PTE Core Summarize Written Text Predictions - 5 October – 11 October 2026 Weekly Study File

Playing outdoor games is essential for children's physical and mental development. Engaging in activities such as soccer, tag, and hide-and-seek helps children improve their motor skills, coordination, and overall fitness. Outdoor play also provides opportunities for kids to socialize, develop teamwork and communication skills, and learn about cooperation and fair play. Additionally, being outside allows children to explore their environment, stimulate their imagination, and experience the benefits of fresh air and sunlight. Regular outdoor play can also reduce the risk of obesity and related health issues, while promoting a healthy and active lifestyle. In today's digital age, encouraging kids to participate in outdoor games is more important than ever to counteract the sedentary habits associated with screen time.

Who would have thought back in 1698, as they downed their espressos, that the little band of stockbrokers from Jonathan's Coffee House in Change Alley EC3 would be the founder members of what would become the world's mighty money capital? Progress was not entirely smooth. The South Sea Bubble burst in 1720, and the coffee house exchange burned down in 1748. As late as the Big Bang in 1986, when bowler hats were finally hung up, you wouldn't have bet the farm on London surpassing New York, Frankfurt, and T okyo as Mammon's international nexus. Yet the 325,000 souls who operate in the UK capital's financial hub have now overtaken their New York rivals in size of the funds managed (including offshore business); they hold 70% of the global secondary bond market, and the city dominates foreign exchange trading. And its institutions paid out £9 billion in bonuses in December. The Square Mile has now spread both eastwards from EC3 to Canary Wharf and westwards into Mayfair, where many of the private equity 'locusts' and their hedge fund pals now hang out.

Gardeners can feed their families and enrich the soil by growing legumes, such as green beans, soybeans, lentils, and peas. Legume roots produce their own nitrogen, which is a major fertilizer nutrient needed by all plants for growth. Nitrogen is produced in nodules that form on the roots of legumes, which contain Rhizobium bacteria. The bacteria take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form the plants can use. When legumes are pulled up in the fall, excess nitrogen from the nodules is left in the soil. Excess organic nitrogen can be used by other plants the following growing season. It's considered organic nitrogen because it was produced naturally, making green beans or peas great rotational crops in an organic crop production system. Organic growers prefer organic nitrogen because of its natural origins and because it breaks down slowly in the soil, thus slowly feeding plants throughout the growing season. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers tend to release nitrogen quickly and are harsher on the environment. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are generally applied in split applications during the season to mimic the slow release of organic nitrogen sources. ) [5] [th] [October – 11] [th] October 2026

In recent years, schools have increasingly recognized Esports as an educational opportunity rather than just entertainment. Many high schools and colleges now offer Esports programs, training spaces, and official teams, showing that educators recognize gaming's growing influence in society. These programs also allow students who are not interested in traditional sports to participate in group activities and feel included at school. Participating in Esports can help students build confidence, teamwork skills, and a sense of belonging. T [eam] members learn how to communicate under pressure, practice regularly to improve their performance, and support each other just like athletes in physical sports. These experiences are especially valuable for students who might feel shy or disconnected, and success in competitions often motivates them to be more active and focused in their academic life. Research and school reports show that Esports programs can even improve academic outcomes and increase graduation rates. Students involved in Esports are often more willing to attend classes, maintain passing grades, and plan for their future to stay eligible for the team. This suggests that competitive games are not a distraction, but a new pathway that helps students stay engaged in school and build long-term career goals.

Microloans are small loans designed to support individuals or small businesses that may not qualify for traditional bank loans. These loans are often part of microfinance programs that aim to promote financial inclusion and economic development. Microloans can be used for a variety of purposes, such as starting a new business, purchasing equipment, or covering short-term operating costs. One key advantage of microloans is that they are generally easier to obtain than larger bank loans, especially for borrowers with limited credit history or collateral. However, the loan amount is relatively small, typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Despite their size, microloans can make a significant impact by helping small businesses grow and become self-sustaining. When considering whether microloans are suitable for you, assess your funding needs, repayment ability, and how the loan will support your business goals. Overall, microloans are a valuable financial product for entrepreneurs seeking modest but meaningful funding.

Most successful coffeehouses have heavy foot traffic and high-volume sales. Most will serve up to 500 customers per day and manage up to five customer turnovers during the lunch hour, despite limited floor space and modest seating capacity. Profit margins for coffee and espresso drinks are extremely high. After all, you're dealing with a product that's more than 95 percent water. At the same time, your average ticket amount is around $3, so you need volume to reach and maintain profitability. Besides specialty roasted coffee by the cup, most coffeehouses also have espresso-based drinks (cappuccinos, lattes, etc.), assorted teas, bottled water and fruit juices, along with an inviting assortment of baked goods, a selection of desserts and coffee beans by the pound.

Opening a new business is an exciting yet challenging endeavor that requires meticulous planning and strategic execution. One crucial part of launching a new business is making a memorable impression on your big day, also known as the grand opening. This event not only officially introduces your business to the public but also sets the tone for your brand identity and customer experience. T o ensure a successful grand opening, offer enticing incentives and activities that attract potential customers and create buzz around your business. Consider offering exclusive discounts or special promotions to attendees to encourage purchases and help them spread the word about your business. Additionally, providing free samples or demonstrations of your products or services can give guests a firsthand experience of what your business has to offer. Hosting engaging activities, such as live music, games, or interactive workshops, can also enhance the overall atmosphere and make the event more enjoyable for guests. Another effective strategy is to offer giveaways or raffles with attractive prizes, which can incentivize attendees to participate and stay longer at your event. Collaborating with local influencers or community leaders can further amplify your reach and attract a larger crowd. Ensuring that your event is well-organized and staffed will contribute to a positive experience for your guests, leaving a lasting impression that encourages them to return. Ultimately, a successful grand opening is about creating a welcoming, memorable experience for your guests, showcasing your business's unique value, and building a foundation for long-term customer relationships. By offering appealing incentives and engaging activities, you can generate excitement and establish a strong presence in your community.

If someone used your card to buy a car without your permission, you should contact your bank. Online shopping has become increasingly popular due to its convenience, allowing consumers to purchase a wide range of products from the comfort of their homes. However, unauthorized transactions can occur, such as when someone uses your credit card to buy a car without your permission. Report such incidents promptly to your bank to initiate an investigation and potentially recover the lost funds. If a family member makes the unauthorized transaction, do not contact the bank immediately. Involving the bank could lead to police intervention, as unauthorized use of a credit card is legally considered theft, even among family members. Therefore, if possible, it is recommended to resolve the matter privately before escalating it officially. Another situation arises when a friend or acquaintance uses your card with or without your explicit consent. Depending on the circumstances, you may need to evaluate whether to pursue legal action or seek an informal resolution. Each scenario requires careful consideration of the relationship and the potential legal implications.

Urbanization has been a defining trend of the modern era, with more than half of the world's population now living in cities. Cities offer numerous advantages, including access to better job opportunities, healthcare, education, and cultural amenities. The concentration of people and resources in urban areas drives economic growth and innovation, making cities engines of development. Additionally, cities often serve as melting pots of diverse cultures, fostering social integration and the exchange of ideas. However, living in cities also presents several challenges. Urban areas are frequently plagued by issues such as traffic congestion, pollution, and high living costs. The dense population can strain infrastructure and public services, leading to problems like inadequate housing and healthcare facilities. Furthermore, cities are often characterized by stark inequalities, with significant disparities in wealth and access to resources between different neighborhoods. The rapid pace of urbanization can exacerbate these issues, as cities struggle to accommodate the growing population. Sustainability is another critical concern for urban living. The high energy consumption and waste generation associated with city life contribute to environmental degradation and climate change. T [o address these] challenges, urban planners and policymakers are increasingly focusing on creating sustainable, livable cities. This involves promoting public transportation, green spaces, renewable energy sources, and efficient waste management systems. By adopting such measures, cities can enhance the quality of life for their residents while minimizing their environmental impact. Ultimately, while cities offer numerous benefits, they also require careful planning and management to ensure that they remain vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable places to live.

Opening a new business is an exciting yet challenging endeavor that requires meticulous planning and strategic execution. One of the crucial aspects of launching a new business is making a memorable impression on your big day, also known as the grand opening. This event not only serves as the official introduction of your business to the public but also sets the tone for your brand's identity and customer experience. T o ensure a successful grand opening, it is essential to offer enticing incentives and activities that will attract potential customers and create a buzz around your business. Consider offering exclusive discounts or special promotions to attendees, which can encourage them to make purchases and spread the word about your business. Additionally, providing free samples or demonstrations of your products or services can give guests a firsthand experience of what your business has to offer. Hosting engaging activities, such as live music, games, or interactive workshops, can also enhance the overall atmosphere and make the event more enjoyable for guests. Another effective strategy is to offer giveaways or raffles with attractive prizes, which can incentivize attendees to participate and stay longer at your event. Collaborating with local influencers or community leaders can further amplify your reach and attract a larger crowd. Ensuring that your event is well-organized and staffed will contribute to a positive experience for your guests, leaving a lasting impression that encourages them to return. Ultimately, a successful grand opening is about creating a welcoming and memorable experience for your guests, showcasing the unique value of your business, and building a foundation for long-term customer relationships. By offering appealing incentives and engaging activities, you can generate excitement and establish a strong presence in your community.

LED bulbs, or light-emitting diode bulbs, have gained widespread popularity in recent years due to their energy efficiency and longevity. Unlike traditional incandescent bulbs, which produce light by heating a filament, LED bulbs generate light through the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material. This process not only consumes less energy but also produces less heat, making LED bulbs more environmentally friendly. Additionally, LED bulbs have a longer lifespan, often lasting up to 25,000 hours or more, compared to the 1,000-hour lifespan of incandescent bulbs. This extended lifespan reduces the frequency of bulb replacements, contributing to lower maintenance costs and less waste. Moreover, LED bulbs are available in a variety of colors and brightness levels, providing consumers with more options for their lighting needs. They can be used in a wide range of applications, from residential lighting to commercial and industrial settings. The versatility of LED bulbs has also led to their adoption in innovative technologies, such as smart lighting systems that can be controlled remotely via smartphone apps. Despite their many advantages, LED bulbs have some limitations. The initial cost of LED bulbs is higher than that of traditional incandescent bulbs, which can be a barrier for some consumers. However, the long-term energy savings and reduced replacement costs often offset this initial investment. Furthermore, some early models of LED bulbs experienced issues with color quality and light distribution, although advancements in technology have largely addressed these concerns. Overall, the transition to LED bulbs represents a significant step toward more sustainable and efficient lighting solutions, offering numerous benefits for both consumers and the environment.

Business microloans have emerged as a powerful tool for supporting small enterprises and fostering economic growth, particularly in developing countries. These small, short-term loans are designed to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary capital to start or expand their businesses. Microloans often have lower interest rates compared to traditional loans, making them more accessible to individuals who might not qualify for conventional financing. The impact of microloans can be profound, as they enable entrepreneurs to purchase equipment, hire employees, and increase production, ultimately contributing to the overall economy. One of the key benefits of business microloans is their ability to empower marginalized groups, including women and minorities, by providing them with the financial resources to achieve economic independence. Many microloan programs specifically target these groups, recognizing that they often face greater barriers to accessing traditional financial services. By supporting these entrepreneurs, microloans can help reduce poverty and promote social inclusion. However, there are also challenges associated with microloans. Some critics argue that the small loan amounts and short repayment periods can place undue pressure on borrowers, potentially leading to financial strain and default. Additionally, the success of microloan programs often depends on the availability of complementary services, such as financial literacy training and business development support, to ensure that borrowers can effectively manage their loans and grow their businesses. Despite these challenges, business microloans remain a vital tool for promoting entrepreneurship and economic development. As more financial institutions and non-profit organizations recognize the value of microloans, it is essential to continue refining and expanding these programs to maximize their impact on communities around the world.

In recent years, online shopping has become increasingly popular, thanks to its convenience and the vast array of products available at consumers' fingertips. The rise of e-commerce platforms has transformed the retail landscape, allowing people to shop from the comfort of their homes. A crucial aspect of this shift has been the use of bank cards for transactions. Credit and debit cards have become the preferred method of payment for online shoppers due to their ease of use and the security features they offer. However, this widespread adoption has also raised concerns about the potential risks associated with online transactions. Cybersecurity threats, such as hacking and phishing, have put consumers' financial information at risk, leading to increased efforts by banks and e-commerce platforms to enhance security measures. Moreover, the use of bank cards for online shopping has implications for consumer behavior. Studies have shown that people are more likely to make impulsive purchases when using credit cards compared to cash. The ease of online transactions, coupled with targeted advertising and personalized recommendations, can lead to overspending and financial strain for some consumers. On the other hand, online shopping with bank cards can offer benefits such as reward points, cashback, and fraud protection, which can enhance the overall shopping experience. As online shopping continues to grow, it is essential for consumers to remain vigilant about their financial security and to make informed decisions about their purchases. Both consumers and financial institutions must work together to ensure a safe and enjoyable online shopping experience.

A recent policy proposal suggests reducing funding for preschool education programs. Proponents of the proposal argue that reallocating these funds to other educational sectors, such as primary and secondary education, could yield better long-term benefits. They believe that addressing issues like classroom overcrowding and teacher shortages in these sectors is more pressing. Additionally, some proponents argue that parents should take more responsibility for early childhood education, rather than relying on government- funded programs. On the other hand, critics of the proposal emphasize the crucial role of early childhood education in laying the foundation for future academic and social success. Numerous studies have shown that children who attend high-quality preschool programs are more likely to perform better in school, graduate from high school, and have higher earning potential as adults. Critics also point out that cutting funding for preschool programs could disproportionately affect low-income families who rely on these services for affordable early childhood education. This reduction in funding could exacerbate existing inequalities in the education system. Furthermore, early childhood education programs provide essential support for working parents, enabling them to maintain stable employment while ensuring their children receive proper care and learning opportunities. The debate continues, with strong opinions on both sides regarding the best allocation of limited educational resources. Ultimately, the question remains whether the benefits of reallocating funds outweigh the potential long-term consequences of reducing support for early childhood education.

In April 2008, the British government announced that, henceforth, all human remains archaeologically excavated in England and Wales should be reburied after a two-year period of scientific analysis. Not only would internationally important prehistoric remains have to be returned to the ground, removing them from public view, but also there would no longer be any possibility of long-term scientific investigation as new techniques and methods emerged and developed in the future. Thus, while faunal remains, potsherds, artifacts, and environmental samples could be analyzed and re-analyzed in future years, human remains were to be effectively removed from the curation process. Archaeologists and other scientists were also concerned that this might be the first step towards a policy of reburying all human remains held in museum collections in England and Wales, including prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Viking, and Medieval as well as more recent remains.

Here's how the tree ring dating, known to scientists as dendrochronology (from the Greek roots Dendron ø tree, and Chronos ø time), works. If you cut a tree down today, it's straight forward to count the rings inwards, starting from the tree's outside (corresponding to this year's growth ring), and thereby to state that the 177th ring from the outermost one towards the center was laid down in the year 2005 minus 177, or 1828. However, the width of tree growth rings vary from year to year, depending on the rain or drought conditions in each year. Hence the sequence of the rings in a tree cross-section is like a message in Morse code formerly used for sending telegraph messages; dot-dot-dash-dot-dash in the Morse code, wide-wide-narrow-wide-narrow in the tree ring sequence. Actually, the tree ring sequence is even more diagnostic and richer in information than the Morse code because trees actually contain rings spanning many different widths, rather than the Morse code choice between dot and dash.

What is the solution for nations with increasing energy demands, hindered by frequent power cuts and an inability to compete in the international oil market? For East Africa, at least, experts think geothermal energy is the answer. More promising still, the Kenyan government and international investors seem to be listening. This is just in time, according to many, as claims of an acute energy crisis are afoot due to high oil prices, population spikes, and droughts. Geothermal energy works by pumping water into bedrock, where it is heated and returns to the surface as steam, which is used directly as a heat source or to generate electricity. Source: Energy Information Administration, Geothermal Energy in the Western United States and Hawaii. Currently, over 60% of Kenya's power comes from hydroelectric sources, but these are proving increasingly unreliable as seasonal variation intensifies due to erratic rain patterns. Alternative energy sources are needed, and the leading energy supplier in Kenya, Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), hopes to expand its geothermal energy supply from 13% to 25 % of its total usage by 2020.

The notion that office space has a role in promoting or inhibiting performance is backed up by solid research. A recent study conducted by Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital showed that improvements to the physical surroundings of workers impacted productivity not just because the working environment was more attractive, but because the changes made employees feel cared for. A Swedish research paper revealed a strong link between the type of office an employee worked in and their overall job satisfaction and health. Various findings have emerged as a result of studies such as this. Pot plants and greenery can apparently have a real impact on psychological well-being. Those who work in a private room tend to be in better health than workers based in open-plan offices. Sufficient light can reduce sickness among workers and increase productivity, and an attractive office can make workers feel more cared for and therefore more loyal to their company. Most of these points make good rational sense. But some companies aren't content simply to increase the health, productivity, and contentment of their employees.

In its periodic quest for culinary identity, Australia automatically looks to its indigenous ingredients, the foods that are native to this country. 'There can be little doubt that using an indigenous product must qualify a dish as Australian', notes Stephanie Alexander. Similarly, and without qualification, Cherikoff states that. A uniquely Australian food culture can only be based upon foods indigenous to this country, although, as Craw remarks, proposing Australian native foods as national symbols relies more upon their association with 'nature' and geographic origin than on common usage. Notwithstanding the lack of justification for the premise that national dishes are, of necessity, founded on ingredients native to the country - after all, Italy's gastronomic identity is tied to the non-indigenous tornado, Thailand's to the non-indigenous chili the reality is that Australians do not eat indigenous foods in significant quantities. The exceptions are fish, crustaceans, and shellfish from oceans, rivers, and lakes, most of which are unarguably unique to this country. Despite valiant and well-intentioned efforts today at promoting and encouraging the consumption of native resources, bush foods are not harvested or produced in sufficient quantities for them to be a standard component of Australian diets, nor are they generally accessible. Indigenous foods are less relevant to Australian identity today than lamb and passion fruit, both initially imported and now naturalized.

Plants serve as the conduit of energy into the biosphere, provide food and materials used by humans, and shape our environment. According to Ehrhardt and Frommer, the three major challenges facing humanity in our time are food, energy, and environmental degradation. All three are plant-related. All of our food is produced by plants, either directly or indirectly via animals that eat them. Plants are a source of energy production. And they have intimately involved in climate change and a major factor in a variety of environmental concerns, including agricultural expansion and its impact on habitat destruction and waterway pollution. What's more, none of these issues are independent of each other. Climate change places additional stresses on the food supply and on various habitats. So plant research is instrumental in addressing all of these problems and moving into the future. For plant research to move significantly forward, Ehrhardt and Former say technological development is critical, both to test existing hypotheses and to gain new information and generate fresh hypotheses.

The ways of life of Upper Palaeolithic people are known through the remains of meals scattered around their hearths, together with many tools and weapons and the debris left over from their making. The people were hunter-gatherers who lived exclusively from what they could find in nature without practicing either agriculture or herding. They hunted the bigger herbivores, while berries, leaves, roots, wild fruit, and mushrooms probably played a major role in their diet. Their hunting was indiscriminate, perhaps because so many animals were about that they did not need to spare pregnant females or the young. In the cave of Enlene, for example, many bones of reindeer and bison foetuses were found. Apparently, Upper Palaeolithic people hunted like other predators and killed the weakest prey first. They did, however, sometimes concentrate on salmon runs and migrating herds of reindeer. Contrary to popular beliefs about cavemen, Upper Palaeolithic people did not live deep inside caves. They rather chose the foot of cliffs, especially when an overhang provided good shelter. On the plains and in the valleys, they used tents made from hides of the animals they killed. At times, on the great Russian plains, they built huts with huge bones and tusks collected from the skeletons of mammoths.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were brothers living in Dayton, Ohio. The two had started making bicycles during the 1890s and had a successful small business selling their Wright Specials for $18 each ($475 in today's green). This experience with building light, strong machines would prove valuable in the coming years after the brothers' interest turned to flight. Others in the United States were also developing aircraft at the time the Wright brothers started turning their curiosity skyward. Samuel Langley had flown an unmanned steam-powered aircraft in 1896. Octave Chanute and others were flying gliders near Chicago late in the decade as well. But it wasn't until the Wright brothers started working on the matter that the "flying problem" would finally be solved. Beginning in 1899, the brothers designed and built a series of gliders to test their various ideas on a flying machine. They constructed a wind tunnel that allowed them to test designs without having to build a full-size model. They even built their own gasoline-powered motor for their aircraft. But it was the idea of controlled flight that the Wright brothers recognized as the biggest challenge. The Wright brothers realized the problem wasn't getting into the air; it was what to do once the pilot was airborne. One of the key features of the Wright brothers' design is something they learned from watching birds.

11 February 2009 - Major athletic events around the globe, from the 2014 Sochi Olympics to an annual powerboat race in Norwegian fjords, are striving to neutralise their carbon footprint as part of a worldwide climate network, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today. The sporting events are the latest participants to join the network, and are particularly important for inspiring further global action on the environment, said Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director. Organisers of the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games - to be held in a unique natural setting between the shores of the Black Sea and the soaring snow-capped Caucasus Mountains say they will put an estimated $1.75 billion into energy conservation and renewable energy. [That] investment will be dedicated to improving transport infrastructure and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from the use of electricity, air travel and ground transportation, the reforestation of Sochi National Park and the development of green belts in the city.

Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life. Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works. Allowances give children a chance to experience the things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save and maybe even invest it. Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future savings and investing. Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance.

Although we tend to think of electric cars as being something completely modern, they were in fact some of the earliest types of motorised vehicle. At the beginning of the twentieth century, electric cars were actually more popular than cars with an internal combustion engine, as they were more comfortable to ride in. However, as cars fueled by petrol increased in importance. Electric cars declined. The situation became such that electric vehicles were only used for certain specific purposes - as forklift trucks, ambulances, and urban delivery vehicles, for example. Although electricity declined in use in road vehicles, it steadily grew in importance as a means of powering trains. Switzerland, for example, was quick to develop an electrified train system, encouraged in this no doubt by the fact that it had no coal or oil resources of its own. Nowadays, there is renewed interest in electricity as a means of powering road vehicles. Why is this case? Well, undoubtedly, economic reasons are of considerable importance. The cost of oil has risen so sharply that there is a strong financial imperative to look for an alternative. However, environmental motivations also play a role.

It's very easy to forget about what's in the ground beneath our feet and why it's so important to protect it. One tablespoon of soil contains more organisms than there are people on Earth; billions of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms combine with minerals, water, air, and organic matter to create a living system that supports plants and, in turn, all life. Healthy soil can store as much as 3,750 tonnes of water per hectare, reducing the risk of flooding, and the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that 89% of all agricultural emissions could be mitigated if we improved the health of our soil. Good soil management also increases disease resistance in livestock and ultimately drives profits for farmers - yet soil and its impact on the health of our animals has, over recent decades, been one of the most neglected links in UK agriculture. Over the last 50 years agriculture has become increasingly dependent on chemical fertilisers, with applications today around 10 times higher than in the 1950s. Farmers often think the chemical fertilizer NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) provides all the nutrition a plant requires, but it also has a detrimental effect on the long-term health of the land: research suggests there are fewer than 100 harvests left in many of the world's soils.

Malaysia is one of the most pleasant, hassle-free countries to visit in Southeast Asia. Aside from its gleaming 21st-century glass towers, it boasts some of the most superb beaches, mountains and national parks in the region. Malaysia is also launching its biggest-ever tourism campaign in an effort to lure 20 million visitors here this year. Any tourist itinerary would have to begin in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, where you will find the Petronas [Twin T] owers, which once comprised the world's tallest buildings and now hold the title of second tallest. Both the 88-story towers soar 1,480 feet high and are connected by a skybridge on the 41st floor. The limestone temple Batu Caves, located 9 miles north of the city, have a 328-foot-high ceiling and feature ornate Hindu shrines, including a 141-foot-tall gold-painted statue of a Hindu deity. T o reach the caves, visitors have to climb a steep flight of 272 steps. In Sabah state on Borneo island, not to be confused with Indonesia's Borneo, you'll find the small mushroom-shaped Sip Adan island, off the coast of Sabah, rated as one of the top five diving sites in the world. Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising from a 2,300-foot abyss in the Celebes Sea.

Negotiation is a common process in business to mainly solve business conflicts between both parties. Compromise is a basic negotiation state in which both parties give up something that they want in order to get something else they want more. Compromise usually occurs in unfair situations when there is a fixed pie to be divided up, and whatever one side gets, the other side loses. In compromise situations, neither side gets all of what they really want, but they each make concessions in order to reach an agreement that is acceptable to both. Both parties usually can reach a win-win concept through compromise. However, negotiation cannot resolve all the conflicts if one party is unwilling to resolve the problem.

The evolution of the RAS (Royal Agricultural Society) fits into the wider Western trend of promoting nationalism, progress, and technology through exhibitory venues, which first became popular in the 1850s. Various types of fairs, from local agricultural shows to World's Fairs, were used as instruments of hegemony to support imperialism, to promote burgeoning capitalist endeavours, and to shape class identities, social spaces, and public spaces. Visual culture and the art of display became essential in defining aspects of national distinction. Colonial nations in particular, such as Canada and Australia, were attempting to develop distinct national identities to differentiate themselves from British imperial power. Agricultural fairs in North America originated at the beginning of the nineteenth century and were devoted to educating practising farmers in ways of improving their cultivation of livestock and crops through the use of various technologies.

After the 1905 flying season, the Wrights contacted the United States War Department, as well as governments and individuals in England, France, Germany, and Russia, offering to sell the flying machines. They were turned down time and time again - government bureaucrats thought they were crackpots; others thought that if two bicycle mechanics could build a successful aeroplane, they could do it themselves. But the Wrights persisted, and in late 1907, the U S Army Signal Corps asked for an aircraft. Just a few months later, in early 1908, a French syndicate of business people agreed to purchase another. Both the U S Army and the French asked for an aeroplane capable of carrying a passenger. The Wright brothers hastily adapted their 1905 Flyer with two seats and a more powerful engine. They tested these modifications in secret, back at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, for the first time in several years. Then the brothers parted temporarily - Wilbur to France and Orville to Virginia.

The booksellers of Hookham and Carpenter (hereafter referred to only as Hookham) were located on New Bond Street in London, and their records span the most politically turbulent decade of the eighteenth-century, the 1790s. Clients who frequented Hookham were primarily from the aristocratic or gentry classes. In fact, of Hookhams total buyers, 22% were the aristocracy, and 35% of the aristocracy purchased novels. We can also confidently assume that untitled female customers were of gentry income because their addresses were primarily in London's fashionable West End. Hookhams ledgers not only reveal a dramatic increase in the proportion of female purchasers of novels by comparison to earlier studies of provincial women, but they also reveal a remarkable increase in the proportion of female purchases of novels authored by females. Such a marked increase illustrates that Hookham's leisurely female customers were able to buy more novels. Furthermore, the fact that these female aristocrats and gentry have accounts under their own name, not their husbands, demonstrates the greater degree of agency and independence that these urban, moneyed women had relative to provincial women.

Delivering packages with drones can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in certain circumstances as compared to truck deliveries, a new study from the University of Washington transportation engineers finds. In a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of Transportation Research Part D, researchers found that drones tend to have carbon dioxide emissions advantages over trucks when the drones don't have to fly very far to their destinations or when a delivery route has few recipients. Trucks that can offer environmental benefits by carrying everything from clothes to appliances to furniture in a single trip become a more climate-friendly alternative when a delivery route has many stops or is farther away from a central warehouse. For small, lightweight packages, such as a bottle of drugs or a kid's bathing costume, drones perform particularly well. However, the carbon benefits erode because the weight of a package increases since these unmanned aerial vehicles have to be compelled to use extra energy to remain aloft with a significant load.

Here's a term you're going to hear much more often: plug-in vehicle, and the acronym PEV . It's what you and many other people will drive to work in ten years and more from now. At that time, before you drive off in the morning, you will first unplug your car - your plug-in vehicle. Its big onboard batteries will have been fully charged overnight, with enough power for you to drive 50-100 kilometres through city traffic. When you arrive at work, you'll plug in your car once again, this time into a socket that allows power to flow from your car's batteries to the electricity grid. One of the things you did when you bought your car was to sign a contract with your favourite electricity supplier, allowing them to draw a limited amount of power from your car's batteries should they need to, perhaps because of a blackout, or very high wholesale spot power prices. The price you get for the power the distributor buys from your car would not only be most attractive to you, but it would also be a good deal for them too, their alternative being very expensive power from peaking stations.

The oral storytelling skills of African American preschoolers make a difference in how quickly their reading skills develop, according to a new study from the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Researchers say the effect is much different for girls and boys. "Knowing how to tell a clear and coherent story is an important skill for helping young children to develop strong reading skills, which, in turn, can help them to be successful across a number of different subjects in school," said FPG advanced research scientist Nicole Gardner-Neblett. "Prior research suggests that historical and cultural factors foster strong storytelling skills among African American children, which has implications for their development as readers." Two years ago, Gardner-Neblett's own research was the first to demonstrate the connection between African American preschoolers' storytelling abilities and their early reading skills in kindergarten. That study found a link between storytelling and reading only for the African American children, from households across income levels, but not for any other demographic group.

Promoting active lifestyles can help us address some of the important challenges facing the UK today. Increasing physical activity has the potential to improve the physical and mental health of the nation, reduce all- cause mortality and improve life expectancy. It can also save money by significantly easing the burden of chronic disease on the health and social care services. Increasing cycling and walking will reduce transport costs, save money and help the environment. Fewer car journeys can reduce traffic, congestion and pollution, improving the health of communities. Other potential benefits linked to physical activity in children and young people include the acquisition of social skills through active play (leadership, teamwork, and co-operation), better concentration in school and displacement of anti-social and criminal behaviour. The importance of physical activity for health was identified over 50 years ago. During the 1950s, comparisons of bus drivers with more physically active bus conductors and office-based telephonists with more physically active postmen demonstrated lower rates of coronary heart disease and smaller uniform sizes in the more physically active occupations. This research led the way for further investigation, and evidence now clearly shows the importance of physical activity in preventing ill health.

Fish are being killed and prevented from reaching maturity by the litter of plastic particles finding their way into the world's oceans, new research has proved. Some young fish have been found to prefer tiny particles of plastic to their natural food sources, effectively starving them before they can reproduce. The growing problem of microplastics - tiny particles of polymer-type materials from modern industry - has been thought for several years to be a peril for fish, but the study published on Thursday is the first to prove the damage in trials. Microplastics are near-indestructible in natural environments. They enter the oceans through litter, when waste such as plastic bags, packaging and other convenience materials are discarded. Vast amounts of these end up in the sea through inadequate waste disposal systems and sewage outfalls. Another growing source is microbeads, tiny particles of hard plastics that are used in cosmetics, for instance as an abrasive in modern skin cleaners. These easily enter waterways as they are washed off as they are used, flushed down drains and forgotten, but can last for decades in our oceans. The impact of these materials has been hard to measure, despite being a growing source of concern. Small particles of plastics have been found in seabirds, fish and whales, which swallow the materials but cannot digest them, leading to a build-up in their digestive tracts. For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that fish exposed to such materials during their development show stunted growth and increased mortality rates, as well as changed behavior that could endanger their survival.

Working nine to five for a single employer bears little resemblance to the way a substantial share of the workforce makes a living today. Millions of people assemble various income streams and work independently, rather than in structured payroll jobs. This is hardly a new phenomenon, yet it has never been well measured in official statistics, and the resulting data gaps prevent a clear view of a large share of labor-market activity. T [o] better understand the independent workforce and what motivates the people who participate in it, the McKinsey Global Institute surveyed some 8,000 respondents across Europe and the United States. We asked about their income in the past 12 months-encompassing primary work, as well as any other income-generating activities, and about their professional satisfaction and aspirations for work in the future. The resulting report, Independent Work: Choice, Necessity, and the gig economy, finds that up to 162 million people in Europe and the United States-or 20 to 30 percent of the working-age population - engage in some form of independent work. While demographically diverse, independent workers largely fit into four segments (exhibit): free agents, who actively choose independent work and derive their primary income from it; casual earners, who use independent work for supplemental income and do so by choice; reluctant, who make their primary living from independent work but would prefer traditional jobs; and the financially strapped, who do supplemental independent work out of necessity.

Bertrand Russell was arguably the greatest philosopher of the 20th century and the greatest logician since Aristotle. Analytic philosophy, the dominant philosophy of the twentieth century, owes its existence more to Russell than to any other philosopher. The system of logic developed by Russell and A. N. Whitehead, based on earlier work by Dedekind, Cantor, Frege, and Peano, broke logic out of its Aristotelian straitjacket. He was also one of the century's leading public intellectuals and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he championed humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought." Russell was involved, often passionately, in numerous social and political controversies of his time. For example, he supported suffragists, free thought in religion and morals, and world government; he opposed World War I and the Vietnam War, nationalism, and political persecution. He was jailed in 1918 for anti-war views and in 1961 for his anti-nuclear weapons stance. He was married 4 times and had 3 children.

The area that is now South Africa has been inhabited by humans for millennia. The San, the original inhabitants of this land, were migratory people who lived in small groups of about 15 to 20 people. They survived by fishing and hunting and by gathering roots and other wild foods. They did not build permanent dwellings but used rock shelters as temporary dwellings. Around 2,000 years ago, Khoikhoi pastoralists 103 migrated to the coast. In the eastern part of present-day South Africa, iron-working societies date from about 300 AD. The Sotho Tswana and Nguni peoples arrived in this region around 1,200 AD. They lived by agriculture and stock farming, mined gold, copper and tin, hunted for ivory, and built stone-walled towns. Over the centuries, these societies had diverse contacts with the Khoisan. Strife between the San and the Khoikhoi developed over competition for the game; eventually, the Khoikhoi became dominant. These people lived in the western part of present-day South Africa and are known collectively as the Khoisan.

Ethics is a set of moral obligations that define right and wrong in our practises and decisions. Many professions have a formalised system of ethical practises that help guide professionals in the field. For example, doctors commonly take the Hippocratic Oath, which, among other things, states that doctors "do no harm" to their patients. Engineers follow an ethical guide that states that they "hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public." Within these professions, as well as within science, the principles become so ingrained that practitioners rarely have to think about adhering to the ethic it's part of the way they practice. And a breach of ethics is considered very serious, punishable at least within the profession (by revocation of a licence, for example) and sometimes by the law as well. Scientific ethics calls for honesty and integrity in all stages of scientific practice, from reporting results to properly attributing collaborators. This system of ethics guides the practice of science, from data collection to publication and beyond.

In 1953, B. F . Skinner visited his daughter's math class. The Harvard psychologist found every pupil learning the same topic in the same way, at the same speed. A few days later, he built his first "teaching machine", which let children tackle questions at their own pace. By the mid-1960s, similar gizmos were being flogged by door-to-door sales representatives. Within a few years, though, enthusiasm for them had fizzled out. Since then, education [technology (EdT] ech) has repeated the cycle of hype and flop, even as computers have reshaped almost every other part of life. One reason is the conservatism of teachers and their unions. But another is that the brain- stretching potential of EdT ech has remained unproven. T oday, however, Skinner's heirs are forcing the skeptics to think again (see article). Backed by billionaire techies such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, schools around the world are using new software to "personalize" learning. This could help hundreds of millions of children stuck in dismal classes, but only if EdT ech boosters can resist the temptation to revive harmful ideas about how [children learn. T] [o succeed, EdT] ech must be at the service of teaching, not the other way around. The conventional model of schooling emerged in Prussia in the 18th century. Alternatives have so far failed to teach as many children as efficiently. Classrooms, hierarchical year-groups, standardized curriculums and fixed timetables are still the norm for most of the world's nearly 1.5bn schoolchildren.

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is engaged in research into the potential risks and benefits of exploiting deep-sea mineral resources, some of which are essential for low-carbon technology, as well as using ocean robots to estimate the environmental impact of these potential deep-sea mining activities. Late last year, the NOC led an expedition on the RRS James Cook that found enough of the scarce element T [ellurium present in] the crust of a submerged volcano that, if it were all to be used in the production of solar PV panels, could provide two-thirds of the UK's annual electricity supply. Recently, the NOC also led an international study demonstrating deep-sea nodule mining will cause long-lasting damage to deep-sea life, lasting for at least decades. These nodules are potato-sized rocks containing high levels of metals, including copper, manganese, and nickel. They grow very slowly on the sea-bed, over millions of years. Although no commercial operations exist to extract these resources, many are planned. Professor Edward Hill, Executive Director at the NOC, commented, "By 2050 there will be nine billion people on earth, and attention is increasingly turning to the ocean, particularly the deep ocean, for food, clean supplies of energy, and strategic minerals.

American English is, without a doubt, the most influential and powerful variety of English in the world today. There are many reasons for this. First, the United States is, at present, the most powerful nation on earth, and such power always brings with it influence. Indeed, the distinction between a dialect and a language has frequently been made by reference to power. As has been said, a language is a dialect with an army. Second, America's political influence is extended through American popular culture, in particular through the international reach of American films (movies, of course) and music. As Kahane has pointed out, the internationally dominant position of culture results in a forceful expansion of its language; the expansion of language contributes to the prestige of the culture behind it. Third, the international prominence of American English is closely associated with the extraordinarily quick development of communications technology. Microsoft is owned by an American, Bill Gates. This means a computer's default setting for language is American English, although, of course, this can be changed to suit one's own circumstances.

What makes teaching online unique is that it uses the internet, especially the World Wide Web, as the primary means of communication. Thus, when you teach online, you don't have to be someplace to teach. You don't have to lug your briefcase full of paper or your laptop to a classroom, stand at a lectern, scribble on a chalkboard (or even use your high-tech, interactive classroom "smart" whiteboard), or grade papers in a stuffy room while your students take a test. You don't even have to sit in your office waiting for students to show up for conferences. You can hold "office hours" on weekends or at night after dinner. You can do all this while living in a small town in Wyoming or a big city like Bangkok, even if you work for a college whose administrative office is in Florida or Dubai. You can attend an important conference in Hawaii on the same day you teach your class in New Jersey, logging on from your laptop via the local caff's wireless hotspot or your hotel room's high-speed network. Or you may simply pull out your smartphone to quickly check on the latest postings, emails, or text messages from students.

The 1920s moviegoers' experience was largely dominated by silent movies but saw the introduction of synchronized sound. In the 1920s, movie stars were real stars - with huge salaries, the fashions and activities of the Hollywood greats echoed around the world, and 100,000 people would gather in cities all over the world, including such diverse cities as London and Moscow, to greet Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks when they toured Europe. Early silent movies were often accompanied by live piano or organ music and provided enormous entertainment value to audiences captivated by the experience of watching moving pictures on the silver screen. Although there had been previous attempts to introduce sound, it wasn't until 1923 that a synchronized soundtrack was photographically recorded and printed onto the side of a strip of motion picture film and made it onto a commercially distributed movie. It would still be seven long years before talking pictures gained total supremacy and finally replaced the silent film era.

A day would come, Percy Shelley predicted in 1813, when "the monopolizing eater of animal flesh would no longer destroy his constitution by eating an acre at a meal". He explained: "The quantity of nutritious vegetable matter consumed in fattening the carcass of an ox would afford 10 times the sustenance if gathered immediately from the bosom of the earth." Two hundred years later, mainstream agronomists and dietitians have caught up with the poet. A growing scientific consensus agrees that feeding cereals and beans to animals is an inefficient and extravagant way to produce human food, that there is a limited amount of grazing land, that the world will be hard-pressed to supply a predicted population of 9 billion people with a diet as rich in meat as the industrialised world currently enjoys, and that it's not a very healthy diet anyway. On top of this, livestock contributes significantly towards global warming, generating 14.5% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions, according to one much-quoted estimate from the United Nations. Now that the problem has been identified, the challenge is to persuade people in wealthy countries to eat less meat. That might seem a tall order, but governments have successfully persuaded people to quit smoking through a combination of public information, regulation and taxation.

Ecology is the study of interactions of organisms among themselves and with their environment. It seeks to understand patterns in nature (e.g., the spatial and temporal distribution of organisms) and the processes governing those patterns. Climatology is the study of the physical state of the atmosphere - its instantaneous state or weather, its seasonal-to-interannual variability, its long-term average condition or climate, and how climate changes over time. These two fields of scientific study are distinctly different. Ecology is a discipline within the biological sciences and has as its core the principle of natural selection. Climatology is a discipline within the geophysical sciences based on applied physics and fluid dynamics. Both, however, share a common history. The origin of these sciences is attributed to Aristotle and Theophrastus and their books Meteorological and Enquiry into Plants, respectively, but their modern beginnings trace back to natural history and plant geography. Seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth-century naturalists and geographers saw changes in vegetation as they explored new regions and laid the foundation for the development of ecology and climatology as they sought explanations for these geographic patterns.

The English have a reputation as a nation of tea drinkers, but this wasn't always the case. By the end of the 17th century, the English were the biggest coffee drinkers in the Western world, and coffee houses became the places to be seen. As well as gossip, you could pick up talk of the latest intellectual developments in science, politics, and so on, in this age of scientific discovery and progress. At first, coffee houses were very basic: a room with a bar at one end and a few plain tables and chairs. Customers paid a penny for a bowl, not a cup of coffee. A polite young woman was usually in charge of the bar because it was thought her presence would ensure that the customers didn't use bad language or cause any trouble. An added attraction was that coffee houses provided free newspapers and journals.

In such an environment, warfare is no longer purely directed against the military potential of adversarial states. It is rather directed at infiltrating all areas of their societies and threatening their existence. The comparatively easy access to weapons of mass destruction, in particular relatively low-cost biological agents, is of key concern. Both governmental and non-governmental actors prefer to use force in a way that can be characterized as "unconventional" or also as "small wars." War waged according to conventions is an interstate phenomenon. The "small war" is the archetype of war, in which the protagonists acknowledge no rules and permanently try to violate what conventions do exist. The protagonists of the "small war" observe neither international standards nor arms control agreements. They make use of territories where they do not have to fear any sanctions because there is no functioning state to assume charge of such sanctions or because the state in question is too weak to impose such sanctions.

The advantages and disadvantages of solar power compared to other forms of renewable energy have been greatly debated. While obviously superior to some forms of energy, solar power's high cost and efficiency dependent on geography have limited its appeal. However, many advantages also merit further development and even possible adaptation for residences. Advantages of Solar Power Solar energy remains popular because it is both a renewable and clean energy source. These advantages, along with the hope that eventually, nations can use solar power to decrease global warming, ensure its popularity. Solar energy is a truly renewable resource. All areas of the world have the ability to collect some amount of solar power, and solar power is available for collection each day. Clean Solar energy is non-polluting. It does not create greenhouse gases, as oil-based energy does, nor does it create waste that must be stored, as nuclear energy does. It is also far quieter to create and harness, drastically reducing the noise pollution required to convert energy into a useful form. Residential-size solar energy systems also have very little impact on the surrounding environment, in contrast with other renewable energy sources such as wind and hydroelectric power. Low Maintenance Solar panels have no moving parts and require very little maintenance beyond regular cleaning. Without moving parts to break and replace, after the initial costs of installing the panels, maintenance and repair costs are very reasonable.

According to new research, house mice (Mus musculus) are ideal biomarkers of human settlement as they tend to stow away in crates or on ships that end up going where people go. Using mice as a proxy for human movement can add to what is already known through archaeological data and answer important questions in areas where there is a lack of artifacts, Searle said. Where people go, so do mice, often stowing away in carts of hay or on ships. Despite a natural range of just 100 meters (109 yards) and an evolutionary base near Pakistan, the house mouse has managed to colonize every continent, which makes it a useful tool for researchers like Searle. Previous research conducted by Searle at the University of York supported the theory that Australian mice originated in the British Isles and probably came over with convicts shipped there to colonize the continent in the late 18th and 19th centuries.

Humans love to complain to each other. It helps us feel less alone. Think about what happens when a family member or friend is going through a tough time; they call up someone who will listen to their tale of woe. Unfortunately, negative bonding is the default for many groups. In some families, complaining is the only way to get attention. When one person says, I had a bad day, the other person has to top it. "You think you had a tough day, I had to do three TPS reports!" The same thing happens at work and social settings. "Your child didn't sleep through the night until 6 months? Mine was a full year old before she went over six hours." It's a race to the bottom; the worst situation wins. In "Bitching is Bonding: A Guide T o Mutual Complaint," Irene S. Levine, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at the NYU Langone School of Medicine, says, "the reason these conversations feel good is that we feel understood."

What is museology? A simple definition might be that it is the study of museums, their history and underlying philosophy, the various ways in which they have, in the course of time, been established and developed, their avowed or unspoken aims and policies, their educative or political or social role. More broadly conceived, such a study might also embrace the bewildering variety of audiences - visitors, scholars, art lovers, children -at whom the efforts of the museum staff are supposedly directed, as well as related topics such as the legal duties and responsibilities placed upon (or incurred by) museums, perhaps even some thought as to their future. Seen in this light, museology might appear at first sight a subject so specialized as to concern only museum professionals, who by virtue of their occupation are more or less obliged to take an interest in it. In reality, since museums are almost, if not quite, as old as civilization itself, and since the plethora of present-day museums embraces virtually every field of human endeavour - not just art, or craft, or science, but entertainment, agriculture, rural life, childhood, fisheries, antiquities, automobiles: the list is endless.

The ways of life of the Upper Palaeolithic people are known through the remains of meals scattered around their hearths, together with many tools and weapons and the debris leftover from their making. The people were hunter-gatherers who lived exclusively from what they could find in nature without practicing either agriculture or herding. They hunted the bigger herbivores, while berries, leaves, roots, wild fruit, and mushrooms probably played a major role in their diet. Their hunting was indiscriminate; perhaps because so many animals were about, they did not need to spare pregnant females or the young. In the cave of Enlene, for example, many bones of reindeer and bison foetuses were found. Apparently, Upper Palaeolithic people hunted like other predators and killed the weakest prey first. They did, however, sometimes concentrate on salmon runs and migrating herds of reindeer. Contrary to popular beliefs about cavemen, Upper Palaeolithic people did not live deep inside caves. They lived rather close to the foot of cliffs, especially when an overhang provided good shelter. On the plains and in the valleys, they used tents made from hides of the animals they killed. At times, on the great Russian plains, they built huts from huge bones and tusks collected from mammal skeletons.

At around 2300 BP (Before Present), hunter-gatherers called the San acquired domestic stock in what is now modern-day Botswana. Their population grew and spread throughout the Western half of South Africa. They were the first pastoralists in Southern Africa, and called themselves Khoikhoi (or Khoe), which means 'men of men' or 'the real people'. They chose this name to show pride in their past and culture. The Khoikhoi brought a new way of life to South Africa and to the San, who were hunter-gatherers rather than herders. This led to misunderstandings and subsequent conflict between the two groups. The Khoikhoi were the first native people to come into contact with the Dutch settlers in the mid-17th century. As the Dutch took over land for farms, the Khoikhoi were dispossessed, exterminated, or enslaved, and therefore their numbers dwindled. The Khoikhoi were called the 'Hottentots' by European settlers because the sound of their language was so different from any European language, and they could not pronounce many of the words and sounds.

The Brundtland Report, Our Common Future (1987), defines sustainable development as "development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Implicit in this definition is the idea that the old pattern of development could not be sustained. Is this true? Development in the past was driven by growth and innovation. It led to new technologies and huge improvements in living standards. T o assume that we know what the circumstances or needs of future generations will be is mistaken and inevitably leads to the debilitating sense that we are living on borrowed time. Only if we assume that society will remain static can we understand the needs of the future? The way we live today could not have been predicted twenty years ago. The sustainability paradigm fails to recognize this. It is a static view and thus places limits on human ingenuity. Similarly, a whole host of false assumptions dominate environmental thought; the scale of problems is exaggerated, the number of resources is underestimated, and spurious links are made between areas such as green policies and profit, poverty, and environmental degradation. Those of us who want a better future need to question these assumptions.

Carbon dioxide, mostly produced by human activities, is the most significant of greenhouse gases and has caused the rise of the global temperature and the sea level, so businesses should take responsibility to tackle the problems inherited in the business models, and World Wildlife Fund partners with companies should ensure the sustainability of the entire market.

A leader can define or clarify goals by issuing a memo or an executive order, an edict or a fatwa or a tweet, by passing a law, barking a command, or presenting an interesting idea in a meeting of colleagues. Leaders can mobilize people's energies in ways that range from subtle, quiet persuasion to coercive threat or the use of deadly force. Sometimes, a charismatic leader such as Martin Luther King Jr can define goals and mobilize energies through rhetoric and the power of example. We can think of leadership as a spectrum, in terms of both visibility and the power the leader wields. On one end of the spectrum, we have the most visible: authoritative leaders like the President of the United States or the prime minister of the United Kingdom, or a dictator such as Hitler or Qaddafi. At the opposite end of the spectrum is casual, low-key leadership found in countless situations every day around the world, leadership that can make a significant difference to the individuals whose lives are touched by it. Over the centuries, the first kind-the out-in-front, authoritative leadership - has generally been exhibited by men.

New Women in Britain and North America: This was a concept brought forward by a writer named Sarah, who wrote a book that triggered a dispute between two kinds of commentators. The book mainly talks about women's position in the middle class, including a few aspects, such as finance, employment, marriage, etc. The writer advocated protecting women's position. Although the idea did not go well, it was still commemorated as a women's movement.

Banks provide short-term finance to companies in the form of an overdraft on a current account. The advantage of an overdraft is its flexibility. When the cash needs of the company increase due to seasonal factors, the company can continue to write cheques and watch the overdraft increase. When the goods and services are sold and cash begins to flow in, the company should be able to watch the overdraft decrease again. The most obvious example of a business which operates in this pattern is farming. The farmer uses the overdraft to finance the acquisition of seed for arable farming, or feed through the winter for stock farming and to cover the period when the crops or animals are growing and maturing. The overdraft is reduced when the crops or the animals are sold. The main disadvantage of an overdraft is that it is repayable on demand. The farmer whose crop fails because of bad weather knows the problem of being unable to repay the overdraft. Having overdraft financing increases the worries of those who manage the company. The other disadvantage is that the interest payable on overdrafts is variable. When interest rates increase, the cost of the overdraft increases.

His product life cycle has 4 very clearly defined stages, each with its characteristics that mean different things for businesses that are trying to manage the life cycle of their particular products. Introduction Stage - This stage of the cycle could be the most expensive for a company launching a new product. The size of the market for the product is small, which means sales are low, although they will be increasing. On the other hand, the cost of things like research and development, consumer testing, and the marketing needed to launch the product can be very high, especially if it's a competitive sector. Growth Stage - The growth stage is typically characterised by strong growth in sales and profits, and because the company can start to benefit from economies of scale in production, the profit margins, as well as the overall amount of profit, will increase. This makes it possible for businesses to invest more money in promotional activity to maximize the potential of this growth stage.

When people start thinking about language, the first question which often occurs to them is this: is language natural to humans? - in the same way that grunting is natural to pigs, and barking comes naturally to dogs. Or is it just something we happen to have learned? - in the same way that dogs may learn to beg, or elephants may learn to waltz, or humans may learn to play the guitar. Clearly, in one sense, children 'learn' whatever language they are exposed to, be it Chinese, Nootka or English. So no one would deny that 'learning' is very important. But the crucial question is whether children are born with 'blank sheets' in their head as far as language is concerned - or whether humans are 'programmed' with an outline knowledge of the structure of languages in general. This question of whether language is partly due to nature or wholly due to learning or nurture is often referred to as the nature-nurture controversy and has been discussed for centuries. For example, it was the topic of one of Plato's dialogues, the Cratylus.

What is known (prior knowledge or pre-existing knowledge) is the knowledge, skill or ability that a learner brings to a new learning encounter. This includes all knowledge that is available before the learning event, and which has been gathered or developed by any means, and in any situation, including both formal and, quite often, informal learning situations. Learners need enough previous knowledge and understanding to enable them to learn new things; they also need help making links with new and previous knowledge explicit. It is considered to be valuable to go through a process of what has been called 'activating prior knowledge'. Teachers often go through this process at the beginning of a new topic. They also use introductory strategies at the beginning of lessons which are continuations from previous lessons. In terms of the practicalities of teaching, this is a process of making children think about the topic or remember what has been covered already. In terms of theory, it is to do with activating particular schemas.

Research hasn't looked specifically at the anti-inflammatory benefits of eating foods that are in season. "But it's generally accepted that eating what's in season is likely to be fresher and obviously there are other benefits, including those for the environment," says Natalie McCormick, a research fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Eating foods that are in season may also help your grocery bill. When it comes to anti-inflammatory foods, the goal should be to incorporate as many as you can into your overall diet. "Our emphasis now is on eating patterns, because it seems that interactions between foods and their combinations have a greater effect than individual foods," says McCormick. Three diets in particular, she says, contain the right mix of elements: the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index. These diets are similar in that they put an emphasis on foods that are also known to be anti-inflammatory. But just as importantly, these diets also eliminate foods that can decrease levels of inflammatory markers inside the body, including a substance called C-reactive protein. Mixing and matching different foods from these diets can help you tailor an anti-inflammatory approach that fits your personal tastes.

Trauma affects even the most resilient among us and can include anything from isolated incidents, such as surviving an active shooter in a public location or narcissistic abuse in an intimate relationship, to severe and prolonged abuse or neglect occurring in childhood. Statistics suggest a lifetime estimate of approximately 6.8% for PTSD diagnosis, which is a small portion relative to those who experience trauma. Thus, on average, approximately 7 out of 100 people will go on to develop symptoms associated with PTSD after experiencing a significant traumatic event, with an average estimate of 7.5 million to 8 million people per year developing the disorder. The effects of post-traumatic stress can be lifelong, chronic, and highly variable. Children who are abused or neglected may develop symptoms of PTSD, compromising their ability to function as independent adults; others may not develop any symptoms or milder symptoms. Issues with self-worth, self-love, feelings of uselessness, and suicidal ideation are commonly reported in those with PTSD. Those who experience abuse in childhood are more susceptible to being re-traumatized later in life by unhealthy adult relationships. PTSD often includes both short-term effects immediately following a traumatic event and more chronic, long-term effects.

Oxygen can be found in many of the minerals in the ground around us, and the Moon is mostly made of the same rocks you'll find on Earth (although with a slightly greater amount of material that came from meteors). Minerals such as silica, aluminium, and iron and magnesium oxides dominate the Moon's landscape. All of these minerals contain oxygen, but not in a form our lungs can access. The Moon's regolith is made up of approximately 45% oxygen. But that oxygen is tightly bound to the minerals mentioned above. In order to break apart those strong bonds, we need to put in energy. You might be familiar with this if you know about electrolysis. On Earth, this process is commonly used in manufacturing, such as to produce aluminium. An electrical current is passed through a liquid form of aluminium oxide (commonly called alumina) via electrodes, to separate the aluminium from the oxygen. In this case, the oxygen is produced as a by-product. On the Moon, oxygen would be the main product and the aluminium (or other metal) extracted would be a potentially useful by-product.

If you ever dreamed of being an astronaut as a kid, then you know that it's no easy feat. The US space agency has revealed on its website all the requirements that need to be met by someone before they have a shot at going to space. The requirements to be a NASA astronaut have changed over the years to better align with the agency's mission and values. First, a potential candidate must be a US citizen. They also have to have a master's degree in a STEM field from an accredited institution. Acceptable degrees include engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics. On top of that, a potential candidate has to have at least two years of related professional experience after completing their degree, or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time on jet aircraft,' the agency noted. NASA also emphasised the types of characteristics it's looking for in its astronauts, including a skilled leader, a good communicator, and a good collaborator.

Human remains are a fundamental part of the archaeological record, offering unique insights into the lives of individuals and populations in the past. Recently, a new set of challenges to the study of human remains has emerged from a rather unexpected direction: the British government revised its interpretation of nineteenth- century burial legislation to drastically curtail the ability of archaeologists to study human remains of any age excavated in England and Wales. This paper examines these extraordinary events and the legal, political, and ethical questions that they raise. In April 2008 the British government announced that, henceforth, all human remains archaeologically excavated in England and Wales should be reburied after a two-year period of scientific analysis. Not only would internationally important prehistoric remains have to be returned to the ground, removing them from public view, but there would no longer be any possibility of long-term scientific investigation as new techniques and methods emerged and developed in the future. Thus, while faunal remains, potsherds, artifacts, and environmental samples could be analysed and re-analyzed in future years, human remains were to be effectively removed from the curation process.

Last month, Airbus announced plans to overhaul an A380 airliner by adding another hydrogen-combustion engine to the outside of the plane and installing monitoring equipment. With the changes, the company will be able to test hydrogen-powered flight in real-world conditions. The move is part of a broader industry goal to reach net- zero carbon emissions by 2050. Passenger air travel is a growing contributor to climate change, making up about three percent of carbon emissions worldwide in 2021. While flying less and investing in more efficient planes can help reduce emissions, new technologies will likely be needed to reach net-zero. Other solutions, like battery-powered air taxis and sustainable aviation fuels, may help cut emissions, but hydrogen in particular might be one of the major paths forward to net-zero because it could be used widely in the industry, from shorter regional hops to longer flights with larger planes. Understanding emissions from hydrogen combustion in real-air conditions is one of the major goals of this testing program, Simpson says. While burning liquid hydrogen doesn't produce CO2, the most abundant greenhouse gas, researchers are still eager to learn more about emissions from hydrogen-powered flight.

The age-old question of whether human traits are determined by nature or nurture has been answered, a team of researchers says. Their conclusion? It's a draw. By collating almost every twin study across the world from the past 50 years, researchers determined that the average variation between human traits and disease is 49 percent due to genetic factors and 51 percent due to environmental factors. University of Queensland researcher Beben Benyamin from the Queensland Brain Institute collaborated with researchers at VU University of Amsterdam to collate 2,748 studies involving more than 14.5 million pairs of twins. "Twin studies have been conducted for more than 50 years, but there is still some debate in terms of how much the variation is due to genetic or environmental factors," Benyamin said. He said the study showed the conversation should move away from nature versus nature, instead of looking at how the two work together. "Both are important sources of variation between individuals," he said. While the study averaged an almost even split between nature and nurture, there was wide variation within the 17,800 separate traits and diseases examined by the study.

Jonas Salk's legacy as a developer of the polio vaccine marks a monumental milestone in medical history. Born in 1914 in New York City, Salk's medical journey was driven by a deep-seated desire to alleviate human suffering. His work revolutionized the field of virology and transformed public health. Salk's early career was marked by his interest in influenza, leading him to develop techniques for vaccine creation. However, his focus shifted to poliovirus in the 1940s, a time when polio epidemics were a source of widespread fear, primarily affecting children. Salk embarked on a mission to develop a vaccine, working tirelessly at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1955, after years of research and clinical trials, Salk's polio vaccine was declared safe and effective. It was a moment of global celebration. The vaccine not only offered protection against the crippling disease but also represented hope and progress in medical science. Salk's refusal to patent the vaccine and make it freely available demonstrated his commitment to humanity over personal gain.