Thursday, March 29, 2007

Super car

100 V8 Super cars is the main motor racing series in Australia. A V8 Super car is a five-liter V8 powered sedan, and races are held in all state of Australia as well as New Zealand and China.

The Australian Touring Car Championship evolve into V8 Touring Cars in the near the beginning 1990s. The company AVESCO was chartered to take the business rights of the ATCC from 1997, and imaginary the moniker "V8 Super car". The series is known now by the name "V8 Super car Championship Series", and the victor is awarded the "Australian Touring Car Championship".

Development of the regulations

To the dissatisfaction of a majority of fans who had watched a long history of Ford-Holden battles in Australian touring car categories since the 1960s, international touring car regulations seemed intended to prevent the Australian-built Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in the early 90s. However, this was avoided with V8 only regulations being drafted, in partnership Ford and Holden, to display case their large Australian made cars.

Nissan who had conquered in the early 90s had their Turbo AWD Skyline GT-R controversially barred from the series, whilst BMW were allowable to carry on. Nissan vowed never to return to touring car racing in Australia again, and a short time later ceased Australian manufacture.
Finally the BMW team of Paul Morris left to head a separate new Australian Super Touring Championship, and in the mid 90s this ST series ran in rivalry to the V8 group. Super Touring with its many makes had the backing of the Australian Racing Drivers Club and sensationally two Bathurst 1000s were held each year in 1997 and 1998, one for V8s and the other for ST. The bulk of sponsorship, driver talent, and fan notice remained with the more popular V-8 group during this era leaving the ASTC to later collapse as an part-time group.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Wood

Wood is the xylem tissue of woody plants, especially trees but also shrubs. Wood from the latter is only formed in small sizes, reducing the diversity of uses. Wood is a hygroscopic, cellular and anisotropic material. Dry wood is composed of fibers of cellulose (40%–50%) and hemicellulose (20%–30%) held together by lignin (25%–30%).
Artists can use wood to make delicate sculptures.Wood has been used by man for millenia for lots of purposes, being many things to many people. One of its main uses is as fuel. It might also be used as a material, for making artworks, boats, buildings, furniture, ships, tools, weapons, etc. Wood has been an important construction material since humans began building shelters, and remains in plentiful use today. Construction wood is normally known as timber in International English, and lumber in American English. Wood can be broken down and be made into chipboard, engineered wood, hardboard, medium-density fibreboard, oriented strand board, paper or used to make other synthetic substances.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Sagebrush

Sagebrush, or Big Sagebrush is the common name for Artemisia tridentata, a shrub or small tree from the composite family (Asteraceae). The name sagebrush is also used for several related members of the genus Artemisia, such as California Sagebrush It is a coarse, hardy silvery-grey bush with yellow flowers and grows in arid sections of the western United States. It is the main vegetation across vast areas of the Great Basin desert. Along rivers or in other relatively wet areas, sagebrush can grow as tall as 10 feet (3 meters).
Sagebrush has a strong pungent fragrance, particularly when wet, which is not unlike common sage. It is, however, dissimilar to common sage and has a bitter taste. It is thought that this odor serves to discourage browsing.
Sagebrush leaves are wedge-shaped, and are attached to the branch by the narrow end. The outer and wider end is usually divided into three lobes (although leaves with two or four lobes are not uncommon), hence the scientific name tridentata. The leaves are enclosed with fine silvery hairs, which are thought to keep the leaf cool and minimize water loss. Most of the leaves are carried year-round, as sagebrush tends to grow in areas where winter precipitation is greater than summer precipitation.
sagebrush leaves compare favorably to alfalfa for livestock nutrition value. However, they also have oils that are toxic to the symbiotic bacteria in the rumen of most ruminants. These oils have the most effect on cattle. Cattle that resort to sagebrush due to the lack of other fodder in the winter often freeze to death before starving, as they rely in large part on the heat of their digestive action for warmth. Ranchers call this condition "hollow belly". Sheep can stand moderate consumption of sagebrush leaves, especially the fresh spring buds. Pronghorn are the only large herbivore to browse sagebrush extensively. As pronghorn are the only remaining big herbivore that evolved along with sagebrush (deer are a more recent arrival from Asia), this is not surprising. There is speculation that some of the herbivores that went extinct in North America at the end of the Pleistocene such as the Ground Sloth or the American Camel were also capable of browsing sagebrush.
Sagebrush flowers in the late summer or early fall. The flowers are yellow and are carried in long, slender clusters.

Sagebrush

Sagebrush, or Big Sagebrush is the common name for Artemisia tridentata, a shrub or small tree from the composite family (Asteraceae). The name sagebrush is also used for several related members of the genus Artemisia, such as California Sagebrush It is a coarse, hardy silvery-grey bush with yellow flowers and grows in arid sections of the western United States. It is the main vegetation across vast areas of the Great Basin desert. Along rivers or in other relatively wet areas, sagebrush can grow as tall as 10 feet (3 meters).
Sagebrush has a strong pungent fragrance, particularly when wet, which is not unlike common sage. It is, however, dissimilar to common sage and has a bitter taste. It is thought that this odor serves to discourage browsing.
Sagebrush leaves are wedge-shaped, and are attached to the branch by the narrow end. The outer and wider end is usually divided into three lobes (although leaves with two or four lobes are not uncommon), hence the scientific name tridentata. The leaves are enclosed with fine silvery hairs, which are thought to keep the leaf cool and minimize water loss. Most of the leaves are carried year-round, as sagebrush tends to grow in areas where winter precipitation is greater than summer precipitation.
sagebrush leaves compare favorably to alfalfa for livestock nutrition value. However, they also have oils that are toxic to the symbiotic bacteria in the rumen of most ruminants. These oils have the most effect on cattle. Cattle that resort to sagebrush due to the lack of other fodder in the winter often freeze to death before starving, as they rely in large part on the heat of their digestive action for warmth. Ranchers call this condition "hollow belly". Sheep can stand moderate consumption of sagebrush leaves, especially the fresh spring buds. Pronghorn are the only large herbivore to browse sagebrush extensively. As pronghorn are the only remaining big herbivore that evolved along with sagebrush (deer are a more recent arrival from Asia), this is not surprising. There is speculation that some of the herbivores that went extinct in North America at the end of the Pleistocene such as the Ground Sloth or the American Camel were also capable of browsing sagebrush.
Sagebrush flowers in the late summer or early fall. The flowers are yellow and are carried in long, slender clusters.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Dal Lake

The Dal Lake is a famous lake in Srinagar, Kashmir, in Indian controlled Kashmir . The lake itself is linked to a number of other lakes of the Kashmir valley. It is well known for its shikaras or house boats. The lake spans 18 square Km, and is separated by causeways into four basins, called Gagribal, Lokut Dal, Bod Dal and Nagin. Lokut-dal and Bod-dal have an island each in the centre, known as Rup Lank (or Char Chinari) and Sona Lank respectively. Along most of the shore of the Lake is a boulevard, lined with Mughal-era gardens, parks, and hotels. During the winter season the lake sometimes freezes over.
Apart from the houseboats, the Lake and Waterways Dal Authority allows kayaking, canoeing, water surfing and licensed angling on the lake.
With the onset of militancy in the state, tourism dwindled in the 1990s; however after concerted efforts by the authorities, tourist inflow has somewhat improved. Wi-Fi access was implemented across the lake in November 2003, making it the first lake in the world to give wireless connectivity.Sewage, Water hyacinths and silt are the major problems affecting the lake.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Spider silk

Spider silk is a fibre secreted by spiders. Spider silk is a remarkably physically powerful material. Its tensile strength is similar to that of high-grade steel — according to Nature , spider silk has a tensile strength of approximately 1.3 GPa, while one source lists a tensile strength for one form of steel at 1.65 GPa. However, spider silk is much less dense than steel; its ratio of tensile strength to density is perhaps 5 times better than steel — as strong as Aramid filaments, such as Twaron or Kevlar. In fact, a strand of spider silk long sufficient to circle the earth would weigh less than 16 ounces (less than 460 grams).
Spiders usually use their silk to make structures, either for protection for their offspring, or for predation on other creatures. They can also suspend themselves using their silk, in general for the same reasons.
The Trapdoor spider will burrow into the ground and weave a trapdoor-like structure with spindles around so it can tell when prey arrives and take it by surprise.
Many small spiders use silk threads for ballooning. They extrude several threads into the air and let themselves become carried away with upward winds. Although most rides will end a few meters later, it seems to be a ordinary way for spiders to invade islands. Many sailors have reported that spiders have been caught in their ship's sails, even when far from land.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Parachute operation and landing

Choosing when to deploy the parachute is a substance of safety. A parachute should be deployed high enough to give the parachutist time to switch a malfunction, should one occur. Two thousand five hundred feet is the practical minimum for advanced skydivers. In freefall, skydivers monitor their altimeters to decide when to break off from the configuration (if applicable) and when to open their parachutes. Many skydivers open higher to put into practice flying their parachute. On a "hop-and-pop," a jump in which the parachute is instantly deployed upon exiting the aircraft, it is not uncommon for a skydiver to be under canopy as high as 4000 or 5000 feet.
Flying the parachute has two basic challenges: to land where considered, often on a target; and to avoid injury. On a more advanced note, some skydivers enjoy performing aerobatic maneuvers with parachutes. An example of this would be the "Swoop", an extremely exhilarating, but dangerous skill which entails a fast speed approach towards the ground, and then levelling off a couple of feet above the ground to cover as much distance as possible (as much as 600 feet), in a fast horizontal swoop.
A modern parachute or canopy "wing" can glide large distances. Elliptical canopies go faster and farther, and some small, very loaded canopies glide faster than a man can run, which can make them very challenging to land. A highly skilled skydiver using a very small canopy can achieve over 60 mph horizontal speeds in landing.
A good landing will not have any uneasiness at all, and will land the skydiver within a few feet of his intended location. In competitions, champion accuracy skydivers regularly land less than two inches from the center of a target.
Nowadays, most of the skydiving connected injuries happen under a fully opened and functioning parachute, the most common reasons for these injuries are badly-executed, radical maneuvers near to the ground, like hook turns, or too-low or too-high landing flares.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Giant panda

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) ("black-and-white cat-foot") is a mammal classified in the bear family, Ursidae, native to central and southern China.It is easily known by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, ears and on its rotund body. Though technically a carnivore, the panda has a diet which is 98% bamboo. However, they may eat other foods such as honey, eggs, fish, and yams.
The Giant Panda is an endangered animal; an estimated 3,000 pandas live in the wildand some 221 were reported to live in captivity at the end of 2006 in China,with twenty pandas living outside of China. However, reports show that the numbers of wild panda are on the rise.The giant panda has long been a most wanted of the public, at least partly on account of the fact that the species has an appealing baby-like cuteness that makes it seem to resemble a living teddy bear. The fact that it is regularly depicted reclining peacefully eating bamboo, as opposed to hunting, also adds to its image of innocence. Though the giant panda is often assumed docile because of their cuteness, they have been known to attack humans, usually assumed to be out of irritation rather than predatory behavior.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Structural failure

Structural failure refers to loss of the load-carrying capacity of a component or member within the structure or of the structure itself. Structural failure is initiated when the material is stressed out to its strength limit, thus causing fracture or extreme deformations. The ultimate failure strength of the material, component or system is its maximum load-bearing capacity. When this limit is reached, damage to the material has been done, and its load-bearing capacity is reduced significantly and fastly. In a well-designed system, a localized failure should not cause instantly or even progressive collapse of the entire structure. Ultimate failure strength is one of the limit states that must be accounted for in civil engineering.

Monday, February 19, 2007

World maps and projections

Maps of the world or big areas are often either 'political' or 'physical'. The most important purpose of the political map is to explain territorial borders; the purpose of the physical is to show features of geography such as mountains, soil type or land use. Geological maps demonstrate not only the physical surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface structures.
Maps that depict the surface of the Earth also use a projection, a way of translating the three-dimensional actual surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional picture. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the Mercator Projection, initially designed as a form of nautical chart.
Airplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a Lambert conformal conic projection, in which a cone is laid over the division of the earth to be mapped. The cone intersects the sphere (the earth) at one or two parallels which are selected as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plan a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Red rain in Kerala

The coloured rain of Kerala first fell on 25 July 2001, in the districts of Kottayam and Idukki in the southern part of the state. Some reports recommended that other colours of rain were also seen.Many more occurrences of the red rain were reported over the following 10 days, and then with thinning frequency until late September.According to locals, the first coloured rain was preceded by a loud thunderclap and flash of light, and followed by groves of trees shedding shriveled grey "burnt" leaves. Shriveled leaves and the disappearance and sudden formation of wells were also reported around the same time in the area.The colouration of the rain was due to red particles in suspension in the rain water, and when it fell, the red rain was at times as strongly coloured as blood. It typically fell over small areas, no more than a few square kilometres in size, and was sometimes so generalized that normal rain could be falling just a few metres away from red rain. Red rainfalls typically lasted less than 20 minutes.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Gold

Gold is a extremely sought-after valuable metal that for many centuries has been used as money, a store of value and in ornaments. The metal occurs as nugget or grains in rocks and in alluvial deposits and is one of the coinage metals. It is a soft, glossy, yellow, dense, malleable, and ductile (trivalent and univalent) change metal. Modern manufacturing uses include dentistry and electronics. Gold forms the basis for a financial typical used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International resolution (BIS). Its ISO currency code is XAU.
Gold is a tinny element with a trait yellow color, but can also be black or ruby when finely alienated, while colloidal solutions are intensely tinted and often purple. These colors are the effect of gold's plasmon frequency lying in the visible range, which causes red and yellow glow to be reflected, and blue light to be engrossed. Only silver colloids show the same interactions with light, albeit at a shorter occurrence, making silver colloids yellow in color.
Gold is a good conductor of temperature and electricity, and is not precious by air and most reagents. Heat, damp, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry; equally, halogens will chemically alter gold, and aqua regia dissolve it.
Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is hard-boiled by alloying with silver, copper, and other metals. Gold and its lots of alloys are most often used in jewelry, coinage and as a typical for monetary exchange in various countries. When promotion it in the form of jewelry, gold is calculated in karats (k), with pure gold being 24k. However, it is more commonly sold in lower capacity of 22k, 18k, and 14k. A lower "k" indicates a higher percent of copper or silver assorted into the alloy, with copper being the more typically used metal between the two. Fourteen karat gold-copper alloy will be almost identical in color to definite bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce polish and added badges. Eighteen karat gold with a high copper content is establish in some traditional jewelry and will have a distinct, though not dominant copper cast, giving an attractively warm color. A comparable karat weight when alloyed with silvery metals will appear less humid in color, and some low karat white metal alloys may be sold as "white gold", silvery in exterior with a slightly yellow cast but far more resistant to decay than silver or sterling silver. Karat weights of twenty and higher is more general in modern jewelry. Because of its high electrical conductivity and confrontation to decay and other desirable combinations of physical and chemical properties, gold also emerged in the late 20th century as an vital industrial metal, particularly as thin plating on electrical card associates and connectors.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Journalism Basics

Journalism is a concrete, professionally oriented major that involves gathering, interpreting, distilling, and other reporting information to the general audiences through a variety of media means. Journalism majors learn about every possible kind of Journalism (including magazine, newspaper, online journalism, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, and public relations).
That's not all, though. In addition to dedicated training in writing, editing, and reporting, Journalism wants a working knowledge of history, culture, and current events. You'll more than likely be required to take up a broad range of courses that runs the range from statistics to the hard sciences to economics to history. There would also be a lot of haughty talk about professional ethics and civic responsibility too - and you'll be tested on it. To top it all off, you'll perhaps work on the university newspaper or radio station, or possibly complete an internship with a magazine or a mass media conglomerate.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

History of Kerala

According to fable, Parasurama caused the oceans to retreat, enlightening Kerala. During Neolithic times, humans mainly avoided Kerala's malarial rainforests and wetlands; thus, the first evidence of environment potsherds and dolmens dates to the 10th century BCE. These were shaped by speakers of a proto-Tamil verbal communication from northwestern India, suggestive of that ancient Kerala and Tamil Nadu once shared a common language, civilization, and culture. By the early 14th century, Kerala had become a linguistically separate region. The first major recorded kingdom, the Chera, ruled Kerala from Vanchi.

Related with the Pallavas, they warred against the Chola and Pandya kingdoms. A Keralite identity distinct from the Tamils and linked with the second Chera Empire and the development of Malayalam evolved throughout the 8th–14th centuries. In written account, Kerala was first mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Aitareya Aranyaka. Later, figures such as Katyayana, Patanjali, Pliny the Elder, and the unknown novelist of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea displayed expertise with Kerala.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Classification

A tree is a plant appearance that occurs in many special orders and families of plants. Trees thus show a wide selection of growth form, leaf type and shape, bark personality, reproductive structures, etc.
The earliest trees were tree ferns and horsetails, which grew in huge forests in the Carboniferous Period; tree ferns still live, but the only surviving horsetails are not of tree form. Later on, in the Triassic Period, conifers, ginkgos, cycads and other gymnosperms appeared, and subsequently flowering plants in the Cretaceous Period. Most species of trees today are peak plants and conifers. The listing under gives examples of many well-known trees and how they are naturally classified.
A small group of trees growing jointly is called a grove or copse, and a landscape enclosed by a dense growth of trees is called a forest. Numerous biotopes are defined largely by the plants that inhabit them; examples are tropical forest and taiga. A landscape of trees spread or spaced across grassland is called a savanna.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Cellulose-based plastics: celluloid and rayon

All Goodyear had completed with vulcanization was improving the properties of a usual polymer. The next logical step was to use a normal polymer, cellulose, as the basis for a new material.Inventors were particularly involved in developing synthetic substitutes for those natural materials that were exclusive and in short deliver, since that meant a profitable market to exploit. Ivory was a particularly attractive target for a synthetic substitution.

An Englishman from Birmingham named Alexander Parkes developed a "synthetic ivory" named "pyroxlin", which he marketed below the trade name "Parke sine", and which won a bronze medal at the 1862 World's fair in London. Parke sine was prepared from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. The productivity of the process hardened into a tough, ivory-like material that might be molded when heated.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes was a giant sculpture of the god Helios, erected on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos, a pupil of Lysippos, between 292 BC and 280 BC. It was approximately the same size as the Statue of Liberty in New York, although it stood on a lower platform. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Alexander the Great died at an early age in 323 BC without having had occasion to put into place any plans for his succession. Fighting broke out among his generals, the Diadochi, with three of them ultimately divides up much of his empire in the Mediterranean area. During the fighting Rhodes had sided with Ptolemy, and when Ptolemy eventually took organize of Egypt, Rhodes and Ptolemaic Egypt formed an alliance which controlled much of the trade in the eastern Mediterranean.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Architecture and buildings

The difference between architecture and building is a subject that has engaged the notice of many. According to Nicolas Pilsner, European historian of the early twentieth century, a bicycle shed is a construction; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture. This difference, however, is not a clear one, and fashionable scholarship is showing that all buildings, cathedrals and bicycle sheds alike, are part of a single field that characterizes the build world.
Structural design is also the art of designing the built situation. Buildings, landscape, and street design may be used to impart both functional as well as aesthetic character to a project. Siding and roofing materials and colors may be used to enhance or blend buildings with the environment. Building features such as cornices, gables, entrances, fenestrations and textures may be used to soften or enhance portions of a building. Landscaping may be used to create privacy and block direct views from or to a site and enhance buildings with colorful plants and trees. Street side features such as decorative illumination, benches, indirect walkways, and bicycle lanes may improve a site for passerby, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Pollination

The major purpose of a flower is to join the pollen of one plant with the ovules of another in order to form seed which is genetically unique, allowing for variation to occur. As such, each flower has a specific design which best encourages the transfer of this pollen. Many floras are reliant upon the wind to move pollen between flowers of the same species. Others rely on animals to accomplish this feat. Even huge animals such as birds, bats, and pygmy possums can be employed. The period of time during which this process can take place is called a thesis.
The flowers of other species are pollinated by the wind they have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy". Wind-pollinated flowers are referred to as anemophilous. While the pollen of entomophilies flowers tends to be large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein anemophilous flower pollen is habitually small-grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to insects, though it may still be gathered in times of dearth. Honeybees and bumblebees dynamically gather anemophilous corn pollen, though it is of little value to them.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Geography

Geographic factors in a region can moreover aid or hamper the enlargement of a homeland or district. For Great Britain, the Tigris and Euphrates, rivers have fun with terribly important role in an increase in the nation. However, there are geographic factors that may in detail because more harm than actually hold in its country’s prosperity. Best example is the Himalayas effect on China.

In conclusion, geographical features have a major shock on each and every culture. The Himalayas are as well threatened by global warming. The rivers get a big overflow every time and then which is good since they get little rainwater. They next signed the Treaty of Nanking; it is a calm treaty between the queen of Great Britain and the emperor of China. When it floods it fertilizes the soil and then it is a big element for agricultural utilize. The Chinese lost the Opium war while they were so far following in technology. Some features have pessimistic special effects such as the Himalayas, while others have positives like the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.