What is the kimberley process?

Conflict diamonds came to the attention of the world media during the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The UN, governments, the diamond industry and non-governmental organizations (such as Amnesty International), recognised the need for a global system to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond supply chain, which helped fund conflict. The Kimberley Process (the first meeting was held at Kimberley, South Africa in July 2000, hence the name) is a negotiating process to establish minimum acceptable international standards in the trade of diamonds from rebel-held conflict areas. Kimberly Process includes organized import and export, careful administration, combating corruption in the customs service, written invoices for diamond transactions, the presence of modern measuring and weighing instruments, and numbered and difficult-to-forge certificates. The advantages of the Kimberly system are: 1) Stemming the flow of money to rebel movements. 2) Increasing governments' transparency 3) Getting governments to keep tabs on how many diamonds they import and export and how much they are worth. 4) Facilitating a system whereby governments can be held accountable for the relationship between income and public spending.

Whatis a cyrus cylinder?

The Cyrus Cylinder is a clay cylinder on which a declaration issued by the emperor Cyrus II of Persia is inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform. It has been described as the world's first charter of human rights, predating the Magna Carta by more than one millennium. This has been interpreted as expressing Cyrus' respect for humanity

Which is the most pointless gadget?

In a recent survey, an electric nail file, which gives a smooth finish to nails, all for a whopping £250, was voted the most pointless gadget of all times. While laser-guided scissors which helps cut a perfectly straight line came in second, electric candles were third.

Why is the taj trapezium zone and why is it called so?

Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) is a defined area of 10,400 sq km around the Taj Mahal to protect the monument from pollution. The Supreme Court of India delivered a ruling on December 30,1996 regarding industries covered under the TTZ, in response to a PIL seeking to protect the Taj Mahal from environmental pollution. The SC banned the use of coal/ coke in industries located in the TTZ with a mandate for switching over from coal/ coke to natural gas, and relocating them outside the TTZ or shutting down. The TTZ comprises over 40 protected monuments including three World Heritage Sites - the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. TTZ is so named since it is located around the Taj Mahal and is shaped like a trapezoid.

What are galactic superclusters?

Each galaxy has billions of stars. Such galaxies are not uniformly spaced in the universe but exist in groups and clusters; a group containing up to 40-50 galaxies and clusters containing about thousands of galaxies. These groups and clusters along with isolated galaxies may form larger clusters known as galactic superclusters. These are the largest structures of matter found in the universe. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a member of a local group of galaxies, which is in turn a part of the Virgo supercluster.

What is the age of antonines?

The Age of Antonines is often referred to two successive ages of Roman emperors —Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius —who ruled between 138 AD and 180 AD and were famous for their skilled leadership. The age is also known as the transitional phase of the Roman empire, hi 138 AD, after a long reign dedicated to the cultural unification and consolidation of the empire, emperor Hadrian named his son as heir, under the condition that he adopt both Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Hadrian died the same year, and Antoninus began a peaceful, benevolent reign, in contrast to Hadrian's wars of unification and his immediate predecessors' expansionist wars. He adhered strictly to Roman traditions and institutions and willingly shared his power with the Roman senate. Marcus Aurelius succeeded Pius after his death in 161 AD and continued his legacy as an unpretentious and gifted administrator and leader. Marcus Aurelius died in 180 AD and was followed by his son Commodus who single-handedly ended this golden age of Roman empire.

What is the golden rule?

An almost universal principle of ethics, the Golden Rule, is summarised by the phrase 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. Variations in this theme recur across most religions and ethical philosophies, including Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, in the Mahabharata, the Book of Leviticus, in the philosophies of Kant, Mills and Rawl's Theory of Justice. Deep Ecology also recognises the Golden Rule with relation to species and ecosystems on Earth.

Where did surfing originate?

The sport of riding on the crest or along the tunnel of a wave, especially while standing or lying on a surfboard is called surfboarding. Originally developed by Hawaiian islanders before the 15th century, 'he'e nalu' spread in the early 20th century to mainland USA and Australia, where heavy timber plank boards were ridden directly towards beaches. The sport exploded in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, when cheaper, more manoeuvrable, and lighter boards made of fiber glass and foam became available and teenaged baby boomers headed to the beaches in droves to enjoy the manoeuvrability and stunts made possible by the new boards.

Who are hippy-crites?

Hypocritical celebrities or those who espouse a cause but don't live by the principles they preach. The word hippy-crite particularly refers to those celebrities guilty of environmental hypocrisy For instance, those who complain about pollution but nonetheless use products that pollute. Hippy-crites also refer to wannabe hippies —those who claim they are hippies but don't exactly lead such a lifestyle.

What is urban mining?

Urban mining is the European fancy name for the process of making money out of garbage using sophisticated machinery Urban mining is the process of reclaiming precious and minor metals from old electronic equipment. With the soaring price of metals, such recycling of previously mined metals is lucrative — 1 tonne of ore from a gold mine produces just 5 gms of gold on an average, whereas 1 tonne of discarded mobile phones can yield 150 gms or more, according to a study by Yokohama Metal Co Ltd, a recycling firm. The same volume of discarded mobile phones also contains around 100 kg of copper and 3 kg of silver, among other metals.

What is the backwash effect?

Gunnar Myrdal in 1956 said that regional differences are the natural outcome of economic development and the inevitable result of market forces. No one region can prosper, he said, without adversely affecting the prosperity of another. Economic growth takes place initially where there are such natural advantages as a source of fuel or a supply of raw materials. Once in existence, this region of economic development sets in motion the process of cumulative causation. Myrdal called the movement of wealth from poorer regions to the central rich region the backwash effect. It takes place because of better facilities and opportunities offered by the growing region. To enhance this difference further, a rich area may flood the markets of poorer areas with cheap products. The result is an industrially expanding region on the one hand and stagnating, or even declining, region on the other. :

What is grounded theory?

Grounded Theory is described as a research method in which the theory is developed from the data, rather than the other way around. That makes it an inductive approach, meaning it moves from the specific to the general. The Grounded Theory was developed by two sociologists, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. Their collaboration in research on dying hospital patients led them to write the book Awareness of Dying.

How are corrective lenses made?

The lab technician selects a lensblank that has the correct segment (called an add) and a base curve close to the prescribed power. Then to make the power match the prescription exactly, another curve is ground on the back of the lens blank. In most labs, the equipment is designed to grind minus curves, so a strong, plus lens blank is usually selected. If the base curve is too strong, then a minus curve is ground in the back of the lens which reduces the total power of the lens. Corrective lenses can be made with glass or plastic. Advances in automation are rapidly changing how lenses are made. For example, the vast majority of labs now use computers to determine curve parameters and lens choice, and equipment is available that will combine several steps or even do the entire operation automatically

Can cosmic rays generate electricity?

The jury is still out on whether we can generate electricity from cosmic rays but while many feel that in theory it may be possible, in practice it could be in very small amounts, hi any case, tapping cosmic rays is a very complex engineering problem and the cost of doing so could be prohibitively high.

How do sunglasses filter ultraviolet rays?

A special clear coating is applied to the lenses, either on the front or back of the lens, or sometimes both sides. It's a transparent coating and can be applied to any colour of lens including clear. The UV-filtering effect, however, is more complex. UV-filtering lenses are coated with special chemicals that allow light to pass through them, but reflect away UV, UV rays are basically high-frequency light waves which means that the chemical structure has to be built to deflect higher frequency light while allowing through lower frequency; light. The most complicated sun-glasses are prescription sunglasses. These are sunglasses that not only protect from light and UV but also work like normal glasses to correct the eyesight. For this to work, it requires that normal vision-correction glasses are taken, tinted and coated with UV-reflecting chemicals.

Why is the spring festival celebrated?

The ancient town of Hama in Syria is well known for its Spring Festival celebrated every year for, two weeks in April. This festival had its origins in the 2nd millennium BC when it would be celebrated to offer prayers and sacriflees to Adonis, the god of fertility However, the tradition disappeared gradually over the centuries and reappeared briefly in the 1930s, with the organization of carnivals and games during April. During World War n, the festival suffered a setback, and was revived in 1998 and been celebrated annually without a break. In the local language, it's called the Muhrajan-al-Rabi and the objective is to display local customs and traditions and help preserve the heritage of Hama. The, festival is characterised by many cultural and sports activities, and bazaars selling native food, handicrafts, and textiles.

What is the supermemo?

It's software that facilitates speed learning, particularly of languages. It's based on an algorithm which calculates the precise moment when a person is likely to forget something she has learnt. The program would then remind her about going over that information once again, during those times. It was invented by Piotr Wozniak.

What is a memristor?

Memristor is claimed to be the fourth basic element to electrical circuit theory along with the capacitor, resistor and inductor. It was recently discovered in HP Labs. It's most interesting characteristic is that it remembers the amount of charge that flows through it. So, it is named as memory resistor or memristor. Researchers believe the discovery will pave the way for instantly booting PCs, more energy-efficient computers, and new analog computers that can process and associate information in a manner similar to the human brain. Also, memristors can be used as either digital switches or to build a new breed of analog devices.

What is a ghost word?

A ghost word is one that has entered the language through the perpetuation of an error. It is a term invented by lexicographer W W Skeat in 1886 to denote words that are not real words. In Transactions of the Philological Society' (1886) Skeat says, "We should jealously guard against all chances of giving any undeserved record of words which had never any real existence, being mere coinages due to the blunders of printers or scribes, or to the perfervid imaginations of ignorant or blundering editors." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable revised by Adrian Room describes ghost words as "spurious terms, the result of errors made by authors, typists, editors, and printers, and they hardly ever become part of the language. An example of a lasting ghost word is 'dord' (meaning density) which can be found in the 1934 Merriam-Webster Dictionary second edition. 'Dord' began life as an error made in transcribing a card that read: 'D or d, meaning a capital D or small d — for density Eliminated from future Merriam-Webster editions, this ghost word lives on in the 1934 edition."

What is the prague spring?

Prague Spring refers to the period of liberalisation in Czechoslovakia from January 5,1968 to August 21,1968 under the leadership of Alexander Dubcek who controlled the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. In April 1968, agricultural and industrial reforms were instituted, a new constitution with a guarantee of civil rights and greater freedom of press was introduced with the announcement of federalization of Czechoslovakia into two nations with autonomy for Slovakia and initiation of reforms in the Communist Party and the government. However, this led to the public demanding greater reforms towards democracy The then Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries felt threatened by the likely emergence of a socialist-democratic Czechoslovakia since they felt it would weaken the Communist Bloc. On the night of August 20-August 21, 1968 armies from Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria invaded Czechoslovakia. They removed Alexander Dubcek from power and installed in his place anti-reform communists to run Czechoslovakia.

What is pixie dust?

Pixie dust is a fictional substance that is pictorially represented as a trail of a sparkling substance that follows mythical creatures such as pixies and fairies. It's also called fairy dust.

Why are planets generally spherical?

The gravitational pull of each planet basically tries to pull everything within its field toward the planet's centre, including the planet's own mass. As all areas of a planet are being pulled equally toward the centre, the planet takes a spherical shape, with all points on the surface being more or less equally distant from the centre. The smaller the planet, the weaker the gravitational pull; which is why asteroids, along with many of the smaller moons of the solar system, are not necessarily spherical in shape. Delmos, a moon of Mars, is a good example of this.

What is direct market access?

Direct Market Access (DMA) is a facility which allows brokers to offer clients direct access to the exchange trading system through the brokers' infrastructure without manual intervention by the broker. Some of the advantages offered by DMA are direct control of clients over orders, faster execution of client orders, reduced risk of errors associated with manual order entry, greater transparency, increased liquidity, lower impact costs for large orders, better audit trails and better use of hedging and arbitrage opportunities through the use of decision support tools/ algorithms for trading.

Where did the practice of sun-bathing originate?

Sunbathing has its origins in ancient civilizations. Greeks, Romans, and Sumerians considered Sun as a God, because Sun was the most powerful natural source of heat and light; as a part of Sunworship, they used to expose their bodies to sunlight. Another reason was ancient man's liking for bronzed skin, which could be easily acquired by sunbathing. In mediaeval times, however, dark skin lost its appeal because it began to be associated with the working classes, and people craved for make-up and other treatments that would make the skin look pale and white. In the beginning of the 20th century, there was a renewal of attraction for golden brown skin, especially in France. Coco Chanel, a fashion designer, and Josephine Baker, a singer, were considered responsible for triggering the resurgence of sunbathing, because their fans took a great fascination for the light brown skin they acquired by sunbathing.

Which is the earliest reality show?

The world's first reality show is Alien Funt's Candid Camera, which debuted in American television in 1948. It's considered a reality show for it involved unscripted situations involving unsuspecting people responding to pranks, which are caught on camera. It was based on a 1947-radio show called Candid Microphone.

What is a micelle?

A micelle is the cluster or aggregated particles formed by associated colloids (substances which, at high concentration, behave as colloidal solutions due to formation of micelles) in solution. Micelle formation takes place above a certain concentration called Critical Micellization Concentration (CMC) and above a particular temperature called Kraft Temperature. Every micelle system has a particular value of CMC. Micelles are primarily responsible for the cleansing action of soaps. A micelle consists of a hydrophobic hydrocarbon-like central core. The cleansing action of soap is due to the fact that soap molecules form micelle around the oil droplet in such a way that hydrophobic part of the stearate ions (from the soap solution of sodium stearate) is in the oil droplet and hydrophilic part projects out of the grease droplet like the bristles. This oil droplet surrounded by stearate ions is now pulled in water and removed from the dirty surface.

What is a shibboleth?

A shibboleth is a practice of identifying the members of a community or a clan and their social and regional origin. The term originated from the Hebrew language which literally means 'the part of the plant's. In modern usage, it is used to solve numerous conflicts between groups speaking different languages of dialects, and is also used to discover hidden members of the opposing group. Today, in English, a shibboleth has a wider meaning, referring to any 'in crowd' word or phrase that can be used to distinguish members of a group from outsiders, even when not used for a hostile purpose.

What are mocap suits?

Motion capture, or mocap, is a technique for digitally recording movement. Originally used as an analysis tool for biomechanics, mocap is now successfully employed in a wide variety of sectors including games development, advertising, events and education. Movement is captured through the placement of sensors (or markers) on or near each joint of the body As each joint moves, the positions or angles between the markers are recorded. Software records the angles, velocities, accelerations and impulses, providing an accurate digital representation of the movement. In entertainment, mocap is best known as an animation tool for films, TV and games. Not only does it save time and money but it also creates more lifelike movement than manual animation. Examples of applications include Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Polar Express and Happy Feet.

Who was called the iron chancellor?

A hundred years ago, Germany was divided into many small states, or countries. In one of these states Prussia, the chancellor, or chief minister to the king, was Otto von Bismarck. A strong and ruthless man, Bismarck made Prussia the strongest of all German states and its army feared throughout Europe. When the states were gathered into one empire in 1871, Bismarck, now a prince, and his king, now an emperor, were at its helm. Prince Bismarck continued to make the new empire stronger until he was dismissed by a new emperor in 1890. He got his nickname. 'The Iron Chancellor', when he said that Germany could only become a great power through blood andiron.

What is the e layer?

The E layer is a region of the ionosphere, extending from about 90-150 kilometres above the Earth, which influences long-distance communications by strongly reflecting radio waves in the 1-3 megahertz. It is also called E region. Heaviside layer or Kennelly. Heayiside layer. This region reflects radio waves of medium wavelength and allows their reception around the surface of the Earth. The layer approaches the Earth by day and recedes from it at night. In medical terms, it is a cylinder of relativistic electrons gyrating in the magnetic field, which produces a self field strong enough to dominate the externally applied field and produces half reversal in the system. Since the mid '20s, another connection regarding the ionosphere has been hypothesized that lightning can interact with the lower ionosphere. According to this theory thunderstorms could modulate the transient, localized patches of relatively high-electron density in the mid-ionosphere E layer, which significantly affects radio-wave propogation.

Why is the turtle island called so?

The Turtle Island, located about 10 kms off the coast of Toucheng in Yilan County (Taiwan), has a volcanic terrain that, from certain angles, looks like a turtle floating in the sea. Hence, it is known as Turtle Island. Among the features of the island are high cliffs, steaming fumaroles (an opening in a volcano), welling underwater hot springs, mountain peaks, sea-eroded caves, a lake and unique cliff ' vegetation as well as rich marine ecological resources.

Which is the world's longest mobile phone?

The longest mobile is NEED, a concept phone created by designer Tamer Koseli, which is about 14 cm long and is narrow in width. Koseli bucked the current trend in mobile phones which come with features like a camera and MP3 players. He wanted to create a phone pared of these so-called superfluous features. NEED has an OLED display which shows basic information, and also sports a touch screen.

What does freefonix refer to?

Freefonix is a 40-episode, 3D animated music project created by Magnus Fiennes, Alex Tate and Simeon Warburton and produced by an Indian company and BBC. It is targeted at children and uses music and animation to tell an adventure story of three teenagers who accidentally discover the existence of The Thirteenth Note which brings them power and insight.

What is a moot court?

In constitutional law, a moot court is an important part of the curriculum undertaken twice in a semester, during the class time, and students serve as both presenter and judges. A moot court is a competition, conducted at both undergraduate level and in law school, in which teams of students prepare and argue legal cases. Such cases may be real or hypothetical, and the students are given a set period to prepare. Judges are selected for the cases and the general rules are framed, some of which are: 1. Petitioners, the side bringing the case, go first; 2. Presenters have a set time period for their argument. 3. Judges may ask questions at any time. They may ask anything about the case, and are not restricted to the point or argument the presenter is making at the time. 4. After the petitioners, respondents have the same time period to present their argument. 5. At the close of the arguments, the judges meet to deliberate and they make three decisions: a. Judgment of the case on merits. b. Best overall team and c. Best individual presenter.

What is the stroboscopic effect?

The stroboscopic effect is a phenomenon due to interrupted illumination of a moving object. When an oscillating body is seen in periodically interrupted light (a series of light flashes occurring at a definite rate) it appears different. If the periodicity of the vibrating body is same as that of the flashing light, the body appears to be stationary. In movies, when a wagon with spiked wheels comes to a stop, the wheels often appear to stand still, then turn backward, stop, turn forward, and then stop again. This is due to the stroboscopic effect. A stroboscope is a light source emitting light with different but definite interruption rates. It is used to determine the frequency of a vibrating body or revolutions per minute of a rotating body Car engines are tuned with the help of stroboscopic lights.

Which country has the largest reserves of petroleum?

Saudi Arabia has the largest petroleum reserves in the world. It comprises almost l/4th (24 %) of the world's proven total petroleum reserves. Saudi Arabia's economy is petroleum-based; roughly 75% of budget revenues and 90% of export earnings come from the oil industry. Officially, it has about 260 billion barrels (41,000,000,000 cubic metres) of oil reserves. It has become one of the rapidly growing countries in terms of the average per-eapita income.

What is a sovereign wealth fund?

A Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is an investment fund owned by a government. The funds invested through such funds are usually the proceeds of non-renewable natural resources or a higher return alternative to holding foreign currency. An SWF differs from government funds that invest in their own country as these are usually driven by the desire to direct the economy in some way, for example, by investing in industries whose growth will have some benefit for the broader economy. The primary aim of an SWF is generating high returns.

What's unique about the rio grande river?

Rio Grande in Spanish means big river. Two different rivers bear the above name: the first is the river flowing through the eastern part of Jamaica, and the second, the river originating in the US and flowing through the southern United States and Mexico. Rio Grande of Jamaica is the largest source of fresh water in Jamaica and provides water to Jamaica's capital Kingston. It's popular among tourists for rafting, which originally was used in the river for transporting bananas from several inland transplantations to Port Antonio harbour. Rio Grande of the US is its third longest river (1885 miles) and serves as the natural boundary between Texas and Mexico. In spite of being a long river, the river, today, suffers from a low rate of flow and hardly empties into the sea. Because of drought and overuse, the river faces a serious threat of extinction.

What is llanfair pg?

Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwil is the short form and commonly used name of a village located on the island of Anglesey in Wales. The long form of the village's name is Llan fairpwilg wyngyllgogery chwyrndrobwilllanty siliogogogoch, which is Welsh for 'St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave'. This is the longest officially recognized place name in the United Kingdom and one of the longest worldwide with 58 letters. The long name was given in 1860s to the village to develop it as a commercial and tourist centre. The village was connected with London in 1850 by the railway and this artificially contrived name gave the village's railway station the honour of having the longest name in the UK.

Who has written the maximum number of books?

Phillip M Parker, an American, has written 200,000 books. He has devised computer algorithms which write text, search and do many more defined operations which have helped him write these books. Among his publications include The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Acne Rosacea (168 pages), Stickler Syndrome: A Bibliography and Dictionary for Physicians, Patients and Genome Researchers (126 pages), The 2007-2012 Outlook for Tufted Washable Scatter Rugs, Bathmats and Sets That Measure 6-Feet by 9-Feet or Smaller in India (144 pages). ii) The Guinness Book of World Records ranks Mary Faulkner (1903-1973) as the most prolific novelist, having written 904 books. Mary wrote under six pen names, which include Kathleen Lindsay, Margaret Cameron, Mary Richmond, Molly Waring and Hugh Desmond. Some of her books are There is No Yesterday and Wind of Desire, and Harvest of Deceit.

What is a banana bond?

A chemical bond is the phenomenon of chemical species like atoms held together by electrostatic or electronic forces. Of the several types of chemical bonds, a special type exists in the molecule of boron hydride BH3 which exists as a dimer B2H6 molecule. It contains two types of hydrogen atoms. Four hydrogen atoms are of one type, which are used in making four normal covalent bonds with two boron atoms (two with each of the boron atoms). The remaining two H atoms form bridges between the two boron atoms through threecentre electron-pair bonds. This type of bond involves three atoms but only two electrons. Since the shape of the electron cloud of the three-centre electron pair bond resembles the shape of a banana, it is called a banana bond.

What is a solid state drive?

Solid State Drives, or SSDs as they are popularly called, are new age storage drives and are slowly but gradually replacing traditional hard drives. A hard disk has heads, magnetic surfaces and many other complex moving parts, which enable it to function properly but they also make the hard disks fallible. The moving parts also make hard disks slower in reading and writing data. Whereas the SSD has no moving parts, no heads, and works on a principle similar to a RAM. Solid State Drives used either SDRAM or NAND Flash. Solid State Drives will replace the traditional hard disks due to their inherent advantages - they operate at higher speeds, data can be fetched almost immediately and there is no time lag between the data request sent and transfer of data.

How is inflation calculated?

Each country has its own method to calculate inflation. However, it reflects how the market prices affect a person's purchasing capacity. In India, it is based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) where the price level of the data of 435 commodities is tracked through WPI. It is an indicator of movement of prices of commodities in all trade and transactions. In India, it is done on a weekly basis.

What is the russian avantegarde movement?

The term avante garde refers generally to art for the sake of social progress. But sometimes, the term is also used to refer to experimental and innovative art without any specific social purpose. The term is used with the former meaning in Russia, which experienced a great art reform in the period 1917-1932 in the wake of the Russian revolution. The Russian avantegarde movement is attributed to a group of about twenty artists, whose works had a great influence on the abstract art of the country of that period. The members of the movement were mostly located in St Petersberg and Moscow. Although their work had a great imi pact, these artists lacked unity, and had bitter quarrels among them| selves, each individual and sub group considering others as insignificant and wrong.

What are the webby awards?

The Webby Awards honour websites on the internet. The awards were first given away in 1996 by the now defunct magazine 'The Web'. Private investors now own the award. A Webby tradition is that the acceptance speech of the winner shouldn't exceed five words.

What is a telectroscope?

A telectroscope has several meanings. It is the first prototype of a television system. Imaginary systems of distant seeing were also referred to as telectroscope in the 19th century. In recent times, a installation art by Paul St John with a visual high-speed broadband link between London and New York City has also been called a telectroscope.

What is a 120-cell?

A 120-cell is a finite regular four-dimensional polytope with the schlafli symbol 5,3,3 (a notation to define polytopes and tessalations). It is also known as hyperdodecahedron or hecatonicosachorn and is composed of 120 docahedra, hence it is known as 120-cell. The 120-cell has 600 vertices, 720 pentagons and 11,200 edges. It is one of the six regular polychora.

What is proton therapy?

All matter consists of atoms and all atoms have protons along with other subatomic particles. When an accelerated beam of proton, (with a particle accelerator) is incident on the target tissue like a tumour, due to their relatively enormous size, protons scatter less easily in the tissue and there is very little lateral dispersion. Therefore, the beam stays focused on the tumour shape without much lateral damage to surrounding tissue. The use of protons for radiotherapy is called proton radiotherapy and like other forms of radiotherapy it involves the energized, accelerated, and ionizing protons on the target tumour.

What is the white cloud formed when a plane breaks through the sound barrier?

The sound barrier, a sharp rise in aerodynamic drag, occurs when a plane reaches the speed of sound. For an aircraft flying at subsonic speed, the pressure .waves generated by it extend in all directions, and, outspeeding the craft, transmit the disturbance uniformly. However, for supersonic speeds, the pressure field is confined to an area extending in a Mach cone from the rear of the craft. The waves are unable to get out of the way of the aircraft, and strong local shockwaves act on the wing and body of the plane. These shockwaves squeeze moisture in the air to give rise to a cloud-like effect.

When was kindergarten started?

The first kindergarten was started by German educator Friedrich Froebel in 1837 in Blankenburg, Prussia (now part of Germany). Kindergarten literally means children's garden. Froebel chose the German term kindergarten because he intended children in his school to grow as freely as flowers in a garden. Froebel based his educational philosophy on a belief in the innate creativity of children. His kindergarten stressed that children should spend part of each day engaged in play to naturally develop their creative and intellectual potential. At the time, almost no child under the age of seven attended school, but Froebel designed his kindergarten for children between three and seven. The kindergarten became widely admired for its Innovative teaching strategies and Froebel's followers soon established other kindergartens based on his philosophy.

What is the significance of jerusalem day?

Jerusalem Day, called Yom Yerushalayim by the Jews, is the festival celebrated by Israel every year on the 28th day of the lyar month of the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem by Israel during a six-day war in 1967. Many sites, including Temple Mount, considered holy by the Jews, are located in the Old City of Jerusalem, and JewslfaVe been denied access to the Old City for hundreds of years. Even after the formation of Israel in 1948, Jews had control over only western Jerusalem and not the eastern part which contained the Old City Thus, liberation of Jerusalem in 1967 marked an important milestone in Jewish history, because with the liberation of the Old City, centuries of waiting and struggle by the Jews ended, and Jerusalem was subsequently united.

What are cladograms?

Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of species based on evolutionary ancestry. It's distinct from other taxonomic classification systems because it focuses on evolution rather than similarities between species. This is because it places heavy emphasis on objective and quantitative analysis. Cladistics generates diagrams called cladograms that represtait the evolutionary tree of life. The starting point of cladistic analysis is a group of species and molecular, morphological, or other data characterising those species. The end result is a treelike relationship diagram which is the cladogram. It graphically represents a hypothetical evolutionary process.

What is the large hadron collider project?

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), currently being built at CERN near Geneva, is the largest scientific instrument on the planet. When it begins operations later this year, it will produce roughly 15 petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of data annually, which scientists worldwide will access and analyse. The mission of the LHC Computing Project (LCG) is to build and maintain a data storage and analysis infrastructure.

What is the anti-greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect occurs when the atmosphere lets sunlight in and blocks in radiation from escaping. IfTtigTrot so, then the temperature on Earth which is 15 degrees Celsius would be -15 degrees Celsius. Imagine a layer that stops light from getting in and lets infrared out. An anti-greenhouse effect does the same thing to heat it lets heat out but doesn't let it in. The conventional greenhouse effect occurs because the atmosphere is largely transparent to solar radiation, but largely opaque to infrared. In an anti-greenhouse effect, this situation is reversed and this will cause cooling. This effect is only known to occur on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

Which mutual fund scheme is the oldest in world?

Sherman Adams was a daring Boston broker who in 1924 introduced the world's first mutual fund, the MIT Fund, or Massachusetts Investors Trust Fund. By investing in the MIT Fund, customers could buy or sell their shares whenever they wanted, rather than tie their money up for a set number of years. After the MIT Fund survived the stock market crash of 1929, more mutual funds cropped up, leading to a massive mutual fund industry. Now, the MIT Fund is managed by MFS Investment Management.

What is continuous partial attention?

A state in which most of one's attention is on a primary task, but where one is also monitoring several background tasks. CPA is that state most of us enter when we're in front of a computer screen, or trying to check out at the grocery store with a cellphone pressed to one ear or blogging the proceedings of a conference while it's under way. We're aware of several things at once, shifting our attention to whatever is more urgent.

What's the royal ascot parade?

Ascot is a town in southern England where horse races are held and Royal Ascot is the most famous and popular race meeting. The Queen and the royal family normally attend every day The royal procession in a horse-drawn carriage, scheduled before racing on each day is the Royal Ascot parade. It was started in 1711 by Queen Anne. The Royal Enclosure has a strict dress code. Male attendees must wear full morning dress, including a top hat, while ladies must not show bare midriffs or shoulders, and must wear hats. There are 16 group races on offer, with at least one group one event on each of the five days.

Why is it cooler at higher altitudes?

As we go up, the air becomes thinner. Air molecules absorb heat from sunlight and ollide with each other. As they collide, the heat is dissipated into the atmosphere. So, where the concentration of air is high, like in the plains, the atmosphere becomes hot. At higher altitudes, because of presence of lesser number of air molecules, the number of collision nd resultant heat dissipation become less. This is why it's cooler at higher altitudes.

Why is it cooler at higher altitudes?

High altitudes normally begin at 1500 metres above sea level. At such altitudes, the atmospheric pressure is considerably lower than at sea level. To give some examples: the pressure at sea level is 14.7 pounds per square inch and it decreases through 4.3 psi at 30,000 ft to 1.6 psi at 50,000 ft. Because of this, the ayexpands as it rises and this causes it to cool. That is why it is cooler on top of mountains.

Why is it cooler at higher altitudes?

Air in the atmosphere is not heated directly by the sun. It's the surface of the Earth that's heated by the sun and the layer of air in immediate contact with the Earth's surface gets heated due to conduction. As you go away from the surface of the Earth, the heating by conduction keeps decreasing and, therefore, it is cooler at higher altitudes. That is the basic explanation. There are other factors like rising of the air in immediate contact with the surface of the Earth due to heating and, thereby, distributing heaf to the upper layers.

What's the origin of 'touch wood'?

There are several theories. According to one, it originates from the pagan belief that good spirits reside in trees such as oak, and hence, touching wood or knocking on wood would help ward off evil spirits. According to an ancient Celtic belief, trees can conduct evil spirits, much like a conductor absorbing heat. Some would knock'on wood to thank mythical creatures named leprechauns for bestowing good luck. Also, since Jesus Christ was crucified on a wooden cross, touching a wooden crucifix was, therefore, a form of praying for good luck.

How does a cryogenic engine work?

The cryogenic engine gets its name from the extremely cold temperature at which liquid nitrogen is stored. Air moving around the vehicle is used to heat liquid nitrogen to a boil. Once it boils, it turns to gas in the same way that heated water forms steam in a steam engine. A rocket like the Ariane 5 uses oxygen and hydrogen, both stored as a cryogenic liquid, to produce its power. The liquid nitrogen, stored at -320 degrees Fahrenheit, is vaporized by the heat exchanger. Nitrogen gas formed in the heat exchanger expands to about 700 times the volume of its liquid form. This highly pressurised gas is then fed to the expander, where the force of the nitrogen gas is converted into mechanical power.

What is the freedom of the seas?

Freedom of the Seas is the doctrine that ships of any nation may travel through international waters unhampered. It is the right of neutral shipping in wartime to trade at will except where blockades are established.

Why do particles and anti-particles, when they come in contact, annihilate each other?

For sub-atomic particles like electrons and protons, there exist corresponding particles with the same mass but opposite electrical and magnetic characteristics. For example, the electron's anti-particle, positron, possesses the same mass as the electron, but carries a positive charge. The anti-particles are produced naturally in radioactive decay In the universe, the number of regular sub-atomic particles and anti-particles is not the same; most matter in the universe is made of regular particles. When a particle and its anti-particle come in con- tact, both of them disappear giving rise to energy in the form of photons, gamma rays, etc. In such a reaction, if the particle and antiparticle pair does not annihilate itself, the sum total of mass energy before and after the reaction would not be the same, leading to a violation of the law of conservation of mass and energy.

What is the international space station?

The most ambitious project since the Apollo missions to land a man on the moon, the International Space Station (ISS) is the next step in human exploration of the solar system. It is a joint venture between 16 nations, and the largest scientific cooperative programme in history All power for the space station is generated by large arrays of solar panels connected to the main structure of the station. Also, attached to this framework are corrugated panels, which act as radiators, dispersing the excess heat from the station into space. Astronauts will live and work in the cylindrical modules between the solar panel arrays and will eventually be able to spend many years at a time in space.

What is the privacy paradox?

Although people are particular about safeguarding their privacy, many have no qualms in divulging critical information about themselves on public forums like social networking sites. Researchers have dubbed this the privacy paradox. It refers to how people's opinions and impulses about protecting their private information tend to be contradictory

How are points in a stock exchange calculated?

Points or index refers to a figure indicative of the health of the stock market. The most widely used index is sensex or sensitive index which is based on weighted value of 30 numbers of most traded shares in the Mumbai stock exchange. Each stock has a percentage share in a total of 100 and affects the value of the sensex accordingly Similarly Nifty is the index of 100 selected stocks which are most traded. There are others like midcap, small cap, large cap, banking, real estate, etc.

What is the treynor ratio?

The Treynor Ratio (reward-tovolatility ratio) was developed by Jack Treynor, one of the fathers of modern portfolio theory the ratio measures the returns earned from a portfolio over and above the normal return that would have been earned on a risk-free investment. The formula for the Treynor Ratio is: average return of the portfolio minus average return of the risk free rate divided by the beta of the portfolio. In short, the excess return over the risk-free return of the portfolio is divided by the beta of the portfolio to get the Treynor Ratio. Beta is a measure of market-related risk in a stock or collection of stocks. A high Treynor Ratio indicates better performance. A risk-free investment is akin to an investment in a government of India Treasury bill.

Which is the biggest container port in the world?

Singapore is said to be the biggest port handling 26.9 million standard boxes, though China now claims that in 2008, Shanghai has overtaken Singapore and expected to handle 30 million TEUs (twentyfeet equivalent units, a measure used in transport). In 2002, it was claimed that Hong Kong in China was the biggest container port.

What is the great manmade river?

The Great Manmade River (better known as GMR) is a network of pipes that supplies water from the Sahara desert to Libya from a fossil aquifer. This aquifer is known as Nublon Sandstone Aquifer System. GMR is considered to be the largest underground network of pipes in the world. It has more than 1,300 wells supplying more than 7,100,000 cubic metres of freshwater per day to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt and other major cities of this African nation. Some wells are as deep as 650 metres. In 1953, when drilling for the search of oil, explorers found huge quantities of freshwater. GMRP (Great Manmade River Project) was developed in 1960 and it took shape in 1984. About 88 million cubic metres of excavation was done for the completion of the first of five phases, and it. was inaugurated on August 28,1991. This mammoth project, designed by Brown Root and Price Brothers, is funded by the Libyan government and owned by the Great Manmade River Authority The Guiness Book of World Records has acknowledged it as the world's largest irrigation project.

What is sistine chapel famous for?

The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV It's best known for being the location of papal conclaves, for the election of a new Pope. It is famous for its architecture, evocative of Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament and on its decoration which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, and Sandro Botticelli.

What do riders represent in the fiesta of san joan?

The Spanish fiesta of San Joan dates back to the 14th century and has religious significance. The riders participating in it or caixers as they are called represent the social strata of the church, nobility, craftsmen and country people (mostly farmers).

What does zumba refer to?

Zumba is a cardio-fitness regime based on Latin rhythms developed by a former aerobics instructor Alberto Perez from Colombia. A Zumba class would span several Latin dance styles including Mambo, Salsa, Cumbia and Merengue. Another unique feature of a Zumba class is its party atmosphere unlike a typical aerobics class.

Which country receives the highest rainfall in the world?

Of the 95 wettest countries in the world, Guinea, Solomon Islands and Sierra Leone are ranked the top three in order of maximum rainfall received on an average in a year, according to the World Statistics Pocket Book and the Statistical Yearbook of the United Nations. The records are for the period 1931-1960. Guinea, also known as the Republic of Guinea, with its capital named Conakry, is in Western Africa receives a monsoon-type of rainfall from June to November. Against the global weighted annual average rainfall of 9.627 cm, Guinea gets 37.84 cm, the Solomon Islands gets 32.90 cm and Sierra Leone gets 29.46 cm. Conakry is the wettest capital in the world and receives rainfall on ah average of 134 days each year. India is the ninth wettest country with 21.68 cm of average annual rainfall. The UN World Statistics for 2007 record these figures: Guinea - 37.76 cm, Solomon Islands - 32.9 cm, Sierra Leone - 29.46 cm and India 24.01 cm. Guinea was still top of the list and India retained the ninth position.

How do iridium spark plugs differ from regular ones?

Iridium is a precious, silver-white metal and one of the densest materials found on earth. The natural properties of iridium makes the spark plug use less voltage to create a spark, burn fuel more efficiently and spark at leaner air fuel mixtures. It delivers higher horsepower and better mileage.

Why do the nilgiris appear blue from a distance?

Not only the Nilgiris, but almost all mountains appear blue from a distance. This is due to a phenomenon known as the Rayleigh Scattering Effect. The light from the sun, due to which we see the mountains, is scattered by atmospheric molecules. The electric field of the incident sunlight oscillates the electrons in these molecules which, in turn, radiate light. Light having shorter wavelength (the blue end of the visible range) gets deviated the maximum from its original direction. Hence, mountains, which are near the horizon, appear bluish when the sun is higher in the sky. (ii) The term Nilgiris is the English equivalent of 'Nilagiri', Tamil for Blue Mountains. The strikingly blue colour of the hills is attributed to the clustered bloom of the mass-flowering species 'Strobilanthes kunthiana', called 'Neela kurinji' in Tamil on the hill-slopes. The funnel-shaped blossoms appear only once in 12 years and are light blue in the young plants and purplish blue in the older ones.

What is surface diffusion?

Surface diffusion is a general process involving the motion of adatoms (adsorbed atom lying on a crystal surface, used in surface chemistry when describing single atoms lying on surfaces and surface roughness), molecules, and atomic clusters (adparticles) at solid material surfaces. Tunnelling diffusion is a particularly interesting example of an unconventional mechanism wherein hydrogen has been shown to diffuse on clean metal surfaces via the quantum tunnelling effect.

What is a flophouse?

A flophouse is a place of cheap lodging. It's normally an apartment where some occupants pay rent while others are unemployed and do nothing with their lives except party and abuse drugs. They generally share bathroom facilities and reside in very cramped quarters. The people who use these places are often called transients, although some people stay in them for years. They are just a step above being homeless. Quarters in flophouses are very small and may resemble office cubicles more than a regular hotel room. In the past, flophouses were called working men's hotel and were rather dirty. Some cities that have flophouses in abundance become well known in their own right such as the Bowery in New York.

How are points in a stock exchange calculated?

Nifty is actually an index of 50, not 100, stocks. Also, sensex is calculated on free-float market cap only i.e. shares held by the public and not by promoters. But, Nifty is calculated by total market capitalisation. Hence, shares like ONGC where the promoter holding is large gets very little weight in the sensex as compared to the Nifty.

Who is a hypermiler?

Hypermilers are those who try to extract every bit of mileage from their cars by trying out various techniques like coasting when it's possible, at times even switching off the engine, not switching on the air-conditioner, etc. The term originated in hybrid driving clubs. Some radical techniques are employed by hypermilers, which are called renegades. They use extreme techniques that may even compromise their security

What is the grettis saga?

The Grettis Saga is one of the finest Icelandic family sagas, which details the life of Grettis Asmundarson, an Icelandic warrior who became an outlaw. It was written in the 13th and early 14th century Well-born, brave but troubleprone Grettis, at 14, kills a man in a quarrel and is outlawed. He spends these years in Norway performing many brave deeds. On his return to Iceland, he saves people from the malicious ghost of Glam. The dying fiend imposes a curse on him, predicting that he will grow afraid of the dark. Grettis accidentally kills the chieftain's son and is outlawed again. Grettis is pursued by kinsmen of men he has wronged and by other outlaws for the price on his head. At last, his enemies overwhelm him with the aid of witchcraft. His brother avenges his death. The saga's theme can be summed up thus: good gifts and good luck are often worlds apart.

What is the windfall tax?

The windfall tax is what's imposed on windfall gains, an abnormal increase in the profits of any organization or company in the normal course of its business due to certain circumstances. A good example would be the recent increase in the price of oil over the world. In this case, the oil exploration and production (E&P) companies will make huge gains if they sell oil to local refining companies at international prices, which are high. Such a gain is due to circumstances favouring E&P companies and not due to their cost-cutting or other efficient operations. These are windfall gains and the tax on such gains is called windfall tax.

What is unique about the hangzhou bay bridge?

Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a bridge across Hangzhou Bay off the eastern coast of China. It links the municipalities of Shanghai and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. It's the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world although it does not have the longest cable-stayed main span. The bridge is 36 km long with six expressway lanes in two directions. The construction started on June 8, 2003 and was completed on June 14, 2007. It is not open for public transportation but is only being used for test and evaluation purpose.

Why the bucket seat in automobiles is called so?

According to some sources, the word bucket comes from the French word 'baquet' which means cockpit. A bucket seat is much more comfortable, especially for long journeys. Bucket seats came into use after World War II in small cars due to the lack of seating room for a third passenger on account of the presence of a floor-mounted gear handle.

What is pareto's (80-20) rule of automation?

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian engineer-sociologist who, in the 19th century studied the number of people in various income classes and represented his findings in diagrams. His important conclusion was that 80% of the total wealth in the world is owned by 20% of people and that 20% of wealth is owned by 80% of people. A similar pattern is observed in many other problem areas where number of causes contribute to a particular problem. In other words, 20% of the causes contribute to 80% of the problem. The specific Pareto's (80-20) rule for automation is, however, unheard of.

What is special about the garden city of palkenberg?

The Garden City of Falkenberg is a housing estate in Berlin, Germany designed and built by the celebrated German architect and town planner Bruno Taut (1880-1938). In designing the complex, Taut applied the garden city concept he learnt from England. The most striking aspect of this architecture is its use of colour: each part of a building bears a different, contrasting colour with respect to the other parts, and all the parts together produce a harmonious and pleasing effect. Falkenberg is also the name of an important town in the Halland county on the west coast of Sweden. It is situated at the mouth of the river Atran. The town is wellknown for its food and beverage industry, and has several beaches and lakes- which form its major tourist attraction.

What is the origin of the term horse trading ?

The term horse trading. Which came into usage around 1820, owes its origin to the notorious shrewdness of horse traders who bought and sold horses? As per Macmillan English Dictionary, it means difficult and sometimes dishonest discussions between people who are trying to reach an agreement. In political parlance, it implies any long drawn-out negotiation characterised by hard bargaining and compromises. It frequently takes place in democratic institutions like legislative bodies when a parliamentarian or legislator supports some Bill or trust vote in exchange for support for one of his initiatives for another Bill or legislation.

What is moribund capitalism?

It's a concept introduced by Vladimir Lenin, who wrote that when capitalism becomes imperialistic, it is moribund capitalism. He describes the height of imperialist capitalism as "ripe and rotten-ripe capitalism" which will eventually collapse and make way for socialism. The concept was mentioned in his 1916 book, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism.

Who is hugronaphor?

Hugronaphor is a minor Nubian king of Upper Egypt, who ruled from 205 BC to 186 BC. He successfully rebelled against the then king Ptolemy IV in 205 BC and ruled a larger part of Egypt for 19 years and was succeeded by Ankhmakis.

What is a chromophore?

A chromophore is a group of atoms and electrons (or moiety) i.e. part of organic molecules responsible for its colour. It is an extended delocalised systems of electrons in a compound which gives its colour e.g. chlorophyll's porphin ring, or an azo dyes benzene ring linked to N=N double bond. When a molecule absorbs certain wavelengths of visible light and transmits or reflects others, the molecule has a colour. A chromophore is a region in a molecule where the energy difference between two different molecular orbitals falls within the range of the visible spectrum. Visible light that'hits the chromophore can thus be absorbed by exciting an electron from its ground state into an excited state. In biological molecules that serve to capture or detect light energy the chromophore is a moiety that causes a confermational change of the molecule when hit by light.

In the stock market, what is the concept of grey marketing?

Grey marketing is a trade of something legal but through unofficial and unauthorised distribution channels. In contrast, black marketing is a trade of illegal goods or services through illegal channels. The grey market of goods is to import and sell products through market channels which are not authorized by the manufacturers. It occurs when the prices of a product differs significantly in different countries. The grey market of securities markets and IPO (Initial Public Offer) is to buy and sell the shares to be allotted in the future. Once the trading is done in the grey market at a stipulated price, the seller must deliver the sold number of shares to the buyer on the day of listing to honour the commitment.

What is unique about the production 'dralion'?

'Dralion' is an entertainment show produced by Montreal-based company Cirque du Soleil Inc, well known for its circus-based dance dramas. The show 'Dralion', which has already toured different parts of the world, is currently located at Sydney and been seen by seven million people. It's main theme is to project human life as an integral part of nature, and, specifically, to celebrate the harmony between human life and the four natural elements — earth, air, water, and fire. The theme is inspired by Chinese philosophy. It's dances combine the traditional acts of Chinese circus and the gravitydefying acrobatics unique to Cirque du Soleil. The show presents a highly imaginative and magical perspective. The title is a combination of the two symbols of East and West — the dragon and the lion.

What does guyliner refer to?

Guyliner is a kohl pencil for men. It's getting popular among men in some western countries after celebrities started sporting it. The most famous examples are Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Tobey Maguire in Spiderman 3, and Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of the band Green Day

What's the origin of phrase 'gild the lily'?

William Shakespeare used a similar expression in his play King John: 'To gild refined gold, to paint the lily.. is wasteful and ridiculous excess'. Over the years, the phrase got shortened to just 'gild the lily'. Gild means to cover with a thin layer of gold. Why did Shakespeare refer to the lily? Because it is a beautiful flower, and covering it with gold to make it more beautiful would be unnecessary. So, the phrase came to mean to spoil something which is already beautiful by adding something extra.

What is. A scram shutdown and why it is called so?

SCRAM shutdown is an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor by inserting a large number of negative reactions into the system. It is derived from the World War II usage of the term 'Safety control rod axe man' which referred to emergency situations wherein a rope was cut to stop the operations urgently and to limit the damages arising out of continuance of such an operation. The dictionary meaning of scram is to leave a place very quickly, so that one is not caught.

Why is a transformer core always cubical in shape?

It is not true that cores are always cubical. Current Transformers (CTs) and Potential Transformers (PTs) have ring-type cores. Power transformers have cubical cores. The ideal transformer is to have all the magnetic flux produced by one winding linking the other. This is not attained in practical transformers. Flux that does not link both windings is called leakage flux and has the effect of adding an inductance that produces a voltage drop when there is a current. Leakage is affected by the shape of me core and by the arrangement of the windings.To reduce leakage, the core must be compact and the windings close together. (ii) The cores used in the transformer are generally made up of laminated silicon steel with high permeability (to minimize eddy current losses). They are rectangular in shape due to many reasons: i) Their winding requires lesser complexity and, hence, equipment is cheaper; ii) They are robust and need very less maintenance; in) There is