
a Russian subject and the Dalai Lama's representative in Russia, demonstrated
their direct and immediate initiative to establish a Buddhist monastery
in Saint Petersburg. Dorzhiev managed to get imperial approval to
build the datsan and succeeded in raising the funds to employ the
best architects and craftsmen. Hence, it is no wonder that even today
in the twenty-first century, the Saint-Petersburg shrine is famous
worldwide for its beauty and originality.
Being a political
leader, scholar and propagator of Buddhism, Agvan Dorziev still mesmerizes
Buddhists and researchers as one of the most outstanding political
and cultural leaders of Tibetan Buddhism. Much of his life still remains
unknown to researchers, however this paper covers only those biographical
details that highlight his contribution to the establishment of the
Buddhist datsan in Saint Petersburg. A Khory Buryat by origin, at
the age of nineteen he left his homeland for Tibet to study in Drepung,
one of the largest of the Gelugpa monasteries. Having successfully
completed the traditional course of religious studies, he began the
academic Buddhist degree of Lharampa. He continued his studies to
become Tsanid-Hambo, or "Master of Buddhist Philosophy."
Dorzhiev's talents and profound knowledge won him a good reputation
and the respect of Tibet religious scholars. Soon he joined the staff
of the Dalai Lama's mentors. He was with the Dalai Lama for decades
without break when he finally became one of the most distinguished
religious and political figures of Tibet. In the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries England laid its military claim on Tibet.
The Tibetan religious and political administration was actively seeking
ways of rescuing the country from becoming a British colony. By that
time Dorzhiev had been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs under
the administration of the Dalai Lama and the tough task of establishing
diplomatic ties with Russia fell to him.
It was Dorzhiev who
came up with the idea of establishing friendly ties with Russia, and
treating it as a potential protector of the Buddhist state. In 1898
Dorzhiev, acting as an official representative of the Dalai Lama,
passed the Tibet ruler's appeal to Nicholas II to establish diplomatic
relations and render assistance in the struggle against the military
aggressiveness of England and China. This appeal happened to parallel
the policy Russia was pursuing toward the eastern countries. Nevertheless,
the negotiations of 1901, held in Peterhoff Palace between Nicholas
II, the Tsar of All Russians, and the Tibetan delegation headed by
Dorzhiev did yield some results toward this end. In response to the
Dalai Lama's official appeal and generous gifts, the Russian monarch
promised Tibet his protection and expressed the desire to establish
a solid, friendly relationship between the countries. He entrusted
Dorzhiev with the official Russian reply and with gifts for the Dalai
The Tibetan delegation
returned to their homeland, except for Dorzhiev, who stayed in Saint
Petersburg to act as an official diplomatic representative of Tibet.
He did his best to strengthen and cement the ties between Tibet and
Russia. His major concern was to acquaint Russian intellectuals and
educated people with Buddhism and Buddhist culture, and to diffuse
accurate knowledge about Buddhist teachings among them. This allowed
him to raise more funds to build new monasteries in Buryatia and Kalmykia,
which would later serve as religious educational centers.
Since Dorzhiev was
appointed the Tibetan diplomatic representative to Russia, he was
persistently trying to promote the establishment of a Buddhist temple
in the capital of the Russian Empire. He became acquainted with Saint-Petersburg
Orientalists, and world-renowned Buddhist, Tibetan, and Mongolian
Studies scholars and artists like V V. Radlov, S. F. Oldenburg, F.
I. Stcherbatsky, H. K. Roerich, V. L. Kotovich, and A. D. Rudnev,
among others. Having enlisted support and received backing, Dorzhiev
entered into negotiations with Nicholas II to discuss the location
and architecture of the proposed temple.
In 1903 Dorzhiev went
back to Tibet to report on his activities both in Saint Petersburg
and in the Buddhist territories of the Russian Empire. By that time
Tibet's situation in the world arena had been considerably aggravated.
Having gained victory in the Anglo-Boer war in the south of Africa,
and having entered into alliance with Japan against Russia, England
launched a military invasion in Tibet. The Dalai Lama had to leave
the country for Mongolia, where he sought Russia's assistance through
the mediation of Dorzhiev, his diplomatic representative to Russia.
Through the years
that followed (1905-1907) Dorzhiev raised funds to build the Buddhist
datsan in Saint Petersburg, which was then viewed as a would-be residence
of the Tibet theocratic ruler in Russia. Having received imperial
approval, Dorzhiev tried to spark the interest of Saint Petersburg
and European scholars and artists in this undertaking.
However, the Russian
Orthodox Church was strongly against the establishment of the Buddhist
datsan in the capital of Russia. These protests gave rise to a wave
of church services and public prayers against the "pagans"
throughout the country, in Kiev, Kazan, Irkutsk, and so forth. The
Theological Department was flooded with petitions to repeal the approval
to build the datsan. The anti-Buddhist drive greatly slowed down construction
of the datsan, and led to the revision of the initial construction
plan in order to minimize Buddhist symbolism on the temple fronts.
all the difficulties, resistance, and counteraction, February 21,
1913 witnessed the first service held in the datsan. It was also the
year the Romanovs celebrated the 300 year anniversary of their rule.
Construction of the datsan was fully completed in 1914 and 1915. Nicholas
II confirmed the arrival that very year of a staff of clergy and nine
lamas. Three of them came from Tranzbailkalia, four from Astrakhan
province, and two from Stavropol province.
The second large Buddhist
service was held on June 9, 1914 for the consecration of two Thai
statues that were solemnly brought into the datsan. One of the statues
was a gilded copper figure of the Sitting Buddha Shakyamuni, a gift
from the King of Siam, Rama VI, Prince Vajiravuda. The other was a
molded bronze figure of the Standing Buddha Maitreya, stuffed with
plaster for sturdiness. It was a gift from G. A. Planson, from the
Russian Council in Bangkok.
August 10, 1915 saw
the consecration of the datsan. The datsan was given the name of Gunzechoinei,
or "The Source of the Buddha's Religious Teaching that Has Deep
Compassion for All Beings."
Construction of the
Buddhist datsan in Saint Petersburg
The construction of
this imposing building was rather fascinating. Once the architectural
design of the datsan was underway, Dorzhiev suggested taking a classical
Tibetan cathedral temple as its pattern. The temple was meant to be
a place for holding Buddhist services for Buryat, Kalmyk, and Tuvian
laity now residing in the city, and an educational center for would-be
Dorzhiev chose the
site of the future datsan, guided by the Buddhist construction canon.
Upon the Emperor's approval he bought a plot of land on the outskirts
of the city, on the northern bank of the Greater Nevka in Staraya
Derevnya, at the corner of Blagoveshenskaya ulitsa (now Primorsky
Prospect-Maritime Avenue) and Lipovaya Alley. This site met all the
requirements of the Buddhist construction canon. The building would
be located on the northern bank of the river, which served as a natural
boundary between the "lay" part of the city and the sacred
territory of the datsan. The woods surrounded the datsan on the south,
which more or less met the Buddhist requirement that the southern
walls of the datsan be protected by the mountains.
Since Dorzhiev's plans
were to establish a Buddhist educational center (datsan) for future
monks, the initial plan was to build a two-story temple and a residential
building next to it for disciples to live. The construction committee
consisted of academicians V. V. Radlov, F. I. Stcherbatsky, S. F.
Oldenburg; Architect and Expert in the field of Civil Engineering
G. V. Baranovsky; Prince E. E. Uhtomsky, a high Emperor official;
artists N. K. Roerich and V. P. Schneider; Orientalists V. L. Kotovich
and A. D. Rudnev, both of whom taught at the Saint Petersburg State
The Saint Petersburg
datsan was consistent with other Tibetan temples in consisting of
two parts: southern and northern. Its southern part, or the temple
pivot premises, was the place for the monks to gather and hold religious
services (khurals). It was a spacious room divided by the columns
into three naves. Light came from a glazed opening in the roof to
fall on the eight-petaled lotus made of tiles on the temple floor.
Such internal arrangements within the temple aimed to copy Tibetan
and Buddhist symbolism. The light that traditionally symbolized Knowledge
and Enlightenment was to stream down from the skies onto the Earth
to fill the lotus, a symbol of human consciousness on its way to Enlightenment.
It was to project in practitioners' minds an image of the attainment
of religious essence.
The massive altar
occupied a deep niche and faced the entrance of the ceremonial room.
The three meter tall Buddha statue was placed in the heart of the
altar. Small religious statues brought from Tibetan, Chinese, and
Mongolian sanctuaries occupied glass cases to the Buddha's left and
The throne for the
temple's religious Head (abbot) to sit on was placed right in front
of the altar. According to tradition, the temple superior should sit
on a dais, like the Buddha among his disciples, while services are
being held and sermons are being delivered. The height of the throne,
draped with the most exquisite and soft hand-made furnishings, indicated
that the temple superior, or any other highly educated monk, was a
representative of those religiously high ranking individuals solely
responsible for the preservation of the Buddhist written tradition
and its passing over from one generation to another.
In the central part
of the ceremonial room two rows of low benches lined the columns.
There were tables piled with sacred texts and ceremonial things. At
religious services ritual objects such as vadjras (bronze or silver
symbolic plates picturing ancient sacred arms), bells, and seashells
serving as sacred brass instruments were used. Some of these ceremonial
articles were ordered by Dorzhiev from Peking and Dolon Nura in Mongolia.
Others were made in the shop run by the Emperor's jeweler Nicholas
Linden in Saint Petersburg.
iconographic items) and religious flags that symbolize victory over
greed, ignorance, and the evil of death in the Buddhist doctrine,
were placed in the altar niche and among the columns.
The central part of
the second floor, located above the ceremonial room, was tiled with
glass and circled with small wood-partitioned cells. The cells were
designed for the religious masters permanently residing at the temple
and for visiting monks to stay in. They also stored Buddhist texts,
sacerdotal robes, thankas, musical instruments, and so forth.
The northern part
of the datsan, a four-story tower, was a small praying room. According
to the Buddhist construction canon, it was a sacred dwelling place
for the Buddhist deity who safeguarded the Teachings. Their statuettes
and the statues of the temple guards Mahakala and Lhamo were
As for the temple
architecture, the Oriental prototypes Tibetan, Mongolian and Buryat
datsans were considerably adjusted to suit the European modernist
style. The entrance hall and staircases in the southern part of the
datsan illustrated the European architectural approach, which was
most evident in the layout and choice of finish materials. Hence,
the datsan style differed greatly from Tibet patterns of temple construction.
The datsan fronts were finished with materials in full compliance
with the northern architectural canon: rock-face granite, as well
as decorative and glazed tiles. A modernist style was evident in the
temple interior as well, for example, in the strikingly beautiful
stained glass plafond, in rails decorated with Buddhist symbols, and
in the multicolored tiled floor of the ceremonial room.
As had been initially
planned, a four-story hostel for the religious disciples was built
outside the temple's stone walls.
The Buddhist clergy
chose to be a part of Russian and Saint Petersburg public life. The
years that followed the temple's opening witnessed mass prayers targeted
at helping the Russians gain victory in World War I.
The Buddhist datsan
in the 1920s and 1930s
The history of the
temple, which was never used as the thirteenth Dalai Lama's residence
or great Buddhist Theological Academy, is rather complicated and confusing.(17)
The defeat of Russia in the Russian-Japanese war led to the country's
failure to render assistance to Tibet, and to the Dalai Lama being
denied the right to come to Saint Petersburg. After the October Revolution
of 1917, or to be more exact, the fall of 1919, the Red Army unit
was quartered in the datsan, driving the monks out of Saint Petersburg.
It should be pointed
out that the religious situation in Russia was rather complicated
and confusing until 1929. In 1929 a law was adopted that imposed a
ban on propagating and practicing any religious belief in the country.
Back in 1918 the government had issued the Decree that broke off the
long-existing ties. It separated the Russian Orthodox Church from
the State and cut off the educational system from the Church. The
Decree of 1918 did not directly ban religion within the country.(18)
Its primary concern was to reduce the ideological impact and influence
of religious institutions. However, this Decree had little to do with
Buddhism at that time. The new government treated Buddhism as a means
to ideologically consolidate the ethnic Buddhist minorities of Russia.
This was possible thanks to a new political movement that sprang up
amongst Buryat lamas. They called themselves Buddhist Modernists,
and interpreted Buddhism as an atheistic doctrine relating to Marxism-Leninism.
According to Buddhist Modernists, Buddhism, just like Marxism-Leninism,
granted equal rights to all the people no matter what their origin
or social status was, and no matter what ethnic group they belonged
to. Above all, it was emphasized that Buddhism denied classes and
castes. The Congress of Soviet Buddhists was held in winter of 1927
in Buryatia, under Dorzhiev's direction. The congress delegates discussed
the possibility of uniting Buddhism and Communism. Thus, the Buddhist
lamas' loyalty to the new government and Dorzhiev's intense activity
made it possible to propagate Buddhism, set up new monasteries, and
so forth, in the first decade after the October revolution of 1917.
In Buryatia, Kalmykia, and Tuva the candidates for the Communist movement
were sought among students of Buddhist monasteries. At the same time
there was a great increase both in the numbers of Buddhist adherents
and newly established Buddhist monasteries. Buryatia counted 34 monasteries
and 15,000 lamas. In 1928 there were 119 secondary schools and seventy-three
schools for Buddhist monks. In 1916 Kalmykia had seventy monasteries
and 1,600 lamas. The latter greatly increased in number to 2,840 in
1923. In 1929 Tuva counted twenty-two Buddhist monasteries and approximately
2,000 monks from an overall population of 60,000 people. Thus, the
Decree of 1918 mainly affected the religious centers of Saint Petersburg
The datsan was temporary
closed in 1919. The Buryat lamas who lived in the temple left the
city. The Buddhist library was vandalized and destroyed. These acts
desecrated the shrine and raised Dorzhiev's strong protest, and he
appealed to the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs for help.
It should be emphasized that the regular Buddhist clergy was not directly
persecuted at that time (the 1920s) and was not prohibited from holding
religious services in the temple. In 1922 the People's Commissariat
of Foreign Affairs ordered the Red Army unit to leave the datsan premises
and the local authorities helped to restore the building. The temple
land was registered as its property. However, no services were held
due to its understaffed clergy.
The operation of the
datsan was closely connected with Dorzhiev's intense political and
religious activity. He was among the most pro-active propagators of
so-called "Buddhist Modernism" in Russia. The Soviet Government
tried to patronize the Asian people who took to Marxism-Leninism,
especially in Mongolia and Tibet. Dorzhiev, who was respected by the
highest lamas of Russia, was appointed Tibet's representative to Soviet
Russia and became an authorized diplomat. He set up a Mongolian mission
at the Saint Petersburg datsan, which viewed its core task as cultural
In 1926 the temple
was handed down to Mongolia, as part of the heritage equally shared
by Tibet and Mongolia. The year 1927 marked the revival of religious
ceremonies held on great religious days by Mongolian and Tibetan monks.
In the 1930s the Gunzechoinei datsan was more of a Buddhist cultural
center in Leningrad (the Soviet name for Saint Petersburg) than an
educational center for would-be religious masters. The first All-Union
Buddhist gathering took place in January 1927 in Moscow, to decide
about converting the Leningrad datsan into the residence of the All-Union
Religious Board of the Soviet Buddhists. So, in the late 1920 and
early 1930s the Leningrad datsan became an arena of fruitful cooperation
of Buddhologists and Buddhist religious masters from Buryatia and
Kalmykia. The four-story building that used to be a hostel for religious
disciples now provided lodging for the students of the Institute of
the Contemporary Oriental Languages: Buryats, Kalmyks, and Mongols.
Academician F. I. Stcherbatsky founded the Institute of Buddhist Culture
in 1927. The Buryat and Kalmyk religious masters who stayed in the
datsan were advisors to the Institute, due to their knowledge of the
This short period
wherein the datsan resumed its activities was over in 1929 with the
adoption of the law banning religion in Russia. Mass media widely
propagandized this law. Leagues of Militant Atheists were set up throughout
the country to spread the ideas of Science Atheism. The Leagues also
focused on making it clear to the people that Buddhism and Marxist
teachings would never integrate. For example, such a League was set
up in Buryatia to reveal the threat of Buddhism and the falsity of
its philosophy. This period was marked by the intensive persecution
of the Buddhist monks and the closing of the monasteries.(20)
The toughest time
for those who either practiced Buddhism, propagated it, took a deep
interest in Buddhist culture, or conducted scientific research on
it, started in the mid 1930s with the Epoch of Stalin's Terror and
Repression. Starting 1933, no religious services were held in the
temple, and the year 1935 brought a wave of arrests of the Buddhist
masters currently staying in Leningrad. In 1934 Dorzhiev was exiled
from Buryatia to Leningrad, where he was arrested in 1937. A year
later he died in a prison hospital in Ulan-Ude. Starting from the
late 1930s the temple passed from one institution over to another,
never being used for religious purposes. This situation lasted until
the late 1980s, only to dramatically change in the early 1990s. The
Law on Liberty of Conscience and Freedom of Religions, and Saint Petersburg
Buddhist followers' efforts targeted at taking back their shrine greatly
contributed to the Gunzechoinei datsan becoming the heart of Buddhist
culture in the northern capital of Russia.
IV. Buddhism in Saint
Petersburg During the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-first Centuries
The religious Renaissance
that started in Russia in the late 1980s was a result of fundamental
changes in the state political doctrine. The Law on Freedom of Religions
was adopted in the early 1990s. It should be pointed out that the
Law of 1929 was re-issued without any changes in 1975 and was in force
The Law on Liberty
of Conscience and Freedom of Religions (1990-1997)
When in 1990 the Supreme
Council of the Russian Federation adopted the Law on Freedom of Religions,
foreign Christian and non-Christian missionaries flooded the country.
The law did not restrict in any way the registration of the religious
groups and movements set up with the local authorities by foreign
missionaries. The Law of 1990 followed the stipulations of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
According to the Constitution (Clause 28) and the Law of 1990, the
citizens of Russia, as well as foreigners, enjoyed the right to adopt
and practice the religion of their choice, as well as to form associations
that can acquire status as legal entities. The Law did not draw a
clear-cut distinction between foreign religions and those traditional
to Russia. 1990-1996 witnessed the revival of the religions that were
practiced in Russia for centuries. At the same time, new religious
movements, psychocults, and intensive conversion of the Russian citizens
to non-traditional religions brought about the need to introduce some
restrictions on the propagation of these non-traditional religions,
and to register the religious groups formed by foreign missionaries.
The Law on Liberty of Conscience was adopted in September of 1997.
The new law signified a radical departure from the spirit and concept
of the Law of 1990. This Law favored the role of the Russian Orthodox
Church as an "inseparable part of the all-Russian historical,
spiritual and cultural heritage" and mentions the state's recognition
of Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and other religions that "traditionally
existed in the Russian Federation" (the Preamble).
Buddhist convert communities
at the turn of the century
Along with the re-birth
of the Saint-Petersburg datsan, the early 1990s marked the springing
up of various Buddhist convert communities that propagated autonomous
religious forms free from clergy. The majority of these were established
by religious Western convert teachers. The communities founded by
Ole Nidal, Namkhay Norbu, and Russian Buddhists who studied in India
and Nepal were widely known and popular. The community members considered
themselves to be Buddhist laypeople. As for the datsan, they went
there only to attend lectures delivered by traditional religious masters
from Nepal, India, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka. The birth of these Buddhist
convert communities, which did not associate their religious life
with services held in the Saint Petersburg datsan, constituted a highly
extraordinary phenomenon at the turn of the century.(21)
The convert communities
claimed to be autonomous from both the Gelugpa tradition and the Buryat
Buddhism propagated by the datsan. I would like to stress the fact
that the Saint Petersburg datsan, in its history, has never functioned
as a monastery or as an educational center over a long period of time.
The datsan had its own monastic community for several years only,
from 1989 through 1996. At this time the community abbot tried to
introduce Buddhist practices and ceremonies for laypeople, as well
as religious curriculum for would-be monks. Since 1996 a fierce struggle
between the Buryat Buddhist monastic community and Buddhist converts
living in the datsan has taken place. This never-ending war prevented
the datsan from becoming a sacral place for those who would like to
follow the Buddha's path.(22) |
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Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.
Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking. A critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what he/she knows, and he knows how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of information to inform himself/herself.
A Problem is the gap between ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’. Problem solving is the process of understanding the gaps and bridging it. For this to happen a systematic approach should be employed while employing Critical Thinking.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving are a essential skills needed by professionals, managers and corporate leaders in navigating thru today’s competitive landscape.
Equip the participants with Critical Thinking and Problem Solving skills that will enable the participant to:
- Understand the logical connections between ideas
- Identify, construct and evaluate arguments
- Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
- Work with teams to solve problems systematically
- Utilize tools to understand root causes of problems.
- Identify the relevance and importance of ideas
- Come up with rational and sound decisions
- Exercises and Case Studies
1. Critical Thinking Assesssment
2. Types of Thinking
- Critical Thinking Heirarchy
- Socratic Questioning Process
- Standards of Critical Thinking
- Characteristics of a Critical Thinker
- Methods to Develop Critical Thinking
3. Problem Solving
- Non-Day 1 and Day 1 Problems
- Deviation and Distinction Analysis
- Vital Few and Trivial Many
- Problem Solving Drill Down
- What is and What is-not
- Problem Solving Tools
- Root Causes
- Developing and Selecting Solutions
4. Decision Analysis
- Decision Statement and Objectives
- Generating and Choosing Alternatives
- Tools in Decision Analysis
- Prioritization Tools
- Understanding Risks
5. Case Studies |
X-51 Scramjet Engine Demonstrator - WaveRider (SED-WR)
On 1 May 2013, the final flight of the X-51A Waverider test program was accomplished over the Pacific Ocean. The final flight saw the remaining test vehicle reaching Mach 5.1 and traveling more than 230 nautical miles in just over 6 minutes over the Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center Sea Range, California. This was the longest of the 4 X-51A test flights and the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight ever at that time. The vehicle was released at approximately 50,000 feet and accelerated to Mach 4.8 in approximately 26 seconds powered by a solid rocket booster. After separating from the booster, the cruiser's supersonic combustion ramjet, or scramjet, engine then lit and accelerated the aircraft to Mach 5.1 at 60,000 feet. After exhausting its 240-second fuel supply, the vehicle continued to send back telemetry data until it splashed down into the ocean and was destroyed as designed. At impact, 370 seconds of data were collected from the experiment. The vehicle was the last of 4 test vehicles originally conceived when the $300 million technology demonstration program began in 2004. The program objective was to prove the viability of air-breathing, high-speed scramjet propulsion. As a technology demonstration program, there was no immediate successor to the X-51A program. However, the Air Force would continue hypersonic research and the successes of the X-51A were expected to pay dividends to the High Speed Strike Weapon program then in its early formation phase with Air Force Research Laboratory.
The X-51 Scramjet Engine Demonstrator Waverider Program is an advanced hypersonic propulsion development effort funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The X-51A Flight Test Program plans to demonstrate the scramjet engine within the Mach 4.5 to 6.0+ range with four flight tests beginning in 2009. The program will set the foundation for several hypersonic applications, including access to space, reconnaissance-strike and global reach.
The first flight 26 May 2010 set a record for duration at hypersonic speed. The flight was about 10 times longer than any previous hypersonic scramjet flight and "80 to 90 percent" of flight test objectives were achieved. By that time, it was estimated that $200 million had been spent on the program. Program officials said 15 March 2011 that the Air Force planned to fly its second X-51A Waverider hypersonic flight test demonstrator as early as 22 March 2011. During the test attempt in March, the scramjet failed to release from the B-52 and the team went to work to create a solution.
A B-52H Stratofortress on loan to Edwards released the experimental vehicle from an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet 13 June 2011. After release, the X-51 was initially accelerated by a solid rocket booster. The hypersonic aircraft was successfully boosted to just over Mach 5 and the scramjet engine lit, but it failed to transition to full power. The second X-51 supersonic combustion scramjet test vehicle actually produced more thrust than expected before the test flight ended in failure. Although the second flight test of the X-51A Waverider scramjet ended prematurely, the coordination and performance of the Hypersonics Combined Test Force and the 419th Flight Test Squadron was flawless. This second flight ended with a controlled landing into the ocean.
There is also a fourth test vehicle available that could be used for materials testing or different flight profiles testing. AFRL is hoping to embark up on a new "robust scramjet" project, which would create a normal fighter-sized engine.
The X-51A was not designed to be a weapon, but its success as a technology demonstrator may soon enable the transition of technologies to a new class of hypersonic weapon systems. There are a number of initiatives in the works, but none had been decided upon and there currently is no program of record for a hypersonic strike or ISR aircraft based upon the Waverider.
In a letter dated 27 September 2005, the US Air Force (HQ USAF/XPPE) officially granted the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Propulsion Directorate's scramjet flight test vehicle the designation X-51A. Since the introduction of the legendary X-1 in 1946, scientists have used the X-plane designations to identify experimental aircraft and rockets used to explore new aerospace technologies. The Propulsion Directorate was working with Pratt & Whitney (P&W)/Rocketdyne's Space Propulsion Division and Boeing's Transformational Space Systems Division to design the X-51A scramjet powered flight vehicle to explore the airbreathing system-level potential of scramjets.
The military-oriented endothermically fueled, scramjet engine flight demonstrator (EFSEFD) was initiated in early 2003. At that time the first test flight was planned for late 2006. If successful, 5-11 flights could be performed, with as many as four more following over a roughly 18-month period, and the rest, 18 months after that. These test flights differ significantly from those of NASA's X-43C. In the latter, a three-flowpath scramjet module featuring variable-geometry inlets will be flown, with the flowpaths mounted in a side-by-side configuration. In contrast, the test vehicles used to explore scramjet military uses will each be powered by a single scramjet sporting a fixed-geometry inlet.
In January 2004 a team consisting of Pratt & Whitney (P&W) and Boeing Phantom Works was selected by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to flight test the Endothermically Fueled Scramjet Engine Flight Demonstrator (EFSEFD), also known as the Scramjet Engine Demonstrator - WaveRider (SED-WR). The first year contract, which is valued at $7.7M (total program value was estimated at that time at approximately $140 million), was awarded to the team to explore the airbreathing system-level potential of scramjets through multiple flight tests that will begin in the 2007-2008 time frame.
The 26-ft.-long, 4,000-lb. stack that will be used in the single engine demonstration includes, from front to rear, a scramjet-powered free-flying vehicle incorporating a compression forebody, a transition section and a booster from an ATACMS missile. Each flight vehicle will consist of one Pratt & Whitney scramjet engine, based on technology developed under AFRL/PR's Hydrocarbon Scramjet Engine Technology (HySET) Program, integrated by Boeing into an expendable WaveRider configured air vehicle. During the flight demonstrations, a B-52 will carry the SED-WR vehicle to an altitude of about 35,000 ft and then release it. Initially propelled by an Army tactical missile system [ATACMS] solid rocket booster, the scramjet will take over at approximately Mach 4.5, and the vehicle will accelerate to a flight speed between Mach 6.0 and 7.0+. Applications for this propulsion concept include space access and fast-reaction military systems.
The use of an other transaction agreement on 09 September 2003 allowed two traditional defense contractors to form a consortium rather than having a prime/subcontractor relationship under the traditional FAR based contract. The Scramjet Engine Demonstrator-Wave Rider Consortium is comprised of Pratt & Whitney and Boeing, Advanced Space and Launch Systems. By forming the consortium, the Government will obtain significant additional prototype development effort by converting the customary indirect costs associated with a prime/subcontractor relationship into additional government funded direct costs. This also fosters an agile business partnering relationship between the consortium and the Government, who will utilize a team approach to enable the Government and consortium to be flexible in their program management decision making process.
The use of an other transaction agreement [OTA] resulted in the participation of non-traditional defense contractors which are as follows: (1) Ormond LLC, Kent, WA (providing intricate water-jet milling of heat exchanger patterns), (2) Dynamic Gunver Technologies LLC, Manchester, CT (providing laser welding of engine panels without impinging on heat exchanger patterns) (3) Jansen's Aircraft Systems Controls, Tempe, AZ (providing integration of valve sealing technologies with electronic controls at elevated temperatures and pressures), (4) Pioneer Aerospace, South Windsor, CT (providing the recovery system), (5) Starfire Systems, Malta, NY (providing the carbon/SiC nose and tail assembly), (6) Veridian Engineering, Buffalo, NY (providing wind tunnel testing), (7) Howmet Castings, Hillsboro, TX (providing vehicle body structural casting). Use of an OTA facilitates the use of subcontractors for fabrication of prototype hardware and/or services whose accounting and quality systems need not be subject to standard Government FAR/DFAR contract requirements.
The Propulsion Directorate's Scramjet Engine Demonstration (SED) Program, which started in December 2003, successfully completed a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in December 2004. A follow-on contract was awarded on 7 January 2005 for the detailed design of a flight demonstrator using the Hypersonic Technology (HyTech) scramjet engine design. The SED-WaveRider Consortium contract, valued at approximately $70 million, will take the program through the detailed design phase culminating with a Critical Design Review (CDR) in January 2007.
A priced option was also negotiated, valued at approximately $60 million, to enable fabrication and flight test of the SED with a first flight scheduled for December 2008. The SED Program will acquire ground and in-flight test data of an operating, actively cooled, self-controlled prototype scramjet engine.
As of early 2006 it was planned that the Scramjet Engine Demonstrator-WaveRider program would execute multiple flight tests of the SED-WR vehicle in 2009. The technical objective of this effort is to flight test the United States Air Force (USAF) Hypersonic Technology (HyTech) scramjet engine, using endothermic hydrocarbon fuel. The goals of the program are (1) to acquire ground and in-flight test data of an operating, actively cooled, self-controlled prototype scramjet engine, (2) demonstrate the viability of the HyTech endothermically fueled engine in flight, and (3) prove the practicality of a free-flying scramjet powered vehicle.
Four X-51A cruisers have been built for the Air Force and the (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) by industry partners Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Boeing. Air Force officials intend to fly the three remaining X-51A flight test vehicles in the fall of 2010. Air Force officials plan to fly each on virtually identical flight profiles, building knowledge from each successive flight.
An X-51A Waverider flight-test vehicle successfully made the longest supersonic combustion ramjet-powered hypersonic flight May 26 off the southern California Pacific coast. The more than 200 second burn by the X-51's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne-built air breathing scramjet engine accelerated the vehicle to Mach 6. The previous longest scramjet burn in a flight test was 12 seconds in a NASA X-43. Air Force officials called the test, the first of four planned, an unqualified success. The flight is considered the first use of a practical hydrocarbon fueled scramjet in flight.
Not everything went perfectly on the first flight test. The vehicle failed to accelerate as quickly as anticipated and the flight test had to be terminated after 143 seconds under scramjet power. A perfect flight would have lasted another 100 seconds and accelerated the X-51A cruiser to Mach 6. After the flight, members of the flight test team independently scoured over telemetry data for a month. Then they conducted a comprehensive "fault tree analysis" to identify every piece of anomalous data to determine the root cause. Two separate fault trees were identified: The vehicle failed to accelerate as rapidly as expected and unexpected temperatures and pressures were observed in internal sections of the cruiser. Engineers examined and walked through 156 different nodes in excruciating detail in search of a cause.
Program officials already knew from wind tunnel engine tests about the intense heat the scramjet engine and hypersonic flight creates. During flight, the scramjet engine actually grows about three-fourths of an inch. The effect complicates design for such things as interface seals. The Boeing "Phantom Works" and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne teams pulled the engines from the three remaining flight test vehicles and focused on the interface between the rear of the fuel-cooled engine and its vehicle mounted nozzle. The effort identified an "apparent thermal seal breach" at the interface which was not as tight as it needed to be. This caused some of the hot gases that should have provided thrust to leak into the rear of the cruiser.
A flight test scheduled for 14 August 2012 reportedly ended in failure according to a tweet from Wired.com's Danger Room on 15 August 2012, which said that a fin problem had caused control of the aircraft to be lost before the main engine could even be started. No official press release from the US Air Force of DARPA on the results of the test or possible rescheduling of the test were available by the end of the day on 14 August 2012. At that time, it was estimated that $250-300 million had been spent on the X-51 program.
In a note sent to the media on 15 August 2012, the US Air Force said that the X-51A test flight had ended prematurely. While the X-51 vehicle had safely separated from the B-52 carrier aircraft and the rocket booster had fired as planned, after 16 seconds, a fault was identified with one of the cruiser control fins. Once the X-51 separated from the rocket booster, approximately 15 seconds later, the cruiser was not able to maintain control due to the faulty control fin and was lost. The control subsystem at fault had not experienced issues in the previous 2 test flights and program officials were to begin to explore the circumstances of the failure. Following the 14 August 2012, one of the 4 X-51A aircraft product up to that point remained, but it was unclear whether that vehicle would be tested in its existing configuration.
Flight Simulator X-51
In April 1997 Jim Goldman created a concept aircraft for Flight Simulator, which he called the X-51.
It was intended to obtain flight speeds up to MACH 3, with sustained speeds of MACH 1.8 to 2.3. This is an entirely fictitious aircraft, and should not be confused with an actual X-Plane.
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Turn your students into penguins! Aquarium educators will teach children how to act like penguins and how to collect and analyze data like scientists. In addition to learning about penguin behavior, students will discover the variety of penguin species found at the New England Aquarium and throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Program can take place at the Aquarium or at your school or community center.
- Offered for grades 1-5
- 10 – 30 students per session
- 45 mins.
- Offered as a classroom program, $400 for up to three sessions, $75 per additional session, plus mileage and booking fees.
- Offered as an Explorer Class for Aquarium field trips, $5 per child (minimum of 10 students)
This program was developed in collaboration with TERC to meet National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards.
Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (as a guideline)
- Life Sciences |
Within a few decades, a surgeon may be able to make a tiny incision in a patient's artery and insert a miniature robot that would scoot along through the blood vessel to the area of concern. The microbot could remove blockages, scrape plaque off of artery walls, remove a few cells from an organ to test for cancer, or could even, eventually, carry a tiny camera to show doctors exactly what's going on inside the body. In a major step towards that science fiction-tinged surgical scenario, researchers have built and demonstrated a motor about twice the width of a human hair that could power such a microbot. Researcher James Friend says that miniature mechanics have been a long time coming.
"If you pick up an electronics catalogue, you'll find all sorts of sensors, LEDs, memory chips etc that represent the latest in technology and miniaturisation," he says. "Take a look however at the motors, and there are few changes from the motors available in the 1950s" [BBC News].
Doctors already snake catheters through blood vessels in many procedures to reduce the impact of surgery, but some blood vessels, like the labyrinthine network in the brain, are too narrow and delicate to reach with current technology. But a microbot might be able to reach even these most sensitive areas, and could one day be used to remove clots from stroke patients' brains in the emergency room. The researchers have tested their motor
in human blood and artificial arteries and later this year it will begin experiments in pigs, whose arteries and brains are similar to humans, before proceeding to full-scale human trials [Telegraph].
The new motor, which is described in the
is powered by a piezoelectric material, which vibrates in response to an applied electric field. A spiral rod absorbs those vibrations and translates them into rotational forces that spin a tiny stainless-steel ball. That motion could be put to work to rotate a whip-like tail over a thousand times a second, say the team, in a similar style to the beating flagellum of a sperm cell [New Scientist].
If the idea of a microbot speeding through blood vessels on an urgent mission sounds familiar, you must be a movie buff: The
idea was first floated in 1966's Fantastic Voyage, starring Raquel Welch, in which a similar machine was placed inside a diplomat to perform life-saving surgery. The researchers ... have paid homage to that film by naming their device, Proteus, after the capsule in the film [Telegraph]
Related Content: 80beats: Swallow This: New Electronic iPill Delivers Drugs On Command DISCOVER: Robodoc DISCOVER: Surgery in Cyberspace DISCOVER: End of the NeedleImage: IOP / Monash University
. In 1987, Inner Space sent a similar micro-craft on another lifesaving mission. |
PANIC/LOSS: an Innate Brain System
Although they surely interact in some way, in Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions (1998), Jaak Panksepp explains that "as indexed by measures of separation calls in species as diverse as primates, rodents, and birds," PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry is clearly distinct from FEAR neurocircuitry. Electrical stimulation to very specific brain areas, that we will refer to in this discussion as PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry, produces the separation calls to which Panksepp refers. Although he considered both "sorrow" and "distress" as labels, he decided to call the neurocircuitry that generates feelings of loneliness, grief, and separation distress—as well as panic attacks in humans—the PANIC system. I have added "LOSS" to Panksepp's "PANIC" to draw attention to some of his observations that I find particularly meaningful.
Panksepp emphasizes that the PANIC/LOSS system "is especially important in the elaboration of social emotional processes related to attachment." He cites research that points to early childhood loss as a major risk factor for future depression and panic attacks. He proposes that one may be more vulnerable to depression and panic attacks "because of permanent developmental modification of the emotional substrates of separation distress." Indeed, in "Life Events Preceding the Onset of Panic Disorder" (1985) Faravelli writes that panic patients were more likely to have "underwent a major life event (death or severe illness, either personal or of a cohabiting relative) in the two months preceding the onset of symptoms."
Panksepp explains that "especially in intense forms such as grief," activation of PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry "is accompanied by feelings of weakness and depressive lassitude, with autonomic symptoms of a parasympathetic nature, such as strong urges to cry, often accompanied by tightness in the chest and the feeling of having a lump in the throat."
Panksepp explains: "To be a mammal is to be born socially dependent." When "young animals are socially isolated, they typically lose weight even if they have free access to lots of food. When the young are reunited with their kin, and a mood of apparent contentment is reestablished, appetite returns."
"Brain evolution has provided safeguards to assure that parents (usually the mother) take care of the offspring," writes Panksepp, "and the offspring have powerful emotional systems to indicate that they are in need of care (as reflected in crying or, as scientists prefer to say, separation calls)." Regarding such vocalizations, Panksepp points out that "specific locations in the auditory system, in both the inferior colliculi and the medial geniculate nuclei, are highly tuned to receive and process these primal communications." Panksepp provides a vivid example of the mother-infant bond in the animal world:
The life of a young sea otter is completely dependent on the care provided by its mother. After his sexual contribution, the father pays little heed to his young. It is the mother's job to be both caretaker and food provider, as often as not, on the open sea. The pup's life revolves around maternal devotion. When she dives beneath the dark surface of the water for food, being absent from her infant's side for many minutes at a stretch, the young otter begins to cry and swim about in an agitated state. If it were not for those calls of distress among the rising and falling waves, young otters might be lost forever. Their security and future are unequivocally linked to the audiovocal thread of attachment that joins them to their mothers. It is the same for all mammals. At the outset, we are utterly dependent creatures whose survival is founded on the quality of our social bonds—one of the remaining great mysteries, and gifts, of nature.
The PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry that prompts separation distress "probably evolved from more ancient pain mechanisms of the brain," concludes Panksepp. He proposes that "social attachments emerge, in part, from environmental events activating brain chemistries that can reduce arousal in these [PANIC/LOSS] distress circuits."
In the laboratory, opioids were the first neurochemical discovered to "powerfully reduce separation distress," notes Panksepp And what in our environment stimulates opioid release naturally in the brain? Panksepp writes: "Love is, in part, the neurochemically based positive feeling that negates those negative feelings." More definitively, he points out that "neural circuits mediating separation distress are under the control of brain opioids… ." The role of opiates in decreasing activity in PANIC/LOSS neurocircuits also helps distinguish PANIC/LOSS circuitry from FEAR circuitry. Panksepp explains that "opiates are very effective in reducing separation distress but not fearful behaviors."
An important component of PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry is the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. According to MedlinePlus Dictionary, the stria terminalis is "a bundle of nerve fibers that passes from the amygdala along the demarcation between the thalamus and caudate nucleus mostly to the anterior part of the hypothalamus with a few fibers crossing the anterior commissure to the amygdala on the opposite side." In the illustration below left, the stria terminalis links to the hypothalamus which is hidden beneath the thalamus.
The illustration above right shows the position of the preoptic area within the hypothalamus. This image is from S.S. Nussey and S.A. Whitehead, Endocrinology, from the NCBI bookshelf (links to source). Regarding neural specifics for PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry, Panksepp notes that there is a high density of active distress-vocalization sites "in the ventral septal area, the preoptic area [within the hypothalamus], and many sites in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis [BNST] (areas that figure heavily in sexual and maternal behaviors)."
The red circle on the image to the right (image links to source) indicates the general area within which the ventral septal area, preoptic area of the hypothalamus, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are nestled.
From the amygdaloid, hypothalamic, and BNST areas, PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry runs "down through the dorsomedical thalamus to the vicinity of the PAG [periaqueductal gray in the midbrain]," explains Panksepp. Within the periaqueductal gray area, Panksepp notes that PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry appears to arise from areas "very close to where one can generate physical pain responses." He writes: "Anatomically, it almost seems that separation has emerged from more basic pain systems during brain evolution… ."
As it does in other emotional neurocircuits, Panksepp points out that glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, is probably the neurochemical that activates PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry, thus generating distress vocalizations in young animals. In the laboratory, activating receptors for glutamate and corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) can dramatically increase distress vocalizations, even in the presence of other animals. In Part 1 of MyBrainNotes.com, we discuss the role of CRH in triggering the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system, a component of the autonomic nervous system (see ANS—the autonomic nervous system). Panksepp emphasizes that CRH "arising from the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus ... accompanies virtually all emotions and many psychiatric disturbances, especially depression." He points out that blocking receptors for glutamate and CRH dramatically decreases such vocalizations, even those induced by electrical brain stimulation.
Administration of opioids, oxytocin, and prolactin decreases activity in PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry. Drugs that block transmission of glutamate and corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) also decrease PANIC/LOSS activity.
Panksepp asserts that "the major life factor in humans that precipitates depression is social loss." He explains that "the cascade of events during the initial protest phase of separation [marked by separation calls or crying] appears to establish the brain conditions for the subsequent despair phase [depression]." More specifically, he explains that when the stress response is activated, "a depletion of brain norepinephrine, serotonin, and certain dopamine reserves" follows. Panksepp points out that activity in PANIC/LOSS neurocircuitry is attenuated with tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine and chlorimipramine. These antidepressants have no clear effect on FEAR-induced anxiety but have been "found to exert clear antipanic effects in humans and to also reduce separation distress in animals." Panksepp notes the interesting fact that although they experience far fewer panic attacks, people whose panic attacks have been attenuated with tricyclic antidepressants often still fear that the attacks will occur.
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Most of us aren’t quite familiar with the term subsea assets merely like most of us have little idea about the life that is happening beneath the ocean. Through subsea technology and equipment, guy has the ability to investigate the unfamiliar marine environment; it gives us the chance to examine a strange world, help us gather resources that are useful and help us construct structures for generating energy.
Come to think of it, there are still many places in the submarine world that remains unexplored – and with the support of assets that are subsea, it’s now possible to gain access to these new lands. We can imagine subsea technology as a key that unlocks new doors to the ocean’s depths. Through this, it’s conceivable to examine more on the topic of the aquatic life in a sense that will not be dangerous to the environment.
You’ll find a lot of documentaries about the ocean are filmed with the assistance of subsea assets. Sonar is a really popular subsea technology used in locating objects.
For the gas and oil industry, subsea assets are among what exactly they cannot do without – it is this industry’s bread and butter. With the help of technology and subsea equipment, it’s conceivable to investigate new oil fields, perform drilling actions, and to process the extracted resources. It’s through subsea technology that work is done more efficiently in offshore facilities like oil rigs and offshore wind farms.
To make sure that the exploration, drilling, and development tasks are made safely and economically, using subsea assets is vital. The technology and gear should be good enough to be certain that all operations are performed in a way that will not contribute to the destruction of the marine environment.
The offshore wind power and underwater mining sector also considers subsea assets a precious commodity. During the installation of equipment and transmission cables, subsea technology is applied for offshore wind farms, as well as its care. Remotely operated vehicle or the ROV is a subsea equipment used in submerged mining to find mineral samples in the ocean floor. |
The National Energy Efficiency Registry (NEER) is collecting standardized and transparent data on the savings associated with energy efficiency, with an eye towards broadening its use, standardizing more projects, improving measurement and verification of savings, and ultimately boosting investments in demand reduction.
Energy efficiency is a growing resource, increasingly recognized as an inexpensive yet effective source of capacity. But even as more states set efficiency targets and incorporate it into planning, a dearth of data on projects, standards and savings, has slowed widespread adoption.
Now, a diverse group of states and clean energy stakeholders has released a set of principles and operating rules that will underpin the United States' first web-based registry of energy efficiency project data. The idea is to create a system capable of tracking energy projects and savings, while helping to quantify what results might be expected from new projects.
Click for More Information |
The studies have found that phosphate mining in Longmen Mountain greatly exacerbates the risk of landslides and other geological disasters, threatening the safety of miners and residents downstream. In addition, phosphate mining has encroached on the region's nature reserve, impacting a native giant panda population. The environmental groups call on the Sichuan Provincial Government to immediately halt mining activities in high-risk disaster areas and giant panda habitats.
"The 2008 earthquake has rendered this area a disaster zone, which means development activities should be restricted. The government and mining companies have to respect the laws of nature and recognize the catastrophe that is unfolding," says Greenpeace actions campaigner Lang Xiyu.
This assessment of the geological stability of Longmen Mountain was carried out by Hengduan Mountain Research Society, through field investigations and an analysis of geological structural changes. Surveying has revealed that the Wenchuan earthquake triggered a host of ongoing dangers beyond the initial damage, which have now been further aggravated by large-scale phosphate mining.
"Any phosphate mining in Longmen Mountain must first take into account the risk of secondary disasters. And this area has already suffered major mudslides, landslides and floods in both 2009 and 2010," says Hengduan Mountain Research Society's senior geological engineer Yang Yong. "This is a disaster-prone area, and further exploitation by mining groups will only increase the threat of geological disasters."
Beginning March 2012, Greenpeace also conducted a number of field trips to the Nine Mountain Nature Reserve in Sichuan, in order to investigate threats to a protected nature reserve that is currently housing eleven pandas in the wild. Field surveys in the Mianyuan River valley found that phosphate mining has destroyed much of the vegetation located in the hinterland of the panda habitat. Furthermore, in August 2012, the Sichuan Provincial Government changed the boundary of the nature reserve in order to award exploration rights to a mining company.
Lang Xiyu added, "Mining and road construction has forced this local giant panda population into an ever smaller and fragmented area. The panda is supposed to be one of China's most loved animals. How can we be willing to let their lives fall wayside in the name of economic development?"
The Greenpeace and Hengduan Mountain Research Society are hereby making a joint appeal to the Sichuan Provincial Government to immediately halt mining activities in high-risk areas of geological disasters and giant panda habitats, and in the long run restrict development in such major geological hazardous areas and revise its development strategy of the mining industry.
Download the report summary.
Media Relations, Greenpeace East Asia |
Getting better at Details
A consolidating level where children continue to work on general problem solving techniques They recognise the value of working with others to discuss, classify and solve mathematical problems. It teaches present moment awareness. Your child compares and orders decimals to two decimal places, expresses tenths and hundredths as a percentage, constructs nets to represent solid shapes and continues constructing and interpreting data, tables, charts and graphs.
Why your child will love it. They will construct a treasure map that develops their understanding of measurement, direction, compass skills and legends.
2 hours for 6 days
$5,850 per course |
Particles in atoms
Protons, neutrons and electrons are called SUBATOMIC PARTICLES. You can work out how many of each type of subatomic particle an atom has from its atomic number and mass number.
The number of protons in an atom of an element is called its ATOMIC NUMBER.
The atoms of different elements have different numbers of protons - no two elements can have the same atomic number.
Number of electrons
Atoms have no overall charge. This is because the number of electrons in an atom is the same as the number of protons.
The total number of protons and neutrons in an atom is called its MASS NUMBER.
The number of protons is goven by the atomic number, which is 11 for sodium, for exxample
You should be able to represent the electronic structure of the first 20 elements.
The electrons in an atom occupy different ENERGY LEVELS around the nucleus. Each electron in an atom is at particular energy level. Electrons occupy the lowest available energy levels.
Energy leveks are also called SHELLS:
- The innermost shell is the lowest energy level.
- The outer shell is the highest occupied energy level.
Electronic structure and groups
Atoms of the elements in a group in the periodic table have the same number of electrons in their highest energy level (outer shell). This gives the elements similar chemical properties.
Group 1 (alkali metals)
The elements in Group 1 include lithium, sodium and potassium. Their atoms all have just one electron in their highest occupied energy level (outer shell).
When elements react with each other, their atoms join together to form COMPOUNDS.
Metals and non-metals react together to form compounds. The compounds are made of IONS.
An ion is a charged particle formed when an atom, or group of atoms, loses or gains electrons.
Giving and taking electrons
We use word equations and balanced symbol equations to represent chemical reactions.
In a chemical reaction:
- REACTANTS are the substances that react together
- PRODUCTS are the substances made.
In a WORD EQUATION, two or more reactants or products are seperated by a + sign.
LIMESTONE is a type of rock. It is mostly calcium carbonate, CaCO3.
Uses of limestone
- As raw material for making cement, mortar and concrete.
- As blocks and slabs for walls and pavements.
- As AGGREGATE (small lumps) for the base of roads and railways.
Calcium carbonate chemistry
Many metal carbonates break down when they are heated. The reaction is called THERMAL DECOMPOSITION.
metal carbonate -------> metal oxide + carbon dioxide
When calcium carbonate is heated, it decomposes to form calcium oxide and carbon dioxide:
These carbonates decompose in a similar way to calcium carbonate when heated:
- magnesium carbonate
- zinc carbonate
- copper carbonate
Not all carbonates of metals in Group 1 decompose when heated with a Bunsen flame.
Unreactive metals such as gold are found in the Earth's crust as the metal element itself. However, most metals are found as compounds. These need chemical reactions to extract them from their ores.
Rocks contain metals or their compounds. An ORE is a rock that contains enough of a metal to make its extraction economical.
Rocks may contain too little metal to make extraction worthwhile (if the cost of extracting the metal is greater than the value of the metal itself). Over time, metal prices may rise and these LOW-GRADE ORES may become useful.
Iron is extracted from iron oxide in a blast furnace by reaction with carbon:
High-grade copper ores contain a high proportion of copper compounds.
Copper is extracted from these ores by SMELTING. This involves heating copper ores in a furnace. For example, copper sulphide is heated in air to produce copper:
Copper is purified by ELECTROLYSIS.
Recycling metals instead of extracting them from ores has many benefits.
Extracting metals from their ores:
- uses up limited resources
- uses a lot of energy
- damages the environment
Recycling metals reduces these disadvantages. Used metal items are collected. Rather than throwing them away, these are taken apart. The metal is melted down to make new items.
Recycling metals means:
- metal ores will last longer
- less energy needed to recycle metals than to mine ores and extract metals
- fewer quarries and mines needed |
List some Christian responses to racism.
* Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) was one of the many black people in America who couldn’t vote + was paid half of what white people earned, but he believed that white and black people were equal and Christian beliefs told him that hate could only b conquered by peace and love
* CMEAC (The Committee for Minority and Ethnic Anglican concerns) speaks out against racism (social responsibility) + supports race awareness initiative, hoping to encourage + enable ethmin in church
* Dutch reformed church (DRC) has often been confessed as a spiritual inspiration to the many who have confessed to gross human rights violations i.e. murder + abduction. The DUC was expelled from, the World Council of Churches
List some Jewish responses to Racism.
* The seven Laws of Noah: Teach that everyone is descended from Adam and are therefore equal in the eyes of God + Leviticus 19:33 - “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native born
* Jewish council for Racial Equality (J-Core): Founded in 1976 to counteract all forms of Racism in British society by working with Jews in other communities. Helps ethmins,
* Jewish covenant with God: They should follow God’s rules (Galatians 19:33) so that he would keep them safe and happy – 1st covenant made between God and Abraham
* Previous experiences with anti-semitism will also encourage them to accept ethmins |
College or School
Environmental Sciences, Biomedical Science
Faculty Research Advisor
After years of unsuccessful breeding among the Common Loons of Province Lake, NH, locals were delighted when a single loon chick hatched in July 2019 and affectionately dubbed it Luna. The body of the chick was found five weeks later, having died of an unknown cause. As cyanobacterial blooms were observed on the lake that summer, we investigated whether cyanotoxins could be a possible underlying cause for the death of the chick. A necropsy was performed to learn whether and at what level the neurotoxin BMAA was detectable in the deceased loon. Samples of lake water, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish were collected from Province Lake and tested for BMAA using the ELISA technique. BMAA was found to be present at all trophic levels in Province Lake with biomagnification from phytoplankton to zooplankton and biodilution higher up in the food chain leading to the loon. While the loon’s immediate cause of death was determined to be attack-related trauma, sublethal levels of BMAA may have impacted the bird’s survivability and contributed indirectly to its death. The detection of BMAA in loon lung tissue raises the question of whether inhaled aerosolized cyanobacteria could be another significant route of exposure to cyanotoxins in both animals and humans.
Shea, Alissa and Verstraaten, Michelle, "Did Bioaccumulation of BMAA in a Food Chain Contribute to the Death of a Common Loon (Gavia immer) in Province Lake, NH?" (2020). Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) Student Presentations. 477. |
The Americans for the Arts recently released a poll finding that the vast majority of Americans agree that “the arts are part of a well-rounded education for K-12 students.” Over half of respondents “strongly agree.” Unfortunately, the current trend in ed reform is out of sync with this popular support for the arts in education.
The narrow focus on math and reading achievement is driving out other subjects, including the arts. Ed reformers may offer rhetorical praise for the arts and a broader education, but most quietly believe that math and reading are of such primary importance that shifting away from the arts to attend more to math and reading might actually be a good thing.
Like most other ed reformers, I used to believe this too. But more research is beginning to show that a broader education, including the arts, may be essential for later success in math and reading as well as the proper development of civic values and character skills, including tolerance, empathy, and self-regulation. The narrow focus on math and reading may goose math and reading test scores in the short term but at the expense of the longer-term and broader goals of education. Parents seem to understand how essential the arts and a broader approach to education are even if this has escaped the highly-credentialed minds of “policy experts” trying to manage schools from afar through test results.
Let me briefly provide some evidence to support the claims above. First, we have good reason to believe that the arts are being squeezed out of the curriculum. For example, research by Daphna Bassok, Scott Latham, and Anna Rorem has found a dramatic decline in the role of the arts in school between 1998 and 2011. Using teacher surveys from the ECLS-K, they find that far fewer teachers in Kindergarten and 1st Grade report teaching Music, Art, Dance, and Theater on a daily or weekly basis, and far more teachers report never covering these subjects at all. (See their Table reproduced below)
What evidence do we have that this shift away from the arts to focus more narrowly on math and reading has negative consequences? David Grissmer and his colleagues are producing a series of studies that suggest how much later success in math, reading, and science depends on early acquisition of the kind of “general knowledge” and fine-motor skills learned through art and other subjects.
In one of these studies they find: “Whereas the early math and reading tests focused mainly on procedural knowledge, the general knowledge test focused mainly on declarative knowledge (i.e., elementary knowledge or comprehension of the external world). General knowledge was the strongest predictor of later reading and science and, along with earlier math, was a strong predictor of later math. General knowledge measured at kindergarten entrance may reflect early comprehension skills that are necessary when reading changes from a more procedural task in early grades (learning to read) to incorporating more comprehension around third through fifth grades (reading to learn).” This is essentially empirical support for the type of argument E.D. Hirsch, Robert Pondiscio, and the folks at Core Knowledge have been making for years. It’s important for students to know a lot of things about the world, including about Art, History, etc…, to progress academically. If we narrow education to the mechanics of math and reading as captured by yearly testing, we short-change the broader knowledge that is the key to academic success later.
Less intuitively, they find that the development of fine motor and other “visuo-spatial” skills are also very strong predictors of later academic success. These are the kinds of things students learn by playing musical instruments or making art projects — activities disappearing from the early school curriculum. Yet these fine-motor and coordination skills seem to be an important part of brain development that improves math and reading achievement years later.
Grissmer and his colleagues summarize the implications of their findings better than I could:
Our results suggest that the focus of interventions should shift from a primary emphasis on changing the direct math and reading instructional environment to interventions that build better foundational skills of attention and fine motor skills and a better understanding of the world outside schools. The results suggest that current direct math and reading instruction is insufficient to build attention and fine motor skills. Building these skills may rely more on subjects and curricula that have been deemphasized to provide more math and reading instruction: the arts, music, dance, physical education, and free play. Each of these subjects and curricula may need to be redesigned to focus on building foundational skills in the same way that math and reading have been redesigned in recent years. Building stronger knowledge of the external world also suggests that improving early science and social studies curricula are important. Paradoxically, higher long-term achievement in math and reading may require reduced direct emphasis on math and reading and more time and stronger curricula outside math and reading.
“Building stronger knowledge of the external world” might include going on culturally enriching field trips, which have also been disappearing from schools. In addition to the general knowledge these experiences convey, the research I’ve done with others at the University of Arkansas on the effects of field trips to art museums and to see live theater suggests that these culturally enriching experiences change student values to promote greater tolerance and empathy.
Given that short-term gain in math and reading achievement are only weakly related to later life outcomes, while a broad education that includes the arts and culturally enriching activities may be associated with long-term success, education reformers should wonder whether they are simply rediscovering what most Americans already know — “the arts are part of a well-rounded education for K-12 students.”
(Edited for typos) |
"In an increasingly technological world, where almost everyone relies on cell phones and GPS controls not just your in-car map system but also airplane navigation and the extremely accurate clocks that govern financial transactions, space weather is a serious matter."
Washington, Nov 13 - Many people are worrying about a gigantic 'killer flare' which could be hurled by the sun and devastate life on earth. But US space agency NASA says there simply isn't enough energy in the sun to send a killer fireball 93 million miles away.
Given the fact that solar activity is currently ramping up its standard 11-year cycle, there is a belief that 2012 could be coinciding with such a flare.
But this same solar cycle has occurred over the millennia. Anyone over the age of 11 has already lived through such a solar maximum with no harm. Besides, the next solar maximum is predicted to occur in late 2013 or early 2014, not 2012, according to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration - statement.
This is not to say that space weather can't affect our planet. The explosive heat of a solar flare can't reach our globe, but electromagnetic radiation and energetic particles can.
Solar flares can temporarily signal transmission from, say, a Global Positioning System - satellite to earth causing it to be off by many yards. Another phenomenon produced by the sun could be even more disruptive.
Known as a coronal mass ejection -, these solar explosions propel bursts of particles and electromagnetic fluctuations into earth's atmosphere.
Those fluctuations could induce electric fluctuations at ground level that could blow out transformers in power grids. The CME's particles can also collide with crucial electronics onboard a satellite and disrupt its systems.
In an increasingly technological world, where almost everyone relies on cell phones and GPS controls not just your in-car map system but also airplane navigation and the extremely accurate clocks that govern financial transactions, space weather is a serious matter.
But it is a problem the same way hurricanes are a problem. One can protect oneself with advance information and proper precautions. During a hurricane watch, a homeowner can stay put...or he can seal up the house, turn off the electronics and get out of the way. |
(Belize City, Belize – April 5, 2019) In a bold step for the sustainability of its fisheries and the world’s second largest barrier reef, the government of Belize has approved a plan to set aside 10% of its territorial waters as no-take marine protected areas (MPAs), nearly tripling the size of its existing zones.
This major expansion of the MPAs is coupled with the Caribbean nation’s move to adopt a national secure fishing rights program in 2016. It represents the culmination of more than six years of work led by The National Conservation Zone Expansion Steering Committee, which includes the Belize Fisheries Department, Environmental Defense Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, The Nature Conservancy, Belize Federation of Fishers, Belize Fishermen Cooperatives, Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute, Belize Forest Department, National Protected Areas Secretariat, Belize Coast Guard, Healthy Reefs Initiative, Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations and Toledo Institute for Development.
“This is a truly remarkable accomplishment that is setting an example for the rest of the world to follow,” said Katie McGinty, Senior Vice President for Oceans at Environmental Defense Fund. “The combination of significant marine protected areas and managed access for fishers will help protect some of the most important ecosystems in the world while ensuring sustainable fishing can continue to provide food, nutrition and livelihoods to the thousands of Belizeans who rely on these valuable natural resources.”
Over more than six years, an international collaboration of scientists led by Belizeans worked to identify zones that can protect marine habitat and allow for recovery of degraded ecosystems, while at the same time helping to replenish fish stocks. A lengthy process of consultations with stakeholders, facilitated by Government of Belize, Belizean community NGOs, EDF and other international NGO partners, resulted in widespread support for these new marine protected areas, and a commitment to stewardship from coastal communities.
The expansion of marine protected areas will have an impact well beyond fisheries. It is a crucial step for Belize to meet the aspirations of its national development plans and its international commitments under the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
“A healthy reef and vibrant fisheries sector is necessary for Belize to achieve its goals for reducing poverty, improving food security and nutrition and increasing investment for development in Belize,” according to Belize Fisheries Administrator, Beverly Wade.
This new expansion comes as Belize was recently recognized for the impact of its sustainable fisheries. According to the most recent ‘Mesoamerican Reef Report Card’ by Healthy Reef for Healthy People, Belize’s no-take zones show growing fish populations and biodiversity. That biodiversity is magnificent and unique—mangroves, corals, seagrass and cayes support populations of conch, lobster and a variety of reef fish.
In 2016, in response to growing threats to the health of their fisheries, Belize established a nationwide secure fishing rights program, the first of its kind in the world. Belize’s approach creates incentives for fishing communities to become stewards of their fisheries. At the center of the solution being adopted by Belize is a combination of secure fishing rights and empowerment of fishermen called “Managed Access.” Under this approach, fishers and fishing communities control their own future through licenses, giving them access to fish in specific geographic areas of the fishery, and responsibilities to help manage the areas and observe regulations.
“Together, managed access and no-take zones are designed to help rebuild fish populations while protecting critical habitat,” said Nicanor Requena, Belize Project Manager at Environmental Defense Fund, “The people of Belize deserve tremendous credit for their vision and perseverance to protect their natural heritage while encouraging sustainable fishing practices so that people and nature can prosper together.”
# # #
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading international nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on EDF Voices, Twitter and Facebook. |
Rosetta's intimate portrait of a comet: read all about it
4 April 2017Rosetta's pioneering mission to explore a comet in unprecedented detail completed operations last year. As the science continues, members of the public, as well as scientists, can freely access hundreds of papers that reveal the comet's secrets. A special issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society is the latest journal to provide this service.
|These special issues of science journals provide free access to papers reporting Rosetta science. For credit details see here.|
Having delivered its small Philae lander to the comet's surface earlier in the mission, Rosetta ended its historic adventure with the 1.5 tonne spacecraft making an unprecedented touchdown on the comet's dark nucleus.
|Rosetta's journey around the comet, 1 August 2014 to 30 September 2016. For video details click here. Credit: ESA|
Before the intrepid explorer ceased transmitting, its 11 scientific instruments, together with the suite of instruments on board Philae, investigated every aspect of the comet's solid nucleus, its eruptive jets of gas and dust, and its interaction with interplanetary space. Data from the instruments have provided one surprise after another.
A wealth of discoveries
Even before Rosetta arrived at comet 67P/C-G on 6 August 2014, its cameras had revealed a rugged, double-lobed structure that was popularly compared to the shape of a rubber duck.
The surface, imaged in magnificent detail by the OSIRIS scientific camera and the NavCam navigation camera, displayed a wide range of landforms, including smooth plains, steep cliffs and pits that measured 100 metres wide and deep. Visible in the pit walls were 'goose bumps' about 3 metres in diameter.
To study the internal structure, the CONSERT experiment passed radio waves through the nucleus between the Philae lander and the orbiter. It showed that the 'head' of the comet is highly porous - consistent with a loosely compacted 'rubble pile' of dust and ice. Additional insight into the structure of the interior was provided by the Radio Science Investigation.
|Profile of a primordial comet. For further details, including credits, click here.|
The Philae lander provided the 'ground truth' of the comet nucleus, revealing it to be devoid of a magnetic field, having a dusty surface with a harder, sintered subsurface, and a number of organic compounds and volatile molecules near the surface. The final resting place of Philae is a complex terrain, with fractures of varying scales and indications of ice deposits.
During Rosetta's approach to the comet in 2014, the MIRO instrument registered a 10-fold increase in the amount of water vapour being released by the comet over a period of only two months.
The characteristics of the comet's dust were pinned down by measurements from GIADA, COSIMA, and MIDAS. However, the ratio of dust to gas emitted by the nucleus showed that the comet is best described as an icy dust ball rather than a dirty snowball.
The VIRTIS instrument showed that, despite the icy composition of the nucleus, the surface was extremely dark as the result of a dusty coating. This was also the conclusion from observations made at far-ultraviolet wavelengths by the Alice instrument. Readings from the ROSINA instrument showed that the water making up the comet was substantially different from the water on Earth, indicating that our planet's oceans may not have been fed by incoming comets.
|First measurements of comet 67P/C-G's water ratio. For further details, including credits, click here.|
Other instruments, in particular those of the Rosetta Plasma Consortium, studied how the outflowing gas in the coma interacted with the solar wind – a stream of charged particles continuously flowing from the Sun.
Data received from Rosetta and Philae is already rewriting the text books. Indeed, so much information was returned from the mission that it will take researchers many years to analyse it.
Sharing the scientific harvest
Matt Taylor, ESA's Rosetta Project Scientist, has been working with the international science teams in an effort to make their results available as quickly as possible to the wider community.
This has been made easier since the operational phase of the mission is over, because the teams can now focus on the mass of scientific data returned by Rosetta.
The teams have also been striving to have the scientific papers made available to the general public, as much as possible, through free access publications.
As a result, hundreds of articles and reports, based on the treasure trove of data returned by Rosetta and Philae, are now freely available to anyone who wants to discover the results of this pioneering mission to explore a comet.
Two special issues of the prestigious journal Science, published in January and July 2015, have been devoted to early results from Rosetta and Philae. They were followed by a special issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics that covered Rosetta results pre-perihelion, building on the Science special issues by providing more in-depth analysis.
|Credit for journal cover image: © 2017 The Royal Astronomical Society; Insert with pulsar image: © Mysid adapted from an original image by Roy Smits. This image is distributed under a CC BY-SA 3.0 Open Access licence.|
The latest free access publication is a special issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) – based on the ESLAB meeting held in Leiden (The Netherlands) in March 2016. This issue, which is now complete and available online, can be accessed here.
The ESLAB meeting focused on the 30th anniversary of ESA's Giotto mission to Halley's comet, and how subsequent missions such as Rosetta have changed our ideas of cometary science since Giotto. The Rosetta results discussed at the meeting (and contained in the special issue) represent another milestone in the evolution of cometary science, as scientists begin to analyse data obtained at perihelion and beyond, with some initial conclusions on the evolution of cometary activity.
Another MNRAS special issue will be published later this year, based on a special end of mission symposium held in Toulouse in November 2016. That meeting focused on looking at how Rosetta and Philae have changed our understanding of comets.
Papers within that special issue will provide the next milestone in the evolution of Rosetta science by considering the entire two-year period of comet exploration.
Looking further ahead, mission scientists will discuss the next block of results to be published, perhaps aiming to concentrate on more specific topics. For example, a science conference is being planned in Sofia, Bulgaria, this year to focus on how comets form.
"The core focus of activity from the ESA point of view, now operations are over, is the archiving of the data, an activity driven from the European Space Astronomy Centre in Spain, with guidance from project scientists at ESA and NASA," said Matt Taylor.
"Instrument teams are working hard to deliver all the data and together we are looking at building the best legacy for Rosetta, so that scientific analysis will continue for decades to come.
"We are now in the core scientific phase, digging ever deeper into the data, so there will be many more surprises and insights into comets and the evolution of our Solar System over the coming years."
Links to several hundred Rosetta mission-related scientific articles and reports can be found at: http://sci.esa.int/rosetta-publications/
Rosetta Project Scientist
Science Support Office
Directorate of Science
European Space Agency |
By Teja Chavali
How many times have you gone through acne Do’s and Don’ts in books and magazines? You may swear by some techniques. But do they really help? Here are a few common misconceptions about Acne.
I am sure most of you know that acne is produced because of clogging of pores on our skin by oils, dead skin cells and/or bacteria. So we may assume that if we wash our face 10 times a day then we can keep our skin clear and not clog the pores. But what we do not know is that constant washing of your face can irritate and dry it. Some amount of natural oil is required to keep our skin replenished and healthy. By stripping the skin of these natural oils you are doing more damage than good to your skin. So wash your face with a gentle cleanser twice a day. If you feel like washing your face in between, then use lukewarm water without a cleanser to clean or freshen up your face.
Anybody can have acne. It is generally seen among teenagers but that doesn’t mean acne may not appear later in life. A number of reasons factor into adults having acne. Lifestyle is a huge factor, apart from hormonal imbalance or certain medical conditions.
Certain products can result in acne. Make-up and skin care products sometimes adversely affect the skin leading to acne. Make sure that the products you use do not have too many chemicals in them. Always remember to take your make-up off before going to bed. Letting your skin breathe can go a long way in reducing acne.
What goes into your system can also make acne appear on your skin. Eating oily foods when you already have a problem with acne can only worsen it. Hence make sure you eat clean and healthy food. When you are healthy from the inside it shows on the outside.
Keep your hands to yourself. It may be very difficult not to pick on your pimples. You may also think that if you squeeze the pus out of the pimples then they will heal faster. Nope. It can make it worse. And let’s face it: it hurts.
Using certain products to dry out the pimple may give you temporary relief but in the long run you may be doing more damage to your skin than making it better. Things like applying toothpaste or mouthwash on the pimples may seem to have immediate effect on your pimple. But I think it is more psychological than physical.
Just because pimples are caused by oils and grease from your skin, it doesn’t mean getting rid of the excess oil is the solution. If your acne is bad, please see a dermatologist. There is nothing more horrible than trying something that can only make your acne worse. |
…Germany Evaluates Fuel Cell Cars…
Daimler Benz recently announced they are abandoning their development program for fuel cell powered cars, saying that battery powered cars were more efficient.
Daimler’s fuel cell division will become part of a joint venture with Volvo, which plans on developing a fuel cell truck.
It’s been obvious for years that fuel cells are far too expensive for use in an automobile, yet Daimler had announced it would have an affordable fuel cell vehicle by 2017. See earlier article https://bit.ly/3bCZUId
The absurdity of fuel cell cars was discussed in a two part series earlier. See The massive cost of fuel cell vehicles.
Equally interesting is that VW had established that battery powered vehicles were twice as efficient as fuel cell vehicles.
This graphic from Volkswagen, shows that BEVs, at the top, have an overall efficiency of 70 – 90%, while fuel cell vehicles, at the bottom of the graphic, have an overall efficiency of 25 – 35%.
In an earlier article, I said that BEVs were probably twice as efficient as gasoline powered vehicles. See, Future of Battery Powered Vehicles
As that article pointed out, it would take time for BEVs to overtake ICEs due to other impediments.
It’s now clear that fuel cell vehicles have lost the race as the future vehicle of choice.
In the future, perhaps around 2040, BEVs will be the car of choice.
Between now and then, ICEs will be the economic choice.
Fuel cell vehicles will be the car of the far distant future, if ever.
. . . |
Oregano, Origanum vulgare, is also known as Common and Wild Marjoram, Greek Oregano and Winter Oregano.
The name is derived from the Greek, meaning “mountain of joy.”
The Oregano I harvest comes complete with flowers, so is especially potent for tea!
The Greeks and Romans used it for a variety of benefits.
~Among the Greeks, if Marjoram grew on a grave, it augured the happiness of the departed, and among both the Greeks and Romans, it was the custom to crown young couples with Marjoram.
~Oregano corresponds to Venus and air.
~It is an herb of happiness, tranquillity, good luck, well-being, and protection.
~Make a Tea or burn as an incense.
~Plant Oregano around your house for protection, and scatter it inside the house to protect it.
~Carry it in a sachet or charm to bring good luck and vitality.
~It is also said to protect and promote psychic dreams when worn on the head during sleep.
~A protective herb with the power to ward off troublesome and meddling individuals, especially those who may wish to interfere with one’s personal financial dealings.
Dried Lavender is also available.
The use of Lavender goes back into the mists of time…
~Both the Greeks and the Romans had many uses for it, the most popular being for bathing, cooking, as an ingredient in perfume, for well-being, and as an insect repellent.
~English folklore advises a mixture of lavender, mugwort, chamomile, and rose petals to attract sprites, fairies, brownies, and elves.
~Lavender is used in teas, tinctures, and added to baked goods.
~Lavender is an aphrodisiac, and is still one of the most recognized scents in the world.
~Put two handfuls of Lavender Flowers into a square of cheesecloth and tie with a white ribbon.
Use this aromatic “wash-cloth” in place of your usual one.
Rosemary, or Rosmarinus Officinalis, is also known as Romero, and Dew of the Sea.
Dried Rosemary is also available in 1/2 ounce bags from the gardens of Bealtaine Cottage.
Rosemary is most famous for its use in cooking.
Bees love Rosemary!
Burn Rosemary for a restorative incense.
In place of more costly incense, the ancients used Rosemary in their religious ceremonies.
An old French name for it was Incensier.
I use dried Rosemary in my Wheaten Soda Bread!
It is delicious!
Thank you for supporting this blog |
By BEN HAVENS/ Montana State News
Private land under conservation easements has grown rapidly in the United States from 500,000 acres in 1990 to over 30 million in 2011. This is due to several advantages they come with.
Conservation easements are an increasingly popular method of land conservation. Rather than conservation groups buying up portions of land for the sake of preservation, conservation easements are the process of land owners donating the developmental rights of their land, while still owning it in all other aspects. Conservation easements typically cost about 40 percent less than land purchase.
According to the Montana Environmental Quality Council, about 1.8 million acres of Montana land is under conservation easement as of 2009. These 1,331 easements make up around 2 percent of Montana’s land. Ninety-nine percent of the land that is under easement is held by private owners while the conservation easements are held by both government organizations and non-profit land trusts.
According to the World Resources Institute, conservation easements provide a number of benefits to private land owners. The property is still retained. No actual exchange of property takes place. Conservation easements provide a high degree of flexibility as far as meeting the goals of the property owner and the conservation group. They provide active forest management. And perhaps most importantly, they offer a reduction in property and sometimes income tax for the property owner.
Despite their growing popularity, conservation easements are fewer in southern United States. Though the south makes up 37 percent of the private land, only 18 percent of conservation easements are located in southern states.
A few explanations for this disproportion are hypothesized by the World Resource Institute. There could be misconceptions among southern landowners of what easements are and what property rights they forgo by entering into one. Even if landowners fully understand the implications of the agreement, they may conclude (erroneously or otherwise) that the costs outweigh the benefits. Conservation easements are perpetual, meaning that the conservation rights belong to the conservation group or government organization even if the land is sold to another party. This perpetual nature may create a degree of uncertainty that southern land owners do not want to enter into.
The rising popularity of conservation easements suggests that benefits (whether philanthropic or financial) exceed costs. Assuming this is indeed the case, we should see the disproportion in the southern states shrink over time with education and continued efforts from conservation groups.
– Edited by Patrick Carroll |
Students who won lotteries to attend charter middle schools performed, on average, no better in mathematics and reading than their peers who lost out in the random admissions process and enrolled in nearby regular public schools, according to a national study released today.
The federally commissioned study, involving 2,330 students who applied to 36 charter middle schools in 15 states, represents the first large-scale randomized trial of the effectiveness of charter schools across several states and rural, suburban, and urban locales. The charter schools in the sample conducted random lotteries for admissions, so that only chance determined who attended.
The study, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, of Princeton, N.J., also concludes that the lottery winners did no better, on average, than the lottery losers on non-academic outcomes such as behavior and attendance.
The findings on academic performance echo, in part, those of researchers at Stanford University, whose 2009 nonrandomized, multistate study of charter schools sparked fierce debate when they concluded that, in general, most charters were producing similar or worse achievement results for students than traditional public schools were. (“Study Casts Doubt on Charter School Results,” June 15, 2009.)
The Mathematica authors add context to the new study’s findings, however, by exploring when charters seem to work best, and for which students. They found, for instance, that the charter middle schools serving the most economically disadvantaged students—especially those in urban areas—were more successful than their counterparts serving higher-achieving, more affluent students in producing gains in mathematics.
That finding is similar to that of a recent study of 22 middle schools operated by the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, the nation’s largest charter-management organization. (“KIPP Middle Schools Found to Spur Learning Gains,” June 22, 2010.) That study, also conducted by Mathematica, found that the KIPP students—most of whom were also poor and were members of ethnic- and racial-minority groups—outperformed their peers in regular public schools.
For other student subgroups—those defined by race, ethnicity, and gender—the new study found that the charters made no significant impacts on achievement.
People involved in the new study cautioned, though, against drawing any sweeping conclusions from it about the overall impact of charter schools on student achievement.
“There’s a wide variation in both math and reading impacts, as well as other measures,” said Marsha Silverberg, who oversaw the study as a project officer at the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education.
“Generally, we found that these charter schools were more effective for more low-income, lower-achieving students,” Ms. Silverberg said, “and less effective for higher-income, higher-achieving students.
“We are not suggesting that charter schools serving lower-income and lower-achieving students would always be more effective,” she said, “but that they were more effective than the traditional public schools around them.”
The most positive overall impact that all of the charter schools in the study produced, was on the satisfaction levels expressed by parents and students. Parents whose children had won lotteries to attend charters were 33 percent more likely to say the schools were excellent than parents whose children lost the lotteries and attended regular public schools.
The new study comes out on the same day that charter leaders and advocates will be gathering for an annual national conference in Chicago and follows closely on the heels of the KIPP study, which was released last week.
Debate over the impact of the nation’s 5,000 charter schools, which are publicly financed but largely autonomous, has been heightened over the past year with calls from President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to expand and replicate charters that have succeeded in raising achievement among the poorest students.
That debate grew more heated after the 2009 release of the multistate study from Stanford, which was produced by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO. (“Scholars Spar Over Research Methods Used to Evaluate Charters,” October 14, 2009.) It was followed by findings of another Stanford researcher, Caroline M. Hoxby, who concluded the opposite. In her study, which also used lotteries to randomly assign students to either control or experimental schools, Ms. Hoxby found that charter schools in New York City were having positive impacts on student achievement.
“This is not going to settle the debate,” Jeffrey R. Henig, an education professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, said of the new study. “There are a lot of folks on both sides who are pretty committed to keeping the debate alive on these terms, but I think on the overall balance scale, this study adds weight to the side that is suggesting that simply talking about charters versus noncharters is a distraction. There needs to be much more nuance.”
The new study included only charter middle schools that had been in operation for at least two years, which Mr. Henig said would undermine past arguments from charter advocates who have said conclusions about the schools’ effectiveness shouldn’t be drawn until they have had a chance to mature.
Margaret E. Raymond, the director of CREDO and the lead author of the study that it released last year, said the results of this new study are “not surprising.”
“This is another layer of evidence that points to the wide variations in the charter school community and highlights, once again, that policy and context really matter,” she said. “I think what we really have to do now is get under the hood and find out more about how charters differ and why they differ. We are really just at the front gates of a large body of research that needs to be done.”
Researchers involved in the new study declined to disclose the states and communities where the studied schools are located, citing rules about anonymity for individual schools in federal research.
On average, though, the charter middle schools in the study enrolled a lower percentage of students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals than charters nationally, and served smaller percentages of students scoring below proficiency levels on state exams than their national peers.
Also, the percentage of African-American students who attended the charter middle schools in the study were smaller when compared with charters nationally. |
Bromine is atomic number 35 with element symbol Br on the periodic table. It is the only element besides mercury that is a liquid at room temperature and pressure. You encounter bromine in swimming pools and flame retardants. Here is a collection of useful and interesting bromine facts.
Basic Bromine Facts
Atomic Number: 35
Element Symbol: Br
Group: Group 17
Period: Period 4
Element Family: Halogen
Atomic Mass: [79.901, 79.907]; conventional: 79.904
Electron Configuration: [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p5
Appearance: Reddish-brown liquid
Discovery: Carl Jacob Löwig and Antoine Balard discovered the element bromine in 1825 and 1826, respectively. Although Löwig discovered the element first, Balard published his results first. Löwig isolated the element from a mineral water spring taken from his home town of Bad Kreuznach, Germany. Balard isolated bromine from seaweed ash taken from a salt marsh of Montpellier, France. In 1825, German chemist Justus von Liebig also isolated a brown liquid from a sample of salt water, but he didn’t realize it was a new element until after he learned of Balard’s publication.
Name Origin: Balard named the new element muride, from the Latin word for brine, muria. But, he changed the name to brôme in his publication, from the Greek word for “stench.” The name comes from the acrid smell of bromine vapor. Eventually, the element name changed to bromine to use the -ine halogen name suffix.
Isotopes: Natural bromine consists of two stable isotopes: 79Br and 81Br, with 79Br accounting for 51% of the natural abundance of the element. Numerous radioisotopes have been synthesized. The most stable isotope is 77Br, with a half-life of 57.04 hours.
Abundance: Bromine is the 64th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust with an abundance of 2.4 mg/kg. It is the is the tenth most abundant element in sea water with an abundance of 67.3 mg/L. Commercially, bromine is extracted from bromine pools in Israel, the United States, and China.
Biological Role: Like chlorine, elemental bromine is a toxic substance that causes chemical burns to skin. Inhalation can cause irritation, in low concentrations, or death, in high concentration. However, bromine is an essential element in animals. The bromide ion is a cofactor in collagen synthesis. Bromine also helps white blood cells kill parasites and serves a role in REM sleep. Bromide compounds used to be used as sedatives and anticonvulsants. Specifically, sodium bromide and potassium bromide were used in the 19th and 20th century until they were replaced by chloral hydrate, which was in turn replaced by barbiturates and other drugs.
Uses: Bromine is used in many flame retardant compounds. When brominated compounds burn, hydrobromic acid is produced. The acid acts as a flame retardant by interfering with the oxidation reaction of combustion. Bromine is used to sanitize swimming pools, much like chlorine. Bromine is used to make brominated plastics and polymers. Bromomethane is a pesticide fumigant. Nontoxic halomethane compounds, such as bromochloromethane and bromotrifluoromethane, are used in submarines and spacecraft. However, they are not generally useful because they are expensive and because they damage the ozone layer. Bromine was used in leaded fuels to help prevent engine knock in the form of ethylene bromide.
Bromine Physical Data
Phase at STP: Liquid
Density: Br2 liquid: 3.1028 g/cm3
Melting Point: (Br2) 265.8 K (−7.2 °C, 19 °F)
Boiling Point: (Br2) 332.0 K (58.8 °C, 137.8 °F)
Critical Point: 588 K, 10.34 MPa
Heat of Fusion: (Br2) 10.571 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization: (Br2) 29.96 kJ/mol
Molar Heat Capacity: (Br2) 75.69 J/(mol·K)
Atomic Radius: 120 pm
Covalent Radius: 120±3 pm
Van der Waals Radius: 185 pm
Electronegativity: Pauling scale: 2.96
1st Ionization Energy: 1139.9 kJ/mol
2nd Ionization Energy: 2103 kJ/mol
3rd Ionization Energy: 3470 kJ/mol
Oxidation States: −1, +1, +3, +4, +5, +7
Crystal Structure: Orthorhombic
Magnetic Ordering: Diamagnetic
Interesting Bromine Facts
- Bromides are compounds that contain bromine in its -1 oxidation state. Although this is the most common state for bromine and other halogens, it isn’t the only one.
- Brominated vegetable oil is a food additive that keeps citrus flavoring from separating out of soda. Long-term exposure causes neurological symptoms. Its use is banned in Europe, but not in the United States.
- The ancient royal purple dye called Tyrian Purple is a bromine compound.
- Bromothymol blue is a bromine-based pH indicator.
- The Dow Chemical Company got its start when Herbert Dow separated bromine from brine waters of the Midwestern United States.
- Xylyl bromide and related bromine compounds were used as poison gas in World War I.
- Duan, Defang; et al. (2007-09-26). “Ab initio studies of solid bromine under high pressure”. Physical Review B. 76 (10): 104113. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.76.104113
- Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-08-037941-9.
- Haynes, William M., ed. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (92nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN 1439855110.
- Weast, Robert (1984). CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.
- Weeks, Mary Elvira (1932). “The discovery of the elements: XVII. The halogen family”. Journal of Chemical Education. 9 (11): 1915. doi:10.1021/ed009p1915 |
Recently I have come across an article about body snatching in London and an History Detectives episode that examined a cemetery alarm from the 1800s meant to prevent body snatching. Body snatching is the obtainment of human cadavers (stolen from the grave) to sell to medical schools to dissect. It has been around since the 14th century and was particularly problematic in England during the 1700s and 1800s. It was also a problem in the US. The NIH has put together an informative article on the history of body snatching for those who would like more information.
The History Detectives episode hit a little closer to home, examining an artifact that ended up being connected to grave robbery in the 1800s in Ohio. During the mid to late 1800s, medical schools would buy or steal cadavers to educate their students in gross anatomy.
In 1878, a newspaper article describes how the body of John Scott Harrison, father of future president Benjamin Harrison, was found in a medical school by his own son, who was searching for the body of a friend whose grave had been robbed. You can imagine how his son must have felt. This theft occurred despite precautions the family had taken, including hiring watchmen a d placing weights that would require many men to lift them.
As a result of this and other body snatching, people turned to explosive devices, including the one that is featured in the History Detectives episode.
How did your ancestors protect their dead during this time? Were they affected by body snatching? |
Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 580
1. Why is Violet referred to as the “Bird Lady”?
2. Why does the narrator describe Joe and Dorcas’ relationship as “one of those deep down, spooky loves”?
3. Why does Dorcas’ aunt Alice refuse to turn Joe over to the police?
4. Compare and contrast Violet with Dorcas.
5. How does Violet respond to the shooting?
6. What are Joe’s feelings about shooting Dorcas?
7. What is Violet’s plan?
8. Describe the atmosphere in Joe and Violet’s apartment.
9. Both Joe and Violet are in the beauty business. Explain.
10. Describe some of the things Harlemites are proud of in their community.
1. Violet is called the “Bird Lady” because she keeps a parrot and lots of other birds in her apartment. She communicates with the birds and her parrot says “I love you.”
2. Joe and Dorcas’ relationship is labeled “spooky” because it was unusual and unnatural. There was more than a 30 year difference in their ages. After Joe shot Dorcas he cried everyday about it and was unable to resume a normal life. To protect him, Dorcas refused to name Joe as the person who shot her. After her death, the love continued and became more intense.
3. Alice Manfred doesn’t want the police involved because the police have traditionally been an enemy of the African-American community. The police are considered as dangerous as the criminals. She doesn’t want them in her house sitting in her chairs. Furthermore, she has heard of Joe’s tears and knows that he will punish himself.
4. Violet is attractive but very dark-skinned. She is 50 years old, has hard edges to her personality, and is starting to act crazy. Violet no longer talks to Joe because she has time only for her birds. Violet is very thin, yet very strong, and Dorcas on the other hand is very light-skinned with long hair. These are two pluses. She is not particularly attractive, but she is 18-years-old. Dorcas is feeling the full impact of her sexuality and is eager for intimacy. It is easy for Dorcas and Joe to share their deepest secrets. Violet is independant, but Dorcas is extremely vulnerable and needs Joe’s protection.
5. Violet responds to the shooting by totally losing her mind. She is angry and wants revenge so she tries to disfigure Dorcas’ face at the funeral.
6. Joe grieves deeply for Dorcas. We assume he is sorry for what he has done because he cries constantly. He doesn’t go to work anymore, nor does he speak. All he does is cry.
7. Once she was thrown out of the funeral, Violet still feels the need to get revenge. She plans to make Joe jealous, but that doesn’t work so she decides to find out all she can about the dead girl.
8. Joe and Violet’s apartment is lifeless. Empty bird cages fill the living room. Tears, anger, and sorrow permeate the rooms like a sickness.
9. Violet is an unlicensed beautician. She does hair in the kitchen of her apartment or when forced to, makes house calls. In addition to his job at the hotel, Joe sells Cleopatra beauty products door to door.
10. In Harlem in the 1920s residents are proud when the A&P supermarket hires its first African-American clerk. Harlemites are also proud of the African-American surgeon visiting Harlem Hospital and the 35 African-American nurses that have graduated from Bellevue Hospital. They flock to the parades in honor of the 369th Regiment and the Universal Negro Improvement Association led by Marcus Garvey.
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Michael Green, neuroscientist and professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA, has been fascinated with the human brain, behavior and mental illness since his undergraduate days. In particular, his research focuses on schizophrenia, a chronic brain disorder that affects about 1 percent of the population.
In this UCLA Faculty Research Lecture, he describes how his lab uses discoveries in psychology and social neuroscience about normal brain functioning to inform his schizophrenia research. And now, Green and his colleagues are moving into new territory, studying the causes of social isolation among people who do not have schizophrenia.
You’ll learn about the tools they use such as functional MRI, that measures and maps brain activity, and EEG, that detects electrical activity in the brain, and how they do research to answer questions about social isolation in the general public.
When considering the evil events in history, the Holocaust remains one of the most notorious.
Dr. Joel Dimsdale, professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, began his work 40 years ago studying survivors of Nazi concentrations camps, uncovering strategies of coping that helped these victims survive. However, after a visit from a Nuremberg executioner, Dimsdale began to study the perpetrators of these crimes instead.
In this presentation, part of the Holocaust Living History Workshop, Dimsdale examines archival data of Rorschach ink blot tests administered at the Nuremberg trial in an attempt to uncover those answers. |
As Alberta moves ahead with its aggressive plan to shutter coal-fired power plants and ramp up renewable energy generation within 14 years, it faces some sobering — and expensive — choices.
A new study by Calgary electricity consultancy EDC Associates finds the province’s climate plan will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Alberta, but it “could be very expensive to consumers, government and generators” depending on how it’s rolled out.
“Some combinations of the implementation details could have severe unintended consequences to Alberta consumers and new and existing generators,” says a report summary.
This won’t shock most power market watchers. But the scale of the impact — and the potential to mitigate it — are worth considering.
After all, billions of dollars are at stake.
For example, the report finds the price tag to subsidize additional renewable energy generation in Alberta could cost between $4 billion and $8 billion by 2030.
After that the bill would grow, with estimated annual costs between $800 million and $1.8 billion until 2049.
(A separate analysis by Capital Power Corp. earlier this year pegged the subsidies at about $10 billion over three decades, signalling that whatever the final figures are, they will be big.)
But it’s not all bad news.
The government’s policy will reduce long-term emissions and, with some wise policy choices, negative impacts could be moderated.
“We didn’t find the perfect holy grail,” EDC president Duane Reid-Carlson said at a luncheon Tuesday hosted by the Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta.
“Having said that, we did find combinations that were very likely workable between industry and government.”
As part of its new climate plan, Alberta wants to see up to 30 per cent of the power supply come from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydro by 2030.
It will do so through a competitive auction process, offering some form of incentives to developers, although no further details have been released.
Alberta will also shut down 18 coal-fired power plants by 2030, including some that could have continued operating until after 2050.
Aside from the price to incent renewable energy, the province faces other expenses.
EDC found Alberta’s electricity grid may need $1 billion to $3 billion in transmission expansion to connect new solar and wind farms.
And none of these figures includes the extra bill to compensate the owners of six newer coal plants that will be required to shut their facilities early.
Like the electricity industry’s version of the Rubik’s Cube, EDC’s report studied 57 different permutations based on six separate government policy decisions.
It examined the timing of adding renewable power to the grid and when coal plants will stop operating.
Pressure is growing on the province to carefully time the closing of coal facilities and the addition of renewable generation, rather than pulling the plug all at once.
“Probably the biggest (factor) is don’t get too far ahead of yourself putting wind in – or any kind of renewables. Try to keep pace with how fast you are taking the coal out,” advised Allan Crowley, EDC vice-president.
The Notley government recently made a firm commitment to add 5,000 MW of renewables and Crowley noted that adding more than that could cause problems.
It’s worth noting revenues from the carbon tax generated by the power industry won’t be enough to pay for renewable subsidies for 5,000 MW, EDC said.
The province says any money used for renewables will come from carbon revenue collected from coal plants and other big emitters.
Finally, the authors said power price volatility could increase significantly with the government’s plan.
If this all sounds incredibly complicated and daunting for all sides, it is.
And if you want to see how investor uncertainty toward the power sector is playing out, Monday’s news from Capital Power Corp. provided a crystal-clear example.
The Edmonton-based utility has proposed, along with Calgary-based Enmax Corp., to build the $1.4-billion Genesee 4 & 5 natural gas generation project. However, it again delayed a final investment decision until the first quarter of 2017.
CEO Brian Vassjo said Capital Power needs more certainty before moving ahead, including “an announcement of fair compensation by the Alberta government” for its coal plants being closed early.
Answers to many of these pivotal questions will be coming soon.
Legislation overseeing the renewables plan is expected in the first week of the fall legislative session, which begins Monday.
Later this fall, the government will set out its coal plant compensation plans.
But the NDP government isn’t moving back from its climate targets, despite the many questions in the air.
During her state of the province address last week, Premier Rachel Notley noted the province relies on coal to meet 60 per cent of Alberta’s power needs and vowed: “That is going to end.”
She also indicated, “We will set out more detail on how we will promote the construction of clean renewable energy — wind, solar, thermal and hydro power — efficiently, economically, and without undue subsidy.”
Notley’s government has some key decisions to make in the next few weeks, choices that will set the landscape for Alberta’s power market for decades to come.
But make no mistake: While there’s some wins to be achieved if it makes the right choices, there’s also some big costs for Albertans if it makes the wrong ones.
Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist. |
Pumped Hydro: A Shining Star in the Night Sky
Every day, our Sun reports for its duty conscientiously. It rises in the East and wake us up from the bed. It works for about 12 hours a day and then sets in the West reminding us to find the bed and sleep in the night. This has been its daily routine for billions of years.
What if the Sun did not rise?
It is a thought-provoking question. Isn’t it?
We would not have an extraordinary experience on the very first night even if the Sun didn’t rise. But how would we feel the daytime on the following day? It would be the very first daytime buried in the dark. Owls will be so busy with the order of the day, shouting all day long.
There would be no luminous daytime. Only dark nights and dark days.
We would witness no evaporation, no winds, no waves, no cyclones, no rains …
What else would happen?
Yes. A lot of things…
Plants will stop producing food and they will no longer bear fruits. This will lead to a famine and mass extinction. No doubt. The final result will be a dead planet with no living beings.
We all are indebted to our Sun for what it has been doing. The chronicle about life on the Earth totally relies on the unrivaled service of the Sun. It illuminates our planet and helps our eyes view the world around us. Not only that our Sun is what keeps our planet worm making it an inhabitable place. Feeding numerous energy-consuming processes like photosynthesis, it plays a vital role on the Earth. Maybe that’s what our ancestors motivated to worship the sun god or solar deity. Today, our Sun has been assigned an additional but important job: To generate electricity with the help of solar PVs.
Nothing to explain. We have no access to the free service of Sun during the night. Just like you, solar PVs stop working and go to sleep in the night.
Dark side of solar PV technology
The glorious side of solar PVs is well known and not needed to magnify. To illustrate, the contribution of solar electricity to the German electricity supply was 0.3% and 6.6% in 2007 and 2017, respectively . In other words, German cumulative solar PV capacity was 42 GW in 2017 . It is enough to shut down as many as 84 coal-fired power plants each with 500 MW of capacity. This mind-blowing development manifests the power of solar PVs and encouraging other nations to replace coal, oil and gas with solar.
Today, almost all the nations are engaging in a constructive dialogue to solve the energy crisis, and detrimental consequences of climate change, and environmental pollution. Governments are belligerently encouraging the utility customers and private companies introducing various incentives and rebates, to invest in solar PVs. We have never seen such keenness before. Unfortunately, solar PV technology is still discriminated by some opponents. They highlight some technical challenges in solar PV technology and speak well of fossil fuels.
Nothing to argue. Like in any other technology, solar PV technology is confronted with some technical difficulties. The biggest challenge is that solar PVs cannot generate enough power under cloudy skies. And they cannot generate electricity during the night at all. This is the saddest side of solar PVs.
These challenges pose a serious question…
How do we meet the electricity demand with solar PVs after the sunset?
Today, we are heading straight for a 100% renewable energy or at least vow to replace fossil fuels with renewables. And solar PV is the best way to exploit energy from sunlight. In order to achieve our solar goals, we want our solar PVs to supply electricity even in the night and also under cloudy skies. This requires our Sun to reverse its old-fashioned journey and emerge in the West shinning in the night sky. But this will never happen!
What if we could mount a shining star in the sky to turn the darkness in the night away from us?
Yes. Pumped hydro is such an amazing idea which is not a star but still can act as a virtual Sun in the night sky!
The idea is straightforward. Following are some basic facts that highlight the need for energy storage in achieving our renewable energy targets.
- Current global power demand is approximately 17.5 TW .
- The amount of technically/ economically viable solar power is estimated at about 580 TW . This is nearly 33 times the global power demand.
- Solar PVs can play a vital role in achieving our sustainable goals. They are truly capable of generating more electricity than the current electricity demand during the daytime.
- When the generation exceeds the demand, the excess amount must be stored so that it could be released to meet the demand during the night.
Grid energy storage
Grid energy storage becomes an essential component when we are extensively dealing with solar electricity as solar PVs are unable to power your home in the night. Various energy storage technologies have been developed such as batteries (Li-ion, NaS, lead acid,), flywheel, superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), compressed air, and pumped hydro. However, neither flywheel nor SMES has shown to be appropriate for large-scale energy storage. Batteries are already being used even in MW-scale but are expensive.
While both compressed air and pumped hydro are being used in grid energy storage, pumped hydro has shown to be the best grid energy storage technology. It is a cost-effective, technology and can come online very quickly to respond to the variation in supply-demand. Once built, pumped hydro plants can serve for decades. Therefore, pumped hydro has become the most popular grid energy storage technology.
How do pumped hydro plants work? Let us explore more about this topic in the next article.
Smolen, J., & Dudic, B. (2018). Electricity Price and Demand Pattern Changes Due to Increases in Solar Generation in German Electricity Markets. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 9 (1), 168-173.
Feldman, D. J., Margolis, R. M., & Hoskins, J. (2018). Q4 2017/Q1 2018 Solar Industry Update (No. NREL/PR-6A20-71493). National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States).
Hu, A., Levis, S., Meehl, G. A., Han, W., Washington, W. M., Oleson, K. W., and Strand, W. G. (2016). Impact of solar panels on global climate. Nature Climate Change, 6 (3), 290-294.
Jacobson, M. Z., and Delucchi, M. A. (2009). A path to sustainable energy by 2030. Scientific American, 301 (5), 58-65. |
One of the last remaining wetland ecosystems in Southern California, the Bolsa Chica Wetlands form the largest saltwater marsh south of Point Conception, Santa Barbara County. Approximately 1,300 acres in size with an intricate five-mile trail system, the wetlands are home to more than 65 species of fish, birds, invertebrates, and mammals, some of which are state- and/or federally-listed endangered or threatened species.
Located in Orange County, the Bolsa Chica Wetlands are vital for supporting ecosystem biodiversity, educational and recreational opportunities, floodwater storage during heavy rains, and functioning as the “kidneys” of the ecosystem by filtering polluted water.
There are two distinct habitat zones in the wetlands: the low or intertidal marsh, and the high marsh. The low marsh is inundated daily by tidal water, while the high marsh is only inundated during higher-than-average high tides. Within these zones, salinity acts as a strong environmental filter, selecting highly specialized forms of life that are adapted to thrive under extremely salty conditions.
Pickleweed, in particular, tends to dominate the saltwater marsh. This halophyte, or salt-loving plant, absorbs and stores excess salt in the tips of its jointed segments, which turn bright scarlet in color before they ultimately fall off. Make sure to visit the wetlands in the fall, when the scarlet forest of pickleweed extends all around the shoreline!
In 1973, the California Fish and Game Commission designated the area as an ecological reserve and instituted regulations governing public use of the property, to protect the wetlands. By 2012, following the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative planning process, an additional level of protection was given to the wetlands when two marine protected areas (MPAs), the Bolsa Bay State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and the Bolsa Chica Basin SMCA (No-Take), were established there.
A visit to the MPAs would not be complete without taking a self-guided tour of the wetland trails. The wetlands host two parking areas, a 400-foot wooden walkway over the inner bay, public facilities, trails, and interpretive signs along the paths. Convenient, free parking is also available at the north and south entrances, and includes access to restrooms for guests (including persons with disabilities).
Nature lovers who are pressed for time should use the south parking area for quick access to abundant wildlife viewing opportunities. Only a few steps away from the parking area, a wooden walkway and its adjacent 1.6-mile Inner Bay Loop Trail remain one of the best places to see the expansive wetland habitat. From the walkway, you can view stunning vistas across the saltwater marsh as scavenging birds search for their next meal. Alongside the trail, juvenile fish gather and swim about the wetland floor as they grow and mature into adults. You can occasionally see California sea lions feasting on the bountiful resources in the basin during high tide.
Bolsa Chica Basin SMCA is unique to the Southern California region due to its “No-Take” designation, which prohibits the take of marine resources except for that which occurs incidentally during any necessary and existing permitted activities. Such activities may include habitat restoration, maintenance of artificial structures, and dredging pursuant to any required federal, state, and local permits.
If you want to try your hand at fishing, connect to the Mesa Trail from the Inner Bolsa Bay Loop Trail. The Mesa Trail follows the shoreline of the scenic Bolsa Bay SMCA and leads to a designated fishing area near the north parking lot where the recreational take of finfish by hook-and-line is allowed, from shore only. However, please watch your step! This area is erosion-prone, and unnecessary disturbances can cause the frail channel to fall away, negatively impacting the surrounding habitat.
There are currently three non-governmental organizations operating at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife: Amigos de Bolsa Chica, Bolsa Chica Conservancy, and Bolsa Chica Land Trust. These organizations provide free tours every month to interested visitors. Tour guides (otherwise known as docents) offer site information and will happily point out the best locations for premier bird watching.
With or without a guided tour, don’t miss the chance to explore the Bolsa Chica Conservancy’s Interpretive Center located at the north parking lot. Open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Interpretive Center is wheelchair accessible and features exhibits that display both marine and terrestrial species found throughout the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. Various educational materials including maps, pocket field guides, and bird lists are also available for curious minds.
For those who can’t make it out to the wetlands, the Bolsa Chica Land Trust maintains a solar-powered Eco Camera that provides a 24/7 live video stream. The Eco Camera sits on a 10-foot pole overlooking the southernmost part of the wetlands, and can provide rare glimpses into the nests of Bolsa Chica’s most prevalent bird species. Come winter, viewers can watch snowy egrets and great blue herons soar through the sky, and double-crested cormorants bob about on the waves. If you’re lucky, you may even spot the rare Savannah sparrow hiding among the pickleweed.
Although over 90 percent of California’s wetlands have disappeared, the Bolsa Chica Wetlands are continually celebrated worldwide for the many ecosystem services they provide. The wetlands form living landscapes that give enjoyment to millions of people, and their continued protection and management by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ensures that they will remain a place of natural beauty as time goes by.
Learn more about MPAs by diving into the Exploring California’s Marine Protected Areas series! |
Adding Action and Clarity to Writing
Avoiding Weak Verbs and Passive Voice:
Linking verbs include the following forms of the verb to be: be, am, is, are, was, were, being, and been. Contractions such as I'm, we're, and he's are also built upon linking verbs and express a state of being. Many writers, teachers, and professionals consider these verbs weak because they do not express any action; instead, they simply tell the reader that something exists.
Passive voice consists of a form of "be" and a past participle (look for -ed endings):
Passive voice tends to conceal rather than reveal information. In the sample sentence above, we do not know who mentioned the student's name or why he or she mentioned it. The following sentences also conceal important information:
On the other hand, these revisions provide clear evidence of "who did what to whom":
Weak verbs allow sentences to ramble on; often the predicates of such sentences are too lengthy and contain confusing prepositional phrases:
A revision of this sentence might eliminate some of the unneeded prepositional phrases and clearly state who disapproves of Becky and Lily:
The next sentence should explain how the audiences disapproved of the women.
How often do you read (or write) a sentence such as this:
Isn't "persona" a loaded word? Your reader might not understand what the word "persona" implies; Macbeth is a pretty complicated character! How about: |
Teaching children coding skills-Yes you have heard it right, for some, it might not be their cup of tea, for some they love it. In order to identify the hidden interest of your kids on coding, we help you with some app suggestions, where they can play with coding and design their apps by adding more creativity into that, afterall all the kids are not the same right. But the kind of exposure to things also matters to identify their potential. So get ready to jump into a coding-adventure with this list of apps. It not only helps kids to learn the new technology, but it also enhances their creativity level (how to nurture creativity in a child), problem-solving techniques, critical thinking skills, etc. These apps help you to read the programming from scratch to advanced level. Some of the best apps for teaching code to the children are.
Best Coding Apps for Kids
An award-winning app that is free to use and helps kids to learn to code. Without learning that they are learning, this app has a game-like interface to teach kids coding in a more fun-filled way. Food – a lovable character that is used to teach code for kids in this app.
Word-free design – helps pre-readers to learn to code.
Puzzles – which allows kids to learn programming without getting help from adults or teachers, which helps them to boost their problem-solving skill.
Open play area – A place where kids design/code their own games, share with the fellow kid coders.
The other unique feature of this app is KidSafe Certified & does not contain any advertisements or in-game purchases.
Hopscotch is an app that kids use to learn to code. It is available for free on iPad and iPhone. This app is exclusively designed for kids who are in between the age 7-13 but this can be used for any age. The speciality of the app is you can make your own app, games and animations, whatever you like. This tool is very kid-friendly and has many video tutorials to teach coding for your kids.
ScratchJr is another free coding app for all android, iphone and ipad users. This app teaches children of very young age from 5-7 years learn programming language through a very interactive way by using games and stories.
ScratchJr helps children to modify character by using paint editors, they can able to add their own sounds & voices, even they are allowed to add the images, once they are done with all these things they use the programming blocks to make their characters live(they make the characters move, jump, speak, dance and sing).
Kids will earn badges on each of their coding lessons, these lessons will be more interactive, contain mini-puzzles, games and cool projects.
Another new app (Bee-Bot) which allows students to learn programming in a more fun related way. It helps to learn basic programming through the different puzzles & levels that have a cartoon bee to attract young kids to learn coding. Really a very good tool which captures kids’ minds on their innovation to learn programming through different sequences of directions in each level for improving their skills.
Coding Games For Kids To Play
Coding games for kids to play – another unique app which has an array of free games to teach children sequential visual coding. This app helps children to improve their memory, logical thinking and problem solving techniques. This teaches children the basic concepts of programming like loops, arrays, sequences and etc through their 1000+ levels. It is an excellent app for the students as now the schools move from traditional IT to programming curriculum.
Benefits of teaching coding to your children:
Coding can be fun a lot of the time when kids learn with more interest. Some may naturally be very comfortable learning programming languages, but some may need a lot of effort to get them on track. But however they make connections with these coding languages, in order to improve their skills. Here are some of the benefits of teaching your children a programming language:
● It helps to improve computational thinking of your kids.
● Logical thinking is the most important one for coding, by teaching your kid a coding language it helps them to improve their logical thinking.
● Problem solving technique – Coding actually teaches children to break down the complex problems.
● Coding helps children to learn how the things work and create things that work.
● While coding kids learn to handle eros, this really helps them to avoid many problems in their day to day life.
● Structural thinking – By learning programming kids learn how to build small pieces to add up to the solution.
● Algorithmic thinking – Coding enables kids to break down problems into simple step-by-step procedures.
● Coding really improves kids’ creativity, their way of thinking and enhances them to read more in a fun filled way.
● By learning coding kids prepare themselves for their future.
● Many kids actually have problems learning maths, coding really has many practical applications of maths, which make them better understand the concept of maths.
● It helps kids to have a long-time passion.
● Really coding makes a lot of money.
● Helps kids to think outside of the box.
● Enhances their quality of life and time. |
There is a trend these days where many people seem to be advocating against the ‘skinny’ or ‘model’ kind of look, and that is absolutely fine – it is both unhealthy and unrealistic for most. However, the opposite is just as bad. Being severely overweight (having a high body fat percentage) is detrimental to one’s health. The truth is that some types of body fat are more dangerous from a health perspective than others, and the worst type of body fat is known as visceral fat. Visceral fat is abdominal fat that surrounds various internal organs. This is the fat that is stored around the abdominal area. Another name for it is – ectopic fat, which refers to the fact that this is fat accumulation in places where it should not be. When fat is stored in fat cells, it is far more benign because it stays there as stored fat, unless you do something to cause the body to release the stored fat, such as exercise and diet. Visceral fat, on the other hand, is always being released and is linked to insulin resistance, the precursor to type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
You can read more about this in the blog posts – types of body fat.
The main point I want to get across in this post is this – Fat is not just an inactive fat storage tissue. It has been known for a while, that a adipose tissue is highly active inflammatory tissue. More specifically, adipose tissue produces adipokines which are inflammatory compounds. Having systemic inflammation, which can be caused by these adipokines, is strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer as well as degenerative brain disease. Having excess body fat equals to low grade chronic systemic inflammation. This is today recognised to be linked not only to all the above but a vast majority of chronic conditions. It is crucial that we understand this, and not to allow ourselves to think that being overweight is acceptable. |
A handout is a document passed out to give information. Handouts are commonly given by a teacher to students during classes; however, students might also make handouts for presentation purposes. Teachers or school officials might give handouts to parents and they are also useful for school speeches. When making a handout, include key features to make it the most effective handout possible.
Type out the key points of the presentation or information in outline or bullet form. A handout gives a brief summary of information as a reminder to the information given in the presentation rather than telling every detail.
Include the information that students, parents or anyone in the audience will need to know for future reference. Never leave out the key points you want the audience to remember. The handout is a reminder, so if you run out of space, remove unnecessary points and keep the reminder points.
Put information about further study sources. For example, if there is a book you prefer the students read to find out more about the subject, type in the author, book title and bibliographical information so the students can find the information from a source you prefer or use for class. This helps avoid contradictory information that might confuse students.
Write a few activity directions or questions on the bottom of the handout. A handout should not only include facts and points, but also illustrations, activities or questions to get the audience thinking.
Add any charts, graphs or illustrations as necessary for the handout. Pictures are not required, but images can help students, especially if they are graphs or charts. Charts, graphs or illustrations are placed in appropriate locations among the outlined information.
Italicize or bold any section titles to separate them from the rest of the handout. Since the handout is written in bullet or outline form, creating a distinction between titles or separate sections avoids confusion.
Keep the handout to one page if possible, but ensure there is plenty of white space. Do not overcrowd the paper, but try making it only a page. The handout should only have the most vital information while the speech or lecture should fill in further information. If it is not possible to keep it down to a single page, staple the handout pages together so students do not lose the second page.
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images |
We must encourage and teach young people to ask for help and support when they need it and enable them to access local services.
Many young people experience significant barriers to accessing contraception and sexual health services. This could be related to fear or embarrassment or simply not knowing where to go.
As part of the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum we, therefore, have an important role to play in addressing their concerns and providing them with accurate, honest, and up to date information about what services are available to them.
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
Empower young people to access sexual health services and seek help when they need it. |
Citadel of Acre
The current building which constitutes the citadel of Acre is an Ottoman fortification, built on the foundation of the Hospitallerian citadel. The citadel was part of the city's defensive formation, reinforcing the northern wall. During the 20th century the citadel was used mainly as a prison and as the site for a gallows. During the British mandate period, activists of Jewish Zionist resistance movements were held prisoner there; some were Knights' Halls Under the citadel and prison of Acre, archaeological excavations revealed a complex of halls, which was built and used by the Hospitallers Knights.
This complex was a part of the Hospitallers' citadel, which was combined in the northern wall of Acre. The complex includes six semi-joined halls, one recently excavated large hall, a dungeon, a dining room and remains of an ancient Gothic church. Medieval European remains include the Church of Saint George and adjacent houses at the Genovese Square (called Kikar ha-Genovezim or Kikar Genoa in Hebrew). There were also residential quarters and marketplaces run by merchants from Pisa and Amalfi in Crusader and medieval Acre. Conservation projects Acre's Old City has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Since the 1990s, large-scale archeological excavations have been undertaken and efforts are being made to preserve ancient sites. In 2009, renovations were planned for Khan al-Omadan, the Inn of the Columns", the largest of several Ottoman inns still standing in Acre. It was built near the port at the end of the 18th century by Ahmed Pasha al-Jazzar. Merchants who arrived at the port would unload their wares on the first floor and sleep in lodgings on the second floor. In 1906, a clocktower was added over the main entrance marking the 25th anniversary of the reign of the Turkish sultan, Abdul Hamid II.
Modern civilization began right here in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley. Also known as the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamia, this is the place where, six thousand years ago, agriculture, writing and mathematics were brought into widespread use.The term "Middle East" comes from the British navy, which used it to describe the countries on the trade route from Europe to India and China. Everything from Afghanistan to Morocco may possibly be classified as "middle eastern", depending on whom you ask -- and when.Only a partial list of past Empires in the middle eastern territory includes Sumeria, Babylonia, Persia, the Ottoman Empire and the Roman Empire!When northern Europe was still lurking about in slimy cold stone castles playing chess, the Middle East was enjoying the flowers of poetry, luxurious craftsmanship, music and literature. In fact, the Renaissance in Europe was partly inspired by stories brought back from the middle east by travelers along the trade route.Strategic location, religious history and the world's largest supply of crude oil have kept the Middle East at the center of world activity for centuries. The saga continues.Text by Steve Smith. |
Each day I try to give my students a new writing strategy with their writers notebook. Aimee Buckner’s book Notebook Know How has several strategies and ways to incorporate writer’s notebooks into your classroom. I also use Roberta Allen’s book The Playful Way to Serious Writing. I have decided though that any mini-writing lesson can be a strategy. I have branched out on my own and have come up with a few strategies on my own.
I do grade my students’ notebooks. 9 weeks have come and gone. Last week I graded my 6th and 7th graders’ writer’s notebooks. I was impressed with how many students used the writing strategies taught in class with their own entries. My classes are to write 3 home entries a week in their notebooks. At the end of the quarter, I have my students count all of their class entries and then all of their home entries. I like to separate the two so I can tell who is writing at home.
This week my 7th graders are working on writing of choice so I wanted them to have another poetry type idea, so today I read them several examples of odes. I got the idea from Georgia Heard’s book Writing Toward Home. I would like to share with you the ode I wrote today with my students.
Picture came from Babycenter.com
Ode to My Hair
I love thee
Your wispy strands
Glistening in the sun
You are a fashion
I would be |
Jim Gallagher reflects on what the Scotland Bill tells us about the Scotland-UK relationship and devolution more broadly. He argues that the Bill presents a challenge to the unwritten constitution, and that now is the time to clarify and codify the territorial aspects to make a statement about how and why the Union hangs together.
The Scotland Bill calls to mind, irresistibly, the aphorism of Lampedusa: if things are to stay the same, they’ve got to change. If it is to sustain itself as a Union, the UK must become a new and different one. The Scotland Bill should be the catalyst for change, but this isn’t only about Scotland. It is about how the UK understands itself as a territorial state. Like Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland understand the UK as a voluntary association bound together by common interests and shared experience, in many ways like a federal country. But too many at the centre of the UK see a unitary state with some untidy territorial edges. In essence this understanding is based on a half-baked notion of parliamentary sovereignty. If the UK wants to stay together, this has to change.
The Scotland Bill makes the nature of Scotland-UK relationship more explicit, and implies similar things about Wales and Northern Ireland too. The UK is a multinational state, an association whose membership is voluntary, and that is now very explicit for both Northern Ireland and Scotland. Scotland has always had its own institutions, separate from the UK’s. For first three centuries after the union, these were Scottish, but undemocratic. For the last 15 years, Scottish institutions have been accountable through the Scottish Parliament. The Scotland Bill puts it beyond doubt that this is irreversible. Devolution is permanent, and the Scottish Parliament is master in its own house: its power is paramount in devolved matters, and it controls its own composition. That is the point of the constitutional provisions of the Bill: statements of the obvious if you like, but that will be true of many constitutions–if you know how the institutions work in practice, you will find the constitutional legislation almost banal.
More important, the Scotland Bill reminds us what devolution is for: it means Scotland can run a different social model from the rest of the UK. Under the Bill, that can be a very different social model, with a different balance between tax-and-spend and a different package of welfare. Scotland doesn’t have to leave the UK to make those choices. Holyrood can offer a different tax and welfare package from England if it wants to, and is willing to pay for it. That’s the significance of the big tax and welfare powers in the Bill, and it’s right to say that makes the Scottish Parliament as powerful a sub-state institution as you’ll find anywhere.
The Bill does need some amendments. It will fail to meet its purpose if it is not absolutely clear that the devolved welfare powers are wide enough to meet any need, and that there is no scope for claims (however misleading) that devolved welfare choices are constrained by UK political decisions. Social security becomes a shared responsibility and unlike other policy areas the 2 governments and parliaments will have to work closely in what will become a very entangled welfare setup. Not necessarily a bad thing, but subtly different from their experience hitherto.
But the big issues are not what is in the Bill, rather what is not, in particular the challenge it presents for the UK’s famously unwritten constitution.
It’s time to dispel a myth: that the beginning and end of the British constitution is the notion of parliamentary sovereignty. The UK now has four legislatures, and four democratically legitimate governments. This set up has been entrenched by referendums, and is a permanent part of the constitution. We need to write that down, to codify it, and the principles on which it is based.
The crude notion of parliamentary sovereignty has long been displaced as the organising principle of the British constitution, probably (as Vernon Bogdanor has said in his New British Constitution) by the principle of the rule of law. It still has a place: as a rule of recognition, telling us which laws the courts will enforce, and as a reminder that the democratic parliament is ultimately sovereign over the executive. But it is in other respects a method which has a pernicious effect over those in power who think it makes them sovereign.
This territorial constitution is a statement of both why and how the UK hangs together. It is, if you like, a new statement of the Union, and needs to cover a lot. Not just the allocation of powers and responsibilities, but the reasons why some things are shared and others separate. Not just the legal framework, but the fiscal framework too. Not just the safeguards for the smaller nations of the Union, but what the Union means for England, its dominant partner.
Much of this is becoming or can be made clearer. The Union is a joint project to promote both opportunity and security. So economic integration is matched with resource pooling, to guarantee at least common standards of welfare such as pensions and healthcare. The smaller nations risk being submerged in a much larger England, so the constitution guarantees them scope to be different.
There’s much loose talk of federalism. The UK can never be fully, formally, federal: England is just too big for that, but England does need formal recognition. Westminster is England’s Parliament and the UK government England’s government. But that doesn’t mean England is indistinguishable from the UK. It need safeguards for its interest too: English votes for English laws, maybe, though not as in the present Conservative plans, which would undermine the UK Parliament and government.
Perhaps most of all the UK needs institutions whose job it is to bind the country together as well as preserve its diversity – certainly a department of government and probably a chamber of Parliament.
So its time to clarify and codify this aspect of the constitution. And maybe not just these bits. The present government has a formidable list of constitutional projects – devolution, EU membership, human rights changes and more – but nothing resembling a constitutional strategy. Others have argued for a wide-ranging constitutional convention, as things need to be looked at in the round. So change is in the air: the territorial constitution is where it should start, but not where it need end.
Jim Gallagher’s Working Paper All aboard the Constitutional Express? Where is the Scotland Bill taking the UK? is now available on the Nuffield website here.
This Thursday (10 September) he will be analysing the Scotland Bill further at a Constitution Unit event at the House of Commons. For more details, and to register for your free ticket, click here.
About the Author
Jim Gallagher is an Associate Member of Nuffield College, Oxford, and visiting Professor of Government at Glasgow University. |
Plus or minus two standard deviations where the standard deviations are calculated historically in a moving window estimation. Hence, the bands will widen if the most recent data is more volatile. If the prices break out of the band, this is considered a significant move.
A chart that indicates the trading range for the day as well as the opening and closing price. If the open price is higher than the close price, the rectangle between the open and close price is shaded. If the close price is higher than the open price, that area of the chart is not shaded.
One of two parts of a nations balance of payments (the other is capital account). It is a record of all trade, exports and imports, between a nation and the rest of the world. The current account is separated into merchandise, services, and whats called unilateral transfers. The merchandise part is nothing other than the well-known balance of trade. Theres also a lesser known balance of services -- the difference between services imported and exported. |
The role of antifouling coatings in supporting greener shipping
Yesterday’s antifouling paint formulations will not work for tomorrow’s challenges, especially when the international cargo shipping industry is facing the challenge of achieving rapid decarbonisation in line with stringent CO2 reduction targets by 2050, as set by its regulatory body the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The pivotal role of the antifouling coating in maintaining a smooth hull and preventing excess fuel consumption and resulting emissions means that innovation in the marine coatings sector is rife.
Biofouling, whether macro (hard organisms – predominantly shell forming creatures) or micro (soft organisms – algae and bacteria that make slime), significantly increases the amount of hydrodynamic drag across a ship’s hull when it moves though water. Hydrodynamic drag is commonly known as frictional resistance and it is this resistance through water that requires the ship to burn more fuel to maintain the same speed through water. Alternatively, if the ship is required to conduct a voyage on a fixed shaft power, or fixed amount of fuel consumption, speed losses are the result of increased frictional resistance.
Hard fouling, which predominately comprises clusters of barnacle colonies, cause the greatest penalty in terms of hydrodynamic drag when attached to a ship’s hull.
One commonly cited statistic in the marine coatings sector comes from a 2007 study published by Michael P Schultz – “a vessel travelling at 15 knots with a ‘small amount of fouling or weeds’ would require 34% more engine power to maintain a speed of 15 knots, whereas a vessel going at 30 knots with the same amount of fouling will require 22% more power to keep its speed.” Although, this particular study is for a naval frigate vessel, the startling statistic can be applied for the impact of biofouling on cargo ships alike.
|Hull condition||Additional shaft power to sustain speed (%)|
|Freshly applied coating||0|
|Deteriorated coating or thin slime||9|
|Small calcareous fouling or macroalgae||33|
|Medium calcareous fouling||52|
|Heavy calcareous fouling||84|
Table 1: Roughness and Fouling Penalties - Adapted from Schultz, 20071
It’s not just the environmental impact of biofouling that is turning cargo ship owner attentions towards advanced marine antifouling technologies. A hull suffering from heavy fouling is also extremely impactful on maintenance costs. Costs associated with hull cleaning services are factored into a ship operator’s operating expenditures (OPEX) but as global biofouling risk increases, hull cleaning is likely to be required more frequently, in-creasing maintenance costs. Repeated cleaning of the hull can also remove layers of the antifouling coating, reducing its service life. The removal of barnacle fouling is particularly costly and highly impactful to the coating on the hull since abrasive methods are often required to remove the glued organisms.
In addition, growing regulatory focus on the transportation of invasive aquatic species (IAS) by the international shipping fleet of over 50,000 merchant vessels creates an increased risk of potential commercial impact. Some regional regulations are already in force that allow ports to refuse entry of heavily bio-fouled ships, resulting in greater financial costs for the operator. On an international level, IMO has recently shifted its focus on tackling IAS transfer via ships’ uptake and discharge of ballast water onto hull biofouling. Many barnacle species have been identified as problematic when transferred into new ecosystem, posing a huge threat to local biodiversity.
Unfortunately, biofouling accumulation on wetted surfaces is a risk that all oceangoing cargo ships have always been exposed to. However, it’s a risk that an increasing due to the boundaries of so called ‘biofouling hotspots’ where concentrations of organisms that attach to ship hulls are highest, are expanding as climate change warms oceanic temperatures. This means that an increasing number of ships that would normally have been operating predominantly in waters where biofouling risk is not as high, will soon find themselves located in biofouling hotspots, or they do already and are suffering the consequences. The global shift in economic trade patterns won’t help matters either. Since the 1990s, a dominating portion of seaborne trade through ports in tropical and sub-tropical zones – some of the most intense biofouling hotspots. This shift, as well as the general expansion in global trade, has meant that ports are busier, so vessels are spending an increasing amount of time idle in biofouling hotspots. When it comes to avoiding barnacle attack, increase idling time will only aggravate the issue since it is only when a vessel is idle that barnacle larvae can attach and call the hull of a ship home, this makes the issue of biofouling even more alarming.
These afore-mentioned issues and the threat of barnacle fouling to harmful emission increases are driving the need for high performance, advanced antifouling technology in the maritime industry. Ship operators are increasingly demanding antifouling paints that are both well-suited to specific ship trading patterns, and varying activity levels in addition to protecting against barnacle fouling in the case that the ship becomes idle for a given period during its service life.
For internationally trading cargo ships, who operate on tight margins and in a very competitive business environment reliant on just in time delivery, neither scheduling penalties, nor increased fuel costs caused by barnacle fouling on the hull are acceptable. A solution had to be found and that solution was Selektope®.
Selektope® is an organic, non-metal active agent used for the specific prevention of barnacle fouling was commercialised by Swedish biotechnology company I-Tech AB following extensive research conducted by Swedish researchers into how a range of substances that would prevent the settlement of barnacle fouling at the larval stage when dissolved in seawater could be used.
It was discovered that larval-stage receptors were remarkably responsive to one substance in particular– medetomidine. This bioactive substance prevented barnacle larvae attempting to settle on a hard substrate. By natural receptor stimulation, medetomidine activates hyper-mobile behaviour in barnacle larvae, which prevents them from attaching themselves to ship hull and niche areas. The effect is temporary and ultimately leaves them unharmed. Larvae that came into contact with the substance could still later metamorphose into juvenile barnacles with no apparent ill effect.
In 2009, buoyed by the further confirmation of earlier research, I-Tech entered a new stage in the development of the use of medetomidine in marine coatings, under the brand name Selektope®. By successfully initiating and achieving the registration of the active agent for regulatory, today Selektope® is one of the 12 active substances certified as a biocide available for use in antifouling coatings under the EU Directive on Biocidal Products (98/8/EC).
Since the worldwide ban of the use of tri-butyl-tin (TBT) in antifouling coatings in 2003, suppliers of marine coatings have faced increasing pressure to offer antifouling products that deliver the same level of effectiveness. The banning of TBT use forced the marine coatings sector to reconstruct their formulations to accommodate different biocides, with copper designated as the favoured candidate, supplemented with booster biocides.
However, with longer idling time now a real threat to the majority of ships, an active agent that provides relative peace of mind to ship owners and operators in changeable market conditions and expanding biofouling hotspots was exactly what the marine coatings industry needed. When used in antifouling coatings, Selektope enables all ship types to remain idle or at low speeds for longer in extreme barnacle fouling conditions without risk of barnacle biofouling occurring.
Currently, a total of eight marine antifouling products are available to ocean going ships that contain Selektope®, with hundreds of vessels using the technology to-date and the number of coating products on the market is increasing year on year.
As such, 2019 was one the best years for I-Tech. Within a global market value for the marine coatings industry of USD 3 billion, I-Tech as a company introducing biotechnology into marine coatings has been valued at USD 500 million. With the marine coating market only occupied by a handful of major players, I-Tech has been securing significant orders and highly publicised product launches from three of the top six marine coating manufacturers, Jotun, Hempel and Chugoku Marine Paints. Consequently, I-Tech has seen its net turnover for 2019 increase by 57%.
While no silver bullet exists on how to achieve the perfect, barnacle free hull, the industry is starting to be more proactive around the solution and embrace preventative measures, as indicated by the outstanding uptake of Selektope® by the international shipping industry’s antifouling coating supplier so far.
As tomorrow’s owners are looking to optimise their vessels and manage the pressure on the bottom line, all against the backdrop of shipping’s overarching goal to decarbonise, there is a significant challenge ahead for antifouling innovators. However, it is also prospering great innovation and new approaches of fouling prevention technology using the active substance Selektope®. This is supported by increasing demand for antifouling coatings that contain the anti-barnacle active agent from ship owners and operators as an insurance policy for any times during which their ships lay idle and at risk from barnacle attack.
For paint manufacturers
Push the boundaries of coating innovation.
For ship owners & shipyards
Unlock the benefits. |
God’s Call and Dorothy Day By: Lizzie Stangenberg Who Was Dorothy Day? ⇨ Dorothy day was born on November 8th 1987 and sadly, died from a heart attack on November 29th 1980. In 1914, at college, Dorothy joins the Socialist Club and Socialist Party and that’s what sparked her interest in activism and social injustices. ⇨ She then became known as an American journalist who turned into a social activist. ⇨ At the younge age of 36 she co founded the Catholic Worker Movement. ⇨ Today she is proudly known for her speaking up about social injustices for the poor and less fortunate Who Was Dorothy Day? - Timeline Achievements Characteristic #1 - Speaking on God’s Behalf ⇨ In 1927 she switched to Catholicism and was actively speaking about it ⇨ In 1933 she co-founded a newspaper called “The Catholic Worker” ⇨ She constantly spoke about the Catholics and their teaching to anyone who would listen and was truly proud of her faith Characteristic #2 3 & 6 ⇨ Spawned the catholic worker movement ⇨ The movement she created with her co founder Peter Maurin is a bunch of anonymous catholic communities to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ". ⇨ Samantha Yanity wrote for Ignatian Solidarity Network saying that “[Dorothy Day was] Titled ‘Servant of God’ by the Vatican. Day exhibited the true image of what it means to follow Christ no matter the cost. Her love for the poor and marginalized brought forth the Catholic Worker movement. Her deep love of Christ shaped her life work as a social activist, anti-violent protester, and pacifist, and it is this Christ-like Characteristic #4 - Activism ⇨ Dorothy attended many protests and fought for changes in systematic racism ⇨ She started an anonymous group of catholics to be guided in life by God ⇨ Day had a strong connection to social issues which spanned most of the twentieth century, including her support of the Russian Revolution in 1917, then turning around in 1971 and accusing the Soviets of mistreating Alexander Solzenitsin. Is Dorothy Day Actually a Prophet? 1. Does this person preach change? a. Yes. she attended many protests and helped the poor 2. Is this person a positive influence? a. yes 3. Could this person be a role model? a. yes 4. Does this person have a specific cause? a. Yes, the homeless, poor, marginalized and disabled 5. Does this person represent positive morals and values? a. yes Work Cited “Dorothy Day.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 June 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Day. “Dorothy's Place – Co-Operating out of Poverty.” Salonika, www.dorothysplace.org/. Catholic Worker Movement, www.catholicworker.org/. “Catholic Worker Movement.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 July 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Worker_Movement. |
The UK government promotes international trade under the banner ‘Exporting is GREAT’. However, imports are a ‘good thing’ too – and in some ways they are actually better.
This is not always an easy concept to grasp. If exports help to support local businesses and create jobs, it seems logical that imports must do the opposite. Many people regarded the UK’s deficit in trade in goods with the EU as a ‘cost’ of EU membership. Correspondingly, the possibility that new trade barriers may encourage UK consumers to switch from EU imports to local products is seen by some as a ‘benefit’ of Brexit.
Similarly, there is plenty of popular support for the ‘Preston Model’, or its variations in other towns and cities, where councils prioritise spending on local suppliers in the name of ‘community wealth building’.
Unfortunately, this is poor economics. To understand why, it might help to step back and ask why trade happens to begin with. There are three key principles.
First, the purpose of economic activity is (or should be) to provide the goods and services that people want at the best possible combination of price and quality. It is not about supporting particular businesses or employing people in particular jobs. This means that the interests of consumers should take precedence.
Put another way, exporting is sometimes what we have to do to pay for imports, and is only a means to this end. Goods and services that are exported are goods and services that local consumers are unable to enjoy.
Second, trade improves welfare by allowing people to specialise in what they do best. Even if it were possible for everybody (or every town) to be self-sufficient (grow their own food, make their own clothes, and meet all their own needs for shelter, healthcare and entertainment), the results would clearly be less than ideal.
Third, this does not mean that two people can only gain from trade if one is better at doing something than another. Instead, what matters is that each person specialises in whatever they do best – compared to the alternatives available to them.
This is the principle of ‘comparative advantage’. For example, I could probably clean my own windows. But any time I spent doing so would carry a large opportunity cost, because I can earn more money working as an economist (incredible though that may seem!).
I am therefore better off if I stick to economics and pay someone else to clean the windows. And unless the window cleaner has a better alternative, we should be able to agree a price that leaves both of us better off than if no trade took place at all.
So, how do these principles apply in the real world? Let’s start with the example of the large deficits in trade in goods that the UK has run with the EU. Since trade is voluntary, it’s reasonable to assume that at least some UK consumers prefer German cars, French cheeses, or Italian wines, to those goods produced at home. Similarly, the UK runs a large deficit in tourism with Spain because Brits like to holiday in the sun.
Worrying about these bilateral deficits makes no more sense than me worrying about the persistent trade deficit I run with my window cleaner, or my local supermarket. Should I refuse to take my family holiday in Spain unless an equal number of Spaniards agree to take a summer break in the Surrey hills?
Next, suppose that governments erect some barriers to trade between the UK and the EU that raise the relative cost of imports. (That is one inevitable consequence of Brexit.) This may well result in a reduction in imports from the EU and an increase in domestic production, and this will mitigate some of the costs. But in what sense does this substitution make the UK better off overall?
It clearly does not benefit consumers. When faced with a free choice, they preferred German cars and Spanish holidays. How does raising prices and restricting that choice improve their welfare?
At this point, someone is probably thinking that ‘Buy British’ is good for British jobs. That might be true, in some cases: free trade does tend to ‘destroy’ jobs in sectors where countries do not have a comparative advantage. But free trade also creates jobs in those sectors where countries do have an advantage. This should be a net gain, because jobs in more productive sectors are likely to be higher paid and more secure. We also have many other ways to help those who might lose out (including welfare benefits and help to retrain).
What’s more, if we take ‘Buy British’ to its logical conclusion, we would restrict all imports, whether from the EU or the rest of the world, in order to shield UK firms from competition. Most people would (I hope) reject this as crude protectionism.
Some also argue that the UK could and does make better cheeses, wine, and so on, if only shops could be persuaded to stock them, and consumers were more aware of them. But what, precisely, is the market failure that prevents this from happening now? If there is already plenty of latent demand for UK produce – and money to be made selling it – why does the government need to get involved at all?
A better argument is that a country may not be able to run large trade deficits for ever. It is true that the balance of payments has to balance. If country is importing more than it is exporting, the difference has to be paid for somehow (for example, by selling assets to the rest of the world).
However, it still makes no sense to worry about the bilateral deficits between one country and another. And even if a country is running a large trade deficit overall, the free market already provides a mechanism to correct this – in the form of a floating exchange rate. The UK current account deficit has averaged 2½% of GDP since 1990 – not a big deal. When it’s got too big, sterling has fallen to correct it.
(This might justify US complaints that the bilateral US-China trade deficit has been boosted by the way that China has artificially held down the value of the renminbi. But this could also be seen as a net gain for US consumers, who have benefited from lower prices, at the expense of their counterparts in China.)
Concerns about the impact of imports on the environment are usually misplaced too. Importing goods from a long distance away may require more flights, longer road journeys, and so on, and hence cause more pollution than sourcing the same goods locally. But this isn’t an inevitable consequence of trading across international borders. It might be less harmful for, say, a business in Kent to import from Northern France than from Scotland.
The longer distances should also already be reflected in higher transport costs and in the relative prices of imported goods versus local products. (If it isn’t, it still makes more sense to tackle this problem with targeted taxes to correct environmental externalities, rather than restricting imports across the board.)
And even allowing for additional transport costs, importing may still have environmental benefits. For example, it may be better overall to grow some foods or flowers in hot countries, and then fly them in, rather than attempt to grow them here in artificial conditions.
More generally, if someone in another country can produce something more efficiently, they are likely to use fewer natural resources and cause less pollution while doing so. (Again, there may be an exception where environmental standards in other countries are far lower, but that’s also a problem requiring a more targeted solution.)
Finally, there is a lot of nonsense written about the benefits of reducing the reliance on imports. It is true that you would not want to depend on a limited number of suppliers for any essential product, especially if national security is involved. (China, again). But international trade actually allows you to diversify and spread risks.
For example, it is often argued that it would be a ‘good thing’ if the UK were (more) self-sufficient in food. But what if the UK suffered a heatwave that wiped out local crops?
The Covid crisis has also underlined the benefits of international trade in goods like personal protective equipment (PPE) and medicines, including vaccines. It is far more efficient, and safer, to be able to source these from a variety of competing suppliers worldwide, rather than tie up resources in domestic capacity that will rarely be needed.
The pandemic has raised concerns too about the vulnerability of international supply chains. Actually, these chains have generally held up well. But if these chains are indeed too fragile then companies that are dependent upon them can be left to work that out by themselves, without government intervention.
I’ve also seen it suggested that we should welcome the fact that the UK has recently run a trade surplus. (In the 12 months to November 2020, the total trade balance, excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals, was in surplus by £7.8 billion.) But this isn’t ‘good news’. Instead, it reflects the collapse in spending during the pandemic and the disruption to trade, which has seen imports fall by more than exports.
In summary, trade benefits both sides or else it would not take place at all. This means that imports and importing are great, too. |
The Evolution of the Food Pyramid
The Food Pyramid as we know it is a graphic representation of healthy and balanced eating. It is established in 1992 by the Center for Nutrition Policy of the United States’ Department of Agriculture. Because the science of nutrition and dietetics is constantly growing due to continuing research, the Food Pyramid is updated every 5 years to keep up with the growing body of new findings in the field of nutrition.
The Food Pyramid has actually been replaced already by MyPyramid in 2005. More than just changing names, the switch is due to some stark changes. The following improvements should prove note-worthy.
Exercise Figured In
The old Food Pyramid took into account nutrition alone, without any reference to exercise. MyPyramid, on the other hand, advocates the integration of exercise into the overall regimen for health. This can be seen in the form of a figure climbing up the stairs along the side of the MyPyramid chart.
Another difference between the two pyramids is that whereas the old Food Pyramid featured a horizontal stack of the food groups, the new MyPyramid has vertical strips of food. This is in accordance with the emphasis on fruits and vegetables, rather than just grains, as additional sources of carbohydrates.
Food Groups Diversified
Whereas the old Food Pyramid showed only few food groups—the Go, Grow and Glow foods--MyPyramid diversified the food groups into many categories such as grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein and restrictionary calorie food groups.
Protein Foods Specified
Protein foods were simply lumped together as “meats” in the outdated Food Pyramid. In MyPyramid, legumes were moved from the vegetable section to the protein foods section.
Slogans Sneaked In
The updated MyPyramid has succinct, easy-to-remember slogans which drive home a powerful message regarding each food group. About grains, for instance, the slogan is “Make half of your grains whole.” And with regards to protein, there is the advise to “Go lean with protein.” Regarding fruits and vegetables, it declares “5 colors a day.”
Serving Sizes Clarified
A convenient feature of MyPyramid is that the dietary recommendations are based on very familiar serving sizes rather than on weights or caloric counts of food. For instance, fruit and vegetable servings are in terms of cups, bread servings are in terms of the number of slices and oil servings are in terms of teaspoons.
My Shopping List
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My Top Items
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You’re at the second level of Soroca Fortress interior. The Fortress was built at the crossing of the Dniester River in the first half of XIV century. At first it was a wooden structure. During the reign of Petru Rares (1543-1546), the Fortress was rebuilt literally from the ground with stone replacing. It looked exactly the same as nowadays, that is, completely round, with a diameter of 123 ft (37.5m) and 5 towers being equidistant from each other. When designing the fortress the builders incorporated the supreme law of harmony - the Golden Section – thus this structure is quite unique among the pieces of European defense architecture.
Europe is generally agreed to be the birthplace of western culture, including such legendary innovations as the democratic nation-state, football and tomato sauce.The word Europe comes from the Greek goddess Europa, who was kidnapped by Zeus and plunked down on the island of Crete. Europa gradually changed from referring to mainland Greece until it extended finally to include Norway and Russia.Don't be confused that Europe is called a continent without looking like an island, the way the other continents do. It's okay. The Ural mountains have steadily been there to divide Europe from Asia for the last 250 million years. Russia technically inhabits "Eurasia".Europe is presently uniting into one political and economic zone with a common currency called the Euro. The European Union originated in 1993 and is now composed of 27 member states. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.Do not confuse the EU with the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states and dates to 1949. These two bodies share the same flag, national anthem, and mission of integrating Europe. The headquarters of the Council are located in Strasbourg, France, and it is most famous for its European Court of Human Rights. In spite of these two bodies, there is still no single Constitution or set of laws applying to all the countries of Europe. Debate rages over the role of the EU in regards to national sovereignty. As of January 2009, the Lisbon Treaty is the closest thing to a European Constitution, yet it has not been approved by all the EU states. Text by Steve Smith. |
GE 'Golden' rice is a genetically engineered (GE, also called genetically modified,
GM) rice variety developed by the biotech industry to produce pro-vitamin A
(beta-carotene). Proponents portray GE 'Golden' rice as a technical, quick-fix
solution to Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), a health problem in many developing
countries. However, not only is GE 'Golden' rice an ineffective tool to combat
VAD it is also environmentally irresponsible, poses risks to human health, and
compromises food security.
Golden illusion - The Broken Promises of GE ‘Golden’ rice |
EMBL researchers complete a molecular atlas showing gene expression in all cells in an entire animal
EMBL researchers have succeeded in creating a molecular atlas of a whole organism, studying the expression patterns of more than 100 important genes in each cell of the marine worm Platynereis dumerilii, as they report in the journal PNAS. Study authors Hernando Martínez Vergara and Detlev Arendt explain.
What’s the rationale for this study?
DA: We’re interested in the evolution of animals and in particular the evolution of the nervous system. Ultimately we’d like to understand how simple nervous systems gave rise to the complexity of the human brain. An important step in answering this question is identifying all the types of cells that are present in various organisms. We can then make comparisons to infer whether certain cell types in different organisms were inherited from a common ancestor, and at what point in the history of life they evolved. To be able to do this, we need to construct comprehensive atlases of cell types that exist in a range of organisms. That’s a huge technical challenge but we’ve now succeeded in creating one such atlas for Platynereis, focusing on gene expression. An international project is currently under way to create a human cell atlas, which is likely to take many years.
How did you create the atlas?
HMV: We studied Platynereis larvae that are six days old; at this point the larvae are fully formed with well-defined functional nerve cell types. We used a technique called whole mount in situ hybridisation, in which we take a whole Platynereis larva and add label molecules that enter its cells and reveal where a particular gene is active. Separate observations in different larvae are carried out for each gene, and we then use a computer to superimpose all the resulting images. This allows us to see which genes are active in different parts of the animal. In this study we investigated about 100 genes that are known to be important for defining cell types.
What were the technical challenges?
DA: This would have been relatively straightforward if we were able to study larvae that are just a day or two old, since they have only a small number of cells and are almost identical from one specimen to the next. However, as development continues you start to see a lot more natural variation between individuals, so when you superimpose images of two organisms you find that their cells are not all located in the same place. As soon as the differences in position exceed one cell diameter, you can no longer be sure that you’re looking at the same cell.
How did you solve that problem?
HMV: I realised we could get round this by repeating each observation in several different specimens and then combining the images to create a sort of probability map of where each cell is located on average. With enough observations, you can make this average position precise enough to locate each individual cell in the organism. For this we needed a large number of observations – involving around 15-30 specimens for each gene we studied – so we had to use an automated microscopy system to obtain the large number of images required, and an automated computer workflow to process all the data.
Why did you choose Platynereis?
DA: Platynereis larvae are particularly suitable for this kind of study because they’re small organisms with a relatively well-developed nervous system, which they use to do things like orient themselves with respect to the light in the marine environment. We can therefore make meaningful comparisons with our own nervous system, but in an organism with many fewer cells – thousands rather than billions – which makes creating this kind of atlas much more feasible.
What are your next steps?
HMV: Platynereis has around 20,000 genes in total, so we’d like to expand the number of genes we’re looking at. One way we’re doing this is by complementing our atlas with data from single cell sequencing, in which we analyse cells individually and identify all the genes that are active in each cell. For single cell sequencing we have to break up the organism into individual cells, so we then can’t pinpoint exactly where each cell came from. However, by comparing the single cell data with data on the genes we studied for the atlas, we can find out where the cell came from and the single cell sequencing then gives us information about all the other genes that were not included in the atlas. Another thing we’d like to do is understand more about the structure of the nervous system in Platynereis. When you’re studying the nervous system, structure is everything. The small size of a Platynereis larva makes it possible for us to reconstruct its entire connectome – that is, the map of all the nerve connections in the organism. We do this by slicing the larva very finely and imaging the slices with an electron microscope. We now have data for the six-day-old larva comprising more than 11,000 slices at very high resolution. We plan to use this to trace all the nerves and nerve connections in Platynereis and combine this with our atlas. That will allow us to understand the nervous system of an organism in unprecedented detail. |
Challenge of the Icons
One of the most striking
differences between Eastern Orthodox worship and Protestant worship
is icons. When one enters an Orthodox church one encounters a profusion
of images. One sees the icon of Jesus Christ the Word made flesh. One
also sees an icon of the Virgin Mary, icons of the angels, and icons
of the saints. On the other hand when one enters most Protestant churches
one sees an austere absence of images.
This is not to say
that Protestant churches suffer from an absence of aesthetics. There
is a certain abstract beauty in the internal architecture of Protestant
sanctuaries: the steps leading up to the altar, pulpits standing to
the side, the cross hanging from the ceiling, and the interplay of
wood, stone, and glass are all beautifully designed.
What accounts for
the stark difference between Orthodox and Protestant worship experience?
Why did they diverge into two different worship traditions? One major
part of the answer to these questions can be found in the Protestant
Reformation, especially that of the Reformed tradition. Protestantism's
iconoclasm can in large part be traced to John Calvin. This page describes
and critiques Calvin's argument against the use of icons in Christian
As one of the leading
theologians of the Protestant Reformation John Calvin helped define
and shape Protestant theology. One of Calvin's lasting legacies is
Protestantism's iconoclasm. According to Georg Kretschmar, "Calvin
built up the most precise and radical position opposed to the icon
theology of the 787 Council of Nicea" (1990:80). Where Luther was
quite tolerant of images in churches, Calvin and his followers were
much more vigorous in their opposition to images in the church. As
a consequence, Protestant places of worship have a stark austerity
in comparison to Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The Seventh Ecumenical
Council, Nicea II, stands as a landmark in church history. It was
at this council that the Church decisively affirmed the use of icons
for worship. It was here that icons were recognized as being an integral
part of liturgical worship and of the historic Christian Faith. Any
attempt to disprove the veneration of icons must come to grips with
the decision made at Nicea II and early theologians like St. John
of Damascus. Therefore, one of the tasks of this page is not only
to assess Calvin's position on the icons on its own ground, but also
in relation to historic Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy.
The Logic of Calvin's
In order to understand
Calvin's opposition to icons, we must first understand the logic of
his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin
devotes no little attention to the issue of icons. He devotes three
chapters of this book to attacking the icons (Book I, chapters 10-12).
Only after we can show that we understand Calvin's arguments against
the icons, can we proceed to critically assess the validity of Calvin's
The starting point
of Calvin's Institutes is the question: How can we know God? In Book
I we see him denying the possibility of knowing God through creation
but affirming the possibility of knowing God through the Scriptures.
We have taught
that the knowledge of God, otherwise quite clearly set forth in the
system of the universe and in all creatures, is nonetheless more intimately
and also more vividly revealed in his Word (Institutes 1.10.1).
For Calvin, God's
transcendence not only rendered him unknowable, it also made him beyond
human comprehension. Therefore, it became axiomatic that any human
attempt to depict the transcendent God in a visible representation
was not only a gross superstition, it also deformed our understanding
of the true God and distorts our worship of the one true God (see
cling to this principle: God's glory is corrupted by an impious falsehood
whenever any form is attached to him (Institutes 1.11.1).
This principle is
valid in light of the predominance of paganism in the ancient world.
The Old Testament injunctions against idols and graven images were
necessary in order to protect the purity of Israel's monotheism. However
it seems that such a sweeping statement about "any form" would even
rule out the possibility of the Incarnation of the Word of God. St.
Paul in his letter to the Philippians 2:6-7 described the Incarnation
in terms of Jesus having the "form of God" and taking on the "form
of a servant".
Calvin seems to have
assumed that in both the Old and New Testament worship of God was
totally devoid of images: "What punishments do the prophets, apostles,
martyrs, deserve, in whose days no images existed?" (Institutes 1.11.16).
However either Calvin is overstating his case or he ignores biblical
references to art forms in the Old Testament tabernacles: the sculpted
cherubim over the ark of the tabernacle, the faces of the cherubim
woven into the tabernacle curtains, and the twelve bulls that held
up the Sea of cast metal (see Exodus 26, I Kings 6 & 7). There is
also the carved images of cherubim and palm trees in the New Temple
(Ezekiel 41:15 ff.).
shows that as late as the 3rd Century, Jewish synagogues appear to
have used images in their interiors, as demonstrated by the findings
from the synagogue at Dura Europos in modern Syria (circa 240-250
Calvin's failure to
treat the use of images in synagoge worship, in contrast to the appearance
of images in the Old or New Testament may be attributed to lack of
archaeological scholarship in his day. However, it does clearly illustrate
that the use of images in the Old Testament is representative of the
actual temple and synagogue practice of Judaism. What is astonishing
is that Calvin seems not to have dealt with these passages in his
In Institutes 1.11.3
Calvin takes note of the fact that God did manifest himself in the
Old Testament through visual forms but that these do not justify attempts
to depict God. For Calvin even the depictions of cherubim in the Old
Testament Tabernacle cannot justify the use of images.
is perfectly clear that those who try to defend images of God and
the saints with the example of those cherubim are raving madmen. What,
indeed, I beg you, did those paltry little images mean? Solely that
images are not suited to represent God's mysteries (Institutes 1.11.3).
For Calvin the nature
and purpose of the Tabernacle was not to manifest the divine presence
as to point to its hiddenness. He writes,
seat from which God manifested the presence of his power under the
law was so constructed as to suggest that the best way to contemplate
the divine is where minds are lifted above themselves with admiration.
Indeed, the cherubim with wings outspread covered it; the veil shrouded
it; the place itself deeply enough hidden concealed it [Exodus 25:17-21]
Did Calvin overemphasize
the concealing aspects of the Tabernacle? It is probably more accurate
to say that the Tabernacle both revealed and concealed the divine
Presence. The divine Presence, the shekinah glory, was situated deep
within the Holy of Holies. This was the place where only the High
Priest could enter and only once a year, and points to the Tabernacle's
concealing function. However there is also the Tabernacle's revealing
function. Visual depictions of the cherubim were far more profuse
than Calvin lets on. Images of the cherubim were visible on the inner-curtain
of the Holy Place and on the curtains that made up the Tabernacle
structure (Exodus 26). A more fair reading of the biblical text will
lead us to conclude that the visual arts were an integral part of
Old Testament worship.
to the use of images stemmed from his desire for the glory of God
-- soli deo gloria. Anything that detracted from God's glory or obscured
it was to be vigorously opposed. His hostility was also based upon
his belief that it is it is impossible to visually depict God who
is invisible and transcendent.
it wrong that God should be represented by a visible appearance, because
he himself has forbidden it [Exodus 20:4] and it cannot be done without
some defacing of his glory (Institutes 1.11.12).
Calvin had no objection
to sculpture and paintings in themselves. He recognized them to be
gifts from God and legitimate in their own proper spheres (Institutes
1.11.12). But he strongly objected to their use in the realm of religious
worship and teaching. Calvin argues that visual representation were
allowable with respect to creation but not with respect to God.
it remains that only those things are to be sculptured or painted
which the eyes are capable of seeing: let not God's majesty, which
is far above the perception of the eyes, be debased through unseemly
representations (Institutes 1.11.12).
This argument is similar
to the position taken by Eastern Orthodoxy. The Orthodox position
is that God the Father cannot be represented in the icons. The Orthodox
position also holds that because God the Son took on human flesh in
his Incarnation, it was possible to depict the Son in the icons. St.
John of Damascus anticipated the main thrust of Calvin's argument
against icons when he argued that the Old Testament injunction against
images was given in order to prevent the Israelites from attempting
to represent the invisible God. He noted however that the situation
changed with the incarnation of Divine Word.
It is clearly
a prohibition against representing the invisible God. But when you
see Him who has no body become man for you, then you will make representations
of His human aspect. When the Invisible, having clothed Himself in
the flesh, become visible, then represent the likeness of Him who
has appeared. When He who, having been the consubstantial Image of
the Father, emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, thus
becoming bound in quantity and quality, having taken on the carnal
image, then paint and make visible to everyone Him who desired to
become visible (in Ouspensky 1978:44).
Calvin's failure to
deal with St. John of Damascus probably constitutes the greatest weakness
in his polemic against the icons. It is a serious oversight because
St. John of Damascus provided the classic biblical and theological
defense for the veneration of icons.
Perhaps the saddest
thing about it is that St. John's theological apologetic for the use
of icons reflects centuries of church history, back to early Christian
faith and practice-this is not a Medieval theological concoction.
This can clearly be seen in the archeological reconstruction of the
early Christian church at Dura Europos (circa 240-250 A.D.), which
is the earliest Christian church yet to be found.
Of note is that this
church was built and in use a full seventy five years before Constantine's
Edict of Toleration, thus representing typical practice while the
early Church was still under the duress of persecution-thus representing
typical practice. This makes Calvin's polemic against the icons one
of the greatest missed opportunities in church history. This omission
means that there was no real engagement between the Reformed and Eastern
Orthodox theological traditions in the sixteenth century. The two
traditions are like two ships passing each other in the middle of
As a Renaissance humanist
scholar one of the tools that Calvin employed was the discipline of
philology or historical linguistics (Bouwsma 1988:12). Calvin's critique
of the semantic distinction between dulia "veneration" and latreia
"worship" in Institutes 1.11.11, 1.12.2 and 1.12.3 would seem to be
one of his strongest attacks against the veneration of icons. The
defenders of icons argued that they were attributing to icons "veneration",
not "adoration". In response to this, Calvin resorts to a number of
proof texts to demolish this claim.
However Calvin's philological
argument misses the point. The dulia/latreia distinction was unique
to medieval Catholicism. John Cochlaeus, a contemporary of Calvin,
used this distinction in response to Calvin's Inventory of Relics
(see Calvin 1960:111 n. 21). This distinction was not used at Nicea
II (see Cavarnos 1973:9-10). This tells us that Calvin was not familiar
with the official Orthodox position on icons. More importantly, it
means that Calvin's polemic against icons never effectively refuted
the Orthodox position on icons.
The closest Calvin
comes to rebutting the terminology of Nicea II is in his study of
the word proskuneo. Calvin marshals a whole list of prooftexts where
honor improperly given is strongly discouraged: Satan's temptation
of Jesus (Matthew 4:10), John's prostration to the angel in Revelation
(Revelation 19:10 & 22:8-9), Cornelius' falling before Peter's feet
(Acts 10:25). The word used in these three passages is proskuneo which
can have the abstract meaning 'to worship' or the more concrete meaning
of the act of prostrating one's self before someone and kissing their
feet (see Arndt and Gingrich). It was the custom among the Persians
to prostrate one's self before the king and kiss his feet. Because
the Persians saw the king as an incarnate deity, this political act
was charged with sacred meaning. Nicea II used the word proskuneo
for the veneration of icons but at the same time qualifies it by attaching
timetike (to honor) to it. This is the word used in "Honor your father
and mother". However it appears that Nicea II did a more than adequate
job in defining and circumscribing the terminology for the veneration
of icons and so anticipated much of Calvin's philological arguments.
The Historical Argument
argument is seriously flawed. In Institutes 1.11.13 he is under the
impression that for the first 500 years the Christian churches were
devoid of images and that it was only with the decline of doctrinal
purity that images began to appear in the churches.
If the authority
of the ancient church moves us in any way, we will recall that for
about five hundred years, during which religion was still flourishing,
and a pure doctrine thriving, Christian Churches were commonly empty
of images. Thus, it was when the purity of the ministry had somewhat
degenerated that they were first introduced for the adornment of churches
An example of the
weakness of Calvin's understanding of early and historic Christianity
is that Calvin seems to be unaware of (or he ignores) Eusebius' Church
History in which mention is made of colored portraits that were made
of Christ and his apostles (7:18). The fact that Eusebius lived c.
265 to c. 339 and that the final version of his Church History appeared
in A.D. 325 deals a devastating blow to Calvin's historical argument.
Furthermore it undermines his theory of church history. The presence
of icons in the early church implies either that icons were an integral
part of the early Christian tradition or that Christianity had suffered
corruption from its early days. To assume the latter position is extremely
problematic. It calls into question Christ's promises to be with the
Church always, to guide it by the Holy Spirit, and to establish it
Did Calvin Understand
The numerous omissions
and oversights in Calvin's polemic against the icons reflect not so
much weaknesses in Calvin's scholarship but constraints imposed upon
him by historical circumstances. One factor to consider is that Calvin
probably never saw an icon in his life. Also Geneva had been devoid
of images for a number of years when Calvin arrived in 1535.
Calvin did know of
the Orthodox veneration of icons and it appears that Calvin was aware
of the different ways Western Roman and Eastern Orthodox Christians
venerated the icons. However there is no evidence of Calvin ever having
had direct contact with Orthodox Christians. Thus, Calvin's disparaging
remark about the "Greek Christians" in Institutes 1.11.4 can be seen
as the result of uninformed stereotyping.
probably applied to Calvin's understanding of Nicea II. Calvin knew
of the decision of Nicea II in 787 to affirm the use of icons (Institutes
1.11.14). To refute the pro-iconist stance of Nicea II Calvin drew
upon the anti-iconist Libri Carolini. But what must be kept in mind
is that all this was quite new to Calvin. Kretschmar points out that
the decisions of Nicea II was published in 1540 and the Libri Carolini
became available in 1549 (1990:79).
This leads Kretschmar
to conclude that Calvin's opposition to icons was not based upon direct
encounters with icons nor was it founded upon familiarity with Orthodox
The way Calvin
actually deals with the 8th-century Councils of the iconoclast controversy
shows he did not really get to grips with the questions at issue in
the Byzantine theology of that age. For that matter he probably never
saw an icon in his life (1990:80).
Some of Calvin's polemic
is understandable in the context of the Reformation and as a reaction
to the excessive ornamentation of medieval European Catholic churches.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux was troubled by this excessive ornamentation
that resulted in the Church "resplendent in her walls and beggarly
in her poor" (Coulton 1928:573). The extravagance of religious art
was compounded by the absence of a regulating principle. Unlike the
Eastern artistic tradition which had an art-manual, in the West there
was no centralization of its artistic tradition (Coulton 1928:243-244).
This resulted in Western European religious art being much more free
in their depiction of God. Michaelangelo's depiction of God the Father
with the long flowing beard in The Creation of Adam in the famous
Sistine Chapel frescoes would not be allowed in the Orthodox tradition.
During 1300s the Trinity was often depicted in the form of a man with
three mouths, three noses, and four eyes or in the form of a head
with three faces (see Coulton 1928:378). The excesses were such that
the Roman Catholic Church was forced to curb these excesses during
Conclusion: Was Calvin
In conclusion, Calvin's
polemic against the icons is unconvincing because of four significant
flaws: (1) Calvin's philological argument (dulia vs. latreia) has
no bearing on the terminology of Nicea II, (2) Calvin's historical
argument is plain wrong, (3) Calvin's theological argument failed
to take into account the theological implication of the Incarnation
as spelled out by John of Damascus, and (4) Calvin's biblical proof
text overlooked some important passages.
Because Calvin never
dealt directly with the historic Christian nor the Eastern Orthodox
position on icons, he never effectively refuted the Orthodox position
nor addressed the historic Early Christian teaching and practice.
His polemic may be valid in the context of the Reformation and when
viewed against the abuses and excesses that the Reformation set out
to right. However it should be noted that medieval Catholicism by
Calvin's time had diverged significantly from Eastern Orthodoxy and
Nicea II. For this reason it can be claimed that Calvin's polemic
against the icons is incomplete and possibly invalid.
Calvin's polemic against
the icons flows from the deep structure of his theology. Calvin's
theological system rests on two major premises: (1) that God is utterly
transcendent and unknowable, and (2) God's transcendence is bridged
by means of divine revelation, particularly the Bible as the Word
of God. The preeminence given to the written Word of God in Calvin's
theological system builds upon Martin Luther's discovery of the radical
power of the Gospel to transform the sinner. In the Reformed tradition
the preaching of the Word of God takes priority to the exclusion of
everything else: the sacraments, the icons, the saints.
on the written Word of God as the basis for sure knowledge of God
leads him to exclude images as means for teaching people about God.
A similar claim can
be made for the Eastern Orthodox understanding of the icons. The Orthodox
Church's veneration of icons flows from the logic of patristic theology.
The Orthodox theological system rests on two premises: (1) that God
is utterly transcendent and unknowable, and (2) that God's transcendence
has been bridged through the Incarnation. For Orthodox Christians
the Incarnation forms the basis for the icons.
is the revelation not only of the Word of God, but also of the Image
of God, in which His likeness is revealed (Leonid Ouspensky in Forest
The Incarnation was
crucial to the theology of the early Church. The significance of the
Incarnation was such that one cannot understand the Christology of
the early Church apart from it. In the same way one cannot understand
the decisions of the ecumenical councils apart
from the Incarnation. The interplay between these two factors helped
determine the outcome of Nicea II. Alain Blancy notes,
theology was a theology of the Incarnation and it depended directly
on the Christology of Chalcedon which had been defined four centuries
previously. The canons of Nicea make it clear, in particular, that
representation of the figure of Christ was not merely legitimate but
requisite, because of and on the basis of the Incarnation (1990:40).
The issue then becomes
not just a matter of images but of Christology. If the hypostatic
union is indeed (as taught in the Chalcedonian Definition) a personal
unity of the divine and human natures of Christ then the icons of
Christ and the veneration directed towards them complement each other.
Blancy writes: "True God and true man without separation and without
confusion: the Christology of Chalcedon fits the case of the icon
perfectly and is expressed in it" (Blancy 1990:40). For Protestants
who accept the first four Councils this presents something of a challenge.
Nicea II (the seventh council) becomes a logical
extension of the theology of Chalcedon (the fourth council). The Protestant
who accepts the Council of Chalcedon must then wonder if accepting
Chalcedon leads logically to accepting Nicea II.
From the standpoint
of historical theology, the Reformed understanding of the Incarnation
represents a paradigm shift in theology. Although
Calvin did not deal directly with the concept of the Incarnation as
providing a basis for icons, the Second Helvetic Confession did. The
Second Helvetic Confession (chapter IV) decisively
dismisses any attempt to use the Incarnation to justify icons of Christ:
Christ assumed human nature, yet he did not on that account assume
it in order to provide a model for carvers and painters.
A further reading
of this confession shows that this dismissal arises not out a mere
prejudice against icons but out of a radically different understanding
of the Incarnation.
that his bodily presence would be profitable for the Church, and promised
that he would be near us by his Spirit forever [John 16:7].
The attitude of the
Second Helvetic Confession towards the Incarnation stands in sharp
contrast to Nicea II:
One of the
traditions which we thus preserve is that of making representational
paintings, which is in accord with the history of the preaching of
the Gospel, as confirming the real and not merely imaginary incarnation
of God the Word (Logos).... (in Cavarnos 1973:10; emphasis added)
The difference here
is not minor but profound. Theological differences over the Incarnation
inevitably lead to differences in practice. Where Calvinism emphasizes
the written Word, Orthodoxy's emphasis is on the Word made flesh.
The Calvinist emphasis on the written Word results in the centrality
of the pulpit and the preaching ministry in worship. Orthodoxy with
its emphasis on the Word made flesh leads to liturgical worship, liturgical
vestments, the use of incense and icons, and most importantly the
centrality of the Eucharist in worship. Although Calvin and the early
Church Fathers believed in the Incarnation, their understanding of
the Incarnation led to divergent theologies and practices.
Can a Calvinist Venerate
In the end it must
be recognized that anyone who actively venerates the icons has to
some degree made a decisive break from Calvin and Calvinism. To venerate
the icons involves acting on theological principles alien to Calvinism.
The veneration of the icons is good example of the principle lex orans,
lex credens -- the rule of worship is the rule of faith. This ancient
theological principle teaches that the way we worship regulates the
way we do theology. Conversely, the way we do theology affects the
way we worship. This ancient theological principle was a common understanding
in the early Church, is also good sociology, and applies to Calvinism.
As has been shown
in this treatment, Calvin's opposition to the icons arises from the
underlying logic of Calvin's theology. Calvin's primary motive for
his anti-iconist stance lies his in concern for the recovery of a
true knowledge of God which leads to pure worship in the Church as
well as the reform of the Church. For this reason the Protestant Reformation
was concerned not just with the reformation of theology but also with
the reformation of worship. Thus, the plain interiors of Protestant
churches are not tangential but integral to Protestantism and its
theology. The bare interiors are an embodiment of Protestantism's
theology, especially its emphasis on the primacy of Scripture. Therefore,
iconoclasm cannot be easily detached from Calvin's theology.
This leaves Evangelicals
interested in historic Christianity in general, and Eastern Orthodoxy
in particular, in a quandary; or to put it more positively at a crossroads.
They can either follow the more recent paradigm of Protestantism or
they can follow the paradigm of historic Christianity.
The Challenge of
Although icons may
seem to be a quaint curiosity to many Evangelicals, the icons in fact
pose a profound theological challenge to Evangelical Christians. Icons
stand as a significant challenge to Evangelicalism because it calls
into question its Protestant presuppositions. One consequence of this
realization is that Calvin's failure to effectively deal with Nicea
II and the historic Christian teaching on icons means that the burden
is on the Calvinists of the twentieth century. It is the responsibility
of Calvin's descendants to pick up where Calvin has left off.
We are now living
at a historic moment when genuine dialogue can take place between
the Christians of the Reformed tradition and Christians from the Eastern
Orthodox tradition--a tradition that retains the historic understanding
and use of icons continues down to this day. There is an unprecedented
openness among Protestants to Orthodoxy. Kretschmar notes that until
recently it was only the specialists who were aware of the Orthodox
theology of icons (1990:84), but there has begun some attempts by
Protestants to take icons seriously. Some believe that icons are compatible
with Calvinism, e.g., Alain Blancy's chapter which has the subtitle
"Towards a Reformed Theology of the Icon". There will be Calvinists
and other Protestants of the Reformed tradition who will continue
to insist that the Orthodox position on icons is wrong. Hopefully
though, Evangelicals and Christians of the Reformed tradition will
not cavalierly dismiss the icons but take up the challenge to meet
and dialogue with Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Arndt, William F.
and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
and Other Early Christian Literature. Fourth revised and augmented
edition, 1952. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press,
Blancy, Alain. "Protestantism
and the Seventh Ecumenical Council: Towards a Reformed Theology of
the Icon." In Icons: Windows On Eternity, pp. 35-45. Compiled by Gennadios
Limouris. Geneva: WCC Publications, 1990.
Bouwsma, William J.
John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait. New York: Oxford University
Calvin, John. Institutes
of the Christian Religion. Ford Lewis Battles, translator. The Library
of Christian Classics. Volume XX. John T. McNeill, editor. Philadelphia:
The Westminster Press, 1960.
The Icon: Its Spiritual Basis and Purpose. Authoritative Christian
texts, translated from the original Greek and edited with notes by
Constantine Cavarnos. First published 1955. Belmont, Massachusetts:
Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1973.
Coulton, G.G. Art
and the Reformation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.
Demus, Otto. Byzantine
Art and the West. The Wrightsman Lectures III. New York: New York
University Press, 1970.
Eusebius. The History
of the Church from Christ to Constantine. G.A. Williamson, translator.
New York: Penguin Books, 1965.
Forest, Jim. Praying
With Icons. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997
Gillquist, Peter E.,
ed. Coming Home: Why Protestant Clergy Are Becoming Orthodox. Ben
Lomond, California: Conciliar Press, 1992.
Kennedy, Jon. "Orthodoxy
on the Rise" in Again Magazine, pp. 24-27. (August 1997) Ben Lomond,
California: Conciliar Press, 1997.
"The Reformation and the Theology of Images." In Icons: Windows On
Eternity, pp. 76-85. Compiled by Gennadios Limouris. Geneva: WCC Publications,
Kuhn, Thomas S. The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Second Edition, Enlarged 1970.
International Encyclopedia of Unified Science, Volume 2, Number 2.
Otto Neurath, Editor-in-Chief. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Leith, John H., ed.
Creeds of the Churches: A Reader in Christian Doctrine from the Bible
to the Present. Third edition, 1982. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1963.
Theology of the Icon. Vol. I. Trans. Anthony Gythiel. Crestwood, NY:
St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1978.
"Theological Presuppositions of the Image Controversy." In Icons:
Windows On Eternity, pp. 86-92. Compiled by Gennadios Limouris. Geneva:
WCC Publications, 1990.
The Illuminating Icon. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1989.
Ware, Timothy. The
Orthodox Church. Reprinted 1973. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books,
There are
notable exceptions within Protestantism, e.g., Lutheranism and Anglicanism.
The word
"Institutes" comes from the Latin institutio which can signify: (1)
instruction, (2) a summary, (3) a manual, or all three (Bouwsma 1988:17).
This can
be verified using the Scripture index provided in the back of Vol.
II of the Battles' edition.
writes, "But we must note that a "likeness" no less than a "graven
image" is forbidden. Thus is the foolish scruple of the Greek Christians
refuted. For they consider that they have acquitted themselves beautifully
if they do not make sculptures of God, while they wantonly indulge
in pictures more than any other nation" (1.11.4).
The seven
Ecumenical Councils were crucial to the theological development of
the early Church. It was at these gatherings that the Church set forth
the theological benchmarks of the Christian faith: Nicea I (A.D. 325)
which affirmed the full divinity of Christ; the Council of Chalcedon
(A.D. 451) which affirmed the two natures of Christ; and Nicea II
(A.D. 787) which affirmed the icons.
Garth Rosell, Professor of Church History at Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary, noted that Protestants accept the first four Ecumenical
Councils, whereas Orthodox and Roman Catholics accept all seven Ecumenical
Councils. Although much of Evangelicalism pay little or no attention
to the early Ecumenical Councils, Evangelicals who belong to mainline
denominations or who take theology seriously accept to some degree
the decisions of the early councils, e.g., the divinity of Christ,
the dual nature of Christ as truly divine and truly human.
The phrase
"paradigm shift" is taken from Thomas Kuhn's classic The Structure
of Scientific Revolutions.
The Second
Helvetic Confession has been described as "the most universal of Reformed
creeds" (see Leith's Creeds of the Churches p. 131). |
Diabetes is said to be the world’s fastest growing chronic disease. It’s so common these days that you probably know someone who has it, or worse, you yourself already have it. We always say that the best cure for any disease is proper care and prevention, but in order for you to be able to prevent a disease from getting worse, you need to arm yourself with the right information. In this entry, we’ll get down to the nitty gritty details of insulin, and why it should matter to your health.
While some people are fine with just taking medicine for diabetes, there are others who go as far as changing their lifestyles completely. And then there are those who can’t live without their insulin injections. Ever since its discovery in 1921, insulin has played an important role in the treatment of diabetes. It’s no wonder that medical experts all over the world strive to learn everything they can about this hormone.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that allows the body to process sugar from food that the body takes in. Normally, it’s an efficient process that produces fuel for the body, but if the body isn’t producing just the right amount of insulin, it can give way to some serious problems.
When the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin, type 1 diabetes occurs. On the other hand, when the pancreas produces more insulin than a body needs, this results to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is said to be the trickier type since it happens when the body’s cells become resistant to insulin. The body fails to release glucose into the cells even though there is an abundance of glucose in the bloodstream. To counteract this, proper medication should be given to normalize blood glucose in the system and allow cells to make use of it as fuel.
Oftentimes, it’s people who are overweight have a BMI count of more than 25 that develop insulin resistance. So losing weight might just be one of the most effective ways to manage this condition. Reducing the need for insulin through diet changes can work wonders in a person who is dealing with type 2 diabetes. High glycemic index foods such as white bread, unrefined sugars, and starchy vegetables should be avoided at all costs. Several studies have also confirmed the importance of regular exercise in insulin resistance management. By working out regularly, the body increases the rate by which glucose is used by the cells as body fuel.
Medical experts are still studying the exact causes of insulin resistance and the process of insulin-cell interaction. While there are already readily available medications to help improve glucose control, certain lifestyle changes are required for proper diabetes management. Don’t hesitate to ask your doctor about it so that you can get personalized care for your condition.
Have any misconceptions about Insulin that you want us to address? Let us know in the comments section below. |
One might think that the first thing a tarantula, like Pinki — the Chilean rose-haired tarantula at the Dickinson County Nature Center, would do to protect itself would be to bite with its venomous fangs. Yet, they actually have several warning signs to tell predators, including people, that they are uncomfortable and to not get too close.
1. Booty waggle
If a tarantula is uncomfortable, unhappy or fearful, its first warning signal is to wave its abdomen — the main part of its body beneath the cephalothorax, which is the head and thorax combined. It may also pose with its feet tensed outward, ready to react.
2. Hair explosion
The second defense mechanism a tarantula has is to use its back feet to scrape hairs off of its abdomen and kick them out at a predator. Tarantula hairs are barbed, which makes them itchy and uncomfortable to touch. Imagine getting those hairs kicked into your eyes by an angry spider!
3. Venomous bite
A tarantula still won’t just bite. It will stand up on its back legs, tense its body and show off its fangs underneath its cephalothorax. If the predator still doesn’t back away, that is when a tarantula will bite.
However, a tarantula doesn’t want to bite anything it can’t eat, including a human. A tarantula’s venom liquifies the body tissues so that it can drink it, and it doesn’t want to waste its venom on something that it can’t ingest. Remember, venom is different than poison. Venom comes from a bite, whereas poison is excreted on the body.
If you do ignore a tarantula’s warning signs and get bitten, the reaction may vary. For a Chilean rose-haired tarantula, the reaction is usually not severe unless a person is allergic. Reactions vary by spider species as well.
Like with any animal, be aware of warning signs and give an animal its space. If it feels threatened, it may react. If it feels comfortable, it will most likely remain calm. For animals you encounter in the wild, make sure to always give them space and let wild be wild. |
Bleeding from the belly button, or umbilicus, has a variety of causes. While it is unsightly and uncomfortable, even painful, there is not always cause for major concern when you are bleeding from your belly button. However, there are more serious conditions that can be causing the problem. Here we will explore the various causes of bleeding from the belly button.
One of the most common causes of this problem is bacterial or fungal infection, often caused by scratching the area; in fact, a secondary infection can be caused by the scratching and abrasions and can cause the belly button to ooze a yellow and smelly substance.
The belly button is dark and can get moist, fertile ground for bacteria and fungi. Candida and yeast infections can develop and cause the belly button to bleed. Your doctor might prescribe an antibiotic if the bleeding is caused by infection.
There is a duct above the bladder which connects to the umbilical cord while you are still in the womb. It usually closes up prior to birth, but in rare cases it does not. In those rare cases, a cyst can develop if it swells and can cause leakage from the navel.
Often benign, meaning not dangerous, a sabaceous cyst can form at the belly button, and if irritated usually from scratching, can develop an infection and bleed.
Hernia at Intestines
The intestines can protrude into the belly button. This is only dangerous if the intestine becomes twisted, at which point you will need immediate medical attention.
Accident or Injury to Abdomen
From surgery or trauma, your abdomen could get injured which could cause the area to get infected and bleed.
Causes of Bleeding Belly Button
You might have developed a yeast, bacterial or fungal infection
A cyst might have formed in the area and cause infection
Injury or surgery could cause infection in the area and blood
You might have a protrusion from your intestines
In rare cases, endometrial glands could form at belly button
If the area is not taken care of properly after you pierce your belly button, an infection can develop and cause bleeding.
In rare cases, endometrial glands, normally formed in the uterus, can form at the belly button and cause bleeding.
It is likely your doctor will prescribe anti-biotic pills or a cream if your bleeding is caused by an infection. If it is caused by a cyst, surgery is likely necessary.
To care for your belly button you should wash it with anti-bacterial soap, avoid scratching it and don't apply any antiseptic creams or powders because these could irritate the area further. You can wash the area with warm salt water too, to keep it clean and if it is particularly irritated. |
- Why do sharks not have tongues?
- Do fish have tongues?
- Can Sharks stick their tongue out?
- How do sharks have tongues?
- Do sharks poop?
- What Colour is a fart?
- How many rows of teeth do sharks have?
- Do sharks eat other sharks?
- Can birds fart?
- Can you eat shark tongue?
- Do spiders fart?
- Do ants have tongues?
- Do fishes fart?
- Do butterflies fart?
- Do sharks fart?
- Do snakes fart?
- What animals dont have tongues?
- What animals Cannot fart?
- Which animal has the smelliest fart?
- Do sharks eat dolphins?
- Do sharks have predators?
Why do sharks not have tongues?
It turns out that yes, sharks do have tongues, but they are not like ours in their ability to taste.
Sharks do have taste buds, located on the papillae lining the mouth and throat, and this helps them decide whether or not to swallow their prey.
If the prey is suitable, they eat it.
Do fish have tongues?
Fish tongues however do not resemble the muscular tongues of humans. The tongue of a fish is formed from a fold in the floor of the mouth. In some species of bony fishes the tongue has teeth which help to hold prey items. … Most fishes however cannot protrude their tongues.
Can Sharks stick their tongue out?
In the mouth, you can also see the tongue, which is attached to the bottom of their mouth, so sharks cannot stick out their tongues. … These holes help the sharks pump water over their gills, which allows some species to be able to lie still on the bottom of the sea.
How do sharks have tongues?
Sharks have a tongue referred to as a basihyal. The basihyal is a small, thick piece of cartilage located on the floor of the mouth of sharks and other fishes.
Do sharks poop?
Conclusion. Sharks do take a poop. Of course, they eat like every living thing and they will always find a way to excrete their waste.
What Colour is a fart?
They are green when you light them. Methane and sulfur dioxide burn green. Otherwise they are colorless. So it depends if you light them with a flame or not -LOL.
How many rows of teeth do sharks have?
Did you know shark teeth are arranged in rows? While the number of rows varies from species to species, sharks often have anywhere from 5 to 15 rows of teeth per jaw, with the bull shark having around 50 rows of teeth total.
Do sharks eat other sharks?
It’s very common. “A lot of species of sharks eat other species of sharks and within a species you have larger, older individuals eating smaller, younger individuals. “You will find some degree of cannibalism in most shark species.
Can birds fart?
And generally speaking, birds don’t fart; they lack the stomach bacteria that builds up gas in their intestines.
Can you eat shark tongue?
It is pretty useless for most species of sharks except for some such as Carpet sharks, Cookiecutter sharks, and Bullhead sharks. sharks that use its tongue to rip apart its prey whereas, in carpet sharks and bullhead sharks, basihyal is used to suck up their prey from a long distance.
Do spiders fart?
It is not scientifically proven yet but yes, it is possible that spiders do fart. The reasons for flatulence in spider can be ingestion of air during sucking liquid diet or the gas produced by bacteria during the breakdown of liquid food in the stercoral sac.
Do ants have tongues?
Does an ant have a tongue? Ants do not have much of a tongue. Ants taste things using their feet and palps.
Do fishes fart?
Most fish do use air to inflate and deflate their bladder to maintain buoyancy which is expelled either through their mouth or gills which can be mistaken for a fart. … Point being – No farts.
Do butterflies fart?
Answers. Every animal farts including insects like bees and ants and butterflies. If you have a belly of sorts and a rectum, gasses will build up due to digestion and by nature they will fart. … Monarch butterflies are the “Kings of Farting”.
Do sharks fart?
Yes, sand sharks gulp air at the surface which they release to achieve greater depth. This is the only shark species that farts. … Often when they gulp air from the surface it is expelled through the cloaca along with gases produced from bacteria in their digestive tract.
Do snakes fart?
And Rabaiotti did find that fart answer for her brother: yes, snakes fart, too. Sonoran Coral Snakes that live across the Southwestern United States and Mexico use their farts as a defence mechanism, sucking air into their “butt” (it’s actually called a cloaca) and then pushing it back out to keep predators away.
What animals dont have tongues?
Animals that do not have tongues are sea stars and other echinoderms, insects, and crustaceans creatures. Even though they have no tongues, they still need to eat to survive.
What animals Cannot fart?
Octopuses don’t fart, nor do other sea creatures like soft-shell clams or sea anemones. Birds don’t, either. Meanwhile, sloths may be the only mammal that doesn’t fart, according to the book (although the case for bat farts is pretty tenuous).
Which animal has the smelliest fart?
sea lionRick Schwartz, ambassador and keeper for the San Diego Zoo, dug into his memories of the worst farts he has ever encountered to select the sea lion as the number the producer of the foulest wind on earth.
Do sharks eat dolphins?
Large sharks prey on dolphins, they particularly target very young calves and sick adult dolphins as these are the weakest and most vulnerable individuals. … Orcas will even attack and kill great white sharks just to eat their livers which are a high energy food source.
Do sharks have predators?
Gastropods aren’t the only organisms known to prey on elasmobranch eggs – other elasmobranchs, bony fishes, seals, whales and even monkeys are known to consume shark and ray eggs. |
The Lost Laws of Ireland is not a mystery but it is an outstanding book. And after all, the law is a very important part of mysteries. Especially interesting is the protection women had and the rights they had back in the day of Brehon Law, as it was known. I once bought a book on a trip over to Dublin called “A Women’s Rights In Ireland”. I stopped at my uncle’s house on the drive home and he said, “Now why ever would you be buying a blank book?” Despite his joke (and it was a joke, he was not like that at all), Ireland always had a very sophisticated legal system and women had their rights. Women in Ireland were allowed to own land,for example,long before women in the rest of Europe. There was strict record keeping so in the event of a divorce the property was equitably divided. A wife retained all rights to everything she brought to a marriage. There is a lot of interesting information about one of the oldest legal systems in Europe and just how sophisticated it was. If like me, you are into this kind of stuff, I highly recommend it. ♥♥♥♥
The ancient laws of Celtic Ireland were used from the time before Patrick until the 17th century when they were outlawed and disappeared. Crafted by judges, known as Brehons, the laws were surprisingly modern in their approach to timeless issues and reflect a complex and sophisticated society. This book gives an outline of the main features of the laws and their history, and ultimately focuses on certain themes that are significant to the modern reader, such as equity and fairness, transparent legal process and women’s rights. Many of the legal manuscripts have been lost or destroyed and the laws were not translated into English until modern times. As a result, they have mostly remained obscure and unstudied. Only recently have they given up their secrets. The ancient laws provide a window into society in early Ireland where learning was revered, social mobility was expected and fairness and harmony were social goals. Their resilience demonstrates their value and effectiveness. The Brehon legal system came to an end officially in 1605 after enduring for over a thousand years.
Catherine Duggan has practiced law for over 35 years and is a member of the bar of California and Connecticut. She specializes in inheritance disputes, including will contests and trust litigation, as well as financial elder abuse and has lectured widely in this area of law. In 2008 she changed her focus from litigation to mediation. She is a graduate of Georgian Court University, earned her law degree at Brooklyn Law School and obtained a masters degree at St. Mary’s College of California in 2006. Her parents were from Co. Cork and she has regularly visited Ireland since she was a child. She and her husband live in Oakland, California and have one son. Catherine is the author of The Lost Laws of Ireland published by Glasnevin Publishing. |
Read more: "Special report: The fallout from Fukushima"
Horrific as the situation at Fukushima Daiichi is, at least the plant's nuclear chain reactions have been shut down. But could chain reactions have started up again in small globs of nuclear fuel?
Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, a physicist at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, notes two unusual measurements that could indicate chain reactions in the reactors since their initial shutdown. Others doubt that this is the correct interpretation – and add that such bursts would not significantly worsen the radiation problem even if they are occurring.
One saving grace has been that the reactors were successfully shut down when the 11 March earthquake hit. Control rods were inserted into the reactors to absorb neutrons, which prevents them from initiating the fission chain reactions in the nuclear fuel that normally occur when the reactor is running. Because of this, the reactors are producing less heat and radiation than they would be if they were still running.
But on 25 March, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the Fukushima Daiichi plant, reported that chlorine-38 had been found among several radioactive isotopes in water taken from the turbine building of reactor number 1. Chlorine-38 can form when neutrons hit atoms of naturally occurring chlorine-37 in seawater.
Some chlorine-38 is to be expected because seawater was used to cool reactor number 1, and fuel rods continue to emit neutrons even after a reactor is shut down. But according to calculations by Dalnoki-Veress, a dead reactor core would not produce enough neutrons to account for the amount of chlorine-38 measured – 1.6 million becquerels per millilitre.
Despite the presence of the control rods, he says, partial or total melting of the fuel rods could rearrange the fuel in ways that would allow chain reactions to occur. Such reactions would probably be short-lived, he says, as the heat they would generate would tend to push apart the chunks or molten globs of fuel involved, reducing their ability to react further. But continued melting and rearrangement could cause repeated bursts of chain reactions.
"You're turning on little pieces of the reactor every once in a while," he says.
As further evidence that chain reactions are still occurring, Dalnoki-Veress points to a report from the Kyodo news agency that TEPCO has detected beams of neutrons near reactors 1 and 2. The report says the measurements were made over three days beginning on 13 March.
Brief but repeated chain reactions would produce bursts of neutrons that could account for those measurements, Dalnoki-Veress says. He has posted his calculations online on the Arms Control Wonk blog.
Not everyone is convinced, however. John Lee of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor says that achieving criticality in a reactor – initiating a chain reaction, in other words – requires a precise arrangement of fuel.
Even if the fuel rods partially or fully melted, it is hard to see how they could achieve such an arrangement by accident. He recently ran a simulation showing that a molten sphere of uranium fuel would be further from criticality, not closer, than an intact reactor with the control rods inserted.
"I cannot say it's absolutely impossible," he says. "[But] for me, it's difficult to imagine that a reactor after shutdown somehow had achieved a critical configuration again."
That still leaves the puzzling neutron and chlorine-238 measurements, but there are other possible explanations.
Lee says that gamma rays from the radioactive material that has leaked outside the reactors could be confusing the measurements. Neutron detectors are supposed to distinguish between the two kinds of radiation, but do a poorer job of this when the flux of gamma rays is very strong, he says.
A similar discrimination problem could explain the chlorine-38 measurement, says Jim Rushton of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Other radioactive isotopes give off gamma rays of about the same energy as chlorine-38 does, so they could be confusing the measurements, he says.
He agrees with Lee that spontaneous chain reactions are very unlikely. Even if they did occur briefly, they would not add much radioactivity or heat beyond what workers are already dealing with from the radioactive material that accumulated when the reactors were running at full power, he says. "You'd get a spike, but for seconds or fractions of a second," he says.
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to. |
The 32 projects selected exhibit an architecture of primary (architectural) elements, straightforward geometries and proportions. Each proposal exhibits potential for growth by aggregation, simple repetition, or various strategies of extension, infill, and addition. It was important to consider how these proposals, assembled into a collective, would work together toward creating not an estate but a community for Apan. The selection process revealed various categories and themes for which the projects could be classified. Some projects rethink the fundamentals of low-income housing’s spatial organization (corridors, courtyards, roofs), some rework labor and construction, and some recast structure or material. The forms of these works are generally economical but, unlike early-modernist projects at the Weissenhof Estate, their attitude is not one of a radical break. Today’s public will not protest flat (or pitched) roofs and today’s architects will not claim to usher in a new style. If anything, these works relate to the vast, varied world of vernacular construction—to the majority of the built world that Architecture glosses over. Specifically, here each house responds to one of the 9 climatic zones of Mexico. At first glance, many of these works might not appear radically different from existing low-income housing. But upon closer study, the ingenuity of the projects selected whole yet retains their individual identities.
The problem of low-income housing demands the thoughtful attention and expertise of architects like those included here. For, given the limited resources of such works, each decision gains greater significance and has greater impact on the design and on the life of its inhabitants.
Project team: Michael Meredith, Hilary Sample, Cyrus Dochow, Paul Ruppert, Fancheng Fei, Michael Abel, Mark Acciari, Lafina Eptaminitaki, Mark Kamish |
Items in AFP with MESH term: Disease Susceptibility
ABSTRACT: Fulminant, potentially life-threatening infection is a major long-term risk after splenectomy or in persons who are functionally hyposplenic as a result of various systemic conditions. Most of these infections are caused by encapsulated organisms such as pneumococci, Haemophilus influenzae and meningococci. A splenectomized patient is also more susceptible to infections with intraerythrocytic organisms such as Babesia microti and those that seldom affect healthy people, such as Capnocytophaga canimorsus. Most patients who have lost their spleens because of trauma are aware of their asplenic condition, but some older patients do not know that they are asplenic. Other patients may have functional hyposplenism secondary to a variety of systemic diseases ranging from celiac disease to hemoglobinopathies. The identification of Howell-Jolly bodies on peripheral blood film is an important clue to the diagnosis of asplenia or hyposplenia. Management of patients with these conditions includes a combination of immunization, antibiotic prophylaxis and patient education. With the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pneumococci, appropriate use of the pneumococcal vaccine has become especially important.
Hope for Patients with Asplenia or Hyposplenism - Editorials
Genetic Testing - Editorials |
You can compress data at the column level using multi-value compression, a lossless, dictionary-based compression scheme. With MVC, you specify a list of values to be compressed when defining a column in the CREATE TABLE/ALTER TABLE statement. When you insert a value into the column which matches a value in the compression list, a corresponding compress bit is set instead of storing the actual value, thus saving the disk storage space.
The best candidates for compression are the most frequently occurring values in each column. MVC is a good compression scheme when there are many repeating values for a column.
If MVC is not an efficient compression scheme for data in a particular column, you can compress the column using algorithmic compression (ALC). You can specify MVC alone, or both MVC and ALC on the same column. If you define both on the same column, ALC is applied only to those non-null values that are not specified in the value compression list of the MVC specification. You can also use MVC together with block-level compression (BLC).
- Any numeric data type
- DATETo compress a DATE value, you must specify the value as a Date literal using the ANSI DATE format (DATE 'YYYY-MM-DD'). For example:
COMPRESS (DATE '2000-06-15')
- TIME and TIME WITH TIME ZONE
- TIMESTAMP and TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE
COMPRESS (TIME '15:30:00') COMPRESS (TIMESTAMP '2006-11-23 15:30:23')
- Non-LOB distinct or structured UDT |
How to prune a hedge in 7 simple steps. This article explains how to prune a hedge in 7 simple steps.
Fertilisers. Learn all about fertilisers, the different varieties and their applications.
Green walls (or Vertical Garden). Learn how to create an amazing vertical garden wall using a variety of plants including herbs.
Composting written by Glorious Gardens. Learn all about the joys of composting. Cold composting and hot composting are just two of several options.
The crepe myrtle is a tall shrub to small deciduous tree, well suited to the average garden. They provide summer shade, are long flowering, have good leaf colour in autumn, and have beautiful mottled bark. They are adaptable to most soils. They develop a nice umbrella shape when left to grow naturally, or they can be pruned to any size. If heavily pruned, the trunk develops interesting gnarled shapes.
Crepe myrtles are best suited to warm dry climates, but will grow in most areas.
Older varieties are prone to mildew. Newer varieties have been bred to be mildew resistant.
Contact us to add your nursery
Flower colour: pink, white, mauve
Flowering season: summer
Maximum height: 4 metres
Minimum height: 1 metres
Maximum width: 3 metres
Minimum width: 1 metres
This plant will tolerate full or partial sunlight.
Medium frost tolerance.
Plant is salt tolerant.
Yes. Attracts: Insects.
This plant species will grow in the following climates: cool, temperate, subtropical, tropical.
Loam: dry, moist, well-drained.
Sand: moist, well-drained.
Planting season: not specified.
Types of fertiliser: not specified. |
Bed bugs can be found anywhere, both indoors as well as in nature. Bed bugs are drawn to the blood and warmth common to humans as well as animals. In general bed bugs don’t have a preference as long as they have a warm place to stay and a source of blood to feed on.
Because of their small size bed bugs can easily hitch a ride on birds, animals or human clothing and luggage. Before you even realize you have a bed bug bite, you can have an infestation all over your home. Ignore the problem of bed bugs will not make them go away, however knowing what kills bed bugs can help you get a jump start on eliminating them from your home.
Killing Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are sneaky creatures that unexpectedly come into your home and lay eggs in hidden locations and bite you while you sleep. Although spotting them is difficult you will be pleased to learn that there are several effective methods for killing bed bugs.
Many of the methods to get rid of bed bugs can be easily found in your home and local home improvement stores. Use one or more of these tips to kill bed bugs in your home.
Perhaps the most well know way to kill bed bugs is by using heat. Direct heat aimed at the bed bugs or eggs—for a minimum of 30 seconds—will kill them on the spot and prevent the eggs from hatching.
For items that can be washed, place them on a high heat setting of at least 120° F. Some recommend heat as high as 140° F but when in doubt just set the water temperature to “hot”. When clothes have been cycled in the wash, dry them on high heat. Run through dryer on high heat for 2 cycles.
Direct heat from a hair dryer aimed at the bed bugs or their eggs will kill them. Remember to keep the dryer on high heat and aimed at them for at least 30 seconds.
Bed bugs cannot survive without oxygen, they need it the same us humans. Depriving them of oxygen kills bed bugs relatively quickly. This is why most bed bug treatment plans involve placing infected items in plastic bags or large encasements.
After you have cleaned items, placing them in an oxygen free environment will kill off any remaining bed bugs. Use encasements or air tight plastic bags or containers.
Insecticides in dust, powder or spray form can help kill bed bugs in any area of the home. The question when using insecticides is, do I call a pro or do it myself?
Using a licensed pest control agent can ensure that you get an effective treatment plan that kills bed bugs and their eggs. However hiring a professional requires a significant amount of money that includes follow up visits without any guarantee.
There are insecticides you can purchase anywhere bug repellent is sold, however finding exactly what you need to get rid of bed bugs can take some time. Insecticides intended for ants, mosquitoes or cockroaches will not work; it must be specifically for bed bugs.
We know that heat is a good method of killing bed bugs but a lesser known form of heat that works as well is steam. A steam vacuum is a great way to kill bed bugs taking up residence on hard to wash items such as curtains, couch skirts and corners.
A steam vacuum is a great heat alternative to kill bed bugs when you don’t want to damage certain materials. This is especially true of fine fabrics such as lace or silk; you can get rid of the bed bug infestation without damaging the fabric.
If you don’t own a steam vacuum they can be rented from home improvement stores.
Permethrin is a commonly used household pesticide often found in bed bug sprays, dusts and powders. If you’re looking for a chemical treatment plan to get rid of bed bugs, make sure the products you choose contain this ingredient.
Permethrin is related to pyrethrum an organic compound which is known to repel arthropods. This chemical is relatively safe and has a lower evaporation rate than other chemicals found in bed bug repellent. Using this chemical to kill bed bugs requires that you spray all the rooms on the same day so there is no “safe zone” for the bed bugs to flee to.
Don’t wait until you have everything you need to tackle a bed bug problem. Start with what you have on hand and then create a plan to get rid of bed bugs for good! |
Researchers are trying to build an "alarm collar." It's a new kind of collar that can show if an elephant is up, down, or running. They hope to eventually use that information to more quickly dispatch rangers to try to catch poachers before they get too far.
Putting on the collar. Photo by Carl Safina.
Today, in the course of developing a book about the lives of animals, I accompanied researchers from Save the Elephants, Oxford University and the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, and veterinarians from the Kenya Wildlife Service as we put a test model of one of those collars on an elephant in Samburu Game Reserve, Kenya.
Hundreds of elephants use the reserve. They live in dozens of family groups. Elephant family groups are pretty stable over decades -- an older mature female who is the matriarch and leader, her daughters, and all their juvenile children. But increasingly, the family groups are shattering as poachers kill matriarchs and many others, leaving wandering orphans trying to join remaining groups.
Last night we discussed which elephants would be good candidates for the test. No matriarchs, because on rare occasions, an elephant dies from the tranquilizing drug, and matriarch knowledge and leadership are simply too important to the entire family to risk. A young adult female from a well-known group that tends to stay on the reserve is a good candidate. The researchers have named all the adults in all the families that regularly use the reserve. So after some discussion, they put several names on a list.
At dawn we left the Save the Elephants' camp in several vehicles and fanned out, looking for elephants. The idea was to find them early as they were coming downslope from where they've been sleeping, before they got near the river. We didn't want a darted elephant going down in the water. And because a flood more than a year ago washed out a bridge that hasn't been rebuilt, we didn't want a darted elephant to cross the river, where we would not be able to follow or administer the antidote.
We found one group two miles from the river. This family is named The Winds. They were on a fast walk to water, and by the time the veterinary truck arrived, they were too close to the water. And in fact, they plunged in, drank, and crossed.
About an hour later we found another group, The Artists. They'd already been to the river, come back up on our side, and were feeding placidly. The researchers are incredibly expert at identifying several hundred elephants by the pattern of nicks and tears in their ears, and within The Artists, an adult female named Flaubert was on the list.
Because the process poses risks to the elephant, the scientists are always tense about darting them. When the dart hit her rump, she suddenly put her head up, trying to figure out what just happened. This mildly alarmed her calf and the alarm spread through the family. They started to move away from the vehicles.
Flaubert began lagging. Her calf was keeping up with the others. When she went down and lay on her side, we surrounded her with the vehicles. By the time her family had turned around to see what was wrong with her, we were already there and chased them off.
No one likes this work. It's stressful for the elephants and the researchers. No one likes bothering them, and the risks of things going wrong make the whole darting procedure a fraught affair.
But this time it went perfectly. Forty minutes after we darted her, she had her collar on and had rejoined her family group and her calf.
Up and about. Photo by Carl Safina.
Over the next couple of weeks, researchers will use the collar's signals to find her, then they'll video her activities and see if the information from the test collar is correctly informing them of what she is doing.
The hope is that this will help in the fight against poaching, but it's a long-term strategy in an emergency situation. About 30 elephants from this population have been killed in the last two months.
The new kind of collar may help locate poachers. But to save elephants, conservationists and researchers will have to use every available strategy, from new technology to community outreach to international diplomacy.
When we left The Artists, Flaubert and her calf were in the river together with other family members, drinking peacefully.
Follow Carl Safina on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CarlSafina |
01/5Exercising can help to reduce knee pain
The knee is the largest joint in the body, which is used heavily every day. While walking, running, climbing or jumping, our knees have to bear a lot of pressure. As a result, it is more prone to injury and pain. People of all age groups are susceptible to knee pain, but the risk increases with age due to bone loss. Extreme knee pain also forces people to opt for knee replacement surgery. 2019 data suggests that over 1,20,000 knee replacement surgery takes place every year in India. Exercising is another alternative to get rid of knee pain which is much easier to do and is cost-effective. A recent study suggests that performing even a single exercise a few times a week can help to treat knee pain and prevent surgery.
02/5The QUADX-1 trial
A recent study named the QUADX-1 trial assessed the benefits of home-based workout therapy and if it could prevent future knee surgery. For the study, the researchers divided the participants into three groups, all eligible for knee replacement surgery due to knee osteoarthritis. All the participants reported an average knee pain of 3/10 over the past week and were at least 45 years old.
All three groups of participants were assigned 12 weeks of exercise but with varied numbers of sessions each week - 2, 4, or 6. The interesting thing is that they all performed a single exercise- the knee extension.
03/5The benefit of performing knee extension exercise
Performing simple knee extension exercises can help the body to build resilience and strengthen the muscle around the knee. The reason why participants were given only one exercise is that poor form in home-based exercises can worsen the pain. Suggesting a plethora of exercises would have made things complex. The participant performed this exercise without any machine, simply using a chair. At the end of the study, it was noticed that their quadriceps strength increased in all three groups. Irrespective of the number of repetitions they performed. Doing the single exercise only twice a week led to the same improvement in knee strength and knee pain as compared to four and six times a week.
04/5How to perform this exercise
For performing the exercise, participants sat on a chair with one end of an exercise band wrapped around their ankle. The other end of the band was fixed behind a door to serve as an anchor. The participants were not allowed to grab the band. Each rep was for eight seconds- three for extending the leg, one-second pause at the top, four seconds for lowering the leg.
05/5The bottom line
The study surely revealed that even performing a minimum of two sets of the exercise with ten reparations in each can help to reduce knee pain. However, the study did not look into the muscle mass, cardiovascular health, bone mineral density, or any other health benefits of exercise. It surely proves then even a minimum amount of exercise can provide relief from knee pain. |
Avenue of honour facts for kids
In Australia, an Avenue of Honour is a memorial avenue of trees, with each tree symbolising a person. The tradition, which originated in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Australia, is an important part of Australian culture. There are 547 known avenues of honour in Australia, in all states and territories except the Northern Territory. Over half are in Victoria.
Most avenues are in remembrance of those who fought or died in war, particularly World War I (1914–1918), although the earliest recorded avenues were planted in remembrance of Australia's participation in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Since soldiers were grouped by the place they were recruited, a military defeat often meant all of the men of eligible age from the town were killed in the same battle. Many of the avenue's trees include metal plaques naming the victims.
Many of these avenues now feature large, established trees and exotic species.
Several of these avenues are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register; most others are afforded local levels of heritage protection through the various Local government in Australia and the National Trust of Australia; however, many such avenues have since been affected by road development.
An online project titled "Avenues of Honour 1915-2015" (www.avenuesofhonour.org) has been established by Treenet, the urban tree research and education organisation based at the University of Adelaide's Waite Arboretum.
State significant avenues
- Ballarat — The longest (22 kilometres and 3,912 trees) of the Avenues of Honour, made ever grander by its Arch of Victory.
- Bacchus Marsh Road — The avenue of Dutch Elm trees serves as a tribute to local people who enlisted in the First World War. The 281 trees were simultaneously planted on the call of a bugle in 1918.
- Macedon-Woodend Road, Shire of Macedon Ranges
Other Victorian Avenues of Honour
- Anglesea – relatively unusual in that flowering gums (corymbia ficifolia) were planted. Seventy-two trees were planted but only three or four remain.
- Ballarat East — A second lesser known Avenue of Honour once marked the eastern entrance to Ballarat at Victoria Street. A handful of trees remain on one side of the road, the rest having been demolished, most during construction of the rail flyover in the 1960s.
- Buchan South
- Lakes Entrance
- Wandin North - also planted with flowering gums.
- Woodend North
- Ballarat Orphanage's Arthur Kenny Avenue
Avenues of Honour outside Victoria
- Yungaburra, Queensland
- Manly Vale, Sydney, New South Wales – established in 2005 to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Merchant Navy personnel in two world wars.
- Cowra, New South Wales
- O'Connell, New South Wales
- Albany, Western Australia
- Armadale, Western Australia
- Kings Park, Western Australia - May Drive, Lovekin Drive and Marri Walk
- Hobart, Tasmania
Avenue of honour Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia. |
Giles Constable facts for kids
Giles Constable (1 June 1929 – 17 January 2021) was a British historian of the Middle Ages. He was mainly interested in the religion and culture of the 11th and 12th centuries. He mainly focused abbey of Cluny and its abbot Peter the Venerable. Constable was born in London.
Constable died on 17 January 2021 in Princeton, New Jersey at the age of 91.
Giles Constable Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia. |
Practising paediatrician and child specialist Dr Harvey Karp believes in many respects human babies are born to soon. Here we explore his theory of the "Fourth Trimester" and his "Cuddle Cure" techniques.
"When the baby comes out, the true umbilical cord is cut forever yet the baby is still, in that second, a foetus.just a foetus one second older," writes Peter Farb in his publication Humankind.
Most expecting parents imagine giving birth to a plump, smiley baby not dissimilar to those gracing the covers of pregnancy magazines. But in reality a newborn enters this world little more than a foetus.
While many other mammals are born with several survival reflexes and instincts enabling them to stand or run the moment they are born, the human baby begins life with only a few, albeit vital, reflexes to ensure survival.
These reflexes are related to breathing, sucking and swallowing.
Compared to other baby animals the human baby is born relatively immature and relies heavily on its parents for survival. In fact in many ways it seems our newborns are born too soon. Perhaps this is because the human infant has no predators and therefore has no immediate need to flee in order to protect itself.
With floppy necks, tiny tremors and irregular breathing human babies appear helpless and vulnerable in their first few months as they adjust to life outside the womb. By the end of the third month, however, the newborn evolves into an infant who is much more aware and capable of response.
When we consider the difference between a minute-old newborn and a three-month-old baby, the rate of growth and development that a human baby undergoes in its first twelve weeks of life is outstanding.
Research has found that the vast majority of human brain growth occurs in the womb, especially during the third trimester, and immediately following birth. In fact as much as 50% of the brain’s Docohexaenoic acid (DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in high concentrations in brain tissue believed to be essential to brain development, growth and learning ability) is formed during foetal development while the remaining 50% accumulates during the first year.
These findings inspired American Paediatrician Dr Harvey Karp to research and develop the concept of the "Fourth Trimester", what he refers to as the time between birth and the end of your baby’s third month.
Dr Karp, a paediatric professor at UCLA School of Medicine in California and author of the best-selling book "The Happiest Baby," noticed that most newborns were fussy and foetus-like in comparison two a three month-old baby, illustrating the massive developmental leap babies make during the first three months of life.
"Newborns can’t smile, coo, or even suck their fingers. At birth, they’re really still foetuses and for the next three months they want little more than to be carried, cuddled, and made to feel like they are still in the womb," he says.
"A growing foetus in the womb develops at lightning speed. "Nevertheless, it takes most babies an additional three months to "wake up" and become active partners in the relationship".
So why, you may ask, is it that babies are born at 40 weeks instead of 52 weeks? It seems reasonable to wonder why this period of rapid development does not occur during a fourth trimester in the womb.
Dr Harp believes that the main reason why babies enter this world at 40 weeks is to guarantee a safe delivery. Giving birth at full term is already a tight squeeze – giving birth to a 52-week-old baby would be near impossible.
So it seems that nature ensures early "eviction" for the safety of both mother and baby.
On the whole, most infants are able to cope with the transition from womb to outside world. But some find it more difficult than others and need to be held, rocked and suckled for large parts of the day.
This makes sense when we consider the womb environment – the only environment your newborn baby has ever known. Cushioned by the surrounding amniotic fluid, the womb is warm, secure and dark. It is also sensationally noisy with the sound of blood circulating and the placenta pulsating. Food and oxygen is abundant and always on offer. For the most part there is constant movement.
Dr Karp was among the first specialists to put forward the theory that the more we mimic the womb environment the happier our newborns will be. He affectionately calls it "womb service". In more primitive cultures the needs of a newborn are considered differently and mothers spend more time carrying and nursing their babies.
"It’s no coincidence that in culture’s like Bali, where colic is virtually non-existent, parents gives babies much more of a fourth trimester experience than we do," he says.
"Unfortunately, many parents in our culture have been convinced that it’s wrong to cuddle their babies so much. They have been misled into believing that their main job is to teach and educate their newborn".
Dr Karp says it is impossible to spoil a baby in its first four months of life. Training a baby to not be manipulative only becomes imperative during the second six months of his life.
Creating the Womb Environment
During his 25 years of research, Dr Karp observed the reflexes and responses of newborns and identified ways to trigger the calming reflex to help settle disgruntled babies. His five steps simulate the sensations your baby would have experienced whilst growing in the womb.
"You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be a terrific parent, but there are some little tricks that can help you do your job better," says Dr Karp.
The FIVE "S"s
The Cuddle Cure
Some babies may respond to any one, or a combination of a few, of the following techniques known as the Five "S’s". Using them all in the following order is known as the "Cuddle Cure".
Swaddling stops your baby’s limbs from flailing about. Because rapid movement of arms and legs can lead to over-stimulation, it is best to wrap your newborn so it feels comfortable and secure.
Swaddling wraps or blankets are available in different weights of fabric to cater for varying seasons.
Because a nine-month-old foetus is tightly cushioned in the womb, once they are born they feel lack the physical support. By holding your baby in the side/stomach position this helps your newborn feel safe and in tact by curbing its feeling of falling.
A loud shushing noise in your baby’s ear recreates the sound of the womb environment, which is unbelievably noisy! This is why babies like the sound of a vacuum cleaner.
Small fast rocking movements help activate your baby’s calming reflex and again, mimic the jiggling movement of the fluid-cushioned womb environment.
Offer your breast, finger or pacifier. If your baby seems disinterested in the pacifier, gently tug on it as though you are going to remove it. Your baby will respond by sucking harder.
To find out more about The Fourth Trimester and the Cuddle Cure read "The Happiest Baby" by Dr Harvey Karp, published by Penguin. |
Today your child will be coming home with a Reading Counts book ( similar to WEB reading last year if you were at Georgetown). Each child has selected a good fit book within their independent reading level to take home and read and they are SO EXCITED!!! Reading Counts is a reading incentive program (separate from our curriculum) that promotes reading habits and also rewards children for their efforts. Please see the following link for more informationREADING COUNTS. Here is how we use Reading Counts at Georgetown.
1. Each child’s independent reading level is determined through teacher assessments. Levels will be similar to last year (within a level or two). We want to build in success and encourage our readers. Children will change levels as we grow throughout the year.
2. Each child is given a goal number of points to achieve during the semester based on their reading level. Each book has an assigned point value which can be found on the inside cover of the book.
3. Students select a book at their reading level and read it at home and/or at school. Books are labeled with reading levels A – Z on the spine of the book.
4. When children are finished with the book they sign up to take a RC comprehension quiz on the computer/ipad for that particular book here at school.
5. If the quiz is passed ( 8/10 questions answered correctly), then another book is checked out. If the quiz is not passed, students take the book home again and reread or select a new book from the library.
6. At the end of the semester (mid Jan), students who have met their goal receive a prize and a ticket into our end of the year BIG prize drawing. Last year it was an Ipad Mini and Target gift cards….YEAH!
Please see your child’s book bag today for more specific information. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. |
Greetings from the National Library of Medicine and MedlinePlus.gov
Regards to all our listeners!
I'm Rob Logan, Ph.D. senior staff National Library of Medicine for Donald Lindberg, M.D, the Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Heart disease patients significantly lower their risk of death if they receive an annual flu vaccine, suggests a comprehensive review of previous clinical trials recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The meta-analysis, which assessed five clinical trials that randomized 6,400 heart disease participants into groups that did and did not receive a flu shot, also suggests the risk of a cardiovascular event declines significantly among adults who suffered a recent heart attack or chest pain.
Specifically, a flu shot decreased the relative risk of a serious cardiovascular event (such as a second heart attack) by 55 percent for adults who had a heart attack within a year before receiving the vaccine. For adult heart disease patients who had not suffered a recent cardiovascular event (such as a heart attack), a flu shot decreased their relative risk of a serious cardiovascular event by 36 percent.
For all heart disease trial participants (regardless of disease level), an annual flu shot decreased their relative risk of death by almost 20 percent. In other words, the risk of dying from heart disease was nearly 20 percent lower for cardiovascular patients who received the flu vaccine compared to those who skipped the shot.
The study’s 11 authors noted all five clinical trials reported similar results; the benefits of flu shots for heart disease participants were consistent.
To look at the findings a different way, an editorial that accompanied the study noted the meta-analysis suggests about two major cardiovascular events (such as a heart attack or stroke) are prevented among every 100 heart disease patients who receive a flu shot.
The study’s 11 authors suggest the findings underscore the health benefits offered by flu vaccines for heart disease patients --and provide an antidote to persons who are skeptical about the preventive advantages of some vaccinations.
Jacob A. Udell M.D., a cardiologist at the University of Toronto and the study’s first author, told the New York Times (and we quote): “People who don’t like vaccines probably don’t like dying from heart attacks either. Maybe this (study) is a good enough reason for the skeptics to go and get their flu shots” (end of quote).
Meanwhile, MedlinePlus.gov’s flu health topic page provides an overview of key facts about the flu and flu vaccine (from the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention - the CDC) in the ‘overviews’ section.
The CDC also provides information about the flu, heart disease, and stroke in the ‘related issues’ section of MedlinePlus.gov’s flu health topic page.
MedlinePlus.gov’s flu health topic page also provides links to the latest pertinent journal research articles, which are available in the ‘journal articles’ section. You can sign up to receive updates about the flu and flu vaccines as they become available on MedlinePlus.gov.
MedlinePlus.gov additionally has a health topic page devoted to heart disease prevention which contains information about widely used clinical interventions as well as a variety of lifestyle strategies to promote heart health, including exercise, nutrition, dieting, counseling, red wine, folic acid and aspirin therapy.
To find MedlinePlus.gov’s flu health topic page, type ‘flu’ in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov’s home page. Then, click on ‘flu (National Library of Medicine).’ To find MedlinePlus.gov’s heart disease prevention health topic page, type ‘heart disease prevention’ in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov’s home page. Then, click on ‘heart diseases-prevention (National Library of Medicine).’
Before I go, this reminder… MedlinePlus.gov is authoritative. It's free. We do not accept advertising …and is written to help you.
To find MedlinePlus.gov, just type in 'MedlinePlus.gov' in any web browser, such as Firefox, Safari, Netscape, Chrome or Explorer. To find Mobile MedlinePlus.gov, just type 'Mobile MedlinePlus' in the same web browsers.
We encourage you to use MedlinePlus and please recommend it to your friends. MedlinePlus is available in English and Spanish. Some medical information is available in 43 other languages.
Your comments about this or any of our podcasts are always welcome. We welcome suggestions about future topics too!
Please email Dr. Lindberg anytime at: [email protected]
That's NLMDirector (one word) @nlm.nih.gov
A written transcript of recent podcasts is available by typing 'Director's comments' in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov's home page.
The National Library of Medicine is one of 27 institutes and centers within the National Institutes of Health. The National Institutes of Health is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A disclaimer — the information presented in this program should not replace the medical advice of your physician. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any disease without first consulting with your physician or other health care provider.
I want to take the opportunity to wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy New Year. The National Library of Medicine and the ‘Director’s Comments’ podcast staff, including Dr. Lindberg, appreciate your interest and company — and we hope to find new ways to serve you in 2014. |
The British government is exploring using the blockchain technology that underpins the bitcoin currency to increase efficiency in the distribution of taxpayers’ money such as grants.
A blockchain works as a decentralised ledger that is verified and shared by a network of computers, and can be used to record data as well as to secure and validate an exchange of assets, such as currencies or commodities.
Banks and other financial institutions are increasingly investing in blockchain technology, reckoning it could cut their costs and make their operations faster and more transparent.
Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock said the government was examining how the technology could be used to manage and keep track of the distribution of public money, such as grants and student loans, saying it could “foster a new culture of trust”. If you don´t like that idea, then get these unsecured loans.
“Government cannot bury its head in the sand and ignore new technologies as they emerge,” Hancock, who holds the post of paymaster general, said a blockchain networking event in London.
“That is partly what happened in the past in government with the web … We cannot let (that) happen again by standing still.”
Britain has had a patchy record with government IT systems. Previous IT problems have hit the passport agency, the tax credit system and most notably the National Health Service which was forced in 2011 to announce the abandonment of a multi-billion pound scheme to computerise every patient record.
Hancock cautioned against getting too caught up in the hype.
“Blockchain technology is not going to solve every problem; it’s not going to work in every context,” he said.
It is still early days for blockhain: The original bitcoin blockchain was started just over seven years ago, and most financiers and technologists reckon the technology will not be adopted broadly for another five to 10. Many compare the current level of development to the early days of the Internet.
Earlier this year, the government’s chief scientific adviser urged the government to explore how it could use blockchain. The Bank of England has called it a “key technological innovation”, and has a team working on ways that it could be used, such as for issuing central bank money. |
A HISTORIC SPEECH. SECRETARY CLINTON. AND LGBT HUMAN RIGHTS!! HO HO HO!!
On December 6, 2011, Secretary Clinton delivered an unbelievably poignant, instructional and visionary speech on LGBT Human Rights to the United Nations in Geneva, a speech that will no doubt go down in history.
This video is available here: http://bcove.me/qs3211sh
Opening with a description of the creation of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the story unfolds the years of debate and drafting, culminating in the first ever expression of the idea that all people are born with rights which governments must protect.
The speech then makes the inevitable case.
Raising the most poignant objections cultural and religious, these are honestly subjugated to “human rights for all” with references to slavery and female genital mutilation, long similarly justified.
Demonstrating humility, the speech acknowledges the limitations of human rights protections for LGBT people in the United States, while also teaching mantras of leadership and urging respect for opinions on both sides as critical to the conversation required for the inevitable evolution of understanding on this front, consistent with history on religious, women, and children’s human rights.
From “being on the right side of history” to “gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights,” this monumental speech makes each point both profound and complete addressing every imaginable point of conflict and the human rights solution and rationale. No summary could capture it.
It would be so powerful if every LGBT and supportive civil rights organization in the United States and the world sent this to their lists, to educate and empower with the awareness of our entitlement to the protection of our human rights by our governments. This is the knowledge that will empower and fuel our liberation, without which we remain trapped in a vision limited by oppression, and old opposition arguments.
By our creating this expectation and demand to match President Obama’s, when he is President anew, he will be empowered to fulfill the inescapable obligation made repeatedly explicit by his international work, explained proudly in Secretary Clinton’s historic speech, including Resolutions in the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Organization of American States.
So rather amazingly, we are clearly living at a pivotal time in the history of understanding, compassion and possibility for our liberation. Constantly set before us, it is now ours for the grasping if only we have the courage to expect it all, and the wisdom to listen, follow and lead the way.
Civil Rights Now. Full Federal Equality Now. Human Rights Now. Go Hillary!!! Obama 2012!!!!
POSTS ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THEIR AUTHORS |
Thomas Robert Malthus, an English Economist and demographer celebrated for his pioneering theories on population, was born on February 13, 1766 to parents Daniel and Henrietta Malthus, near Guildford, Surrey. Thomas was born in to a prosperous family. His father, Daniel Malthus, was a rather unconventional man, deeply interested in philosophy, mainly due to his friendship with skeptic and philosopher David Hume and his regard for the teachings of the liberal philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His father had very liberal ideas about Thomas’s upbringing, he was home schooled until he was admitted to the Jesus College, Cambridge in 1784. Thomas showed excellent academic performance, he studied a diverse range of courses and won prizes in Greek and Latin. After graduating in 1788, Malthus was admitted to the Cambridge University, where he earned a master’s degree in arts, in 1791. He was elected as a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge in 1793. He took his holy orders in 1797.
In 1796, Malthus wrote a pamphlet, “The Crisis”, in which he supported the recent proposition of Poor Laws that recommended providing housing to the homeless and poor. Malthus began his career in 1805, he took up the post of the professor of history and political economy at the East India Company’s college in Haileybury, Hertfordshire, becoming the first individual to hold such an academic office. In 1819, Malthus was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society, and later in 1821, he was admitted as a member of the Political Economy Club, which boasted the membership of intellectuals such as David Ricardo and James Mill. In 1824, he was elected as one of the 10 Royal Associates of the Royal Society of Literature. In 1834, Malthus was among the founding members of the Statistical Society of London.
Thomas Malthus made countless literary contributions to the field of economics. His most notable work ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’ was published in 1978. The most well-known of his works include ‘An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent’ published in 1815 and ‘Principles of Political Economy’ published in 1820. Malthus was the pioneering economist who gave way to the introduction of the commonly known field of thought of Malthusianism, where he argues over his theory that population growth will inevitably lead to the scarcity of food supply, therefore, the improvement of living standards is impossible if reproduction is not limited. He argued that the expansion of populations leads to the insufficiency of lands to grow crops. Malthus received criticism as well as applause for his analysis of population growth, the Malthusian theory of population made a strong impact on the British social policy and influenced intellectuals such as Darwin, who constructed his theory of natural selection after being moved by Malthus’ work. His theory, however, had its shortcomings as he failed to predict the Agriculture revolution and the advent of contraceptives which decreased the fertility rate considerably.
Malthus theory of population was put aside for a while only to become popular again in the 20th century, when the advent of Keynesian economics, threw more light on the analysis provided by Malthus. Thomas Malthus died on December 23, 1834, near Bath, Somerset, England. |
Although there are about 10 of them in the Milky Way annually, astronomers have never observed a single one from beginning to end.
All new – new stars – arise in a close binary system of stars when one of the stars went through the phase of the red giant. She leaves a residue in the form of a white dwarf. Then, when he and his partner star get close enough, the massive gravitational attraction of the white dwarf pulls matter – mostly hydrogen – from another star.
Hydrogen accumulates on the surface of the white dwarf, forming a thin atmosphere. A star heats up hydrogen, and ultimately flares up when the gas pressure becomes extremely high. This is not just a merger: it is fast and rampant.
When a fast fusion occurs, we see light, and a new atmosphere of hydrogen is thrown from the white dwarf into space. In the past, astronomers believed that these bright lights were only the birth of ordinary stars, and the concept of “nova” hung in the air.
Astronomers now call these types “classic” novae; there are also repeated nova when the process repeats.
This process releases a ton of energy: not only visible light, but also gamma rays and x-rays. The end result is that some stars, which could only be seen through a telescope, can be seen with the naked eye at the time of the explosion.
All this is widespread in astronomy and astrophysics, but much is just a theory.
Recently, astronomers using the BRITE nanosatellite constellation (BRIght Target Explorer) have been fortunate enough to observe the entire process from beginning to end, confirming the theory.
BRITE is a constellation of nanosatellites designed to “study the stellar structure and evolution of the brightest stars in the sky and their interactions with the local environment.” They operate in low Earth orbit and have few restrictions on the parts of the sky that they can observe. BRITE is a coordinated project between Austrian, Polish and Canadian researchers.
This first-ever observation of the new was pure coincidence. BRITE spent several weeks watching 18 stars in the constellation Karina. One day a new one appeared: BRITE COO Rainer Kushnig discovered it during a daily inspection.
“Suddenly, a star appeared on our records that hadn’t been on the eve. I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years of a mission! ” – Rainer Kushnig.
“But what makes a previously inconspicuous star explode?” The answer to this question is still not known for certain, ”he said.
The explosion of Nova V906 in the constellation Karina gives researchers some answers and confirms some theoretical concepts.
The V906 Carinae was first discovered using the Polish All-Sky Automated Survey project to track supernovae. Fortunately, it appeared in the region of the sky that was observed by BRITE for several weeks, so the data on the nova are from BRITE.
“It’s amazing that for the first time, our satellites could observe a new star even before its actual eruption, and after many weeks,” – Otto Koudelka, project manager of the satellite BRITE Austria.
There are about 13,000 light-years before the V906 Carinae, so this event is history. “In the end, this new star is so far away from us that it takes its light about 13,000 years to reach the Earth,” Weiss explains.
“This fortunate circumstance played a decisive role in enabling the event to be recorded” is new “with unprecedented accuracy,” explains Constance Zwintz, head of the BRITE research group, from the Institute of Astronomy and Elementary Particle Physics of the University of Innsbruck.
According to a press release, Zwintz immediately realized that “we have access to observational materials that are unique throughout the world.”
New items like V906 Carinae are thermonuclear explosions on the surface of white dwarf stars. For a long time, astrophysicists believed that the luminosity of a new star is activated by constant nuclear combustion after the initial explosion of uncontrolled fusion. But the data from BRITE suggests something else.
In a new article, the authors show that impulses play a greater role than thought. The authors say that “impulses caused by the emission of a new star may prevail over the emission of [energy] are new.”
These impulses may also be associated with other events, such as supernovae, stellar fusions, and tidal disruptions, according to the authors. But so far, researchers have not observed evidence of this. |
The beautiful image of Our Lady of Fatima was designed by famous sculptor José Thedim in 1947. Sister Lucia herself instructed him, and later remarked that she had never seen any image which so resembled the actual apparition of Our Lady.
The Bishop of Fatima entrusted the image to John Haffert, co-founder of the Blue Army, and prayed that Mary herself accompany the statue wherever it goes. It has traveled around the globe many times for nearly 70 years. In 2014, the statue was placed under the auspice of the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA and continues its pilgrim journeys today.
An uninterrupted flow of graces and favors have been reported wherever the statue has traveled, including physical cures (which can only be officially pronounced by Church authorities), and numerous conversions.
The purpose of the Pilgrim Virgin Statue tours was and still is to bring the graces of Fatima and Our Lady’s message of hope, peace and salvation to those many millions of people who may never have an opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Fatima itself.
“In 1946, I crowned Our Lady of Fatima as Queen of the World and the following year, through the Pilgrim Virgin, She set forth as though to claim Her dominion, and the favors She performs along the way are such that we can hardly believe what we are seeing with our eyes.”
–Pope Pius XII |
Might phytic acid cause iron deficiencies?
Have you ever wondered why so many of us suffer from chronic iron deficiencies? It’s so widespread nowadays that everybody seems to accept the fact that it’s kind of a normal thing to have. But is it really? Yes, women are more prone to iron deficiencies for obvious reasons but our iron storage should not be affected permanently. Do you know why iron is such an important essential mineral for our bodies? Iron is involved in various bodily functions including:
- Oxygen transport – red blood cells contain hemoglobin, a complex protein that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Hemoglobin is partly made from iron, and accounts for about two thirds of the body’s iron.
- Myoglobin – a special protein that helps store oxygen in muscle cells. Myoglobin contains iron and is responsible for the red colour of muscle.
- Enzymes – many enzymes throughout the body contain iron, including those involved in energy production. Enzymes are catalysts (they increase the rate of a chemical reaction) that drive many cell functions.
- Immune system – proper functioning of the immune system relies, in part, on sufficient iron. The immune system helps us fight infection.
There are animal sources and plant sources for iron. Heme iron, which is found in animals, is easier to absorb than plant non-heme iron. Still, a lot of people are diagnosed with iron deficiency. How come? If you have an iron deficiency, but you eat red meat or seafood the problem probably isn’t too little iron, it’s poor absorption. The reason can either be attributed to reduced stomach acid or to a chronic inflammation of the intestinal lining.
Though many plants are high in non-heme iron they often times contain iron-absorption inhibitors, such as polyphenols and oxalates. Both substances, at levels found in food, can prevent 90% or more of the iron in those foods from being absorbed. Plant sources of iron include whole grains, legumes, nuts& seeds, spinach, kale and other leafy greens or kombucha.
The secret therefore lies in the preparation of the particular plant foods!
Whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes are all high in iron but contain phytic acid which has a high chelating activity, binding to iron (and also to zinc and calcium) and preventing absorption.
The good news is that rather simple processes can reduce the amount of phytic acid significantly… these are soaking, sprouting and fermenting. Soaking grains and flour in an acidic medium at warm temperatures, as in the sourdough process, activates phytase (the enzyme that breaks up phytic acid; see my post on activation http://plantbasedhappy.com/?p=6272) and reduces or even eliminates phytic acid.
However, the story is a bit more complicated than that, because phytic acid also has a number of health benefits including antioxidant effects and protective effects against cancer and kidney stones. Once again, it seems that the quantity of this particular chemical plays an important factor and will determine whether phytic acid is a “friend or foe”.
Spinach, for example, like broccoli or carrots, contains oxalic acid, an organic substance that can interfere with the absorption of essential nutrients like calcium and iron. Oxalic acid binds with calcium, making it unavailable for use by our bodies. It also attaches to quite a few other vital nutrients, and long-term consumption of foods high in oxalic acid can lead to nutrient deficiencies. The good news is that oxalic acid is broken down upon heating, so there is limited or no loss of nutrients in steamed or sautéed spinach.
The take home message for today:
- Know how to prepare your food and make sure you reduce phytic acid as much as you can by soaking your grains/nuts/seeds and legumes.
- Know what to eat raw and what to cook.
The recipe that I am sharing today is a great example for a nutrient rich food- if activated prior to consumption. Buckinis, activated and flavored buckwheat groats that make a great addition to fresh fruits, yogurts or other breakfast bowls.
The soaked and rinsed buckwheat groats are mixed with cinnamon (has a plethora of other impressive health benefits) and maca powder, which not only gives it a delicious taste but has also positive effects on hormone balance, energy levels, and boosts overall health. Maca is rich in vitamin B vitamins, C, and E. It provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids. Click here for the Buckini recipe http://plantbasedhappy.com/?page_id=6872.
Hope you’ll enjoy these little tasty powerhouses! |
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.
After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.
The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.
During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani. |
Collecting rainwater helps you save money, while watering your garden. It also helps the environment, by reducing the amount of water that has to be extracted from the earth or processed in water treatment facilities. Besides, all you need to start collecting rainwater is right over your head.
The three elements you need to collect rainwater are collection area, transportation system and storage facility. Basically, if you have a roof, you already have a collection area. All you need to do is figure out how much rainwaterwater your garden needs and whether your roof can collect that much. If you are going to irrigate a large vegetable patch in some dry area, you are going to need a lot more rainwater, than you will need, if you are going to just water a few container plants in your patio. An average, 25 ft to 40 ft, home roof sheds around 600 gallons of rainwater in an hour, in cases of moderate rainfall, around 1 inch. This means that if you have two downspouts, they’ll divert 300 gallons of rainwater each toward the barrel under them. The more barrels you have, the more rainwater you’ll be able to collect.
The transportation system of your rainwater harvester are the gutters and the downspouts along the edges of the roof. They can be made from aluminum or plastic and need to be large enough to carry the rainwater running off the roof. For roof collection areas up to 1000 sq. ft., a 5-inch gutter and a 3-inch downspout are large enough to carry the rainwater. The larger your roof collection area, the larger size gutters and downspouts you need. Make sure there are some kind of screens, to keep leaves and other debris from clogging the downspouts.
For a storage facility for the collected rainwater, you can use barrels. Locate them under downspouts close to the driest spots in your garden. Dig out a 4-inch-deep area, the length and width of the cinder block base. Fill it with 1/4 –inch pea gravel. This will make a base to help you level the cinder blocks and drain away rainwater, to keep your foundation dry. The higher you can raise the barrels, the better the water pressure will be. It also gets the spigot higher off the ground, so you can get watering can under it. The more water you can store, the better. Short lengths of hose can be attached to individual barrels to link them together, which will boost the capacity of your rainwater collection system. Later, when you see how much water your garden needs, you can add more.
Reduce your carbon footprint and your water bills by collecting rainwater to use in your garden. Keep in mind that some states have restrictions on rainwater collection. It is best to research the regulations in your area before you start collecting rainwater. |
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